McHenry County Blog

This article is corrected and bumped up for visibility.

Mark Altmayer

I misread the minutes of the Financial Advisory Committee meeting of August 2nd. It was not Huntley School District 158 Chief Financial Officer Mark Altmayer whom the minutes say advocated abolishing the financial Advisory Committee.

My apologies to him for the misidentification.

It was tax hike advocate Michael Andre who is reported to have thought there was no further need for a citizens advisory group on financial affairs.

Here’s what the second draft of minutes from the August 2nd meeting says about the “FAC Role”:

Discussion from both committees took place.

Mr. Quagliano asked for the FAC to provide their role at this time.

Mr. Andre conveyed the District has a CFO (Mr. Altmayer) in place, and that the FAC may not be needed.

Mr. Andre stated the four options remaining for the FAC:

1. work on various projects
2. hibernation until needed
3. dissolve
4. other

Mr. Quagliano shared the importance that SD 158 residents stay involved, and conveyed the importance of keeping the FAC in tact. He further stated the FAC should work together as a committee to help determine their role, and their direction.

Mr. Troy reiterated with Mr. Quagliano and concurred.

Mr. Gentry entered at 7:15 p.m.

Mrs. Moore exited at 7:40 p.m.

Mr. Skala reiterated and concurred; adding whatever issues the FAC wants to delve into, it is okay for the community to stay involved.

Recommendation: Finance Committee to determine 3-5 items they would like FAC to work on. FZC to decide if they want to remain a sub-committee of the Finance Committee or expand to a broader citizen’s advisory committee, and reporting back in the next month or so to the Finance Committee.

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Attending the meeting besides School Board members Tony Quagliano, Kevin Gentry, Mike Skala, Aileen Seedorf and Paul Troy were citizens Joe Lyons, Michael Andre, Ronda Goldman, Michael Laird, Lucinda Nelson, David Roeder, Rich Seiler, Linda Moore and Angela Sorejian.

This citizens advisory committee was the launching pad for both Quagliano and Larry Snow’s school board candidacies.

Huntley High School

Huntley School District 158’s number two administrator Terry Awrey issued a

“Post Graduate Survey Report (Class of 2010)”

on what Huntley High graduates are doing after graduation.

It was addressed to Supt. John Burkey and all top administrators, including Dr. Mary Olson, Chief Academic Officer, and Chief Financial Officer Mark Altmayer.

It was also sent to all principals, who all report to the current associate superintendent.

The cover memo and report can be found beginning on page 62 of the 407 page of the board of education packet that was reviewed at June 3rd’s meeting.  You can find the document here.

As a reference point, there were 359 Huntley High graduates who got diplomas at the 2010 graduation ceremony.

So the first thing that may catch your eye or puzzle you is how this is at the top of the report:

“398 Seniors Reported”

One might think some kids didn’t graduate until remembering it is a post-graduation report.

And it’s not just a transposition error.

One could be excused for wondering whether anyone looked at the data for validity.

Having a board policy in Huntley requiring careful review of board reports apparently is a matter of subjective interpretation of what “careful” means.

I looked to see if the valedictorian’s four-year college, Michigan State University, was on the list of schools.

It wasn’t there.

I then looked at the list of four-year colleges and saw double counting with the same entry listed twice.

This seems to have been an easy to catch mistake, seeing how close together the duplicate entries are.

The accuracy of this report on educational outcomes of Huntley students is interesting.

The students can put any information on the survey about what their plans are.

There appears to be no apparent effort to verify or validate the information.

No matter how you might grade the quality of such a report, there’s one thing certain, no one will lose their job or get paid any less money because of the quality of work that was actually produced.

Could this be indicative of a low achievement work environment?

My prediction is that on Supt. Burkey’s upcoming evaluation by the entire board, the board majority will make sure he receives high marks for vision and leadership.

Will anyone be held responsible?

I can tell you the sloppiness in this report would not have been tolerated in the U.S. Bureau of the Budget when I worked there.

It seems like a responsible board of education would expect higher quality work from administrators who set an example for a district’s teachers.

This report is more relevant to teachers than most because it is about measuring and reporting students’ educational outcomes.

One final thing.

The year I attended grad school at the University of Michigan, my sister was at Michigan State. I loved kidding her about going to a party school, while the University of Michigan was, well, you know the rivalry. My sister had a legitimate reason for attending Michigan State. At the time, it was the only college offering an undergraduate degree in Special Education.

I do wonder why the student doing best at Huntley High is not going to Princeton or Stanford. Surely, he could get in, if he applied.

Few would come up with a solution to a possible (probable?) large cut in State Aid to Education for next year by spending an extra million this year.

