{pdf=images/stories/pdf/band_orchestra_flyer_2012.pdf|600|800}

Step Up for Others Awards Ceremony

Lyons School District 103 is honoring students and staff at our annual “Step Up for Others" evening. The Recognition Ceremony will be held on May 16, 2012 at George Washington Middle school at 6:30 PM. Please join us in celebrating those who have stepped up for others throughout the district!

Board Meeting Report  5/1412

Below is a synopsis of Lyons Elementary District 103’s most recent board meeting.  These are not official minutes, but an overview of the work the board of education completed.

Superintendent’s Report

Important Dates -  Dr. Warner informed the Board about some important events coming up at the end of the school year:

            Step Up for Others Award Ceremony – 6:30 PM GWMS on Wed. May 16

            8^th Grade Graduation – Thursday, May 31 at 6:30 PM

            The Triple-I Conference is November 16-18.

GWMS Construction – Commonwealth Edison finally moved their utility pole which was blocking our ability to dig the foundation for the new cafeteria.  Dr. Warner expressed many thanks to Tom Sheehy for his work with ComEd to get them out here to do the work.  The excavation work on the east side of the building has commenced.  We expect that the cafeteria will be done sometime in November.

Battle of the Books

This winter teams of students did battle  - with their knowledge of books.  This is the second year Battle of the Books was held at the fourth and fifth grade levels, and teams from each school competed to be the District 103 winner.  Many thanks to Battle of the Books organizer Andrea Maslan.  The board recognized the 4^th and 5^th Grade Battle of the Books Winners for this year:

The 4^th Grade Battle of the Books winners from Edison School are:

                              Christopher Cinkus

                              Jackson Downey

                              Nicholas Molina

                              Christian Ortiz

                              Branden Ramierz

                              Jacob Tabb

The 5^th Grade Battle of the Books winners from Edison School are:

                              Jessica Ciesla

                              Imani Gennell

                              Ariana Gonzalez

                              Karina Guardado

                              Lesly Sanchez

                              Nyome Zavala

Discussion Items

Open Meetings Act – Mr. Ken Florey from the law firm RSNLT presented information to the board regarding the Open Meetings Act.

Student Data System Replacement – Mr. Bryan Drozd, Director of Technology, presented information to the board about the need to replace the current student information system.  He indicated that the current system is unable to (easily) integrate the many systems we are currently using (such as student lunch system, IEP program, student achievement data).  He has been working with the Tech Committee to narrow down the possible replacement systems to two.  Staff will have an opportunity to see a demo of the two systems this week and to provide input before a final decision is made.  He indicated that the cost of the program will be coming from the existing tech budget.  He will bring his final recommendation to the board for approval at the May 29^th board meeting.

Curriculum Report – Dr. Vladika, Curriculum Director, provided the board with an overview of the Curriculum Department’s accomplishments over the past 5 years.  She emphasized the upcoming work on the Common Core Standards as the most important task at hand.  She also announced that the district will begin K-8 testing for reading comprehension, which will provide teachers with a better understanding of the needs of their students.

Hinsdale High School Withdrawal from LADSE – Dr. Warner said that he had received formal notification from the Hinsdale High School district’s board of their desire to withdraw from our special education cooperative LADSE.  Dr. Warner said he was not surprised by this, as the Hinsdale elementary school district withdrew a year ago.  The high school district did not see an advantage to being a part of the cooperative if the majority of their feeder students were not a part of the cooperative.  He said he would be bringing the matter to the board of action at a later board meeting.

Temperature Controls – As a result of a previous board discussion regarding the heating and cooling of the schools, Dr. Warner presented the board with a procedure recommendation that would guide the temperature settings in the schools.  The board accepted the following procedure, which will be monitored by the principals and maintenance staff:

Cooling  (Cooling Season Defined as August, September, May, June)

Whole School Centrally Controlled (Home School) – The controls will be set so three-fourths of the classrooms are not below 72 degrees or above 78 degrees.  If any of the remaining ¼ of the classrooms are over 80 degrees the controls can be set so that those rooms are not over 78 degrees (recognizing that some of the other classrooms may then be below 72 degrees). 

