The first meeting of the new 131 School Board is this Monday. The newly elected members of the Board will be sworn in May 4th and new officers will be elected.
Show your encouragement by attending the meeting at the school service center.
This is a great chance to meet the 7 women who have chosen to volunteer & dedicate their time to act in behalf of the educational welfare of the students of 131.
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202 comments:
1 – 200 of 202 Newer› Newest»Hopefully there will be a good turn out. With the new members lets hope there is more transparency.
So, who will be President and Vice President? Will it be a divided vote?
How can it be divided 7 are on the board.
I just got my taxes and on my $195,000 dollar home they went up about $800 dollars just for east aurora 131. I noticed the pension doubled while I have lost my 401K but the teachers and admin who are on the watch list get more. If Carol Farnum or Wells get any position of influence it is to bad. We voted for change and I want change. We have been lied to long enough. Dr Roberts stated on a $500,000 home it would be about $600 he failed to tell us about the pension. I am so glad to see Mccue, Maurice and Salinas go.
Divided meaning multiple nominations. It makes a Board look more united if only one person is nominated and the vote is unanimous.
The pension isn't controlled by the local school district. Thanks the state of Illinois and their ridiculously rich benefit package for retirees for that one. This state will implode if we don't fix all government pensions and soon.
I just looked at my tax bill to and I have to say my home value is really over the top and not worth what they say. While it is nice it is way to high and the reason they do that is to get more taxes. While I'll be able to pay this bill I wonder how many will not be able to afford this with the way things are going in this district.
I hope the board nominates who the community wants a president so there won't be a split vote but I don't think so. I think someone will try to get one of the old guard in and that will not work. The community voted to have change in this district and lets hope the ones we voted in will do the right thing and start fresh.
Here is something to think about. Teachers (especially in this district) get paid significantly less than others with their same amount of education. Outside of doing it because they love teaching, people become teachers because of three major benefits. Job security, summers off and a secure pension.
Summers are becoming shorter each year and there are some politicians who are pushing for year round schools, those same politicians want to remove tenure rights for teachers and have been dipping into the teachers pension funds for the past couple of years to balance the states budget.
Like it or not teachers are highly qualified individuals with an extensive educational background and they deserve to be well compensated for their efforts.
The simple truth is that without these benefits, many teachers will simply move to the business and private sector and there will be an even greater shortfall in the teaching field.
While I am sure there are those who like to say that the teachers are not doing their job if all students are not meeting standards. The fact is that students in a district like East Aurora are a much greater challenge than those in many other districts and the reality is that
many teachers that can't handle these challenges go to our neighboring districts and get a much better salary for a much easier job.
You should be supporting and encouraging the teachers in your district not moaning and complaining that your taxes went up a little bit. Especially since you are still paying significantly less than all the communities around you.
I think we all have a right to say something about our taxes. In the older parts of Aurora the homes are valued at much more than they are worth. For this district which has a high poverty rate how do you think they can pay more than they have. Plus other districts have industry and more commercial development than we do.
As far as the state dipping into your retirement befits welcome to the real world and how companys have misused their workers retirement benefits. In fact most don't even get retirement benefits from their employers they do 401Ks and we all know what has happened to those.
The teachers that come into this district knows it is a poor district and they shouldn't think they can get as much as the others. The ones with tenure get way more than they should and our administration and other no teachers gets paid more than other districts.
If the teachers feel they can get more in the private sector then they should go but there are a lot of teachers out there looking for jobs so they better make sure they are the best and then remember that they don't get that nice state pension.
There are many people out there losing their homes in this district and there will probably be more with this tax increase but I guess you don't care about that until it hits you. You can't get more than people have.
So if you think you can go now with all the things that are going on in other districts go ahead. If you read the papers or watch the news you see how many of them are cutting back on teachers so good luck out there.
Like it or not teachers are highly qualified individuals with an extensive educational background and they deserve to be well compensated for their efforts.
You are wrong not all teachers are highly qualified and have extensive educational backgrounds.
Check it out for yourself. There are more teachers on the East Side with masters degrees than there are on the West Side or Indian Prarie. In addition, teachers on the East Side average more years of experience. Despite having more education and experience, the teachers on the East Side are paid less and have much more challenging students to work with and less parental support.
You really should appreciate the job these dedicated individuals are doing for your children.
The problems on the East Side are a combination of challenging students and poor leadership. While there are always a few bad apples, the problems are not with the teaching staff.
No one is saying the problems are with the teaching staff if is that they think they can make as much as other districts and we just don't have that kind of revenue coming in. A while back there was some discussion about helping the teachers pay to get their qualifications the state requires so if the other districts don't have as many why do they need to get the money to get their qualifications.
As in any profession it isn't always about how much others make it is about what kind of revenue the company has and if it doesn't have as much as others then they can't pay as much as others. In School Districts it seems they pay on how much revenue they can bring in and most of the districts have people making way more than ours so you can't get more than people have and if you don't like it go to the other districts. It seems you are more in it for the money than what you do.
A person can be dedicated to the children of this district and their own families. I can love the students and want a fair salary.
All teachers in Illinois public schools are certified by the same state, are paid by citizens of this state and pay into the same retirement system. Why should some teachers get paid twice as much as others just because the parents of their students make more money than the parents in this one?
School funding reform needs to become a priority in Illinois.
And why should people who work for the same company but in different areas, do the exact same job get differnt wages? It happens. Why? Due to the differnt areas and for the same reason it happens to teachers. At this point and time I would think that anyone who still has a job would be happy. Even teachers are being laid off or whatever anyone wants to call it no matter how much they make or where they are teaching. Do you not think that these teachers that will no longer have a job would be happy to have one at this point even if they have to take a cut in pay? I know I would.
The teachers in this district may not be paid as much but the admin's are. They are the ones driving the programs that do not work.
I did check it out on Interactive Illinois Report Card for 2008 and here are the results about the Master Degrees.
District Masters Degree
308 49.5
131 52.7
204 61.8
203 67.4
129 67.9
8:53 hit the nail on the head. Most of us recognize that our teachers are hard-working and deserving of support (financial as well as verbal). It's paying those outrageous pensions for corrupt administrators (Radakovich, for example) that really makes us upset!!
Glad to see all the concerned community at the meeting tonight to see who is now the President, Vice President and Secretary of the board. Thought this community was going to be involved in what this new board would be doing.
Congraduations to the new board members. Lets hope we see change come to this district. For the teachers that see things that aren't right they can go to someone and discusses it. To openly talk to the administration that they see aren't going right in their schools to comment about it and not get pushed to the side.
Tomorrow is a new day and we can make changes in this district for the good. Hopefully the administration and the board will work together to make this district the best it can be.
9:52 What?
The new officers for the East Aurora Board of Education are:
President – Dee Weaver
Vice President – Anita Lewis
Secretary – Annette Johnson
God help us all.
I'm sure he will since he helped in getting new members.
7:02 a.m. is probably an administrator.
Not a real administrator. A fake one like Clayton.
Nope, both wrong. I'm just somebody who is worried about uneducated white trash in charge of the school board.
Well the "educated" board members allowed corrupt administrators to commit all sorts of illegal acts, allowed land deals to pass that cost the district millions of dollars, paid administrators far more than they deserved, allowed the Illegal Boys II Men to continue, lost the best band director over personal vendettas, etc. etc. etc....
I don't think the new board can do much worse but I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens. Remember, you don't have to be educated to do what's right.
Those with the highest degree of formal education have done the most damage to our district.
One main example: "Serial Bully" Radakovich, who continues to suck hundreds of thousands of $ out of D131 each year through his pension.
We can thank those who supported the administration's vendetta against Mr. K for our new School Board members. Several of those ladies were quite upset when the "improvement" promised a few years ago never happened.
Good administrators already know that you don't piss off the band parents in your district. They are the most active and involved members of the school community. Radakovich and Roberts also knew this but figured that if they blamed the move on Radakovich as he was on his way out, that Roberts wouldn't have to deal with the band parents wrath. Apparently Robert's was mistaken.
By the way, I would much prefer to have band parents running the district (educated or not) to any other group you could name. They are the most intelligent, dedicated and active parents in any district.
To the person who called the new members uneducated white trash last I heard Carol and Dee have equal accounting backgrounds. Lewis is getting her degree and always held down a job unlike Wells who lived most of her life on welfare until someone at the district used his influence to get her the current job she holds. I guess we could call her welfare trash. Johnson like Mccue owns her own business and has a accounting degree. She also did not build her business on district contracts like Mccue.
Not yet anyway. We'll have to keep an eye on that one.
How many that are blogging here today was at the meeting last night? I was. That teacher from Gates spoke last night in the same tone she did in the past when she got her digs in. The digs were directed toward Weaver and Carlson. Hope she was wearing diapers when Weaver, Lewis and Johnson got the positions they did. The ones that anyone would have to keep their eyes on at this point should still be Farum and Wells for the fact that they sure will give as hard as at time as they can. Let's give the new ones a chance before we start dogging them.
I was irritated last week when I spoke about how I suspected that the district knew of possible cases of swine flu in the district.
I am really ticked today. Administrators in the district held meetings with teachers today to share the new policy of sending children home who have suspected cases of swine flu.
They also mentioned in passing during the meeting that there are two confirmed and many probable cases of swine flu in the district.
In other words they confirmed that they knew of these probable cases last week when World, Federal, State, and County Health Officials recommended that schools close if there is a suspected cases to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
Administrators knew of the pandemic threat in our buildings and decided to ignore health officials and place the children and others in this district at extreme risk.
While the district administrators have made a lot of bone headed decisions over the past several years that have cost this district millions in dollars and even more in reputation, placing these children at greater risk of disease and death for their own personal reasons is by far the most unexcusable.
I can not put it any more plainly, Roberts and any other administrator that participated in the decision to place our children in harms way must be removed.
If a child brings even a look-alike weapon into a building, they are expelled. The reason: The health and safety of our children is paramount and we must protect the children at all costs. No threat against our children is acceptable in any way, shape or form and anyone who has placed our children at risk is expelled from the learning community.
Our children were threatened last week by a possibly catastrophic disease. Health officials instructed school officials to close buildings and our administrators knowing of the cases and the risks disobeyed health officials directives.
I'll say it again. Roberts and any other administrator who participated in the decision to ignore health officials and keep schools with suspected cases of swine flu open needs to be fired.
