Edwardsville School District 7 board member

Dorothy Hummel

Edwardsville

Age: 51

Job: Deputy Director, Madison County Housing Authority

Phone: 618-659-0579

Web:

Facebook: ContinueTheSuccess

Twitter:

Email: sdhummel@empowering.com

Education: Edwardsville High School, University of Illinois

Previous offices: Edwardsville City Council Alderman Ward 2, 2002-2009, Edwardsville Board of Education 2009 to present

Qualifications: During the past four years, the board has taken numerous steps to adjust to the continuing loss of revenues and to protect the interests of District 7 taxpayers. These steps included seeking additional revenue sources, cutting expenses when appropriate, and continued efforts to work with our area legislators to articulate the devastating effects of the State passing on its pension obligations to our local taxpayers. In order to avoid deficit spending, we have reduced our operating expenses by $12 million and utilized roughly $7 million in working cash reserve in the past four years. All district employees had their wages frozen in 2012-2013 and several groups of employees have gone several years without any salary increases whatsoever. The Board has avoided major employee layoffs, maintained reasonable class sizes, preserved core educational programs, and provided a safe environment in our schools and facilities. The board has held firm on our position that we must live within our means, while maintaining the highest possible educational standards for District 7.

Top issues: The most crucial issue facing District 7 is finding funding to address the educational needs of students, provide employee salaries and benefits, and maintain a safe environment during this economic crisis. Ongoing challenges consist of attempting to operate the district without dismantling programs and extensive employee layoffs, while dealing with financial challenges. The state of Illinois simply does not live up to its financial obligations. The district has begun each new fiscal year with the state owing the district millions of dollars from the previous fiscal year. In addition, the state continues to reduce the level of funding to local school districts (over $7 million since 2009). The district dealt with a declining amount of property tax revenue for several years. Due to impending sequestration, we now face the loss of federal funding which will affect vital Title 1 and Title 2 and other programs. Another challenge is continuing to communicate with the community and our employees regarding our on-going challenges and actions taken to address these challenges.

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Edwardsville School District 7 board member

Dr. Bradley L. Hewitt

Edwardsville

Age: 54

Job: Administrator

Phone: 618-593-9993

Web:

Facebook:

Twitter:

Email: None provided

Education: Doctorate in Education

Previous offices: School Board

Qualifications: If re-elected this will be my 4th term in service to the Edwardsville School District. I remain committed to enhancing the education opportunities of the community in which I live and work. The boards on which I have served has made many tough decisions, yet we continue to have a growing district (obviously one of choice), continued to have student success in all curricular benchmarks and co-curricular activities, and we have demonstrate that we can manage a difficult economic crises by focusing on priorities with shared sacrifice and not asking taxpayers for more revenue.

Top issues: The most critical issue all school district face is funding. We must continue the course of re-prioritizing funding and seeking additional funding to preserve our priorities to provide a safe learning environment for students and staff, to provide the best possible education for our students, to recruit/retain the best possible employees who receive salaries and benefits that motivate them to stay District 7, to avoid major employee layoffs like many surrounding districts, to maintain reasonable class size and to avoid asking taxpayers for an Education Fund tax increase. As a member of the board over the past four years, we have through transparency and constituency involvement, addressed the financial issues and accomplished the following: secured additional revenue enhancements, reduced operating expenditures across all functional areas resulting in a reduction of more than $12 million, opposed every state action with the intent of shifting of state obligations to local school districts, opposed the School Facilities Sales Tax proposal to avoid an increase local sales tax.

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Edwardsville School District 7 board member

Jeff Miller

Edwardsville

Age: 36

Job: Operations Manager

Phone: None provided

Web: Jeffmiller4schools.com

Facebook: Jeff Miller for Edwardsville District 7 Board of Education

Twitter:

Email: jeffmiller4schools@gmail.com

Education: BS Mechanical Engineering

Previous offices:

Qualifications: I have four children who will be in school for the next 16 years and I will to use my leadership skills and experience to make District 7 a great educational environment for years to come. District 7 is facing serious challenges, which include reductions in state funding, possible changes to teacher pensions, and an ever changing local/national economy. Through my 13 years of business experience I have demonstrated the ability to face and resolve difficult challenges. I lead the continuous improvement process for a manufacturing plant with over 400 employees. Through strong leadership, collaboration, efficiency improvements, and strategic choices, we were recognized this year by our CEO for our accomplishments. We exceeded our savings goals while hiring more technicians, improved the quality of our products, and maintained a very productive relationship with the union. My personal strengths are collaborative leadership, strategy development, and identifying innovative solutions for the most difficult problems. I will bring these collaborative leadership skills to the District 7 Board.

