2011 Election Issues: Joseph S. LaMargo, Orland School District 135 Candidate

Four candidates are competing for three seats in this year's race. Patch sat down with candidate last week to discuss the district's finances and how the level of communication might be improved.

Other candidates who would prefer to speak face to face, rather than submit a written response, are welcome to schedule an interview.

JM: In your opinion, what are the greatest challenges the district faces, and how do you propose to solve them?

JL: I think the biggest issue facing the district is the fact that they’ve got so much money that they’re not spending, and they’re overtaxing us. They’re really not taking an in-depth study and doing a strategic plan for the school district to figure out: what is it we need to earmark this money for? Where is it going and how is it being spent? And they’re really just putting it all in reserves. There seems to be no clear cut plan, no strategic plan that I’ve seen that the school board has. They don’t have a fund balance policy in place.

The other challenge is they have a decreasing enrollment and they have antiquated equipment at the schools that, I think, for a community as healthy as Orland Park, we should have the latest technologies.

Are there any technological investments the district should make, for example e-readers to take the place of buying new editions of textbooks?

The other thing is the training for the teachers. I sat down with some teachers and part of the issue is that they are given new technology, but they’re not provided the training for that technology. I think if you invest in the teachers and invest in the equipment it will go so far. And that’s the thing, it’s like, ‘Here’s an interactive white board’—they don’t know how to use it. ‘Well, here’s a manual.’ Well, train them. I’m sure most of these companies have some sort of training that goes along with it. It usually is included in the price, but I’m going on what I’ve heard from the teachers at 135. Of course I haven’t looked at the contracts.

I can tell you that I have three boys who go to three schools in Orland Park. In 135: Meadow Ridge, Center (School) and Century (Jr. High). And the only one of my students who has a white board is my sixth grader at Century, and it’s in one class. I take that back—it’s not a white board, but it’s something close to a white board in his mathematics class. With everything that they’re doing, they should have the latest equipment for it.

They finally…did get a grant for…a sensory room for children with autism. I know they’ve been looking for a sensory room for quite some time and it kept being pushed on...And I think that’s just incomprehensible to even think they would not provide or earmark some dollars for a sensory room for children with special needs. I know Stagg High School had a sensory room and it consisted of a bean bag chair, a trampoline…different color streamers, different types of lights, soft music, hammock. I’m not a special education teacher, but from what I observed it didn’t seem like it would cost that much money.

But then again…I’m not a board member. As a board member I would have said, ‘Let’s do a break down, and see how much do one of these rooms cost. And what do we have? Maybe we can do it over a couple of years.' I think it’s very important. I think with the special needs kids and kids with disabilities, you get them now. As I always tell my three children while I’m doing math with them, and my wife and I are having them go over and over and over their addition and subtraction—crying to us, ‘why do we have to do this?’—my response to them is: ‘You guys, this is the foundation. Everything builds upon that, and you don’t have to be a teacher to know that. And if you do ask a teacher about it, they’ll tell you. I’m very involved with my children and their education and meetings and whatnot, and they’ll say, ‘Have them practice flash cards. Have them read every night.’ So a child who is having a reading comprehension issue, it should be caught early and resolved.

My son has a borderline learning disability. He’s not eligible for all of the resources the school has to offer because of the state standards…but he is eligible for some of them…So when I was sitting down with the learning resource center teacher…and she had this old monitor…and I said, ‘Oh, my god,’ I haven’t seen one of those boxing monitors in years. She said, ‘Yeah, that computer has been rebuilt three times.’ Now, this is the individual that has the responsibility to get my second grader’s reading comprehension up, and she’s working with antiquated equipment. Her response was, ‘Yes.’ I was at a candidate’s forum—which was very informative—last week and they basically invited all the candidates and they had all the department directors ahead. And they were really proud of how they do a lot in-house, which is great. But they’re talking about rebuilding computers and I’m thinking to myself, ‘No.’ Yes, if you need to rebuild a shelf or something…but when it comes to the educational materials for children they should have the latest and the best.

