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Linda Burke June 6, 2013 at 08:25 am
Don't be fooled. The new board members, together with ally Richard Skoda, are hoping to make a…Read More radical turn AWAY from the transparent process we've enjoyed up to now. (The reason for posting some information the morning after the board meeting was so that board members could do their homework ahead of time. The entire agenda was posted no later than the next morning, and the public can watch the entire board meeting on video at www.hinsdale86.org--there was in fact no secrecy whatsoever.) Ignored by the media, the new board members are seeking to eliminate the monthly Committee of the Whole meeting, also videotaped. Only one meeting a month, if they have their way, will be filmed and fully publicized. Instead of truly public meetings, they intend to have seven (7) committees, meeting as often as twice a month (or more?) on different days and at different times, with no videotaping and most likely no reporters present. The new Facilities Committee held two three-hour meetings in the month of May. Even though they are technically open to the public, no taxpayer could possibly keep up with seven times two (14) three-hour meetings a month. Having attended the 5/31 Facilities meeting, I see why Mr. Corcoran would like to keep much of the discussion under the radar, but that's a different topic. Sure, the sole monthly meeting would be "transparent," but also a rubber stamp for decisions essentially made behind closed doors. By all means post the agenda earlier--that's not a bad idea. But taxpayers who want a truly transparent process should protest the elimination of the monthly, regularly scheduled evening Committee of the Whole meeting, and they should demand that the new "committee" structure--a recipe for sinister backroom deals if there ever was one--be absolutely kept to a minimum, while every important discussion takes place at the Committee of the Whole and regular action board meetings, which are videotaped and truly open to the public. --Linda Burke
Third-Grade Parent May 22, 2013 at 04:50 pm
So let's see if we understand this: "groundbreaking work" means the majority of D181…Read More third-grade students cannot hit a MAP test growth target. In the eyes of Renee Schuster, this is correct; furthermore, she believe sufficient growth is at "or above" 50%. Wow, what a lofty standard she has set for a district that once was considered high achieving. In less than 3 years, Schuster has flushed the growth, hope, and aptitude of students, teachers, and parents alike down the toilet. But wait, next year she has "a better plan to make it work." Yeah, right. If the performance of our district as a whole this past "transition" year is any indication of the effectiveness of her leadership and the direction she is taking, parents should be demanding this experimentation on children stop immediately. Oh, and if a highly paid Superintendent cannot articulate the difference between a mean and median test result (as evidenced at the last BOE meeting), she should be fired. The students and parents of D181 deserve better. Numbers don't lie, people do.
Sue Pircon May 15, 2013 at 02:39 pm
I assume that the board believes that the cost savings on changing the scope of the project will…Read More outweigh the cancellation fees for postponing the work. Anyone who spends much time in the hallways of Hinsdale Central knows that the painting work cannot be deferred for long.
Ed Corcoran May 16, 2013 at 04:21 pm
Sue - this project and others need further review and we have no information on what this project…Read More costs if the entire school was remodeled in this manner. There should be no panic and all measures of prudence and review should be undertaken to protect both students and taxpayers. The Remodeling project is much more than painting - it is new flooring, locker painting and maintenance, new lighting, new ceilings, wall displays, wall painting, etc... Remodeling small sections of the hallways year-by-year is not efficient nor practical. The overhead costs using the current approach are probably close to 25%. We need to drive down the costs and understand the total costs if the entire school is remodeled as planned. The approach suggested gives no economies of scale. The Facilities Committee discussed this in detail. The cancellation costs for re-bidding all the projects will likely be less than $10K, and this could have been avoided if the past board would have listened to our request to delay the decision by 2 weeks. There are serious issues with the scope, costs, timing, and information in several of the projects, including the project to upgrade the cosmetics in small sections of the hallways at both schools. None of the work being postponed is crucial. Personally I support the idea of a universal upgrade to the hallways, but the scope and project objectives need to be written in detail and must be better vetted with students, teachers, parents and taxpayers.
Elaine S Stern May 8, 2013 at 04:39 pm
However four Chicago Public High Schools ranked higher. 25 Northside College Preparatory, 55…Read More Whitney M. Young, 87 Walter Payton College Prep, and 138 Jones College Prep.
