Smoking Guns Disclosed by Accountability Committee Members

This morning we received the following comment from community member Yvonne Mayer. We are publishing it now, while we finish up a post we began working on yesterday regarding the shocking smoking guns that were disclosed in Board Member Patel's and Board Member Burns' submissions to the Accountability Committee. We have bolded and changed the font to red on the key information and questions raised in the comment.

Stay tuned for our full post that will be published before midnight tonight.  In the meantime, thanks to Ms. Mayer for laying out the critical issues.

Yvonne Mayer said...

ALERT!!!!! D181 Accountability Committee Update --

Below is a FB post I published yesterday. I spent the morning reading Board Docs on the 9/11 accountability committee. It was quite eye opening and more importantly establishes quite clearly that the entire HMS Referendum/Notice/Lawsuit debacle could have been avoided. It is time for some real accountability and I am hoping that this committee and then the full board will take all necessary steps.

I am posting the link to a submission by Board Member Patel in which she flags some very serious issues and questions:

Board Member Patel's submission to the Accountability Committee

Read the entire document but focus on Section 4 called "Legal Notice and Related Procedures" in which Member Patel states:
"1. Please include the communications and FOIA requests by community members Mayer and Schmidt.

2. On August 19, 2016, a letter from the Board of Education legal firm, Hauser Izzo, was sent to the Office of Superintendent, Dr. White, stating that the district must follow multi-step election procedures.
Please see language below from item number three which states:
"Notice of the proposition to be submitted at the election is to be published by
the DuPage election commission and the cook county clerk. The notice must be published not earlier than Saturday, October 8, 2016 and not after Friday, October 28, 2016 in the Hinsdalean, which is the newspaper having general circulation in the district designated in the resolution. We strongly suggest that you make certain that the publication of the notice is made in an accurate and a timely manner."

3. On August 23, 2016, a letter from the Office of the Superintendent was sent to legal firm Hauser Izzo in response to the August 19th letter stating that they will follow election procedures.
Please see language below from item number three which states:
“Our office will ensure that notice of the proposition to be submitted at the election is to be published by the DuPage Election Commission and the Cook County Clerk. The notice must be published not earlier than Saturday, October 8, 2016 and not after Friday, October 28, 2016 in the Hinsdalean, which is the newspaper having general circulation in the district designated in the resolution.”

4. Upon receipt of the letter from the DuPage Election Commission on October 3, 2016, stating that the notices would be published the week of October 3rd, why didn’t Dr. White immediately flag the publication error as advised by lawyers on August 19th and that he confirmed that he would do on August 23rd? The Hinsdalean is a weekly publication distributed on Thursday. Based on this letter, notifications received by the district that the publication would happen on Thursday, October 6th, 2016, which was 2 days before the earliest date of Saturday, October 8th, 2016.

5. After bond counsel flagged the publication error in December and refused to sell bonds and after the lawsuit was filed, why didn’t BOE legal counsel Hauser Izzo inform the BOE of letter to Office of Superintendent dated August 19th clearly stating publication dates and response letter from Office of Superintendent confirming that they will ensure that notice properly published within publication dates?

6. At the July 26, 2017, Accountability Committee meeting why didn’t Dr White disclose the August 19, 2016 letter directing him to follow election procedures that was sent to him by the BOE legal firm when asked if there was a checklist available to the district to ensure that proper procedures are followed when he received a list of election procedures to follow on August 19, 2016? Why did he say that the district did not have a check list?

7. On August 15, 2016, District 181 wrote in the Hinsdalean into the Resolution language.
Please see language below from Section 7 of Resolution Language:
“That is hereby found and determined that the Hinsdalean is a local, community newspaper having general circulation in the District as required by Section 12-5 of the Election Code of the State of Illinois, as amended (the “Election Code”).

8. Why was the Hinsdalean chosen as the newspaper having general circulation in District 181 in the Resolution dated August 15, 2016?

9. Moving forward, a publication should be chosen that is distributed throughout the entire district 181 area including Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Oak Brook, Burr Ridge."

Member Patel raises some very serious questions about the inaction by Dr. White, action which, in my opinion, if taken could clearly have caught the Dupage Election publication error BEFORE it was too late to fix. But for this inaction, it is my opinion that the last 10 months of utter chaos the district has gone through would not have happened and construction on the new HMS would have started months ago.

More importantly, Ms. Patel asks good questions about why the BOE was NEVER told about these documents!

