Mundelien Superintendent Can’t Spend Money Fast Enough
- on 07.18.06
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With the supposed financial problems in Mundelien District 120 after a failed referendum this past March and another referendum already being discussed, you would think the Superintendent would be more careful in how he spends the taxpayers money. You would be wrong; it appears Mundelien Superintendent Stan Fields can’t seem to spend the taxpayers money fast enough.
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Fields and the board were at odds Tuesday over his proposal to give a roughly $25,000 surplus in the business office’s budget to three employees. Fields wanted to give the workers the extra money for “assuming additional responsibilities and working long hours,†according to a memo. The board debated the request but didn’t vote on it, postponing a decision until an Aug. 8 meeting. Some members questioned giving the employees bonuses, a term Fields rejected. |
Unless these employees are paid hourly, this would be considered a bonus. In the real world, employees don’t get extra money for working extra hours. This is especially true when the company is struggling financially.
Of course, the Daily Herald is more interested in the tense dealing between the superintendent and the board instead of look at the actual issue of why.
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Wirt attributes a lot of the conflict to the 2004 school board election, which saw him and three political allies win seats and gain control of the panel. Board members ousted in that election were among the officials who hired Fields and the current panel has a different operational philosophy, Wirt said. “There’s bound to be some resentment (for) that,†he said. |
The real issue is philosophical. Fields is hired by the board and appears to not be getting his way on every issue. The new board members are most likely holding him accountable and he doesn’t like this.
Of course they point out several other district where the school board and superintendents didn’t get along:
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Former Grayslake Elementary District 46 Superintendent Kurt Anderson left the post a year ago after he found himself at odds on various issues with his board. Two recent Gavin Elementary District 37 superintendents clashed with board members, too. Marge Fostiak stepped down last year after a tumultuous three years in the Ingleside-based district. Her successor, Pam Rockwood, quit the post last month. |
I don’t know all the details of the Gavin superintendents, but I do know some about Kurt Anderson. He was spending the District 46 into a deep hole. A new school board was elected after the 4th referendum defeat. Dr. Anderson was replaced and the new board has not gone back to referendum and will be opening a new school in the fall of 2007 without a referendum. There are other issues about the new board here that I am not happy with myself, but we are working on getting the bonds they are overtaxing us with abated.
The Daily Herald and others need to realize that many school superintendents believe they are unaccountable to the taxpayers. They believe they always know more than you or I and so we should bow down and thank them profusely for running our schools. This attitude must stop.
Government schools are spending tremendous amounts of money more than private schools, charter schools and home schools, yet provide and inferior education to our children.
[...] The following letter appeared today in the Daily Herald. The issues here go well beyond just this one school district. Other district have handed out bonuses or attempted to do so anyway. [...]