Contributed photo
Contributed photo
Dist 87 Glenbard School District recently issued the following announcement.
North to host college night on Oct. 6
Glenbard North will host a college night for juniors and families from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 6, In the auditorium.
Topics to be discussed include:
- Steps for post-high school planning
- College entrance requirements, selectivity and test preparation
- Naviance
- Introduction to financial aid
- College panel
Parent takeaway from GPS event, link to webinar about suicide prevention
On Sept. 23,the Glenbard Parent Series hosted author Lisa Damour in an event titled Stress, Anxiety and Parenting Under COVID as part of the September Suicide Prevention Awareness Month programming. Glenbard North parent Rebecca Elmore shared the following takeaway: “Dr. Damour offered important insights for us to share with our children. We need to rethink stress. It is necessary for growth building. Life will bring sadness sometimes. Good mental health is having the right feeling at the right time. Discover the coping strategies that work for you – breathing techniques, healthy distractions to step away from the issue, and protect periods of rest. Help your teen name the emotion they are feeling. It's our job to then listen without interruption, 'Is there anything I can do that won't make this worse?' Validate, remain calm, offer empathy.”
A link to a recap of the Q and A is available at this link. Damour's resources and the GPS blog are available at this link.
The final GPS webinar that is part of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month will begin at 7 p.m. today. Ross Szabo will present Behind Happy Faces: Suicide, Let’s Talk About It. Visit glenbardgps.org for the Zoom link.
Reminder: stay home if you are symptomatic
Plan to attend West Boosters pancake breakfast on Saturday
Highlights from Sept. 27 Board of Education meeting
After each Board of Education meeting, we provide Board Highlights, which feature a brief description of the action items and discussion items on the meeting agenda. Board Highlights do not replace minutes. The minutes are approved by the board and posted after the next regularly scheduled board meeting.
Present – Judith Weinstock, Kermit Eby, Bob Friend, Martha Mueller and Mireya Vera. Absent: John Kenwood and Margaret DeLaRosa
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT:
1. September is National Suicide Prevention Month. National Suicide Prevention Week was the week of Sept. 6, and World Suicide Prevention Day was Sept. 10. Our schools and Glenbard Parent Series events have been focused on mental health awareness and how to support someone in need. Each school is starting to integrate Signs of Suicide lessons and survey of needs in freshman health classes. So far, two of the schools have implemented the program, and the other two will be completed soon.
2. We join the nation in celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month, which continues until Oct. 15. It celebrates the history, cultures and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans.
3. October is National Principals Month. We thank our principals for their exceptional work and selfless dedication to our students, faculty, staff and the community. We appreciate the many ways they work to provide a safe learning environment and inspire and support students. Their leadership, knowledge, empathy and collaborative spirit are key to our success.
4. Congratulations to our students who recently earned national recognition for their academic achievements. Congratulations to the following National Merit Semifinalists: Glenbard South student Kevin Pinkelman and Glenbard West students Alina Bhagwakar, James Doyle, Trevor du Vair, Andrew Estes, Maribella Fues and Aditi Vinay. Semifinalists must advance to finalist standing in the competition by meeting high academic standards, receiving a recommendation from their principal and earning SAT scores that confirm the earlier qualifying test performance. Also, the College Board honored several Glenbard students for their academic achievement through the National Recognition Programs. Congratulations to Glenbard East student Aria Smith and Glenbard West student Joseph Green on being named College Board National African American Recognition Program Scholars. Congratulations to the following students named College Board National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars: Glenbard East students Alejandra Galvan, Louis Grobart and Sebastian Gray; and Glenbard West students Samuel Casas, Maribella Fues, and Grace McCarthy. These students earned qualifying scores on the Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test scores and Advanced Placement.
