Viewpoint

Mascot hunting season in Springfield: Bill would change school consolidation process

By Roger Eddy

Spring break has come and gone for the 2021 spring session of the Illinois General Assembly. As the march toward adjournment heats up, this is a great time for you to get involved.

Nothing stirs emotion and interest like a proposal to potentially reorganize or in some way consolidate school districts in Illinois. HB7 is just such a bill. It was filed on Jan. 13, 2021, and carries the title of “School District Efficiency Commission.”

This measure passed out of a House Committee prior to the spring break, and recently a couple of amendments were filed to change the original version of the bill.

This is not the first time there has been a push for some type of consideration of consolidation of the 852 school districts in Illinois.

Myriad task forces and commissions have studied the topic for years. The latest wellknown effort was called the Classrooms First Commission. It was “led” by then Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon in 2012, and I served on that commission.

Its final report can be found online with a simple search. Recommendations dealt with removing barriers to consolidation and streamlining the process. There was no effort to force local districts into any type of consolidation or reorganization.

State law provides for several types of school district reorganization. These methods allow for local input and decision making.

Consolidation of school districts requires that a majority of voters approve the merger in each of the districts involved in the proposed consolidation.

The process begins when a committee, called the “committee of 10,” is formed, consisting of 10 individuals from the districts involved. Open meetings are held, and key decisions must be made in order for the group to serve the regional superintendent with a valid ballot proposal. In 2002, I was part of a local committee of 10 that worked to prepare a consolidation proposal between two rural unit districts in southeastern Illinois.

Ultimately, that proposal failed, passing in one district and losing in the other, proving it is difficult to take down a school mascot. Overall, the important thing was that people were provided the opportunity to determine if the merger was a good idea.

HB7 would shift away from the committee of 10 process to another type of committee, the “school efficiency committee.” It would ultimately be able to forward a proposed consolidation petition to the regional superintendent for voter consideration without specific local representation on the efficiency committee.

The planned efficiency committee structure is much larger than the current committee of 10 and includes government officials, elected officials, union appointees, statewide management association appointees and parents from various regions of the state. In all, there are 25 proposed members of this efficiency committee.

The efficiency committee’s responsibility is to identify a certain number of school districts, based on certain criteria, to be the subject of a local consolidation referendum.

There are many more details in the proposal, including a clear focus on establishing unit districts (K-12) by merging existing dual high school districts with K-8 elementary districts.

If this concerns you, this is the time to be heard. Go to www.ilga. gov, and type HB7 into the searchby-number box, then click on “Full Text.”

At that point you can read through the proposal and amendments being offered to get a better idea of what this might mean to your local community

You can even file a witness slip online and make comments about the legislation you are interested in. Simply go back the General Assembly home page (www.ilga.gov) and click on the “GA Dashboard” link. That link is highlighted in red. Click the appropriate House or Senate committee hearing based on what you learned about where the proposal is in the process. Posted bills are listed, along with a link to file a witness slip. Fill the slip out and add your thoughts and your voice.

Of course, you could contact your representative or senator directly by using the Senate or House member directory on the General Assembly home page. Just click on the name of your elected official. Office locations in Springfield and in-district phone numbers are located on this page, and you could call to make an appointment to discuss your concerns or leave a message regarding your support or opposition.

CLUES ACROSS

1. A group of sheep 5. Of she 8. This (Spanish) 12. A type of sorcery 14. A team’s best pitcher 15. Port in southern Japan 16. Makes very happy 18. Trigonometric unit of measurement 19. From a distance 20. Winged nut 21. Consumed 22. “Heat” director 23. In all places 26 Made improvements to 30. St. __ Girl: brand of beer 31. A type of “seat” 32. Wood 33. A brief treatise on a subject of interest 34. Approval 39. Basics 42. Where judges sit 44. W. African religion 46. Commentators 47. Having many different functions 49. Member of a Semitic people 50. Flightless, fast-running bird 51. After the seventh 56. Small N. Zealand tree 57. Health care pro (abbr.) 58. Playground mainstay 59. Expressing relief 60. Records brain activity (abbr.) 61. Fishing net 62. Beer 63. Tooth caregiver 64. Japanese beverage 5. Beloved comic strip character 6. Distinct form of a plant 7. Replenishment 8. Semitransparent glassy substance 9. Expedition to observe animals 10. One who held landed granted by Anglo-Saxon king 11. Obtain in return for labor 13. Inheritable genetically 17. One who rescues 24. Doctor of Education 25. Liberal arts 26. Shock treatment 27. Disfigure 28. When you hope to get there 29. Peacock network 35. Part of (abbr.) 36. The 21st letter of the Greek alphabet 37. Not just “play” 38. Former CIA 40. Reduced to a sloping edge 41. Restricted the development of 42. Sciences degree 43. Sea eagles 44. Saturated 45. Joints 47. Sailing boat 48. Respiratory organs 49. Guitarists use them 52. Disco act: Bee __ 53. First Chinese dynasty 54. Intentionally lose 55. Muslim people of China

