Shakespeare said it best:
"Good name in man and woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their souls.
Who steals my purse steals trash...
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed"
Individuals, businesses, communities, school districts--all value a good reputation.
How can we improve ours in District 131?
252 comments:
1 – 200 of 252 Newer› Newest»Maybe by mentioning and supporting those hard-working teachers who go above & beyond for our kids.
Definitely NOT by requiring every tiny bit of information requested by the media to go through ONE PERSON, Clayton Muhammad.
This district has a reputation for secrecy instead of openness, partly for that reason.
By having an open mind and by not refusing to see the truth.
A good name and good reputation are earned through honorable actions not by deals in the dark and hiring PR people to cover your illegal actions.
No one can steal something from you that you don't possess.
Many people have attempted to improve the district image for years. They have sacrificed personal time & invested financially with no big hoopla of an image campaign. Teachers and community members alike have worked hard at changing the district image. They have done so by volunteering in our schools. Making building & grounds improvements, working with students. Now because a few individuals with a PR person doing their bidding request a media campaign to support the image campaign by requesting more $$ from a financially strapped community.
I would much rather see simple stories on an online newsletter of those churches, people, businesses, etc. that contribute to helping already. What better way to solicit community support than by making people aware of how the district supports and shows gratitude to those already contributing.
This blog - THINKING before you post.
If the district wants a better reputation, they can start by replacing administrators and secretaries who cover up bullying, harrassment and sexual assaults on students.
The actions of Mechelle Patterson, Wilson Morales, John Young and Lisa Morales are the disgrace, not the actions of those who speak out against such crimes.
I'm not backing the PR person but one reason they use one is because when things go wrong or something happens and a teacher or other worker talks directly to a reporter or someone else and miss speaks they can hurt a case against the district or the person who files a complaint. If you watch TV and you see the lawsuits or charges against someone who are charged with wrong doing their lawyers always say don't talk to anyone also if later on what you say is wrong you may be charged for giving wrong information. If the district is the one that gives wrong information then they are the ones that will be charged.
It actually makes sense to me to filter it all through one person, I just wish that one person actually cared about ALL of the great events going on in the district and not just the ones on his agenda.
@November 24, 2011 7:56 PM -Well stated!
About EA PR, I agree about it needing to be PR for ALL not just for those of interest to the PR person. Also understood is not everyone in the district should be allowed to speak to the media. I believe many companies have this policy. It is not as much to stifle all employees from expressing their thoughts, as it is to block those who want the spotlight and are the most uninformed. Also, to keep those who often times do not represent the majority they are speaking on behalf.
So, though there are many EA employees who can probably represent 131 much better in the media than our PR person, at times, there are just as many who will represent their peers and the students in a undeserving negative aspect.
7:40 a.m., I understand what you're saying about it not being a good idea for just anyone to speak for the district.
But for everything to be filtered through ONE PERSON? No other school district I know of does things that way. It makes D131 look paranoid, or at least secretive.
@ 8:03am, I agree.
I believe if each EA school building were allowed to handle their own news to media, we would see more positive info being shared more often.
ANNETTEE JOHNSON = HIGHER TAXES and LOWER TEST SCORES!!!
I asked my professor once, what checks and balances their were for dealing with an incompetent or corrupt building administrator/s. He replied there is only one, an ethical central office.
We all know the administrators at Simmons are both incompetent, corrupt and have needed to be replaced for years. I know many of us already have opinions about the central office administration but we will see now if they are truly as ethical as they claim.
They have the opportunity to really change the district's public image. If they make the necessary changes at Simmons, many in the community will begin to believe that they are sincere when they say they put children first and want a better public image. Do nothing and the publics perception of corruption will be permanently cemented.
Did you ask your "professor" about the proper use of there vs. there?
Maybe you should double check.
No difference between there vs there. (when you point a finger, 3 are pointing back at you:) But now and then I myself have misused a word by way of typo. As long as it has not changed the intended meaning of the comment (in a blog, not a term paper). No harm.
I think November 26, 2011 11:56 AM knows exactly what was meant, but chooses to be petty.
Really three pointing back at me.
So you were pointing fingers at all of the administrators at Simmons - At least 3 people (I really don't have a clue how many your are complaining about) and most of the people at the central office -
So tell me - how many fingers are pointing your way - moron.
I am: November 26, 2011 11:49 AM
I did not respond to your arguement about the correct spelling of the word "their" nor did I make comments about how many fingers are pointing in which directions. Frankly, I consider them both petty juvenile arguements that distrct from the point I made during my comments.
The rhetorical question I was asking was simple one. Does anyone think that the Central Office and the School Board have the ethics and backbone to do the correct thing in regards to the Simmons debacle?
I am interested in hearing any intelligent comments other bloggers might like to make.
It is interesting you blame the current board for higher taxes. They did not put the referendum on the ballot. The old Board did I believe you have Wells, Farnum, Mccue, Maurice (who is running for the new Rep position, Salinas and Weaver who all voted for it. The tax levy increasing taxes was 1.3% the bare bones rate to cover the bond by law. The new Board could have levied up to 9.1% but they did not allow Augustine to do it.
The test scores are up district wide except for the High School and Marin Gonzalez was replaced by the Board.
This Board is doing a great job each and every one of them and as for Johnson she does not allow Augustine to run the show like the Board of the past.
I don't think central office will do anything. Mechelle is not at work more than she is at work. Dr. Roberts likes her and chooses to ignore what happens at Simmons. The administration is horrible and extremely incompetent, but the teachers hold the building together so central office can choose to ignore things. If the building was falling apart they would have to take action. So is it a good thing or a bad thing that Simmons has a wonderful faculty?
Simmons has morons for faculty
The only reason the Simmons faculty are a bunch of morons is because they put up with their administrators BS.
They should have stood up to the administration long ago. Instead they hide in their rooms and hope the administrators will leave them alone.
I am guessing that the latest debacle will will dealt with by firing the new administrator John Young and nothing substantial will change at Simmons.
It will be a shame if it is handled this way. The parent spoke to all the administrators and called Roberts office. They all deserve to be terminated and possibly arrested. They are all mandated reporters. They had an obligation to act and report to authorities a sexual assault.
With all the recent cases of students comitting suicide after being bullied and of course the thousands of dollars our district is spending on anti-bullying programs for the students, it's amazing to me that these people did absolutely nothing after they received reports from the student, his parents and his teachers.
Even after being assualted sexually, Patterson, Morales (both of them) and Young did nothing to protect this child.
They don't deserve to keep their positions of authority.
Lisa is a half wit secretary who covers for Roberts. Roberts sits on personal phone calls all day long and Central Office knows Lisa is lying for him. In turn Wilson keeps his job. Rumor was Patterson is up for Adams old job. Patterson and Adams both went on the districts dime to get there Doctors degree its taken years and they still have not gotten it. Roberts is there adviser. Shows what a bunch of losers they all are.
I believe that when a student is assualted sexually even in school it should be reported to The States Attorney. A school district should hand the case over to The States Attorney and let them take care of it since the only thing they can do to the offender is expel them. School districts have no legal recourse with these crimes.
The administrators at Simmons had the responsibility to do a complete investigation including statements from the student assaulted, the student offender, teacher and student witnesses.
Discipline should have been assigned and the school police officer should have been informed for possible legal consequences. Expulsion paperwork should have been filed with the Central Office and presented to the Board. The victim should have been referred to counselors for social service and the parent should have been informed of all the steps being taken along the way.
This is the administrators job. There is no excuse for not doing what the district is paying these three administrators more than a quarter million dollars a year for.
If Mechelle Patteson, Wilson Morales, John Young and Lisa Morales are not doing their job with a situation as serious as this one is, can anyone have confidence that they are taking care of the many smaller situations that happen in a school every day.
If this isn't cause enough to make the necessary changes at Simmons, I don't know what ever would be.
The blog post for this thread is "how can we make (image of 131) better). Simple. Increase the test scores!
This is really going to help that image thing Johnson wants to present to all! Can't wait to hear how this is handled. Hope it does come out in the Beacon. I hope the parents go to the media.
12:40 pm-Amen! to the single most important thing that holds the image back from improving. But the Johnson's of the world think it is always about money.
