District 15 Board of Education News

Our GMS Tigers helped lead the Pledge of Allegiance at this month's Board of Education meeting.

As a part of Sanborn's PBIS schoolwide plan, GMS has an amazing Paw Store. All students at Sanborn earn paws, or punches on their paw card, for following the Tiger Traits: Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe. Once a student's paw card is full, they are able to visit the Paw Store with their class.

The Paw Store "employees" from their AIME/MILE classroom run the store by collecting paw cards, asking customers what prize they would like, and then replenishing the prize supply. These helpful Paw Store “employees” led the Pledge of Allegiance at our meeting. Thank you, Tigers!

Viviana Reyes was selected for our Above and Beyond recognition for the month of September following a nomination by an ESC staff member. Viviana is a 5th Grade Dual Language Teacher at Jane Addams.

Reyes’s nominator shared, “Viviana Reyes is a lead dual language teacher and exemplary learner in our community. She consistently seeks out growth opportunities through ongoing education, such as completing a leadership degree, joining a biliteracy books study, hosting pre-service teachers, and volunteering her time in the summer to support multilingual summer camps.”

Another staff member shared that Viviana has also been known to attend events at other schools just to see her former students. Thank you for all you do, Viviana! We are so honored to recognize such an amazing staff member for going Above and Beyond!

In August, District 15 staff attended a two-day workshop called CHAMPS: Classwide Positive Behavior Support, aimed at improving student achievement. CHAMPS focuses on five dimensions (STOIC) of effective behavior management, emphasizing structure, teaching, observation, interaction, and correction.

Key components of CHAMPS include visual displays of expected behavior in classrooms and alignment with the district's focus on high expectations and Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching (CLR). CHAMPS complements the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework by providing clear classroom-level expectations and problem-solving tools for schoolwide challenges. Teachers use data to monitor and adapt instruction, with district-wide goals emphasizing clear behavior expectations and increased positive interactions with students.

Future plans involve ongoing collaboration with Safe & Civil Schools including coaching, professional learning, and data collection strategies to measure CHAMPS implementation at both teacher and administrator levels.

CSBO Diana McCluskey, Chief Business Official, and Director of Fiscal Services Anthony Fashoda, Director of Fiscal Services, presented the final FY24 budget, following the tentative budget presented at the June 2023 Board meeting. The budget includes revenues of $199,850,366 and expenditures of $202,717,535, potentially resulting in a deficit of ($2,867,169). The district aims to manage spending carefully to mitigate this deficit. The projected ending fund balance for June 30, 2024, is $70,222,351, maintaining a 35% fund balance over several fiscal years.

The Capital Projects Fund has around $42 million carryover, with expected FY24 revenues of $90 million due to bond sales in Fall 2024, supporting ongoing M15F construction.

To meet academic, social-emotional, and behavioral needs, the Education Fund requires a $3 million transfer from the Transportation fund. The Transportation fund has a surplus, and this transfer helps balance the Education fund's budget while reducing the Transportation fund balance.

The Board is required to adopt the budget by September 30 and approved the budget during the action items of this Board meeting.

Last year, the District shifted to a 3-tier bell schedule due to a bus driver shortage. Currently, we have 79 drivers, but need 110 to be fully staffed. Efforts to recruit drivers include higher pay and various recruitment methods.

Due to the shortage, routes are stretched or drivers have to pick up additional routes which continues to cause delays. Due to these shortages, the District cannot accommodate all parochial school students on a Tier 1 route.

The District recently reviewed paid transportation requests and was able to grant 52 out of 195 based on route capacity. Families were able (and encouraged) to opt out of bus service if they do not need it.

The District used an emergency provision last year to cover unassigned routes and may do so again this year. The plan is to stay on a 3-tier schedule for the foreseeable future.

Recruitment efforts continue, but the district acknowledges the ongoing challenges and appreciates everyone’s patience.

ED-RED Committee

Board Member Annerino shared the state legislature will be back in session in the end of October/beginning of November.

one-five Foundation

Board Member Taylor shared the one-five Foundation had their annual meeting on August 28. Teacher mini-grants will go live in October. They will also continue the 50/50 raffle, grants, and staff tributes. The Foundation is still looking for trustees.

Finance Committee

Board Members Hunt and Wang shared that they recently met to review the final budget presented at the meeting.

Equity Committee

Board Members Khan and Ader shared they met earlier this week to analyze the strategic plan presentation and discuss the key performance indicators (KPIs) and ways to measure its progress.

Board Policy PRESS 112 First Reading and Discussion

The Board engaged in a first reading of Policy 112 and had a discussion.

The following Board policies were up for first reading from PRESS 112:

• 2:080 Board Member Oath and Conduct

• 2:170 Procurement of Architectural, Engineering, and Land Surveying Services

• 4:045 Insufficient Fund Checks and Debt Recovery

• 4:100 Insurance Management

• 5:230 Maintaining Student Discipline

• 6:010 Educational Philosophy and Objectives

• 6:190 Extracurricular and Co-Curricular Activities

• 6:240 Field Trips

• 7:275 Orders to Forgo Life-Sustaining Treatment

• 7:305 Student Athlete Concussions and Head Injuries

• 8:025 Advertising and Distributing Materials in Schools Provided by Non-School Related Entities

• 8:095 Parental Involvement