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Proviso Probe

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

ED, Fields shows he can mix-it-up with board members [D209]

Last night the District 209 board of education held its first meeting under the guidance of the new superintendent Stan Fields.

Nikita Johnson briefed her list of ways she proposes to save money. Johnson said that without new revenue or massive cuts the district will be out of money at the end of the 07-08 academic year.

In the audience comments portion of the meeting a special education parent complained that her child’s classroom did not have the teacher’s aide required by state law.

Fields provided an agenda for the meeting with no specifics. The agenda was so vague it had no value for understanding what the district is doing. An omnibus consent agenda covered everything “as discussed in closed session.” I have filed an Open Meetings Act complaint with the State’s Attorney.

The fireworks occurred during the time set aside for the superintendent’s report, although board members Theresa Kelly and Charles Flowers complained that Fields was using the time to introduce issues without notifying them in advance.

The superintendent’s report started innocently with the board agreeing to allow Fields to work with one of his contacts to develop an RFP (request for proposal) to hire a consultant to assist D209 in creating a foundation to raise money for the district. Fields asked the board if the foundation should raise money for some specific area or have a general mandate. The consensus was that the mandate should be general.

Next Fields started asking about the fund associated with the Proviso East “Wall of Fame”. It was an opportunity for board president Chris Welch to make allegations against Kelly. Welch alleged she was refusing to account for the funds. He alleged the money was improperly spent. He alleged the project inappropriately intruded on students’ schedules. And Welch got Fields to say that what she was doing was illegal. According to Welch and Fields the law requires the fund be administered by the board of education because the organization has “Proviso East” in its name. Kelly accused Welch of lying. Welch attacked Kelly by loudly and repeatedly saying, “Mrs. Kelly, show us the money!”

Kelly got flustered and accused Fields of making a “public skeptical” when she meant “public spectacle” Fields mocked her by saying, “I’m not sure what a ‘public skeptical’ is.”

Next Fields went after Kelly and Flowers over mobile phones. Flowers responded by saying, “Who are you trying to front?”

Welch did much of the attacking on cell phones repeatedly telling the audience that Flowers had a Blackberry. Welch indicated he’d be happy to give up his D209 mobile phone to save money. Welch neglected to tell the audience he was the board member who originally pushed for the district to provide cell phones. Although the original way Welch implemented the policy was to only provide phones to the board majority.

Then Fields attacked Kelly over travel expenses. Kelly explained she goes to two board trainings per year.

The next issue Fields raised was that District 209 had 85 computers checked out to staff at their homes. Welch raised his voice when explaining one of the computers was at the home of “board member Charles Flowers”. Flowers denied it. After the meeting Flowers determined that the computer in question goes back to 1999 when he was on staff. According to Flowers the computer was returned and District 209 has a problem with its record keeping.

In my opinion Fields conduct was appallingly unprofessional. This is the guy who told both Josh Adams (Forest Park Review) and me (Forest Park Review) about his desire to get the board to work together by focusing on the big picture of the good of the students. Then in his first board meeting he acts as a political hatchet for Welch while evading the spirit and probably the letter of the Open Meetings Act.

Fields would have behaved differently if he were trying to work together and bring unity to the district.

For each of his attacks on Flowers and Kelly, Fields kept saying he was raising the issue to get clarification from the board. He didn’t get anything clarified because he wasn’t prepared to get anything clarified.

On the Proviso East Wall of Fame Fields should have called Kelly with his questions. As Kelly pointed out her name and Pam Marine’s are on the wall. (Pam Marine is the wife of board member Gary Marine and a Proviso East alumni.)

Fields claimed he wanted clarification on district cell phone policy. Why didn’t he provide a suggested policy to board members in advance? No motion was approved on cell phones. Chris Welch agreed not to use his. But Fields didn’t have a specific policy proposal that was advanced in the form of a motion.

