I know many people don't like the dead horse being beaten but I was curious, and felt like I hadn't gotten the end of the story. So I went to the Board meeting and commented.
"While sorting through papers I found an article. Aug 2006 the Beacon's “Our View” commented: Promises made should be promises kept. Referring to a promise of 8.3 acres of land to be donated to D131. One year later in July 2007 results were approx. 5 acres worth about $1 million.
Now, nearly 4 years later, I want to ask, have the improvements to connecting properties, sites & infrastructure been made? Since the agreement was reached in 2007 who has been paying the taxes, insurance and maintaining the property? What is the present appraised value?
I know recently the district compiled a list of property owned by the district and paid for either market analysis and/or defining the lines and amount of actual property in the districts possession. What is being done with all these properties, specifically the one that was used as a carrot to encourage voters to favor D131 plans and to justify demolishing the drive-in?"
122 comments:
The district took a chance with this and should of took the money because you know we won't get anything from that deal.
Rayanne, thanks for asking these questions--in this economy, every dollar counts!
I remember that Alderman Stephanie Kifowit was trying to save the drive-in. The mayor wanted it demolished, and to retaliate he tried to get a friend of his from Hometown (Jim Nesbit) to unseat her. Nesbit ended up being exposed as a deadbeat dad with multiple DUI's, and lost to Stephanie in a landslide.
We might be able to get information about the value and status of those properties from Kifowit, since she is alderman of that area.
If you take the time to drive by the property you can see that nothing has been done to the part that was suppose to go to the district. Also I believe it was stated that if X amount of properties where not sold the district would get ZERO so that is what we get. But since we are better off than most districts and we have money to hire administrators and a few new teachers we shoud
ldn't complain.
On another note I hear we will be getting more students from Hometown since the county has given families vouchers to live in the older part of Hometown.
Anyone can get the value of those properties. Offucut is the person to talk to.
The county can give vouchers but the homeowner of the house has to be willing to accept it.
Who cares.
With all the foreclosures in Hometown they will take them and remember it said the county was giving them to the people so the homeowners have nothing to say about it.
Yeah, who cares--it's just our tax dollars!
9:45 p.m. is probably a millionaire, or someone whose mother has a trust fund.
Bigalow is laying off all remaining employee's. So you do the math. Another great making choices for excellence by the old guard. The residents spoke only one remains.
Not tht the new board is any better than the last.
I think the new Board is great. But of course Rayanne is back from vacation. Negative thoughts will fill the blogs day.
12:01 p.m., I just re-read Rayanne's original post at the top of this page. I see a lot of good questions, but nothing particularly negative.
What are you talking about?
More corruption at Simmons.
As has already been posted on here, only a few teachers joined in from Simmons for the Razzle Dazzle teachers talent show and then only after being strongly pressured by Mechelle Patterson. They only agreed, fearing retribution if they refused. The whole show was put together in two days.
Now it turns out that Mechelle Patterson arranged for the teachers to practice for the talent show during the school day. Teachers were pulled out of the classroom, away from their students and teaching duties to practice for a talent show.
Worse yet, other teachers were forced to cover for their colleagues that were off dancing.
One teacher dared to stand up to Mechelle Patterson and refused to cover a class so that the teachers could dance. She stood up for what was ethically correct.
Mechelle and the teacher got into a heated arguement that digressed quickly into a screaming match in the Hallway within clear earshot of other teachers and students. It was the most unprofessional display any of the teachers had ever seen.
Mechelle finally gave the teacher an ultimatum that she cover the class or leave the building. The teacher refused and was removed from the school.
Simmons is completely out of control. There is little discipline by students, teachers or administrators. It is absolutely amazing to all those involved that the central office has done nothing about the Simmons debacle.
"The teacher refused and was removed from the school"--if that is true, then that teacher should go immediately to the union representative, and also make sure that those teachers who witnessed the shouting match will vouch for what was said.
As a parent, it angers me that my child's education was compromised because their teacher was pulled out to rehearse for a "talent show". When a teacher covers a class it is NOT the same as the regular teacher--they don't know the kids as well, nor do they know the lesson plans of the other teacher.
Our kids deserve better than this!
