The Cook County High School robotics team demonstrated their robot to the school board Wednesday, April 21, 2010. The team came in 43rd out of 67 teams at the state competition April 1-2. (L-R), Industrial Arts teacher/competition advisor Eli Hill, Max Simonowicz, Alton Danielson, Alex Ditmanson, mentor Tim Johnson, school board member Leonard Sobanja, Principal Gwen Carman, Karl Ingebrigtsen, school board member Eric Kemp.
Whether it was the Industrial Arts classes that will be offered next fall, the cleaning schedule for school facilities, or the possibility of a four-day week, much of the ISD 166 school board’s discussion Wednesday, April 21, 2010 went back to the issue of money.
Stonemason Ian Johnson took advantage of the community comments portion of the school board meeting to support continued full-time funding for a shop teacher. One of the budget-reducing changes Superintendent Beth Schwarz suggested for next year was to reduce the hours of shop teacher Eli Hill.
“I wouldn’t live here if I [hadn’t taken] shop class,” Johnson said, “because I don’t think I could afford it.” He said that if Hill left to secure fulltime work, the school would not be able to replace him with anyone as qualified or as willing to put forth so much effort.
Superintendent Schwarz confirmed that Hill puts in a lot of uncompensated time, saying she would often see him at the school at 8:00 or 9:00 p.m., helping students prepare for the robotics competition held at the beginning of April.
Hill said the kids themselves spent over 125 hours building their robot and preparing for the competition with adult mentors Joe Sanders, Jonathan Hedstrom, and Tim Johnson. In addition to engineering, students gain skills in graphic design, budget planning, and website design as part of the project.
Hill was at the meeting with the robotics team and their robot, a square platform on wheels with the ability to scale large obstacles. “The idea is to inspire and encourage people to become engineers,” he said of the competition.
“These guys raised almost $8,000 this year,” Hill said. The competition alone requires a $5,000 entry fee. Thanks to numerous grants and donations, the team has about enough left over in its coffers for next year’s entry fee, Hill said.
Schwarz expressed puzzlement over why 35 students signed up for study hall next year during a class period in which they could take an engineering and robotics class instead. Only five students have signed up for that class.
School board member Rob Wannebo stated that if they want the program to grow, the district needs to support it and let the community know they believe it’s important.
Hill said participation in this nationwide competition seems to be growing. Student Alex Ditmanson said that the “gracious professionalism” shown by students at the competition was “astounding.”
Four-day week
Superintendent Schwarz asked the board whether she should continue to pursue the possibility of moving to a four-day week the fall of 2011. It would save the district $100,000-130,000 a year, she said.
“It’s a savings, but is it worth it?” school board member Leonard Sobanja asked. He thought some people might vote no on next fall’s referendum if they think a four-day week would solve the district’s problems.
School board member Eric Kemp suggested that they table the discussion until after the referendum, saying he thinks the referendum should be a higher priority right now. “If a fourday week were off the table right now,” he said, “there would be a lot more time and energy for other things.”
The board talked about trying to get community input on the issue. Mary Sanders said she thinks they could get community input without compromising the time they need to spend on reducing the budget and promoting the referendum.
Kemp told the Cook County
News-Herald
later that he had been told they would get input from teachers in March and from the community in April so they could make a decision in June, giving the school enough time to make arrangements to switch over to a four-day week by fall 2011 if that was the decision. Community input had not been sought as of the end of April, and Schwarz stated that the faculty was not ready to endorse the change.
By split vote, the board voted to hold community meetings in several areas of the county in May. Voting yes were Bill Huggins, Rod Wannebo, and Mary Sanders. Voting no were Leonard Sobanja and Eric Kemp.
2010-11 budget
The board discussed budget reductions for next year and their impact on teacher jobs and class scheduling. Superintendent Schwarz recommended that several things be added back into the preliminary budget, including more janitorial time to maintain industry cleaning standards (up to $31,215), adding health service staff time ($2,000), and updating failing surveillance equipment ($21,000).
Leonard Sobanja took issue with Schwarz’s recommendation to replace old surveillance equipment. Putting money toward student needs is more important, he said. Schwarz responded by saying that the school refers to the videos frequently and new equipment could be purchased over time.
Schwarz updated the board on the district’s budget. As of March 31, the school had spent $230,440 more for the school year than it had budgeted. The reserve fund was used to cover the deficit.
The board will discuss the budget further at a work session May 5 at 5:15.
Midwinter break
A survey asking for opinions on continuing both a midwinter break and a spring break brought 368 responses. Just over 50% of respondents said they would like to see both breaks remain. Twenty-six percent voted for having no winter break, just under 13% voted to shorten winter break, and the rest (just under 11%) voted to shorten or eliminate spring break or eliminate both.
Eric Kemp said that the Great Expectations Charter School newsletter encouraged parents to answer the survey, since their schedule must match that of ISD 166 in order for the charter school to use Cook County Schools’ bus service. He questioned the validity of the survey because of that. “Thisis our calendar and it’s our decision,” he said.
Leonard Sobanja opposed changing the schedule, saying that when midwinter break was started during his tenure as high school principal, discipline problems decreased.
Kemp said jumping into state tests right after spring break like students did this year could affect test scores. Those families who can afford a vacation could still take it if they want to, even if school is in session, he said.
Whatever decision they make is going to upset a “huge chunk of people,” Superintendent Schwarz said. “Educationally, I lean toward the one break,” she said. “Politically, I lean toward two breaks.” She said a vocal portion of the staff has advocated to keep both breaks, but a few “quiet ones” have told her they would enjoy getting out of school a week earlier in June.
Bill Huggins suggested they leave both breaks in next year and give the matter further consideration. By split vote, the board passed a motion to go with both breaks next year. Voting yes were Mary Sanders, Leonard Sobanja, and Bill Huggins. Voting no were Rod Wannebo and Eric Kemp.
Golf
The board voted to discontinue the golf program next year because of low participation rates. Superintendent Schwarz said some of the kids attend practice but do not participate in competitions.
In an email to the Cook
County News-Herald,
Athletic Director Pam Taylor said three girls and 12 boys signed up for golf this year, but not all of them have paid the required fees. The first meet had not taken place yet, but six or seven of 11 golfers competed last year.
Taylor said she does not oppose allowing kids to participate in the sport but not compete. “My concern is when I have a coach gone from school all day and only having a few kids compete,” she wrote. She stated that one parent expressed interest in finding donations to keep the program running.
Retirements
Retiring at the end of this year are elementary teacher Deonn Cicak and speech therapist Barb Coe. The board accepted their resignations with gratitude. Also not returning next year will be Marie Helbach, who will be pursuing a career in doing mathematics rather than teaching mathematics.
Spring coaches
Coaches for spring sports are as follows:
Baseball: Arleigh Jorgenson, head, and TJ Super, assistant.
Softball: Jessica Anderson, head, and Monica Schnobrich, assistant.
Golf: Scott Steinbach, head, and Stephanie Radloff, assistant.
Track: Chris Hegg and April Wahlstrom, volunteers.
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