001good evening since 5:00 pm. the board has been enclosed session for the discussion of minutes lawfully closed under the open meetings act whether for the purpose of school board approval of the minutes or semiannual review of the minutes as mandated by the act 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 litigation when an action against affecting or on behalf of the school board has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative Tri tribunal or when the school board finds an action as probable or imminent in which case the basis for the finding shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting and for Collective negotiating matters between
002the school board and its employees or their representatives or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees I will take a motion to come out of close session so moved second a motion and a second been heard please call the RO Mrs Patton Kush I McMillan I Kelly black I Fitzgerald I kinsky hi girki I Wy I the motion passes we are in Open Session Welcome to our May 20th 2024 meeting our mission is to educate students to be self-directed Learners collaborative workers complex thinkers quality producers and Community contributors please call the role Mrs Patton board members present this evening Christine giry Kristen Fitzgerald Charles Kush Melissa Kelly black Joe ksky Amanda McMillan and Donna wanky please now join the board and our friends from Mill Street Elementary in the Pledge of
003Allegiance good evening everyone and welcome uh thank you for hosting these are our wonderful leaders our third fourth and fifth graders from Mill Street my name is susus and I am their principal for a few more days uh at that building um I'm going to have our students introduce themselves to you and then we will lead you in the pledge and I believe we're facing that flag hi my name is Valentino tyon hi my name is hababa Nima hi my name is yamil Rivero hello my name is AA Andrews hi my name is Raymond kasmer hi my name is Paka Shaw hi my name is Harper sco hi my name is Shannon carico Miss carico is our our teacher leader for our student council all right here we go are you ready everyone I pledge
004to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible for liberty and justice for all we're going to have you stay right here for just a minute we're going to move down just a little bit by Miss solness perfect okay Mrs exus is going to take a picture of you really quick and then to family friends or various Paparazzi associated with the Mill Street gang if you'd like to come up closer get a picture you may do so as well you're welcome to come up front if you'd like okay thank you Mill Street friends have a great end of your school year [Music] we have now reached the point in our agenda for good news Okay a couple uh good news items to
005share this year neille 203 was thrilled to honor 62 staff members who will retire this school year along with 119 staff celebrating Milestone years of Milestone years of 20 years or more an extra special congratulations to Jerry mcwain who celebrates 45 years with our transportation department so congrat congratulations to our retirees and those recognized and then finally The Early Childhood students at Ann Reed waddled their way through the duckling Dash on Thursday May 16th this quacktastic event celebrates the end of the school year with lots of feathered fun our little ducklings are ready to flap their wings and splash their way to the Finish Line making this a memorable and exciting event for all you're welcome for that humor apparently not okay next we have the future problem solvers okay um back on there we
006go Mrs bout the assistant superintendent for Middle Schools is going to assist me with this one good evening it is my pleasure tonight to introduce some of our middle School leaders future problem solving is a program which was started in 1940 by Dr Paul E Torrance to provide students with a competitive and non-competitive way to learn about the future eight teams from kjhs participated in the global issues problem solving competition on April 19th against close to 80 uh teams spanning the Junior and middle division students research topics that have implications for the future our future problem Sol following teams apply the six step process to three topics annually a future scene or imagine future story prompts students to tackle social scientific political economic or technological issues teams explore challenges to the Future as they refine
007their critical and creative thinking skills select one problem area produce unique solution ideas and develop an action plan to resolve their specific problem students then present a 5-minute skit to sell their solution to an audience of their peers the top three teams in each division across the state are invited to compete at the future problem solvers Internationals in June Kennedy will be sending three teams to Internationals so tonight we will ask that when your name is called that you come up to the front and um also the coach or sponsor is Miss Vicki kles so we're thankful for her support and leadership as well okay our second place team was paresi PanAm annaya Nepal and Claire mcnalty [Applause] our third place team was Dia Mattel ASA savalia and Sana venad congratulations and our third place
008team in the middle level grades 6 through eight was Cassandra Chang Alysa Chang and Ella rubben [Applause] congratulations families you are welcome to come closer if you want to get a closer picture thank you mrsas first e awesome congratulations we are so proud of all of you thank you for joining us tonight have a great end to your school year uh the next recognition we have I'm going to invite Dr Shayla Holland the assistant superintendent for high schools up to help me uh present gifts um tonight we're honoring and recognizing students who served as student board ambassadors uh this year we invited three from each school to rotate their time through in order to ensure that we could get a variety of voice uh in in input for the Board of Education and tonight we're
009honored to recognize them I will have Dr Holland uh call them up by name and I will present them with a gifts I don't know who's here yeah some of them I know it's the busy time of the school year may not be here but we will read them all first Trenton pul [Applause] Olivia [Applause] Walters Kimani [Applause] Smith Nina mantel [Applause] Javier seevilla [Applause] and Kim abara [Applause] and thank you for ensuring that the voice of our students is heard by the board in our community we appreciate all that your leadership uh and you being here I know all of you are heavily involved in a lot of things so really appreciate you taking the time to be here to be recognized this evening great thank you okay uh next we will recognize the
010members of the U superintendent student advisory Council who also have a report and an update to make this evening so if we can bring that presentation up I'm going to kick it off for us okay so one of the highlights of the year uh and for the last two years to be honest with you has been my engagement with the superintendance student advisory Council the council includes a diverse group of students from our junior high schools high schools and connections our council members are insightful and inspiring and have consistently pushed my thinking and perspective regarding ways that I can support their sense of belonging and belonging for their peers launched during the 2022 2023 school year the superintendent student advisory council is a vehicle for me and others to listen and learn about the experiences
011of our students in the district and to better position them for success I continue to learn from them and I'm very grateful for their willingness to show up authentically every time we meet I've been grateful to partner with our Outreach and student belonging directors Dr Danielle lby and Dr sandre Russell Smith to facilitate the council their work has also been supported by Dr Shayla Holland and Miss Allison boute who are our high school and Junior High School assistant superintendents tonight you'll be provided with an overview of the council's work this year and hear from Council Members about their experience while you'll hear from a representative group of council members tonight I'd like to acknowledge and celebrate all of the council members who are here with us tonight taking up our first row so would you
012please stand so that you could be acknowledged [Applause] thank you you can have a seat now as a continuation of our inaugural year we maintained our focus on student belonging through all of our efforts in the district it's important for students to know that they matter to us and that this is not something that should be felt occasionally but that should be experienced every single day by every single student each session had a specific Focus sessions in included Council collaboration guest speakers panel discussions and thoughtful experiences designed to allow for student learning student voice and student engagement some of the topics included perception and projection developing a positive self-identity implicit bias and student mental health Dr lby will provide a brief overview of the progression of the council's goals [Applause] thank you all uh for
013having me here and specifically thank you to um our superintendent student advisory Council for your work um this year students began reviewing and reflecting on their 2022 23 recommendations that were submitted to the board regarding four areas of focus that you see there student voice student learning student support student relationship and engagement this year we use the these four areas to curate specific sessions with the intent to deepen the council members' knowledge and understanding of the details and the context of each area they started out by interviewing their principles to ensure that their recommendations received actionable and practical steps in their respective buildings and they took their principal interview questions or responses rather and used those to develop goals to continue to move the work forward for our coming year um students had the opportunity
014to work with with a neurolinguistic professional to understand the connection between brain and empathic communication as it regarded more of their work with Dr leaks who led them on um more understanding of diversity equity and inclusion and how the lack thereof can truly impact an individual in their District or in this District as well as as a whole from there we began to do work around mental health and the impact that the lack of belonging can create they had the chance to sit with a board of mental health professionals to create a better understanding of the Mental Health Resources we not only have in the district but in the community as well from there they developed four goals to continue to move their recommendations forward I'll give you all the chance to review those based
