001All right. >> Hi everybody. Um, reconvening to open session of the regular meeting of Fairview District 72, Board of Education is September 24th, 2025 at 7:03 p.m. We have established that we already have a quorum. Like to ask that all members of the public be respectful of everyone at this meeting. Please ensure that you have silenced your cell phones and please join us for the pledge of >> allegiance. All right. May I have a motion and a second to move into public hearing? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Would the board secretary please call the roll call vote? >> Astera Tamuda. >> Yes. >> Hbert Witworth. >> Present. >> Raphael Kavor >> here. >> Diana Diaakus. >> Yes. Christine Sya. Yes. >> All right. Mr. Fairy, can you please come to the podium? >> It's
0027:05 and we're officially in the public hearing. >> Thank you. >> So, it is that time to present the final budget uh for the year. We presented the tenative budget last month and what we do in our process is we try to eliminate any unnecessary changes between the tenative and the final but we do try and true up the numbers as best we can with a month's worth of data additional data we're able to get a little bit closer to what we think it's going to be for the the year. This doesn't [clears throat] look too dissimilar from last month unfortunately. Uh we're looking at about a 5.4% 4% increase in revenues over the actual revenues we received last year and only a 1.7% increase in expenditures, but we're still looking at about a $1
003million operating deficit, which is about 5.9% of our budget. So, how does that happen? Well, our revenues are limited again by PEL. We're only able to access about 3% more than the previous year. Uh, last year we got hit hard with objections. So, we had about $800,000 in tax objections or tax refunds that were given out. that takes $800,000 out of our projected revenue. So, we're hoping that that does not happen again this year. Uh state funding like evidence-based funding and our federal funding remains flat. So, every year that funding remains flat even as costs go up and inflation goes up. So, that really that really hinders our ability to raise revenues. Um expenditures 60% of our expenditures are set by personnel. So, salaries and benefits, the personnel plan, uh personnel contracts that we have
004in place. So there's very little flexibility there. Uh our insurance rate and our enrollment increases. So our rates went up about four to 5% and we saw about a 5 and a half% increase total in insurance costs for the year because we saw an increase in enrollment insurance as well. We had the reading curriculum adoption which is about $150,000. Uh thankfully those big adoptions like reading and math only come about once every few years. So this is hopefully not going to be a repeat. We're not as big a number next year with whatever curriculum we develop or whatever curriculum we adopt. Uh we're seeing heavy increases in utilities, especially electric service over the uh course of the next year. So that's a huge supply expense. Um of that million deficit, $443,000 of that is pledged
005to pay off debt. Part of that about $80,000 is for the NTDSC building, which we pledged to pay as part of our agreement with NTDC about 5 years ago. And then the other part of that is for $380,000 for the building project that were specific building bonds. Uh we're still looking at a potential amended budget by the end of this fiscal year to account for any unforeseen construction costs as we still try and finalize those. You'll see there the operating fund summary over the course of the last five years. And again, that large dip in 23 to 24 was largely due to us transferring money to pay for the part of the building projects. Uh the board has set 75% as our fund balance percentage. Right now we're looking at about 45% at the end
006of this year. It's important to know that ISB recommends 15 to 20%. So the board's policy of 75% is well above that. So that may be a discussion down the road with how whether or not we want to change the board policy or else we want to try and get back up to that 75%. Uh the next step going forward, we'll submit this final budget if approved tonight to Isby per Isby guidelines and we'll file the budget with the county clerk. Uh we'll do the tenative levy in October because we need 30 days between board meetings. So we'll do the tenative levy in October and do the final in December. Uh Liz Hennessy from Raymond James will be at our board meeting and talk about financing options uh going forward, whether there's ways uh alternative
007ways to raise revenue for the district. In November, we'll look at the annual financial report and audit provided by EVO, Cam, Schulty, and Jacobs. And they're required to do that on a yearly basis. From that, we'll have the hard final numbers for FY25 and be able to uh finalize our projections for five years, five years going out. And then December, we'll finally submit the final levy approve as approved by the board and January, we'll start the 26 or sorry, 27, I said 26, 27 budget preparations. And then we'll look at the amended budget and fund transfer options in the spring of 26. And that's it. The entire budget document in the board packet is the one that we'll submit to Isby. There's the budget summary which is the 30-page document I put together. That's just
008for board. That's for the community and for the board. The ISBY document is the one that's submitted to the state. I >> have a quick question. Yes. in future conversation about the 75% potentially changing that when we do the audit >> um in November that five-year projection will kind of give us a rough estimate on like if we can reach that 75 again. >> Yeah. And and traditionally when we do those projections whether it's by myself or it's by uh I know Liz Hennessy has done us for before those are very conservative. So in order to approach that 75% uh there would have to be major changes to the what the the outlook is um we've always taken the stance that we want to budget conservatively project conservatively and then be pleasantly surprised at the
009end and that's always that's traditionally worked out for us. We always knew that by pledging so much of our fund balance to the construction project there was going to be difficult conversations going forward. We knew that it was we were trying to do our best for the community to not go out and have a referendum or issue debt and and go through those means, but I mean the way revenues are kind of flat in a number of areas for us and expenditures continue to rise as the needs of our students arise. It's a it's just going to be it's tough discussions that we knew were going to happen >> later this evening. Uh you will have an opportunity to vote on the budget. Um, and this is the one time a year I think that
010every board member needs to sign off on a document. So when there are meeting over, please don't leave too quickly. Um, because every year it seems like sometimes someone gets away from us and then we're trying to catch up with you. So that will be something we ask you to sign off on a little bit later tonight. Any other questions? >> Thank you, Jeff. >> Thank you. >> All right. Um, may I have a motion and a second to close the public hearing? >> I'll second. Would the board secretary please call the roll call vote? >> Diana Diaakus, >> yes. >> Raphael Kavor, >> yes. >> Hbert Witworth, >> yes. >> Aster Chimuda, >> yes. >> Christine Zika, yes. >> All right, public hearing is closed. We are reconvening to the regular meeting. It is
0117:12. All right. May I have a motion in a second to approve the minutes of August 20th, 2025? >> So move. >> Any um corrections, comments? That was you. Sorry. >> That was me. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. Well, all those in favor of approving the minutes of August 20th, 2025, say I. >> I. >> Anybody opposed say nay. Minutes are approved. Next, we have the approval of bills of payments. May I have a motion and a second to approve the payments of bills in the amount of $314,9825? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Anybody have questions? >> All right. Board secretary, can you please call roll call vote? >> Yes. Raphael Kavore? >> Yes. >> Colbert Worth? >> Yes. >> Astera Tamura? >> Yes. >> Diana Diaakus? >> Yes. >> Christine Sya?
