Communications to the board has been a topic for discussion at several meetings.
Hopefully, soon the public will be able to send an email to all 7 board members at once by clicking one button on the board section of the district website. The option is there, but not yet activated.
Presently, you may still email board members individually by clicking “contact us” in the right hand column of the board page. The District 131 School Board welcomes community involvement, and encourages district transparency. Please support your school district by attending meetings or events or volunteering to help at student activities.
120 comments:
Rayanne speaks of people with axes to grind but she doesn't mention that she had no problem using those axes to get herself elected to the school board. Only now that she is realizing that those axes cut both ways does she have a problem with them.
It wasn't God that placed you on the school board, it was the people with those axes that you promised to do something about that got you elected. And it is those same axes that can cut you down if we don't see the changes that were expected.
Now let's be clear what those axes are. They are the people who see now and have seen for years the corrupt and illegal activities of the school board and administration. They want positive change for this district and will not stop until they see it.
I asked you to show us one initiative you put forth, passed and how it helped or kids. You have been on the board for two years now. That should have been an easy question to answer. In fact a good member would have been able to show a whole list of initiatives and positive change for the children. I am beginning to believe after two years that we have exactly the same as we did before, just with an added thorn in our sides.
Let's hope that two years from now, you can come up with at least one example of something positive you did for the kids. It's simply not enough to sit at the meetings.
Here are a couple of positive changes I've seen since Rayanne has been on the School Board:
--There is more openness and accountability. For example, the district's check register is published online, and people notice and discuss things that seem to be a misuse of funds (like the $11,000 hotel bill).
--New School Board members have been voted in, and the balance of the Board has been tipped away from the "old guard".
People, please be patient! Change doesn't happen overnight. Rayanne, Dee, Anita & Annette will need our support and encouragement as they take small steps, then larger ones toward our mutual goal of a district that truly makes every decision with our childrens' best interests in mind!
This was at the end of the last thread, and I thought it bore repeating:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Many administrators do worse than covering up a problem--they deny that problems exist.
Specifically, at East High. The "new, improved" band has been one disaster after another over the past several years. Specifically:
--mangled renditions of the Star-Spangled Banner at football games
--a plaque being publicly displayed stating that the band won a first division rating, when they didn't
--the band receiving a third division rating last spring, by impartial judges
--a halftime show that disrespected our Tomcat mascot and featured a distorted image of a copyrighted Disney character
--bands that LOOK good (nice outfits; attractively printed programs) but SOUND substandard (out of tune and struggling to play inappropriately difficult, college-level music).
Yes, I realize there are more important issues in our district than the band, but this is just one major example of administration denying a problem that is very obvious to most of us!
If you have a ax to grind it is with the old board. You may feel Rayanne did not get anything done. However, she is only one vote. Many things she would have changed were voted down always 5 to 2. Now the shoe is on the other foot. However, the old board did leave a big mess and re-wrote Roberts. It is hard to change the things they did over-night. I am also sure Farnum and Wells with the administration are not making it easy. Wells has never able to put two words together but now is she speaks who would guess, Must be are new PR man. So give the new board a chance.
To the person who said Rayanne did not do anything do you not realize she and Dee were in the minority. When she received input from Waldo that was a treat so Roberts tried to get her kicked off the board. Roberts also sent a message to the staff by doing that. What meaningful act has Farnum or Wells passed other than to raise taxes and give Roberts a free ride. They will make changes but it will come slow.
Fine, show me an initiative that Rayanne put forth and how it will help children that the old board voted down.
The fact is that Rayanne and Dee have done nothing but complain for two years and have done absolutely nothing for the kids.
It's time for them to stand up and do more than change some pictures that the kids will never see.
It takes more than Rayanne and Dee to make changes in this district. It takes the parents and the teachers to stand up also. They have made many comments to make change in this district but it takes more than two on a board to do this. They have spoke out against the old guard and maybe their children who where in the district took some slack for that or maybe some thought they spoke out without knowing the whole facts but at least they made a stand which most of you didn't and at least they spoke out what have you done.
I have watched the video from c-span any maybe McKeon didn't know all the facts but he called out our district and maybe it is time for the community to ask how many lies has this administration told us and when we we as a community make them be accountable to us. Lets make sure our children our getting the best education they can get from this district and not just giving someone a good pension.
8:51, the biggest obstacle to positive change in this district right now is the administration, not the School Board!
For example, I know of several parents who have met with administrators to voice concerns about the EHS band program. The administrators either pretended to be surprised, or denied that a problem exists. Meanwhile, the superintendent and other folks at the Service Center help themselves to fat raises and perks (such as luxury hotel stays).
There are a few good administrators in this district, but most have proven to be eager to make decisions against our children's best interests.
One board member can't make change by themselves nor can two. I takes a majority of the board to vote on policy or program changes. but in this district the committees go ahead with their ideas before having the board approve them eg. (Magnet School). Before the board President said it was just a formality to vote on something like that but that isn't true the board should approve it before the administration even starts it. I hope too see changes with that procedure with the new ones.