Here is part of a press release by Clayton today.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
INFLUENZA INFORMATION UPDATE
-Tuesday, May 5, 2009-
TWO CONFIRMED CASES OF H1N1 (SWINE) FLU AT BARDWELL SCHOOL
The Kane County Health Department reported today that of the twenty (20) confirmed cases of H1N1 (Swine) Flu in Kane County, two are students at Bardwell Elementary School.
It takes at least a week to confirm a case of the swine flu. During that time it is a probable case.
The district administrators knew during that time that there were suspected cases of swine flu and decided against following health department officials and the lead of other area schools and kept schools open and children at risk.
Anyone who puts our childrens health and lives at risk can not be allowed to continue to work with our kids. They should be removed.
Shut up, get over this stupid swine flu
There is no way I am going to shut up. These administrators made a conscious decision to place the children of this district in harms way.
Does this districts new board give a damn about the children or don't they. Right now will be the loudest statement they make to that fact in all the years that they hold board positions.
If they do nothing, it will be a clear signal to the public that they don't give a damn about this districts children. Nothing they do in the future will be able to over ride allowing this districts administrators to continue after making decisions that place our children in harms way.
If they care about the kids, they must act!!!
I understand your outrage but how do you know this new board has even been told about it? What about McCue? Had he been advised about this situation? What about Farum or Wells? Anyone that knows how the board worked before should know that Weaver and Carlson would be the last ones told anything at all.
The administration knew about the probable cases. The cases have been confirmed publicly.
The school district made public today that they had been notified of the confirmed cases. The county health department has kept all schools informed if students in their buildings had probable and confirmed cases of the swine flu. Since it takes at least a week for a probable case to be confirmed, we know that the administration has known about the probable cases for at least a week.
Since the policy by all health officials last week was to close schools with possible or confirmed cases of swine flu, we know that this districts administrators ignored all warning and placed the children of this district at risk.
I don't know or care about what the previous board knew or did. I do care about what this board now does.
The administration disregarded health experts and placed our childrens health and very lives at risk.
They do not deserve to retain their positions.
I've heard that the symptoms of this flu are much less severe and aggressive than originally suspected. It's not a plague, but a flu bug!
I'm going out & about, doing the daily things I usually do (just washing my hands more frequently). My family refuses to act as if the world is coming to an end because of a flu virus.
That may or may not be true NOW but a WEEK AGO school officials were being strongly warned by health officials that this was a dangerous flu bug and that strong precautions should be taken, including closing schools with suspected or confirmed cases of the swine flu. This districts officials ignored those warnings and put these children in danger.
If a child brings a weapon to school but no one is hurt. Do we say that because the end result was good we don't expell the child.
NO
We assume that if the child was dumb enough or malicious enough to endanger or students once, they may do it again. We can not take the chance with the safety of of children. Especially since we are talking about the leadership of the district, not just some foolish child.
These administrators endangered all the districts students. Their judgement can not be trusted ever again.
Maybe this did get blow up a little but until the administration knew that they should of been looking out for the best interest of the children of the district. Maybe well children where only sick a few days but what if a child had someone at home that was sickly and gave it to them. The deaths from this flu has been people that had medical problems to begin with so this district decided they knew best and didn't say anything. I do not know if these children where sent home from school or the parents called them in sick but it should of been let known about this. Lets hope no one took this home to a family member that has medical problems or babies since they can't fight that flu and death could occur.
Here is something from an article in the Beacon.
Officials generally agree the responses have been appropriate in the name of protecting students.
"When it comes to the safety of it, safety trumps all," Kane County Regional Superintendent Doug Johnson said. "You still have to say 'what if?'"
What remains to be seen is why so many school-age children have turned up as the early cases. Kuehnert says a broader look at information from around the nation might answer that question.
I don't know if the new board knew about this but they do now. This kind of thing has been going on with the board for a long time since the ones that where sitting on it before thought the Superintendent and his administration knew what was best for the children and the board just rubber stamped it. Hopefully we will have change now and the Superintendent and his administration will have to follow polices now and not make them up as they go.
I don't have children going to school in this district but it has been proven many times that this district puts there agendas before the welfare of students in this district.
I don't know how severe the swine flu may or may not be but convenient care by my house is disinfecting all surfaces including counters, chairs, doorknobs, etc. This wasn't once in a while but between every patient. This also was not just in the examination room but also out in the waiting room, the registration room, everywhere.
I don't know how severe this bug is but the doctors and staff at convenient care weren't taking any chances with their health.
I know, no such precautions are being taken in our schools.
Please tell us who you would like to see replace them?
Who are you referring to be replaced? The board, superintendent or administration?
There are lots of good people out there. The only problem may be, how many of them would be willing to come to a district like this one. Of course we don't need a bunch of them to come here. We just need one good one to start.
There are lots of district teachers who have gone through administrative programs through the local colleges. They have been aquainted with many of the leading administrators in the area. The local colleges work with many of the school districts. They would be an excellent resource for finding good people. There are successful districts all over the Chicago area. I am sure it wouldn't be difficult to use whatever services they do for hiring administrators.
There are many ways to find good people and with the economy the way it is currently, there are actually more available now than at any other time in recent memory.
Yes, it is time to clean house and I do believe that there are other administrators that could do the job better.
Remember graduation is coming up soon I wonder how much damage the high school will have this year?
How the district handled this flu situation is truly A Example of Excellence and the district should give themselves an award.
It is not the boards job to micromanage the district. The schools are open because that is what the health department has determined should happen. It is a FLU...not the end of the world
No, the district was open all last week because the district's administrators did not follow the health departments instructions to close all schools with a suspected or confirmed case of the swine flu.
This was not some minor detail that the board should trust to the administrators. This was a major decision that the administrators made on their own against the directions of the health departments at all levels, federal, state and county. This decision placed every student and staff member at risk of an unknown pandemic.
These administrators witheld information from the community of a known health risk and jeapodized the health of every child and adult in this community.
If the board can not act when it is completely clear that the administrators have jeapodized the health of the entire community, there really is no point in having a board at all.
You should really check your info before blogging...if there were confirmed cases the school would have been closed. The cases were NOT confirmed last week. The students have been out of school. There is no issue here so get over it.
I agree with one thing. The new board is going to be defined for a long time on how they deal with this swine flu situation.
If it turns out that the administrators did do all that has been said on this blog (and it sounds as though it has to be true)and the new board does nothing about it, they will have absolutely no credibility whatsoever.
The board must act on this one.
The health department instructions last week were for confirmed or suspected cases of swine flu.
Oswego, Geneva and Marmion all closed schools last week on suspected (not confirmed) cases of swine flu.
It takes at least a week to run the tets and confirm a case of swine flu. That is why the instructions were for confirmed or suspected cases. Many more would be infected while you waited for the tests to come back.
I can't believe anyone would defend such outrageous and reckless behavior. Unless, of course, you are one of the district administrators afraid that you would lose your job over this.
Anyone who was part of this cover up of information last week should be fired.
Chicago Public also closed schools last week on suspected cases of swine flu.
The cases were not confirmed by the health department until yesterday. Calm down and think with a clear head...as I said earlier it is the FLU...not the end of the world.
Sorry, I don't calm down when it comes to the safety of the children.
Our administrators chose to endanger our kids. While every other districts administrators publicly stated they preferred to error on the side of caution and protect their community, our administrators made decisions in back rooms, witheld information from the community and placed everyone at greater risk.
Their actions were unforgivable.
You are full of shit. Back rooms, missinformation. Is there an outbreak. If the administrators did close school there would have been a whole other group of stupid parents blogging that the district overreacted.
If they closed schools, they could have made a stand that they followed the directives of health officials and did everything they could to keep our children safe.
What can they possibly say now? We know better than the contries doctors and health professionals? We placed children at risk but since it ended up OK we should not be held responsible for our irresponsible actions? We publicly state that the children come first but in reality we don't give a shit about them?
I can't help but wonder whether I am arguing with Roberts or Clayton because I can't imagine anyone else defending such actions.
The safety of our children must be paramount. These administrators disregarded the safety of the children. There can be no excuse for endangering the lives of our children. It doesn't matter if the end result was positive or negative. They put our children at risk of an unknown disease.
Do we know admin. knew about possible cases before they were confirmed or are we assuming?
It's the administrators who are full of shit. They claim everything is for the children but when you see their huge salaries and combine that info with the fact that the kids lack books and equipment and then see how they put the kids in danger, you realize they don't care at all for the kids. They are in it for no one but themselves.
I heard directly from a building principal of probable cases last week. They also were upset that they were directed by central office to keep it quiet. They felt that they should be doing more to contain it.
The building principal was correct. It's a shame that good administrators always seem to have such trouble in this district. Hopefully the new board can do something about that.
Everyone knows that the administrators are only interested in their own money and self promotion. I am amazed that they don't appear to care about the kids or community at all.
I wonder if it would have been different if Jerome Roberts lived in this community or had to spend any time at the buildings where the swine flu was present. I am sure he might have been more cautious.
It really makes a difference when your leaders are part of the community where they are making decisions. Jeromes decision were a danger to this community and I am sure it would have been different if he had to share in that danger.
Yes, they are saying that schools do not need to be closed now if anyone has the flu. This was not the statement last week though. This would not be Clayton's fault if Roberts made this decision. Remember that Clayton has to do what his boss says, and Roberts is is boss. Any principal that knew there was suspected flu and did not inform the parents is just at much at fault as anyone else. I also include teachers in this. There has to be a time when these have to take a stand for what is right about the health of the students, families, and their own selfes. I so not want to even hear about the fact of losing ones job. What is more important the lives of students and also the supposed comcerned teachers, principals and everyones family? Anyone fired due to closing schools due to suspected H1N1 flu would have a good lawsuit on their hands due to the fact at that time that this was the order from the health department etc.
If anyone's job is more important than a persons life, may God help them.
It boils down to what did Roberts know and when did he know it. He knew about probable cases of swine flu at Bardwell and other schools last week, these cases were confirmed after a week of testing on Tuesday.
At the same time that Roberts knew about probable cases of swine flu in our district, the CDC, state and county health departments had instructed schools to close their doors to stop an unknown, potentially deadly virus from spreading until they could better research the disease and obtain a drug or cure.
