Regular meeting on October 18, 2022, the Freeport School District Board of Education:

Received Numerous Reports that will be detailed in the Board Meeting Minutes:

• Year to Date Attendance

Week One      91.5%

Week Two      90.9%

Week Three   91.6%

Week Four     90.8%

Week Five      92.1%

Week Six        91.4%

Week Seven   90.3% 

• The Preschool for All-Expansion Grant was applied for March 2020 . Due to Covid, the grant was postponed. As of October 2022, the grant has been approved for FSD starting this year.  We are in the process of deciding whether to accept the grant. We have a total of 8 sections of Early Childhood.  (1 half day section at Center not open yet due to the lack of a teacher). With acceptance PFA-E funding: We will be funded for an additional 2 full day programs (that already exist at FSD)  Blackhawk and Empire (40 students).

• A summary of staff feedback from the District Institute Day held on October 5, was provided to the Board.  Overall, the feedback was positive.

• The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) today launched 43 affinity groups across the state to boost retention for teachers of color. ISBE partnered with Sangamon-Menard Regional Office of Education (ROE) 51, Teach Plus Illinois, and the Golden Apple Foundation to bring the initiative to life.  Teacher leaders selected and trained to facilitate the affinity groups will bring together local educators of color to build a supportive community, examine current issues facing them in the teaching profession, and make recommendations to address those issues. ISBE established the initiative to improve teacher retention and help meet Illinois’ high demand for educators.

• ECRA Fall Growth Update: An update that Fall MAP and aimsPlus growth have been evaluated and posted to the ECRISS platform.  The report linked above is the District report for grades 3-10 MAP, evaluated using pre-COVID district norms. There is higher than expected growth in math for grades 3, 5, and 6, as well as in reading for grades 6 and 8. In addition to the data included in this report, instructional leaders also have access to the fall growth data for grades 1-2 MAP and 1-8 aimsPlus on the ECRA platform. These grades/tests are not included in the Fall Growth Update as they are evaluated using post-COVID district norms.  For Kindergarten, fall 2022 data are used to calculate grade level propensity, so there is no fall growth data. Kindergarten growth will be evaluated in winter and spring terms.

Took Action in Favor Of Previously Presented Items:

None were presented for approval at this meeting.

The public is always invited and encouraged to attend Freeport School District Board of Education meetings. ​The next scheduled regular meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 2, 2022 at 6:00 PM.  Meetings are held at the FSD administrative office, located at 500 E. South St and can be accessed virtually. Information on joining the meetings can be found here.