FS_030917

8 | March 9, 2017 | The frankfort station Election 2017
frankfortstation.com
Frankfort School District 157-C Board of Education member (3 For 3 Four-year seats)
Name: Brett Cosich
Occupation: Entrepreneur
Age: 39
Elected political experience:
None
Why are you running for
Cosich
Board of Education?
I feel a personal responsibility to give
back to the district. I graduated from
Frankfort Junior High in 1992, and now
have three of my own children in the
district. I want to do everything that I
can to ensure that this district continues
to offer the best learning environments,
teachers, and opportunities for our
students for many years to come.
Name: Chris R. McFadden
Occupation: Attorney
Age: 41
Elected political experience:
Frankfort School District 157-
C Board of Education from
2011-2015; Lincoln-Way
Community High School District
210 Board of Education
from 2015-2016)
Why are you running for Board of
Education?
I believe in the importance of public
education. My wife, Sarah, and I have
lived in Frankfort since 2009, and we
have three young children who are or will
be students of this District. I would like
Giordano
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McFadden
What do you see as the three biggest
issues or factors facing the district, and
how do you plan to address them?
First, fiscal responsibility is a neverending
challenge for any district. A fine
balance must be struck in order to have a
maximum return to our students on these
investments. Secondly, technology is advancing
faster than at any point in the last
century, and commitments must be made
to ensure that our students will be properly
equipped for continued success in tomorrow’s
economy. Lastly, I believe the district
will need to continue to attract and
retain the best leaders and teachers, so that
157-C’s high-achieving standards can be
maintained.
to help our schools build upon their tradition
of excellence while maintaining fiscal
responsibility.
Moreover, I have successfully commanded
a wide variety of emergency incidents,
including rescue, fire suppression, multiple
vehicle pin-in crashes and hazardous
materials incidents. Now, as a tenured
college professor and program coordinator
for Fire Science Technology and
Emergency-Disaster Management, I lead
and manage the most successful AAS degree
career programs at Harper College,
which is recognized by the National Fire
and Emergency Services Higher Education
Program through the United States
Fire Administration. The program I have
developed and continue to lead is only
the 4th out of 48 community colleges in
Illinois to have earned this national recognition.
What makes you the best candidate for the
position?
I am the best candidate for the position
of Village trustee because of my extensive
public service and management experience,
as well as my ability to adapt to any
situation. I have a passion for success, and
my goal-oriented demeanor pushes me to
accomplish any and all tasks that I set for
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What makes you the best candidate for
the position?
I feel that my many years of business
and consulting experience gives me a
unique lens to view our district. I believe
that I will be able to leverage my knowledge
in technology to assist in strategizing
for the future, both in planning and
negotiating. Additionally, I recently received
my MBA from the University of
Notre Dame, where many of my contemporaries
were engineers. That experience
has given me a firsthand perspective on
the academic skill sets that will be required
to ensure future career successes
for our children.
What do you see as the three biggest
issues or factors facing the district, and
how do you plan to address them?
We need to maintain student achievement,
minimize our property tax burden,
and ensure transparent decision making.
Our administrative team has a long history
of meeting each of these challenges.
During my prior four years on the board,
including two years as board president,
we involved all stakeholders in major decisions.
I hope that we continue working
with the community as we seek to protect
our valuable assets, preserve our traditions
and promote academic and fiscal
excellence.
What makes you the best candidate for
the position?
The other board members and I have
a record of maintaining low taxes while
promoting student achievement. I am
proud of the work that we accomplished
during my last term of 2011-2015, and I
ask for the opportunity to continue working
on behalf of the teachers, students,
and taxpayers of this district. My experience
as a past board president, a son of
lifelong public school teachers, and an attorney
and adjunct lecturer all give me a
unique perspective regarding the needs of
our community schools.
myself. Also, with my personable character
I can collaborate and communicate effectively
with others to contribute to team
efforts. In all that I do I will strive to make
Frankfort a destination. We will make all
neighborhoods incredible, have remarkable
businesses in Frankfort, and increase
the variety of retail businesses in all areas
of our community. To accomplish this, we
would need to work together and develop
partnerships with qualified developers
and other governmental agencies. Additionally,
our Village would be the safest
community in all of the south suburbs
by focusing on community policing and
crime prevention.
Name: Gina Briese
Occupation: Nurse case manager
Age: 46
Elected political experience: Current
school board member of District 157-C;
Board present from 2015-present
Year first elected to current office: 2013
Why are you running for Board of
Education?
I am running for re-election to the Board
of Education for several reasons. First,
to provide stability and experience to the
school board. We will have a relatively
young board with three open seats this
election and three of the four open seats
filled by new members two years ago. I
feel it is important to have stability for the
health of the district. Second, the district
has many great things happening that were
initiated during my first term that I would
like to see through completion which
would include new technology initiatives,
STEM offerings, teacher leader positions,
and new math initiatives, to name a few.
What do you see as the three biggest
issues or factors facing the district, and
how do you plan to address them?
1. Implementation of the 1:1 technology
initiative: I plan to evaluate the success of
the program in regards to cost and outcomes
2. Potential financial challenges from a
possible pension reform legislation measure
and a possible property tax freeze: I plan to
encourage continued balanced budgets and
continued monitoring for wasteful spending
3. The potential for any changes Lincoln
Way Community High School District 210
may make that would impact 157-C: I will
stay informed of proposed changes and engage
with D210 board members and administration
in an attempt to prevent changes
that would negatively impact 157-C students
and taxpayers.
What makes you the best candidate for
the position?
I am the best candidate for the position as
I have proven record of successful progress
for the district over the last four years including
a balanced budget, abating taxes every
year, successful negotiation of a four year
contract with the teacher’s union, hiring a
strong, ambitious superintendent, improved
standardized test scores, the addition of an
orchestra program and other new extracurricular
offerings and much more. I am proud
to serve on the board of education and enjoy
making a positive difference for the students
and the taxpayers of this district.