001Good morning everybody. We're going to call this special meeting to order. I want to thank all of you for taking the time early this morning and your flexibility. I know this is very tough on parents and and stakeholders who again are engaging in this very very difficult process um as we discuss school consolidations. But we appreciate you uh and your flexibility. Uh Adil, can you do the roll call, please? >> Yes. Today is Tuesday, October 14th, 2025. The time is 9:01 a.m. Uh roll call. Wymer >> here. >> Pink >> here. >> Oakdike here. Salem >> here. >> Anderson >> here. >> Hernandez >> here. Uh next item up is our approval of the meeting agenda. Andrew, >> I move that the board approve today's meeting agenda as presented. >> Second. >> Wymer, >> yes.
002>> Pinker, >> here. I'm a yes. >> Yes. >> Salem, >> yes. >> Anderson, >> yes. >> Hernandez, >> yes. >> Uh, the next item up is the appointment of board officer. So, again, good morning to all of you. Before we begin our special meeting agenda, I want to take a moment to address the deeply troubling news that became public last Thursday. The United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois filed criminal charges against former Superintendent Dr. Devon Horton for acts he allegedly committed while leading Evans Skooki School District 65. The allegations include receiving unauthorized kickbacks from consultants related to contracts he personally executed as well as misusing a district issued credit card for personal benefit. Dr. Horn served as a superintendent from June 2020 to June 2023. These charges are the result of
003a thorough two-year investigation by the United States Department of Education. The district was aware of the ongoing investigation and provided its full support. During this time, the district complied with the federal request to maintain confidentiality. I want to be absolutely clear that no current or former board members, district administrators, or employees are criminally implicated in this matter, nor were they ever subjects of the investigation. No one in the district leadership or board had knowledge of the alleged kickback scheme. If these allegations are proven true, this represents a profound betrayal of the trust placed in the former superintendent by the school board and community. It is unconscionable that anyone charged with leading in the best interest of students and taxpayers would engage in this kind of alleged misconduct. Since first learning of these allegations, the board
004of the administration took swift and proactive steps to fully support the federal investigation. The board at that time also charged the current administration to re review our own financial systems with an independent adviser and strengthen our safeguards for contract approvals and purchasing card usage. These changes have led to enhanced accountability and added structure based on best financial practices. These have been presented and discussed publicly at multiple board meetings over the past year. The US attorney has indicated it will seek full financial restitution for the district as part of the criminal penalties. If those measures are not sufficient, the district will consider additional civil actions to protect taxpayers interest. We know this news is deeply troubling. It goes against everything we stand for as a school system and as a community. District 65 is built on
005a deep commitment to students, equity, and public trust. And while this moment is painful, it's also important to recognize how much progress has been made over the past two years to strengthen accountability, transparency, and financial oversight. We will continue to support the United States Department of Education as justice is sought on behalf of our community. On Friday morning, a detailed statement and accompanying FAQ regarding the indictment was issued and is publicly available on our website at district65.net. We will continue to keep our community informed as we are legally able to share new information. Finally, I want to acknowledge our staff, families, and community members who remain so deeply dedicated in their support of our students in our schools. Your care and commitment are what defined District 65, not the alleg alleged actions of of one
006individual. With your partnership, which is more important than ever, we will keep moving forward to rebuild trust, uphold excellence, and ensure District 65 reflects the pride we all share in our schools. Thank you. And with that, um, just I'm going to say that I will be stepping down as board president. Um, I got to say it's been an honor and a privilege to serve as the first Latin name president uh in this body. Uh, we've I' I've accomplished a couple of things. We've expanded uh programs that service multilingual students across the district in my tenure. Um we have framed um equity and the work that we do through the equity journey continue which is a nexus of my work at the state board uh around student uh uh uh supporting students uh elevating educators and
007and ensuring that the climate is the best possible for our students in all of our schools. Um and um again, it's just been an honor to to to really really try to um incorporate an equity lens in the work that we continue to do and to seek justice for all students, in particular our most marginalized student populations. So with that, I'll hand it over to uh Dr. Pinker. Um, Sergio, I first just want to say thank you um, as being the vice president, how you've helped me understand um, this position and for all you've done. Also want to say that since the position of president is now vacant, as vice president, I ask my board colleagues if there are any nominations, including self-nominations for the position of board president. I seek a motion from my
008board colleagues to elect a new board president. I move that the board elect Pat Anderson as board president to fill the vacancy in the office and to serve the remainder of the board president's term per board policy. >> Second. >> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Wymer. >> Yes. >> Hank. >> Yes. >> Optek. >> Yes. >> Salem. >> Yes. >> Anderson. >> Yes. >> Hernandez. >> Yes. >> Congratulations. [Applause] I want to uh thank the community um in my new position as board president, but I would like to give some remarks because this is a very humbling and serious moment. I don't take this lightly. Um, I'd like to center my remarks in a quote by James Baldwin that I think is particularly fitting at this time locally and nationally. Not everything
009that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. District 65 is facing some difficult realities, but we are working towards meaningful solutions. I would like to thank the Evson community for electing me to the board this past May. My desire to serve in this capacity is based on my extensive District 65 institutional knowledge and personal experience with the closure of Bessie Rose School. I bring all of that wisdom with me into this role. I continue to ground my service in my other campaign tenants of community, equity, and integrity. I do not minimize your trust in my commitment during this tumultuous time. My gratitude also extends to my fellow board members and the district administration as we commit ourselves to the continued processes needed to build district 65 into the
010educational beacon it can be. I am thankful to the members of all the district 65 bargaining units and parents and caregivers who remain dedicated to providing a positive educational experience for our students. I will continue to work collaboratively with all of these sectors in a shared vision as district 65 centers educational excellence of our students and addresses the challenges with creativity and open communication. I call for continued engagement from all sectors of the Evston community with a goal of expanded collaboration. We need creative solutions to ensure participation from members that are negatively targeted. Continued support is needed from the advocates for the new foster school to ensure a stellar opening. Let's turn the light back on in the lighthouse. Thank you. [Applause] >> Any other board comments? >> Okay. Um so this is a um
011statement um written by myself and Maria uh because of OMA laws uh rules no more two of us are going to uh can do this. So SDRP3 reflections and next steps. We want to start by saying how much we respect and appreciate the SDRP3 process and all of the community members, staff, and partners who contributed to it. From the beginning, our understanding was that there were three strands of work happening in parallel, facilities, finance, and programming, and that the goal was for these to for those to ultim ultimately be braided together. Our assumption was that this braiding would happen not only through district analysis but also through conversations amongst committees themselves allowing community members to wrestle collectively with the difficult balance between fiscal reality building utilization and the kind of programming that defines a highquality
012equitable education. In fairness, we think this process has been more about facilities and less about how programming and financial strategies can help us round out, contextualize, and even rethink some of the building based conclusions. The quantitative data from SDRP3 is strong. I want to say it is strong. It is strong. We do not dispute the numbers, but we do believe that how we interpret and act on the data depends on the models we layer on top of it. Models that consider new ways of using our spaces, new partnerships, and new programmatic configurations. In that respect, the process and scenarios are somewhat incomplete. We do not have a shared vision of what we are trying to accomplish beyond the utilization of our buil build buildings and financial sustainability. These are important factors but are missing educational
013e excellence and long-term outcomes. In that sense, we can't evaluate the scenarios as provided against that vision. In understanding how communities learn through their spaces, we can help us see the opportunity opportunity here. We think we can build on what we know we can build on what STRP3 has given us and now begin the next phase developing innovative models that integrate schools, city facilities and civic partnerships in new ways. This could mean thinking of a school not only as a school but perhaps as a shared site, a school in a library or a school and a recreation space, especially in areas of the city that lack those resources. We've centered walkability as a core value and we understand why. But walkability alone cannot be the only model we consider. We also need to consider the
014quality of learning spaces and neighborhood implications and think about transportation innovation and shared use models that can make neighborhood schools more viable, sustainable and connected. This next phase isn't about starting over and this is our us saying that not we um isn't about us starting over. about building on the qual quantitative backbone SDRP3 is provided and now integrating the results from our upcoming special education audit, the life safe safety building audits that will help us understand true program and rebuilding costs and evaluating our learning spaces to understand what it will take to modernize them. Planning for the use of schools that are no longer used by students alone and active dialogue with our city partners about shared spaces and transportation. That's how we'll move from a conversation about which schools to close to one about
015how to sustain the rightsized equitable learning landscape Evston deserves. One that's financially stable and educationally ambitious to move forward in that in the ways described doesn't mean there aren't actions we must take now. Our budget realities don't pause while we plan. We have to make decisions that keep us on the path toward balance. If we don't, the cuts to programming and to our teaching force that we've already experienced will only deepen and those reductions would happen without the same level of intentionality or strategy that this process deserves. So with that said, we do believe this year we need to close one school in the Haven feeder pattern to begin address utilization. That adjustment is both necessary and consistent with our commitment to rightsize the district responsibly. At the same time, we believe we should use
016a use as a foundation the SDR3P SDRP3 modeling that was done under a walkable walkability approach. That is the end of the conversation, but as the baseline from which we can build viable forward-looking plans. These plans must include right sizing aligned to enrollment realities current and future, collaboration again with city partners on shared programming and use of spaces, a facilities plan ensuring every building we keep open is worthy of the children we send there, and a cleareyed understanding of the cost structure and the potential revenue strategies, whether they're referendum or partnerships needed to sustain that vision. Doing this fully will take will take us take time, but it's critical that we set a clear marker with the scenario results from SDRP. If we cannot reach creative consensus on a broader shared use or programming model,
017the walkability plan as model this year becomes the default path. That is the accountability side of this process. Our hope and our charge is that we use this time not to stall but to innovate together for the betterment betterment of our all of our children in our city. The work has been done through SDRP provides us with a strong foundation. The work ahead, balancing fiscal responsibility with educational excellence and equity is where we have the chance to truly shape the future of Evston's learning landscape. >> Just want to remind Thank you, Nicole. Uh, everybody, we do have interpretation. So, we'll we'll all speak a little bit louder, a little bit slower so we can make sure that interpretation can happen. >> Thank you. >> Sorry about that. >> It's okay. >> I think it's a
018lot of a lot of your first time with it. So, >> thank you. >> We'll remind you. So, from now on, I'll interrupt or whoever if you notice it, let's just interrupt each other so uh Mr. Alamman can can interpret for us. >> Um I have a series of board comments. Um the ones I was going to give and then when we received your memo this morning, the ones that I want to respond to that. So, I'll just apologize in advance, y'all. It's going to take a little bit. Um and we're going to spend the time listen to everything you have to say as well. So, first of all, I just want to say um I'm angered by the alleged actions of Dr. Horton in allegedly defrauding our district and our children. I'm angered that
019these alleged actions may have actually undermined equitable, excellent educational outcomes for our children, especially our most marginalized. And >> excuse me, Andrew, can you just speak into the mic a little louder, please? >> Uh we need to turn it up because I'm already close to it. Is someone in a control vent? >> Can you push your mic towards him? There's something wrong with this mic. Maybe this one better. Very much better. >> You've always had the bad mic. >> There was a moment here. >> Yeah. Let me start over. Okay. Make sure you're here. >> So, I just I'm angered uh by the alleged actions of Dr. Horton in allegedly defrauding our district and our children. I'm angered that these alleged actions actually may have undermined excellent equitable educational outcomes for our children, especially our
020most marginalized. And these alleged actions have already and will continue to make it harder to find a way to work together as a community for equitable, excellent educational outcomes for all of our students, especially our most marginalized. I'm grateful for the voices in our community that brought these alleged actions to light years ago and pushed the district for accountability for these alleged actions years ago. I want to acknowledge the leadership of Dr. Turner and her team, particularly Tamara Mitchell, who have been implementing a wide array of processes which we have shared at several board meetings to ensure accountability and transparency and doing so against the backdrop of the breach of trust caused by these alleged actions. So, thank you to Dr. Turner and to Tamara and to the cabinet. I see you and I appreciate
021you. As an individual board member, I remain committed to the highest level of accountability, restitution, and continued implementation of safeguards to avoid similar alleged actions from potentially taking place again. Our children deserve this. We deserve this as a district, and this is the job that we signed up for. Um, then I want to share that it's not lost to me that this is Hispanic Heritage Month. Um, and I want to recognize Sergio as the first Latina president of our school board. We are a better We are better as a district because you broke that long-standing barrier of access in our district. And I want to recognize the shoulders of those upon whom you have stood and the leaders who will hopefully come after you. So, thank you. And I want to say to Pat Anderson,
022I've been looking forward for five months to voting for you. And I'm glad that we got to do that today. And I just want to take a moment to celebrate that we now have board leadership all the way down through the cabinet level that is all women. and and this is something we can celebrate about our district even in these challenging times. Then um I just want to speak to the human dimensions of what the process is uh having that we're going through. I want to acknowledge the human and communal impact of all that has unfolded since our last board meeting in which we began to look at specific closure scenarios. A number of school communities heard their name called once, some many more times. Others whose current school was not listed found out that
023they could lose their school a different way by school reassignments. I want to name that um each of our schools is special. Each of our communities in our district is special. I want to name that I've heard from hundreds of folk not just about the impact of a particular scenario but also about the impact of the process of weighing these scenarios as a district. Anxiety, concern, fear, distrust, some frustration, even anger. I want to just name the human dimensions and say that I see this and I hear this. And I also need to name that it doesn't hit us all equally. I've heard from black community members that various aspects of some scenarios have tapped into fear that long-standing experiences of racial discrimination and bias will simply continue in a slightly different way. I've heard
024from Hispanic community members about the outsides impact of having to deal with potential closers or programmatic shifting alongside the violence that's being visited on our Hispanic community right now. We just had a raid right down on Oakton um uh by Daw. We're also witnessing under reppresentation of Hispanic folk in this process due to the threat of abductions. Uh we've seen the images of Department of Homeland Security and ICE agents. I've heard from low-income constituents about how a given closure scenario will unduly burden them because they can't cover the extra distance of school with a car they can't own. I've heard from our sped community about how important rise, step, and park are and how programmatic shifts will be significantly harder for our students with disabilities. This just speaks to the immense challenges which are before
025us. And I want you to know that I recognize and I know I'm not alone up here and feel as we talk and hear from our community. And I'm committed to finding a way forward that is pragmatic. We have to find something that works. Um, and we also have to ensure that we do our best to reduce harmful impacts on our district, especially our most marginalized students. And now that was my board comment. And now I'd like to respond to uh the board comment from uh Dr. Pinker and Maria. So, SDRP3 has been a rigorous, datadriven, communally involved, transparent um process. It's had a remarkable degree of community engagement and transparency over the past almost nine months. We have spent a majority of our time as a board since we were seated in May focused
026on it. And by that mean a literal bulk of the time that we've been on this board dealing with this. Our cabinet and an array of staff have spent inordinate amounts of time on this. Since January, we spent over $100,000 on a consulting firm to help guide us. Our community put in thousands of hours of volunteer work. It's been rigorous. It has been transparent, datadriven. It has attended to equity. There has been community involvement at a sustained level and it has been unfolding this entire year. And I'm profoundly grateful to our SDRP members who have given so much. I've sat in I've lost track now. I think I've sat in over the last three months and observed on Wednesday nights our neighbors, our community members involved in this process. These folk did so before they
027knew their school was on the chopping block. They signed up for a process that was sometimes pretty dang hard, working across difference and the sensitivities of the topic. I just want to say I think Mr. Rogers, were you still alive, would have lumped you in with the helpers um who give and see a need in their community and show up to help. um your insights have given um important information to our administration who's been able to pass along um trustworthy uh datadriven models for us to look at. So I just want to say thank you and I'm concerned now that at the final stages of this process um we are we are wavering. I'm concerned that um we have received here a proposed change to SDRP3. Uh we received a process that was put in
028place by the previous board and we have been executing on it. I'm concerned that what I just heard from Dr. Pinker and Maria represents a a fundamental revision of the process by changing timelines, adding new data sets and outcomes that aren't entirely clear to me. You've called uh for the continuation of this work, bringing in a host of factors that represent to me fundamental shifts in this project. To effectively suspend this process, to stretch it out, to add new criteria is a fundamental revisioning. I'm also concerned that there is talk about a fundamental revisioning while we would possibly still target a school for closure. That doesn't sound fair to me. I don't think that would be transparent or accountable to change midstream in that way. So if this process has been if you view this
029process is insufficient. I do not. But if you do, then we need to start from scratch. Uh don't get me wrong, I really think that we have a trustworthy process. No process is perfect, but this has been data driven, rigorous, transparent, community involved, and has attended to equity as best we can. It's a process that's been bigger than any one community member, any one school, and any one board member. It feels like we are being to ask to walk away from a process in which we've invested so much time and money and I've been alerted to to wrap it up. Please do not throw away this work. Please do not put our district at further risk of a state takeover. Please do not put our most marginalized students at risk by suspending or delaying this
030process. Please move forward with SDRP3. Thank you. I'll be short because I'm getting looked at by our new president. Um I didn't think we were going to have this discussion until later, so I'll save some of my comments for later. But I do want to speak to um uh two things. One is the I think like never mind. I'll just I'll keep it as one is which is transparency. Okay, transparency is why this meeting is being held at this time. We know uh I think between the meeting being held at this time and last week's meeting being cancelled is because we as a board want to have these conversations before the community goes into their discussions tonight, tomorrow, Wednesday. Um we cannot have discussions more than one-on-one with each other. And so clearly there's been
031a change. I'm going to propose some new some new scenarios being modeled from the ones that were given to us and so that I just want to make sure that we're clear with the community. Like we need to be more transparent and as though I understand people are frustrated. Um but this is the this is the time that worked for us and we want to make sure you all can hear our thoughts so there aren't rumors going around and that we can be as clear as possible. Um I have a lot of comments on what was shared but I'll save them for the discussion so that we can hear from the public. Thank you, board members. >> I just want to say one more thing. Um, you know, I recognize that the allegations uh that
032were released last week were a long time in coming. Um, and I know the community needs to have closure of this process. Um, and one piece of that closure is I personally, even though I wasn't sitting here at the time, want to apologize to our community for the previous board's lack of investigation and lack of acknowledgement of irregularities [Applause] of irregular similarities and that they allowed themselves to be bullied and shut down and ignored. Um, and I also want to say that there is a lot of damage that is still being healed um, in this community. And so I thank Sergio for recognizing that and stepping down as president because I do think that we need to have clean leadership here through the rest of this process. Um, and I think there's been a lot
033written about uh, Dr. Dr. Horton's administration and and the subsequent uh I guess irregularities and and the and the former board and uh the damage I think that it does here goes beyond just the financial piece but also healing our community from a leader that really divided us. Um and I think that we need to focus on coming together and listening to each other and I think this board does that very well. Um and I think uh you know to Omar's comment that's why we're here today. So, um, that's all I wanted to say about that. >> Thank you. I I want to thank, uh, I want to thank my board members. Um, I can confirm that we're here to get the work done. Um, we all are invested in creating a school district for
034children, parents, and caregivers that we can be proud of. Um, and we won't always be on the same page, but multiple perspectives are what we need at this point. So, there are many people here today. I want to see those seats filled at every board meeting because we need the community to be invested in this. So, we're we're guiding the process, but it's the process is for the community. That's enough of that. It's your turn to speak. So members of the public are welcome and invited to address the board during open public meetings. Speakers are discouraged from using the public comment period to air specific concerns about staff members being mindful that the public comment period is not s a suitable form for factf finding or resolution of disputes. Rather, we encourage members of the
035public who have concerns about specific district employees to follow district communication guidelines found in the student handbook. Please remember to state your name and that you have three minutes to address the board. Also note that the it is not customary for the board to respond to public comments. The best way to correspond with members of the board is by emailing srchoolboard district 65.net. Let's keep it respectful. Thank you. [Applause] Okay, we do have 33 um folks that have signed up to make public comments. So, we will prorate the time to remain within the 60 minutes. So that'll be two minutes and 21 seconds. Um we'll start with Samantha Schwimmer, Kelly McCabe, Daniel Blair. I'll call the uh groups of five so that way you can line up and we can maintain time. My name is
036Samantha Schwimmer and I am coming before you to address Omar and the newly elected board members with deep concern, disappointment, and unwavering demand for transparency. The Evston community, its families, teachers, and especially its children deserve better than the previous leadership under Sergio has delivered. Sergio, you were instrumental in the rise and protection of Devon Horton, a man who now stands federally indicted at se on 17 criminal charges. That number is not just staggering, it is disqualifying. But for those of us who paid attention, this indictment is not a shocking twist. It is the culmination of a culture of dysfunction, arrogance, and unaccountability that you helped build and enable. You stood behind Horton as experienced educators were pushed out, as transparency eroded, and as public trust was repeatedly dismissed as an inconvenience. You labeled legitimate community
037concerns as political noise. But the truth is now available. You were wrong, and your misjudgment has harmed real people. Now, we are standing down a financial disaster that is not a crisis caused by external forces. It is a result of reckless leadership and failed oversight. You prioritize ideology and personal alliances over fiscal responsibility and community well-being. And now children, teachers, and families are the ones who will pay the price. District 65 was considered a crown jewel of our community. And it is now a worthless, tarnished relic left in ruins by ego, denial, and your failed leadership. You didn't just jeopardize Evston by propping up and promoting Horton beyond the district district without reckoning with his record here. You helped endanger another community, Dalb. They now inherit the fallout of your misplaced loyalty and your refusal
038to confront the glaring issues and the many parents and edi ed educators tried to raise. Leadership requires the encourage to course correct to admit when harm has been done under your watch. I am calling for your immediate resignation from district 65 school board. It is time to take responsibility for the damage done both here and now extended to decal. This district cannot move forward until it faces what has gone wrong and who allowed it to happen. [Applause] Hello schoolboard members. U my name is Kelly McCabe. This is my very first school board meeting. Um I am missing work to be here because of the time of this meeting that I find very inconvenient, but I'm committed to speaking here. I got here an hour early to make sure I could speak. Um, I've lived in
039the second ward for 11 years. My husband and I have two children in the tweet program at Washington School. My family has been in Evston for decades. I went to Northwestern. I have a career in public health. And I am deeply, deeply outraged by everything that I've heard about this board, about the school district, and I'm embarrassed, frankly. Um, after more than a decade of proudly sharing about our school, our exceptional bilingual education my children receive, the warm and inclusive community at Washington School, I'm now just embarrassed. Um, as a public health epidemiologist, I work in an already politicized environment. I've seen Evston as a refuge, a place where my children were safe and supported and where I had full trust in the schools that they attended. But that trust has been broken. Even before
040the recent scandal surrounding Horton, there was already a well-earned mistrust in the district due to a lack of transparency, particularly around school closures. The current situation has only compounded that frustration. The community deserves clear, honest communication about the data and the formulas used to justify these closures, specifically the waiting criteria and the methodology used. I'm I'm asking also for a direct response from this board regarding the newly revised budget deficit which has dropped significantly from $5 million to $372,000 as reported by the round table. This drastic shift raises serious questions about the need for closures at all, especially given the inconsistencies between school enrollment projections and the city's population data. My family bought our home in Evston specifically for its proximity to Washington School. Our kids bike and walk to school, and they're part of
041a close-knit neighborhood community. Closing schools threatens the very fabric of our neighborhoods. Please keep Evston families in their local neighborhood schools. [Applause] Hello, my name is Daniel Blire. I'm the proud uh I'm proud of the Evston education that launched my four children into careers of nursing, professional writing, consulting, and the military. Like many families here, we moved to Evston more than three decades ago because we believed in this community. A place where there was culturally, ethnically, religiously, racially, economically diverse, and topflight education was the foundation that brought us all here. That's what Evson gave my family and we're deeply grateful for it. But what is district 65 today? According to the US News and World Report, reading proficiency stands at 42% in our grade schools and an alarming 30% 34% in the middle schools. No
042parent, no teacher, no principal in this room needed that statistic to know that our schools are failing. We're about to witness neighborhood school closures, the continued funding of school programs that have not closed the academic achievement gaps, and most seriously, the corruption and incompetence epitomized by the now federally indicted Superintendent Devon Horton. And yet, despite how far our schools have fallen, I stand here with a message of hope. Repair, redemption, and reclamation are still possible, but the first step is accountability. Mr. Hernandez. Mr. Mr. Hernandez. Mr. Hernandez, this has happened under your watch. On behalf of the parents and the teachers and the principles and the students in the community here, I'm asking you specifically to stand up right now at this moment and resign your board seat. and to the and to the other
043members who presided over this corruption, Maya Wilkins, I am asking you on behalf of this community to accept the responsibility of what has happened and step down from your seat. >> Only with a clean slate of leadership can we begin this process, the difficult one, but it is achievable, the process of delivering a first rate education that all our children deserve. Sergio and Maya, if you truly respect and you have the best interest of D65 at heart, you would step down from the board. This will allow the community to be begin the healing process from the transgressions of the past and will begin rebuilding the trust that the community and D65 leadership and administration need. Thank you. [Applause] Next we have Tina Don Berni Bernabi. Sorry about that. Kelly Post, Emily McCaffrey, Jay Costa Herman.
