Education Change You Can Believe In From Obama, Duncan

I’m floored. I can’t believe this education proposal has come out of this administration. I had figured the President was in the back pocket of the NEA and AFT given the tremendous sums they gave to his election but he proved me wrong today. In this case I have no problem being proven wrong — bravo President Obama and bravo Secretary Arne Duncan.

Now this is just a proposal at this point so while I am giddy as all get-out about it I’m still not holding my breath. He can champion this all he would like but he still has to turn to Congress to get this done. I’m hopeful there is support in Congress for this and I’m hopeful Republicans are leading the charge because this is a transformation of President Bush’s No Child Left Behind (NLCB) and takes important steps to fix what is wrong with it while still insisting on accountability.

First we need to talk about what is broken with NCLB and that is ever increasing standards that can’t possibly be met. Standardized tests are based on percentiles so if you require schools to place within a certain percentile you are creating a glass ceiling — there will be a point where you can’t improve and if everyone improves someone still has to be at the bottom. This is the fundamental flaw of NCLB — it punishes districts even if they are making improvements.

While the administration has put out what it is calling a “blueprint” and not legislation, and I’ve been unable to find any outline yet what Duncan and Obama are saying is highly encouraging. According to the USA Today:

1. Raise the current standards by 2014.
2. Scrap the 2014 reading and math requirements and replace them with “college readiness” requirements by 2020.
3. Use subjects other than reading and math in their ratings.
4. “Value-added” indicators for teachers and schools.
5. Use indicators other than just test scores in assessing teachers.

These are all great changes to NCLB. The only one I am leery of the teachers unions getting their hands on is the subjective assessments. They could twist this into a means of keeping teachers who are not up to par by subjective means. That needs to be discouraged. The rest of these are great improvements on NCLB that open up the restrictions and bring reality to eduction — it’s not all reading and math.

What they added next though was the real kicker. For schools that are struggling, down in the bottom 5% they would have to take one of the following actions in order to maintain federal funding:

1. Shut the school down.
2. Bring in an outside company to manage the school as a charter school.
3. Fire the entire staff and rehire no more than 50% of them.
4. Fire the principal and bring in a new one with a transformation plan.

Wow. That’s about all I can say about that, wow. This is absolutely, without a doubt, EXACTLY what is needed to put teeth in NCLB. Right now a struggling school will only get worse; most of the parents will have nowhere else to go, that school will lose federal funds and with less funding it will only get worse. That’s broken. This puts the teeth in NCLB and frees school districts to make the kind of changes they would need to transform a failing school.

You can guarantee the teachers unions will be fighting these provisions tooth and nail in Congress. ”Let me be clear” here for a moment if I can steal one of the President’s lines, I have a message for teachers. I have nothing against the rank and file teacher doing everything he or she can to educate our kids. It’s a tough and often thankless job. You get to deal with a slew of parents who just don’t care. However, there’s no legislation on the planet that is going to make them care. This is all that can be done.

The prescription from NCLB right now just gets in the way of a teacher being able to be a teacher. A slew of requirements are put on them, the district office is in their classroom, creating some new set of guidelines for them to follow or the like. Teachers aren’t allowed to innovate and educate. You need to tell your leadership right now that the President’s plan will let you innovate and educate again and stand on your own.

Your leadership is about to barrage you with a mountain of scare tactics and try to get you behind opposition to this plan. You need to stand up to your leadership and tell them no. Have you seen the headlines over the past few weeks? In Illinois we have a complete disaster on our hands and districts are cutting staff left and right. This is what your leadership has gotten you with their hold on power and their refusal to innovate. Many a good teacher is being fired so many a bad teacher that’s been doing it forever can keep his or her job. That’s not right and you need to stand up for it as not right.

I’m sure you can easily count the bad teachers in your building right now. The ones who don’t care, the ones who “phone it in”, the ones you are constantly covering for. Admit it, you know they are there. Are you prepared to lose your job for them? That’s what your leadership will be asking you to do. Under this proposal YOU will be responsible for YOUR own results. If you are doing all that you can it will be seen and measured and you won’t be held responsible for your failing peers. This plan is a plan for good teachers and good teachers should stand up to their national leaders and get behind it.

I’m hopeful this plan can be put into place and it stays as it is outlined. You can rest assured I will be watching it as it comes out, but this is a great start and the first reason for hope and change I’ve seen out of President Obama.  Well done.

My School Board Resignation

One of my favorite movies ever is “For Love of the Game” starring Kevin Costner as an aging pitcher with the Detroit Tigers who is having the best day and the worst day of his life. So as not to bore you with an entire synopsis of the film and where I’m going with this Costner’s character Billy Chapel starts his day with a knock on his hotel door from the owner. The club has been sold, they don’t want Chapel any more and they want to get rid of him. The owner, played brilliantly as always by the superb Brian Cox, offers some words of advice:

You’re like the old boys, they were golden. They had that special pride. When they were done, they were done, no one had to show them the door.