In this day and age I can't believe when all this is going on that someone had not taken pictures of these things with there phones. If what everyone is saying is true there are ways in these times to document these things with there phones or other things. Get the proof and don't take it to your union they don't seem to be doing anything contact someone who will help you.
Mechelle finally gave the teacher an ultimatum that she cover the class or leave the building. The teacher refused and was removed from the school.
If this is true that teacher needs to contact the State or a lawyer.
It's not true. People make up all kinds of lies all the time here.
The District just won Kane County Educator of the Year is was Francisco Del Reyes Santos from Brady. We also had teachers recognized in every category. So hats off to all the employees, teachers and administrators. The era of Roberts is certainly turning this district around. District 129 had zero the pride is returning to the east side. East is East and West is West but in Aurora East is finally best.
Isn't it amazing the way every time something embarassing is revealed here about the administration, there is instantly someone on here claiming that we must be liars. The real question is, whose job is it at central to monitor this blog and try to discredit anyone who speaks out the corruption.
As for the teacher involved, she is not tenured and was already asked not to return next year. I doubt she is going to want to fight for a job she only gets to keep for the next three weeks anyway.
If the central office wants to verify the story, it would be very simple. They are looking for a non-tenured teacher, who was not rehired for next year and left in the middle of the day on April 29th or 30th.
10:35 p.m., "The District" did NOT win Kane County Educator of the Year.
Mr. Del Reyes Santos was recognized as Educator of the Year in the category of Administration. The central office had very little to do with this. His colleagues at Brady School and a panel of retired educators from throughout Kane County were mostly responsible for him being honored with this award.
And when so many of our D131 administrators have been exposed as bullies (most recently Ms. Patterson at Simmons), it's especially nice to see public recognition of the GOOD ones.
Congratulations, Mr. Del Reyes Santos--we're so fortunate to have people like you in this district!!
Dr Arid has been his mentor so yes the central office did take part in this award. Also, we had teachers nominated in every category West had zero this is a directive of the central office to honor teachers. Simmons had a teacher as well. Give credit when credit should be given.
It's interesting that there was a post here on the blog last night at 10:35 about Mr. Santos award. Clayton didn't make it public until today. I am sure last nights post was Clayton. He is the one always trying to discredit any bad news about the district administration. I guess monitoring this blog are part of his official duties. I wonder if the district blocks his computer from seeing this blog?
Just because you choose to wear blinders and not see the truth, that doesn't make it a lie.
If you have a different viewpoint and want to share your vision, I'd love to hear it. Calling people liars because you don't want to see is not a viewpoint, it's a declaration of ignorance.
Congratulations to Mr. Del Reyes Santos you make us proud and keep up the good work.
Other than having someone nominate him, what accomplishments or qualifications did Santos need for this award?
What did he do to earn this award?
Maybe there is a reason the West Side didn't even nominate anyone for this award. It is apparently worthless.
8:45 am - you mention that a teacher from Simmons was at the award ceremony. That person was not nominated by anyone from Simmons. It came from central office ........interesting isn't it?
who is mr. del reyes ? i believe you are referring to mr. DE LOS SANTOS......if you are going to complain, get the name correct
May 7, 10:35 p.m. is the one who referred to "Francisco Del Reyes Santos". So it was NOT one of the complainers who got his name wrong, but someone who thinks the central office deserves the credit for Mr. de los Santos' award.
And the name "de los Santos" means "of the saints" in Spanish.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the moms who read this blog!!
And 8:45 p.m., I hope your mom washes your mouth out with soap.
It's amazing that it is revealed that an administrator is pulling teachers out of classrooms to dance (really to give the appearance that all is well in her building, a sure sign that all is not well) and sending teachers home because she has no control over them. And the people on this blog are only concerned about some worthless award by one individual.
In a real district, such things would not be tolerated by central office administration or the board and if by some chance they missed an incident like this, there would be a flood of parents to remedy this situation.
Every one of these incidents that happens at Simmons ruins what little reputation this district has left.
There are already thousands of parents in this district that pull their kids out of this district and send their kids to private school. They don't do it because they like spending extra thousands of dollars on education, they do it because they see see the incompetence and corruption that happens in our district.
It is incidents like this that keep them away.
