Schools
D39 Gets Financial Recognition from State, Teachers to Participate in Gates' Non-Profit
Patch has highlights from Monday nights July D39 Board meeting.
Wilmette District 39 School Board held it's monthly meeting Monday night, announcing that it received the highest financial recognition from the Illinois State Board of Education for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.
"Last year we implemented many of our planned budget cuts that we intended to do for fiscal year 2012," Superintendent Ray Lechner also said. "This early implementation paid off."
Business manager Crystal LeRoy added, "With the additional revenue from the successful referendum, we expect to maintain the financial recognition status for future years."
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Although Lechner has described the year-end budget deficit as "smaller than anticipated," earlier this month he expressed concern over the cost of the school district's defense in . Lechner calculated the cost of D39's defense , but is unsure of how the school district will pay for the fees.
"This lawsuit has meant unnecessary expenses for District 39," Lechner told Patch. "We certainly did not budget for these legal fees."
, which may add further legal costs for D39.
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"This appeal means that we are forced to spend additional dollars that should be spent on the education of the children in our community,” School Board President Karen Donnan said in a July 14 press release.
The District also announced that in compliance with Illinois State Board of Education regulations, it will be posting it's administrative salaries from the previous year on its website.
Attached to this article is a copy of D39 school administrators' compensation for 2010-2011.
Other highlights from Monday include: Central School Principal Melanie Horowitz gave a presentation on the school district's participation in The Teaching Channel, a new, non-profit cable program funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
"This gives us an opportunity to showcase to worldwide audiences the extraordinary value of educational delivery to students in Wilmette," Horowitz said of the program, which recently featured four teachers from Wilmette Junior High School.
These segments can be found at www.teachingchannel.org.
"At a time when educational practices are under much scrutiny, Teaching Channel programming aims to highlight innovative, effective practices," Lechner said. "We are thrilled to have been invited to pilot some of the first shows."
Lechner also announced D39's new farmer's market, in which students sell their own organically-grown produce from Highcrest Middle School's Mini-Farm, Outdoor Classroom and Romona WELL gardens.
"The students did a great job of collecting the food, making signs, arranging the table, selling the vegetables... and making change!"