On the board member travel issue Fields reminded the board that they must approve board member travel. No new policy was sought. What did Fields accomplish by attacking Kelly at the meeting that he wouldn’t have accomplished equally by merely sending an email to board members? He antagonized her and was clearly trying to do political damage. But he could have accomplished the same fiscal goals without the public spectacle.

And setting up Welch to attack Flowers over a computer that was missing since 1999? If District 209 signed out a computer from the ‘90s to an employee that has been gone seven years, what are the odds the computer is going to be recovered?

49 Comments:

  • I wish I had attended the meeting, but I had a scheduling conflict. I had argued in previous posts that Mr. Fields deserved a chance to demonstrate the direction that he wanted to go into and the manner by which he would do so. Several other posters, for example, "have an idea", argued that Mr. Fields had already shown disdain for the minority board members and that Mr. Fields' allegiances were clearly in the corner of Mr. Welch and the majority board members.

    I took Mr. Fields at his published word that indicated that he wanted to quell the petty in-fighting among board members and unite them to achieve positive goals. Clearly, at least in regard to last night's meeting as reported by Carl, I was dead wrong.

    If what Carl reported is accurate in regard to Mr. Fields' statements last night, it seems that Mr. Fields is duplicitous; rather than seek to unite board members, he clearly singled out certain board members for accusations. He managed to pit board members against one another. Such accusations might have better been handled on a personal basis (assuming that no attempt to do so had been made already before the meeting but to no avail) or at least in such a way as to not foment controversy and dissension.

    Mr. Fields, after only a very short time on the job, is starting to give off a distinct odor borne of partisanship and efforts at widening extant divisions among board members. The odor is magnified by his apparent duplicitity in making public statements which are odds with his actions.

    Is Mr. Fields full of shit? It's beginning to appear that way to me.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 1:11 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • I think Fields was completely acting within the scope of his job. He needs to trim a bloated budget, and everyone has to participate. Even the board members. It's not his fault he was dealing with unprofessional board members like Theresa Kelly.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:27 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • It's unfortunate, but Nyberg's account of last night's board meeting is honest and accurate.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:05 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • One thing that stands out is that what occured in that meeting was posted under Carls' point of view and we all know that Carl dislikes Welch.

    Every entry posted in this blog is Carls' opinion and perspective of the situation, therefore, in this observation of his, I choose not to believe that Mr. Fields has taken sides. Last meeting was aimed at Mr. Flowers and Mrs. Kelly.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:09 PM, September 26, 2006  

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    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:34 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • I have a kid at PMSA, and I was at the meeting last night. I wanted to hear a follow up on computers for the kids at the Academy and what I heard was all these perks for board members. Flowers and Kelly have to admit they have been irresponsible. Flowers has a district computer and a blackberry phone at taxpayer expense. Why? The district is broke, and he can't provide any justification for it. Kelly has squandered monies collected from the Proviso East Wall of Fame, and she won't provide a proper and full accounting of the money. Kelly also continues to travel across the globe at taxpayer expense. According to Fields, she has received over $15,000 in cash advances for these trips and that doesn't include airfare, hotel, meals, etc. The actual cost is well over $30,000. And to make matters worse, Johnson says Kelly refuses to reconcile the records.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:35 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • Pamela says: I was at the board meeting last night. What Carl has written is exactly what happened. It appeared that Fields and Welch pow wow'd before the meeting so that Fields would only bring up things to attack Kelly and Flowers. It was really out of line! I'm SOOOOO glad that Carl filed a freedom of information request. I have never been to a board meeting where everything decided in closed session was just rubber stamped. Who did they hire? Who did they fire? It seems to me the public has a right to know.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:59 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • Both Flowers and Kelly stand in the crosshairs. The purge is on, and there'd be no offense unless there was ammunition to take it all the way to the close. Those two will be smoked as question is made of their value in the process that lies ahead. A more unified board is what's called for and those two don't fit in the plan.

    If they're clean there will be no problem, but I don't think such is the case. It's all gonna come out unless they retreat from their thorn-in-the-heel posture.

