Parents Care

11/02/2026

In a time when so much divides us, our children’s future should bring us together.

We love our children, respect our teachers, and care deeply about this community. Supporting our schools means celebrating what works, listening to families and teachers, and asking hard questions when something needs to improve.

Safe schools. Strong academics. Transparency. Responsible spending.

These are priorities we can stand behind together, whatever our politics.

That’s why Parents Care will never stop fighting for our schools. Our children deserve it, our teachers deserve it, and our community is worth it. 💜

10/31/2026

🎃 NIGHTMARE ON WAUKEGAN ROAD

Runaway administrative spending. Classrooms competing for priority. That’s the real nightmare.

Parents Care’s corrected estimates show administrative spending across Districts 67 and 115 rose about 29% in three years—from $7.51 million to $9.66 million.

That’s approximately $2.15 MILLION MORE in annual administrative spending.

Then come the front-office treats:

🍬 $122,366 estimated salary for the superintendent’s executive assistant—more than TWICE a beginning D67 teacher’s $57,444 annual base salary.

👻 A projected $64,160 annual retention incentive for Superintendent Montgomery, whose contract already runs through June 2028. The incentive alone exceeds that teacher’s starting salary.

The contract says stay. The bonus says pretty please.

🦇 $352,079.00 in total compensation for Chief Technology Officer Jordan Salus.

☕ Even the coffee has a rental agreement.

Our schools exist for the children in the classrooms. The boards should budget like it.

Swipe for the figures and receipts. Save this post, share it with a neighbor, and ask both boards to put teachers and classrooms first:

📧 [email protected]
📧 [email protected]

Spending figures are rounded, nominal Parents Care estimates for FY2021–22 to FY2024–25. Assistant/teacher pay comparisons are for 2026–27; roles and calendars differ. The retention incentive is projected, not confirmed paid. Salus’s compensation total was supplied by Parents Care. Sources appear on the final slide.

10/29/2026

Good news for Lake Forest schools—and a community that kept showing up. 💙

In 2023, Parents Care called for academic achievement to become an explicit priority. Our community’s pressure led to its inclusion in board priorities and Portrait of a Learner.

Today, we’re celebrating strong 2026 Illinois Report Card results for D67 and D115.

To our hardworking teachers, parents, and students: thank you. Your daily effort makes these achievements possible.

Community oversight works. Join us to keep supporting the students and teachers at the heart of everything we do.

🔗 ParentsCare.org | Link in bio

10/26/2026

Students returned to a classroom before mold test results arrived. Parents deserved to know the full story.

After families raised concerns at LFHS, records obtained through FOIA documented more than an aging HVAC system struggling with humidity. They identified ventilation settings bringing in humid outside air, missing pipe insulation, and uninsulated valves that caused condensation damage.

One internal email captured the decision about returning to class: “So you can wait for results or go back in Monday. Your call.”

Who made that call? Did construction work contribute? Who is responsible—and who pays?

Follow-up testing supported reopening after cleanup. But that does not erase the need to explain the earlier decisions.

Children deserve safe classrooms. Teachers deserve a healthy workplace. Taxpayers deserve accountability.

Read our findings and the underlying records:

An LFHS hallway measured 130,000 spores per cubic meter. Records also document an early classroom return, building failures and unresolved costs.

10/22/2026

Philippe Melin of Parents Care addressed the D67 board this week: “Teachers are not the overhead. Teachers and their students are the mission.”

10/21/2026

Different opinions. Different backgrounds. One shared priority: students and teachers first. 💙

You don’t have to agree with your neighbors on everything to want great schools together.

At Parents Care, we want Lake Forest and Lake Bluff schools where kids thrive, teachers feel supported, and families have a voice.

Sound like your kind of community? You belong here. 🙌

Follow us and subscribe to our emails at the link in our bio. Stay informed, get involved, and help us put students and teachers first!

10/18/2026

Lake Forest: Are You OK With This?