I may not be “golden” but no one has to show me the door either.  So today I filed my resignation at the district office and said that I was done.

This film speaks to me on many levels at this time in my life. After Chapel gets those words of advice his on-and-off-again girlfriend tells him she’s going to London. He has to pitch so he heads to the stadium, arm full of pain from throwing for nineteen years and he reflects on his life throughout the game. Sometimes in life you get so focused on something that you never picture your life without it.  It becomes a hunger that needs to be fed.  Everything you do you feed to it.  You shut people out, you refuse to let others in and you skip out on obligations because you have the hunger that needs to be fed. I have done the same thing with my school board work and just like Chapel I have worn myself down body and mind serving it. I can’t even remember the times my son has been turned away by me and he says “you’re always working or going to a meeting dad.” The first twenty or so times it hurts, when you get up to where I’m at now it weighs on you greatly.

Despite the sacrifices you make to the hunger you certainly have times you look back upon fondly. You remember some of the achievements you were a part of and I have certainly had my share. Going back to 2001 our district was in utter and complete chaos, the state had come in, it was about to take full control and I had six people who didn’t care too much for the fact that the good people of Round Lake elected me to serve with them and they let me know about it.

Even in my more recent stint I came to a board that had appointed me as its 3rd appointed member in a year. The board had virtually no say in how the district was run, it couldn’t even set the agenda for its meetings. When I would ask why we couldn’t do anything I was told “because of the SFA, they won’t let us.” I made it my mission to change that and since I’ve been president the board has run the district and the board has set the agenda. That was because of the efforts of many good people but I’d like to think I had a hand in that. We built what is essentially a beautiful new school that the district could be proud of and I am certainly proud of from my early days on the board of constantly questioning, “what are we going to do about Magee?” I leave her in good hands.

I remember my first graduation as President of the board and I probably went a bit overboard in my speech to the graduates about what going to RLHS meant. I took a lot of criticism from some people over my remarks despite reviewing them with the principal, Dr. Jeff Brierton (also fondly missed) before I made them. It was worth the shots I took later though when a staff member came to me afterwards telling me how much it meant to her.  I’d do it again.

Also during the film Chapel reflects on his former teammates, some with him still and some not. I have reflected on mine as well. I don’t want to get in trouble and leave someone out but I need to recognize some special people I have served with in the district. Walter Korpan retired a couple of years ago having straightened out the financial mess and I have written previously of my love and admiration for Walter.

Jerri Ryan has served ably for well over a decade now and has steered the district on a path to harmonious relations with the union when they were anything but when she arrived. I particularly remember when Jerri made her transition from in-house counsel to her current position and the tears that were cried over the mere changing of a title.  That’s one of those fights I was glad to have won albeit it only partially. I’m fond of the Reagan desk proverb of “There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.” While others at various times have taken the credit for our improved labor relations Jerri never did though it was sorely deserved.  I will miss my times playing attorney with her.

Heather Bennett has been secretary to the CEO for several years now through the different CEOs and she has been a bastion of consistency and organization in the district office. A fellow graduate of Round Lake she works tirelessly for the CEO, the board and the district. I will miss her great smile and an attitude that never was down. Your words meant a lot to me today Heather, thank you.

I’ll miss Kim Kearby pacing around at the back of a room be it a board room or the RLHS library when we’re taking up a contentious matter. Those times have waned in recent years and I think Kim, who I can’t ever stop reminding people was my tee ball coach, has had less reasons to pace in front of the board.  I’m disappointed I won’t be there to present you with your retirement award Kim, I had an iPod with “Kiss Him Goodbye” all ready to go for the occasion!

Most of all I will certainly miss someone who I certainly consider my friend now and that is Dr. Ben Martindale. Ben came and started working for us despite not even being done with his previous job yet. He and I went over our relationship and how we would work together to achieve the goal I so desperately wanted to achieve. I made some mistakes along the way and he would be there to either nudge me or bark at me if the moment required it. We both share a fondness for the more, shall we say “creative” words of the English language that he has a jar in tribute to on his desk.  We also share many common loves be it sports, the Indy 500 or kids with special needs. I’ve never met a more tireless and passionate servant for children and I don’t think I ever will. Knowing you I know what you must be thinking about all this and I can assure you, it’s the players that play the game, not the coach. I will never forget you and what you have taught this student, my friend.

So I’m sorry to say that this old arm doesn’t have a perfect game with me but I feel like I’ve already made my mark. The picture for this article is one of those proud moments I had. In September 2008 we were visited by 90-year-old Frank Dvorscak who was on the board that would become our board and built RLHS. He was a delightful gentlemen and when he came up to accept our recognition award he whispered “you run a good meeting” and that meant all the world to me. I glanced over at my place at the table where a gavel that had been my father’s rested and thought he might be proud.

