Election 2013: Douglas Gilman

Campaign Info

• Position sought: School Board Member for Pleasantdale School District 107
• Residence: Willow Springs
• Website: d107focusforthefuture.com

Personal Info

• Family: Kim, Spouse, 46; Julia, daughter, 12; Mitchell, son, 10
• Education: Hobart College, BA
• Occupation: Vice President, Aon

Candidate Questions

Applicable experience qualifying you for the position:

I have over 25 years of business experience; currently I am a vice president at Aon in Chicago where I have worked for the past 13 years. In my current role I am responsible for employees working on three continents. Prior to that, I have had a successful career as a corporate executive and a management consultant. I have worked in multiple functions and have acquired significant experience in Information Technology, Finance, Marketing and Strategy.

My experience has taught me that accountability and transparency are critical to the success of any organization. I believe strongly that these principals can and should be applied to the D107 School Board.

Why are you running for this office?

We need to make education a priority in our community and invest in our children. Thus far the district has done a good job improving test scores and maintaining fiscal health.  The next board can do more; we need to implement a comprehensive curriculum that enables our children to be critical and creative thinkers. We need to increase the financial security of the district to survive state pension reform and position the district to not only adapt to common core standards, but to excel. Ultimately we need to restore a focus on the future.

What will be your single most important priority if you get elected?

Accountability: We need to establish a school district that is accountable to the residents of the district. It must operate in a highly transparent fashion and seek to engage our parents and taxpayers in a constructive manner. Financial decisions must yield good returns in terms of financial results or educational improvement. Education decisions must yield tangible improvements to our children’s ability to succeed in high school, college and the workplace.

What sets you apart from the other candidates?

Throughout the course of my business career, I have always been held accountable for both revenue and expenses. I expect that every investment should be justified and must achieve its expected return. I believe that the school district needs to be held to these same standards. In addition, as an employer I have seen how a good educational foundation can translate into success in the workplace and what skills are needed to be successful. Finally, I have experienced first-hand the competition that our children will face in the global economy.

How long have you lived in District 107? 

9.5 years

What do you believe is District 107’s biggest strength? 

The community. We are blessed to live in a close-knit community with great children, committed parents, terrific teachers and residents who value a great education and consistently support our schools in good times and bad. 

What do you believe is District 107’s biggest weakness? 

The board and the school administration have become disconnected from the community. Accountability and transparency have slowly diminished over the past several years.  This has resulted in high operating costs, several curriculum false starts and a general sense that being average is ok. 

In terms of a school district, how would you describe a board that is fiscally responsible? Does District 107 currently have a fiscally responsible board? 

In my opinion, fiscally responsible includes; maintaining a surplus that is sufficient to support the district during lean years, doing everything possible to keep costs low without compromising its core mission, and making sure that every investment has a return, either in terms of a financial or educational return. Bottom line, it means that the board closely scrutinizes major investments and holds the administration accountable for expenditures and investments. It goes without saying that all financial decisions must be made in a fully transparent manner.

The current board has done a reasonable job of being fiscally responsible.  They have maintained a good, though not optimal surplus.  They have openly debated large investments and they have kept an eye on expenditures.

They have fallen short by not demanding accountability for all major expenditures, nor have they pushed the administration to lower operating expenses. They have agreed to large technology investments in recent years that have proved to be inadequate. They did not set an expectation that the technology would be integrated into the curriculum.  They have also failed to consistently hold the administration accountable for financial errors. For example, we incurred a $132,000 pension expense due to an administrative error, and we have spent $40,000 on a statistical consultant even though we were already getting the same service for free from another provider.

Other concerns that have not been dealt with by the current board;

• $600,000 unfunded pension liability (per Cook County tax bill)
• No open discussion of how to handle Illinois’ plans to transfer pension responsibility to the individual districts
• Runaway board legal fees … increase from $900 per year to over $11,000 in two years

One of the highest operational costs per student, amongst the LT feeder schools (per Illinois Interactive Report Card)