001[Music] good evening everyone welcome to school 132 board meeting yes BR absent Dixon here goar absent Kimbro present love present story Harris here to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands na suggest of motion be hereby move at theard education approved the agenda for February 2025 regular session is presented may I have a motion motion motion by Miss Dixon second second second by Miss story call John yes Brown absent Dixon yes doar absent Kimbro yes love yes story yes Harris yes motion carried superintendent report nwaa good afternoon board members uh Administration Community uh tonight we will have our middle of the Year NWA data presentation by uh Mrs P our executive director of academic services good evening everyone and good evening to the board uh this will just be a
002overview we've already received the information but I'll walk through a couple things um just for clarity sake uh so what you see in front of you is the student entainment comparison from beginning of the year to the middle of the year and if you notice very carefully thei which is considered a middle of the year that's where you see the grow uh which that test was taken in January the bo was taken in August um as you look second grade for example um we've added another staff member to provide the additional support that much needed support uh to help us move forward I feel very confident with the work that's been done by our principles along with the rest of our district that you should definitely see some growth in Spring we have new teachers
003uh and uh came in so we're just moving along this path um as you look at seventh grade uh sixth grade and seventh grade again new staff um but they were here a couple Saturdays ago uh on a Saturday getting in-depth training and professional development from our sabath um curriculum uh consultant and I will tell you that some of our staff members stay here afterwards just to go over the information did receive and how to better improve themselves here's the reading again I want to remind you as you look at the data this is data from beginning of the year versus where we are now and again growth we still have a we still have a long ways to go but I am pretty confident that when we look at our data and may that
004there will definitely be some significant changes over time and then we will show you that as we move forward so next steps here's where we are right now we are going to continue after school tutorial and it'll end March 6 as we prepare prep for our I testing we have a greater focus on small group and instruction with gradual release and that's within every single classroom within the district um the plcs are more instructionally focused those are are small groups by grade level and uh often time led by the principal and or M beor providing that additional layer support as well uh we increased uh professional development trainings as I mentioned we had a Saturday one we also had uh book talks in the evening so our staff can come home relax and they get
005on Zoom week and has been every week for about 5 weeks and now they have a finish they have a project they're going to finish up and bring it back so that's been every other Wednesday for the past five weeks um moving forward bur Academy is currently working with air that's American Institute of research to support the current instructional Trends which is an alignment to what uh Illinois State Board of educ ation is requiring us to do um our summer school focus have already submitted uh consideration to both our all three of our schools to begin to look at what are some of those great needs and things that they want to see happening with Summer School uh C you met Middle School uh this is a the launching P right now U planning virtual
006homework help and a virtual homework he it really allows our students to connect directly with their classroom teacher on in a particular content and that will be done through zoom and uh we'll have breakout session so we're in a final station and I believe it should be beginning soon great here is our celebration and I just want you to know we are moving forward these are our students at the our highest risk scor as many students is scored at the 90th percentile or above um one of the takeaways is looking at our kindergarteners and you know our kindergarteners come here excited and ready to move forward it's up to us to keep that excitement flowing not just let it stay there at the kindergarten level um and so our students will be celebrated uh part
007of the students will already we've already talked to but we're getting certificates from the district and um that's it I have a question yes ma'am so what are the uh tools are you guys using for our students I heard you say things virtual so are we giving them uh laptops tablets or what what kind no the the the virtual piece that's the virtual learning for the teachers of professional development that they can actually go home we connect with them at 700 p.m. and it's full 30 minutes of uh they have a book that they have to read that the follow the the um the assignment and we talk about it so that's a teacher professional development that we're now offering uh during the evenings okay um so is it what are we using anything or
008you were referring to homework help yes that's okay I apologize so the homework help itself is using our instructional uh materials that we currently have to provide that an extra layer of support from that content teacher for example uh our students just finished the science fair so if we had that in place our students would able to talk directly to one of our science teachers on their science project virtually so they um and that's that's going to be pretty significant as we move and how do we better manage our time away from the facility um so uh do you think that maybe uh having those yeah that would be kind of helpful as we look at our demographics and we've we've had conversations about our students taking home laptops uh that we have to first
009foremost make sure the affordability and accessibility and we have contracts established where students can take home their laptops we think it's vitally important in this day and times to address that because when our children leave our school setting that's what they use uh Chromebooks all the time or iPads all the time so is really is really imperative on the Middle School side that we begin to equip them for that layer of responsibility before they walk out here okay thank you you're welcome um so terms of instructional materials what are you currently using besides air in terms of um tutoring um and you know based on that particular data uh from the uh materials that you're using um I'm picking in terms of uh the current dat that we're looking ATA and uh so whether those
010programs are working or not working good question so always remember assessments that you do like like a progress managing tool are not necessarily aligned to your your instruction of what you use in the classroom is we need to always focus on the Illinois learning standards currently we are using savath products for both reading and math um we have the less and saus products in both reading and math at the middle school we have an extended contract with the elementary and that was um prior to my arrival we are having uh sabath come in and providing straightforward Hands-On support alignment to our scope and sequence charts that were created by our teachers for teachers so that to ensure that our teachers are not only teaching content but they're teaching a Content that is mandatory in the