After reading up on how a board works and their responsibilities you can see before they really let some things slide. The one big responsibility is to hire the Superintendent who is suppose to follow the board policies and it is the boards job to make sure he does and that doesn't mean when one of the board has a question about how the Superintendent is running his administration or school they are micro-managing it means they are concerned enough to want to know if they are really following the board policies. We have all seen where that is not the case in some of the things the Superintendent and administration have done.
As far as the EHS band situation now that they have talked to the administration they should take it a step further to the Superintendent and if they get nothing there then it is time to go to the board. Make sure you document everything so the board knows you have gone through the chain of command. I wonder if these parents are just as concerned about the other things going on in this district or are they just holding a grudge. So instead of boo hooing on this blog follow through the chain of command to see what can be done.
I heard the when Elgin got their new Superintendent he listened to the parents complaints looked into what they said about the administration in the High School and fired the administration because he found the complaints to be true. Now that is a responsible Superintendent by not hiding their heads in the sand by ignoring problems but facing them whither true or not and taking action.
"Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy".
General Norman Schwarzkopf
Stormin Norman knew the most important characteristic of a great leader is character. Our administrators are characters, they don't have character. They are only in it for themselves.
The boards first and foremost task is to make sure that this district is run by a person of character. This board needs to make a change at the top. Nothing good will come until that change is made. Contract or not, it must be done.
It is time for the board we elected to stand up and do what is necessary. That does not include changing the pictures in the board room (I wonder what that cost versus the educational benefit to the children).
The community did what it needed to and elected individuals who could bring about the necessary change. The board now needs to step up and use their authority to make those changes happen. If they are not willing or able to do that, I suggest they step down and allow those who will to do so.
The thing is, Dr. Roberts was once one of the good administrators! I remember there being a huge improvement when he was principal at East High in the early 90's.
Unfortunately, I think that something happens to certain people when they are promoted to higher positions. Maybe they are overly influenced by corrupt people around them, or forget whose interests they are supposed to represent.
It seems that some posters have a lot to say so why don't you go to the board meetings and tell them what you think instead of complaining.
For you who keeps talking about the changing of pictures I was at the meeting and think that statement is being taken out context. It looked like Mrs. Weaver was a little nervous also. I have spoke to her and I do believe she has the best of interest of our children and there will be change one more step at a time.
I for one think some of those pictures need to be updated and can be done with little or no cost. It seems this district likes to take a lot of pictures and probably have some sitting around they can use.
If you think the comment is being taken out of context, then you should speak to the Beacon. That is where most of the community read the comment.
With all the problems this district has, pictures should be at the bottom of the TO DO list, not the top. I can't imagine such a comment coming from a serious board president. This board needs to get its priorities in order.
It's amazing how anyone who wants positive change or accountability in this district is accused of having an axe to grind.
It is not an axe if you want illegal activities by this administration stopped.
It is not an axe if you want the band students in this district to have a quality band program.
It is not an axe if you want shady back room dealings to be brought out into the light.
It is not an axe if you want students to pass basic skills tests.
There are lots of changes needed in this district. The community took a big step at the last two elections and replaced 5 out of 7 board positions. It is not too much to expect that the "new improved" board will deal with the problems of this district and start to place the children welfare before corrupt administrators.
Just because you think they know about the these things doesn't mean they can go and just fire someone. If you have proof go thorough the chain of command that leads up to the board.
Maybe they could revisit the band situation but what makes you think that they would bring back MR.K? They might go and find someone else again so be careful what you wish for it might come true but it might not bring back the person you want back. I believe this is what people really want and not so much a better band.
Has anyone yet asked Mr. K if he would be willing to come back? Has it occured to anyone that he just might not want to? Has it occured to anyone that he might just know that was "politics" as usual in his case? Has it occured to anyone that if there was a lesson learned here by the new members of the board that it will then be that this type of situation will never happen again? If this has occured then something good has happened whether anyone believes it or not as the same situation will not happen again.
Why would Mr K want to come back to the high school. He has a much better band at Simmons. Anyone who watched the parade yesterday could see that.
You know what is great. Rayanne put a vote on this blog about a week ago and the total number of people that voted on it was less than 20. That is how many people give a crap about this stupid blog. Yeah, this is where the East Aurora "Community" comes. No,this is where Rayanne and her friends come to bitch.
Or did it ever occur to anyone that maybe it was a personnel issue for Mr K's move...those issues are never discussed publicly so why don't we just drop it?!?!
What did Rayanne's qupte in the beacon say? Was it the one about our students being druggies and whores? Yeah...what a great board member we have in her!
What quote? I would love to see that in print
I think there are some druggies on this blog halucinating about quotes.
Mr. K. was deprived of his high school teaching position because the School Board (at the time) chose to support a personal vendetta. Certain administrators were angry at Mr. K. because he chose to make decisions according to the needs & wishes of parents instead of kissing bigwigs' behinds. I'm sure that many of these administrators were counting on him leaving the district, which he probably would have done but for the fact that his wife and teenaged children were a part of this community and unwilling to move. So he took a $20,000 pay cut and was "reassigned" to Simmons, since the administration couldn't fire him (thank heaven for tenure!).
