By rssfeeds-admin 
Country Club Hills resident Sequoia Williams said she noticed problems from the get-go last year, after enrolling her children in Country Club Hills School District 160 (CCHSD 160).
“I found out a lot of the administrators were on leave at the office due to mismanagement of finances,” Williams said.
Since then, Williams has continued to be a very vocal participant in school board meetings, which is where WGN-TV met her in May. It emerged then that the district’s finances might need some scrutiny, so WGN-TV started digging into the spending habits of Superintendent Duane Meighan and the rest of the board, namely former president and current secretary, Jacqueline Doss.
“There is a petition for them both to step down,” Williams said. “They are both part of the issues.”
The lengthy list of issues includes—in just the last two and a half years—district credit card reports in Meighan’s name, showing hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on high end hotel stays and upscale restaurants.
Reports obtained by WGN-TV show roughly $244,700 in charges to hotels, ranging from the Hilton in New Orleans, The Bellagio in Las Vegas, and the Marriott in Atlanta. Those three charges were for more than $27,800 by themselves.
“They’ve taken sports away. They’ve taken all of the extracurricular activities that our children have had, they’ve taken them away. They keep telling us, we don’t have money,” Williams said.
Food-related expenses added up to nearly $128,000, with countless payments to Door Dash and Uber Eats, including $3,500 spent at Cooper’s Hawk in Orland Park, and more than $2,900 at two high-end steakhouses in Washington, D.C., and Napa, California.
“We get that school boards will go out to eat. We get that they go and they converse about different things going on in the community, the school and things like that, but it’s egregious at this point,” Williams said.
The cost of getting to and from such restaurants and resorts climbed to over $67,500 in airline charges, with occasional add-ons like onboard Wi-Fi and airport security upgrades, such as Clear and TSA Pre-Check.
Things came to a head last Monday at the district’s board meeting with news that other credit cards may also be open in the district’s name.
According to reports obtained by WGN-TV, ground transportation costs for services like Uber trips and limousine services total more than $96,000.
New board president Sharon Mack recently took the reins from Doss, who has been under scrutiny concerning a Ford F-150 truck, which she allegedly purchased from the district for $500. That money has since been returned to her on May 19 when she relinquished the vehicle.
According to the district, it has admitted that it’s worth a lot more.
“The board needs to discuss this … but as of right now, the only thing we can say is thank you for the donation,” Mack said.
Meighan previously claimed he knew nothing about the ordeal.
“I didn’t really know about the sale of the truck, but I do know that former president Doss was working with the business manager regarding that,” Meighan said.
“But if you knew they were working on the transaction, then you were aware of the transaction,” Mack replied.
Following Monday’s meeting, who signed the title in that transaction is still a mystery.
Both Doss and Meighan declined WGN-TV’s interview requests via email. Attempts for an in-person interview were also unsuccessful.
The problems do go beyond the bottom line, however.
Parents said safety is a significant issue, citing difficulties with bus routes and a lack of crossing guards. Security and discipline are also top of mind. According to a school email, a man allegedly entered Meadowview Intermediate in April without permission and was then escorted off-site.
According to the Illinois Report Card, 69.6% of the CCHSD 160 student population are from low-income families, and 3.4% are homeless.
Enrollment numbers have also declined in recent years. The Illinois Report Card also shows total enrollment has fallen from 1,321 students in 2020 to 993 during the 2024 academic year.
WGN-TV has learned that the decline could continue as a result of parents demanding Meighan’s removal.
“We will not be enrolling our children until two things happen. Either Dr. Meighan is terminated or he resigns,” Williams said.
By the conclusion of last Monday’s meeting, the school board approved hiring a forensic accountant. WGN-TV was told that future transactions, such as those involving the F-150, will be done in open forum.
A special school board meeting for Country Club Hills School District 160 has been scheduled for Tuesday, where agenda items include the previously mentioned F-150, school bussing issues and credit card expenses.
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