Public Comment Response - February

ID	Name	Question / Comment
Feb-01	Dan Taylor	Please explain Senate Bill 100 and why it is being piloted in District 201-U prior to September 2016. What are the goals and objectives of the pilot and when did the board approve the district participating in the pilot? SB 100 is a substantial revision the school laws regarding exclusionary student discipline [suspension, expulsion, and alternative school assignment] for all school districts, requiring new policies and procedures to be in place prior to the beginning of the 2016-2017 school year. It is imperative that our school district be prepared for the change. The lag time between the signature of the law and the implementation of the law was designed to give school boards, administrators, and communities a year’s advance notice and thus some time to adopt and familiarize school staff members with the board policy changes and conduct code changes that must be in place to comply with the new laws. It gives districts time to prepare and be ready to follow the law next year. The General Assembly gave school districts a year to get prepared.
Feb-02	Bruce Hackel	Comment on local real estate values - he has served on various community committees in the past and urged the Board to reconsider the re-establishment of the Business Education Partners group; the recent negative news has an effect on real estate activities The administration is working on the re-establishment of the Business Education Partners group. We will publish the plan through the website by the end of the month.
Feb-03	Dr. LaTanya Kennedy	Professionalism as it relates to the environment. How can we foster this culture in CMHS? And, is there a student level tolerance policy, and if so, is it enacted? All staff are required to complete GCN Training Modules and attend communication trainings; Character Ed. is taught monthly; all faculty are teaching tolerance curriculum; we have Mix It Up Day and on-going activities; and we also have monthly staff and student incentive days (PBIS & PLC committees).
Feb-04	Kyla Miller	CMHS Senior in charge of Black History month at the high school and heard there were some concerns. Any concerns can be brought to me personally
Feb-05	Tiffany Beard	Regarding media public relations with the district. Several stories/pieces have aired displaying our school district in the negative. Why do we not have a public relation person to deal with situation as such as they arise; think of celebrities and their PR PERSON? Mrs. Natalie Nash is our Director of Communication. She works hard getting the news out for the district and working with the press. Our high school like many others have had fights. The press took the information and used it as they saw fit. Even as we send information to the press, we do not determine what they will report upon but it is our plan to ensure we do the following: Reporting our good news, disseminating accurate information when there are issues, and building strong and sustained community connections that serve our students.
Feb-06	Tammy Burnham	Please consider making changes to the discipline policy while awaiting SB100 from going into effect; she appreciates that the students will be protected, she asks that teachers also be protected
Feb-07	Mary Bragg	New board member and issues in the press; welcomed Mr. Anderson and thanked him for wanting to get involved. Also reminded the Board of their role to hire the superintendent and set policy; asked that committee meetings are held in the evening hours to accommodate better attendance The board of education has four major committees that meet: Education, Finance, Personnel, and Policy. The chair of each committee holds the meeting at a time that the committee can meet. The public is invited to all meetings.
Feb-08	Carol Millsap	Social media concerns; expressed appreciation of full board; she feels she is constantly defending the district; what is the plan? We have increased positive social media presence. (Warrior Pride Facebook) and also created a Warrior Pride video series (1st one already uploaded to website).
Feb-09	Sandy Walters	As a district we need to start acknowledging the good within our schools and address and correct the bad so as to produce a successful work environment with successful students; acknowledge the good, and others will follow We will continue with PBIS & Character Ed.; we have increased Facebook presence (#WarriorPride); and we have implemented teacher-led social committees.
Feb-10	Meousha Spraggins	Why did district 201U decide to start SB100 this year? It does not have to start until September 2016 SB 100 was signed into law in September of 2015 and becomes active in September 2016. The lag time between the signature of the laws and the implementation of the law was designed to give school boards, administrators, and communities a year’s advance notice and thus some time to adopt and familiarize school staff members with the board policy changes and conduct code changes that must be in place to comply with the new laws. It gives districts time to prepare and be ready to follow the law next year. The General Assembly gave school districts a year to get prepared.
Feb-11	Anonymous	What are the administration’s plans to handling the bullying and fighting in the school? And, can the district arrange a daily presence of off-duty Crete, Monee, and UP officers in the high school We have sporadic presence of off-duty officers; we have hired temporary security officers; we will increase the number of full time security officers; we have PBIS & Character Ed lessons/incentives; and will hold monthly meetings with representatives from local law enforcement agencies, the first one was held on February 23.
Feb-12	Cynthia Hudson	Why are we so concerned with a fight or a couple of fights when students are doing so many wonderful things? We need to focus more on the many great accomplishments that our students are making. The focus of the district is not going to be on negative issues. There is no doubt that we are going to have a few but our focus is going to be on getting our good news out, disseminating accurate information when there are issues, and building strong and sustained community connections that serve our students.
Feb-13	Ruth Greenwood	From Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights - Wants to work with the school board on community engagement around issues of school discipline The district will work with the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights to help improve engagement around issues of school discipline.
Feb-14	Susan Duran	Welcome to Mr. Anderson; Duran teaches at Balmoral Elementary and invited our new member to stop by to visit and enjoy the various activities going on in their great school

Crete-Monee School District 201-U

2015-16 Archive

Crete-Monee School District 201-U