NCLB is a sadistic joke played on the American People. It is another means of control over people. The Federal Government has no authority in public education. Specifically, the Constitution states that any power not given to the Federal Government in the Constitution is a power reserved for the States.
There is nothing in the Constitution that gives oversight of education to the Federal Government. That is why it is called the No Child Left Behind "ACT". It's not the No Child Left Behind "LAW".
Any school failing to meet AYP is required to choose from reading and math programs (every program funnels huge amounts public monies to people who are politically very connected).
All schools are required to take standardized tests such as ISAT. These tests cost taxpayers millions of dollars (again to people politically connected).
When schools fail (eventually all schools will fail. Last year, only 8 high schools in the entire State of Illinois passed the test) the government has the only excuse they need to come in and dictate the educational programs administered in your school.
Essentially, the Federal Government, with no authority to do so, is dictating what is taught (and not taught) in every school in the nation. In addition, they are funneling massive amounts of public monies to politically connected private companies. And they have set the system up so that eventually every school in the nation will be subject to Federal control.
If our State of Illinois politicians would fund education properly (instead of funneling all the State's monies to their political contributors like road construction companies) we could tell the Feds where they could stick NCLB.
NCLB is an unfunded mandate; they left the money behind.
The people that I hang with know its all just a pr campaign. Believe me, if they know the smoke and mirror trick then I would think most people do (my friends are not the brightest bulbs sorry to say). I personally think Johnson is digging her own hole and may not get reelected. With the test scores in the toilet, a superintendent that does nothing and now a tax increase she is going to have a tuff time. People on the East side are fed up just talk to them. I really think they are going to vote out these lame ducks starting with Johnson.
It does not matter Johnson like people in the past example Wells has a white name that is all people care about when voting for the school board. The people that vote don't even have kids in school and could care less about the test scores. Look who they elected last time Mary Fultz and Robb Hill
The biggest problem is people that truly care won't run. Anyone who has voluteered or worked in the district knows what they would be up against and won't run.
Nothing to do with names, people vote for change and sometimes ya get change for the worse rather than the expected better.
Many good people have said they will not run because of this blog. This blog destroys people and attacks their families just look at the recent. The current members are always under attack at least they put themselves out there, go to meetings and try to make a difference. So think before you bash these people
Found this in The Beacon from November 14th about how the West Side is doing something about making students feel safe.
http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/news/schools/8834799-418/aurora-west-high-acts-to-help-students-feel-safe.html
This is a good article about how some in the district take a plan to the board and the board approving it to make kids feel safe. Not like our district where the administration goes to seminars about bulling and do nothing with what they learned.
Are the admins at Simmons working on the taxpayers nickel today? Or, did they get put on unpaid leave until the final decision by the board to oust them completely? I guess the hope is that these 3 do not have enough time to start their usual "silencing" of those who dare speak up about wrongdoings. Someone with enough backbone there should call the police and interview the child with his mother present. Find out what happened and find out what did not happen on the admin side. Is this student who alledgely committed this still enrolled?
The student who has committed these acts received no consequences. He was asked about the situation, he claimed he stripped the kid naked by accident and the administrators accepted his BS story without investigating any further (there was a whole gym full of witnesses), sent him back to class and told the deans assistant to file away the paperwork.
This is a child with a long rap sheet. He is in trouble constantly and should have been expelled already for hundred other offenses.
If the administrators at Simmons had been doing their job, the victim would never have been put in this situation.
Oh well, its done and over with and everyone can just get over it and move along with their lives. The teachers get to continually be harrassed for nothing and the students get to walk through the halls fearing for their safety. The Simmons saga continues....
"Get over it"
The official policy of D131 central office.
So GET OVER IT - MOVE ON
6:01 p.m., 11:48 a.m. was referring to the harassment/sexual abuse situation at Simmons, and being sarcastic when they said "get over it".
Let's see how quickly YOU would be saying "get over it" if YOUR child was being abused & administration was trying to sweep it under the rug.
MORON.
If my child was being abused I WOULD CALL THE POLICE and not wait for the administration to do a god damn thing.
Until November 28, 2011 11:10 AM posted, I had not realized the full issue.
I would have gone straight to authorities. No one "accidentally" strips someone.
My God! This child has been victimized beyond excuses.
Someone step up for this child!
Michelle Patterson is lucky she wasn't dealing with my mother when I was a kid. My mother would have dragged her to an area in the school with lots of people and stripped Mechelle naked (she would probably then beat the crap out of her).
I am sure if that happened, we would see how Mechelle really feels about such an incident. I am sure she would be running to the authorities.
While it may be possible to forgive these administrators that did nothing to protect this child or discipline the offender. They have shown that they can not be trusted with the responsibilities of their positions or the protection of this communities children.
Mechelle Patterson, Wilson Morales, John Young and Lisa Morales must be removed from their positions for this district to have any credibility.
Just remember there are two sides to every story and this mother is not mother Theresa
The kids mother went to Simmons today and demanded all the paperwork and statements the administration had about the abuse her son endured (I am sure she was directed to do this by her lawyer).
She was first told by Wilson Morales that he did not have the paperwork she was requesting. She pressed and asked how the administrator in charge of discipline did not have the discipline files. Wilson stated that Mechelle Patterson had the files but was not available. She was told that she would have to return later.
She returned at the time directed and had to speak to Mechelle Patterson. Mechelle had the paperwork in hand but would not give it to her. Instead she was begging the mother to handle the situation within the school.
EVEN AT THIS POINT, MECHELLE IS ONLY CONCERNED FOR HERSELF.
The mother had to take the paperwork from Mechelle. They both had a grip on the paperwork but Mechelle did not want to let it go.
There was a statement that was supposed to have been written by her son. The first half was acknowledged as her son's writing but there was an additional section which was a fairly obvious forgery.
The pen was different (the second section was written with a finer point pen). In addition, the slant of the letters went from a right slant to a left slant and there were other obvious differences in how letters were made.
It was interesting that in the forged section of the statement, an individual teacher was named. It was apparent that this teacher was being singled out for possible retribution. This is somebody that has been at odds with the Simmons Administration because he is vocal about questionable administrative decisions.
This is a very important point that needs to be addressed. If this child's statement has been altered, it is 1)forgery and 2)falsifying official state records. These are criminal acts. That is in addition to the crime of not reporting the sexual assault of a child. These people are mandated reporters. It is a criminal act if they have not reported this crime to the proper authorities.
I don't understand how these administrators were allowed to be at Simmons today. They need to be terminated and sent to jail.
How can they take a statement from the child without a parent being there? Shame on them for doing that. I hope the mother says something about that also. Where is that article that was supposed to be in the Beacon today?
I was wondering where the article was as well. The only thing I can guess is that because of the holiday break, the paper was giving the district an opportunity to add their response to the article. I am hoping it will be in the paper tomorrow. It needs to be reported in a medium that is more widely read than this blog.
Yes, the administrators and teachers are mandatory reporters and should have called the police. But as far as I'm concerned, the MOTHER should be a mandatory reporter as well. Frankly, the law needs to be changed so that ANY person, no matter what their occupation, is required to report such matters to the police. And a parent who doesn't report to the police, but depends on the school personnel to deal w/ it, is negligent.
There is a major difference between the two. The Simmons Administrators did everything they could to cover up the assault to protect their own self interests. They deliberately neglected this child's needs in a hope to cover their own rears.
The mother has been trying to work within the system to protect her child and get the school system where her child must attend every day to do their jobs. After speaking to all three Simmons Administrators, she realized that this was not going to happen at Simmons, she did what she should have and contacted the Superintendents Office to report the Simmmons Administrators neglect. This path was blocked by Lisa Morales who was trying to protect her husband and her own self interest.
When this failed. She stood up and reported the situation to the school board and has contacted a lawyer to discuss the proper legal actions that she will need to take.
It sounds to me like this kids mother has followed proper channels, given the school system every reasonable opportunity to correct the situation and is now going to deal with the situation using proper legal channels.
What more do you expect out of this woman?
I personally believe this mother has handled this whole situation extremely well but putting the mother aside for the moment, there are basic facts in this case that can not be ignored.
A child was sexually assaulted and Mechelle Patterson, Wilson Morales, John Young and Lisa Morales did nothing to protect the child or to discipline the assailant. Instead they tried to cover up the attack to protect their own pathetic careers.
