Morton School Board Meeting February 3, 2026

001[music] like to call me in order. Valerie, can you please call the role? >> Yes, sir. >> Mr. Red >> here. >> Mr. Roth >> here. >> Mrs. Pertie >> here. >> Mr. Onus >> here. >> Mrs. Layman here. >> Dr. Crawl, >> present. And Dr. Cross, >> present. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right. Well, welcome everyone. Um, I'm going to kick this meeting off with just a quick moment of gratitude. And behind me, you'll see a listing of our Morton 709 crossing guards. And the reason why I want to thank them for their service to Morton 709, our students, staff, their parents, everyone. Um, last week was a an

002incredibly difficult week and they showed up and they did their jobs and they made sure kids were safe. So, if if you know any of these names, uh, please text, uh, a great text, uh, a message, what, you know, Facebook message, whatever it is, send a note to them and just say how much we appreciate them for their service and, you know, answering the call to be out there last week when it was absolutely miserable with weather. So, um, so that's the way I'd like to kick off this meeting with that moment of gratitude and give you all a homework assignment, please. So, uh, next up, we have a recognition. And so, I'm going to call Miss Bethany Scrogs on up, uh, to kind of facilitate who we're recognizing. >> All right. Well, thank you

003for this opportunity. Um, I'm incredibly grateful to get to shine a light on two incredible teachers tonight and the MHS rising company. Um, you may recall when I spoke to you earlier in the year, I mentioned the creation of a business as one of the goals that we had um, in our RISE department and I'm here to share that we have some rockstar teachers who are excited to um, really share more about the launch of the Rising Company. Mrs. Cosner and Mrs. Towner and their team are tremendous assets to our special education department because of their unwavering commitment to student growth and innovation. They consistently go beyond traditional instruction to create meaningful realworld opportunities that meet their students where they are and help them build independence, confidence, and transferable skills. Sorry. Their ability to see

004to see each student's potential combined with their collaborative spirit and entrepreneurial mindset strengthens the entire department. On behalf of student support services and Morton High School, way to go, Mrs. Coffer and Mrs. Towner and team, we are grateful for you. [applause] Hi. So, I'm Mrs. Cosner. This is Mrs. So, to continue with Dr. Sanders initiative of gratitude, I have to start by saying how grateful I am for everyone who has supported the RISE program so far in this new business venture. [clears throat] I'm also excited to be touching on one of our district's pillars this year, which is preparing our students for a future with a purpose. as this is one of our leading goals of the Morton Rising program. Morton Rising Company has been a dream in the making for a while now and

005it has been truly so amazing to see this concept come to fruition. Bethany, Lindsay, Kirk, Todd, Megan Break were instrumental in supporting this dream and helping to make it a reality. It began with a significant amount of planning, training, and an incredibly generous donation Megan made available to us through the PEP PECT program funds to purchase our sublimation machines. After talking with Megan about our intentions with the business, seeing the potential in our students, she was able to provide us with this funding that was originally outside of our budget. The most rewarding part of this business is the level of student involvement. It's really cool because they're able to partake in every single part of the process. From creating their designs and learning how to use Canva to folding and packaging our products, they're able

006to take part in every step of the way. Through this business, our students are able to take ownership of their hard work and in a in a way that is meaningful and rewarding to them. The skills they are building through their participation in the Morton Rising Company are functional, real world, and transferable skills that will continue to benefit them as they reach the age to enter the workforce in our community. Finally, I want to give my sincere appreciation for our incredibly dedicated and hardworking RISE team who are imperative in making our business run successfully. Thank you again to everyone who has supported our business so far and I hope to be back here in the future to come and tell you guys more about how our business has grown and evolved to continue providing meaningful

007opportunities for our wonderful talented students. And speaking of those wonderful talented students, we've got a couple here to come up and talk to you. Maggie and Mia want to come on up. >> They wanted to share with you their favorite parts of our business. I like [clears throat] to the tie on the t-shirts the t-shirts and put the tape on the design of the mice. I like using the machine to put the designs on our shirts. >> Thank you, Maggie. Do you want to come tell everybody what your favorite part of our business is? [clears throat] >> You can do it. [laughter] >> Sorry. She is incredibly talented. You can see in one of those pictures, she gets laser focused on it and she makes sure it's all smooth and [clears throat] perfect and ready

008to go for each one of those gums. [applause] >> And we've got some stuff to hand out to you guys. Girls, if you want to come back up, you can pass them out. Thank you. Mr. >> Andy, >> thank you so much. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you so much. did a good job. >> Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you so much. Miss Towner, Miss Cosner, Miss Scrogs, thank you students. Thank you so much for what it is that you do. We wish you great success with the rising company. Thank you for being here. Um, this is my eighth board meeting. I think it's the my favorite start to a board meeting ever. So, um, greatly appreciate. How about a ROUND OF APPLAUSE? [applause] ALL RIGHT. Very good. Dr. Cross, you're up. >>

009All right. You get You get to follow that. >> This can be a let down. [laughter] Every board meeting provides two opportunities for public comment. First session of public comment at the beginning of the meeting is strictly for items on this meeting agenda for discussion or action. Second session of public comment end of the meeting for communication [clears throat] that is not necessarily on the board's agenda. In order to speak at the meeting, members of the public must complete a card, their name and topic, and turn in prior to the beginning of the first segment of public comment. If you wish to speak and have not yet submitted a card, now is your final opportunity to do so. The board of education will take all comments under consideration. Respond if necessary in timely manner. We

010ask that your comments address the board of education, not the audience. We will limit comments to five minutes. Participants [clears throat] are expected to conduct themselves with civilian respect and follow the guidelines outlined in board policy 830 visitors to and conduct on school property. Further information on public participation in board education meetings is available in board policy 2230. Troy >> we have one for a uh this non-aggenda related topics. >> Okay. Then we will move on to reports. >> Okay. So first up is Mrs. Franklin. So, uh, she's gonna she is, I think, part three of a four-part series. And so, she's going to be covering student support services, you know, at kind of the global level. Uh, something new that we're doing this year, breaking that presentation up. And so, the floor is yours.

011>> Fantastic. Thank you so much for having me here tonight. So, as you said, this is uh the third part of four parts. So, as you remember, I think it was last year was an hour and a half, team. I think it was an hour and a half. So, we uh have chosen to do this in four. So, um maybe uh it will be a little bit shorter tonight. Um so, uh here we go. So, we're going to talk about uh student support services overall. I guess I'm doing this part, right? I'm this. Okay. All right. Uh and then we're going to talk about our goals for this year. Uh we're going to be talking about professional development that's been provided uh throughout the department, some nursing data, some program updates. Uh I specifically oversee

012the resource program throughout the district and the ACES program. We're do some social emotional data and then um you always have to end on some finances. Okay. So this is I'm not going to read through all these but just snapshot this is these are all the things that our department covers uh throughout the district. Uh and so uh we kind of touch the lives of a lot of different people throughout um the entire district um K12. So these are she's already thank you. So at the end of the year uh Dr. Sander um spoke with all of the administrators about goals and so I took his same uh discussion with the administrators that they were then doing with their buildings and we did it with each and one of our um programs and our related

013services. So if you go through each one of these, I'm not going to read them all to you, but you're welcome to kind of peruse them. Uh each uh entity has developed a measurable goal that we are working on this year. And this goes all the way down into our related services. Uh each one of them have goals that they're working on. And um this is this is we've always had goals for our department, but we haven't explicitly gone by each section. And so, uh, I feel like this is a good progress for our department to be doing this by each section. And so, we'll continue to refine and grow with this going into next year. So, I just wanted to share that with all of you. Sorry, go back. Thank you. Okay. So, we

014have uh professional development that our department provides every year. Uh the ones on the left are the ones that we provide every single year. So those are a constant. The ones on the right are new this year. Uh the first one, the ICTWs, Bethany spoke briefly about uh this fall. This was a grant she applied for and we were awarded through next school year and it's specifically to uh support uh exactly what the ladies were just up here discussing was the rising uh uh business as well as looking at our transition services for our students um from 14 years all the way through age 24. And so I'm going to get into that a little bit more because we also have the resource transition program that you guys are supporting as well. Another PD that

015we uh put on this year was the trauma-informed practices and reflection. We had a positive turnout for that. Uh and then we're trying to target some PD for our pair professionals in our classroom. So they did a book study on the behavior breakthrough and we had some great participation across the district from our pair professionals. And this year we're having the opportunity uh to have at our early outs meet with our special education staff for one hour of that afternoon to specifically target some specific special education things that we need to be working on. And we are we have forever changing views on our legal timelines and legal landscape. And so that gives us the opportunity to uh discuss that, understand it, review it, reflect and um kind of talk about how do we implement

016this to our various age levels. So those are some of the topics. I know we have the alphabet soup up there. Uh LEA is local education agency. ESY is extended school year. DLM is our um alternative assessment that we use uh instead of like the AR and um and the SAT or not the ACT every year. Uh and so tomorrow, tomorrow we are discussing present levels and goals. We are bringing in Seahan Park from the Illinois Education Special Education Network. It's uh an entity that's grant funded through the state and so he comes to us for free uh to provide this professional development and we're going to be talking about uh the individual education plans developing our present levels that leads into our goals. So that's a professional development we are doing tomorrow. So, I

