Comments from Sharon Rogowski

Several comments on blogs and a letter circulated by Mr. and Mrs. Ponga, who do not know me and as far as I know never have met me, insist that I conspire with PG board president.

This is not so.

Mr. Breseman would tell you himself that I have challenged him numerous times in meetings on numerous issues, that we recognize each other but are not what could be called friends. Though I respect him for his good intentions, I do not subscribe to all of his plans for the village.

I did not vote for Mr. Breseman.

If I am elected I will insist the school board work actively with the communities that comprise D-46, including the village of Prairie Grove, because that is the only way to maintain the relationships that must exist for the school to be able to function its best and to educate children best.

Community rancor, school board secrecy and behind-voters'-backs plays diminish the effectiveness, function, and value of the school. These are problems that trouble the majority of voters, but should trouble all.

The actual education plan must remain with the experts who work at the school. They know best.

At no time have I said, nor would I ever say -- contrary to what Mrs. Bowman and Mrs. DeMoto claim via Mrs. Ponga and others -- that the school is "terrible". The school suffers from managmement that is hurting rather than helping.

I believe probably teachers need more support from mangement. And they certainly need for the communities and the school board to work together in order to provide the support and security they need to teach the children. But this is not happening under the present management.

To reiterate an oft-stated position, I am neither for nor against a new school. I want to keep an open mind and remain neutral so that I hear the opinions of all.

When we moved to Prairie Grove from Oakwood Hills in '85 I assumed that eventually there would have to be some type of improvements to the school. Those were made.

At some point probably there will need to be a new school. Taxpayers feel that this time has not yet arrived, and I agree, but this is an issue that should remain on the table for frequent reassessment, because though growth has slowed down and the issue may not be as urgent right now as it has been in the past, D-46 cannot allow growth to outstrip the ability of the school to serve all of the children.

Where the school should be located is a matter to be decided by the communities. All ideas should be discussed. There should not be a rush to any building, or any plans, or any selection of architects until all ideas have had a fair and open hearing and adequate discussion.

This could take time, and that's why the matter should remain on the table until the communities have agreed what should be done, not under duress and without getting the cart before the horse. Only after community agreement should the discussion turn to actual buildings, architects, and beyond, and that, too, should involve community participation.

During this school board campaign the incumbents have adopted language from me and my fellow candidates. Now they drop "communicate with the public" and other such phrases into conversation, as they did at the Herald candidate forum, and they claim that another referendum is not forthcoming.

But like many declarations of people elected to higher offices than school boards, these phrases are hollow, because during their tenure in office their own actions created the record that is out there for the public to see and judge them by, and for them to defend. Because they are having a hard time defending their record, they enlist kamikazi help from people who accuse the "outsider" candidates of all kinds of "abuses" of the public, such as not attending a school-sponsored forum that never has been held before when the present board members were flying so high with no opposition, and that very much resembles an event adopted only because they found themselves in trouble. Cavalry was called in but the enemy never arrived. They should be grateful they had the whole evening to themselves to expound their positions - gosh, what a gift!

Another accusation is that the vote for change candidates don't know what is good for the school and the children. But apparently the present management doesn't either. The community tells the board what the community thinks about its ideas, but the board doesn't listen, and won't listen in the future, because the only qualifications they tout is the record they are having a hard time defending.

They have alienated the majority of the D-46 community through mismanagement, and they offer no plausible explanation of how they came to do that, nor do they feel compelled to do so from any moral reason, because they don't feel they are wrong. They run on their record, but they need kamikazi defense.

It's no good now to change their language and think they can fool voters.

The present board has arrived where it is by mutual agreement among them, minus one, and if more of the same is what the community wants, I will be content with that.

But if the community doesn't want more of the same, it has to vote them out and take a chance on people who have different viewpoints from the present board. From those viewpoints ideas will take shape over time with feedback and direction from the electorate and the "consumers" of the school "product", education.

Anyone who offers the flash and dash of preconceived and prepackaged notions should cause alarm, not contentment. So beware the comments "what are their ideas", or "what do they know." We know that the school needs and the community deserves better management, and we offer to give up our time and work hard to achieve that goal.

The principles that have been stated by new candidates are out there for all to see. Those of the present board are not. From those principles, or lack thereof, all the rest will follow.

New management of the school would mean that better ideas could emerge, such as spending education money only for education, and such as putting the rancor regarding a new school right now behind us (while always keeping the matter on the table for discussion) in order to focus on the most critical issues such as raising test scores above the high D that is said to be the average now.

"Test scores are up"? Up from what to what? Is that good enough for children of D-46?

If you are satisfied with and want to maintain the status quo, then I will be satisfied with that, but I feel certain that things can be better.

Vote for change, or vote for status quo. The choice is yours.

The new candidates who have gone out on a limb to be concerned about whether or not the tax dollars the D-46 community provides to the school might be better spent on education, and who canvassed for signatures (in my case in minus 15 degree cold) to get on the ballot, and are campaigning now will either be accepted or rejected, and no questions asked.