012Yes. >> All right. bills are approved. And the next item is parent teacher association report. If we have a representative from the PTA. Thank you, Sylvia. Good evening. Um the PTA committees have started working on all of our fun events we've planned for the year. Our first event is the 5K fun run and walk with a half a mile dash for our littles. Um it's for this Saturday at 10 a.m. 9:15 is registration. We would love to see you guys all there. Um, we have a stress-free fundraising tonight at Bill Jen. Bill Jen does wonders for us. They donate a lot to us. So, they are um doing a stress-free fundraiser today. If you guys call in, if you guys do a pickup, an order, or if you guys want to sit there, just tell
013them you're at the PTA. Honestly, this time around, I think we want to give back to them because they do such so um much for us. Our first committee meeting is going to be October the 7th at 7 PM in the nest. And our fall fun classroom parties for primary is October the 9th. That's all. Thank you. >> All right. Um, anyone from the board or administration have any good news to share for the district? >> Start us off. Um, the beginning of the year is very busy, which everyone knows, especially those that have children here in Fairview. One of the things I wanted to highlight is um over the summer uh often um we get uh communication from one of our teachers, Miss Tony, who's part of our spin-off program. She also does our
014publishing club. Uh and she submits a lot of student work to publications and contests all across the state. Uh and over the summer, we had many finalists and a couple winners in the Gwendeland Brooks Youth Poetry Awards. Um and so I thought that was something I wanted to shout out to Miss Tony. She does such a great job. Uh if anyone's interested in uh seeing the works, we can provide you the link to that. Uh, and so you have a chance to read the the students uh students work, which is really incredible. Uh, we're off and running for our sports athletics. Uh, I know our volleyball team's off to a great start. Um, actually all of our teams are, but I believe they haven't lost yet. So, the girls of varsity uh volleyball team is
015picking up where they left off last year is uh JV girls. So, we'll keep you updated. I think the finals are right around the next time of our board meeting usually. So, we'll keep you keep you updated on how they're doing. Yes, they have not lost one game yet. [laughter] >> Confirmation. Um, at the primary level, well, actually this covers our K8. Um, I just want to give a shout out to our new family committee last week on Thursday, we had a family pizza night for our new families that included all of our new families to the district, first through 8th grade, as well as our kindergarteners. and we had a hundred littles and bigs and parents and grandparents and it was a lot of fun. They also did a virtual or a digital scavenger
016hunt throughout the building and took some really really cute family photos with like the cardinal head and they went to the nest. It was really cute. Um, lot of fun. So, that was that was really a really great way to start the year. Uh, at the primary and middle school, we're going to be starting clubs coming up and I just want to reiterate our partnership with the Skooki Park District which is awesome. So, it allows us to provide more options for primary. As we know, our middle school students have so many opportunities to be involved in like sports and there's just more clubs and options for them. So, this is a great way for our primary students to be able to have some of those options as well. And then our Fair View staff will
017also be offering clubs again in the in the um here in the fall. So, this is new to to start the Skoi Park District clubs off this fall, but we've had a really great turnout and so we wanted to be able to do that. Uh third field trips are starting as we know the school year has started. So third grade is heading to the Skoi Heritage Museum. Actually a class tomorrow, Friday and then another next Tuesday. So this starts to kick off um for them like learning about Skoi. That's a big part of third grade. So that is going to be very fun for them. And then just thinking of like the importance of you know books and reading and literacy with all of our reading adoption conversations. You know I just thought I we
018haven't really talked we always have mystery readers and I and I saw Miss Sya today. she was a mystery reader for one of her student her boys and it's just such a great way for parents to be able to get in the building and it's really great that Miss Bastion does that. So that is something that goes all year um with our primary students. So just want to give a shout out for that. Thanks. Any questions preschool is going very very well. I'm happy to report. Um and holy moly, what a year difference a year makes. we are um they are doing such a good job and it's amazing to see the returning students. I know I shared this last time, but the returning students who know the routines and know what to expect are
019really bringing the new friends along with them, which has been great. We have 50 students right now attending our preschool program with three to four starting most likely in the next few weeks. Um which is really really exciting. Um, lastly, I'm happy to share that our partnership with Lincolnshshire Animal Hospital dog therapy um group will continue this school year. Um, and we're looking at looping in our preschool students as well. So, they'll have opportunities to meet the dogs and have their special time with them. Um, so yeah, that's it. >> Sat on the edge so I didn't trip this time. Uh, map testing finished up about two weeks ago. It went very smoothly which is amazing given MAP's track record, but I believe there's only one morning where it was slow, right? and and they
020end up fixing their problems themselves. So, that was fantastic. And then just last week, we were gifted two brand new 3D printers by the high school to Mr. Lays and Mrs. Chay. Uh Mr. Lay was having some tough times with his 3D printers. He spent countless hours trying to fix them. Chris Powell at the high school got wind of that and delivered two brand new uh state-of-the-art 3D printers for us, which was fantastic. The high school's always been very supportive of our STEM program, so very grateful to them. Thanks. >> I I thought it was kind of cool. Barry didn't mention it, but they took our old ones off our hands and they were going to have their students work on trying to fix those printers. >> I think that's such a great experience for
021the kids to tr try to troubleshoot it. So, it's sort of a win-win. I think we got the better end of it. >> I just want to say something real quick. Um, I meet with Cindy before meetings and I came on a lucky day. Um, the Falcon Snack Shack was open and so I walked in there. I had no idea what I was walking into, but it was the cutest, heartwarming experience and I bought some mints um and just went through the process with the kids. I was a little confused at first. I needed some guidance because I didn't want to make them feel nervous, but like I bought mints and gave them money and off I went. It was really so sweet and really nice for them to have that um sense of like
