Glen Ellyn School District 41 Mission: Ignite passion. Inspire excellence. Imagine possibilities.
Board Members: John Vivoda President | Willie DiFabio Vice President | Debbie Hoffman Secretary
John Marcheschi | Carol McElvain | John Ruckstaetter | Walter Snodell
Following is a summary of the Board of Education meeting held on January 24, 2005
Board meetings are preceded by the half-hour "Listening Post", during which board members are on hand to listen to residents' comments.
CLARIFYING REFERENDUM CONCERNS: rumors about expenditures, park district Last year, D41 began a public facility planning process to find solutions to overcrowding; it has since discussed going to referendum in the future to fund a new school. Currently, 300 D41 students are housed in 12 portables or at the Park District. Next year, the district will have 26 portable classrooms in place. In response to resident questions, the Board addressed persistent rumors, closed session guidelines and a recent demographic study. • Superintendent Dr. Jack Barshinger explained that, despite rumors to the contrary, the Park District has made no building proposals to D41. The Park District did allow D41’s engineering consultants to evaluate the Main Street facility this summer; they estimated the building would need $4.3 million in renovations to meet school code, apart from purchase cost, and would yield only 13 of the 30 or so needed classrooms. There were numerous other challenges in converting the building into a school that meets today’s program needs, noted Dr. Barshinger. The BOE stressed that the district is always looking for ways to work with its community partners and urged anyone with ideas to share them at Board meetings where they can be openly discussed on the record. • The Board has not authorized any referendum-related expenditures. It has discussed the possibility of purchasing architectural services prior to a referendum in order to be able to present specifics to the community and to accelerate the construction timeline should the community support the building plan. It has authorized a process to review qualifications of area architectural firms (there is no cost to this process). The BOE is deferring decisions until installation of newly-elected BOE members after the April 5 election. • Closed sessions (also called executive sessions) are regulated by the Open Meetings Act and can be held only for specified reasons, such as discussing land acquisition or personnel issues. No action may be taken in closed session. The only matters pertaining to facility planning that the board has discussed in closed session relate to possible land purchase, said BOE member John Marcheschi. Closed sessions are taped and minutes are reviewed regularly for release to the public. • Board members expressed confidence in the demographic study, which projects steady enrollment growth for the foreseeable future, noting that The Northern Illinois University Center for Governmental used a much more comprehensive methodology than previous studies. Also, the Board reviewed the D41 facility planning process so far: • Public Process: The planning process has been public, participative and included hundreds of residents.The process started by brainstorming and analyzing scores of possible solutions, and gradually narrowed its focus to those options which had garnered the most public support. • After a series of eight public workshops, the BOE asked a Task Force of about 30 stakeholders to study the following options: continue using portable classrooms, build a new K-5 elementary school, build a new K-6 elementary school,or build a 5-6 intermediate school. The Task Force also made a preliminary study of the district’s Pre-Kindergarten needs. The BOE commissioned a comprehensive demographic study, which the Task Force used in its analysis. • The Board has endorsed the Task Force recommendation: build a new school, adopt a model of K-4 elementary schools, a 5-6 intermediate school and a 6-7 junior high and renovate existing schools. A referendum would be needed to fund this recommendation. Information on the $29.3 million recommendation, the demographic study and the planning process is posted Here!.
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 The Board of Education John Vivoda, President Willie DiFabio, Vice President Debbie Hoffman, Secretary John Marcheschi Carol McElvain John Ruckstaetter Walter Snodell |
WATCHD.O.G.S. UPDATE
This is the first year of a district-wide adoption of the WatchD.O.G.S. (Dads Of Great Students) program. Forest Glen piloted the program last year, and the district set aside $18,000 to get the program started with the intention to find grant money to reimburse expenditures and sustain the program in the future. Four grants are in the application process. D41’s program has one of the highest participation rates in the nation; even so, the program has been controversial. Supporters feel the program’s success in bringing hundreds of fathers and father-figures into the schools provides value to the district and to kids, others say it is an unnecessary expenditure that discriminates against moms and places some families in a painful position. Board members said they now realize that there was not adequate public discussion prior to implementing the program.
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NEXT STEPS ...
In April, the Board will review the WatchD.O.G.S. program and take public comment before deciding whether to reauthorize support for the program next year.
SERVICE LEARNING BUILDS EVERYDAY HEROES
Service learning is a tradition at Hadley, and the Board recognized Hadley teacher Lynn Bruno’s eighth grade students for an outstanding example that combined local and global concerns with meaningful individual action. As part of a Human Rights unit, the class partnered with the World Relief social service agency to help refugee families who are settling in the D41 attendance area. Students committed to supplying five families with everything needed to set up an apartment, including furnishings, cooking utensils, supplies and so forth. They wrote letters soliciting donations and organized the donations into “Welcome Packs.” Over winter break, students and parents delivered the items and set up the apartments.
LYNN BRUNO HONORED FOR NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFICATION
After her students were honored for their service project, Hadley teacher Lynn Bruno was recognized for successfully completing the rigorous National Board Certification process, becoming the second teacher in the district to achieve National Board Certification (the other is Hadley Art Technology teacher Frank Tomaszkiewicz). In what is the highest certification in the profession, the National Board Certification process measures a teacher’s practice against professional standards. To achieve it, teachers must engage in intense analysis and reflection upon their teaching practices, submit a portfolio documenting their teaching including videotape and student work and pass rigorous tests.
TWO FEBRUARY MEETINGS
There will be a BOE candidate training meeting on Monday, Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m. The next regular meetingis Feb. 28, 7:30 p.m. Both meetings will be held in the Board Room at Central Services, 793 N. Main St. GETV Channel17 videotapes the regular meetings for broadcast the following Monday at 8 p.m. Listening Post, an opportunity for the public to talk informally with board members, is held at 7 p.m. preceding regular meetings. There is no obligation to stayfor the meeting.
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