Spending a million, so they don’t have to spend it next year.

That way next year’s budget won’t show a deficit. That seems to be the intent.

Now is the time school boards are guessing how much State Aid they will receive.

By shifting a million dollars of expenditures from next year to this year, it plugs a budget deficit of a million dollars for next year.

Unless an extra million of revenue miraculously appears the year that begins July 1st, the budget the year after that will be a million dollars short.

This is a one-year “fix” that Rod Blagojevich would be proud of. This one-year fix stuff is how the state got into the mess that now exists.

Eventually, the piper has to be paid. There must be a real cut in expenses.

This is what Huntley School District 158’s Supt. John Burkey recommended at last night’s Huntley School District Board meeting and the board majority approved the proposal.

Kevin Gentry congratulates a student at Huntley School District 158 board meeting prior to the budget discussion. To the right is seen Superintendent John Burkey and to the left is seen board member Paul Troy.

It’s unclear how the extra money will be spent.

Because it is money being built into the budgetary “base,” it will be a recurring expense, costing a million dollars next year, the year after that, the year after that, etc.

Plugging a recurring million dollar hole for one year, doesn’t make the recurring money gap go away.

Pushing back any decision of where to come up with the apparently needed (or at least desired) million dollars would suit the purposes of those up for election next year. Newly installed Board President Kevin Gentry’s term expires next spring.

How did the Huntley School District come up with the million dollars?

Last year Burkey and the board did an accounting trick which will make taxpayers repay more bond money in the future.

They stretched out bond payments.

That technique doesn’t produce real savings from reduced spending.

Another approach would have been to ask the teachers union to agree to reopen its contract and bargain for a somewhat lower salary increase for this year.

But, not leading by example was Controller Mark Altmayer. He didn’t offer to work for less than the $25,000 raise he recently got added to his base salary from $105,000. He now makes $130,000.

Just as it’s “good to be the king,” as Mel Brooks put it, it’s good to be a school administrator.

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Picture is an outtake from Pete Gonigam, who publishes The First Electric Newspaper.

Salary hikes and lack thereof were the subject of a major Sunday Chicago-Sum-Times article.

That the question the Chicago Sun-Times asked last Sunday.

The answer?

Huntley School District strikers at the Harmony Road Campus

Teachers and health care workers.

Certainly teachers at Huntley School District 158. 18% on the average the first year of which we are in.

And staff at Huntley School District 158.

True, Superintendent John Burkey followed the example of some other Fox River Valley chief administrators in foregoing a salary hike this year, but he has received a $70,000 increase since he left his old job near Peoria, including $12,000 more this year than last year.

And Comptroller Mark Altmayer just got a $25,000 raise over the $105,000.

Since most health care employees don’t work for public entities, their salaries are not public information.

Below are four snippets from Huntley 158’s board meeting of March 4th. If you had taken the time to listen to or be at the board meeting, you would have heard the quotes below. (My apologies for any minor discrepancies.) Before each quote you see the context of what was being discussed.

1. After the board discussed the Middle School Handbook and how it had a homework policy in it for Huntley middle schools, Huntley High Principal Dave Johnson stepped up to the rostrum and commented on the absence of a homework policy in the high school handbook:

Mark Altmayer

“I think it would be difficult to come up with a policy.”

2. When the board was discussing whether further cuts should be planned for, Chief Financial Officer Mark Altmayer referred to $1.4 million by saying:

“It’s a lot of money, but it’s not that much money.”

3. When the board was discussing the appointment of a new board member to replace Shawn Green, who resigned at the end of the meeting, board member Donald Drzal commented on whether candidates should answer questions from board members at a public meeting:

“It’s not healthy to allow for a public Q & A.”

4. When Superintendent John Burkey’s proposed to have the last day of school for students be only two hours this year before a long weekend several board members balked, beginning with board member Aileen Seedorf questioning how this made a lot of sense.  After a lengthy discussion by the board Burkey offered this admission:

“I didn’t ask any parents about this.”

If administrators or board members were wondering at times about the audience reaction, these quotes might provide some hints.

Mark Altmayer

After months of bleak, bleak and more bleak announcements by Huntley School District 158′s Superintendent John Burkey and Controller Mark Altmayer, I couldn’t help but notice Altmayer is in line to get a large salary increase to $130,000.

It’s shown on page 58 of this month’s board packet.

Things might be bleak for other employees or programs in the district, but as I recall from reading somewhere his salary was $105,000 when he started.

Not bleak.

$25,000′s a hefty increase in base salary. Not too many readers would turn their nose up at a $25,000 increase in base salary. Altmayer was hired at a special meeting in January 2009.

The salary increase references “+ admin benefits” which can be interpreted as this is going to also cost the district more money.

