Naperville 203 Board Meeting 9/22/2025

001Okay, >> good evening. S thank you whoever said that since >> since 5:31 the board of education has been in closed session to discuss uh for sorry purposes of discussion of minutes lawfully closed under the open meetings act whether for purposes of school board approval of the minutes or semiannual review of the minutes as mandated by the act uh the appointment employment compensation discipline performance or dismissal of specific employees or legal counsel including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee or legal counsel to determine its validity. And litigation when an action against, affecting, or on behalf of the school board has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or when the school board finds an action is probable or imminent, in which case the basis for the finding shall

002be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting. I will entertain a motion to come out of close session. >> So moved. >> Second. Motion has been moved and seconded twice. Um, please call the role. Mr. Patton >> Blastic >> I. >> Winsky >> I. >> Kelly Black >> I. >> Cosminsky. >> I. >> McMillan. >> I. >> Gerky. >> I. >> Kush. >> I. The motion passes. We are in open session. Good evening and welcome um to the September 22nd, 2025 board of education meeting. Our mission is to empower students to develop learners mindset, demonstrate adaptability, communicate effectively, think critically, and become global citizens. Uh, please Oh, please call the role. Mrs. Pton. >> Board members present this evening, Charles Kush, Christine Girki, Melissa Kelly Black, Joe Kazminski, Amanda McMillan, Holly Blastic,

003and Mark Winsky. >> Okay. Um, please join the board of education in the pledge of allegiance joined by >> Prairie Elementary School. Good evening, Board of Ed members and cabinet. I'm Brian Zel, principal of Perry Elementary School, and we are very happy to be here to lead the pledge of allegiance. We have our fifth grade student council representatives. Also with me tonight is Mrs. Peter's our assistant principal and Miss Olsen who is our uh student council sponsor. So are going to have our students introduce themselves and then we'll start the pledge. >> Hello everyone. Good evening. My name is Genevieve. >> Good evening everyone. My name is Maxwell. Good evening everyone. My name is Quentyn. >> Good evening everyone. My name is Tavy. Good evening. My name is Annaise. Aliance to the flag of the

004United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> We'll have you stay right there. If there's any parents, friends, or family would like to come a little bit closer and take a picture, you are welcome to do so. >> Come on up. You're fine. Okay. >> Stay right there. One more. One more. >> One more. >> Okay. Hey, Prairie, thanks for setting a great example for the rest of our elementary students this year. You're the first pledge of the of the year. Nice job. >> Thank you for joining us. Nope. >> Nope. >> Oh. >> Okay. Item four, personnel. >> Need a motion from a member of the board of education in regard to a recommendation for issuance of notice

005of charges for dismissal of a tenure faculty member. >> So moved. Second. Motion has been moved and seconded. Please call a role. Mrs. Patton. >> Kelly Black. >> I. >> Winski. >> I. >> Gerky. >> I. >> Kush. >> I. >> McMillan. >> I. >> Cuzinsky. >> I. >> Blastic. >> I. >> Uh, the motion passes. Item five, recognition. Item 5.01, good news. >> Okay. Now we move to good news. Congratulations to the neighbor 203 board of education. Uh the board was one of 42 uh boards in the state of Illinois to receive the Illinois Association of School Boards 2025 schoolboard governance recognition designation. This recognition is designed to acknowledge those school boards that engage in activities and model behaviors that lead to excellence in school governance in support of quality public education. Congratulations to

006the board. [Applause] The annual success family cookout was held on Saturday, September 13th. We'd like to thank Costco for donating backpacks and school supplies to families who attended the event, as well as our schools who provided school spirit baskets that we raffled off in a free giveaway for those who attended. Thanks for those who were able to attend. Neighborville 203 was represented at this weekend's Neighbor Pride Fest, which was held at April Settlement on Saturday, September 13th. Neighborville North senior Jeffrey Tong is a returning member of the Illinois State Board of Education Student Advisory Council for the 2025 2026 school year. Throughout the year, student advisory council members will meet virtually with the Illinois State Board of Education staff and stakeholders to lend their voices to policy development in education. Student advisory council members will

007also participate in activities such as the student summit and present their research project to the state board of education. Congratulations to Jeffrey. Uh, neighbor North senior Mia Farerk has been selected as a recipient of the University of Chicago Pritsker Molecular Engineering Medal of Distinction. If admitted to University of Chicago, Mia will receive a $100,000 merit scholarship to study molecular engineering, a guarantee of funding for two summer internships or research positions, and a commemorative award to recognize her outstanding achievements. [Applause] and 78 students from Neighborville North received College Board National Recognition this year. The programs are the highest student engagement rate to date for students of all backgrounds and across schools nationwide, helping more talented students stand out to colleges. Awardees of the College Board National Recognition Program demonstrate academic success in 10th and 11th grade.

008The 2025 National Recognition Program offers three award designations. first generation recognition award, rural and small town recognition award and for the first time the school recognition award. All 78 students were named for the school recognition award. Of those four students who are additionally named of those while four of those students were additionally named for the first generation recognition award. Several students from Napole Central are on it as well and we'll share that at a future board meeting our next board meeting. Huge congratulations to these North students. [Applause] I'm going to invite oh, Principal Thornton to come join me. Okay. So this evening we have the honor of recognizing several students from both Neighborville Central and Nepal North High School who have participated in the National Merit Scholarship Program and have qualified as semi-finalists with the

009opportunity to earn scholarships as they continue through the process. I'm going to have Principal Thornton introduce their kids and I'll hand them a certificate of recognition and then Dr. Cohen will point them to the the stand. Thank you so much for this opportunity to recognize this outstanding and prestigious academic honor for Neighborville Central seniors. Starting with Sharon Balakumarin, [Applause] Audrey Chang, [Applause] Hannah Chu, [Applause] Acer Colemanson, [Applause] >> Ria Dondapandi, [Applause] I'll break it for you. We'll break it for you. >> Stefan Illich [Applause] Lily Gia, [Applause] Hannah Leang, [Applause] Harry Louu, [Applause] Karina Ralph, [Applause] Amy Yang, [Applause] And our last two Red Hawks were not able to join us tonight, but we want to congratulate Nina Zan and Darren Zo. [Applause] >> Okay, we'll have you stay right there. If you guys can

010all just slide this way just a little bit. Just this way a little bit to your left. Perfect. Principal Thornton will join you. Mrs. Patton's going to take a quick picture for the district. Yeah, there you go. Okay, stay right there. Any family, friends, or admirers who wish to come up and take a picture? Come on up close. board and the district is very proud of every one of you. Congratulations on your achievements so far. Good luck through the rest of the process. Thank you. Now, Principal Watl from Neville North High School. Good evening and also thank you for the opportunity to introduce these outstanding seniors. Um we're going to start with Sana Eberry. [Applause] Allison Ba is not with us tonight. Uh, Tabitha Black, [Applause] Sarah Bcher is not here tonight, Ethan Chen, [Applause]

011uh, Emily Fan, [Applause] Rishi Gupta, [Applause] Emily who [Applause] August Jentia Congratulations Zoya Photoala [Applause] Kriik Prasad [Applause] Sydney Queen. [Applause] Uh Steven Robbins was not able to join us tonight. Matthew Simpson, [Applause] Javis Stalin, [Applause] Kendall Swedki is not with us this evening. Um, Jeffrey Tong is. [Applause] And just as as a note, Jeffrey was mentioned earlier just a few moments ago as being second year in the advisory board. So, here he is again. Um, uh, two other students are not here tonight, Kyle Wang and Benjamin Wiggley. But we do have Addison Woo. [Applause] Next is Michelle Xiang. Congratulations, Aiden. She is not able to make it tonight. But our last Neapville North student is Alan Shu. [Applause] >> Okay. Okay. Well done. You look pretty good. Okay. Once again, Mrs. Pat will take

012a picture for the district and then we'll invite uh family, friends, and others to come forward and take pictures as well. Mr. Wal, have you go up there with your kids? Stay right there. Come on up. All right. Once again, congratulations to each of you. We're all proud of your accomplishments and wish you the best of luck as you move forward. [Applause] All right. Item 6 point item six, public comment. 6.01. Um, we have reached a point in our agenda for public comment. The board of education welcomes comments from the public at its meetings. Are my glasses back there? Sorry, people. I need my eyes. Ah, much better. Okay. The board of education welcomes comments from the public at its meetings. Citizens who wish to address the board of education should identify themselves by name.

013Comments by individual shall be limited to three minutes. If the individual is representing multiple individuals or a group, they shall be allowed to speak for five minutes. The board respectfully requests that speakers refrain from commenting about specific individuals. As I call an individual for public comment, I will also designate the next speaker so they have appropriate time to prepare. In accordance with board policy, issues raised in public comment will be undertaken under the advisement of by the board of education, but will not be discussed this evening. Issues raised during public participation may be added to future agendas or addressed by administrative staff. Because the questions raised in public comment address district operational matters, the superintendent is the board's designate to coordinate response to public comment and will apprise the board accordingly. At this point, I

014would like to welcome Ann Benson uh representing Organic Life and my next speaker will be Alicia Smith. Alicia Smith. >> Hi, good evening everyone and thank you for allowing me a few moments of your time today. My name is Anne Benson and I am the district manager of food service for organic life. Um the company provides our food service here at district 203 and we are very excited to be starting our third school year here providing healthy nutritious meals to all the students in our 22 school locations. The last two years has been about building relationships getting systems in place and listening to our customers. This year, one of our main goals is to have fun, and that is through engagement and having more promotions, events, and everything in all of our schools. Um, we

015have an incredible team of people that we we work with. We are proud and committed to making sure the kids are wellfed, happy, and engaged every day. We are consistently listening and adapting to our customers needs and have a great support system from our custodial team to the administrators and the teachers alike. You've all made us feel very welcome and we couldn't do it without you. So on behalf of the entire organic life team, thank you again for your trust, support, and partnership. And we look forward to another great school year ahead. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. Our next speaker will be Alicia Smith. Alicia will be followed by Aaron Mien Browning. >> Hello. Um, good evening school board and administrators. My name is Alicia Smith and I am a U math

016specialist in 203. I am concerned about the new elementary afterchool professional development calendar directive. On Monday, September 15th, elementary teachers were informed by the assistant superintendent of human resources that we would have to stay after school for our administrative directed meetings outside the student attendance day on Tuesday for 60 minutes and on Wednesdays for 45 minutes. I do not have any issue with fulfilling my contractual obligation for administrative directive meetings outside the school day. I do have an issue with District 203 not giving me the required notice that I need to fulfill my professional obligations. Communicating this information with me five weeks after the school year has started is inadequate. At this point in the school year, I have outside commitments based on the information I have previously received from the district. Never in the

017eight years that I have been at my school have we had consistent reoccurring meetings on Tuesday afternoons. At the beginning of this school year, our school administrator chose a meeting day that was the same day that we have always used as a building. Therefore, I made commitments according to that information. These commitments cannot be changed at this time. If the district administration wanted to change the current practice, they should have made this decision before the current school year or at the very least at the beginning of this school year. I have heard that the reasoning that the district administration has given is that they wanted to wait until after the contract negotiations to give this directive. Why? The old contract was still in place until the new one is ratified by teachers and approved by