If this is true about parents taking their children out of school for the incompetence and corruption in this district, then why don't they do something about it and save their money? Also, when they do something about it, they are showing their children how to stand up for what is right and what they believe in instead of taking the easy way out and running from the situation which is easy to do if one can come up with the money to send their children to private schools. By sending their children to private schools, they are truly just condoning what is going on in this district. So many do not have the option to send their children to private schools, and I am referring to the working parents that can barely survive on what they make. The parents I am referring to are not illegal/undocumented or ones on welfare/section 8.
So specifically what do you suggest that parents do, 6:25 p.m.?
What parents should do like other parents in other districts is stand up to what they don't like. It is time this board and superintendent and administrations realize that they work for the taxpayers and parents of this district and not for their own benefit. Yes, not always things work out how you want but if you keep it up someone will take notice.
How many of these parents go to a board meeting? To hear the board talk everything is fine. Until parents and community stand up nothing will be done.
The mayority of the Parents do not talk bad about Simmons because they know that at Simmons teachers are doing a great job
The board thinks things are fine because they announce they are coming to the schools and stay for only a short time. Do they really think they are going to see the real schools this way.
They are only going to see what the principals want them to see. The administrators are going to do whatever they can to save their own skins.
It's too bad board members can't spend any real time in the schools and see which schools are actually functioning and which need a change in leadership.
No one on here has really complained about the teachers at Simmons. In fact quite the opposite. They have pointed out repeatedly the incompetency of the administration at Simmons and how the teachers have to go above and beyond to make up for the administrators inadequacies.
It's the administrators fault that the schedule is constantly screwed up, that there is no discipline in the building, that they favor certain teachers and retaliate against anyone who stands up to them and that to cover their own rears, they are pulling teachers out of classes to dance.
The problems at Simmons are administrative and can be easily remedied with a change of two people, Mechelle Patterson and Wilson Morales. Replace the administration with competent individuals and the problems in that building can be fixed.
It is not the boards job to go to the schools and see what is going on. Everyone needs to look into what the board members responsibllites are. The superintendant is the one whose job this is. If he does not do his job, then anyone who has a complaint can then go to the board. There is a chain of command that has to followed like in a business. As someone who goes to meetings when I can, I will say I have never heard any parents speak before the board about any kind of issues that have been discussed about here. Actually it is mostly the Magnet parents and only a couple of them unless someone has some changes they want to make to the Magnet or having the admin do what is right and keep the board and the ones of us who do go to meetings up to date on things.
We really need to quit referring to it as a Magnet Academy. In any other school district a Magnet Academy means that they select the best students academically for the program. In this district it means that the parents who do the most bitching about the district schools have their children placed in this program. It is in no way, shape or form a real Magnet School.
The Magnet Academy is just like everything else in this district, it's an attempt to appear like we are a real school district but it's all just a farce. There is no Magnet Academy, there is only a public relations campaign meant to fool the masses.
It's no wonder why the central office administrators put up with Paterson. She's cut from the same cloth they are.
The Magnet Academy is mostly Marin Gonzalez' attempt to whitewash her reputation in our district, and try to make people forget that she is a vindictive bully. And I'm not just talking about what she did to Mr. K. Even back when she was at Waldo she was playing favorites and punishing teachers who refused to kiss her well-padded rear end.
I wouldn't be surprised if she is deluded enough to think she has the inside track to Dr. Roberts' job in a few years. Too bad we remember her long, unfortunate history in our district!
Anyone know why Mitchell is leaving at Simmons that is the rumor.
It's not a rumor, her resignation is a matter of record in the March 15th board minutes.
The reason was simple. She was no longer in good favor with Mechelle Patterson. Get in Mechelle's way and you are gone, one way or the other.
I've seen one good person after another transferred or fired by Mechelle. Anyone who shows any independence whatsoever. You either kiss Mechelle's A$$ or kiss your position goodbye.
She's a bully of the worst sort. There have been at least two lawsuits (that I know of)brought against the district because of her incompetence and many more that could have been brought but most teachers know it only really hurts the kids and so don't file.
Someone needs to stand up and deal with this woman.
The District is paying for her Doctorate along with Deanne Adams. Guess who is their adviser non other than our Dr Roberts.