Meanwhile in a “way to create busywork” in the fiscal department, Burkey’s administration is asking to have the board approve a policy change to start charging 50 cents for the first CD on Freedom of Information Act requests.

The first CD used to be free.

It used to cost state government about $12 to process a voucher. More now, I suppose.

So, how much will it cost to process and do the accounting for all of those checks for fifty cents?

Or, does the district accept credit cards?

You can find this recommendation on page 267 of the board packet.

Karen Aylward is seen to the left of Stacy O'Deaon in this third in a series of pictures showing the shrinking Special Education Administrators in the Huntley School District found in the story linked to in the first paragraph of this article.

With Cheryl Kalkirtz no longer being Huntley School District 158′s  Director of Special Education, the question arises as to who is in charge.

After I asked if Karen Aylward had been appointed Interim Director, Community Relations Coordinator Lori Woods confirmed that she had been.

A relevant question might be whether Aylward is certified to hold the post.  If that interests you, then you might be interested in seeing the results of a public search on the Illinois State Board of Education’s web site below (click to enlarge):

The page showing Karen Aylward's educational certifications. Click to enlarge.

Aylward appears to have had her administrator certificate for over one year, but this public record doesn’t show any endorsement to be a Special Education Director.

Renee Erickson was one of the Assistant Special Ed Directors who left Huntley School District 158 at the end of last school year. (Three Special Ed administrators left at the end of the last school year.)  Erickson received her endorsement to be a Special Ed Director last June, as evidenced by what is on the ISBE’s web site. She now works for Palatine District 211, according to the State Board of Education web site.

Does anyone in Huntley District 158 have a Special Ed Director administrator endorsement?

If not, wouldn’t that strike you as unusual?

Apparently none of the four top administrators have a Special Education endorsement.  That’s what the Illinois State Board of Education web site indicates.

That would include

• Superintendent John Burkey
• Associate Superintendent Terry Awrey
• Chief Academic Officer Mary Olson
• Chief Human Resources Officer Lauren Smith

Controller Mark Altmayer is not listed on the educational certificate data base, although that doesn’t seem terribly important. (I remember voting against the first bill—usually passed as a courtesy—that State Rep. Dick Mulcahey passed after his Watergate victory. In the middle of a recession, it required school business managers to have a master’s degree in education. It was obviously a teachers’ jobs’ bill, but what a waste. Financial talent was being laid off all over the place, but, state law forbid that anyone outside of the educational establishment be hired!)

Huntley had not posted a job opening for a Special Ed Director by Monday noon.

At one point in the Financial Advisory Committee meeting, Huntley School District Controller Altmayer tried to persuade the committee that special needs children receive $10 million  more than what comes in for special education.  (Subject addressed here.)

Parents in the audience were visibly angered by this misleading assertion.

It is apparent to the parents their children should receive a proportion of school expenditures by virtue they are 1,300 students (per Altmayer) out of about 8,600 students enrolled.

The parents, of course, also pay property taxes and State Aid to Education comes to the district, based on student attendance.

If their students attend the district’s schools, the district receives money from the state, regardless of whether they are regular or special ed students.

The parents are intelligent and some are as well-educated as the administrators.

They can figure out that 1300 students comprise 15% of the district’s 8,600.

When the money specifically designated as Special Ed from the state and federal grants are added to this, they know their students are being financially shortchanged.

Not just in dollars, which is pretty obvious), but they can see it in the lack of services delivered.

Sara DiFucci, a Special Ed Mom in the district took issue with Altmayer’s numbers.

She pointed out that what he classifies as “Special Ed” includes services that are provided to all students.

Not all of the extensive social workers’ services, counseling or psychologist services for example go to Special Ed students. His numbers always assume 100% of these services and others are exclusively consumed by Special Ed students and 0% is used by regular education students.

Teenage pregnancy counseling, homelessness issues, socialization of grade school kids and many home life issues occur for both regular and Special Ed students.

Parents have asked for transparency in the form of a comprehensive, line item detailed Special Education budget.

When parents have asked administrators for a copy of the Special Ed budget, they were referred to the no longer employed Special Ed director.

When they would then ask the Special Ed Director, she apparently received direction to refer parents back to Altmayer.

You can imagine that such a daisy chain does not result in parents’ trusting fiscal services.

Huntley School District 158 Controller Mark Altmayer

Altmayer said he wasn’t able to make his computer display the presentation he had for the meeting.

He referred to it as a “link up problem.”

On the one hand Altmayer said:

“I’m just the finance guy.”

Later on, the discussion got onto the budget agenda item.

Altmayer was advocating his spending priorities, which is to spend more on computer and technical upgrades.

