Election 2011: Pleasantdale School District Board of Education

Patch contacted each of this year's six candidates running for three open seats on the Pleasantdale School District Board of Education. We asked each of them the same questions regarding their background, qualifications and concerns for the district.

Listed here in no particular order is a look at what the candidates said. Click on the candidate's name to see their full response to our questionnaires.

Gina Scaletta-Nelson

• Home town: Willow Springs
• Family: I am married to Lars Nelson and we have two daughters, Sierra age 8 and Aubrianna age 6.
• Education: Master’s Degree in Teaching from National-Louis University, Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Illinois State University
• Occupation: Adjunct professor at Northeastern University in the MSTQE program.
• Political party affiliation: N/A
• Previous elected offices: None

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

I believe that the most important priority is to provide a system of checks and balances for the district administration. Our school district was recently fined $132,000 as the result of an oversight by three administrators and no one was held accountable. Our tax payers work hard for their money and deserve better than that.

Douglas Gilman

• Home town: Willow Springs
• Age: 47
• Family: Kim, spouse, 44; Julia, Daughter, 10; Mitchell, Son, 8
• Education: BA, Political Science, Hobart College, Geneva, NY
• Occupation: Vice President, Aon

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

Fiscal Responsibility: We cannot assume that we have an unlimited ability to tax and/or borrow to support our investments in education. We must spend our tax revenues carefully and make sure that we realize good returns on our educational investments.

Rick Rigley

• Home town: Burr Ridge
• Age: 46 
• Family: Jennifer, spouse; 3 daughters, ages 16, 14, 11 
• Education: BA- Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences; Political Science – Northwestern University
• Occupation: Director – Strategy and Economics – McDonald’s IT USA
• Political party affiliation: NA
• Previous elected offices: Pleasantdale School Board (2007-2011);

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

My highest priority is to strive to keep the District focused and working toward our mission — to ensure that each student is a passionate learner empowered with the academic and social skills to responsibly choose and excel in life pursuits.

Beth Tegtmeier

• Home town: Countryside
• Age: 42
• Family: Paul, husband, age 41; Alyssa, daughter, age 13; Kimberly, daughter, age 13
• Education: Graduated from LTHS in 1987 and went on to earn a BA in Speech Language Pathology from Saint Xavier University
• Occupation: Child Care Provider
• Previous elected offices: Pleasantdale District 107 School Board

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

I am committed to additional property tax relief. I believe prudent fiscal management will position the District to continue our practice of abating bonds ahead of schedule from fund balance for a period of years. This will result in savings to taxpayers. Particularly in these difficult economic times, taxpayers need a break.  I want to be part of a taxing body that extends tax relief beyond next year without jeopardizing our high quality educational services.

Steve Rockrohr

• Home town: Willow Springs
• Age: 44
• Family: Mary, wife; Max, son, 8; Jackson, son, 7; Elle, daughter, 4
• Education: Bachelors, Illinois State University; Masters, Governors State University
• Occupation: School Administrator- Athletic Director
• Previous elected offices: None

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

The main issue I see the district facing in the near future is state funding, or more accurately put, the lack of state funding. It’s no secret that the state is in a massive budget crisis and is late or negligent in paying a number of its bills. The state is not fully funding school districts to expected levels. As a result, districts are not where they planned to be financially. While there is little or nothing that can be done by a local school board to stop the state from this behavior, it is essential that the school district sees this possible outcome from the state and takes proactive measures in their budgets to prevent this scenario from crippling the district. Fiscal responsibility is of utmost importance, and up to this point, the district has done a wonderful job realizing that. I think it would be prudent to continue that practice. That issue would be the single most important priority.

Lisa Houk

• Age: 50
• Family: John, husband, 50 years; son, 21 years; daughter, 16 years
• Education: BA Indiana University, 1982;Lyons Township High School, 1978.
• Occupation: Business Owner, Large Format Print Production Account Management
• Political party affiliation: N/A
• Previous elected offices: Pleasantdale District 107 School Board, 2007

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

Having the opportunity to serve on the Curriculum Council, I am very excited about the possible implementation of a new initiative, Standards Based Grading and Reporting. This teaching method is an enhancement to current curriculum whereby each student will gain at a minimum a year of academic achievement each school year. Students will gain solid knowledge of material which will build over time, providing critical thinking and in-depth learning.