Board of Education Meeting April 24, 2023

Video Link

3. Call to Order - Public Session (7:15 pm)

3.1 Roll Call

3.2 Pledge of Allegiance

 

4. Recognitions

4.1 PRIDE Recognitions

Teachers:

Kim Caston - 2nd Grade teacher at Wolf's Crossing Elementary School

Lori Johnson - Special Education Teacher at Bednarcik Junior High School

Paul Kittler - Special Education Teacher at Oswego East High School

John Tamez - AVID Teacher at Plank Junior High School

 

Employees:

Lois Goulet Federau - Attendance Secretary at Oswego East High School

Georgi Hadsall - Attendance Secretary at Oswego East High School

 

5. Public Comment

5.1 Opportunity for the Public to address the Board of Education

• Two public comments were shared and can be heard on the recording

 

6. Presentations

6.1 Professional Development Presentation (Summary Page)

Presented by Associate Superintendent Faith Dahlquist. Three year plan aligned with Climate for Learning Framework. Nearly 2,000 classrooms were visited this year, each building received feedback twice a year aligned to the SD308 Climate for Learning Framework. These visits were used to assess the success of our current professional development. All schools now have explicit instruction and expectations for behavior. The District Behavior Design team expanded conversations and working to create a vision for restorative practices at the building level within the classroom and establish a vision and practice around analyzing district and building wide data. SEL Integration with Academics, next year there will be professional development created to support staff integrating SEL into daily instruction.

 

7. Comments

7.1 Superintendent's Report

• Congratulations to OHS Panther Writers who took home 14 total awards at Southwest Suburban Prairie Conference Literary Festival. They won the most awards at the event. 

• April is Autism Awareness Month- use this time to deepen understanding and acceptance, celebrating differences.

• National Encourage a Young Writer Event at Boulder Hill- two published student authors held a signing event at the school.

• Gear It Forward 2338 Robotics- competed in the finals at the World Championships in Houston

• Annual Student-led Amplify event will be held on May 1, this event celebrates equity and diversity across the district.

7.2 Student Ambassador Report

• Student survey was released last week. 2,000+ students have already responded. More free response questions were included for students to share their opinion. Of the responses shared so far, data is showing several areas of potential work to be done, the replies will be shared at the next committee meeting. 

7.3 Board Committee Reports

7.4 Board Member Comments

• Mrs. Simelton- acknowledged the work of the policy committee, including the two board members Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Swanson, along with the administrators who were part of this work. There were many long meetings, with many hours to review each policy in order to add these revised/reviewed policies to the new software PRESS Plus. 

• Mrs. Johnson- Closing out the first full year following the struggles of the pandemic. Teacher appreciation is coming soon, encourage parents and students to share their gratitude as they push through the final weeks of school. 

• Student Ambassador, and soon-to-be OHS graduate Kaitlyn Jobes shared her graduation speech about her school experiences, from her blue sparkly backpack on her very first day of school to now, with a larger, heavier backpack. The weight of backpacks hold books, papers and tools, but also resilience, challenges and more. The full writing can be heard on the recording. 

• Mr. Ploger acknowledged the final full meeting with exiting board members Mrs. Swanson and Mrs. Doyle, thanking them for their service, time and commitment. 

 

8. Approve Consent Agenda

8.1 Minutes from previous Meeting

8.2 Acknowledgement of Freedom of Information (FOIA) Requests

Motion to Approve: Passed 7-0

9. Information

9.1 Consolidated District Plan

The information was shared by Associate Superintendent Faith Dahlquist. Annual requirement of the state to submit the plan. Filing the Consolidated District Plan is the first step in applying for federal grants of Title I Basic, Title II Professional Development, Title III Language Instruction, Title IV Student Support, IDEA Flow Through Special Education, and IDEA Pre School. The plan includes a needs assessment, inclusion of stakeholders, and alignment of the goals of the district with the state. The plan also includes a number of assurances and coordination outline for foster programs. 

Board comments included a desire to work more closely on legislative action/coordination (examining if there could be a need to split the policy and legislative committee). Potential dashboard online of grants applied for, including those received and those not received. 

 

9.2 Draft PRESS Policy Manual

The Board of Education Policy Committee participated in a full review of the Oswego Community Unit School District 308 policy manual in conjunction with the guidance of the Illinois Association of School Board (IASB) Policy Services. Throughout the process, the committee compared each policy in relation to the current PRESS policies. The committee has made recommendations for updates to the policy manual. In addition to the policy review, work has begun on the review and creation of aligned Exhibits and Administrative Procedures.

The Board of Education will be reviewing the policy changes. The Board discussed the process and timing for the passing of the revised manual. There will be some sections that require board approval on May 8th in order for functions to move forward for next school year. The remaining policies will be approved over time once the new board members are seated. 

 

10. Action Items

10.1 Approval of Transportation Bid to award contract to Durham School Services for regular education and Septran Student Transportation for special education, pending board attorney approval.

Motion Passed 7-0

10.2 Approval of Student Rights and Responsibilities Section in Student Handbook

Motion Passed 7-0

10.3 Approval of Destruction of the Audio Recordings of the Closed Session Meetings from April 26, 2021 through October 12, 2021. 

Motion Passed 6-1

10.4 Approval of the Release of those Closed Session Minutes which no longer require confidential treatment and will be made available for public inspection, and retain as confidential those Closed Session minutes for which the need for confidentiality still exists (Feb. 28, 2022; Sept. 26, 2022; Oct. 11, 2022).

Motion Passed 6-1

10.5 Approval of District Administrator Contract

Bradley J. Verthein, Executive Director of Special Education

Motion Passed 5-1-1

10.6 Approval of Personnel Report

Motion Passed 6-1

 

11. Adjournment

11.1 Adjourn

Motion to Adjourn at 8:49pm