201 School Board Meeting 10/10/07

[Berwyn Patsy]

School board meeting tonight, 7:00 Morton East .
The agenda is up for this evenings meeting.  I hope Ted is going and I am looking forward to a report.
School uniform presentation will be discussed among other items, but no mention of board member Jerry Chalada's
replacement?

[Ted]

  Just for you, Pat.  You should have come tonight.  It was quite a boisterous meeting.


  This is a summary of the District 201 school board meeting that occurred on October 10, 2007.  The meeting started at 7:30 PM (30 minutes late) and ended at 9:30 PM.  The meeting was held in the Morton East auditorium with the school board meeting being held on the stage.


1. School uniforms - There was a long and boisterous discussion about school uniforms.  Joe Keating made a motion that the administration should formulate a school uniform policy to be implemented on the first day of the second semester starting in January; that a public hearing on school uniforms should be called before the November board meeting to discuss type and color of the uniforms and that a vote on a school uniform policy should occur at the next board meeting in November.

  Dr. Nowakowski presented three different potential school uniforms.  One was maroon or green allegator-type shirts with khaki pants; a second was green, maroon or gray allegator-type shirts with a navy blue pants; the third was a white allegator-type shirt with black pants.  All of the pants were slacks; there were no blue jeans, sweat pants or shorts.  Dr. Nowakowski stated the alternative school required school uniforms.

  There were lots of audience comments on school uniforms.  Only one person (a gentleman from Cicero dressed in a suit and tie who was neither a parent or student) who spoke in favor of school uniforms. Everyone else was from Morton West (Berwyn, Stickney or Lyons) and they were all either parents or students and they all were against school uniforms.  The reason given for opposition were:

+ that the policy was being implemented without proper notice;

+ that it was being done in the middle of the school year;

+ that there are no statistics or studies that indicate that school uniforms improve grades or attendance (a study from Notre Dame was cited that indicated that school uniforms did not make a difference);

+ that gang members will still be able to identify themselves even with school uniforms;

+ that good kids are being punished for the behaviour of bad kids

+ that it affects parents in their pocket books because they have to buy new clothes in the middle of the school year

+ that there was an existing school dress policy and that that policy was not being enforced

+ that the problem was due to kids coming from Chicago because school residency checking was not being enforced. One parent stated that school residency checking was a joke because when she registered her child, the person doing the registration for the school district could not even speak English.

+ that is was unconstitutional, based on a Supreme Court decision in a Long Beach California case

  There was also some confusion about whether the district would be providing vouchers to allow poorer families to buy uniforms.  The board president stated that this was not true.

  The board voted to have the administration formulate the policy and to hold hearings on the type and color of uniform.

  I was surpised that all of the opposition came from parents and students who attend Morton West.  No parents or students from Cicero spoke at all, either in favor or against.


2. Presentation from High Schools that Work consulting group - Last spring, the school board hired a consulting group called High Schools That Work to conduct a study of District 201. The consultants interviewed administrators and teachers, sat in on classes, looked at assessments and study materials and compared results to other schools and to previous studies the group had done with District 201 itself.  Heather Sass presented their findings to the school board. Here were  their findings:

Good Things about District 201

a. Small Schools concept - The group believed that implementing small schools within a larger school was a good thing to do but that it would be difficult to implement.

b. Extra help strategies - The group praised the efforts to give "extra help" to students in terms of after-school tutoring in math and science

c. Aligning the curriculum to state standards

d. Guidelines for 4 year plan through school to target life after high school and what students want to do

e. Emphasis on raising expectations and collaboration



Bad things about District 201

a. No gains - No significant gains in scores or achievement.

b. Work assignments dropped - The group found that work assignments given to students had dropped

c. Only 6% of students completed core curriculum - The group found that only 6% of students in District 201 completed the core curriculum. The core curriculum is 4 years of English, 4 years of math, 3 years of science and 3 years of history.  The group stated that they found achievement and test scores improved when schools required students to take and complete a core curriculum. Some states have implemented a requirement that a student cannot graduate unless they have taken a core curriculum. It sounded like too many students at Morton are taking too many electives.

d. Disproportionately  high enrollment in AP courses at Morton East - The group found a disproportionate enrollment in AP courses compared to other districts and that only 33% of the students enrolled in AP classes passed the AP assessments.

e. Math - The group found that the district is doing a piss-poor job of teaching math compared to other districts. 30% of all students taking a math course fail and they are then required to catch up in summer school or re-take the course.

f. School work assignments - The group found that 59% of the assignments given to students were below the proficiency level. I took that to mean that work assignments and home work assignments are too easy compared to assignments given out in other districts.

