IASB School Board News Bulletin: November, 2004

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HOME Return to IASB Archives		School Board News Bulletin November, 2004 ARTICLES New tax assessment cap law challenged by business New state board wants to streamline rules and regulations Those Who Excel Award nominations sought ISBE eliminating teacher certification backlog Construction funding key issue in veto session ERIC now searchable on a single Web site at little or no cost NEWS HEADLINES REFERENDUM RESULTS Tax hikes fare poorly, bonds well Bond issues approved Four school district consolidations adopted School funding reform advisories approved NEWS FROM IASB 'Targeting student learning' workshops planned New board member workshops scheduled for May and June Upcoming governance meetings listed on IASB Web Site Minutes must be kept of closed meetings beginning January 1 ILLINOIS SCHOOL DISTRICTS Energy-conscious 'green' designs used in new secondary schools Urbana principal cited for principles, wins national award Teachers pay for procuring school items with 'p-cards' THE NATIONAL SCENE NCLB lawsuit threatened by California school district 2005 NSBA conference set for April 16-19 in San Diego RESEARCH REPORTS Illinois teen poverty rate is high, harmful, civic leaders find GAO report says state NCLB approaches inconsistent Rural NCLB funding sources cited New tax assessment cap law challenged by business The Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago, and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce are among the business groups leading a legal challenge to the 7 percent assessment cap law adopted this spring in the Illinois General Assembly. The new law, Public Act 93-715, aims to slow the effects of rising property values on residential real estate taxes by providing significant increases in property tax exemptions. But the way the law works "violates the command of the [Illinois] constitution that property taxes be levied uniformly," according to David Epstein, an attorney for the plaintiffs. One way the law works is by increasing the homestead exemption in Cook County, and other counties that choose to do so, in order to keep the taxable assessed value from increasing more than 7 percent from one year to the next. The total amount of this exemption per household may not exceed $20,000. But plaintiffs say this 7 percent cap "is not a homestead exemption within the meaning or intent" permitted by the state constitution. They say it functions, instead, as an "inflation cap," which is far too broad an exemption to pass constitutional muster. The plaintiffs also charge that the cap violates the Illinois Constitution's uniformity provision by failing to treat everyone (in this case all homeowners) alike under state law. Supporters of the bill that became P.A. 93-715 disagree. These objections are addressed in the legislation, and the bill is written "in such a way that all property owners are treated fairly and uniformly under the framework of the constitution," according to Cook County Assessor James Houlihan. Houlihan, a former state legislator, is credited with originating the idea of the cap. In addition to the 7 percent cap, the new tax law contains several other property tax exemption increases. One provision raises the senior citizens' homestead exemption by $1,000, increasing it from $2,000 in most counties to $3,000. Another provision raises the general homestead exemption by $1,500, boosting it from $3,500 in most counties to $5,000. The law also increases the income level for older adults to qualify to become eligible for a property tax assessment freeze. This level was raised by $5,000, boosting it from $40,000 to $45,000. School management lobbyists believe the impact of the new law will be harmful to public schools. "Overturning the law in court might prevent costly revenue losses for many local school districts," according to Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance lobbyist Ben Schwarm. Table of Contents New state board wants to streamline rules and regulations The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) on Oct. 21 announced plans to chop through "red tape" and streamline procedures for Illinois public schools. Gov. Rod Blagojevich had announced this as one of his priorities for the newly constituted board. The board's announcement follows up on a pledge he made in his state of the state address in January. Interim state school Superintendent Randy Dunn and State Board Chairman Jesse Ruiz both said ISBE staff have already begun talking with Illinois educators about the issue. "We are just such a rules-heavy agency," Dunn said. In addition, ISBE has set up an e-mail address, lessredtape@isbe.net, for educators and the public to use to make suggestions. Beyond getting educator and public input, a review process for proposed changes will seek feedback from advisory groups and committees focused on specific areas like student transportation, health and life safety and bilingual education. Where needed, special work groups will be formed for particular issues. ISBE has begun to look at rules related to inactive programs, which represent 20 percent of existing rules, according to agency staff. The agency timeline calls for rapid change, with results expected within the next three months. Chief Counsel Jonathan Furr and the State Board's legal division will oversee the rules review process. But any proposals will have to go to the Legislature's Joint Committee on