Posted in Agendas, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Deception, District 220 referendum, Ethics, FOIA, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on December 5, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The District 220 Board of Education meets this evening at 7:00 PM at the District Administration Center, 515 W. Main Street. Topics 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 Board approves estimated 2023 tax levy”
Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Deception, District 220 referendum, Ethics, His Master's Voice, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on November 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“At the Nov. 21 Barrington 220 Board of Education meeting, the Board heard an update from district leaders about Barrington 220’s annual report card, which is assembled by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). The report card reflects data from the 2022-23 school year in areas of student achievement, growth, attendance, indicators of college and career readiness, as well as school climate and culture. During the 2022-23 school year, Barrington 220 students performed better than more than 90% of students across the state.
Illinois has five summative designations for schools: Exemplary, Commendable, Targeted, Comprehensive, and Intensive. All Barrington 220 schools received either exemplary or commendable status, and it is important to note that the schools that received commendable designations are very close to earning exemplary.
One area of focus for the district is improving student attendance, which weighs heavily on a school’s summative designation status. Chronic absenteeism has increased in Barrington 220 and across the state since the pandemic. In addition, the district is focusing on how it can accelerate growth for all students through rigorous academic opportunities. Click here to listen to the presentation.”
Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, District 220 referendum, Ethics, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on November 27, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“At the Nov. 21 Board meeting, the Board heard a presentation about the tentative 2023 tax levy, which is the first step in the process to establish a final levy of property taxes to support the district in 2024. Barrington 220 collects property taxes from Kane, Lake, Cook, and McHenry Counties, and property taxes account for approximately 80% of the district’s annual operating revenues.
If approved, the district expects to receive an overall levy increase of 5.5% compared to last year, however, it is requesting a 6.3% increase in the event new construction is larger than expected.
This is inclusive of capped funds and debt service obligations. Based on projections, the total expected tax revenue to be collected in 2024 is $158,062,300. The next step in the tax levy approval process is a public hearing set for the Dec. 5 Board meeting. The Board is anticipated to approve the final tax levy on Dec. 19.
As part of the tentative levy, the Board will not issue Debt Service Extension Base (DSEB) this year. This will save local taxpayers approximately $2.5 million. Click here to listen to the presentation.”
Posted in 220, Agendas, Barrington Education Association, Barrington High School, Board of Education, District 220 referendum, Ethics, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Topics Of Interest, Unions, Video Streaming, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on November 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The District 220 Board of Education meets this evening at 5:00 PM at the District Administration Center, 515 W. Main Street. Topics on their agenda include:
A copy of the agenda can be viewed here. The meeting will be live-streamed on the district YouTube channel.
Posted in 220, Agendas, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, BOHICA, Deception, District 220 referendum, Ethics, Look For The Union Label, OP/Ed, Politics, Resident Surveys, School Districts, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on November 18, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“In June 2023 the Barrington 220 Board of Education approved the district’s new strategic plan, Framework 220. The plan consists of six strategic priorities. One of the priorities is Community Partnerships & Communication.
Please take our 3-minute external communications survey.”
Their survey link can be found here.
Editorial note: When completing the survey, it appeared many of the questions are crafted to assist District 220 in preparing for their November, 2024 Referendum campaign strategies.
Posted in 2021 Elections, 220, Appointments, Barrington Education Association, Barrington Hills Park District, BCFPD, Big Red, Board of Education, BOHICA, Building Department, Clown Car, Conflict of interest, District 220 referendum, Dumb and Dumber, Equestrian Commission, Ethics, Horse Boarding, Mac's Property Management, Mad Cows, MOOBS, New Normal?, One Barrington Hills, OP/Ed, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Riding Center Advisory Committee, Roads & Bridges Committee, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, Topics Of Interest, Transparency, Village Attorney, Village Board, Village Director of Administration, Village Government, Village President, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on November 10, 2023| Leave a Comment »
By Glenn Minnis | The Center Square contributor
For the fourth year in a row, Chicago ranks as the country’s most corrupt city. Illinois stands as the third-most corrupt state in a University of Illinois at Chicago study.
To arrive at the findings, researchers analyzed 2021 public corruption statistics compiled by the U.S. Department of Justice. In all, there were 32 public corruption convictions in the Northern District of Illinois that includes Chicago in 2021, nearly a 33% increase from the 22 convictions that were reported the year before.
State Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, isn’t surprised.