Oh leave it alone. It's just a black thing. District 131 SNAFU
Wilson is protected because of Lisa. Patterson is protected because of kissing up to Marin and Roberts. No amount of complaining on this blog or in person will work.
Have you noticed we are all required to attend Red & Black and hear Roberts state of the school address. I am sure he will tell us how wonderful everything is. The board is also speaking. Watch everything will be wonderful from their end as well. I guess the new message is to perfume the pig.
They can still protect Wilson, he just doesn't belong at the middle school level. He also shouldn't be dealing with student schedules or discipline. I am sure he made an excellent elementary school bi-lingual teacher.
Roberts and Marin have their rears kissed by enough other people, They don't need Mechelle's tongue. They need to put the school and kids first. There really is more to being an administrator than just just getting your rear kissed.
This may be the best time to make a change. There are lots of good administrators looking for work because of the state budget cuts.
Wow Wilson, that's really pathetic when the only reason you get to keep your job is because of your wife's relationship with another man.
Well, go have a donut. I'm sure it will make you feel better.
ALL LIES, RUMORS, and just BULLSHIT from ignorant morons who have nothing better to do.
So 6:30 a.m., enlighten us. What IS the truth?
We're all waiting for your "wisdom".
But no--all you're capable of is general, unsubstantiated ranting about supposed lies, rumors, and bullshit. Nothing specific, of course.
Ignorant moron.
Let us out here know how it goes at the Red & Black. I am really interested in what the new board president has to say, all though I do want to know what the other board members that are there has to say. Thank you in advance.
What she'd like to say-
Everything is wonderful!
Dr. Roberts is amazing. I have no children, I've never been a teacher or talked to any of them in district 131 before lst year.
I haven't been inside an eastside public school in 30 years but in less than one years time I have better insight than any board member before me.
That is why I have been voted school board president.
Johnson will tell us everything is wonderful the magnet school has solved all of our problems are finances are the best...Dr Roberts saved all of your jobs. Roberts will tell us the Board is great. Everything is great. They will probably both praise the band. Johnson has got him believing everything is great. So everything must be.
Does anyone know how the magnet school did against the other middle school kids in the math competition a couple weeks ago? How they perform in competitions will let us know if the magnet academy is doing well or not.
Roberts answers to the board for what is going on in the schools not Johnson telling him everything is great in the schools.
The Board is a rubber stamp with Johnson in charge for Roberts agenda.
Nothing is questioned. At the last Board meeting it was revealed Roberts spoke at Johnson's neighborhood group. How was that you can't get him to visit the schools much less speak. The biggest shock was he did this on a Saturday. When has he ever been in District on a Saturday. That is the level of favors the two will do for each other.
Nice article in this morning's Beacon about Mrs. Nadel's retirement.
She was truly one of East High's finest teachers--both of my kids loved her!
It will be hard to replace her. Hopefully the administration will do the right thing and hire someone who has both musical expertise and experience in working with kids like ours.
I just hope you give the new person a chance. Because you small minded ass holes think you know everything.
I do think that most of us will give the new person a chance, despite the administration's record of making personnel decisions based on supporting their cronies' personal vendettas instead of our kids' best interests.
Expectations and standards are high, as they should be; our students deserve the best.
10:02 - I can tell you how the Magnet school performed at the district math competition. They came in dead last. WAY behind the three other middle schools. It should have been a wake up call for a lot of people.
Liar
If it were a true "Magnet School", taking only the best students, the other middle schools would not be able to compete. They would have to seek out other magnet schools to compete with.
This is the only magnet school I've ever encountered that didn't have academic entrance requirements. Any other magnet school would only take the best students a district had to offer. It truely would be a place of excellence.
Unfortunately most other magnet schools are in districts that provide transportation. I'm sure that many of our brightest kids would gladly attend a magnet school, but can't get there on their own.
And other kids choose to go to their neighborhood schools because they don't want to give up sports, band, drama, etc. opportunities with their friends.
But whatever--at least Dr. Marin Gonzalez can try to take credit for the magnet school as an example of something positive she's done. Too bad it doesn't outweigh her many years of bullying.
I found it interesting today at the red and black assembly. Annette Johnson was speaking to the teachers and was talking about how we are doing so many wonderful things in the district but we are doing such a poor job of getting the message out to the public. Clayton was right next to her agreeing with her completely.
