[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6334440,"mediaKeyId","2295738-6a6cd96c9f829c3b37f4aeadd7217688","parentId",2295738,"title","Board approves transportation contract, Title I programming and rapid-entry MOU; consent agenda carries","audioSeconds",567,"startMs",3300000,"endMs",3867000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2295738-6a6cd96c9f829c3b37f4aeadd7217688&start=3300&end=3867","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2295738-6a6cd96c9f829c3b37f4aeadd7217688/thumbnail_3300000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6334440/Illinois/Board-approves-transportation-contract-Title-I-programming-and-rapid-entry-MOU-consent-agenda-carries","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6334440-4023bf46bbc91cbf771f5ef7d65e38bf/orig.mp4?Expires=1776610837&Signature=Pa21udC-e-GcX~1oYgkmhTkcXj5ggiF0k2jhtlCHFq6V-9SHw7ywis~wMbsELzZWLS67Rj7im~AMEkfdWiyfwcez38ASwZxyzL3GbR5uO3R6TuD0UWZ3sVKWKE85c-q1N6uWQID3Dacj46b3notTWuoFf35U1mYC6LfVVIkKj28a-rC-Ebbry9b8Vw5tgyCt2p4uy4sRgWQO68oQTZKVOGXE~lSLtYh-TuY6T3saVL~Bbvn1kIla1HrA~J0qkkuSPQUrEcfhqOhmv4gKRTKFMeA0jdJaKBtoppZXpKZ8xDzv0aRZuP1facpntdJm5ozTa9MKn96PaMNig37hMEYamw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Oak Park ESD 97","date","2025-02-12T14:48:57Z","article","The Oak Park Elementary School District 97 Board of Education approved several action items Tuesday night, including a five-year transportation contract, Title I program contracts and a rapid-entry memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Oak Park Police Department. The consent agenda also passed.

Transportation contract: The board voted to approve a five-year contract with Lakeview/Sunrise West Lines Inc. for regular in-district and out-of-district student transportation for the 2025–26 through 2029–30 school years. The motion was made and seconded during the meeting and approved by the board. The transcript records the motion language and subsequent roll-call-style discussion; the meeting record does not include a clean, member-by-member yes/no tally in the public transcript, so individual votes are listed as recorded in the official minutes.

Title I contracts: The board approved contracts over $25,000 under the district’s Title I innovative-programming line: $45,000 for Yumba (as presented in the packet) and $45,400 for Friday Night (as stated in the motion). The motion to approve both contracts passed on a second and subsequent roll call; the transcript records board members responding “Yes” or noting absences for several members.

Oak Park Police Department MOU: The board approved an MOU with the Oak Park Police Department to permit rapid entry by police in certain life‑safety emergencies. Luis Rodriguez, general counsel, told the board the MOU responds to a statutory requirement in the school code that took effect last year and “requires school districts and local law enforcement to have an agreement that in the event of an emergency … the police have an opportunity to enter to respond.” The MOU was moved, seconded and approved.

Consent agenda: The board moved and seconded approval of the consent agenda; the motion carried.

What the transcript shows and what is not specified: The public transcript captures motions, seconds and a roll-call-style confirmation for some items, but in a number of replies individual member vote lines are abbreviated or unclear in the audio transcript provided. The district’s official minutes and roll-call record should be consulted for the precise per-member vote tally. Where the meeting transcript was not legible, the article notes the outcome as recorded in the meeting (approved). No items were tabled or failed during this portion of the meeting.

