DeKalb CUSD 428 Board Meeting 1/13/2026

001Roll call. Kristen Bailey here. Gatwood here. >> Here. Christopher Boy here. >> Here. >> And now for the pledge. >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. And now for public comment. Members of the public who wish to speak to the board should complete a request card prior to the start of the meeting. This section of the meeting will be reserved for comments from the public. All comment should be limited to three minutes. Kathy, do we have any public comment? >> None. >> Oh. All right. And next part is board correspondence. Does anyone have any correspondence for the board? All right. Hearing no correspondence and I haven't gotten anything from Maria, so we

002don't have any student board correspondents. We'll move on to the consent agenda. It is recommended the board of education approve the consent agenda items 5B through 5K which is board minutes for December 12th, December 14th, December 16th, January 5th, personnel action items, budget calendar for fiscal year 26 through 27, purchase order requisitions, December payroll, January accounts payable, financial reports andou agree. agreement with American Institutes for Research and gifts and donations from Kids in Need Foundation partnering with 3M. For those who aren't aware, 3M was gracious enough to donate $500 worth of materials to Little John Elementary School for their teachers to have much neededed supplies. So, really just want to take a moment to thank them for that. Do I have a motion? >> So, move. >> Second. >> Do we have any conversations or

003questions about that before we vote? >> All right, Jackie, roll call. >> At Gatwood, >> yes. >> C Buyers, >> yes. Jose, >> yes. >> Christopher Boyce, >> yes. >> Mark Shervide, >> yes. >> Christ Bailey, >> yes. >> All right. And then we'll move into presentation. So, we'll start with the first presentation, which is the middle of your strategic update, which is going to be presented by just about everyone in the room. >> Is it on? Yeah, it is. Good evening school board and community. We are going to be do a truncated version of our middle of the year. Um feel free to ask us any questions and as you know we will meet with anyone when if you want to meet the talk further. Please excuse me. The presentation is not up here

004as it normally is. So I promise to be quick and finding it. We just switched to a new platform. So, it's >> Today is the first day for the new platform. >> That's the All right. Very excited to see everyone and talk about our winter data, albeit in an abbreviated format. We're going to go over just a few of the slides as I know you've already had the chance to review all of them. So, please do feel free to ask questions at any time about any of the slides you re you have reviewed on your personal time. Um, we're not going to talk about the suspension data tonight. Keep in mind that the discrepancy in our suspension data has not gotten any better. We are still seeing that students of color are being suspended at

005a much higher rate than um other students in our district. We are going to talk about our MAP growth data and our attendance data. So new this year and going forward, the state of Illinois is reporting on consistent attendance instead of chronic absenteeism. It's the same measure, just 100 minus the chronic absenteeism is the consistent attendance. So this is the students that have the percentage of students that have consistent attendance in all of our buildings. It's split over two slides because we also included the data from last year so that you would have a little bit of a comparison. So you can see that um for the majority of our buildings attendance is up this year in terms of the number of students the percentage of our students who are present 90% or more of

006the time. Does that make sense? So this first slide has our secondary schools and the first elementarymentaries alphabetically and this slide has our um additional elementaryaries alphabetically as well as the ELDC. And just as a reminder, attendance at the ELDC is not compulsory. So certainly something that we are looking to improve upon but has a slightly different weight than our other buildings. >> So I don't know if this is something you'll be able to speak to or not but I know one of our huge things was neighborhood schools and one of the reasons that we spent $33.8 million on a new school is because we said there's a lot of chronic absenteeism >> specifically for one part of town. Mhm. >> I am just looking at every other elementary school in the district and it

007looks like we built this nice gigantic school for these students to go to and it is still the lowest attended building in the district. Do we know why? >> Yes. So there are multiple factors that attribute to um students being on truency. I want us to remind that remind all of our community that all the students that attend Mitchell Elementary School are our students. We had them previously and those were the students um who also had a higher number of absentees. So um we have removed one of the barriers but if you do any research on why uh students do not attend school there are multiple factors way too many to have a discussion and we still get out prior to midnight. So uh we have removed one of the barriers and we are working

008to discover for our families what the other barriers are specifically for them and then we can um formulate some things to address that. As you also know, um, some of the measures that we had in place in partnership with the regional office of education does no longer exist and so some things that we would have done specifically that those families were working with in the past are no longer existing. So that's something we are addressing. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Good question. Uh, we are going to talk about map growth. So these are the orange and black familiar slides. um talking this one is math growth for our students in grades one through eight. The orange bars represent the percentage of students who met their growth. We should be uh their expected

009growth. We should be excited about anything above 50 and we've got several grades that fall above that 50% mark. So that's really good. Those in those grades, we are seeing more students meet those growth goals than you would expect in a random sampling nationwide. This is also math but this is the national growth percentile. So, just as the the regular reminder, the orange graph is the light switch on or off. Did they or did they not meet the bar that MAP sets and the black measures exactly how much growth took place. So, again, we've got the the national average of 50%. And we've got several grades that are above that as well in terms of how much our students are growing, especially if you look at second grade and then um fifth through 8th grades.

010We've got students growing quite a bit in math. Very exciting. Um, and one change that we believe has heavily impacted this data, especially on the right end, is the new middle school schedule where students are having easier time finding a seat in classes where the level of rigor fits their um, proficiency level and their ability to do more challenging math. So, that's really exciting. We look forward to that continuing. >> Quick question. Yeah. Why is third and fourth so low? I'm just curious. Third and fourth grade, >> we are trying to discover why third and fourth grade are so low. Um remember we are more than even proficiency or achievement. We are all it makes more sense for us to look at growth. And so we have had that conversation. Um remember that this is

011from winter to winter from so from last year to this year. So we're starting to having conversations around what's happening at third and fourth grade. Is it the cohort of students? Is it um um the way that um instruction is being delivered? So there are multiple questions that we're trying to to ask. Simply put, Mark, I don't know, but we are in interrogating why that happened. >> Curious. Thank you. >> Yeah, it's a really good question. I think if you combine the two um graphs, and I promise I'll come to you in one second. Um in third and fourth grade, we do have 40% and 30% of students who are meeting their growth goal. So, what that means with those black bars being somewhat lower than we would want and the orange being not as

012far from 50%. Um, is that our students who are meeting their growth goal are growing quite a bit and the students who are struggling are struggling quite a bit. So, what do we not have in place in third and fourth grade that would help those learners that really need that extra support? Does that make sense? So, it's really a case of halves and have nots when you see the two numbers that are a bit further apart like that. Uh so like on slide 11 could you just tell me what what is the y axis numbers there? What do those mean? >> Well that should be converted to a percentile >> and it isn't for whatever reason. So it's essentially the the the vertical line or the horizontal line all the way across is the 50th

013percentile. So that's the 6 is not 6, it's the 60th. It's 60%. Gotcha. Okay. >> That's something I didn't pick up on clearly when looking through it a 100 times. So you see here it says 80 60 40 20 and then down here for English it's still got the um zeros and point2s. I I don't know sometimes the map charts default to various things and then I don't pick up on it. Um it's a constant struggle between myself and Google Sheets and I usually win the war but not every battle. Um so this is the same data we just looked at but for reading across all of our grades. Keep in mind also kindergarteners do take the MAP tests but we can't measure their growth because they didn't take it before kindergarten. So these growth

014measures are all winter to winter. So it's like a full year. >> Question. Going back to the math and I not to dive into details because that's what you guys are doing. >> Just wondering usually the programs that are used for like math English are K to 6, K to 8, K to 12, whatever. We purchased the entire program. Are are the third and fourth graders still in the same program as the first second graders and the fifth graders? I would need someone else with um curriculum >> here. >> I would need someone with curriculum to to actually tell you what >> I do know that I'm sorry. Our kindergarten and first grade students are have a playbased curriculum and we have success maker starting in second grade and moving on through the rest of

015elementary school. The middle school is a different uh curriculum altogether. Um, so that I I understand your question and no, I don't think we can point to the curriculum is no longer a fit because the kids have gotten older and they need something different because the the success maker curriculum also grows with the students as it's supposed to. So, it's a good question and we're certainly, you know, need to investigate what's going on. Um, >> are you asking about the continuity of curriculum? >> Oh, she got it. >> Okay. >> Yeah, it's it's really hard to say. Yeah. So, this is ignorance here. So, let me know if this is something that's plain or not, but do you guys present on like the methods you use to figure out um what is causing those sorts

