Money is a powerful motivation for employees in most jobs. So is being appreciated, respected, and making a positive difference in the lives of others. What motivates District 131 employees?
Well if you have not heard our union is totally unprepared for a strike. They did not show us what they were asking of the district in today's meeting. There will be a strike however nobody is sure what we are striking about. Megan Callahan had the biggest voice proclaiming a strike today. We suggest she ask her friend Strand why she did not get us the money last year. I also seems many our willing to cross the picket lines. It is a sad day in EA.
It's not about the money. . .it's about teacher's getting a competitive wage. Very few good teachers do not stay at D131 b/c they can go to any other neighboring district and make more money. The students suffer when the district loses these quality individuals. The union has completely failed the teachers. The negotiation team meets in secret and teachers are left in the dark. Give the teachers a fair raise, pay a fair portion of TRS, and unfreeze stipends and the contract will pass with ease. If the district did not have the funds to pay the teachers, they would not be investing enormous amounts of money into a new administration center, new construction at the high school, etc. If the district truly wants what is best for the students, offer a fair and competitive contract.
This has been stated many times on this blog. The reason staff speaks to tge board directly today is the toxic atmosphere Dr Popp created. If a staff member complains to administration nothing happens or you get a bad evaluations. Mr Darby asked staff to come to him in a board meeting. They did and days later writes ups started and threats. That is the Mike Popp era. Insecure small minded administration. Staff has written Strand off but the other board members have listened and taken action. The firing of Popp has lifted the black cloud and yes it is still gray but sky's will brighten.
It is clear to anyone Tomcat 8 that you hold a grudge against Ms Johnson. Perhaps you are one of the administrators who does not like the new direction but it's better than the past.
To Sara
We need to understand what you are asking for and why? Many of us will not walk the picket lines unless we see facts along with an accounting of additional funds the district may have for a raise.
The district is not building a new administrative center. I attended the meeting it is about expanding the HS and repairs to schools that have been put off for 5 years. They received a interest free loan that can only be used on construction. We need to get our facts straight before going off. The district will laugh at us if we are striking on that. Yes, we are underpaid that is a fact and we need to demonstrate that we are public sympathy will work not untruths.
The hall at EA are dangerous they are so over crowded and the repairs have been needed to five years. The board actually had a great plan for the money. Our focus is making them spend some of the cash reserves on teachers since they will not spend it on buildings now. Again, Sara we need a real accountant to look at our books. That is what we pay dues for.
March 4, 2016 To: Kirsten Strand From Ralph Padron Subject: EHS Purchasing Violations
Kirsten, please look into this purchase by EHS Anthony Crespo. PO 160497 - $ 8,900.00
Questions/Comments
There were no other quotes for this purchase !!
1 How necessary was this purchase 2 Was the Woodworking Classes ever considered to perform this work Using Resources within EHS is preparing students for the work force would have been a great opportunity to @ save money & @ give students valuable experience (I have attached another PO which needs to be considered if Woodworking Students could have performed this project )
Note multiple errors with this PO ( see comments on PO)
How does Christi Tyler’s office approve these violations after assuring all that everything is moving forward.
My point is this: When you have INEXPERIENCED PERSONNEL involved specifically Anthony Crespo, Mark Trueckenbrod, Elise Clever in spending TAXPAYER dollars, how can you justify this? These issues are all kept quiet and covered up to protect those involved.
This is why so many are demanding Mrs Tyler, Crespo, Trueckenbrod, Waddell and Clever be removed.
Last question is this ”Why didn’t Alex DiMare intervene”, B&G initiated this Purchase.
Christi Tyler’s compensation $ 145,000.00 salary 7,051.20 Insurance 15,181.50 Pension
It sounds like Kristen and her church members are after poor Annette Johnson again. Megan Callahan is organizing parents to ask Annette's resignation. Sorry, Megan church does not come first in the EA district. Another group is forming to ask Kristen Strand that she resign. Afterall was it not Kristen who promised teachers better working conditions and was it not Kristen that voted for Matt Hanley. Again we must answer the question Kristen why did you not settle the contract last year? Kristen had six votes that is a fact. Again are these the same parents that when asked why did you attend Monday's meeting the answer was somebody told me. We don't know why.
BTW Megan iis a good hearted person that is getting used.
I was once a School Board Member. Some members of a past Board attempted to get me to resign with lies and intimidation. When I called and spoke with officials, who oversee school boards, they told me I could not be forced to resign. Also, they told me, the likelihood of a school board member being removed from their position is slim to none. Unless, someone does something extremely wrong, such as in criminal, there are few Board members who are removed, once elected.
Over a year later, I did resign, for other reasons. I was ashamed to have my name attached to a new contract, I did not agree with. All Board members must sign off, accept, and be acknowledged as being in agreement with things when the majority of the Board has spoken. It is amazing the things I saw being done, in the name of educating our children. I could not sign my name, any longer, to things I did not agree with. I resigned. Asking for resignations is a way to express frustration with a certain board member. But it carries no weight. If either people were to resign, the remaining Board members will then choose someone to fill the empty position(s). The public has no voice until the election in 2017.
comments about Megan are why our union is in chaos. Megan is a good hearted person who speaks for herself and that is respected. A resignation or two from this board would be refreshing after we now see that they aren't here for the students or the parents. It is most likely because they aren't 131 parents so students aren't a priority. Let's work together and accept a really good gesture that looks to point us in the direction of fixing our masters salaries. Everyone else is already paid better than the other districts. We saw that. Our insurance is good and we pay less than other districts. Why are we letting Hettinger and rank & file do this to us?
Yes it would be good to see Strand and Laesch resign but I don't see that happening. Strand lied to us and promoted wages for Hanley and Laesch misses to many meeting.
The Union represents ALL staff...not just teachers. And ALL staff needs fair wages! It would be great if people stopped saying "teachers, teachers, teachers" and started saying "STAFF".
It's Annette and Dick and Kirsten that need to step down. Fortunately, they are all up in a year. At the board meeting last Monday, there were several building level administrators present. One made the comment that the district is in a downward spiral. Another stated that the district has been in a downward spiral every time Annette has been the president. There has never been a truer statement. And Denise Crosby keeps reporting on the soap opera that is the District 131 school board.
Yup. Everyone who actually wants to move the district forward sucks. The only people that matter are Ralph and his brownshirts. Yup, everyone sucks except the people who are really causing the problems - Ralph his brownshirts. He sucks, she sucks everywhere a suck, suck. E-I-E-I-O. Have you ever seen a collection of halfwits in your life?? (and apologies to the halfwits out there).
I don't understand what is the big deal someone keeps making about Ralph? What is the reference to brown shirts? What side do you want us to hear out? ( audi alteram partem) not sure where you are coming from....other than way out in left field maybe??
How does Ralph cause a problem? Is it that he brings out how the district doesn't follow the IL School Code by bidding jobs out that are over the amount the State says they have too or the salaries of some administrators?
The article in The Beacon about the audit even commented on some of those things. There was a purchase that didn't have a receipt and by The IL Administration Code if there is no receipt for a purchase that can be considered personal purchase and isn't suppose to be paid but this district is an exception I guess since the pay the bill receipt for not.
Volunteers should not have to go through k. Strand
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Volunteer question: is it correct that if someone or an organization contacts EA to volunteer in some capacity with the EA children they are directed to Keisten Strand and her church organization? If this is correct why would this be the case? I would think that Kristen Strand and her church organization would have no say in who or what organization comes into EA to assist and do community service/ volunteer with EA children. It has also been stated that not only have interested parties/ volunteers been directed to Kristen Strand, but they have also been told that if they would like to provide service/ volunteer work in EA they would have to completed some time of training and this would be provided by Kristen Strands church organization. The cost of the training for the volunteers would cost the volunteers $2500. This to be paid to Keisten Strands church. Why would volunteers need to be trained by Kristen Strands organization? Are the employed by EA? Why would anyone who wants to volunteer be directed to speak with anyone from Kristen strands organization? Very very strange.
"Volunteers should not have to go through k. Strand"
Response to your inquiry.
If there are organizations interested in partnering with Community 4:12 or Community Christian Church, I believe the head of the ministry, Kirsten Strand would be responsible for vetting those opportunities. Someone needs to be responsible for determining which organizations we should partner with as we can't spread ourselves too thin. We don't have unlimited volunteers unfortunately.
If there are individuals interested in partnering with our current efforts, they would go through Kirsten and/or her staff. People need to complete an application and if working with children, we require references and fingerprinting be done. We pay for this out of the budget for our ministry. The budget comes from Community Christian Church.
Of course, if people want to volunteer to work with kids, we try to train them on how to do so! There is no cost for this training though. People show up to church to our orientation/training sessions and we talk to them for a couple hours about things related to working with kids and the responsibilities of doing this type of work. There are rules and procedures that need to be followed to protect the kids and ourselves.
There is nothing that I have ever heard of that says "if you want to work with our church, you have to pay $2,500 to do so for training". I wish someone would tell me where this information originated. It's ridiculous.
I will say that if another church hears about one of our amazing programs and wants to duplicate it in their part of the country or world, Kirsten and her team have helped them do so. Programs like the Giftmart that Kirsten started, are taking off all over the country as churches have been eager to replicate her model.
I hope that answers your question and I hope some of you will consider volunteering your time in East Aurora.
I think the question here is, should volunteers have to go thru Ms. Strand to volunteer in the EA schools. That is a definite NO way. She is not the overseer of volunteers in the district. People can approach a teacher, a principal, a booster organization...drama, sports, band, ROTC. You do not have to have a student in the school to volunteer. You may be asked to go thru a process which requires finger printing. Depending to what capacity you would be volunteering.
Strand works with an organization called Kids Hope the had a breakfast program directing all churches or organizations to her group. My organization could not pay it we the $2500 an decided to work with Peace Jam same results and they provide a high quality program. I do feel she has used her position on the board and Popp helped her. I do believe Hanley gets inquiries and forwards them to her.
Kristin strand's church organizes volunteers in public schools very odd
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This is very strange to hear that if an individual or organization would like to volunteer to work with EA children they are to go through Kristen Strand or her church organization. Is it correct that Kristren Strand and her organization are then employed by EA. A church ministry is employed by East Aurora Public Schools! Thank you for making this clear. In addition, what do you mean partner up? An individual or groups that would like to do volunteer work for EA children should not have to partner up with Kristen Strands church organization. This is very unusual for a public school to be partnered with a church ministry. Furthuremore, Kristin Strands church is the party to provide training to volunteers? Again this is very odd. I always understood that Public Schools were NOT to be partnered with church organizations so as to keep these two organizations seperate. Very very odd and also I'm not sure if this is even legal.
I don't understand the confusion here. Anyone can contact the school and volunteer at any location. I'm sure the school would welcome volunteers at any time and Kirsten is not involved in that whatsoever.
If someone wants to get involved with the existing programs like Saturday Stars, C412 Buddies, Giftmart, or any other programs that CCC/C412 (community christian church or the ministry called C412) then they can reach out to the church or Kirsten for information on how to team up with said programs. There is no cost for this.
I think where you are confused is with regard to "Kids Hope". Kids Hope is an organization that CCC partners with, CCC DOES NOT OWN or MAINTAIN KIDS HOPE. Google "Kids Hope" and you will see it's not a Kirsten Strand program - it's a National Organization. Kids Hope probably needs funding and there is training to be part of Kids Hope. CCC pays Kids Hope to be part of their organization. But, make no mistake, Kids Hope was not originated or started by CCC. CCC just happens to like their model so they partner with them. That is all there is to it.
The other programs, like C412 Buddies or Saturday Stars were started by CCC and they DO NOT REQUIRE any payment to be part of these programs.
To "Kirstin Strand's church organizes volunteers in public schools very odd".
So, would you rather that C412 pull out of EA and not do the Giftmart every year that brings in over 10,000 gifts each year that are sold at pennies on the dollar to EA families? Should they stop sending volunteers to help teachers every week? Should they discontinue the Tutoring and Mentoring programs that work with over 50 kids every single week? Should they stop their back to school bbq events? Should they stop donating thousands of dollars in school supplies every year?
This is obviously ludicrous. The church does what it can to help.
Once again, anyone can volunteer and help out by going directly to the school and asking how they can help. CCC/C412 just happen to have programs in place where people from the church can get involved. She is simply a conduit/facilitator who gets people from the church involved in helping in a community that needs some assistance. That is it.
Date: March 9, 2016 Subject: MOLD & ASBESTOS Location: East Aurora Dist 131 Multiple Locations
Upon receiving several complaints & request for my assistance, I have gathered the following information requesting the ROE to inspect these areas.
1. Allen (Elementary) * Northwest Part of School has asbestos ceiling tiles are water stained (due to roof leaking), asbestos floor tiles are water damage.. * East side is severely water damaged (drywall, tiles ceiling etc).
2. Simmons (Middle) a Mechanical room for gym has problems with asbestos & a high probability of mold. b Main office had mold in in recent years. c Only the HVAC diffusers and return air grills were cleaned. d Storage closet had severe mold. C e Carpet was never cleaned or removed and replaced with a hard surface. f All office furniture and files were never cleaned.
3. Oak Park (Elementary) Tunnels under 1940 addition are regularly flooded with water from rains and certainly have mold.
4. East High School Science and math wing has severe mold issues. Air handling equipment and ducts have mold.
5. Waldo (Middle) Room south of 4th floor music room has mold due to leaks. Is noted on the wall of the small room in the southeast corner.
Update on asbestos in the district: 6. Gates: (Elementary) The mechanical room for the old gym is severely contaminated
All other buildings have yet to report in thus I am requesting a thorough inspection of all buildings to verify the above complaints..
Please EA volunteer ask Kristen why volunteering is a not allowed unless an organization completes her training? Why did Mr Popp have a breakfast encouraging this? We have been told to contact Kids Hope and they do charge a fee. Our group did not have the $2,500 to do so. We would rather put the $2,500 into food or items for the kids. Something is very fishy and Ms Strand is in the middle. Again you are not answering the question and you are correct we found another group in EA on our own. I wish when calling into Mr Hanley he would have other groups that needed help other than Kristens available. She has never responded as to her salary from Community 4;12.
It is funny that Mr Hanley has been given a big raise and seems to be the person in the middle.
You are exactly correct on all counts. Kristen Strand please answer the question! Why should anyone wanting to volunteer be required to go through your training and pay a $2500 dollar fee to your HOLY ROBERS organization. Something does seem out of order. Hanley, stop requesting volunteers speak with Kristen Strands HOLY ROBBERS organization. It's just not right!
I don't understand the confusion here. Anyone can contact the school and volunteer at any location. I'm sure the school would welcome volunteers at any time and Kirsten is not involved in that whatsoever.
If someone wants to get involved with the existing programs like Saturday Stars, C412 Buddies, Giftmart, or any other programs that CCC/C412 (community christian church or the ministry called C412) then they can reach out to the church or Kirsten for information on how to team up with said programs. There is no cost for this.
I think where you are confused is with regard to "Kids Hope". Kids Hope is an organization that CCC partners with, CCC DOES NOT OWN or MAINTAIN KIDS HOPE. Google "Kids Hope" and you will see it's not a Kirsten Strand program - it's a National Organization. Kids Hope probably needs funding and there is training to be part of Kids Hope. CCC pays Kids Hope to be part of their organization. But, make no mistake, Kids Hope was not originated or started by CCC. CCC just happens to like their model so they partner with them. That is all there is to it.
The other programs, like C412 Buddies or Saturday Stars were started by CCC and they DO NOT REQUIRE any payment to be part of these programs.
Kids Hope charges $2,500 to teach someone how to mentor then they get the organizations email addresses and constantly email someone for donations. Why are they charging at all? You are missing point. Please Kristen we know who you are. This is an income for your family. Please tell the truth.
Again, and this is getting ridiculous and repetitive. Please read carefully.
KIDS HOPE is related to in any way, shape, or form, Community Christian Church, C412, or Kirsten Strand.
Community Christian and C412 do partner with this organization by finding volunteers who want to be a part of Kids Hope. Community Christian most likely pays Kids Hope a fee for use of their program, training, materials, expertise, etc.
Kirsten is not part of Kids Hope in any capacity whatsoever. The church partners with this fine organization just like hundreds of other churches do around the country.
I can't believe anyone thinks that Kirsten is collecting money for Kids Hope and giving it to her family. What a ridiculous and horrible thing to write!
Again, anyone can volunteer for the programs the CCC and C412 have in place. Simply send me an email and I will get you started and find a program that suits you best. If you want to work with Kids Hope, then go to the kids hope website and get involved - this isn't that complicated!
I am completely mystified by the fact that all of you people are harping on some stupid volunteer program and Kristin Strand when you just breezed by the MOLD AND ASBESTOS that have been allowed to infiltrate our schools, take hold and continue unabated. If you don't like her program, don't take part. Not one admin has done anything to solve this immediate DANGEROUS THREAT TO THE HEALTH AND LIVES of all of the PERSONNEL AND STUDENTS in these buildings. When there is remediation, as in the band room , custodians are sent in without the proper gear, to clean asbestos tiles( without knowing what materials they are dealing with.) When do they take care of the mold and asbestos in the Little Theater? In the summer, right when no one is around? Wrong !!!!!@!! During the school year when the sped students and staff directly across can breathe in these noxious and life threatening fumes and particulate matter. Before anything else gets done on the contract, THIS ISSUE SHOULD BE ISSUE ONE. Because a raise doesn't really matter, when you are dead, right?
No one believes that Kirsten gets money for that program. Anyone that is reading this with the information that has been on here should see that.
The blogger that keeps posting things has just brought out hearsay while others have posted websites and information that says otherwise. So if they can post who they heard these things in writing they are just making things up.
Let's not keep letting this go on because the person who is doing this have some kind of problem and needs to get over it.
Get a life. It is still very, very rare to get sick from mold or asbestos. Don't know what books you read, but put down the science fiction will you. Unless you have your nostrils in the mold you are not going to get sick. Unless you are eating the asbestos tiles, you will not get sick. Should the situation be remedied, yes. The roofs, or whatever is causing the problem must be taken care of. But stop the crap that this is as bad as typhoid fever. We have enough wussies out there already. The only thing that district 131 has to fear is Ralph and his brownshirts with their subversive activities.
Don't know what your issue is with Ralph. I still don't get who the brown shirts are unless you mean the UPS drivers. Put down the paranoia, will you? We have enough whiners pointing fingers out there already, passing blame.
You get a life. Asbestos killed a close relative. Mold killed another. The Mayo clinic determined that and created protocols for both. It was too late they both died. both cases. so don't you dare speak about what you know nothing about. The third floor - the English department is nothing but a cancer cluster 3 breast cancers, a woman who recently retired had a sinus cancer so rare, the Mayo clinic had never seen anything like it and couldn't even create a protocol for her. I have been there 20 plus years, and have seen the building deteriorate so badly it would horrify the average person. The math wing grows black mold and mushrooms. When pipes break as they routinely do and no one does maintenance, you should see all of the bulging discolored ceiling tiles. When water soaks the floor tiles, instead of replacing tiles, they suck up the water and leave it. So mold grows underneath. When you walk down the business hallway you need a handkerchief to breathe into. The auditorium reeks and so do the gyms. Children and staff are sick all year with serious respiratory infections. Did you never hear of CPOD asbestos-related. Dr. Fein I don't know what kind of doctor you are but the medical journal and the majority of respected physician know that black mold and asbestos are killers. Don't be an apologist- we have Matt Hanley for lying and covering up- unless this is Matt Hanley-- Get a life! We are trying to salvage ours!!
Very disappointed in John Laesch he sound make up his mind now about leaving the Board. There is no reason he can't do his duty on the Board and work on the campaign. If he was ever to run again for a political position I would never vote for him.
Central office news alert Popp has no class
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Ms Strand is no angel, she has not disclosed her NP forms like most reputable organizations. Kids Hope does charge a fee for an organization to work with. My question to Matt Hanley is why has the district not set up FREE training for mentors? It was also revealed Matt has helped her with proof reading pray flyers and running district copies. Of course everyone will write in and say that is not true. Our parent coordinator who was assigned to Matt recently left her job because of direction given to her by Hanley. She was also forced to attend parent workshops with Strand in Elgin and Joliet. Why does one board member have so much power?
The staff believed Strand would change working conditions and are very angry that when she had countless meeting with Popp noting happened. Strand betrayed many teachers and administrators and did not keep staffs names in anonymity when asked. Popp would then bully staff for speaking after comments to Strand.
Strand, did organize the pro Popp rally and that was the final straw for staff. We are happy to see and end to his short tenure in 131. Popp has created a negative culture and it will take years for our district to heal.
The Strand supporter aka Matt Hanley should realize we know he is on a public relations assignment against the board and Padron for Popp and Strand. Its not working Dr Popp, please note the district is happy to see you leave and your classless act to ruin the district will not work.
The diagnosis from Mayo in regard to your relatives has nothing to do with the building you say you have been in for 20 years. But I am sorry for your loss. Trying to relate a cancer from someone who was also in the building is absurd. I guess when one says "Mayo" we are to just believe it is connected to the building?? There is no proof. Once again quit trying to bullshit people about the situation. You are admitting though that the maintenance people do really suck at their jobs and should be replaced by outside contractors. The asbestos and mold need to be taken care of but don't try to make it into something more than what it is. Anyone can make outlandish claims. here's one. Did your friend with the sinus cancer snort coke and could that have caused the cancer?? Please put down the science fiction.
I have never written on this blog before, but as a co-worker of the teacher that passed away from sinus cancer, I would like to put a name to the comment. She was a wonderful person and teacher that affected hundreds of students positively. Her death occurred a short time after she retired and it was very sad. Whoever wrote that comment about "snorting coke" owes many an apology. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/aurora-beacon-news/obituary.aspx?n=janet-m-weber&pid=135384154 The people you write about on here are real. They have feelings, family and friends.
Mold is dangerous and thank-you to Ralph to exposing for it.
I now looks like Hanley, Dimure, and Popp have all been caught in a lie. Board member Leonard visited our school and was shown mold that existed for better than 1 year. While Popp was busy saving money to build a new air conditioned administrative center and overpay Hanley and 204 cronies the roofs and buildings received no repairs.
Come to Waldo and see the damage a bad roof caused. D131 will not recover from Popp for years. He will go down as the most unethical superintendent EA had. Thanks Ralph for bring this to the attention of the board.
To the EAHS teacher. Thank you for your post. Some of those who comment on this blog, have no direct connection to our students or teachers. They live or work in our district and have no respect or understanding about the issues our families face or the dedication of our teachers, so they feel free to make light of the lives in 131. I usually do not respond to their ignorance. Your post was appreciated.
I have contacted Ms Strand on Waldo in December because she told us she would bring issues to the superintendent. She did nothing telling us there are no problems. Her husband also sees falling down paint and plaster daily at Bardwell. The janitors and building people write work tickets that have gone unanswered since the beginning of school.
You may ask why not contact others board members. Ms Strand has a very close relationship with Popp and she did take money from many of us who supported her. We have also lost all respect for her since she put Hanley and his family first over the EA family. Many of us ask WHY she did not get us contract last year? She and her group lost all of our support after that.
Mr Laesch is another one we supported him as well and he needs to resign period. He is responsible to this position first since he also promised change.
