D65 School Board Whittles Down Technology Proposal

By Larry Gavin

On April 21 the District 65 School Board approved a whittled-down version of a classroom technology model recommended by the District's Technology Study Committee in its April 2008 report. Citing cost concerns, the Board approved 25 percent fewer computers for student use than recommended by the Committee.

In line with a recommendation of the Committee, however, the Board decided to pay for the cost of new computers and related equipment by issuing short-term general obligation bonds. This will enable the District to pay for the capital costs with funds that are not subject to the property tax caps, and will thus leave more money available for operations.

The Committee Report
The report issued by the District 65 Technology Study Committee concluded that technology is a pivotal tool to support each student's learning, that digital classrooms are in step with how students learn today, and that the digital classroom provides an ideal environment to encourage differentiation of instruction to meet individual student needs. The Committee made a series of recommendations to move the District toward creating a "digital classroom," to provide professional development and to fund the technology.

The Digital Classroom: Consistent with the District's 2007 Technology Plan, the Committee recommended that "every classroom should be equipped with presentation systems – projector with audio, document camera, and interactive whiteboard."

The Committee recommended, however, that the District enhance its current technology plan by increasing the ratio of computers from one computer for every 3.8 students to one computer for every 2.8 students. The Committee recommended that the following model be used "as a minimum," to make computers accessible for classroom instruction:

· One teacher computer per classroom;
· One permanent student computer per classroom;
· One laptop cart of 24 units for every two classrooms for grades 3-8; and
· One laptop cart of 24 units for each K-2 grade level at a school.

The Committee said it was important to increase the number of computers because "teacher adoption of technology is occurring at such a rapid rate, and sufficient numbers of classroom computers are difficult to access – there are simply not enough computers to go around." The report added that "a significant problem … is that limited access to computers limits what teachers may plan."

According to the report, the national average was one computer per 3.8 students in 2005. Based on a trend analysis, the report concluded that to remain competitive, the District should have one computer for every two students in 2009.

Professional Development: The Technology Committee concluded that "professional development is perhaps the single largest factor in the success or failure of the digital school," and that "well designed and appropriate professional development is the key to ensuring that the skills and concepts are taught and the equipment used effectively."

The report supports the District's 2007 Technology Plan that "teachers incorporate technology into daily instructional practice rather than use technology as an event like a once-a-week visit to a computer lab." The Committee found that "this shift is happening and should be reinforced." The report recognized that teachers had a range of classroom technology skills and recommended that the District provide time and funding for staff development and that proposals in the District's 2007 Technology Plan be implemented.

Funding Technology: The Committee recommended that the District issue Debt Service Extension Base bonds to fund technology, which would provide a continuous method to fund technology. The report states that using DSEB bonds to finance the purchase of technology "allows for the acquisition and deployment of reliable technology without drawing away from programs and services supported through the District's annual operating funds."

The Board's Cost Concerns

The Board rejected the Committee's recommendation to increase the number of computers from a ratio of one computer for every 3.8 students to a ratio of 2.8 per student. The concern was primarily the cost.

The total estimated cost to equip each classroom with a presentation system, to provide instructional computers at a ratio of one computer for every 2.8 students (including replacing the computers on a three-year cycle), to upgrade the network architecture and to purchase administrative computers was $12.1 million over six years, or an average of about $2 million per year.

Staying with the ratio of one computer for every 3.8 students would save about $1.9 million over the six-year period, or about $316,000 per year.

Most Board members were concerned with the cost of the technology. They were also concerned about the projected cost of other capital projects which, together with the cost of technology, may cost $40 million in a five- or six-year period. (See accompanying story.)

Mary Rita Luecke said, "We are really going for, in my view, an unprecedented amount of bonds. It's $40 million ultimately, over a four-year, five-year period."

Mary Erickson said, "This looks like a reasonable kind of classroom that we're presenting. I am sort of in awe of all the money it costs. I am in awe that it's renewable; you have to continue to do it."

Jerome Summers said, "Here's my concern. I'm concerned about technology, or any individual aspect of our District, being like this big huge vacuum cleaner sucking up all the money like Pac-Man Forever, when we have buildings, old buildings, Willard, Orrington, Chute, that have to be improved. ... We have other programs. It just seems like the money keeps getting bigger and bigger."

"That's my concern too – that we start something that we cannot continue to fund," said Ms. Lockhart.

Katie Bailey said, "There's a lot of debt. The economy concerns me. I'm worried about the roll-out of technology, the pace of it. I want to see professional development that goes hand-in-hand. I would like to use less debt. I would like to go more slowly."

Paul Brinson, director of information services, urged the Board to approve the increased number of computers. He said, "We believe the 2.8 ratio [of students to a computer] means that teachers aren't fighting over computers and they've got them when they need them. ... If you tell me that it has to be 3.8, then I'm going to say for $3 a month off the tax bill, we've gone with a plan that's not what we think is the best plan."

