411 on 67 - 3.8.23

March 8, 2023

With the arrival of spring, comes assessment testing for District 67 students.

IAR and ISA Testing
This year, District 67 students in grades 3-8 will take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) between April 10-21. Students in grades 5 and 8 will take the Illinois Science Assessment (ISA) during the same time. The IAR is the state assessment and accountability measure for Illinois students enrolled in a public school district. The IAR assesses the New Illinois Learning Standards Incorporating the Common Core and will be administered in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics.

IAR Participation Impacts our Illinois State Report Card Rating
Student participation in the IAR is important. IAR participation rates are used by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) when calculating ELA, math, and science proficiency scores. We must have 95 percent participation in all areas to receive the maximum points possible. Proficiency scores are used to calculate an overall Summative Designation for each school. Illinois has 4 summative designations: Exemplary, Commendable, Targeted, and Comprehensive. ISBE includes school summative designations annually in the Illinois Report Card. A participation rate lower than 95 percent negatively impacts the Summative Designation for each school. Schools that have less than 95 percent participation are ineligible to receive an Exemplary designation.

Please contact your principal with questions and watch your Friday newsletters for reminders as our testing dates get closer.

Thank you,

Matthew L. Montgomery, Ph.D.

Superintendent

• Agenda will be posted prior to the meeting on the District 67 Board of Education website.
  
• Livestream Link

• Agenda

• Recording of Meeting
• Board President's Report
• Superintendent's Report

We checked in with Dr. Jennifer Hermes, District 67 and 115 Chief Operating Officer to answer another question from you about the D115 Referendum.

Dr. Hermes has a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Administration. She is the Vice Chair of the Illinois School District Liquid Asset Fund and the Vice Chair of the Collective Liability Insurance Cooperative (CLIC), in addition to sitting on the Executive Committee of the Northern Health Insurance Cooperative. She has previously served as the President of the Illinois Association of School Business Officials. She is also an adjunct faculty member at Concordia University Chicago. Dr. Hermes’s role at the District includes several key functions including budgeting and finance, Board relations, employee and labor relations, and the oversight of District 67 and 115 facilities, transportation, food services, technology, and early childhood programs.

The proposed improvements within the 88-year-old high school include the renovation of 130,000 square feet of the school, including approximately 54 learning spaces throughout the building (approximately 50% of the total amount of learning spaces). The scope of the proposed improvements includes:

• Strengthening safety and security, including adding a rapid-lockdown system, exterior door sensors, and partition systems to prevent full access to the high school after hours.

• Replacing major mechanical systems that are more than 30 years old, including HVAC, plumbing, and electrical.

• More than 90 pieces of HVAC equipment need to be replaced, including unit ventilators, rooftop air handling units, boilers, cooling towers, sump pumps, exhaust fans, and chillers

• Approximately 50 electrical panels have reached the end of their useful life

• Fire suppression sprinklers through the high school need to be extended

• Aging windows and doors would be replaced

• Updating almost every restroom in the high school

• Addressing ADA upgrades throughout the historic building

• Reconfiguring student support service spaces

• Improving acoustics and replacing outdated lighting, technology, and furniture in more than half of the instructional spaces, including all labs as well as classrooms not addressed by the previous referendum

The cost to update the high school is significantly less expensive than replacing all or parts of the building.

It is far more cost-effective to maintain the existing building. Lake Forest High School’s East Campus is about 500,00 square feet in size. In order to build just the school building alone, without any furnishing or amenities, it would cost roughly $250M to build a brand new building.

The District has worked hard to maintain Lake Forest High School within its current operating budget. However, there are major capital facility investments and building updates that fall outside the scope of standard yearly maintenance projects, such as replacing outdated plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems.

District 115 carries very little in cash reserves relative to its peers. This is intentional as it was/is the Board’s desire not stockpile taxpayer money. They instead judiciously ask taxpayers to fund capital projects when needed. We have a BOE policy on fund balance that outlines a floor AND ceiling to our fund balance. Even if we were to deplete all of our current reserves, it wouldn't even be a drop in the bucket compared to what is needed.

Draining District savings to address capital facility needs would be a mistake. These funds play an important role in the strength of our Aaa bond rating and in our ability to borrow at the lowest possible cost.

For answers to additional questions, visit the Referendum FAQ webpage.

The Lake Forest Community High School District 115 Board of Education is pursuing a $105.7M referendum on the April 4, 2023 Lake County election ballot.

