There was time for celebration at last week’s Amboy School District 272 board of education meeting as superintendent Quintin Shepherd shared the news that all Amboy schools made Annual Yearly Progress (AYP). Not only did Amboy’s three schools, Central Elementary, Amboy Junior High and Amboy High School, all show significant improvement in achieving AYP but according to Shepherd, they were one of only two school districts in the entire region to do so. “This makes me so happy, I have a hard time even putting it into words,” Shepherd told board members on Oct. 22.

Looking at the district’s results from 2003-2009, Shepherd explained that there has been sustained improvement over the long term at Central and Amboy Junior High. PSAE reading and math scores have continued to climb and in the last two years, Amboy’s scores have been well over the state average in both subjects. At Amboy High School, ACT scores rose above the state average for the first time in the past five years. “Take a minute and recognize the efforts the teachers, the students and the parents have put in to make that kind of improvement,” Shepherd said, “ . . . and a hyper-focus on trying to teach what’s important and relevant.”

Shepherd admitted that to a certain extent, the schools are “teaching to the test” but explained, “We think we know what the essential standards are. In fact, I’m relatively certain that we have a pretty good idea what they are.

“I told the principals this summer, let’s celebrate. Go ahead and take the next 20 seconds to celebrate. Then get back to work,” Shepherd laughed. “The worst thing we could do right now is to pat ourselves on the back and say, ‘Hey, we’re there’ and sit back and watch the rest of the schools blow by because that is what would happen.

“We’re doing the right thing. It’s hard work. Thanks in large part to what our principals are doing every day and our staff, our teachers and students, their parents and the community that supports us financially,” Shepherd said. “I’m proud of everybody. I’m just so proud right now. I’m a very happy man.”

After forming a mini book club to discuss On Common Ground at last month’s meeting, the board briefly discussed the first two chapters of the book. Board member Tony Becker commented that it was “pretty dry reading” but Shepherd explained that there are two ways to approach the book and that on the surface, it could be seen as a how-to manual. “When you really get into it, it has the capacity to be a complex read because it can be more in tune with culture . . . when you look at it that way,” Shepherd explained.

Becker noted one sentence at the beginning of the book that stood out to him: “ . . . embrace the premise that the fundamental purpose of the school is to see that students learn at high levels rather than be taught at high levels.”

Shepherd laughed, “I’ve got the same thing underlined in mine. And that’s a pretty serious question.”

Board president Lori Setchell questioned if schools are measuring what students learn with the ACT test. “I’m wondering if that is the right vehicle for measuring how well they’re learning,” she said. “Do they really grasp the concepts?”

Shepherd said the national trend right now is with common core standards and true conceptual understanding of concepts. “I’m supposed to meet in Washington, D.C. next week to discuss this very issue,” he noted. “How are common core standards going to affect how we test students? How is it going to affect the ACT test . . . how we measure students from third grade through 12th grade? It’s a pretty big deal right now.”

Becker also commented on the book’s premise that educators should work in teams. “It seems the lower grades work well with a team concept [Professional Learning Community] but we may be failing to do that at the high school.”

Shepherd agreed. “The system [high school] is not set up to acquiesce to a profession learning community model . . . we made the commitment to common planning times and having flexibility of scheduling to try to allow for that.”

Shepherd also noted that one of the book’s contributing authors, Michael Fullan, says that true change takes from five to seven years. “If we’re committed to this, we should see stuff happen in the next decade,” he laughed. “We have to be patient and know that what we’re doing can make a dramatic effect on student learning.”

Setchell agreed that change is difficult whether in business or at school. “It’s really hard to do. You have to turn the boat and it’s hard to get the boat turned,” she said, adding, “I like this discussion about the book. This is good.”

AUDIT REPORT

Ryan Steines of Winkel, Parker & Foster, CPA PC presented some of the highlights of the independent auditor’s report for the year ending June 30, 2009. One of the changes in 2009 was that the State of Illinois made some of their General State Aid payments using federal stimulus (ARRA) money. Steines said District 272 received $582,889 of those funds.

The estimated operating expense per person of $8,567 showed a 1 percent increase in overall expenditures per person, which Steines said is fairly flat.