015on these goals we plan to use this work to move the recommendations forward and we will continue to create sessions that highlight their understanding as well as give them the the skills and the tools to move the work forward I can say personally that um of all the components of my my job capacity this is truly my favorite and I enjoy working with these students and seeing their growth as well as partnering with Dr Russell Smith to really get them to broaden their understanding as well as impacts not only their buildings but our district so if you all will please give them a hand again we'll move on to our student [Applause] Reflections thank you this video that you will see uh is a collaboration or a com combination of all of our um some
016of our pictures that we had as as well as um the student Reflections last year I know we had several of them speak this year because we had more groundwork that had been covered from last year we gave each of them the opportunity to record some of their own impact so please enjoy [Music] the SSC means a lot to me um because I consider myself an advocate and I like to advocate for my peers my staff members just everybody at the school so I feel like it you know and it makes me a better person my favorite part from this ssac um school year was probably just meeting a lot of new people and knowing where like their experience their point of view and the connections you can make here honestly really ssac is just
017the best thing that I'm looking forward to on Fridays um everything is here is just so accepting you walk in the door and everyone's happy Friday and my favorite part about the ssac school year this year was how everybody had a voice and every body was able to share their thoughts and how they thought we could do better or things AC means inclusion of student voice self- advocacy and diversity ssac taught me strategies to reduce stress and help my mental health pertaining to school and outside of school SSC has really opened my eyes on what measures people take in the district to let PE let students and um Educators feel included in the district SSC means to me me a great environment and something where I can learn new things to me ssac is like
018a little family I think we're all really close and it gives me an opportunity to really share how I feel about what's going on in my building and feel acknowledged and appreciated you you belong in this community and you have every right to be here as of everyone else and you can make an impact wherever you go I guess being able to hear other people's story wories um in relation to like their mental health or their experiences just being in school most impactful for me was um meeting with the Mental Health Board um listening to their experiences and seeing how we can improve students experiences in District 203 that's my the impact that SSC has had on my life is probably all the great people that are a part of the board the students and
019the staff um as Dr lesby always says we're kind of like a big family because some of us have been together for two years and some of us have been together for one but it's just been really meaningful to have a group that you can come and talk to the most impactful thing for me is knowing that I'm able to speak about experiences that I've had in the school district so I can help make it more inclusive and a better place for the younger generation what's been most impactful for me is is the speakers that we had especially the mental health speaker just to know that you have a community that is supporting you and that there's people that can help you has just been really really changing for me I'd say the most impactful
020thing would be hearing the opinions of people older and wiser than me knowing that I'm only a sixth grader I have so much to learn from people who are older than me and have had more experiences and things that they can learn and that I can learn from them and my favorite part of this year's ssac is the inclusion that they're giving us and how everyone has a voice I've learned so much from my experiences um I absolutely uh enjoy being able to connect with students from not just where not just the high school I came from but also other schools in the district um it has been very eye openening to be able to um hear other students story and how similar or how different they are from mine I liked being able to
021talk about mental health in my experiences I feel safe and respected and um school is always hard for me so having an experience where I can actually enjoy school now is something I never thought I'd be able to have so I'm very grateful for both connections and S AC [Music] [Applause] good evening everyone my name is Dr Sandra Russell Smith I am Dr Danielle Les's partner in crime and to quote one of my favorite songs I have had the time of my life working with this group of students behind me um the the willingness to be vulnerable especially when you're a middle schooler is tough the willingness to speak your mind and their willingness to just put it all out there here to be able to have an audience with their superintendent I am thrilled
022to just be a part of this organization I want you guys to give them one more round of applause because they have worked so hard these past two [Music] years I feel like a proud mom we were supposed to have senior Reflections this evening but somehow our seniors are not here and so and so um in talking to to them earlier um they just expressed their gratitude for being able to have a voice as seniors who are leaving the district and they are hoping to leave a legacy for their peers to be able to follow and to make sure that every student who comes through this wonderful district and who comes to work with us through ssac definitely has a voice and knows that their voice matters so right now I would like to call
023up our student students individually to recognize them for all the work that they've done so students when you hear your names please come up grab your grab your certificates and you can make your way up to the podium Corelli Rivero Liam Allen Wagner alias [Applause] Kowski Katherine Mullen JRA Shram Tanner deik who is not here this evening Maddie Force who is not here this evening [Applause] okay Anushka [Applause] Anand Grayson [Applause] Sabo Ashley [Applause] Wolf Rohan Grover Zion [Applause] Khan Ava Douglas Calvin Moyer Spencer brick [Applause] neck kadia rafath Thula [Applause] kimman Smith Paige [Applause] Krauss Hadley [Applause] Benson our students who aren't able to join us tonight are Maddie Gates River Larez Andrew Hebron and Rachel hog please give them a round of applause [Music] too parents you're welcome to come and take pictures
024of your amazing students spe [Applause] [Music] so at this time uh we be happy to address a couple questions or any comments from members of the board do any board members have questions or comments I will say for the community that we do invite uh members of the Board of Education uh to rotate uh visits to the S ssac meetings uh due to open meetings act um limitations we don't have more than two there at a time uh otherwise we have to go through a whole process of of a public meeting but it is an opportunity for the board to be able to hear firsthand also um and I think they would all say how much they've enjoyed the time that they do get to spend there Donna go ahead thank you so much student
025voice is something that the uh school board has talked about for a while and we're super excited that your uh Voice Was Heard with our superintendent and I believe our principls of the junior high and high schools now have principal advisory uh committees as well um because of the work that you know you did last year and then into this year so thank you for that um and thank you for your presentation and the time that you and the commitment that you gave to this uh this group um the four goals that you gave us were the goals that they set at the beginning of the school year or are they the goals that they set for next year that's what I was they set I'm sorry the goals that they set for next year
026so as you mentioned they took their goals from last year and they had those um conversations with the principls at the principal advisory Council level to ensure actionable steps in their respective buildings from there we deepen their knowledge about those specific are areas of focus and then they're they created goals to continue to move those recommendations forward okay okay so were there goals that they worked on this year to ex the expansion down to the principal advisory boards correct that's right okay I'm just trying to remember it was a year ago sorry no worries so um all right and we've definitely seen that happen so thank you for that I I didn't realize now that you're telling me I I I remember the goals from last year were to to move that down two levels
027so um so thank you for all of your work and I'm excited to see how um are they are are most of them coming back onto the advisory Council next year yes we rotate them up except for our fifth grader our current our Rising fifth grader um who will be joining us or will be a new recommendation for us but everyone else continues to serve unless they are too busy with their schooling and and have something else to do sure well I look forward to the progress and the reporting back on the goals that you set for this year so thank you so much thank you thank you for your questions Melissa well first off thank you so much for all the work you've done and the input um I have a couple of questions
028first one would be how are they selected their principles um do the selection process so we talked with principles about the ssac objective and we asked them to submit their recommendations based on our objectives for the group I'm going to add to that so additionally we go through a process of um we want to make sure that we are amplifying student voice there are a lot of student groups in our buildings and so we specifically ask for um a diverse group of students with a variety of experiences as you know um principles assistant principles and other building staff members work with students in a variety of ways and sometimes as we know students come to us and have a lot to share um we ask principles to think about students who who have come to
029you um and have specifically named areas for growth and improvement in our district or um who really have um a knack for advocacy and want a platform or that you see as possibly an aspiring leader and so we do give principles and leaders um criteria to consider as they're thinking about students to be on the committee thank you that's wonderful I'm glad to hear it I do see a lot of Future Leaders here um my next comment was that well I guess it's a question my comment was at the one time I was able to attend it was so good so I wondered you know as a board member it would be also nice I know that there's rules that we can't attend each one but is there any way it could be recorded or
030something that we could hear so we also get to hear that student voice throughout the year or it's just something to consider you know I think we can explore an idea of some sort of capturing of the event um I want to be respectful of our our council members who do have a great sense of of comfort to be themselves and to be open and not feel like that they're being put in too big of a spotlight in a fishbowl defitely but I I do think perhaps um I can work with um our two outreaching student blind directors on capturing it in a different way a little bit more often for the board oh that'd be great and I and I appreciate that you know I don't want I don't need to see it if
