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School Board News Bulletin
April, 2006

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This publication is also available as a PDF file

ARTICLES

11th annual IASB job fair introduces 919 candidates to 42 school districts

Local tax and bond issues get wide support

Junk food ban passes hurdle; faces more nutrition scrutiny

e-Plan toolkit offered to help with school improvement plans

Economic interest statements are due

District coping with loss of high school building

Familiar names to square off in governor's race

IASA management taps Belleville superintendent

Districts submit their entries for Joint Annual Conference panels

Detecting vision is topic for LeaderShop event in Carterville

State won't cancel ISAT testing contract

Chicago hosts NSBA 66th annual conference

NEWS FROM IASB

Updated IASB school law books will ship soon

IASB workshop for board/district secretaries set

NEWS FROM ISBE

Number of districts in deficit spending on decline

Summit will promote need for Early Childhood Education

NEWS HEADLINES

11th annual IASB job fair introduces 919 candidates to 42 school districts

The 11th annual IASB Job Fair for Teachers, Administrators and Education Majors held on March 18 at Saint Xavier University in Chicago was a great success, as evidenced by the number of people participating as well as their enthusiastic reactions.

Attendance held steady from last year as 42 school recruiters attended the event compared with 43 last year. Meanwhile, 919 candidates for teaching and administrative positions took the opportunity to make contacts or interview for current and future job openings. That is down 2 percent last year's attendance total of 938 job candidates.

Enthusiasm ran high: "This was great! Thanks," said a recruiter representing one participating school district. "Many quality candidates," said another. "It was extremely well organized," said yet another school district recruiter.

In fact, ninety percent of participating school districts said they would return again next year to take part in the IASB Job Fair.

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Local tax and bond issues get wide support
Referenda passage rate tops averages

Primary elections in even-numbered years generally are a great time to place school finance referendums on the ballot. As a rule, referenda meet with a higher degree of success at that time than at other dates on the Illinois consolidated election calendar.

This year was no exception as voters approved 17 of 32 tax rate increase proposals placed on the March 21 primary ballot. This 53 percent success rate for tax increase propositions is up from the 44 percent success rate schools experienced in the March 2004 primary.

All 17 proposals this election called for education fund increases. The sole operations fund proposal, a modest 8 ½-cent increase per $100 of equalized assessed valuation put on the ballot in New Lenox District 122, was voted down.

The largest education fund tax hike was a 90-cent increase approved in Worth District 127 in Cook County. The smallest was a 15-cent increase in Millstadt CCSD 160 in downstate St. Clair County.

Voters also approved 32 of 43 bond issue propositions in the March primary – for a 74 percent passage rate. That compares to the 43 percent rate of bond issues passed in the March 2004 primary. Of the 32 bond issues adopted, 30 were for building bonds, one was for life safety bonds, and one was for the issuance of working cash bonds.

The largest bond issue adopted was a $252 million building bond proposal in Plainfield District 202, where the district plans to build nine schools, including an additional high school, to accommodate enrollment increases that are averaging about 2,600 students a year. The smallest bond issue was a $3.75 million Working Cash proposal in Fox Lake District 114.

Voters adopted education fund tax rate increases in the following school districts:

Alsip Elementary District 126
Brookfield-LaGrange Park D-95
Kildeer-Countryside CCSD 96, Buffalo Grove
Byron CUSD 226
Giant City CCSD 130, Carbondale
CUSD 300, Carpentersville
Elmhurst CUSD 205
Manteno District 5
McHenry District 15
Millstadt District 160
Pecatonica CUSD 321
Troy District 30-C, Plainfield
River Forest District 90
Skokie District 69
Waterloo CUSD 5
Worth District 127
Yorkville District 115

Local voters approved bond issues in the following school districts:

Central CUSD 301, Burlington
Byron CUSD 226
Giant City CCSD 130, Carbondale
CUSD 300, Carpentersville
Coal City CUSD 1
Dunlap CUSD 323
Elmhurst CUSD 5
Fox Lake District 114 (working cash bonds)
Fremont District 79, Mundelein
Gifford District 188
Queen Bee District 16, Glendale Heights
Glenbard THSD 87, Glen Ellyn
Laraway District 70-C (life safety bonds)
Lemont THSD 210
Manteno District 5
Millstadt District 160
Minooka CHSD 111
Indian Prairie CUSD 204, Naperville
Lincoln-Way CHSD 210, New Lenox.
Central District 104, O'Fallon
Plainfield CCSD 202
Plano CUSD 88
Pleasantdale Elementary District 107
Riverside-Brookfield THSD 208
Round Lake Area District 116
St. Joseph-Ogden CHSD 305
Tremont CUSD 702
Triad CUSD 2, Troy
Waterloo District 5
Wilmington CUSD 209-U
Woodstock District 200
Yorkville District 115.