Would Mr. K want to come back to the high school? I don't know--maybe too much damage has been done in the last 4 years for him to be able to return the band to the way it used to be. But if he doesn't want to come back, maybe the Board could consult him about a replacement (band directors in Illinois know each other, and talk to each other about these issues).
And maybe our district could use Mr. Liska's energy and enthusiasm at the elementary band level. He has a lot of good qualities--it's not his fault that he was rushed into a position for which he wasn't experienced or qualified!
To May 26, 2009 7:07 PM.
If this is where Rayanne and her friends come to bitch why are you coming here?
Whether she is right or wrong or if this blog is a bitch session at least someone is doing something to let people vent. There has been things on this blog that have come out about our district and I think some have tried to do something about it what have you done.
Someone said something about a quote Rayanne said in the paper when was that?
I had a chance to hear the band for the first time. We should just chuck the band they are terrible.
Here is the quote from the other post:
The comment was made by Dee this week and was in the Beacon, here is the link:
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/1585797,2_1_AU22_EAST_S1.article
Say what you want about those who work in this district but live elsewhere but I wouldn't want anyone teaching my kids who didn't have the good sense to get their own children out of this district.
I want my children surrounded by children of intelligence who have a real future. I don't want my kids surrounded by a bunch of gang members, drug addicts, drop outs and sluts pregnant by the time they're 13, 14, 15 years old.
After re-reading it, I think this was the anonymous persons quote, not Dee's from the paper as it looks... or is it Dee's thoughts?????????
I do not know what paper whomever is reading, but it is not the Beacon with that so called "quote". I micro-read the Beacon and there has been no such quote, unless someone gets a supscription of the Beacon that I do not. Maybe Scottie beamed a different issue to May 26, 2009 @ 7:16PM.
Sorry if I was unclear. I was responding to two different comments and didn't intend to make it sound as though Dee made that comment.
I showed a link to the Beacon News article where Dee stated that she wanted to change pictures in the board room.
The comments about teachers that live out of the district were my personal opinions, not Dee Weavers.
Sorry if I was unclear seperating the two very different thoughts.
I just got done reading our latest board bits. I see we have our first cover up by our new board. The board bits stated
"A special note of thanks went out to Val Gudgeon and Jan Kutter for their assistance in making sure we followed the Health Department protocol".
It was very clear that there were reported suspected cases of swine flu in this district which was covered up by this administration. Students and other community members were not warned of the danger and schools were not closed or sterilized. Health department guidelines were not followed and everyone was placed at risk. But the new board has whitewashed and rubber stamped the situation, so all is well.
The bits stated that interviews were being conducted by Dr. Roberts for next years student board member. I am 1) surprised that the board wouldn't conduct their own search for a student board member and 2) no mention was made as to who these candidates were or how they were selected. Since we have only had Boys II Men officers as student board members in the past, I believe there needs to be a serious review of that process.
I did see that the board did approve of the pictures being changed in the board room. I am sure that will have a profound impact on the education the children receive in this district. Way to go board!!!
I also noticed all the mention of board member "field trips". The board members went all over the place. There were more field trips by board members in the last month than there were by students in the past year. Again, our hard earned tax dollars at work.
So far I see more of the same from this board as we had from the last one.
We are watching.
I don't know what board bits you where reading but I didn't see anything about the board taking trips. The one workshop was at the service center and the others mentioned where also at the service center.
I question the way the board was mention at the top of the bits for the board members being present.
I should think the president then vice president should be first. This is clearly a slam by Lisa who should know better. If nothing else the should be in alfabetical order.
Carol Farnum, Juanita Wells, Stella Gonzalez, Anita Lewis, Rayanne Carlson,
Annette Johnson, Dee Weaver, Roberto Saenz (student board member)
I see many other districts have the seniors vote for the Student Board Member which seems like a good idea to me. I will admit that it has been someone from the illegal faternity Boys II Men the last two times which makes it look a little one sided. I do think one time it was a girl.
With all the problems in this district, you are worried about whose name appers first in the board bits? That's may be even more trivial than changing the pictures in the board room.
Wake up people, we need real change in this district.
These board bits haven't been approved yet why are they posted.
Yes, this district does have a lot of problems and how these board bits are done is one of them.
The biggest problem is board meetings are just cheerleading sessions and a bunch of patting themselves on the back.
The board is supposed to be there to review and question the things done in this district. You can't accomplish this if all you do is smile and shake your head YES to everything said.
The board needs to get their heads out of their A$$ and do what is necessary to improve education in this district.
I have to agree they need to move those Excellence awards somewhere else and not at the board meetings. It takes up to much time and no one stays after they get there award away. I know its good to try different things but no other district does this. They could also do away with the board member comments too or least just do it once a month.
Someone else needs to get their head into some fresh air.
This was the new boards first full meeting. What do you expect in such a short time.
What do you want, a lot of random action just to satisfy your need for change.
Hold on-give them time to get reorganized, bring the new people up to date, set steps for implementing change.
