Politics & Government

Election 2013: Ann Gentile

Ann Gentile is running for Orland School District 135 Board of Education in the April 2013 election.

Campaign Info

  • Position Sought: Orland School District 135 Board of Education
  • Website: http://ann4135kids.com/
  • Email: anngentile@ann4135kids.com
  • Phone: (708) 417-6923
  • Hometown: Orland Park
  • Family: Daniel, husband; Alexandria, daughter; Luke, Jack and Joseph, sons
  • Education: District 230, 1987 High School Diploma
  • Occupation: Mother of four children. Owner Commercial/Industrial Building Management and Maintenance 1987- 1996 Owner Residential and Commercial Real Estate 1994-Present Volunteer: March of Dimes Ambassador Family for 2001 and 2002 Southwest Suburban Montessori Classroom Volunteer 1998-Present Advocate for Children and Families with Disabilities in IL 2002-Present Orland Park Special Recreation Volunteer Knights of Columbus Collection Day Volunteer D135 Head Room Parent/Class Volunteer from 2002-Present D135 Art Awareness Volunteer D135 Parent Advisory Committee Member for Special Education D135 PFE Member for 2002-Present Elected or Appointed Positions: D135 School Board Member 2009-2013 D135 School Board Secretary 2009-2011 D135 School Board Vice President 2011-2013 SCOPE/South Cooperative Organization for Public Education Committee 2009-2013 SCOPE Executive Committee 2012-Present
  • Political Party Affiliation: non-partisan

Personal Info

Candidate Questions

Why are you seeking office?

I believe that my continued passion and dedication in making successful collaborative educational choices on behalf of our community and families will allow each child to reach their fullest potential in a safe environment.

What will be your single most important priority if you get elected?

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Delivering and protecting a high quality education for District 135 students in a safe environment.

What sets you apart from other candidates? 

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I do not support any special interest groups that benefit from school board decisions. I have been a small business owner since 1987 identify and create solutions to tough complex problems. I also have three of my four children attend District 135 and are all enrolled in three different levels of programming, and have volunteered for our district since 2001.

Over the last two years there have been a few sudden staffing changes, including the demotion of Melanie Walsh and putting in an interim superintendent while paying the former superintendent’s salary. Given legal and salary costs involved, should the board consider other means of addressing employee issues, and if so what would you do if elected or re-elected to do so?

Your question references a specific individual who was directly related to an individual in control of the hiring process, as our actions were affirmed through the Illinois Judicial System. I originally brought up the institution of a Nepotism Policy in 2009 when I was first elected. Historically, the District had worked on an honor system, which resulted in 60% of the employee in the District being related. Of our total expense $36 million dollars is going to family members. Additionally, how can we rely on people to properly supervise, discipline and in some cases terminate employees where necessary. When we don’t know who are friends with whom and individual’s doing favors for others, the task becomes impossible to properly manage staff. Nepotism is a significant problem within the District and the individual you specifically referenced was such a heinous case of abuse of the system that if forced the board to unanimously vote to completely rewrite the nepotism policy. Who ultimately pays the price for nepotism? The children of our community. 

How do you propose the school district better communicate the importance of, and better prepare students and parents for, pilots of new educational programs, especially ones geared toward the Common Core standards?

We offer a number of resources located on our website along with additional evening parent events specifically illuminating the CCS. Our Director of Curriculum, Lynn Zeder, is always available to assist and open to suggestions at the student, parent, teacher and building administrator level if need occur.

Concerns have been brought up about communication between board members outside of quorum and in violation of board policy. If elected or re-elected, what will you do to rectify these concerns, and do you recommend any new policies to be adopted? 

This situation has been difficult for quite some time. During negotiations we had a board member openly passing closed session information to the Union and undermining our negotiating position. After discussing the situation with the Board Attorney, we were told there was very little we could do to stop the individual and there were no repercussions for their actions. The individual’s actions significantly impacted the district’s negotiating position and will potentially cost the taxpayers of Orland Park millions of dollars over the next few years. The damage caused by individuals who disclose closed information is a significant problem but impossible to definitively prove without the individual actually admitting it. If the Patch’s Legal Investigative Team, PLIT knows of some law, or the person who raised these concerns to the Patch which lead you to include this question know of a specific Illinois law please contact our Board Attorneys and we will certainly give it serious consideration. 

Do you think the school district should consider a fund balance policy, and why? If so at what amount should it be set?

No, I believe that a policy would prevent us from having funds available to meet our payroll when state and cook county payments are consistently late.

Revenue from the state continues to dry up, while residents are also dealing with rising costs. Please rank the following in the order you feel the district should be focused on for meeting the district’s costs in light of these issues. 1) Staff Cuts 2) Contract Renegotiations 3) Operating Expense Cuts 4) Tax Increases 5) Other Funding Sources. Please also explain your reasoning.

Contract Renegotiations, Staff Cuts, Operating Expense Cuts, Other Funding Sources and Tax Increases. The District should focus like a laser on Other Funding Sources.  We have instituted a Contractual Relationship with the Teachers where their compensation is directly tied to the District’s Revenues.  This structure should be expanded to all our compensation structures that would give the District sustainability.  Controlling the most significant portion of our budget we a key step in the process.  Our District is receiving less than 10% of our budget from non-property taxes based revenues.  Other districts are as high as 80% or above in non-property tax funding.  When are our representatives going to fight for our kids’ schools?  These funding levels are dictated by the State and Federal Government.  Who represents Orland Park? 

Do you think board members, or potential board members, should have to submit for background checks? Why or why not?

Yes.

What can schools do to increase safety?

Make it a priority.

The possibility of buying Tax Anticipated Warrants to then loan money out to other school districts and accumulate interest on the return has been discussed in the past. 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? 

This was talked about but never implemented.

Have you ever been charged with a crime? Were you convicted? If yes, please say what the charge was, and what was the case's outcome as it stands.

Never charged with a crime.

Are there any candidates in other races you would like to endorse here?

Nathan Jaisingh and Tom Cunningham.

Read about the other D135 candidates in the April 2013 election.


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