Contributed photo
Contributed photo
In this issue:
- North honors students’ academic success, good citizenship
- Congratulations to West boys basketball state final qualifiers
- Health care financial assistance available
- Highlights of March 7 Board of Education meeting
- Food, custodial service partners are hiring
North honors students’ academic success, good citizenship
Congratulations to the Glenbard North students who earned Glenbard North’s third quarter PAWS award, which recognizes students’ academic excellence, academic improvement, improved attendance and acts of good citizenship.
Congratulations to the following students: Zainab Ahmed, Yamilet Alvarez, Rose Antony, Izabelle Faith Aquino, Jared Arens, Angelo Barone, Dawn Beckett, Charlise Behm, Faith Bernaden, Ohm Bhatt, Citlali Chicas, Liv Cornelius, Nicole Dakas, Alina Demchuk, Brooke Dewell, Jake Elrod, Eillian Golda, Gabby Gomez, Valeria Herrera, Javion Howard, Lilly Jessee, Sajan Johal, Angela Juarez, Nikhil Kodali, Lily Lewandowski, Elizabeth Lytell, Aryanna McKirchy, Jared Mejia, Aundrea Molina, Ryan Murcia, Katie Nguyen, Hailey Noll, Vishrut Patel, Meric Pedraza Pineyro, Caitlyn Rawles, Rachel Romero, Mia Rosado, Ben Salins, Azahadia Semien, Jainie Shah, Zin Soorma, Rem Sui, Shannon Thomas, Jovani Trejo, Carlos Villagrana, Hogan Vo, Livy Walleck and Elizabeth Welch.
Congratulations to West boys basketball state final qualifiers
Congratulations to the following Glenbard West students who qualified for the IHSA boys basketball state final: Caden Pierce, Kent Buchholz, Logan Brown, Andrew Dauksas, Luuk Dusek, Michael Glover, Declan Scheck, Louis Amabile, Paxton Warden, Jack Cardwell, Benji Zander, Geo Esmalla, Bobby Durkin, Braden Huff, Jack Oberhofer, Luke Gadomski, Graham Pierce, Ryan Renfro, Joe Enright and Owen Reifel. Jason Opoka is the head coach.
Health care financial assistance available
Recently, it was announced that lower income uninsured families have extra time to sign up for Affordable Care Act Marketplace health insurance. Families with income less than 150% federal poverty level qualify for a special enrollment period from March through at least the end of 2022. For a single person, 150% of the poverty level amounts to an income of no more than $19,320. For a household of five, it’s $46,560. Click here to learn more.
Silver Access ACA Premium Assistance provides additional help to eligible families purchasing health insurance on the Marketplace. Enrollees may choose high quality plans with low copayments and out of pocket costs. Members pay about 1/3 of the cost of their plan, on average, with the DuPage Health Coalition support funding the remainder.
Highlights of March 7 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, Margaret DeLaRosa, Kermit Eby, Bob Friend, John Kenwood, Martha Mueller and Mireya Vera.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT:
1. The district received the following donation: $100 from Patrick R. Gan for Rams in Need at Glenbard East.
2. Congratulations to the following Glenbard West High School students who were named finalists in the National Merit scholarship program: Alina Bhagwakar, James Doyle, Trevor du Vair, Andrew Estes, Maribella Fues and Aditi Vinay. They met high academic standards, received a recommendation from their principal and earned SAT scores that confirm the earlier qualifying test performance.
3. Each of our schools earned the Illinois Student Assistance Commission’s recognition of excellence for financial aid application completion of the Class of 2021. We are so proud of our school counseling and leadership teams for their hard work and dedication to ensuring that all students are supported in their postsecondary planning.
4. Two of our students finished in the top three in state at the IHSA girls wrestling state final tournament. Congratulations to Glenbard North student Gabriella Gomez, state champion, and Glenbard East student Dahlia Leighton, who earned a 3rd place medal.
5. Congratulations to Glenbard West student Caden Pierce on being named to the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) 2021-22 All-State Academic Team. He is one of only 26 students selected for the IHSA’s top academic honor. Each IHSA member school was invited to nominate one female student and one male student. Nominees needed to possess a minimum 3.50 grade point average on 4.0 scale after their 7th semester, have participated in at least two IHSA-sponsored sports or activities during each of the last two years and demonstrated outstanding citizenship.
6. Congratulations to the following Glenbard West students who qualified for the IHSA boys wrestling dual team state tournament: Carson Prunty, Advin Murtic, Ulises Rosas, Ian Rondeau, Jesus Avila, Isaiah Perez, Elliot Torres, Jacob Lachs, Jeremy Iman, Trevor Skoda, Brennan Skoda, Max Konopka, J P Van Petten, Jason Thomas, Pat Shadid, Philip Dozier, Jack McCluskey, Will Clements, Morley Coval and Mikey Ryan. Nick Posegay is head coach.
