Letter To The Editor: Say 'No' To 'Rubber Stamping' District 15 School Board Members

The following Patch Letter to the Editor was submitted by Palatine resident Ed Richter.

After reviewing all the editorials supporting the existing Board candidates Ms. Babcock, Mr. Chapman and Mr. Ekeberg, I find it very disturbing they still have community support after what they have done as past board members. Several elections ago, Mr. Chapman was the Board President of District 15 and was voted out of office because of travelling lavishly to various conferences, etc., using the school board funds. Most recently he was appointed by the regional Superintendent to replace a board member that suddenly died. Now he’s running for the board again. Mr. Ekeberg and Ms. Babcock were also members on that same board.

Most recently, these same members voted on an unprecedented 10-year teacher salary contract that was negotiated by a newly appointed human resource person who is an ex-teachers union member. How convenient! The board voted to approve that contract from just an outline without ever reading the details. Then after that, the school administration proposed a $130 million bond referendum to build 2 new schools and tear down one of the oldest schools, while swapping properties with the Palatine Park District. After studying the proposal for less than 20 minutes, the board voted to put the referendum on the ballot in last November ‘s election. The referendum posed a lot of unanswered questions regarding how the funds were going to be spent, what were the redistricting and transportation issues and what was the estimated cost to the taxpayers going to be. All of this without any community involvement or agreement from the Park District on the land swap .

I think it’s time to say NO to these “rubber stamping” board members and elect some fresh people that want to get the community involved in addressing issues facing the school district. I recommend voting for the Frank Annerino, Mike Smolka, Anthony Wang, Lisa Szczupaj and Barb Kain

Ed Richter

Patch Letters to the Editor can be sent to Palatine Patch editor Joe Vince at joe.vince@patch.com. Write "Letter to the Editor" in the subject line of the message. Include your full name, address and a phone number you can be reached at (your contact information will not be published). Also indicate if you want the the letter to be posted on the site. Letters may be edited.

photo via Patch archive

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