Administrative Rules before being enacted. In January, Blagojevich lifted a 2,800-page pile of papers he said made up the rules and regulations governing Illinois schools. "This is a bureaucratic nightmare of biblical proportions," he said. Yet the number of laws governing schools has since grown, including new requirements that schools have an automated external defibrillator and a trained AED user in all indoor physical fitness facilities, and have fingerprints on file for all prospective school employees. Another new law requires schools to count a transfer student as a dropout unless notice is obtained from the receiving school that the student has enrolled. Meanwhile, high schools now must administer the Prairie State Achievement Exam to all students before graduation. Table of Contents Those Who Excel Award nominations sought Would you like to recognize the unsung heroes of your school or district? Then nominate them for an award from the 31st Annual State Board of Education "Those Who Excel/Illinois Teacher Program." This year's program has six nomination categories: classroom teacher school administrator/principal student support personnel (certificated) educational service personnel (noncertificated) school board member/community volunteer team Only one nomination per category, per district will be accepted, except in Chicago School District 299 where multiple nominations are allowed. Nominations must be postmarked by January 10. Nomination packets are available online and are grouped into four areas, with specific criteria identified for each. Information and nomination forms for the 2004-05 Those Who Excel program are online at http://www.isbe.net/those_who_ excel.htm. Table of Contents ISBE eliminating teacher certification backlog The newly realigned Illinois State Board of Education recently announced it has eliminated the 15-month backlog of teacher certification applications for Chicago Public Schools (CPS), and has reduced the rest of the state's backlog from 15 to 12 months. Governor Rod Blagojevich made clearing the teacher certification backlog a top priority for the new state board when he appointed seven new members in September. "This is an important first step in fixing a problem that teachers and schools have faced for more than a year," said Blagojevich. Interim State Superintendent Randy Dunn tackled the state's certification backlog after taking the top post at the agency last month. He immediately redirected agency resources and support to certification staff. "We're well on the way to doing away with a serious problem," said Dunn. "Our staff members rolled up their sleeves to tackle a bad situation that had been around for a long time. With good progress already achieved, we're digging in to finish the task." Table of Contents Construction funding key issue in veto session The Illinois General Assembly returned to the Capitol on Nov. 8 for its annual fall veto session, with school construction funding among the top issues awaiting action. "The Illinois Statewide School Management Alliance is strongly pushing legislators to include funding for the school construction grant program along with any capital projects appropriation," according to Ben Schwarm, IASB Associate Executive Director of Governmental Relations. Many school districts have grown a bit edgy waiting for the funding they have been promised. More than 25 districts are entitled to nearly $150 million, and an estimated 231 school funding grant applications still remain in the review process. Few controversial bills will face an override vote in the veto session. Although several holdover issues from the spring session are on the agenda, most of them are unrelated to schools. The legislature was schedule to meet November 8-10 and November 16-18. Generally, the legislature approves construction spending in the spring along with the rest of the state budget. This year the legislature and governor agreed to an appropriations package for state operations that intentionally excluded capital projects. Table of Contents ERIC now searchable on a single Web site at little or no cost Several changes were recently implemented to the educational research database known as ERIC, including a consolidation of the previous 16 separate databases into one, available on a single Web site. The Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) established in 1966 and supported by the U.S. Department of Education, the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, and the National Library of Education - is the world's largest source of education information. For the immediate future, the ERIC database, composed of more than one million bibliographic records, will be available at http://www.eric.ed.gov . Visitors do not need to register or log in to use the Web site's search feature. Other key changes include: More than 107,000 full-text nonjournal documents (issued 1993-2004), previously available through fee-based services only, are now available at no charge. The ERIC database was last updated in July 2004 but the next update is scheduled for December 2004, after which monthly updates are planned. The database is now being produced by a private firm under a five-year federal contract. There have been no pricing or other changes to how the ERIC database is offered, nor have there been any changes in search functionality. Table of Contents NEWS HEADLINES The school board of Antioch-Lake Villa High School District 117 is considering a plan to test student-athletes