Matt I knew that you were a craven idiot. I was not trying to relate the deaths of my relatives due to mold and asbestos to our building. Far from it. Connect the dots, Matt. You said that both of these substances were harmless. They are not. Any well respected doctor wil tell you that black mold can kill; so can asbestos. Look at the ceiling tiles- black mold. Look in the closets of the rooms across from the Little Theater- black mold. Look at the old tiles- asbestos. KILLERS. But to say a well-respected older woman who was at the top of her game right up until retirement and who had spearheaded many programs at EAHS was a coke snorter makes you the lowest piece of scum that we have in this district and that's saying a lot. It is also libelous. I have personally witnessed the black mold and mushrooms. Had days where I was literally gasping for breath. Matt I hope that you never get sick due to "sick building syndrome" but if you do, we will visit and pray for you. You certainly need many prayers.
They recognize that we are underpaid without no TRS but they did not ask for that. The rumor is the proposal to the board asks for NO TRS. If our union was fair everyone would get TRS and all teachers would receive the same benefit. We are told we must all walk the picket lines but they will not show us what they asked for. We don't mind walking but we must know what we are walking for.
Dear communicate: the last union request asks for more money for the BA column for teachers, and more money for support staff and secretarirs. It also asks for more money for stipends. So if you are not in any of the areas that have been noted you are not important. I hope this helps.
The union did not ask for TRS and TRS is a fair compromise for all. We are asked to walk the picket lines and again Hettinger and Intherm will not listen. We to stop paying union dues and demand a refund.
The negotiating union committee is requesting the following. A 5% pay increase for the BA column. Increase in pay for support staff. Increase in pay for secretaries. Increase for stipends.
There is no request for TRS, however I do not agree that TRS across the board would make competitive fair pay wages equitable for all teachers.
TRS is definitely needed or at least a portion paid. When you take the time to observe the teacher salary schedule it is a fair statement that teachers in the BA column are comparable and in some cases slightly above surrounding districts. (Again noting this does not include TRS)
The philosophy (an unethical one at that) stems from our union negotiating committee. There are a lot more teachers with BA degrees and this equates to more YES votes to pass the contract if we are to vote again. The same (unethical philosophy) is correct with regard to voting power of support staff and the secretaries. (Let's give the secretaries and support staff at least one more dollar as a wage increase. One individual on the negotiating team (NOT a teacher) stated at least a dollar bump for support staff and they gave a guarantee the contract will pass if put to a vote.
At the end of the day, let's all hang tough, get our there and fight for these three groups. The rest of you don't have enough power in votes and no one at the table cared enough to increase wages where significant gaps were clear and obvious.
The union told Popp they will get the membership to vote yes now because many of teachers will not strike and are willing to cross the picket lines. A vote may come as early as Friday. They put demands in that will make us look greedy instead of asking for compensation that will prove we are underpaid like teachers making $20,000 less than neighboring districts. They would not ask for TRS because we can prove other districts have it.
The secretaries and support staff have a private meeting Monday and they will scare members into voting yes. We heard the support staff/secretaries hand selected some staff for special raises and they will get enough to turn.
We are being played. I was revealed that we will not get fined for not picketing another union scare tactic. Intherm also stated days will not get made up but the district will make days up or not get paid. All lies.
The District And The Union Are In Bed Together
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To: Our union at work
You obviously don't have a clue what you are talking about. First: by law, the members have to have at least five business days to review any offer made. The next meeting between the district and union is March 15th, so there is no way to legally have a vote by Friday. As for fining scabs who cross picket lines, it has been done many times. Whether or not our union would have the cajones to do it is another story but there is legal precedent for doing so. I do agree that we are being played. It will be very clear after the contract is signed and we see what deal Sara has made for her own gain.
Again Carla received a job with a six figure salary with Local 604. Mary Dudzienski was being paid $145,000 a year by the district. Adam Harding recieved an administrative job (Matt Hanley's) after passing a bad contract AND more revealing Local 604 made him a field rep with a six figure income after he betrayed us. It's just a matter of time before we find out what Sara deal is.
East Aurora Teachers and any other group that has been ignored by the greedy corrupt union and negotiating union committee members. Do NOT vote yes to a contract that is drafted to only highly serve the collective best interest of a few. Our union (union committee) does NOT wish for the negotiations to be put to arbitration. Any arbitration hearing will surely identify that the negotiating committee has not exercised fair negotiating interests that work toward creating fair wages for all staff. To all that have been ignored, vote NO if another vote is taken! Allow arbitration to take place! When examination of current salary lanes for teachers and wages for support staff and secretaries reveals that there are some areas that are up to par, while others are leap years away from where they should be surely all areas can be fairly compensated.
Perhaps those individuals who have provided years of service and have achieved several advanced degrees in order to provide a high education to children will be respected enough to be paid a fair wage. It is obvious that our union and union committee members have little respect for those that have proven themselves to be dedicated to the EA children. Teachers that have committed themselves with years of service to any school district and who have demonstrated academic excellence by achieving higher education in order to remain current and implement the best practices in the classroom should be reverd not disrespected because the numbers that represent this group are not as large as the BA columns. Allow this to go to arbitration! The collective EA group will have a better chance of fair wages for ALL, NOT A SELECT FEW!
To those of you on the union negotiating committeee that have guaranteed a new vote will pass because there are more of you in those areas and all you need to do is take care of yourselves and the group that you happen to be in, ALL of EA has your Number! Be treated fairly, wait for arbitration!
Our union will not fight for arbitration because it will show twenty years of bad deals that have allowed the salary schedule to fail teachers. Teachers who start in the district are competitive but will not stay. Teachers who work for and have invested in the students are screwed. Our union has put us in that position. Remember BA teachers if you invest in our district you will be us 5 years. Continue to vote against corruption and vote NO
Remember it was revealed Sara at already got a raise others who moved an education level did not.
Yes. I have to admit it. Unless you are a teacher who wants to strike or as someone says one of Ralph's" brownshirts", you really have to suck. Union reps suck, union negotiating committee sucks, staff who may want to vote not to strike suck, board members who may not agree with everything everyone wants suck, administration sucks, negotiation team for the district sucks. Even volunteers suck. I guess there are sub groups of volunteers all of whom appear to suck also. Mold sucks. Asbestos sucks (If you live in a house built before 1985 you house has asbestos in the drywall and in any linoleum or vinyl flooring, so that means your house sucks too.) So, what do we do since everything and everyone sucks except for a few groups of people???
Matt you should spend your time looking for a job along with your boss. We pity the school district that employees you. Hopefully this blog follows your careers for the fleecing of d131.
Yes you are right, most of the things on your list do suck. Otherwise we would not be wasting hundreds of man hours asking for the bare minimum that any other school district gets. Yes Matt, even those with low standardized test scores!! Yes genius mold and asbestos do suck. Eat a bowlful for breakfast or better yet work at East for 20 years and see your health decline. And yes Mensa member, old houses have these issues too, but hopefully when they remove these toxins they don't do it with the doors wide open, shovelful by shovelful without hazmat suits and rooms properly sealed.
It will be interesting to see what our "negotiation team" comes out with. I'm sure it will line Torres pockets. Next up will be Torres going for union president. Where does that leave lowest paid Masters teachers?
A question is valid /name calling is not a solution
said...
An inquiry about strike committee designated individuals is a valid question, particularly if this has not been shared with all within their building. Berating someone for asking a question is simply foolish. To the person that asked the question, yes each building should have a designated strike committee organizer, however unfortunately this has not been made clear to all. Please feel free to ask questions as needed, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this.
East Aurora School District 131 Special Monday, March 21, 2016 6:00 PM East Aurora High School - 500 Tomcat Lane, Aurora, IL 60505 I. Roll Call II. Executive Session for the Purpose of Discussing the Appointment, Employment and Dismissal of a Specific Employee III. Public Comments/Questions IV. Adjournment
Thank Ken Darby for what? Employees have talked with at EAHS and he betrayed confidences and went to Popp. Darby is using his position on the board to take care of himself. Thanks for nothing!
Many of us have been lobbying for our district to join the 21st century and make board meetings available online, as neighboring districts have for several years. Ken Darby deserves thanks for FINALLY getting the ball rolling...it's a step in the right direction!
congratulations ken, the world needs to see the calamity that is the EASD BOE. Most folks have only heard rumors , lets pull back the curtains. You really couldnt make this circus up. Ralph can really grand stand as much as 5ft 1 dwarf can with a booster chair
The circus was retired last year when the two drunks retired and foul month Hull went bye bye along with the other lady that came to the board stoned on more than one occasion.
When Popp says bye bye that will be icing on the cake along with Hanley. It would have loved that broadcast when the board from hell voted a $40,000 raise for Hanley.
We must find out how many teachers do not live in the district.
We must get Ralph to start attending Naperville City council meetings and Dupage County board meetings and have him demand that those 2 entities start abiding by the low income housing rules and get more low income people to live in Naperville and DuPage county thus decreasing the district's burden. These entities are constantly being reprimanded for their lack of this type of housing. You would think that Ralph would move from Naperville because of this offense, wouldn't you??? After all, isn't this what Ralph is all about?? Helping the 'downtrodden"??
We need to get Ralph some elevator shoes for the upcoming board meetings that will be online or get a platform for him to stand on when he goes to the mike. Maybe then, someone will actually take him seriously. His condition of being vertically challenged has really taken over his mental faculties. Always wondered why guys who were short were the biggest abusers of people and now we have a specimen to study...Vertically challenged and a mental midget all in one.
I think the board is doing a fine job. Jut because they may not agree with every single issue that teachers bring up doesn't mean that they don't have the best interest of the school district at heart. That is just common sense but common sense is not present in some of the teachers at district 131.
Some people may think that the district stinks now??? It would not even exist if the illegals were allowed to vote and be on the board. All the taxpayers would be gone and thus there would be no money coming in at all. You can only spend other peoples money for so long and then it runs out. Why do you think Ralph does not push for housing reforms where he lives???? Ralph is the true picture of a hypocrite.
"Illegals" pay plenty of taxes. They have mortgages, they pay rent, thus they pay property taxes. They also shop in their own neighborhoods, contributing to the sales tax and they contribute toward social security and pay federal and state income taxes. If you are going to try to sound smart, at least know what you are talking about.
Also, your comments about Ralph's size just show how small you really are. You are probably the same person who insulted the teacher who died of cancer. It's too bad you have to live with yourself.
You assume that they are reporting income to the authorities, you assume that the neighborhood businesses are reporting all their sales, you assume that only the proverbial family of four is in a home, apartment, etc for fair share of real estate taxes. You also assume that no government assistance is being given on all levels - federal, state or local. You assume that they are all covered with health insurance and no hospital is having to extend free services. Lots and lots of assumptions when it comes to "paying" into the appropriate systems. You must have forget.
That was loser Matt Hanley, he hates the EA community and teachers. Just remember Matt these so called illegals have their children in our schools, if it were not for them you would not be lining your pockets. What a fake and a phony you are. You make an enormous salary for reporting on pancake breakfasts and the score of the last athletic activity. You do nothing to make the EA community better. All you have done is eat off of the backs of hard working EA families.
To: Matt Hanley is just BAD for EA Period! said...
75% of the real estate taxes are paid by only 25% of the population in district 131. Are you saying that they should pay 150%??? What is a fair share then for people who have lived and worked here all their lives?? How much more do you want from people who have worked and saved what little they could their whole lives? Just don't get it.......
I keep hearing about how 75% of the real estate taxes are paid by 25% of the people in East Aurora. That is a very limited viewpoint. The fact is that only 19% of the school budget comes from real estate taxes. The other 81% comes from state and federal sources. There are two more points that should be clarified. 1) If you were to take those $300,000-$400,000 homes and put them in almost any other community, their taxes would be higher. 2) You also need to look at what percentage goes to schools and what percentage is going to the City of Aurora. You will find that the ratios are very off from surrounding communities. The city tales a far greater percentage that any other town.
Anyone can state unsubstantiated facts. (75 percent of real estate taxes are paid by only 25 percent of the population in EA). Now that is some incredibly crafty doing on the part of the remaining 75 percent of the EA community! I would like you to support that statement with quantifiable facts please.
What I believe the above statement really translates to is I hate these (F%*%}} Mexicans) they do not pay their fair share! (Although they do weather you like it or not)
To .....> How much more do you want from people who have worked and saved what little they could their whole lives? Just don't get it.......
To that above statement your comment applies to every adult on the planet. Immigrants work and save what little they can their entire lives too just like you claim you do.
To the individual that posted the article related to immigrants and how they contribute to the economics of the USA. Yes, you are most correct and thank you for posting that. I was keenly aware of those facts and neglected to provide that. So again TY. :)
One last thought, if you really feel so strongly that you are getting a bum deal by living in the EA community you really should consider moving. Is there another location in which the taxes would be more equitable for you? Clearly the EA community from your perspective is bleeding you unfairly. If this is truly how you feel then I would simply not tolerate that kind of abuse and move to another location that better meets your needs.
You absolutely have a right to how you feel however misled you may be, be it by hate, racism, or simply being grossly misinformed. What I read in your comments is simply this, you do not like it here (EA community) there is really no reason to be so unhappy, life is simply too short. I would seriously consider moving to an area that you believe will provide a more equitable tax base and live life and be happy.
One last closing remark, while we believe it was Matt Hanley that wrote the initial tread pertaining immigrants taking over and we would have no school, Ralph needs shoes that make him taller and all of that other garage he perpetuates, it is a fair statement that he is not the only individual that feels this way. To this I again must say Matt don't complain about the illegals you make an enormous income off of these illegals as you work in this district. Again to all those that feel they are being taken advantage of from the EA community MOVE and please take garbage man MATT HANLEY with YOU!
I am a supporter of the teacher who was unfairly targeted. After the board meeting Ken Darby approached me an told me he would have filed a report against the teacher if she had touched his son. Is Darby crazy? He needs to resign or get help for his aggressive behavior. The parents and student testified that the student was not pulled by his hoodie. He would not listen to comments that the building is toxic. I am afraid for the my friend with Board members like Darby. I tried to explain and became more angry. So much for backing up teachers.
Where do you get only four can live in a home? Property taxes are based on how much your home is worth not by how many are in a home. Apartments are different and yes some do exceed that but that is on the owner of the property they are suppose to watch that. Renters do pay property taxes it is in their rent the person or business that rents the property does not pay out of his own pocket for that.
I am a friend that supports LD the teacher who has become the target of administration after 20 years of serving students at EA. I need to be more clear. I was filled with emotion when writing this at 2 am and could not sleep for fear of my friend. SHE WAS SET UP.
Ken Darby approached me and was very angry. He rushed up to me almost touching me and told me with very aggressive behavior that if LD touched his son there would be hell to pay. I tried to calm him down. I told him Cowherd was a very dangerous school for students and staff. He stated he did not care and attacked like a bully.
I am not sure why he is on the board if he does not take student and teacher safety first. A student and parents would have not came to a meeting and stayed until 11pm if they did not support LD. It shows her character as a teacher.
A special thanks to Arroyo, Leonard, Hackett and Johnson for standing up for teachers. Often times we are told Strand and Darby are friends of the teachers. I have been very suspect of Strand but gave Darby a pass. Now we know the truth.
Strand and Darby are the true meaning of dirt bags.
It is interesting Strand does not support giving a first year teacher another chance or giving Darce another chance on trumped a up charge
Strands husband is a horrible teacher. The other teachers give him support because we care about the students. Scott often copies teachers lesson plans and comes to work unprepared.
I guess it pays to know the superintendent. MS Strand you have betrayed us.
Last told an interesting story in that three of the board members would not give teachers a second chance. We have heard Darby claim come talk with me. Darby surely can not be trusted. Why does Darby think we come to the board and listen for hours only to be granted 3 minutes and to be heard. The answer to that is poor building leadership which starts at the top is not happening. It is hard to tell the crowd someone thinks you are not capable. We need to do that because nobody is listening.
Mr Darby was willing to give Dr Popp second chance but not teachers. If Dr Popp had any leadership skills the need would not exist to come to board meeting. As a old-timer I have worked for three administrations and by far Dr Popp ranks the lowest.
Mr Darby is a major disappointment and I witnessed his attack on a speaker. It was unsolicited everyone should have their 3 minutes without getting attacked by a board member.
Ms Strand reaps more than just the benefits of employing her under-qualified husband. Her sons are favored as well they are both on Dr Popp's student advisory group. Last week they all had a big cry fest with Dr Popp. The conversations are unprofessional and included slamming board members. The staff is in disbelief that a superintendent would act that way with students. What is more troubling is that Ms Strand would allow her sons to clown as well. What Ms Darce did was nothing. East Aurora staff knows the real Kristen.
Thruckenbrod continued to foul mouth board members as well calling Ms Johnson a white b**ch and Arroyo/Hachett/Leonard her mental minions.
BTW, Mr Crespo needs a phone investigation for student contact.
Darby showed his true colors last night voting against teachers who were being railroaded by administration. PAY ATTENTION TO DARBY AND STRANDS VOTE PEOPLE, NOT THEIR RED MEAT FLUFF THEY THROW AT TEACHERS DURING THEIR COMMENTS PART OF THE MEETING. Let us not forget that Strand and Darby voted against Popp's severance and believe he should be given another chance. BOTH OF THEM VOTED FOR HANLEY TO BE RETAINED. Do not be distracted by their nice comments about teachers, focus on their votes. Their votes have spoken volumes. To the Strand apologists out here trying to protect her image......think about this.....
Strand has a colonialism view on the east side of Aurora, we are all "savages" in need of being saved by the white man(or woman in this case). The white woman knows how to save the black and brown savages through clutching her bible and pillaging their community for her own benefit. This is the same view of native americans in old times if you look at history. Her son would be just another white face at Naperville North, or Neuqua Valley. His ACT score and GPA wouldn't even be top 10 percent at those schools. She brought her family here for selfish reasons. Her son would not be going to Stanford if she kept him in Naperville. HER SON STOLE SCHOLARSHIPS AND FUNDING FROM ONE OF OUR OWN BY COMING HERE. Do the Strand apologists really believe that her family could live off of her husband's measly teacher salary? Grow up. She is making money, hiding behind the bible. Just because something is "non-profit" doesn't mean the ring leader or ceo isn't cashing huge checks. WAKE UP PEOPLE. Dr. Popp signed the keys to the kingdom over to her and her non profit and that is why she is so adamant that Popp stick around. The golden goose leaves town with him and Strand will regret being against any and all teacher raises when her husband is the sole income for her family.
Strand and Darby are against the latest tentative agreement, crying broke and saying us greedy teachers will bankrupt the district. WAKE UP. Darby and Strand are no friends of teachers and staff. I can confirm that Darby raised his voice and got angry at the poster above, unprofessional to say the least. When the parents spoke at the board meeting, Dr. Popp turned bright red and kept his head down the entire time. Where was Strand's son to post on twitter with a picture of Dr. Popp "ignoring parents and the community?" Oh that's right, he is pro Popp so he wouldn't do that. The principal at Cowherd should be fired, she entices and bribes kids with McDonald's for dirt on teachers so she can fire them.
I find it absolutely comical that John Laesch finally attends a board meeting and then complains about the construction plans when he was not around for presentations and votes on said plans. John, you are a moron, it has been proven. You also totally negated your "no" vote against the tax levy in December, by voting against a tax break for the taxpayers of the community because the district could not afford $280,000 loss by giving them a break. Every time John opens his mouth at a board meeting we are all dumber for having heard him speak. John, you are also being played and blinded by your loyalty to Bernie Sanders. Popp and Crespo are playing you so badly it would take a moron not to see it. Popp tried to get a Bernie rally here for you, now you love Popp, Crespo got kids registered to vote and told them to vote for Bernie, so now you love Crespo. All of you should go away.
Crespo has been meeting with Tomas Perez behind closed doors. Tomas does not even have a student at the high school, why is he getting personal meetings with the principal? Just last Thursday Crespo was meeting with Tomas and other parents during the evening in the staff cafeteria. What is Crespo planning?
The other BOE members need to check and see why Laesch had legal help on election day from the district lawyer (Weiler). I hope the tax payers are not footing the bill?
Read the article today about the process for replacing Popp. Good job to the board members who had the courage fire Popp. In a very short time Popp destroyed the family feeling 131 had. At the very least you had a wink and a smile from Roberts. Popp and his crew think they are better than any of us. The SSC is saving boxes and waiting for the day we can pack up Popp, Thruckenbrod, Hanley and Glotzbach. It has been great to see them suffer after all the suffering they caused.
Ken Darby there was a paper delivered to Hanley that the park district is hiring 100 jobs Have some ethics and tell your son to go apply because you have lost the respect of everyone.
Many millions will be spent paying for the Popp administration. Having attempted to work with the lack of curriculum and no classroom materials under Popp has put this district back 15 years. They are not even capable of providing training, the summer school program is a joke and will we even be prepared to administer the correct PARCC assessments.
What a joke pay millions because the district admits all of the K to 5 curriculum is bad. Teachers need the training but the board should ask $350,000 or their worthless jobs. What work is the ASC putting out?
Summer programs, why have all the positions they are basically saying every parent coordinator and social worker will need to work. I already know many are not planning on working. We asked and our principal said the will be calling parents or having pull out sessions. It is a half a day people! When will they have the time and we will have a office staff as well.
PARCC testing- How many conflicting emails is one department going to send? What are they doing? Again our principal does not have a clue.
Popp has a disaster. I only hope Stand, and Leonard will recuse themselves from picking another superintendent.
East Aurora School District 131 Special Wednesday, March 30, 2016 6:00 PM School Service Center - 417 Fifth Street, Aurora, IL I. Roll Call II. Executive Session for the Purpose of Discussing the Appointment, Employment and Dismissal of a Specific Employee III. Action, Resulting from Executive Session, if any A. Motion to Approve the Consideration of and Adoption of Consulting Agreement IV. Public Comments/Questions V. Adjournment
The board needs to check into Wilson Morales and Thruckenbrod. A student was caught in the bathroom with pot. The next day the student was returned to the classroom the next day. A couple of teachers asked the resource officer and he told us it was never reported. The next day another student was charged. Wilson has been known to plant evidence. Thruckenbrod told teachers to mind their own business. Wilson has been involved in many issues that would get anyone fired. I guess it pays to have his wife work for the superintendent.
Rob Lathrop from Metea Valley is being placed in Dennis Renners job. Rob was recently fired at Metea when he did not discipline four students for racially attacking and Afro American student from Elgin. The student from Elgin reported it and Rob got fired. We have the following questions for BOE to answer.
Why would they hire another 204 person who was involved in a racial incident?
Why would Crespo and Thruckenbrod who have first hand knowledge even consider this?
It shows the racist they both are and their unethical behavior. If he was fired at 204 why EA. Come on is this not enough for the BOE to act and fire these bozos. Everyone at 204 knows the story dont buy the crap that Mike Popp does not.
Popp is just going to hire another 204 flunky and pay him on the way out big dollars. It's time the board fire Crespo, it proves he is a phony. Strands son needs to post that to Twitter and let's see how the Afro Americans feel about his choice for AD.
March 29 2016 FOIA Officer Indian Prairie Dist 204 Naperville Il 60564
Re: FOIA Request for Documents Subject: Rob Lathrop frmr Metea Valley AD Time Period: Jan 1 2014-current Dear Mr. Eccarius
Please provide the following documents
1 Initial application 2 Last contract as AD 3 Resignation Letter (if applicable) 4 Personnel Report on his departure 5 Employment departure and/or dismissal documents 6 Email correspondence between Rob Lathrop & Rudy Keller June 1 2015 – Mar 1 2016 7 Documents related to incident Feb 2015 involving a South Elgin student. Specifically Lathrop’s response to the incident.
