Hinsdale High School District 86 Board
Among other business at their Aug. 8 meeting, board members:
• heard a report on how the district will transition from using the SAT to the ACT as the state-required accountability test. Juniors will be required to take the ACT in the spring of 2025. Freshmen and sophomores will take pre-ACT assessments. All tests will be online.
The district plans to continue to offer the fall PSAT/NMSQT and spring SAT during this transition year.
“Depending on what we learn and take from this exam, we certainly will present a plan for the 25-26 school year moving forward,” said Jason Markey, assistant superintendent for academics.
• learned from Superintendent Mike Lach that the district received 1,313 applications for 16 new teaching/certified staff positions and that all openings have been filled.
“All classrooms are fully staffed and ready to go,” Lach said.
• listened as Markey discussed the new Illinois PaCE (Postsecondary and Career Expectations) Framework, which the district must begin to implement or opt out of by July 1, 2025. The framework identifies what students should be supported to do and know in order to plan for life after high school. Board members agreed administrators should begin working on the framework. Markey noted the district already is meeting many of the requirements.
“It’s a great way to systemize what we already are doing,” board member Asma Akhras said.
• expressed their appreciation for Kari Smith, assistant superintendent of student services, as they approved a one-time $6,000 increase to her base salary for the 2024-25 contract year. Lach said it was a contractual market adjustment.
“She’s great. It’s clear that her position is underfunded when compared to comparable districts,” Lach said, noting that Smith recently received her superintendent’s endorsement.
“It’s important to me that she keeps working here, as satisfied as she can, because the work she has to do is really challenging,” he added.
Consolidated School District 181 Board
Among other business at their meeting Monday, board members:
• received an update from facilities director Mike Duggan about construction work that took place this summer, much of which was related to the move to full-day kindergarten in the fall of 2025. Almost 40,000 square feet of new classrooms and other spaces were added to six schools in 57 working days. All schools will be ready for students to arrive Tuesday, Aug. 20, Duggan said.
“We recognize we have a lot more to do over the upcoming year and next summer,” he told board members.
• learned the district increased the number of safety officers from one to three to provide increase surveillance and presence on school properties. The individuals are active or retired officers from Hinsdale, Burr Ridge and Clarendon Hills.
