D161 Principals Switch Schools

With the closing of Mary Drew Elementary School and the upcoming retirement of Hilda Walker's principal, officials move some district principals to new schools.

Some Summit Hill School District 161 principals will be in new schools next year thanks to some reshuffling announced in a district e-mail Wednesday. Sent by Supt. Barb Rains, the e-mail, which went to district parents, laid out the following changes (the parentheses denote the principals' previous schools): The moves come as district officials continue to adjust to the closing of Mary Drew. At the time, board members and Rains said Klein, Mary Drew's principal, would stay in the district. Another reason for the changes are because of the retirement of Hilda Walker Principal Jan Zevkovich at the end of this school year. The following is the complete text of the e-mail: Dear Parents, As we begin to plan for the next school year, I would …

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Joe Vince

10:19 am on Thursday, April 12, 2012

@Donny and @Spring 2013: Unfortunately, this story broke late yesterday (http://patch.com/A-sxhT), which meant I was covering it instead of being at the meeting. The agenda was light, however. Largely, I'm sure, because the district is on spring break (which probably explains the absence of some of the board members). I'll be following up today. Joe Vince Local Editor, Frankfort   more ›

Board Approves New School Boundaries for D161

With the closing of Mary Drew Elementary School next year, the Summit Hill school board gave the OK to a new map that distributes the students to maximize the remaining schools.

The Summit Hill School District 161 board unveiled and approved new boundaries Wednesday, outlining which schools students will attend in a post-Mary Drew world.  The new boundary lines were drawn with an eye to distributing students so the district could maximize capacity in all of its schools, said Supt. Barb Rains, who presented the new map to the new superintendent's advisory committee earlier this month before bringing it before the board to vote on at Wednesday night's meeting.  The new district map was needed after the board voted to close Mary Drew Elementary School as part of a three-year budget-cutting plan developed to eliminate a more than $3 million deficit.  READ: Board Votes Again to Close Mary Drew Using the above map, the …

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D161 Board Runs Afoul of State's Open Meetings Act Again

A workshop to discuss Summit Hill school district programming was adjourned Monday after a parent pointed out the special meeting broke state law by being held on a holiday.

After weeks of tense debates over the budget cuts facing Summit Hill School District 161, Monday's board workshop was a chance to move discussion toward education and curriculum and away from finances and controversy. But you know what they say about the best laid plans. For the second time in three consecutive meetings and the third time this school year, the D161 board was challenged over whether it violated the Illinois Open Meetings Act. In this case, a district parent pointed out that the workshop was being held on a legal holiday--Casimir Pulaski Day--which is against state law. The result: Monday's workshop was immediately adjourned by the board after Supt. Barb Rains talked to the district's lawyer. It is unknown if the workshop …

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The Day After: What's Next for Mary Drew Elementary School Teachers?

Now that a decision has been made to close the school, Summit Hill school district Supt. Barb Rains said she will be determining the staffing needs for D161.

Only hours after Summit Hill School District 161 board members voted to close Mary Drew Elementary School for the 2012-13 school year, Principal Kathy Klein was holding an assembly for students, teachers and staff Thursday explaining what that decision would mean for them. Klein--sometimes through tears, according to those in attendance--told the children that the closing was an example of adults having to occasionally make adult decisions, and despite that, everyone was still determined to have a good year, especially with Illinois Standard Achievement Tests scheduled next week. "She did a wonderful job of setting the tone in the morning," said D161 Supt. Barb Rains, who spent much of the day talking with Mary Drew teachers and staff …

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UPDATED: D161 Board Votes to Close Mary Drew Elementary School

After a fierce debate among members, the Summit Hill school board approved closing the elementary school for 2012-13 in a 4-3 vote.

Only a couple hours after Mary Drew Elementary School students gave presentations before its members, the Summit Hill School District 161 board voted 4-3 to close the school as part of its ongoing budget-cutting process. Two weeks ago, the board changed course with its three-year financial plan, voting to keep the full-day kindergarten program after deciding to drop it during a budget workshop earlier this month. After the vote, board president Mary Kenny asked that discussion concerning the possibility of closing one to two district schools in the 2012-13 school year be put on the agenda for the Wednesday, Feb. 22, meeting. Board members Sean William Doyle, George Perros and Stacey Borgens voted against the closing, saying more time and …

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Serioulsy?

