The Examiner U-46 News FeedU-46 Board preparing for vote on proposals By Seth Hancock
The Board of Education in School District U-46 will be set to vote on resources for kindergarten science as the proposal was presented on Monday, May 16. The vote will be on Monday, June 6.
The proposal comes at a cost of $114,660 split between $104,460 for textbook resources from National Geographic as well as $10,200 for exploring science kits. Broken down, the cost is estimated at $39.88 per student with 2,875 students being approximated under the proposal.
“The current resources that we have in our kindergarten classrooms are not aligned with the state standards… and not aligned with our newly written curriculum,” said Marc Hans, the district’s science coordinator, on why the resources are needed.
Kerri Gillespie, a teacher at Timber Trails Elementary School, has been using the resources during a pilot program and said the books were “engaging, [with] high-quality pictures.”
“I had the privilege of implementing this in the classroom, and I absolutely love it,” Gillespie said who added the books have “multi-cultural representation which all the students in our district can relate to.”
Board member Jeanette Ward said: “I appreciate the passion that Kerri has. I can see how much you love teaching, and it’s inspiring to see.”
The proposal says the resources are “for all Full-Day Kindergarten classrooms” and Ward asked if the resourced would be used in half-day classes as well. Trisha Shrode, director of Curriculum and Instruction, said they would.
Board member Sue Kerr asked if the purchases are a one-time cost which Shrode said most would with the exception of the science kits.
Noting the cost being an estimate, board member Phil Costello asked if the “2,875 (students) is the variable?” Shrode said the cost could go up depending on additional enrollees but said the $39.88 per student cost is “a much lower adoption” cost as general resource adoptions range from $90-125 per student.
The board will also vote on renewing the district’s membership in the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) as well as $370,959 in contract renewals and $5.6 million in bid proposals.
The IHSA is the state’s governing body for high school athletics, but there is no cost for membership. Ward asked why a vote of the board is needed considering there is no cost which Terri Lozier, assistant superintendent, said “the IHSA requires that the board sign off that we can be a member.”
Under contract renewals there is a proposal costing $34,632, coming out of the operations and maintenance fund, with SchoolDude.com. There are three more renewals to be paid for out of the education fund including $30,258 with TurnItIn, $158,672 for a Novell Annual License Agreement and $147,397 with Sentinel Technologies.
All five of the bid proposals are planned to be paid for out of the education fund including $4.6 million with Heartland Business Systems, $371,233 broken up among five companies to standardize technology in the classroom, $588,404 to purchase iPad Air 2 tablets from Apple Computers, $32,000 with Beaird Group to provide oversight during implementation of the fifth proposal of $44,625 with HERO for software that tracks student attendance.
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