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District 220 board reverses decision to buy properties for parking

Posted in 220, Barrington High School, Board of Education, Daily Herald, Deception, District 220 referendum, Land Use, Letters to the Editor, Politics, Property Taxes, Real Estate, School Districts, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on December 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Courtesy Google Maps (Click on image to enlarge)

By Steve Zalusky | Daily Herald

The Barrington Area Unit District 220 school board voted 4-3 Tuesday to reverse its August decision to purchase four properties for parking expansion at Barrington High School.

School board members had unanimously approved buying lots at 502, 506 and 510 W. Main St. and 112 N. Hager Ave. to meet parking needs resulting from a 2024 referendum for school improvements, including a new auditorium.

However, residents from the Walnut Grove neighborhood located next to the high school organized opposition after learning of the purchase.

The residents expressed concern about preserving the scale and character of a neighborhood containing homes dating back to the Great Depression. They said they were also worried about the impact of demolishing three homes, including the elimination of affordable housing.

In addition, they were concerned about property values and being vulnerable to future expansion by the district, suggesting the district reconfigure portions of its buildable land.

Board President Sandra Ficke-Bradford and members Leah Collister-Lazzari and Barry Altshuler opposed reconsidering.

Altshuler worried about precedent, saying, “If we sign a contract and then we don’t go through with it as an organization, that’s not a good thing.”

He added that the properties would have improved safety and security for students and warned that the high school would lose parking during auditorium construction.

Read the full story here.

Related: “School district’s parking plan defies logic,” “Zoning change defies village policy,” “Paving paradise?: Historic Barrington neighborhood opposes District 220’s plan to buy land for parking”

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D220 lacks transparency and accountability with respect to Chan Ding violations

Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Deception, District 220 referendum, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Elections, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois State Board of Elections, League of Women Voters, Look For The Union Label, OP/Ed, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts, South Barrington, Taxes, Transparency, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on December 19, 2025| 3 Comments »

The D220 Board of Education has determined that a properly issued Freedom of Information Act request surrounding the grievance procedure and finding that Erin Chan Ding flagrantly violated Board policies is unduly burdensome. They cite the cost to the taxpayer for attorney review as a reason. Yet, in the same response, they admit that the punishment assessed against Chan Ding for the repeated violations, remedial training, was paid by the District (that’s us, the taxpayer) and the training was provided by the Board’s law firm.

What do we conclude from this? That the Board is just fine with lining the Board attorneys’ pockets with the taxpayers’ money to defend Chan Ding in her violations of Board policies, but it is unwilling to pay attorneys to provide the taxpayers with documents that are rightfully within the public purview.

The purpose of the Freedom of Information Act is to ensure transparency and accountability by giving the public the right to access school district records, fostering open government, allowing citizens to see how public funds are spent, and monitoring operations. FOIA makes school districts transparent bodies, empowering the public to scrutinize their operations while balancing this with crucial privacy protections for students. There is no privacy protection for the self interests of partisan school board members flagrantly violating Board policies!

Do Better Sandra and D220!

Better Barrington
Sign the Petition to Remove Chan Ding

Related: “The D220 Board of Ed gets another ‘F’ in accountability & transparency,” “The Real Issue in Barrington 220 Isn’t Parking or Levies — It’s Leadership Culture,” “Change.org Petition: ‘For the Resignation of Erin Chan Ding ~ D220 Resources are Not for Political Campaigns’,” “BOARD OF ED VOTES, MEMBER CHAN DING MADE FLAGRANT POLICY VIOLATIONS – Part 2,” “BOARD OF ED VOTES, MEMBER CHAN DING MADE FLAGRANT POLICY VIOLATIONS,” “Erin Chan Ding: The violations just keep piling up…,” “Erin Chan Ding starring in another episode of, ‘Rules For Thee But NOT For Me…’,”  “District 220’s Lack of Transparency (Updated),” “District 220’s Lack of Transparency,” “Ding Politicking on School District Property,” “Dual School Board and State Rep Positions Legally Incompatible,” “D220 Abuses Taxpayer Funds in favor of Partisan Campaign,” “Ding In Her Own Words – CONFLICTED!,” “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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Illinois TOPS NATION for public sector union political spending

