Tag: Tri-Valley

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Update: Can Your 3rd Grader read? Likely NO in Public School

Follow-up story: https://blnnews.com/2025/12/05/why-cant-3rd-graders-read-dont-blame-covid/ By: Diane Benjamin https://www.illinoispolicy.org/how-well-are-your-local-third-graders-reading/ Even under loosened proficiency standards, over half of Illinois third graders couldn’t read at grade level in 2025. District 87 has no schools where over 50% of 3rd graders were proficient. Unit 5 has ONE. Obviously education isn’t the goal. Page down to the bottom – Tri-Valley’s one elementary school is […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Seriously Tri-Valley?

By: Diane Benjamin https://www.tri-valley3.org/o/district/article/2444046 .\ Know who else offers free dental exams for students? Chicago Public Schools, not a model anyone should emulate. Orland Park Dental Services created jobs for themselves by providing this mobile service. How much are Tri-Valley district taxpayers getting billed for this? We won’t know until after 11/10/25. How much other […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Electioneering is alive and well

By: Diane Benjamin The 1% Sales Tax increase is on the April 1st election ballet because it has a better chance of passing when few people bother to vote. If Tri-Valley really wanted your property taxes to go down, they wouldn’t propose a new bond for the exact amount of the one being paid off. […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Investigations don’t usually lead to justice in McLean County

By: Diane Benjamin No wonder trust in government is at an all time low among people who expect Public Servants to actually work for the public. Oaths of office are now meaningless. Did you know the County isn’t going to produce a report on the fundraising at the County to abolish the Auditor until March? […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

McLean County Schools: Tax Increases vs. Enrollment Declines

By: Diane Benjamin Few people probably know the McLean County Treasurer’s website has years of payments to every taxing district they collect property taxes for: https://www.mcleancountyil.gov/590/Taxing-Dist-Distribution-Settlement-Shee Someday if I really want a huge project I could compile tax payments to EVERY unit of government on your tax bill. If someone wants this project, or at […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tri-Valley screwing taxpayers tonight too

By: Diane Benjamin Read the agenda: https://go.boarddocs.com/il/trivalley3/Board.nsf/vpublic?open Property taxes are going up because nobody represents taxpayers. The board will also pass a resolution to get the 1% Sales Tax increase on the April 1st ballot. The only bright spot is you have people running for School Board who do care. All that is required is […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Taxing you out of Illinois

By: Diane Benjamin Board candidate Casey Misch reported he was the only person running April 1st to actually attend the Tri-Valley Board meeting last night. Yes your property taxes got a massive increase because they can. Meetings aren’t on video and few people stand up to the Tax Class. You will get your property tax […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tri Valley: Need some laughs?

By: Diane Benjamin Read this story: https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2024-11-18/tri-valley-district-will-have-contested-school-board-races?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook Excerpt: Maybe this Ben: https://blnnews.com/2024/09/20/tri-valley-incident/ Numerous kids report they saw a gun. The way this incident was handled had 6 parents speak at the September Board meeting according to the minutes. Other parents present didn’t speak. Maybe transparency is a better option than Mouser’s “don’t tell your parents”? […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

No, Your property taxes haven’t gone up YET

By: Diane Benjamin Social Media is full of outrage because people recently got their property tax assessment. They see HUGE increases and think their property taxes are going up. They haven’t gone up YET, only you can stop it. The assessed value is used by all the government units on your tax bill to decide […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Downs Board Meeting Thursday

By: Diane Benjamin More on this story: https://blnnews.com/2024/09/30/will-downs-choose-flooding-over-people/ Thursday the Board will decide whether to annex a corn field that drains downhill to an area prone to flooding. Below are a few pictures from the horrendous Shaddyville flooding of 2021. Note the field was able to absorb some of the rain then. Concrete doesn’t absorb […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Will Downs choose flooding over people?

By: Diane Benjamin It will help understand this issue is you’ve driven Rt 150 from Bloomington to Downs. Right before the turn south to go through Downs there is a very low area called Shaddyville. The Kickapoo Creek runs along the south edge. The houses are older and not incorporated into the Village of Downs. […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Update #2 – Update: Tri-Valley incident

WEEK story: https://www.25newsnow.com/2024/09/20/parents-concerned-after-threat-school-say-administrators-didnt-tell-them-soon-enough/ 2 updates from the Superintendent are below. Ben Derges claims they were sent to parents. By: Diane Benjamin Some incident did occur on Wednesday, but whatever happened has been resolved. I hear Superintendent Derges is supposed to be doing a press conference with WEEK 25. There is nothing on either website and […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

The School Results you DON’T want to see

By: Diane Benjamin Evidently many parents don’t want to see how bad their child’s school really is. Waiting until your kids grows up to find out they can’t read or do math? The local Public School system is robbing you and your children and charging you more to do it! Enrollment at both Unit 5 […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Get your Property Tax bill?