Answers on page 18

Rock Valley Publishing - Thursday,April 29, 2021 • 7A

More than 400,000 DuPage residents have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose

As of Wednesday, April 21, 280,503, or 30.2 percent, of DuPage County residents have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Additionally, 86.5 percent of DuPage County residents ages 65 years and older have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Based on data from Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), DuPage County currently has the highest percentage of all 102 counties with 44 percent of the total population vaccinated with at least one dose. In the past week, more than 70,000 vaccine doses were administered into the arms of DuPage County residents for a total of 690,802 doses administered to date.

Since COVID-19 vaccinations began in December, DuPage County Health Department (DCHD) and local vaccine provider partners have been working tirelessly to vaccinate eligible individuals as quickly as supply has allowed. According to the Illinois Comprehensive Automated Immunization Registry Exchange (I-CARE) data, DuPage County vaccine providers have administered more than 540,720 COVID-19 vaccine doses to eligible individuals through April 13. Of the over half a million doses administered, slightly over 50 percent were given to DuPage County residents; the remainder were given to out-of-county residents including many individuals who work in DuPage and support our communities.

“We are incredibly thankful to our wonderful vaccine provider partners who have been a tremendous asset in vaccinating so many eligible individuals as quickly and equitably as possible in our county,” said Karen Ayala, Executive Director of DuPage County Health Department.

Siddiqui selected as NHS Scholarship semifinalist

Addison Trail senior Huda Siddiqui was recently selected as a National Honor Society (NHS) Scholarship semifinalist. Siddiqui was chosen from nearly 10,000 applicants and will receive a $3,200 scholarship toward higher education.

Scholarships are awarded to outstanding NHS senior members to assist with college access and student success. Recipients are chosen based on their demonstrated work to support the four pillars of NHS: scholarship, service, leadership and character.

At Addison Trail, Siddiqui has been a vital part of NHS as the Historian. She is a leader Huda Siddiqui inside the classroom and beyond and has taken 10 honors courses and 16 Advanced Placement (AP) /college-level courses, earning an A grade in each.

She is at the top of her class and has been named as an AP Scholar with Distinction and a Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA) Scholar.

Siddiqui also has participated in the school’s Muslim Student Association, Key Club, Student Council, UNICEF, Science Club, Psychology Club, Blazer Ambassadors, Youth Equity Stewardship (YES!) series (a program focused on preparing students to recognize and learn from the diversity around them) and the girls track, tennis and badminton teams.

Not only is Siddiqui a full-time student at Addison Trail, but she also has attended Islamic School since fifth grade and is part of the Islamic Scholar program, where she has ranked No. 1 in her class for six years. She studies Islamic history and the Quran extensively, and she can read, speak and write in Classical Arabic, Urdu and Persian.

Siddiqui’s passion for mental health, particularly in the Muslim community, led her to create “Grateful Guidance,” a project dedicated to providing more resources and empowering students to improve their mental health. Her project seeks to reduce the stigma that surrounds mental health and emphasize the importance of self-care and mental health education. Her plan even includes how to do this in a remote environment and how to help students develop their own set of resources and personal spaces to stay mentally healthy.

This fall, Siddiqui plans to attend Northwestern University or Yale University to study psychology, Arabic and Islamic studies.

Despite the increase in vaccinated residents, COVID-19 community transmission levels remain substantial. The highest case activity continues to be observed in youth aged 5-19 years as well as adults in the 20- to 39-year-old and 40- to 59-year-old age groups.