017always like to include this. I know that some of you like to know what all some of our alphabet soup is. So, [laughter] uh to help you out with the names of all of our different programs, the ones that are in bold are our specifically special education programs. The others are serving uh our general education population in those specific areas. And so, I'm going to get into some of the data here. So these uh we've stayed fairly um consistent with our special education number of special education students across the district over the last several years. Uh we have had some fluctuation uh with moveins and then of course graduation and this is by building. Um for the most part we've uh stayed consistent. Uh we have saw a small spike at Jefferson and Letty Brown

018uh this fall. Uh a lot of that was due to moveins. We had a lot of moveins this fall and I'm going to talk about that a little bit more uh later on and please stop me along the way if you have questions of course. >> So last year was the first year I discussed >> I just had one. Um what what is the definition of a special education student? Yeah, there were a lot of them. And [cough and laughter] >> okay, so um in order to be a special education student, you must have an individual education plan. There are 13 different eligibility categories that a student can be identified for um in order to receive an education an individual education plan. Uh a student goes through an evaluation. We go through what's called a

019domain. There's several different areas, academic, functional, cognitive, speech, motor, social, emotional, and we determine what are the different areas that a student needs to be assessed. And those have to be deficit areas or adverse effect areas within the learning environment of which they need additional support. From those, we do the evaluation and come together and we determine that eligibility. It must be one of those 13 that we identified. Sometimes it's one, sometimes it's more. And based on that, we have the continuous services that we provide to meet those needs. >> No. Any other questions? >> Well, first off, I'd say thank you for spelling everything out. I appreciate that. And then you said 24. I was um thinking it was 21 years of age. It's 24. >> Okay. So, the PEC program, which I'm going

020to get into later, is um supports through age 24. Our specific program goes through age 22. Uh so it goes through the a through the school year of their 22nd birthday. So they could turn 22 in August and we will serve them through that school year. Whereas in the past three four years back it was [cough] up until their 20 22nd birthday. >> Okay. >> So things have changed. >> Yes. Ever changing legal landscape here. >> Yes. Trust I went through one of your classes so [laughter] >> sure did. Okay. All right. So, this slide uh I first brought it to you last year to kind of discuss about and this kind of jumps off of what Diane had asked about uh you know what is special education. So, we are always looking to provide

021instruction to our student in the least restrictive environment. And so, if you look at the bars on the far left, this is considered our least restrictive environment. meaning the students are receiving their education in the general education environment 80% or more of their day. Okay? Uh and so then as you go to the right it becomes more restrictive. And so I have last year's data from the school report card as well as this year's data on there. And so uh if you look at the far left uh and it goes from 23 24 to 24 25 in those first two bars you'll see that we dropped. That means that we did have a dip and we're always a year behind in the data that we received. We had a dip in um the number of

022students served in [clears throat] that 80% or more in the gened. And then if you go to the next set of four, you see an increase in that served um in the gened 40 to 79%. So, this is something that we're um taking a closer look at and we've discussed uh as a special ed team this fall kind of looking at making sure that we are um ensuring that all of our students are in that less leisure restrictive environment. Sometimes it the students need more support. And so, if that's what our students need, then that's we're going to serve them. And so, I mentioned continuing services a minute ago. You you serve them least restrictive all the way up to whatever they need. And so if they need that environment that I call the pull

023out self-contained environment, then that's where we're going to serve them. It just may be who we have right now and that's absolutely fine. But it's something that we want to keep an eye on and kind of reflect on. Are there opportunities for us to kind of change up how we're serving students needs? Okay. I'm going to touch on the resource transition. So, a couple years ago, I came to you and I said, "We really need to focus on our high school students that have 14 to 24. We serve through age 22, but the PEC program serves um through 24." And that's why I mentioned the 24. So, I asked you, can we have another staff member at the high school to serve our students that are not being served? So, we have the co-op program

024at the high school that all students can apply for, but what we were finding out is a lot of our special education students would apply for it, but wouldn't get into it. And so, it was an unmet need. And so, you graciously uh gave us permission to hire someone else. And so, we spent last year building this program and designing what it would look like. And so, this year has been our pilot year. We started with uh a set of seniors. We have 10 students in that program. And so all the students that are in there, they are enrolled in the PEC program. And you were like, what is the PREP PECT program? So this is I made some notes to make sure I got it correct. It is the pre-employment career training program. It's

025designed for students from 14 to 24. Provides early job exploration, work-based learning experiences, vocational skill development, helps students to identify career interests to build social, personal, and work skills to transition to competitive employment. and student outcomes um then produces money that comes back to the districts for us to continue to build the program to meet the needs of our students. And so we always see those funds a year after. So we're in the beginning part right now. For the size of our district, we should have better outcomes than what we have. But by creating this program and serving more needs of our students, we will be getting better outcomes moving forward. So we have the opportunity to meet the needs of 10 students this year. Eight of those 10 we're predicting will get outcomes at

026the end of this year. And so that means that they are working and they are gaining the hours that they need. They're building those vocational skills and they're able to fulfill all those different categories within the PEC program um to meet those outcomes. And so um going into next year, I just met with uh the ladies this afternoon that are doing this program. Um we're looking at expanding it to our junior class. And so [clears throat] we'll start teaching some of those prevocational skills their junior year that then will allow them to get jobs into their senior year because we found some of them maybe needed a little bit more before they got into their senior year before they got into their jobs. And so this is allowing us to help build that program. And

027so I say thank you for allowing us to add that additional staff member so we can meet the needs of more students. Any questions on this? This was a really huge thing for us to start this year. I do know that they will be um coming to the February 17th um connect that you guys have with us and they're going to bring some students with them that night and they'll be able to talk some more about it specifically. All right, we are going to get into our social emotional update. So, I have some school psych and social work data as well as some nursing data. Uh I know nurses do more than social emotional, but there's a reason why I put it here. Um, we'll review the hospitalizations and homebound instruction. Uh, and then we're

028also going to talk about the social emotional data that's collected across our schools as well as the ASES and Morton Academy program. So, this is the data. If you remember, I started collecting this data six years ago um from our sex and social workers. And so, we like to keep track of, of course, there's workload, but it's also looking at how are we meeting the needs of our students. And uh so the workload of our sex and social workers um our mental health staff, it's been consistent for evaluations. So if you look at um our evaluations completed [laughter] and our autism evaluations, those are um fairly consistent. But where we've seen an increase is um our behavioral and mental health cons consultations um creating functional behavior analysis which means we're looking at the behaviors that

029they're exhibiting in the learning environment and how to best meet those which then leads to a behavior management plan. We're also seeing an increase in our um tier three cases. Those are our gened students that are not yet in special education but they're needing support within the general education classroom. we've seen a significant increase in that. Um, and then going into our next slide, this is data I I've not presented to you previously, but these are at risk assessments, which further um defines where our sites and social workers as well as school counselors are uh spending some of their time. So, as you can clearly see, over the last several years, we've had a significant increase in the number of atrisisk assessments. And these are assessments that are self harm or a threat. And so,

030back in May 2023, we we revised our process that could have accounted for some of the jump going into 23 24 just because we were we were wanting to be consistent in how we were doing that. But that can't account for how it continues to increase in the ne in the following two years. This past year, uh, all of our mental health staff went through prepare training. And what that is is a tiered response to how you respond to crisises. And that can be from something where um say there was an incident that occurred in a classroom kind of just talking that through with the students or talking it through with a classroom teacher or something that's more significant and severe because there's a tiered response on how you respond to all all needs. And

031so is teaching our mental health staff what's a foundational way that we can do this that we're consistent across the district. And so that's one of the things that we've done to ensure that everybody has the proper training to be able to respond to these needs. We did review our of our processes and procedures again this fall. And I would say they stayed pretty consistent. Um but that's something that we continue to do is to reflect in making sure that we're meeting those needs. >> Is that increase in is it age specific? Is it in a particular age of student or is it >> it's K through 12? it is K12 because I I was anticipating that and so it's across all of our elementarymentaries. This week I've had more elementary um assessments because they're

032sent to me every time than I have at the junior high or high school. You would anticipate junior high, high school, but really it's it's it's K12 and it's because we're sensitive to anything that's said or done, right? You know, uh we don't take any statement lightly. And so uh we use it as education piece as well. And so um but underlying sometimes there's feelings there that we find that we need to dig deeper into and that can happen at any level and I guess going along with age any functioning as well and so we just use we use that opportunity to educate and uh help them to understand the importance of the things that we say and do. [clears throat] Okay. So um here is the nursing data. Um they they do what you

033would what you would anticipate and the nurses do you know they take care of the injuries they provide the medications you know that all the our students need. Um they manage other chronic medical conditions like asthma, diabetes, POTS, seizures. Uh and they also uh do procedures such as G2 feedings and urinary ca ca caizations. Um and they do those all the time. And so um in addition to that they monitor all our health records and they submit all that to the state. Um but what they also do is support the mental health of our students as well. And that's why I put this slide here because many of the students are coming down and um they're they have might have sematic complaints or stomach ache, headache or whatever. And this is the the result of

034you know anxiety or um depression or something they you know just are upset about that day. And so our our nurses are another um category of related services that are also supporting the mental health of our students. And so that's why I want to um put this in our social emotional update as well because each one of those visits that they have is also tracked as a nursing visit which then goes into here. So we are on track um to stay consistent with last year. Um but I do know that that's one of the key things that they are serving as well. I forgot to mention we have two um nurses that do our rescreen for our vision hearing and then we have two nurses that provide CPR training for staff throughout the district every

