001[music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] [music] Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Daddy. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] [music] [music] Heat. [music] Oh, [music] all the [music] Oh, [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Oh, [music] oh, [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] [music] [music] Oh, [music] oh, [music] oh. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] [music] Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Oh, [music] the Lord. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Heat. [music] [bell] Heat. [music] [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Oh, [music] oh, [music] oh. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music]
002>> Heat. Heat. >> [music] [music] >> Oh, [music] the >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Oh, [music] oh, [music] [music] oh. Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] Oh, [music] all the [music] Oh. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat >> [music] [music] >> up [music] Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. >> [music] >> Oh, [music] oh, [music] oh. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Oh, [music] oh, [music] oh. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Oh, [music] oh the Lord. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] >>
003Oh, [music] oh, [music] oh. Heat. [music] Heat. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] >> calling to order the June 16th, 2026 regular meeting of the COSD 2011 Board of Education. Uh, roll call. Leah Canover >> here. >> Heather Franklin >> here. >> Carlos Xavia >> here. >> Tim Herman >> here. >> Dana Hoover. >> Kevin Marin >> here. >> Alexandria Mill >> here. Okay. Stand for the pledge, please. Dang, we're really picking up tonight. I pledge allegiance 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. >> Okay. The chair will entertain a motion to enter close session to discuss specific employees, student discipline, and the purchase or lease of real property for
004the use of the for the use of the public body. >> So move. >> Second. Roll call. >> Mr. Marin, >> yes. >> Mr. Herman, >> yes. >> Miss Franklin, >> yes. >> Mr. Aia, >> yes. >> Miss Mill, yes. Miss Conover, >> yes. Motion passes. And to close we go. >> [music] [music] >> discussion. Um, we're going to move right along here to the approval of minutes. The chair will entertain a motion to approve the minutes of the May 19th, 2026 regular meeting of the board of education as presented. >> So move. >> Second. >> All in favor? I I >> opposed. >> Motion passes. The chair will entertain a motion to approve the minutes of the closed session of the board of education's May 19th, 2026 regular meeting as presented. >> So moved.
005>> Second. >> All in favor? >> I I >> opposed. Motion passes. Do we have any public comment this evening? >> Nope. >> On to our consent agenda. The chair will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. Number one, personnel recommendations. Brooke Davis, special education teacher. Uh, Vivian Vivana Medina, special education teacher. Gage Dill, night custodian. Tiffany uh, Rupsus, TA summer school. Sarah Goodaster, TA summer school. Jill Jackson, social worker summer school resignations and retirements. Number two, approval of the May 2026 expenditure report. Number three, approval of the June 2026 expenditure report. Number four, ratification of the May 2026 regular payroll. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Mr. Herman, >> yes. >> Miss Franklin, >> yes. >> Mr. Aia, >> yes. >> Miss Mill, >> yes. >> Miss Conover,
006>> yes. >> Mr. Marin, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> On to information and discussion. Let's talk preschool. >> Preschool curriculum. Frog Street. >> Okay. Good evening everybody. Um I'm Tiffany Teresy, director of student services and early childhood. So part of that role is overseeing our preschool programming at South School. And the administration would like to recommend the board consider approval of the Frog Street curricular program as a formal curricular resource for our preschool programming. Um over the past couple of years, we've been doing um some work in the area of curriculum and instruction to align with um going up into kindergarten grade level and beyond and kind of aligning through scope and sequence, making sure students are prepared and ready for kindergarten. Um and so through that work, it has led us to the
007process of relooking at reconsidering our curricular resource programming. for the past several years before that the teachers have been doing a really exceptional job of um more so kind of teachercreated materials that are rooted in creative curriculum. So previously, oop, sorry, previously in the past, the team had formally adopted creative curriculum a number of years ago and then have been working from those materials for the past recent years. And so it was just a good time for us to kind of come back to the table, relook at everything as we're continuing to have conversations, working a lot with Dr. Carla Brown to make sure that we are preparing students for kindergarten. So the team came together and explored a variety of different resource options and unanimous unanimously came together in favor of the Frog Street
008curriculum. Um there is a couple things that stood out about the Frog Street curriculum in particular and one of the main and most important ones was really preparing students academically from that instructional standpoint as well as overall school readiness skills, social emotional skills as they enter into kindergarten. So at South, we get students who sometimes the day after they turn three are enrolling and starting in our program all the way through 5 years of age until they're kindergarten eligible in the fall. And so really making sure that we have a good balance of the academic and instructional component, the social emotional, developmental, and just the overall school readiness as we're preparing students to learn how to be students and enter into kindergarten and and onwards. Um, the Frog Street curriculum also has a really nicely
009embedded social emotional component. So, it's not, you know, something extra that needs to be done. It's not like this is your five minutes of social emotional time. It's everything embedded and weaved in throughout the lessons. Um, and that build on the lessons throughout the unit. So, it helps provide a really integrated and comprehensive approach to build those skills for our students. Um the approximate cost of this is about $9,600 for the curricular program that will be funded through our preschool for all or our PFA grant. Um and we are looking for this to be approved to then implement and use starting this fall for the 2627 school year and beyond that. um all the information you guys do have in your your board packet that summarizes what I just shared as well as goes a
010little bit deeper into some more of the different parts of the curriculum. But any questions? Anything else that would be helpful for me to hit on? >> Can you take us through the rest of the PowerPoint just so cuz so it'll be up on the >> Oh. Oh, that's not >> Oh, yeah. This is >> This is for the other thing. Okay, never mind. Never mind. >> I was like, is there a slide for disregard? >> Any other questions? >> Yes. Any other questions about Frog Street? >> Awesome. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Carla. Star versus I Ready? >> All right. So, I am coming today. I'm going to present it at the June board meeting for approval hopefully at the the July meeting. Um, so currently we
011use the I Ready Diagnostic three times per year. So, our kindergarten through 8ighth grade students take an ELA assessment and a math assessment three times a year as our universal screener. And we've been using I Ready for several years. Um, we've come to this year a lot of many teachers um some parents have come with expressing some concerns that I Ready is not really meeting the needs of our students at this point for various reasons. Um, one of the reasons is the length of the assessment. Um, it's also when we give assessments, we want it to be actionable. So, we want the information to be something that we can use and we can act on right away and we can make um and we can help our students and um we feel that I ready
012is not really meeting those needs at this at this point in time. However, we still need a universal screener. It gives us really important information um uh about our students. It really measures our students achievement and growth. We use it for our MTSS process. Um we use this data to really for early identification to see um what students may require additional support. And we also use it to progress monitor our students to ensure that they're growing at the appropriate levels. Um and it's something that's common among all of our grade levels. So we still need a universal screener. So I'm proposing um that we move from I Ready to the STAR assessment and this for a couple of reasons. Um the big reason is for increased instructional time. So the current I Ready assessment that
