Community Consolidated District 181 Board
Among other business at Monday’s meeting, board members:
• learned Gov. JB Pritzker signed House Bill 2396, which mandates that all schools offer full-day kindergarten by the 2027-28 school year. District 181 plans to offer that option in the fall of 2025, with construction of new classrooms taking place in the summer of 2024. More details should be available after the work goes out to bid early next year.
• congratulated The Lane School for winning the Model PLC School District award, which is give to the highest-performing schools around the globe that are committed to professional learning for continuous improvement. The Lane School is one of 31 schools in the state to receive the award.
• listened to a summary of more than $2.8 million worth of summer construction projects, including roof rehabilitation at Oak, flooring replacement and painting at The Lane, remodeling of the media resource centers at Monroe and Elm and new playgrounds at The Lane and Madison, which were done in partnership with the PTOs. “The kids have already started playing on all of them,” facilities director Mike Duggan said of the new playground equipment.
• heard a report on the five summer programs the district offered: enrichment class, Math Bridge, Extended School Year, math camp and Time to Shine. A total of 974 students attended one or more programs, which were taught by 112 staff members.
“We were pleased with the great attendance. We had a lot of successes,” said Kathy Robinson, assistant superintendent of learning.