Every time you turn around, we hear that educators have to be held more accountable. How about administrators? Shouldn't they be held to at least the same standard as teachers?
Please understand that the mothers situation is quite fragile. This is a Special Ed student who has endured mutiple incidents that have obviously snowballed into this latest fiasco. She has very little means financially and the Simmons admins no it. The hope, from the admins, is that they can outlast her and make this thing just sail off into the sunset. I would not be surprised if the Simmons admins aren't looking into her documentation or the such for legally being able to live here. They are pretty savvy at getting their way- right or wrong. As for disciplining the alledged offender, where is this student? No disciplinary action, yet not at school late last week or yesterday. Hmm?
Let us not forget who runs the middle schools Marin Gonzalez the queen of cover-up. The Board was correct in getting her demoted and out of the High School but they should never have allowed her to run the middle schools. Patterson is Marin friend and the district is paying for her Doctorate
The mother should contact the Regional Superintendent or the State Board of Education. She could also try the States Attorney. I believe if you go to the websites they have numbers on there where you can call.
Is Clayton prepared to make a statement in regards to the Simmons incident that was presented to the board last week? He does get paid to do something. If I knew of a powerful law firm that had the grit to represent this family, I would take up a collection and scrape up enough money to provide her with the necessary tools to see her child's best interests are served.
Let us know. I'll donate!!!
10:22 p.m. and 10:45 p.m., don't be too surprised if the Beacon doesn't cover this.
Ever since D131 gave editor John Russell a sweetheart deal on the sale of his house back in 2005, the Beacon has gone out of its way to avoid printing anything negative about our district.
Add to that the fact that every tiny piece of district news released to the media is expected to be filtered through "Farrakhan's Disciple" Clayton Muhammad, and it's no wonder there has been no mention of this in the Beacon.
I don't think you could get a lawyer around here to represent her but if you can I would donate. I think the idea about contacting the Regional and State is a good idea. If the Beacon doesn't do anything try the Chicago Trib they do a lot of stories about the Chicago Schools they might pick up on this one. This situation is a little different from the Penn State thing but abuse is abuse and should never be allowed to be ignored by administration.
Never thought I'd say this, but thank God for this blog! There seems to be no place else where information about this situation is coming to light.
I found this on the IL State Board of Education website that might work for the mother.
http://www.isbe.state.il.us/spec-ed/html/due_process.htm
I am not sure what the end result is supposed to be here. Is it a cash settlement for the mother and family? Is it the removal of bumbling administrators? Is it an expulsion for the alledged perpetrator? How about some simple counseling for the victim and lets put him in a right mindset so that he can continue his academic journey. There is not going to be a "winner" here unless someone really sticks his or her neck out for this family and we all know what that will get you- terminated!
As long as everyone stands back and doesn't do anything this kind of thing will go on. It is a shame that someone is afraid of getting terminated this district will stay the same. For those that would speak up shame on you for not since you have a union that should fight for you for telling the truth. You are no different than the administrators or the person that assaulted the child if you say nothing.
Again she should contact at least the Regional Office. About five years ago a group talked to The Regional Office about not getting information from the Board about some land they sold and the Superintendent came down and talked to the board. It isn't the same problem but at least it is a start about how corrupt the district is.
@November 29, 2011 10:16 AM -were it me, I think all of the above would suffice. Especially the cash, so that I could afford to send my child to another school!
I think the mother should go to the States Attorney. I do believe that the Beacon will not pursue this, but what about the reporter(sorry can't think of his name) that now works for Montgomery paper(used to work for the Beacon). I also agree that someone should contact one of the TV stations. Shame on this board and administrators.
Andre Sallas is the repoters name.
Well for everyone's information it will be on the beacon news on Thursday or Friday.. She needs to get the story from both sides. And the mother is a legal born citizen of the US. So no worries there. And about the other student last time i heard he left the state and is no longer at Simmons's middle school.
And for the ones that work at Simmon's Middle School u should get ur resume ready for the new positions that will be open...LOL
Michelle & Wilson will end up like Marin going back to the class room. Central Office news is Marin has been talking that up because she has tenure. Her block will pay her about $100,000 per year for being a bad teacher. Same as Michelle the district paid for her Doctorate she just has not written the paper yet.
November 29, 2011 8:07 PM -it should have never mattered where the mother was born, we are all born with certain human rights, and her son's were violated.
As for the job openings sounds like something too good to be true.
Thanks for the happy thought for the morning.
If the district paid for graduate courses at Aurora University, it's no wonder those administrators are so screwed up.
"Serial Bully" Radakovich teaches at AU, in the graduate-level education program.
Has the child been offered any counseling? I guess my point is that something bad has apparently happened to this child and the "end game" is his well-being moving forward. I sense that people who have worked at Simmons want a resultant termination of the administrators. If that is the case, step up and go into their offices and ask for their resignations. It sounds like no one above them is prepared to do it or it would have been done already. Its called a pre-emptive strike and they whiffed. Too bad the paper did not print the article for all the parents to see. I imagine the teachers union should offer rights and protections for anyone willing to step up and speak out against this. If not, ask for your dues back. You gotta be paying for something.
The State has a program called Whistleblower that someone could use and the district can't do any to the person. Yes, the district maybe later give them a hard time but what they have to remember is what Bob Green did and stand up for themselves and fight.
Doing a article in the paper about this will bring it to light but if the parent doesn't go to another agency about the abuse nothing will happen.
The assailants mother sent the kid to Minnesota to stay with her sister when she found out what her son had done. She knew he would be sent to jail.
The Simmons Administrators inaction gave this kid the opportunity to flee the state and escape criminal charges.
The only truly amazing part of this story is that the Mechelle Patterson, Wilson Morales, John Young and Lisa Morales still have their positions. In any other school district, they would have been terminated already.
What will this mother do when her son robs a bank? Shame on this mother or any parent that does not make their child face the music jor what they have done. why can't something be done when this child comees back to this state? Is he going to stay away from his family forever?
http://ipsdweb.ipsd.org/News.aspx?id=40037
Link above is about Budget Feedback requested from the 204 community. Those suggestions will then be reviewed by the "Citizens Financial Advisory Committee." Here is a way we might improve our image, allow and encourage the community to actually be involved in the district!
That community is educated you are not
5:58 a.m., that's a wonderful idea!
And 7:13 a.m., if your statement ("that community is educated, you are not") is correct, they must all have doctorate degrees, because I have a masters degree. Otherwise, you are a LIAR.
Then go live there your to smart for d131 but guess what you can't afford it so that makes you a liar
8:04 says:
"your to smart"
Ignorance on display, as usual!
:)
And that's no lie.
That is good that D204 is asking for suggestions and if you notice they talked about what they have cut already not so with our district. They have been on a spending spree all year and now worry about next years money. They could start by cutting their eating money and not having a Christmas Party for Staff and then Administration. How about making sure the money the administration spends with their credit cards if for district business not their own.
Looked for the article that was supposed to be in the Beacon today about what happened to the student at Simmons. Was not there.
It will not be in the paper tomorrow either. Beacon spoke to d131 today. Not enough time. It will come out next week i was told.... so do expect it no later then next week. PPl now dont argue abt who is smart and who is not. u are all smart in a way n we should not judge a person jt becuz they work in a certain school. We all should be united and everyone has a right to an opinion... ;)
Why when reading the agenda for the meetings, is Annette always referred to as Mrs. Annette Johnson? Has she married herself?
Well what would you like her called? Mrs. John Johnson? What is the 1953? Is she property of a man?
When you have something legitimate to complain about, feel free, but when you split hairs you sound like you have no life.
I know the Aurora Beacon is known as the Be-Confused but I can't believe it really takes their reporters two weeks to put out a story. Functioning that slowly, they must be East Aurora Grads.
@December 1, 2011 10:34 PM -I do believe, too, that someone is "splitting hairs." I think they were making the trivial point that she is a MS. not Mrs.
But what are you speaking of 1953? and property of a man?
Looks like someone didn't proof read it does say Mrs. Annette Johnson.
I thought School Districts didn't pay anything to Social Security but in the levy list it has this.
