Parents chat with Grayslake Dist. 46 officials
Spending and other financial issues were the primary focus of an inaugural Grayslake Elementary District 46 community forum Wednesday night.
About 80 spectators attended the event at Grayslake Middle School, which featured district officials answering prepared questions for more than an hour and some from the crowd in the final 15 minutes.
Several parents pushed for the forum because regular board meetings don't offer a chance for give-and-take with board members or administrators.
One of a dozen written questions dealt with District 46's relationship with South Carolina-based Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence Inc. The district has touted Blue Ribbon Lighthouse Awards the paid consultant gave to two schools in 2007 and 2008.
About $25,250 was spent to send 25 employees to a Blue Ribbon Schools convention and awards banquet in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in December 2008. The district spent about $18,000 for 20 employees to attend the Blue Ribbon Schools event in North Charleston, S.C., in 2007.
District 46 Superintendent Ellen Correll stressed to the crowd that Blue Ribbon Schools wasn't about buying awards. She said the company provided valuable education consulting services and helped in areas including technology integration and school organization and culture.
Blue Ribbon Schools, led by founder Bart Teal, is promoting a convention Dec. 8-12 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. Correll answered a question on whether District 46 personnel will attend the Orlando event.
"We will be talking to the board," Correll said. "I'm sure if we do, it will be a reduced number because there are financial constraints."
Another question centered on the purchase of 258 laptop computers for teachers. District officials responded that there has been a goal of equipping every instructor with a laptop so they have proper classroom equipment.
Parent Shannon Smigielski, who helped organize the forum, said a better idea might have been to buy 100 laptops instead of 258.
"It still seems very excessive to the public because of the economy," Smigielski said.
Budget cuts District 46 made in March triggered some of the interest in Wednesday's forum. As part of the effort, the school board in March agreed to eliminate 29 jobs for an overall budget-reduction package tentatively pegged at $2.8 million.
Correll said she'd like to see more informal board forums. She said the forums could be separated by topics such as finance and curriculum.
Forum: Budget cuts a catalyst for interest in meeting