D65 to Make Minimal Changes to Comply with Supreme Court's Racial Balancing Decision

By Larry Gavin

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that limits the use of race in promoting the integration of schools, the District 65 School Board decided on July 17 to eliminate race as one of the criteria used to select students for admission to the District's magnet schools for the 2007-08 school year. Race was also dropped as a factor in considering permissive transfers.

At that time, the administration suggested that the Board could consider using socio-economic status, such as eligibility for free or reduced lunch, as a factor in making student selections for the magnet-schools and permissive transfers. The Board deferred discussions concerning how to address on a long-term basis the ramifications of the Supreme Court's decision.

At the Board's Dec. 3 meeting, the administration revisited the discussion. The administration recommended that the Board formally revise the District's policies to delete using race as a factor in selecting students for the magnet-schools and in granting permissive transfers. This time, however,  the administration did not recommend taking any other steps to maintain diversity in the schools, such as using socio-economic status as a factor in the selection process.

Lora Taira, assistant director of information services, explained in a Nov. 29 memo that "minimal policy changes" were recommended because the Supreme Court's decision had "little impact" on this year's selection process for the magnet-schools and permissive transfers.

Ms. Taira said that after the Supreme Court issued its decision on June 28, she determined how many student selections made prior to the Court's decision were determined by the student's race. The selection of only one student was impacted by race, she said. The selection criteria were reapplied to that student after the Court's decision.

A number of Board members said that last year's process may not be a good yardstick for the future, because requests for magnet-school admissions and permissive transfers were required to be submitted before the Supreme Court issued its decision, and many parents may not have applied for admission to the magnet-schools or for permissive transfers because they believed their request would be denied because of their race.

"I don't think that we're really going to see what the impact is of the Supreme Court decision until we have an application process," Mary Rita Luecke said. "People who understood that they were not likely to be accepted at the magnet school don't even apply."

Keith Terry said, "I agree with Mary Rita because I think there was a question, why even bother because there was a racial component to the application process ... and in the Oakton area you had for a fact parents who did not apply ... and that perhaps will change over time."

Board president Mary Erickson said, "We had talked about using income as a factor, not that I'm in favor of it. ... What I'm hearing is we can't even address that until a year from now."

Ms. Luecke agreed saying, "I think that's the earliest in terms of adding that sort of requirement, that one could really think about whether that makes sense to do that sort of thing or not."

The Board touched briefly on the scope of the Supreme Court's decision. Ms. Luecke said, the District could enforce the 60 percent guideline under the Court's decision by redrawing attendance area boundaries. "I'm not saying that one should necessarily do it," she added.

Jerome Summers questioned whether black children should be bused in order to desegregate schools saying, "The North side does still desegregate on the backs of the children in the Fifth Ward."

Ms. Luecke said, "That's a factor of housing patterns in Evanston and the cost of housing, and there is a question of whether children should be used to bear the burden of integrating. I agree that's a question."

The Board asked the Policy Committee to recommend revisions to the Board's policies that will delete race as a factor in the magnet school and permissive transfer process. At this time, it is anticipated that the revisions will be straightforward to comply with the Supreme Court's decision and minimal.

Ms. Bailey, chair of the Policy Committee said, however,
"This is not something we can drop. We have to look at this over time." Ms. Erickson agreed saying, "We need to look at this over time to see how this falls out."

Demographics of D65 Schools
This year, at the elementary school level (grades K-5), 43% of District 65 students are white, 32% are black, 15% are Hispanic, 6% are Asian, and 4 % are multi-racial. Two schools have a racial group exceeding the 60% guideline: Willard is 71% white and Orrington is 61% white.

The demographics at the kindergarten level is substantially different, with 46% white, 25% black, 15% Hispanic, 7% multi-racial, and 6% Asian. Three schools had a kindergarten class exceeding the 60% guideline: Dewey, Orrington and Willard were 61%, 65% and 61% white respectively.

The 60% guideline was adopted in 1985 when the District was 52% white, 44% black and 4% other. For a history of the 60% guideline and other racial balancing methods used by District 65, see the June 18, 2003 issue of the RoundTable.

D65's Strategic Planning Meeting

The District 65 School Board is scheduled to have a strategic planning or vision meeting on Saturday, Jan. 26. While the agenda for the meeting has not yet been set, Keith Terry said the Board should discuss the District's facilities, what kind of educational offerings the District will have, what kind of magnet schools the District will have.

