McHenry County Blog

First it was Teresa Ferrier. She was the Fiscal Services Director at Huntley’s District 158 until she was hired by Cary Grade School District 26 in mid-June of this year. T. Ferrier (as she likes to be known) started July 1st. Her base salary is $98,000, plus Teachers Retirement System and insurance benefits.

Dave Jenkins is on far left of this Sept. 3rd board meeting video.

Now I am informed by Crystal Lake Grade School District 47 Chief Financial Officer Susan Shepard that Huntley’s Chief Operations Officer David Jenkins has been hired to be 47′s Director of Technology, the field from which he was came. His salary is also $98,000 a year. Jenkins was chosen by Huntley Superintendent John Burkey when Chief Operations Officer Glen Stewart unexpectedly resigned. There’s a board meeting on Thursday, but I can’t find anything about Jenkins’ leaving in the board packet’s personnel report…yet. And no one can blame Larry Snow for being the reason these two top administrators resigned, since he left the Huntley school board in May.

Better late than never, I guess.

The Northwest Herald did not endorse anyone in the Huntley School District 158 school board race between Mike Skala and Larry Snow.

After one of the dirtiest campaigns I have seen the two that led to my unseating in 2000, Snow lost over 70%-30%.

One could easily argue that an endorsement would have made no difference.

But is is nice (that’s about the strongest word I can come up with) for the NW Herald editorial writers to notice that Snow has made a difference in the way District 158 operates.

He failed in his efforts to keep unemployed board majority member Glen Stewart from getting the $101,000 Chief Operating Officer post when Skala was board president and Stewart, elected when Snow was, still served on the board.

That was the position for which a professional from the Cincinnati school district paid his own air fare to be interviewed, but withdrew his name from consideration when he saw the fix was in for Stewart. That’s Stewart shaking hands to express appreciation with a very surprised Skala after the board meeting where he got the good job, but before Stewart resigned from the board.

It appears Snow’s evaluation of Stewart was on the mark, because Stewart mysteriously left his post last spring. No reason was ever made public.

The open warfare on the board mysteriously ended after Stewart and 2007 board winner Jim Carlin left the scene. The board even allowed Snow to be chief negotiator with the school teachers.

Skala’s wife was a union official of the Huntley Education Association. Skala voted for the contract in 2002 and continued to attend secret strategy union negotiation meetings in 2006 and 2008, even though he announced that he would not vote on the final deal.

Maybe that was a set-up for the election fall he took last week.

Snow was more successful in preventing another friend of the board majority from getting the pretty important post of curriculum director.

(If you want to see how far behind Huntley High School is from where the much more profession Crystal Lake High School District 155 is, read this explanation of how a teacher of any of the four high schools can go on the internet to find out what she or he is supposed to be teaching in a class.)

And the NW Herald does not even mention Snow’s fight against cronyism in is editorial, which hopes

Fat chance of independent thought and honest discussion with the board majority now having 6-1 control. The only one left who asks questions will be Snow ally Aileen Seedorf.

One person, of course, can’t even get a subject discussed if the board majority doesn’t want it to be exposed to the light of day.

Under Skala’s leadership, as the editorial points out,

“…voters were told that the rate increase would be less than half of what the district actually could access. The district soon would deal with revelations of financial missteps and revolving administrators.”

Snow blew the whistle at his own expense before the referendum passed and was called a liar and vilified for doing so.

The editorial mentions Skala and his board majority’s attempted to intimidate Snow from talking to the press.

Snow, of course, had read the First Amendment.

The board did something when Snow was on the board that I have seen no other school board do.

It made public its salary proposal and the union demands. The Northwest Herald did not mention that in its editorial.

I will give odds this will never happen again in Huntley as long as this union-dominated school board majority is in control. I’ll be surprised to see it happen anywhere else either.

When Skala was in control, the public did not see the contract until after it was ratified and, even then, it was changed from what the teachers voted upon…to the teachers’ benefit.

“Upcoming meetings might be more cordial,” the editorial concludes.

“But the District 158 board cannot slip back into the nearly hypnotic state that led to the messes of 2004.”

One thing is certain. All the major decisions will be made before the meeting and honest discussion will be inhibited.

As I said in my analysis of the election,

“I wonder when the next tax hike referendum will be held.”

There’s editing and there’s editing.

The Northwest Herald asks potential candidates to answer their questions and posts their answers online.

