District 157-C June 19 Board of Education Meeting Recap

FRANKFORT, IL — The regular Frankfort School District 157-C Board of Education meeting of June 19, 2019, was called to order by Board President Edith Lutz at 7:00 p.m. The roll call was taken, and a quorum was present. Board Member Michael Bouck was absent, and Board Member Dr. Larry Kociolek arrived at roughly 7:30 p.m. The Board recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Board received correspondence from Gabriella Iaderosa and Rhett Bartolini thanking the district for $500 scholarships they received during Lincoln-Way East’s Senior Scholarship Night, as well as thank you letters from Sandy Pechtold, Mary Woltkamp, Elaine Roupas, Nancy Neuzil, Becky Cleveland, Cindy Lang and Jennifer Campos for retirement and anniversary gifts, respectively.

The Board approved the Open Session minutes of the May 15, 2019 regular meeting.

No one signed up to speak for Public Forum.

Superintendent Dr. Maura Zinni and the School Board recognized Chad Burvant, custodian at Grand Prairie Elementary School, for performing the Heimlich maneuver on a student who appeared to be choking at lunch. Zinni thanked him for taking action to help the student. “Custodians play a much larger role at the district,” she said. “They’re in the lunch rooms every single day helping get milk crates out of the fridge, helping kids with whatever they need and saving lives. You see them on the corners, where they serve as crossing guards. These guys get to know every single family.” Zinni also thanked Paul White, retiring head custodian at Grand Prairie, for mentoring Burvant.

During Administrative Reports, Grand Prairie Elementary School Principal Kirsten Frankovich discussed FastBridge assessments, which students take three times a year. Teachers and support staff review data from these assessments during Data Days to help students become more successful.

Chelsea Intermediate School Principal Doug Wernet said that FastBridge assessment results are used during the Multi-Tiered System of Support process to help teachers monitor students’ progress. He said the tests are important for teachers and instructional coaches to help plan lessons around areas of deficit.

Hickory Creek Middle School Assistant Principal Tricia Dotson said the assessments help teachers determine how to help students who are struggling and gain an understanding of how students are performing throughout the entire year.

Board President Edith Lutz asked if there is a correlation between FastBridge scores and state assessment scores, and Dotson said there generally is. Board Secretary Edie Adamski asked if the principals ever feel there is too much testing. Wernet said the assessments are not high-pressure for students and are very valuable to teachers to understand how students are performing. Zinni said the results from FastBridge assessments are a valuable tool, and the district intends to provide more training to staff so that they can continue to use results to help students. This was the district’s second year of implementation of the assessments.

Dotson also provided a recap of Hickory Creek’s Washington, D.C. field trip. She said the school is going into its third year of offering the trip for eighth-graders, and the next trip is planned for March 2020. “The trip is busy and full, but it’s a really nice trip and rewarding to be with the kids,” she said. “They are well-behaved and learn quite a bit.”

Director of Human Resources Shayna Cole said staffing for next school year is going well, with most certified positions filled. In July, the district will accept and fill substitute positions for next year and verify returning substitutes. New this year, substitute teachers will attend New Teacher Orientation to be trained on district policies, expectations and software. Cole said that, on average, students spend one full year of their K-12 education with a substitute teacher. “We want to make sure we are empowering substitutes and giving them the same tools they need so the transition into the classroom is more seamless,” Cole said.

Director of Technology Jacob Nelson said summer work is progressing, with all computers at Grand Prairie and the District Office set up for next school year and devices ready for Extended School Year. His team is now working on setting up laptops for Grand Prairie teachers, reimaging devices for fifth-grade students and upgrading Windows at Hickory Creek.

Supervisor of Buildings & Grounds Rodney Davis said his department is making progress on summer projects. Roofers are beginning work at Chelsea, and parking lot repairs at Grand Prairie are set to begin next week. LED lights are being installed at Chelsea, and classrooms on the north side of the building are being painted.

