Huntley School Teacher Contract Views – Then and Now

These comments by Huntley School District Superintendent John Burkey in the First Electric Newspaper stirred my memory: “Last year I was amazed that we avoided it,” said Supt. John Burkey. “This year it just caught up with us.” He slammed … Continue reading

Huntley School District Goes Back to Days of Hiding Contracts from Public

Many public officials are in denial about how their own actions and non-cooperation add to the public’s mistrust of government and even disgust of government. Public officials adopt either a public servant’s I’m-here-to-help attitude or a self-serving I-don’t-want-to-bother attitude. I … Continue reading

Huntley to Pay More than $44,000 to Tear Down Williams/Borhart/Moore Homestead

There were plenty of political motives to change the longstanding agreement that Huntley 158 had which allowed Linda Moore and her family to live in the house she grew up in. Linda’s family sold the school district the property that … Continue reading

Report on What Huntley High Students Doing After Graduation Confusing

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. … Continue reading

Huntley School Supt. Burkey Says He Used Vacation Days to Go to China

It took months to find out. It seemed to me reasonable to ask whether Huntley School Superintendent John Burkey was “working” on the taxpayers’ dime for his junket (for which the district paid only registration) or on an officially recognized … Continue reading

Snippets from Huntley School District 158’s Board Meeting

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.) … Continue reading

Loren Smith Snags $140,000 Job in Oak Park and River Forest High School District

Although neither Public Information Officer Lorie Woods nor Huntley School District Superintendent John Burkey was willing to verify that Human Resources Director Loren Smith has resigned, the Journal of Oak Park and River Forest makes such a reply redundant. The … Continue reading

Burkey Accepts No Raise This Year after Salary Hike of $70,000 since 2006

Huntley School District 158’s Superintendent John Burkey got about a $40,000 salary increase to come to Huntley in 2006. In this fourth year as Superintendent his salary currently is $178,000. He began in Huntley at $145,000. After three years of … Continue reading

Huntley School District Supt. John Burkey Calls Out Northwest Herald’s Chris Krug

Sunday, the Northwest Herald published a guest column by Huntley School District 158 John Burkey: Facts about D-158’s fiscal outlook Burkey took Executive Editor Chris Krug to task. Here’s part of what Burkey wrote: “Mr. Krug stated that District 158 … Continue reading

So, Is the Huntley School District in Financial Trouble or Not?

After a long interview with Huntley District 158 Controller Mark Altmayer, the Northwest Herald published an article about how the finances of District 158 were bleak. It was so bleak Certified Public Accountant Altmayer put on a lengthy presentation to … Continue reading

Huntley School Administrators are No Shows at Community Outreach Meeting

Huntley district 158 posted a five-year financial plan on its web site as part of its board packet. It was up in advance of the meeting last night of the board’s Financial Advisory Committee. When advisory committee member and former … Continue reading

Is Huntley School District Cover-Up Unraveling? Part 2

Yesterday, the first half of a report was published on what happened on the special ed front at the parents advisory committee meeting and the subsequent school board meeting. What follows, concludes that report. Board member Aileen Seedorf questioned a … Continue reading

Special Ed Moms Leaflet Huntley School District 158 Neighborhoods

Door-to-door leafleting. Pretty basic politics. And some Special Education Moms were doing it this afternoon in neighborhoods around town. With a photo of Superintendent John Burkey, taken by yours truly, the broadside’s headline was Our Superintendent wants special ed money … Continue reading

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

This is the firth and final installment of a too long article about the discussion of spending $800,000 of special ed money allocated to Huntley School District 158 this year as a result of the Federal stimulus program. The other … Continue reading

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

This is the third part of a rather exhaustive article about what happened at last Thursday’s Huntley School District 158 school board meeting concerning how the district is going to spend the first half of a $1.6 million grant from … Continue reading