Roberts ignored health experts and placed everyone in danger. How can a responsible board allow such an irresponsible person to run our schools. We need a person that we can rely upon and trust with the lives of our children running this district. Not this despicable excuse of a man.
LLINOIS SCHOOL BOARD JOURNAL
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March/April 2009
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Superintendent evaluation:
Is your board ready?
by Walter H. Warfield and J. Gregory Reynolds
Walter H. Warfield is scholar-in-residence and J. Gregory Reynolds is a visiting assistant professor, both at the University of Illinois at Springfield.
The school board is vested with a number of important and difficult tasks. Ranking at the top of the scales of importance and difficulty is evaluating the superintendent.
Beyond a statutory requirement to evaluate the superintendent, the board also has a moral responsibility to systematically monitor the actions of and contribute to the maximum effectiveness of the school district's leader. Executed properly, an evaluation can be a powerful tool for continued school improvement. Given the myriad of other tasks the school board performs, an efficient method of conducting the evaluation is desirable.
The difficulties are two fold. One is knowing how and what to evaluate, given the reality that part of the evaluation covers the technical side of the job for which the superintendent is typically far more knowledgeable than the board.
The other is the universal difficulty of sitting across the table from someone, looking that person in the eye and rendering judgment on the value of that person's work.
Examining the process is worth the time.
In the beginning
All responsible and reasonable descriptions of the board/superintendent relationship begin with the explanation and division of responsibilities:
* The school board is responsible for setting policy.
* The superintendent is responsible for first advising the school board on policies of educational significance and then administering the policies established.
Actually, the distinction often is not as clear, making it critical for the board and superintendent to develop clear expectations of each other. But do not fear that we have just added to your burdensome list of duties. This can all be done, and should be done, in the regular course of business as long as an understanding exists that there are two basic reasons for meetings:
* to conduct the business of the school district, and
* to conduct a board/superintendent relations workshop using each agenda item — mundane to critical — to redefine and sharpen the board/superintendent working relationship.
By doing this, the ability of the board to evaluate the work of the superintendent becomes easier through a clearer understanding of the defined responsibilities of the position and the quality with which the superintendent performs those responsibilities.
The evaluation should examine performance from a number of perspectives, including but not necessarily limited to the superintendent's ability to:
* create a vision for the school district's future;
* identify the goals necessary to achieve the vision;
* establish strategies with benchmarks to reach the goals;
* set a time plan for attaining the goals;
* institute a means to measure benchmarks toward the attainment of the goals;
* set up a communications strategy to inform others of the vision, goals and strategies; and
* recruit advocates for the vision, goals and strategies.
Let us be clear: evaluation is a process, not an event. Evaluating your superintendent should not be viewed or conducted as something that takes place once a year. In order for it to be a school improvement tool as intended, superintendent evaluation should be recognized as a process.
Certain ongoing matters between the board and superintendent maintain focus on the vision. In the interim, and as an integral part of what the school district is all about, lies the responsibility and commitment to educate every student who comes to the school house door to the maximum of each individual's potential.
The focus of the evaluation should be identification of the superintendent's strengths and encouragement to make them even better. The philosophy behind any good evaluation comes from the premise that there is always room for improvement.
It should also focus with equal tenacity on the superintendent's weaknesses, with the intent of providing guidance and encouragement for improvement. That is the formative part of the evaluation.
The other focus is to determine the fundamental worth of the superintendent's performance as the school leader relative to future employment in the school district. That is the necessary and unavoidable nature of the summative evaluation.
This all begins with a board/superintendent leadership team focused on achieving agreed upon goals through a process whereby the board monitors the progress toward those goals through the work of the superintendent. Evaluation requires clear expectations that can be acquired by answering the following questions:
* What changes are needed?
* Which of the changes will require leadership from the superintendent?
* What role will the superintendent play in making each change?
* How will progress toward the changes be monitored and measured?
* How and when will progress toward the changes be communicated to the board?
Necessary documents
The superintendent should be evaluated with two major documents: a job description and performance goals. The job description represents the regular, ongoing tasks that cause the district to function effectively. Job description tasks are a relatively stable set but extremely important.
Performance goals are more dynamic but every bit as important. Goals provide focus for those things that need to be achieved in order for the district to execute its mission in the manner it has determined best with maximum efficiency.
The question then arises: Are these superintendent goals or board goals? The answer is — they should be one in the same.
If the superintendent's function is to be the agent of the board — and it is — then it follows that the school board's goals are, in fact, the superintendent's goals. It further follows that an evaluation should focus on the superintendent's execution of the job description and achievement of the goals.
An evaluation instrument can be designed many ways with any combination of narrative, definitive "Yes" or "No" statements on the completion of tasks, or less definitive statements of completion on a Likert Scale. Some job description tasks are more conducive to one method over the other, but the more effective evaluation instruments will incorporate all three.
What is important is for the instrument to reflect that the board members and superintendent agree on an accurate way to complete the evaluation. The evaluation should contribute to clear communication between the board and superintendent on how the board perceives the effectiveness of the superintendent.
Properly designed and implemented evaluation systems will contribute to the objectivity of the evaluation and lessen stress, realizing that no system can be designed to remove all elements of stress and subjectivity.
Another contributor to the effectiveness of the evaluation process is that of the board receiving timely and accurate information from the superintendent on matters of evaluation significance, which by definition are significant to the effectiveness and efficiency of the district.
Board members should never be burdened with having to seek out relevant information. It is the function and duty of the superintendent to provide it.
The terms and conditions of the superintendent's evaluation should be set out in the superintendent's employment contract. The process and document should be developed by both parties.
An excellent starting point to develop an instrument is the master evaluation system available from the Illinois Association of School Boards. It can be modified to address the identified needs of the local school board. Board members and superintendents should not be overly anxious about the specific design of the system, so long as it is one that is designed, agreed to, understood and executed by all parties involved.
In our experience, a school board that approves of the job its superintendent is doing rates the superintendent high on performance regardless of the process design, and a board that is dissatisfied with the job the superintendent is doing rates low. As such, the evaluation instrument serves as both a formal document and a vehicle for fruitful discussion between the board and superintendent.
Lastly, it is important to emphasize that an evaluation process is not a disciplinary or problem solving tool. These conditions are best addressed outside of the evaluation process and are a topic of discussion for another day.
To use the evaluation process to address a discipline situation is like a carpenter using a sledgehammer to drive thumb tacks, or in the case of a problem situation, like putting a Band-Aid on a dead horse. Neither is properly suited for the task, and both are destined for failure and frustration.
The process of evaluations, like most board member responsibilities, falls short of being an exacting science. What is exacting about this area is that in this day of growing demand for public school accountability, it is here to stay. In keeping with our philosophy, if we have to do it, and we should do it, then let us do it as best we can.
It can only result in better schools for our students.
Shut up, nothing is going to change. Even more will not get done with Dee running things. Herself and Rayanne along with Anita will just bitch about stupid crap for two hours and then the meeting will be over.
Roles of the Board and the Superintendent
The School Board should:
* Govern the School District
* Continue to shape with the community a mutual understanding of the purposes of the school district
* Communicate the goals and monitor the performance of the district
* Select the superintendent
* Oversee basic legal and ethical standards and responsibilities
* Analyze its own performance
The Superintendent should:
* Serve as Chief Executive Officer
* Recommend applicants for appointment to the school staff and promote a strong staff development program
* Interpret needs and make recommendations to improve education
* Implement board decisions and policies
* Manage the fiscal and administrative operations of the school district
How to Make School Board Work More Satisfying
The following article by G. R. Glaub is reprinted with permission from Illinois School Board Journal and is copyrighted by the Illinois Association of School Boards.
There are many different ways that school boards and school board members can make their work more satisfying---or less satisfying. Some of the ways relate to the board's perception of its role. Some of them relate to communications.
Satisfactory experience appears to spring from a sense of accomplishment. It's great to be part of something worthwhile.
Unsatisfactory experience appears to spring from either bitter controversies or inordinate demands on the board member's time.
Here are just a few of the things you and your board can do to increase your sense of accomplishment and reduce the demands on your time:
1. Don't sweat the little things. Not much about schools is really little, of course, but some things are much more important than others. School boards that get bogged down in small matters, or in the details of big matters, have less time to deal with the major issues--such as, what is this district trying to accomplish and where are we going? Not only do small matters consume large amounts of time when you add them all up, they can distract the board from its really satisfying leadership role. Encourage your board to set priorities.
2. Use the talents of other people. You have a staff of both professionals and support people. Chances are your staff can do more and do it better without you looking over their shoulders (assuming they know what the board as a whole wants them to do). You also have a community out there. Just because your curriculum committee needs a lay person on it, you don't have to be the one--unless you really want to spend the time. Other citizens enjoy the opportunity to do something worthwhile.
Conserve board member time and energy for the leadership and communications functions of the board--studying issues, setting goals and broad policies, monitoring progress and results--functions that no one else can perform.
A side benefit of using other people's talents: You will improve the morale of teachers and administrators, generate community involvement and support, and generally make your schools even better than they are.
3. Don't set yourself up as a complaint department. Dealing with the problems and complaints of parents, students, employees and other citizens is an important facet of any public institution. It shouldn't be left to chance and need not be handled on an ad hoc basis by members of the school board. Yet some board members, by personally following up on the problems of constituents, send a message of willingness to still other constituents. Handling complaints can become a full time job for you if you let it.
See that your school district has procedures in place for constructively dealing with problems and complaints. And your school board, by policy, should hold the administration responsible for seeing that the procedure works and hold all employees responsible for dealing fairly and courteously with everyone.
4. Externalize the tough issues. In other words, operate more openly. Learn to view problems not as board problems or school problems, but as community problems. It isn't your fault that enrollment has declined or that school revenue is inadequate or that kids turn to drugs as a substitute for parental support. These problems and most all others should be shared with parents and the community at large.
Yet, some boards appear to deal with community problems in a vacuum, almost surreptitiously, as though they are ashamed to talk about the problem. Or as though the board must produce all of the solutions by itself. The result: the board's solution becomes the target of community wrath (e.g., close a school, raise taxes, introduce sex education).
School board work can be immensely more rewarding when the board defines the problems and needs and lets the community help produce the solutions.
