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A superintendent resigns in secrecy

Surprised? I'm not and you wouldn't be either if you attended more than a few school board meetings these past two years, had a phone conversation with him regarding last year's transportation mess or attended a parent advisory committee meeting this year. 

Daily Herald Editorial, 7/4/10 - A superintendent resigns in secrecy
Daily Herald Editorial, 7/11/10 - : Time to gag all school chief secrecy

Stay tuned . . . FOIAs are due Friday, July 9th.

"Hidden Hill" strange? Not so much . . .

The Back Door Referendum petition team found something interesting . . . . Several dozen signatures were challenged because one of the petition circulators wrote their address as "Hidden Hill" instead of "Hidden Hills". . . .  Read more

Democracy just beginning in District 15

. . .  an opponent of the bond plan, declared this week's successful referendum drive as "a great exercise in democracy." It is that to a degree, but for District 15 or any school system contemplating this kind of spending, it's important to note that the real democracy is only just getting started.

That is something neither Supt. Lukich nor anyone else with the best interests of the community at heart should be sorry about.

Read and comment on the entire editorial here.  Daily Herald, April 14, 2010

Public should vote on Dist. 15 plan

 . . We could not be more disappointed in the circumstances that force schools into such controversial maneuvering, but proposals of this magnitude require extended community debate.

If District 15 school board members won't put this to referendum, taxpayers should do it for them.

Read and comment on the entire editorial here.      Daily Herald, April 7, 2010

We're taking out a 20 year loan for light bulbs?

Has the world gone mad? 
Just posted on the District 15 website - the list of exactly $17.2M dollars of capital projects that are supposedly part of the $27M dollar bond sale for
Working Cash

Take a look at the list yourself and add up the numbers - $1.2M for light bulbs.
The district is proposing that we take out a 20 year loan at over 5% for light bulbs.

And
isn't it ironic that they posted the list on April Fools Day. . .
Don't you think?  A little too ironic...

You just can't make this stuff up     List of projects published April 1st


Headline says it all
Chicago Tribune, 3/25/2010
- Illinois school budgets at the breaking point
                                                 MANY . .  have been spending more than they take in

Including District 15 - the Board majority of Chapman, Ekeberg, Bokor, Babcock and Bloom have NOT done their jobs to control deficit spending in this district.  Soon after BB&B were sworn in  May 2009, they began signing contracts that they knew this district could not afford without borrowing money or going to a referendum. 

And another thing - how's that increase in staff morale working out CB&E? 
But that's an editorial for another day.

Rebuttal to the District's Q&A
Without the approval of the Board of Education, the District 15 administration posted a Q&A on March 18th regarding the resolution approved at last week's meeting to sell $27M dollars of bonds for a Working Cash fund

Click here
for the counterpoint to the administration's responses. 
And please note - the district CHANGED the original Q&A today - March 19th. 
They removed  Question #3 - What are the $17M capital projects the funds will be used for?

Why
did they remove that question and their answer - which was:
"The list of capital projects will be available and posted the week of March 22."

Your guess is as good as mine. 

Spotlight on the Board is on Recess . . more
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Raising Suspicion
At a time when schools are cutting back, we question Palatine Township Elementary District 15's decision to give bus drivers 3 percent raises. This follows pay increases - albeit small - in the latest teacher contract. For a fiscally healthy school district that's projected to be $7 million in the red in five years, we're wary of this trend.
 Daily Herald, 1/30/10 - Saturday Soapbox          

                                                                                              

NOTE:  Spotlight Editorial delivers opinions and analysis of issues discussed at Board of Education meetings.  The perspectives expressed are strictly those of the editor and are not endorsed by any PTA, parent organization, District 15 or 211 employee or Board of Education.

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Last updated:  Wednesday, February 10, 2010 06:24 PM  
© 2010 Jennifer Mondy