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Area Library, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, BOHICA, Cook, County, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Fools and their money, Illinois Federation of Teachers, League of Women Voters, Look For The Union Label, Overhead, Pension Funding, Politics, Preckwinkle's Rules of Order, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Road construction, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, The Center Square, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on December 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Scott Stantis / For the Chicago Tribune

By Glenn Minnis | The Center Square contributor

Commonwealth Foundation Labor and Policy Senior Director David Osborne says Chicago’s growing reputation as the place where public sector unions flex plenty of political muscle is more than well deserved.

Osborne points to a new Commonwealth Foundation report highlighting how public sector unions across Illinois spent nearly $30 million on state races over the 2023-24 election cycle, or far more than what union officials in any other state dedicated to such causes.

At $5.5 million, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson tops the State Government Union Pac Money List of those most benefiting from government employment unions support. In addition to Johnson, at least six other state lawmakers land on the list’s Top 20, lead by House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, at No. 2 and Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, at No. 4.

“In the state of Illinois, political spending is bigger than in any other state,” Osborne told The Center Square. “Unions seem very focused on who gets elected to be the mayor of Chicago and governor of the state. What you’ve got really is a downward spiral in Illinois where the kinds of unions that have gotten so powerful have really done it at the expense of taxpayers and then they’re pouring more money into getting the right kind of people elected for them.”

With researchers adding that almost 96% of all donations for Illinois-level candidates went to Democrats, Osborne said it’s past time someone address the imbalance.

“Public sector unions, they’re not often talked about as the cause of problems,” he said. “We often look to high taxes, bigger government, economic policies, but really what’s driving states and cities to enact policies that are harmful to individuals, that raise taxes, that grow the size of government beyond its purpose are public sector unions.

Read more here.

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District 220 Board of Education meets tonight

Posted in 220, Agendas, BACOG, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Clown Car, Cost of Living, Deception, District 220 referendum, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Elections, Ethics, FOIA, Illinois Federation of Teachers, League of Women Voters, Open Meetings Act, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, South Barrington, Taxes, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on December 16, 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:

  • Consideration to open the PUBLIC HEARING concerning the intent of the Board of Education to sell not to exceed $5,400,000 Working Cash Fund Bonds for the purpose of increasing the District’s Working Cash Fund.
  • Public Comment – Working Cash Fund Bonds
  • FOIA Requests (13) Report
  • Finance Reports
  • Personnel Report
  • Action on Suspension Appeal for Student A
  • Consideration to Approve Tax Levy
  • Consideration to Approve Summer School Fees

A copy of the agenda can be viewed here. The meeting will be live-streamed on the district YouTube channel.

Related: “The D220 Board of Ed gets another ‘F’ in accountability & transparency,” “School district’s parking plan defies logic,” “Zoning change defies village policy,” “District 220 Public Hearing December 16th re: ‘proposal to sell bonds of the District in an amount not to exceed $5,400,000’,” “The Real Issue in Barrington 220 Isn’t Parking or Levies — It’s Leadership Culture,” “Change.org Petition: ‘For the Resignation of Erin Chan Ding ~ D220 Resources are Not for Political Campaigns’,” “BOARD OF ED VOTES, MEMBER CHAN DING MADE FLAGRANT POLICY VIOLATIONS – Part 2,” “BOARD OF ED VOTES, MEMBER CHAN DING MADE FLAGRANT POLICY VIOLATIONS,” “Erin Chan Ding: The violations just keep piling up…,” “Erin Chan Ding starring in another episode of, ‘Rules For Thee But NOT For Me…’,”  “District 220’s Lack of Transparency (Updated),” “District 220’s Lack of Transparency,” “Ding Politicking on School District Property,” “Dual School Board and State Rep Positions Legally Incompatible,” “D220 Abuses Taxpayer Funds in favor of Partisan Campaign,” “Ding In Her Own Words – CONFLICTED!,” “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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The D220 Board of Ed gets another “F” in accountability & transparency  

