School money take a look 4 your self

Don't get a job working for the Newpaper because they print bad news everyday!! And it works to change things.
This Topix isn't about getting people to go to board meetings but about the school and there budget trouble. We know about board meetings and when they happen an that they post the minutes from each meeting so we can see what happened at each one of them.
Now back to what we were talking about !!!!!!!!

Braidwood wrote:

No I am not a board member, just a parent. I will say it again, this is not the forum to bring about change. Go to the board meeting;you may need to ask to be put on the agenda to speak during the public comment section,but the board members are open to comment. There is a chain of command that has to be followed to address concerns.You can find it in your student handguide. I am sorry that you seem to be having a negative reaction to our schools and the people in it. Have you lived here long?

Has every one went on this web site yet. There are some thing on there we all should read!! Just to let you know we are Unit 255
http://www.championnews.net/salaries.php
SEE FOR YOURSELF!!!!

David Requa: Superintendent
James King: Director of Operations
Dennis Fisher: Director of Technology
Mark Mitchell: Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum
Lori Totten: Director of Special Services
This with all of their secretaries and assistants, represents over a half a million dollars in salary.... Doesn't this seem very excessive in a district with less than 2000 kids? I want to here that these guys in the very least took a pay cut. Why would they ask the teachers and the bus drivers to take a cut and then not take one themselves. A good leader leads by example. I don't care if the budget problems are fixed, which they're not, I still would want to see these guys volunteer to take a cut in pay.

They just passed a law that requires school districts to post the administrators pay on the school website. Check it out. HTTP://www.braidwoodjournal.com/main.asp...

Happy Dad wrote:

They just passed a law that requires school districts to post the administrators pay on the school website. Check it out. HTTP://www.braidwoodjournal.com/main.asp...

That article features Wilmington more than other school districts. Since it is law, where can one find the R-C administration pay? Is in on the R-C website like Wilmington's was?

Happy Dad wrote:

David Requa: Superintendent
James King: Director of Operations
Dennis Fisher: Director of Technology
Mark Mitchell: Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum
Lori Totten: Director of Special Services
This with all of their secretaries and assistants, represents over a half a million dollars in salary.... Doesn't this seem very excessive in a district with less than 2000 kids? I want to here that these guys in the very least took a pay cut. Why would they ask the teachers and the bus drivers to take a cut and then not take one themselves. A good leader leads by example. I don't care if the budget problems are fixed, which they're not, I still would want to see these guys volunteer to take a cut in pay.

Supt.- Let's hope he is here for the long haul
Dir. of Ops.- Necessary for now, could be short term
Dir. of Tech.- Get rid of now...tasks could be dispersed within the buildings
Asst. for Curriculum - waste of time and money, guided by the supt, building principals should work together to build a viable K-12 curriculum
Spec. Services - a much needed, under appreciated position. This is a must.

The RC pay is up on the web site at this link: http://www.rc255.will.k12.il.us/255/documents...

Sorry it is so long. That covers 2008-2009 which is what the law calls for. Just to clear up another matter, Lori Totten is essential but she is also a SOWIC employee so she is not on the RC district payroll.

Also for clarification, administrators who did not already have multi-year contracts which must be honored did have a pay freeze for this year. My contract calls for my pay to remain frozen for the full three years of its term because I asked for it to be that way since we were asking employees to take a freeze. Only the bus drivers took a pay cut in this last contract. Teachers and all other employees were just frozen. There are also teachers who were on a Voluntary Early Retirement Program who had a contractual right to an increase before retirement that had to be honored legally. That was negotiated in 2004.

I should also point out that the only secretary in our central office is the Board Clerk who is also my secretary. We have a Bookkeeper and an Accounts Payable Clerk to cover the financial bookwork and issue payroll and all of our other checks and a District Registrar who deals with all of the enrollment information and transportation arrangements. If we had fewer paperwork requirements from the State we might be able to do with fewer people but at this point all of these people are working pretty hard to maintain the legal requirements handed down from the State of Illinois.

I welcome your questions, suggestions and input of all kinds and hope you will join in the effort to try to find ways to make our budget work without reducing the excellent quality of education we provide to our students.

Requa wrote:

The RC pay is up on the web site at this link: http://www.rc255.will.k12.il.us/255/documents... .....

Thank you for pointing this out. I noticed that Mr. Asplund is on the spread sheet but none of the other officials in the administrator’s office are on there. I'm guessing that for some reason that isn't part of what the law requires. Am I wrong in assuming this?

Is this all you people have do?
Write on these goofy blogs?
Get a Life!

Comet wrote:

Is this all you people have do?
Write on these goofy blogs?
Get a Life!

