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Recommendation: TWI at Six Schools

Current placement of TWI
Currently, the District has seven TWI kindergarten classes at six elementary schools: Dawes, Dewey, Oakton, Walker, Washington and Willard. With a few variations, there are two strands of TWI at Washington School and one strand of TWI is being phased in at each of the other five schools. There is a total of 30 TWI classrooms in the District's elementary schools.

Approximately 600 students are currently enrolled in TWI, 54 percent of whom are native Spanish-speakers and 46 percent of whom are proficient in English.

The administration's proposal
Under the administration's proposal, the District would continue to have one strand of TWI at each of the six schools which currently have TWI classes at the school. The program would be phased in so that over time there would be one class of TWI at each grade level in each of the six schools, for a total of 36 TWI classes.

The major change would be at Washington School, where now there are two TWI classes at the K-4 grade levels and three TWI classes at fifth grade. Dr. Murphy said the administration recommended reducing Washington to one strand of TWI because, "When you look at the concentration of Latino students, you'll see that the heaviest concentration of students is no longer in the Washington area, but in the Oakton and Walker areas." According to data presented by the District, only seven Spanish-speaking students entered kindergarten this year from the Washington attendance area.

Dr. Murphy said Latino students reside across the District, and the six schools selected to house the TWI program were located where there were concentrations of Latino students. "The most important thing for me here is that students will be able to go to school pretty much within the same proximity of where they live," he said.

The District is projecting that 71 Spanish speaking students will enroll in the TWI program at the kindergarten level in the 2011-12 school year. Assuming the program will enroll 45 percent English-proficient students in each TWI class, the total TWI enrollment would be 129 students. Based on these projections, Dr. Murphy said six TWI strands could accommodate the TWI program through 2012. He said, "We are not seeing as steep a climb in Latino students as we have in the past, and this will be adequate for TWI."

The ability to house the TWI program in six strands depends on the reliability of the District's projections. At a Program/Policy Committee meeting last February, administrators projected the District would need eight TWI kindergarten classrooms to house the TWI program this year and 13 TWI kindergarten classes to house the TWI program for the 2009-10 school year.

Because of a drop in the enrollment of Spanish-speaking students this year, the District reduced the number of TWI kindergarten classes from eight to seven, and Dr. Murphy said the District could have accommodated the 53 Spanish-speaking students in six TWI classrooms. Whether the drop this year is a blip or the start of a trend remains to be seen. The District did not use outside consulting services to assist in making its projections.

To accommodate an unanticipated overflow of Spanish-speaking students, the administration proposes a "developmental bilingual" program, which is sometimes called a one-way developmental bilingual program.

Seven TWI strands
Board member Sharon Sheehan urged the Board to discuss whether to keep seven strands of TWI classes, rather than dropping to six, saying this would allow room for growth through the years and bring TWI class sizes, which serve many low-income students, more in line with the rest of the District. She said 75 percent of the District's classrooms are serving 20 students or fewer.

Ms. Sheehan said the decline in enrollment of Spanish-speaking students this year may be a fluke, and it would be safer and provide more flexibility to plan for seven strands of TWI. She added that the alternative bilingual program proposed by the administration needed further discussion by the Board and that it should be voted on separately from the placement of TWI.

Julie Chernoff supported seven strands of TWI and suggested that Board members consider placing two strands of TWI at Washington and Oakton Schools and that TWI be dropped at Willard School. At the kindergarten level, 15 Spanish-speaking students residing in the Oakton area are enrolled in TWI; only two Spanish-speaking students residing in the Willard area enrolled in TWI.
Jonathan Baum posed the broader question of why the TWI program would be capped if it was working.

Over the past year, parents at Washington School have raised concerns that the placement of two strands of TWI at the school has adversely impacted the General Education program at the school. This year only one General Education class is offered at the kindergarten level at Washington. In addition, some parents at Oakton have raised concerns that offering both the TWI and the African-centered curriculum at Oakton has taken a toll on the General Education program at that school.

Board president Mary Erickson said if the District offers two strands of TWI at a school, "We have to rethink how we're going to make sure we have enough children to fill two General Education classrooms at a reasonable size at the school." She added, "I think that's important because you do change the balance of a school. We need to define what our goals are for General Education strands when we have a school with two TWI strands."

The Board asked the administration to provide additional information to assist them to evaluate whether to offer seven TWI strands and whether to offer two strands at Washington and Oakton, and to stop offering TWI at Willard.

The selection criteria
Mr. Baum asked Dr. Murphy how two issues were addressed in the administration's proposal. First, he said "We've been told at times the presence of a TWI strand in an attendance- area school drains the best and the brightest students from General Education into the TWI classroom and leaves the General Education classroom dominated by lower- achieving kids." Second, "A related issue is that having a TWI strand in a school creates racial segregation between the predominantly white - almost exclusively white - and Latino students in a TWI classroom versus often a predominantly or exclusively African-American student makeup in the General Education classroom."

