Some of you may have seen Apple’s recent announcement regarding iBooks2 and the potential for digital textbooks on the iPad.  I view this with both excitement, but also some hesitancy.  Excitement because of the possibilities that textbooks can become more dynamic and more current.  The authoring tool will allow for teachers to collaborate and develop more relevant and cost-effective instructional materials, whether for elementary, middle or high school students.

Hesitancy because there is some danger in the reliability and accuracy that could be compromised without some quality control of the information that could become available in new textbook development.  Certainly the potential is great, and I’m excited to see where this could lead schools!

Please remember that when there are days of inclement weather that there are several ways you can help us work through our checklists and procedures.

1.  Remember that we will communicate any emergency information to you via SchoolMessenger.

2.  Be sure that we have your most current phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

3.  Please do not call the school or district offices to see if we are having school, or if school will be dismissed early.  This only ties up our phones when we are also working to communicate with road commissioners, the transportation company, and others who help us make the best decision we can.

4.  We will try to notify you as soon as humanly possible regarding any decision we make, but as you know, midwestern weather can sometimes raise up in a hurry and create issues for us.

We appreciate your patience, consideration and cooperation.  We do not make these decisions lightly– either to cancel school or to hold school.  Also remember that our school district encompasses more than 260 square miles, so while it may look sunny and dry in your neighborhood, two-thirds of the rest of the District is blowing and drifting.  We transport more than 30 bus routes full of students, so we will keep trying to gather and analyze as much information across the District as we can.

Thanks for your help working together to make this a fantastic 2011-12 school year!

I often marvel at the magnitude of importance of how adults can help a child, and more importantly how we can model working together and assisting others.  Let’s make 2012 a year where we make a conscious effort to serve each other in ways that are positive and productive.  Was discussing with a friend of mine how important this is the other day, and we were remembering this incident at an NBA Basketball game several years ago.

We are starting a fresh semester and it’s a great time to remember the role we all play in educating our students.  I’m looking forward to a fantastic 2nd semester and hope that you are, too!

I am very proud to share text from an email that Mr. Steve Scherer, HS Band Director, shared with me yesterday.  There are many things to celebrate about our school district– academically, athletically and artistically.  This is a great example of a truly collaborative and community-wide effort.  Congratulations to all of those students, staff, parents and community supporters who help make these items of note so possible.  Look how busy the students will be!

“I have the pleasure of reporting to you the results of the IMEA All-State selections for this year.  Approximately 1000 of the finest band, choir, and orchestra students are individually selected by audition, to represent each of nine districts in Illinois.  This year Geneseo has 27 outstanding students that have been selected as All-State musicians.  

The IMEA does not observe any comparisons between schools, of the number of students who have been selected.  However, it is notable to our community that Geneseo High School (902 students enrolled) has the greatest number of All-State musicians this year, out of all of the high schools in the State of Illinois.  The next highest are Naperville Nequa Valley (4245 students enrolled) with 25 participants, and Edwardsville (2368 students enrolled) with 23 participants.  

There will be no award to recognize this achievement.  But there is a reward for us at the Geneseo Schools.  It is important to note that these students qualified for this honor individually, by preparing and auditioning by themselves like every other music student in the State.  Their achievement is a testament to their individual hard work.  The reward is, knowing that we, including all of the recipients of this email, have provided them with a solid fundamental music education, throughout elementary school, middle school and high school.  This distinction is something that we should all enjoy and be proud of.  It is reassuring that our curriculum, instruction and assessment systems are working successfully for our students.  Our school board and administration have allowed us to refine our system over the years, and have been protective of our funding, scheduling, and staffing.  Congratulations to our entire school community for this significant achievement!

Sincerely,
Steve Scherer and Steve LaCroix

Our 2012 IMEA All-State Musicians are:
Corbyn Beck – clarinet, Hannah Burmahl – voice, George Daniel – tuba, Michael Daniels – alto sax, Seth Daniels – voice, Emma Evans-Peck - voice, Steven Gernant – voice, Lydia Flynn – voice, Emilee Green – oboe, Taylor Hager – Bassoon, Hannah Johnson (11) – voice, Keegan Jost – voice, Dugan Kuffel – voice, Hunter Kuffel – voice, Luke Larson – euphonium, Sean Lillis – voice, Hannah Lohman – clarinet, Anna Mason – voice, Kim Moore – clarinet, John Morris – tuba, Oliver Newton – voice, Jessica Schaumburg – percussion, Jack Scherer – voice, Dan Sears – voice, Dakota Watson – voice, Allison Yerkey – trombone, Ryan ZumMallen – voice.”

After slashing nearly $90M from the budget this summer that would have reimbursed school districts for state mandated transportation costs, the Governor had raised hope that during this November legislative session, the General Assembly would be able to re-examine mechanisms to reinstate at least a portion of this reimbursement.   Instead work today in Springfield did not result in anything remotely close to that.

The General Assembly did approve budget changes late this evening that are meant to avert the seven state facility closures and nearly 2,000 layoffs that Quinn announced in September.

