The Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 Board of Education will hold its regular monthly micro meeting on April 14 at the Educational Service Center, located at 214 Washington Street. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., with open session proceedings in the Board Room and a closed session in Room 112.
Following the micro meeting, the Board’s Student Achievement and Operations Services committee meetings are set to take place around 7 p.m. in the same Board Room. All public portions of these meetings will be available for live viewing on the District’s YouTube channel.
Agendas for all sessions can be accessed online through the district’s board documentation site.
Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 serves Lake County and includes schools such as Andrew Cooke Magnet Elementary, Carman-Buckner Elementary, Clearview Elementary, Daniel Webster Middle School, Early Learning Center, Glen Flora Elementary, Glenwood Elementary, Greenwood Elementary, H.R. McCall Elementary, Hyde Park Elementary, Jack Benny Middle School, John S. Clark Elementary School, Little Fort Elementary School, Lyon Magnet Elementary School, Miguel Juarez Middle School, North Elementary School, Oakdale Elementary School, Robert E. Abbott Middle School, Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Washington Elementary School, Waukegan High School and Whittier Elementary according to the Illinois Report Card.
The district has a diverse student body: it is composed of approximately 3.2 percent White students; 13.2 percent Black; 79.5 percent Hispanic; and 1.3 percent Asian students as reported by the Illinois State Board of Education. There are a total of 1,014 teachers in the district with an average salary of $63,524 before pension contributions; women make up about seventy-one percent of teaching staff while men account for nearly twenty-nine percent according to state data. No teacher exceeded ten absences during a school year.
In terms of finances and attendance issues: Waukegan Community Unit spent $23,429 per student in fiscal year 2020 with total expenditures reaching $359 million as outlined by the state report card. During that same period there were over three thousand chronically truant students—defined as missing five percent or more days without valid excuse—representing twenty-one percent chronic truancy rate compared to a statewide average just under ten percent (Illinois State Board data). The district enrolled more than fifteen thousand students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade during the last reported school year (Illinois Report Card).
Looking ahead to these board meetings may provide further discussion about ongoing challenges facing Waukegan schools including budget allocations and efforts to address student attendance.
