Q: Why is the Chicago Tribune running an old story about outrageous perks for a retired Lake Forest superintendent?

A: To divert attention away from the teachers' unions and Democrats' role in creating the pension crisis, so they can make it look like the fiscal disaster was created by corrupt school boards colluding with overpaid administration officials. They will then use this as justification to dump the bulk of the pension liability on "rich" suburban districts who have now been newly demonized as the cause of the problem.

The Trib should also have mentioned that the school district is seeking a nice tax raise- again. It would be great if it went to the kids instead of the bloated pensions and board follies. It is time to clean house and get board members who care, have kids in school and do not turn a blind eye on what is going on. If board members had to go through book buy and pay the fees that LFHS parents do perhaps they would understand. What we pay at LFHS is more than what one of my children pays in college for books. At least there they give you a list so you can shop around for cheaper books or buy digitally!

The really disgusting part of all of this mess is the board feigning ignorance to what was going on. Quite simply they are not doing their job and should be replaced.

Those who are in the know of what is happening, especially in District 115, have a right to be concerned about boards that are fully in compliance with the superintendent. Yes, this story is old stuff. All was known by me before Lisa Black's revelations to a mostly ignorant public, but it would be unrealistic to believe that the same isn't happening under the new superintendent, Michael Simeck, who likely was chosen because his administrative style is similar to that of ex-superintendent Harry Griffith. Simeck would maintain the status quo! Not unlike when Harry ruled, the boards are now loyal and compliant in answering to Simeck.

It is time for good men and women to step up to run for the school board. In 2013 the terms of four of the seven members of each board will expire. New blood is needed on the school boards to police the outrageous spending that is being permitted by the present board members.

I disagree. This isn't really an "old: story at all because there was a lot of information in the Tribune article that I hadn't known before. A loan to an administrator to help her with the purchase of a $1.6M home in Long Grove?! Mr. Griffith is now a "consultant". I wonder, is he a "consultant" being paid by Districts 115 and/or 67 like other retired administrators in years past? And Ms. Whipple was paid $183,000? By most industry standards that is a very generous salary for communications executives overall, much less one overseeing a public school district that is is small by area standards even adding 67 and 115. It is alarming to know this information, but I applaud the Tribune and Patch for helping keep people informed.

I have to admit, while i have been neutral in this to date....the Board was made to look foolish by this article. The woman quoted seems like she thought she was on the APT, not the school board

Wow after seeing this front page article, I WILL NOT be voting for ANY incumbents this school board election. I advise my people of lake forest to NOT vote for ANY incumbents. This is sicking.

If anyone here wants to run for school board themselves, its pretty easy, only 50 signatures. Learn more at http://ForOurChildrensFuture.com

We do have to take into account the fact that the original situation was created by having two separate school districts with separate superintendents. By combining the two jobs while still maintaining separate districts, in aggregate they saved considerable money by giving the D67 responsibilities to Dr. Griffith (along with a salary increase on top of what was indeed an already competitive package). The alternative would have been to insist that Dr. Griffith take D67 with little or no salary increase - which, with an existing contract, he could simply have declined or "gotten the message" and moved on. This while the district was also trying to get a $53 million building reconstruction project executed. How disruptive could a superintendent change at that time have been? We'll never really know. The result was a very highly-compensated superintendent, but the alternative would actually have been even more expensive. With a shortage of high-performing superintendents, and the difficulty of the job itself, the leverage these days is more with the job applicants. We can debate whether Dr. Griffith lived up to expectations, but this is not always in the board's immediate control - their impact is only over the long term. My point is only that the whole situation cannot simply be explained by concluding we have corrupt school boards.

Maybe a good investigative journalist needs to ask some questions about the local caucus process itself. Who is in the caucus? How does one get on the caucus? Is the caucus a legal entity? How are they run? Are they non-partisan? I think we would all be surprised by the answers. In Lake Bluff right now the School Caucus has been taken over by individuals sympathetic to a local group known as the Concerned Citizens, aka Concerned Tax Payers. Under the Caucus umbrella the Concerned Tax Payers have slated their own candidates for the upcoming school board elections. At the Caucus candidate interviews the leader of this group announced that he would only run if he could hand pick his own slate. Somehow, the "nonpartisan" Caucus agreed and will shortly be publicly announcing its support. If elected en masse, the Concerned Tax Payer slate expects to assume a majority on the school board from day one, nominate its own president, set policy and rewrite curriculum. The Concerned Tax Payers (and the Caucus) are a one issue group with no record of anything to do with children or education.