035year. >> [clears throat] >> So last year we um I started noticing clearly there was an uptick in the number of hospitalizations that we were having for social emotional needs. And I wanted to start tracking um and refine our homebound um requests for um homebound instruction and most homebound instruction is provided for social emotional needs. their homebound instruction could also be due to a medical need and we do have some of those but a lot of them are due to social emotional needs and so this is um [snorts] typically homebound instruction is um minimum of 5 hours a week and it's provided by a certified teacher if it's a special education student that is on homebound it's provided by a certified special education teacher and so we've been fortunate enough to have um some retired

036teachers that are willing and flexible to come in and do um the homebound instruction and forever grateful for them to be flexible and come uh whenever we have this need. And so right now we have 16 students that um are on homebound for various needs. But it's something, you know, when you have that mental health picture um that social emotional need, it's part of that picture uh that maybe these students are um needing to be out for a little bit, we work through some of those needs and they're able to come back whereas other rooms might be waiting for an outplacement um because those aren't always readily available. So, I just think that helps paint our picture. Um, as I mentioned, last year we did have a a spike in the number of social emotional

037hospitalizations. This year, we're more on track with where we were the year before. So, you can see how this does go up and down. It's unpredictable. Um, but it's something I want to just keep track of. Um, as we're um, watching our needs, I always bring to you the social emotional data from each of our um, we have elementary, then junior high and high school. Um, so we have the out of school suspension data that's in the blue. Um, so this is elementary and then of course on the far right, that's that's as of fall 2025. Um, you know, as of Christmas or winter break. And so number of students withdrawn due to social emotional uh needs, number of students with behavior plans, and a number of students that um have transferred into a behavior

038program. So that is the elementary. This is the junior high. We've seen a significant decrease in out of school suspensions in the junior high. Um and then this is the high school. Okay. Any questions on those? All right. I want to touch on the ASUS program. [clears throat] This is uh the third year I think that our ASUS program um has been in effect. And just as a reminder, um this is our social emotional program at the junior high and high school. Uh and so it I it's kind of a fluid program. Our students are identified for this program uh due to significant social emotional needs. And if you remember, we were only taking students with internalizing problems. Those are those that with anxiety or depression or no outward behavior like physical aggression. So those

039are the um physical aggression would not be coming into this program. And so these students come into the ASUS pro classroom every day for a daily social emotional lesson as well as um a structured study hall. They also have the ability to come down to the classroom throughout the school day if uh they need to regulate and then return to class. So the students come down, they consult with the the teacher, they talk through whatever concern it is, and the goal is by the end of that class period, they're returning to class. And I would say for the most part, they are uh and then they go to their next class. Uh and we've seen a lot of growth in the program. Uh we feel like we're having some positive results. And if you remember

040when by having this program that's allowing our students to remain in district which is our goal. And so we want to serve those needs of our students in district with our teachers with our curriculum and um continue to let them thrive through all the other opportunities that are provided in our junior high and high school. So here's some of that data. The junior high and high school over the last several years on the left um the first two sets of four are the ACES program at the junior high and high school. Um this year we have six or no that's eight at the junior high and 10 at the high school. Um it does fluctuate um but it we're that's 18 students that are served in district versus looking at out placement. Uh and then

041the two uh sets of four to the right there are Morton Academy students. Um there's the community students and then there's our students that are residing at Guardian Angel Home. And so, um, yeah, I'll leave it at that. Any questions on the number of students in our programs? We continue to, um, be able to support a lot of them in district, which has been a positive impact on our students. Okay. So, this is getting into outplacements. Um, we've seen a a big jump in the number of outplacements. Uh so nine if you look at that second group of bars there um we went from five to nine. I mentioned earlier that we had a large uh movein population this fall. Uh a lot of the movein population it just so happened had significant needs. Uh

042and so we worked through those and some of them required outplacement. Um we have had an increase in um residential and I had another meeting today discussing that. Um so those needs continue to be there. Uh and going back to mental health at our psyches and social workers, our school counselors, they are supporting those needs of the students while they're still in our building. Uh and so um it's just important to keep that in mind um as we work through all the challenges that they're they are supporting those as well. Uh on the far right um the question was asked previously severe and profound disabilities that's Sham school over in Peak. So those are our students attending Sh school. We currently have eight students there. Um and that fluctuates based on need. Any questions on

043our outplacements right now? Okay. So these are the costs when it comes to outplacement. So when an SAL outplacement that blue bar there that's our education funds uh so it's separated out into what is education versus residential. So our students that are residential we have to pay both the education portion and the residential it's separate uh and some of those needs have required increased funding versus others uh to meet those needs. So with this group of students that are represented with the seal out placements. Yes. Um those also have a tuition or excuse me a transportation cost that goes with that. Is that correct? >> Yes. >> And that's one of the things that I've kind of shared with the board about proration and I'll hit a little bit on that later. But this is

044the population, the U student population that also has a transportation cost. >> All of these have transportation costs. Um, and as I'm looking at this slide, I flipped back over here. Um, [clears throat] as you notice on the far left, that first grouping, those are the students um the autism um private day. That's a population of students that um I've talked before that if we could have, you know, we've talked about Morton Academy, more space, you know, pie in the sky. If we could have more space out at Morton Academy, I would love to have an autism program to be able to bring those students back to have their um individual program. Uh we've tried to mix that in our current environment, Morton Academy. It's just not a good mix um with the different sensory

045needs that are um that our students need. It's it's not a posit. But if you could separate them out into different classrooms, you could achieve that. And I've seen it done. I've worked in programs like that. Um, if that's something we could ever explore and pursue, I would love to see um a program to meet those needs in district for all the same reasons we've discussed for the social emotional needs. But to your point about trans uh transportation, we are providing transportation for all these students to and from every day. In addition to the students that are living residential, I provide transportation for them as well as their family to and from six times a year. And so wherever that residential is and currently we don't have anybody in state. Uh so we have people

046far away from here. Uh and we provide reimbursement for that. They have to get approval before they go, but we do provide reimbursement for um either the drying driving or the flight cost, whichever is less when they go. So to your point, okay, so this is my last slide. Uh this was exciting. Uh yeah, I just talked about a lot of money being spent. This is money coming in. Uh so that's why I want to land on this. Uh so we um working very closely with the business department. Katie Bulka has been h amazing in helping out to get all the financials together as well as with Lisa to submit to the state to be approved for a public day program. So Morton Academy has been approved as a public day program through 2027. Uh

047and so this is retroactive to 2223. We have not seen the funds yet. They are coming. Uh but so the rates that are up there, the um Morton Academy $21353 that's per day. That's our daily rate per student. Uh we'll get a percentage of that back. And then the intensive rate is a add-on. So intensive means that that student has a one-on-one aid. And so they're in our program and they have a one-on-one aid. So it's an additional 21249 cents for that student. So their cost is, you know, 450ish give or change, give or take some change. Um and so um this in the those daily rates are based on the number of students there um our expenditures our revenues to support um that yearly public day rates. Um and so that what also goes

048different notes um we that some of the revenue that we get in is from title one neglected. So you're probably because you're like what kind of revenue are we getting in? We don't have any kids tuitioned in Morton Academy. We have plenty of our own. uh we we still get phone calls and we don't serve that because we have our own needs that we need to serve first. Um but it is the title one neglected that we're able to uh get back for some of our students and so all that goes into getting this. So eventually we will start getting reimbursement off for all of our students that are out at Morton Academy um every year and that will as I said were approved through 2027. I feel question. >> Well I mean look at

049the previous two slides with the cost in total I mean like the first red bar the total number of students isn't that much different than now right if you add up to student so this cost is >> which one that one >> right so if you look at this cost from 21 to >> last year versus the students right the >> go back the other slide right that the red one that was 2021 like that's a similar number of students to what we're at this here. >> Yeah. >> Because of what and [snorts] >> so the is it cost in time to students at all or is just the cost of saying like the cost of outplacing someone has just increased like exponentially over the past five years. >> It the cost has significantly increased.

050When I first started talking about this the like the average rate was around 53,000 per child. Now some places it's like 90,000 per child. So yes, that is significantly increased. And so when that happens also, if you do have a student with an intensive rate, because all these facilities have intensive rates, that has also gone up as well. But back to the happy, this is [laughter] Mr. Negative. >> Back to where I'm bringing in money and making us all smile. Uh [laughter] that's where I'm ending tonight. So thank you for having me here. I just wanted to share some um information about our students and how we're meeting those needs and so I'm happy to answer any additional questions we have. So, thank you. >> Thanks for splitting it up. I mean, really, >> yeah,

051>> hour and a half is far too long. This is way so you can kind of maybe comprehend some of what you're saying. >> I didn't want you to be all glassy eyed, you know. [laughter] So, I get it. I You don't want to listen to me up here that long and I don't want to, you know, come up here and be talking at you. I want you to be able to, you know, take it in, be able to, you know, be interested in what we're talking about. So, thank you so much for having me. >> Thank you. [applause] >> I got to grab the computer. I can't work the clicker and not see the screen behind me. >> Thank you. All right. So, um I have a handful of slides that I'm going to

052hit uh or cover on. Um so, in part of my professional development, one of the things that that I need to be bringing to the board is uh a midyear uh report on our revenues and our expenses. Okay. And so, that's what the next three slides are are covering here. So first um this first slide the uh big pie chart that's there that is our current revenue that we have received as of December 31st. Um and so that represents half of the fiscal year. So uh you know we've received $41 million in in the local. You can see the revenue from the state is next about $2.2 $2 million and then federal is just over a million dollars. Um, this graph tells a story because I know that this is this is representative of half

