The weather made it difficult to keep the candles lit, but that didn’t deter some 50 parents and kids from demonstrating outside Indian Trail School Monday evening in advance of the D58 school board meeting.
Inside, close to 200 people crowded the gym awaiting the start of the meeting and the arrival of member Scott O’Connell, who hurried in just minutes before 7 p.m. It was O’Connell’s second attempt to hold up the sale of $10 million in life-safety bonds earmarked to fund school roof replacements and other projects that prompted the demonstration and the unusually large audience.
Prior to the meeting yesterday, e-mails were circulating decrying the condition of the Kingsley School roof, which necessitates a strategically placed bucket, as shown in the photo at right.
Board President Liz Davis prefaced the meeting with this statement:
As you can see, we have more than a full house this evening—so, prior to beginning the Dec. 14 meeting of the District 58 Board of Education, we would like to thank everyone for their support, and for advocating for the safety of our students.
Whether you are part of the PTA, a member of the Downers Grove community, a business partner or a teacher in our district, we value your input and partnership. Having served in the past as a PTA president and a PTA district director, I know that as PTA members, your mission is to provide a “powerful voice for all children,” as well as to be a “strong advocate for the education and well-being of every child.” This mission fully aligns with District 58’s mission, which calls for partnering with parents and the community to challenge each child by providing quality educational programs and support services in a safe, nurturing environment.
Since our November 23 Financial Workshop, the Board of Education has received numerous e-mails regarding the sale of the Life Safety bonds to address our most pressing facilities needs. We want to assure you that your voices are being heard, and we are committed to moving forward as soon as possible. Our goal is to ensure that we are providing a safe, nurturing environment in all of our buildings, and return our focus to the educational experience our students have each day in those buildings.
We would like to thank you for coming this evening to share your thoughts and offer your support, and for being a powerful voice for the children in District 58.
Photo credit: Joe Olejniczak
I think of interest is the fact that O’Connell’s email address has been removed from the D58 website.
Scott’s email is there, along with all other Board members:
http://www.dg58.org/boe/boe.htm
Wow 200 concerned parents at a D58 board meeting. Now that is getting involved! Nice!! The squeaky wheel always gets the grease.
Someone else may have asked
-With this many people wanting the bonds, why not a voter referendum?
-Is there ANY money currently availabel for roof repairs?
-What happened to that money 58 found three years ago when voters voted down the last “gotta fix the roofs” referendum?
I am curious as to why the two vocal supporters of O’Connell last night – who also laughed out loud and heckled our passionate residents- are from Lemont? A Lemont Board of Ed member, and a Lemont resident, passing themselves off as DG residents , are the primary supporters of O’Connell? If supporters of O’Connell are there to speak, they should have the decency to admit they are not residents of our district. Instead they refused to disclose where they were from, and continued to act as if they are tax-paying residents. The entire situation smells FOUL.
Julie – how do you know?
Also, they sat there and CHIT CHATTED ALL NIGHT and did not give ANYONE respect or their attention – I wondered all night who they were and was very close to going over and asking them to stop their disrespect of the people speaking (this was during the grant presentations)
if what you are saying is true (and I am not doubting you, Julie!) then this REALLY makes me FURIOUS and I am so glad I didn’t know THAT last night…
Editor’s note: This information was confirmed by D58. The women in question are Lemont resident Tracy Dalton and Janet Hughes, a member of the Lemont-Bromberek Combined 113A school board. Another source sent this link, which features Dalton.
here
I emailed the Board member w/a copy to all of her fellow Board members.. let’s see if I get a response!
Looks like there’s a special club for the conspiracy theorists:
http://reachingthestarsblog.com/2009/10/21/still-standing-strong/
Guess Hughes and Dalton can’t get enough drama from Lemont alone–they needed to visit our community to raise some more last night.
Also, keep an “eye” on any district policies that have to do with the “Vision First” campaign.
http://janetsjournalblog.com/
Excuse me while I go vomit – how do these types of people manage to find each other?!
Debbie
Please post a copy of the e-mail you sent to the Board member so we can see it. You can save me a trip to FOI it.
Thanks
I want to research back to what Mr. O’Connell said while campaigning for his school board spot. From his time on the board, I have learned a great deal about how he feels money should be handled, but very little about how he thinks education should be improved.
