Comments on: EHS PR disaster

By: RS

RS — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:12:51 +0000

Thanks for the head’s up, Todd. What a shocker. I’ll make a post about this.

By: TDM

TDM — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:56:27 +0000

The Courier News just published more information about the attacker. It seems that this 16 year old was accused of raping an 8 year old on AUGUST 13th. The “Child Advocacy Center” and the “State Crime Lab” have delayed for now over 5 MONTHS to figure out whether or not to charge him. Did U46 know they had a rape suspect in their classroom? If not, I believe the “CAC” was criminally negligent in their duties to safeguard the public. If U46 knew they had a rape suspect in class, they should have informed the teachers and established guidelines keeping the suspect from being alone with a female teacher!

By: EHS Alum. and Teacher

EHS Alum. and Teacher — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 03:03:20 +0000

Tying correction to previous entry: I meant to say many sup’ts. would be more than pleased to come to Elgin to work for a few HUNDRED thousand dollars a year, perhaps one hundred and fifty, or two hundred, as opposed to over $400,000 per year.
Typing error in prev. entry. The Board of Ed. could save a lot of money that could be used for school safety measures. Security measures have to include technology and preventative measures, behavioral and social.

By: EHS Alum. and Teacher

EHS Alum. and Teacher — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 01:57:51 +0000

It is important that the U-46 Board of Ed. has it’s priorities right, AFETY FIRST. Secondly, if they believe they can’t find a supt. to work for a decent wage, then they should start making some offers to the folks working as Cabinet Level Supts. in U46 right now. For example, Barb Bonnet. Or, some of the others (Head of Secondary Ed., or Head of Elementary Ed., or the list goes on and on and on.) We could make jokes about how many Supt’s. does it take to prevent a gun from being brought in to a high school and we’d be plum out of luck here in U-46 where we have a whole list of people with Sup’t. attached to their names, but none accountable and none apparently wanting to apply for the 420,000+++++
year salary job. How about just eliminating that particular Supt. title-and position, and spend the 420,000+++++
on walk through metal detectors. While cutting positions, cut one or two more. There’s one million dollars to work with, immediately. The Board of Ed. is going about this the wrong way. they need to begin with looking at what they need and then fill those positions. There are MANY Superintendents who would be more than happy to come to work for a few thousand dollars a year salary. Lots of folks out there working as high school prin. with Supt’s. licenses. Lots on staff in U-46 too.
Does the Board think they did so well with the last Sup’t.? Does the Board have something against hiring local talent and homegrown educators? Perhaps some loyalty to the children and community would be gained if they hired a local, as was true with Bob Gilliam. The children in this district aren’t “products” they are people. The teachers are human beings who deserve to be treated with respect and deserve to be working in safe conditions.

By: rm

rm — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:38:11 +0000

I’m waiting to see how Emily Krone of the Herald tries to tie this tragedy to Connie Neale’s contract. Thank goodness the Courier is still around to dig out information and represent the interests of law-abiding Elgin residents.

On that point, it does seem a bit unfair to indict ordinary Elginites for “prejudice and ignorance” when our media and officials do so much to spin, cover up or ignore pressing civic problems and their origins. RS suggests that U-46 and Elgin try to spin the Gilbert stabbing as “nothing to do with gangs or the level of violence in the community” but just “a random act of violence by a disturbed person.” Perhaps I’ve missing something here, but as of this (Thursday) afternoon I’ve seen no information justifying such spin. And anyway, Elgin and U-46 need a lot more than spin right now. They need leaders committed to frankness, full disclosure, the rule of law and the interests of ordinary, law-abiding American citizens.

By: RS

RS — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:16:12 +0000

Thanks for the comments, guys.

Like you said, metal detectors are probably not the answer. There are plenty of scissors and sharp objects inside the school that could be used as weapons. If you have a motivated attacker, he/she can evade almost any system.

There’s little you can do to prevent a random attack by a disturbed person.

It’s critical that U-46 and Elgin quickly control the news coverage and make sure that the message gets out: this has nothing to do with gangs or the level of violence in the community; this is purely a random act of violence by a disturbed person.

By: jessica elgin

jessica elgin — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:16:44 +0000

Thanks for posting about this. I hadn’t known about those forums. Reading through them was a bit scary and sad though. I am continually shocked by the amount of ignorance and prejudice running through Elgin. It’s hard to believe it’s the 2000s and people still say–and believe!–these sorts of things.

By: TDM

TDM — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:12:48 +0000

My condolences to the injured teacher and the family of the accussed attacker.

I agree that more public information should be made available about the incident. Knowing whether the student had mental illness symptoms or treatment, exhibited any violent tendencies or came from a violent home or gang can guide public policy toward making effective change. Just putting in a metal detector will not stop deranged individuals. I think if the child is charged as an adult (which is likely), the release of the offender’s name SHOULD follow adult guidelines.

My son attends Elgin Academy rather than the public schools, in large part, to avoid the safety and student behavior problems endemic to U46. I still love Elgin though.