I’m not saying that when I go in there I’m going to open the floodgates and say, ‘Here, let’s do everything.’ We need to go line by line with the budget and come up with a strategic plan—I like to call it performance-based budgeting. So if you want new moneys for, let’s just say, computers, what are the benefits of these new computers going to be? And if it seems like, ‘Yes this will help us’…then, by-golly, yes, I have no issue funding that program. But I think we really need to just be conscience of how we spend our dollars.

Enrollment has gone down in District 135 steadily since 2005. How would you cut costs in the district to stay in line with the needs of the student population, but also not to overburden taxpayers in a weaker economy than years past when enrollment was higher?

We just had the 2010 census completed. So, I think the first thing we want to do is wait until we get the official numbers from the census to really determine if this trend is going to continue with the downward enrollment.

The one thing you don’t want to do is cut programs. You don’t want to cut gym or art or music…because those are arts, those are things that stimulate the mind and learning. I know my one son we’re talking about putting in music next year, teach him an instrument because studies have shown that will help with his reading comprehension…School is very stressful these days…It kind of helps to give them a little break, decompresses them a little bit.

Two options to cut costs brought up by staff and current board members is to eliminate some specialist positions (P.E., arts, social work, media specialists) and to close Park School. Do you think either of these are viable options? Why or why not?

I think the last thing you want to do is eliminate jobs, that support staff, those programs…Look at other ways of funding that, whether it’s through grants—and again…I think that’s the benefit of having three kids in the school district; we hear about their day every day; we have dinner every night and it’s about gym, about bringing home the art work and all that stuff.

Here’s the bottom line—look at the school district’s budget. They have enough money to fund that (specialist positions). They claim that they were going to have a $550,000 deficit this year. Instead of raising the levy just to cover that deficit…they increased the levy by the maximum amount, which was 4.6 percent, which is going to generate about $3 million. My question is: What are you doing with that other $2.5 million? I’ve a feeling $2.5 million will fund those things. So you know what? To me, it’s a mute point…That’s a problem…

When you look at the staffing and where everything is, instead of eliminating a position, you can merge or take that resource some place else where you need a little bit more assistance. You can see where the strengths and weaknesses are of the school district and work that way. I never want to see anyone lose a job. That would break my heart. My father lost his job…I lived as a child whose parent lost his job, and the struggles that you face. As a child you have no bills, but the stress is still on you. I think there’s ways to make things more efficient. Also, what I don’t want to see—we have a healthy budget, very health reserve, very healthy school district in general—I don’t want to see 30 students in a classroom, either…It becomes overwhelming. The student is going to get lost. The teacher is not going to be able to give that individual attention.

Many people move to Orland Park because of the school districts, but we could do better. There’s always room for improvement, there’s always room to work smarter. Now, the thing I want to do before we start shutting down schools—because you’re moving a child who has become comfortable in a school and to just uproot him…that’s difficult on a child…One thing that you could do with Park School is to really evaluate it, maybe do a phase out with Park School if they decided to…

I went to Lewis University. I’ve had classes in old school buildings and strip malls. You want to talk about revenue-generating—come out with an intergovernmental agreement or some sort of agreement with a university or community college. Maybe work something out with the village, where you’re renting it out for classroom space or what have you. There are just so many different things. Without having all the facts…and with a little bit of research, that’s the way I would do it.

You have these PFE meetings…I’ve been to a number of them. And I’ve been to a few board meetings. And I have yet to see where any information from a PFE meeting gets up to a board members level. Going into PFE meetings, they’ve said, ‘You’re the first candidate or board member to come to us.’ Get their input. Those are the parents who are so involved in the schools…Everyone has a vested interest in their children. Every taxpayer has a vested interest in the buildings in the village…The PFEs are hands on, and you talk to them and find out you’re a representation of the parents…Get their thoughts, get their input, too. There’s nothing wrong with pulling ideas from other things. As a board member, you should. That is being an advocate for the children and being an advocate for the taxpayers…

We’re a part of a PFE with Meadow Ridge. I get an e-blast. It goes to every single parent in Meadow Ridge. They are a huge resource…We could create a survey and get information. ‘Hey, what are your thoughts?’ We live in a very sophisticated area. We have smart people who live in this village, and we should utilize that. Sometimes someone is just waiting to be asked…

Staff recently brought up buying Tax Anticipated Warrants to loan money out to other school districts and accumulate interest on the return. If the district has enough money to be able to loan out to other schools, should the district still be requesting the maximum tax levy possible? Why or why not?

