The Board of Education for Waukegan Public Schools announced on Mar. 27 that it will hold a Special Meeting on Tuesday, March 31, at 6:00 pm in Room 112 at the Educational Service Center to discuss the annual evaluation of the superintendent. The discussion is scheduled to take place in Closed Session, as permitted by Illinois law under section 5 ILCS 120/2 (c) (1). A brief open session with public comment will precede the closed session in the Board Room, and no action will be taken during this portion. The meeting will adjourn from Room 112.
This meeting addresses a key part of district governance—the superintendent’s annual review—which is essential for accountability and leadership oversight within Waukegan Community Unit School District 60.
Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 serves Lake County and includes schools such as Andrew Cooke Magnet Elementary School, Carman-Buckner Elementary School, Clearview Elementary School, Daniel Webster Middle School, Early Learning Center, Glen Flora Elementary School, Glenwood Elementary School, Greenwood Elementary School, H.R. McCall Elementary School, Hyde Park Elementary School, 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 state data.
The district enrolled over fifteen thousand students in grades pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade during the 2019-2020 school year and is located in Waukegan and Lake County according to state records. Demographically it consists of approximately three percent White students; thirteen percent Black; nearly eighty percent Hispanic; and just over one percent Asian according to ISBE.
In terms of staffing and resources,the Illinois State Board of Education reports that there are more than one thousand teachers earning an average salary of $63,00 per year before pension contributions; seventy-one percent are women while twenty-nine percent are men; none had more than ten absences last year.
Financially,the district spent $23,29 per student in fiscal year 2020, totaling over $359 million for all students served that year.
However,chronic truancy remains a challenge, with more than three thousand students classified as chronically truant—defined as missing five percent or more school days without valid excuse—resulting in a rate of twenty-one percent compared to the statewide average of about ten percent.