018the school school board. In addition, the language on workday was not even changed in the current contract. Negotiations did not impact the ability for administration to issue this directive in a timely manner. The beginning of the school year is already stressful enough. Getting into new schedules both at home and at school. This year, many district 203 elementary buildings are also adjusting to new principles. We are trying to forge positive relationships. Why is district 203 throwing yet another unplanned directive with not enough communication to hurt staff morale even more? We have lives and we have loved ones that we are responsible for. We already arrange our lives around our work, but we need adequate notice to make those arrangements. Five weeks after the school year has started is not adequate notice. This is not a valid

019directive. Thank you. [Applause] Our next speaker is Aaron Mien Browning. Aaron will be followed by Janelle Kryling. >> Good evening. My name is Aaron Mian Browning. I'm a fifth grade teacher at Elwood Elementary. I'm here to speak to you tonight about the change in the elementary meeting schedule and the personal and professional impact it has had on staff members. On Monday, September 15th at 3:32, the elementary staff received an email that district was implementing a change in afterchool meeting schedules. Beginning the week of October October 13th, each elementary building will have afterchool meetings every Tuesday and Wednesday. Prior to this, each elementary building had meetings determined by the building administration. For many teachers, this means an increase and/or shift in which days they now have to attend afterchool meetings. For many working parents, this has

020left them with 28 days to adjust child care for their own children. 28 days. For anyone who is not famili familiar, reliable, affordable, and safe child care is not easy to find. Most parents have to arrange child care for uh the school year months in advance. Personally, I had to secure child care for my children in July for the school year. 28 days notice for a change in workday expectations has left teachers scrambling to find child care for their own children. Additionally, working parents in the district have signed their own children up for sports camps and other activities, and they've also volunteered as coaches and scout leaders and decided to support their children in other ways. Once again, they're now working to make other arrangements in those situations. Elementary staff are not afraid of putting

021in the work. They are not afraid of meeting the expectations of the contract. However, the change of the schedule and the impact it has had on our personal lives is stressful and frustrating. Additionally, the mid-year change in schedule has had an impact on the extracurricular activities that we have planned for the students in district 203. The communication from district stated the adjustments will be made for employees whose district extracurricular uh or coaching duties overlap with this meeting schedule. Any school-based elementary clubs and activities will need to be adjusted so they don't fall after school on Tuesdays or th or Wednesdays. To clarify, elementary staff who have commitments at the high school or junior high levels are excluded from these meetings. However, any elementary commitments, any elementary clubs have to be ar rearranged. So, what that

022means at my school is these clubs are now cancelled. Students and staff who are excited to participate in these clubs are now disappointed as these increased meetings have resulted in the clubs being cancelled. >> Time Our next speaker is Janelle Krellling. Janelle will be followed by Jennifer Estrada. >> My name is Janelle Kryling. I've taught for the past 33 years here at Elwood School in District 203. I am not here tonight to complain. Instead, I'm here to inform as I feel you deserve to be updated regarding certain situations in our district. I am currently teaching four and five PI with the newly purchased HMH curriculum. As much as I appreciate the combination of reading and writing for project idea, the amount of material to be taught in that time is overwhelmingly large. I am not

023a new teacher, nor am I incapable of planning curriculum. However, since the start of the school year, I am spending an average of an additional 12.5 hours each week to plan. This is not normal. My husband's most recent statement to me was, "Is every weekend this year going to be like this?" Which leads me to my point. The recent notification of an increase of 60 minutes in the elementary expected weekly meeting dates starting next month. I am already receiving professional development every Wednesday. What critical information do I really need to gather for 60 more minutes every single week? Teachers are pushed for continued education constantly and we do it. We take classes to extend our learning, jump through hoops of career 203, join professional book studies to challenge ourselves, teach classes for district 203 teachers.

024When does enough become enough? When teachers burn out completely and leave the field for good. My next point to address is regarding burnout. Last week, I made the extremely difficult decision to stop teaching my club, Flare students. This club was created by Jennifer Pierce and I in 2007, and it received accolades from the school board, our then superintendent, and many surrounding districts to whom we provided guidance in building their own clubs to combat relational aggression in their schools. I'd hoped to finish the club when I retire in two years, but based upon the struggles of work life balance, my husband has continued to tell me something has to give. And he's right. This is the second extracurricular club to close its doors this fall as Elmwood's Dungeons and Dragons Club cannot take place on Tuesdays

025because of these newlymandated meetings. I know there are many disappointed Elmwood parents and students regarding these decisions. And finally, the saddest point that I have to bring you this evening is that I'm here for the second time in a month to address you because many of the teachers in this district, tenur and non-tenured, are afraid to speak to you honestly. They fear repercussions within their building or the district because they voice their true opinions. Please seek out those of us who are willing to tell you honestly what is happening here. I think listening to these voices will help you to make the best decisions for the students, parents, and teachers in this district. Adding meetings to our week does not benefit anyone. Thank you. [Applause] Our next speaker will be Jennifer Estrada. Jennifer will be

026followed by Jason Copeland. Good evening. >> Hello. My name is Jennifer Estrada. I am the mother of four fearfully and wonderfully made children. Two of which are BB students and the other two are little. They'll get there eventually. I'm here tonight to respectfully remind the board of its legal obligations under Title 9 as it currently stands under federal law. As of January 2025, President Trump reinstated the 2020 Title 9 rule, which defines sex strictly as biologically male or female. This means that Title 9 protections no longer extend to perceived gender identity or gender expression by law. Schools are required to uphold this definition in all policies, investigations, and disciplinary procedures. Furthermore, on July 2nd, 2024, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky ruled in State of Tennessee versus US Department of Education

027that the Biden administration's 2024 Title 9 regulations, those which attempted to expand protections based on gender identity, were unconstitutional and therefore unlawful to enforce in schools. That ruling is binding and has national implications. The court stated plainly that the 2024 Department of Education exceeded its authority and violated the administrative procedure act. The BB student handbook that I have tonight promises here on page 36 that Title 9 protections will be upheld for girls as defined by both state and federal law. That means biological girls are entitled to sex-based protections in sports, privacy, safety, and educational access. Upholding this promise is not optional. It is a matter of legal compliance and moral clarity. I urge the board to ensure that all policies, training materials, and disciplinary procedures reflect the current legal definition of sex under Title 9.

028This is not about excluding anyone. It's about finding solutions that work for every single student. It's about honoring the law, protecting girls, maintaining trust with families. Second Timothy 1:7 says, "For the spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline." Thank you. [Applause] >> Our next speaker will be Jason Copeland. >> Good evening. Good evening, Jason Copeland, uh, parent of district 203 students. Good Bears game yesterday, right? Thanks for not ging me down. All right. Uh, so the ideologues are jumping ship on the whole notion that males should be allowed to participate in female sports. We had Gavin Newsome earlier this year speaking with Charlie Kirk uh and he said it's a it really is a matter of fairness and it seems unfair and they need to do

029something about it. Just last week during a Senate hearing uh with the FBI director, uh Senator Herono from Hawaii was really pressing the FBI director on whether or not the female FBI agents really needed to meet the expectation of doing one pullup because there are physiological differences between males and females. Who knew? It does make her vote against the protection of women and girls in sports act really questionable but you know when you have cross-sectional thought processes that tends to happen and now even the former presidential candidate Kamala Harris in her new book discusses this notion that males and females competing in the same divisions it creates a problem of fairness right so everybody understands now they say it's because it's an issue of fairness, but really it's electoral politics, right? When 70% of the

030moderates who voted in the exit polls said that they resonate a lot more with President Trump's vision that males should play against males and females should compete against females. Well, you have a really big math problem. But you already know it's unfair, right? because we already have seen this in action in the Neighbor Prairie Conference Championship track meet in May. You already saw that the fastest female in seventh grade in the 400 meters would have had the 17th fastest time that day. Of course, she only finished second place because she had to compete against a male because this district allows it. But the followers of ideologues are the ones who lose the most in the end. And that's you because you are not leaders. You are followers of an ideology that has directed you here.

031But can you imagine what's next? Perhaps a realization of the fairness involved in making females undress and have to change in front of males who think that they're girls. But ideologues don't really care about fairness. They know they're going to lose uh when when they go to the polls on these issues. And you can bet what's going to be front and center of the campaign for three of you as you try to get reelected in March of 2027 is going to be this issue. Thank you. All right. Um this will I don't have any more slips of paper. So this will conclude our public comment period. Um I want to thank each of our participants. Uh you know I want to also acknowledge public comments submitted by email. I want to assure each uh public

032commenter that uh your concerns have been heard by the board of education. We thank you for taking the time to keep us informed and we consider you to be a vital part of the process. As a reminder, because the questions raised in public comment address district operational matters, the board has designated our superintendent as a spokesperson for the district as our designate to respond to public comment and he will apprise the board accordingly. This will conclude our public comment period. Okay. All right. We have reached the business portion of our meeting. As a reminder, the board understands and has affirmed through our board agreements that it's each individual member's responsibility to prepare for each meeting. Additionally, we understand that it is our individual responsibility to effectively communicate our concerns either to the superintendent or board

033president prior to any meeting in a timely manner. Board members have also agreed that avoiding no surprises is paramount in displaying respect for all district administration and the community. In the spirit of no surprises and in accordance with IASB best practice, the board has tasked itself to send questions in advance of each meeting to the superintendent. This practice allows the superintendent to provide the best possible answer for the community. Additionally, it allows maximum efficiency during the community's meeting. Uh those same questions, submitted questions rather, may also be asked in open session along with new ones that may arise during discussions. Um if you ask a question, please state if you sent that question ahead of time. Uh let's see. Mr. Bridges, did you receive questions from the board of education members in advance of tonight's

034meeting? >> Yes, I did. All seven board members submitted questions. >> Thank you very much. Okay. Item 7.01, uh, monthly reports. We have a number of monthly reports there. Melissa, you have a question? >> Yeah, my first question was, I've noticed at the last few board meetings, I was hoping that Mike Francis would be here. I'm noticing that our board members, our cabinet are not showing up. My concern with that is our ability to ask questions of the cabinet members. So, I guess my first question is, are we going to start having a full cabinet here so we can ask questions? >> Only when the cabinet members have a specific presentation to make to the board, will they be here? >> Um, just to to note that that is not how we've practiced. that has

035not been the practice of 203 up until this point. So, this goes with my concerns about being able to access timely information so we can make decisions if we're voting on issues. I guess the cabinet members part of their responsibility is to be here to answer those questions so that we know um there's been a ongoing problem with you know I know as a board member not being able to have the information that is the job of the superintendent is to make sure that we have the information we need to make those decisions. So what are we going are are you not Mr. Bridges going to have the board here as we've done >> the board is here >> I'm sorry the cabinet members >> um cabinet members will come when there's a question regarding

