Substitute Teacher Pay Increases
In an effort to attract more substitute teachers, the district is increasing the daily rate of pay by $5.
Chief School Business Official Jessica Donato said raising the rate to $120 per day for a substitute, $125 per day for substitutes who work more than 10 days per school year, and to $127.82 for retired District 28 staff will make the district competitive with neighboring districts. The change is effective immediately.
Tentative Calendar for 2020-21 Aligns with Dist. 225
The proposed 2020-21 school calendar maintains the same teacher institute days, parent/teacher conferences, school improvement planning days, and state holidays as the current calendar.
Dr. Hewitt is also designating Casimir Pulaski day to be an attendance day if it is needed to make up an emergency weather day. The school year will start on the same day as the high school district, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020 and will have a tentative ending date of June 1, 2021, assuming no emergency days are needed. The winter and spring breaks will align with District 225. Once the calendar is approved in December, all the specific dates will be released and sent to parents.
Bus Service Up For New Contract
District 28 participated in a Request for Bids for transportation services with neighboring districts on Nov. 21. Rather than requiring one bid for all of the districts, as had happened in the past, companies were allowed to present contracts for individual districts, with the hope of generating more bids for each of the school districts.
Jessica Donato, Chief School Business Official, said she received six letters of interest on the bid but only one complete bid proposal, which was from the existing provider, First Student. She noted the proposal was substantially higher than the rates the district is currently paying. She will be working through the proposal with First Student to identify additional savings and will be researching other options.
New Staff Join YE and Greenbriar
Jennifer Breuck is joining the Young Explorers Early Childhood program as a social worker, effective Dec. 9 as a long-term substitute.
Diane Anderson is joining the Greenbriar staff as a part-time English Learner teacher. She has spent most of her career serving as a reading specialist. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Illinois State University and a master’s degree in education from Concordia University. She received her English as a Second Language endorsement from National-Louis University.
Committee Helps Shape Parent Programing
The Communications Advisory Committee has met twice to provide input on existing communication and guide future parent programming and engagement. The committee’s membership is composed of parent volunteers in the workforce and at home, whose children attend each of the district’s four schools and represent all the grade levels.
After brainstorming last month, the committee prioritized topics of interest. A math parent forum is already being planned for December. The committee identified curriculum and academic pressure/anxiety as the categories with the highest interest for future programming. The committee will meet again in February while planning continues on programs and communications the committee identified.
Based on the parent survey and feedback from the committee, Communications Director Terry Ryan is also researching companies that design mobile apps to bring a mobile app to the district for parents.
