Thursday, May 14, 2015

The 2014-2015 school year is swiftly drawing to a close...





Let's finish strong and enjoy a safe, restful summer!

211 comments:

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When you point with one finger, you have three pointing back at you said...

There is no way in H____ that the FOIAs that Padron have requested has cost the District 100K. Either someone is exaggerating to an enormous extent, or someone is wasting a LOT of time and using the FOIAs as an excuse. I read his posts and have read the board minutes and that stuff he requests should be handy and easily downloaded, copied or attached to an email with minimal effort. Unless, I suppose, there are other options, of which could be- 1.) the files he requests do not exist and have to be created. 2.) the files he requests have info that someone does not want seen, and must be recreated. 3.) or the files exist but the system is so poorly managed nothing can be found.

Padron could have been easily pacified, but instead some person(s) in the business office want to keep focus on him and blame him for lawyer costs, FOIA costs, time "wasted" and many other, any other thing possible. It has been mentioned on this blog in the past, how the business office is good for using distraction as away to avoid confrontation. Padron is the most recent scapegoat for that ploy. Someone mentioned Padron's job and insurance,and taking a look at him. Who cares about why he had insurance through his wife or where he works?! Just answer that mans questions!! Someone keeps pointing the finger at Padron, the Union....the stuff is rolling downhill but the problems start at the top. BOE step it up. You are the ultimate responsible party. Have your employee be accountable to you, or you will be asked to be accountable to us, John Q. Taxpayer or Ralph Padron....whatever IL tax paying citizen chooses to have questions about the way the district is doing business.

The B is back said...

Sick of Padron sounds like Annette's sour grapes. It was in the Beacon she recommended and with the lawyers help, they paid Padron a onetime fee and contracted him for doing some work. She thought she could bribe him with a temp job into being part of her circle. Then he went out and did what he was hired for and found MORE discrepancies in the bookkeeping, in which Johnson claims to be the expert. So now they have paid Padron to put more egg on the district's face. He did what he was paid to do, the results were NOT what Johnson had expected, she was not able to manipulate him, so the mud slinging started. She is good at name calling. Padron was an opportunist, there is nothing wrong with that.

It's not Thursday, but here is a throwback. said...

Hear her for yourself
https://soundcloud.com/chicagosun-times/annetter-johnson-and-ray-hull

It won't be long before someone will challenge Annette and her true colors will show again. For those who may not have been paying attention back then....here is what's to come.

Feud between East Aurora School Board members turns ugly
By Stephanie Lulay and Erika Wurst

AURORA — Two East Aurora School Board members let an ongoing feud boil over, trading insults such as “slumlord” and “loser” at a board committee meeting last week.
East Aurora School Board President Annette Johnson, an Aurora business owner, and board member Ray Hull, head of the city of Aurora’s water and sewer department, engaged in a bitter war of words at the afternoon meeting on Dec. 6.

Following a disagreement about janitorial bids, Johnson and Hull took a detour from the Buildings and Grounds Committee agenda:

“I guess you work for me at the city because I pay your wages through my taxes,” Johnson said. “While you were living in public housing, my mom was paying those taxes.”

Hull responded: “How do you like that big ol’ house by yourself over there? What do you hug at night, your pillow or your mannequin?”

Hull: “I love the projects. Me and (East Aurora spokesman) Clayton (Muhammad) was right next to each other in those same projects.”

Johnson: “Yup, while I was paying those taxes.”

Hull: “My mother was paying rent, too, and your mother might have been a slumlord, for all I know. Just like you.”

Johnson goes on to say that Hull lacks intelligence and is a loser, while Hull says that Johnson is mean, nasty, bipolar and “crazy as a roller.”

“Mr. Hull is just a loser, quite frankly,” Johnson said.

Hull fires back: “Your mama was a loser, and your daddy was, too. And you’re one, too.”

East Superintendent Jerome Roberts and board member Anita Lewis attempted to curb the fighting at the meeting.

“Why don’t you guys go out to supper?” Lewis said. “What does this have to do with me sitting here for buildings and grounds?”

But the fighting continued.

Johnson: “Mr. Hull had his degree paid for by me, Mrs. Taxpayer. Listen to this man, attacking my dead mother.”

Hull: “And you talking about me being a loser. Go find someone to marry... You didn’t pay nothing for me, honey.”

During a discussion with staff earlier in the meeting, Hull called Johnson a bully.

“No one is having an antagonistic situation except you, you came into this room looking for a fight, and you’re going to get one from me,” Johnson said to Hull.

“You can bully everyone in this room. You can bully these boys but you won’t bully me,” Hull said. “You’re not going to tell me anything.”

At one point, a school district staff member came into the room, asking if she could close the door because of the loud quarrel.

“No. It’s a public meeting,” Hull replied.

Hull said Thursday the fight that escalated out of control was a “symptom of a much bigger problem.”

“It’s a symptom of a dysfunctional board. This is certainly not the only incident that’s been ugly,” he said.

Johnson called the incident a “blow out” fight.

“It’s been one thing after another (with the board) and it just caught me on the wrong day,” Johnson said.

Both Johnson and Hull said they regret parts of the argument.

“I rolled in the mud with (Johnson). I made a choice. I never would have said anything about her mother if she didn’t say mine was a freeloader,” Hull said. “I know I let God down with my behavior.”

Johnson said Hull’s words came on the anniversary of her mother’s death. Hull said his mother died when he was 19.

