The Illinois Press Association has singled out Carpentersville School District 300 for a “Worsty” award.

In its press release, Executive Director explains what the award is all about:

When public officials refuse to release public documents, and when government bodies meet privately for inappropriate reasons, the IPA takes note. The idea behind the Worsty Awards is to call attention to these “worst” abuses in an effort to discourage them.

Listed second was the Northwest Herald’s probe of District 300’s secret session minutes. David Fitzgerald wrote the stories.
Here’s what the press release said:

A closed-door policy

The Northwest Herald spent six weeks examining school board three years’ worth of minutes from Carpentersville District 300 and 20 other county school districts to determine their compliance with the closed-session provisions of the Illinois Open Meetings Act.

One school district stood out in terms of the number of potential violations. The investigation revealed more than 20 items discussed by the Carpentersville District 300 board in closed session that might violate, or at the very least take liberty with, the spirit of the law.

The act limits what subjects governments can discuss behind closed doors and requires them to review closed-door minutes at least twice a year to determine if they can be released to the public.

Among the questionable District 300 findings:

• A closed door session to discuss the publication of a monthly school district newsletter;
• a discussion regarding lack of funds to honor deceased employees; a session to discuss the effects of larger class sizes on areas schools;
• a closed door session on the budgetary impact of parochial school transportation;
• a discussion over the production of the controversial play “The Vagina Monologues;” and
• a discussion regarding “lightning” at an outdoor graduation ceremony. The reason cited by the school board president for discussing lightning was “safety.”

Of all of the reasons cited by the board, perhaps the most questionable is the one dealing with closed-door discussions regarding the District 300 Superintendent. Calling the superintendent their own employee and citing the personnel exemption, the school board met several times throughout the summer in private to discuss anything that the superintendent did in relation to meeting the goals that the board had set for him.

If the Northwest Herald would spend the same time on the McHenry County College board’s hiding of details of its baseball stadium, MCC could win a “Worsty” Award next year in the “Freedom of Information” category. It might even garner a dishonorable mention in the “Open Mettings” category.

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The Northwest Herald really whomped District 300. That brought to mind what Johnny Hart’s Fat Broad does to the snake. This is the best panel I could find. What would you suggest for the caption?