053of a year. Okay, but our percentages when you look at the size of the pie, most 709 is funded locally. Okay, so where do your local dollars come from? Comes from your property tax. It comes from the fees that we collect at our schools, the registration fees, and it also another major portion is lunch. our school breakfast and lunch program. Any of the dollars that we receive locally here is contained within that. Um the evidence-based funding formula and all the MCATs mandated categorical reimbursements that we get from the state comes from the state and then the federal is our federal grants. Okay. So when you look at the size of that pie, the burden heavy burden is on our local community here. So, um, the next one is a breakout of the three funding sources

054and what we've received since we've received most of our property tax installments. That's why the local we've received 95% of that. So, where does the other 5% come from? The second half of the school year with our lunches and and other things that we collect locally during the second half of the school year. uh the state is tracking I mean ideally it'd be right there at the 50% and so that is um it's [clears throat] acceptable it's at 48%. And apparently we we received more than 50% of our federal grant funding. U I don't exactly recall like when those payments hit and I don't know if Lisa wants to you know is that is that equally distributed or is it during different parts of the year? Well, the part of it that we collected in

055[snorts] July from last year June, you know, so that was within April through June. So that that plays a role in that. >> And that's that's something that as you've heard me say, proration. Uh sometimes the state doesn't always make their payments on time. And so if we receive a payment for last fiscal year in July, the way we do our accounting, we can't account that back for the previous fiscal year. we realize the money when we receive it and so then it falls on that fiscal year. Okay. So then um here's just a quick example of uh the revenue by funds and as you can you know see here uh we've got about $50 million totally budgeted um education fund uh on& and m uh so education fund a large portion of that is

056is our state revenue that will continue to trickle in. That's why we're at, you know, in between 80 and 100%. So over the next 6 months, we'll continue to receive um our evidence-based funding and other and of course just, you know, local revenue that will fill that bucket. [snorts] Um on&m is uh another uh source with that. When you skip on over to bond and interest, IMRF and TOR, that's mostly property tax. Now the shortfalls is where uh we have um our interest payments. Uh so you know Lisa are our >> interest income. >> Yeah interest income. Thank you. I was struggling for that word. Uh so in our investments and we do invest with PMA and so we get a return on that and that is distributed. So that will fill some of those.

057Transportation is one that we're going to watch. Once again, transportation is a heavy state uh funded uh revenue source. And so that's the one that I wanted to leave last because that's been a hot button topic uh lately. So moving over to the expense side of the house. Um so ideally we should be if we're halfway through the fiscal year, we should be halfway through our expenses. And so things are tracking um pretty well in this regard. Um I I do want to point out like on and m expenses that will pick up. We'll fill that where we're below 50% that will get filled as we get closer to you know the summer you know projects are being completed the bills get a little bit bigger the expenses will hit on that. Um and then

058capital projects once again that one's really low. We've budgeted an expense for that. as we continue with these projects and we start receiving the invoices for those the submittals um then you'll start seeing those. So any questions on those three slides for our midyear financial >> yes >> report. I thought we were under fiscal year and this is under calendar year. >> No, this is this is halfway through. So July 1 through December 31st. >> Okay, >> that's a fiscal year. >> So it's it's July 1 through June 30th. >> All right. No, you're right. Halfway point. >> I was silly right there. Thank you. [laughter] >> Okay, December 31st feels like it's counting. [laughter] So, moving on to facilities. Just just a quick spend less than a minute on this slide. So, um the

059summer 2026 projects, uh the architect should have all of the bid documents ready to go next week. That's what we've been told. So that'll be exciting. So at the high or at the junior high, we're looking the STEM labs, the library room 111, and then at Letty Brown is window replacements, sir. Um if you have any uh power that you can change the weather, uh the last couple of weeks has been really um difficult for our contractors. I don't think we had many contractors on site over the last week because of the incredibly low temperatures. Uh but the 10day forecast is looking good. So um they're currently working on the foundation grade beams. Okay. And so they've got all the peers and now they're going beam putting these foundation beams across that. Then once that

060is done, then I think they start looking at getting steel in and then you'll start it's amazing how these projects go. They they ramp up. You see a whole bunch and it's like they haven't done anything. Well, they are doing certain things, but then once the steel starts showing up, it it'll pick up. Yeah. climate. Um today, uh the 2026 five essentials survey opened and so um so our principles, administrators got the email correspondents from Isby from uh indicating that that window is now open. So there's three surveys. There's the student survey um that our students will complete. There's a parent survey. And I wanted to put this note in there that each parent one parent will complete a survey for each child. Okay? Only one parent responses as expected. So for each child, but

061uh I'll work with Valerie and getting this out in the Potter Post. I believe all of our building principles will be sending stuff out in newsletters for parent surveys. Um the data from that does help impact our school report card and the response with that. And then our teachers also have the opportunity to complete a survey as well. I do want to circle back because some time ago it was asked to do uh a report out on the 2025 survey. Well, I think it corresponded shortly right before we got this that we finally got the data file for 2025. So my plan is at the next board meeting I'll be able to run through some comparative slides to what was shared by Dr. Smok about a year ago. um on on like just our school

062safety. Um and those are comparing actual responses from uh our district as well as other local districts around central Illinois. So I'll have that for you next next month. Um academics, I don't have a lot. I I threw the once again, we're required to present to the board a list of our academic uh textbook list. And so Kate did a great job taking I think it was three separate documents and consolidating them down into one. So Kate, do you have >> Yeah, just a couple of things. So moving forward, you'll have this list annually in the fall. Um and then just to help you understand, I compiled the resources that are currently on the public facing district curriculum guide documents that are on our website. Um also touch base with the administrators in each of

063their buildings so that they could go back and talk with their lead teachers and department chairs. and then also ran this list through our instructional coaching team to compile the list that was presented to you. And then next steps would be to um update any of the direct curriculum guides that are currently on the on the website to reflect the recent changes. So I'd be happy to answer any questions. >> All right. Um next up, I just want to take a few moments. Last week was a great week uh across 709. Um so we're going to hit on a little bit of the achievement that took place. Uh the seventh grade boys basketball team made the state finals. Okay. Uh unfortunately they drew a very difficult team and if you were to take out the

064first two minutes of that game, we played even with the team. The first two minutes we looked up and we're down 11 to one and then it was I don't think the score really oscillated and we may have cut it to six points and then given up a couple baskets but it really stayed there and our in our team just played a great game. So we're really proud of our seventh grade boys basketball. Um the boys uh high school boys bowling uh Weston Sadler knocked it out of the park. Uh second place finish and Mr. Edwards uh and Mr. Jones reminded me there's only one class in bowling. Okay. So it's >> schools compete against each other. So Napville North, you know the ones with thousands of kids, they are in the same class. So

065I mean he truly was second in state >> which is just outstanding. And uh Weston pulled a couple of 300 games recently. I can't wait next month when he he'll be here. That's the plan to be at the board meeting. So be thinking about your questions. My my question is are you like super nervous in the 10th frame like you know on that last ball. So um the boys bowling team overall uh placed fifth. The dance team had a a great showing on Friday and Saturday this last weekend. Uh they uh place seventh overall in state. Believe that's class 2A if I'm not mistaken. Uh got great news. The competition cheer um qualified for state. So they'll be going I I think it's a Friday Saturday event series like that. And then um just ear

066I think as early last week our girls basketball program achieved a thousand wins. So um a lot to be said. Um, super proud of just the effort that it takes, the board support. You know, we added bowling just a few years ago. So, thank you to the board for supporting all of our extracurriculars. We appreciate that. >> Three boys had 300s. Three different boys had 300s if I read the listen to the coaches show correctly. >> Is that true? >> Three Three different boys had 300 games in the season. 50. >> That's crazy. >> Weston I know had two. >> Okay. >> And so the uh that that >> that rings true. >> I did I did ask in response to Dr. Sanders question. That was my question at state 2 afterwards like do you

067get nervous? I said well each time you get to that milestone you're a little less nervous because you've been there before. So one [laughter] had his fifth 300 games. a high schooler or multiple high schoolers. That's a >> pretty amazing, isn't it? >> Yeah, it is. >> Yeah. >> Uh I think this might be my last slide. Uh and then we'll move on to other items, but uh game ball run is this Thursday? [snorts] We're trying to keep our fingers crossed. Is the track melted yet? Okay. So, uh Mr. Edwards is working on a contingency plan. >> We'll be at the West Gym if need be. So, we will still have a run of some sort, but it may just not be outside, unfortunately. >> And then the the basketball game, the ceremony is on

068Saturday, and it's going to be sandwiched between the girls are playing, I think, an early game um at 1:00 and then the boys play after. And so, I think the ceremonial ballpark around 2:45 to 3:00. >> Okay. Wonderful event. We raise a lot of money for the children's hospital. So, uh, foy and responses, we had three since the last meeting. Uh, Chris Miller for purchase authority. Uh, Matt Langanger, the Freedom from Religion Foundation, and Sherry Reed, which is smart procure. Um, as Miss Franklin mentioned, we have a a board site visit the 17th of this month, and that's going to be located here. So, we're excited about that. And then lastly, we had the policy review section five. So, what questions do you have? Okay. All right. Board report. So, committee updates. Any committees meet

