The School District 166 school board narrowly agreed at their August 4, 2015 meeting to do a district wide mail-in ballot for the upcoming vote on the operating referendum in November. School Board Chair Jeanne Anderson said that she personally liked the idea of holding the election in the same manner as all other elections rather than a full mail in ballot. She was joined by board member Sissy Lunde in opposing the all mail-in ballot option. The option passed with a vote of 3-2.
The cost of the all mail-in election is estimated to be $13,044. An election using only polling places and no mail-in ballots would be $9,560 for three hours from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. That amount would increase however if the polling hours were extended. The cost for an election run in the same manner as a general election with a combination of polling places and mail-in ballots for different voting district would be somewhere in between.
The referendum, if approved, would replace a current property tax levy of approximately $400,000 that will expire this year. The new levy would yield an approximate $600,000.
The ballots must be received by Election Day if mailed or can be physically delivered to the Cook County Auditor’s office on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Increase in State Funding
Superintendent Beth Schwarz reported on the financial impact of the 2015 legislative session. Because of changes at the state level, Cook County Schools will receive an additional increase of $89,650 for the 2015-2016 school year. That amount will increase to $177,000 the following year.
Attendance Policy
The question of what is too much relating to absenteeism from school was a topic as the board debated the proposed attendance policy. Of concern is that some students miss as many as 20 to 35 school days per quarter. Currently the policy allows for unlimited student absences from school if the absence is approved by the student’s parent. Schwarz explained that family contact is made when the school believes nonattendance is excessive but the responses from parents vary.
The goal of the policy is to make sure children who are absent from school are missing for appropriate reasons. Much of the discussion revolved around medical related absences. Lunde was very concerned with the confidentiality of information such as notes from doctors.
The adoption of the policy was tabled and the existing procedures will remain in place until an acceptable alternative can be arrived at. A suggestion that a task force be established to assist in developing the rules was briefly discussed. The committee could include parents, faculty and members of the student council.
Open Lunch Policy
Schwarz noted that she has been approached with requests that the existing policy that restricts most students from leaving campus over the lunch hour be revisited. She agreed that this is a fairly new policy and it would be a good idea for the board to review it now that it has been in place for a full school year. The discussion will probably be added to a meeting agenda in the latter part of September.
Leave a Reply