District 15 Board of Education News

The District 15 Board of Education meeting was held on Wednesday, January 18, 2023. The full meeting agenda as well as the minutes from its December 13, 2022 meeting, can be found on the BoardDocs website. We did have some technical issues with our livestream video on our YouTube channel that we are working to resolve. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Happy New Year! We kicked off our first Board meeting of the new year with a number of students, staff, and community organizations to recognize.

The Making School Better (MSB) Club from Marion Jordan led the pledge at this month’s Board meeting. The club is new to MJ this year and was organically created by a group of students who had a few ideas for ways to make a great school even better. The group has spent time reorganizing the school's lost and found in an effort to reunite lost items with their owners, they researched and selected snow toys to purchase so students can take full advantage of recess in the winter, and they are currently focused on organizing buddy classrooms for special activities. The group is committed to its mission of making school the best it can be for all students. Great work Bluejays!

Marion Jordan students and siblings, Addison and Peyton G., hosted their 6th annual toy drive at MJ this holiday season. Thanks to their efforts, 501 gifts were collected by the Marion Jordan community. 501!! These generous donations were given to Ascension St. Alexius Women and Children's Hospital. District 15 is so very proud of these Blue jays for organizing such a selfless, thoughtful toy drive for those in need!

Jimmy L., a student athlete at Lake Louise, and Carmine P., a student athlete at Plum Grove Junior High School, both qualified for the Special Olympics. Jimmy went on to receive a silver medal in the 100m and a bronze medal in the 200m! Both students were coached by dedicated coaches Gary Simonian and Jeff Donatowicz. Great work Carmine and Jimmy! You are such inspirations!

Andrew Wilson, proud Assistant Principal at Marion Jordan, was selected as the Staff Member of the Month for our Above and Beyond recognition following a nomination by his Principal, Jennifer Grosch. MJ began the year with nine unfilled special education program assistant (PA) positions for their Structured Independence Program (SIP) classrooms. Early on, Andrew set a goal to fill these positions so MJ would be fully staffed so students would have consistent staff members supporting them throughout their school day. Mr. Wilson has gone above and beyond to achieve this goal by attending district-sponsored job fairs and actively recruiting potential PAs. His commitment and persistence is an asset to District 15, specifically the staff and students in the SIP program at Marion Jordan. Thank you, Andrew, for all your efforts in support of your students and school!

Mission:MathMinds was recognized at this week’s Board meeting for donating more than 2,000 books to elementary, junior high, and foster care students within the Northwest Suburbs. District 15 was fortunate to have books donated to students at Kimball Hill, Gray M. Sanborn, and Winston Campus Elementary School! Mission:MathMinds is a global non-profit organization that promotes a math-first approach to inspiring girls at the school level and propelling them into STEM fields. The vision of the organization is to "empower girls to be tomorrow's female leaders in Math, Engineering, Technology, and Science or METS." Great work Mission:MathMinds and thank you for your generous donation that will help further instill the love of reading in our students.

Plum Grove Junior High construction bids went in November and was approved at the Board meeting. Walter R. Sundling Junior High’s construction project will be out to bid on January 30 with a bid opening scheduled for February 23. The WRS project will be brought to the Board of Education for approval at the March 8 meeting. We are pleased to announce there has been strong interest in our projects and bids are coming in under budget.

The District uses each of its breaks to complete various projects in our schools. Over winter break, the District did a deep cleaning at all schools, Willow Bend received new flooring, and ceiling and light fixture upgrades were made at Hunting Ridge. During the 2023 summer break, library projects continue and work will take place at Conyers Learning Academy, Central Road, Kimball Hill, Hunting Ridge, and Marion Jordan.

John Epperson from Miller Cooper & Co., presented the annual year end audit conducted by Miller Cooper. Each school district in the state of Illinois is required to have an annual audit conducted by an accounting firm. District 15 received the highest level of assurance from Miller Cooper & Co, Ltd. which means our financial statements presented fairly and ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

View the FY2022 Final Audit presentation from Miller Cooper & Co., Ltd.

Elizabeth Hennessy, Managing Director of Raymond James, provided an update on the January 11, 2023, Bond Sale and Moody's final rating. There was a significant amount of interest in bond purchases which brought rates down. The District received institutional orders from 28 different institutions, totaling nearly $285M. The District received $1,020,000 in orders from retail investors, a $10.33M institutional order from Wilmington Bank, and $800,000 of the retail orders were designated for the 2023 Maturity.

When sharing Moving 15 Forward information in the community, the estimated cost for taxpayers with a $300,000 market value home was $146 per year or $12.16 per month. The bids came out to $144, which is lower than the District anticipated. We were extraordinarily pleased with rates and interest in the first of two bond sales.

View the Update on Bond Rating and Bond Sale presentation.

Michelle Todd, Partner at Hodges, Loizzi, Eisenhammer, Rodick & Kohn LLP, gave a presentation on Student Behavior: Senate Bill 100 (SB100), LRE Considerations and Alternative Educational Settings (AES). The presentation shared with the Board was also presented to our staff during their half day of professional development on January 11. Information shared is legally required and informs how Illinois schools support and address student behavior.

View the Student Behavior: SB100 and LRE Considerations presentation.

Diana McCluskey, Chief School Business Official, presented an updated 5-Year Financial Forecast using the Forecast 5/5Cast data-based decision-support software for schools.

The 5-year forecast is a long-term financial health projection of the District’s finances. Forecasting allows the District to analyze trends and/or possibilities that support our annual budgeting process. Assumptions in determining this 5-year forecast include:

• CPI

• Palatine Downtown TIF

• ARP/ESSER Funds

• Salary increases

• 22 full day kindergarten teachers for FY25

• $2.7M debt certificate principal and interest starting FY24

• Teacher retirements

• 3-tier bus schedule changes

• DTU ratified contract

• No new buses purchased

• Potential fund balance increase to cover unknown Moving 15 Forward costs

• FY23 budget tracking well

View the 5-Year Financial Forecast.

• 9.1 Approval of Personnel Report: Administration, Certified, and Non-Certified, as presented - approved
• 9.2 Resolution to Establish a Fiscal Year and Prepare a Budget - approved
• 9.3 Acceptance of FY2022 Final Audit - approved
• 9.4 Approval of Vision Itinerant Services - approved
• 9.5 Approval of FTE Increase of SLP and OT - approved
• 9.6 Approval of District Transportation Union (DTU) Contract 2023-2028 - approved
• 9.7 Approval of Resolution Awarding and Assigning Trade Contracts for 2023 Addition and Renovations at Plum Grove Junior High School - approved
• 9.8 RFP for Security Upgrades - approved
• 9.9 Bid Award #23-005 Rebid Filters - approved
• 9.10 Workers' Compensation - Claim Settlement - approved
• 9.11 Approval of Board Policy 7:060 Residence - denied, moved to next meeting