011state of Illinois in regards to after school tutorial we're using the resources that we already have in place we're not buying extra resources we're using our technology as well to incorporate that learning as well okay um in terms of uh your core reading program core reading program yes ma'am okay so what does the reading block look like how much so with the reading block you know that consists of not only um so let's talk about an elementary side which is kind of dub tell what goes on in the Middle School side we're really focusing aggressively on gradual release small group instruction differentia instuction which means that we're ensuring that our students are getting their needs needs met we don't have to pull them out of the classroom because what was done in that classroom we
012also have our interventionist them people who are actually pulling students out and providing another layer of support within the last two weeks myself Dr um Alexander and Dr berett Dr saon and I along with some other District uh administrators we're actually going in our groups of students and we're doing guided reading support so they're getting doses of reading every day more outside of the classroom because we're trying to make sure that our kids are as ready as they can be the sixth grade their scores could this be due to the transition from ver to over here where they're not used to departmental and they just have not gotten into that mod of going from class to class I think you I think that's a very valid question there's two things last year we didn't have
013certified staff in those critical areas so so you're right so last year we had fifth grader fifth graders being taught by subs and and then as a sub you may not have that background knowledge and in that classroom aspect so this year we have classroom teachers who are certified and trained so that's going to make a difference that's why I said right now what you see is the beginning phase of what we put in place I feel very confident by Spring that there's going to be a shift just because of the caliber of people that we have in our district this year okay so is there a language barrier also not at all okay good so students cannot use that as an excuse not at all principles are here can attest to that as a
014matter of fact um I was I was at every single one of our open houses and the presentations done by our International staff was outstanding very impressive the the reading is being monitored by myself along with the principles as well and we also have um our interventions that are working and we provide recommendations not a week away immediately so there's a turnover M St just a quick question with the homework for help with the teachers I mean I guess it's the professional development are they getting paid for that everything we do we always make sure that the teachers are being paid is a part of the Union contract yes and they they they getting paid at the CBA it's according to the CBA absolutely okay yes ma'am what thank you what age do you give
015out the laptops for kids but we don't right now we don't send home any laptops so we've doing surveys we've had small group conversations with our staff to talk about is what is that what that's going to look like once if if that's a decision we want to do so we have had multiple meetings we've looked at other school districts that have been doing that so we have not formalized an exact grade level but the expectation is that we make sure that our students on the Middle School side be as prepared as possible so we're probably going going to probably look at what things that need to be done on the Middle School side to ensure that as they transition from here they're ready to go at the high school level so what about the
016uh the little ones when they transfer over to the next SCH so in regards to our our youngest of leaders our youngest of leaders we have a little time to play with but the responsibility of the classroom teacher and that's what we're working closely with them is to make sure that they have those moments that they are actually using the computers immediately when they walk in so all of our classroom teachers have a cart our students go get that that that particular computer that they're assigned to and it's used immediately so as far as home we again there's nothing that's been decided and there's been planning conversations research done miss m has done a questionnaire so we're trying to make sure that we crossed every T and D every eye and we will make sure
017that happens before it is done Mr real quick so with e-learning so just packet go this is so say so we are one to one we're one to one in the school but we're not one to one outside they can't take it that's what I'm hearing so the kids never took the Chromebooks off so from my history and Dr Alexander can speak to that from my history what I was told during Co you guys did have the computers to go home um the e-learning for now is our packet so that's something that's gathered by the principles and we look at them before they're disseminated and letter goes home in time to give the parents enough about them Dr so this conversation um this is not a cut and Dr conversation let's just let's just have
018that understanding uh my Administration we've gone back and forth literally almost to blows uh about what this looks like and let's just understand this taking a computer home means absolutely nothing if there there is no program if there is no uh schedule of learning or a platform of learning right so you can take the same thing you can do on a laptop for the most part you can do on iPad you can do on a phone so the fact of taking a device home that's the easy part that's the easy part put that book bag in the charger have the parents sign it that's the easy part the place where we're not at as a district is that we don't have a Continuum of where learning happens in the classroom and then it streamlines and
019goes home so I as a superintendent I push back on the staff um um ask or request just to send devices home because again if we don't have a plan if we don't have a platform if learning is not streamlined if we can't monitor if we can't assess what's happening then it has no point of Merit so our next steps are we started the research process um we're waiting to get the final data but by far and large if you ask parents and and I'm not saying all but a large per of your parents if you ask them do you need a laptop or a device at home for your kid to do schooling the response would be no so a lot of parents they have computers they have iPads or whatever tablets or whatever
020so again the device is not the barrier we could easily give devices to students you put a contract on it you get the insurance plan you send it home sending the device is the easy part let's just be clear where we as a district struggle that we don't have the the instructional infrastructure in place where the learning that happens that oneon-one learning that happens in the classroom and let's just be honest when Co was here everybody was required to be on Google Classroom because that was your only mod of operation since we've come back to school most districts and most schools have moved away from from that totally virtual world now you still have some high spe teachers who do it they love it it's the only way that they go and you see that
021a lot in the Middle School ages but in the lower areas and in some other classes we do things on the computer but it's not the basis of our instruction and so my ask or my directive to the staff was if you want to do this then we have to tighten up our instructural infrastructure before we push this out I don't believe in just sting computers home for the sake of hey you can go play a game what that computer's going to turn into is is a video game uh a movie station or whatever so we have to get our instructional program together first before we can roll out the program of computers but the send the laptop home is easy so for me I don't think that that's what we were saying is to