In the picture we look pretty funny because I think neither of us wanted to stop chatting for photos. When we were done he went down to the plaque in the old original hallway that bears his name on it. His family sent me a photo with him holding the award I had given him standing with the plaque. That’s legacy stuff and something he was obviously proud of, I hope that will be me some day.

At the end of the film, before he goes to throw the last inning, Chapel writes on a baseball and has it run up to the owner.  As Chapel goes to take the mound one final time the owner looks down at the ball and it says “Tell them I’m through, for love of the game.” It’s the final words of love from someone who doesn’t want to give up what he has built a significant part of his life around. But he realizes he can no longer serve his love the way he should and moves on to other things.

I’m through, for love of the kids.

Graduation, Loss, Futures At RLHS

I didn’t know Christopher Campos, but I wish I had after the sights I saw today.

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
- M. Gandhi

Graduation is usually the best day of the year to be a school board member. After all the trials and tribulations that go on throughout the year graduation at Round Lake High School has been a welcome ending to the year. Last year I missed out when I had gotten tickets for the Indy 500 pretty early and it happened to fall on graduation day. Aside from that one I’ve been at every RLHS Graduation as a board member and spoke to the Class of 2007.

We had a full board at graduation this year so not wanting to clutter things with myself I just got both tables situated with three board members at each.  ”Remember to smile, you’re about to be in a few hundred pictures that will be on someones mantle for the next thirty years or so” I said to our newest board member.  A few quick instructions and a repositioning of the one “line” to help the photographer out and I stood to the side to take it in while they presented.  And so it was, I didn’t think I would present any diplomas this year but that was fine by me, better for those who haven’t had the experience I had thought.

In the flurry that is board work at many times we forget many of the things that happen throughout the year. While I certainly remember when Chris passed away, I called for a moment of silence for him at our board meeting, I had forgotten he was a senior.  So after a rather nice and well paced graduation ceremony I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next when two students took to the center in front of the stage for something that wasn’t on the program.

It was then that RLHS Principal Kurt Sinclair reminded those present of Chris’ death in January and the two students sang a lovely song in his memory.  I was unable to hold back the tears almost immediately marking the memory of a student I wasn’t lucky enough to know but was taken from us much too soon.  It’s not right for kids to have to learn they’re not immortal at such a young age but the Class of 2009 learned that in January.

So as the song progressed Kurt got my attention and presented me with a sealed diploma and asked me to present it to his family.  As soon as it entered my hands I looked down at it and either one of my tears or one of Kurt’s had already hit the sleeve containing it.  I was filled with thoughts of my friend David Thomas who passed away this year.

I remember thinking how Dave was the first of my classmates I knew to die and how I felt old seeing one of my classmates, one of our most beloved classmates, in his casket.  Reverend Lisle Kauffman gave a stirring and wonderful eulogy reminding us that our tears and our grief are for ourselves and that Dave was in a far better place.  Dave was someone who simply attending RLHS was an achievement for him, let alone to graduate, let alone to become one of our most loved friends.  I told his mother at the funeral that we didn’t know it at the time but Dave taught us a lot about life and about ourselves.  He taught us about bravery and courage and every time the words “I was just thinking” left his lips we may have held back a laugh but what usually followed may be crazy, may be hair-brained, but it was always full of pure innocence.  Innocence you just don’t find much any more.

Then there was the loss of Bobby Weinger earlier this year in Afghanistan.  Bobby, a member of the Class of 2002, was killed in action and had another poignant service at Wauconda High School.  I remember standing in line looking at all the mementos of a life cut all too short to help preserve the freedoms we have.  I paused at his casket to pray and think of the words I would say to his father and family who were there.  When I got to his father, the tears again flowing down my face, I was barely able to speak.  I couldn’t put together what I wanted to say, what could I possibly say to assuage the grief of this family?  All I could do was thank them, thank them for the life they gave us.

So as I stood with this diploma for a boy I never knew, with the thoughts of my departed friend and a noble soldier in my head, I tried to pull myself together.  I didn’t have anything that I could possibly say.  I stopped by the table and picked three roses that were there for graduates and presented one to each of his family and then the diploma to them.  There were many tears as I presented the only diploma I presented today.

The song sung at the end was a moving tribute to Chris but the whole ceremony was really.  Mr. Sinclair’s speech was about the “two minutes” that make the difference in all our lives.  The Panther Voices sang “Finale B” from one of my absolute favorite musicals, Rent.  Jonathan Larson, the composer and  creator of Rent died at 36 the evening of the final dress rehearsal for Rent’s off-Broadway opening.

