The District 58 Board of Education held a Regular Meeting on Monday, June 9 at the Downers Grove Civic Center.

Assistant Superintendent for Business Todd Drafall led a public hearing on the proposed 2024-25 amended budget.

Key points include:

• District 58 proposed to amend its 2024-25 budget to reflect the increase in revenues due to the second referendum bond issuance, which took place this fiscal year.
• There were no public comments.
• Later in the meeting, the Board approved the amended budget.

Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Liz Ehrhart shared the District’s spring Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment data.

Key points include:

• Overall, District 58 achieved within its expected growth range. 
• The District’s growth targets are set based on 2023-24 assessment data, including the 2023-24 MAP and 2024 Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) scores. District 58 students exceeded expectations on the 2024 IAR test, and performed better on the IAR than on the MAP. As a result, the District’s growth projections were set at a higher rate.
• Although the District overall met its expected growth range, a few individual schools and grade levels did not meet these higher growth projections.
• Alternatively, the District reviewed its assessment growth using only 2023-24 MAP test results for comparison purposes (no IAR predictors). Using MAP predictors only, all schools and almost all grade levels achieved expected growth.
• The District will continue to review data to understand why students performed better on the IAR than the MAP.
• District 58 administrators, building level data teams, and instructional leadership teams will use the data to inform instruction for groups and individual students, supporting both achievement and growth.

Community Relations Coordinator Megan Hewitt shared the results of the 2024-25 School Environment Survey and the 2025 Communication Satisfaction and Preferences Survey.

Key points include:

• District 58 administered the School Environment Survey in late winter 2025. 1,062 parents and guardians completed it, which is a similar rate to past years.
• The survey includes 19 multiple choice questions and two open-ended questions. The survey results showed remarkable consistency, with nine of the 19 questions receiving the same result as last year. Seven questions showed 1-3 percent improvement and three questions had a 1 percent decrease.
• 90% of parents/guardians answered “always” or “usually” to the statement, “My child is getting a quality education at this school.” Nationally, only 43% of citizens are satisfied with the quality of education.
• The first open-ended question asked families to name one thing that District 58/school does well and should continue. Common themes were: communication (34% of comments), caring and supportive environment (24%), curriculum (21%), staff (19%), and engagement (19%).
• The second open-ended question asked families to name one thing that District 58/school could improve upon. Common themes were: curriculum (27%), communication (10%), technology integration (9%), parent/community engagement (9%) and behavior (9%).
• The District is reviewing district-wide data, and schools (principals and school leadership teams) are reviewing school results. Results will help inform district and school improvement planning.
• Ms. Hewitt also shared results to the Communication Satisfaction and Preferences Survey, which was open to parent/guardians, staff and community members this spring.
• 80% of survey takers “strongly agree” or “agree” with the statement, “I am satisfied with the District’s overall communication efforts.” The survey yielded a similar response last year, and it is an improvement from the 64% presented during the survey’s baseline year (2012).
• The survey also measured the community’s satisfaction with the frequency and types of communication offered. It also asked a variety of questions measuring satisfaction and preferences related to the District’s website, newsletter and other information sources. The survey responses help the District strategize where to focus its communications efforts.
• Some open-ended comments expressed the desire for more streamlined communication, with fewer messages and shorter content. The District will be implementing the ParentSquare communication platform next school year, which should help address these concerns.

Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Justin Sisul provided a tentative enrollment and staffing update. The District previously shared staffing updates during the May meeting’s superintendent’s report and the April meeting’s superintendent’s report, as well as related budget updates during the February Curriculum Workshop and January Financial Workshop.

Key points include:

• As first shared during the January 2025 Financial Workshop, District 58 needed to make fairly significant cuts in its 2025-26 budget. The goal was to make cuts that would have the smallest impact on students and staff as possible, and the budget included many non-staff-related cuts. The budget initially included a reduction of 13.5 staff members. This spring, the District updated its reduction projection to 11.5 staff members. Due to staff retirements and resignations, the District was able to rehire most of the teachers affected by the reductions in a teaching role. 
• District 58 worked with a community and staff Strategic Plan working group to create the following class size targets in 2019:
• Grades K-2: 80% of classes will have 24 or fewer students
• Grades 3-8: 80% of classes will have 26 or fewer students.
• Despite the cuts, District 58 will meet its class size targets, with much more than 80% of classes projected to be at or below the targets.
• The District will continue to monitor enrollment, class sizes, programs and support services throughout the summer and make adjustments as needed.
• Everything remains ultimately tentative as the District awaits final information from the State, the District’s own budget analysis and potential enrollment changes (additions or move-outs) in August.

Superintendent Dr. Kevin Russell shared District 58 updates.

Key points include:

• Thank You: Dr. Russell thanked retiring and departing District 58 administrators and staff members for their service.
• Summer School: The District’s Summer School began this week, with nearly 275 students enrolled. It had a successful start!
• District 99 Tech Partnership: Districts 58 and 99 entered an intergovernmental agreement in 2020 to share student performance data to help support instruction. This agreement expired, and the District is working with District 99 and legal counsel to renew it.
• RISE Milestone: Nine years ago, District 58 began the RISE program, a specialized program focused on supporting students with characteristics associated with autism spectrum disorder. The program reached a major milestone this year, with the promotion of the District’s very first eighth grade class from the RISE program! This is the first group of students who participated in the RISE program from kindergarten all the way through eighth grade.
• Construction: Summer renovation work is fully underway at the middle schools and Phase II elementary schools. Work is running on schedule and going smoothly. This summer also includes completing the final work connected with Phase I elementary schools (the schools that had major construction last summer), as well as deep cleaning all non-construction schools.
• ParentSquare: The District has prepared a three-year contract with ParentSquare, the District's new communication platform. The District is transitioning to ParentSquare as part of its Strategic Plan Goal 2 work. To prepare, Megan Hewitt and James Eichmiller researched and met with different communication platforms. They also interviewed several surrounding school districts, both parents and staff, to learn directly about their personal experiences with various communication platforms. They presented this research and their recommendations to receive feedback from a variety of stakeholders. The District is confident that this new tool will better serve the District’s communications needs. In addition, it is the tool that District 99 has used with success for several years. More information will be shared as ParentSquare gets rolled out.

Assistant Superintendent for Business Todd Drafall gave a business report.

Key points include:

• The end of May is District 58’s low-cash point. Since then, the District has received two property tax payments. The District expects to receive one more property tax payment, as well as state transportation reimbursements later this month.
• The District expects to finish the fiscal year in a good position.

Board members shared Board committee updates.

Key points include:

• President Darren Hughes summarized the May 20 Policy Committee meeting. The committee reviewed recent policy updates, as recommended by the Illinois Association of School Board’s policy recommendation guide. The committee recommends updates to policies regarding Title IX, identity protection, staff development, artificial intelligence and more. The Board conducted a first reading of the policy recommendations and will complete a second reading and vote to approve them next month.
• Member Steve Olczyk shared highlights from the June 6 Financial Advisory Committee meeting. The committee discussed a draft letter to DuPage County officials regarding the budgetary impact of the IHC, specifically the steep increase in transportation costs. 
• Vice President Kirat Doshi reported on the May 19 District Leadership Team meeting. Administrators reported updates to all five Strategic Plan goals.

Downers Grove Grade School District 58

850 Curtiss Street, Suite 200, Downers Grove, IL 60515

Community Relations Office: 630-719-5805 I mhewitt@dg58.org | www.dg58.org

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