Dear Parents:

Welcome to Cook County School District 130! As this year quickly comes to a close, I want to share some thoughts and plans for School District 130 for next year. I feel that this has been a very positive and successful year, which has laid the groundwork for dramatic improvements in curriculum, instruction, student achievement, and operational effectiveness.

I believe that we are a school district that is driven by a mission to give students opportunities in life that will open the world to them. Every child should leave District 130 with the tools, experiences, skills, and confidence to overcome any obstacle that they encounter.

This belief is supported by the following:

1. I believe that our primary responsibility is to students and to their education.
    
2. I believe that "accountability" is not a bad word, but actually is rare in the education profession. We face many instructional challenges every day, and it is our professional responsibility to find new, creative, and inspired approaches to reach children and their needs.
    
3. I believe that we have a remarkable staff; in fact, I know that our staff is the envy of area school districts. I believe that it is important that we avoid economic based reductions in force (RIF) if at all possible. RIFs cause undue harm to staff morale, commitment, instructional effectiveness, and to program quality.
    
4. I believe that it is important that the district operate efficiently, legally, and ethically.
    
5. I believe that reasonable people can and do have disagreements. However, as professionals, there are mature, professional, and appropriate ways to express those concerns. That is the way we communicate.
    
6. As a school district, we cannot successfully do this job alone. We must be partners with our parents and communities.

Based on these beliefs and in order to avoid making widespread staff cuts, we are making the following personnel changes to streamline operations, become more effective, and yield greater results for students.

1. Greenwood School – Dr. Marlene Talaski and Joyce Eddy have served as retired part time Principal and Reading Coach, respectively. Dr. Talaski has been supported by Amy Botica as part time co-principal. They have all served the school and children with remarkable dedication, skill, and devotion. As I have decided that the school needs full time leadership, I am pleased to announce that Alma Cano will be Principal of Greenwood School effective July 1. Ms. Cano brings the benefit of being the full time principal and instructional leader given her background in primary grade education, as well as bilingual education.
    
2. Early Childhood Programs – Dr. Carol Crum operates an early childhood/prekindergarten program that is a model for the state. In the past, the state has provided all of the funding for this program. However, given the state's precarious finances, the state has cut back funding with more cuts expected. As a consequence, Dr. Crum will not have the assistant principal position held by Valarie Thomas in her program.
    
3. Valarie Thomas will be the new assistant principal at Hale Primary and Intermediate Schools.
    
4. Chris Kosek will be the new assistant principal at Paul Revere Primary School.
    
5. Amy Botica will be the new assistant principal at Lincoln School.

Additionally, the following organizational changes will take place for next school year:

1. Class sizes will be targeting 25 students per class more consistently across the district. We have had too many instances where class sizes have varied dramatically across the district for no good reason. Further, one of the Board’s goals is to create equity across the district.
    
2. Twenty-five paraprofessionals were reduced in force at the April Board meeting. We hope and expect to bring back many if not most of them once our Bilingual and Special Ed student needs are better known. We try to make those employment decisions based on hard numbers. We make that decision with the best information possible to balance the economic needs against the very real trauma that a dismissal notice causes people.
    
3. Greenbriar students will be consolidated into the Horace Mann building. I am an advocate of early childhood education, but this has also been a program that has endeavored to be fully funded by the state. As the state has cut back on PreK funding this year, we have no indication of what the cuts will be for next year. We are trying to cap the growth of this program due to uncertain state funding. 4. The Alternative Learning Center program, currently housed in a dilapidated trailer at Hale Middle, will be moved to Greenbriar. Carl Gmazel will oversee the program from his position as Paul Revere Intermediate School Principal.
    
4. Lincoln School’s 4th graders will be located at Whittier School to give greater consistency and equity to the intermediate school program.
    
5. There will be one less secretarial position across the district, to be determined by contract.

These changes will bring additional benefits to students, and some will bring greater efficiencies to our operations. All of these changes are expected to save the district over $250,000.

The major impact on staff will be that we are NOT one of the districts having to reduce teachers, cut programs significantly, or reduce most support staff permanently. The impact on the affected individuals is very real and the changes can be difficult to accept. However, go back to my primary beliefs that I started this letter with and you will understand the rationale behind every one of these changes. I believe that these changes will positively impact students and their education.

Thank you for your support of our schools and your children. Please call me any time you have questions or concerns at 708-385-6800, ext 101.

Have a wonderful summer!

Sincerely,

Raymond A. Lauk, Ph.D.
Superintendent