Recommendations -  Their recommendations were to keep going with the small school concept, provide more extra help and start giving the extra help sooner (before students start failing) and to set higher expectations.


3. Getting ready for the test - The principals gave a presentation on what they were doing to help juniors do well on the PSAE tests given in the spring. The PSAE test is a two-day test. The first day is the ACT test and the second day is the Work Keys test. The ACT test is a college entrace test and, according to the Morton administration, is more theorectical while the Work Keys test is more about using knowledge and applying it to practical situations.

  The administration has decided to target Core students rather than Honors students. They believe they will get more bang for the buck by trying to raise the score of Core students rather than Honors students, whom they expect will do well on the tests anyway. There are not enough computers to train both Honors students and Core students.

  Core students will be tested in training labs on computers to train to take the test. Morton West is going to install a T1 line to allow them to use more of their computers to be able to train for the test. Honors students will be helped with "Bell-ringers".  Each day, teachers will take 5 minutes of time for a "bell-ringer" to remind students about some subject area that they may get tested on. In addition, the quizzes and tests being given during the year will be the style of questions found on an ACT test.  Teachers will be prepped 3 to 4 times per month on how to help kids pass the ACT tests.  Finally, the administration will teach students on how to "pace" themselves in taking tests.  10 questions in 10 minutes; next 15 questions in 15 minutes; etc.


4. Attendance - Attendance is up by 3% from last September, from 90% in September, 2006 to 93% in September, 2007. Dr. Nowakowski estimated that the extra 3% in attendance will bring in $460,000 extra in state aid. If the 3% increase continues through October and November, then Nowakowski estimates that that will bring in an extra $1.3 million in state aid.  The administration credits the increase in attendance to the new computer software.


5. Re-bid of Life Insurance - The administration recommended that the Life Insurance benefits be re-bid because previous bids were too high.

6. Bob Soucek speaks out - An elderly gentleman named Bob Soucek gave the board a piece of his mind.  First, rather than go up to the microphone provided for the open comments on school uniforms, he went up on the stage and spoke to them directly (despite admonitions from the board president that he was not allowed to do that). Mr Soucek stated that his wife had served on the school board for 10 years. He had heard there was a vacancy on the school board and he wanted someone from Berwyn to be on the board. He lamented the fact that all but one school board member was from Cicero. Mr. Soucek then recommeded his neighbor, Mr. Hermes, as a candidate for the school board.

7. Usual business - Usual busines of approving the minutes of the last meeting; paying the bills; expulsions; personnel hirings and firings (a new Dean at Morton West. Robert McCarthy, will replace Teno Geritano); travel for students and administrators (student travel for the drama club to the High School Theatre festival in Normal); approval of contracts and approval of facilities (there will be a turkey roll on Thanksgiving on the football field).


  There was no appointment of anyone to replace Jerry Chlada on the school board.

[Shelley]

So, are they talking about an actual uniform that will be sold in school?  I think many schools use the standard khakis and blue polo shirts and students are able to buy them at The Gap or Sears or Walmart or wherever each fall.  No logos.  Much more practical.  Of course, a "regulation" uniform sold in the schools means some company is about to sell about 16,000 shirts.  Will this go out for bid?  Am I misunderstanding? 


The High Schools that Work presentation sounds very depressing.  Thanks for going to the meeting, Ted, and thanks for reporting. 

Shelley

[Ted]

So, are they talking about an actual uniform that will be sold in school?  I think many schools use the standard khakis and blue polo shirts and students are able to buy them at The Gap or Sears or Walmart or wherever each fall.  No logos.  Much more practical.  Of course, a "regulation" uniform sold in the schools means some company is about to sell about 16,000 shirts.  Will this go out for bid?  Am I misunderstanding? 

