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Pritzker board eliminates poor attendance from Illinois school ratings

Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Crime, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Education, Elections, Ethics, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Illinois Policy Institute, Immigration, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, Real Estate, School Districts, Snowflake Effect, Springfield, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on May 21, 2026| 1 Comment »

High chronic absenteeism will no longer hurt a school’s state rating.

By Hannah Schmid | Illinois Policy Institute

Illinois plans to eliminate poor attendance from school ratings at a time when a fourth of the state’s students miss a significant chunk of the academic year.

In an overhaul the State Board of Education approved in April, “chronic absenteeism,” or missing 10% or more of the school year with or without a valid excuse, will no longer ding a school’s rating. All nine current board members were appointed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

The new system will use the term “consistent attendance,” the percentage of students present 90% or more of the school year.

That semantic switch may confuse parents about what’s really being measured, though it’s just a different way of saying the same thing. But the revised system also changes attendance from a “core indicator” in the rankings to merely an “elevating indicator.”

Why that matters: Strong “consistent attendance” will raise a school’s rating, but a weak performance won’t hurt it.

The state calls this a “strengths-based” approach, but it means the high rates of students skipping class across Illinois won’t affect schools’ ratings.

Report continues here.

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Noticed a surprise inside your property tax bill? – Part 2

Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, BOHICA, Deception, District 220 referendum, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Illinois Federation of Teachers, OP/Ed, Overhead, Politics, Property Taxes, Real Estate, School Districts, Transparency, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on May 19, 2026| 1 Comment »

 

Following up on our recent post attaching the transcript from the November 18, 2025, Board of Education meeting discussing DSEB, we thought a recent Public Comment from the April 21, 2026, District 220 Board of Education Meeting was worth publishing:

Barry Altshuler (Interim Board President): And, we have one comment today, Angela Wilcox. Welcome. Come forward.

Public Speaker, Angela Wilcox: Hi Board. It’s so nice to sit on this side of the table.

Altshuler: We miss you.

Wilcox: It is so good to see all of you guys, you all look great. I miss seeing you. It’s very nostalgic coming up here. And, President Altshuler, thank you for allowing me to speak, I showed up a minute late. I didn’t realize the new policy as far as signing up before 3:00 or before 6:00, but it’s distracting me.

But, I just wanted to say something tonight that is absolutely nothing that my former Board Members, Leah, Barry, Steve, heard me say before, which is to talk about DSEB borrowing. And, I know that I bored you guys to death with my discussions and we all voted together to not do DSEB borrowing for a couple of years that I was on the Board. And so just, you know, kind of speak to some people that haven’t heard me drone on about this before.

I just wanted to take a minute. There have been a couple of emails that came around today. I know that you guys aren’t voting on DSEB today and I, you know, sadly, and yet kind of happily, don’t really follow all of your Board meeting schedules anymore. So I didn’t know when you were voting, which is, which is on me.

But just as, you know, as a, as a community taxpayer and you know, someone whose kids attended 220, you know, it is, it’s, it’s something that I think is important because it’s, it’s an issue that a lot of constituents don’t really understand, like, what is DSEB borrowing?

And, I think that there’s a reason why, you know, if you Google this or put into, you know, ChatGPT, it’s called a backdoorreferendum. Basically a way to borrow money without having to go to the public and asking them for permission with a referendum to allow, you know, to borrow some money for capital projects.

And, I think that, unfortunately, and just, you know, the way that the optics are, when, you know this, when a DSEB borrowing comes out at the same time that constituents now are seeing the new, you know, the Referendum dollars coming out on our tax bills, it kind of hits a chord like, oh, wait a minute, what’s going on?

You know, there was, there was District resources spent for, you know, attorneys and for campaigns to make this Referendum go forward. It was successful and community members volunteering and then that happened. But then on top of it, then there’s a DSEB that’s put forward as well.

