Entry for October 14, 2007

Found the place where we lived while in the phoenix area.

http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&q=Phoenix&om=1&layer=c&cbll=33.354334,-11...

Cool

Entry for October 03, 2007

I can't believe how incompetent our school district is.

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/news/585069,3_1_EL03_A1U46_S1....

Parents: U46 wasting cash on interim chief

October 3, 2007

BY ERIN CALANDRIELLO Staff Writer

ELGIN -- Some parents in Elgin School District U46 say the district should have saved itself some money by naming one of its own administrators to fill in for Superintendent Connie Neale while she is on medical leave.

Hiring retired school executive Mary Jayne Broncato last week as interim superintendent is a waste of taxpayers' money, they charge.

But according to the district, there was no U46 employee who was second in line for the superintendent's position.

"If the president of the United States falls ill, the vice president steps in for the period of time required. If a pastor at a church falls ill, the assistant pastor steps in," parent Cindy Carvey said at Monday night's school board meeting. "Please explain to me why our assistant superintendent (Lalo Ponce) did not step in when our superintendent announced she was going on disability. Isn't our assistant superintendent familiar with the district?"

Ponce is the district's assistant superintendent of administrative services, dealing with issues ranging from class size and teacher hires to school building information.

District spokesman Tony Sanders, however, said that "there never has been one second in command" in U46.

He pointed to an organizational chart that shows 10 people directly below Neale, but no one administrator serves as just an assistant superintendent.

Besides Sanders and Ponce, those "cabinet" members are Barb Bonner, the district's chief academic officer; Pat Broncato, chief legal officer, who also is Mary Jayne Broncato's son; Deb Dimke, executive director of educational programs; Tom Donausky, executive director of secondary education; Karen Fox, special projects assistant; Jeff King, executive director of operational services; John Prince, chief financial officer; and Tina Radomsky, executive director of elementary education.

Organization questioned

Carvey was joined by several other parents at the meeting who questioned that setup.

"How can this be?" Carvey asked. "What kind of company or organization functions this way?"

Neale's 10 cabinet members in 2006-07 each earned anywhere from $130,386 to $181,419, which includes their pensions, according to U46 documents. A total of $1.4 million was spent on the cabinet alone in 2006-07. However, none of them took over Neale's position.

"Instead, the taxpayers are again being burdened with the wasteful spending of $1,100 a day for a contractor, who coincidentally is related to U46's chief legal officer (Pat Broncato)," Carvey said in reference to Mary Jayne Broncato's contract costs per day.

She could accumulate $132,000 over the course of 120 days, the maximum time she can work under state law because she is a retired state superintendent.

Carvey said she's not impressed by the interim superintendent's résumé.

"I read this individual's qualifications were that she had worked with the district in the past and was familiar with the district. This individual has never been a superintendent of a district anywhere close to the size of U46," Carvey said in reference to Broncato's former position as superintendent of Joliet School District 86.

In 2006, District 86 had population of a little more than 10,000 pupils, according to district data. U46 is the second largest district in the state with more than 40,000 students.

However, after she left District 86, Broncato spent 12 years working in high-level positions within the Illinois State Board of Education, including a stint as interim state superintendent.

U46's total superintendent pay this school year could be more than $550,000: Broncato's potential $132,000 salary for 2007-08 and Neale's $263,000 salary and benefits this year.

With this in mind, Carvey asked, "With the issues that our district faces -- large class sizes, split classes and programs being cut -- why would the board take more money away from our kids by hiring a contractor?"