Time Thursday, January 27 � 7:00pm - 10:00pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Location Palatine Villiage Hall 200 E. Wood St. Palatine -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Created By League of Women Voters of the Barrington Area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More Info The League of Women Voters of the Palatine Area will be holding an information and discussion meeting. The topics will include the impact of partisan gerrymandering on intensifying political party rhetoric, contrasting citizen's access and input in the process of defining the community they wish to be represented with versus the legislators control over the process, and how the shape of the district lines affects what gets done in Springfield. The public is welcome to join the discussion. There will be something for both newcomers to politics and those who have been following politics for a long time. Get informed. Get involved.
Follow Up to Village Coucil meeting from- Palatine Patch
The property formerly inhabited by Mia’s Nursery will be razed to make way for a three-story, 75 unit senior residential facility which is planned to break ground this Spring.
The Palatine Village Council approved the planned development after requirements for additional parking and landscape buffering for nearby residences were met by Chicago-based CRL Senior Living Communities.
Zoning for the 1.98 acres of property at 874 and 896 N. Quentin Road also was changed to accommodate the proposed 65,000 square foot facility.
Privacy for residents whose backyards back up to the development was one issue CRL was required to address.
“I want to make sure we take care of our residents who have been living there for years,” said District 1 Village Council member Aaron Del Mar.
A five to six foot wrought iron-style fence made of powder-coated aluminum will provide a divider between the facility and the backyards of residents who live on Franklin Street, said Michael Samuels, director of development and general counsel for CRL.
A memory garden is planned in the space between the two properties, which Samuels said won’t have much activity because most residents will be in their 80s and 90s. The company also increased the number of arbor vitae tree plantings to provide an additional barrier.
The row of plantings which will run the length of the property aims to provide screening and landscape buffering to respect the privacy of the adjacent property owners, Samuels said.
Samuels told the council the trees will be up to six feet high when planted and will reach as high as 12 feet in a few years.
Parking for visitors during peak holidays such as Mother’s Day and Christmas was another stipulation the company adhered to.
Though Samuels said additional parking will not be needed based on statistics from other CRL facilities, an agreement has been negotiated to utilize parking spaces at Golf Nation, 399 N. Quentin Road, if needed. Another agreement is pending with the owner of the Quentin Corners parking lot at the intersection of Northwest Highway and Quentin Road.
Shuttle services to the senior residential facility would be provided by CRL if additional parking needs to be utilized.
Resident concerns about water run-off into nearby properties was addressed by company engineers, who created a plan to reroute water away from neighboring residences.
The development will include a mix of single and double occupancy rooms with a total of 105 beds. The single occupancy will include a bath, while the double will be a suite-style room with one bathroom that can accommodate two beds or one bed for married couples.
On each floor, there will be one large common area living room in addition to a couple smaller ones for structured activities, according to Samuels.
A dining room also will be on each of the three floors, with a food preparation kitchen on the main floor.
Between now and the Spring of 2012, CRL will be completing their building plans, development agreements and submitting documentation for building permits.
“Our goal is to start demolition of the former Mia’s Nursery building in early Spring and construction of the facility would follow soon after,” Samuels said.
CRL has 16 other properties in Illinois and Wisconsin, with a total of 1,300 beds.
The most recent Illinois development was recently completed in Morton Grove, and the company just broke ground on a Highland Park facility.
District 15 is facing a projected budget deficit of about $9 million in fiscal year 2012-13. Board members asked school officials to come up with a plan to reduce the deficit by as much as possible.
However, at the Wednesday night school board meeting, some board members suggested a course of action that might actually add another $500,000 to the deficit.
Most school districts max out their property tax levy to make sure they receive the largest possible increase in revenue. The Illinois tax cap limits how much of a revenue increase school districts can receive to the rate of inflation. However, new development does not count against the inflationary cap, so school districts generally levy an increase over the cap number.
In this way school officials ensure the largest possible property tax levy.
District 15 is considering a levy that would rise by 1.5 percent — inflation — plus another .5 percent related to development. The .5 percent is an educated guess by school officials, but the levy would be large enough to capture any and all new development.
The district would collect about $109.4 million in property taxes, up from $107.3 million.
