Latest news with #DistrictU-46SchoolBoard
Chicago Tribune
07-07-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Elgin News Digest: State to hold fishing clinics at Kane County forest preserve; U-46 School Board meetings moved to welcome center
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources Urban and Community Fishing Program will hold three fishing clinics at Lake Patterson at Oakhurst Forest Preserve, according to the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. The fishing clinics will be held at the Aurora preserve from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 10; Tuesday, Aug. 5; and Wednesday, Sept. 3. Participants will be taught basic angling skills, including casting, knot-tying and fish identification as well as ethical angling practices, forest preserve district news release said. Students can bring their own fishing equipment or borrow tackle and rods while supplies last. Illinois fishing regulations and site-specific rules will apply, organizers said. For more information, go to Starting this month, the District U-46 School Board will hold its meeting at the Family Welcome Center, 1019 E. Chicago St., Elgin. The change in the meeting place was approved by the school board last month. Prior to the switch, meetings have been held in the Educational Services Center in Elgin since April 1984, according to Superintendent Suzanne Johnson. The new location provides better accessibility, increased seating capacity, ample parking and enhanced audio-visual capabilities, Johnson said at the June meeting. Meeting formats will not change. The next school board meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, July 21. Randall Oaks Zoo in West Dundee will host its second Pollinatorpallooza from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 12. The event will include information about bees, bats, birds and other pollinators, honey tastings and pollinator games, according to the Dundee Township Park District website. Attendees can take home native wildflower seeds. Pollinator parades are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Participants are invited to make their own antennae from pipe cleaners to wear during the march. The zoo is located at 1180 N. Randall Road. Regular daily admission rates apply. For more information, call 847-551-4312. A free Power Up Wellness Fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 12, at the Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave., Elgin. Sponsored by the Vituity Cares Foundation and St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin, the event will include: To register to attend, go to
Chicago Tribune
17-06-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
District U-46 buys cyber liability insurance, considers AI tech for teachers
District U-46 School Board members Monday approved the purchase of cyber liability insurance policy and discussed the purchase of ChatGPT Edu, an AI product that would be used by teachers, coaches and administrators. The $118,283 insurance policy with Tokio Marine HCC would run from July 1 through June 30, 2026, and comes with a $3 million limit and a $100,000 deductible, according to documents provided for the meeting. 'U-46's decision to purchase a cybersecurity insurance policy was driven by the growing frequency and sophistication of cyber threats targeting school districts nationwide,' Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Lela Majstorovic said prior to the meeting. It's become necessary, Majstorovic said, because as student and staff data systems become more interconnected, the potential financial and operational risks from a cyber incident have increased significantly. Meeting documents said that 'since 2023, 108 ransomware attacks have impacted over 1,800 schools nationwide. … According to Alliant Insurance Services, the district's insurance broker, the average ransom demand in 2024 was approximately $847,000.' 'While the district has very strong, state of the art preventive measures in place,' Majstorovic said, 'insurance offers added reassurance in managing unforeseen events. Purchasing a cybersecurity insurance policy adds a critical layer of financial protection and support in the event of an attack.' At Monday's meeting, Majstorovic and Rola Tarek Mohamed, a research and project management fellow, also continued a board discussion about whether to spend $432,000 for 4,000 educator ChatGPT Edu licenses with Open AI for the 2025-26 school year. The system will allow educators 'to use AI as a planning assistant, research partner and support tool,' Mohamed said at the meeting. The deal would include staff training on how to use the technology. ChatGPT Edu could allow users to write an email that ensures 'it's appropriate to the intended audience,' upload curriculum frameworks to create specific tasks, and check that lesson plans align with board-adopted curriculum, among other things, Majstorovic said. 'Any teacher is expected to do this level of planning on an every-single-day basis,' she said. 'Using a tool like this could really help with navigating that planning.' Time currently be used for such work can free teachers up to do other things, such as thinking about how they are giving kids that 'in-the-moment feedback so that they can continue to learn,' Majstorovic said. Mohamed told the board that related AI guidelines prohibit sharing any personal data or using it for grading. Board member Dawn Martin said she wasn't convinced the technology would be completely beneficial. 'I have a lot of concerns with this, the ethics, the integrity behind AI, the ability of it to take away critical thought, especially if we start rolling it out for students,' she said. 'Just because something exists doesn't mean embracing it is fully the way (to go).' U-46 Superintendent Suzanne Johnson said, 'I think we find ourselves in this really interesting place where we have to start to determine what are the guardrails that we can identify and create, how do we support professional learning, how do we start to do some of that — if it's sooner than later — as it's preparation for this thing that now exists.' Any proposal won't be back for discussion for at least five weeks, Johnson said, so there's time for more board input and feedback.