  Shelley, I think they are talking about clothes that can be purchsed at Target or K-Mart, but I am not clear on that myself because a parent in the audience asked that question (would parents be buying the school uniforms from the school) and no one on the school board or in the administration responded to her question.  Instead, they told her that her 3 minutes was up and that she should sit down.

[Suzy Q]

It seems that the board came unprepared for the questioning at hand.  What's new?

[Ted]

  I think what parents were most upset about was that this was being done in the middle of the school year; that it was being done in a "rushed" fashion; that parents were not involved in the decision making and that the coming change had not been communicated to parents before-hand (i.e. that people found out about it through word of mouth).

  One woman who had been involved in the District 103 decision on uniforms stated that the citizens committee took several months to talk to and educate people and pick uniforms before the board was even involved or before the board even voted on the issue. She also said D103 decided to implement this at the start of a school year.


  What bothers me most is that this is the issue that the Life is going to report on (if they do report on it) rather than the report from the consulting group High Schools that Work.

  I think the Life should do a story on their study and findings.

  Ted

[Berwyn Patsy]

Thanks so much Ted, for attending and reportiing.
"Boistrous", sounds like a good word for the meeting.  Why, do I miss all the good ones!!
Good for Bob Soucek, the eldery gentleman who spoke up regarding the school board replacement.
We need more people like that.
The school uniform issue does seem like a hot item.  I just wonder what the rush is in starting next semester?
Could it have anything to do with contracting these uniforms through a certain company? It will be interesting to see if any thing does go out for bids.
The most important agenda item discussed , should have been the results from the consulting group called "High Schools that work".  I would expect the Life reporter to understand the sorting of priorities in any article written.
Regarding the issue of Core Cirriculum, where are all the Counselors that would be meeting with students, to ensure the student would not be taking too many electives?
I wondered about the statement made regarding the Residency checks falling by the wayside.
Sounds like a lot has to be accomplished to gain improvement, I guess it's a long way to go.

[Ted]

  Pat,

  When the residency checking statement was made, both Dr. Nowakowski and School Board president said that if the person knew of out of district kids attending school, they should contact the administration immediately.  The person who made the statement declined, saying it was not her job to do that; that is was the school district's job to find out people who are not residents.

Ted

[Berwyn Patsy]

It just makes me wonder, once again, how many kids, are registered in our schools that should not be?

[Berwyn Patsy]

I also just noticed a new member on this board MortonStudent08.  If you are truley a student, please do not hesitate to speak your opinions. I think a students ideas, thoughts or opinions would be appreciated here .

[mustang54]

  The clothing displayed was bought over the weekend by Dr. Nowakowski. He sated he went to Wal Mart,Target, and K Mart. So Pat I don't think there will be a contract given out. I don't think they want to go into the retail clothing business. The stuff is easy enough for people to find themselves. And there was shorts on display.
  Most speakers blamed the idea of uniforms on gang bang colors being worn. I was surprised no one on the stage brought up the peer pressure issue. Of the poorer kids who cannot afford Abercrombie or Sean John clothing,and how uniforms might help change the way they percieve themselves.
I was also surprised no students brought up that there should be an enforced dress code for teachers also. That quite a few dress like they are going to the beach instead of a classroom.
For a district with over 8,000 students i was a little surprised at how small the turnout was for what is supposed to be such a hot topic. Then again small turnouts do not surprise me at all around here.
 

[Berwyn Patsy]

Glad to hear you don't think any contracts, bids will be involved in the uniform proposal.  See, your opinion does matter to me.  But, then what's the big hurry with implementation of this rule begginning in Jan.?
Were the parents given proper notice of this possible change?

[Bonster]

We're just over a month into the semester.  That's almost 3 months till next semester, right? How long do they need?

[Ted]

Were the parents given proper notice of this possible change?

Pat, that was one of the biggest beefs - that parents received no notice. No notice of a potential change was sent the homes. Most parents heard about it through word of mouth.

We're just over a month into the semester.  That's almost 3 months till next semester, right? How long do they need?

  I think one issue is having to buy new clothes in the middle of the school year.