Under the new plan, the facilities would remain open through the current fiscal year, paving the way for the governor’s plan to close some state facilities in what he describes as a slower and more deliberative manner.

“[The legislation] will enable us to create a sensible, reasonable, responsive and effective plan for moving people from state operated facilities into the community,” said Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, who sponsored the budget plan in the House. Currie, a Chicago Democrat, said the proposal would not put state spending over the caps set with the income tax approved in January.

The plan combines money from the governor’s budget vetoes with cash transferred from various state funds and Medicaid reimbursements brought in from the federal government. The total amount of dollars shifted would be more than $270 million, and a strategy called “churning” is projected to bring in an additional $136 million in Medicaid dollars from the feds.  Just over $200 million is slated to keep state facilitates open. Additional money would be spent on human services and other programs that Quinn and some lawmakers did not want to see cut in the budget that was approved in the spring, including:

$30 million for mental health programs.
$4.7 million for programs to combat homelessness.
$8 million for indigent burials.
$28 million for substance abuse programs.
$33 million for Monetary Award Program grants for college students.

Opponents voiced frustration over the funds that were not restored. Rep. Roger Eddy, who is a school superintendent in Hutsonville, said it was “unfair” that money for transportation, which has been drastically cut in recent years, was not restored when state law requires schools to provide transportation.  Eddy, a  Republican, said the transportation cut hits downstate school districts harder than Chicago districts, which are mostly represented by Democrats. Eddy said downstate legislators agreed to shift money from funds for spending that did not end up in the final bill. “That money wasn’t used exactly the way we thought it was going to be used.” The plan passed with no debate in the Senate.

Kelly Kraft, a spokesperson for Quinn’s budget office, said Quinn is working to avoid all layoffs announced under his original closure plan. However, she said the state might have to work out agreements with unions for employees who have already been laid off. (Note no discussion of any ideas of how to reduce the local impact on these transportation costs.  In fact, officials from the Governor’s Office have stated that busing students is a local problem and should not be the State’s responsibility.  This is another example of an Unfunded Mandate.)
“That, I think, was a great victory for the public that we are able to have adequate human services,” Quinn said. “Think back [to] last summer of how dire this was. We were able to, I think, rescue the people of Illinois from a budget disaster.”

Republican Leader Christine Radogno, who called the session a “mixed bag,” said Quinn should have been more actively involved in the tax plan. She said when the two chambers battle over an issue, as they have tended to do recently, Quinn should work to diffuse the situation and find a compromise. She said a deal was not reached today because of “a failure of leadership.”   A Failure of Leadership appears to be a recurring trend politically, at both the local and national level.  We will continue to work as diligently as we can at the local level to grow our quality programs and do what we can to serve students appropriately.

Pension reform is of great interest to the public, business sector, General Assembly, school boards, and TRS members.  Among the public and media throughout the State of Illinois, and those in the General Assembly, there appears to be a common misperception that pension obligations for State employees (and the pension system itself) are main factors in the deteriorating financial condition facing the State.  The facts show otherwise.    The following information serves to debunk many of the popular myths regarding the condition of the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) and its impact on the financial condition of the State of Illinois.

Prior to reviewing the following myths versus facts, we believe it is important the following facts regarding the condition and operation of TRS be stated:

●                  Current Assets – $37.1 billion

●                  Revenue in FY 2010 – $6.8 billion

●                  Benefits to be paid in FY 2012 – $4.5 billion

●                  378,288 TRS members,  with 171,000 active members

●                  Average pension – $46,452

●                  A current TRS member contributes 9.4% of his/her salary to TRS

●                  TRS has not ever missed a pension payment to any annuitant

●                  The State of Illinois has not made its required payments to TRS.  Thus, TRS has a significant unfunded liability that it has carried since at least 1953

Pension reform in these economic times is worth discussion, but any reform must be done based on  common sense facts and actuarial data.  Decisions based on perceptions with out facts of law and actuarial data are at best dangerous , reckless, arbitrary, and capricious.  Successful, long-term pension reform requires careful study of facts, actuarial data, and outcomes to avoid unintended consequences that would ultimately cost MORE for the taxpayers of the State of Illinois.

In an effort to better “Connect with the Community”, the Board of Education of District 228 moved forward during the summer to employ a Communications Coordinator, Laura Kashner.  One of the initiatives that Laura has introduced is to create a quarterly magazine, named by the Dr. Drew VanKerreBroeck family as “leafprints”.

We are proud to announce that these magazines are now available to the public!  Creative Images, Inc was a very supportive partner and you will agree that they did a wonderful job with printing these high-quality copies.  You will see copies all around our school community in different businesses and homes.  You may purchase copies of your own for $3 each, from the District Office.  A copy can be previewed from the following link (look below the pictures at the Magazine link), but it does not do justice to flipping those glossy pages as you relax with a cup of coffee!  Enjoy the photos and stories that are just round one of telling the good news about our School District!