Thanks to one of my fav bloggers for this link.

 

Some District 211 links

Bill Lloyd recaps the May 10 District 211 school board meeting.

A Fremd mother writes that Fremd High School doesn’t enforce bullying policy.

The Daily Herald: Disabled woman loses District 211 case.

The Fremd class of 1992: 14-year-old crime finally goes to trial.

Conant connection: Going public with private struggles.

 

Training for school board members

The Daily Herald asks about Boards going back to school?

Good article. It emphasizes that the consequences for a school district of ignorant school board members can be dire:

Schock said he attended a recent event where a school board member said he had been on the board eight years and still didn’t know a thing about school finance.

“People don’t get on school boards to be a watchdog,” he said.

But school districts and taxpayers across the suburbs have paid the price when boards lacked the knowledge to act as watchdogs.

 

The total picture

District 211 school board member Bill Lloyd shows his leadership skills in a post titled the total picture.

Every person that has been fortunate enough to serve as a board member has seen and experienced first hand the Herculean efforts needed to keep the school district not only running but running and producing at a high level. They have also experienced the commitment that district employees have toward the students and families they serve. All of District 211’s employees are very deserving of gratitude and thanks.

 

Another Amazon-listed book on school corruption: School Corruption: Betrayal of Children and the Public Trust by Armand Fusco.

 

District 300 communications director proposes FOIA reform

Allison Smith, the communications director for District 300 has suggested that her school district automatically post much more information on the district website.

Specifically, she has suggested to their school board that all FOIA requests that the district receives be posted on the district’s website, along with the responses.

A national pro-open records blog is enthusiastic about the idea.

I’ve had trouble getting the most basic information from District 211, such as copies of electric bills and simple invoices. Once I did get the information I sought, I posted it here. How much better it would be if District 211 would fulfill its commitment to enhancing communication by posting both the FOIA requests it gets, and the information it provides in response to them, right on the District website. More people would then get the information they seek, and the District wouldn’t look like it is trying to keep certain information a secret.

 

Nice work if you can get it

The IASBO, or Illinois Association of School Business Officials is one of three sponsors of the controversial Illinois Energy Consortium.

On May 16-18, the IASBO has planned a lovely gathering for itself–for the “school business officials”, superintendents and highly-paid administrators who handle our school finances.

You can golf at one of two exclusive golf resorts followed by delicious and expensive meals.

You can wander through an exhibit hall full of exhibitors looking for business from your school district.

The highlights certainly sound terrific.

Kind of price-y. I’m guessing that most attendees get those fees reimbursed by their school district. (That means you pay for it.)

Wow! Check out the housing options. I don’t know whether I’d prefer the Hotel Pere Marquette or the Mark Twain Hotel. They both sound fab!

Hard to decide whether I’d want to cruise on The Spirit of Peoria or spend that evening at The Par-A-Dice Casino.

(If I’m already gambling with the money of the taxpayers of my district through no-bid utility contracts, maybe I’d go with that delightful sounding cruise.)

Truly, I can’t decide between golf courses. Should I pick Weaver Ridge?

What is perhaps Illinois’ most spectacular Championship golf course is set in rolling hills and forested valleys…unrivaled anywhere in Central Illinois, planned for gracious living and challenging golf for players of all ages and abilities.

or Coyote Creek?

Our course displays nature in all of its glory with numerous lakes and creeks, which feature stone bridges, as well as the serenity of flowing waterfalls.

 

Good links…

The Cresthill School District has a new blog focusing on it. Welcome and happy writing!

Lennie at Education Matters has posted Part I and Part II of his first-person account of Michael Medved’s Chicago appearance from Monday.

Great stuff.

There’s more information at Keeping An Eye on the Illinois Energy Consortium website. Which reminds me, I got a note the other day saying that the final hearing in the case of Tarsitano v. District 211 will be held on June 6, so mark that date on your calendar!

 And most importantly, I am wearing a new dress for spring

 

A reader asks…

Gerald Chapman, recently elected to the District 15 school board, used to be the superintendent at District 211.

A reader wrote this morning with the following question:

“Does anyone know if Gerald Chapman’s firm (he is treasurer) was involved in recruiting his successor at D211? The name of his firm is Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, Ltd. Their website says “Founded in 1987, HYA is the nation’s largest executive search firm serving public school districts.”

Is it true that Gerald Chapman works there? (Update: Yes.)

Did HYA get paid to recruit a D211 superintendent? Anyone know?

 

A note from a former D211 school board member

Dora Wolf, a District 211 school board member from 1997-2001, found this blog yesterday and left a comment on this post from March 27.

Those of you who just read the newest posts wouldn’t have seen it so I am taking the liberty of re-posting it here on the front page. It concerns no-bid contracts. (I have made minor adjustments to punctuation for ease of reading.)

As a member of District 211 board 97-01 I encountered a reluctance by the district to put all its work out to bid. In fact, when the lab addition to Fremd HS was planned only one plan was put forth to the board and this was within weeks before the work was to start.

When another member of the board–Mary Wrobleski–and I made a motion to receive more than one “bid” the president of the board (Ms. Swezerski) dismissed the motion on the very next meeting by saying that it was an illegal motion.

Here is the twisted logic that they used to do that:

They said the attorney opined that if the district has a satisfactory relationship for professional services ie legal, architect, contractor that the law does not require that the item be put out to bid and therefore the law says that the particular project not be bid to more than the contractor that the district had used for the past 20 years.

Since they had a satisfactory relationship, a motion to approve was raised, the board voted and the project went forward.

Other members of the board at that time are still sitting on the board: Davis, Strauss and Klimkowitz.

The Superintendent at the time was Dr. Chapman, who is now a newly elected District 15 board member.

Additionally Ms Strauss is the person who handles legislative items for the board.

Has anyone heard her explanation of the proposed bill and has that board agreed publicly on what position to take?

Attending a board meeting for district 211 is the worst experience a human being could have because it looks like a lot happens but an audience member leaves feeling like it was held in a foreign language, it is designed that way so noone knows what is happening. That often includes the board members.

Here, we seem to have yet another example of the District 211 school board paying an attorney to re-assure the board that it’s just fine and dandy not to get competitive bids.

This leaves us once again with that perplexing question: Does the District 211 board not want to save money?

You know, regardless of whether in any given situation the school board can pay an attorney (with your money) to come up with some kind of rationalization for why it doesn’t have to bother finding the best price, why don’t they want to find the best price?

Seriously…what’s up with that, anyway?