Buildings in Which all Sections are Not Centrally Controlled (GWMS, Edison, Robinson, Costello, Lincoln) – Controls will be set so that classrooms with air-conditioning are not below 72 degrees or above 78 degrees. 

Heating (Heating Season Defined as (October – April)

Whole School Centrally Controlled – The controls will be set so three-fourths of the classrooms are not below 68 degrees or above 74 degrees.  If any of the remaining ¼ of the classrooms are under 68 degrees the controls can be set so that those rooms are not under 68. 

Buildings in Which all Sections are not Centrally Controlled – Controls will be set so that classrooms are not below 68 degrees or above 74 degrees. 

Windows will not be opened in rooms that meet the above requirements

Paid Lunch Equity – Mr. Schiffer, Business Manager, shared with the board that according to Federal Guidelines, the district was not charging enough for lunches.  According to those guidelines, the district should be charging $2.51 per lunch, compared to $2.10 (K-5) and $2.15 (GWMS).  The guidelines allow for a gradual increase to meet the recommended price, so Mr. Schiffer recommended a $.15 increase next year.  The K-5 buildings will charge $2.25 per lunch and the middle school will charge $2.30 per lunch.  Mr. Schiffer noted that the guidelines are adjusted yearly, so the price of the lunches will have to be reset each year.

Summer Custodial Help – Mr. Schiffer presented Mr. Sheehy’s (Director of Building and Grounds) recommendation for summer custodial help.  He recommended that the 10-month employees be hired as needed to help with grounds and building maintenance and that a college student hired last summer be brought back.  The board agreed with the proposal, pending seeing Mr. Sheehy’s plan to deploy the workers.

April Financial Report – Mr. Sheehy presented the financial overview through April, 2012.  He noted that revenues were running higher than expected and expenses were exceeding the budget.  As a result, he was hopeful that the district fund balances would meet our budget.

The next regular board meeting will be on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at the Admin Building at 7:00 PM.   The next committee of the whole meeting will be on Monday, June 11, 2012 at the Admin Building at 7:00 PM.

Board of Education Meetings

2012-13

Committee of the Whole and Regular board meetings begin at 7 PM.

Board Meeting Report  4/30/12

Below is a synopsis of Lyons Elementary District 103’s most recent board meeting.  These are not official minutes, but an overview of the work the board of education completed.

Superintendent’s Report

GWMS Construction – Construction is proceeding at George Washington Middle School.  The foundation for the south addition has been laid and they began building up the walls this week.

Demolition of the auditorium is almost complete.  They did it quickly and efficiently. 

We are still awaiting word from ComEd as to when they will be moving the pole on the north-east side of the auditorium.  This is critical because it prevents us from digging the new foundation for the cafeteria.

IASA Conference – Dr. Warner shared that he attended the annual Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA) last week.  He said that the talk continually revolved around budgets and pensions.  Everyone who spoke said they thought there would be legislation on pensions, but no one would predict what that might be.   He also attended a session in which the speaker said that the changes administrators experienced with the advent of AYP, teachers would experience with the Common Core Standards.

SCOTY Award Winners  - The Student Citizen of the Year (SCOTY) Awards are given each spring to deserving students by West 40, our regional office of education.  West 40 created the SCOTY awards to call attention to the positive accomplishments of students. Each participating school picked a student who shows exemplary academic performance and leadership.  The board recognized the SCOTY Award Winners for this year:

Robinson – Karina Reyes

Home – Cierra Snyder

Lincoln – Alyssa Tamburrino

GWMS – Natalie Jaramillo

Costello – Lillian Duarte

Edison – Jessica Ciesla

Battle of the Books

This winter teams of students did battle  - with their knowledge of books.  This is the first year Battle of the Books was held at the Sixth Grade level, and several teams competed to be the winner.  Many thanks to Battle of the Books sponsor for GWMS Molly Borchardt.  The board recognized the 6^th Grade Battle of the Books Winners for this year:

Marcella Bilotta

Alejandra Herrera

Logan Mohrs

Ian Moran

Jason Noel

Board Reorganization

Each year during the last board meeting in April, the Board of Education elects officers for the coming year.  The board elected Sharon Anderson as the president, David DeLeshe as vice president and Joanne Schaeffer as the Secretary.  These three board members each have more than 3 years of experience and are fully invested in District 103’s future.  Thanks to David DeLeshe for serving as president for the past two years and congratulations to Sharon Anderson in her new role as president!