I plan to attend Monday's Accountability Committee meeting and urge all D181 residents to do the same. It is time for some answers and accountability!

A Meeting Has been Scheduled for 9/11 by the HMS Referendum Accountability Committee. Why is it "Necessary?"

Tonight we received the following comment.  We have decided to post it as a free standing post.  Just as the poster, we will review what is published on Board Docs for the "necessary" 9/11/17 Accountability Committee meeting. We will report back if we read anything that might answer the question of why this meeting is being called.

Anonymous said...

A community member just posted this to their Facebook page. Can you run as a free standing post and put people on notice?

D181 HMS Accountability Committee Update.

Today, the D181 Communications Director sent out a brief email to the community providing notice of a regular BOE meeting scheduled for Monday, September 11. Almost as an after thought is a one line reference to a 5 pm meeting on 9/11 of the Accountability Committee.

As you all know, part of the HMS litigation settlement was the creation of an Accountability Committee to review process concerns related to the HMS referendum. The first meeting was held on July 26 and a summary of that meeting can be accessed at:

http://www.d181.org/…/B…/Meetings/Board_Summary_17-07-26.pdf

The timeline of future meetings is outlined towards the end of the summary and of relevance is the following statement:

"It was determined that the Committee may meet prior to the regularly scheduled Business meeting on September 11, 2017, if necessary, to discuss their submitted comments and questions. If the meeting is held, the deadline for the administration to provide the draft report would be moved to September 7, 2017 so that related materials can be posted on BoardDocs."

So it appears, that a meeting is "necessary." Board docs on this meeting will post on Saturday morning. I for one, will be reading them to see why a meeting is needed.

September 8, 2017 at 5:49 PM

WAKE UP to Possible Negative Impacts of Recently Enacted School Funding Legislation!

This morning we received the following comment from resident Yvonne Mayer asking that we publish it as a free standing post.  We have agreed to do so, after watching the video clip she references showing the D86 Superintendent speaking candidly (at last night's D86 BOE meeting) about the negative impact the enacted legislation may have on districts such as D86.  Everything he said could happen in D181.  It is time the community wakes up to this issue. If Dr. White won't "tell it like it is," then we guess we will have to.

As always, SOUND OFF!

Yvonne Mayer said...

Dear Bloggers: Below is an email I just sent to the D181 BOE. Please consider publishing it as a free standing post. The D181 community must know about possible future ramifications of the recent state funding vote in Springfield. Thank you.


Dear D181 Board of Education Members and Dr. White:

Last night I attended the D86 Board meeting. Dr. Law publicly reported on legislative school funding actions taken in the last 2 weeks in Springfield and the possible negative ramifiations D86 will face as a result.

I urge all of you to watch the portion of last night's Videopodcast and his Superintendent's report on this issue. 

It can be accessed at https://vimeo.com/232640018 and begins at Counter 1:38:50. 

This is not Dr. Law's first public report on the school funding issues. He has been transparent, candid and willing to lay out the issues not only to the D86 BOE, but also to the D86 community. He should be commended for his proactive approach to these important school funding issues.

Dr. Law's proactive reporting style should be emulated by Dr. White in D181. The D181 community deserves to have a superintendent who stays ahead of the issues, just as Dr. Law has in D86.

I urge the D181 BOE to request that Dr. White begin publicly addressing state funding issues in more detail than he has in the past.

Respectfully.

Yvonne Mayer
D181 Taxpayer

Where Exactly is the Math Bridge Program Taking D181's Students?

This year, we will focus on publishing as free standing posts comments our readers submit that raise important issues, especially those that impact our students directly.  Yesterday we received the following 2 comments that question the impact last summer's Math Bridge program is going to have on our students.  The fundamental questions, in our opinion, are

• Just how many students should actually be accelerated in math by 3 years?  
• What really is a good measure to determine if these young children are ready for such rapid acceleration and will be successful in high school and beyond.

Triple acceleration means that when they are in 8th grade, they will be taking Algebra 2 Trigonometry Honors at Hinsdale Central High School, Pre-calculus as Freshmen, Calculus BC as Sophomores, Multi-variable calculus as Juniors and then either go off site to a local college to be further accelerated in Calculus based courses, or take Statistics or Computer Science as Seniors.  The comments below suggest that many avenues to jump onto the 3 year accelerated math track are now in place in D181, mainly as a result of the new Bridge program which only requires 70% to pass these kids.