013we give um it can take some students about 90 minutes to take the ELA and 90 minutes to take the math. So that's 180 minutes three times a year where the STAR it tops out at 20 minutes. So, it'll be 20 minutes for reading, 20 minutes for math, three times a year for that universal screener, but it's significantly less time. Um, and then it's also a cost savings for us as well. So, um, for I Ready, it costs us approximately $40,000 uh a year. For the STAR assessment, the actual STAR assessment will cost us 15,000. Um, and then the training for next year because we will need to do some initial training will be about$7,000, but we don't anticipate that being a continued expense as years go on. So, um, that was decided because of
014some feedback we or a lot of feedback we received from teachers, some from parents. Um, and that is our recommendation to uh transition from the I Ready Diagnostic to the STAR um universal screener for the next school year. Does anyone have any questions? >> Did any of this decision um anything going into the decision have to do with the lawsuits that are going on with I Ready? So, there is a lawsuit for I Ready. Um, and it's all built around privacy, student privacy concerns. I Ready has come out with a statement that's saying that, um, they're not in violation of anything. So, that's still in in process. Um, but for our standpoint, this is a lot coming from it's it's just not meeting the needs of our students. So that I mean yeah that's a
015that's a part of it but the biggest concern for us is that it's just not meeting the needs of our students at this point. >> Do you know why the 20 minutes versus the 90 minutes? It feels like a very big difference. What what is different about that? >> So when I talked with Star they say that um they've done a lot of research on their end on how um 20 minutes can give just as much high quality information. You still get a student growth score, you still get a proficiency, and you can with high quality questions, you can still get that same information as is what they say. >> Okay. >> 20 minutes versus 90. So, >> yeah. Yeah. I mean, I had the same kind of thought. >> The first thing I saw
016when I saw that. >> Mhm. >> That's an important question, but >> it's a great question. Yeah. >> You're still going to get the same information. We're still going to get the same data. We're still going to be able to get all of that important student information. >> I asked that question. They showed us reports. That's >> it. It looks very similar. >> The data is apples to apples. So, I mean, >> it's a it's an adaptive assessment just like I is where um what that means is as students get questions correct, they'll get harder questions. If they get questions incorrect, they get, you know, easier questions. So, it's the same style of assessment. Yes. Have you seen STAR used in other districts? And have they have has anybody that you know made the switch
017from I Ready to STAR? >> Um yes. So I was speaking with someone who made the switch from I Ready to STAR and she she loved that decision. But there are a lot of districts um near us that use STAR as the as an assessment. >> Yeah. I feel like um when you're looking at universal screeners screeners, it's typically MAP, I Ready or STAR. And I feel like MAP and I Ready are very similar. They're almost the same thing. and STAR is similar and it gives the same information but it's a less of a time commitment. >> Okay. >> So, will I Ready still be like a resource because we use I Ready for like lessons and stuff. >> Yes. So, we have we purchase currently I Ready Diagnostic the assessment the universal screener and
018then we also purchase for kindergarten through fifth grade I Ready Math. Um and they're two separate things. Um, and we'll still continue with the I Ready math resource for kindergarten through fifth grade. >> And the junior high >> junior high uses Carnegie >> summer classes using I >> Yep. They're using a special program to um determine what class they should be in in the fall. >> Yeah. >> Um Oh, ahead of So, and this could be ahead of the Sure. ahead of where you guys are at. What's the thought? I mean, I think about I ready weeks and I always know when I ready weeks are because it's like make sure your children have slept and it'll be the same and da da da. >> Yes. >> But they take but 90 minutes is like
019>> Yes. >> I mean and they're like we finished it or we didn't or we did it. Is the thought like this kind of fits into the class or it's split up or >> it'll be the same um the same process like parents will be notified ahead of time. Make sure you rest up and and everything. But the idea behind this is it will fit within a regular block of time instead of having to do it multiple days. Sometimes our >> split up over two days and ELA is split up over two days. >> It is. So then you're losing four days of >> instruction three times a year. >> That's great. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Um just to note I forgot to mention on curriculum. So Jack, we've gotten a
020bunch of stuff on curriculum that's coming like you know the night and then we got to approve. So, let's just work on that for next year. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> From the timeline factor cuz the public's got to have the chance and we got to have time with it. So, uh baseball dugout donation. Is that you? >> That's [clears throat] correct. So, uh there is a generous donor who's an assistant coach, Alex Oscowski, at the high school. Uh there have been concerns about the dugouts and how just kind of they're falling not falling apart but they're they're not what the team would want them to be up to speed. So um looking at the information they said hey what can we do? They looked into uh different ways to put together a brand new
021dugout. Uh and in short Mr. Lascowski would like to pay for the entire process. It doesn't require any sort of uh village situation or whatever. They just have to buy the materials and put it together with like a contractor in the amount of $35,000. [snorts] >> Awesome. >> Wow. >> Love it. >> Yeah. >> It's quite generous. >> Thank you very very Thank you, coach. It's amazing. >> Yeah. >> Great. >> What else do you need from us? >> Well, we'll approve. Hopefully, we'd approve the donation. approving it. >> But I I would like to just make sure that everyone knows ahead of time before we vote. So, >> thank you. >> Yeah. Wonderful. Uh district athletic committee meeting recap. Who's on that one? >> Are you doing that or Edith and Heather and Carl?
022>> I have nothing to say at this point. >> Yeah, I mean I could speak really briefly about it, I guess. [laughter] Um so we had a second meeting and um the meeting was uh a little less um abundantly attended from compared to the first one but um there was a lot of hardworking people there who actually the focus of the meeting was on actual action like what can practically be done and I think that um we came up with some really really good things um that involve um coaches reaching out vertically along along the district and outside of the district, which is which is nice. Um, I think we also um talked about maybe there are some there's a lot of summer camps happening this year. Um, but maybe extending that into the school
023year. what kind of what kind of um events can be organized that aren't, you know, summer camps or because it's in the summer, but but um whether it's instructional or maybe just um um the presence of middle schoolers and elementary school students at varsity games to do something at halftime or something like that. So, there's there's um some work being done there as well. And um yeah, what else? There was there were there were more actions that were agreed to to pursue. You you probably have some notes there. [laughter] >> I'll just be quick. >> So we we started the meeting um reviewed the previous agenda and then really focused on our themes that we came up with. So first theme was communication. Uh they're finding that there's communication gaps between elementary through junior high
024and high school. So we identified some action steps to to support with that uh vertical alignment and uh feeder programs, how we can make sure that our our K5, you know, the majority of that conversation was K5, how there really aren't any programs or opportunities for our students and how we can enhance that for them. Talked about some different ideas, uh partnerships with a park district and facility and improvements. we didn't get to um because we spent all of our time talking about the other two and then parent and coach education which um we are looking for a softball coach and something that Dr. Wack said is um something that would be really helpful is that recruiting piece right making sure that we have uh coaches coming to us with experience that are are willing
025to do the job. Um and so we we talked about maybe some recruiting efforts to to be able to support that. And we said we'd give a shout out on at the board meeting for looking for a softball coach. >> Yes. >> For the high school. And I in the meantime, I got a name that I want I not going to say on the mic, but I got I got I got a name for Kevin. >> I believe um for assistant coach as well, right? So >> the coach you typically chooses an assistant. >> Yeah. Right. Exactly. >> You can still apply, but you can still apply. >> And that's more to come. Awesome. Thank you. And thanks to all the all the folks that are involved in that um selfworkers compensation renewal. >> Yes.