But all of the people who are complaining about the fact that all three live in one community--which could have been any D-46 community--could have canvassed for signatures, could have been on the ballot instead of just sitting at home pointing fingers at others who did what they failed to do.

They are the chorus of doom that would keep things as they are.

If you want change, please know, and let it be known, that change is possible only through community participation in something other than the status quo.

Vote for change. Vote for Rand, Rogowski, and Etling.

Forward together.

Letter from Candidate - David Etling

It is time for a change in District 46. I am committed to four priorities to bring about needed change when I am elected to the District 46 Board of Education with your support.

First, it is critically important that District 46 return its focus to educating our children. For too long, the focus of the Board has been on buildings, not education. The Board has spent the past several years trying to assemble a majority of the voters in District 46 to build a new school, using the fear of the impact of hundreds of new homes and the hundreds of new students that never materialize, buying land at exorbitant prices, and purchasing mobile classrooms to instill the fear of overcrowded classrooms (…your child might go to school in a trailer!). It is time for a change. Lets work together to raise the education standards in District 46 to a level where the graduating eighth graders enter high school on a par with the other students – not a year behind.

Second, it is important that we change the environment of distrust between the residents and voters of District 46 and the Board of Education to one of trust. It is time for a change. The new Board must re-establish trust with the public if we are going to move the community forward. The majority of the current Board has taken one action after another to drive a wedge between itself and the public. I will list but a few of them:

1. The misguided collection of far more taxes that were approved in the 2002 referendum.

2. Two referenda to approve tax increases to build a new school in 2006 that were defeated by a resounding 2 to 1 margin each time.

3. Investing hundreds of thousands of dollars in new school planning after the failed referenda. Is this a new definition of arrogance?

4. Using education fund monies to finance political campaign propaganda in filed attempts to pass the 2006 referenda.

5. After losing the first 2006 referendum, spending thousands of education fund dollars to establish a committee and pay consultants to study the issue and agree on a new strategy to manage the influx of students. The committee was a sham, stacked with teachers, administrators, and YES voters. One of the reasons I am a candidate is the frustration I experienced listening to my Seasoned Citizen neighbor who changed from a YES voter to a NO voter while he was on the committee.

6. One month before the upcoming election, the majority of the Board of Education tore up the Superintendent’s contract with had one year remaining and wrote new contract. Now, the incumbent Board President will not reveal the contents of the new contract to the press or to the public. It is apparent that the Board sees the handwriting on the wall.

7. Paying an exorbitantly high price to purchase land for the new school that has been defeated in two referenda. While the real estate market has been declining in the past year, the Board of Education is paying a premium price for land that sits under high tension electrical lines.

It is time for a change.

The third necessary change is to establish fiscal transparency in the District. For too long, the finances of District 46 have been hidden behind the curtain; not unlike the curtain from behind which the Wizard of Oz operated. As cited above, the Board of Education collected far more taxes than were approved in the 2002 referendum, then when they were caught, they asked the taxpayers to approve a ballot question to get their own money back. Chutzpah. Paying for studies and consultants and propaganda in support of tax increase referenda that were soundly defeated to build classrooms for students that are going to live in houses that have not been built and may never be built. Do they believe that the voters will eventually tire of voting NO and their minority of supporters will eventually approve an unnecessary referendum? It is time for a change.

The fourth change that is necessary is to bring real public discourse into District 46. It is time to change the practice of overusing Executive Sessions without revealing the results afterwards. For example, there are many who believe that the current Superintendent is a divisive force in the District. The majority of the current Board approved a new contract for the Superintendent without allowing all Board members an opportunity to read it. There is a need to allow the public the opportunity to discuss issues that are important to the District and to provide real and open feedback and discussion to the Board of Education.

As a member of the Board of Education, I will promote an accountable Board for the citizens of District 46. It is time for a change and I urge you to vote for that change.

David Etling
District 46 Board Candidate

Letter from Candidate - Sharon Rogowski

Public schools

Public schools can be compared to businesses. They're like corporations that manufacture products for specialized markets.

School boards are like boards of directors of corporations. School superintendents are like corporate CEOs. Teachers are like corporate employees. The product public schools "manufacture" is education.

Corporations' owners are their stockholders. They pay money to own shares in corporations'.

Taxpayers pay for schools in their communities and so one could say that taxpayers "own" the schools. Some but not all taxpayers also use schools' product, education for their children.

Because taxpayers in communities invest so much in public schools, they have an enormous financial stake in what happens there, just as stockholders have a financial stake in what happens in corporations.

Usually corporations are honest with stockholders and treat them well. Usually the relationship between corporations and stockholders is good. The same is true of public schools.

The comparison is apt. Taking the analogy a bit further, one could argue that D46 resembles corporate America in other ways as well.

Corporate CEOs and boards of directors sometimes don't treat stockholders well, and sometimes do things that are unethical, misguided, and sometimes even illegal.