5. This school year, our district is collaboratively working on creating an Equity Action Plan designed for rollout in 2022-2023. The Equity Action Plan (EAP) is a strategic accountability framework of critical and sustainable actions that allows for custom identification of measurable objectives. Its creation and annual development contribute to transparent and systemic commitment. For the creation of this plan, we are using five different strands of systemic equity that are required for systemic movement. These strands are Systems, Teaching and Learning, Student Voice, Climate and Culture, Professional Learning, and Family and Community as Agency. Together, they will serve as an organizational framework to identify measurable objectives aimed at intentional transformation toward critical equity.
6. We launched our comprehensive professional development program this month, a year-long program with 23 topics and more than 40 sessions. The program started with four full sessions: Critical Thinking in the Classroom, Kagan Cooperative Learning (for first year teachers), Assessment Literacy and the Art of Unit Design, and Educational Equity for Undocumented Students. All Glenbard professional development aligns to the Profile of an Educator. This year we are focusing on attending professional development with entire Professional Learning Community (PLC) teams.
7. We encourage the community to attend the following Glenbard Parent Series webinars. Visit glenbardgps.org for details and the Zoom link for these webinars:
· Behind Happy Faces: Depression and Suicide, Let’s Talk About It at 7 p.m. Sept. 28
· Who Gets In And Why: A Year Inside College Admissions at 7 p.m. Oct. 6
· Permission To Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves and Our Society Thrive at 7 p.m. Oct. 12
· The Science of Happiness: Psychology and the Good Life at 6 p.m. Oct. 13
8. We are looking forward to our annual visit to the Technology Center of DuPage for our Board of Education meeting on Oct. 12. Please note: because we are not on one of our campuses, it is logistically challenging to livestream the meeting. We anticipate a recording will be available on our website on Oct. 13.
9. We have reported administrator and teacher salary and benefits from the previous school year to the Illinois State Board of Education. We file this report each year.
10. On August 31, 2021, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from SteepSteel, LLC, Angel Tormis, requesting copies of all active leases/licenses and payment histories for cell towers, rooftop antennas, or other wireless installations on property owned or managed by Glenbard. The district has responded to this request.
11. On September 3, 2021, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Lori Saguto, requesting syllabi as of 9/3/2021 as posted in PowerSchool for classes at Glenbard West. The district has responded to this request.
12. On September 3, 2021, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Lori Saguto, requesting all syllabi as of 9/3/2021 as posted in PowerSchool for classes at Glenbard South. The district has responded to this request.
13. On September 10, 2021, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Guy Price, requesting a copy of the official baseball game scorebook, as kept by Glenbard North employees of both of the April 18, 2021 varsity baseball games vs Geneva High School and the April 22, 2021 game vs Rolling Meadows; three from April 30, 2021; and the official game scorebooks. The district has responded to this request.
14. On September 13, 2021, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Robert Dobosz, requesting for the years 2010 and 2018, grade distribution for all Advanced Placement classes for the Spring semester and grade distribution for all Advanced Placement tests for students, broken down by the demographics. The district has responded to this request.
15. On September 15, 2021, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Grace Daigel, requesting the process that was the subject of the September 13, 2021 Policy Committee meeting. The district has responded to this request.
16. On September 15, 2021, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Grace Daigel, requesting any records regarding the identity of and role of the administrative facilitator for each board committee from 2012 - Present. The district has responded to this request.
17. On September 15, 2021, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Tom Kaberna, requesting hourly starting salaries and salaries after 15 years employment for various positions. The district has responded to this request.
18. On September 16, 2021, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from the LocalLabs, Vince Espi, requesting a list of materials that fall under the 1619 project. The district has responded to this request.
19. On September 17, 2021, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from the Hansen & Cleary LLC, Lara Cleary, requesting copies of settlement agreements entered into by and between Glenbard and any parent(s) regarding special education matters for the last two school years. The district has responded to this request.
THE BOARD APPROVED:
- minutes of the Sept. 13 regular board meeting and Sept. 13 closed session meeting.
