School Board Meeting Reflection Paper

I attended the District 135 School Board meeting on April 13, 2015. The meeting was held at seven, but I also attended a finance meeting at six. The meeting was held at the Administration center located on 15100 S 94th Avenue in Orland Park. I had a great experience at the meeting because it helped me see, from a first hand experience, how much really goes into running the schools especially the financial aspect. I was astonished to see how many members of the community actively participate and are present at the meetings. Education has always been a priority in my life, and it seems like a vast majority of members in the community share that priority as well.

As far as the members of the board, seven females and seven males were a part of

All five functions were discussed at the meeting, but the primary emphasis was on finance due to the potential passing of SB1, which is senate bill 1, that might be passed instead of Senate bill 16. As far as the personnel aspect, the board discussed employment and retirement of staff for this year and the upcoming year and the potential employment of eight bilingual educators. As far as the curriculum aspect, the board was talking about changing the grading scale to more standards based and also discussing the issuance of new technology, such as ipads, in the fourth and fifth grade classrooms next year. Relating to the students, the board really does have their best interest at hand. A student, with cerebral palsy, came up for recognition and said thank you, and it was heartwarming to see that student succeed and achieve. She is definitely an inspiration for a lot of people, and she deserved that award because she showed that obstacles cannot get in the way of achieving success. In regards to infrastructure, the board was discussing changes to the blackboard on the playground and roof improvement at a school. Finance was the category that was most highly