Next Minooka 201 School Board Meeting and Tax Hearing

The next meeting of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board is Wednesday, December 16, 2015. The Committee of the Whole Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in the board room at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka. The Committee of the Whole Meeting will be followed by a Truth in Taxation (tax levy) hearing at 6:45 p.m. The Truth in Taxation hearing will then be followed by the regular Board Meeting at 7:00 p.m. All of the meetings are open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend. You can find the agenda for each of the meetings here.

Information for the Committee of the Whole Meeting, the Truth in Taxation hearing, and the regular Board Meeting can be found here.

Finance Committee Meeting

There will be a meeting of the Finance Committee of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board on Wednesday, December 9, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. in the board room at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka.  The meeting is open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend.  You can find the agenda for the meeting here.

Next Minooka 201 School Board Meeting and Proposed Tax Levy

The next meeting of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board is Wednesday, November 18, 2015. The Committee of the Whole Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in the board room at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka. The Committee of the Whole Meeting will be followed by the regular Board Meeting at 7 p.m. Each of the meetings is open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend. You can find the agenda for each of the meetings here.

Information for the Committee of the Whole Meeting and the regular Board Meeting can be found here.

One item of note that will be discussed at both meetings is the proposed tax levy for fiscal year 2016.  The information regarding the proposed levy can be found here.  The proposed tax levy represents an increase of approximately 17% from last year.  About 7% of this increase is due to an increase in the Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) of the district.  However, the remaining 10% increase is due in large part to an increase in the levy for the Tort Immunity Fund from $650,000 last year to $2,000,000 this year. 

Minooka 201 School Board Meeting Video Recordings October 28, 2015

Click here for a video of the Minooka CCSD 201 Committee of the Whole Meeting that occurred on October 28, 2015.

Click here for a video of the business portion of the Minooka CCSD 201 Regular Meeting that occurred on October 28, 2015.

Next Minooka 201 School Board Meeting

The next meeting of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board is Wednesday, October 28, 2015. The Committee of the Whole Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in the board room at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka. The Committee of the Whole Meeting will be followed by the regular Board Meeting at 7 p.m. Each of the meetings is open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend. You can find the agenda for each of the meetings here.

Information for the Committee of the Whole Meeting and the regular Board Meeting can be found here.

Finance Committee Meeting

There will be a meeting of the Finance Committee of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board on Monday, October 26, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. in the board room at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka.  The meeting is open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend.  You can find the agenda for the meeting here.

Minooka 201 School Board Meeting Video Recordings September 30, 2015

Click here for a video of the Minooka CCSD 201 Committee of the Whole Meeting that occurred on September 30, 2015.

Click here and here for videos (part I and part II) of the business portion of the Minooka CCSD 201 Regular Meeting that occurred on September 30, 2015.

Minooka 201 Erin's Law Opt Out Forms

For those parents who want to opt their children out of the Erin's Law sexual abuse and sexual assault presentation, the form is available here.  You can find out more about the Erin's Law presentation here.

Next Minooka 201 School Board Meeting and Budget Hearing

The next meeting of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board is Wednesday, September 30, 2015. The Committee of the Whole Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in the board room at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka. The Committee of the Whole Meeting will be followed by a Budget Hearing at 6:45 p.m.  The Budget Hearing will be followed by the regular Board Meeting at 7 p.m. Each of the meetings is open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend. You can find the agenda for each of the meetings here.  In addition, you can find the background information for the meetings here.

Finance Committee Meeting and Next Minooka 201 School Board Meeting

There will be a meeting of the Finance Committee of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board on Tuesday, August 25, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. in the board room at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka.  The meeting is open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend.  You can find the agenda for the meeting here.

The next meeting of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board is Wednesday, August 26, 2015. The Committee of the Whole Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in the board room at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka. The Committee of the Whole Meeting will be followed by the regular Board Meeting at 7:00 p.m.  Each of the meetings is open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend. You can find the agenda for each of the meetings here.

Information for the Committee of the Whole Meeting and the regular Board Meeting can be found here.