069in the past month since last meeting? Would you like to share anything with the rest of the board? >> If you don't mind, I'll ceue up this slide about TLC, which stands for teaching and learning council. Um it the committee was originally established in 1977 and it was the curriculum advisory committee at that time. Our membership currently is includes 77 members and that is comprised of um lead teachers, administrators, department chairs, um counselors, representatives from the student support services, um parents, which this year we have three um four students from the high school that are selected um with help by the high school staff and then two board members. So Diane and Cristiana have served on that committee. Um the purpose for the committee um I listed four of them. We have kind of a

070broad spectrum of things that we have covered so far this year but just a few highlights. So obviously one of the most important aspects of the committee is to discuss and review um key issues that are related to teaching and learning. Um we also have the opportunity to support and discuss and identify um steps forward with the district initiatives. We want to make sure that our curriculum [cough] is [clears throat] vertically aligned. So we talk a lot about articulation. And then one of the other primary purposes of the committee is to um hear about um new textbooks or resources that might need to be um implemented in our classrooms. And so the TLC committee endorses those prior to them um a recommendation coming to the board for your actual official approval. Um so far this

071year we have held two meetings. will have a third meeting in April. And some of the topics that we've discussed so far is each year um for the last several years, Stephanie Brown has um helped to facilitate a start, stop, continue um each year. And so we reviewed the results from last year's TLC um feedback at the beginning of this year. We also um had some discussion around our teacher leadership skills and why the individuals that were a part of the committee were selected to be leaders in their buildings and how they can continue to develop those leadership skills. Um we've had a couple of presentations from our technology in 709 um survey results that um the parents had the opportunity to complete last spring and then it led to the development of the tech

072task force which we've had several meetings and had an update at our recent meeting and then this last meeting we also had an update from our elementary instructional coaches about our K2 math pilot that at some point here in the very near future we'll be bringing um a recommended resource to you after the process has taken place through TLC. So, at our April meeting, we have a couple of things that are already on the docket. Um, not to say that there might be other things added to the agenda between now and then, but we'll be reviewing our curriculum process that um is the curriculum review process was last updated in 2018. So, it's time to look at that document again and um have some conversation with um regards to the purpose, process, and timeline for

073that with our teachers and then looking at the district's grading philosophy and our commitments related to assessment and grading. And then Stephanie Brown um anticipates completing the start stop continue um activity once again with the team. So, I know Diane and Cristiana had the opportunity to attend the meeting so far this year. So, I didn't know if either of you also wanted to share anything with the rest of the board. >> Yeah, but you can go first. >> Well, I I [laughter] Okay, I will. Stephanie, I love the start, stop, and continue. I think that is so helpful and I love just I think it just personally um helps me understand just the different needs and wants or dislikes or whatever it is. I just think that's a a great resource. Um and hopefully you

074keep continuing it because I really do love that. Um it's just very telling. Um and then yeah, I mean I think the meetings have been beneficial. I think it's been great that um we've been a part of them and I really get a lot out of it. Um it's great to hear from the different teachers and staff. Um and I think I, you know, love to keep going and attending and just hearing what the what they have to say. I think it's a good connection for the board and uh and 709. So Dan, >> yeah. So, um I've heard TLC the whole first term on the board and just wow. Um it's a really amazing committee um of people. I mean, I walked into a room like um Mrs. Wyman said just it's a rockstar

075group. I brought the IQ level down, I'm sure, when I walked in. [laughter] Um we have all of our department heads from the high school. all the subjects are represented. Um, [clears throat] our lead teachers from every grade school and then of course our administration I think like everyone who has a nice office down the hall was there as well. And so just to see our district operate, I mean that's what was happening in this room. This was like Houston. So, um I was just super excited to just observe and um and to know that our district has this as a resource not just for all the people represented there, but even for us as a board. I mean, this is an amazing place for us to ask questions um to get that feedback of

076how can we make your jobs happen? And it was really neat with Cristiana that start stop continue activity is really hearing the leaders in our district, the people who want to pilot things, the people who have ideas and that really gives them this platform to brainstorm together and to hear students speaking um out in this loud group. Um it was just a really neat collaboration. So I'm really excited. I think that [cough] hopefully Cristiana and I can contribute in some way of just helping um make their dreams kind of come true because the stuff that our district does apparently seems to percolate a lot from this think tank which is my best description of it. So, >> well, and also with the start step continue, I thought it was so valuable to us as a

077board that I had Kate um a while ago make it available to us as well, just so that you guys could see um what the responses were. Um I just think it's it's just important that we look at that from time to time and um and you know respond if necessary if we can do anything to help or anything like that for 709. So >> it is available on our this. [laughter] >> So is that why we're not getting the textbooks to review cuz they do it at the at what you guys are already doing? Cuz remember Dr. Teter would give us textbooks and we're supposed to review them. >> They'll still come. >> They'll come. >> Oh, they will. Okay. >> If there's a recommendation um that is presented to TLC, then I would

078come and make that recommendation to you officially. It would have to be on display for a period of time and then you would actually have the final approval >> and there haven't been any so far this year. So that's why I haven't brought any yet. >> Makes sense. >> But you might see me again soon. [laughter] >> That's where Dr. Crawl reads the textbooks. [laughter] >> But it was neat at the the meeting. the instructional coaches went through uh they had responded to some of the teachers in the TLC bringing forward this curriculum is not the best for our students and then they showed where they were in the process of responding to that how they had reviewed various curriculums and so it was really neat as a board member to see how it goes

079through the steps to get here. Um, so it was fun. >> So yeah, read the summaries. Mrs. Wyman puts out a really nice summary of what happened at the meeting. And um, Cristiana and I asked if the board could receive those. Just I think it'd be nice for you to know what's the conversation going on with our most professional staff. Well, in the TLC, Kate, maybe you can explain this better, but the the representatives are chosen by their peers, right? Essentially, for some of the some of the >> um the students are chosen by counselors, the lead teachers and department chairs have been selected for those roles based on um their application for those positions. >> Okay? And then their cho they like are representatives so to speak of their their peer group. They lead

080meetings within their own buildings or their department on a regular basis, whether that be monthly or weekly. >> Okay. >> Depending upon the building. >> Thank you. >> And I appreciate um your participation in the meeting and look forward to future meetings together. But >> yes, >> thank you. >> Thanks. >> Okay. Uh we'll just keep on committee updates. Um just two quick hits. These are justformational only. Um we've got the uh school board self evaluation scheduled for April 21st. I believe that's at 5:30. Um and then uh the IASB advocacy day in Springfield is on March 24th. Um those are the the the three main points. And then um this is a link uh down there. I'm not going to bring it up, but u I'm putting together some talking points. And so you

081know the board can review that. These are the key points that you know that when you get a legislator's ear or a state representative or um or state senator you know that we've got you know a consolidated message. Um always start with gratitude. That was part of uh my prof professional development last um last week with IASA. They talked about reaching out to your local representatives and gratitude and then and then just give them the facts. Um, and they said be available. You know, because a lot of times, uh, you know, they gave examples where they're on the floor and they're texting people saying, "Hey, I need to know the answer to this." And so, [cough and clears throat] you know, it really is a good process. Brings hope. Okay. And and so, you know,

082[clears throat] we've got that coming up. Cristiana is signed up for that day. And if anybody else would like to go, um, get with Valerie and she'll get you registered. Okay. So I think we're on to agenda building. >> Okay. So I have two things kind of related um to agenda building um before we open up to other agenda buildings. So one is cell phones. Um and we've kicked this around. I feel like many meetings time and time again about um how we're going to approach that. It's you know there's a lot of states was it 19 now that we talked about this? >> I think so. >> Um bound them like ban them out right from school like where we're at where we think the state's going. Do we want to get ahead of

083it? So, I know that we're looking into it. I just don't know if um how much more you've looked into it since the last time we talked or I think that we've got a lot of um just traction that is moving forward. I know we're going to have a audience presentation here a little bit later. I I met with Jordan, was it last week or the week before? Um and went through that. Uh there's a lot of good [snorts] resources and materials. There's a lot of talk about, you know, cell phones and just technology use overall. Um, and so, you know, as we as we walk down this road, you know, we've got to have the conversations. I know it it was discussed at TLC about a year ago. Um, we had Dr. Berkkey come

084in and do a presentation on that. So, we've got a lot of good information. Um, and so I think that's a deliverable that needs to come back to the board. And you know whether it's policy change or you know practice handbook changes um that is a deliverable that we need to look at and really jump into the data and then just do what we do with any other um initiative you know gather as much research that we can have a presentation on [clears throat] and then see where you know the board wants to go with that. Okay. >> Okay. >> Thoughts on that? Anybody concerns questions? Um, when is the student handbook published >> for the next school year? >> That typically is done over the summer. Um, we'd like to have it signed sealed

085and all everything approved by the time registration hits. >> Okay. >> Um, there's been times that, you know, we've made in this last year we made a late change to directory information [snorts] um after the registration window, but ideally that would be by like June the June board meeting that that would those would be approved. >> Okay. >> So, >> just kind of keep that in front of us with the >> kind of as [clears throat] a deadline. >> On a side note, I did meet with the uh state board, the position I took over for Tom Neely, and they brought up two different things. One was the AI policy that just passed. Um they did say that usually with policies like this that pass there are recommendations or some guidance with it and they

086said there was none. And so [laughter] um they are I think see actively seeking or um at least wanting more guidance on the AI because it's so the policy is kind of just there and again they they say usually this comes with some type of outline or something or like people to talk to that are you know well verssed in that subject and there was nothing in regards to that. So they're looking into that further. Um, the other thing was they um to piggyback on that, I did ask about the cell phone thing uh with the bell-to-bell policy because um that was in our Senate. I believe it just kind of fizzled out and didn't go anywhere. Um but Dr. Sanders, the president of the state superintendent, um did say that uh he believes that's

