The District 64 Board of Education will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, February 1st, 2023 at Jefferson Early Childhood Center - Hendee Room. The agenda for the special meeting includes:

• Pledge of Allegiance
• Public Comments
• Discussion Regarding How to Proceed with Filling Superintendent Vacancy
• Presentations& Interviews of Executive Search Firms
• Closed Meeting [5 ILCS 12/2(c)(1)]
• Approval of Selected Executive Search Firm for the Superintendent Search 
• Adjournment 

The District 64 Board of Education held a regular meeting on Thursday, January 26th, at Jefferson Early Childhood Center. 

VIEW MEETING VIDEO

Spotlight on Lincoln Middle School

• Lincoln Principal David Szwed and Assistant Principal Tim Gleason gave the community a look at all the great things going on at Lincoln. His presentation centered around his gratitude to the staff and students who make Lincoln an extraordinary place. 
• Mr. Szwed’s presentation begins here, and it ends with a slide that says “Pride In Tradition. Potential In Together. Lincoln Middle School.”
• “I don’t often get the opportunity to thank those that deserve to be thanked, and so I just wanted to say thanks to some of those individuals at Lincoln that make it what it is,” said Mr. Szwed. 

Mascots and School Websites Update

• Communications Specialist Chris Lilly provided an update on the progress of the redesigns of the school websites. The new school websites will go live sometime this weekend. The URLs remain the same, but you’ll notice a visual difference. By following the District template, the changes make the websites easier to navigate while emphasizing storytelling. 
• In addition to the new school websites, we unveiled new school logos! These logos establish a more professional and consistent visual identity across all of our schools. 
• You can find the presentation on these new logos here, starting on page 6. 

Adoption of Resolution #1306 Directing the Chief School Business Official Under the Direct Supervision of the Superintendent to Begin Preparation of a Tentative Budget for the 2023-2024 Fiscal Year in accordance with Board Policy 4:10 Fiscal and Business Management and the Illinois School

• Motion Approved

Approval of Settlement Agreement with Non-Certified Employee

• Motion Approved

Approval of Seventh Amendment to Regular Education Transportation Services Contract Approval of Fifth Amendment to Special Education Transportation Services Contract

• Both Motions Approved
• District 64 extended its transportation contracts with our current provider Lakeview. 
• “We all know that it’s been a very challenging bussing environment, wages, trying to find vehicles. Even though we had some challenges at the beginning of the year, we’re doing substantially better than our neighbors with bus drivers and late routes,” said CSBO Dr. Adam Parisi. 

Discussion and Approval of Student Fees for 2023-2024

• Motion Approved
• Dr. Parisi recommended to the Board maintaining the rates of most of the fees from the 2022-2023 school year. Weighing both educational and economic needs for the District, the required fees will remain the same for the 15th consecutive year. Meanwhile, transportation and chorus participatory fees will go up. Dr. Parisi stressed the importance of these changes and how they will aid in a balanced budget. 
• More information on the fees can be found here on page 36. 

Discussion and Approval of Kindergarten Tuition for 2023-2024

• Motion Approved

Approval of Architect of Record

• Motion Approved
• The Board approved Wight and Company as the architect of record.

Adoption of Resolution #1307 Authorizing the engagement of a Real Estate Broker To Sell Real Property

• Motion Approved

Recommendation of Approval of Purchases and Contracts for the 2023 E-Rate Projects

• Motions Approved
• Led by Director of Innovation and Instructional Technology Mary Jane Warden, District 64 went through a bidding process and evaluated proposals to determine which vendors were the best fit for our needs. 

Approval of Recommended Personnel Report

• The regular personnel report was approved.
• The Board voted separately to approve the resignation of Superintendent Dr. Eric Olson. The vote was 4-3 in approval. 

