Community Consolidated School District 181
Among other business Monday, board members:
• accepted a grant from the District 181 Foundation totaling $23,000 for Tech Connect training, cultural empathy and eLearning to benefit district staff and students; a grant of $186.86 from the Hinsdale Middle School PTO for the Encore PTO to defray the cost of busing the school orchestra to Peoria; and a grant of $13,846.89 from the Clarendon Hills Middle School PTO for sound absorbing paneling for the cafeteria/stage.
Board members and school officials also expressed their gratitude to D181 Foundation leaders Meg Cooper and Colleen Wilcox for the group’s longstanding support of the district, with more than $1 million in donations since its inception in 1999. Board President Margie Kleber highlighted the Foundation’s agility in providing programs compatible with remote learning.
“You and your team have continued to evolve in such a fabulous way,” Kleber said to Cooper. “I want to thank you all for your incredible commitment ... to District 181, our students, our parents, our teachers, our community. You have been unflappable.”
• held a moment of silence in observance of lives lost due to racial injustice. Superintendent Hector Garcia said district staff had two days of professional development on the topic of diversity and inclusion.
“We remain committed to our long-term plans focused on diversity,” he said. “D181 will never embrace the status quo.”
• appointed incoming Chief Financial Officer Rick Engstrom school treasurer and approved the treasurer’s bond in the amount of $16 million and the treasurer’s bond for general obligation bond issuance for $625,000. The annual cost to the district for the two bonds, which essentially act as insurance, is $8,669 and $706, respectively.
