Larry Kociolek, MD MSCI - Incumbent
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For the past 6 years, I have had the privilege to serve on a highly collaborative and successful FSD157c school board that has overseen a period of substantial growth and achievement. We have sustained an exceptionally safe and fiscally responsible educational setting that promotes high achievement and wellness for all learners, a supportive environment for our greatly valued educators, and retention and promotion of effective administrators and leaders. I have lived in Frankfort for 14 years with my wife, Lisa, and three children. I am a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Lurie Children’s where I serve as a physician, scientist, educator, and hospital administrator. My specific area of expertise is the prevention of infections in children, their families, and our hospital staff. My focus on hospital safety and deep understanding of infection transmission allowed me to be a prominent voice to bring our FSD157c children and teachers back to the classroom safely in the fall of 2020, well before schools in the surrounding communities.
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Questions | Answers
According to the Illinois Association of School Boards, one crucial characteristic of a school board member is the ability to represent the entire community and not special interest or partisan groups. What will you do to support the needs of the diverse population within our community?
Diversity among learners, families, and educators is what makes our community strong- this includes racial, ethnic, and/or cultural diversity, in addition to diversity of educational backgrounds, interests, abilities, needs, opinions, and ideas. These differences impact how our children learn, and they contribute to the unique educational needs and challenges among learners. As a 157c board member for the past 6 years, my commitment has been to all learners in our district. To effectively and sustainably address the needs of all learners, I will continue to seek to understand the breadth of needs of our learners. I will do this by engaging with members of the community, asking questions, strategizing solutions, and advocating for what we as a district can do to best to address our learners’ needs. I will empower our families and educators to advocate for our learners, particularly those who are underrepresented and have unmet needs, and I will engage in respectful and open dialogue about gaps and opportunities. I will support our current social emotional learning initiatives that expand our district’s ability to meet the needs of all learners.
How would you address the increasing concerns surrounding mental health and bullying within schools? Please be specific with changes you would like to see or additions you would recommend.
I have been a very strong advocate for mental health support for our learners during my 6 years as a 157c board member, and I will continue to prioritize mental health services for our learners. During my tenure on the board, I have strongly supported expansion of mental health personnel and resources, and we now have a large team of at least 3 social workers and 1 psychologist in each school in our district. I will expect to receive an annual mental health resource needs assessment from our superintendent to ensure mental health needs are adequately supported. Our social workers and psychologists are not only equipped to respond to every day mental health issues, but they are also trained to rapidly respond to traumatic events, such as parental divorce, a medical emergency, or death of a family member or schoolmate. This mental health team also provides training to teachers to improve their ability to recognize mental health needs of learners and promptly refer for services. I will additionally encourage Tiger University educational events for parents to learn about signs of mental illness in children and how parents can seek mental health services for their children through the district and in the community.
I will continue to support our social emotional learning initiatives, which provide important developmentally appropriate skills to learners that will improve mental health and prevent bullying, such as stress management, peer conflict resolution, and building healthy relationships and friendships. I was a strong advocate for working with Frankfort Police Department to hire a district School Resource Officer. Officer Riff has been a strong presence and role model for our learners, and he has been integral in promoting student relationship building and preventing bullying. I will continue to support an annual Tiger University educational event for parents to learn about internet safety and how to recognize, prevent, and respond to cyber bullying. In addition to learners, we must also prioritize mental health resources for our educators and staff. I will continue to support wellness programs for our staff and ensure staff benefit packages provide mental health coverage.
Do you feel it is a conflict of interest to have financial investments with any companies that our district contracts with? Why or why not?
