School Board Delegates Vote on Resolutions

 

November 20, 2021

The Illinois Association of School Boards held its 2021 Delegate Assembly on November 20 in conjunction with the Joint Annual Conference in Chicago. 

 

Representatives from IASB member school boards considered a total of 23 resolutions and positions at the Delegate Assembly, which establishes IASB’s positions on legislation and related matters of public policy and serves as the Association’s Annual Business Meeting.  

 

For the third time, member boards of education voted against a proposed resolution that would call for IASB to support legislation that would allow school districts to set school safety and student protection policies that would allow trained, armed schoolteachers and staff. The member boards voted against the resolution 202-181.  

 

In addition to setting legislative priorities, IASB delegates elected Simon Kampwerth Jr., to a one-year term as president of the Association. He is currently vice president of IASB and a member of the school board for Peru ESD 124. Mark Harms, a member of the Board of Directors representing the Corn Belt Division and board president for Flanagan-Cornell USD 74, was elected IASB vice president. IASB President Thomas Neeley of Morton CUSD 709 is completing his second one-year term as president and will move to the position of immediate past president. Delegates also received the Association’s financial report and a written annual report from IASB Executive Director Thomas Bertrand. 

 

Among the proposed resolutions approved by the membership were indigenous people curriculum inclusion, cannabis sales tax revenues for public schools, timing of the reorganization of the board of education after an election, virtual open board of education meetings, expansion of broadband access, federal funding for landscaping, and pre-service teacher education in literacy. 

 

A proposed resolution not adopted related to a childcare reimbursement for school board members. 

 

Proposals amending existing position statements and reaffirming existing position statements were adopted. A new belief statement, “Preparing All Students to Succeed,” was adopted. Another belief statement was amended to expand and clarify the belief statement “Physical and Mental Health of Students.” 

 

Each resolution is originally proposed by a local school board, reviewed by a 21-member Resolutions Committee, and then brought before the Delegate Assembly for any discussion and vote. The adopted resolutions set IASB’s policies and establish the legislative direction of the Association and its member districts. Visit the IASB website for more information on the Resolutions Process, the Resolutions Committee Report and the Delegate Assembly.