Hahahahaha! I'm with you on that. I got a pretty good life but still I find blogging to be very entertaining. Glad you enjoy reading.

I find this to be a good way to cross reference the news. Most news outlets tend to lean a little toward biased, so I like to get out and find out what people are really thinking. This is the age of computers. This is where people hang out.

JOIN THE COMUNITY.

The positions posted are the ones the law requires, yes. The Special Education Director actually is an employee of the Southern Will County Special Education Cooperative, SOWIC, so she is not listed. The Director of Operations is not involved directly with education but maintains building, grounds, buses and transportation and insurance matters and as such is not in the law to be listed either. Those two and myself are the only administrators in the central office. Everyone else is listed.

We once lived in Plainfield and then in Shorewood. Plainfield was the worst. The teachers were not up to par, the classes overcrowded. Troy School District was better, but for such a rich town, it was still sadly inadequate. While I lived there, it was referendum after referendum to build fancy schools that were overcrowded.

Reed Custer has its faults, but we are very lucky to have a district that focuses on necessities rather than building schools that look like country clubs. When the district was still receiving funding from Exelon, the board invested in strengthening the district's infrastructure. Now that funding had dwindled, we are not forced to do without.

Our children get a decent education and the music programs are excellent. When we moved here from Troy, my daughter had a tough six months catching up. Now she's on the honor roll. I'm pleased with the school district and think teachers and administration earn their pay. I have a lot of respect for this school district.

Rose P.

Rose, how long ago did you move here? I also was in Plainfield i felt the same. What amazed me is that our taxes were still very high, even with the lack of quality. I agree that this district is much better, and with Mr Requa at the helm I expect even more improvements. But just a FYI we have repeatedly voted the referendoms down here.

What referendum would that be exactly??

Happy Dad wrote:

Rose, how long ago did you move here? I also was in Plainfield i felt the same. What amazed me is that our taxes were still very high, even with the lack of quality. I agree that this district is much better, and with Mr Requa at the helm I expect even more improvements. But just a FYI we have repeatedly voted the referendoms down here.

Original Parent wrote:

Wow check this out. Teachers are paid how much most of them almost double my total household income. And I'd would say that I'm about average. I'm not against teachers making a living, but I am against them demanding more and more from the pockets of the people. I just heard today that they plan to strike. Nice. Thanks FYI for that bit of info, it will be useful.

In this low socioeconomic community the residents can't stand it if the teachers make more than them. In Braidwood, we pay the very lowest property tax...almost in the state of Illinois. We really DON'T pay hardly anything in property taxes. Our kids have gotten a north suburban education because of Com Ed and we haven't paid didly squat. Plus, those teachers have at least 1 and most of them 2 master's degrees and have been teaching for a long, long time. They had to go to school for a very, very long time to be at those salaries. If you are comparing with Wilmington and Coal City, then ya. Anywhere else - Lincoln-Way area for instance - way higher salaries just 1/2 hour north.
I like how people complain. If you wanted to go into a field and make more money, then why didn't you? Many of the teachers have worked years to be where they are at. In any other professional, with their years and degrees, they would be making way more. You don't pay didly squat in property tax, have gotten the best facilities, best teachers, best of everything, but you are always complaining about salaries.
Go to another town, pay their property taxes and then maybe you will have room to complain. You've gotten everything for free from this district...basically.
Go become a teacher and then come back here. The district has high standards, so you better be good - Then come back and teacher here - I like what we as residents have gotten and you all should feel lucky too. Not a bad deal I say. Any teacher any where in the US isn't paid enough for what they have to deal with in this day and age. We are fortunate people

Wait until all of these cuts, we will have one of the worst school districts in the area, we will be cut down to the bare bones, the good teachers will have left because they don't want to teach in a district where the class sizes are huge. Bad leadership in the past, even worse leadership now.

Uncle Walt wrote:

Wait until all of these cuts, we will have one of the worst school districts in the area, we will be cut down to the bare bones, the good teachers will have left because they don't want to teach in a district where the class sizes are huge. Bad leadership in the past, even worse leadership now.

