District 205 administrators spend nearly $2,000 on photos of themselves
Other expenditures include $800 to cater funeral of student who was fatally shot, $948.96 for Learning Academy uniforms, and $17,300 on trip to Chicago
By Joe McGehee
Staff Writer
While Rockford Public School District 205 continues to wrestle with projected budget deficits and razor-thin profit margins, Superintendent Dr. LaVonne M. Sheffield, District 205 administrators and Rockford Board of Education members continue to approve expenditures some may view as unnecessary during trying economic times.
The Rock River Times recently requested information regarding Rockford Public School District 205 expenditures through the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Among other expenses, it was discovered the district had spent almost $2,000 on photos of the superintendent, her cabinet and Rockford school board members. Also, the district spent $800 to cater the funeral of a student shot dead on Halloween 2009.
District 205 Chief Communications Officer Mark Bonne’s signature appears on some of the documents requesting the District 205 expenses. Neither Sheffield’s signature nor the signature of Chief Financial Officer Cedric Lewis appears on any of the documents obtained by TRRT.
Photos of superintendent, cabinet and school board members
According to information supplied by its Legal Department, District 205 spent $1,944.24 for the taking, framing and matting of photographs of the superintendent, her cabinet and Rockford Board of Education members. District 205 spent $769.46 on materials, while also paying $50 for a “rush fee,” according to the documentation supplied by District 205.
The photographs have been displayed in an area of the Administration Building, 201 S. Madison St., formerly reserved for student artwork.
Repeated calls for comment beginning as early as Jan. 6 to District 205 in regard to the costs of the photographs and other expenditures discussed in this article went unreturned as of press time.
Media roundtable and failed attempts to get District 205 comment
TRRT participated in a media roundtable Jan. 11 at the Rockford Register Star news tower to address communications issues with District 205 officials. Sheffield, Bonne, Chief of Student Support Colleen Cyrus and Chief Operations Officer Todd Schmidt attended that meeting, facilitated by Register Star Executive Editor Linda Grist Cunningham. Bonne was reminded at the meeting of TRRT’s inquiries regarding comment for this story.
Bonne was previously a reporter for the Register Star. According to a biography on the District 205 Web site, “Bonne worked for more than 20 years as a newspaper and magazine writer-editor whose assignments included reporting on education for the Rockford Register Star.”
At a Jan. 14 meeting at Third Presbyterian Church addressing violence in the schools, Bonne said he would arrange a time for the superintendent to speak with TRRT after she returned from a trip out of town. TRRT heard back from Bonne late in the day Jan. 19.
Catering of funeral reception
DeAngelo Link, a former Guilford High School student, was fatally shot at a party Oct. 31, 2009, which prompted District 205 officials to increase the level of security on school campuses for fear of retaliation.
According to the documentation supplied by District 205, a check totaling $800 was requested by Bonne to cover the costs of catering the reception meal for the November 2009 funeral. The same documentation stated: “The Community Development Fund (i.e., private donations) was used to fund this expense.”
Many recall the death of a District 205 elementary student from the H1N1 virus in 2009. Repeated calls to District 205 officials regarding the costs of catering Link’s funeral and any catering donated to the funeral of the student who died from the H1N1 virus went unreturned as of press time.
Leadership and Learning Academy expenditures
Rockford’s Leadership and Learning Academy’s pilot program, designed to serve otherwise disruptive students with an alternative learning environment, started at the Roosevelt Adult Education Center. Jan. 19, Leadership and Learning Academy classes began being held at the former Goodwill building, 1907 Kishwaukee St., which the district recently purchased for $375,000.
The 12 students who were a part of the original pilot program were supplied with uniforms that included jackets, shoes, pants, belts and shirts. Costs for the 12 uniforms totaled $948.96.
The costs for jackets totaled $404.92, while another $160 was spent on shoes. Pants for the 12 students cost $138.04 and purchases of belts totaled $88.64, while shirts cost $147.11.
According to District 205, “The Community Development Fund (i.e., private donations) and the Superintendent’s discretionary fund were used to purchase the uniforms for the students enrolled in the Leadership and Learning Academy.”
Also, the Leadership and Learning Academy took a trip to Giovanni’s Restaurant in December for their Academic Day. TRRT requested documentation outlining the costs of transportation, meals and gift bags for the 12 students.
The documentation supplied by District 205 explained that the only district funds expended on this trip were for transportation. The supporting documents showed that $88.33 was spent on transporting the 12 students to Giovanni’s, while expenses for the meals and gift bags were left unexplained.
Repeated calls for comment about the costs of uniforms and the trip to Giovanni’s for the Leadership and Learning Academy’s Academic Day went unreturned as of press time.
Itemized lists of the costs above are available by clicking on the following link: 7pg_RPSD_012010
District spends $17,300 on trip to Chicago for seminar
According to a Jan. 12 13-WREX TV report, Rockford school board members and District 205 administrators spent $17,300 of taxpayer money on a weekend trip to Chicago to attend a conference. According to the same report, neither Sheffield nor Rockford Board of Education President David Kelley was aware of how much the conference cost, while both were unaware of how many people attended.
According to Kelley, one of the conference seminars was in regard to the “…Myers-Briggs Type Indicator…to help board members better understand each other.” Also, the WREX report discovered those in attendance purchased a meal that totaled more than $2,000.