    This has the makings of a true brawl getting underway. My bet is that they run.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:47 PM, September 26, 2006  

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    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:04 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • It is not Welch who is doing the orchestrating.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:06 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • I am Sure that Manzo wanted to cover up that Kids Death so quickly in 1999, that the computer that Charles the laggard had was the least of his problems

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:57 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • It’s a new day. And here’s some quotes that frame the current ideology of most school superintendents situated in urban settings.

    “Existing power relationships, and the fiscal allocations that follow, are absurd from the standpoint of productivity...”

    “Implicit in the collaborative view of reform is the assumption that each major stakeholder retains a pocket veto over any agreement. Thus, if any stakeholder is unwilling to proceed, the status quo is maintained. This is a perversion of the concepts of consultation, collaboration, and cooperation, and it tends to drive agreements to a lowest-common-denominator consensus level. The result has been paralysis and virtual immunity to systemic change...”

    “The causes of our paralysis have come to be routine...”

    “What we have has been built into the foundation of our governance arrangements, political accommodations, fiscal allocations, and cultural ties. To change it will require a paradigm shift centered on productivity that evaluates everything we do and every change we consider from evidence of its impact on improving the quality of instruction, and hence student achievement.”

    “The governing paradigm in public education today holds that in urban school systems, changes made around the edges and on the margins will, over time, produce the dramatically different results we all want for our children. Were we to adopt an alternate paradigm, one that centered on maximizing productivity, our view of what ails public education and the prescriptions for improving it would shift dramatically.”

    Alan D. Bersin, former superintendent of public education of the San Diego City Schools

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:59 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:02 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:17 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • Wow Jimmy G, You sure get sensitive about when Bellwood PD had to walk you out of the Bldg when you got fired eh?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:27 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • I'm Just Saying, you've read Proviso Probe long enought to know that I don't approve of gratuitously outing peoples' sex lives.

    Also, I've got a pretty good idea who you are. And those in glass houses.... I'm not going to break my own rules, but how would you feel if a certain person in your immediate family had her/his sex life and medical conditions exposed to the public?

    Let's make an effort to practice the Golden Rule.

    By Blogger Carl Nyberg, at 10:17 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • Still Pretty One Sided, Eh Crazy Carl...

    Your Hatred is Blinding

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:27 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • You Will Delete everything, but allegations of Domestic Violence

    Your'e A Schmuck

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:28 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • Stay away from gratuitous allegations about other people's sex lives.

    No gerbils.

    By Blogger Carl Nyberg, at 10:30 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • By itself, the domestic violence allegation would get deleted. But since it includes the allegation of political strings being pulled to get the perp a break, it does reflect on the perks of being politically connected.

    Welch would garner more sympathy from me if he hadn't just orchestrated an evening of cheap shots with his set-up man Stan Fields.

    How's the saying go? "Don't dish it out if you can't take it"?

    By Blogger Carl Nyberg, at 10:40 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • Concerned, what am I blinded about?

    Is there some position you'd like to convey to Proviso Probe readers? Or are you just upset that you can't use Proviso Probe to circulate rumors about people's sex lives?

    By Blogger Carl Nyberg, at 10:49 PM, September 26, 2006  

  • I am disappointed with the fact that some of Mr. Fields’ actions have not been congruent with his statements, i.e., singling out board members at the board meeting for questioning and/or accusations after having previously stated publicly that he wanted to bring the board members together.

    It appears to me that Mr. Fields is a relative novice at guiding a school district, especially, a school district such as 209 whose constituents are so divided and so vociferous in the expression of their opinions. I noticed that Mr. Fields mishandled the first PMSA meeting that he attended in which he appeared briefly, gave a short and vague discourse, and then promptly left without taking any questions from the audience or seeking to establish even a semblance of rapport with the attendees. Rather, he left the remainder of the meeting to the trio of two seeming narcissistic buffoons and the deaf and dumb Mr. Libka. More questions were raised than were answered and the audience did not seem especially comforted or placated.