for drugs using hair samples instead of urine samples (Daily Herald, Oct. 19) ... The C.U. District 300 Board of Education, Carpentersville, recently agreed to a five-year, $943,000 deal with Pepsico to provide drinks at all district schools; that's a guaranteed $943,000 (Daily Herald, Oct. 14) ... Interim state superintendent Randy Dunn has recommended that four school districts - including Grass Lake District 36, Antioch; and Fairmont School District 89 in Will County - be certified "in financial difficulty." (Chicago Tribune, Oct. 21) ... The school board of District 67, Golf, recently was ranked third in the country by an NSBA-sponsored study of the most digitally-advanced school boards; Minooka High School District 111 placed third in the same category (Morris Daily Herald, Oct. 22) ... Illinois ranks 23^rd among the 50 states in terms of having a business friendly tax climate, according to a new study, "State Business Tax Climate Index," available online at http://www.taxfoundation.org/bp45.pdf (taxfoundation.org, Oct. 14)... Prompted by heightened concerns about security, extra crowds and traffic at school-based polling sites, officials in one Cleveland school district - and elsewhere around the nation - decided to cancel classes on election day ... (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Oct. 26) ... A principal has resigned after canceled checks and other Warren Township High School District 121 documents suggested student activity fee money was misused to pay for silk ties, theater tickets and similar items from 1999 to 2003 (Daily Herald, Oct. 29) ... Consultants and the teachers' organization for Glenbard High School District 87 together contributed $4,210 to help pass a district tax hike (Daily Herald, Oct. 29) ... Chicago District 299's school board voted on October 27 to allow only water, fruit juices and sports drinks in school vending machines (Chicago Tribune, Oct. 28) ... Table of Contents REFERENDUM RESULTS Tax hikes fare poorly, bonds well Illinois school boards encountered little success in tax rate propositions on the November 2 ballot, winning just 7 of 43 tax increase proposals (16 percent). In contrast, voters approved an above-average percentage of bond issues, with 11 of 15 bond issues (73 percent) passing. While tax rate increase propositions typically have encountered a low success rate in general elections over the past 15 years, the 16 percent figure was among the lowest for any November election since 1989. All of the tax hikes approved were education fund increases, but voters defeated all five operations and maintenance fund proposals, and the lone transportation fund proposal. But some districts faced even more upsetting referendum outcomes: "I'm sad that it has come to the point where we lack the state funding to afford to educate our young people," said Rossville-Alvin C.U. District 7 Board President Dennis Price, commenting on voter approval of a proposal to deactivate the district's high school. Tax increase questions now have fared quite badly in the past four presidential election years - years when the most voters typically come out to the polls. Only 11 of 52 (21 percent) school tax rate increases were approved in 1992 (21 percent), followed by 3 of 27 in 1996 (11 percent), 1 of 14 in 2000 (7 percent), and 7 of 45 in 2004 (16 percent). This low success rate contrasts with a success rate of nearly 36 percent for tax propositions overall for the past decade and one-half. The modern high in November elections was 45 percent, achieved in both 1989 and 1993. In November 1989 voters approved 32 tax increase propositions, and in November 1993 voters approved 26 tax increases. The seven school districts winning tax rate increases this time were: Abingdon C.U. District 217 (Knox and Warren Counties), Dolton West District 148, Calumet City (Cook County), East Maine District 63, Des Plaines (Cook County), Hoopeston Area C.U. District 11 (Vermillion County), Huntley C.C. District 158 (McHenry and Kane Counties), Joppa-Maple Grove C.U. District 38 (Massac County), and Stark County C.U. District 100, Wyoming (Stark and Knox Counties). Referendum opponents were not giving up in Huntley C.C. District 158, however, but appeared to be gearing up for a recount after the referendum there was found to have passed by only 148 votes, 7,989 to 7,841. Under Illinois election law, a recount is permitted when the margin of victory is less than 5 percent of the total votes cast, and in Huntley the victory margin was less than 1 percent. Joppa-Maple Grove C.U. District 38 passed both an education fund proposal and a referendum to increase the PTELL limit on property tax extensions. Voters approved boosting the cap from a level of 5 percent of the prior year's extension to a level of 17 percent of the prior year's extension. Successful tax rate increase proposals ranged from $1 - in both Abingdon and Calumet City - to a low of $.25, in Wyoming. Besides tax increases, a proposition also was adopted to decrease the education fund tax rate in order to correct a March referendum error in Ludlow C.C. District 142. Table of Contents Bond issues approved Bond issues proved successful in: Big Hollow District 38, Ingleside; Grayslake C.C. District 46; Aurora East District 131, Aurora; Gavin District 37, Ingleside; Geneva C.U. District 304; Gower District 62, Willowbrook; Manhattan District 114; Minooka C.C. District 201; Pontiac-William Holliday District 105, Fairview Heights; Stark County C.U. District 100, Wyoming; and