Steines noted that there were no instances of non-compliance in the financial statements. “Overall, we give a clean opinion, fairly stated,” he concluded.

Stephenitch commented that even though the state used stimulus money to pay General State Aid last year, Illinois is still in a financial crisis. “Look at the money they saved and they’re still broke,” he said. “That’s how inept they are.”

A motion to accept the annual financial audit was approved by the six board members in attendance, Lori Setchell, Dan Stephenitch, Joe Flessner, Reed Akre, Bob Olson and Tony Becker. Mark Becker was absent.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

Shepherd expressed concern regarding initial numbers he received that will affect the upcoming tax levy. “This is a pretty serious issue for a tax cap district such as ours . . . it amounts to just slightly over one half of 1 percent in increased revenues as we look to next year,” he said. “That’s pretty serious for us and we need to take it with that level of seriousness.”

Shepherd said he has started to work on the levy and will continue through November and December. “We need to start seriously considering what’s going to happen to our costs,” he said. “Eighty percent of our expenditures come in personnel, benefits, salaries . . . we have a pretty good gauge of what those will be next year . . . we have to appropriate our revenues accordingly.”

PRINCIPALS’ REPORTS

Central School principal Jessica McCormick congratulated science teacher Carol Schnaiter who applied for and won a $100 grant through the Lee County Farm Bureau Foundation, which will be used to buy books for the classroom.

McCormick said that work is progressing for implementation of PBIS in January and that rules and expectations for the program have been created for arrival/dismissal, hallway, bathroom, classroom, lunchroom, playground/gym, library and busses. “Our focus will be on the 3 Rs - Be Responsible, Be Respectful, Be Ready and we added Be Safe,” she said.

Central’s RtI team attended a Response to Intervention training through OCEC on Oct. 6 and RtI interventions began on Sept. 28. “It’s a work in progress,” she noted. “No one district, no one school is doing it the same. I think it’s going to take a long time. It’s like three steps we take forward, we take one back. But we keep moving forward and hope to see great results.”

McCormick said that fall parties will be held at Central on Oct. 30 at 2:30 p.m., parent/teacher conferences will be Nov. 5 and 6, and the Book Fair will be Nov. 9-13.

Amboy High School principal Jeff Thake said the high school’s curriculum is being re-evaluated. He explained that the curriculum, which is now aligned with Illinois standards, will be realigned with career and college readiness standards not currently in place. “Our teachers are undertaking that right now and it’s going to be a very powerful and proactive means to stay ahead of the bar,” Thake said.

The high school staff is continuing to discuss a motivational tool to improve student achievement and attendance. Students who show proficiency on standardized tests and are receiving grades of a C or better will be rewarded by not having to attend the last 20 minutes of the day. “This will allow teachers to provide additional instruction to the kids who need help the most for the last 20 minutes of the day,” he said.

Amboy Junior High principal Joyce Schamberger reported that the Critical Reading Strategies (CRS) class is underway under the instruction of Mrs. Lindenmeyer. Students report to CRS during their rotation class.

She said that teachers met in their book clubs and many staff members attended CPR training at AHS to update their certification.

Two classes earned breakfast for having the best attendance for the month of September and also earned a free homework pass for having attendance above 96 percent. The breakfast was paid for by the AJHS PTC. The fifth grade had the highest attendance at 97.74 percent followed by sixth grade with 96.68 percent.

Scott Wittenauer of the Amboy Fire Department visited the school during Fire Safety Week and spoke to students on fire safety.

A Family Reading Night was hosted by Mrs. Zinke and Mrs. Monghan on Oct. 28. An assembly on bullying was arranged by school counselor Mrs. Grenda on Oct. 19. Deb Foust of the Lee/Ogle ROE was the speaker.

The junior high Science Club will host the first ever Haunted Science Lab on Friday, Oct. 30 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. in Mrs. Wood’s science classroom. The group will accept donations at the door to continue future projects. The Science Club under the direction of Mrs. Wood is also in charge of the school’s recycling program.

Students are selling Market Day pies for the PTC. Proceeds will be used for class trips, classroom incentives, quarterly rewards and teacher requests.

PERSONNEL

Following closed session the board approved the employment of Kim Hanson as paraprofessional at Amboy High School.

The next regular board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 24 at Amboy High School, room 105.