Lincoln-Way School District 210 – Did the former Superintendent and Board of Education violate the law?

Mr. Sawin’s reported cost statement (of $44,000) does not sound like it was clearly defined when given like the FOIA’s are expected to be; both Lincoln-Way North & Lincoln-Way West had the same construction plans, with separate buildings on site for storage and could be why “there are no minutes or RFPs specifically for the dog training facility” as both sites have these buildings.

Does the person running the dog obedience school give any money back to the district for rent or a share of revenues?

A few years ago the General Assembly, in it’s “wisdom”, increased the limit for no-bid contracts in construction and maintenance work from $25,000 to $50,000. There are no requirements that amount of the contract be fair and reasonable for the work. In other words, a board and administration in cahoots to get tax dollars to a crony can enter into a contract for their buddy to do $10,000 of work for a $49,999 fee. “Services” are also exempt from bidding, so if a district wants to hire a buddy of theirs as a “consultant”, regardless of qualifications, they can do it with no accountability. This is a real cash cow for early retired admins who already are getting fat six figure early pensions on the backs of taxpayers. I’ve seen this happen time after time.

I know a curriculum specialist, a very good one, who retired from CPS. They replaced her with a grossly incompetent political hack who was a disaster in the job, so they hired her back as a “consultant” at $150/hr to do the political hack’s job so that she could keep on the gravy train.

I knew one maintenance manager, a very competent guy, who retired and got an early pension on Friday and was back on the same job, with a raise, the following Monday. How did he do it? He became a “consultant” working for a CPS contractor as a loaned servant. His cost and benefits were $110,000 per year when working at CPS. To get him as a consultant, he was paid about $120,000 per year, but the politically connected consultant firm was paid a multiplier of 2.75 on his salary, so he cost the taxpayers $330,000 per year to do a job that cost $110,000 a day before. Add about a $60,000 per year pension and health care to cost, and you can see why CPS, and Illinois, is broke.

The corruption isn’t just in Chicago, my friends. I remember over a decade ago in Palos 118 they forced a $22 million construction program on the taxpayers, funded by working cash bonds for which the public had no opportunity to vote. The tacpayers automatically had to pay the bond repayment through increase to their real estate taxes, without even having an opportunity to vote on it. Welcome to the gimmicks in Illinois school funding! A well connected K-5 principal, who had NO background in construction management, was made the Assistant superintendent for Maintenance and Curriculum, along with a raise from $104K to $180K. The former Maintenance manager made about $75K, and the hack they replaced him with had no competence to oversee the work. The district already had a six figure Curriculum director. To boot, the district hired a construction management firm to do the job he was paid to do. They eliminated the position once his pension was sufficiently padded, and he retired to South Carolina. He wasn’t done gouging the taxpayers in 118, however. The hired him after retirement as a “project engineer” contract employee at $80/hr. They didn’t require him to sign in or out on a time sheet during his work day. He just put hours on a calendar and they paid him without question. I foiaed the school sign in sheets from the schools and admin center from the days he said he was working since the district has a strict safety and security policy that ALL contractors must sign in and out from each school, giving arrival and leaving times. He didn’t sign the in or out times even ONCE when he claimed hours for pay.

The board and Super were just fine with that.

I really couldn’t figure out why they even needed him for this task, having great experience myself in construction management.

I tell you these stories so that you know the kind of abuse you can check for when looking to end the cheating that all too often goes on in public Illinois schools, and to give you starting point at where to look for corruption.

Good hunting!

Business as usual