Nicky A. Boecker, Oswego SD308 Board of Education election questionnaire

Full Name: Nicky Boecker

What office are you seeking? SD308 School Board of Education Member

What is your political party? Non-Affiliated

What is your current age? 47

Occupation and Employer: Endocrine Clinical Specialist at Ascendis Pharma

What offices, if any, have you previously held? None

City: Aurora, IL

Campaign Website: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088979665283&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Education: University of Northern Iowa

Bachelor of Arts and Sciences Major: Marketing Minor: Graphic Communications

Community involvement: NAMI: National Alliance of Mental Illness (Annual Fundraising Walk)

ALS Greater Chicago Chapter Volunteer and Annual Fundraising Walk

Naperville Rotary Fundraiser Volunteer

Marital status/Immediate family: Married to Tim Boecker for 23 years

I have 3 children, Timmy (Age 21), Tyler (Age 17), and Elizabeth (Age 15)

Why are you running for office?

I am running for office because I know I can make a positive difference in achieving better student outcomes, improving community engagement, and ensuring accountability in our execution towards the district’s vision of excellence. I feel the board spends a lot of time making excuses and avoiding issues that directly impact our students. As a parent and community member, I have been actively engaged in my three children’s education (K-12). I believe there is a disenchantment and disconnection between the parents, students, and the administration that I feel could benefit from new leadership.

I am running as the only independent candidate for the April 4th School Board Election. It is evident that I am running against two slates of candidates representing opposing sides. This is a dangerous way to approach educational leadership for the board. I feel strongly that no school board would benefit from a slate of four candidates from either side. It is important to elect the four best individual candidates that can provide a balance of ideas to generate sound outcomes for every student. Social issues are important, but our primary focus should be on improving test scores, improving TA and staffing retention, improving parent and administration communication, as well as instilling a greater sense of alignment and trust among each essential member of the district (students, parents, teachers, administrators, community members, and municipalities). I provide an opportunity to represent each voter with an open mind, curious intuition, collaborative intention, and a strong determination to uncover opportunities and solutions that will enrich our student’s, teacher’s, and parent’s educational environments. My involvement and long history within the district will allow me to provide collaborative and unique perspectives to the school board that they may otherwise not have.

What makes you qualified for the office you’re seeking?

Positive leadership is a skill I have developed and excelled in my career. I have had the opportunity to lead teams with authority, as well as lead teams without authority. To be an effective board member, one has to be able to work with all types of personalities, as well as varying perspectives and ideas. I have a proven track record of leading teams who were not producing desired outcomes, and, through my collaborative leadership and positive influence, was able to improve performance from both a metrics and culture standpoint. I genuinely enjoy people, and when working in different settings it is important to meet people where they are. I am intentional about this, which is extremely important when working on a board of seven individuals who may have varying perspectives of where we are and where we need to go. These skills that I have utilized and continue to perfect over my 22-year career in sales leadership and training are exactly what the district needs as a member of the board. It is important to remember, there are seven board member spots, and we all do not need, and should not have, the same skill sets. I offer a great opportunity to the board to be a leader with positive energy, detailed business accuum and analytic skills, and strong communication and negotiation skills. I am open minded to other perspectives, which helps me identify opportunities for change at the pace that makes each individual feel successful. If we maintain a positive and unified intention for improving the district overall, our ability to succeed in making SD308 one of the best districts in the area is 100% possible, and a primary goal of mine. I will work to create a team culture of inclusivity, where every perspective is valid, and I will challenge my peers to meet each other with the same respect and collaborative efforts to achieve our district goals.

Have you sought and/or received any training to run for your local school board? If so, from whom?

No formal training has been received, however, I have spent some time discussing the responsibilities of the board’s past and current challenges/opportunities with multiple past board presidents and board members.

Would you propose any changes to the curriculum? If so, what?

I do not have an assessment of the current curriculum. I would not propose any changes to the curriculum without fully engaging with the district administration. I do expect that student test scores and other key curriculum benchmark data may suggest our teaching strategies and/or curriculum need to be adjusted for better outcomes. I would like to put energy towards the district’s access to Dual Credit courses, because we currently have qualified teachers available within the district to facilitate them but the current board and administration has not been fully providing this valuable resource to our students. I will also work with administration to ensure we are offering a diverse and meaningful set of courses for our students to partake in.

Are LGBTQ students treated fairly in your district?

As best as I have been able to assess from student feedback, the district’s LGBTQ students are largely treated inclusively and fairly in SD308. I believe the district has been intentional in making the learning environment more comfortable for all students.

What is your assessment of how Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is handled in your school district?

I feel SD308 is very intentional and effective in how they have fostered and utilized DEI into the school culture, club/event inclusiveness, and educational system. There are many outlets for student collaboration and community, and there is an emphasis on student’s voice. There is a focus on celebrating different cultures and communities. Additionally, I have enjoyed watching Dr. Waller develop things like the Student Ambassadors and the Coalition, as I feel they provide a great medium for student advocacy and perspective in our schools.

Do you believe the district needs to make any changes to improve DEI in your district?

I believe the district is addressing the need for diversity, equity, and inclusion currently, and I am not aware of any need to make changes to the current DEI program. I have attended some Board Advisory: Equity Committee meetings, and I get a sense that this program is in its early stages and will continue to add positively to our student learning environment.

Are teachers in your district paid adequately now and in retirement?

SD308′s teachers pay within the district is at parity with the state average, however I do feel there are developmental opportunities to improve our teacher’s compensation package. I would like to focus on the long-term goals of our teachers, create a career ladder program for professional and leadership development so we can promote within the district. By improving career pathways, our teachers can find greater fulfillment in their daily and annual achievements. I believe if our teachers feel supported in their career advancement (whether monetarily or promotionally), we will have a better overall culture and learning environment which will improve student outcomes.

