Agenda for Monday, March 21 Meeting is Posted

The agenda for the next Board Meeting, which is on Monday, March 21 at 7:30 pm, has been posted at the District 3 website. You can view the agenda here.

If you can make it to the meeting, please do. Nothing pleases the Board and the administration more than seeing eager, inquisitive faces at Board meetings. If, however, you can't attend, but have something you'd like to bring to the Board's attention, please send it in, and we'll bring it up (and post the response on the blog and the e-mail group).

Hill! Hill to Michigan! (Update)

The Saginaw (MI) News has reported that the Bullock Creek Board of Education has hired John Hill as its new Superintendent, by a 6-0 vote. Hill will start his new job on July 1, 2005. You can read the story here. (It's about halfway down the page of very large, very red typeface.)

Feb 28 Meeting - Getting Technical

Dr. Mahaffy rolled out the draft of the Tech Plan for District 3 at the Feb. 28 Board Meeting. The plan must remain a draft until it is approved by the State of Illinois, after which, a final plan will need to be approved by the District 3 Board. A Tech Plan must be completed every 3 years; this Tech Plan would cover 2005 - 2008.

Dr. Mahaffy outlined two goals for this Tech Plan: continue to increase more effective communication, such as sending e-mail to parents, which has saved District 3 money vs. using postal mail; and to provide parent and community classes on technology.

Noting nearby McHenry County Community College, Bob Nunamaker remarked that advanced community classes on technology might not be what District 3 wants to get into. Dr. Jackie Krause countered that such classes would give the district a chance to show off the computer labs. Nunamaker further commented that these classes may have a diminishing return. Dr. Krause said that these classes would only be offered if there was interest in the community. Nunamaker remarked that there would be more interest if the classes were free, or available at a lower cost. Supt. Hill said that one of the goals for these classes is that they would be cost-nuetral; that the fees collected would cover the costs of offering the classes.

Pat Hughes suggested waiting to see what surveys say when they come back. Don Rose commented that these classes would provide a benefit to people in the community without children in district schools. Kay Laube noted that Algonquin Township and the Memorial Library already offer classes like this, either free or at a nominal cost. Jim McNutt, a member of the Library Board who was in attendance at the meeting, said that Library classes and programs of this nature are offered free of charge.

After the discussion, the Board approved unanimously a $10.00 fee for community classes.

Dr. Mahaffy then went on to further describe the Tech Plan. He said that the Tech Plan would include on-line and CD-ROM textbooks. The last couple of Tech Committee meetings will focus on curriculum. The plan also would include Grade Logic, a web-based grade book program. Grade Logic, along with Home Logic, would allow parents to see a student's progress in real time. Parents would also be able to check a student's attendance and discipline records. These programs are currently used by neighboring Districts 155 and 26. These programs would roll out to Fox River Grove Middle School in year two of the seven-year plan, and to Algonquin Road School in year three. Dr. Mahaffy noted that five or six parents have asked him, without any solicitation, why District 3 does not use these programs.

Don Rose asked if there was any issue with using these programs with parents who don't speak
English, or do not have Internet access. While Dr. Mahaffy noted that hard copies of records will still be maintained, Hill mentioned that parents could call the school and have the teacher check these records, or could use public computers, such as those found at the Memorial Library. Dr. Mahaffy further noted that, since Harvard and McHenry school districts use these programs, we can talk to them about solutions to language-barrier issues if or when the need arises.

Hill mentioned that the current technical budget is $55K, down from an average $88K.

Bob Nunamaker remarked that, under the technical plan, we would be buying computers for $700-$800.

Hill remarked that the original tech plan called for a budget of $80K/year, but Dr. Krause had another $10K cut out of the budget. Dr. Mahaffy also noted that, with a 7-year life cycle for computers, that Brian Sawyer will be able to have five or six computers that can be used for parts. Hill said that, if we maintained a $50K/year technical budget, the computers would have a life-cycle of 12-13 years. Dr. Mahaffy added that, under the proposed tech plan, Brian Sawyer has said that he will be able to maintain servers as well.

Nunamaker asked if there was any way he could cut this budget. Dr. Krause joked that he could charge higher fees for community classes.

Gerry Blohm asked where we would get the additional $30K for the new tech budget. Hill said that we will not be deficit-spending; he said that if we reduce spending by $30K/year, which he thinks is a conservative estimate, then we would have no problem with this tech plan. He also said that we are treating technology differently than other areas.

Nunamaker said that he thought we were close to finding the $30K/year, but cautioned the Board that the money can only be spent once. He said that taxpayers are at their limit, and the state is at its limit, so schools have to become more efficient. "We're between a rock and a hard place", he said.

Pat Hughes said that he thought it would be a challenge to keep to a seven-year life cycle for computers. He remarked that the industry average life cycle for a computer is five years.

After all comments, the Board voted 5-0 to go forward with the tech plan.

Feb 28 Meeting - Getting Some Dates

Dr. Tim Mahaffy presented the District Calendar for the 2005-2006 school year. In his remarks, Dr. Mahaffy said that this calendar was developed in association with the Cary-Grove High School and surrounding school districts. He said that this may enable District 3 to coordinate certain events, such as some in-service activities, in coordination with neighboring schools.

The Board approved the 2005-2006 calendar by a voice vote, with all attending members voting in favor of the calendar.