Kelley said in the WREX report that the conference trip was similar to something the district had been doing for years, and it was nothing out of the ordinary. He also said those who attended were expected to reimburse the district for personal expenses.
WREX also showed the text of a letter sent by an executive coordinator to the school board to those who attended the conference. The letter indicated an urgent need for those who attended the conference to reimburse the district for their personal expenses, including spouses’ dinners, in-room movies and other charges because an FOIA request had been filed seeking information about the trip.
Notable District 205 salaries
Editor’s note: Following are annual salaries for notable Rockford Public School District 205 administrators.
Superintendent and her cabinet
• Dr. LaVonne Sheffield, superintendent, $210,000
• Cedric Lewis, chief financial officer, $152,000
• Colleen Cyrus, chief of student support, $118,759
• Todd Schmidt, chief operations officer, $110,000
• Luz Ramirez, special assistant to the superintendent, $92,000
• Mark Bonne, chief communications officer, $75,000
• Gina Rinaldo-Nelson, executive coordinator, $55,000
Notable administrators
• Linda Hernandez, special project manager, $160,000
• Patrick Hardy, chief academic officer, $125,000
• Earl Hernandez, executive director of schools, $99,725
From the Jan. 20-26, 2010 issue
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17 Comments
Excellent reporting. But you left out the salaries for the 2 executive directors over the principals. Can you find out that information, please? Thanks!
Can you find out anything about the trip to Phoenix in the fall? Golf, dining and drinking?
Were two teachers – a substitute and classroom teacher – assulted at Guilford on Wednesday?
This is just the tip of the iceberg, folks. You cannot imagine the taxpayers’ $ that are spent on unwarranted, unnecessary, and sometimes controversial items/agenda. It is a “hooray for my ideas and you don’t speak unless I ask you to” kind of mentality in the RPS205 admin building. Seems like the Board Members are going along for the ride as well. There are important matters to be dealt with…where are the knowledgeable people who could deal with them???? GONE
Interesting, given the fact that Ms. Sheffield sent out an e-mail to all district staff discussing the upcoming shortage of funds. She directed all staff to spread the word to family and friends. Seems the money is available when funding her own causes.
My high property taxes that fund schools are used for this, but to use an ole southern term ” they like to cry “po” mouth when it comes to using monies for things like EDUCATION.
Have you noticed on the RPS website that there is no district attorney listed? It just says refer to legal paralegal (?). I thought Sheffield had found a new lawyer. Guess none of them is willing to sell their soul to the devil to work for her….
The documentation supplied by District 205, a check totaling $800 was requested by Bonne to cover the costs of catering the reception meal for the November 2009 funeral. You need to request (FOIA) for the cafeteria fund at Guilford High School. I heard that expense was paid for out of the cafeteria fund at Guilford High School. Also, Superintendent Dr. Livonia M. Sheffield on WNTA stated that she paid for it out of the Superintendent Discretionary Fund, which is taxpayer’s money. Who is telling the truth?
this is it i cant take this laying down, we as students have to stand up to this, we allow them to do this. i am planing a protest. anyone who wants infromation add me, or comment on this, on the 3rd lunch in all schools, im going to have all the students stay in the lunch room intell 9th hour, or intell we are forced out, if nothing else there will be a walk out. they can afford a new building that we have no juristiction over but not enough for metal detectors. help me with ideas here guys. spread this to all all the students and parents, get the media involved as well. we have power.
What about the $5.5 million expense on ENI? The company Lavonne has follow her from other districts. It has no purpose other than to waste teachers time in the classroom and tax payer money.
Who actually owns the condo she lives in? Is it another perk from the district? There’s a trustee listed on the title. Besides her salary, what other perks were included in the package?
Reading back in RRSTAR, it’s interesting to see what the board had to say when Sheffield first got here. From Sheffield’s famous “I’ve Changed Harder Systems” article July 2009:
The School Board serves as a support team for the superintendent, board Secretary Alice Saudargas said.
“She needs to feel that she can go to any board member and ask them about whatever she has a concern about,” she said.
Board members can provide context to the district, and Sheffield encouraged them to bring any questions or concerns straight to her, Saudargas said.
Saudargas has helped transition a handful of superintendents, and she’s thinking Sheffield’s transition might be the smoothest because of her transparency and openness.
“She made it very clear that she is in charge,” Saudargas said
Thank you for digging this information for the public. As a retired teacher, I am very angry and upset to see what is happening to our schools. There is no justification for funding a funeral reception for any “student”. Keep up the good work.
Check out this article about the “superintendent shuffle” http://www.blackcommentator.com/292/292_superintendent_shuffle_rogers_ed_bd.html
Check out Sheffiel’s history with the Detroit school district. Dig into moneies spent by her for what?
ENI is the biggest waste of money…we have had a workshop with a speaker for two days, we learned more about good practice from her than anything from ENI. They do nothing but give us books with reams of papers and no tabs!!!! One of the ladies is buddy-buddy with Lavonne and stays at her house when in Rockford instead of a hotel. The rumor is that Lavonne’s brother is somehow involved with ENI. Hmmm…I would be curious to know if that is true. Also did the other districts she worked had hire ENI.
What a joke, they take our ideas for their next job!!!!
Why is Linda Hernadez still working for the district, because she and Lavonne are country club buddies? What is the special project she is working on?