Author: Josh Verbarg
August 16th BoE Special Meeting Audio
Meeting Agenda 00:00 Meeting opening/Roll Call00:20 Board Correspondence01:04 Public Comments01:24 Bethany Wulmert03:40 Trisha Braid09:55 Kaley Edwards?11:05 Unknown14:32 Unknown16:30 Unknown17:35 Josh Verbarg24:53 Unknown30:50 Unknown32:40 Sarah Bell38:38 Unknown40:38 Danielle Braden53:04 Donna Ellis?58:05 Unknown58:06 Kathleen Wallace?1:03:06 Changes to Tentative Budget for Fiscal Year 20221:04:30 Return to learn Update1:19:09 Approval of Consent Items1:20:15 Adjourn to closed session
Continue Reading...February 23rd BoE Finance Committee Audio
Meeting AgendaBe aware, this is a less formal meeting with a lot more discussion and banter than the main board meetings. 00:00 Meeting opening/Roll Call00:19 Public Comments00:25 Updated Commercial Insurance Summary02:40 Tentative Amended Budget for Fiscal Year 202107:13 Unpaid Fees Comparison10:27 FY22 Budget Reduction Considerations
Continue Reading...January 20, 2021 BoE Audio
00:00 Board Meeting starts.00:25 Public Comments Introduced00:50 Explanation of public speaking process, rules03:00 James Hodel06:00 Barb Devore09:40 Jon Hodel11:20 Sue Ellen Whitlock13:45 Karie Donaldson21:30 Confirm no further speakers22:54 Old Business – PressPlus Policy Updates24:10 New Business – MOU for Quarantine Days27:17 Proposed School Calendar for 21-2228:53 Approval of Consent Items30:04 Move to closed executive session30:56
Continue Reading...Are Heyworth School District taxes too high?
In the past year, I’ve seen at least one Facebook post in the Heyworth groups questioning why property taxes are so high and still going up. Since the School District makes up over 66% of my tax bill, I want to focus on that taxing body. We’ve seen in the Pantagraph how Unit 5 School
Continue Reading...Illinois Attorney Generals Office concludes that the Board violated OMA.
You may remember my post about when I asked the board to adjourn the 3/20 meeting. Following is the legal action I’ve taken since that time, and the result. On March 21st, I filed an Open Meetings Act Request for Review with the Illinois Attorney General Office, Public Access Bureau. Following is the entirety of
Continue Reading...$7.6 Million Budget Error
The Heyworth School District recently amended our budget. Between the original budget and the amended budget, a total of $7.4 million has been been incorrectly allocated, or completely left off the new budget. If you want to follow along, links to Old Budget and the New Budget on the District Web site. I’ll start off
Continue Reading...Questionable Money Movement in May 2019
The new Board Meeting Management software is providing more information about the details of how the Heyworth School District is run. As the public, we are able to see some of the details that our board members do for items on the meeting agenda. This is nice, as I no longer need to make FOIA
Continue Reading...Wooo! A meeting in full compliance with OMA!
I would like to congratulate the Heyworth School Board of Education on their first meeting in full compliance with the Illinois Open Meetings Act on 5/15/2019 since at least December 2018! Going back to the 2/28 letter I sent… The public notice now includes the location of the meeting. The agenda and notice were posted
Continue Reading...Why is voting for Heyworth School Board Members so complicated?
During a discussion of the recent election for school board, frustration was expressed that voting for school board members was complicated. I’d like to see if I can help clarify how it works, what options we have and changes we could make as a community. Let’s start with a map showing the area Heyworth School
Continue Reading...What is a Request for Review?
What’s a Request for Review? If anyone feels that the Open Meetings Act, or Freedom of Information Act has been violated, they can file a Request for Review with the PAC to have an Attorney review the facts and decide if the situation in question is a violation, and if any action should be taken
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