There was a packed house in Room 113 on March 9 for what Local School Council (LSC) Chairperson Laura Symons said was the biggest in-person LSC crowd she had seen.

With seven resolutions to give out, parents, teachers and students watched as a variety of Lane students were honored. 

While after the resolutions much of the crowd left, the March meeting still contained an updated State of the School presentation and results from recent community surveys. Both were presented as Lane gears up to create the 2024-26 Continuous Improvement Work Plan (CIWP). 

According to cps.edu, the CIWP “establishes a school’s mission, and the strategies and milestones the school will take to accomplish its goals.” The window to create a new one is April to September 2023, though Principal Edwina Thompson said Lane will attempt to get Lane’s CIWP finalized in the early part of that window.

Here’s what else happened at the March meeting:

Public Participation 

There was one public participation comment from members of Lane Tech’s Urban-Eco Club. 

The group, which describes themselves on Instagram as “a bunch of nature-loving, animal caring, happy campers,” announced they are working on a project to revitalize the lawn.

They are hoping to add native grass to the Lane lawn and possibly add picnic benches.

Fundraisers

Six fundraisers were unanimously approved by the LSC.

• Lane Tech Girls Soccer Booster Club fundraiser to sell merchandise and concessions
• Junior Student Council fundraiser to sell SAT good luck grams
• Sophomore Student Council fundraisers to sell raffle tickets
• Lane Tech Boys Volleyball Booster Club “Snap Raise!” fundraiser
• Black Student Association Black Americans Making Moves Celebration ticket selling
• Friends of Lane restaurant give back week fundraiser

Open LSC position in 23/24 school year

With her child who is currently a Lane student set to graduate in May, Chairperson and Parent Representative Laura Symons will be stepping down from her position at the end of this school year. Symons served in this post for one year.

The parent representative vacancy, per CPS rules, will be filled by a vote from LSC members. While the position technically can open now, the LSC decided to wait until this summer so that incoming freshman parents can apply for the positions. Student records officially turn over from their elementary schools to high schools on June 1.

The LSC plans to officially announce the open position for application before the end of this school year. 

LSC Resolutions

It was a busy night of resolutions for the LSC, with seven resolutions honoring Lane students given out.

The first one was given to Avi Kaplan, a Lane sophomore who recently received national chess master status. He is the only person under the age of 18 in Chicago to achieve this rank, and currently is ranked as the 25th best 16-year-old in the nation.

The second resolution also was chess-adjacent, as the Lane chess team was honored for a second place Chicago Public League championship finish and a 12th place finish at the IHSA state tournament. The team is coached by Lane teacher Steven Parsons

Lane’s Academic Decathlon team, coached by Lane teacher David Campos, received a resolution for second place finishes at both the CPL and state championships.

Lane Tech Wrestling was honored for taking home both the boys varsity city championship and the junior varsity city championship. Special shoutouts were given to senior Finn Merrill, who is a two-time city champion and four-time sectional qualifier with 104 career wins, and sophomore Nyah Lovis who is a two-time city champion.

Lane Tech science teacher Lucy Young and Lane’s Alpha Science Fair winners were recognized for their recent school-wide fair. Lane had 13 students recognized, all of whom advanced to the 73rd Chicago Exhibition of Student Stem Research and Symposium Sessions March 16-17.

Senior Elise Borelli was recognized for recently representing Team USA in a series of synchronized skating events in Europe. Borelli competed at the Britannia Cup in England, winning a bronze medal. She also took fifth place at a competition in Poland.

The final resolution was for Boys Swimming and Diving. Head Coach Matt O’Hagan, diver Owen Lee and swimmer George Ivascu all were honored. Ivascu set a school record in the 500 free, finishing third at sectionals, while Lee took first place in diving at sectionals. O’Hagan was named as the Sectional Coach of the Year.

Principal’s State of the School

As previously mentioned, Principal Thompson gave a state of the school presentation for Lane LSC members. Thompson began by announcing there will be a new data collection process with the new CIWP. 

Looking at current data, Thompson said Lane’s PSAT numbers are much above the city and state averages. Current Lane sophomore and junior PSAT scores beat out previous classes. A new Cultivate survey is also being administered, with three different areas being measured. Additionally, Thompson said that 6,582 AP exams were set to be administered this year at Lane.