All of you who have suggestions on what should or should not be done at the meetings can go and give their ideas or suggestions to the new board or e-mail them. This is called input people and they just might implement some of your suggestions. This is especially to all of you who are watching. As for the board bits-Lisa Morales posts those and don't you think this might be just a stab to the new board on her part? After all she did not even post the board bits in any kind of timely manner in the past, remember?
It is interesting Lisa will not post the May 16th meeting. I understand this was a workshop to discuss the meeting structure moving forward. Is it possible the new board is changing things but Clayton & Lisa are suppressing it. My guess is she listed the names by favored status so I guess Johnson & Weaver must not be her favorites being there names are last. Consider it being in good company girls.
OH MY GOD. SHUT UP ABOUT THE NAMES.
Order from July 8, 2008
Fernando Salinas Jr., Dee Weaver, Bob McCue, Carol Farnum, Rayanne, Carlson, Ken Maurice,
Order from September 2, 2008
Bob McCue, Carol Farnum, Fernando Salinas,Jr., Rayanne Carson Ken Maurice,
Order from December 15, 2008
Dee Weaver, Ken Maurice, Rayanne Carlson, Bob McCue, Juanita Wells, Fernando Salinas, Jr., Roberto Saenz (student board member)
Order from April 20, 2009
Dee Weaver, Ken Maurice, Rayanne Carlson, Bob McCue, Juanita Wells, Fernando Salinas, Jr., Roberto Saenz (student board member)
SHUT UP
Order for May 4
Dee Weaver, Bob McCue, Juanita Wells, Ken Maurice, Carol Farnum, Juanita Wells, Rayanne Carlson,
SHUT THE HELL UP
Is someone having a melt down. Someone just commented about how the names where. It does seem odd that the two older members where the first and maybe someone can't let go that change might come but it is no big deal.
What I find interesting is that those board bits haven't been approved yet so they shouldn't be posted. If you keep people thinking about the small stuff the big things will be swept under the rug.
So no we shouldn't be so petty but this just shows you how dysfunctional our district is. We have big problems in this district and that is what we need to address. The one big thing is now that we might not get the stimulus money for school construction that we so badly need.
NO, somebody posted this
"I should think the president then vice president should be first. This is clearly a slam by Lisa who should know better."
SO IT IS NOT "CLEARLY A SLAM BY LISA." It is somebody typing names. SHUT UP
I too think that the president and vice president should be posted first and it should of been that way all along. It is called respect to the people that elected them.
But the real problem is that the board bits have not been approved and should not be posted yet until they are approved.
Where are the workshop minutes who cares about the names.
Why are you worried about the workshop minutes they never have been posted before.
When someone yells at me to shut up, I disregard anything else they've said. Only the ignorant yell at others to "shut up"--so thanks for making it easier for me to tell which comments are worth reading!
To whoever is so concerned about the order of board members' names on the Board Bits:
I serve on the board of trustees at my church. Whenever we have a meeting, each of us signs the attendance roster. Our attendance at the meeting is listed (in the minutes) in the order in which we signed the roster. It has nothing to do with seniority or whatever office we hold! Maybe that's why the names of the School Board members are in different order at each meeting--it's just the way the attendance was recorded at that particular meeting.
SHUT UP
7:36, you first.
Ah yes, the infamous "shut up".
Translation: "I'm ignorant, and p.o.'ed that some good points are being made".
Have a nice day, you worthless ignorant piece of $#!+.
:)
Make sense May 28, 2009 9:15 PM. I think maybe someone was having a bad day when they say that as this was the first meeting with the new board members.
Now do you know why the minutes are posted of 5/18 before they even have been approved? Before they would say when the minutes didn't get posted in a timely matter that they had to approved first before they could be posted and now they don't? So if the regular minutes are posted why not the workshop ones?
I will not shut-up.
Not only are the names never in the same order, when voting at a meeting it's the same thing. They're not alphabetical or by position. Every vote the names are read in a different order.
It's no wonder this district is as screwed up as it is. All the problems our administration and board have with following the law and the corruption of high level administrators and all the community is worried about is what order the board members names are in the board bits.
This community deserves exactly what it has.
Make no mistake that we are worried about this district and the mess it is in.
As far as the names it just seemed funny that the two oldest members where first on the list and since I think those two don't work they would be the first ones there. I have been at some board meetings and you can tell that Lisa doesn't like some of them. You can tell sometimes in how she writes up the board comments on some and not others. When the man that used to be on the board came and talked she almost put it in word for word which usually isn't done.
Why not list the names alphabetically by middle initial and be done with it?
They all start the meeting at the same time> I know they were all there at the beginning. So why not President first. Another thing why is Wells still sitting at the head of the table like she is in charge. She is no longer the Secretary I believe Johnson is however Lewis is Vice President and should sit next to Weaver.
Why not a release of the Workshop minutes
Why would Lisa post one and not the other.
This board is asking questions and communicating with the community. The district does not like that and the longer they are there the longer things will get uncovered. The way the committees were set up shows me that. No longer can the old guard sweep things under the rug.