036their work. Um no questions were submitted to me by any board members in regard to any of the monthly reports. Had there been uh Mr. Francis or others who had questions would have attended. I'm happy to take your questions with me. I did get two questions from a board member u in regard to bills and claims which I'll go ahead and answer. Cornell Interventions is a is uh used for uh behavioral threat assessment management training and Mansfield oil uh is the diesel bus fuel provider and they deliver multiple times in a month. That's why there's multiple um charges. >> I would like to know >> you just spoke once. So are there other >> anyone else other comments? Mark. >> Yeah. I'm sorry, Dan. I I think I did send in a question on um

037on the Treasury report. So, I think I had two comments. One is I appreciate the fact that we've broken up broken it up between operating and nonoperating funds. I think that'll help us all understand as we go forward what the balances are that we use to do our calculations. But the other thing was that there was a negative expenditure in uh capital projects and I was just wondering about that. I'll have to get that for you. I don't have that information. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Other questions, >> Melissa? Go ahead. >> I'd like to comment that one of the claims that I keep getting is that um I'm not prepared, but at the same time um we the board started initiating a process so people know. Um they were upset that I stopped sending

038my questions ahead of time because we have a policy of no surprises. Um I didn't I stopped doing so because my questions were going unanswered. Mr. Kush, I don't know if you know this, but since I have in good faith started submitting my questions because that policy is supposed to work both ways for the relationship which again is part of what Mr. Bridges is evaluated on a huge component one of his goals is the relationship with board members. So um I want you to know that I have not had any of my questions answered since I have submitted my questions. I really I cannot. >> So, first of all, the statement that you just made is completely false. Okay. The questions that you asked today, I have copy and I know you got a copy

039as well of answers to those questions. >> Would you like someone to show them to you, >> Mr. Kush? >> Would you like someone to show them to you, >> Mr. Kush? I >> would you like someone to show them to you? They are there. Would you like someone to show them to you? >> All right. So, the question >> Would you like someone to show them to you? You just said that that your questions aren't there. Would you like someone to show them? >> I'm going to have cabinet members here so we can ask question. >> So because you don't like the answer I just gave to your last question. You're moving toward >> I'm not going to engage in your games. >> I just said that your question you just made an accusation

040that the that your question was not answered. >> When you relax, let me know. >> Sure. You made a question. I'm I'm perfectly relaxed. When you made a when you made a statement that your question was not answered, I asked you if you'd like to see the answers to the questions that you asked. You said no and moved to something else >> because that is not an authentic answer. But I'm to asking so you won't let me actually show them to you to demonstrate that it's an authentic answer. You're just going to assume there's nothing condescending about you asking a question. You you can have a reasonable conversation. Please let me know. >> You ask I have very reasonable I don't think it's unreasonable. You made an accusation. Your accusation I was telling you that

041I would show you the proof that your accusation was not accurate and you said that I'm being unreasonable. >> It's not accurate. So I >> is accurate. Would anyone else like to see the uh the document? Has everyone else seen the document? >> I think it goes back several weeks. So we don't even know what you're pertaining to. And Mr. Kush, do you think this is a good use? >> We are moving on >> of our time. >> We are moving on. >> This is not good governance. >> We are moving on. >> Okay. I would like >> first of all, it is not the the item that you're talking about in terms of this that's not actually an agenda item. >> First be here to answer our question. >> The superintendent answered your question.

042You asked the question, the superintendent answered. would like my fellow board members, do you think the fellow cabinet members should be here to answer our questions in case something comes up? >> I will I will gladly ask the remaining board members that question. So that is fine. Remaining board members, would you like to comment on that question, please? >> I can understand why um Mr. Bridges made the decision to only bring in um relevant cabinet members uh to protect his team. Um, and I support his decision on what best way to manage his team. >> Would other board members like to comment? >> Christine, >> I do believe that that is under Mr. Bridg's purview in terms of which cabinet members he feels should be here. Um, often times there are agenda items that don't

043pertain to the majority of them and I feel that we need to be respectful of their time also in these situations. And while they might not be here specifically on any given meeting night, they do answer any questions that we have, you know, board meeting to board meeting, um, they answer our questions that we send ahead of time. So I this is I don't believe um stifling the board in any way or withholding information in any way. Um I feel fully prepared to be um I feel fully prepared prior to the meeting. Um and any questions I've ever had will be answered in a timely fashion. So I this is I believe an operational matter for our superintendent. Joe. >> Yeah. Um, so I I agree with my colleagues who have spoken here. Um, I

044I really uh enjoy having the cabinet uh at these meetings. They they have a wealth of knowledge uh about uh you know the the items that come up uh and are really uh able to to give us very professional uh responses um and uh kind of let us know some of the thought processes behind. Uh however um I I uh I do want to respect their time and uh I I think it is appropriate to um only have them uh you know come in when things uh pertain to them uh on the agenda uh instead of uh kind of holding them here until 10 11 o'clock every other Monday night. >> Holly. >> Yeah. And I wanted to add to that. Um, I'm a person taking personal responsibility who's been slipping on sending asking extra

045questions that I thought of in the moment kind of as a surprise where the stats aren't available. So, I appreciate this being a moment for me to pause and reflect and help my self-discipline of making sure I clearly ask those questions so that we have the most productive time and staff can be prepared. Um, so thinking about it that way, respecting their time and our time that these questions are asked and can be answered appropriately as an operations matter, I think it's one part of self-governance governance for me as a member of a board. So, I appreciate that approach and kind of as someone who has been straying from um sticking to questions I added in advance. I think it's going to be a good policy for me personally, I think perhaps our self-governance. Mark.

046>> Yeah, I I I can hear the different points of view, but I think at the end of the day, it's uh our superintendent's responsibility for making sure the questions get answered. Um and I think, you know, as Holly just said, uh respecting other people's time is very important. Uh they work hard all day as as everybody does. Uh but I think at the end of the day, the superintendent is responsible for making sure our questions get answered either in advance uh through the email questions we send in uh during the course of tonight's meeting or as a follow-up >> Melissa. I think there a fundamental problem that's been pointed out. This is not just my issue, but I think we hear it from the community members. We hear it from our staff. I think

047there's a little bit of a misconception of the priorities here that as school board members on the chain of command, we're the highest. The decisions we're making are paramount. and our very own agreements specify our ability to ask questions and get timely information. I think the fact that we place we don't want the school the the administrators who are salaried we're not we come here to be able to ask questions and have the information to make good votes. So the hurt I think that our administrators are professional that they hurts their feelings. Every other school district and ours always did it up to this point has the cabinet there to answer questions. So, I would say the fact that we always default to the superintendent's feelings and the administration feelings over the taxpayers who we

048represent and who are supposed to be on the top of the chain of command. I feel like this is just another example of Mr. Bridges and the administration's sensitive feelings outweighing the ability of board members to make informed decisions. and that's our fiduciary duty. >> Okay. So, um I will add my own personal thoughts on this. Um I am where everyone else is. At the end of the day, we employ one individual and he is sitting to my right. Um and he is responsible for answering our questions and making sure they get answered as he has stated very clearly. um if there are questions and things that have come in and there are individuals that are required to answer those questions, they will be here to be able to do so or he will be

049able to follow them to get the appropriate information. So the questions will get answered. It's not a question about whether or not the information will happen. It's not a question about whether or not the information does happen. Um, and as uh our fellow colleagues said, our fellow board members said, um, very comfortable with the process, weighing out everything between being able to get the accurate information that we need to make the decisions that we need to make, but at the same time, um, recognize and be respectful of of time and um, yes. So, that's that. Okay. Um, and we don't really vote on monthly report. So, we're moving to item eight, action by consent. >> Oh, actually, I had >> You did have a question. >> Yeah, I did have another question and I I

050did check and and I probably numbered it wrong and that may have led to some confusion. >> Um, in the budget report, I just a technical accounting question. >> Item 7.04. >> Yes, that's right. Yep. >> Um, it it just mentions that we acrewed revenue for the month of July. And I was just curious because we do recognize half of the year's worth of revenue in the month of July. How much of that is actually cash that has come in >> versus just an acrruel we're doing? >> Yeah, I'll confirm that with Mr. Francis. >> Okay, great. Thank you. >> Do you have a question about what the report? >> Yeah, I just want to make sure. You mean that question can't be answered when it's on the agenda and we took our time to

051be at this meeting? Mr. Bridges cannot answer it. So, we are without the information when we took the time to be here. >> Is that a question? >> Yeah. I would like us as a board to start having and honoring the feedback of our community members about listening to their views on how we do our job for them as taxpayers versus our prioritizing the administration's views. >> So there isn't a question. Okay. Thank you. Um item eight, action by consent. >> All right, great. Um, so I have bills and claims. >> Can we I don't know if you want to do it now. Can we separate each item, please? >> Can Amanda finish your statement and then you can let her know what items she needs to pull off of her. >> Do you want

052me to pull off four >> proposal? >> Yes, please. >> Okay. Even 8.02. >> Okie dokie. All right. Um, so I got a chance to hang out with Mark here who is, you know, financial guy. So it was really fun to be able to see his perspective. And, um, also this is the first time I had bills and claims in person, which was Mark's suggestion. And it was great because I got to meet Michelle who is incredible. Um, and we were able to ask every single question and literally I got to see the stack of papers for every single um, transaction. There's literally probably hundreds of transactions. And she has a sheet of stack of paper identifying every single account code, every single receipt, every single reason why this is business, understanding if it comes

053from a club or from the um from the uh operations uh components, explained how that's tracked and monitored. It was uh really great, really indepth, and I really really appreciate her. She's very um such an asset and very knowledgeable considering the fact she's just, you know, running numbers. She's not the ones actually doing it, but she can get the information and um so that was really really helpful. Um thank you for to her. She's phenomenal. And also thank you to Mark for uh being there to help um ask some uh different questions. Um with that, do I make a motion to approve uh 8.01? 1. Um, and I suggest a resolution to approve warrant number 107 through 1071275 and warrant number 90000130 totaling 30,73,749.93 [Music] for the period of August 19th, 2025 to de September

05422nd, 2025. And that's it. That's all I'm asking for because everything has been pulled individually. >> Second. >> Motion and a second have been heard. Please call the RO. Mrs. Patton >> Blastic. >> Hi. >> Kelly Black. >> Nay. >> Winsky. >> I. >> Gerky. >> I. >> McMillan. >> Hi. >> Cosminsky. >> Hi. >> Kush. >> I. >> The motion passes. And Charles, if I could just add, if you don't mind. >> Oh, no, that's all right, Amanda. No worries. Um, yeah, Michelle did an absolutely great job. Uh, she was well prepared for all our questions and I think as we talked with her over the course of the time we were with her, you know, we went down different different avenues um and talked about like what's the process uh for an expense

055coming in and getting approved. How does a capital project get approved? and and with Amanda's insight as well as being an experienced board member talking about what happens on the board side. So, we're able to kind of connect all the dots on how does a capital project get approved in initial in the initial capital budget? Um how does it then get approved to do the contract? Um how are the expenses approved and by whom and how do we make sure they get monitored? So, um she was very very able to answer all the questions that we were coming up with. So, I really appreciate all the work she put in uh to be prepared for our discussion and just the knowledge she has about how things operate. >> Thank you, Charles. >> No problem. >>

056All right. So, item 8.02. Are we asking for questions or do I make a motion? >> You can make a motion. >> Okay. I'll make a motion to approve item 8.02, adoption of the personnel report. >> Yep. Question. Oh, sorry. Motion a second. >> Second. Motion and second have been heard. Discussion. >> Um I just wanted to say I was going to abstain from this to avoid any appearance of impropriety. >> Okay. >> So motion and second have been heard. Any other questions? Okay. Please call the role. Mrs. Benton >> Kush. I. >> Kelly Black. Abstain. >> Blastic. >> I >> Winsky. >> Yeah, I'm abstaining as my daughter is on the list. >> Cuz >> I >> McMillan >> I >> Girky >> I. >> The motion passes. >> Item. >> Okay. Item 8.03.

