November 12 Board Brief

November 12 Board Brief

Dear District 30 Family,

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

Special Recognitions

In honor of School Board Members Recognition Day, Mrs. Artz, Mrs. Blonder, Mr. Karchmar, Mr. Levin, Mr. Rizki, Mrs. Sedlak, and Mr. Zuercher were recognized. The positive impact of the Board of Education makes it into classrooms every day, especially throughout this challenging year!

Personnel Report                                                                                                                           

The Board formally approved Instructional Assistants Peter Braun at Willowbrook and Cynthia Beltran-Islas at Wescott. Welcome to the District 30 Family! The Board also approved two leaves.

2020 Estimated Tax Levy Approved

The Board is required to approve an estimated tax levy as part of the annual levy process.  The estimated 2020 levy was approved at $25,676,238 for capped funds and $3,438,520 for its non-capped funds. The Board will finalize it after a public hearing and presentation at the Tuesday, December 8 meeting. 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 previously on the local tax rolls. The annual levy (what is requested) is routinely set artificially high because even though the CPI factor of 2.3% is known, the new growth/construction in a district is unknown Once new growth/construction is determined in the spring, the actual 2020 extension (what is received) will be finalized and is assumed to be approximately 3% (2.3% for CPI + 0.7% for new growth) higher than the 2019 extension. 

Four Board Policies Approved & Six Others Reviewed

The Board approved Board Policies 290 School Board: Uniform Grievance Process, 291 School Board: Title IX Sexual Harassment Grievance Procedure, 500.10 General Personnel: Workplace Harassment Prohibited, and 720.23 Student Welfare: Harassment of Students Prohibited during a first reading to incorporate new Title IX regulations.

The Board also completed the first reading of New and Revised Board Policies Being Considered Including 440 Incurring Debt Policy, 500.08 General Personnel: Equal Employment Opportunity and Minority Recruitment, 520.10 Professional Personnel: Substitute Teachers, 700.01 Equal Educational Opportunities, 720.24 Student Welfare: Prevention of and Response to Bullying, and 850 Gifts to School Districts.

Food Service Contract Agreement Approved

The Board of Education originally entered into a contract with Quest Food Management Services, Inc. on June 14, 2018. An amendment to the current food services contract with Quest was approved to address: 1) administrative and management fees, 2) any future school closures due to the pandemic, and 3) an extension of the current agreement through June 30, 2022.

Phased Operations Update

The Board discussed the Adaptive Pause that will include Full-Remote Learning from Monday, November 30, 2020, through Friday, January 15, 2021. Survey results from parent and staff surveys were also briefly reviewed. Finally, the timeline for re-registration was also highlighted, including the Monday, November 16 deadline. 

Strategic Planning Update

The administrative team provided a progress update on the 2020-21 Strategic Plan in support of the 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.

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

Illinois School Report Cards Released

The State of Illinois released this year’s annual school report cards on Friday, October 30, 2020. The COVID-19 global pandemic restrained this year’s results. District and School Report Cards are posted on our website. If you would like printed copies, contact your school office or Dr. Melissa Hirsch, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, at (847) 498-4190.

Board Reports

Mrs. Artz presented an update on NSSED’s last meeting that included the approval of a name change from NSSED to TrueNorth Educational Cooperative 804 on July 1, 2021. She also shared updates to their website that now incorporates links to all eighteen member districts. Mrs. Blonder reported that the Character Counts Canned Food Drive doubled our goal with food donated to the Northfield Food Pantry. She also shared that the Character Counts’ poster and video contest is underway until November 30. 

Our next Board Meeting will be on Tuesday, December 8, 2020. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Sincerely,

Dr. Brian K. Wegley
Superintendent