Top issues: Reductions in state funding -- Collaboration is needed to help our district become more efficient while also seeking new sources of funding. While tough times certainly lie ahead, and efficiency is a priority, its value lies precisely in enabling the district to maintain an excellent learning environment and offering the best possible educational programming to students in this community. To be clear, this does not mean larger class sizes or cutting jobs. Most of the cost cutting in recent years has been through top down budget cuts. We have opportunities to make the district more efficient through bottom-up savings ideas. Through my professional experiences I have learned that the people doing the day to day work best understand the inefficiencies caused by policies or procedures. By engaging all stakeholders for input on innovative cost-saving ideas, we can eliminate waste and become more efficient.

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Edwardsville School District 7 board member

Lelan Olsen

Edwardsville

Age: 55

Job: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

Phone: 618-656-5868

Web: www.olsenforschoolboard.com

Facebook: Olsen For School Board

Twitter:

Email: olsenforschoolboard@gmail.com

Education: BS in Agriculture/Animal Science 1979 Kansas State University Doctor of Veterinary Medicine 1990 Kansas State University

Previous offices: none

Qualifications: As a local small business owner, I understand that the future of our school district has an immediate impact on the future of the community. I have strong communicative and collaborative skills. You need to be able to communicate effectively with people from all walks of life and varying skill levels and collaborate with pet guardians on all manners of health related activities. I have previously served as a member on the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. I had many opportunites to foster relationships and build a network of business associates. This network entrusted me with a leadership position because they recognized my ability to build relationships and solve problems in a practical way. I have a vested interest in the quality of education because my children go to school here, and will for years to come. I recognize the financial situation is far from ideal, but through collaberation and open dialogue, the best, most efficient solutions can be crafted. I realize it won't be easy.

Top issues: Financial: In these times, we need to tighten the belt and make the district as efficient as possible. We can do this using collaborative effort and soliciting opinions with a bottom up approach. District 7 has a real commodity and that is the community that we live in. Rather than overlook this talent, I want to use their firsthand knowledge. I will only support a tax increase if all avenues are exhausted and the district is running as efficiently as possible. Transparency: During difficult times, it is easy for poor communication to breed dissatisfaction. I accept that cuts likely lie in our future, but I believe that two things will make this easier. First, allowing many different stakeholders to talk about what matters most. Parents, teachers, and other experts must work together to help sort out collective priorities. This process will help offset the pain of the cuts. Second, I will absolutely work for a process that is transparent. Through open dialogue we all will be more informed and through transparent decision making, people can find the answers they seek. The decisions must be made with our students' learning in mind.

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Edwardsville School District 7 board member

Richard Salmi

Hamel

Age: 43

Job: Attorney

Phone: 618-633-2486

Web: ricksalmiforschoolboard.com

Facebook: Rick Salmi for District 7 Board of Education

Twitter:

Email: Rsalmi95@hotmail.com

Education: J.D. - Marquette University Law School; B.S. Economics - University of Illinois

Previous offices: Zoning Board/Planning Commission for the Village of Hamel

Qualifications: As a parent with two children in District 7 schools, I am committed to ensuring the best opportunities for all students in the district. As an attorney, I always search for common ground, even where I do not agree with my opponent. It is this approach that I will bring to the school board -- an openness and honesty which I believe will invite open discussion of the issues and an opportunity for free exchange of ideas among the School District community. I believe it is critical to maintain the involvement of parents, teachers, and community/business leaders. I am always open to discussing ideas people have to provide the best opportunities for our students. I will seek common ground and always give considerate thought to differing opinions.

Top issues: The Board must openly involve and consider the opinions of our school district community -- parents, teachers, administration and community leaders, as we continue to face declining revenue from both the state and local levels. It is critical that we work together as a school district community to ensure all appropriate funding sources are considered to minimize the impact of the state's inability to meet its obligations and to maximize all available resources. Our school district community expects excellence, and as financial pressures continue to mount, it becomes increasingly incumbent on our board to remain open to community input. The board must always put the interests of our students first and foremost, especially in light of declining revenues. The starting point for successful schools is to provide a safe and comfortable setting for our students to learn. We must be diligent in fostering and strengthening relationships with local law enforcement. We must strive to provide top quality opportunities for all students in our district to succeed.

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Edwardsville School District 7 board member candidates Bob L. Perica and Greg Roosevelt did not respond.