Good News
Principal Walsh from Hinsdale Central and Principal Pokorny Lyp from Hinsdale South commented on the smooth and positive start to the school year at both buildings. Principal Walsh mentioned the events that Central held for freshman and new students. Principal Pokorny Lyp shared information about the changes that South made this year regarding the issuance of planner passes that were based, in part, on feedback provided by some of the school’s student advisory groups, particularly around the issue of vaping.
District 86 Counseling Overview
Jen Regnier, who is the director of counseling at Hinsdale Central, and Mike Holland, who is the director of counseling at Hinsdale South, presented the Board with an overview of services the counseling department provides to students. These services include, but are not limited to, academic advising, personal/social emotional counseling and college counseling. You can access their presentation by visiting
http://bit.ly/2MyJqbe.
Public Hearing on eLearning
The Board held a public hearing about the District’s eLearning program, which will allow students to receive instruction electronically while they are not physically present in lieu of the District’s scheduled emergency days. You can access additional information about this program by visiting
http://bit.ly/2zk4Tfi.
Future Ready Facilities: Security Update
Kevin Simpson, the District’s director of security, and Keith Bockwoldt, the District’s chief information officer, provided the Board with an update on our efforts to improve safety and security in our buildings. While all of the work we are doing to enhance safety and security is important, there are several changes we have implemented or plan to make this year that we want to bring to your attention.
First, we created the role of security officer for our schools, and filled the positions we had available with seven individuals who previously held the title of student supervisor and another eight with a combined 233 years of experience in law enforcement (e.g., chief of police, deputy chief of police, school resource officer and an officer who taught DARE for 20 years). All of the officers we hired have been trained in CPR/First Aid, Beyond Diversity and CPI (crisis intervention). We will also continue to train, assess and evaluate each of the officers on the soft skills necessary to establish and maintain a good rapport and strong, positive relationships with students, staff, families and visitors to our buildings.
Second, each of our schools now has a fully equipped command center that provides a more proactive approach for managing threat assessments, observing student/visitor movements, identifying suspicious activity and facilitating incident command communication. Each command center is staffed by a security officer on school days from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.
Third, given the alarming number of school shootings our country has seen in recent years, some of the security officers who will be working in our schools will be authorized to carry firearms in accordance with the Illinois Retired Officers Conceal and Carry (IROCC) program. Not only will this provide an additional layer of protection for our students and staff, it will also dramatically reduce the amount of time it will take to respond to an emergency situation such as the presence of an active shooter.
The officers who will be permitted to carry firearms on school property must adhere to a strict set of rules and guidelines, including random drug testing and inspections, as well as annual training and certification requirements set forth by the District and the law. In addition, they will only be authorized to use firearms as a last resort in situations such as the presence of an active shooter that pose a serious threat to the safety and security of everyone in the building. For situations such as a conflict or fight between students, the officers will utilize the CPI training mentioned above, which focuses on the use of nonviolent interventions to manage a crisis.
You can review the report the Board received about safety and security, which includes information about the investments we have made in security technology, the ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) training our staff will be participating in, and the resources such as the Tip Line that we have in place for our students and families, by visiting
http://bit.ly/2ZpiEUx.
Future Ready Facilities: Referendum Project Update #1
The Board received information from Pepper Construction, ARCON and Cotter Consulting about the projects that are scheduled to be completed in conjunction with Phase I of the Future Ready Facilities plans. These projects include, but are not limited to:
- Renovation of the special education space at Hinsdale South
- The pool addition at Hinsdale Central
- Replacement of the stadium and practice turf at both schools
- Renovation of the tennis courts at both schools
- Roof replacements at both schools
- Boiler replacement at Hinsdale South
- Accessibility improvements at both schools
- Life safety improvements at both schools
The Board and representatives from Pepper, ARCON and Cotter discussed several topics, including budget, phasing and communications. During the conversation about these topics, the Board talked about the recommendations it received from the Facilities Committee about the size and scope of the pool projects at the high schools. Included in these recommendations were the potential challenges the committee, Pepper, ARCON and Cotter identified with the option that was proposed for both buildings during the referendum (pools with six lanes each measuring 25 yards in length with a movable floor). These challenges include, but are not limited to:
- The inability to meet the instructional needs of students
- Costs of installing ($1,032,000), maintaining ($10,000 annually) and replacing (75% of initial cost) movable floors
- Breakdown of movable floors at critical times that would disrupt learning and events
- Limited number of firms with the knowledge and expertise to install, repair and replace movable floors
With these challenges in mind, the Facilities Committee determined, based on the research it conducted and the evaluations it made with the help of the District’s construction vendors and consultants, that pools that are six lanes measuring 25 yards in length with a movable floor will not meet the needs of our students. The Board agreed with this assessment, and came to the consensus that this option should no longer be considered/pursued. Based on this decision, the Board directed the administration to proceed with plans for a pool at Hinsdale South that has six lanes measuring 40 yards in length.
In terms of the project at Hinsdale Central, the Board decided that it wanted to have further discussion and collect feedback from the community about whether a pool that is eight lanes measuring 40 yards will better meet the school's instructional needs given the size of the student population.