A school public information officer from one successful district credited IASB's advice about community engagement with the district's success in getting a tax referendum adopted. Barb Banker of Woodstock District 200 told IASB's Linda Dawson: "I thought you'd like to know that the process truly works. We passed our referendum by a 58 to 42 percent margin!

"I'd tell anyone that public engagement is a lot of work, but the dividends are worth every minute spent," Banker added.

In other referendum action, voters approved two school consolidation proposals. One involved two Champaign County districts, namely Prairieview CCSD 192, and Ogden CCSD 212, which consolidated to form a new community consolidated school district. The second consolidation involved three districts in west-central Illinois. Voters in Hancock County approved the reorganization of Carthage CUSD 338, Dallas City District 336 and LaHarpe CUSD 335 to form a new high school district and a new elementary school district. One school consolidation proposal was defeated, a plan to form a new district in Fulton County by combining Astoria CUSD 1 and V.I.T. Community District 2.

Finally, a school board election was included in the primary voting in Peoria District 150, where two incumbents, including one longtime school board member, was defeated. Observers said the outcome swung largely on positions taken on retaining Edison Schools Inc., which has been receiving $1.8 million a year to run four Peoria schools. Both incumbents had supported the Edison school contract; both challengers opposed it.

Peoria District 150 was apparently the lone district holding a school board election in this even-numbered year. It did so under authority granted to larger school districts (100,000 to 500,000 population) that choose to adopt Article 33 of the Illinois School Code.

For a look at statistical comparisons of recent tax rate and bond referendums, see the tables available at www.iasb.com/files/finance.htm.

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Junk food ban passes hurdle; faces more nutrition scrutiny

The Illinois State Board of Education approved a rules revision proposal on March 16 to implement a rigid ban on junk food in Illinois elementary and middle schools. The amended rules, which are not yet in force, will soon be published for a second notice period in the Illinois Register, the official guide to state agency regulations and rulemaking.

Legislative staff from the General Assembly's Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) will soon begin analysis of the rules proposal; JCAR may still overrule the proposed regulations before they are to take effect next school year.

The state board voted by a 7-2 margin to approve the proposed ban which would prohibit the sale of soda, chips and candy before and during the school day for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. ISBE board members Joyce Karon and Dean Clark voted against the new regulations, noting that the proposal flies in the face of the principle of local control of schools.

ISBE revised the proposed new food regulations to make them less prescriptive before voting on them, however school management advocates say the changes do little to alleviate inherent problems for school districts. School management advocates contend that some of the revisions actually made the rules more complicated than before. The proposed rules include lists of:

• foods students cannot consume (including a list of foods students can consume);
• provisions where snack calorie counts would be necessary;
• the size of juice containers students can consume at various grades (including a different size for sixth graders, for example, than for fifth graders).

The Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance is among the school advocacy groups opposing the rules revision proposal. "The rules they're proposing are really overly restrictive, infringing on a local school district's authority to make decisions, and what's more they will be a burden for local school districts to implement," said Ben Schwarm, IASB associate executive director for governmental relations.

To review the proposed rules, visit the IASB Web site and click on Food Rule Modifications, or visit: www.iasb.com/Foodrules_0603.pdf. (Scroll to page 20 to see the text of the rules, and not just the ISBE summary preceding them.)

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e-Plan toolkit offered to help with school improvement plans

Schools and districts in Academic Watch Status that did not reach adequate yearly progress goals over several years are required to write a school improvement plan, and some may also be required to write a school restructuring plan.

For this purpose the state is making available an Illinois "e-Plan" toolkit that will simplify the process of submitting these required plans to ISBE. The toolkit is available through the Interactive Illinois Report Card (IIRC) Web site for schools and districts at http://iirc.niu.edu/scripts/whatsnew110805.asp . The toolkit includes a school improvement plan template and an accompanying guide and peer review tool to assist in revising and submitting school improvement and restructuring plans.

