Dear District 30 Family,
Thank you all for your continued partnership through this year to continue moving our students forward with care! We continue to benefit from our committed educators, supportive parents, and engaged students. Board President Ursula Sedlak kicked off last night’s meeting with a heartfelt message to our staff, “We as Board Members want to highlight that we share in the outpouring of appreciation from our community for the love, commitment, and care demonstrated by our staff. Thank you for going above and beyond and for showing up for our kids and community each and every day! Please know that all of your efforts do not go unnoticed!” All members of our board agreed and shared their appreciation. Thank you!
The Board of Education meeting included the following relevant items:
Personnel Report
The Board officially hired Wendy Schwartz, Evan Wilson and Julie Meyers as Instructional Assistants. Please welcome them all to the District 30 Family.
The Board also approved one leave request that will occur during this school year.
Public Hearing
The Board conducted a Public Hearing concerning the intent of the Board of Education to issue $14M of Working Cash Fund Bonds. These funds will support our Elementary Capacity Project that will break ground this spring.
Budget Hearing & Approval
The Board also held the required annual Budget Public Hearing and formally approved the fiscal year 2020-21 budget that follows our financial projections. The budget is estimated to decrease the overall operating fund balances by approximately $2.3M at fiscal year-end. This deficit was planned and contains $1.5M in contingency to address the uncertain times/costs that the pandemic has created. Also, the aggregate budget (includes non-operating funds of debt services and capital projects) covers capital project costs associated with the addressing of enrollment issues at Wescott and Willowbrook Schools.
Superintendent’s Report
Northfield Township COVID-19 Elementary School Local Public Health Dashboard
I thanked our educators for their commitment and care, our students for their engagement, and our families for their partnership as we continue to navigate this global pandemic together. I also shared my sincere appreciation with our entire district for their collective commitment to ALL of our students, including those who are engaging in full-remote learning and in our hybrid in-person model.
I also shared the evolution of our Northfield Township COVID-19 Elementary School Local Public Health Dashboard that will be utilized by our township elementary districts to help us navigate this complex time. This color-coded dashboard includes the four metrics recommended for schools by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH):
- Weekly Cases per 100,000 Residents
- Weekly Test Positivity Rate
- Weekly Overall Case Number Increase for the past two weeks
- Weekly Overall Case Number Increase for the past two weeks
Metric designations are based on the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Adaptive Pause Guidance, which has been adapted for township-wide data. Trend data will be monitored for Region 10, Northfield Township’s dominant zip codes ( 60025, 60026, and 60062), and Northfield Township plus Adjacent Zip Codes (60025, 60026, 60062, 60015, 60016, 60022, 60029, 60035, 60053, 60056, 60070, 60077, 60089, 60090, 60091, 60093, 60714). If metrics trend up or reach substantial levels, guidance will be sought from the Cook County Department of Public Health regarding shifting instructional models.
Our goal is to utilize this dashboard to guide our discussions with the Cook County Department of Public Health as the health backdrop of this pandemic continues to shift. The current dashboard metrics support our educational models, and our hope is that our collective commitment to the mitigation strategies inside and outside of school will maintain metrics that continue to do so.
Sixth-Day Enrollment
I also shared our Sixth-Day Enrollment report and highlighted enrollment increases each of the past five years with 1198 students this year, up from 1184 students last year, and rising from 1115 in 2016.
Discussion/Information Items
Opening of Schools Report
The Principals shared reflections on the fantastic job our students and staff have done with our educational models this year. They shared an inspirational video capturing the start of education in District 30 this year. Enjoy!
Board Reports
Mrs. Zivit Blonder shared a brief update on Character Counts including that this year’s food drive for Northfield Township and video/poster contests will occur this year. Mrs. Artz also shared a Northern Suburban Special Education District (NSSED) update that included that they will announce their next phased operations plans next week and they are working toward changing their name from NSSED to TrueNorth Educational Cooperative 804.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Our next Board Meeting will be at Maple School on October 8, 2020, at 7:30 p.m. All are welcome!
Thank you all for your continued commitment to and partnership with District 30! Have a great weekend!
Sincerely,
Dr. Brian K. Wegley
Superintendent