022ownership in a little store. So, super cute. So, thank you for doing that for them. the the snack shack um was an idea that a couple of our special education teachers along with some NTDSSE teachers came up with um to give their students sort of a real world experience of actually serving customers and making change and and whatnot. Um, and so we have it set up in one of our small conference rooms and they kind of set up their whole shop and they created Falcon dollars which gosh, we could go far with our with Falcon dollars if only. Um, we could give some to Jeff for our budget and everything would be great. Just keep printing them. Um, did I say that? Um, but you know, just the children feel so empowered and and just
023to be able to talk to adults and um, have this experience. Uh, we're really excited about it. So, we'll see what it turns into. Um, right now it's on Fridays for staff members. Um, but, you know, we'll see how it kind of morphs over time. Already they've upgraded their storefront a little bit with new sign. And so, it it's pretty exciting, but I was glad that she was here that day and got a chance to experience it firsthand. So, >> I needed a warning. I almost cried. I'm like, oh, it was it was sweet. Very sweet. Okay. Uh, next item is our board discussion items with the superintendent. Please introduce the reports to the board. >> Yes. I am very excited to welcome so many of our teachers here this evening. Um, we're moving right
024along. They've had a long day already, so we don't want to keep them here too long, but I think it's really important for the board and the public to hear about the types of work that our teachers do through the summer months. Um, for Fairview teachers, you know, they they do have the summer off, but many of them don't take a whole lot of time to themselves to put their feet up or um not think about school for too long. Um so this summer uh we had a a large number of faculty staff like we usually do. Um 70 members of our staff participated in some sort of curriculum project. Um we don't have time to highlight all of those projects tonight, but we selected a few. Um so I'm not sure if the principles
025are you going to kind of start us off here or do you want me to just introduce the first? Okay, >> you're good. Okay. Well, if somebody could put up the first uh the first slide, that would be great. Um tonight we have um four presentations for the board. Um the first one is regarding fifth grade executive functioning and a win boot camp which Mr. Mastson is going to talk us through. >> Yes. >> So welcome Sean. >> Thank you. Uh good evening and thank you for inviting me to share our work on the executive functioning boot camp. I would like to thank the fifth grade team including Rachel Ronin Worth Gow, Trisha Klein, Emily McBain, and Tamar Peterson and Julie PL. So my background is in special education. For the past decade, I focused
026on developing executive functioning interventions for my students. Over time, this work naturally led me into supporting students during the critical transition from elementary to middle school. Teachers began reaching out asking me to work with students they have concerned about during that transition. And last year at Fairview, I expanded that work by teaching executive functioning skills directly to some of our middle school students. Uh this year, I proposed that nearly all our fifth graders go through a dedicated curriculum. As a team, we decided to launch the executive functioning boot camp. At the start of the year, giving every fifth grader a strong foundation to build on. Over the first three weeks, our students have participated in a focused and engaging executive functioning program designed to build essential skills for success in middle school and beyond. Spanning
027approximately 12 lessons, this program was carefully structured to ease transition into middle school while equipping students with tools for academic organization, time management, and self- advocacy. We kicked off the program during the week of August 25th with day one welcome to middle school. Students got familiar with their schedules, practiced using their lockers, and had an open form to share questions or concerns. From the very beginning, we wanted to set a tone for independence and responsibility. We focused on foundational skills, organizing binders, using planners effectively, and brainstorming what it means to be a successful learner. Students set personal goals, reviewed learner qualities from their report cards, even created their own vision boards to visualize the kind of learners they aspire to be. Uh the next two uh slides are some sample activities. In week two, we
028shifted into digital organization and communication. Students learned how to manage their bookmarks, navigate Google Classroom, and use a shared homework calendar. We covered self- advocacy and email etiquette. Essential tools for middle schoolers learn to speak up and take ownership for their own learning. The final week, we focused on study skills and test preparation. Students practice strategies preparing for assessments and learned how to balance their workload. We also spent time discussing digital citizenship and how to find a healthy balance with media and how to behave responsibly online. We wrapped up uh with a full program recap and we are putting together a special takeaway next week, a laminated executive functioning cheat sheet as you see up here, something every fifth grader can keep in their binder for quick reference throughout the school year. Uh this program
029really has been more than just about lessons. It's a launchpad for our students to build habits to foster academic confidence, independence, and a strong sense of self-direction. Um, thank you all for supporting this work, and we look forward to seeing these skills in action as the year unfolds. >> Any questions from the board? For those of you who have had a fourth grader move to fifth grade, it is definitely a change. And um our staff, you know, identified that this was a struggle for a lot of our students and the going from having one classroom teacher who makes sure you have everything you need before you leave at the end of the day and all of that sort of handholding that goes on in the primary grades. In fifth grade, there's still a a lot
030of handholding, but we're trying to do less of that. Um and have them become more independent with being organized and keeping track of their things. And you know, just the small things like email etiquette. when you're emailing the principal, you don't say, "Hey," you know, um, you know, and and they need direct instruction on these types of things. Um, because otherwise they they do whatever kids do, and that's not always the proper etiquette. So, I think, you know, this has been a really big step in the right direction to help ease that transition between fourth and fifth grade here. Um, so I'm very appreciative of your work being a mom of two boys who are terribly disorganized their whole lives. I wish my kids would have had something like that, but I think it's going
031to really help support all of our kids in a really good way. So, >> my son is within this program right now and loves it. So, thank you both um for helping him. Yeah, it's he's he's mentioned that like I don't know where to go. I don't know what to do. What's the you know, there's so many things. I think it's just it's helpful to have someone help him just all the kids put it. >> Yeah. So many people like that, too. >> Yeah. So, thank you. It's been helpful significantly. Okay, next up we have Tamara Peterson and Worth Gowell. Many of you are are very familiar with our traditional fourth grade Celebrate America project. It's sort of a long long tradition here at Fairview. Um and uh Tamara and Worth came to us with