Would you support changes to teacher pay scales? If so, how?

Yes, I would support changes to teacher pay scales. Compensating our teachers for their continued education for professional development within their areas of specialty not only benefits our teacher’s career goals, but is intended to benefit the students educational experience as well.

What is your assessment of the district superintendent’s compensation?

This is an area I would like to explore in further detail. Initially looking at area districts’ average superintendent’s compensation, I find there are a lot of varying factors contributing to the different compensations.

Would you make any changes to how the district superintendent is compensated?

As our school district looks at finding a new superintendent, I think we need to understand we get what we pay for. I would be comfortable paying more than the current superintendent compensation for a candidate the board feels fits the high standards and leadership qualities our district needs to allow us to improve student outcomes and overcome our long-standing challenges.

Do you support the current superintendent? Please explain.

I think Dr. Sparlin has been committed to and has done his best to make improvements within the district, however I feel there is more that needs to be accomplished to achieve our goals. I do appreciate Dr. Sparlin’s accessibility and visibility within the schools and within the community. I would like our next superintendent to have this as a priority in his role as well.

Should schools in your district adopt and teach sex education according to the National Sex Education Standards? Please explain.

I would like to do some more research on what our current teaching practices are and what our current curriculum entails. I believe this is a decision that our board’s curriculum committee should be involved with to identify if our curriculum review matches these national standards, and if the curriculum best fits the needs of the community. I do believe in the parent’s ability to be involved with their student’s educational content as it pertains to this topic.

What is your assessment of how the COVID-19 pandemic was handled locally?

I feel the district did the best they could at first, moving to the virtual classroom and the teachers tried to keep student engagement and learning high. My biggest frustration as a parent was that I felt the out-of-classroom learning went way too long, and the research has come out to show that. I have family in Iowa, and they were in the classroom the entire 2021-22 school year, without any disruption to learning and/or health tragedies. All three of my children suffered from the virtual learning, restricted sports/activities, and lack of socialization. I did, however, have my children follow all rules and guidelines. I wish the district focused more on community and parent input during this time, as I feel it would have cooled many of the tensions that transpired.

What did you learn from the pandemic?

During the pandemic, I learned to be flexible, nimble, open minded, and creative. I also learned that my happy, outgoing children, are resilient but their stamina for the isolation and confusion of virtual learning was not enough to keep them from depression, anxiety, and a feeling of disengagement. Both of my children in the district during the 2021-22 school year found themselves struggling emotionally and socially, which we, as a family, reached out to counselors for support. Educationally, my children also felt less investment from their online learning experiences with their teachers. The assignments were just that, assignments. The fun part of classroom learning was void and that lowered the level of engagement and successful outcomes. I learned when coming back into the schools, there was a long lag time in everyone adjusting to the classroom again, and this also held back teacher-student engagement and outcomes. I am thankful we are in our 2nd full year of classroom learning, and we are gaining back most of what we lost. My educational focus as a board member will be to set a higher standard of teacher-student engagement in the classroom for learning with a hope of recapturing the energy and zest for learning that our children and teachers should experience every day. Another thing I learned was the importance of transparency with the community from the district, as I feel the lack of transparency over the course of the pandemic greatly damaged the trust between the District and its’ stakeholders. I will focus my energy as a board member on continuing to increase transparency and communication with the parents and the community.

Are voters that support your district taxed at an appropriate level?

I feel that residents of SD308 are taxed at a rate needed to support our schools. Unfortunately that rate is significantly higher than surrounding communities. I think we need to work with municipalities and other local governing communities to continue to find ways to improve our commercial and industrial tax base, as well as find ways to increase efficiency across governmental organizations.

Would you support any plans to raise taxes in the district? If so, what should the additional revenue be spent on?

Any raise to taxation in SD308 should be taken with caution. Before any consideration of raising taxes would be addressed, I will need to look at all other expenditures to identify any area we might be able to make internal adjustments and minimize inefficiencies. If the district needs increased funding for our students, I would be open to considering an increase in taxes. If we, as a board, decide raising taxes is necessary, I will be sure that the district acts in full transparency in where and why the funds are needed. I will also not advocate or approve threatening the community with cuts, but instead provide a vision for what can be accomplished with these additional funds. It is my hope that as the District continues to improve its interactions with our students, parents and community members, our community will be more satisfied with the value of their investment and fully support our decision.

Would you support lowering taxes in the district? If so, what programs or services in the district would you cut?

I would support lowering taxes and/or offering a rebate if the opportunity was presented and it made sense to do so. I do not have any current programs or services that I would be looking to cut as a new board member. I will always support utilizing our budget conservatively. If the district is saving money and building up its reserves, we need to be aware of this opportunity and still be fiscally conservative, however our planning and foresight should never be for the here and now, but calculations of what we need today, will need tomorrow, and in the future. I will work to ensure we are maximizing our resources and saving where we can, without taking away resources from our students. I believe any financial investment should be directly impacting our teachers, students, and administration to start building the culture and leadership that retains and develops great talent to benefit the district for years to come.

Will you accept the voters’ decision in your race on Election Day?

Yes, of course.

What is your position on open, transparent government?

In order to trust our government officials and organizations, there needs to be open communication between the governmental body and the communities they support. Also Insuring transparency of actions taken by a governmental body is needed so that the community has the opportunity to be engaged in it’s actions.

Do you support the Freedom of Information Act and citizens’ ability to freely access government records?

Yes, I think it is a necessity of government to be open and transparent to those it governs and I think FOIA provides a proper and functional outlet for that.