- the following personnel items:
LICENSED STAFF – EMPLOYMENT:
Name School/Position FTE Effective Date
Buck Castaneda, Jennifer North/EL Teacher (Addtl. FTE) 10% 09/28/2021
SUPPORT STAFF – EMPLOYMENT:
Name School/Position FTE Effective Date
Moy, Jill North/Fine Arts Secretary 100% 09/22/2021
SUPPORT STAFF – RETIREMENT:
Name School/Position FTE Effective Date
Yugar, Carrie East/Substitute Coordinator 100% 09/30/2021
- accepting a $500 donation from the DuPage Community Foundation for the needy family fund at Glenbard South.
- letters of agreement regarding cooperative library services between us and the Glen Ellyn, Helen Plum Memorial, Carol Stream and Glenside public libraries for the 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 school years. The agreements specify reciprocal services to be provided by each institution on behalf of our students and staff.
- new textbook adoptions 2021-2022. The 12 new textbook titles proposed for adoption were reviewed and approved by the department chairs in the curricular area, the assistant principals for instruction and the principals at each school where the course will be taught. They were reviewed by the Student Performance and Achievement Committee on Sept. 1 and presented to the board for discussion on Sept. 13. All 12 titles are novels for special education and world language courses.
- authorization for design and bid work for the summer 2022 capital improvement projects with a not to exceed amount of $16.7 million. We continue to pursue capital projects within our financial constraints as part of our commitment to safe, warm and dry facilities.
At the Sept. 13 Board of Education meeting, we reviewed our financial target for summer 2022 capital projects and discussed the necessity to accelerate our timeline on mechanical projects due to potential supply chain issues. Following the board meeting, we learned that there may be delays with roofing materials as well. We recommend moving forward our planned roof replacements along with mechanical projects for authorization for design and bid. Below is a summary of how we would proceed on each phase on the project.
Highest Priority – Seek approval at Nov. 29 board meeting
• Guaranteed energy savings (Performance Services Inc.)
• Mechanical - $3.5M
• Roof Projects - $2.4M
Remainder of capital improvement projects – seek board approval at Jan. 24, 2022 meeting
• Publicly bid projects including parapet / tuck pointing, theater (West), toilet rooms, paving / sealcoating, field house resurfacing, etc.
• Total estimated project cost (remainder of capital) ≈ $10.8M
- School Maintenance Project Grant application to the Illinois State Board of Education for the parapet repair/replacement and tuck pointing project at Glenbard West at a cost of $862,316. The School Maintenance Project Grant is a dollar-for-dollar state matching grant program providing awards up to $50,000 to grantees exclusively for the maintenance or upkeep of buildings or structures for educational purposes.
We anticipate the parapet repair/replacement and tuck pointing at Glenbard West will qualify. This area is in poor condition and the replacement is needed to mitigate potential leaking and avoid further deterioration of the brick exterior. This is a project that we have already identified for this upcoming summer capital project list and a grant award of $50,000 would help offset the total cost estimated at $862,316.
- the 2021-22 budget. We propose a budget that indicates a net operating surplus of $139,995. We will continue to maintain our solvency position and will exit the year with cash on hand in excess of our target of 180 days.
Operating Budget
· Operating Revenue = $168,101,190 (3.3% increase)
· Operating Expenditure = $165,326,510 (.6% increase)
· Gross Operating Surplus = $2,774,680
o Permanent Transfer to Debt Service Fund = $2,634,685
· Net Operating Surplus = $139,995 (Gross Operating Surplus less Transfer to Debt Service)
· Total Ending Fund Balance is estimated to be $86,976,514
ESSER III / ARP Plan:
We included a tentative plan for the use of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund / American Rescue Plan funds. The grant was made available by the Illinois State Board of Education in early July and requires a window for public input as part of the application process. The total available funds for District 87 is $6,515,710. Below is a breakdown of the available funds:
· Learning Needs (Federal allocation) - $1,254,341
· Learning Needs (State allocation) - $174,291
· Summer Enrichment (State allocation) - $34,858
· After-School (State allocation) - $34,858
· Discretionary (Unallocated balance) - $5,017,362
- Administrative Procedure 5:270-AP1 Confidential Employees and Policy 8:70 Accommodating Individuals with Disabilities.
