jon cesaretti
Wilmette District 39 school board
personal statement
Please tell us something about yourself and what would make you an asset to the D39 Board.
I am honored to be running for reelection to the Board of Education. I am a father of two D39 students and one New Trier student. I am married to April and we have lived in Wilmette for nearly 12 years. Professionally, I am a tax partner of a public accounting firm where I specialize in state and local taxation.
I am also running again as I think it is important that the board include veteran members in order to ensure consistency and maintenance of institutional knowledge. I am the current Chair of the Board of Education’s Finance committee.
I am honored to be running for reelection to the Board of Education. I am a father of two D39 students and one New Trier student. I am married to April and we have lived in Wilmette for nearly 12 years. Professionally, I am a tax partner of a public accounting firm where I specialize in state and local taxation.
I am also running again as I think it is important that the board include veteran members in order to ensure consistency and maintenance of institutional knowledge. I am the current Chair of the Board of Education’s Finance committee.
responses to voter guide questions
1. What do you hope to accomplish as a D39 Board member? Please explain why these goals are priorities for you.
My specific goals are as follows:
2. What are your financial priorities for D39 and how will you ensure they are implemented?
The Board has made a commitment to stay within a defined budget.
My priority is to work with the board to think through long term trends that may impact the district in the future and plan for them (Please refer to points #2, #3, and #4 from the prior question).
3. Identify successes and/or failures you have seen in D39’s COVID-19 response, as well as any changes you would like to see while the pandemic continues.
Given the size of the district and the many unknowns related to the virus, I think the district should be given high marks in its overall response.
As a current board member, I am especially grateful that the District has managed to serve our grades K-4 students with in-person school for most of the school year and has developed a hybrid plan (and full remote option) that has worked well for most grades 5-8 students/parents.
4. What are your priorities for D39’s annual strategic planning during your term?
My priorities are to continue to work to make the District’s finances transparent by highlighting and better understanding the larger financial issues that face the district.
In addition, I am concerned about the learning loss due to the pandemic. Of particular concern is our progress in Math. Based on my understanding of our internal testing, a significant portion of students fell behind expected progress at the end of the last school year (at the beginning of the COVID lockdowns). I will be closely watching our progress this year and interested in any necessary remediation efforts to get kids back on track. See especially, page 6 of the linked report.
http://www.wilmette39.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_360846/File/Board%20of%20Ed/PublicPacket/2020-11-16.html
5. How will you work to align D39’s practices with its Statement of Inclusion, and how broadly should these efforts reach (e.g., curriculum, special programming, hiring)?
I think it is especially important for members of a school board to model their behavior around the principles in the Statement of Inclusion. I will continue to self-reflect on my own habits and behaviors with the goal of fulfilling the public’s expectations of an elected member of the school board.
I have seen the District’s commitment to create an inclusive school culture. I trust our administration to continue to do a great job in living our values around the Statement of Inclusion (incorporating these values in curriculum, programming, etc.).
My specific goals are as follows:
- Make sure the Superintendent has the resources and support she needs to continue to manage the district through this current COVID situation and its aftermath;
- Better understand, quantify and convey the extent of Wilmette’s proportionate share of the State’s unfunded pension obligation. A politically expedient answer from the state might someday be to eventually shift all or part of this liability to local school districts. I suggest that our taxpayers should not be surprised by the amount of the liability, if and/or when that day arrives;
- Work with the District to better understand and plan for the long-term cost-benefit of maintaining 50+ year old, but currently reasonably well-maintained, buildings;
- Ensure that District personnel who are covered by Tier II and Tier III reformed pensions (basically the teachers hired beginning in 2011) are paid fairly. My perspective is that these teachers have pensions that are worth a fraction of those of the personnel hired before 2011 and, as such, are working under a fundamentally different compensation structure. We have only begun to address this issue from my perspective;
- Continue working towards better coordination among the various units of local government (Village, Park District, Library District, NT, etc.)
2. What are your financial priorities for D39 and how will you ensure they are implemented?
The Board has made a commitment to stay within a defined budget.
My priority is to work with the board to think through long term trends that may impact the district in the future and plan for them (Please refer to points #2, #3, and #4 from the prior question).
3. Identify successes and/or failures you have seen in D39’s COVID-19 response, as well as any changes you would like to see while the pandemic continues.
Given the size of the district and the many unknowns related to the virus, I think the district should be given high marks in its overall response.
As a current board member, I am especially grateful that the District has managed to serve our grades K-4 students with in-person school for most of the school year and has developed a hybrid plan (and full remote option) that has worked well for most grades 5-8 students/parents.
4. What are your priorities for D39’s annual strategic planning during your term?
My priorities are to continue to work to make the District’s finances transparent by highlighting and better understanding the larger financial issues that face the district.
In addition, I am concerned about the learning loss due to the pandemic. Of particular concern is our progress in Math. Based on my understanding of our internal testing, a significant portion of students fell behind expected progress at the end of the last school year (at the beginning of the COVID lockdowns). I will be closely watching our progress this year and interested in any necessary remediation efforts to get kids back on track. See especially, page 6 of the linked report.
http://www.wilmette39.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_360846/File/Board%20of%20Ed/PublicPacket/2020-11-16.html
5. How will you work to align D39’s practices with its Statement of Inclusion, and how broadly should these efforts reach (e.g., curriculum, special programming, hiring)?
I think it is especially important for members of a school board to model their behavior around the principles in the Statement of Inclusion. I will continue to self-reflect on my own habits and behaviors with the goal of fulfilling the public’s expectations of an elected member of the school board.
I have seen the District’s commitment to create an inclusive school culture. I trust our administration to continue to do a great job in living our values around the Statement of Inclusion (incorporating these values in curriculum, programming, etc.).