1. School uniform problems - Several parents and students spoke out about problems with the school uniform policy. One problem that is the students were detained and not allowed to go to class because they were wearing ties. Students and parents pointed out that there is nothing in the dress code prohibiting the wearing of ties and that students who were wearng droopy pants and 10 gold chains around their neck were allowed in the school while students wearig neck ties were detained.
Another problem occured because a girl was not wearing white underwear. When this girl was changing for gym class, the teacher noticed that she was not wearing white underwear and a white bra. The teacher told the student that that was against the uniform policy and made the girl sit in detention until her parents came to pick her up. The parent speaking was furious that his daughter was embarrassed in this way and pointed out that there was nothing in the school uniform policy about the color of underwear or bras and that his daughter should have been at least been able to go to classes for the day rather than be sent home.
Another set of problems involved gym shoes not being all one color. Even black gym shoes with a white Nike swoosh or white toes are not allowed. One student stated that the administration made him put black duct tape over his gyms shoes to make it acceptable and he was allowed to wear gym shoes with black duct tape!! Another problem was that kids wearing gym shoes with shoe laces that were not white or black were also sent home.
Another parent was mad because her daughter had been detained because her white polo shirt had 5 buttons on it and the Dean of Students stated that polo shirts could have only 3 buttons on it. The parent displayed the polo shirt to the audience. The parent pointed out that there was nothing in the uniform policy that stated that a polo shirt could have at most 3 buttons on it. The parent stated that the Dean he was speaking to was wearing tight black spandex pants and a low cut blouse showing lots of cleavage.
All of the parents complained about the fact that 100 kids were sent to a room and made to sit on the floor all day for minor violations of the dress code. In general, parents believed the administration was "being picky" and "going overboard" and that the administration should care more about educating the kids and less about things that don't matter. One father complained that he had gone out and bought polo shirts that were green and maroon and was angry that he found out two weeks before school started that green or maroon shirts would not be allowed.
Two students read from a Supreme Court ruling that they claimed showed that the school uniform policy was an infringement of their civil rights. One parent has contacted the ACLU and has registered a complaint with the Illinois State Board of Education.
Acting superintendent Frank Zarate made a statement that the school uniform policy has had a "dramatic impact.". Freshman Center principal Joe Gunty stated that he believed he has seen less behavioral problems this year than last year in the first few weeks of school and claimed that the lessening of behavioral problems in the first few weeks was due to the school uniform policy.
Zarate did admit that the uniform policy had met with mixed reviews from parents and students and admitted that several parents were angry about the lack of communication on the change in the school uniform policy from what it was in October and about the attempt to add the logo as part of the school uniform.
Parents were angry with the attitude that they perceived from Zarate and board members. One parent called the reaction of board members to their comments as "smug". Another threatened to defeat them in the next election. The irony was that this parent apparently did not even know who the board members were because the person he was talking directly to and who he thought was a board member was actually the board attorney.
It was also announced that the Morton Scholarship League had given the district money so that needy families could buy school uniforms.
2. No tables or chairs in the cafeteria - Another issue that came up and which parents complained about was that there were not enough tables and chairs in the Morton West cafeteria and that kids were eating on the floors. Another parent claimed that tables and chairs were being put in the hallway outside the cafeteria and that students were eating there. The administration stated that they realized there was a shortage of tables and chairs due to broken tables and chairs being moved out and the replacements had not arrived yet. The administration claimed the new tables and chairs were on their way and would be in the cafeteria in the next few days. The administration also admitted that there would be still be an over-crowding problem because the enrollment at Morton West is much much higher than they expected.
3.Unexpected higher enrollment - The district has experienced a much higher than enrollment this year than they had expected or projected. The administration claimed it would have to hire more new teachers and administrators to meet the higher than expected enrollments.
4. Bad news on the budget - The projected budget deficit for the coming fiscal year (fiscal year 2008/2009) will be more than double the actual deficit from fiscal year 2007/2008. Last year, the actual budget deficit was $2.5 million dollars with revenue of $85.3 million dollars and expenses of $87.8 million dollars.
The budget for 2008/2009 projects revenues of $87 million and projects expenditures of $93 million for a projected deficit of nearly $6 million dollars (compared to the actual deficit last year of $2.5 million).