022take a laptop home home home to play games there should be programs put together um to to so they can do the work the practice work to prepare them for whatever testings you know at hand so we we have that available and the kids do that the kids are but not in class I'm speaking no at home the kids are doing EXL they do the Blue Street on whatever they choose now if if again we talked I said this there is a percentage of parents who will say yes I need a computer we offered computers to parents was it last year miss m well we offer computers to parents nobody took them but we spent a lot of money and we continue to spend money every year spent a lot of money on technology may
023I say something please Dr Alexander we have paid a lot of money for for Technologies like the program the library program I couldn't get on I asked miss m about she's like oh well we all going to get a laptop I haven't my child haven't got one yet even though she has one but however I haven't been able to get in the program and I'm wondering how many more people progr as far as online programs period all the money that we spent for researching for online programs some of them not teal problem I have not got got yet I can't speak to what you're speaking of but what Miss Dixon what I would say is talk to your te your child's teacher and the principal take the problem I had I couldn't get on I
024couldn't get technical help I spoke with Miss M what did you tell me Miss oh okay sorry well she told me that all the kids going to get a laptop and that was the end of that we I'm not sure what that's what's the what's when you saying that um it was a what is the percentage give me a roundout figure of the percentage of parents said that they do not need one because I do know when you're using these cell phones they are you can't you cannot see the whole entire screen and if you take if kids take it things home for the laptop or Chromebooks home for practice even so you can we cannot rely on that that parent have a Chromebook or a laptop at home and what is what about just
025hypothetically if it's that 15% of students that do not even have one so you we have to look overall I never knew that the kids couldn't take the Chrome books home because if we was on the Google Classroom platform during Co then that should have just carried over because then you have once again you have Google classroom in your classroom it's not to say that all the work is done on there however with teachers okay go to Google Classroom I put the assignment I put the do down work on there or whatever the kids know cuz coming out of Co they know I need to check the Google classroom cuz my teacher put something there so that's what that's what I'm saying so what is the percentage of those parents that that said they didn't
026need one and we have to look at the totality of all of it well so everything you're saying is correct I don't disagree with anything you're saying prior to me coming here that it was already a past thought so that practice was not in place when I got here we're I think we're just getting to this conversation um the administration brought it to me probably October maybe November and we've been talking about it since then so again one of the things I said to them is that it's difficult when our expectation is not that you're using Google Classroom as your sole source of instruction um so again that's that's that has not been the district's expectation nor has it been the practice so that's where we're trying to move to at this point my directive
027to the staff was um our kids already have the ability to uh log on to the different uh games or the apps that they have at home uh um but when we talk about the real learning platform the curriculum the textbooks that is something we have not pushed out so that is part of the conversation uh and we're working to figure out what the plan is again it's not about the physical computer that's the easy part for us it was more about trying to figure out the learning platform um that learning would happen on I'm just trying to figure out in this equation it feels like we've been having a confer like this for a while we we have similar strategies and there some movement does to be significant movement so I've been trying to
028figure is it culture is it infrastructure what is you feel to be at this wall and I can't figure out what get this pump to get us to the space where we can see more significant improvements about professional development we talk about um some some assistance some programs after school some on the you know some during this the spring but in the three years almost four years that I've been in this chair we always seem there's always a butt were getting there so I'm trying to figure out what is missing that we have not at that we well with you on that I think there is a lot of butts in education period um you talked about culture we deal our we have a very uh diverse Community from a racial standpoint social economic standpoint
029values of Education standpoint we deal with that at the school we're Community School we have to deal with whatever lands on our door academically uh this district has had a lasting uh tenure of underperformance so it's very difficult in one year two years even three years to flip that coin over um this is the first time and I've been this is my third year here where 96% staed my first year here we were like 50 you know and so it's been difficult uh Miss love brought up the point looking at the fifth and sixth graders last year four fifth grades we had four Subs you know fourth grade I think had three subs and rolled them out uh right now at middle school I'm still down a a reading teacher seventh grade last year I
030was down reading and Math teachers at multiple grade levels so there are a lot of butts and those butts turn into barriers and stepb backs but I'm determined if my staff we're determined to move forward despite that um so yeah we do probably more professional development than most we have a lot of teachers in our district who um could really benefit from a refresher on teaching strategies uh a deeper knowledge of pedagogy and instruction so that that's really where this is coming from uh we struggle with after school you all know it we we have after school program every day the whole year it's a struggle to get children to come it's a struggle to get parents to sign their kids up and so those butts are the reasons why our data is inconsistent those
031buts are the reason why we're at the brink of great change and Innovation but we still have setbacks so I look at it more as what are we going to continue to do to make gradual progress versus what's that one magic ticket that's going to shoot us over the move so I agree I mean it's it's a work in progress uh I don't think this year is going to solve it I think I mean it took many years for our district to get this deep in school Improvement it's going to take many years get the district out just one last thing so you saying they do not have the educational programs on their Chromebooks now when they're in the classroom what is what's on those Chromebooks I'm pretty sure you have some curriculum if they're
