A press release from Carpentersville School District 300:

Legislative Update

Progress was made today (May 7) on one legislative concern for District 300, while district staff and families continue to advocate on another this week.

Superintendent Dr. Michael Bregy returned to Springfield today to support a proposed 1-year moratorium on virtual/online charter schools in Illinois.

The legislation (House Bill 494) was supposed to be considered last week at the capitol but was postponed.  It was finally heard today by a subcommittee on charter schools and then the Senate Education Committee, which has now passed the bill on to the full Senate for a vote.

Dr. Bregy was joined by several of the other 18 superintendents representing Fox Valley districts opposed to a recent proposal by Virtual Learning Solutions Inc. (VLS) to establish an online-only charter school.

While virtual learning is already an important part of the D300 curriculum, and the existing D300 charter school is a valued component of our educational programming, the block of 18 school districts feel strongly that more time – in the form of a 1-year moratorium – is needed to develop a better option for students than the VLS proposal.  For further background on this issue, please click here.

In other Springfield news, the parents, students, staff, and school board members who serve on the D300 Board Legislative Committee continue to push for support of the district’s legislative priorities, including state transportation funding.

The committee members recently held local meetings with eight of the nine state legislators who represent the D300 area while they were not in session.  (Senator Dan Duffy, who represents Algonquin and other portions of D300, said last month that he was not available to meet locally until June.)

These one-on-one conversations helped legislators new to representing D300 due to new legislative boundaries – including State Reps. Bob Pritchard and David McSweeney, as well as State Senators Karen McConnaughay and Dave Syverson – get to know the school district’s history, successes and priorities.

The meetings also ensured that legislators experienced in representing the D300 area – including State Senator Michael Noland and State Reps. Mike Tryon, Tim Schmitz, and Keith Farnham – stayed informed about the district’s concerns and were held to account for their voting records.

These individual meetings provided the district with crucial insights on a variety of legislation, including the transportation funding issue.

As a result, the committee members will spend the next several days personally calling Governor Pat Quinn and a few dozen key legislators across the state to advocate for full funding of transportation.

State leaders are now considering the Governor’s proposal that would slash D300’s regular education transportation funding from $1.8 million to a projected $60,000 in the 2013-2014 school year.

That’s on top of the 24% cut (totaling $3.5 million) that the state has already made to D300 bus funding in the past three years!

Some in Springfield believe that even if the district is successful this month in convincing legislators not to cut transportation funding even further, that state leaders will just find another part of the education budget to cut.  So the message to legislators right now is two-fold:

• District 300 already runs a highly efficient transportation system that, if further reduced, might force hundreds of families to start driving their children to school or students to walk even further to school.  This would create major traffic, logistical and safety problems, as well as widening the achievement gap between those families who do and don’t have the means to reliably get their children to school.
• Whether it’s busing or some other education line-item, we have got to stop letting public education be the “go to” for balancing the state’s budget problems.  We are a fiscally responsible school district which has worked to control costs in the face of unending state mandates.  NO MORE EDUCATION CUTS!

Community and staff members who would like to support this advocacy effort are welcome to call the following legislators this week:

• State legislators who represent the D300 area:  Click here for a map showing legislative boundaries within D300.  Click here for the contact information for these legislators.
• House Elementary & Secondary Education Appropriations Committee
• Senate Appropriations Committee
• Senate Education Committee
• Governor Pat Quinn

The following popped into my email box today:

Dear District 300 Families and Staff Members,

This Tuesday, April 30, I will travel down to Springfield where I hope to testify to the Senate Education Committee at the State Capitol in support of a proposed 1-year moratorium on virtual/online charter schools in Illinois.

As we had reported earlier this month, the D300 School Board unanimously rejected the application by Virtual Learning Solutions Inc. (VLS) to establish an online charter school in D300.

I wanted to provide you with additional information about this concerning situation, and let you know the important role that you can take right now.

A few weeks ago, D300 was one of 18 school districts in the Fox River Valley area that received a proposal from VLS to operate an online charter school in all 18 districts.

The online school would be open to students in kindergarten through grade 12.

Funding for the online school would come directly from state dollars that normally go to fund our districts.

We find this problematic at a time when state education funding is already insufficient and unreliable.

The proposal calls for VLS to receive over $8,000 in state funding for every D300 student who enrolls in the online school.

Even if the student decides to leave the online school and return to a D300 school, that $8,000 would stay with VLS.

