Glenbard Township High School District 87 Board of Education met Aug. 26.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
CALL TO ORDER
President Weinstock called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
President Weinstock led in the Pledge of Allegiance and extended a welcome to all in attendance.
ROLL CALL
Members present on roll call: Friend, Jendras, Mueller, Vera and Weinstock. Members absent: DeLaRosa, Kenwood Board member Kenwood 6:02 p.m.
ADOPTION OF MINUTES
Friend moved and Jendras seconded THAT THE BOARD APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 12, 2019 REGULAR MEETING AS PRESENTED. On roll call voting “Aye”: Friend, Jendras, Kenwood, Mueller, Vera, and Weinstock Voting “Nay”: None. The motion carried.
BOARD COMMITTEE REPORTS
Finance & Facility Committee
The Finance & Facility Committee did not meet this evening.
Communication, Legislation & Partnerships Committee
Mr. Friend said that the Communication, Legislation and Partnerships Committee’s August 19, 2019 meeting included discussion around Profile of a Graduate, stating that the theme will be incorporated into meetings with department chairs throughout the year, and Dr. Larson will be presenting the topic to community groups and at IASA next month. Also discussed was the October 30, 2019 Youth Leaders Community Forum, the alumni directory marketing campaign (which ends in late September), the Partnership for Educational Progress (PEP) group’s chairperson search to replace retiree-to-be Dee Manire, and the LEND (Legislative Education Network of DuPage) meeting on September 20, 2019, hosted by District 88.
Policy Committee
Ms. Jendras stated the next Policy Committee Meeting will start at 5:00 p.m. on September 9, 2019 to provide more opportunity for Administrative Procedure 7:10-APl discussion.
Student Performance & Achievement Committee
Ms. Vera noted the next committee meeting will take place on September 4, 2019. She added that she was excited to see approximately 25 to 30 new freshmen Spanish-speaking parents learning how to get on to PowerSchool at a recent B-PAC meeting.
President Weinstock thanked the committee chairs for their reports.
BOARD MEMBER REPORTS
Mr. Friend reminded the Board of the October 30, 2019 IASB Fall Dinner meeting.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION – AGENDA RELATED ONLY
President Weinstock asked if there was anyone from the audience who would like to address the Board regarding any of this evening’s agenda items. There were no requests to address the Board.
ACTION ITEM(S) A. Consent Items
(ADOPTION BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE FOLLOWING CONSENT ITEMS MEANS THAT ALL ITEMS APPEARING IN THIS SECTION ARE ADOPTED BY ONE SINGLE MOTION, UNLESS A MEMBER OF THE BOARD OR THE SUPERINTENDENT REQUESTS AN ITEM TO BE REMOVED TO BE CONSIDERED SEPARATELY OR AMENDED. A ROLL CALL VOTE OF THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD MUST BE TAKEN ON THE ITEM.)
Superintendent Larson provided an overview of each of the consent items listed below.
B. Superintendent’s Recommendation
1. Recommend that the Board adopt the resolution titled “resolution approving the August 26, 2019 invoices for payment.”
Education Fund. $ 1,398,059.74
Operations & Maintenance Fund. $ 281,460.76
Debt Service. $ 0.00 Capital Projects. $ 0.00
Transportation. $ 175,662.67
Interim – Checks. $ 0.00
Interim - ACH Transactions. $ 0.00
Interim – Wire Transfers. $ 0.00
TOTAL. $ 1,855,183.17
Friend moved and Jendras seconded THAT THE BOARD ADOPT THE RESOLUTION TITLED “RESOLUTION APPROVING THE AUGUST 26, 2019 INVOICES FOR PAYMENT.”. On roll call voting “Aye”: Kenwood, Mueller, Vera, Friend, Jendras and Weinstock. Voting “Nay”: None. The motion carried.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
Dr. Larson reported on the following:
1. We are looking forward to open houses at all of our sites on August 29. Parents and guardians will hear from their principal, visit classrooms and have an opportunity to meet with school counseling staff. Open house is part of our home/school partnership, which is critical to ensuring that students reach their goals.
