Letter Praises New Instant Alert System and Board Member Kim Skaja

The letter below appeared in the Northwest Herald on Friday:

To the Editor

The gunman left the bank on foot traveling through a local neighborhood in the process.

He was armed.

What you might not know about this story is that Huntley District 158’s new Instant Alert system went into action. This system, which the district recently started using, alerted parents within minutes of the robbery. More specifically, parents were notified that buses would not be traveling into the two neighborhoods near the bank.

With the recent violence on the campus of NIU it is nice to know that the district started using a system that will protect students and communicate to parents when possible issues are at hand. I would like to thank the district for embracing this system, especially board member Kim Skaja who recommended such an alert system.


Robert Allare

Lake in the Hills


Bongo is also impressed with the new instant alert system and the speed with which parents were notified of the fact that buses would not be going into the affected neighborhoods on that day. But Bongo's question is this:

An instant alert system is no doubt a significant "community relations" improvement. Aileen Seedorf is the chair of District 158's community relations committee. Why then, did Seedorf never put this issue on one of her committee agendas for discussion? Could it be that she did not want to do anything that could lead to kudos for Kim Skaja, a known enemy of Seedorf? Could it be that Seedorf was once again puting her own political agenda ahead of doing what was right for kids?

Bongo says "four paws up" to Skaja for suggesting an instant alert system, and "great job" to the administration for making sure the system was put in place regardless of the community relations chair's apparent disinterest in exploring an initiative that would have provided some good press for her political enemy.

Seedorf should be in the dog house again for this.