If I had to pick just one song from Rent that I love the most (and that is incredibly hard) it would have to be “One Song Glory”:

One song

glory

one song

before I go

glory

one song to leave behind

find

one song

one last refrain

glory

from the pretty boy front-man

who wasted opportunity

It’s a song that’s always stirred something in me because in many ways I see my life a lot like Roger’s — one of wasted opportunities and the search for the ever elusive one thing to be remembered by and one love to make it worth it. Most of the time I have my hands in too many pots to find that one thing so the fault is without a doubt completely mine.

Somehow after it all I feel completely unworthy of the opportunities that I’ve had and wasted amongst the man who never let his disability hold him back, another man who gave his life for his country and another man who had his life taken from him before he could even get those opportunities. So in that moment I held the diploma for someone whose life was cut way too short, the single drop of water on the cover, hoping that it was one of my opportunities that I was giving him instead of one of my tears.

As the song for Chris was sung the Class of 2009 joined in trying to give something to him as well.  They started collecting the roses they had just been given and left them on the table that held their diplomas in tribute to him.  As I reflect on this poignant day at RLHS, the ending to a very tragic year, I came to the words of Gandhi that I captioned above.

We never know for how long we are here so it is important to live our lives like tomorrow will be our last (also wonderfully reflected in “Another Day” from Rent).  Because of that it is imperitive for us to try to learn and pass on what we have learned as if we would be here forever.  That is the glory we can pass on to those who follow us, knowledge to be built on for the future and hopes for a better future for the generations to come.

Generations where a mental disability can be cured.

Generations where people don’t have to die to preserve freedom.

Generations where the young need not be taken from us.

It may be impossible, it may never happen, but we must do our best to try.  I think we owe it to Dave, Bobby and Chris to try.

The Power of Facebook

I’ve had a few blogs that I’ve been meaning to post but after Saturday night I definitely needed to post this one and that’s about the power of the coolest social networking app to hit the web called Facebook. Think of Facebook as MySpace for adults or for people who get majorly irritated with hideous HTML embedded on MySpace pages that take forever and a day to load no matter how fast your connection is.

It started out as a social networking app for college students and you had to actually be one to get a Facebook page before they opened it up to everyone. It has a slick AJAX interface that makes things just click and go so that even the most novice web user can quickly get a profile up and going that looks decent. It has “apps” which are various little games and diversions that keep people interested or embarrass the heck out of you.

However, where Facebook really shines is in the power of its feeds. A feed is where you see what your friends are up to be it posting their own items or commenting on someone else’s stuff they put on their own page. At a glance you can see what all your friends are up to and it encourages communication since it only takes a second to comment on the item or post one of your own. I witnessed the raw power of Facebook this past Saturday night when a group of RLHS alumni got together — for no reason really but just to get together.

We started an RLHS Alumni Nights group, basically after homecoming this year, we put together a place where RLHS alumni who are still in the area or might be coming back to visit can get together and hang out with old friends. For someone like me who can be a bit distant, getting to know people is tough. What easier way to hang out and have fun for someone like me than with people I grew up with, spent years with, shared embarrassing moments with? Heck, they already know my history. That’s my reason for starting the group and getting into it but the group has nearly a hundred members now and they each bring different reasons for why they are there.

So this past Saturday we had a get-together at The Vine in Grayslake. I had one of my online gigs but as soon as it was over I got dudded up and headed on over a bit later than most everyone else. When the girl who greeted me pointed out the corner where the group was I couldn’t believe my eyes as RLHS alumni had packed a whole section of the pub. The graduation years really ran the gamut but it was mostly late-80s to mid-90s graduates all getting together and having a good time. It wasn’t like your typical reunion though where you spent all your time about where you’ve been, what you’ve been up to and how your life has been for the past ten years.

Instead of reunited it was old friends reignited again just having a good time. The various classes bled so that you had groups of people who weren’t from the same class or weren’t even in RLHS at the same time grouping together. It didn’t matter, our experiences and our common background at RLHS were all the things we needed to share some drink and some good times. Looking at that corner of people, several had come from many miles away and just happened to be in town, it really struck me at how amazing Facebook and my friends from RLHS are. Sure, there’s other social networking sites that do similar things but at my 10-year reunion I would have never anticipated anything like this now.

At the end of the night, walking back to my car after parting with the last of the group it really struck me why I do what I do on school board as well. We weren’t just taught about learning at RLHS, we were taught about life. Many of my classmates are immensely successful and they’re strewn all over the United States and even overseas now. We all came from the same place though and had our lives forged in the same crucible together because, let’s face it, we fought a less than desirable reputation then just as we do now.

So I try to do my part to give the kids the best environment and learning experiences I can give them because in my own way I’m trying to do my small part to help them become who they’re going to be. People talk about the passion I can bring to the board table sometimes and I won’t deny it. I will fight for these kids, come hell or high water, there is no reason they can’t succeed and we can’t do more to help them get there. I will not settle for excuses for why Round Lake kids can’t achieve and thrive and not just merely survive. That will never change and spending time with my friends from RLHS just reinforces that for me all the more.

