Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes, Topics Of Interest, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on October 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »
At their October 21st meeting, the CUSD 220 Board of Education received the, “Enrollment Status 30-Day,” report for the 2025-2026 school year. The report shows 7,953 students are currently enrolled.
This marks the 3rd year enrollment has declined, and 355 fewer students have been enrolled since 2020. A copy of the report can be found here.
Posted in 220, Agendas, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Conflict of interest, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, FOIA, His Master's Voice, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois State Board of Elections, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), League of Women Voters, Open Meetings Act, Organizations, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, Video Streaming, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on October 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The District 220 Board of Education meets this evening at 6:00 PM at the District Administration Center, 515 W. Main Street. Items on their agenda include:
A copy of the agenda can be viewed here. The meeting will be live-streamed on the district YouTube channel.
Related: “District 220’s Lack of Transparency (Updated),” “District 220’s Lack of Transparency,” “Ding Politicking on School District Property,” “District 220 posts Notice of Tentative Budget Public Hearing,” “Dual School Board and State Rep Positions Legally Incompatible,” “D220 Abuses Taxpayer Funds in favor of Partisan Campaign,” “Ding In Her Own Words – CONFLICTED!,” “District 220 Board of Education meets this evening (07.15.25)” “Ding Doubles Down,” “Ding’s D220 Deception,” “Chan Ding running in Democratic primary in 52nd,” “Three (3) Democratic candidates queued to run for the IL 52nd District House seat in 2026”
Posted in 220, Agendas, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Conflict of interest, Countryside Elementary School, County, Deception, District 220 referendum, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Elections, Ethics, His Master's Voice, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois State Board of Elections, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Lake, Land Use, New Normal?, Open Meetings Act, Organizations, Pension Funding, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, Real Estate, School Districts, Taxes, Transparency, Unions, Video Recordings, Video Streaming, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on October 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The District 220 Board of Education meets this evening at 6:00 PM at the District Administration Center, 515 W. Main Street. Items on their agenda include:
A copy of the agenda can be viewed here. The meeting will be live-streamed on the district YouTube channel.
Related: “District 220’s Lack of Transparency (Updated),” “District 220’s Lack of Transparency,” “Ding Politicking on School District Property,” “District 220 Board of Education meets tonight (9.15.25),” “District 220 posts Notice of Tentative Budget Public Hearing,” “Dual School Board and State Rep Positions Legally Incompatible,” “D220 Abuses Taxpayer Funds in favor of Partisan Campaign,” “Ding In Her Own Words – CONFLICTED!,” “District 220 Board of Education meets this evening (07.15.25)” “Ding Doubles Down,” “Ding’s D220 Deception,” “Chan Ding running in Democratic primary in 52nd,” “Three (3) Democratic candidates queued to run for the IL 52nd District House seat in 2026”
Posted in 300, Board of Education, Daily Herald, Politics, School Districts on October 3, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Nancy Zettler | Courtesy District 300
By Alicia Fabbre | Daily Herald
A member of the Algonquin-based Community Unit District 300 school board who made a controversial comment on social media after Charlie Kirk’s death was stripped of her board president seat Thursday but avoided a formal censure.
Board member Nancy Zettler sparked a firestorm when she wrote in a Sept. 10 Facebook post that her initial reaction to Kirk’s murder was karma.
The school board held a special meeting Thursday night to consider possible action against Zettler. Board members voted 5-1 to remove her as board president. However, the board refused to vote on a measure to censure her.
Moments before the vote, Zettler said the district will get through the controversy regardless of what happened to her. She added that she remains steadfast in her support of District 300 students.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said.
Residents packed a special meeting of the Algonquin-based Community Unit District 300 school board on Thursday night. | Alicia Fabbre/For the Daily Herald
A packed crowd attended Thursday’s meeting, where the board heard nearly two hours of public comment.
Read more here.
Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Conflict of interest, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Illinois Federation of Teachers, New Normal?, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Transparency, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on September 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »
In response to a recent Observer article, “District 220’s Lack of Transparency,” we received the following from a reader regarding Superintendent Winkelman’s and the D220 Board’s response to his concerns over the D220 Educator’s social media post:
(Click on image to enlarge)
In fact, there are D220 policies that require its educators to:
“adhere to the high standards for Professional and Appropriate Conduct… at all times, regardless of the ever-changing Social Media and Personal Technology platforms available. This includes employees posting images or private information about themselves or others in a manner readily accessible to students and other employees that is inappropriate…” 5:125.
We think that’s a reasonable policy. D220 policies further hold that:
“The District will not tolerate harassing, intimidating conduct… that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive educational environment. Examples of prohibited conduct include… threatening or causing physical harm…” 5:120.
What’s more intimidating to a parent or student that identifies as a Trump supporter to learn that one of the District’s educators is comfortable enough to publicly post her vitriol of the U.S. President, threatening the wish of physical harm to him? Seems to us that the Board policies referenced by Winkelman clearly allow for this D220 educator to be reprimanded, suspended or even terminated.
Why aren’t we, the taxpayers, parents and students of D220 entitled to know the outcome of the Board’s discussions on this matter, assuming there were any?
Related: “District 220’s Lack of Transparency”
Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Conflict of interest, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Illinois Federation of Teachers, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Transparency, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on September 22, 2025| 1 Comment »
At the recent meeting of the D220 Board of Education we heard public comment surrounding social media posts made by a D220 educator. One of the speakers referenced the recent death of Charlie Kirk in making his public comment.
This, of course, piqued our curiosity as to what the public comments surrounded and we awaited a response to the comments from Superintendent Winkelman, President Ficke Bradford, or other BOE members. As we’ve seen in the past, Ficke Bradford picks and chooses what she will allow Winkelman to respond to, and we were left with no comment from the BOE this night. So, we did a little digging ourselves.
It appears from posts captured by LibsOfTikTok, a D220 educator who identified herself on her Instagram as a 1st Grade Teacher at Barrington 220 School District, responded to a post about United States President Donald J. Trump, stating: “Makes me so sick. God I hate him, why can’t he die? That’s the only way to end this insane cult that has taken over our country.”
https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1966252902139519334?s=46
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, we’ve seen educators receive reprimands and even lose their jobs for such divisive and inflammatory comments on their social media pages. These discussions have appeared in the public, as school board meetings should, given that they exist to serve the public that elected them.
During this time we’ve received several inquiries related to an educator, Benjamin Fillo, teaching at Barrington High School, but the one located in Barrington, Rhode Island.
Apparently, several mistook the Rhode Island school for District 220. Well, we can report to you that there is one clear and glaringly distinct difference between the Rhode Island school, it’s school board, and teachers union, and that’s when its educators and board members violate the rules, they take action and they do so publicly so the public trust is not violated. In this instance, Educator Fillo, who also served as the NEA-Barrington Union Co-President, was put on administrative leave and removed from his Union position.
Nahum Mitnik, the other co-president of NEA-Barrington, spoke at Rhode Island’s school board meeting on Sept. 15, stating:
Tonight, I want to share with you the sentiments I conveyed to our members on Friday afternoon. We as a union believe it is important for you, and for the Barrington community as a whole to hear from us directly.
As you know, our colleague and co-president made a statement on his personal TikTok account that has receive widespread negative attention. We are deeply disappointed by his actions. Let me be clear: We unequivocally condemn violence in all its forms. Violence has no place in our schools, our district, or our society.
It would be refreshing to have such transparency from our own Barrington D220 Board of Education and Superintendent Winkelman. Here, we have an educator who has violated school policies in making this violence charged comment while publicly identifying herself as a D220 educator and there’s been no discussion with the public on the actions being taken. But, then, as we have seen with President Ficke Bradford‘s and Superintendent Winkleman’s refusal to address the many violations made by Board Member Erin Chan Ding since running for the 52nd District, we are, sadly, not surprised.