I understand that the Act permits a public body to charge a reasonable copying fee not to exceed the actual cost of reproduction and not including the costs of any search or review of the records. I am asking that any fees be waived per 5ILCS140/6(c).
My building recently had a time lock placed in the teachers workroom. Maybe it is time to have administration punch in and out Sara Waddell leaves everyday except BOE days promptly at 2:30pm well before teachers and students are out of class.
I did esquire about the time clocks they claim it is for hourly only. The union needs claification in writing to members. Our question why the teachers workroom and why are administrators allowed to work less than teachers?
Ralph if you have privately spoken with board members then why out them on this blog and still expect them to trust private conversations. It show how ignorant they all are and the rat that you are.
I can't believe Ralph has gotten Laesch to answer his phone. Many employees have attempted to reach him. Laesch told us to call him and he would fight injustice in 131. Laesch showed his colors when he voted to fire two of our union sisters on false charges and no support. Laesch promised he would be a voice at the table and was he. John is to busy building his political career or lack there of. He has picked and it is not 131.
Ditto on time clocks, at SSC they come in about 9 am and after that it is hard to find anyone. The BOE should ask for an accounting of their day starting with Hanley and Thruckenbrod. Then they should ask for an accounting of their phone because the other half of the day they spend making personal calls.
The big difference in today's vote is that we sent Popp a message take your 204 friends along with Glotzbach, Crespo and Hanley and leave. Toooooo bad BOE firing Popp may have saved you some, but guess what teachers win.
Popp needs to take Schoder with him as well. He was caught using d131 copy paper and writing strategic plans for Rockford. This while Glotzbach continues to send out notices we are over the copy budget. Really dumb a** we have to continue to gather up materials for every day survival in the classrooms.
All of the Popp hires have been bottom feeders and resume builders. I still think teachers deserved more but addressing working conditions went a long way. I voted yes for that reason. Let's hope change will come to the district soon .
Does Crespo really think buying all the staff Subway today will change anyone's mind about him!? Has anyone checked his phone yet? Another slimy Popp hire. Your buddy Popp will not be around to defend you anymore--do you seriously think people are bought off that easily? We should call you Jared Fogle from now on...
I wish we would have held out or gone on strike. This district needed to learn the lesson that we teachers run this place and that we don't care how much they say they are broke, we should get all the we ask. I may not live in the district but I have spent well over a decade teaching kids who for whatever reason just don't care. We really needed the administration to see just what we face every day.
To: John Laesch From: Ralph Padron Date: April 1 2016
Hi John
Mike Popp again has given out incorrect information to "water down" the W2 Form mistake in the Finanace Office headed by Christi Tyler.
Time Line clearly states: Mar 17, 18 Christi Tyler notifies staff members that "Corrected copies" are finally available
Mar 7 Board Meeting: I question the W2 form mistake for an explanation
Mar 16 Mike Popp responds "The error was corrected immediately" (ref: Mar 7 BM) what is the date Popp is referring to
"IMMEDIATELY" yet Tyler notifies corrected copies are available Mar 18
Again Mike has attempted to silence me with verbal statements yet can not substantiate his responses with written documents
John, My question to you is this:
Do you hold any of these high priced administrators accountable for mistakes and misleading the public time after time. You and I have discussed this countless hours this past year yet I just don't see your responses backing up your words.
I will be bringing up additional issues which Popp again misled the Public in a very controversial issue which you were involved with yet never finished the job.
I consider you a person whose heart I believe is in the right place yet I have reservations on your sincerity and question whether your commitment to cleaning up the Popp Era is being hindered with your involvement with the Political Campaign you have been involved with.
PERSONAL OPINION: You can only serve one or the other. Giving EA131 your leftover time has hindered many an area and the community.
EAST AURORA NEEDS COMMITTED FULL TIME BOARD MEMBERS NOT ABSENTEE'S
I consider you a friend yet hope we can air out our differences Thank you ahead of time
Hey everyone, did you know we can bring our kids and spouses to work and parade through the cafeteria to show students your family???? This happened today at the high school. Crespo has put his family's picture in front of board members basically to make them feel sorry for him and not fire him. NOW, he literally brought his family to the workplace and went into the student cafeteria. What a coward this guy is. Maybe the teachers and staff should have their kids and spouses come to work and parade them through the cafeteria. Today he also got on the speakers in the high school stating a quote that no matter how rich or poor you are, how you treat people is all that matters and says a lot about who you are as a person. He wanted our students to hear that quote, but he has terrorized teachers and staff at the high school and treated them so poorly. Do as I say, not as I do - this is the message he is sending to students and staff.
How much longer are we going to tolerate this incompetent, unprofessional principal to continue?
Crespo is a jerk and everyone can see without Popp protecting him he is running around like scared rabbit. Everyone knows buying lunch on the district credit card and bring your kids in does not equal the terror he has inflicted on teachers and staff.
Question for Crespo how does it feel to go home with a lump in stomach that you may not have a job?
The fact that the school board would even consider Annette Johnson as the school board president after all the drama and comments that have come from her on the school board shows just how little respect they have for the East Aurora community.
And don't forget the police report that Jerome Roberts filed when she threatened to kill Jerome and the entire school board because she wasn't getting her way.
Did you ever hear of a false report and if that is true why did charges never get filed. I know Annette personally and she is kind to animals and children. Much of her charity work is never discussed. She has done many very good things for our district. I judge a person by meeting with them and talking with them.
What I will say and has never been answered is why did the former board pay Dr Roberts $78,000 and pay the former business manager $80,000 maybe there is more of a story there. I seems some of the former BOE members and Strand had been involved in back room deals. It also seems these same BOE members have been involved in the signing of grant paperwork that is helping Strands charity.
Hi John Just wanted to see if you were planning on discussing the following
1 Joan Glotzbach application for employment to North Central College which she was not considered for. Appears Joan is planning on leaving the EA with this development
Has the BOE discussed her replacement?
2 Elise Clever most recent resignation as Purchasing Agent. According to Elise's Lindkedln profile she is the Purchasing MANAGER FOR EA. Which is correct
3 The hiring of Marion Hoyda as a Consultant to get the curriculum straightened out. Wasn't this the responsibility of Sara Waddell ! So why do the taxpayers have to absorb Sara's incompetence. She has cost EA valuable $$ and educational improvement. Need I remind everyone she was Mark's Asst Principal prior to Asst Supt for EA. Again compliments of Mark Truckenbrod & Michael Popp
from EA news release dtd June 18 2015
"East Aurora Superintendent Dr. Michael A. Popp praised Waddell as someone who has a vast knowledge about student learning strategies. “I believe that curriculum and instruction can truly make a difference for students,” Waddell said. “I saw that there are already great things happening in those areas at East Aurora, and I really wanted to be part of that.” Waddell earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education (English) from Augustana College in 2000; a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Chicago State University in 2003; and her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Lewis University in 2010. Waddell’s position is new to East Aurora School District 131. The creation of the new position was kept cost neutral, in part by eliminating two director positions.
http://www.d131.org/newsDetail.asp?id=3432&guid=
You can rest assured their future employers will be aware of the controversial hirings and contribution to the decay of Credibility to EA.
John, can we count on you to bring out these issues in the interests of True Transparency.
Several of us are counting on you to follow up with your promises during your election campaign
Sorry folks I know the real story and the public and staff should pay homage to the abuse Annette Johnson suffered in taking on very difficult issues. The crimes at 131 are the administration who steal a paycheck daily at 131 that includes Dr Popp. The past BOE members and Strand are also petty low life thieves.
Why did Dr Popp sign a grant with zero over site for Strand worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Seems like Ralph is getting frustrated with his network as he is trying to create problems where there aren't any. Let's help Ralph relax with some jokes.....
I was walking down the street the other day when I saw someone pickpocket a short person. I don't know how anyone could stoop so low. LOL
Say what you like about short people, at least they don't look down on people. LOL LOL
There,there, I hope you feel better. Must be having a bad week......
Dear don't believe it, ask Annette Johnson why Dr Roberts and the other administrator received the rich severance package, she was president when they were negotiated. It was known that there was hanky panky between her and him.
The district is much better off with Annette Johnson she has lead and advocated for many programs that are working well in our district. She has the support of many. I am not sure why anyone would begrudge someone who makes EA better.
Lets be fair and answer...What has Dr Popp done please enlighten us. Oh he gave his unqualified fishing buddy a big raise.
When it comes to AJ, I take many comments about her with a grain of salt. Nobody has helped EA and its staff more than her. I am happy she was retained as BOE President and I thank her for keeping EA in her heart. Many Many heart felt thanks.
The level of respect she showed the negotiating team is all that I see with my eyes and the eyes of others on the team. Dr Popp, Glotzbach, Thruckenbrod and the lawyer Wilson continued to poke fun, bad month us, call us poor teachers and never compromised. The reason EA teachers received the money was Johnson. Went went from less than 1% under the prior BOE President to what we have received today. Along with that is all the changes in working conditions.
I absolutely 100% agree with "Thanks to AJ" noted above! I am another educator that has first hand knowledge regarding all of the detailes that have been described from this commenter. I am extremely thankful to Annette Johnson for all of the help she provided during our negotiations. It is true that the other individuals made unprofessional comments about us as a staff and were not willing to budge on any of the issues that were brought to them. If it were NOT for Annette Johnson we would have received far far less in terms of all areas of our contract. Congratulations to Annette Johnson for receiving another tenure as EA BOE President!!!! You absolutely deserve this!!!!!
Ms. Hatchett and Mr. Leonard - I heard that last night you said there is no chaos in the district. I wonder what district you have been watching. What do you call a district where the teachers go almost an entire year with no contract, and when it finally passes almost a third of employees still vote no? How about board meetings that consistently run long into the night because teachers are being dismissed, or fighting dismissal. A district where weekly FOIA's question purchasing, hiring and salary issues sounds chaotic to me. One where the superintendent leaves after 2 years of a 3 year contract and the next year the district will follow interim leaders sounds chaotic to me. Who will oversee teachers teaching possibly 3 new curriculums? Just last night over 40% of the board voted against its current officers. Half of the board consists of bullies, absentee members, those that are consistently late, on their phones, or staring at the ceiling during meetings. I have to wonder what your definition of chaos is.
Popp caused a teacher name to get taken off the Kane County Educator of the Year award what a dirt bag. Her crime she talked at a Board meeting and defended us. She works at Waldo
Who is qualified enough besides Annette to be board president? No offense to the new board members, but they just do not have the experience. We all know about Strand and Leonard's dirty deeds. Thank goodness she is there to keep things moving along. She takes that position to heart and spends a lot of time on the issues at hand (with no pay, mind you). Like her of not for whatever reasons, she was the only choice and a good one at that.
The chaos is Dr Popp, the Board needs to beware Popp and Thruckenbrod are shadowing Hoyta the Boards consultant. They will not let staff have open honest discussion. What do they have to hide?
Popps game plan is to keep the consultant busy so she can not find out how disfunctional he is. He should try to be more professional.Afterall , as he looks for another job his reputation will follow him. We all know someone in other districts that he and his henchman will land in. The professional references will not be positive so he may want to think about his behavior.
email sent to Kirsten Strand today as a result of FOIA'S received
Mike Popp
Your email certainly deviates from the facts and the issues at hand. If you would have read the report you would
have been able to discern the facts yet your determination to MISLEAD & DISTORT the truth under "your watch" certainly is consistent.
Summary:
1 Scott Osman was overpaid for years yet you ignored this issue when brought out 2 His "TOTAL PACKAGE" WAS THE ISSUE. 3 When I audited his pay history and brought out the many irregularities, nothing was done Overclassification, Questionable OT totals Corrective pay scale finally in FY 2016 which was unexplained
HOW MUCH MONEY HAS SCOTT OSMAN POCKETED VIA THESE ERRORS 100 K POSSIBLY
Your continued efforts to attempt to prove me wrong is consistent in that you avoid the true issues and correct documents to support your statements.
Kirsten
Per your email to Mike Popp, I find it very unprofessional and downright disappointing for a person of your position to just ignore the ISSUE I Brought out requesting your investigate the findings referred to.
Serious stuff yet you intentionally choose to cover up for Mike Popp and his incompetence. Your loyalty to Popp certainly has clouded your ability to look out for the taxpayers and hold those abusing their position accountable for wrongdoing.
As in the past, I expect you to forward this to Mike Popp and continue to deny the truths revealed via FOIA documents
The district morale has been, and still is, in utter shambles. We have a vindictive high school principals who moved people around out of spite, and we lost a good educator because of it. He also allowed observations to be made specifically to conduct witch hunts not based on teaching practices but on his dislike of an individual. He demanded observers to lie to hurt teachers. We have a magnet academy principal who tries to skew SLO results to push her agenda to force good teachers out. She then helps upper administrators punish teachers, who fight for our contract, by promoting "informal" observations multiple times/week every week. You have Simmons administrators who allow a guise of "team teaching" to exist to allow a bilingual spouse, of a loyal supporter, to keep their job and allow positions to exist that aren't done properly and, thus, made them unnecessary and ineffective. Now that same "vital teacher", who students think is an aide, will be missing for three periods/day to tutor a student alternatively placed at the high school. We have upper administrators allow this facade of co-teachers "working" to let the mirage exist because it takes too much effort to correct. We have Cowherd administrators wrongfully persecuting good teachers and trying to fire them (which seems to be the EA way) yet again because of a personal vendetta. The teachers aren't the problem. The problem is bullying administrators who have been given limitless power by an ignorant school board. If the board doesn't think teachers, support staff, and secretaries don't see and hear about these things, they are not paying attention. If the board things surrounding district don't hear of these travesties, they are blind to the truth. These morale killers are devastating the district, and the board members are the only ones who can save it. They said they wanted to fix this, and now it is time to prove it.
Crespo appointed Nate Parry Interim AD today. Apparently no interviews or postings are needed to do this, King Crespo can just name an interim AD and pull him from his classes with no concern whatsoever about Mr. Parry's students. Mr. Crespo, how can you be "all in" for students by taking away their "expert" and giving them a sub for possibly the rest of the school year??? Is this in the best interest of the students??? What happened to Kordalewski who won seasonal AD position? Just more ignorance and incompetence coming from Crespo. Why has the position Jessica Brummel left not been filled? Now Crespo is up a creek and just appointed someone to the position since he could not get the fired Matea AD in as a replacement for Renner. Next up he will be trying to get a worthless CPS hack Calvin Davis to come in as AD from Proviso West. The hits continue in 131. Ralph, how about FOIA the interview process and job posting for interim AD? No way this was done legally and following proper protocol.
You are seriously a damn a...leave Elise alone she has done illegal or wrong at EA you are the classic bully that I bet had no friends as a child and should be medicated
In other news Dr Popp and Thruckenbrod openly cursed Johnson and Hachett today. It shows the classless act Popp is. Popp is angry that he now has a babysitter.
Dr Popp should never be allowed to work with employees again and I hope other boards will Google this.
EA will never recover from his reign of terror. Dr Popp and Thruckenbrod allowed a teacher to have a physical threat made against her. Several teachers at Waldo encouraged her to file a police report. This made Thruckenbrod very angry and he punished our principal for not controlling us. A teacher made the BOE aware by speaking at a BOE meeting. Some union reps also made Hachett and Johnson aware during bargaining. The BOE looked into and assigned the student for special placement outside our district because he was a danger to himself and others. Again this made Popp very angry because the BOE had to take action. Why if a student is so dangerous did not Thruckenbrod do this himself?
The teacher who spoke had her Kane Educator application stopped even though our building (Waldo) nominated her. They then set her up on made up charges and attempted to destroy her teaching background. Again the board cleaned it up and again Popp his harassing her. Thruckenbrod was overheard telling Glotzbach at the meeting she will screw up again and we will be watching. She was looking for a job before but now we are assured of losing a great teacher of many years.
So many bad feeling because of Popp and his henchmen will take years to repair.
We feel bad for the BOE members that Popp is exploiting some of them but Mr Laesch, and Darby hear us and know that we are working in horrible conditions. Johnson, Leonard, Hatchett and Arroyo keep up the good work. Strand is hopeless. To the Beacon reporter don/t be fooled. The BOE is only working to fix the chaos Dr Popp created.
Correction: when are NASTY POPP and Company Leaving! They are all a horrible disgrace to education. We are not surprised to read this. On behalf of all professionals we apologize to Annette Johnson and Kim Hachette. They can't leave soon enough!
I have to disagree with only one particular comment in this thread. Kristine Strand is not hopeless, she is a real life robin hoodie.... She steals from the poor and gives to her holy robbers church, oops no no no, she steals from the poor and gives to herself!
Please review the Police Report, News Article, Copy of Corona's last check His last 2 pay periods definitely paid him until his date of resignation.
Needless to say several questions arise 1 Why was he put on PAID Admin Leave due to the seriousness of the charges ( Yes I know a person is innocent until proven guilty)
2 Was there the option of putting him on UNPAID ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE pending investigation.
3 What was Mike Popp's input on this decision ? I am sure this could not get past his authority as Superintendent.
4 Please audit his last pay stub for accuracy as it = 69 hours @ $16.16 per hr Was he entitled to that many hours ?
Comments:
Last update showed Corona still in jail yet the Taxpayers certainly should not agree that their tax dollars be subjected to this expense.
Someone in Administration put him on PAID ADMIN LEAVE Did they research other options Keeping Corona on the payroll is wrong no matter what
Am requesting a response from 131 on this issue
As a Board of Ed Member, you are obligated to the Community, Students and your constituents to research this and demand answers.
Your pattern for many an issue is to not respond and forward this immediately to Mike Popp which in turn he refuses to reply also.
Kirsten: your IRRESPONSIBLE NON RESPONSE shows your inability as Board of Ed Member to address real issues. You have given me no other choice to pursue them via FOIA's, EA Blog, and "the Network" which I can assure you is deeply disappointed in previously supporting you.
I am requesting you put your personal feelings aside toward me and fellow Board Members and start a new day by researching and reporting the various issues I have brought before you.
Poor Ralph and his network of brownshirts are being sent to the island of misfit toys. No one wants them around anymore. Did I mention how short Ralph really is and the Napoleon complex that he has? Go to a board meeting and just watch him. What an annoyance!! Easy to confuse him with an inmate in an asylum (apologies to the inmates).
When are you people going to learn that Ralph and his network are the problem!! They do not want progress at the school. They want and cherish the chaos that they have created. That way no teacher really has to teach. Talk about bullies and low morale. These people are against any student learning anything but the bare minimum to get by. Go ahead and cut down the administration, it is just the pot calling the kettle black.....bunch of malcontents and incompetents who fear of loosing their jobs.
Using the term "brownshirts" shows how low you are. Using a nazi term in your postings shows what kind of character you have, not to mention the "short" jokes. Do you think you are witty?
A FOIA cannot be a "brownshirt" unless you are referring to Hanley who prepares them and sends them out. That is where Ralph gets the bulk of his info. from. Public records. Is that it? Being Jewish myself, I find your comments offensive and uncalled for. I sure hope that this is not someone in an administrative position, though I fear that it is. If you had someone you lost to the horrors of war would you still be so cavalier? What if they were short in stature? Would that make it even more hilarious for you? By the way, it is "losing" not "loosing". Guess that makes me a "spelling nazi"? That term gets thrown around too much today. I wish people would learn more about it in school, then perhaps they would stop.
The Brownshirt comment is Matt... Matt is a history buff and is very snarkey to all SSC employees. Matt is part of the 204 group that terrorized EA. It's time for them to pack up their boxes and go home.
East Aurora School District 131 Special Monday, April 11, 2016 6:30 PM School Service Center - 417 Fifth Street, Aurora, IL I. Roll Call II. Executive Session for the Purpose of Discussing the Appointment, Employment and Dismissal of a Specific Employee III. Action, if any, Resulting from Executive Session IV. Public Comments/Questions V. Adjournment
Hopefully the BOE meetings means the end of the Popp terror hires. The employees of 131 are looking for help from the BOE. The unprofessionalism that has been exhibited proves these employees should not work with children. Thruckenbrog used foul language again at our SIP day and laughed at us when we asked questions . Heard this bully applied at Oswego and could not get a job he could not even answer questions. Glotzbach was not even considered at North Central proves everyone but EA sees who they are.
Add Crespo to the list... Look at how the school has been ruined in ONE YEAR.... The lowest graduating class ever. The BOE should check out the games being played just to get to 530 graduates. Popp gave us a rookie with no experience and a bad attitude. Thruckenbrod mentored him to ruin school sprit and call teachers who gave their life to EA students incompetent . Crespo came in with an attitude and there are grades being handed out at the Extension Campus to students who do not attend class. These students who would never graduate are being handed diplomas to make up for the hundreds of students Crespo and crew have lost track of in the senior class.
God bless the passing of the student that died in Lake Michigan but he only attended class 8 times. Hanley claims an honor student Really? They only lie because the boy needed services but our one Bilingual Social Worker was at the Extension Campus to make Popps failing program look good. Popp, Cresbo and Thruckenbrod are all dangerous to our students.
I sure hope the next superintendent is someone who will be accessible to US, who are after all the people he works for! Say what you want about some of Dr. Roberts' decisions, he had a "buck stops here" attitude and was constantly making statements to the media and through district e-mail. If a community member had a question he did not hesitate to respond quickly and directly. Not so Dr. Popp! For some reason he has consistently refused to put any responses to staff or community members in writing/e-mail. It's as though he doesn't want any record kept of what he says. This comes across as arrogant and/or paranoid; no wonder Mr. Padron keeps FOIA'ing.
I remember last fall when the time and place of the School Board meeting was changed to accommodate a larger crowd. I called the service center at 2:00 on Friday afternoon to confirm where the meeting would be held. I spent about 40 minutes on the phone attempting to reach a live human in the central office (Dr. Popp, Ms. Morales, Mr. Truckenbrod, Mr. Hanley)...all I got was a recording that the person was "away from the desk" and "leave your name and number". Really?? NO ONE in that building was able to pick up and answer an important question? Leaving my number and waiting for a call back wasn't a good option at the end of a school day on a Friday; who knows when (or if) my call would be returned? I needed AND deserved to know the time and location of the Monday meeting. So I called Annette Johnson, and she ANSWERED HER PHONE and gave me the information I requested.
Ms. Johnson may be brash, but she is definitely accessible to the public. Let's hope our next superintendent (and any colleagues he/she brings) deigns to communicate with the public!
On April 7, 2016, you submitted a FOIA request for the following documents:
Any air testing results, including air testing company, dates, room numbers of inspected rooms, and specific locations tested for the fourth floor of Waldo Middle School from February 1, 2016, to April 7, 2016
Air testing results between March 1, 2015, and March 1, 2016 for fourth floor of Waldo Middle School Any Board of Education or Board committee documents related to mold at Waldo Middle School
Work orders or emails with keywords "Replacement/painting of all ceiling, floor & walls materials" at Waldo Middle School between January 1, 2016 and April 7, 2016 Maintenance activity log for painting on the fourth floor of Waldo Middle School from February 1, 2016, to April 7, 2016
Emails to or from Alex DiMare with keyword "vendor scheduling air testing" between February 1, 2016, and April 7, 2016
Text messages to or from Alex DiMare with keyword "vendor scheduling air testing" between February 1, 2016, and April 7, 2016
Emails between Alex DiMare, Michael Popp, and Christi Tyler with keyword "mold problem" between February 1, 2016, and April 7, 2016
Text messages between Alex DiMare, Michael Popp and Christi Tyler with keyword "mold problem" between February 1, 2016, and April 7, 2016
All purchase orders for "PAS Intl" for fiscal year 2016
From: R Padron Sent: Monday, April 11, 2016 9:14 AM To: Ken Darby
Ken
I finally got around to comment on Weiler's $ 12 K Investigation Purchasing Report (see attached article) Our past discussions you stated you were going to correct the "Corruption" on the purchasing at EA.