Board President Tim Millar said that the district should consider limiting the levy to the inflation number of 1.5 so the new development would lessen the tax burden of existing home and business owners.
"Philosophically I've always had that belief," Millar said. "The taxpayers never get the benefit of this new growth. You just get new traffic, but it doesn't end up lowering your taxes."
Millar's suggestion would lower the property tax levy amount to about $108.9 million, adding about $500,000 to the projected $9 million deficit.
Although District 15 has reserves of about $55 million, it still is considering substantial budget cuts to reduce the deficit.
School board member Scott Herr said he agreed with Millar in principle, but said District 15 had to get its fiscal house in order before considering such action.
"The issue is that the district is facing is that we've got a $9 million deficit next year," Herr said. "And reducing our revenue by half a million dollars makes our issues $9.5 million. So I'm taking a very pragmatic view."
School board member Richard Bokor said $500,000 could be the equivalent of 10 teaching positions.
"I think we need to do that kind of abatement to the public after we fix the [deficit]," Herr said. "Right now we've got an almost insurmountable problem."
The board did not take a vote on the tax levy, but will have to vote on the issue by the end of December.
Hazardous Waste Continually Dumped By County Workers
Inspector general’s office cited Cook County highway department for dumping waste in addition to using vehicles with expired safety inspection stickers, swapping equipment to pass inspections.
After several unannounced site inspections this Fall, the Office of the Independent Inspector General’s (OIIG) office determined Cook County Highway Department employees potentially violated safety standards by dumping hazardous materials at their District 1 facility, 2325 Meacham Road.
Though the facility has a Palatine address, it is technically located at the border of Schaumburg and Rolling Meadows in Palatine Township.
Additional issues were discovered at a facility in Riverdale.
According to the Dec. 20 report from Inspector General Patrick Blanchard mounds of waste materials made up of gasoline, oil, anti-freeze and other chemicals swept from roadways have been piled in a heap for years.
The mounds are visible from the highway department facility, located at the intersection of Meacham and Algonquin Road, across from Motorola in Schaumburg and down the street from Harper College.
“From our standpoint, we indicated conditions we uncovered have the potential to cause a public health hazard, but our findings were not conclusive,” said Blanchard.
Concerns include the concentrated debris posing probable safety risks because of runoff that may contaminate soil and ultimately groundwater.
Included in the report are recommendations from the Inspector General’s office to develop an operations and maintenance program to properly store and dispose of street waste to avoid, or to reduce runoff.
The highway department now has 30 days from the date of the report to adhere to those and other recommendations, Blanchard said.
“Depending on the nature of the infraction, if issues still exist after 30 days, then we would have to make more assertive actions such as contacting the prosecutor’s office or the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,” Blanchard said.
Blanchard did say however, that his office has been in contact with the Cook County president’s office, and to his understanding, appropriate steps already are being taken.
“Reform initiatives have already begun at the highway department, including addressing equipment needs and reviewing policies, procedures and internal controls; however to truly bring about reform a change in leadership was needed,” said Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County board president.
John Yonan, formerly with the Chicago Department of Transportation has been selected by Preckwinkle to head the highway department.
Yonan is expected to take over the post at the start of the New Year, according to Liane Jackson, Preckwinkle's press secretary.
“Mr. Yonan will be going through every concern that was addressed by the OIIG systematically; public safety and employee safety is a top priority,” Jackson said.
Other issues discovered at the surprise site visits related to highway department employees using vehicles that had not passed safety inspections.
The OIIG uncovered employees ‘swapping out’ equipment from vehicles that had passed inspections – such as fire extinguishers and even tires – and transferring them other vehicles so they too could be deemed safe.
Current vehicle safety stickers also were a sticking point.
“The OIIG noted that numerous vehicles (that) appeared in use but had expired State of Illinois safety inspection stickers,” the report stated.
Issues were additionally cited with the handling and management of Cook County Highway Department inventory.
“Inventory policies and procedures for safeguarding supplies and equipment are inadequate and run contrary to the General Accountability Office’s concept,” according to the OIIG report.
The lapses included unlocked storerooms and having no individuals responsible for safeguarding or distributing supplies owned by Cook County.