Troy C.C. District 30C, Plainfield. Winning bond propositions ranged from a high of $44 million in Aurora East District 131 to a low of $800,000 to build a new multi-purpose facility for an elementary school in Fairview Heights. After Aurora, the next largest amount of bonding authority approved was $41 million in Geneva. Table of Contents Four school district consolidations adopted In addition to school finance questions, a number of other significant questions appeared on the November ballot. Four school district consolidation proposals were approved, for example. Voters agreed to combine Monmouth C.U. District 38 with Roseville C.U. District 200; Southern C.U. District 120, Stronghurst with Union C.U. District 115, Biggsville; Industry C.U. District 165 with Schuyler County C.U. District 1, Rushville; and Mt. Carroll C.U. District 304 with Savanna C.U.District 300. Three adjacent municipalities approved advisory referendums to support creating a new unit school district separate from District U-46, Elgin, "if it is in the best financial and educational interests of the community." Village voters approved such proposals in Bartlett, Carol Stream, and Wayne. Voters approved a proposition in Rossville-Alvin C.U. District 7 to deactivate the local high school, but voters in Lovington said no to such a plan. Meanwhile, voters in Ridgeland District 122 approved a plan to demolish and rebuild an elementary school. In addition, voters in Athens C.U. District 213 (Menard County) adopted a proposal to elect school board members at-large. A similar proposal was defeated in Paw Paw C.U. District 271 (Lee County). Table of Contents School funding reform advisories approved Finally, voters in Madison County overwhelmingly approved two important advisory referendums impacting school funding. One, asking voters whether the state should revise a property tax caps law to make it apply equally to all taxing districts, passed by a vote of 96,233 to 15,092. Another, asking whether the state should begin paying the primary share of public school costs, "thereby decreasing reliance on property taxes," passed by a vote of 103,459 to 10,459. The Illinois Constitution calls for the state to pay half of all public education costs. An Illinois Supreme Court ruling, however, has interpreted that to mean 50 percent is a goal, not a mandate. By passing the advisory referendum, Madison County voters essentially endorsed the concept of a much-discussed bill now pending in the Illinois House (H.B. 750, as amended) that would mandate the state to pay at least 51 percent of the cost of public schools. Table of Contents NEWS FROM IASB 'Targeting student learning' workshops planned IASB School Board Development Director Angie Peifer is scheduling a series of Targeting Student Learning Workshops around the state for February 2005. These will be designed primarily for school board members and superintendents from districts participating in the Targeting Achievement Through Governance program, but they will also welcome leaders from other school districts. This will represent the first time that IASB has presented LeaderShop workshops in the evening around the state. The 6:30 - 9:30 p.m. meetings, "Targeting Student Learning; Focusing on the Real Work of Boards," are scheduled as follows: Feb. 3, Touch of Nature, Carbondale Feb. 7, Holiday Inn, Decatur Feb. 10, NIU, Naperville Feb. 15, Holiday Inn, Tinley Park Feb. 28, Starved Rock Lodge and Conference Center, Utica For details and registration information regarding any of these workshops, see the IASB Web site under Coming Events or: www.iasb.com/calendar/ . Table of Contents New board member workshops scheduled for May and June IASB has announced the dates and locations of the 2005 schedule of workshops for new board members, which are set for May and June after the April 2005 election. For details and registration information and arrangements, visit: www.iasb.com/calendar/NBMWorkshop05.pdf. Table of Contents Upcoming governance meetings listed on IASB Web Site Winter division governing meetings are just around the corner, with the first dinner meeting (Two Rivers Division) to be held on Nov. 30, and two more (the Central Illinois Valley and Abe Lincoln Divisions) for Dec. 1. These meetings and other IASB events are listed on the calendar page of the Association's Web site at www.iasb.com/calendar/calendar.cfm. Table of Contents Minutes must be kept of closed meetings beginning January 1 Beginning January 1, 2005, school boards must keep minutes of closed meetings, as provided in Public Act 93-974. As explained in the Eighth Edition of Illinois School Law Survey, boards have had the option of not keeping minutes of closed meetings, but the Survey suggested it was "wise to have written minutes prepared because written minutes are required before the verbatim record can be destroyed." Under the new amendment to the Open Meetings Act, public bodies are required to "keep written minutes of all their meetings, whether open or closed, and a verbatim record of all their closed meetings in the form of an audio or video recording." Table of Contents ILLINOIS SCHOOL DISTRICTS Energy-conscious 'green' designs used in new secondary schools Two attractive new schools in Illinois - Bolingbrook High School (in Valley View C.U.S.D. 365U), and Cuba Middle and High Schools (in Fulton County C.U.S.D. 3) - feature energy efficient designs and conservative use of resources. These so-called 'green' schools feature frugal details you