District 201 Board Meeting - September 12, 2007

[Ted]

  This is a summary of the District 201 board meeting that occurred on Wednesday, September 12, 2007. The meeting started at 7:30 (30 minutes late) and ended at 8:55.

1. Jerry Chlada resigns - Long time board member Jerry Chlada resigned from the District 201 school board tonight. Mr. Chlada had been on the high school board for 14 years.


2. Budget - The 2007/2008 budget was approved. Actuals for 2006/2007 were within 1% of the 2006/2007 budget.  This was in sharp contract to the 2005/2006 school year, when the budget had been projected to have a $14 million dollar deficit but the actual deficit turned out to be only $5 million dollars.  I think fact that the actuals were so close to the budget shows the new business manager, Gail Kopf, is on the ball and knows what she is doing.

The expected 2007/2008 budget projects a deficit of $4.7 million, of which $700K is due to the final expenses of building the alternative school. The district received an increase in property tax revenue of $800K and an increase in state aid of $1.6 million due to the new education funding, which increased the foundation level by an additional $400 per student.

  I asked why the state aid had not been $3.2 million, since an additional $400 per student times 8000 students equals $3.2 million dollars, not $1.6 million dollars.  Dr. Nowkowski stated that because of the way the state aid formula works, an increase in the Foundation dollars results in decreases in other local revenue.  So, the real increase per student is around $200 per student, not $400 per student.

  The starting fund balance  is $48.1 million dollars. WIth an expected deficit of $4.7 million dollars, the ending total balance across all funds is expected to be $43.4 million dollars. Most expenses are taken up by salaries and benefits. Salaries and benefits take up 70% of all district expenses.


3. Parent complains - A parent (Mrs. Medina) complained about the disciplinary process used at Morton West and the fact that there was no parental involvement in the process. She claimed she called numerous times about her son and alleged that no one from Morton West returned her phone calls.  She also stated that her son's cell phone was taken away by Morton West administrators and that it was "lost" by the school. She also complained that her son had taken the final exams for his sophomore year but had not yet received his grades.

  She also complained about the board expulsion process.  Just before the board expels students, they ask for audience comments on "action items".  Most parents who are there when their children are being expelled do not realize that "comments on action items" means that that is their chance to speak up.  I think the board should ask the audience if anyone wants to speak on the expulsions rather than ask for comments on "action items".  The woman complained that children were not items, they were children.


4. Student presentation on homecoming - A group of students gave a presentation to the board about the upcoming events for homecoming. There was one student from Morton West and 4 students from Morton East.

5. Opening of alternative school - The board discussed the opening of the alternative school and how much the students liked it.

6. New computer system - The principals and the administration talked about the new computer system that was installed. It allows the schools to track attendance almost immediately. The schools can now call parents by the third period is someone is not attending class. The new system also requires students to "swipe in" at various parts of the campus, so the school can tell where a student is (or at least the last location they swiped in). They can also tell, via the swipe method, whether a student is somewhere where he or she should not be (e.g. in the lunchroom when they should be attending class). Finally, the new computer system has a capability (not installed yet) that would allow parents to log on from the internet to see their child's grades, attendance and progress.


7. Insurance - A Mr. Bertucca was introduced in the audience as the district's insurance agent. Dr. Nowakowski claimed that Mr. Bertucca helped the district reduce the proposed increase in insurance rates for health and dental insurance from over $1 million dollars to an increase of only $275,000, an increase of 2.7%.  Life insurance has still not been settled yet and is still being bid.

8. Approval of administrative and non-union salaries - All contracts and salaries for administrative positions and non-union positions were approved.

9. EPA payment - When the Freshman Center was being built, the EPA discovered polluted soil that had to be cleaned up by the district. The district was required to pay the EPA $1 million dollars to clean up the area. The EPA went after the previous owners and was able to get a settlement of $500,000,so the amount the district owes the EPA is $500,000 which will be paid over a 10 year period at $50,000 per year.

10. No Child Left Behind District Improvement Plan - The district filed is NCLB district improvement plan for the year 2006/2007 (one year late). It was supposed to have been filed with the federal goverment in September, 2006. Dr. Nowakowski stated the reason it was filed late was due to the state providing test scores too late.

