How do Sycamore school board candidates plan to address aging buildings?

With less than a month before the April 1 Consolidated Election, some Sycamore District 427 school board candidates shared their campaign platforms with Shaw Local News Network. All candidates were invited to respond to a questionnaire. Their responses can be viewed in full at the Daily Chronicle’s Election Central webpage. Responses have been pulled from the candidates' questionnaires, which also appear in full at www.shawlocal.com/daily-chronicle/election.

SYCAMORE – How will Sycamore Community School District 427 address aging buildings and infrastructure needs?

The last time the ballot box was open, DeKalb County residents voted down a school district-backed referendum that asked if they’d support an up to 1% sales tax. Officials said that tax revenue would have gone to help pay for needed things such as infrastructure work.

Considering the failed referendum, all six candidates vying for a seat on the Sycamore school board asked non a Shaw Local questionnaire: “What ideas do you have to address aging buildings and infrastructure needs for your school district while not overburdening taxpayers?”

Candidates are are listed in alphabetical order:

Michael DeVito, an insurance broker and adjunct instructor at Kishwaukee College, is also the school board’s president and seeks reelection. In his questionnaire, he pointed out that the district implemented a one-year facilities plan in October. DeVito said he doesn’t want to stop there. He wrote that supports developing a comprehensive five-year plan that prioritizes educational spaces such as classrooms, libraries and labs.

“This plan needs to target essential life health and safety infrastructure while allowing for discretionary allocations to be made extremely clear so as to encourage stakeholder input,” DeVito wrote. “As existing bond debt is paid down over the next decade, we have an amazing opportunity to be more proactive in how we use that freed up cash flow.”

Eric Jones, a financial advisor and the school board’s vice president seeking reelection, wrote in his response that he believes state legislators have decided to leave the burden of infrastructure maintenance on local property owners, and doesn’t anticipate that changing any time soon.

He also said he views infrastructure funding as a problem faced by school districts across Illinois.

“In order to not seek additional funding from taxpayers, we will have to look at reducing programs or other expenditures in order to free up additional funds in the future budgets while delaying major work until additional debt has been paid down and new bonds can be issued,” Jones wrote. “We can also continue to apply for school maintenance grants (which are limited to $50,000) and advocate through our representative bodies to the state legislature for more help in addressing this need.”

Jonathan “Cole” Regnery, a mathematics professor at Rock Valley College, is one of two new faces seeking a seat on the board. He wrote that he thinks the district needs to adopt a clear, effective budgeting process paired with a long-term financial strategy to effectively address the district’s building and infrastructure needs.

He advocated for a multi-pronged approach to issue that included: Timely and transparent budgeting, long-term financial planning, reallocating existing resources, and exploring attracting larger commercial entities.

“We might learn from DeKalb’s partnerships with companies like Meta and Heinz, to bring in significant new revenue and ease the burden on residential taxpayers,” Regnery wrote. “My goal is to promote transparent, long-term fiscal planning that protects our taxpayers’ interests and ensures our district’s financial health for generations to come.”

Heather Tomlinson, a social worker intern at Hope Haven homeless shelter in DeKalb, also a newcomer seeking a school board seat, wrote that she thinks setting realistic expectations needs to be a key part of addressing the district’s infrastructure needs.

“In order to continue with the standards Sycamore maintains, it is imperative the community and School Boards work together to set realistic expectations financially for the betterment of our students,” Tomlinson wrote.

Alan Zantout and Christian Copple also are seeking reelection to the Sycamore school board on April 1. Neither have responded to Shaw Local’s invitation to fill out a candidate questionnaire as of Wednesday.