Meet Summit Hill D161 Board Of Ed Candidate: Richard Ward

FRANKFORT, IL — Richard Ward is one of eight candidates running for four open positions on the Summit Hill District 161 Board of Education. Ward is an engineer, and previously served on the District 161 Board of Education from 2013 to 2017.

Ward recently filled out the Patch candidate survey, and his answers can be found below:

If you are a candidate for the April election, and would like to answer our Patch candidate questionnaire, please email andrea.earnest@patch.com.

Name: Richard Ward

Age (as of Election Day): 61

Town/city of residence: Frankfort

School district: Summit Hill District 161

Family:

Susan, wife
Nora, daughter
Geoffrey, son
Julia, daughter

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education:

BS from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Occupation:

Engineer - 30 years

Campaign website: None.

Previous or current elected or appointed office:

School Board Member - Summit Hill District 161

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue facing our district is fulfilling our single and primary mandate to “Teach the Children.”

All decisions and choices should be centered around fulfilling that mandate. We have a limited budget with which we must accomplish said mandate, and careful far-sighted planning and decision-making must be employed to maximize the value of our expenditures while always elevating the education of our students. It is imperative to maintain fiduciary responsibility while engaging in good governance.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

Most people are aware that a coalition has been formed to capture a voting majority on the Summit Hill 161 School Board. Two members of this coalition are former District 161 administrators. They resigned after written Notice to Remedy directives were issued by the Board. A third candidate was the board vice president ten years ago. Under the influence of this coalition during that time period the board recklessly enacted questionable fiscal and operating policies. Some examples include the following

• Entered into a five-year contract with the teacher’s union thereby utterly disenfranchising the 16,000 taxpayers of this district for the next election cycles.

• Agreed to 5-6% per annum wage increase for the five-year contract even though the maximum available tax increase for the district is capped by law at 5% or at the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is smaller. Unrecovered wage increases along with skyrocketing benefit costs, and unfunded state mandates led to a structural funding deficit. The budget shortfall reached $2,500,000.

• Closed the Mary Drew Elementary School in less than a four-month time period. This was done without explicit documentation why a building should be shuttered. No objective criteria were established to select which of the seven facilities would be closed. Furthermore, there was no clear plan how all of the displaced students were to be transferred to the remaining schools. The entire process lacked transparency and depth.

• Created a new but undefined administrative position and filling that position internally without a public posting for the job. This was done during one hastily called irregular board meeting that took place on a Saturday morning. That board actually installed one of the current candidates in this new position. This action lacked due process, transparency, depth, good faith and fiscal responsibility.

What the people associated with this coalition did all those years ago was disastrous for Summit Hill District 161. My candidacy is predicated on ensuring these types of whimsical and detrimental events do not occur in the future.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community or district?

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Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

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What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I honorably served on the Summit Hill 161 School Board from May 2013 through April of 2017. During that time the board enacted several notable policies and programs while aggressively attending to the budget. Some examples of accomplishments during [this] period are:

• Eliminated the petty and distracting day-to-day interferences in the operation of the school district by sitting board members. Direct intervention in operations by board members was aggressively discouraged. This was in stark contrast with previous school boards.

• Executed a three-year contract with the teachers’ union that was tied to CPI and, for the first time, included a nominal contribution by the teachers for their healthcare insurance. This arrangement allowed for the maximum wage increase for the teachers while capping the risks to the taxpayer.

• Passed and effectively managed four balanced budgets thereby protecting the district’s prudent reserves for operations and emergencies.

• Overhauled the district employee organization with emphasis on aligning direct reporting to the most effective upper-level administrative personnel. The reorganization unambiguously clarified accountability and responsibility.

• Renegotiated the outstanding capital bond burden on the district. The reissued debt program reduced overall payments to retire the obligation by over $2,000,000 while flat lining the annual costs over more than ten years.

• Continued with the technological upgrades within the district, including enhanced network capabilities at all facilities and purchase of additional tablet computers for the students, teachers and staff. These forward-looking policies ensured District 161 was prepared when remote and hybrid schooling was mandated by the State of Illinois during the COVID-19 pandemic.

My previous experience and success as an active member of the Summit Hill 161 School Board prepares me to accept the challenges at hand with confidence, knowledge and vigor. I know what is necessary to do this job and to do it well. Our mandate is to “Teach the Children.” Our responsibility is to complete that mandate with compassion, foresight and fiduciary responsibility to all stakeholders.

Why should voters trust you?

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If you win this position, what accomplishment would make your term in office a success?

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What are your views on fiscal policy, government spending and the handling of taxpayer dollars in the office you are seeking?

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Do you support Black Lives Matter and what are your thoughts on the demonstrations held since the death of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake?

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Do you think the current board has done enough to support racial equality, and if not, what specifically should be done to do so?

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What are your thoughts on the district’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic? Are you in favor of remote learning, in-person learning or a hybrid of the two? Do you support a mask mandate for students and school staff, or mandatory coronavirus testing for both students and staff?

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When the vaccine is available to them, do you support mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for students and staff?

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Is there any reason you would not serve your full term of office, other than those of health or family?

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The best advice ever shared with me was:

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