Boards of directors of corporations sometimes do not prevent CEOs from taking actions that lead to abuses of stockholders that finally come to the attention of the law, the media, and the public. This, too, is an apt analogy.

The laws of Illinois do not prevent some taxpayers being deceived and abused by the managers of some schools that are paid for and, it can be argued, owned by taxpayers, and those managers cannot be called to account legally.

The managers of some public schools, like managers of some corporations, sometimes misappropriate monies of taxpayers for projects that do not improve education, that are inappropriate, or that are wasteful. Sometimes they do things secretly that should be done in the open. Sometimes they withhold information. Sometimes they deceive.

The managers of some schools, like the managers of some corporations, sometimes abuse the trust of taxpayers so often and so blatantly that the good relationship that is necessary between school and community is damaged beyond repair.

What has happened on the "watch" of the present school board and superintendent in district 46 has affected the education of children as well as the school's relationship with the communities it serves and its relationship with the schools owners, who are the district's taxpayers.

Monies that could have been spent on education have been mismanaged and wasted. Examples abound.

By losing focus on education and curriculum the school has lost and continues to lose students to private schools and homeschooling . Student test scores are down.

Some say that the school is over-administered. Excess administration means less money for classrooms. But a new school and lots of administrative staff enhance the superintendent's importance and salary.

The school board "sold" taxpayers a new building and expansion of the existing building on the basis that they were designed for expansion.

Now they claim that the expansion isn't feasible, but is that true? Can't the expansion be made to work so that more focus and money can be devoted to improving education?

At this time the majority of development in the district is on hold. Still, the board and superintednent purchased overpriced acres that may not be suitable for a new school, even if one were needed or feasible now.

Though voters have made clear their disagreement about a new school at this time, the board wants voters to support high interest bond purchases when there are no balancing impact fees to offset the costs (because development is on hold).

School census is not growing, yet the board and superintendent ordered unneeded, over aged mobile classrooms.

And with election looming and voter anger evident, the school board secretly renewed the superintendent's contract over a year early.

Yes, there's more than enough evidence that the D46 board and superintendent have behaved badly, like some corporate CEOs and boards of directors.

But there's hope.

When 66% of voters demonstrate in two separate elections that they have lost confidence in the management of their school, the writing is on the wall.

Public schools are not sacrosanct, nor are they the property of the few who work in them, but literally belong to the people who live in the districts...every taxpayer, whether all taxpayers use them or not. If schools want to benefit from their state mandate to put their hands into our pockets they have to answer for their actions.

On April 17 the voters of district 46 will decide whether they are satisfied with the performance of their employees, who are the managers of Prairie Grove school.

Please exercise your right to tell the D46 school board and superintendent what you think - please vote.

Sharon Rogowski
Candidate for D46 School Board
-Restore Fiscal Responsibility
-Focus on Education
-Restore Public Trust
-Use Finite Resources Wisely
-Plan Intelligently For Growth
-School and Communities Must Work Together

Letter from Candidate - Tara Rand

Dear School District 46 Voter,

Our community has a few critical years ahead of us as we make important decisions regarding our school’s future. We turned down two referendums and now we must move ahead cautiously, refocusing on the curriculum and seeking alternatives to new school building. My top priorities include focusing school board attention on education while planning for real community growth, balancing educational needs with taxpayer needs.

We are a growing community with many new needs. However, I believe the growth will be slower than previously anticipated; therefore, we can proceed more slowly than the current board planned and thereby maintain our tight knit school community. I believe the school board should re-establish public trust through open communication.

I believe the current board as been fiscally irresponsible; for instance, the board knowingly over-taxed the community following the 2002 referendum. The board led the community to believe that we needed a new school building. Had the district issued $18-25 million in construction bonds the current taxpayers would be responsible now for the repayment shortfall due to the lack of impact fee revenues. While the board did not commission a new building, it did purchase the Hacker property (land behind the school and under the power lines) for $4 million – neither informing the taxpayers nor providing for a community veto. Despite decreased enrollment this year, the board has voted to acquire up to 10 mobiles units at a cost of more than $60,000 to move. The board spent over $500,000 on professional fees, including architectural fees, mediator fees and engineering fees. These expenditures represent monies which could have been used on resources to improve our children’s education through curriculum advances and/or teacher hires. Moreover, the board could have used these monies to commission an addition to the junior high, consistent with the original building design plans.

My husband and I moved to Prairie Grove six years ago because we love the open space, the friendly neighborhoods, and the intimate school setting. I have four children, two of whom currently attend Prairie Grove Elementary and two who will attend in the future. My sons have had wonderful teachers and truly enjoy school. I have volunteered in my son’s class rooms and have seen the hard work of our teachers. I participated on the task force, trying to help the administration to accommodate future growth. As a school board member I hope to help our community through the next few critical years.

As a board member, I will cultivate an accountable government – one that works openly and honestly with the community. I will invite true dialogue between the board and the public. I will encourage regular community feedback with open meetings to provide true dialogue between the community and the board.

Please vote for a change!
Vote Tara Rand District 46 Board Candidate!