Good News
Principal Arwen Pokorny Lyp provided the board with the good news report for Hinsdale South. This report included the following information:
- Recent accomplishments by several student-athletes that included Billy Gneiser's fourth place finish at state for boys golf (best finish in school history), Chase Metcalf's third place finish at sectionals for girls tennis, and the Special Olympics bowling team taking first (Jakub Kwak; also qualified for state), second (Colin Nolan) and third (Austin Savickas) at sectionals. Gneiser and Coach John Richerson attended and were recognized during the meeting.
- The names of the students who earned All District selections for band, choir, jazz band and orchestra from the Illinois Music Education Association.
- The names of the students who were recognized as the school's Breakfast Club winners for October. Teachers nominate students for this award based on their academic or extracurricular accomplishments, contributions to the community or school spirit/pride.
- The names of the individuals who were recognized as the World Language Students of the Month for October. These are students who have a strong interest in a world or classical language, demonstrate the traits of being accountable, respectful and engaged, and perform actions and exhibit an attitude that exemplify what it means to have South Pride.
Principal Bill Walsh provided the board with the good news report for Hinsdale Central. This report included the following information:
- The names of the teachers and staff members who received the Make A Difference award for the first quarter of the 2021-22 school year.
- The names of the two students who earned a perfect score on their Advanced Placement (AP) exams. Abigail Antinossi is one of 31 students in the world who earned a perfect score on the exam for United States Government and Politics; and Shriya Mehta is one of 375 students in the world to earn a perfect score on the exam for Research.
- Details about the in-person performances that were held by the school's music department and Drama Club.
- Recent accomplishments by several teams that included a state title for the varsity girls tennis team, a third place finish at state for the varsity boys golf team, a fourth place finish at state for the varsity girls golf team, a regional championship for the varsity girls cross country team and a second place finish at regionals for the varsity boys cross country team.
- The names of the students who earned All District selections for band, choir, jazz band and orchestra from the Illinois Music Education Association.
After the principals finished their reports, they were recognized by Board President Terri Walker and Superintendent Tammy Prentiss in honor of Principals Week (Oct. 24-30) and Principals Day (Oct. 29).
Procedures for FOIA Requests
The board received a report about the district's procedures for processing and responding to requests that are submitted in accordance with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). This report was provided by Steve Richart from Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick & Kohn LLP (HLERK), which serves as the law firm for the district, and Deb Kedrowski, who is the district's FOIA officer. Below is the information that they shared.
- The basics of FOIA.
- FOIA and student-related confidentiality laws.
- Personnel record confidentiality laws.
- Exemptions for personal and preliminary information.
- Improvements made to the process.
- The implementation of the GovQA online portal and log.
- The responsibilities of department-level FOIA liaisons.
- The district's policies and procedures that include information about FOIA.
- The FOIA-related reports produced by the district.
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report
Andy Mace from Wipfli provided the board with the district’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for fiscal year 2021. You can access additional information about this report by visiting
https://bit.ly/3jKijJj.
Achieving the Mission and Vision of the Strategic Plan
The administration provided an update on the steps that are being taken and work that is being done to help achieve the mission and vision of the district's strategic plan. This update included the following information:
The next comprehensive update on the district's strategic plan will be provided during one of the board meetings in June.
Academic Report
The administration provided the board with the annual academic report on student performance and achievement measures. This report featured the following information:
- Oct. 2021 - 9th grade on track; graduation rate; attendance/truancy; staff and HR considerations (reported at the school, district and state levels).
- Dec. 2021 - SAT; college and career ready (reported at the school and district levels).
- April 2022 - SAT; ACCESS; Illinois Science Assessment; college and career ready (reported at the school, district and state levels).
- State waived accountability for the 2020-21 school year; is not calculating designations for 2021.
- SAT data for the class of 2022 (College Board).
- AP data for the 2021 test administration (College Board).
- NWEA - MAP data from the fall of 2021 - English and algebra for grades nine and 10.
- Seal of Biliteracy.
- Grade distribution.
- Tier 1 and 2 work.
- Students identified as “on track” have earned at least five full-year course credits (10 semester credits) and have received no more than one semester F in a core course (English, math, science, or social science).
- District 86 (98%) still trends well above the state average (82%).
- The state measures the graduation rate in terms of four, five or six years; does not differentiate between a student who graduates and one who matriculates into our Transition program.
- The rates for the district trend higher when they are adjusted to account for students who enroll in our Transition program - Hinsdale Central (91.62% on the report card; 96.91% when adjusted); Hinsdale South (85.94% on the report card; 97.50% when adjusted); Transition Center (89.62% on the report card; 97.20% when adjusted).
- There has been a decrease in the number of students who have been awarded the Seal of Biliteracy at the district and state levels.
- The district is offering state-approved testing twice in the fall and spring during the 2021-22 school year.
- Course teams and individuals using MAP, PSAT, weekly grade reports and local assessments to monitor student progress.
- Pushing into classes to support small groups or whole class instruction.
- Pulling out small groups or individual students.
- Pushing into Tier 2 intervention spaces.
- Drop in meetings with interventionists.
- November - Parent-Teacher Advisory Committee (PTAC) meeting; topics will include the pilot of earned honors credit, grading practices and student stress.