031it compromises the comfortable our students feeling comfortable and being able to uh parti ipate on the level that they can to help us so thank you you're welcome thank you thank you for your questions Charles so first of all thank you big thank you to Dr lesby and Dr Smith for your leadership on this I also had the opportunity to attend one of the sessions and it was the environment that you've created for the students um to be able to share openly uh it is just it was just phenomenal some of the things that they were they were bringing up so kudos to you both for that um also to the students uh really thank you all for you know stepping up and stepping out and being able to you know share your perspectives and
032and and the cander uh and your willingness to share your voice um you know I'm excited about the leadership that you guys are all displaying already and I'm excited about the the things that are to come in the future and and the results that will come from all the work that you did so um you should all be very proud of the work that you've done um the the leadership you're exhibiting is just extraordinary so um uh you should all be proud of yourselves and I know all the folks sitting behind you your parents are proud of you as well so thank you for that the question I have is um was there anything surprising that you know you kind of go into a system a situation like this with some kind of okay we
033expect to hear a little of this or a little of that what was the biggest surprise that you found in in the work and that could either come from the students or from either of the two of you big surprise hi I'm Kimani Smith I'm a junior at Neighborville Central and it's my second year at SSC and I think I would just say the most surprising thing working in the group is definitely hearing how much of an impact uh mental health and emotions and feelings and social emotional learning how that impacts our education I feel like going into it last year I expected a lot more of complaints about education and lesson planning and feeling overwhelmed with work but it happens to be that a lot more we're expressing that we feel unrecognized unappreciated by
034staff or teachers and there's a lot that goes into it um in the emotional side and that obviously drove a lot of our goals and I was just surprised by that hi I'm Spencer brick I'm a freshman at Central this year and um I think the the most surprising thing I found with ssac was at the first meeting when we all walked in um I was what my um with a in a pink shirt um it was a Friday we had just gotten off the bus and it was a big open arm hug happy Friday and I think I mentioned that in the video too but um the environment I thought it was going to be like this I thought it was going to be a board meeting um um where we all had little
035microphones and all sorts of completely um but before about a week before our first meeting I sat down with our principal Mrs Thorton along with the three existing SSC members and they told me not to wear a suit and I I thought that was really nice but um yeah like I said I thought it was going to be like this but we all sat down on couches and bean bags and all sorts of stuff and just had a great time as um like kamani said a family so that was my most surprising thing thank you hi my name is C moer I'm in e8th grade at Washington Junior High School and I had similar ideas to Spencer I like expected that it was going to be similar to this just like really serious but when
036I got there it was just like really like not as serious as I thought it was going to be I mean like serious work but it just felt like we were like a family and everybody just belonged um one of my biggest surprises was the students cander um this is my first year in neille School District 203 and I came from an Elementary District and so in working with these Junior High and high school students I wasn't quite sure what to expect their willingness to be brave in front of what started out to be complete strangers their willingness to speak their truths and their willingness to go the extra mile if somebody needed an extra hand um was mindblowing because people say oh teenagers these days and I have one at home so I know
037of what they speak however working with this group of students have has given me hope that there that there there's there's a light there's a light in our buildings that is shining and these students are definitely um the lead are definitely leading the way and Shining that light and making sure that every student voice gets heard making sure that every student feels like they belong and making sure that every student feels like they have a place here because that's super important to them and they're on the leading charge of making that that happen I will share the most um surprising thing for me is the students's um care for the adults in their building um they all of their goals were not just student centered their goals embraced the the thoughtfulness it embraced um the
038circumstances that they are familiar with with the adults in their building and they wanted to include work that also supported the adults I thought that was um it was not only surprising but it was very heartwarming to really understand that they see the adults in their building not just as titles but as people and the same belonging that they are Desiring for themselves they are Desiring for their staff as well and that was very surprising for me thank you for your question go ahead Char you're good okay I I was just going to say um thank you for that that was incredible um the video was great but that really brought a lot of extra perspective to it so again to the students thank you for your leadership um if our community looks like this
039in the future especially with these young folks showing cons care and concern for the adults in their building then um it does it gives me hope as well that our future is in good hands so thank you all for that Kristen thank you so much for the report and to each of the students um we are so excited to get your report because this is something we've been waiting for this was something we talked about for many years and um seeing it come into fruition last year and this year has been so rewarding and it's funny that Charles asked about the surprises even as a a board member I was surprised listening to all of you and I wanted to compliment you on your care for the adults that is not something that I expected
040to come from this I could tell that you were Advocates somebody in the video said you know I I think of myself as an advocate I could tell that um but I didn't expect that you would Advocate advocate so much for the adults as well as your peers so that's something that is so wonderful that you are able to look Beyond not even just the students looking at the adults as well and I see that in your recommendations um the other thing that I can see besides the clear shining through of the importance of mental health which really shines through the video shines through the goals but your goals I think globally represent what you all have done in the council so like looking through and characterizing those goals they talk about relationships they talk
041about conversations they talk about Community connections and they talk about like the extracurricular this activity being up outside of the school and I I'm so excited because what I'm hoping from those goals is that those things that you all have experienced in your student in your superintendent student advisory Council will be the kinds of things that your peers will gain from these goals so I really compliment you because the things that you're talking about that you felt were valuable I think that you've displayed that in your goals I think you did a really good job of making those types of benchmarks the kinds of things that we should see we hope to see when we next year report on how this went for the rest of your peers so thank you for that and I
042really compliment you on your goals and thank you for your hard work and the authenticity that you brought to it um that I think will really have results for both the students and the adults thank you Donna I I'm glad you said that was your biggest surprise because my question that I actually sent that I didn't ask at first was were the goals for the 20 or were the goals set by the students and then I said how did they arrive at a goal for staff professional development I was I was you know that was surprising to me too and so I commend you um students and and the staff that worked with them and our superintendent for the work that you did because you um very often at a young age you think a
043lot about what affects you immediately and to think beyond that is uh really great leadership so thank you you're welcome thank you just one last comment um first of all I'm I'm happy that to watch this continue to Blossom especially knowing now there's building level engagement that came from last year um but to the students Mrs Fitzgerald touched on it a bit um your your compassion the honesty your cander all of that that you brought and your collaboration um that all comes together in advocacy and so so you're you're taking really big steps towards leadership and even if you're a quieter student or you're someone who's a little bit more outgoing having the heart of an advocate is going to naturally draw people to you and you're going to have a very important voice and
044just use that use that compassion that you have and and take people with you and and hold their hands and sometimes they're going to want to hold your hand but you're going to take amazing steps out there and don't let that go um I don't know if I'm saying it the right way but as Mr Kush said um you're certainly very bright lights and you know let them shine and and bring people into that light and and show them the way and you're going to you're going to carry this community really far and we're grateful for that and we're grateful for the adults that are leading this work so thank you so if I can could in closing thank Dr lby Dr Russell Smith for your leadership and work with our kids and express my
045deep gratitude to every one of you sitting here in the front row uh look forward to next year look forward to getting back together those as has been said those are my favorite days of the year for sure and I'm looking forward to those next year as well and in respect for your mental health I want to make sure those of you in high school who who have finals tomorrow have some time to go home and review so please do not feel as though you need to remain you are welcome to too of course but thank you so much for the time that you've given us this evening uh and more more importantly thank you for the gift that you've given us all thank you thank you thank you thank you very much should say
046um okay we have now reached the point in our agenda for public comment the Board of Education welcomes comments from the public at its meetings citizens who wish to to address the Board of Education should identify themselves by name comments by individuals shall be limited to 3 minutes if the individual is representing multiple individuals or a group they shall be allowed to speak for five minutes as I call an individual for public comment I will also designate the speakers the next speaker so that they have appropriate time to prepare in accordance with board policy issues raised in public comment will be taken under advisement by the board 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
