The District 58 Board of Education held a Regular Meeting on Monday, Dec. 9 at the Downers Grove Civic Center. View the agenda to access all meeting presentations. The meeting video will be posted on the District’s YouTube page.
School Report: Lester School
The Lester School Student Council led the Board and audience in the Pledge of Allegiance and gave a report on their recent service projects and school fundraisers. The Lester PTA presented on the PTA’s fundraisers, such as the Fun Run among others, and the enrichment programs they support, including field trips, family programs, fun lunch and more. Principal Katie Novosel and Assistant Principal Dr. Lauri Smith gave an overview of Lester’s assessment data and school improvement plan. Overall, Lester achieved expected growth and higher than expected growth on its spring and fall 2024 school assessments. Lester noted that there were some student groups that did not meet growth targets, such as fall 2024 fifth grade math. The school’s instructional leadership team is using detailed assessment data to identify opportunities to better support students. Lester’s school improvement goals this year relate to English-language arts curriculum resource implementation, strategic math instruction enhancements, and the Zones of Regulation social-emotional learning curriculum resource implementation.
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Dr. Kevin Russell provided several updates, including:
- 2025-26 Calendar: District 58 typically approves the next year’s school calendar in December; this practice changed last year when the Board approved two school year calendars (2024-25 and 2025-26). View the 2025-26 school year calendar. Due to construction, summer 2025 will be longer than usual, with the last day of school on Friday, May 23, 2024 and the first day of school on Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025.
- PTA Reflections Ceremony: The Downers Grove PTA held its annual Reflections Arts program on Tuesday, Dec. 3. The PTA recognized 101 student artworks during the event, and 40 will advance to the regional level. “We are extremely proud of our students and grateful to our PTA for organizing this program and providing the opportunity to celebrate the arts,” Dr. Russell said.
- Attendance: As part of the District’s student attendance improvement efforts, the District is updating the Attendance section of its family handbook. The changes include an updated way to report a student absence, as well as updates regarding tardies, half-day absences and full-day absences. More information will be included in Communicate 58.
- Grove Children’s Preschool Open House: Grove Children’s Preschool will hold an open house for prospective families on Wednesday, Feb. 12 from 5-6:30 p.m. at Henry Puffer. Preschool applications for 2025-26 will open on Feb. 19.
- Donations: Each year, many organizations and individuals provide low-income District 58 students with winter weather clothing, holiday gifts, holiday meals and essential items. District 58 is incredibly grateful for this year’s donors. For example, the St. Joseph Knights of Columbus, the Downers Grove Moose Lodge, the District 58 Helping Hands Group, and the Stitches to Share group donated winter coats, snow pants, snow boots, and winter accessories. The Downers Grove First United Methodist Church provided all elementary schools with Target gift cards to give to families experiencing extreme hardship. Immanuel Lutheran Church provided 45 Thanksgiving meal packs and will provide 45 winter holiday meal packs to District 58 families in need. Later this month, the Roadrunners Soccer Club will deliver holiday gifts for approximately 130 students. In addition, St. Joseph Catholic Church and the EM5 Foundation will provide holiday gifts for a few families facing hardship. And as always, the Blessings in a Backpack program continues to provide weekend meals for District 58 children facing food insecurity.
- Education Foundation News: The Foundation recently awarded 28 teacher grants totaling over $30,000. In addition, the Education Foundation will be a beneficiary of the proceeds from the recent Grove Express 5K in Downers Grove. Finally, the Foundation is gearing up for its Harlem Wizards fundraiser and family event, which will take place Sunday, Jan. 19 from 6-8 p.m. at Downers Grove South. More information will be shared with families this month.
Business Report
The Board of Education has asked District 58 to create a capital policy that incorporates capital planning into its existing financial planning process. Last month, Assistant Superintendent for Business Todd Drafall presented the policy’s first draft and received input from the Board. This month, he presented an updated draft that included the Board’s feedback. The Board will conduct a first reading of the draft capital policy in January and will vote to formally approve it in February.
