The District 58 Board of Education held a Regular Meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2023 at Downers Grove Village Hall. View the agenda and meeting video on the District 58 YouTube page.
A Spotlight on our Schools from O’Neill Middle School
O’Neill Student Council representatives led the Pledge of Allegiance and reported on activities and clubs of the school, including the Courtyard Club, Craft Club, Drama Club, and Debate Club, among others. Principal Lauryn Humphris highlighted start-of-the-year activities including Sneak Preview, Popsicles to Meet the Principals, Welcome Back Assembly and a Staff Scavenger Hunt. She reported that the cross country teams performed very well; both the girls' and boys' 8th-grade teams took 2nd in the conference and also generated enthusiastic team spirit among the student body. The 7th grade girls team took 3rd place and 7th grade boys team took 4th place in the conference.
Assistant Principal Danielle Bongiorno shared events to increase engagement and connectedness within the school community such as Senator Shout-Outs, assemblies and the new advisory period. She also outlined the structure of the new advisories, where students learn social-emotional, executive functioning and other life skills. The school also has plans to partner with the PTA on a number of events including the Color Run, a new dance, 8th grade trip and VIP Day, among others.
Humphris highlighted the school improvement process using ECRA’s data review platform. She noted that overall students are achieving expected academic growth, with higher expected growth in reading and slightly lower growth in math. She noted that while in spring, students overall saw steady growth, fall data showed that students experienced the summer slide and did not grow as much as expected. The O’Neill team completed a deep analysis of academic data and set a 2023-24 school improvement goal related to implementing the ELA pilot curriculum and implementing a math intervention plan school-wide for all students during their Student Support Period and for select students, they are planning targeted interventions. The O'Neill Middle School Team is confident that their plans will produce positive growth.
Spotlight on our Schools: Referendum Construction Update
The Board heard an update from the District’s owner’s representative firm Huffman Keel on the referendum construction project. Here are recent highlights:
- The District is about 75% complete with its design and planning work
- The District is nearing completion of its meetings with users of spaces regarding design elements. Later on, user group meetings will be held on furniture choices
- The District held meetings with neighbors of the middle schools about construction
- The District submitted the required plans to the State Board of Education for review
- The District is in the process of developing a bid for environmental work
- Large equipment bids were approved by the Board in September
Spotlight on Our Schools: Fall Data Snapshot
As it does each fall, the Board heard a report on the fall data snapshot, which is a review of assessments from Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) and aimsweb assessments. Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Liz Ehrhart gave the report and noted that the District is in its third year of using a more robust platform to analyze student assessment data. The District partners with ECRA, an education strategic planning firm, to analyze assessment data to help drive student achievement at all performance levels – for individual students, groups of students, school-wide and District-wide.
The fall data snapshot shows a student’s projected path toward their growth target, which is set based on their spring 2023 assessment data. Ehrhart shared that the fall data is within the expected growth range with 82% of students showing high/expected growth in reading and 77% of students showing high/expected growth in math.
The data presented to the Board was at the District level but it is also parsed by student subgroups, school and individual students so that it can be analyzed and used to strengthen instruction. Superintendent Dr. Kevin Russell noted he has attended data meetings at some schools where powerful discussions among teachers and administrators take place to determine how best to support students.
Additional highlights were noted regarding the fall data snapshot:
- The overwhelming majority of student subgroups made their expected growth targets
- The District continues to monitor growth patterns at both the middle schools and elementary schools in order to determine structured supports to meet the needs of all students
- All schools continue to review their data and use it to develop their School Improvement Plans, which are implemented, monitored and reviewed throughout the school year.
Superintendent’s Report
Dr. Russell provided several updates including:
- Principal Appreciation Month: In honor of Principal Appreciation Month, Dr. Russell thanked the principals for their hard work and dedication to their students, staff, families, and the greater school community and noted that being a principal is a very rewarding and challenging position. He said the District and PTAs have activities planned to honor the principals and encouraged the public to look for special posts on social media recognizing them.
- Personnel: The Board will be considering approval of stipends for clubs and activities in the 23-24 school year at this meeting, which represents some amazing opportunities for our students.
