Despite the first day of school fast approaching, Proviso D209 is behind on hiring, with only two of five vacant dean positions filled.
“We are behind,” Interim Supt. Alexander Aschoff said. “And that is going to hurt.”
During a special meeting on Wednesday, July 31, the Board of Education approved the hiring of one dean, John Johnson for Proviso West.
Johnson’s employment will be effective Aug. 4 and he will have a yearly salary of $100,000, according to the personnel report presented.
Johnson joins Peter Zak, longtime Proviso teacher, who was previously hired to fill the one allocated dean position at Proviso Math and Science Academy.
The board decided to table another hire during the July meeting due to concerns over the specific individual discussed in executive session.
Aschoff said the district is having a hard time finding individuals for the position, with the salary range being one of the setbacks.
“There are a number of individuals coming with a number of years of experience and the salary range that we have for this is making it difficult to hire for these positions,” Aschoff said.
According to ZipRecruiter, as of July 2024 the average annual salary for a dean in the U.S. is $105,749. The average in Chicago is $108,937.
The board gave the green light to hire five deans to be split between the three schools back in May: two for East, two for West, and one for PMSA.
Each position will cost the district between $80,000 to $110,000 per dean based on experience.
Board member Rodney Alexander voted against the item back in May and board member Arbdella Patterson was absent. The item passed with a 5-1 vote.
During the meeting, Alexander said he did not believe hiring deans would affect disciplinary issues, the main concern raised in favor for hiring.
Aschoff said hiring deans would free up principals from being tied up with student discipline problems.
However, Alexander argued that the decision should have been left to a new superintendent.
“There is a reason why we removed the deans and there is data that supports that,” Alexander said during the meeting. “When we had deans in the building, the fights were just as much as we have now.”
Under administrations predating the arrival of former Supt. James Henderson, Proviso did employ deans at East and West, with four positions allocated to each school. PMSA did not have deans.
According to Aschoff, the current structure includes coordinators at the district level to support content areas and principles and grade-level principals at the school level. This change was enacted under Henderson in 2021. Henderson resigned from the district in August 2023.
“There is a lot of stress, especially at the building level, because we have less instructional support and less support for student success,” Aschoff said. “There is very much a need for support in both those areas.”
According to previous reports, Proviso campuses reported 2,742 student discipline incidents throughout the 2022-23 school year.
There are only so many hats grade level principals can wear throughout the day, Aschoff said.
Bringing in deans will help grade level principals focus more attention on instructional support, which Aschoff said is crucial as East and West are at “single digits” in proficiency levels for English and math.
According to the 2023 Illinois Report Card, the English proficiency rate at East was 6.1% and 5.9% at West. The district average for 2023 was 14.1% while the state average was 34.6%. Proficiency rates in math for 2023 were 1.7% at Proviso East and 3% at West. The district average for 2023 was 9.2% and the state average was 26.9%.
The dean position is one that comes with a “unique lens,” Aschoff said. Not only will they focus on disciplinary issues but the position, often considered an “entry-level” administrator position, will also include additional support for administrators.
But deans will also need support, and Aschoff said the district is working on laying down the foundation to improve practices. Part of that is being done this summer through school improvement plans, which are required to include a goal specific to address the Multi-Tiered System of Supports.
Aschoff said the MTSS goals might vary from school to school but the overall goal is to look at the whole child, including behavior, attendance, grades and social-emotional learning to develop behavior models to begin to properly address issues.
“We found that some of these exclusionary practices that we were providing students – in school and out of school suspensions – the punishment wasn’t fitting the crime,” Aschoff said. “We are trying to standardize the process. We are trying to make it more structured.”
Aschoff said Diana Thomas, director of MTSS, will be streamlining the process of developing what will essentially be a “behavior guidebook.”
Upcoming institute days will also be used to help start deans off on the right foot.
During the May meeting, board members Sandra Hixson and Jennifer Barbahen expressed their approval of bringing back deans.
“We have heard all of last school year that our schools need deans,” Barbahen said. “They need discipline support. Our principals have been begging. Our teachers have been begging. Everyone. Parents. Security has been begging for deans.”
Aschoff said the district will continue to hire into the school year for the remaining three positions.