087going to come come at us again. So, um that they're like looking to, you know, do that, but he's not necessarily in talks with with that. It's just he knows that that's probably going to come up again in the near future. So, those were two things kind of related to what you said. And then as an extension of technology, um I think the district went one to one technology through the buildings for I don't know it showed before I got on the board, maybe two years, maybe a year before I got on the board. And obviously that's a big monetary investment. And anytime we make investments or spend money, whether it's on a facility or adding staff or resources that you would want to see return on investment and I know I talked to this

088briefly last week when we were set up ag kind of um benefit we've had from that or has or have we had harm from that because I think that there's a lot of available data that you don't have to look very hard for that uh shows and this isn't unique to us here in Morton or in the state or in the United States even globally. Um, over reliance on edtech has actually probably harmed kids ability to [clears throat and cough] learn like they should and that their cognition is not as good as their parents was when their parents had teachers, not tablets. And I just think that we need to take a deep dive into that and look at Are we actually helping the kids with that? >> The email that [clears throat] that we

089read this today or yesterday or whenever it was, there's a lot of data in there if you had time to >> absorb it. There is >> I can [laughter] I could go on the subject forever. I'm actually reading um this book uh recommended actually by um the person who's about to uh speak at the end called the digital delusion. It is by Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath I believe and it is full of both of these top I mean it's AI cell phones iPads computers whatever it is it's all in here. um there's so much data. He's um he's a neuroscientist but also an educator which is just the way he blends his facts um is just kind [clears throat] of fascinating and it's just really there's so I mean I could go on and on

090for 20 minutes talking talking about um some of this stuff but some of the some of the things that jumped out at me um and I'll abbreviate but uh talking about say schools removing phones phones entirely from the campus. Um, large scale studies have found that going phone free produces academic gains equivalent to as much as 11 additional hours of instruction per week, which is I mean that's a lot of a lot of in extra instruction time. um it they improve teacher satisfaction and retention, reduce discipline problems and return valuable class time to instruction. Um but he also talks about the uh the number one as well and I believe it is 24 to 38% of every hour spent on a screen um is spent off task which is also kind of alarming. I think

091it's just like the kids are, you know, say they have an iPad, but they're swiping between, you know, a game and what they're actually supposed to be doing. Um, which, you know, is not what we want really to be happening. we we were I think the initial idea for any of these things whether it's a Chromebook or iPad or was to enhance learning and instead it's really kind of created this whole other problem that um again there's so much in this book that um I encourage everybody to read it. It's just it's fascinating. So, >> um I would say in addition to your investments, like it would maybe be interesting to know um from the from K through 12, how how has that changed? Has it like gotten increased usage or is it decreased usage?

092Do teachers find that? >> I don't know if there's any data out there if Yeah. >> Do they use it? Is it annoyance need to use it? Would they prefer not to have it at all? >> Totally. Yeah. three simple questions or answers. Yeah, >> I think that would maybe be a good gauge on some of this. >> Technology is not a bad thing either. I want to say that out loud. Used correctly, it can be a >> I'm a huge fan of technology. Um, is there a time and place for it? But I I would argue that most kids get plenty of technology use outside of school hours. >> I'm not going to [snorts] get in argument with you, right? Yeah, you know, piggybacking on what I said earlier about the TLC, I think

093that could be a real resource for our district. You know, what do our teachers think? Do our K through three teachers feel [clears throat] like their instruction is directly impacted if you know all the iPads don't show up that day, you know, or and what does it look like at each level? >> Um, and that kind of feedback could really help us determine well, you know, what's it look like for you? And >> I don't know what the right answer is. I just think that the status quo is probably not the right answer. Um, and I think it just it deserves looking into and in depth to figure out if we're actually doing what's best for the kids and their learning or not. That's >> Yeah. >> We're not going to figure it out tonight.

094No. >> Um, but I think uh it's something that is important to dig into >> and I think we need to ask some of those questions too because K to 2 or K to 3 may be off the table and don't need it. in maybe 11 12 or 9 to 12 you do use it. >> Yep. >> So there's >> Yeah. It's not going to be blanket across every [clears throat] or every grade but >> I think that >> or even subject class. Yeah. >> Or class. Yeah. Yep. >> Or maybe even two like uh uh in the upper levels you go go away from the iPads. You might go to just a basic Chromebook where you actually have typing and there's not looking at like all these apps and stuff like an actual computer,

095>> you know, with words and typing. [laughter] >> You mean that like this? >> Yeah. >> Snake game that gets the numbers. >> Okay. I think I know the marching orders. Thank you, sir. And it to everyone's point, there's really not going to be a simple solution to a complex issue. >> You know, [clears throat] it's it's going to have to be layered and it may the solution as I've I've really enjoyed the read. >> Um it goes beyond these walls, too. And so we got to factor that in there because we have that the community >> know, but we can still control those in within our walls. >> Oh, yeah. and complicate things is just it'll take longer. That's all. It doesn't mean we don't do it. >> Yeah. >> Well, yeah. I mean,

096it's clear like it's a societal problem, right? Like it's not and it's not going to [snorts] go away anytime ever. Probably unfortunately or fortunately, however you look at it. It's just it's one of those things like David said if if we're I mean and and and even Jerry like to your point he says in here it's not about being anti- tech it's just about prolearning so like whatever is best and of course like there's I think there's going to be some like computer stuff especially in high school like coding or whatever you know I don't even know what the classes are offered of course they're going to you you know have to use that stuff but it's just kind of yeah doing uh [gasps] doing some research, gathering information and seeing seeing what's best. >>

097I have another agenda building item that I just kind of came to when we were sitting here. I was just reflecting back in the fall when we were talking about the parking situation. Could we get an update maybe next month or so just on our high school parking situation? you were going to talk with the city about the surrounding streets and >> maybe be fair to some parents that were questioning >> it. It did. >> Yep. >> We got [snorts] some answers but not >> Yep. >> There's some stuff that was in the works. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> Anything else for agenda? All right. There being none discussion items. Uh, first on the list is discussion of the 2728 calendar. >> Troy, you're up. Okay. I believe you should have a paper copy. [cough]

098The proposed 2728 calendar. Um, it is pretty much a corresponding date to the 2627 calendar that we looked at uh last month. and it's pretty much a corresponding date to the current calendar we're living. Uh you can see that the first day of school would be uh August 9th as opposed to 10th. Um that um some of the Wednesday early release in the first semester uh in particular have been moved around to to make a little more sense with breaking up a week. So that's why some of the first Wednesdays have been slid around. Um there's no election day. So that holiday is not a part of the calendar which I don't think it was for the 370. Oh it was >> it was so it's not on this one. Um again as I said

099before the the number of days each semester has to be somewhat balanced for our high school offerings. um just because of the driver's ed the most notable but many courses that are offered first semester and then again second semester you have to have somewhat equitable time and so I feel like we've met that. Um a high point is it's been decades since we've come back to school on my birthday. Uh so I look forward to the celebration the district will be having on January 3rd to come back on my birthday. So that's incredibly exciting. Um I'd like to meet who is in charge of the calendar committee on that one. Uh but otherwise the only the probably the biggest significant difference is uh spring break is the same week it is this week or this

100year I'm sorry in the 26 27 calendar. [snorts] Uh but because Easter is so much later that's why there is a second break uh that you will see uh on April 14th uh and the 17th surrounding Easter. And that's just something that we have typically done uh when Easter doesn't fall near spring break. Uh with that, are there any questions regarding the 2728 calendar? [snorts] >> I think it's the first time we've done two years out at least since I've been here. >> Been a while. We we used to, but yeah. And so hopefully next year we would come up with a 28 29 state one year the front. stay in front of me. >> I like it. I mean, there's no reason not to plan it out. I mean, [snorts] the days are what

101the days are going to be, and there's no reason not to do that. So, anybody have concerns or worries about it? We move on to discuss it anymore. >> All right. Discussion on county uh schools. So, as Lisa's uh going to she put together a presentation, this has been a topic discussed by Tazwell County Schools uh recently started having conversations about this back in December. Um county superintendent have met a couple of times and uh looked at, you know, there's a process to go about placing this on the ballot for the November possible November election. And so, uh, it it's surfaced again. This has been tried four times in Tazwell County. Um, and, uh, so there's another initiative, uh, and I think it's stemming from MLAN County just passed it this last April. And so

102with that, I'm going to turn the floor on over to Lisa. >> Okay. Um, so, as Dr. Sander explained, it [clears throat] MLAN County just passed this. This is a 1% sales tax option, commonly known as the 1-centent tax, and it's been available since 2007. And about 60% of the Illinois counties have approved this 1% uh sales tax um over the years since that was an option. Um if approved, 1 cent per dollar spent would be applied to qualifying purchases made within the county to support the public schools. So what is our current tax rate here in Wharton? Um 7 and a half% outside the villages business district and 7.75 within. Um and the breakdown is just below that. And then further down you can see all of the tax rates uh currently um in

103the surrounding areas uh range between 8 and a half to 10%. So that is currently what we're looking at. So what is the process? So um upon upon a resolution by the district um the school district boards that represent more than 50% of the student enrollment within the county. if they uh certify it at their board and say that this is that they agree to a resolution to be placed on the ballot um then it would go uh on to the ballot in November as Dr. Sander commented. Um if the majority of the electors voting on the proposition vote in favor of it, that's when the tax would be imposed. Uh the they would file the election results and it would take place next year. So next fall is when we would start receiving the

