The District 58 Board of Education held a regular business meeting on Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. View the agenda and presentation links. Click here to access meeting video and audio (to be posted soon). Highlights from the meeting include:
Belle Aire Presentation:
The Belle Aire Student Council shared some of the ways they give back to their community. For example, this fall, they raised money to support a local family in need for Thanksgiving and for the upcoming winter holidays. They also donated hygiene items to support military families through Operation Support Our Troops. View their presentation.
Principal Brent Borchelt shared how Belle Aire is meeting goals 1 and 2 of the District’s Strategic Plan. For Goal 1, Focusing on Learning, Belle Aire closely monitors student progress to ensure each student receives the appropriate support, including interventions for students who are struggling and acceleration for students who demonstrate grade level mastery. Belle Aire exceeded its spring 2019 MAP assessment goals and narrowly missed its spring 2019 Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) goals. Belle Aire teachers and staff analyzed IAR topics and questions and began embedding similar questions into their curriculum to better prepare students for its style of questioning.
For Goal 2, Connecting the Community, Belle Aire proudly partners with its PTA and the Village of Downers Grove for many important educational activities. Mr. Borchelt also publishes a weekly parent newsletter, and staff and students actively use the Seesaw communication app. Currently, Belle Aire has 26,000 Seesaw posts and 30,000 parent visits. View his presentation.
PTA President Erin Berger reported that the PTA’s Fun Run and Trivia Night fundraisers support several student activities, such as theater trips, library events, teacher requests and more. The PTA hosted a special and well-received Veterans Day ceremony last month.
Spotlight on our Schools: Health and Wellness Committee
Assistant Superintendent for Business Todd Drafall and Henry Puffer Teacher and DGEEA Representative Mark White reported on the District’s Health and Wellness Committee.
District 58 is a self-insured health benefits provider, which means the District pays out-of-pocket for health care expenses as they are received. In recent years, health care spending has outpaced the District’s medical budget. To address this issue, the District partnered with the teacher’s union (DGEEA) and the custodial union (DGCMA) during last year’s contract negotiations to form the Health and Wellness Committee.
Through their work, the District launched a wellness screening program and aligned its insurance rate adjustments to coincide with open enrollment, so employees can make more informed health insurance choices. They also increased employee health insurance communication and will launch a diabetes management program next month. Earlier this year, the committee added a $200 emergency room copay, changed its prescription benefits manager and promoted the use of TelaDoc.
The committee hopes these improvements, among others, will help reduce employee health costs without affecting employee benefits.
View the presentation to learn more.
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Dr. Kevin Russell provided the Board with information and updates, including:
- Curriculum and Instruction: District 58’s Dec. 2 Teacher Institute Day included professional growth sessions that focused on math, science, English language arts, technology and more.
The Math Committee is piloting different math curriculum resources for implementation next school year. The committee may recommend a final resource during their January 2020 meeting. To prepare for this possible recommendation, the District will display all math curricular materials being piloted at the Downers Grove Public Library and the District 58 Administrative Service Center. Parents are invited to review these materials and share feedback with the Curriculum Department. Materials being piloted are:
- Grades K-5: Bridges in Mathematics and EnVision Math
- Grades 6-8: Big Ideas Math and EnVision Math
- Finance: The Board approved the District 58 tax levy last month, and the Business Office has submitted it to the DuPage County Clerk’s Office in advance of its Dec. 31 deadline.
- Facilities: District 58 continues to work with Rep. Anne Stava-Murray to obtain State funds for playground money secured in the Capital Bill last spring. Mr. Drafall and Dr. Russell will meet with Rep. Stava-Murray next week to discuss next steps.
- Public Relations: The new Facility Planning Citizen Task Force will meet Wednesday, Dec. 18. The task force will comprise about 40 representative community members, and they will review and provide recommendations regarding the District’s DRAFT Master Facility Plan.
- Personnel: Throughout December, Dr. Russell will personally deliver Green Apple Awards to many staff members. The Education Foundation’s Green Apple program invites community members to honor a special District 58 employee with a Green Apple Award. They submit the award by making a donation to the Foundation. A complete list of Green Apple recipients will be published in January 2020.
- Technology: The Technology Department checked and updated, as needed, its operating systems in anticipation of the winter MAP test. During the first four days of testing, 2,323 assessments were completed, and so far, it has gone smoothly.
- Special Services: The State announced new emergency regulations for the use of timeouts and restraints that are effectively immediately. District 58 does not practice isolated timeouts nor seclusion, and its practices are consistent with the new law. The District is collaborating with its special education collaborative to support its continued compliance with the updated regulations moving forward.