The board took no further action on procurement or budget amendments at Tuesday’s meeting; several discussion items (calendar, E-rate renewal, master schedule and portrait project) were presented for future work or action.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Regular Meeting - Feb 11 2025","oneSentenceSummary","At its Feb. 11 meeting, the Oak Park ESD 97 Board approved a five-year student-transportation contract with Lakeview/Sunrise West Lines, Title I programming contracts and a rapid-entry memorandum of understanding with the Oak Park Police Department; the board also approved the consent agenda.","taxTitle","Oak Park ESD 97, School Boards, Illinois","taxId",38380,"location","Illinois","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6334447,"District 97 unveils standards-aligned 'Portrait of an Oak Park eighth-grade graduate' work to guide out-of-school learning",915,2030000,2945000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2295738-6a6cd96c9f829c3b37f4aeadd7217688&start=2030&end=2945","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2295738-6a6cd96c9f829c3b37f4aeadd7217688/thumbnail_2030000.jpg","/articles/6334447/Illinois/District-97-unveils-standards-aligned-Portrait-of-an-Oak-Park-eighth-grade-graduate-work-to-guide-out-of-school-learning","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6334447-b7a92a372e0302d0f9cf192fad18283b/orig.mp4?Expires=1776610837&Signature=K5OFFKO8c6zZtOKAsFppSnkETDzxYUUKm7qMSw7YgJsTfnLBqSnRNG2XF-NcM83hs6zxJBPLtlJus86lSvvWPSgCkL2lBGI~S0rFnRJQFJM14YQ19qXQjjIvPZpQdNa~sXe~GeBIbGZhmNtM3xiTynoRtNfFQq73KRwjQMibvt5kablaDZajewIuHGq6GBr2rjFEo2mbNRQNT01VuYQ4NdttWnL3zfD2-brUDWPzMtujG9e-iaELxItjdJNSP400XI8Fn6KP1ydBFdFITnnlxZo7-HcmOlLESURDfTc4bUB1tSD4zKNRwlRSdO621PZbxnYx-ytxgvXQGgjAes8bWg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Oak Park Elementary School District 97 presented Tuesday an update on its “Portrait of an Oak Park eighth-grade graduate,” a community-driven competency framework the district plans to align with learning standards and community partners.

Dr. Ebony Lofton, chief learning innovation officer, told the board the portrait identifies eight development areas the community prioritized and that this year staff focused on turning those dimensions into measurable, standards-aligned learning targets and pilot experiences across age levels.

“We started with affinity groups, moved to community feedback and then aligned the vision to learning standards so the portrait is about competency — what students should know and be able to do,” Dr. Lofton said. The district staff said they centered student voice by running 12 eighth-grade focus groups at the two middle schools and engaged teachers from pre-K through eighth grade to capture a developmental progression.

Staff summarized themes that emerged from student conversations: the importance of peer connection during school transitions, the desire for more teachers of color in classrooms, smoother transitions across grade levels and more social-emotional supports. Based on that feedback, staff said they prioritized the “holistically well” dimension for initial portrait-aligned experiences.

The district described a new teacher-leader role — portrait early learning engagement teacher leaders — to coordinate community relationships, professional learning and pilot projects. Staff said they are also exploring community placement of portrait icons (for example, in Park District and library program catalogs) to make the competencies a shared community language.

As a next step, the district said it will condense the many applicable standards into no more than three primary “big ideas” per portrait dimension and link each to project-based learning prompts and possible community partners. Staff also described early plans for a youth advisory council to keep students involved in implementation and evaluation.

Board members asked about involving seniors and other community members as volunteers; staff reported prior affinity sessions with township senior groups and said seniors expressed interest in connecting with students through tutoring and career conversations. Staff emphasized they will coordinate portrait implementation with community partners such as the Park District and library to expand out-of-school access.

