Getting to know one another

In a city slashing firemen, policemen, librarians, and more, Rockford, Illinois has a school district superintendent spending the city budget the smart way: $18,000 on a weekend conference for 14 school board members and staffers in a city less than 2 hours away from the district.

Must have been one hell of a conference, right? Probably learned about how to deliver excellent education in times of tightening budgets. Some sort of revolutionary way to run a school district that saves money while producing the best and the brightest, I'd imagine.

In the words of the School Board President, David 'Its all about the kids' Kelley:
"I attended a day-long seminar on what's referred to as the Meyer-Briggs type indicator," he says. "And the purpose of that was to help board members better understand each other."

Wait a minute. It took $18,000 for a conference this guy sums up as a chapter in both my Organizational Behavior and Intro to Psych college class books? Shit. I would have donated my old books if I had known they needed them.

Of the $18,000, $8,000 went to rooms. Seem reasonable for Chicago until you do a Hotwire search to discover that there is a wonderful Days Inn in Des Plaines that routinely goes for $32 per night. Now, I don't ask that the Board stays in the same accommodations I do when I visit Chicago on business a few times a year, but I think that $300 per night per person seems a bit steep for supposed public servants.

Of the $18,000, $2,000 went to ONE meal. I'm not sure when the federal per diem rates jumped above the $35 per day I'm used to, but I'm pretty sure it has not yet reached $142 PER MEAL per person.
(By one account(pdf - page 2), LaVonne 'One More - For The Kids' Sheffield (Superintendent) had to be practically carried away from the dinner table having consumed too much alcohol to depart without assistance.
Perhaps getting 14 people shitty drunk in a swank downtown Chicago hotel restaurant is what ran up the bill so high...)

Of the $18,000, $1,000 has been requested to be paid back for unapproved expenses such as spouses' dinners, in-room movies, and other charges in an e-mail sent out as soon as WREX sued under the Freedom of Information Act. No FOIA, and we would have enjoyed another grand flushed down the tubes for pay-per-view pleasures.

One last fun tidbit is the fact that when asked by the reporter that did all the leg work on this, none of the board members, including David and LaVonne were able to tell him exactly how much this weekend cost the taxpayers. They didn't really know and apparently didn't really care.

As urged by the reporter at the end of his story, I also feel it would be reasonable to call LaVonne at (815) 966-3101 and let her know what you think about this wonderful use of taxpayer dollars.

School board members getting to better understand each other at $1,285 a head...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

read more: You Paid For It: D205's Chicago getaway(WREX)
Friend, recommend, and tweet this reporter for doing his job: Bob Schaper

Do read Dr. Patrick Hardy's account of the $2,000 dinner and the weekend overall. He was incensed that most of the 14 skipped the conference to go shopping and he refused to take part in the lavish dinners. Sounds like the day long class Mr. Kelley attended was probably the only one he attended all weekend. Suddenly his vague summary of the weekend seems about right...
The story from WREX: UPDATE: District 205 releases letter from Dr. Patrick Hardy
Dr. Hardy's letter published by WREX: Patrick Hardy's Letter to Dr. Sheffield