7. We encourage community members to attend the Glenbard Parent Series webinars noted below. The Zoom link to each webinar is available at glenbardgps.org.
• Fourteen Conversations You Need To Have By Age 14 (15, 16 and 17!) at noon and 7 p.m. March 16
• Grooming for Excellence, Parent Academy at 7 p.m. March 17. This program will be presented in Spanish only.
8. The CDC's metrics and county COVID level ratings have changed in the last few weeks. The new metrics consider case rate, new hospital admissions and the percent of hospital beds used by COVID patients. The new metric ranks DuPage County in the low category and recommends that individuals stay up to date with vaccines and get tested if symptoms appear.
Glenbard COVID-19 data reveals a low number of positive cases and quarantined cases. Data is posted on our COVID-19 dashboard.
9. On February 9, 2022, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Grace Daigel, requesting an electronic copy of all Thoughts from the ThoughtExchange survey administered in November 2021. The district has responded to this request.
10. On February 9, 2022, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Lori Saguto, requesting anything for School Day Model Steering Committee. The district has responded to this request.
11. On February 9, 2022, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Tonia Cyrus, requesting where applicable copies of various surety bonds, insurance policy, general obligation bonds, risk management policy, certificate of liability, faithful performance bond, statutory bond, fidelity bond, public employee dishonesty policy, public employee blanket bond, official bond, power of attorney for surety bond company and oath of office. The district has responded to this request.
12. On February 10, 2022, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from NBC Chicago, Shelby Bremer, requesting the work history, personnel file and any other documentation on file with the district related to Eric Skalinder. The district has responded to this request.
13. On February 11, 2022, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Grace Daigel, requesting a current copy of the Plan referenced in Board Policy 4:180. The district has responded to this request.
14. On February 14, 2022, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Robert Dobosz, requesting Grade distribution (1, 2, 3,4,5) for Fall semester 2021 broken down by various groups. The district has responded to this request.
15. On February 14, 2022, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Betsy Kateyiannis-Dale, requesting our attorney's name. The district has responded to this request.
16. On February 15, 2022, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Stephanie Clark, requesting all meeting dates and minutes of building Pandemic Planning Teams and D87 Pandemic Planning Teams after 4/15/21 and a copy of the resolution that the board agreed to which gave the Superintendent the power to make decisions relating to the pandemic/covid. The district has responded to this request.
17. On February 16, 2022, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Aneta Lysek, requesting the liability insurance for the board. The district has responded to this request.
18. On February 17, 2022, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Jess Ingoglia, requesting the attendance records of Benjamin Peterselli for the week of February 6-12 and February 14-15. The district has responded to this request.
19. On February 17, 2022, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Lori Saguto, requesting all meeting dates for the School Day Model Steering Committee. The district has responded to this request.
20. On February 18, 2022, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Inga Sapalaite, requesting a list of funding received from the state by district 87, January 2020 through present. The district has responded to this request.
21. On February 22, 2022, the district received a Freedom of Information Act request from Jennifer Frechmann, requesting emails to/from seth chapman and Naomi LeSure of Sheild IL and/or shield il from 1/9/2022 - 1/23/2022. The district has responded to this request.
22. Dr. Larson commended Assistant Director for Student Services, English Learners and Equity Susanna Melón on her leadership working with three other districts to present the Amplify: Equity and Mental Health Student Leadership Conference on March 4. We partnered with DuPage High School District 88, Naperville District 203 and Lyons Township High School District 204 to host the event.
THE BOARD APPROVED:
- minutes of the Feb. 22 regular board meeting and Feb. 22 closed session meeting.