032using everything is moving shifting to online we do understand that you have to do some things physically however what's on the Chromebook now because I'm not understanding what you saying that we do not have those educational programs I didn't say we don't have the program but you saying I said we don't we don't have the infrastructure meaning if the district has never given the directive that Google classroom and all of the digital components of Google Classroom are your sole source of instruction the district has never given that directive therefore some teachers will teach off of Google some teachers will every teacher uses the device they use the programs the different apps uh some teachers use it more but because there's never been a directive to say this is the only thing that you can do
033you have to use this textbook you have to use that program because we've never given that directive we're not there yet so that's what I'm saying we have to improve we have all the programs teachers have access to it we have uh yes that's what I going say we have a program called clever and clever ties in every app every program that we have why is it that we can't I just said that we can't okay so why excuse me it it's not that we can't we can it it's just a process that's where we're trying to go that's that's the whole thing of what Miss Bates is saying we're trying to do more Innovative things to change the dynamic so it's not that we can't do it we're trying to clear those butts so
034that we can okay just one last thing if you're using the platform clever and clever when the students log in clever they see everything they see their curriculum they see the books online I Exel may canas all of these things so even though you just said that Google Classroom is not a director from the district if the students brought the Chromebook home they can still access clever if the teacher tell them this is what we're doing on Clever go to your book social studies or what and do page five that's the homework ore that's more practice so I don't understand I'm trying to understand what's the infrastructure you saying because everybody do not have to use Google classroom but the kids have access to all of the curriculums on Clever and all of the resources
035and and supplemental resources on Clever so I'm not understanding what you said about the whole entire infrastructure Google Classroom is just one so you're correct you're 100% correct about everything and you're saying but there goes that but again the butt is because we have never given a directive that this is your sole source of instruction that's not what's happening some teachers we have some Dynamic teachers especially in Middle School who everything they do is technology technology technology some teachers it's you get on technology especially in the younger grades when you go to your guided practice centers you may get on to do the math program or the reading program and that's it so again what my focus is or my goal is is to change the culture of what instruction looks like if we say
036that we want to move to a fully digital uh platform of learning that means every teacher from preschool all the way through 8th grade is expected to this is how you deliver your instruction that's not what the expectation has been that's where I'm trying to get the expectation to go so you're not saying anything wrong we have all the devices we have the programs however that just has not been how all the teachers are teaching they may just take P bits and pieces of it they may just say go do 10 minutes and centers on your computer whereas you have some teachers you walk in the classroom you get your computer off the cart you do your your your your beginning work you do now you go to your folder there's your assignment email me
037your homework we have the gamut from almost no Tech technology to supercharge technology the goal and Miss Brown will use your word again the culture has to shift and the expectation has to shift where everybody has the same mind frame so part of that is and Miss bites and this is Dr uh Miss Bates and Dr savon's Lane what professional development do we need to put in place we have international teachers who they didn't have this type of technology in that country so again it's not just let's let's start this program tomorrow we have to get our teachers prepared we have to make sure that our teachers understand what the communication piece between it looks like um and so that's where we want to go and that's what we're preparing for and so you professional
038you can never have enough professional devel correct you can never but you have international teachers here that are not familiar with this so how are they getting trained and informed and again I'm speaking in terms of students taking La laptops Chromebooks whatever it is home to practice for testing Miss B you just talked about um whatever is coming up the IR okay so you have that's coming so why that was just my question why can't the students be prepared to utilize that technology piece just to help them with the IRA that's all so that that's our goal so I I think we're saying the same thing but but you're saying about Miss Brown saying the culture you know this is been you know we keep talking about this and this and that but when is
039that going to be taking place cuz it's it's about too late right now so we've accepted that part we're not at this point it talked about well I I I apologize it's a whole lot a bus right but when this came about in November December and then we really start having deep conversation towards the turn of the year that's what we are so we recognize that testing is a less than a month so that's why we have all the other modes of uh remediation and touring and support for the students so I'm not fighting that the taking a device home it would allow you for support that's not the issue we're just trying to make sure we have everything instructionally in place so that taking the device home will be more than just the kid
040on the computer they're structured instruction for them to follow that's all okay thank you can I just say one more thing so at at this point there's no computers taking home we know it's late in the we know it's late in the game so where are you at what point are you at the point with okay let's try to see how many devices we have that maybe they can take this home are you at the point okay let's see if the students have the parents have to sign up so they can get insurance because sometimes it's not the District cost insurance may be $50 for the parent or where where are we in this process or are we going to be I know this your last but are we going to be at the point
041for next year everything is in place so students can take the devic on the infrastructure that you saying everybody do not need to be okay you're a teacher I'm a teacher you do mostly things on digital I'm like paper and Pen especially with the younger kids they need paper and Pen they need know how to write so everybody is not going to be at the same place cuz what we're leaving out is the creativity that a teacher may have so therefore we cannot say the whole entire District we going in a digital platform no paper and Pen we cannot do that that's that's a dis servance to our students so our plan uh and what we've just talked about is rolling it out now so that by the time school starts in August at the
042beginning of school every kid will have their device and it's theirs for the the year um you talked about you just I think I lost um so everything we have is paper and digital so they got the textbooks as well as the online component that's everything that we have so again it's not a resource issue right it's just a chi in culture that's not where we were that's where we're trying to go that's really the only thing all right thank you um cons agenda item suggested motion here being here I move that the Board of Education approved the consen items a b c d and e as presented may have a motion have the motion motion by Miss Dixon second second second by Miss story question m [Music] I just have A1 remov question A1