One of the main categories of improvements is traditional classrooms including science labs. Suggested improvements include the improvement of outdated labs and bringing the last remaining classrooms to the same capabilities as those updated in 2006, including acoustics, lighting, instructional technology, furniture, and related upgrades.

You Can Now Request Your Vote by Mail Ballot. Mail in Your April 4 Election Ballot Ballot Before Spring Break!

Vote by mail application requests are now available HERE. The Lake County Clerk will start sending out vote by mail ballots on March 17 to the address you provide.

Vote by Mail applications can be requested until 5pm on March 30. Get your request in now to vote by mail and ensure your vote counts in the April 4 election!

Early voting in Lake County begins Monday, March 20 and runs through Monday, April 3, 2023. Early voting at Lake Forest City Hall begins Monday, March 20 and runs through Saturday, April 1, 2023. For more information on early voting, visit the Office of the County Clerk, Lake County.

All District 67 Parent, Guardians, and Community Members are Invited to Attend!

APT Annual Meeting

Thursday, March 9, 9:00 AM

CROYA, 400 Hastings Rd., Lake Forest

Voting will take place at the beginning of our meeting for the slate of candidates for the 2023-2025 school years (voting is open to all District 67 APT members), followed by a presentation from our guest speaker - Rebecca Dowling Calder.

Please use this link for additional information.

All District 67 families are welcome to join us!

In honor of World Language Week, we invite all District 67 families to join us in the Deer Path cafeteria on tonight, Wednesday, March 8, 6:00 - 7:00 PM for a night of traveling around the globe and visiting the different cultures represented throughout the District. Families and school groups will be there to share information representing a variety of countries, languages and cultures.

Parent/guardian of incoming kindergarten students for the 2023-2024 school year are invited to visit the Registration page of the District website to enroll your student by completing the online pre-registration process. Families new to the District or who have never used Powerschool Registration will need to first create an online account.

Don’t Delay!

Completing the pre-registration process now will help us to plan for upcoming school year.

4th Grade Art Show

The Annual 4th Grade Student Art Show, featuring works from every 4th Grade Student in District 67, will be held March 14 - April 6, 2023 at our very own Gallery 300. Please plan to visit Gallery 300, and share in the talents and creative expressions of our 4th Grade Students. Gallery hours are weekdays from 7:30 AM – 4:30 PM, and weekends during Citadel Theater performances. The gallery is located on the first floor of the Administration Center at 300 South Waukegan in Lake Forest.

Opening Reception

Please plan to join us on Thursday, March 16, from 6:00 PM-7:00 PM at Gallery 300 for an Opening Reception to celebrate our young artists and their works. Everyone is invited! If you are unable to attend the Opening Reception,

Community of Learners is Lake Forest School District 67's early childhood preschool program for students ages 3-5 year-olds residing within the District 67 school boundaries.

The program utilizes a blended model in alignment with District 67’s philosophy of inclusion. Special education and related services are provided within the general education classroom setting as much as possible. The Community of Learners uses the Creative Curriculum for Preschool and thematic units are carried over in our different interest areas around the classroom. Students develop through play-based learning as well as teacher-led activities. Typically, developing peers benefit from being taught by experts, enjoy leadership opportunities, and learn within a small student-to-teacher ratio.

Want to Learn More?

The video below contains testimonials from our own parents who share their thoughts, and the experiences of their children who are part of the program.

ROCK THE SPIRIT

Ferrari of Lake Forest

Saturday, April 29, 2023

6:30-10:30pm

Live music by Hello Weekend and entertainment from our own talented District 67 student musicians will set the tone at the Spirit of 67 Foundation’s Spring Fundraising event Rock the Spirit! Co-Hosted by Sam Trace and Johanna Naismith, this original event presented with the backdrop of the sleek supercars in the stunning Ferrari automotive gallery will be an alluring invitation for all District 67 parents.

District 67 is fortunate for having generous parents that are willing to step up and donate their time and talents in ways which benefit all of District 67 students! Johanna and Sam are working closely with their friend, Cassie Carver who is graciously hosting the event at the alluring supercar Ferrari showroom in Lake Bluff, IL.

“We hope it can be an anticipated date night for parents or an outing for friends but we know everyone that attends will have a great time!” expressed Courtney Turner, VP of Special Events for the Spirit of 67 Foundation.

In addition to the music, food and beverages will also be provided. A live paddle raise will take place in addition to raffle and auction items available for this fundraising event.

Sponsorships and VIP Backstage Pass Tickets are now available at https://e.givesmart.com/events/vqi/. General admission tickets will be available for purchase beginning March 20.

We hope to see everyone there! Rock on!