Usually newspapers want answers that have reasoned explanations. In the Northwest Herald’s case, the editors didn’t want their previously endorsed candidate, appointed Huntley School Board member Mike Skala, to look bad, so they edited Larry Snow’s answer.

The question was:

“Why are you the best person for the office that you are seeking?“

To which Snow started with

“I brought higher educational standards, producing positive educational results for our students. I am a tax fighter who has saved our District millions of dollars. Mike Skala is a proven tax hiker who supports the teachers union’s unrealistic demands. Before I got on this board Skala influenced every board member to keep their mouth shut about what is truthfully really going on both education wise and financially.”

Then Snow wrote:

“Skala corrupted our school district. (Emphasis added for reasons that becmoe obvious below.) Administrators got large secret taxpayer cash payments he made sure weren’t in their employment contracts. My election will prevent his bringing back his corruption as usual.”

The Northwest Herald edited this to:

“Skala corrupted our school district”

making Snow look like he simply wrote an unfounded accusation.

Snow could have pointed to the hiring of Skala’s friend and fellow school board member Glen Stewart as chief operating officer to the $101,000 job. Not that that is corruption, but it certainly could be pointed to as cronyism. The district had the chance to get a top administrator from Cincinnati, who paid his own airfare to fly to Chicago for an interview. When the potential employee learned that the fix was in for Stewart, he withdrew his application. Stewart left his District 158 job last spring.

But the Northwest Herald editors might have edited out that out, too.

A Fox News report caught my eye.

It reminded me of the vicious politics in Huntley School District 158.

Board member Larry Snow was publicly accused of “fear mongering” by other school board members about MRSA, a dangerous antibiotic resistant virus.

Maybe now it’s election season the same board members will accuse Fox news of fear mongering for running an Associated Press story.

You can see from the article, that a case of MRSA is nothing to fool around with.

District 158 administrators had told parents that the buildings would be “super cleaned.” When a president of the teachers union sent Snow an email in which the cleaning company apologized for the job it did, Snow put the item on a public agenda meeting.

Rather than admit how not cleaning blood off a student’s desk was less than praiseworthy performance, administrators and majority board members lauded the cleaning company.

Only time I have seen a vendor apologize in writing for the job it did and a school board majority tell it, that, no, they did a wonderful job.

You have to wonder if the parents of the Kentucky high school student reported on life support would call it “fear mongering,” trying to protect the students safety by actually doing a good job cleaning the schools that were supposed to be “super cleaned.”

If you remember, Mike Skala’s friend, Glen Stewart, Chief Operating Officer, was in charge of getting the schools super cleaned. The meeting turned out to be a rally around Glen Stewart, a public demonstration in his support and a denial a poor cleaning job was ever done.

For good measure board members added an attack of “fear mongering” into the long harangue that was read at the meeting. Newspapers conveniently printed the “fear mongering” quotes and accusations against Snow.

Stewart is no longer Chief Operating Officer at District 158.

With all the praise heaped upon Stewart during the MSRA scare, it seems likely that is not the reason he decided to leave. He also weathered the 8,000 emails and phone calls from over 3,000 parents about leading the charge to cut half the bus routes.

Have you noticed that the members of the Huntley School Board aren’t fighting like they used to?

Maybe this has nothing to do with it, but with the resignation of former school board member Glen Stewart, turned into District 158′s Chief Operating Officer, and the replacement of Jim Carlin on the school board by the man he beat—Mike Skala—things have quieted down.

It was probably the teacher negotiations that brought relative unity to the board. And, who would have thought previous outsider Larry Snow would have ended up being the point man in those negotiations?

Meanwhile, fights among students have increased.

Northwest Herald reporter Amber Krosel emphasized a report that 14 high school students had been charged with battery.

Not all boys either.

Six were girls.

Obviously not “young ladies.”

Thefts, too.

You might call it forcible income redistribution.

I-Pods, designer purses, cell phones, etc.

Apparently the richer kids haven’t learned to lock their cars and lockers or to keep their precious possessions in their hands or pockets.

No report of gang activity.

And no report of people wanting to kill anyone, except in The Voice, the high school newspaper.

= = = = =
Glen Stewart is on the left at the top, Jim Carlin on the right.

Have you noticed that the members of the Huntley School Board aren’t fighting like they used to?

Maybe this has nothing to do with it, but with the resignation of former school board member Glen Stewart, turned into District 158′s Chief Operating Officer, and the replacement of Jim Carlin on the school board by the man he beat—Mike Skala—things have quieted down.

