December 18, 2017

Present:  Board Vice President Lori Goldstein, Board Members Cathleen Albrecht, Keith Dronen, Carol Ducommun, Marc Glucksman.
Absent: Board President Greg Robitaille, Board Member Patrick O’Donoghue.
Administrators:  Superintendent Paul Sally; Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Christopher Johnson; Secretary Superintendent Lou Anne Kelly; Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Peter Tragos; Assistant Superintendent for Student Services Timothy Hayes; Principal (Winnetka) Denise Dubravec; Principal (Northfield) Paul Waechtler.
Public Comment: Teacher Brian Van Mersbergen’s commendation of Dr. Sally. 
Information Items:
Profile for Class of 2017 and Student Information Report (Peter Tragos) and 2016-2017 Extra Curricular Report (Timothy Hayes): Very dense reports including 1) information on Class of 2017’s academic awards/test results/course taking patterns/college matriculation and survey results from previous classes and 2) extracurricular participation (and trends among those not participating) for all classes during 2016-2017 school year.  Much board discussion on details, meaning and usefulness of these reports and next steps for Administration to take.

Monthly Construction Report (Christopher Johnson): Summarized current state of Winnetka campus renovation—nearly complete but still working on punch list and final negotiations with subcontractors. Total project cost has declined slightly but still not a final final number.

Martin Luther King Day Update (Timothy Hayes): This is last year school will be in session on MLK day with major construction finished.  Some teachers/departments working significance of MLK into their curricula for day, and there will be displays on MLK around campuses.

Treasurer Report and Financial Reports (Christopher Johnson): Snapshot reports, still expect to be on budget for fiscal year.

Summer 2018 Projects Update (Christopher Johnson): The Board has been talking for months about Summer 2018 projects (improvements to student services and administrative offices at Winnetka and athletic and parking lot improvements at Northfield), to be funded by up to $7 million in working cash bonds and a donation for the tennis courts from the Eckert Foundation. Discussion focused on tennis court changes and whether to include bleachers.

Voting Items for BOE members:
Facilities Financing Bond for Summer 2018 Projects: Approved issuance of up to $7 million in 10-year working cash bonds to fund the Summer 2018 projects. Public sale or private placement, evaluated daily. All present voted in favor (Robitaille and O’Donoghue absent).

Construction Management:  Approved construction management contract for Summer 2018 project to Pepper Construction.  All present voted in favor (Robitaille and O’Donoghue absent).

Consent Agenda: Bill List November 1-30, 2017; Personnel Report; Construction Change Order #28; Cashman Stahler Group Facilities Assessment Contract; Authorization to Purchase Press Box; Authorization to Purchase Bleachers. After removal of Bleacher Purchase from the Consent Agenda, all present voted in favor (Robitaille and O’Donoghue absent).

Authorization to Purchase Bleachers: Approved bleacher purchase for Summer 2018 project.  Albrecht voted against, all others present voted in favor (Robitaille and O’Donoghue absent).  Albrecht argued waiting until after facilities study completed and bleacher improvements could be prioritized against other projects and surveying students to see if more will come to games if bleachers expanded.  Others noted New Trier having lowest home capacity/student population ratio by far among conference and similar schools, parent complaints about overcrowding, wanting a safe place for students to be on a Friday night and for students to be in stands and not other places on campus during games, and wanting to encourage school spirit.

To see any documents from this meeting, click on the link below, then on Meetings (top right), then 2017 (left), then December 18, 2017, Regular Meeting of the Board of Education, then View the Agenda, then click on the document sign to the right of any agenda item: https://www.boarddocs.com/il/newtrier/Board.nsf/Public

Next meeting:  January 22, 2018
Observer:  Cindy Levine                        Meeting Length:  2 hr.