This is a call to action for transparency advocates. Next Wed, Feb. 3rd there will be meeting of the Grayslake School Board. Joe Calomino of the Americans for Prosperity will be speaking along with myself in requesting the school districts places it’s check register online.
You can read the original request here. [...]
As many of you know I have been fighting for transparency in Grayslake District 46 for several years. To this end I am working with Americans For Prosperity (AFP) to help finally make this effort a reality. The following is the letter sent to each school board member and Superintendent Ellen Correll last [...]
Are you tired of the ever increasing property taxes? Tonight you have an opportunity to speak out at a special meeting of the District 46 school Board. The board will be reviewing their projected budget shortfall and voting on their tax levy increase. Yes, that is correct, an increase in their levy. [...]
The Grayslake School Board has scheduled a community forum for this Wednesday night at 7:30 pm at Grayslake Middle School. Please attend and tell everyone you know about this forum. The more people that attend, the more likely it will be to have future sessions. Listed below are the final questions. [...]
Only 27% of aspiring teachers could pass the math tests. If you have any doubts why fuzzy math, everyday math, new math or whatever name the education schools come up with. Money is not going to solve this problem. Competition, alternative certifications and real world experienced teachers will have the greatest impact.
The [...]
Several District 46 parents have been asking the school board to hold a community forum. The Daily Herald is finally reporting this story:
District 46 resident Shannon Smigielski said she and other parents want elected board members to host a proper forum so there can be give-and-take on major issues such as spending. Smigielski said [...]
There is a website that allows students and parents to rate their teachers. It is RateMyTeachers.com. Here are direct links to Grayslake schools that had a listing:
Avon
Grayslake Middle School
Meadowview
Grayslake High School
Illinois Schools
Since I am not keeping up with blogging as I should, I thought I’d do a quick news roundup of stories about Grayslake Schools:
Math Committees at Grayslake Elementary Schools
How should District 46 communicate with the community?
Grayslake Elementary District 46 board members Monday night discussed the pros and cons related to sending fliers and other written [...]
Since yesterday, the teachers of District 46 schools are working strictly to the letter of the hours outlined in the contract that expired June 30th of this year. This was first reported in the comments of the Daily Herald. I confirmed this with Superintendent Correll this morning.
I did ask several other questions that [...]
Yesterday, the Grayslake Teachers Union voted to approve an intent to strike. They cannot strike however until Nov. 6 at the earliest. I am not surprised by this move in the least. A strike threat is just the beginning salvo for the teachers intent to use the children they teach as [...]
The article from the Chicago Sun-Times is highlighting the need for Recess and other activities in Chicago Public Schools. In doing so they pointed out how the kids came up with a cost-free way to have after school programs to help the kids stay off the streets.
They asked parents to volunteer to lead after-school [...]
The Daily Herald is reporting that the Grayslake 46 teachers union will be voting on Monday whether or send a notice to strike. Once they take this step, they have to wait at least 10 days before they can actually call a strike.
Negotiations will be continuing and a federal mediator will be helping with [...]
The Lake County Assessors Office is holding its annual property assessment forums and help centers. In fact their are tax help centers open tonight from 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm at the College of Lake COunty Southlake Education Center in Vernon Hills and the University Center of Lake County. See the Assessor website for more [...]
In more disturbing news from the local school districts, it was discovered that the
Grayslake Elementary District 46 overpaid 13 teachers and classroom assistants a combined $92,106 over the last two academic years
The story was in the Daily Herald. I am glad to see them continuing their reporting on the financial misconduct within the [...]
Last night the Grayslake District 46 school board approved purchasing SMART boards.
District 46 board members agreed Monday night the SMART boards were a good educational tool in a pilot project that ran for nearly the final two months of the academic year. They voted to pay $33,041 to keep the nine SMART boards from the [...]
Grayslakes District 46 voted last night 5-2 to support putting a 1% sales tax increase on the ballot this November. The two members voting against this tax increase were Jill Rohrer and Kristin Coe Peek. Please send them a thank you note. It is a shame that the other board members who [...]
Yesterday, the Grayslake Middle School was released early due to a threat found in a student bathroom. Below is the report from the News-Sun.
GRAYSLAKE — On a day that saw schools from Chicago to Michigan affected by threats of violence, officials at Grayslake Middle School dismissed students early on Monday and contacted police after [...]
As I mentioned in my post entitled “Taxing U and Me Into Extenction Why?“, Lake County has the highest taxes in the Midwest. Since it is Levy time again I dediced to make a video that show how schools and other taxing bodies act like children when it comes to money. They basically [...]
The title of this post comes from the sign below. It is being displayed on a Grayslake business and is very timely.
There are many people complaining about how much there assessments have risen this year. They know this means their taxes will go up in the spring. I have heard many times [...]
UPDATE: Also read the Daily Herald article today.
The Grayslake Elementary Distrct 46 School Board voted 4-3 tonight to return nearly six million, nine hundred thousand dollars to the taxpayers. Voting to return the amount that was in excess of what the voters approved in 1999 were Jill Rohrer, Kristen Coe-Peek, Sue Facklam and [...]
I have finally been able to catch up on loading the board packets for both District 127 and District 46 school board meetings. You can review them yourself from the document links at D127News.com and D46News.com.
It is a shame that a taxpayer has to continually FOIA these documents and provide them to [...]
In an article last July, the Northwest Herald found taxing bodies were overcharging for FOIA requests. Since that time I have done some research, although there is much more to go in this area. I found many taxing bodies that charge what appear to be excessive fees as well.
First there is [...]
UPDATE: Write-in votes have been tallied and posted at the County Clerk’s website. County Clerk Williard Helander replied to my email this evening to notify me of this. Douglas Nerge won the write-in vote for the fourth spot on the D127 School Board. See the updated results below.
These are still unofficial [...]
A forum was held for the Grayslake District 46 school board candidates this past Monday night. It was sponsored by the PTO and moderated by one of its members. I know the moderator was changed to try and make the forum more unbiased, expecially since one of the candidates belongs to the PTO. [...]
I sent a letter to the 5 candidates running for school board in District 46 asking several questions. I provided each with my email address and a stamped self addressed envelope to use to return their responses. This was sent on Tuesday, March 13th advising that I wanted to provide my readers [...]
The Opionion section of the Daily Herald carried its endorsements for the District 46 school board. They are Sue Facklam, Mike Linder, and Nadia Shams-Ahmed. See the details below.
Incumbent Susan C. Facklam, 54, a Third Lake resident and nurse, seeks her second term even though her children are past elementary ages. Grayslake resident [...]
I have finally scanned in the documentation for the Energy contracts/agreements from both D127 and D46. I did not receive any bid documents for any other bids, meaning they no-bid the contracts and awarded them directly to the Energy Consortium. You can read the documents at the following links:
D46 Communication with IEC
IEC True [...]
The Daily Herald has interviewed the Grayslake Elementary School Board Candidates on the issue of returning the $6.9 million dollars they borrowed above and beyond what the voters approved.
Their quotes are below:
Grayslake Elementary District 46’s decision to reject a planned tax rebate of $6.9 million gets a thumbs-down from candidates in the April 17 election.
If [...]