Director of Curriculum & Instruction Janet McClarence discussed grants. The Every Student Succeeds Act includes Title I, Title II and Title IV grants which are predominately designated for disadvantaged students. The district received $58,241 from a Title I grant, which is designated for Grand Prairie and Chelsea early intervention services. The money contributes to the employment of four paraprofessionals who focus on literacy and math, supplies for homeless students, staff development for teachers, and materials. The district received $25,213 from a Title II grant, which contributes to professional development throughout the district. The district also received $10,000 from a Title IV grant, which is for the allocation of STEM resources in core classrooms or after school programs. McClarence also said the district received roughly $1,800 from a state-funded library grant that is divided across the district to maintain a robust collection of print and electronic materials.

Director of Special Services Jen Bajda also discussed grants. She said the district received roughly $412,000 from an Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grant. Five percent of this grant was used for professional development, and the rest of the grant money primarily pays for services for students who need them from Lincoln-Way Area Special Education District 843. The district also received about $10,000 from a Part B of the IDEA grant for preschool services. The money helped fund one paraprofessional’s salary in the district’s preschool program. Additionally, Bajda said the district received a $100,000 Preschool for All grant, which helps pay salaries and benefits for preschool staff.

Board Member Brian Skibinski provided the Board with an update from the district’s annual emergency planning meeting. He said administrators, teachers, staff, and representatives from the Frankfort Fire Protection District and Frankfort Police Department reviewed Run, Hide, Fight training, training for the upcoming school year, fire alarm procedures, visitor protocols, reunification scenarios and classroom phone locations.

Board Member Gina Briese provided the Board with an update from the District Insurance Committee. She said the committee is considering Stumm Insurance as a new provider and was impressed with information the company provided at the committee’s last meeting.

Board Secretary Edie Adamski provided the Board with the May 13 Advisory Board and May 28 Governing Board meeting minutes from Lincoln-Way Area Special Education District 843. She said Jim Martin is new president of the District 843’s Board, and she thinks he will do a great job.

During the superintendent’s report, Dr. Maura Zinni provided an update on extracurricular activities from the 2018-2019 school year. She said the year included four new groups — a Chelsea Tigers Intermural program, Music Makers at Grand Prairie, Best Buddies at Hickory Creek and the Chelsea Student Council. More than 1,500 Grand Prairie and Chelsea students participated in extracurricular activities last school year, and hundreds more participated in extracurricular activities at Hickory Creek. She said the district is developing an at-a-glance sheet for parents and students to review extracurricular opportunities and determine what they can fit into their schedules in the coming school year.

Zinni also updated the Board on charitable giving activities from 2018-2019. Grand Prairie students raised $22,000 for juvenile diabetes and were able to pie Principal Kirsten Frankovich and other staff members in the face for their efforts. Chelsea students raised $35,755 for the Kids Heart Challenge. Hickory Creek students raised $9,000 for cystic fibrosis and sponsored Christmas gifts for 600 students at Cesar E Chávez Multicultural Academic Center in Chicago. Students from all three schools raised $5,780 for Lincoln-Way Special Recreation Association wheelchair basketball. During food drives, Grand Prairie students donated 1,113 cans of food, Chelsea students donated 1,500 cans of food and the District Office donated 25 hams to the Frankfort Township Food Pantry. Seventh-graders raised $5,368 for Honor Flight. Grand Prairie students sent 103 care packages to active duty service members. “Our kids know how to show appreciation for others and give back,” Zinni said. “This community is extremely generous, and we should really be proud of what our kids do. They are quite thoughtful and know the impact of giving back.”

Zinni added that enrollment is steady for the 2019-2020 school year, but the district needed to open a fourth section of preschool, driven by need for early intervention programming.

Director of Business and Operations Kate Ambrosini provided the Board with the May 2019 Treasurer's Report and Graphs. In May, the total fund balance increased by $129,414. Monthly revenue receipts totaled $2,523,382, primarily due to evidence-based funding and Will County property tax receipts. Monthly expense disbursements totaled $2,393,968, primarily due to payroll and accounts payable.

There was one Freedom of Information request that was responded to in a timely manner. Joseph Varan submitted a FOIA request for types of records under district control and information on the district’s FOIA process.

