Board of Education Approves 2018-2019 School Calendar and Board Brief

From Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Brian K. Wegley

 

The 2018-2019 District 30 School Calendar was adopted by the District 30 Board of Education on Thursday, November 16, 2017. On the calendar page of the District 30 website, you will find the approved calendar and a list of important dates.

 

In the fall of 2018, classes for students in first through eighth grade will begin Monday, August 20. Kindergarten and preschool students will meet with their teacher briefly on Monday, August 20, and the first full day of class for Kindergarten and preschool students will be Tuesday, August 21.

 

Construction on the new Maple School will begin this spring. The summer of 2019 will involve finishing the new Maple School, demolishing the current Maple School and existing parking. After demolition, our construction team will complete the new parking lot and begin work on the new Maple field. Every day that can be added to the summer of 2019 will assist in opening school on time for the fall of 2019. To that end, you will notice that the approved 2018-2019 School Calendar includes the following modifications:

 

• Attending school on Columbus Day (October 8, 2018) and Presidents’ Day (February 18, 2019)

• Relocating the March Institute Day to the beginning of the school year allowing for student attendance on Casimir Pulaski Day (March 4, 2019)

• Dropping down to one emergency day during the year

Other Calendar Highlights:

 

• All Northfield schools continue to mirror District 225’s Winter Break (Monday, December 24, 2018, through Friday, January 4, 2019) and Spring Break (Monday, March 25, 2019, through Friday, March 29, 2019).

• Six half-day school improvement/institute days are included and are scheduled at the end of the week whenever possible. Two half-days also occur to support Parent-Teacher Conferences on October 12, 2018, and February 14, 2019.

• One emergency day (“snow” day) is built into the school year (Friday, February 15, 2019), and five emergency days added in June as specified by Illinois School Code.

• The tentative last day of school for Maple students will be on Thursday, May 30, 2019, and for Wescott and Willowbrook it will be on Friday, May 31, 2019.

 

The built-in emergency day noted above will be utilized to make up school if school is canceled before the emergency day (e.g. If school is canceled prior to Friday, February 15, 2019, school will be in session on that date.) Please plan on these days being attendance days, and note that building this day into the school year helps decrease the likelihood that school cancellations due to weather will impact the tentative last day of school.

Thank you all for your support of this modified calendar to support the construction of our new Maple School!

Board of Education Brief from Meeting Held November 16, 2017

The Board of Education held a meeting on Thursday, November 16, 2017, and the following relevant items were discussed:

Special Recognitions

Thank you to Dr. Carter for his leadership in Character Counts. He and Mrs. Sedlak represented our Board and celebrated District 30’s Character Counts! Contest Winners - Ethan Chiang, Cailyn Kelsen, Peter Thompson, Lucas King, Kaden Wang, Sloane Shabelman, Samantha Gregerman, Dylan Racke. You can see Winning videos and posters on the CC Website.

The Board also recognized the 8th Grade Girl's Volleyball Team for their conference championship title. The girls 8th-grade volleyball team roster includes Taylor Brocato, Megan Woloszyn, Renee St. John, Emma Snow, Milena Savic, Sophia Pinc, Brianna Meltser, Maddie Konopka, Emmy Kiggins, Penelope Isberner, Megan Wang, and Julia Masloski. Managers: Olivia Trela, and Isabel Silva. Congratulations to our girls and Ms. Ireland for a great season!

Finally, for School Board of Education Day, I shared our appreciation for our Board of Education for their service to and care for District 30. Thank you to Mrs. Rathge and her Service Learning Club for helping to honor our Board members: Mrs. Artz, Mr. Gitles, Mr. Karchmar, Mr. Riad, Mrs. Sedlak, Mrs. Shabelman, and Mr. Zuercher.

Personnel Report

The Board officially approved Mrs. Leena Ramachandra as an Instructional Assistant at Wescott, and Ms. Jeananne Moran, who is filling our open technology support position. Mr. Traell McClelland was also hired as our 6th-grade boy’s basketball coach. Welcome to these three individuals to the District 30 Family.

2017 Audit Accepted

The audit firm works for the Board of Education to provide an external review of our practices and internal controls. The audit went well, and no issues were found. The Board accepted the audit and thanked our business office for all of their good work.

Draft 2018-2019 School Calendar

The Board of Education approved the calendar for the 2018-2019 School Year. As a reminder, our goal is to maximize the days of summer for 2019. Our current draft sets the last day of school on the calendar on May 31, 2019. Thank you to our Association Leaders, PTO Co-Presidents, Board, and Administrative Team for their input into this calendar. More detailed information will be shared in an email from me later today.

D225 and D30 Land Swap Resolution Approved

This resolution is important to support our upcoming construction of the new Maple School. In the 1970’s, the current Sherman Drive that runs between the GBN and Maple campuses was extended near GBN’s athletic entrance to Greenview Road. Sherman Drive cut through the corner of D30’s campus and D225’s land, leaving a D30 triangle of land on GBN’s side of Sherman Road, and a D225 triangle of land on D30’s side. Both Boards have approved the land swap resolution. You can read more about this on my land swap blog - Thank You D225 for Land Swap & Maple Construction Support.

Eighth-Grade Washington DC Trip Approved

The Board approved this year’s Eighth-Grade Washington DC trip from May 9 through May 11. The Board and I shared our sincere appreciation for the commitment shown by our administration and staff to support these types of opportunities for our students!

2017 Estimated Tax Levy Approved

Districts under the tax cap can raise their property tax collection by the Consumer Price Index plus new property growth. Annually, the Board is required to approve an estimated tax levy before the new growth in our district is known. Therefore, we balloon the request, and the Board asks for a 10% increase, which is significantly higher than we expect to realize. Once new growth is known next summer, the actual extension (what we receive) is finalized.

Maple School Design Update

Our architects from ARCON reviewed the latest updates to our design efforts. We are nearing the 90% Construction Drawing mark and are still on track to go out to bid in January. This will position us to break ground in March with occupation still planned for the Fall of 2019.

NSSED Report and Character Counts Update

Mrs. Artz updated the Board of Education on her last NSSED Board meeting, and she reviewed a few thoughts on their ongoing visioning process. Mrs. Sedlak shared an update on our last Character Counts committee, which continues to do good work under the leadership of Dr. Carter.