Chicago Tribune
19-05-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Elgin News Digest: School District U-46 honors top graduates in class of 2025; Elgin police launch new initiative to help autistic drivers
The District U-46 School Board honored the academic accomplishments of the top 47 graduating seniors from the district's five high schools in a program held May 12 at South Elgin High School. Those recognized were: Bartlett High School: Kaitlyn Jenison, Krish Patel, Jingyuan Wen, Whalan Eid, Ryan Chien, Benjamin Emro, Audrey Martin, Zara Yasoob and Jack Conner. Elgin High School: Sebastian Siwiec, Jason Allen, Rishi Shah, Joshua Nato, Aaditya Sanghavi, Eric Nazario, Evangeline Comings, Brody Grosenbach, Liza Aygul and Jai Patel. Larkin High School: Lucy Akemann, Lara Amaro, Erany Fahmy, Addison Kuttnauer, Jenna Mack, Lydia Soto, Caitlin Sweeney and Samantha Winer. South Elgin High School: Carter Beucler, Anthony Cavallo, Anna Christopherson, Donald Doan, Ava Franch, Emmett Hanson, Mackenzie Klinger, Ethan Messer, Nishar Parekh, Ayush Patel, Dia Patel, Kamila Sangabriel and Kalia Verdino. Streamwood High School: Sophia Lortie, Danielle Althea Sotto, Sophie Saflarski, Salman Amir, Ream Basraoui, Leonor Nevarez and Claire Dresser. The Elgin Police Department, in partnership with The Autism Hero Project, is now participating in the nationwide Blue Envelope Program. The program 'is designed to support autistic drivers during traffic stops or other motor vehicle interactions, bridging communication gaps and ensuring safer, more respectful encounters with law enforcement,' according to a post on the police department's Facebook page. Blue Envelope kits are provided to drivers with autism and include the person's driver's license, vehicle registration, insurance card, communication method (verbal, nonverbal, etc.) and support contact information, the post said. Instructions are printed on the envelope for both the driver and the officer and can be presented at the time of a stop or police event, helping to reduce anxiety, prevent misunderstandings and to build trust. The kits are available at the front desk of the Elgin Police Department, 151 Douglas Ave. For more information, call 847-289-2700. Debra Miller will portray author Laura Ingalls Wilder in a show called 'All That I Have Told Is True' being presented at 1 p.m. Thursday, May 22, at the St. Charles Public Library, 1 S. Sixth Ave. Miller is a professional actress with more than 30 years of experience performing for live audiences, on television and in film, library officials said. For more information or to register for the program, go to or call 630-584-0076. The Elgin and Carpentersville police departments are taking part in the nationwide 'Click It or Ticket' campaign enforcing seat belt usage through the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The campaign will be conducted in the evening hours because Illinois crash data shows higher rates of traffic accident fatalities occur at night involving people not wearing seatbelts, a news release said. 'Seat belt use should be an automatic habit for everyone,' Carpentersville Police Chief Todd Shaver said in the release. 'Buckling up is the simplest way to reduce injury or save a life in a crash.' The 'Click It or Ticket' campaign is funded with federal highway safety funds administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation. For more information, go to
