Assistant Superintendent Ric King has been selected as a 2012 honoree in the Daily Herald Business Ledger’s 1st annual CFO of the Year Awards. King was nominated by the District 54 School Board.

The mission of the CFO awards is to honor top financial executives who contribute to the success of the region’s economic growth and stability. The award application asked how the candidate has contributed to the success of his company; had shown leadership in his industry; has shown leadership in the community; and has continued to develop professionally.

Although King is in his first year as the assistant superintendent of business services, he has been the controller of District 54 since 1995 and in 2000 also took on the role of director of facilities.

The School Board highlighted some of the following accomplishments on the application:

• King was instrumental in implementing a freeze on supply expenditures;
• King initiated the District 54 Recycling Committee;
• King introduced energy-saving changes in the District’s 29 buildings;
• King welcomed more citizen members to the District 54 Budget Committee this year; and
• King was a national leader in implementing changes to financial statements ahead of schedule.

Prior to coming to District 54, King was a manager at McGladrey & Pullen for 10 years, where he gained experience auditing and consulting with local school districts and other government entities. He has achieved a CPA, a master’s degree in education administration from Governors State University, a bachelor’s in accounting from Illinois State University and a Chief School Business Official Endorsement from the Illinois State Teacher Certification Board.

King will receive his award at a recognition reception at 4:30 p.m. July 19 at Danada House, 3 S. 501 Naperville Road in Wheaton. The Daily Herald Business Ledger will publish a special section profiling this year’s 15 honorees in its Sept. 3 issue.

The District 54 School Board released a tentative version of its 2012-13 budget at its June 21, 2012, meeting. District 54 expects to spend $220,758,801 during the 2012-13 budget year and receive $213,192,727 in revenues.

District 54 developed the 2012-13 budget based on the following parameters:

• There will continue to be a freeze on overall cumulative spending in supplies, purchased services and capital outlay. The only exception is in the Operations and Maintenance and Construction funds, where the cost of services, such as electricity, can’t be controlled.
• District 54 will issue no new debt and is debt free as of Dec. 1, 2011.
• Interest income has declined because of the past federal rate decreases. District 54 projects interest factors of less than 2 percent.
• Federal aid is estimated to show minor increases.
• State aid is expected to remain flat. District 54 does not know how much revenue it will receive from the state for the current year or for any projected year because of the funding deficiencies facing the state.
• Property taxes are based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 1.5 percent in 2011 and 3.0 percent in 2012.
• Benefit costs are projected to increase by about 5 percent annually.

To enable the district to maintain the property tax levels projected within a tax cap environment, restricted levies will not match expenditures in some of the district’s funds, causing accumulated fund balances in those funds to decline.

District 54 receives less than 20 percent of its revenue from state and federal sources, compared to the “average Illinois school district,” which receives almost 38 percent of its revenue from state
sources and about 9.3 percent from federal sources.

The tentative budget will be available at the District Office through August 16. On August 16, a public hearing on the budget will be held at 7 p.m. in the boardroom of the District Office, 524 E. Schaumburg Road in Schaumburg (prior to the School Board meeting that evening). The School Board is expected to adopt a budget at its August 16, 2012 meeting.

Individual Fund Summary

Maribeth Kanoon was named the principal of Einstein Elementary School in Hanover Park. Kanoon had been the assistant principal at Armstrong Elementary School since the fall of 2009. She has also been a language arts teacher at Mead Junior High School and a teacher at Armstrong, Campanelli, Collins and Stevenson elementary schools. Kanoon has a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in educational leadership.

Scott Ross was named the principal of Frost Junior High School in Schaumburg. Ross had previously served as an assistant principal at Eisenhower and Mead junior high schools. Before that he was a school social worker at the John Muir Literacy Academy. Ross has a bachelor’s degree in industrial psychology and master’s degrees in educational administration and social work.

Quinn Wulbecker was named the principal of Link Elementary School in Elk Grove Village. Wulbecker had been the assistant principal at Link and Nerge elementary schools since the fall of 2011. Previously he was a teacher at Campanelli and Dooley elementary schools. Wulbecker has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in education leadership and supervision.

Wulbecker replaces John Schmelzer who will become the principal at the Hoover Math and Science Academy in Schaumburg. Hoover’s current principal, Jake Chung, has taken a job in another school district.

In promoting these assistant principals to principal positions, District 54 has created some job openings at the assistant principal level. Superintendent Ed Rafferty has also moved some assistant principals for the 2012-13 school year. Those moves are as follows:

• Heather Wilson will move from Frost to serve as the assistant principal at Link and Nerge.
• Nell Haack will move from Aldrin to serve as the assistant principal at Einstein.
• Maribel Taboada will leave Einstein and be the assistant principal at Aldrin and Hanover Highlands.
• Korrie McCarry will move from Lakeview and serve as the assistant principal at Armstrong.
• Brian Kaszewicz will move from Keller and serve as the assistant principal at Frost.