All these comments are simply excuses. These overpaid board members know damn well their salaries are inflated & they are not doing anything to properly align themselves into REALISTIC packages. They will continue to use the kids & their so-called curriculum as their shields to prevent any cuts in benefits. I can only imagine what a $14k trip to China would be like! As long as they continue to justify their means by bullshitting the parents & taxpayers makes my blood boil! These are all examples of GREED and no where am I reading that any of this money--that is partly mine--going to the kids & or their curriculum. These are all white collar criminals who need to know what it's really like to live paycheck to paycheck LIKE THE REST OF US. They are in PUBLIC roles not private so I can't wait for my day to vote each & every one of them out of their inflated positions. Be very wary! As I like to say, sounds like they all need to wash some toilets. They are pathetic.

I would love to have Lisa Black do an an additional investigation of how the Caucus handled the Board of Ed nominations. A few very fine candidates were viciously attacked and libeled during that process--something that would have been unheard of in former Caucus years! It might be time to re-think Caucus if we want good School Board candidates in the future.

Sorry but you can't tell me board members don't get some kind of benefit for sitting on the board & voting their cronies in. It all smells! Sure, vote me in council & I'm sure ill get some type of incentive. I've seen it b4 and let us not forget we live in Illinois--one of the most corrupt states in the union. Have you heard of nepotism? I stand corrected--and I was referring to the school admins, not necessarily the council. But hey, they let Steve Mandell live here & his crazy ways so ... It's still all pathetic folks.

The Lake Forest Caucus has a great deal of power in the process with narrow participation, which is not necessarily the group's fault but that of "leave it them" delegation by apathetic, non-participating people like myself. Then the elections draw very thin voter turnouts. I don't think we have any simple answer to the issue raised. But we have some questions that all, not just a few, should ponder and review. Who reviews the Caucus? How can we elect and nominate impartial experts to School Boards, Historic Preservation Commissions when--except for in the financial and engineering areas--those with expert knowledge can be dis-allowed or not recommended over concern of political perspectives or positions in a City that supposedly does not have "politics"? Should the Caucus nominate more than one candidate with opposing positions (school economy and tough oversight vs. more reliance on professional input; pro-development or pro-preservation/land conservation/anti-density) both slated, for the voters to chose on controversial issues? We could consider keeping the Caucus but also slating opposing candidates. For appointed positions, a mayor and council who were elected on some issues positions could be expected to follow those positions in making their appointments. WE could also rethink the longer term for mayor, to make the Council leadership more sensitive to voter concerns. Maybe, maybe. But discussion is a good thing and also broader participation.

Are we reading the same Trib story? Mr Miller just explains my points in a more political way whereas I'm getting right to the point & saying what every other taxpayer sees & hears. He states 'Who reviews the caucus?' And 'How can we elect nominate & impartial experts to the SB?' He is just proving my point--they've all got their hands in the pot b/c their cronies hired them. sorry but this is just crap & it stinks. If any of us behaved like this in the private sector, we'd be out of a job. We need to keep the issue clear: there is corruption on every level here & the ones getting "paid" by my tax dollars are just hiding the payback back to the council. I will give them credit, they sure have got their plan all layed out to screw the taxpayer.

The taxpayers in Lake Forest and Lake Bluff are being played by the school administrators. Just take a look at the army of assistants and the fat salaries they knock down. The School Board needs to do its job and be good stewards of our tax dollars and stop being fooled.

HOW THE HELL DO MY KIDS GO TO PUBLIC SCHOOL, AND THEN FOR FULL DAY OF KINDERGARDEN, I'M ASKED TO PONY UP $5,000 PER CHILD? Take a look at the salaries of our teachers and they're all making 6 figures. Where do my taxes go towards? Gee, I wonder.

After reading the above comments, it seems to me that there is a lot of misinformation, anger, and general angst brought out by last Sunday’s front page article about our school districts and former Districts 67 and 115 Superintendent, Harry Griffith. As a former Lake Bluff School Caucus president, I want to set the record straight regarding LB School Caucus membership and candidate selection.
First, anyone can run for school board. It doesn’t matter whether they have Caucus support or not. In fact, I can think of at least one instance when the non-Caucus supported candidate for District 115 won. I cannot speak to the process the Lake Forest Caucus follows, but I do know a little about the Lake Bluff School Caucus. The LB School Caucus is different from the Lake Forest Caucus in that the LB School Caucus only interviews and endorses candidates for School Districts 65 and 115. It does not interview or endorse any other candidates for office.