057I know that we have to pull Should we pull each individual minute? Like so we start with uh >> That's what I would do. >> Okay. 8.03. Um meeting minutes for 818 2025. Second >> motion and a second have been heard. Any questions? >> I am just These are the closed minutes, correct? >> No, >> these are the open ones. >> These are open minutes. >> I just want to say that I have voiced in the past my concerns about the minutes being accurate reflection of what's gone on and not being biased. So, I'm just sharing why I'm going to vote nay. >> Okay. Any other discussion? >> Okay. Uh, motion and a second have been heard. Please call a role. Mrs. Patton. >> Kush. >> I. >> Kelly Black. >> Nay. >> Blastic. >>

058I. >> Winsky. >> I. >> Cuzinsky. >> I. >> McMillan. >> I. >> Gerky. >> I. >> The motion passes. All right. Now, motion to approve the open meeting minutes uh from 9325. >> Second. >> Motion and second have been heard. Any questions? >> Okay. Please call the role. Miss Ben. >> Blastic. >> I. >> Kazinski. >> I. >> Gerky. >> I. >> Kelly Black. >> Nay. >> Kush. >> I. >> McMillan. >> I. >> Winsky. >> I. Motion passes. >> Okay. Um next uh is board meeting minutes uh open meeting minutes from 9825. >> Yes. Second. Motion and a second have been heard. Any questions? >> Yes. I believe we have a typo in the meeting opening >> because it mentions Christine and Amanda and they were absent. >> Is it Does it say

059they were absent? It said Amanda made a motion. >> Okay, >> I will correct you. >> Well, I wonder how I did that. >> You are amazing. >> I mean, I >> Okay, so with corrections >> with corrections. So, um, approve item U meeting minutes from 9825 with corrections. I make a motion. >> Second. >> Motion and second have been heard. Any questions? Please call the RO. Mrs. Ben, >> Winsky, >> I. McMillan >> abstain. >> Blastic >> I. >> Kazminsky >> I. >> Gerky >> abstain. >> Kush >> I. >> Kelly Black >> nay. >> Motion passes. Uh, okay. >> Okay. Motion. Let's move on to the close minutes, shall we? Uh, let's start with close meeting minutes and item 8.04 for 818 20225. Please >> second. >> Motion and a second have been

060heard. Any questions? Melissa. >> Um I just want to reiterate again my concerns that the the meetings are not the meeting minutes are not taken in a fashion. They are bare minimum which I do not believe reach the criteria of what we have to put in the minutes. Um they also and my concern with that is that there's not a record. If the minutes do not go over very the point of the minutes is for us to be able to have a record of what happened in the rationale somewhat of the thought process and what was discussed so that we can refer back to them. New board members can look at them. I also continue to be concerned that the documents we receive, we do not have the documents given to us. One, not all.

061Um, sometimes we do, sometimes we don't, but we don't always have documents given to us before we go to the closed door for our consideration. and those minutes that we also get documents that are being utilized uh through other means and they're never recorded with the agenda or in board docs. Again, these errors in recording or not providing them with the minutes, these leave big gaps and it makes it very hard for present and future board members to keep track of what's going on since there's so much work at each agenda. So, I renew my request that we actually receive prior to the meetings the documents we will have to be considering and that they are put in board docs for us to read before the meetings and that they're rec recorded in board docs

062for reference and accuracy, transparency and accountability in the future. Okay. Any other questions or discussion? >> Motion and a second I believe have been heard. We've had discussion. Please call a role. Mrs. Patton. >> Kush. >> I. >> McMillan. >> I. >> Kelly Black. >> Nay. >> Blastic. >> I. >> Kazminsky. >> I. >> Gerky. >> I. >> Winsky. >> I. >> The motion passes. >> Motion to approve item 8.04, 4 close session minutes for 9325. >> Second. >> Motion and second have been heard. Any questions? >> Okay. Uh, please call the RO. Mrs. P. >> Kazinski. >> I. >> Kush. >> Hi. >> Winsky. >> I. >> McMillan. >> I. >> Blastic. >> I. >> Kelly Black. >> Nay. Gerky. >> I. >> Motion passes. And last but not least, motion to approve the

0639825 close session minutes, please. >> Second. >> Motion and a second have been heard. Any questions or discussion? Seeing none, um, please call the role. Mrs. Patton. >> Winski. >> I. >> Gerky. Abstain. >> Blastic. >> I. >> McMillan. >> Abstain. >> Kush. I >> Kazinski >> I. >> Kelly Black. >> Nay. >> The motion passes. Okay. Item nine, communications. Uh, written communications >> there for you. >> Okay. Okay. Oh, Melissa, question. >> Uh, yes. I had a question. I think everyone received an email. There was a FOYA request sent on September 3rd, and I know that it's a fiveday. It appears as if we're not in compliance with a foyer request. It was received I think we all received these emails. I thought they were addressed to all of us. Uh there was a

064foyer request made on September 3rd and then there's emails going back and forth, but as of right now it does not appear as if that foyer request has been fulfilled and I'm very concerned that this takes us out of compliance. Um can I have a Mr. Mr. Bridges, can you explain why this individual FOYA's request not only wasn't answered, but it's not even listed? >> We'll have to you'd have to forward that to me. Um, we all patent is our FOYA compliance officer. She fulfills our FOYAS, and there are uh allowances for extensions. Um, and so if it's not been filled, then it will be in the process to be filled or it's in the process of gathering information. >> My concern is it's not in compliance. >> Well, that's a big deal, Mr. Bridges.

065just shrug this off. >> So Melissa Melissa um he's not shrugging you off. He responded to No, he responded to your question and he said that there are extensions allowed. He'll look into it and then we'll be able to get a response back. So it's not being shrugged off, it's being addressed, just not right this instant because he needs to go investigate and figure out an answer to your question. >> I am concerned about the accountability. >> Your your your your concern is noted and it is being addressed. I don't know what more he can say other than I'll address it at this time without having the information in front of him. So, he will address it. Your concern will be answered. Okay. Uh 9.02 Board of Education reports. Uh do any board members have

066any uh brief updates on um something they've done in their official capacity as board members? I believe we have one from our friends Christine and Amanda. Actually, I have three, but let's rotate so I don't have to talk straight through for a long time. >> Um, okay. So, the first one, um, Amanda and I, um, we'll we'll tackle together. Um, but we attended the Cosba Federal Advocacy Conference September 7th through 9th. Uh, this was a fantastic experience. Um, I know our polic or our practice is to bring back um materials to share with our fellow board members, but this conference isn't quite that style. But I did bring back stickers. I was able to raid one of the tables at registration and got stickers. And from Mrs. Patton, I got sticky notes that she can

067use to keep us all herded in the right direction. However, um this was a very unique conference. It's not like um triple I for example. Um and we were able to advocate over three whirlwind days for the needs of our students and a considerable amount of time went work of work went into preparing for this. Um IASB in this case for us was phenomenal. They had some uh webinars that we listen to ahead of time which are extremely helpful in just setting the stage for what we need to be doing when we're in DC. Um also uh Dan and administration helped us um with some information, some data uh regarding our priorities when we were literally on the hill advocating for our students. And I laugh because there was a part of me that thought

068I am I I am not a part of me. I was sitting on Capitol in the Capitol building talking to Senator Durban. Um and it was a privilege to represent 203 with Amanda. Um but also to be there for all the students of Illinois. Um, but the the data and the the conversation that uh Dan had with us prior to the meeting really helped us in uh helped inform us of uh what we could bring to Senators Duckworth and Durban and um Representative Bill Foster. Um so that was the preparation point. Um but then we had a full day of learning on Monday. A full day of learning um as all of the Cosba attendees. Um we had the joy of the keynote speaker being Bob Woodward. Again, there's part of me laughing because it's

069like I actually experienced this and I'm so grateful for it. Um after the group learning of all the COSBA attendees, the states had breakout sessions and once again IASB was phenomenal. Um they helped us focus our talking points. They helped us uh craft our message. You can jump in anytime in a minute. You can tell I was very excited about this. They helped us craft our message so that when we were um having conversations with our um representatives and senators um we could tell our story effectively and passionately. Um so I it was I'm going to say it again. It was a such a privilege to be able to go to this and to represent just not our Neighborville 203 kids, but I really felt that we were there for all of Illinois. um our

070fellow Illinois um board members um from around the state. It was a joy working with them, getting to know them um both like just as people and what we do when we're not sitting at a board table and what issues we have when we're sitting at the board table. Um and I would be remiss not to thank Amanda who was a wonderful mentor. um she was ready to take me by the hand and show me everything, but then she also allowed me to be a full partner in all of the process. So, um I it was just a great experience. Um I will say that I received a little bit of feedback after the conference from um the um senior director of government governmental relations for IASB who was at a dinner the following night

071after our day of advocacy and she relayed to us that our conversation with the legislators stuck out for them because of the data that we shared. we had a very data focused message and that really jumped out for them. So, um it's important and it works. Um if I can just jump in to talk a little bit about what we primarily focused on when talking to the different legislators. One of the primary focuses was on funding for the 2526 funding. Um, the Senate appropriations was $50 million higher than what it currently is and the House appropriations was a $4.7 billion cut to education. Um, like basically getting eliminating all of Title 2, all of English language acquisition, all of state assessment funding, all of that is being cut out of the House appropriations. So, we

072really hope that the Senate won. We were advocating, please um, advocate with your Senate. um uh senators around those um things, but like really the message was uh well and then we also advocated for IDA um disability funding to be fully funded. Um it never has been, but we hope that it would be. It's supposed to be a 40% funding. They uh give most districts across the nation 10% or less appropriations. And then finally, we talked about uh the importance of mental health and continuing to fund that not only for our students but also for our teachers and also providing professional development um and continuing to provide that support. All that funding is being slashed um and then also um of course Medicaid re funding is being slashed for u reimbursements for IEPs and 504s

073within the school district. So, we're it's a really critical time to be there and it felt like an honor to be able to provide stories. Um, and that's one of the biggest things I think we learned is that, you know, you can give data, but if you don't have a story behind it, uh, then it it's not going to resonate as much because every single legislator we talked to is a big supporter of education. But what we needed to give them was a champion story for them to continue to talk to their other colleagues to get them um, on their side. So, I felt like we were very successful with that. >> And I'll pass out the few little things I stole off the registration table right now. >> Okay. Other uh board of education