016of gaps? I'm I'm interested in that and I'm curious just to hear like what all you're doing. Sure. I don't know if that's normal that you normally do that or if that's something that we might and I'm sorry for throwing that at you. >> No, no worries. I don't I don't know that we have presented that in this type of forum but methods are used to really address opportunity gaps. >> Um but I do know that in um some of the smaller meetings those things are addressed and I'm sure that anyone that would like to be to attend those meetings can come. I would also just add the great thing about having a data platform like map that we've been using for so many years and that students are now using from kindergarten all the

017way through eighth grade is that we can say is this the cohort of students that we have in third and fourth grade what did they look like last year in second and third grade and what did they look like two years ago as first and second graders or are we seeing you know we have identified other areas where we need to switch things around in the curriculum. So for example, we were able to identify using our data that geometry was always taught toward the end of the year. Some often after we did the IR assessment at the state accountability assessment well that doesn't make any sense. We need the kids to have some geometry before they're tested on geometry for our most important test of the year. So we we have been able to look

018at some of those things. So be able to address that >> because it's a people business and right it it is I wouldn't say that there's one method for getting at um the truth of what's happening right if you're making a recipe and you put in too much salt this time you can take out that amount of salt and then see if it tastes better because there's so many variables constantly I think it's a little harder for us to get at those things. The good news is we do have a great teaching and learning team and Sarah Schaefer is our elementary math manager. So, she can look at, you know, what's going on in those specific classrooms and she's got a better handle on it than either of us has the opportunity to do um

019to figure that out. We also don't generally present on that type of like what happens next and what's a deep dive because these presentations tend to be 70 slides long and I know that there's a um a limit to how much people are really interested in hearing me talk about charts all in one evening. So, which I totally get. Um, so if that were a request, we could certainly do a case study sort of example or maybe put that in the weekly update, but I don't know if that helps. >> But this is why we do these sorts of um of presentations. And in addition to these presentations, as you all know, we break it down to classroom. We go from each building to each classroom. And then we're having conversations with school leaders as

020well as school leaders are having conversations in their school improvement teams, in their PC's and in individual classrooms. So one of our reactions would be we we know that we need to then increase learning walks in those particular grade levels. Why? Because we we have what what's happening in the math instruction or what's happening in the receiving of the math instruction or what's happening with this just this particular group of students. Is it that third grade is have more absences than the than the other grades? So, we look at all those different factors and there are some um people in the teaching and learning department that are tasked with that and make that's what they do every day. >> Yeah, we have the same data for winter, sorry, for reading. And here you can see

021also our middle schools look like a whole bunch of kids are meeting their growth goals which is great and first grade looks pretty good too. And then this is going to bother you, Nick, because it's still the 04.6, but I promise you it's really the percentages. Um, this is the amount of growth, the national growth percentile, not just the onoff light switch, but how much growth actually occurred. So again, for reading, we're seeing um in 8th grade in particular, that's a whole bunch of growth. That's really, really exciting. And while we can't attribute an outcome like this necessarily to just one thing, they do have a new ELA curriculum in the middle schools and it it looks like that is um an increased level of rigor that our students are really responding to. So that's

022exciting. Nick, >> so can I ask kind of a very broad question? How is growth defined? What is growth? >> It's literally just points minus points. So these are their um winter scores for this year. So if you're an eighth grader, your winter score from this year, which is a rip band, which could be 235, minus how did you score in seventh grade in the winter, so 225, you you grew 10 points. So MAP is a a you know, they've got a bunch of um super super smart PhDs that look at what is the level of each question and what number of, you know, how many questions did students get right? It's an adaptive test, so it does a pretty good job over time with it with the N being the number of people and

023data points that they have being so enormous, they do a pretty good job pinpointing what is the student's level of proficiency based on their score. Um, it's >> so is there like a range of like expected growths? Like if your score was in one range one year, there's an expected growth and then they're measuring you against whatever you get the next year. >> Yes. And it's actually if you scored higher, you are expected to grow more points than if you scored lower because you've clearly figured out how to do learning. So they think you're going to continue to grow at that faster rate. So your score um your predicted score is based on how not just like a seventh grader grows four points, but your Yeah. How does a student who has your score profile

024tend to grow, which is really great. So these these graphs are individualized then to some extent like the the percentages like on slide I don't know what 12 um the orange one yes this one >> so the orange one is just did they meet the >> but that's their individual growth goal. >> Yeah. What percentage of our second graders or our seventh graders met their individual growth goal. Yes. >> Okay. I didn't realize that. >> Yes. Not just how many of them grew five points, but how many of them grew the expected number of points for them. >> Got it. >> Which is I think helpful. >> So more than 47% of students could have had some growth. They just didn't reach what was projected for the growth for them individually. >> Yes. And that's

025why this one is like a light switch. You either met that num that number that was assigned to you or you didn't. There's no there's no accounting for I got real close or I did I grew a whole bunch more than I was expected to. That's why we have this one too. Because this is if you added up all of the growth for all of our kids in that grade and you said how much were they expected to grow as a whole group and how much did they actually grow the actual number of points this is the percentage of that that they got and so 50% would be average across the whole country and we're doing a lot better than that in some of our grade levels and in some of them we need to

026look closer at how we can foster more growth. >> Does that make sense? >> Does. There's one more data celebration that we want to make sure to hit on and that is from our high school which we don't get to talk about as much because they don't take um a standardized measure test three times a year. >> Yeah. So after four years of implementing our freshman on track um we have reached a historic milestone. Four years ago when we started freshman on track um our graduation prediction rate so basically you are you are at a place on your freshman year we can predict that you were graduating on time was at 63%. Um and prior to our final exams this semester our freshman on track rate had already increased to 82%. But after our final

027exams we are now at 90% of our freshmen being on track for graduation. That is the highest that we have ever had since we started this journey. And um I can probably say since at least 2007 cuz I was a high school teacher so I remember. Um so research consensusly shows that um if a freshman is on track they are three times more likely to graduate from high school with their uh school age peers. So that's a huge accomplishment. A lot of hard work today. And we do have to thank our uh current board members and some previous board members who really allowed um us to go get some professional development on Freshman on track and also allowed us to be able to um arrange FTE in a way that freshman on track is has

028been successful. So thank you very much. >> Any else? >> Wow. >> Excellent. I love it. And now we'll go into the next part which is all of the directors. >> All right. So I will start with the invigorating improvement and innovation uh department. We we're going to do it in a form of three big wins and then what we're going to focus on for the rest of this school year. So for the for our department uh we have enhanced PLC uh professional learning community implementation protocol and we have a systematized PLC observations and we have uh created uh a very centralized resource that did not exist. Um and we are ensuring that problems of practice are more clearly defined and aligned to our improved student outcomes. Um we also have we also have are

029very excited to announce that PLC attendance has improved across all schools. That means that people show up in their PLC and we have had a successful completion of our first Ignite session in some of the schools and in some of the schools they've actually already done two Ignite sessions. Um and then we've als we are also using our school data software and the expertise of our data strategist and the coordinator of assessments to develop tailored data snapshots to deliver clearer and more actionable insights. So we we are doing a better job of highlighting possible re root causes and um really if we have software um I get big shout out to our data strategist because he is one who sits and just thinks and he'll say you know we're paying money to this software company

030email them and say you all need to do something else for us because this is what's coming down the pike. The state is saying this can you get that ready for us and um they they do they're doing an amazing job for the remainder of this school year. The INRI department will focus on leveraging our data to inform and guide actionable steps for school leaders and moving beyond analyzing to intentional application. Thank you. I think I won with going number two. All right. So big wins. uh first and foremost was the onetoone initiative and the rotation cycle and working with the business department and the board to offset uh escalating costs. So huge success there. Thank you. Um then working uh strategically with the business department and grant manager, we were able to actually bring

031in um and introduce more augmented reality and virtual reality. So we have a pilot that's actually kicking off of Malta Elementary coming up here. Um so again this is hitting all strategic priorities for these and then implementing AI integration for our cyber security mitigation and again that hits all the strategic priorities. So and our focus coming up for the remainder of 2526 is continuing to explore any way to save costs. Um, so like I've stated before, the cost of everything in technology is escalating very very rapidly and just trying to find any way to try to keep those costs down is is a primary goal. And then continuing to explore AI integrations across all platforms and expanding our data data interoperability between cumulative and partner platforms. So that's basically data flow from one system to

