Q&A With School Board Candidate Harold Lonks

Harold Lonks is a newer District 200 parent, having moved to Winfield a year and a half ago. He graduated with a bachelor of science from the University of Dayton, and is now the principal of Lonks LLC, providing accounting and financial services. He regularly attends board meetings and says his 30 years of accounting and financial experience would qualify him for a position on the board.

Wheaton Patch: What is your primary reason for running for this office?

Lonks: As a caring and highly involved parent of twin girls in the second grade, I want to improve the current quality of education in the District by looking for ways to restore student programs and teacher development tools that have been either reduced or cut by budget shortfalls.  With my financial background, I will look for ways to reduce expenditures and balance our budget.

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

Lonks: Promoting transparency. Board members are elected to serve the community by overseeing the schools. In these challenging economic times, we need to communicate and work with parents, teachers and taxpayers to solve budgetary issues. Budgets directly impact the quality of our children’s education. I will request all meetings be televised and promptly uploaded online, establish meet- and-greets with board members at the meetings, and move meetings from the service center to schools, increasing community involvement.

Patch: What sets you apart from the other candidates?

I have thirty years of accounting and business experience that will be an asset to strengthen the financial stability of the District.  In addition, I have twins in the second grade, volunteer in their classrooms on a regular basis, and am an active PTA member, so I have direct, hands-on experience with the issues faced in the classroom.

Patch: What is your favorite thing about Wheaton?

Lonks: Wheaton is a family community with strong schools, park district and cultural activities.  Because we have young children, we take advantage of the numerous parks and outdoor space available to all.  And, of course, the Popcorn Shop.

Patch: What is the biggest problem facing District 200?

Lonks: Some of the students are not getting the help they need.  The District’s history of deficit spending and increasing debt has led to teacher layoffs, cuts to sport programs, reduction in aides, increased fees to parents, lack of technology in classrooms and others items which have impacted the quality of education in the district.  We, the board, administrators and teachers, need to find ways to help balance the budget and start restoring the programs that were either cut or reduced.

Patch: What ideas do you have for District 200—Whether new ideas or current issues facing the board?

Lonks: With the revenue being flat or declining, I propose exploring additional partnerships with the business community that will benefit the entire district.  We can evaluate replacing high cost textbooks with electronic devices such as laptops or tablet computers.  We also need to upgrade our classrooms so the students are capable of taking advantage of the wireless digital world.

Patch: What are your thoughts on these issues: eliminating class rank, academic achievement, Hubble?

Lonks: Class rankings have become an issue in Districts that have a large number of highly competitive students.  Students with excellent grades are not getting accepted to colleges because of their overall ranking in the graduating class.  For instance, a college may only accept the top 10% of a class, but District 200 has many excellent students that fall outside the top ten percent. Before making a final decision, I would like additional feedback from the administration, parents, teachers, and universities.

District 200 has a high level of academic achievement which is reflected in high ACT scores. However, only 9 of 19 schools in the District were recognized for passing the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) benchmark.  The remaining 11 schools may need additional resources to help students achieve the benchmark. 

The current board has decided to sell the Old Hubble by sealed bid.  The minimum sales price is $10 million and we have to wait until April for the bid results. If the sealed bid fails, the board will have to consider all possible alternatives for the site which includes selling it to the Park District.