The Examiner U-46 News Feed

Expenditure items ratified by Dist. U-46 board vote

By Seth Hancock
  The Board of Education in School District U-46 unanimously approved of $5.1 million in expenditure items at its meeting on Monday, April 11.
  Included was $75,000, paid for by the nation’s taxpayers through federal funds, to send 45 people to Orlando, Florida from June 22 to June 24 for the Building Expertise Annual Conference through the Learning Sciences International (LSI), which the district paid out $18.5 million last year for openly theoretical work.
  After purchasing additional seats to the conference, the breakdown for travel and lodging for the 45 is just under $1,500 each. The proposal stated those who attend the conference will “explore the concepts of rigor and equity in learning and education.”
  During public comments, Marie Schnaitman called the trip “a senseless, costly mistake” stating the district needs to focus on its falling math, reading and science scores rather than social and emotional learning.
  “I will remind you it is not the role of the school system to sway the young minds of students towards this very progressive, radical ideology,” Schnaitman said. “The parents of School District U-46’s K-12 children are responsible for family and social values, morals, civic duty, understanding right versus wrong, how to interpret and strengthen with life’s lessons and everything else that make’s a child an eventual contributing member of society.”
  A $4.9 million (operations and maintenance fund) expenditure was approved with Northwest Contractors, Inc. for the first phase of renovations at Streamwood High School for the educational pathways program.
  Presented and approved that evening was $67,390 (operations and maintenance fund) with Fox Valley Fire and Safety for an emergency fire alarm replacement at Hanover Park’s Ontarioville Elementary School that took place last December. The proposal stated “the main control board failed on the fire alarm panel” on Dec. 2, and the replacement was done on Dec. 8.
  Also unanimously approved was $10.9 million in itemized bills.