While no doubt every year there will be a few students district wide who should be triple accelerated, and while no doubt our community is filled with very smart parents with very smart students, when the numbers start to climb and we are now looking at over 15 students in one building alone who have been triple accelerated, has the district inadvertently set most of these students up for future failure at the high school?  Let's hope D181 and D86 closely track these students and are prepared to publicly report the data to the community in future years.

In the meantime, we welcome submission by parents who might have opposing views on this issue and if received, we will modify this post to include the different perspectives.  We want to be clear that on this issue, we, the bloggers, are not taking a position on what is right or wrong, but are simply posing the concerns some parents have submitted and have asked questions that should ultimately be answered.

As always, SOUND OFF!

Comments:

 Anonymous said...

I went to curriculum night at my school this week. By the presentation given to 5th grade parents, I have determined that the number of OUTLIERS in my school by very definition goes against what an outlier is. There are 2/3 of our students studying math 2 years ahead and within that group there are 15 kids who will go on to 3 years ahead.

That's 15 kids who are 3 years of math ahead in one building. I didn't realize Hinsdale had so many outliers. We look pretty much homogenous if you ask me.

My daughter thinks she's dumb in grade level math. I told her if 2/3 of your class was truly that brilliant our scores would look a lot better. Clearly, the people making decisions don't have any responsibility for these kids. And parents are blindly going along pushing their kids for accelerated learning.

TRUTH: At some point, it will catch up. Don't have a label of OUTLIERS for a group that is sizable. Outliers are rare. Clearly no one knows what an outlier is.

September 1, 2017 at 8:06 PM

 

 Anonymous said...

I'm looking at the email that came out from my child's teacher regarding her math class.

I don't understand. So all of the kids who took the bridge program passed. That means they all had perfect attendance and they all got 70 percent or better. But if you were in school not taking bridge, you needed 80th percent in years past to be advanced. And to be accelerated you needed 99th. But now we drop it to 97th, take the bridge, and just get 70th.

I'm confused. Good thing I'm not in bridge.

And if you wanted to go from advanced to accelerated last year, you needed 99th. End of year test. etc. But in spring, if you were 97th you could bridge by giving up three weeks intense in summer. Passing at 70th.

Okay.

And then when I get to middle school is it 70 percent or greater.

My youngest is in a cohort group taught by a middle school guy. The email states that she needs a C or better to continue. C-really?. Is C getting my daughter on Honor Roll at HMS? I don't think so.

I'm struggling to find the words to tell my daughter that event though her teacher thinks a C is okay. It isn't okay here. Not if she is accelerated.

Is this so when they get to middle school they all take Integrated Geometry and slow down? I just don't understand. I got on to the district website and I can't even make sense of this math trajectory at all. There is no communication to parents at all on what this means for our kids. SPELL IT OUT. I never asked for my kid to be 2 years ahead. Or 3. I didn't ask that she be pushed. Great, you pushed her. But you are pushing her but telling her a C is okay. I don't understand. My wife says it is too much too fast. Puberty hasn't hit. What about drama club? what about gymnastics. Ridiculous if you ask me.

Some of the smartest most talented people in the world were not in advanced math. Something stinks here.

September 1, 2017 at 8:28 PM

 

D181 is Riddled with Trouble. Can it be Saved?

Today we received the following comment which we have decided to publish as a free-standing post. When we read it we realized that D181 is in deep trouble and it will be up to the Board of Education to take action soon to right the once again sinking ship.  Our plan at the beginning of the summer was to re-open the blog for comments and then possibly shut it down again if there wasn't enough interest to keep it going.  We have determined that we had enough comments over the summer, and now this new one addressing serious concerns impacting all students, to justify keeping the blog open.

Please sound off and let us know if you agree or disagree with the following:

Anonymous said...

"Not sure anyone else has seen the Board Docs agenda for Mondays meeting.

First--Terri Hanrahan has resigned. Whether you liked her, knew her or had no clue who she was-the bottom line is this is YET ANOTHER employed professional of the district department of learning to quit. Anyone think this is odd now? We've lost Kelley Gallt after 1 year; Terri Hanrahan after 1 year; we've lost principals after 1 to 2 years; we've lost Teachers on Special Assignments hired and then resigning right away; departmental secretaries; the list goes on.

What we haven't lost is Don White.