043person close session A1 C1 B1 and two and E okay let's let's let's let's refocus so listen U you can ask questions uh ask questions on those okay so you can ask the questions now I yes ma'am but please you know be mindful the time so question well I question because reason I feel as this is important because know things are changing okay me I'm just saying that for the sake of time but you all just all time talking about computers now you going to tell me well you know do my stuff pass well here here here here's to that here's to that point that was the no it was not that was the superintendent's report that was the superintendent report but we did not get that we don't get that ahead of time the
044superintendent's report was presented here tonight only we don't see that prior but the but the the uh the budget and all of the business questions the funds and all that we get those we get them ahead of time we get them a week before for the meeting and in any questions you can ask your questions but I'm just saying M sake for the time sake you're talking about this is the is the superintendent's report right this is what she just presented this was in our book in our package got it and so again that's a superintendent report Miss B just presented it tonight so that was that wasn't presented to us prior to she just talked about we ask questions on but again you can ask your questions but I'm just saying for the time
045sake if you have a th000 questions on the budget what I'm just saying I'm just being sarcas right now don't don't take it don't take it to but I'm just saying you can ask some questions but I'm just saying for the time sake please okay let see is is you are you prepared to answer question but I have questions on the bills definitely thank you I tell you what those questions are okay on page 17 what program did we have in January and this also happened in December well we're paying uh we're paying $1,690 $699 10 for security what do we have CU I don't remember being invited to anything and this happened last month also do you have so miss love when you look at the security bill this encompasses everything that security does
046it's SEC the security cost for each building so no each building has their own price that's look at it January for security Bo is $3,899 70 Security Service of boa January is 3,600 mean 3,899 71 and the total is not $1,699 and10 the total is $2,317 74 so I was going to get to I was trying to answer so in here this is all of January and then we have the bills from December that were capitulated in here so they were behind the month in the bills now you said this happened in the previous month yes the same thing was done in December because I asked the questions about the same thing okay I don't recall that in December but I do know because you made the same statement these are for the three buildings
047and I said no they're not for the three this is the late payment so that I do know but December was the same amount like 10,000 that's pretty much what a that's pretty much what a month of security is for this building on for the district no you can't be for the whole District if you add up B K met and um boa that 11,000 is pretty much what it is December remember we had a few short of days are you looking at the same thing I'm looking at I'm not sure I'm trying to Compu check it [Music] out as the as part of our board agreements if you could send your questions ahead of time I can get the information so that I can provide you response but right now I can't my answers
048on record well I everything is email so I go back excuse me excuse me okay here love for for that for the record if a board member asks a question to the superintendent one knows all go one knows all knows he sends it to the board the whole entire board if you ask a specific question he's going to answer you and then like every week he sent it out to the whole entire board that a particular board member asks a y and z and then we all know that is not what I'm concerned about but you just answer on record and your answer would be on record if you for the board but for the residents ma'am ma'am what we're not going to do right now it's on tape that's what I just want we're
049not going to do we're not going to do this tonight let's not put the superintendent on glass I'm not putting them on GL these are surprises that we said that we all agreed I'm quite sure board members are aware that we don't do any surprises so if you want to move on to the next question okay here's my next question okay on page 36 Professional Service Treasurer second order we paid him $$ [Music] 42,546 okay is that's the second quarter we paid it we pay him four times a year right yes ma'am okay each time we pay him $2,545 we pay around that amount because every quarter we pay around that 40 something, m so are we have a contract with the Treasures Office office that has a set payment and then anything additional that
050uh is costed to the district we have to pay so if they put we just paid a bill this morning uh of them putting um our Publications in the newspaper when they have to do additional audits or additional processing and they have to hire additional Consultants whatever per our agreement we pick up our share of that so that's why the number fluctuate a little bit but we have a contract that that's be PID but my other question is this I just read uh last week no this week that our auditor cannot do their audit because the treasurer has not done his part so we're in limbo right now trying to get our audit done so what is this Treasurer doing if we're paying him hundred and some OD thousand a year and he can't get
051our audit so uh answer your question the challenge has been that that we are the Treasure's office there were some accounting um abnormalities that resulted from the treasure prior to the currently so they just just approve the 2023 audit the 2024 audit is supposed to be presented soon which has slowed up all of the other districts because they ring on aits 2023 2024 which had been delayed uh because of some sta Transitions and by honestly Some Inc confidence within theas office prior to and we knew this some am I we knew they always be behind in addition we've been behind with the Treasures Office since I've been here right so even prior uh even prior to that so that's part of what Miss Brown is talking about them cleaning up the office getting some fresh
052Personnel in there cleaning up processing so uh honestly we're in better shape than we were last year because last year we didn't get the uh audit approves I think till June so we're hoping to have it very soon at the end of February so we're in better shape than we were last year okay my last question uh can someone tell me uh one month we saw a form saying if there was $1,000 for students activity where we find that it's never listed in our paperwork so where where is that listed Dr Army can you answer that and so I I have a Reconciliation statement that I do every month um I receive a bank statement and then reconcile deposits that have come in and checks that have been written um and that's done at the
053beginning of every month once I get the bank statement that's something that I can absolutely share with the board each month that's I can share with the superintendent superintendent can share it with the board if that's your request yeah thank you the board you you guys agree yes you can share it with us okay thank you that so moving forward I will make sure that the activity fund uh is a part of the board packet one of the reasons you don't see it is because the activity fund reconciliation is not required to be approved by the board so everything in the board packet is uh um action items whereas the activity fund is not so that's why it's not there uh but we can find a mechanism to make sure that it's published thank you