044My name is Dr. I'm Tina Deon Bernab and I'm here to speak on behalf of the students who can least afford to lose DAW school children with IEPs and children from low-income families. When my son Cameron started kindergarten, he had an IEP for gross motor delays. He still does. We were told that Daw was a very accessible and walkable school that he would do well there and he has. Three years later, he's excelling in third grade. But I'm not just here about my son. I'm here about how you're evaluating our schools. The building functionality score has three equally weighted components. ADA compliance, gym, cafeteria separation, and teaching stations. ADA compliance is fundamentally different and should be weighted much higher or separated out entirely. DAWs earned a 5.0 on ADA compliance, the highest possible score, meaning
045full accessibility. But that 5.0 gets averaged with gym cafeteria separation and teaching stations. ADA compliance is not an amenity. It is a civil right. It is the difference between It is the difference between a child accessing their education or being a physically blocked from it. In scenario 3B, Cameron would move from a 5.0 building to one scoring 1.0. From full access to 1 to 50% accessibility, and he can walk. What about the children in wheelchairs? Now, let me talk about our other vulnerable population, our title one students. 50% of DAW students qualify for free or reduced lunch. We are one of the most diverse schools in the district and we're not just surviving, we're thriving. Our academic progress has been a model for equitable achievement in district 65. Closing DAWs doesn't just impact one community.
046It creates a ripple effect. Daws, Washington, and Oakton are all title one schools. When you close one, the others must absorb displaced students, straining already stretched resources. In scenario 3B, 28% of all district 65 students would change schools. That's more than one in four children. The families bearing the heaviest burden, low-income families, Spanish-sp speakaking families who see DAWs as a safe space. You're not just closing a school. You're dismantling a community that serves the students who need stability the most now more than ever. And please consider what do closing doors really means. Not just in dollars, but in children's lives. In Cameron's life, in the lives of students who have fewer advantages and fewer voices. Thank you. Good morning. My name is Kelly Post. I'm the deck president and I would like to um reference
047article 4 section C. The council shall be given the opportunity to express their views and I would like my time waved please. I stand before you today on behalf of the educators of the district educators council to address the recent and deeply troubling developments concerning former superintendent Devon Horton. The indictment of de Dr. Horton may have come to a shock to some, but for many of us working in this district, the effects of ongoing mismanagement have long been visible. The financial instability our district now faces, including the serious discussions around school closures is not merely the result of poor fiscal decisions. According to the indictment, it stems from an alleged kickback scheme in which public funds intended for our students and classrooms were instead diverted for personal enrichment. This mismanagement of funds is not an
048abstract issue. It is profoundly harmful to our students. Every diverted dollar represents lost opportunities, larger class sizes, reduced resources, diminished student rep support, and programs that never had the chance to flourish. When funds meant to support teaching and learning are misused, it is our children who bear the heaviest burden. Perhaps even more disturbing than indictment itself is what it reveals about the systematic lack of oversight and accountability that allowed such misconduct misconduct to occur. The failure of financial controls under the former administration and the lack of scrutiny from the board of education during that time have had devastating consequences for students, families, educators, and our broader community. While we acknowledge that several current board members are new to their rules and not directly connected connected to past decisions, it is critical to note that two
049members who remain on this board did serve during the period of mismanagement. In light of this and in the interest of restoring public trust, we strongly urge these individuals to take responsibility for their oversight failures and resign their positions. This moment demands a bold and transparent response. The district must not only conduct a full internal review, but also ensure that robust financial safeguards are implemented immediately. A comprehensive investigation is launched into any current employees who may have been complicit or aware of wrongdoing. Clear, accessible whistleblower protections are in place and communicated to all staff. And most importantly, that transparency and accountability become guiding principles in all district operations moving forward. The educators of district 65 and the community we serve expect leadership that reflects integrity and responsibility. Our students deserve nothing less. Rebuilding trust will
050require more than words. It will require action that directly benefits the children and families who have been most affected by these failures. This is a defining moment from our district for our district. We urge the board of education to meet it with courage, clarity, and a commitment to genuine reform centered on students well-being and educational success. Congratulations, Pat. We look forward to your leadership. Thank you. Good morning. While I'm here as an educator and one of the deck representatives at King Arts School, I am not here to share what makes King Art special. I believe in the power of all of our amazing District 65 neighborhood schools. I attended District 65 neighborhood schools. Shout out Washington and Nichols. I chose to send my own children to neighborhood dis uh schools in our district, CPS, and
051my own nieces and nephews attend schools that are on the quote unquote chopping block. Nor am I here to simply tell you what I want. Of course, I want my sweet, creative, inclusive Title One school to stay open, but I am here to focus on what Evston needs. It pains me to say we need to close some schools in order to have a future. As you make this difficult decision decision on how to work uh move forward, I want the board to consider the reasons why Evston needs a K8 magnet school. With the devastating process of closing Bessie Roads, this leaves King Arts as the sole K8 magnet school. Before I share why district 65 needs a magnet school, I'd like to address some inaccuracies I heard at the last board meeting. It was shared
052that research suggests K8 schools do an inferior job preparing students for high school. I will be sharing my summary of my intensive research. Again, shout out Evston and Skoi public libraries for giving access to scholarly databases that shows this is completely unfin in scholarly journals. I will also provide a summary of the King Arts strong panoramic data. Thank you in advance for your time in reading. Another inaccuracy I heard was that all district 65 students receive a robust fine arts experience, so there's no need for a fine arts magnet. I've been a part of district 65 for 35 years as a student and now educator. That was the same argument opponents made about programs like TWE and ACC. If it's so important, all students should have it. I challenge this because the board has clearly
053stated that they will protect families abilities to choose a more immersive experience for language and/or identity through the TWE and ACC programs. Why then is the choice for language and identity of the arts being singled out? I'll get back to choice in a moment, but since time is of the essence, I will focus now on the reasons why we need one. You've heard about the needs of our rise program to thrive in a K8 building for collaboration, flexibility, mobility, and community. You've also heard about the ADA accommodations like elevators, but I'd like you to come see these programs and how they use our space. Things that aren't captured are spaces like areas for toileting with dignity, room for equipment, and safe bus entrances. You've heard about the pressure valve for the district. While projections show
054low enrollment in the near future, have we considered that one unexpected condo will require a fluctuation of population. You've also heard about options for families. Please research how many families chose the King Art Magnet School before either leaving the district or requiring a private outplacement. They both will have a negative impact on budget. >> That's time. >> Thank you. Uh lastly, uh the J factor. How about having a school board that earned the magnet school of America when we have crime, corruption, and school closure? But finally, the prestigious history. We need to offer choice to our families with neighborhoods and they have a choice between neighborhoods and a king. Thank you. [Applause] >> Hi, my name is JC Costa Herman. Um, the board got a longer version of my email. Um, this is a condensed
055version. D65 is my chosen family. I'm invested in this district as a whole. Closing King Arts would be a detriment to the entire district. It serves multiple marginalized communities and offers specialized programming our community has valued and chosen for decades. King Arts has the RISE program. It's a title one school and it serves more students with IEPs and 504s than any other school in the district. These families and students should not be expected to bear the brunt of these closures, especially taking into consideration the federal government's removal of support for special education and Medicaid recipients. Taking away the possibility of rise students to have a K8 education is deplorable, putting them in a situation where they're changing schools, support staff, buildings, classmates negatively impacts the programs by interrupting so many of their relationships. Students with
056504s and IEPs also benefit from the continuity of care. There have been stu there are also students who are not a prior who don't have 504s and IEPs who find more success in a K8 format for a whole range of reasons. Closing King Arts would not would not eliminate the need of serving these students but it would create a greater C cost the district to serve these students with integrity. This becomes particularly important when considering how much money the district spends on tuition and transportation for students the district cannot serve but is legally obligated to educate. The existence of specialized schools in Evston is not a mistake. We are a community of English language learners, Spanish language seekers. Closing besie roads put our community in and pushed our community in the wrong direction. We should
057have an education system that reflects our diverse community's needs. To those of you who keep saying that we need to prioritize neighborhood schools, Rice is not a neighborhood school. Park is not a neighborhood school. King Arts is not a neighborhood school. Rise and STEP are not neighborhood programs. Bessie Rhodess was not a neighborhood schools. All these programs and schools are here for the whole community. With everything else that's happening around us, hearing comments and seeing signs targeting our community's educational resources, it feels horrid. Take your signs down and stop making those comments. Don't take resources away from other schools. [Applause] Next we have Russ Shown, Teresa Newman Given, Meredith Balog, Chris Fedek. >> Good morning. My name is Russ Shown. In 2004, I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. A mantra we heard constantly was ple Swahili for
058slowly, slowly. We were eager to reach the top of that mountain, so going slowly seemed counterintuitive. But as we continued to climb, we saw the wisdom. Those who rushed often got altitude sickness and had to turn back. Ple pulley or go slow to go fast is how you make steady, wise progress towards a lasting goal. I'm the father of a first and second grader at Willard. It's a place where our kids feel safe and are thriving. The idea that Willard or any school might close through a rush process is deeply concerning. Yes, we face financial pressures, but rush school closures do not always deliver what you think they might. According to Pew Research, districts often vastly overestimate the savings of school closures by 20 to more than 50%. One headline summarized the research, "School closures
059bring pain, not much money." Even District 65's own forecast in 2030, which I have here, shows we'd still face a $12 million deficit even with multiple closures and even if those budget numbers are accurate. That should tell us we need to slow down and find a comprehensive set of solutions. So, how do we do that? Professionally, I've taught and facilitated creative problem solving for more than 25 years. Research shows that solving complex challenges requires four types of thinking. You need to clarify the challenge and frame it in a way that invites creative thinking. You need to ideulate and generate at least 30 to 40 options per challenge before narrowing down the options. You then need to develop those options and test them. Test your assumptions and then only then do you implement. Right now, it
060feels like the board has rushed to implement, but there's an opportunity here. People support what they help create. If the board slows down and fully engages with the community, District 65 could become a model for navigating tough challenges more deliberately with true transparency. Ask yourself, wouldn't it be great if District 65 became known not for closing multiple schools, but for engaging in the community in a way that built trust? Thank you. [Applause] My name is Meredith Balog. Um, so King Arts is built to serve our Evston neighbors. The King Arts building is the highest for functionality among district facilities, confirming its readiness to continue serving diverse learners. Within its bones are ADA sized doors to let learners in. Inside its walls are elevators that carry those who need to be carried like air in our
061lungs into the rooms where they learn. Within its halls are King Arts assemblies. Let children's voices sing and sign out in their bodies dance. Imagine if you came and shared those spaces with us. With special educ with special education employees being fired from the federal level at the government, now is not the time to close King Arts with his institutional and programming know-how in serving the nation's largest open minority population. Transitions are hard. But that's why it's a goal in IEPs. A strong routine and a building built for us in a K through8 model is the one where our students can thrive and learn together from across Evston. It's my time. >> Good morning. Uh, my name is Chris Fedek and I was deeply troubled last week that amid our federal government shutdown to see
062that Trump gutted the department overseeing special education. These US Department education staff are responsible for special education funding and making sure that states provide special education services to the nation's 7 and a half million children with disabilities. I want to celebrate and commend the district 65 for conducting an audit of our special education services at each school. Our being well informed of our district's strengths and weaknesses will be vital to these students, although I truly wish it was already complete so we could take it into consideration right now. All of the three school closure scenarios presented will move the step program and both of the scenarios the board last asked for involve moving RISE. I am concerned about how equitable the path to moving both special education programs can be without can be without completing
063this audit and with our federal government aggressively targeting disabled children's education. Please tread carefully in the decisions that impact these students. Next, I think that all board members should read through the magnet King Arts magnetization application before they are sure of what they are giving up and only within a year of having achieved it. This 138 page document shows ample evidence of the success and achievement of the King Arts School. If you haven't already, please read through it. see what benefits it offers, financial and otherwise, and meet with the people who created it. Lastly, consider the King Arts School has the highest percentage of students with IEPs and the second highest low-income families. I've seen it again and again that the King Arts community that is lifting up all students equitably. Please let them continue
064this work. Thank you. Next we have Melinda Story, Estabban Quines, Cindy Wlin, Jamie Walls, Butcher, Lindsay Allen. Thank you. My name is Melinda Story. I'm a middle school parent at King Arts. I'm also an educator. and we decided to apply to King Arts um for many of the reasons that have already been mentioned, but I'll focus my remarks on the fact that all district schools are special places that support students and have excellent educators. However, King Arts is unique in terms of district 65 opportunities. My main concern is how King Arts has been seemingly targeted and presented as a false choice amidst the proposed closures of elementary schools in district 65 without proper attention to the established criteria and data presented in the scenarios. I helplessly watched the last school board meeting in disbelief of
065the misinformation and lack of evidence-based proposals about King Arts presented as on the spot and ill-prepared remarks. I was deeply troubled by the direction of the conversation and overwhelming focus on the closure of King Arts, a school that was not even presented until the force school closure scenarios. The lack of knowledge of our magnet school designation, our K through8 rise program, and our service to students with IEPs was startling to me. Targeting King Arts is not the answer nor remedy for closing other schools. It's not an eitheror situation as it's been erroneously depicted. I urge you to study the data, look at the evidence, understand the importance that our magnet status offers the district. Understand the life-changing and expensive magnitude of moving IEP students to other schools and sending King Arts middle schoolers who already
066consist of many displaced Bessie Road students to overcrowded middle schools. Closing King Arts is not the answer. King Arts is in fact thriving. The district prides itself on social justice, empowerment of disenfranchised populations, and elevation of the arts. King Arts is a direct representation of these values. Thank you. Good morning. We need to slow down to get this process of school closures correct for the entire community. And that requires making sure that the evidence, the data, the methodologies and the analysis in a sense the quantitative backbone provided by SDRP are sound so that the decisions that follow from them can be as well. Currently, they are not. They raise more questions than they answer. While I appreciate SRDP's datadriven approach, the results are not robust and rigorous enough for Evston and its students. I want
067to be clear, I do not have trust in the data and the models that the district and the consultants have put forth so far and that have not shared transparently or completely. My name is Dr. Esteean Jose Kyones and I have two kids working their way through the district. I'm raising these issues about the evidence and the foundations because they're critical for the decisions we make. And this is quite literally what I do for a living. I'm an economist by training and what I focus on in my work is evidence-informed policym and I often do that based on studies that I design and implement. And so far from what I've seen, I do not trust the data and the models that have been presented. There are too many errors. So there are a ton of
068issues that I can raise and there isn't time to do that. So I'm not going to go through them in detail, but there are surveys that are not representative. There are arbitrary scales being used to uh to categorize things. Honestly, this is really not up to snuff. I I don't know what to say. It's it's much lower standard work than I would ever expect. So with that in mind, you have to remember that the scorecards and the subjective weights are by design based on assumptions and you need to really, you know, investigate those assumptions before making any decisions. So I'm urging you, I'm impressing on you that you need to slow down and reconsider the data and the models themselves because they are not robust. You're going to come back to them and find issues
069that you're going to try and blame after decisions have already been made. So, I've emailed all most of you already last week and I and other social scientists that I know that are digging into the data this are happy to provide our services because we know that this isn't a us versus them thing. So, please let's work together. [Applause] Hi, my name is Cindy Wlin and I'm speaking on behalf of King Arts. Um, because of the deviation from the school closure process that I witnessed at the most recent board meeting. Um, inclusivity is a defining value at King Arts. All students learn, collaborate, and grow together regardless of ability, background, or identity. King Arts has seen increased applications from first to 8th grade students. Um, this indicates that those scholars did not have positive experiences
070in their neighborhood schools. Um, and I will say that I I am a proud parent of a fourth and seventh grader and we are one of those families. We transferred in last year. Um, we live across the street from our neighborhood school and I will say and will never forget the day. Um, I saw my son who was experiencing bullying and being left out um, as early as first grade. Um, his sister walked him to school. I was watching from the window as I often did and instead of going into the school at the time, he he hid behind a tree and was trying to hold back tears. So, I had to run across. Anyway, the bullying and the culture there led him to school refusal. If you have ever experienced it, I I'm sure
071that you can relate to that pain. Um, and since coming to King Arts, we have experienced the opposite. From day one, he was welcomed. He has become included, part of a group. And that is not just a testament. That is not by accident. That is a culture that has been built by principal Callaway, the staff and the teachers at King Arts as well as the community and families. Um my daughter who uh is in seventh grade uh used to complain about school and about math. She came home the other day last week and regailed me for 20 minutes about the math lesson and what she learned about proportions. Um they had a visual arts lesson that was integrated, something that's part of the DNA at King Arts. Um if you're curious, they used um uh
072mullets to understand what proportions. Uh if you're curious, the optimal proportion is one to five. Um, but I will tell you what what stuck out to me was of course not uh the mullet bit, but um that she was obviously engaged and I think it's something special. We are King Arts. [Applause] Hello, my name is Dr. Lindseay Allen and I'm speaking as a DAW parent and as a faculty member at Northwestern University whose life's work focuses on minimizing harm to lowincome families. I want to begin by acknowledging the importance of community engagement in this process. Many have already mentioned concern with this meeting time. I'd like to add that people who took off work and rearranged their days to be here have been turned away from the door of this building due to capacity issues.
