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CCSD66 Notes

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Funding Impasse Continues

Governor Blagojevich made a rare trip to Springfield on Monday to attempt to broker a budget deal with the legislature, but had no success. In a Chicago Tribune article dated May 29, 2007 the Governor was critical of House Speaker Madigan and fellow representatives for what he called their in-action on a budget he could support. The Governor continues to push for increased health care benefits and the representatives seem to support school funding. Stakes will rise dramatically if there is no agreement by Thursday, May 31st which is the scheduled day for the legislature to adjourn. After that time the Democrats will need the help of the Republicans to pass any budget measure.

James Broadway, in an editorial piece in the May 29th issue of the State School News Service, says there are two barriers to fiscal responsibility in Illinois. The first is Senate President Emil Jones who has one final chance to rehabilitate a once distinguished career by representing his constituents instead of big business. The second is the Republican members of the General Assembly who now have a chance to surmount partisan politics and play a role as problem solvers by developing responsible public policy.

As Governor Blagojevich has said, a status quo budget is a “do-harm” budget!

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Lakeview Announces 2007 Scholars

As graduation approaches, Lakeview Junior High School has announced its Valedictorians and Salutatorian for the Class of 2007. These students will participate in the Graduation Ceremony to be held at Lakeview on Tuesday, June 5th beginning at 7:30 p.m. Congratulations to:

Valedictorians
Janani Comar
Kimberly Grimmer
Nicole Hart
Michael Holz
Kaitlin Moosmann
Lauren Morrissey
Sherilyn Munoz
Amy Nagle
Alexandria Osborn
Tiffany Wu

Salutatorian
Sean Seelander

These students were selected based on their cumulative GPA in grades 6 through 8.

Congratulations to these fine students and their parents for this high achievement.

Senators Durbin and Obama Push Illinois on Funding

A bipartisan group of Illinois congressmen led by Senator Dick Durbin and Senator Barack Obama sent a message to Governor Blagojevich and the legislative caucus leaders last week encouraging them to work together to develop a FY 08 budget that includes funding for capital projects. If the State does not come up with its matching funds of $1.6 billion it could potentially lose over $6 billion in federal project funds. Perhaps this push will encourage our representatives to work together to craft a new budget.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

More Funding

The Chicago Tribune reports this morning that House Speaker Michael Madigan released the results of a survey of representatives that indicated that there was not support for a tax increase this year among legislators. This could be a blow to any hopes of receiving additional funds for schools. The interest now appears to have turned to another expansion of gambling. These issues will certainly be contentious as the various regions compete for additional gambling slots. Chicago is very interested in receiving a casino that could enhance its bid for an Olympic venue.

It seems very likely that the legislative session will not end on May 31st as scheduled. It will be a shame to squander this opportunity for additional funds for public education. We will continue to monitor the action in Springfield.

Retirement Party

The District retirement party last night was wonderful. The gathering at Superrossa in Woodridge was to recognize the retirements of Carole Adams, Sue Guinand, Barb Ulie, Nona Jones, Linda Hrjesa, Barb Edmonds, Peggy Krezel and Bob Hodac. Over 120 people gathered to honor these outstanding educators for their many years of service to our community. It was so nice to see so many retirees and teachers from previous years that were able to attend. Among the retirees attending were; Ed Rambis, Don Armstrong, Dave Perkins, Rita Loftus, Barb Albrecht, Angie Pappas, Lois Wehrmann, Mickey Daniels, Gail Hugo, Bill Ward, Kelley Neylon, Becky Georges, Madeline Maguire, Doreen Vogt, Julie Krezl, Sandie Vaisnoras, Mary Lauer and Dottie Lipke. The highlight of the evening was the performance by the Prairieview Singers who honored their colleagues with a song. Best wishes to our 2007 retirees. We will miss you!

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Budget Update

As of May 23rd there is no significant progress to report from Springfield on the FY 2008 budget. The parties have held meetings but no progress has been made on crafting a budget. It seems certain that the Blagojevich GRT is dead and gone. There is talk of a “no-growth” budget by many republicans and talk of a small tax increase from Democrats. Where will we end?

Thursday, May 17, 2007

It’s a Time for Joy, a Time for Tears

Remember as we near the end of the year that in addition to our normal graduation of about 150 eighth graders, we also have nine staff members who will graduate to retirement with the close of the school year. I know that many of you will want to remember them and their many years of service with a personal note that can be sent to the school. Retiring at the end of this year are: Carole Adams, Susan Guinand, Nona Jones, Barbara Ulie, Barbara Edmonds, Linda Hrjesa, Peggy Krezel, Robert Hodac and Martha Smith. Please join with the Center Cass community in wishing them well in their new lives. Collectively they have contributed over 250 years of service to our students over the past 39 years.


Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Last Week of School Calendar

I have received questions about the final school calendar for the end of the year. Since we lost one day to snow last winter the year will end one day later than listed in the original tentative calendar. School will close on Thursday, June 7, 2007. The last week of school will look like this:
Friday, June 1st
Elizabeth Ide School Picnic

Monday, June 4th
Regular Attendance
8th Grade Dance

Tuesday, June 5th
Regular Attendance
8th Grade Graduation 7:30 p.m. – Lakeview

Wednesday, June 6th
Regular Attendance
Prairieview School Picnic
Kindergarten Graduation – Ide School
No 8th Grade Attendance

Thursday, June 7th
Last Day of School
Dismissal: LV – 9:00 a.m.
PV – 9:30 a.m.
Ide – 10:00 a.m.