026So, we received our workers comp renewal back uh from uh it it's like it's from self. So, uh the renewal right now that we're looking at is pretty [clears throat] much on par with what we've done in the past. This is just routine that we have to do to be covered for every every given year. Uh any questions? Okay. Policy second reading >> to do that. >> Again, we're following press recommendations. You know, their team of lawyers. They're the experts. Um they make changes to the documents. You know what what they recommend us implement. Um we don't have to implement them, but they're the experts. So, we're going to follow their recommendations. Anything on policies? >> I'm excited. >> Cool. Town hall town hall recap. >> Um, >> we had a full small room and
027we heard some new voices that had some real expertise. Uh, tonight I have to say overall I think I would characterize as a lot of support from community members for the concept. Uh there was people in our community uh I'll say uh a gentleman named Tim who uh has a lot of expertise and building projects over the years and John too who are longtime residents and have a lot of familiarity with construction uh who were supportive but who had cautions about making sure that we attend to the safety needs of our kids during a construction project. So that was very appreciated. Um and I think it tonight of all the meetings while there certainly were people who were concerned about the impact to taxpayers and concerns about uh making sure that we are very clear
028about what we're asking for and being giving uh really details as much as possible about what the school could look like. Overwhelmingly, there were a lot of people in the room who saw the wisdom to the uh proposal we've made. So, >> uh you want to talk about last night's virtual one and anything from last night's than the one before a couple weeks ago? Um >> we have about 20 people questions will be posted on the questions. >> [snorts] >> The town halls have been helpful because I think people the the things that people have expressed as concerns we've tried to address including doing everything we can to sharpen the pencil and reduce the costs but there's still a cost involved. Um but one of the things we were asking we thought we knew and
029we assumed which is not where we want to be. We heard that, you know, previously from a number of sources that the location on the north end of Ogden was not amendable to a significant portion of our population. Bless you. But I think what we assumed was, okay, if that's not the answer, what about putting at Miller? And I think that is gaining momentum. Most people seem to think that makes more sense. So, or at least people who would prefer to see that who previously were not supportive. I think that was one of the things we wanted to float. That's what we thought we heard. So, here's the solution. Is this what you want? And we're getting a lot of feedback. Yes. It's never unanimous. There's still concerns about impact to taxpayers, but the Miller
030location seems to be uh to people who want a new school and are not uh religious about where it's at, they'll support it. The people who want it on this side of the community, so kids are not bust from the time they're in kindergarten through high school or etc., people are gravitating towards that. So, the recap of all the town hall meetings, and we did have three since our last one, uh was that the proposal we're putting forward uh or that we've floated to the community is is more favorable. >> Do you guys have a thought on what you would like to do moving forward? >> Uh yes. So, >> no, no, no, no. Like obviously you were making a recommendation to the board. I'm saying from a town hall perspective, from a meetings with
031the community perspective, not from we know that you are recommending. We know that, but >> I I think the recommendation uh to the board, the board deserves and needs time to process and contemplate. Um, and then depending on the board's decision, we would hold information meetings galore between that time and our November referendum. And we, we've done in the past, take all questions, be as clear as possible, put out all the information. There's already on our website, just document it. There's eight different documents and a tax calculator. uh and that's before the board has even made a decision. So once the board makes a decision that will guide our uh need to hold multiple town hall meetings and present as many details as possible and answer every question that people ask. So what I'm hearing
032is if we we don't make a decision until mid August, >> our recommendation is that you take this under advisement, consider it tonight, and we would we're getting a little ahead of ourselves, but we would ask if the board could make a decision in July that would give us enough lead time to hit it when school year starts and people are back in session. Well, it's the board's decision when they want to vote on it, but we're kind of melding uh items seven and eight here together, but that's okay. It makes sense. Uh our recommendation will be to ask the board to vote in July, but it's your decision if you want to await till August. >> Okay. So, no more town halls between now and July at least. We've held seven >> which is
033fine meetings total. I just want I want to make sure that it's >> so yeah [snorts] I mean people have had ample opportunity to come and go online and there's all the information that's out there and we feel comfortable putting forward a recommendation and until the board makes a decision I mean there's now no new information. So, we're we're content that once the board makes a recommendation, then it's time for us to really put information out there and uh get feedback and you know, not really feedback, but to answer questions. >> Mhm. >> So, to answer your question directly, no, it's not that long either. When is the July board meeting? >> I feel good about that. >> When is the July board meeting? We know Shy 21st, I believe. So >> with the holiday
034and giving people a chance to rest >> five weeks. Mhm. >> Yeah. >> Anything else on town halls? >> Okay. Administration recommendation of the board. >> We're getting semi-dramatic here. We're all going to go up to the podium and address the board. >> Oh boy. [laughter] I hope there's a song for song. >> This board meeting the musical. Is that >> Yes. >> Well, Carlos. Okay. So, this is it really is an important recommendation we believe because what we're asking is significant for the board to consider. Um, this is a quick recap and we can post this on our website. Correct. So, uh, we think this is a tremendous opportunity to strengthen our school district and the community at the same time to address the very real needs of facilities in our district that I
035don't think anybody really disputes [snorts] what we're going to do is the question, but that we need to do something is just without question at this point. Uh it's been, you know, the next thing we really want to make sure that we're clear on is that we acknowledge and deeply appreciate uh that this will be a sacrifice and a commitment from our community members. We don't just gloss over that. This is asking a community that already supports its schools for additional funding. And we take that very seriously and we know it will be a heartache for some of our community members. It'll be a sacrifice for some of our community members. Um, but we believe it's in the long term in the best interest of our community and certainly our school district to go in
036this direction. Uh, we've spent years of listening quite frankly and engaged in collaboration to come to a consensus for this proposal and we've made alterations and compromises based on feedback from the community. Addressing this issue now is essential for the long-term health, safety, and success of our student. do this in a different fashion. This is the vehicle. Uh we have a list of and we'll return to this. These are just neighboring districts and the referendums they've passed. Now, I'm trying to be as gentle as possible, but either they all made mistakes by approving referendums or, you know, we got to figure out something nobody else has figured out. This is the vehicle. you go to your public and ask for money to renovate in a major league way or to build a new building. So,
037this is just a partial list of 46 plus districts whose communities have passed referendums. We have not passed a referendum, let me be clear, in 50 years in this district. There have been multiple attempts and some lost by the thinnest possible margins. So, the time is now or to be fiscally responsible, the prices will just keep increasing. Um, the recommendation reflects a fiscally responsible long-term solution. We think it makes more sense to build one new building versus renovate. The cost of renovation are close to the cost of building a new building, first of all, and second of all, we would lose the opportunity to consolidate and save money on an annual basis. And if we renovated the two buildings, the downtown area cannot be uh uh enhanced as is the villages and uh idea and
038we support that. Uh a new K5 building creates operational efficiencies [clears throat] and consolidation savings to the tune of conservatively 6 to $700,000 annually. Uh the redevelopment of the Manning property is projected to generate tax revenues. The numbers from our village officials are at the tune of $800,000 a year. So that is beneficial to taxpayers. Also, the property acquisition was the most cost effective option available. We looked at Neapville and Cass. If we could have acquired those properties, it would have been uh north of $11 million. The Tai Warner property, if there had not been a donation, would have been close to $15 million. the Bank of America property, which isn't even for sale next to Manning, would have prevented the village from developing downtown area and would have been over $5 million conservatively speaking.
