Incumbent Email

In the interest of full disclosure we want to comment on an email that is circulating in our district.

Dear Community Members,
The Pleasantdale School District 107 School Board election is scheduled for Tuesday, April 7. Recent campaign literature distributed by the opposition has included statements that we feel are mere snippets of the truth. We feel that you as voters need to have factual information to decide who is best to serve on the Pleasantdale School Board. To that end, we are providing the facts to statements our challengers have distributed that are incorrect or misleading.

Getting the Facts Right
Planning to spend $210,000 on an 826 square foot office renovation
The current 2008/2009 school budget, following public review and discussion, approved allocated funding for the Elementary School entryway remodel in the amount of $200,000. At the January, 2009 Board of Education (BOE) meeting, the Superintendent's report included architectural estimates for this project in the amount of $190,870 which included a $38,174 project contingency. At the March, 2009 BOE meeting, it was reported that subsequent to the public bid opening, the lowest bid had to be discounted because it did not meet the bid specifications. The other bids were being researched and reviewed. The BOE has not taken any action on this item.

The BOE has not taken any action on this item because they are waiting until after the election since it is a controversial topic. At the bid opening, bids ranged from $216,950 to $338, 523. The average bid was $278,829. Dr. Fredisdorf is quoted in the Doings as saying that “The entire project should come in under $200,000.” Further he alluded to the fact that there is a potential fire hazard. If this was the case, why wasn’t a letter sent to every family at the elementary school informing them of this problem? We had to contact the Regional Office of Education to get the facts. Only then, did Dr. Fredisdorf acknowledge that the real problem was that there were not enough outlets in the main office. After speaking with a contractor that bid on the project we learned that the electrical re-wiring was the smallest portion of the bid. The majority of the bid was a very large new HVAC system. So why doesn’t the district administration TELL THE TRUTH about the construction project? Are we remodeling this office for security, safety or a new heating and air conditioning system? Again, the board has not been fully informed of this project by the administration since it was not discussed at any board meetings under the open meetings act when it should have been.

Increased Preschool and Extended Day Kindergarten tuition 44%
At the October, 2007 BOE meeting, the Superintendent's report included a recommendation to "increase Bright Beginnings Preschool and Extended Day Kindergarten." "The increase would serve to reduce the amount the district currently subsidizes [for] direct costs while keeping our fee structure competitive with other high quality preschool options in the area." These fees had remained unchanged for the past 10 years. The minutes report that "Board member Mirabile requested that we review the policy manual regarding fees and suggested adding language that states fees would be reviewed every two to three years." The review of fee based programs occurs annually per the BOE's Pro Forma Calendar.

Per Board Policy, Curriculum and Instruction 6.35 Supplemental Academic Programs, the District may offer supplemental programs not required by Illinois School Code. Furthermore, the District retains the right to charge fees to participants that cover both direct and indirect costs of programs. The District also reserves the right to waive fees or to seek scholarship funding for economically disadvantaged families. At the August, 2008 BOE meeting, the BOE voted unanimously to approve an action item that included "provide reductions or scholarships for families qualifying 'for' free and reduced lunch per Federal guidelines. Families eligible for free lunch would receive a full scholarship. Families eligible for reduced lunch would receive a scholarship for 75% of the full tuition."

The superintendent stated at the July 2008 BOE meeting "The increase would serve to reduce the amount the district currently subsidizes [for] direct costs while keeping our fee structure competitive with other high quality preschool options in the area."

First of all, Pleasantdale is the ONLY district that houses a private preschool program which is subsidized by the entire district. Dr. Fredisdorf used figures from preschools including Grand Avenue in LaGrange Highlands. This program does not receive subsidies from School District 106, they merely rent space from the district. In essence district 106 is earning money from the preschool program whereas we are losing money on our program. The deficit for the 2008/2009 school year is approximately $234,000. Couldn’t this money be spent to benefit the ENTIRE district rather than the less than 100 children that use it? Pleasantdale does provide scholarships and they should since this money is coming from the taxpayers. The BOE never would have approved these scholarships if it wasn’t for the many, many parents that attended the meetings to protest the increase and the fact that the tuition increase would exclude even more children from the program. Basically, the BOE approved the scholarships because the community was so irate about the fact that many children that can’t afford the $362 per month for the five day program are excluded.

Refuse to provide a free full day kindergarten program to give all kids an advantage
At the July, 2008 BOE meeting, a Full Day Kindergarten Program was discussed. The minutes report that "After Board discussion, it was decided that the district would not pursue researching the full day kindergarten option. Board member Mark Mirabile stated that the handouts only showed at risk students benefiting from full day but not all students." Presently, full district subsidies are provided for at risk students.

According to the Board Policy, Curriculum and Instruction 6.35 Supplemental Academic Programs “Upon Board of Education approval, the District may offer supplemental programs not required by Illinois School Code. These programs may include, but are not limited to:
• Summer school
• Preschool for children aged 3 and 4
• Full-day kindergarten
Nowhere in this policy does it state the “Extended Day Program.” The BOE’s decision was that they would not pursue researching full day kindergarten options. The district is currently paying FULL teacher salaries for the extended day program but the teachers are not allowed to cover any new material. Is this being fiscally prudent? Why doesn’t the district hire day care workers to cut their expenses since basically that is what the extended day program is? It has been clearly stated that we do not have a full day kindergarten program; it is called an extended day program because if the district called it kindergarten, they would not be allowed to charge money for it. Currently 1581 schools in Illinois provide a free full day kindergarten option and we believe that our district should provide a free full day kindergarten program as well since we are already paying the teachers to be there.

