On Monday, April 15, District 128 community members and teachers gathered at the Libertyville High School Main Gym for the April committee meetings, during which administrators shared “information about ways students, staff, and parents will receive support as students access rigorous curriculum via enrollment in accelerated courses,” as described by the committee meeting agenda.
Eleven community members addressed the Board of Education during the public comment part of the Program & Personnel (P&P) Committee meeting. They addressed issues such as the lack of adequate support for students and teachers amid new changes, the pace at which these new changes are being implemented in the district, and how the D128 leadership has been managing district initiatives and responding to the public’s concerns.
Lack of Communication About Simultaneous Changes
A few community members who spoke during public comment shared their belief that D128 does not have a thorough plan for implementing new initiatives such as heterogeneous classrooms, Equal Opportunity Schools, the Accelerated Placement Act, and that the district has not been appropriately informing community members about the current status of these changes.
“I will say that the communications [community members have] received from [D128] have yet to provide a substantial plan that lays out exactly how our district will implement each of the changes…This plan should already be complete and thoroughly laid out,” Julie Landgraf, a community member, said during public comment.
Community members also expressed concern about so many things changing at once.
“How will one measure what is failing when so many things are changing at once. How will you know what to stop when you don’t know what is failing?… [Teachers] are the most important asset to our schools. They have been raising alarms that these changes are too much and will cause stress,” Julie Landgraf said. “We are a community asking for these sweeping changes to stop, or pause, until they can be individually rolled out, with a true plan in place to measure and engage with successes and failures.”
Anne Landgraf, who worked at D128 for ten years as a teacher, brought to light how students’ mental health might be impacted by too many changes happening at once at D128, without the appropriate support.
“You’ve got to think of the kids here, people. That’s what you’re here for… let’s think about their mental health. There’s so many things thrown [at students], especially as they go into high school… I want to keep their mental health safe,” Anne Landgraf said.
Marnie Navarro, parent of a D70 fifth grader, shared concerns similar to those she spoke about at the March board meeting, while also highlighting new concerns.
“Our community’s heartfelt pleas were completely disregarded, and the five of seven board members in attendance on March 18 unanimously voted to RIF 9.7 [classroom Full Time Equivalents],” Navarro said. “Notwithstanding that under questioning, it became clear that this administration, two years into planning, have no plan with regard to how the impending four new initiatives would be implemented and supported, a mere six weeks before the end of the school year.”
A “RIF” is a reduction in force, and FTE is a way to measure how many total teachers are needed to teach classes. One year-long class is typically counted as .2 FTE.
At the Board of Education meeting on Monday, March 18, the Board voted to approve a certified staffing plan that will reduce classroom FTE by 9.7, which works out to about 48.5 fewer year-long class assignments across the district.
Administration arrived at this number based on course requests and sectioning decisions. While 9.7 was eliminated from classroom FTE, the certified staffing plan included an additional 6.0 FTE for Intervention & Services, as well as .6 FTE for non-classroom positions, resulting in a net loss of 3.1 FTE.
Lack of Support for Students and Teachers Amid Changes
Another concern a few community members raised was regarding the support students and teachers are being provided amid changes.
According to these community members, teachers have repeatedly expressed that they are being overwhelmed with too many things happening at once, and their pedagogical input regarding how these changes should be taking place, ignored.
“I have never met a teacher who is not dedicated to their students with their whole heart. If they are raising alarms through the union, why is our superintendent and our board not listening? Why is it we’re not questioning what’s happening?” Julie Landgraf said.
Additionally, community members expressed concern that diagonal movers, students who are taking on more rigorous courses for the first time due to initiatives like the Accelerated Placement Act and Equal Opportunity Schools, are not receiving enough guidance following these changes.
Mary Jane Wang, community member, verbalized concern regarding the lack of a concrete plan.
“What resources and support will be available to our students and teachers as we make these big changes?” Wang questioned.
Wang also called attention to teachers’ expressed concerns, quoting the Teacher’s Union statement made to the board on Monday, November 13, 2023.
