Every other Wednesday, Lane students get an email from the school announcing it’s an advisory schedule for the day.

Next year, those emails might be coming a little bit more often.

At the May LSC meeting on May 19, Teacher Representative Rebecca Daly announced that Lane’s Professional Personnel Leadership Committee (PPLC) will recommend to the Professional Problems Committee (PPC) that Lane moves to a weekly advisory schedule next year. The staff would then vote on this.

Daly said the LSC PPLC had informal meetings with the administration regarding this possible change, and it would be a weekly advisory, with alternating weeks being used as an office-hour or academic lab period.

This change, according to the PPLC, would allow for students to possibly retake tests during the school day, which Daly said would be very helpful. A room, or “testing center,” could possibly be set up for students to take tests.

Parent Representative Laura Symons inquired about the length of these periods, which currently stand at 42 minutes. Principal Edwina Thompson said this time could be adjusted to go longer.

This schedule, Daly and Thompson said, would help Lane get a small look at how a block schedule would work, possibly starting in school year 2024, since a block schedule would allow for occasional study hall periods or office hours. In a block schedule, students do not have every class every day, and class periods are often longer.

Multiple CPS selective enrollment schools, such as Walter Payton and Northside, have block schedules.

“Lane is not a rowboat,” Thompson said, referring to moving ahead quickly with plans. “You have to take your time.”

June 2 is the deadline for any votes regarding a schedule change.

Here’s a wrap-up of the rest of the meeting:

Resolutions

As IHSA spring sports head into state playoffs, Symons and Parent Representative Benjamin Wong honored recent athletic achievements at Lane.

Girls Soccer was recognized for their sweep of the varsity, junior varsity and frosh-soph city titles. The LSC gave special recognition to Head Coach Michelle Vale, who won her seventh consecutive varsity city title.

Boys Track and Field Head Coach Kris Roof, who has been coaching the team for 20 years, was recognized alongside the varsity and frosh-soph boys track and field teams for their recent city titles.

Junior Varsity Girls Softball and Boys Varsity Lacrosse were also honored for their city titles.

On to the state playoffs, Girls Water Polo was honored for winning their second straight sectional title. 

The LSC also recognized Girls Varsity Track, who qualified their 4-by-800 relay as well as 400-meter runner Katie Burns and 1600-meter runner Charlotte Muller for the state finals this past weekend. 

Varsity E-sports was recognized for their fifth place finish in the Rocket League state finals. Thompson thanked the LSC for approving funds to help get better equipment for the team earlier this year.

The final recognitions were given to the Ultimate Frisbee team, who will compete in the state championships next month; the Science Olympiad Team, who finished seventh in the state; and to five Lane students whose work will be on display at the CPS All-City and Virtual Arts Exhibitions.

Principal Report

Thompson announced that over 6500 AP Exams were completed by Lane students in over 34 courses. She thanked Director of Assessment, Grading, Data and Programming Katie Gomez and Assistant Principal Alison Hildebrandt for helping organize everything. She also thanked Lisa Applebaum, who was in attendance, for volunteering to help at the AP exams.

Thompson briefly thanked Symons for helping Friends of Lane successfully run this year’s auction, and also wished the Lane athletic teams good luck in their upcoming postseason games.

The main portion of Thompson’s report regarded the recent policies being examined by the Lane Tech administration. Thompson said that dress code surveys were sent to students and staff, and they now have a working draft of a new dress code. 

Additionally, parents were sent surveys about attendance policies, according to Thompson. She said there has been many parents asking for an online absence reporting system, but that won’t be allowed for next year citing security concerns. She did say parents can sign a paper form and email it. Thompson said they are also examining the current demerit policy.

Thompson concluded the report with a few quick points. She said that with the increase in students with IEPs coming to Lane in August, she and Assistant Principal Mollie Hart have been interviewing to help fill 11 diverse learner positions.

Across all positions, Thompson said over 145 people have been interviewed over the past month. The goal, according to Thompson, is to staff the whole building before August.