047questions raised in public comment address District operational matters the superintendent is a board's designate to coordinate response to public comment and will apprise the board accordingly at this point I would like to welcome Ross Berkeley representing the Ia region 39 he will be followed by Rob hunt representing IA region [Applause] 39 hi good evening Board of Education my name is Ross Berkeley tonight I am representing re IA region 39 as a council member um as board policy 2230 is silent on uh yielding of time and in a mutual effort um to maintain decorum in meetings I would ask to yield my time to iea region 39 chair Rob hunt good evening members of the school board Mr Bridges members of the cabinet esteemed colleagues and community members my name is Rob hunt I'm here speaking
048as chair of the Illinois education association's region 39 on behalf of the region Council and as such ask for five minutes of your time region 39 is made up of all four bargaining units for District 203 including nespa the naville education support professionals Association tonight I will emphasize the indispensable role of esps in our schools it is crucial that we recognize honor and value the contributions of our roughly 450 classroom assistants AIDS secretaries health technicians and other education support professionals first and foremost our esps are the backbone of our educational system system here in 203 and are crucial in helping us live our mission they are often the first faces our students see when they enter the school building and the last ones they see when they leave their roles are pivotal to the smooth
049operation and success of our schools without them our school simply would not function school secretaries are nespa members they are the Lynch pins of our administrative framework they manage the daily operations of our schools with efficiency and Grace and incredible patience from coordinating schedules to handling handling Communications with parents and staff their organizational skills keep our buildings running smoothly they are often the first point of contact for parents and the community embodying the welcoming spirit and professionalism of District 203 their role in fostering a positive School climate and ensuring effective communication cannot be overstated health technicians are nespa members they play a critical role in safeguarding the well-being of our students they manage health records administer important medications and provide care for students with medical needs in times uh of emergency their prompt response and
050expertise can and has been life-saving particularly in the current context where health and safety are Paramount the role of health technicians has never been more vital they ensure that our schools are not just places of learning but safe havens for our children classroom assistants are nespa members they provide crucial support to teachers myself included by enabling more personalized attention for students and enhancing the learning environment they provide one and oneon-one support to students who need extra help manage small group activities and provide nurturing and support for our Learners classroom assistance amplify the impact of our Educators ensuring that every child receives the attention and support they deserve Kathy is a nespa member who works in my classroom she is one of the most kind patient and generous people I know and I didn't know she
051was going to be here tonight so this is extra special I get to read this in front of her she's a lawyer but she chooses to work with our most vulnerable students every day she adds joy and knowledge to the lives of her students just today in the hallway during passing period Kathy pulled a student to site in the hallway and heaped compliments on the student for how wonderfully she participated in a group discussion the student just absolutely glowed with pride and happiness with this compliment outside of her working hours Kathy attends every GSA meeting at Lincoln Junior High because she knows how lgbtq student struggles are unique and that her support is beneficial for this population Kathy is a true 203 treasure I think that could be a tagline true 203 Treasures who is
052instrumental in building a passion for lifelong learning with every student with whom she works the value of esps extends well beyond their specific duties they build vital connections with students offering emotional behavioral and academic support that enriches the school experience they are mentors and Role Models fostering a nurturing and inclusive environment their commitment and dedication help create a school culture where every single student feels valued and feels supported investing in and rewarding these valuable esps is an economically Sound Decision with the district esps help maximize the efficiency and the effectiveness of our educational resources this in turn leads to better educational outcomes for our students which is the ultimate goal of our educational system in conclusion the negotiation of a fair and supportive contract for educational support professionals is not just a matter of fairness
053it's a matter of recognizing their profound impact on our schools and on every student in District 203 they're integral to our mission of providing high quality education and ensuring the well-being of our students I urge the board to recognize the Irreplaceable value that nespa members like Kathy and so many others bring to our educational community and to support them with the respect and compensation they rightfully deserve thank you on behalf of the Board of Education thank you for your comments I would like to welcome Phoebe Connor next good evening my name is Phoebe Connor and I'm a learning Behavior specialist within the multi- needs program as well as a sponsor of best buddies club and bsla at neille North High School finishing my 10th year as an educator all 10 of those years within District
054203 I am here today because of the Loyalty I have to the school district and the amazing students and staff that I work with I spoke in support of a significant increase in par professional pay at a board meeting during the last nespa negotiations as these poverty wages were directly negatively impacting our students with disabilities especially those with severe and profound disabilities however it is very disheartening for me to stand up here today and say that I could say the same speech verbatim and it would still apply as supports for our students have only gotten worse due to the lack of response of this board simply put I cannot fulfill my job and responsibilities as a special educator to its fullest extent without adequate paraprofessional support my students in our multi- needs program can never
055be left unsupervised in order to ensure their safety and they require a lot of structure throughout their day they get dropped off by the buses between 655 and 7:05 at naville North every day and my staff immediately gets to work unloading students from the bus helping them put their materials away changing students in the bathroom supporting morning hygiene routines and setting up morning morning leisure activities they then do not stop assisting teachers and students until my students leave sometime between 3:30 and 3:45 p.m. throughout the day par professionals escort students class to class bathroom students support them through hygiene and independent living routines run small group and one-on-one instruction take data on behaviors and IEP goals adapt materials for teachers read assessments organize classrooms feed students ride the bus ensure student safety in the community
056train peer helpers deal with physical student behavior and heavily communicate with case managers and related service providers many paas also support our students after school in their extracurricular events like best buddies and Special Olympics their job is both physically and mentally taxing and their current pay is in no way reflective of the work that they do day in and day out to ensure our Student Success when I first started working in our district we were able to assess para professional strengths and place them in special education programs either our specialized programs instructional programs or resource Co cop programs where they would best Thrive however for the last 5 years or so we have not been able to do this currently our specialized programs at North are supported by every pair of professional our department has
057except for one as we have several unfilled support staff positions this means majority of our instructional and co- talk classes have zero paraprofessional support when in the past every self-contained classroom had at least one Aid it is unacceptable that classrooms made up of all students with IEPs have no consistent extra staff support we as a district are failing our students our students and our families deserve better our teachers and related service staff time thank you on behalf of the board thank you for your comments I do not have any more slips does anyone wish to address the Board of Education good evening my name is Amy Vogal and I am an e teacher at neille North High School tonight I would like to speak in support of my nespa colleagues and also just publicly express
058my gratitude to them as Rob hunt so eloquently stated without these dedicated professionals our schools could not function the first people who greet me in the morning at the doors are nesbot employees um the financial secretary who makes sure that my kids have access to food and to Opportunities like field trips is a nespa employee in the learning Commons uh my students feel safe welcome and seen by nespa employees who take the time to get to know them to speak to them to make them feel like they are an important part of our school Community the testing center that helps us to address missing assessments from student absences is run by an Esa employee and the department secretaries who make sure that our students are safe and supervised when there are doubl digigit unfilled sub
059positions our nusa employees I also have to speak to um some who are particularly near and dear to my heart our El program assistance they work with our students to make sure that they can safely and happily navigate our schools they make content accessible to students and all of them work well beyond the of their contracts whether that be um sponsoring a club without a stipend for years just out of passion and wanting students to have a space to express their culture and to be together whether that be running intervention groups um because several of our nesp employees are also certified Educators they just aren't paid as such um and in my own classroom just seeing the way that they help students feel engaged and capable is incredible so I hope that um in the
