Thursday, September 1, 2011
New program to bond board members with District 46 elementary schools launches this fall.
Grayslake schools have each been 'adopted' by a District 46 school board member in a new program that hopes to increase board understanding and awareness at the school level. The "Adopt-A-School" program was the idea of board member Shannon Smigielski. All but two board members, Karen Weinert and Sue Facklam, supported the initiative. Smigielski said the program is "all about building bridges" between the board members and the schools. She made the statement at a Special Board Meeting held with the school principals to determine the parameters and specifics of the program. Board members will be invited by the school principals to attend school events during both day and evening hours that will fit into their various work schedules. The …
Thursday, June 2, 2011
First round of school code violations denied.
Libertyville attorney Richard Mittelman, the mediator hired by District 46 to review allegations made against school board members, has rejected the first group of claims. He revealed this finding during a District 46 board meeting May 31. The complaints were filed by board candidate Marchell Norris and newly elected board member Shannon Smigielski before the April 5 school board election. All cite violations of school code 2-105, including using PTO email and distributing literature on school property for the incumbent’s political campaigns. The findings do not include the more recent 300-page complaint filed by Lennie Jarratt. Of the seven complaints filed, two were made against re-elected board member Sue Facklam, two against former …
Friday, May 6, 2011
Former D46 board president provides her perspective on recent controversies.
Embattled former District 46 school board president Mary Garcia has been under the microscope since an email she sent to State Senator Suzi Schmidt from her District 30 account was distributed to the press in March. Garcia works in District 30. The results of a Freedom of Information Act request were released this week. Garcia: When people take things out of context they can spin things out of control. Garcia: Since I started on the board there is more involvement by the community. People are more aware of changes that are happening at the state and school board level. They are vigilant about money spent. Garcia: I don’t have an issue with people participating in the meetings, in a healthy and productive way. We have to remember that…
District 46 officials accused of ethics and school code violations.
Part of the fallout from the recent politically charged District 46 school board elections is a 300-page record of email correspondence among certain school board members, certain school officials and other key players. The emails were garnered through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by Lennie Jarratt to Northbrook/Glenview District 30, where former D46 school board president Mary Garcia works. Patch has obtained copies of the emails and reviewed them. The emails reflect conversations between Garcia and fellow District 46 board members, Superintendent Ellen Correll and many other key players in the Grayslake school district. They allegedly show activities such as illegal campaign electioneering from school property, "absconding…
Monday, May 2, 2011
Chris Schrantz joins incumbents Mark Vondracek and Terry Hall on the Woodland District 50 school board. The new board will be installed Tuesday night.
Apparently the squeaky wheel does not always get the oil. The most vocal candidates for the Woodland school board, local businessmen Alex Attiah and Vince Juarez, were not elected to the board. Instead, newcomer Chris Schrantz, vice-president of finance and business services for Allendale Association for the past 14 years garnered the highest percentage of votes. Incumbents Terry Hall and Mark Vondracek followed Schrantz in the lead and were able to extend their terms on the board. The new school board term will officially begin at the May 3 board meeting. Schrantz emphasized during the candidate forum the importance of his background in finance and provided specific examples of how he would assist the district in saving money while …
Saturday, April 2, 2011
District 46 school board member pledges to move forward despite recent controversies.
District 46 board member Michael Carbone has been publicly censured and openly criticized by fellow board members and at least one citizen in the weeks preceding the April 5 elections. “They have nothing positive to say because their campaigns were exposed and their nepotism and cronyism was exposed,” said Carbone. "This job is not about me. It’s about the parents and taxpayers. I have gone around neighborhoods and talked to hundreds of people. I hope the board takes more responsibility because of me." Carbone questioned several actions of his fellow District 46 board members. The actions included: hiring former board member Michael Linder and board president Mary Garcia’s husband; incumbent board candidates, Sue Facklam and Mary Garcia, …
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Five candidates battled down to the wire for three open positions in the April 5 election.
After a contentious campaign, incumbent Sue Facklam will be joined on the Community Consolidated District 46 School Board by newcomers Shannon Smigielski and Kip Evans. Evans narrowly defeated Mary Garcia. Marchell Norris was defeated. Unofficial results of the Community Consolidated School District 46 Board of Education: (3 positions available/5 candidates) Details on the Candidates: Shannon Smigielski Sue Facklam Kip Evans Mary Garcia Marchell Norris
Friday, March 25, 2011
Board members and meeting attendees continue censuring Michael Carbone.
Attendance was low at the District 46 special school board meeting Thursday and it did not run long. For what the meeting lacked in time, however, it certainly made up for in intensity. Board member Ray Millington started the night off with a bang by reading a statement which chastised fellow board member Michael Carbone for what he described as dragging two current board candidates into the mud along with himself and for creating a backlash against Mary Garcia and Sue Facklam, current board members running for re-election. “I think Mr. Carbone should be aware of the adage ‘people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw bricks.' I will not tolerate the shenanigans and disregard of facts that Mr. Carbone, Mr. Evans and Ms. Norris have …
Sully
1:10 pm on Sunday, September 4, 2011
One can only hope these board members learn a little something about the schools and the way they function. My only opposition to this is that each member only sees one school rather than all of the schools, but I do realize there are time constraints involved. It would be nice to see those board members who think that less funding and bigger class sizes would be appropriate perhaps change their … more ›