074members have reports to provide. Thank you so much, Christine and Amanda. Oh, okay. Melissa, go right ahead. >> Actually, um I have a cold if you haven't noticed. So I I do have some reports. However, um I had gathered information from some of the students that attended the events with me. So I will be making those reports. I know they're looking forward to hearing what I have to say um at our next meeting. >> Okay, Amanda, >> I would like to share also that um I mean policy I just really it gets me excited. So, I went to the school law conference. Okay. That was hosted by was it ISBY or ISB? I'm not sure. One of them. >> Well, the law firm hosted this. Sorry. Um it was uh um the law firm hosted

075it, but I know that um I IB was there as well. But what they did is they gave a breakdown of what's happening um in of the law for like new laws that have been passed as well as court cases that have come down focusing on five areas. One is around labor and employment. Um second one was special education section 504 and title 9 updates. Third one was student issues. Fourth was DEI and gender issues. And the fifth was operations, artificial intelligence, and social media and the first amendment. Um, it was uh I have a breakdown. They only gave me paper copies. Um, if anyone would like to have a copy, I'm happy to scan it and send it to Well, okay. Then I'll scan it, send it to everybody so you have you can

076um review kind of the snippets of what the PowerPoint said about uh what they talked about. But definitely noticing that from COSBA and from this conversation, AI is a big focus of this administration. And so it is definitely something that um you know, despite the cuts to everything else, there's going to be money put into that. And so that's just something that I know our district's um a little head on, but I'm sure there'll be more guidance as we go on. Thanks. >> Okay. Anyone else? 15. >> I know it's been a busy two weeks. Um, but that's okay. It's been fun, too. Uh, one, I guess we could tag team with workforce um, council, but >> I have a list of things, so you can go right ahead. >> All right. Well, I'll do

077NEF first. Um, so NEF is up and running and, uh, that's no surprise because I think they're always up and running. Um, we had our first uh, meeting of the year. Um, and this is the most wide awake group of people I know at 7 a.m. Um, but right I they are ready to go always. Um, but they already have their plans rolling for their annual breakfast benefit. It's going to take place April 16th at the Matrix Club, which is where they had it this previous year. And this year's theme will be where potential takes flight. um they have already been visiting schools and handing out their school or um their discretionary checks per building and they um they're working on a few other things that I think they're going to unveil shortly. So, I'm

078not going to steal their thunder, but they are there's been a considerable amount of discussion on how NEF is going to reimagine the ways it can support our students and staff and I'm really excited to see how this year is going to unfold. So, um, hopefully I have more updates in the next couple of months, but, um, like I said, I don't want to steal too much of their thunder, but they've been really hard at work making sure how they support our students and staff, um, is relevant and meaningful and very appreciative for that. And then for workforce council, that one also had their first meeting and Charles and I are um, liaison for that committee together. Jackie Claremont facilitated a great conversation. Um, and I just want to thank all of the community members

079that are attending those uh, meetings. Making time to be there to help us serve our students better is um, there's no way to give enough thanks for that. You could tell at the first meeting their enthusiasm was is very evident and um, the conversation and questions were very very robust. So again, I think that's um having that community member aspect work right alongside of our kids is um not something I think every district can do and I'm grateful that we have such a um engaged community. >> I concur. It's it's always it's a it's a great uh meeting, great session, great to get the ideas from the um community u members who are members of the business community and really helping us to shape the program either through hiring an intern or being um willing

080to be a mentor or be willing to come in and have conversations with the students uh about um the things that they're working on. Um and then Brett and Peter who run it from North and Central um who run the program um or who are in the schools specifically on the program uh do a phenomenal job of um recruiting and trying to get more and more students to participate in the program. The thing that stood out the most for me in this meeting um was the um the point that was made around even for students who will try something and they find out realizing that it's not really for them. The skills that they build, the confidence that they build, the ability to articulate an idea, the ability to sell an idea, the ability to,

081you know, um drive enthusiasm in others around an idea um and the confidence to recognize, you know what, that area is not for me. that area is for me um is really important um because you know as students are making decisions about where they're going to go and different things in their life having that exposure and being comfortable saying that it's okay to think that you want to do something and then realize that you don't as long as you do that early enough where you can then pivot and do something else. So, uh, we talk about one of the one of the tenants of our mission is building adaptability and I think this workforce innovation council and the work that they do really helps to lean into that work for our community. Okay. Other you

082guys went to the uh, Sure. Okay. Holly, >> so Mark and I and Charles, we saw you there as well, went to the new member Super Saturday event by the IASB. So, we got to hear about your wonderful trip to Cosba after the fact um and do some great in-depth training, meet other new board members from across the region, and it was really wonderful brunch. If Mark has anything to add, >> no, I would I just agree with Holly. It was it was a great opportunity to meet new board members from a lot of other school districts and just understand, you know, some of the challenges and opportunities that they see. Um, and just hearing from experienced board members too about what you do in your first year and what are the watch outs and

083um, I just found it uh, very um, invigorating and also very educational. >> Okay. Any other board of education reports? Okay, seeing none. Um, president's report. Um, I have a couple things that I'll talk about. Um, so mentioned workforce innovation council already. I also had the opportunity to attend uh the LEND conference. For those of you who aren't familiar, LEND stands for Legislative Education Network of DuPage. Did I get that right? Okay. Um it's basically our advocacy group. Um and we had a number of legislators that were there and the big topic that got talked about was funding as you can all imagine. Um funding is a big thing specifically around um they are m there are mandates and there are unfunded mandates. And so the question is uh to our legislators how to make

084sure that they are um if you provide a mandate you should provide the funding to go with it. Uh one example that was brought up was um transportation and how the percentage of the funding continues to um diminish the amount of the pool. They're supposed to fund that I think at 90% and they're only funding it at 60% sorry 80% and it's 60% of 80%. So that really ends up um 48%. So the school districts have to bear the difference um of of the cost of something that is mandated that we do but at the same time the state's not providing uh adequate funding in order to do that and that percentage gets lower and lower as they keep the dollar absolute dollar amount flat but the growth in the actual cost uh continues to

085go up. So, uh, that's a that's a topic that was probably the hottest topic that was talked about in terms of what can be done to to try to figure some of that out and at least make, uh, Springfield aware of that. Okay. Um, also the, um, I had the opportunity to attend the BB home and school meeting. Um, um, team does a great job with that. Um, Principal Peterson uh, new to BB this year, they're doing a wonderful job and, uh, they have a number of different activities. And then um the uh probably the most fun thing that I had the opportunity to do was uh to attend the Maple Brook Maple Brook home and school meeting. Um but then one of the things that I had the opportunity to do earlier in that

086day was to read participate in what they call dot day. Um they basically ask members of the community to come in. Every every year they do this and they do it over a couple days. They ask members of the uh community or the um uh district administration. and a couple of district administration folks were there and then you read this particular book to uh a particular grade level. So you sign up for a time slot. Um it's a really wonderful initiative. It's always great. I I challenge anyone if you have the opportunity to go to a school and read to kids. It is wonderful. Um the questions they ask are fantastic. Um, I read to a group of third graders and the initiative is great because it's all around, you know, having courage and the

087idea of just if you're not sure how to do something and you want to learn, the best thing to do is to just try. Um, so this is a story about a girl who didn't think she could paint and her art instructor just said just try. She puts a dot on the page, thus the term the dot. and uh and then it kind of goes from there and she kind of grows um and then ends up by the end of the story encouraging someone else who doesn't believe that they that they can paint that they can do it if they just try. So it's a great initiative and so I appreciate the uh homeschool team as well as the administration at at MapleBook for pulling that together. Uh it's a great initiative. And then the

088last thing I will talk about, Superintendent Bridges already mentioned um the IASB recognition that we received. Um, I have to tell you that I was really proud and honored to to get the notification that um from ISB that our board is one of 42 and I think Superintendent Superintendent Bridges mentioned this. He mentioned that we were one of 42. Um, but I like to add on to that that we're 42 out of 849 districts in the state that uh earned the board governance recognition this year. And uh you know, while we just got notification of the recognition for this year, uh I also want to point out that this is not a new occurrence for our district, we have uh received this recognition several times. I believe every year we've been eligible. Oh, there it

089is. Five times. There you go. It's right on the board. And we'll get another little plaque to go with the rest of them. Um and uh you know this letter and what they talk about um is and and Superintendent Superintendent Bridges went into the kind of the criteria a little bit. Um but this letter is evidence that this board has and is currently practicing good governance consistent with the guidelines established by the IASB. Um by referring to us as a model of good governance as they do in this letter. uh they are telling other is districts in essence if you want to know how to do it right you can look to 203 as an example um and any suggestion to the contrary and that's not what they're saying is simply unfounded and untrue um

090if you want to know if someone's following the guidelines I think the best people to ask are the people who wrote them and so um if we weren't following IASB guidelines um they would only be hurting themselves and their credibility by suggesting that others follow our example so uh the next time um you hear someone suggest they're not following guidelines. You just have to make sure that we go to the source. Um we are following ISB guidelines. I think this recognition is clear uh evidence of that and um you know one of the tenants of our mission is to empower students to think critically and part of critical thinking is to consider uh the sources of and that we choose to believe. So I would encourage all of us to model challenging um uh information

091uh and going to the source. And so couldn't be more proud of this board for earning uh this recognition and being one of 42 districts out of 849 who have received that. Okay. Do you have a report to give? I was on the president's report. We've actually moved beyond board of education reports. I thought that everybody was done giving their reports. >> No, I had I have something to say. >> This is not a debate. I just gave her a present. >> I just thought that people should know how that award's given. It is not given. >> I just >> because the ISB we just >> remember Kelly Black, you are out of order. >> Yeah. Because you're not letting me tell the truth to the people about how out of >> No one evaluated

092us. >> You are out. That is untrue. There's an application process. >> Yeah. You just fill out an application. We say we're great >> and they and they review it and they review it and they and they they don't give it to everyone who applies. >> They review our essay saying we're great. >> They don't they review it. They they don't they don't give it to everyone who applies. So there is a criteria. Why don't we why don't it agenda item to actually I'm talking about I'm talking about we don't we don't need to fight. I'm giving a report. >> You are out of order by interrupting my report quite rudely. >> I didn't interrupt your report. Did >> Mr. Kush I did not. I waited politely till you were done. >> This is This

093is not This is not a debate, Melissa. >> I >> This is This is not a debate. >> No, but you're going to make claims. >> This is not a debate. We are moving on. >> All right. I'm sorry. I'm stuck on integrity. >> We are moving on. >> I just I like to be honest with the public. >> I said we're moving on. So, I will move on. >> Move on. Okay. 9.04 superintendent staff school report. >> Yeah, I do have threeformational reports posted separately on the agenda. First one 9.05 is required by the Illinois school code and the Illinois State Board of Education. The annual um report of administrator and teacher salary and benefits for 24 2024 2025 is being presented to the board and will be submitted to the Illinois State Board

094of Education is required by law by October 1st. It's required that this be presented at a board meeting prior to the uh submission to Isby and then posted on our website. We have met our obligations and our form meets those obligations as well. The second one I have is 9.06. 06 the annual posting of board of education approved resources policy 6-10 requires the superintendent or designate to provide the board of education a list of instructional materials that are used in the district that list is provided and is available and then finally under 9.07 07 uh IASB resolutions process reminder. You have in board docs a copy of um the IASB resolution proposals. Um for process sake, I'll remind you um that um as part of board committee assignments, board member Melissa Kelly Black was identified

