Monday, October 28, 2013

UPDATE: Donoroo Debacle

Looks like Donoroo is on the Agenda for discussion at Monday's (10/28) Board of Education Meeting. We hope to report that the Board majority has decided that an independent investigation of the Donoroo funds is needed.  It's time to get to the bottom of what really happened.

The meeting will be held at Elm School starting at 7 p.m.



5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Bloggers,

I also noticed Math Curriculum Renewal on this evening's Board meeting agenda. Another committee being proposed, outside consultants to help with the review, another math pilot proposed for next year. This year's math program is a mess after last year's 3rd grade debacle. Seriously, what is the administration doing? By any chance, do you know anything more about this agenda item?

Thanks for all of your efforts at keeping us all informed. It is sincerely appreciated.

Anonymous said...

How could the principal not know where the checks were going? Raised money for charities, charities dont get the money, school gets the money. I noticed a lot of passive voice in the news article. Mysteriously learned of problems in passive voice. "We were told" "We were informed" and so forth. Well, if the principal requested or signed the checks, he already knew. I am sure that Mr. Turek won't want to know.

Sincerely,

Emily Bezzelment.

The Parents said...

To the Author asking about the math curriculum renewal on tonight's board meeting. It is true that every few years, the district goes through a curriculum renewal cycle where they assess the current materials being used, research best practices and decide on possible pilots to try in order to determine whether a text book/instructional materials change is in order.

We know that the Board did an about face and decided this year to use Everyday Math Common Core supplements, after months of blasting these materials as inadequate, then having to quickly scramble after the board voted not to approve a new math series. During those board discussions, Mr. Russell did state that the Learning Dept. would be coming back to the board and revisiting what math series should be used in the future and would do so through the curriculum renewal process.

So as Concerned Parents, we must remain focused on what materials are brought to the board for consideration and ask the tough questions parents asked last Spring about the math series the Learning Dept. wanted the board to approve.

Any program that is brought to the board must be data driven and there should be good reason, not just "speculation" or "conjecture" that would lead the board to agree to do away with the EveryDay Math program.

We are not sure the current administrators are up to the task of actually knowing what they are doing during the curriculum renewal process. We have already questioned the credentials and experience that Ms. Igoe -- who was in charge of the last math committee -- brought to the table in the last go round. Who will be charged with leading this curriculum renewal cycle? If it is Ms. Igoe, then we are extremely worried about the outcome.

We will follow the process carefully and report on this blog as information is given to the public. As always, we hope the administration will be transparent with the community.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know what happened at the meeting last night? The public deserves answers!

Anonymous said...

The board meeting last night was a joke.

1. Schuster assured the board that all charities had been paid and it was an honest mistake. A board member is going to review all the checks. There was no mention of why Schuster failed to inform the public of this situation and it had to become public via the school nurse. End of story.

2. The board president is upset that FOIA requests are costing the district money and wants Lisa Madigan to reform the process. Schuster is to blame for this - we need more disclosure not less.

3. Several board members tried to bring up the learning for all mess but were shot down. Others want more time for data to come in - i.e., more lost time for our kids. Schuster wants more parent education. We are know what Learning for All is - that isn't the problem - the problem is that it is learning for none.

4. The math renewal process was approved - which means spending more money and lost teacher time in the classroom on a failed program. It also looks like an underhanded way around the failed math pilot in the spring. I thought the parents spoke loud and clear on this subject. Also, Schuster thinks teachers cannot meet after school because they are not fresh. In the real world adults have meeting after 3 pm