Um it takes a long time to get the money from them and it's not going to it's not money that would come to us. it would, you know, be general fund receipts and um >> so but it hopefully will benefit the town and uh you know get some money back. I did have a conversation with uh rep one of representative Keading's uh office aids >> over the weekend that I happen to know >> and I you know and I told her you know put the bug in the congressman's ear about we need money but >> you know it you know you've got a four or five day window here. I says you know what do you mean? And I says, you know, I've been around long enough that they give you they they tell you, "Yep, we're going to pay you from 10:00 Monday to noon time Monday." I'm being facitious, but >> I've seen them do that type of a window or we'll start at midnight sun uh Saturday night when there was nothing, >> you know, that type of deal.
And if you don't know anything about when buildings put in um in the soil sciences, we call that builder's lom, which is like all the riff raff from putting in schools and stuff. They just kind of bury it under a half inch of soil so that grass grows and that's really bad for percolation of water. So, we had to dig some serious holes to put all of these beautiful native plants all purchased through PO, uh, which if you don't know PO, they actually came to our climate of hope as well, which we'll talk about later. Um, but the foundation grant gave us all this fantastic money to buy all those native plants. And next slide. Um, here they are again putting it all in. So, that's, uh, if you don't know perspective of where that picture is taken, that's the administrative lot on the south side of the school.
Um my question is, will the parents be present? So, it's good that parents are given permission for counseling, but are the parents uh do they have a an opt-out or is there some kind of inclusion of the parent in the counseling? That wasn't clear with the lines we had. And then, um the other one was So, that was section B uh four on the list. And then, uh D with two eyes, D2 was students are billed for damage, but we're not going to bill the students, right? We're going to bill the parents or guardians. And so, I didn't know how it was written. I just had what we had, and I didn't know if those were things that we could clarify just so that it's not something that uh somebody would kind of try and skirt, so. To your first question, that would be up to the parent.
>> 21st. >> But that's after the first meeting. But that that can be that's okay. Yeah. Yeah. We It doesn't have to be before the next meeting, I guess. Yeah. can do the 21st >> 21st 21st work for um you Chris. >> Yes. Uh I I can I can make that work. >> And John as well. >> Yep. I'll make that work. >> Okay. The commissioners >> uh there's a 3-day school weekend. Is that that weekend? I'm not sure on the the school calendar >> for the entire state. No, for I I think there's a um >> a an Islamic holiday that uh is causing a three-day weekend. Or is that in March? >> Oh, that >> This is March. Yes, that is in March. So, I don't know. I'm a little discombobulated, but >> Well, I can go with the 21st. Can you go with the 21st?
So, >> I did put that bug in the in in there. So, >> thank you. Good. So, um, as you know, we, as I mentioned already, we had a 2-hour delay today. We had anticipated a 2-hour delay for tomorrow as well, but given uh the success of the way things went this morning, we did make the call that tomorrow that would be a regular start to the school day. And then the other change that we made for this week is that Wednesday was originally scheduled as part of our school calendar to be an inservice. Uh and then that would have obviously been a half day. And in consideration of what was going to be two delayed openings and then the third day in school being a half day, we had made the decision that we would make Wednesday a full day, which would not eliminate that inservice date, but instead push it until June 22nd, which is Monday the 22nd, because now tentatively the last day of school is Tuesday, June 23rd, which will be a half day for students.
Um, so that's the walkway into one of the uh areas there. And you can't really see it in the picture be where you're at right now, but there's a a sewage cap or a sewage cap, a storm water cap that the water runs in through that location. So, we're trying to capture all that with the native plant and get it down into the water table instead of going into the actual sewer system. So, next slide. Is it working? I don't know. Right. Well, like that's that's science for you, right? It takes years for these plants to grow and mature, but the nice thing is with buying plants that are full plugs, they've already had two or three years of nutri nurturing in the ground, so you have real good root stock. So hopefully this spring, we'll start seeing some growth and maybe even some flowers.
That That line is specific to third-party um and contracted services. For example, Centerstone being the the largest one that works with our students. So, the parent um often times may say, "Yes, it's okay if you meet me with my student during the school day." And they can sign off on that, or they can say, "No, we're going to bring him in the evenings um and do it in an alternative way." >> what you just said, sign off on that was what was important. So, as long as there's a a place to document that a parent knows their child is being counseled for whatever reason, and they say it's okay to do that without them. That's all That's all I was trying to protect. I don't want to see a a a student get counseling that a parent didn't know about. And then on the second question, yes, it is uh billed to the family.