As you can see from Bernie's comments, he definitely "drowned" the truth of what really transpired (you have all my documents supporting my allegations).
Example:
District 131 attorney Bernie Weiler said recently the report found a few purchasing violations, "There were words used like "fraud" he said "I did not find any fraud. And there was ...words that characterized the issue in there was some intentional unlawful activity. I did not find that"
Weiler said his investigation found that "a couple" of purchase were made by employees who had misperceptions about bidding. "Some of them had mistaken notions," he said. "But I did not believe that they had any self-interest in doing what they were doing."
What do you call those Million dollar plus maintenance service calls which were 1 Never signed off on 2 Never verified work hours charged by vendors 3 PO's allowed to be issued after work was done 4 The "Floor Scrubber" scandal 5 Invalid Quotes for materials 6 Title Funds Misused by Anthony Crespo
Ken
Do the countless documents (obtained via FOIA's forwarded to the Board) prove the Purchasing Scandals were indeed valid match up with Bernie Weiler's assessment ABSOLUTELY NOT !!!
Appears EA needs to replace its Law Firm with attorney's who would be willing to hold staff & Leadership accountable
I believe the public needs to be aware of the $ 12,000.00 wasted for this inaccurate report
There is no one more brown shirt than Matt goose-stepping to beat the band along with his mentor Popp. Hey Matt, it seems that you are not the tallest individual around, why make fun of others who are vertically challenged? The latest dig at teachers, sanctioned by Crespo and those at the SSC is no paper for teachers. Well how about we really don't teach until we have the basic building blocks of what we need- paper. I feel that the admins are trying to get the teachers pay for their own paper to make up increases in raises.
Sad, sad. Who gets ripped off?- kids as usual. These careerist at the SSC could give a flying flower about these kids. It's a stupid tit for tat game with the ultimate losers? Our kids.
Academic Tutors, someone needs to look into the actual duties of the so called academic tutors that are assigned to classrooms. It's rediculious to observe on a daily basis those that sit In the back of the classroom and do NOTHING, other than warm a chair. I am certain that this does NOT represent all, but there are some that are getting paid to warm chairs and have horrible attitudes. One has to wonder, why these individuals are permitted to do as they like and not be held accountable for a job that they are receiving an income for. Academic tutors should be working with small groups of students daily or navigating the classroom assisting students with the class work. Why would an academic tutor have the luxury of sitting on their "ARSE" while in a classroom full of students? As far as those that have negative attitudes regarding your role, do not be confused YOU are NOT a certified teacher, so please assist the classroom teacher as needed and not have to be told to do so. Question, do you really need to be requested to please get up off of the chair and help the kids with their work? Classroom teachers have both an instructional role and a responsibility to assist the children as needed, so how about you pitch in and do the job that you are being paid for. Believe it or not this requires de-Assing the classroom chair that you are sitting on daily. Thanks
40,000 for Veteran's day flags but don't give the teachers any paper? Nice priorities, Crespo. #good move. #really "all in for kids." #getting teachers what they need to do their best. #good rapport with staff. #must have been Matt's idea. # please go elsewhere.
Crespo and Thruckenbrod lay awake making teachers miserable. It shows Crespos leadership spend on Veterans Day but don't order paper. If that is not reason enough to fire him. Come on Board.
Our building is the same way...We had to complain to our Union who complained to the BOE. Doverspike has been told to get even with teachers because Glotzbach wants her to retaliate. Unprofessional evaluations, no copy paper, and new contract violations to name a few. She has told staff we may have a contract but it is my way and I can be a B*tch because there is nothing they can do to me. Have they listened to themselves. No they are not capable of handling students.
Crespo nailed the counseling department over super wonder boy Erick Strand. It appears Mr Strand was to busy lobbying to keep Popps job he did not submit financial aid forms in time. Now wonder boy is blaming us. Erick ran to Crespo and claimed he sent multiple emails. Erick lied, so much for his Christian values. Instead of Crespo asking politely, Crespo excused us of being inept. He went on to call all of us incompetent. Question to the BOE
Why is Ms Strand given special treatment and should her son have a open door policy with the Principal?
Why is Crespo taking the word of a student over staff?
Would Crespo's time not be better used helping a student who's family is not capable of filing FAFSA forms.
Ms Strand and her husband a teacher claim to have values and are capable of navigating the college process. So question why is she using her position on the board for gain.
After years of waving her bible the real Ms Strand comes out.
I am not knowledgable about the way college financial aid is decided. But if Mrs. Strand is making all the money that people have claimed, how can her son qualify for assistance?
S. W. is a teacher's assistant at the high school. She does absolutely nothing. She sits on her butt all day long. She's getting a free check, and not fair to the rest of the staff at East. It sickens me, that she thinks it's ok to do nothing.
If you apply for financial aid to an Ivy League school and your parents make $100,000 a year with a zip code of EA and your child has the grades your parents qualify for a free education.
It is up to the parents to apply for financial aid. Jean Jolly delivered Crespos's message. When a email check was run it was revealed he only checked in with his Counselor on this topic in October. A five year Counselor was verbally abused in public. Ms Strand should apologize in public for her son. Her son is abusing her power as a Board member. Crespo is abusing his power and not working for all students.
I don't mind K. Strand, I think she is sincere and I don't have anything bad to say about her. Having said that, how in the world does a family whose whole life is lived in the world of Education NOT KNOW the FAFSA deadline? Also, They need to settle down. It's not like he's not going to get aid because he turned in his application late.
It is absolutely great to sit back with a nice cup of coffee and read the verbal vomit that is on this site. I have contacted all the people that I know who grew up on the east side of aurora and they have contacted all the people they know to read this dribble and see just how low the district has sunk with its teachers and staff. This site is priceless!!!! Everyone is talking about just how stupid the people are who now "teach" at the school and the staff who do nothing. How could a district that had so much pride and success stories over the decades sink so low? If we get the word out even more we could really make east aurora school district a bigger laughing stock than what it is. This Ralph guy sound like a real sore loser. And the staff and teachers just bashing anyone who disagrees with them. This is jut plain old great entertainment. And a sorry state of affairs for a once great school district that used to be filled with great teachers.
K Strand sincere please she has lied to teachers and claimed to have supported them. She voted in public to fire teachers. Her son is now complaining and calling counselors inept. Why is he allowed an open door to Crespo? He should work on his own financial aid as all other students do.
Her husband also receives special treatment at Bardwell her family is using EA. GIve me a break. Her non profit and affiliation with our district and grants also deserves looking into.
My son had Mr. Strand at Bardwell. He was an excellent teacher, one of the best my kids had. Too many people bring out the negative--how about mentioning the good people & things in our district?
To away we go. What is truly priceless, is that you, all the people you know and all who they know......so what do you have about a dozen people, with nothing better to do than to gossip about a blog? Your gossip seems to have lead to talking negatively about teachers and staff. We have a district still "filled with great teachers" that go above and beyond. We have MANY success stories and much to be proud about. If we had admin and a community relations person that actually knew what goes on at the schools, those stories would be getting more attention than an online blog. Part of the reason people have the perception that there is a "sorry state of affairs" is due to people who "sink so low" as to make false claims and tell all the people they know, who tell all the people they know.......it is kind of like those fake news stations of the Internet who spread those stories about some famous person moving to a town near you. There are always a few idiots who will believe what other fools have to say, without finding out the facts. Saddest of all is people who claim to have history here in EA and claim to have known it to be a great place to have gone to school, yet contribute to the trivial chatter that helps to create the malicious gossip. So much for Tomcat or EA Pride.
Thanks to "the facts" for the info. A number of years ago, I made far less than 100K, my children did well in school, there was very little free money and thru the FAFSA application we qualified for a small amount from MAP grant. I suppose I didn't understand the process well enough and there was not much help from the counsellors at EA at that time. But we did know it was up to us to get that application in by a certain date.
Oh really, none of the teachers have the same opinion about Scott Strand. He also has less classroom visits than any teacher at Bardwell. That is special treatment!
There are schools that will help struggling students they target certain zip codes. Not taking it away from Erick Strand because he is a top student but other kids at EA do not have the same opportunities. Duke, MIT, Stanford, Yale, Harvard, Brown Georgia Tech, and many others will pay most of the costs. You can go to their application process enter your financial data and get a free ride. Erick was helped and FAFSA is certainly part of it, but a small part. It is disappointing that so many helped him along the way and he drove the bus over us. Many no longer feel Ms Strands motives are pure.
Do the application good grades and low income district and $100,000 in income will send you to many of the schools listed above for about $5,000 per year.
The blog is a good conduit that allows the EA community to state their peace; whatever that may be. The truth of the matter is EA staff is aware of the daily, weekly, and monthly happenings that take place within this educational system. There are so many positive happenings that take place here and unfortunately there are also negatives that take place here as well. Individuals should be able to discuss the areas that are in need of correction, but let's be honest about bringing such concerns to light. That individual will then be harassed by those that do not the area to be brought to light or change to take place. That is a legitimate statement. To state that individuals are cowards is not an accurate statement, rather the individual making such statements is simply aware of what they will indeed be left to endure for making statements that bring corruption or areas of concern to light. Again EA has a great deal to be proud of, but there is a great deal of change that is needed to correct the many concerns that have been stated. I thank this blog as being the medium to allow expression of these concerns. If not here then where? The BOE podium? This has proven to make many concerned EA staff members open targets of those that do not appreciate exposure of sad, an inappropriate truths. Again, this blog must continue!
I attended the State of City address and much to my surprise the Pledge of Alliegeice was lead Ms Strands son. Mr Crespo hand selected him over all other students. It does show a pattern of favoritism!
Matt I am requesting permission to visit Waldo with Board Member Mr Richard Leonard Time & date to be determined thanks
From Matt Hanley April 15 2016 To: Ralph Padron
Mr. Padron: Your request to visit Waldo Middle School for unknown reasons is denied. If we were to open our schools to one person, a person who has no affiliation with East Aurora School District 131 and has no business related to education at the school, then we would have to open up the school to anyone who made a request to go through the school. This would disrupt the daily operations of the school.
Additionally, even when students are not present, there are liability issues with this request. For obvious safety reasons, we do not make all areas of our buildings open to everyone. We need to keep both the visitors and the school safe at all times. The safety of our students, and consequently the buildings where they attend school, is paramount.
I will notify the building principal that this visit has not been approved. Matt Hanley
April 15 2016 To: Hanley From Ralph
Matt
You have overlooked the fact that I will be accompanied by Board Member Mr Richard Leonard and will be requesting an additional Board Member on the tour.
It certainly appears that the reasoning for denying my visit is directly pointing to Mike Popp.
I want to ask you another question, if Mr Leonard requests the visit and I will be his guest, does that change anything or will Mike Popp find another weak excuse to exclude me.
As a taxpayer of the district I want to know Matt what you are afraid that Ralph might find? I had children that went to Waldo 10 years ago and the place was a mess and needed many repairs I can only guess what he might find. What is the problem if he and Mr. Lenonard go on a Saturday all you have to do is make Ralph sign a waiver saying if anything happens to him the District isn't libel. The thing Matt is most of the people of the District don't really care about how the schools are and I think as a taxpayer of the district Ralph is doing something to help with getting the schools in shape. Matt you are a employee of the district but are you a taxpayer of the district?
Ralph you should contact channel 5 news investigation team and see if they could do anything with this. This is also a board problem they have heard the stories and I believe Darby's sons went to Waldo he should have some knowledge of how run down the school is and should stand up to help make it better.
Well, well. Finally someone to tell Ralph to go blank himself. Ralph is still mad that a sane report showed no scandals, etc. Little man still crying wolf. From what I understand, the powers that be are getting ready to tackle to mold issues and have been working on solutions for quite some time even before Ralph tried to interject himself. Sounds like Ralph just wants to be a little "Johnny come lately". - As he has been with everything he has done. Ralph should call channel 5 so he can turn himself and his network in as the culprits who have made the situation at 131 more unbearable than what is should have been. Just remember, his band of nitwits are the ones manipulating the "issues" by not correcting the issue or reporting the issue to someone who can correct it. Fairly common with governmental employees sadly. - doing things incompetently just to watch a train wreck - They just give the info to Ralph so he can act like a moron. See, normal people would just talk with the people who make the decisions on what is being done and get the information that way. Most people who deal with the district have no problem at all getting answers (and the truth). Seems funny that Ralph has not figured that out and he and his toadies are the only one who haven't. Ralph just does not want issues solved, he is still mad that he has to pay a proper amount for benefits. He has no interest in actually solving problems. The only way he stays relevant (in his mind) is if he keeps distorting what is really going on. While everyone else is trying to solve problems, Ralph and his merry band of buffoons are just creating more messes so nothing can be accomplished. that truly is their goal- to halt any progress.....And as a taxpayer in this district, we need to put an end to Ralph's highly abusive crybully tactics. Ralph suffers from short man syndrome and he needs help with it. Hopefully he can admit he has a problem as that is the first step in the recovery process.
Darby is well aware of the poor condition of Waldo. His son works in our department and has become a snitch for Alex Dimare. A janitor at East High was recently disciplined after working with Drew. Drew did not realize the janitor had emergency setup in the PE area and was taking his lunch late. The next day the janitor was written up and Drew was only person could be responsible.
It looks like between Starands son and Darby son they think they are the school board.
The mold at Waldo is a problem for years there is a crack in the wall and the roof leaks. After a tour from Leonard the day fire person was disciplined about other things another fear tactic on Dimare's part. The DON as Dirmare likes to be called is worthless but he has told many from his police days he knows how to break you down.
Darby is a bust maintenance people have talked to him and then we get the head games. We feel he talks with Dimare. John Laesch is another one you can never leave him a message his phone is full. Why is he even on the board. When you do get him he talks about how he hates the board and is waiting for the right time to get off. Leonard is remembered from the Marty Feltes days and can not be trusted however at least Ralph helps us with talking to him.
I don't know who has so many "issues" with Ralph that they have to keep beating the drum about him and his "toadies." If there was a valid concern or point about Ralph, the name calling and negative innuendos have a put the writer in the same heap he has suggested for Ralph. A person who is " an abusive cry bully" who has " a syndrome he needs help with." Admit you have a problem with Ralph. That is the first step to recovery. You seem to be a bit obsessive and approaching a melt down. Venting on a blog may help, but will not fix your problem.
Speaking of problems. The mold and all related issues have been a problem long before Ralph was around and have been ignored or covered up for just as long. Leonard or Johnson, if being honest, could attest to this. Maybe if truth be told, you are one of those "governmental employees"-"doing things incompetently, just to watch a train wreck?"
"Issues" is the proper name for you because you have lots of them in your head and none that have anything to do with the real problems in the district! Nor do you care, as you are probably one of those on the way out or related to one of those already gone.
Make no mistake, Leonard has directed Dimare just recently get a quote for outsourcing the maintenance dept. -once again. So saying stoopid things like employees (or as you so colorfully call them "nitwits") mess up on their jobs or that they withhold information about problems with the buildings is another lie you spew. Leonard will never stop trying to get pay-back for his best friend Marty Feltes. Never. Leonard is dirty himself. Just look up his name in association with the city of Aurora and kickbacks.
Using these board member's kids to "report" on things they know nothing about is molding them into what they will become in the future as adults. Stool pigeons that give out incorrect information.
Ralph is correct. The Dept. of Education took Weiler's pre-prepped "investigation" as gospel and did not dive into the full facts, maybe they had bigger fish to fry in Chicago? Maybe Weiler has a friend in this federal government agency? Someone who had no affiliation with D131 should have performed these interviews and investigated the facts. We watched as the College of DuPage and school districts across the nation were heavily fined and disciplined for lesser offenses, yet none were doled out for the transgressions of Leonard directing Feltes and company. Yet they were eventually fired....hmmm. Makes one wonder. I would really like to see the foais in question scanned and placed on a public blog for all to view.
The people in this district still haven't read the roles of board members and how it says board members should refrain from talking to employees and community members since they only have one vote. The biggest role of a board member is to hire a Superintendent that has taken the required classes to become one. The Superintendent is the one the board make policies for The Superintendent to use to run the district. The Board President is not the one who should be running it and if she believes that the Superintendent is not doing the job to have the whole board pick another one. This works in all districts in IL except ours where the president think she should run it.
Now we have some low life that is attacking our students and I believe it is someone on the board that has done this before on the blog to other people's children. It takes someone with low self esteem to attack children.
The reason staff talks with BOE members is we do not get action from administration. If that does not work our last hope is the BOE. Make no mistake about it Ms Strands son directed the principal to harass counselors. Apparently, you have not kept informed or do not attend BOE meeting. WE HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE.
I do believe the BOE is working hard to find a new Sup but for now we place our future with the BOE.
We agree on all accounts. Another question: do the EA kids even like the Erick Strand? It makes one wonder with tantrums and behavior such as his, most kids in the general sense just would not care for his kind. Just saying.
The board as a group can change 131 and they settled our contract and they have been enforcing better working conditions. Ms Johnson is doing a good job under difficult circumstances. Tomcat 8 you have no idea how difficult this past school year has been.
To: Kimberly Hatchett From: Ralph Padron April 16, 2016
This past week MANY STAFF MEMBERS OF 131 have contacted me to bring to your attention the following in reviewing the “Mike Popp Era” which has an impact on the legacy of this Board and EA 131.
Several staff have spoken with many a Board Member and despite coming away with assurance that changes will be made they have all but given up on those CHANGES NECESSARY to reverse the direction EA has been traveling. It is very important to understand that a mass exodus of staff members is in progress. They have given this Board a vote of NO CONFIDENCE due to the non-removal of those administrators which are the root of the problem.
The past 2 years Mike Popp has succeeded in getting rid of competent administrators, staff, & teachers. I have contacted many of them and some of their comments were:
“I wanted to stay but Popp, Glotzbach, Truckenbrod, Crespo forced me out” More importantly they told me: “If this group were removed they would welcome an opportunity to return!”
Kim: Further clarification is available upon your request.
The misconception that Removing current administrators would result in CHAOS has been used to justify in retaining them. However the mistakes & failure of Mike Popp as a Superintendent and his Hires has resulted in the deterioration of the district. (Reminder he had no experience as a superintendent nor in a poverty school district).
Inexperienced personnel were brought in Sara Waddell: Asst Principal to Asst Superintendent (no need to belabor this failure) Why was a consultant hired to be involved with the curriculum?
Anthony Crespo: Countless purchasing violations, favoritism to Kirsten Strand’s son Erik is obvious Crespo’s obsession to have Jessica Brummel leave & have Dennis Renner replaced And my favorite is the Veterans Event with Rudy Keller
This year’s graduating class will be low compared to previous years. Compare the numbers as they become public next month which will clearly show a tangible result of their mismanagement.
The teacher contract which came very close to a strike with one of the main issues being the “Culture of disrespect &treatment” by several administrators, Truckenbrod, Glotzbach, Waddell, Crespo & others. Matt Hanley promotion fiasco/scandal
Mark Truckenbrod: His rude, arrogant, and intimidation to many an employee Lets not forget his approval for many a purchasing violation at East High
Kim, I write this to you on behalf of those who have been victimized and lost hope by the ruthless & self serving Mike Popp era.
The following facts speak for themselves
Teachers speaking at Board Meetings bringing out concerns about treatment from the Popp Regime. How many were disciplined afterwards for coming forward.
The Board Meeting at East High when the Carillon community came out in large numbers to bring out the spending and property taxes they were being burdened with
This is a defining moment for the future of East Aurora Dist 131 It is in the Board of Education’s hands to change the direction and bring back hope to a school district which has been betrayed by Mike Popp and his hires
Mike Popp is a great politician and speaker. He also possesses the skill of deflecting the truth and core issues to his advantage.
Kim: We both have a background in Corporate America and know that these individuals would never be employed with the performance they display.
Please consider the above factual information in deciding the future in restoring the trust and confidence of the community, district and employees.
For the sake of all humanity, will you and your merry band of nitwits leave district 131. Don't just say you are going to quit, please actually do it so we can get competent staff back into the district. The scandal is the culture of incompetence and crybulling of the staff. The disrespect that the staff shows the students and administration comes from that culture of incompetence and crybulling. So, Ralph, please tell your 'usefull idiots" to quit and go somewhere else. But then again, they could not be hired in the corporate world. They truly have no resume suited for the real world.
202 comments:
1 – 200 of 202 Newer› Newest»http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/news/ct-abn-aurora-daycare-cooking-st-0302-20160303-story.html
Well if you have not heard our union is totally unprepared for a strike. They did not show us what they were asking of the district in today's meeting. There will be a strike however nobody is sure what we are striking about. Megan Callahan had the biggest voice proclaiming a strike today. We suggest she ask her friend Strand why she did not get us the money last year. I also seems many our willing to cross the picket lines. It is a sad day in EA.
It's not about the money. . .it's about teacher's getting a competitive wage. Very few good teachers do not stay at D131 b/c they can go to any other neighboring district and make more money. The students suffer when the district loses these quality individuals. The union has completely failed the teachers. The negotiation team meets in secret and teachers are left in the dark. Give the teachers a fair raise, pay a fair portion of TRS, and unfreeze stipends and the contract will pass with ease. If the district did not have the funds to pay the teachers, they would not be investing enormous amounts of money into a new administration center, new construction at the high school, etc. If the district truly wants what is best for the students, offer a fair and competitive contract.
Tomcat 8
This has been stated many times on this blog. The reason staff speaks to tge board directly today is the toxic atmosphere Dr Popp created. If a staff member complains to administration nothing happens or you get a bad evaluations. Mr Darby asked staff to come to him in a board meeting. They did and days later writes ups started and threats. That is the Mike Popp era. Insecure small minded administration. Staff has written Strand off but the other board members have listened and taken action. The firing of Popp has lifted the black cloud and yes it is still gray but sky's will brighten.
It is clear to anyone Tomcat 8 that you hold a grudge against Ms Johnson. Perhaps you are one of the administrators who does not like the new direction but it's better than the past.
To Sara
We need to understand what you are asking for and why? Many of us will not walk the picket lines unless we see facts along with an accounting of additional funds the district may have for a raise.
The district is not building a new administrative center. I attended the meeting it is about expanding the HS and repairs to schools that have been put off for 5 years. They received a interest free loan that can only be used on construction. We need to get our facts straight before going off. The district will laugh at us if we are striking on that. Yes, we are underpaid that is a fact and we need to demonstrate that we are public sympathy will work not untruths.
The hall at EA are dangerous they are so over crowded and the repairs have been needed to five years. The board actually had a great plan for the money. Our focus is making them spend some of the cash reserves on teachers since they will not spend it on buildings now. Again, Sara we need a real accountant to look at our books. That is what we pay dues for.
March 4, 2016
To: Kirsten Strand
From Ralph Padron
Subject: EHS Purchasing Violations
Kirsten, please look into this purchase by EHS Anthony Crespo.
PO 160497 - $ 8,900.00
Questions/Comments
There were no other quotes for this purchase !!