073This was absolutely a foreseeable issue and not accounting for it runs counter to the district's stated commitment to equity and community engagement. Many board members have reiterated their commitment to equity this morning and we've heard a lot of speakers mentioned Title One schools. The purpose of Title One federal funding is to help close achievement gaps and provide all children with a fair and highquality education. The measure used to determine title one status is the percentage of students who qualify for free and reduced lunch. My fellow DAWS parent already mentioned that at DAWs 50% of students qualify for free and reduced lunch. At Washington, 44% of of students qualify. For other schools in the district, these numbers are in the single digits. My goal is not to pit any schools against each other as I believe
074that's one of the most harmful side effects I have seen as a result of this process. Instead, I want to offer essential context. Daws in Washington appear in the two three school scenarios that were presented last week. If they close, families who already receive the short end of the stick in Evston will face transportation hardships, financial strain, safety risks, and reduce community connection. These challenges disproportionately affect low-income families who rely most on the convenience, safety, and accessibility of a neighborhood Title One school. This will have ripple effects for generations to come. It is a fact that schools with fewer students facing economic hardship can better absorb change with less disruption. But for schools like Daw and Washington, even small disruptions will worsen significant existing disparities in access, stability, and achievement. True equity means recognizing those
075differences and making decisions that will minimize harm for families with the least margin for disruption. We urge the board to continue to look for alternative solutions that would minimize harm for our Title One neighborhood schools. Thank you for your time today and for your continued commitment to community engagement and equity. [Applause] Hello, my name is Jamie Wallace Butcher. I'm a parent of a King Arts Elementary student as well as a middle school student. Um I'm a spouse of a graduate from ETHS who attended Lincoln, Oakton, Haven, and Nicholls. His mother was on a constant search to find the right fit because she believed in public schools, but she could not find that right fit for her son. Um I also am part of the SR SPD committee subcommittees. I first participated on the planning programming
076one because I had a passion uh to make sure that our early childhood, our ACC, our magnet fine arts and our TWE programs would stay intact and that we would do a deep dive into the research into the findings. By trade, by profession, I've spent over 20 years in market research. Those first few years were in Evston District 65 in the evaluation and programming committee. Um, why I was in that department is I had a passion for education as my father is a social studies teacher and a physical education teacher and I've been in every single one of our schools. Okay, they're phenomenal. The communities are phenomenal and what the programming and what they're trying to do in each of these schools are important. I was asked to be part of the facilities because of
077my background in market research and also because I have a background now in the last three years and inclusion and belonging because culture is important transition and feeling like you have a sense of belonging is important and so that's why I was called to this work. I'm not spending this time to share who I am and my background. I'm sharing to say that I do believe in this process. Um this we've been on this road and this journey since 2021. Some would say since the early 20s in terms of our financial deficit concerns. This is not new. We do not need to slow down, but we do need to look at the numbers because the numbers matter as a market researcher and the formula that we approved that was reviewed by this board that was
078reviewed by the community that was voted on is what we have. It's not until we saw the results that we became upset. It's not until we saw some of our schools, our price schools on the list that we became upset. Numbers do matter, but they matter in the context of the stories that they tell. And we've heard many of those stories today from our DAWs, our Washington, our King Arts community. I ask you to lean into that data stories. And one last thing, before you make these decisions, Dr. Pinker, I asked you to come to our school. We've invited you to our school. Our principal's invited to your school. have not come to our school >> others as well. We invite you to do that and go into all the schools. Thank you. >> Next
079we have Patrick Mcdano, Kristen Ross, Arty Desai, Chris Numa, and Anna Lebron. Thanks all for being here this morning, 9 9:00 a.m. Um, the first thing I want to say for all you all out here and for these folks watching and if this is going to be broadcast on community television, it's crazy important people. We cannot pit ourselves against each other. We have to all work together. That being said, I'm obviously here on on behalf of my child who's at at King Arts. Um, my wife has two undergraduate degrees, three masters in education. She was a teacher for 20 years, an assistant principal. I was involved for close to 25 years at my elma mater, small private liberal arts college in Michigan. And so I think that she and I are pretty dialed relative to
080education as as parents of our special needs child. Um when it came time to transition from Oregon to another school, we we could frankly be wherever we wanted to be. We had an incredible um day at at the Cove School in Northbrook and we we researched a couple other options as well. The folks that gave us the tour at Dawze blew me away. They blew me away. And the same with my wife. And when we walked out, and trust me when I tell you, we've researched schools where when I walked out of the building, I I was nauseous. I was completely wigged and freaked by what was presented to us as parents of of our little one. When we walked out of our tour at at at King Arts, it was it was done deal.
081Um, I've spoken late in the process today, so a lot of things I would have liked to have said have already been said, but um, I'm really sick and tired of marginalized populations throughout history going back to the beginning of history being moved and being displaced and and and not being prioritized. And I know that that's super macro in a really micro sort of situation, but there are really solid things going on at at King Arts. And I would reiterate what this really eloquent dude said. Um, if if you have the time, please read that report about our designation. Thank you all. [Applause] Hello, I'm Kristen Ross and let me tell you why the city of Evston cannot afford to eliminate King Arts. When I moved to Evston from Florida 18 years ago, it was
082to be part of an intentional Christian community. Little did I know that the school that my future children would attend would become a source of community just as important. When our firstborn son was in preschool, he received speech, occupational, physical, and educational therapies through District 65. My husband and I decided to hold our son back from starting kindergarten because he barely talked or played with other children in preschool. The district speech therapist, Miss Takakei, suggested King Arts to us. For the first four years at King Arts, he didn't play with anyone at recess. Um it wasn't until his third grade year that he began to play with other boy other kids. And it was a group of about 10 point 10 boys that included him in recess play, sitting together at lunch, after school play,
083birthday parties, gettogethers during the summer, Super Bowl parties, etc. He could easily have been the center of jokes with his eating habits, his backward and mismatched clothes, his speech delays, and his struggle to have conversations. When I witnessed our son with his friends, I didn't see him being made fun of or treated like he was invited just because their parents made him. He was really part of the group and belonged. Her son was not a very talented football player, but football is what his group of friends mostly played at recess and after school. When he played with his friends, they included football plays at his level and even faked falls as he ran by them with the football to score a touchdown. It was pretty hilarious. It's not because their son would be discouraged if
084they didn't do that. He's not that type. I imagine they did it because they were helping him to know that he belonged in the game with them and wanted to give him his time to shine. Our son is also part of a church youth group which is made up of a great group of kids uh he has known his entire life. As I observe his interactions with these kids, no one makes a point to sit by him at the weekly youth group dinners or to talk to him. He is rarely invited to their birthday parties or gettogethers. And these youth group kids come from families we worship with and respect and know are teaching their kids great values. >> Thank you. >> I'm going to give my time to Kristen so you can hear so
085you can hear the rest of her story because it is really beautiful. >> Okay. >> So I'm going to give my time to her. >> Thanks Arty. >> But >> okay. But it is the King Arts kids who have really welcomed our son and who have included him in their friend group. As I am reading this to him now, he confirms that he feels like he belongs with his King Arts friends, but not so much with his youth group. I often ponder how our church community that strives to live near each other and share life together has not created a group of belonging for our son anywhere near the one at King Arts. I think this is because King Arts is founded on the teachings of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The students
086at King Arts are taught to be accepting, inclusive, and that all human beings are worthy of being a friend. This is incorporated in their high- five principles, curriculum, monthly all school reads, annual MLK birthday assemblies, civil rights projects, the buddy bench, and more. It also has to do with having the rise program at King Arts and teachers well equipped to help students who need modifications so those kids can succeed without feeling like outsiders. King Arts has created a culture of accepting others different from ourselves. When my husband and I came to a point in discerning whether we should move out of state to be closer to family, it wasn't our church community that kept us in Evston. It was the community that our son found at King Arts. We knew that a middle school boy
087having an encouraging group of diverse friends who welcomed him into their school into their circle was a treasure that we weren't going to risk. In the end, Mr. Takakei was right. King Arts is a place a great place for our son. Because of the K through8 setting, he has been able to keep being part of that friend group for six years. His transition to middle school was flawless. He has had opportunities to mentor younger kids through the monthly all school reads where middle schoolers are connected to elementary schoolers to read together. He was even the lead when his eighth grade drama class performed a reproduction of the book Giraffes Can't Dance for the Kindergarteners. Our son is thriving thanks to the community of parents, students, teachers, special education workers, and administration at King Arts. I'm
088so thankful and I hope that others can have the opportunity to see their children who may be socially on the art outskirts find their belonging at King Arts. And thank you so much for your time today. [Applause] Good morning. Uh my name is Chris Nusma. My husband and I have freshman twins at ETHS. both of whom are graduates of Nicholls and Washington's two-way immersion curriculum. Our kids were fortunate to be selected for TWEI and are now thriving in Spanish, three honors, wondering why their fellow students don't speak as much Spanish as they do. The reason Washington has two sections of TWEI is not primarily for kids like ours, but to provide necessary language learning for the large number of native Spanish speakers within our boundaries. Washington is a title one school due to the high
089percentage of lowincome students and hosts the STEP program which primarily supports students on the autism spectrum. All of these programs beautifully support the rainbow that is Washington. In today's climate, there is palpable fear in the community as we deal with the latest threats and actions from the Trump administration and the reality of ICE abductions in our own community and nearby Rogers Park. There is an incredible This has an incredible chilling effect on our Spanish-sp speakaking neighbors regardless of immigration status. Current Washington parents create a wolf pack to ensure students feel comfortable and protected on their walks to and from school. Because our neighbors are understandably fearful of being in the community for basic daily living activities, many will likely not feel comfortable attending this meeting to ensure their voices are heard. People who look like
090me need to be their voice so that their needs are not overlooked. District 65 and this board claims to promote and advocate for equity. That Washington, not only an excellent school, but also the second largest elementary school, would be on the potential closure list, calls into question the authenticity of your claims and the and the validity of your assumptions. While sadly necessary, no school closure is welcome. Every parent will and should fight for their school. I'd ask you to seriously consider the negative impact on this particular student population. Thank you. Three school closure plan. [Applause] My name is Anna Lebron and I speak tonight as a resident of district 65 and a mother of two childrens in our school. On September 29th, the SDRP3 recommended closing the Wheeler Twe program in every single of their
091scenario with no clear path where students will go. We have been told informally that the Wheeler Twe family will just move to foster, but that is not realistic. Both the Bessie and the Wheeler Twe kids cannot fit into the new foster school. It is a fact. The classes sizes will be 20% of our capacity and hurting our students learning environment. Another argument we have here is that there there aren't enough Latino and Hispanic families in WS six and seven. That data is not accurate and does not reflect our community. Right now, there are many Latino and Hispanic children living in North Evansstone. Many of these families, like mine, were previously discouraged from taking two seats at Wheeler, meaning they don't appear in your records. Between 2010 and 2020, the Latino and Hispanic population in W
092six and seven grew 34% and now represents 10% of North Evansstone population. In Wheeler, current two kindergarten class right now outmo half of the Spanish speaking students leaving North Evansstone. Finally, District 65 say it is guided by equity. How are you not considering the devastating impact removing TWE programs will have in our Hispanic community? How can you possibly expect our willer Hispanic tweet community to attend these community meetings, public comment in a moment in history in which we are being targeted by the central administration? Many of our community members face language barriers, cultural barriers that make it incredibly difficult to stand up here in front of you. If equity is truly at the top of your priority list, I urge you to meet directly with the willer to families, explain the data you are using
093to make these decisions, and present a real concrete plan that ensures the well-being of our Hispanic and Latino student. Gracia [Applause] Okay. Next we have Katie Armstead, Peter Bulgera E. Rishelle, and Carrie Dra. Hi, my name is Katie Armistad. I'm a District 65 parent. I have a first grader at Lincolnwood, a three-year-old, and a one-year-old. Uh my husband and I did the math last night. I think I will be at district 65 until 2037. Uh I am part of a grassroots movement called invest in neighborhood schools. We're made up of over 500 families across every neighborhood elementary school in District 65. And we are advocating to keep as many neighborhood schools open as possible, whichever ones they may be, mine or others. And we're asking this board to prioritize alternative solutions that set the district
094up for long-term financial success. We're asking the board, the administration, and the broader community to not close neighborhood schools, but invest in neighborhood schools. Two weeks ago, we heard this ad two two weeks ago, we heard this administration proposed scenarios that proposed closing 30% of neighborhood elementary schools. And and we were told there was no time for creative solutions. But what have we considered besides closing schools? What are we what else are we exploring? Have we explored this building? The first time I stepped in this building was to register my daughter for for kindergarten years ago. And I I couldn't even believe it was a district 65 building. It was so nice. >> And what And what are we real? No. What are we realizing from the sale of Bessie Roads? Are we selling the
095Bessie Roads building? Do we know how much we're going to get from that? We should probably know that first. And the modeling shows that we'll be leasing the closed elementary schools for low six figure lease income going forward. Who who is leasing these schools next September for 200 $300,000? And and how much of the 2027 shortfall is a one-time foster expense? Does some of it go away in 2028? Are we looking years ahead? And are we confident we have the ability to execute the opening of Foster, the closing of Bessie Roads, and the closing of three other neighborhood schools with no attrition? I can give you the names of three families right now who will leave if we botch this. One in four families in this district choose to send their kids to a private
096school outside of D65. That's our enrollment problem right there. That's what we should be tackling. And what's what's most what's most troubling to me is that at some point, it might not be in March, it might not be in November, but at some point we will go to the community for a referendum. And if we cut too deep and we botch this, what do we tell them then? We have the opportunity to turn a corner. Leverage us. Leverage the community. let us shout from the rooftops that this board is different and this board is going to do it right. And when we had a period of low enrollment, we used it to invest and build a brighter D65. And if you're listening and you're alarmed and you want to keep open more neighborhood schools, come
097join our work. We don't have to close 30% of neighborhood schools. We're going to pay for it for years to come. Thank you. [Applause] Hi everyone. My name is Peter Bogerro. I'm a lifelong Evanstonian, former District 65 student. Shout out Daw. Shoot. Uh and a parent of of three Kingsley comments. Comments currently. Sorry, I'm making a comment. Um, it's hard to know where to start with all the news and information that's come out over the last couple weeks. I know everybody's eyes are probably glazing over at this point. Um, I don't envy the weight of the decisions in front of you. I really do appreciate the time, effort, and care that everybody's putting into this. I know sleep is kind of optional at this point. Um, what I mainly want to do today is to
098urge the board not to dwell on the past, but to acknowledge it and learn from it. Many of you ran for office in part to fix what is a serious financial problem in this district. There's been progress, especially since Tamara Mitchell joined as CFO. Thank you. Um there this is another step in that journey and you've all stressed how important it is to get this right. A few years ago, a major decision was made based on transportation savings that turned out to be significantly overstated. Some of you, some of the deficit you're trying to close now traces back to that. So this time around, I'd urge you to ask more questions and really challenge the savings numbers being presented to you. That's that's not about distrust. It's about doing the due diligence you were elected
099to do. For example, why are projected savings shown for both lease revenue and avoided capital costs when the two seem to be in argument? Uh, can we realistically expect up to a million dollars in lease revenue next year if we close three or four schools? And what is with the 50,000 that we're just putting in there for foster savings when that's going to happen whether or not we close another school? And most importantly, what's the cost to students of raising class sizes? It's not going to show up in a spreadsheet that affects everybody. And lastly, if we were seeing more creativity and progress from the administration on growing revenue, we wouldn't be looking at everything solely through a cost cutting lens. >> Thank you. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Hi, I'm Elizabeth Riel and this is literally
100my first rodeo. So, I did not come with a prepared statement, but I'm going to be fast because I'm now late to my morning meeting. Two really quick things because as I texted my husband, I would say samsies to everything that's been said, especially some of the first couple speakers and Maria, your statement. Thank you so much for that. Um, I have two students currently, a seventh grader at Nichols, a freshman at ETHS. My two quick things are we're in a bit of a pickle in Evston because our current mayor is not so interested in being mayor. But I would encourage you to work with the administration. I encourage you to work with the current leadership in the city just to confirm because based on envision Evston I believe it's called. They're calling for all
101this growth. So I just want to make sure you consider that when you consider school closures. The second thing is transparency. I was driving my freshman to high school this morning and I said, she said, "Well, are you going somewhere?" Like, usually she sees me in sweatpants in the morning. I said, "Well, I'm going to the schoolboard meeting." And she said, "But like don't you have work this morning?" And I said, "Well, I have the privilege to be there this morning because I could change my meetings. I could move things around to be there. Not everybody has that privilege. So, I'm showing up just to make sure there's people in seats." And what she said to me was what she said to me interestingly was like, well, it's almost like the school board is not
102interested in hearing from anybody if they're scheduling it at this time. So, I would take that into account when you consider transparency. A freshman saw through the scheduling pretty quickly. Thank you. And thank you to all of you for your thoughtful statements. [Applause] >> Hi, good morning and thank you for your time. My name is Carrie De Brun. Uh my husband and I have two little girls who are at Washington currently. Um and I'd like to speak about my concerns about the volume of proposed school closures along with an opening um all happening concurrently. And I don't believe that it can all be accomplished and be successful in the given time frame. I'm speaking as a longtime HR executive and I know that corporate mergers and acquisitions are different than school closures and school mergers,
103but there are a lot of similarities there. And I know that upwards of 70% of mergers fail to meet their performance and their financial expectations in the implementation phase. And I will say that this part right now, the planning and the due diligence is as easy as it will get. The challenges are going to shake out in the implementation and that's when things are going to become real. There are too many moving parts to be successful in the given time frame. First of all, the staffing considerations and needs alone are staggering. The positions that you will have to move, the teachers that you will have to transfer, the roles that you don't even know that you need yet. There are teachers and staff who are already looking for new roles and there's going to be
104roles that need to be filled on a short-term basis. Then there uh then there's the logistical concerns. There's the closing of multiple buildings at one time, the moving of resources and the moving of materials. There are the moving um and and all of the complicated IE IEP plans that will have to be transitioned. I'll speak for Washington alone in it having 12 sections of twe and the dual lingo step program. All those complicated programs that have to be moved in essentially less than one year. School closures in general are going to have trauma on kids. I will speak for Washington and that school population being spread out amongst four schools and it having an impact on the middle school. There will be COVID level trauma on those kids with grief, anxiety, depression that will manifest
105itself in the classrooms. Um, I'm going to yield my time there. There are lots of opportunities to get this right by doing it slowly and creating a blueprint. There's one big opportunity to get this wrong. Next is Jessica Treyo, Dan Cawthorne, Chris Van Nront, Ariel Seml, I'm guessing it's Jessica Trillo. Is that okay? Hi, my name's Jessica Trillo. Um, I have four children uh that have gone through D65. I want to state first I stand with King Arts. Um, I've had four children go through King Arts. I have two in high school now at ETHS. Um, I have transitioned my younger two to our neighborhood schools. I live in the eighth ward. Um, part of the transition was transportation issues from that location to King Arts. concerns about busing transportation being pulled. I was trying
106to participate in the conversations about transportation and just make that transition for our family became before it became absolutely necessary. So I bring that back to transportation being a concern in this whole conversation that uh regardless of what schools are closed, children need safe passage to school. Some of the scenarios I've seen I've talked to other parents um particularly in the south end of Evston. I don't know what the school has planned to be able to move kids to schools, but that needs to be a huge piece of this conversation and consideration. I don't know what the budget lines are for that. Um, it's convenient for me to get to the schools at the moment. I've seen our next door neighbor children waiting for a school bus to pick them up going to the same