095as the delegate uh to be elected. I'll get to that in a second. October 6th will be discussion without action for the board. This should be relatively easy discussion. There is only one resolution that's being proposed. Administration is supportive of the recommendation by the delegate assembly by the committee, but there are, I think, 10 amendment uh reviews. So, encourage you to look at those. Um, and no opinion from the administration regard to those. I think they're pretty straightforward. But if you do have any questions, we can discuss those on October 6th. And then on October 20th, come back, officially elect a delegate and direct and direct the delegate how to vote on behalf of the board of education at the delegate assembly. The delegate assembly occurs on the morning of Saturday, November 22nd as a

096part of the joint annual conference for triple I uh state school board conference. Uh also um since we do have another board meeting prior to then on October 9 uh there is a webinar for delegates um available by uh from ISB from 12 to 1 on October 9th. So those are my reports tonight >> question. >> Um just I just want to I I did have a question. I had one question and I just wanted to let my fellow board members know that I am registered for the webinar. I'm also Yeah, I'm also since this is new to me um one of the nice things you guys mentioned it before is being able to meet a lot of other schoolboard members with experience. So um through going to previous conference and so so forth, I've

097got to meet a lot of great experienced knowledgeable um schoolboard members who have and are acting as delegates. So I'm in communication with them to better understand the process. So and if you have any other recommendations that you want me to research, find out or questions, please feel free to ask me. Going back to the written report about the um the learning services, curriculum and instruction. Um is there anyone present that I can ask some questions about this process too? Uh there really is no process. These are already approved resources by the board of education. We typically do those in the spring of every year. This is simply by policy. The making the list available so that the members if members of the public have questions, it's also available to them. So there was these

098this this process occurred back in the spring um by the board of education when you approved resources. >> So I guess there is a process for approval. So, I guess my question is, and I've asked this before, um, you know, we have a lot of really smart people, parents in our community, and I know a lot of them have wanted to help out. Um, is there a way for parents to provide feedback um about the curriculum and instruction? >> It's posted. It's available. So if there is a a question or a comment that a member of the public has yes they they could submit that question. >> Okay. I was just I know other districts they take feedback they have more involvement from community members. Um they have committees. Sometimes the boards have a committee

099but to get more input more knowledge and then understand it from how is this working for their kids and for their families. So, um, maybe we as a board would like to look into some what other school districts do to get some more feedback and that way we can have our families and community members feel like they actually have voice and agency. >> Other comments? >> Okay. So, um Melissa, thank you for being registered for the webinar for the um resolutions process. >> Can you just I just real I I want just to make sure that um >> it I think you have to log in >> through our credentials. >> I have everything. >> Okay, great. Good. >> Thank you for taking on that responsibility on behalf of the board. Yeah, there you go.

100Yeah, of course. >> Yes. Okay. Um, so thank you again for taking on the responsibility. Um, item 10, discussion without action. Item 10.01, school improvement plans and improvement process over. >> Dr. Patrick Nolton, assistant superintendent for assessment accountability and Jane Willard, assistant superintendent for curriculum instruction are joining us. Um they along with the level superintendents work most closely with our principles and school improvement teams on the creation of the school improvement plans. Uh this report was provided to you in compliance the board of education policy uh to annually present school improvement plans to the board of education for their consideration. being presented to you today in action requested at the October 6th meeting. Loaded in board docs are school improvement plans for uh and read all of our elementary schools, middle schools, high schools as

101well as connections. There's also just for your review uh a presentation that was given back uh in 2024 in regard to the process because we had just updated our process. Uh our district follows uh Illinois State Board of Education guidance recognizing our autonomy in the continuous improvement process including effective evidence-based and dataformed practices. I'm going to ask either Dr. Dol or Miss Willard provide just a brief overview of the school improvement cycle. Any other additional comments and we'll be happy to take any questions. >> All right. Thank you. Um nice seeing everybody this evening. Um just as a overview, uh we submitted an executive summary that's available to all of you as well as the public. Um, and some of the high points I just I'm not going to read through this, but um, we

102are in compliance and following the guidance that ISB uh, recognizes our autonomy and independence in terms of uh, using a continuous improvement progress that's uh, in effective, evidence-based as well as data informed. And we do those things. We've done that historically in this district um, at a really high level. Um, this district continues to be a district that uses um, data collaboration um, review. It's iterative iterative. It's a process that um never really stops. Um we are constantly looking at how we're doing the instructional practices that are in place, adjustments, modifications, identifying student needs. Um this is an involved process that goes on throughout the year. We just reflect this to you as we talk about it publicly here. Um the four steps continue to be really looking at the assessment of needs. We look

103at all types of data. data that you that um is not contained in this document. Not just achievement data but data, attendance data, discipline data, um activities, participation data, things like that to make informed decisions. We develop plans, we revise plans, we tweak plans, we recognize plans that are effective or ineffective by looking at data continuously. Um the implementation is something that goes on throughout the year. We sometimes uh change course depending on what the data looks like. um we don't change targets, but sometimes we change the emphasis and focus based on um the constant review of of live data. And I'm we're not talking just about like report card data, but data that we have internally that we can take a look at. Um and then lastly, we engage in progress monitoring using a

104variety of data sources to evaluate the effectiveness of what we do, change what we're doing, and then of course reflect that in a plan um at the end of the year. And then constant adjustment, that cycle never ends. And I think somewhere in this document it says school improvement really is our northstar. That's why we're here. That's what we do. And um it's a serious important process that um there's not one school in this district that Jane and I don't interact with that doesn't work hard on this year round. It involves a lot of different people. Um it's not just she and I sitting up here talking to other people about what to do. There's a lot of engagement at all levels at team levels. There's school improvement plans at every school or school improvement

105teams rather at every school. Um there's support from district level administrators. Um there's input from sources including parents when we um the schools talk a little bit about their plans and where they are and things like that. So this is a it's a big operation and um the work is really ongoing year round and um it's you know this district strives to continuously uh get better. So that's my overview. >> Questions questions from the board. I'm sorry I didn't send this in advance because I was reflecting on our conference and then um what you're talking about evaluations and assessments and since u the administration the federal administration is getting rid of most assessments or at least funding for it. How will how will that affect the process moving forward in the next few years? >>

106Um you know we'll take a look at that as it actually happens. There's a lot of talk about a lot of different changes and things. Some may occur, some may not. Um, you know, we look to and stay in close contact with um our our colleagues at Isby to get a sense of where things are with what changes are occurring. As far as we've been told for this immediate year, there's really been no change, but that's something that we're constantly monitoring and keeping an eye on. So, you know, short of knowing exactly what the future holds. It's hard to predict, but we're prepared always to continue doing what we're doing or to change course if we need to. >> Sure. Do you have an idea of which assessments uh do come from like a federal

107level or do any of them um that we look at? >> Well, they're not funded necessarily federally, but they're mandated by the feds. So, um most of the accountability testing that we do, whether it's, you know, I Act, they don't tell us you have to use that test, but the mandate that you have to provide accountability measures that target certain grade levels and certain subjects at certain times. um that's federally mandated and then states are really um on the line for you know how do they do that so every state has some latitude >> and then I would add that NWA MAP for example or other assessments are locally funded that we that we fund are not dependent on federal funds >> those are elective that's exactly right so there's a series of assessments we

108talk about that we choose to do >> uh Mark yeah thank you Patrick and Jane I appreciate the uh dime you're uh giving to us tonight. Um just uh one question and I I think I I sent it in and then I think it it was also a theme uh with several other board members. So I I just want to get clarification on it. Um the the benchmarks, as I think Patrick mentioned in his opening comments, aren't changed during the three-year cycle. And I at least it would help me review the results a lot better. I think if I was able to see what the benchmark was for each of the three years as well as what they actually were able to achieve and if there's any changes because some of the schools may have

109significant uh uh changes from what they originally benchmarked and if they start missing it in year one they're more than likely going to miss years two and three. Um, and I think it's just a better way of if we can get a summary of sorts um that show again the benchmarks that were originally set and and whether or not they've achieved them and if they are changing what those uh benchmarks are based on the feedback they're getting and the results they're seeing. Uh because then we can really start to focus maybe on schools that are um uh need additional help and other schools that maybe are achieving the targets um maybe not so much. So it allow us to get more visibility into that and then you know put our focus in different areas. >>

110Joe, >> yeah, thanks. Um I I'm uh going to ask something kind of right along the line that or I guess follow up on on what Mark said. Um I agree that that um would be very helpful if we just kind of keep that running total uh that they put the targets in for each year and just kind of keeping you know at the bottom every year you know a record of uh where those benchmarks land. Um because I I noticed that you know things like uh the math performance at elementary schools tended to be very very high. Um and you know that was probably a buildup over the course of three years, right? You don't hit, you know, 15 points above the target uh in one year. Um and the uh the reading targets

111uh on the other hand uh tended to be uh below the the uh third-year target um at uh about 10 of the elementary schools. So uh kind of seeing that flow I think would be really uh useful. Um yeah, and then you know this is the last year of that uh three-year uh plan. Um what's the um I guess what does it look like to kind of realign uh and set new targets for that next uh three-year plan? Is that a process that is kind of starting right now and uh being discussed uh throughout or is that um you know discussion happening after the data is collected uh this year? >> Um sure. Yeah, there's a couple a couple parts to that answer. One has to do with um the changes in terms of the

112state accountability performance levels, the thresholds, the changes with respect to aligning student performance more with students that are truly likely to be successful when they transition to post-secary. So, we have to take a look um Joe this year at how we did with respect to the new targets. We'll probably realign. It may change some of our gaps. It may change, you know, just the overall performance level of some student groups, schools as a whole. Uh we'll talk about that in November. So, that's one thing that we're really waiting to get finalized. That hasn't been finalized yet. I know we do the presentation in early November. So, we'll see, you know, what does this look like now that we've got new targets from the, you know, from the state. Um the other piece we've talked about

113before is how um with respect to NWA map and um two things really that enhanced item selection algorithm where they're tailoring and targeting more specific items to grade level that's affected the percentile ranks of students as well as their growth. That's a change. We now have the new norm. So we're able to look this year and moving forward where do our students stand relative to a a newer national sample of students. um that's impact that'll impact how we interpret and then set new targets. Um and then of course the norm shift and we've maybe talked a little bit about how as a district um our students generally are doing better than other students are nationally because we've been more actually resistant to some of the declines other places have shown academically. So, um, the change

114in the state proficiency targets, not just at 3 through 8, but also the high school level, and then taking a look at how things fare with new norms, the 2025 norms. Those are things that, you know, we're talking about. We're going to incorporate that into the new target setting process. >> Thank you. Uh, and then, uh, one other question about, uh, kind of growth, um, as a metric. If I remember correctly, the um I is uh capped uh you know and and it's not adaptable and the map is adaptable. So um that there are issues with growth on IR because if you're at the 99th percentile, how much you know can you grow? um with the map um is growth measured um you know kind of at the top of your uh grade level or