032a new idea for a special fifth grade project called Celebrate Native America. Um so they're going to talk to us a bit about uh this project and how it ties into the curriculum at their grade level. Thank you for having us. >> Of course. >> Um this all started uh I guess it started with my initial seed program where they began each session with a land acknowledgement and uh you also if you go to plays you'll see a land acknowledgement in a lot of the theaters and so we decided hot on the heels or at least on the heels of celebrate America that we would um we would try and introduce the students to what America was like pre-Colombian pre 1492. So, what we did was we put together this celebrate Native America and um
033let's see if I can and the these slide presentations kind of go into uh what Mrs. Peterson and I kind of went into with our work. Uh our goal was that the students would recognize that the land was not always European, was not always um America. And uh one of the things we want to do uh kind of coupled with our so social studies curriculum for the for lesson one is to talk about these Native American cultures over 500 who are part of this country long before um Columbus discovered this rock. So, what we're going to do is kind of go through the what the uh expectations are for the students, and I'm going to turn this over to uh Tamara, who's going to talk a little bit about the slide presentation she put together.
034>> So, we already knew that the kids knew how to do a bigger project thanks to Celebrate America. We promised the parents, you're not going to be doing any kind of diaramas with them. [laughter] We wanted them to have a slide presentation and we wanted them to start learning how to do some public speaking as well. So, what they're going to do is they're going to learn about their tribes as much as possible and then they're going to present it to the rest of the class um because that's important to have those uh skills. So, some of the things that we want to cover with them is the type of art that was used by each of the groups. Uh where their location was and what kind of region they were from. And then, uh
035shelters, all the homes look different depending on where in the nation that they were living and what kind of lifestyle they lived in. So, we wanted them to know that. Um, and then food resources. The food changes depending on whether or not they're in the Midwest, they're in the Eastern Woodlands, or they're in California. So, knowing what um they were looking for for each of those was important. And one of the most important we thought was the ways of life, their ceremonies and what they thought was important, what kind of jobs and um things that were given to each of the different groups was also important and how they lived together. And then interesting facts, a lot of everyday items that we use today were actually made by Native Americans or came up with by
036Native Americans. So we want the kids to find that stuff out. Um, and Worth and I have gone through great links to find all kinds of different um, articles and stuff for them to find. We're also partnering with uh, Miss Bastion so we can get stuff from the library. She's going to teach them how to do navigating through the websites and stuff because that can always be a challenge as well. And then making sure they know how to site their resources so they know where the information is coming from and what those uh, sources are and if they are actually valid. [laughter] Um, we're really looking forward. We kicked it off this week and the kids are really looking forward to it as well. So, that's it. >> Yeah, it was amazing. The kids had
037flashbacks of all the states that they did last year and they remember the birds and the flowers and the trees and the bees and um they uh they're all very excited about learning about this part of America that often doesn't get recognized. So, thank you for your time. Great job. Any questions from the board? >> Yes, it's going to be an individual project. So they'll they'll go back to their state, Nebraska or whatever, and they're going to and we'll have an overlay map of um their state, and then it'll also indicate the different nations that uh were part of their state so that they are able to pick one and kind of focus on that on the resources and their dwellings and so forth. >> Bringing alive the social studies curriculum in a really different
038way. I really think the students are going to be very engaged. It'll be interesting this first year to kind of see how it's received. I know you do a great job of kind of letting things evolve and so we'll look forward to hearing an update once the projects are finished. Maybe they'd like to public speak a project here for the board once they're finished. >> Okay. Okay. >> I don't know if they would, but >> I'm sure [laughter] one or two. >> Okay. Well, thank you very much for all of your hard work. Appreciate it. Next up, uh we had a team of teachers and Dasha McKini is going to be presenting um for this group as well as Allison Meyer. Um attendance has continued to be a struggle for us like it has many
039schools across our country postcoid. Um we believe it's really really important for students to be in school for the full day every day of the school year. Um because when they're here they're learning and that helps improve their academic achievement. So, we have been working really hard trying to get creative at how to get attendance back to where it was precoid. Um, fair always had wonderful attendance patterns, but we have seen it trail off um since co. So, these ladies are going to walk you through the work of this team over the course of this last summer. So, thank you ladies. >> Thank you. Um we worked as a team to take a look at our attendance policies and how we can support the connection between home and school and how we can make life
040a little easier for parents at home. So one of our first initiatives is having an online attendance form. Um you may click an online attendance link that's been sent in the digital backpack. You can send in um up until however many days you know that you're going to be out of town or if you already have a planned absence, you can send that in as early as you know. And so that parents aren't having to necessarily pick up the phone and call the morning of when your child's sick. You're trying to make a doctor's appointment. Instead of having that extra phone call, now you can just click a link um pull it up on your phone and fill out why your child will not be um at school for that day. You also will start
041receiving monthly letters sent home so families are aware of absences before it gets too late into the school year. So you've already received one of those for the month of August and September. next week. Next week, you'll get this. Sorry. Um, it hasn't, it's been like four weeks, so almost there. We're almost at a full month. Um, and you'll start receiving these emails every month so that you're able to know, oh, actually, like two days is a little bit more of a percentage of the school year when you look at just a whole four weeks. Just to mention too, excuse my voice, it is the season for germs right now. Um, but just to mention too on this form, the goal of this form was just really more of the informative part rather than punitive.