032another system and trying to enhance things. Thank you. Good evening. Um, I'm excited to be joined tonight by uh the assistant director of the student family services department, Dr. Lisa Becker, and she's going to provide our department's updates. >> All right. Good afternoon, board. Um, so, uh, exciting news. We just today, uh, submitted all of our documents for our ISB cyclical monitoring cycle. So, we are really eagerly awaiting their feedback. that will um help us think about how we continually improve um both our programming in special education but also our professional development. So um that was just today. We've also been focusing a lot on uh strategic priority for and partnering with the department of teaching and learning. So we've been um working a lot on instructional rigor and what that looks like in our

033special education spaces because those need to be just as rigorous. And so we work in our building instructional leaders PLC's to help them understand what instructional rigor looks like in those classrooms, but we've also invested um a lot of um professional development to our special education teachers on explicit and systematic instruction. With regards to chronic absenteeism, um we are focusing on bolstering kind of our tiered support system and what that looks like for attendance. Um, again, we um look at our uh building instructional leader PLC's, having them look into their data, take a deep dive with school data. They're able to get tiered reports that are able to drill down into different students and then work on what are some of those interventions that can reduce the barriers at all three tiers. So, that's what

034we are working on currently and we'll continue to work on through the end of the year. >> Thank you. >> Um, Lisa. >> Yes. >> And I'm not expecting an answer. I'm wondering other than yes or no. >> Okay. >> Um >> are is there some place where you're gathering data about how much time a teacher is using pulling away from the general classroom instruction to deal with an IEP issue or a student issue for our I our students with IEPs. >> I am going to answer what I know I haven't let me know if this answers your question. So, we are able to gather um we can take a 10,000 foot view all the way down to the student view on how much time or percent of a day that a student in special

035education is in their special education space versus their general education space. So, we can look at that data um and we can see how that compares to even the state. do we have more kids that are pulled into those special education spaces versus general education spaces? Um, and if you're asking about um like do we know if a student um needs extra support and how much time that student um might need in that extra support, whatever that looks, your special education teacher in combination sometimes with the social worker or the school psychologist will gather that data on individual level. Did that answer your question? Or maybe I'm >> sort of It's more like a teacher has a a classroom of 30 students or now 25 students. trying to get down 25 students, one of which

036two of which are are um students with IEPs and their IEP requires um that if struggling they're allowed to be outside and and um given more time, extra help or whatever. >> Sure. And just going through that process is going to take three or four minutes of that period away from the other 24 students of the class. >> Do we have data points about how m how much time is actually used with that? >> No, because that's very individualized. Like I said, we we are able to tell um how much students are included into the general education classroom. So ultimately, that's the goal for all of our students to be 100% included in general education because they no longer need that IEP. And so when we think about an IEP team that's making that decision,

037in the eyes of the law, there's there's really no um weight placed on, let's say, the general education teachers needs versus the special education teachers needs in terms of instruction. What they're trying to do is figuring out a plan of support for that particular child. So, while I can gather that data on a large group, how much they're included versus in special education spaces, if we're talking about how much time a student needs, let's say they have breaks written into their individual plan, that individual plan has data, our special education teachers or gened teachers or sometimes our instructional assistants will collect that data. And let's say we're trying to reduce the number of bricks, right? Because ultimately the goal is we want them in that instructional environment as much as possible. that's the day they'll

038track. Sometimes that um is an IEP goal. Sometimes it's just a different type of goal that we're trying to um reach on those students. So that that would be where we where we get that information. >> The the paradigm, we lost our screens. The paradigm that you're looking at is still from the student with the IEP and I'm looking at the effects of that IEP in the classroom on the other 24. the other 24 are losing time with that teacher so that they deal with the IEP. And I'm not necessarily saying it's wrong. I'm just wondering, do we have data on what that is? >> So, yeah. So, what I would say is that your general ed teacher isn't dealing with the IEP. So, if they have 25 students in front of them, there is

03925 different needs. And so, our students with disabilities sometimes will need um extra support from that general education teacher. Let me give you an example. Many times in our um elementary schools perhaps they have to provide um if they're doing their rotation in reading sometimes the student with a reading disability will go through that rotation twice. So is there a response cost of having the child with a disability go through that um rotation twice versus the student with um general education needs perhaps. But then we're getting into the is this equal or is this equitable? And so that might be some of the question that you're thinking about. So um are all of the um uh time and dedication of any teacher gen teacher special ed teacher is it equal across across students? It's not.

040What we're always trying for is some equitability. So, if student A needs a little bit more time, but it means in the long run we're going to get them back in the gen environment or whatever environment, um, then that's where we're going to focus and and problem solve on that. But if if there is, um, a disruption and maybe that's what you're getting at more. There's usually a team of people that are looking at that so that we can support that student in in whatever environment they are in to make sure that they're they're successful with their peers, with their teachers. I I guess I'll I'll ask I think what JJ's getting at from a more just very straightforward and blunt way of looking at it. I don't think it happens as much in secondary

041but in primary with kindergarten first grade where emotional regulation is still a very big issue for students in that age range. We are very firm on the you know until we have the data for outplacement and things like that. Obviously >> our go-to I feel like lately is to push in. But at what point are we pushing in to now I have to shut down this entire classroom for 30 minutes while this student has an outburst because we don't have the data to support putting them in a different classroom or having an assistant to handle that individual student work. I think to me, and JJ, correct me if I'm coming at this wrong, but to what point are we pushing in to the extent where it's to the detriment of all of our other students

042that aren't on an IEP? Where I I get where your heart is, let's make sure we get the student where they need to be, but are we not putting our other students in that classroom at a disadvantage by focusing so much on that one student? >> Sure. Um, so I'm going to answer the best I can. Yeah. Um, so again, I'm going to start with that 10,000 foot view. When you look at our data compared to the state, our inclusion numbers are lower. We actually um outplace at a higher rate. We place into self-contained special education programs at a higher rate than the state. And the state part of our audit will come back and say, "We want you to include more." So that's where I just like the um maybe a norm set. So,

043we actually um don't include as much as we should based on state and federal guidelines. So, that's kind of where we're at now. In terms of how do we balance what a student needs first, um I just want to say that there are many students that need that and not just students with IEPs, right? So, you could be a GED student and something's happened that day in terms of what it means to get them their support. Sometimes that support looks like an individual assistant. Sometimes it looks like a self-contained special education classroom whether it's in the school district or sometimes out of the school district. There's a very defined process that we have to go through um in terms of special education. But there's also processes that we can employ if a student isn't in

044special ed because we know any kindergartener being a mother of former kindergarters can wake up on a day and decide today is your day, right? And it's going to be a whopper. Um so we have procedures in in that too. So, it's never um what I try to coach my teams in is it's never about how many data points do I need. I don't need six outbursts before outplacement or I don't need seven whatever before this happens. We have a pretty defined process um a behavior intervention process that follows this kind of team meeting cyclical review process where we're constantly looking at what are the variables that we can shift in the short term knowing that nothing happens overnight and what are those variables in the long term. So if you're looking for um some

045of that data like outplacement data and things like that I can definitely get that to you. I don't have it off the top of my head. Yeah. So Chris did hit the nail on the head. It just went further down than I wanted to go. Um it was more the reason why I said I'd just say yes or no whether we have those data points or not because if we had that data point of that you know that across the district or across the elementary schools and then secondary you different things that that implementing the IEPs are taking this much time away from from the the gened students and maybe even throw in that you know that their gened students are taking this much time away from the other 23 kids. Now we have, you

046know, two different then that could be included in the in the processes of creating the IEP that maybe one assistant in that classroom is not enough. Maybe we need two. Maybe we need to the to class or what's it called when the teacher sharing >> so the special co- teaching when when the special ed teacher is actually in there for part of the class because they >> I wasn't trying to say that we're doing anything wrong. >> Sure. I'm just wondering if that was included in the process because I do, you know, when I was in the buildings and now I'm in in a totally different district in in the buildings. Sometimes it does take away the teachers attention a lot to deal with either the emotional regulation of the kids or just having to

047deal with the extra process of the IEP um requirements to where it would help if you guys any IEP teams knew how much what the effect it was going to have on the gened population and gened teacher. >> So I was just looking for that data point. I wasn't trying to >> say that something was being done wrong. just usually usually talking to the three looking at the three people that love data. Um, more data the better. >> So, >> yeah. >> So, I'm going to actually counter that with in this situation in the absence of data, right? But I get your point. What we talk to our teachers about is okay, you have plan A, so you should already have plan B, right? So, if something happens and you have to move students to

048another activity, you have to move them out of the room, have that plan before that plan is needed. Um, I was actually at Founders Elementary last week at their PLC's and they were um kind of celebrating one of their kindergarten teachers for some of the highest growth in the district. And then they also said, you know what, this teacher has a lot of behavioral needs and has had a lot of behavioral needs throughout the year. So I inquired how how okay so if you had disruption in the classroom but yet you were still able to have some of the highest growth in the district how'd you do that and so far what I've been able to uncover is the planning that went into knowing we have plan A, B and C and we can pivot