Special Meeting of Minooka 201 School Board and Open Meetings Act

The Minooka CCSD 201 school board will be holding a special meeting on Monday, August 17, 2015. The meeting agenda is available here. The meeting will be held at 9:30 a.m. in the Conference Room at the Minooka Intermediate School located at 321 W. McEvilly Road in Minooka. As always, members of the public are welcome to attend.

Please note that I have asked that this meeting be rescheduled to a time that is more convenient to the public.  (The Illinois Open Meetings Act requires that public meetings be held at "times and places which are convenient and open to the public.")

Minooka 201 School Board Meeting Video Recordings July 22, 2015

Click here for a video of the Minooka CCSD 201 Committee of the Whole Meeting that occurred on July 22, 2015.

Click here for a video of the business portion of the Minooka CCSD 201 Regular Meeting that occurred on July 22, 2015.

Click here for the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Summary.  These were the numbers that we being referred to during the budget discussions.

Next Minooka 201 School Board Meeting

The next meeting of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board is Wednesday, July 22, 2015. The Committee of the Whole Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in the board room (the old library) at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka. The Committee of the Whole Meeting will be followed by the regular Board Meeting at 7 p.m. Each of the meetings is open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend. You can find the agenda for each of the meetings here.

Information for the Committee of the Whole Meeting and the regular Board Meeting can be found here.  In addition, the Interim Superintendent's Report can be found here.

Minooka 201 Offers Dr. Kristopher Monn Contract to be Superintendent

At a Special Meeting yesterday, the Minooka 201 School Board offered Dr. Kristopher Monn a contract to be the new superintendent. Dr. Monn is currently the Assistant Superintendent for Finance at Batavia School District. Dr. Monn indicated that he would accept the offered contract. I will post the contract as soon as it becomes finalized. The vote was unanimous with Mr. Cronin and Mr. Jebens absent.

Special Meeting of Minooka 201 School Board

The Minooka CCSD 201 school board will be holding a special meeting on Monday, July 13, 2015. The meeting agenda is available here. Much of the meeting will consist of "closed session" to discuss the following items: special program assistant staffing, new superintendent contract, interim superintendent compensation, and a grievance. The meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m. in the board room (the old library) at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka. As always, members of the public are welcome to attend.

Minooka 201 School Board Meeting Video Recordings June 24, 2015

Click here for a video of the Minooka CCSD 201 Committee of the Whole Meeting that occurred on June 24, 2015 (click here for a somewhat clearer audio recording).

Click here for a video of the business portion of the Minooka CCSD 201 Regular Meeting that occurred on June 24, 2015.

Next Minooka 201 School Board Meeting

The next meeting of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board is Wednesday, June 24, 2015. The Committee of the Whole Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in the board room (the old library) at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka. The Committee of the Whole Meeting will be followed by the regular Board Meeting at 7 p.m. Each of the meetings is open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend. You can find the agenda for each of the meetings here.

Information for the Committee of the Whole Meeting and the regular Board Meeting can be found here.  In addition, the Assistant Superintendent's Report can be found here.

Minooka 201 School Board Meeting Video Recordings May 27, 2015

Click here for a video of the Minooka CCSD 201 Committee of the Whole Meeting that occurred on May 27, 2015.

Clearly, not everyone is a fan of my blog or my right to free speech which is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (see the exchange between Ed Cronin and myself from minute 48:00 to 53:10 in the above video--warning, contains some explicit language).

To see what I actually wrote about the similarities between the severance packages of the College of DuPage President and Superintendent Gegenheimer, click here.

In addition, for background regarding the Minooka CCSD 201 school board's unanimous vote to reprimand Superintendent Gegenheimer for unprofessional conduct, click here for a Morris Daily Herald article and here and here for previous posts.

Further, to read about why I blog about Minooka CCSD 201 and why I believe that public bodies and public officials who spend taxpayer dollars should be subject to public scrutiny and transparency, click here.  The school board is responsible for spending over $30 million dollars in taxpayer monies every year.  I believe that taxpayers should be able to hear and see how their publicly elected officials spend their hard-earned dollars, regardless of whether they are able to actually attend the school board meetings.