can't see, like the widespread use of recycled materials in classroom carpets, sports floor coverings and other building materials designed to help save the environment. But there are many more obvious elements that make each of these schools environmentally friendly. Both feature energy efficient design in their heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, including new technologies to lower operating costs and set an example of environmental responsibility. In the new Cuba facility, for example, renewable energy is captured from the environment, costing nothing to use. This renewable energy includes: geothermal exchange systems for all heating and cooling needs, active solar cells for lighting and electrical needs, and windows situated almost everywhere for natural lighting. The school's photovoltaic cells line the south side of the building, converting sunlight into enough usable electricity that some can be sold back to the power company. A wind turbine for additional generation of electricity is also planned, depending on grants. Seventy percent of the cost of the $8.2 million construction was funded with grants, and a voter-passed bond issue paid the rest. Cuba's new secondary school also includes other features that cut the cost of operations, including the use of special wall and ceiling insulation, and "T8" light bulbs that draw little energy but provide full-spectrum lighting. Also featured are "zoned" lighting and motion sensors, and heating and cooling designs that divide the building into areas with like needs. The new Bolingbrook school, several times larger, features an automated control system for its HVAC systems. To achieve energy savings, sensors are digitally programmed between 68 and 74 degrees and fans can't be run unless they are scheduled. Bolingbrook High School's lights are fully automated, operating on a tightly programmed schedule. As in the Cuba school, natural light is widely used; in fact, lights on the upper floors are equipped with daylight sensors so that on sunny days the electric lights can be dimmed appropriately. Both schools' designers made sure that site development was carefully planned to incorporate sustainable "green" features. At Bolingbrook this meant that "bio-swales" were situated to filter impurities from surface water, and native plants were emphasized. A well-water irrigation system was installed in the athletic fields. Meanwhile at Cuba several acres of strip-mined land on the 60-acre site were planted with trees, grasses and other indigenous plants. Future projects include further development of natural areas surrounding the school. Table of Contents Urbana principal cited for principles, wins national award Rebecca McCabe, principal of Leal Elementary School, Urbana, was recently honored as Illinois' lone winner of the 2004 National Distinguished Principals awards, chosen by the National Association of Elementary School Principals. Each year, the NAESP honors 65 principals, including 50 from the association's state affiliates, one from the District of Columbia, plus 14 from private and overseas schools. Selection criteria require that the individual is a practicing principal of a school that: 1) is clearly committed to excellence and has increased or consistently high levels of student achievement on statewide assessments; 2) has programs designed to meet the academic and social needs of all students; and 3) has firm ties to parents and the community. The principal must show evidence of outstanding contributions to the community and to the education profession. Source: USA Today, Oct. 25, 2004. Table of Contents Teachers pay for procuring school items with 'p-cards' High school teachers in Antioch and Lake Villa will soon have new procurement cards - also known as "P-cards" to pay for school-related items. But the cards come with a multi-page contract that would cost those teachers their jobs if the cards were abused. The Antioch-Lake Villa High School District 117 Board of Education voted to begin using the cards at its November 4 Meeting. P-cards will replace the old method of using purchase orders. The cards function like credit cards, but with more limitations and controls. They are valid only for certain dates, purposes and amounts. Source: Daily Herald, November 05, 2004. Table of Contents THE NATIONAL SCENE NCLB lawsuit threatened by California school district The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) imposes costly sanctions against schools deemed to be falling short of academic standards. The sanctions are so much a concern that one California district, Coachella Valley Unified School District, has announced plans to directly challenge the law in court. That is, the Coachella school board is talking openly about suing federal and state governments on grounds that the rural south-central California district of 13,000 - which contains a large number of Hispanic students with limited English proficiency - is being held to impossible goals. The federal law's performance and testing standards require schools to make all students, and many subgroups, proficient in reading, writing and math by 2014, or else. Parents of children in all schools labeled "in need of improvement" must be offered tutoring services and have the right to ask for transfers to other schools. Schools failing to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for four years in a row may be forced to replace teachers and administrators, and the state can eventually take over the