    Currently, Mr. Fields has seemed to align himself with the majority board or at least Mr. Welch. I understand that such alignments do occur, but what I am confused about is why Mr. Fields would choose to attack minority board members in a public meeting rather than trying to bring them into the fold in more private and less formal situations. Such a process may be long and laborious but serves the functions of avoiding the “fronting” (as Dr. Flowers referred to it) of board members, avoiding fanning the public flames of hostility and conflict, and achieving his self-stated goal of uniting the board. Perhaps, Dr. Fields lacks the requisite desire, knowledge, and/or skills to approach such divisiveness in a more reasoned and productive manner?

    Mr. Fields better realize very, very quickly that he is no longer a superintendent in a soft ball school district. Proviso Township constituents play down and dirty and nothing is off of the table. People will quickly see through any smoke screens, lies, deceit, and duplicity he chooses to utilize. People will attack him and that which is dear to him on every level ranging from primitive name-calling to quoting elements of Bersin’s educational philosophy. Mr. Fields ought to realize as well that those with whom he currently aligns himself might be politically excised come the elections in 2007. I personally think that Mr. Welch is through --- his political career in shambles (much like the remainders of the hundreds of campaign signs he polluted our environment with during his run for office) after his ill-advised run for governmental office and embarrassing stomping. Don’t count on Mr. Welch being around for too long, Mr. Fields.

    Put our children’s’ best interests first, approach people with respect and dignity, be fair and honest, say what you mean and mean what you say, and seek to achieve unity, or else you will be quickly taking another $20.000.00 pay hit as you leave District 209 for “greener pastures”.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:18 AM, September 27, 2006  

  • With Stan Fields, what you see is what you get. At Mundelein, he had the board members submit questions ahead of time, and he read them in open session of board meetings. He even put those questions and answers on the website at Mundelein. I hope he does that at Proviso. With Stan Fields, everything will be an open book. If a board member would be embarrassed about a fact coming out at an open board meeting, then they should think twice about doing whatever it is. I don't see what is wrong with the Superintendent of schools asking the board of education for direction. In a school with a 14 million dollar deficit spending problem, it sounds to me like he is trying to cut out unnecessary spending. Why would a board member need to travel as much as Board Member Kelly reportedly travels? Why would she be upset about the Superintendent bringing this fact out? Why would a board member need a blackberry cell phone, ear piece, and computer? Why would Flowers be upset with the Superintendent for bring this fact out into the open? It sounds to me like Kelly and Flowers are the problems in 209, but people are blinded by too many distractions to see it.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:00 PM, September 27, 2006  

  • I applaud Fields. He's going to balance the Proviso budget, and he's going to do it even if he has to upset board members, administrators, ministers, etc. His responsiblity is to the district. It appears to me from reading this site that legitimate questions were raised, but people are upset because some people have been exposed. I hope Fields keeps doing what he is doing.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:10 PM, September 27, 2006  

  • To "mundelein insider" and "fields supporter":

    "Mundelein insider", you wrote that with Mr. Fields what you see is what you get. Let me quote Carl, "Fields provided an agenda for the meeting with no specifics. The agenda was so vague it had no value for understanding what the district is doing. An omnibus consent agenda covered everything “as discussed in closed session.” I have filed an Open Meetings Act complaint with the State’s Attorney". What I saw from Mr. Fields is an intentionally vague agenda and a possible violation of the "Open Meetings Act". Mr. Fields has certainly lost litle time is showing us what may very well be his true colors. Let's add to this his duplicity in publicy stating that he wanted a unified board while selectively focusing accusations on two members of the board at the board's last meeting --- as if there wasn't any dirt to expose on the majority board members especially the board president, Mr. Welch.

