Hinsdale High School Teachers Association

MINUTES OF THE DISTRICT ROUND TABLE MEETING
BETWEEN THE HINSDALE HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION
AND THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
HINSDALE TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL DISTRICT 86
March 12, 2008

Call of Meeting. A District Round Table Meeting between the Hinsdale High School Teachers Association and the Board of Education of Hinsdale Township High School District 86, DuPage and Cook Counties, Illinois was called to order by Superintendent Dr. Nicholas D. Wahl at 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12, 2008, in the Administrative Center Conference Room, 55th and Grant Streets, Hinsdale, Illinois.

Roll Call. The following members of the Board were present: Secretary Dr. Janet Plate and Mr. Vinaya Sharma. Attending for Hinsdale Central were: Tom Ludovice, Kathy Gabric, and Valerie Ruth. Attending for Hinsdale South were: Troy Courtney, Tim Davis, and Rick Cazzato. Also attending was Superintendent of Schools Dr. Nicholas Wahl and Interim Business Manger Mr. George Attaway.

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Over the past year I have kept track of my hours as a Science Olympiad coach as required by District 86. Science Olympiad is an academic team that practices and competes over an 8 month period. I was quite happy with my job and with the students that I get to work with throughout the season. I say “was” because I can’t begin to tell you how demoralizing keeping track of my time has been. Not because it took time away from my coaching. Not because the board doesn’t have the right to know. It’s been demoralizing because I now feel I am unappreciated by our district. This is a team that has qualified and competed at State for 8 years in a row. This is a team with over 30 students competing. This is a team that simply by placing first at state gets you a scholarship to the University of Illinois.

Having coaches and sponsors keep track of hours opens a whole new can of worms given that we are not hourly wage earners. I don’t agree with this process, but I did as I was told. As I said, I was happy with my pay, but now I realize how underpaid I am. Here’s how I look at it. When a maintenance person without any advanced education (and perhaps without even a high school diploma) comes in after a meet and cleans up, he makes more per hour than I do working with my team. Yes, I realize this is overtime for him, but at my last calculation, coaching is overtime for me. It occurs after I have put in my 40+ hour week. I respect our custodial and maintenance staff, and I am not trying to minimize the work they do. But think about the message this sends to our students. “Cleaning up after you is worth more to this school than the coach with a college degree who works directly with you, who spends endless hours to improve your overall academic performance, and who writes your letters of recommendations.”

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Round Table Meetings occurs quarterly with Dr. Wahl, two board members, both Association presidents and two additional members from each school. The goal of these meetings is to discuss mutual areas of concern between the Association and district administration and try to create effective solutions to any potential problems through an interest based conflict resolution model. We are also trying to build a better working relationship with the board that involves a more intimate and frank atmosphere where honest discussion can occur. Below is a link to the minutes of our November 2007 meeting.

Round Table Minutes, 11-7-07

In the spring of 2006 HHSTA informed the Superintendent and the School Board that the State Board of Education recommended Science class sizes not to exceed 24 students for safety concerns. During negotiations, the current administration of District 86 said that science classes would not exceed 24 students. This same pledge was made by the administration in the local paper. At the start of the 2007-2008 school year, I was surprised to discover several Science sections above 24. When I asked why this had occurred, the administration told me that it was a mistake. We later discovered that the same mistake must have been made at Hinsdale South because they also have Science sections above 24.

As a teacher and a parent I know that larger class size is never a good thing. It makes it increasingly difficult to have meaningful connections with each individual student. Larger classes limit the amount of participation that can occur during class. Assessment of student progress becomes much more challenging especially in cases where activities are presented on a regular basis. The larger numbers make it more difficult for a teacher to manage the classroom in a way to ensure that everyone is engaged and on task. The State Board of Education is so concerned that they advise teachers who teach science classes that exceeded the recommended number to get a waiver signed by the school lawyer.

The administration continually asks the teachers and the Association to move forward, but this is extremely difficult when your word is not honored. As a teacher, if I say something to my students and I don’t follow up on it I will instantly lose credibility with my students, which will affect my working relationship with them. This situation has affected HHSTA’s working relationship with the Administration and it makes it hard to move forward because to move forward you need to trust the other party. As President of the Association, I am always looking forward and looking for ways to improve education in District 86, but this broken promise makes it very hard to do.