The District 64 Board of Education held a regular meeting on Thursday, February 20.
- You can watch or listen to a meeting replay on our YouTube page.
- The agenda and report packet are on the Board Meetings page.
D64 Shining Stars
You can read about Washington’s D64 Shining Stars, Jaya, and Julie here!
We also honored Roosevelt’s student Shining Star, Aria!
District Spelling Bee Recognition
The student celebrations continued as we recognized the top three finishers from the D64 Spelling Bee. Learn more about this year’s District Spelling Bee.
Congratulations to Sarah Kurian on winning the 2025 D64 District Spelling Bee! Sarah, an Emerson 6th grader, has gone back to back and is a repeat winner for our District. She represented D64 last year as well. Emerson was well-represented on the medal stand. Micah Cronin (6th grade) took home 2nd place, and Roosevelt’s Alexandra Apostol (3rd grade) rounded out the top three.
Park Ridge Community Fund
It is our pleasure to report that District 64 employees have contributed, thus far, $6,800 to the 20024-25 Park Ridge Community Fund campaign. In addition, our D64 retirees contributed over $3,00, so we achieved our goal of $10,000 this year!
“The 2025 campaign was truly in the spirit of giving. We are very proud of District 64 employees, both past and present, for responding with such generosity and compassion to the human needs of local residents. Their support helps these important agencies continue to provide vital services that improve the lives of so many in our community,” said Roosevelt Principal Dr. Kevin Dwyer, who is also the PRCF Co-Chair with Lincoln Assistant Principal Timothy Gleason.
Superintendent Update
Dr. Ben Collins recognized the great job our staff and students do at Emerson Middle School. Last week, Emerson was redesignated as an Illinois Horizon School to Watch.
He also congratulated the seven staff members who were honored with the Those Who Excel Awards from the Illinois State Board of Education. “It’s wonderful to see their faces light up,” said Dr. Collins when the winners received the good news. “We get just to say thank you for what you do. It takes a lot of people to make sure that we can run a school on a daily basis.”
Committee Reports
Education Committee
Highlights include all the data that Assistant Superintendent for Student Learning Dr. Samantha Alaimo and her team used when looking at the Channels of Challenge eligibility process and the Health Curriculum review.
Policy Committee
Reviewed policy 4:110 and how the updates make the district’s responsibilities clearer regarding transportation requirements.
Construction Update
Here is an overview of the projects that will take place this summer, including:
- Jefferson - Playgrounds only
- Carpenter - Playgrounds only
- Roosevelt - Chiller and playgrounds
- Field - 2nd floor addition, remodel, parking lot
- Franklin - No construction until March 2026
- Washington - Remodel and playgrounds
- Emerson - Currently wrapping up RFP process
- Lincoln - 1st floor and the north end of the 3rd floor
Dr. Collins, Chief School Business Official Dr. Adam Parisi, and Director of Facility Management Noel Mendoza provided updates on the referendum-related construction projects at Field and Washington. Watch the construction update.
The Field parking lot included reworking plans to make sure that we are adding enough spots for every staff member to park on or along our property. “We’re doing everything we possibly can to make sure we being good neighbors to the surrounding residents,” said Dr. Collins.
Approval of Construction Bids for Field and Washington
Motion Approved
Preliminary Enrollment Projections & Discussion of Staffing Plans for 2025-2026
Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Dr. Joel Martin discussed projected enrollment. Using the roll-up method, we have projected that the district will see a decrease of 167 students, bringing our total projected enrollment for 2025-2026 to 4,316 (not including Jefferson). Based on our analysis, this means, at this point, we are planning to have seven fewer classroom sections from the 24/25 school year to the 26/26 school year. This decrease in sections is evenly dispersed across the district and directly results from the enrollment numbers.
What does this mean? Due to these savings in personnel and with other budget cuts across departments, we can accomplish our 30-year capital maintenance plan by shifting 2 million dollars into the Capital Improvements Fund (bringing that fund to 4 million annually).
Another thing we can accomplish is increasing support for Special Education and our Student Services Action Plan. We will be adding 4 additional positions for next year. These will include:
- 1 Board Certified Behavior Analyst
- Cost-neutral because it will be funded through the IDEA Grant.
- 1 Special Education Inclusion Coach
- Cost-neutral because it will be funded through the IDEA Grant.
- 2 Student Services Coordinators (bringing the total up from 4 to 6)
- This increase would be funded through the staff reductions/section reductions
- This was a prior recommendation from the Special Ed audit in 2022
The staffing plan aims to right-size the district’s staffing levels to match enrollment while investing in the correct additional support for Special Education and our facilities.
Watch the enrollment and staffing portion of the meeting.
Student Learning Update - Channels of Challenge Eligibility
For the past few years, the CofC Committee has been working diligently to review the criteria and process and make recommendations for improvement.
Dr. Alaimo explained that the current situation involved a complex model utilizing 3-4 data factors. Instead, it should utilize multiple scores of the same data as opposed to more data in isolation. Through the review process, data showed that the current guidelines were not properly identifying students.
The new eligibility process uses multiple data points, including MAP and Cogat assessments, to identify students. This provides a more comprehensive and reliable way to determine eligibility rather than relying on a single measure.
The district is removing the Renzulli teacher rating scale from the process. This scale was found to be subjective and not an equitable identifier, potentially keeping some qualified students out of the program. Removing this component helps ensure a more fair and objective eligibility determination.
Watch the Student Learning Update to learn more about the new recommendations and data simulations.
More information about the Channels of Challenge eligibility process will be shared with families as soon as possible.
Approval of K-5 Health Curriculum
Motion Approved
Dina Pappas, District K-8 Health/K-5 Science and Social Studies Curriculum Specialist shared how the Health Review Committee looked at new K-5 health curriculums. The committee unanimously chose Quaver Ed for its alignment with state standards and cost savings. Quaver Ed was more engaging and aligned with current research and best practices.
Consent Agenda
- Bills, Payroll, & Benefits
- Approval of Financial Update for the Period Ending December 31, 2024
- Approval of Personnel Report
- Approval of Vision 2030
- Approval of Meeting Minutes of January 23, 2025 Regular and Closed Meeting and January
- 25, 2025 Special Meeting
- Approval of Resolution #1361 Transfer from O&M to Capital Projects
- Second Reading of Pending Adoption Policy Manual and 1st Reading of Policy 4:110
- Approval of Emerson Flooring Contract
Motions Approved