107school that I had the convenience of being able to drive my child to last year. Currently, I don't have a vehicle. Um, so I am problem solving on how to get kids to school in different weather conditions, but that's not me. That's all these families that are going to be concerned. There's plenty of of families in Evston that are going to be greatly impacted on being able to get their kids. And the current matter of where we're at right now and the threats that we have on our streets right now, I'm surprised we aren't holding a board meeting talking about that. Instead, we're talking about closing schools. I want to see us all here together talking about how to protect our community and our kids right now that I think this I'm just surprised that
108we can dedicate so much time to this and it's been a long process since SAP and coming here. So I just come here to bring up those um I think transportation is just a conversation that we need to start having and it that needs to be transparent. Um and I just want to give up my time. Thank you. [Applause] My name's Robin Teler. I switched spots with Chris and he's going to take mine so I can get to work. Um, my name is Robin Telander. I've served on the superintendent advisory committee last year and the SDP facilities committee since August. I'm a single mom of three, a fourth grader, a second grader at Kingsley, and a preschooler. I'm a child and family therapist in Evston, a former special education teacher, and I serve on the
109boards of ESCA and Women for Evston youth, making sure all D65 students are closed, supported, and connected to opportunity. As a single parent, I've hired babysitters to attend all of these meetings because our schools matter that deeply to me. To say my life is devoted to Evston youth is an understatement. I love the city and continue to choose our set of problems even when it feels like a constant punch in the gut. I believe it's hard to hate people up close and I implore our community to get to know our administration. I deeply respect Dr. Turner, Dr. Beardsley and our admin team. They have worked tirelessly. I say that and I also believe our process is flawed. The scorecard needs work. It's been rushed. It's felt performative and not always transparent. The financials feel eerily
110simil or to being told we could fund foster through busing. Closing four schools, including Bessie Roads, won't solve our def deficit. It's a short-term fix that still leaves us with funds for over 200 million needed in capital improvements, and without the trust needed to pass another referendum. I implore you to get these financials right. I could spend hours telling you how amazing Kingsley is, but I've accepted that my school is likely closing. When we focus on saving just our school or just our child, we lose sight of our shared humanity and we dehumanize others. When when my kids found out that their school is likely closing, they came home and sang to me the tune of Taylor Swift's Never Grow Up. Oh, Kingsley, won't you ever close up? Please don't ever close up. They asked,
111"Do you think if we sing that we can save our school?" No. I've taught them to always focus and serve the greater good. Let's do the same. Think long term, demand real financial analysis, and protect our neighborhood schools that hold this community together. Sergio, I so appreciate you stepping down as president and I want to echo what others have said and ask you and Maya to please resign so that we can start fresh. [Applause] Hey everybody. I I wanted to give just a window uh into uh Oakton Elementary being a parent there, but not to marginalize any other school or disparage any other school. I getting a feeling I'm getting the feeling we're all thrown into this arena to justify our school's existence and I find it grotesque that it's the situation exists. Um my
112name is Dan Cawthorne. Uh my wife Annie and I are Oakton parents. We have a daughter in second grade and one in fourth and both are in the tweet program. Uh the way it's currently zoned, Oakton is only three blocks away from our house. Uh Annie and I try to impress on our kids how blessed they are not only to have a walkable school, not only to have classmates that are neighborhood friends, but also to have had the caliber of education that they've already received. Uh the tweet teachers work hard to communicate with the parents via status emails on a daily basis talking about what they're doing in class and clearly stating learning goals for the assignments. The the teachers have taught our children uh that have taught our children are by any stretch of
113measurement. They're empathic. They're transparent and disciplined professionals. Um uh some of this administrative stuff going on I don't fully understand. I know it gets complex. I'm just talking about where I see the rubber hitting the road here with teachers and students. Um, in addition, we have a principal, Mr. Robinson, who is known for calling Oakton families at random just to check in with them, to ask them how school is going. Um, we have a garden where we can get fresh vegetables, which we do, which is very well-maintained. Oakton is no ordinary school. Um, as for the Spanish emergent, our our girls are not only use Spanish to communicate in class, we are surprised to find them solving math word problems written in Spanish. Our younger daughter has a tweet classmate who is a good friend
114that comes from a strictly Spanish-sp speakaking household that's only two blocks from us. And during playdates, our daughter, all of seven years old, speaks only Spanish to her friend. Because of the tweet program, she has the ability to do that. And if that's not a concrete deliverable result, I don't know what is. Enrollment of this program was one of the best decisions we've made since moving to Evston. As for our daughter's friend, I I don't know for sure what her family thinks of Twe, but I suspect these days a lot of non-English-speaking households don't want to attract attention. Um, uh, there's some other I have a testimony from another parent. We can do at another meeting. So, I think Thank you. [Applause] Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is
115Dr. Ariel Seml and my son is a first grader in the TWE program at Daws. I'm here today to express my deep disappointment and frustration with this board's performance, specifically using this meeting as an example of larger issues at play. Last Monday, families were notified of a special board meeting to continue public discussion at the school closure scenarios just two days in advance and during parent teacher conferences. The choice of timing showed disregard for school communities already committed to supporting their children. Realizing this, you did reschedule for a Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m., a time that remains inaccessible to many, particularly working families in Southwest Evston. I will also remind you that school starts at 9:05 a.m. I am fortunate to be able to be here and to take time away from my work and
116to make other drop off arrangements, but many others could not. And while I recognize that this is outside the control of the board, I want us all to remember that for some in our community right now, attending a public meeting or even filling out a survey is too risky. If walking a few blocks to schools feels precarious now for these families, how will they feel if their neighborhood school closes? We may not be able to know the answer to that question right now, but that can't stop us from asking it. These barriers raise serious concerns about equity and access, values the district claims to uphold. It's hard not to question whether this scheduling was simply careless or something else. Either way, the effect is the same. The voices of those most affected are the hardest
117to hear. Also troubling is the urgency. Why hold this meeting before the community survey closes on Friday or before the four listening sessions scheduled for this week have even occurred? You ask us to trust the process, but you're not really quite following it or trusting it yourselves. And frankly, this board's processes don't seem that great. Trust in the process led to broken promises to Bessie Rhodess families. Another looming decision about multiple school closures, and as we've read in the latest chapter of this story this past week, years of financial irresponsibility that borders on negligence of fidiciary responsibility. Given this history, families are not simply skeptical. We are tired. We are tired of bearing the consequences of your failure. Tired of being pitted against one another in a scramble for resources you have failed to protect.
118This is not just a financial decision. It is about community stability, educational equity, and long-term consequences. Thank you. [Applause] We have Christine Noric, Chris Vanstrom, Jennifer Morocquis, and Jodie Wikcinchimer. Can uh can you restart the clock for me? >> Good morning. My name is Christine Norric and I just really want to express my strong support for the plan that Dr. Pinker and Miss Updike uh shared with us this morning. I was very pleased to hear that idea and I completely agree that we need a vision and a shared goal that focuses on academic excellence. I want to be working towards something bigger than just a balanced budget. Yeah, [Applause] as we heard from lots of other people already, um I don't think that we have enough data right now about the financial implications of all
119of these changes happening at the same time. And I really want to express support for for some of the statements made by others that um doing it in a more phased approach would be better because that would allow us to gather data and then take it in steps um like pilot test what some of this would look like before making really broad sweeping deep cuts that we don't really know the implications of at this time. So, I appreciate um the work that has gone into it thus far and we really need to get some additional layers especially around the programming and the finances braided in like you said so that we have a bigger picture of how this is going to impact students, educators, other stakeholders in the community at large. Thank you. [Applause] Uh,
120good morning. I'm Chris Van Orand. Uh, and I'm a Lincolnwood and Haven dad. Uh, and I ran for the, uh, D65 board in the last election. Um, I got to know Patricia Anderson during the campaign. Uh, and so I'm delighted by her elevation to the presidency. Uh, and I think it's an excellent choice and the start of a new positive era. Um, I'd also like to thank Maria and Nicole. It takes a lot of courage to push back uh against potential group think uh and propose innovative solutions when the train is kind of already headed down the track. Um, I have a couple just simple proposals uh that I think could be helpful. One is uh I think it would be helpful if the board issued lessons learned from the Horton era and issued a
121public document laying out potentially uh how some of these alleged incidents could occur or were able to occur. I think more often than not, it's not that there were bad actors. Uh it's that there were people who were afraid to speak up. Maybe they didn't have the right incentives in place. And so I think it'd be really helpful to do a full kind of diagnostic on lessons learned. uh and specifically around some of the new cost and accounting controls that are in place so that the public has more confidence. Uh the second thing is um I would recommend really thinking about closing one school first and the reason I say that is I used to work in market research and analytics and anytime you have a ton of uncertainty in your modeling you want to
122try to derisk that to the greatest extent possible. Um so I think uh no matter how rigorous the model may be um it's still going to be built on a lot a lot of assumptions and as others have said uh there are a lot of assumptions built into this one. So I would propose really digging more rigorously into what are the actual implications of budget potential budget savings of closing the school and also what are the plans once that school closes. We just went through the Harley Clark fiasco. We want to make sure there's actually revenue generating possibilities lined up. Uh, and we've really considered the best use of those potential assets. Uh, lastly, I would say I love Lincolnwood. I would be devastated to see it close, but if that's where the data leads
123us and if the board is able to communicate that data, then I understand that would be the decision to make. Thank you. [Applause] Good morning. Hello. Good morning. Um, my name is Jennifer Moravek. Uh, before I begin though, I do want to say something. Um, I have something to read, but I want to state that I know King Arts is special. Um, I went to school there, but I want to say that all schools and all kids are special. What I am hearing, honestly, I'm hearing a lot of privilege. Um, and as great as it is, King Arts is a luxury and a privilege today, especially when we are in an environment of closing district schools and upending children's lives. So, I want to say that. Um, so I am here to read a letter
124from a beloved and respected district 65 teacher of almost 30 years, Mara Door. Of course, she was unable to be here because she is in the classroom. So, dear board members, I'm extremely saddened and disheartened to learn that you rescheduled this special board meeting for a day and time when no teachers will be able to attend. In addition, [Applause] working parents will not be able to attend a 9:00 a.m. weekly meeting weekday meeting. The parents who are at home will be dropping their kids off at school at this time. We have ultimately ended up scheduling this meeting at a time when no stakeholders except the board and administration will be able to attend. Dr. Turner's initial email stated, "We have heard your concerns about tonight's special board meeting conflicting with family teacher conferences. We want
125this process to be transparent. Instead of conflicting with family teacher conferences, you've now made it so even more people are unable to attend by scheduling this meeting at 9:00 a.m. during the school day. How in the world is that transparent? The board and administration say they want to gain the community's trust. Scheduling this during the school day is not only adding to our mistrust of this board and administration. District 65 teachers always put our students first and at the forefront of what we do. Isn't it about time the board and administration do the same for the teachers who are so dedicated to teaching them? Sincerely, Mara Doorin, fourth grade teacher at Lincolnwood Elementary. Um, I personally think the district is better than this. Let's not mirror the mistakes of our national politics. Let's lead with
126integrity, accessibility, and respect for those who serve our students every day. [Applause] Hello everyone. I'm Jodie Wickersshimer and I'm a King Arts parent. I had several things I was going to say and now I'm going to be in the moment. I was a part of the magnet school application process over the last five years. If you have questions, I'm happy to share that with all of you. what it was like to work alongside our administrators at the district and at the school level to talk about everything that went into that. And I have to say I was like we are going to do awesome things for this district because King Arts shouldn't just have this magnum moment. Everyone should have this program. So maybe like what has happened for the last 60 years of King
127Arts existence, we can pilot programs at King Arts and then they can be scaled throughout the district because that is what has happened since King Arts was founded in 1967. So we are not trying to be a new magnet school. We are living out the work that has been mandated by administrators in the district, school boards and the people who came before us. We were entrusted with that work and we are doing it with record demand for enrollment while the district has closed sections at our school to make sure there was balance throughout the district at neighborhood schools. We have been doing that by finding ways to get more parents into the schools. Besides, despite and even Maria, you campaigned on this, we have some really weird volunteer problems of how we can alleviate uh
128the daily operational stresses because we can't get parents into our schools to help volunteer. And then I have to so all this to say happy to engage but I'm confused by our shared understanding of what the word luxury means because everyone is invited to King Arts. And I invite the school board because some of you even with being our representatives have not yet visited >> and every child is welcome at King Art. [Applause] That is the culmination of our public comment. I want to thank the community for expressing your concerns. We are here and we hear you. We're going to move forward in our meeting now to regaining additional information about the SDRP phase 3 plan. >> Can I make a motion for just a brief recess? >> Yes. >> You don't need to make
129a motion for recess. >> A second. >> Okay. We're going to take a brief recess. >> How long? Five minutes. >> Five minutes. Five minutes. Don't make me use my teacher voice. >> Too late. >> Thank you. Please have a seat till we can continue with our meeting. If you need to continue your discussion, you may do that in the hallway. Thank you. Yeah, I think as a note also as we get close to 11:30, we have an early childhood dismissal, so conversation should move outside rather than being in the lobby. >> Yes. >> Thank you, Stacy. Are we ready to present >> the So we were not immediately presenting today. our so we did provide a memo with some revised scenarios and we were more or less expecting that it was a board discussion
130but if there are things questions specifically from those revised scenarios we certainly can pull those slides up to you know >> why don't why don't we go through um the questions first because that may uh seat the presentation in a in a better light so uh what I would like to do is have board members ers uh go through the questions by section so that we can make sure that we cover um all of the information and if there are questions within the categories that seem more salient at this po at this time I think we should um focus on those. >> Okay. So, Omar, if you would like to lead us into this discussion with talking about uh section one of the questions and then we'll just go through the lineup here and people
131can continue. >> I'll actually I'd rather not. I'll pass if that's okay, but could we can we just make sure we understand where like where the conversation is going? I guess I just want to make sure we stay focused because like like earlier it felt like we got a little um sidetracked and so are we right now going through the scenarios that have been like new scenarios that have been presented to us? Is this a time for us to present new scenarios? What's the focus of our conversation? So the f the I would like the focus of this section of the conversation to be on what's already been presented and the questions around those scenarios and then we can move into the presentation because that will address your additional questions. >> Perfect. Thank you. Then
132Maria, do you mind starting then? Is that okay? >> Thank you. Um, and I just I just want to for for the community's benefit, I think the the point of this meeting and and I've heard we've all heard the the um timing is not uh the best for for everyone and I I apologize for that. Um, after the September 29th meeting, uh, we were having one-on-one conversations, trying to digest what we were hearing, and we decided, uh, Sergio and leadership and and other members decided we needed to have these conversations in public so that we could all speak together at the same time. >> Um, and so that's why this meeting is happening now. Um, again, unfortunate timing, but I'm glad that we're doing it. And so, um, as we go through these questions, uh,
133these are the topics that we have all decided to investigate further together as a group. Is that fair to just >> And I would also like to say that yes, we've read every single email. >> We've read all of them. Um and some of these questions were uh salient during those conversations. So although um board members may have some background knowledge, we thought it was important to share this with the community because we're going through this together. We all live in this community. We um I have two children and a granddaughter that went through this school district. So I understand um it's a painful process but we have to address what's before us. So this is where these questions some of my questions emanated from. As you know I worked in the district for 35
134years. So I have a lot of background knowledge but everybody doesn't have that. And as we said before co peop there are people in the community who are at risk. So I want to make sure that they have access to information as well. So let's get started. Okay. Um so the first grouping of questions is around methodology process and governance. Um so subtopic scoring and methodology. First question. How does the King Art School proximity score account for its role as a magnet school that does not serve a single neighborhood? Several community members have requested that the score be reset to one. What would the implications be of making that change? >> All right. So, I want to explain a couple things about the school proximity score. Um, it was calculated in the same manner for
135all schools. It's a it essentially is a measure of proximity for adjacent schools if a building does not serve students. King Arts has preference for second ward st students per board policy. So who live in the adjacent boundaries near King Arts. So it's important to understand that there are there's a density of students that do live near King Arts and this is a measure of where would be the closest adjacent schools should a school close. So we calculated it in the same manner. Um King Arts has a 2.7 for score essentially in geography. Um placing it close to the middle. If the value was changed to 1.0, it would lower King Arts overall score. One note to consider is that King Arts has a lot of variation on our sensitivity scorecard. King Arts actually scores
136on the mean and median much higher than the weights that we used internally. So there it is one school that fluctuates quite a bit. Removing that would mean that it would be less impactful to close. But in virtually every other scenario on that sensitivity test, King Arts fluctuated higher as being more impactful to close. >> Thank you. Um, do you want me to keep going in this section, Pat? >> I can. >> Yes. >> Uh, some community members have suggested that a dynamic process, making one school decision at a time and recalculating after each should have been used instead of identifying multiple schools at once. Can you explain in simple terms how the scoring process worked and why this method was selected? >> Yes. Um, so essentially there are always alternative ways to get to
137recommendations. Um this team was charged with bringing options to the school board for consideration. Specifically, we were asked to bring zero to four school closures. A dynamic process would would essentially require identifying a first closure and then a second closure and then a third closure and building it in that variety. That was not the will of the board. That is not what was requested for us to bring forward. And so we essentially defined a process that got very, you know, essentially worked to listen to the community in the spring and the summer, worked with a committee of community members, worked to define categories and criteria that to the extent possible could reflect the will of the community and the priorities of the community. In no case will those categories and criteria ever be perfect and
138will they ever fully reflect the will of the community. The work that's gone forward is the strongest and best scenario we could bring forward and this process is about iterating and then trying to determine what is best to move forward. Okay. And so it's a reflection of the will of the board. It was a reflection of engagement with community and it's a reflection of the fact that um staggering these decisions over time also has a very real emotional impact on the community as well. So it's trying to be respectful about something that is difficult but within a focused period of time. >> Thank you. What was the origin of the waiting and criteria used in the scorecards? Were these values proposed by the administration or did the SDRP facilities committee reach consensus on them and
139were there any ma modifications made after that point? >> Okay, the facility subcommittee and I think to note you know we formed these subcommittees in March began work in April. The group has been working pretty consistently with the exception of taking a couple weeks off in July. >> So this is a process that did involve community engagement in the spring and then again in June. The facility subcommittee began by Divi essentially diving into a lot of district provided data primarily early on the master facility assessment and the demography report as well as enrollment data. We then shifted into utility usage and all sorts of different capital type data um and engaged in a process of brainstorming and refining of the criteria. During that phase they started working in small groups. We would review data, we'd
140learn, we'd ask questions, then they'd work in small groups to begin to generate categories and criteria. We iterated on that as we were getting to know the data deeper. Then we pulled together as a whole group. And essentially for the categories and criteria, the group did come to consensus on the categories and criteria. Then we used essentially a a tool to develop the waiting that involved them all members going in and setting weights for the categories relative to each other. We were very public about that. They were able to see each other's weights and ultimately land on what felt like it was reflective of a diverse set of well I say stakeholders that held a variety of beliefs. Okay. But they got to a point where they said, "Yep, this feels like a decent compromise."
141They owned, they reflected different parts of the community, and they felt like a a decent compromise for moving forward. So they got to consensus on categories, criteria, and weight. We came back in August. We added five new members. Uh we worked on onboarding those folks to help them understand the work that had been done. Um but that's difficult to do while you're also, you know, driving a bus at the same time. Um we processed through what is over 30 scenarios um wrote up far more scenarios but actually process 30 scenarios with the committee to land on what we brought forward. Ultimately what we brought forward was administrative decision and the group did not get to consensus on the scenarios themselves for this portion. When we processed, we processed the scenarios. We had our scorecard values.