Round Lake students to perform music at prestigious event

Lake County Journals – Round Lake students to perform music at prestigious event

By STEPHANIE N. LEHMAN – slehman@nwnewsgroup.com

ROUND LAKE – Karina DeAnda has been playing the flute since she was in fourth grade. She practices an hour in school every day and three hours a week outside of her normal lessons.

The hours have paid off. The Round Lake High School junior was accepted into the Illinois Music Educators Association District 7 All-District Band out of 800 high school musicians that auditioned for a place in the prestigious ensemble. More than 100 students auditioned on flute; DeAnda was one of 18 selected.

“It is quite the achievement,” RLHS band director Krista Millard said. “When you have a student who’s responsible to say, I’m going to invest myself in this situation and do the best I can … you hope it was good enough, and when you find out, you find that commitment did pay off.”

DeAnda’s audition in mid-October consisted of playing scales, two prepared pieces and sight-reading a piece – performing music she had never had time to practice before.

She will perform Thursday, Nov. 13, at the IMEA District 7 Senior Festival at Evanston Township High School. She and the other band students will have approximately four hours to rehearse as a group before they perform before a crowd that could easily exceed 1,500, Millard said.

Though being selected into IMEA is one of the highest sanctions a high school musician can meet, Millard said being selected into IMEA is about more than music. It reflects individual character. And DeAnda has felt the difference.

“I’m not as shy any more,” DeAnda said. “I’ve been more responsible getting my work done, and I put a lot of me into my work.”

Three more

DeAnda isn’t the only RLHS student to shine in the spotlight. Three male members of the school’s top choir – the Panther Voices – were selected to the IMEA District 7 Festival Chorus, and two of them have been invited to re-audition for All-State choir.

Juniors James Neigel and Lindon Warren and senior Jon Stiverson all will perform at the Saturday, Nov. 15, IMEA District 7 Festival in Evanston.

Neigel and Stiverson will be pulled aside from rehearsal that day to audition for two of the top spots in the state in choir. It’s the first time in many years that RLHS has had anyone qualify for All-State, choir director Kristin Moroni said.

Neigel, who sings bass, comes from a family of musicians. His older brother was in Panther Voices for four years; his mother made All-State choir in Massachusetts when she was in high school. The bar has been set high for the junior.

But he knows what it takes to meet those high expectations. This is already his second year to make IMEA.

“Last year, I kind of slid into making IMEA. I was content to getting there,” he said. “This year, I really prepared for the auditions. And I felt confident when I left [the audition room].”

For All-State, Neigel will be asked to sing two excerpts from All-State pieces, sing scales and triads in a tonal room, and sight-read two pieces – perhaps the biggest point factor in the audition.

It’s something he’s wanted for a long time.

“It would be a very proud moment,” he said of the All-State opportunity. “And then I could learn from better singers around me. I’m really striving for it.”

Neigel’s best friend and fellow choir member, Stiverson, is also back for a second year in IMEA. Accepted as a sophomore year, the tenor missed acceptance last year, but worked his way back up to getting a shot at All-State.

The process hasn’t been easy, he said.

“You walk in that room; the room is silent,” he said. “It’s so quiet you can hear a pin drop. Your mind just empties out; you concentrate on one thing and it feels like it’s 10 seconds long.”

But Stiverson knows that as a senior, this is one of his last chances to make a name for himself before he’s shipped off to duty. He will graduate in May and join the U.S. Navy in early summer.

So, he practices. Five days a week. Before he goes to work at K-mart, after school in the car; Stiverson is always singing.

He’s been rewarded in the past. He and Neigel were two points away from a perfect score at Richmond-Burton High School in March for a duet contest.

But a possible trip to Peoria in January to perform with the All-State choir is the ultimate prize, he said.

Using the experience

Warren made IMEA by the skin of his teeth this year, being selected only after a tenor two dropped out of the performance.

But it’s an experience Warren plans to use to his advantage. His goal, after all, is to follow Neigel and Stiverson and make All-State.

“I’ve never done anything like this before,” he said. “[I'm looking forward to] having a good experience with the whole combination of choirs.”

He’s already noticed what two years in Panther Voices has provided, including the ability to perform in different languages.

“I sound better in French than I do in English,” he said, laughing. “I’ve come a very long way.”

Tune in

The IMEA District 7 Senior Festival concert will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at Evanston Township High School in Evanston.

Can’t make the concert? Tune in for a delayed broadcast of the concert at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, to WFMT 98.7 – Chicago’s classical music radio station.

Daily Herald | Round Lake school hoping to reclaim control

Daily Herald | Round Lake school hoping to reclaim control

As indicated in the article last night the Board of Education and the SFA met to discuss transition plans. No school district in Illinois has emerged from an SFA, they either dissolved or continue to be governed by an SFA (East Saint Louis, Chicago, Hazelcrest).