042We don't want it to seem like, oh, your student is immediately in trouble. It's just more of like a for your information, just a heads up to see how the days add up as a whole just in case that like sometimes those numbers when we see them bits and pieces, it actually makes a little bit more sense rather than at the end seeing everything. So, a little bit more to keep families together with us on the numbers. We also did set up a tiered system to support students individually. Then, so tier one is just the basic level that every student starts off with. That starts with making sure that there's a communication with the letters, making sure that the expectations are being communicated from the district. So, we've updated the handbook as well, sending out
043that form and then making sure that the teachers are explaining those expectations through um syllabus and then also through curriculum night powerpoints. If parents are coming with questions, we all kind of have the same language that we're using. Um when students do end up like we're seeing a particular issues in a couple classes, we do have weekly team meetings where we can raise a student and see like is everybody else having this issue? Does this need to now get brought up to administration? And then we also did take a look as well as not just beginning of the school day tardiness, but also class to class, especially if kiddos are avoiding a particular class or they're just having a really hard time with transitions. That's a way that we can also keep track of that
044just so that way there's open communication around. So tier one because it is really um just a basic level. We kind of work this through as a team and should a child reach 10% absences or from class to class they reach six tardies in each individual class that moves them up to a tier 2 where a little bit more intense work gets started with parent communication having a parent meeting. We come up with an individual plan for a student particularly to having a mentor on campus so they can tell us like which teacher do you feel comfortable if there's a staff member you feel comfortable with so that way we can provide check-ins especially if it's in a particular class where if we're noticing oh they're struggling in math so they're avoiding getting to math
045on time maybe there can be a teacher check-in to kind of like communicate with that math teacher find strategies on how to get them to math as well we will also then create a check in, check out with the help of Shawn of just making sure that the kiddo is kind of taking that onus and that responsibility as well of getting into class and then that gives us um some communication with the teachers and then it does get brought up in our weekly meetings again just so that way all of the teachers are on board and making sure that the parents have that communication too. That way we're all working together as a team. Tier three is if this is a continued problem, this gets just a little bit more in depth where now administration
046and our SEAL team will kind of take a hold of this and kind of have more family discussions with the families, kind of talk about what is the um goals here and come up with a more individualized plan. Um if needed, we'll bring in the entire team of teachers to just kind of have a discussion and come up with separate goals. And then what ends up um happening as well is if necessary into this, we will also start the North Cook referral process just to get the community support as well in case there like any resources that we need to get to the families if something is happening at home and we don't have the resources in order to help that family on campus try to pile up our resources together. Um, so with it
047being the start of the school year, we're kind of process right now, a lot of our friends are still in that tier one. Um, and we're actually starting to see within our team meetings, we've kind of talked about classtoclass tardies. How has it been going? And on the sixth grade front that I can report for, we've seen a collective less amount of tardies from class to class just because that language has been the same across the board and students kind of know like okay all of the teachers are holding us accountable here. So we are definitely seeing less tardies from class to class at this point in time as well. Thank you. >> Questions. >> Is there an opportunity I mean just depending on how this progresses to implement L and tier two like is
048tier three maybe almost too late to have the team potentially intervene I mind being mindful of right resources and um capacity but just >> our teachers attend our weekly GLPS team meetings so when these conversations are being brought up even at tier one the team is present and can give their feedback and input during those team meetings >> so in tier three it's just directly with the student is that because I think that was >> it would be like a more more intensive intervention at that point. >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you. >> I think our tier three students are those students that are experiencing school refusal. Um so they're having a hard time even getting to school and that requires a more intensive intervention to find out what the issue is. It could be a
049lot of different things. Um, but that's what our social work and our administrative team then digs into because it's a little bit more than what the classroom teacher or team um can help support. Um, certainly anyway anywhere along the way um if social work might be or or counseling might be what the student needs, we're not waiting until they get to two. >> Thank you for clarifying that. >> Is the link for the absent reporting on the parent square app? >> It's it is okay. >> Yes. And it's definitely in the backpack. Yeah. >> Okay. Haven't used it yet, but I think that's to put there just in case. >> Okay. >> Perfect. >> The teacher, at least the first grade teachers also send it in their newsletter and it's in their um signature as
050well. >> So, it's not taking place of the phone call. If someone wants to, you can have a conversation. >> But it does make the office in the morning a little smoother. >> Yeah. Just to if people ask. Yes. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Great. Thank you so much. Next up, we're going to talk about kindergarten kickoff, which was new to Fairview this year. It's something that we've been thinking about doing for a couple of years, but we've been able to finally implement it. This was very different than the way we've done kindergarten um kickoff in previous years. So, I'm very proud of our community for trusting us and letting us try this out. But um Allison Schlaughter and Allison Meyer, our wonderful A team in kindergarten, are going to present this project. >> All
051right. So, we had um our first week look a little different this school year. We had a transitional week where we had temporary mixed groups of classes and we had a chance to see um all 60 students come through our classroom which was really incredible. This was designed to support students social emotional adjustment as well as their comfort in the school um setting. It allowed us to have um different relationships with all of the students. So now four weeks in I know all the students in Miss Schlaughter's class. They know who I am. They can ask for help. Um and it's really a wonderful way for them to be able to build relationships with multiple adults in the building. We had our students um be observed during this time by multiple staff members in our