Jack Rarebit May 17, 2013 at 11:52 pm
She must manage "up" well, because in my opinion she is an awful principal who alienated…Read More nearly everyone she encountered (parents, PTO, teachers, students) and caused damage to a number of students.
Check the data: there are a number of parents who have withdrawn their children from Monroe Elementary rather than allow Ms. Benaitis to damage them further.
It is a very poor reflection on the school board that it voted to allow her to have even more influence on a broader group of children. Kudos to board members Garg and Henneghan for voting "no."
Sue Pircon May 9, 2013 at 07:10 pm
With Ms. Barrett's official departure from the board, I would have expected the lawsuit to be…Read More dropped, but it continues. From my count, she has appealed the verdict 3 times and has cost the taxpayers over $90K in legal fees! Now that she is no longer a member of the board, she is definitely not entitled to see these records. It will be interesting to watch the new board handle the details of this legal battle.
Karen Strumillo May 23, 2013 at 03:40 am
Sue Pircon,
You know the truth! Why do you continue to allow all this abuse, to happen to the…Read More children at Hinsdale Central, along with bond fraud, along with a teacher convicted sex charges, social security number stolen, no child left behind Super Hinsdale High School failed. Why? Why are you afraid to open books? Interesting some students whom attended your school now adults would testify to prove the allegations are true. This maybe a game changer.
Karen Smith Strumillo
Steve Woodward May 7, 2013 at 02:15 pm
Finally, stewardship and accountability in District 86. What a concept!
Linda Burke May 2, 2013 at 06:39 pm
Thank you, Joan and Sue! It is also grossly misleading to suggest that the facilities planning…Read More process was somehow not "open," as did Mr. Corcoran in his audience comments on 4/22 and in his shouted interruption of Mr. Lim, who had just been invited to explain the bidding process. Every single detail of the facilities plan has been discussed over and over, in full public view, over months and even years. I've learned a lot from attending board meetings. Not only did most board members work hard on the facilities plan, but many community volunteers were involved with the process. (If only one company comes forward to bid, that is a reflection of market conditions in a free society.) Of course, it is within anyone's right to disagree with the facilities plan as a whole or in part, but to accuse our own neighbors--all volunteers--of a wrongful "process" is not only untrue--it is hurtful, divisive, and in no way conducive to the well-being of or kids and our schools. Let us hope the new board members will quickly realize they have much to learn and adopt a more constructive attitude.
Keith Skibicki May 3, 2013 at 03:46 pm
Linda characterized Ed Cocoran As “shouting down” Mr. Lim. If you review the School…Read More Board video for April 22, 2013 at approximately the 1:16:40 through the 1:17:17 mark you could decide if he “shouted down” Mr. Lim. I wish Mr. Corcoran was able to shed some light on this procedure since that is his area of expertise but it was clear the current board was extremely interested in this lame duck move.
Gary May 5, 2013 at 04:09 pm
More of the same. If the construction market is picking up after years of decline, these forms would…Read More be reaching for all they can get. A one bid result should result in re-bidding the project after analysis of why others did not respond. Could there be undue influence here?
Colleen Corey April 26, 2013 at 10:44 am
I agree with Skoda! This calendar is ridiculous!! Freshman have to go to school on a Tuesday &…Read More then, wait 2 days before starting their real schedule?! Then, the rest of the students start school on a Friday! I am a teacher, & I would appreciate a "teacher plan day" after the 2 institute days to get last minute things ready for my students. They should have had 2 institute days, freshman orientation/teacher plan day & then, the first day of school. DuPage HS Dist. 88 follows that schedule, and it has worked well for years.Maybe Dr. Wahl should speak to Dr. Helton for input on this topic!!!
Tom Fender April 26, 2013 at 01:24 pm
I am a teacher also and I disagree with Colleen Corey. District 86 teachers already work more days…Read More than the average teacher does. If you have the institute days first you increase the days by contract. Do you want to pay the teachers more?
Mary E. Campbell April 26, 2013 at 02:29 pm
Teachers need time to articulate, to plan for using new programs and to decorate those bulletin…Read More boards! Ask teachers to report in August, as usual, so they can learn about new programs, work our schedule kinks, meet with their teams and be sure materials have all arrived.