No. Now the new guard will sweep them under.
This is a school district. I am sure we can have a committee of teachers get together and decide what the best way is for the board members to be listed in the minutes and determine the best way for them to sit in the board room.
If there is time left over we can organize a committee to meet at a later date that will figure out how to get our kids to pass the state exams.
Our kids' passing the state exams is something that will happen when PARENTS step up to the plate and do their part! The vast majority of teachers in D131 are outstanding (although morale is poor because so many administrators are bullies). But too many parents send their kids to school poorly fed, improperly dressed, and without homework done/checked--and then have the nerve to blame the schools when kids fail.
Teachers, School Board, and staff can only do so much. Our kids need support from home if they are to succeed.
The parents are to blame for not getting involved with their kids education. However this district gets more money/grants than the other districts around us. The administration misuses the money and never gets any results. That is the job of the school board. With Roberts in charge it will never improve he stops open communication. He needs to go. I am hoping the new board will accomplish this. I know the old board renewed his contract. I also know the old board and him are blocking change. Many people lined there pockets and they are about to be uncovered.
East Aurora High School
Jamario Taylor
State Champion
High Jump!!!
Congratulations!
Congratulations to Daniel Olapal for winning The Triblocal/Valley Honda Player of the Month.
Congratulations also to Jamario Taylor for winning the high jump.
School Board meeting tonight. Come join us @ 7pm SCC
~Rayanne
There are individuals who will excell no matter what their surroundings are. Just because you can point and say that this one student jumped higher than the rest doesn't mean that the system is working.It simply means that one student has excelled.
Remember, even a broken clock is right twice a day. Just because I can point to the clock twice a day and say, look the time is correct doesn't mean that the clock is working.
Many of us are critical of certain decisions and situations at East High, and rightly so.
But there are also some outstanding success stories, which deserve to be celebrated. Mr. Jamario Taylor and Mr. Daniel Okapal are just two of many--congratulations and best wishes to these two young men! Keep achieving, both for yourselves and your community!
7:49 uses the "broken clock" analogy. In this case, the clock (school district) isn't totally broken--it still runs, and we all know what time it is. But the cuckoos at the top (administration) need to be fixed to bring it up to full working order.
Tonight's (6/1) board meeting agenda has two places for public question/comments. Does anyone know if this is a clerical error or a change in the routine?
The issue is not that we should or should not celebrate the success of a child, of course we should. The problem is administrators who somehow or another try to steal the childs spotlight and try to share in their glory. The administrators of this district do not deserve any of Jamario's accolades.
Nobody is trying to STEAL anything. This is the problem. When the district announces something, they get accused of trying to boost their own ego, when they don't announce something the get accused of trying to hide something. What the HELL DO YOU WANT. YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS. Just another example of how this blog does not matter because the ass holes on here will never be satisfied.
The board is giving the community the ability to comment at the being of the meeting and if any questions the community has or wants to comment on they can. This gives the community more openness and they are putting something in that was in board policies but the old guard decided to censor. Change is coming
10:18 - Public comment has been part of the board agenda. It's just that the current agenda has it on twice - once at the 'normal' time as it has been, once at the end. Didn't know if they're adding comments at the end as well as those allowed earlier or if it was a clerical error.
That option for the public to speak at these 2 times has always been there it is just that the old board didn't do it. Why would they have as more people just might have stayed for the whole meeting and have something to comment on that went on that night at the meeting. Any questions that someone might have can be addressed in the publice comments. Here is everyone's chance! Go for it.
To: June 1, 2009 10:01 AM
If you have ever spent a significant amount of time in a district school, you would understand what I am talking about.
The only time during the year a central office administrator walks into a building is when the press is there to do a story about the children and the reporter has to bully their way past the administrator to try and get a moment with a kid.
Further, the administrator is tripping over the reporter getting out of the building. They never stay to actually see the great things the children are doing that brought the reporter down to begin with.
You see this enough times and you just know, the administration doesn't give a damn about the children.
As for this asshole, when we replace certain central office administrators with competent administrators that give a damn about the children and put them first, I will be satisfied.
So now with two places for the public to talk the meeting will take longer. Oh wait, nobody is going to show up anyway, so now there will just be two places in the meeting for silence. Man, I am glad they added that second place for public comments back on the agenda
You must work for the central office and be one of the ones responsible for sweeping things under the rug.
No, wrong.
June 1, 2009 7:49 AM- you prove that the people on this blog only want to complain. Yes one did excell by being a state champ! So lets all make sure we find the negative about that instead of congradulating him on his achievment!!!!
You should SHUT UP!!!!!
7:49 a.m. was only one person. Almost everybody else on this blog congratulated the young men for their achievement, not complaining like 8:12 said.
And I think I know why 8:12 yells "shut up". It's a lot easier for simple minds to spell "shut up" than "excel", "congratulating", or "achievement" (all of which were spelled wrong!)
Here lately I think that there is some out there that is trying to cause trouble on the blog because they don't like it. Yes, people complain here but they also comment on the good things.