This shows the enormous progress the district has made in just 7 short years since the Financial Oversight Panel (the predecessor to the SFA) was put into place. Short term debt has been eliminated, long term debt is well under control, fund balances are up across the board and the district has more cash on hand than many districts would ever dream of having.

There are many folks responsible for this: first the taxpayers who absorbed a tax increase when the tax cap was reset three years ago, the FOP members who first helped to start getting us on track, Walter Korpan our former business manager and CFO, Dennis Stonewall who helped right the ship in a number of areas and worked building bridges with the community, the current SFA members who have gradually allowed the Board to take back most control as we have continued our recovery. Finally Dr. Ben Martindale deserves a large amount of credit for coming in with a plan to get our district back to local control. After almost a year and a half we are well on our way.

I’ll be running for re-election in April and I hope to be fortunate enough to be returned to office and help with our transition back to local control. I’ve had many proud moments in the past few years on the board but of that accomplishment I would be the most proud.

October President’s Letter

Another school year is already in full swing in Round Lake Area Schools and the Board of Education is excited about the number of new programs and restructuring of current programs we are offering for your children this year. The centerpiece of these changes has been the re-opening of Magee Middle School thanks to the support of you, the Round Lake Area taxpayers. With careful use of your referendum dollars we have rebuilt a building we believe the community can be proud of — a beacon in the middle of Round Lake, bearing a proud name, rising like a phoenix out of the ashes to signify to those within and outside our community that Round Lake Area Schools is back.

Now with two middle schools we were able to create true middle school programs of 6th, 7th and 8th grades thus relieving some of the overcrowding at our elementary schools. This opened a door to our next opportunity — full-day kindergarten. The earliest years of a student’s life are some of the most important ones where many of the basic concepts they will carry forward with them are formed. Studies have shown that quality and quantity of instruction during these years provides for better results down the road. We’re proud to be one of the first schools in the area to provide full-day kindergarten to the families of Round Lake thus giving them an early leg up on learning.

With these important projects now completed the board is still keeping its eyes on the future and isn’t done yet. Later this month the Board of Education and School Finance Authority will be meeting to put together a transition plan. This plan will see Round Lake Area Schools become the first district to have local control by the school board returned to it after state intervention. We are very excited at this opportunity to return our district to normalcy the way the Illinois State Constitution intended for it to be — local residents, elected by the community to represent them, in full control of the school district and the education of the community’s children. This simply hasn’t been done before and Round Lake is setting the example for other school districts to follow thanks to your support during a very difficult period of our existence. It says to the whole state that in Round Lake, yes we can do better, yes we can do it ourselves, and yes we will set the standard for others to follow.

Again, we cannot thank the community enough for its support and its interest in the present and future of Round Lake Area Schools. Each day you show to us all and remind us why we are here — to build the foundation for the future of our children and our community. We continue to work hard to exceed your expectations and realize there is much work yet to be done. With your support we are able to do so and able to prove day after day that yes, we can!

RLHS Music Alumni Wanted

The RLHS music department is looking for alumni participation in Homecoming this year. Check out the attached PDF for more info!

Fine Arts Boosters Alumni Letter

Daily Herald | Palatine school plans to expand

Daily Herald | Palatine school plans to expand

As many of you are aware my son attends New Connections Academy in Palatine, it has turned his life and his educational experiences around. There is no other school like it in the area that I’m aware of that specializes in programs for kids who suffer from autism but are high-functioning or have Asperger’s Syndrome.

This is also a great example of where a privately run program has stepped in to fill a void not being filled by the public schools. It’s a well-run facility with an incredible staff making differences in the lives of these kids every day. I’m glad to see more kids will be able to benefit from this program instead of trying to be placed in a program not designed for their disability. Too many times HFA and AS kids are being placed in ED (formerly “BD”) classrooms where they fall under bad influences (think of a child with HFA or AS as a giant button waiting to be pushed by a child with emotional issues). Or they get put in an LOP or similar classroom with students with more profound learning disabilities where they get bored and cause problems.

As the demand for these programs increases they will continue to expand. So if you have a child who suffers from HFA or AS I encourage you to insist on a placement that fits your child’s disability. It is your child’s right under IDEA to be placed in a such a program — the fit that is right for your child not the fit that is right for the school district. There is no greater advocate for your child than you, it’s up to you to insist on the proper placement so I encourage you to go into your next IEP meeting prepared and with the facts on what’s right for your child. By simply going along with a placement that may not be right for your child you aren’t doing him any favors and you’re ensuring there isn’t enough demand for programs like New Connections Academy.

(Again) Who Gets The Credit For Round Lake Area Schools

Two years ago I wrote a blog entry about some credit-taking that was going on after our former CEO announced his retirement. Well, two years have gone by and there appears to be more credit-taking going on for the recovery of RLAS. Political campaigns can be that way though with roles being, shall we say, “beefed up” to curry favor with the voters.

