Education Matters

Ethics, Sanctions, and the School Board Police

D-15 board member pushes to create new policy to control opinions of others

It’s interesting how things work out. The idea of an ethics commission, sanctioning or even “policing” school board member behavior in Community Consolidated School District 15 would never have seen the light of day in years past. The idea of reviewing and updating the district’s ethics policy was brought forward by board member Peggy Babcock and discussed at the June meeting.   Standard Illinois school board ethics policies essentially prohibit employees and board members from using district resources to conduct political activities – such as campaigning for or against a particular candidate. However as private citizens, they are free to exercise their First Amendment rights. As school board president Tim Millar explained, school boards …

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D-15 Elects Millar School Board President

A new school board was seated in Community Consolidated School District 15 Wednesday.

A new era began in Community Consolidated School District 15 Wednesday, with the seating of three newly-elected school board members. Scott Herr, Manjula Sriram and Gerard Iannuzzelli were elected to the school board April 5. Former school board president Gerald Chapman and vice president James Ekeberg were defeated in the election. Sue Quinn chose not to seek re-election. School board member Dave Seiffert also is relatively new to the board having been appointed in February to replace Mark Bloom who resigned his seat because of scheduling conflicts. After seating its new members, the school board elected Tim Millar president by a vote of 4 to 3. Millar voted for himself along with Herr, Sriram and Iannuzzelli. Millar is the longest …

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Education Matters

Community Must Count in School Board Elections

Candidates are willing to engage the community before the election but will it continue after the votes are counted Tuesday, April 5.

Is community engagement a high priority for our local school board candidates? It better be. On any school district organization chart, Community is at the top.  They have one employee – the School Board.  Every two years the Community has the opportunity to conduct a performance evaluation on those members whose terms are expiring yet want to continue to be employed.  There is no tenure on school boards. New applicants have just as much a chance at proving themselves to the Community to secure one of those four-year positions. Over the past few weeks, Community Consolidated School District 15 and Township High School District 211 school board candidates had the opportunity to answer questions in public forums and complete questionnaires …

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Louise

11:57 am on Saturday, March 19, 2011

Mr. Brandt, Since as you say it is your responsibilty to respond to citizens I do have a question. It is election related so I will not use government resources, afterall that is illegal. What are you doing to insist D211 resources are not used inappropriately. The D211 email system has a great deal of campaign activity right now. What are you and the administration doing to put a stop to this? …   more ›

Elections

D-15 Candidates Tackle Issues

Palatine sent questionnaires to the six candidates competing for three seats on the Community Consolidated School District 15 school board.

Six candidates are vying for three open seats on the Community Consolidated School District 15 board in the April 5 election. Palatine Patch asked each candidate to answer questions related to their candidacy. Gerald Chapman Biography: Questions 1) What steps should District 15 take to balance its budget? It is the superintendent's responsibility to provide the school board with options and recommendations to reduce expenditures. That process is underway. Once those options and recommendations have been received and considered, then the school board will make final decisions. It is important to me that the reductions which have long-term impact be given highest priority so that the district can maintain long-term financial stability. 2) …

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Six Candidates for D-15 School Board

There will be six candidates vying for three seats this April for the Community Consolidated School District 15 board.

Six candidates will compete for three spots on the Community Consolidated School District 15 board in the April election. The final day to file was Monday and two candidates waited until the final day to drop their election petitions off at the district office. The field features two incumbent school board members – board president Gerald Chapman and James Ekeberg. The four challengers are Scott Herr, Manjula Sriram, Dave Seiffert and Gerard Iannuzzelli. Incumbent Sue Quinn chose not to seek reelection. Chapman has the most experience in education. Before becoming a school board member for District 15 in 2007, Chapman worked for Township High School District 211 for 36 years, including 11 as superintendent. "Education has been my career …

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Vicki Wilson

2:17 pm on Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The only way to rebuild trust in the community is to work openly and honestly, the way Sue Quinn has tried to steer the board since she was elected. But being in the minority on the board, she can only do so much. The citizens of this district expect transparency and accountability, which is not the way Gerald Chapman has been working since he was elected. Dr. Chapman rules the majority of the …   more ›