I don’t care what organization we’re talking about — a business, a government entity, even our own families — almost all are wasting money in some way somewhere. Or spending in a way that someone feels is wasteful. It’s always good to be prudent with money and to debate expenditures. BUT…
The school board is supposed to be about education, right? Not an experiment/argument about money? I am more than a little angry that the focus has been shifted away from what and how well our children are learning. What does Mr. O’Connell contribute to THAT discussion?
In my opine…
If the school board had done its due diligence in the first place we would not be in the situation. Let me explain why I say this.
First off, how come nobody knew how many leaky roofs we had in the district until O’Connell blocked the bond issuance?
Second, why didn’t the board hire an inspector? The board needed to make very public any pictures of the leaks. A detailed inspectors assessment would have gone a long way in drumming up public support for the projects.
Lastly, where was the communication from the board and the school district to its tax payers regarding the poor condition of some of its roofs and that a major expenditure was needed to rectify the situation?
Just some questions to ponder while we all blame O’Connell. There is plenty of blame to go around here but O’Connell is the easy target.
I would also ask Mr. O’Connell that if he has proof that the district has the working cash to fund the roof replacements with out a bond, that he go on record with a local new paper or blog to make his case.
Chad-
I hate the secrecy with the taxpayers money. This was a platform that O’Connell ran on.
However, he refuses to make public why he opposes the bond. Why?
Furthermore, how much is his legal fees costing us. Don’t forget, because of O’Connell’s objections, Davis had to oppose the bonds under the advice of the district’s lawyer. The school district had to then sue Liz Davis. They have to pay for the district’s lawyer. They also have to pay for Davis’ lawyer as well. (They are paying two lawyers against each other!) This is not cheap I imagine.
Just a follow up on my previous post.
I just read today’s Reporter Newspaper and Mr. O’Connell states there is $7.8 million in the working cash fund that could be used to pay for the roof repairs. Is there a board member who would like to come on DGreport and answer to the tax payers why this is not being discussed and why you need an additional $10 million bond? I would also caution all D58 parents that if this is true we need to take a step back and re-evaluate the bond. The roofs are not going to be replaced until summer anyway, why rush it. I think this board is just hell bent against anything Mr. O’Connell brings up. In my humble opinion this is very short sighted and not very responsible. If I am off base feel free to visit us here on the blog D58 board. Thanks.
Chad D. Walz
Kingsley Parent
Tax payer
Board needs to explain why these roofs are only lasting 15 years. Did they cover them with gravel as is standard to reduce sun damage ? Or just plain rubber ??
Chad, I take it you didn’t go to the meeting? That working cash fund used to be called a fund balance.. the way it was always explained to me (by someone who had worked in 2 school districts that had gone bankrupt from lack of fiscal responsibility and financial health) the fund balance is extremely important to the financial and fiscal health of a school district. What if it is all spent and then what? What if something catastrophic were to happen in the school district and the kids needed this money? where would it come from? This “reserve” “working cash fund” “fund balance” or whatever you want to call it, is vital and essential to our school district and any FINANCIALLY responsible school district has one – the fund is not a secret -it has been public and fairly common knowledge for some time – I know, I am not a school board member, but I have been very active in our school district in many ways for 12 years and counting
Of further concern to Illinois school districts: Will the state make good on its share of expenses? As we all know, that’s a big “if ” going forward.
If the leaky roofs are not considered catastrophic enough to merit the use of reserve funds, let’s have a reasonable referendum as Todd Krause has suggested. Give the Board a break and let the voters decide.
No I didn’t make the meeting. My first obligation is to my family, then my hobbies. At least I get the 411 unlike many people who just comment here. I go to plenty of meetings, no one can take me to task over that. I even watch the VC meetings on the web.
What is the reserve fund for? I am asking. I am not a math guy. Tell me why its needed? Why would a school district go bankrupt? Lawsuit? I agree Pete if a roof isn’t a good enough reason to dip into the reserve what is? Tell me oh wise ones? Thanks.
When they got the court ruling, and then still declined to move forward on the bond issue with the exact same threat of lawsuit as originally caused the legal action in the first place…something’s not right about that.
Chad,
A Reserve fund is money that set aside for emergencies e.g. Budget Shortfalls etc. Personally I would dip into that fund UNDER the Stipulation that it would be paid back to the fund.