Lincoln Way D210 – Rent-Dodging Daycare Plans to Push Pain to Customers

Will Co., IL. (ECWd) –

The debt collector has finally caught up with Aunt Nancy’s, a for-profit daycare business that has been operating on public property for years and doing so rent-free.  All of this went under the radar in four Lincoln-Way District 210 high schools, and now after being exposed and taken to task, the owner, Nancy Power, has the nerve to be indignant. Click here for the initial exposure.

The Board of Education is trying to save face by finally addressing the issue that was brought to light but only after an investigation by a concerned community exposed the problem, which should have been exposed by the elected officials in the first place. Ironically, Power spun the positive board action, establishing rent payments, into a threat to her customers – Lincoln-Way teachers & staff – that they are going to bear the burden of the new operating expense via an increase in fees, to the tune of possibly $700-$800 per family, per year! Power, claiming to be the victim, maintains the media and the board have been unfair to her and are leaving her no choice than to bring this upon the teachers. It’s everyone else’s fault—not the fact that her no bid rent free money-making bonanza was plain wrong.

In a recent letter to teacher and staff customers, Power alleges District 210 gave her the sweetheart deal of no rent in all Lincoln-Way high schools if she would offer discounted services to district teachers. Now “vocal critics,” she states, are “forcing changes” upon her and her customers. How dare the community question her deal of a lifetime, right? Those same vocal critics are digging deeply into district activities because the same Board of Education shuttered a high-tech, 8-year-old high school to cover up decades of horrendous financial mismanagement. Aunt Nancy’s was only one startling discovery.

The teachers’ union has entered the Aunt Nancy’s fray with its own letter to members, alerting them to a possibly dramatic rise in on-site daycare prices. That was after Superintendent R. Scott Tingley separately gave a heads up to the head of the teachers union, Tim Conway. Why is Tingley acting as a go-between for the teachers and Nancy Power? Tingley appears to insert himself into all matters concerning Aunt Nancy’s when it is the Board of Education that needs to set the tone for vendors in the district. What is the interest that Tingley has in this daycare organization? Previous contract failures on this matter were exposed in this article.

Tim Conway, president of the Lincoln-Way Education Association (LWEA), which represents the district’s 400 teachers, shared the following and is the core of the message to the customers of Aunt Nancy’s: “As it stands now the Board wants Aunt Nancy’s to provide a revenue stream to the District for the use of it’s facilities. The LWEA was informed by the Superintendent that Aunt Nancy’s intends to pass that cost along to the teachers and that they could be charged an extra $700 to $800 a year. The LWEA has implored the District to not allow Aunt Nancy’s to burden our young families with additional financial costs.”

Citizens in District 210 have also found that Aunt Nancy’s has had pages of violations from Department of Children and Family Services inspections.  We have been told that the taxpayers stepped up to fix some of these violatoins.  We first exposed those failings in this article.

That is on top of the district paying for top-notch playground equipment for each of the four, now three, daycare centers and we shared the reporting from local reporter Megan Fox in this article.

A second letter from Power to the teachers follows up on the Board’s request for Aunt Nancy’s to pay $90,000 in rent for use of three District 210 high schools. The word from sources is that Power is planning to reject the offer. That will be a highlight of the Aug. 18 Board of Education meeting. Stay tuned for more fireworks in this struggling district. Don’t forget that District 210 is still under investigation by a Federal Grand Jury, and the Securities and Exchange Commission for its financial practices.

The one question we challenge Aunt Nancy’s to answer is; What makes you think it is legal and proper for you to operate your private business on public property and not have to compete for that business with other day care providers?

The question we have for the Board of Education is simple.  Under what authority can you allow a private business to operate rent free on public property and do so without any bidding?  Keep in mind we already know the answer but we challenge them to put a response in writing!

I have seen a lot of malfeasance in this state and have to admit, this rent free private business on the backs of the taxpayers, and done all without following the legal process, is probably one of the top five cases of wrongdoing we have ever seen, and as I said, we have seen a lot.

The top malfeasance in this state is a hard one to determine.  I am leaning towards that honor going to the D210 Board of Education.  These idiots allowed taxpayer money, taken from the citizens of this district for the purpose of teaching children, to be spent teaching DOGS instead of kids.

Who on earth thinks its ok to use taxpayer money designed to teach kids to be used to teach DOGS?  The same idiots that thought it was OK to allow a private business to operate rent free and bid free on public property!

Citizens of Lincoln Way D210, know that we are keeping you all in our prayers!

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