This is occuring even though General State Aid has increased by nearly $5 million dollars in the last 2 years due to changes in the foundation level and funding by the state, changes in the state aid formula and use of census data to identify low income children. The increase in state aid between 2007 to 2008 was $1.6 million dollars due to more funding by the legislature. The increase in state aid between 2008 to 2009 will be an additional $3.3 million (from $22.9 million to $26.2 million) due to another increase in the foundation level as well as a change to the funding formula and the use of census data to identify low income children.
The one things I don't understand is this - in 2005, 2006 and 2007,the deficit (excludng one time building costs for the Freshman Center and Alternative School) was between $5 to $6 million dollars all three years. Between the 2007 budget to the 2009 budget, the state has increased its funding to district 201 by $5 million dollars. Yet rather than reducing the deficit to below $1 million dollars with the increased state aid, the budget deficit goes from $2.5 million to almost $6 million!! I don't get it. I would have thought the increase in state aid of almost $5 million dollars would have closed the budget deficit.
Last year, the actual deficit was lower than expected because of less insurance claims (which decreased the actual deficit by $1 million dollars) and the last amount given to the district by the state for building the alternative school ($900,000). This year's budget also has some capital expenditures in it for some much needed maintenance but no corresponding dollars from the state. The district has put out RFPs to fix the green house at Morton East, the pool filtration system at Morton West and to put air conditioning into the superintendent's office at Morton East.
There are expected to be cost savings in the budget due to transportation and other contracts such as the copier contract. The district is saving around $400,000 by switching transportation companies and will save around $11,000 per month in switching copiers to Ricoh.
The starting balance on all funds will be $43.2 million and the ending balance is expected to be $37 million dollars (a net loss in the funds of $6.2 million dollars). In the operating funds (which is what the state looks at for deciding whether a district should be put on the financial watch list), the starting balance will be $35.6 million dollars and the ending balance will be $30.5 million dollars, a loss in the operating funds of $5.1 million dollars.
5. Bad news on Township District 39 dissolution - The board approved the payment of $185,000 for amounts invoiced to District 201 by Education Township District 39, which was dissolved last April. When DIstrict 39 was dissolved, it was expected that around $715,000 was "missing" from the assets and funds. However, District 201 (and the other school districts affected as well) has found out that the missing amount may be closer to $1.5 million dollars. The other school districts have decided to not pursue the discrepency and just get the matter over with. District 201 instructed its law firm to file a malfeasancelawsuit against the auditors and District 39 bond to get the money back.
6. Fixing Algebra I - The new curriculum director gave a presentation on things they would do this year to improve scholastic achievement.
One thing they have done is identify 3 critical courses that are make or break for a student's success in high school. Those courses are Algebra I, English 9 and Biology. The curriculum director cited statistics that students who fail Algebra I are 4 times more likely to fail future courses and drop out of school than students who pass Algebra I.They are going to change the way Algebra I is taught. They are going to make sure all teachers in Algebra I are teaching the same thing and are testing for the same thing. Similar changes will occur in English 9 and in Biology. There will also be programs to reduce the number of 5th year seniors and reduce rententions. They will also be looking to more use of the new Skyward software that was purchased last year.
7. Contracts and bids - Contracts and bids were approved by the board and once again the amounts of all bids was not stated publicly. Only the amounts of the contracts or bids that were awarded were announced publicly. A new fireworks company was contracted for homecoming because the old contractor did not do a good job of cleanup. A copier contract has been awarded to Ricoh for $11,000 per month; a contract for 5 digital video recorders for an amount of $28,050 and a contract for video cameras in the amount of $25,460. The amounts for contract for homecoming items were not announced except for the fireworks contract, which was $2,000.
8. New interim school superintendent - The district hired Clyde Senters as the new interim school superintendent while the district does a search for a permanent superintendent. Mr. Senters used to be the superintendent of the Cicero Elementary School District 99.
In other hiring news, the district is hiring "lead teachers" to act as a liason between curriculum content leads and teachers. Another significant hire was a new Building and Grounds Director, James Zundell.
9. Usual business - The usual business of approving payroll and payables; approving previous board minutes; expelling students (two students were expelled); personnel hirings, resignations and releases; staff travel to a whole bunch of conferences; student travel to MIller Dunes National Seashore in Indiana (for biology) and to New York City for the band to participate in the Music in The Parks Festival; facility requests and submission of paperwork to the Illinois State Board of Education.
10. Next board meeting - The next board meeting will be on October 8, 2008. Location was not stated.
No comments:
Post a Comment