Mr. Drafall also asked the Board to approve a food service contract to provide a National School Lunch Program in District 58 elementary schools starting in January 2025. By participating in the National School Lunch Program, District 58 can receive reimbursement for the meals it provides low-income elementary students. This transition will result in an estimated annual savings of $300,000. The meals provided through the new vendor will be similar to the cold lunches currently offered, as District 58 does not yet have the kitchen and food storage space to provide hot meals at elementary schools. Later in the meeting, the Board approved the contract with Open Kitchens to provide a National School Lunch Program from January-May 2025. District 58 will evaluate the program in May and determine whether to continue working with Open Kitchens or to select a different vendor.
Mr. Drafall also shared the year-to-date financial report, which is on track, along with draft 2025-26 student registration fees.
Committee Reports
Vice President Gregory Harris and Member Tracy Weiner reported on the Dec. 3 Policy Committee meeting. The committee reviewed recent recommended policy updates, most of which were recommended in response to recent state and federal legislation. The Board approved a first reading of all recommended policy updates; the updates will be added to the January Board meeting agenda for final approval.
President Darren Hughes reported on the Dec. 6 Financial Advisory Committee meeting. The committee reviewed the year-to-date financial report, proposed 2025-26 fees, the transition to the National School Lunch Program, and the draft capital policy.
Discussion: Referendum Construction Update
Jordan Schulz and Peter Kuhn gave the Board a referendum construction update. Mr. Schulz works with the owner’s representative firm, Huffman & Keel, and Mr. Kuhn works with the construction manager, Bulley & Andrews.
Overall, construction is on time and remains on budget. As shared during the November Board meeting, Phase II/Summer 2025 construction bids came in over budget. However, the District has contingency funds built into the total cost to ensure that equity is maintained and all schools receive the work that was approved by the voters. While the overall budget is getting tighter, funds remain to complete the construction.
Schulz acknowledged the construction team’s failure to accurately budget for the Phase II projects. He shared several potential causes for this failure, including over-confidence after the Phase I/Summer 2024 and middle school projects bid well, and incorrect assumptions that both earlier bidding and the overall younger age of Phase II buildings would offer savings. They also sought cost estimates during the early drawing phases of the project; these initial estimates did not hold up. He also said that they did not take a conservative enough approach to their estimates and expanded the scope of the referendum work using some contingency funding early.
For the past several weeks, District 58 has worked with the construction team to complete a process called value engineering, in which the team identifies areas where costs can be reduced while maintaining its commitment to equity. Through this process, the team trimmed $2.4 million off the Phase II bids. The team also increased its cost estimates for Phase III/Summer 2026 work and added these increases into the overall referendum budget.
After updating the overall referendum construction budget with the revised Phase II costs and Phase III cost estimates, there is currently an estimated $890,740 left in contingency.
Throughout the presentation, Board members asked thoughtful yet challenging questions to Schulz and Kuhn and expressed their disappointment in the Phase II bid results. One member expressed discomfort with the anticipated $890,740 in remaining contingency funding. Schulz agreed that this number is lower than desired, but added that with Phase I complete and the middle schools 50% complete, there are fewer opportunities for unexpected issues to come up; plus, the revised overall budget includes increased cost estimates for Phase III work. In addition, some of the previously-allocated contingency funds -- such as for serveries infrastructure and cabling -- can be reallocated to address emergency situations that arise.
After a lengthy conversation, the Board approved Phase II Bid Package #2 in the amount of $30,860,591. This bid package reflects cuts made during the value engineering process. It includes construction bids for Fairmount, Kingsley, Indian Trail and Lester schools for the following: demolition, masonry, general trades, millwork, roofing, glazing, drywall, ceramic tile, ACT, carpet, painting, plumbing, HVAC and electrical.
In addition, the Board approved a bid for middle school furniture from the vendor, Henrickson, at a cost of $844,026.25.
During the Meeting, the Board Also:
- Heard an update on the special education cooperative SASED.
- Approved minutes from the Nov. 11 regular meeting and all items in the consent agenda.
- To view documents related to the above actions, please view the meeting agenda.
Upcoming Events
- Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 3:45 p.m.: Legislative Committee Meeting at O’Neill
- Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 3:45 p.m.: Legislative Committee Meeting at O’Neill
- Monday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.: Regular Board Meeting at the Downers Grove Civic Center
District 58 Board of Education members are: Darren Hughes, president; Gregory Harris, vice president; Kirat Doshi, Melissa Ellis, Emily Hanus, Steven Olczyk and Tracy Weiner, with Dr. Kevin Russell, superintendent; and Melissa Jerves, board secretary.