039So, purchasing the properties from our neighbors uh south of 5 million uh is the most cost effective land acquisition option that was available. Uh, six of the seven property owners have reached tenative agreements with positive sentiment and amicable negotiations. Uh, negotiations continue with the one remaining owner. But we went met face tof face with these community members, these neighbors. I think they will have all reported that they were treated with care and respect. uh and including one property where we will leave the property until such time that it's in the best interest of that current resident to move on from the property. So we negotiated in good faith, positively, respectfully, and that's what the neighbors are saying. That was a very much a priority for us and treated them with compassion. That's the hallmark of
040this district. Um the delay in not approving a referendum is actually at the higher cost for taxpayers as we've seen and that will continue to be the case. So there's no such thing as a perfect solution. But we are confident that this is the best solution for our entire community. The proposed ballot language is shall the board of education of Westmont Community Unit School District 2011 DuPage County, Illinois, build and equip a school building to replace the JT Manning and CE Miller elementary school buildings. Acquire land, which gives us some option there if needed. Uh though we do believe that the sale of Manning, which we're getting another estimate on, will pay for all the seven properties that we're seeking to acquire. Improve the site, including playground space. additional parking and drop off pickup zones
041and issue its ponds to the amount of $68 million for the purpose of paying the cost thereof. We went to Nicholas and the architects and dropped the price after careful consideration from the low to mid70s to $68 million. That's a decrease of 6 to7%. It is $4 to7 million. And in numbers like this, it may not seem like a lot, but it is $4 to7 million less coming out of the taxpayers's pockets. Uh we have spent considerable time on this. I wish there was an alternative. There's not. We have to do something. We can't keep kicking the can down the road. We can't consolidate with other districts. That's just not an real option. We could not have paid for this out of our annual funds. Illinois budgets are not built for that. It's not that
042we were irresponsible as a district. It's that we have addressed the needs and we've come to the point where we have to do something major. And in the state of Illinois, the way that's done is through asking task taxpayers for uh ballot language like this. So, we are confident this is going to be best for the school district and the community. I'll let some of my fellow administrators uh speak their uh mind on this, too. Um, so I'll start. So obviously I am employed by 2011, but everything that I do I think through the lens of being a parent of a 4-year-old and a six-year-old. They're my most favorite people in the world. And everything I do, I think about is this what I would want for my own kids? And when I think about
043the education that our kids are receiving in 2011, it is absolutely yes. Uh we have amazing teachers who um care about the whole child. They care about them academically, socially, emotionally. We have amazing students. We have wonderful parents. It's an incredible place to be. But when I look at the facilities, that gives me pause. It's not something that I would want for my own children. And quite frankly, our kids deserve better. So, so I'm just going to add a little bit to that. So, I was hired here in district 2011 over a decade ago as a principal of Miller Elementary School. And I remember coming here and thinking I was like in a Hallmark movie. It's like, "Oh my god, this town is so quaint. It's it's it's so pretty. It's, you know, there's so
044much tradition, so much richness. People value family so much. And I I just thought it was so wonderful. And that's why I'm back because Westmont has all of those things. But I do believe that um we're we run the risk of losing that because, you know, we can't keep traditions if we don't have young families moving in to to keep those alive. That's just not going to happen. And I think our education is spot on. We keep working to improve, to get better, to make sure we're reaching all of our students. Um we're doing our part and really now the community has to do theirs. And like Jack says, we we wish we didn't have to do this, but but we're in this predicament. And so, you know, we will keep doing our part as
045much as we possibly can, but at some point we we need help. So, that's what we're here for. So, as my first year here, uh I can reflect. I've probably done about a quarter billion dollars in construction over the last 15 16 years under my previous districts. I can talk money all day. I know Dr. Balderman brought out some really good things, but I can tell you what I've seen. So, when we built the Morton West Freshman Academy, I saw a student walking through the hallway very first time once we opened it and small Hispanic girl goes, "Wow, this looks like a rich kid school." She puffed up her chest. She was so proud of herself because that's where she went to school to change her future. Um, when you look at spending, it typically
046hits a certain population of student. We talk about kids who are excelling in academics, finding a voice. Uh, maybe they're shy, extracurriculars. They're trying to find their superpower. This hits every single child. This is one of those moments in spending where you can actually affect every single 100% of your children. A child's first imprint on their memory in education is going to be this building. This is what they're going to see as a legacy and what they want to do to determine their future. We are looking to build a facility to aid a child's social, emotional, and academic life. It would be a central hub for the community and the children. It's something that not just they would be proud of, but also the community. I see this as a perfect opportunity for you to
047change as a community the future of all these students, all these children that you're helping to raise and that you're helping to build upon so that they become those doctors, those attorneys, they can be carpenters, they can be any sort of position and they're going to serve you down the line. So all you're doing is paying it forward and they're going to do that, too. But that's what this building is capable of doing. And I'm sorry, but when it comes to environment, that means everything to children. So that's why I'd like for everyone to consider this. This is very important. I've seen the impact on kids in lower income districts. And wow, does it make a difference, not just academically, but socially, proud, going home, talking about what they've done, and what they see because
048that was given to them. And that's what I think we need to do. So just a couple thoughts from the finance guy. Thank you. I'll be very cut cut and dry. Um, I came to this district and there was a massive infrastructure problem. Very early on, I kind of realized that we were in a definite hole that we could not get out of. I watched previous conversations go on about how to fix the elementary problem. The high school is very well established. The junior high is very well established. This district has always had an issue with the elementary schools. At one point we had three of them. We have one of them that needs a full gut job. If we are going to be using the taxpayers's money, what makes most sense is to do
049this once and do it for the rest of time. We could renovate both buildings. We could spend an unbelievable amount of money doing that. You could have viable schools at the end of it. But if you've done that, you've put all that money into it and you've gotten what out of it? You've gotten two semi- renovated schools that would be viable, but it does not change this district. This opportunity gives us the the potential to consolidate. It gives us the opportunity to manage a district beyond that. Again, we have a situation at the high school that's in very good shape. We have the junior high that's in very good shape. If the elementary school is dealt with, it takes it off of the list. You can manage things from there. You can strategize from there.
050you can allocate money to do individual projects as opposed to reacting to everything. Everything in this district has been a reaction. You have not been in a situation where you can plan for things. You have to continually bail yourselves out. And until you creatively get out of that, you're you're stuck in that. And that's where this district has been for 30 years. This move would consolidate things to make it a manageable district for this type of town to carry everything that they've built through the future. Um, short of that, we don't know. I mean, there's a lot of things that they've put together that we would have to deal with. Uh, construction is needed. You got to do it one way or the other. And again, if you have the opportunity to kind of consolidate,
051change things, you can continue that and everything that they've built as long as you possibly can. Um, and I don't see any reason you would not be able to do that. I'll be short and sweet and echo everything that my colleagues have said, but um, Westmont is a really special place. CUSD 2011 is a really special place and having had the unique opportunity to work with the district for many years in my previous role as a coach and then come and formally be part of the district. The reason that I'm standing here, the reason I'm still here today is because this district is a very special place and this community is a very special place. And in order to continue that, we need this opportunity for our students. They we not only need it, they
052deserve it. And this is an opportunity and we're coming to the community and asking for support to make a decision that will have a lasting impact on our current students, future generations to come, and really leave a continued legacy in the city of Westmont for all of our families, all of our community members. And it's really just an opportunity to give our students what they deserve and we're asking for your support in that. >> So we can answer questions, you can have a discussion. We This is our proposal what you see on the ballot language and it really is at this point in the hands of the board. So, >> we're also hoping that a decision is made in July so that we can move forward with >> that will give us enough lead time
053to answer community questions and that's what we're proposing. It's the decision of the board of what they want to put on the agenda. >> Well, let's start there. How about that? >> Yeah. [laughter] Yeah, it's a good place to start. I mean it's a I it feels like this is a a at this point a board discussion right? >> I mean a lot of questions for the administration I other than the the actual language of the proposed ballot uh measure [clears throat] um which we could get into but I don't have I don't have any questions for the administration. I just think it's the first point is that we should discuss as a board is do we feel like we need more any more information ourselves before having this as a as as an action
054item on an agenda. >> Well, so to that point, right, what we kind of talked about at the last meeting was like potentially adding a special meeting that is just kind of based on this um based on the doodle polls. The only nonexisting board non-current non-scheduled board meeting night um that six of the seven board members are available is June 30th. >> June 30th which is right around the corner. >> Right around the corner. So if we would like to devote a meeting to a full meeting just to discussing this um that's one option. We then have board meetings scheduled the 21st which six of the seven board members are available for and the 18th which five of the seven board members are available for. >> Sorry the Can you say the months when you
055say those dates? >> Sorry. June 30th, July 21st, and August 18th, which is the that's the the limit. >> August 18th is the limit. The 23rd. Is that right? Is that the date? Yeah, I think that's right. >> Yeah. So, >> I don't need a special board meeting. I'm fine voting in July. >> Agreed. >> Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I mean, I think that um again, the only thing that I would want to take a little time myself for and there's plenty time between now and the board meeting in July to do that is to like think through this proposed ballot language and if it if it's exact if it's the exact right language because that's the one thing that is that is once we vote on it cannot be changed. >> Mhm.