Two-This is a critical year for the District. We have new curriculum in all the subject content areas. Teachers and staff are without leadership that has experience, tenure, professionalism, training, and support to lead the charge and grow the charge implementing it with fidelity and continuity among all of our feeder schools.

Three--the math trajectory is a joke. We are accelerating and advancing kids on all sorts of criteria that changes yearly. We have combined groupings and 2/3 of our grade level classes advanced in math in many schools. We have kids skipping one to two to three years of content with continued acceleration because for years the criteria has changed. We have grandfathered cohort groups of kids who have low scores, no scores, or no data and some who do or have too much data. There are kids with low MAP scores and no MAP Scores but teacher buy in. Doing the bridge advanced a bunch of kids who needed only 70 percent to advance. Kids who needed to qualify for advanced needed 80th. And then still, there are kids who need 99th supposedly for acceleration BUT GUESS WHAT--we take kids lower than that and some who are grandfathered are hovering at 85th. And still some are below that. Then do we look at the numbers of kids who continue long term? Rumor on the street is that kids entering middle school are taking steps back. It is too much pressure. Where is due diligence here?

Four-we have no follow through on the advanced and accelerated programs for kids in math. And now there is possible talk of tiering for science in Year 2 of roll out. Like seriously? We can't even clean up our math and we roll out advancement possibilities in science in the future?

Five-District school websites are all over the place. Some schools do them some schools don't but they all tell you at curriculum night to go to the website. AHEM. Your website has photos of kids from 3 years ago.

Six-We get bulletin after bulletin about HMS. When are we going to have an action group called VOTE YES FOR CURRICULUM CHANGE AND CONTINUITY. I said it first. You heard it here.

Seven-what is wrong with a District that can't keep qualified people on deck? We're a lighthouse district they say. Really-I don't see anyone looking for our beam in the darkness. Instead, I see them all running.

I don't envy the BOE. But I do charge them with dealing with this nonsense.

Skyward was rolled out. But do you know the email feature was turned off? In other districts, they load F and P on skyward, they load grades not just for middle school but elementary too. They have weekly check ins by teachers; comments; the list goes on. In D 181, we don't do that. We do however give a grading day for teachers so they can have one whole day to grade. Unheard of in any district 50 miles in either direction around here.

The bottom line. D 181 is great because the parents are great. They pay, they supplement, they tutor, they donate, they fundraise, they volunteer. There are good teachers. Absolutely. But there are many more who are toting the line. And who blames them? They can't have consistency. They don't have the same criteria year to year. And they don't even know what resource is being used because it changed overnight."

August 27, 2017 at 9:15 AM

BLOG RETURNS FOR SUMMER POSTING!

One year ago today, we suspended publication of this parent blog.  (6/8/16 Post)  Today we have decided to reopen the blog for the summer, in order to allow parents to SOUND OFF on D181 issues.

Although our children have all graduated from D181 schools, as taxpayers and community members, we remain invested in the schools, and in particular ensuring that students receive the best education possible within the walls of all nine schools.  Over the last year, we have listened from the sidelines to parent discussions regarding the state of curriculum, budget and building projects.  We have also read press coverage on these topics and listened occasionally to board meeting podcasts.  This morning we received the following comment on our last post asking us to reopen the blog.

Anonymous said...

Dear Bloggers:

Recent actions at the D181 central office do not pass the smell test. That office needs to be disinfected! Please consider re-opening the blog for the summer so that we can shine a light on the recent actions of Dr. White and company. We need to bring accountability and transparency back to D181. We need your help Bloggers!

June 8, 2017 at 8:43 AM 

After reading this comment and considering what we have been hearing from parents in the community, we agree that reopening the post, at least for this summer, is approrpriate.

It is not our intention, at this time, to publish posts that we, the parent bloggers, write. We will, however, publish comments and if appropriate, highlight them as free standing posts. Depending on what is submitted, we may choose to investigate issues and write our own commentary, but that will depend on what is submitted.

We will now wait to see if community members want to SOUND OFF on D181 issues.

The Bloggers

The Final Word

It is time to say goodbye.

For the last three years, we have diligently followed district happenings and tried to create a forum for D181 issues to be discussed in a transparent fashion.  We have published 365 posts,  5545 comments and over 685,000 readers have accessed the blog.  We are grateful to all our followers for not only reading, but participating actively on the blog.

