Schermerhorn Reveals School Building Savings Possibilities

In her letter to McHenry County Board Finance and Audit Committee members last week, there were suggestions of how local taxpayers might save money in meeting the housing needs of students. School expansion. Alden-Hebron Unit District Does Alden-Hebron really need … Continue reading

Prairie Grove School Employees Send $58,747 to Illlinois Education Association

Seventy teachers and forth support staff members working for Prairie Grove Grade School District 46 contributed almost $60,000 a year to the Illinois Education Association. The union, which captured control of the school board at one point, counts all seventy … Continue reading

2016 Statistics for McHenry County Schools – Demographic Data

A while ago, a commenter asked for more information about schools than whether and how much they increased or decreased taxes since last year. While data for 2017 is not available, that for 2016 is. A Friend of McHenry County … Continue reading

Looking at More School Debt Information

Taken from bond documents by bond analyst Steve Willson is the following information: … Continue reading

Write-In Signs

There are a lot of write-in candidacies in tomorrow’s election. I counted twenty-eight, although I’d guess that a number are not running really active campaigns. Some don’t need to do anything but vote for themselves, because they have no registered … Continue reading

McHenry County Tax Take Up by 1.5% or $12 Million

Last year McHenry County real estate taxpayers were billed $797,419,250.88. This year the McHenry County Clerk’s Office has determined that bills amounting to $809,385,180.76 will be issued. That’s a dollar increase of $11,965,930, a percentage increase of 1.5%. The Property … Continue reading

Prairie Grove School District Board Meeting Merits Visit from Regional Superintendent of Education, Huge Going Away Presents Approved for Retiring Teachers

Although I was encouraged to attend the Prairie Grove School Board meeting last night, I decided to go to the McHenry County College Board meeting instead. Someone in attendance shared this description of what went on: You should have been … Continue reading

Teacher Union Election Campaign Continues at Prairie Grove Grade School District Meeting – Part 1

It started with the 22-month long contract negotiations between the Prairie Grove Elementary School Board and the Illinois Education Association affiliate called the Prairie Grove Teachers Association. Word is that there were harsh words during the negotiations until at the … Continue reading

Former Prairie Grove School Board Member Laura Domoto Urges Attendance at Tuesday Meeting as Four New Board Members Assert Power

An email from former and just defeated Prairie Grove School District 46 Board  member Laura Domoto about the Tuesday, May 14th, Board meeting. Dear Friends, Your child’s education and programming at Prairie Grove Schools are being threatened. The newly elected … Continue reading

Prairie Grove Teachers Take the Offensive

The Prairie Grove Teachers Association is in the news today, so I thought you might be interested in the latest message from the teachers’ union.  If you want to see more about the impasse, check out the unions’ web site. … Continue reading

$3.8 Million in Local School Employee Union Dues of Local School Employees

McHenry County Blog has surveyed school districts with major presences in McHenry County and discovered that union employees paid $3.8 million in dues during calendar year 2010. The total amount was $3,825,572. Contracts are typically for more than one year … Continue reading

School Consolidation Would Cost Taxpayers Plenty

Governor Pat Quinn thinks that consolidating schools will save big money because fewer administrators would be required. Reading the Daily Herald article, I notice that no mention is made of equalizing up elementary school teacher salaries to the level paid … Continue reading

Competition Sparse for Grade School Board Spots

The filing has just ended, but lots of grade school board candidates in McHenry County are assured of election. Here at Election Central, McHenry County Blog declares the fifteen candidates listed below elected. In Fox River Grove Grade School District … Continue reading

Prairie Grove Grade School Board Member Appointed Elgin’s Director of Financial Operations

Elgin Unit School District 46 is the second largest in Illinois. Only Chicago is larger. Its relatively long term Chief Financial Officer John Prince went off to Plainfield and was replaced by McHenry County College’s finance guy Ron Ally. He … Continue reading

Is Government Predicable or Unpredictable?

Saturday’s column by Northwest Herald Editor Dan McCaleb started out praising Woodstock for not raising taxes to pay for something planned but not without financing. McCaleb lays that off against Prairie Grove Grade School District 46’s defeated and retiring board … Continue reading