This is a place for people to express themselves and how they feel about issues. Somethings might be just complaining but there has been things brought out and discussed that are problems in the district. I think there are some that just don't want to move forward and keep things the same but that will not help this district move forward.
It is time to bring these things to the board and see if something can come of it. I think as the board moves forward they will try to address these issues to the public and that is why they are having the two public comments at the meetings. So if you make a comment in front of the board and don't get the answer right away you have another chance to speak to them and get answers.
It opens communication to the residents and that is what everyone complained about. This board seems to be moving in the right direction The are holding workshops and opening up communication unlike the old guard who just rubber stamped. It appeared tonight Carol & Juanita started off negative and are being disruptive and trying to stop change.
Tonight's meeting was ridiculous! Was this the East Aurora Board meeting, or the platform for our new "president" to speak to a captive audience????? Good way to make sure that NO ONE comes to the meetings - too long and boring!!!
What happened to the examples for excellence? They were the best part of the meetings!?!?!
What do you expect to happen when you put somebody in charge of the School Board who has no business being in charge.
Oh right, you expect that they will do only good things that you want them to do, instead they push their own agenda and really don't give a shit about what you "voted them in for."
The old-guard School Board members had their chance to make decisions in the best interests of our children, and failed miserably.
Now it's time for new ideas and new leadership--and a chance for change for the better.
With people with NO expierence. Good job.
Everyone starts out with no experience for the board. Yes, some stay on for awhile but you never no since they can be voted out. It looks like the new president is reading up on being a president and taking classes. It also looks like the board is going to start doing their responsiablities and make sure that things are approved before the administration starts things.
The Excellence Awards is just for show and it seems like the same people get noticed most of the time. These have nothing to do with board business just like when the board makes comments. I really don't care about someone cleaning out their closets.
It would be nice if some of these people in attendence keep their side comments to themselves. It is amazing that these are teachers and union presidents taking during the meetings. I wonder if they let their students do that while they are teaching?
If it is the same people getting noticed all the time...maybe its because they are the ones doing a lot of the unseen volunteering and helping out in the schools. When you stop showing appreciation and saying thank you people stop being as available to help out for free.
I'm not talking about the people that help out or volunteer they deserve that it is the others. I'm sure there is more than they say.
Just because they didn't do "Examples of Excellence" this time doesn't mean they're getting rid of it. Maybe there were too many other items on the agenda and they didn't want to take up any more time this particular meeting.
On a positive note, there was a great article about Mrs. Gwen Miller's retirement on the front page of the Beacon today. She was one of D131's best--her shoes will be tough to fill (in her case, high heels)!
Gwen Miller's test scores were one of the worst in the d131 good I am glad to see her go. She had her group and if you were not in it she discouraged a lot of good teachers
I am glad they did not do the "Examples for Excellence". This should be done before whomever's peers. Board comments should be done away with also. Both of these things take up alot of time. Just get down to business. More people would come to the meetings if they were shorter. People then could attend meetings and then go see their children's games or whatever they would like to do with the rest of their night. There is no reason why a meeting should be longer than at the most a hour.
10:17, I'm not a teacher--I'm a parent. And my two kids went to Dieterich and got an excellent education there, due partly to Ms. Miller. I spoke with her several times when my kids were at Dieterich, and always found her to be helpful, professional, and genuinely concerned about each student's success.
I'm sure that Ms. Miller had an occasional bad day, as we all do. But overall my family remembers her as a competent, caring administrator. We will miss her!
Sometimes the meetings will be longer depending on if the board needs to discusses something the public should know. If they have to go into closed sessions that will take longer too. I have to agree that the board comments need to go I don't need to know what they have done and sometimes it looks like they are trying to think of things to say. The Excellence Awards should be done in the schools that the people are getting the awards for. Yes, the board should know about them and how people and students excel but not at the board meetings. Most of those who get the awards in front of the board doesn't even really know what there role is in the school system I think.
The board comments I want to hear is how they are making this district getting better scores for our children and hoe they are making it financially sound. I want to hear that they are using our taxes in the best interest of the children's education and not to benefit peoples salaries and the pensions.
Are they doing their best to cut cost where they can in non educational things. Are they really looking into the petty cash funds and how that is spent.
Times are rough and the taxpayers have had to take many take backs from the companies they work for. No raises and having to pay part of their insurance or paying for all of it. Many have lost their jobs and struggling to make ends meet.
As we hear how the state and government is running out of money and we know the schools will suffer from it what is this district doing to get ready for the short falls in money we will see. It is time for all government and state employees to start feeling the impact that all of us others have felt and that means if you don't get a raise or you have to pay for your health insurance than that is what is best for the district as a whole.
6/3 @ 7:26pm
You will hear what you want in the committee meetings reports. THe board comments are just personal type things and what you want to hear is not brought up here.
No I meant they need to get rid of the board comments and get down to business and be transparent with the community. The committee minutes are a joke anyway.
Sorry, I do agree with you that they need to get down to business. Give this board a chance about the committee meetings and what is going on. At the last meeting they were pretty informational about what went on in the committee meetings that already had taken place.