But it is now time for change. After attending or listening to the last few board and committee meetings/Podcasts, we have concluded that there is nothing more we can do to shine a light of transparency on the district dysfunction, curriculum nightmare, facilities bait and switch tactics, irresponsible administration and valiant attempts by a few board members to hold people accountable for the problems that exist in D181 and are causing detriment to students and taxpayers.  We can continue to cry foul until we are blue in the face, but it seems that nothing has really changed in D181 and the district has come full circle to where it was five years ago when the administration began dismantling a research based curriculum program and implementing a "socially just" (haha!) "Advanced Learning/Learning for All" programs.  And in the area of facilities, chaos and disorganization has been the rule of the day since the HMS mold infestation was discovered in January 2014.

In our opinion, D181 continues to be run by a top heavy, self-serving administration. Rather than look out for the best interests of all students and all taxpayers, the administrators look out for themselves with their end goal being internal or external promotion to the next, best administrative position, personal acclaim, outrageous and undeserved salaries  ultimately culminating in inflated pensions upon retirement.

As we contemplated what to say in our final post, we decided we would simply sign off with some thank you's and reminders of what we have witnessed during our blog "journey." Our journey is ending,  because all of our children have now graduated from D181. While we will continue as taxpayers and community members, we will no longer allow the dark clouds that hang over D181 to overshadow our daily lives.  We will be moving forward in the hope that our children's future high school and college days will be filled with sunshine.  Our excitement for our children's brighter future, however, is tempered with the knowledge that every year there will be thousands of students who will continue to be subjected to the whims of the D181 leadership.

We believe that it is the responsibility of  all current and future D181parents to not only closely monitor their children's educations, but to take all necessary steps to ensure that when their D181 journeys end, their children have not been irreparably harmed.  The onus now falls on current and future parents to assume the reigns of transparency in D181.  As taxpayers, we will speak with our votes.  Fiscally irresponsible decisions and tax referenda proposed by the Administration and BOE will be greeted with a celebratory NO vote by us at our local polling place or a vote to unseat board members who are not looking out for the taxpayers' best interests.

As we exit, we will first express our thanks to the following individuals:

1.  Our children.  Without them, the joy they bring to our lives and our obligation to ensure that they are provided the best public education available, there would be no need for this blog.

2.  All the blog writers and contributors.  Yes, we are thanking ourselves and everyone who has written posts or comments. Collectively, we have invested thousands of hours in gathering information (either through attendance at meetings, listening to podcasts, reading all documentation available on board docs, the D181 website, the FOIA log), investigating issues, fact checking, and listening and speaking to parents, teachers and administrators who have raised concerns.  Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our nation, and so we include in this list all contributors, even those who expressed negative comments about us.

3.  The D181 Teachers.  Over the more than 21 year span that we, the bloggers, have lived in D181, our children have benefited from many outstanding teachers. We have witnessed brand new teachers join the D181 teacher ranks, young teachers mature, older teachers grow wiser and retiring teachers end their careers after spending 30+ years dedicating themselves to the districts' children.  Almost without exception, these teachers have worked tirelessly to address our children's needs.  They have done their best in the face of curriculum initiatives that were not based in best practices and were unsupported by research.  Some teachers have bucked the system and refused to implement the inappropriate curriculum changes that the administration tried to force upon them.  Many have stood bravely together to call out inequities, unfairness, and alleged wrong-doings by administrators.  With even fewer exceptions, these teachers' focus has been on our children, rather than on self-promotion.

4.  Brave board members who have refused to stand down.  Over the last five years, the following board members (present and past) have turned on the spotlight of transparency when an issue was being buried, or was not receiving the full attention needed.  As a result they were often subjected to scorn and ridicule by fellow board members, D181 administrators and community members, rather than receiving gratitude for doing the right thing.  While we have not agreed with everything these individuals have said or done, today, we are thanking them without reservation.  They deserve all of our thanks because they have refused to be silenced when they have felt there were issues and wrongdoings that needed to be exposed and fully discussed.  So, thank you to Mridu Garg, Leslie Gray, Richard Giltner, Jennifer Burns, Brendan Heneghan, Yvonne Mayer and Ann Mueller.

In our opinion, it is important to remind our readers of some of the wrongs that we witnessed over the last five years.  It is critical that parents -- past, present and future -- not forget what has happened to D181.