I was shaking my head and thinking to myself, the person who has been hired by the district to be our district PR person is standing next to the board president publicly stating that he is doing a poor job as the district PR person.
Only in East Aurora would the board president stand next to the PR person and state that we are doing a poor job at public relations. Even more astounding is that they always seem to stand behind this incompetent individual, their poor job performance and that's not even mentioning the illegal fraternity or discrimination problems.
We attended the Red and Black Assembly today at East High. We had a great time and our school showed it's pride. Someone behind us was constantly on her phone texting. She had a sour look on her face and did very little applauding. To my surprise I found out that it was the East High Principal. I am glad that that I do not work at East High
You're glad that you don't work at East High because the principal was not "excited" about a stupid, elementary, mandatory "pride" assembly? Frankly that makes me proud to work at East High.
So what suggestions does Ms. Johnson give for the district to get all this good news out to the community?
What's preventing our PR department from sending out press releases to the local media, the way the West Side does? Hardly a week goes by without a big article in the Beacon about District 129's achievements & programs. Just this morning there was an entire half page about their upcoming H.S. band concerts, including a tribute to John Philip Sousa.
What's the deal here?
I was also at the Black and Red Pride and was so excited by the things that Ms. Johnson and Dr. Roberts said.
1. We are one of the only districts in the state that has as A+ financial rating. He read an actual letter from the State Superintendent that stated the rating and also said the the district may be asked to mentor other struggling districts.
2. We have one of the best preschool programs in the state according to the State Superintendant who visited in Fall.
3. Our Magnet school was competing in a state competition yesterday.
4. We have a soft skills program that was instituted with the help of local business people. It teaches skills to our students to prepare them for the workplace.
5. We have a community service program that is mandatory for graduation.
Ms. Johnson said that the staff, superintendent and board are not doing a good enough job of PR. Clayton does his job-Count the articles in the Beacon in a week. There are more about East than West. Or sign up for the district blast. Daily you will receive updates about what is going on. The most recent one was about National History day. 9 of our high school students advanced to State competition and three have advanced to National competition. East was also named as the Illinois School of the Year and received the Excellence in History award.
THE DISTRICT IS MOVING AHEAD.THE EAST SIDE PRIDE IS RETURNING AND GREAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING.
The staff is not doing enough about PR?
The staff is forbidden from speaking publicly. We are told constantly that all public announcements are to be directed through Clayton.
All public relations in this district go through Clayton. If the district is doing a poor job of PR, it all starts and stops at Clayton's desk.
"THE EAST SIDE PRIDE IS RETURNING"
Where did it go? Where has it been?
In order for something to "RETURN", it has to have gone somewhere.
Really, so if someone asks you how you like our school or waht you think about the financial rating of the district or what about a certain program at your school you have to tell them to see Clayton.
What I interpreted was that Staff and the board need to be more dilligent in the community about sharing the accomplishments. If they/you are at a Ward meeting it should be mentioned what great things are going on. If they/you are at a church banquet and the opportunity comes up to say a few words take the time to let everyone know what is happening, etc.
I think Mr. Muhammad is doing a good job; he certainly pours his time (as well as his heart & soul) into this district.
But he is only one person! If 4:32 a.m. is correct that the staff is forbidden from speaking publicly, that is just plain WRONG. Is our administration paranoid or what??
I am a Literacy Coach this is the first time I have ever the Superintendent speak about how/why the program came about. In fact for many of us its the first time the Superintendent spoke.
I must say Clayton does the PR but he is only one person. He mostly works with empowering the kids.
Johnson gave a good speech, in fact it was the first time I ever heard anything positive out of the Board. I assume the other members feel the same way she does. It seems they have been able to motivate Dr Roberts. I hope the Board understands we never see Dr Roberts. Many of us had the idea about reading long ago but year after year the District keeps changing plans.
We should use this blog to tell the Board what is going on, not complain about things past that we can't do anything about. I think this Board will look into it.