Our Board strongly opposed this  proposal from VLS because of its severe flaws and deficiencies, such as the lack of support for students with special needs and absence of extra-curricular opportunities.

At our public hearing a few weeks ago on the proposal, we were disturbed that VLS representatives could not answer the most basic questions about the program.

In Illinois, charter schools must be approved by local school boards.  If they are not approved, the charter school applicant can appeal to the Illinois State Charter School Commission.  Although every single one of the 18 local school boards opposed the VLS proposal, VLS has said it will appeal to the state commission.

The commission has authority to overrule the local school boards and go against the wishes of the local communities.

Legislators in Springfield have started the process of placing a 1-year moratorium on the establishment of virtual charter schools.

Known as House Bill 494, this legislation would allow state legislators to study and gather as much information as possible before approving online schools.  HB 494 has already passed the House of Representatives and is expected to be voted on by the Senate in the next few weeks.

This is why I’m going down to Springfield on Tuesday.

While I am there, I will also be personally visiting individual legislators to discourage cuts to transportation funding, which have been proposed by Governor Quinn.

The timing is perfect for you to give your input!

Please join the parents and educators from across the region in contacting the Illinois Senate President and your state senator, asking for their SUPPORT of HB 494 for the following reasons:

• Virtual/online charter schools were not in existence at the time the current law was created.
• The current funding formula for charters is not applicable, since virtual/online charter schools do not require brick-and-mortar buildings, transportation, food services, security, etc.
• Research is inconclusive as to the effectiveness of these schools.

The following is a map of the state legislative boundaries within D300, to assist you in determining who is your state senator: http://www.d300.org/sites/default/files/documents/d300-state-legislative-boundary-map-12313.pdf.  For your convenience, we have provided the following contact information:

John Cullerton
Illinois Senate President
217.782.2728 phone
cullerton@senatedem.illinois.gov

Dan Duffy
Senator for the 26th District
847.277.7100 phone
Dan@SenatorDuffy.com

Karen McConnaughay
Senator for the 33rd District
217.782.1977 phone
karenmcconnaughay33@gmail.com

Dave Syverson
Senator for the 35th District
815.987.7555 phone
info@senatordavesyverson.com

Michael Noland
Senator for the 22nd District
847.214.8864
noland@senatedem.illinois.gov

To be clear, online learning is already a major part of the D300 instructional program.

We believe strongly that online tools are a crucial component of our curriculum.

We are also very proud of the D300 charter school, Cambridge Lakes Learning Center, that was built in 2007 and approved by our School Board.

But we are strongly opposed to the particular proposal we received from VLS.  We feel it is important to support HB 494, so that the local communities have the necessary time to address our concerns and develop a better option for our students.

To watch videos of the D300 School Board’s discussions on this important issue, you may visit our Board Docs webpage: http://www.boarddocs.com/il/d300/Board.nsf/Public.  (Click on the Meetings tab at the top of the page and select 2013.  To watch the public hearing, choose the March 19, 2013, Special Board of Education Meeting, and click on Watch Video.  To watch discussion by our Board members when they voted against the proposal, choose the April 8, 2013, Board of Education Meeting, scroll down to agenda item #9.2, and click on Watch Video.)

Thank you for your support, and enjoy the beautiful weekend.

Dr. Michael Bregy
Superintendent of Schools
Community Unit School District 300

A press release from School District 300:

That comment by State Rep. Mike Tryon (R-Crystal Lake) pretty much summed up the District 300 Legislative Committee meeting at Jacobs High School Tuesday night.

Tryon succinctly summarized the state’s financial situation at the end of the meeting in answer to a compound question, part of which was whethe3r the two local legislators present–Tryon and State Senator Karen McConnaughay–favored prorating State Aid to Education payments.

Traveling from her North Shore district to discuss pension reform, Democrat State Rep. Elaine Nekritz explained that State Aid to Education has been prorated at 85% of what the formula dictated.

Tryon pointed out that with a 1.2% increase in the state economy, State Aid payments could not keep up with teacher salary increases of 2-2.5%.

“It won’t work,” he said.

Several times the trade-off on pension responsibility from state taxpayers to local property taxpayers was advanced by low taxed Chicago politicians was discussed.

To put the disparity of real estate tax burdens in perspective, Tryon told of House Speaker Mike Madigan’s tax bill of $4,900 on his $341,000 home in Chicago.

A tax bill in Crystal Lake on a $341,000 home would be $12,000, Tryon pointed out.