BOARD INFORMATION/DISCUSSION ITEMS INCLUDED:
- academic board goals report for Glenbard North. Principal John Mensik and the Glenbard North administrative team discussed the following data:
1. First semester pass rate
2. 1010 or higher SAT composite
3. College & career ready coursework
4. Students pursuing electives
5. Students enrolled in one or more AP course
6. Students passing one or more AP exam
7. Student participation percentage
8. Staff diversity
- group insurance program renewal. The renewal proposal was received from BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS) and reviewed by administration and the Glenbard Insurance Advisory Committee on August 18, 2021. The recommended premiums for the 2022 plan year, which are supported by analysis from BCBS and GCG Financial to meet expenses, are as follows:
· The PPO premium for active employees and eligible retirees will increase 7%. There are no specific plan changes anticipated for the 2022 contract. The premiums effective 1/1/22 are:
Single $1,228
Family $2,765
· HMO Illinois and Blue Advantage HMO will increase 1%. There are no plan changes for the 2022 contract. The premiums effective 1/1/22 are:
HMO Illinois: Single $624 Family $1,688
Blue Advantage: Single $580 Family $1,570
Board members also discussed:
· Delta Dental Renewal
· Navia Benefit Solutions
· Group Life & Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Long Term Disability and Voluntary Life Insurance
· Vision
· Employee Navigator/Benefit Technology Resources
· Employee Assistance Program
· Plan Consulting Services
- ABM wage rate increase. At the Sept. 13, 2021 Finance and Facility Committee meeting, we discussed the continued challenges with the labor market that our third party contractors are facing. Specifically, ABM continues to struggle to attract qualified candidates for our custodial vacancies. The unstaffed custodial positions district-wide have hovered around 25-30% for the last several months. We worked with ABM to develop a proposed modification to the wage rates. The Finance and Facility Committee recommends moving forward an option that would have an average wage rate (all positions) of $14. Annual cost - $ 191,618. By doing so we can endeavor to stay competitive with our surrounding districts and retain staff who have been loyal to us. Due to accrued labor credits this year and anticipated future credits, the net impact should be minimal and can be absorbed in the 2021-22 fiscal year budget.
- the 2022-23 school calendar. The calendar was reviewed by district administrators; the Glenbard Education Association (GEA); and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
- school year update 2021-22. The update included information about our safety mitigations, student supports, supports for student illness or quarantine, SHIELD testing, COVID-19 data metrics and DuPage County COVID-19 data metrics.
Help wanted for SHIELD testing
In order for the SHIELD testing process to run with minimal disruption to our school day, Med-Call Healthcare, which is coordinating the SHIELD testing at our schools, is hiring committed candidates to assist with collection of SHIELD testing kits. These positions are not demanding, but timely attendance and commuting throughout the day may be involved. All job candidates must have their own transportation.
Those who are hired will be expected to work during school hours. Strong computer/data entry experience is required. Although healthcare experience is ideal, it is not a requirement for this position.
Details:
- Pay: up to $20 per hour
- Job types: full-time, part-time, contract
- Background check, car Insurance and valid driver's license required
Please contact Kathleen Loomis of Med-Call Healthcare at 708-971-3656 or Kloomis@medcallstaffing.com. Once you contact Kathleen, more information will be shared about assignments, requirements, locations and training.
Transportation, custodial & food service partners are hiring
Due to a national labor shortage, we are experiencing shortages in a variety of areas, including contracted busing, custodial and food service. Our contracted third-party vendors are hiring. See below for application information. Please share the information with those in a job search.
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