I think it’s appalling that they even entertained the idea. We know that they’re not doing it at this point in time. If I’m on the school board there is no way I would approve that, ever…The reason for why people come to Orland Park besides the services they receive from the village and the fire protection district and the police department and the library, and all that, are for the schools…I’m the only candidate to speak out against House Bill 1886 and that’s essentially what this is. They’re doing House Bill 1886 in-house right now, because if you’re taking my tax dollars and you’re spending in my community, why are you spending them out there? Again, I don’t understand it, and I’m trying to wrap my head around it. You’re crying poor…‘I have to raise the money, but I have enough to lend to somebody else.’ It makes no sense. It’s a contradictory statement and a contradictory act. That no one is questioning it is just ridiculous…

The other ridiculous thing, too, is them breaking the intergovernmental agreement with the village of Orland Park (which shared baseball fields with the village). You know, ‘We don’t have enough money, so we have to raise your taxes, but we’re going to break an intergovernmental agreement we’ve had with the village since…the early 80s.’ Who said, ‘Hey, the village knows how to maintain parks at no cost to the school district that are adjacent to the schools,’ that the schools own and enjoy, and in return the village gets to schedule the fields for non-school activities…And yet, for some reason, they broke this intergovernmental agreement; they took over the maintenance of the parks, which again, you don’t have to be a financial analyst to understand that it’s going to cost more money for equipment and man-hours—man-hours that could be used to do something else…The responsibilities board members have is to make sure they set policy for the administration to follow, so that our children get the best education. Their job is not to schedule baseball games…not to be a bank…

House Bill 1886 and other proposed state legislation involve the possibility of consolidating school districts across the state. What are your thoughts on such an action, and how it could affect District 135?

It’s just as bad, if not worse, than loaning our money out to other school districts, because that’s what it’s going to do. You are going to take the decision-making process out of your community and leave it up to somebody’s uncle’s sister somewhere who has no interest at all, or who cares…There might be a lot of animosity. There could be some repercussions because people are saying, ‘Orland Park, they have enough. They’re just a bunch of rich people. They don’t need anymore.’ Maybe this would work someplace down state, or in a small rural area that they may have five students in a classroom. But for a community as large as Orland Park and as large as Tinley Park…with communities that large, you cannot take that decision-making away from the local community. It would be a disservice—a disservice—to take that authority away from the community…I am really shocked that no other candidate from 135 has come out and spoken about it…Whether I win, lost or draw this election, I am still opposed to House Bill 1886 because of my kids…Why should 70 percent of my tax bill, which is what the school districts gets, be split up and taken someplace else? Why? Are you going to re-evaluating the tax system? Because I’d love to have a $1,500 tax bill. But that ain’t gonna happen.

I live in a 1,900 square-foot townhome, middle unit, no backyard…My tax bill for this first installment, just under $3,500…Basically doubt that, or add 45 percent…My tax bill is over $6,200 a year. Seventy percent of that goes to the school districts… and when I find out you’re not spending it on technology and resources and teachers and whatever my children need, and not only my children but everyone else’s children…that’s appalling…

During a recent board meeting, D135 HR director Julie Oberwise said one group with rising enrollment numbers are children who need early intervention services. Given that the district is looking to cut costs, how can the district continue to support this group?