Service on a school board, like teaching, ought to be among the most satisfying of all activities. Whether it is or not depends to a large extent on the school board itself.
It will take time to see if things change with the new board but it also takes the parents to get involved. Lets hope the new board will try to get the parents and the community involved. When the board gives out their awards lets hope the new board presidents doesn't say that they can leave because the boring stuff is coming up next. What should be said is please stay and see the role of the board in the decisions made for you children and how the money is spent in the district.
I know parents in the district that have had concerns with their children being bullied, hurt at school and learning problems they have talked to the principle and got no answers and maybe went to the administration and didn't get any answers either. They should know that after they have went through the chain of command they can contact the board after that to see if they can get answers to their questions.
It's not that difficult. If your superintendent is an ass that cares about no one but himself, you replace him with someone who will actually place the children before himself. Jerome has proven himself to be a danger to the children of this community. He must be replaced.
I cannot understand where all of you anonymous bloggers get off throwing stones at the districts administration. If you would open your eyes you would see that Dr. Roberts came back to this district for a reason...because he CARES about students and our district. Say whatever you want, but he works very hard, puts in long hours, and gets paid less than any Superintendant in our area. And what thanks does he get? He gets ripped apart by brave anonymous bloggers and members of his board who make it obvious that they want him gone. The past is gone, please get over your grudges and lets get back to the business of doing the best thing for the students of our community. This blog has become a breeding ground of hate...and you should be reminded that you reap what you sow.
Dr. Roberts came back to this district because he cares about his big fat paycheck and because no other district would have him. I'll get over the past when he is gone.
During his tenure as both assistant superintendent and superintendent we sold district property for 2.2 million that was actually worth 5.7 million. We had the band fiasco, the Bigelow land fiasco, and the illegal Boys II Men group is still being run by a district employee. While Roberts was in charge of secondary education every middle and high school in the district was failing. Now that he is superintendent, every school in the district except the one where the principal was caught cheating on the test is now failing.
Failing to follow the directives of health officials and jeapordizing the health of our students is just the latest of a long line of bad decisions made by Dr. Roberts.
Any one of these incidents would have been cause enough to remove a superintendent in any other district. Only in this district is such a person rewarded with a raise and extended contract.
This new board must act and remove Roberts. The next superintendent then must clean house at central office and get this district going in the right direction.
Because of Roberts poor decision making and the last boards spineless acceptance of everything he did, the community acted clearly for a change in this district. They want this district to be a positive influence in their childrens lives and their community.
This change can not happen with Roberts in charge. The new board must show that they are serious about moving this district in the right direction and that change must start with a new superintendent.
11:11 - you are showing how out of touch with the school system you are...the watch list and the ISAT test has more to do with the state failing our students than anything. And do you have any clue how many young men have been given a second chance through the Boys to Men group?? Who else in Aurora is offering teenagers a positive example of what they can become while holding high expectations of them?? Since you all have so much time on your hands, how about helping the students of Aurora instead of spreading hate on this blog?
Everything Roberts has had influence on has 1) failed and 2) been illegal or at the very least questionable.
How can an example of illegal behavior posibly be a positive influence on anybody, especially children? The entire state legislature voted that groups such as Boys II Men are illegal and not in the common good for Illinois.
Roberts has allowed this illegal fraternity to continue its activities in our district and it is just one more example of his poor decision making and leadership.
The sooner both Roberts and Boys II Men are gone the better this community is going to be.
Oh yes, great example. One of the leaders of Boys II Men was one of the ones who trashed the high school last year. Because of his connection with Claton he had no real consequence and was allowed to participate in all the end of the year activities while others were banned.
It's just one more example of how, if you are connected to Roberts and Clayton, illegal activities are allowed. It yet another reason why Roberts has to be removed.
Remember because of the old board Roberts contract was extended. It will now cost the district money if they get rid of him. We would have to pay two salaries. They still have two members Wells and Farmun who are responsible for this. It was a positive change that the new board voted down Wells.
Yeah, and the new school board presidants daughter trashed the school 3 years ago with her friends and did not walk but sat accross the street during her graduation ceremony. Did we all forget when students SPRAY-PAINTED the Stadium and school. That is a little more damage than toilet paper and eggs.
My spouse has been teaching in D131 for more than twenty years. I remember when Dr. Roberts first came to our district, as principal of East High. He was an outstanding principal (and a breath of fresh air, after the disastrous & adulterous Gordon Postlewaite).
But I remember that saying, "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely". Sometimes I think that when well-meaning people get into powerful positions they can be negatively influenced by others sharing that power (in this case, old-guard board members and administrators). I still believe that Dr. Roberts cares about this district, but some of his decisions have been unfortunate. Hopefully there'll be an improvement with the new School Board in place.
So if the Board succeeds in forcing Dr. Roberts out, then what? Is there someone internal who would step up, or are they going to have to go out and search?
Lets not forget the old board president extended Roberts contract when it was not up preventing new board members from input. Lets not forget the legal language used to trick the voters on the referendum.
You can always buy someone out or make their lives so miserable they leave. But if you don't have a good alternative leader, what does it really get you?
There are lots of good people out there. Let's not pretend that someone is irreplaceable. Roberts salary is $190,000. The Walmart land deal cost the district 3.5 million, the Bigelow land deal cost the district another million. Don't forget that the district has run in the red every year that Roberts has been the superintendent. A good superintendent will save this district much more than the cost of their salary.
As a new board member, the first I would do is sit down with a lawyer and review Roberts contract. There should be performance/morals clases in it that would allow the board to get rid of him and not have to pay. With the poor performance of the schools, Roberts poor decision making and with Roberts allowing illegal activities they have to have grounds for terminating him.
The board should also look to Elgin U-46. They just got rid of about half of their administrators because the children were not passing the state tests. They sent a clear message that the kids must come first.
Dr. Roberts may have participated in some bad decision-making, but I have always found him to be personable and approachable. If he were to be terminated (or if he left for a position elsewhere), I am sure that Dr. Marin Gonzalez would want to step into the job (she is currently assistant superintendent).
That would be a disaster! Dr. Gonzalez has a history of being petty and vindictive wherever she has worked in D131, including Waldo, East High, and the service center. It would be much better to keep Dr. Roberts and let the new board work with him to reverse those decisions the old-guard made which have proven to be against our children's best interests.
The one who is president now daughter did not spray paint the stadium and school nor did she and her 2 friends trash the school. They did spray paint on the front sidewalk in front of the school. They also offered restitution for it but the school refused. There was a buisness that offered to pay to take care of this also on these threes behalf but the school refused. Also, thre were students that were ARRESTED that did all of the other damage, stole the Tomcat in front of the school and they got to walk at graduation and participate in the ceremonies. Those 3 had more right to participate in the ceremonies than ones arrested and the ones that the school knows did the real damage. Yes, Gonzles(principal at time) and Conrad knew who they were. So, good for them for going to their own graduation the way they did. If you were there you would know that they did everything else the ones on the football was doing and with respect to their fellow graduating classmate. Also, I noticed that you did not mention that this now president's daughter has also gotten East Highs name in the book of Who's Who three times. If someone is going to trash anyone please get your facts right.
There is no way Marin should ever be allowed to become the superintendent of this or any other district. She has shown time and again a viscious vindictive streak. She has also covered up many illegal happenings in this district. There is no one currently at central office that could fill that roll. There is just to much history with Roberts and Radakovich. It really is time to clean house at the central office. If it is not done now, I fear it never will be done.
I agree with 12:04 p.m.--Marin Gonzalez is just plain nasty to those who have the guts to disagree with her.
I lost all respect for the YWCA's "Women of Distinction" program when I found out she was being honored--but of course, she was nominated by her cronies in D131 administration.
I say, let's keep Dr. Roberts. At least he's a rational person willing to communicate.
Thanks for agreeing with me 12:30. Sorry but I have to disagree with you. Both Roberts and Marin need to go. All the poor decisions and of course years of failing schools under their watch are proof that things need to change at the top.
The community voted in a new board so that there would be significant change at the central office. If the new board doesn't act and right from the start, the community will quickly lose faith in them as well.
When Obama was elected (as with every other president) the first thing they do is hire a new staff and surround themselves with people of excellence. When the public votes for change, they expect to see change. Not four more years of the same.
You are full of crap. Weaver was totally involved in trashing the school. Stop hiding it. Her and her friends were so smug about it to. Basically daring the school to do anything. They deserved not to walk.
You seem to have a vendeta against either Mrs. Weaver or her daughter. Again, know the facts before you go trashing someone. She was wrong, but she did not do everything you state and apply. Besides, that is in the past and nothing to do with the present. Her daughter was punished way worse than the ones who REALLY TRASHED the school last year and cost this district thousands of dollas way and above what the year before did and also got to graduate with their class. Conrad was one who had something to do with Weaver's daughter and what she allowed last year was irresponsible and pure neglegence on her part and NOTHING happened to her!
I really don't care about the mistake of some kids a year ago. I do care that the severity of their discipline depended upon who they knew. They all should have received the same consequence.
With a new board in place, the real question is, which central office administrators deserve to stay in place and which ones deserve to be fired.
Everyone knows who is responsible for the bad decisions, personal vendettas, illegal organizations and highly questionable morals.
The only question is whether or not the new board will have the backbone necessary to do what needs to be done. A good leader will clean house from the beginning and create the necessary change needed to move an organization in the right direction. I hope it is not done all piecemeal, it will create an atmosphere of uncertainty for a very long time.
The community voted a mandate for change. The board needs to use their current political capitol and make the changes needed by this district.
The Board hires the superintendent.
Do you really believe they'd hire M. Gonzalez?
I don't. I am sure there are plenty of good candidates in this depressed job market. There are good candidates in East Aurora School district. Gonzalez is not one of them.
The Board can't fire any anyone in administration unless the Superintendent brings it up to them and then I think there is a fine line what the board can do.
If they really want change they need to change the superintendent. He is another one who shows little respect for some board members. Remember the old board enabled him not to follow policies. So they need to start with the superintendent then the others follow.
The board needs to do what they need to do to clean house.
If they need to fire Roberts and work with a new superintendent to clean out the central office, then that is what they need to do.
There is more than one way to skin a cat. The board has all the power they need to restructure this district. They need to exercise that power.