Students reported the Friday wings meal rising from $6 to $10. Meanwhile, two group-meal charges on Superintendent Montgomery’s district card totaled $4,026.37—and those are just examples.

Our preliminary records review also suggests his travel may have overlapped approximately 44 school days in 2025–26, with professional trips including California and Florida.

Why must student meals pay for themselves while taxpayers cover restaurant bills and conference travel?

Students First. Every Dollar. Every Decision.

DM Parents Care with your concerns so we can bring them to the boards. Subscribe through our bio link.

10/16/2026

Administrative Spending Up 29%. What About Our Kids?

Your child’s education is the teacher who has time for them, the program they love, and the lunch they can afford.

Parents Care’s analysis estimates annual administrative spending across Districts 67 and 115 grew from $7.51 million to $9.66 million in three years—approximately $2.15 million more.

Meanwhile, families are raising concerns about:

🎻 Orchestra instruction. Families report that after their full-time orchestra specialist retired, responsibilities were redistributed to existing music teachers, including part-time educators. Those teachers deserve support—and students deserve the specialized instruction needed to preserve an outstanding program.

🏫 Class sizes. Cherokee parents challenged a proposal to reduce third-grade classrooms from three to two, raising concerns about larger classes and less individual attention.

🍎 Affordable meals. LFHS’s food service director described a goal of operating without taxpayer subsidy. Families deserve to understand how that approach affects meal prices—and why affordability isn’t a greater budget priority.

Before asking students and families to accept less, our boards should explain what they are doing to control administrative costs and protect student needs.

We’re advocating FOR excellent teachers, strong programs, adequate classroom staffing, and affordable, nutritious meals.

What does your child need? DM us or email [email protected]. We want to hear your concerns, bring them to the boards, and help make them a priority.

Great schools depend on dedicated teachers, involved parents, and an active community. Subscribe to our emails through the link in our bio and be part of the conversation.

Figures are rounded nominal estimates for FY2021–22 through FY2024–25 using Parents Care’s broader definition of central and school administration. Cherokee’s change was proposed; implementation has not been verified.

10/06/2026

🗳️ Voting is open! The Lake Forest Caucus vote closes at 8 p.m. tonight.

Make a plan to stop by, and remind a neighbor.

📍 Gorton Center
400 E. Illinois Road, Lake Forest
🕛 Today, October 6: Noon–8 p.m.
🪪 Bring your ID.

Registered voters who reside in Lake Forest are eligible. You’ll vote on each proposed candidate individually.

Regardless of your views or whether you agree with Parents Care, your voice deserves to be heard.

10/05/2026

Tomorrow’s Lake Forest Caucus vote: Who we endorse and why.

For this vote, our endorsements are based on one specific consideration: our direct experience with candidates’ willingness to communicate, engage with our questions, and have difficult conversations.

Candidates do not have to agree with Parents Care to earn our endorsement. Responsiveness matters, especially when we disagree.

District 67: Jay Connelly, Mark Pickett, and Kristin Vallaly.

District 115: Kirsten Kohlmeyer, Jennifer Neubauer, and John Noble.

We are not endorsing Monica Yaun. She has received dozens of emails from Parents Care and has never replied to or acknowledged any of them. This describes our experience; we cannot speak for every resident’s interactions with her.

These endorsements recognize responsiveness. They are not a comprehensive assessment of each candidate’s qualifications or record. Every board member will face the same scrutiny, including those we endorse.

Our community deserves school boards willing to listen, explain decisions, and engage with the people they represent. No single organization, including ours, speaks for everyone.

VOTE TOMORROW — Tuesday, October 6

📍 Gorton Center, 400 E. Illinois Road, Lake Forest
🕛 Noon–8 p.m.
✅ Registered voters residing in Lake Forest are eligible. Bring your ID.
🗳️ You will vote on each proposed candidate individually.

Regardless of your views or whether you agree with Parents Care, your voice deserves to be heard.

Please share this with a Lake Forest neighbor.