Here’s what going on at District 205 Schools…
By Chris Fox
For The Elmhurst Independent
The Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 Board held a meeting on April 25 at the District 205 Center. The meeting began with the recognition of outgoing board member Emily Bastedo and the introduction of Kara Caforio who joined incumbents Jim Collins and Margaret Harrell in winning terms in the April 4 election. (See related story elsewhere in this issue.)
The board elected officers as follows: Shannon Ebner, Board president; Harrell, Board vice president; Karen Stuefen, Board secretary.
• Current, future debt obligations discussed
The meeting included a presentation from Elizabeth Hennessy, managing director of William Blair in Chicago. Hennessy discussed the district’s current and future debt obligations and provided options for repaying potential future bond issues. Any potential bond issue she discussed would require a voter-approved referendum. Hennessy’s options included the issuing of $100 million, $128 million and $151 million in referendum bonds. Hennessy told the board the district had shortened its debt and lowered its annual payments in the last four years, which put the district in a good position as it considers its capital needs and financing options to issue more bonds.
Noting the district’s current debt, Hennessy said the district’s highest annual debt service payment over the next few years will be about $15.9 million during 2022. The debt service payment will be about $15 million in the prior year—2021—and about $10 million in 2023. She added that if the district doesn’t take on any additional debt in the next few years, it will be debt-free by 2025.
• Presentation given on mobile learning initiative
Mary Henderson-Baum, the district’s assistant superintendent for learning and teaching, gave a presentation about the district’s mobile learning initiative (MLI) during the board meeting. Henderson-Baum noted that the implementation of the MIL during the current school year provided all fifth-graders with Chromebooks. The student to Chromebook ratio for fourth-graders this school year is 2 to 1. She added that during the current school year, about 120 K-5 teachers in the district have participated in introductory courses related to using Chromebooks.
Henderson-Baum said the proposed MLI implementation for the 2017-18 school year calls for one-to-one student to Chromebook ratios for third- and fourth-graders.
• District to lease technology equipment
Later in the meeting, board members voted unanimously to authorize a three-year, $1 buy-out, lease/purchase agreement with U.S. Bancorp Government Leasing and Finance, Inc. The agreement for technology equipment is not to exceed $780,000, with three annual payments not to exceed about $265,000 each in fiscal years 2018, 2019 and 2020. The deal includes the $332,500 lease of approximately 475 Dell laptops (at $700 each) for staff, as well as a lease of about $360,000 for 1,130 Chromebooks (at about $320 each) for district students in grades 3 and 4. The deal also includes the lease of 12 new Konica Minolta multi-function printer/copiers (at a charge of about $79,000), which will be used various district schools.
Board members also voted unanimously to approve about $320,000 in computer purchases this summer. That total includes the purchase of 775 Chromebooks (at $322.25 per unit) for York High School freshmen and incoming transfers, as well as the purchase of seven Apple iMacs (at about $2,000 per unit) for the York music department. The total purchase will also include 45 Chromebook storage/charging carts (at $1,220 per unit), which will be provided to each grade 3 and 4 classroom.
The district will make the purchase from CDW-G. There may be some minor adjustments to the final order. The board approved a purchase not to exceed $325,000. According to the district, the sale of Chromebooks to York families is expected to result in revenues of about $200,000.
• Hawthorne principal appointed director of literacy
In other action at the meeting, the board unanimously approved the appointment of Nikki Tammaru as the district’s director of literacy. Tammaru, who is now the principal of Hawthorne Elementary School, will begin her new position on July 1, with an annual salary of about $129,500.
The board also voted to accept a $10,000 donation from the Hawthorne Elementary School PTA, which will be used for the school’s classroom library needs. Additionally, the board voted to accept a donation not to exceed $3,000 from the Edison Elementary School PTA. That donation will be used to expand the selections in the school’s guided reading library.
• Update on Focus 205, timeline for Phase II discussed
Superintendent Dr. David Moyer addressed the board during the meeting and provided a draft timeline for the future steps for Phase II of the district’s Focus 205 work. Moyer said the administration is in the process of working with its current architect and construction firms—Wight and Company and James McHugh Construction Co.—with the hope of presenting some general concepts and big-picture ideas to the board at the upcoming May 9 meeting. Moyer said the May 9 presentation would also include information as to how those would ideas would fit within certain bond scenarios.
Collins stated members of the public related in Focus 205 feedback sessions that they wanted pricing information attached to each potential construction project. Moyer stated the administration would provide more specifics during the May 9 meeting. Moyer mentioned in his comments that York High School’s auditorium is in desperate need of attention. He said he had no idea how to fund any renovations to the auditorium if they weren’t included in a referendum-related bond issue.
• Superintendent joins 400 others to urge an end to budget impasse in Springfield
Board member Chris Blum noted during the board communications segment of the meeting that the State of Illinois owes about $3.7 million in payments to the district. Moyer noted that he was one of 400 superintendents in the state who signed a letter urging the Illinois General Assembly and Governor Rauner to end the state’s budget impasse, improve the state’s education funding formula and pay school districts what they are owed this year. According to District 205, state revenue accounts for about $9.3 million, which is about 8 percent of the district’s operating budget. The General State Aid payments are reportedly being paid on time, but the “Mandated Categoricals” are not. The “Mandated Categoricals”, states the district, support special education, bilingual education transportation and other services. The state reportedly owes the district about $2.6 million in special education funding and nearly $1 million in transportation-related funding.
Collins mentioned in the board communications portion of the meeting that York High School had been ranked 18th in Illinois in U.S. News and World Report’s Best High School’s list, which had been released earlier in the day.