11. Residency Checking - The principals talked about the stricter residency checking and praised the district for implementing stricter residency checking.

12. Top that soil - Money from the renting out of facilities will be used to by a Top Dresser (a piece of equipment that puts out top soil) and a new lawn mower.

13. Intramural activities- The administration brought forth an item showing that the district was spending $37,000 in after school intramural programs. Dr. Nowakowski stated that this is something the district had always been doing year after year.  Jerry Chlada asked why it was on the agenda.  Jeff Pesek responded that it was on the agenda to show that the district was going to spend money on after school programs to keep kids off the streets.

14. Road trips - The board approved expenses to allow 200 students to to go the MIller Dunes National Seashore in Indiana, sponsored by the Science Department. There will also be a camping trip by students to the Circle Pines Center in Delton Michigan and a math conference, where two teachers will make presentations to the conference. There will also be staff travel to various conferences.

15. District 103 board member - A board member from District 103 (Mrs. Schaeffer) spoke to the board and inviting them to attend District 103 board meeting. She talked about how her grandson was now attending Morton West and was glad he was having a positive experience.  She also touted a school dress code and urged the board to adopt a dress code for the high school.

16. Usual business - The usual business of approving the minutes; paying the bills; expelling students; hirings, resignations and firings of employees; facility use; approval of contracts for homecoming (including the omnipresent Mad Bomber) and approval to start negotiating with the Securty Union.  Four union contracts are up this year for negotiation and renewal.

[Bonster]

Thanks, Ted.

[Bear]

9. EPA payment - When the Freshman Center was being built, the EPA discovered polluted soil that had to be cleaned up by the district. The district was required to pay the EPA $1 million dollars to clean up the area. The EPA went after the previous owners and was able to get a settlement of $500,000,so the amount the district owes the EPA is $500,000 which will be paid over a 10 year period at $50,000 per year.

I have a problem with this. Why are the feds hammering a school district for this money? Did 201
make an attempt to contest the levy? I would think the EPA would have waived clean-up costs
seeing it involved an educational facility and not a private concern.

[Ted]

  Bear,

  I don't know the answer to that.  But, it is a good question.  It reminded me of the situation with Morton College and all the years spent trying to clean up the land around the college after it was built.

  Ted

[Joe Keating]

I have a problem with this. Why are the feds hammering a school district for this money? Did 201
make an attempt to contest the levy? I would think the EPA would have waived clean-up costs
seeing it involved an educational facility and not a private concern.

They don't.

[Sandy]

6. New computer system - The principals and the administration talked about the new computer system that was installed. It allows the schools to track attendance almost immediately. The schools can now call parents by the third period is someone is not attending class. The new system also requires students to "swipe in" at various parts of the campus, so the school can tell where a student is (or at least the last location they swiped in). They can also tell, via the swipe method, whether a student is somewhere where he or she should not be (e.g. in the lunchroom when they should be attending class). Finally, the new computer system has a capability (not installed yet) that would allow parents to log on from the internet to see their child's grades, attendance and progress.

This was also mentioned at the PTO meeting. They are still working bugs out of the system. My son got to a class late and the teacher had problems changing the "absent" to a "tardy" this week. I got a call that he missed class, but thanks to e-mail, was able to sort it out later that day.

15. District 103 board member - A board member from District 103 (Mrs. Schaeffer) spoke to the board and inviting them to attend District 103 board meeting. She talked about how her grandson was now attending Morton West and was glad he was having a positive experience.  She also touted a school dress code and urged the board to adopt a dress code for the high school.

Mr. Pesek and Dr. Noakowski mentioned a dress code at the PTO meeting as well. They were actually thinking of starting one after the winter holidays. Parents said they would prefer such a change to happen with the new school year next year. The school could advise the students in the spring just as well as they could before the holiday and parents won't be upset that they just bought new clothes that can't be used after the holiday.

[treeguy]

They can also tell, via the swipe method, whether a student is somewhere where he or she should not be (e.g. in the lunchroom when they should be attending class).

Sorry to be pessimistic, but this system sounds easy to defeat.  Can't my friends just 'swipe' me in while I play hooky for the day or period?  Kids are always testing and defeating electronic controls.