054oh that's right I'm sorry so A1 and C1 can we uh to separate vote um so it's consider gen High than what A2 A3 B2 B1 I'm sorry B1 B2 and C2 D1 and E1 yeah motion and she motion yeah um so it was a transfer of money to working cash from the capital project fund right yes ma' what was that Capital um project fund that was to pay the district share of the um the Gil facility that was built okay thank you all right Brown Dixon yes goar absent Kim love yes story yes Parris yes okay item a 2 A3 B C2 d and e carry okay thank you um A1 we going to table that one um come back later to do that and so now it's just C1 so we have a
055motion motion for what and have a second questions so um this this travel that's supposed to take place in April I concerned that the elections are April I'm trying to understand why would beard MERS on theard years to conf uh one not KN the of the El add want to ask you want to it now yes okay you want want me to answer please okay well there's three seats that's open and there's only three of us on the B now that's just as simple as that so we already know what the outcome of that going to be so why have an election so don't ask me that's just the way that's just the way it is now I mean it again that's your decision in your mind framew as far as the travel but again
056that's conference that's called professional development as well and so you know how that looks if we all participate in and we can know what to do at the table well it's worked out not for us so well it's it never worked out for certain individual because they never go so may have I I have a question also yeah sure okay this money whoever can answer it what line does this money come from for our staff development for board members Dr Army would you like to answer that is this a where in the budget what function code she where is theone category does it come from uh it comes from discretionary it's it's from can answer that argument it comes from so we budget every year for board member uh professional development and travel so that's
057purchase Services specifically for board members okay how much do we how much do we use uh that I I don't have the budget in front of me uh but I do know that we cut the budget this year because last year we didn't have every so when we start the budget process we look at the it's traditionally four conferences that board members attend excuse me we budget so that all seven could attend all four conferences and So based on the trend of our board some board members go some don't so we were able to reallocate those funds to other line items um I want to say it was close to 50,000 maybe that's just off the top of my head but we did bring that number down significantly from the previous year so my next
058my other question is if you don't use the money do you lose it or does it roll you just put into so whatever is not used in the budget it sits on our fund balance so it rolls over to the next okay don't lose anything good so who motion story motion and I think it was Kim I know it was Dix I think Dixon which I written down Story made the motion Dixon second the motion okay thank you call John yes no Dixon yes goar absent G yes love no story yes Paris yes item C1 Carri thank you uh 71 have to table that one for um conversation there um so it's now is yes 72 suggested motion be here by move that the Board of Education approve the 2025 spring gray Camp plan at
059the total cost $269 28.94 as presented I have a motion motion by Miss Brown second second by okay yeah um this is the spren break Camp right okay why was there a large decrease um of 13,000 19375 for food service this year from that of last year WEA that con sure so last year we uh use an outside caterer if you remember last year we had just a dash as our district food service provider they were not able to provide that level of food support our current providers organic life they are so they're going to be providing that service Food Service food service so essentially we're being priced uh the Government rate from justtin I'm sorry from organic life which is different than if you bought it privately and we understood that as well M
060love you said you have question yes I do how are the students selected for the after school I mean for this program Miss I thought she was we can we we have the presentation ready we can we can the presentation know what I'm talking about okay so um springway Camp um we be sending out information to our entire learning community of C School District 132 parents will have an opportunity to sign up and is free of charge and and um they have to complete a registration pack of information and it's submitted and approved and we just move on so this is a picture from last year um the camp this year will be held here in C we're going to be using our new gymnasium as well as our old gymnasium so the old gymnasium
061students will come in for breakfast and then they'll come over here for activities um the activities include so uh if approved we'll start Mar marketing tomorrow the 21st uh the goal is to to register 75 students uh since we've started this this is our third year we've had over a 100 but roughly 75 to 80 students show up daily uh invitations will also be mailed Flyers will be distributed and posted on the website and the camp will be held as I mentioned in our new G gymnasium Transportation will be available for those who qualify based on what uh those who are um uh using bus transportation now and our cater healthy breakfast and lunch along with a plethora of snacks all day long what will what we what we plan to offer great fun and
062that's key because these are students that are going to be home this is not coming to CET sitting at a desk this is coming to us with their t-shirts on having an opportunity to work with an incredible group uh from work study Enterprise Mr Mrs and their staff so they're bringing more staff members to accommodate our growing needs which is really awesome we're also planning to weather permitting our children are going to be planting outside flowers around in our Courtyard because we planning on using that courtyard this spring so we want to beautify it so our students will have that opportunity again if weather permitting they're going to be using those two classrooms outside of the gymnasium as well so um that's kind of our our piece but the beauty of this program is having
063Mr and Mrs Mitchell not only are they incredible people they have a gift for supporting and caring for students and they have been an incredible um access to this this process we have our we'll have two of our security guards and of course our daily supervision from the staff here uh K met uh PSD 132 and that's a beautiful thing to be to have it in our own home absolutely absolutely we don't have to pay for it cor as that old as that old saying there's no place like home exactly and so there no place like us being here so this is a breakdown as what Dr Alexander mentioned yes we had an outside cater we're using our cater room from within um we've have snacks our kids look forward to having to snacks with