Schools that have not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for five consecutive school years will have to submit a plan for restructuring, with the plan to be implemented if the school does not make AYP in 2007. The restructuring plan should take into account the school improvement and corrective actions initiated in prior years.

According to ISBE, the actions required under the restructuring plan may be seen as targeted to meet identified needs. Each restructuring plan will have to be submitted to ISBE with the approval of the local board no later than six months after the district's receipt this summer of formal notification regarding the failure to meet AYP status.

Revised school improvement plans for schools in academic early warning status must be approved by the local school board and plans for schools in academic watch status must be approved by the school board and the State Superintendent of Education. ISBE has developed a school improvement plan "rubric," which is a formalized process to assist schools in the revision of their plans. This rubric also will be used to evaluate the school improvement plans submitted to ISBE.

For more information, visit the Illinois Interactive Report Card site on the Web at http://iirc.niu.edu/ or the ISBE Web page for restructuring guidance at: http://www.isbe.net/nclb/ htmls/restructuring_guidance.htm.

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Economic interest statements are due

State law requires school board members, certificated administrators and some non-administrative school district employees to file annual economic interest statements by May 1 with the clerk of the county where they reside.

Those required to file include: department heads responsible for large contracts ($1,000 or more), those who have authority to issue or promulgate school district rules, and employees who have supervisory authority for 20 or more employees.

Required filers who have not received forms by mail should contact their county clerk .

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District coping with loss of high school building
Fire guts building; but school, events continue

Just five days after a March 3 fire gutted the 86-year-old main building of Southeastern High School in Augusta, officials had classes operating again, if on a shortened schedule, thanks to the hard work of school staff and generous community giving and volunteer aid.

The blaze began in the school at around 10:25 a.m. on Friday, March 3. Proving the value of fire drills and safety precautions, staff members were able to get all students evacuated before firefighters arrived. The staff initially believed the alarm was activated as a drill. No injures were reported.

Fifty firefighters from five departments in Hancock County used 17 fire trucks in order to contain the blaze. Five hours later, the fire was stopped from spreading to the school's cafeteria and gymnasium complex, which was built in the 1950s.

The third floor of the old school was completely gutted, while lower levels of the building suffered fire, water and smoke damage.

A meeting was also called at the site three days after the fire for school officials, local legislators, state board of education officials, the school's insurance carrier and investigators with the State Fire Marshal's Office.

There, local legislators informed the school board that 65 percent matching funds are available from the state for reconstruction in an emergency situation. The program would work in conjunction with the insurance.

"If they rebuild, it will pay for the replacement value," said Rep. Art Tenhouse, R-Liberty. "If they take a cash settlement, it will be placed on the cash value of the building."

"I couldn't even come close to giving you the names of everyone who's called me, offering text books, desks, even maintenance help," Superintendent Mike Owen said. "A lot of local volunteers came in and helped us."

When school resumed five days after the fire, students attended classes in space loaned by the Methodist Church in Bowen, 6 miles from the high school. The church is located just across U.S. 61 from Southeastern Middle and Junior High School, so some students are able to attend classes in the church, and others at the middle school building across the street. The church has several classrooms, large meeting rooms and offices for staff. A shuttle bus runs to the church from Augusta.

School officials offered to pay rent to the church for use of the building but the church's administrative council unanimously agreed they would not take any rent from the school.

The school district, however, will pick up the church's utility costs while meeting there and also promised to replace or repair any damaged church property such as carpeting. The school district also put the church on its insurance policy so as to spare the congregation any extra expense in that area.

Southeastern CUSD 337 is waiting to hear if the state will accept a shortened school day for displaced students.

"Right now we have 240 instructional minutes," Fox said. "The state requires 300 unless you have a situation like we have out here."

No decision has been made whether the district will rebuild the school at its present location. The district is considering using modular classrooms for the next school year, however. But that, also, has not been finalized.

"We are hoping that this is temporary in that we have eleven weeks of school left this year," Superintendent Owen said, adding that next year the district hopes to be back at the high school, probably with the help of some temporary buildings. He added that the newer, western side of the school complex housing the gym and cafeteria sustained little if any damage.

"We're planning to have the spring musical as well as graduation in the high school gym," Owens said.

Owens says the district is satisfied with the fast response of insurance representatives from the property casualty pool, which is endorsed by IASB. "So far I'd say they're doing what they can as soon as they can."