By: Diane Benjamin I got mine today. 🤑 I looked up some random properties to see how bad the tax increases are. Bloomington: Net taxable value for 2023 is $55,521, taxes increased $213.28 from last year (Dist 87) Net taxable value for 2023 is $136,131, taxes increase $382.70 from last year (Unit 5) Normal: Net […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tri-Valley will change Public Comment Policy

By: Diane Benjamin See the entire agenda here: https://go.boarddocs.com/il/trivalley3/Board.nsf/vpublic?open McLean County was going to allow a whole 15 minutes for public comment at meetings. So generous of them considering the County is huge and the population is over 170,000 people. Tri-Valley School District is miniscule in comparison. Below is what Tri-Valley has on the agenda […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Reminder: Tri-Valley raising your taxes tonight

It doesn’t matter if the rate is slightly lower if your assessed value is MUCH higher!

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tri-Valley School Board meeting tonight

By: Diane Benjamin Did Casey Misch ever get an apology? See the minutes, he asked for one! Casey? Two links for tonight’s meeting. I’m thrilled documents are now published so the public can read what the Board sees. Now make them SEARCHABLE! There is a ton of financial information and school policies included:

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tri-Valley: Reconsidering whatever you discussed? (Solar)

By: Diane Benjamin More to this story: https://blnnews.com/2023/04/13/guess-what-caused-the-olympia-school-fire/ The March 15th School Board meeting had this on the agenda: https://www.tri-valley3.org/documents/board-meeting-agenda—minutes/2022-2023-agenda-%26-notices/402369 Since TV doesn’t Live Stream or video School Board meetings, unless you were there you have no idea what was discussed. The minutes don’t provide details of discussions, so you won’t know much more when […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tri-Valley Packet for Wednesday Night

By: Diane Benjamin School Districts used to respect Wednesday nights since churches hold services and/or activities on that night. During Lent my church does so I will not be able to attend. The District is releasing packets now: https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/487/District/2850302/BOE_Packet_3.15.23.pdf See PDF page 34 and following. The district is going to quit paying a stipend for […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tri-Valley: Tomorrow night

Who is attending?

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tri-Valley continues to fail at transparency

By: Diane Benjamin Tri-Valley held a school board meeting on January 18th. I attended the December meeting: https://blnnews.com/2022/12/20/tri-valley-zero-transparency/ All I asked of them is post all information the school board members see before meetings. They failed again! The agenda was posted, noting else. The Board has retreat schedule for January 31st. The agenda is posted, […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tri-Valley taxpayers: Proof of no transparency

By: Diane Benjamin At this week meeting the minutes from the November meeting were approved and are now on the school website: https://www.tri-valley3.org/documents/board-meeting-agenda—minutes/399692 NO copies of these minutes were available at the meeting or I would have asked questions. Here’s a big one: What are they buying and why? On the agenda for at least […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tri-Valley tonight

By: Diane Benjamin Agenda: https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/487/District/2640088/Board_Agenda_12.19.2022.docx.pdf Since they aren’t planning on anyone showing up to oppose the Tax Levy, the vote is right after the Public Hearing: Tri-Valley does not post any supporting documents for Board action. Obviously transparency and pesky taxpayers need to be avoided. The only way to know what the District is doing […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Three things you need to know

By: Diane Benjamin Town of Normal cancelled Monday’s meeting: No reason given. Maybe they are afraid of Public Comment after the last meeting’s staged lunacy! In case you missed it: https://blnnews.com/2022/12/06/normal-really-doesnt-want-citizens-interfering-in-their-playground/ FYI: Town offices will be closed on the 23rd and the 26th for Christmas. See the calendar here: https://www.normalil.gov/calendar.aspx?view=list&year=2022&month=12&day=23 Remember how Connect Transit buses […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Property tax increases explained

By: Diane Benjamin Why are many local governments holding tax hearings? Here’s the legal reason: (35 ILCS 200/18-56)    Sec. 18-56. Legislative purpose. The purpose of this Law is to require taxing districts to disclose by publication and to hold a public hearing on their intention to adopt an aggregate levy in amounts more than 105% of the amount […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tri-Valley: Mouser gets SCHOOL CHOICE, you don’t

By: Diane Benjamin I received a tip that before David Mouser left Tri-Valley for his new job as Superintendent of District 87 he got approval allowing the children of employees to attend Tri-Valley even if they don’t live in the District. His wife works at Tri-Valley, the family moved probably because District 87 thought their […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