$1,711,827 for Social Security Fund
The district doesn't pay into SS for the teachers or admins (and neither do they), because TRS retirees get a higher % of their base pay for pensions. The support staff are in IMRF, in which both the employer and employee DO pay into SS, and their IMRF pension is a much lower % of their base pay (not enough to live on w/o the SS).
10:41 p.m., I'm not at all surprised that the Simmons story hasn't been covered in the papers. After all, every tiny bit of district news is expected to be filtered through Clayton Muhammad, who is probably waiting until some of the emotion on this dies down and he can try to "spin" the story to make D131 look as blameless as possible.
Also (as someone mentioned previously on this thread) the editor of the Beacon might have a personal interest in keeping negative D131 news out of his paper, since our district gave him a special deal on the sale of his house several years ago. Remember the Robert Green case, when there was a big article about Mr. Green suing the district? When the courts later found in favor of Mr. Green (and against D131), that was NOT covered in the Beacon.
Just another example of certain people in our community making choices for arrogance!
I agree, the Beacon was out front when Green filed a discrimination lawsuit against the district. They gave the district a half page editorial by Clayton bashing Mr. Green as incompetent. The Op Ed piece was titled "Competence Before Color".
However, the Beacon was conspicuously silent when Green won that discrimination case against the district. They were again silent when he won his termination case against the district. (The State Board of Education determined that District 131 had terminated Mr. Green unjustly and ordered District 131 to rehire Mr. Green with all back pay and benefits). And once more the Beacon was silent when Mr. Green won a settlement against the teachers union because they refused to represent him when the district terminated him.
It is beginning to look like the Beacon is not being fair and impartial. They appear to be giving District 131 preferential treatment. <aybe you can figure out why the Beacon thinks that the district deserves this.
I also remember when Kevin Kaisershot won a national contest to write a "Teacher's March", in 2008 or 2009. He was featured in both ASCAP and MENC press releases, and the march was premiered by the Air Force Band in Washington, D.C. The Beacon was silent about this GOOD news until several weeks after this blog congratulated him, and a couple of School Board members (I think it was Rayanne & Anita) presented an award to him at one of his concerts at Simmons. Then the Beacon finally ran a tiny article (maybe one paragraph), no picture, in the back pages of the paper.
No wonder a lot of us look elsewhere--even to blogs--to find out what's happening in our district!
Rumor is more boys had their pants pulled down at Simmons
Rumor is that more than 90% of what is on this blog is total B.S.
There were a couple of big fights today at Simmons. One was between several girls, and another was boys (the boys' fight had to be broken up by police, and ended up with one kid being taken away in handcuffs).
But as far as I know, no pants were pulled down.
Who was Mr. Green's attorney its the same one the parent has to represent her.
And about that fight today just because of all this drama going on at Simmons's the kid was arrested or else Mr. Morales would of made them apologize, taken a pic. of them giving each other a hug. And harassed them if they were to fight again he would post it all over the school like he did last time when there was a cat fight. Why because his career comes first before the kids protection.
The fight at Simmons today could have been avoided. The continuing problems in the hallway where the huge fight occurred had been communicated to the administration at the last faculty meeting. Teachers made it clear that there were serious issues and the faculty requested additional administrative supervision for this hallway. They staff received no assistance from the administrators. The administrators have been too busy retaliating against and harassing teachers for speaking out. They are doing everything they can to deflect blame from themselves.
I don’t know about the boys fight but the police were involved in the girls fight and a girl was taken out in handcuffs. This same girl has had a long history of bullying at Simmons. Last year there was a serious incident with this same child. She had been continually harassing another student, making the child’s life miserable. The parent of the victim had been in to speak to the administrators several times. Of course the administrators did nothing to stop the bullying. Unfortunately, in this case, the parent of the victim handled it poorly. Instead of contacting the central office or school board (I am assuming she didn’t try. She may have tried and the call may have been intercepted by Lisa Morales), she went to school, slapped the bully several times (telling her to leave her child alone). The parent was arrested.
If the administrators at Simmons had actually done their jobs, the situations (last year and today) would never have exploded the way it did. The teachers at Simmons do the best they can in a bad situation. They really need the support of competent leadership.
While we all know that complaints are fairly normal in most work environments. The things happening at Simmons are not normal. There have been physical assaults, sexual assaults, constant harassment (and not the normal, you need to do your job type of harassment) of faculty, constant cover ups, etc. The administrative situation there is really out of control. Someone needs to come in and clean house.
Mr. Green's attorney (I believe his name is Steven Glink) or any other good attorney could make a fortune battling the corruption in this district. It's rampant. Simmons is just the worst case in the district.
Don't forget, the battles between Mr. Green and the district started as a battle for coaching rights with the Administrators at Simmons. It's amazing how many lawsuits have started at Simmons.
The parents need to know they have other places to complain instead of taking it on themselves and should be made aware of how to go about it. Even if the board does nothing they can contact the Regional Superintendent or email the The State Board of Education. Having articles in a paper really only lets citizens know what is going on but they can't do anything.
"Tonight's Boys Basketball Game v. Lake Park will have a LIVE AUDIO BROADCAST on d131.org beginning at 7:30 p.m. ... Can't make the game? It's ok! Just log on to the district's website! #EastsidePrid"
Off of the District Facebook - Don't you love that they can take the time to broadcast a stupid basketball game but not the school board meetings?
The Simmons Administrators were too busy dealing with the district lawyer on Friday to actually do their jobs and help prevent the multiple fights in the building. The only question is whether the lawyer is documenting the administrators or are they simply in cover your A$$ mode protecting the district? Either way the Simmons Administrators incompetence is costing the district big money.
I don't know how they can possibly cover the administrators incompetence on this one.
The kid was being bullied for an extended time.
His mother had been in several times requesting administrative assistance and received none.
The PE class where this happened, due to poor scheduling, is completely overcrowded. There are 90 boys being supervised by 2 teachers. These two teachers are expected to supervise these 90 students in an area that covers the locker room, two gyms, a weight room, the hallway and a doorway that leads outside the school. (This is not the worst period. The worst period has no male PE teachers on duty and so the locker room is unsupervised)
A referral was written by a teacher but the administrators took no action against the assailant.
Even after the parent came in to lodge a complaint, the administrators refused to take action.
There is strong evidence that the student statements have been forged and falsified.
Unless this woman hires an incompetent attorney, I have no idea how the district lawyer can defend the district.
The district will drag this out hoping that the parent will eventually drop the case and if she goes all the way, the district will settle a suit with her to avoid the bad publicity.
It's their standard operating procedure.
Did Waldo and Cowherd close? I never here about "Simmonsesque" things, teacher harrassment, spin control and all of the usual out-of-control leadership that happens at Simmons. Or, are they doing the right things and the negativity surrounding the whole Simmons environment justified and accurate?
School Board meeting tonite--should be interesting to see if anyone speaks about this during the time for public comments.
And is anyone really surprised that there has been absolutely NO mention of the criminal activity (repeated bullying, falsifying of legal documents) Simmons in the Beacon-News??
From what I hear, there are quite a few behavior and discipline problems at Cowherd that are basically glossed over by administration. There is very little support for teachers when they try to deal with troublemakers in their classrooms.
But several Cowherd sports teams have done well lately, which is all you will hear about in the news--because the central office is NOT likely to release any negative information to the public.
The Cowherd Teams are doing an awesome job. The 7th grade basketball team just brought home their second championshipship this season. The first one was at the Joliet West Tournament and this weekend was from the Plano Hardwood Classic. They have a perfect record going this year, they're undefeated.
No place is perfect and every school has their issues but Cowherd and Waldo don't have the issues that Simmons does.
While I may not agree with every decision made in my building, decisions are made and they are made in what people believe is the best interest of the students.
The actions of the administrators at Simmons are petty, vindictive and are always made from the perspective of protecting the adminiistrators interests first.
Did anyone go to the 131 board meeting last night? Missed it but wanted to see if any of the Simmons issues were resolved. Additionally, not surprised to not see the Beacons article absent from print
I went to the board meeting and the parent was a no show. The interesting part was the girl that is student board member said she was bullied, drugs get sold all day long in the hallway, gang fights go on every day and the teachers and secretaries are rude to the parents
I didnt know there was a board meeting on Monday or else i would of been there to show the board an important document. i will go to the next one... it is good see u all there
Why would the parent show back up at a meeting again when she has gotten no help in this. Hull spol=ke vey well about how this was handled or rather yet, lack of handling. The union president also spoke on behalf of the teachers. He stated when he started not ot take it personally, but the board president sure did. Her comments to that person were very unprofessional. If a person is going to take things personally as she, should step down and let someone who can take comments professionally and not personally. She truly looked like she was going to explode when the union president, hull and the student board member talked.
