Summary of September 24, 2007 Board of Education Meeting

The Burr Ridge C.C.S.D. 180 Board of Education held their regular meeting on Monday, September 24th.   The meeting was held in the Burr Ridge Middle School Band Room. 

After some discussion on the new location of the board meetings, the Burr Ridge CCSD #180 Board reviewed recent communications…

…reviewed recent newspaper articles and state association reports regarding the budget impasse in Springfield.  There was also a brief discussion on the impact the lack of funds from Springfield would have on the district’s budget and financial situation.

…reviewed information from the Illinois State Board of Education which has evaluated our district’s Special Education programming and determined that in the 2005-06 school year, our programs met State requirements. 

…reviewed ISBE’s Nutrition Department information regarding additional food services, which may be required of school districts in the future if one of their sites has over 50% of its students eligible for free, or reduced lunch.  Currently neither of our schools has 50% of our students eligible for free or reduced lunch.  However, at AMJES 45% of the students qualified in the 2006-07 school year and 47.7% qualified at BRMS.  Overall, the district’s average is 46.1% and the state’s average is 40.9%.  This is something that the district will continue to monitor, if our numbers should rise above 50% the district would then need to provide lunches during summer school programs.

…were informed that ISBE has awarded all district nominees for the Those Who Excel Awards with the “Award of Recognition”.  These recipients will be acknowledged at a dinner in Decatur on Saturday, October 13th.
…heard information from DuPage County Public Works regarding the work on 91st street.  This work will cause a slight disruption with access to the BRMS driveway on Friday, September 28, 2007. This information has been shared with teachers.
The Board of Education were then informed on some of the efforts which had taken place in the district over the past month as directed by district’s goals for the school year.

…heard about a new procedure that will be put in place regarding attendance. This information  was sent out to parents and those staff members responsible for attendance. The district has always participated in sound attendance practices.  However, the efforts here are primarily focused on underscoring the importance of student attendance is for student achievement.  The efforts to put some additional teeth in to board policy through the “requirement” of summer school to further impress upon parents how seriously the district takes regular student attendance. This information was sent home to parents this week. 

…were informed about the district’s efforts to generate accurate student demographic information and the overall success that this re-evaluation of student data was having.

…read an overview of the district’s efforts to students safe when they travel in district buses. A school bus safety manual was prepared which outlines all of the procedures our drivers will follow when transporting district students.  Additionally, there are several important items that must be on hand in order to document a school bus driver’s licensure to drive.  To systematize these issues; two forms were created along with the handbook.  The board was also informed that all of our district drivers meet these requirements.

…reviewed the Superintendent’s efforts toward the creation of an assessment program/calendar through Principal Gosselink’s efforts to help lead a group of teachers  through the selection of an assessment tool.  This assessment tool will enable the district to determine student abilities and deficits on a more frequent basis. The goal is to address student needs and measure student growth in the grade levels prior to ISAT testing.   It appears as if it may be possible to have this assessment piece be an extension of DIBELS that is currently in place at AMJES. The district will be focusing on Reading primarily, and along with these additional assessments have coordinated with the ROE to provide teachers with additional professional development in reading instruction.  This professional development will take place at the grade levels so it will be specific to teacher needs.

…reviewed the job descriptions and work rules went out to Educational Support Staff last week as well as the seniority list.

…read the new Accident Reporting Form and reviewed safety measures. In light of previous legal issues and in an attempt to reinforce the importance of documentation of any injuries to students, the form and new procedure has been created.  While it is hoped that the use of this form is rare, it helps to clarify what information may be needed to review and prevent incidents.

…heard a very complementary report on District Nurse Jan Schlemmer’s efforts to create improved safety procedures as well as leading the efforts to provide first aid kits throughout the school and in also put them in the hands of our coaches and bus drivers.  For this same group of employees as well as health aides, she is working with DuPage health officials to provide Hepatitis B shots. These shots will provide the district and staff members a level of protection from illness. She also is working on installing hand sanitizers in the student lunch rooms to help reduce the spread of illness.

…were informed of the agenda and importance of the NAFIS conference this coming weekend in Washington DC as they determine appropriations for Federally Impacted Schools. Given the obvious importance of these funds on the district’s overall budget, it is important that the district continue to be active in lobbying for these funds.

…reviewed information regarding the facilities study which is currently taking place.

…were informed of a meeting that took place between the district and Ms. Heather Heaviland of the IFF (Illinois Facilities Fund), a non-profit organization which helps such as the Community House, find locations to house their efforts.

The Board of Education then took action to help the district achieve its goals for the school year.

…approved recognition of schools information required by the state. This form states that we are incompliance with all state regulations and that all paraprofessional aides are “Highly Qualified” as determined by NCLB. This year, we have added INSPIRE Academy to our list of schools.

…responded to a new law requiring school physicals for 6th grade students.  This law was enacted late and was to become effective for this school year.  Obviously, by September, most districts had already started.  As a result, the law no longer requires 5th grade physicals (as policy states) but 6th grade physicals (a requirement which was subsequently waived due to its late enactment).  With the law being changed, the district responded to best policy and has suspended district policy for this year regarding school physicals as by law, at least for this year, they cannot be required for 5th or 6th graders.

…held a public hearing on the adoption of the district’s FY 08 budget. During this hearing, the public was given a chance to comment or ask questions during the hearing. (A statement on the budget is provided on the web site.)

…approved the at-will employment for the 2007-2008 school year of Mrs. Maria Hruby as a part-time employee charged with assisting with some of the business functions in the district office.  It is believe that the improved management of district resources could be of benefit to the district and that through employing Mrs. Hruby the improved efficiency in accounts payable and investments could actually have a positive financial impact. 

…approved the rescheduling of the October meeting.  This change was necessitated by the change of date of the September meeting in order to have the thirty-day notice period regarding the tentative budget.  As such, the next Board of Education meeting was scheduled for only three weeks from now on October 15th. Moving the meeting back a week will allow the district and the business office to have the full compliment of bills as a part of our regular cycle of payment as well as provide some additional time for the staff to organize information for presentation regarding our assessment calendar.  Pushing the meeting back a week to October 22nd still allows for four weeks between October and November as well.

…had the first reading of revised board policy 5:280 and 5:290.  Both policies offer significant clarification of current employment practices for Educational Support Personnel. These new policies will bring into alignment our past practices and Board Policy. The approval of these policies will result in the establishment of different classifications of support personnel. (These policies are available on the district web site.)

…had the first reading of revised or new board policies: 4:180, 5:130, 5:180, 6:40, 6:235, and 7:90. (These policies are available on the district web site.)

The Board’s next regular meeting will be held on Monday, October 22, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in the Band Room of Burr Ridge Middle School.

Summary of December 19, 2006 CCSD #180 Board of Education Meeting