In light of declining enrollment and state budget shortfalls, a community member’s offer to help fundraise for ISD166 is very timely. On July 19, 2011, Dick Struck, a retired professional fundraiser, talked to the school board about offering his services in order to help the school district provide the best possible education for Cook County students. How his offer would be accepted was another matter, however.
Struck, who raised over $40,000,000 over the course of 24 years in the business, offered to coordinate a philanthropic giving initiative and requested $2,400 from the school to help him get started. The $2,400 would cover things like a fundraising brochure, letterhead, gift receipts, presentation folders, and gifting reports. Struck’s time would be at no charge.
Struck said the private sector often funds public endeavors very successfully. He believed the prospect of getting large donations and endowments was good. “If you don’t ask, you don’t get,” he said.
Struck proposed including this initiative under the umbrella of the Cook County Schools Education Foundation, which sponsors fundraising events like E.A.T.S. – Enriching Academics Through Sustenance. School board member Mary Sanders, liaison to the Education Foundation, expressed concern over how large endowments would necessitate a change in the structure of the foundation, which could result in losing its 501c3 status, being charged excise taxes, and having to do more detailed reporting. This change would also require a different board structure.
“The Education Foundation doesn’t want to see itself destroyed,” Sanders said. “Who’s going to do all the reporting?”
Superintendent Schwarz said school personnel could do the reporting if the foundation changed its structure and had to do more reporting. She said some members of the foundation board disagreed with Struck on some tax laws regarding a change in structure.
Struck said he would prefer to work through the Education Foundation. It would need to increase from an eight-member board to a 15-member board, which would help the fundraising effort, anyway. To be most successful, he said, the effort would require the school board, the foundation, and donors to all help raise enthusiasm for supporting the school.
“We can be bigger than this,” said Sanders, “but it’s a whole different concept.” She expressed concern over what would be expected of board members.
The school needs to get to work on getting large donations, Struck said. “You need the money 20 years ago,” he said.
The board passed a motion approving a $2,500 budget for Struck to begin his work, with or without it being part of the Education Foundation. School board member Terry Collins said that Schwarz’s new contract has “leadership in fundraising” in it, and this endeavor would help her do that part of her job.
A.C.E. program ends after grievance resolved
The board approved a memorandum of understanding between the district and the teachers’ union—the Cook County Education Association— regarding the pay rate for the Alternative Choice Education (A.C.E.) program that offered remedial opportunities for students to complete course credits.
The district agreed to pay $29.50 per hour for A.C.E. teaching assignments during the school year, retroactive to September 1, 2010. The prior rate had been $27 per hour. Teachers would be paid their contracted hourly rate for summertime A.C.E. classes.
The memorandum states, “… The A.C.E. Services Program(s) will be discontinued prior to the 2011-2012 education year because of the school district’s financial inability to sustain the program(s)….”
Superintendent Schwarz said the school had no plan for replacing A.C.E., but they would consider looking into online options. “Our A.C.E. program is well into the red,” she said.
New teacher hirings
The board approved the following hirings for the 2011-2012 school year: Heather Kemp, fourth grade teacher; Amanda Hand, preschool teacher; Bernice Kloster and Ciera Profitt, Early Childhood Family Education assistants.
Superintendent Schwarz reported that Eric Frost would be entering his third year under a variance as an early elementary special education teacher since his certification is in another area – secondary English. If the district had an opening in the secondary English department, he would automatically be hired for that job (if he wanted it) with tenure.
School board member Terry Collins said he was opposed to hiring someone with tenure right away if the district had not had an opportunity to evaluate the teacher’s performance in that area. He would like to see a probationary period implemented in such a case. Superintendent Schwarz said some districts have done this.
Schwarz said 17 percent of Frost’s duties this coming year would probably include middle school English intervention.
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