Schools

Candiates Answer Students' Questions at Oswego East Forum

Eight of the nine Oswego School District Board candidates fielded questions on finances, class size and that third high school Thursday night.

Eight of the nine candidates for the Oswego School District Board took to the stage at Oswego East High Thursday night to answer questions about district finances, class sizes and whether to build a third high school.

Pretty standard stuff for a pre-election forum, but this one had a twist: the questions were all written by Oswego East students.

For the first time, Oswego East’s government club (known as the Junior Statesmen of America) hosted its own candidates night, and about 75 people turned up to watch—and to ask questions of their own, in an extended free-form session after the forum proper.

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The questions, which touched on the district’s finances, its low state test scores and its plans for future growth, were formulated by the JSA’s roughly 25 members. The eight candidates on hand Thursday—Kerri McCastland was unable to attend—were given two minutes each to tackle them.

The first of those questions asked candidates for specific ideas to help District 308 overcome its deficit. Rob Fitzgerald suggested wage freezes and furlough days, calling them “ugly words,” but pointing out that the private sector has adopted these options in recent years. Paul Lark said the district should re-negotiate or outsource some of its contracts.

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Brent Lightfoot said creative thinking is required, and gave an example of a school district that changed its bus routes to save money. Alison Swanson said the district should stop all “brick and mortar projects” and refocus on education. And the two incumbents, John Graff and Andrea Schweda, said the district has already done a good job of cutting back.

Graff said a major contributor to the deficit is the State of Illinois, which is billions of dollars behind in paying its bills to school districts and other organizations across the state.

In response to a question on class sizes, all of the candidates agreed that smaller is generally better. Luis Perez called it his “perfect world scenario,” suggesting that class sizes should ideally remain between 18 and 22 students at the elementary school level, and go up slightly in junior high and high school.

“But there ends the dream, if you will,” he said. “It’s hard to meet those numbers, and teachers make all the difference in the world.”

Bill Walsh said the district is not currently using its resources to the fullest—some schools are at capacity, while some have room for more students, he said. But Swanson, a teacher in the West Aurora School District, said the key is hiring qualified teachers.

“A good teacher can meet the needs of 18 students or 28 students,” she said.

As expected, the most animated discussions grew out of questions on the future growth of the district. Walsh, Swanson, Lightfoot and Lark have all come out against plans to build a third high school. Walsh said the proposal for that school was drafted during better economic times, and given the downturn, adding on to the two existing schools makes more sense.

But Graff said it is “irresponsible to build additions on the two high schools when a third will be required” due to the district’s rapid growth. And Schweda was the first to say Thursday that an operating referendum may be required just to pay the bills, with or without that third high school.

A question about the perceived inequality between Oswego High and Oswego East High turned into a discussion about educational consistency across the district. Walsh pointed out that neither high school met the state’s Adequate Yearly Progress benchmark last year.

But Graff countered that “nine out of ten high schools in Illinois” fell short of that mark.

“AYP is a mandated benchmark the government put forward that almost nobody can make, but we do our best,” he said.

After the forum, members of the JSA said they were satisfied with the answers to their questions. James DeHoniesto, co-president of the club and a senior at Oswego East, said he was surprised to hear that college classes can sometimes number 50 to 75 students.

The biggest classes at OEHS, he said, range from 32 to 35 students, and even that number sometimes leaves some students behind. He credited his teachers at Oswego East for setting a good pace in his classes, and giving attention to the students who need it.

Before the school board candidates took the stage, State Rep. Tom Cross, R-Oswego, the House minority leader, addressed the crowd. His message was bleak: the state is still spending more than it takes in, and the recently passed income tax hike will not automatically help the state’s education system.

“It may take several years to get out of this hole,” Cross said. “The school districts will not get all the money they would like. Things are tight, and they may stay tight for a while.”

Early voting is underway now in Kane and Kendall counties, and runs until March 31. The election is April 5.


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