Dr. Brumbaugh

July 13, 2021

Dear Parents,

With another school year less than a month away, I couldn’t be more excited about having our students back in the classroom full-time.

While our Board of Education in April voted to return to a traditional schedule with full days in the classroom Monday through Friday, we as a local community and a nation are still navigating through the pandemic.

Whether you’ve reached out to me, a member of our board, or someone else associated with our schools, we understand you have questions and concerns about the fall. I’ll do my best to provide those answers in a clear, straightforward, transparent and timely fashion.

Here’s what we know so far: On Friday, July 9, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided its updated guidance for COVID-19 prevention in schools nationwide. Those guidelines were subsequently adopted by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and then the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). Two key takeaways include:

• Achieving high levels of COVID-19 vaccination among eligible students (currently, all Illinoisans age 12 and up), as well as teachers, staff, and household members is one of the most critical strategies to help schools safely resume full operations. We will continue to promote and provide opportunities for our community to get vaccinated. Find resources at www.isbe.net/covid19.
• The health and safety of our students, educators, and families remains our no. 1 priority. The current guidance for Illinois schools is to work with local public health officials to determine the prevention strategies needed in our area by monitoring levels of community transmission and local vaccine coverage, and by using screening testing to detect cases in K-12 schools. If we decide to remove any of the prevention strategies based on local conditions, we will remove them one at a time and monitor closely (with adequate testing through the school and/or community) for any increases in COVID-19 cases.

We understand that everyone has opinions about the pandemic and protocols that should be followed in our schools. However, from the beginning, we’ve relied on trusted, respected agencies such as the CDC, IDPH, ISBE and our local health department to determine our path forward. Furthermore, we’ve done so with one fundamental goal in mind: Creating a safe learning environment for all of our 2,600 students, as well as their teachers, their families and our community.

The board and I are busy processing the newly released CDC guidance, along with the subsequent information flooding us now by IDPH, ISBE, and legal council, which takes time. As the CDC recommends, we are also working with the Henry & Stark County Health Department. Know that we have heard your questions and concerns and we will address them when we release an updated return to school plan as soon as possible.

I appreciate your support, patience and understanding as we prepare for another school year and will be in touch with additional updates in the coming days and weeks.

Don’t forget to register your child(ren) online. See you soon!

Dr. Adam Brumbaugh

Superintendent

Geneseo Community Unit School District #228

Part #3:  How the Evidence Based Funding model will never get Geneseo to long-term financial stability and what the District will have to do with that knowledge.

Another critical part of the Evidence Based Funding (EBF) model is the district’s local capacity.  Local capacity is the district’s ability to generate revenue locally, through property taxes and other local means, at a level that is proportionate and adequate.  The state will not continue to give districts new money under the EBF model if it feels it is not doing its part locally.

According to the Illinois Report Card, Geneseo CUSD 228 is only receiving 75% of what it should under the EBF model, largely in part because locally we are underfunded.  Whether you agree with their assessment or not is a moot point because that is the figure that will keep us from ever getting fully funded.  Geneseo is a Tier II school (from the video in Part #1), so we will only receive limited future evidence based funding.  The state will not help us completely close the gap between $20 million generated and $27 million needed.  Only locally can we help shrink the gap through additional forms of revenue such as an Education Fund referendum, cuts, or combination thereof.

The Evidence Based Funding model is a historic step in the right direction towards adequate and equitable funding for every district across the state of Illinois.  It is not a silver bullet for Geneseo or other districts to get out of debt, but it does help by providing some additional funding and for helping us see that locally we are going to have to control our own destiny on what we expect the future of Geneseo education to look like.

Part #2: How the Evidence Based Funding model is meant to benefit the Geneseo School District.

The EBF model looks at 27 research-based elements that are proven to increase student achievement such as smaller class sizes, reading specialists, and access to technology.  The Illinois State Board of Education then distributes additional money to schools who do not have the means locally to provide such things adequately to their students.  More money for the state should mean more money for Geneseo, right?  Yes and no.

The 27 research-based elements, when infused with our current staff and student population, demonstrate a significant gap in what we should be providing.  In fact, if we use the model the state uses to calculate the new funding, Geneseo should be employing 215 staff members.  We currently employ 157.  That’s 58 fewer staff than recommended and by which we will be evaluated under this funding model!

For the 2017-2018 school year, Geneseo received an additional $92,000 from ISBE under the EBF model beyond what it received in 2016-2017.  This money does not begin to cover the $1.2 million the district deficit spent during the 2016-2017 school year.  The $5.1 million we received from the state in Fund 10 funding in 2016-17, fails in comparison to the $7.0 million we received from the state in the same fund in 2008-09.  Unfortunately, the new funding will not help us reach the level of staff and supports we should be proving our students at Geneseo CUSD 228.

This week I am going to do a three-part series of posts on what the new Evidence Based Funding (EBF) model means for the Geneseo School District, and what it does not mean for the Geneseo School District.  Part #1 will deal with what the model is and what it is supposed to do for K-12 education in Illinois.  Part #2 will show how it is meant to benefit the Geneseo School District.  Part #3 will show how it will never get Geneseo to long-term financial stability and what the District will have to do with that knowledge.

