They saw doing a great job on the draw tonight as they look to set up the offense. You'll see they have a two different sticks out there, Steve. They have a draw stick that you'll see that they'll kick it off and that's why you'll see or Jordan with the ball goes around fires it all the way back to Marino. Marino fires it and M Whit Whitwer does a Twizzler shot and Vanderwolf is there to have yet another save. Vanderwolf is definitely keeping La Meadow into this game tonight. Yeah, she has been stalwart back there so far tonight. Four or five point blank shots as she's been able to stop as Goodri with the ball. She's met by Mack Whit. She gets by. She gets a shot off and scoop back. Good play by Reed to kick the ball back to Jenna Holly. Jenna Holly throws it to Kylie.
Okay. Again, my question is um finance. I would give the same answer for the first one. Obviously, we're going to prioritize math. Okay. But I don't want to sit here and say, "Oh, it's going to be fine." Because You know, we're going to obviously do that. I'm going to have to stop subscriptions elsewhere to this work. So, just want to be clear about that. I don't want to sound like sunshine daisies, right? No, no. I I agree. I know this goes back a few years, the work that went into this to bridge that gap at the middle school level. So, I know forward to see the results or stand. Thank you for working through that. How have the results been in the um IRA assessments in seventh grade, eighth grade? I mean, what's your what's the trend? What What are you seeing? Go ahead, Tom.
Yeah. Okay. You know, I'm not concerned at this point with, you know, what school they're in. That's for, you know, a later cleanup. But all I am concerned is when you publish, you know, financial statements and we have swings from a $9 million positive balance down to $2 million and we say that it's attributed to coding differences. You know, we're we're nine months into the year. it it's it doesn't make any sense. So all I'm trying to say is going forward we have to have a better handle on the mechanics of the coding so when you publish the statements you can take them at at face value that that's all I agree with Rich. I agree. I mean this is crazy. Yeah. I mean it because we still got April, May, June. Yeah. I just want to jump I just want to if I could just jump in for a second or we're going to reverberate here.
Any questions on the expenditures? I just want to double down on what Jere just said about transportation. the entire team is really uh worked non-stop on that this year to drive those costs down and that that savings is really not only helping with outplacement. If you remember we expected a a pretty good deficit after replacement taxes came in and were much less 14% less than what we projected something like that. It was quite a bit uh uh less than expected in revenues. So that work in transportation is what's keeping us you know balanced this year. So J has led that work with the whole team and uh it's been great work for the district. Is that related to like our purchasing the buses from like what specifically has led to we've first student has a new division that we're using. It's called first alt and first alt is like a schoolbased Uber driver.
Ryan, I know you brought this forward at the last board meeting. I think it had, you know, you guys talked about this in committee. Can you shed any light to this and just some of the discussion? Um, in the committee there was a lot of discussion on the earlier start date corresponding with some of the programs that Morgan was talking about and it seemed like the majority that were in the room preferred the earlier start date as far as the teachers that were in the room preferred this earlier start date with some some that were kind of in the middle of the road, but there were there were several that were very that the the earlier start date helped them a lot better with their programs that they were involved in. And where do you know where the teachers were? Like what level the teachers were at?
Any discussion? Doug, yes. Carol, yes. Vicky, yes. Amy, yes. Yes. Motion carries. I have the recommendation to approve the resolution assigning construction bids. A motion to accept. Yes. Uh motion to accept. Second. I'll second.
Kylie Reed back to Mac. Mac to Kylie. Kylie with some space. Looks like we got to get it to the other side of the field. Up here. Yep. And that thinking the same thing. Grace Howard knocks it down. She has room. A lot of open field in front of her. It's a lot of hard work for the Spartans just to get that ball over. Grace Howard taking her one-on-one. She kicks it over to Lucas. Kasich with the ball. She kicks it over to Marino over to Mac. Up from the top to push. A fall by Burke on Addie Jordan who now she'll go to the 8 meter. And you never want to have Addie Jordan going on the 8 meter. She's definitely probably one of the best in Western Mass at these Great save by Vanderov again. [Applause] Mount quickly kicks it up. Gets knocked as Angelina Trillo is going to get a two-minute for yellow card for that.