104funds if this were to happen. So this is a big question of will people outside Tazwell County contribute. They absolutely will. Anyone who comes through or comes to our town and spends any money would uh generate revenue uh that would be able to then in turn come to the district. Um it's any person who visits or travels through and they make the purchases that qualify uh to contribute. Um it would allow non-propy owners uh to help support local schools and reduce some of the financial burden on our property owners. What will be tax? So if you buy a coffee at Starbucks, you're looking at five cents on that $5 purchase. Laptop, $5 on that $500 purchase. Um, gas, 60 cents on that $60, which hopefully it's not that much when you're going to the gas

105station at this point in time. Um, but if you were, it would be 60 cents that would be added on. And then the t-shirt at Target would be 20 uh cents on that $20. The items not taxed under this proposal. This is the important part. Our groceries would not be taxed. Prescription medications, vehicles, farm equipment, any professional or personal services. to get a haircut that's not taxed. Um, and wholesale purchases and how can the funds be used? Um, safety and security improvements, including fire prevention, life safety measures, and most recently, they've added school resource officers and mental health services as an option. As you heard in Lindsay's presentation tonight, um mental health services is [clears throat] just a a growing uh trend. So, that's obviously something that we could we could use that for. Um

106facility improvements, roof repairs, um energy efficiency updates, renovations, all the things that we are doing right now and we have a whole list of other things that need to be done as our buildings are growing older. Um we could be utilizing that if this were to pass. um paying off facility bonds and or abating the current ones that we do have. And if if approved, each school district in Tesl County would receive funding based on the number of students that are enrolled at the school district. And then we would decide how those funds would be allocated and used depending on our needs at that given time. So this is just a visual so you can see anything in blue has passed this. This isn't exactly as updated because the yellow one that you see is

107now blue as well as Dr. Sander and I mentioned that passed back uh last year. So a lot well we are surrounded by all the counties that have this current 1centent tax. So what would the ballot question look like? And is this verbatim how it would be presented and and said to the taxpayers? Shall a retailer's occupation tax and a service occupation tax commonly referred to as a sales tax be imposed in the county of Tazwok Illinois at a rate of 1% to be used exclusively for school facility purposes, school resource officers and mental health professionals. >> [cough and clears throat] >> So, if by some chance this did happen and our districts were able to collect some revenue based on this, um this is a very generic look, but what we would realistically be

108looking at how we would spend those funds potentially. Um nothing set in stone obviously. This is just a a um best uh guess as what we would be looking at. So, additions and renovations, $2 million. School resource officer about 130,000. And then mental health providers, um, almost 1.4. Um, that is not the total amount of mental health providers. That is just a portion of it. So, keep that in mind when you're looking at that number, but it would definitely help the district support that. Oops. So, the timeline I'm presenting this today um in March, if the board um thinks this is the direction they would like to move, they would pass a resolution to include the question on the ballot. That's all it does. It does not say that this tax is imposed. It just

109puts a question in the ballot and then the tax and then the voters um make that decision in the fall when the time comes. Um in the summer, we would submit it to the Tazwell Clamp County Clerk's Office. There would be voting in November and if passed the revenue would take effect July 1st of 2027 and then collection of those funds or those revenues uh would start in October 2027. >> Any questions? >> Very first slide second bullet if you want to go to that. Sorry, I have to go back. >> Yep, we go down that one. Yeah. >> So, second bullet, approve once in per dollar, blah blah blah. Says, for example, uh it's going to help where where did I see it? It's going to something with help with property tax. >> Oh,

110it was the next slide, I think. Or no, keep going. >> This No, keep going. >> Somewhere >> that one right there. reduce some of the financial burden. Was that it on property owners? That was my question. >> Somewhere in there, it said it was going to reduce or reduce the burden of property tax. How would that affect the property tax? >> So, a couple piees and a couple of components. As we mentioned, one of the things was we could do abatement if if we saw the need to do that. Um, we don't have a lot of bonds outstanding, so abatement isn't really going to make a big impact on our taxpayers to do it that way. But what it definitely would help Ed, we have needs in this district. Our buildings are, which Rodney

111was here, 50, 60 years old some of them. And we're constantly trying to maintain and keep them up to date and and make them the best that they can be under the circumstances, right? Um, so at some point most school districts have to go out for referendum, right? We haven't had to do that for how many years? I I've been here for almost seven. We haven't done it that entire time. I don't know when the last time was before that. Um, but but it's been a very long time. And our goal, at least my goal, is to not go out for more taxpayers money. Um, so this would be an option to bring in revenue without having to go back to the taxpayer and say, "Well, we need this done at this school or we

112need wouldn't affect the current taxes, but then we wouldn't have the as much of a need to raise them later. >> Correct. Yes. >> Okay. >> So, that would be the answer. Yes. >> Our current taxes are going to stay the same. It's not going to reduce because of this. >> It would be okay. We don't need money later for whatever. >> Some school districts have a large amount of bonds. You [clears throat] know, they've built a new building or they've they've done a lot of things. We thankfully haven't had to do that. Um, but at the same time, as our needs are growing, as the buildings are getting older, we're we're going to need some additional funds in order to to make that happen. Um, [clears throat] >> I'm not saying today, but, you

113know, we we're looking to the future. Um, and as I've mentioned in the past, >> we've had a really good five years or so of revenue, a really good run. Things are changing. We've got lots of things going on. Um, throw in some teacher negotiations next year. I don't know what that's going to look like. throw in what CPI is going to look like this year. This year, I can't forecast what that is going to uh end up like [clears throat] for the district, but this is something that could potentially help offset those increased costs as we go along. >> And this is a county thing, so does it really matter what we do? Well, more than 50% of stu school districts that represent more than 50% of the students have to pass the resolution

114for it to even go on the ballot for the vote to even take place. So, >> okay. >> Yeah. So, >> so that's where we come into play. >> Exactly. This again, this isn't deciding we do it. this is truly just saying as a district, do we think that this is an option that might sound legitimate to present to the voters in order to uh bring in some additional revenue that isn't just taxpayers contributing, >> right? Yeah. I Okay, it's kind of a no-brainer then from that perspective. >> As you can see, all the the counties around us in the majority are going this direction. >> Well, those are my two questions. We've done this once before since I've been on the board and it failed. >> Yeah. [clears throat and cough] >> I think

115>> you mean the board voted yes, but it failed at the county. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yeah. So, it was on the ballot, but it did not get a majority. >> How many times did it take McLean to do it? Do you know? >> Oh, I don't know. Do you know, Dr. S? >> I don't know how many times. Um, >> okay. And is there like a window of time you have to wait? Like if you do it this year, you can't or you can every time you could actually >> you can. >> So we we did it the closest that the county got was in 2018 during the November election and it ended up being 4951. So it was really close. And that that election they had 50,000 ballots cast. So um then

116they piggybacked and they did it right after that. So they did it on the next ballot uh which was April of 2019 and the margin got further apart. So >> any other questions? >> Whole purpose of this is to get a consensus from the board. Is this something that you would like us to bring back for the March board meeting to put a resolution on the agenda for approval? And then once that's done, then we would get that to the RO. And once there's 50% of the students accounted for by their districts, then they would go ahead and move forward with that. We didn't used to have to pay for the resource officer and the what Lindsay talked about. those are getting higher, too. So, I mean, they're my thumbs up. >> And the addition

117of the school safety and the mental health professionals, um, that was an addition I don't know a year that that that was passed, but they started to include it. It didn't used to. The original county school facility sales tax language didn't have that in there. So, that is something that has to also be agreed upon. So like if we agree if we adopt the resolution as Lisa presented then you know other districts could adopt a different resolution. Now I think I think most of the districts recognize that the mental health professional cost has increased significantly over the last five years and so that that would also be included. >> I kind of feel like it's in the taxpayers hands. It's not something that you know, it it's put it out there and see what what

118it brings. [clears throat and cough] >> Yeah. I I definitely don't personally have a problem putting on the ballot. >> Um I how you sell it like I it would be disingen. Oh, we're going to do this so we can reduce property taxes. That's that's not the intent to sell it that way would >> right. And so whereas like well this gives us more financial flexibility. It diversifies where we get our funds from it. Actually, we get money, not necessarily, you know, people come and visit, buy stuff, whatever. Like they they give a little bit. So, you're just kind of growing your [snorts] time more and like diversifying where you're getting your revenue from. Um, so I don't have a problem with it as long as we we're not going to try to sell it

119as we're going to decrease your property tax because we're going to get this 1% sales tax, right? That's that's my thing. I'm all for putting it on the ballot. Um I did before. It's no different than the last time we talked about it. So >> I agree. So it's it is in that second bullet. I did find it property tax relief. And as long as we're not selling it that way, then I think we're okay. >> Yeah. No. Um and and this isformational only. This is not to persuade. This is just to give put it out there. Say this is an option for our taxpayers here in the community or in the county. Um, and each school district will be doing the same. [cough and clears throat] >> I understand everything you just said and