- Winter Break: District 58 schools will be closed Dec. 23-Jan. 3 for winter break. During this period, the District’s Administrative Service Center will be open Dec. 26, 27, 30 and Jan. 2-4.
Business Report
Assistant Superintendent for Business Todd Drafall reported that revenues and expenditures are trending as expected or slightly better than expected. He noted that the State announced a property tax relief grant program for school districts. After review, his team does not recommend the District apply for this grant, as it would leave the District with a $1.52 million shortfall for two years. Learn more.
He also shared that the District’s 2019 debt payment exceeds its 2019 bond levy by more than $93,000. This shortfall stems from a 2013 bond issue that anticipated a higher level of annual inflation than has actually occurred. The Board may consider adopting a resolution in February 2020 that proposes an increase for the 2019 and 2020 levies to help make up the shortfall. The property tax bill impact on a $300,000 house for this potential levy increase is approximately $1.88 for the 2019 levy. Learn more.
Committee Reports
Member Tracy Weiner reported on the Nov. 19 Policy Committee meeting. A representative from the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB) attended and described how District 58’s policy manual will be updated with IASB’s policy manual customization service, which the Board approved last month. Superintendent Dr. Kevin Russell added that the committee also discussed the District’s head lice parent communication practices and recommended an update. Schools will now contact all grade level parents after one case of lice is identified and contact all school parents after cases of lice are identified in multiple grade levels.
Dr. Russell reported on the Nov. 20 Legislative Committee meeting. The committee received a report on the District’s positions regarding the IASB resolutions as voted on at the annual IASB Delegate Assembly. The committee also began planning the annual Legislative Breakfast.
Board President Darren Hughes reported on the Nov. 18 District Leadership Team meeting. This committee reviewed the District’s progress toward its three strategic goals: Focusing on Learning, Connecting the Community and Securing the Future. The Strategic Plan dashboard will be updated this week with progress updates.
Board Vice President Greg Harris reported on the Nov. 21 Health and Wellness Committee Meeting. The committee reviewed claims, noting that October claims ran high, while summertime claims ran low. They noted a decrease in large claims this fiscal year so far.
The Financial Advisory Committee has not met since the last Board meeting.
Discussion: 2020-21 School Calendar
Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Dr. Jayne Yudzentis shared the proposed 2020-21 District 58 calendar, the approved 2020-21 District 99 calendar, and the results from the recent parent survey on the 2020-21 calendar. Based on parent feedback, District 58 recommends a calendar that aligns the District 58 and District 99 calendars for all holidays and break periods. Although District 58 and 99’s start and end dates will differ, the proposed calendar aligns all full days off with District 99. Learn more.
Discussion: 2020-21 Student Fees
Dr. Russell and Manager of Business Services Katie Hannigan reviewed proposed 2020-21 student fees for the Board’s consideration. Most fees will increase by the anticipated consumer price index of 2.2%. The District’s transportation contract increased 4.5% this year, so transportation fees will increase by 4.5% to account for this rise.
The District’s Optional Kindergarten Enrichment and Enhancement Program is completely self-funded by student fees. The Business Office analyzed this program’s 2019-20 costs and noted that program costs exceeded the revenues it raised via student fees by $35,000. The Business Office estimated the program’s expected salary, benefits and supply costs for 2020-21 and recommends that the program increase its fee 6.9% to meet the program’s expected costs for next year. The Board will be asked to vote on student fees later this winter. Learn more.
During the Meeting, the Board Also:
- Publicly recognized students who participated in the 2019 PTA Reflections competition and acknowledged the 44 students who will advance to the competition’s regional level.
- Approved minutes from the Nov. 11 regular meeting, Nov. 18 financial workshop and Nov. 20 Lester PTA meeting and building tour.
- Approved all items presented in the consent agenda.
- Approved a three-year contract with Securly for student device web content monitoring. Learn more.
- Adopted Policy 3540 – Targeted School Violence Prevention Program. Learn more.
- Received one comment from a parent regarding bullying and class size concerns.
Upcoming Events
- Monday, Dec. 16 at 4 p.m.: Parent Teacher Advisory Committee Meeting at Longfellow
- Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 7 a.m.: Policy Committee Meeting at the ASC
- Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 3:45 p.m.: Legislative Committee Meeting at the ASC
- Friday, Jan. 10 at 7 a.m.: Financial Advisory Committee Meeting at the ASC
- Monday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.: Regular School Board Meeting at Downers Grove Village Hall
District 58 Board of Education members are: Darren Hughes, president; Greg Harris, vice president; Kirat Doshi, Emily Hanus, Steven Olczyk, Jill Samonte and Tracy Weiner, with Dr. Kevin Russell, superintendent; and Melissa Jerves, board secretary.