Other recommendations made by the OIIG include requiring evaluations of current equipment and vehicles to ensure they meet safety standards and inspection benchmarks.
A final recommendation was to evaluate the current inventory of supplies and implement more control to protect assets of Cook County.
The changes that are planned at the highway department are all in line with the president’s performance management initiative that requires departments across the county to institute more direct reporting and internal controls, Jackson said.
“While we have already been working on new initiatives at the highway department, I welcome and strongly support the Inspector General’s most recent recommendations for reform,” Preckwinkle said.
The jurisdiction of the Office of the Independent Inspector General extends to Cook County employees, elected and appointed officials, as well as contractors and subcontractors who do business with Cook County government.
The office conducts independent investigations to identify, deter and punish corruption, mismanagement and other unlawful activities against Cook County government, according to the Cook County website.
Community Consolidated School District 15 along with several administrators named by a former assistant principal Elizabeth Wong in a federal lawsuit alleging wrongful termination filed a joint motion to dismiss on Dec. 19.
D-15’s response in support of their motion states Wong was informed last Spring that her contract would not be renewed based on serious performance issues noted by her principal, Mary Szuch.
These performance issues included disseminating the results of a school climate survey without Szuch’s permission. It further states that rather than accepting that her performance was found wanting, she blamed her termination on the acts of others.
“She now claims that the School District and the other named Defendants conspired to retaliate against her in violation of the First Amendment, common law and the IllinoisWhistleblower Act. . . . These claims are not only unfounded, they are legally unsustainable” the district argues.
The motion seeks to dismiss all four counts of the lawsuit.
In their conclusion, attorneys for District 15, Superintendent Scott Thompson, Szuch and the other administrators allege “Wong is a disgruntled former employee, searching for a way to hold her employer responsible for her own inability to perform her job.”
Wong’s response to the district’s motion to dismiss is due no later than Jan. 23, 2012
The following is info on the upcoming Budget Forum: http://www.ccsd15.net/pages/CCSD15/Board_of_Education_Group/News/Bu... Budget Update: Next forums will seek stakeholders’ solutions Release date: January 5, 2012 Community Consolidated School District 15’s second round of budget information forums will be held January 23, 2012, at Walter R. Sundling Junior High, 1100 N. Smith Street in Palatine. A forum for staff will be held from 4-5:30 p.m., and a forum for community members will follow from 7-8:30 p.m.
In contrast to the District’s first round of informational forums held in December, these next forums will be designed to elicit participants’ feedback on solutions to the District’s structural deficit.
Earlier this fall, the District 15 Board of Education directed Superintendent Scott Thompson and his administrative staff to compile a list of potential budget cuts totaling $10 million. That list is intended to guide the District as it works to determine how much to reduce its expenditures for the 2012-13 school year, as recently updated financial forecasts show growing annual budget shortfalls draining the District’s reserve funds over the next five years.
The District is projected to run a $6.2 million deficit this year, and, without any reductions, a nearly $10 million deficit in fiscal year 2012-13. If not addressed, annual budget shortfalls such as these are projected to reduce the District’s current fund balance of about $55 million, which represents roughly 40 percent of its budget, to about $4.8 million, or roughly 3 percent of its budget, by the end of fiscal year 2015-16.
The District’s Leadership Team will use the input received from the January 23 forums to finalize a budget reduction proposal that will be presented at the Board’s February 8 meeting. That presentation will include the list of $10 million in potential budget cuts and the amount of expenditures the administration recommends cutting in order to keep the District in a strong financial position through at least the 2014-2015 school year.
Once the budget reduction proposal is presented to the Board, the District will solicit the community’s feedback on the plan, and incorporate that input into a revised proposal for the Board to act upon at its March 14 meeting.