    At the next board meeting, I do hope Mr. Fields will direct similarly accusatory questions at majority board members. If he doesn't yet have any questions to ask of them, various constituents of Proviso District 209 will be happy to provide them to him. For example, "How many of Mr. Welch's acquaintances, friends, and relatives work at District 209?", "Who hired Mr. Libka, promoted him to an acting superintendent position, and who is keeping him employed at District 209 despite a pitiful track record devoid of demonstrated achievement, and some would claim, sheer incomptence?". All the while, District 209 is pissing away over $100,000.00 in salary to Mr. Libka which is a bit more than the costs of Ms. Kelly's trips and Dr. Flowers computer and Blackberry combined. If Mr. Fields hasn't got the motivation and/or the balls to ask these and similar questions of the majority board members, I'll be more than happy to do so at the next board meeting.

    "munelein insider" and "fields supporter", I suspect you're shills for Mr. Fields, perhaps, Mr. Fields himself (at this point, I wouldn't put it past Mr. Fields to try to pull such a subterfuge). At any rate, if what we've seen so far from Mr. Fields is what we should expect to get from him in the future, he will be in for one hell of a rough ride and I project he'll bale out of here just like he did in Mundelein ... with his tail between his legs.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:26 PM, September 27, 2006  

  • Proviso Teacher states: I tried to log on to the Proviso Probe during my lunch hour and the school has blocked employees from logging on. What is up with that? Welch and Fields can't take the heat. They can't take the employees, excluding Welch's relatives, writing comments about how they hate Welch's guts. Most employees just go on it to laugh at Welch or Libka. The Proviso Probe makes for good teacher's loounge gossip.

    The teachers, janitors, secretaries, and aides can't stand the Mr. Welch. I don't know how it is at West with his godmother as principal, but at East no one likes the jerk. He has been the worst President ever, and yes worst than Manzo. Manzo was a jerk, but he still provided funds for education. Manzo did not slack on providing for students.

    I just can't believe that Mr. Welch being an African American is doing so much harm to his own community. How can this guy sleep at night. What are the mayors doing or saying about Mr. Welch. Most likely nothing. It will take the parents and citizens of this community to force him out. The power is in the numbers. Good Luck Proviso Township!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:18 PM, September 27, 2006  

  • I applaud Mr. Fields for his no nonense approach to ALL board members and his display on the very first meeting to show the board and the parents that the BUCKS STOPS HERE!
    No more free computers to take from 209 and use it at there homes. This will stop!!!
    Now Mr. Fields are your truely trying to get down to the bottom of "Foggy Waters?" or are you just fronting for the MAN? and a mean for the Michael Jackson of Proviso ,Chris Welch? If your serious about getting back your computers that were paid for by the 209 taxpayers and handed out to friends and political friends for the past 7 years, I'll help you. You should start with Greg Jackson, the man who started this horse tradding for votes and favors. He has over 3 computers in his home,plus 2 lap tops and a Blackberry phone still being paid by our district. Also take a drive by Reverand Sykes home and you'll find four computers and two laptops sitting in the home and offices. Also go by Reverand Porter's home and office, and basically confisicate any new computer or lap top because Welch handed him a bunch. Also stop by Gene Moore's house and his daughter's and see how many computers and laptops they have(6)! Don't stop there, Brian Cross has two computers and one laptop, Don Sloan has a lap top and two home computers courtsey of 209, as well as Mary Herrell! Also go look in Arnie Bryant's house and you'll find two computers and one laptop. Also go by Tommy Miller's home and get his, plus Welch's brother and also his buddy Anderson! Also go look at the computers of all the Mayors in Proviso and trustees, with the exception of Mayor Yarbrough, they all have coursey of 209 and Welch brand new computers and laptops, including state senator Lightford. How do I know, I know because Welch and Jackson, when they were a team, use to give the computers out for Christmas presents to there friends and political allies.
    So if your going to go on attack make sure you know what your doing, because as we say in 209, CRACKERS LIKE YOU MAKE GREAT SISSIES,NOW COME ON OVER TO US, WE PROMISE WE'LL BE GENTLE AND LEAVE YOUR BITCH WELCH ALONE!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:33 PM, September 27, 2006  

  • Mr. Fields can you please also ask Mrs. Kelly to please return her wigs, all 14, back to Proviso's home ec. classes.
    P.S. Mrs. Kelly where's all the money from the Class reunion events??
    Mrs. Kelly is a bold face, wig wearing, denture wearing,demented,egotistical Phony and a fake who has stolen from the children at 209, shame on you!!!
    Mrs. Kelly please resign now!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:57 PM, September 27, 2006  

  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:44 PM, September 27, 2006  

  • To: anonymous @ 9:44 PM

    Why the heck you post under anonymous? Don't you understand Nyberg's gonna delete your post, which included a very informative link. I hope others get to see it and read.