Refusing to apply for a grant to aid the districts low to middle income families
In May 2008, the District received a letter from the Illinois State Board of Education stating that "Once all of the children in priority 1 (… applicants that propose to serve primarily, at least 51%, children who have been identified as being at risk of academic failure) and priority 2 ( … applicants proposing to serve primarily, at least 51%, children whose family's income is less than four times the poverty level) are served, it is the intention of Preschool for All to fund programs like Pleasantdale School District 107 that are serving children who do not qualify under priority 1 or priority 2. This is dependent on a continuing increase in Early Childhood Funding and at this time I do not have an estimate of when that will be. Up to this date, only programs serving children in the first priority have been funded." Presently, full district subsidies are provided for at risk students.

Full district subsidies are available for some at risk students, but not all. The term “at risk” means at risk of academic failure. Students from non-English speaking homes are considered “at risk.” Children born to teenage parents are considered “at risk.” Children from low-income households are considered “at risk.” Children from substance abuse families are considered “at risk.” The list goes on and on. Yes, our district provides subsidies for SOME at risk students, but not all.

The state of Illinois is currently accepting applications for the Preschool for All grant. We are simply asking that our district put forth a concerted effort to win this grant. LaGrange Highlands School District 106, LaGrange School District s 102 and 105, Gower School District 62 are among the many school districts that have been awarded this grant. Why can’t we be among them?

Approve of spending over $775,000 for six administrators for the smallest of all the feeder schools
A feeder district for comparison is Highlands Elementary School District 106 which has one elementary school and one middle school all housed under one roof. According to the 2008 Illinois State Report Card, they have a student population of 896 compared to Pleasantdale's student population of 837. The most recently reported six administrator salaries for Pleasantdale is $767,842 while Highlands has reported salaries of $726,661 for five administrators with two additional director salaries that were unavailable for reference. An analysis of township salary information indicates that Pleasantdale actually spends near the township average for administrative salaries.

How is this for a comparison?
Lyons Township High School Enrollment= 3,840 students
Superintendent Tim Kilrea's salary for the 2009/20010 school year = $190,000*
Pleasantdale School District 107 Enrollment = 837 students
Superintendent Mark Fredisdorf's salary for the 2007/2008 school year= $187,234 and this does not include his monthly travel stipend**
*Salary information received from the Suburban Life Newspaper.
** Salary information received from thechampion.org


Refused to provide art class for the 6th grade
At the October, 2008 BOE meeting, the Superintendent's report included a discussion on the Grade 6 Art Change. A one-time modification to "[t]he rotation of middle school specials was changed at the beginning of this school year." "There was a consensus [the Technology Committee with Middle School specials teachers] that the rotation of specials should be changed as follows: 5th grade: computers, art and music; 6th grade: computers, health and music; 7th grade: music, art and health; 8th grade: computers, art and health." The minutes report that "After some discussion, the Board decided that they would not be revisiting the curriculum change. The current specials rotation will stay in effect. Art teacher Dianne Washburn has been offering 6th grade students before and after school opportunities as part of the transition process. Dianne is also working with Deb Cummens to incorporate art in the current 6th grade health curriculum."

This is a perfect example of why our school board meetings need to be webcast on the Internet. The only discussion that took place was that two of the BOE members whose children were directly impacted by this decision admitted that it should have been handled differently and that their children were upset that for the second year in a row, they would not be receiving art class. In addition, the administration and BOE knew of this change in May yet never disclosed it to the school community. Parents found out about it on the first day of classes.

We know that integrity is highly valued by our community. We strongly argue that school board members who are ultimately responsible for the education of our children must demonstrate the integrity to rise above politics as usual. We have held ourselves to the highest standards of campaign ethics.
1. We have not engaged in negative campaigning such as spreading nonfactual or misleading information.
2. We have not publicly made attacks on any Board candidates or his/her personal or family life.
3. We have not distributed any statements that personally criticizes teachers, administrators, Board candidates or any other members of the Pleasantdale community.

We sense that the incumbents are implying that we have violated campaign ethics. We have NEVER made attacks in public or in private on the board candidate’s personal and family life. As we have stated, we feel Patti and Leandra have served the board well over the past four years but since their children will no longer be in the district we feel it is time for them to step down and allow candidates that have children in the schools to take the reins and do what is best for the children that attend those schools.

Since we do not have the funds for three mass mailings we started this blog so that everyone’s voice can be heard. The first amendment right guarantees freedom of speech. So to honor that right, we chose to allow ALL comments that have come to our blog prior to today. Today, we decided to set up comment moderation because the supporters for the incumbents were getting out of hand. Not only were these supporters attempting to make us look bad, they were making the incumbents look even worse with their very nasty comments. We are certain that Mark, Leandra and Patti would not want their supporters to engage in such low standards of campaign ethics on their behalf.

We hope you agree that Pleasantdale School District continues to improve toward providing the best education for each student. Your vote on April 7 will enable us to keep the momentum going in the best interests of all students and their families. With over 16 years of combined Board of Education experience, we have a track record of ability, dedication, and integrity to make our great district even better. Please don't hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely yours,
Mark Mirabile Leandra Sedlack Patti Essig

We too want the best education for every student. We want to take the district to the next level and know it is possible by working hand in hand with the remaining board members. We have the educational background to maintain solid footing while working to achieve our goals. Please consider voting for our entire slate to keep the district moving forward and implement some much needed changes for the benefit of ALL children.

Sincerely yours
Gina Scaletta-Nelson, Karen O’Halloran, Michael Rak and Lauri Valentin