I thought I would repost my entry from two years ago to give an insider’s view on who deserves the credit and why for the recovery. Also, we received financial recognition for the second straight year recently, continuing to prove things are headed in the right direction in Round Lake.

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On Friday the Daily Herald ran an article covering the resignation of Dennis Stonewall as CEO of the Round Lake Area Schools. Jason King, the writer, went on to subtly give credit to Mr. Stonewall accurately pointing out “Under his direction and that of his chief financial officer, Walter Korpan, the duo has dramatically improved the district’s finances.” While this may be accurate, in that the rewards of the turnaround came during his tenure, it would be incorrect to start or stop there with who deserves the credit.

To figure this out we have to do a little time trip and that most appropriately begins when the state came in with the Financial Oversight Panel (FOP), the predecessor to the School Finance Authority (SFA). This is where we get to our first people who get credit.

First off, in my mind, is Eric Anderson from Harris Bank. Just prior to the state coming in Mr. Anderson and Harris had stepped up to be the district’s main finance broker. Whenever a bond, tax anticipation warrant, or other financial instrument needs to be executed the Board has to find buyers and that is what Mr. Anderson does. This was not a fun job to have when he got here and, in fact, he made it clear to the Board at the time that he was not going to be able to find a buyer for many more tax anticipation warrants as the district was in the unheard of position of procuring them on taxes it wouldn’t receive for another two years. From many I have talked to it was Mr. Anderson’s emphatic plea to the Board that finally forced them to request the State Board of Education (ISBE) put a FOP in place in Round Lake.

Shortly after that the panel was appointed and my second recipient of credit was appointed the chair, Marc Spivak. Mr. Spivak, an attorney with Topper & Weiss in Chicago and a former school board president, brought the calm, analytical demeanor needed to succeed in this position because in the district, things are coming unhinged. Bill Thompson and Joe Monahan two retired school business managers brought the in-depth knowledge and skill to assess where things were at and get Round Lake going in the right direction.

The FOP brought in several consultants, the first being Lutaf Dhanidina. Mr. Dhanidina had served as director of financial planning for the Chicago Public School and was most recently Chief Financial Officer for Evanston/Skokie District 65. Mr. Dhanidina or “Lutaf” as we would all call him because of his difficult to pronounce last name, began an in depth analysis of the district’s financial status and something that hadn’t been done for some time, projections for its future status. It was these projections, and how dire they looked, that led ISBE to get legislation to put a Finance Authority in Round Lake and eventually cause the FOP to request such an authority. It wasn’t the only thing that caused that though.

The Board fought with the FOP tooth and nail. Immediately after my election in April 2001 I began direct communications with Mr. Spivak in an attempt to get the Board to work cooperatively with the FOP and not against them. After I was seated, aside from the lambasting I would get from my fellow members, closed sessions were full of disdain for the FOP and representatives from ISBE. I remember them being referred to as “egg heads”, “bean counters” and “smarmy”. This Board was suffering from what is commonly referred to as “bunkering” — perceiving threats from all sides and then engaging in paranoid behavior that everyone is out to get them. The truth of the matter was, they were here to get it straightened out and had they cooperated, the SFA might never have come to pass.

This leads us to some blame. No individual board member or board officer is responsible for what happened in Round Lake, it was a collective failure. Nor is it the fault of Dr. Mary Davis our former superintendent because at the end of the day the Board sets the agenda and that agenda was faulty for a number of years going back to when Dr. Clif Houghton was forced to retire. The subsequent Boards would follow a philosophy of having an educational program no matter what the cost to the district. This is the faulty reasoning of many many board members and not just those in Round Lake. A board member is not there to do it “for the kids”, the board member should do what is right for the kids within the restraints of the community’s wishes. If the Board has inadequate funding it goes to referendum, if the community believes the funding it is needed it provides it (as the people of Round Lake have done many times) or it does not. It’s then up to the Board to act with this mandate from the people, not to mandate to the people what they will pay for.

Additionally the district did not have a clean handoff from our prior Business Manager to the one in place when I came to the Board. She was quite clearly totally overwhelmed by the scope of the position. I believe she did the best she could but the task was beyond her and the support system wasn’t there for her either. The district needed a strong business manager who would be able to take on this task and then put the support system in place himself. That person turned out to be Walter Korpan.

When Mr. Korpan was hired I caused a big stink about how it was done. He was picked, the Board President had agreed to the pick and the Board was to rubber stamp his appointment. I was concerned a more thorough search wasn’t done. After interviewing Mr. Korpan though I became convinced, and I told him so at the meeting, that I was pleased with the selection and would vote for it despite my misgivings on how it was done.