CURRICULUM:

1.  Student Performance continues to decline steadily.  D181 is no longer a district known for it's academic excellence.  Instead, it has become a laughing stock amongst other districts and fodder for bad jokes at cocktail parties.  We are not making this up.  Ask administrators and teachers in other districts.  Ask superintendents in other districts.  Ask people who work at the Regional Office of Education.  Ask parents who are active on the Hinsdale/Clarendon Hills social circuit. Many will not be afraid to tell you that they cannot believe the craziness that they have watched take over D181.

2.  Less than 6 years ago, D181 students were educated within a research based curriculum -- one that included gifted and advanced learning tiers AND inclusive classrooms for SPED students when ever possible.  Rather than fix the flawed identification process for placement into appropriate academic tiers --  with a goal of allowing entry for all students into the highest tier they could succeed in -- no attempt was made to fix the identification model.  Instead, over the last five years, the district spent over $60,000 in consultants whose reports and recommendations were not followed.  Instead, relying

Comment of the Day: Is an Exiting Administrator "Gaming the System?"

As we approach publication of our final blog post tomorrow, we are publishing one last Comment of the Day that we just received from a D181 Staff Member.  The comment addresses Dr. Schneider's absence from D181. We couldn't agree more with the questions and concerns this brave D181 employee raises.

As always, SOUND OFF (but please do so by 12 Noon on 6/8/16).

COMMENT OF THE DAY:

D181 Staff Member said...

9:55: I am just now catching up on reading the blog. I am a D181 staff member, and like many other teachers in the District, am sad that the blog is going to end. So I am compelled to send you this information in response to your comment on Dr. Schneider. Here is the text from an email the D181 staff members received from Dr. White on May 23, 2016. It provides some information answers and raises more questions. I am a staff member who will not remain silent. After reading Dr. White's email, I was left feeling very empty and disappointed in an administrator who may be gaming the system. I will comment further after the text of the email:

"Dear Colleagues,

I know that many of you have inquired about Dr. Kurt Schneider's status. As you may know, he has been absent for several weeks. I am pleased to share that Dr. Schneider contacted us today and he is doing well and will return to D181 for a few days starting June 2nd. His last few days in D181 will be spent on transition work with Dr. Christina Sepiol. He is also planning to visit schools and meet with key stakeholders during this time.

On a related note, Dr. Sepiol began her work today in D181. I am confident you will enjoy working with her. She will become a great asset to D181.

Thank you.

Don"

What you should all know is that Dr. Schneider hasn't just been absent for several weeks. Several suggests 3 weeks and everyone on staff knows he never returned to D181 after Spring Break -- that was NINE weeks ago. Staff was led to believe that Dr. Schneider was out sick, so no one was going to suggest otherwise. I am glad for him personally if he has recovered from whatever ailed him that he can return to work, but I am not naive enough to be fooled by the verbiage in Dr. White's letter. Dr. White says Dr. Schneider is going to return for a FEW days starting June 2. What does FEW mean? Two, three, four or five days? It certainly doesn't mean more than that under any definition. My understanding is that Dr. Schneider resigned some time ago with an effective date of June 30, not June 5, 6 or 7. So is he being allowed to leave earlier than that now that Dr. Sepiol is here and on staff full time? If so, is he being paid through June 30? I certainly hope not and further hope he hasn't been allowed to game the system by using accrued vacation days. Past administrators who have left have worked right up to their final day. As a teacher, I know when administrators leave, if they have unused vacation days, they are cut a check. They are not allowed to spend their last few weeks on vacation. For me, that would be so wrong and I hope it is not something that Dr. White or any BOE member is endorsing. It sends a wrong message to all other D181 employees. Like I said in the beginning of this comment, I am left feeling very empty and disappointed in what I am seeing play out. This district is not a game, even if some administrators are treating it like one.

June 7, 2016 at 10:29

Response to a Comment Asking Us to Pass on the Reigns of this Blog

Yesterday, the following paragraph was included in a comment one of our readers submitted:

"On a different note, is there anyone willing to take the reigns for this blog? I realize maintaining this blog must be time consuming, but I really wish someone would take on the role. I would, but I'm busy enough as it is. Parents, if you're unwilling to reveal your identity, maybe you could set up a dead drop like they use in cop shows to pass on any relevant information?" (June 3, 2016 at 8:00 AM)

We did not want to ignore this question and therefore are publishing our response as a free standing post.