And, I know that there are always projects with as many buildings as we have and I know that we’ve always been short funded for summer projects. But, I just would encourage two things maybe going forward: One, if you can avoid DSEB borrowing in the future; I think that it was such a good practice that the Board really came together and united on as, you know, trying to have this as a goal, you know, for a few years. And, and then two, just to, you know, maybe explain to the public what this all includes so that there’s transparency and showing fiscal responsibility and just so that there isn’t the chatter because, you know…

Altshuler: Thank you.

Wilcox: … the optics are always important.

Altshuler: Thank you so much. Thank you.

To review the YouTube recording of these comment, click here.

Related: “Noticed a surprise inside your property tax bill?”

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District 220 Board of Education meets tonight

Posted in 220, Agendas, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, Deception, District 220 referendum, Education, His Master's Voice, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Look For The Union Label, Mad Cows, Overhead, Politics, Property Taxes, School Districts, Taxes, Unions, Video Streaming, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on May 19, 2026| 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:

  • FOIA Reports
  • Revised Personnel Report
  • Kelsey Road House Parking Lot Amendment
  • Consideration to Approve BSEO Job Reclassification
  • Consideration to Approve Guaranteed Energy Savings Contract (GESC) and Contract Amendment with Greenlight Design Partners for the District LED Lighting Conversion Project

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

Related: “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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Noticed a surprise inside your property tax bill?

Posted in 220, Barrington Education Association, Board of Education, BOHICA, Deception, District 220 referendum, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Illinois Federation of Teachers, OP/Ed, Politics, Property Taxes, Real Estate, School Districts, Taxes, Transparency, Unions, What the Ficke (Bradford)?, WTF on May 18, 2026| Leave a Comment »

In case you missed it and are curious about the increases in the D220 property taxes on your recent tax bills, the Board of Education discussion during the November 18, 2025, Board of Education Meeting provides some insight.

You may recall the 2024 $64 million referendum voted on by residents was widely publicized by District 220 in its “Transform 220” campaign. The District formed a community advisory committee and hosted public information forums to educate voters on what the $64 million bond would fund. They also promoted the initiative across their official website and social media channels, highlighting how the funds would be used.

In contrast, the expenditures quietly voted on by the Board at its December 2, 2025, to issue up to $5.4 million in Working Cash Fund bonds (DSEB), specifically for District capital projects, was barely mentioned prior to the Board’s vote and was done so without any buy in from the taxpayers.

Why weren’t these expenditures included in the November 2024 Referendum? We don’t know, especially since they were previously identified in the failed 2019 Referendum for $185 million in the Blueprint 220 Master Facility Plan.

While the District maintains that the overall 2024 referendum impact is consistent with their total budget projections, individual tax bills have spiked. The May 2026 property tax bills for Barrington CUSD 220 residents reflect the significant cumulative impact of both the $64 million referendum and the $5.4 million DSEB issuance approved by the Board in December 2025.

The full transcript of the November 18, 2025, discussion on DSEB is available here. We will follow up with some additional insight in future reports.

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Lawsuit: D300 secretly gender transitioned student; Seeks to nix IL gender ‘guidance,’ too

Posted in 300, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Economy, Illinois Federation of Teachers, Legal Newsline, Look For The Union Label, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, School Districts, Springfield, Unions on May 17, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Ezekiel See / Unsplash

By Jonathan Bilyk | Legal Newsline

A mother from Chicago’s far northwest suburbs has lodged a lawsuit against her child’s public school district, accusing Community Unit School District 300 of allegedly attempting to secretly transition her child’s gender and of blocking the parent’s attempt to learn more about what was happening and be involved, even when the student struggled with suicidal thoughts and required hospitalization for mental health purposes.

However, the class action lawsuit also seeks to more broadly overturn policies at the district and potentially throughout Illinois, which the mother and her lawyer claim trample parents’ constitutional rights.

On May 10, attorney Ajay Gupta, of Naperville, filed suit in Chicago federal court against District 300.