142We also had a Google form where everybody sounded in with their feedback. That feedback is captured in the strengths and areas of challenge with each scenario. And I think the group would pretty well hold that every scenario we looked at, and we knew it from the beginning, there's no perfect answer. you know, we brought forward what collectively we felt like was best while also owning the same feelings that we feel in this room are within the committee. >> Thank you. >> Yep. >> Um and then just as a follow-up question, do these scorecard waitings also form the foundation of the scenario scorecards? >> Do sorry, say that again. So the question reads um do these scorecard waitings so like the individual school waitings also form the foundation of the scenario scorecards? >> Yes. So essentially
143and we've got some very detailed information on the FAQ and the SDRP hub as well as written responses on that. Okay. >> Essentially and I would really encourage folks to just access there's a video explaining it. We've taken time to explain it to many different members of the community, but the individual scorecard values are then aggregated up to the scenario scorecards. I think one thing that I spoke to in the last meeting and I'll speak to again, you know, I think one area that people sometimes struggle with grappling with is the equity measure because as I said in our last meeting, I used Washington as an example. We look at Washington has double strand twe you know we it's a community that has a pretty significant free and reduced lunch that equity measure captures every
144child that is assigned a new school and so it is once it goes into the scenario it is not just the school itself it's every child that is in get assigned a new school and then it is what's the total number of kids impacted and then of that group impacted what is the count of students students that have an IEP e or are e or um qualify for free and reduced lunch. >> Stacy, as we're going through the questions, if you think there is a resource that we can guide people to to get the information that's needed, please bring that up so that we can move through this in a a more expeditious manner and to make sure people have full information. Yeah, I would strongly strongly we've really tried to put every piece of
145data available up on the district website. If you go to the homepage, scroll down, there's a little pie chart that says SDRP hub. You click on that and then there's specifically a like a scenario school closure button that is a bar all the way across. Clicking in there gives folks the baseline and gives them everything for each of the scenarios. So, really strongly do that. Also the FAQ which is going up has a link to a video explaining the calculations. >> Thank you. And then a final question in this and then I think we should probably just let people ask questions that maybe they are are follow-ups. Were the were SDRP facilities committee members led to believe that they would have an equal or final decision-making role alongside the administration? So, you know, I they're
146led to believe I you know, I think that question should be directed towards committee members. I don't want to speak to what they may perceive one way or the other. >> We did work to help folks understand that ultimately it was an administrative recommendation and but we greatly valued people's input. you know, we did come to consensus and what we brought forward in the for the June categories and criteria and what we brought forward was consensus and administrative recommendation. >> So I could see that possibly since we came to consensus there we we did not get to consensus here but I also feel there were multiple places and with the scenarios with the facility subcommittee specifically they received what came to the board 929 prior to our last meeting. We walked through, folks had an
147opportunity to raise any significant objections to talk through things. It was made clear though that this was an administrative recommendation. >> Thank you. >> Can I ask a followup to that? >> Um I I can't remember which meeting it was, but I believe we were told that like the three subcommittees would like do their work separately and then get back together at some point. If I like am I remembering that correctly? And if so, did that happen? the um so we would gather at the end of every other meeting once we went to weekly to share work. Okay. >> I would say that you know so but the groups as a whole did not come together for a longer period of time to work collectively. >> Okay. I just I thought I remembered hearing that
148and I was trying to find which meeting but I couldn't yet. So thank you. Okay. Um, Omar, would you like to >> Do you have anything else you want to add about the scoring? >> No, not >> the methodology. Anyone else have anything they want to talk about with the scoring and methodology? >> I I do. Um, when we think about the criteria that were generated and I and if I'm I just want to review the process. So we had community meetings where people, you know, would put the dots on the postits of what was most important to them and then we sort of went around distilling and distilling that information. Um, and you had mentioned Stacy just now that like this process should be iterable. And so when you think about like some of
149the things in your professional opinion like weren't necessarily modeled but might be impactful, what might some of those things be to the outcome? And I'm sorry to put you on the spot here, but so I think um I think that's a very difficult question to answer. Um I think we have a very strong set of categories and criteria. >> Yeah. >> Um the board ultimately needs to kind of sit with the scenarios there and decide I think collectively are there other things that the board believes should be valued. But I do stand by the categories and criteria that we brought forward. >> Thank you. >> Shall we move on to governance and timeline? >> Yeah. Sergio, >> Sergio, would you like to address that? >> So, in regards to timeline, you know, what we're hearing
150from the community is, of course, to to slow it down. >> The questions on the >> Yeah, >> okay. I can >> It's in an email. Um, you go So, uh, did the administration receive any complaints from board members, SDRP committee members, or community members about the process, structure, methodology, or timeline prior to the September 29 meeting when the results were first presented. the you know I would you know so there were some bumps in the road you know and I think that being said this is a very difficult process with a lot of gravity connected to the impact which generates thoughts feelings and emotions um I think if we had gotten to this point and not had any bumps on the road people probably wouldn't have engaged with it with the heart and the
151feeling and the emotion that is there um on the facilities committee as I said we did on board it was five or six members I think it might have been six members in August you know that is difficult to onboard. We built knowledge but that meant we had to go back and forth on things. We had to reestablish some baseline understandings. Um this re-elevated questions that we had worked through in the spring. Additionally, when scenarios had been revealed um when there were disagreements or concerns about decisions, one of two things ultimately were done. either we discussed it in our committee meetings and or a call was set up outside the med meeting to hear and understand the concern to see if and how it could be addressed. Like that's me speaking to the facility side
152of things and that involved some extra calls to say like hey what's up what am I not hearing what do we need to do about that and then we tried to work through things in our space. >> Thank you for that. Uh, next question is, was the SDRP facilities committee representative of the community in terms of geography, race, gender, and income? And I think you answered that a little bit earlier, right? I think most the committees that the whole the the the um the intent was has always been to make sure that we get representation from all neighborhoods that are going to be impacted. >> Yeah. And at the end of the day, that's always the intent. I think the when we went out in March though, I think quite frankly schools up in the
153Haven feeder pattern were feeling this possibility more than other communities and a lot of community members spoke today about the fact that um these types of engagements are not always accessible to families. This also is a group that at this point I think has met like 15 times. We have almost 400 slides um that have committed a ton of time on most recently on a weekly basis. Courtney talked about that too. Um, so ultimately the group was not representative of the same demographics of the district. We did speak about that in our own spaces. You know, we pulled up the demographics of the district. We talked about who was in the room and who was not in the room. We spent some time in the spring think, you know, looking at the racial equity impact
154assessment tool and elevating certain aspects of that. And then in the fall, we also tried to ground ourselves a little bit in some of the conditions and the agreements of courageous conversations and kind of and returned to the demographics. So we did our best to hold that. Um that being said, essentially um the facility subcommittee represented seven wards and Skoi with over representation in the sixth and seventh warts of which we had 10 members. The the members have students in 10 of our district schools and the members were 75% are 75% white, 10% black and 15% other or opted out of identification. >> Thanks for that. And last question I have for you. We have received requests to slow down the process or delay school closures when did SDRP3 officially begin and when was its
155time when first communicated publicly? Yeah. So, you know, I have spoken to March um but we truly were having conversations about the need to move from SDRP2 to SDRP3. Um really >> February >> as soon as we ended >> even foreshadowing with the cuts that were announced earlier. So, it's been this entire calendar year. >> Correct. And actually when we and that was going in was the expectation always. We ended SDRP phase 2 on January 27, 2025 when the board made a decision and voted for us to move forward with the execution of that. We took a little bit of a short period of time off, maybe a week or two, and then we came right back as a cabinet team to start planning for uh SDRP uh phase three. And so just want to
156want to really lift that up that this process has been going on for a while in the planning. We started meeting with the committee groups because we start we ran a cycle where folks wanted to apply and be part of the committees. they had the opportunity to do that. Um, we ran through the review of that and then the actual committee meeting started in March. >> And I think the other thing I'll speak to is, you know, unfortunately we are not the only district that's engaging in conversations about closures. Um and so even as we were like looking forward at t you know that's the directional forward not the anticipatory forward but as we were looking at needing to take this work on you know we connected with other districts across the country who were
157navigating this process. We also looked at you know white papers and other things that helped to spell out this process and really the timing was based on the experiences that we are hearing from other districts. >> Thank you. Can I make a comment before we move on? Um it's not a question, it's just a comment that so at a meeting before you all were on the board. Uh I believe it was April 7th. Um so four of you were not um here yet. Um I made a comment that I was not comfortable as a board member being given the recommendations and not being able to give feedback on them. So, I just want to like point out that we did I don't think any of us really had that much in um input into the
158process. And so, what the reason I'm bringing that up is I take this timeline that started on se uh September 29th. That's the first time we as board members, the people who have to make the decisions saw those. So, for the next few week, like I feel as though this is our opportunity to ask the questions, to suggest modifications. Um, and I again you all weren't on the board yet, but that's how I saw the process. And so I hope you do. Um, I think that's it for now. >> Yeah, just to add another wrinkle. I think it doesn't contradict anything that's been said, but uh there were multiple of us, but three of us board members for sure that were repeatedly involved in observing the process on Wednesday nights um there regularly. And um
159that was um a point of insight even though we were not shaping the process directly. I guess I would just add to that that you know as sitting in on the finance committee portion like there wasn't any discussion about specific you know scenarios obviously like the facilities committee had um and while I think that you know I think that Susan and Tamara did an excellent job of trying to make sure that the finance committee kind of stayed on track um there was a lot of things that were sort of left undisussed. test because there was not enough time or it was too specific for for the role of that group. um that left you know I guess you know we received a letter from some members and I know it's not all of the members
160that that there were some areas where they felt they could have impacted potential financial um cuts and discussions that didn't involve school closures but that wasn't necessarily the the the charge that they were given and so as the process unfolded I think what I was what what impacted me was how very complicated the process was um and difficult to come to us, you know, come to the solutions and that the finance committee and the facilities committee ultimately didn't overlap at all other than to hear what the amount of each school that could potent that would have been closed of the different scenarios would be uh the s what the savings would be. I just want to um it might already be said or feeling but the reality is I mean phenomenal work has been done
161and we can also have questions about it and the purpose here is to workshop this and talk about it such that we feel confident as we make these decisions you feel confident that we've um that we've asked a question and that folks you know there's no there's no answer that everyone wins here. There's an answer that we have to come up with for our district. And I just want us to um just want everyone to be okay. Everyone be okay with we're going to ask the questions. And that doesn't mean that we don't believe that the analysis or the time that was put in wasn't right. It that is the work that allows the questions to ask. You actually can't ask questions if you don't actually have good information, good scenarios there. So I just
162didn't necessarily need to be say said but I just want to say that as an academic we start with that and you like let's interrogate it and we need to interrogate it to get to the right solution that everyone feels at least the questions have been asked. >> Okay the uh next section is data and impact analysis. Um what are the I think uh Stacy I guess it's Stacy. What are the current occupancy rates for the middle school feeder pattern? And I know we said it last time, but I think it's really important to say that and people to hear that and to know exactly what they are. >> Sure. I think probably the best way to pull that up is to look at the baseline >> um that we had that we provided that
163is on the SDRP hub. So I'm just going to go there quickly. So we're just reading the actual source documents that are provided and I need to be closer to the mic. Um, so I'm just going to quickly go out there right now and essentially the baseline scenario is the best way to look at that particular place. And so school closure hub the zero baseline and then in data tables essentially we have the utilization and so when we look at the middle schools and you want the utilization rates. >> Yes. Of the feeder patterns. Yeah. >> Yep. So the baseline you're talking about >> so like shootute um just summarize the shootute what's the utilization rate for the chute feeder for the haven feeder so that >> I misunderstood that question I thought you were
164asking for the middle school utilization rates which would be nickels at 93% haven at 71 and shoot at 70 but if you give me a quick minute I can pull that from the last presentation >> so you're asking for the K5 utilization rates by middle school feeder >> path yeah on um >> yeah, just give me a quick slide and I will pull it up. >> See, we memorized these slides, y'all. We've really looked at them. >> Yeah, not fully memorized, that's for sure. We talked to it last time. If you have a question for someone else, you could buy me 60 seconds. So, Yeah, let's Tamara, can I ask you a question while Stacy's time? >> So, what portion of our per pupil funding is income based or determined by headcount or students? >>
165I just want to preface by saying that there's been a lot of comments about our enrollment rates and that affecting our finances. And so, I just want everybody to be crystal clear about where our money comes from and and what that's Tamara, I think you also issue a memo on that too. >> I did. Um, so to directly answer that question, Omar, it comes out to about 2%. So about 3.4 per or 3.4 million of our revenue budget. Um, so it's about 2% there. >> That's dependent upon enrollment. >> Correct. >> And the balance is is dependent upon >> uh the balance of that is dependent upon property tax revenues, which that's about 80% of our budget for property tax revenues. But the portion that is directly attributable to um income free and reduced lunch
166status that number that's about 2% of our revenue. >> Okay. >> All right. And I have your answer. Um so essentially looking at the middle school feeder patterns looking at the K5 school utilization rates essentially the chute feeder pattern if you average the utilization rates of the their feeder schools in K5 is at 73%. and the Haven feeder pattern and this is excluding Foster. So just looking at the four that are currently open is 42% and Nicholls is 68% and that is using our baseline zero scenario. So that essentially would reflect the board approved boundaries for next year using the data set of where kids live currently. >> Wait a second. So you but the 42% for Haven doesn't include foster. >> That is correct. So when you include foster though, what is that >>
16758? >> The I can add that in very quickly and get it for you. >> So it'll require another question from >> um has the impact of student uh reassignment students whose schools remain open but are reassigned been incorporated into the scenario impact scores? >> That's I'm sorry. That's okay. I'm sorry. I got to figure out. So, do you want to hold that question or get that answer? >> Hold the question. Where's another finance question? >> Yeah, hold that question and give me a few seconds. >> That's still hard. >> Go ahead. Ask a finance question. >> So, we've repeatedly heard um that and I I mentioned this in the 29th board meeting is some of our financial levers are speculative. So, for instance, we have $100,000 of local university funding partnership, right? That's not
168guaranteed. Um, we have $100,000 of building rental fees. Maybe might happen. That's a little more likely. 100,000 targeted state grants. We don't control those what is made. 50,000 parent donations, 100,000 education foundation donation. Those are all very speculative. That's about $450,000. And then we have the lease funding, which seems kind of speculative based on $250,000 roughly per building measured out on the scenarios. Um, how should we as a board be thinking about this? because this depending on the scenario could be over a million dollars of potential um income we're planning on but it's not guaranteed. Oops. So there are um along with those revenue levers that are estimates um there are also expenditure levers that are also estimates. So, um, as far as the rental income, that one is actually solid. Um, so that that's
169one that is definitely solid. The rest of it is conversations that we had with our finance subcommittee of getting their input on particular um, levers for revenue. Um, and then Dr. Harkin and I having conversation as well to see what areas we could um, impact our revenue from. So we weren't necessarily focused on the expenditure side of things all the time. We wanted to focus on increasing those revenues as well. Um so to your point of those estimates, those revenue estimates that um are just that estimates and may be more um challenging for us to influence. that is where we would look at the other side of that as well as far as our expenditures where we may have more control. Um, as far as those expenditure levers as well, there are some things open
170like our special education audit. So, all of our projections right now are assuming business as usual with no changes, no impacts made from that special education audit or any of the other audits that we're looking at, any of the other programmatic reviews. So, um, I anticipate that there will be some reductions that come as a result of those audits and programmatic reviews as well that would take some pressure off of those revenue levers um, in terms of those estimates, but we hope that we would be able to hit those targets as well. >> Yeah. Thank you. And then also a followup, did what we heard from our consultant who did the valuations, like the market evaluations of our properties, I forget what the actual name of this was, just pardon me. Um, but did they
171back up this idea that we could have uh income that would did they give us a sense that we could have income, lease income that could outweigh the expense of keeping that building? >> The Kirby, are you out there? >> Come on down. Um, well, he's coming on down. Um, essentially when I make that adjustment and include foster, the utilization rate in the haven feeder pattern goes from 42% to 49%. So calculated using the same method um essentially it's 49% in the haven feeder pattern 68 in the nichls feeder pattern and 73% in the shoot feeder pattern. >> Thank you >> Kirby. Did you hear the question? >> I did. >> Thank you. >> So the the but could you restate a little bit clearer? >> Yeah just to repeat and then you tell me
172what you remind me what the question was. um is did we get a sense from our expert consultant that we could have lease income that would exceed costs of retaining a particular building? >> Their analysis uh about lease income um based on the market across Chicago area for schools and related public buildings um showed that uh we get about $6 to $10 per square foot of a building on lease. So if we lease the entire building, none of our buildings would cover our operating and capital expenditure costs. Um they would debate it. They would uh come closer. Some schools more based on uh the proximity of the school. Some schools would drive a higher higher per square foot dollar than others based on their location etc. But um their analysis was that was school by
173school. There was no school would lease co lease coverage payments would cover our operating capital expenses for that building. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> So, back to Stacy. Uh, has the impact of student reassignments um students whose schools remain open but are reassigned been incorporated into the scenario impact scores? >> Has the impact of students being reassigned been incorporated into the scenario impact scores? So, >> so students whose schools remain open but are still so you know boundaries I guess are changing has that been incorporated in? >> So on the equity measure every student who is assigned a new school which very well includes students who have schools that are they're currently in that are not closed are captured in the equity measure. And so every student, you know, if I'm um Stacy at Beardsley
174School, Beardsley School maybe is staying open, but my boundary changes and now I'm going to Wymer school. So I them in the equity count and I would be counted in impacted and then in the second group if I had an IEP or if I was a free introduced lunch student. >> Perfect. So every student who receives a new school, regardless of whether their school is being closed, is included in that count and it's part of the scorecard. >> Okay. Is our headcount based approach to equity analysis sufficient to prevent disparit impacts particularly for schools in majority marginalized neighborhoods? >> The um I would lean into kind of the term individualized here. We are doing our best to capture potential impact. And I think when a decision is ultimately made around closure is when as we
175plan we need to work to manage those impacts on any of those particular groups with really intentional actions to support transition both for students and for families. And so you know it is impossible for that group of folks to put your finger on one answer for what is needed. But that is where partnerships with our school leaders, our related services teams, our fa family and community engagement liaison, our counselors, and developing a plan becomes really important for that engagement for the potentially most impacted families to have strong support. I also think that's where navigating some of the staffing becomes important because of the value of if I show up at a school, is there a face I recognize? >> Things along those lines. And so once we get to a decision, I think there are
176ways that we would very intentionally work on our planning of transition and support to specifically connect to the families that need the most support. >> What percent of students will be greater than.7 miles from school in each of the two and three school scenarios? >> The that is a question that I will need to come back to. >> Okay. >> Um I do not have that random. >> Okay. Um can you just repeat it so I make sure? >> Yeah. The um percentage of students who will be greater than 75 miles from school in each of the two and three school uh closure scenarios. >> You got it. Thanks Chris. All right. >> Hey Chris. >> Hello. Let me just change these decimals to percents really quick. Um, I definitely have them for the three
177schools. I can check if I did it for the two schools as well. Um, so that is 3B and 3D. So 3B, Lincolnwood, Kingsley, and Daw have a walkability percent of 67% on the scorecard. So 67% of students are within 75 miles. So the remainder of that would be the students that are greater than 75 miles. And then for 3D, Lincolnwood, Kingsley, Washington, the walkability percent is also 67%. So So they are the same. So about about a third of students would be more than 75 miles across the district K5 schools. >> Okay. It is. I just want to we're using 75 for analysis, but that's not necessarily from a transportation the um the number use. Just want to put that out there for everyone. >> Yeah, that that that's correct. The scorecards, the subcommittee
178determined walkability as 75 miles. ISB and school code defined walkability as within 1.5 miles. I also want to just say, you know, one of the one of the things that drove the landing at 75 was the committee needed to come up with a decent differentiator for as a criteria and so 75 was deemed as a decent differentiator as opposed to a recommendation. >> No, no. Like what are the equity scores of the schools after the schools are closed? What are the equity scores of the schools? >> That's a Yeah, >> I'm not sure. Can you explain that question for me? >> Um, >> that's a second question. >> While they're doing that, can I just ask a follow up on the previous question about the 7 greater than 0 75? Do we know what is
179that incl can we find the data for the current rates of students that are a greater distance than that is that on the original score >> SDRP hub >> we have essentially for the baseline scenario which would be next year's board approved boundaries um we've got all of that data there that shows students that would be beyond those lines and also requiring transportation and crossing hazards so I go to the baseline scenario on the hub um regarding the the transportation in looking through the memos. Um let me find the page. There's um a table uh I'm just going to pull up the 3D additional ta data tables for um for it. It's like ACC placement bus hazard 965 park rice. Do you know which one I'm talking about? It's page nine. the yes revised. So
180I do know the transportation table, but you want to look specifically at page nine from the revised scenarios. Is that >> I just want to better understand um the row around like Willard for example at the bottom um the last row it doesn't have any bus or hazard numbers. So only 12 um special ed kids would be busted. Is am I reading that right? >> Yes. So, we're saying that with the with the new boundaries that were drawn in 3D, that would mean that um students from like the intersection, let's say the furthest part from Willard that I can kind of see on the map would be the intersection of McCormack and G. And that that is within the distance that they would be expected to walk. So for our scenarios and for our modeling
181we needed to use some baseline assumptions and so the baseline assumptions that we have provi with we made and this was in discussion with the committee and ultimately the administrative recommendation is that if essentially busing would be triggered by a couple things living beyond the 1.5 which is the ISBY transportation requirement and and then the other issue would be around an I dodefined hazard and so the closest I do defined hazard to that zone would either be McCormick >> that would really be McCormack and so yes what we're seeing there is everybody is within 1.5 miles and nobody is crossing an ID dot defined hazard now the school board could defi decide to define either one of those differently >> depending on I do approved hazards >> or transportation policy but That's the specific criteria