Remember that not only is there the things that we are aware of but I am sure there are other things that have been kept from certain members that are still on the school board that might come to light. What if there are more messes that have to be cleaned up? Everyone posting has an idea of what should be done first, but in all of us posters who have ideas, how many of us has run for the board to make a difference? How many of us were at the last meeting for the new members to show our support of the ones we elected? These new ones have not even been on the board for a week, nor has the new president, vice president and secretary. Do any of us even know what these positions entails and just where are they going to get the information they need and do you really think the old ones are going to be of much help? How do you know that the new president has not asked to meet with Roberts or vice president or secretary? Does anyone posting know how to help them? Give them a chance. They have alot guts and fortitude than myself or anyother poster in my opinion or it would be us that all these posts are about. Give them a chance and lets show our support for once.
When Obama was elected (as with every other president) the first thing they do is hire a new staff and surround themselves with people of excellence. When the public votes for change, they expect to see change. Not four more years of the same.
Electing a new board members and then a president, vice president for the board is different than electing The President of the United States. The President of the United States doesn't have to hire a superintendent to do his job he does it. For those of you posting I think you should know the difference between the two. It is now time for teachers and others to stand up and say something if you aren't happy with the way things are going and I do believe you will have someone listening to you. Don't expect someone to change things for you go out and voice your concerns so things can be done.
The community replaced the board because they did not like what the administration was doing and didn't like that the board allowed Roberts to do it.
The new board needs to stand up and create a new start for this district. The only way people are going to believe they are for real is if they remove Roberts and clean house at central office.
Anything short of replacing Roberts and the community will not believe in the change. The community does not trust this administration. New board or not, there is no way they will ever trust them again.
Then whoever who does not trust the now current board should have run. In these statemnts you are not showing support but making judgements before they have even been given a chance. There are rules and protocal they have to follow. They have been posted here.
I comment them for taking the chance knowing that there will probably the same kind of community support and involvement as before. Why can't some encouragement be given from this community like just a few given on this blog?
The Beacon said the meeting for the new board was at Tomcat Lane. Maybe Clayton gave them the wrong address.
Also change did start at the meeting Wells wanted to be President and she was voted down by 4 to 3 vote. Farnum sat with her mouth open she at that point new the old guard days were over.
Believe me everyone at the high-school will be keeping a close eye on senior activities this year because they know it will be their job if any thing happens.
Sometimes you just need to show the group the gig is up. I am sure everyone at the service center is already looking over their shoulder. To all the negative comments on this blog I am sure change will happen but change takes time.
Taking the gravel out of Farmun/Wells hands took care of that.
Correction gavel
Clayton had nothing to do with the where the Beacon said it was going to be. How do I know? I called the service center to see if this is where the meeting was going to be. The service center said no, it was still at the service center. I then called John Russell and talked directly to him and told him the Beacon was wrong. Of course, this was not mentioned in the paper the next day in For the Record. For everyone's information, when the meetings were at Tomcat Lane and then went back to the service center, not only did the Beacon keep putting them at Tomcat Lane, but at the wrong time. When I pointed out to Russell this was wrong, he admitted that they just went back to the knowledge they had from the last meeting. It still took a couple of more times for the Beacon to do it right. Since I was going to this last meeting, I wanted to make sure just exactly where it was at so I called and checked. It was correct on the district's website. What did it matter for the meeting anyway, since hardly anyone showed up for it. Yes, Carol's face said it all. To bad a picture could not have been taken of her expression.
Dan Okapal 2009 EA grad could be this months Triblocal/Valley Honda Sports Person of the month for May.
Each month worthy athletes from local schools will be nominated and your votes will decide who wins. Contest Sponsor Valley Honda will donate $500 to the winner’s school and the athlete will be honored with a plaque.
Voting is easy. If you are already a registered user of Triblocal.com-just sign in and vote. If you need to register the process is very simple and fast. You'll soon be able to cast your vote.
Please help and EA athlete win this honor.
I went to the triblocal and voted and it was easy. Dan Okapal has 25.9% now and the one from Lisle has 41% they are the front runners. Lets show our support and vote for our candidate. Tell your friends. It is easy to register. In fact a lot of district use this to get information out so should our district. I don't know about the students at the high school but they can register and vote.
"Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely". Your new Vice President of the board used her voice to try and humiliate Mr. McCue in a open meeting of the board. She basically accused him of raping the district financially to profit himself. She went on and on about it in open meeting. Mr. McCue has given much to this district and if you check the books you will see that his company made a WHOPPING $1800 on emergency repairs for this district this past year. If it were not for Mr. McCue the district would have had to close some buildings. When that occurs the kids lose and the parents lose because they would need to either find a sitter or take off work for a day. Point made. I guess you are right about the power thing. It goes both ways this power thing!
It was not our new Vice President that brought up the subject nor did she try to humilate him in open meeting. In fact the board member who did bring up the subject did not mention McCue's name when she spoke on the subject. McCue himself by stating what he stated at that meeting is how we who were at the meeting found out it was him. Actually, it was McCue himself that kept going on about it at that meeting. The member that brought up the subject had a question about discloure of someone having interest in a company or something like that. It was McCue that had a reaction and that is how we knew it concerned him. Actually, any of us attending the meeting would have never thought anything about what the board member was just inquiring about if not for McCue's reaction. So where did you come up with a dollar amount when there was none mentioned at that meeting nor this last ome before the new board members took over that you have posted and the rest of us that were at both of those meetings did not hear?
9:10 p.m. may be a disgruntled former board member (or family member of a disgruntled former board member).
Maybe or maybe not. I love how all the ignorant people think that all the comments that don't agree with them MUST be an administrator or board member because every NORMAL person thinks like you. Well, if I thought how you thought, I would kill myself. No, I am not an administrator, board member, family member, or friend
I do believe the issue on McCue could of been handled differently it is an question of ethics on this issue. With him being on the board someone might question if he did give a fair price or it was because he was a board member.
Everyone complains about how government is handled now and the favors people get from giving money to candidates or favors to people in office or someone who owns a business or has a family member who gets jobs from a government agency or in the case a public school.
If you read the ethics act I do believe there is something mentioned about this. In many school districts it is in their policies.
So was it not handled the right way yes but no one would of found out unless it was brought out because this district likes to keep things from the community. Should the district make a policy about this yes not that they always follow policy.
Anonymity gives some people the opportunity to share info of things happening within the district that may not otherwise be common knowledge without concern for retribution for their frankness.
Others use it as a way to distort the facts to support their opinion.
Perception mixed with facts is what brings about dispute.
I, Rayanne, will share my comments, as I was the one who brought up the fact "certain payments made to a board members company had not been disclosed to the board" I only found out while researching some payments when I "googled" the company name. It was the board member in question who started & continued a public debate on these payments.
My intent was to have it put in the minutes what has been past practice, so as we move forward with the new board, we can address changing these practices. (Which have laws governing how this business should have been conducted.)
There were NO $$ amounts brought up stating the total billing to the district by this company. So when 9:10 pm says if "you would check the books"- I find it interesting they have ez access to such info.
By the way- I am not VP. Thanks for the consideration. :o)
9:10pm must not pay total attention at that meetings, as to what "truly" is discussed or they would have known who was elected.
I think its kind of funny that McCue also lives in Dr. Radakovich's old house in Marywood. Wonder what kind of "deal" those two struck up.
Yes, and this comment followed:
"People who have nothing intelligent to say about a subject can always post obscenities instead."
That would also apply to those who post on this blog. But unlike the "other" blog, the administrator of this one has the class to remove trash when she sees it--which will hopefully be soon.
So this is what this district has become. People that don't like what is posted on a blog and use this kind of language. This blog has been here for quite awhile and no one has used the kind of language that is being said here. There has been differences but no one has stooped this low.
This just proves what every other district thinks of us. All districts have their own problems but none have sunk this low. We have good people on this board now lets give them a chance to prove it. The only fear you have is fear it's self.
I see no one has commented on the article in the Beacon about the Kane County Educator of the Year Awards. Waldo's Mike Adams won for Middle School Educator of the year. This is the second year in a row that Waldo won for the county. Go D131 and Waldo.
I did see that and go Mike Adams for educator of the year. For all that is posted here lately on the blog this is truly a positive for the district especially for Waldo. We should all be proud of this.
Why isn't there anything on the district website about this.
Educator of the Year Awards Waldo's Mike Adams won for Middle School Educator of the year. This is the second year in a row that Waldo won for the county. Go D131 and Waldo.
I see in todays Beacon that they asked why the district didn't close the bildings with swine flu. Clayton's response was very carefully worded. He stated that when the district received notification of CONFIRMED cases of swine flu the policy was at that time not to close the buildings.
What he purposely neglected to say is that when the district had information about PROBABLE cases of swine flu in our buildings, the district ignored health department guidelines and kept the buildings open.
In other words starting last Monday the district did what the health department had ordered. The week previous, the district ignored the health department and placed the children at risk of a (at that time) serious health risk.
It is the PARENTS' responsibility to protect their child's health. Parents who were worried that their child might catch swine flu were well within their rights to keep them home (and some did). The schools did take precautions (hand sanitizers, disinfectants). But to close schools and deny all children instructional time because of unfounded fears of "probable" flu would have been over-reacting.
I don't often agree with the D131 administration--but in this case, they made the right call.
So how many people in D131 died of Swine flu? Or, how many people have swine ful? Oh, guess what everybody is fine.
It is the parents responsibilty to keep a child safe and while children are at school, there is a law that is commonly known as "In Loco Parentis". In short the schools and teachers are legally the parents in the absence of the parents. We take the parental role while the parents are busy at work, home, etc.
The fact remains, the administration ignored the directions of health officials and placed the children at risk of an unknown pandemic. It doesn't matter that the result did not end in a death. It could have.
If someone brings a gun into school but no one is hurt, do we ignore that a gun was brought to school. No. We remove the danger from the schools.
This administration knew about a danger to the districts children and community and purposely disobeyed health officials and covered up the danger from the community.
Anyone who knowingly places our children at risk of injury, disease or death should be expelled. It doesn't matter if the threat came from a student or a central office level administrator.
Roberts knowingly witheld the information of probable swine flu from the parents that would have allowed them to make a decision for their child. He then decided against the county health department and kept the schools open.
Roberts jeopardized the health of everyone in this community. Where was Roberts when all this was going on? He sure wasn't in the buildings where he knew the swine flu was.
