90 Minutes and We Are Out of Here!

Karen Aylward

I wrote about how Karen Aylward, now the top special ed administrator in Huntley 158, objected to having the meeting with special ed parents run five or ten minutes longer last month.

Ninety minutes. That was the time limit.

This month the Supt. John Burkey administration seems to want no misunderstanding whatsoever about strictly enforcing an hour and a half time limit for the Parent Advisory Committee meeting.

Pretty heavy handed about a 90-minute meeting that doesn’t allow for a question and answer period…unless it is specifically on the agenda.

Maybe the committee should be renamed the “Advise the Parent Committee” rather than the “Parents Advisory Committee,” inasmuch as administrators don’t want to listen to parents about something as simple as being flexible about when the meeting ends.

Fortunately the teachers of special ed students in Huntley are far more dedicated and less time rule obsessive than administrators.

Meanwhile Supt. Burkey likely feels it’s so unfair that parents don’t trust him or his administrators.

One summer, 2009, open-ended Special Ed Town Hall Meeting

Apparently Burkey has opted for the “containment” approach to parents.  A new model in community outreach, I guess.

As opposed to last summer’s Special Education Town Hall Meetings, where at least some school board members listened.

Common sense might dictate that, if an administrator has to leave promptly on a given night, he or she does that.

Huntley administrators leave board meetings early all of the time, so this would be hardly something new.

But this seems to be about more than just getting home to see the wife/husband and kids.

It’s about making the meetings as meaningless as possible, while being able to publicly tout the sincerity of how administrators are listening to parents…if only for a part of ninety minutes

Here’s the limitation on the meeting, which can be found here.

Any community member interested in adding items

to the agenda please contact kaylward@district158.org

(*Note- Our meetings will begin and end promptly

as scheduled, allowing staff and community to

respect professional and personal commitments.

“Please drive safely, everyone.”)


Comments

90 Minutes and We Are Out of Here! — 4 Comments

  1. Doesn’t Ms. Alyward live in the district? Why does she have to rush home? Shouldn’t she try to build rapport? Why didn’t she do her last board meeting presentation? And, what if no agenda items are e-mailed? Will she speak at the parents then? Also, when is the workload going to get fixed?

  2. This is a once a month meeting.

    Once a Month – not twice, not weekly, just, Once a Month.

    One early in the night monthly meeting with parents who are residents and pay taxes, parents who actually came forward to make their voices heard, to listen and to participate on behalf of their children as in children with disabilities whose lives are complicated enough.

    At a time when the Education Industry points fingers at parents for not being involved enough in their children’s lives and education.

    Once a Month.

  3. Wise up. It’s all about control. Maybe the parents should extend some control when it’s time for a referendum vote to raise taxes. Some NO votes would get some attention. Or maybe when it comes time to replace the board people might remember how they were treated. After all It’s all about control.

  4. With virtually NO experience one can’t help to wonder how much of a raise they will give Ms. Alyward. It took Meg Schnoor seven years in her job as Director of Special Services to reach $100,000.

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