Parent 'Guinea Pigs' Get Community Conversations Off and Running

About 60 Elmhurst residents turned out for District 205's Community Conversations with the Board Tuesday night. The two-way listening and learning session is intended to be the beginning of many such discussions as board members grapple with how taxpayers want their education dollars spent.

The needs are many and resources are scarce, School Board President Jim Collins pointed out at the beginning of the forum.

"We want to take every opportunity we can to connect with our community and make sure we're properly reflecting your values as we allocate resources," Collins said, adding that nearly 90 percent of the money the district receives comes from taxpayers.

He outlined the challenges of unfunded state and federal mandates, rising healthcare and operational costs, limits on taxing ability, deteriorating buildings, increasing technology needs and dramatic increases in the special education, English language learner and low-income student populations.

The good news, however, is that the district is not in a financial crisis and, after cuts of more than $7 million over the past three years, no cuts were implemented this school year, Collins said.

"We negotiated three very tough (union) contracts," he said. "All three labor contract wages are now at or below the rate of inflation."

And even with the previous cuts, student performance is up and the district has won a number of awards.

"We have seen a very impressive performance by our teachers," Collins said.

One resident asked if that means the board won't have to make cuts in the future.

"We've managed the crisis. I think we're at the bottom and coming back up as revenue improves," he said. "Fingers are crossed; we're optimistic."

The revenue picture is improving largely due to home building picking up in Elmhurst.

Priorities still need to be set, and as the board tries to put together a five-year plan, community engagement is critical, board members said. 

"It comes from everyone in the community," board member Chris Blum said.

One priority of parents and teachers, alike, is smaller class sizes.

"You keep saying you don't need cuts, but maybe we want cuts in order to decrease class sizes," one resident said. "We don't want to stay where we are in terms of class sizes."

Sandburg teacher and Elmhurst Teachers Council President Katy Padberg agreed.

"If you could lower our class sizes, that's where we'd like to see the money spent. We don't care how you figure it out, but that's our No. 1 issue," she said, adding she was speaking for all teachers.

Padberg said she has classes with 33 and 34 students, and those classes include students with special needs.

Another parent had concerns about the implementation of Common Core Standards, uniform learning standards developed by the states and coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices to ensure students are prepared for college and career.

"Once Common Core is in full bloom, everyone is going to be taught the same thing," she said. "Why are we not fighting against this? It's not even proven to work. Why would we invest all this money in a program that's not proven?"

She said parents have not adequately been informed about Common Core. 

The initiative is not mandated by the federal government, but 45 states have adopted it, and Illinois is strongly on board, Collins said. 

"It's the law. Illinois' state superintendent is very tied to Common Core," he said. "The law does not provide an opportunity for (a district) to opt out."

Assessment of student progress is a critical part of Common Core—through a new test known as PARCC—and most districts don't have the technology necessary to do those assessments yet.

Padberg said that while she is no fan of the PARCC standardized testing, most teachers are teaching beyond the requirements of Common Core already.

"It's not scary or something that's bad. It's something we already teach," she said. "What's scary is, how do you assess it? Because everything is so technology-based."

Board member John McDonough said it is not in the district's best interest to fight Common Core.

"We'll use your tax dollars and do the best we can with it," he said.

Collins added that a separate community discussion about Common Core would be beneficial.

Another concern brought up Tuesday was how to keep good administrators from leaving the district. Collins pointed out that District 205 is among the bottom seven unit districts in Illinois in terms of administrative cost per student.

Churchville has a new principal that families like. 

"We're so happy with her. The biggest fear is that we'll lose her. Other administrators have left us recently," one parent said.

Collins mentioned popular former Bryan Middle School Principal John Glimco, who left to go to a higher paying district.

"We pay less than other districts. It is what it is," Collins said. "We need to keep the good ones."

Per pupil operating expenses are "in the middle of the pack" compared to other districts, Collins said, and going up each year. One audience member asked what the cost per pupil is in comparison to parochial school students.

"That's a good question," Collins said. "We can (compare) that, with IC and Timothy (Christian)."

But costs per pupil are thrown off when considering the $28 million elephant in the room: the district's facilities needs. Lincoln School, alone, needs significant repair or a complete rebuild. Churchville Middle School also is at the top of the list for needing repairs.

"This is something we have to get our arms around," Collins said.

Parents touched many other topics in the 2 1/2-hour session, including school safety, the possible affect of new houses going up at the old hospital property on Berteau, whether the district can seek grant money, stormwater remediation on School District property and more. Future community meetings will be more focused on  specific topics in order to be more efficient for attendees.

One thing not discussed was the performance of Superintendent David Pruneau.

"I have not once heard the name Pruneau here tonight," one woman said. "I think he's been doing a fantastic job. Thank you for finding him. It's been refreshing to not have that as a topic."

Information about future meetings will be publicized as they are set.

"We want to be the best school district in the state," Collins said. "We want to be a national leader. We want to engage the public, and we're tasking the administration and faculty with, 'What we can do to improve education in Elmhurst?'

"You are our guinea pigs. The conversation gets better from here."