The information below summarizes highlights from the District 38 Board of Education (BOE) meetings. Agendas are posted 48 hours in advance of meetings to the website and Board packets before each meeting and Board minutes once approved. Regular meetings are recorded and posted to the school website within approximately 48 hours for viewing. NOTE: Due to Phase 4 space restrictions in a single space, in-person participation for a BOE meeting is limited to the Board of Education Members and Administration. The BOE will be conducting virtual meetings via Zoom. Information to virtually attend a meeting or to provide public comment during the meeting is posted on each meeting agenda on our website under Meeting Documents 48 hours prior to the meeting.

Kenilworth School District 38 Board Briefs Highlights from the Regular Meeting on April 19, 2021   Resolution of Appreciation: The Board of Education (BOE) read and adopted a Resolution of Appreciation to thank the Bubble Volunteers. They have generously contributed their time to The Joseph Sears School during the 2020-2021 school year and greatly enhanced the educational experience of the District.

Staffing Plan 2020-2021 Update: The BOE recognized public comment regarding the recently approved 2021-2022 Staffing Plan and Reduction in Force (RIF) vote. The community discussed a petition to recall the vote and asked the BOE to take action. The BOE is unable to vote on actions not posted to the agenda, which is required to be complete and posted 48 hours prior to the meeting to comply with the Open Meetings Act. Additionally, while the Board received the names of individuals who signed the petition, the BOE did not receive the full petition document shared with the community outlining the petitioners’ rationale and position. The BOE will consider this petition once all of the materials are received. BOE President, Mr. Evan Lukasik, took a few minutes to reiterate that while these decisions are difficult, the rationale and benefits to the District supported the vote outcome.  The approved staffing plan: Continues to offer small class sizes. Expands the Junior Kindergarten program. Allows students with IEPs to receive the same allocation of resources as their plans provide from Student Services teachers.  Continues to offer student interventions at all grade levels. Allows Junior High students to receive more personalized differentiated instruction and intervention directly from their primary subject teachers, daily, during specific time periods. Continues to offer World Language at all grade levels, including a French and Spanish course in grades JK-4, and the option to study French, Spanish, or Latin as a core academic subject in grades 5-8. Continues to offer General Music in grades JK-3. Continues to provide Band, Choir, and Orchestra in grades 4-8 based on student selection. Continues to offer Practical Arts and Industrial Arts. Provides more equitable workloads and planning time for teachers throughout the schoolhouse. Dr. Helfand took time to discuss questions she had received from the community to clarify further how the staffing plan will be executed in the schoolhouse. Q&A attached with more details.

New Hires: The BOE voted to approve incoming Director of Technology and Innovation Mr. Nate McBride’s recommendation to hire Mr. Matthew Joanis as the IT Systems and Network Manager, along with Mr. Lukasz Sikora as the IT Systems and Data Manager for the 2021-2022 school year.  Ms. Kate Donegan recommended hiring all three tech positions (including Mr. Nate McBride as Director of Technology and Innovation in March 2021) after reviewing the results of a technology audit that was recently completed this school year. The new hires will replace previous positions, outside managed services, and bring the technology management in-house. These changes to the Technology Department will reduce costs by approximately $96,000 per year, moving forward. The BOE also approved Principal Dr. Stephanie Helfand’s recommendation to hire Lynette Bromiel as Librarian for the 2021-2022 school year.

Master Facilities Plan (MFP) Update: A pre-bid, non-mandatory building walk-through was held at Sears School on March 25, 2021, for work to be completed during Summer 2021. Bids were opened on April 7, 2021. The BOE voted unanimously to approve the selection of winning bids presented by the project construction manager Frederick Quinn Corporation (FQC). The bids outlined expenses related to demolition and buildout of the Junior Kindergarten classrooms and Junior Kindergarten and Kindergarten (JK/K) hub area during Summer 2021. As part of the Board’s commitment to supporting equity and diversity in the school, 11 percent of the budget will support minority and female-owned businesses.  DLA Architects shared design renderings for review that focus on work to be initiated in Summer 2022 and included exterior work, the interior Commons, and Cafenasium. You can see the design renderings by visiting the Vision Sears page on the school website. The BOE considered and approved a debt resolution to create the ability for the school to issue debt certificates if needed. These debt certificates enable the school to repay itself for costs incurred for up to three years from the passage of this resolution. No decision has been made to actually utilize debt certificates. The resolution was approved with a Board vote of 6 Ayes, 1 Nay, and 0 absent. The Building and Finance Committee’s primary focus is the implementation of the Master Facilities Plan. The Board and Administration are committed to including stakeholder feedback throughout the execution of the MFP. Members of the community are welcome to attend the Regular BOE meetings and the Building and Finance Committee Meetings.

Policy Review Update: The Policy Committee began in August with a comprehensive review of our Board policies with the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB). In December, the Policy Committee met with a representative from IASB to finalize our draft policy manual. The Policy Committee reviewed every policy to determine which policies to adopt as presented, those that required editing or required unique language for the District, and those policies the Committee recommended not to adopt. The Board approved the adoption of the draft policy manual as presented on February 8, 2021. There were policies that the Committee determined still required a broader discussion and potential changes to the language before adoption. The following is a list of those policies. The Policy Committee presented them for a first read at the March 15, 2021, Board of Education meeting. The BOE adopted the following policies as presented at the April 19 Regular Board Meeting: 5:10 – Equal Employment Opportunity and Minority Recruitment 5:20 – Workplace Harassment Prohibited and 5:20 E Resolution to Prohibit Sexual Harassment; 5:186 – Private Professional Services 7:310 – Restrictions on Publications; Elementary Schools 7:325 – Student Fundraising Activities Approved policies are posted on the District Policy page of the school website.

Calendar Review: May 3, 2021; Teacher Institute Day/Student Non-Attendance Day May 3, 2021; School Board Reorganization and Regular Board meeting (moved from May 17, 2021) May 6, 2021; BOE Building and Finance Committee Meeting June 3, 2021; BOE Building and Finance Committee Meeting June 21, 2021; Regular Board meeting

Please direct your questions or comments to the Kenilworth School District No. 38 by sending an email to listen@kenilworth38.org. All messages are sent to the Board of Education members, Superintendent, and the Board of Education Secretary, and are subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Thank you!

Kenilworth School District No. 38 Board of Education

Responsibility, Kindness, Honesty, Respect