Superintendent Hardy Murphy likewise said, "For an investment of $3 a month, we're able to respond to the instructional needs in the classroom in this District. I think this kind of investment into the teaching and learning process, in support of our teachers, is another one of those transformative things that keeps us moving to the future.

"Progress requires risk-taking and requires some level of vision of where we want to go. … We ought to be able to take that risk for $3 a month."

Keith Terry said, "I think this is a great plan. If money wasn't an issue, I'd say run with it." The Board voted unanimously to stick with the current ratio of one computer for every 3.8 students.

Erickson Re-Elected D65 Board President

On April 21 the District 65 School Board unanimously elected Mary Erickson to serve a second term as president. "I would consider it an honor to serve in this office for my twelfth and final year on the Board," she said.

In a memorandum to the Board, Ms. Erickson said she would like to have a Board retreat at which the Board would set goals for the 2009-10 school year, based on the District's strategic plan which is currently being prepared. She also proposed that the Board review how meetings are conducted, how Board member information is disseminated and other ways to work more effectively. The Board also unanimously elected Jerome Summers to continue serving as vice president of the Board.

D65 Approves $10 Million in Bonds; $20 Million On the Horizon

The District 65 School Board approved the issuance of $10 million in bonds on April 21, by a 6 - 1 vote. Bonnie Lockhart cast the sole "no" vote. Dr. Mary Brown, chief financial officer, said 100 percent of the bond proceeds will be used for capital projects for the District's buildings and life-safety work.

The April 21 action will carry out the plan adopted in 2006 to issue up to $20 million in Debt Service Extension Base (DSEB) bonds, which may be issued within certain limits without a referendum. The District issued the first $10 million in November of 2006. Of that amount, $800,000 has been spent on life safety/building projects and $3 million on technology. Of the $6.2 million remaining, $700,000 will be spent on life safety/building projects, and $5.5 million for technology, Dr. Brown said.

After the $20 million was approved, the estimated costs to pay for technology and life-safety/building projects have increased, said Dr. Brown. In an April 17 memorandum provided to the Board, Dr. Brown said, "The District's Life Safety/Building projects and Technology needs are ongoing in nature and should be funded by a renewable source, such as DSEB bonds." Paying for life safety/building projects and technology with bond proceeds "will provide the District with safe, well-maintained buildings, and up-to-date instructional and administrative technology, without burdening the operating budget, which is limited by tax caps," she said.

Dr. Brown said the District may need to issue an additional $10 million in bonds in the spring of 2009 and an additional $10 million in the spring of 2012, to fund technology and life-safety/building projects.

According to a schedule prepared by Dr. Brown, the real estate taxes attributable to the District's total bond and interest payments in calendar year 2007 were $346 on a home with a property tax bill of $8,000. Of that, $38 was attributable to the $10 million in bonds issued in 2006. The balance was attributable to the bonds issued as part of the 2000 referendum. The referendum bonds will be paid off in 2011, said Dr. Brown.

Assuming that an additional $30 million in DSEB bonds is issued according to the schedule proposed, Dr. Brown projected that the bond and interest portion of a property tax bill of $8,000 would increase from $346 in 2007 to $445 in 2010 and then drop to $185 in 2012 (the first year after the referendum bonds are paid off), to $160 in 2017 and to $45 in 2018.

District 202 Board Hears $35 Million Capital Improvement Proposal

By Jennie Berkson

Beginning a process that will take some months to consider and then some years to complete, School District 202 chief financial officer William Stafford presented a $35 million five-year capital improvement program to School Board members on April 28.

"This is the District's first proposed capital improvement program [CIP]," Mr. Stafford reported. "It is a comprehensive examination of the District's infrastructure needs and a financing plan to address as many of those needs as the District can afford."

A capital expenditure is "one that results in the acquisition or addition to a capital asset or fixed asset," Mr. Stafford said. Fixed assets include many types of property that an organization owns and uses in its operations. He gave as examples land or rights to land; buildings; additions or renovations to buildings that exceed $25,000 and that will add value; improvements of more than $25,000 to land; equipment, vehicles and furnishings that have a life of more than one year and that cost more than $25,000.

The proposed expenditures will be in five categories:
• Site Projects (sports fields and field house): $23.5 million
• Mechanical, Electric and Plumbing: $6.9 million
• Toilets: $1.5 million
• Masonry and Windows: $2.7 million
• Other: $500,000

The first projects, planned to begin this summer, are the sports fields, cooling systems, masonry and purchase of small buses. The expenditures for the 2008-09 school year are projected to be $5.7 million.