    Thanks

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:10 PM, September 27, 2006  

  • For those interested: In ref to anonymous @9:44PM

    Here's another link that expands on what is a tumultous environment as concerns the landscape of contemporary urban education reform, in particular the kind of scraps for which reform superintendents become embroiled.

    Often times the fight is against those who fear that their cheese is at risk of being taken away.

    http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/09/07/BAGM2EJIT11.DTL

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:33 PM, September 27, 2006  

  • Sorry, Carl, but your criticism of Mr. Fields conduct at the board meeting is both off-base and hypocritical. It's kind of funny to hear you admonish anyone for failing to promote unification and peace within the board. You're not exactly the poster boy for a Kumbaya sing-a-long. And that part where you call out Mr. Fields for being unprofessional gave me a giggle. C'mon, Carl. Your own professionalism disappears more frequently than a magician's coin.

    Rather than all of us striking the pose of holier-than-thou, high and mighty, smartest guy in the room, let's give Mr. Fields his props on this one.

    From my viewpoint, I thought he showed backbone and strong leadership. But regardless of whether or not you agree with his style, it hard to disagree with his right-out-of-the-box mission to straighten out the board and the tragic circus of ineptitude.

    Let's all take a clensing breath and be honest. We'd all agree Proviso needs a strong guy like this to head up the clean-up job. With our irreconciable differences we aren't going to get anywhere with a Mr. Everybody's Buddy. We need a hard charging locomotive who can stay on the track and pull our Proviso train to a place where the most important thing is our kids' education and not be derailed by the distracting, destructive drama of our nasty politics and unproductive criticism.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:06 AM, September 28, 2006  

  • Pamela says: to anonymous: I checked out your article. The super. in Calif is a reformer. Fields has already stated that he is cutting professional development as a way of saving money. Does Fields sound like a reformer? I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt, but his first board meeting was a disgrace. He did not unite the board as he stated he wiould. He is a liar! To Fields: be careful who you align yourself with. People at Proviso have aligned themselves with certain administrators and board members. Then when they leave, they get screwed. Examples: the TAPP coordinator at West, Manzo's cousin Trombetta, etc. etc. I didn't like Fields at the board meeting. He was rude. The way to improve Proviso is not to divide everybody, but to unite them in one cause: the education of Proviso students. The more he alienates people, the less they will work for him.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:18 AM, September 28, 2006  

  • It's one thing to state various of Bersin's educational philosophies and quite another to think that Dr. Fields is capable of implementing even a fraction of them in this roiling and tumultuous school district. After having heard of his duplicity and his attempt at further fragmenting the board at the last board meeting, I did some checking on him. I can tell you that Mr. Fields is way out of his league in this district, and, frankly, I don't think that he has the wherewithal, skills, or the courage to effectively steer this school district in the direction that it needs to go to best serve our children.

    Some of his actions have displayed an arrogance that, as far as I can tell, is not based on any particular outstanding strength that he has. Rather, I suspect that his occasional arrogance is either a peacock-like spreading of his wings that functions as nothing more than a false display of power and accomplishment or a compensatory mechanism for his self-perceived deficits. Dr. Fields has not stood tall and answered the questions of constituents of 209. He appears at meeting such as the PMSA, spews out some vague crap, and then puts it into fourth gear and zooms out of the building. At the board meeting, his agenda was purposely vague and it certainly looked like he was trying to hide important issues from the public view. It appears to me that Dr. Fields may be a coward who, like the proverbial feather, goes in the direction of the strongest wind ---even though that current wind is a flatulence emitted by Mr. Welch.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:43 AM, September 28, 2006  