REVOLUTION!!!!!
Rhodes was a joke he attacked board member Anita Lewis in public for comments she made on behalf of the students. Then there was the fact the man could not form a complete sentence.
The student board ember did a good job reading Rhodes off on how bad te teachers and secretaries are. She also told the bard how unsafe the schools are. Gang activity is at a high along with drug use at the schools prehaps the Amy ass teachers need to be in the passing halls more during passing.
Hull also had good points but should talk less.
Johnson also did a good job Rhodes needs to understand he does not represent the administration but the teachers.
Rhodes stated in public we have the best admiration was the man drunk or prehaps buying some of those drugs in the hall way.
Finally someone stands up and puts things straight-forward!!
Unfortunately, the student board member that mentioned these issues was reprimanded for doing so. Apparently, Conrad called her down to her office over 6 times and gave basically told her to shut her trap, saying that her job was to represent the high school and district in a positive manner, not talk about the negative things [which we all know are there!!!!]
How are we supposed to come to solutions to the issues that are CLEARLY there if we just keep trying to hide or sugar coat them? I really hope the Simmons story runs and gains a high level of attention. Someone previously mentioned getting the news involved, anyone know anything about that?
I hate to see our district have a negative image, but if this is the only way to get administration to clean up their act and therefore clean up the schools then so be it. I'm tired of low test scores, high drop-out rates, gang violence and all of the negativity that comes out. We need to fix the administration to fix our district and allow for our students to succeed. There has to be more talent than just someone like Ryan Boatright that comes once in a while. Our students can compete with other districts and achieve this, we just need to help make it happen.
To the administration:
STOP BEING ARROGANT AND WORRYING ABOUT YOURSELVES!!! ADRESS THE ISSUES AND GET OUR STUDENTS TO SUCCESS!!!!!
The Board can say all they want it won't do any good until they do something about it. What does that Superintendent have to say he should know what is going on since he is the leader of the schools. The man is useless.
Student Board members responsibility, according to 131 policy, is to make a statement on behalf of the students. It doesn't say just happy, fun, positive statements.
The "image" was @ risk, so Conrad was probably directed to fix it!
Rhodes is an administrators dream union rep. Sell out the members to keep the peace.
We can only hope Johnson would "explode" to relieve the Board. Only then would everyone see how empty and shallow she really is.
East board proposes tax levy increase
By Erika Wurst ewurst@stmedianetwork.com November 22, 2011 2:10PM
ReprintsUpdated: November 27, 2011 9:50PM
AURORA — East Aurora residents can expect to see their school property taxes rise next year if School Board members approve the district’s proposed 2011 tax levy next month.
The district is proposing a levy of $29,696,578 (not including the bond and interest portion), up 9.15 percent from the previous year’s levy.
East Aurora Financial Director Jay Augustine said that keeping in mind a .62 percent reduction in the bond and interest portion of the levy, and the expected tax caps, the actual levy increase should be around 1.3 percent.
Because the equalized assessed value of homes in the area isn’t determined until the spring, it makes it difficult to accurately anticipate a levy, Augustine said. Because of this, the district will often overcompensate with its request in hopes of getting every penny it can.
The district continues to suffer through the national economic decline, and the reduction in equalized assessed value, which is down 2.5 percent from last year. Augustine said that by the time numbers are final, he expects the reduction in EAV will go even lower.
Growth in assessed value has been in the red since 2008. Home values have taken a sharp decline since then, and continue to fall.
Administrators need more money to pay for expensive meals, trips, and hotel rooms.
Administration also needs more money to pay there own bills with our money. What has this district done to cut cost like other districts have. Not to long ago they where saying how well off they where compared to others and how they where hiring not letting teachers go. They need to quit some of these retreats, workshops and watching how much administrators pay for eating.
Here is the thing about blogs and newspapers...on a blog, people can say whatever they want. In a newspaper, a reporter must source; get quotes, talk to the right people, present both sides to a story. I'm not surprised it took the reporter a while to get the Simmons story out, considering the hoops that probably had to be jumped through to report this story.
Must be a helluva story, because it is still not out. Xmas break is in less than 2 weeks and that will be enought time for this whole issue to sail off into the sunset. Metea had a kid sending text messages yesterday about committing some heinous act at the school and he got yanked immediately. At Simmons, you have to actually do it, and they'll still spin it into "well, thats just kids being kids" or something
It's that image thing again. One would think with all tha unneeded help that Clayon has that something would have been done. Must remember Johnson's image.
Today our community has an opportunity to enjoy some good music and support our hard-working students!
At 4:30 p.m. at Simmons Middle School the Simmons bands and choirs will perform, including some 5th grade beginning band students as well.
Then at 7:00 p.m. the advanced EHS musical groups (Jazz Ensemble, Singsation, and Wind Ensemble) will perform at the high school.
Support our student musicians!
How come we never see anything in the paper about Roberts being at any of these meetings talking about housing on the East side. The West sides Superintendent seems to get involved in things that impact his district that is what image is all about.
http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/9310665-417/west-aurora-superintendent-concerned-about-housing-data.html
This press release was posted on the district website yesterday:
Simmons Hosts Winter Holiday Concert
Simmons Middle School presents its annual Winter Holiday Concert on Thursday, December 8 at 4:30 p.m. at Simmons School.
The concert will include seven performance groups with more than 250 student performers! The Simmons 6th, 7th, and 8th grade band and choir students will be joined by 5th grade students from Beaupre, Brady, Johnson, Oak Park, and O’Donnell Elementary Schools.
For more information, please contact Simmons Choir Director, Lisa Gawlik or Simmons Band Director, Kevin Kaisershot at 630.299.4178.
Simmons Middle School is located at 1130 Sheffer Road in Aurora.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I did NOT see any mention of a band or choir concert at EHS tonight. Did they reschedule that one, or did someone drop the ball on publicizing it?
Well, if you're not able to attend the concert at EHS this evening you might be able to hear some of the most memorable performances posted online, on the district website.
Here's an example, recorded last week at an EHS band concert:
http://www.d131.org/database/teacherDownloads/{ED8AAB5C-A753-4DD8-A4EB-001E3E0201FD}Concert Band - Snow Day Celebration.mp3
Enjoy!
;)
Everyone check the beacon news tomorrow........ hopefully we will have something to read and talk abt all next week.
Reading an article in any paper and then talking about the situation will not get any results the parent needs to go to The Regional Office or Call the State Board of Education and talk to them to get something done.
The only way things get done is if those in power enforce their own policies, laws and regulations. Going to the press (blogs, etc.) and making things public simply puts pressure on those individuals to do the right thing.
Unfortunately, in this district the only real policy they follow is to cover up, deflect blame and state the matter is closed.
Hard to say its closed when admins are running around interviewing students about alledged "issues that go on all the time" in certain areas of Simmons and then trying to nail a teacher for it. No one is willing to step up and take responsibility for anything there. Someone dropped the ball there and now its time to nail someone else for it. Don't write referrals, they are told. Makes us look bad. If the parents could just rally enough support to hold an actual demonstration or the such, maybe some good would come. I know teachers read this blog so I ask you, "Would you feel comfortable and would you feel a high sense of safety if you enrolled your child at Simmons?" Please respond and maybe we can forward these responses to the Board and solicit an opinion.
So now our basketball team is as good as our football team - So far 0-7 for the year!
But the Cowherd basketball team is outstanding this year. So maybe in a couple of years our high school basketball team will be outstanding as well. These things sometimes run in cycles.
All three middle schools should be building excellent programs. The high school coaches would then have the best players from three programs to build the high school program. Unfortunately, the West Side gets the best players from 4 schools and the East Side only has two schools who send a significant numbers of players to the high school program. Cowherd and Waldo do relatively well (considering the limited support they receive from the district)in sports while Simmons only contribution is sometimes from soccer.
The administrative issues at Simmons filter down to all programs in the building including sports.
