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Glen Ellyn School District 41 Mission: It is the mission of District 41 to advocate for students enabling each one to optimize his/her potential within a culture of continuous improvement.
Board Members:
Terra Costa Howard President |
John Kenwood Vice President |
Erica Nelson Secretary |
Kevin Cosgrove |
John Vivoda |
Steven Vondrak|
Robert Solak
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Following is a summary of the Board of Education meeting held on February 2, 2009. An MP3 recording of the meeting is available on www.d41.org Minutes are posted once approved.
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PUBLIC HEARING FOR STORMWATER PROJECT
The Board of Education (BOE) meeting was preceded by a public hearing on a proposed stormwater detention project at Benjamin Franklin School, 350 Bryant Ave., Glen Ellyn. The project will provide underground detention on the site and reconfigure and expand school parking. A letter from the Village of Glen Ellyn was read into the record stating that the proposed project was in full conformity with local ordinances. There was no public comment made.
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UPCOMING MEETINGS
A Board retreat will be held on Monday, Feb. 9, 6:30 p.m. The next regular Board of Education meeting is set for Monday, March. 2, 7:30 p.m. Both meetings will be held at the Central Services Office, 793 N. Main St., Glen Ellyn. The Board Meeting of March 16 will be held at 7:30 p.m. at Benjamin Franklin School, 350 Bryant Ave., Glen Ellyn. The public is always welcome and encouraged to attend Board meetings.
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HADLEY PROGRAMS MEET RANGE OF LEARNER NEEDS
Hadley Junior High hosted the Board of Education (BOE) meeting and gave an overview of Academic Support, a program that targets struggling learners and strives to help them achieve at grade level in reading and math. A special effort is made to identify incoming sixth graders who will need help so that their transition to Hadley is successful. The program was designed to align with the Hadley mission and is based on research into how to help struggling learners. It features small class sizes, ongoing assessment and progress monitoring, incentives for learning and individual attention. The goal is to prepare students to be successful in their regular grade-level class. Hadley considers the program a key strategy in meeting the requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, which focuses on closing achievement gaps among groups of students and requires that all students meet state standards in reading and math by 2014.
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLANS FOCUS ON MATH AND LITERACY
The five principals gave an overview of their School Improvement (SIP) Plans. Developed by each school's Building Leadership Team, the plans set specific and measurable learning goals. The principals stressed that while each building has its own strengths and challenges, they work together to share their strategies and successes and build a vision for success supported by SIP plans that are based on student achievement data and can be monitored for improvement.
Next Steps: For the future, the principals are working on ways to schedule the existing instructional time to allow systemic daily enrichment or intervention time that meets individual needs, whether a student is working at, below or above grade level.
HADLEY NEW HORIZONS RECOMMENDATIONS PRESENTED
At its January meeting, the BOE heard a presentation on the Hadley New Horizons (HNH) proposal. The original timeline called for BOE action on the recommendations Feb. 2, but this was delayed to March 2 to allow the BOE time to consider the costs of the recommendation before taking action. The BOE agreed to the administration's request to continue working on those portions that are recommended for implementation next year. These are expanded course offerings and increased math instruction. The costs associated with implementing the expanded courses and additional math are $291,866. This figure includes up to three additional staff members as well as curricular materials and resources. The BOE discussed these expenditures in context with the deteriorating financial climate, the high priority of the HNH project, the anticipated benefits to the students and the options for compensating for the expenditures with efficiencies elsewhere in the budget. Click here for more information on HNH.
Next Steps: The BOE will take action on the HNH recommendations for expanded course offerings and increased math instruction on March 2. The recommendations for organizing students in multi-grade houses, encouraging some seventh grade teachers to loop up to eighth grade with their students, and teacher-student mentoring are under study with no plans for implementation at this time.
SUMMER CAPITAL PROJECTS APPROVED
The BOE approved the low bids for a number of summer projects, including electrical, mechanical and paving work at multiple sites, a new boiler at Hadley and a stormwater detention project at Benjamin Franklin. The BOE approved contracts with Amber Mechanical Contractors for $640,300 and Chicagoland Paving Contractors for $670,999.
CLASS-SIZE TARGETS
The BOE discussed class-size targets, which the administration is recommending remain unchanged for the coming year. These are: K-2, 20-22 students; Gr. 3, 23-25 students; Gr. 4-5, 25-27 students; and Gr. 6-8, 26-28 students. These targets are guidelines used by the district as it plans the number of sections and teachers needed for the coming year. The guidelines are flexible and other factors may influence class size and/or the addition of aides. The BOE expects to take action on the targets at its March 2 meeting.
SOCIAL STUDIES ADOPTION
The BOE reviewed two new Hadley social studies textbooks that are proposed to replace the outdated books now being used. The books support the curriculum, which has been recently aligned with Federal, State and local learning standards. The books would be purchased with the assistance of a State program, which will provide about $30,000 toward the overall cost of $88,498.05. The social studies department field tested a number of alternatives and made its selection based on overall quality, organization, curricular alignment, and accessibility and quality of support materials, particularly technology-based materials. The recommendation for sixth grade is "History of our World" published by Prentice Hall; the recommendation for seventh and eighth grades is "American Journey" published by Glencoe. The materials are on public display at the Central Services Office. The BOE expects to act on the recommendation at its March 2 meeting.
STUDENT FEES
The administration is recommending that student fees for 2009-2010 remain unchanged, with the exception of "pass-through" costs for items like gym uniforms that are unknown at this time. Fees range from $56 for Kindergarten to $115 for Hadley. Hadley activity fees are on a sliding scale starting at $30 for the first activity to $3.75 for the fourth activity.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
A resident asked if there were additional space requirements for the Hadley New Horizons recommendations; the superintendent replied that there were not.
About the Glen Ellyn School District Board of Education
Board members are unpaid volunteers, each representing the whole district. The board is accountable to the public and makes decisions as a unit based on what is best for the whole district. The board hires the superintendent, sets instructional policy, approves the budget and ongoing expenditures, and is ultimately responsible for the performance of the district. Board meetings are working sessions held in public during which the board conducts its business, and ample time is always set aside for public participation.
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Please direct your questions or comments to our Communications Director, Julie Worthen at jworthen@d41.org. |
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