056cannot be and >> I think that I would like to have a I know it's an inconvenience for us but I do think a special meeting to allow the public to come and give public comment with all the board members present before we actually vote so that we can consider that public comment as a board. So I think having a special meeting would be important and would be necessary. >> Right. So the the idea then being a special board meeting on the 30th of June that is because because that is really pretty close that is widely publicized because if the intent is to get the public give the public the opportunity to to to give public comment because it's we wouldn't be we wouldn't be we wouldn't be engaging with the public in that in
057that scenario. >> No, we would we would adjust our public comment rules and re Yes. It's not as much for us. It is it is kind of what we discussed last week was like creating the opportunity for the public to to talk to us. >> So, understanding that we have these, you know, board meetings are meetings that happen in public, not with the public, and we won't be able to go back and forth, but >> it it is the only way via public comment or email. Hey, send us emails. We love emails, okay? um or email that the public can directly tell us. Not through the administration, not that the administration doesn't do a great job and that we don't trust them, but it is the opportunity for the public to to tell us what
058they would like us to consider. >> Mhm. >> In this in this conversation, >> right? I I guess my question is that's what the seven to me the seven um meetings have just been about and I get that we didn't have to come to those and you know I didn't come to every single one or I showed up halfway through but I I feel like feel like most of us were here for multiple meetings. I think we got the gist of what the community wanted. I I guess I just don't see the benefit of additional meeting like besides someone coming up and saying vote yes or vote no which either way I don't know if that's going to sway anyone on the board. I don't I don't know what other what else the community could
059say to us that they haven't already said in these meetings I I guess is where I'm at is what what additionally are they going to say. >> I don't know that it's so much about like what else could they say that they haven't already said as much as giving them the opportunity to say it on record. But they've had seven chances to >> That's not been on record. >> It's not really been on record. Yeah, >> it's not the same setting. It really The town halls are really aren't the same setting as a as a board meeting would be. That That's a perfectly fair >> It is a It is a This This would This is a This is our meeting. This is not the administration's meeting that they're reporting to us. This is our
060meeting on record, videotaped here, public comment, you know, entered into the record. Um, it is that opportunity which the town halls do not >> and I do understand that all of the town halls have been videotaped and posted online with the questions posted with the answers posted. >> And listen, if the board wants that to have the additional meeting, I'll show up. I just >> I I don't I don't know that I It's not so much that I want it. I just I want to make sure we give especially our fellow board member Tim who's who's whose voice that I full let's fully flesh this out like let's really talk about it and make sure we I want to make sure for me it's about making sure I understand exactly what the objectives of of
061the meeting are beyond listening to to to the to the public and and that we get the structure of the meeting right if we decide to hold it you know what I mean so so so if we have a meeting we have a meeting on the a special meeting on the 30th there's no action item Nope. >> There's only there is only public comment and then a discussion item >> because ostensively you you would like us to also discuss. >> Yes, absolutely. >> Discuss. Yeah. So we can discuss >> amongst ourselves, right? >> Public comment can we have public comment at the beginning? >> Yeah. >> We can discuss. There can also be public comment at the end. So we can go and and the public can see us discuss that um in the record.
062Okay. >> And >> but would you Yeah. Just real quick because I want to make sure I don't I don't I definitely don't want to put words in your mouth, Tim, but I but in answering your question, I think what I think what Tim wants to see and thinks it would be healthy for the community and for the board and and for the the possibilities of a of a of a referendum are precisely that um that flow of public comment. we talk about what we what maybe our takeaways are or or maybe you don't want to talk at all and I mean you're as a board you don't have to because again you don't have to but to have that discussion in open and recorded and and a formal meeting and then perhaps to even
063hear more public comment after they hear us discuss that is that is the >> it's as close as we can get to having a meeting where we can have >> as a board >> as board members not as community members not Right. Right. >> Having discussions back and forth. >> Can can that meeting include a discussion on the proposed ballot language so that it can become an action item >> um in July? >> It could. >> So I think we would I think we would probably just keep it we would keep it as discussion referendum discussion um and all that and I think that the ballot language is part of that conversation. So, I don't know that it would need to I don't need that I don't know that it would need to be a
064separate discussion item >> um >> in order to become an action item. It would not need to become >> them putting it tonight. It could be an action item. >> Okay. >> If we don't have any if if tonight we were like great, rock on, go to town. Okay. Essentially, it could be an action item on the next um on the next meeting. I I mean I wouldn't I don't recommend that [laughter] um because because again that piece of where we don't we try not to discuss things and take action on them in the same night that is for the public. That's not >> that's not nearly as much for us as it is to give the public the opportunity to see what we're discussing and give us their because we represent them. >> Okay.