Discussion Items

Student Breakfast and Lunch Program Rebid -  Mr. Schiffer, Business Manager, explained because the Illinois State Board of Education recently revised the school lunch and breakfast guidelines, District 103 would have to re-bid its foodservice vendor.  The new guidelines call for healthier meals (more fruits and vegetables) and would increase Preferred Meals’ (our current foodservice vendor) costs.  He is in the process of getting the bid documents approved by ISBE so it can be sent out for bid in June.  He estimates that the bid would be brought to the board in July.

Action Items

Student Handbook Revisions – The board approved the suggested changes for the student handbooks.  Most of the changes involved the revised start/end times for students and emphasized the disciplinary penalties for using electronic devices for sexting/bullying/harassment.  The board also changed some of the Level II and III disciplinary actions to include the option of a Board Hearing.

FY13 Student Fees – The board approved the student fees, which are the same as in 2011-12. 

Audit Engagement Letter- The board approved the auditor’s Engagement Letter for next year.  Baker Tilly will perform the audit.

Transportation Contract Extension – The board approved First Student’s two-year contract proposal for busses (non-special ed).  The extension calls for a 1.2% overall increase for FY 13 and a 1.6% overall increase for FY 14.

Construction Change Orders – The board approved procedures regarding change orders during the construction project at GWMS.  The board will review all change orders that are intended to change the scope of the project to improve quality of the materials beyond the scope of the original bid.  The board will also be promptly informed of any decisions that result in spending any of the contingency funds designated for this project.

Recognition of Teacher Appreciation Week - Each year the first week of May is selected as Teacher Appreciation Week.  During this week we honor the teachers who work so hard on behalf of our students.  The board of education recognized the teachers in District 103 by approving a resolution proclaiming Teacher Appreciation Week.  The board will also be providing the teachers in each building with a cake on May 7^th as a small thank you for all they do.

Working Cash Abatement Resolution – The board approved the permanent abatement of $3 million from the Working Cash Fund to the Operations and Maintenance Fund.  Then the funds will be transferred to the Capital Projects Fund to pay for the GWMS construction project.  As the construction progresses additional abatements from the Working Cash Fund, up to an additional $3.5 million, will be brought to the board for approval.

The next regular board meeting will be on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at the Admin Building at 7:00 PM.   The next committee of the whole meeting will be on Monday, May 14, 2012 at the Admin Building at 7:00 PM.

Board Meeting Report  4/16/12

Below is a synopsis of Lyons Elementary District 103’s most recent board meeting.  These are not official minutes, but an overview of the work the board of education completed.

Superintendent’s Report

Hope Everyone Had a Great Spring Break – Dr. Warner hoped that all students and staff enjoyed the past week off.  Everyone came to school ready to go today.  We have seven busy weeks of learning left.

Discussion Items

GWMS Construction – Construction is proceeding at George Washington Middle School.  The foundation for the south addition has been laid and they will begin construction of the building as soon as this week.

Demolition of the auditorium roof and north wall will begin tomorrow and take about a week.  Part of the demolition is the removal of the concrete floor in the auditorium – this could be noisy and may necessitate the temporary relocation of two special education classrooms in that area.  The ESL and teachers’ lounge have already been relocated.  Once the demolition is done, we want to begin excavating the footings for the new cafeteria/multipurpose room.  One possible hold-up is ComEd.  They have been unresponsive to our architect’s calls about relocating an electrical pole which supplies electricity to the art annex and the apartments east of the school.  Hopefully this will be resolved soon.

