Concerned Parents In Deerfield District 109 Call For Resignations

From 109 Demand for Change:

Good evening – although many of you have heard from me before either at these meetings or on a 1:1 basis, tonight I am here as a representative of 109 Demand for Change, a large group of district stakeholders that has formalized and intends to implement a highly aggressive new strategy and plan for action. For well over a year, both the Board and Administration have heard many concerns from parents and teachers regarding the lack of transparency, accountability and irresponsibility in this district. Whether it is standard-based grading, change in team structure, lack of special education support or the two-tiered math program, our concerns and feedback have been both disrespected and disregarded. The good news is I am not here to address any of these issues; the bad news is we have had enough and are now taking formal action, including a newly drafted petition calling for resignations of certain key individuals and a formal PR campaign to commence in 2020. After the New Year, we will be taking it to the streets and going door to door in our efforts to rid 109 of the current toxicity that exists. This community can no longer trust the Administration and has no confidence in the checks and balances the Board is supposed to provide.

Certain members of this Board have forgotten they are elected by this community to represent our interests. The Code of Conduct for Illinois School Board Members states that Board members should represent all school district constituents honestly and equally and respectfully listen to those who communicate with the Board, seeking to understand their views, while recognizing his or her responsibility to represent the interests of the ENTIRE community. This Board simply rubber stamps what a highly inexperienced Administration with a documented conflict of interest recommends and disregards the opinions and concerns of both parents and teachers. Our extensive research has resulted in deeply disturbing findings including widespread unacceptable personnel issues; undisclosed and highly improper conflicts of interest by Administrators; zero transparency and conflicting financial information; and an abhorrent lack of consistency and authenticity in communication. As such, we OPPOSE renewing Superintendent McConnell’s contract. He has shown no interest in working collaboratively with parents and teachers and relies extensively on outside consultants due to lack of experience. District 109 needs a much more qualified and cooperative leader who has the respect of both teachers and parents.

We have given this Administration every opportunity to step up and listen to the parents and teachers in this District and they have failed at every chance. We leave our children to come to these night meetings and wait for hours to be heard, we have sent emails and letters, we have met individually with multiple Administrators and our very real concerns continue not only to be ignored but also belittled.

Our research also has disclosed this simply does not happen in neighboring Districts. Curriculum changes are tabled or changed based on parent and teacher feedback. The Board’s job is not to implement everything the Administration pushes but to listed to ALL stakeholders and make an informed and balanced decision. That no longer happens and is intolerable and unsupportable.

That being said, it should never have come to this. We went through all proper channels multiple times over months and months to no avail. Members of our group all have testimonials about their negative experiences with the Administration, including being told there was no one else “complaining” which was highly disingenuous at best and a flat out lie at worst. We have a 3-inch thick binder that is growing by the day.

We also remind and recommend both this Board and Administration take heed to what happened in District 113 less than a year ago when the community simply became disgusted and fed up – both Board members and Administrators were summarily replaced. Our group has many of the same members and I am here on behalf of the group 109 Demand for Change to put you on notice that we intend hard-hitting and coordinated action to make those same replacements and much needed changes occur in 109.

This statement above was produced by 109 Demand for Change and presented to the District 109 Board of Education. The views expressed here are the author's own.