Increased Police Presence Expected Around Glen Ellyn Schools in Aftermath of Sandy Hook Tragedy

Officials from Glen Ellyn District 41 and Community Consolidated School District 89 have said safety of students and staff is of paramount importance. Officials detail safety measures, offer tips for talking with children about the news.

In the aftermath of the tragic school shooting in Newtown, CT on Dec. 14, the Glen Ellyn Police Department has assured Glen Ellyn school officials they will be providing an increased police presence around schools, a school official said. Officials from Glen Ellyn District 41 and Community Consolidated School District 89 have said safety of students and staff is of paramount importance and will continue to take safety seriously.  At District 89 every access point in district schools are locked at all times and visitors to all buildings must be buzzed in through the main front doors, which are also always locked, the district said in a statement to the school community. Once inside a visitor must check in at the main office. All of the …

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How Did Glen Ellyn Schools Do on the State Standardized Tests?

Patch put together a searchable database of the percent of students who met or exceeded requirements on Illinois' standardized tests, the ISAT and PSAE. Use it to search for your school or district.

The Illinois State Board of Education released its 2012 school report card data last week. It includes information on how students at each school and school district in the state did on standardized tests. Patch built this database that shows what percent of students met or exceeded state standards on the Illinois Standard Achievement Test (ISAT) and the Prairie State Achievement Examination (PSAE). You can search by your community to see how all the schools near you fared, or by specific district or school by using the drop down menus. The results page also shows ACT scores when applicable, and school enrollment numbers. (Make sure you use the horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the results to see the full data set.) Both the Chicago …

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Mary Ann Lopez

8:45 am on Monday, November 5, 2012

If you search under Glenbard all of the district's schools appear. Click on West. Then you need to scroll to the right to get to the high school data. Thanks you.   more ›

District 89 Puts Funding Referendum on Hold

During its meeting Monday night board member discussed pursuing a school funding referendum.

Now is not the time to ask residents for more school funding. That was the word from the Community Consolidated School District 89 Board of Education. At a time when home values continue to decline and so many homes in DuPage County are in foreclosure, the board decided that asking residents to vote on a referendum now would not be in the district’s best interest.  The board of education discussed the matter Monday night during its regular board meeting. “How could they (residents) vote for something we don’t need right away,” Board President Lori Gaspar said during the discussion. “Home values are going down, yet taxes are going up. That is a question I get all the time. How do you ask for more money when the value of their homes is going…

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D89 Board Member's Wife Quits School Job after Tribune Inquires

Friday, the Chicago Tribune reported on nepotism in school districts in the Chicago area.

A recent Chicago Tribune report shows millions of taxpayers' dollars across the Chicagoland are used to employ school board members' relatives. And Glen Ellyn's Community Consolidated School District 89 was mentioned. District 89 Board Member and Glen Ellyn resident Frank Zak's wife was hired in 2008 to work at Westfield Elementary as a special education aide despite lacking experience two other applicants had, the Tribune reported.  District 89 Superintendent John Perdue told Patch the two other applicants were certified teachers seeking a position that paid $10 per hour, requiring 60 semesters of college credit. "The position paid $10 an hour so licensed teachers could easily make more than that even substitute teaching," Perdue said.  …

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Consolidation Conversation Resurfaces in Glen Ellyn

Governor wants to reduce number of school districts in Ilinois from 850 to 300, spokesperson says.

Gov. Pat Quinn’s desire to consolidate and reduce the number of Illinois’ school districts has garnered discussion throughout the state. In Glen Ellyn, district consolidation is already a nearly 30-year-old issue.    According to Quinn budget spokesperson, Kelly Kraft, Illinois currently has 850 school districts—the third-highest total in the U.S. behind California and Texas. Quinn’s goal, Kraft said, is to get the number down to around 300, and in the process, lower administrative costs and cut back on overhead at a time when the state is struggling to pay the big dollars it owes to its districts. “The reality is that the state fiscal situation demands consolidation,” Kraft said. Though the governor’s proposal has not gone public with the…

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District 89 Cuts $576,000 from Budget

Superintendant says "structural deficit" needs to be addressed, or more impactful cuts will be on the way next year.