“We can’t afford anymore money on our property tax.”

Tryon did say he was amenable to talking about a trade-off, if the money saved was put into the State Aid Formula for the districts where the shift occurred, if I understood what he said.

Before he left for another engagement, commenting on the state’s fiscal condition, State Rep. Keith Farnham (D-Elgin) said, “I really don’t believe we can totally cut our way out of this.”

Freshman State Senator McConnaughay added, “There are more needs than there are available dollars.”

She added, “If the state can’t pay its bills, there’s no way to avoid…difficult choices without shared pain on the part of all.”

A note from District 300′s Allison Strupeck:

This is a reminder that the D300 Legislative Reception is tonight (Jan. 22) in the commons area of Jacobs High School (2601 Bunker Hill Dr, Algonquin), as hosted by the D300 Board Legislative Committee.

Please park on the side of the school and walk into the main/front entrance.

A meet-and-greet with the legislators and village officials is 5:30 to 6 p.m., and the agenda (albeit informal) starts at 6 p.m.

The public forum portion will begin roughly around 6:45 p.m. and everything should conclude by about 7:30 p.m.

My office is continuing to receive RSVP’s.

Currently, yes’s and maybe’s include

• Senator Karen McConnaughay,
• Representative Keith Farnham,
• Representative Tim Schmitz,
• Senator Dan Duffy, and
• Representative Mike Tryon, plus
• a representative of Rep. David McSweeney’s Office.

We also anticipate having community leaders from Algonquin, West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow, and others. Additionally, one of the co-sponsors of pension reform legislation is planning to attend who had heard about our event through the grapevine. See you tonight.

A press release from School District 300:

HHS principal returns to operations position

Hampshire High School Principal Chuck Bumbales has accepted the request of the Superintendent to return to his former position as Assistant Superintendent of Operations.

Bumbales was emotional as he shared the news with his staff today (Friday, Jan. 18). During his previous tenure as D300 operations chief from 2004 to 2008, he personally oversaw the construction of the new high school in Hampshire from its groundbreaking through the grand opening. When he became principal of the school in 2007-08 (which had him working two jobs that year), he hired the school staff and shaped the culture of the school’s new home.

“This was an incredibly difficult decision, as everyone at this school means so much to me,” Bumbales said. “After serious consideration of Superintendent Bregy’s request that I assist his team with some major district-wide projects over the next few years, I decided that I could best serve the students and community of D300 in the area of operations.”

A graduate of D300, Bumbales began his career in the district in 1985 as an English teacher at Jacobs High School. He went on to become an administrator at Jacobs and then Algonquin Middle School before joining the Central Office in 1998. He held leadership roles in the areas of accountability, curriculum and instruction before shifting to operations in 2004.

Dr. Bregy noted Bumbales’ unique set of skills, experience, and historical knowledge, and said that the Board of Education is supportive of the decision to move Bumbales back into operations.

“We have some very heavy lifting ahead of us in the near future when it comes to short- and long-term facility planning, and we could think of no better fit than Chuck,” Dr. Bregy said. “He knows our community. He knows our schools. He knows our systems. We wish we did not have to ask him to leave Hampshire, but he is quite literally the perfect person for this difficult job.”

Bumbales officially takes his new position on July 1, 2013, but will begin working right away on some major multi-year projects, including boundary changes. The district is now in the early, preliminary phase of researching the likely adjustment of attendance boundaries for some schools. These adjustments will occur as early as the 2014-2015 school year; the affected schools have not yet been determined. The changes will be necessary for a variety of reasons, such as needing to make the best use of classroom space across the district in light of smaller class sizes, addressing enrollment surges and crowded conditions at some schools, and determining what grade-level configuration is in the best interest of students.

Bumbales will also be charged with developing a 10-year preventative maintenance plan for the district, overseeing the enrollment projections process, supporting the staffing process, and rewriting the district’s capital improvement plan (last updated in 2005) under a variety of possible funding scenarios.

He will not receive a salary increase to take the operations position, and he will continue with his plans to retire in summer 2016. His shift to the Central Office will occur as Assistant Superintendent for Teaching & Learning Instructional Services Tom Hay retires this summer. Hay’s position will not be refilled, and his job duties will be dispersed among members of the Teaching & Learning Leadership Team.