Posted in 220, Agendas, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, BOHICA, Clown Car, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Elections, FOIA, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois State Board of Elections, League of Women Voters, OP/Ed, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts, South Barrington, Taxes, Topics Of Interest, Transparency, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on December 15, 2025| 3 Comments »

As readers are aware, a Petition was recently started for the removal of School Board Member Erin Chan Ding in the wake of her many violations of D220 policies which resulted in a legal investigation of Chan Ding’s activities and the resultant finding by the D220 Board of Education that Chan Ding made flagrant violations of D220 policies. (See “BOARD OF ED VOTES, MEMBER CHAN DING MADE FLAGRANT POLICY VIOLATIONS“)

The Petition to remove Chan Ding is now over 630 strong. Read up on the Petition here: For the Resignation of Erin Chan Ding ~ D220 Resources are Not for Political Campaigns

We’ve been advised by a friend of the Observer that a FOIA request was sent by him to the D220 FOIA Officer for communications related to the investigation of Chan Ding and her violations of D220 policies. That FOIA request was recently responded to, and, you’ll be amazed (LOL) to learn that the D220 Board, through its FOIA Officer and Superintendent Winkelman, has refused to respond to the request, claiming that it is “unduly burdensome.”

The response states:

(O)ver 7000 pages of emails were identified that may be responsive… It would take an unreasonable period of time for a staff member to review all of the records… the School District would need to utilize the services of its outside legal counsel to review the records at a significant cost to taxpayers… Review of the records would disrupt the duly undertaken work of the School District… In this case, the request is unduly burdensome and the burden on the School District outweighs the public interest in the information.

Isn’t that rich? We, the taxpayers, have been funding the legal review of Member Chan Ding’s conflict of interest in running as a Democrat in the primary for the State Representative of the 52nd District while serving as a 220 Board Member, her D220 policy violations in seeking the nomination, the resultant investigation requiring the retention of separate legal counsel, and her punishment, ongoing training related to her violations.

Yet, this District refuses to provide us taxpayers with the communications related to the very investigation we paid for? Citing it as burdensome?!

Given that D220 is claiming that there are over SEVEN THOUSAND pages of emails related to Chan Ding’s FLAGRANT VIOLATIONS of Board policies, how can anyone conceivably argue that the whole Chan Ding debacle is not a distraction to the Board, the District and its business?

The Chan Ding distraction prevents the District from complying with it’s obligations to the taxpayers and respond to a simple FOIA request because it’s too burdensome? If that’s the case, why isn’t the Board petitioning the Regional Superintendent of Schools for Chan Ding’s removal if she has become such a disruption in the duly undertaken work of the District?

The lack of transparency and accountability by the District and the Board of Education is revolting. We think the petition to remove Chan Ding doesn’t go far enough. We’d like to see the removal of any School Board Member and Administrator who refuses to provide the taxpayers what they are rightfully entitled to.

Related: “The Real Issue in Barrington 220 Isn’t Parking or Levies — It’s Leadership Culture,” “Change.org Petition: ‘For the Resignation of Erin Chan Ding ~ D220 Resources are Not for Political Campaigns’,” “BOARD OF ED VOTES, MEMBER CHAN DING MADE FLAGRANT POLICY VIOLATIONS – Part 2,” “BOARD OF ED VOTES, MEMBER CHAN DING MADE FLAGRANT POLICY VIOLATIONS,” “Erin Chan Ding: The violations just keep piling up…,” “Erin Chan Ding starring in another episode of, ‘Rules For Thee But NOT For Me…’,”  “District 220’s Lack of Transparency (Updated),” “District 220’s Lack of Transparency,” “Ding Politicking on School District Property,” “Dual School Board and State Rep Positions Legally Incompatible,” “D220 Abuses Taxpayer Funds in favor of Partisan Campaign,” “Ding In Her Own Words – CONFLICTED!,” “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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School district’s parking plan defies logic

Posted in 220, Barrington High School, Board of Education, Daily Herald, Deception, District 220 referendum, Land Use, Letters to the Editor, Politics, Property Taxes, Real Estate, School Districts, Transparency, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on December 10, 2025| 5 Comments »

Courtesy Google Maps (Click on image to enlarge)

Daily Herald Letter to the Editor

Barrington residents and students have asked District 220 for years to address the parking shortage at Barrington High School. The community has been clear: we need more parking, but we need a solution that makes sense.

