The District 58 Board of Education held a Regular Meeting on Monday, Feb. 10 at the Downers Grove Civic Center. View the agenda. The meeting video will be posted on the District’s YouTube page.
School Report: O’Neill Middle School
O’Neill Middle School students representing the Student Council, Cross Country, Girls’ Basketball, Wrestling, Cheerleading, Boys’ Basketball and Chess teams led the Board and audience in the Pledge of Allegiance. The students gave brief reports on their school activities and highlighted the positive culture of O’Neill.
Principal Lauryn Humphris and Assistant Principal Danielle Bongiorno also shared their efforts to enhance O’Neill’s school culture, particularly by focusing on student expectations, celebrating positive student behaviors and emphasizing anti-bullying. This year’s school improvement plan focuses on English-language arts, Second Step social-emotional learning and Big Idea math curriculum implementations. Their school assessment data showed overall improvements when comparing fall testing data to winter data. PTA President Katie Suva shared some of the ways the PTA partners with O’Neill by fundraising and using those funds to support field trips, teacher grants, school events and more.
Spotlight on our Schools: Winter Data Spotlight
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Liz Ehrhart gave an overview of the District’s winter Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment data. Overall, students achieved expected academic growth in both math and reading. Specific takeaways included:
- Math growth is higher than expected for kindergarten and third grade, which is a continued trend for these grade levels.
- Math growth is lower than expected in fifth grade and unsatisfactory for seventh grade.
- Reading growth is higher than expected in first grade.
- All other grade levels achieved expected growth in math and reading.
Each school’s grade level teams reviewed school and student-specific assessment data to identify intervention opportunities; schools are also working together to provide a consistent intervention process districtwide. District 58 is conducting a curriculum review for the middle school math resource, noting how overall middle school math growth, particularly in seventh grade, is not as strong as the elementary level. District 58 implemented a new reading curriculum this school year, and will continue to support teachers as they integrate this new resource into their instruction. The assessment data will also be used to identify additional support for students and student eligibility for accelerated math and gifted programming.
Spotlight on our Schools: Winter Construction Update
Huffman Keel is District 58’s referendum construction owner’s representative. Jordan Schulz, a partner with Huffman Keel, gave the Board a winter construction update. Mr. Schulz shared that construction is overall progressing on schedule and on budget. Construction has been steadily taking place throughout the school year, and will ramp up significantly this summer in District 58’s middle schools and Phase II elementary schools (Fairmount, Indian Trail, Kingsley and Lester). The team is working strategically to help ensure summer work will be completed in time for teachers and students to return to school. ComEd will be installing a transformer in O’Neill’s new additions next month. The transformer will power O’Neill’s new spaces with electricity, heating and cooling. This will allow crews to complete key work that requires a climate-controlled environment, such as properly installing wood flooring. Unfortunately, ComEd has reported that Herrick’s transformer installation is not on schedule. The crews are looking into temporary solutions that could power Herrick’s new spaces and allow crews to complete more work in the new spaces this spring, which would help minimize the potential overtime needed to do this work after the transformer arrives this summer.
Mr. Schulz also reported that Elementary School Phase I (summer 2024 work) is substantially complete. The final close-out savings are expected to be about $50,000-$100,000. Nicor and ComEd rebates are being finalized and expected to total $88,000.
Mr. Schulz noted that this Board meeting’s agenda includes a bid for middle school classroom furniture. The current furniture proposal retained 2024 pricing and came in under budget.
Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent Dr. Kevin Russell provided several updates, including:
District 58 Solo and Ensemble Festival: District 58’s Band and Orchestra Solo and Ensemble Fest was last weekend and a big success. More than 470 solos and ensembles performed. Dr. Russell thanked the instructional music staff for preparing for this event, as well as the parent volunteers. The District looks forward to another music tradition, its Festival of Music, on Feb. 13.
Curriculum Workshop: The winter Curriculum Workshop is Feb. 24 and will feature an ELA implementation review and District curriculum committee updates.
National School Lunch Program: The elementary National School Lunch Program has been operating in District 58 for over a month and serves approximately 260 meals per day to elementary students. The transition to the National School Lunch Program has overall gone very smoothly.
