SCHOOL BOARD VACANCY SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE
Candidate’s Name: __Joseph F. Amato, M.D.____________________________________
Contact Address: _1215
Contact Telephone Number:
_________________________________________________
Contact Email Address:
_____________________________________________________
Please answer all questions and send a completed questionnaire by January
16 via email to:
1. Please state your
professional or volunteer activities with K-12 education, either in the
I
have been a volunteer or paid assistant football coach at
2. What personal traits,
skills, or experiences would you bring to the position that you feel would make
you an effective board member?
I am the chief
financial officer for a local physician group.
In an environment of declining reimbursement, increasing overhead, and
government mandates, I’ve learned that attention to cost is what turns gross
receipts into net revenue.
I grew up in
3. What do you think is the
most pressing issue in the Worthington Schools?
Since ex-governor
Taft and the Ohio Legislature have changed the tax structure for business as it
pertains to the funding of education, providing for the long term financial
stability of Worthington Schools is our most pressing issue.
4. If it were necessary to
make substantial cuts in the expenditures of the district, what areas would you
cut first, and what areas would you seek to preserve?
What would I
preserve if cuts became necessary? Since
we are in the business of teaching, I would try to maintain the student to
teacher ratio and try to keep our diverse curriculum.
If finances
dictate that we need to reduce costs, then we would respond like any other
business. We would look to see where we
could consolidate services. Next, like
any other business the next cuts usually involve upper and middle
management. Finally, we would need to
liquidate any expendable assets that we own.
5. If it were possible to add new programs to the district, what
programs would you seek to add?
My wife and I
picked our current home based on its location in the
6. What do you see as the
impact of “No Child Left Behind” on the Worthington
Schools? What about the Ohio Core legislation?
No Child Left
Behind (NCLB) is an unfunded mandate which enacts the theories of “standards
based” education. The major provisions
of ‘adequate yearly progress’ and ‘highly qualified teachers’ on the surface
seem to promote better education, but I could find little information that the
program is working. Worthington Schools
has an ‘Excellent’ rating on the ODE web site.
The Ohio Core
initiative (HB/SB 311) is recently passed legislation requiring a more
demanding high school curriculum starting with the graduating class of
2014. As part of the change the
legislation mandates the formal integration of economics and financial literacy
into the curriculum. Also, the mandate
specifies more science and math including Algebra II. Not knowing the particulars of the
7. If selected, what do you
see as your role in influencing state education laws and policies that affect
the Worthington Schools?
In
8. What do you see as the
roles and responsibilities of a school board member?
A board member
needs to work with the superintendent and treasurer to make our system run
efficiently within a budgetary structure.
The school board member must also enlist the employee unions to engage
in a dialogue that provides our children with a superior school system. A school board member must identify problems,
seek solutions, mediate issues, and administer programs in a positive manner
that will keep Worthington Schools at the fore front of the education process.
9. What evidence do you
believe shows the Worthington Schools are adequately, or inadequately,
preparing students for their lives after graduation?
I don’t think
that a school system can alone prepare a student for a life after
graduation. Parents are mostly
responsible for teaching their children to make good choices. As a school system we need to be able to
provide opportunity for the student to make good choices. As long as a