No Questions Asked

Among the items voted at the March 18th meeting of the School Board for Schiller Park School District 81 there was two that interested me.

1. Approval of Memorandum of Understanding with DLA Architects regarding Securing the Entrances at Kennedy and Washington Schools.  Superintendent’s Recommendation: The Superintendent recommends approval of Memorandum or Understanding with DLA Architects regarding Securing the Entrances at Kennedy and Washington Schools. 
2. Approval of Memorandum of Understanding with DLA Architects regarding Updating the Fire Alarm Systems at Kennedy and Washington Schools. Superintendent’s Recommendation: The Superintendent recommends the Approval of Memorandum of Understanding with DLA Architects regarding Updating the Fire Alarm Systems at Kennedy and Washington Schools. 

Both of these appear to be the start of projects that are in my opinion vital to the safety of the students and staff of both Kennedy, and Washington schools. The approval of these items will bring both schools to the same level of safety and security as Lincoln school, and as expected all seven board members voted yes without hesitation.

What peaked my interest was the silence of the two most publicly outspoken members of the Board on the subject of reducing costs in the district. Let me start by adding the disclaimer that I am very glad that all seven members voted unanimously to approve these items. The part i was interested in was the lack of discussion or question of cost by Dave Stachura, or Patricia Godziszewski. I accepted the fact that this just meant they asked their questions outside of the meeting, and in the spirit of open and transparent government I submitted a F.O.I.A. for the email conversations with the subject matter of the upgrades at both buildings.

• “emails sent by Mr. David C. Stachura or Mrs. Patricia Godziszewski that contain questions or comments pertaining to the Entrance Upgrades, and Fire Alarm upgrades at the Kennedy and Washington Schools. voted on during the March 18th 2015 Board meeting. Please check from January 1st 2015 to March 18th 2015.”

Original request, and response FOIA_Response_Tompson.3.20.15

My reason for the request was to see what David Stachura, and Patricia Godziszewski had to say about the costs, and scope of the work being proposed. I believe that Dave Stachura, and Patricia Godziszewski voted yes on such an important matter despite their questions because it was the right thing to do. With that being said I could only assume that the two would have questions since David Stachura has in the past spoken at length about miss-spent tax money, and Patricia Godziszewski is currently taking the position “that tax-payers are under-represented by the Board” and she wants “to encourage and support cost-cutting measures without negatively impacting the educational experience for students”. Out of simple curiosity, and again transparency I was interested in seeing those discussions. My response from the School District was simple. 

Response:  The District has no responsive documents to your request.

There was “no responsive documents”. No discussions about possible costs. No questions representing the tax payers of the community?

More empty campaign promises, and more pre-written political bullet points with no commitment to back them up. Patricia Godziszewski, and team 81 are not your I.M.P.A.C.T. candidates for School District 81.