You need to keep these children involved so that they don’t get into trouble. You’ve got to get them when they’re young. They’ve got to teach them when they’re young. You can’t put a price on that. You’re laying the foundation for your children’s future through early intervention. Why do you think in some of these inner cities you have kids committing all these heinous crimes, and kids killing other kids and beating them up and bullying them? Why? There’s no intervention there. Do what you want to do. We have a sense of community. In our neighborhood—I live in Mission Hills—we watch out for each other…

This is where you have to start becoming creative. You have to start looking at grants from state, federal, wherever…If you want to invest in something, invest in someone who knows how to write grants…They found the grant finally (to support early intervention services), which is great: kudos to them…Let’s get grants before we say, ‘Hey, we don’t have any money. Our pockets are empty.’ The village of Orland Park—the reasons it’s as successful as it is, is not because we have all this money coming in, we have talented people over there and the board members challenge staff members to figure out ways to provide services. It’s like my staff. I have a girl who’s on maturity leave; we’re short a person. So guess what? Everything still has to be done, and we have no money to hire anyone else, even part-time. So guess what? You got to figure out a way to make it work without raising taxes. The days of going to the taxpayers is over. It’s over with. It is over. There is going to be a revolt on everything. You can’t shake that tree anymore than it is. You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip. I have no more money to give, and I think I’m a pretty good representation of the residents in Orland Park…

District 135 has shown efficiency by doing certain contracting work in-house, such as repairing Orland Junior High’s west wall after the bus crashed into it. Are there any other tasks the district outsources that you think could be done in-house and should be done that way?

Yes, and they did that by being creative. Let me just go back to the intergovernmental agreement. That was something they didn’t have to do in-house. They were able to work with the village and there was no cost to either party—well, I should say that, there was a cost to the village because the village was already doing it for their own parks…I’m sure there’s a lot of talent in that (Administrative Center) building. I’m not sure what all of it is, because I’m not in there, so it’s hard to comment on something that I don’t know exactly all that they’re capable of doing…I would currently utilize the resources that you have and utilize to them to their fullest of their ability. I would also look at intergovernmental agreements that aren’t a cost to the schools to maybe save…

Does the current board engage in enough debate and discussion before voting?

No. The meetings that I’ve attended there was next to no discussion. It was all (stomps hand on table) yes, no and that, and the teachers that I’ve spoken to and other people who have a vested interest in this school district…they have told me that they get so frustrated sitting in the audience when it’s just purely, here’s the business manager or the superintendent saying something and (the board) is taking it verbatim, saying, ‘OK, great. No problem.’ Who’s working for who? The board members work for the community. The administration works for the board. And that’s who they report to. And as a board member I’m going to create conversation, and maybe the decision might still be the same, which is fine. At least you can go back and say listen, ‘We covered all the bases.’ There may be some discussion that it’s like, well, ‘Hey we need new pencils,’ or something where it’s like it is what it is. But there’s definitely not discussion on other items. I’m not going there to start creating animosity. I want to be able to work with other board members, and I believe I can, because that’s the only way to get things accomplished. What I want is for people to start thinking critically. You’ve got to be a critical thinker when you’re in this position…

Do you have any past arrests and/or convictions?

Absolutely not.

But I might as well say this, real quick: Not only do I have the educational experience by having my BA in Economics from Loyola (University) and a master’s in leadership and public policy from Lewis University, I’m also a Marist graduate. I’ve also been a budget analyst with the county of Cook. This is back in the early 90s…with the Bureau of Finance…so I understand the budgeting side. I then moved on as the Deputy Director of Tax and Real Estate for David Orr…When Jesse White’s office was the recorder of deed office, which was one of my budgets, same thing with David Orr, so I have a good reputation with being honest with them and assisting them when they needed assistance. When Jesse White came over, I was asked to be the budget liaison for the chief of staff for the Secretary of State’s office. I also then became promoted to internal deputy auditor for the Illinois Secretary of State’s office. I worked with the Inspector General’s office, where I did forensic audits, which is a very in depth detailed type of audit, really getting to the nitty gritty of stuff. And then I promoted as Chief Deputy Director of Accounting of Revenue for the Illinois Secretary of State’s office. Then there was an opening as village deputy clerk and I wanted to do more—even though I had administrative experience with those things—I like more of the administrative work, and so I found that very interesting. I became the village deputy clerk for the village of Orland Park. And those are are my qualifications…