  • 1.What we the PEOPLE AND TAXPAYERS OF PROVISO WHO PAY FOR FIELDS AND NIKITA JOHNSON need to do is to have a huge citizen rally/protest in front of the administrators building and call all the tv crews to come and film the rally as well as the big media.
    2.Also I hope at the next meeting , both Karen Yarbrough and even more importantly, Maywood's own State Senator and Committee chair for Education for the Illinios Senate,Kim LIghtford show up and see this spectacle in action! If Lightford can't show up then we will know on what side of the line she stands on and we will punish her in her next election!
    3.We should get the largest crowd imaginable to the next meeting and in unison, when Fields and Welch talk, we should all in unison put our cell phones on and call someone and strat talking at the same time to show our disgust at them and the issues that both these Clowns think is important, as well as we should all in unision shake our head back and forth at Fields every time he talks!
    4.During this meeting we should also have speakers ask Fields about the current employment of Tommy Miller and the allegations about him and should'nt he be in suspension until we know the truth.
    5.Another Question to Fields is what is the board policy in hiring felons, and what policy do we have in place to test employees for drugs.
    5.Another Question to ask him, what reason was used to fire Bryant from PMSA?
    6.Another question to ask him is does he need a cell phone and how many munites does he need??????
    7.Does our district pay for his gas,clothes,and other amenites? and if yes, how much, and why should he have these perks??????
    8.Also one more thing, thanks Fields for being so naive and gulliable, we going now to destroy you and your career and when we are done, you'll never land a another superintendent job again!!!!!
    8.I forgot, hey Fields if your wife thinks your having hemmorroid problems tell her the truth, your not, instead you've become a big black man's bitch and just like in Prison or in your case those hillybilly mountains,we's in Proviso will be running a train on you!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:46 AM, September 28, 2006  

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    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:10 AM, September 28, 2006  

  • Carl, I think you are doing a great job bringing the issues up and keeping us informed regarding events happening at District 209.
    I wonder if we should applaud Dr. Fields and Ms. Johnson for they’re no nonsense approach on nonpayment to ALL contracted employees for their services rendered last month in District 209? For some reason UN perceptive to the contracted employees, paychecks are being withheld with out a definitive response. People who have families, with mouths to feed, bills to pay, just like everyone else. No definitive answer has been given to these contractors as to why they will have to wait possibly another month for payment. As of Thursday morning there has been no response from Dr. Fields or Ms. Johnson to the contract employees. If the BUCKS STOPS HERE Dr. Fields what is the answer? If contracts are being reviewed and there exists a possibility of non-payment for services rendered in the future they should be informed, but because services have been rendered last month it is duplicitous to withhold their pay. To not pay the consultants for services rendered is nothing but another form of Slavery.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:15 AM, September 28, 2006  

  • Anonymous, I feel bad for those contracted employees, it looks like Johnson and Fields broke out the KY on yall. I wonder how they would feel if they were fucked out of their salaries?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:41 AM, September 28, 2006  

  • For straight forward reporting on Proviso Politics, visit my blog at ProvisoInsider.blogspot.com.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:50 PM, September 28, 2006  

  • I don't want to change the thread of these comments, but I thought this local blurt of news in the paper was worth mentioning.

    FBI agents are investigating a 209 Proviso High school Board member official on bribery charges. Prosecutors are investigating a developer who offered about $150,000 in campaign funds to a 209 Board member for the official's vote on a development proposal for a new high school.
    According to prosecutors another Board member and a person of Interest,have been cooperating with the investigation,which is expected to put a big dent into the political organizations of the Proviso area.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5:34 PM, September 28, 2006  

  • Ok What Brother John has done is take a Story from the Chicago Public Schools, Plagarize it to his advantage and make it a fake story about Proviso

    So Basically It's a Bull Crap accusation

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:32 PM, September 28, 2006  

  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:23 AM, September 30, 2006  

  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:56 AM, September 30, 2006  

  • The following was posted under Anonymous. When refering to it call the author "Has Mundelein 411".