182we used for modeling our scenarios. >> Okay. >> Uh just to be clear about our methodology here, um folk were asking questions they didn't necessarily write. We compiled all these. They're collaboration. So I'm going to ask ask questions I didn't necessarily write either. Uh so if no schools are closed next year, what would be the district's financial and operational position? So what we know that we will continue to face next year um and years beyond is our expenditure growth outpacing our revenue growth. That's the the challenge that's been going on for decades in the district. Um but what that means for next year based on the information that we have right now is that we would need to reduce operational expenditures by about $4.5 million. Um, again, that number could come down once some of
183the programmatic uh reviews and audits that we're having done are completed, but right now status quo would be about $4.5 million of reductions. >> And that's just to keep us balanced for next year. >> Correct. >> Does that also maintain 90 days cash on hand? >> Correct. Yes. >> And can you say that one? Can you save your question? >> Sorry. I just wanted >> is that is that is that 79 days >> the okay 7.5 to maintain 90 days cash on hand does the 4.5 does that drop to is it 79 days >> I don't remember yes >> okay 79 days >> okay and then does the 7.5 million include our raising of capital expenses to 2.7 which is just a gesture towards enough. No. What would that be then? It would be 7.5
184plus 2.7, which would be >> So, there's just a clarification around um for FY27, we have a $6 million payment that will come out of our operating fund to finish foster school. Um and so I'll let Susan take it from there. >> Yeah. So, um great question. So, I want to make sure we ground ourselves, right, with the right data, right? So, if we're only solving for FY27, maintaining 90 days cash on hand, maintaining a million dollar of annual capital expenditures, we would need to um identify $7.5 million in reductions just for next year. And it would only get you through next year. And again when we speak about the $ 122.1 million it's with the expectation we're trying to get maintain till FY30. So why that's why so when you would make that cut
185of 7.5 million a million dollars for capital projects 90 days for cash on hands you will have to make cuts the following year in order to make sure you're adhering to that guideline and that policy. >> Right. Right. So, it's with the 2.7 million uh for capital expenses, which again I just think is like a bare minimum of what we should be targeting, that puts us at 9.2 million for next year. >> You got it. >> Can you explain the 4.5 million, the number the the first number that uh Tamara >> Sure. Sure. So, that would just get us to a balanced budget. >> Okay. And and the problem is is as your expenditures grow, the amount you need for 90 days cash on hand grows, as well as you will have to withdraw $6
186million from your working cash to fund the remaining capital expenditures for foster school. So that contributes to where we're at. So, while we can get to a balanced budget at 4.5, we're drawing down some of our savings account to pay for the remainder of uh foster >> and the savings just is our our cash on hand. >> You got it. >> So, the 4.5 with the withdrawal of the 6 million for foster leaves us at around 70 days. >> 70 days cash on hand. And one last thing with respect to that and there might be more Tamara historically are we I know we the goal is 90 how how many in the last 15 years have we operated at 90 I mean I don't I'm not trying to say 15 but you know what I
187mean in in general >> right right so part of the um research that I did when we were going through the SDP the finance subcommittee work I look back as far as I could look on the Isby website to get our days cash on hand history. Only seven of the past 22 years has the district been more than 90 days cash on hand. Um and that was mainly after the referendum was passed. Um and even when that referendum was passed, the forecast then was that those funds would get the district through deficit free years through FY25. So, it was known then that we would be in a a position where we would need to do something to get the uh expenditures and the revenues back in line, but it it's it's our expenditure growth outpacing
188our revenue growth that's causing the issue. >> Can you re can you restate that last part? I just want to make sure I heard it clearly. When was it known that in fiscal year 25 we'd be running a deficit? So when the referendum was passed in 2017, um all of the the records, financial records from back at that time, there were forecasts done then and those projections stated that the district would get through FY25 with balanced budgets, deficit free, but then after that there would need to be something else done. You're welcome. Uh, does the district have the capacity to effectively manage four school closures? Thinking we've been decided as a board, our will was to look at three and we also know that Bessie Roads is closing and one school opening foster while maintaining
189ongoing operations. >> So, the district has essentially drafted an onboarding and offboarding plan to manage school closures, essentially closures and openings. The reality is that when this decision ultimately is made, this then becomes the primary focus of our work. Um, yes, we do dayto-day school, but you know, when we think about board priorities, when we think about cabinet priorities, this becomes the work and so that we have the capacity to do it. We it may require additional resources, be it physical staffing or consultants. um when we think about even movers, those types of things. But we have a comprehensive plan that has been built out with the idea that, you know, we know we need to close roads. We know we need to open foster and that this plan could essentially be applied to additional
190closures. It will be a lot of work, but it becomes our work pending a decision from the board and the the district does have the capacity to do the work. >> Uh this speaks to our previous conversation with Dr. Harkin and Tamara, could the district afford and manage a phased in approach to closures? For example, closing Bessie Roads and Kingsley while opening Foster then planning subsequent closures later. >> Um, so the our facility subcommittee met last week and part of our, you know, we used it as some open space discussion for topics and things along those lines. And this topic did come up in our meeting. Um I know um and we discussed it and you know that particular group in our conversation came back and said like we don't think that's a good idea
191and I will speak to what I think was coming up in that room. This is not directly from them but we all understand and know that the Bessie roads closure has been a very difficult process. It was a long process. It is a process that has had a lot of on-ramp and off-ramp. Time doesn't always make things better. Um, and I think one of the challenges I've got here is, you know, the charge here was to put a lot of scenarios out. It's very difficult to put things back in a can and say we'll come back again next year >> because the feelings are all there. You can't take that away. >> Thank you, Stacey. Um my questions revolve around uh special education and program impacts. And the first question I think is particularly important
192because this um issue this concern has been raised about closing J and uh repositioning the prek program. So, um, what are our legal obligations to provide special education services beginning at age three? And what are the facility requirements for these pre preK and Head Start classrooms? >> Dr. Smith is going to pick up first. >> Yeah. So, and through Childfind, so we are legally obligated to provide evaluation services for three to five year olds. Okay. and to serve these students with quality special education services. So that's through child find. In terms of transportation, um we're also legally required to provide transportation per ISV for students between the ages of three and 21 whose IEPs require transportation as a necessarily related service. So the prek and head starts classrooms um in terms of physical space the
193design elements they have to support early childhood or you know class in-classroom bathrooms um age appropriate toilets sinks lower cabinets changing spaces and then an early childhood appropriate playground. Now further detail um and I got this from Jenny Sulik our director of student services. Our idea grant part B is required for 3 to 5 year olds with special education needs. So we receive $62,9 from this grant. $27,300 pays for.72 parah. And the prek for all preschool grant we receive is $757,000 336 that pays for four teachers and three TAs. PE preschool for all is not required but it's encouraged and funded to offer a least restrictive environment. So for instance we have to provide special education services. If we did not have a preschool we would have to go to other preschools to offer the
194special education services. It's not required but it is recommended that we provide preschool in order to have a lease restricted environment. >> Thank you. Um uh one of the biggest questions that's coming out of this is um and concerns is the relocation of special education programs. Um so some of these questions really address the same issue in terms of when those class classes are relocated. Um, what does that do for staffing of those classes? And are considerations being made for the space that those programs need in order to fully implement uh the instruction that takes place with the step and and the rise program. >> Yeah. So in terms of in terms of the physical space, yes, we are absolutely modeling what does that physical space look like. For instance, with the STEP program, some
195of the programs are larger spaces and they have dividers. So, the students are divided up in in that within the larger space, but then they might need a a separate space for related service providers, for OT, for speech. A lot of that is also dependent on the students IEP, but also given students is is what is their daily need. It could be that their occupational therapy is typically done in the classroom because it helps a student adapt. But if that student is having a very difficult day, you would have to find another space for OT. So in terms of like the physical space, but also we're also looking at what is going to all of this is going to hinge on is what do those IEPs tell us? And that's what's going to drive staffing
196and that's what's going to drive like how many teachers, how many pair of professionals, what that looks like. All of this is we have to follow a legally mandated IEP. So, and for RISE and even, you know, I think folks have spoke to the the fact that RISE is the students in RISE are also very integrated into the King Arts community and it makes it a very special environment. you know, if we close King Arts, then we would also strive to ensure the same thing for whatever school these students were in, making it a priority to ensure that those students are still receiving the services they need while also being part of an integral part of the community. Um, another piece of that financial picture is we know that the West audit is being completed
197at this time. the the deadline was October 30th, correct? But we're in the middle of the fire right now. So, is there is there any information we can glean from that to help us while we make these pretty significant decisions? >> So, right now, unfortunately, we don't have preliminary data. Um, Westad is is receiving the financial information. Now our initial analysis so the the initial kind of taking a look at things um Jenny Sulic is new to her role and so she's bringing in a high level of expertise is we need to work on identifying um appropriately identifying students who qualify for pair professional services. We also need to look at the continuum of services and how also to bring students back into the district from private placements. So, this could in in terms of
198bringing students back into the district from private placements could potentially increase staffing in the short run, but it could also decrease what we're spending for therapeutic day schools. >> What were those three things you said? Sorry. You said appropriately identify those that need parapros, bring students back to the district was the third one. What was the second one you said? >> Uh qualify uh looking at your continuum of services. So, so analyzing what that continuum of services is. Some of this could be looking at scheduling, things like that, but also again I'm going to ground this in what are the IEPs telling us? >> Um, so we would also need to if we're bringing students in back in from private placements, what is the intensive professional development we would need for our teachers? Um, and
199so, you know, so this could come out of the idea grant, but we're also looking at we have to kind of say, okay, what do we need now? Where are the students? So, do we have exactly what we would be saving? No, because sometimes you have to spend a little bit more to save in the >> Okay, I understand. Thank you, >> Omar. Would you like to ask any of the questions from the list? >> No, thank you. Okay. Then um I would like to see what the favor of the board is in continuing with this time is it's noon and we've been here. Um not that we can't continue to have these discussions in future board meetings. Um, but I would like to make sure that we share um the feedback about the alternate
200scenarios so that the community has more information as we go into the the uh the meetings later today and tomorrow. >> Yeah, I would appreciate that. >> Okay. >> Please >> can I make a motion for a brief recess? >> Um, you need just you can just go. >> Okay. >> All right. I would like to >> vote down. >> Yeah. >> I would like to continue. >> Yeah. >> And if anyone needs to have a personal recess, they can do that. >> Listen, >> trying to get the work done. Okay. Thank you. The community's here. We got to get the work done. >> Yes. So, Stacy, take it away. >> I think that's the question, too. >> Um, Adila, do you want to put the slides up for me? So, as Adila is putting
201these up, um, I want to be clear for the folks in the audience and the board. Um, what I've got here is we took board, you know, I'm going to have kind of a quick update for where we are for the board feedback from the last meeting and then we did some basic revision on 3B and 3D because the board asked us to focus in on three school closures to address the utilization concerns. Now um there was some al also some conversation around king arts but I don't know I exited with one understanding for king arts scenarios but then it wasn't what I got was feedback potentially that that wasn't a complete understanding of king art scenarios. So, I'm focused on 3B3D and then I am going to need some clarity from the board as
202far as King Arts because we do we have things we're sharing with during the community engagement later today and I want to make sure it's ade accurately reflecting what the board wants us to be getting feedback on. >> All right. Um I don't have the clicker so I can take out All right. Um, get it working. I have to do magic. There we go. Now it's going to go too far. All right. So, for our September 29th board discussion, we had a few exited with some next steps from the board. Essentially, there was a decision or an agreement, might be the better term, to focus on three school closures. I understood our requested action as being to model a King Arts closure with an opening of a K5 King Elementary School. I also had a
203next step for refining scenarios to manage utilization and to evaluate potential foster overcrowding for the neighborhood program. The next steps which are underway at this point essentially is that we have modeled the King Arts closure with opening of a K5 King Elementary. Um I am gathering feedback as we speak from the facility subcommittee on that so that I stay true to the process that we are operating. It did also come up, however, that the board may potentially be interested in continuing to evaluate the Kingsley Lincolnwood King Arts closure, which was a full King Arts closure and was not my understanding from the last meeting. And if that's the will of the board, perfectly fine. And we've got it on the slides for the community engagement tonight. But I need some clarity. I need to make
204sure that is ultimately the will of the board. Wait, just >> rewind. >> Yeah, I can just repeat what you just said again. >> Yep. So, at the end of the September 29th meeting, I understood the request to be that we added a three school closure scenario, which essentially was Lincolnwood, Kingsley, and Dwey closing with King Arts K8 and Magnet closing and the King Arts building reopening as a K5 elementary. We have run that scenario. We've got it in the process. It's not fully vetted yet. So, we do not have that data with us today. We've got it marked in our community engagement for this evening going forward as we show the boundary maps and show like, hey, this is modeling underway. >> That wasn't my understanding. No, it's so we asked um I asked
205for the K5 and then said um K5 school as a neighborhood school and then could 68 be considered still a >> a magnet. But I don't we did not vote I don't believe the that was voted down to keep the 68 as the magnet. So I think it is what was agreed upon by us was just the K5. It was put out there, but what we agreed on was just to uh just to model it as a as a K5. >> That's my understanding as well. >> Great. And then I think what then came up which was not my complete understanding exiting the last board meeting, but could have just been a semantics of four hours in and a little late. um was does the board also want us we had 3V which was Kingsley,
206Lincolnwood and King Arts as a three school closure. It had a scorecard value of three point of 2.9 and you remember in that three three school scorecard scenario scorecards we have a number of 28s and two nines that what was not clear to me was whether the board wanted to keep that scenario in the conversation with 3B and 3D. I did not exit with that but then I did get feedback that that may not have been a clear understanding on my part. It was my understanding that we were going to score King Arts as a neighborhood school. >> Right. And then as the scenarios were run, see where it fell in the process. >> I think it's the K the distinction is a K5 neighborhood school or a K8 neighborhood school. And I think the
207the um there wasn't consensus as a K8 neighborhood school, but to run it as a K5 neighborhood school. >> Okay. That's the I think that's the >> not necessarily distinctly paired with other schools in the list simply like the way that you did the same you know the analysis right >> the scarcard you wanted a scard >> the scenario anal y >> y so then what I hear is well and then let me ask a question back to the board we have community engagement tonight tomorrow night and Thursday night um we do have it in our outline for our community engagement for the community to be able to at least sound in on that since that this is our active community engagement. >> Can we has not fully gone through the process yet but because
208of timing it felt appropriate to put it in there and allow the community to sound in. >> Can I table the answer to that because I think at the end of your presentation I at least am going to propose we look at other models as well so maybe we can tie those all into one. >> Okay. So just put me to come on back. >> Exactly. >> Okay. Does that give you clarity though? We're not bringing that up. >> We're not putting that on the docket for the community engagement session. >> No, we might answer on that >> later in the con like today before we leave here, but after her presentation because there's other things in the presentation I'd like to hear first before we have a discussion. >> Okay. >> And then kind
209of an update as to where we are and things is essentially we've modeled that K5 King Elementary. Uh we have refined 3B and 3D in order to bring down the utilization rates in a couple critical places. Um Park School is following up. We had a deadline today for the programmatic requirements for relocation. So that's underway. We're also working with Studio GC just around some of the building feasibility for RISE for the recommended places to be able to double check and triple check because it is more than can you just get to the top and the bottom of the building. for sure. Um and then we did develop essentially kind of a comprehensive analysis around foster for single and double strand and are tested fully if every child who lives in foster including the bestie roads
210commitments are at foster what do those utilization rates look like um and have worked through that so have comprehensive data in all those places. Um, so then come on friend. There we go. I think I have did it three times. So essentially we if I had remembered this slide was here I could have gotten to it but you can see the King Arch scenario. We've addressed that at this point. We have not added 3B and 3D to the scorecard because they were run. This is literally kind of taking three clicks. So >> can you override me? Go to the next slide. >> There we go. All right. So in revising 3D and 3B essentially this is the Lincolnwood Kingsley Washington scenario um program placement we had a couple options when we think about utilization. We
211can either adjust the boundaries or we can move programs. In this particular case we opted to adjust boundaries. So the step program continues to move to Willard. We did also consider moving the step program to Orington. Willard's physical plant is kind of has a stronger educational quality to it. Oington does have basement classrooms and things along those lines. And so we held that step program at Willard in the scenario and adjusted boundaries. Adila, if you can go to the next slide. Um the feeder pattern essentially looks like this in this particular scenario with Lincolnwood, Kingsley, and Washington closing. We don't shift our middle school feeder patterns in this, but you can see Nicholls has Dewey and Lincoln feeding in with two schools while the other two feeder patterns would be have three elementaryaries feeding in.
212And in this scenario, King Arts remains open. Um, just noting because the community hasn't seen this version, the we have coded where programs go on this particular diagram. All right, Adila, >> this available online yet by the way? >> Yes. >> Okay, perfect. Thank you. Um it is it'll be as soon as we're done here. It's ready to go live. So it's not there yet. >> Um what you can see on this map is essentially the markings the diagonal lines are where we shifted boundaries. And so what you can see in this particular scenario is that the Orington boundary shifted to the west and to the south. And you can see that essentially the dewy boundary also shifted further to the south. So that was addressing some of the utilization issues. If we slide to
213the next table, these tables will become familiar and I'm sorry they are really rough on the eyes out there for the audience. But what we can see is utilization rates are now essentially 75% is the average with a min of 52 and up to 88. but that has specialized programs included. So, I'm going to keep going because these were in your board packet. We're going to keep going to the slide that does strengths and challenges. >> Can you just just um so people can see it because part of this was trying to address the Willard um orington and so can you say speak so they can hear what those new >> Yeah, it's it's captured in the strengths and challenges which is why that slide. Um >> thank you. >> Yep. No problem. So if
214you go to slide 10. Adila up one. Whoop. Now you Now I should be driving. Huh? Down. >> Down. Down. Down. One more. Beautiful. All right. So the crossouts here are intentional to try to help with sensemaking. Essentially the the bolded and cross out are the things that we have revised in the strengths and challenges for this scenario. At this point with that adjustment all K5 schools have an overall utilization rate below 90%. So every K5 school has a utilization rate below 90%. Now we have it could be programmatic bounces around but the overall school utilization rate is below 90%. We have eliminated all situations where utilization was over 100%. Um and three schools are between 90 to 95% utilization for the neighborhood or monolingual but that is the high. Okay. So, you know, and
215when you do that, we can continue to refine if the board wants to move that way, but nothing is above 95%. And all schools overall utilization is below 90%. And remember, neighborhood stands for our English monolingual program. So, it means that we're a little cozier in those classrooms than we might be in some of the other programmatic classrooms. >> All right. I also bolded just before you jump in the numbers in transportation because as we shift there is an impact on transportation and so we shifted up to 124 students that are requiring transportation due the distance which as we discussed earlier is 1.5 miles and we increase the number of students that are crossing a hazard because we have some students crossing Green Bay. Okay. And again, that would become a district and board decision
216about how we want to navigate that particular hazard. >> Got it. >> Thank you. >> Do you want me to pause here or keep going? >> Keep going. >> All righty. Next. All right. Oh, how do we get there already? Keep going. We missed some then. Sorry. >> This is Let me see if I can get this thing to work better. So, we jumped around. I apologize. It's just not working. Let me try one more time. >> All right, Adila, go to So now I feel like we got screwed up. Go to the top for me, please. All right, pause there. So 3D is the Lincolnwood, Kingsley, Washington. Okay, so let's hold that because we got jumped around on slides. 3D, Lincolnwood, Kingsley, Washington. This scenario was a little bit less. All K5 schools have
217a utilization rate below 88%. You see though that your transportation numbers are higher. You've got 221 due to busing and 244 due to hazards. All right. And all utilization rates are below. So that was Lincolnwood, Kingsley, Washington. And then what we spoke to a few minutes ago was Lincolnwood Kingsley Daws. So if you can cruise down to that again, Adila, just so they can see the comparison. >> Okay, hold on. >> There we go. Okay, so in both cases, as we made the adjustments, we were able to decrease the overall utilizations, get everything in there, but the tradeoff that we made was on transportation. We could in both of these situations also work with programs but we tried to we felt that our programs were as optimally placed as they could be at this point
218and move to this option. So questions and if you could Adila let's just do uh go up a couple so they can just walk through the maps again because that's where so in this 3D doll closure scenario you see that it's a very similar shift. We grabbed some of the we shifted west of Green Bay and there's a small kind of area at the bottom of Dwey there that we picked up from Lincoln to make these adjustments. Okay. So, I apologize that we got kind of goofed up in there, but I think we got to the key pieces and you've got the information right in your packets. And the memo with these scenarios and the SDRP hub will both be the memo's already on board packet and the SDRP hub with these updated marked as
219revised will be turned on right after this meeting. >> Can I ask can you go to sorry do can you go to three the 3D bounce? So the same slide like this one but for the other. >> Mhm. >> Yeah. >> Down two, I think. Thank you. >> Yep. >> So in this case, you took you moved like looking at the Orington the Orington boundary, you moved south. It's like south of downtown Evston. Was that Davis? >> We moved further into downtown Evston. So even longer of a >> that is >> commute for folks who live at that southern border uh boundary. >> Please break that though. >> It is a nice bike. But I'm just saying I just you know pointing out what's there. Thank you. >> Y >> um >> but then to
220the west >> any questions on this because I do want to propose something in a second but I don't want to take away if anyone has questions on any of these scenarios. I think it was on 3D for twe utilization. >> I'm not hearing you too clearly. >> Sorry, this mic. Uh 3D tweet utilization. I think it put DAW at over 100%. >> This is slightly over 100%. So we would that's again we'd go back and continue to iterate a little bit. Program placement though. Um, this is based on where families are living and the way we could address that in a couple ways is look at boundaries or say to particular families, you know, if you're not currently in Daws, there may be an opportunity to to find a placement that works for a
221family. So, that's, you know, again, we keep iterating to get a little bit better depending on where the board wishes for us to go. >> Can you go back? Thank you. So, one of the things that I had emailed um about this, so I hope you've seen it already, but was I believe it's model 3U, which basically is the same as this, but switches Orington and Kingsley. Um, and so I'll just say holistically, I'm of the mindset that we should be modeling as much as possible. I think the community should be able to weigh in on as much as possible. And so that's the only like seeing these new boundaries make me think that it's even more possible. Um I just worry about Orington's location being so far north. Um the walkability is not great.
