Board of Education

The Board of Education and Rock Island-Milan School District Administration recognized several community organizations for their volunteer commitment and support in the schools: Bituminous (Denkmann); R.I. Rotary Club (Earl Hanson); American Scandinavian Association, Augustana College, Merle Norman at Dillard’s, Evening Lions Club, Keystone Neighbors, Mighty Fortress Community Church, St. John’s Church WOW Program, University of Illinois Extension Master Gardeners (Longfellow); City of Rock Island, Illinois Math & Science Academy, IL Army National Guard (RICMS); Broadway Presbyterian Church, Church of Peace, Jumer’s Casino & Hotel, Modern Woodmen of America, Performance Food Group, Blackhawk Bank & Trust, Church of Peace, Greater Antioch, Kaplan University (RI Academy); First Presbyterian Church, Milan (Ridgewood); XPAC (Thomas Jefferson); Amber Ridge, Hy-Vee, Target (SKIP); Mighty Fortress Community Church (Washington Jr. High); Big Brothers Big Sisters, Junior Achievement and Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (District). Superintendent Loy thanked everyone for being devoted to the students of the Rock Island-Milan School District.

Reports from Board members
Several board members attended events in the last couple of weeks: Head Start Banquet, Academic Achievement Awards and the Medal of Honor dinner. Mr. Strupp commented that many students have worked hard for their achievements and it is good for them to be recognized.

Members Linda Dothard and Dave Rockwell attended the Neighborhood Partners Safe Routes to School committee meeting. The group will plan walking and biking safe routes for students of those two schools by the start of the school year. Jill Doak of the City of Rock Island and Holly Sparkman are spearheading the effort.

Vice President Earl Strupp will represent the Board of Education on the Head Start Policy Council starting June 2010.

Rock Island-Milan School Board of Education member Dave Rockwell is hosting an information session on Tuesday, June 1 at 6:00 p.m. at the Rock Island High School Cafeteria for those interested in additional discussion about raising funds for extra and co-curricular activities in the Rock Island-Milan School District. Come with ideas! He thanked those who have made contributions thus far including the Eugene Field PTA and the Illowa IMPACT Labor Management organization.

Mr. Rockwell also attended the Mark Wood Electrify Your Strings event on Friday, May 14. He felt it was a fantastic event for our orchestra students and it was a great chance for them to play with a premier violinist.

Superintendent Update
The school district is now rehiring 10 more certified teachers, which brings the total brought back to 16 of 28 let go in March. The district is also bringing back 4 of non-certified. A new CFO has been hired: Mr. Bob Beckwith from Lamont, Illinois. He will start on July 1, 2010. There is a big event in the school district on Thursday, May 27 when the Rock Island Center for Math & Science will hold the Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting at 3:30 p.m. Other important dates: June 2 is last day of school and Graduation Day is June 6, 1:30 p.m. in Fieldhouse.

PACERS program update
The Positive Achievement and Creativity Equals Righteous Success (PACERS) began as an idea six years ago to help at-risk students academically based mentoring program. The ultimate goal of the program is for students to graduate on time and prepare a set of options for beyond graduation. This year, attendance improved by the second semester and over half of students increase their GPA from first to third quarter. Rock Island High school graduates are currently participating with the PACER program as mentors. Mentors have been very beneficial to help students stay on track and keep on top of their grades. The partnership with Western Illinois University, along with a grant from AT&T have helped run the program. Rock Island High School Counselor Jennifer Page said “They are future leaders and they can succeed.”

Rock Island High School End of Year Report
Over the last five years student success in academics has increased. There has also been a reduction in the number of failures – there has been a 44% decrease in failures. PSAE scores increased 1.5% in math and 8.0% in English. Teachers are using data to adjust curriculum needs instead of regurgitating lesson plans year after year. Wednesdays are spent developing curriculum, collaborate and discuss content, as well as collaborating to improve articulation between the disciplines and classes. Academic goals for next year include utilizing differentiation and best practices in instruction and continuing to use data-driven decisions.

Attendance at the high school has improved steadily over the last six years, and Associate Principal Georgia Kouris expects to end the year at 93%. An attendance team was created to improve the numbers. Policies and procedures put in place to improve accountability, along with the creation of an attendance team has brought positive change to the culture and climate. There has also been a reduction seen in aggressive acts/abusive language. Staff Action Teams meet once a month to develop and strengthen procedures. The monthly meetings allow everyone to have a voice in the daily process and policies of the high school.

Student empowerment has been an influencing force at Rock Island High School. Processes put in place for students and their safety are shown to be a benefit from the student’s perspective. Improved hall monitoring and the addition of the Attendance Interventionist have been a benefit to student attendance. The enforcement of hall sweeps and the 10/10 rule have been a benefit to class attendance. The Attendance Incentive allowing a student to skip finals has increased attendance.