Regarding the concern that my blog might scare away potential candidates for superintendent--if a potential candidate does not think that they can maintain a sufficiently professional demeanor toward school board members, staff, and parents such that I would call for their reprimand or non-renewal, then I hope that they have chosen on their own not to submit an application for the position of superintendent.  I will never know whether any potential candidates have chosen not to apply due to my blog.  However, there are currently 42 applicants for the position of superintendent.  I have been told by a representative of the IASB that a district of our size should expect a candidate pool of between 30 and 50 applicants.

Finally, for anyone who wants to know what my agenda as a school board member is, it is to provide a good education to the students at an affordable price to the taxpayers.  And I would like this to be done by school officials and employees in a professional, ethical and legal manner. 

Click here for a video of the business portion of the Minooka CCSD 201 Regular Meeting that occurred on May 27, 2015.

Why Minooka CCSD 201 Needs a Whistleblower Protection Policy

The main functions of a school board are to set a vision for the district and to provide oversight by ensuring that district personnel are meeting the vision set for the district in a professional, ethical and legal manner.

One of the key problems of a hierarchical organization like a school district is making sure that those at the upper tier of the hierarchy, such as school board members, are kept fully informed of important issues concerning the lower tiers of the hierarchy, such as teachers and aides. The school board should be made aware of the concerns that teachers, aides and other staff have regarding what is going on in their classrooms and at their schools, ideas that they might have on how the district could improve in its job of educating students, and any significant complaints that they may have regarding the educational process or their employment. Unfortunately, this type of information does not always reach the school board.

The school board also needs to ensure that those in management do not abuse their authority over teachers and staff, and sometimes even principals, by stifling the flow of information, ideas and complaints from employees to the school board.

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard about the "chain of command" in our school district.  It has been said many times that teachers or other staff should not be bringing issues to the school board but should rather follow their "chain of command" if they have ideas or problems with their job or with the educational process affecting students.  For example, this means that if a teacher has an issue they would like to raise, they need to raise it with their building principal.  It is then up to the principal to discuss the issue with the superintendent, who will presumably discuss it with the school board.  When the "chain of command" works properly, information flows up and decisions or directions flow down.

But what happens when that doesn't happen? What recourse does a teacher, for example, then have to let the school board know about their concern? Well, they should be able to come to a school board meeting and tell the school board what they want them to know. Or be able to ask for a meeting to discuss the issue with the school board. Or even be able to send an email to the school board. But employees in our district have not always been encouraged to do that, and some may feel that they have even suffered adverse job actions as a result of their doing this because they failed to follow their "chain of command."

So, let's talk a little about the concept of a "chain of command," a concept that is borrowed from the military.

What the district has done is to borrow one concept from the military but omitted the countervailing concept of whistleblower protection.  The concept of the chain of command allows the hierarchy to function on a day-to-day basis.  The concept of whistleblower protection allows issues and complaints to by-pass the chain of command and jump some or all levels of the hierarchy.  This concept serves a number of purposes: (1) it allows those at the top of the hierarchy to, at times, receive unfiltered information from all levels of the hierarchy; (2) it allows those at the top of the hierarchy to ensure that the mid-level managers are held accountable; and (3) it allows those on the "front lines" to know that they have a viable outlet for complaints without threat of retaliation.

Many types of disclosures are already protected under Federal and state law.  Other types of disclosures are not protected by statute but may be protected by common law or under constitutional provisions.  A whistleblower protection policy would protect disclosures that are currently in the "gray" areas or do not receive legal protection.  These would include disclosures such as those issues brought to the attention of the school board by teachers at a school board meeting.

Some will say that a whistleblower protection policy obstructs the day-to-day operation of an organization.  Basically, you don't want to have employees running amok and tattling on their supervisor every time their supervisor tries to direct them in their job--which supervisors are obviously allowed and required to do.  A whistleblower protection policy would not allow staff to disparage, insult or undermine their supervisors or otherwise impede on their supervisors legitimate decision-making authority.