When you have a PR person it is their job to make public announcements about the district to the papers, news media and such not the staff. Now if the paper wants to feature a staff member or someone from the district they have a right to speak but in any type of business, district or state announcement that goes through the PR person just in case something is said they will turn around and get them in trouble. I'm no fan of Clayton but that is his job. I think if a staff member or board member wants to speak about the wonderful things going on in the district Clayton would have no problem.
Yes, Johnson is a good speaker and as long as you are on the same page as her you are on her good side and part of what she is doing is to get her name our there for when election time comes she can be an alderman.
Yes, a good financial rating is good but it doesn't mean it is being spent wisely it just means they are paying their bills.
I find it funny about the preschool because if you read the States Superintendent's weekly letter he never mentioned our preschool in it while he has commented about others. One would have to ask if it is so good why are some of our students still in Bilingual so long?
The History Tournament was a good thing.
As far as the Magnet Program who can really tell since the administration does not have to give facts to the board or how they really select the students.
So yes there is the Magnet Program and preschool but what is this district doing to get our test scores up and not have children who started in kindergarten as bilingual not being there up till middle school. What else are they working on the make this district better for our students and their education that is new?
As Dr Roberts stated the test scores will go but it will take at least 5 years. Our progress will move up but over night. It takes along time to stop the bleeding.
Clayton does do a good job with PR and he really cares about the kids. Other Districts use the same format to PR we do but I can not think of one PR person other than Clayton who has helped as many kids.
The Board is committed to teachers and I know many of the kids coming into our District do not have the language skills. What if you are asked to do all your work in another language and take tests in that language would you fair any better.
As far as Johnson she is a good speaker because she believes in what she is speaking about. This District is changing direction. Rumor has it Johnson is committed to her four years and Shuler will be running against Martinez not Johnson.
Johnson is possibly the WORST speaker I have ever heard. You might have like what she said, but that does not make her a good communicator.
Looks Rayanne is back from vacation.
10:16, who is Shuler?
2:15AM 5/15 sounds like the school board president Johnson posting. Either that or someone has a fantastic memory with all that detail or recorded.
2:15 a.m. says that the magnet school was competing in a state competition yesterday.
Well, how did they do?
Competitions are great IF (and only if) our kids get some benefit from participating. If they just went to prop up administration's ego (so they can say, "look at us--we went to a competition"), that's bogus.
Well and I'm sure if they didn't get 1st place or the highest rating you will call them all failures.
No, only if they repeatedly took the kids to competitions and the kids repeatedly didn't get good ratings. Or if the administration refused to share the ratings and comments with the public, but continued to brag about "we went to a competition".
Both of which our administration is famous for.
Why does this blog always look at the glass half empty. When they compete no matter what place give them credit
Well NOBODY on the administration is bragging about any competition. This stupid blog brought it up.
Yeah, right. Make our kids give up their Saturday (and penalize them if their family can't get them to school to get on the bus, or parents have made other plans). Disregard whether or not the PARENTS want their student to participate in a competition that gives little or no benefit to their child. All to boost certain people's reputation, while the kids themselves are embarrassed or frustrated.
And I'm not saying that our students should never enter competitions or festivals! Some of these events provide plenty of positive feedback for individual students (the Science Fair, solo & ensemble festival, Disney trip, track meets, etc). But it should always be about STUDENTS' best interests, not administrators' or teachers' egos!
Maybe nobody on the administration is bragging, because the kids didn't do so well at the competition.
As a parent, I would want to see some kind of positive result in exchange for my child's time and effort. Something more than just "we went to a competition".
Or maybe you all expect perfection from a district that is clearly NOT perfect. Any time our kids compete against other school districts, epically at a state level we are at a disadvantage.
Our kids don't have the parental support, our kids don't have the community support, our kids don't have the private tutors or extra help from professionals, our kids don't have state of the art technology at school or at home.
So to expect 1st place, or perfection is just ridiculous. To expect a good showing, or quality work is not ridiculous.
Robert's sounded like a perfect politician. My contract lasts for four years and the good results will happen in this district in five years. Of course, you will need to extend my contract to see the results I am promising you.
What A scam.
Dr Roberts is leaving in 2014 but Marin will then be on tap to get the top job. That is why he tells you things will get better and its my staff that is doing it. Good way to Marin the bully look good. She also ran the last meeting in his absence proving she is second in charge. Dr Aird is equal and more educated but Marin always gets the push.