060way that they are treated in our schools and in my interactions with them that I am able to express my gratitude for all that they do and I hope that the next contract also expresses respect and shows how much they are truly valued and essential to the functioning of our schools thank you on behalf of the whole Board of Education thank you for your comments 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 of Education accordingly this will conclude our public comment period item six month L reports the monthly reports are loaded for review in board docs item seven action by consent we have
061reached the business portion of our meeting as a reminder to the community the board understands and has affirmed through our board agreements that it is 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 president 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 the board has tasked itself to send questions in advance of each meeting to the superintendent this practice allows a superintendent to provide the best possible answer for the community additionally it allows for maximum efficiency during the community's meeting those same submitted questions may also be asked in
062Open Session along with new ones that may arise during discussions in the spirit of transparency when asking a question please identify if you sent it ahead Mr Bridges did you receive questions from board members in advance of tonight's meeting I did from how many board members please five okay item seven action by consent Charles all right I um had the pleasure of doing bills and claims this uh this cycle and uh as usual I'd like to thank Michelle Swope uh who as usual did a great job of kind of providing the detail um answering all of my questions and um and creating you know a good understanding of everything that was going through so I appreciate her patience and her diligence as always um and so with that I move approval of Warrant number Charles
063one second I'm sorry Melissa if we could pull 7.02 yes yes okay thank sorry go ahead okay all right so I will pull 7.02 but um so with that I move approval of Warrant number 10 59311 through warrant number 90000000000 74 totaling 26 mil $1,599 129 for the period of April 16th 2024 to May 20th 2024 and items number 7.03 and 7.04 on the consent agenda as presented second a motion and a second have been heard please call the role Mrs Patton cossky hi Kush hi wanky hi McMill I Fitzgerald I Kelly black I giry I the motion passes okay item 7.02 the adoption of the Personnel report Melissa yes I asked for it to be pulled um I did Express serious concerns about one candidate um but otherwise I want to let you know
064that I'm extremely happy with the people coming on board and the changes we're making and thank you for those people that are moving on for what you did for our community thank you I will take a motion for item 7.02 I move approval of item 7.02 um as presented second a motion and a second have been heard please call the role Mrs Patton Wan key hi giry I Fitzgerald I McMillan I Kush I kinsky I Kelly black nay the motion passes okay with that I would like to make some introductions of some of our new leaders here in the district uh and so when I uh say your name if you just please stand and give a wave to the board in the community I'd appreciate it we'll start with Kristen Capriola who affectionately goes
065by the name by cap so cap congratulations uh the board's action this evening approved uh Kristen as the next principal at Lincoln Junior High School she currently is an assistant principal at Lincoln Junior High School and has experienced another District as a assistant principal as well welcome in addition to my excitement for caps leadership at Lincoln I am thrilled with uh our new members of cabinet um who will be replacing some amazing people uh in the coming year um and so I'd like to introduce those two you three of them are with us tonight one of them who I'll introduce first is unable to be with us tonight as uh the elementary school where she is currently a principal uh has U an event this evening so and that would be Katie Matthews uh Katie
066is currently a principal at Grove Avenue Elementary in barington and prior to that was um a principal in Woodridge has experienced as an assistant principal uh and Katie Matthews will assume the role of assistant superintendent for elementary education I look forward to introducing her to you at a future time super excited for this next candidate for her next opportunity in her uh career in Journey uh and that's Melissa McKenry Missy would you please stand board's action this evening approved Missy is our next assistant superintendent for student services she's currently a director of student services here in naville and I believe your entire career has been at neille 203 so congratulations uh welcome to Cabinet next I'd like to introduce Dr Meredith haens Meredith can you stand Meredith will become the assistant superintendent for human resources
067I I think you might want to kind of sit around those people that are over there right get right right so Meredith Dr hains is currently the assistant superintendent for human resources in markart school district she also has experience as a principal uh in the Middle School ALS and an assistant principal welcome Dr agin uh and then finally Dr Mark Cohen Mark if You' please stand the board's action this evening approved Mark as the deputy superintendent who also oversee our high schools uh Mark is currently the superintendent mochina school district 158 has been an assistant superintendent for human resources and high school principal in Lincoln Way and we're proud to have Mark join our team and I'm very excited for all of the new cabinet members to be here and grateful for those that sered
068before them so thank you for being here this evening we look forward to being on the team item eight Communications item 8.01 written Communications are loaded for review item 8.02 the superintendent staff school report no additional reports item 8.03 the president's report I do not have a report tonight item 8.04 Board of Education reports does anyone wish to give a brief update on something they have done in their official capacity as a board member Amanda uh thank you um so so uh as nef representative I just wanted to um uh thank Wendy and her whole team and all the nef Trustees for hosting and facilitating a really successful nef breakfast um the outcome was very uh similar to previous events but we did have more people and more new people that engaged this time and
069donated for the first time which is really exciting to see um some uh refurbishment of Engagement into to nef and it was really inspirational to uh be at the event and um hear from uh neille alumni who is now just super smart um and also to have the students current students um interview with them and stuff so that was really great um we're wrapping up this year we have one more meeting for this current uh board where then we're going to be honoring some new trustees and then kicking off the next year strong with our uh nef uh race uh in October so it's uh time to start signing up for that already so thank you and it's been an honor to serve thanks for being our repor Amanda for this year and then last
070year also um and then Donna you're also so right thanks for both being there early in the mornings any other oh Kristen just a quick report um this morning was the um quarterly conference call with the um Illinois Association of school boards collaboration with ISB um with a couple of different board members um and our sort of our qu quarterly meeting to check in with State superintendent Tony Sanders um our discussion today focused primarily on the SAT act change as well as working on the new proficiency targets um it's just a a compliment to ISB that they continue to to um keep that close relationship with Tony Sanders at isby um those calls began during during the pandemic but they've um they've become a quarterly call you know continuing into the future I think it's
071a really positive opportunity for our state superintendent just to hear from board members thank you for being on that call for us any other oh Joe go ahead yeah I was uh able to visit two of my adopted schools um since the last board meeting and I I really appreciate the opportunity to uh go around uh to those schools with uh the superintendent and um get tours of the schools um get to talk to staff to home and school members to students um I was at uh BB Elementary and Neighborville Central uh we got to hear from one of the uh principal advisory members at neap Central which is really great um so another opportunity for student voice um and I'm looking forward to my visit to Maple Brook tomorrow thank you any other reports
072Melissa hi I was able to do two more school visits and I happen to have a visit here so I think the principal gasin you're here thank you so much it's wonderful they have the opportunity to go through and see the teachers and the students in action so I appreciate these opportunities I also enjoy hearing and you know about what are the needs what's working what's not working um where are the strengths because we can share these good good ideas you know you have great ideas in a building let's get them out to the other buildings so thank you again for allowing me to come and see your school and meet your staff and your students and you always can call them out by Nam so I'm always impressed I also was able to meet
073High to go to Highland School so it was nice um I forgot your name you were there and it was a wonderful visit say thanks sorry I should be better with names um but I want to say thank you because I know that some of the staff it was uh teacher appreciation week and so it was nice to be able to kind of go in and thank you guys personally and again to see the good work that you're doing and the beauty the building is beautiful I did see them at lunch which is a nice different opportunity to see them um in the classrooms in the nice I Mrs wries was my uh both my boys had her so I was able to see her she's re your reading specialist I believe or math specialist
074now so again thank you for making these visits you know so informative and and it's really rewarding thank you any other board reports okay item nine discussion without action as a reminder to all board members I will recognize each individual to ask questions or comments as per our board agreements we share time with with with other members and please remember to identify a question please identify if you sent a question ahead after each person has had a turn we will go back around if necessary and please remember it is not in order to interject unless you've been recognized item 9.01 the 2024 2025 budget Workshop okay at the May 6th Board of Education meeting the administration presented a draft tenative budget to the board for its initial review um our timeline is like this today
075uh is a budg of Workshop opportunity for questions and discussion with uh between Administration and the board also have a workshop on Monday June 3 and then finally on June 17th we'll have a public hearing uh also a public hearing on an amended budget we'll have opportunity for discussion and then request action by the board of education at the June 17th meeting uh also share with you that on May 7th the Citizens Finance advisers met with myself uh and uh Mike Francis the Chief Financial Officer Christen Fitzgerald was a board of liaison who was able to attend that meeting uh we had good attendance among the advisers and and generally overall I would say very supportive uh of the budget that has been presented also very supportive of action steps that the board has taken