Tom, um we've had some people say they use it as their screen saver because it makes them feel good when they look at it. Yeah, we're really excited. So, one of the things I reckon because it is such a large instructional shift and and some different things you should use. They say, you know, give it a year. But we have across the board seen one and a half times the growth for students compared to last year in every level above grade level. Kids, especially two and three grade levels below, which has always been historically our hardest group to move, are already meeting their yearlong growth targets at the halfway mark. I actually was going to ask you about the growth. Um, yeah, that's really that's really the only measure, right? It's right now the only measure we really can look at. Um, and it's yeah, I think the average student 6, seven, and eight had met like it was over 100% of their yearly growth.
Um, just to clarify, a lot of the work actually has been done. The grants getting folks assigned to the correct grant. Um, you know, there was staff that were um traditionally or historically assigned to the alliance grant that were still being charged there in addition to new folks that were rewritten for for the 25 26 year. And so once those adjustments were made, everybody is basically in their correct home, their charge code if you will. But every time it's going to be a real like a laborsome process every year. So for example, right now we've got a lot of staff members that are sitting in the one-time ARPA funds. When that expires, then those all of those staff members have to find a new home, a new charge code, a new location and funding source. So it's really just a handbyhand uh person byperson project that you that you you know embark on.
So a drive one driver is then um designated for like one student maybe a McKenna Vento student who lives in Planefield and has to be transported to Downer's Grove every day. Their costs are significantly less than the other provider that we had been using. Um they first all just started up in Illinois this school year. So it's it's been it's really great. um the principles here. I don't know if you have any feedback from first alt. [Laughter] Okay, good. And and the other piece of first student was when um so first student hosts a barbecue every summer and then district 58 68 and 99 we all go down and uh spend the the lunchtime with all the drivers and we also bring in a ice cream truck that's a lot of fun. And so while we were there, we were talking with first student um managers about how how can we reduce the cost for our McKenna Vento students that live in homeless students, the shelters, McKenna Vento or homeless students that live in the the shelters nearby.
High school, middle school, elementary that wanted the later start date. I'll try to remember exactly. I know it's been a little I know high school was in favor of having that earlier start date. There were um I believe all of the high school staff that were there were in favor of the of that start date, but I didn't see anybody in the room that desented to that date either. Yeah, I think that typically and again this becomes the challenge of a of a unit district, right? Um and you know if you look closer to Chicago, you have elementary high school districts often, right? And so in those areas oftent times the elementary schools will start a week later um than the than the high school districts and some uh when we get out into unit districts, community districts, you it becomes this balancing act. And things are driven by a number of things.
Any discussion? Vote. Doug. Yes. Carol, yes. Vicki, yes. Amy, yes. Jice, yes. Motion carries. I have the recommendation to approve the 2025 2026 food service management company contract with Chartwells. A motion to accept. So moved. Second.
So, how is that an individual penalty? Do they have to play short? Is that a team penalty like in hockey? How does that No, we'll be we'll be playing a man down for the next two minutes. And it doesn't matter if they score a goal unlike hockey. Oh, that does not Yeah, it doesn't reset. So, she'll have to be there. The other day against uh Chumsford, we ended up having six six yellow cards. We had to play two girls down for Wow. Well, that's a tall order. I think it was probably 12 minutes. The whole I think almost the whole fourth quarter. Wow. So, that's at just about the six and a half minute mark uh remaining in the first half. Lame will do their best to observe the Conway Conway to Goodrich and Goodri for their second goal of the game. [Applause] [Music] quickly.
We had already hit that part of the halfway mark. Um, which is a really really good win. And what we what we've thought all along and did my research the first time I went around with that already is we're hopeful that what we had seen before with it having a correlation with ASPA um you know those results also come out a couple months that show that growth it doesn't happen by by accident that the assessment is or the diagnostic is adaptable so students are answering really high couple questions as they get towards the end. Um really social. So we're we're very excited all the special ed it has grown um over everyone was average of 20% I think at least saver she look at. Yeah. So we're really seeing the first good news.
