Good News
Principals Pokorny Lyp and Walsh introduced student liaisons Nautica Kindred from Hinsdale South and Jackson Hughes from Hinsdale Central, who provided the board with information and updates from their reports.
The report from Kindred featured information about several of the events and activities that were held at South in October, including Teen Reading Week and Red Ribbon Week. It touted some of the recent accomplishments earned by South's student-athletes, including the varsity girls cross country team qualifying for state for the first time in school history. It also included information about the three individuals who were inducted into South's Hall of Fame (Omowale Casselle, Barbara Alyn Woods and Lieutenant Colonel Bradley Bucholz) on Nov. 8. You can access Kindred's report by visiting
http://bit.ly/34Q1wKR.
The report from Hughes featured information about some of the school's recent and upcoming events and activities, including the Day of Service and fall production of "Peter and the Starcatcher." It showcased accomplishments by some of Central's academic and athletic teams, including a first place finish by the forensics team, a conference championship by the varsity girls swimming and diving team, and a second place finish in state by the varsity girls tennis team. It also included student feedback about the number of people served during each lunch period. You can access Hughes' report by visiting
http://bit.ly/2NBLWNa
.
Strategic Plan Goal 1, Strategy 1
Principals Walsh and Pokorny Lyp provided the board with a brief update about the work that is being done to advance Goal 1, Strategy 1 of the
district's strategic plan
, which is aimed at ensuring that “course and instructional units include common critical competencies, aligned assessments between the two high schools and multiple measures of success.” This work includes the development of a grading and reporting philosophy for the district, the continued development of building-specific programs of study for Central and South, and the creation of progress charts that detail the course alignment process being used by every department. The ultimate goal of these efforts is to produce a program of studies for the district by the start of the 2024-25 school year that will be fully aligned between both high schools, and will consist of common course offerings and fees.
You can access the update the board received, which included detailed information about the five-year plan for creating a common program of studies and the work being done this year on grading and reporting, by visiting
http://bit.ly/2QmKtwf
.
Policy Committee Report
Members of the Policy Committee provided the board with a report from their meeting on Nov. 4. The topics covered during the meeting included discussions about:
- Policies that were returned to the committee for additional review
- Proposed policies from the first four sections of the draft manual that required committee or board consideration
- Policies that would be presented to the board for review or approval during its meetings in November
- Policies that are going to be included or were removed from the draft policy manual
- The status of the policy manual customization, including details about the role that the staff and administration will play in the process
- The development of the administrative procedures that will correspond with the policies in the manual
The committee members also led a board discussion about the resolutions that are scheduled to be reviewed and voted on during the Annual Meeting of the IASB Delegate Assembly on Nov. 23. During the discussion, the board stated that it would not support the resolution that would "allow voluntary district employees, in any capacity, the ability to carry a concealed firearm on district property."
Human Resources Committee Report
Members of the Human Resources Committee provided the board with a report from their meeting on Nov. 5. The topics covered during the meeting included discussions about:
- The proposed addition of a 12-month employee at Central to serve as a junior registrar and administrative assistant who will provide support to the school's registrar, main office and counseling department
- Longevity stipends for secretaries, confidentials, and specialist and financial staff that would be based on years of service and achieving specific professional development goals
- Streamlining post retirement benefits for non-union staff members, more specifically the number of paid days they would receive after retiring (based on the number of years of service)
- The creation of a culture and equity leadership team in conjunction with Goal 3 (Work Environment) of the district's strategic plan
Consent Agenda
The board voted to approve the consent agenda as amended. The consent agenda includes personnel, stipends, board bills and meeting minutes. Please visit
http://bit.ly/2Cz1qeH
to access the
consent agenda items beginning under number seven.
Emergency Resolution for Boiler Repair
The board voted to approve resolution #20.07 authorizing the emergency expenditure of funds in an amount not to exceed $67,500 that will be used to pay Hudson Boiler & Tank Company to repair one of the boilers at South that helps heat the building. The boiler is leaking, which has made it inoperable. In order to avoid disruptions to the educational environment and damage to other building components, it is critical that the boiler be fixed as soon as possible. If the board had decided to bid out the project and wait the required 10-day solicitation period, the necessary repairs would not have occurred until the middle of December. You can access the resolution by visiting
http://bit.ly/33HEx4E.
Second Reading and Approval of Policy 2:230
First Reading of Policies
Board President’s Report
Board President Nancy Pollak talked about her recent visit to the foods class at Central. She encouraged parents/guardians to take the
5Essentials Survey
. She also mentioned that she and Superintendent Prentiss attended a recent meeting held by the district's science department. During this meeting, they talked to teachers about the changes to the science program and sequencing.
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Prentiss presented the board members with gifts and read a proclamation in honor of "School Board Members Day," which is celebrated in Illinois every year on Nov. 15. You can access the proclamation by visiting
http://bit.ly/37aeNzR. You can also access additional information about "School Board Members Day" by visiting
http://bit.ly/350H8Xp.