Cowherd is having an awesome year. The only question is whether their players will go on to East or will they transfer to schools with winning programs? It's a shame how many kids we lose at the high school level. More than a thousand kids promote from the three middle schools each year. Yet, the high school only graduates about five hundred students.
How can the high school possibly field competitive teams with a drop out rate that high?
10:27 p.m., there are also a lot of D131 kids who go someplace else after elementary school. For example, St. Rita's Catholic school has average-sized classes in the lower grades, but their 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classes are bursting at the seams with kids whose parents drive them in from the Simmons area.
And speaking of Simmons, their band and choir concert last week was outstanding. At least SOMETHING good is happening at that school!
East Aurora mother: District failed my bullied son
By ERika Wurst ewurst@stmedianetwork.com December 11, 2011 10:42PM
Reprints 1Updated: December 12, 2011 2:12AM
This story involves a middle school special education student, an alleged assault, questioning of written statements, and a school district administration that maintains it did nothing wrong.
The student’s mother and several teachers at Aurora’s Simmons Middle School, however, are alleging the opposite.
*****
When Maria Vega’s son came home from Simmons Middle School in October complaining a boy had pulled down his pants — and boxer shorts — during gym class, Vega was upset. When she realized that nothing had been done about it, she became angry — and eventually made a tearful, public plea to the East Aurora School Board.
The incident had been referred to administrators, and both boys gave written statements to Assistant Principal John Young, but Vega said she never received a call from the school.
Instead, Young decided the offender’s account of the de-panting was sufficient, and corroborated by Vega’s son, so no disciplinary action was taken.
“On of his friend trip him an pulled my pants down on actitent I think,” the 12-year-old special ed student wrote on Oct. 17, following the gym class incident.
And for a few days, that was that.
*****
When she learned that no punishment had been handed down to the offender, Vega got involved. A Simmons teacher encouraged Vega to bring her concerns to Superintendent Jerome Roberts. Vega called Roberts’ office on Oct. 19, and her message was passed on to Marin Gonzalez, the assistant superintendent of secondary education.
On Oct. 21, Gonzalez had Simmons Principal Mechelle Patterson and Young call Vega’s son in so he could give a second statement. It is this statement that appears to have been partially written by someone else, Vega said.
“It’s not his handwriting,” Vega’s sister, Sylvia Caudillo, told Patterson when she and Vega went to retrieve the boy’s written allegations.
East Aurora School Board President Annette Johnson said Roberts and Patterson looked into Vega’s complaint and deemed her incorrect.
“They did not see any evidence that the student statement was tampered with,” she said. “The board has conducted its own investigation to make sure policy is in place at the central office so when complaints come in, they follow a chain of command. That appears to be working.”
The district’s law firm has also conducted an independent investigation and determined that the “administration acted rather thoughtfully,” Johnson said.
Vega said no statement should have been given by her son without her being present, or at least being made aware of the situation.
“I didn’t find out it happened until several days later,” she said. “My son has been bullied since fourth grade, and when he went to Oak Park (Elementary School), they called me any time something happened to my kids.”
At Simmons, the opposite has proven to be true, she said.
*****
One Simmons teacher, who asked not to be identified, said the action taken by Simmons administrators in Vega’s case is typical.
“At every faculty meeting we are told to keep the number of referrals down,” the teacher said. “It’s an image thing. ... If there are any bullies in our district, it’s the principal at our school.”
When referral papers are filled out, they never find their way back to the teachers’ desks, the employee alleged. Because of this, there is no way to know if any discipline was handed down. “This is so ridiculous, it makes me mad,” he said, adding that in his opinion administrators did not investigate the incident.
Johnson said that Young and Patterson relied on the statement, and did not investigate the situation further at that time. But the boy’s second statement clearly states he didn’t believe the offender when he said the de-panting happened by accident.
“I didn’t believe him when he said that,” Vega’s son wrote.
Young and Patterson, however, seemed content with the handling of the situation and dismissed the incident without further regard, Vega said.
Not satisfied with the administrators’ action, she brought her concerns to the School Board.
Johnson maintains that the board, Simmons’ administrators and the district have done everything according to school policy, but Vega isn’t satisfied with the outcome.
“There has been a noticeable difference in my son since he started at Simmons,” the mother said. “He does not want to get up in the morning, he walks around all mopey and has been put on antidepression medication.”
Kids push him during passing periods, and he has even been confronted in the bathroom, she added.
“I tell my kids to never bully anyone because I was bullied my whole life,” Vega said. “I forgot the other part about students bullying my kids.”
I find this part especially interesting:
"East Aurora School Board President Annette Johnson said Roberts and Patterson looked into Vega’s complaint and deemed her incorrect."
This mother goes to the school board and states that the administrators (Patterson, Morales, Young and Roberts) have mishandled the situation regarding her son. Who investigates the situation? The accused!!! They investigated themselves!!! Is it any wonder that they came back and stated they did nothing wrong???
They then stated:
"The district’s law firm has also conducted an independent investigation and determined that the “administration acted rather thoughtfully,” Johnson said."
This is a lawyer the district hires to protect the district's interests. This is not a fair and impartial investigator.
This woman needs to go to a higher authority. There will be no justice for her son in District 131.
Can you imagine if the the entire judicial system worked this way?
Judge speaks: John Doe. You are accused of murder in the first degree. I had assigned you the task of investigating yourself and reporting back to this court. What were your findings.
John Doe Speaks: Your Honor, I did a thorough investigation of myself and I find that I did nothing wrong. I am completely innocent.
Judge speaks to John Doe's attorney: Did you also do an investigation?
John Doe's attorney: I did do an investigation of my client. I asked him personally if he committed this horrible act and he stated he did not. I have to state that he has been extremely thoughtful throughout this ordeal.
Judge speaks: Well that's good enough for me (I don't need to mention that I'm personally vested and thus have a conflict of interest in this case) I find the accused "Not Guilty". Case dismissed.
This type of investigation is no less ridiculous when it happens in District 131.
To the mother of the victim: Go find yourself a very good attorney. Your son needs to be protected. If they won't do it voluntarily, you need to force them to do the right thing.
Perhaps the district needs to review what Illinois Law requires of them regarding bullying.
Bullying/Harassment
105 ILCS 5/27-23.7 (2010) defines bullying and prohibits it in the school environment on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry age, marital status, physical or mental disability, military status, sexual orientation, gender-related identity or expression, unfavorable discharge from military service, association with a person or group with one or more of the aforementioned actual or perceived characteristics, or any other distinguishing characteristic. No student shall be subject to bullying during any school-sponsored education program or activity, while in school, on school property, on school buses or other school vehicles, at designated school bus stops waiting for the bus, at schools-sponsored or school-sanctioned events or activities, or through the transmission of information from a school computer, school computer network or other similar electronic school equipment. Bullying make take various forms, including without limitation one or more of the following: harassment, threats, intimidation, stalking, physical violence, sexual harassment, sexual violence, theft, public humiliation, destruction of property, or retaliation for asserting or alleging an act of bullying.
105 ILCS 5/27-23.7 (2010) requires each school district and non-public, non-sectarian elementary or secondary school to create and maintain a policy on bullying. The policy must be communicated to the students and their parent or guardian annually, updated every 2 years and filed with the State Board of Education. The statute also creates the School Bullying Prevention Task Force and outlines its responsibilities.
105 ILCS 5/10-20.14 (2002) requires the school board, with the parent-teacher advisory committee and community based organizations, to include provisions in the student discipline policy to address students who have demonstrated behaviors that put them at risk for aggressive behavior, including without limitation bullying.
From the Beacon Blog:
Kroman
12:39 AM on December 12, 2011
This makes me absolutely sick & is my biggest fear as the mother of a special ed student myself...I cant believe this behavior goes "unnoticed" by teachers and am appalled that the perpetrators go unpunished by the administrators!! This is a disgusting reminder of the ignorance we deal with everyday, & I am SO proud of this mom for taking a stand!
Fobarr
1:35 AM on December 12, 2011
all I can say to this is ughhh I know the frustaration and I know the hurt of watching your kids being bullied and yelling and screaming at the East Aurora schools to do something. MY daughter is bullied adn she has been bullied so much she now feels that no one likes her in her class and she rather not work with them and she is getting into trouble for it. My son is a freshman and all they did was talk to the kids who are bullying him.