school district. "How do you hold these children to the same standard that you would a child in Iowa who has never been exposed to another language? It's ludicrous," said Foch Pensis, district superintendent at Coachella schools. Hence the lawsuit. But is this approach a wise course of action? An expert in the field of school district litigation against government agencies, attorney Michael J. Hernandez, told Illinois school lawyers at IASB's Conference last November that lawsuits aimed at the NCLB Act's flaws stand little chance of success. Hernandez said lawsuits brought on procedural and implementation errors under NCLB law generally stand a good chance. He suggested that ISBE apparently does not have adequate staff to administer the law equitably, making this is a viable path. One recent court case tends to confirm Hernandez' advice. A Pennsylvania school district failed in a lawsuit, brought in December 2003 to directly challenge provisions of the Act. Judges in the case ruled that testing in a pupil's first language is not mandatory, only required "to the extent that it is practicable to do so." The Reading, Pennsylvania school district says it will appeal that ruling. Table of Contents 2005 NSBA conference set for April 16-19 in San Diego Information is a powerful tool for any school leader. And the National School Boards Association's 2005 Annual Conference in San Diego will place a lot of valuable school leadership information within easy reach. That's why thousands of school board members, school administrators and other school leaders will meet in San Diego next April. To join them, register on the Web at: http://www.nsba.org/conference/register/index.cfm. To get complete instructions on conference registration and housing reservations, visit the NSBA Web site at: www.nsba.org/conference/hotel/index.cfm. Table of Contents RESEARCH REPORTS Illinois teen poverty rate is high, harmful, civic leaders find Fifteen percent of Illinois teens are living in poverty, and nearly 176,000 youths between ages 12 and 24 are living in extreme poverty, which means they earn less than $4,600, or half the federal poverty level for one person. Those disturbing statistics come from a first-ever collection of research on youth poverty released in July by the Illinois Poverty Summit, a bipartisan group of concerned civic leaders. The relatively high rate of poverty among teens is not much different from 10 years ago. But the report is primarily concerned with the impact of poverty, including a greater risk for health problems, mental illness, teen pregnancy, and dropping out of school. "The individual and social consequences of dropping out are dire," the report notes, adding: "Students who drop out of school are more likely to be poor, use drugs, join a gang, or become a parent at a young age. State and federal prisons are full of individuals who did not complete high school." Many Illinois students continue to dropout, the report says, citing the following statistics: More than 36,300 Illinois youth dropped out of high school in 2003. Nearly one in four Illinois young adults ages 18 to 24 have not graduated from high school. At least 38,000 Illinois youth were chronic truants in 2003, demonstrating a high risk of eventually dropping out Copies of the report are available online in PDF format at: http://www.heartlandalliance.org/Downloadable/2004RptonILPovertyTeens.pdf. Table of Contents GAO report says state NCLB approaches inconsistent A new study by the federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) notes that "states varied in how they established proficiency goals and measured student progress." States differ "in the annual rates of progress they expected schools to make." A copy of the GAO report is available in PDF format at: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04734.pdf. Table of Contents Rural NCLB funding sources cited Another GAO study of NCLB implementation in rural and small schools, examines key challenges, strategies, and funding sources related to NCLB, including a helpful section on the federal Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP). A copy of the GAO report is available in PDF format at: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04909.pdf. Table of Contents Illinois Association of School Boards This newsletter is published monthly by the Illinois Association of School Boards for member boards of education and their superintendents. The Illinois Association of School Boards, an Illinois not-for-profit corporation, is a voluntary association of local boards of education and is not affiliated with any branch of government. James Russell, Director of Publications Gary Adkins, Editor 2921 Baker Drive Springfield, Illinois 62703-5929 (217) 528-9688 One Imperial Place 1 East 22nd Street, Suite 20 Lombard, Illinois 60148-6120 (630) 629-3776 Table of Contents COPYRIGHT NOTICE -- This document is copyrighted © by the Illinois Association of School Boards. IASB hereby grants to school districts and other Internet users the right to download, print and reproduce this document provided that (a) the Illinois Association of School Boards is prominently noted as publisher and copyright holder of the document and (b) any reproductions of this document are disseminated without charge and not used for any commercial purpose. IASB ARCHIVES HOME Illinois Association of School Boards 2921 Baker Drive Springfield, Illinois 62703 One Imperial Place 1 East 22nd Street, Suite 20 Lombard, Illinois 60148