Regional Superintendent of Education Pleads for Truancy Help

McHenry County Regional Superintendent of Schools Leslie Schermerhorn made the following comment to the McHenry County Board last week:

The ROE urgently needs an additional truancy officer.

We are living in extraordinary times resulting in a crisis for McHenry County students and schools.

Since August, truancy referrals from the McHenry County schools have risen 300% over last year.

There are 47,000 students in this county spread over 611 square miles.

That is an unmanageable number of students and distance for 1 & ½ Truancy Officers to serve.

Many of our children, McHenry County’s next generation of adults:

 Will not have the tools they need to find gainful employment
 The knowledge to go on to college and University.
 The ability to be productive, analytical citizens of McHenry County

County monies are tight but, We have to ask ourselves, what are our priorities as members of this community?

= = = = =

She explains her budgetary experience below:

To put this in context, the ROE request for a new position was submitted in the ROE budget proposal for FY21.

Peter moved the truancy officer request below the request threshold.

He has done this with every personnel request the ROE has made for the 8 years I have been in office.

Peter makes the funding recommendations to the County Board.

It has been my experience that the Board accepts Pete’s recommendations carte blanche.

At one point, I questioned him on who made the decisions on where to draw the line on these requests. 

He said Administration.

I pressed him as to who exactly.

He said, he drew the line.  

He then back peddled and said well, me and Ralph. 

This leaves me to wonder:

Who really decides where to cut off personnel requests?  

In case you don’t recall this, my accounting position was eliminated two years ago due to poor state findings. 

The county was to take over the ROE accounting. 

The ROE accounting situation has been a continual state of turnover.

First Ralph Sarbaugh came in with a temp.

He retired, then the ROE went through a series of 5 temps. 

I believe this has cost the county far more than a regular county position would have. 

The state finding for 2019 will be no better.

The auditor stating the inconsistent account procedures are a major reason.

This is my frustration.


Comments

Regional Superintendent of Education Pleads for Truancy Help — 17 Comments

  1. She’s a deceptive and rather useless bureaucrat.

    Even her 611 square miles isn’t quite right bc that includes about 8 square miles of water.

    What does she actually do besides cash checks?

  2. This sounds like Chicago hoodlums:

     Will not have the tools they need to find gainful employment
     The knowledge to go on to college and University.
     The ability to be productive, analytical citizens

    At the corner of Madison Street and Central Park Avenue, a section of pool halls, taverns and onestory walk‐up apartments on the city’s West Side, a young man in an ankle‐length fake‐fur coat slapped hands with three comrades as they passed around a bottle in a brown paper bag.

    It was a little before noon, and they explained that they were on the block because they had nothing else to do.

    None had held a steady job in months, they said, and none had ever had a good‐paying one.

    “In the 1960’s, a lot of poverty money was poured into this area, millions of dollars that were supposed to help change all that,” said Nancy B. J. Jefferson, executive director of the Midwest Community Council.

    “But I see the same people standing on the same corners that I saw 10, years ago. Things are much worse now.”

    The West Side is Chicago’s “other” ghetto.

    It is not as well known as the South Side, outside Chicago but many consider it among the worst slum areas in the nation.

  3. Put some of the teachers who are sitting around collecting a paycheck to
    work chasing down the truants, or fire them and privatize the schools.

  4. We absolutely should not be spending another penny on something like a truancy officer until we have had meaningful reform in the school system.

    That means less burecrats not more. It also means eliminating such things as the 1619 project and all the pure leftist propaganda from our education system.

  5. You got that right.

    They are training children to be codependent wimps.

    Very very sad

  6. That’s a very old, but still still true New York Times’ article, by Paul Delaney, December 1, 1975. ☹️

  7. March all the overpaid and overstaffed superintendents, Deans, asst. Deans, principals, asst. Principals, counselors, counselors to the deans…well you get it and find your AWOL students.

    Then fire them all and the teachers who refuse to work.

    Then give the taxpayers a big fat refund!

  8. If schools are closed, why is there a need for truant officers? 🤔😮

  9. Good point Eddie. All schools are waaaay too administrator heavy.

  10. It’s simple – she needs to be able to count those students as “present” – even if they are doing e-learning.

    The schools get $ for each student every day they are in school. They would also get $ for an excused absence.

    An increase in truancy of over 300% is partially due to kids not doing e-learning.

    A truant officer might help recoup some of the lost $ but I would want to see the “payback” – the cost of the truant officer vs. how many dollars they are recouping in order to justify.

    I’m not a fan of Ms. Schermerhorn.

    I would have to question her why this issue wasn’t discussed when they were doing all of their e-learning planning?

    I agree – have Ms. Schermerhorn find some of those AWOL students.

    This is all another example of $$$$$ she has wasted during her tenure as Regional Superintendent.

    The quickest way to save $ would be to eliminate her position!!!

  11. cut your pensions there is your extra monies…

    stop asking for more handouts from those who already are over paying..

    if the parents don’t want to take responsibility for their offspring why should we??

    in chgo they go to juvie, or deport…

    P.R. i agree or here is one better to the neglect going on of these non committed parents / teachers,

    Stop making your problems OUR problems !

    I’m sure of the 350 cops that ol Mayor Pat is laying off you can get some cheap labor there…

    so give up your pension $$ and hire ’em…

  12. IMHO, this harmful parasite Schermerhorn is herself a truant.

    How about all the truant teachers and administrators?

    If you can’t do ……. teach

    If you can’t teach …… become an administrator!

  13. Let’s not forget why the State of Illinois is in this pension mess.

    For years and years – Democrats and Republicans alike dipped into the pension $ cookie jar.

    They left IOU’s.

    The $ hasn’t been paid back and WE are stuck to pay the bill for greedy
    REPUBLICANS and DEMOCRATS!

    Stop pointing fingers at one side or the other.

    They ALL ROBBED from those pension funds to balance a budget or pay for a program.

    The teachers earned it and they should be paid.

    How would you like it if you earned a pension and then found out your employer stole from it?

  14. What is the total amount of persons working in all school districts in McHenry County who are NOT actual teachers?

    Can some amount of these do truancy duties one day a week in addition to their cushy jobs?

  15. If a kid ditches school, what can the truant officers and regional superintendent do about it? 🤔😮

  16. 1. My kid has learned more real life things being home with me than he would of learned in D47

    2. He hasn’t had to endure the anti Trump jokes in science class from Mr. Stoner. Who seems really excited when he can get a 12 yo girl to giggle.

    3. He doesn’t have to put up with the rest of the staffs commentary on Trump or liberal indoctrination. Actually he would be considered a lost cause by the teaching staff. And thinks all Prius drivers are libtards.

    4. The three teachers on my block can chase down truant kids, while on their runs to Binnys and the Waukegan Pot Shop.

    5. All I’ve learned since March is that these people are Not Essential.

    6. Hats off to the workers I’ve seen everyday at Jewel, Mariano’s, Home Depot, CVS, etc. they aren’t like the teachers who can hide at home and get full pay because we “taxpayers” have no choice but to pay our property taxes.

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