LOCAL Schools fail to educate, but they can survey your kids

By: Diane Benjamin Tri-Valley already did this survey, District 87 is today: A student at Tri-Valley told her mom she left questions blank she didn’t want to answer. Good! The survey is called Illinois Youth Survey, it is for grades 8-12. Some other local schools have already taken the survey. Schools had to chose to […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

No school district, masks on buses is not Federal Law:

Stop The Misinformation – There is No Federal Law Mandating Masks on School Buses Illinois (ECWd) – As we continue to expose malfeasance across virtually every level of public service in Illinois, the most recent lifting of mask mandates for a large number of students from the Temporary Restraining Order issued against Governor Pritzker, the […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

In case you thought local schools were making mask decisions:

By: Diane Benjamin h/t a reader Fieldcrest posted their mask policy on Facebook. I broke their letter into 3 parts and below each posted parts from the letter Tri-Valley wrote. Somebody (Regional Superintendent of Schools?) wrote a template and sent it to schools, the two are way to much alike. I bet you will find […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tri-Valley mask policy

Today I heard a story about a school District that is now mask optional because they were part of the lawsuit. There was much jubilation and many smiles yesterday as most of the kids saw their friends faces for the first time in 2 years. I received this announcement today from Tri-Valley. You won’t know […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Future Illinois teachers will be TRAINED to teach Critical Race Theory

By: Diane Benjamin Of course Illinois doesn’t call it that, we’ve seen the School Boards using alternate terms to disguise what is happening. Illinois calls it: Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards In other words, we aren’t a melting pot of Americans. Kids will be educated based on the color of their skin and their […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Update: Parents: Your forum

I’m going to add emailed comments at the bottom instead of posting them as a comment. By: Diane Benjamin Kids are suffering from closed schools. Parents are suffering and watching their kids fall behind. Meanwhile, Tri-Valley is holding in-person classes while Unit 5 and District 87 are closed. The Unit 5 school board had the […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Per kid: Area school spending

By:  Diane Benjamin The Illinois Comptroller’s Office has lots of interesting information. Look at this site:  http://warehouse.illinoiscomptroller.com/ Virtually every level of Illinois government is required to complete information for this site.  Schools must not be required to provide much information. Cities, towns, villages, etc enter much more. I was looking at area schools and noticed […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

9/11 at Tri-Valley High School

Barb Pearson retired from teaching at Tri-Valley about 3 years ago.  She wanted the kids to never forget 9/11/2001 so, by herself, she created a memorial to the victims.  The school has done this display before, but they now plan to display her work every 5 years. The freshman weren’t born when 9/11 happened! What […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Truth about property taxes

By:  Diane Benjamin Between 2007 and 2015 my total property taxes went up almost 15%.  The assessed value went up  a little over 9%. That’s EIGHT years. All those rate decreases mean nothing when the assessor thinks your property values went up. Remember the 2008 crash when property values supposedly dropped?  For taxes, mine didn’t. […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Common Core: 3 * 4 = 11 is okay if they can explain why

July 18, 2013 By Lennie Jarratt During a Common Core Math presentation at Grayslake District 46 last night, the following was stated: But even under the new common core if even if they said 3 * 4 was 11, if they were able to explain their reasoning and explain how they came up with there answer. Really […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Tri-Valley Patriotism

Today the FlagMan came to Tri-Valley Middle school.  Here is a video about the amazing guy behind this: 

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

More on School Districts

by Diane Benjamin http://www.ilhonorroll.niu.edu/scripts/awards.asp?searchStr=L&awtype=E&year=2011&so=name Which area schools achieved: 2011 Academic Excellence Awards No Unit 5 Schools No Dist 87 Schools Tri-Valley Elementary Tri-Valley Middle School No Leroy schools Lexington Elementary No Heyworth Schools Olympia West Elementary Ridgeview Elementary Also See:  http://blnnews.com/2012/11/12/school-district-comparison-continued/ Also See:  http://blnnews.com/2012/11/12/school-district-comparisons/

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

School District comparison (continued)

by Diane Benjamin (continued from previous post) From the Illinois State Board of Education website: http://www.isbe.net/ See the chart below: Close to 50% of all 11th graders in the state are BELOW average in all 3 subjects Dist 87: 52.5% below standards in reading 57% below standards in math 58.6% below standards in science If your […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

School District comparisons

by Diane Benjamin From the Illinois State Board of Education website: http://www.isbe.net/ See the chart below: Unit 5 and District 87 have less Administrators per pupil, but the percent spent on Instruction is low. Where is the money going?  Graduations rates are way below surrounding districts. Leroy, Lexington, and Ridgeview have high pupil to admin percentages. […]