The Board discussed a proposed facility master plan for Chelsea from FGM Architects. John Ochoa, CEO of FGM, Peggy Hoffmann, principal architect at FGM, and Michael Becker, senior associate at FGM, presented drawings of underutilized physical spaces in the building and proposed repurposing of these areas to improve traffic flow in hallways, provide exposure to natural light in all classrooms and provide a 21st Century learning environment. Ochoa explained that what is now Chelsea began as two separate buildings — an elementary school on the north side of the building that was constructed in the 1960s and a junior high school on the south side of the building that was constructed in the 1970s, joined by a breezeway that was constructed in the early 1990s. “The school has been through a lot of iterations in its usage,” he said. “As grade levels evolved and teaching evolved, the school didn’t always keep up with that. We’ve identified a number of areas that are underutilized.”

Science labs on the south side of Chelsea are primarily unused today. Areas that were at one point open space are now windowless classrooms. The breezeway has large open space that is underused, and locker rooms adjacent to the gym are underused. FGM staff worked with administrators and teachers to understand the school’s needs, and spent a day in the school to observe the flow of traffic. From there, FGM created drawings of a proposed facility master plan to improve the use of space. Proposed changes include keeping groups of four classrooms together throughout the building, converting STEM rooms to classrooms to ensure all classrooms have exterior walls, converting interior spaces to extended learning areas, maintaining the same amount of resource rooms, centralizing ENCORE spaces, creating a new STEM room using a portion of the breezeway, revamping the underused former science wing, relocating the teacher’s lounge to the north end of the building, extending cramped administrative space by converting former locker rooms, renovating the building’s main entryway and doubling south stairway space. Skibinski asked FGM to look into improving traffic flow at the north stairway, as well.

Ambrosini said this is the final version of a plan that district staff and FGM collaborated on, for Board members to consider moving forward on. There is no specific information on cost at this point, but estimates are between $9 million and $14 million. She said the intent would be to use savings the district has accrued over the last decade to invest in Chelsea and provide the school with the same 21st Century collaborative learning environments seen at Hickory Creek and Grand Prairie. She asked how the Board would feel about the district going to bid for a construction manager and bringing the plan back in the fall with a more defined design and timeframe.

Board Vice President Brett Cosich said he would like to know more specifics on pricing, as spending close to $15 million on renovations is a substantial amount of money. He said he also wants to ensure the renovations address everything on the district’s wish list for the school. Board Member Dr. Larry Kociolek said the renovations might be a way to improve the school for decades without having to go to a referendum to build a new building. Lutz said she would like to have an idea of what the cost of building a new school might be so that if taxpayers ask why the Board is spending money on renovating the school versus constructing a new school, the Board has done its due diligence. Ochoa estimated a new school would cost between $40 million and $48 million. Briese said she would have a hard time supporting a referendum and asking taxpayers for more money. She said the renovations could make the school more functional. Skibinski said the Board may need direction from the community on a renovation versus a new building. Adamski said she would like more information before going to the community, and a referendum would be almost impossible following the closure of Lincoln-Way North High School.

“Fifteen million is substantial,” Cosich said. “Just because we have the money doesn’t mean we should put it into that if it’s not going to return the best we can get out of it. You see how nice Hickory Creek is. Chelsea has a different feel.” Briese said the district has not invested much money into Chelsea. “I’ve been around for eight years, and we’ve done nothing in eight years, there,” Adamski said. “The worst thing we can do is not do anything right now.” The district’s goal was to spend roughly $10 million on Chelsea improvements, Ambrosini said. Zinni said she believes the district can get to that number using FGM’s plan. “We could work toward that if that was the desire,” Ochoa said.

Ambrosini said she would work with FGM to determine what the district can do for $10 million, and FGM would return to the Board’s August regular meeting with more information.

In discussion, Ambrosini discussed a recommendation to use Stumm Insurance as the district’s new employee benefit consultant. The district has used Horton since 2008. The Insurance Committee compared Horton with Stumm and Mesirow and identified Stumm as the group that would meet the district’s needs best. Briese said Stumm representatives were very professional, easily explained things and were well-prepared. Ambrosini added that insurance renewals should not be a surprise, and it was very surprising with Horton. Zinni said it is best practice to review other options, and the district has been with Horton for many years.

The Board took action to approve the Consolidated District Plan for fiscal year 2020, identifying how federal grants will be allocated for the 2019-2020 school year.

The Board took action to approve the purchase of paper from Midland Paper at a cost of $27.32 per case for fiscal year 2020.