Oswego resident
6:37 AM on December 12, 2011
By now, don't you all realize there are administrators who are never wrong, will never do the right thing and will always want to take the easy way out.
Remember the "Chain of Command" comment, all this does is CYA as it gets passed up the Chain. As long as the next person up agrees, there's not a thing you can do.
Here's a link to the Ill Code and hopefully this news will put some pressure on the Board to take another look.
Get a copy of the Districts Policy and see if it includes anything written specifcially about parents needing to be inforrmed and a parent present when being questioned.
http://www.olweus.org/public/laws_illinois.page
How does a person get stripped naked from the waist down (Pants and underwear) by accident???
It can't happen!!!
Any person who deals with such a situation by sweeping it under the rug is beyond reprehensible. They should be prosecuted.
I saw the statement this child supposedly wrote. There were obviously two different sections in the statement. It was no surprise to me when the child pointed to the second section and stated that he did not write this section of the letter. The part he claimed was not written by him began exactly where the handwriting changed.
This woman will have absolutely no problems with a fair and impartial judge. There is no question that her child had been assaulted and the administration took no action. The statement has definately been falsified. And since the only people who had access to the statements were the administrators, they will have to account for their actions and lack of action.
I have to admit, the administrator who has done the best job of deflecting blame has been Roberts. He passed it off the Marin who just so happened to be looking for another job anyway. I am sure there is some benefit she is receiving for taking the blame for Roberts.
A teacher at Simmons says:
“At every faculty meeting we are told to keep the number of referrals down,” the teacher said. “It’s an image thing. ... If there are any bullies in our district, it’s the principal at our school.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BINGO!
Certain (not all) administrators in this district are famous for caring more about IMAGE than about the best interests of our kids.
Once again, making choices for arrogance.
This situation is JUST NOW being covered by the Beacon-News, when the School Board meeting that Ms. Vega (and her daughter) spoke up at was weeks ago??
And where is our Community Relations Director's comment on this?
It's too bad that we here in D131 have to get our news from a blog.
12:26 p.m., that's just the way it is.
Get over it!
:)
These administrators go to Anti Bully Seminars and Conferences and they still can't get it right. There should of been a parent with this child when they talked to him about it. You could see by his writing he may have problems with expressing himself. Really Johnson: administration acted rather thoughtfully. How about we put you in a full gym and have someone accidently pull your pants down.
The Beacon made everyone wait three weeks for the story while they gave the district a chance to sugar coat this latest debacle. Apparently this was the best the district could do with it.
We investigated ourselves and decided that we did a fine job.
This is one of those situations that people will remember when they vote next time. Since this blog was started, there has been a huge turnover of board members. Like it or not, information now gets out to the community. People are more informed and they have acted in their voting. We expect board members to represent the community.
To the current board members: Do the right thing (put children first)or don't be surprised at the next election.
My thoughts and prayers are with Annette Johbson in the passing of her mother Nell.
I'm the sister for the 2nd time. NOt the daughter. And yes i will help my sister to take it as far as we can.
Roses are Red Violets are Blue Dist. 131 will cover thier a$$ this is TRUE. They will LIE and if you call them on it, they will make your students LIFE He//. Admin is known to take students put them in a room and question them without any parent present, now thats a FACT. I just want the student board member to keep up the good work on reporting whats really happening at the HIGH SCHOOL, whats CONRAD going to do, oh wait, CONRAD and MARIN will make her life HE// and the board will sit back and say it's ok we'll get another student to candy coat our a$$es
Have you tried talking to the Regional or State Board Superintendent or got in touch with them through a email? I don't now any Special Education groups that might help but that might be something to try or talk to a lawyer maybe we can get people to give money. Some people make a page on facebook and state what is going on a people make donations it is worth a try. Maybe some in this district would rather give money to this cause instead of H.O.P.E.
What has happened is wrong and I hope the young man is ok it is not just kids having fun it is being bullied.
If it is true that the mother of the offending student sent him out of state, she should therefore be held responsible and stand in her son's place and take whatever punishment is give by the school and law. I truly hope it would mean that she has to do some time for what has happened if, in fact she did send her son out of state because she was afraid that he would go to jail.
This is what I get from this that a Special Education Student was in the gym and another student came up and stripped him from the waist down including his underwear. Now I don't know who was supervising these students but did one of them come over and help him get his clothes back on? Can you imagine how it must of felt to have everyone looking at you and laughing? Hopefully someone came and help him so he wasn't embarrassed.
Now let's imagine a student in a gym that decides to expose himself to everyone thinking it was just kids being kids don't you think and hope the administrators charged him with exposing himself and that is a sex crime.
Does anyone know when the next board meeting is.
The next School Board meeting is on Monday, December 19th at 7:00 p.m.
You can find when the Board Meetings are on the district website. You can also find board policies there also. You can find information for The IL School Code on the IL State Board of Education. You can find information for things you are looking for on these websites to make you more knowledgeable of State Laws. I don't know if The States Attorney can help but there is no harm in asking after you look at the IL School code all they can say is we can't help you. Look at what our Board Policy says and then look at the State's one. The State one is the one that most attorneys will go by because a district should only enhance what the State says.
Here is the districts website if you don't have it.
http://www.d131.org
Man this is overblown.
Don't know if you saw this under the Beacon article but give it a try.
njboys
6:28 PM on December 12, 2011
My best advice would be take this to the State Board of Ed!!! Also get a atty to help her. I had to go to the state board for 2 yrs in a row for my children. Also had atty in case the district wanted to try to talk some legal talk that I didn't know. I don't know what the state board did to the district did but I know that I have had no more problems with them after the second yr they tried to mess with me & my kids. I'm sure they got into a lot of trouble. The stated board will look into what this school & district is doing about this...& they have no type of interest in "keeping face" for this school or district.
This is just a shame!!! I don't know why parents don't teach their children any better. I don't care what your status is or who you are.....the parents should have to be involved in the punishment the student is faced with as well. I teach my children right from wrong & that bulling is not nice. They both know that they will not only face what the school will do but they have to come home & face punishment at home to. I myself was bullied at school & will not tolerate it. Whether it is my child or not!!!
This mother is doing the right thing by going up the "food" chain. She needs to keep going until she feels like she is happy with what is being done about it. As a parent myself I comend her for doing what she is doing!! If she feels like the district is doing nothing.....like I said....State Board of Ed!!! They will defiantly help her.
To the student bnard member, you keep on doing what you are doing. If the princiipal or anyone else does not like what you state, then they should do something about the situations that are going on in the school! If they do not they are a part of the problem and not the solution! Whomever hide the fact should be fired. From the superintendant on down. Good for you girl- you keep on doing what you are doing. You are an asset to your fellow students and D131. To bad you principal and others do not follow you example.
Sorry, do not know why that double posted. Blog amin can you please remove one of them? Thanks
You're welcome!
Please stop posting advice for the mother of this poor, victimized child. She is dealing with higher powers that she will not be able to defeat. It happens time and time again with this school. Or, I should say, since the current administration has been wielding its authority. This story will soon come to an end and here's how- As you have all read, the "chain of command" has flown this thing all the way up the flagpole and everyone along the way has been deemed correct in their actions. Falsifying documents, disappearing documents, cutting the mother off at the board meeting, its all good. Four days until winter break and the Simmons admins are vigorously trying to rid themselves of the alledged whistleblower so that the two week break will diffuse the whole thing and life can continue with a victory under their belts and intimidated teachers fearing for their jobs if they ever, and I mean ever, speak up about wrong doings at the school. If anyone at Simmons reads this, can he or she please confirm there is a new hallway game called "Grab Ass" where boys walk around grabbing girls from behind?? Maybe, at some point, the school should have an assembly to tell students to keep their hands to themselves or face severe disciplinary action. If they would have done this two months ago, this whole deal may not have ever happened and Ms. Vega's son would be thinking about what he's getting for Christmas, not whether or not he is going to once again be victimized in school. Merry Christmas and thank the lord my kid does not live within the boundary of that school.
7:23 a.m. says:
"Please stop posting advice for the mother of this poor, victimized child. She is dealing with higher powers that she will not be able to defeat"
WRONG.
