SE Illinois News

Community Unit School District 200 Board of Education met Sept. 27.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

A special meeting of the Board of Education of Community Unit School District 200, DuPage County, Illinois, was called to order at the Monroe Middle School, 1855 Manchester Rd., Wheaton, IL, by Board President Rob Hanlon, on Friday, September 27, 2024, at 8:00 AM. Local legislators were present at the meeting to discuss issues surrounding public education with local government officials who represent the school district.

ROLL CALL

Upon the roll being called, the following were present:

Board Members: Mr. Rob Hanlon

Ms. Julie Kulovits

Mr. Dave Long

Ms. Angela Blatner (left the meeting at 8:30 AM)

Mr. Brad Paulsen

Mr. John Rutledge

CUSD200 Staff: Jeff Schuler – Superintendent of Schools

Alyssa Barry – Director of Community Engagement & Communications

Matt Biscan – Asst. Superintendent of Administrative Services

Melissa Murphy – Asst. Superintendent of Educational Services

Brian O’Keeffe – Asst. Superintendent of Business Services

Chris Silagi – Asst. Superintendent of Student Services

Jason Spencer – Executive Director of Innovation & Technology

Ashley Huettemann - CUSD 200 Monroe Middle School Principal

Elected Officials: Betsy Adamowski - Wheaton Public Library Director

Mike Benard - Wheaton Park District Executive Director

Erica Bray-Parker – City of Wheaton Councilwoman

David Brummel – City of Warrenville Mayor

Kevin Dahlstrand – City of Warrenville Director of Finance

Denise DiCianni - Warrenville Park District Board President

Grant Eckhoff – DuPage County Board Member

Amy Emery – Warrenville Director Community & Economic Development

Chris LeVan – Milton Township Assessor

Steve Massie – Winfield Park District President

Terry Mee –Wheaton Park District Commissioner

Dan Milinko - Milton Township Trustee

John Monino – Milton Township Supervisor

Sheri Potter - Warrenville Park District Director of Marketing

Amber Quirk – DuPage County ROE Superintendent

Tim Reinbold - Warrenville Park District Executive Director

Sue Rini - Carol Stream Park District Executive Director

Lynn Robbins – City of Wheaton Councilwoman

Sheila Rutledge – DuPage County Board Member

Greg Schwarze – DuPage County Board Member

Jason Stuhlmann – Warrenville Public Library Executive Director

Phil Suess - City of Wheaton Mayor

Christina White – City of Warrenville Administrator

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

CUSD 200 Board Member John Rutledge led the group in the Pledge.

MOTION

Member Long moved, Member Kulovits, seconded to suspend the rules and adjourn to a workshop setting. Upon a roll call vote being taken the vote was: AYE 6, NAY 0. The motion carried 6-0.

Welcome and Program

Superintendent Schuler and Board President Hanlon welcomed and thanked everyone for coming to this annual event – an opportunity to tell the story of the District and hear feedback from our community partners. Ms. Ashley Huettemann, Principal of Monroe Middle School, was introduced and thanked for the use of the meeting space.

Dr. Schuler and members of the District 200 Senior Leadership Team shared information from the District 200 State of the Schools presentation and referendum information the team has presented to the staff at each of the 21 buildings. This included information on the following:

● District Characteristics (information from last year’s IL School Report Cards) - Student Enrollment (11,493), Number of Languages Spoken Among Students (87), % Multilingual Learners (11%), % Low Income (30%), % With Disabilities (14%). Noted the increased number of languages spoken and the diversity coming into our schools.

● Vision 2026 Strategic Plan - Focus on College and Career Readiness, Accelerating Learning, and Balanced Assessment.

● Career Pathways (an opportunity for high school students to take a sequence of courses connected to a career area) - There are three complete pathways (Education, Business, and Nursing) and three other pathways in development. The number of Dual Credit Courses has increased from three to sixteen. In the class of 2024, 81% of the seniors received a “C” or better in an early college course.

● Research coming out of the pandemic led to grades K-8 Accelerated Learning Focus - purchased high-quality instructional materials, started with Illustrative Math (IM), and Bookworms (literacy for K-5).

● Student Learning: K-8 Learning Acceleration - shared IAR (IL Assessment of Readiness) ELA and Math Percentage Meets/Exceeds data from 2019 - 2023. The 2024 scores will be released on October 30th. Results show a nice trajectory of growth in academics.

● Impact on Students - We look at three metrics: school connectedness (96%), extracurricular/co-curricular participation (76%, 10% increase since 2018-19), and student attendance (+84.6%). The relationship of these metrics to Social Emotional Learning (SEL) framework - Relationships, Mindset, Learning, Behavioral and Emotional Wellness.