It is certainly a conflict of interest to have a financial stake in companies that do business in our district. Although I do not have any financial investments with any companies with whom our district contracts, I am confident that conflicts of interest can be reconciled through several mechanisms to ensure ethical business practices. For example, all board members (and candidates) are required to declare their conflicts in writing to Will County on an annual basis. Board members, district administrators, and the community should familiarize themselves with board member and candidate declared conflicts and report concerns about unresolved conflicts. In addition, to ensure school district fiscal responsibility, for contracts and capital improvements that meet a certain cost threshold, Illinois school finance regulations require district acceptance of the lowest responsible bid that meets the needs of the project (e.g., timeline, specifications, etc.). It is the responsibility of the district business director to publicly present details of bids to board members only after all bids have returned. These measures prevent board members from gaining a competitive advantage in the bidding process. Finally, board members are expected to abstain from voting on action items for which they have a conflict of interest. These multiple layers of oversight permit appropriate reconciliation of conflicts of interest and ensure responsible business practices.
Diversity among learners, families, and educators is what makes our community strong- this includes racial, ethnic, and/or cultural diversity, in addition to diversity of educational backgrounds, interests, abilities, needs, opinions, and ideas. These differences impact how our children learn, and they contribute to the unique educational needs and challenges among learners. As a 157c board member for the past 6 years, my commitment has been to all learners in our district. To effectively and sustainably address the needs of all learners, I will continue to seek to understand the breadth of needs of our learners. I will do this by engaging with members of the community, asking questions, strategizing solutions, and advocating for what we as a district can do to best to address our learners’ needs. I will empower our families and educators to advocate for our learners, particularly those who are underrepresented and have unmet needs, and I will engage in respectful and open dialogue about gaps and opportunities. I will support our current social emotional learning initiatives that expand our district’s ability to meet the needs of all learners.
How would you address the increasing concerns surrounding mental health and bullying within schools? Please be specific with changes you would like to see or additions you would recommend.
I have been a very strong advocate for mental health support for our learners during my 6 years as a 157c board member, and I will continue to prioritize mental health services for our learners. During my tenure on the board, I have strongly supported expansion of mental health personnel and resources, and we now have a large team of at least 3 social workers and 1 psychologist in each school in our district. I will expect to receive an annual mental health resource needs assessment from our superintendent to ensure mental health needs are adequately supported. Our social workers and psychologists are not only equipped to respond to every day mental health issues, but they are also trained to rapidly respond to traumatic events, such as parental divorce, a medical emergency, or death of a family member or schoolmate. This mental health team also provides training to teachers to improve their ability to recognize mental health needs of learners and promptly refer for services. I will additionally encourage Tiger University educational events for parents to learn about signs of mental illness in children and how parents can seek mental health services for their children through the district and in the community.
I will continue to support our social emotional learning initiatives, which provide important developmentally appropriate skills to learners that will improve mental health and prevent bullying, such as stress management, peer conflict resolution, and building healthy relationships and friendships. I was a strong advocate for working with Frankfort Police Department to hire a district School Resource Officer. Officer Riff has been a strong presence and role model for our learners, and he has been integral in promoting student relationship building and preventing bullying. I will continue to support an annual Tiger University educational event for parents to learn about internet safety and how to recognize, prevent, and respond to cyber bullying. In addition to learners, we must also prioritize mental health resources for our educators and staff. I will continue to support wellness programs for our staff and ensure staff benefit packages provide mental health coverage.
Do you feel it is a conflict of interest to have financial investments with any companies that our district contracts with? Why or why not?
It is certainly a conflict of interest to have a financial stake in companies that do business in our district. Although I do not have any financial investments with any companies with whom our district contracts, I am confident that conflicts of interest can be reconciled through several mechanisms to ensure ethical business practices. For example, all board members (and candidates) are required to declare their conflicts in writing to Will County on an annual basis. Board members, district administrators, and the community should familiarize themselves with board member and candidate declared conflicts and report concerns about unresolved conflicts. In addition, to ensure school district fiscal responsibility, for contracts and capital improvements that meet a certain cost threshold, Illinois school finance regulations require district acceptance of the lowest responsible bid that meets the needs of the project (e.g., timeline, specifications, etc.). It is the responsibility of the district business director to publicly present details of bids to board members only after all bids have returned. These measures prevent board members from gaining a competitive advantage in the bidding process. Finally, board members are expected to abstain from voting on action items for which they have a conflict of interest. These multiple layers of oversight permit appropriate reconciliation of conflicts of interest and ensure responsible business practices.