Principal Mason thanked the department leaders for their perseverance in bringing the plan to vision. There will be a change next year to the Attendance Incentive as there will be an additional component of parental consent.

Vice President Strupp voiced an objection to Attendance Incentive policy and would like to add it as a future agenda topic to discuss.

Other items:

• It is recommended that the Board of Education approve the Discipline Code handbook for the 2010-2011 school year.
• Board of Education approve a $2,000 contribution to the Live Work Rock Island initiative (Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation). By continuing to belong to this organization, District 41 employees are eligible to receive cost assistance when purchasing a home in Rock Island.
• Board of Education approved the compensation increases of 2% plus appropriate steps for District 41 Administrators and Non-categorical Employees for the 2010-11 school year. In that both groups have agreed, it is also recommended that District 41 Administrators and Non-categorical Employees take four unpaid furlough days in 2010-11. In doing so, both groups will in essence be returning the 2% raise to the district.

The Career Development program at Rock Island High School gained solid footing after it introduced three new courses last fall. Assistant Principal Ed Veasey reviewed the most recent Career Development Cluster and Pathway chart, which outlined 6 career clusters and several corresponding pathways. Now that the Career Clusters are formed, the next step is to refine the curriculum and develop Capstone/internship opportunities for senior students. Program expansions are being planned for Agri-Science, Mod Lab and Welding areas as well. A major part of the programs success comes from the partnership with the Illinois Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce. “Our ability to attract people and jobs to the Quad City area relies on our educational offerings. The Rock Island School District’s career development program is truly a cutting edge curriculum that will bring many benefits to our area,” said Rick Baker, President of the Illinois Quad City Chamber of Commerce.

In another measure, the board approved to add Anatomy & Physiology, Classic Literature and Contemporary Literature to the course selection at the High School. The courses are full-year offerings according to Associate Principal Georgia Kouris. With the addition of the new courses, other semester-long classes will be eliminated. Ms. Kouris didn’t identify specific courses to be eliminated but will provide the board with the information in a couple of weeks.At the semester’s end, the Freshman Academy saw solid improvements in academic areas and student attendance, however came up sort their discipline referrals goal, according to Kristen Allen, Freshman Academy Coordinator. The Academy started implementing a new attendance procedure last fall to get students to class on time, and the new procedure has caused referrals to increase. Ms. Allen has addressed the issue and feel that teachers and staff are on the right track. The end of the semester data show the Freshman Academy goal of promoting 85% of the freshman to 10th grade is close to being on track as well as the attendance rate goal of 95%. Both are improvements over last year. Current data also revealed that students who attended the Freshman Academy are performing better academically in 10th grade over those who did not go through the Academy. Ms. Allen will provide another update to the board in May.

Last fall, the board approved the sale of $10 million in bonds in General Obligation bonds, and now needs to sell the remaining $12 million. The General Obligation Series 2008 School Bonds, sold in October 2008, received an A2 rating from Moody’s. It is anticipated Moody’s will assign the same rating for the bonds to be sold in 2009. Mr. Phillips, Speer Financial, presented current projections for the 2009 bond sale. With the current interest rates in the market, he predicts that the sales can be completed and maintain the targeted bond and interest tax rate of $0.51. Based on Mr. Phillips estimates, the board approved the second round of bonds to be sold. The bonds will be sold in the marketplace on February 10th. At the Board Meeting that same evening the board will be asked to finalize the bond sales through a formal resolution.

The board heard several heartfelt testimonies from district paraprofessionals and librarians before passing the motion to continue to build the 2009-2010 budget with the recommended additions and Tier 1 cuts presented at the last board meeting. Barb Wignall, Paraprofessional at Earl Hanson, asked the board to take into consideration the value of paraprofessionals beyond salary margins. “Eliminating a paraprofessional out of each building will have a negative effect on children’s education,” said Ms. Wignall. After the 2009-10 budget is built, the board will prioritize the cuts, so that when additional revenue comes in from the federal/state level, items can be restored in a timely manner.

Other items:

• Ms. Dothard commended the students on their essays at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Service at the King Center. The Intermediate Academy Peace Choir “brought down the house.” MLK essay winners >>
• Dave Rockwell announced that Neighborhood Partners was selected to present at the Sustainable Schools Symposium on Feb. 27.
• Chess is booming at the elementary schools according to Earl Strupp. Earl Hanson has 2 classes now and one has just started at Thomas Jefferson Elementary.
• Superintendent Loy stated that 5 candidates are vying for 4 board positions: Dave Rockwell, Jim Veasey and Bill Cleaver are running for their spots. In addition, Dr. Jim Bishop and Clark Ramser (a former student board member) have submitted documentations to run for the Board. The election is April 7th.
• Bob Smith, President of the Rock Island Education Association announced that the RIEA supports option #1 of the three options provided to the Association for the 2009-2010 academic calendar . He also thanked the board for their efforts in maintaining as many teachers as possible while making potential difficult budget cuts.