District 113 Pursuing Arts Grant for Special Needs Students

The heard an update on the finance committee from board member at the Oct. 24 board of education meeting, 

At the last Finance Committee meeting, participants heard a presentation on financing options the district could consider in the future.

"The focus of the session was to examine options available for financing," said Small. "The committee heard details on options for structuring a bond or bond issue, and talked about examples of 10-year and 20-year bonds, structures and interest rates."

Small said the presentation was detailed and informative about what other districts have done in the past.

"[It was] a very good foundation for this committee to hopefully be in a position to make a recommendation to the leadership committee, should a bond issue be pursued.”

The board also listened to a grants update from Andrea Johnson, director of diversity and grants.

Johnson gave an explanation of the various government title grants the district is and isn't eligible for and what they mean for the district.

She discussed Title 1, a grant she described as most closely in line with the No Child Left Behind Act and what this grant has been used for in the past.

"It’s based on low income students," said Johnson. "We have to use the funds for students who have special needs, or receive free or reduced lunch."

She said while previously this grant had been decreased for the district, it was recently increased for the coming year. The district seeks to use this higher allocation toward a diagnostician for special needs students.

"We’ve paid some salaries out of Title 1, which we can do if it will benefit the population it’s designed for, for example, a bilingual social worker," said Johnson. “We’re really excited to find a diagnostician who can really help our students.”

No changes were made in the district's Title 2 allocations, which are put toward teacher quality. These funds may only be used for staff development.

Special education art project proposed

The district is no longer eligible for Title 3 funds, which are intended for English language learners; however, the district is now eligible for a $10,000 arts grant, and Johnson said a project has already been proposed for it.

"We want to offer courses for special education kids who may not be in regular art and theatre courses," she said, adding that some of these students are already in special education music classes. "If we receive this grant, we can partner with some community agencies and help give them the art expenses [other] kids have."

She said the project would also utilize the district's new peer mentoring program, where students help each other.

"We think it’s a really strong proposal," Johnson said. She added that the grant is considered a "planning grant," and that it would be two years before implementation of the program itself.

Johnson said she applied for a separate grant to extend work being done in the wetlands at both high schools. Both schools are being considered separately for this Lake County environmental grant. Johnson said the county is reviewing applications now.

"They requested more information, which is always a good sign," Johnson said. "They do like to spread out where the money goes throughout the state, which might not be in our favor."

Eight years ago, Deerfield High School received over $100,000 for the project, according to Johnson. For this project, the school would have to match what it receives.

Johnson said this year the district has received over $1 million in grants.

Summer school fees

In other business, the board discussed fees for the district's summer school program. The board recommended fees remain at $300 as they have been in the past, and with no salary change in terms of teacher cost.

Sue Hebson, Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Communications, said registration for summer school has been increasing as students choose to advance their completion of grad requirements during the summer.

Scholarship students will be eligible to attend summer school for $150, which must now be paid up front.

"We want to make that modification," said Hebson. "We hope it won’t change the numbers of people seeking this, but our counselors are good about letting students know about this ahead of time."