Regular Meeting
Dawn Livingston, President, noted that the District's administration and Board will be working closely together over the summer to plan for the transition back to school in the fall. She thanked the many staff, parents and community members who contributed their time to initiatives such as the District's Strategic Plan and Educational Master Facility Plan. Additionally, she recognized the collective efforts of the school community for a positive end to the 2020-2021 school year.
Trisha Kocanda, Superintendent, shared that the District's Adventures in Learning program kicked off last week and has been a fun and educational experience for students. She recognized that the past year has been challenging and acknowledged the District's commitment to providing the proper SEL support to help our school community move forward. Over the summer, families can expect a communication from the Superintendent the week of July 19 and school-specific communications from Principals in August.
Presentations
Brad Goldstein, Chief Financial Officer, provided the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2022 budget. The impact of COVID-19 on the FY21 and FY22 budgets was addressed, as well as planning for a resumption of a more typical school year. This includes reintroduction of costs that were not included in last year's budget such as transportation, food service, and additional instructional support. The District remains focused on managing cost-per-pupil costs and ensuring that we make effective use of our CARES Act funding.
Additionally, the District is addressing the 3-Year Capital Improvement Plan through the utilization of fund balance in the amount of $3.7 million in FY22. This addresses urgent facilities needs such as domestic water issues, ADA needs, and Health/Life Safety projects. An updated Tentative Budget update will be presented at the August 17, 2021, Board Meeting before approval of a final budget at the September 21, 2021, Board Meeting. The preliminary budget was approved later in the evening.
Informational Items
Fall 2021 COVID Mitigation Plans
The comprehensive IDPH/ISBE joint guidance for the 2021-2022 school year is currently under development at the State level with release expected sometime in July. As the District prepares mitigation plans for the 2021-2022 school year, it intends to collect the vaccination status of students and staff (voluntarily), consider options for Covid-19 screening tests (as encouraged by IDPH), and monitor Adventures in Learning data related to school transmission and quarantines. In early August, the District will evaluate how IDPH/ISBE guidance aligns with the localized data being collected over the summer. At the August 17 Regular Board meeting, an agenda item will include a review of local data and current IDPH/ISBE guidance to determine if the School Board adopts modified mitigation practices in time to communicate for an August 25 start.
The Facility Subcommittee met on June 14, 2021, to review the Superintendent's Citizen's Task Force Report to make a recommendation to move forward with a facility and funding scenario, aligned with the Educational Master Facility Plan to be shared and tested community-wide this fall. The Facility Subcommittee recommended sharing and testing Scenario Two with reasonable renovations at Skokie and Washburne Schools for collaborative spaces. The Board later adopted an action item to commit resources and adhere to the timeline associated with informing and testing an enhanced Option 2 Facility and Finance Plan.
By State law, the District is required to formally evaluate non-tenured teachers every year and tenured teachers every other year. In light of the pandemic, the state authorized school districts to amend the evaluation process for the 2020-2021 school year; therefore, only non-tenured teachers were evaluated this year. The building principal or the assistant principal evaluates the teachers following a consistent and documented process. The Professional Practice evaluation accounts for 70% of the overall rating, based upon the Danielson Model. The Student Growth Measure accounts for 30% of the overall summative rating, which is based upon two student growth assessments.
The Board received an update on staffing placements by building and district, reflecting hires approved by the Board at the May meeting. The 2021/2022 Staffing Plan is presented to the Board in detail this month reflecting the FTE allocations and draft placements by building, as well as at the District-level. Note that each building's staffing sheet reflects both the number of registered students and the expected enrollment.
In accordance with amendments passed by the Illinois Legislature to the Student Online Personal Protection Act ("SOPPA") that goes into effect on July 1, 2021, the District has posted Data Privacy Agreements (DPA) held for the EdTech tools that we currently utilize. Please visit the District website (Parents Page Data Privacy) to learn more and view approved agreements.
Brad Goldstein, Chief Financial Officer, shared plans for updating the District's playgrounds. This will update equipment that has reached end of life, as well as accessibility issues. During the summer of 2022 a playground will be updated at both Greeley and Hubbard Woods.
The following Action Items were approved:
1. Planned Timeline and Resource Allocation for EMFP Scenario 2 Enhanced
2. FY22 Preliminary Budget
3. Resolution Designating Interest Earnings in Fiscal Year 2020-2021 and Prior Years For Fiscal Year 2022-2022
4. Approve Mission, Vision, Portrait of a Graduate, & Priority Areas for Strategic Plan 2021- 2025
The Complete Board Packets for the June 22, 2021 School Board Meetings are here.
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