I do think the last meeting was a better meeting than I have been to in the past I'm just saying they don't need to do the board comments it takes up to much time and really doesn't have anything to do with what is going on in the district.
The last meeting,in my opinion was a huge step in the wrong direction. No examples of excellence - big mistake. Then having unlimited time for the president to talk about things that should be discussed at committee meetings or via email(ie. the board conference she wants to attend). A 3 hour meeting is unreasonable!
No other district does an example of excellence at there meetings. That has nothing to do with a board meeting. Should the president talk about her wanting to go to a conference yes she should. It seems that some seem to think she has no experience and this shows she wants to be informed about how things work. Many people have commented about the conferences and why they go and how much they cost so this lets the community know these things. The meeting didn't go on for three hours and part of that was because of the closed session. The board comments was about twenty minutes which could be done away with. When they have the excellence awards that usually takes about 30 minutes of time for the board meetings which is a waste of time. Go out and look how other districts do their board meetings and you will see ours is nothing like the others. You need to remember that the committees do not approve when someone goes to conferences it is the board that does that and we need to see more of this. That part of the meeting only took five minutes compared to the ones that had something to say about the workshop minutes which was a waste of time. The two that commented about Roberts rules and then voted present really voted for them not against the minutes. Take the time to read Roberts Rules and you will see that.
Take the time to go to another districts board meetings and you will see that some of the things that are talked about in ours would never happen in theirs.
The ones who oted present at the last meeting was doing just as the now president did when he was a "senator". I really do not think much of someone who votes present. It just says they are there and have no opinion or do not want to let anyone know which way the stand on what is being voted on.
Lets be clear it was Wells and Farnum who voted present. I am not sure what the problem was with the minutes. I just proves they are going to dig their heels in and be disruptive. Wells and Farnum should keep quite that they have been on the board that long. I did not know that. That means they had more to do with the breakdown of the school system then anyone else. When you meet those two they are a good example for term limits. End of story
And this blog is a good example of why people need to take an English class.
Maybe someone can clarify this.
The senior class started out with 1000 students. According to the Illinois School Report Card we're graduating 75%, that is 750 students. Clayton reported to the Beacon last week that over 600 students were graduating from East. That is over 60%. According to the board bits, Jerome Roberts stated that 546 students graduated. That is 54% of East students graduating.
For a board that wants more transparency, it seems very murky to me. I thought at the time I read the schools report card that it seemed convenient that the state graduation benchmark was 75% and we met it exactly at 75%. I see now that we weren't even close.
The information sent to the state that goes on the school report cards are official state records. It is illegal to knowingly falsify state records. This is just another example of the illegal actions of this administration. And the unwillingness or incompetence of the board to deal with our administrative criminals.
Apparently 250 freshman failed this year. We're losing 25% of our incoming freshman in the first year.
Hey but the board room is going to look nice. And our board members get to take lots of field trips.
Every year many seniors at most large high schools (West High and WVHS, as well as East High) find out that they are a credit or two short of graduation requirements. So they go to summer school and pick up the required credits, then get their diplomas in August.
They are still members of the class of '09, and Mr. Muhammad was correct in saying that over 600 students were graduating at East High. If he had said "over 600 are graduating TONIGHT" that would have been a false statement--but like any good public-relations specialist he chooses his words carefully.
I wish all 2009 EHS grads success and happiness, whether they receive their diploma in May, August, or December.
The Illinois School Report Card is a year behind so that would not be the numbers for this year. In any given year students will move or drop out which will make that number different at the end of the year.
Give the board sometime to fix this mess with the administration it won't happen overnight but I do think things will change as time goes by. The most important thing they need to do is make sure the Superintendent follows the policies the board has in place and he enforces this with the administration.
How about letting the students vote for and decide who they want as their representative on the school board.
It's rediculous that the superintendent who almost no one has any faith in, unilaterally stack this position. As we already know, until this point the only prerequisite for the student representative has been they need to be breaking the law by being a member of Clayton's Boys II Men Fraternity.
The superintendent has interviewed all the students who filed all the paperwork required as application for the opportunity to be the student board member. As it has been done in the past.
This year it was decided 2 board members would be interviewing the candidates, also, separately from the superintendent. The 3 -together-would decide which student will be the new student member of the board.
My personal opinion is that to have an election for this position would be inline with prom king & queen-which to me is a popularity contest. I believe the student member of the board requires a litle bit more than being most popular.
When not elected, interested school board candidates follow an application/ interview process. One of the applicants is chosen and appointed by the board. I feel student board members should follow similar process to have a seat on a school board.
One woman's opinion.
You're right electing people by popular vote is nothing more than a popularity contest. People are to stupid to make an intelligent decision for themselves. I suggest we do away with elections completly. We do away with voting in board members. We do away with voting for mayors, senators, govenors and presidents. After all, they are really nothing more than popularity contests.
It is much better system to just have King Rayanne come down from on high and impose her perfect wisdom upon us.
Rayanne, keep talking, every time you open your mouth you are showing this community what an ignorant A$$ you really are.
4:22 is displaying not only bitterness, but ignorance.
