Erin Chan Ding
Monday morning at 7:30 AM, the District 220 Board met at a special agreed upon time to address the ongoing issues relating to current board member, Erin Chan Ding. Here is a transcribed portion of the discussion, which included blunt comments from a former CUSD 220 board member:
“Ficke-Bradford: And as I also mentioned at our last Board meeting, we needed to have another meeting, which is why we’re here today. We need to have this meeting to address a few Board action items. We did plan this date and this time around the availability of Erin Chan Ding that Erin did provide to me when she would be available. Unfortunately, Dr. Altshuler was not available at this, at this time. And, unfortunately, yesterday, just after 4pm, Erin Chan Ding communicated that she would not be in attendance today.
I just want to make sure it’s clear to the community that we did plan. We’re not trying to have any action items without Erin Chan Ding being present. And last, for my little Be Real segment, I just want to remind the Board and community that on November 18, the Board of Education issued its written decision on a Complaint directed at the Board Member Erin Chan Ding, alleging violations of Board Policy. And at its decision, Ms. Ding completed training on policy 2:105 on Ethics and Gift Ban in early December.
Today, the Board will consider a second written decision. To be clear and to remind the community, per school code, the Board does not have the authority to remove Ms. Ding from the Board. Only the Lake County Regional Superintendent has such authority.
And Eric, since you’re here, you can affirm that as well, right?
Attorney: That is accurate. Yes.
Ficke Bradford: So I just wanted to make sure that everyone was well.
OK. So with that, let us move on to public comment. I think we have one public commenter.
Public Comment – Angela Wilcox: It’s not as fun sitting over here. I am so sorry I have to do this.
The first affirmation in the Illinois School Board Member Swearing an Oath is “I shall respect taxpayer interests by serving as a faithful protector of the school district’s assets.” Erin’s actions on this Board have repeatedly violated this oath to the community and have also forced all of you other Members to have to violate it as well.
I listened to the first complaint against her actions on this Board and her prepared response, which wasn’t truthful as to her true actions and wasn’t accurate as to her actions moving forward. She said that she didn’t understand she was violating policy.
However, I sat in the exact room where that policy was written with her for countless hours, looking at every word over and over. She said that she would take every action not to violate policies in the future. Yet I see on the agenda there’s yet another complaint that’s been filed against her.
I’m angry, and this is a time for you to be angry as well. Your time has been wasted over and over and over again. You took a duty to this community and you were forced to have to spend it doing something completely outside of what your duty is. I can’t imagine the amount of time that you have wasted in responding to emails, internal discussions and community responses at the grocery store regarding the violations of Board policies by a Board Member that you cannot control.
She has abused the 220 staff, especially Dr. Winkleman, by forcing them to add the defense of her political ambitions to their job descriptions on top of their actual job descriptions.
She has not respected taxpayer interests by serving as a faithful protector of the School District’s assets, but has used the lawyers employed by 220 as her own personal representatives to fulfill her political aspirations.
The last time she was confronted with this complaint, she received a dressing down and a response. But now it’s time to take firm action. I understand that you as a Board cannot remove her, but I ask that you do whatever you can to make sure that you…
Whatever it can be so that you don’t have to continue dealing with this in the future.
I feel bad for you. And I wish that there was something that this community could do to support you more. However, you do need to list the amount of money that taxpayers have had to pay to outside counsel to defend Erin’s political aspirations beyond 220. And there also needs to be a way to establish a means for this money to be re-paid to the public. I know there is no way to account for the amount of lost revenue and wages that you’ve had to spend internally and as you have as a Board. But to the extent that it can be quantified, I ask that you publish this because it is something that we should know as taxpayers.
Thank you.
Ficke Bradford: Thank you, Angela.”
And we thank you for your continued dedication to District 220, Angela.
To listen to the YouTube recording queued to the start of Ficke-Bradford’s comments, click here.
Related: “Special District 220 Board of Education meeting Monday,” “Over $100,000 in Special Interest Funding gifted to 220 Board member’s campaign in failed bid for State Rep job,” “New Evidence of Chan Ding’s Policy Violations and Conflicts of Interest,” “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,” “BOARD OF ED VOTES, MEMBER CHAN DING MADE FLAGRANT POLICY VIOLATIONS – Part 2,” “BOARD OF ED VOTES, MEMBER CHAN DING MADE FLAGRANT POLICY VIOLATIONS,” “District 220’s Lack of Transparency (Updated),” “District 220’s Lack of Transparency”
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