District 211 Board of Education: 3 Open Seats, 5 Candidates

Five candidates will be running for three open seats on the Township High School District 211 Board of Education in the April election. Three are incumbents and two are newcomers.

Three seats will be open on the Township High School District 211 Board of Education for the April 9 consolidated election, and five candidates will be running.  Incumbents Robert J. LeFevre of Palatine, who currently serves as board president, along with Schaumburg resident Anna Klimkowica and board secretary, Edward Yung of Inverness, all plan to run again. New candidates include Roman Golash of Palatine and Mike Scharringhausen of Schaumburg.  Township High School District 211 has five schools, including Palatine High School and Fremd High School, Hoffman Estates and James B. Conant High Schools, both in Hoffman Estates, and Schaumburg High School in Schaumburg. District 211 has close to 12,500 students in total attending the five …

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Tax Bills Help Nail Down District 211’s Tentative Budget

Township High School District 211’s 2012-2013 tentative budget is set, ready to be presented to board members on Thursday, Aug. 13.

This year, with money from the Cook County Tax bills already in the bank, Township High School District 211's tenative budget is set and more solid than in years past.  “A great change for us to see that,” said David Torres, Associate Superintendent for Business for District 211. “Actually, in my entire career that’s the earliest I’ve seen that, that’s a long number of years.” Torres is right; this was the first time in more than 30 years that the second installment of the Cook County Property Tax bills were mailed on time. A welcomed change that will save school districts across the state of Illinois millions of dollars. Torres said just a couple years ago, the district received tax bills as late as December. Without the second …

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D211's New Pilot Program Enhances Curriculum with Hand-Held Devices

Students will be issued either an Apple iPad 2 or a Google Chromebook to use throughout the duration of their course, whether it’s in or out of the classroom.

As the world continues to advance, District 211 is determined to prepare students for their future and to stay ahead of the curve through an education that utilizes cutting-edge technology. Students in the One-to-One program will have either an Apple iPad or a Google Chromebook for the duration of their course. This is why the Board of Education approved the One-to-One Electronic Device pilot program at its April 26 meeting, which will allow 1,500 District 211 students to have his or her personal electronic device to enhance classroom interaction and collaboration throughout the semester. “Our students live in a world of unlimited information—and unlimited potential—if they can get to it,” said Daniel Cates, associate superintendent for …

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D211 Deploys Drug Sniffing Dogs in Locker, Parking Lot Searches

The searches are unannounced to both students and staff and all classrooms go into a soft lockdown.

Combating and deterring illegal drug possession within a high school is a problem that school districts often face.  In an effort to discourage students from drug violations, High School District 211 has partnered with Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg, and Palatine police departments to use police dogs to search for drugs on campus. The searches began at the start of the 2011-12 school year, with police dogs checking student lockers within the school.  Now, the District is planning to expand its searches to include student parking lots, as well. “We recognize that some drugs come into our schools, and we fully acknowledge that we have kids who are caught with drugs,” said Dan Cates, associate superintendent for administrative services, in a …

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Bucephalus

4:38 pm on Thursday, April 19, 2012

I'm not sure why my previous comment was deleted, but I'll try and state the same things in an even more polite manner. Cheryl, I am confused by the infiltration you speak of. Could you please clarify your statements about who is infiltrating and who is brainwashing our children?   more ›

Fremd's Fall Musical "The Drowsy Chaperone" Opens Nov. 2

Fremd High School's fall musical, "The Drowsy Chaperone," will open Nov. 2.

Fremd High School’s fall musical is “The Drowsy Chaperone,” a comedy within a musical. The show opens on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2011, with performances each evening beginning at 7 p.m. through Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011. This performance boldly addresses a great unspoken desire in everyone’s heart: to be entertained. The book and score pay tribute to the Jazz-age shows of the 1920s, and the power those shows held to transport people into a dazzling fantasy and lift spirits in times of sadness. It all begins when a die-hard musical-theater fan plays his favorite cast album of a (fictional) Broadway musical entitled “The Drowsy Chaperone” on his turntable. No sooner has the needle touched the record than the audience is transported to a 1928 …

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D-211 Grapples With How To Broadcast Meetings

After cost estimates of $50,000 to $101,000 to broadcast District 211 school board meetings, the district will explore options with the village of Palatine and Harper College.

Township High School District 211 officials said the startup costs of recording and broadcasting school board meetings ranged from $50,000 to $101,000. That surprised Palatine resident Jen Zold, who recorded most of the meeting on a friend's handheld video camera from the audience. "It's that simple," Zold said. "We all have the technology at home. Our children can do this. I can put this on YouTube tomorrow." School board member Bill Robertson in September asked for information about the possibility of broadcasting the meetings. A report from Superintendent Nancy Robb included a cost estimate of $50,000 to $101,000. The estimates were based on "multiple camera scenarios, cables, connectors, video mixing equipment, editing software and the…

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D-211 Honored for Excellence in Financial Reporting

Township High School District 211 was honored recently by the Association of School Business Officials International.

The Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) International awarded Township High School District 211 with a Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting. The award was for "excellence in the preparation and issuance of the fiscal year end 2010 school system Comprehensive Annual Financial Report," a press release from the district states. ASBO International is a professional organization which provides programs and services to promote successful school business management practices, professional growth, and the effective use of educational resources, the press release states. The organization created the Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting Program to enable school business officials to achieve a high standard of …

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Education Matters

Is D-211’s grading system broken?

Committee looks to define the purpose of grades and their use as a communication tool.

Are grading practices identical among teachers and schools in the largest high school district in Illinois?  No – but the first steps are being taken in Township High School District 211, which includes Palatine and Fremd high schools, to define and reflect upon effective grading practices.  District 211 Superintendent Nancy Robb admits teachers have a huge amount of latitude in how they grade their students – and it is more inconsistent than it is consistent within the district. A grading committee was established earlier this year to explore the issue of grades and presented its initial findings at the April 14 Board of Education meeting.  Pointing to Ken O’Connor’s A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades, committee leaders …

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Letters To The Editor

Support for Neal in D-211

Writer supports Bryan Neal in District 211.

I am voting for Bryan Neal for the District 211 School Board and I encourage all of us to do the same. We will have change on the 211 board with this election. Bryan gives us a great opportunity for that change to be positive. With the futures of 12,000 students and a quarter of a billion dollars of taxpayer money at stake, we should demand board members who are intelligent, understand and take the time to learn the complexities of our school system and are able to make difficult and independent decisions. Bryan brings a unique persepctive in that he understands the value of a quality education given his own background and he fiercely respects the value of the resources the community commits to District 211. I have extreme confidence that …

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D-211 Employee Faces Charges

A District 211 teacher's assistant faces misdemeanor charges of reckless conduct and endangering the life of a child.

A Township High School District 211 bus driver was charged with reckless conduct and endangering the life of a child after a co-worker grew concerned that she might be intoxicated, Streamwood police said. Katherine Kurpiel, 26, of the 100 block of S. Arlene Ave. in Palatine, allegedly told police that she had about 10 drinks the night before. She was charged Nov. 5 after a co-worked called police, said Streamwood Deputy Police Chief Jim Gremo. "A staff member thought she looked sick and she had made comments about drinking the previous night," Gremo said. Gremo said the staff member's concerns were raised when Kurpiel drove a van with about four students inside. Kurpiel worked at Academy-South, a District 211 facility at 1544 Brandy …

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