The Glencoe 35 school board has approved an approximate $1.6 million contract in preparation for a large refurbishment of the outside of South School.
At their Nov. 10 meeting, school board members unanimously signed off on the $1.622 million contract with a Naperville-based firm for work on the exterior of the building including a redesigned front entrance and playground improvements.
Separately, the board plans to purchase new playground equipment next month, according to Director of Finance and Operations Jason Edelheit.
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Construction is set to begin after the end of the 2022-23 school year on a project that Edelheit acknowledged was delayed at times.
“It has been in our plan for a couple of years,” Edelheit said.
Edelheit anticipates the entire price tag will be between $2 million to $2.5 million.
South School is the home for District 35’s kindergarten through second graders. This year enrollment sat around 385 kids, according to Edelheit.
The school board reviewed the data from the Illinois Assessment for Readiness standardized tests scores that District 35 students took last April.
For third through eighth graders, the number of students who met or exceeded expectations in English Language Arts ranged from as low of 55% in third grade to as high as 77% in seventh grade. In math, the range went from 58% of sixth graders either exceeding or meeting expectations up to 88% of fifth graders.
The number of students who either partially met or did not meet expectations at all was in single digits for all grades in both subjects with the one exception being eighth grade math students where 15% only partially met expectations.
District 35 officials said the scores were comparable to the assessments prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“District 35 was pleased to see that overall there was not regression in IAR scores from pre-pandemic 2019 to the last two school years,” Director of Assessment Data and Tiered Supports Ben Baird said after the meeting. “I think sound decisions made during the pandemic helped mitigate the academic impact on District 35 students. The district will continue to reflect on the data at the grade and student level and consider alignment with our current program of instruction.”
The standardized test scores arrived shortly after the latest Illinois Report Card showing all three Glencoe schools received “commendable” ratings where “exemplary” is the highest designation.
Officials at the meeting said the overall state assessment was impacted by District 35’s 10% chronic absenteeism rate among other factors.
Chronic absenteeism is defined as students who miss at least 10% of the school year with or without a valid reason, according to the state.
“It’s not surprising to our administrative team. I think we have a community that values other experiences,” Superintendent Catherine Wang said.
Wang added out of school experiences can be beneficial for children but the principals are analyzing data and reaching out to families to see if there is a trend on whether it is a factor in student growth and progress.
“We are continuing to refine how we do that and the messaging of that,” Wang said.
Wang said after the meeting District 35 has had some adult and children’s cases of (RSV) Respriatory syncytial virus, which has been a problem both nationally and the state.
She said there have been cases of traditional viruses such as strep throat and flu at District 35. Thus the nursing team is reminding people of taking standard health protocols such as washing hands throughout the day, staying home when someone is sick and taking a child to the doctor if symptoms are exhibited.
“We are really stressing the good health and hygiene practices that would relate to all those illnesses and the cleaning practices in our classrooms,” she said.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.