052building which was really a wonderful opportunity. We had our reading and math interventionists in there taking notes, our resource teacher, our advanced learning teacher, um both EL teachers, we had lots and lots of support. We had Miss Shaboka with us. Um it was really all hands- on deck so we could get all eyes on these different mixed groups and see um where these students would be best fit. Um, and this also helped our students build confidence throughout their day and um, allowed us to really support where they would end up so that we have a bit more balanced classes since um, this is our first time seeing these students and it was a really good opportunity. So, this is just an example of Okay, I'll go back. No, I'm not going to go back. Here's
053an example of our week. So um in the past we have you know had students come half of the class come for half day, the other class comes for half day, they all come for half day. So um this time all of the students came on Monday for appointment day. Um they got to see all of the different classrooms. They dropped off their materials. Um and then we all got to go on a tour of the school of half the school as quickly as we could. Um but it was really nice because a lot of the times the parents don't get to see the full school. Um so that was really nice for them as well. Um then Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, all of the kids came from 8:45 until 1:00. Um, so I'll show you
054a little bit more detailed after, but after 1:00 every day, um, the whole team, so all of the kindergarten teachers as well as Miss Shaboka and any of the, uh, support staff that was with us taking notes, we all sat together and were able to go over the notes and our observations and then made small changes changes to our class list for the following day where they then started um, and then we did the same routine um, again. And then Friday we did a no student attendance day when is when which is when um the entire team again sat together and then we finalized our groupings um and we notified all of the parents and then we a yes that emailed you know all the good information the welcome information and then Monday we had
055no school for Memorial Day and then Tuesday we started fulltime with everybody. So um this was just kind of an example of our daily schedule. So, it was really nice because all three classrooms did the exact same activities in every class. So, then it wasn't like, why is this kid having a really hard time in Miss Laughter's class? It must be because she's doing something really hard in there. Um, but we knew that it wasn't because it was what we were doing, but it was more, you know, who they were vibing with and what other kids they were um kind of connecting with. So, we all did the same exact thing. Their home base, they started um that was our kind of class list that they started with for the day. Um, so we all
056went over the routines. They got to have snack and recess. They each got to try out some specials. Um, and then we did a little switcheroo every single day from 11:05 to 12:00. Um, so they would start in their home room classroom, do an activity in there for 10, 15 minutes, and then the whole group would then switch to the next class, do another activity in there, and then switch to the next classroom. So, all three kindergarten teachers were able to then see um all three groups of kids every single day um in three different environments, which was really nice cuz their um how they engaged and how they interacted with the other students was very different based on where they were and who they were with. Um so, again, every day we met and
057kind of changed the list a little bit, but allowed us to kind of really create a lot more balanced classes. We're able to see that now. We just finished our fast bridge testing. So, um we were able to really see that even like you know our levels of you know our thinkers and um all different levels of kids we were nice and evenly separated which was really nice and yeah we got to know everybody and it wasn't a surprise which was lovely and I think it will lend to a really great school year for us and the kids and the parents and yeah we're excited to do it again next year and again we got really good feedback from the um community. I think it was nice to not just have like you're coming on
058Monday and Tuesday and then not Wednesday and Friday. So everybody was coming Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Um Friday they had nothing. But um yeah, we had a great reception. Is that Oh, there's some pictures. Kindergarten kickoff in action. So it was great. So thank you guys. >> Questions? >> Sounds exciting. >> Yeah, it was great. >> But exciting. It was a lot, but I think it'll be good. Yeah. Thank you. >> Yeah. We knew a lot more about them. So, we were teachers kind of find out what their needs were before they came in, which was really nice. And um we kind of had eyes on them last year as well. As they walked in the hallway, you know, they'd be like, "This one's coming. This one's coming. We're getting them ready. So, >>
059helps with our day one placements especially. We had Miss Marin and Mrs. Versity look over our day one placements and they're like, "Oh, no. Like, these two did not learn together." Well, in preschool, let's move them here. So, it really helped for our first day. That first day was still pretty. >> Yeah, we wasted no time at that. So, >> great. >> Thank you guys. >> I'm back. Again, I can't say enough about the community embracing this idea and letting us try it. Everyone is so accustomed to being assigned a teacher to start the school year. Um, so a little disconcerting for some of our returned parents who didn't have that classroom teacher they were assigned to. Um, but um, it really has allowed us to create classroom groupings that are going to be, you
060know, working well together in a variety of ways. So, we think the outcome for our students is going to be really positive going forward. and that schedule that we had forever for working parents was a nightmare. Um to be having your kid go half a day and then the next day you didn't have it was just too much. Um so I think that's a big improvement as well for our families. So thank you ladies for giving it your all and making it work. So that I think that brings our uh presentation to a close. Any other questions for any of the staff that are here? Okay, we're probably gonna let them have this be their exit. You're welcome to stay as long as you want. always welcome. But if you'd like to head out, this
061is a good chance. >> Thank you. >> Okay, moving on. Next up is our second reading of board policies. There was a in your packet um there was a an overview um and I linked all of the policies into that overview so you could take a look. Um, this is sort of IASB's big like clean up the policies packet. Um, so nothing of real significance here. Um, they do review their policies every five years so that you never find yourself with a board policy that's ancient. Um, and maybe doesn't make sense anymore. Um, so there's really not much here for the board to discuss, but I'm happy to answer any questions that any of you might have. Otherwise, I'd recommend you approve um these updates to the policies. questions? No. Okay. Lastly, the superintendent report.