049and we have the resources and the staff to help us do that. Um that teacher was able to enact that plan. She didn't need data points to be ready for that. So but I understand where your question's coming from. So I think we just need to be prepared knowing that little kids but also I don't know some of our 9th 10th 11th and 12th graders also struggle regulating that emotion in class and that's disruptive. So what do we do when that situation happens and how can we pivot? >> Yeah of course what other questions can I answer? >> Good evening. Okay in teaching and learning as you know from Dr. journal and Dr. Parker's presentation. We have a lot to celebrate. So during the first half of the school year, the teaching and learning department

050led and made significant strides in strategic priority 1 by focusing on our rigorous curriculum and alignment and datadriven instructional practices. Key achievements included the successful expansion of the two-way dual language program to fifth grade and redesigning our algebra 1 pathway to eliminate barriers to student advancement. Literacy outcomes were a primary driver of success highlighted by the implementation of the new middle school ELA curriculum which was talked about with the data which led to measurable gains in MAP data and the deployment or the yeah the deployment of funological proficiency excuse me screeners to provide precise interventions for at risk readers. Furthermore, the district invested heavily in classroom resources and teacher expertise, equipping our K through5 classrooms with $3,500 worth of curated libraries and enrolling our literacy leaders in the rigorous letters, which is science of reading

051coursework. These efforts, rounded out by our project lead the way certifications for third grade staff and K through2 math study design demonstrated a comprehensive commitment to elevating academic excellence for all of our grade levels. Strategic priority 4 has also had significant momentum through a dual focus on our global recruitment and sustainment professional growth opportunities. The district successfully expanded its talent pool by hiring and transitioning four international teachers into the community while simultaneously investing its existing workforce by securing $30,000 in EBF funding for ESL bilingual endorsement tuition reimbursements. They really took a great opportunity with that professional development remained the cornerstone of this priority. Um evidenced by the comprehensive training provided by the entire P12 multilingual learning department and the design of the rigger PD series for the administrative teams. By combining the financial support and

052advanced certificates with a high level leadership coaching, the district is actively building more diverse, highly qualified and wellsupported professional enrichment. Our areas to continue to focus upon for the remainder of this school year will be strategic priority one, focusing on the alignment and audit phase of our instructional cycle by integrating special education and general education curricula. Expanding the dual language pathway into the middle school. Um we are ensuring that highquality instruction is universal experience for our students. The department is moving beyond simple implementation of using data from our K2 audits and play-based assessments to creating a more responsive and rigorous academic environment that needs meets the needs at our students specific points. The focus of strategic priority 4 is on building the culture of rigor through the targeted adult learning which is also mentioned in

053some of our other departments. By providing administrators with advanced leadership training and giving the specific pedagogical tools needed for two-way dual language and STEM curricula, the district is ensuring that staff are not just executing ta executing executing I can speak executing tasks but also mastering their craft. These efforts prioritize the professional growth as a retention strategy, empowering our educators to also use datadriven insights to lead their classrooms and buildings with confidence. >> Are there any questions before I just boldly walk away? >> Good evening. Facility operations has been had another start to a busy school year with the opening of Mitchell. As we all know, keep preaching this. We were excited that it did come in ahead of schedule under budget. It wasn't the end when construction ended. It was just the beginning of getting

054that school open and making sure we could do what we could to support that. The next thing uh is already running into the uh approval that we received on the early ELDC building and the renovations at Huntley. that's going to be a huge project for us in that uh we're looking at being able to reduce class size and the efforts we put into that to help reduce class size at the middle school level as well as for ELC. So, we're excited about that as we work towards uh that design phase and actually our first meeting for that is next week. So well underway and then uh with the anticipation of our maintenance and ground supervisor Jeff Potter who retired in December, we have been looking at different uh strategies that and changes to the operations

055in our maintenance and grounds with the new opportunities of new staff coming in and we are uh looking at ways that we can enhance the effectiveness across not just that department but but other impacts uh within our facilities department. Looking ahead to the remainder of 2526, large focus is going to be with the vision 42 initiatives, making sure that we are participating in whatever way we can to evaluate options and determine the best effective path forward so that the proposals that come forth to the board to be considered are thorough and we've got the numbers to support what we're looking to do. And then last is uh the final step in our facility operations succession plan. Um I will be the third supervisor to retire over the last three two to three years and uh

056we're looking at replacing uh me with the my successor making sure that person is trained properly so it's an easy transition across the district. Any questions? Thank you. All right, human resources. So we live in strategic priority 4. Um our updates for this year um are that HR has created significant efficiencies um and better ways to share information between our candidates and the district. So those are folks that we are onboarding and bringing into the district um with improvements and systems and having a better structure in place. Uh people are are getting to work starting work more timely. um we've taken away some of the barriers and obstacles of having to bring in um paperwork by hand. They can submit things electronically. They can get them to us more timely and we can get them

057a star date faster. Um we have also thought more outside the box and we were able to fill more hard to fill roles um thanks to resources such as a teacher vacancy grant that has allowed us to do some um unique things when it comes to funding um for our international teachers. We also have utilized our TRS um return to work program for our retirees um and then some other creative recruitment strategies and also advertising and some different um uh journals as well as websites. Finally, um, after the approval of three new union contracts, we had a contract walkthrough with administrators going through each contract so that they understood the language and the intent of the language so that they could better um, administer the contract and use it in ways that would support the

058needs of our students when it comes to teaching and learning. Uh, we are going to focus on efficiency, continuing to do that to make sure that we are able to identify everything that our systems are able to do. So we can eliminate systems that offer duplicate um duplicate services and that we can put our energy, our efforts and our dollars in the best systems to meet our needs. Any questions? Thanks. >> All right. uh in business and finance, the first uh six months of the year uh were major milestones that has a long-term uh effect not just for the district but also with financial planning. Uh with uh Mitchell Elementary going online, we also were able to purchase it be fully under our ownership uh and utilize long-term planning and funding uh for this uh

059project with the construction cost that proceeds that we uh undertook because it was under uh budgeted and under it came in under cost, we were able to actually purchase it with that that proceeds. So this was a major milestone that helped uh us in the first six months and uh a long-term planning and financial we we were able to utilize a um our fund balance analyzing it and projecting it what we intend to do with it in the next few years including uh construction of the LDC but also looking at other um recon greater reconfigurations. So uh this is a major milestone for u our financial side of aspects. So in the previous year uh we we talked about how funding especially the legacy grants federal and even state grants uh were uh were being

060u threatened or becoming unstable. That will continue in the next few uh in the next few years. So we're pivoting we're pivoting to more local uh or more other private uh foundations and uh MATA is one of the biggest um success stories for us where has where they have provided uh and kind of shifted our federal and local grants federal and state grants rather into a more private sector. And this is what our future is going to be like where with the unsustainability of the federal and state levels uh we can pivot to private uh foundations and other private funding uh for what will be the area of focus for the next six months. Uh we are still looking to uh enhance capabilities our FFC meetings make it more community engaging and getting a facilitator

061uh for that meeting. That way the community not only understands our financial goals but also is fully engaged into it. Uh and we are the groundwork is set up for communicating our finances through a district dashboard which is uh really embedded into our website and it is not necessarily real time but uh monthly as u what the board sees in their uh agenda items. Thank you. All right. Thank you all. And then I guess Tammy, you get to come back up to give us your five-year project plan for facilities. >> All right. So, each year I come forward and just give an update in regards to our five-year project plan. Um, I want to give some a little bit of back data this time because they've there's been lots of conversation over over the years

062of, you know, why is this number not going down? It always stays at that 30 million and we spend quite a bit every year on facility improvements. And I wanted to dive into that just a little bit. And I want to give an idea of like what we have spent money on in the past 13 years. Since I have been tracking over the last 13 years, we have spent over $52 million on facility improvements. And those range from pool projects where we had renovations to the pool to HVAC projects that range over $21 million over those 13 years. Fortunately, about 10 million of that were ESSER funds that we were able to render and utilize back in 2021. And and these dollars do not include um the new Mitchell Elementary or any projections or plans

