District 95 board, teachers look at the challenges ahead After talk of new superintendent, concerns turn to other matters

Stephanie Rushing, a science teacher at Carbondale Middle School, spoke to the District 95 Board during the public comment portion of last week's regular meeting and presented a snapshot of the district at a crossroads.

"Thank you for your diligence in finding the best candidate for our new superintendent," Rushing said, referring to Daniel Booth, who was officially chosen at the last meeting.

"Teachers and community members are optimistic for positive change," she said. "We're chomping at the bit to get started."

And there are plenty of concerns to go around.

After Rushing was done speaking, Jennifer Hartleib, a third-grade teacher at Carbondale Elementary School, thanked the board for hiring Booth, then ran down her list of concerns.

She talked about the struggle for teacher retention, which led to a discussion about the difficulty in finding qualified substitutes. She talked about the lack of space and structural concerns at some of the schools, including outside doors that no longer open at Thomas School. She talked about the lack of teaching materials for reading and writing, and how some teachers are using their own money to buy those materials.

Interim Superintendent Elizabeth Lewin addressed Hartleib's concerns about teaching materials, turning the talk to the ongoing efforts to "map" the schools and establish a standardized curriculum.

Resource mapping is part of a system of Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), endorsed by the National Education Association (NEA), which links resources with goals and specific strategies.

The NEA has said that PBIS "improves the social cultural and the behavioral climate of classrooms and schools, which ultimately leads to enhanced academic performance."

"Every building principal is working with teachers to establish a standardized curriculum," Lewin said. "We can't provide teaching materials until that's done. It's like asking me to buy materials to build a house when you don't know what kind of house you want."

Some of Hartleib's other concerns were addressed by Assistant Superintendent Justin Miller, who talked about having brought in structural engineers and architects to tackle the problems caused by "the foundation settling," which caused numerous cracks in the floors and under doorways and caused some of the outside doors to jam.

We'll start work this summer on a number of maintenance projects for each school, including Thomas," he said. "We've been monitoring the settling there and have not detected any more movement. In the meantime, those doors have been blocked and fire drills altered accordingly."

There were other complaints Tuesday night, but the bulk of the meeting was spent listening to groups from each of the district schools - Parrish Elementary, Thomas Elementary, Lewis Elementary and Carbondale Middle School - as they described their goals for student improvement in reading, writing, math and social-emotional health.

"This is empowering and wonderful to see," board member Erinn Murphy said when the four groups were finished. "These plans are powerful and mean a lot. Thank you, all of you."

Each group talked about dedicated teachers, parents and students who were all a part of the committees that designed the plans.

"I want to thank all of our teachers for all of their efforts," board member Natasha Zaretsky said. "And I want to reassure all of you that we are all working hard and that we are all of the same mind.

"I also want to say that I am proud of the board and of the process used to choose our new superintendent," she said. "We are all optimistic about Mr. Booth."

Booth doesn't begin his term until July 1, but in the meantime, he's getting an earful about just what needs to be done and soon. During last week's meeting, Booth didn't speak publicly, but spent time talking with groups of teachers privately at the back of the room.