As of Wednesday, April 21, local hospitals reported 110 COVID-19 related hospitalizations in daily census reports including 25 patients in the intensive-care unit (ICU). Both hospitalizations and the number of patients reported in ICU care have increased significantly since March 15. Additionally, DCHD is closely monitoring reports of COVID-19 variants in the county. These variants are classified as COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) as they spread more easily and quickly than other variants and likely cause more severe disease based on hospitalizations and case-fatality rates. Based on national and state-level genomic surveillance efforts to date, 80 cases of B.1.1.7, six cases of P.1, and four cases of B.1.427/B.1.429 variants have been identified in DuPage County. In Illinois, 1,141 cases of B.1.1.7, 328 cases of P.1, and 97 cases of B.1.427/429 variants have been reported as of Apr. 20.

About ‘vaccine breakthrough cases’

Vaccines are a safe and effective public health tool, critical to stopping the further spread of illness and preventing severe disease and death related to COVID-19. However, a small percentage of people who are fully vaccinated may still get COVID-19, with or without symptoms, and possibly spread the virus to others.

These are called “vaccine breakthrough cases.” This means that while people who have been vaccinated are much less likely to get sick, it may still happen. Experts continue to study how common these cases are.

Despite the low likelihood of breakthrough infection, DCHD strongly recommends all eligible persons to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as it is available to them. Because there is a chance that someone could still get sick and possibly spread COVID-19 to others after being fully vaccinated, everyone should continue to take everyday actions to protect themselves and others, like wearing a mask, maintaining physical distance, avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated spaces, and washing hands often, especially while COVID-19 activity is high in DuPage County. In addition, to help interrupt community spread, persons with COVID-19 infection need to self-isolate (e.g., stay home except for medical care) and their close contacts need to self-quarantine unless they have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have had COVID-19 infection within three months of exposure.

Last week, DCHD received 43,790 first doses of vaccine, which was an increase of 23,790 doses from the week prior.

From this allocation, 16,170 doses were distributed to medical practices, 2,000 doses to home health providers, 1,500 doses were distributed to occupational health centers, 11,360 doses were distributed to hospitals, 1,400 doses were distributed to pharmacies, 1,970 doses were distributed to Federally Qualified Health Centers, 1,200 doses were distributed to urgent care centers, and 8,190 doses are supplying the DCHD Community Vaccination Clinic.

For county-specific vaccine data, including first dose allocations by week and allocations by provider type, view the COVID-19 Dashboard at www.dupagehealth.org/ covid19data.

•Bugante

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“I am thrilled Bugante is our final selection for the 88’s Best award this year, as she is more than deserving of this recognition, said Carolyn Erwin, AT science teacher. “I have known Bugante all four years of her high school career, first as one of our most dedicated Science Club members and next as a student in AP Biology.

“Bugante immediately impressed me with her meticulous and accurate work in AP. She expertly managed her time and came to class prepared for discussions, labs and small-group work, all while carrying a very rigorous course load. I will miss her calm demeanor and funny sense of humor. She contributed so much to both class and our club, and I know she will continue to achieve great things as she transitions from high school to college. She wants to pursue a degree in nursing, and I know her future patients will benefit from her poise and capabilities.”

Aileen Sullivan, AT science teacher and Science Olympiad adviser, had this to say:

“Bugante has been an integral part of Science Olympiad. Her intelligence, dedication and hard work have led her to many achievements at our competitions. Don’t let her soft-spoken nature fool you – she is observant and very much a participant in her own way. Bugante’s intrinsic motivation has benefitted her in many ways and is probably one of her most helpful attributes.”

Cullerton measure would freeze creation of local units of government

To encourage government consolidation and promote cost-saving initiatives at the local level, State Sen. Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) passed a measure through the Senate that prohibits the creation of any new local unit of government through the dividing of existing local governments.

“The amount of taxes that go to administrative costs in this state is excessive,” Cullerton said. “This measure aims to do something about the enormous number of units of local government in this state to help cut back on some of those costs.”

Currently, Illinois has approximately 7,000 local units of government, the most of any state. Senate Bill 1800 would extend the moratorium, originally enacted from 2015 through Jan. 1, 2020, on the division of local units of governments into two or more units. The moratorium would be extended through Jan. 1, 2023. However, this measure would allow for new units to be created if two or more local governments are consolidating.

“We need to encourage some of these small units of government across the state to consolidate to save their residents money on their taxes,” Cullerton said. “Hopefully, this legislation will be the first step to do so.”

The measure passed the Senate Tuesday and now moves to the House for further consideration. (This was submitted from the office of State Sen. Tom Cullerton.)