Consent Agenda

• Motion Approved

Approval of Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Park Ridge for Crossing Guards

• Motion Approved

Approval of Minutes

• Motion Approved

Discussion of Selected Executive Search Firms

• The Board and Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Dr. Joel Martin discussed the next steps in finding a new superintendent. 
• The three search firms the Board would like to interview are School Exec Connect, BWP and HYA. 
• There will be a Special Board Meeting on February 1st at 6 p.m. to interview the three search firms. The meeting will take place at Jefferson Early Childhood Center - Hendee Room. 
• The Board also approved the authorization of Board Vice President Carol Sales to be able to call meetings, discuss with legal counsel, and set agenda items around and talk with the search firm to discuss action items around hiring a new superintendent.

Upcoming Board Meetings

• February 16, 2023 - 7 pm - regular meeting, Jefferson School 
• March 16, 2023 - 7 pm - regular meeting, Jefferson School 
• April 20, 2023 - 7 pm - regular meeting, Jefferson School

Looking to catch up on past meeting highlights? A summary of each meeting is available on our Current Board News webpage.

Please confirm meeting dates and times on the Board meetings webpage.

The Illinois State Board of Education is committed to supporting the mental health of students, which includes their emotional, psychological, and social well-being.  

In accordance with Public Act 102-0321, students may take up to five (5) mental or behavioral health days per school year. The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) defines these absences as “excused,” and does not require a medical note. Students must be given the opportunity to make up missed work if absent due to a mental or behavioral health day. 

In District 64, our social work/counselor team will check in with a student after taking two (2) mental health days as part of our preventative approach to student social-emotional wellness. Our team is committed to supporting the overall success of our students. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions.  

The Illinois 5Essentials Survey will be completed by staff, students, and parents from Feb 13-24. Student participation includes students in grades 4-8.

Results will provide information to schools in five areas: instruction, environment, leaders, teachers, and families. Data from this report will be used by our district and our school to help inform our school improvement planning efforts and to provide a picture of our school’s performance beyond test scores.

The survey will take about 20 minutes to complete. All responses are completely confidential. Aggregated data will be shared with parents and the general public on our school’s report card. 

Principals will share more information soon about the 5Essentials Survey. An opt-out form will be shared in the event that you do not want your child to participate.

Congratulations to Field 5th graders Julien Butchko and Jameson Fumagalli for winning the Elementary Grand Prize in the Google Chicagoland Film Fest. 

"We were really happy and excited," said Jameson, recalling the feeling that their film had won. "We can't wait to go to the Film Fest again."

"I was surprised," said Julien. "I was like, 'oh my gosh, we won again?!' We won last year, so it was like, 'Will we win again this year?' I couldn't believe it. Two years in a row."

You can read the full article here.

Emerson and Lincoln Middle Schools are ready to show the world once again how great of a community we have. The two schools have teamed up to help raise money for the St. Baldrick's Foundation. 

The last time the schools participated...we raised more than $436,000 for childhood cancer research. That mark was the second-best IN THE WORLD. This year the goal is even bigger, $500,000. We are confident we can do it with your help!

Follow this link to our website to find out more on how you can help.

If you need some more motivation, check out Lincoln's Mr. Tebow (pictured below)!

We’re pleased to announce that the ongoing project of updating and refreshing our websites has reached another important milestone. 

In August, we launched the new District website, and now it’s time for the school websites to receive their makeover. The new school websites have officially launched, and don't worry, they have the same URLs as before.

• Carpenter
• Field
• Franklin
• Roosevelt
• Washington
• Emerson
• Lincoln
• Jefferson

The school websites follow the same theme as the main District website, and I’m sure you’ll find it much more user-friendly and informative while showcasing all of the great things happening within our schools.

In addition to the revamped websites, you’ll notice new school logos. These logos help establish a more modern and consistent visual identity across all eight schools. 

Registration dates for the 2023-2024 school year are in!

• February 7th - Preschool Registration Begins
• February 21st - Summer School Registration Begins
• March 7th - Registration Begins For ALL District 64 Students

All the links will be posted to www.d64.org/about/register, along with any other important registration information.

Comments and questions may always be directed to the Superintendent or Board members through these links:

Email Dr. Eric Olson, Superintendent or contact members of the Board of Education via email links.

Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 | 847-318-4300 | news@d64.org

#engageD64