Well, the only thing I've got on my calendar that I didn't put there is Elid al Qar >> to the commission. >> I don't know what that is. >> I believe the holiday that uh Preston was referring to is the night that is the end of Ramadan, which ends on March 20th. So, if you are looking at the 21st, I think you should be okay. >> Yeah. Well, I I'm out of town that weekend is the issue because with it being that a day off of school. >> Well, I could make a comment about your attendance to sidewalks, Preston, but I'll hold it. >> Um, >> I can make the 21st. >> Yeah, sounds good. Or do you like the mornings like uh 9:00, 9:30? >> Uh, yeah. Yeah, 9:30. We >> How about 9:30? Yeah, >> 9:30 works for me, John. Good for you.
students. So that would mean Monday would be a half day in service and Tuesday would be a half day, the last day of school, a half day for students. Uh so the calendar has been updated. I know Kate has updated it and she's posted it on the website. We're still looking to tweak and make sure that it's updated where it needs to be. And we will send out once, you know, we're absolutely sure, we will send out an updated calendar or notification that as to what the last day of school will be to to the community, to families in the community. And at the same time, we're talking about what a wonderful job that has been done that allowed us to open schools. We still have to be co we have to be cognizant and we still have to be really careful because I think Mr.
We picked plants that would be applicable to our school, so a lot of purples and whites and yellows. Um so yeah, so that's that's the gist. Um, and if you don't like it, you can leave >> for only $600. >> Yeah. For $600. It >> was a bargain, wasn't it? >> Yeah. So, and we even have some leftovers that we're going to put in this spring as well. So, yeah, they're all in dormcancy right now in the classroom. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you for doing it. >> Great idea. >> Questionable idea. A >> question for you. >> How far down is the water table? >> Uh, it depends on where you're at elevation wise. So that place that we're at right now, um, we GPSed and the slope of the land is just enough to run everything from sidewalks and that parking lot towards that drainage gap.
Parent or guardian. Other questions or discussion? I was going to ask Dr. Phillips, there might be some parents or families out there that had already made plans for April 6th. Can you talk about how that's handled? Yes, if you uh that is uh the Monday following Easter, I believe. And so, Friday is a day off because we're always closed on Good Friday. So, it is a four-day weekend, and we understand some families may have already um decided to make plans for travel on that Monday. And so, if that's the case, please just contact your child's teacher teachers or principal, um and they will make sure that they have the opportunity to make up all of that work and it be an excused absence. The whole point of having the school on that day is to make sure kids have access to learning that's meaningful and valuable that day.
>> Okay. 9:30. >> All righty. >> Okay. So, we have to um schedule a follow-up meeting and topics. Now, I know that you guys were initially planning to do a presentation this evening, and I kind of stole your thunder. Um, but I think it's important to get this stuff done before you do your presentation so that everybody knows what the parameters are. Uh, and the people watching know what the parameters are. So, would you like to do that at the next uh, hearing an overall presentation of of the project or what would you like to do? >> Yeah, I think that I think that would be a great idea. If you're meeting on the 16th, we could do um you know 10 minute 15 minute presentation of the overall project, go through wetland resource area impacts, etc.
Kylie told me this morning as he was driving around, he saw a student who was waiting for a bus and they were standing on top of a snowbank and so we still have lots of snow banks. Bus stops aren't completely clear. I know I talked with a parent who said, you know, the bus stops, they're they have to be flexible right now. There has to be where is there a safe place for students to to wait? parking spaces are still at a premium and it's going to take some time for us to completely recover for that from that. But I do want to say that as far as communication from our families, from our staff, um it's it's been really positive, supportive, I think people understand that what we were dealing with was not just a normal snowstorm. that there were a lot of facets to that snowstorm that had to be taken into consideration in order to safely open our schools.
Um, I don't know. So I I could easily figure this out, but I just have my computer in front of me how far down the water table is, but if you think about it, most of the water from the Downers Grove area is going to feed into the DuPage River. >> So >> that was notoriously dirty like 30, 40 years ago. Yeah, >> it's much cleaner now. We actually have life in those rivers now. I mean, for I'm serious, like 40, 50 years ago. I literally just talked with my Environ group uh about two weeks ago with the U ofi professor that said Dwage River is one of the worst in the state and now we're to the point where it's a lot cleaner. We have fish in there. He said he doesn't see a lot of the native uh oysters and like muscles and you know the I'm just trying to give you like exemplar species um in those rivers yet >> but there's hope right so doing things like this decrease ecological footprint to to feed those rivers with clean water so >> cool great >> sorry sciencing you any other >> uh what types of plants are you putting in >> yeah so we put in cone flour so purple >> we put in butterfly milkweed So, even though it says we don't freak, right, they're it's a it's a native plant that is good foraging for monarch butterflies and a lot of other butterflies.