1 How necessary was this purchase
2 Was the Woodworking Classes ever considered to perform this work
Using Resources within EHS is preparing students for the work force would have been a great opportunity to @ save money & @ give students valuable experience
(I have attached another PO which needs to be considered if Woodworking Students could have performed this project )
Note multiple errors with this PO ( see comments on PO)
How does Christi Tyler’s office approve these violations after assuring all that everything is moving forward.
My point is this:
When you have INEXPERIENCED PERSONNEL involved specifically Anthony Crespo, Mark Trueckenbrod, Elise Clever in spending TAXPAYER dollars, how can you justify this?
These issues are all kept quiet and covered up to protect those involved.
This is why so many are demanding Mrs Tyler, Crespo, Trueckenbrod, Waddell and Clever be removed.
Last question is this ”Why didn’t Alex DiMare intervene”, B&G initiated this Purchase.
Christi Tyler’s compensation
$ 145,000.00 salary
7,051.20 Insurance
15,181.50 Pension
Total $ 167,232.70
Again I respectfully request a written response.
Anxiously await your reply
Ralph
It sounds like Kristen and her church members are after poor Annette Johnson again. Megan Callahan is organizing parents to ask Annette's resignation. Sorry, Megan church does not come first in the EA district. Another group is forming to ask Kristen Strand that she resign. Afterall was it not Kristen who promised teachers better working conditions and was it not Kristen that voted for Matt Hanley. Again we must answer the question Kristen why did you not settle the contract last year? Kristen had six votes that is a fact. Again are these the same parents that when asked why did you attend Monday's meeting the answer was somebody told me. We don't know why.
BTW Megan iis a good hearted person that is getting used.
I was once a School Board Member. Some members of a past Board attempted to get me to resign with lies and intimidation. When I called and spoke with officials, who oversee school boards, they told me I could not be forced to resign. Also, they told me, the likelihood of a school board member being removed from their position is slim to none. Unless, someone does something extremely wrong, such as in criminal, there are few Board members who are removed, once elected.
Over a year later, I did resign, for other reasons. I was ashamed to have my name attached to a new contract, I did not agree with. All Board members must sign off, accept, and be acknowledged as being in agreement with things when the majority of the Board has spoken. It is amazing the things I saw being done, in the name of educating our children. I could not sign my name, any longer, to things I did not agree with. I resigned.
Asking for resignations is a way to express frustration with a certain board member. But it carries no weight. If either people were to resign, the remaining Board members will then choose someone to fill the empty position(s). The public has no voice until the election in 2017.
comments about Megan are why our union is in chaos. Megan is a good hearted person who speaks for herself and that is respected. A resignation or two from this board would be refreshing after we now see that they aren't here for the students or the parents. It is most likely because they aren't 131 parents so students aren't a priority. Let's work together and accept a really good gesture that looks to point us in the direction of fixing our masters salaries. Everyone else is already paid better than the other districts. We saw that. Our insurance is good and we pay less than other districts. Why are we letting Hettinger and rank & file do this to us?
Yes it would be good to see Strand and Laesch resign but I don't see that happening. Strand lied to us and promoted wages for Hanley and Laesch misses to many meeting.
The Union represents ALL staff...not just teachers. And ALL staff needs fair wages! It would be great if people stopped saying "teachers, teachers, teachers" and started saying "STAFF".
Strand and Laesch actually seem to make decisions based on fact, not the "bought" votes by Anete
It's Annette and Dick and Kirsten that need to step down. Fortunately, they are all up in a year. At the board meeting last Monday, there were several building level administrators present. One made the comment that the district is in a downward spiral. Another stated that the district has been in a downward spiral every time Annette has been the president. There has never been a truer statement. And Denise Crosby keeps reporting on the soap opera that is the District 131 school board.
Yup. Everyone who actually wants to move the district forward sucks. The only people that matter are Ralph and his brownshirts. Yup, everyone sucks except the people who are really causing the problems - Ralph his brownshirts. He sucks, she sucks everywhere a suck, suck. E-I-E-I-O. Have you ever seen a collection of halfwits in your life?? (and apologies to the halfwits out there).
I don't understand what is the big deal someone keeps making about Ralph? What is the reference to brown shirts? What side do you want us to hear out? ( audi alteram partem) not sure where you are coming from....other than way out in left field maybe??
How does Ralph cause a problem? Is it that he brings out how the district doesn't follow the IL School Code by bidding jobs out that are over the amount the State says they have too or the salaries of some administrators?
The article in The Beacon about the audit even commented on some of those things. There was a purchase that didn't have a receipt and by The IL Administration Code if there is no receipt for a purchase that can be considered personal purchase and isn't suppose to be paid but this district is an exception I guess since the pay the bill receipt for not.
Why is Dennis Renner's job posted?
It's just a temp. position until Renner gets back. No worries!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/news/ct-abn-east-aurora-food-survey-st-0308-20160307-story.html
Volunteer question: is it correct that if someone or an organization contacts EA to volunteer in some capacity with the EA children they are directed to Keisten Strand and her church organization? If this is correct why would this be the case? I would think that Kristen Strand and her church organization would have no say in who or what organization comes into EA to assist and do community service/ volunteer with EA children. It has also been stated that not only have interested parties/ volunteers been directed to Kristen Strand, but they have also been told that if they would like to provide service/ volunteer work in EA they would have to completed some time of training and this would be provided by Kristen Strands church organization. The cost of the training for the volunteers would cost the volunteers $2500. This to be paid to Keisten Strands church. Why would volunteers need to be trained by Kristen Strands organization? Are the employed by EA? Why would anyone who wants to volunteer be directed to speak with anyone from Kristen strands organization? Very very strange.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/news/ct-abn-east-aurora-rally-st-0308-20160307-story.html
"Volunteers should not have to go through k. Strand"
Response to your inquiry.
If there are organizations interested in partnering with Community 4:12 or Community Christian Church, I believe the head of the ministry, Kirsten Strand would be responsible for vetting those opportunities. Someone needs to be responsible for determining which organizations we should partner with as we can't spread ourselves too thin. We don't have unlimited volunteers unfortunately.
If there are individuals interested in partnering with our current efforts, they would go through Kirsten and/or her staff. People need to complete an application and if working with children, we require references and fingerprinting be done. We pay for this out of the budget for our ministry. The budget comes from Community Christian Church.
Of course, if people want to volunteer to work with kids, we try to train them on how to do so! There is no cost for this training though. People show up to church to our orientation/training sessions and we talk to them for a couple hours about things related to working with kids and the responsibilities of doing this type of work. There are rules and procedures that need to be followed to protect the kids and ourselves.
There is nothing that I have ever heard of that says "if you want to work with our church, you have to pay $2,500 to do so for training". I wish someone would tell me where this information originated. It's ridiculous.
I will say that if another church hears about one of our amazing programs and wants to duplicate it in their part of the country or world, Kirsten and her team have helped them do so. Programs like the Giftmart that Kirsten started, are taking off all over the country as churches have been eager to replicate her model.
I hope that answers your question and I hope some of you will consider volunteering your time in East Aurora.
The school board needs to be aware that Cresbo is planning on bring Calvin Davis over for Renners job. The board needs to look into their plans.
I think the question here is, should volunteers have to go thru Ms. Strand to volunteer in the EA schools. That is a definite NO way. She is not the overseer of volunteers in the district. People can approach a teacher, a principal, a booster organization...drama, sports, band, ROTC. You do not have to have a student in the school to volunteer. You may be asked to go thru a process which requires finger printing. Depending to what capacity you would be volunteering.
Strand works with an organization called Kids Hope the had a breakfast program directing all churches or organizations to her group. My organization could not pay it we the $2500 an decided to work with Peace Jam same results and they provide a high quality program. I do feel she has used her position on the board and Popp helped her. I do believe Hanley gets inquiries and forwards them to her.
This is very strange to hear that if an individual or organization would like to volunteer to work with EA children they are to go through Kristen Strand or her church organization. Is it correct that Kristren Strand and her organization are then employed by EA. A church ministry is employed by East Aurora Public Schools! Thank you for making this clear. In addition, what do you mean partner up? An individual or groups that would like to do volunteer work for EA children should not have to partner up with Kristen Strands church organization. This is very unusual for a public school to be partnered with a church ministry. Furthuremore, Kristin Strands church is the party to provide training to volunteers? Again this is very odd. I always understood that Public Schools were NOT to be partnered with church organizations so as to keep these two organizations seperate. Very very odd and also I'm not sure if this is even legal.
I don't understand the confusion here. Anyone can contact the school and volunteer at any location. I'm sure the school would welcome volunteers at any time and Kirsten is not involved in that whatsoever.
If someone wants to get involved with the existing programs like Saturday Stars, C412 Buddies, Giftmart, or any other programs that CCC/C412 (community christian church or the ministry called C412) then they can reach out to the church or Kirsten for information on how to team up with said programs. There is no cost for this.
I think where you are confused is with regard to "Kids Hope". Kids Hope is an organization that CCC partners with, CCC DOES NOT OWN or MAINTAIN KIDS HOPE. Google "Kids Hope" and you will see it's not a Kirsten Strand program - it's a National Organization. Kids Hope probably needs funding and there is training to be part of Kids Hope. CCC pays Kids Hope to be part of their organization. But, make no mistake, Kids Hope was not originated or started by CCC. CCC just happens to like their model so they partner with them. That is all there is to it.
The other programs, like C412 Buddies or Saturday Stars were started by CCC and they DO NOT REQUIRE any payment to be part of these programs.
Hope that clears things up for you.
To "Kirstin Strand's church organizes volunteers in public schools very odd".
So, would you rather that C412 pull out of EA and not do the Giftmart every year that brings in over 10,000 gifts each year that are sold at pennies on the dollar to EA families? Should they stop sending volunteers to help teachers every week? Should they discontinue the Tutoring and Mentoring programs that work with over 50 kids every single week? Should they stop their back to school bbq events? Should they stop donating thousands of dollars in school supplies every year?
This is obviously ludicrous. The church does what it can to help.
Once again, anyone can volunteer and help out by going directly to the school and asking how they can help. CCC/C412 just happen to have programs in place where people from the church can get involved. She is simply a conduit/facilitator who gets people from the church involved in helping in a community that needs some assistance. That is it.
Date: March 9, 2016
Subject: MOLD & ASBESTOS
Location: East Aurora Dist 131 Multiple Locations
Upon receiving several complaints & request for my assistance, I have gathered the following information requesting the ROE to inspect these areas.
1. Allen (Elementary)
* Northwest Part of School has asbestos ceiling tiles are water stained (due to roof leaking), asbestos floor tiles are water damage..
* East side is severely water damaged (drywall, tiles ceiling etc).
2. Simmons (Middle)
a Mechanical room for gym has problems with asbestos & a high probability of mold.
b Main office had mold in in recent years.
c Only the HVAC diffusers and return air grills were cleaned.
d Storage closet had severe mold. C
e Carpet was never cleaned or removed and replaced with a hard surface.
f All office furniture and files were never cleaned.
3. Oak Park (Elementary)
Tunnels under 1940 addition are regularly flooded with water from rains and certainly have mold.
4. East High School
Science and math wing has severe mold issues.
Air handling equipment and ducts have mold.
5. Waldo (Middle)
Room south of 4th floor music room has mold due to leaks.
Is noted on the wall of the small room in the southeast corner.
Update on asbestos in the district:
6. Gates: (Elementary)
The mechanical room for the old gym is severely contaminated
All other buildings have yet to report in thus I am requesting a thorough inspection of all buildings to verify the above complaints..
Thank you in advance
Ralph Padron
Please EA volunteer ask Kristen why volunteering is a not allowed unless an organization completes her training? Why did Mr Popp have a breakfast encouraging this? We have been told to contact Kids Hope and they do charge a fee. Our group did not have the $2,500 to do so. We would rather put the $2,500 into food or items for the kids. Something is very fishy and Ms Strand is in the middle. Again you are not answering the question and you are correct we found another group in EA on our own. I wish when calling into Mr Hanley he would have other groups that needed help other than Kristens available. She has never responded as to her salary from Community 4;12.
It is funny that Mr Hanley has been given a big raise and seems to be the person in the middle.
You are exactly correct on all counts. Kristen Strand please answer the question! Why should anyone wanting to volunteer be required to go through your training and pay a $2500 dollar fee to your HOLY ROBERS organization. Something does seem out of order. Hanley, stop requesting volunteers speak with Kristen Strands HOLY ROBBERS organization. It's just not right!
Here is the url for Kids Hope about Seperation of Church and State.
http://www.kidshopeusa.org/partnerships/Church_State/
Here is the Url for the volunteers. Didn't see any thing about paying anything for it.
Here is the Url for the whole website and it is approved by IL State Board of Education.
http://www.kidshopeusa.org/partnerships/Church_State/
Sounds like a good program for our Students.
I don't understand the confusion here. Anyone can contact the school and volunteer at any location. I'm sure the school would welcome volunteers at any time and Kirsten is not involved in that whatsoever.
If someone wants to get involved with the existing programs like Saturday Stars, C412 Buddies, Giftmart, or any other programs that CCC/C412 (community christian church or the ministry called C412) then they can reach out to the church or Kirsten for information on how to team up with said programs. There is no cost for this.
I think where you are confused is with regard to "Kids Hope". Kids Hope is an organization that CCC partners with, CCC DOES NOT OWN or MAINTAIN KIDS HOPE. Google "Kids Hope" and you will see it's not a Kirsten Strand program - it's a National Organization. Kids Hope probably needs funding and there is training to be part of Kids Hope. CCC pays Kids Hope to be part of their organization. But, make no mistake, Kids Hope was not originated or started by CCC. CCC just happens to like their model so they partner with them. That is all there is to it.
The other programs, like C412 Buddies or Saturday Stars were started by CCC and they DO NOT REQUIRE any payment to be part of these programs.
Hope that clears things up for you.
Kids Hope charges $2,500 to teach someone how to mentor then they get the organizations email addresses and constantly email someone for donations. Why are they charging at all? You are missing point. Please Kristen we know who you are. This is an income for your family. Please tell the truth.
Again, and this is getting ridiculous and repetitive. Please read carefully.
KIDS HOPE is related to in any way, shape, or form, Community Christian Church, C412, or Kirsten Strand.
Community Christian and C412 do partner with this organization by finding volunteers who want to be a part of Kids Hope. Community Christian most likely pays Kids Hope a fee for use of their program, training, materials, expertise, etc.
Kirsten is not part of Kids Hope in any capacity whatsoever. The church partners with this fine organization just like hundreds of other churches do around the country.
I can't believe anyone thinks that Kirsten is collecting money for Kids Hope and giving it to her family. What a ridiculous and horrible thing to write!
Again, anyone can volunteer for the programs the CCC and C412 have in place. Simply send me an email and I will get you started and find a program that suits you best. If you want to work with Kids Hope, then go to the kids hope website and get involved - this isn't that complicated!
marc_pal@yahoo.com is my email.
I am completely mystified by the fact that all of you people are harping on some stupid volunteer program and Kristin Strand when you just breezed by the MOLD AND ASBESTOS that have been allowed to infiltrate our schools, take hold and continue unabated. If you don't like her program, don't take part. Not one admin has done anything to solve this immediate DANGEROUS THREAT TO THE HEALTH AND LIVES of all of the PERSONNEL AND STUDENTS in these buildings. When there is remediation, as in the band room , custodians are sent in without the proper gear, to clean asbestos tiles( without knowing what materials they are dealing with.) When do they take care of the mold and asbestos in the Little Theater? In the summer, right when no one is around? Wrong !!!!!@!! During the school year when the sped students and staff directly across can breathe in these noxious and life threatening fumes and particulate matter. Before anything else gets done on the contract, THIS ISSUE SHOULD BE ISSUE ONE. Because a raise doesn't really matter, when you are dead, right?
No one believes that Kirsten gets money for that program. Anyone that is reading this with the information that has been on here should see that.
The blogger that keeps posting things has just brought out hearsay while others have posted websites and information that says otherwise. So if they can post who they heard these things in writing they are just making things up.
Let's not keep letting this go on because the person who is doing this have some kind of problem and needs to get over it.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/opinion/ct-abn-crosby-east-board-st-0311-20160310-column.html
To Barely clinging.
Get a life. It is still very, very rare to get sick from mold or asbestos. Don't know what books you read, but put down the science fiction will you. Unless you have your nostrils in the mold you are not going to get sick. Unless you are eating the asbestos tiles, you will not get sick. Should the situation be remedied, yes. The roofs, or whatever is causing the problem must be taken care of. But stop the crap that this is as bad as typhoid fever. We have enough wussies out there already. The only thing that district 131 has to fear is Ralph and his brownshirts with their subversive activities.
Don't know what your issue is with Ralph. I still don't get who the brown shirts are unless you mean the UPS drivers. Put down the paranoia, will you? We have enough whiners pointing fingers out there already, passing blame.
Dr Fein/ Frankenstein
You get a life. Asbestos killed a close relative. Mold killed another. The Mayo clinic determined that and created protocols for both. It was too late they both died. both cases. so don't you dare speak about what you know nothing about. The third floor - the English department is nothing but a cancer cluster 3 breast cancers, a woman who recently retired had a sinus cancer so rare, the Mayo clinic had never seen anything like it and couldn't even create a protocol for her. I have been there 20 plus years, and have seen the building deteriorate so badly it would horrify the average person. The math wing grows black mold and mushrooms. When pipes break as they routinely do and no one does maintenance, you should see all of the bulging discolored ceiling tiles. When water soaks the floor tiles, instead of replacing tiles, they suck up the water and leave it. So mold grows underneath. When you walk down the business hallway you need a handkerchief to breathe into. The auditorium reeks and so do the gyms. Children and staff are sick all year with serious respiratory infections. Did you never hear of CPOD asbestos-related. Dr. Fein I don't know what kind of doctor you are but the medical journal and the majority of respected physician know that black mold and asbestos are killers. Don't be an apologist- we have Matt Hanley for lying and covering up- unless this is Matt Hanley-- Get a life! We are trying to salvage ours!!
Dr. Fein is Matt. Note the brownshirts comments!
Very disappointed in John Laesch he sound make up his mind now about leaving the Board. There is no reason he can't do his duty on the Board and work on the campaign. If he was ever to run again for a political position I would never vote for him.
Ms Strand is no angel, she has not disclosed her NP forms like most reputable organizations. Kids Hope does charge a fee for an organization to work with. My question to Matt Hanley is why has the district not set up FREE training for mentors? It was also revealed Matt has helped her with proof reading pray flyers and running district copies. Of course everyone will write in and say that is not true. Our parent coordinator who was assigned to Matt recently left her job because of direction given to her by Hanley. She was also forced to attend parent workshops with Strand in Elgin and Joliet. Why does one board member have so much power?
The staff believed Strand would change working conditions and are very angry that when she had countless meeting with Popp noting happened. Strand betrayed many teachers and administrators and did not keep staffs names in anonymity when asked. Popp would then bully staff for speaking after comments to Strand.
Strand, did organize the pro Popp rally and that was the final straw for staff. We are happy to see and end to his short tenure in 131. Popp has created a negative culture and it will take years for our district to heal.
The Strand supporter aka Matt Hanley should realize we know he is on a public relations assignment against the board and Padron for Popp and Strand. Its not working Dr Popp, please note the district is happy to see you leave and your classless act to ruin the district will not work.
To Dr. Feindish:
The diagnosis from Mayo in regard to your relatives has nothing to do with the building you say you have been in for 20 years. But I am sorry for your loss. Trying to relate a cancer from someone who was also in the building is absurd. I guess when one says "Mayo" we are to just believe it is connected to the building?? There is no proof. Once again quit trying to bullshit people about the situation. You are admitting though that the maintenance people do really suck at their jobs and should be replaced by outside contractors. The asbestos and mold need to be taken care of but don't try to make it into something more than what it is. Anyone can make outlandish claims. here's one. Did your friend with the sinus cancer snort coke and could that have caused the cancer?? Please put down the science fiction.
I have never written on this blog before, but as a co-worker of the teacher that passed away from sinus cancer, I would like to put a name to the comment. She was a wonderful person and teacher that affected hundreds of students positively. Her death occurred a short time after she retired and it was very sad. Whoever wrote that comment about "snorting coke" owes many an apology.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/aurora-beacon-news/obituary.aspx?n=janet-m-weber&pid=135384154
The people you write about on here are real. They have feelings, family and friends.
Dr Feindish or Matt Hanley take your pick!
Mold is dangerous and thank-you to Ralph to exposing for it.
I now looks like Hanley, Dimure, and Popp have all been caught in a lie. Board member Leonard visited our school and was shown mold that existed for better than 1 year. While Popp was busy saving money to build a new air conditioned administrative center and overpay Hanley and 204 cronies the roofs and buildings received no repairs.
Come to Waldo and see the damage a bad roof caused. D131 will not recover from Popp for years. He will go down as the most unethical superintendent EA had. Thanks Ralph for bring this to the attention of the board.
To the EAHS teacher. Thank you for your post. Some of those who comment on this blog, have no direct connection to our students or teachers. They live or work in our district and have no respect or understanding about the issues our families face or the dedication of our teachers, so they feel free to make light of the lives in 131. I usually do not respond to their ignorance. Your post was appreciated.
131 Family Member
I have contacted Ms Strand on Waldo in December because she told us she would bring issues to the superintendent. She did nothing telling us there are no problems. Her husband also sees falling down paint and plaster daily at Bardwell. The janitors and building people write work tickets that have gone unanswered since the beginning of school.
You may ask why not contact others board members. Ms Strand has a very close relationship with Popp and she did take money from many of us who supported her. We have also lost all respect for her since she put Hanley and his family first over the EA family. Many of us ask WHY she did not get us contract last year? She and her group lost all of our support after that.
Mr Laesch is another one we supported him as well and he needs to resign period. He is responsible to this position first since he also promised change.
Matt I knew that you were a craven idiot. I was not trying to relate the deaths of my relatives due to mold and asbestos to our building. Far from it. Connect the dots, Matt. You said that both of these substances were harmless. They are not. Any well respected doctor wil tell you that black mold can kill; so can asbestos. Look at the ceiling tiles- black mold. Look in the closets of the rooms across from the Little Theater- black mold. Look at the old tiles- asbestos. KILLERS. But to say a well-respected older woman who was at the top of her game right up until retirement and who had spearheaded many programs at EAHS was a coke snorter makes you the lowest piece of scum that we have in this district and that's saying a lot. It is also libelous. I have personally witnessed the black mold and mushrooms. Had days where I was literally gasping for breath. Matt I hope that you never get sick due to "sick building syndrome" but if you do, we will visit and pray for you. You certainly need many prayers.
Teachers again our union has not heard our plea!
They recognize that we are underpaid without no TRS but they did not ask for that. The rumor is the proposal to the board asks for NO TRS. If our union was fair everyone would get TRS and all teachers would receive the same benefit. We are told we must all walk the picket lines but they will not show us what they asked for. We don't mind walking but we must know what we are walking for.
Dear communicate: the last union request asks for more money for the BA column for teachers, and more money for support staff and secretarirs. It also asks for more money for stipends. So if you are not in any of the areas that have been noted you are not important. I hope this helps.
The union did not ask for TRS and TRS is a fair compromise for all. We are asked to walk the picket lines and again Hettinger and Intherm will not listen. We to stop paying union dues and demand a refund.
The negotiating union committee is requesting the following.
A 5% pay increase for the BA column.
Increase in pay for support staff.