The Board took action to approve the transfer of $2 million between the Education Fund and Operations & Maintenance Fund, and $1 million between the Transportation Fund and Education Fund, transferring back money that was transferred last year to mitigate risk; and the transfer of $5 million between the Education Fund to the Capital Project Fund to begin transferring what may be used for the renovation of Chelsea.

The Board took action to approve the employment of Molly O’Shea as a one-year, full-time kindergarten teacher at Grand Prairie Elementary School with a start date of August 19, 2019, contingent upon the receipt and evaluation of employment documentation required by District 157-C and the Illinois State Board of Education.

The Board took action to approve the employment of Holly Wright as a full-time Special Education Teacher at Chelsea Intermediate School with a start date of August 19, 2019, contingent upon the receipt and evaluation of employment documentation required by District 157-C and the Illinois State Board of Education.

The Board took action to approve the employment of Ellen Phillips as a full-time Daily Assignment Teacher at Chelsea Intermediate School with a start date of August 19, 2019, contingent upon the receipt and evaluation of employment documentation required by District 157-C and the Illinois State Board of Education.

The Board took action to approve the employment of Marisol Juarez as a full-time School Social Worker at Chelsea Intermediate School with a start date of August 19, 2019, contingent upon the receipt and evaluation of employment documentation required by District 157-C and the Illinois State Board of Education.

The Board took action to approve the employment of Tracey Dralle as a full-time Special Education Paraprofessional at Chelsea Intermediate School with a start date of August 19, 2019, contingent upon the receipt and evaluation of employment documentation required by District 157-C and the Illinois State Board of Education.

The Board took action to approve the employment of Tiffany Osberg as a full-time Special Education Teacher at Hickory Creek Middle School with a start date of August 19, 2019, contingent upon the receipt and evaluation of employment documentation required by District 157-C and the Illinois State Board of Education.

The Board took action to approve the employment of Jillian Neyhart as a full-time Special Education Teacher at Hickory Creek Middle School with a start date of August 19, 2019, contingent upon the receipt and evaluation of employment documentation required by District 157-C and the Illinois State Board of Education.

The Board took action to approve the employment of Cynthia Jonkman as a full-time 1:1 Medical Paraprofessional at Hickory Creek Middle School with a start date of August 19, 2019, contingent upon the receipt and evaluation of employment documentation required by District 157-C and the Illinois State Board of Education.

The Board took action to approve the employment of Marsha Kmet as a full-time Instructional Reading Aide at Hickory Creek Middle School with a start date of August 19, 2019, contingent upon the receipt and evaluation of employment documentation required by District 157-C and the Illinois State Board of Education.

The Board took action to approve the employment of Laura Strepek as a full-time School Nurse at Hickory Creek Middle School with a start date of August 19, 2019, contingent upon the receipt and evaluation of employment documentation required by District 157-C and the Illinois State Board of Education.

The Board took action to approve the employment of Bridget Harris as a 0.5 FTE Educational Interpreter at Hickory Creek Middle School with a start date of August 19, 2019, contingent upon the receipt and evaluation of employment documentation required by District 157-C and the Illinois State Board of Education.

The Board took action to approve the employment of Alyson Bauman as a 0.25 FTE Instrumental Music Teacher at Hickory Creek Middle School with a start date of August 19, 2019, contingent upon the receipt and evaluation of employment documentation required by District 157-C and the Illinois State Board of Education.

The Board took action to approve the payment of bills for May 2019 as presented.

In the consent agenda, the Board approved resolutions authorizing prompt payment of bills, salaries, recurring Benefits and contractual obligations; a resolution designating interest earnings for fiscal year 2019; the treasurer’s bond renewal; worker’s compensation insurance renewal; depositories for district funds; the announcement of legal notices; and a recommendation and resolution for disposal of surplus property.

The Board adjourned the regular meeting at 9:33 p.m. and entered into Closed Session at 9:38 p.m. for the purposes of discussion of personnel matters, student issues, pending litigation and collective bargaining.

The Board adjourned Closed Session at 10:07 p.m. and adjourned the regular meeting at 10:08 p.m.

The next regular District 157-C Board of Education meeting will be held on August 21, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. at the District Office, 10482 W. Nebraska St. in Frankfort, Illinois.