Superintendent Prentiss mentioned that the members of the district's security staff have implemented an initiative at Central and South that is aimed at further fostering their relationships with students.
Superintendent Prentiss announced that the Facilities Committee changed the date of its meeting next month from Dec. 20 to Dec. 6. She also announced that the Human Resources Committee is changing the start time of its future meetings to 7:30 a.m.
Superintendent Prentiss shared that she attended the meetings that the Hinsdale Central Boosters Club and PTO held during the past two weeks, and is scheduled to attend the Hinsdale South Booster Club meeting on Dec. 17. During these meetings, she is providing parents/guardians with information and updates about several topics, including communications, the school calendar, curriculum alignment and construction.
Superintendent Prentiss thanked the superintendents from the district's feeder schools for their willingness to host the district's summer school programming at their buildings for a couple of years to accommodate construction at Central and South.
Superintendent Prentiss mentioned that the Superintendent's Roundtable held its third meeting of year on Nov. 12. During this meeting, Keith Bockwoldt, the district's chief information officer, talked to the group about staff use of technology. The administration is creating a document for all employees that will address the questions and concerns that were raised during the conversation. The group also discussed the second principle featured in the book
"The Happiness Advantage" by Shawn Anchor. This principle, which is titled "The Fulcrum and the Lever," focuses on how you can change your performance and your view of work (job, career or calling) by changing your mindset.
Program of Studies
Dr. Carol Baker, the assistant superintendent of academics, presented the board with proposed changes to the Program of Studies for Central and South for the 2020-21 school year. You can access a summary of the changes by visiting
http://bit.ly/2KohQLc, the proposed Program of Studies for Central by visiting
http://bit.ly/32PZCbE and the proposed Program of Studies for South by visiting
http://bit.ly/32MuGcC.
General, Course and Technology Fees
Dr. Baker presented the board with proposed changes to the general, course and technology fees for the 2020-21 school year. You can access the proposed fees for Central by visiting
http://bit.ly/2qTzBLo and the proposed fees for South by visiting
http://bit.ly/2CMGW2e.
Fall 2019 Student Activity and Athletic Participation Tallies
The administration provided the board with a report that contains the student activity and athletic participation tallies for Central and South for the fall of 2019. This is a standard report that the district issues at the end of every season. The human resources department uses the information from the report to determine staffing for the district’s extracurricular and athletic programs. Below are the links to the fall tallies for both high schools.
RFP #20-018 (New Servers, Blade Servers and Storage)
The administration presented the board with its recommendation for RFP #20-018 (New Servers, Blade Servers and Storage). The district received seven responses to the request for proposals it issued on Sept. 19, 2019. After reviewing the proposals, the district’s evaluation committee unanimously recommended that the board award the RFP in the amount of $376,093.68 to Mindsight LLC. The board is scheduled to take action on the RFP during its meeting on Nov. 25.
Five-Year Financial Forecast
As part of the annual levy process, the administration presented the board with the updated five-year financial forecast for the district, which is based on the adopted budget for fiscal year 2020, the audited financials for 2018-19 and the forecast assumptions that were approved by the board on Oct. 23. In previous years, this forecast has included the debt services and capital projects funds. However, these funds were not included this time because the bonds sales, debt payments and project expenses would obscure the district's operational activity and financial position.
You can access the forecast information that was presented to the board by visiting
http://bit.ly/2O7v5B4.
Estimated Tax Levy for Fiscal Year 2019
Pursuant to policy
4:10 (Fiscal and Business Management), the administration presented the board with the estimated tax levy for fiscal year 2019. The board is required to estimate the amount of taxes necessary for the year at least 20 days before adopting a levy. Since the estimated aggregate levy showed a year-over-year change of less than 105%, no Truth in Taxation hearing was required. The board is scheduled to vote on the adoption of the 2019 levy during its meeting on Dec. 12, 2019.
You can access the presentation about the levy that was shared with the board by visiting
http://bit.ly/36XZ337. You can also access the resolution estimating the aggregate levy for the year 2019 by visiting
http://bit.ly/3749Ubu.
Updated School Utilization Report
The administration provided the board with a report regarding the building capacity and utilization study the district completed for Central and South for the 2019-20 school year. The purpose/goal of the study was to determine how space is being used at both schools from a capacity and utilization standpoint. It included a review of the spaces that were identified as academic “contact areas," and resulted in them being placed in one of the following categories: general classrooms, class labs, specialty instructional spaces and "capped" classrooms.
The report that was shared with the board, which you can access by visiting
http://bit.ly/2qN72iI, is broken up into four sections: an overview that includes enrollment and facilities information, a section about capacity, a section about instructional space utilization and a summary. You can also access the executive summary that accompanied the report by visiting
http://bit.ly/2CJnKC8.
Operational Calendar and Future Agenda Items
