Dear District 57 Families,

Bring out your flannels and hot apple cider - fall is finally here! Fall is always such a special time in D57: schools are deep into routines by this point, clubs and sports are up and running, and we are heading closer to Halloween and the holiday season. Our deep sense of community, collaboration, and connection is in full swing, and I am honored to be a part of it.

Thank you to our Lincoln Middle School’s Cadette Troop #45294 for leading the Pledge of Allegiance at last night’s Board of Education meeting. It’s always such a treat to see our students’ commitment and confidence in action. Great job, cadettes!

As you might have noticed, D57 has migrated our Board of Education meeting notes to BoardDocs. BoardDocs is a paperless meeting management system already used by many of our neighboring districts. It will provide a user-friendly, navigable document system for both the Board and our community. You can access the link to BoardDocs here.

To best keep you informed, here are some highlights from last night’s Board of Education meeting:

FY23 Budget: Jason Kaiz, Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations, presented our final FY23 budget to the Board and the Board adopted it. The budget is considered a roadmap to the District’s goals and objectives. The new fiscal year goes from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023. The adopted FY23 budget shows a revenue of $33,190,886, total expenditures of $33,085,101, and a year-end budget surplus of $105,785. Currently, the District is in a solid financial position.

Enrollment Study: Enrollment for the 2022-2023 school year is 2,090 students. While enrollment numbers have declined in the last three years, our 20-year enrollment trend reflects a very gradual overall increase. Comparing last year’s enrollment to this year’s enrollment, we show a decline in D57 enrollment of 62 students. Of this 62 student loss, 51 were in Westbrook’s kindergarten grade. While it is not possible to know for sure (enrollment numbers are affected by so many factors), we hypothesize that many families prefer or need a full-day kindergarten program and have decided to send their children to full-day kindergarten programs in the area. They then begin their child’s D57 education in 1st grade. This theory is supported by our 1st grade enrollment data which shows a 34 student enrollment increase over last year. The District is in discussion about bringing a full-day kindergarten program to Westbrook. We do have some capacity and facility issues at Westbrook and Lincoln, which we will need to address in the years to come. You can find school and grade-level breakdowns and future projections in the public packet.

D57 is Hiring! Our schools continue to need instructional assistants, substitute instructional assistants, and substitute teachers. These are great opportunities to play a valued role in the schools and help our students learn and grow every day! Find the details and links to apply at this link. Are you interested, or do you know someone who might be? Please help spread the word so we can fill these important roles.

Equity Audit: I wanted to take a moment to thank the many parents/guardians who volunteered to participate and/or provided consent for their child(ren) to participate in our Equity Audit focus groups. We had more parent/guardian focus group volunteers than available slots, and I am incredibly grateful for the community's interest on this topic. We held successful parent/guardian focus groups this week, and will continue to do so in the weeks to come. We have available space for students in 6th-8th grade to participate in a student focus group. If you have a child/ren at Lincoln and would like them to be considered for this opportunity, please complete this form.

Students in grades 4th-8th grade will have the opportunity to participate in a brief survey about their experiences in District 57 for the Equity Audit. Parents/guardians of students in 4th-8th grade may opt out their children from participating in the student survey for the equity audit by completing this form. The deadline to opt-out students in 4th-8th grade is extended until Monday, September 26.

Parents/guardians and staff will also have opportunities to participate in surveys for the audit. The link to the survey and instructions will be emailed to families and staff in October. Our Equity Audit efforts will result in a formal equity report in June of 2023 that will be available for the public to view.

School Board Elections: Today, District 57 Families received this communication from District 57 Board of Education President, Eileen Kowalcyzk, which includes information about the upcoming school board elections in April 2023. I encourage you to share this information with your neighbors and fellow community members who live within D57 boundaries. Last night, the Board of Education discussed holding an informational meeting for the community about how to run for the school board. More information will be forthcoming.

One final thing: I hope you will join me Tuesday, October 4, 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m., as I host the first Superintendent Coffee & Conversation of the school year at the Mount Prospect Golf Club, 600 South See-Gwun Avenue. We can use this opportunity to share ideas and ask questions in an informal venue. I hope to see you there! No RSVP is required.

Enjoy your long weekend - we will see you again on Tuesday!

In the spirit of education,

Dr. Mary Gorr

Superintendent of Schools

Mount Prospect District 57

Email: mgorr@d57.org
Website: https://www.d57.org/
Location: 701 West Gregory Street, Mount Prospect, IL, USA
Phone: 847-394-7300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dist57/
Twitter: @dist57