Something happened in Kane County that I have not seen in McHenry County.
A school board actually released a tape which showed it acted illegally in an executive session.
“Executive session” is a high-flouting for
“It’s none of your business.”
But in St. Charles, it most certainly was the public’s business and the tape proved at least one of the board members knew it.
A Daily Herald editorial told what school board member Jim Gaffney said:
“If they find out about it, they find out about it. … But I don’t think we should tell anybody.”
Clearly, an ideal public servant.
The Daily Herald observes that it endorsed Gaffney for re-election this past spring but says,
“..we find it tough to trust anything he would say on behalf of the board again.”
What was the issue?
The tape shows that the board OK’d a contract sans open-meeting vote because members knew that portions might make voters ill, especially the granting of 85 sick days, apparently meant to help (School Superintendent Barbara) Erwin reach a pension after working a certain number of years in Illinois.
Is District 303 alone?
The Daily Herald writes,
Elgin School District U-46 hasn’t released closed meeting minutes in decades, despite it being required by law. Its legal counsel turned himself into a pretzel trying to justify the defiance before the district was forced by public pressure to reconsider.
Community School District 300 held a number of meetings behind closed doors last year to discuss matters well outside the exceptions listed in the state’s Open Meetings Act, yet board members pretty much claimed innocence — or ignorance.
Elgin Community College District 509 seems to be the only area school entity taking state law on these matters even semi-seriously. It releases 60 percent of its closed-session minutes about every six months.
So while distrust of a school board may be at its zenith in District 303, taxpayers nearly everywhere have the right to similar reservations. And they have to ask themselves two questions:
•Do they trust their board to reveal the information that it is obligated by law to share?
•Do they trust their board to avoid approval of inflated wages or benefits, or willful attempts to keep taxpayers in the dark?