065>> So that that is really what that is kind of >> geared towards. it has a lot less to do to do with us. >> Um, >> so yeah, I mean that I mean that >> we we may need to if we wanted to amend our if we wanted to amend our public comment policy for that evening, >> we would have to have an action item, right? >> I believe so. I would have to check with the attorney. We would have quorum >> and we would post the meeting. It'd be a special meeting. So, we're allowed to have an action item. >> Yep. >> So, that would have to be we would need to have >> cuz that's the next thing I was going to say cuz Tim, I I think I understand what you're
066what what you're proposing and why you're proposing it. I I think I do. Uh and and um and so I would say that if we're if we're going to do this, we have to get the >> public comment. Yeah. Um um >> so yeah, >> the rules of public comment, we would have to be very specific about them. I I I um >> I was going to save this for the for the for the >> I have it I have it on my computer screen right now >> for the board for [laughter] the board for my part of my board report, but we went to this um president's um training pres ISB uh board president's training thing >> on a Saturday morning on my birthday. some of us stay >> and um and one of
067the things that was talked about there was like just the different ways that people different boards do public comment and I was like wow that's never thought about that I never thought about the other thing I never thought about this and and there are a few of those items that I think would be for what you're talking about would be really they're not part of our current policy and they would be really good additions uh for this to make this the most effective and efficient use of everyone's time, right? Um, a couple of those things that occur to me um that I heard and also something I saw in this room at a town at a village hall um public you were there too um Kevin um where they basically reminded everyone don't repeat what
068the last person said. Don't don't refer to the what the last person said. We want to hear people's opinions. We want to hear people's feedback. We want to hear what people have to say. We don't want to hear the same thing over and over and over again for 45 minutes, right? Because that's exactly that's where I'll be honest with you, Tim. That's what my what my reticence to having this special meeting for this purpose is is hearing the same things over and over and over again for 45 minutes or four or or right. But it may be important for us to hear the same thing over and over again from some people because we don't know if there's 10 people who are thinking the same way. >> So here I would like to read to
069you. So this this was I think that this was a board that had kind of done this during co they had adjusted their their we were talking about whatever. um what they say in their policy um our policy is 5 minutes per person, no more than 20 minutes on one topic, which is which is specifically what we would need to amend it for. Okay. >> Or we could keep it and keep the board meeting keep it short, but I don't think I would love public comment to 20 minutes. >> That's the feeling of this of this board meeting, right? So um so they do something similar but so their they have a couple of options essentially but in number their third part of it is um identify oneself and be brief ordinarily the time for
070any one person to address the board during public participation shall be limited to 5 minutes in unusual circumstances and when an individual has made a request to speak for a longer period of time the board president may allow a person to speak for more than 5 minutes. Here's where it is here's what I think is is helpful. If multiple individuals wish to address the board on the same subject, the group is encouraged to appoint a spokesperson. And so what they they what that looked like and what they essentially kind of described that as is fors against so that we can see right so that we can see physically in the room the fors and for the against um and >> consolidate >> we can consolidate that. It's not that not that everybody wouldn't have an
071opportunity to speak because we would allow for everybody to have an opportunity to speak, but we would be asking if if the comments's been made already. You don't need to go into the detail on it. Tell us. I reiterate, okay? Right. I reiterate what my spokesperson said, but just for the sake of frankly everybody's time. Um, so they do um I can send out this policy to you guys cuz it is it does have some other things. It's got like, you know, conduct oneself with respect and civility. But I thought that was in particular very very helpful and they found it they use it very frequent. Well, not very frequently when they have topics that bring a lot of folks out and it it that was the board president who was talking about it. He'd
072been board president I think for 15 years. >> Whoa. >> Shoot. Woo. [laughter] >> Um, but he had said that it it made a huge difference in the board's ability to um see and hear from the public and also for the public's ability to communicate with the board in a in a way that work cuz cuz yeah, the five minute five they get you stop hearing things after a period of time when you're hearing. So, we want to make sure that we're getting great information and we're also able to stay engaged in that information. >> So, if we can I agree 20 minutes is not long enough. >> Mhm. >> If we can limit this in time, I would I would be in favor of this board meeting, but only if we limit it in
073time. If we if this is going to be we're going to stay here and listen to every community member, no matter what they say or how long they say it, I do not want to do that. So, let me recap where we're at so far. It sounds like the general consensus is yes to a June 30th special board meeting. >> Am I wrong on that? Yes. >> You June 30th. >> It's a conditional yes cuz we haven't addressed >> for the public. >> Mhm. >> That is that is the direction that we are leaning in. That is what I'm hearing. Um, we would need to open [clears throat] that board meeting with an action item um amending our public policy comment. Uh and that action item would include >> public comment policy. >> It would
074include the update whatever we would like to do it as. Um and I think that this is a good starting point. Um but it would also have in there that it is effective only that night. And we've done we have done this before for some other for some other things. So we already have that >> process. We would go into public comment. >> Um we would go into board discussion and then we would also have public comment at the end which we these are all standard processes that that we follow. Um I am hearing that we do still want to maintain some limit on the overall time. >> Yes. And do we want to maintain a limit on the individual times or is something like this where it's essentially asking them to be brief no
075more than 5 minutes? >> Do you get is there? [clears throat] >> So there's like the idea of asking of of if they want to go over five minutes they can you know you have the discretion to give them some additional time. Again, here's the here's the issue we have with going I mean if we set a limit on total time because that's how we have it structured now. No, no topic, no single topic whether you're and it doesn't say for or against. It just says no single topic shall be discussed for more than 20 minutes. And we're saying let's say let's say that we make that into 45 minutes, right? And we say that 45 minutes that means that nine people can speak. And if someone says if we say 7 minutes for you,
076that means that six people can speak. And so by giving someone more time, we're by definition saying fewer people can speak. So, we have to just think through that for a second and what's and what you know what that trade-off looks like. The other thing the other thing that exists is the seeding of time. Like that's something that can be in our rules as well that someone is allowed to say, you know what, I I signed up for public comment tonight, but I'm giving my 5 minutes to this person. That's something that can be done as well. Right? So that means that someone feels like they their time was respected and yet someone else spoke in theirstead, right? So that's that's something that can that can be pursued. But I again I if I I
077do not I'm not a big fan of saying you can speak for 10 and and you don't get to speak at all because we have a limit of of 45 minutes. >> Yes. I'm not a I'm not a fan of doing that either. I just think that there needs to be, you know, I mean, if someone's going to go over by two or 3 seconds, >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I And I think >> two or three seconds isn't an issue. It's it's two or three minutes. That's the issue. >> I think that as we're talking about this, I'm envisioning like I would like to give a presentation to the board tonight about all of the D, right? I envision that potentially getting way out of control and that's not the point of it. that
078takes away from what we are there to do. Right? So I am inclined to say that a five minute max with the board president's discretion um but not including if you ask for more in the beginning. So, and my discretion would be 30 seconds, not minutes. Like, you know, okay, we're reaching 5 minutes. Let's kind of um but also saying this, right? Let's be brief. If you're going to speak on multiple topics, d so that we can actually like take in the information and hear from the most people and respect each other, right? And I think a 45minut time limit on both periods or maybe 45 minutes at the beginning and the 30 minutes and the on the back end period. I think that makes sense and that gives us 30 minutes or so in
079between to >> we have a reasonable commit time commitment here. You have >> you know 10 minutes to get things in action right because you have the action item as well. So let's call it 15 minutes there, 45 minutes of of public comment. That's an hour half hour discussion happen. So we're at we're at a 2hour commitment roughly. Roughly >> and that feels that feels doable. And honestly, I mean, to the point of what what I wanted to say earlier, like as much as I'm not in favor of this special meeting as a, you know, from the from the outset, I would say that this is an important enough topic that if you know, if it if it's a two-hour commitment, it's it's it's an it's an important thing to to to acquies here, right?
