June 20, 2024

At the June 18 Barrington 220 Board of Education meeting, the Board began deliberating on funding levels and projects for a potential referendum question on the November 2024 ballot. Earlier this month the Board received results from a second round of community feedback collected this spring.

The latest round of feedback revealed that the community prefers Option 3 ($75.5M), which took the top spot in the scientific phone survey. The "Preferred Option" box from the phone survey results shows that when considering all the options, 62% of respondents supported some form of funding, while 38% did not support additional funding or were unsure. Of the three funding options in that box, Option 3 has the most support with 32%. Click here to view the full breakdown of results.

Earlier this month the Referendum Advisory Committee also shared that 77% of committee members recommended that the Board move forward with Option 3.

The Board will continue the discussion at its regularly scheduled meeting on July 23. The deadline for the Board to approve a question for November is August 19. Click here to view the timeline for this summer.

Click here to listen to the discussion.

At the June 18 Board meeting, the Board discussed its facility improvements budget, which is used to fund maintenance and repair projects across district buildings. Barrington 220 has approximately 1.4 million square feet of buildings to maintain, which is similar to maintaining 700 homes. The ages of the buildings vary significantly, ranging from BHS which opened in 1949 to the Early Learning Center which opened in 2010. For many years the district has allocated approximately $3 million to maintenance and repair projects completed during the summer months. In addition, over the past 10 years, the district has spent approximately $4.8 million per year on additional building investments, exclusive of referendum spending. However, since construction and repair cost increases tend to outpace average inflation increases, the district is no longer able to repair as much as it used to in prior years with the same amount of funding. Therefore, the Board is considering increasing its $3 million summer projects budget. Click here to listen to the discussion.

In his Superintendent's Report at the June 18 Board meeting, Dr. Winkelman shared that Barrinton 220 received a strong performance rating across all Illinois 5Essentials in the 2024 survey. Designed by the University of Chicago, the 5Essentials survey focuses on five domains that indicate the type of organization that leads to successful schools. These domains include Effective Leadership, Collaborative Teachers, Supportive Environment, Involved Families, and Ambitious Instruction. The results of the 5Essentials survey report how teachers, students, and parents perceive their school. 

In his Superintendent's Report at the June 18 Board meeting, Dr. Winkelman shared that incoming BHS senior Zarah Kazmi recently won the 2024 Congressional Art Competition for Illinois' 8th district. Her oil painting illustrates the Chicago Riverwalk. 

Each spring, the Congressional Institute sponsors a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in each congressional district. Students submit entries to their representative’s office, and panels of artists select a winning entry from each district. Zarah, an AP art student, was recognized by Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08) and will also be recognized at an awards ceremony in Washington, DC. Her winning submission will be displayed for one year at the U.S. Capitol.

At the June 18 Board meeting, the Board approved Kelly Haradon as the new Principal of Grove Avenue Elementary. Haradon has worked in Barrington 220 since 2007 in various roles including Elementary Teacher, Instructional Coach, Extended Resource Teacher, and most recently Assistant Principal at Grove. She holds a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and Art History, with a minor in Math and Science from Lake Forest College. She also has a master's in Curriculum & Instruction from National Louis University. Haradon will begin in her new role on July 1.

At the June 18 Board meeting, the Board approved Dan Andres as the district's new Assistant Director of Facilities. Andres joins Barrington 220 from the Glenview Park District, where he works as the Assistant Superintendent of Facilities Maintenance. He holds a certificate in Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Technology from the Environmental Technical Institute (ETI). He also graduated from the Maintenance Management School (MMS) at Oglebay in West Virginia and currently attends Oakton Community College. Andres will begin in his new role on July 1.