District 89 groups all of its potential cuts into three levels based on their impact. At Monday night’s board meeting, the lowest level cuts were unanimously passed. When considered with corresponding new revenues and the additional strategic spending that’s required, the Level 1 cuts slated for the 2011-12 school year will total $576,571 in savings compared to the current year. According to Superintendant Dr. John Perdue, the district is still well short of making up its approximately $1 million deficit and will be deficit-spending in 2011-12 for the third straight year. He said the district has a “structural deficit,” meaning cuts are not able to keep pace with the expanding deficit. The district has now cut $1.7 million from its budget …

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jim campbell

3:16 pm on Tuesday, March 22, 2011

You're doing a great job. Thx!   more ›

Election 2011

Feeder District Candidates Step Take to Mic

Eight total candidates are vying for six total seats on the school boards of Districts 41 and 89.

The Glen Ellyn League of Women Voters Sunday afternoon hosted a forum for candidates in several local races that will be decided April 5. Included were school board candidates from Glenbard District 87 and two of its feeder districts, 89 and 41, that serve Glen Ellyn residents. Each candidate gave an opening and closing statement. In between, they answered questions submitted by those in attendance. Their opening statements were limited to three minutes; closing statements were one minute, as were responses to audience questions. Every candidate gave a response to every question. Below is a recap of the District 89 and District 41 sessions. Candidates: Lori Gaspar* (incumbent); Arthur Hilliard (challenger); Timothy Jedlicka (challenger); …

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Matthew Hendrickson

11:39 pm on Monday, March 21, 2011

Hey everyone, just a request that if you're going to comment on a Patch story, we'd really like you to use you full name. Thanks.   more ›

iPads Popping Up in Glen Ellyn Classrooms

The tablet emerging technology may play a role in education, officials in three school districts say.

If tablets such as Apple’s iPad are the next great teaching tool, then Glen Ellyn school districts want them in the classroom. Districts 41, 87, and 89 have all put tablets in the hands of students this school year, and are evaluating the technology to see if its use should be expanded. In Districts 41 and 89, a combined 32 tablets are making rounds. “The biggest value in these tablets is what kind of applications are provided for their operating systems,” said Mike Wood, District 41 technology director. Wood supplied a list of applications District 41 has looked at for potential use in its classrooms. They range from Dr. Suess read-along programs to Boggle to one called “French Impressionism at the Art Institute of Chicago.” District 41 …

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Matthew Hendrickson

6:16 pm on Thursday, March 17, 2011

I remember the days when we had one computer in the classroom that was shared by the whole grade. Things change. It is good for kids to keep up with technology. After all, if they didn't, how would adults learn how to use them?   more ›

District 89 Schools Facing More Cuts, Hard Decisions

Despite large crowd, only a handful take the opportunity to ask the school board about $1 million in cuts.

A chance for parents in Community Consolidated School District 89 to sound off about more than $1 million in proposed budget cuts had the potential for explosive fireworks, yet ended with a sound more like that of a pop gun. More than 50 people packed the small library at Glen Crest Middle School Wednesday night, yet only a handful took the opportunity to discuss any of the proposed cost cutting measures, which include reducing the number of secretaries, some aides, elimination of differentiation support services and the elimination of field trips. Some fees are also expected to increase, including increasing milk prices by $5 a year, increasing outdoor education costs by $10, among others. These cuts come on top of cuts in 2010 that …

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District 89 Has 'Structural Deficit'

District 89 board members heard a presentation Monday night that will likely inspire impactful cuts in the next two months.

District 89 has a deficit budget, according to a presentation at Monday night’s Board of Education meeting. Superintendant John Perdue and the board heard a presentation of budget planning projections for the district and the condition of the general economy from district partner PMA’s Senior Financial Advisor Michael Frances and Managing Director Tammie Beckwith Schallmo. According to Frances, District 89 in fiscal year 2011 will take in $84,207 more in revenue than the district will spend on salaries, benefits, and other expenditures. But after adding in “other financing sources and uses,” the district is actually $297,275 in the red. Perdue said the district is not currently borrowing to cover that deficit, but rather taking funds from …

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