The LB School Caucus provides a process that helps voters and candidates. It helps voters because candidates are vetted before they are endorsed. Caucus bylaws stipulate the Caucus may not support a school board member for more than two terms. Prior to an election year, anyone who wants to be considered for a school board seat fills out an application. The LB School Caucus sets up interviews with ALL who apply. The interviews are open to Caucus members and the public. The public may ask candidates questions, but cannot participate in the Caucus voting process. Voting is done by ballot, and the tallies are done in full view of the entire Caucus. The Caucus then assists endorsed candidates by obtaining the number of required signatures in order for the candidate’s name to appear on the ballot and filing their candidacy. The Caucus itself is made up of VOLUNTEERS. They are not chosen by a select few, they VOLUNTEER to serve. Lake Bluff is divided into 6 areas with delegates representing each. The number of delegates from an area is based on the number of households in that area. If there is an opening in an area, ANY Lake Bluff resident who lives in that area may become a Caucus member. When I was Caucus president, we had difficulty filling all the openings. People were simply too busy to volunteer. Anyone who wants additional information on the Lake Bluff School Caucus can go to: www.lbschoolcaucus.org.

Oh, by the way, the teachers’ union and the Democrats are not the ones who created the pension crisis in Illinois. The pension crisis we face today is due to the state’s consistent failure to adequately contribute their portion of pension liabilities. When the state promises to pay pensions to their employees then refuses to set aside enough money to do so, it is essentially borrowing from future taxpayers . . . that would be our children and us.

The strike at LFHS revealed there is no real connection between pay and performance. We have many exceptional teachers paid far less than others who clearly need tenure just to be lucky to keep their jobs (and their excessive pay is a further outrage!) But at least teacher pay is a fairly transparent negotiation! The pay and benefits and perks our bloated administration receives is totally out of control. The Tribune article makes me wonder, what else is out there that hasn't been disclosed? We have a new superintendent who has not had any public presence since arriving here. Where is he? What's his opinion on all of this? Is he willing to take action to clean house of all of this abuse from the Griffith era? We're #1 in administrator pay and #13 in our HS ranking. That is embarrassing.

I have served on the LF Caucus, including chairing the Ward Two committee on candidates. A decade hence I also was advanced by the Caucus to serve on the Building Review Board and then the Historic Preservation Commission. I very much enjoyed these opportunities to serve the community.

I found the entire Caucus process quite open. A neighbor of ours asked me if she could nominate me for the committee on candidates. I was interviewed and subsequently appointed.

Men and women from all walks of life serve on the caucus. I found it to be a very good cross section of residents. And our deliberations were entirely above board as we considered whom to slate for appointments or nominations to elective office.

Any resident of Lake Forest who wishes to be considered for appointive or elective office is encouraged to file an application. My sense is that there are more positions than there are applicants.

Having said as much, I do think that members of the school boards -- #67 and #115 -- need to take a more pro-active stance regarding transparency. Clearly some lapses have occurred.

Michael,
Give me a break you are just one of those yes folks who has found a home among the shallow folks. If you are what you say you are then show us with our voice and vote to replace the board. To merely suggest some lapses have occurred is a gross understatement and reflective of your true lack of understand about the events. This clown Prince Harry has made it thru a board of fools by so called leaders and caucus appointees. How is it that a past board member was a Human Resource Liberal Attorney allowed this nonsense to take place. How is it this legacy of trash continues on the board today. The process is stacked. Vote them off. What arrogance does a person have to feel he is worthy of a consulting position yet today. Who put him there? Is there no shame for the major bank in town who has Prince Harry on the Board? What are they thinking? Its a joke and frankly deserving of town full of want to be people.

Ditto Kathie. I think the LF Caucus on paper appears to be open and fair. But as you pointed out, in practice, if a candidate is not selected by the Caucus and they chose to run independently, it is an uphill battle against the "establishment" which includes the current administration and board. The Caucus contends that it is difficult to seek volunteers to serve and if the candidates had to run against another opponent, it would make this search even more challenging. I think the doubts surrounding the Caucus exist because their candidates, despite coming from diverse backgrounds, have traditionally operated in a homogenous fashion. This lemming mentality and the incestuous alliance with the administration is why we continue to see incompetent fiscal policy and excessive waste. It's up the residents to challenge the status quo and to consistently hold the school boards and the administrators accountable. If they feel they are not accountable to anyone, they will act accordingly. If the boards won't serve as the check and balance, it ultimately is the community's responsibility.

harry, did a great job!!! dont blame Harry for a great contract. Blame the board who gave it to him. To that, the parents in the district wanted the best and the best doesnt come cheap so the school board did their best to appease the community. Also, the LF Caucus is a fine, transparent and objective group. If you dont believe it then sign up.