Dr. Murphy said, "When you look at the selection criteria, that's the heart of the solution. I will say you're absolutely right; we have seen a skewing of the General Education demographics versus the dual-language demographics. The issue of whether the students are lower-achieving or higher-achieving is something that some people would debate."

As to the selection criteria, the administration's proposal states, "The goal is to have no more than 60 percent Spanish-dominant students in a TWI classroom. In addition, the gender and ethnicity of the English-dominant students should reflect the makeup of students in other classrooms at the program sites."

As proposed, selections for the TWI program would be made using the same criteria used to select students for the magnet schools. Twenty percent of the students residing in the attendance area of the school where TWI is offered would be given a preference. The District would then use the admissions criteria to balance out the size of the classes in the sending attendance area schools and the TWI receiving schools and to balance the race and gender of the classes in the sending and TWI schools. There would also be a preference given to students who had a sibling in the TWI program at a school.

Spanish-speaking students would be entitled to participate in the TWI program but would be assigned to a school using the selection criteria. English-dominant students would be selected using the criteria to the extent there was available space.

The selection criteria may present some thorny issues. Mr. Baum questioned why attendance-area students should be given a preference. Mary Rita Luecke suggested that spots may have to be reserved for students who resided in the attendance area of a school where TWI was not offered. Karen Johnson, an Oakton parent, urged that students in the attendance area of a TWI school should be given 100-percent preference.

The United States Supreme Court is expected to decide this term whether race can be considered in deciding whether to admit students to a magnet school. The Court's decision may throw a wrench into the works.

Language academy
The administration rejected the option of consolidating the TWI program into one or more language academies. Dr. Murphy said that teachers and parents who favored a consolidation of the TWI program into one or two schools said a language academy would make a difference in terms of the professional development of teachers and how they coordinated their services. He said, "What we decided is if these barriers are there, they are certainly not insurmountable. We have examples now where the single strand approach appears to be working very well."

Assistant Superintendent Susan Shultz said TWI teachers generally favored a language academy because they would be able to collaborate and plan together and provide support for new teachers. She said, however, once schools added TWI classes at more than one grade level that teachers were able to collaborate and that the best model for teacher training was through coaching which could be done through a single strand model.

Dr. Murphy said that converting a magnet school or an attendance area school into a language academy would require redistricting which would be disruptive. He added, "Underlying this concept, and it's probably as important as anything else, is the preservation of the idea of having a system of neighborhood schools so people can identify with a particular school."

The administration gathered input from parents, teachers and principals as part of the process. The administration's report says, "In general, most stakeholders, including parents, principals and General Education teachers, favored the option that preserves neighborhood schools."

District 202 Audit Shows Revenues Higher Than Expenses

By Jennie Berkson

District 202's financial status has improved because of cost-cutting measures imposed over the last two years, according to an audit presented to the Board at its meeting on Nov. 6.

The audit, conducted by the accounting firm Virchow Krause and Co., gave the District an "unqualified opinion" on its financial statements, said Chief Financial Officer William Stafford. "There are three kinds of opinions you can get on an audit," Mr. Stafford told the Board. "An unqualified opinion is the best."

District 202s amount of debt is relatively light compared to other districts.

The audit stated that the District received general revenue totaling $54.1 million, which constituted 85.7 percent of the total of $63.1 million revenues for fiscal year 2006. Revenue generated from charges for services and operating grants and contributions accounted for $9.0 million or 14.3 percent.

Expenses totaled $61.5 million. Of these expenses, $9.0 million was offset by charges for services or grants and contributions.

General revenues of $54.1 million covered the remaining costs of these programs and left an excess of revenues over expenditures of $1.6 million.

The audit also reported that the Educational Fund had $51.2 million in revenue and $48.7 million in expenditures in fiscal year 2006. The fund balance in the Educational Fund increased $2.7 million to $13.1 million during fiscal year 2006.

The audit shows the Board authorized a transfer of interest from the Working Cash Fund totaling $216,611 to support Educational Fund expenses.

In addition to the fact that expenditures in the Educational Fund were kept within budget, the increase in the balance was attributed to two factors: higher than anticipated property tax revenues amounting to just over $1million and higher than anticipated corporate property replacement taxes amounting to just over $470,000.

Capital needs throughout the Evanston Township High School building were funded through the sale of $2.9 million in new Series 2006 Life-Safety Bonds. The bonds will fund new security cameras, windows, roof repairs, tuck pointing and improved cooling systems.

With the exception of the IMRF/Social Security fund, all District funds either increased or remained the same. "We knew we would run a deficit in the IMRF/Social Security fund," said Mr. Stafford. "It's part of our budget plan. In two years this will not be in a deficit situation again."

Three funds showed an increase. Operations and Maintenance increased by $392,830 to $3,785,316 during the year, based on greater than anticipated property taxes.

Transportation experienced a surplus of $110,851, increasing the fund balance to $804,537. And the Bond and Interest Fund experienced a surplus of $145,491, raising the balance to $1,723,308.

Working Cash remained the same as the previous year at $6,887,278.