Our hope is that the residents of this community have the boldness and courage of those of our namesake in Barrington, Rhode Island. There will be no action without the public’s request for it.
Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Conflict of interest, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Ethics, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois State Board of Elections, Look For The Union Label, OP/Ed, Open Meetings Act, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, South Barrington, Springfield, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)?, WTF on September 16, 2025| 3 Comments »
In the wake of many instances wherein The Observer has set forth the conflict of interest and the blatant violations of D220’s Code of Conduct and Board Policies by Board Member Erin Chan Ding, we have recently learned that Chan Ding’s violations continue and, due to complete lack of accountability by District Superintendent Winkelman and Board President Ficke Bradford, Chan Ding has actually been emboldened.
You’ll recall that at the July 15th Board of Education meeting, President Ficke Bradford asserted:
“As many are aware, District 220 Board Member Erin Chan Ding has declared her intent to run for State Representative of the 52nd District, and it’s within Erin’s right to do so, and Erin is aware of the Board policies and the laws that are in place.
We have consulted with our counsel, um, to confirm that merely running for an office, um, for political office, while refraining from engaging in any prohibited political activity while acting as a Board member or on School District property does not constitute a violation of the Board’s Code of Conduct. Erin and all Board Members are aware of the policies the Board does have in place.”
In fact, there are D220 Policies that specifically address these issues (in addition to those we have previously brought to the readers’ attention):
8:25 Advertising and Distributing Materials in Schools Provided by Non-School Related Entities
Political Candidates or Parties
Candidates and political parties will not be accepted for posting or distribution, except when used as part of the curriculum.
And,
2:105 Ethics and Gift Ban
Prohibited Political Activity
The following precepts govern political activities being conducted by District employees andBoard of Education members:
2. No Board member or employee shall intentionally use any District property or resources in connection with any political activity.
Yet, despite the direct admonition of Board President Ficke Bradford, and the explicit prohibition of political activity by two Board policies, we are given to understand that Board Member Chan Ding, in her dual capacity as a D220 Board Member and as a political candidate for the Democratic nomination for the 52nd District, attended both the Barrington High School and the Station Middle School Back to School nights, on School District property, where she handed out her political flyers for her run for the 52nd District and solicited signatures for her petitions to get on that ballot.
Craig and Sandra, your credibility is shot. You continually allow Chan Ding to flagrantly violate Board policy without any admonition, abusing her power, departing from the Board’s purpose, and destroying the public trust.
Shame on you.
Related: “District 220 Board of Education meets tonight (9.15.25),” “District 220 posts Notice of Tentative Budget Public Hearing,” “Dual School Board and State Rep Positions Legally Incompatible,” “D220 Abuses Taxpayer Funds in favor of Partisan Campaign,” “Ding In Her Own Words – CONFLICTED!,” “District 220 Board of Education meets this evening (07.15.25)” “Ding Doubles Down,” “Ding’s D220 Deception,” “Chan Ding running in Democratic primary in 52nd,” “Three (3) Democratic candidates queued to run for the IL 52nd District House seat in 2026”
Posted in 220, Agendas, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, His Master's Voice, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Use, Look For The Union Label, Mad Cows, Open Meetings Act, Overhead, Pension Funding, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Privacy, Property Taxes, Real Estate, School Districts, Taxes, Transparency, Video Streaming, Well Water Quality, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on September 16, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The District 220 Board of Education meets Tuesday evening at 6:00 PM at the District Administration Center, 515 W. Main Street. Items on their agenda include:
A copy of the agenda can be viewed here. The meeting will be live-streamed on the district YouTube channel.