Based in the village of Algonquin, District 300 ranks as the sixth largest public school district in Illinois, has a student population of more than 20,000 students from communities within a 118 square mile radius in Chicago’s northwest suburbs mostly in Kane County, near the McHenry County line.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of a named plaintiff, identified in the complaint only as S.K. According to the complaint, she is the mother of a student at one of the district’s three high schools. District 300 high schools include Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville, Harry D. Jacobs High School in Algonquin, and Hampshire High School in Hampshire.

The complaint does not identify which high school the student attended.

According to the complaint, staff at the student’s school allegedly began in 2022 using “alternate name and pronouns” for S.K.’s child, identified in the complaint only as T.K.

The complaint asserts the student at that time “experienced declining mental health and difficulty completing schoolwork.”

Report continues here.

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South Barrington Mayor Paula McCombie provides an update of Pritzker’s proposed BUILD Act

Posted in BACOG, Data Center, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Elections, Guest Essay, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Use, Politics, Pritzker’s Rules of Order, Property Taxes, School Districts, South Barrington, Springfield, Unions, Village Code, Zoning Board on May 16, 2026| 1 Comment »

Posted yesterday, May 15:

“This week, I attended the Northwest Municipal Conference meeting where one of the major topics discussed was a status update regarding the proposed Build Illinois Act (BUILD).

As many of you know, the Governor and state legislators are working to advance legislation that could significantly impact local zoning authority throughout Illinois. If passed, the BUILD Act would allow the State greater control over zoning and development decisions that have historically been managed at the local level by municipalities and their residents.

While supporters argue the bill is intended to address housing shortages and increase development opportunities, many communities, including ours, are concerned about the potential loss of local control and the one-size-fits-all approach the legislation could create.  Every community has unique infrastructure, traffic patterns, environmental considerations, and development goals, and many believe these decisions are best made locally rather than mandated at the state level.  One of the things the Bill requires is that municipalities allow up to 8- unit multi-family buildings in all single-family zoning districts while drastically reducing the minimum lot sizes and setback requirements.

Below are some of the examples and challenges on this part of the bill that communities may face should this bill pass.

Both the Illinois Municipal League (IML), representing 1,294 municipalities statewide, and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, representing approximately 275 cities, towns, and villages, oppose the bill in its current form. For those concerned, I encourage all residents to contact your Legislators and Governor’s office and make your voices heard regarding your concerns with this proposed legislation.

Darby Hills, State Senate
Springfield Office: 217-782-8010, District Office: 224-662-4544

Marty McLaughlin, State Representative
RepMcLaughlin@gmail.com
Springfield Office: 217-782-1517, District Office: 224-634-8300

Nabeela Syed, State Representative
info@repsyed.com
Springfield Office: 217-782-3696, District Office: 773-916-6553

Governors Office

Springfield
817-782-6830 or 217-782-6831
Chicago
312-814-2121 or 312-814-2122

IMPORTANT AND HELPFUL LINKS BELOW:

  • Full Building Up Illinois Act HERE
  • Informative presentation put together by the City of Peoria with more examples of what the suggested changes could look like in our community: LINK HERE“

Thank you so much, Mayor McCombie!

Related: “Pritzker’s affordable housing plan gets Senate hearing as municipalities remain opposed,” “Village of Barrington President shares perspectives on Pritzker’s BUILD plans,” “(Ignoring public opinion) Pritzker says of BUILD Plan for homes would not cost taxpayers,” “Gov. JB Pritzker’s ambitious housing plan for Illinois: More four-flats, looser rules,” “Pritzker to propose statewide zoning laws to spur homebuilding, limit local control,” “McLaughlin’s press conference video recording regarding Pritzker’s proposed municipal zoning powers grab posted,” “‘It’s just a bad idea’: Suburban officials oppose Pritzker’s plan to reduce local control over residential It’s just zoning”

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Convicted former Illinois Speaker gives Pritzker advice (from prison)

Posted in Economy, Education, Fat Bastard, Politics, Resident Spotlights, School Districts, Springfield, Taxes, The Center Square, What the Ficke (Bradford)? on May 16, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Rich Hein, Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times file

Quick Hits | The Center Square

Former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan – from federal prison over corruption charges – penned an op-ed this week calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to accept the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit Program.

