ED, Monday's board meeting [D209]

Proviso's new superintendent Stan Fields chats with Robert Libka, last year's CEO, before the open session of Monday's board meeting. Fields' family is sitting near him with their backs to the camera. Vanessa Schmidt is in the background.

In my opinion (IMO) there was one development at this board meeting that will become significant for the whole township. The PMSA parents are beginning to organize. Two Forest Park father's spoke, Dwight Decker and Harry Swiatkowski. But the significance was that the PMSA community came to support them.

This isn't the same as having a couple cranks ranting about their pet peeves. This community is organized and sophisticated. One of the fathers there was Carl Williams of Bellwood. I spoke to him after a board meeting last year and this guy is perceptive and not easily bamboozled. He introduced himself to me by saying roughly, "I'm Carl Williams. I've heard bad things about you, but I want to hear from you."

The PMSA parents getting to know each other and work with each other across the township could lead to political reforms in all our taxing bodies.

I think Chris Welch might have began to see the future during Swiatkowski's public comments. That was when Welch removed his bright red handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his forehead. "Shit, these PMSA parents aren't gonna be easy to mollify or bamboozle," he might have been thinking.

BTW, I agree with cutting evening school and using UIC for graduation. Although, the Flowers-Kelly-Marine minority has reason to be disatisfied with the process. The Forest Park Review called for the board to work together. But the minority isn't going to trust the staff or the majority if they feel ambushed on the big decisions.

The tenative budget is a big deal. I'll write more about it later.