- the following personnel items:
LICENSED STAFF – EMPLOYMENT:
Name School/Position FTE Effective Date
Flowers, Jordan East/EL Mathematics Teacher (Addtl. FTE) 10% 02/09/2022
LICENSED STAFF – SUMMER SCHOOL EMPLOYMENT:
Name School/Position Effective Date
Delap, Timothy North/SS Principal 05/16/2022
Jaffe, Kayla TBD/ESY Teacher 06/06/2022
Joiner, Mikaela TBD/ESY Teacher 06/06/2022
Joyce-Guzman, Colleen North/In-Year SS Principal 11/21/2021
Langhurst, Michael TBD/ESY Teacher 06/06/2022
LeCrone, Samantha TBD/ESY Teacher 06/06/2022
Lepsi, Selina East/In-Year SS Principal 11/21/2021
Maag, Kelly Glen Crest Middle School/SS Liaison (name correction) 1/10/2022
Mersch, Marissa TBD/ESY Teacher 06/06/2022
Mrazek, Megan TBD/ESY Social Worker 06/06/2022
Poll, Jordan West/SS Principal 05/16/2022
Stueve, Grant TBD/ESY Teacher 06/06/2022
Velasquez, Amy South/In-Year SS Principal 11/21/2021
Wentworth, Trista TBD/ESY Teacher 06/06/2022
White, Michael South/SS Principal 05/16/2022
Zima, Phil TBD/ESY Teacher 06/06/2022
SUPPORT STAFF – SUMMER SCHOOL EMPLOYMENT:
Name School/Position Effective Date
Biede, Michael TBD/ESY Aide 06/06/2022
Kasprowicz, Sheila TBD/ESY Aide 06/06/2022
Pehta, Zachary TBD/ESY Aide 06/06/2022
LICENSED STAFF – POSITION CHANGE:
Name School/Position FTE Effective Date
Godziszewski, Monique West/English Teacher to Dean of Students 100% 08/01/2022
LICENSED STAFF – LEAVES OF ABSENCE:
Name School/Position Term Reason
Curtis, Gina West/Social Studies Teacher 08/08/2022-12/06/2022 Personal
Hansen, Julien North/Library-Media Specialist 2022-2023 Personal
Pelland, Joel East/PE Teacher 2022-2023 Personal
Pinkzer, Valerie East/Mathematics Teacher 2022-2023 Personal
Tully, Thomas East/PE-DE Teacher 2022-2023 Personal
LICENSED STAFF – RESIGNATIONS & TERMINATIONS:
Name School/Position Effective Date
Carrero, Jordan East/Dean of Students 06/09/2022
SUPPORT STAFF – RESIGNATIONS & TERMINATIONS:
Name School/Position Effective Date
Balzano, Jessica North/Special Ed Assistant 02/25/2022
Chou Wei Sung, Cynthia West/Music Accompanist 02/25/2022
Kruk, Margaret West/Registrar 06/30/2022
- accepting a donation of $12,000 from the Goodman Family Foundation for the Glenbard Parent Series.
- memorandum of understanding with the College of DuPage, dual credit. This is a renewal of our 2021-22 memorandum of understanding with the College of DuPage (COD), and will allow us to offer students dual credit course offerings.
This dual credit partnership helps (1) reduce college costs, (2) speed up the time to degree completion, (3) improve curriculum alignment to college and workplace expectations, (4) facilitate the transition between high school and college, (5) enhance communication and collaboration with COD, and (6) to offer opportunities for improving degree attainment for underserved student populations.
This agreement will allow our students to enroll in the following dual credit courses:
1. English 1101: English Composition 1 (IAI C1 900)
2. English 1102: English Composition 2 (IAI C1 901R)
3. Speech 1101: Fundamentals of Speech Communications (IAI C2 900)
4. Math 1218: General Education Math (IAI M1 904)
Each of these dual credit courses will be offered to Glenbard students at no cost and will allow students the opportunity to earn three college credit hours per course. Each course is part of the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI) and is transferable for college credit among more than 100 participating colleges and universities in Illinois.
- master intergovernmental cooperation agreement regarding recreational use of facilities between Glenbard District 87 and Glen Ellyn Park District. In the past several months, we met with park district officials to discuss renewing the existing cooperative agreement whereby each entity is granted access to each other’s facilities and/or fields for programs throughout the year.
The existing contract is not set to expire until June 30, 2024. However, both parties agree there are considerations that were not contemplated in the agreement that are important to include moving forward. These items include the omission of the George Ball tennis courts that we use for tennis programming and considerations for capital improvements (replacement costs of shared use facilities / sites).
While both parties use each other’s facilities and sites, we have a significantly higher demand for the space as compared to the Park District. Due to the nature of the Glenbard West site, it is essential to have additional recreation spaces to support extracurricular programs for our students. The existing contract stipulates we make a $68,000 annual contribution for facility access and no costs for capital improvements.
The proposed contract would increase costs to $78,800 in year one of the contract to account for the omitted use of the George Ball tennis courts. In year 6 of the contract, the amount would increase $4,000 to a total of $82,800. Additionally, we would contribute $16,000 per year (with an increase for inflation of $500) for capital improvements.
The modifications included in this renewal are equitable to both sides over the life of the contract and continue our history of collaboration to benefit our shared stakeholders.
- a resolution directing the school treasurer to transfer funds from the Operations and Maintenance Fund to the Debt Service Fund for $2,524,842.50. The Illinois Program Accounting Manual requires that all debt expenditures, principal and interest, be paid out of the Debt Service Fund.