Holding up progress, according to Owens, is the slow progress of investigators from the state fire marshal's office, who have combed the wreckage since the blaze destroyed the main building of the school built in the 1920s. A safety hazard due to crumbling walls in the southern part of the building delayed fire officials from completing their investigation more rapidly. The building also had to be reinforced with steel girders in order to be deemed safe for the fire investigation to continue.

The cause of the fire is still being determined.

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Familiar names to square off in governor's race
State education part of both party campaigns

With their parties' nominations secured in the March 21 primary, Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Republican state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka have already begun giving voters a preview of their campaigns for governor this fall.

Blagojevich stated that his administration's investments in proposals like health care for children and universal preschool are moving Illinois forward: "Making investments and making them from the right places is what governing is," he said.

But Topinka says Blagojevich is creating programs without the money to pay for them: "The governor probably wants to launch a space shuttle, too, but that doesn't mean we can pay for it," Topinka said. "You can't drive the state into what would be the state version of bankruptcy."

Although Blagojevich easily won the Democratic nomination, winning 68 percent of the vote in unofficial returns, primary challenger Edwin Eisendrath got more votes than pre-election polls had indicated, signaling the first-term governor could be vulnerable in November.

"I don't know what she's thinking when she says no to health care for kids," Blagojevich says. For her part, Topinka says she will review Blagojevich's universal health-care program for children to make sure that the state can afford it. Other Topinka campaign promises include:

• concentrating on school funding issues
• making it a priority to make education affordable and accessible for all children in Illinois

"As Treasurer, I've worked to protect education funds the Blagojevich administration wanted to divert for other wasteful uses," Topinka claims.

Meanwhile, the governor points to his record on education as a highlight of his first term, stating: "In the last four years we have been able to increase education funding by $2.3 billion, the largest amount any administration has ever done in one term in Illinois history, more than 43 other states including every state in the Midwest."

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IASA management taps Belleville superintendent

S Brent Clark, now the superintendent at Belleville THSD 201, will take the reigns of the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA) on July 1., He was elected Executive Director of IASA last December (a vote highlighted on page 2 of the January Newsbulletin). Clark will succeed Walter H. Warfield.

Likewise, Michael A. Jacoby, Superintendent of Schools for Geneva CUSD 304, was recently selected as the new Executive Director of the Illinois Association of School Business Officials (Illinois ASBO). Jacoby will assume his duties effective upon the retirement of Ronald E. Everett on July 1.

Like IASB, both IASA and Illinois ASBO are voluntary statewide school management associations. All three are members of the lobbying group known as the Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance, which also includes the Illinois Principals Association (IPA). IASB, IASA and Illinois ASBO are co-sponsors of the Joint Annual Conference, the state's largest annual conference of school leadership officials.

Prior to accepting the Belleville THSD 201 superintendency, Clark was district superintendent at Benton CCSD 47, and Thompsonville District 62. He currently serves on the Belleville Chamber of Commerce board, and on the Southern Illinois Labor/Management Committee.

Clark, who has served on the IASA Board of Directors, also serves as one of six Illinois representatives on the American Association of School Administrators' (AASA) governing board.

In commenting on the opportunity to lead IASA, Clark said "My goal is to unite all facets of our membership – by bringing together the geographically and economically diverse as well as the new and veteran superintendents. All of us, together, can have a positive influence on Illinois educational policy."

Editor's note: the outgoing executives, Warfield and Everett, will discuss their careers and accomplishments in the May-June issue of The Illinois School Board Journal.

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Districts submit their entries for Joint Annual Conference panels

June 9 is the target mailing deadline for the registration packet for the 2006 Joint Annual Conference, to be held Nov. 17-19 in Chicago. Questions concerning registration procedures for the conference should be directed to IASB Meetings Management, at ext. 1115 or 1102.

June 21 is the deadline for member districts to submit resolutions. Forms for IASB resolutions were sent out on March 31. Consideration of these resolutions is a key component of the Delegate Assembly. Resolutions adopted by the Delegate Assembly will become official policy of IASB and will help govern the Association in the coming year.

Last year nearly 400 board members, superintendent and others attended the Sunday morning "Coffee and Conversation Sessions" at the Joint Annual Conference to share experiences and learn from one another.

