District 57 School Board Meeting Highlights

Sept. 26, 2019

Budget

Adam Parisi, assistant superintendent, finance and operations, led the public hearing on the fiscal year of 7/1/19 to 6/30/20 and presented the budget. For the second consecutive year, the District has a true balanced budget that does not require the use of fund balances, or emergency reserves, to pay for operations. There is a projected surplus of almost $600,000. This is due to the District receiving needed additional revenue from the successful tax referendum of March 2018. The Board voted to approve the budget for fiscal year 2020.

Major instructional initiatives for 2019-2020 are the implementation of a new writing curriculum, the expansion of restorative practices and opportunities for social-emotional learning, the implementation of FASTBridge assessments and the implementation of one-to-one technology in fifth grade.

The District will have some unexpected revenue due to an increase in the CPPRT, which went from $412,000 to $537,000.

The District is setting aside $4 million for capital projects and construction that will primarily take place next summer. Potential projects, which will be discussed further at the October School Board meeting, could include rebuilding and expanding the Fairview and Lions Park parking lots and purchasing mobile classrooms at Westbrook when the lease ends.

Possible future financial challenges include the aging Lincoln Middle School, ongoing space issues at Westbrook and Lincoln, a potential Lions Park expansion to deal with increasing enrollment, and legislative unknowns such as potential property tax freezes.

The budget and complete presentation are in the public packet for the Sept. 26 Board meeting, at this link.

Enrollment Report

Dr. Elaine Aumiller, superintendent, reported that this year’s enrollment is 2,230, which is essentially flat from last year. She gave the following highlights of enrollment projections:

=      The most recent five years of data show a steady enrollment increase but stabilizing next year. The overall five-year projections indicate a slight, stable increase in enrollment for the next two years but an overall increase of approximately 46 students by 2024-25. These projections do not include potential enrollment from new construction taking place in Mount Prospect.

=      Space concerns at Fairview have been alleviated.

=      Lions Park projections do not show a concern for space at this time. The school’s enrollment is projected for 2020-21 to need 21 sections ranging 23-25. It has capacity for 23 sections. There are 2 classrooms that could be repurposed if space becomes necessary. Administration does not recommend expanding the building for summer 2020.

=      Lincoln will continue to be very full but should have adequate space for the next three years, though enrollment is projected to go to approximately 800 students. To accommodate growth, doubling up of classrooms may be required.

=      Free and reduced lunch data and fee waivers remain consistent.

=      We continue to experience a steady influx of new students transferring into the District while a lesser number transfer out.

=      Many of the students who moved into the District come from multilingual homes and we monitor this impact on our EL staffing.

=      All of our new students will be assessed to garner valuable information for program placement and social assimilation. We will identify specific student instructional and social/emotional needs and provide for appropriate intervention and support.

A detailed enrollment analysis can be found in the public packet for the Sept. 26 Board meeting, at this link.

Assessment Results

Dr. Mary Gorr, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, presented results from last school year’s Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) and Illinois Science Assessment (ISA). She reported that there’s very positive achievement to celebrate. But she stressed that the scores do not reflect who a student is and how educators conceptualize their mission.

The IAR, which replaced the PARCC, is taken by grades three through eight to assess ELA/literacy and mathematics. Parents will receive their students’ personalized IAR reports in October. That mailing also will include MAP scores.

District 57 students outperformed the state average across the board. To see specific score reports, broken down by school and grade level, access the IAR presentation at this link.

The ISA, which is aligned to Next Generation Science Standards and Illinois Learning Standards for Science, assesses students in fifth and eighth grade. District 57 students’ performance was significantly higher than the state average. The complete report also is at this link.

Dr. Gorr reported that District administrators will review the testing data for curriculum analysis and instructional planning and share data with teacher teams to analyze alignment of skills taught to skills assessed. The District will continue to focus on providing students with opportunities to think critically, analyze complex text structures and solve problems.

The report online also includes a detailed description of each of the assessment tools used in District 57.

Fairview School Improvement Plan Presentation

Principal Dan Ophus presented an overview of the goals he and his team have established for Fairview and its students for this school year. He and members of the team outlined the activities and actions that have been developed to help the school community meet established goals. Their presentation can be found at this link.