Kristin Fitzgerald For D203 School Board: Patch Candidate Profile

Name: Kristin Fitzgerald

Age: 45

Position Sought: Naperville District 203 Board of Education

Family: I am a widow. My husband Ray Fitzgerald died of stomach cancer in 2009. I have three daughters who are District 203 students, Nora (14), Maggie (12) and Lucy (10).

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government? No

Education: Bachelor of Arts, Taylor University, 1993

Occupation: Policy and Advocacy Consultant; 24 years in public policy, 13 as a consultant.

Why are you running?

When I ran for the Board in 2013, I had three goals – to work as hard as I could for the achievement of every student, to continue the fiscally responsible decision making of the Board, and to be a true partner for the community so that we set and embrace the vision for our students together. These are still my goals and the reasons I am seeking re-election.

I believe the education of our students is one of the most significant responsibilities we have as a community. District 203 students are extremely successful, our district achievement scores are almost double the state average and well exceeding our benchmark districts. However, achievement for our students is not equal. Some of our students have large achievement gaps, primarily students who are low-income who are also disproportionately minority.

I want to see each of our students achieve their potential and I want to see our school district and our Board continue to work to surmount whatever barriers stand in the way of student success.

Looking at our state, we are likely to have reduced state funding in the future. Even without state action, our school district receives only a limited amount of state and federal funds. Given that the cost to educate our students falls mainly on our local community, we must be cognizant of the burden of taxation and work to reduce costs and do things more efficiently whenever possible. Here too, I believe that the strong financial decision making of the Board is paramount to ensure that we have the resources we need for today and tomorrow.

The Naperville community is second to none, partnering with our school district to work together on behalf of all students. The Board is a partner to the community, both inside and outside of our schools. I remain committed to being a listening voice for the community, ensuring true partnership with the Board. It is for these reasons that I am seeking re-election.

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office: I was elected to the Naperville District 203 Board of Education in 2013.

Campaign Website: www.electfitzgerald.com

What do you hope to accomplish in office?

The area where I would hope to achieve the most progress is District 203’s work to close achievement gaps, ensuring that all students are successful in our schools.

As a Board Member, I have been a tireless advocate for this cause. Our district’s academic achievement is high; students who are at or above standards on state Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for Colleges and Careers (PARCC) tests (65%) are almost double the state average (34%) and we work daily to continue to improve the growth and performance of our students.

However, academic success is not equal for all students. In some of our schools, students exhibit achievement gaps of more than 50 percent. This disparity in achievement despite concerted and sustained efforts, highlights the continuing need for efforts to help all children succeed.

As Board Member, I have advocated for setting achievement goals for all students, focused work on educational practice, increased resources when necessary and greater community collaboration to ensure that all students succeed.

Our state is in the process of setting goals for every student. One way for us to ensure that we meet these goals is to ensure that our growth meets specific targets that will get us to our end goal.

For schools that are working to close significant gaps, I support increasing resources to help teachers and students succeed. Our Board recently approved additional resources for schools with substantial achievement gaps. Next year, these schools will have smaller class sizes in primary grades and additional teacher coaches, both research based solutions that have been proven to make meaningful change in student achievement.

I also believe greater family and community collaboration is necessary to ensure the success of all students. Last year I was part of a team of parents and administrators that was awarded and is now implementing a grant to expand the SUCCESS program to elementary and junior high schools. SUCCESS was founded by African American parents at Naperville North High School to support families and students in closing the achievement gap. I am proud of the work of this group in building community and support for all families in our school. More can be done to ensure that all families have the tools they need to support learning at home and fully participate in the school community.

I have also advocated for broader community collaboration to assist all students. Students who are economically disadvantaged begin showing achievement gaps as early as age two. Waiting to address this until these students are in kindergarten puts the school in catch up mode. I am a strong advocate for community collaboration to ensure that all pre-school providers are educated about the benchmarks necessary for kindergarten readiness, and that we are working together to communicate to parents about how to help students grow and be ready for school, and I was thrilled that our school district recently announced plans to launch a collaborative effort of this nature. Partnerships can also support students in school. Our volunteer program for retired citizens, HURRAH, assists students with reading and in other ways.

Coordinated community collaboration can also help meet the economic needs that low-income families are experiencing. Our community has so many service providers who assist families with these needs. For example, Loaves and Fishes partners with some of our schools to help provide additional nutrition for students. At my children’s school, I have worked to develop partnerships with local churches to ensure that students have enough nutrition over longer school breaks. Partnerships like these ensure that students have the resources they need so that they can come to school ready to learn.

Though achievement gaps are a national disparity, I believe Naperville 203 has the commitment and resources to surmount the barriers to success for these students and show national leadership in addressing and closing achievement gaps. As a Board member, I will continue working to achieve progress toward this important goal.

How would you hold local government employees accountable?