Part #1: What the Evidence Based Funding Model means for the Geneseo School District

This video will give you a brief history and tutorial of the Evidence Based Funding model.

The EBF is a dramatic change from the previous funding model that had been unchanged since 2010.  Finally acknowledging that the old formula was inadequate and inequitable, the state of Illinois agreed to pay an additional $350 million to schools across the state in 2017-18, with most of the funding going to the neediest (poorest) schools.  This year, Illinois is paying an additional $350 million on top of the 2017-2018 level.  However, to reach their ultimate goal of making sure every school is adequately funded, they would need an additional $7 billion dollars annually!  The Illinois Comptroller website shows that the state currently owes vendors $7.3 billion dollars.  Where will this new EBF money come from?!

If you’ve been in the military or worked for the Defense Department, you know what a challenge coin is. They’ve been an American military tradition for a century, meant to instill unit pride, improve esprit de corps, and reward hard work and excellence.

The coins represent anything from a small unit to the offices of top leaders, such as the defense secretary. There are also coins made for special events, anniversaries and even non-military leaders.  Many service members and veterans proudly display challenge coins at their desks or homes, showing off the many missions they’ve been on, the top leaders they’ve met and the units for which they’ve worked.

District 228 is now awarding our own challenge coin. The Maple Leaf Medallion is awarded to those individuals who demonstrate Teach – Learn – Care of the highest order in the classroom, on the court, or in the community.

Our plan is to award 100 Maple Leaf Medallions to deserving individuals each year, which represents about 3% of our total student and staff population. Community members are also eligible for the award. I will seek help with nominations from students, staff, and administrators, but they can also be spontaneous and I should always have one with me just in case.  Nomination someone for a Maple Leaf Medallion now.

Dr. Adam Brumbaugh

Superintendent 

Geneseo Community Unit School District #228

If you have driven to the north side of Geneseo recently, you should have seen the first house being constructed in the new Maple Leaf subdivision.  The large house is a monumental sign of growth for the city and for District 228.

Project Leaf, District 228’s $36 million dollar facility improvement project wrapped up this summer with extensive renovations to Southwest Elementary School.  We now can say unequivocally that we have some of the finest facilities in Illinois.  Our big push now is to fill those facilities with new students from young families who decide to move to Geneseo.  With the district moving into the Western Big 6 conference next year for athletic and academic competitions, we expect to compete not only for titles in those contests, but for the students of those schools once they see our facilities and our community.

Geneseo CUSD 228 is in a great position to grow, as Geneseo and area communities grow, bringing new families to the area and becoming a part of the rich tradition we have here.  Help us tell our story of the great things going on in the community and at District 228.  Help us spread the word on why Geneseo is such a great place to live and to be a part of.

In the coming weeks, we will be having an open house at Southwest Elementary so the community can see the huge changes that have been made to the building making it a great place to learn, a place we can be proud to send our students, and a place that others would want to send their children or grandchildren if given the opportunity.

Dear Parents,

On behalf of District 228, I would like to welcome you and your child back for another exciting school year. Our District Mission/Vision Statement was, and remains, Teach – Learn – Care. In my short time here at Geneseo, I have found that those words are not just a phrase in a binder on a shelf, but rather those three words drive the decisions we make and set the tone for how we educate our students. They are a part of our climate and culture. The District Mission/Vision Statement is what and who we are.

District 228 is wrapping up Project Leaf, our $36 million dollar facility improvement initiative. The school buildings are now second to none. Our students, staff, and community can be proud of the finished product and I guarantee our visitors have and will take notice.

Across the district, we will be welcoming twelve new teachers, three new assistant principals, and three new building secretaries. I hope you will make them feel welcome, just as you have made my family and I feel welcome. I came to Geneseo to be a part of something special. District 228 has a great reputation across the State and I can now say with first-hand experience that it is worthy of that reputation.

Elementary Open Houses are Tuesday, August 21 from 4:00 – 6:00 in their respective building.
Middle School Open House is Tuesday, August 21 from 5:00 – 7:00.
High School Open House is Wednesday, August 22 from 5:00 – 7:00.

The first day of student attendance is Thursday, August 23, 2018. Students will be released one hour early on both the 23rd and the 24th.

I look forward to meeting more families in the coming weeks. This is going to be a great school year!

Last week, my oldest daughter (Aubrey) and I had the opportunity to go hiking in Colorado.  The culminating event was a 7.5 mile (one way) journey while ascending over 3000 feet to Crater Lake, which lies at the base of Lone Eagle Peak.  There were several times that my daughter felt that she could not or did not want to continue on the hike, but persevered nonetheless.  I must admit, there were times I was not sure she would make it myself.  Much to her surprise, she made the journey to the spot, and perhaps more importantly, back to the car before dark.

The point of the story is to remind us that our students are incredible human beings that have the capacity to do so much more than we (or even they) often give them credit for.  Research has found that increasing a student’s growth mindset can have a positive effect on their learning, but a recent study by the Stanford Graduate School of Education found that even more effective is increasing the growth mindset of our teachers.

My challenge to our staff this year is to work on increasing our own growth mindset, while continuing to work on those of our students, never limiting their or our capacity to learn.