The district will begin accepting applications next week for the Hampshire High School Principal position, with the goal of selecting the new principal before the end of this school year. Mirroring the process that was successfully used in recent years to select new principals for other D300 schools, the selection process for the new HHS principal will be collaborative and rigorous including the input of school and district staff, students, and parents.

Below is a press release from District 300 about the ratification of the contract that came about after a one-day teachers strike.

If you would like to read highlights I picked out of the over 100-page contract, including salary information in dollar amounts amounts,  you can do so here.

If you would like to delve deeper into the 40,000+ word contract, you can find it here.

Board and Teachers’ Union Approve 3‐Year Contract

The Community Unit School District 300 Board of Education (Board) and Local Education Association District 300 (LEAD 300) have approved a 3‐year contract for the time period from July 1, 2012, to June 30, 2015.

The membership of LEAD 300 ratified the contract yesterday (Dec. 19), and the Board voted to approve the contract this evening (Dec. 20).

Contract negotiations focused on several issues that will positively impact the students’ learning environment by lowering class sizes and improving teachers’ working conditions.

The Board and LEAD 300 mutually understand best practices regarding class size and the direct impact these practices have on education.

The Board agrees to make class size a priority and make every effort to keep class sizes at a reasonable number.

To that extent, the Board and LEAD 300 have agreed to form a joint class size committee to monitor class sizes across the district.

Beginning with the 2013‐2014 school year, class sizes will generally be as follows:

The agreement includes a modification of the high school day from eight, 45‐minute periods plus a 30‐minute
lunch, to nine, 45‐minute periods, one of which is a lunch period.

This alteration allows for consistency in both teacher and student schedules, and also makes it possible for students to have greater flexibility in course selection.

Administration and LEAD 300 will create several committees whose representative membership will work
toward creating a collaborative structure for addressing the ongoing needs of District 300 staff and students. The focus of these committees will include:

• A Class Size Committee that will monitor class size and continue to explore options to reduce class sizes in order to create academically sound environments within budgetary and facility constraints
• Collaborative Councils for each instructional level and education services that will help maintain open communication and explore solutions to ongoing issues
• An Insurance Committee that will monitor District‐wide insurance plans and costs in order to ensure fiscal responsibility while maintaining appropriate levels of employee benefits
• A Performance Evaluation Reform Act [PERA] Committee that will create and monitor the procedures for evaluations of certified staff to ensure quality educators for all students in the District
• A joint committee that will help create a more collegial, supportive workplace environment, free from harassment and bullying through policy and procedural changes

The average salary increase for the 3‐year contract will be as follows:

• 2012‐2013: Step plus 1%
• 2013‐2014: Step only
• 2014‐2015: Step plus 1%

“Step” refers to movement on the existing salary schedule and varies depending on employees’ years of service and education, but on average it equals 2%.

Beginning with the 2013‐2014 school year, LEAD 300 retirement benefits will decrease from a 6% adjustment for each of the last four years of service to 3%. The benefit will sunset as of 2015.

Once formatting has been completed for printing purposes, the full contract is anticipated to be available on the Human Resources page of the district website, www.d300.org, by mid‐January 2013.

The instructional day missed on Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012, due to the strike will be made up at the end of the school year.

This means that unless any emergency/snow days are used this school year, the last day of school will be Wednesday, May 22, 2013.

Today, Carpentersville District 300 teachers were voting on whether to ratify the contract recently negotiated by the LEAD300 union folks and the school board.

You can read the entire contract here, complete with red color to indicate last minute changes.

The most interesting last minute change in the contract is seen below:

High school teachers (excluding PE and music) teaching a sixth (6^th) assignment for the 2012-2013 school year shall receive a one-time, extra pay stipend in the amount of $2,200. High school teachers who work a combination of PE and other subjects will receive a prorated stipend based upon their non-PE assignment. The total amount of stipends paid cannot exceed $90,000.

I’m going to skim through it and see what I find interesting.

