The Examiner U-46 News Feed

Elected board members sworn to Dist. U-46 posts

By Seth Hancock
  Candidates elected in the April election were sworn in to the Board of Education in School District U-46 at its meeting on Monday, May 1.
  The board approved by a 7-0 vote the canvass of votes showing Sue Kerr (11,236 votes) and Kate Thommes (11,097) being reelected and Chanda Schwarts (9,086) and Samreen Khan (8,932) winning seats held by outgoing board members John Devereux and Eva Porter. Maureen Morris (7,567) and Heather Manzella (6,791) were the other two candidates in the election.
  Asraar Ahmed Siddiqui, a Bartlett High School junior, was also sworn in as the student advisor replacing South Elgin senior Angelica Harris.
  Sue Kerr was reelected as the board’s president, Melissa Owens as vice president and Kate Thommes as secretary pro-tempore by 7-0 votes.
  The first review by the board was of 11 policies with proposed changes that will be voted on at the May 15 meeting.
  Several of those policies were up solely for review and monitoring with no changes proposed. Those include policies 4:40 (incurring debt), 5:285 (drug and alcohol testing for school bus and commercial vehicle drivers), 6:210 (instructional materials) and 8:70 (accommodating individuals with disabilities.
  Most of the proposed changes to other policies were the results of a new state law, Faith’s Law.
  Included was policy 2:110 (qualifications, term and duties of board officers) adding to the board president’s duties ensuring the superintendent completes “sexual misconduct related to employment history reviews (EHR)” for new hires.
  Added to Policy 4:60 (purchases and contracts) is a prohibition on contractors’ employees “having direct contact with children or students if the contractor has not performed a sexual misconduct related employment history review.”
  Policy 5:30 (hiring process and criteria) and 5:150 (personnel records) add language regarding EHRs, and Policy 5:90 (abused and neglected child reporting) adds language regarding notification of parents and guardians if a U-46 employee/contractor “alleged to have engaged in sexual misconduct with the student as defined in Faith’s Law.”
  Policy 5:125 (personal technology and social media; usage and conduct) has minor language changes, and Policy 6:230 (library media program) adds language supporting the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights as well as instituting practices related to library material complaints.