222And so that's just something I'd like to like again I I would like to see us do um give the community the chance to weigh in on it along with others. So that's why I'm saying holistically I think if there are other models that both the board is um has the desire to have model and have the community weigh in on I think it's worth our time. I think it's worth our energy and the staff's energy uh to give the community as much opportunity for feedback as possible. >> So I did pull up and I think I had user error on this remote. We're we're getting along again. Um, so 3U is Orington, Lincolnwood, Washington. >> Correct. >> And that overall scorecard value was 3.3, >> right? >> But also if we move but now
223that we have new boundaries, would that shift at all? Like if you were to do that, if we run that with different part of the reason why I mean like my intention of that one is that it had Orington at such a low utilization rate, right? So that would that had Willard at 103 and Orington at I think 64 maybe slightly lower. Um and so if we were to switch Kingsley and Orington, does that give us an opportunity to get those numbers closer? Like I know you got the number the utilization rates closer here, but how's the walkability now? Like your transportation numbers >> on 3D are high. Yeah, I think just kind of walking you across like looking at the scorecard, the equity score for that one is a 3.5. >> Um, which at
224a 3.5 puts it above a good number. In fact, all of the ones that are 28 and 29s, the geography is a 32. Um and you know you you know when we move so when we extend the boundaries to increase the utilization you actually push up the number of kids crossing hazards which then >> makes that kind of actually makes that scorecard value go up as well. >> Sure. >> So like we tend to view this scorecard as the optimal which is why we didn't run 3B 3B and 3D again. it will not score as well on the scorecard because we're now pushing more kids across boundaries. But that becomes an interest of the board. >> So I think my so walking across so essentially that transportation the geography score is a 32. Um and
225I'm going to put my old lady glasses on and read here because it'll work better for me. um going across the building functionality for that particular scenario is also it's less kind of in the lower impactful phase. Um income potential though is fairly high and that is only 9%. We hold that. >> Um and the building costs there are fairly high. So the geography score might adjust to a degree but I would say that the income and cost side of this are also holding that one up. >> Sure. >> As being a you know more impactful to close. >> So that's just trying to read the scorecard for you. It doesn't mean that it's something the board doesn't want to go forward with. >> Absolutely. Right. >> Um, from from a walkability standpoint, I think
226one of the things, you know, that I always want to check our assumptions and and test what we're what we're assuming is going to happen and kind of grounding us in in our goals. And I know one of the deficiencies that I find in this process is that we don't actually have goals other than to keep 90 days cash on hand and a balanced budget. But we're not asking the question around what is the right percentage of kids that should be within X miles per school. We have a we have a transportation policy that says children should be walking a mile and a half to school um from Isby, but I I personally don't think that that's reasonable. Um, and so I think where I'm where I'm stuck here on this three school closure scenario
227is I don't know how to evaluate one over another um in terms of what our goals are and what we're trying to accomplish for our district overall. And so that just gives me a a a lack of comfort in making these very drastic changes to our neighborhood footprint without having an agreement of what we're trying to accomplish other than, you know, building utilization, 90 days cash on hand, um, and a balanced budget, which I think are are great numbers to look at, but really leave leave a lot on the table in terms of aspirations for our district. So, I can I can say that those three goals, that's where we have to start. We don't have a choice. We have to start there, >> but we don't have to end there. >> Exactly. I was
228I was going to get there. I was going to get there. Um, we have to start there because if we we want to retain control over our school district, okay, >> that's that's that's what I want to do. I want to retain control over the school district. I want us to have a sound financial foundation. You can't build dreams on something that is not firm. >> Great. >> So, I I hear you. Um should we talk about that sound financial foundation? Should we >> I'm sorry. Thank you. Um so for me that's that's where I'm coming from. Um we can get this is just the start for us. It's just the start. We have to get to a point where we can start to rebuild our district. Um, I you know, like I want the
229light to come back on in the lighthouse. I that's that's my end goal. >> Um, but I understand the difficulty of this and how much work has been put into it. This is phase three, not phase one. This is phase three of a process and we've made some pretty drastic reductions so far. Um, and at this point, my one of my goals is to not see programs and staff have to get minimized anymore. So, that's where I'm coming from in terms of looking at this process. Um, I think the community is getting tired. They're getting I mean, we're getting tired, honestly. But it's okay cuz I'm here for the long haul. I'm here for the long haul. Um it's not going to be perfect. Everybody's not going to be happy. Um, but we have to
230we're gonna have to make a decision and we have to I think we have the in a lot of the information we need in order to start to make some decisions. Um, I think the board that we have here and now is very capable. uh we have many we have multi multiple talents on this board that I think have all come into play. So I think we have to start to narrow it down. But we cannot lose the vision that we have for what comes after it. We're going to open a new school. We have to have a vision for that school. We have to have a vision for that school. So, and part of this process is to make sure that the closures are done with compassion because we don't have a good history
231with that and so we need to kind of move forward. So, that's that's kind of where my brain is at right now. So, >> can I just jump in and just say, so I think um uh what I'm hearing, Maria, is something that I also kind of resonate with is that we're new board members. Uh we've been sitting here for 5 months. We've stepped in on a process we didn't launch and we didn't create. It doesn't necessarily fully reflect who I am and the maybe the way I could have shaped it in a certain way. Uh we're also, you know, at the tail end of a strategic plan that we didn't design, we didn't create and so we kind of have these carryovers and I definitely feel some tension there and um um there's rubs
232and it it's sometimes hard. I guess for me it would be helpful to know we as a board within the SDRP3 framework have the capacity to bring in other data sets as long as we're transparent about what we're doing. So, can you help me understand the process like in the numbers? Where are you feeling the rub? >> Yeah. >> Um where where how can we work with what we've got? Yeah. >> In a transparent way. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thanks. Um so, one of the things I would just push on and and I think we should we should just be aware of the implications of it. I I want to say that I you know, in my very limited experience, but I would love to hear even what Dr. Gross would say today in terms
233of the financial sustainability of our district. Um, you know, he was the one who kind of sounded the alarm for our our district is at risk of being taken over by the state and I feel fairly strongly that we have we're so far from that edge now. Um, but I'm not necessarily qualified to say that. Um, so I want us to to really ground in the fact that there's been a lot of great work done to shore up our finances to the point where I think we can be very thoughtful about how to accomplish our financial goals and to really think from a long-term perspective and be able to make decisions that today won't have a negative implication down the line for us. and and what I'm trying to put together and it's sort of
234threading the needle a little bit is how do we maintain 90 days cash on hand is ideal but as we've heard there's only been eight years in 20 where we've had 90 days cash on hand or more um and that was after an operating referendum was passed and so we are we are able to operate with less than 90 days cash on hand I think it is good practice for us to say we want to have that but I want us to also recognize that um There is a little bit of variability in that and the initial modeling that we were presented with um financially had us maintaining 99 days cash on hand for the first three years of the next five fiscal years. So we do have some wiggle room in that number. Um
235and so that number indicated that we needed to cut, correct me if I'm wrong, Tamara, 13.2 2 million initially from was it 02 or 06 and that was what we were that was what was driving our three school scenario um our our three school scenario desire to say okay if we th if we close three schools then we will only have to cut fourish million from our operating budget. Now, if we close two schools, that's six million. That might feel like a lot, right? But when I was discussing the sensitivity analysis with Tamara and Susan, you know, that spreading out of the cuts um and and thinking about addressing our long-term capital needs, not necessarily with our operating budget, but really thinking through what our life safety opportunity is. Um and then also if we
236can figure out how we would address the greater capa u capital assets with a capital referendum, then that gives us a little bit more room to think through what makes sense from a the number of school closures that we that should impact our district and then what the subsequent operating expenses would need to be cut in in fiscal years. And so it it helps us kind of thread that needle without making very drastic changes to our neighborhood footprint without understanding sort of how realistic are the savings that we're presenting. What is the impact of the transportation policy that we're that we're proposing? And are there opportunities for us to think collaboratively with our other governmental agencies to, you know, utilize our buildings um to benefit the whole of the neighborhoods in which they sit instead
237of just saying we're district 65 and we're going to operate um you know in in without thinking about that. And so as I have been able to reflect on the three school scenario model, look at the sensitivity analysis of some of the financial um implications, I feel confidently I feel confident that we um we can slow the process down to try and get to a more holistic solution that's better. I 100% hear the argument that like the the community is tired, but I think that, you know, if we said let's let's be thoughtful about how we we we provide a more holistic um scenario that they would be patient with that rather than we have to act expediently because we don't want you to wait anymore, but this may have drastic impact. [Applause] responding then
238>> I do want us to ground in the data though >> question so I'm curious then so how do we identify a target expenditure I mean if it's not simply I mean where do we draw that line and the tension being here is that um we have board after board after board who've kicked this can down the road >> yeah well I mean I would say the two three boards ago an operating referendum was passed I want to if that's right was it three or maybe four boards ago, right? And then um you know, and then we've had two boards, we've had a global pandemic, we've had a federal indictment. So, I think that if we're a different board than that and I would propose that we, you know, really think through what a capital
239referendum would look like because I don't think it doesn't matter how $2.7 million is not going to touch $200 million in capital improvements, you know, for several decades. And we so we need a bigger plan anyway. Um, and so if we if we can be thoughtful about this, I think the community will back that. If we are a slash and burn kind of we got to get to the end now, I think it's going to be harder for us. >> Yeah. >> Um, and we're not going to get to the goal, which is, you know, in my opinion, you know, excellent learning spaces. It's, you know, as as walkable as our schools can be, but also innovative and thoughtful about how we work in the city itself. >> Okay. I want to um sort of
240join in this conversation and sort of um we are a new board and the challenge here is we're four new seven right and so we're stepping into a process that started saying let's continue the process but in reality the community said I want to we want something a little different. Um my my question is and and this is my belief in Evston. I believe the scorecard is essential information to then ask the next question. What does excellence of education look like? And can we use this opportunity to um think a little creatively? We've said walkable schools, which this if we're doing clearly walkable schools, this is the scorecard we can figure it out and cut. But at the same time, if you say um if you ask me walkable schools, I say yes. But if
241you give me another model, I might say, "Oh, I might want to do that." And so, have we done other models? One I've uh uh keep trying to put forward. So, I'm going to put forward this time and see if we can ever get to a vote on it and I'm okay if it's no. Um is um grade clusters, right? If I think of grade clusters and where I've seen it done, oftentimes you might have schools closer together. If I'm thinking of grade clusters, I'm not necessarily thinking of two schools. Let's find the two schools that are the furthest. I might intentionally say I want um a Lincolnwood and Willard together because one could be a K3, one could be a K2 and you can imagine transportation that um that can support that. That's a
242different model and I just want to make sure as we move to um we're either affirming that walkability is the only way we're going to think about our school going forward. And that also then says we believe every school um can be a phenomenal school which I believe that or and are we using this opportunity to say hey there could be some different models even if you look at um um Oakton and um Dolls they're on the same street right there's some intentionality in what people created the structure here they're right down the street uh from each other so what could that mean about how you think about using spaces together. Also coming from Chicago, having been seeing what happened with Renaissance 2010 and the closure of schools and the and the and the heartache
243of that, also seen putting libraries in schools, right? There's innovations around here in Illinois and other places where there's creative thinking. And I think right now we have the data that we can then layer on top of some of some thoughts because once we do this it's is it's and we've seen when you say well let's just close the school and we're going to get back to thinking about what we're going to do with that school. You got to to me you got to understand what you're going to do with the school at the moment when we put this forward because that's what we're held uh accountable to. So I don't have a concern about um I think the budget we have to be uh fiscally responsible but I also feel that we have we
244haven't taken a lap if you will of trying to say okay now what can be some innovative use of of these spaces on top of that and I felt that this board the four new of us were hired were y'all hired us to have that we talked to y'all about innovation things and now we got here and it's like okay here's the process we're already doing walkability we got to decide on this and we could go that route but we just I just want us to affirm that that's what we're going because if not that's I just felt that there's a little more opportunity to have some innovative thought in what we come out with. I have a comment but I want to hold it because I want to ask you Nicole are you proposing
245when you say grade level clusters a lot of us refer to those as grade level centers are you proposing that as a model >> I'm saying they look at um so I I think yes I'm saying in looking up to me looking on the north side if we're saying two school closures it's hard for me to just say this the walkable schools I think you can but I think there's also what are one or two other ways to think about the reality of removing two schools from a community Right. And I think like what are two models, three models and then have a conversation with the community about it. What we have here is what what Stacy and the team were asked to do. So they have done what they have been asked to do
246>> and then coming in and saying, "Hey, well, you know, my assumption about bringing them closer together might not be the right." So I'm not saying this is a right approach, but what would it mean? How do you take a bus um a bus from Arlington could bring drop off at one school, then go to the other one, or it might not work. Um, so that's just and then that also requires looking at some of the properties and looking at the uniqueness of those properties. Cool. The park at Lincoln like where Lincolnwood is and right now we're not having that isn't in the conversation because we're you know of the approach uh that we're using. So it's just to say let's how do we talk about it? Um I've asked to say can we model
247that? But I don't know if Stacy were asked to model K2 um 35 which two schools she would pick. Right. That's me saying that her expertise might pick another set of schools. So just um uh putting that out there because we know what happens. We know what happens in Illinois that the uh gray cluster models happen and that doesn't mean that it has to happen across the whole district. I don't believe that says then now you have to do it in the south. Cool. Thank you. No, I appreciate that clarification. And I guess my my thoughts around this whole conversation is that I feel like we're speaking um like there's a lot of hyperbole and I think we can hybrid some of this. Like I don't think that like we're not in a position where
248the state's going to take us over next year. Um I don't think I think we have time I don't think we can't close any schools but I think we have time to maybe do it in phases. Is there a way we can look at keeping the data we have um listening to the community incorporating our expertise um come up with a a plan that maybe does it in phases? Maybe it's one or two schools this coming year, another school the next year if needed, and maybe a fourth school the following year if needed. I think that like how do we like I feel like we're all saying similar things. Um I think you know the community has shared a lot of feedback that isn't all united which is okay it doesn't need to be but
249I think there is a balance where we don't need to close four schools this year but I don't think we can do none and why can't if as long as we phase it with care meaning um the same student shouldn't be moving twice so if we are going to look at phases can we do it by feeder pattern can we do it in a way that there's never a family who's impacted two years in like two or twice in the whole process whether it's a two year or a four-year process. Um I I mean I don't know. I don't see how that doesn't work for us. I think it balances it gives Tamara and her team time um not a ton but a time to look at the the finances but also gives us time
250to do this with a little more care than it feels like. >> So curious to hear your all's thoughts. >> So I think I'm going to echo what you're saying Omar a bit right is hybrid hybridity. Um, so my concern is great creativity, innovation. If we can find ways to be adaptive here, um, I'm I'm in. Um, my concern is accountability and transparency. We created a process. We've run it. Um, and so so what I'm hearing is right, maybe what do we need to do to get through SDRP3. Um, and then what does it mean to set us up for uh a a fourth phase where there's more creativity and and innovation? I'm open to this. My concern is if we're drastically midstream changing SDRP3 that that then why should we trust any of it?
251Um, you know, I it raises huge concerns for me. So, um, happy to continue to kind of, um, see what emerges here, but just really uncomfortable if, and I'm not saying anyone has explicitly said this, but switching midstream. >> Yeah. And I can, it h it's going to have to be a both and situation. So I in in terms of looking at what we do at this point, it should be the foundation for a broader vision. So that's where I'm coming from. Yeah, it for me it really is again this is this has been as folks have mentioned right something that has been kicked out a can that's kicked down the road and we finally are finally having this very very difficult conversation in this community right it was inevitable right we even knew back
252from 2017 and up and I'll repeat that again in 2025 the funds were going to get used up and we used them for the right things to really build out staff capacity um build our our our school environments and really just en enhance equity uh for our most marginalized student populations. That's what the money was used for, but folks will keep asking that. So now we're back against the wall. This is an inevitable conversation and the longer we delay it, the less decisive we are, the the harder it's going to be. And and what I'm concerned about is okay, let's say let's stagger it a little bit more. We are going to have to make cuts and we're have already cut down to the bone and now we're going to be sawing bone bone in
253regards to to pro programs and things that we value as a community the enrichments that we have. Again, this was what we talked about back in 2017. This this was that was just a band-aid. So, we really need to be decisive and at the same time like you said both and we can vision, right? And going back to and where can we do that? We can do that in strategic planning because the strategic planning is up. We can do that in ensuring that we have a SAP process, a student assignment process every three to five years which is again previous boards ignored for decades. So those are the means by which we again this becomes the foundation on envisioning a right-siz district that delivers highquality educational services to all students in particular most marginalized students.