The district is currently interviewing for assistant principal positions at Eisenhower and Keller junior high schools and Lakeview Elementary School.

These appointments take effect July 1, 2012.

Aarushi Shah, who will be in eighth grade at Mead Junior High School this year, won the Junior Division at the National History Day Competition last week for her research paper. Shah’s paper,
“All of Africa Will Be Free Before We Can Get a Lousy Cup of Coffee,” is about sit-ins in 1943 to desegregate lunch counters in Chicago.

According to http://www.nationalhistoryday.org, each year more than half a million students participate. Students choose a historical topic related to the theme, conduct research, analyze and interpret their sources, and then draw a conclusion about the significance of their topic. Students can present their work as a research paper, an exhibit, a performance, a documentary or a website.

Five Mead Junior High School students qualified for the National History Day competition June 10-14 at the University of Maryland, in addition to Aarushi.

• Lisa Y. and Shriram C. qualified for their Chicago Fire website.
• Ben C. qualified for his “Sky High” website.
• Lisa M. was a runner up for her research paper “Prohibition and the Economy.” She received a Superior ranking at the state competition.

Mead also qualified eight other projects for the State History Expo on April 21 at DePaul University. Those projects, are as follows:

• Sarah L. received a Superior state ranking for her research paper “Marshall Fields;”
• Marianna P. received a Superior state ranking for her research paper “Click-Photojournalism;”
• Kailyn P., Lisa L. and Natasha T. received a Superior state ranking for their exhibit board “Path for Trees and People;”
• Keshav S., Kshitij V. and Colin F. received a Superior state ranking for their exhibit board “Children’s Television Programming;”
• Akash P. and Mitesh P. received a Superior state ranking for their documentary “Cherry Mine Disaster;”  
• Michael K. and Adrian C. received a Superior state ranking for their website “Internment;”
• Nikhil M. and Arun A. received a Superior state ranking for their website “Hull House;” and
• Armaan G. received a Superior state ranking for his historical performance “Frank Lloyd Wright.”

In addition, Mead teacher Cheryl Hinchey received the Patricia Behring History Teacher of the Year Award at the state competition. This award recognizes outstanding National History Day teachers and is given to two teachers in each state (one at the junior level and one at the senior level).

The theme this year was Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History. All magnet and discovery students at Mead students worked from four to six months and competed at Mead’s History Fair on March 1. Professional educators and historians served as the judges.

For a list of the top three finishers for 2012, visit http://www.nhd.org/AwardsWinners.htm.

Hundreds of District 54 teachers, administrators and other staff members spent the past two days learning from each other at the second annual District 54 Professional Development Symposium on June 12 and 13.

Participants could choose from eight different hour-long presentations during each session and were able to attend a total of four sessions each day. Each of the sessions was led by District 54 teachers or administrators.

Session topics including working with English Language Learners, balanced math instruction, Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports, Quantum Learning, literacy instruction, classroom technology, working with children with special needs, supporting students who are above grade level, using data to drive instruction and much more.

The District 54 Professional Development Symposium is only one of the many professional learning opportunities undertaken by District 54 staff members during the summer month. District 54 also offers classes all summer long on a variety of education-related subjects.

Many staff members also use the summer months to attend workshops or to take classes at local universities in order to earn advanced degrees or additional certification.

Parents of children who are new to District 54 or those who have moved within District 54 can register during the summer at the District 54 Office, 524 E. Schaumburg Road in Schaumburg. Registration will be held July 10 through August 2 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursdays. In addition the District Office will be open from 4 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 7 through 15.

Parents will need to provide a child’s original birth certificate, passport or visa; proof of residency and a few other documents. Please see our registration website for more information: http://sd54.org/registration.

Parents are also required to pay a consumable materials fee at registration to cover the cost of workbooks, paper, art supplies and other items used by students.

Our consumable materials fees are $50 for all students from early childhood through junior high school for the 2012-13 school year.  Fees for students in the parent-paid preschool program are included in the tuition costs.

A late fee of $15 will be imposed on any payments received after Nov. 15. The late fee will be increased to $25 if no payment is made by Feb. 1 and to $35 if no payment is made by April 1. Children who qualify for the free lunch program will not be charged this fee.

Parents will also be asked to supply the phone numbers of people to be contacted in emergencies (other family members, neighbors and work phone numbers). Parents can also pay for their children’s transportation at this time (Transportation Department will be available during day hours only).

Parents wishing to register students new to School District 54 after August 5 should go to their neighborhood school. New student registration will resume at school buildings on August 9.

Call the District 54 summer registration office at (847) 357-5103 for information.