Many important public officials are appointed, not elected! Three major examples are Supreme Court justices, cabinet heads (Secretary of State, Secretary of Agriculture, etc.), and ambassadors. If the voters were to vote every single public official into office, there would be some who would be there based on looks, charm, or wealth instead of true qualifications. Checks and balances are in place to make sure that those who are appointed to important positions are screened (and for the School Board student representative, the interviews with board members will help determine whether candidates have what it takes to do the job).
Does the Student Rep to the school board even really do anything? Lets be honest about it.
Hello 4:22 PM
Aahh! It tis the one with the axe, again. Thank you for your compliment. I must admit I am not that wise. But, you may still call me your highness, if you like. LOL
I do like to voice my opinion. Like you, we all have one.
I do appreciate your support. But, I believe you under estimate people in general when calling them stupid.
I must confess I am not quite as ignorant as I used to be. It was true bliss back a few years ago.
I can only wish I didn't know now, what I didn't know then.
Maybe you can come join us, he who-cannot-write-his-name. Or possibly, for those who are more educated than myself, you could start your own blog. But then you'd be King and everything would be perfect and you'd have nothing to whine about.
There's no entertainment in that.
OK, I have given my opinion, again.
Your turn! :o)
Actually, supreme court justices are not appointed, they are nominated by the president or govenor and then they are voted on by the entire senate.
The students of this district have only one person to speak for them. They do not vote for board members. They do not vote for their administrators. I, for one, believe that the students should have a voice in the one person who is on the board to speak for them.
In short, the president and govenor are voted into office by the people to represent them and to appoint other positions as needed. The students have no voice in who represents them. They have no vote and therefor have no true voice in their education.
I was not calling the community stupid. I was mocking you in your stated opinions. Your opinions clearly show that you believe that people are to stupid to make choices for themselves.
By the way, "under estimate" should be one word and "cannot" should be two words. You also really need to check your punctuation and grammar. It is atrocious.
You really should stick to what you do best lately. Ink up your rubber stamp and whitewash the illegal dealings of this administration. Quit trying to put two words together, it just shows your ignorance over and over again.
Who are you to judge who is ignorant. It seems when someone doesn't like what someone says they have to name call which is really a childish thing.
The role of the student board member is just a token thing that they can put on their college applications. When I've been at the meetings all it seems like they talk about is what they are doing in school like proms, sports or belonging to Boys 11 Men. Is this position really necessary or is it just a way all school boards make it look like the kids have a say in what is done in the district.
Directly from our board policy on student board member - glad they are all online now!
Student Appointment to the School Board
A student from East Aurora High School shall be appointed in an advisory capacity to the school board for a term established by the school board. Such term shall not exceed one school calendar year. Another student shall also be appointed to serve as an alternate for the above appointed student. The purpose of this appointment is to give students the opportunity to bring a student=s perspective to the discussions at school board and committee meetings. This policy is also intended to provide students with an opportunity to gain insights into how a unit of local government functions.
The appointment of a student and an alternative from East Aurora High School to the school board shall be made in accordance with District policies.
Roles and Responsibilities:
1. The appointee(s) are to serve in an advisory capacity only.
2. The appointee(s) are not permitted to attend or participate in any executive sessions.
3. The appointee(s) are to attend each regular board meeting.
4. The appointee(s) shall be allowed to sit at the same table as the elected board members.
5. The appointee(s) will only be allowed to comment on issues to the extent and in the manner determined by the school board and the Board President.
6. The appointee(s) are not allowed to vote on any school board matters.
7. The appointee(s) are to arrange with the appropriate administrator to attend at least one committee meeting for each of the committees, sometime throughout the school year.
8. The appointment is to coincide with a school calendar year (September thru May).
9. At the last regular school board meeting in May the appointee(s) are to submit to the board a written report summarizing their experience as a student board member. They are also encouraged to prepare a short presentation to be presented to the school board at this meeting.
LEGAL REF: Public Act 94-0231
105 ILCS 5/10-10
Adopted: October 3, 2005
To 9:48--
Whose ignorance is showing?
You nastily claim to have found two mistakes in Rayanne's post. But if you would bother to check the facts you would see that the word "cannot" IS recognized by Webster's as a single word, and that "under estimate" may be awkward but is not grammatically incorrect.
Meanwhile, your post contained the following blatant errors:
--You misspelled the word "governor" as "govenor" TWICE.
--You misspelled "therefore".
--You misused the word "to" (should have been "too stupid", not "to stupid").
--The last sentence was a run-on. It should have either been two separate sentences, or the comma should have been replaced by a semicolon (connecting two independent clauses).
Thanks to folks like 9:28 it's easy to tell who the genuinely ignorant people are on this blog!
:)
To 6/07/09 @ 9:48AM
Why are you not posting your name? Rayanne has no problem posting hers and you have no problem posting back to her stating her name. You just must be out to cause problems. Please be adult enough to put your name on your postings if you feel what you post is right and just.
It seems like 9:48 is a semi-colon alright. ;)
it took me a minute....semi.........colon
LOL
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