District 128 Board Recap

January 8, 2025

Dear District 128 Families,

As we welcome the new year, it's the perfect time to pause and reflect on our children's incredible journey of growth and learning. The start of 2025 offers us a unique opportunity to help our young learners set positive intentions and build healthy habits around our Portrait Competencies of Wellness, Citizenship, and Perseverance that will serve them well throughout their academic careers.

Looking Back with Gratitude

Your children have shown remarkable resilience and enthusiasm in their learning journey. Every small step has contributed to their growth, from mastering new math concepts to discovering the joy of reading, from forming lasting friendships to developing problem-solving skills. As parents, you've been there every step of the way, supporting homework, attending school events, and encouraging curiosity to help promote innovative thinking, another of our Portrait Competencies.

Moving Forward Together

As we begin this new chapter, here are some ways to support your child's continued growth:

• Create a calm morning routine that sets a positive tone for the school day. Even small adjustments, like preparing backpacks the night before or sharing a special breakfast moment, can make a big difference.

• Take time to talk with your child about their hopes and dreams for the new year. What subjects excite them? What new skills would they like to develop? These conversations help them set meaningful goals and strengthen your bond.

• Remember that learning happens everywhere – in the grocery store, during nature walks, or while cooking together. These everyday moments offer rich opportunities for discovery and connection.

Looking Ahead

The coming months will bring new adventures, challenges, and achievements. Let's approach them with optimism and the knowledge that our school community is here to support both you and your child every step of the way.

Thank you for being such an integral part of our school family. Here's to a year filled with growth, discovery, and joy in learning!

Happy 2025!

Merryl

"Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365-page book. Write a good one."

- Brad Paisley, Singer-Songwriter

Vision 2030 is a state initiative that outlines and advocates priorities for public education in the state of Illinois. It is a collaborative effort among the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA), Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB), Illinois Principals Association (IPA), Illinois Association of School Business Officials (Illinois ASBO), and Illinois Association of Regional School Superintendents (IARSS). The blueprint outlines priorities for IL Public Schools that are hoped to be realized by 2030. Click here to view details outlining the vision. Vision 2030 also has a website that provides more information related to each priority.  Click here to view a video overview of this initiative. The Board of Education plans to adopt a resolution in support of Vision 2030 at the January 29 meeting.

District 128 is now fully funded for all 120 seats by the state Preschool for All (PFA) grant at over $480,000. This is a significant amount of revenue that will help offset fund balance operating expenses. The PFA grant comes with very strict criteria for how our preschool program needs to operate. One of the requirements is to complete a needs assessment for every child enrolling and to use those results to place children based on needs. Students qualifying for automatic placement based on the scores will be “seated” first. Then, we will place the remaining students wishing to enroll. For those students who are not automatic placements, we will ask for a preference for AM or PM.  If we experience a preference for AM or PM that exceeds capacity, we will utilize a lottery for placement for students who are not automatically enrolled based on the needs assessment score. We will be sure that families with more than one child enrolled in preschool have all students assigned to the same time of day.

With 120 spots available, we should be able to accommodate all families wishing to enroll. However, the PFA funding will no longer allow us to reserve spots upfront for families with siblings who have previously enrolled. We anticipate that we will still be able to accommodate all district residents. 

Board members shared the conference sessions they attended during the annual conference in November. Topics highlighted included artificial intelligence and its impact on schools, onboarding new school board members, leadership development, and administrator evaluation processes.

The annual draft audit findings were shared with the Board of Education. The district again received the highest possible financial rating of 4.0. There were no significant findings and no anticipated corrective action. The final audit will be presented at the January 29 meeting. Thank you to the Business Office personnel, Kim Anoman, Business Manager, Janet Davis, Accounts Payable, and Laura Kriha, Executive Assistant, for all their hard work managing district finances.

The school fees for 2025-2026 were approved with no recommended increases.

The Board approved the following items on the consent agenda:

• Minutes of the Regular Meeting and Closed Session Meeting of November 13, 2024     

• Approval of Bills and Payroll

• Review of Schools’ Activity Accounts

• Library Book Purchases 

• Personnel Report

• Approval of the Destruction of Closed Session Minute Audio Recordings for September 2021 through April 2023

• Approval of the final tax levy

The Board of Education approved the Municipal Advisory Agreement with PMA for the intent to issue facility capital project bonds in the Spring of 2025.

The Board of Education discussed the latest recommended policy updates, which are listed below. They will vote to approve the recommendations at the January 29 meeting.

2:105 Ethics and Gift Ban

2:120 Board Member Development

4:30 Revenue & Investments

4:60 Purchases and Contracts

4:150 Facility Management and Building Programs

4:170 Safety

5:10 Equal Employment Opportunity and Minority Recruitment

5:20 Workplace Harassment Prohibited

5:90 Abused and Neglected Child Reporting

5:125 Personal Technology and Social Media; Usage and Conduct

5:230 Maintaining Student Discipline

6:60 Curriculum Content

6:135 Accelerated Placement Program

7:10 Equal Educational Opportunities

7:100 Health, Eye and Dental Examinations; Immunizations; and Exclusion of Students

7:180 Prevention of and Response to Bullying, Intimidation and Harassment

7:200 Suspension Procedures

8:10 Connection with the Community

The Board of Education also voted to delete Policy 6:270, which was updated and now applies only to high schools.

It's Coming...Snow, Cold, and School Closings, Oh My!

It is that time of year when we share our winter weather reminders. Please be sure to check the forecast daily and have students dress accordingly. Students have outdoor recess unless the temperature or windchill is below 10 degrees. If your child is a bus rider, snow and ice often cause delays in pick-up and drop-off times, so please exercise patience during inclement weather.

Emergency Closings

With respect to Emergency School Closings, we recognize the anxiety they cause and the impact they can have on families. Any decisions to close school are always made with the best interests of students in mind, particularly concerning safety. Factors involved in school closing decisions include, but are not limited to:

• Ability to clear the snow in lots and on sidewalks

• The bus company's ability to transport students

• The exposure to extreme cold in traveling to and from school

• The ability for staff to travel to work

These decisions are never made lightly and in collaboration with area Superintendents. That being said, it is important to note that there are times when districts may make individual decisions based on their unique circumstances. We ask all families to begin thinking about their childcare plans should we cancel school for a weather-related or any other emergency during the year. If we have to close for a weather emergency, it will most often result in using an E-Learning day to avoid adding additional emergency days at the end of the school year. Click here for information on the E-Learning plan. There are instances where E-Learning may not be possible, and the day may be a traditional non-instructional snow day. This would result in an additional instructional day in June. 

School closings are communicated in the following ways:

• Website posting

• Phone call to the number designated in our student information system

• Email message to the contacts in our registration database (please be sure this is updated if you have made a change)

• Push notification via our website app (Note: You must have the app downloaded to your phone with push notifications set up)

• Emergency Closing Center posting (www.emergencyclosingcenter.com)

If we are proactive and develop contingency plans for our children ahead of time, it can greatly reduce the stress in the moment. 

Next Meeting Date: January 29, 2025, 6:00 p.m. at Independence Jr. High