And so we don't want to exclude anyone from that. Any other questions or discussion? If we're ready for a vote, we'll do a roll call vote. Uh The vote is on item 7A, B, and D through I. Mr. Schultz. I. Mr. Glick, how do you vote? I. Ms. Lloyd, how do you vote? I. Chair votes I. Mr. Nowlin, how do you vote? >> I. Mr. Major, your vote? >> Yes. And Ms. Wheeldin, your vote? I. So I believe that was unanimous, 7-0. After the roll call vote, last to be considered in package or item agenda item 7 is 7C about school fundraisers. You've heard the recommendation from the superintendent. Ms. Lloyd intends to abstain from this vote. Do we have a motion? Item 7C as presented this evening. >> Second. Thank you, Ms. Wheeldin. Thank you, Mr. Glick.
Answer any questions the commission have. I think that'll be helpful before the sitewalk and uh I think that I think that'd be very helpful for the commission. >> All right. >> And the public. >> Okay. So you in the u interest of fairness, you'll probably be the second hearing on the second instead of the on the u the next meeting instead of the first one. >> Um okay. So we have a topic. We have a meeting date.
And so we appreciate that and we're going to just continue to monitor in the days to come. But as I said, it's um it's, you know, we're open and kids are back in school, which leads to me talk about teaching and learning, but last time we met, we had four days of school after that, then vacation, and then a week off, and we're back in today. Uh so uh we're >> we're just pleased to tell you teaching and learning started again today and we know that that was happening and I can tell by reading the emails that the the principles are sending out and some of the staff emails that I'm able to monitor that folks once you get back it's like riding a bike. You're just back. You're in it. Um so I'm also Mr. Kylie mentioned this, but I want to mention or talk a little bit more about our elementary students in the afterchool program.
And they're not a super tall one like the common milkweed gets, you know, five, six feet tall. These are more bush type of species. What else do we put in? Um, leatric, which is blazing star. Um, and then we did a sedge as well. So, we had like a grassesque species in there. So, a nice mix of purple and orange and greens. So, >> yeah. >> So, again, you said you'll see some hopefully some growth in the spring. >> We definitely see growth. >> We better see growth. >> Hopefully, we'll see flowering this spring. Yeah, we'll see. Um, it takes sometimes species take three, four years before they actually produce flowers. So, we're hopeful that we'll start seeing some SE effects from that. Are there any other spots at Dinos North or South that you guys see in the future where you can see each other said that Ryan?
Any questions or discussion on the fundraisers? I think uh Dr. Phillips noted that we probably have some folks in attendance this evening that are ready to answer questions. Hearing no questions and no discussion, I think we're ready for a vote. Uh Mr. Schultz, how do you vote? I. Mr. Glick. I. Ms. Lloyd, your vote? Abstain. Oh, you abstain. Thank you. Uh chair votes I. Mr. Nowlin, your vote? >> I. Mr. Major, your vote? >> Yes. And Ms. Wheeldin, your vote? I. Thank you very much. Item 7C is passed with a vote of six to zero. Dr. Stahlbaum, I think we're ready for human resource recommendations. Thank you. The 10 human resources recommendations tonight consist of two retirements, four resignations, and three leaves of absence. There is one additional personnel recommendation as well. I request that you please approve items 8A and B as presented. A recommendation from Dr.
Um um we we would like to allow the public to ask any questions if uh if you would be willing to stick around for that. I realize this is preliminary so there probably won't be too many but uh >> tonight or at the next hearing? >> Both this evening and next >> we could tonight. I think it might be more beneficial after we give a presentation because the presentation may answer many of the public's questions if they have any. But if if the commission would like to tonight, I I just find question Q&A is more useful after we present. >> Yeah, I don't disagree with that other than the fact that we're trying to be and and we've talked about this. I think we're trying to be as transparent with all of these 40bs as as possible. Um this >> this is a hearing. >> Yeah, I think we're required to >> I think we're required to have public input to a hearing.