- Curriculum and Instruction: Assessment reports (MAP, aimsweb and IAR) have been sent home. Consistent reporting of assessment results connects our families to the data we use to help determine our instructional decisions in the District. ISA score reports will go home with 6th graders next week.
- Finance: Open enrollment for health care is during the first two weeks in November. The District will announce opportunities for staff to meet and learn about the different plan options prior to open enrollment.
- Technology: Registration for Parent Teacher Conferences was successful. The District utilized the PowerPTC system for the fourth consecutive round of conferences. The system integrates well with PowerSchool and has the features and functionality we need. District 99 utilizes the same system so families can use a familiar system across the PK-12 experience.
- Special Services: Facilitated IEP training for parents will be held on October 11 and will outline the new process District 58 will use during IEP meetings. The presentation will explain the process and its benefits.
- Facilities: The ribbon-cutting celebration for the Belle Aire playground took place Oct. 2. Special thanks to Representatives Stava Murray and Costa Howard for their support of the project. Fairmount students have enjoyed watching the progress of the playground work during recess. While progress is being made on the project, it is not yet completed. Drain tile, asphalt border, and final landscaping all need to be installed. We are hopeful that it will be finished by this Saturday and the area can be opened for use. While other areas will need to be completed, we hope to get the play equipment opened as soon as it is safe to do so.
The Regional Office of Education (ROE) recently completed its health-life safety walk-throughs of all buildings and reported minimal issues that are being addressed. We’d like to thank all staff for their compliance. - Community Relations: District 58 received 20 applications from parents/guardians, staff, and community members to join District 58's Councils and Board of Education Committees. We anticipate having spots for almost all applicants on a council or committee. Membership of parents or community members gives us the opportunity to add new voices with diverse perspectives to our many groups, which ultimately enriches our discussions and informs our decisions.
Committee Reports
- Member Tracy Weiner reported on the Oct. 9 District Leadership Team meeting. The team focused on the Strategic Plan’s five goal areas and their objectives, action plans and priorities. The Plan will be presented to the Board at its Curriculum Workshop Oct. 23.
- Vice President Greg Harris reported on the Oct. 3 Health & Wellness Committee. The committee discussed employee medical insurance rates for 2023 and a change in pharmacy benefits managers.
- Vice President Greg Harris reported on the Sept. 19 Policy Committee. He noted that the Board will be voting on Policy 7:270 related to administering medicines.
- Member Emily Hanus reported on the Oct. 4 Legislative Committee. She reported that the group reviewed five resolutions that will be considered by the delegate assembly of the Illinois Association of School Boards. The committee also discussed tentative dates for the Legislative Breakfast, either Feb. 2 or Feb. 16, 2024.
- Board President Darren Hughes reported on the Oct. 6 Financial Advisory Committee meeting, which discussed the playground updates, health insurance updates, tax levy and the new elementary school lunch plan.
During the Meeting, the Board Also:
- Heard an update on the special education cooperative SASED
- Approved the appointment of Board Member Melissa Ellis as a delegate and Member Kirat Doshi as an alternate to the 2023 Illinois Association of School Board’s Delegate Assembly
- Approved a recommendation to adopt policy updates from PRESS Issue 112 and a correction to Policy 7:270 - Administering Medicines to Students
- Approved a recommendation from the Health and Wellness Committee to approve increases in medical insurance rates on two of five healthcare plans, and to slightly increase the contribution to health savings account (HSA)
- Approved a recommendation to increase substitute pay for instructional assistants to $110, and the hard-to-fill Substitute Instructional Assistant daily rate to $120.
Upcoming Events
- Oct. 23, 2023, 7 p.m., Curriculum Workshop, Downers Grove Village Hall (change in location previously announced)
- Oct. 25, 2023, 3:45 p.m., Legislative Committee, O'Neill Middle School
- Nov. 13, 2023, 7 p.m., Regular Board Meeting, Downers Grove Village Hall
District 58 Board of Education members are: Darren Hughes, president; Gregory Harris, vice president; Kirat Doshi, Melissa Ellis, Emily Hanus, Steven Olczyk and Tracy Weiner, with Dr. Kevin Russell, superintendent; and Melissa Jerves, board secretary.