080>> Mhm. from my from my perspective to me it's an important thing that we all that I for for me I say I don't want to but this is an investment that I can make for this cause I can make >> Kevin >> I'm in agreement I I I want to hear the the maximum amount from the public we can you know but I agree I like the idea 5 minute time limit you want to extend the time at the beginning It's fine. I'm I'm I like it. I like it. >> Mhm. >> It's important enough subject we need to hear. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um are you guys okay if I work on the language of that? >> Yeah. With also the mechanics of it. >> Also the mechanics of it. >> Like the
081actual how are you going to tell people, hey, look, your time's up. Wrap it up. >> I'm looking at time clocks right now. I don't know. A clock. >> She is. She is literally looking at them right now. [laughter] >> Just think like an actual clock cuz you can do a digital >> Google. So I could like >> it like she's looking at one to sit right here. >> It's a fine line. It's a really fine line between being very respectful of someone's time and and and explain to them like look we don't want to get the hook. >> Yeah. >> We don't want to get the hook. And so as long as everyone plays by these rules, no one has to get the hook. >> Yeah. Okay. So, I will work on the language
082and the mechanics of that. Shannon and I will work on that. Um, would you guys want to see it in um uh recap? It would have to be in the 26th recap if you want to see it before. Are you okay with me just getting it together? >> I'm okay with you getting >> I think I can trust you. I'm We're We're good. >> I would actually prefer you just >> Thanks. [laughter] Wonderful. Okay. Um, is there anything in particular that you guys would like to have available um from the district, from the administration for that evening? >> Good question. >> Um, any [sighs] in uh any any packets of information? any um I'm thinking about stuff in particular like maybe things that we've talked about not in the last couple of months that do
083have to do with this with how we got to this decision um or how we got here essentially right so maybe things that I don't know we've discussed in the last year or two um I think we have to discuss it I we could have those packets again for anybody to pick up I don't think it needs to be talked about >> so the packets that essentially the administration's been doing at the town hall meetings. >> Yeah. >> Any what what else is there? Anything else that um anybody would like to have? >> No. >> What time do you want the meeting to start? >> Well, certainly. I mean, I want to have a copy of this uh of this. Yeah. The >> the ballot language. >> Ballot language >> because I think that's something
084that I think that we should discuss. I I I think just that with that packet of info is the your presentation from tonight printed. >> Yeah. >> On top of it as well because that's the >> the three slides. >> Uh Carl and Shannon, can you send that out email? So Carl, you need to get that to Shannon and Shannon gets sent to board members tomorrow, please. >> Mhm. >> I mean, I agree with we don't need it tomorrow. >> Board update. >> Yeah, board update is fine. >> More importantly, we just want it printed that night. I'm actually asking for something to be printed, Jack. I would like [laughter] I would like to make that point. I'm asking for something to be printed up >> and also if somebody wants to give public comment
085out on it, they should be able to see it on the screen or whatever. Right. >> Yeah. So, if we can have um if we can have the presentation from tonight available and loaded up on the computer, let's print it, but let's also have it loaded on the computer. if we can also have the packets of info um printed and let's also have that linked up on our so that if someone does reference something or we want to reference something we want to pull something up that we can is that okay >> tell me about on the why on the screens >> so that on the recording it can be >> it's on the screens >> because if it's on the screens then it's available during the >> recording languages I think big thing, but
086maybe even some of the bullets that were that were presented are are they're the the the district's proposal to the board and that we're looking to get feedback on. I mean, so it does make sense to me. >> It's out of an abundance of caution because if we start to reference something in that document, if we start to talk about how many school districts have passed referendums in the last, right? then we can go to that on the screen and then it can be reflected so that anybody in the audience would be able to see what we're referencing but then also anybody who wanted to watch it later on would be able to see it. >> So >> um does the administration want to bring anything else to that meeting? >> Think on it. everything
087we've put on the website. >> We made the presentation tonight. I We're willing to answer any questions and we're willing to provide any documents, but we feel like we Edith >> Mhm. >> I mean, yeah, but >> I would just like to know if you would like it advertised if you want a postcard sent out how you want like >> I mean I would like it advertised as as as widely as possible. We're not not incurring in the cost of a postcard though. It doesn't that's not [clears throat] we don't we've never done a and I wouldn't expect we would do for a special board meeting a postcard mailer or anything like that but I mean on the website if we if we're if we're able to get it on the marquee at the library
088for you know whatever we can do to publicize it I think is is positive. >> Well I think postcards are actually very effective. We had a comment a couple of a couple of town halls ago about the fact that postcards were very very >> What's the turn around on that? I do think it's expensive, but [clears throat] I do think we've seen a lot of new faces because of that. >> Edith Edith has been turning around. Who are we using? Remind me. >> No, >> I didn't get my postcard the day after I was going to say >> the first meeting. >> That That one was real That one was very That one was like real tight and it was real questionable. >> Two weeks is two weeks. >> Yeah. But Edith has like a
089a >> Edith has the design already. So that had to have some design stuff that >> What's the cost of a postcard that we sent? >> 1,800. >> Mhm. >> I >> And how and how soon can it I mean how soon could it be in people's mailboxes? >> That that I can't tell you because it's also I mean I can work with the printer. they can get it to the they can get it out as fast as they can. But I I don't >> Well, last time the way it went went down, >> even if Heather got it the day after the first meeting. If you gave the green light tonight, we could probably get it out by Thursday. So, it would be out, what is Thursday? The 18th. >> Yes. >> So, let's
090even say the 19th. It would be in people's homes at least 6 or 7 days before the 30th. >> Yeah. Yeah, I mean the post office is another another issue, but I I got I got a good tip. I got a good tip from one of the residents about >> how to say and people need it in residents need it in their hands by can you guarantee that? So I feel like it would get to residents in time. I do think it's worth it. >> That's my opinion. But >> it was the turnaround was 3 days. Four was the late one. >> Yes. So if you got it out the 18th or 19th, it would be in people's hands by the 22nd, 23rd, 24th that's even extended. That's a full 6 days before. >> I
091also think it might be good to have the amended public policy public comment language on there, which I can which I could turn around quick enough and get to you. >> That my only fear then I I didn't realize the cost was that low. Um I thought it was a lot a lot more. Um, I agree. >> Yeah, the anything larger than a postcard real significant. I mean, 1,800 is no, >> it's not a small amount, but it's a lot less than I thought it was. And that's why And so then my only other thing is the turnaround of I mean, >> I wouldn't I I I agree with you that the that the language for the public comment policy, amended public policy, >> um, would be great to have on the postcard. However, maybe
092a QR code. So you have time to like get get it out and then because you can always link that QR code >> to content later or whatever. >> Oh just so we can so we essentially can reference and say that we will be amending our public our toard actually gets printed and sent and mailed. I mean, it gives you it gives you five more days to actually develop it. >> Plus, if you Yeah. If you only have a postcard, it might be hard to read. And, you know, the the point of a postcard is to get information that someone's going to look at and >> immediately act. >> They need to know that we're having the meeting and that we're adjusting our public policy for it. Do it. do I because I do think
093it's best if we're if we're going to invest this time. Let's get as let's let's publicize it as much as we possibly can right in the short period of time. So, >> okay then. Leah, I will connect with you. >> I just emailed you. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> And Shannon. >> Okay. Um >> that meeting at because I got to be village hall to see if we can get it here. >> Yeah. >> Uh you guys want to stick with 6:30? Do you want to do uh six? We won't have closed session unless there's >> I I would love 6:00. >> 6:00's fun. >> I would love 6:00. Gives people time to get here after work and whatever, but it but you know, >> it gets us out >> by 8. >> So,
094we'll see if we can get Village Hall. We might not be able to host it here, but we'll find out. >> Okay. >> The next couple days. >> Yeah. Let's say 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. >> And maybe we'll put an end time on the meeting. That was another thing boards do that. They put end times on their meeting and it just ended and I was like, >> "Oh, I've got one for you. I got one coming. I've got one coming that's gonna change your life." >> Very well. >> Just wait till board reports. >> Yeah. Okay. Anything comes on this? Are we has are we It's I feel like we've got some good direction. Okay. Anybody else? Beautiful. I'm going to have hearing silence. I'm going to say we're good. Um Okay. Into our action