As a District 203 Board Member I believe we should hold ourselves to the highest possible standard, understanding that as elected officials we are community role models and leaders of a large governmental unit.

One of the most important roles of the Board of Education is the selection of an outstanding Superintendent to ensure that students meet and exceed the district’s academic goals. The Board sets policy, expectations, direction and helps to lead and guide the District in decision making for academic goals, programming, facilities and financing. Together with our Superintendent, the Board evaluates these areas as well, to ensure progress toward educational and fiscal goals. Assuring progress toward our district goals is one way we hold ourselves accountable.

Principals and teachers in our district are evaluated based on student growth as well as professional practice. This evaluation process, based on state law, helps drive collaborative improvements as teachers work together to achieve the very best results for students.

As the Board is a steward of district resources, I have supported reviewing district procedures to ensure that we are always working in the most efficient way possible, consolidating with other districts to achieve greater savings, and working to ensure that when contracting with outside vendors we work to gain the highest number of proposals to ensure the best value for taxpayers.

As a Board Member I am also committed to the highest level of transparency and communication with our community to ensure that we are working as a partner with our community in all that we do.

Explain your attitudes toward fiscal policy, government spending and how taxpayer dollars should be handled by your office (or board)?

Assuring a quality education for students while also understanding the burden of taxation on our community is one of the most important jobs of the Board of Education. The Board also stewards the resources of the district, working to ensure district efficiency so that funds spent achieve maximum benefits.

Since 2013, state legislators have considered reducing funding for education in numerous ways: restructuring of state funds for education, proposals to freeze property taxes, legislation shifting the cost of pensions to school districts, and numerous state mandates. Federally, proposals to reduce Title I funds for Illinois were considered and postponed. The cumulative impact of these proposals, had they all been adopted would have drastically reduced District 203’s funding.

Even without such actions, the state and federal support for education pales in comparison to the cost to educate our students. Illinois funds education at one of the lowest levels of any state. Federal funding provides a fraction of the cost.

The lack of federal and state funding leaves the responsibility for funding schools to our local communities. Thus, one of our most important challenges is to look at our tax levies responsibly, understanding that state actions may leave us with reduced funding, but also considering the burden of taxation on our community.

The District 203 Board is working to relieve the burden for taxpayers. We voted on March 20, to abate the debt service levy, saving taxpayers $40 per household. I also support our district’s plan to pay off bonds early in 2018, which will save taxpayers an additional $3.2 million.

During the past several years, we have prepared for potential budget shortfalls by working to do things more efficiently. I have supported these efforts, such as health plan design changes which reduced costs by $2 million and an overall review of budgets in 2015 which resulted in reductions of $1.9 million.

I have also been an active advocate for state and federal funds which help to reduce the pressure on local taxpayers. Recently the Illinois House voted to return a large portion of federal funds which had been diverted to pay for pension costs to school districts to assist low income students. Our Board was a strong advocate for this legislation. In this funding environment, we must continue to advocate for our students in this way.

Despite the uncertain budgetary climate in our state, we have prepared well for the future by reducing expenses, working to pay down our debt and prioritizing our budgets. Our efforts have saved taxpayers’ dollars as well, by abating the debt service levy.

Striking the appropriate balance for our students and our community will continue to be an important question for the Board of Education, and one that I will continue to work very hard to address.

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

I am proud of my record as a Board Member the past four years. As a former education policy advisor, I have brought my policy experience to my work as a Board Member and I believe that my advocacy for student achievement and responsible fiscal policies has well served the Board.

Our task as a Board of Education is to ensure that our students have the highest possible achievement in the most fiscally responsible way. In addition to dramatically outperforming our state and our surrounding districts on the PARCC tests, District 203 schools are consistently rated outstanding for performance, contributing to our community’s rating as a sought-after community in which to live.

Our efforts to continue to assure the success of all our students set the future for our students and our community. I am proud of the investment we are making to close achievement gaps, something that I have advocated strongly for throughout the past four years. Though much has been accomplished, there is also more to do and I hope to be re-elected so that I can continue to contribute to our community’s future in this way.

What else would you like voters to know about you and your positions?

Educating our students to achieve the best possible outcomes requires a commitment to achievement and the ability to address whatever new challenges come our way. Part of this process requires that the Board and the District study rising challenges to find solutions. Our efforts to do so must always include engaging our community in the development of solutions and a vision for the future.

I have made it a priority to study our rising challenges and to advocate for the solutions that will make a difference in solving them. I am so pleased to see our district undertake these initiatives, such as an early childhood collaborative partnership, which will partner public and private resources to pave the way for success for our students.

As a Board Member, I have also worked hard to get to know our schools and our greater community to understand the issues and challenges we face and the ongoing efforts of our community to collaborate for greater success.

Whatever issues we face in the future, I believe this is the model to ensure that we will meet the challenges ahead.Together, I believe we can ensure the future for our kids and our community.

Photo provided by Kristin Fitzgerald