Increase in pay for secretaries.
Increase for stipends.
There is no request for TRS, however I do not agree that TRS across the board would make competitive fair pay wages equitable for all teachers.
TRS is definitely needed or at least a portion paid.
When you take the time to observe the teacher salary schedule it is a fair statement that teachers in the BA column are comparable and in some cases slightly above surrounding districts. (Again noting this does not include TRS)
The philosophy (an unethical one at that) stems from our union negotiating committee. There are a lot more teachers with BA degrees and this equates to more YES votes to pass the contract if we are to vote again. The same (unethical philosophy) is correct with regard to voting power of support staff and the secretaries. (Let's give the secretaries and support staff at least one more dollar as a wage increase. One individual on the negotiating team (NOT a teacher) stated at least a dollar bump for support staff and they gave a guarantee the contract will pass if put to a vote.
At the end of the day, let's all hang tough, get our there and fight for these three groups.
The rest of you don't have enough power in votes and no one at the table cared enough to increase wages where significant gaps were clear and obvious.
The union told Popp they will get the membership to vote yes now because many of teachers will not strike and are willing to cross the picket lines. A vote may come as early as Friday. They put demands in that will make us look greedy instead of asking for compensation that will prove we are underpaid like teachers making $20,000 less than neighboring districts. They would not ask for TRS because we can prove other districts have it.
The secretaries and support staff have a private meeting Monday and they will scare members into voting yes. We heard the support staff/secretaries hand selected some staff for special raises and they will get enough to turn.
We are being played. I was revealed that we will not get fined for not picketing another union scare tactic. Intherm also stated days will not get made up but the district will make days up or not get paid. All lies.
To: Our union at work
You obviously don't have a clue what you are talking about. First: by law, the members have to have at least five business days to review any offer made. The next meeting between the district and union is March 15th, so there is no way to legally have a vote by Friday. As for fining scabs who cross picket lines, it has been done many times. Whether or not our union would have the cajones to do it is another story but there is legal precedent for doing so. I do agree that we are being played. It will be very clear after the contract is signed and we see what deal Sara has made for her own gain.
Again Carla received a job with a six figure salary with Local 604.
Mary Dudzienski was being paid $145,000 a year by the district.
Adam Harding recieved an administrative job (Matt Hanley's) after passing a bad contract AND more revealing Local 604 made him a field rep with a six figure income after he betrayed us.
It's just a matter of time before we find out what Sara deal is.
East Aurora Teachers and any other group that has been ignored by the greedy corrupt union and negotiating union committee members. Do NOT vote yes to a contract that is drafted to only highly serve the collective best interest of a few.
Our union (union committee) does NOT wish for the negotiations to be put to arbitration.
Any arbitration hearing will surely identify that the negotiating committee has not exercised fair negotiating interests that work toward creating fair wages for all staff.
To all that have been ignored, vote NO if another vote is taken! Allow arbitration to take place!
When examination of current salary lanes for teachers and wages for support staff and secretaries reveals that there are some areas that are up to par, while others are leap years away from where they should be surely all areas can be fairly compensated.
Perhaps those individuals who have provided years of service and have achieved several advanced degrees in order to provide a high education to children will be respected enough to be paid a fair wage.
It is obvious that our union and union committee members have little respect for those that have proven themselves to be dedicated to the EA children.
Teachers that have committed themselves with years of service to any school district and who have demonstrated academic excellence by achieving higher education in order to remain current and implement the best practices in the classroom should be reverd not disrespected because the numbers that represent this group are not as large as the BA columns.
Allow this to go to arbitration! The collective EA group will have a better chance of fair wages for ALL, NOT A SELECT FEW!
To those of you on the union negotiating committeee that have guaranteed a new vote will pass because there are more of you in those areas and all you need to do is take care of yourselves and the group that you happen to be in, ALL of EA has your Number! Be treated fairly, wait for arbitration!
Our union will not fight for arbitration because it will show twenty years of bad deals that have allowed the salary schedule to fail teachers. Teachers who start in the district are competitive but will not stay. Teachers who work for and have invested in the students are screwed. Our union has put us in that position. Remember BA teachers if you invest in our district you will be us 5 years. Continue to vote against corruption and vote NO
Remember it was revealed Sara at already got a raise others who moved an education level did not.
Yes. I have to admit it. Unless you are a teacher who wants to strike or as someone says one of Ralph's" brownshirts", you really have to suck. Union reps suck, union negotiating committee sucks, staff who may want to vote not to strike suck, board members who may not agree with everything everyone wants suck, administration sucks, negotiation team for the district sucks. Even volunteers suck. I guess there are sub groups of volunteers all of whom appear to suck also. Mold sucks. Asbestos sucks (If you live in a house built before 1985 you house has asbestos in the drywall and in any linoleum or vinyl flooring, so that means your house sucks too.) So, what do we do since everything and everyone sucks except for a few groups of people???
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/opinion/ct-abn-crosby-laesch-bernie-st-0313-20160313-column.html
Matt you should spend your time looking for a job along with your boss. We pity the school district that employees you. Hopefully this blog follows your careers for the fleecing of d131.
What to do?
Yes you are right, most of the things on your list do suck. Otherwise we would not be wasting hundreds of man hours asking for the bare minimum that any other school district gets. Yes Matt, even those with low standardized test scores!! Yes genius mold and asbestos do suck. Eat a bowlful for breakfast or better yet work at East for 20 years and see your health decline. And yes Mensa member, old houses have these issues too, but hopefully when they remove these toxins they don't do it with the doors wide open, shovelful by shovelful without hazmat suits and rooms properly sealed.
It will be interesting to see what our "negotiation team" comes out with. I'm sure it will line Torres pockets. Next up will be Torres going for union president. Where does that leave lowest paid Masters teachers?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/news/ct-abn-east-aurora-peacejam-st-0316-20160315-story.html
Just wondering?
Does every school have a strike committee organizer? If so, maybe this should be shared with everyone.
It would be nice if the union leaders shared anything with us!!
Of course every building has a strike committee or are you a scab.
Hear the latest John Laesch used his position along with Medina to take students to the polls. Is it no illegal to transport student.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/news/ct-abn-east-aurora-echevarria-fundraiser-st-0317-20160316-story.html
An inquiry about strike committee designated individuals is a valid question, particularly if this has not been shared with all within their building. Berating someone for asking a question is simply foolish. To the person that asked the question, yes each building should have a designated strike committee organizer, however unfortunately this has not been made clear to all. Please feel free to ask questions as needed, there is absolutely nothing wrong with this.
https://v3.boardbook.org/Public/PublicItemDownload.aspx?ik=38453068
East Aurora School District 131
Special
Monday, March 21, 2016 6:00 PM
East Aurora High School - 500 Tomcat Lane, Aurora, IL 60505
I. Roll Call
II. Executive Session for the Purpose of Discussing the Appointment, Employment and Dismissal of a Specific Employee
III. Public Comments/Questions
IV. Adjournment
https://v3.boardbook.org/Public/PublicItemDownload.aspx?ik=38453154
Thank Ken Darby for what? Employees have talked with at EAHS and he betrayed confidences and went to Popp. Darby is using his position on the board to take care of himself. Thanks for nothing!
Many of us have been lobbying for our district to join the 21st century and make board meetings available online, as neighboring districts have for several years. Ken Darby deserves thanks for FINALLY getting the ball rolling...it's a step in the right direction!
congratulations ken, the world needs to see the calamity that is the EASD BOE. Most folks have only heard rumors , lets pull back the curtains. You really couldnt make this circus up. Ralph can really grand stand as much as 5ft 1 dwarf can with a booster chair
The circus was retired last year when the two drunks retired and foul month Hull went bye bye along with the other lady that came to the board stoned on more than one occasion.
When Popp says bye bye that will be icing on the cake along with Hanley. It would have loved that broadcast when the board from hell voted a $40,000 raise for Hanley.
We need to work on the following:
We must find out how many teachers do not live in the district.
We must get Ralph to start attending Naperville City council meetings and Dupage County board meetings and have him demand that those 2 entities start abiding by the low income housing rules and get more low income people to live in Naperville and DuPage county thus decreasing the district's burden. These entities are constantly being reprimanded for their lack of this type of housing. You would think that Ralph would move from Naperville because of this offense, wouldn't you??? After all, isn't this what Ralph is all about?? Helping the 'downtrodden"??
We need to get Ralph some elevator shoes for the upcoming board meetings that will be online or get a platform for him to stand on when he goes to the mike. Maybe then, someone will actually take him seriously. His condition of being vertically challenged has really taken over his mental faculties. Always wondered why guys who were short were the biggest abusers of people and now we have a specimen to study...Vertically challenged and a mental midget all in one.
I think the board is doing a fine job. Jut because they may not agree with every single issue that teachers bring up doesn't mean that they don't have the best interest of the school district at heart. That is just common sense but common sense is not present in some of the teachers at district 131.
Some people may think that the district stinks now??? It would not even exist if the illegals were allowed to vote and be on the board. All the taxpayers would be gone and thus there would be no money coming in at all. You can only spend other peoples money for so long and then it runs out. Why do you think Ralph does not push for housing reforms where he lives???? Ralph is the true picture of a hypocrite.
"Illegals" pay plenty of taxes. They have mortgages, they pay rent, thus they pay property taxes. They also shop in their own neighborhoods, contributing to the sales tax and they contribute toward social security and pay federal and state income taxes. If you are going to try to sound smart, at least know what you are talking about.
Also, your comments about Ralph's size just show how small you really are. You are probably the same person who insulted the teacher who died of cancer. It's too bad you have to live with yourself.
Good point She Speaks.
She speaks has set things straight.
She speaks forgot something.....
You assume that they are reporting income to the authorities, you assume that the neighborhood businesses are reporting all their sales, you assume that only the proverbial family of four is in a home, apartment, etc for fair share of real estate taxes. You also assume that no government assistance is being given on all levels - federal, state or local. You assume that they are all covered with health insurance and no hospital is having to extend free services. Lots and lots of assumptions when it comes to "paying" into the appropriate systems. You must have forget.
That was loser Matt Hanley, he hates the EA community and teachers. Just remember Matt these so called illegals have their children in our schools, if it were not for them you would not be lining your pockets. What a fake and a phony you are. You make an enormous salary for reporting on pancake breakfasts and the score of the last athletic activity. You do nothing to make the EA community better. All you have done is eat off of the backs of hard working EA families.
To: Matt Hanley is just BAD for EA Period! said...
75% of the real estate taxes are paid by only 25% of the population in district 131. Are you saying that they should pay 150%??? What is a fair share then for people who have lived and worked here all their lives?? How much more do you want from people who have worked and saved what little they could their whole lives? Just don't get it.......
"must have forget"
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-01/study-undocumented-immigrants-pay-billions-in-taxes
I keep hearing about how 75% of the real estate taxes are paid by 25% of the people in East Aurora. That is a very limited viewpoint. The fact is that only 19% of the school budget comes from real estate taxes. The other 81% comes from state and federal sources. There are two more points that should be clarified. 1) If you were to take those $300,000-$400,000 homes and put them in almost any other community, their taxes would be higher. 2) You also need to look at what percentage goes to schools and what percentage is going to the City of Aurora. You will find that the ratios are very off from surrounding communities. The city tales a far greater percentage that any other town.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/news/ct-abn-east-aurora-seal-of-biliteracy-st-0322-20160321-story.html
Anyone can state unsubstantiated facts. (75 percent of real estate taxes are paid by only 25 percent of the population in EA). Now that is some incredibly crafty doing on the part of the remaining 75 percent of the EA community! I would like you to support that statement with quantifiable facts please.
What I believe the above statement really translates to is I hate these (F%*%}} Mexicans) they do not pay their fair share! (Although they do weather you like it or not)
To .....> How much more do you want from people who have worked and saved what little they could their whole lives? Just don't get it.......
To that above statement your comment applies to every adult on the planet. Immigrants work and save what little they can their entire lives too just like you claim you do.
To the individual that posted the article related to immigrants and how they contribute to the economics of the USA. Yes, you are most correct and thank you for posting that. I was keenly aware of those facts and neglected to provide that. So again TY. :)
One last thought, if you really feel so strongly that you are getting a bum deal by living in the EA community you really should consider moving. Is there another location in which the taxes would be more equitable for you? Clearly the EA community from your perspective is bleeding you unfairly. If this is truly how you feel then I would simply not tolerate that kind of abuse and move to another location that better meets your needs.
You absolutely have a right to how you feel however misled you may be, be it by hate, racism, or simply being grossly misinformed. What I read in your comments is simply this, you do not like it here (EA community) there is really no reason to be so unhappy, life is simply too short. I would seriously consider moving to an area that you believe will provide a more equitable tax base and live life and be happy.
One last closing remark, while we believe it was Matt Hanley that wrote the initial tread pertaining immigrants taking over and we would have no school, Ralph needs shoes that make him taller and all of that other garage he perpetuates, it is a fair statement that he is not the only individual that feels this way. To this I again must say Matt don't complain about the illegals you make an enormous income off of these illegals as you work in this district. Again to all those that feel they are being taken advantage of from the EA community MOVE and please take garbage man MATT HANLEY with YOU!
I am a supporter of the teacher who was unfairly targeted. After the board meeting Ken Darby approached me an told me he would have filed a report against the teacher if she had touched his son. Is Darby crazy? He needs to resign or get help for his aggressive behavior. The parents and student testified that the student was not pulled by his hoodie. He would not listen to comments that the building is toxic. I am afraid for the my friend with Board members like Darby. I tried to explain and became more angry. So much for backing up teachers.
Where do you get only four can live in a home? Property taxes are based on how much your home is worth not by how many are in a home. Apartments are different and yes some do exceed that but that is on the owner of the property they are suppose to watch that. Renters do pay property taxes it is in their rent the person or business that rents the property does not pay out of his own pocket for that.
I am a friend that supports LD the teacher who has become the target of administration after 20 years of serving students at EA. I need to be more clear. I was filled with emotion when writing this at 2 am and could not sleep for fear of my friend. SHE WAS SET UP.
Ken Darby approached me and was very angry. He rushed up to me almost touching me and told me with very aggressive behavior that if LD touched his son there would be hell to pay. I tried to calm him down. I told him Cowherd was a very dangerous school for students and staff. He stated he did not care and attacked like a bully.
I am not sure why he is on the board if he does not take student and teacher safety first. A student and parents would have not came to a meeting and stayed until 11pm if they did not support LD. It shows her character as a teacher.
A special thanks to Arroyo, Leonard, Hackett and Johnson for standing up for teachers. Often times we are told Strand and Darby are friends of the teachers. I have been very suspect of Strand but gave Darby a pass. Now we know the truth.
Strand and Darby are the true meaning of dirt bags.
It is interesting Strand does not support giving a first year teacher another chance or giving Darce another chance on trumped a up charge
Strands husband is a horrible teacher. The other teachers give him support because we care about the students. Scott often copies teachers lesson plans and comes to work unprepared.
I guess it pays to know the superintendent. MS Strand you have betrayed us.
Last told an interesting story in that three of the board members would not give teachers a second chance. We have heard Darby claim come talk with me. Darby surely can not be trusted. Why does Darby think we come to the board and listen for hours only to be granted 3 minutes and to be heard. The answer to that is poor building leadership which starts at the top is not happening. It is hard to tell the crowd someone thinks you are not capable. We need to do that because nobody is listening.
Mr Darby was willing to give Dr Popp second chance but not teachers. If Dr Popp had any leadership skills the need would not exist to come to board meeting. As a old-timer I have worked for three administrations and by far Dr Popp ranks the lowest.
Mr Darby is a major disappointment and I witnessed his attack on a speaker. It was unsolicited everyone should have their 3 minutes without getting attacked by a board member.
Ms Strand reaps more than just the benefits of employing her under-qualified husband. Her sons are favored as well they are both on Dr Popp's student advisory group. Last week they all had a big cry fest with Dr Popp. The conversations are unprofessional
and included slamming board members. The staff is in disbelief that a superintendent would act that way with students. What is more troubling is that Ms Strand would allow her sons to clown as well. What Ms Darce did was nothing. East Aurora staff knows the real Kristen.
Thruckenbrod continued to foul mouth board members as well calling Ms Johnson a white b**ch and Arroyo/Hachett/Leonard her mental minions.
BTW, Mr Crespo needs a phone investigation for student contact.
Darby showed his true colors last night voting against teachers who were being railroaded by administration. PAY ATTENTION TO DARBY AND STRANDS VOTE PEOPLE, NOT THEIR RED MEAT FLUFF THEY THROW AT TEACHERS DURING THEIR COMMENTS PART OF THE MEETING. Let us not forget that Strand and Darby voted against Popp's severance and believe he should be given another chance. BOTH OF THEM VOTED FOR HANLEY TO BE RETAINED. Do not be distracted by their nice comments about teachers, focus on their votes. Their votes have spoken volumes. To the Strand apologists out here trying to protect her image......think about this.....
Strand has a colonialism view on the east side of Aurora, we are all "savages" in need of being saved by the white man(or woman in this case). The white woman knows how to save the black and brown savages through clutching her bible and pillaging their community for her own benefit. This is the same view of native americans in old times if you look at history. Her son would be just another white face at Naperville North, or Neuqua Valley. His ACT score and GPA wouldn't even be top 10 percent at those schools. She brought her family here for selfish reasons. Her son would not be going to Stanford if she kept him in Naperville. HER SON STOLE SCHOLARSHIPS AND FUNDING FROM ONE OF OUR OWN BY COMING HERE. Do the Strand apologists really believe that her family could live off of her husband's measly teacher salary? Grow up. She is making money, hiding behind the bible. Just because something is "non-profit" doesn't mean the ring leader or ceo isn't cashing huge checks. WAKE UP PEOPLE. Dr. Popp signed the keys to the kingdom over to her and her non profit and that is why she is so adamant that Popp stick around. The golden goose leaves town with him and Strand will regret being against any and all teacher raises when her husband is the sole income for her family.
Strand and Darby are against the latest tentative agreement, crying broke and saying us greedy teachers will bankrupt the district. WAKE UP. Darby and Strand are no friends of teachers and staff. I can confirm that Darby raised his voice and got angry at the poster above, unprofessional to say the least. When the parents spoke at the board meeting, Dr. Popp turned bright red and kept his head down the entire time. Where was Strand's son to post on twitter with a picture of Dr. Popp "ignoring parents and the community?" Oh that's right, he is pro Popp so he wouldn't do that. The principal at Cowherd should be fired, she entices and bribes kids with McDonald's for dirt on teachers so she can fire them.
I find it absolutely comical that John Laesch finally attends a board meeting and then complains about the construction plans when he was not around for presentations and votes on said plans. John, you are a moron, it has been proven. You also totally negated your "no" vote against the tax levy in December, by voting against a tax break for the taxpayers of the community because the district could not afford $280,000 loss by giving them a break. Every time John opens his mouth at a board meeting we are all dumber for having heard him speak. John, you are also being played and blinded by your loyalty to Bernie Sanders. Popp and Crespo are playing you so badly it would take a moron not to see it. Popp tried to get a Bernie rally here for you, now you love Popp, Crespo got kids registered to vote and told them to vote for Bernie, so now you love Crespo. All of you should go away.
Crespo has been meeting with Tomas Perez behind closed doors. Tomas does not even have a student at the high school, why is he getting personal meetings with the principal? Just last Thursday Crespo was meeting with Tomas and other parents during the evening in the staff cafeteria. What is Crespo planning?
The other BOE members need to check and see why Laesch had legal help on election day from the district lawyer (Weiler). I hope the tax payers are not footing the bill?
Read the article today about the process for replacing Popp. Good job to the board members who had the courage fire Popp. In a very short time Popp destroyed the family feeling 131 had. At the very least you had a wink and a smile from Roberts. Popp and his crew think they are better than any of us. The SSC is saving boxes and waiting for the day we can pack up Popp, Thruckenbrod, Hanley and Glotzbach. It has been great to see them suffer after all the suffering they caused.
Ken Darby there was a paper delivered to Hanley that the park district is hiring 100 jobs Have some ethics and tell your son to go apply because you have lost the respect of everyone.
Many millions will be spent paying for the Popp administration. Having attempted to work with the lack of curriculum and no classroom materials under Popp has put this district back 15 years. They are not even capable of providing training, the summer school program is a joke and will we even be prepared to administer the correct PARCC assessments.
What a joke pay millions because the district admits all of the K to 5 curriculum is bad. Teachers need the training but the board should ask $350,000 or their worthless jobs. What work is the ASC putting out?
Summer programs, why have all the positions they are basically saying every parent coordinator and social worker will need to work. I already know many are not planning on working. We asked and our principal said the will be calling parents or having pull out sessions. It is a half a day people! When will they have the time and we will have a office staff as well.
PARCC testing- How many conflicting emails is one department going to send? What are they doing? Again our principal does not have a clue.
Popp has a disaster. I only hope Stand, and Leonard will recuse themselves from picking another superintendent.
East Aurora School District 131
Special
Wednesday, March 30, 2016 6:00 PM
School Service Center - 417 Fifth Street, Aurora, IL
I. Roll Call
II. Executive Session for the Purpose of Discussing the Appointment, Employment and Dismissal of a Specific Employee
III. Action, Resulting from Executive Session, if any
A. Motion to Approve the Consideration of and Adoption of Consulting Agreement
IV. Public Comments/Questions
V. Adjournment
The board needs to check into Wilson Morales and Thruckenbrod. A student was caught in the bathroom with pot. The next day the student was returned to the classroom the next day. A couple of teachers asked the resource officer and he told us it was never reported. The next day another student was charged. Wilson has been known to plant evidence. Thruckenbrod told teachers to mind their own business. Wilson has been involved in many issues that would get anyone fired. I guess it pays to have his wife work for the superintendent.
Rob Lathrop from Metea Valley is being placed in Dennis Renners job. Rob was recently fired at Metea when he did not discipline four students for racially attacking and Afro American student from Elgin. The student from Elgin reported it and Rob got fired. We have the following questions for BOE to answer.
Why would they hire another 204 person who was involved in a racial incident?
Why would Crespo and Thruckenbrod who have first hand knowledge even consider this?
It shows the racist they both are and their unethical behavior. If he was fired at 204 why EA. Come on is this not enough for the BOE to act and fire these bozos. Everyone at 204 knows the story dont buy the crap that Mike Popp does not.
Popp is just going to hire another 204 flunky and pay him on the way out big dollars. It's time the board fire Crespo, it proves he is a phony. Strands son needs to post that to Twitter and let's see how the Afro Americans feel about his choice for AD.
March 29 2016
FOIA Officer
Indian Prairie Dist 204
Naperville Il 60564
Re: FOIA Request for Documents
Subject: Rob Lathrop frmr Metea Valley AD
Time Period: Jan 1 2014-current
Dear Mr. Eccarius
Please provide the following documents
1 Initial application
2 Last contract as AD
3 Resignation Letter (if applicable)
4 Personnel Report on his departure
5 Employment departure and/or dismissal documents
6 Email correspondence between Rob Lathrop & Rudy Keller June 1 2015 – Mar 1 2016
7 Documents related to incident Feb 2015 involving a South Elgin student.
Specifically Lathrop’s response to the incident.
I understand that the Act permits a public body to charge a reasonable copying fee not to exceed the actual cost of reproduction and not including the costs of any search or review of the records. I am asking that any fees be waived per 5ILCS140/6(c).
