RECOMMENDATIONSTO THE

BOARD OF EDUCATION

Presented by Engage 204 Facilitating Team Leaders: Jessica Johnson, Mark Lobos, Crystal

Porter and Archana Sharma

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Agenda

• Why Engage 204?• Engage 204 in Review• Recommendations from Engage 204

Participants

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Why Engage 204?• Formation of a broad-based team of

community and staff members to solicit stakeholder hopes, feedback, ideas and suggestions• Engage in meaningful dialogue and discussion• Gather input from the community to advise the

Board in the formulation of a plan for immediate, intermediate, and long-term planning

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Why Engage 204?

Purpose• Review current and accurate information that

reflects the community’s priorities related to the future operations and educational opportunities for students in District 204

• Involve a broad-based group of citizens in dialogue and deliberation

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The Process

• Facilitating Team (FT)• Community Engagement Sessions (CES)

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Facilitating TeamMembers Role

• Community Team Leaders

• Community Members

• Staff Representatives

• District Leadership

• Board of Education Liaisons

• Process

• Strategy

• Communications

• Agendas

• Materials

• Final Report of Community Recommendations

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Facilitating TeamTeam Roster

Community Team Leaders Jessica JohnsonMario LambertMark Lobos

Dr. Crystal PorterArchana Sharma

Community Members Peter BarnardAudra BraskiRuby ChawlaAnnie ColeAurelie DuboisAngie Gaul

Christine JeffriesChris LeshockRachel OssyraEric RoseRandy SidioChad Stevens

District Representatives Dr. Karen SullivanJay Strang

Janet BuglioPaul Gamboa

School Board Members Mike Raczak Susan Demming

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CES Calendar/SyllabusSession Date/Time Location

CES 1 November 14, 20177:00-9:00 pm Still Middle School

CES 2 December 7, 20177:00-9:00 pm Still Middle School

CES 3 January 29, 20187:00-9:00 pm Still Middle School

CES 4 February 26, 20187:00-9:00 pm Still Middle School

CES 5 March 20, 20187:00-9:00 pm Still Middle School

Presentation to the Board

May 21, 20187:00 pm Crouse Education Center

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Session Attendance• Nearly 490 stakeholders attended at least one

session• Average session attendance was 131

stakeholders

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Session AttendanceType Total

Parent (Current Student) 421Parent (Former Student) 53Parent (Future Student) 41

Alumni 17Staff 44

Community Member 90Business Owner 18

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Additional FeedbackIn addition to in-person feedback provided by attendees at each Engage 204 session, the district received:

• 13 emails• 19 comment cards

This additional feedback covered 14 different topics including: achievement gap, boundaries, and school safety

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What did we learn?

ENGAGE 204RECOMMENDATIONS

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Community Engagement Topics

• Session 1 – State of the District• Session 2 – Changing Enrollment• Session 3 – Academics• Session 4 – Facilities• Session 5 – Budget

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Community Engagement Presenters

• Session 1 – Dr. Karen Sullivan, Superintendent• Session 2 – Jay Strang, Chief School Business Official

Robert Schwarz, RSP & Associates• Session 3 – Kathy Pease, Chief Academic Officer

Dr. Louis Lee, Assistant Superintendent• Session 4 – Jay Strang, Chief School Business Official

Todd DePaul, Building Operations DirectorJennifer Costanzo, Architect, STR Partners LLC

• Session 5 – Jay Strang, Chief School Business Official

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FinancesEngage 204 participants provided feedback regarding financial priorities.

• Facilities’ & Programming Needs • Priorities

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FinancesPriority recommendations:

1. Class size ($16.7M annual)2. Deferred maintenance projects ($10M)3. Teacher salaries ($7.5M annual)4. Additional staff ($4.2M annual)5. Locks and intercoms ($2M) tied with5. Space for alternative high school and STEPS

program ($1.2M annual)7. Elementary air conditioning ($7M)8. Capital maintenance spending ($4M annual)

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Academic Programs & ServicesEngage 204 participants suggested that the school district explore various opportunities to continue to enhance the students’ future readiness.

• Teacher Training & Additional Staff• Student Wellness• Class Sizes• STEPS/Special Education

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Facilities & MaintenanceEngage 204 participants offered suggestions for addressing facility maintenance and improvements.

• Facility Improvements• Safety and Security• Financial Options

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School BoundariesEngage 204 participants noted the importance of addressing the under-utilized and over-utilized schools in Indian Prairie School District 204.

• Comprehensive Redistricting Study• Neighborhood Consideration• Transportation• Travel Times

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Additional Considerations

• Engage 204 gathered important feedback from a relatively small sample of District stakeholders.– Explore utilizing a comprehensive feedback

mechanism to gather broader community input on potential solutions

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Additional Considerations• Consider new information that may impact

key decisions to be made as it becomes available.– Wagner Farms – This information became

available after the Changing Enrollment presentation in Session Two.

– As such, community recommendations are based on information that did not include this factor that will impact student enrollment in the south end of the District.

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Facilitating Team Impressions• The Engage 204 process provided valuable

information to the IPSD 204 stakeholders• The information presented and subsequent

discussion clearly illustrated the school district’s significant need for funding

• It is evident from the Engage 204 process that important decisions need to be made to ensure IPSD 204 will be able to effectively meet future needs of students and staff

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Engage 204 Information

• IPSD 204 stakeholders are encouraged to review the information shared during the Engage 204 process.

• Session presentation videos and slides as well as small group responses will continue to be available at engage204.org

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