063that we have um for the future. So just some numbers our our lowest year projects that we ever did and when I talk projects most 98% of them are during the summer 8 to 10 week projects and our lowest year we only spent $353,000 one year where our highest was over $12 million. But in saying that this 5-year plan again it hasn't gone down and the questions come up of why not? Well, our buildings continue to age and there are still projects as we get to life expectancy of equipment, structure, envelope, as well as uh we push off some of the cosmetic things, flooring, you know, if it's not a safety factor, we haven't been one to spend money towards flooring. Now that we have completed a lot of the fundamental projects, roofs, HVAC, um

064safety, life safety type of things, we are able to shift our focus and look at more things like this summer we're going to be proposing doing the uh hallways, the flooring replacement, the hallways at Founder or at Huntley. You know, it doesn't sound like a big deal, but the project could be over $2 million just to do the two floors of hallways at at Huntley Middle School. Um this rotation is going to continue even after I leave. We have a future projection. But when you look at this plan, it isn't just we're going to get everything done in five years. It's not going to happen. But this is where we are be able to go through and make sure that we are looking at it to say what things are the priority. So this list

065is just for you to take a look at, ask questions. Um it's also for our building administrators to know some of the large things that are on the docket. It is not all-encompassing. We still have over 200 work orders that are constantly uh work in process. About 200 of them that we work through that don't even get into this list because they're smaller scale. So with that, I'm just going to open up to any questions you may have. >> Quick quick question for you. I I want to figure out if I'm reading this correctly. We have this divided by years 256. For example, I'm looking at Dalb. I'm looking at Brooks and I see 25 26 26 27 all the way through >> 2930 and the same line item pops up in each of the

066columns. >> Correct. >> Um >> for example replace fogged windows 50,000 then the next year next year and it's on each of the next five years. >> Is that just one project divided up over five years where each year we're going to spend that amount? >> No. >> Okay. That's what I'm >> That's one project that if we were to wait till 2930, there's a 20% potential increase to those costs. So, it would be 60,000 versus if we did it this summer, 50,000. >> Just want to verify that cuz I figured, okay, that's if we wait till 2030, we're going to pay that. Okay. I just want to make sure we're not doing this 5,000. >> Yeah. Make sure kind of to clarify too, I think. So, this is more the instead of I guess

067in a fiveyear plan where it's like we're doing this year one, we're doing this year two. This is more of a for the next five years. These are all of the projects that we need to do, but they can be done. >> They can be done in any order or they might not get done at all because there are unexpected costs that come up that some bump some of these later down the road or a decision could be made that because we, you know, if we do pursue the vision 428 project, many of these could change because the needs of that building are going to change. So, that'll have to be revisited at that time. I guess the only one that I'm kind of like, what in the world is what kind of storage building

068are we adding to the fine arts swing at the high school that's going to cost $1.2 million? >> There's actually a proposal that's been brought forth that we've priced out. It's actually three different versions um for additional storage added onto the building. It's an actual addition onto the building ranging from when we priced it out, I think the lowest was 400,000 for a small version up to the 1.2 2 million. Again, it's a need of the building, but at this time, the funding is not available for that potential need. >> Two questions, one trivial one, like having to do with your thing. The uh the millions of dollars we spent in one year. Would that happen to be the Tyler year? >> Can you refresh my memory? What year were >> you said? I don't

069know. You said we as little as $300,000 is >> No, that was not the Tyler year. That was the esser year because we received about $10 million in grants for the esser year. Tyler, when we renovated Tyler, that was only about $3 million. >> Um, and then the serious question, the 10-year life safety violations. >> Um, you had estimates in there. That's I mean, we every inspection we have some. Are you saying that as time goes on, we're going to catch other things or things are going to get old where we have to fix them? And this is your best guess of how much we're going to spend over these times. >> Actually, that's what you're speaking of are the annual regional office of education inspections. That isn't reflected in here because those are smaller

070scales and those are in our work order. This is the tenure life safety survey that we just completed last year for all of our buildings except Courtland, the high school, and Mitchell. And from that report, the architect identified these particular projects as we are required if they are priority A. We have to get those done at that building by uh October of 25. That would be the one or 26, excuse me. That's the one-year anniversary of the report. And if they were identified as priority B projects, we have five years to complete those. That's why there there's only a number in next year and then there's none because they have to get done. Those are a no choice because we have to report back to ISBY when those are completed. >> For the um parking

071lot projects, are these if we're doing it on our own numbers? Have we consulted the city about doing what we did with the ad center where hey, you're already bidding out five bazillion miles of road. Let's just get a parking lot on the bid while we're at it. So, is this number with or without that? This is without because I always will put the higher one and anticipate that that would be the higher if we could not partner with the city. >> And real quick on on Mitchell, there should be anything on there, but I saw one thing on the do we have to already deal with uh parking lot issues in two years. >> Seal coding. >> What's that? >> That's seal coding. We have a three-year rotation that we seal code our parking

072lots every three years and that'll be the third year. >> Okay. >> So, we're just planning that three years out. I just had a quick question. And I think that you might have addressed this already, but in terms of prioritizing like when you look at these things, >> is that something that you kind of just like hold in your mind and then like as situations change like the priorities get decided upon based on the resources that we have and time constraints or do you start with I guess like is any of this prioritized outside of the life and safety? So, we've got the operating and maintenance budget items. >> Are those listed in any sort of order that you advise? Like, how are you going to onboard somebody? I guess thinking about this stuff and

073as we look at this, >> how how should we read that? >> It's a yearbyear it's based on funding as conversations happen with our mayor in regards to budget. Do we have at least the same amount as this past year? um or are we able to have more? And then prioritizing um any life safety isn't always safety projects. For example, if if the carpeting is tore torn at the entrance or tile is popping up and it's a tripping hazard that's going to go up that next year that I didn't plan on and but other than that, are they in a particular order? No. Um windows for example, they've been on the list for my entire time here. Okay. >> Because they're fine. That's what >> some of them don't look great. Um, some are more

074energy efficient than others. Uh, but in the 12 years that are 13 years we've been doing this, there have been much more important projects that come forth. Uh, we're my mind has already gone out to I pretty much know what we're probably looking at for 27 already. If we have the same budget and if things have to get cut, then we have to really sit back and prioritize and decide what we can do that is not a direct impact to the student. Again, assuming it's not a safety thing, what things are less least likely to touch the students if we eliminated them from our plans? >> Um, I guess other thing that I'm just looking at when I guess was the last time we kind of vetted some of the things on this plan cuz

075we've approved building an ELC. Now, we know that hopefully we'll be running 2028. Mhm. >> So, in anticipation of that, why would I demo a tennis court and install a hard surface playground from a building >> that could have been eliminated? That was missed in the update. >> And is any of this replacing card access and door intercom system stuff going to be covered by the switch with cameras and different security systems with the cops grant or is that separate? This is not this is in addition to what's already been approved with the cops grant. >> Is that is that because of aging out the technology aging out or is it >> technically no our system that we're using we've been using since 2009 and it's not the most userfriendly system. We are transitioning cameras

076and card systems over to Verata. Uh, and with that, the goal would be that all of our card systems would get switched over to Verata. And so that's what these numbers are because it it's a much easier system to manage and um throughout across the whole district where right now we're only doing it at Tyler Mitchell and that's it, Tyler Mitchell. Um, to have it across the whole district and we're not running two different systems. So to get the entire district running on the same quote unquote security system on top of the already about I think it's like 676,000 with the cop grant in our portion would be an additional 1,75,000. >> That's correct. >> Okay. >> And that's strictly card access and the the the buzzer the buzzers at the doors. That has nothing

077to do with cameras. Okay. The card that's still going to be integrated into our copy systems, right? the the cards themselves, the HID cards. >> Yeah. >> Yes. Okay. >> Yeah. This we use the same HID cards. It's just how they're programmed and how they're accessed when you need information. >> Real quick question. I'm not going to pick on every item, but I'm just curious because this number just kind of stands out at Huntley Middle School. I just want to understand it says replace classroom and hallway VCT to LVT. It's 4.5 million to 5.4 million. What is VCT to L? VCT is vinyl tile which requires waxing and the vinyl tile at Huntley is original in a lot of the areas but it requires trip and wax every summer summer. LVT is luxury vinyl tile

078which is a no wax and so unless it's a tripping hazard right now we haven't been doing a lot of flooring but ideally from an ongoing maintenance cost is is much more efficient to have LVT especially in a building that size that doesn't has areas of building that does do not close because of summer school and their activities that go on >> right >> like I said I just saw the $5 million cost like oh >> well and that's the the hallway flooring that I mentioned we're bidding up now that's where It's uh over $2 million in cost because keep in mind it's also asbestous. So half of the cost almost half the cost is for abatement to for the demo to properly demo it. >> Yeah, it's not cheap. >> Any other questions? >>