Registration: Registration for the 2025-26 school year opened for new and returning students. Families can learn more about registration at www.dg58.org/registration, and the District asks everyone to complete registration by March 31. Accurate registration numbers at the end of March will allow District 58 to effectively plan for the upcoming school year, including staffing schools and developing schedules.
2026-27 School Calendar: District 58 anticipates bringing forward the 2026-27 school year calendar for Board approval during the March Board meeting. The 2025-26 calendar was approved last school year and is on the website. While District 58 aims to align its calendar with District 99, due to summer 2026 construction needs, District 58 will likely not see full alignment with District 99 until the 2027-28 school year.
Extended School Year: District 58 looks forward to offering Extended School Year programming to eligible students with disabilities this summer. Eligible students will receive an invitation and more information from their case manager. The program will run from May 30-June 27.
Facilities: In addition to this meeting’s furniture bid, there will be additional furniture requests at future Board meetings, as well as a moving bid. Next month, there will be a request to approve an architect bid to conduct the mandated 10-year life safety surveys for District 58 schools.
Education Foundation: The Education Foundation thanks everyone who attended last month’s sold-out Harlem Wizards fundraiser event. The Foundation is gearing up for its spring programs and just opened applications for its 2025 Select 58 program, which honors eighth graders for service.
Civic Center Dedication: Dr. Russell and Board President Darren Hughes attended last weekend’s Downers Grove Civic Center dedication. Approximately 300 community members attended and toured the new building. “It is always a great time when we get to meet and speak with so many members of our community. We are grateful for the community's support and very proud of our partnership with the Village of Downers Grove,” Dr. Russell said.
Business Report
Assistant Superintendent for Business Todd Drafall shared that the Business Office will be bringing several contracts and bids for approval to the Board in coming months. Of note, the District will hold a transportation bid opening this Thursday. The new transportation contract will likely be brought for approval in March. In addition, the District will bring a bond resolution for referendum funds to the Board in March as well. Mr. Drafall noted that due to a recent law change, tax-capped school districts, like District 58, can issue up to 30-year health life safety bonds without needing to go to referendum. The District is reviewing this law change and its implications for District 58 with the Board’s Financial Advisory Committee. At this time, the District does not plan to restructure or extend its bonds to the 30-year mark.
Mr. Drafall also shared that revenues and expenses are overall as expected. The District received an important state transportation reimbursement last month. As its transportation providers have hired more drivers, the District has been able to move some students from individual transportation to buses, saving money.
Committee Reports
Superintendent Dr. Kevin Russell reported on the Jan. 29 Legislative Committee meeting and the Jan. 31 Legislative Breakfast. The committee finalized Legislative Breakfast plans during the meeting. The Legislative Breakfast welcomed over 100 community and school district leaders. They discussed education issues facing District 58 with six local elected officials and one chief of staff to a representative. The event generated productive conversations and received very positive feedback.
President Darren Hughes reported on the Feb. 7 Financial Advisory Committee meeting. The committee discussed the District’s year-to-date report, potential budget cuts presented at the Board’s Financial Workshop, and how to structure the issuance of the second set of bonds to fund the remainder of referendum construction.
During the Meeting, the Board Also:
- Heard the monthly SASED report.
- Approved minutes from the Jan. 13 regular meeting and the Jan. 27 financial workshop and special meeting.
- Approved all items in the consent agenda.
- Approved a recommendation to elect Member Kirat Doshi as the vice president of the Board of Education; a new vice president was needed after former Vice President Gregory Harris resigned from the Board last month.
- Approved a 24-month managed Internet service contract with AT&T for a total cost of $33,931.20.
- Approved middle school general classroom furniture purchase from Henricksen at a cost of $192,507.80. This purchase is related to summer 2025 construction work.
- Received a public comment from a parent who expressed concern with the potential budget cuts presented at the Board’s Financial Workshop and suggested the District consider other solutions and possibly connect with other school districts in similar situations to identify other ideas to cut costs.
Upcoming Events
- Monday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m.: Special Meeting and Curriculum Workshop at Whittier School
- Monday, March 10 at 7 p.m.: Regular Meeting at the Downers Grove Civic Center
District 58 Board of Education members are: Darren Hughes, president; Kirat Doshi, vice president; Melissa Ellis, Emily Hanus, Steven Olczyk and Tracy Weiner, with Dr. Kevin Russell, superintendent; and Melissa Jerves, board secretary.