Education Matters US

I an live blogging the responses from the school board community forum. Please check back for updates throughout the night. Currently there are approximately 75 community members in attendance. This excludes school board members and school administration. My comments in (parenthesis).

1). Many people in the community would like to become more involved with the School Board and the Schools in D46. Listed as one of the goals of the BOE, is reaching out more to the community. While presenting their SIP Reports, Administrators expressed a need for more parental involvement. Are the Board Members and Administrative staff aware that their demeanor, expressions, and tone, yield feelings of being “unwelcome” and “condescended to”? Would at least 1 Administrator and 1 BOE Member address this and help the Parents at the Forum understand how we can be more involved in discussions with the BOE along with the Administrators at their respective schools?

Ellen Correll – PTO, PTF, Ellen’s Brown Bag lunches, read to children, many opportunities at all of the buildings.
Mary Garcia – if you have problems, go to the Principal. She does. Want to have a good relationship with the community.

2). Would it be possible to review the policies currently in place for student conduct (and consequences) in the classroom, school-grounds, and buses? Would the Policy Committee consider meeting with members of the community and note their suggestions on policy modification?

Ellen – all policies listed in parent handbook and directly relate to Illinois state regulations. Start with principal and contact her if needed.

3). There are reports that the Education Fund has a “surplus”, a “rainy day fund” if you will, of somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million dollars. What is the dollar amount in this fund? You have stated that some programs and personnel were eliminated due to low enrollment; what was the reason for not obtaining the balance of programs and personnel by utilizing a small portion of what is in the Education Fund?

Brad Goldstein – Surplus like a savings account used to pay day to day operations. Showed slide created by PMA showing 3 year spending. PMA, no affiliation with banks. Not in risky investments. 66% form local taxes. Sept. is the highest balance each year. 80% funds go to salaries. Recommnedation is to have 6 month cash on hand. Financial profile score of 4 (slide) showing 180 days on hand. May 4.4 million $ fund balance. Should be used for 1 time expenditure, not sustainable to use for saving jobs. Jobs are recurring revenue.
Shannon Smigielski – Why not take some of the money in savings to rehire some of the staff? PMA showing we are in the red 3 out 4 years except for 2010.
Ellen, Don’t want to spend too much so have to start borrowing.

4). With the State of Illinois in financial straits and D46 having $2.7 million dollars pending payment from the State, what provisions are being made should the monies not be provided as expected?

Brad – on target if State pays its bills. Would utilize fund balance if State did not pay.

5). We submitted the idea of moving toward more paperless options from the schools. The response we received is that paperless options are being looked at.
Please expand on that: Is the technology in place? Has a cost analysis been done to see how much it would cost to put a system in place? How much money will the district save? Have you considered using 1 school or a small group of parents to test a system on? How can the community help this become a reality?

Ellen – Technology is not yet, but are working toward that. Currently looking at virtual backpacks, started central registration, more flyers on website, emails at some schools, online report cards and grades. Want emails from community.
Mary – PTO flyer online for Meadowview.
Sue Facklam – striving to make sure how to reach parents without computers.

6). Have Band/Chorus fees been discussed further or decided on? If the BOE decides that fees for programs will be implemented, will it be in the ‘09/’10 year?

Ellen – tabled for next year, no new fees.

5). With 7 schools in our district, has any research been done on the impact of adding on to some current buildings and selling off other buildings to consolidate fees for property, building, teachers, staff, technology, etc.?

Ellen – ISC building is being emptied and could be sold. Tech moving into disctrict office. Special Needs and curriculum in Avon. Closing and selling a school not an option right now.

6). Are the Park Campus Buildings being used to capacity? If not, how much is not being used? Can you provide the approx. cost for maintaining the un-used portions? What are the plans for filling the buildings to capacity?

Ellen – following Kasarda report (population study). Park is experiencing student growth. May use some special needs to Park next year. All classrooms being utilized at Park.
Shannon – have parents been given opportunity to change schools if a school’s classroom size is higher than a parent wants?
Ellen – that has not been discussed yet.

7). Will you please provide an explanation for purchasing 258 Laptop computers? Could the purchase have been made utilizing less sophisticated laptops, in an effort to reduce cost?
a). We were advised that the BOE Members, Administration, and Tech Dept. have agreed that Tech Hardware Expenses will be way down in the next years to come in order to keep the Ed Fund money to pay for teachers salaries. Are the new Board Members aware of this and can we rely on you to follow through on this “promise”?