No board action was required. Staff said work will continue on standards alignment, community partnerships and pilot projects with the goal of making the portrait a visible, shared framework for youth development across Oak Park.","District 97 staff described a year-long effort to translate community priorities into eight competency areas for an 'Eighth grade graduate portrait,' align those areas to Illinois learning standards, gather student focus groups and incubate youth leadership and community partnerships to implement the work.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6334453,"Oak Park District 97 outlines middle school master-schedule redesign, aims to finalize by March",1405,617000,2022000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2295738-6a6cd96c9f829c3b37f4aeadd7217688&start=617&end=2022","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2295738-6a6cd96c9f829c3b37f4aeadd7217688/thumbnail_617000.jpg","/articles/6334453/Illinois/Oak-Park-District-97-outlines-middle-school-master-schedule-redesign-aims-to-finalize-by-March","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6334453-1cf22559e989398636c5a3b6ceaaa1c0/orig.mp4?Expires=1776610837&Signature=OsyJVaNWSg22felDbHwKUugDC8Su1K0hD85xSRMXzyJOumg7Yd~9wigc4KQPz3aV1M-QpA2DhSDEyHiPmlL85kEaoorkbX35URDLIIfuRoCDthHm87llIc0RaTzJyd5vnzm2ktJRP-seasn56MTG5xHWrs1y9xYH7a9KvA5jBGa1CjEGyB1-NnSl7EjGhLv~TKrDJA14k68wTZug1EpNVZJHMcO7pekh7fiKovBh5rER4C1XfZiUbpa4XQV9SKam8y0kO8HZK7L8hSBybmHjsXPcjhGQ2KgwCI32vlfoVEe721WEpCSFqSCJB71bNtfqnrX2QRMwT6rlMVfBPL~LSw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Oak Park Elementary School District 97 presented a progress update Tuesday on its middle-school master-schedule redesign, outlining a participatory process that staff say will produce a tentative, buildable schedule by March and move into implementation planning in the spring.

The district said the redesign, which launched in October, is intended to align with District Transformation Goal 2 (design for all) and Goal 4 (extend learning beyond the classroom). Presentation team members told the board they used community, staff and student feedback and applied educational research to produce three viable schedule options that staff ranked internally.

“Teacher collective efficacy, response to intervention and an advisory block all surfaced as high-impact elements,” said a staff presenter involved in the project. Staff said those priorities guided decisions during small-team exercises in which educators sketched ideal schedules and then rebuilt them to fit state mandates, fixed daily minutes and space and staffing constraints.

Board members and staff described the process as intentionally collaborative. “It was very quickly that we were like, ‘oh my god, this is a lot more complicated than we anticipated,’” one staff participant said, describing how team work exposed practical tradeoffs. The project team said it sought to preserve electives while increasing core instructional time and expanding intervention and enrichment opportunities.

Next steps outlined by staff include: further vetting schedule impacts with instructional departments; testing the preferred schedule in PowerSchool to confirm it can be built; and sharing elective-selection materials with families between March and May. Staff said they intend to continue community updates and to use the summer to finalize student schedules and welcome incoming sixth-graders under the new structure.

Staff emphasized that implementation will include a cycle of continuous improvement: the district plans to collect feedback during the first year of the schedule and convene a mid-year review the following school year to tune timing, staffing and program access.

Board members asked about parity across the district’s two middle schools and about capacity-building for electives such as African American studies. Staff said Brooks has offered an eighth-grade African American studies course through the district’s SOAR block with limited enrollment, and that the master-schedule changes should make the location of similar courses more consistent across buildings rather than abruptly equalizing every course offering.

The board was told the administration expects to return with a preferred, pressure-tested schedule in March; staff described that March presentation as the moment when the district will be “on the road to implementation” if PowerSchool checks confirm viability.

Implementation risks identified by presenters include PowerSchool build constraints, staffing availability for electives and potential scheduling conflicts with state-mandated minutes for PE, health and lunch. The presentation stressed the district’s goal to maintain comparable student experiences across middle schools while allowing site-level uniqueness.

The district characterized the effort as locally developed: staff repeatedly noted the schedule is the product of D97 teams and community input rather than an externally imposed template. Board members thanked the staff for the collaborative approach and encouraged continued community engagement during finalization.

The board did not take action Tuesday; staff will return with a more fully vetted schedule in March.","District 97 presented a multi-month process to redesign middle-school schedules, prioritizing teacher collaboration, intervention time and advisory; staff tested three draft schedules and will finalize a preferred schedule in March before implementation planning through May and summer rollout.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Board approves transportation contract, Title I programming and rapid-entry MOU; consent agenda carries

District 97 unveils standards-aligned 'Portrait of an Oak Park eighth-grade graduate' work to guide out-of-school learning

Oak Park District 97 outlines middle school master-schedule redesign, aims to finalize by March