2. Community members are encouraged to attend the following Glenbard Parent Series (GPS) Navigating Healthy Families events:
• A Community Conversation About Suicide – the Signs and Symptoms: How Parents and School Staff Can Work Together. Noon Aug. 28 at Glenbard South.
• Signs and Symptoms of Youth Suicide: Continuing the Conversation with Students and Parents. 7 p.m. Sept. 18 at Glenbard West
• Community Read: “Killers of the Flower Moon The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI” at 7 p.m. September 5 at Glenbard West
3. On August 2, 2019, the District received a Freedom of Information Act request from K12 Transportation Research, Tanner F, requesting information all Special Needs transportation contracts which cover the 2019- 2020 school year for Glenbard Township High School District 87 and includes the estimated annual contract value. The District has responded to this request.
4. On August 10, 2019, the District received a commercial Freedom of Information Act request from SmartProcure, Bethany Simpson, requesting any and all purchasing records from May 12, 2017 to current. The District has responded to this request.
Board member DeLaRosa arrived at 6:15 p.m.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - GENERAL
President Weinstock asked if there was anyone from the audience who would like to address the Board.
Grayson Breen, a Glenbard South graduate, spoke to Administrative Procedure 7:10-AP1. Grayson strongly recommended the Board address overnight trip procedures and mandatory LGBTQ training for district staff members, especially PE teachers, administrators, social workers, coaches, nurses, school counselors, security, department chairs and new hires.
Julie Breen, mother of Grayson Breen, recommended that while the Board is planning for inclusive and equitable experience procedures for Policy 7:10, they should also amend procedures to allow transgender choir and orchestra students to participate in the choir that aligns with their gender identity, and dress for performances in a manner that makes them feel comfortable and safe.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
Board Workshop Part 1 - Board of Education Document Review
The Board work calendar for 2019-2020 was reviewed. Some of the Board agenda items are sequenced/routine while others are traditions and practices that we’ve done through the years. The superintendent’s reviews are to occur during closed sessions in October, January and the Spring. Awards and recognitions are also typically scheduled the same from year to year. Dr. Larson noted that our IASB Field Representative Dee Molinare discussed the following topics at a meeting this past Spring: district purpose, the importance of the Board connecting with the community, your employee – the superintendent, delegation of authority, monitoring district performance and Board self-evaluation. One of Ms. Molinare’s recommendations was to schedule a “state of the finances” discussion with the entire Board. Dr. Larson has asked Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations/CSBO Mr. Chris McClain to do this at the December meeting. We will check into whether an IASB person will need to be present for Board recognition purposes.
Dr. Larson also reviewed an “idea framework” to illustrate the path or movement a Board member’s idea would take to get traction through to the Board. A “late start” school day was then discussed, including the effect on sports participation, contractual agreements, ease of implementation if school is a unit district (K-12) vs a high school only district, alternative options to busing, brain science, and late start instead of early dismissal PLC Mondays. It is estimated that a late start school day would come at a cost of approximately $2.5 million to Glenbard and approximately $2 million to our busing partner districts, if there were no change in start & release times at the elementary districts.
The consensus was to allow for a midyear budgetary implications and ramifications update and review to the Board. Meanwhile, district administrators will have direct conversations with partner districts to gauge interest. A benefit of this time-frame is that it will allow the effects of Profile of a Graduate to pan out.
Board Agreements were reviewed. Dr. Larson reminded of: the appropriate chain of command to take with community member concerns, the importance of speaking with one voice, the need to support Board decisions, the protocol of including the superintendent when meeting with staff members, and the truth of “no surprises” shows respect for all participants and the process. He recommended occasionally reading through the Board Agreements to be reminded of the guiding boundaries they provide.
Board Workshop Part 2 - 2019-2020 Strategy Work Plan
Board Beliefs and Convictions has been rebranded as Board Commitments. We plan to continue to watch and adhere to what the Board has provided us.
Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services Dr. Jeff Feucht walked the Board through SAT exam reports, pointing out that when compared to all the other high school districts in the state, our district scored the highest for those districts with the same percentage of low-income students. In 2019, Glenbard achieved the highest percentage ever of students who scored a 3 or higher on an AP exam (47.1%). He thanked the principals and their staff for this gain. The percentage of exam scores of 3 or higher is the highest in 5 years.
Dr. Larson reviewed other 2018-2019 highlights and achievements: Glenbard being a highly effective school district; affording the Glenbard SAT prep program free to families; our belonging, equity and diversity work; our newly developed supports for students in the Transition program; Profile of a Graduate development; meeting our financial objectives; and a strong execution of our master facility plan.
Dr. Feucht shared how the Board goals are translated into six work areas or “one pagers” and our eight high leverage practices, four of which were to be highlighted by the principals at this meeting.
Glenbard West Principal Dr. Peter Monaghan spoke about Powerful Team Culture in PLCs and informed that since he began teaching he has seen two big shifts in teaching practices, first, an emphasis on what’s important and identifying practices that have research foundation in them, and secondly, working in groups. Professional learning communities (PLCs) achieve both those components. They analyze data to drive their instructional practices, help to create common formative assessments, and they build on assessment literacy practices. Collective efficacy has the biggest impact on student learning. A discussion about how growth can be measured took place.
Exceptional Professional Growth Programs was presented by Glenbard South Principal Ms. Sandra Coughlin, who explained the three Glenbard professional development (PD) strands: 1) equity strand – embraces all students and provides a sense of belonging, 2) deep learning strand – often uses instructional technology to deepen units and curriculum work, and 3) instructional practices strand – provides different ways to engage students. She noted that the Profile of a Graduate is interwoven through many of these areas and all of our professional development is aligned with the Danielson framework. Teachers are encouraged to share what they’ve learned with their PLC groups as well as attend PD together as a team. Most of the PD is led by our own instructional coaches, who also help strategize in the classroom. Sender schools are invited to attend Glenbard PD.
Reflective Evaluation that Supports Continuous Improvement was discussed with Glenbard North Principal Dr. John Mensik. He explained that our goal is to have a rigorous evaluation tool which drives professional growth. The evaluation committee has updated the evaluation tool to include a spot 1) for teachers to share the professional development they’ve attended in the past two years, and 2) to reflect on ways they help students develop the characteristics of Glenbard’s Profile of a Graduate.
Glenbard East Principal Mr. Shahe Bagdasarian addressed Alliance with Middle Schools to Meet Students Needs Early and feels the annual partnership activities that we have done with our sender schools is amazing, somewhat unique, and a vital component to student growth. Some examples he provided were: aligning our curriculum in math and English, summer bridge programs, and high school teachers mentoring sender school teachers to improve inquiry-based learning.
Director of Instructional Technology Ms. Melissa Creech thanked the Board for approving the Profile of a Graduate (POG) and mission statement and looks forward to launching this work. She shared that we are now working on how Profile of a Graduate impacts teaching and learning, some examples are: the alignment with Danielson, building the Profile of an Educator, and integrating POG with professional development. Much of our existing professional development already has some of the POG components as it embraces aspects important and good things for our students, like the 4Cs, diversity, and social emotional learning. She explained the evolution of the descriptors and informed the next steps would be to develop indicators about what the descriptors like in the classroom. Two competencies will be addressed in each of this year’s three district-wide leadership team meetings. The Board feels we are already doing much of this content and we will receive a lot of good teacher input as the year progresses.
Superintendent Larson, President Weinstock and the Board thanked the administrators for their time and productive effort for students and staff.
NEW BUSINESS
There was no new business.
BOARD MEMBER REQUESTS
There were no requests to address the Board.
ADJOURNMENT
At 8:14 p.m. Mueller moved and Jendras seconded THAT THE MEETING ADJOURN. On roll call voting “Aye”: Mueller, Vera, DeLaRosa, Friend, Jendras, Kenwood and Weinstock. Voting “Nay”: None. The motion carried.
https://v3.boardbook.org/Public/PublicItemDownload.aspx?mk=50342372&fn=minutes.pdf
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