Thompson reminded everyone that the freshman science fair with 69 presenters is coming up this week (May 24), and also talked briefly about the summer enrichment classes. Thompson said there is a $30 fee but financial aid is available. Students can sign up for multiple sessions, but some have already closed. Additionally, there will be open gyms again over the summer, Thompson said.

Friends of Lane (FOL) Report

FOL President Nikki Pesch was at the meeting to deliver this month’s report.

The parent-run group is coming off of their biggest event of the year, the Friends of Lane Gala, which was held May 6. Pesch thanked all volunteers for their help.

Pesch said they were originally supposed to sell 500 tickets, but ended up selling 700. She thinks at least 500 or 550 people came. The Principal Reception, held before the Gala, had 85 attendees, much higher than the usual 20-30, Pesch said.

There will be a volunteer appreciation event at the Village Tap on June 1 at 6:30. The freshman parent reception has been postponed due to rising COVID-19 numbers

The new auditorium sound system is scheduled to go in soon, Pesch said.

Later in the meeting, Pesch said FOL is considering giving funding to the student council for each grade level to plan events, though after discussion with the LSC and School Clerk Jill Woods, it may be easier for each student council to submit grant requests to FOL.

Student Report

Student Representative Sean Groh gave a quick student report. He mentioned the recent success of sports teams at Lane, the science olympiad and Lane’s choir, which had a concert on May 17. 

Alumni Association Report

Alumni Association President Michelle Weiner gave a report on new happenings with the association.

The Alumni Association’s most recent magazine issue focused on awards and Lane alumni in the entertainment industry.

Weiner said they had over 600 applications for this year’s scholarships from the Alumni Association. Weiner said she read 246 of them, and they reminded her “our students are the most talented and resilient.”

“You feel like you know each of them,” Weiner said.

Between 22 and 26 students will be awarded with scholarships at the June 1 honor ceremony. This year there will be a record $210,000 – $220,000 awarded.

Weiner also announced that the 50th anniversary of girls being allowed to attend Lane will be held at Lane on June 11. The event is being co-hosted by the BIPOC student advisory committee. Ertharin Cousin, former Executive Director of the World Food Programme and 1975 Lane alum, will be the keynote speaker. Cousin was part of the first graduating class of girls at Lane.

The Alumni Association recently got permission to move ahead with their project naming the field at Lane Stadium after 1912 Lane alum Fritz Pollard, a trailblazer for African-American athletes. There will be signage and four plaques at Lane Stadium honoring him, according to Weiner. This will go along with a new blue scoreboard being installed by CPS this summer, according to Thompson. Thompson gave a shout out to CPS’ Director of Athletics, David Rosengard. “He’s been phenomenal,” she said.

The Alumni Association will be holding their annual golf outing on August 25 at the White Pines Golf Course in Bensenville, Illinois. Funds will go to the teacher grant program.

Budget and Fundraisers

Woods announced just one budget item and one fundraiser.

The budget item was $11,666.67 to ATI for spring sports athletic training. The lone fundraiser was for the Girls Soccer Booster Club, who were trying to get approved to sell concessions at the IHSA Regional Final on May 20. Both were approved.

Woods also gave a quick update on Quickstart forms for next year. The English novel fee is being removed, as Assistant Principal Josh Dresser and English Department Chair Michelle Vale are working with a book store for book purchasing. The robotics fee is the only fee increasing, going from $50 to $100.

AP fees will not be on the fee sheet, because the district should be covering them again. Additionally, yearbooks will be back on the sheet, on which parents select what they need to pay for, as it is an approved category by CPS now. The athletic fee will not be on the sheet, as it’s going back to being paid per season.

Finally, Quickstart will be held Aug. 16, 17 and 18, Thompson said. For the 2023-24 school year, they will try to go back to the week before teachers return, but they couldn’t do that this year with it being a short summer.

Announcements

The Senior Assembly will be held during advisory on June 1, and may bleed into second period; the Unity Concert with the Buddies Program will be held seventh period.

The Cluster Program Prom was held on May 20.

The LSC will have to plan a date for their July meeting, the first meeting for the new council after April elections.

Finally, Wong gave the details of Lane’s city championship baseball game on May 23 at Wrigley Field. (Lane went on to win 2-1 over Brooks.)