Stakeholder Engagement
- Want to recognize and thank stakeholders for their interest and engagement to start the school year, and for their efforts to remain educated and informed about the work of the district.
- Percent of recipients who open First Look and Board Briefs - rate for this year is currently 61%; rate for last year was 45%; industry average for K-12 communications sent via Constant Contact is 32%.
- Percent of recipients who open Updates from 86 - rate for this year is currently 69%; rate for last year was 56%; industry average for K-12 communications sent via Constant Contact is 32%.
- Open rate for additional communications - return to school information (71%); update on fees (73%); welcome back message from the superintendent (65%); and information about the district's Community Conversations (72%).
- More than 900 people have downloaded and are using the district’s new mobile app.
- Striving to continue these trends with upcoming opportunities that include the next Community Conversation on Oct. 19 and the Panorama family survey, which is being administered in October.
Budget Hearing
The board held a public hearing about the budget for fiscal year 2023. During the hearing, the administration presented and the board discussed the proposed final budget. There was also an opportunity for community members to comment on the budget.
Board - New Business
During the portion of the meeting dedicated to new business, the board talked about policy
2:250 (Access to District Public Records). The conversation was focused primarily on the section of the policy that deals with the preservation of public records, and if/how it applies to text messages. There was also a discussion about potential solutions for addressing the questions that were raised about the preservation of records and text messages. These solutions included making revisions to the district's policy and/or administrative procedures; the use of a third party app to capture text messages related to the transactional business of the district that are sent to and from employees and board members; and setting and communicating the expectations about the preservation of records and text messaging.
At the end of the conversation, there was general direction given to have the administration work with legal counsel to explore potential changes to the district's administrative procedures; and to have the technology department research the options that are available in terms of third party apps.
Committee Reports
Members of the
Employee Benefits Committee provided the board with a report from their
meeting on Sept. 15. During this meeting, the committee:
- Received an update on the renewal and claims summary.
- Discussed an employee wellness plan that includes targeted events and communications that are centered around physical, financial and mental health, as well as community/social wellness.
- Discussed an issue related to life insurance for retirees.
- Discussed open enrollment, including dates and structure.
The board also voted to release the draft minutes from this meeting as part of the consent agenda.
Consent Agenda
The board approved the consent agenda as presented. The consent agenda includes personnel, stipends, board bills and meeting minutes. Please visit https://bit.ly/3UxmCs3 to access the consent agenda items beginning under number eight.
Action Items
The board took the following action during the meeting:
Board President's Report
Board President Erik Held thanked Richard Morton for his public comments about the value and importance of vocational training, and the need to increase those offerings/opportunities for students. He shared that it was wonderful to see the new career and technology education spaces during the tour of Hinsdale Central, and said he was glad to see that greater emphasis was being placed on the development of those skills. He also echoed Mr. Morton's sentiments about the possibility of increasing those offerings/opportunities for students.
Future Agenda Items
During the portion of the meeting dedicated to the discussion about future agenda items, the board talked about two of the current items on the list - livestreaming and/or recording committee meetings and updates to Board Briefs. President Held shared that the plan is to discuss/address the issue of livestreaming/recording during one of the board meetings in October, and the possible updates to Board Briefs during the self-evaluation that is being conducted by the board on Sept. 29 with the help of a representative from the Illinois Association of School Boards.
Earned Honors Credit
Although it was not on the agenda, the board decided to have a discussion about the district's earned honors credit pilot that was based on comments made during audience communication. These comments revolved mainly around the fact that honors credit for the four courses that are part of the pilot will not be awarded to students until the end of first semester. The concern is that this will negatively impact seniors who need to send their transcripts to colleges and universities this fall as part of the application process.
Dr. Chris Covino, who is the assistant superintendent for academics, shared that parents/guardians have brought this concern to the district's attention. He said that, based on their feedback, the district is adding the following sentence to the comment box on the transcripts for students who are taking part in the pilot:
Starting with the 2022-2023 school year, the following courses can be taken for Earned Honors Credit: Psychology and Literature, Creative Non-Fiction, Exploring Visual Arts and Introduction to Business.
He also said that counselors have plans for how to address the concern during their interactions with colleges and universities.
When he was asked by the board about whether students have the option of transferring to an honors or AP course at this stage of the school year, Dr. Covino said he would need to check with the counseling departments.
ATSB and IMRF Reports
In accordance with the Illinois School Code and Open Meetings Act, the administration provided the board with the district's
ATSB (teacher and administrator salary and benefits) and
IMRF (Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund) reports.
Financial and Treasury Reports
Per its regular cadence of reporting, the administration provided the board with the financial and treasury reports for August 2022. You can access the financial reports by visiting
https://bit.ly/3dsebOk and the treasury report by visiting
https://bit.ly/3BxhP17.
FOIA Requests
The board received information about the FOIA requests that have been processed since its last regular action meeting. This information included the names or titles of the individuals and departments who helped respond to the requests, a summary of the records that were requested and who asked for them, and trend data about the number of requests that have been processed and the legal fees the district has incurred in responding to them.