115is it measured based on kind of where you were at the beginning and where you are at the end? You even if you advance a couple of grade levels and content. >> Um yeah, great question. It has to do really with your starting point. So every student is evaluated relative to where they start typically in the fall and how much that group of students that started at that level, at that grade, at that subject in the fall, how much they grew relative to a national sample. So that's personalized, individualized. It all depends on where you start. You're compared to other students that start at the exact same spot and how much they grew, you know, to winter and then to spring. Melissa, >> I just had a couple. Yeah, with the map, the other thing

116that's nice about it, it does show growth. The other thing the reports will show is where those strengths and weaknesses for the student are. So, you can part of this is so you can zoom in on that. One of the things I bring up each time we have the school improvement plan, um, I bring up that Isby talks about how we're to have a an the IASBA district strategic plan and a school improvement plan. So, one's more global. So, that goes to kind of what you were saying is and so how does that all come together that how are we lining up our next one? So what I did was they have all the stuff on the Isby site. I can send it to my fellow board members. But what I do sometimes is when

117I do comparisons, I figure that we have a good comparison. I want to compare apples to apples. So um Indian Prairie 204 is a part of our community. So one of the things I was able they have all this available on their website if you anyone wants to look it up. But what they do is nice. They use many of the programs we do like the uh portrait of a graduate and they came up with this the same concept of those goals but and using that and panorama and how those all tie in and they provide and I would like to know if this is part of the program because they come up with a strategic plan. So they have two things that they are able to put on there which I really like this

118for a couple of reasons. Number one, as board members, one of the problems, like Dan just said, we can refer back to the 20 process. That's really hard you guys, we're all trying to work for me to remember that go back or is not good. And then the other part of this is it is about transparency. So by doing once a year, they put all those reports together. So, and they keep it on their website so you can see and they've tied the district goals into I talked about before. So, they will have and if anyone from 204 is watching and wants to correct me, what they do is they have the district goals like we and I've talked about this before that we have certain standards we have for all of our students across

119the district. And then when you get into those school improvement plans, okay, let me go. I have notes. So um I also want to say this too. What they have in this report is we had a discussion at the last meeting about the disciplinary data. They actually have in this report for the last three years. They broke it down like I requested into the groups. They were able to track it and give data for the last three years that we asked for and we were told that wasn't possible. So, you know, one of the things that I don't think of 204 as our competitor, but good people always learn from each other. You keep an eye on what they're doing. So, I think that if 204 can do it, I have no doubt 203 can

120do that. So, that's the type of information they have in here. And they say what they say is these are our goals. And this is as a parent, anyone can see this and say, "These are our goals based on our portrait of a graduate, based on our mission statement. This is how it all aligns." And then what I love that they have is under each objective, they have evidence of success. So they have before they go into it as a district, this is how we're going to measure this and did we reach our goal? So those big district goals are aligned with that portrait of a graduate and our mission statement. So that way the school improvement plans come in. They have some of the district goals like that we want our literacy up to

121such and such or we want so much growth. Again, I I would encourage people to look at this and then um wait uh and it also has a process that this report comes out. It seems like it must be generated from something. So, we should look into it because I like I said, we use the same ones. But it also has where are we? You asked this, somebody did about where are we in the process. So, it gives those updates. So again, this is a place all board members know to go. All staff members or parents board docs is not the best system. Somebody else should come up with a new board talk system. It's hard to navigate. The information is not all all there. Again, this provides that transparency and accountability. Um, so the

122other thing I like, so then they have that. So they have all their information. So you can have it at Glass, but now they do a audit. I love this. So they use I did not know about this process. It's apparently used in business SWOT. So what they you guys >> analysis? Yeah. Okay. >> Yeah. So what they do and I saw that many of districts use this in Illinois where you go strengths, weaknesses and you point out and then based on that >> Yeah. It would be nice if you do that. That would be great information for you to share with us. So, we know and I know these districts actually put it they put it on here on the audit. I think >> I think that there's nothing wrong with, >> you know,

123saying what you're good at and not good at. So Melissa, could I could I ask and and as we've asked before and you've offered before, um if you could share this the information that you as you collect information and you want to share with your fellow board members, I would encourage you to continue to do so because then we'd be all be in a position to literally be on the same page and see what you're saying and then be able to >> That's great. Speak to it. >> Yeah, I think that's wonderful. The reason I bring it up in open public is because I know that we have a lot of parents. So, this is seems a great resource. So, I want them, but I will definitely I know I've been sending you people some

124stuff hoping that we don't get to where you're at a board meeting and you don't have the information ahead of time. Okay. >> Um, so >> could I also ask if you have a question for Patrick and or Jane? >> Um, okay. What was I going to say? Um, I guess I have to go back and and look at those reports. I think am I incorrect? Previously, did we have representatives from the school presenting? Did we go through or is that going to be at another meeting? >> Last year, they did that. Um, they came to explain it and what Mr. Bridges did on Friday is we uploaded that exact same uh presentation from last year because it would have been the same thing that we presented. >> Board members also issued a link to

125the presentation made last year. The purpose of that was we changed our school improvement planning process and wanted principles to be here to be a part of explaining the changes that were made, the rationale for why they were made uh and how the the process they use. So there have been no changes to the process for this year. >> Um I'd just like noted that I think this again limits our ability to ask questions. We have new school board members as school board member just please don't interrupt. >> All right. Um, I think to have our school improvement plan, these goals and our accountability and what evidence we're going to use, this is some of the most important work that we do. So again, as we evolve, as schoolboard members evolve and we get more

126skills and knowledge under our base or we have new schoolboard members, to not have the people here that we can ask the questions to on such a critical issue, um I'm I feel like my information is being limited. Um, I don't think it's in the best interests of our ability to function as a board or to be accountable to the taxpayers. With all due respect, Patrick and I lead this process with our principles. We meet with all of our principles. We meet with them with the school improvement. So, we're happy to answer some things that you >> and if I can finish then on top of that, um just a reminder for the board that on Wednesday, September 17th, I did send you a link um in an email um that it was especially targeting

127our new board members. This video may be of most interest to our new board members. It's a presentation made last year by administration by an overview of our school improvement process. So, uh, it was provided and available, um, hopefully in plenty of time to have been watched prior to if a board member wanted to. >> So, it was a video. It was not the report >> and the report is loaded in board docs. >> Yes. >> Um, but it's it thou is from 2024. It's not loaded on this board docs or is it? >> Okay. Um, going back, one of the things as a board member and I hope that we teach our students, so I would tell you that I do not think I make the best decisions. One of the things I've mentioned

128earlier in this meeting is the dominance of certain administrators to control the narrative. I think of it when we are >> I can't have a different opinion. >> You can ask a question. It's not about having a different opinion. can make comments. >> They're here to answer your questions. And when you make we we don't allow public commenters to make disparaging remarks against against me. No. So why I am an elected official who has this right, Charles? Because you don't like it. Part of you don't have the right in democracy is freedom of speech. >> You don't have the right to disparrage. >> No, I am I am allowed to represent people that don't agree with you. I'm allowed to represent people that have a different opinion. Melissa, let me be clear about this. Agree

129with me. Let me be let me be clear about something like you and I you and I don't often agree but you know what I will agree with your right to speak but does not >> one off topic and two you've been you've been talking for about about five about about five or six minutes straight >> and that's we one of the things we talk about is to share time no we're not here to have have one individual dominate the conversation I would like to I would love if you would like to ask a question if you would like to ask a question Charles you don't editorialize what I say that's not within your >> privy. I'm not dictating what you say. >> I am I but I am I am responsible for making sure

130I you made comments. I am I have the right I have the right and the responsibility to keep them moving along >> that you and so I would ask if the if the if the remaining >> I would ask the not within your provision. >> I would ask if the remaining board members would I would ask that the remaining board members uh have other comments to make. You've been speaking. >> You censor what information we have. You censor I'm not censoring your information. You censor what questions I have. You are not being censored. >> You censor what questions you answer. >> You You are not being censored. What? Rewatch the video and see how much time you We've already had this discussion. >> Some people, >> we've had this discussion. You asked a question about

131where the cabinet was. >> You asked You asked a discussion about where the cabinet is. The the ad uh the superintendent articulated that point. your fellow board members all weighed in as to whether or not there was a concern with members more opinions than just because >> I would like us to use the past practices we've utilized. >> I think the individual who is mostly concerned with about a difference of opinion is se six board members just said that they were fine with the process that the superintendent has implemented six of us. So just because you don't like what the six of us >> I am one of seven voice that's exactly right you are I am an elected official with the same rights of you then therefore right >> I get a disagree I

132can make comments and I don't have to just ask questions >> and you did you did disagree >> I think you need to go back IB and get some guidance the ISB that you said gives out free awards to everyone in your privy which is it do you agree with the ISB or do you not thank you porn of order upheld moving Item can I can I item 11.01. Oh, you have a question. >> How about more questions around the school plans? Item 11, discussion with that. >> Thank you, Dr. Nol. Mr. >> Thank you both. >> Okay. We've had uh press policy updates in front of the board of education for a few board meetings now. Uh I don't believe we have any new information. Dr. Cohen, I do want to circle back one

133board member expressed um some questions in regard to uh press policy 6235 in regard to access electron access to electronic networks specifically in regard to language used in the press model specifically regarding um the use of AI. So um I like the recommendation in terms of using some of our procedural language that we use in lie of what's listed there. So, my recommendation, we're here for action. Uh, the board um approve press update 118 uh minus policy uh 6235. And we'll bring back a draft of what that would look like at the next meeting. >> Okay. Motion to >> I'm sorry. Oh, questions first. Sorry. Go ahead. >> We can motion approve any discussion. >> Oh, go ahead. Melissa. >> Okay. I'm somewhat confused. So, I went through the press release and marked out since

134the beginning till now, there's been some changes with there's been some I've noticed some of the press updates are included and some are not. Some were included and were omitted. >> Be specific. >> Okay. Yeah, I can go through. No problem. I thought these were the exact same. >> They're not. >> What's loaded in board docs is the material that has been loaded in board docs for the previous two meetings. >> Has changed. >> It has not. >> Yes, I can be specific. I went through and I double checked. Um, okay. First of all, I noticed that if you look under for let's start with uh press 118, the first the first um change that they recommend is not included. It's 2.150 AP superintendent committees. Um not only that, we don't even have a district

135policy for superintendent committees. The reason I bring this up is one of the things I get asked a lot is, and I think we've gotten emails from people, how do these how do you get picked for the committees? How do they work? Um, so this was omitted and I also would like if we had I think we should pass uh uh this that it should have been included. I don't like when I have to pick through and find out what's not included. So, can I ask why that was not included and why we're not voting on it? >> First, I'll be clear. We have not changed any information that's been loaded in board doc since we first presented it to the board. Dr. Cohen, was there a policy that we omitted that was >> is