095items. Um, the chair will entertain a motion to authorize and direct the treasurer to pay any additional bills received in June 2026 that have been budgeted for in the current fiscal year. >> So move. >> Second. Roll call. >> Miss Franklin. >> Yes. >> Mr. Aia? >> Yes. >> Miss Mill? >> Yes. >> Miss Conover? >> Yes. >> Mr. Marin? >> Yes. >> Mr. Herman? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. The chair will entertain a motion to approve the resolution ratifying proposed amendments to the SAS joint articles of agreement. >> So moved. Second >> roll call. >> Miss Franklin, >> yes. >> Mr. Ravia, >> yes. >> Miss Mill, >> yes. >> Miss Conover, >> yes. >> Mr. Marin, yes. >> Mr. Herman, >> yes. >> Motion passes. The chair The chair will entertain a motion
096to approve the Frog Street prek curricular resource for the 2026 2027 school year as presented. >> So move. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Mr. Aia, >> yes. >> Miss Mill, >> yes. >> Miss Conover, >> yes. >> Mr. Marin, >> yes. >> Mr. Man, >> yes. M Franklin. >> Yes. >> Motion passes. The chair will entertain a motion to approve the self workers compensation renewal in the amount of 193,642 [clears throat] for the 2026 2027 school year as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. Roll call. >> Miss Mill. >> Yes. >> Miss Conover? >> Yes. >> Mr. Marin? >> Yes. >> Mr. Herman? >> Yes. >> Miss Franklin? >> Yes. >> Mr. Ravia? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. The chair will entertain a motion to approve the adoption of the routine 2026 2027 business
097office resolutions as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call. >> Miss Conover? >> Yes. >> Mr. Marin? >> Yes. >> Mr. German? Yes. >> Miss Franklin? >> Yes. >> Mr. Ravia? >> Yes. >> Miss Mill? >> Yes. >> Motion passes. Uh, the chair will entertain a motion to approve the policies as presented. >> So moved. Second. >> Roll call. >> Mr. Marin. >> Yes. >> Mr. Mr. Herman. >> Yes. >> Miss Franklin. >> Yes. >> Mr. Abia. >> Yes. >> Miss Mill. Yes. >> Woohoo. You're up. Jack, superintendence report. >> Uh, very briefly, we had a strong finish on the school year. We'll do a complete report on the data we have once we have a comprehensive data, but our chronic absenteeism rate was something that most districts can only dream about. That
098was a major priority for us, but it's hovering around 5% where the state average is in the mid20s. There's local districts that are celebrating 15%. So, that was we really prioritize attendance and the parents and the kids and the staff and the whole team really knocked it out of the park. It's pretty incredible. Uh the literacy scores incredible especially 5 through 11 like stuff we dreamed about but you'll get a full report on that and I'm really proud of our kids and our staff and our whole school community because it really was a strong end of the school year and the data is pretty overpowering but we'll do a complete presentation. So >> thank you board reports. >> [laughter] >> So, so as I mentioned earlier, we went to this board president's uh training and
099>> um >> one thing that really stuck out to me was like I think we do a good job and based on what I saw, I think we do a really good job as a board in following parliamentary procedure. However, we don't do it technically speaking, we don't do it as well as we could do it, right? In other words, we actually kind of I think um coincidentally do it very well. You know, we we um however there are there are there are procedures that are a available and b recommendable especially for example when um when considering a motion on the on the you know because we kind of do this we just did it a second ago. We do it very, you know, procedurally, but there are moments. A great example come that comes
100to mind was when we had the um the the the the high school sign the night that we had the high school sign, then we decided to postpone >> a vote on something and and it was it I I was lost procedurally in how that was supposed to really happen. I think we did it right, but we could have done it better >> if we all knew the rules, right? Not the rules, the procedures. They're not rules, they're procedures. Um, and here's the one you're going to love. Did you know that you could call to adjurnn a meeting at any time during the meeting and it takes the highest precedent and has to get voted on right away? [laughter] And I told >> and Carlos wants to do it. >> I want to do it
101just to do it one night. [laughter] >> I move to a journ. And you have to vote on it. >> Carlos wants to do it really bad. And uh [laughter] >> can you move to adjourn? >> I don't know. They weren't real clear on that. I mean, until your board members want to kill you, I don't know. But um anyway, the point the point, all joking aside, the point is and I I I'm joking about doing that. >> Maybe. >> Um but yeah, just understand they have this little cheat sheet and I'm the thing they >> I don't want to get into that part like tonight in my board report, but I think that maybe I don't know when we're going to do it feels like it's going to be a while before we do
102a um board evaluation. September I think we're have >> but I think this should really be a part of our board evaluation maybe even the main focus of it just because it felt I was like wow you can do it that way that seems more efficient and that seems more fair and that seems more you know and so um yes that's my my report out is that man we should really look at those and >> and um some of it's got weird language but it's >> yeah I mean they had some they had some tools that I think like many many eyes in the room were like what like one page of just a super easy kind of one pager that I'd never really seen before and you know maybe I maybe I had it
103in my original board training but there's so many for sure right um so I thought there were some really phenomenal resources that I'm still kind of working through um in particular the the motions and like what they mean and how to do the right one and like what are the steps and whatnot um in a very easy way to have them available when those rare circumst irstances happen because there these are circumstances that never happen regularly so of course we don't have them right in front of us right um so there was some of that stuff there was a ton of really there was just eyeopening um experiences it was really nice to be in a room of other um presidents and vice presidents from frankly all over northern Illinois this was not DUP page
104this was they they host two of these one in Neighborville and one in Springfield so I mean this was boards from >> Yeah. >> all over. >> Um and it was really cool to to see them there. There was a great um >> uh conversation at the end with a couple of board presidents from um that was like some best practices on communications that I sent over to EDI that were really like eye opening um and just great ideas and things that just never think of and that's these experiences are great in that way. Um so yeah, lots of things to think about. There are boards that do like a board meeting um survey at the end, right? So, at the end of every meeting, they have a standard. All the members fill out a
105board a survey on how the meeting went. >> I don't want to do that. >> Like, [laughter] >> make it like an NPS survey where it's just one question. Would you recommend this this meeting to a friend or colleague? >> Are you a Are you a promoter? Are you a promoter or a detractor of this board meeting? Um [laughter] >> yes, some of it a little bit much. Right. But the idea of like some standardized and they had a couple they had lots of options of like some standardized like how are we doing? Right? Like check-ins that we don't do very often. Um we do our we do our board um retreat once a year but this is more like check-ins on that stuff like and and I think about in particular right we've had
106three new board members in the last nine months >> two weeks. >> Yeah. I actually like that. >> And I think in particular in those instances because that's when things start to go. That's when you're like because you're just managing a lot of different stuff. Um and that's when it's like are we still on track? Are we still really sticking to what we need to do with our role? So lots of great stuff came out of it. Um we are going to get that b trying to schedule Arlana's been out on on medical leave and that like and that threw a whole bunch of stuff off. So we we are going to get that border retreat scheduled. we'll talk about it. Um I think there's some tweaks that we could probably make to our agenda
107that would be very helpful. Um you know, but it was it was a great it was really really great it was really eye opening. It was it was a really wonderful >> morning into the afternoon to spend. Yeah. >> So >> it was >> more to come. Um any other board reports? >> Yes. Uh I just want to thank uh Mr. Alandreth. He led uh a trip to Taiwan with a group of students. Um I'm not envious of that flight, but you know, he opened up the world to the students. You know, they experienced different culture. Um brought in their students perspectives. Um my son loved it. He just thought it was so great. Um he went to Italy earlier this year, but he really liked Taiwan. You know, he spent time with Taiwanese students.
108um went to their school um just had a great time. I'm just so thankful to uh Pete Landrith for leading these trips. I think it's just so enriching for the students. You know, I wish more students could go. So, so thank you. >> Yeah, he's a really special >> He really is. >> Oh, yeah. >> teacher. Many great teachers in this district, but what he does is >> way above and beyond and makes our place unique. >> Yes, definitely. Okay. Uh, any other board reports? Seeing none, I'm going to say, do we have any public comment? No. Okay. Moving right along into future meetings and events. We have our now newly to be scheduled, June 30th special meeting from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Uh, location TBD. Uh, and then our next regular board meeting, uh,
109is July 21st, and that one is scheduled at South School. This is not available, so we'll be there. Um, no other communications and the chair will entertain a motion to adjourn the June June 16th, 2026 regular meeting of the board of education. So moved. >> Second. >> All in favor? I >> opposed. Motion passes. Thanks everyone.