The audit also reported that the District has five bond issues, representing $20 million worth of debt against a possible ceiling of $172 million. "We would never get to that level," said Mr. Stafford. "Our amount of debt is relatively light compared to other districts."

As part of the presentation, Board members received a copy of the 120-page audit report. Board members agreed that they wanted to review the report in order to formulate questions. The Board must then accept or reject the results of the audit.

The issue is scheduled for a vote at the next Board meeting Nov. 20.

A copy of the audit is available for public review on the ETHS Business office website http://www,eths.k12.il.us/dept/business/ along with the 2006-2007 budget that was approved on Sept. 25.

Students Attend Minority Student Achievement Network Conference.

Five Evanston Township High School students attended the seventh annual Minority Student Achievement conference, held in Green Bay, Wis., Sept. 26-29. Twenty-one districts comprise the Network, which was founded in February 1999 by superintendents from 15 urban-suburban school districts across the country. They formed the network to improve the academic achievement of students of color, specifically African-American and Latino students. Each year one of the current 21-member districts hosts the event. Pictured left to right are conference attendees: Senior Michelle Redmond, junior Gabrielle Suarez, senior Leah Barnes, senior Jordan Medard and sophomore Fernando Garcia. Science teacher Terri Sowa and guidance counselor Brian Cadogan are sponsors for the group.

Story by Jennie Berkson; photo courtesy of Evanston Township High School

Nichols School Chess Champs

The Nichols seventh-grade chess team took first place at the Illinois All-Grades State Chess Tournament in Joliet on Nov. 4. The seventh-grade champions are Evan Handler, Ergen Rojas, James Shields, Jack Hanson and Zach Sandler.

Also completing for Nichols' sixth- and eighth-grade teams at the tournament were sixth-grader Mazzin Ajamia and eighth-grader Nathan Port.

AP Scholars

The College Board recently announced that 190 Evanston Township High School students, including at least 54 current seniors, have been named AP Scholars for their exceptional achievement on the Advanced Placement exams taken last spring. This is the highest number of ETHS students to earn this recognition in recent memory. Last November 175 ETHS students, 32 percent more than in 2004, were named AP Scholars.

Six students who graduated last June qualified as National AP Scholars, the highest designation, by earning an average grade of 4 or 5 on all AP exams taken. All six students took eight or more AP exams last year. These alumni are Hannah Antolin, Morgan Becker, Greta Carlson, Laura Eder, Robert Flax, and Caroline Patenode.

Fifty-three students qualified for the AP Scholar with Distinction Award by earning an average grade of 3.5 on at least five AP exams. Forty-one students qualified for the AP Scholar with Honor Award by earning an average grade of 3.25 on at least four AP exams, and 90 students earned AP Scholar Award status by earning grades of 3 or higher on at least three AP exams.

In 1952 ETHS was one of seven pilot high schools in the United States to experiment with college-level courses through a Ford Foundation grant. At the time 70 seniors enrolled in one or more of five AP courses offered: English European History, French, Spanish and mathematics. Now nearly 20 percent of ETHS students, primarily juniors and seniors, take one or more of the 18 AP courses offered at ETHS in a variety of curricular areas, including the visual arts.

Rhodes School Book Fair Nov. 19

On Nov. 19, the Rhodes Magnet School will be hosting an in-store book fair at the Barnes and Noble Booksellers at 1630 Sherman Ave. The book fair will feature a variety of events including story times hosted by Rhodes Magnet School teachers and Principal Patricia Mitchell. Art works created by Rhodes Magnet School students will be on display. A portion of all purchases made by Rhodes Magnet school families and supporters will be donated to purchase books for the school library. All interested families areinvited to attend.

Park School

Park School, at 828 Main St., provides a full range of programs and services for students ages 3 to 21 who may have multiple disabilities.

One service project offered by Park School students is confidential document shredding. This service is offered free of charge and shredded materials are then recycled.

The school is looking for additional shredding projects. For more information or to make arrangements for r personal or business shredding, contact Hilary at Park School, 847 859-8438.

Three District 202 Board Vacancies in Next Election

By Jennie Berkson

The next election for the District 202 School Board will take place on April 17, 2007. Three Board members' positions are up for re-election: Ross Friedman, Jane Colleton and Mary Wilkerson.

Prospective candidates should be aware of the following:
• Nominating petions are now being circulated ;
• The first day to file the petitions with the Board secretary is Jan. 29, 2007.

Board packets are now available for the District 202 School Board election for District 202 at the office of the board secretary. The packets, which include the candidates' guide, the Board of Education election fact sheet, statement of candidacy, loyalty oath and nominating petition, can be picked up between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. any business day from the Business Office, Room H108, at Evanston Township High School, 1600 Dodge Ave.

Nominating petitions for candidates must be signed by at least 50 qualified voters residing within the district.

These petitions must be filed with the secretary of the board, William Stafford, at the ETHS business office between Jan. 29 and Feb. 5, 2007..
Candidates' names will appear on the election ballot in the order in which their nominating papers are received in the secretary's office.