5:13 pm on Tuesday, February 28, 2012

So, what are the class size maximums? Are they the ones presented on the model (25 for 1st & 2nd and 27 for 3rd & 4th) or were those what they were going to raise them up to if they didn't close a school?   more ›

D161 Board Chooses Cost-Cutting Route, Drops Full-Day Kindergarten

Summit Hill school district takes the first step in creating a financial plan to cut about $3 million over three years. This direction emphasizes an array of cuts but will not close schools or put a referendum on this November's ballot.

Throughout the months long process of planning the financial future for Summit Hill School District 161, board of education members have made it known that the district faces difficult challenges, but that's why they were elected: To make the tough decisions. And Saturday's workshop underscored just how tough those decisions are as members passionately debated cuts before deciding to adopt a proposed streamlining model that focuses on cost-cutting for the 2012-13 budget. READ: Board Ready to Decide D161 Budget Fate That model, which was introduced at the board's Jan. 26 meeting, would shave a little more than $1 million in 2012-13 as part of the first step in a three-year plan to cut $3 million from the district budget. Here are some of …

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Connie

3:22 pm on Wednesday, February 8, 2012

I absolutely agree that our kindergarteners have the right to the same excellent education that the children before them did. Does this district want to pay more for reading specialists, iep evaluations and have lower test scores, because it will happen and our kids will slip through the cracks, Then who is going to come up with that money! Us with a referendum? Wake up!   more ›

The Buck Stops Here: Board Ready to Decide D161 Budget Fate

The Summit Hill school board will meet Saturday morning for a workshop to discuss the financial direction the district needs to take to help eliminate a $2.5 million budget deficit for the 2012-13 school year.

The anticipation has been building since late last year for Summit Hill School District 161 parents: What will the district do about a $2.5 million deficit for the 2012-13 school year? It looks like that question will be answered at a school board workshop at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, at the district's administration offices. What do you need to know going into the meeting? Patch breaks it down for you. This is where the board will discuss three proposals to deal with next school year's shortfall. The intent is to set up a three-year financial strategy for the district going forward. Yes. The workshop is open to the public. In fact, Frankfort Patch local editor Joe Vince will be live blogging from the meeting to allow readers to follow …

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taxpayer

2:29 pm on Friday, February 3, 2012

HOLY COW.............you just uttered my words verbatim. I whole heartedly agree. People need to realize that just because we close a school or 2, that doesn't mean all teachers and suport staff will be let go. Those teachers most likely will follow the students to surrounding schools. We need these programs for the students. We also need full time kindergarten. Again, these little 5 year olds …   more ›

Editor's Notebook

D161 Parents, Residents Prove Why Politics Work Best When Local

Last week's public forum to gather ideas concerning Summit Hill's budget cuts was an example of what happens when people come together to find solutions.

How does that saying go? All politics is local? It's something that gets lost when we're in the midst of the boisterous excesses of a national presidential campaign. But last week, at a public forum to discuss the Summit Hill District 161 cuts, I witnessed an example of that adage in action as more than 30 district parents and residents hashed out ideas and vented frustration over finding ways eliminate a $2.5 million shortfall in the 2012-13 budget. This wasn't about guys with names like Newt and Mitt and Rick and Ron. This night was about Jim Olsen and his brother-in-law, Brian Mapeli. It was about Jen Vargas and the other Jen Vargas, who is a mother of five and president of the Athletic Boosters for Summit Hill Junior High and Hilda …

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D161 Superintendent Answers Readers' Questions

New Summit Hill school district Superintendent Barb Rains explains her communication philosophy and why she believes transparency is important.

Patch continues its conversation with Summit Hill School District 161 Superintendent Barb Rains. In Part 1, she discussed the challenges coming into the position. In Part 2, she talks about communication, district transparency and answers questions from readers. PART 1: 'My Goal Was to Heal the District' PATCH: Clearly, communication is not something that's an empty word for you. You're really pushing that. What do you think you can do as superintendent to keep fostering the back and forth between parents and the district. RAINS: What I'd like to do is develop a system of continuous communication. And I've done that as interim. I started off with parents news briefs and prior to the start of the school year, I was sending those electronic …

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