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Archive for the ‘District 220 referendum’ Category

(Cook County sample ballot)

Voters will have the opportunity to select up to 4 candidates for election to the Barrington Community School District 220 Board of Education (BOE). We suggest you vote for 3 candidates, Katie Karam, Steve Wang, and Deanna Stern.

We endorse incumbents Katie Karam and Steve Wang for BOE, as each has demonstrated a deep commitment to enhancing the educational landscape in Barrington over their first 4-year term and they will bring needed continuity to the BOE over the coming 4 years.

Katie Karam has effectively championed the needs of families and advocated for their rights and resources. This was notably on display during her first years on the 220 BOE when she advocated on behalf of the students and parents wanting to be back to in-person learning during the Covid pandemic.

She has continued to be a champion of the students, parents, educators and taxpayers, pushing for a long-term Capital Planning tool that will assist in budgeting for the maintenance and upkeep of the D220 facilities without the need to seek yet another referendum from the taxpayers.

Katie is Barrington born and raised with three children attending D220 schools. She has a keen understanding of the District’s needs with the fiscal responsibility to also be a good steward of the taxpayers. We endorse her for the 220 BOE.

As a father of two, Steve Wang understands the challenges families face, and he brings that perspective to the BOE. With a finance degree from Notre Dame combined with his professional experience working in finance at a healthcare non-profit, he is equipped to make sound financial decisions that benefit D220.

Steve has demonstrated his unwavering commitment to our community, serving 4 years on the BOE, 6 years as a Girl Scout Leader, showing commitment to academic excellence and dedication to being a voice for all constituents in our community. Steve has the vision and integrity needed to lead D220. We endorse him for the D220 BOE.

Deanna Stern has 20 years of experience teaching special education and has two children currently in and two graduates of the D220 schools. With her background in education, combined with her position on the Barrington Educational Foundation, she has helped nurture the potential of every student she encounters.

Deanna actively supports academics, ensuring that all students have the resources and encouragement they need to succeed. She is keenly focused on the mental and physical health of the D220 students and is prepared to make that a priority of the BOE. She has further committed to fiscal stewardship of the taxpayer’s investment in our schools. We endorse her for the D220 BOE.

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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:

  • FOIA Reports
  • Revised Personnel Report
  • Consideration to Approve Resolution Accepting Municipal Ordinances Exempting Barrington Community Unit School District 220 From the Cook County Paid Leave Ordinance
  • Consideration to Approve Second Reading of Board Policy
  • Consideration to Approve Resolution Authorizing Intervention In Proceedings Before the State of Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB)
  • Consideration to Approve Resolution Reauthorizing the Treasurer’s participation in the Illinois School District Liquid Asset Fund Plus (ISDLAF+)
  • Consideration to Approve 2025-2026 Meal Prices
  • Consideration to Approve NSLP Contract renewal
  • Suspension Appeal for Student A

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

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By Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner | Wirepoints

Too many Illinoisans have yet to connect the dots between their outrageous property taxes – the highest in the country – and the huge amount of money Illinois politicians keep pouring into K-12 education, now at $24,000 per student and highest in the Midwest. Education spending typically makes up anywhere from 50% to 70% of an Illinoisan’s property tax bill, so keeping a close eye on education spending matters.

Take a look at how fast education spending has gone up in the last 25 years. In 2000, the state spent $16.2 billion overall, including all state, local and federal dollars and covering everything from classrooms to pensions and debt. If that spending had grown at the pace of inflation, today the total K-12 spend in Illinois would be $29.5 billion.

But the actual number is far higher. It’s jumped to $43.9 billion. That’s a whopping $14.5 billion more in education spending in 2024 alone.

K-12 spending has increased by 172% since 2000, while inflation is up just 82%. For sure a big chunk of that spending increase has been the spike in pension costs for teachers and staff – some of the biggest pensions in the country – but much of it has come from a big jump in bureaucracy too, as we detail later.

That $14.5 billion is the equivalent of about 40% of all Illinois property taxes, both residential and commercial. So you can imagine what kind of property relief we could see in Illinois today if we made education spending more efficient and more affordable.

The above doesn’t consider the fact that education results are stagnant over the entire period. Only about one-third of Illinois’ students were proficient in math and reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests back in 2003. Two decades later, the results are exactly the same. One-third are proficient.

Spending – and property taxes – have spiked by the billions while student results have flatlined.

Read more here.

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By Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner | Wirepoints

Take a good look at the book recently read by a teacher to her 4th-grade students at my neighborhood public school in Wilmette. You’ll quickly understand why DEI, and trans-activism in particular, have become so objectionable and divisive, particularly in school settings. And why the backlash at the national level to remove such content from our schools, even among Democrats, has become so powerful.

The book that the Wilmette Central School teacher read out loud is called “It Feels Good to be Yourself.” The teacher begins by describing Ruthie, who at five years old determined that she was a he. Her younger brother was just three-and-a-half years old when he announced he was a he. Both kids inform their parents of the gender decisions they’ve made. The decisions are accepted without question.

