http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/burr-ridge/news/ct-dhd-d181-accountability-tl-0914-20170912-story.html (Source: Hinsdale Doings, 9/12/17 Online Edition.)
We want to highlight what the article reports Board President and Accountability Committee Member Jennifer Burns said during the meeting:
"It's serious that the election commission error could have been prevented, and it could have been fixed, even if it had not been prevented," Burns said. "Along with the letter from our attorney, strongly suggesting that he check things, Dr. White was also notified by the Election Commission with the dates they had planned for publication. The error could have been caught at that time, too."
Also of significance is what Committe Member Patel said during the meeting:
"There's an issue of trust," Patel said. "We went down a road that could have been avoided. This is the biggest project the district has taken on. Whatever it is, we need to be sure it's done correctly."
We have now listened to the podcast of last night's meeting and can confirm what the Doings reported:
"Burns said the school board would discuss in closed session the personnel implications associated with the findings of the district's Board Referendum Review and Accountability Committee."
Per the article, when asked about the situation by the Doings Reporter, Dr. White had no comment.
All we will say for now about his silence is: Really?
For those of you who want to listen to the Podcast of the Accountability Committee, it can be accessed at the following link:
9/11/17 Bond Accountability Committe Meeting
In our opinion, this is one meeting worth listening to.
Time will tell if Dr. White is held accountable by the full BOE. We will be waiting, listening and watching to see what will happen next.
In the meantime, SOUND OFF!
5 comments:
Unbelievable. Dr. White, if you are reading this, do the right thing and resign. Your refusal to "comment," acknowledge that you screwed up and accept responsibility for the negative impacts your mistake had on the D181 community is unconscionable. There is no way the BOE or this community will ever trust you again. So for the sake of the district, let us all move forward and continue the healing that is needed after the last 10 months of chaos. The only way that will happen is for you to step aside.
I've listened to the podcast. White must go. But so must Turek. Don't let the community forget all the reasons why he shouldn't have been reelected. He is not doing his job! White and Turek must resign! http://www.hold181accountable.com/2015/03/daily-reasons-18-19-20-and-21-why-marty.html
Wow!! Interesting article in the Tribune. Is D181 next?? Here's the link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-lincoln-way-indictment-20170914-story.html
"The federal indictment alleges Wyllie hid the "true financial health..." Hiding the truth is never good and per the article, Izzo was that district's attorney too!
Thank you for making us aware of the above article and pointing out attorney Izzo's name in the article.
There's are two interesting comments at the end of the Lincoln-Way article:
"Shouldn't the school board members also be charged with fraud for hiding the "true financial health"? Ultimately, doesn't the superintendent report to the board? I expect the board has a fiduciary responsibility... did they uphold it?"
"What about the rest of the administration that was in the office during his tenure. Can't tell me no one else knew what was going on."
The article states that the indictment came after a yearlong investigation by the Daily Southtown. Are we in the Southtown's coverage area? I wouldn't mind waiting a year to see what the reporters find or don't find.
Please consider posting this as a free standing post. I published this on my Facebook Account this morning.
D181 Bond Accountability Committee UPDATE
For those of you who have been following the disappointing findings of the D181 Accountability Committee, below is a link to the draft Final Report that the committee members will be discussing on Monday, 9/25 at 5 pm at the Administration Center.
I say "disappointing" above, because no one in the community could have possibly expected the committee members to uncover documents that reveal that the superintendent had direction and knowledge to ensure that the Referendum Publication Notice be published in a timely and accurate manner, thus preventing all of the chaos that ensued from December 2016 through June 2017 in connection with the HMS project.
According to news articles published in the Doings and The Hinsdalean, the full BOE must now determine what actions, if any, if must take to ensure that there is true accountability.
I, for one, have confidence that the BOE will take approrpriate steps. The work done so far by at least 2 of the 3 committee members establish that they are taking the work of the committee seriously and are not going to condone any type of cover up in connection with the information they discovered. Contrary to what D181 Board Member Turek has publicly stated (and remember, he is not on the committee), the work of the committee was not a witch hunt. It was the work of a committee established and approved by the full BOE, as a condition of the settlement agreement arising out of the HMS litigation, litigation, which it now appears could possibly have been avoided if the superintendent had followed direction and once he did not, disclosed to the full BOE his "mistake."
http://www.boarddocs.com/il/hccsdil/Board.nsf/files/ARHCKY318098/$file/2017_09_23_Bond_Referendum_Review_Committee_Final_Report_with_Member_Comments_Redlined_%26_Highlighted.pdf
As one committee member has stated in the draft Final Report: ""It is this committee member’s opinion that the most serious issue this report addresses is Dr. White’s failure to disclose informaiton in connection with the publication error, where information was kept from the BOE for an extended period of time. The findings by two committee members upon close review of district-provided documents, showing that Dr. White was in fact informed of the publication requirements by the BOE’s legal counsel dating back to August 19, 2016, was not only unexpected but disappointing. Dr. White had a fiduciary responsibility to ensure the accurate and timely publication of the election notice and he did not meet that responsibility. What is at issue here is that throughout the process, Dr. White has not been forthright in sharing this information with the BOE dating back to December 2016. There have been a multitude of opportunities to share this information through the litigation process, during Accountability Committee meetings and in the reports generated by the district in response to questions raised by the committee. At no point did Dr. White come forward with this information. This has resulted in a loss of trust in his leadership. The implications of this should be discussed by the full board."
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