How could parents make an informed decision about their children when Roberts witheld the information from them? Roberts knew about probable cases of swine flu in multiple buildings and made sure that the parents (and teachers) were kept in the dark about it.
He might as well have been playing russian roulette with the lives of everyone in this community. This sort of behavior by a superintendent of schools is inexcusable.
The superintendent must be a leader and keep the children safe.
WE CAN NEVER TRUST THIS MAN AGAIN!!!
12:42, we all play russian roulette every day--when we get behind the wheel of a car, eat at a restaurant, or use a public restroom. We all had access to the media information about the flu virus, and it was up to us PARENTS to decide whether or not to keep our children at home. I appreciate that the D131 administration didn't try to act like a nanny or "big brother" and make that decision for everyone.
The fact remains that the vast majority of school districts opted to keep schools open. Would you want to get rid of 2/3 of the superintendents in Illinois?
The problem was that they knew that first week when the Health Department said if it was thought that someone had the flu to close the school and this district decided not to or even let parents know that their might be a case of it so if parents wanted to keep their children home they could.
Yes, we all take chances every day of our lives when we walk out the door but then there isn't all that media coverage about that stuff. This was just a bad decsion among others this distrct has done.
The janitor's at the schools are not very good. I don't think they were asked to do any extra disinfecting. We heard nothing about it in terms of cleaning some of this could have been prevented.
Actually all the neighboring schools that had probable cases of swine flu in their buldings closed their schools. In fact in Oswego, when they had a probable case at one of the elementary schools they also closed the middle school because a sibling of the child at the elementary school went to the middle school. That superintendent made sure the kids were safe.
Not every school should have been closed but the buildings where the district knew there were probable cases should have been closed.
It was extremely irresponsible and dangerous for the district to ignore the health department and keep the buildings open. It also shows just how little regard this administration has for our children.
Bet if they did close the schools at that time that people would still have gone to stores, restaurants, gas stations and many other places and might have their children with them. Don't you think that they were not exposed then? Do you think all of these places should have been closed to? Wonder how many people that work at these places called in sick with the flu at that time? Even if parents went to these places without their children, they still would have been exposed and therefore taken it back to their children. Did anyone think to call any of these places to see if anyone working there had the flu? Also, these studentsw will not have to make up the time as the other students in other schools have to. Did any parent out there stop going to work if someone where they worked called in with the flu? Yes, I do believe that Roberts could have sent a message that their where children out sick with the flu and at this time did not know if they had this one, said at this time we are not closing the school, that it was up to the parent if they wanted to send their child to school. I am not sticking up for Roberts, but this is my opinion whether anyone agrees with it or not.
Most business and gas stations don't have such close quarters as the classroom. They don't have young children that sneeze or cough on people. If the flu had been as bad as the media made it out at first I bet there would of been people that wouldn't go out and business where people could work from home they would. This did not turn out as the media made it out but what if it did. The first week when they started talking about it was when it was suggested to close schools if they thought someone had the flu and from what I hear it was in the first week that they knew of this and should of at least contacted the parents to say they might of had a possible case.
There has been comments that the children had hand sanitizers at the schools but do you realize that they can be just as much as a danger to children as the flu.
The Dangers of Hand Sanitizers
by kurrupt, Apr 21, 2009
Germ killing hand sanitizers are used by people everyday, ranging from students to doctors. Hand sanitizers are stereotypically portrayed as a good source of germ cleansing, but is this true? Or is the media just saying that their are germs everywhere so they can sell you their products? Can the effects of these hand sanitizers cause fatal dangers?
Poisonous/Hazardous
Hand sanitizers contain ethyl or isopropyl alcohol, which contain high levels of concentration. Knowing children they will put anything in their mouths, keep hand sanitizers in a place where they cant reach them. consuming any portion of it can lead to severe effects, immediately contact 911, or a poison control center.
Avoid fingernail biting after the use of sanitizers, or any other mouth related hazards in-case of accidental ingestion!
Flammable
Hand sanitizers are highly flammable, keep away from flames or fire. common sense right? but these things can easily dodge our minds, for example.
An employee named Bob is at work and it is time for his lunch break. After washing his hands with an instant hand sanitizer he goes out for a smoke. Forgetting about the flammable substance in which he has washed his hands with, Bob lights a cigarette close to his hands and they immediately combust.
Keep away from any heat sources such as lights, heaters, sunlight, etc.
Use
Only use instant hand sanitizers when you have no sink or soap,a dime sized amount on your palm is recommended
Supervise children when using hand sanitizers.
Wash your hands with soap and water before eating! finding the taste of hand sanitizer after licking your fingers is never pleasant.
Try to limit the use of using these sanitizers always try to avoid using hand sanitizers over water and soap.
Watch out where you put the gel! You don't want it in cuts, your eyes, and NEVER use it for cleaning toys etc. Only use where intended, your hands!
Do a search yourself and see if we really want a bunch of children using sanitizers in the classrooms.
The alchohol in hand sanitizers evaporates almost immediately. Once your hands are dry they are no longer flammable or dangerous if you put your fingers in your mouth.
Either way, the sanitizer was not readily available to students. In my building, the administration brought in one bottle and it was placed in the office. None of the classes had sanitizer in them unless the teacher purchased it out of their own pocket.
Whether the public is aware of it or not, the janitors don't clean the desks. In fact, most teachers consider themselves lucky if the floor is swept and the trash cans emptied. And the only way the janitor will sweep the floor is if we make the kids put the chairs up at the end of each day.
Don't kid yourself, the classes weren't cleaned, sanitizer was not provided and Roberts did place the districts students and teachers in harms way.
Roberts had an opportunity to show how much he cared for the children. Apparently he doesn't care about their health at all.
Check this out about hand sanitizers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGkcPJ8cp6k
I know in other districts the parents bought sanitizers for their children to take to school in fact you can hardly find any now.
I do believe that the district did not clean the schools like they should of.
Looks like the district needs to look for another vendor for their janitorial services. Where I work they have cut back on cleaning but when they do we don't have to put our chairs on our desks.
The reason the janitorial services are so poor is because they are run by the district. They don't hire a service. It's just one more example of poor leadership in 131.
The problem is they've cut back to the point where it is impossible for the few janitors we have to be able to do the job. They are lucky if they are able to get the floors swept and cans emptied.
We really need new leadership in this district.
We need to spend our money better.
How many hours of janitor service could have been paid with the $15,000+ that was spent for luxury hotels in the past 6 months?
How much disinfectant and cleaning supplies could have been bought if our superintendent had been given a more modest raise?
Your talking about hand sanitizers when the schools are the worst in the area, illegals are overcrowding the schools and we the taxpayers have to fork over to pay their way.
Yeah, keep focusing on the totally irrelevant.
The district can't do anything about the illegals you need to complain to the government about that they are the ones that say you can't deny them an education.
"We need to spend our money better"--truer words were never spoken.
Okay, School Board. Here's your chance to make some crucial decisions about how best to spend OUR money.
We'll be watching you.
To bad none of those who will probaby be watching the board do not show up at meetings nor participate. How about giving this new board some support? The ones woho will be watching could have also run for the board and help put a stop to what they want done.
I was just watching CNN and There where some senators talking about education and how some districts are not following NCLB and in Illinois they called out three districts Chicago, Cicero and Aurora East. The senate is going to look into this.
I looked on the cnn web site and didnt find anythin about that. wouldnt soemthing like this be in the newspapers?
It was on c-span and it wouldn't be in the papers yet. The House was having hearings on school bills and one of the senators made a statement about those districts. You can go on c-span but you have to listen to the whole meeting to hear it.
As the school years comes to a close and principles have their year end meetings with teachers and staff lets hope they rememeber with they give employee reconition that they give it to 5/10-15-20-25 and 30 yrs of service per board policy 500.99.
Why should the teachers or administrators have any praise they are one of the three worst school districts in Illinois and now they were mentioned nationally. What a sad state this district is in. I would not want a award knowing I was a failure.
The teachers aren't the failures the administration is. The teachers should get an award for teaching in this district.
Where did you see that mentioned at?
The administration in this district is famous for making decisions against our children's best interests, and then pretending that they had no idea there were any problems. They have a record of ignoring taxpayers' questions and opinions. Most (not all) administrators in this district are arrogant and concerned with their own agendas, not the will of the people.
We can complain all we want but if the ones involved do not take a stand nothing can get done. I do believe we have new people on the board that will listen to teachers and others with their complaints. They need to go through the proper chain of command but there are some that will listen. If we really want change in this district you must speak out.
I do believe also that others are now listening since the federal government is getting so involved in our everyday lives.
I see in the board bits that Juanita Wells, after losing the vote for board president, declined when she was nominated for the vice president position.
Is it that, if she can't be the boss she doesn't want it at all or is it that she can count to four and didn't want to lose two votes in a row.
By the way, who is this Gonzalez and why is she voting with the old guard?
I searched CNN and CSPAN and after watching 12 hours of testimony I couldn't find anything about East Aurora!!! Good tactic by someone to get everyone worked up...but it was a lie. Better luck next time, maybe if you people spread enough lies about the district all the great people will leave.
Look again!
It mentions East Aurora along with 2 other IL districts. It admittedly does not clarify what it is specifically about EA that makes it not in line with NCLB, but EA is mentioned by a senator for being one of the 3 worse that came to point as good bad examples
You did not look very well I was Republican Buck Mckeon from CA. They are not correct we do provide tutoring and school transfer. The problem is none of the other School Districts want to take the kids and all the schools on the east side are on the watch list. He states they are throwing large Federal dollars at programs that are not working and he is sponsoring a bill to limit funding.
Yes, there was some talk of East Aurora in IL and it was on C-Span . There where showing The House of Representatives talking about some amendments about the stimulus package and accountability for getting the money it aired 5/13. Mr. Mcoen did not day that East Aurora was one of the worse he stated that they misused some of the ESEA and he said he got the information from The US Department of Education. Here is the clip.
http://www.c-spanarchives.org/flash/player-time.html?start=2009-05-13%2013:08:14&stop=2009-05-13%2013:12:11&net=1
Instead of posting this on the blog has anyone shared this with the Superintendent, board or administration? It would seem that someone from that group would want to contact McKoen and ask him about his statements since it seems he wants to put an amendment on a bill to keep districts that don't follow NCLB from getting some money. It seems that the district thinks they have some hurdles with that and maybe should talk to the Senator.