"I am trying to move us in a new direction," he said. "And it's time for us to be bold and visionary so we can move this District forward."

Katie Bailey said the Board should discuss, "Where do we want to be in five years?" Jerome Summers said he would like to discuss the possibility of a school in the Fifth Ward. Board members were asked to email additional suggestions to the administration, which will submit a proposed agenda for the meeting to the Board in mid-January.

D65 Board to Consider Strategies for School Facilities

By Larry Gavin

After discussing a report listing the space capacity at each school building in School District 65, Board president Mary Erickson said, "I think this Board is really going on record here as saying we're concerned about keeping our schools as cutting-edge as we can get them. We have to look at [building facilities] in a new sense every so often, and I think we're ready to do that."

The report reflects that the District's 15 elementary and middle school buildings contain a total of 397 rooms that have 500 square feet or more, which is the minimum amount of space needed for a classroom. Of those, 297 are used for core instruction or as homerooms; 67 are used for other instructional uses such as foreign language, drama, art, reading intervention or industrial arts; and 33 are used for special education.

The schools have a variety of other rooms such as libraries, computer labs, cafeterias, auditoriums, gyms, locker rooms, and kitchens but there are differences between the schools.

Oakton School ranks highest with 245 square feet per student. Lowest is Washington School with 136 square feet per student. The national average is 108 square feet per student at the elementary school level and 156 square feet per student at the middle school level.

Board member Katie Bailey said the report was helpful in terms of seeing if some buildings were at capacity, and she added that the report would be helpful in making programmatic decisions.

Over the next five years, only three elementary schools are projected to increase student enrollment by more than 15 students: Dewey; Washington; and Willard. According to the report, Dewey has two rooms that could be converted to classrooms, Washington has four and Willard has four. Converting these rooms to classrooms, however, would mean they could not be used for other educational uses.

 Keith Terry said he thought the report should be used to strategically plan how the District wants its buildings to look in the future. He said the Board should use the report to analyze what constitutes a state-of-the-art offering from a facilities standpoint," and whether District 65's current offering provides it.

"When we're all a bit older we're going to be dealing with redoing our schools. Perhaps if we look at what product offerings we have now, is it where we want to be? ...Is it the best we can offer? Personally, my position is no," said Mr. Terry. "I think we could be bolder, more visionary as a Board and say this is where we want to go. This is how I'd like to use this document."

Andrew Pigozzi suggested, "We should do a quality assessment of all our buildings." He said the District should establish a baseline of what kinds of classrooms and other space is desirable in each building and then conduct a survey to compare each school to the baseline.

 "We're going to have to deal with our buildings. It's better to be proactive." Mr. Pigozzi added, "Some improvements don't have to cost a lot of money. It may be a different way of looking at how we use our buildings."

Ms. Erickson said, "We need to be careful not to over-promise and not go into things that we cannot afford." She thought the important issue was what we can "do to our buildings to make them more conducive to teaching and learning."

"This document can help us to create our vision," said Bonnie Lockhart. "That is something we have been talking about as a Board. We all came onto this Board really wanting there to be a plan to accomplish some things while we were here, as well as to maintain and work with the District as to what they were already doing.

"Having a vision that looks at our buildings and sees that they are equal, especially in terms of a cafeteria and some other things, and maybe not having a computer lab in the hallway, would be a good way to start a priority list and then decide as a Board how we can accomplish it," she said.

When asked about the need for all the space in light of a decline in student enrollment by 769 students over the past ten years, Dr. Murphy said, "The nature of education has changed dramatically over the years in terms of how space is utilized." He said newer education models which use computers and flexible grouping methods require more space than a model where a teacher simply stands at the front of the classroom. 

The Board decided to continue discussion of  building use as part of its discussion of a vision for the District, which is scheduled for Jan. 26.

'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' at ETHS

ETHS will present the award-winning play "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 13, 14, and 15 in the school's Upstairs Theatre, 1600 Dodge Ave. A successful Broadway play before it became Jack Nicholson's signature movie, this grim satire brilliantly puts free spirit Randle McMurphy against an oppressive mental-health system embodied by Nurse Ratched.

Reserved-seat tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for students and senior citizens, through the ETHS fine arts hotline, 847-424-7848. The Upstairs Theatre is handicapped accessible via elevator to the theater lobby. Infrared hearing devices are also available at the box office. Parking is best in the school's rear lot; enter off Church Street.