062Just a couple of things. Um we didn't we did not mention this, but since the last board meeting, um we did have meet the teacher for first through fourth graders. It was the Friday before school started. We received a lot of positive feedback from the community. Um that it was nice to be able to come into school and drop off school supplies, set eyes on the classroom and the teacher. Um, so hopefully that helps students feel a little bit more calm going into the weekend before the first day of school, kind of knowing where they were going that first day. Um, so I think that's something that we would definitely plan on continuing. Maybe some tweaks. Um, you know, some people thought it was too too short. They could have used more time. And so
063there's a few tweaks to it, but I think we're committed to continuing um that in the future years because it was just so nice to see everybody reconnecting and we had popsicles in the park afterwards and it just had a really nice community feel to bring everybody back together and kind of get those jitters out before school officially started. Um so there's that. Um I also had the opportunity last Friday evening to tour the class of 1991, Fairview class of 1991. um they were having their high school class reunion and it was important to them to be able to come back to their elementary school as well. They were super blown away by all the changes. They were it was so cute because wait where's this? Where was Mr. Haley's room? Where um so but
064it was it was great. I mean a group of you know just wonderful adults. Makes me feel so good that they still care about their elementary school and want to come back. Mr. Haley joined us. Mrs. Linebug who is formerly she's taught a lot of grades at Fairview but has been retired for a while. Mrs. Hammer, Joyce Hammer was back and um Gail Zardino, one of our EEL teachers um formerly a French teacher for Fairview taught French way back when um so it was just a wonderful night but I think it's important for you all to know that there's just so much pride in the Fairview community and their school. Um and then finally we're um gearing up for our October Institute Day. Um, we're going to be doing reading curriculum work, um, and, uh,
065staff training, and we are also doing our CPR training. So, all of our Fairview teachers are certified in CPR and AED, which, um, isn't a requirement, but I think it's very important that we're prepared for any emergency might come our way. Um, not only here at the school, but in our own personal lives. So, um, that is something we provide to the staff, and I think it's appreciated that not only do we provide the training, but we allow them to do it during their work time. Um and it makes me feel very confident as a superintendent knowing that we are, you know, we have the tools um to respond in a situation if we were presented with. So um so that's the highlights from my report. If there's any questions, I'm happy to answer those.
066We have I believe we have five four or five. Um we're required to have an AED at um any physical fitness facility. So there's one down in the gymnasium area. There is one in this new wing. Um there is one by the school nurse's office and there's one on the second floor. So I think four is there one by the auditorium? Yeah, near the band room by the auditorium. Thank you. Yeah, because that's another large gathering place. Um and a lot of times members of the public are there so if there was an emergency, it's close by. Any other Good question. Any other questions? Okay, moving on. Awesome. Next item is our board committees. Um, NTDSC Jackie is not here today, but I don't know if there's any update that anyone else >> actually that
067meeting is the same evening as this. Uh, it's tonight. Um, we moved our meeting, so it became a conflict with NTDSC, so we don't have anyone at the meeting. They will send us out, you know, their notes from the meeting. Um, so we'll be able to catch up at a later time. >> And then Christine, anything to add to PTA? Okay. Um, we're moving on to freedom of information. Uh, regarding Freedom of Information Act requests, I can report that there are no Freedom of Information Acts received since the last board meeting. Um, and we do not have any submission for information items and correspondence. Um, and before we go into public comment, I know I wasn't here at that last meeting, but I know there was um couple um of questions pertaining to um our
068community. Okay. So, I'm just going to read a little brief um statement in that. So, in response to the public comment the board received during the August 20th regular meeting, I'd like to share the following sentiments with those of you present. Here at District 72, we deeply value the diversity of our community and are committed to ensuring that every student and family in our district feel safe, welcome, and supported within the district's board adopted belief statements. The first statement reads, "A safe physical and emotional school environment advances learning and promotes respect for all." The district model one fair view was attended to communicate the district's mission, vision, and belief in a matter that is understandable to all. We understand the concerns raised regarding recent changes to federal immigration enforcement policies. While we recognize the challenges
069these developments may have present for some members of our community, we want to assure you all that the district already has a strong measure in place to protect the safety, privacy, and dignity of all of our students and family regardless of their immigration status. Our existing policies and practice are designed to uphold a safe and inclusive learning environment. These include clear protocols for interactions with outside agencies, strict guidelines regarding the sharing of student information, and a commitment to non-discrimination and equity for all. Our staff are trained to respond appropriately and compassionately to any situation that may cause fear or uncertainty among students and families. At this time, we believe that our current framework is effective in meeting the needs of our diverse community without an adoption of a formal resolution and we remain committed to
