Lake Forest Residents Weigh in on School Board

Last week, the Chicago Tribune published an article on the questionable spending practices of the Lake Forest District 67 and District 115 Boards of Education during Dr. Harry Griffith's time as superintendent - including loan forgiveness on his house and travel expenses. We asked you how you felt about the spending - if it was appropriate, too much or other.

Over 51 of you, or 83 percent, thought that the perks were above and beyond what was appropriate. Three people, or 8 percent, thought it was appropriate. Seven people, making up 10 percent, weighed in saying they needed to know more about the sitution, or had other/no opinion.

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"When economy [the] is going well, voters in [the] community fell asleep and did not ask questions about pension planning or clarity on other perks," commented Patch user ajlewis48. "Loan to assist move [sic] into [the] community is not unusual for corporate relocations in years past. It is not a question of whether they are fair or not. It is a question of the role of the board, transparency, and community education. There were a lot of good things done in consolidating some administrative functions, use of resources, innovative programming. Dr Griffith did nothing wrong by asking for compensation or perks. Board and community was negligent in its analysis and understanding of unexpected consequences."

On the other side of the debate is Patch commenter Bree Olson.

"Everyone who says oh forget about doesn't know the value of a dollar," he said in a comment. "Some of my hard earned money is going to this man's outrageous expenses and I'm pi***d."

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