Maybe they should just follow the law instead of spending all their time finding ways around the law and covering their A$$ when they get caught.
Or better yet, we should just replace them with those who know and will follow the law. As you can see, doing nothing can cost a lot more than Jerome's salary.
After watching the video it does seem that if they do nothing it will cost our district getting some money but from what they say we are in good shape better off than the other districts around us.
I am an employee of the district, and I don't know of any school in our district that doesn't offer tutoring...and all that were in "status" long enough (meaning not making AYP) had to offer choice. Letters came from the service center and they went out to parents in a timely manner - as required by law. In my opinion, we need a mail campaign to the senator from California, or to maybe get Chapa-Lavia involved before we loose money for something that isn't true!!!
McKoen stated he got his information from the US Department of Education and that the violations where from last year. I don't think it was because it wasn't done in a timely manner it is something about low income and part of it is about tutoring. Just because you work in the district doesn't mean you know all that is going on. My question would be if the information came from the US Department of Education didn't they contact the state who should then contact the district. This district is known for not being truthful with the public.
You are right about doing something because it does look like we could lose out in some money.
I think the question in this is if that money was not used for what it is for (even if no one is taking advantaged of the free tutoring etc.) just where then is that money going and what is it therefore being used for? As for someone contacting the board, the person who posted this question, did you? Anyone who saw this and wanted to let the board know could have just contacted them and not stated anything. Better yet, hopefully many contact the board about this.
Let's get real. If the Us Department of Education knows about the violations, they got the information from the State who got it from the Regional Office of Education who would not have passed it up the line before giving the district a chance to remedy whatever situation there was.
In other words the district's administrators were well aware of the violations occurring in this district and 1)did nothing to correct the illegal violations and 2)did not share the information about their violations with the board.
Now the violations are being discussed in the US Congress and there is a distinct possibility that the district could lose millions of dollars.
All because the administrators in this district think they can break any law they choose and not pay the consequence for their poor decisions.
The compromise should be simple. We replace the administration and Congress doesn't take away all our funding. In other words the district administrators making the poor decisions should pay for their incompetence, not the children of this district.
To May 17, 2009 7:13 PM I couldn't of said it better. The State Board of Education should of known this and all parties involved. This district is known to keep things from the community and the state knows it too.
We can make a change and we need the community's help to do this. The district just got a referendum passed do you think they will really use this to help the children I think not when you listen to the video.
It is probably too late to change what has already happened but we need to let the federal government know that we have change in this district and we will use the money if they decide to give it to use for what it is meant for.
After listening to the video I wonder where all our representatives where when McKeon was talking about our district. It took someone from California to to state that we aren't using our money the way it was suppose to be spent. I do wonder where Linda Chapa-Lavia is on this.
The children of this district deserve better than this lets hope they get it.
I am the employee who made the comment at 2:15... I know about the tutoring info because I did my masters program on ses and tutoring, and I know without a doubt that all schools were offering it - the district has to pay outside companies to facilitate the tutoring - as all districts do when they arent making ayp. There is no leaniency in this area - so if there is an issue it isnt with providing the tutoring.
We absolutely need to start a movement to stop the loss of this money - no matter what the cause is!!!
It looks like micro-managing might have been a good thing in this case.
After looking at the video it seems if McKeon gets his amendment passed we will lose the much needed money we need to update our schools in construction. So for all the administration and the Superintendent that lives in other districts that get this money for their schools because they used the money they got for the right reasons they can sleep good at night because the decisions they made for this district will keep our children from having good classrooms for them to learn in.
So if we are dong this tutoring why are we still not making ayp. We are still leaving children behind in this district. Why are our ELL learners still in the program until the middle schools? Why don't the non ELL get the help they need.
It might be to late for us to do anything about this it looks like they passed that amendment so the only thing we can do is to make sure the administration, superintendent and the board start following the rules to make this a better district. It is time to make sure your board makes the superintendent and administration follow policy of the district and the state.
students are not making ayp because
1. Students come in to the schools much lower that ever before...never having held a pencil, knowing their nickname not their birth name, etc. and it taked years of great teaching to catch up to students in other district where they come in to Kinder. ready to read!
2. The ELL students now have to take the ISAT test because the state of Illinois dropped the ball and didn't create a test for ELL students that fit the guidelines they put forth. We try as hard as we can, but the mix of the two things mentioned above has become lethal. We need a city program (East is not alone in this crisis) that targets parents and teaches them what they should be doing with their kids to get them ready for school (talk to them, read to them, say more to them than just "no"). That and parent support would go far.
I am not arguing that students come to us at a very low level also the migration rate in our district hurts our scores. In fact, if you just counted the students that have been with us from kindergarten through 8th (or high school) you will find that our kids are passing the tests.
Preschool would help prepare students from low income and minority families catch up much sooner.
Congress is not talking about cutting funds for not making AYP. They are talking about cutting funds because the administration is not following the regulations of NCLB. They are not following laws and policies.
It is amazing to me the leaps that can be made from a three minute speach. Everybody knows everything that is going on and what is wrong now.
Who is to blame for the failing test scores. It is the parents. It is the parents fault that the kids don't do homework, it is the parents fault that the kids have to work to support a family of 7, it is the parents fault who don't see a value in education, it is the parents fault that their kids don't see a value in learning English, it is the parents fault for not reading to their kids in ANY LANGUAGE.
It is almost impossible to teach a person a new language if they can't read or write in their native language, so the reason it takes so long is because they really do have to teach these kids Spanish first and then work in English. How many years did you take English class when you were in school, that's right 12 and you expect these kids to master Spanish and English by the time they leave elementary school.
I am hopeful that with a new presidential administration, NCLB will be replaced with a policy that acknowledges parents as part of their child's success or failure equation.
It always bothered me that NCLB was SO negative towards teachers and school administrators, labeling a school "failing" if one tiny sub-group didn't meet standards set by bureaucrats who had never set foot in a classroom. Meanwhile, kids would show up to school without adequate sleep, hungry, and without their homework done--and it's the school's fault that they're "failing"?
I remember reading about a school district (I think it was Philadelphia) that issued report cards for PARENTS. Maybe we need to give both credit and blame where it is due, to the families of our students!
Typical East Aurora BS everyone blaming someone else.
The facts still remain. The only ones breaking the law in this district are the administration and the it is for that reason we are at risk of losing millions of dollars in funding.
The federal government is discussing withdrawing millions of dollars in funding to this district due to the illegal actions of our administrators and this is not even a topic of discussion in the agenda for tonights board meeting. In any other district, this would be the first and probably only item for discussion but in East Aurora it is not even considered.
I see that Clayton was in the Beacon yesterday telling all that would listen that the district will be very severe (like last year) if the seniors get out of line with any pranks.
He neglected to mention that the district doesn't discipline if you are in the illegal Boys II Men or otherwise connected to a board member.
Again we only follow rules and laws when it is convenient to the administration and disregard them them when they become inconvenient.
There is plenty of blame to go around when our children have problems in school or in society! But we should also give credit to those GOOD administrators who have influenced their lives.
One such person in D131 is Mrs. Gwen Miller. She has been the principal of Dieterich School for many years, and is retiring this spring.
My son recently graduated from college with academic honors, and I feel that one reason for his success was the outstanding educational foundation he received at Dieterich from kindergarten through 5th grade. Mrs. Miller always impressed me as a poised, diplomatic role model, and an administrator who made decisions in the best interests of students and staff. She will be greatly missed!
Yes I agree. 98% of the administrators in this district give the other 2% a bad name.
My appologies to the 2%.
There is the problem also of teachers letting students play in sports or etc. that are failing. The teachers allow them to participate when they are not supposed to. If they make them bring their grades up as they are supposed to this would help the problem. The students should be M
ADE to take the turoring to bring their grades up as that is what it is there for. This is not done, so therefore it is the administrations, teachers, parents and students fault. The board cannot do anything about it if it is not brought to their attention. As for this issue with what McKeon has brought up, how do you know the board even knows about it? Has anyone told them?
With some new board members maybe things will change but if they can't get the Superintendent to have his administration follow policy it might not.
When I watched the candidates forum on the district website one of them stated that they didn't believe it was the boards responsibly to micro-manage the Superintendent and his administration. That they knew more than the board and it was the boards job to oversee things. With the way things are going it is time for the board to start making sure policy is followed but they can't do it themselves. Parents and teachers need to communicate with them because as you can see with what is going on the Superintendent and his administration doesn't let the board know.
If this administration refuses to follow board policy or communicate in a transparent manner with the board, then the board needs to replace the administration or they will become as irrelevant as the last board.
This board needs to be proactive or step aside. The administration has proven repeatedly that they can not be trusted to run the day to day activities of this district. While I agree that in most districts the board does not need to micro-manage the administration, this districts administration can not be trusted. They need supervision.
Better to micro-manage than mismanage.
The board really needs the support of the community to get the things they need to get done. If it is only a handful that speaks out it will sow at least some care. Lets not let a Superintendent and administrators that don't live in this district that we expect them to give our children the same that they would have in the districts they live in. It is time to clean house and even though we have many different ethic groups in our district we can become a strong district with good leadership.
As one who was at the meeting tonight, where is everyone that has something to say? If this board did step aside just who would do it then? Everyone making comments here who do not show up at meetings? I know, Chapa probably would show up. So would all of the others that ahow up when one of the board members resign, or heaven forbid like what happened with Bud. Yeah, like all of them really care or they would be there at some of the meetings. Salinas would be right there to get on again as he never seems to be able to get voted in. If anyone who comments here or other places do not have the time to go to meetings just once in awhile, how could they be board members when other than the board meetings, there are committee meetings, graduations to attend and other functions, and yes, this might mean haveing to leave work once in ahile and use a vacation day or something like that. There is also things that they look into on their own time, plus almost all of them have a full time job, families, housework, grocery shopping, you know everyday things that all of us have to do and heaven forbid if they get sick, So who is just willing to step up to the plate? Give this new board a chance and some support for once or step up to the plate yourself.
As I recall there were seven or eight people who volunteered a year or so ago when the last board appointed Salinas. This was very shortly after the community overwhelmingly voted to remove him. While few people may show up to board meetings, they do want to see the board do what is best for our kids and will vote if they don't see the board doing what is right.
