October 3, 2021
Dear District #7 Community:
The District #7 Board of Education met last Monday (September 27, 2021) for their regular monthly meeting, which included approving the purchase of 1,800 Dell Latitude 3310 XCTO computers with a total cost of $1,024,200.00. This purchase comes after extensive work by several individuals in District #7 to identify a device which will withstand the daily use of middle school students, but also provide the long-term sustainability needed. These devices will be distributed upon returning from winter break in January 2022, pending availability. We are extremely excited that in addition to our staff and high school students, our middle school students will also now have devices.
The 2020-21 audit was also approved. Our financial profile designation also improved, going from ‘review’ to ‘recognition’. District #7 continues to remain on solid financial ground while continuing to fulfill the promises made with the passing of Proposition E in 2017.
Other key takeaways include:
- Approving the 2021-22 budget.
- Approving the purchase of a Panorama Education Platform License, a social-emotional intervention and monitoring tool that will allow teachers to access data on a student’s attendance, discipline, academics and social and emotional on a personal, classroom, school and district level.
- Approving Friday, November 12, 2021, (the day after Veterans Day) as a non-attendance day. This now makes the last day of school May 20, 2022, with a half day. Communication on this 2021-22 school calendar change was sent out last week.
We continue to work through the onboarding process for SHIELD Testing and hope to have that ready to go very soon. Students who wish to participate can still submit consent forms for testing.
District #7 continues to need substitute teachers. Information on becoming a sub is available on the district website. Even if you have occasional availability, I encourage you to apply.
Finally, we had a great turnout of nearly 150 community members at our Strategic Planning Community Kick off on September 23, 2021. It was wonderful to see the engagement of everyone in attendance as we plan for the future of District #7. Our next strategic plan community event is Wednesday, December 8, 2021 (note the change in date). We look forward to seeing you there!
With Tiger Pride,
Patrick Shelton, Ed.D.
Superintendent