For more information, contact Superintendent Scott Thompson at 847-963-3205 or thompsos@ccsd15.net (mailto:thompsos@ccsd15.net)
Recently, a Daily Herald article alerted us to the fact that Township High School District 211 is planning to issue $26 million in bonds over the next few years. Unless there is significant public comment, the D211 Board plan’s to begin this unnecessary borrowing by issuing $16 million in bonds during the current 2012-13 school year. There is a meeting scheduled for public comment. Please plan to attend their next meeting on Thursday, October 18, at 7:30 pm at the following location: Township High School District 211G. A. McElroy Administration Center1750 S. Roselle Rd, Palatine IL 60067
This borrowing is unnecessary because the District 211 fund balances are extremely healthy. They have 58% of their total expenses in the bank. The state recommends reserve funds to be in the 25-30% range . As a comparison, District 15 carries 35% in fund balances. If the Board approves this borrowing, they are projecting a surplus of $12.9 million this school year! (source: www.d211.org/pdf/Tentative_Budget_2012-13_pages12-34.pdf) Is borrowing money to have a surplus and maintain excessively high fund balances the best choice for the financial health of our community? District 211 policies continue to go unchecked because few, if any, of the public attends Board Meetings. Remember receiving and paying your property tax bill in August?. This is your chance to attend the meeting and voice your opinion on avoiding unnecessary borrowing that will affect your future property taxes.
carol ann parisi
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Location Palatine Villiage Hall
200 E. Wood St.
Palatine
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Created By League of Women Voters of the Barrington Area
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More Info The League of Women Voters of the Palatine Area will be holding an information and discussion meeting. The topics will include the impact of partisan gerrymandering on intensifying political party rhetoric, contrasting citizen's access and input in the process of defining the community they wish to be represented with versus the legislators control over the process, and how the shape of the district lines affects what gets done in Springfield. The public is welcome to join the discussion. There will be something for both newcomers to politics and those who have been following politics for a long time. Get informed. Get involved.
Jan 15, 2011
carol ann parisi
Feb 4, 2011
carol ann parisi
Feb 4, 2011
carol ann parisi
PALATINE BUDGET HERE
http://www.palatine.il.us/assets/1/vc_packets/10-29-111.pdf
VILLAGE
OF PALATINE - VILLAGE COUNCIL MEETING
200
E. Wood Street - 2nd Floor, Palatine, IL
Tentative
Budget Schedule:
Monday,
November 7
Monday, November
14
Monday, November 21
Public
Hearing: Monday,
December 5
Adoption
of budget and tax levy:
Monday,
December 12
Nov 13, 2011
carol ann parisi
Follow Up to Village Coucil meeting from- Palatine Patch
The property formerly inhabited by Mia’s Nursery will be razed to make way for a three-story, 75 unit senior residential facility which is planned to break ground this Spring.
The Palatine Village Council approved the planned development after requirements for additional parking and landscape buffering for nearby residences were met by Chicago-based CRL Senior Living Communities.
Zoning for the 1.98 acres of property at 874 and 896 N. Quentin Road also was changed to accommodate the proposed 65,000 square foot facility.
Privacy for residents whose backyards back up to the development was one issue CRL was required to address.
“I want to make sure we take care of our residents who have been living there for years,” said District 1 Village Council member Aaron Del Mar.
A five to six foot wrought iron-style fence made of powder-coated aluminum will provide a divider between the facility and the backyards of residents who live on Franklin Street, said Michael Samuels, director of development and general counsel for CRL.
A memory garden is planned in the space between the two properties, which Samuels said won’t have much activity because most residents will be in their 80s and 90s. The company also increased the number of arbor vitae tree plantings to provide an additional barrier.
The row of plantings which will run the length of the property aims to provide screening and landscape buffering to respect the privacy of the adjacent property owners, Samuels said.
Samuels told the council the trees will be up to six feet high when planted and will reach as high as 12 feet in a few years.
Parking for visitors during peak holidays such as Mother’s Day and Christmas was another stipulation the company adhered to.
Though Samuels said additional parking will not be needed based on statistics from other CRL facilities, an agreement has been negotiated to utilize parking spaces at Golf Nation, 399 N. Quentin Road, if needed. Another agreement is pending with the owner of the Quentin Corners parking lot at the intersection of Northwest Highway and Quentin Road.
Shuttle services to the senior residential facility would be provided by CRL if additional parking needs to be utilized.
Resident concerns about water run-off into nearby properties was addressed by company engineers, who created a plan to reroute water away from neighboring residences.