Rather, a whistleblower protection policy would allow all staff the opportunity to notify the school board of important issues that should not be "swept under the rug" and which they feel their supervisors may be keeping from the school board.  Such issues generally do not get better with age and should be dealt with as promptly as possible so they do not grow into larger issues or infect the culture of an organization.  Such a policy would encourage staff to speak freely with the school board if they felt that their legitimate ideas or concerns were being stymied by their "chain-of-command" without fear of reprisal.

Whistleblower protection policies only make sense in an organization that cares not only that the job gets done (the "ends") but how the job gets done (the "means").  In other words, if one believes that the "ends justify the means," then a whistleblower protection policy is a foreign concept.  If one cares both about "ends" and "means," then such a policy is warranted.

Results of 5 Essentials Survey 2015

Once again, each public school district in Illinois was required to participate in something called the 5 Essentials Survey.  This was a survey created by the University of Chicago to measure schools and districts along five factors that were found by their study to be essential to the success of a school district.  The survey responses were used to evaluate districts and schools in the following five areas:  Effective Leaders, Collaborative Teachers, Involved Families, Supportive Environment, and Ambitious Instruction.

Click here for the results of the 5 Essentials Survey for Minooka 201.  The separate reports for each of Minooka 201's seven schools are here: Minooka Primary Center, Minooka Elementary, Aux Sable Elementary, Jones Elementary, Walnut Trails Elementary, Minooka Intermediate School, and Minooka Junior High School.

Next Minooka 201 School Board Meeting

The next meeting of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board is Wednesday, May 27, 2015. The Committee of the Whole Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in the board room (the old library) at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka. The Committee of the Whole Meeting will be followed by the regular Board Meeting at 7 p.m. Each of the meetings is open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend. You can find the agenda for each of the meetings here.

Information for the Committee of the Whole Meeting can be found here.  Information for the regular Board Meeting can be found here.  In addition, the Assistant Superintendent's Report and Superintendent's Report can be found here and here.

Special Meeting of Minooka 201 School Board

The Minooka CCSD 201 school board will be holding a special meeting on Wednesday, May 20, 2015.  The meeting agenda is available here.  The main agenda items for the meeting will be discussion of the search for a new superintendent and implementation of full day kindergarten.  The meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m. in the board room (the old library) at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka.  As always, members of the public are welcome to attend.

Minooka CCSD 201 Superintendent Search

The Minooka CCSD 201 school board is conducting a search for a new superintendent (see job posting here).  There will be a couple of opportunities for staff, parents, and community members to have input in the process, including an online survey (click here for the link to the survey).

Special Meeting of Minooka 201 School Board

The Minooka CCSD 201 school board will be holding a special meeting on Tuesday, May 5, 2015.  The meeting agenda is available here.  The main agenda item for the meeting will be board discussion with a representative of the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) regarding the search for a new superintendent.  The board has hired the IASB to assist in conducting a search for a new superintendent, and this meeting is being held in order for the board to give some direction to that search in terms of what the school board will be looking for in a new superintendent.  The meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m. in the board room (the old library) at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka.  As always, members of the public are welcome to attend.

Update Regarding Lunch, Recess, and Snack Policies

At the most recent Minooka CCSD 201 school board meeting on April 29th, the proposed policy regarding lunch/recess time for grades 1 through 4 and the proposed policy for a second recess for grades 1 through 4 were brought up for a third reading (all proposed policies must receive an affirmative majority vote at each of three "readings" in order to be adopted) .  The proposed policy for snacks in the classroom and snacks provided by the PTO had previously been adopted after its third reading on March 25th.  (For some background regarding these policies, see previous posts here and here).

The proposed policy regarding lunch/recess time for grades 1 through 4 passed on its third reading with a unanimous vote.  The proposed policy for a second recess for grades 1 through 4 also passed on its third reading with a unanimous vote.  Both proposed policies have therefore been adopted as Minooka CCSD 201 board policies.

