The Huntley School Board has put expanded its efforts to communicate what it is doing with regard to teacher negotiations on its web site.

It has started a blog.

My guess is that this is the first time a school board has tried this new form of communication.

The following announcement came early this afternoon:

New Negotiations Website

On behalf of the Board of Education, welcome to Consolidated School District 158’s News and Information Blog!

While in the long run we expect this blog will address many different issues, it is being launched now so that everyone with a vested interest in the current negotiations between the District and the teacher’s union can

(a) read accurate information on a variety of related topics and

(b) use our “Talk to the Board” form to pose more questions and give us candid comments for the record, or anonymously.

We look forward to hearing from you and hope that negotiations will be resolved amicably, and soon. The Information Blog can be accessed of District 158’s homepage at www.district158.org

What can you find on the web site?

Topics Covered / Frequently Asked Questions

• TEACHERS’ SALARIES & COMPENSATION: How much have other teacher contracts settled for this school year?

• TEACHERS’ WORKING CONDITIONS: How about the working conditions that District 158 teachers face?

• FUND BALANCES: What is a Fund Balance?

• FUND BALANCES: How much should the Fund Balances be?

• FUND BALANCES: How does having Fund Balances affect the District’s credit rating?

• FUND BALANCES: How much interest does the District earn because of having cash in the bank?

• FUND BALANCES: How did this interest income help our students?

• FUND BALANCES: Why did the District come close to running out of cash at the end of June?

• FUND BALANCES: What if the cash balance goes in the negative amount before the June tax payment?

• FUND BALANCES: Who pays interest that is incurred, and how does it affect education?

• FUND BALANCES: How else do Fund Balances help the District?

• GENERAL STATE AID: What are the issues with General State Aid?

• BOARD OF EDUCATION ATTITUDE TOWARD UNIONS: Is it true that the Board of Education just does not like the unions and will not negotiate fairly?

This is a pretty sophisticated effort.

I’ll have to admit that I could not find the form entitle, “Talk to the Board” until I looked a second time. It is at the bottom of the left hand side under “Relevant Documents”

I also could not find anywhere else one could comment on the District 158 blog. Usually such features are found at the bottom of articles.

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The Huntley School Board can be seen in the photo on top. The only change is that the white haired man, Jim Carlin, who beat the red-shirted man, former School Board Mike Skala, resigned and the board majority appointed Skala to replace him. You may enlarge the photo by clicking on it.

From left to right you can see Kevin Gentry, Larry Snow, Shawn Green, Aileen Seedorf, Tony Quagliano, Kim Skaja and Jim Carlin. Mike Skala is at the podium swearing them in. Also seen on the left is then-Chief Operating Officer Glen Stewart, no longer employed by District 158 and Board Secretary Naomi Fettes on the right.