Superintendent Dr. Brian Wegley's November 14, 2019 Board Brief

Superintendent Dr. Brian Wegley's November 14, 2019 Board Brief

 

Our last Board of Education Education meeting included the following relevant items:

Special Recognitions

In honor of School Board Members Recognition 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, Mrs. Blonder, Mr. Karchmar, Mr. Levin, Mr. Rizki, Mrs. Sedlak, and Mr. Zuercher. 

Our Board of Education also unveiled Maple’s Memorial Plaque that represents the hundreds of people who’s fingerprints are on our new Maple School! 

Personnel Report                                                                                                                           

The Board formally approved a child-rearing leave.

2019 Estimated Tax Levy Approved

The Board is required to approve an estimated tax levy as part of the annual levy process.  The estimated 2019 levy was approved at $25,081,500 for capped funds and will be finalized after a public hearing and presentation at the Thursday, December 12 meeting in the Maple School’s library. As a general reminder, districts under the tax cap can raise their property tax collection by CPI (Consumer Price Index) plus any new growth/construction not previous on the local tax rolls.  The annual levy (what is requested) is routinely set artificially high because even though the CPI factor of 1.9% is known, the new growth/construction in a district is not known. Once new growth/construction is determined in the spring, the actual 2019 extension (what is received) will be finalized and is assumed to be approximately 3% (1.9% for CPI + 1.1% for new growth) higher than the 2018 extension. 

FY 2019 Financial Audit Approved

The Board officially accepted the 2019 fiscal year audit as prepared by the district's auditors, Miller, Cooper & Co., Ltd. Mrs. Sedlak praised our Business Office for continuing to strengthen our financial systems. District 30 received the auditor’s highest level of assurance with an Unmodified Clean Opinion!

Strategic Planning Update

Our administrative team provided an update of progress on our District 30 Board Goals:

Goal 1: Increase District 30’s capacity to systemically collaborate within grade-level teams to execute the cycle of continuous instructional improvement by:

  1. Review local assessment data in teams 

  2. Implement structured protocols for the analysis of student work and problem-solving (critical friends group, grade-level teaming, curriculum development, prep/planning, and instruction)

  3. Teach and build capacity for understanding norms and protocols to utilize with our teaching staff

  4. Communicate the cost-neutral solution to provide time for meaningful grade-level collaboration that will be implemented by 2020-21

Goal 2: Ensure District 30 facilities possess the capacity to support our evolving and emerging programs and contribute to optimal educational experiences by:

  1. Finalize and close out the Maple Construction Project

  2. Update the Master Facility Plan to:

    1. Support flexible furniture for grades 3 through 8

    2. Finalize and install flexible furniture plan for grades K through 2 to support our educational vision

    3. Continued planned progress on Health/Life-Safety facility updates

    4. Begin planning to solve our elementary enrollment/facility capacity issues

  3. Communicate the need for long-term solutions that respond to elementary enrollment/facility capacity challenges through the Master Facility Plan

Thank you to our team and everyone involved in our improvement efforts this year.

Illinois School Report Cards Released

This State of Illinois released this year’s annual school report cards on Wednesday, October 30, 2019. As we have reported, they reflect strong student performance and that things are going very well! It is worth noting that our math achievement was the second-highest score in the State of Illinois!

Our District and School Report Cards are posted on our website. Please contact your school office or our Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Dr. Melissa Hirsch, at (847) 498-4190 if you wish to have a printed copy.

Board Reports

Mrs. Artz presented an update on NSSED’s last meeting that included a summary of efforts to update their billing model and profile meetings. Mrs. Blonder reported that the Canned Food Drive resulted in over 8000 food items being donated to the Northfield Food Pantry. She also shared that the Character Counts’ poster and video contest went well, celebrated several District 30 winners, and highlighted that our students would be recognized at the November 21 Glenview Village Board of Trustees Meeting. 

Last week, we celebrated American Education Week. I thank you for all of the great work you do with our kids in the most important profession on the planet. I am proud to serve with you knowing that what we do matters every day. 

Our next Board Meeting will be on December 12, 2019. All are welcome!

Have a great week!