Next Minooka 201 School Board Meeting

The next meeting of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board is Wednesday, April 29, 2015. The Committee of the Whole Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in the board room (the old library) at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka. The Committee of the Whole Meeting will be followed by the regular Board Meeting at 7 p.m. Each of the meetings is open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend. You can find the agenda for each of the meetings here.  You may notice that the lunch/recess policy and second recess policy are on the agenda for their third reading (for background information see previous post).

Information for the Committee of the Whole Meeting can be found here.  Information for the regular Board Meeting can be found here.

Special Meeting of Minooka 201 School Board

The Minooka CCSD 201 school board will be holding a special meeting on Wednesday, April 22, 2015.  The meeting agenda and background information is available here.  The main agenda items for the meeting will be discussion of the search for a new superintendent and implementation options for full day kindergarten.  The meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m. in the board room (the old library) at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka.  As always, members of the public are welcome to attend.

Reminder: Consolidated Election on April 7, 2015 (Tomorrow)

As a reminder, the Consolidated Election for many local officials, including school board members, is April 7, 2015 (tomorrow).  Don't forget to vote.  The polls are open from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.  Click the following links for locations of polling places (Grundy County, Kendall County, Will County).  Remember, elections have consequences!!!

Update Regarding Lunch, Recess, and Snack Policies

At the most recent Minooka CCSD 201 school board meeting on March 25th, the proposed policy regarding lunch/recess time for grades 1 through 4 and the proposed policy for a second recess for grades 1 through 4 were brought up for a second reading (all proposed policies must receive an affirmative majority vote at each of three "readings" in order to be adopted) .  In addition, the proposed policy for snacks in the classroom and snacks provided by the PTO was brought up for a third reading.  (For some background regarding these proposed policies, see previous posts here and here).

The proposed policy regarding lunch/recess time for grades 1 through 4 passed on its second reading (Martin, Crouch, Allen, Skwarczynski, and Hannon voted "yes," while Clucas and Satorius voted "no").  The proposed policy for a second recess for grades 1 through 4 passed on its second reading (Martin, Crouch, Allen, Skwarczynski, and Hannon voted "yes," while Clucas and Satorius voted "no").  The proposed policy for snacks in the classroom and snacks provided by the PTO passed on its third reading and has therefore been adopted as a Minooka CCSD 201 board policy (Martin, Crouch, Allen, and Skwarczynski voted "yes," while Clucas, Hannon, and Satorius voted "no"). 

Superintendent Retirement Agreement and General Release

At the most recent meeting of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board on March 25, 2015, the board voted to approve a Retirement Agreement and General Release with Superintendent Al Gegenheimer (click here for the signed Agreement).  The Ageement allows Superintendent Gegenheimer to retire one year earlier than provided for in his latest contract (pursuant to the Retirement Agreement and General Release, he will retire as of June 5, 2015).  The Agreement requires the District to make certain payments to Mr. Gegenheimer, make certain payments to the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System on his behalf due to his early retirement, as well as maintain Mr. Gegenheimer and his dependents on the District health insurance until he qualifies for Medicare (approximately 6 years) or is reemployed by an employer that offers health insurance.  The Agreement also contains a mutual general release of claims by Minooka CCSD 201 and Mr. Gegenheimer.  The Agreement was approved by a 5 to 1 vote (Clucas, Skwarczynski, Satorius, Hannon, and Allen voted "yes," while Martin voted "no," and Crouch abstained).

Next Minooka 201 School Board Meeting (Revised Agenda Includes "Superintendent Retirement Agreement and General Release")

The next meeting of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board is Wednesday, February 25, 2015. The Committee of the Whole Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in the board room (the old library) at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka. The Committee of the Whole Meeting will be followed by the regular Board Meeting at 7:00 p.m. Each of the meetings is open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend. You can find the agenda for each of the meetings here.

Information for the Committee of the Whole Meeting can be found here.  Information for the regular Board Meeting can be found here.

