● LYONS TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL ● DISTRICT 204
The Lyons Township High School District 204 Board of Education conducted a Committee of the Whole Meeting on Monday November 7, 2022 and a Regular Action Meeting on Monday, November 21, 2022. The following information includes action items, discussion items, and reports from the Board’s two most recent meetings. For more information regarding the Board of Education, which includes a link to view the livestream recording of all meetings, please visit the LTHS Board of Education website.
Action Items
School Maintenance Project Grant
The Illinois State Board of Education recently announced the availability of a School Maintenance Project Grant. If awarded, the grant provides up to $50,000 for the maintenance and upkeep of district buildings with grant recipients providing a matching dollar amount from local funds equal to the grant amount requested. During the November 7 Committee of the Whole Meeting, the Board approved the submission of the application to the Illinois State Board of Education for the FY23 School Maintenance Project Grant, and approved reserving local funds to meet the local match requirement in the amount of $50,000.

Approval of 2022 Estimated Tax Levy
At the November 21 Regular Action Meeting, the Board approved the estimated FY22 Tax Levy. The process of adopting a tax levy includes approval of an estimated levy by the Board of Education at the November meeting, then final approval at the December meeting. The Board will hold a public hearing prior to adoption of the final levy in December.

Based upon the CPI increase of 5.0% over the 2021 Tax Levy, District 204 can expect $3,659,169 of additional property taxes from existing properties. Additionally, if a new property value of $50,000,000 was added to the tax rolls, LTHS could expect to receive an additional$1,077,103 from those properties.. However, since the District does not currently know the value of new property, the District must estimate the amount of taxes attributable to that value. Based on the above information, the total aggregate levy, including all funds of $80,624,032 for the estimated FY22 Tax Levy represents a 6.28% increase over the prior year actual extension, for all funds, of $75,862,004.

For more information regarding the Tax Levy process, please click here.  

Stipend Committee Recommendations
The Board approved a recommendation to move the following clubs and activities from pilot status to full club status:
  • Older Adult Connections
  • Pinball Club
  • Yoga and Wellness Club
  • Competitive Cheer
  • Girl’s Wrestling

Discussion Items
SY2022 Standardized Assessment Update, Illinois School Report Card Update, Equity Journey Continuum Update, and Strategic Plan Goal One Update
At the November 7 Committee of the Whole Meeting, the Board heard a presentation on and discussed annual assessment data, Illinois School Report Card and Equity Journey Continuum data, and a Strategic Plan Goal One update. The complete report included historical data and analysis of standardized assessments administered at LTHS which includes PSAT8/9, PSAT 10 and SAT as well as the Illinois Science Assessment, Dynamic Learning Maps and ACCESS for English Learners.  

To review the complete report and accompanying information, including a link to the livestream of the 11/7 meeting, please click here

Superintendent’s District Report
Superintendent Waterman provided the following information and celebrations during his report.
  • School Board Member Appreciation Day was Tuesday, November 15. Dr Waterman publicly thanked our BOE recognizing all of their service to the LT students, staff and community. 
  • Native American Heritage Month: LT is proud to host activities this month which celebrate Native Americans, their continued contributions to our country, and to bring awareness, all of which is an important part of Native American Heritage Month. 
  • Thanksgiving Wishes: Dr. Waterman wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all family, friends, and loved ones within the LT school community.

Student Representative to the Board Report
At the November 21 Regular Action Meeting, Student Representative Matthew Walsh shared a variety of updates regarding athletics and extracurriculars including a recap of the Fall Athletic Season. Some highlights include:
  • Varsity Football made it to the Quarterfinals. They ended their season with a record of 9-3.
  • Varsity Boys Soccer won the Regional Championship. These athletes advanced to the Sectional Semifinals on Oct. 25th.
  • Our Cross-Country teams also had great performances this month, advancing to the State Finals in Peoria. 
  • Boys XC got second place at regionals, and 5th place at regionals, which advanced them to State in Peoria. On Nov. 5th, the LT Boys got 7th in State.
  • Girls XC got 3rd place on Oct. 22nd, moving them onto Sectionals at Waubonsie Valley where they placed 4th. At State they placed 7th. 
  • Girls Varsity Volleyball won their IHSA Regional Championship on Oct. 27th against Jones Prep, advancing them to Sectional. 
  • The Freshman and Sophomore LT Actors held their performances of “The Good Doctor” last Friday (Nov 11th) to Sunday (Nov 13th) at the South Campus PAC.
 
LTEA Report 
LT Education Association President Andrew Johannes reported that teachers are busy wrapping up the first semester. He thanked Dr. Waterman and Dr. Tyrrell for the spirit of collaboration. He said LT’s teaching teams are continuing the curriculum review process and look to partner with the administrators as they lead the process. Johannes thanked LT administration, including Dr. Waterman, Dr. Tyrrell, Mr. Stachacz, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Gardner for recent dialogue regarding facilities and expressed confidence in future work on this topic.  
Johannes also recognized some recent achievements of LTEA faculty:
  • Frau Shannon Murray recently organized and coordinated the German exchange program. 
  • Dave Root was named Regional Teacher of the year by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
  • Jessica Drogos was selected as a 2022 University of Chicago Outstanding Educator. 
  • Jason Scales and the LION Newspaper Staff were recognized as one of the top high school news publications over the past 100 years.
  • Joseph Maffey, Angela Gutierrez, and Mary Rohlicek and MENAGERIE students received second place in the Best of Show Award at the National Scholastic Press Association National Journalism Conference. 
  • American Sign Language Teacher Krystle Conrad recently signed the National Anthem at a Chicago Bears home game. 
  • Head Coaches Jon Beutjer, Mike Danner, Scott Walker, Jill Bober, Bryan Kopecky, Jeff Johnson, Eric Simon, Paul Labbato, Dave Robare recently completed a great season in fall athletics.  
  • Student Council and other LT Leaders organized the annual Veterans Day Assembly on Nov 11th, where we welcomed our local Veterans to honor them for their service.
  • On Friday Nov. 4th through Sunday Nov. 6th, Snowball held its Fall Retreat for students.
  • The Speech Team, Model Un and Debate Teams all had big wins this past week.

Monthly FOIA Report
Since our October meeting, we have received four FOIA requests:
  • A law firm requested a variety of documents and e-mails pertaining to a student matter. 
  • SmartProcure requested all purchasing records from August 15 to current.
  • A local reporter requested a copy of the intergovernmental agreement between College of DuPage and LTHS.
  • A local reporter requested the applications for clubs and other groups that may have been rejected in the latest round of Stipend Committee recommendations. 

Public Participation
One individual participated in agenda or non-agenda related public participation.
  • Kara Ferrell (11/7)
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100 S. Brainard Ave.
LaGrange, IL 60525
(708) 579-6300