    If you have any doubt about Stan's manner of running board meetings, go to the Mundelein High School web site and read minutes from the when he was there. You'll find it interesting that while he was the superintendent, the BOE was found guilty of violating the Open Meetings Act, and that's when they had a BOE president who is also an attorney.

    Also, have fun with your next BOE elections, because what you predict will happen, happened to Mundelein. The board who voted to hire Stan, basically got thrown out in the first elections after his hiring, including the president who had been a board member for umpteen years. Once the new board was in place, Stan was stifled to the point where nothing was getting done.

    If you have any doubts about any of this, search past Daily Herald/Mundelein Review/Mundelein News articles, and read Mundelein BOE minutes.

    By Blogger Carl Nyberg, at 11:01 AM, September 30, 2006  

  • dfdfg

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:32 PM, October 03, 2006  

  • To District 209,
    Please accept our dearest gratitude for taking Dr. Fields off of our hands. Our school was full of nepotism and backstabbing ever since he set foot in our building. He changed everything...for the worse. All of your worst fears about him are definitely true. He fired anyone who disagrees with him. He promoted underqualified people to administrative posts. He spent all of the district's money on athletics and cosmetic improvements. He fired all department heads. And then he blamed all of the financial trouble on the administration before him. If I were you, I would fully expect more of his "friends" from Mundelein to show up on your doorstep in the next year or so. If you ever want to know some real truths about him, please feel free to call up most any teacher from Mundelein to get more specific information. Good luck to you and please never send him back.

    Sincerely,
    A Teacher from Mundelein High School

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:41 PM, October 03, 2006  

  • Oh here we go..........somehow a teacher from Mundelein just happens to find provisoprobe.com and writes to share Mr.Fields shortcommings.

    This is as far freekin stretch like Jeanine Stevens finding Reformado.

    Can you say bull$hit

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 10:54 PM, October 03, 2006  

  • It's not inconceivable that a Mundelein teacher would find this blog. I'm not a teacher, but I'm a Mundelein parent, and for sure, "Has Mundelein 411" is one as well. "Mundelein insider" and "Fields Supporter" may be MHS parents as well. Stan Fields was quite controversial in Mundelein, and many of us are curious how things are going at Proviso with him at the helm.

    When Stan came to MHS, a friend had checked into his history, which seemed to be controversial at his previous school districts as well. A lot of the things he was changing at Mundelein, and how he went about them, he had done at prior jobs. It's very interesting that you already have an allegation of the Open Meetings Act violation, since we went through that at Mundelein, as "Has Mundelein 411" said. Also at Mundelein, Stan did form a close alliance with certain board members, so I don't find it hard to believe he is loyal to the board president who hired him.

    I'm from the camp that was happy to see Stan leave Mundelein, although to be fair, some of the changes he made were positive ones for our school. What bothered me was how he went about making the changes. While I tried to keep an open mind about him, he didn't ever earn my trust or respect.

    Your school district obviously has a lot of issues beyond just Stan Fields. I wish you all the best in getting the focus back back to meeting the needs of the kids.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:25 PM, October 04, 2006  

  • The Mundelein teacher was right about everything. I was a former MHS teacher that retired a few months before Stan's arrival. I was on in interviewing committee that hired him (not that we had any REAL input). Recall that all the BOE members that hired him got voted out at the next election. Look what students said about him on www,ratemyteachers.com Seldom to students know the school superintendent. They did at Mundelein. About 40 rated him on that sight.

    Do a web search...Look how that Tulsa newspaper came to use the word "embattled" prior to his name in their news reports.

    See if you can find out more than I did about why the Supt. in Alexandria, LA was fired after attempting to hire Stan as an Asst. Supt.

    Stan can rally people....for a while. Hundreds turned out support him and marched on a Board meeting and probably saved his job after a DUI situation

    I wish you all well in Dist 209--You WILL need it.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:18 AM, October 05, 2006  

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