New Volunteer Policy at D65

Volunteers at School District 65 will be required to sign a Volunteer Information Form that will ask if the volunteer has been convicted of a felony, is a child sex offender and whether the volunteer is willing to consent to a fingerprint-based criminal background check, if deemed necessary.

Volunteers who will have direct contact with students without the continuous supervision of a District 65 staff member for an extended period of time and/or on a long-term or regular basis will be required to submit to the criminal background check, including where necessary, fingerprinting. Examples of these volunteers include tutors, persons assisting in club or athletic activities, and persons chaperoning overnight trips or activities.

Persons who refuse to submit to a criminal background check required by the new policy will not be allowed to serve as a volunteer. Persons identified as sex offenders or who have been convicted of certain criminal offenses are also barred from being volunteers.

Persons who are guest speakers, who assist in the classroom, or who accompany their children on a supervised day field trip where each group of students is supervised by a District 65 staff member will not be required to submit to a criminal background check.

The Board adopted the new volunteer policy at its Aug. 20 meeting.

Public Hearing on ETHS Budget Sept. 10

The proposed District 202 budget for fiscal year 2008 is $65,892,586 and represents a 0.02 percent increase over the  2007 budget. A public hearing has been scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 10 at Evanston Township High School, 1600 Dodge Ave.

In presenting the budget, the administration said it is "significant because it is the first balanced budget the District has had in several years."

In response to the goals adopted by the school Board, the administration is recommending the following:
· Begin a phase-in of Systems of Support;
· Begin the partnership with Oakton Community College to manage the adult education program;
· Begin the partnership with Oakton Community College to expand the dual-credit system for course credit;
· Add a grants writer/development position that will also provide development assistance to the new Foundation and increase sources of revenue;
· Add a literacy coordinator and literacy coaches;
· Support literacy and our professional learning community, working closely with Dr. Alfred Tatum and Dr. Jon Saphier;
· Support numeracy through an initiative in the math department;

· Increase interventions that will support students with behavior problems. 

New Principals at Five District 65 Schools

The new school year will begin with new principals at five District 65 schools:
Park School
Marlene Grossman will serve as principal at Park School. She has served as the Special Education Director of Elgin School District U-465 since June 2006, and before that served as the director of the Keshet Day School in Northbrook for three years. She received a bachelors degree in special and elementary education from Northern Illinois University and a maters degree in education in administration and supervision from National-Louis University. She expects to  receive a doctorate in educational leadership from National-Louis University in December 2007.

Orrington School
J. Michael Dougherty will take over as principal at Orrington. He has served as principal of Germantown Hills School in Metramora, Ill., since 1985. He received a bachelors degree in elementary education from Illinois State University  and an masters degree in educational administration from Bradley University.

Walker School
Karen Evans has been tapped to serve as the principal at Walker. She began her career as a kindergarten teacher at Walker and has since worked at District 65 as a technology instructor, an interim principal of Washington School and a coordinator of the Districts resource center for teachers. She holds a school administrators certification from Loyola University and a masters degree in education from National Louis University.

Kingsley School
Kimberly Moore, who will head up Kingsley, previously served as assistant principal of Alfred B. Kahn Elementary School in Chicago since mid-2005 and before that was an assistant principal at DuSable High School, also in Chicago. She holds a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from Loyola University and a masters degree in social work from the University of Illinois.

Oakton School
Churchill Daniels, who has been vice-principal at Oakton Elementary School since 2004, will serve as interim principal this year. Beatrice Davis will assume the interim vice-principal position.

Mr. Daniels holds a master of science in educational leadership from National-Louis University and a bachelor of science in education from Illinois State University with a focus in middle-level education and endorsements in language arts, reading, social studies and Spanish.

Ms. Davis earned her bachelor of arts in elementary education from State University College at Oneonta, N.Y. in 1993. She has more than 14 years of teaching experience in the primary and kindergarten grade levels in Albany (N.Y.), Chicago and Evanston schools. She recently earned a master of arts in leadership and supervision from National-Louis University.