064them during the day and they take home snacks home every single day um we have our pray professionals will have someone for our nursing staff and of course those colorful t-shirts so you see the breakdown of a car for the bus transportation and security are basically the same from last year okay thank you for my questions yes ma'am since we're using this gym have you thought about what you said you going to send out you're only getting about 75 students but you know that when you over here the older kids are going to see that the building is open and they're going to be tempted to come in because they are crazy about that gym so what are we going going to do that's a very good question that's a very good question we will
065have other structured activities for our teenagers so as long as they've signed up because we can't have them in because of course the building technically is closed so they have to sign up and parent will have to sign the registration it'll be open for them to be a part of our activities because we're going to be using this whole side for our children okay so you will have more than 75 students here if they sign are going to select just 75 no we don't we don't we it's open to every single I'm yes it's open to every single child Miss bab yes so miss love um it's a struggle to be quite honest to get to 75 kids for spring break no not with this building not this year okay I I can I can
066only I can only speak to what we've done in the past go to the center and so we we I started a program at re students couldn't just go over there correct so what I'm saying is when we started the program that was our agreement with the Rex it had to be controlled entry only the students we allow right the big kids don't sign up for it your middle school I think in the two years we've done we might have had three middle school kids that signed up for the program so big kids don't sign up um the there will be a difference having it here at Kali met versus having it at the rec center at the rec center there's more offerings than what we have here they have skating they have the outside
067playground um so they're able to do a little more things outside so we just have to be more creative on what to do in the building and then with limited space your your question about kids coming in just because of building open we've never had a practice or a culture of we have open gym or if you see the doors open come in that's never been an issue um so with after with the spring great Camp the parents sign them in uh when they pick drop them off sign them out when they pick them up the kids on the bus they're signed in as well so it's a very controlled process well I'm not concerned about there it being an issue my thing is I want to make sure that we have enough staff to
068cover those older children that kind of ease in and just look at I'm hopefully basketball so that's the point I'm making you can't we can't do that we've never had an open gym over here though but even what I'm saying right now we don't have open gym now when we go to the rec center the rec center is closed to everybody but our spring break program so kid there is no open gym during our spring break program at the rec center so we've never had the issue of of random kids coming in it's closed the same thing here it will be closed it will be closed here absolutely if they're not signed up correct they're not allowed in right that's simple you're Fair professional you only have two so so the time with our students
069will arrive here right at 8 and we'll have opportunity for hot breakfast and they go they'll walk down this path here inside for their first round of activity which is normally a motivational song U and then they start in their small groups and they break off into theirs so there would be plenty of I think you over what time uh pardon what time is it over uh 2:30 so it's just essentially a full day of schol full day and that's why we're providing how lunch and breakfast thank you U okay I'm asking questions why um we went down to a pair professional we had four because uh Works Enterprise increase increase their numbers oh they increase their sta yes they inre St their staff their staff is included in ,000 all right so other thing
070was U the bus yes how do the children qualify for the bus this is all about the registration process of them catching a bus here to school every day we don't cover that we don't make adjustments it's according to if they're on the bus during the regular school year they're on the they the bus is offer for them during spring grade only those students who are actually already on the bus will be considered for bus transportation not those who are not on the bus during the reg are you going to select the children who are on the bus during the regular school year in order to use the bus because Miss love so what's happening is if you are already on the bus that when you register and you qualified for bus service then you
071is you automatically could continue using that bus service so those who are car riders and Walkers they didn't qualify during the school year so they do not qualify now but you have 75 kids students 800 that's the state law with love that's not our rule that's the state law STW what you talking busing I'm not questioning the bus you just question is that you only have 75 kids coming the program they not for sure but we're paying $2,297 for the bus but only those that are catching the bus now that sign up for the program are going to be the only ones that come so if we have just five kids who are on the bus now and they have signed up we got five five kids on that yellow school bus and we're paying
072this money for it they so the the reality the reality is love is we have to provide as part of our legal um responsibility fake free and free and public education we have to provide that Transportation if a kid crosses or has to cross 127 Street we have to provide transportation if they have to cross ashon if they have to cross fromont we have to provide transportation so even if it is five kids on that bus that's what we have to provide that's law you know what I have time you people talking is if I don't know what I'm talking about I have a valid question because we're paying this money for this bus and I'm trying to validate if we have five kids on there then you pay for five kids for one week
073$2,297 because these kids were on the bus before on already on the bus now that's what I'm question about because it seemed like if you going to bust somebody for one week you almost can bust the whole 75 kids so miss love according to state law and according to state law they have the bus service so even let's just take out spring break if it's regular school and on one bus if we have let say 30 well just hear with me I know what you saying for the one week if we had 30 kids and then and there only five kids get on that bus that cost is still going to remain the same it's not going to alter so therefore that's why you cannot go and bus all of the kids because their car
074riders are Walkers thank you I'm moving on can we get a roll call John yes Brown Dixon yes goar at Kim love yes story yes Harris yes motion Carri approval of adop approval to adopt the 2025 property tax relief Grant tax inv batement resolution 24-25 suggested motion being hereby move that the Board of Education approve of resolution 24 Das security to stay ready again resolution 4-25 authorizing a property tax advancment grant for tax years 2024 and 2025 may have a motion motion by Miss Brown second second second by Miss disc roll call Brown yes Dixon yes goar ABS Kimo love story yes number four um approval of adoption of policies press plus issue 117 suggested motion hereby move that the Board of Education approve the revised I'm sorry revisions to the board policies that were
