The Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 will begin its Family Listening Tour this week, offering families a chance to share their feedback and ideas about the district’s schools. The sessions are designed for parents and guardians to express their experiences as the district works to strengthen educational services.
Both virtual and in-person options are available. Virtual sessions are organized by grade level, but families may attend any session that fits their schedule. The online meetings will be held via Google Meet on Monday, March 2 for elementary families, Tuesday, March 3 for middle school families, and Thursday, March 5 for high school families. Each day offers an English session at 5:30 p.m. and a Spanish session at 6:30 p.m.
In-person sessions are scheduled for Wednesday, February 25 at the Brett Theatre at WHS-Brookside and Saturday, March 7 at Waukegan to College on Grand Avenue. The Saturday event will have separate times for English- and Spanish-speaking families.
Superintendent Theresa Plascencia emphasized the importance of community input in shaping district efforts. “Your feedback is important and helps guide our efforts to support students, improve school climate, and ensure our schools continue to meet the needs of our community. I hope you will consider attending one of these sessions. I look forward to hearing from you and continuing this important conversation,” Plascencia stated.
Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 serves Lake County with a range of schools including Andrew Cooke Magnet Elementary School, Daniel Webster Middle School, Waukegan High School, among others. More information about the district can be found at https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/.
According to data from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), the student body is predominantly Hispanic (79.5 percent), with Black students making up 13.2 percent, White students accounting for 3.2 percent, and Asian students representing 1.3 percent of enrollment (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). In the 2019-2020 academic year, there were over 15,000 students enrolled across pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
Financial records show that in 2020 the district spent $23,429 per student for a total expenditure of more than $359 million (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). There were over a thousand teachers employed by the district that year; they earned an average salary of $63,524 before pension contributions (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). Most teachers—71 percent—are women.
Chronic truancy remains an issue in District 60: during the same period there were more than three thousand “chronically truant” students—defined as those missing five percent or more of school days without valid excuse—which amounts to a rate of approximately 21 percent compared with a statewide average of just under ten percent (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
The listening tour aims to gather feedback that could help address such challenges while enhancing support for all students.