076specifically based off of input and feedback from them previously such as using some of the fund balance for uh facility needs across the district so they were uh they did appreciate hearing that that had been done um and overall feel that U from a financial standpoint uh the the board and the the community is in a good place um we did receive a number of uh budget questions today so Mike and his staff will continue to work on those and as is our practice those will be added to the document that is publicly posted uh in board docs under fy2 budget questions again as a point of efficiency an opportunity to really have allow Mike to dig in deep we take those questions we prepare a document with the questions asked by the board member
077responses from Administration and then we post that publicly questions we received today will be added to the end of the budget questions that are currently posted and we'll do that as soon as we're as we are able to get the answers to those questions Mike I don't know if you have any additional information to to share then we will open it up for discussion or questions from the board questions from the board Charles uh I I did send this question in um there was a reduction in the budget uh the state revenue budget uh specifically as it pertain to early childhood education I think I might know the answer to this um but I wanted to understand what was driving the reduction I thought it was something about a grant that we didn't potentially that
078we didn't renew year-over-year but if that's not accurate please correct me no that that is the main driver of the state change that particular Grant will not be uh is not available for us for next year because of the changes in the program uh and some other state line items change minorly uh overall it's a it's it's pretty flat on a over year-over-year basis at the state okay thank you other questions from the board Donna thank you I um sent my questions ahead as well um are those the ones that we sent are are they going to be in the document for the next meeting yes yes they will yes okay so I guess I'll ask the questions I sent last meeting and let you put the ones I asked for this meeting into the
079document and I'll and I'll just be a week behind on my asking if that's okay um so from my questions last time I asked specifically um in the beginning of the budget it you know we we note that we have about a 5% increase in our budget and I understand that the majority of that is coming from salaries which is our biggest expense but could we speci spe ify and you don't have to answer this now if you want to just put this in the questions that'd be great um can we specify more of the um cost of the items at the beginning of the budget of of the additional expenses that were pres in the presentation piece so for instance um uh hold on we have like the new initiatives uh let me find
080what page I'm sorry this was my question last time so other budget initiatives like the high school art iPads The Magic School AI the safety platform like those items yeah that was a question that was submitted uh last time oh do I saw that question today oh okay I don't recall that being submitted last time um it was submitted today so that answer I'm I was working on that uh today it'll be available at the next okay no worries that's fine um we have lots of time on this and then I did ask uh about the technical theater directors you answered those questions and I asked about that last last week as well um uh I think those were my questions from last time and then I'll ask next time thank you other questions from
081the board Amanda I did not submit this in advance but I was curious based off of Charles's question um going back to the early childhood education because I did notice that there that was one area we had a reduction in force um you know for staff members is that budget related or is it actual enrollment related no I believe it's related to that specifically um changing the preschool for all program um those things are related yes okay um and is that something that we could possibly get back in the future or is that like something that's going away forever you I'm not sure at least Zas do you want to briefly address that one sure so um we were using classrooms at Satellite schools for those four rooms um and now we're going to use
082them for something else since that program isn't continuing so you know there is obviously always an opportunity for us to relook at our programming and and see what's working but as of right now we don't have a plan to add those four classrooms back oh thank you I'm um I'm in the early chter field so I was just kind of curious how that was impacting um our things and I haven't had a chance to ble isn't for uh in read yet just putting that out there maybe I'd like to so okay thanks Kristen did you have a question oh I I was just gonna say I I I wanted to Echo Dan's appreciation for the citizen Finance advisor meeting I think that we had a very positive dialogue and many of the things that we
083talked about were directly responsive to the feedback from the previous time so I think it was something where I think the the citizen Finance advisers really felt like their feedback was listened to because we were exactly at the point where we were where they had recommended we would be so um I appreciate that time that that group puts in and I know Charles is our other um Lea son who was there at the previous meeting so thank you to Charles as well um I also just want to say I I think this process of including the budget questions in the document is really helpful so I did send quite a few questions but I I don't think you have them ready yet but I think I I really appreciate the board's efforts to send those
084questions I think it's a really transparent way to show the you know the articulation of all the you know various areas within the budget so thank you I I won't ask the ones I sent because I know you haven't had time to fill them but I appreciate your efforts to do that other questions from the board Melissa this is actually a followup so you so what's happening for the students that were being serviced in those four rooms um so th those classrooms were for students who are currently four they're all transitioning to to kindergarten so uh they were actually identified as students who were potentially at risk of academic failure uh for a variety of reasons and so those students will now be supported at anre students who may qualify for them and so what
085would be the difference that you lost the funding or the grant you didn't qualify you were not pursuing the grant any further why because we're not running that program anymore so instead we we're running the program progr within an Reed we're going to absorb those students in the PFA program okay um was the only difference that they had to have individual rooms or was there um it was an extended day so it was a longer day for students it added lunch and recess and nap time for the students that were at risk so they'll get less services or no they'll get the same amount of instructional minutes but they won't get the other that's correct they won't have nap time at school they won't have nap time extended day or recess um have you had
086any feedback from parents as far as I know one of the issues is if these kids need these seres and they're at risk and you know when we invest in young kids you know we get much more back from it um my understanding was that one of the big benefits of the having the longer school day and having the meals and having the nap is that it allowed parents these parents to work essentially not find child care too is that am I have you heard I guess I'm concerned about that as far as who who we servicing and will those kids then be more at risk yeah we haven't we haven't found that to be true based on our students who go to the half day program now we do collaborate with a lot of
087agencies in the area to find Child Care um and we've not had any parent complaints about the change in our program but there are a different group of students identified correct so you're not comparing Apples to Apples like the students that do a half day aren't the same group that were in this other program as far as maybe their needs or why they were identified that's a complex question for me to answer because every student is very different but there are students with more needs who are serviced even at an Reed than students who were serviced in the satellite classrooms if that's what you're asking is there any way to see are we going to be collecting any data or anything to see how this actually pans out for these students yes we always collect
088data on their performance so we'll continue to look at that well we continue to look at these individual students to see whether this move was beneficial or not which individual students are you asking me about I'm talking about the students the preschool for all students preschool for all is a program at an Reed um and that will continue okay what was the classrooms the grant then the preschool for all expansion like the extended day program so there are no students that were slated for that program next year but is there any way so no students were slated from it for it they would didn't qualify correct because those students all qualify for preschool for all and that program is continuing okay I'll just remind the board I share this information with you I think a
089few months ago that we were proceeding down this line or we did use data to inform us on our decision making and feel very comfortable that our program at and re will serve the needs of the students all right Dan if I could get that data or anything you have from that I'd appreciate that I will share reshare with you what I already shared previously with the board all right well one of the problems is every time we have a meeting and I ask for information and you said it'll be shared it's not Melissa we did receive that information as a board we did receive it as a group Donna so thank you for your report um the students in the satellite classroom is are now going to be that's like I mean they were
090at the other Elementary they were at other elementary schools right there were two at two different elementaries right yes okay so they're going to be back at an Reed which with all of the student I mean not them back I'm saying there won't be those classrooms that those CL the students who would have been in those classrooms are going to be at an Reed with all the students of their same age then and and access to age level materials access to all the Staffing at an Reed and and will'll have less of an equity issue right and so I'm um super excited that we have them all in one building and I think that we can serve them better doing that so thank you thank you other questions from the board Kristen no I just