Apologies aside, both board members said they don’t agree with the other’s management style.
Johnson said Hull “gets more into defending individual (East staffers) than looking at the bigger picture.

“He’s hard to work with,” Johnson said.

Hull said he cannot “stand by and
watch (Johnson) abuse staff.”

“The board — we don’t work as a team. It’s like Annette Johnson and the Pips. It’s her show,” he said
December 14, 2012 at 9:11 AM

Stretched thin said...

Absolutely! That is the bulk of the budget! However, there are more resources needed to support those students: social workers, ELL specialists and translators. Not to mention all of the after school programming and summer school to attempt to close the achievement gap. The money only goes so far,

And the Point is said...

To: Pointless

How ignorant can you be? That is the point. The reason we have so few teachers with experience in District 131 is because the district refuses to pay teachers a competitive wage. By the time a teacher reaches the middle of the pay scale, they are paid $15,000-$20,000 less than all the surrounding districts and they can make up to $40,000 at the top of the pay scale. That doesn't includes the money lost with stipends.

The district is deliberately engineering a teaching force of beginning teachers. With less than 20 years of teaching experience, I am at the top of the seniority list in my building. In other districts, I would be in the middle to bottom in seniority.

What really needs to happen is a lawsuit on behalf of the students by the parents of this community. The district is deliberately manipulating the system to deprive the children of a quality education. They are overcrowding the classes and placing inexperienced teachers in the classroom. That's all we need is one brave parent to file an educational malpractice lawsuit against the district. All these facts would then become part of the legal record.

The main goal of federal Race to the Top money was to ensure that students in communities like East Aurora were given every opportunity that students in more affluent areas received, especially where it comes to experienced teachers. The district would stand to lose millions in federal money if the feds were informed about how the district is deliberately depriving our children of excellent/experienced teachers.

Fact check said...

Fact Check

Other retired teachers were hired at the time Pardon was to help pay for insurance. The district has saved millions, and millions because of Annette Johnson in insurance. Many former board members had heard claims of employees not getting insurance deductions and did nothing. Johnson did and much money was saved.

Get on same page said...

The district never received Race to the Top funds, in fact the state has passed unfunded mandate after mandate. Blame Linda Chapa Lavia and Kifowhit for most of it. Look at dollars spent electing Darby, Arroyo and Lasch. All were funded by Kifowhit and Lavia. Someone needs to ask why.

The new board was in charge by the time the contract was written, we need to ask why they allowed such a insulting agreement to pass. Why is the board not talking about Fix the Formula. The big dollars of that should all go to teachers. Again, they won't because it hurts Lavia who is running for Mayor. The new board needs to get on the same page as Dr Popp not worry about who will become Mayor.

Rayanne said...

I told Annette about the insurance problem when she first got on the Board. I have posted this before, but someone seems to want to give Annette credit where it is NOT due. An employee called my home asking for help to get her insurance problem resolved through the district. She said she had made several attempts and until it was rectified her bills were not getting paid through a second insurance company. I told Annette, Roberts and Augustine about this lady. I was assured the problem was resolved. Annette waited a number of years before claiming to have just found the insurance discrepancies. My personal opinion, the stuff was headed towards the fan. Roberts and Annette knew about it all along and Augustine was thrown under the bus.....I mean, allowed to retire. So, "fact check"- check the facts. She allowed the district to continue to lose money for nearly 5 more years while she claimed to be on top of the finances and boasted about the great job and all the improvements in finance Roberts was doing...with her expert assistance, of course.

Alota hot air said...

Rayanne, if you are indeed Rayanne you were a board member and could have brought it up in public. Sitting on the board means you are not limited to 3 minutes like the rest of us common folk. So you could have fixed the insurance long before Annett since I think you got elected before her.

As for fixing it at least it got done no help to yourself

When I worked with you on band issues alota complaining and no action.

Poor Administrative Decisions said...

To: Get on same page

You are correct, District 131 never received Race to the Top funds. However, we did apply for the funds and were therefor obligated to follow all the Race to the Top regulations. At least that is what Joan Glotzbach keeps telling the administrators and teachers as she pushes one mandate after another. And since, we receive millions of dollars from the federal government, those funds could be withheld if we don't follow the federal mandates. So, the district was screwed and didn't receive one extra dollar for their trouble. Makes a person wonder who's making such brilliant administrative decisions for us.

Rayanne said...

Yes, it is me. I suspect my band buddy may be Anita. The insurance issue came up shortly before both Annette and Anita were elected. I brought it up through the proper channels and was assured it was taken care of. I would be happy to discuss this with you, call or message me. I did not brag about being an accounting major. I wanted to be the community liaison to the Board. I was not trying to become board president or the supt.s new best friend, nor take over the books in finance. I resigned after the new Board made choices I could no longer allow my name to be signed, As a Board member, to things I did not agree. After I left, when it came to the finances......Fixing it took 4 years! What was the hold up? Where was the root of the real problem?

For the record, the only band issue or complaining I did was when the director that had worked hard for our kids and made decisions based on family/ booster input, took the flack for our requests. He has now retired, Mr. K has left the building. For over 5 years I volunteered on trips, at camp, chaperoned at games on DC and FL trips. I loaded fruit, instruments and students when needed.....I would call that a bit of action. Of what "issues" did you feel I complained and did not act? Anyway, as I said....feel free to contact me.

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