If you have thoughts about this project that you would like to share with the seven members of the Board and Superintendent Prentiss, please email them to boe@hinsdale86.org by Friday, August 30. Please include the word pool in the subject of your message. The Board will review all of the input it receives, and use it to help solidify the direction for the project that it plans to give to the administration during its meeting on September 12.
Lastly, there has been some discussion within the community about the current budget for all proposed projects being $147,856,704 when the referendum budget is $139,815,983. It is important to note that the 5.75% difference in the figures at this early stage in the process is below the average of at least 10% that is commonly seen in projects of this size and scope. It is also important to note that these are initial estimates that include everything that our end users said they wanted and needed in conjunction with these projects. In addition, they reflect the starting point for discussing and exploring savings and efficiencies that we can achieve through the planning, design and construction phases of our work over the next few years. While these efforts may mean that we are unable accommodate all of the wants and needs identified by our end users,
they will help ensure that our overall budget does not exceed with what was promised and communicated during the referendum
.
You can access the information about this topic that was shared during the Board meeting by visiting
http://bit.ly/2KOTsCX. You can also access the draft presentation about our Future Ready Facilities plans that were shared during the Facilities Committee meeting on Friday, August 16 by visiting
http://bit.ly/2HlLvDl.
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/2ZqRY6d to access the meeting agenda and then scroll down to see consent agenda items beginning under number six.
Award Bid 20-002 Waste Disposal and Recycling Services
The Board voted to award Bid 20-002 Waste Disposal and Recycling Services to Advanced Disposal Services Solid Waste Midwest, LLC., for an estimated total cost of $40,690.00 in year one, $41,288.00 in year two and $41,912.00 in year three. Advanced Disposal, which is the District’s current service provider, submitted the lowest responsible bid.
Approve Resolution #20.03 Adopting an eLearning Program
The Board voted to adopt Resolution #20.03 Adopting an eLearning program.
Board President’s Report
Board President Pollak talked about how much she enjoyed the opportunity to welcome the staff back during Institute Day on Monday, August 12.
Approve the Creation of a Special Committee and Appoint Members
The Board voted to create a special committee regarding community engagement with construction and appoint the members of this committee per the recommendations of the Facilities Committee. Vice President Kevin Camden, Chair Keith Chval, Member Marty Turek, Owner’s Representative Dorothy McCarty, Chief Financial Officer Josh Stephenson and Director of Operations Jess Orama reviewed all of the information that was submitted via the application process, and utilized an independent rating system to assess and evaluate the qualifications of each candidate. In order to be considered, applicants had to have industry expertise or a deep understanding of the District’s needs based on their participation on a facility or steering committee.
Below are the names of the individuals who were selected to serve on the special committee regarding community engagement with construction. The group’s first joint meeting with the Facilities Committee is scheduled to take place on Friday, September 20 at 8:30 a.m. at Hinsdale South High School.
- Kirk Admire – Commercial design and construction project management professional with 30 years of architecture experience
- Steve Cashman – Educational architect with 36 years of industry experience
- William Carpenter – Professional with 12 years of experience as a contractor and accountant who is a former president and member of the District 86 Board of Education and served on the District’s Facilities Committee
- Craig Cassell – Educational real estate professional with 18 years of experience and expertise in school building construction, design and development
- Tamakia Edwards – Capital construction program manager with more than 15 years of experience in areas that include safety and security, infrastructure and accessibility
- Ehab Elqaq – Electrical engineer with 26 years of experience who is LEED certified in building design and construction
- Lisa Lundgren – A marketing and finance professional who served on two community task force groups, the District 86 Pools Task Force and the Master Planning Facilities Committee that was focused on physical education, driver’s education and athletics
- William Lyons – Senior construction executive with 46 years of experience in general management and operations in industry sectors that include commercial, residential, education, retail, hotel/lodging, senior living, entertainment and heath care
- John Ochoa – Architect with more than 30 years of experience in education design who has worked on a variety of projects for elementary schools, middle schools and high schools
- Greg Orput – Professional with more than 10 years of experience in full-service commercial and multi-family residential real estate and another 10 years of experience in architectural design
- Jennifer Planson – Longtime member of the District 86 Board of Education who was the chair of the District’s Master Facilities Committee and a liaison for the District’s Master Facilities Community Task Force
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Tammy Prentiss talked about the opportunities she has had to interact with students and staff during her Wednesday Walkthroughs at Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South. She also shared statistics regarding the website the District created and the various communications we have sent out regarding Sterigenics. You can access the website about Sterigenics by visiting http://bit.ly/2NtcP6u.
Financial and Treasury Reports July 2019
The administration provided the Board with the financial and treasury reports for July 2019. Chief Financial Officer Josh Stephenson pointed out that some of the reporting for financials has been split out to more clearly differentiate the information about capital and operational.
Site Based Expenditure Report
The administration presented the Board with the Site Based Expenditure Report for fiscal year 2019 that is required in accordance with the Every Student Succeeds Act. This information will be reflected on the Illinois Report Card.
The meeting adjourned at 10:03 p.m.