The folks trying to defend the mismanagement &exorbiant spendings are missing it completely. Yes, the explanations of how the system is SUPPOSED to work are accurate but let's be honest here--they are not following the rules otherwise their wouldn't be this much conversation & debate. Look on on my side--the taxpayer side that is saying enough is enough & I myself may try to join the council but I'm sure I wouldn't win because of all the boys/girls club behavior. Pathetic that folks are actually sticking up for these losers. Losers completely. Be wary b/c my vote will be loud & clear.

If you have time and want a "real eye-popper" go to www.guidestar.org and look up some of the 990 tax filings for the non-profits involving the area. Some of the very same names pop up.

Mary: What is the guidestar link supposed to tell us?
To all: Did we learn anything during the LFHS strike...I saw lots of responses oat that time about people calling for 'new BOE members'. What happened? Are we getting the same ole' same ole' with the new Caucus slate? Will there be a candidate forum for the community to ask the tough questions? Folks, take a look at the LF Caucus website...do you see any conflicts of interest? Make an informed decision.

Eric Grenier who are you kidding when you suggest that the "alternative would have been more expensive" if Harry had been given the kiss-off instead of getting one of the highest salaries in Illinois, the land of corruption in government? It's inconceivable it could have gotten much higher. That's the problem with you school board members (yes, E Grenier, YOU were one of those too once). You and your cronies are so quick to both spend yourselves silly at the taxpayers' expense, and defend your counterparts who do the same. You doth protest too much Mr. Grenier, on behalf of the 115 board. And why? It was YOU who began the trend of reckless spending with that 24 million dollar monstrosity of an elementary school in Lake Bluff. When YOU were president of the LB school board, the district began its program of stashing away money as surplus. And that surplus-stashing trend continued as you ran out the remainder of your term in office. So no wonder you're quick to rush to 115's defense. You are guilty as charged.

Sick n Tired, people like you make it hard to attach one's name on a comment for fear of getting smeared. Eric Grenier is an outstanding citizen of Lake Bluff, and has probable spent as much time in his life contributing to public service in our town as you have in your dungeon cooking up vile rants to spew on us decent folks. While I don't agree with Eric's position about Harry's salary, the larger lesson, if you took the time to actually think it through, is that school boards are not generally a bunch of reckless cronies out to get you and your money. Let's consider some actual facts, shall we? Fact 1: the 24 million dollars of Lake Bluff taxpayers' money didn't only pay for the new elementary school, which is a far cry from the mold-infested crypt that was East School. It also paid for improvements to the Middle School. And, oh by the way, The taxpayers approved it through a referendum. I was glad to vote for it even though my kids were done. Even though it cost money, it was the right ing to do. Fact 2: Eric Grenier and his board did indeed implement the policy of accumulating surplus above what it cost to run the district every year. Again, it was the right thing to do. The district had gotten dinged by the State, and was on its Financial Watch List, for having insufficient reserves to cover future major expenses. This was a district that, not too many years back, had a history of deficit spending.
To be continued

But President Grenier and his board accumulated surplus funds, therefore improving the district's credit rating and their ability to weather future storms (wow, Sick n Tired, who ever thought a SAVINGS ACCOUNT could be such a good financial decision?). Now the current board has built up reserves to the level where they've actually been able to promise Lake Bluff taxpayers (like you, Sick n Tired) a measure of tax relief in next year's estimated levy (to the tune of 3 million dollars) while still keeping enough reserves on hand to plan for future costs and contingencies. Even people like you can probably understand the value in that. Fact 3: Aside from their record of financial savings, the LB school board has actually done a nice job of cutting spending as well. They've eliminated several high-paying jobs (like the communication director and elementary assistant principal). They've negotiated contracts to keep cost down and turned down some ridiculous projects like the tunnel across Rockland Road because some expenses just aren't fiscally responsible. So, no, Sick n Tired, Eric Grenier and his Lake Bluff school board friends are not just a bunch of dumb cronies out to get you and your money. It's pretty obvious they're highly-competent, principled, and volunteering their service for the betterment of our community.

