District 128 officials report progress on strategic plan; committees highlight health, equity and career-readiness gains

Community High School District 128 staff presented the district’s 2024–25 strategic‑plan year‑end report at the Program & Personnel Committee meeting on June 9, summarizing committee work on student health and well‑being, equity and inclusion, and college-and‑career readiness.

The presentation, led by Tom (staff member) and three directors — Jessica Herman, Director of Student Services; Ben Rodriguez, Director of College and Career Readiness; and Larry Varn, Director of Equity and Inclusion — described committee work, pilot programs and metrics showing early gains in student access and participation.

Why it matters: the strategic plan is the district’s framework for implementing its DARING mission across instruction, student supports and school culture. Committee leaders said the work is intended to increase access to advanced coursework, strengthen social‑emotional learning (SEL) and expand college‑and‑career pathways for all students.

Tom opened the report by noting the district uses the strategic plan to “coordinate the actions that we take to help live that mission.” Jessica Herman described work under the health‑and‑well‑being strand, saying the committee cross‑walked the district’s DARING expectations with the Illinois social emotional learning standards and “found that really, when we’re talking about D.A.R.I.N.G., we are talking about what Illinois is defining as social emotional learning.” Herman said staff identified supports and procedures tied to a recommendations package on student cell‑phone use and are developing classroom‑level procedures (including “cell hotels”) and response protocols for students who need extra support.

Larry Varn outlined equity and inclusion results, including implementing an accelerated placement procedure, increasing enrollment of underrepresented students in Advanced Placement courses and piloting heterogeneous classes by grade level. Varn said the district reviewed its tier‑2 academic interventions and adjusted supports for 2025–26. Varn and Ben Rodriguez also described efforts to engage families through “bus‑stop meet‑and‑greets” and to collect student voice via focus groups.

On college and career readiness, Ben Rodriguez said the district implemented a universal tier‑1 curriculum called the Daring Journey and moved college‑planning tools into School Links; he reported that about 95 percent of students now have career goals recorded in School Links. Rodriguez described expansion of dual‑credit offerings from five to 10 courses this school year (a roughly 200 percent increase in course offerings) and said student enrollment in dual credit rose proportionally, with students earning “about three times” more college credits than the prior year, leading to significant student savings on college costs.

Committee members highlighted several targeted operational changes made this year. Staff arranged free healthy snacks at summer school for low‑income students after attendance issues connected to food access were identified; the district covered the cost through district funds and said the change is expected to improve summer‑school completion. The equity team said participation in bus‑stop outreach was lower than hoped and will be adjusted to target elementary pickup times in coordination with District 73, where parents are more likely to accompany younger children.

Board members asked how the district will measure progress. Ben Rodriguez said some benchmarks already exist in the strategic plan (for example, developing pathway endorsements and expanding dual‑credit options) and that staff will bring proposals for specific numeric targets and outcomes for board discussion next year. Board member Jim Batson praised the work and said he expects the board to participate in creating the next iteration of the plan during 2025–26.

What's next: committee leaders said work will continue in each strategic area, staff will return with more explicit performance measures and the board will be involved in developing the district’s next strategic plan cycle.

Sources: Presentation to the Program & Personnel Committee and committee Q&A on June 9, 2025.