HINSDALE HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS ASSOCIATION 55

TH
& GRANT STREETS HINSDALE IL 60521
TEACHERS ASSOCIATION COMMUNITY AWARENESS DAY
HINSDALE, IL June 3, 2014 On Monday, June 2, the Hinsdale High School
Teachers Association held a Community Awareness Day rally prior to the Board of Ed-
ucation meeting to raise awareness about actions of the new board majority. The Associa-
tion commented that board actions threaten the districts tradition of excellence.

Teachers highlighted a lengthy list of new board majority actions (attached) including:
unorthodox staffing decisions, late hiring practices, and questionable fiscal policy. Be-
cause of the board majoritys actions in their first year, teachers expressed concerns that
the board has put the district's tradition of excellence at risk, threatening student opportu-
nities and academic excellence for which the district is known.

"We feel these actions demonstrate that the new board majority is more interested promot-
ing their political ideology than building upon our tradition of excellence," said Kathy
Saylor, former president of the teachers association.

Several hundred teachers from Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South took part in the rally
Monday night. They gathered in several different places near Hinsdale South along
Clarendon Hills Road and 75
th
Street.

Among the teachers in attendance was Alisha McCloud, Latin teacher at Hinsdale Central
and vice-president of HHSTA at Central. Her husband, Alan, is a Science teacher at
Central. They both came out on Monday night to participate in the rally because they are
concerned about the actions of the board majority.

We love teaching here because its such a great school, with great students and great
teachers, but we feel like this year has been a move backward for the district, said Alan
McCloud.

The teachers have been concerned for much of the school year, but have waited until now
to speak out publicly to keep from creating distractions to the educational environment.

As an association, we put the education of our kids first, said John Bowman, president
of the HHSTA, but we want the community to know what has been going on and that the
teachers are concerned.

For more information, follow the HHSTA on Facebook.

# # #
For high resolution images, logos, or interview requests, please contact Mike Palmquist at
mike.palmquist@hhsta.org.

ABOUT HHSTA: The Hinsdale High School Teachers Association (HHSTA) was founded in
1957 through the leadership of its first president Harvey Dickinson. The Association represents
more than 350 professional educators within Hinsdale School District #86 at both Hinsdale Central
and Hinsdale South High Schools in Hinsdale, IL. HHSTA is a member of the Illinois Education
Association (IEA - Region 57) and the National Education Association (NEA).


HHSTA CENTRAL:

JOHN BOWMAN
PRESIDENT

ALISHA MCCLOUD
Vice President

BRIAN MITCHELL
Secretary

LISA HIKES
Treasurer


HHSTA SOUTH:


DAVE LAPETINO
PRESIDENT

NICOLE GALLEN
Vice President

LAURA CAREY
SECRETARY

RANDY BROGAN
TREASURER


IEA/NEA:

NAOMI SHEPHERD
UniServ Director
Region 57

HINSDALE HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS ASSOCIATION 55
TH
& GRANT STREETS HINSDALE IL 60521
TEACHER CONCERNS FOR DISTRICT 86


In just one year, the members of the new board majority have put our tradition of excel-
lence at risk:

Delaying hiring. Normally done January-March, hiring late in May placed us behind
other districts and at a competitive disadvantage.
Renegotiated contracts. Redoing work that had already been offered by the previous
board to newly hired teachers was not the way to welcome new teachers to the district
or demonstrate respect for the expertise for which they were hired.
Passing a zero-tax levy in a year no other local school district did so despite vocal
community opposition and the recommendation of district administrators. This
threatens the ability of the district to place student opportunities before all other fac-
tors and has long-term negative financial impacts.
The loss of every top administrator in the district since the new board majority as-
sumed office.
Attempted teacher reduction during staffing. This agenda presented the potential
for large class sizes, reduced student opportunities and saw community opposition.
Overpromising on a residency verification program. Initially anticipated to lower
enrollment by hundreds, the program is still unfinished and has resulted in less than
15 questionable cases.
Hiring a principal with a 100% negative rating by the faculty of her current
school. She is one of only two principals in DuPage County to have such a negative
rating.
Reducing the experience credit for new teachers. Reducing the number of years of
experience for which newly hired teachers can receive credit. This makes the district
less competitive, our new teachers less experienced, and our pool of quality candi-
dates shallow.
Replacing Certified School Nurses with Registered Nurses who are not required to
have 300+ hours of training in a school setting as CSNs are.
Eliminating the position of permanent substitutes who know our building, curricu-
lum, and students.
Mandating both high schools offer the same curriculum without considering the
schools facilities, faculty, or input from expert administration.
Settling a lawsuit brought by a former board member after an appeals court dis-
missed the suit.
Abandoning the Master Facilities Planning process. The Master Planning process
was comprehensive with input from hundreds of community members, groups, par-
ents and students. This approach has been abandoned in favor of a costly re-bid pro-
cess
Attempting a policy change to provide board members with unprecedented and po-
tentially inappropriate access to student records. This action was undertaken despite
similar access being denied repeatedly to a previous board member by the courts.









HHSTA CENTRAL:

JOHN BOWMAN
PRESIDENT

ALISHA MCCLOUD
Vice President

BRIAN MITCHELL
Secretary

LISA HIKES
Treasurer


HHSTA SOUTH:


DAVE LAPETINO
PRESIDENT

NICOLE GALLEN
Vice President

LAURA CAREY
SECRETARY

RANDY BROGAN
TREASURER


IEA/NEA:

NAOMI SHEPHERD
UniServ Director
Region 57