Respectfully,
Ralph Padron
To: John Laesch
cc: Board of Ed 131
Hi John
Please follow up on this as there is very good reason to believe Crespo has interviewed Rob Lathrop twice for the position of AD.
This would be another 204 former controversial employee being hired by 131
I will forward the FOIA results once received
As we have discussed privately in the past I appreciate your commitment in stopping
the antics of Mike Popp and his 204 hires.
Please give me a call as I have evidence of another serious violation by the Popp regime
thanks ahead of time in getting to the bottom of this
Ralph
My building recently had a time lock placed in the teachers workroom. Maybe it is time to have administration punch in and out Sara Waddell leaves everyday except BOE days promptly at 2:30pm well before teachers and students are out of class.
I did esquire about the time clocks they claim it is for hourly only. The union needs claification in writing to members. Our question why the teachers workroom and why are administrators allowed to work less than teachers?
Ralph if you have privately spoken with board members then why out them on this blog and still expect them to trust private conversations. It show how ignorant they all are and the rat that you are.
I can't believe Ralph has gotten Laesch to answer his phone. Many employees have attempted to reach him. Laesch told us to call him and he would fight injustice in 131. Laesch showed his colors when he voted to fire two of our union sisters on false charges and no support. Laesch promised he would be a voice at the table and was he.
John is to busy building his political career or lack there of. He has picked and it is not 131.
Ditto on Laesch
Ditto on time clocks, at SSC they come in about 9 am and after that it is hard to find anyone. The BOE should ask for an accounting of their day starting with Hanley and Thruckenbrod. Then they should ask for an accounting of their phone because the other half of the day they spend making personal calls.
The voting was as follows:
870 accept
434 reject
It passed.
The big difference in today's vote is that we sent Popp a message take your 204 friends along with Glotzbach, Crespo and Hanley and leave. Toooooo bad BOE firing Popp may have saved you some, but guess what teachers win.
Popp needs to take Schoder with him as well. He was caught using d131 copy paper and writing strategic plans for Rockford. This while Glotzbach continues to send out notices we are over the copy budget. Really dumb a** we have to continue to gather up materials for every day survival in the classrooms.
All of the Popp hires have been bottom feeders and resume builders. I still think teachers deserved more but addressing working conditions went a long way. I voted yes for that reason. Let's hope change will come to the district soon .
Does Crespo really think buying all the staff Subway today will change anyone's mind about him!? Has anyone checked his phone yet? Another slimy Popp hire. Your buddy Popp will not be around to defend you anymore--do you seriously think people are bought off that easily? We should call you Jared Fogle from now on...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/news/ct-abn-east-aurora-union-vote-st-0331-20160330-story.html
I wish we would have held out or gone on strike. This district needed to learn the lesson that we teachers run this place and that we don't care how much they say they are broke, we should get all the we ask. I may not live in the district but I have spent well over a decade teaching kids who for whatever reason just don't care. We really needed the administration to see just what we face every day.
To: John Laesch
From: Ralph Padron
Date: April 1 2016
Hi John
Mike Popp again has given out incorrect information to "water down" the W2 Form mistake
in the Finanace Office headed by Christi Tyler.
Time Line clearly states:
Mar 17, 18 Christi Tyler notifies staff members that "Corrected copies" are finally available
Mar 7 Board Meeting: I question the W2 form mistake for an explanation
Mar 16 Mike Popp responds "The error was corrected immediately" (ref: Mar 7 BM) what is the date Popp is referring to
"IMMEDIATELY" yet Tyler notifies corrected copies are available Mar 18
Again Mike has attempted to silence me with verbal statements yet can not substantiate
his responses with written documents
John, My question to you is this:
Do you hold any of these high priced administrators accountable for mistakes and misleading
the public time after time. You and I have discussed this countless hours this past year yet I just don't
see your responses backing up your words.
I will be bringing up additional issues which Popp again misled the Public in a very controversial issue
which you were involved with yet never finished the job.
I consider you a person whose heart I believe is in the right place yet I have reservations on your sincerity
and question whether your commitment to cleaning up the Popp Era is being hindered with your involvement
with the Political Campaign you have been involved with.
PERSONAL OPINION: You can only serve one or the other.
Giving EA131 your leftover time has hindered many an area and the community.
EAST AURORA NEEDS COMMITTED FULL TIME BOARD MEMBERS NOT ABSENTEE'S
I consider you a friend yet hope we can air out our differences
Thank you ahead of time
Ralph
PS Please call me to discuss
attachments support my content
Uh, you don't air out differences with a friend on a public blog.
Hey everyone, did you know we can bring our kids and spouses to work and parade through the cafeteria to show students your family???? This happened today at the high school. Crespo has put his family's picture in front of board members basically to make them feel sorry for him and not fire him. NOW, he literally brought his family to the workplace and went into the student cafeteria. What a coward this guy is. Maybe the teachers and staff should have their kids and spouses come to work and parade them through the cafeteria. Today he also got on the speakers in the high school stating a quote that no matter how rich or poor you are, how you treat people is all that matters and says a lot about who you are as a person. He wanted our students to hear that quote, but he has terrorized teachers and staff at the high school and treated them so poorly. Do as I say, not as I do - this is the message he is sending to students and staff.
How much longer are we going to tolerate this incompetent, unprofessional principal to continue?
Crespo is a jerk and everyone can see without Popp protecting him he is running around like scared rabbit. Everyone knows buying lunch on the district credit card and bring your kids in does not equal the terror he has inflicted on teachers and staff.
Question for Crespo how does it feel to go home with a lump in stomach that you may not have a job?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/opinion/ct-abn-crosby-tomcats-talk-st-0404-20160404-column.html
https://v3.boardbook.org/Public/PublicItemDownload.aspx?ik=38501563
The fact that the school board would even consider Annette Johnson as the school board president after all the drama and comments that have come from her on the school board shows just how little respect they have for the East Aurora community.
Remember this?
http://openline.blogspot.com/2012/12/east-aurora-school-district-131-drama.html?m=1
And don't forget the police report that Jerome Roberts filed when she threatened to kill Jerome and the entire school board because she wasn't getting her way.
When is this board going to wake up?
Did you ever hear of a false report and if that is true why did charges never get filed. I know Annette personally and she is kind to animals and children. Much of her charity work is never discussed. She has done many very good things for our district. I judge a person by meeting with them and talking with them.
What I will say and has never been answered is why did the former board pay Dr Roberts $78,000 and pay the former business manager $80,000 maybe there is more of a story there. I seems some of the former BOE members and Strand had been involved in back room deals. It also seems these same BOE members have been involved in the signing of grant paperwork that is helping Strands charity.
email to John Laesch BOE member
April 4 2016
Hi John
Just wanted to see if you were planning on discussing the following
1 Joan Glotzbach application for employment to North Central College which
she was not considered for. Appears Joan is planning on leaving the EA with this development
Has the BOE discussed her replacement?
2 Elise Clever most recent resignation as Purchasing Agent.
According to Elise's Lindkedln profile she is the Purchasing MANAGER FOR EA. Which is correct
3 The hiring of Marion Hoyda as a Consultant to get the curriculum straightened out.
Wasn't this the responsibility of Sara Waddell !
So why do the taxpayers have to absorb Sara's incompetence.
She has cost EA valuable $$ and educational improvement.
Need I remind everyone she was Mark's Asst Principal prior to Asst Supt for EA.
Again compliments of Mark Truckenbrod & Michael Popp
from EA news release dtd June 18 2015
"East Aurora Superintendent Dr. Michael A. Popp praised Waddell as someone who has a vast knowledge about student learning strategies. “I believe that curriculum and instruction can truly make a difference for students,” Waddell said. “I saw that there are already great things happening in those areas at East Aurora, and I really wanted to be part of that.”
Waddell earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education (English) from Augustana College in 2000; a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Chicago State University in 2003; and her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Lewis University in 2010.
Waddell’s position is new to East Aurora School District 131. The creation of the new position was kept cost neutral, in part by eliminating two director positions.
http://www.d131.org/newsDetail.asp?id=3432&guid=
You can rest assured their future employers will be aware of the controversial hirings and contribution to the decay of Credibility to EA.
John, can we count on you to bring out these issues in the interests of True Transparency.
Several of us are counting on you to follow up with your promises during your election campaign
Thank you in advance for your response
Ralph
Sorry folks I know the real story and the public and staff should pay homage to the abuse Annette Johnson suffered in taking on very difficult issues. The crimes at 131 are the administration who steal a paycheck daily at 131 that includes Dr Popp. The past BOE members and Strand are also petty low life thieves.
Why did Dr Popp sign a grant with zero over site for Strand worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Seems like Ralph is getting frustrated with his network as he is trying to create problems where there aren't any. Let's help Ralph relax with some jokes.....
I was walking down the street the other day when I saw someone pickpocket a short person. I don't know how anyone could stoop so low. LOL
Say what you like about short people, at least they don't look down on people. LOL LOL
There,there, I hope you feel better. Must be having a bad week......
Dear don't believe it, ask Annette Johnson why Dr Roberts and the other administrator received the rich severance package, she was president when they were negotiated. It was known that there was hanky panky between her and him.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/news/ct-abn-east-aurora-contract-approval-st-0406-20160404-story.html
The district is much better off with Annette Johnson she has lead and advocated for many programs that are working well in our district. She has the support of many. I am not sure why anyone would begrudge someone who makes EA better.
Lets be fair and answer...What has Dr Popp done please enlighten us. Oh he gave his unqualified fishing buddy a big raise.
When it comes to AJ, I take many comments about her with a grain of salt. Nobody has helped EA and its staff more than her. I am happy she was retained as BOE President and I thank her for keeping EA in her heart. Many Many heart felt thanks.
The level of respect she showed the negotiating team is all that I see with my eyes and the eyes of others on the team. Dr Popp, Glotzbach, Thruckenbrod and the lawyer Wilson continued to poke fun, bad month us, call us poor teachers and never compromised. The reason EA teachers received the money was Johnson. Went went from less than 1% under the prior BOE President to what we have received today. Along with that is all the changes in working conditions.
We again thank you
I absolutely 100% agree with "Thanks to AJ" noted above! I am another educator that has first hand knowledge regarding all of the detailes that have been described from this commenter. I am extremely thankful to Annette Johnson for all of the help she provided during our negotiations. It is true that the other individuals made unprofessional comments about us as a staff and were not willing to budge on any of the issues that were brought to them. If it were NOT for Annette Johnson we would have received far far less in terms of all areas of our contract. Congratulations to Annette Johnson for receiving another tenure as EA BOE President!!!! You absolutely deserve this!!!!!
Ms. Hatchett and Mr. Leonard - I heard that last night you said there is no chaos in the district. I wonder what district you have been watching.
What do you call a district where the teachers go almost an entire year with no contract, and when it finally passes almost a third of employees still vote no? How about board meetings that consistently run long into the night because teachers are being dismissed, or fighting dismissal. A district where weekly FOIA's question purchasing, hiring and salary issues sounds chaotic to me. One where the superintendent leaves after 2 years of a 3 year contract and the next year the district will follow interim leaders sounds chaotic to me. Who will oversee teachers teaching possibly 3 new curriculums? Just last night over 40% of the board voted against its current officers. Half of the board consists of bullies, absentee members, those that are consistently late, on their phones, or staring at the ceiling during meetings. I have to wonder what your definition of chaos is.
Popp caused a teacher name to get taken off the Kane County Educator of the Year award what a dirt bag. Her crime she talked at a Board meeting and defended us. She works at Waldo
Who is qualified enough besides Annette to be board president? No offense to the new board members, but they just do not have the experience. We all know about Strand and Leonard's dirty deeds. Thank goodness she is there to keep things moving along. She takes that position to heart and spends a lot of time on the issues at hand (with no pay, mind you). Like her of not for whatever reasons, she was the only choice and a good one at that.
The chaos is Dr Popp, the Board needs to beware Popp and Thruckenbrod are shadowing Hoyta the Boards consultant. They will not let staff have open honest discussion. What do they have to hide?
Popps game plan is to keep the consultant busy so she can not find out how disfunctional he is. He should try to be more professional.Afterall , as he looks for another job his reputation will follow him. We all know someone in other districts that he and his henchman will land in. The professional references will not be positive so he may want to think about his behavior.
email sent to Kirsten Strand today as a result of FOIA'S received
Mike Popp
Your email certainly deviates from the facts and the issues at hand. If you would have read the report you would
have been able to discern the facts yet your determination to MISLEAD & DISTORT the truth under "your watch" certainly is consistent.
Summary:
1 Scott Osman was overpaid for years yet you ignored this issue when brought out
2 His "TOTAL PACKAGE" WAS THE ISSUE.
3 When I audited his pay history and brought out the many irregularities, nothing was done
Overclassification,
Questionable OT totals
Corrective pay scale finally in FY 2016 which was unexplained
HOW MUCH MONEY HAS SCOTT OSMAN POCKETED VIA THESE ERRORS
100 K POSSIBLY
Your continued efforts to attempt to prove me wrong is consistent
in that you avoid the true issues and correct documents to support your statements.
Kirsten
Per your email to Mike Popp, I find it very unprofessional and downright disappointing for a person of your position to just ignore the ISSUE I Brought out requesting your investigate the findings referred to.
Serious stuff yet you intentionally choose to cover up for Mike Popp and his incompetence. Your loyalty to Popp certainly has clouded your ability to look out for the taxpayers and hold those abusing their position accountable for wrongdoing.
As in the past, I expect you to forward this to Mike Popp and continue to deny the truths revealed via FOIA documents
Ralph
The district morale has been, and still is, in utter shambles. We have a vindictive high school principals who moved people around out of spite, and we lost a good educator because of it. He also allowed observations to be made specifically to conduct witch hunts not based on teaching practices but on his dislike of an individual. He demanded observers to lie to hurt teachers. We have a magnet academy principal who tries to skew SLO results to push her agenda to force good teachers out. She then helps upper administrators punish teachers, who fight for our contract, by promoting "informal" observations multiple times/week every week. You have Simmons administrators who allow a guise of "team teaching" to exist to allow a bilingual spouse, of a loyal supporter, to keep their job and allow positions to exist that aren't done properly and, thus, made them unnecessary and ineffective. Now that same "vital teacher", who students think is an aide, will be missing for three periods/day to tutor a student alternatively placed at the high school. We have upper administrators allow this facade of co-teachers "working" to let the mirage exist because it takes too much effort to correct. We have Cowherd administrators wrongfully persecuting good teachers and trying to fire them (which seems to be the EA way) yet again because of a personal vendetta. The teachers aren't the problem. The problem is bullying administrators who have been given limitless power by an ignorant school board. If the board doesn't think teachers, support staff, and secretaries don't see and hear about these things, they are not paying attention. If the board things surrounding district don't hear of these travesties, they are blind to the truth. These morale killers are devastating the district, and the board members are the only ones who can save it. They said they wanted to fix this, and now it is time to prove it.
Crespo appointed Nate Parry Interim AD today. Apparently no interviews or postings are needed to do this, King Crespo can just name an interim AD and pull him from his classes with no concern whatsoever about Mr. Parry's students. Mr. Crespo, how can you be "all in" for students by taking away their "expert" and giving them a sub for possibly the rest of the school year??? Is this in the best interest of the students??? What happened to Kordalewski who won seasonal AD position? Just more ignorance and incompetence coming from Crespo. Why has the position Jessica Brummel left not been filled? Now Crespo is up a creek and just appointed someone to the position since he could not get the fired Matea AD in as a replacement for Renner. Next up he will be trying to get a worthless CPS hack Calvin Davis to come in as AD from Proviso West. The hits continue in 131. Ralph, how about FOIA the interview process and job posting for interim AD? No way this was done legally and following proper protocol.
You are seriously a damn a...leave Elise alone she has done illegal or wrong at EA you are the classic bully that I bet had no friends as a child and should be medicated
In other news Dr Popp and Thruckenbrod openly cursed Johnson and Hachett today. It shows the classless act Popp is. Popp is angry that he now has a babysitter.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/news/ct-abn-east-aurora-union-salaries-st-0407-20160406-story.html
Dr Popp should never be allowed to work with employees again and I hope other boards will Google this.
EA will never recover from his reign of terror. Dr Popp and Thruckenbrod allowed a teacher to have a physical threat made against her. Several teachers at Waldo encouraged her to file a police report. This made Thruckenbrod very angry and he punished our principal for not controlling us. A teacher made the BOE aware by speaking at a BOE meeting. Some union reps also made Hachett and Johnson aware during bargaining. The BOE looked into and assigned the student for special placement outside our district because he was a danger to himself and others. Again this made Popp very angry because the BOE had to take action. Why if a student is so dangerous did not Thruckenbrod do this himself?
The teacher who spoke had her Kane Educator application stopped even though our building (Waldo) nominated her. They then set her up on made up charges and attempted to destroy her teaching background. Again the board cleaned it up and again Popp his harassing her. Thruckenbrod was overheard telling Glotzbach at the meeting she will screw up again and we will be watching. She was looking for a job before but now we are assured of losing a great teacher of many years.
So many bad feeling because of Popp and his henchmen will take years to repair.
We feel bad for the BOE members that Popp is exploiting some of them but Mr Laesch, and Darby hear us and know that we are working in horrible conditions. Johnson, Leonard, Hatchett and Arroyo keep up the good work. Strand is hopeless. To the Beacon reporter don/t be fooled. The BOE is only working to fix the chaos Dr Popp created.
Correction: when are NASTY POPP and Company Leaving! They are all a horrible disgrace to education. We are not surprised to read this. On behalf of all professionals we apologize to Annette Johnson and Kim Hachette. They can't leave soon enough!
I have to disagree with only one particular comment in this thread. Kristine Strand is not hopeless, she is a real life robin hoodie.... She steals from the poor and gives to her holy robbers church, oops no no no, she steals from the poor and gives to herself!
email to Kirsten Strand 4-8-16
from ralphpadron
Hi Kirsten
Please review the Police Report, News Article, Copy of Corona's last check
His last 2 pay periods definitely paid him until his date of resignation.
Needless to say several questions arise
1 Why was he put on PAID Admin Leave due to the seriousness of the charges
( Yes I know a person is innocent until proven guilty)
2 Was there the option of putting him on UNPAID ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE pending investigation.
3 What was Mike Popp's input on this decision ?
I am sure this could not get past his authority as Superintendent.
4 Please audit his last pay stub for accuracy as it = 69 hours @ $16.16 per hr
Was he entitled to that many hours ?
Comments:
Last update showed Corona still in jail yet the Taxpayers certainly should not agree
that their tax dollars be subjected to this expense.
Someone in Administration put him on PAID ADMIN LEAVE
Did they research other options
Keeping Corona on the payroll is wrong no matter what
Am requesting a response from 131 on this issue
As a Board of Ed Member, you are obligated to the Community, Students and your constituents to
research this and demand answers.
Your pattern for many an issue is to not respond and forward this immediately to Mike Popp which in
turn he refuses to reply also.
Kirsten: your IRRESPONSIBLE NON RESPONSE shows your inability as Board of Ed Member to
address real issues. You have given me no other choice to pursue them via FOIA's, EA Blog,
and "the Network" which I can assure you is deeply disappointed in previously supporting you.
I am requesting you put your personal feelings aside toward me and fellow Board Members
and start a new day by researching and reporting the various issues I have brought before you.
Please follow up
Ralph
Poor Ralph and his network of brownshirts are being sent to the island of misfit toys. No one wants them around anymore. Did I mention how short Ralph really is and the Napoleon complex that he has? Go to a board meeting and just watch him. What an annoyance!! Easy to confuse him with an inmate in an asylum (apologies to the inmates).
When are you people going to learn that Ralph and his network are the problem!! They do not want progress at the school. They want and cherish the chaos that they have created. That way no teacher really has to teach. Talk about bullies and low morale. These people are against any student learning anything but the bare minimum
to get by. Go ahead and cut down the administration, it is just the pot calling the kettle black.....bunch of malcontents and incompetents who fear of loosing their jobs.
Using the term "brownshirts" shows how low you are. Using a nazi term in your postings shows what kind of character you have, not to mention the "short" jokes. Do you think you are witty?
A FOIA cannot be a "brownshirt" unless you are referring to Hanley who prepares them and sends them out. That is where Ralph gets the bulk of his info. from. Public records. Is that it? Being Jewish myself, I find your comments offensive and uncalled for. I sure hope that this is not someone in an administrative position, though I fear that it is. If you had someone you lost to the horrors of war would you still be so cavalier? What if they were short in stature? Would that make it even more hilarious for you? By the way, it is "losing" not "loosing". Guess that makes me a "spelling nazi"? That term gets thrown around too much today. I wish people would learn more about it in school, then perhaps they would stop.
The Brownshirt comment is Matt... Matt is a history buff and is very snarkey to all SSC employees. Matt is part of the 204 group that terrorized EA. It's time for them to pack up their boxes and go home.
East Aurora School District 131
Special
Monday, April 11, 2016 6:30 PM
School Service Center - 417 Fifth Street, Aurora, IL
I. Roll Call
II. Executive Session for the Purpose of Discussing the Appointment, Employment and Dismissal of a Specific Employee
III. Action, if any, Resulting from Executive Session
IV. Public Comments/Questions
V. Adjournment
Hopefully the BOE meetings means the end of the Popp terror hires. The employees of 131 are looking for help from the BOE. The unprofessionalism that has been exhibited proves these employees should not work with children. Thruckenbrog used foul language again at our SIP day and laughed at us when we asked questions . Heard this bully applied at Oswego and could not get a job he could not even answer questions. Glotzbach was not even considered at North Central proves everyone but EA sees who they are.
No! EA was the catalyst in revealing who they are.
Add Crespo to the list... Look at how the school has been ruined in ONE YEAR.... The lowest graduating class ever. The BOE should check out the games being played just to get to 530 graduates. Popp gave us a rookie with no experience and a bad attitude. Thruckenbrod mentored him to ruin school sprit and call teachers who gave their life to EA students incompetent . Crespo came in with an attitude and there are grades being handed out at the Extension Campus to students who do not attend class. These students who would never graduate are being handed diplomas to make up for the hundreds of students Crespo and crew have lost track of in the senior class.
God bless the passing of the student that died in Lake Michigan but he only attended class 8 times. Hanley claims an honor student Really? They only lie because the boy needed services but our one Bilingual Social Worker was at the Extension Campus to make Popps failing program look good. Popp, Cresbo and Thruckenbrod are all dangerous to our students.
I sure hope the next superintendent is someone who will be accessible to US, who are after all the people he works for! Say what you want about some of Dr. Roberts' decisions, he had a "buck stops here" attitude and was constantly making statements to the media and through district e-mail. If a community member had a question he did not hesitate to respond quickly and directly. Not so Dr. Popp! For some reason he has consistently refused to put any responses to staff or community members in writing/e-mail. It's as though he doesn't want any record kept of what he says. This comes across as arrogant and/or paranoid; no wonder Mr. Padron keeps FOIA'ing.
I remember last fall when the time and place of the School Board meeting was changed to accommodate a larger crowd. I called the service center at 2:00 on Friday afternoon to confirm where the meeting would be held. I spent about 40 minutes on the phone attempting to reach a live human in the central office (Dr. Popp, Ms. Morales, Mr. Truckenbrod, Mr. Hanley)...all I got was a recording that the person was "away from the desk" and "leave your name and number". Really?? NO ONE in that building was able to pick up and answer an important question? Leaving my number and waiting for a call back wasn't a good option at the end of a school day on a Friday; who knows when (or if) my call would be returned? I needed AND deserved to know the time and location of the Monday meeting. So I called Annette Johnson, and she ANSWERED HER PHONE and gave me the information I requested.