The development will include a mix of single and double occupancy rooms with a total of 105 beds. The single occupancy will include a bath, while the double will be a suite-style room with one bathroom that can accommodate two beds or one bed for married couples.
On each floor, there will be one large common area living room in addition to a couple smaller ones for structured activities, according to Samuels.
A dining room also will be on each of the three floors, with a food preparation kitchen on the main floor.
Between now and the Spring of 2012, CRL will be completing their building plans, development agreements and submitting documentation for building permits.
“Our goal is to start demolition of the former Mia’s Nursery building in early Spring and construction of the facility would follow soon after,” Samuels said.
CRL has 16 other properties in Illinois and Wisconsin, with a total of 1,300 beds.
The most recent Illinois development was recently completed in Morton Grove, and the company just broke ground on a Highland Park facility.
Nov 16, 2011
carol ann parisi
district 15 what are you doing
Carol Ann Parisi
D-15 Considers Raising Property Tax Levy
The Community Consolidated School District 15 board is debating how much it should raise its property tax levy.
Photos
How high should Community Consolidated School District 15 increase its property tax levy?
District 15 is facing a projected budget deficit of about $9 million in fiscal year 2012-13. Board members asked school officials to come up with a plan to reduce the deficit by as much as possible.
However, at the Wednesday night school board meeting, some board members suggested a course of action that might actually add another $500,000 to the deficit.
Most school districts max out their property tax levy to make sure they receive the largest possible increase in revenue. The Illinois tax cap limits how much of a revenue increase school districts can receive to the rate of inflation. However, new development does not count against the inflationary cap, so school districts generally levy an increase over the cap number.
In this way school officials ensure the largest possible property tax levy.
For example, Township High School District 211's levy will increase in 2012 by 1..., even though inflation was 1.5 percent. A portion of that amount — .3 percent — is from property development.
District 15 is considering a levy that would rise by 1.5 percent — inflation — plus another .5 percent related to development. The .5 percent is an educated guess by school officials, but the levy would be large enough to capture any and all new development.
The district would collect about $109.4 million in property taxes, up from $107.3 million.
Board President Tim Millar said that the district should consider limiting the levy to the inflation number of 1.5 so the new development would lessen the tax burden of existing home and business owners.
"Philosophically I've always had that belief," Millar said. "The taxpayers never get the benefit of this new growth. You just get new traffic, but it doesn't end up lowering your taxes."
Millar's suggestion would lower the property tax levy amount to about $108.9 million, adding about $500,000 to the projected $9 million deficit.
Although District 15 has reserves of about $55 million, it still is considering substantial budget cuts to reduce the deficit.
School board member Scott Herr said he agreed with Millar in principle, but said District 15 had to get its fiscal house in order before considering such action.
"The issue is that the district is facing is that we've got a $9 million deficit next year," Herr said. "And reducing our revenue by half a million dollars makes our issues $9.5 million. So I'm taking a very pragmatic view."
School board member Richard Bokor said $500,000 could be the equivalent of 10 teaching positions.
"I think we need to do that kind of abatement to the public after we fix the [deficit]," Herr said. "Right now we've got an almost insurmountable problem."
The board did not take a vote on the tax levy, but will have to vote on the issue by the end of December.
Nov 17, 2011
carol ann parisi
FROM PALATINE PATCH.... DUMPING ON THE TAPAYERS AGAIN
Editor Brian Slupski: Heard some news you want us to check out? Let me know: brian.slupski@patch.com
- Barrington Patch
- Lake Zurich Patch
- Buffalo Grove Patch
- Des Plaines Patch
- Deerfield Patch
- Cary Patch
- Northbrook Patch
- Libertyville Patch
See moreHazardous Waste Continually Dumped By County Workers
Inspector general’s office cited Cook County highway department for dumping waste in addition to using vehicles with expired safety inspection stickers, swapping equipment to pass inspections.
Photos
After several unannounced site inspections this Fall, the Office of the Independent Inspector General’s (OIIG) office determined Cook County Highway Department employees potentially violated safety standards by dumping hazardous materials at their District 1 facility, 2325 Meacham Road.
Though the facility has a Palatine address, it is technically located at the border of Schaumburg and Rolling Meadows in Palatine Township.