He emphasized how he has the entire staff (including teachers and service providers in Special Ed) 100% buying into his budget priorities.

The parents who work with their students’ staff have a different story.

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See also Part 1 and Part 2.

Special Education Administrator Perry Yates on the right hand side of the photo and Cheryl Kalfirtz, second from the left, have now left the Huntley School District's buildings. Stacy O'Dea, seen on the left hand side of the picture, and Karen Aylward, between Yates and Kalkirtz, remain. This photo was taken as Kalkirtz was explaining the revisions in how the Federal Stimulus money would be spent.

Yesterday we left the Huntley School District’s Financial Advisory Committee meeting after talking about how stunned those attending were to find out that Special Education Director Cheryl Kalkirtz was no longer with District 158.

Controller Mark Altmayer for some reason didn’t think it proper to share the information, even though the Daily Herald had quoted Superintendent John Burkey on the subject in an internet published article.

In the public comment period, parents spoke about their lack of trust, especially when they see services not being delivered to their children.

They expressed their concerns about a revolving door with Special Ed administrators who seem to disagree with top administrators about what is the right approach.

Huntley School District Contoller Mark Altmayer

Altmayer explained to the committee that parents had a distrust of special services but not the fiscal department (his area).

Parents then emphatically said they didn’t trust fiscal and wanted the committee to provide oversight regarding how the Federal Stimulus (initial time again, IDEA and IDEA ARRA) money is spent. They seemed to want a check and balance on whether it is being spent on where it is intended, that is, special needs.

Altmayer admitted that it wasn’t the district’s finest moments how “it took 4-5 months to get the IDEA ARRA funding correct.”

Strangely, in one breath, Altmayer cheerfully beamed,

“There is not a ton of issues.”

And, in another breath, Altmayer matter-of-factly referred to how administrators came up with how the Federal Stimulus money should be spent:

“It was pretty much a disaster.”

Huntley School District 158 Speical Education Administrators Perry Yates, Karen Aylward, Stacy O'Dea, and Cheryl Kalkirtz, as shown on the district web site.

The news last week was that Huntley School District Special Education Director Cheryl Kalkirtz was no longer with the Huntley School District.

When I first asked about all emails commenting about her resignation, I was told by District 158 that the search capability did not exist.

Strange, since School Board President Shawn Green had told me that when he talked about my appeal of a Read 180 Freedom of Information request with Superintendent John Burkey, Burkey had a stack of information, including emails on the subject, sitting on the table in front of him.

The Huntley School District Special Education administrators' picture as it could have been cropped after Perry Yates left.

Regardless, now Kalkirtz and Perry Yates are gone.

Perry Yates was a Special Ed administrator on Kalkirtz,’ team, as you can see from the photo still on the District 158 web site.

It is extremely unusual for an administrator to leave midyear while under contract.

The district has issued no public statement about either administrator leaving the district.

Kalkirtz started work in July, at the beginning of the district’s fiscal year, right about the time spending the Federal Stimulus money was the fat hitting the hot frying pan.

See

Huntley School District 158 Special Ed Moms Draw Blood, Board Divided – Part 1

Huntley School District 158 Special Ed Moms Draw Blood, Board Divided – Part 2

Huntley School District 158 Special Ed Moms Draw Blood, Board Divided – Part 3

Huntley School District 158 Special Ed Moms Draw Blood, Board Divided – Part 4

Huntley School District 158 Special Ed Moms Draw Blood, Board Divided – Part 5

With only two of the four top Special Education administrators still working for District 158, cropping Cheryl Kalkirtz out of the right side of the photo would bring it up to date.

A couple of weeks after I asked, the Daily Herald got Supt. Burkey to confirm Kalkirtz’ no longer being at work on Tuesday, the day of the Financial Advisory Committee meeting.

Unlike last time, Controller Mark Altmayer showed up for Tuesday’s meeting.

“I want to be as transparent as possible,” Altmayer said.

There were three new committee members at the meeting.

The question came up,

“Did the Special Ed Director leave?”

A group of parents with special needs students wanted to know as part of a public comment.

Altmayer said he didn’t know if he could comment.

No one had informed the committee members that Cheryl Kalkirtz was gone let alone when.

This was in spite of the Federal Stimulus (get ready for the initials) IDEA ARRA spending for special ed was topic on the agenda.

Members of the audience looked stunned at the possibility that the statement was true.

Someone in the audience said the Daily Herald had reported Cheryl Kalkirtz had left the district.

Financial Advisory Committee and School Board member Michael Andre came to the defense of the district, sloughing off such as report as coming from a newspaper.

That’s when another audience member said Supt. Burkey was quoted in the newspaper.

More tomorrow.