The teacher reads on:

“You might feel like a boy. You might feel like a girl. You might feel like both a boy and a girl – or like neither. You might feel like your gender changes from day to day or from year to year. Your feelings about gender are real. Listen to your heart.”

Really? Day to day? To ten-year-olds?

As if that wasn’t enough, the book adds this: Doctors and your parents looked at your “body” and just guessed at your gender when you were born. “Maybe they got it right, maybe they got it wrong.

It’s hard to reach any conclusion other than this one: This book is being read to 4th-graders only to create gender confusion among impressionable young minds. 

Here is a link to a Youtube reading of the book. I encourage you to stick with the six minutes it takes to get through the video.

By any measure, the book’s views are extreme to an overwhelming share of Americans. Normalizing these ideas to little kids in a public school setting – that gender can change day to day and year to year, and that little kids have self-determination – is an extreme proposition. Such ideas don’t belong in our schools.

Read more here, and please vote wisely on April 1st for District 220 Board of Education.

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Steve Wang, Katie Karam and Deanna Stern are three of six candidates up for four four-year seats in the Barrington Area Unit District 220 Board of Education April 2025 election.

Report by Steve Zalusky | Daily Herald

Candidates for the Barrington Area Unit District 220 school board were asked what they would change about the district at a candidate forum held by the League of Women Voters Sunday at the Barrington Area Library.

Incumbent Steve Wang said he would like to see the district continue being a voice for the parents and taxpayers. Wang praised the district’s leadership, programs, students and educators. He pointed to the district’s AAA bond rating, contract agreements with teachers and support staff and its successful addition of two superintendents.

Incumbent Katie Karam, noting that 220 is a unit district encompassing both the elementary and high school levels, suggested a mentorship program. High schoolers would mentor middle schoolers, while middle schoolers would do the same for elementary students.

Challenger Deanna Stern said she would like to promote less device usage in all of the schools and focus more on old-fashioned communication and even going back to actual textbooks. She also said students need to improve typing skills.

Read more here.

Related:Barrington District 220 School Board candidate forum recordings released

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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:

  • FOIA Reports
  • Personnel Report
  • Consideration to Approve Instructional Materials Report for 2024-2025
  • Consideration to Approve Project Work Order #11 to the Pepper Construction Company Master Agreement for Barrington High School Piping Replacement Project in the amount of $3,454,669
  • Consideration to Approve a Resolution Authorizing Non-Renewal of Non-Tenured Teacher Final-Year Probationary Teacher

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

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Wednesday, March 12, 2025, 9:30AM-11:30AM

Location

Barrington Area Library
505 N Northwest Hwy
Barrington, IL
847.382.1300
Directions

Price: Free—Free Event – First Come First Serve Basis 

Description

Barrington 220 School Board Candidates’ Forum: Wednesday, March 12th, 2025: The District 220 PTO Presidents’ Council extends an invitation to the Barrington 220 community of voters to attend its School Board Candidates’ Forum on Wednesday, March 12th from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM at the Barrington Area Library.

There are six school board candidates running for four seats on the School Board in the upcoming April 1st election. The six candidates include:

  • Erin Chan Ding (incumbent)
  • Sandra Ficke-Bradford (incumbent)
  • Katie Karam (incumbent)
  • Harathi K. Srivastava
  • Deanna Stern
  • Steve Wang (incumbent)

The event will start with a short period of introduction by each candidate, followed by a question-and-answer session using questions from the audience and questions submitted in advance online.

The forum is open to all District 220 voters and is free of charge. All interested community members are encouraged to attend. Seating is limited and will be first come first serve.

Event Contact:

Barrington 220 PTO Presidents’ Council
Rena Slovick
linesptoinfo@gmail.com
847.624.0908

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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:

  • FOIA Reports
  • Minutes
  • Finance
  • Revised Personnel Report
  • Consideration to Approve the Destruction of Closed Session Recordings
  • Consideration to Approve the Release of Confidentiality of Closed Session Minutes
  • Consideration to Approve Student Fees
  • Consideration to Approve BHS Piping Replacement Bid Recommendation
  • Consideration to Approve a Resolution Authorizing Non-Renewal of Non-Tenured Teacher Other Than Final-Year Probationary Teacher
  • Instructional Materials Report for 2025-26

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

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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:

  • FOIA Reports
  • Revised Personnel Report
  • Consideration to Approve IASB Vision 2030
  • Consideration to Approve Summer School Fees
  • Consideration to Approve Triple I Expenses
  • Consideration to Approve Bid Award for 2025 Paving Maintenance Project
  • Consideration to Approve Bid Award for 2025 Rejuvenator Project
  • Consideration to Approve Bid Award for 2025 Grove Roofing Project
  • Consideration to Approve Bid Award for 2025 North Barrington and Barbara Rose Elementary Roofing Project

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

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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:

  • Personnel Report
  • Consideration to Approve Disposal of Surplus Property and Authorize Its Sale or Disposal
  • Consideration to Approve Property Tax Levy
  • Consideration to Approve e-Learning Plan
  • Consideration to Approve Intergovernmental Agreement with District 211
  • Social Media Update, and
  • Consideration to Approve Second Reading of Board Policy

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

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