A Knight in Dragonland

Well, it seems like Jim Mangan isn’t the only one who writes “specials” to the Times regarding consolidation. Today we have a piece by former 108 board member Sandi Roos-Ellwanger entitled “District 108 shows voters no respect.”

Ms. Roos-Ellwanger has some not-so-nice things to say about district 108 superintendent Don White and the 108 school board. While some of her remarks are scathing, she at least maintains a modicum of decorum and avoids personal insults … unlike another “special” person we know.

Many of the issues she discusses – notably the most recent tax referendum and the James Field controversy – were before my time in Pekin. I won’t discuss those issues. Readers better informed may feel free to comment.

She brings up the installation of air conditioning at District 108 schools, and how the money from the proposed sale of James Field was going to be used to offset those costs. Now the district has found money for those projects without selling James Field … mainly by stretching the installation out over several years, it seems. I believe some of the schools won’t be getting air conditioning until 2009 or perhaps even later.

Ms. Roos-Ellwanger sees this newfound availability of funding as evidence of dishonesty. MAYBE it’s simply because the district received better than expected tax revenues due to corporate expansion in the Pekin area. I don’t know how much of an “insider” that Ms. Roos-Ellwanger remains, and I don’t know anything about the woman personally. I also don’t know enough regarding her biases in order to trust her judgment on this issue. My experience with Don White is also limited, but I have heard him speak on one occasion. I was impressed with his intelligence and his sincerity in seeking to provide Pekin students with the best education possible in a fashion that remains responsible to the taxpayers.

It’s my blog, so I’m going indulge in a brief rant here. I find it ridiculous that the schools are not air conditioned already and that students have to deal with nasty Midwestern heat & humidity at the bookends of their school year. My daughter (Little Dragon #1) would come home literally DRIPPING with sweat in August and September.

Lack of air conditioning was “behind the times” almost thirty years ago when I attended public schools in Peoria. Why, oh why, is this STILL an issue??? Have you ever tried to concentrate in an over-heated room??? It’s impossible. You shift in your seat, fidget and think about how hot you are and how much you can’t wait to be back someplace cool … or, in my case, you fall asleep. The schools have to maintain special short “summer heat” hours because of this. Essentially we’re wasting some of our children’s precious educational time and diminishing the quality of that education. Is THAT a good thing for the taxpayers? Is THAT a good thing for our kids? Rant complete.

Ms. Roos-Ellwanger’s main bone of contention is the consolidation issue and the fact that the 108 board has put a consolidation study on the back burner despite the recent referendum.

[...] the board and the superintendent did not represent the community in their latest no vote to study consolidation. Obviously they are scared of getting their fat cut, which would mean some administrators.

OK, first off … Don White doesn’t vote on anything. He was instructed by the board to research this issue, and as far as I can tell, he has carried out that directive EXHAUSTIVELY.

Administrators are “scared of getting their fat cut,” and THAT is why they oppose consolidation? First, I wonder if Ms. Roos-Ellwanger even considered that their opposition might be due to the fact that consolidation will do NOTHING to improve the district academically. Anyway, if you’re looking for a place to find major cost savings, administration isn’t it. It accounts for under 3% of the District 108 budget. Then again, it’s always “good” public relations to fire some administrator and then ACT like you’re really doing something to save taxpayer dollars … when you’re really doing a whole lot of nothing.

I won’t reiterate my entire argument against consolidation here, but one of my essential points is this – why should we study consolidation if it CAN’T BE DONE without further initiative on the part of local voters???

My interpretation of the current statute regarding consolidation is that while the other feeder districts into 303 don’t have to agree to consolidation (as they did under the old law – ALL districts had to merge with 303 or none would), the other feeder districts still MUST BE CONSULTED. That consultation takes the form of (1) school board action by ALL the feeder districts to place the issue on the ballot as a BINDING referendum, or (2) district voters petition to place the issue on the ballot as a BINDING referendum. The two methods CANNOT be mixed and matched. The school boards of 98, 102, 137 and 606 have shown NO INTEREST in the consolidation debate. In fact, I believe a representative of District 606 (the superintendent, if I remember correctly) publicly rejected the idea outright in the Times (unable to provide links due to archived content).

Therefore, as I understand this, it’s up to voters in those districts to petition to have the issue on the ballot. As far as I know, no effort is being made to accomplish that.

Again, I openly invite correction if I’m interpreting the situation incorrectly. I would certainly appreciate a clarification if that’s the case.

If I am interpreting the consolidation statute correctly, then what’s the point of a study? Why should we WASTE thousands of dollars and even more precious man-hours on this issue when NO EFFORT is being made to petition the voters of the other feeder districts? If the district is struggling to come up with funding for air conditioning – something that will improve the amount of quality educational time that our children receive – why on earth should they spend thousands of taxpayer dollars on something that might not even be possible? I want my elected officials to act INTELLIGENTLY. I don’t want them to jump off a bridge just because that’s the way the wind was blowing on November 7 … on a referendum that was CLEARLY INDICATED AS NON-BINDING! Why does everyone that favors consolidation keep ignoring that fact? I suppose because it’s inconvenient.

I really wish someone from the 108 board or Don White would publicly clarify their position on this issue – here, on the District 108 website, in the Times, on a billboard … SOMEWHERE. The brief quotes in previous Times articles are insufficient (unable to provide links due to archived content).