In Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211, six candidates are running for three, 4-year terms. Newcomers Ralph Bonatz, Jean Forrest and Katherine David, running as a slate, face board members Anna Klimkowicz, Robert LeFevre Jr. and former board member Edward Yung, running individual campaigns.

Here are their answers to two questions on their candidate questionnaires. Complete questionnaires are at dailyherald.com.

Q: What budget issues will your district have to confront and what measures do you support to address them? If you believe cuts are necessary, what programs and expenses should be reduced or eliminated? On the income side, do you support any tax or fee increases?

Bonatz: The district is on very firm financial footing and has sizable reserves. I feel it is possible for the board to freeze or lower the D211 portion of property taxes without sacrificing the quality of education provided.

Upcoming teacher and support-staff contract negotiations will play a big role in district finances over the next several years. I would like to see board member participation in these negotiations.

Also, the board needs to optimize the value obtained from district-owned assets, such as its unused 60-acre piece of land in Schaumburg. I would like to see this become a source of revenue for the district. Finally, the board should continue to consider new systems/technologies that can save money.

David: District 211 is in a strong fiscal position with recent news of being debt-free in late 2017 and having excess cash reserves. Rather than changing any current programs offered, my focus would be to reduce any expenses which do not affect the quality of education. Steps should be taken to implement the best strategies for maximizing the two unused

parcels of land, both from an economic standpoint and a community viewpoint.

Forest: As an actuary with over 10 years of working experience in financial auditing and asset/liability management, I am confident that I can help our school board make sound fiscal decisions.

If elected, I would like to freeze or lower the D211 property taxes without sacrificing the quality of education received. I would also like to foster efficient and prioritized use of funds and to optimize the value obtained from district-owned assets.

Klimkowicz: I am of the belief that fees should not be raised unless justified. For the past several years I have supported keeping the fees stable. At our January Board meeting, I agreed on raising the material fee and bus fee; however, I could not support raising the driver’s education fee and the parking fee. Students who are on free or reduced lunch have certain fees waived and I am concerned that the increase in fees cause a burden for the “middle income” families.

The ability to meet expenses and continue to have funds available to maintain buildings, capital improvements and to have funds available in case of changing legislation such as pension and state funding should be a priority. Also, salaries and health benefit costs must be monitored.

Early on I stated that I would not support issuing $10 million in bonds, acknowledging that the district should use existing reserves. We now end the use of bonds.

There was no tax increase for the 2015 levy. The 2016 tax levy increase was 0.3%. This amount is less than potentially could have been requested. Abatement allowed for a decrease in levy amount.

LeFevre: The district always faces choices about how to most effectively and efficiently operate. I support continuously evaluation of current programs and the search for new and innovative ideas and methods to improve the quality of education or efficiency by which we deliver education. I do not believe cuts are necessary. I support inflationary increases in the levy and fees.

Yung: Budget has always been a problem issue in the past. School funding from the state has always been inadequate as I know that Illinois has been in the bottom five in providing money to the school district.

This creates the whole issue of local school funding is pretty much dependent on local property taxes. What also creates an issue for the school districts are unfunded mandates that the state legislature have imposed.

Dictating certain directives for the school districts that cost money and telling the districts that they have to fund it out of their own budget is unfair. We need more representatives in the state legislature to believe in providing more support to public education and start increasing the amount of money to school districts and provide relief to the taxpayers.

At this time, I do not believe any cuts are necessary at this time. However I do believe the Board of Education needs to keep a close eye on its spending yet maintain a balance in its reserves for maintenance issues and possible catastrophic problems that need immediate attention and cash.

I do not at this support the need for any tax or fee increases. If the district can monitor its spending and keep within its means tax or fee increases would not be necessary.

Q: What role can and should school choice play in your district? If Congress or the state approves a voucher system or other means giving students broader choices among public and private schools, how will that affect your district? What is the appropriate response for the board of education of a public school system?

Bonatz: School choice empowers parents by giving them more options for their children’s education. In that way, it holds schools accountable. I do not think this is something that a robust school district should fear.

However, ultimately, the BOE would not determine the role school choice would play in the district. It is important to note that school choice comes in different forms (e.g., charter schools, vouchers, and education savings accounts), all having their own implications.

In D211, the quality of our high schools is good and the range of programs, resources, and services is broad, so I wouldn’t expect a mass exodus of students unless families felt alienated in some way.

If a version of school choice becomes a reality in Illinois, the BOE can minimize the impact to D211 by ensuring its schools remain competitive in terms of the environment, facilities and instruction they provide and by striving for consistency across the campuses.

David: In some ways, having school choice brings the benefits of free market economics to the educational realm. However, in our own district, we have high-quality high schools which are ranked among Illinois’ best and our schools attract families to live in this area. My job as a school board member would be to work at providing an excellent public high school education for the children in this community.

Forest: While I like the idea of having broader choices for our students and their families, it is not within the school board’s discretion to decide on the voucher system or any other means of school choice. Again, I am proud of our top-notch public school system and am passionate about continuing the excellence of our school district.

Klimkowicz: I believe vouchers take funds away from school districts. I am not in favor of vouchers. Since District 211 schools are well recognized for their curriculum I would suspect that our community students would remain at District 211 schools if a voucher system were in place.

School boards needs to demonstrate the value of public education by showing that students are continually learning starting in kindergarten and progressing through elementary school and leaving high school ready for college or career.

Academic rigor, accountability, innovation and financial integrity must be the belief of the Board.

LeFevre: People should always be free to choose. The choices should be equitable. If a voucher system is approved I hope the mandates on public and private schools are the same. If the mandates are the same, I welcome competition. District 211 schools compete well against any school. The appropriate response for the board of education of a public school system is to advocate for the highest quality of education the public is willing to support and then deliver it, stably and sustainably.

Yung: I feel every school in our district should provide the same curriculum and opportunities as any other school. Given this reasoning no one student should need or want to go to another school in the district.

I feel a voucher system would be detrimental to any school or school district. Giving the opportunity for students to pick and choose any school creates a situation where a school district has no basis to properly plan their budget. Some schools may be in high demand and would have plenty of student voucher money to work with.

Whereas, with other schools, their demand may not be as high and, therefore, the funds would not be available to operate a proper curriculum.

Vouchers create a uncertainty in how much money the district would have year to year. How can a school or school district plan a budget if you know your monies can fluctuate from one year to the next? I feel that it is imperative that a district’s board of education have plan five years in place understanding that population growth and economical situations can and will affect your budget.

The only way to maintain a budget and maintain the actual physical parts of district (buildings, maintenance, classroom room material books, etc.) is always to plan ahead. A voucher system defeats that purpose.