136that policy from press. It's listed right here from press. That's not included. And I'm asking why. >> Which which uh which update are you looking at? What edition? >> Uh 118. We downloaded the press updates as recommended. Now if there is a document that only was that there were no changes. >> Is that the >> No, this there is changes. >> What's the policy? What's the policy number you're referring to? >> 2150. And we have we have policy. >> What's the title page say on your page? Go back to the title page. >> This is from press 118. And what it is is it's used, it's distributed to show, it gives a little blurb of what changes and why. And then they actually have the checklist they have right here. And again, I've asked >>

137what what page are you looking at? >> Dan, could you not interrupt? >> I I I'm trying to answer your question and I'm trying to follow along with you. >> That's what page you're looking at so that we can all look at it, be on the same page, literally, and understand what it is that you're saying. >> All right. Page seven. So the first item listed was not included. >> Okay. What you have listed there uh what you see there is not a policy. It's 2150 administrative procedure. That's a procedure. We don't bring procedure to the board of education for your vote. You vote on the policies. The administrative procedure is a practice in which the policy is implemented. So anything you see with AP is an administrative procedure. That's why you don't have a

138copy of it. Now whether or not the board wants to look at a policy that's not listed here or not, that doesn't uh prohibit your ability to approve or not approve the policies that are listed here. They're separate. >> Mr. Bridges, with all due respect, it is listed on here for us to update. and it is listed as part of press. >> So, >> right, >> I'm not sure why you think it doesn't matter when it's listed, >> because that table shows revisions to policies. >> Yes. >> Administrative procedures and exhibits. The board of education approves policies. Yes, these are within the policy which is why as a separate as a separate subscription IASB offers administrative procedure practice just like they do with the press policy updates. We only subscribe to the press policy. So

139we have always only brought press updates in regard to policy not admin procedures. So why when I looked on >> Melissa Mark go ahead 2150- AP do you see how it says - AP >> the AP stands for administrative procedure >> the next one after that 2250-E2 that's exhibit 2 the next one 2260 uniform grievance procedure does not have any initials after it that is a policy so the board policy manual which is online only includes policy it does not include administrative procedures and it does not include exhibits. Those are not uh up for board approval. What we are looking at are the policy updates. So this memo summarizes everything. What was uploaded in board docs though those 18 the actual 118 are the policies from the press service with all the strikethroughs recommended for

140deletion and then all the additions made in a separate color. So while this policy or this this memo is exhaustive in that it reports policies, administrative procedures and exhibits but only policies are up for approval today and only policies are published online. So that that is the difference. That's the reason why these docs were uploaded to board docs and what you have was not uploaded to board docs. >> It was >> Thank you for your patient. We we actually do have them in board docs. Okay. >> Um thank you for your patience and your explanation. So this is my question then. So is the 2 the 2.150 though is a policy. Is that correct? >> It is. >> That's what I'm saying is that our district when I went on board docs looked it up.

141I don't see that we even have that policy. >> We do. >> Oh, we do. >> We do. It was adopted on December 19th of 2022. >> Is it on in board docs? >> It is on board policy online. It's on our web page. It's on our It's Well, I'm looking on board docs when I do mine. I don't think it's in board docs. I'm not saying we don't, but that's something that's missing from board docs. Can I just have somebody check? Would you mind checking that? >> Bo board docs is not where we house our policy information. The policy information is housed on uh on our website underneath the board of education. Board docs is just for action at meetings. >> N >> our board policy online actually that service is handled through IASB.

142Uh and so we update all that there. Mrs. patent updates that and it's on our website. >> All right. I will go back and check that because I'm >> but it there actually is a link within boards >> that allows you to click on policies and when you click on policies it brings you to 2150. >> Can you send me a copy of that? I appreciate it. >> Screenshot it. Just send it. >> Hold on. >> Christine >> Melissa, it's a tab in my case. It's been open on my computer since I came on the board so that I can reference the policy immediately. I don't really think it's it's necessary for us to share the information that is right there. >> No, I think that I'm looking I'm looking at two just just to

143be clear. I'm I literally in three seconds pulled up if the tech folks in the back can help me. >> I just don't want to create work that's not take your mouse cursor and go up to policies. >> They're consistent. >> Oh, goist. Move over to policies. There you go. Click right there. >> Hold on. >> Okay, great. >> Click to policies. >> Wow. >> Go to section two. >> Go down to 150. There it is. >> Wait, wait, wait. Let me go back to that one. >> There it is. >> Wait. >> Okay. Thank you. You can go back to the >> Can I just committ? All right. So, I I am wrong. I apologize, but I do need to see maybe if I'm doing something wrong because I could not find that, but

144I appreciate you showing me and I stand corrected. Um, and that also explains why some of the other stuff here. Okay. Uh, I have existing um about Okay. I just want to say thank you Melissa for actually showing us what you're looking at because this is a perfect example of when you're just saying well it says here but we don't see it. It's really hard to follow you right but this was really helpful because then I was like okay yeah page seven all right now I see what you're talking about that's so helpful. >> Yes. And I thought it was great to bring it up on the screen because we've had incidences where people don't agree. I don't want to argue anymore. Just if it's up there I know I'm wrong. I've learned something. So,

145thank you and thank you for that comment. Amanda, >> other questions? Um >> Holly >> um I was board member who was concerned about the AI and Dan I appreciate you um pulling that and you shared since our last board meeting our existing policy that existed to because we do use AI in the district before um I became a board member and I really appreciated our policy and I think we do a better job than this press suggestion. Um, so the balance that we weigh in our internal policy of the importance of critical thinking, academic integrity, the training we have for the privacy and safety and the use of it. Um, I really appreciated seeing that. So I I appreciate the opportunity to adjust that and I will put in the plug that I would

146like to see um, our carbon action plan there as well. But thank you. If I can actually as we're on this conversation uh what I shared with the board is now a good example of like an administrative procedure right because what that's an internal this is how we're going to internalize a policy and there was no previous there was very limited reference to artificial intelligence in policy prior to this update that's that's in 6235 and we'll get that in there but I do agree that when we look at kind of our approach to it how we worked with our staff I think when we look at Um, you know, I I I don't like the language that's in the press in terms of we believe it's important. I think there it's more along the lines

147of how the critical thinking applies. So, we'll work on some languages to include them. >> Can I make a motion? >> I will certainly entertain a motion. >> All right. Motion to approve um 11.01 press update 118 with the exception >> of policy 6235. >> Oh, I wrote it down. I was trying to show off. I listened. Yes. Policy 6.23. It's all right. Well, I just had dyslexia with my number. Sorry. 6.235. All right. Thank you, Dan, for helping me, but I was trying to show you I was listening. Okay. >> Second. >> Motion in a second. I've been heard. >> Great. >> Thanks. >> Any discussion? None. Please call the RO. Miss Patton. >> Kusinsky. >> I. >> Kush. >> I. >> Winsky. >> I. >> McMillan. I >> Blastic I >> Kelly Black

148>> I >> Gerky >> I >> The motion passes. Item 11.02 press update 119. >> Same as uh earlier. This has been on uh several board agendas for conversation. With no new information to present, recommend the board uh approve press update 119 is presented. >> Questions from the board. >> Motion to approve item 11.02. Press update 119. >> Second. >> Motion and a second have been heard. Please call the role spent. >> Winsky. >> I. >> Gerky. >> I. >> Blastic. >> I. >> McMillan. >> Hi. >> Kush. >> I. >> Kazminsky. >> Hi. >> Kelly Black. >> I. >> The motion passes. 11. Uh, I'm sorry. Item 11.03 policy 2270. >> Yeah. 2270 came to the board of education um once before uh it was tabled in order to get a legal opinion on

149some of the language within it. Our legal guidance is that we should accept the policy as um presented. Recommend you approve policy 2270 as presented. >> Questions from the board. >> I move to approve item 11.03 as presented. Second. >> Motion and a second have been heard. Please call the role. Mrs. Ben. >> Kelly Black. >> I. >> Winski. >> I. >> Gerky. >> I. >> Kush. >> I. >> McMillan. >> I. >> Kazminsky. >> I. >> Blastic. >> I. >> The motion passes. Item 11.04 consideration of board of education expenses. >> You heard board reports earlier from two board members who attended the COSPA conference. Um and according to boarding board policy 2125, board member expenses for travel, mail and lodging must be approved by roll call vote on open meeting of the board

150reviewed the um expenses. Recommend that you approve them as presented. >> Questions from the board. >> Thank you. >> Seeing none, thank you for going. Um I'll entertain a motion. >> Move approval of item 11.04 for consideration of board of education expenses. >> Second. >> Motion and a second have been heard. Please call the role. Mrs. Patton. >> Blastic. >> I. >> Winski. >> I. >> Kelly Black. >> I. >> Cuzinsky. >> Hi. >> McMillan. >> Hi. >> Gerky. >> I. >> Kush. >> I. The motion passes. Item 12, old business. We have no old business. Item 13, new business. We have no new business. >> Yes. um she can request it be put on a future agenda, but it was not on the agenda for >> So you can request to put a new

151business item on the agenda, but since it's not on the agenda, don't we have to have a 48 hour 48 hours notice for it to be an open session for us to discuss? >> No, our procedure for and someone correct me if I'm wrong. Our procedure for um agenda items are >> agenda item on the right and I question the next meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday that we discussed there's express some concerns. I've asked some questions that discuss that I policed. >> And you have so a couple things. One, you have sent that. I do believe I saw an email from you. So that would suffice for the way the pro the way the procedure works is you send information. You send what you want on the agenda and your rationale. A couple bullet points

152of rationale. I believe you sent an email already. So that would suffice as that. Um, it's not necessarily for the immediate next meeting. It just depends on what's on there, but it is out there. It is noted and it is now documented that you've made that request and that you fulfilled your responsibility to provide written documentation as to why you want it. So, it is a legitimate request. >> Fair enough. >> Yeah. And that was in response to overwhelming. Um, the other item that I have not sent ahead of time, >> but um, for I just want to give the heads up was a agenda item. I'm hearing a lot of feedback about busing problems. >> Um, >> okay. >> Some of them very concerning that buses aren't showing up, that they're told we don't

153have enough bus drivers. Um, yeah, kids are being left stranded. So, there's there's some issues. So, I think that I we need to address that, especially as we're talking about, you know, building a new facility and all that and investing money. We I certainly hope that the priority would be with making sure kids are getting picked up and I think there was even a situation with a disabled child. >> So, okay. So, to the point we just made similar to what you did with the last question, an issue, send a note. Um, doesn't sound like you sent a note on this one yet, but I did not. Okay. So, similar to the last note, send a note with your rationale and um it will be noted and we'll add it to a future agenda. >>

154Thank you, Mr. Kush. No problem. Okay. With that, uh, item 14, upcoming events. Item 14.01, schedule of events. >> Next board meeting is October 6th. >> Very nice. Item 15, adjournment. Item 15.01. I must say, I actually miss being able to make the motion. That used to be my thing. Anyway, >> move to adjourn. >> Joe's got it now. >> Oh, >> motion and a second have been heard. Please call the role. Mrs. Patton >> Blastic >> I >> Kelly Black >> I >> Winski >> I >> Gerky >> hi >> McMillan hi >> Kazinski I >> Kush I the motion passes we are adjourned everyone have a great evening