It was probably the teacher negotiations that brought relative unity to the board. And, who would have thought previous outsider Larry Snow would have ended up being the point man in those negotiations?

Meanwhile, fights among students have increased.

Northwest Herald reporter Amber Krosel emphasized a report that 14 high school students had been charged with battery.

Not all boys either.

Six were girls.

Obviously not “young ladies.”

Thefts, too.

You might call it forcible income redistribution.

I-Pods, designer purses, cell phones, etc.

Apparently the richer kids haven’t learned to lock their cars and lockers or to keep their precious possessions in their hands or pockets.

No report of gang activity.

And no report of people wanting to kill anyone, except in The Voice, the high school newspaper.

= = = = =
Glen Stewart is on the left at the top, Jim Carlin on the right.

This past winter, Glen Stewart, then-Chief Operating Officer and, before getting that over $100,000 a year job, a member of the Huntley School District 158 Board majority, wanted to extend the $2 million per year contract of the guys doing the janitorial work without going out for bids.

Superintendent John Burkey backed him up. The guy who gets paid close to $100,000 and is in charge of building and grounds was against bidding, too.

“The board pushed to rebid it, and that was a good move,” Burkey told Northwest Herald reporter Tom Musick

I pointed out that $2 million amounted to 5% of the school district’s operating budget. Even more, if utilities were excluded.

That was right after newly-appointed and now departed Chief Financial Officer Stacie Talbert has concluded–in writing yet!–

Taxpayers were fortunate to have watchdogs Larry Snow and Aileen Seedorf on deck.

I pointed out that I had prepared bid specs for the purchase of natural gas from the wellhead for state government in the mid-1980′s. We went out for bid and saved the state taxpayers $1 million a year.

So, the “we don’t have to go out for bid” approach by school board majority buddy Stewart made no sense to me.

It didn’t make sense to the school district’s Financial Advisory Committee either.

Kim Sjaka even took the recommendation to go out for bid off the board’s consent agenda. Skaja publicly told the board that it would cost more money (than current provider GCA’s offer to renew for more than $2 million a year), if the District went out to bid.

Good sense prevailed and the Huntley School District went out for bid on custodial services.

Well, the results are in and the district stands to save almost 3/4 of $1 million over the next three years because Snow and Seedorf didn’t let Stewart get away with just renewing the contract.

Stewart is no longer an employee of District 158.

This past winter, Glen Stewart, then-Chief Operating Officer and, before getting that over $100,000 a year job, a member of the Huntley School District 158 Board majority, wanted to extend the $2 million per year contract of the guys doing the janitorial work without going out for bids.

Superintendent John Burkey backed him up. The guy who gets paid close to $100,000 and is in charge of building and grounds was against bidding, too.

“The board pushed to rebid it, and that was a good move,” Burkey told Northwest Herald reporter Tom Musick

I pointed out that $2 million amounted to 5% of the school district’s operating budget. Even more, if utilities were excluded.

That was right after newly-appointed and now departed Chief Financial Officer Stacie Talbert has concluded–in writing yet!–

Taxpayers were fortunate to have watchdogs Larry Snow and Aileen Seedorf on deck.

I pointed out that I had prepared bid specs for the purchase of natural gas from the wellhead for state government in the mid-1980′s. We went out for bid and saved the state taxpayers $1 million a year.

So, the “we don’t have to go out for bid” approach by school board majority buddy Stewart made no sense to me.

It didn’t make sense to the school district’s Financial Advisory Committee either.

Kim Sjaka even took the recommendation to go out for bid off the board’s consent agenda. Skaja publicly told the board that it would cost more money (than current provider GCA’s offer to renew for more than $2 million a year), if the District went out to bid.

Good sense prevailed and the Huntley School District went out for bid on custodial services.

Well, the results are in and the district stands to save almost 3/4 of $1 million over the next three years because Snow and Seedorf didn’t let Stewart get away with just renewing the contract.

Stewart is no longer an employee of District 158.

I’m not sure why Public Television’s children’s show “Teletubbies” came to mind when I read the Daily Herald’s Jameel Naqvi story of the resignation of Huntley School District 158′s Chief Operating Officer Glen Stewart at last Thursday’s meeting.

Maybe it’s just a Huntley school district thing.

Fortunately, my son was not attracted to the poorly speaking characters.