Heaven help us all if Marin Gonzalez is ever superintendent! She has managed to alienate some of the best teachers in this district. She is the worst type of bully: a person who is nice to your face and nasty once your back is turned.
But what can we expect, since her mentor was her Aurora University prof, "Serial Bully" Radakovich.
At least Dr. Roberts tries to be diplomatic. Marin Gonzalez must think the people in this district have very short memories if she thinks she has a snowball's chance in hell of stepping into Dr. Roberts' job!!
Wrong
I am back from a second "vacation" as of last night, if someone is keeping track. I have not been on a computer while away.
Some people give me and "this blog" way more credit for things that happen than deserved.
The blog is here 24/7. I monitor the blog when something has been posted in the comments. Comments are posted by many different people. Some of you treat this blog as if it has a life of it's own. Get a grip!
8:14 p.m., specifically what is "Wrong" with 8:02's comment?
Anyone can type a single word and post it as a comment. But to give supporting details and evidence--now THAT requires intelligence.
So display some, if indeed you have any.
I see the response to Bigelow in Board news today. I guess they got nothing just like every other land deal. They have an article about building trades in the paper today. We are quoted as selling a house on May 5th. What price and was the Board aware. Nothing in Board news. They may brag about Jay Augustine and his financial ability but he was responsible for Bigelow and Walmart.
So if Johnson is so great with her accounting skills maybe she better check on building trades.
Augustine responded to Rayanne on 5-10 why not mention the property what are they covering up. Rayanne please ask the Board why they gave you a incorrect document.
What did Jay Augustine have to do with the Bigelow deal? Not getting the property would have to do with the deal made between the board and Bigelow and it was done with the old lawyers. As for cover up on properties, anyone can go and request to know how much property the districit has and get the report in their little hands. Go down on broadway in the township office-upstairs and request it. I know because I did this a couple of years ago.
Don't forget it was Dr. Roberts that the Mayor brought to Hometown to say what a good deal this would be before I believe he became the Superintendent.
You had a developer that wanted to make money even though it would put more children in a district that could not handle it and a Mayor that really only cared about his own benefit in fact I don't think they really care about the East side of Aurora.
All the talk about how the Drive Inn looked and do you think that piece of land will look any better now it is just a barren piece of land not much better than it was before but at least before families could go and watch a movie at a drive-in that is getting popular now. Maybe the district could even get some money from it.
Take something that could be good and put up a parking lot. So now that all that complained about how the Drive-Inn looked they can go by and just see barren land with weeds growing and no taxpaying money going to it.
Yes, they could have gotten money from the Drive In. They were offered 25 cents per ticket sold. May not sound like much, but add it up from when this mess started and it would be quite abit, plus there would have been jobs for when it was open and bring people from other cities(which it already did)and they spent their money here, which is more money. Add that up for all the years it has been closed now.
That drive in was a dive. If everybody in Aurora loved it so much, why was it not crowded EVER. It is a simple fact, if the drive in was packed every weekend, there is no way they could have gotten rid of it. If the drive in was not falling apart (the fence, the building where you could buy food) they could not have gotten rid of it.
Actually, I remember the drive-in as a busy place on summer weekends. It was so busy sometimes that traffic on Montgomery Road was tied up for at least a couple of blocks, as cars were coming into and out of it. Our family would go occasionally, and it was a fun way to spend a Saturday evening (and reasonably priced, considering we packed our own food & drinks).
The problem with the drive-in was that it was only open (and profitable) from May through September. It sat idle more than half the year! Also, most drive-ins were originally built out in the country (as this one was), so the noise, traffic, bright lights, etc. weren't likely to be bothersome. But as suburbia spread, the drive-in was surrounded by housing developments and a busy intersection--no longer such a favorable location.
And some of us spoke out against demolishing the drive-in because we didn't appreciate the way taxpayers were being disregarded and bullied. This was during the reign of "Serial Bully" Radakovich and the School Board from Hell. They had already ignored hundreds of us who had questioned their plans to "improve" the EHS band program, and now we were once again hearing their famous "no comment, the issue is over".