120I understand the logic behind it. Um, but I know personally as a just a taxpayer, I typically will vote no to increase taxes. I mean, that's just we already pay enough. So, I'm just of that mindset. also understanding that someone has to pay for the quality that 709 delivers. And that's kind of finding that balance of having high standards and a high quality education system and being willing to make sacrifices and share that burden. So, kind of figuring that out with where all that money comes from. Can't raise the price of a product that we're selling, you know, to increase our income. So, and as a tax cap county, um, you know, lowering property taxes is is a difficult thing to even promise any tax cap county because there are other factors that go into

121your tax rate that we cannot control. Okay? And so, you know, lowering property taxes is is not a reality. It won't do that. What it does do is what Miss Franklin presented tonight. You know, you can see the delivery of services for students. The additional of the mental health professionals um gives us a capacity. I honestly I don't see that trend reversing it anytime soon. And so >> until we get technology, >> well then we'd say it'll be a double save. [laughter] Yeah. Spend less on technology. Red. Yeah. >> So, >> it's not less on technology. It you might want to spend more to make sure that you're getting what you want out of technology. >> I'm protect >> any. So, the consensus from the board is we can bring this back for a resolution

122action resolution at the March. >> Okay. >> I think it's fine to do that. Perfect. >> Uh, I think we'll be okay when So, okay. >> Right then. >> Sorry about that. >> Too far. >> Yeah, we are on to action items. All right. Um, do I have a motion for the board of education to act on the termination of the education framework contract with 30 days prior written notice to education framework? >> So move support >> discussion. This is uh we it's a service that has uh been paid for by Morton 709 for a number of years. Um we are no longer using the service and so uh with that we're we're going to take formal action on terminating the contract with the the vendor. >> Please call the role. >> Yes, sir. Mrs.

123Layman, >> yes. >> Dr. Craw, >> yes. >> Mr. Red, >> yes. >> Mr. Roth, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perie, >> yes. >> Mr. Onosch, >> yes. >> And Dr. Cross, >> yes. >> All right. Do I have a motion for the board to approve the MOU between the administration and MEA to reduce payroll installment period from 26 to 24 pay periods and limiting the potential 3w week gap cycles. >> Some support, right? >> We talked about this last time. There's discussion I'm assuming no one has any questions or words on it. Okay, please call the >> Mr. Rud. >> Yes. >> Mr. Onus, >> yes. >> Dr. Cross, >> yes. >> Dr. Crawl, >> yes. >> Mrs. Layman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Pertie, >> yes. >> And Mr. Ross, >> yes. Uh, >> do

124I have a motion for the board of education approved policy updates as presented with the district edits? So moved. >> I'll support. >> Okay. >> Discussion. >> We already discussed. >> All right. Valerie, please follow. >> Yes, sir. >> Mrs. Pury? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Layman? >> Yes. >> Dr. Crawl? >> Yes. >> Dr. Cross? >> Yes. >> Mr. Onus? >> Yes. >> Mr. Roth? >> Yes. >> And Mr. Red? >> Yes. Do [clears throat] I have a motion for the board of education approve the 2026 27 calendar as presented? >> So moved. >> Support. >> Does anyone want to talk about the calendar again? [laughter] >> No. >> Please call the role. >> Yes, sir. Mr. Onus, >> yes. >> Mr. Roth, >> yes. >> Mrs. Perty, >> yes. >> Mr. Red, >> yes.

125>> Dr. Cross. >> Yes. >> Dr. Crawl. Yes. >> And Mrs. Layman. >> Yes. All right. Do I have a motion for the board of education approve the board goals as presented? >> So moved support. >> Okay. >> All right. Smart goals. We've talked about it for a year or whatever. Do we need you guys want to discuss some? >> Jerry, you got something to say? >> I just love that we're finally going to get through this. [laughter] Excited. >> All right. Valerie, please call the RO. >> Yes, sir. Mr. Red, >> yes. >> Mrs. Layman, >> yes. >> Dr. Craw, >> yes. >> Mrs. Pery, >> yes. >> Mr. Roth, >> yes. >> Mr. Onus, >> yes. >> Dr. Cross, >> yes. It's on twice. One is calendar. >> Oh, the other one's the

126board calendar. We're not ah >> and do I have a motion to approve the board calendar for 2627? >> So move >> support >> discussion there being none valer please call the >> yes [laughter] >> Mrs. Certie >> yes >> Mr. Roth >> yes >> Mrs. Layman >> yes >> Mr. Red >> yes >> Mr. Onus yes >> Dr. Cross >> yes >> and Dr. Yes. >> And do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? >> So move support. >> You're quick with that. >> To uh >> I'll got two discussions. >> He always does it after. >> Okay. >> Mr. >> No, this is good. >> Oh, please. [laughter] >> Mr. Red. >> Yes. >> Mr. Wrath. >> Yes. >> Mr. Onusaurge. Yes, >> Dr. Cross. >> Yes, >> Dr.

127Caw. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Layman. >> Yes. >> And Mrs. Perie. >> Yes. >> So, two two quick points. Uh what you just approved was uh keeping the semianual closed session minutes closed. [clears throat] Uh that's going back uh to July 15th through December 2nd. Um and then we did have two donations. Um, we had $1,500 uh donated to the Morton Trades from River City uh Construction Foundation and then Mangold Ford donated $500 to Morton Academy. So, our great appreciation to, you know, our our partners out there in the community that are uh making gracious donations for our for our schools. >> Exciting. >> Great. >> Non-aggenda audience presentation. >> We do have one non-aggenda audience presentation. Uh Jordan Spickle, if you would come to the podium. Um there should be a timer on the

128screen just to kind of give you an idea where you're at. >> Okay. >> Good evening. My name is Jordan Spikmire and I'm a mom to a current kindergartener at Lincoln. I'm also a former district employee as I was a school counselor at Horn High School. Uh last year I read Jonathan Height's book, The Anxious Generation, as I'm sure many of you have read as well. And his book gave me the research to better understand the issues that I have been seeing increase since I became a high school counselor in 2011. Rising anxiety, lots of the things that we'll kind of cover tonight, raising anxiety, depression, increase in self harm, and more students who were being hospitalized to address these serious mental health situations. But I also noticed students were socializing differently. And academically, I

129felt like more students were displaying a disengaged or disinterested approach to school. So reading the anxious generation caused me to want to find ways to help not only my own kids, but my students as well. And that's what ultimately led me to sharing different resources in our community. Um, one of those is wait until 8th, which I became the chapter lead for in Wharton. And it's a parentled movement to help delay the use of smartphones and social media for children. Um there's a lot of pressure to get a smartphone today and the average age a child gets their first smartphone is 10. So I wanted to help parents work together to change that norm here in our community and I was really grateful to be able to share that message on our district podcast uh

130care you and that's a it's a really great resource for our community. Uh I've been doing everything in my power to educate our community about the harms of smartphones and social media for kids. I joined the distraction-free [clears throat] schools policy project team. Uh I've started a book club and I've been hosting screenings of a documentary called Can't Look A Library. Uh several of you here have attended a screening or watched the film online. It's a really powerful film that shares the tragic stories of so many young people that have been severely harmed or who have died due to social media use. Um I don't get paid to do any of these things. I just know it's important to do. Um, everything I've been working on has led me to know that smartphones and social

131media are not safe for children and therefore do not belong in schools. This is why I support putting into place a bell-to-bell personal device policy. And I am sharing some specific resources with you all or already did um on how to begin that process. According to the American Psychological Association, teens are spending around 5 hours per day on social media alone. And the surgeon general advisories on social media and youth mental health reports that spending three hours or more per day on social media doubles the risk of mental health symptoms like anxiety and depression. The National Education Association conducted a poll and 83% of teachers reported supporting an allday phone free policy and research published in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research concluded that just the presence of your smartphone reduces your cognitive

132capacity. We would never dream about offering a smoking area in schools today because of the known harms associated with using tobacco. And yet smartphones and social media use for children and teens is equally if not more so healtharming than tobacco. [snorts] Allowing these devices into the school school building are not only a distraction to learning, but due to the varying levels of parental controls or often no controls at all. They are exposing our children to harms like pornography, violence, drugs, predators, and other inappropriate content that is not acceptable for minors. It should not be assumed that just because something is widely used that it is safe to use. Parents need to work together to change the expectation of getting smartphones in childhood and the school district can support that by adopting a bell-to-bell policy. I

133really appreciate the conversations that I've been able to have with several of you and I hope that you see my mission is to support families while also supporting our school district. Um I have two resources to share with you which was already passed out. Um, [snorts] and I would like to extend an invitation to any of you here or anyone listening to another screening of the film Can't Look Away that I'm hosting on Saturday, February 28th at 11:00 a.m. at the Morton Public Library. I hope for those of you here who have seen it, you could share with others why it was so impactful and why we all must work together to make a change. And second, I know to make a change, you need to hear from more than just one voice. So, I

134put out a survey to gather parent feed feedback. And I've brought that copy of the results for you all to look over. And I hope by sharing this information, it can start a conversation in our district about how to make changes that best support student learning, reduce screen time overall, and also allow our teachers to do what they know how to do best. As you will see, parents in our school community are asking to reduce reading and free time spent on screens, and also largely support a bell-to-bell policy. So, I hope we can work together to keep our kids and our community safe. Thank you. Thank you. All right. You have a motion to enter close session for the purpose of personnel and student discipline. >> So moved forward, >> please call. >> Mr. Roth,

135>> yes. >> Mr. Onus, >> yes. >> Dr. Cross, >> yes. >> Dr. Crawl, >> yes. >> Mrs. Layman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Pertie, >> yes. >> And Mr. Run, we'll >> take five. All right. >> [music]