I’ve attended a lot of school board meetings. I've walked away from more than my fair share of them with a knot in my stomach, a thumping headache and a foul taste in my mouth.

Monday night’s D87 meeting was one of those nights.

The Main Event? Mike Meissen, Glenbard's increasingly delusional superintendent, ram-rodding through a boatload of pet projects before his trio of faithful handmaidens . . . Brown, Schmidt and Schuller . . . bid us “auf wiedersein” in a couple of weeks. (Although, as it turns out, with write-in totals finally in, he needn’t have been in such a panic.)

Despite Tom Voltaggio’s six hand-written pages of detailed, rational, well-thought-out arguments to the contrary . . . with no hesitation, the Board voted 6-1 to embark on a razzle-dazzle computer leasing program that has replaced fake grass as Meissen’s favorite absolutely, positively, have-to-have “priority” du jour. Essentially a deferred payment scheme, the program trashes the District’s current five-year technology plan . . . only in its second year . . . in favor of providing the instant gratification of more than doubling the number of new computers (from 500 to 1,150) the first year alone.

Oh . . . and even more idiotically . . . the lease-to-purchase agreement will add $543,000 to the overall tab which will brilliantly coincide with the 2010-11 school year when the full impact of the 0.1% CPI comes home to roost, and District revenue drops like a rock.

Adding insult to injury, the spending spree didn’t end there. By the same 6-1 margin, the Board also managed to squeeze in a new telephone system to the tune of $750,000.

Voltaggio warned that moving ahead with this smorgasbord of spending (along with fake grass) . . . at such a precarious time . . . was not only the height of fiscal irresponsibility, but was placing the District directly into the path of an oncoming deficit freight train. As Glenbard wrestles with the dire forecasts of what lies ahead, he urged the Board to exercise caution, and stay the course with its original budgeted plans for technology and telephones.

The Board turned a deaf ear.

Departing Kathy Schmidt responded by quoting some crap about "doom and gloom" from Teddy Kennedy. After so many years, I readily admit to tuning out much of what comes out of this woman's mouth, but I did catch enough of the drivel to gather that she was warning her fellow board members not to be influenced by the harbinger of negativity amongst them, and “for the sake of the educational opportunities of our children” . . . do the right thing!

Voltaggio shot back that with all due respect to the esteemed Sen. Kennedy . . . that great pillar of morality and leadership (my words, not his!). . . the issue at hand was not doom and gloom. The issue was reality . . . and a Board poised to jump off a cliff into an ocean of red ink.

Apparently Brown, Schmidt and Schuller could care less about the future financial viability of the District since they are returning to the comfort of their La-Z-Boys on Monday nights . . . and won’t have to deal with the aftermath.

The remaining Malcolm, Sebby and Trefilek don’t appear to know enough to be frightened about the direction that they just took the District . . . although Malcolm should know better, having been part of the D87 Board that created the “Perfect Storm” scenario of a few years back!

If it’s even possible . . . Malcolm managed to end the meeting on the most surreal note of all. Mere minutes after having thrown the District’s balanced budget under the bus, she assumed a school marm’s shrill tone of voice and, short of shaking her finger at the superintendent, scolded the administration that “there has been enough spending, and that there had better not be any more new expenditures coming before the Board for a long, long time! No more!!”

Unbelievable.

Prospects didn’t improve yesterday with the tallies from the write-in campaign, and the success of the union-endorsed candidates whose previous track records pretty much speak for themselves!

Congratulations to us, one and all . . . and batten down the checkbooks. If running true to form, the drumbeat for a referendum . . . accompanied by "doom, gloom" and the usual extortion tactics . . . should start sounding in about a year to a year and a half.

quote:

Originally posted by Melbourne:
I’ve attended a lot of school board meetings. I've walked away from more than my fair share of them with a knot in my stomach, a thumping headache and a foul taste in my mouth.

Monday night’s D87 meeting was one of those nights. ...

... If it’s even possible . . . Malcolm managed to end the meeting on the most surreal note of all. Mere minutes after having thrown the District’s balanced budget under the bus, she assumed a school marm’s shrill tone of voice and, short of shaking her finger at the superintendent, scolded the administration that “there has been enough spending, and that there had better not be any more new expenditures coming before the Board for a long, long time! No more!!”

Unbelievable.

Prospects didn’t improve yesterday with the tallies from the write-in campaign, and the success of the union-endorsed candidates whose previous track records pretty much speak for themselves!

Congratulations to us, one and all . . . and batten down the checkbooks. If running true to form, the drumbeat for a referendum . . . accompanied by "doom, gloom" and the usual extortion tactics . . . should start sounding in about a year to a year and a half.

Mel,

You are getting awfully close to the red zone on my Outrage Meter. Please temper the outrage before we have residents taking to the streets, torches, pitchforks, and teabags in hand.

Surreal. Interesting adjective. I have now heard it used in conjunction with the noun 'board meeting' in first-hand accounts by board meeting attendees at five different boards this past year - the Village, the Park District, COD, D41, and now D87. Is there some hope yet for D89 or did I just miss something? Is there hope for the other 5 boards that this won't be as common an occurrance in 2009-10?