254um a and and and and really helps us resolve uh the the structural deficit we've been dealing with for quite a bit. >> I'm sorry uh with all due respect I like it's hard to hear to sit here and like listen to that because in like 20 we wouldn't be here if boards please please please if we if boards going back to 2017 or earlier had done things like this earlier. Um, you know, Maria, I know a lot of people are going to appreciate your apology. One of the reasons why I'm not doing is cuz we weren't part of that. I hate having to answer for decisions we didn't make. We in this situation, Tamara, Dr. Turner, Beers, like, they're getting us out of it. We're making cuts now that suck. Class sizes are going
255up because previous boards didn't do anything. We don't need to make all these decisions now. We have time. Like, we we need to buy the time. Maybe that's not the right phrase, but we need to make the time for our kids because it's not fair for the kids now and for the next several decades because of mismanagement of the past several boards, several boards. Um, >> but the the fact is is that the money in the p the past two boards was not even monitored. So, we had vast swings in deficits that were not budgeted because there were not appropriate financial controls. And so while that might be investment that you know this board doesn't have to act hastily in the same way that past boards have potentially done just because we think we might
256be at some fictional end of the road. I agree with you. I apologize because other people are not. >> Absolutely. And as I sit here, >> I now am the decisions of our previous board >> in some way. I know you don't like that, but in some ways that is true. >> And so I I do want us to ground ourselves in financial sustainability. I firmly believe we all are. I I am um you know, I have been told that no one has asked as many questions about our budget as I have ever. Um, so I'm pretty confident that we can find our way, you know, to make this um in a very in in a much more thoughtful way using the expertise that we have here. What do we So what are we are
257we we're having this I guess dance around conversation around three. Are we trying to move back to two? Like I think in some sense what is the what is the the ask? >> Do we have to answer that question before the community? So, I will say as one of the people who really pushed for this meeting and pushed for it at this time cuz I wasn't around last week. I wanted this meeting to happen before we go to the community. Why do we need to say two or three before we go to the community? We like my intention was to let the community know that I like I can't speak for all of you. I can speak for myself. I am open to hearing what they have to say. I know we only modeled seven,
258but there are several more um scenarios on these scorecards. If what I'd like to know is what are we missing? That's kind of how I've been framing my conversations with community members is what are we missing? I know this has been a data-driven process. I know it's been trying to get as many folks included in as possible, but in my two and a half years here, I still know that we're still going to miss things. So, that's how I'm approaching this. So, I don't know that we need to answer that question, Nicole, before tonight. >> Can we start with the goal? I mean I think if if we as a board can decide on what the goals are then we can approach any scenario or any modeling around what are the pieces that we should
259be considering in order to get to our goals and while that isn't a full strategic plan I think there's certain pieces of it that we can pull from whether that be you know balanced budget what is our acceptable days cash on hand what are the utilization rates that we that are acceptable while we're going through this process And that's those are just some ideas. But for me, it's like how do you evaluate any scenario if you don't know what your goal is? >> I think the goal I think the three I think we have three goals that we can work on. Balanced budget, cash on hand, and utilization. I mean, that's really our starting point. Okay, >> that's just our starting point. And up to this point, the vision that's coming past that really hasn't
260been included. And that's what we're discussing right now. >> Um, >> so I think that's where we've kind of hit a wall. >> And it's one o'clock. So I'm the board president because I'm the most pragmatic person here. Um, >> and you know this this discussion is not over. This not by any means, >> not by I want the community to know that >> there's seven this it's a team of eight and there's eight different opinions. We're going to have to come to some consensus. Every voice is important. All perspectives need to be heard. We represent a cross-section of the community. And so we're going to have to utilize all of all of those tools to get to a decision. We're going to have to make one. >> So, and it's al let's say sorry.
261>> Go ahead. That's okay. >> Said that the decision we're making is also foreshadowing. there's a referendum ask right >> and so you know the 200 million and deferred in my head I'm thinking what are we doing what are we asking and what is the how do we set ourselves up to be able to go in to the community and ask for trust and ask for that u particular money so in my that all weighs in in terms of how understand what is our what's our narrative as we're saying as here's the three schools we're closing why are we closing them what do we imagine what do think about the buildings and we could say well we can put that we can wait to do that later but the challenge of doing that later is
262that you make decisions that make those decisions harder to harder to come with and I'm I'm done. Yeah, and just to add that it's right. So, we're talking about referendum particularly in relationship to possibility of making I think the language used was too severe of cuts as far as school infrastructure. Also, um if we decide not to live at 90 days cash on hand, if we decide to not do a bare minimum of $2.7 million in capital expenses, um that will also have bearings on how a referendum is received. Yeah. >> So, what's the pleasure of the board at this point? I for me it would be to make sure the staff has what they need to go into the um community engagement sessions and staff engagement sessions. Um so what do I would like
263to ask what they need from us if anything? >> So I you know we have a structure for the community engagement sessions for tonight um and we've worked with our partners to make sure that we're going to be getting the necessary kind of notes and trends. But the way we structured it, I don't know if it any longer reflects this conversation. Um, so essentially the structure of the conversation was to give some backdrop and then to share the 3B and 3D because you guys had zeroed in on three. Um, allow people to then ask questions related to those scenarios. Then move into your additional request which was around the King Arts um, essentially closure and reopening of neighborhood. Get people's thoughts and feedback on that. Um, that essentially is the structure of the evening. I
264could pull up the slides, but you know, I don't know if that serves where we are in this conversation. >> Is there is there a desire to to So, Omar, I know you mentioned looking at uh is it another scenario being modeled? So, >> is and then that's through you. Am I am I correct? >> Correct. So are folks okay with consensus in regards to asking the team to to model that are you >> in my opinion that's not worth the that's not worth the cabinet's time. >> I mean I don't think that I that is not a scenario that I would vote for but we can absolutely look at it. >> Let's just let's just take a vote. I mean I think one of the things we did last time when we put things
265forward we didn't vote on them. So, let's take a consensus vote so we can be clear if four of us are willing to do it. >> I think it was Can I speak to it because I was it was asked. I guess my my thing is more listening to what do uh Dr. Beersley just shared the the format feels like it might need to be modified. And so my ask would be if they're going to modify it anyway, does it need to be limited to the three school clo? like are we really asking the community to come and only speak to those two scenarios when we just had a very comprehensive discussion about possibly modifying some of those things? Um, do we need to I'm I don't think we need to ask them about specific
266models now at this point. I guess it's more of is there a way it can be modified holistically? Do we can we give the staff guidance on what we want to know from the community? Is that a better way to phrase it? Like Pat, you said early on like we want the community to come here. Not everyone can come to board meetings. You can come tonight. Like >> we can't talk to every single person. So what is it that we want out of these community meetings for the next three nights out of like from the staff? And I know we're not giving you a lot of time, but >> Yeah. And I think we'll to the extent we can we'll try to pivot, but it's you know like there's we Yeah. And we >> Yeah.
267So, we'll listen and do what we can, but you know, if that's with that there's some limitations to >> do we need to test the will of the board on three schools right now knowing that we're not all present here? Just throwing out the question um three schools next for this coming year >> for FY2 for FY26 >> 27 27 That's what we're That's what you're asking, Andrew. >> For SDRP3 targeting three school closures. Yes. >> Three school closures, but >> in one year in next school year >> and that's all we've discussed so far, right? So, yes. >> So, I think part of it has been like not about the the number but about the timing. So, I think what you're asking about are we saying are you asking for three school clos 27
268or you know what I mean? There's three school phases. >> Are you are you are you talking about like a phased in approach? Is that what you're saying? >> That's what I think do. >> Yeah. I mean, I think it would be helpful for us to to understand what the board feels about specifically next fall considering that we've got Foster, we've got Bessie Rhodess already on the table. So, my my thought is um the community has been notified that these sessions are coming up. People have made plans to attend these sessions. This is going to give the community an opportunity to get more in-depth information and to give more in-depth feedback. So, I think that in my opinion those sessions should continue knowing that there will be at least three school closures. They may be
269phased in. I think that that's all we can decide at this point. It doesn't mean that we won't may not seek additional information. Um we may ask for what the deta the budget implications of a phased in plan would look like starting with two schools. Um, I see lots of heads nodding. So, >> I would, >> that's what I think as your board president. >> Very well said. Very well said, Madam President. I I agree. Like I, for example, I could get really behind three school closures if we're phasing them in. So, my hope is that that doesn't change what the staff has prepared for tonight because it's still going to be a like we still want the same feedback on the three schools and etc. So, I I can get behind what you just
270said >> and I I'm open to talking about phasing. I have concerns about that. That's going to be just as hard on the community, but I think if I think three schools just financially is where we have to be and occupancy is is what we need to aim for. So, I am um happy to have the conversation about phasing and reiterate that we're at three schools. >> I agree. Um but at the same time I'd like to see once we get feedback from the community what what are the uh financial sacrifices we'll have to make programmatic operational so so that's going to have to be very key um so that way we we will be well informed in regards to what sacrifices we're going to have to make in either scenar in either of those
271scenarios. >> Yeah. Any change of has implications. So just important any change of not doing three means we have to do other cuts. we are going to, you know, honor the balance, honor the numbers that we need to hit. So, it's not let's not close and let's put our hands in the sand. Can I ask a clarifying question to you Omar primarily? Um, so if we are reaffirming that three schools is the will of the board with conversation to come, are you still wanting threeu modeled? My concern here is that we move forward after this meeting and there's still requests coming forward for modeling. I hope we can just get all the modeling out now so that we can move forward in narrowing down options as opposed to increasing options as we move forward. So
272just it's just kind of a cue to you is do you do you want to test the will of the board for your request? Um >> I no I don't I don't because I guess for me it's it's not necessarily just about those two buildings. It's about the utilization rate. So I know that the revised model >> took a stab at that. So that makes me a little bit happier. But I guess I want to hear what the community says. So no, I would say at this point I do not think we need to test the will of the board on that. I would I would like to test the will of the board um and considering um exploring um Lincolnwood and Willard as a K235 um model as a closure approach as the two
273up north as opposed to the uh Lincolnwood and and Kingsley as >> grade level centers. >> Great. Yeah, let me keep saying sorry language I think they use. So >> I support that. I will say I support it because I think anything a board member wants to bring forward is worth our time. Um so yes, I'll say I support it for that reason. >> I also just want to be clear. I'm not sure three is the number. >> Um >> let's Can we get to the >> Sorry about that. My bad. >> The consensus conversation. >> Go go go. >> Okay. My concern with with great clusters is uh you know I think about students with IEP special education and just the transitional pieces right uh and just making sure there's continuity for those students
274as well as any other students who are title or or require multilingual services. So I'm I'm hesitant on that um given that piece but again I'd be open to it if we get that analysis. My concern is about the movement of students with IEPs and special services and how just moving from a school to another even after you. So that's a major concern of mine. Also, Lincolnwood is not accessible. So I'm concerned about that. So, I'm um curious about this for the long term, but what I don't see is a a big drive coming from the community for this in my email inbox. And so, for right now, I'm I'm a no. But for phase 4, um absolutely. And I'm curious, what do I mean not to just think about this for the north side,
275but as a district, I you know, I want to be asking what are we going to how are our district all of our decisions impacting the whole district. So that's a no because we're at 33. So >> no for now. >> For now. It doesn't mean we can't have the conversation later on. Right. I really think and that we got to be very clear about that. Yeah. >> Are there any other scenarios? >> Yeah, >> we So we still have the ones that are on the table that haven't been completed yet. Would you mind just reviewing that list, please? >> So um What I have, what I understand for us right now is essentially 3D, which is Lincolnwood, Kingsley, and Washington in the revised form. 3B, which is Lincolnwood, Kingsley, and Daws in the revised
276form. And then per our conversation earlier today, it sounded like it was Lincolnwood Kingsley Dwey with a K8 King Arts magnet closure and the opening of a K5 King Arts Elementary School, which is known currently as 3X because we're running out of alphabet. So, got it. Those are the three that I have is on the table right now and we have processed everything in that bucket. It's just a question of what do you want feedback on from the community or what would you want further revision or analysis on? I I do want to bring back to to this conversation space particularly the King Arts and the modeling as a K5 and and why not the 68. I'm just like given particularly with understanding rise the need of rise and if it's already a K it's
277a K8 and why not keep the magnet why not explore keeping the magnet as a as a 68 which would then allow the rise kids to stay in the stay in the school. I do think to me the um to to just model it as a K5 which forces the move of rise seems I I would like to you know explore just make sure we've completely thought about that. >> So your question is about if King Arts becomes a neighborhood school >> as a K5 as a K5 and a 68 68 fine arts magnet. >> Okay. which allows the which allows the the rise uh program there. I just the cape just I never meant me meant for the 68 to not >> to not be there. Yeah. >> Okay. >> I will um when
278we did run that you just >> particular scenario the utilization rate at King Arts is low when you reopen it is a K5 is it is a large school. So when we ran that scenario, the utilization rate when it is just a K5 is low. It's below 60%. >> So is there new information that we're we've already tested the will of the board on this? >> Is there new information that's being brought to bear so that we test the will of the board again or Yeah, just asking what your request is here. >> No, I was just making sure. So why I'm bringing that model up, we're constantly talking around our marginalized population and with King Arts as a fully magnet then DAWs Dwey is essentially not closable because it takes that area. So that
279forces you into Washington and Dolls as closures if you're getting the three. So all I've when I asked for King Arts to be modeled was to say, "Hey, we need all central schools in the conversation." And so to do that, you need a school in the you need a school if you would if you want to even consider closing Dwey where that could become the school for where the Dewey kids go. So that's I just wanted to be clear. That's the that was the reason for saying hey because I think everyone is saying hey we don't want to we're concerned about dollars and we're concerned about um Washington but there are no other options on the table because of the structure of our district. So that's the to say hey if we're trying to keep
280our most marginalized schools then Dwey doesn't get in the conversation because of how it's how it's structured. So just want to clearly state that's the reason why that was considered >> and I will we did not as I said we're processing so the analysis is not available for 3X but that's essentially what the map looks like for 3X put that up as a visual for you. >> Okay. So she >> so the the the K8 magnet component will be modeled with that scenario. I don't if if that's the request from the board. >> Yeah, that has to be the model or is this still >> this is a K5. This is 3X. >> So, what we're looking at right now >> K8 building, >> right? >> What we're looking at right now has King Arts
281is a K8 and has no and or K5, excuse me, and Dwey is not is closed. Yes. Is that what I'm looking at? Okay. >> Yes. Lincolnwood, Kingsley, and Dwey are closed and King has been reopened as a K5 elementary school >> and the boundary is the yellow. >> Okay. >> What's that? >> That was not what was requested from the board. So, this is just modeled as a K5, >> but it has space. Is it a full K5? >> Its utilization in this model is 53%. >> Right. So technically the spaces to do a magnet are there because it's you don't have a boundary for a magnet so it wouldn't show up there anyway. >> So in essence we can have that conversation because it's not it a magnet school doesn't have a boundary.
282So it's not going to necessarily change the the >> our King Arts Magnets per board policy has a preferred zone >> around this general area but doesn't have a fixed boundary. So the second ward in this general area is included as preferred um admission. So, is this being shared tonight and the next three nights with our >> the analysis is not complete because we haven't fully processed it with the facility subcommittee. They're still in a window of feedback. Our intention was to essentially show this map, but not with the data tables to just say, "Hey, this one's out there. It's been asked for by the board. We were going to accompany it with the other King Arts one if that was the will of the board and say, what questions you have here? What do
283you want us to hear Turner? Does that that correct? >> So, we were planning on showing this because this was part of your discussion last time, but not with the full strengths and challenges because we're still gathering that to respect our president. I think something to also consider is even >> Oh, something to also consider is even with the shifting it to being just 68 magnet they just achieved magnet schools of America with the K8 >> model in mind. So if you shift that to >> then it goes away. I agree and so I I agree with that and I so all I'm saying is we have to have things to discuss and we as a board have to say we believe in King Arts as a magnet and we want to keep the magnet.
284I am not saying I am voting to not but I believe for transparency in the conversation every single school has to be modeled and Dwey was not able to be modeled because technically Dwey becomes a protected school. Oh, >> but there were other schools that weren't modeled though. Nicole where I'm >> What school has Dwey was modeled on many different school. >> It wasn't on one of the the seven. >> They won the seventh ones. Okay, >> that's why that's where I push back because there are other on the seven that weren't you know there are some schools that show up on all seven and there are some that don't. And so I I understand where you're coming from. I don't think it came across correctly in the previous meeting which is why we're here.
285I think one thing I want to call out is there's a difference between something being modeled and someone something being brought forward in a is as the recommended scenarios. >> The scorecards include everything that was, you know, we modeled more. The scorecard includes everything that was modeled and processed. >> And then of the 30 or so that were modeled and processed, we brought forward essentially a set of recommendations to you. So Dwey was definitely included in a lot of scenarios. I think the only school out of the K5 elementaryaries and the magnets that was not modeled was Walker and be due to its sitting on the scorecard and utilization rates and shoot as well as it its general geographic isolation it did not make sense to >> a clarification on Dwey and then I'll I'll
286be quiet. Of course, Dwey was modeled, but because of the um the distance that like the likelihood that King that Dwey is a plausible school to close if it has to take up the whole central area. Yes, it's modeled, but it doesn't necessarily move into the conversation. Um so that's the only point of of trying to do that. But let's we've I've braced this question enough so we can move on. >> Yeah. So, um this is more of just where are we headed question. >> Um and not to put anyone on the spot, but these are questions now looming for me is on the 29th I had a pretty good sense of our process. I had a pretty good sense of our timeline. I had a pretty sense good sense of what we were aiming
287for. Um, and after this meeting, I have a lot of questions. Um, I have questions about even, you know, how to the degree to which we're committed to the process as it stands. Um, I feel like we we've gotten some clarity here and yet there's muddy water. Um, and so how do we work forward knowing that we do have a timeline where we have to make these decisions? Um, and that we really the 27th really is an important date to be on track and have clarity. So that's just my question is what's next? >> I would just say if we need to add more meetings, we keep adding more meetings. I think the more we can flush things out. I don't think it's a bad thing you have more questions, Andrew. I think it actually
288is a good thing um because the community has questions, right? And some of our questions are coming from them, some of them are coming from us. The more we stud I mean, I'm sure you all are seeing these things in your sleep like I am. So, the point is I think we need to see what the community says the next few nights, what the staff says the next couple nights, and then if we need to add more meetings, we add more. We need, as Pat said earlier, we want to hear from everybody. We want people to come. Um, that's what I that's where I stand >> and we may have to adjust our timeline. >> We have I mean >> I mean that's that's the realities of it. >> I mean I'll say from the
289previous board I there was a the original timeline was later. It was after winter break that we'd make announcements. I'm someone who pushed for it to be earlier because I wanted to give families as much time as possible if their children would be switching schools or if there would be adjustments if we have to. I could be open to it if it's done. You know, I think it's worth or we have more meetings ahead of time. But either way, I do think we if we we have to be flexible at this point, Pat. >> Yeah. Yeah. I think it's important for us to ground ourselves in the financial piece of it too and for everyone on the board and to feel very comfortable about the levers that we have available to us and and to
290question those levers. And so um Tamara and Susan were drafting a memo with the different scenarios that I had emailed asking about um to test the sensitivity of of days on hand cash days on hand and phasing that in. So I think it probably makes sense for the next meeting that we have for that information to be presented um so that we can ask questions of that analysis. I think the thing that I would add on behalf of kind of administration is that if this you asked us a question earlier today about the feasibility to do this well the if the deadline begins to slide the feasibility to do it well becomes more questionable. >> Thank you for saying that. >> And then I think you know we have a community engagement tonight. we give
291background my you know we were saying hey the board was leaning towards three school closures I am hearing that we should continue to say that in the engagement but there may be questions about timing or phasing is that appropriate for us to say in the engagement >> yes >> and then and then we go into 3B and 3D and then we would shift into feedback on 3X X. Is that correct? And is that inclusive of what the board wants? >> Yes. >> Because I just want to >> where we're at at least. >> A lot of engagement. We want to do it right. >> No. No. No. >> Okay. I'm gonna ask the question. Is there any other business to come before the board? Can >> I ask Stacy one question? Is there a is
292there a pl is there a time during the engagement sessions where members will have or community members staff will have an opportunity to speak to other scenarios or is if they do should they do it on a survey like to scenarios that have not been modeled or or shared >> like the structure we have is we kind of we ground them in the revised 3B 3D then give them a little bit of time to talk amongst themselves. There's a QR code to submit questions >> and then there's an opportunity, we've got 20 minutes where we can review the questions that have been submitted. Okay? >> But it has to be time bound. >> Um, but we have the log through the Google form and the QR code of any questions we don't get to that
293night and we can certainly things that intersect the FAQ, we can do that >> and then we move into the other scenario and repeat the process. >> Perfect. Thank you. So if I think they have a question about additional scenario, that question could come in in the Google forum and then we're going to direct the community back to the survey which is still open till the end of the week for any more kind of indepth okay feedback. >> Thank you. And can I ask a real practical question? So you've already noted if we let our timeline slip, the fidelity with which we can accomplish this process in a way that really is uh imbued with compassion is going to slip as well. Um what is your deadline that after knowing that we I think it's
294November 15th or November 17th when we have a meeting where we need to make a decision. What is the deadline for any final scenario requests from the board >> to meet that November 17th >> in order to meet the November 17th deadline. Um I would say you know and I'm trying to think about on behalf of your board and the ability to process and all of those different things. I think anything after November 3 doesn't have the adequate time to be processed, thought through, really considered. And my concern for you guys as a whole is I think you meet October 27th and then again November 3rd. So if there's something new, I would think you'd probably need an additional meeting before the 17th >> because the 17th is, you know, my understanding of when you
295would try to come to consensus to make a recommendation. >> November 3rd. Thank you. >> Yep. Can I suggest we just we can always cancel a meeting but to put meetings on necessary so we have enough time and if we don't need it we don't need it but we don't everyone understands the timing. >> All right. >> Is there any other business to come before the board? I adjourn this meeting at >> 122 [Applause]