The Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice met May 20 to present the 2016 Ethics Training material.
Here are the meeting's minutes, as provided by the department:
Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice provides treatment and educational, vocational, social and emotional services for young offenders in the state.
Board of Education Meeting Minutes
Date: May 20, 2016 Time: 9:45 a.m. Place: Aftercare Conference Room, 100 N. Western Avenue, Chicago, IL Approved: August 5, 2016
IO 1.0 CALL TO ORDER by President Candice Jones at 9:45 a.m.
1.1 Roll Call
1.2 Board Members Present: Candice Jones, Dr. Tresa Dunbar Garrett, David Green,
Heather Dalmage, Candice Smith and Jennifer Vidis by phone.
1.3 Member Patrick Griffin joined the meeting at 9:53 a.m. during the closed
executive session.
1.4 Board Members Absent: None
1.5 Others present: Deputy Director Jesse Montgomery; Gloria Davis, Superintendent
of School District; Dr. Sophia Jones-Redmond, Asst. Superintendent of School District; Sarah Myerscough-Mueller, Chief Intergovernmental Relations; Kiersten Neswick, Chief Financial Officer; Beth Compton, Chief Legal Counsel; Maurice McAllister, Recorder; Rachel Brady of Equip for Equality; and Dr. Peter Leone, Court Appointed Monitor
AI 2.0 CONSENT AGENDA
2.1 Approval of Agenda
President Jones motioned to move the approval of the agenda. Member Griffin motioned to approve the agenda and Member Dunbar Garrett seconded.
Voice Vote: Aye; Unanimous Nay: None Motion Carries
2.2 Approval of Minutes March 18, 2016
President Jones motioned to approve the March 18, 2016 minutes with a correction to remove the hyphen from Member Teresa Dunbar-Garrett’s name it should read Dunbar Garrett. Member Dunbar Garrett moved to approve the March 18, 2016 minutes with the noted correction and Member Griffin seconded to approve the May 18, 2016 minutes with the noted correction.
Voice Vote: Aye: Unanimous Nay: None Motion Carries.
AI 3.0 CLOSED SESSION
3.1 Pending Litigation – Dr. Peter Leone Invited
The closed meeting is not privileged to the general public and will be closed. President Jones motioned to continue with the close session and the board has invited Dr. Peter Leone as Court Appointed Monitor and Beth Compton as Chief Legal Counsel. Member Vidis moved to continue with the close session and Member Dunbar Garrett seconded to continue with the close session.
Voice Vote: Aye; Unanimous Nay: None Motion Carries
Meeting went in close session at 9:52 am. Closed session ended at 10:52 am.
The board came back into open session after a 7 minute break. Open session resumed at 10:59 am.
Dr. Peter Leone presented the entire board and general public with a video entitled, Challenge America. The video was based on a Los Angeles County juvenile school that had a complete turnaround. The web address to view and share with your staff is: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwpVbrPVb6bNcHdkSUR6RDRHbTg/view?usp =sharing
IO 4.0 Board of Education 2016 Ethics Training
Chief Beth Compton presented the board with the 2016 Ethics Training material and requested if you have questions to please reach out to her by email. The Ethics Acknowledgement form is due back in our office by June 15, 2016 please send to Mr. McAllister.
5.0 PRESIDENT’S REPORT 5.1 Budget
President Jones mentioned that no budget is approved at this time. As we discussed previously, the Department is currently working with fiscal year 2015 budget allocations until the Governor approves 2016 budget.
5.2 Legislation
Ms. Sarah Myerscough-Mueller mentioned that Senate Bill 3119 – School Bill, is proposed updates to the existing law to more accurately reflect IDJJ’s unique educational environment. Senate Bill 3119 would: (1) exempt DJJ School District from new Illinois school mandates not contained in the School Code, unless DJJ is specifically included; (2) it removes DJJ School District from current inapplicable statutory requirements; and (3) specifically includes the Department in certain Acts.
5.3 Closure
President Jones mentioned that the Department continues to move towards a small institution and a successful model. She mentioned that she has continued to push to close the Kewanee School. The youth at Kewanee would be transferred out on parole or be released before July 2016. The operational budget will carry through the closure. The current staff will be bargained out through the union; moved to other facilities; State agencies; and within in the system of IDJJ. The administration would make the decisions on infrastructure.
IO 6.0 SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
6.1 Common Sense Digital Citizenship Certified School - IYC Harrisburg
Superintendent Davis mentioned that the School Districts across the country have many responsibilities from ensuring students safety to making sure that they are prepared to thrive and learn in the 21st century. An essential component of this is teaching students how to behave safely, participate responsibly, and think critically in our digital world. The Common Sense Digital Citizenship Certified School was awarded to IYC Harrisburg for their recognition in this area. The Center for Education Alternative Excellence Setting (CEEAS) awarded Harrisburg with this distinguished honor. This recognition allows Harrisburg to become a school that is rich in teaching digital literacy and using technology to transform learning.
6.2 Update Board Policy
Superintendent Davis mentioned that the School District and the Board Workgroup are in ongoing discussion with developing the school board policies moving forward. The Workgroup meeting on May 10, 2016 was to discuss options in establishing a set of policies for the school district. During the Board Workgroup meeting, discussion was made to start establishing and creating a
schedule for the board policies going forward. Ms. Kathryn Williams created the Policy Manual Schedule and Table of Content for the board members review. The schedule gives everyone an overall view of the timeframes for the policy manual draft, review, and final completion date.
6.3 Update on Charter School Proposal
Superintendent Davis mentioned that the School District is moving forward with the Request for Information (RFI) and making Charter as a model for our schools.
Charter Inc. held a meeting and the Department attended along with the Superintendent of the State Board of Education Mr. Tony Smith. He suggested that IDJJ- School District #428 do a RFI. The RFI was drafted and submitted. We will bring a copy of the draft to the board at our next meeting. As far as the funding for this Charter initiative, ISBE would provide the funding for either of the models. No decision would be made without the Board. Superintendent Davis mentioned that if either of you have worked around Charter Schools before, please send her suggestions on the model and your experiences. In addition, this is another area that would need to be added to our policy manual.
6.4 Special Education Cooperative
Superintendent Davis mentioned that the School District is continuing in discussion with Special Education Cooperative and with ISBE and other partners. Kane County Cooperative Board said no to the partnership, but the school district will continue to improve the IEP process and procedures and work closely with ISBE. We will continue in our efforts with ISBE and receive their support with this initiative.
Board member Jennifer Vidis left the meeting at 11:45 a.m.
6.5 March and April Principal’s Data Reports
Superintendent Davis highlighted that High School Diplomas and GEDs are being awarded in most of the schools on a monthly bases.
6.6 March and April Special Education Monitoring Reports
Superintendent Davis mentioned that we are working with our staff to decrease the number of IEPs in the 60 to 90 day categories. Our goal is to see a decrease in each category and have each student receive the services necessary in our special education program. The Special Education Director’s interviews were conducted but no candidate was accepted; the position will be reposted for an additional 3 weeks. We will find the right person and the person will have the right background and skills for this position.
IO 7.0 Board Discussion Items
The School District is moving towards the vocational education programs with Lakeland Community College at IYC-Harrisburg and IYC-Chicago as the pilot schools for post-secondary youth in those schools.
For the school tours, the board suggested perhaps doing a calendar with 3 suggested dates and send out to each board member for them to select.
AI 8.0 Adjournment
President Candice Jones motioned to close the meeting. Member Green moved to close the meeting and Member Griffin seconded to close the meeting.
Voice Vote: Aye; Unanimous Nay: None Motion Carries
The meeting adjourned at 11:53 a.m.
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