ALTON - The Alton Community Unit School District #11 Board of Education voted unanimously to create a Community Engagement Coalition.
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This coalition will engage 20–25 community members to gather feedback about the school district, student performance, safety and security, and school climate. Superintendent Elaine Kane explained that the district has outlined a strategic plan by working with staff members, students and the Board of Education, and now they want to hear from the larger community.
“We really now are ready to open up and involve our community stakeholders,” she said. “We’re looking for people who are interested and invested in the schools who want to be part of the process of helping us to make really good decisions that are in the best interests of the broader community.”
Kane said there will be two “layers” to this community engagement, starting with the formation of a group that will operate similarly to a steering committee. This Facilitating Team will be made up of community members, including parents, alumni, business owners and residents.
The Facilitating Team will attend approximately ten Facilitating Team meetings and five Community Engagement Sessions from June 2025 to June 2026. They will collect and share feedback from the community with the Board of Education. This feedback will inform the strategic planning process.
“We’re not assembling a second Board of Education. This is a group to steer our work, but then we will be doing the work,” Kane explained. “We want to be intentional about gathering that input. We want to open that up and make sure that we’re hearing from as many people as possible so that we have an understanding and can use that feedback to be even stronger and better serve our students.”
Christina Milien, Board of Education president, echoed Kane. She pointed out that everyone on the Board of Education prioritizes the students but approaches it with different perspectives, united under one board. Similarly, the Facilitating Team will consider differing opinions.
“Everyone comes with different experiences onto the Board. Just like there’s seven different experiences and perspectives about things, we know there’s even more of those in the community,” Milien said. “I think everyone on the Board is very much interested in making sure that what we’re doing as a school district is in alignment with some of the goals that they have, not just for their kids and individual families, but for the community at large.”
Milien commended Kane for her commitment to collecting this feedback and collaborating with the community. She noted that the Board of Education is eager to support the Facilitating Team as this group is formed through the Community Engagement Coalition.
“I think we should all do all that we can to support the vision that develops from what is discovered or uncovered through the coalition,” she added.
Kane encouraged the community to “stay with us” as the district forms their group and begins the process of collecting and sharing feedback.
