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A FAREWELL FETE NIU wishes VP Nicklas a happy retirement with party
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Pair vie for job as clerk Differ on priorities for county position By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com
Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Northern Illinois University President Doug Baker shares a moment with Bill Nicklas, vice president of operations and community relations, during Nicklas’ retirement party Friday at the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center. By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com DeKALB – When Bill Nicklas first came to Northern Illinois University after being hired as an associate vice president in 2011, he wasn’t sure how he’d connect with younger college students. Nicklas, now 66 years old, said he was already “very old” when then NIU President John Peters named him the university’s first associate vice president for institutional planning and sustainability. He came to NIU after 13 years as Sycamore city manager and was DeKalb’s city manager from 1992 to 1997. “You’ve all become my family,” Nicklas told a crowd during his retirement party Friday. “I’ve had losses in my own family. At the time when I needed it most, you adopted me. Thank you so much.” Nicklas’ retirement is effective today. The university held a retirement party Friday at Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center, 231 N. Annie Glidden Road, DeKalb, where those who spoke said Nicklas was a hard worker who will be missed. NIU President Doug Baker said he understood why Nicklas wanted to retire, mentioning a week that Nicklas had blocked out to spend with his grandchildren but ended up spending only four hours with them. Nicklas had said in August that he wanted to retire to spend more time with his family. Baker said that during his first day at
Northern Illinois University Vice President of Operations and Community Relations Bill Nicklas hugs Sycamore’s Joe Bussone before Nicklas’ retirement party Friday at the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center.
Bill Nicklas biography Education: Masters in American history (1973) and Ph.D. in American history (1983), both from NIU Employment history: Ben Gordon Center (19711975); carpenter (1976 to 1986); city manager in DeKalb (1992 to 1997); city manager in Sycamore (1998 to 2011); NIU (2011 to 2014)
Source: NIU NIU in 2013, DeKalb Mayor John Rey hosted an event so Baker could meet DeKalb area officials. Nicklas was on hand to introduce Baker to everyone that day. “Bill stood by my side and told me ev-
ery intimate detail about every one of you,” Baker said. Others who have known Nicklas for decades said it will be difficult to replace him. In fact, NIU announced Thursday that it would delegate Nicklas’ responsibilities as vice president of operations and community relations to several people. Among them, John Cheney, senior associate athletic director for facilities and game operations, will become an interim associate vice president for facilities management and campus services. Jennifer Groce, who has been managing “communiversity” initiatives, will take on more community relations responsibilities in a new Office of Community Affairs. Mike Mann will serve as liaison with the NIU Board of Trustees. John Butler, the chairman of the board, said it will honor Nicklas during its December meeting. That was after Butler jokingly shared his opinion about Nicklas’ retirement. “You know I’m not happy about this, Bill,” Butler said. “We talked about how unhappy I am about this, but you do as you wish.” Nicklas also oversaw bus operations when the IHSA football championships came to NIU for the first time last year. Assistant athletic director Sue Hansfield said Nicklas is a professional and down-toearth person.
See NICKLAS, page A5
SYCAMORE – Both candidates for DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder have held elected office before and are both looking to be elected as the county’s record-keeper for the first time. Doug Johnson, a Sycamore Republican and current clerk and recorder, served on the Sandwich School District 430 board in the 1990s. His opponent, Trent Taylor, a DeKalb Democrat, served from 2012 to 2014 as a precinct committeeman for DeKalb’s 25th precinct. Johnson was appointed clerk and recorder in March after the former clerk, John Acardo, resigned. “I want to lower the costs of elections for the county and increase access and efficiency of elections,” Johnson said. Johnson said since his appointment, he has brought back the DeKalb County Reference and Yearbook, which includes contact information for county officials as well as listing which County Board members represent each district; reimplemented using the township supervisor to set up polling places in their respective townships; and moved the county’s marriage, birth and death records from the DeKalb County Highway Department in DeKalb to the county’s Administration Building in Sycamore. Taylor, who works as a title examiner specialist with Fox Title in DeKalb, said he wants to educate DeKalb County residents about what a clerk and recorder offers and keep the technology moving forward. “I really want to make this office more visible,” Taylor said. “Use social media and Twitter to know what’s available for people to be educated
Doug Johnson Party: Republican Town: Sycamore Age: 57 Occupation: Real estate investments, property management
Trent Taylor Party: Democrat Town: DeKalb Age: 38 Occupation: Title examiner specialist with Fox Title in DeKalb
Election Central Follow the local, state and national races at Daily-Chronicle.com/ election.
See CLERK, page A5
School test scores largely beat average State report compares local districts’ results By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com DeKALB – DeKalb School District 428 Superintendent Doug Moeller is already looking ahead to the next school year as officials prepare for revamping student achievement tests. In a state report released Friday, District 428 and its schools fell below state averages in many standardized testing categories, as well as the number of freshmen considered on track to graduate high school. However, Moeller said his district is working to address some of the issues.
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The district offers a rising star program to help struggling students and the district also doubled the amount of math instruction for middle-schoolers. “There wasn’t much of a change [in the test scores]. Some just dropped a point or two,” Moeller said. “Obviously, I’m not happy that the scores went down a few points.” School Report Card data for Illinois public schools was released Friday by the Illinois State Board of Education. The report has been produced by the state board since 1986 and had been a federal requirement of the No Child Left Behind Act since 2002. The report measures test scores and learning environments for students in kindergarten through 12th grades. Last school year was the final one in which students took the Illinois StanC E L E B R AT E
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dard Achievement Test and the Prairie State Achievement Examination. With the shift to the new Common Core State Standards, students will take the new Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test this school year. From 2001 until this year, federal expectations dictated whether a school and district made Adequate Yearly Progress based on guidelines set by the No Child Left Behind Act. Progressively on the rise was the benchmark percentage of students who had to meet or exceed reading and math standards set by the state – 85 percent in 2012 became 92.5 percent in 2013. The goal was for 100 percent of students to meet or exceed standards by 2013-14.
See SCHOOLS, page A6
Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Deep in thought, Tyler Elementary fifth-grader Elaina Swafford, 10, decides what she’s going to draw in the background of her pumpkin drawing Wednesday during art class. Since interior renovations were made to Tyler Elementary in DeKalb this summer, Principal Andria Mitchell reports higher school morale and fewer behavioral issues with students.
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County Board District 9 candidates talk spending, enterprise zone / A3
Battle-tested Spartans ready for Westinghouse / B1
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