In 2015 the Budget and Finance committee was created and open to the public for comments. This committee led to the elimination of IMRF liabilities and MILLIONS of dollars in savings for the district and taxpayers of D211. It is important to know that once Anna Klimkowicz was re-elected and voted President, the B&F Committee was dissolved.
In June 2021, D211 ratified a 2 year contract with the local 1211 Teachers' Union. This is the teachers' union that funded the campaigns of Tim McGowan, Anna Klimkowicz, and Curtis Bradley. These Board members should not have influence over the quality of education our children receive, or the contracts that the taxpayers fund. Their intention of serving the community is compromised by their lack of ethics- namely the conflict of interest of the teachers' union funding their campaigns.
The union received generous pay increases, a 6% pension spike, and other benefits from the community. All of this while D211 has clearly declining academic results on state standard benchmarks. Recent state report cards show that D211 schools have fallen below the state average in both Math and Science.
In January, Local 1211 conducted interviews with the 13 Board of Education candidates and will select their picks that will put the union’s interests before the students and parents in District 211.
With your support, we will stand up for parents and do what’s best for our children without the influence of politically motivated teachers’ union officials.
Legal representation in D211 is controlled by the Superintendent and the Board President. Currently the district pays a monthly legal bill of up to $400,000. There are no contracts or agreed rates (as proven by multiple FOIA documentations). The invoices are submitted and paid, without oversight from the Board on spending. Additionally, NO OTHER LEGAL ENTITY HAS BEEN BID. Lastly, the Board was asked to approve a conflict-of-interest waiver by Francezk—the legal entity that represents D211 (no bidding out, no capture of expenditures) because they also are representing the “imminent litigation against, affecting, or on behalf of the public body [5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (11)].”
Mr. Dombrowski made a motion to move this to OPEN session. This motion failed 5-2 and was approved in closed session. There was no vote in closed session or open session and the waiver was signed. This is quite the conflict of interest for the legal team that is supposed to represent D211.
The current D211 BOE approves large sums of money for contracts that are not bid out. This is not only financially irresponsible, but unethical. For example, the contractor that D211 has given roofing business to for many years was recommended to complete a large amount of work for THOUSANDS of dollars. This work has not been bid out, and it was stated in December 2022 that if this is not approved, the district will fall behind in maintaining safe roofs. This administration expects the Board to approve whatever is put in front of them, at any financial cost. A precedent has been set, and the Board does not exercise financial responsibility with COMMUNITY TAX DOLLARS.
In 2021 the state of Illinois passed a law that allows taxing bodies to recover lost revenue when the County issues a refund (Recapture Levy). These are taxes that were passed in prior years that both the Board and Administration explicitly said were necessary to avoid financial disaster. Instead of keeping the district whole by recapturing the lost tax revenue, Board Members Kim Cavill and Steve Rosenblum voted to waive the recapture levy. What this does is essentially pick “winners and losers” in our community.
Kim Cavill has gone as far as to call out job-generating businesses in our community, BY NAME, saying they needed to pay more, so she would be allowed to pay less. Should we expect anything less from a District 15 employee who would rather knit or doodle at the Board table during meetings than respect the opinions of the community?
Steve Rosenblum attempts to visit different classes in different schools. When in an auto shop
classroom, he felt hot and uncomfortable. If you aren’t familiar with shop classes, they are held
in open-air, garage-type areas. However, he felt they needed to be air conditioned. So, he
pushed through million-dollar air-conditioning projects for shop classrooms in each school,
ignoring the carbon footprint he is creating. After pushing this spending through and waiving the Recapture Levy, he voted AGAINST the next Property Tax increase. Board financial 101 is knowing that the quickest way to bankrupt a school district is to spend more than the revenue generated.
The number of D211 Administrators has increased by nearly 6% while enrollment has only increased by 1.3% (source: ISBE School Report Card)
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