Mundelein High board documents will be put online

Despite concerns from the superintendent, documents and memos the Mundelein High School District 120 board considers at its meetings will continue to be posted online before those gatherings, officials decided Tuesday.

The majority of board members insisted they need to govern as openly as possible and argued that the documents - commonly called a packet - should be available online before their twice-monthly meetings, as they have been for years.

Posting reports about purchases, contracts, financial matters and other issues on the Web site builds a sense of trust with the community, board Vice President Vicky Kennedy said.

"I think you need to keep that trust going out there," Kennedy said. "The more transparent we can be, the better off we will be."

The memos generally are posted on the Web site a day or two before each meeting. Earlier this year, however, school administrators temporarily stopped putting them online.

Superintendent Jody Ware said she was concerned about publicizing confidential information such as proposed personnel changes or students' names that might appear on financial reports.

Because the change happened without board approval, the board last month directed Ware to put the reports back online until the panel could debate the issue Tuesday night.

The postings began in 2005, officials recalled, to help ease the public's doubts about school leaders' motives and actions.

"We've come a long way since then. But I don't think we should just cut the tree down," board member Al Hitzke said.

Board President Edwin Specht agreed.

"I have nothing to hide from the public," Specht said.

Ware insisted the packet isn't a public document until the items are approved by board members.

However, countless government agencies throughout the suburbs release their packets to the public before their own meetings, and some - including the Lake County Board and the Mundelein village board - publish them online.

The Mundelein High board eventually opted to post most of its packet documents online.

Personnel recommendations will be exempt.

That compromise won over board members Bryan Wilcox and Robert Smith, both of whom initially backed Ware's proposal to simply publish the board's agendas online.