8:00 a.m.:  Thank you for asking if we are willing to pass on the reigns of this blog.  Our answer is that for the last three years, we, the bloggers, have poured our hearts and souls into bringing transparency to D181.  We chose to do so anonymously, because several of us (and our children) suffered retaliation when prior to creating the blog, we chose to pursue our D181 concerns as everyday parents who were fed up with what we were witnessing. Over the last three years, we did add multiple additional bloggers to our staff, all who agreed to keep their and our identities confidential. But, as we have said, as of next week, all of our children will be graduates of D181 and we feel it is time to end our blog.

Our hope is that someone WILL assume the reigns of transparency, but they will have to create their own blog to do so. We encourage anyone who wants to assume the reigns of transparency in D181 to do so by creating a new blog site in the next few days and sending us your link. We will be happy to post it and prominently highlight it in the last post we will be publishing next week. While we will be ending the publication of all new posts and comments on the blog, we are not going to delete the blog page in the foreseeable future and its content will remain on the Internet. Those who read it will see the new blog link to go to --if one is created and submitted to us.

Comments of the Day: Time to End the Code of Silence

We are publishing the following four comments we received today as our Comments of the Day.  They all discuss the issue of whether or not there is a Code of Silence in D181 and what our obligations as parents and community members are to deal with it.

As always, SOUND OFF!

COMMENTS OF THE DAY:

Anonymous said...

Please don't throw in the towel. We need you. Admittedly, D181 is probably worse off under Dr. White than even Dr. Schuster.

White has allowed the curriculum mess to proliferate, promoted incompetent people, hired people who don't seem to have a clue or the inclination to do work necessary to fix the messes in our schools. The special education students we know are worse off than ever while they are pushed thru their various grades. Many of us know parents of special education students and have heard them tell stories of special education staff denying the existence of blatant issues that a lay person could easily see. We have watched as bullying by staff members has proliferated in some of our schools. It is covered up and denied while staff are moved to different grades and different schools. D181 still isn't challenging our advanced learners.

The code of silence lives among D181 teachers, staff and administrators.

Without this blog, most of the BOE and many district parents would be in the dark. 

June 2, 2016 at 2:05 PM 

Anonymous said...

There is a code of silence - but only we are to blame for that. How many parents have contacted the authorities to complain about this behavior? Not enough. 8:00 am needs to write an email to the board, file a FOIA, and contact the Attorney General. It is not enough to sit around and read for entertainment. If we allow the administration to continue to give our children's educational money to a revolving door of undeserving, impotent administrators, then why is anyone surprised when they get away with it? Not enough people have complained. Have you insisted for a response when you are ignored? Have you called the media to expose the problems? Have you publicly called out the offending administrators or board members when you are robbed blind? Treating these folks with kindness does NOT work. The golden rule does not apply to people without morals or a value system. It is better to be feared than loved. D181 knows this Machiavellian tenet. Do you? This administration is not using the same rulebook we are. What will you do about it?

Like Dr. White's quote says at the end of his emails, if you "dream" instead of "act", then nothing will ever change. He and his followers are all counting on the fact that parents are busy with their jobs and lives and won't have the time,money, or energy to take action against them. They want you to be afraid. Will you let them intimidate and embarrass you when THEY are the ones who should be embarrassed? People reading this blog - stop dreaming that this blog is the "action". This blog is the well that provides us will all the information you need to take action. Use it. Take your buckets to this well and drink the water. Let the water give you the strength to ACT. Instead, of drinking for sustenance, most of us stare at their buckets of water with parched mouths. Stop complaining how thirsty you are and ACT. GO to the next board meeting. Send more emails. Call a lawyer. Run for the School Board.

There are a lot of attorneys, CFO's and CEO's who live in this town who ironically, allow their K-8 school system to rob them blind. If we allow our board members to condone the silence and the wrongdoing, then we get what we deserve. Everyone hanging back on the sidelines, staring at the water, don't be surprised when your children do not get the same treatment that board members children's get. Or, the same treatment that parents with attorneys get. When no one dares to speak up against the corruption or silence, the whole group suffers. The parents who invest the time and the money to fight the corruption get what they want. The rest of us will not. It will not be easy, but anything worth fighting for is hard.

I am thankful for this blog, but if you read the story above our posts, you must understand that NOTHING has changed. What is the point of a well if no one drinks from it? I do not blame the bloggers for hanging it up. They have done important, valuable public service for ALL our our children. They and certain board members like Rich Giltner and Leslie Gray have put their reputations on the line while other parents think showing up at a school fund raisers meets their public service requirements. Act. Don't dream. 