079Thank you, Tammy. >> Thank you. All right, on to the next item which is the early learning development center business update and that will be presented by Kyle. Yeah, >> good evening. Uh relatively brief update tonight. Um we will have our first ELDC design meeting next Tuesday. Um and then our cadence of meetings moving forward will be every Tuesday. doesn't mean we're necessarily going to gather every Tuesday, but we're going to hold a spot uh for either our committee work or as we move forward there will be various subcommittees that will be kind of doing some of the um different uh I guess lift of um kind of the overall committee. Uh so this will probably be my briefest update over the course of the spring semester. Um right now we're um kind of on

080track for looking at having um things ready to go by May. Um, and so we should be ahead of schedule by then. >> How many members do we have on the committee? Who's all >> uh kind of an update of like who's all participating? I don't need every name, but >> don't quote me on the number, but I'm going to give you a ballpark. I think or when I looked at it earlier was around 17 18, >> which is large. Um, what I do envision is subcommittees breaking off and there will actually be more people participating than just those 18. So really I'm trying to look at the core um who's going to be our core kind of group and then from there we're going to be bringing in more people from district community. Um

081I know there's board members that are interested in uh being a part of it as well. So we'll kind of create some more teams based on that. So um 18ish got >> yeah was a meeting every Tuesday and in this early part there's going to be a lot of just minutia stuff that's figured out. You're not really even solving problems. just figure out who's doing what and that kind of stuff. When do you think it'd be necessary for you to talk to us every meeting rather than maybe a little more sparse about what's happened over the last three or four weeks? >> Yeah, it's a good question. Um, so I guess it probably depends on the cadence of how this goes. So our first couple meetings are going to be really collaboration around vision, what

082we want to see, what are the program programmatic requirements. Um, and then from there, we're probably going to get more into the um, details of design. Um, we're going to be visiting different um, other schools, other districts. So, it's a tough one for me to answer right now. I know I would like to come every board meeting to give an update. Um, so that's kind of my thought at the moment. I think um Chris and I talked about, you know, having that slot there for you, >> but and I'm speaking for at least some of us here that if you really don't have anything to tell us, it's okay to tell >> Well, you're the you're the person that put it on the agenda saying, "Hey, we don't really have anything critical to report today."

083>> Sure. Okay. >> This meeting. >> Yeah. Makes sense. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you. >> Thanks. >> All right. And next will be vision 428 business. >> Happy to be here on Billy's behalf. He asked me to read um the blurb and add some additional context as well. So we've got the vision 428 uh large committee meeting. The members of that committee were recommended by various unions. So Billy reached out to the uh heads of all the different unions working in the district and asked for their suggestions for members to join. Um, and we've had a couple of community members who do not work for the district join us as well and a number of administrators who would be impacted by any potential changes. Um, and then as you can read in his

084update on here, it says that the committee met for the second time last week. The committee's primary focus is to identify a building configuration proposal to recommend to all of you that meets key objectives. Those objectives would include reducing middle school class sizes, ensuring equitable access to resources across middle schools and addressing the fact that founders is not an ideal setting for K5 students. Um so after the original proposal was shared in November, we reviewed additional options uh that were submitted by the committee on at the first meeting. So we had the first meeting, then committee members submitted ideas. We reviewed them last week and um got a chance to talk in small groups and a larger group about pros and cons and we were also able to say one of the ideas submitted simply

085wouldn't be feasible because um for example that suggestion was adding additional classrooms onto the ELDC building. Now that that design is underway, we simply can't do that. Um it would also require a number of things that are not an option anymore. Um then as of this week we have members um rating not ranking but rating the plans that are still on the table so that we can come forward with um an idea that is supported by the consensus of the whole. Our meeting is tomorrow at 4:15 and we are hopeful that it may be the last one for this larger committee at this time and then moving into um subcommittees to make determinations about for example what does uh the if we were to move forward with the original plan as proposed what does the

08656 day look like and what are the certific so we can get into greater detail about what certifications would be necessary to teach in that um grade level configuration etc. I have a quick question. When we brought this before the board, there was a lot of community interest and a lot of public input to this. And one of the things the board was promised was lots of community input going forward. What sort of community meetings or sessions has the community been involved with for this project to provide input prior to this committee making all the decisions? There was certainly lots of people who wanted to have a say and we were promised we were going to go forward with that. I haven't seen any meetings or anything brought to the public where there's give us

087your ideas of what you would like this if you'd like this configuration yes or no. What would you like it to be? I haven't seen any of that. So I'm a little concerned. >> Sure. So um there were several community members that reached out um after the board meeting who had been paying close attention to it who are on the committee. again, not not people that work in the district, but parents who are interested and reached out and and Billy invited them to join. We had two board members express interest. I don't believe any have been able to make it to the committee yet. >> We were at the first >> one. I'm I'm so sorry. >> They were both at the first one. I think if a third member joined, we would then have

088to have a it would violate the right open meeting. >> Only have two, >> right? Um because the work will be lengthy and there will be lots of opportunities to weigh in on things like what does an ideal fifth grade day look like. Um I'm sure that Billy has plans to send that the message out wider when we have subcommittees. It is difficult. There are 35 to 40 people at these meetings um that are weighing in. making a decision with more than 35 to 40 people would be relatively untenable um given that getting them to agree on something or and come up with a procedure for incorporating everyone's feedback would be difficult. But we do have community representation already um in that setting. But even like up like a when we had the um when

089we brought forth you know the school reconfiguration as far as who was going to go to Mitchell and what have you. We had various meetings where we out did a lot of outreach to the community was prior to my service on the board. I actually attended a few of those. Are we going to do something similar to this? Yes. >> So as as we move forward when we're in a a stage where we can say this is this is what has been solidified. These this is the actual information. um then that would be an appropriate time to have those meetings and say, you know, are there any significant concerns about this? It it wouldn't necessarily be appropriate when we're so far from having the idea fleshed out to say why doesn't everyone come I think

090that's how you end up with a boat named Bodie McBoatface to call um call back to an example from Great Britain where it went to a public vote. What do we want to name our new vessel? That's what won. I think we want to avoid that sort of situation. >> Yeah. I just want to make sure we keep our promise that we're going to have some sessions with the public to let them provide feedback on this and there might be changes when we hear from the general public. >> I agree. I would also just remind you that I'm also a member of the public and pay taxes to our school district and um a lot of the other people that are in that room as well wear multiple hats. So, while we certainly welcome feedback

091and we've been receiving feedback at the grocery store and through social media and our personal contacts, um I know that Billy definitely has an eye toward making sure that the community is aware of what the plans are moving forward and gathering that that input as well. >> I can also confirm that several of the people that were at that board meeting are also members of that committee that raised some of those questions and spoke during public comment. So, I think you know there is a pretty good cross-section of folks there who are having that voice heard, so to speak. >> That's good. and and yeah, I would say feel free to reach out to to us. I know Nick and I are both attending that committee and um yeah, so you can be that those

092advocates hopefully. Yeah. >> Great. Thank you. >> And I wanted to say I spoke with Billy this morning about this about making this information publicly accessible about the process and and and the decisions that are being made and and how we're doing that. And I know he had had an idea and since he's not here, I'm not sure I'll bring that up, but in terms of disseminating this information as we go through um and making that transparent. So, he is very aware of and thinking about that and maybe we can ask for >> I like that idea. There's a lot of public interest in this. So, as much as we can get out, I'd appreciate. So, >> sounds great. >> I'm sure you are working on this because I trust you guys. But when are

093you going to be able to produce a timeline for us of like how the process is going and when do you think you would be presenting to the public, you know, here's here's our general plan and this is what we think is going to happen and and get that input and all that. And I know that's going to be in flux no matter what you put down on paper, but when do you think you could get a set timeline? So, we've met now twice as the the committee, the sort of committee of the whole or whatever you want to call it, the the larger group. Um, I believe we'll be able to move a lot more quickly once that initial domino is in place. And I think we're probably one to eight days away from

094being able to to sort of get a jump start on what the rest of the subcommittees that are going to be making those other decisions would look like. At the last committee meeting, um, we presented sort of a flowchart of here's how the decisions have to go about being made. That we can't, for example, make decisions about extracurricular activities until we decide about what the curriculum looks like. Um, that we can't decide about personnel issues until we know what the fifth and sixth grade day might look like because the people who would be certified to teach in those buildings, it's dependent upon what model is chosen. Does that make sense? So that order of operations already exists and I think that um you you two both have access to the notes I think from those