Ok stop, enough with the fear tactics. You have taken your own scenarios and have what-ift us into the destruction of our posterity. I do agree to a point that these cuts will not be painless. But, the problem is we've already had the barn dance, the fun is over, now it's time to pay the fiddler. If the former superintendent Mr. Asplund would have had the guts to take care of this when they first realized we were in trouble, we wouldn't be having this debate. Tax and spend policies never have nor will they ever work. There may come a time that I say raise taxes, but now is not the time. You don't raise taxes in a bad economy. Many Families of this community are hoping to have enough money to pay their property taxes this year as it is, and you want to bring up the subject of a tax increase? I know that Mr. Requa feels like the people in his office are essential but I still think that a couple administrators are more than enough to run a district with less than 2000 kids. And again I ask, why not close the Primary School? Sure it will create new problems to make cuts, but wow, you have now stated that “we’re going to end up being one of the worst in the area.” You really are stretching.” Folks we will be just fine here if we don’t go running off into the night like our dear “Uncle Walt” is about to do. I have 5 kids in this district well three and my wife has 2. I am very concerned about how this all plays out. I have worried about this for a long time. I have been screaming on here and other places that we better get this budget problem fixed. I feel relieved that we finally have a man in place who isn’t afraid to make the hard decisions and cut a few jobs realign a few numbers to make the budget come back together. Unfortunately right in the middle of Mr. Requa’s efforts to fix the problem, we get this doomsday crowd, with long whiskers and sandwich board signs that read “THE SCHOOL IS GOING TO CLOSE TOMORROW” LOL or something like that.
OH Please!!!!!! The schools will be fine because it takes more than a good teacher to make a good student, it takes a good kid. Well I happen to know we have some of best kids in this state, and now they may just get a chance to prove it.

and your point is wrote:

<quoted text>
In this low socioeconomic community the residents can't stand it if the teachers make more than them. In Braidwood, we pay the very lowest property tax...almost in the state of Illinois. We really DON'T pay hardly anything in property taxes. Our kids have gotten a north suburban education because of Com Ed and we haven't paid didly squat. Plus, those teachers have at least 1 and most of them 2 master's degrees and have been teaching for a long, long time. They had to go to school for a very, very long time to be at those salaries. If you are comparing with Wilmington and Coal City, then ya. Anywhere else - Lincoln-Way area for instance - way higher salaries just 1/2 hour north.
I like how people complain. If you wanted to go into a field and make more money, then why didn't you? Many of the teachers have worked years to be where they are at. In any other professional, with their years and degrees, they would be making way more. You don't pay didly squat in property tax, have gotten the best facilities, best teachers, best of everything, but you are always complaining about salaries.
Go to another town, pay their property taxes and then maybe you will have room to complain. You've gotten everything for free from this district...basically.
Go become a teacher and then come back here. The district has high standards, so you better be good - Then come back and teacher here - I like what we as residents have gotten and you all should feel lucky too. Not a bad deal I say. Any teacher any where in the US isn't paid enough for what they have to deal with in this day and age. We are fortunate people

Ok well thanks for that; you went back to last year to reply to that post. I sure hope that the rant makes you feel better but really try to focus here we are now talking about how to fix the school budget, not what’s wrong with the schools.

Based on the comments that we need to cut $4-6 million from the budget and most be come from staff reductions. Lets assume they are thinking 30 teaching positions, which is about $3 million.

How can you not say our schools won't be amongst the worst in the area? Our class sizes will be the largest, our special ed will be cut to the basics, the good teachers WILL leave because they won't like the conditions. Not to mention, the lower economic status of many families in this area will only multiply the problems.

Please, quickly go thru your head and think about where those positions will come from. In the lower levels, grades K-5, they will have to cut one teaching spot per grade plus at least a few reading and special ed teachers. You don;t think class sizes of 30-35 won't kill our scores when its only compounded by the loss of the specials?

You are right, it is bad policy to raise taxes during a recession, but its ALWAYS bad policy kill your school district.

Uncle Walt wrote:

Based on the comments that we need to cut $4-6 million from the budget and most be come from staff reductions. Lets assume they are thinking 30 teaching positions, which is about $3 million.
How can you not say our schools won't be amongst the worst in the area? Our class sizes will be the largest, our special ed will be cut to the basics, the good teachers WILL leave because they won't like the conditions. Not to mention, the lower economic status of many families in this area will only multiply the problems.
Please, quickly go thru your head and think about where those positions will come from. In the lower levels, grades K-5, they will have to cut one teaching spot per grade plus at least a few reading and special ed teachers. You don;t think class sizes of 30-35 won't kill our scores when its only compounded by the loss of the specials?
You are right, it is bad policy to raise taxes during a recession, but its ALWAYS bad policy kill your school district.

Sigh, Uncle Walt???

Mr. Requa never said that the cuts would only come from laying off teachers, and cutting teachers pay. He is, exploring that and that at least in part will happen. But even IF they do take the entire cut from the teaching staff, everything you have said is hypothetical. There's no way to know what will happen, but what you have described is only worse case scenario.

Read what he said, he's not claiming to have all of the answers, he's just saying he has a job to do. Ultimately it's his decision to make, but he is wise enough to know that somebody may indeed be able to help him come up with ideas. So let's not rush to judgment. How about it? Do you any ideas that he can work with or just criticize?