Board Meeting Highlights

June 17, 2019

Complete meeting packet

ACTION ITEM

Approve the District 39 Board of Education Resolution Condemning Hate and Deepening the District's Commitment to a Positive School Environment - REVISED
Following the recent incident at WJHS the Board felt a ‘call to action’ was in order. This resolution denounces hate of any kind and reestablishes the District’s commitment to enforcing a positive and equitable school climate. 

BOARD ASSIGNMENT REPORTS

Committees

  • School Finance – Frank Panzica reported – Committee had a detailed discussion on the District’s bond portfolio and two related resolutions will be voted on tonight. This relates to the potential sale of bonds in the future. The Forecast5 program was again discussed and many benefits of this tool were reviewed.
  • Facilities Development – Ellen Sternweiler reported – Committee further discussed large space air conditioning, including how to prioritize. The 2nd floor at WJHS was a clear top priority. Discussion included timelines and potential cost savings based on timing. Committee also talked about a two year contract with Future Green with potential savings. 

Liaison

  • Community Review Committee – Erin Stone – CRC elected new officers and selected a topic for next year – “Building better partnerships with parents.” 

Legislative Update – Erin Stone – Balanced budget was approved with an increase for evidence based funding model. Minimum teacher salary of $40,000 per year will impact approximately half of all Illinois school districts. SB 28 was signed into law, which reverses previous ISBE guidance on what constitutes an instructional school day, putting back into place a requirement of a 5 clock hour day with some allowable exemptions including allowing Districts to apply e-learning days. SB 1814 passed including a pension provision to increase end of career salary increases to from 3% to 6%. 

INFORMATION ITEMS

Announcements from the Superintendent

Written Communication 

Eighth Grade Graduation - Eighth-grade graduation was held on June 11th at New Trier’s Gates Gym. It was an incredible celebration as 445 students proudly move to high school. For next year, we have a tentative graduation date of Tuesday, June 9, 2020.

Administrator for Student Services - We are recommending Dr. Kristin Swanson as the Administrator for Student Services for 2019-2020. Kristin is a veteran administrator, and has spent the last five years as Assistant Superintendent for Student Services in North Shore District 112. Previously, she was Director of Special Education in Glenview D34 and Autism Coordinator for NSSED. She holds several advanced degrees including a Ph.D. in school psychology and a master’s in educational leadership. Dr. Swanson is an excellent fit for our District. 

2019-2021 Wilmette Education (WEA) Collective Bargaining Agreement – The Board will be voting on a two-year contract with the WEA. The Board’s negotiating team of Lisa Schneider-Fabes and Jon Cesaretti worked together with the WEA team. This agreement was ratified by the WEA on June 3rd. The terms of the agreement continue to tie salary increases to CPI, added a provision for a limited match to 403(B) contributions for Tier 2 teacher, and increased funds available for tuition reimbursement. 

Administrators’ Compensation and Benefits Plan - Along with the approval of the new teachers’ contract, the administrators’ compensation and benefits plan has been updated. It has been aligned with the new teachers contract and is ready for Board approval.

Property Tax Assessment Appeals – Intervention in property tax assessment appeals have been filed with the PTAB and with the Circuit Court of Cook County. These appeals are in accordance with policies and limitations established by the Board of Education.  The Property Index Number and the estimated refunds are listed for new property tax interventions this month. 

Resolution Authorizing July Bill Payments – This resolution allows the treasurer to fulfill financial obligations during the month of July as no board meeting will be held that month.

Illinois School Treasurer Bond Renewal - This is an annual renewal.  The bond requirement is 25% of our highest cash balance throughout the fiscal year. The bond amount will remain the same as last year at $14.5 million, the renewal premium increased less than 1%. 

FOIA 

Strategic Plan Updates

  • Review of 2018-2019 Strategic Plan – Ms. Lee and Administrative Team - This board report will review the 2018-2019 Strategic Plan.  For each section, the report will note the status of each initiative, a summary update, and any applicable next steps.
  • MAP Growth Assessment Report – Ms. Lee - This report is an executive summary of Northwest Evaluation Association’s Measure of Academic Progress (MAP Growth) results from spring of 2019. This report reflects D39 efforts for developing a student growth model. 

Annual Business

  • 2018-2019 Annual Bullying Report–  Dr. DeCristofaro - District 39 collects and monitors data around any reported incidents of bullying. This was is a newer report that is to be presented to the Board annually. This school year D39 improved its data collection and tracking. Because better data has been collected, this report could be considered base-line. 

Transition Items

BOARD ACTION

The Consent Agenda was approved including the following:

The following items were also approved by the Board:

  

GOOD AND WELFARE

As this was the last Board of Education meeting for retiring superintendent Dr. Ray Lechner, Board members had many kind words to share. In addition, Board president Lisa Schneider-Fabes announced that current and past D39 Board members planted a tree at the MEC in honor of Dr. Lechner. This tree was obtained through the Illinois Holocaust Museum and was grown from a maple tree sapling planted and nurtured by children in the Terezín Concentration Camp during the Holocaust. Few of the children survived, but this sapling from their tree lives on for all to remember. A plaque will be placed with the tree over the summer and will include a poem written by a child at Terezín.

 

The next meeting of the District 39 Board of Education will be on Monday, August 26, 2019 at 7:00 PM at the Mikaelian Education Center.