- December - second release of data from the Illinois School Report Card.
- April - third release of data from the Illinois School Report Card.
- Update on Goal 1 of the strategic plan.
Committee Reports
Vice President Kathleen Hirsman, who serves as the district's governing board representative for the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB), provided the board with a brief overview of the IASB's 2021 Resolutions Committee report. Ms. Hirsman will use the feedback provided by the board members to cast the district's vote on the resolutions that are featured in the report. This vote will occur during the 2021 Delegate Assembly Meeting being held on Nov. 20. You can access the report by visiting
https://bit.ly/3nGXNuj.
Members of the Parent-Teacher Advisory Committee (PTAC) provided the board with a report from their meeting on Oct. 5. During this meeting, the committee, in accordance with
policy 6:40 (Curriculum Development), received presentations from the department chairs for English, social studies, world languages, career and technology education, physical education/health/driver education and fine arts about the work the program teams for those departments have been doing to advance Goal 1 (Student Growth and Achievement) of the district's strategic plan. The department chairs also shared the changes that are being recommended to help align and enhance the program and curriculum in each of those subject areas. After each presentation, the members of PTAC had the opportunity to ask questions and offer their feedback on the proposed changes.
Members of the Finance Committee provided the board with a report from their meeting on Oct. 20. During this meeting, the committee:
- Met with representatives from the Hinsdale Central Boosters and the Hinsdale South Athletic Club to talk about revenue sharing in accordance with the sponsorship agreements for the new digital scoreboards. The committee will continue its discussion of this topic during a special meeting on Nov. 29.
- Reviewed the assumptions that will be used to update the district's five-year financial forecast.
- Reviewed a number of operational contracts that are expiring during the current fiscal year. The district will be going out to bid/RFP for some of the contracts, and seeking one-year extensions on a few others (auditing services, cleaning services and the food service program). The contract for the insurance broker/consultant will be sent to the Insurance Committee for discussion. All contracts that were reviewed will be presented to the board for action.
In addition to receiving the reports mentioned above, the board voted to release the draft minutes from the PTAC and Finance Committee meetings as part of the consent agenda.
Approve Forecast Assumptions
The board approved the forecast assumptions that the Finance Committee reviewed during its meeting on Oct. 20. These assumptions will now be used to update the district's five-year financial forecast.
Approve the School Resource Officer Services Intergovernmental Agreement with the Village of Hinsdale
The board approved an updated intergovernmental agreement with the Village of Hinsdale for services that will be provided by the school resource officer who is assigned to Hinsdale Central. This agreement, which you can access by visiting
https://bit.ly/3jHgay3, will run through June 30, 2023.
Consent Agenda
The board approved the consent agenda as amended. The consent agenda includes personnel, stipends, board bills and meeting minutes. Please visit https://bit.ly/3nCgz5W to access the consent agenda items beginning under number eight.
The board also approved item 10.6 (Legal Bills $60,469.95), which was pulled from the consent agenda for a separate vote.
Board President's Report
Board President Terri Walker mentioned that she attended the National Merit breakfast at Hinsdale Central on Oct. 25. She shared that she was excited to see the students being recognized, and enjoyed learning more about them.
President Walker also thanked the board members for their time and contributions during the self evaluation that the group took part in on Oct. 18.
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Tammy Prentiss shared that she attended the National Merit breakfast at Hinsdale Central on Oct. 25.
Superintendent Prentiss talked about the Wednesday Walk-Throughs she conducted at Hinsdale South and Hinsdale Central on Oct. 27. At South, she and Principal Pokorny Lyp visited math and world language classes. They also had a chance to see how the new flexible furniture is being utilized in classrooms. At Central, she and Principal Walsh went to a few science classes to check out the labs and other hands-on learning activities that the students were engaged in.
Superintendent Prentiss mentioned that the Superintendent's Roundtable met for the first time this year on Oct. 26. During this meeting, the group discussed the results of the Panorama surveys that teachers and staff completed. That conversation will continue during the group's next meeting in November.
Superintendent Prentiss reminded everyone that the district will be partnering with Jewel-Osco to host a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot clinic for the community on Nov. 17.
Superintendent Prentiss also mentioned that she is looking forward to traveling to Washington, D.C. with Principal Walsh and his team for the ceremony honoring the 2021 National Blue Ribbon Schools.
Program of Studies
The administration presented the board with proposed changes to the program of studies for the 2022-23 school year. Below are links to the documents that accompanied this presentation.
- An overview of the types of changes being made.
- Information about the vision and plan for curriculum alignment.
- Next steps.
The program of studies is scheduled to be presented to the board for a second reading and approval on Nov. 18.
Treasury and Financial Reports
Per its regular cadence of reporting, the administration provided the board with the treasury and financial reports for September 2021. You can access the treasury report by visiting
https://bit.ly/3Gwgv0h and the financial reports by visiting
https://bit.ly/2ZxJuzz.
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.
Future Agenda Items
The board discussed possible agenda items for future meetings, including:
- The creation of a task force to identify solutions for addressing course conflicts. This topic will be added to the agenda for the meeting on Dec. 16.
- The creation of an academic committee that would operate similarly to other board committees (e.g., Finance Committee, Policy Committee, etc.). No date was set for a conversation about this topic.