Additional issues were discovered at a facility in Riverdale.
According to the Dec. 20 report from Inspector General Patrick Blanchard mounds of waste materials made up of gasoline, oil, anti-freeze and other chemicals swept from roadways have been piled in a heap for years.
The mounds are visible from the highway department facility, located at the intersection of Meacham and Algonquin Road, across from Motorola in Schaumburg and down the street from Harper College.
“From our standpoint, we indicated conditions we uncovered have the potential to cause a public health hazard, but our findings were not conclusive,” said Blanchard.
Concerns include the concentrated debris posing probable safety risks because of runoff that may contaminate soil and ultimately groundwater.
Included in the report are recommendations from the Inspector General’s office to develop an operations and maintenance program to properly store and dispose of street waste to avoid, or to reduce runoff.
The highway department now has 30 days from the date of the report to adhere to those and other recommendations, Blanchard said.
“Depending on the nature of the infraction, if issues still exist after 30 days, then we would have to make more assertive actions such as contacting the prosecutor’s office or the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency,” Blanchard said.
Blanchard did say however, that his office has been in contact with the Cook County president’s office, and to his understanding, appropriate steps already are being taken.
“Reform initiatives have already begun at the highway department, including addressing equipment needs and reviewing policies, procedures and internal controls; however to truly bring about reform a change in leadership was needed,” said Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County board president.
John Yonan, formerly with the Chicago Department of Transportation has been selected by Preckwinkle to head the highway department.
Yonan is expected to take over the post at the start of the New Year, according to Liane Jackson, Preckwinkle's press secretary.
“Mr. Yonan will be going through every concern that was addressed by the OIIG systematically; public safety and employee safety is a top priority,” Jackson said.
Other issues discovered at the surprise site visits related to highway department employees using vehicles that had not passed safety inspections.
The OIIG uncovered employees ‘swapping out’ equipment from vehicles that had passed inspections – such as fire extinguishers and even tires – and transferring them other vehicles so they too could be deemed safe.
Current vehicle safety stickers also were a sticking point.
“The OIIG noted that numerous vehicles (that) appeared in use but had expired State of Illinois safety inspection stickers,” the report stated.
Issues were additionally cited with the handling and management of Cook County Highway Department inventory.
“Inventory policies and procedures for safeguarding supplies and equipment are inadequate and run contrary to the General Accountability Office’s concept,” according to the OIIG report.
The lapses included unlocked storerooms and having no individuals responsible for safeguarding or distributing supplies owned by Cook County.
Other recommendations made by the OIIG include requiring evaluations of current equipment and vehicles to ensure they meet safety standards and inspection benchmarks.
A final recommendation was to evaluate the current inventory of supplies and implement more control to protect assets of Cook County.
The changes that are planned at the highway department are all in line with the president’s performance management initiative that requires departments across the county to institute more direct reporting and internal controls, Jackson said.
“While we have already been working on new initiatives at the highway department, I welcome and strongly support the Inspector General’s most recent recommendations for reform,” Preckwinkle said.
The jurisdiction of the Office of the Independent Inspector General extends to Cook County employees, elected and appointed officials, as well as contractors and subcontractors who do business with Cook County government.
The office conducts independent investigations to identify, deter and punish corruption, mismanagement and other unlawful activities against Cook County government, according to the Cook County website.
http://palatine.patch.com/articles/hazardous-waste-continually-dump...
Dec 28, 2011
carol ann parisi
FROM PATCH..... WONDER WHAT ELSE SHE KNOWS????
D-15 Responds to Federal Lawsuit with Motion to Dismiss
District claims plaintiff is a disgruntled former employee searching for a way to hold them responsible for her own inability to perform her job
Pdfs
Community Consolidated School District 15 along with several administrators named by a former assistant principal Elizabeth Wong in a federal lawsuit alleging wrongful termination filed a joint motion to dismiss on Dec. 19.
In the lawsuit filed Oct. 18, Wong claimed she was fired for reporting that her boss was an alcoh.... She also alleged District officials violated the Illinois Whistleblower Act when she was fired. She is seeking at least $500,000 in damages.