Unfortunately, the school board’s current proposal defies logic.

The board has refused to consider a viable option that would create 216 parking spots at a cost of roughly $18,518 per stall. Instead, they are choosing to spend nearly $50,000 per stall to build just 40 spots by demolishing homes on North Hager Avenue and Main Street.

Why would the District choose to pay 2.5 times more for significantly less parking?

This proposal is not just fiscally irresponsible; it is destructive. It needlessly tears down attainable homes, uproots residents and erodes the historic character of Walnut Grove. School officials confirmed at the Dec. 2 board Meeting that cash reserves are available for the larger parking solution. There is no financial excuse for choosing the destructive path over the efficient one.

Barrington values thoughtful planning and stewardship. Tearing down historic homes for a small, overpriced parking lot undermines those values.

District 220 still has time to change course. We urge the board to listen to the more than 400 residents who have signed our petition. Choose the plan that expands parking meaningfully and uses taxpayer dollars responsibly — don’t destroy a neighborhood for 40 parking spots.

Margaret Van Duch
Barrington

Related: “Zoning change defies village policy,” “Paving paradise?: Historic Barrington neighborhood opposes District 220’s plan to buy land for parking”

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Zoning change defies village policy

Posted in 220, Barrington High School, Board of Education, Daily Herald, Deception, District 220 referendum, Land Use, Letters to the Editor, Politics, Property Taxes, Real Estate, School Districts, Transparency, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on December 9, 2025| 2 Comments »

Courtesy WalnutGroveBarrington.org

Daily Herald Letters to the Editor

I am writing to express concern about the Barrington 220 proposal to expand the “Lincoln Lot,” a parking lot originally planned for residential parcels along Hager Avenue.

In September, the district initiated the Special Use Planned Development process with the Lincoln Lot included, seeking to rezone R-6 residential lots to P-L institutional zoning to allow a use otherwise prohibited in a residential neighborhood. After significant community concern, the district withdrew the Lincoln Lot from its submission — an implicit acknowledgment that the proposal did not comply with the village’s zoning requirements.

Both Chapter 11 (Planned Developments) and Chapter 3 (Special Uses) of the Village of Barrington Zoning Ordinance make clear that flexibility in zoning is granted only when a proposal protects surrounding neighborhoods and provides meaningful public benefits. Chapter 11 requires that a Planned Development preserve the value of surrounding residential areas, remain compatible with neighborhood character and provide benefits that accrue to the village — not merely to the applicant. The Lincoln Lot meets none of these standards.

Replacing long-standing homes with an asphalt parking facility would increase traffic, noise, lighting and stormwater runoff while permanently altering the character of a stable residential street.

Chapter 3 further requires that a special use not adversely affect surrounding properties and remain in harmony with the intent of the zoning ordinance. The district’s need to rezone these properties — and its withdrawal of the parking lot — makes clear that it could not meet these criteria.

It is also important to note that the district has already authorized the purchase of these residential parcels, despite withdrawing the Lincoln Lot from the application. This, combined with the district’s ability to resubmit the parking lot as a separate application, makes it essential that the village consistently enforce the standards of Chapters 11 and 3 to protect neighborhood stability and property values.