Jazz Combo Fest at ETHS

Evanston Township High School will present Jazz Combo Fest at 7 p.m. on Dec. 17 in the school's faculty dining room, The Terrace. Jazz will be played in an intimate setting by the many talented ETHS student jazz combos and ensembles. This evening of entertainment is free.

Project EXCITE Makes Inroads in Math and Science For Minority Students

By Jennie Berkson

Project EXCITE, a collaborative effort between Northwestern University and Districts 65 and 202 to increase the representation of minority students in advanced mathematics and science classes in high school has had a positive effect, although student reading ability has hampered progress, according to a presentation made to the District 202 School Board on Dec. 10.

Project EXCITE was started in 2000 with a group of 23 third-graders who are now sophomores at Evanston Township High School. Each year, the program selects 20-25 African-American or Hispanic students from Lincoln, Lincolnwood, Kingsley, King Lab and Bessie Rhodes schools who, based on a series of tests and teacher recommendations, have indicated a potential for high academic achievement and interest in mathematics and science. So far, 175 students have participated in the program.

George Peternel, associate director of Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development (CTD) who coordinates the program, said third-grade participants take after-school math and science classes at ETHS with their EXCITE peers. During fourth grade they attend Saturday classes at Northwestern as a group. As fifth-, seventh- and eighth-graders they enroll in CTD's Saturday classes on the Northwestern campus with other gifted students from the greater metropolitan area. 

And after sixth and eighth grades, EXCITE students mix with kids from all over the world at a Northwestern summer program. Along the way, says Mr. Peternel, EXCITE offers parental support.  By the time students finish the program, they have received "over 400 hours of supplemental educational experiences," Mr. Peternel told the School Board.

Two cohorts of Project EXCITE students have entered ETHS so far. So far, about 65 percent of the students who start in third grade end up entering ETHS. Mr. Peternel said that the attrition is mostly due to students' moving out of the District. 

For the most part, the program's objective of getting minority students into advanced mathematics and science courses has been achieved. Mr. Peternel and ETHS administrators confirmed that almost all Project EXCITE students at ETHS are in geometry at either the regular or honors level. About half of the students are in or have taken honors biology.

Science is more challenging at the advanced level, even for Project EXCITE students, because of the reading component. "Science tests are as much about reading as anything else," said Mr. Peternel. Laura Cooper, ETHS assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, confirmed this concern. This fact was also indicated by the ISAT scores of the first cohort of Project EXCITE students. Of the 16 students who took the math test, three met standards and thirteen exceeded standards on the eighth-grade test. When the same students took the science ISAT in seventh grade, two failed to meet standards, 10 met standards and four exceeded standards.  "This underscores the importance of supporting kids in reading," Dr. Cooper told the RoundTable.

Once at ETHS, students receive support to help them continue their academic success.  Marilyn Madden, assistant superintendent/principal at ETHS, said half of the first cohort and all second cohort of students are enrolled in ETHS support programs like STAE, AVID or Project Excel. 

Mr. Peternel acknowledged that the program is a "work in progress" and that the selection process of students had changed over the years. For example, since 2004, students have been selected using two tests and teacher recommendations, instead of just one test and teacher recommendations.  He said teachers, although well-intentioned, sometimes recommend students who are not appropriate for the program and do not recommend those who are. Also, to combat the problem of attrition, students are added in later grades based, on recommendation from the school's principal.

So far, the eight years of the program has cost more than $1 million, of which $800,000 has been contributed by Northwestern University, $170,000 by District 65 and $65,000 by District 202, said Mr. Peternel, adding, "That does not include in-kind contributions, like use of facilities." Students do not pay tuition for the services, which also include transportation to ETHS and Northwestern University, he said.

 A large number of University and District employees and volunteers have contributed to the project, said Mr. Peternel.  In addition to administration and staff of the three institutions, 50 University students and 60 high school students have supported the effort. 

"Project EXCITE is a long-term program monitored and evaluated regularly by all parties involved," Mr. Peternel told the Board. "Consequently, new ideas are continuously implemented and tested." He said future discussions with ETHS would center on coordinating summer programming after eighth grade and support mechanisms for students at ETHS.

Parent response to the program has been positive, Mr. Peternel said. He quoted one parent as saying: "Project EXCITE gives my child permission to be herself."
Northwestern representatives will present their report to the District 65 School Board next week.