Minooka grade schools see progress on AYP
By Kris Stadalsky Correspondent October 29, 2012 12:50PM
Updated: December 3, 2012 6:07AM
The Minooka Grade School Board got mixed results on the Illinois State Report Card.
As a whole, the district made adequate yearly progress in every area except for the subgroup of limited English proficiency, Assistant Superintendent Steph Palaniuk said.
Of the district’s seven schools, only two did not make AYP because of subgroups. Minooka Elementary students in the free and reduced-price meal program did not make AYP nor did students at Minooka Intermediate in both the meal program and in special education, Palaniuk said.
The district is still going in the right direction, Palaniuk said. In the 1990s, with 1,000 students in the district, 75 percent met or exceeded AYP. Now with 4,000 students, that number has increased to 91.2 percent.
“We are very aligned to expectations of Illinois standards,” Palaniuk said.
Bright Star award
Board members were informed that the district has again received the Bright Star Award for fiscal year 2012.
Minooka was one of just 85 Illinois school districts out of 868 to be honored by SchoolSearch. The organization recognizes districts that shine in spite of low funding.
Minooka spends $7,495 per pupil in operating costs, which is $200 less than what the state school report card reports, said Superintendent Al Gegenheimer. It has dropped by $200 per student in the last two years.
“When other school districts (costs) are going upward, we are going down,” he said. “That shows the deficit reduction plan we have is working.”
