Should Holmes Resign from the D218 Board?

Johnny Holmes' second DUI arrest in three years has readers wondering whether he should stay a representative of Dist. 218 families.

Quite a few Patch readers have asked whether Dist. 218 school board member Johnny Holmes should leave or have demanded outright his resignation from the board. Holmes was arrested in December for drunken driving and abruptly retired from his position as Robbins police chief earlier this month. Here's what some are saying about Holmes: Mother 24: "I want to know why Chief Holmes wasn't held accountable for his FIRST DUI?!! Public officials should be held to the same regards of the law, just as everyday citizens are!! Does Mr Holmes not realize the consequences of drinking and driving? God-Forbid a drunk driver ever hurt someone close to him, I'm sure he would want justice served, yet he gave no regard to himself getting behind the wheel of …

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D218 Approves 4-Year Teachers' Union Contract

Most District 218 teachers will see a 2.7 percent raise in the first year, Superintendent John Byrne said Monday.

The District 218 school board approved a new, four-year teachers' contract Monday night.  Most teachers will receive a 2.7 percent raise in the first year. They'll also need to pay for 16 percent of their health coverage, and 17 percent for each of the remaining three years of the contract District 218 Superintendent John Byrne called the new contract "fair and fiscally responsible." Board members voted 4-0 in favor of the new contract at Alan B. Shepard High School in Palos Heights. The 2008-12 teachers’ contract expired on the first day of school. Teachers' union members overwhelmingly voted in favor of the contract on Thursday. IEA Local 218 president Bradley Wright, who is a science teacher at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island, …

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D218, Teachers' Union Reach Tentative Contract Agreement

Teachers' expected to vote on contract on Aug. 16; with D218 school board vote possibly taking place on Aug. 20. School will start on time for D218 students.

  Community High School District 218 and the teachers’ union have reached a tentative agreement on a new, four-year teachers’ contract but details cannot be released to the public until the board of education and union members are able to ratify it. Sign up for the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. The D218 Board of Education may possibly approve the contract—pending a union vote expected to take place later this week—at a special meeting at Alan B. Shepard High School in Palos Heights at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 20, according to school district website. If approved, the new contract would be in effect from 2012-16. Superintendent Dr. John Byrne could not immediately be reached for comment. D218 also announced that district high …

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District 218, Area Groups Sponsor Back-to-School Health Fair

Screenings, school supplies and more available during Friday's event.

Need your shots or supplies for school? Want to get your eyes checked? Sounds like Shepard High School in Palos Heights may be the place to be on Friday. Numerous medical and governmental agencies will join Community High School District 218 on Friday in sponsoring a Back to School Health Fair.  The event will be from noon to 4 p.m., at 13049 S. Ridgeland Ave. It is free and open to children and adults. A limited number of free school physicals, free dental exams, and free vision screens will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Reduced-cost school physicals are $40; immunizations are $10 and comprehensive eye exams will be $40.  Free vision screenings and health screens for blood pressure, bone density, body glucose and others…

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D218 Calls Special Meeting Over Teacher Contract Negotiations

High School District 218 is facing a tough round of negotiations with teachers over a new contract agreement. The board will discuss the matter further at a special meeting Tuesday night.

Teachers in Community High School District 218 have a contract that is set to expire on Aug. 20 and rounds of negotiations have failed to produce an agreement both sides are willing to accept.  The D218 Board of Education has called a special emergency meeting for Tuesday, Aug. 7 at 6:30 p.m at the district's Administrative Center in Oak Lawn. The only item on the agenda is the teacher contract. The board will likely spend most of the meeting in closed session with possible action set to occur. Last week, Superintendent Dr. John Byrne outlined the boards arguments against the terms currently proposed by the teachers' union.   As with most negotiations, salary and health care costs are the sticking points. The last offers had the district …

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D218 Registration and Back to School Dates

If you have a child at a D218 school, we have everything you need to know to start the year off right.

It might seem like summer has flown by, but it's time to start thinking about the start of a new school year. As part of Patch's never-ending mission to make things painfully simple for you, we pulled together everything you need to know about the back to school schedule for Shepard and Richards high schools.  Freshmen Wednesday, Aug. 8 8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. *Seniors Thursday, Aug. 9  2:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Sophomores Monday, Aug. 13 8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Juniors Tuesday, Aug. 14 8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. *Evening registration is open to all grade levels. All incoming freshmen must have a physical before they can register. When you come to registration, you are required to bring a completed physical form or appointment card. Shepard High School…

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D218 Board Defends 'Last and Best Offer' to Teachers Union

D218 Superintendent Dr. John Byrne says board's offer to teachers union is "very generous." Teachers union will present district's offer to teachers at undisclosed meeting this week.

In response to the Patch story that D218 teachers’ contract negotiations had reached an impasse and were now being handled by a federal mediator, D218 sent out a press release on Friday acknowledging the deadlocked collective bargaining agreement. Subscribe to the Oak Lawn Patch newsletter and breaking news alerts. D218 teachers’ four-year contract is set to expire on the first day of school on August 20, which is a freshman-only day. IEA Local 218, which represents teachers at Richards, Shepard and Eisenhower High Schools, and the Delta Learning Center, rejected the district school board’s first offer in May. “While several other neighboring school districts seek to freeze salaries and eliminate faculty positions, the board has offered …

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D218 Board Declares 'Impasse' in Teacher Contract Talks

Community High School District 218 Board makes last and best offer to teachers' union negotiating new contract.

Richards' Moeller Takes it 'One Skate at a Time' in Fight to Help Palos Neighbors Beat Cancer

Richards figure skating sensation Jordan Moeller will serve as the headliner in a fundraiser for Children's Oncology Services, Inc., on Saturday, April 14, at Southwest Ice Arena.

Jordan Moeller is doing his part to help fight cancer “One Skate at a Time.” Moeller, the Richards High School junior who won the U.S. Figure Skating Intermediate Men’s national championship in 2010, will serve as the headliner in a fundraiser for Children’s Oncology Services, Inc., on Saturday, April 14, at Southwest Ice Arena. The event, sponsored by the U.S. Figure Skating Association and the Northern Ice Skating Club, will feature performances by a number of accomplished skaters, but none more in tune with the cause than Moeller. He decided to put on a show titled “One Skate at a Time” after being introduced to a program called “One Day at a Time” by Debbie Swanson, his freshman algebra teacher at Richards. Swanson’s niece, Julia …

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Sisters Helping Kids with Cancer, One Step At a Time

Shepard High School teacher Jennifer Fischer and Richards High School teacher Debbie Swanson will run a marathon this weekend to help a kids camp that helped Fischer's daughter cope with a cancer diagnosis at 10 years old.

Sisters Jennifer Fischer and Debbie Swanson have a lot in common. Both are teachers within District 218—at Shepard High School and Richards High School, respectively—both enjoy running and now both will help to give back to a group that helped their family through a very trying time. When she was 10 years old, Jennifer's daughter, Julia, was diagnosed with dysgerminoma, a germ cell cancer. Her cancer was in remission four months later and as of 2010 she was considered cured (five years remission). But in the interim, Julia and her family gained a lot of support from One Step At a Time, a camp for children affected by cancer. “She was finished with treatment when she went to camp in June 2005 for the first time,” Jennifer Fischer said. “The…

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