095meetings. Yeah. So I can share that with you. Billy could share that with you or or anyone that has access to the notes from those meetings could as well. Um it doesn't have dates associated with it because I think once we know what direction we're moving in, then we're going to have to work with Tammy and our mirror to say what's the timeline that that makes sense. Um because there will be certain hard deadlines, right? this will have to be done by then. So therefore, this decision has to be made, you know, in this time frame. And >> I'm thinking more, >> does that make sense? >> Yes. >> All of that. And you're way more thorough than I'm looking for. I'm thinking more of like say in the first meeting in March, you come

096up and say, "Hey, we're gonna we'll be able to to meet with the public in August and and by late September, we'll have a a a go or no go with the public to where we can then present it to you." I'm not looking for, you know, how many teachers just like this is an idea that we did get a lot of push back on. We also got support on. People loved it when it dropped out as well as people hated it, which is usually the response anyway. But to be able to to have an idea of this major decision, the second major third including major decision that this sitting board has had to have when we're about to get when we're going to have to make it. I I I would appreciate knowing that

097that's going to happen in the middle of summer, at the end of the summer, this time next year, whatever. And not necessarily when the first brick is being laid or the first wall is being torn out, but when we could expect to have this decision in front of us, and I not asking you for the minute of >> No, I think that's a great question. And I I would guess that Tammy would tell you that we better know by the end of this school year. Um, is that fair, Tammy? I mean some of the things we're talking about potentially >> soon >> actually um I my understanding from with talking with Billy is that by the end of January we are hoping to have this in front of the community to get feedback so that

098we can be in front of you in February with a a decision possibly I want to say as late as the first meeting in March because that's what decision will trigger the domino effect of the rest of the planning as it relates not just to budget but to also um the construction and design that if we are going to try to for the approval to be that the reconfiguration will happen at the same time that ELC and Huntley are completed that we have to have that approved by the board by March or April at the very latest to be on the 2028 deadline. I asked when I got it timeline. There it is. >> We have a set timeline. I just can't get the link to open on my calendar. I tell you what it

099is right now. >> Thank you. >> I think that's pretty much exactly what February. That's my understanding. >> Ideally, we will be here the first meeting in February with a proposal so that the second meeting in February we could get approval. Understanding there might be a little bit more flexibility needed and it could bump a meeting out. Tammy, you had touched on this in one of the port updates about the the dominoes that come into play and why that has to be >> so like soon because of how who is involved in the planning process and whatnot. And I found that to be really helpful. So, >> so I guess I'm real quick before we move on just going to ask if we can get consensus from the board because we know the timeline they're

100looking to do that we have admin already have a community town hall prepared for a date in February so we can get out to the public, hey, this is the day where this is coming. Make sure that you're informed way ahead of time to come if you have input. >> Absolutely. >> Yes. Yes. Yeah, I will also say based on our meeting tomorrow night and the feedback from this committee that's going to be coming into the meeting tomorrow night, we will have a lot better idea after tomorrow night if where our consensus lies and what more discussions will have to take place so that we know how soon we can get that community event on the calendar because it could be as early as January even. >> That seems ambitious >> under promise. >> Anything

101else? >> Possible. >> No, thank you. Thank you. >> All right. And to old business. First one is item A. Adilante MS by literacy curriculum work professional development agreement. This is an action item. Is recommended the board of education approve the attached agreement with Adilante for professional development and curriculum development. Do I have a motion? >> So move. Second. >> Jackie. Roll call. >> Yes. >> Joseph. >> Yes. >> Christopher Boyce. >> Yes. >> Mark. >> Yes. >> Kristen Bailey. >> Yes. Nick Edwards. >> Yes. Item B, courageous principal leadership development program. It is recommended that the board of education approve up to 10 administrators to attend the courageous principal professional development at the Deote campus from April 10th to April 12th, 2026. Do I have a motion? >> Second, >> Jackie. Roll call. >>

102Yes. >> Christopher Boy, >> yes. >> Mark Sherbat, >> yes. >> Kristen Bailey, >> yes. Nick Cwood, >> yes. >> Cyers, >> yes. Item C, DHS new course proposal, transitional math QL statistics. It is recommended the board of education approve the request to add QL statistics to the DHS course offerings beginning with the 2627 school year. Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Jackie, roll call. >> Mr. Mo, >> yes. >> Mark Sher, >> yes. >> Kristen Bailey, >> yes. Nick Gwood, >> yes. >> Steve Buyers, >> yes. Jose, >> yes. >> Item D, diligent elevate 2026 conference. It is recommended the board of education approve the request for travel to the Diligent Elevate 2026 conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Do I have a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Jackie,

103roll call. >> Trav, >> yes. >> Kristen Bailey, >> yes. Nick Atwood, >> yes. >> C. Buyers, >> yes. >> Jose, >> yes. >> Christopher, >> yes. Item E, SIU educational affiliation agreement. It is recommended the board of education approve the SIU affiliation agreement. Do I have a motion? >> So move. Second, >> Jackie. Roll call. >> Uh, Christy Bailey, >> yes. >> Nick Atwood, >> yes. Steve, >> yes. >> Jose, yes. Christopher Boyce, >> yes. >> Mark Sherbet, >> yes. >> Item F, 2627, academic school calendar. It is recommended education approve the 2627 calendar as presented. Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Jackie, roll call. >> Bailey, yes. >> Catwick, >> yes. >> Steve Myers, yes. >> Jose, yes. >> Chris, >> yes. Now we're on to 10. New

104business item A 26 District 428 summer programming presented by Sarah Montgomery and Kyle Gertis. This is an information item. Okay. So, it's that time of year again that we're going to talk about summer school and summer programming. You've already heard a little bit of this already because I've come before you to talk about the agreement that we have with NIOU. But we come before you tonight to look at our holistic approach of all of our programs here. So, we have extended school year offered by or offered through the student and family services. I can scroll and multitask at the same time. I'm so sorry. Um, there we go. And as you know, I just said we have middle school programming that is run through niu. And then the high school offers summer school through two

105opportunities for students credit recovery and credit advancement. Students that want to get ahead in credits. So you'll see the uploaded um plans and expenditure reports on here. I apologize. Normally I say even when it's just information like here's where it's getting paid for, but with the new system somewhere I lost that piece. So, um, the middle school will be paid for out of title one and then the food will be reimbursed through the nutritional federal nutritional reimbursement programs and the high school and extended school year will be paid through by our local funds. Am I missing anything? >> Just one thing to add with the extended school year program that is a federally uh required program for students that qualify. So, quick question because I was looking at last year's cost. Did did we offer

106food last summer because those are blank. >> We did. Our mirror and I had that conversation. Do we don't we add it? Because in the last year's we haven't because it's reimbured. So then this year we're like, well, it's not on there, but it's on there for the middle school and it's always been on there for the middle school, so we should just put it on there. So that was added, but it is reimbured. So that's not some new thing. We've always offered it. Um, take take and go lunches for the kids, snacks and breakfast. >> Good question. Good eye, Mark. We knew that was we knew that was going to come out there. >> This is just for ESY. We are still not doing primary summer school anymore. Correct. >> That's different. >> Sorry.

107Yeah, ESY spans all the way from early childhood all the way through 22 years old. So then I guess could you differentiate the difference between I guess that versus normal summer school so I can understand what >> federally required as part of students IEPs and transition plans speaking correctly >> and students have to qualify. So it's not all students that have an IEP. It's students that um have shown that during long breaks they need um support to maintain skills or to recoup >> in the summer school at elementary. um had happened for many years predating me working in the district. Then it was eliminated. Then when COVID occurred due to some of the school activity funds and ESSER funds that were earmarked through the government of summer enrichment programs, we brought it back and we

108just were not seeing the success rates and the enrollment rates needed to sustain that program. Okay. And then is ESY a part of I know like when I was in high school, I took speech or whatever over the summer just so I could get another two, three credits or whatever just to get out of there sooner. >> That's the high school program. ESY students with IEPs who need a specific um instructional support through the summer of summer slide and continue to maintain progress in their goals. Am I speaking correctly? That is a completely different um goal than what you're talking about. >> Thank you. >> As you can see attached, there's a robust offering of classes from the high school for both credit advancement like you describe or um retaking classes. >> Was the discontinued