070continuously evaluating and if necessary strengthening our practices in response to the evolving needs of our students and families. So, >> um, and I, you know, just a little bit of background, um, I have communicated with our neighboring school districts, um, those specifically in Niles Township, um, those superintendents reported that in their districts, um, the nine elementaryaries and the high school district 219, that they have not adopted a resolution. I think there might have been some confusion about that. Um but those schools that we're most closely affiliated with here in Niles Township um share you know similar board policies as we do um you know and feel that you know actions sometimes speak louder than words and that we're all working towards creating that safe environment for all students. So you just just would want to
071mention that um the board policy 710 equal educational opportunities um I think you know we believe is a very strong policy um and it does include in it um that no student should be um um discriminated against and we actually do include um immigration status in that definition which um I think covers all of the pieces that we had heard from the public last night. So with that, I think we could just move on to to public comment. >> Okay. >> At this time, I'd like to invite members of the audience to address the board and public comment. This is a period designed to gain input from the public and not for immediate response by the board to the question or comment presented. If you wish to address the board, please come to the microphone
072and state your name. A threeminut time limit will be set. The board secretary will keep time. Okay. And I can confirm that there were no public um online public comments received today. We are going to go to approval of action items. Can I get a motion in a second to adopt the fiscal year 2026 district budget? >> A second. >> Any questions before we confirm? No. Okay. Board secretary, can you please call a roll call vote? >> Diana Diaakus. Yes. >> Raphael Kavore. >> Yes. >> Astera Tamura. Yes. Hbert Witworth. >> Yes. >> Christine Sya. Yes. >> All right. May I have a motion in a second to approve approve board policies as discussed? >> My motion. >> Second. >> Right. Okay. Board secretary, can you please call a roll call? >> Hbert Worth. >>
073Yes. >> Astera Tamuda. Raphael Kavor. >> Yes. Diane Diaakus. >> Yes. Christine Zika. Yes. Perfect. And anyone have any items for future consideration um for next month? >> Yes, the eighth graders have been very vocal about their desire for an overnight field trip. um you know that is something that I think requires further discussion um amongst community PTA uh to determine you know whether or not that is the best option um given uh you know where we are in the moment um and we've had experiences with overnight trips that you know here in the district um have proven very challenging for us um you know we do think that we do have a group of teachers that may be willing to chaperon a trip of sorts, but I think we need to have some further
074discussion internally about what that might look like. Um, whether it would be a partnership with the PTA or something the PTA would like to sponsor. Um, these trips get very expensive. Um, and I feel very strongly that all children have the opportunity to attend regardless of financial um, situation at home. So, you know, a lot of we need to have a lot of conversation around that. Um, and you know, figure out where, when, and if we really want to do it. Um, there's just a lot to it. Um, the eighth graders, every time I walk down the hallway, they are they are on me. Um, you know, the the chirping of DC, DC, DC is like constantly playing through my my brain. So, I I hear them. It is a cool experience to travel with
075your with your peers. um go away and do something like that. Um it just is something we have to give consideration carefully to. Mike and I have talked about it as well. So we can we can circle back on that, but it's it's a challenging conversation for me. So >> well, yes. >> Yes. Well, they wondered if they should come to the board meeting tonight and said, I don't think that's a great idea. >> Yeah. Yeah. They know who they know who to talk to. Um, you know, the only other thing I would say, um, just for the sake of the fact that we're all together, um, it's concerning to me that some members of our community may feel that children aren't safe here. Uh, I take the safety of these children as if they're
076my very own. Um, and I can say that every member of this team, whether it's the teaching team, the support staff, the nurses, the administrative team, we take that really seriously. And Um, I hope that there isn't an assumption that because the board isn't adopting a resolution that there's a safety issue here. Um, certainly if there is, it's your responsibility as board members. If you hear something in the community, the community, you have to let us know. Um, I am not aware of law enforcement coming to campus. Um, not aware of um, any Fair View students being spoken to. Um, but I don't know everything and I don't know what's going on elsewhere. Um, and I think that, you know, these times are, you know, uncertain for some people and that causes fear. And so
077what we don't want is we don't want, you know, fear seeping into our school. Um, when we do a lot of work to try to help families feel supported and children to feel safe in every way so that they can focus on learning here. Um, so I just I feel a need just to to say it and put it out there that, you know, certainly it's all of our responsibility. If there's a family that's struggling for any reason, people have to let us know. We have resources. If we don't have the resources, Skoi does, North Cook was mentioned tonight. They have a lot of resources as well. So there's a lot of help, but if we don't know what the problem is, it's it's hard to help. Um, but I just again there's nothing more
078important to us than keeping these kids safe. And I think that we do a really good job of it. Um, and hopefully, like I said earlier, our actions speak louder than words. Um, we've been tested over the years, many of times, and I think this community has shown over and over again, it steps up. It helps people out. It helps families in need, whatever it might be. So, um, you know, thank you for your ongoing, um, support and trust because we do really try, um, our very best every single day. So, I'll just leave it at that. >> All right. Thank you. Um, can I have a motion and a second to adjourn the regular meeting of the Fairview Board of Education? It is now 8:04 p.m. I'll second. And the board secretary, please call
079a roll call vote. Diana Diaakus, >> yes. >> Raphael Kavor, >> yes. >> Hbert Witworth, >> yes. >> Astera Tamuda, >> Christine, yes. Right. Thank you everybody.