Ms. Johnson may be brash, but she is definitely accessible to the public. Let's hope our next superintendent (and any colleagues he/she brings) deigns to communicate with the public!
On April 7, 2016, you submitted a FOIA request for the following documents:
Any air testing results, including air testing company, dates, room numbers of inspected rooms, and specific locations tested for the fourth floor of Waldo Middle School from February 1, 2016, to April 7, 2016
Air testing results between March 1, 2015, and March 1, 2016 for fourth floor of Waldo Middle School
Any Board of Education or Board committee documents related to mold at Waldo Middle School
Work orders or emails with keywords "Replacement/painting of all ceiling, floor & walls materials" at Waldo Middle School between January 1, 2016 and April 7, 2016
Maintenance activity log for painting on the fourth floor of Waldo Middle School from February 1, 2016, to April 7, 2016
Emails to or from Alex DiMare with keyword "vendor scheduling air testing" between February 1, 2016, and April 7, 2016
Text messages to or from Alex DiMare with keyword "vendor scheduling air testing" between February 1, 2016, and April 7, 2016
Emails between Alex DiMare, Michael Popp, and Christi Tyler with keyword "mold problem" between February 1, 2016, and April 7, 2016
Text messages between Alex DiMare, Michael Popp and Christi Tyler with keyword "mold problem" between February 1, 2016, and April 7, 2016
All purchase orders for "PAS Intl" for fiscal year 2016
All invoices for "PAS Intl" for fiscal year 2016
From: R Padron
Sent: Monday, April 11, 2016 9:14 AM
To: Ken Darby
Ken
I finally got around to comment on Weiler's $ 12 K Investigation Purchasing Report (see attached article) Our past discussions you stated you were going to correct the "Corruption" on the purchasing at EA.
As you can see from Bernie's comments, he definitely "drowned" the truth of what really transpired (you have all my documents supporting my allegations).
Example:
District 131 attorney Bernie Weiler said recently the report found a few purchasing violations,
"There were words used like "fraud" he said "I did not find any fraud. And there was ...words that characterized the issue in there was some intentional unlawful activity. I did not find that"
Weiler said his investigation found that "a couple" of purchase were made by employees who had misperceptions about bidding.
"Some of them had mistaken notions," he said. "But I did not believe that they had any self-interest in doing what they were doing."
What do you call those Million dollar plus maintenance service calls which were
1 Never signed off on
2 Never verified work hours charged by vendors
3 PO's allowed to be issued after work was done
4 The "Floor Scrubber" scandal
5 Invalid Quotes for materials
6 Title Funds Misused by Anthony Crespo
Ken
Do the countless documents (obtained via FOIA's forwarded to the Board) prove the Purchasing Scandals were indeed valid match up with Bernie Weiler's assessment ABSOLUTELY NOT !!!
Appears EA needs to replace its Law Firm with attorney's who would be willing to hold staff & Leadership accountable
I believe the public needs to be aware of the $ 12,000.00 wasted for this inaccurate report
Please respond
Ralph
There is no one more brown shirt than Matt goose-stepping to beat the band along with his mentor Popp. Hey Matt, it seems that you are not the tallest individual around, why make fun of others who are vertically challenged?
The latest dig at teachers, sanctioned by Crespo and those at the SSC is no paper for teachers. Well how about we really don't teach until we have the basic building blocks of what we need- paper. I feel that the admins are trying to get the teachers pay for their own paper to make up increases in raises.
Sad, sad. Who gets ripped off?- kids as usual. These careerist at the SSC could give a flying flower about these kids. It's a stupid tit for tat game with the ultimate losers? Our kids.
Academic Tutors, someone needs to look into the actual duties of the so called academic tutors that are assigned to classrooms. It's rediculious to observe on a daily basis those that sit In the back of the classroom and do NOTHING, other than warm a chair. I am certain that this does NOT represent all, but there are some that are getting paid to warm chairs and have horrible attitudes. One has to wonder, why these individuals are permitted to do as they like and not be held accountable for a job that they are receiving an income for. Academic tutors should be working with small groups of students daily or navigating the classroom assisting students with the class work. Why would an academic tutor have the luxury of sitting on their "ARSE" while in a classroom full of students? As far as those that have negative attitudes regarding your role, do not be confused YOU are NOT a certified teacher, so please assist the classroom teacher as needed and not have to be told to do so. Question, do you really need to be requested to please get up off of the chair and help the kids with their work? Classroom teachers have both an instructional role and a responsibility to assist the children as needed, so how about you pitch in and do the job that you are being paid for. Believe it or not this requires de-Assing the classroom chair that you are sitting on daily. Thanks
40,000 for Veteran's day flags but don't give the teachers any paper? Nice priorities, Crespo. #good move. #really "all in for kids." #getting teachers what they need to do their best. #good rapport with staff. #must have been Matt's idea. # please go elsewhere.
Crespo and Thruckenbrod lay awake making teachers miserable. It shows Crespos leadership spend on Veterans Day but don't order paper. If that is not reason enough to fire him. Come on Board.
Our building is the same way...We had to complain to our Union who complained to the BOE. Doverspike has been told to get even with teachers because Glotzbach wants her to retaliate. Unprofessional evaluations, no copy paper, and new contract violations to name a few. She has told staff we may have a contract but it is my way and I can be a B*tch because there is nothing they can do to me. Have they listened to themselves. No they are not capable of handling students.
Crespo nailed the counseling department over super wonder boy Erick Strand. It appears Mr Strand was to busy lobbying to keep Popps job he did not submit financial aid forms in time. Now wonder boy is blaming us. Erick ran to Crespo and claimed he sent multiple emails. Erick lied, so much for his Christian values. Instead of Crespo asking politely, Crespo excused us of being inept. He went on to call all of us incompetent. Question to the BOE
Why is Ms Strand given special treatment and should her son have a open door policy with the Principal?
Why is Crespo taking the word of a student over staff?
Would Crespo's time not be better used helping a student who's family is not capable of filing FAFSA forms.
Ms Strand and her husband a teacher claim to have values and are capable of navigating the college process. So question why is she using her position on the board for gain.
After years of waving her bible the real Ms Strand comes out.
I am not knowledgable about the way college financial aid is decided. But if Mrs. Strand is making all the money that people have claimed, how can her son qualify for assistance?
S. W. is a teacher's assistant at the high school. She does absolutely nothing. She sits on her butt all day long. She's getting a free check, and not fair to the rest of the staff at East. It sickens me, that she thinks it's ok to do nothing.
Just Wondering
If you apply for financial aid to an Ivy League school and your parents make $100,000 a year with a zip code of EA and your child has the grades your parents qualify for a free education.
It is up to the parents to apply for financial aid. Jean Jolly delivered Crespos's message. When a email check was run it was revealed he only checked in with his Counselor on this topic in October. A five year Counselor was verbally abused in public. Ms Strand should apologize in public for her son. Her son is abusing her power as a Board member. Crespo is abusing his power and not working for all students.
I agree, again we have an academic tutor that can't seem to de-Ass the classroom chair either.
I don't mind K. Strand, I think she is sincere and I don't have anything bad to say about her. Having said that, how in the world does a family whose whole life is lived in the world of Education NOT KNOW the FAFSA deadline? Also, They need to settle down. It's not like he's not going to get aid because he turned in his application late.
The gift that just keeps giving
It is absolutely great to sit back with a nice cup of coffee and read the verbal vomit that is on this site. I have contacted all the people that I know who grew up on the east side of aurora and they have contacted all the people they know to read this dribble and see just how low the district has sunk with its teachers and staff. This site is priceless!!!! Everyone is talking about just how stupid the people are who now "teach" at the school and the staff who do nothing. How could a district that had so much pride and success stories over the decades sink so low? If we get the word out even more we could really make east aurora school district a bigger laughing stock than what it is. This Ralph guy sound like a real sore loser. And the staff and teachers just bashing anyone who disagrees with them. This is jut plain old great entertainment. And a sorry state of affairs for a once great school district that used to be filled with great teachers.
Why is Ralph the only person who posts his name
All you opinionated individuals have to quit being cowards
K Strand sincere please she has lied to teachers and claimed to have supported them. She voted in public to fire teachers.
Her son is now complaining and calling counselors inept. Why is he allowed an open door to Crespo? He should work on his own financial aid as all other students do.
Her husband also receives special treatment at Bardwell her family is using EA. GIve me a break. Her non profit and affiliation with our district and grants also deserves looking into.
My son had Mr. Strand at Bardwell. He was an excellent teacher, one of the best my kids had. Too many people bring out the negative--how about mentioning the good people & things in our district?
To away we go. What is truly priceless, is that you, all the people you know and all who they know......so what do you have about a dozen people, with nothing better to do than to gossip about a blog? Your gossip seems to have lead to talking negatively about teachers and staff. We have a district still "filled with great teachers" that go above and beyond. We have MANY success stories and much to be proud about. If we had admin and a community relations person that actually knew what goes on at the schools, those stories would be getting more attention than an online blog.
Part of the reason people have the perception that there is a "sorry state of affairs" is due to people who "sink so low" as to make false claims and tell all the people they know, who tell all the people they know.......it is kind of like those fake news stations of the Internet who spread those stories about some famous person moving to a town near you. There are always a few idiots who will believe what other fools have to say, without finding out the facts.
Saddest of all is people who claim to have history here in EA and claim to have known it to be a great place to have gone to school, yet contribute to the trivial chatter that helps to create the malicious gossip. So much for Tomcat or EA Pride.
Thanks to "the facts" for the info. A number of years ago, I made far less than 100K, my children did well in school, there was very little free money and thru the FAFSA application we qualified for a small amount from MAP grant.
I suppose I didn't understand the process well enough and there was not much help from the counsellors at EA at that time. But we did know it was up to us to get that application in by a certain date.
Oh really, none of the teachers have the same opinion about Scott Strand. He also has less classroom visits than any teacher at Bardwell. That is special treatment!
Tell it like it is? That's your name? Lmao......
Just wondering
There are schools that will help struggling students they target certain zip codes. Not taking it away from Erick Strand because he is a top student but other kids at EA do not have the same opportunities. Duke, MIT, Stanford, Yale, Harvard, Brown Georgia Tech, and many others will pay most of the costs. You can go to their application process enter your financial data and get a free ride. Erick was helped and FAFSA is certainly part of it, but a small part. It is disappointing that so many helped him along the way and he drove the bus over us. Many no longer feel Ms Strands motives are pure.
Do the application good grades and low income district and $100,000 in income will send you to many of the schools listed above for about $5,000 per year.
The blog is a good conduit that allows the EA community to state their peace; whatever that may be. The truth of the matter is EA staff is aware of the daily, weekly, and monthly happenings that take place within this educational system. There are so many positive happenings that take place here and unfortunately there are also negatives that take place here as well. Individuals should be able to discuss the areas that are in need of correction, but let's be honest about bringing such concerns to light. That individual will then be harassed by those that do not the area to be brought to light or change to take place. That is a legitimate statement. To state that individuals are cowards is not an accurate statement, rather the individual making such statements is simply aware of what they will indeed be left to endure for making statements that bring corruption or areas of concern to light. Again EA has a great deal to be proud of, but there is a great deal of change that is needed to correct the many concerns that have been stated. I thank this blog as being the medium to allow expression of these concerns. If not here then where? The BOE podium? This has proven to make many concerned EA staff members open targets of those that do not appreciate exposure of sad, an inappropriate truths. Again, this blog must continue!
I attended the State of City address and much to my surprise the Pledge of Alliegeice was lead Ms Strands son. Mr Crespo hand selected him over all other students. It does show a pattern of favoritism!
I went to the State of the City also. Found out Weird Al is playing in Aurora this summer!!!!!!!!!!!
I did not realize Matt Hanley was a comedian also.
Susan said...yeah he was called into the principal's office today too.
I hear Willie Nelson will be performing in Aurora this summer, too.
https://v3.boardbook.org/Public/PublicItemDownload.aspx?ik=38577929
To Matt Hanley April 12 2016
From Ralph Padron
Matt
I am requesting permission to visit Waldo with Board Member Mr Richard Leonard
Time & date to be determined
thanks
From Matt Hanley April 15 2016
To: Ralph Padron
Mr. Padron:
Your request to visit Waldo Middle School for unknown reasons is denied. If we were to open our schools to one person, a person who has no affiliation with East Aurora School District 131 and has no business related to education at the school, then we would have to open up the school to anyone who made a request to go through the school. This would disrupt the daily operations of the school.
Additionally, even when students are not present, there are liability issues with this request. For obvious safety reasons, we do not make all areas of our buildings open to everyone. We need to keep both the visitors and the school safe at all times. The safety of our students, and consequently the buildings where they attend school, is paramount.
I will notify the building principal that this visit has not been approved.
Matt Hanley
April 15 2016
To: Hanley
From Ralph
Matt
You have overlooked the fact that I will be accompanied by Board Member Mr Richard Leonard and will be requesting an additional Board Member on the tour.
It certainly appears that the reasoning for denying my visit is directly pointing to Mike Popp.
I want to ask you another question, if Mr Leonard requests the visit and I will be his guest, does that change anything or will Mike Popp find another weak excuse to exclude me.
Please respond asap if possible.
MORE ON THE MOLD ISSUE FORTHCOMING !!!!
Funny, funny Matt are you packing your boxes? I hope your not planning on teaching you will bore your students to tears.
Popp and Hanley could never compete with EA teachers!
As a taxpayer of the district I want to know Matt what you are afraid that Ralph might find? I had children that went to Waldo 10 years ago and the place was a mess and needed many repairs I can only guess what he might find. What is the problem if he and Mr. Lenonard go on a Saturday all you have to do is make Ralph sign a waiver saying if anything happens to him the District isn't libel. The thing Matt is most of the people of the District don't really care about how the schools are and I think as a taxpayer of the district Ralph is doing something to help with getting the schools in shape. Matt you are a employee of the district but are you a taxpayer of the district?
Ralph you should contact channel 5 news investigation team and see if they could do anything with this. This is also a board problem they have heard the stories and I believe Darby's sons went to Waldo he should have some knowledge of how run down the school is and should stand up to help make it better.
Well, well. Finally someone to tell Ralph to go blank himself. Ralph is still mad that a sane report showed no scandals, etc. Little man still crying wolf. From what I understand, the powers that be are getting ready to tackle to mold issues and have been working on solutions for quite some time even before Ralph tried to interject himself. Sounds like Ralph just wants to be a little "Johnny come lately". - As he has been with everything he has done. Ralph should call channel 5 so he can turn himself and his network in as the culprits who have made the situation at 131 more unbearable than what is should have been. Just remember, his band of nitwits are the ones manipulating the "issues" by not correcting the issue or reporting the issue to someone who can correct it. Fairly common with governmental employees sadly. - doing things incompetently just to watch a train wreck - They just give the info to Ralph so he can act like a moron. See, normal people would just talk with the people who make the decisions on what is being done and get the information that way. Most people who deal with the district have no problem at all getting answers (and the truth). Seems funny that Ralph has not figured that out and he and his toadies are the only one who haven't. Ralph just does not want issues solved, he is still mad that he has to pay a proper amount for benefits. He has no interest in actually solving problems. The only way he stays relevant (in his mind) is if he keeps distorting what is really going on. While everyone else is trying to solve problems, Ralph and his merry band of buffoons are just creating more messes so nothing can be accomplished. that truly is their goal- to halt any progress.....And as a taxpayer in this district, we need to put an end to Ralph's highly abusive crybully tactics. Ralph suffers from short man syndrome and he needs help with it. Hopefully he can admit he has a problem as that is the first step in the recovery process.
Darby is well aware of the poor condition of Waldo. His son works in our department and has become a snitch for Alex Dimare. A janitor at East High was recently disciplined after working with Drew. Drew did not realize the janitor had emergency setup in the PE area and was taking his lunch late. The next day the janitor was written up and Drew was only person could be responsible.
It looks like between Starands son and Darby son they think they are the school board.
The mold at Waldo is a problem for years there is a crack in the wall and the roof leaks. After a tour from Leonard the day fire person was disciplined about other things another fear tactic on Dimare's part. The DON as Dirmare likes to be called is worthless but he has told many from his police days he knows how to break you down.
Darby is a bust maintenance people have talked to him and then we get the head games. We feel he talks with Dimare. John Laesch is another one you can never leave him a message his phone is full. Why is he even on the board. When you do get him he talks about how he hates the board and is waiting for the right time to get off. Leonard is remembered from the Marty Feltes days and can not be trusted however at least Ralph helps us with talking to him.
Thanks Ralph for all you do.!
I don't know who has so many "issues" with Ralph that they have to keep beating the drum about him and his "toadies." If there was a valid concern or point about Ralph, the name calling and negative innuendos have a put the writer in the same heap he has suggested for Ralph. A person who is " an abusive cry bully" who has " a syndrome he needs help with." Admit you have a problem with Ralph. That is the first step to recovery. You seem to be a bit obsessive and approaching a melt down. Venting on a blog may help, but will not fix your problem.
Speaking of problems. The mold and all related issues have been a problem long before Ralph was around and have been ignored or covered up for just as long. Leonard or Johnson, if being honest, could attest to this. Maybe if truth be told, you are one of those "governmental employees"-"doing things incompetently, just to watch a train wreck?"
"Issues" is the proper name for you because you have lots of them in your head and none that have anything to do with the real problems in the district! Nor do you care, as you are probably one of those on the way out or related to one of those already gone.
Make no mistake, Leonard has directed Dimare just recently get a quote for outsourcing the maintenance dept. -once again. So saying stoopid things like employees (or as you so colorfully call them "nitwits") mess up on their jobs or that they withhold information about problems with the buildings is another lie you spew. Leonard will never stop trying to get pay-back for his best friend Marty Feltes. Never. Leonard is dirty himself. Just look up his name in association with the city of Aurora and kickbacks.
Using these board member's kids to "report" on things they know nothing about is molding them into what they will become in the future as adults. Stool pigeons that give out incorrect information.
Ralph is correct. The Dept. of Education took Weiler's pre-prepped "investigation" as gospel and did not dive into the full facts, maybe they had bigger fish to fry in Chicago? Maybe Weiler has a friend in this federal government agency? Someone who had no affiliation with D131 should have performed these interviews and investigated the facts. We watched as the College of DuPage and school districts across the nation were heavily fined and disciplined for lesser offenses, yet none were doled out for the transgressions of Leonard directing Feltes and company. Yet they were eventually fired....hmmm. Makes one wonder. I would really like to see the foais in question scanned and placed on a public blog for all to view.
The people in this district still haven't read the roles of board members and how it says board members should refrain from talking to employees and community members since they only have one vote. The biggest role of a board member is to hire a Superintendent that has taken the required classes to become one. The Superintendent is the one the board make policies for The Superintendent to use to run the district. The Board President is not the one who should be running it and if she believes that the Superintendent is not doing the job to have the whole board pick another one. This works in all districts in IL except ours where the president think she should run it.
Now we have some low life that is attacking our students and I believe it is someone on the board that has done this before on the blog to other people's children. It takes someone with low self esteem to attack children.
Tomcat 8 get a life
The reason staff talks with BOE members is we do not get action from administration. If that does not work our last hope is the BOE. Make no mistake about it Ms Strands son directed the principal to harass counselors. Apparently, you have not kept informed or do not attend BOE meeting. WE HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE.
I do believe the BOE is working hard to find a new Sup but for now we place our future with the BOE.
We agree on all accounts. Another question: do the EA kids even like the Erick Strand? It makes one wonder with tantrums and behavior such as his, most kids in the general sense just would not care for his kind. Just saying.
No you get a life as said before no one board member can change anything it takes the whole board to make changes.
The board as a group can change 131 and they settled our contract and they have been enforcing better working conditions. Ms Johnson is doing a good job under difficult circumstances. Tomcat 8 you have no idea how difficult this past school year has been.
To: Kimberly Hatchett
From: Ralph Padron
April 16, 2016
This past week MANY STAFF MEMBERS OF 131 have contacted me to bring to your attention the following in reviewing the “Mike Popp Era” which has an impact on the legacy of this Board and EA 131.
Several staff have spoken with many a Board Member and despite coming away with assurance that changes will be made they have all but given up on those CHANGES NECESSARY to reverse the direction EA has been traveling. It is very important to understand that a mass exodus of staff members is in progress. They have given this Board a vote of NO CONFIDENCE due to the non-removal of those administrators which are the root of the problem.
The past 2 years Mike Popp has succeeded in getting rid of competent administrators, staff, & teachers. I have contacted many of them and some of their comments were:
“I wanted to stay but Popp, Glotzbach, Truckenbrod, Crespo forced me out”
More importantly they told me:
“If this group were removed they would welcome an opportunity to return!”
Kim: Further clarification is available upon your request.
The misconception that Removing current administrators would result in CHAOS has been used to justify in retaining them. However the mistakes & failure of Mike Popp as a Superintendent and his Hires has resulted in the deterioration of the district. (Reminder he had no experience as a superintendent nor in a poverty school district).
Inexperienced personnel were brought in
Sara Waddell:
Asst Principal to Asst Superintendent (no need to belabor this failure)
Why was a consultant hired to be involved with the curriculum?
Anthony Crespo:
Countless purchasing violations, favoritism to Kirsten Strand’s son Erik is obvious
Crespo’s obsession to have Jessica Brummel leave & have Dennis Renner replaced
And my favorite is the Veterans Event with Rudy Keller
This year’s graduating class will be low compared to previous years. Compare the numbers as they become public next month which will clearly show a tangible result of their mismanagement.
The teacher contract which came very close to a strike with one of the main issues being the “Culture of disrespect &treatment” by several administrators, Truckenbrod, Glotzbach, Waddell, Crespo & others.
Matt Hanley promotion fiasco/scandal
Mark Truckenbrod: His rude, arrogant, and intimidation to many an employee
Lets not forget his approval for many a purchasing violation at East High
Kim, I write this to you on behalf of those who have been victimized and lost hope by the ruthless & self serving Mike Popp era.
The following facts speak for themselves
Teachers speaking at Board Meetings bringing out concerns about treatment from the Popp Regime. How many were disciplined afterwards for coming forward.
The Board Meeting at East High when the Carillon community came out in large numbers to bring out the spending and property taxes they were being burdened with
This is a defining moment for the future of East Aurora Dist 131
It is in the Board of Education’s hands to change the direction and bring back hope to a school district which has been betrayed by Mike Popp and his hires
Mike Popp is a great politician and speaker.
He also possesses the skill of deflecting the truth and core issues to his advantage.
Kim: We both have a background in Corporate America and know that these individuals would never be employed with the performance they display.
Please consider the above factual information in deciding the future in restoring the trust and confidence of the community, district and employees.
Thank you
Ralph
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/aurora-beacon-news/opinion/ct-abn-crosby-suicide-walk-st-0418-20160418-column.html
To Ralph Padron
From: People with brains
For the sake of all humanity, will you and your merry band of nitwits leave district 131. Don't just say you are going to quit, please actually do it so we can get competent staff back into the district. The scandal is the culture of incompetence and crybulling of the staff. The disrespect that the staff shows the students and administration comes from that culture of incompetence and crybulling. So, Ralph, please tell your 'usefull idiots" to quit and go somewhere else. But then again, they could not be hired in the corporate world. They truly have no resume suited for the real world.
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