Hinsdale High School District 86 Board
Among other business May 9, board members:
• approved the final school year calendar for 2023-24, removing the five emergency days and setting the last day of student attendance day as May 31
• acknowledged district retirees, including Myles Laffey and siblings Anna and Marvin Breig
• encouraged administrators to finish the proposal for an off-campus lunch pilot at Hinsdale South for seniors for the 2024-25 school year. Hinsdale Central Principal Bill Walsh said Central is interested in running a similar pilot but will wait to see how it works at South.
• agreed to continue with current board committee assignments for the 2024-25 school year. “I’m not opposed to giving up committee assignments if some would like to take extra on,” said board President Cat Greenspon, who sits on five of the seven board committees. No one volunteered to add to their responsibilities.
Community Consolidated District 181 Board
Among other business Monday, board members:
• hired Erica Ekstrom as assistant superintendent of student services. Ekstrom has most recently served as executive director of special education at Community Unit District 200 in Wheaton-Warrenville. Ekstrom holds master’s degrees in educational leadership and in special education. “I am committed to working collaboratively with the board of education, administration, staff, parents and community to ensure that all students have the opportunity to succeed in a supportive learning environment for all students,” she said in a statement. Ekstrom starts July 1.
• heard an update on full-day kindergarten construction projects at six of the elementary schools. Mike Duggan, director of facilities, told board members that he and his team are making good progress on requests for information, submittals and selections of materials while continuing to review and minimize any change orders. No impediments or delays have come up, but buried power lines at Monroe and Oak schools do need to be relocated by ComEd in order to complete project work this summer. Full-day kindergarten will launch with the 2025-26 school year.
• listened to a report that the district’s class of 2023 is performing as well or better than students from other Hinsdale Central High School feeder districts, with most D181 alums earning A’s or B’s in English, math, social studies, science and world language courses as freshmen. Fifty-one percent of the former D181 students participated in at least one AP exam, with 30 percent taking three or more AP exams. And 83 percent of D181 graduates currently enrolled at Hinsdale Central participate in at least one extra curricular activity.