On Saturday, I received an email from one of the architects working on our project.  He informed us that earlier in April his soil engineer recommended that the dirt removed from the south excavation as well as soil samples from around the east project site be tested. 

The tests detected the presence of various polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PNA), Mercury, and Lead in the evacuation area north of the auditorium.  They also detected the presence of Mercury and Lead in the south excavation soils. 

It is important to note that these are, in our opinion, not dangerous.  The levels detected for Lead and Mercury would be acceptable in a residential area, but are held to a higher standard in a construction area.  The PNA was found to be at relatively low concentrations and slightly above established background concentrations for Cook County and are very common in urban settings in this area.

The testing results do not appear to be considered hazardous by US EPA definition, just the more rigorous Illinois EPA criteria.

So what are we doing?  First, we have hired our environmental testing consultants ECS to monitor the situation closely.  They are bringing testing equipment onsite to monitor the soil, particularly at the south excavation site since it has already been dug up.

Right now the dirt excavated from the south site has a tarp over it, per the architect’s recommendation.  Some of this dirt will be taken away to a landfill.  If some of the soil is used as backfill, it will be properly capped to prevent any contact with it.  Capping usually involves putting a layer of clay over it or paving over it with concrete or asphalt.  We will work with ECS to come up with the best capping solution.

If anyone would like to see the soil sample testing results, we will place a copy in our office and the main office at GWMS.

Again, we are working closely with our environmental consultants ECS limit exposure of the soils by students, residents, and staff.  We do not consider this a dangerous situation – similar testing results could have been obtained from most of our front yards.  It is our intent to abide by the Illinois EPA guidelines.

Student Handbook Revisions – The board reviewed the suggested changes for the student handbooks.  Most of the changes involved the revised start/end times for students and emphasized the disciplinary penalties for using electronic devices for sexting/bullying/harassment.  The board considered changing some of the Level III disciplinary actions to include a Board Hearing.

FY13 Student Fees – Mr. Schiffer recommended that all student fees remain the same as in 2011-12.  The board requested expenditure/revenue statements for all day-care activities including Summer Camp, Winter Camp, Spring Camp, and Before-After School programs.

Milk and Paper Bid – Mr. Schiffer informed the board that the district will conduct an informal bid process to determine the cost of milk next year.  He said that District 102 will coordinate a multi-district paper bid.

Audit Engagement Letter- Mr. Schiffer presented the auditor’s Engagement Letter for next year.  They are requesting a small (less than 1%) increase in cost.

Transportation Contract Extension – Mr. Schiffer presented First Student’s two-year contract proposal for busses (non-special ed).  The proposed extension calls for a 1.2% overall increase for FY 13 and a 1.6% overall increase for FY 14.

March Financial Results – Mr. Schiffer reviewed the third-quarter financial results for the district.  For comparison sake, he did not include the transactions related to the building improvements at GWMS.  He found that expenditures are tracking a little over projected and that revenues could come in over budget.  He reminded the board that the budget called for a $9,000 surplus at the end of the year, but he is now projecting a small deficit.

Action Items

Illinois Maintenance Grant - The board approved a grant application to School Maintenance Grant through ISBE.  This is a matching grant, where the state will match $50,000 of school district expenditures on a building project.  The project selected by District 103 is to air-condition the remaining 16 unair-conditioned rooms at GWMS.  This was selected because all students eventually end up at GWMS.  Most of the funds for this are being reallocated from the GWMS library HVAC project within the recent bid process.  The bid process allocated $110,000 for the GWMS library.  The district felt it could accomplish the same end result for no more than $50,000.  The district will apply the remaining $60,000, plus up to an additional $40,000, to air-condition the 16 classrooms. 

Release of Full-Time Aides – The board honorably released several aides.  The district is still in the process of determining how many students will require aides next year, so felt it was prudent to release some aides in case those positions are not needed next year.

The next regular board meeting will be on Monday, April 30, 2012 at the Admin Building at 7:00 PM.   The next committee of the whole meeting will be on Monday, May 14, 2012 at the Admin Building at 7:00 PM.

{pdf=images/stories/pdf/collage_2012.pdf|700|600}