June 3, 2016 at 10:50 AM 

Anonymous said...

I agree 10:50. My children are long grown, but I served on the Caucus and went to a number of school board meetings in my day. I follow this blog and our local papers, but that is it. We get the schools we deserve. Many drink the Koolaid that Hinsdale schools are outstanding. This is driven by the still strong results of Hinsdale Central. When the current group of 4th through 8th graders start making their way through high school, it will be interesting to see how the scores hold up.

I for one would like to see honest, fair reporting by the Hinsdalean and The Doings. The local press should be much more than cheerleaders for our town. Many people that are not aware of this blog will peruse the local paper once a week. The test results MUST be published and COMPARED to the results of 5, 10, and 15 years ago. Math and Reading scores must be published by school. I talk to former Monroe parents, and they are literally clueless about how far a once top school in the state has fallen. Parents of young children need to be INFORMED, they need to GET MAD, and they need to ACT!. My child is done, my child was an AP scholar at Hinsdale Central. My child got a great college degree and a REAL JOB!!!! My child worked her tail off starting in 2nd and 3rd grade. My child knew math facts in second grade and was required to learn 50 vocabulary words PER WEEK in 5th grade, plus all the countries and all the states. Learning is NOT a GROUP PROJECT. No one is going to take the ACT or SAT for your child. No one is going to take AP tests for your child. 

Parents of young children, you have to wake up. Our district has fallen very far in a short period of time. Cleaning house in the administration is the first step. We need disruptors on the school board, not the "go along to get along" types that fall for every educational fad that comes down the pike. 

This situation can be fixed. It starts when the parents of school aged children are informed and take the initiative to get their schools fixed. As a taxpayer, I will tell you we don't need more money or fancy new buildings. We need a solid curriculum that challenges all students. We need differentiated learning for our top students. We need much improved special education for a population of students. Please get informed and get involved.

June 3, 2016 at 12:10 PM 

Ann Mueller said...

Sadly, I have just reread the 5/27 blog post on the D181 curriculum mess. To think that the last five years' MAP scores have declined is just awful. Having been involved in the operations of D181 for the last 29 years and had two children successfully educated in D181, it is so upsetting to realize how D181 has slipped from being a high performing district that successfully serviced all students.

I want to make a couple of observations. In a high performing district such as D181, it is crucial that there be knowledgable, experienced educational leadership that puts what is best for the students first. The superintendent MUST BE knowledgable and experienced in ALL ASPECTS of elementary education, not just management and technology, but finance and CURRICULUM, too. D181 has NOT experienced a superintendent of this caliber for 10 years. I won't go into all the details/specifics, but it is TRUE! The administrative personnel blunders that D181 has experienced the last 10 years demonstrate what happens in a district when the WRONG people, who may have degrees, but no knowledge and genuine experience, are in charge. D181 was actually blessed when so many of the "bad leaders" jumped ship and then the BOE demanded that Schneider and Benaitis be "coached out." The interim personnel that D181 has experienced, going all the way back to Dr. Sabatino and up to the present, didn't work out well in our high performing district either. At best, interims help a district "tread water" and, hopefully, the district will not regress until a qualified permanent replacement is found. We know what has happened the last ten years. 6/2, 9:30am's comments are 100% correct. Also, 6/3, 10:50am has it right, too. The D181 community must end its "code of silence!" The entire D181 community, both parents and empty nesters, is to blame for allowing this unsatisfactory performance to continue in D181. Action needs to be taken! Go to BOE meetings and speak, contact the BOE members, serve on the Hinsdale Village Caucus that recommends BOE candidates, run for the BOE, demand that a new superintendent be found. There are current BOE members who know the current administration is inadequate, but just don't want to go through another superintendent search!!! They don't want tobe bothered to put in the time and effort....shame on them!! Not doing their job is negatively impacting our children's education. The only thing I take exception to in 6/3 10:50am's statement is the impression given that BOE members Rich Giltner and Leslie Gray are the only BOE members who have put their reputations on the line and acted correctly. Their are other current BOE members who have worked enormously hard for our students, devoted their time and put their reputations on the line, too. A couple others not so much.

Anyway, with new permanent SpEd and Curriculum Asst. Superintendents in place, hopefully, circumstance is D181 will greatly improve. However, dedicated, knowledgeable BOE members are needed and a knowledgable, experienced superintendent is mandatory. An engaged community that will take action is a must, too.

June 3, 2016 at 12:31 PM