Ellen – a lot of new curriculum supplementals require computers. IEP’s must be done on computer, attendance is taken by teachers online.
Joe Nowak – Hadn’t bought computers in about 6 years. Only replaced computers that broke. Laptops for students being pulled out for teachers. 300 machines to labs with first round, 2nd round bought for teachers. They are in the service of students even if in hands of teachers. Joe shopped for computers. Will be training them over the next couple of years on the new technology.
Mary – As a teacher it is frustrating waiting for a computer to boot and be ready to use. Looked at other types of laptops as a part of the tech committee. Cheaper computers don’t allow students to do what they need to do because of less memory.
Sue – Had a tech committee that asked Joe questions. Benchmark needed a laptop 3 yrs old or newer. Joe asked for money to be used from FY09 budget. BOnd money bought from bond money for Frederick and Avon. Park money came out of furniture and supplies.
Shannon – money is still coming from our taxes, when cuts were getting ready to be made. All for getting teachers the needed equipment. Why 258, why not 150 to start? why not 100 to start when teachers are being cut?
Joe – 258 gave every certified teacher a laptop. Took the opportunity when the funds were available. Tech gets cuts when budgets are tough.
Brad – would needed new software, needed additional staff and training staff on if we bought $300 Dells instead of Macs.
Mary – didn’t want to come back in 3 years to buy more computers.
Ellen – NCLB has a goal of being computer literate by 8th grade. Digital Directions – China, India, Korea and Japan priority to make students literate to compete.

8). Will you please explain why the district opted to obtain 38 SMART Boards (when many districts have 1 or none)?
a). Currently, only 5 District Personnel have been formally trained on the SMART Board; What are the Districts plans for further training of those who have not been formally trained?

Mary – has a smart board in her classroom. Cannot do without it. Must have it get students engaged. Works with the education foundation with D46 Foundation. Prairie view has received smart boards from the foundation. It is just a tool allowing the teachers could not do before. can do “hide the answer” for the class. Training was phenomenal. It trained the trainers.

b). Cost of this training?

Ellen – 5 trainers in the district. they will now train

c). What is the lifespan of a SMART Board?

Mary – Software has the lifespan, the board is just a tool like a projector screen.

9). Have the Administrative Salary increases been determined?
a). If yes: By what % per individual?

No

b). If no: When does the BOE foresee this decision being made?

Mary – Hopefully July 8th board meeting

c). Has the BOE considered tying salary increases to CPI with a cap?

Mary – has not been discussed

d). What about Salary Freezes or Decreases?

Has been discussed

10). Is the BOE aware at this time of any upcoming cuts that to be made? (Can the BOE give us any idea on items or areas that will be looked at in the event that more cuts need to be made from us getting less revenues than we have expenses?

Ellen – believe they will have a balanced budget this year.
Sue – talked about cuts in spring, and expect FY10 budget to be balanced and will continue to monitor spending. In Dec, start looking at FY11 budget. Need to commend our Administration for working with the BOE in how these cuts could be made.

11). Why were we caught so completely off guard with the CPI? The economy has been in a recession since late 2007; did the PMA projections in 2007 & 2008 show this?
a). What provisions are being made to make sure we are covered when our housing assessments start to decrease and revenue declines as a result?

Ellen – currently planning on 0.1% CPI. (Assessments aren’t likely to go down – more later on this)
Brad – weren’t completely caught off guard. CPI based on December to December #. There tax $ based on CPI. Typically figure on 2.5%. Starting planning cuts in Decemeber when they knew CPI was 0.1%. 80-90 cuts made in non-human resource ways. PMA – utmost and respected company in school projects. IMRF going up 1% this year, will costs district $60,000. Tax bill did not go down this year. Rolling 3 year avg and hopefully go back up to 2.5%. Look 5 years out. Start talking in Oct. about what programs work or not. Too soon to start talking about next year. “We like status quo in school districts so we can monitor our growth.”

12). Is the Staff Development Budget being reduced for ‘09/10?
a). What % of the projected budget is for travel?
b). Have reductions been made in this area for everyone from administrators, teachers, to non-certified staff? If not, will reductions be made in this area?
c). How much of the Staff Development budget is allocated for Blue Ribbon of Excellence, Inc.? How much of the Superintendent’s Professional Development Account is allocated for Blue Ribbon of Excellence, Inc.?
d). Will any administrator, teacher, or staff member (certified or not) be attending the National Conference in Dec. 2009 @ Disney’s Contemporary Resort in Orlando Florida?

