Teagan Delgado

Education 1101
School Board Reflection

I attended the Wheaton District 200 public school board meeting

at Jefferson Early Childhood Center totally blind to what I was about to
experience, as I hadnt gone over the online agenda before hand. The
meeting started promptly at 7:30 PM with all the board members
introducing themselves to the small crowd that gathered. Most of the
people in the audience were the teacher faculty of Jefferson to support
the principal who opened the meeting. Dr. Farrelly, the principal of
Jefferson Early Childhood Center, started by sharing a few facts she
had prepared about early childhood learning. The highest rate of brain
development occurs in the first 5 years of a childs life was one that I
found particularly intriguing. She wanted to discuss how she thought
the funding that had been awarded to her school could be stretched,
effecting change in the greatest ways that were also most cost
effective. She presented the board with another statistic showing that
studies suggest that children who attend high quality preschool
programs are more likely to do better in kindergarten and in life in
general. The metropolitan family services had just donated money to
the school and she would like to point out that the school was able to
provide free developmental screening services for children from

newborns to 5 years of age. This included an online screening available

to the public which then leads to a team who analyzes the results and
contacts the family to address targets, areas to monitor, and concerns
if any. She spoke highly of her teachers who all either that ESL or
Transitional bilingual education backgrounds which I found very
interesting.
After Dr. Farrellys presentation two public members took
the stage, one that wanted to thank the members and the chambers of
commerce for funding, through donations, activities such as
extracurricular. The other gentleman wanted to address his concerns
on the academic calendar and capital spending. He expressed how he
wanted the board members to reconsider the dates for the start of
school and winter breaks. His biggest problem with the current
schedule was that it was inconvenient for working parents to organize
accommodations for a late starting school year as well as a long
holiday break in the middle of the school year. He only asked for a
reconsideration regarding the chosen dates. Following that request he
also wanted the capital spending to be spelled out more clearly in the
collective bargaining agreement from what I understood.
It was very difficult for me to comprehend some of the
discussions regarding auditing, spending and other financial situations.
They were awarded a total of $35,000 gifts and a breakdown of where
it went. Some went to classroom support, and adaptive musical

instruments were just a few. I found myself thinking a lot about the
large sums of money they talked about spending and how they were
spending it, though they didnt talk much about how they obtained it. I
wondered if all the millions they spoke of were only from taxes other
than the ones that were awarded from them?
I think the school was a good fit within the community because I
think they put an emphasis on how important early childhood
education is. Before the age of 5 is when so much development takes
place in a child and a good school like this will only ensure successful
learning. After had been there for two hours I decided to leave early
but right before I did they voted on the acceptance of a new audit and
future Levys. I wish I would have known more of what they were
debating so that I could form my own opinion but it was a learning
experience and I think it would benefit me to attend more throughout
the year.