Have kids begin school right after Labor Day. No more 'whole week off' at
Thanksgiving --- W,Th, and Fri are enough days to eat turkey. No more 2 weeks off at Winter Break. One week and maybe a day after New Year's is enough to be off school here during some of the worst weather of the year. No more full week off for Spring Break. W, Th, and Fri are just enough days to experience the change of the seasons. No more 'grading day' at the end of the school year, or half days off the last week of school. Let the kids out before Memorial Day.
This gives teachers a week of kid-less time to wrap it up. Pay teacher-leaders extra-duty to attend summer workshops when they learn about new systems for the coming year. Before the students arrive in September, lead-teachers share what they've learned with their teams during prep time in August. With this calendar, attendance days for kids are met. Teachers have concentrated time to complete professional tasks. A purposeful tone for a productive school year is set from the beginning and everyone hits the pavement running. Done.
Tom Shelly April 24, 2013 at 10:46 pm
The election costs us a principal. Two weeks after the election, McGrory quits! Coincidence?
Karen April 24, 2013 at 07:13 am
Socioeconomics has everything to do with Hindsdale Central and it's good standings.
Children that…Read More are well fed, have two parent families, and live in the upper middle class stand to have a higher ranked school, especially when there is not a real mix of class or race. Compare this to Hinsdale South or to Lyons Township High Schools, whose students feed from lower income housing. It is like comparing apples to oranges. All are good schools. Just a different mix. Compare the average ACT score and the differences are not that great.
Linda Burke April 24, 2013 at 02:57 pm
The omission of South from the rankings was most unfair but not unprecedented. A recent Chicago…Read More Tribune article (Dec. 4, 2012) discussed admissions to Ivy League colleges from Chicago-area high schools. Statistics from Hinsdale Central were provided, while South was completely ignored, even though both high schools share a top-notch academic program and both, of course, have graduates attending Ivy League schools. Hinsdale South has a rising poverty rate, but with stable or rising test scores, and a record number of students receiving National Merit Finalist status in 2012-13 (among other indicators of academic excellence.) This success in helping all their students is due to a world-class mentoring program created by Dr. Waterman and the dedicated teachers at South, who neither asked for nor received any extra compensation for their involvement. I learned of the program from attendance at board meetings--it hasn't received any coverage in the news media, although it deserves to.
Joe O'Donnell (Editor) March 27, 2013 at 07:37 pm
Quick editor's note: This questionnaire was supplied, and the answers were received, before the…Read More board voted to approve the Advanced Learning Plan last month.
chet everett March 27, 2013 at 07:51 pm
The effort on the part of the press is appreciated but the extremely guarded response on the part of…Read More the candidates is not -- folks ought to be forthcoming with their real agenda. Oldsters that are supported by the "my tax bill is too high" crowd don't want to tip their hands lest the majority of citizens that live inside D181 primarly for the superlative schools be tipped off to the coming "slash and burn" agenda.
The general lack of awareness of just how fiscally responsible (some want say downright skinflint..) the BOE has been does not node well even for the candidates that most strong support the mission of superior school performance...
Sue Pircon March 22, 2013 at 11:33 am
Congratulations to Mary. What a great addition to the McAuley campus. Have fun going from a…Read More household of boys to dealing with all girls! I have no doubt you will do a fabulous job.
Pedro March 21, 2013 at 06:23 pm
District 181 parents: Are you aware Schuster has rammed this "significant change" through…Read More the school board and now we are faced with less intructional time for our children? This on top of the sweeping changes included in the so-called "Advanced Learning Plan," which really affects every single child by Schuster's own recent admission. At least District 86 was responsible enough to add 3 instructional days to the school calendar because of their late start program. What do the children of 181 get? Less classroom time and no desire on Schuster's part to add back the 1.5 hours/day X 8 days. But in addition to our high taxes supporting less teaching, we can now subsitize day care at all the schools. Our district has become a laughing stock, and it's Schuster wearing the grin.
Joe O'Donnell (Editor) March 22, 2013 at 01:21 pm
Thanks for the comment. Just a couple of points of clarification:
1. The school board has not yet…Read More voted on the 2013-14 schedule; it's only tentative until a final vote, likely in May, so changes theoretically can still be made.
2. The late start days are not exactly "on top of," but part of the Advanced Learning Plan, as additional professional development is needed, the district says.
Thanks.
Joe
D86 Board's Expanded Use of Committees Criticized, Meetings…
Comment Recommend Joe O'Donnell (Editor)