Ellen – (using flip chart) State has requirements for knowledge. $80,000 divided across buildings based on enrollment in each school. Some State funds to be used to PD, some special ed. Example – Title 2A. NCLB – all students must meet or exceed standards by 2014. Have curriculum needs in technology. “How do we move our district from good to great?” Need school improvement not just one student. Why Blue Ribbon – Ellen started it to move from good to great as a school improvement. Needed to know the good and the bad. 9 categories came out the effective schools research. Federal Blue ribbon program uses the same categories as the Blue ribbon schools we use. Listed the 9 categories. We did not go into this to buy awards as stated in the paper. It was worthwhile. Doesn’t feel bad about the expenses. Blue Ribbon information listed on website. Best use of PD money she has ever seen. Used PD money for new curriculum. Jeff Knapp (Woodview) – Blue Ribbon gave them a lot of information on what is working. Created a subcommittee to help go through it to improve. Using the Brain Research to improve. Gave us directions and pieces they needed for each school.
Laura – worked in the school district for 15 years. The evaluations helped us put our priorities in the right place. Very positive and beneficial.
Mary – gave out a gasp when saw the cost of Blue Ribbon. Looked at the Blue Ribbon website. Teachers brought back knowledge. Teachers want to host a Blue Ribbon conference here in Grayslake.
From Handout – Blue Ribbon Categories:

1. Student Focus and Support
2. School Organization and Culture
3. Challenging Standards and Curriculum
4. Active Teaching and Learning
5. Technology Integration
6. Professional Community
7. Leadership and Education Vitality
8. School, Family and Community Partnerships

13). What can the community do to help the Members of the Board? Superintendent? Administrative Staff? Schools?

Mary – need more community support at board meetings. Dry but give a lot of information.
Ellen – need more forums, email her. Do forums 2 or 3 times next year.

Audience Questions (I am paraphrasing):

Sabrina – 2 kids in D46. If a class gets larger, stick a new staff member or assistant in there. What is the difference in keeping staff in an additional classroom?

Lynn- Utilize staff wisely because they can’t do layoffs during the year.

Sabrina – Lost with some homework. Education has changed year to year. Can district provide sources to help with this?

Suggestion noted.

Colleen – Don’t question intent, but would like to know more of the decision process in making purchases like the laptops. Wants more transparency.

Mary – We’ve gone over the issues for many of the questions. What do you need from us to know what was on the agendas?
Colleen – will be more aware. Want to help but not sure where to go.
Keith – Need to be more clear on board agendas. Still your responsibility to look and see what is on the agenda.

Nadia – When are agendas put on website before meeting?

Ellen – posted the Wed. before. Meetings changing to Wed and agenda will be posted on Fri.

Nadia – Can there be feedback after public comment?

Mary – Frustrating to not get answers. Ellen made a committment will right down names and correspond directly.
Sue – try diligently to get back in touch about an issue. Contact us.

Sabrina’s husband – suggest answering question by posting on the website.
Lynn Barkley – Board meetings and agendas on the website.

? – use the individual school PTO as a resource.

? Springer – Have good teachers, but some have been let go. Kids switched classes. What is making schools parent friendly and how does it affect Blue Ribbons and improving schools.

Mary – tough decision, sat with administration to make these decisions. Will be wathcing and have already hired a floater.
Brad – there will be 2 secretaries at Prairie View

Sam – Any thought to getting community feedback in make cuts?

Mary – had several meetings open to the public, very poorly attended.
Sue – All board members here with administration for a special meeting to discuss this.
Shannon S – message did not get out to the community. They would have been here if they had known.
Mary -Will work on better communication with the community. Put it on website, on agendas, PTO presidents knew.

Mark – Business processing for many years. Important to measure for quality. Would you consider re surveying the community if they see the improvements? Can this survey be run yearly.

Mary – will redo survey. will look at the cost.
Karen – how do we get people to take the survey?
Mark – there is free or cheap software you can use.

Pam – will the video be on the site for an extended period of time for others to watch?

Yes

Pam – can we submit more questions for next forum?

Mary – Can email Ellen directly. Shannon can post answers on the Yahoo group. Group can aggregate questions and send on to Ellen

Note: all board members present except Mike Lindner. Ended up having about 80 people in attendance.