D-15’s response in support of their motion states Wong was informed last Spring that her contract would not be renewed based on serious performance issues noted by her principal, Mary Szuch.
These performance issues included disseminating the results of a school climate survey without Szuch’s permission. It further states that rather than accepting that her performance was found wanting, she blamed her termination on the acts of others.
“She now claims that the School District and the other named Defendants conspired to retaliate against her in violation of the First Amendment, common law and the Illinois Whistleblower Act. . . . These claims are not only unfounded, they are legally unsustainable” the district argues.
The motion seeks to dismiss all four counts of the lawsuit.
In their conclusion, attorneys for District 15, Superintendent Scott Thompson, Szuch and the other administrators allege “Wong is a disgruntled former employee, searching for a way to hold her employer responsible for her own inability to perform her job.”
Wong’s response to the district’s motion to dismiss is due no later than Jan. 23, 2012
Dec 28, 2011
carol ann parisi
The following is info on the upcoming Budget Forum: http://www.ccsd15.net/pages/CCSD15/Board_of_Education_Group/News/Bu...
Budget Update: Next forums will seek stakeholders’ solutions
Release date: January 5, 2012 Community Consolidated School District 15’s second round of budget information forums will be held January 23, 2012, at Walter R. Sundling Junior High, 1100 N. Smith Street in Palatine. A forum for staff will be held from 4-5:30 p.m., and a forum for community members will follow from 7-8:30 p.m.
In contrast to the District’s first round of informational forums held in December, these next forums will be designed to elicit participants’ feedback on solutions to the District’s structural deficit.
Earlier this fall, the District 15 Board of Education directed Superintendent Scott Thompson and his administrative staff to compile a list of potential budget cuts totaling $10 million. That list is intended to guide the District as it works to determine how much to reduce its expenditures for the 2012-13 school year, as recently updated financial forecasts show growing annual budget shortfalls draining the District’s reserve funds over the next five years.
The District is projected to run a $6.2 million deficit this year, and, without any reductions, a nearly $10 million deficit in fiscal year 2012-13. If not addressed, annual budget shortfalls such as these are projected to reduce the District’s current fund balance of about $55 million, which represents roughly 40 percent of its budget, to about $4.8 million, or roughly 3 percent of its budget, by the end of fiscal year 2015-16.
The District’s Leadership Team will use the input received from the January 23 forums to finalize a budget reduction proposal that will be presented at the Board’s February 8 meeting. That presentation will include the list of $10 million in potential budget cuts and the amount of expenditures the administration recommends cutting in order to keep the District in a strong financial position through at least the 2014-2015 school year.
Once the budget reduction proposal is presented to the Board, the District will solicit the community’s feedback on the plan, and incorporate that input into a revised proposal for the Board to act upon at its March 14 meeting.
For more information, contact Superintendent Scott Thompson at 847-963-3205 or thompsos@ccsd15.net (mailto:thompsos@ccsd15.net)
Jan 10, 2012
carol ann parisi
Recently, a Daily Herald article alerted us to the fact that Township High School District 211 is planning to issue $26 million in bonds over the next few years. Unless there is significant public comment, the D211 Board plan’s to begin this unnecessary borrowing by issuing $16 million in bonds during the current 2012-13 school year. There is a meeting scheduled for public comment. Please plan to attend their next meeting on Thursday, October 18, at 7:30 pm at the following location:
Township High School District 211 G. A. McElroy Administration Center 1750 S. Roselle Rd, Palatine IL 60067
This borrowing is unnecessary because the District 211 fund balances are extremely healthy. They have 58% of their total expenses in the bank. The state recommends reserve funds to be in the 25-30% range . As a comparison, District 15 carries 35% in fund balances. If the Board approves this borrowing, they are projecting a surplus of $12.9 million this school year! (source: www.d211.org/pdf/Tentative_Budget_2012-13_pages12-34.pdf) Is borrowing money to have a surplus and maintain excessively high fund balances the best choice for the financial health of our community?
District 211 policies continue to go unchecked because few, if any, of the public attends Board Meetings. Remember receiving and paying your property tax bill in August?. This is your chance to attend the meeting and voice your opinion on avoiding unnecessary borrowing that will affect your future property taxes.
Oct 17, 2012