“Nunu,” the Teletubby word for a vacuum clearer, is the only word that entered our vocabulary.

We don’t know why Stewart is leaving his over $100,000 job.

Maybe it was the severe electrical shock suffered by a school bus driver—serious enough to send her to the hospital.

Impossible to know.

You may remember that I commented on his absence a month ago.

There is no way to forget the picture I have run time after time of a grateful Stewart thanking a totally shocked then-Board President Mike Skala for helping put him in the $101,000 administrative post.

At the meeting, it was so clear that the decision had been made to hire Stewart before the meeting.

One thing is for sure, the board’s ruling majority will be losing a major friend inside the administration.

Another thing is for sure.

This school board cannot keep its second level administrators.

Two Chief Financial Officers–Stan Hall and Stacie Talbert–have left within a year. Now, the board will be searching for a Chief Operating Officer as well.

Maybe, if the fix isn’t in, more applicants with more directly related experience will be interested.

That is, if Dave Jenkins, currently technology director, who was appointed to the job on a six-month trial basis on the recommendation of Supt. Burkey, doesn’t capture the post. He will be paid at the rate of $84,000 per year, the Northwest Herald story says. And, he will be Burkey’s man, not the man of the ruling board majority.

One final note from the Northwest Herald’s Tom Musick’s article. It says Stewart will be getting money from District 158 through June. “$20,307 but no additional benefits,” Supt. Burkey said. If that is for a little over nine weeks’ work, the rate of pay would be a bit less than $2,200 per week or something like $115,000 per year.

Musick has this great line:

”Stewart’s exit marks the end of a two-year run that began with controversy and ended with questions.”

Parents will probably remember Stewart for the school bus fiasco less than two months after he was hired. He was featured in a flattering student newspaper article in mid-March.

= = = = =
Teletubbies waving bye-bye on top, followed by a missing Glen Stewart last month, the handshake of thanks from recently elected board member Stewart to then-Board President Mike Skala. Finally, Stewart can be seen on the left and a pensive Stan Hall on the right in the bottom picture.

I’m not sure why Public Television’s children’s show “Teletubbies” came to mind when I read the Daily Herald’s Jameel Naqvi story of the resignation of Huntley School District 158′s Chief Operating Officer Glen Stewart at last Thursday’s meeting.

Maybe it’s just a Huntley school district thing.

Fortunately, my son was not attracted to the poorly speaking characters.

“Nunu,” the Teletubby word for a vacuum clearer, is the only word that entered our vocabulary.

We don’t know why Stewart is leaving his over $100,000 job.

Maybe it was the severe electrical shock suffered by a school bus driver—serious enough to send her to the hospital.

Impossible to know.

You may remember that I commented on his absence a month ago.

There is no way to forget the picture I have run time after time of a grateful Stewart thanking a totally shocked then-Board President Mike Skala for helping put him in the $101,000 administrative post.

At the meeting, it was so clear that the decision had been made to hire Stewart before the meeting.

One thing is for sure, the board’s ruling majority will be losing a major friend inside the administration.

Another thing is for sure.

This school board cannot keep its second level administrators.

Two Chief Financial Officers–Stan Hall and Stacie Talbert–have left within a year. Now, the board will be searching for a Chief Operating Officer as well.

Maybe, if the fix isn’t in, more applicants with more directly related experience will be interested.

That is, if Dave Jenkins, currently technology director, who was appointed to the job on a six-month trial basis on the recommendation of Supt. Burkey, doesn’t capture the post. He will be paid at the rate of $84,000 per year, the Northwest Herald story says. And, he will be Burkey’s man, not the man of the ruling board majority.

One final note from the Northwest Herald’s Tom Musick’s article. It says Stewart will be getting money from District 158 through June. “$20,307 but no additional benefits,” Supt. Burkey said. If that is for a little over nine weeks’ work, the rate of pay would be a bit less than $2,200 per week or something like $115,000 per year.

Musick has this great line:

”Stewart’s exit marks the end of a two-year run that began with controversy and ended with questions.”

Parents will probably remember Stewart for the school bus fiasco less than two months after he was hired. He was featured in a flattering student newspaper article in mid-March.

= = = = =
Teletubbies waving bye-bye on top, followed by a missing Glen Stewart last month, the handshake of thanks from recently elected board member Stewart to then-Board President Mike Skala. Finally, Stewart can be seen on the left and a pensive Stan Hall on the right in the bottom picture.