We did that a lot with the with Alliance um to make sure that folks are being charged especially um you know under the new strategies that we that we have written. Um same thing with title one, same thing with um some of the other grants and IDEIDA. So there's been a lot of changes that have been made there. Um that's good, but but every time, you know, as we head into a new hiring season, we have to be super mindful coming in that everybody has their correct location and the correct charge code. Um, and that's something that in the last couple of years with all the turmoil, um, you know, has has, you know, folks have been docked or assigned, if you will, to to the wrong places. And so what you see in EGMS when we enter those names in is different than what's in the back end of our Tyler system.
And so the three districts pulled together and we have two school buses that pick all of those students up and transport them back. Um, and so that's been a great cost savings, too, because those used to be more like individual routes, right? And now they're they're combined. Yeah. So K through 12 could be writing together. So siblings. So it's working out really well. So that's our Yeah. Thanks. All right. Overview. Okay. the fund bal balances. Um, right now, as Hank mentioned, um, it looks like we may very well end the school year um, in a better financial position than what we had originally thought at the beginning of the school year last summer. Uh, we still have another quarter to go. So um you know there could be some unexpected expenses that pop up but um I I think we are going to end the year in a better position than what we had originally planned.
One is particularly at the high school level is when we have with our CTE programs, when we have with athletics, all of those things, there is a a a continuum around of where other districts are at. And it's this constant sort of battle of trying to figure out where we're going to start, where are we not going to start. Elementary parents generally want to have that longer time, right? And um high school parents and then as soon as you have a child in high school, now you're you're kind of like, okay, well, I got to be back for my high schooler. I want my elementary child to be in school as well so that I don't have to worry about child care in that area, right? Um it's it's the challenge that that it's this constant give and take of trying to find that perfect timing.
Any discussion? Yes, they have done wonderful since we got any more discussion. Todd, yes. Carol, yes. Vicki, yes. Yes. Motion carries. We just have the consent agenda items for personnel and we only have the two separations with Helmsburg Elementary School assistant Casey Love effective May 28, 2025 and Helmsburg Elementary School custodian Britney Heath effective April 8th, 2025. Move to approve separations. I need a second. Second discussion. Yes, Carol. Yes, Motion carries, no appointments, no transfers. Superintendent report. Yeah, I just real quick um just want to acknowledge the the race to the end of the year is here and I'm sure is felt by so many. Um there are so many exciting things that are coming up. I mean, I was signing graduation diplomas today and um you know, usually they just stamp your signature and I made a point this year that I wanted to I wanted to sign every one of those diplomas today and I I think about as careful as I was signing my name so it wouldn't look sloppy.
Spartans down 42 with 6 minutes and 15 seconds to go in the second. It's tough when they're in transition and they move the ball that good that quick like that. They're that Conway girl, she's going to be a good player. She's only a sophomore now. So, we have Addie Jordan on the draw with Goodrich. Both Super Sevens looking for another showdown here at midfield. Bar goes up, knocked around. La Meadow ends up with a ball. Watson quickly gets the ball up and throws the ball out of bounds. Kylie Marino's there. Marino with the ball. Gets the ball or Holly with the ball. Gets it up to Grace Howard. Grace Howard sees a little bit of space. One, two. She gets a stick to the face. She tosses it off. Looks like she's hurt. Kaky with the ball. Kicks it over to M. Whitler. Mack to Jordan to Kenna.
Any questions? You need a recommendation? Yes. Move by October one to the full board and a two week review. Second. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [Music] Fabulous transition period. Thanks for my daughter Nicole says hi. Oh, hello as well. Thank you. Bye, Tim. Have a good night. Are you going to leave me the two? I'm going to leave them in your office. Yeah. Thank you very much. Absolutely. Bye, Tim. Thank you. Okay. Information items. We have some trips coming up. We do. We have a slew of trips. Why don't we kick this over to Morin Reed to talk about the high school trips and then we'll circle back with the D. Okay. Thanks, Mor. Sounds good. So, I'm starting out with Orlando, Florida DECA conference. We had I think that's the first one we have. We have three students um in the finishing in the top competition in Connecticut.