Thompson said with the new CIWP, Lane’s current goals will stay the same. Curriculum, assessment and instruction will all be monitored for progress towards instructional core, acceleration practices and academic/social emotional interventions. Parent Representative Anne Lokken volunteered to potentially help with the creation of the new CIWP as the LSC representation.

Professional Personnel Leadership Committee (PPLC) Report

Teacher Representatives Rebecca Daly and Mario Nunez said the PPLC met March 7 and were planning to meet with Thompson March 14 to review and finalize a pitch for additional instructional funds. The PPLC was going to present a proposal for additional support for the Diverse Learners department that day. 

Friends of Lane

A representative of Lane’s parent fundraising group said the planning for Lane’s annual gala to be held on May 5 was underway. The group hired a new auctioneer for this year and was still looking for donations. An early bird price was available until March 17.

Friends of Lane also held a guest bartending event on Feb. 23 which sold out all 150 tickets. Over $3700 was raised for Lane.

Lane Giving Day was held on March 15, which Friends of Lane organized to coincide with Albert Grannis Lane’s birthday.

The report mentioned a dine out fundraiser at local restaurant Irazu from March 22 to March 25 and new freshman student meet and greets on March 28 and 30.

The next Friends of Lane meeting was scheduled for April 12 and was set to include a college parent panel. A reception with Principal Thompson was also scheduled for high end donors on April 18.

Students Report 

Lane Student Representative Sean Groh mentioned that an Omega vs. Alpha dodgeball game was coming up on May 28. Additionally, Groh said that junior National Honor Society applications were starting to come in.

Alumni Association Report

Alumni Association President Michelle Weiner gave a brief report on recent alumni happenings.

Weiner said the Alumni Association teacher innovation grant program ended up giving out $26,000 in grants. Weiner also said the women’s history exhibit that the association created last year had been reinstalled and a panel had been planned.

Weiner closed out her report saying the association had five new scholarships for their senior scholarship program this year, with all scholarships totaling over $250,000

Principal evaluation

The LSC voted to set March 30 as the date for a special meeting to hold the annual principal evaluation.

Community surveys

Representatives presented results from the LSC’s three annual community surveys, which are sent out separately to parents, teachers and students.

Symons led off, presenting the results of the parent survey. A record 529 parents responded, representing 41 different zip codes. Ninth grade parents made up the highest percentage of responses.

Symons presented graphs from all the questions asked, of which the majority presented positive results. 

Results showed that counselor approval ratings improved this year, with 52.5% of parents saying their kid had an outstanding or above average quality of relationship with counselors. Approval of access to resources and guidance during the college process also increased, with 45.5% of parents saying it was outstanding or above average.

School facilities approval also was at a high level per Symons. 77.1% of parents said school facility and recent improvements were either outstanding, above average or satisfactory.

Two final categories that presented exceptionally positive results this year were “my child feels welcome at the school” (50.7% strongly agree) and “how would you describe the amount of homework given to your child?” (72.6% said the appropriate amount).

One area of concern for Symons was 41.2% of respondents saying they were either neutral or disagreed/strongly disagreed that they felt a part of the Lane community. Symons said she will talk with Friends of Lane to try to improve those numbers.

The second survey shown was the teacher survey, and results were presented by Nunez. They only had two days to create a presentation since they extended the response period. 

In the responses they did receive, teachers were asked about curriculum and supplies, and received mostly satisfactory responses. Over 80% of teacher respondents also felt that Lane administration was outstandingly supportive and responsive to needs. Principal’s performance was highly rated.

The biggest concern for teachers was managing student cell phone use.

The final survey was from the students. Only 355 student responses were received, but of the responses received, some of the key takeaways were high administration performance marks and overall feelings of satisfaction with the amount of homework given.

T-Mobile Cell Tower approval

Lane received an updated offer from T-Mobile for holding the cell towers on top of the building. Both T-Mobile and Verizon were originally slated to pay Lane a combined $32,000, but, according to Thompson, the District advocated for more from T-Mobile due to their execution of placing the tower, and now Lane will receive $52,000 for fiscal year 2024.

Lane has been saving the money from these cell towers, and currently $162,000 is saved up. Thompson said there’s no restrictions on what this money can be used for.

Announcements

The longest meeting yet of the 2022-23 school year (103 minutes) wrapped up with an announcement that decisions for eighth graders on their high school acceptances would be released on March 24. Lane scheduled two introduction events for admitted students.