The program, which Pritzker has been reluctant to opt the state into, would allow people to deduct up to $1,700 from their federal taxes if they donate to a qualifying K-12 scholarship granting program.

Republicans in Springfield also called on Pritzker to opt in this week.

Both Madigan and the Republicans argued the governor is putting politics over the needs of citizens.

Find more news here.

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Parent sues District 300 over student’s gender transition

Posted in 300, Daily Herald, Deception, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Mad Cows, Politics, School Districts on May 15, 2026| Leave a Comment »

By Alicia Fabbre | Daily Herald

Algonquin-based Community Unit District 300 is being sued by a parent who claims her constitutional rights were violated when the district aided her child’s gender transition without parental involvement.

The lawsuit was filed this week in federal court on behalf of the mother of a high school student.

“This case challenges a public school district’s policies, practices and customs of subjecting minor students to psychological and identity-based interventions, while deliberately excluding their parents from participation, consent and even knowledge,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed by Naperville attorney Ajay Gupta.

The lawsuit, which refers to the mother only by her initials, seeks class action status to include other District 300 parents who dealt with similar situations.

District 300 officials did not return repeated calls for comment this week. When reached by phone, two District 300 school board members declined comment and directed calls to the district’s communications team.

Gupta also did not return calls for comment.

The lawsuit was filed less than two weeks after the U.S. Department of Justice announced an investigation into more than three dozen Illinois school districts, including Crystal Lake-based Community High School District 155, over policies and curricula related to gender and sexuality.

According to the lawsuit, District 300 “socially transitioned minor students at school” while withholding information from parents.

Report continues here.

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Former Barrington High student detained as part of flotilla sailing to Gaza

Posted in Barrington High School, Daily Herald on May 6, 2026| Leave a Comment »

By Steve Zalusky | Daily Herald

A former Barrington resident wants to rejoin a group sailing to bring aid to Gaza after their flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces and handed over to Greek authorities on Crete.

Carleigh Wamberg, a 37-year-old Barrington High School graduate now living in Guatemala, sailed as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, which departed from Augusta, Italy, on April 26. Organizers have called it “the largest coordinated civilian maritime mobilization of the mission to date.”

Three days into the voyage, the flotilla was intercepted by Israeli forces near Crete, about 660 miles from Israel — far earlier than the group expected. They hadn’t anticipated any intervention until within about 50 miles of Gaza’s coast.

“Everyone was completely shocked,” Wamberg said.

Israeli forces in a speedboat overtook the vessel, flashing bright lights and screaming at the group to move to the bow, she said.

This grab from black and white CCTV footage shows members of a flotilla with hands in air as Israeli forces intercepted activists who set sail earlier this month attempting to break Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza, near the southern Greek island of Crete late last month. | AP/Global Sumud Flotilla

“They’re pointing their guns at our heads. They board the boat with the lasers all on us, and they’re in SWAT gear, faces covered,” Wamberg recounted.

Members of the flotilla were zip-tied and later strip searched, she said.

Wamberg said detainees were given wet mats to sleep on in shipping containers and then forced onto the deck of their captor’s ship without shade during the day.

“We’re all out there getting sunburned, dehydrated and trying to put the mats on our heads to shelter us from the sun,” she said.

Wamberg claims detainees were beaten when they demanded proof of life of their crew as well as medicine, clothing and other supplies.

Article continues here.

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Barrington High School Mother’s Day plant sale tomorrow

Posted in Barrington High School, Going green on May 5, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Support BHS Horticulture and FFA students by participating in their Spring and Mother’s Day plant sale after school on Wednesday, May 6th!

They will be selling a variety of petunias and geraniums in hanging baskets that make great decor and gifts! Find them in front of BHS near the Main Street parking lot.

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