District 57 School Board Meeting Highlights – May 21, 2020
*School Board Meeting Highlights are an overview of important decisions, presentations and/or discussions that take place at Board meetings. They are different from the meeting minutes, which give a more detailed report of Board actions and are posted on the website as part of the following meeting’s public packet.
The May 21 School Board meeting was held via a Zoom conference call. A voice recording will be posted on the District website. Here are highlights of the meeting:
Election of Officers
The Board re-elected Dr. Elaine Aumiller as chairman pro tem, Virginia Webster as secretary, Eileen Kowalczyk as president and Vicki Chung as vice president, for one-year terms.
Transportation Contract
Adam Parisi, assistant superintendent of finance and operations, reported that the District had an opportunity to renegotiate its contract with First Student, the transportation vendor. As a result, the District is able to give families reimbursements for April and May. The business office is now processing the reimbursements – those who paid by credit card or e-pay will see the funds applied to their credit card, those who paid by check or cash will receive a check in the mail. The process must be done manually and will take several weeks.
Remote Learning Update
Dr. Mary Gorr, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, updated the Board on the progress of remote learning and thanked central administration, building principals and all the staff for their teamwork and support over the past couple of months. She said the District is proud that in the survey given to staff, 72 percent said they felt very supported by the District and 25 percent felt supported. In addition, Dr. Gorr and Dr. Aumilller have talked to many parents who have been positive overall about the District’s remote learning efforts. The District looks forward to receiving more feedback and ideas through a parent/guardian focus group and district-wide survey. There has been a large response to the request for focus group members, so the plan is to hold several small-group virtual meetings. Focus group and parent survey details will be communicated soon. In addition, Lincoln sent a survey to students.
The Remote Learning Task Force will work throughout June and July and will incorporate focus group ideas and survey results into its planning for fall. The District hopes to receive more direction from the state while the Task Force is meeting.
Regardless of what next school year looks like, Dr. Gorr said the District will be delivering new grade-level material in the fall. Teachers are currently doing articulation to outline what they covered during remote learning, so that each class can jump in proactively in the fall and meet kids where they are. The District also is planning for social-emotional support of students, as well as putting together professional development to help staff continue its restorative practices work in a virtual way.
District 57 Strategic Plan for 2020-2025
The Board approved the Consent Agenda, which included the District’s Strategic Plan for 2020-2025. The plan, which can be found in the Board public packet at this link, provides annual guidance and focus for the District’s work in its ongoing pursuit of excellence. Dr. Aumiller updates the Strategic Plan each year, beginning in January, and the final plan is brought to the Board for approval in May. The plan outlines goals with short-term and long-term action plans, under each of the District’s six Key Success Factors.
School Board Meeting Dates
The Board approved its meeting dates for July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021. The schedule can be found in the public packet at this link.