091I I I I do recall the discussion that we had with regard to this situation and I I I also understand that the data was was clearly showing that our students at an Reed were were achieving equally or greater to the additional students and so the extra time wasn't serving is that correct that's correct and Main not just the time we were asking students who are very young to transition three years in a row one year at an Reed then the one of the satellite schools and then to their kindergarten site so multiple transitions we think also was just not not a good practice for young children so thank you for continuing to evaluate the data that you were seeing in terms of the performances and the social and emotional impact of the programs and
092bringing us this recommendation so that we're able to serve them in the adequate space other questions from the board Melissa the only thing to just so you're saying those transitions aren't good for the kids to be able to stay in a longer program we know research says transitions are not great for children it's good to have consistency among Staffing Etc and so they were transitioning to new teachers new speech pathologists new social workers through years in a row um and our data showed many of those students were not staying in our district they were moving out and so we're one hypothesis to that is potentially they weren't feeling a connection and so we want to make sure that we're building that connection to our school community so they remain here oh yeah we might want
093to look at that research again because I think when you add the stability of being able to be in that classroom and the parents not having to find now these parents they have to transition to another facility for after school care so I I think that there's much more to that picture yeah I I just want to also be clear the full day ended at 1:15 um and so they were still transitioning to child care after that time thanks um we'll continue to send our questions um regarding the budget thanks for um the clarifications too on some of the changes item 10 discussion with action 10.01 the 2024 2025 board meeting schedule okay two previous board meetings you've had an opportunity to uh review this and I think we're ready for action so I recommend
094you approve the 2024 20125 board meeting schedule uh approved as um presented I will not the caveat that was brought up last time about looking at the January 1 meeting in January potentially is one again that we would eliminate but we'll have it on there as a placeholder any questions from the board okay I will take a motion for item 10.01 I move appr Ral of item 10.01 2024 2025 board meeting schedule as presented second a motion and a second have been heard please call the role Mrs Patton Kush I McMillan I Kelly black I Fitzgerald i kinsky i giry i wanky I the motion passes item 10.02 the second reading policy 7180 preventing bullying intimidation and harassment I'll provide just a brief update for item 10.02 and 10.03 together they kind of work together
095through the same group of parent student and staff advisory but annually uh we review these two policies as well as others uh that we've we're still working on uh and take input from the the panel or The Advisory Group on recommended changes uh we also run those through legal council on those potential changes and their alignment with press so Dr Holland any new information on 10.02 policy 7180 recommend you approve it as presented happy to answer any questions okay questions from The Amanda a comment I just want to commend Dr um Holland and your team because I was part of this committee a couple years ago and just to see the progress and the thoughtfulness and engagement of the students and how much better it is I just want to thank you so much on
096your leadership on that and I can definitely recognize the work so I just want to thank you so much and I you know wanted to say that so thank you Donna so I mentioned this ahead of time and then I sent a question ahead of time but this is not something that we discussed in the last meeting and I know this is up for action but I don't mean to thwart that but I have some um concerns with some articles that I've read in addition to uh just what I'm hearing um from the state legislation uh AI generated deep fakes are are plaguing school districts where students are using AI to create uh nude photos of teachers and other students and distributing those and I find that from what I'm reading and what I'm hearing
097it's really difficult for schools to address that because they're fake photos and so they're not necessarily being caught by um mandated reporting they're not necessarily being caught by um or falling into even cyber bullying because they're not real and and so it's kind of an item that's slipping through the cracks and being difficult to discipline and so um I I'd like to see I mean it's it's a form of cyber bullying it's a form of sexual harassment honestly but um at least a form of cyber bullying and I'd like to see us um address that in our policy okay I'm I'm wondering if I can recommend um we approve it as it's presented with the caveat that we will look we will work on that we know policy 7190 um and and a couple others
098are going to come have to back to the board after the first after July 1st um due to some Personnel changes in the language required about who the reporters are and we can bring it back at that time if we can create any I'd like to get some um language but I I'll leave it to the board I mean we're we're we're comfortable right now with it as is I I respect your concern and I hear that um and I wonder if indirectly Shay you think it's it's already it's already tied in here so in policy 7190 um number 22 speaks of the use of an electronic device and what's permiss like what's how you're supposed to use it what's what's permissible and was not permissible and it does have language in there that speaks
099to um the creation of images or the likeness of other students using technology um so that's something um there's a a line of um codes that actually speaks to the use of electronic an electronic device we also have our um accept acceptable use policy in place as well so I I do want to note that there is language currently in our student Behavior policy that directly connects with the creation of those images it may not be specific enough but um um something to consider also on 7180 on page two under cyber bullying it does talk about the creation and exchange of images and things created on the internet so it might help cover us Okay we okay so I saw I saw what you were reading I'm sorry um Dr Holland you said it was
100in 22 of the next policy correct is that what you were reading from I just want to make sure I had that right 71 I was reading from 7190 Allison mentioned 7180 I know but from 7190 you're we're looking at number 22 right yes okay so let me address that first because so on that I I understand what you're saying but again I don't think as I'm reading that I'm not sure how we're covering AI generated fake images like it covers photography but of photos but am I missing it or I mean I'm just looking at it now again because I didn't creating it says creatinga conduct includes without limitation creating sending sharing viewing receiving or possession or possessing an indecent visual depiction of oneself or another person okay all right I guess I I
101uh and I respect what you're saying Dr bridg is about or I mean yeah sorry about um moving forward I guess um I'd like to see us specifically talk about a AI generated fake photos because I feel like from from what other school districts are experiencing across the country it's it's they're having a hard time with the discipline because it's not specifically said and so what happens is students and families are are challenging that and and not being able to so follow through from the school district level to be able to make sure that we're catching those things and uh falling under the correct discipline now you just said it was in the policy I was supposed to be looking at too I didn't where where were you looking at that I'm sorry I was
102looking at page two of 71 7180 under cyber bullying yeah and I read that pretty closely do you um again are we looking at gen like AI generated like fake photos that you feel like that's addressed in there I think under the creation um okay and the distribution by electronic means what I can tell you right now under the current policy is if a student did something like that our policy is is is clear enough that we could discipline a student for that I know that even though it doesn't say I AI specifically there are other programs without AI that students have done this before so that's why it's kind of more Broad and do we have a mandated reporting associated with that if if that were to happen because the problem is is that
103from what I've heard is that we're it's not being reported because it's fake so it's not it doesn't fall into the mandated reporting and that's the part that I'm concerned about as well well again it would depend on who generated it the mandated reporter stuff is about a suspect of abuse and neglect of children um and so child to child um likely not reported under a mandated reporting uh issue which is typically what happens now um there could potentially be legal ramifications it also could be under the bullying investigation and process that we currently have if it was student to student or if a staff member became aware of it which of and uh there's talk or other things that happen at school and it comes down to what the root issue was and it
104starts with something on social media like an exchange of a p picture image that would still be handled in the same manner regardless if it was real or created okay um you said these are coming back when Dan say that again you said these are coming back to us I'm not exactly sure when but after the first after July 1 when we have some changes in in Personnel just the names is all we were going to change okay all right I we may be forced to do that legislatively too so I just want you to be aware but okay I I can I can wait a few months and go forward with all the work that's been done on this I didn't mean to throw like I said something extra at us it's just something
105that's super timely and uh and super uh critical that we make sure we have covered thank you other questions from the board I will take a motion for item 10 .02 I move approval of item 10.02 second reading policy 7180 preventing bullying intimidation and harassment as presented second a motion a second been heard please call the role Mrs padon kinsky I Kush I wanky I McMillan I Fitzgerald I Kelly black I giry I the motion passes item 10.03 second reading policy 71 190 student discipline Dr all anything new to share on this be Happ to answer any questions questions from the board Kristen I did send this question ahead but I I noted that you do have the Press um version of it and my question had been like what do you think of the
106press version compared to ours I mean like I just noticed that when you mentioned 22 there's no 22 here so like it does seem like like ours is more expansive and has some stuff that perhaps is not included in this 21 I did survey a couple of our other districts around us they all use the Press policy so I was just kind of wondering you know overall globally what you thought of it as you know our policies have shifted over time based off of conversations and requested additions um I do know that all of our codes listed all of the numbers are also embedded in our um student Information Systems we have a whole tracking process for when student engages in misconduct how we um track that data and that information we report on it