These "higher powers" are indeed defeatable--just look at the Robert Green case. My advice for this child's mother, aunt, and anyone else who is involved in this situation is to HANG IN THERE. Thanks to modern information technology such as this blog, D131 administration is not as able as they were in the past to sweep things under the rug and PRETEND they're making decisions in kids' best interests.
Part of the reason the administration and Board gets away with it is that the ones that feel things are wrong stop at that group. You can go further up the ladder and contact the Regional and The State Board of Education and they will make sure the district is following the IL School Code.
Hows that "just hang in there" working? Its been nearly 2 months and the only thing that is happening, besides all admins and board members patting themselves on the back for covering their butts is Patterson putting the screws to the department where the crime was committed. In other words, someone has to pay and it MUST be the people who dare paint a black eye on our fine institution of higher academic learning and excellence. What a joke!
If "hang in there" doesn't work, then "take it to the next level" might be the next step.
Along with, "make some noise".
All I can say is lawsuits.
Lawsuits by Ms. Vega on behalf of her son.
Lawsuits from each of the teachers now being harassed for exercising their First Amendment rights.
Lawsuits from SpEd parents demanding fair treatment and services for their children.
When the board has to start writing one check after another after another to cover administrative incompetence, maybe then they will do the right thing and dismiss certain administrators.
From the Beacon Blog
mikecy
1:53 PM on December 13, 2011
If this is how a principal and vice-principal are keeping their school looking as though it has a squeaky-clean reputation -- by white washing, lying and fraud, I'd say it's time for a major administration change.
And not just at the school but at the upper administration level on Fifth Street; generally this kind of behavior isn't done by school personnel on their own initiative.
Ms. Vega has been the soul of understanding, whereas at this point, if I had a Special Ed student who'd been through this, I'd already be filing a lawsuit. I'd even see that the money went to a special ed advocacy group and not to myself or child, but knowing 131, threatening them to pay up is the only way to get their attention. We send our kids there expecting them to be educated and protected. It would appear they aren't being protected. How do we know the kids are passing or failing on merit, or is it better for the image of the school to keep back only a couple of students a year?
Its all about Mechelle Patterson working on her own personal agenda and that's it, end of story. Look at her level of school discipline- low referrals, high teacher morale, working on her doctuarate degree to prepare for her next career move- that's all that matters. Her investigation of this matter revealed evidence that all administrative actions in this matter were by the book, precise and with advocacy for the student and his family- end of story. Thus, she was tried in the court of public opinion and has declared herself not guilty. God bless America.
Does anyone know what happened to Ms. DiFatta, the former Arts teacher at Simmons? Wasn't she the teacher who got bombarded by her male students with constant, never-ending lewd comments and verbal assaults? She wrote referral after referral and the boys were back in her class 5 minutes later. Now I remember, she was let go for perceived negativity right before being tenured. It must be dejavu, because Mechelle is vigorously pursuing another teacher who "broke the sacred code". Shut up and do not make any waves or she will get you. I am not sure how such a hostile environment fosters learning and respect among students and faculty. In fact, I do not know how the teachers there get out of bed in the morning. Does anyone know what all the 8th graders were doing after school outside yesterday that had all the admins scrambling? Control, discipline, learning, respect- I would argue the contrary.
Does anyone know what was going on behind Simmons yesterday after school? It looked like a riot was occurring. There were at least 150 students in what appeared to be a mob action. The administrators were running down the halls trying to get back there. The police were involved. It was complete chaos.
Board meeting on the 19th. Anyone can sign up and the pulpit is yours for 3 minutes. Plan your speech and let your voice be heard. It seems many out there have an opinion on how to improve the district and this is the platform for your voice to be heard and action plans can be put in place. Let's work on building the district up with great ideas instead of efforting toward tearing it down. I would rather drive a freshly- tuned auto, versus one with the wheels falling off- so to speak.
Unfortunately, the district administration and board own the car and have the repair budget. About all we can do is squeak. So keep on squeaking people. Maybe the power might hear you.
Squeaking, chirping, whining- but all in private. Make any noise and slam! You're out! They are plotting their next move as we speak. They may own the car, but its a Yugo
Roberts, Johnson and Patterson were all together today must be more problems with the student. Did not see Roberts in the building until today
Ankyone can speak at the meeting for 3 minutes. Practice what you are going to say so it all will get in, in the 3 mins. The press is there and sometimes they will talk to the people who talk before the board.
The press may be there, but they do not use much of the info, if it is not to the PR's liking.
Point taken, but at least it is out there to them. One truly never knows what might happen. I know if I was to speak before the board that I have at least tried. I also know that if I am not happy with the out come that I can take it to other channels and have in the past. There has been problems in the past for me but I am still here.
Happened again blog admin, so please take away one of my posts. Thanks
The agenda is on the district website. Hope to see many there Monday.
Just an FYI, it appears that the teacher who was helping the assaulted boy has been suspended. Once again, trumped up nonsense and Mecehelle Patterson have led to someone taking the fall for this. Let's see if any of the board is even aware of this or is it hush, hush it's been swept under the rug and the matter is closed
Where is the unions stand on this?
The EA teachers union doesn't "stand" for anything, it sits and makes nice with the administrattion.
I sense another Bob Green type lawsuit coming. The administrators are the ones who have made every mistake with this kids case. Now they're going after the teacher? The only one with enough integrity to defend this helpless SpEd kid?
It's quite apparent that this Patterson is just as unethical and vindictive as Marin Gonzales is.
"Let's see if any of the board is even aware of this"
You won't find that out at the board meeting. If this is true, it's now a personnel matter and the board can only discuss it in executive session.
Anybody see the latest article on Orland from West Aurora?
You state that the teacher was suspended for helping the child what do you mean about that? Was it because the teacher helped him in they gym or with the Beacon article?
Administrators don't give a damn about the kids. They only care about their pathetic image. Any teacher who states anything publicly which makes them look bad is immediately attacked. Certain administrators are notorious for taking any little infraction and blowing it completely out of proportion to harrass employees.
This particular teacher has never been suspended before but the same day the article came out in the Beacon Patterson gave him notice to get union representation and come to the meeting where they suspended him for 5 days without pay.
He's already consulted an attorney (I believe it's the same one Mr. Green used to beat the district) to determine the strength of a harrassment suit against Patterson and the district. I hope he goes forward with the suit. There is no justice in this district. An employee has no choice except to go to outside sources to find a fair settlement to any situation.
Don't they have to get the boards approval for the suspension? Also since the article said it was anonymous the administration might think it was him but can't prove it. I would get the lawyer and fight it since most would think that a teacher should stand up for the student. The more this district tries to improve their image the more they hurt it. The people in this district that really care should start a fund to help with lawyer fees for the ones that our standing up for the best interest of our students.
I see the approved minutes from 11/21/2011 have been posted but the list of bills doesn't show what are they trying to hide now?
Everyone who works at Simmons knows this teacher was written up long before the child had problems. In fact he was on track to be fired as a tenure teacher. He decided to call this parent and make trouble because of this. He could have cared less about the student only the fact he was so horrible he was getting fired at the end of the school year. He also had a drinking problem that prevented him from working all the time. There is also a large group of teachers that wrote the Beacon and are trying to get their side in the paper that Simmons is a great place to work. That is the real story.
There was a group that wrote to the Beacon during the mishandling and misrepresentation of another incident a few years ago. Good luck in making a difference with that one. At least the other side will be heard.
The real sad part, here, is the Bullying victim whose side (inside-heart & mind) will never be heard without causing further victimizing.
If you are looking to get something done I would write either the Daily Herald or the Trib. You can also contact NBC 5 Chicago on their website.
Dear 10:24 PM
You are absolutely out of your mind in what you declare as the real story. This teacher, as an absolute matter of fact, consumes probably 2 to 3 drinks a year. To state he has a drinking problem is "effen" crap. You are way off base on this. As for many teachers going to the Beacon to tell of how great it is to work there- name me one, just one. Nice try Mechelle.
This teacher cannot attend the board meeting this Monday. He is banned, conveniently, from District property for 5 days. Where is our union in all of this? I see the deductions for dues every 2 weeks, yet when we need to utilize them, where are they? If a good union rep was at this ambush, he would have told Patterson to take that suspension and stick it. I know I would have
Get over it.
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