Education Matters US

These are my notes for the School Board meeting on 1/17/2006. If there are any corrections or additions please let me know. My comments are in [italics].

The agenda was approved after the Union Contract and the Sale to the Village of Hainesville were removed. It was stated that there were still some final issues being worked out with the contract and they were not ready to vote on it yet. The Hainesville sale was removed because the Board needed more information.

Accounts payable were approved after a couple of questions.

• Could the District do the paperwork needed to save the $1000 payment to William Blair this year. It was stated Dan probably could and would do research to find out. Update: The future costs will $2500 per year. It was only $1000 this year becuase of the bond issuance.
• What was the over $425 (?)payment to EDAT (sp?) for? Dan said this was a service that provides District with comparisons and a lot of data that is useful.

Board Member and Superintendent Reports

• Mark
  • Grayslake Review – Article about Lucy Stein (sp?) being selected for “Who’s Who Among American Teachers”
• Jill
  • One community members had requested a video copy of the Kasarda report to check out. Jill thought this might be a good idea for all special presentations if the District had the capacity to make the extra copies. Update:It was also mentioned that others requested this for future presentations.
  • Had several requests for more transparency
  • Concerned about goals
  • Appreciated Mark bringing in the articles from the papers
• Cheryl
  • Thanked John and Dr. Rose for the tour of the school
• Ellen
  • Annouced the 8^th grade won the Sub Midwest Conference Tournament. Wondered if the Board would be willing to recognize them. Maybe the PTO would pay for a banner that could be hung up in the gym.
  • Middle School Alumni night went well last week.
  • Feb is the 83 showdown, Ellen on both teams
  • PTO bought books for the first graders they could take home and will tracking to see if reading improvements take place.
  • Kasarda report is on the website or will be up very soon.

Public Comment
Pam Gish, 3^rd grade Avon teacher asked for reinstatement of the Academy Class program. She went through several ideas and benefits to the kids, district and the teachers [I know I don’t have them all. Here is Pam's statement. (reformatted for display purposes]:

[Thank you Pam for sending me a copy to post. It is much more accurate this way. I don't see how it is possible not to cost money. It will count toward their improvement which raises their salary. Depending on when they are taught it will require substitute staffing or will cost addiotnal money because of the additional duties being performed outside the scope of their normal job.]

Action Items

• Personnel Report
  • General Items – Approved
  • Special – Rescind Teacher 2005A Dismissal – Approved [There was no discussion as to why this was rescinded]

Information & Discussion

• ISAT Test Items
  • Ellen will bring samples to the Board to take if they wish.
• Treasurer’s Report
  • Dan gave report. [I didn’t get all the figures written down]
  • Revenue
    • Interest – $72 K
    • Property Tax payment – $267 K
    • State Aid – 2 payments of $303 K
    • Federal Aid – $81 K
    • $62 Million at beginning of month
    • $57 Million at end of month [This includes the Bond money issued last year. This money is restricted to the building.]
    • Most of the balance is in the Illinois Liquid Asset Fund. This fund is used by most district because they get a better interest rate
  • Jill
    • would like Treasurer’s signature on report. The paperwork is being done to switch the position from Ellen to Dan.
    • would like a second page showing investments. Kristen concurred and it was agreed this would be done quarterly.
    • would like to see comparisons to previous year
    • would like to see a year to date summary as well with explanations of upcoming expenditures. This would possibly allow more effective or timely use of the contingency funds.
  • Dan will also research other funds as asked by Kristen.
• Focus Group Review [I have the accurate copy from Ellen. Reformmated for easier reading.. See the original questions here.]
  
  

  In May of 2004, the Community Consolidated School District 46 Board of Education, in conjunction with Education Consultants & Research Associates (ECRA), administered a parent/community survey concerning District 46 schools. The objective of the survey was to measure the satisfaction of parents and community members with respect to the quality of education and funding in District 46. This also served as a follow-up to a similar survey conducted by ECRA in 2002. Prior to my actual arrival and hire date, I sent a two question survey to every District 46 staff member. Staff were asked to identify three things they especially liked about District 46 and three things that they would like to see changed. Beginning in the fall of 2005, I conducted Focus Group meetings with members of the community, asking the following questions: What are the strengths of District 46? What concerns do you have regarding District 46? What suggestions do you have for District 46? There are similarities that weave throughout all three documents. Attached are the most frequent responses from each document. This should also help you when considering potential Board goals. Compilation of Data from Focus Groups *These are responses reported at least 2 times and in ascending order of frequency. What are the strengths of District 46? Teachers Staff Parents Schools Principals Current School Board Communication PTO Pre-K Friendliness of Office Staff Technology Continuous Improvement Team Workers What concerns do you have? Curriculum – reading, math Transition/communication between levels (K-4 – 5-6 – 7-8 – High School) Lack of staff development Technology Lack of consistency Special Education policies, procedures, practices Gifted Program (lack of) Facilities (including Woodview, Avon and Pre-K) Loss of programs, again School Board communication/credibility Retaining teachers Understaffed Class sizes too high Writing Grading not “actual” Lack of resources Lack of job descriptions Constructivism vs content What suggestions do you have? Improve/develop a plan for Board/Community communication Develop transition plan for all levels Improve special ed Hire a grant writer Develop plan for gifted Develop plan to improve technology Develop consistent K-8 curriculum Identify resources Prioritize facility needs Find permanent home for Pre-K Consistency among buildings Improve communication Review math, language arts, handwriting Hire additional staff Return to basic concepts Teach students to think Develop teacher training Spend money wisely

• Jill mentioned she had received positive feedback about the focus groups from the community.

Sue – reminded aboard there is a standing invitation for all board members to visit the Kindergarten classes.

UPDATE: I received a few updates/corrections from others who attended the meeting. The additions/corrections have been made throughout the notes.