Board of Education Approves 2019-2020 Calendar/Board Meeting Updates

Board of Education Approves 2019-2020 Calendar/Board Meeting Updates

October 4, 2018

Board Approves 2019-2020 Calendar

From Superintendent Dr. Brian Wegley

The 2019-2020 District 30 School Calendar was adopted by the District 30 Board of Education on Thursday, October 4, 2018. On the calendar page of the District 30 website, you will find the approved calendar with a list of important dates.

In the fall of 2019, the first day of school for first through eighth-grade students will be Tuesday, September 3. Kindergarten and preschool students will meet with their teacher briefly on Tuesday, September 3; their first full day of class will be Wednesday, September 4.

Construction on the new Maple School continues to be on schedule and within budget. The summer of 2019 will involve finishing the new Maple School, demolishing the current Maple School, drives, and existing parking. Demolition work will be followed by the installation of underground water detention, the completion of the new parking lot, and the grading and seeding of the new Maple School field. Every day that can be added to the summer of 2019 will assist in opening school on time for the fall of 2019.

The approved 2019-2020 District 30 School Calendar includes the following modifications:  Student attendance on Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Presidents Day, and Pulaski Day.

The Teacher Institute Day that is traditionally held on the first Monday of March will be moved to August 27 to occur along with the Teacher Institute days on August 28 and August 29 to kick off the school year.

Other Calendar Highlights: All Northfield Township schools continue to mirror District 225’s Winter Break (Monday, December 23, 2019, through Friday, January 3, 2020) and Spring Break (Monday, March 23, 2020, through Friday, March 27, 2020).

Six half-day school improvement/institute days are scheduled at the end of the week whenever possible.

Full-day Parent-Teacher Conferences (no school for students) are scheduled for Thursday, October 17, 2019, and Thursday, February 6, 2020.

The tentative last day of school will be on Thursday, June 11, 2020 (with no emergency days).

The district is currently exploring additional programming for students during early June and in August of 2019 when school is not in session. There will be more information available on this programming in the near future.

Superintendent Dr. Brian Wegley's Board of Education Update

The Board of Education meeting of October 5, 2018 included the following relevant items:

Student Recognitions:
On behalf of the Board, member Mrs. Nancy Artz recognized Student Musicians Irene Park, Caroline Chang, Howard Dai, and Kelly Kim for their Maple School Playground Donation. Also, President Chuck Gitles recognized 2018-2019 Maple Student Council Board Officers Moses Chua, Max Wadhwa, Gwyneth Kinzler, Rohan Mitra, Dylan Hartbarger, Olivia Thursby, and Julia Bazianos.

Action Items
The Board formally approved:

This year’s Eighth-Grade Washington DC Trip from May 8, 2019, to May 10, 2019. The Board joined me in vocalizing appreciation for Maple’s staff for continuing to make these real-world opportunities available to our students.

Draft B of the 2019-2020 District 30 School Calendar that compacts the school year to maximize the length the summer of 2019. The summer of 2019 will involve completing of the new Maple School and demolishing the current Maple School, drives, and parking lot.

Demolition work will be followed by the installation of underground water detention, the completion of the new parking lot, and the grading and seeding of the new Maple School field.

Due to our modified calendars that support the construction of the new Maple School, District 30 is actively exploring student programming options that parents could utilize in June and August of 2019. As these options are formalized, we will help share them with our parents.

Discussion/Information Items
The Levy Process:

Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, Dale Falk  shared the annual Property Tax Cycle process highlighting the levy process and tax extension:
The levy is established in November and December and is the amount requested to be raised from property taxes. The extension is the actual dollar amount billed to property taxpayers in a district. District 30’s levy is always higher than our extension.

The Property Tax Extension Limiting Law (PTELL aka Tax Cap) limits the increase in property tax extensions to 5% or the percent increase in the national Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is lower.

The tax extension also includes the impact of new growth within the district which is not known until early 2019. Therefore, the levy is routinely set artificially high due to the uncertainties in the new growth/construction in the district.