D41 Board Highlights

Following is a summary of the Board of Education (BOE) highlights from the March 24 meeting. Minutes are posted on www.d41.org once approved.

CHURCHILL WELCOMES BOARD of EDUCATION
The Board of Education (BOE) held its March 24 meeting in the Churchill Learning Center. The meeting opened with a presentation during which students explained how they experience the school’s mission statement: “Love to learn, Cherish the journey, Embrace the world.” The personal and individual expressions of the students’ relationship to their school’s mission included observations from young students such as “I take a book and have a ball with it—I just love to read,” and “Once a boy in our class got hit in the head and everyone made sure he was OK,” to more sophisticated comments from the fourth and fifth graders, such as “Working together is how we support our mission statement,” “Scrapbooking captures all the wonderful things that happen at Churchill,” and “In many ways, Churchill has helped me embrace the world and conquer life.” In addition, students performed a skit about the many author visits Churchill has experienced, and gave a presentation about “A Chip of Churchill,” the school newspaper. This was the fourth school-based BOE meeting, and BOE President Terra Costa Howard noted, “We are all one school district, but each school is unique. You can tell how much you love your building, and how proud you are.” The next school-hosted BOE meeting will be at Hadley on April 28.

CHURCHILL PLAYGROUND BID DISCUSSED
The administration recommended accepting a bid from Green-Up Landscape, Inc. to provide Churchill’s new playground. As has been done with Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin and Forest Glen, D41 will share with the PTA costs associated with replacing aging playground equipment. The Churchill PTA has raised approximately $15,000 toward the project, and D41 will provide the remaining $46,420. The BOE expects to take action on the recommendation at its April 14 meeting.

NEXT MEETING:
The next BOE meeting will be held Monday, April 14 at Central Services. The April 28 meeting will be held at Hadley. Special meetings may be called and will be posted 48 hours in advance. All meetings will be held at Central Services, 793 N. Main St., unless otherwise noted. The public is encouraged to attend meetings.

LITERACY MATERIALS ADOPTED
The BOE approved the administrative recommendation to purchase a mix of materials to support the balanced literacy curriculum that is being introduced district-wide. The recommendation is the result of a curriculum-development process that began in 2005 and was guided by the Literacy Committee. Over the course of the 2007-2008 school year, many teachers field-tested instructional materials and provided feedback. Assistant Superintendent for Teaching, Learning and Accountability Karen Carlson, and District Literacy Specialist Judy Heller, noted that the materials recommendation is based on research and will provide teachers with a combination of resources to help them move all children forward. The materials address the instructional needs of English as a New Language Learners and Special Education students as well as those of general education students. The materials will help create literacy-rich classrooms and support a K-8 curriculum with common proficient reader strategies and vocabulary about learning. The materials also align with the Illinois Social Emotional Learning Standards. After taking into account state funding of $96,864.68, the materials will cost the District $188,461.00. Professional development for teachers will be provided in May of this year.

BUS CONTRACT WITH FIRST STUDENT RENEWED
The BOE approved a one-year extension of the District’s bus contract with First Student, Inc., formerly Laidlaw Transit Co. The contract includes a 3% increase, which is less than the current Consumer Price Index of 4.1%. The cost for 36 daily routes will be $727,474; the cost for field trip transportation is budgeted at $47, 581.

OTHER MATTERS
• Summer school: The BOE approved an intergovernmental agreement with the College of DuPage, allowing COD to provide summer school courses in collaboration with D41. Open to all D41 students, summer school will be held this year at Abraham Lincoln School. D41 and COD have collaborated in this manner since 1999. The Summer School brochure is posted on D41’s E-BackPack.
• Community Conversation update: Superintendent Dr. Ann Riebock reported on the planning process with other local governmental agencies regarding the “Community Conversation.” Meant to be a forum to gather community perspectives with an eye to finding more ways for local agencies to collaborate, the event was originally targeted for this spring; however, the project has been put on hold for the time being, said Dr. Riebock. In the meantime, the various governmental agencies will continue to discuss a future event at a date that works better for all involved, and that provides time to develop the idea more fully.
• Student Data System: District 41 is currently implementing a new Student Data System. Staff training is underway on the new software, which will provide greater efficiencies and more features for such basic services as student registration and record keeping.
• Piano donation: The BOE gratefully accepted the donation of a high-quality Baldwin upright piano for placement in the Hadley orchestra room. The piano will be fitted with a plaque acknowledging the donor—the Crawford family—who is also paying for moving costs. The donation is valued at $5,000.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
A parent expressed a safety concern about some inadequately marked and some unmarked intersections of side streets and Kenilworth Avenue and asked the BOE to look into the matter.