Dear anonymously Sick n Tired. The information I gave wasn't opinion or a defense of the D115 board - it was the actual facts behind what drove Dr. Griffith's salary package to become so high (very high in my view, too). It is also factual that the two districts actually saved a big chunk of money getting Dr. Griffith to agree to the new combined job - one he had to create.

The situation was not "Chicago-style cronyism" or some sort of corruption in the LF Caucus. It's important to have at least some knowledge of a problem before trying to solve it. Not to you, apparently.

The LB "monstrosity" was only $19 million - $5 million went into the Middle School. Yes, I did support building up a surplus, as required by the State of Illinois after we found in 2003 that the district was in a $2 million hole. That's when the build-up started. In my last year, as it approached 10 million, I did argue that it was getting too high. So, I am in agreement. It's certainly better that the district hasn't spent all the money it's gotten in any year since 2003. If you had been paying attention you would have known that I stood up at the school board meeting just this September with others in the LB community, and urged the board to go into deficit spending to bring the fund balance down to a more reasonable level. It has to be done carefully.

BTW. if the State of Illinois dumps more unfunded pension obligations onto the local districts as is threatened, LB may need the money.

There is a grave danger in having excess reserves. The teachers union will see those funds sitting there and will somehow believe that they are entitled to them.

If the State dumps unfunded pension obligations back onto the districts, it could be a blessing in disguise. Perhaps then, the districts will begin to exercise some restraint in negotiating the out of control teacher and administrator contracts. Harry Griffith will laugh all the way to the bank while the taxpayers cry on the road to the poorhouse.

Mr. Grenier, it's downright absurd to sat that 115 saved a chunk of money by getting Harry to agree to the combined job. These joker superintendents serve at the pleasure of the board. If they had the kahunas to tell Harry to take the combined job at a less stratospheric salary and he turned them down . . .well, they could have easily picked up any number of superintendents at a lower price. Combined, 115 and 67 are smaller than many many many districts whose CEOs get paid a lot less than Harry got away with. So don't try talking out of both sides of your mouth agreeing his salary was way too high but defending the idiots who were supposed to be watching e store. It's either right or wrong, nothing in between. I think you spent too much time on your school board to know the difference any more.

But I think that's kinda your style, Eric Grenier, talking out of both sides of your mouth. Case in point you agree to jacking up the D65 surplus for 7 years and then in year 8, with 10 million in the bank and as you were walking out the door wondered if it was "getting too high." One dime in reserves was getting too high in this taxpayer's opinion.

I agree with Me that shifting pension liability from the state to the districts will be a blessing when it happens, and from what I'm reading, it WILL happen in 2013. But I think Me is missing the bigger point. It's not negotiated contracts that are out of control. It's classroom size. That, friends, is the real problem with our North Shore schools and why our taxes are so high. If we had more reasonable classroom sizes (studies show that 30 kids in a classroom is no worse than 20), WE WOULDN'T NEED SO MANY TEACHERS TO BEGIN WITH. That's why our district budgets are so far out of control around here. Yes, we need to stop further "Harry" scandals from occurring, but more importantly, we need our board to "right-size" our classrooms. If we can do it in the pirate sector, you can do it in the school. I for one am happy the Concerned Taxpayers are on their way in. They've been around the block a few times, long enough to remember that we used to get along just fine with student/teacher ratios approaching the Ivy Leagues.

Sick.... It has obviously been awhile since you and your Geritol popping Concern Citizens have been attending your one room school houses .... been around the block...I bet on their dinosaurs .... Why don't you move to a Del Webb community already. You are obviously no longer on the production end of society but a burden ..the good news for the rest of us hard working tax payers that pay way too much for the houses in the community and for the inflated property taxes for the great schools our children attend is that neither you nor your Concerned Old Farts are actually relevant or persuasive.

For those of you who are interested in seeing competition for the Caucus, check out this website: www.accountabilityparty.us

This is one individual who was extremely pleased when checking out MIchael Beacham 's website.

The present Caucus organization has been in existence for many years. It is way past time for voters to have candidates to vote for who are free from any hint of past actions. These actions seem to have called forth all manner of pubic distrust over how candidates were selected in the past and subsequently elevated to board positions, more on their loyalty to ex-superintendent Harry Griffith, then being responsible to tax payers as good stewards of their tax dollars.