D41 Board Highlights

Following is a summary of the Board of Education (BOE) highlights from the May 5 meeting. Minutes are posted on www.d41.org once approved.

MORE DISCUSSION OF ADDING HADLEY PORTABLES
Board of Education (BOE) members continued discussing whether to approve a six-classroom portable unit for installation Hadley Junior High. The administration noted that the portables are needed to support program and instructional needs, not because of an increase in enrollment. While Hadley will still be crowded, the administration provided data showing how the portables will alleviate those space stressors that are inhibiting instruction, particularly Language Arts instruction. The Language Arts Balanced Literacy curriculum is designed to be delivered in a daily 90-minute uninterrupted block of instruction, using a variety of curricular materials. For the most part, it is intended to be delivered in a workshop format that integrates whole-class, small group and individual work. However, many Hadley students have half of their LA block at one time, and half at another, sometimes with two different teachers. This makes the workshop format difficult to implement. Many teachers move between classrooms during the day, which makes them less available to students between classes and means they must transport their instructional materials from one classroom to another (Hadley has provided teachers with wheeled carts, but crowded halls make navigation difficult). If an LA teacher is conducting class in a math classroom, the students don’t have access to the usual instructional resources present in an LA classroom, such displays of student work, posters and other visual instructional cues. Also, some Hadley classes are held in the Pods, spaces that were not designed for instruction. Next year, Hadley is introducing Academic Support, a class for students who are not achieving at grade level in LA or Math, and expects to add Core Extension classes for 2009-2010. While these will be in place of Large Group, the changes will increase the need for classroom space somewhat. The Hadley staff has done a number of test schedules to quantify the impact of six additional classrooms, given the expected enrollment and program plan for next year. With the addition of six portable classrooms:

• Shared rooms would be reduced from 34 to 12.
• Classes held in the Pods would be reduced from 7 to 0.
• Teachers who go from room to room would be reduced from 18 to 7.
• Interrupted LA blocks would go from 6 to 0.
• Teachers with no assigned spot for their plan period would go from 20 to 0.
• Space utilization would go from 91.5% to 82.4% (the recommended standard for a middle school is 78%), allowing some flexibility of scheduling.

The BOE raised the following questions:
• Should D41 build a permanent addition to Hadley instead of adding portables? Should money be spent on portables that could be put toward a permanent solution?
• Are six portables enough?
• If D41 just focused on creating uninterrupted LA blocks, could Hadley manage with fewer portables?
• Should D41 wait to install more portables until the Hadley New Horizons, the District 2008 Vision Project and the Master Facilities Plan are completed so that any space implications of these projects are incorporated into the plan?
• How can D41 assess the success of its instruction when the learning environment does not support it?

The administration recommends a three-year lease of one six-room unit. One-time all-inclusive costs for installation, furnishings, electrical hookups, landscaping, stairs, ramps and fees will be $525,000 and the annual lease cost is $54,950, for a total over three years of $689,850. By comparison, purchasing the unit outright would cost $835,000 installed and furnished. Unit removal and site remediation would cost approximately $50,000 regardless of whether the unit is leased or purchased.

Next Steps:
The BOE requested a cost-analysis for adding two or four portable classrooms, and a calculation of how many portables it would take to create uninterrupted LA blocks without addressing the other space issues. A public hearing on the matter is set for 7:15 p.m. on May 19, preceding the regular BOE meeting.

NEXT MEETING:
Board meetings are held at Central Services, 793 N. Main St., unless otherwise noted. The public is encouraged to attend meetings. The next BOE meeting will be held Monday, May 19, 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be preceded at 7:15 p.m. by a public hearing on the portables. A special workshop related to the upcoming Vision process will be held Wednesday, May 14, 6:00 p.m. at Forest Glen; the workshop will be preceded by a closed session at 5:30 p.m.

BOARD MEETING CALENDAR ADOPTED
The BOE approved the following dates for its regularly scheduled meetings: In 2008, Aug. 4 and 18, Sept. 15, Oct. 6 and 20, Nov. 3 and 17, Dec. 1 and 15. In 2009, Jan. 12, Feb. 2, Mar. 2 and 16, April 6 and 20, May 4 and 18, June 1 and 15. For the most part, these dates are the first and third Mondays of the month; in previous years, BOE meetings were scheduled mainly on the second and fourth Mondays. The change was made to provide more opportunities for BOE members and residents to attend meetings held by other governmental agencies as well.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
A resident advised the District to use clear terminology when describing the LA Block. A resident urged the BOE to take action to support the learning environment for students and teachers at Hadley, and shared the perspective that it would be difficult to gain community support for an addition to Hadley.