Yes, they can vote, but if they do not go to the forums to hear what the candidates have to say or just go by what others say-then whoever is voted in that is new could do more harm than the one(s) before the new ones voted in. To me when people do this they are just like the parents that have children in school and expect them to be the babysitters, etc. In other words, expecting everyone else to do it all for them and expect everything to be alright. The real world does not work this way.
Bill could ease school funding woes
Comments
May 20, 2009
By ERIKA WURST ewurst@scn1.com
In a move that could directly impact local schools, legislation that will require a change in the state funding formula for districts that pass local tax referendums has been sent on to Gov. Pat Quinn.
Quinn has until July 17 to sign SB 2051, sponsored by state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora.
RELATED STORIES
• Online: Full text of funding bill
Under the legislation, districts that pass a referendum would not see a corresponding decrease in general state aid.
"If local taxpayers choose to give additional dollars to their school district, they should not face monetary penalties from the state," Chapa LaVia said. The debate over the measure has gone on for months, and West Aurora School District Superintendent Dr. James Rydland has been a major voice.
"Not having to pay a penalty will mean a huge difference to the Aurora community," Rydland said Tuesday.
Rydland said he was elated about the overwhelming support of the bill in the Legislature -- it was approved 104-1 in the House and 56-0 in the Senate.
As a district, West Aurora has witnessed firsthand the consequences of the state's current funding standard.
When voters narrowly passed an operating tax referendum in 2007, Rydland said he expected to garner roughly $14 million in new funds. That happened, but according to Assistant Superintendent of Finance Vickie Nissan, the district's general state aid funds decreased by $10 million as a consequence,
Currently, property taxes are used in the general state aid formula for schools. If a local community votes to increase their property taxes to make additional funds available to their school district, that changes the tax rate used in their formula and decreases the district's much-needed general state aid.
If the proposed legislation passes, that penalty would no longer exist.
"Schools use local tax referendums as a last possible option when they are in dire need of additional funding," Chapa LaVia said.
"Decreasing general state aid payments only serves to leave them in the same position they were in before looking for ways to fill budget holes."
Chapa LaVia was named chairman of the House Elementary and Secondary Appropriations Committee this year. The committee has heard firsthand accounts from districts across the state about the problems caused by the lack of state funding.
"In these hard financial times, especially in education, it is so important that we be able to help districts like West Aurora, " Chapa LaVia said.
Rydland urged Quinn to sign the legislation as soon as possible so districts can begin hashing out 2009-2010 budgets.
"We'd appreciate a speedy signature so we can be timely about budgeting and planning for the next fiscal year," Rydland said. "This legislation has been overwhelmingly supported by the Senate and the House. It's been a real team effort throughout the state."
Was our Superintendent involved in this? He should be standing there right next to Rydland pushing for this. This shows that Rydland has the foresight to look ahead for his district in the coming years. Maybe Roberts wouldn't get the press but it would be nice to know he was involved in this to show he really cares about this district.
You notice too that it is Rydland and not a PR person talking to the press. It is time for Roberts to stand up and quite hiding behind his PR person.
I drove by East High tonite and seen the kids coming out the side door with there caps and gowns in their hands and going to the football field to practice for graduation. It brought back fond memories from when I did that many moons ago. I wish the best for these graduates and best luck for their future.
We might complain about this district on this blog but it brought back good memories to me since at one time I also walked to those waiting chairs to start my future because we know EAST IS EAST AND WEST IS WEST BUT IN AURORA EAST IS BEST!
So best of luck to THE GRADUATING CLASS OF 2009 and may all your dreams come true and it looks like it will not rain and graduating outside is wonderful.
It's great that 600 students just graduated from East High. Anyone wonder what happened to the other 400 students. The freshman class was about 1000.
What I am more concerned about is that the students that did just graduate already have a strike against them with employers and colleges because they come from the East Side of Aurora.
I've had enough of the political spin of our professional PR man. We need the change and not just the pictures in the board room as the new board said they were going to do at the last baord meeting. We need real change in this district, not cosmetic ones or PR spin.
We voted for change at the last election. If it doesn't come, the board's heads will spin with how quickly they wil be back out the door.
Don't worry, with ungrateful jerks expecting everyone else to perfrom miracles overnight, while they sit and be arm chair board member critics, it is unlikely anyone will want to run again.
Had you been at the graduation you would have heard and seen what the students think of the small minded people who have judged them and their school unfairly.
They are proud EA alumni!
For those of you who ;make comments about how this new board will go out if there is no change, why did you not run so you could do it. Were you at the meeting? I was. Things did not happen overnight and they will not change overnight. These new ones cannot just walk in and make whatever changes they want. There are rules to follow. They have to make sure on whatever they do that they are doing it right. I will say that I am glad that those things that are on the wall at the service center will be gone. I am tired of having that referendum passing propaganda on the wall. Also, everyone who has negative things to state, have you contacted the members of the board now to let them know what you would like to see done? Have any of you offered to help in what they are doing to do? Are any of you trying to be halfway supportive?
Just wanted to say:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAYANNE!
Thanks for all you've done for this district, and all you'll do in the future.
:)
The new board already accomplished one major thing no damage this year at the high school during graduation. You can bet if the old guard had been in charge the district would have been eating ten of thousands of dollars of repairs. The old guard was always covering up administrative blunders.
Rayanne has been on the board for two years now. Someone please tell me what she has accomplished. What initiative has she put forth, and passed and how has it helped our students? The only thing I've seen her done is argue with everybody and get in legal trouble. (Of course she has been much quieter since her legal troubles ...Mission Accomplished.)
So far the only thing the new board has done is to say they are going to change some pictures in the board room. How is redecorating the board room going to help our students?
In Chicago Public, they had administrators redecorating offices years ago. They were intelligent enough to fire them. I guess the people of East Aurora are not that smart.
We need real change in this district, not new pictures and not speaches from Clayton or a few students. We have half of our students dropping out of school and half of the ones that remain can not pass a minimum skills test. What good is a diploma if you can't read it.
The majority of our students will only be qualified for menial work. Many will end up dead or in prison. What percentage of our students do we have to lose before this board gets off it's half moons and does more than change some pictures.
Change will not come overnight with this board or with our new President of the United States.
To say that our students have a strike against them because they come from Aurora East is wrong. There are many students going to good colleges and we have students already working in good jobs.
To May 23, 2009 9:21 PM I didn't hear anything about the changing the pictures but I intend to look into that statement but some of them do need to be changed. Remember the Superintendent, administration and some old board members keep telling the new ones when they try to make changes or that they want them to follow policy that they are micro-managing which I think it is time they did. These new board members have only been in there a month and they need to see the most important things to tackle and focus on those. It would help them if the community got involved with this process.
As far as how many graduated from the freshman class when it started we have no control of that. How many of these students left the district or have been misplaced from families losing their homes and having to move somewhere else. I'm sure some just quit but that is the makeup of this district. Many parents don't even care if their children do graduate what we need to do is make sure the ones that want to graduate are able to do so.
I agree with the post about graduation at the school. I'm also a graduate and I also agree that watching those students walk our on that football field brings back good memories. So you are either someone who doesn't live in this district but works for them and makes good money and lives somewhere else and don't have the pride that us alumni has even though we know there are problems.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAYANNE! Thank you for giving support to the schools, volunteering your time and giving us updates on school activities.
Change will come and some won't like it but it will take more than a month to fix the mess we are in.
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.
Pep speaches are great but they are no substitute for real leadership and education. We need real change not new pictures or pep speaches.
I read the article and she did say she was nervous and I have talked to her and know she really cares about the education of the children in this district. She does not have the power herself to make changes that I believe she would like to see. I do know that the Superintendent and the administration thinks that as the board questions things they tell them they are micro-managing them so I think she would have to be very careful of what she says as far as changes because she can't make them herself.
Give all the board members a chance.
You say.
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.
But yet you must be employed by this district and you get a paycheck. What are you doing to improve this district? You get your salary and send your children somewhere else. You are part of the problem not the solution.
We do have students that have a future. The things with other district is they have enough money to hide their problems.
So until the teachers and others stand up and speak out about the things that are going wrong they are the problem too. You now have a board that will listen to you so start speaking up. Even the West side is starting to complain about the same things. Maybe the leaders of our city should start caring also about the changes in our city about our children's education and start working again on the gang problems we have.
The difference is that other districts deal with their problems, ours tries to cover them up. Covering up problems doesn't solve them it just compounds them and makes them worse.
Every time a teacher in this district speaks up, they deal with vendettas from administrators. The board has never been able to or willing to do anything about it.
I don't believe teachers will start to stand up until they see real change by this board and see this board standing up to this administration.
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!
First- thanks for the B’day wish :o)
I will be making a new post as this one is getting long in comments.
I just wanted to reply to those who LOVE to criticize. I once heard and old saying-something along the lines of-"You will know me better when you walk a mile in my moccasins."
I will defend myself in saying-those who I attempted to speak on the behalf of in the past, know the twist of events that occurred leading to the charges against me, that were eventually dropped.
This has not stopped me from doing what I know to be right, it has only taught me that I need to be cautious and educate myself in the proper approach in reaching the desired goals.
There are one or two people, on this blog, who have an ax to grind on a couple topics. Since they have become pessimistic on resolving their issues, they chose to be blinded by them and accuse me of being incompetent.
The fact is-I did not like many things that were happening within the district I made my home and sent my children to school. ( which I might add gave my children a great education).
I went to the teachers, principals and admin to complain and finally to the board, without much satisfaction. When I could not get answers, I created this blog hoping people would open up and feel they could speak up and tell the truth about what goes on and how they felt about their district. Voicing facts and opinion in an open forum vs. feeling stifled by attempts at maneuvering through the rank and file. Talking anonymously to strangers vs. being turned a deaf ear.
Then, I chose to run for the board member position. Though some may call me an uneducated factory worker or white trash, that does bother me. I was elected ! I am sitting on that board, and I am making choices and voting on behalf of what I feel is best for the students. I researched, I spoke with many people and I prayed about choosing this path. For whatever reasons, God put me here. This is where I’ll be for the next 2 years. My focus is not going to change due to slanderous comments made about me by District 131 cynics.
It's first and always going to be all about educating the students.
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