The Jan. 27, 2025, board meeting covered multiple topics concerning the district, including the approval of the budget reduction plan for 2025-26 and curriculum updates. All seven board members were present at the meeting.
Superintendent Dr. Kurt Rohlwing recognized board member Edmund Koch on his recent graduation from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
The first round of public comments were exclusively on the topic of the 2025-26 proposed budget cuts. At the previous meeting, Assistant Superintendent for Business Dr. Jackie Bogan and Director of Human Resources Dr. Chris Adkins proposed a series of budget cuts to fix the predicted district budget shortfall of 4.2 million dollars. The original budget included cutting 31.28 positions throughout the district, the majority of which are student-facing roles. The only change to the updated budget was an increase in administrative cuts by one position. Additionally, the Kaneland IgKnight Personalized Learning Academy (KIPLA) will no longer be at the Kaneland Meredith Academic Center (KMAC), but instead will be split up into two schools within the district.
The main concerns of public comments were the position cuts and the changes for KIPLA. Department Chair of Student Services Erin Shore and Library Resource Center (LRC) Director Hope Paskus, whose positions are at risk of getting cut, shared their concerns. Shore provided the board with data that conveyed that Kaneland’s counselor-to-student ratio would be lower than surrounding districts, and this reduction would be detrimental to students. Additionally, she referenced that the College and Career Readiness Center (CCRC) was not able to run with five counselors, and going back to this number would, again, prevent the program from running. Paskus cited that other schools that have rid themselves of LRC directors have had subsequent literacy problems throughout the district
“It is my hope that instead of continuing to dismantle the library program at Kaneland, you take the necessary steps to begin rebuilding,” Paskus said. “The first step is to stop the elimination of the LRC director position at Harter Middle School.”
Multiple Kaneland parents also shared their concerns about the proposed budget, especially pertaining to the effects on the KIPLA program. KIPLA parents stated that the decisions on the cuts have felt rushed and expressed that they wished the board would have gotten more feedback from community members. Many asked the board to not approve the budget, but instead take the time to make changes with community concerns in mind. KIPLA parent Katie Soderstrom pointed out that there is a lack of long-term planning, especially with the future of KIPLA.
“I would [like to] ask the district and board to commit to the following: a verbal commitment to the support of the KIPLA program and personalized learning modality over the next five years, [and] a district created written transition plan detailing the discussions and decisions over the next six months, February through July, about what KIPLA students’ families can expect regarding the proposed programming changes,” Soderstrom said.
KIPLA parent Laura Chen voiced her appreciation for the program and shared a note written by her third grade daughter, Heidi Chen, that cited her growth as being tied to higher level resources and the ability to collaborate with older students. Laura Chen also said that KIPLA is an asset to the school district and is attractive to outside districts, but the proposed changes would essentially ruin that. This is a sentiment that was shared across public comments.
Sixth grade KIPLA student Joey Corbett told the board about his personal success with personalized learning, adding that he feels like he will be held back with the new KIPLA model. His mother, Aimee Corbett, commented on the poor test scores presented earlier in the meeting and feels that the position cuts will only worsen the performances.
Community parent Scott Stalcup asked the board to be proactive instead of reactive in similar future situations. He also asked the board to reflect on how to make the best out of a poor situation and find a way to reduce the effects of the position cuts on students.
“As you make the decision, ask yourself: How is that bettering the education for our kids?” Stalcup said.
High school math teacher and Kaneland Education Association (KEA) vice president Daniel Ponczek encouraged the board to continue to collaborate with stakeholders to reduce the negative impacts felt when implementing the budget cuts.
Following the public comments was a brief discussion about the newly proposed budget and a vote. Rohlwing made adjustments to the budget based on feedback from the community and human resource directors from surrounding districts. He stated that compared to other districts, Kaneland has a higher number of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) interventionalists but a lower number of librarians and a worse counselor-to-student ratio. The board emphasized during this discussion that the conversation around the cuts was emotional, difficult and made with community feedback in mind. Board member Dr. Aaron Lawler shared that he sat with KEA representation and provided some of their feedback about the budget cuts. They had questions about why the decision had to be made so quickly and if implementing the cuts could be spread out to reduce the impact. . Importantly, the union is not angered most by the position cuts, but by the fact that the people most affected by the cuts are not a part of the conversation. Lawler believes that going forward, voices like these must be involved sooner and in a meaningful way. Board Vice President Bob Mankivsky agreed and said that stakeholders and community members should know about large decisions like these position cuts sooner.
Mankivsky additionally expressed his frustration that budget problems turned into a crisis. He is disappointed that the decision had to be made so quickly that meaningful input was not able to be a part of the decision making process.
“These interventions do make a difference, and it is not something that is easily quantifiable…it should be [based on] what the students need,” Mankivsky said, specifically referring to the MTSS positions being cut.
Lawler pushed his fellow board members to learn from the difficult process and set themselves up to not be in this position again. Ultimately, the updated budget reduction plan for the next school year was approved 6-0, with Lawler abstaining due to a personal investment in one of the budget items.
Director of Communications David Chavez gave a presentation about his marketing plans relating to the upcoming referendum. He articulated a timeline and methods for convincing community members to vote in favor of the referendum, which included using newsletters and social media posts to highlight the long-term benefits and to address concerns. Board President Addam Gonzales emphasized the importance of transparency when rebuilding trust with a community.
Director of Educational Services EC-5th grade Grade Dr. Sarah Mumm and Director of Educational Services 6-12 Dr. James Horne presented information about the English Language Arts (ELA) testing data and curriculum. Across the district, test scores are lower than they should be compared to state averages and nearby schools. However, Mumm and Horne gave examples of resources they will be using to fix this deficit, such as an updated literacy closet. Gonzales asked about the structure for teachers using all the resources, but Mumm assured him that this is being addressed. Lawler requested that KEA representatives join them the next time they present to the board.
Rohlwing reported that he will host a parent meeting on Feb. 13 to help parents assist their students in succeeding in state testing. The KEA will host a Board of Education candidate forum on Feb. 20. Student board representative Sarah Slattery highlighted recent wins for boys and girls varsity basketball, as well as cheer. Girls bowling and boys wrestling hosted successful senior nights this past week.
The meeting concluded with a closed session with no possible action as a result. The next Kaneland school board meeting will be held on Monday, Feb. 10.
