District 25 School Board Candidate: Richard Olejniczak

Name Richard Olejniczak

How long have you been a resident of District 25? Over 22. 

Biographical Information (optional) family, profession, background, etc. 

I attended Ann Sullivan, MacArthur and graduated from John Hersey High School.  After graduating from West Point, I was commissioned and served in the US Army where over time I became a Major.Upon returning to Arlington Heights, I received a Master's in Engineering Management from Northwestern and an MBA from DePaul University.
My wife, Agnes and I have been married for almost 14 years and have a daughter who attends 1st Grade at Ivy Hill School
I am a member of the school PTA where I am the representative to the Board of Education as well as run several committees.
I am 2nd Vice President for Operations and Project Office and Trustmark Companies in Lake Forest.

Why are you running for the District 25 board? 

I feel strongly in serving the community....  The community that I grew up in.
With a daughter in first grade, I have a long term view on the district, the many challenges that the district faces and the role in the community.
I feel that K - 8 education is key to life-long learning.  Ensuring our district exceeds the common core standards is an important step in that process.
I have the experiences (both academic and business) to help guide the district through these difficult financial times.    To ensure our district is able to provide a wide range of opportunities that prepare students for the world through academic, social, cultural and physical experiences and learnings

What is your opinion on the offering of world languages to younger students in District 25, taking into account the attached costs? 

The “W” in the district’s WIRED program stands for World Focus.  Our children will compete in a world market and being able to communicate in another language makes our children more adaptable and competitive. 
Federal funding for our Chinese languages ended this past year.  The board approved funding for the program in this year’s budget however decided to drop funding in follow-on years.  I feel continued investment in languages is vital.
A compromise may be available by offering languages before or after school.  

What is your opinion of the recently introduced outside evaluation of special education offerings in the school district? 

At the recent board meeting where the review was presented, there was many questions and comment to the report.  The community at large must decide how to best serve the needs of those needing special education.
The report issued by Futures Education is one part of the type of input needed.  The report evaluated the district's program as compared to standards and what other districts of similar size are doing.  This type of comparison is needed to understand how we compare to others, for example transportation norms, or Medicare reimbursement.
Additional input though is needed from the parents and community to better understand the types of needs and services that we as a community feel are important to our children.
Finally we need input from our teachers and administrators as to what types of programs are feasible, based on studies or that our district is even capable of providing.
Because this involves children we must ensure that feedback is received from the community as we continue to evolve the needs of a changing community.

In the search for a new superintendent, what are the qualities you will look for in a new leader for District 25? 

There are three main areas of experience and skills that I would be looking for:
1) Large Organizational Management built on Collaboration and Change Management.  Our district has 9 schools, over 5,000 students, close to 500 teachers and administrators and potentially over 10,000 parents.  With each school having it's own interaction with the community, the superintendent will be leading something similar to a multi national corporation.  Thus experience handling a budget of over $72 million and communicating to the public is imperative
2) Understands technology and has ideas / experience in how to effectively integrate it.Technology is around us and moving so rapidly that we must adapt and continue to determine how to leverage technology to create children who are able to think critically.
The district is spending $1 million a year over three years on technology improvements.  We need to see if this is the right level of investment.  For example, 6 years ago, no one knew what an iPhone was.  This year, mobile devices will outsell desktops and laptops.  High School districts are changing their policies, for example Glenbard High School is now asking that all students bring their iPads to school to use as a learning tool.  
Thus having a superintendent that can see the future of technology is vital
3) Can provide ideas on how they would continue to evolve the WIRED initiative and Strategic Vision 2020.
W - World FocusI - IntegrateR - ReflectE - EngageD - Discover
These are principles that are intended to create students that can think and solve problems critically by assessing varied sources of information and making decisions.  In addition creating confident students that are able to reach out to others in the world.
Thus a superintendent that can provide ideas to continue this focus is vital.

What, if any, improvements would you like to see in the way the board is run? 

Though portions of the board meetings are open to the public and follow a rotational schedule at the various school, I feel increased community involvement would be important.
I feel that this can be attained by reaching out the school PTAs and interacting with them more directly.

Additional comments and/or information you deem important for District 25 voters to know about you. 

Additional information about myself, my background and the challenges that face the district can be found at: www.voteolejniczak.com

I feel that the main challenges facing our district are:
1) Financial Pressures on School District-The school district’s budget is spread thin with decreased federal grants and delayed payments from the state.
2) Classroom Teacher to Student Ratio. Ensuring a ratio that affords learning is a must.
3) Increased Support for World Elementary Languages. Knowing other languages is key to long term success.
4) The potential of Teacher Pensions shifting to School Districts. A shift without filling shortfalls places pressure on taxpayers.