D146 Staffers Pound the Pavement for Walk to School Day (Photos)

District 146 faculty and administrators, including Supt. Jeff Stawick, took the scenic route to work, hoofing it to schools as part of this international event. Check out Patch's photos from the day.

Teachers and administrators from schools in Community Consolidated School District 146 strapped on their most comfortable pair of tennis shoes and hit the sidewalks early Wednesday morning to participate in International Walk to School Day. A group of D146 staffers, including Supt. Jeff Stawick, were out at the district's administration center on 171st Street in Tinley Park as early as 6:45 a.m. and hiked about 1.5 miles to Central Middle School. Once there, some of those same staffers were joined by more faculty members, as well as Tinley Park Mayor Ed Zabrocki, and they headed back to the administration center. READ: School-Walking Event Another Step in District's Wellness Program Staffers also did walks to Fulton Elementary School and …

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Follow Live 2011 Election Results

We'll be updating throughout the night.

Updated 8:10 a.m. Wednesday All election night, Patch will be uploading real-time results for the local races that affect your local community. These numbers will be updated throughout the night, so check back frequently for your election coverage. All information is from local county clerk's offices or election commissions. Results are unofficial pending certification from the relevant election authorities.     59 out of 59 precincts reporting, three open seats 61 of 61 precincts reporting, two open seats 50 out of 50 precincts reporting, three open seats 136 out of 136 precincts reporting, three open seats 59 out of 59 precincts reporting, three open seats 32 out of 32 precincts reporting, three opens seats 6 out of 6 precincts …

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Rear View

In This Rear View: Crack Confusion and Hundreds Discuss Consolidation

We look back at a week where several views on school consolidation were heard, the first area election candidate forum was held and a man concocts an interesting tale about crack and prostitutes.

Community Consolidated School District 146 has, by virtue of shocked reaction, taken the lead in local opposition to proposed state plans to consolidate school districts into larger, county-level operations. Patch editors form Orland Park, Tinley Park and Oak Forest were on hand for live coverage of the town hall they held to discuss the situation, where around 500 people attended. Lots of photos, videos and coverage as it happened. The following we day we also posted a recap of the meet. One live blog deserves another. Patch was at the ready with our computers and cameras to produce another live blog of the Orland School District 135 Candidate’s Forum. Incumbents Gregory Okon and John Carmody made their cases, as did newcomers Tina Zekich…

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UPDATED: Community Sounds Off On School District Consolidation: Town Hall Live Blog

We'll be live blogging all night from the District 146 Town Hall on Springfield efforts to consolidate all suburban Cook County school districts into one.

9:03 p.m. Meeting has wrapped, attendees are milling about and District 146 Board President Dean Casper just finished telling people what the next steps should be. "Call your legislators, e-mail them, fax them, Facebook them," he said, telling attendees specifically to target the Education Committee members and to do it before they meet on Tuesday, March 15 to discuss Senate Bill 2134. He also said to contact Gov. Pat Quinn's office. "The governor is the main force behind these bills. The governor wants the money," Casper said. He also said to join the Facebook group Illinoisans: Say NO to House Bill 1886. 8:58 p.m. Comments are wrapping up for the night. "I came here tonight to listen to this whole story about what they want to do with …

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Rear View

In This Rear View: Consolidation Fury and That Little Election Coming Up

We look back at a week where House Bill 1886 sparked upset, enrollment dropped and a surprising election twist.

The four heavily contested races coming up for the April 5th Consolidated Election took a momentary back seat this past week, as a not-so-modest proposal sparked ire among parents, school board members and administrators. Yet, by the end of the week the elections were back at the forefront. We start off this week’s Rear View with a mutant hybrid category, in light of the Illinois General Assembly and Gov. Pat Quinn choosing to start rebuilding the state’s school management – whether anyone wants it or not. And remember, Illinois house bills appear just as bizarre as they are in reality. Schools/Government  Election 2011 Crime Features Take comfort in the knowledge that at some point soon, the snow will stop. It has to.      

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Area Parents and School Board Officials Oppose School District Consolidation Bill

Using social media to get the initial word out, residents in District 146 and officials in other districts are gathering to express strong opposition to House Bill 1886.

