As usual, this board is great for demonizing the person doing their job while protecting the wrong doer! Had Kathy Miller paid more attention to the REQUIRED paperwork and what was necessary as part of the process and/or had she gotten a lot more signatures, none of this would be happening. As usual pettiness and politics take the place of doing what they should be doing for the betterment of the children. Great job board!

One has to wonder if it concerns Mrs.Koehmstedt the salary increases teachers are given in their final year of teaching. One such increase her own husband enjoyed in this district. In 2005 he was being paid $91,334 per year and then in his final year before retirement in 2006 his salary was bumped to $109,491 per year. That is an increase of $18,157 that we the taxpayers are responsible for paying. That is quite a raise and one that some refer to as salary spiking. Anyone can look at the salaries of 122 employees and see other teachers have enjoyed raises such as this in their final year of teaching.
As a taxpayer this board has more important business than fighting over a candidate's paperwork that was filled out incorrectly. There are no do overs in real life. Her paperwork was incorrect and there are election laws that need to be followed. Why are we demonizing 2 board members who did their jobs?

Hey New Lenox Mom - get a clue! These things happen all the time. You're correct in complaining that more care should have been taken regarding the paperwork. But the shady side of politics today is obvious when an elected official goes out of her way to make a mountain out of a molehill for personal or (obviously) political motivation. Government can't be effective when it is bogged down with minutia like this. We see this at the state and federal levels as well. Sadly the board had to address this when there are clearly more pressing issues at hand. Initiating this sad situation by this one board member is not what I elected her to do & therefore I will make sure to demonstrate my democratic prerogative at the next opportunity.

Another shameful, childish fiasco by board members, union rep, some teachers and residents throwing a temper tantrum simply to deflect from the fact that their preferred candidate's petition was challenged and found to be deficient.

Maureen has the guts to go up against Sass and anyone else. Keep up the good work Maureen!

Publius, if you think this is all minutia then sadly you are the one that should get a clue. Her petition was not done correctly, it is not the first time she has had to do this, so she can't use the excuse "I didn't know". As Marie noted, temper tantrums because the person they want didn't do what she needed to do correctly! Oh well, Miller has appealed, so now she can see what the court says. I also agree with sells, both Broderick and Smith have the guts to stand up to Sass and the rest of the bullies on that board. They both consistently challenge what is not right for the kids. It is too bad the rest of the board and and anyone throwing their temper tantrums don't do the same.

Simple bait and switch tactics. Look here at the show in the left hand, look at all of the fighting and bickering. All the while, the right hand is stabbing us in the back, taxing us to death and doing our children an injustice by allowing our standards to sink.
I got news for you everyone. Both of our school districts are sinking. Sort of like the Italian cruise liner. You know the script, The captains bail right before the ship sinks. See you Sass and Wylie. We are screwed when it comes down to the near future. They see the handwriting on the wall,

p

I'm so glad to finally see someone stand up to the so-called "system" that runs New Lenox. The connections and back-room activities are common knowledge around here for most of us - and someone has finally stood up for what's right. Sass, Wylie, Eddy and both district boards are all intertwined in a controlling, manipulative way that makes it almost impossible to know when votes are legit, decisions are made objectively or someone hasn't pulled a string somewhere to get what they want. Get over yourselves and your nitpicking. Let the woman run and let "WE THE PEOPLE" decide if she should be on the Board.

It would be nice to find out why there is bad blood between Broderick and Miller. I am disappointed in both Miller and Broderick. It is just sad. It is also sad that DiSandro and Smith got sucked into this fiasco.

District 122 School Board does needs to clean their act, over the summer a member had to resign because of an embarrassing personal issue and now this.

Keep this in mind, who on the board voted for Sass’s pay raise a few years ago, when everyone else in America who did not lose their job had to take a pay cut or a pay freeze.
The school superintendent is not an entitled CEO : ). Seems that there are too many board members that just do what Sass wants. I personally plan on voting for Smith as least she has the balls to question Sass.

D122 Board: "Please don't cause any unwanted public attention to the Board. The last thing we want is for the parents to start showing-up at meetings and getting involved."

We prefer to work in the shadows. Thankyouverymuch.

This incident is just another example of time, resources, and funds taken away from the mission of the District -- teaching children. If we are to lead by example, what are our children learning? And do we need, yet, another reminder that some of the board members don't play nice? Trust the residents of New Lenox, Board Members, we all know. With the recent events (Sandy Hook), the focus would be to assess our schools' safety or providing some type of training for the faculty. The Board will always have their issues because you're dealing with a variety of personalities/opinions, but this is ridiculous. Do the job at hand; grow up; and stay focused on the kids.

Detention for the whole Board.

Hi Folks. Please know that criminal accusations would have to be supported by a police report. NLPD makes those available to the public.

Mr.Koehmstedt, the information I stated is available to the public. It plays into what transpired last night in my opinion because your wife said she is concerned about the money being spent in the district. You are not the first or last teacher to get a hefty salary bump in your last year of teaching. These kinds of raises are of concern to most taxpayers because it certainly plays a large part into what we pay over the course of one's retirement. If we are concerned about money being spent by the board in instances that require the district's attorney, then large raises given in the final year of teaching should be of concern too.

Relax, people. It's just money. These nice folks have been babysitting your brats for years. Don't they deserve a little extra 'parting money'? What's another few hundred grand?

We built the finest stucco city hall around. We are going to have a $10 Million Police Station- tell your Naperville friends to suck on that !

Great doubts, deep wisdom. . . small doubts, little wisdom

Before you throw the secretary of the board under the bus, if all the information was the same except the secretary let Kathleen Miller run and if someone was running against Kathleen Miller and they lost, wouldn't they have the right to file suit against the board and the secretary of the board for not doing her appointed JOB. And wouldn't this lawsuit cost the school board something to defend against it. And even if the school board has insurance for this type of thing would not the insurance rates increase. It's amazing how some people are upset because someone does not do their job yet others are as upset for that same person doing their job. There is a procedure that everyone follows. If you are not informed enough to follow the procedure and you informed enough to be on the board?

Sorry the last sentence should be "If you are not informed enough to follow the procedures are you informed enough to be on the board?"

Totally agree David H! If she had taken the time to go over the paperwork and make sure it was complete, or had she gathered more than the bare minimum signatures needed, this article would not be necessary. Since she did not follow proper procedures, she does not belong on the ballot.

I do want to know if her appeal is being paid by taxpayers or by her personally? I would imagine since this is not a district problem, the costs are being paid by Ms. Miller.

The last time I ran for Park District Board my petitions were challenged and I bared the cost to fight the challenge. It was for re-election. I would think an appeal would not be any different.