[Berwyn Patsy]

Actually Cliffy, my boy I was looking at it like this.  If I were a parent who just heard this news within the last , and let's just say since the last school board meeting, well then it came up again at this mneeting, and now they want to vote on it at Novembers meeting, that would not be enough time for me.  But then that's just how I feel.
So again, what's the big rush? 
Think about it, discuss it and implement it if voted on starting Sept. 2008.
I would think the school board would have other pressing issues which would take over the priority of voting instantly
on yes or no to uniforms, like a replacement for school board member???

[Ted]

  The other thing that occurred to me through out this was what happened to the District 201 newsletter?   It seems like the only time the newsletter was sent out was when the tax referendum was on the ballot or to try to help Margaret Kelly get re-elected.

  Since April, there has not been a District 201 newsletter.  I would think the school uniforms issue would be an ideal subject for the newsletter and an ideal way to broach the subject to the general community.

[Bonster]

Actually Cliffy, my boy I was looking at it like this.  If I were a parent who just heard this news within the last , and let's just say since the last school board meeting, well then it came up again at this mneeting, and now they want to vote on it at Novembers meeting, that would not be enough time for me.  But then that's just how I feel.
Think about it, discuss it and implement it if voted on starting Sept. 2008.

Point taken.
...and as Ted notes, considering how well information like this is disseminated, well...they (201) probably need quite a while to make it known.



Then, again, we know well the level of apathy of parents in this city, so f' em.

[MortonStudent08]

We're just over a month into the semester.  That's almost 3 months till next semester, right? How long do they need?

Seeing that the official vote will be taken in the middle of November, that gives the board a little less than a month before the can spread the word to the parents before winter break.  Considering that they've been "unoficially" talking about uniforms for a month or so and nobody new it was going to be discussed at the board meeting 'til this week, that's a good sign they'll have problems communicating that they voted on it.

I feel that the board came completely unprepared.  They were banking on the idea that no one would show up, or speak.  Boy were they wrong.  The only backing Dr. No gave on uniforms were "there will be less competition between students for $100 sneakers" and "It would help raise test scores and attendence."  Both of which he had absolutely NO statistics nor sources.  I don't believe he even expounded on the safety issue, which is the only way he'll be able to legally pass the uniform program.  

The board showed their true colors by not even discussing the idea or making any comments before they decided to authorizing a drawing up of policies for it by the school attourneys.  They continually disrespected the parents and students by not letting them fully speak their minds or answer ONE question that was asked of them.  They insisted that we must "follow the rules for the meeting."  However, when questioned by myself and others what "rules" we were breaking, they just told us to ask the attourney after the meeting (who i must say, was nowhere to be found.  He ran off backstage immediately).  What really irked me was when they threatened to escort out a student who went over her time.  She was obviously bringing up strong points against the uniforms in a very orderly and respectful manner.  The board needs to respect the opinions of the students within their district, something that they did not last night.

It was pointed out time after time that uniforms will NOT raise attendence or test scores.  I even brought up studies that proved that point.  However, the school board obviously has an agenda.  The president, Mr. Pesek, previously stated to me about a month ago that he was strongly in favor of uniforms for personal reasons back when he went to Morton East.  The way he spoke of his reasons for uniforms was that "so & so happened when I was in high school, so now we need uniforms."  It's his personal agenda to impliment them, as he has not hesitated to push the idea since he has been elected.  Even Dr. No has expressed among the teachers in the district that it is one of his 20 or so goals for this year to start a uniform program.

These people do not realize that this district does not need uniforms.  But hey, we can't blame them.  They haven't done any research on the matter, nor have they spent time in classrooms to realize that students' clothing has no effect on anyone's learning environment.  It was even stated by a student last night.  She brought up an example that she wears $10 jeans & has friends with $100 jeans, but it doesn't bother her at all.  She is still able to succeed in all her classes.

This is just another example of classic District 201 being run by Cicero.  They all came in with their personal agendas, and now they want to rush their policies in before anyone can challenge them.  All I have to say is, Be Prepared, D 201; Be Prepared for Some Action in Court.  Because when you suspend/expell those 30 Seniors who came last night for not wearing uniforms, they (who are ALL in honors classes) will bring action against you.

[Bonster]

This is just another example of classic District 201 being run by Cicero. 

heh.  Some student.
Shouldn't you be in school right now?

[MortonStudent08]

heh.  Some student.
Shouldn't you be in school right now?
[/quote]

There ARE a few computers at Morton...