You may notice that among the action items on the regular meeting agenda are (1) full day kindergarten for the 2015-16 school year, and (2) retirement of Superintendent Al Gegenheimer at the end of the current school year (a full year early).  Notice also that item "F.b.ii" of the agenda has been amended.  It now reads "Superintendent Retirement Agreement and General Release."  A copy of such proposed final agreement has not, however, been attached to the agenda nor provided to the board of education.

Consolidated Election on April 7, 2015

As a reminder, the next Consolidated Election is coming up on April 7, 2015 (less than four weeks away).

Special Meeting of Minooka 201 School Board

The Minooka CCSD 201 school board will be holding a special meeting on Thursday, March 12, 2015.  The meeting agenda is available here.  The main agenda item for the meeting will be a discussion of full day kindergarten.  The meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m. in the board room (the old library) at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka.  As always, members of the public are welcome to attend.  The board information packet for the meeting is located here.

Update Regarding Lunch, Recess and Snack Policies

At the most recent Minooka CCSD 201 school board meeting on February 25th, the proposed policy regarding lunch/recess time for grades 1 through 4 and the proposed policy for a second recess for grades 1 through 4 were brought up for a first reading.  In addition, the proposed policy for snacks in the classroom and snacks provided by the PTO was brought up for a second reading.  (For some background regarding these proposed policies, see previous post.)

After some discussion, the proposed policy regarding lunch/recess time for grades 1 through 4 passed on its first reading (Martin, Crouch, Allen, and Skwarczynski voted "yes," while Clucas and Satorius voted "no").  The proposed policy for a second recess for grades 1 through 4 passed on its first reading (Martin, Crouch, Allen, and Skwarczynski voted "yes," while Clucas and Satorius voted "no").  The proposed policy for snacks in the classroom and snacks provided by the PTO passed on its second reading (Martin, Crouch, Allen, Skwarczynski, and Clucas voted "yes," while Satorius voted "no").

Next Minooka 201 School Board Meeting

The next meeting of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board is Wednesday, February 25, 2015. The Committee of the Whole Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in the board room (the old library) at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka. The Committee of the Whole Meeting will be followed by the regular Board Meeting at 7 p.m. Each of the meetings is open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend. You can find the agenda for each of the meetings here.  You may notice that the lunch/recess policy, snack policy, and second recess policy are on the agenda (for background information see previous post).

Information for the Committee of the Whole Meeting can be found here.  Information for the regular Board Meeting can be found here.

Update Regarding Lunch, Recess and Snack Policies

The Minooka 201 Policy Committee held a meeting on February 5, 2015 to discuss the proposed board policies regarding lunch/recess time for grades 1 through 4, second recess for grades 1 through 4, and snacks.  (For some background regarding these proposed policies, see previous posts here, here, and here.)

The Policy Committee meeting was very well attended.  Approximately 30 to 40 people (administrators, staff, parents, and community members) showed up on a brisk winter evening to discuss the proposed policies.  After two hours of discussion, a general consensus was reached to modify each of the proposed policies in various ways.

The resulting versions of the proposed policies can be found here, here, and here.  Comparisons of current versions to the previous versions can be found here, here, and here.

I have requested that each of these proposed policies be placed on the agenda for the next regular board meeting on February 25th.  The lunch/recess policy and the second recess policy will each be on the first reading (since the previous version which had combined the two was voted down).  The snack policy will be on its second reading (since the second reading was tabled).

Policy Committee Meeting Rescheduled

The Policy Committee meeting to discuss the proposed policies regarding lunch/recess time, snacks, and second recess will be held on Thursday, February 5, 2015 starting at 6:00 p.m. in the board room (the old library) at the Minooka Primary Center (305 Church Street, Minooka). Some background regarding the proposed policies can be found here, here, and here.

The agenda for the Policy Committee meeting can be found here.  The current versions of the proposed policies can be found here, here and here.  The Policy Committee meeting is open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend.  The bulk of the meeting will be spent listening to input from staff and the public regarding the proposed policies.