• Taxpayers will finance “1.16 Full Time Equivalents of member of the bargaining unit time for the purpose of conducting Association business,” minus the cost of hiring a substitute. (President Release Time)
• Maximum students K-2 in 2013-14 will be 27 (28 enrolled), 3rd to 5th 30 (31 enrolled)
• Maximum students K-2 in 2014-15 will be 26 (27 enrolled), 3rd to 5th 28 (29 enrolled)
• PE and music education teachers’ student contact time will decrease from 1575 to 1500 minutes per week.
• Maximum students for middle school in 2013-14 will be 186, average class of 31, paid overload if more
• Maximum students for middle school in 2013-14 will be average class of 31, paid overload if more
• Middle School teachers shall have no more than 300 minutes of student contact per day
• Based on a nine period day, all general education teachers shall teach no more than five class periods plus one ELT per day or six classes. If more, shall be paid one-fifth of base salary
• High School teachers shall have no more than 285 minutes of student classes plus one ASP may be assigned 155 students; high school teachers teaching six (6) classes may be assigned 186 students. If more, overload pay.
• In the 2014-2015 school year, high school teachers may be assigned a cap of 31 students per class. If more, overload pay.
• High school teachers shall not be required to teach in more than two different subject area departments in any given school semester without additional compensation at the rate of $600.00 per semester.
• Instead of coming to school twenty minutes early and staying twenty minutes after school, the new contract says fifteen minutes and five minutes, respectively181 days of work.
• 181 days of work.
• Divers Ed is limited to three students per vehicle.
• There is whistle blowing protection.
• Twelve sick days credited at the beginning of the year; unused sick days may accumulate without limit.
• Two personal days a year which shall be accumulated as sick days if unused.
• No docking for jury, DCFS, court or administrative hearings or testimony.
• There is a sick leave bank
• Early retirement is possible at age 55 without discount provisions under some circumstances. The District will pay the employer share of the early retirement penalty.
• Up to 40 days of unpaid sick leave can be put into an HRA upon retirement.
• Employees notifing the District that one is retiring four years ahead of time shall receive an increase equal to three percent compounded of the teacher’s TRS creditable earnings for the previous school year for a maximum of four years immediately prior to retirement,plus $500 a year for an HRA account.
• Extra pay amounts and schedule will increase by 2%, 1% and 1% over the three years of the contract.
• A goal has been set that health insurance costs not increase more than 14% a year. If they do, the goal is to cut benefits.
• Taxpayers will pay 70% of the cost of family health insurance.
• 80% of the cost of dental insurance shall be paid by the taxpayers.
• Taxpayer-paid life insurance of $50,000 shall be provided.
• 80% of vision insurance shall be paid by the taxpayers.
• $250 a year will be put in each HRA.
• Mileage will be paid traveling from school to school and for district meetings.
• Members on a step that cannot advance on the salary schedule will receive a 3%, 2% and 3% increase over the three-year contract.
• The District shall pay 5% (5 percentage points of the required 9.5% of payroll) of the TRS payment.
• There’s an extra pay for extra work table.
• The name of the Pom-Pom Squad has been changed to Athletics Dance Team.
• The Instructional Rate is typically paid for work that requires planning, instruction, testing, and/or creation of written documents.
• The Non-Instructional Rate is paid for work that requires physical presence but not instruction.
• There is plenty of language about Special Education.
• A member of a protected group is generally one who is older than 40, disabled, a female or a minority. One may not treat a member of a protected group differently than the rest of the employee group without cause. The burden of proof is on the supervisor.

Salary Schedules

Licensed Practical Nurses get paid $22.60 to $33.40 per hour.

And here are the first day filings:

• Anne Miller (Algonquin)
• David Alessio (Algonquin, Dundee Township)
• Kathleen Burley (Algonquin)

Miller and Alessio are incumbents.

A robo-call from District 300 Board member Joe Stevens tonight announced the settlement of the LEAD300 teachers union strike:

“Good evening. This is Joe Stevens, member of the District 300 Board of Education and District spokesperson regarding the ongoing negotiations between the Teachers Union, LEAD 300, and the Board of Education.

“Board of Education and LEAD 300 negotiation teams met today to try to find a resolution.

“On behalf of LEAD and the Board, I am pleased to report that we officially reached a tentative agreement this evening with LEAD for a new 3-year contract.

“The strike has ended, and schools will be in session tomorrow, Wednesday, December 5th.

“It was through the combined efforts of LEAD’s leadership team and the Board’s leadership team that we are able to end the strike.

“Both LEAD and the Board deeply appreciate the amount of public input we have received on these incredibly important issues.

“Your support for our efforts and for the learning environment was impressive.

“It is clear that we all share a mutual concern for our students’ success.

“As is customary in these types of situations, no details of our tentative agreement will be released by either party until the agreement is ratified by the LEAD membership and accepted by the Board of Education which is anticipated to take place no sooner than December 18th.

“Thank you.”

= = = = =
Such a shame the taxpayer pubic is not able to see the contract before those who negotiated in secret vote to approve it.