Hawthorn Board Highlights

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Present: Michael Engle, Karl Borchers, Joel Finfer, Julie Clifford, George Fievet, Robin Cleek, Wes Polen.

One of the goals of the Board of Education is to recognize the accomplishments of those who play a significant role in advancing Hawthorn’s tradition of excellence. This includes teachers, staff, students and community members. Nominate someone for recognition today!

Board President Robin Creek extended a warm welcome to all staff, teachers, new teachers, and administration as they return for the new school year. Excitement was shared for welcoming students back on Monday.

Superintendent Pete Hannigan welcomed back all staff and shared the excitement of preparing to welcome over 3,500 students on Monday. He outlined key board projects for the 2024-2025 school year, including:

• Collaborating with the teachers' union on a new contract
• Evaluating the middle school schedule
• Further developing the middle school social-emotional learning program
• Piloting new Tier 1 middle school science, math, and Spanish materials
• Updating the guaranteed and viable curriculum for middle school Spanish language arts
• Continuing work on MTSS procedures and supporting diverse learners
• Exploring updates to the K-3 report card language
• Introducing new educational technologies alongside iPads
• Evaluating productivity processes for staff and students

Jennifer Akin, Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Business Operations, presented the fiscal year 2025 tentative budget. She highlighted an increase of $720,000 in the overall revenue budget and a $142,545 increase in the overall expense budget compared to the previous version shared in June. Aiken emphasized that the tentative budget reflects collaboration between district leaders to allocate resources effectively for student success. A public budget hearing was held, but there were no questions from the audience. The FY25 budget will be brought to the Board of Education for final approval on September 19, with another opportunity for public comment before approval.

The next Board of Education meeting will be held on September 19, 2024 at Hawthorn District Office.