Wende Dau
Walnut Grove
Website – WalnutGroveBarrington.org

Related: “Paving paradise?: Historic Barrington neighborhood opposes District 220’s plan to buy land for parking”

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District 220 Public Hearing December 16th re: “proposal to sell bonds of the District in an amount not to exceed $5,400,000”

Posted in 220, Board of Education, District 220 referendum, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on December 7, 2025| 1 Comment »

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CONCERNING THE INTENT OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF COMMUNITY UNIT SCHOOL DISTRICT NUMBER 220, LAKE, COOK, KANE AND MCHENRY COUNTIES, ILLINOIS TO SELL NOT TO EXCEED $5,400,000 WORKING CASH FUND BONDS

PUBLIC NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that Community Unit School District Number 220, Lake, Cook, Kane and McHenry Counties, Illinois (the “District”), will hold a public hearing on the 16th day of December, 2025, at 6:00 clock P.M. The hearing will be held at the District Administrative Center, 515 West Main Street, Barrington, Illinois. The purpose of the hearing will be to receive public comments on the proposal to sell bonds of the District in an amount not to exceed $5,400,000 for the purpose of increasing the working cash fund of the District.

By order of the President of the Board of Education of Community Unit School District Number 220, Lake, Cook, Kane and McHenry Counties, Illinois.
DATED the 2nd day of December, 2025.

Diana Clopton
Secretary, Board of Education,
Community Unit School District Number 220,
Lake, Cook, Kane and McHenry Counties, Illinois

Source

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Illinois educators hope to tackle thorny issue of math competence

Posted in 220, 300, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Capitol News Illinois, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts, Springfield, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on December 7, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Aaron Lefller via Unsplash

By Peter Hancock | Capitol News Illinois

Each year, the Illinois State Board of Education releases an annual report card with data showing how students are doing in the basic subjects of reading, writing and math.

And each year when those numbers come out, reporters, teachers, parents and school officials sift through the data looking for evidence to show whether scores are improving, holding steady or getting worse.

But one trend has been so consistent over the years, it rarely draws much public attention. Overall, students score lower in math than they do in English language arts.

That was true on the 2025 report card, which showed only 38.4% of Illinois students overall scored proficient or better in math, compared to 52.4% in English language arts.

Illinois students are not unique in that regard. Nationwide, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the “nation’s report card,” 59% of eighth graders in 2024 scored at or above the “basic” level in math — the achievement level most closely aligned with grade-level expectations — compared to 66% who did so in reading.

Even on the international stage, American students do not perform as well in math as their counterparts in many other industrialized democracies. Scores from the 2023 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, or TIMSS exam — a project of the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics — showed eighth grade students in the U.S., on average, scored  below their peers in countries like Singapore, Japan, Sweden and Australia.

In Illinois, officials at the State Board of Education hope to close the gap through the development of a statewide, comprehensive “numeracy plan.” The document will direct not just the way math is taught in the classroom, but how math teachers are trained in the profession and math programs are administered in school districts.

Read more here.

Related: “How well are your local third graders reading?”

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Illinois lawmakers push retirement tax to keep spending more

Posted in Aunt Blabby, Barrington Education Association, BOHICA, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois Policy Institute, Pension Funding, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, Topics Of Interest, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on December 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »

As state lawmakers look to plug budget holes by removing limits on state income tax rates, Illinois’ spending is set to continue breaking records.

By Ravi Mishra | Illinois Policy Institute

The state budget has grown by 35% since 2020, but Illinois lawmakers want more and hope to get it by amending the Illinois Constitution so they can potentially tax retirees and target income groups of their choosing.

The proposed amendment would end Illinois’ longstanding flat income tax. Supporters claim it would relieve property tax pressures and boost school funding. But voters statewide rejected progressive tax schemes because they promised to hit retirees, family farms and small businesses hard.

The flat tax makes it painful for state lawmakers to raise taxes, because when they do all taxpayers suffer and hold them responsible at the next election. Killing the flat tax gives lawmakers the power to divide and conquer taxpayers.

Illinois has record spending

The problem is not income but rather spending: Illinois’ budget has grown at an alarming rate. An influx of federal pandemic funds marked for temporary relief allowed lawmakers to add billions into the general funds baseline spending.

Since 2020, Illinois’ annual general funds spending has increased by over $15 billion and is projected to grow another $7 billion by 2029. That would mark a 55% spending increase in just 10 years.

With the state projecting nearly $11 billion in budget deficits through 2029, this level of unchecked spending is unsustainable.  That is, unless state lawmakers can force more taxation on Illinoisans.

Read more here.

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