By Kate Thayer

Source Chicago Tribune

The St. Charles park board president cited a misunderstanding in explaining why the district sent out a press release that inaccurately described the departure of the parks director as a retirement due to his being “fully vested” in his pension, rather than as a resignation.

“Maybe we didn’t know what ‘fully vested’ meant,” said park board President Karrsten Goettel. “I don’t know what it means to be fully vested.”

The original announcement, issued on behalf of the St. Charles Park District, said Executive Director Ray Ochromowicz, 58, had announced his retirement, which would begin Aug. 31.

The release, sent out on April 24, also quoted Ochromowicz as saying: “I will be fully vested in my pension by August and have decided to explore other opportunities.”

But today, Ochromowicz told the Tribune that he won’t be fully vested for another five years. He also said he offered his resignation, effective Aug. 31, and never claimed to be retiring.

Additionally, Ochromowicz said he currently is looking for another job for when he leaves the park district. If he’s unable to find full-time employment, he could file early for his pension, he said.

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By: Kate Thayer

Source: Chicago Tribune

St. Charles Community Unit District 303 schools are likely to undergo security enhancements this summer, changes that will include panic buttons intended to alert police to intruders.

Even before the fatal mass-shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. last December, District 303 officials had begun examining ways to beef up security at the district’s 17 schools, said John Baird, assistant superintendent for operations. After the tragedy, administrators also solicited suggestions from teachers and other staff, leading to a list of about $304,000 in proposed improvements.

Recently, a school board committee signed off on the work. Final approval is expected at an upcoming meeting on May 13.

The bulk of the money will go to replacing locks on 630 classroom doors throughout the district. Most doors only lock from the outside, meaning a teacher would have to enter the hallway during a lock-down situation to lock the door, Baird said.

Changing the doors so they lock from the inside of the classroom was the No. 1 suggestion from teachers, according to Superintendent Donald Schlomann.

Other work includes installing two panic buttons in elementary and middle schools, and three panic buttons in the two high schools. Just like a fire alarm alerts the fire department, the panic buttons would alert police to respond to the school, Baird said.

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By: Ted Schnell

Source: The St. Charles Patch

The Chicago-based owner of two country clubs in St. Charles has hired an Atlanta firm to manage all four of its Chicago-area golf clubs.

Sequoia Golf Group announced Tuesday that is has been chosen to manage Royal Golf Group’s four county clubs in St. Charles, Long Grove and Winfield.

The selection of Sequoia Golf Group marks the conclusion of a two-year search by Royal Golf Group to find a management firm to run The Royal Fox Country Club, 4405 Royal Fox Drive, and The Royal Hawk Country Club, 5N748 Burr Road, both in St. Charles, as well as The Grove County Club, Long Grove, and Klein Creek Golf Club, Winfield.

“We look forward to working closely with Sequoia to further develop our network of courses,” Royal Golf Group owner John Weiss said in a press release issued Tuesday by Sequoia. “After two years of research we chose Sequoia based on our shared philosophy on how to manage private clubs, their strong national presence and their dynamic management experience.  We are proud to be affiliated with one of the highest caliber, most respected companies in the golf industry today, and together Sequoia and Royal Golf Group are committed to growing the game of golf.”

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