107it also is connected to the documentation so I'm just naming that our systems are currently set up in alignment with how our policies are written so that we are enforcing it and also keeping track of the data associated with it um I do think that it's helpful to be explicit um in the manner that we are that we currently are but um it's interesting to to look at press that has less information it leaves a little more open for interpretation as well if it's not explicitly stated I would add to that that um I do think I I like our Pro policy because I also like our process that's been in place for a while and the input that we got I would just again say the caution that we have have to keep in
108mind is the more we customize the policy the more likely of an opportunity to to miss something or a cross reference get mixed up I would prefer that we stay with the policy in our process that we typically do um because I think it's been a point of Pride actually for the board that it it's reviewed to policy 7190 the way that it has and the evolution that it has made over time and it sounds like our systems are all set up to support it with the specificity that it has yes okay thank you other questions from the board okay I will take a motion for item 10.03 I'll make a motion to approve item 10.03 second reading policy 7.19 student this one second a motion and a second have been heard please call the
109rooll Mrs Patton Wy I giry I Fitzgerald I McMillan I Kush I cossky I Kelly black I the motion passes item 10.04 the second reading policy 5100 staff development program okay we did present this uh to the board at its last meeting I recommend that you approve it as noted question was asked then and and submitted for uh this meeting regarding um the Press forced option of uh answering no or yes the default being no uh and and that's our recommendation if if you select yes it adds another paragraph of language in there regarding um um CPR use of uh AED machine or other life- saving statutes so I I did follow up with our Council as as was requested and the district is in compliance with Illinois statutory and regulatory requirements uh they would
110not recommend that the district adopt the optional press language uh requiring training in these areas be provided to all interested staff as such language would end well beyond the current statutory and regul regulatory requirements so I I agree with that um position um quite honestly then to make it available to all staff um would be uh fairly burdensome in terms of actually pulling off the training uh and then I think the cost we looked at was well over $100,000 per year for that so we recommend you adopt it as um as presented and we'll continue to provide the CPR uh and other training to those that are in positions that would require it Donna um so I understand if we were inv if we were providing um like a CPR certification for each employee that
111would be uh you know ex excessively burdensome but there's an is is some of this or any of this available um on an online uh platform that we use for for some of our other staff development uh I am not sure any but Jane Global compliance lease any I don't I don't believe so and I think CPR actually requires yeah I think like basic first aid but not necessarily CPR I mean there okay and and like I said I understand that we're not doing necessarily certification here um but the beginning of this par this optional paragraph where it says an opportunity shall be provided for all staff numbers to acquire it just makes me feel like I I think that we should be able to do that for our staff um even if it's not
112a certification if it's more of a um informative piece yeah my question um actually is like the maybe fourth or fifth line down it says in accordance with a nationally recognized certifying organization as well right um and so I don't know that we could choose to do something a little bit differently I think it would have to be something that is nationally recognize right and again just kind of interpreting the um my conversation with the attorney and then uh the opinion uh taking that language um essentially implies that we would provide it for all staff under those conditions uh and again the ability to be able to do that the time to be able to do that and the cost really makes it very prohibitive I think one valuation evaluatory comment of the training itself
113so yeah we we believe we have between 400 and 500 staff who who we have certified yeah because all of our coaches and and it's all Health office staff coaches um PE teachers uh ad like administrators anyone who takes students away from the school on a trip of some kind um so yeah all of them are certified yep okay all right I I guess I as I read with the nationally recognized certified thank you for pointing that out um uh recognized certifying organization I I would like us to see if there's something a I mean I know we have a lot of things available on that online platform um even if we don't check this box I'd like to see if we have something available beyond the first aid just to go through the um
114because CPR changes like I get certified every two years and it changes every two years so it'd be wonderful if our staff was aware you know like breaths are not that important anymore it's just that you know it's the um you know the chest compressions that are important because the breathing kind of comes with that so like knowing that I think would be really important for our staff if we could just see if that's available on that online platform that we have a lot of optional things on yeah and we actually have explored that even through Edwards there are two different versions you know one that has the full like mouth to mouth res station and one that is just chest compressions and so we've looked at that um we do offer the opportunity to
115be certified for extracurricular staff sponsors um and even beyond that like any Educators that might have a student in their classroom that they think that would help them um any staff in that building we allow them to be so we do expand beyond what is required already um and but we can explore what our online training offers so if I was a educator in a classroom and I wasn't a coach could I could I still request to be able to be trained in this if I if I felt a need or a yeah there's I mean we have some students that we want to make sure are surrounded by staff who are fully trained and so in those cases we offer all of those staff who might interact with that student um or you know
116or a staff member for example and so um if someone feels as though they need that training to do their job they absolutely can request okay that makes me feel better then thank you Melissa thank you for following up with their legal too Melissa I'm just going to throw out there I've been lucky enough to to be involved in some things with our fire department and our police department and the the Caps the community group um they've offer this might be something they've talked about wanting to you know maybe partner with us more so this might be an opportunity to explore some of those groups that might be a way to get that certification it might work for all parties we might want to reach out to our Community Partners I think that's a great
117idea and I just want to be clear we're not opposed to training more people in how to do CPR we like that idea um I think just the administrative kind of tying our hands but I like the idea and we'll reach out to them thank you other questions okay I will take a motion for item 10.04 motion to approve item 10.04 second reading policy 5.1 staff development program as uh second a motion and a second and been heard please call a rooll Mrs Patton McMillan I giry I Fitzgerald I Kelly black I wany I Kush I ksky I the motion passes item 10.05 board member attendance at conferences okay following um discussion by the board back in April regarding putting a procedure in place um we've gone through a first draft last time based on
118board conversation and just some errors that were made um we I've updated it and you'll see that there is striketh through and there's also uh the red font represents what has been added I believe based off of board um conversation at the last meeting so again this would be a procedure for the board themselves um so happy to hear discussion and feedback regarding any changes you like but I think it captures it so I'd recommend you approve it questions from the board Melissa I just want to thank you I appreciate the changes that were made and that you know we expanded you know the availability of the board to have educational opportunities so thank you other questions from the board Kristen did we um check in I'm sorry I did send this ahead and you
119may have determined the answer do we are we able to attend for nsba is it a significant cost difference or you are able to attend that's what I thought um Mrs Patton's had a difficult time really getting a very clear answer on the cost okay but we estimated it best estimate to be was it about $950 to $1,000 per individual for conference registration okay and I don't so I don't know how that compares to a member but we think it's more right quite a bit more okay other questions from the board okay I will take a motion to approve item 10.05 I move to approve item 10.05 board member attendance at conferences as presented second a motion and a second have been heard please call the RO Mrs P cossky hi Kelly black hi McMillan
120hi wanky I giry I Fitzgerald I Kush I the motion passes item 10.06 establish the date for public hearing regarding the intent to affect interfund transfers okay as a part of the recently approved capital projects on the upcoming um amend amended 24 budget um we're going to need to hold uh a public Hearing in regard to the transf interfund transfers we recommend that the this is according to Illinois statute and recommend that the Board of Education establish the public hearing date for the in fund transfers as presented Mike anything any dad questions from the board okay I will take a motion for item 10.06 I move approval of item 10.06 establish date for public hearing regarding the intent of to affect interfund transfers as presented second a motion and a second have been heard please
121call the role Mrs Patton McMillan I kinsky I Fitzgerald I Kush I giry I Kelly black I wan key I the motion passes item 11 old business we do not have any old business item 12 new business we do not have any new business item 13 upcoming events schedule of events okay so the next Board of Education meeting will be back at the public school administration Center uh on June 3rd at 7 pm now that you've approved um meeting schedule for next year we'll begin to update that as well last day of school for our students is Thursday May 23rd okay item 14 adjournment I will take a motion to adjourn I move we adjourn second second a motion and a second have been heard please call the role Mrs Pon Kush I Kelly black
122I Fitzgerald i wany i cossky i McMillan hi giry I the motion passes we are adjourned good night