“We fear that without narrowing our focus, slowing down the district initiative timelines, and strategizing in a productive way, even the best initiatives will fall flat,” she quoted.
Amy Frantz, a licensed special education teacher, shared that a lot of students are still recovering from the pandemic and taking on a lot of stress, based on what she’s seen as a private resource teacher who works with D128 students outside of school.
“I can tell you [students at D128] are still recovering from the pandemic. They are stressed about homework, testing, college, and the constant pressure to keep pushing themselves when their social emotional health is still not 100%,” Frantz said.
Frantz questioned the pace at which these new initiatives are taking place and compared D128’s current plan to other educational institutions which also underwent change, such as Lake Forest High School, which did so with a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) in place.
MTSS is a framework used by many schools to help struggling students, where they identify struggling students and place them in an adequate support system, such as one-on-one tutoring.
“A robust MTSS system takes about three to five years to fully implement. My colleagues at Lake Forest have had an MTSS in place for several years,” Frantz explained. “[Lake Forest is] a high performing district just like ours, with excellent teachers just like ours, and they still require MTSS support to reach all students.”
Frantz explained further how Lake Forest puts their MTSS to practice.
“If a student in any class at Lake Forest would be struggling… a teacher would send [the student] to a departmental resource center…These teachers have access to data on each student,” Frantz said. “Other tier one supports [Lake Forest] offers are after school executive function coaching and Wednesday morning small group teaching – this is what robust MTSS looks like.”
Similarly, Beth Zender, a former Stevenson High School English teacher and Libertyville High School graduate, compared D128’s current plan to Stevenson’s shift to standards-based grading.
“l’d like to point to our neighbors in Stevenson for success, to show how long meaningful change takes. In 2010, I was proud to be part of the standards-based grading pilot,” Zender shared. “It wasn’t until 2020 when Stevenson had a school wide EBR [evidence based reporting] – 10 years, but it’s working.”
Additionally, Zender questioned if students are being provided enough support to excel in classes, or, if the district is working towards providing this support.
“Will department policies be in place for test retaking? When will students be retaught these skills and lessons that they’re not mastering?… Have the resource centers been expanded to have dedicated, certified teachers in each content area available before school, after school, and during each class period?” questioned Zender. “We know that the [D128] teachers are the best and most dedicated teachers. Please listen to them when they voice their concerns. They’re asking on behalf of our students.”
D128 Leadership and Response to Concerns
Community members also voiced concerns about how the district administration and Board have been handling the community’s pleas and managing financial assets.
Wes Polen, parent to an incoming D128 freshman, called out Board members and administration for disregarding teachers’ concerns regarding these new initiatives.
“Our teachers at [D128] are the most important asset. When it comes to student success, They’re the most influential school factor. They have the most important view of what works in the classroom, and they are content experts…Without them, [D128] would not be able to educate our students,” Polen said. “When teachers are brave enough to speak out, you must listen. They have valid and legitimate concerns that deserve to be acknowledged and addressed, not ignored.”
Sean Gay, parent to two Libertyville High School students, appealed to the Board’s obligation to serve the community. According to Gay, the Board should also inspire teachers and students.
“Your job as a Board is to inspire our students, as well as inspiring these teachers to teach… [The Board] wants for us a great educational system, [but they’re] leaving behind a lot of kids that need some help in some way,” Gay said.
John Hetzel, parent to a VHHS student and to an incoming freshman, questioned Dr. Denise Herrmann’s employment history, which to him, seems full of red flags.
“It’s really surprising that [D128] didn’t do a background check [on Dr. Herrmann] apparently, because when [community members] talked to other districts, feeder schools, board members, as well as administrators, they said that these [red flags] would be of great concern to know,” Hetzel said.
Navarro urged community members to ‘take back’ the Board seats during the election next Spring, getting support from the members of the audience, who clapped right after the statement. In other words, Navarro urged the community to elect Board members whom she believes would represent the community’s concerns.
“These are our students, our schools, and our property values. Five of these seven board seats are up for election this spring. We must take back this board and save our schools. Join us,” Navarro said.