Related: “District 220 posts Notice of Tentative Budget Public Hearing,” “Dual School Board and State Rep Positions Legally Incompatible,” “D220 Abuses Taxpayer Funds in favor of Partisan Campaign,” “Ding In Her Own Words – CONFLICTED!,” “District 220 Board of Education meets this evening (07.15.25)” “Ding Doubles Down,” “Ding’s D220 Deception,” “Chan Ding running in Democratic primary in 52nd,” “Three (3) Democratic candidates queued to run for the IL 52nd District House seat in 2026”
Posted in 220, Agendas, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Conflict of interest, Deception, District 220 referendum, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Ethics, His Master's Voice, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois State Board of Elections, Look For The Union Label, Open Meetings Act, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes, Unions, Video Streaming, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on September 2, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The District 220 Board of Education meets Tuesday evening at 6:00 PM at the District Administration Center, 515 W. Main Street. Items on their agenda include:
A copy of the agenda can be viewed here. The meeting will be live-streamed on the district YouTube channel.
Related: “District 220 posts Notice of Tentative Budget Public Hearing,” “Dual School Board and State Rep Positions Legally Incompatible,” “D220 Abuses Taxpayer Funds in favor of Partisan Campaign,” “Ding In Her Own Words – CONFLICTED!,” “District 220 Board of Education meets this evening (07.15.25)” “Ding Doubles Down,” “Ding’s D220 Deception,” “Chan Ding running in Democratic primary in 52nd,” “Three (3) Democratic candidates queued to run for the IL 52nd District House seat in 2026”
Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Deception, Dinky, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Elections, Ethics, FOIA, His Master's Voice, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois State Board of Elections, Look For The Union Label, New Normal?, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, RINO, Taxes, Transparency, Unions, Village Board, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on August 29, 2025| 5 Comments »
Following our recent posts Ding In Her Own Words – CONFLICTED! and D220 Abuses Taxpayer Funds in favor of Partisan Campaign we understand some believe Erin Chan Ding has the right to sit dually on both the D220 Board of Education (BOE) and as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives for the 52nd District. This is unequivocally false (and we didn’t need to consult any high paid lawyers on the taxpayer dime to figure that out).
While a person may be able to serve certain government positions dually, say Village of Barrington Hills Trustee simultaneously with Illinois State Senator for the 26th District, Illinois law recognizes that certain positions, including that of serving on a School Board and as a member of the House of Representatives, are deemed legally incompatible under Illinois law. Illinois law holds that the duties of those two offices conflict such that an individual cannot fully and faithfully perform the responsibilities of both. Illinois courts have applied this doctrine to prevent dual officeholding in cases where conflicts of interest or overlapping duties arise and have emphasized that incompatibility does not require an actual conflict but rather the potential for conflict between the duties of the two offices.
The duties of a school board member involve overseeing local education policies, budgets, and contracts, while a state representative is responsible for broader legislative functions, including education funding and policy at the state level. These overlapping responsibilities could create conflicts of interest, particularly in matters where state legislation impacts local school districts. Even if no actual conflict has arisen, the potential for conflict is sufficient to render dual officeholding incompatible.
One may look to the very partisan League of Women Voters who has previously provided context for this conflict, stating: “Recusal is not a sufficient remedy where two public offices have conflicting duties because public officials are elected to be the voice of the citizens and abstaining from a vote deprives the citizens of their voices. Also, public policy demands that an office holder must discharge his duties with the actuality of impartiality and undivided loyalty. Such conflicts of duty are public conflicts and cannot be cured by recusal. However, private conflicts of interests may be cured by recusal.”
To put this in perspective related to our prior posts about BOE Member Chan Ding,: She is currently violating her Oath of Office and the BOE Code of Conduct; BOE President Ficke-Bradford has effectively silenced Chan Ding, depriving the citizens of her voice, by removing her from the majority of her BOE committees; and, Chan Ding’s run for the 52nd has additionally raised the specter of partiality to the Democratic Party and divided loyalty between it and the BOE.
Related: “D220 Abuses Taxpayer Funds in favor of Partisan Campaign,” “Ding In Her Own Words – CONFLICTED!,” “District 220 Board of Education meets this evening (07.15.25)” “Ding Doubles Down,” “Ding’s D220 Deception,” “Chan Ding running in Democratic primary in 52nd,” “Three (3) Democratic candidates queued to run for the IL 52nd District House seat in 2026”
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