Funding Golden Parachutes with Taxpayer Money

The Board of Trustees of the College of DuPage is currently receiving extensive publicity in the Chicago area for its recent approval of a "golden parachute" severance package for the outgoing President of the College of DuPage (see here, here, here, and here).  The severance package amounts to a payout for the President of more than $750,000.00.  The Board of Trustees has already been sued for the manner in which this severance package was approved (the lawsuit alleges numerous violations of the Open Meetings Act).  As a result, the Board of Trustees is holding another meeting to re-vote on the severance package.

For those in Minooka 201 who are understandably surprised, incredulous or even outraged by the actions of the Board of Trustees of the College of DuPage, I would remind you that your very own school board voted a hefty raise and severance package for Minooka 201 Superintendent Al Gegenheimer in his last contract (click here for a copy of the contract).

As I detailed in a previous post, the superintendent was given a 30% raise through the four-year term of the contract.  In addition, Superintendent Gegenheimer's contract provides for three annual post-retirement payments equal to 20% of his final annual salary.  Assuming a salary of $172,036 for the last year of the contract, the three annual payments would be $34,407 each.  That is, the taxpayers of Minooka CCSD 201 will be paying the then former superintendent $34,407 each year for three years at the same time he is collecting a pension of up to 75% of the average of his highest four years of salary from the Teachers' Retirement System (approximately $118,480 based on these assumptions).

This "golden parachute" contract also requires Minooka 201 to provide the superintendent with health insurance (hospitalization/major medical) during his retirement until such time as he qualifies for Medicare (typically at 65) or becomes employed by another employer offering health insurance coverage.  This means that if the current superintendent retires at the end of this agreement, the school district would be obligated to provide him health insurance for approximately five years.

Superintendent  Gegenheimer's contract was also approved in a similar manner to that of the College of DuPage President.  Information on the terms of the contract was never disclosed to the public or the entire school board prior to the meeting.  Rather, the contract was presented to the school board for the first time at some time after 10 p.m. on the night of the meeting, after having been negotiated in private by Superintendent Gegenheimer and board members Jim Satorius and Al Skwaczyinski.  To my knowledge, Mr. Satorius and Mr. Skwarczynski were never given such negotiating authority by the board.  The school board then voted (by this time very late in the evening) to approve the contract by a 5-2 vote.  Those voting "yes" were Jim Satorius, Al Skwarczynski, Kevin Hannon, Jeff Budde (no longer on the board), and Dave Carlson (no longer on the board).  Those voting "no" were Kathe Brozman (no longer on the board) and Doug Martin.

If you look around Illinois, I am sure you can find many similar stories of public school boards funding handsome severance packages for their superintendents.  Mind you that these are all in addition to the pension and retiree medical benefits that are also funded by the taxpayers of the State of Illinois, including the local taxpayers.

For the public servants who ask for and receive these "golden parachutes", you have to wonder how much is enough.  And for these public bodies, you also have to wonder why they feel the need to throw ever greater amounts of taxpayer money at these people.  Perhaps it would be beneficial for those that serve on public bodies and were elected by the taxpayers to remember that every dollar that they throw away on these "golden parachutes" first had to be earned by the hard work of a taxpayer.  Every one of these dollars also takes away from monies that could be more wisely spent on classroom teachers and better services directly benefiting our students.

Next Minooka 201 School Board Meeting

The next meeting of the Minooka CCSD 201 school board is Wednesday, January 28, 2015. The Committee of the Whole Meeting starts at 6:00 p.m. in the board room (the old library) at the Minooka Primary Center located at 305 Church Street in Minooka. The Committee of the Whole Meeting will be followed by the regular Board Meeting at 7 p.m. Each of the meetings is open to the public, and everyone is encouraged to attend. You can find the agenda for each of the meetings here.

Information for the Committee of the Whole Meeting can be found here.  Information for the regular Board Meeting can be found here.  Additional information regarding special education staffing can be found here.

Policy Committee Meeting Cancelled

Due to the extreme weather and the Minooka 201 schools being closed on Thursday, the Policy Committee meeting that was to be held on Thursday, January 8, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. in the board room at the Minooka Primary Center has been cancelled.

The Policy Committee meeting will be rescheduled for a later date.