Feb 28 Meeting - Get on the Bus(es)

At the Feb. 28 Board meeting, Supt. Hill brought up leasing three school buses from Midwest Transit Equipment. He said that the district would need three new buses for next school year. During his presentation, Hill commented that leasing would cost the district less than purchasing the buses, and leasing would save on repair costs. He remarked that Midwest Transit Equipment has the facilities to do mobile repair on the buses, and that the repairman lives in Fox River Grove. In answer to Board Member Gerry Blohm's question, Hill stated that the cost of purchasing one bus is approximately $50,000. Hill noted that leasing was more cost-effective to the district than buying, because we have a small district with few buses.

Vice-President Don Rose, who chaired the meeting, noted that if we lose a bus, we lose 25% of our bus fleet. Supt. Hill followed by stating that we currently have one spare bus available to the district.

The Board approved the lease of three buses, at $29,250.00, or $9,750.00 per bus, by a vote of 5-0. As previously noted, Paula Zasadil and Doris Sadik were absent.

Feb 28 Meeting - We Have a Warrant

Supt. John Hill noted that the Tax Anticipation Warrants discussed in last month's meeting have arrived. They were received on February 15. He said that the District will pay an effective rate of 3.625% to pay off the warrants, which had an interest rate of 2.50%. He remarked that this rate was 1.5% higher than last year's rate for Tax Anticipation Warrants.

Board member Pat Hughes noted that the sooner we pay these warrants off, the better. Board member Bob Nunamaker remarked that if the taxes were paid out to the district in a more timely manner, that these warrants might not be necessary.

In response to a question from resident Jim McNutt, Supt. Hill said that the total cost of these warrants is $36,800.

The Board approved the Treasurer's Report, which contained the information about the Tax Anticipation Warrants, by a vote of 5-0. Paula Zasadil and Doris Sadik were absent.

Feb 28 Board Meeting - Q&A

OK, I know the meeting was a week ago. And I'm just now getting to posting the items. Well, I wanted to start with the Q&A, because that's usually first in the meeting, and because there was some discussion on the e-mail list just prior to the meeting, I wanted to post this one first, and I just couldn't right away, because I was getting some additional information after the meeting. So, while the additional information doesn't have the benefit of being confirmed or denied by anyone on an official basis, it does answer some questions.

As far as who was asking questions, it was me. Since a few people on the e-mail list were talking about the incident at the Middle School, I asked the Board what happened and what was being done. I had two reasons for wanting to bring these questions to a Board Meeting, since I could as easily have asked the same questions to the administration or the Board members via e-mail: the first reason was that, by asking at a Board meeting, it gave all parties a chance to answer and to hear what others on the Board or Administration said; the second reason was that, by asking at a Board meeting, the question would be placed in the meeting's minutes, and there would be some public record of the response. Since a few people asked about the incident, and no one seemed satisfied with the responses they were being given, this was important to me.

Supt. Hill fielded the question, and as you may suspect, he didn't provide many answers. He said that the issue was resolved and that the parents of the students involved had been involved in the resolution of the incidents themselves. I asked him if he thought this was an isolated incident, and he said it was -- it has only happened once, so it's very isolated. He closed by saying that he cannot divulge any more information due to privacy concerns.

Now, for what wasn't said nor confirmed. It wasn't until much later that I learned that the student who committed the act had been removed from the school and will not be back. I also learned that Dr. Mahaffy wrote several letters to the parents of the Middle School students, in an attempt to explain what happened and what actions were taken, but decided that all of his drafts would jeopardize privacy.

While I would personally like the administration and the Board members to be more forthcoming with information on these kinds of incidents, I also appreciate the right of individuals to privacy. As a parent, I wouldn't want any more information than is necessary for me to be assured that my children are safe in the school. "Trust us" isn't always enough for parents to have this assurance. Yet, I also understand the need for privacy. There really isn't a need for parents or students to get into the lives of the students involved in any incident beyond what is necessary to feel that the school is safe and a good learning environment. Maybe, in this case, it isn't possible for the administration or the Board to give all of the information the parents need. I'm still researching and asking questions to see if the privacy concerns cited are statutory, or District policy, or both. But, as much as I express frustration that the Board and administration needs to be more forthcoming with information to the community, I don't see an effort to sweep this incident under the rug. What I keep hearing is that, in this case at least, the school district is trying to find a way to inform the community, and has decided to err on the side of privacy.

I come away with as many questions as answers. What information would I need to be confident my kids are safe, and that an incident won't happen again? What are the boundaries that violate the right to privacy? In many incidents across the country, newspaper stories give details; do these stories violate the right to privacy? I'd like to keep a dialogue going between the community, the administration, and the members of the Board, to try to find a way for all of us to be comfortable and satisfied with the information we give and get.

Hill! Hill to Michigan? (Update)

Supt. Hill is one of two finalists for the superintendent position in Midland, MI, and will interview with the Bullock Creek Board of Education tonight at 7:00 pm.

http://www.mlive.com/news/sanews/index.ssf?/base/news-14/1109692274261820.xml

He is also a candidate for the superintendent position in Lake City, MI, where, according to the article, " relationships and communication were key topics". The story quotes Hill as saying, "I believe the essence of the role of superintendent is to build an environment where great people can do their best work."

You can read that story here:
http://www.cadillacnews.com/articles/2005/03/03/news/news04.txt

I'll keep you posted as updates come my way....

Steve