“It’s an awful shame, and goes to show you what happens when we have one party controlling everything,” Ugaste told The Center Square. “It gets to people, and they think they can do as they please instead of doing what is required of them under the law and required of them ethically.”
A solution to the long-running problem doesn’t have to be that difficult, Ugaste said.
“We have extremely weak ethics laws,” he added. “If we fixed those within the House and Senate and gave our Legislative Inspector General more authority, I think it would go a long way in helping all of it. On the Republican side, we file bills every year to strengthen the legislative inspector general and the ethics laws but they never get hearings.”
Read more here.
(Very) Related: “Better (decades) late than never”
Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Barrington High School, Board of Education, Deception, District 220 referendum, Politics, Preckwinkle's Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on November 8, 2023| Leave a Comment »
“At the Nov. 7 Board meeting, the Board continued its discussion about possibilities for new fine, visual, and performing arts spaces at Barrington High School. The design work for these new spaces was an identified project within the $147 million dollar referendum that Barrington area voters approved in 2020. The cost to build these new spaces was not included in the referendum.
The Board is planning to form a referendum advisory committee in order to gain feedback from the community about projects that should be included on a potential referendum question during the 2024-25 school year. The committee will meet during the second half of this school year. More information will be provided after the Board finalizes the committee’s charge at its next meeting on Nov. 21.
Posted in 220, Agendas, Barrington Education Association, Barrington High School, Board of Education, Countryside Elementary School, Deception, District 220 referendum, Entertainment, Ethics, His Master's Voice, Pension Funding, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Resident Surveys, School Districts, Transparency, Unions, Video Streaming, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on November 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »
The District 220 Board of Education meets this evening at 7:00 PM at the District Administration Center, 515 W. Main Street. Topics on their agenda include:
A copy of the agenda can be viewed here. The meeting will be live-streamed on the district YouTube channel.
Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, District 220 referendum, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on November 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »
By Elizabeth Owens-Schiele | Pioneer Press
Barrington School District 220 and its teachers union recently reached a contract agreement that will increase teachers’ salaries by an average of 4.4% annually over the next five years and provide more maternity leave and sick days, according to district and union officials.
“The Barrington Education Association is pleased with the collective bargaining agreement reached with the Board of Education,” said Melissa Atteberry, president of the Barrington Education Association in a statement to Pioneer Press. “In addition to competitive salaries, the agreement includes 15 additional days of maternity leave covered by sick days, an enhanced sick bank, creation of a special education workload committee and increases in summer school pay, tuition reimbursement and internal sub coverage.”
Atteberry said additional time was also secured for more parent-teacher conferences, and the contract negotiations resulted in revising over 100 language items in the contract.
“While the process was long, it was productive,” Atteberry said. “The conversation yielded a better understanding of the priorities and concerns of both sides.”
Ninety-eight percent of the 700 union members in the school district ratified the contract on Oct. 11 and the SD220 school board approved the collective bargaining agreement at its Oct. 17 meeting. The contract is effective immediately and runs through the 2027-2028 school year.
“Based on our Consumer Price Increase (CPI) assumptions, the average salary increase for Fiscal Year 2024 is 5.7%,” said Samantha Scheinman, district director of communications. “The 4.4% is the overall average annual increase of the total package.”
According to both Scheinman and Atteberry, the first and second years of the contract will cost the district more than the 4.4%, and the annual CPI will dictate salary increases beginning July 1 in 2026, 2027 and 2028 and are subject to a minimum increase of 1% and a maximum increase of 4%. Scheinman confirmed the current district budget will cover the salary increases in the new contract.
Read more here.
Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, BOHICA, Cook, County, District 220 referendum, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)?, WTF on October 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »
(Property tax) bills showed an increase of 73% to the school districts of Park Ridge and Barrington, respectively.
By Paris Schutz | WTTW
The median homeowners in Cook County’s north and northwest suburbs saw their property tax bills rise 15.7% this year, according to a new study just released from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ office.
The study concludes that it’s the largest residential property tax hike for that part of the county in 30 years. The study also shows the tax burden shifting from commercial properties to residential properties, despite Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s initial campaign promises to shift things in the other direction.
The North Shore suburbs saw modest increases in their residential property taxes, but some of the blue-collar northwest communities were socked the hardest.
Rosemont saw the largest increase at 32%, although residential properties in that community are typically rebated a large portion of that sum due to the revenue that comes from business, entertainment and convention taxes.
Read more here.
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