● School Safety is a broad and deep topic. The things we can control are: Lock your doors, know your kids, perform your threat assessments, and know your safety procedures. This was learned through the Dept. of Homeland Security and the FBI.

● Innovation (Exploring the place of AI in the work of staff and students; Implementing efficient workflows to move learning forward) and Technology (Keeping staff and students safe - physical security improvements and cybersecurity efforts; Ensuring technical equipment and systems remain functional). Big lifts on the physical side of technology - expanded and updated camera systems, electronic door swipe access at building doors; visitor guest management system - know who is in the building; big lifts on the instructional side - training staff and making them knowledgeable about AI, providing teachers workflows on how to make life easier with technology.

● Finance - The FY25 budget marks the 15th consecutive year with a balanced operating budget. The fund balance (32.3%) sits in the middle of the 25-40% range established by board policy and allows us to manage cash consistently throughout the year. ISBE financial profile designation for D200 - Financial Recognition (3.90/4.00), which is the highest category of financial strength. S&P’s LT Bond Rating (AA+ very strong).

● Long-term Debt - the last existing debt service payment is tied to the 2024 tax levy and is scheduled to be paid on October 1, 2025.

● Facilities/Referendum Information - a full Master Facility Plan was developed in 2017 and was the baseline for the 2017 referendum. Since then, the District has worked diligently to catch up on the significant infrastructure needs, investing at least $7 million per year into capital facilities projects. A new Jefferson Early Childhood Center was built, and there was a focus on secure entries for buildings. Much of the work has been completed in our elementary and high school spaces and we now need to address the significant needs at three of our four middle schools - Franklin, Monroe, and Edison.

● Worked to build concept plans and assess the needs of the three buildings. Spent time with the community asking for feedback. Nearly 1,300 community members took part in this process to develop a plan. This plan reflects what the community asked us to prioritize.

● Fiscal Responsibility - focused on this part of the plan now because of the long-term debt picture. This is a unique opportunity to implement the community’s plan to modernize our middle schools while reducing the Bond and Interest Fund tax rate for residents.

● 15-year vs. a longer bond repayment plan - saves taxpayers up to $85 million in interest. ● Referendum details - the $151.5 million referendum would result in a tax decrease of $71 per year in the bond and interest fund for the median homeowner.

● Three broad areas of focus for the plan: Improve Safety & Security in our Middle Schools (improved sightlines in hallways, upgraded camera systems, updated door entry systems); Ensure Healthy and Accessible Buildings for all Students (significant improvements to MS infrastructure, mechanicals, and accessibility); Provide our Middle Schoolers 21st Century Learning Environments (modernized science lab classrooms, increased space in some classrooms, optimized Special Education spaces to provide more support and life skill instruction for students).

● Focus on music, indoor athletic/physical education spaces, and LLCs (Library Learning Centers) across the buildings.

● This would bring parity to our four middle schools, giving all students the same quality learning opportunities.

● Reviewed the proposed building designs for all three buildings. The design boards were available for review. In addition, the aggregate cost and breakdown by building and the proposed schedule/sequence perspective for the projects were reviewed.

● Important Dates - Election Day, November 5, 2024; town halls with tours have just finished up.

● A QR code was provided to take people to the referendum information page on the District 200 website. This page includes FAQs, a tax calculator for residents, and a series of short videos that take an in-depth look into the proposed capital facilities plans for the Franklin, Monroe, and Edison middle schools.

There were comments/questions on the following:

● Career Pathways and the Trades - District 200’s relationship with the Technology Center of DuPage (TCD).

● Pleased to get information yesterday on the power outage at WNHS and on keeping the WN parent community engaged on what was happening.

● Financing and resources received from the State - have they increased over time?

● The increase in the low-income population percentage and the relationship to Title I Federal Funding.

● Expansion of Career Pathways; Career exploration and work-based development. Refer any businesses interested in work-based learning and internship opportunities to District 200.

● The municipal police departments and first responders are phenomenal, and D200 is blessed with our partnerships. Noted their critical support in our District Safety committee.

Dr. Schuler and President Hanlon thanked everyone for attending and sharing feedback.

PUBLIC COMMENT

None

MOTION

There being no further business to come before the Board in Open Session, Member Paulsen moved, Member Rutledge, seconded to adjourn the meeting. Upon a voice call vote being taken, all were in favor and the motion carried 5-0.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:57 AM.

https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/3696/CUSD200/4920287/Minutes_Sept_27_spec_mtg_with_local_officials.docx.pdf