DuPage County levies tax dollars for our previously approved referendum debt. We cannot levy dollars for non-referendum debt, such as our Alternate Revenue Source Bonds, etc. Therefore, we need to make a permanent fund transfer from the Operations and Maintenance Fund to the Debt Service Fund to ensure there are sufficient dollars on hand to pay non-referendum debt out of the Debt Service Fund. A permanent fund transfer is required at this time to support operating debt payments.
- changes to the following policies and administrative procedures: 6:280-AP3, 6:282, 6:330 and 6:60. Adoption of Policy 9:20 Storage, Copying and Streaming of District Owned Electronic Media and Administrative and Procedure 9:20-AP1 Storage, Copying and Streaming of District Owned Electronic Media.
BOARD INFORMATION/DISCUSSION ITEMS INCLUDED:
- recognition of Glenbard North individuals. The Carol Stream Fire District presented the EMS Citation Award to Joseph Gosinski, Mark Hahn, Eric Johansen, Morgan Lederman and Tony Lifonti.
- instructional technology program update. Instructional technology is an integral part of teaching and learning at Glenbard. This update highlighted the core features of our instructional technology program: iPads, Schoology, Sora and Zoom. It outlined the continued success of our technology professional development program and instructional technology coaching. The status of the instructional technology program and indicators of implementation were reviewed.
- postsecondary matriculation update. The board is committed to ensuring a course sequence that prepares students for college, the global workforce and personal success, regardless of their academic preparedness upon entering 9th grade. The highlights and priorities in the update included:
- National trends show a decrease in immediate college enrollment rates after high school of -1.5% in 2019 and -6.8% in 2020. Our college enrollment increased 2% for the Class of 2021.
- The Glenbard postsecondary support counselors have helped to reduce student summer melt again, decreasing it by 4% from 2019-21.
- Our students who enroll in a four-year college have a 90% graduation rate within six years, compared to 63% nationally.
- Increase focus on career exploration, in alignment with our learning opportunities and college and career pathways.
This report provided an overview of Glenbard student data on college enrollment, college persistence, summer melt, and college graduation. All of our schools are aligned to the Illinois Postsecondary and Career Expectations (PaCE) Framework, which is organized around the areas of career exploration and development, postsecondary education exploration, preparation and selection, and financial aid and literacy.
- amendment to extension of pupil transportation services agreement for one year at an increase of 11.8%. We contract with First Student, Inc. for regular education transportation services. While driver shortages have created challenges this year, overall, we believe the level of service that First Student provides is better than its competitors as we focus on safety and on-time performance. We recommend extending the existing contract for an additional year.
We continue to belong to a transportation cooperative with Marquardt School District 15, Queen Bee School District 16 and Glen Ellyn School District 41. Community Consolidated School District 93 is also joining our cooperative for the renewal and it is possible that we may see an additional sender district join at some point later in the year. The cooperative provides First Student the ability to run double and triple routes for our member districts, which allows First Student to leverage capital and labor, providing reduced costs. All member districts intend to renew their contracts with First Student under the same terms. The annual increase for each member district is 11.8%. Three percent of this increase accounts for moving the hourly guarantee per day from 4 hours to 5 hours. We believe this shift should help to recruit and retain employees.
- amendment to extension of special education in-district and out-of-district transportation services agreement. We contract with First Student, Inc. – formerly Hopewell, LLC – as our special education transportation provider. Hopewell, LLC was acquired by First Student. When we originally bid these contracts, we bid an in-district transportation requirement and an out-of-district transportation requirement. We have been pleased with the level of service that First Student/ Hopewell provides. We are in our final year of these contracts and would like to renew these contracts for one additional year.
We are part of a transportation cooperative with our special education cooperative, C.A.S.E. We jointly bid this contract six years ago. Members of the cooperative are Marquardt School District 15, Queen Bee School District 16; Glen Ellyn School District 41; Lombard School District 44; Community Consolidated School District 89 and Community Consolidated School District 93. The cooperative provides Hopewell the ability to leverage facilities, assets and staff. This translates to lower costs for our school districts. All member districts intend to renew their contracts with Hopewell under similar terms. The annual increase for each member district is 6.8%.
Food, custodial service partners are hiring
Due to a national labor shortage, we are experiencing shortages in a variety of areas, including contracted custodial and food services. Our contracted third-party vendors are hiring. See below for application information. Please share the information with those in a job search.
STAY CONNECTED
Glenbard Township High School District 87 does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, marital status, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Glenbard offers classes in several college preparedness courses, as well as career classes at TCD, admission to which is non-discriminatory. Lack of English-language proficiency will not be a barrier to admission and participation in those programs.
Glenbard Township High School District 87 | 596 Crescent Blvd, Attn. Peg Mannion, 630-469-9100,
Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
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