IASB will be offering attendees at the 2006 conference this same opportunity for discussion around the following topics:

• Dual Role: Parent/Board Member
• Multi-cultural Issues
• Issues in Rural School Districts
• Issues in Fast Growing Districts
• Issues in Suburban Districts
• Issues for Board Presidents
• Issues with Consolidation

Organizers suggest participants should plan now to attend one of these sessions to share with and learn from their board and administrative colleagues from around the state, and to take advantage of a complimentary cup of coffee provided by IASB Service Associates.

Finally, all "Share the Success" panel session ideas for the 2006 Joint Annual Conference have been evaluated, and 20 to 30 winning proposals are currently being chosen. Director of Board Development Angie Peifer notes that 75 panels were submitted.

"The panel evaluators just did an unbelievable job of carefully examining each proposal and choosing the best ones," said Peifer, who oversaw the evaluations.

IASB Co-Chairs for the 2006 Conference are Directors Fred Blue, of Waltham CCSD 185 in LaSalle County; and Cheryl Jackson, of Bloomington District 87 in McLean County.

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Detecting vision is topic for LeaderShop event in Carterville

As a school board member your basic responsibility is not to create a mission and vision for your schools, but to detect it. That is the topic of an IASB workshop called "The Board's First Responsibility: Detecting and Communicating a Compelling Vision," set for April 29 at John A. Logan College, Carterville.

Carterville is located about 10 miles east of Marion in Williamson County in southern Illinois. Participants in the upcoming workshop will discuss these processes, as well as aligning the school board's work and the entire school system with the district's vision.

The April 29 workshop will be offered from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more information visit IASB's Web site at www.iasb.com/calendar/calendar.cfm.

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State won't cancel ISAT testing contract

The state won't cancel its ISAT testing contract with a company hired to provide Illinois Standards Achievement Tests even though State Superintendent Randy Dunn recommended the cancellation. Dunn made the recommendation on March 9 after the company involved reportedly failed to deliver test materials to school districts on time.

Dunn said Texas-based Harcourt Assessment Inc. — which holds the multimillion-dollar ISAT contract — had failed to live up to its contract. But the Illinois State Board of Education at its March 16 meeting declined to take action against the testing company.

ISBE later posted a form on its Web site giving superintendents of districts that have not begun testing due to the late materials the chance to push back their testing periods by a week.

Dunn also encouraged district officials to submit invoices to ISBE for any expenses related to the delays, for which the board would seek payment from Harcourt.

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Chicago hosts NSBA 66th annual conference

Learning, exploration and world-class amenities highlighted five days in Chicago for hundreds of representatives of Illinois school districts attending the 2006 National School Boards Association (NSBA) Conference.

The conference was held April 8-11 at Lakeside Center at McCormick Place. Eight Illinois districts made panel presentations and three were honored in a national excellence awards ceremony on Monday April 10, as thousands of school board members, superintendents, education officials and their guests gathered in the Windy City. This was the first NSBA Conference held in Illinois in at least 50 years.

IASB staff and officers also took part, presenting two conference panels, attending numerous school board development sessions and hosting a reception for hundreds of conference goers.

A highlight for many this year was Saturday's general session, featuring retired General Colin Powell, the former Secretary of State. Powell is currently a strategic limited partner with a renowned Silicon Valley venture capital firm.

The conference also saw a major fund-raiser held on behalf of the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama school board associations and their member school districts devastated by Hurricane Katrina last year.

More information about this year's NSBA conference will be reported in next month's Newsbulletin.

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NEWS FROM IASB

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Updated IASB school law books will ship soon

Many school administrators and board members now keep school law books at their desk for easy reference. Two standard legal reference titles are available from IASB, namely the Illinois School Law Survey, by Brian Braun, and the Illinois School Code, compiled by Lexis Publishing Company for IASB.

But readers of all law books should beware of one major pitfall, according to school attorneys: If the law book you use is out of date, you'd be better off with no book. In fact, because of the numerous changes being enacted each year, experts suggest replacing any law book that is more than a year or two old.

That's why a complete new Eighth Edition of the Illinois School Law Survey is being prepared for release, and the 2006 Illinois School Code is also to be released soon.

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IASB workshop for board/district secretaries set

A workshop for school board secretaries, recording board secretaries, superintendent's secretaries and administrative assistants is set for April 28 in Mt. Vernon, provided by IASB. Called "Learning You Can Use," the workshop will encourage participants to share ideas and collaborate on best practices — what works and what doesn't.