A bill entered into the Illinois House of Representatives that would end school districts as they are now known and replace them with one or two districts per county has sparked ire from parents and school officials. House Bill 1886, filed Feb. 16 by 28th District Rep. Robert Rita (D-Blue Island), calls for “all school districts in this State in existence on June 30, 2012 (other than the Chicago school district) are dissolved, and their school boards are abolished.” The bill was introduced around the time Gov. Pat Quinn’s office suggested that the state could save $100 million by eliminating 500 of the state’s 868 school districts to cut administrative costs, according to Illinois Statehouse News reporter Andrew Thomason. However, local …

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Allen De Normandie

2:37 pm on Saturday, March 19, 2011

DEan, I totally agree! Allen   more ›

Bus Company That Hit School and Waited to Tell About Bullets Gets Another Chance

An offer to extend the time they could be fired without the school board paying stymied a vote to fire District 146's bus vendor less than a year into their contract.

By a 5-2 vote, the District 146 school board on Thursday voted not to cancel the contract on the bus company that put a bus through the wall of Orland Park Junior High, didn't tell the district for a day that students had found bullets on a bus and, more recently, left students and parents waiting in freezing temperatures because it didn't tell the district a bus wouldn't start. "Overall, though, has not the service been pretty good?" Illinois Central School Bus Director of Operations Ron Howard asked the school board during the meeting where they discussed whether to cancel the contract. Illinois Central School Bus is in the first year of its three-year contract. "I've been here eight years and I don't think in the last seven years we've …

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Paul Dailing

12:40 pm on Saturday, February 26, 2011

You make an interesting point. I wrote the headline intending it as "another chance ... to do better" or "another chance ... to make things right." It hadn't occurred to me to read "another chance" any other way. Reading it again after your last comment, I can see that there is another equally valid interpretation of the headline, one I didn't intend. District 146 has made student safety a …   more ›

D135: Illinois Central Bus Co. Footing $82,000 Repair Bill for Crash at OJH

Orland School District 135 staff say they used in-house maintenance to ease costs for Illinois Central and speed up repair on Orland Junior High.

The last couple months probably weren’t the greatest on record for the Illinois Central School Bus Company, after one bus crashed into a local junior high school and waiting almost 24 hours to report a bullet found on another vehicle. On the bright side, the cost of repairing the battered science classroom wall at Orland Junior High School is significantly less than anticipated, according to Orland School District 135 staff. Assistant superintendant John Reiniche said the school district used in-house maintenance workers to clean up the immediate mess from the Nov. 4 crash, shore up the wall and restore proper plumbing and electricity. This wound up costing the district about $11,000 but saved Illinois Central’s insurance provider about $…

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Bullets Found On School Bus, The Video's Missing and Bus Company Doesn't Tell District

District 146 school board members had harsh words for the bus company that waited nearly a day before telling officials about a bullet found by grade-school students.

When District 146 officials went to review security video from a Fulton Elementary School school bus where students had found a .44-caliber bullet, there was nothing but a blue screen. Although the second grader and fifth grader who found the bullet Tuesday afternoon as the bus was pulling out of Tinley Park's Fulton School turned it over to the bus driver, the bus company didn't notify the district for nearly 24 hours. By then, the district had already heard about it from the children's parents. Those facts – and a similar incident where a bus crashed through a middle school science classroom and no video was available – could cost Illinois Central School Bus its three-year contract with the district. All within the first six months. "To …

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The New District 146 Super By the Numbers

A bullet-point look at why Steger 194 Superintendent Jeff Stawick was chosen as the new District 146 super, according to board President Dean Casper.

On Monday evening, District 146 School Board President Dean Casper sat down with Patch to discuss that morning's announcement that Jeff Stawick had been chosen as the new superintendent. Here's a breakdown of Casper's take on why and how Stawick, currently the Steger School District 194 superintendent, was chosen to replace Dr. Marion Hoyda, who is retiring in June. Unless otherwise noted, all information is from Casper. For a breakdown of how 146 and other Tinley Park school districts met federal progress standards in the last school year, click here.

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