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Superintendent Dr. Brian Wegley's January 9, 2020 Board Brief

Superintendent Dr. Brian Wegley's January 9, 2020 Board Brief

Welcome back from Winter Break! We missed our students and staff and have enjoyed kicking off 2020 together at the schools this week! 

If you haven’t had a chance to read Board President Ursula Sedlak’s “Year in Review,” which was published in the Northbrook Tower and Glenview Lantern, please take a few minutes to learn all about Another Remarkable Year of Growth and Accomplishment for District 30.

We are also in full swing planning for the 20th anniversary of the Lew Blond Run, which is District 30’s largest and most successful community fundraiser for Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS) research, high school scholarships, and significant school projects. This year’s run takes place on Saturday, May 16, at Maple School! Sign up for the race today at lewblondrun.org

Our Board of Education meeting included the following relevant items:

Time Study Committee / Summer Curriculum Work & Math Grades 1-5 Summer Curriculum Work

Thank you to our Time Study Committee that includes Katie Petersen, Maggie Jerkovich, Anna Davis, Jessica Schutz, Lainie Levin, Heidi Fletcher, Elissa Anderson, and Kery Obradovich. They highlighted our teachers’ accomplishments toward our Board Goal 1. Common planning time, scheduling, and progress of our Professional Learning Teams (PLTs) for this year in Mathematics and ELA were shared. I joined our Board of Education in sharing sincere appreciation to our committee and outstanding teachers for their dedication to our students throughout this effort. 

The Board of Education also had the opportunity to participate in SCHOOL WIDE MATH presented by Erin Janick and Kary Obradovich.

Preschool Update Presentation

Thank you also to Katie Petersen and Michelle Cummings, who reported out on the transition of our Kid Connection Preschool from NSSED to District 30 management. Staffing was shared, as was the preschool program’s curriculum work. Also, resources that continue to be utilized, such as Number Corners, Fundations, and Second Step, were reviewed.  

The Board and I shared our appreciation for the hard work put in by Mrs. Peterson, Mrs. Cummings, Dr. Carlson, and Ms. Schulman to help this program be an even stronger one under District 30’s management. Well done! 

Elementary Capacity Needs

The District 30 Board of Education discussed options to address our elementary capacity issue that has challenged our schools for years. This Board Goal work responds to increasing enrollment across the district that was updated again this year and reviewed at our October 24, 2019, Board Meeting

In 2007, District 30 faced overcrowding at Wescott with space available at Willowbrook. The responsible solution was to create the Kindergarten Center at Willowbrook, which combined all District 30 Kindergarten students. The resulting Kindergarten Center has been very successful. However, with enrollment continuing to rise across the district, classroom capacity and small-group instructional space are needed at Wescott and Willowbrook. Therefore, additional classrooms are needed at both schools.

After discussing several options, the Board is considering solving our elementary capacity issue by aligning our kindergarten program with our neighborhood-school philosophy as early as the fall of 2021. Expanding the number of additional classrooms at Wescott to also support Wescott’s kindergarten students simultaneously opens up needed classroom capacity at Willowbrook. This solution seems to be a win-win.

Our next steps will be to finalize our plan for this important elementary capacity project. Stay tuned!

Second Reading of New & Revised Board Policies

District 30 revises Board Policies twice a year. Revisions and additions occur due to new legislation and the need to ensure that our policies support and align with our practices. We completed the second reading of the following Board Policies that are being revised: 

230: Vacancies on the School Board - Filling Vacancies; 240 BOARD MEMBER CONFLICT OF INTEREST; 243 SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS - Ethics and Gift Ban; 245 BOARD OFFICERS - Qualifications, Term, and Duties of Board Officers; 245.01 BOARD OFFICERS - Duties of The President; 245.02 BOARD OFFICERS - Duties of The Vice-President; 245.03 BOARD OFFICERS - Duties of The Secretary; 270.10 SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS - School Board Meeting Procedure; 410 Payment Procedures; New Policy: 410.02 Identity Protection; 410.08 Rental of Facility; 420.03 Accounting and Audits; 500.06 GENERAL PERSONNEL - Abused and Neglected Child Reporting; New Policy: 500.07 GENERAL PERSONNEL - Drug and Alcohol-Free Workplace; E-Cigarette, Tobacco, and Cannabis Prohibition; 500.08 GENERAL PERSONNEL - Equal Employment Opportunity and Minority Recruitment; 500.10 GENERAL PERSONNEL - Workplace Harassment Prohibited; 500.65 GENERAL PERSONNEL - Employee Ethics; Conduct; and Conflict of Interest; 520.03 PROFESSIONAL PERSONNEL - Staff Development; New Policy: 615 Home and Hospital Instruction; 720.14 STUDENT WELFARE - Administering Medicines to Students; 720.23 STUDENT WELFARE - Harassment of Students Prohibited; 720.24: STUDENT WELFARE - Prevention of and Response to Bullying; 720.29: STUDENT WELFARE - Suicide and Depression Awareness and Prevention; New Policy: 820 Community Use of School Facilities.

Our next Board Meeting will be on January 23, 2020. All are welcome!

Have a great weekend, and let me know if you have any questions!