After networking, there will be two break-out sessions – one on minutes and one on parliamentary procedures.

The workshop fee of $40 per person includes all materials, lunch, and coffee and bakery items during registration. Registration on site begins at 9 a.m. in The Core Room at The Primary Center, Mt. Vernon Public Schools, 401 N. 30^th Street, Mt. Vernon.

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NEWS FROM ISBE

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Number of districts in deficit spending on decline

Illinois school districts generally continue to show financial improvement, according to data released on March 16. In fact, the State Board's financial profile for each Illinois district shows districts in deficit spending dropping for the second straight year.

For Fiscal Year 2005, slightly more than 40 percent of Illinois school districts were engaged in deficit spending. Two years ago nearly 80 percent were deficit spending.

The results show more than half of Illinois districts achieving the highest ranking:

• 55.3 percent of districts in Financial Recognition, compared to 39.8 percent in FY 2003
• 25 percent in Review, compared to 27.0 percent in FY 2003

The data collected for district deficit spending and Financial Watch List status can be found in the School District Financial Profile, which is available online at http://www.isbe.net/sfms/P/profile.htm.

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Summit will promote need for Early Childhood Education

Illinois has been chosen by the National Governors Association (NGA) center for best practices as one of seven states selected to receive grants of $10,000 to support early childhood education summits.

The proposed one-day summit will take place in October and bring together a cross-section of early childhood, community, education, government, business, union, and foundation leaders together to develop action plans on preschool programs over the next few years.

"This summit will help further the discussion for growing and improving early childhood education," said Illinois State School Superintendent Randy Dunn.

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NEWS HEADLINES

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Belleville (Feb. 28, Belleville News-Democrat) THSD 201 announced that Greg Moats, 52, will be the district's new superintendent on July 1. Moats is district superintendent of Harmony-Emge District 175 in Belleville.

Bradford (March 13, The Star Courier, Kewanee) It's back to the drawing board for Bradford CUSD 1 after superintendent-principal John Rosenberry announced on March 9 he is leaving the district in June at the end of his two-year contract.

Carbondale (March 1, The Southern Illinoisan) Giant City School was named as a top achieving district by an educational research firm. The school was selected by the educational research and consulting firm SchoolSearch as a "Bright A+" award winner based on its 2005 Illinois schools report card data.

Carpentersville (Feb. 28, Northwest Herald) The school board in CUSD 300 approved reduction-in-force plans for the 2006-07 school year to dismiss five tenured teachers, 33 nontenured teachers, and six support-staff employees if the March 21 referendums had failed. Local voters approved both a bond issue and a tax increase on March 21, which means most or all of those dismissed will be reinstated.

East St. Louis (March 1, Belleville News-Democrat) Resigning district consultant Stan Mims' last day as interim superintendent was Feb. 28.

Galesburg (March 14, The Journal Star, Peoria) A unanimous decision by the District 205 school board to close three schools over the next several year was prompted by a $750,000 deficit. The first closing would come this summer.

Elgin (March 16, Courier News, Elgin) A U.S. District Judge told lawyers that in order for a year-old discrimination case against Elgin School District U46 to gain class-action status, the complaint must be narrowed, or new plaintiffs must be added.

Glendale Heights (March 15, The Daily Herald) After more than 20 years of service there, Superintendent James W. White recently had his name inscribed on the administrative center at Queen Bee Elementary District 16, Glendale Heights.

Heyworth (March 8, Heyworth Star) Third- through sixth-graders at Heyworth Elementary took the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) on March 14, but students in pre-kindergarten through second grade weren't left out. The school announced plans in early March to team the younger students with a "buddy" in the higher grades to help motivate them for the ISAT.

Madison (Feb. 24, News-Democrat, Belleville) Four non-tenured teachers at an elementary school in Madison who were recently fired said they intend to sue the district over it, with their union's backing.

Harding (March 24, The Times, Ottawa) Harding Elementary School was closed on March 24 to allow the building to be aired out and thoroughly cleaned because of recent student illnesses there. A Harding student had died earlier in the week due to illness and other students have had strep throat and pneumonia this year.

Springfield (Feb. 22, State Journal-Register, Springfield) Springfield's high school and middle school students could be subjected to routine, random searches if the District 186 board moves forward with a city police proposal. Police officers with metal-detector wands would scan students entering school in the morning. Police officials approached the district recently after gun-related incidents in the community.

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