109program was that the the K5 summer academy? >> Correct. >> Okay. >> You just didn't have enrollment to support that? Yeah, there was enrollment and the sustainability and our, you know, cost savings and the rate of attendance for students that were coming and you have to continuously and consistently attend. So, you're having some attendance challenges. >> What's the minimum enrollment required for these classes to make in the the high school stuff? The summer school >> for the high school classes. Yeah, >> the high school class I think it's 20 is it? But it depends on what the class is. >> Okay. >> I I think there might be a different number. >> Sorry. Sarah handles, but >> the truth is >> Rick Rick, but I used to be in Yeah, we Yeah, we Rick and

110I have collaborated over the last couple years on um being summer school principal. I have never seen a minimum enrollment number. However, I would like some direction on what that should be because we do have really positive enrollment in most of our courses, but there have been over the last couple years a few with a little bit lower enrollment. So, I know like for our regular school year, we have um we try to run classes with a minimum of 12 students. Sometimes that'll vary. Like with our AP African-American studies class, this was the first year that we offered it. So, we knew that the enrollment would be a little bit lower and we would hope that the enrollment will expand over the years, but generally we'll run a class at a minimum of 12. But

111for summer school, I haven't ever seen >> going with the average of 20 because I know some of them are are quite full. Um and then typically the 12 what we'll do is we'll look at I'll work with the high school administration to say you know gee we're seeing an increase in this class a decrease in this. So then we have those um individualized conversations about what needs to be closed so another course could be opened. Okay. >> So, that does happen where we end up not running a class because >> I can give an example, Kristen. For like last summer, we offered we had one of our courses, I don't remember exactly which one it was that did have lower enrollment and we needed an additional humanities section um because we wanted to be

112able to offer humanities three credit recovery whereas in previous years we had only been able to offer humanities one and two. So when we did see the lower enrollment, we were able to open a section of humanities three instead of whatever that other class was. >> Okay. >> We just don't have clear like metric by which you know to make a decision on that. >> Sometimes it depends on how many of the students are in there that are close to graduation that need this class. You know, it's >> really looking at the overall field and going where do we put our resources that make the most sense. >> Got it. >> While being fiscally responsible. So, I hate to crack open this can of worms, but with the president threatening funding to sanctuary states, how

113much of the money we're talking about spending here could get tangled up in the I'm going to pay, I'm not going to pay kind of thing. >> This money's already earmarked. >> Yeah. And I'm not familiar with anything else today that >> Okay. >> Thank you. Do they offer a typing class in the summer? Because that's what I took during summer school in high school. >> Mark, we might be dating ourselves. >> Same thing when I was in school, but no, we don't have typing. >> That's taught deep in our elementary >> electric typewriter. We learned that. Yes, >> we had electric. >> All right. So, any other questions? >> Thank you guys. >> Thank you. >> Do we have consensus to bring this back? >> Yes. >> All right. Item B, DCTA program CR

114approval and salary schedule credit PRC committee minutes presented to us by Dietra Silence, the director of human resources. >> Okay. I've been before you before with uh PRC um course uh courses that um our teachers have submitted for credit to move on the salary schedule. These are new courses that have been submitted, courses and/or programs, and the um PRC committee has met and checked to make sure that they meet our standards and our guidelines, and these are the ones that we're bringing forward for approval. >> Any questions? Hearing no questions, do we have consensus to bring this back? >> Thank you. >> And last item under new business, item C. This one is information and action. This is the NASA 2026 conference. This is information and it looks like both of the people that were

115supposed to present on this are not here. So, I guess I've been a part of a good amount of this conversation. So, I'll just do it real quick. Northern Illinois University invited two of our teachers who have been very award-winning and done phenomenal work to participate in essentially a documentary last year which went really, really well. So great that niu is going to a conference and was like we would love to pay for you guys and an administrator to come to this conference so that you can be a part of panels and sessions to really just kind of dive in and one give them the appreciation that they're deserving for the amazing work that they do and two to really give them more knowledge so that they can come back to the district to kind

116of give some of those great strategies and things that they already implement back to our other teachers within the district. So that's kind of the big thing. It's February 12th through the 14th. So that's why it's info in action because they have to go pretty soon and we need to buy the stuff. Well, we don't. Northern has to buy the stuff. We just have to approve them to leave the district for those days. >> Quick question. We have substitute teachers for three days. The conference is Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Why do we have a substitute teacher for Saturday? >> All right. Now you're asking me questions. >> I know. It should be I would imagine you would need two days. >> It also says two teachers, aren't there three? I wonder if the three and

117the two are switched. It's two days for three teachers, not >> well administrator substitute. So >> Oh, yeah. >> Right. >> So administrators covered, right? >> Right. It was a substitute teacher for the two teachers because the conference um starts early so that they so make sure they get there cuz you know flights get cancelceled all the time. Um they would >> So what this will cover then Wednesday, Thursday and then so they can go and be there on time. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> All right. >> Any other questions? >> We said that this is the thing that um is this what Manurva said was covered for the administrator or no? >> Correct. >> So this >> like >> this is covered. We are not paying for anyone to go to this conference. Northern

118is covering the cost of for everyone. >> Oh, okay. Got it. Thanks. >> Well, we're covering >> there is a so there is like a mill in in your notes. There are like meal reimbursements and that's because that has been our past practices that we have to reimburse people because ultimately they are going to represent us and >> and their food at work. >> So we will feed them. Yes. >> So just to clarify the the three >> but we'll let niu feed them too if they happen to. Absolutely. >> The three details at the bottom, I quick math. I think it adds up to 1665, right? >> You mean the substitute, >> the substitute, meal, and travel. Okay. So, it's not all four of those line items together. One is a total of the

119other three. And the travel reimbursement is just for them to get to the airport and back. >> Yes. So, that when they, you know, it's a certain percentage. I don't know. It's per mile to get to the airport and back. >> Do we know which administrator is going to be going? >> I am not aware. >> That's where it is. You guys know Virginia. >> It's Kyle. Kyle. >> Oh, it's Kyle. >> Bougie. >> Nice. >> All right. >> So, >> all right. We have a motion by Steve. >> Second. >> Jackie. Roll call. >> Gatwood. >> Yes. Yes. Jose, >> yes. >> Christopher Boyce, >> yes. >> Mark, >> yes. >> So, next part would be superintendent update. >> Superintendent's not here. I don't think that I wasn't given anything to talk about. So,

120I guess instead I do actually just want to take a quick moment to thank student and family services a lot. As you guys are probably all well aware, we did lose a student within this past month. And just to say that the boots on the ground that Kyle and Lisa have had this last month to support not just our students, but our staff and our community has been phenomenal. They've been hosting multiple different sitin sessions. They've been doing things at Clinton Rosette to bring in families if they needed support as well through this time. So, I truly just want to thank you guys for the work that you've done for our whole community through this really tragic event. And I really know I speak for the entire board when I just say thank you so

121much for that. And I want to encourage everybody to look at our uh Facebook page or sorry our uh YouTube page. There's a video that uh you were involved in Kyle and it's very infor I I was watching that literally before the meeting tonight. So I learned a lot from that video. So check it out and let people know where they could find it on YouTube if you'd like. >> The video. >> Thank you. Um and um we did a a family night uh last week and we recorded that. So, the video is um uh it's informational around uh suicide and around uh some some warning signs, how to talk to your your son or daughter uh around those things. So, it's really supposed to um kind of be informative and empowering. Um and thank

122you for the kind words and I I just want to there are so many people at Clint Rosette and across the district that stepped up and supported our families and students, Mr. Ber and his team. Um there were so many teachers and assistants. So, um, I appreciate your kind words to us. We are just happy to be a part of something that helped our our community when they needed it. So, thanks. >> All right. Oh, yes. So, other quick just updates because we promise to keep you guys updated on everything with superintendent. Obviously, we have named a superintendent at this point and approved, which means that now Billy is the person that the board voted last week to make our next superintendent. Kind of what that's going to look like for you guys. Really nothing

123at this exact second, but Dr. Garcia Sanchez and Director Wermo are currently in the process of meeting or they're going to come up with a plan on kind of what transition is going to look like. So, our hope is that they're going to bring that to the board within close session first to kind of go over what that transition plan's going to look like for them and then we'll continue to kind of let you guys know what that's going to look like as things progress and go on. But we do have a new superintendent starting July 1st. And then one other thing that I'm just I guess going to bring to the board, I don't know if we want to discuss it right now, but we had a lot of emails going around about the

124superintendent committees and kind of how we wanted communication to be done on those. So, I guess I kind of want to see if we can get some quick consensus on do we know what we want yet or should we talk about that at the next meeting in February. >> Talk about it later. >> All right. >> Sounds beautiful. In that case, we've hit the end of the agenda. Do I have a motion to motion by JJ, second by Steve? All those in favor say I. I. >> Good night, everyone.