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Name: Paul Troy
What office are you seeking? Huntley School District 158 Board Member
What is your political party? not applicable
What is your current age? 56
Occupation and employer: semi-retired
What offices, if any, have you previously held? I have been on the Huntley District 158 board for the past 16 years.
City: Lake in the Hills
Campaign Website: https://www.facebook.com/paultroy4d158
Education: * Bachelor - Engineering Physics from UIC
* Master - Business Administration from Keller Grad School
* Master - School Business Management from NIU
Community Involvement: Illinois Association of School Boards
First Church of Crystal Lake
Marital status/Immediate family: Yes, I am married with two daughters.
Questions:
Would you make any changes to the district’s medication policy?
No, I would not make changes to the existing medication policy. This policy has been vetted by attorneys and is aligned to current Illinois statutes.
How can the district improve reading and English proficiency and state test scores?
Reading proficiency would be improved with a multi-faceted approach. Progress can be made with a multi-faceted improvements. Implement/enhance a structured reading curriculum that includes systematic phonics instruction and comprehension strategies. Use assessments to identify struggling readers early and provide targeted interventions. The district provides additional support for students reading below grade level through intervention specialists utilizing either small group or 1-to-1 approaches. Lastly, the district works with parents to encourage “Read at Home” to expand the amount of time students dedicate to reading for fun.
If you have children, do they or did they attend public school and was that for all of their K-12 school years?
Both our daughters attended Huntley District 158 for their K-12 schooling.
What do you see as the school district’s role in deciding what materials should be available in the library and in curricula?
District administrators must provide oversight if the librarian book evaluation team unanimously deems a book inappropriate for students. Similarly, a panel of educators and administrators evaluate curriculum and make recommendations to the Board of Education regarding adoption. In accordance with state statutes, curriculum must be on public display for review for 30 days.
Most of local residents' property taxes go to their school districts. Are taxes paid to your school district too high? What would you do to protect the interests of taxpayers?
When comparing property taxes rates against those of neighboring districts, Huntley 158 is among the lowest. During my time on the board, we abated property taxes annually for most than the last decade. Additionally, boards took advantage of low interest rates to strategically refinance debt for the purpose of stabilizing debt payments. Lastly, these past boards utilized Green Initiatives to such as solar arrays across three campuses. These panels have reduced energy consumption leading to lower payments to power companies. Other Green Initiatives have included guaranteed energy savings contracts and buses powered by natural gas and electricity - again, done to lower energy costs. These are a few examples of how I have been engaged to lower expenditures for our district and how I’ve protected the interests of the taxpayers, and brought value to what is being spent on education.
Most of the COVID relief money from the federal government is coming to an end. What spending adjustments does your school district need to make to address that?
The board and the administration knew these funds would end and planned appropriately. The district wisely spent most COVID funds for non-recurring items or services. For that reason, almost no spending adjustments are needed.
Should Title IX cover sexual orientation or gender identity? What are your views on the use of locker rooms and bathrooms by transgender students and their participating in sports?
Yes, I believe Title IX should cover sexual orientation and gender identity, However, I will advocate that the board follows the law as it is written. I would seek out opinions of stakeholders to understand what is on the mind of the community, plus my duty, as stated in the Oath of Office, is to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the land.
What is your stance on ICE agents accessing school grounds, and what policies would you advocate for regarding their presence on school property?
I do not believe it is appropriate for ICE agents to access school grounds. I would work with the district’s administration and legal team to understand what limits the school district can place on ICE agents’ presence on school property. This topic will continue to evolve as will the understanding of what is permissible.
What are the top three issues that the school district is facing right now?
1. Academic learning gaps
2. Long term financial condition of the district
3. Student safety and discipline
What is your position on allowing students to use cell phones during school hours?
I am not a proponent of students using cell phones during school hours. I understand that parents want students accessible at times of “emergency” but people have divergent opinions of what constitutes an actual “emergency”. Overall, I think the downside outweighs the upside. However, the discussion of this topic is fairly new, so opinions and data will continue to evolve, even at the state level where legislators have begun to discuss this topic.
Do you think cell phone policies should allow exceptions for emergencies or specific educational purposes? If so, how would these exceptions be defined?
As I mentioned in the previous question, everyone’s definition of “emergency” is likely different. Until that definition is meticulously defined, I think the downside of cellphones in schools outweighs the upside. With regard to usage for educational purpose, again I think the downside outweighs the upside.
What steps would you take to address concerns about cyberbullying and inappropriate content access through student cell phones?
Again, I think eliminating cell phone or having tight restrictions will limit access to social media and lower cyberbullying. The same applies to inappropriate content. These cellphones are connected to the internet through the provider’s 5G data network. If a student uses a school issued device, then they must use the school’s network, where the school has controls in place to perform content filtering. This content filtering can also track usage for cyberbullying initiators.
Should students be able to use AI in schoolwork?
I do not believe that AI should be permitted on schoolwork because the student’s work would not be reflect’s the student’s ability to synthesize thoughts, compose sentences or present an argument in their own words. However, I could see a point be made that AI helps students solve math problems by showing where a mathematical misstep caused a calculation to go wrong. To me, the use of AI can become a crutch that, when taken away - such as for school testing or college entrance exams - the student will not display mastery of subject matter without the AI.
What is your plan for making district financial reports, including budgets and expenditures, publicly available and easy to understand?
Our district’s financial reports are on public display on a monthly basis. The public is able to access the information and send questions to the board or the CFO. Budgets and expenditure reports are also available to the public. These reports have been supplemented by dashboards to help the board and the public understand in a more concise and even graphical manner what is transpiring.
How would you involve parents and community members in the decision-making process for curriculum or policy changes?
Our district first has regular internal curriculum reviews to determine if an existing curriculum is outdated or needing to be replaced. Once that internal process completes and a recommendation is made to the board, the new curriculum is put on public display for 30 days to give the public a chance to review and ask questions. Policy updates are handled differently because language must be aligned to state and federal statutes. An outside source does those updates and ties the policy to specific court cases and/or statutes so that the board knows what changes are proposed and why.
What is your position on banning books in school libraries or classrooms, and how do you define the criteria for such decisions?
I oppose the banning of most books in school libraries or classrooms, unless the rational is well documented and justified based on age considerations of the content in question. I trust the existing process that includes school librarians and teachers reviewing items.
How would you balance maintaining appropriate class sizes with the current teacher staffing levels?
In District 158, class size guidelines are specified in the collective bargaining agreement. Class sizes are monitored to ensure the number of students is similar from classroom to classroom. A bigger issue may be the number of students in a school, however, I oppose frequent boundary changes being used to address student populations year to year. It’s not fair to some students to be bounced around and not feel connected to peers or their school.
Do you believe the district is allocating enough resources toward hiring and supporting teachers, and if not, what changes would you make?
Yes, I do believe enough resources are being allocated towards hiring and supporting teachers especially in light of the last CBA. Our HR department gets to hiring events early in an effort to seek out people who would be strong candidates for our district. I also feel that supports are available to our teachers.
How will you make sure you are accessible to your constituents?
I have always maintained an “open door” with constituents so that I am approachable, open and honest in person, on the phone or in dialogue over email. I often provide additional supportive data or information and welcome conversations in the public setting. I will not change my level of accessibility going forward.