Mr. Korpan has done the yeoman’s effort in getting this district turned around but he would be the first to tell you he had a lot of help. However, one cannot deny the fact that two things started things going down the right path — insistence on a balanced budget from the FOP and Walter Korpan overhauling the districts business practices. For years our auditors Eder, Casella & Co. had warned of poor business practices, they just weren’t followed. In fact, the district illegally transferred funds several times. Mr. Korpan immediately made sweeping changes including overhauling the district’s method of taking attendance which recouped the loss of state funding (since all state funding is based on Average Daily Attendance (ADA) within the district). We couldn’t even properly tell the state how many kids we had in class!! He started there and went on to running a lunch program that broke even instead of losing money, creditors who held intercepts on our tax money had proper balances set aside to disable the intercepts, and many other significant changes.

The results are plain to see. In FY2001 the district ran a deficit of $1.05 mil, with $23.4 3mil in state funding and $17.68 mil in local funding according to ILEARN. Some of this deficit is actually incorrect since the district had money expended for construction projects that were previously bonded (i.e. in FY2000 the district got money for a project not done and paid for until FY2001 so a deficit will be shown). But this is where local funding numbers started to step up, in FY2002 state funding was $21.81 mil (49%) and local funding was $19.87 mil (45%), up two million from the prior year. In FY2003 state funding was $20.77 mil (47%) and local was $21.18 mil, up another million and change.

However, in FY2004 the first “benefit” of the SFA went into effect. As part of the legislation that created the Round Lake SFA, known as the Downstate Finance Authority Act, the district got to “reset” its tax cap for one year. That is, the district was no longer bound by the tax caps imposed on every other district (except Chicago) in Illinois which limits the amount of taxes they can levy. In other words, a district has authority from taxpayers to levy a certain amount in taxes and can increase that amount from year to year based on rises in cost of living, etc. Most district in Illinois can’t raise it to that cost of living because of tax caps, Round Lake could in FY2004. So, in FY2004 state funding was $24.47 mil (46%) and local funding was $26.57 mil (50%). For the first time in years the district got more from its taxpayers than it did from the state. In FY2001 the number was 41% and had been for a number of years, it moved up 9% in three years and with static state funding, that has been a major reason for the turnaround in the district.

For FY2005 that number has dipped a bit. But the Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) of the district continues to grow. EAV is the value of taxable property in the district, EAV per pupil is a key figure in discriminating poorer districts from affluent ones. In FY2001 the EAV per pupil was $55,925 and ranked 281st in the state. In FY2005 it is now $69,776 and 257th in the state. This rise has accounted for the nearly $7 mil per year the district has available and, together with sound financial policies, this is why the district is getting turned around and future projections continue to look good. So, my #1 serving of credit for the turnaround in Round Lake? The Round Lake taxpayers who endured their tax caps protection being lifted and continue to live under the threat of mandated taxes without referendum — taxation without representation by an appointed SFA.

So, does Mr. Stonewall deserve some credit? Absolutely. Does the Board, that has continued to wrangle with him, this author being one of the lead antagonists, still have concerns? You betcha. I’m concerned with our administrative turnover. I’m concerned with use of authority (such as with the use of Magee I covered earlier) without consultation with either the Board or the SFA. I’m concerned with our three-headed administrative structure that can result in miscommunication or lack of communication. I’m concerned about administrative costs. I’m concerned that we had a referendum pass yet the only sizable construction work that got done this summer was the administrative building parking lot.

Frankly, I was dismayed when Mr. Stonewall told us point blank that he was going to abide by our decision to fund the mobile classrooms project with fund balances and then went to the SFA with his plan to have them issue bonds anyway. Fortunately the SFA unanimously voted that down. Finally, I’m concerned that we don’t truly have a superintendent.

Why is that important? There are things a chief executive in a school district has to do that are not merely business. I applaud good business sense in all decisions and I frequently question our administration on how we spend money. However, there are some real truths to school districts. First off, no, we do not have “customers”. The “customer” in schools is the taxpayer, not the parents. There are thousands of people in our district — seniors, young people without children, those who send their children to private schools, to name a few — who do not use our services but pay for them. This is a huge fundamental fact that cannot be taken for granted or denied. I am all for better customer service for those who do use our services but our responsibility, our accountability, is to the taxpayer and not to the parents alone. I think the vast number of those taxpayers understand how important a good public school is to our community’s well-being and success. We need to educate them on that though so they understand what we’re doing, how we’re doing it, and that we’re being responsible with their hard earned money, money that for everyone is the largest single item on our property tax bill.

Additionally there are nuances of labor relations, state standards, community outreach, and other items that an experienced superintendent comes to grasp. And, finally, a good superintendent knows he/she serves at the pleasure of the Board but is not afraid to tell the Board when it’s doing something wrong. Had we a Board that more properly understood this oversight role and a Superintendent willing to stand up and insist on proper business practices and accounting then perhaps this entire issue of who gets the credit for Round Lake rebounding wouldn’t be necessary.

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