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Full Name: Steve Kieffer
What office are you seeking? District 155 School Board
What is your political party? Repulican
What is your current age? 64
Occupation and Employer: Tool Room Manager, Termax Corp.
What offices, if any, have you previously held? None
City: Crystal Lake
Campaign Website: www.friendsofstevekieffer.com
Education: Associates degree in Plastics Manufacturing Technology
Community involvement: None currently
Marital status/Immediate family: I’m married and have 1 adult daughter
Why are you running for office?
As a lifelong resident of Crystal Lake, I want to give back to the community.
What makes you qualified for the office you’re seeking?
My commitment to the community and desire for continued excellence in our school system is what makes me qualified to be on the school board.
Have you sought and/or received any training to run for your local school board? If so, from whom?
No formal training. I’ve attended committee and board meetings to have a better understanding of what’s needed
Would you propose any changes to the curriculum? If so, what?
I don’t have any plans to change the curriculum at this time. I want to wait and see until after I’m elected if there are changes that I feel need to be made.
Are LGBTQ students treated fairly in your district?
I would hope so, but since I’m not on the board I don’t have enough information to answer the question.
What is your assessment of how Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is handled in your school district?
From my understanding of how this is handled in our district, I think we do a good job. That doesn’t mean we can’t improve if we feel like we can do more.
Do you believe the district needs to make any changes to improve DEI in your district?
I will have to wait and see if I’m elected to find out if any changes are needed
Are teachers in your district paid adequately now and in retirement?
I don’t have enough information to answer that question.
Would you support changes to teacher pay scales? If so, how?
If the District decides that teacher pay scales need to be adjusted I would support that. I would show support by voting to adjust them. How we would pay for that would be determined.
What is your assessment of the district superintendent’s compensation?
I think it is in line with other superintendent in similar size school districts.
Would you make any changes to how the district superintendent is compensated?
No I don’t see any reason to change the way that the superintendent is compensated.
Do you support the current superintendent? Please explain.
I do support the current person who holds that position. He has proven himself over the years to be reliable and act in the best interests of the district.
Should schools in your district adopt and teach sex education according to the National Sex Education Standards? Please explain.
Yes they should teach sex education according to the National Standards. Students need to learn what is unwanted behavior and what to do if something happens to them.
What is your assessment of how the COVID-19 pandemic was handled locally?
I think that the local school boards made some difficult decisions during that time and overall they did the best that they could under the circumstances. I would have done the same.
What did you learn from the pandemic?
I learned that even in difficult times that communities can overcome very difficult circumstances.
Are voters that support your district taxed at an appropriate level?
Yes I do. As a homeowner I understand the importance of a quality education and how a lower tax rate for education can impact my homes value adversely.
Would you support any plans to raise taxes in the district? If so, what should the additional revenue be spent on?
If I feel that a tax increase is necessary to maintain the quality education that we currently provide, then yes I would support it. I would advocate spending it wherever the school board decides it should be spent.
Would you support lowering taxes in the district? If so, what programs or services in the district would you cut?
If we can maintain the same level of quality education I would agree to a tax cut, but I would not do so if we had to cut programs or services.
Will you accept the voters’ decision in your race on Election Day?
Yes I will! I believe in the democratic system that our country uses and support it.
What is your position on open, transparent government?
I think there are things that are in the best interest of the country that should not be transparent and some that should be more transparent.
Do you support the Freedom of Information Act and citizens’ ability to freely access government records?
As long as it doesn’t impact the security of our country, then I think people have a right to access government records.