By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
Superintendent Robert Crist updated the Delavan-Darien School Board on April 11 on the progress that has been made in transitioning to the center-schools model by fall.
Crist said almost all of the staff members who will move to a new school know where they will be and have met with their new principals. Others meetings with staff and principals will take place before the end of the school year.
Board member Chad Kort asked what mechanism is in place for teachers who opposed the model and have legitimate concerns. He said he felt their discomfort and wanted them to be able to express their concerns without fear of retribution.
Crist said any staff member is welcome to come see him or one of their principals or directors of curriculum at any time. He said the board decided to move forward with the model and it is up to him to implement it and be sure it operates as best as it can, though he admits nothing is perfect. Crist said the board made the decision to adopt the new model based on the special and high-poverty needs of the student body.
“We have operated for years as a district that doesn’t have those needs and then wondered why our test scores were low,” he said.
Kort suggested that quarterly meetings that are yet to be scheduled with the board and the individual schools be changed to group staff in the schools they will be in next year so they have the best opportunity to express concerns. Board President Jeff Scherer said they can already express concerns at the meetings as they are held.
Only one resident, Will Volmar, spoke about the model. Volmar reiterated previously stated concerns about the board violating its own bylaws by adopting the model without first forming a committee to research it further. Crist said the district received no open enrollment requests by parents wishing to leave the district this month, which opponents of the model said was a possibility at previous meetings.
Citizen comments
The board decided not to make any changes to the procedure for allowing public comments at meetings. The issue was discussed at the March board meeting when several residents wished to speak about the decision to adopt the center-schools model and were originally told by Scherer that they could not speak because the item was not on that meeting’s agenda.
The residents successfully argued that the policy allows them to speak about any district business, not just agenda items, and were allowed to speak. The board decided to take a closer look at the policy as a result but decided not to make any changes.
Crist recommended the board make no changes saying the district has no reason to try to curtail public comments. Kort said the current policy has not been abused. The board decided to retain a line of the policy that limits comments to agenda items at special meetings.
Lacrosse tournament
Athletic Director Guy Otte asked the board for direction on the contract between the district and Lacrosse America to hold a tournament at the high school each summer. Otte said the district is in the second year of a three-year contract that was never signed by either party. He said the agreement was made before he became athletic director, and he is not comfortable with an oral agreement.
The board authorized Otte to get a contract signed but suggested some issues to discuss with Lacfrosse America first. Board member Steve Logterman said he is concerned about a “hospitality tent” that Lacrosse America put up last summer that competed with the district’s concessions stand. Crist brought up some issues about parking and the agreement that Delavan students could get in for free that was not followed as well as it should have been last summer.
Child care at Wileman
Part of the center-schools plan has been to look into the possibility of offering wrap-around child care services at Wileman Elementary School as that building becomes the home to the district’s early childhood, pre-kindergarten and kindergarten programs next fall. The board approved a contract with Delavan Nursery Center to provide that service. Delavan Nursery Center has provided child care at St. Andrew Catholic School for years and will remain in that facility as well.
Summer school
The board approved summer school offerings for this summer. Summer school at the elementary and middle schools will run from June 20 to July 15. High school classes, most or all of which will be held at the middle school because of construction projects at the high school, will run from June 20 to 29.
The theme for the project-based elementary level summer school is “Science Academy” and includes language arts, math, technology and Jump Start. Middle school offerings include lyrics and language arts, comic book and character design, power reading, strategic math interventions and summer camp fun, Jumpstart Broadway, Edible Stories, baking basics, Empty Bowls, Greek mythology and summer leadership.
High School course offerings include summer orchestra, band camp, health and wellness, online business and personal finance, sustainable urban agriculture, Compass Odyssey, Scratch Programming or Introduction to Software Engineering, Introduction to Algebra II, ACT Prep, Exploring Engineering, mural painting, Specialized Topics in History, Realities of College Recruiting and AP Government Prep.