075first read at the board meeting on December 19th 2024 as presented may I have a motion motion by I'm sorry motion by Miss Brown in second second by we be able to um have what we had before uh with the other I think it was 116 we had a committee of a whole meeting and went through the entire policy we do that againi to and if you had any questions about this policy and I had spoken to you prior too as well I spoke toad yes Dixon yes abson Kimo yes love yes story yes Harris yes motion Carri thank you five uh five and six we're going to take we'll take it we come back um dare any public comments if intended to speak please put out any comments comment no um I'm going to
076give my my two minutes right now this is the the conference that I attended early in the in the month on um advocating of Education National level in Washington DC experience my experience in Washington DC reinforced the importancy of advocacy beyond the monthly board meeting as school board members our road extends far beyond local discussions we must take our voices to legislators ensuring they understand the real impact of their decisions on our students schools and communities one of the highlights of this trip was the meeting the esteemed congresswoman Maxine Waters as a fierce advocate for Education she along with the other leaders challenged the Ed Department of Education on critical issues part um particularly funding Cuts witnessing the witnessing these efforts firsthand emphasiz it how vital it is for us to speak up and be
077persistent and demand action for the future of our Educators education a key takeaway from this session I attended the one of the workshops and um it was it was a power of community engagement and I shared with the fellow attendees how our district approaches these issues ensuring families have access to workshops resources and clear guidance on school policies and procedures unlike some of the other districts that um gave their presentations or make statements they sent their teachers to the homes and encourage parent inv uh involvement and an approach that can be Educators at risk could put Educators at risk but we Focus equipment I mean sorry equipping the parents with tools they need to navigate the education system additionally as board members we must be vigilant remain Vigilant and be engaged it is not enough
078to simplify to hold a seat a position and not be involved we must be actively involved stay informed and truly know our staff understanding their challenges and successes allows us to make inform decisions that positively posibly impact our schools attending national conferences like this is more than just listening it's about learning and implementing and sharing it's not enough to just gather information we must bring it to the community to our community and engage the stakeholders take actionable steps to improve our district advocacy is ongoing and it's our responsibility to ensure that every decision we make keeps students at the Forefront so again we can sit here all day long staff and see the board sit here all day long and talk about what it looks like to go to conferences is being informed that's our
079job who would have thought that I had opportunity to meet this maxing Waters and we sit here and we watch them right now on the news talking about cutting funding we should be more proactive that's all thank you you miss it but thank you miss m take this now we can go in the close session motion to go in close session get our if you want you said you going take youres all right Miss love a sense of a goose a story of teamwork when you see geese flying along in be formation you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly in that way as each bird flips and flaps his wings it creates uplift for the bird immediately following by flying in the v formation the whole flock add at least
08071% greater flying range than if the bird in front flew on its on lesson people who share a common Direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily because they're traveling on the thrust of another whenever a goose falls out of formation it suddenly feels the dra the drag and trans and resistance of flying of trying to fly alone and quickly get back in formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immedi immediately in front lesson if we have as much sense as a Goose we will stay information with those who are headed where we want to go and be willing to accept their help as well as give ours to others when the GLE Goose gets tired it rotates back into formation and another goose
081flies at the front position lesson it pays to take turns during the Tas and sharing leadership the geese inform formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed lesson we need to make sure our honking from behind is encouraging and not something else when a goose gets sick or wounded two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to protect it they stay with it until it is able to fly again or dies then they launch out on their own starting another formation or catch up with the flock lesson if we have as much sense as Gees we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong that's [Applause] it anyone else so treasure no signific updates except that there is movement we
082approved a 2023 AIT and there was T4 a be coming shortly um there were two candidates position um that that fin I did uh some time and actually go and talk to the trustees to encourage them to hire wisely given the circumstances that caused us to be in behind with documents they assured me that they hurt me but the decision about who gets hired as a as the trustee as the treasure is not ours is to the TR the township um the only thing that to know is um there was some some uh meure problem CA then they're trying to track down hundred and some thousand that seems to have been posted to a account um getting closer to it but it perhaps speaks to the scariness of what happened prior not not the best
083hires um in that position so perhaps even further argument uh for hopefully hiring a better candidate as Mr shanes that's my I have thank you I'm just to say for my two minutes piggy backing on Miss Love talk pigy back in on on this love I hope and pray as a as a board when this turn over that we can work together because if we're behind it's going to put school behind so until we get it together it's not going to be any together we playing or however we moving it's not going to work so I'm say that to say this the next two years that I'm on this board I hope we can come together as a unit or either just look like maybe we can come together as that would be good enough
084for me that's all I have to say thank you I just want to say I'm excited about this um spring break Camp um last year I did attend and um helped serve and play little games with the students so I'm excited to see how it's going to shape up here and I know the students I'm excited that we have it in our own facility and not at the rec center so maybe one day I I know one day I'll come just to see how it's going and um in the classrooms and things of that nature so I'm looking forward to it so I'm really really excited about the spring break account so keep up the good work with that thank you being hereby moved at the Board of Education go into close session for a
085discussion pursuit to section 2 C3 of the open meetings act to consider the reason establishing or filling a vacancy on the public body information regarding appointment employment or dismissal of an employee or officer contracts grievances negotiations pending threatened and or imminent litigation real estate student discipline superintendence and or board evaluation performances may I have a motion motion by m second second second by Miss call John yes di yes goar abson Kimo love yes story yes Parris yes motion Carri to 721 thank you