Monday, June 11th
Summer School Begins

Legislative Alert

Call your senator today to ask that they oppose HB 1347. This bill will have a very negative financial impact on your local school district by placing constraints on our ability to contract with third party vendors to provide services such as food, custodial and transportation. This bill will add costs to operations that are unnecessary and dilute funds for classroom operations.

Contact: Senate President - Senator Emil Jones
217-782-2728

Senator James Meeks
217-782-8066

Senator Kirk Dillard
217-782-8148

Friday, May 11, 2007

Funding/Budget Impasse Continues

As I predicted several weeks ago, there is still no budget plan for FY 08 and only three weeks remaining in the spring session. In Springfield on Thursday, the House voted 107-0 with 7 voting present to show there is NO support for Governor Blagojevich’s GRT plan. Speaker Madigan spoke about the GRT plan saying that the GRT “represents a fundamental shift in the philosophy of taxation” in Illinois. He also stated that the GRT is a regressive tax that is passed on to consumers who least can afford to pay.

At this time, we have Speaker Madigan talking of a tax bill that the Democrats will discuss in caucus next Tuesday. Senate President Jones has passed SB 1 out of committee along with amendments 1 and 2. This bill contains most of the GRT plan and various educational reform provisions. Perhaps since both houses will not be in session until next Tuesday the House-Senate leadership teams will work out a plan over the long weekend.

A common theme that runs through the funding debates is that of questioning local school district spending and fiscal accountability. Yet the legislature continues to consider and pass bills that will potentially increase costs to local school districts and unnecessarily restrict local spending decisions. Among these bills is HB 1347 that will drastically handicap local district’s ability to contract for food, custodial and transportation services. It is interesting that this bill is the main focus of the teachers’ union this year while it will certainly drain needed resources away from the classroom. Makes sense doesn’t it? Among other bills being considered are; “green” cleaning supplies, diabetes care training, pest management control, seatbelts on school buses, computer filters, summer school food programs, and use of sick leave. I find it sad that while we can’t fund existing mandates, the legislature is always working to add more ways to spend our limited funds. Stay tuned as the battle heats up!

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

School Board Reorganization

The Center Cass School District 66 Board of Education has reorganized following the recent election. Newly elected to the Board were Suzanne Armato and Dan Slayden. They along with incumbent Jeanne Grimmer took the oath of office and were seated last evening. The Board has elected new officers for the coming school year; Jeanne Grimmer-President, Ron Eberhart-Vice-President, Susan James-Secretary and Cathie Killian-Treasurer. The Board meets the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at Praireiview School.

Monday, May 07, 2007

Lakeview Band Sweeps St. Louis

The Lakeview Spartan Band had a successful weekend competing in the Music in the Parks Competition this past weekend. Our students were awarded First Place in the Class A Concert Band, Class A Jazz Band and Middle School Marching Band. Students earned a Superior rating in Concert Band and Excellent ratings in Jazz Band and Marching Band. The spring tour culminated with an outstanding performance by the Marching Band in the Valley of the Flowers Parade in Florrisant, MO. Congratulations to all our music students and their fine teachers Tom Tedeschi and Brian Ohlsen. The Lakeview Bands end their year this Thursday evening, May 10th with their annual spring concert.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Life in Springfield

Last week I spent two days in the beautiful capital city of Springfield. This is truly a spectacle to see. People from all over the state representing various interests are converging on the Capital trying to advance their particular issues. The problem as I see it is there are too many issues and little or no state fiscal plan. The legislature is locked by special interests and the lack of leadership by the Governor has not helped in developing a comprehensive overhaul of the fiscal operations of the State of Illinois. Last Thursday, the Capital was overrun by people! This is the high season for school groups to visit Springfield and the Capital was full of students, as well as a large group of disabled people and their advocates held a rally in the rotunda at noon. In addition, there was a large delegation of Ameren customers lobbying for an electric rate freeze, advocates of mass transit lobbying for funding and a plan for mass transit, as well as educators lobbying for additional school funding.

Today is Lobby Day in Springfield! It is expected that as many as 8000 educators will descend on the Capital today demanding increased state funding for education. It is interesting that in a state that ranks near the top in per capita income can be so near the bottom in support for public education. Perhaps if legislators were only allowed to serve one longer term they would be able to better act in the public interest instead of always having to run for re-election. It will be interesting to see if all of this pressure and chaos results in any funding bills being moved this week. There are rumors that there may be action of HB 750 on Thursday of this week.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Spartan Bands on Tour

The annual Spartan Band Tour begins on Friday, May 4th when members of the Lakeview Junior High Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble and Marching Band travel to St. Louis to compete in the Music in Parks band competition. Students will compete in Concert, Jazz and Marching Band divisions. Bands from the Midwestern region will be in attendance at this contest. On Sunday, May 6th the band will marching the renowned Valley of the Flowers Parade in Florissant, Missouri before returning home to Downers Grove. The bands are under the direction of Mr. Thomas Tedeschi and Mr. Brian Ohlsen.