Contracts had been signed by the District. The District has no legal leg to stand on. The old guard Board should have voted no against the development. At least they would have been on record. I noticed when the Board voted no to Terra Oaks the City listened.
I guess the rumors I've heard about the central office staff using "Flex Time" instead of regular office hours is true. They apparently work whatever hours they choose to work.
I saw Lisa Morales in the middle of the day today (11:30 AM) over at the Chicago Outlet Mall going from store to store shopping. She was obviously not in any hurry.
It next hit me that if Lisa had time to galavant around town in the middle of the day, Jerome was probably doing about the same. And how many other central office staff are taking time off all day long.
How much are we paying these individuals? And who is overseeing these people?
I might be able to understand if she was checking up on Wilson, but there are no donut shops at the Chicago Outlet Mall.
So while I'm teaching, central office personnel are out shopping. While I have medical insurance taken out of every paycheck, the central office staff has their insurance covered completely by the district. While I am paid the lowest wages in the Six County Chicago Area, our superintendent is making $200,000+ a year.
It's amazing to me that our board seems completely ignorant to what is wrong in this district. Listening to Annette Johnson on Friday, you would think all is perfect.
Roberts is the lowest paid in Kane County. Work on the West Side and you will laid off. Maybe Lisa was on her lunch hour. Why does this blog always have to deal with the negative. Johnson is correct this District is moving ahead.
Maybe she was out buying a present for Jerome rumor has it he is back in town. They did well at razzle dazzle but how many hours did they take to practice during work hours.
This district will be moving ahead when parents want to move into this district because their children will get a good education here and is a safe place to live.
Other districts are maybe laying off and that is because the state is not paying as much to districts that don't have low income families and a lot of bilinguals and we are a district that is proud that lives off the taxpayers of the state.
Are we moving forward because we are paying our teachers a good wage? Do are teachers have at least technology that is 20 years up to date like a good scheduling system? Now we know the administration and probably some others got IPhones but do teachers have enough projectors for all those smart boards they got or do our students have up to date text books? Do teachers not have to bring in their own supplies for their classrooms? When this happens that is when you can tell our district is doing better.
What happened at East High today, I saw 4 squad cars in front of the building this afternoon.
I saw in the beacon that the board voted to hire/add twelve new staff positions. 3 were administrator and five were teaching including an additional ROTC instructor (not exactly academic).
That is an increase in the teaching staff of 1/2 of 1%. That is an increase in the administrative staff of 6%. So looking at it from a percentage basis, we just approved hiring 12 times (or 1200%) the number of administrators as we did teachers.
Typical thinking by this board and administration. Class sizes continue to increase but we will spend our resources on people who do absolutely no teaching.
I like to know if the district paid for cell phones to the principal secretary?
WOW, what isn't wrong with that statement?
Which principal? Which secretary? What kind of phone? When?
And most important....
How much MONEY was spent/wasted??
Again, completely unfounded statements being taken as fact.
What's worse - unfounded statements with terrible grammar being taken as fact.
Nothing is being "taken as fact", 10:17 p.m.
Questions are being asked.
That's totally different from taking something as fact.
If this district was truly transparent you could find the answer on the check registry. That is why so many people don't trust the district and how it shows that we are not improving just covering things up.
So.....Where are the minutes from the last two school board meetins?
May 2nd meeting is available online. May 17th is yet to be approved what is the problem?
They used to post the minutes before the minutes where approved why did they stop.
When I checked early this morning, the minutes from April 19th and May 3rd had not been posted--but now both sets of minutes are available. The April 19th minutes includes a lengthy rant by Juanita Wells complaining that our childrens' character is being damaged by negativity on the Internet. Yeah, right--like SHE'S never participated in assassinating anyone's character!
On a positive note, I remember just a few years ago when just a bare-bones summary of board meetings was made available ("Board Bits"). Now a complete transcription of what was discussed and how members voted is posted for all to see. Definitely a step in the right direction--thanks to all who made this happen!
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GRADUATING CLASS OF EAST HIGH 2010. Hopefully it will stop raining.
Congratulations to the Graduating Class of 2010!!!!!!
Congratulations to the 500 graduates of East High this year and hopefully the 500 students who have dropped out over the past four years will find their way and have a good life.
SIMMONS SUCKS !!!!!
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