Mr. Stafford told the Board the funding for the projects will come from a variety of sources. Bonds supported by property tax will be the biggest source, at $18.1 million. Other monies will come from private donations, grants, proceeds of life-safety bonds and one-time revenues.

The recommendations for the proposed capital improvements came from a number of different sources, said Mr. Stafford. Departmental surveys, research by the Athletic Department and staff analysis provided some input, he said. In addition, OWPP, an architecture, engineering, interior design and consulting firm with offices in Chicago and Phoenix and a specialty practice in school design, provided review and analysis.

Mr. Stafford said the capital-funding process would be gradual, although some of the components are already in place. For example, the Board voted on March 10 to approve the contract for artificial turf for the Murney Lazier Varsity Football Field. Mr. Stafford said construction of the field will require removal of a significant amount of dirt, which would be most economically placed immediately on the other fields targeted for renovation but not yet approved.

Mr. Stafford said that the information presented at the April 28 meeting would "start the process." If the Board approves the plan at the May 12 meeting, a public hearing about issuing the bonds would be scheduled for May 27, with the final approval for the first $10 million in bonds expected at the "first meeting in June".

Frances Caan, the recently hired Evanston Township High School director of development, who also serves as executive director of the ETHS Foundation, told the Board she is working on a comprehensive plan for the capital campaign. With that campaign, she said, she hopes to raise $15 million in private donations. She said plans are in the works to name two prominent ETHS alumni to co-chair the effort, which would include numerous events and public relations.

At its next meeting, scheduled for May 12, the Board will vote on the 2008-09 CIP budget and the overall five-year plan and will decide whether to start the process for bond issuance.

202 Board Continues Terms for Burns, Hayman

By Jennie Berkson

The District 202 School Board voted to continue the terms of president Martha Burns and vice president Rachel Hayman for another year at its meeting on April 28.

Although recent practice has resulted in a new president and vice president each year, Board sentiment appeared to support a different approach this time.

"With all the changes at the school recently, we have a leadership team that's really working well," Ms. Hayman told the RoundTable. "There is a real learning curve in the job, and it's good to have the continuity."

The District 202 School Board's policy manual mandates that officers be elected for a one-year term but does limit the number of one-year terms a Board member can be elected to an office. The Illinois School Code advises that a president serve for two years, but says local boards can establish policy that limits the term to one year.

Both Ms. Burns and Ms. Hayman are in the final year of their four-year terms.

St. Athanasius School Students collected $2,100 to buy books for the Camel Bookmobile project, which sends books via camel to impoverished children in Kenya's semi-nomadic northeast. St. A's librarians, Laura Maloney and Carol O'Donnell, purchased books, some in Swahili and Somali, and students helped package them for mailing. The books were sent to Kenya with stickers that said in Swahili "In Peace and Friendship from the Students of St. Athanasius School, Evanston, Illinois."

Spring Band Concert

The Evanston Town ship High School Music Division will hold its spring band concert at 7 p.m., May 1, in the school's Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave. The community is invited to Celebrate May Day with ETHS band students in a concert featuring popular and classical musical offerings. Tickets are $2 for adults, $1 for students, and free to senior citizens and holders of Boosters Club passes. The Auditorium is handicapped accessible. Parking is available in the lot on Dodge Avenue, directly across from the Auditorium entrance.

ETHS Kudos

Evanston Township High School's Varsity-A (seniors) and Junior-Varsity-A (juniors) teams placed sixth in the state and 22nd in the nation in the very competitive "Big Schools" division in the Junior Engineering and Technical Society (JETS) competition. Nearly 1,200 teams participated in JETS this year.

Five ETHS students who were chosen Best of the Best in the local LISA Art Competition at the Evanston Great Frame-Up will compete May 18 in an areawide Best of the Best Show at the Thompson Center in Chicago. The students representing ETHS are Marianne Finneran (photo), Clare Austen-Smith (drawing), Claire Alrich (painting), Mallika Roy (graphics) and Jeneca Onikoyi (3-D).

The artwork of three ETHS juniors has been chosen for exhibition in the 27th annual nationwide Congressional Arts competition, "An Artistic Discovery." The students are Roddrigo Zayaz, Jill Weinberg and Alex Lock. The show will run from 6 to 8 p.m. on May 12 at the Skokie Public Library. U.S. Congressman Jan Schakowsky will be there to honor the student artists.

‘Ducks and Lovers'

A duck is in the cast? Audiences can check this out when Evanston Township High School adult staff members present the hilarious comedy Ducks and Lovers on May 8 and 9 in the ETHS Auditorium, 1600 Dodge Ave. ETHS production showcases the talent of 18 teachers, support staff, department chairs and administrators. Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. on May 8 and 9, and at 3 p.m. on May 11. Tickets at $7 for adults, $5 for students and senior citizens, are available through the Fine Arts Hotline (847-424-7848) or at the door the nights of performance.