001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> [laughter] >> I will show. Hello Okay, I think it's time to call the meeting to order. Board of Education has been in closed executive session to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body, collective negotiating matters, and pending litigation between the board well and pending litigation. No action was taken during closed executive session. Please join me in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Do you have a recommendation for tonight's agenda? Yes, we do. I recommend the board approve tonight's April 28th, 2026 open session board meeting agenda as presented. >> Have a motion? So moved. Second. Any
002discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. I. Those opposed? Motion's carried. So, we'll now move on to our district highlights. Dr. Clark. This evening's first district highlight is a special event called Panther Palooza hosted by Eisenhower High School staff and students. Panther Palooza is a fun event special education students together with general education students, teachers, and community organizations. The event promotes growth, learning, and sensory exploration through creativity and fun for students with moderate to severe disabilities. Here to talk about the event held last Friday is Eisenhower's life skills teacher, Barb Hostler. Okay. Right there, okay? All right. Good evening, Dr. Clark and board members. Uh tonight we're here to talk about Panther Palooza. This is our fourth year putting on this event. Um and like she uh was sharing, it's a to basically we're
003promoting sensory exploration, learning, fun, inclusion, acceptance, and community participation. Uh This year we just had this uh last Friday. Uh it was we hosted it at Eisenhower High School in our staff parking lot. We the our wonderful admin and staff accommodate this event there for us. Um We had uh between 400 and 500 special education students come this year um from all of our Decatur District and four surrounding districts. Uh we also had 70 student volunteers from Eisenhower that were part of the inclusion and in the experience with helping with the students. And we had uh 30 to 40 community volunteers. So, different local businesses and just volunteers that came out to help with the event. All right. Let me show some pictures here. This is our group picture. Every year we take a group
004picture in front of the sensory museum and the foam. That's always one of the big hits at the event. So, this is all of my team, my staff, and my students. Uh this is the attending programs. So, Sela, MAP, Bomb Life Skills, MacArthur Life Skills, and Hope uh Life and Essential Skills. Uh Monticello, Maroa, Mount Zion, and Meridian were some of our surrounding districts that came. And we also had a one program from Dennis that came, too. All right. Um I have a few uh pictures here highlights from some of our stuff here. This was that kid place sensory museum waiting. Um and foam machine. This is always a big hit. Right here. This year And this guy, he builds these every He's from Carlock a Bible in hand by me. And he builds these
005um and sells them and also goes around tours with them. But every year he makes a new one. So, this year's theme was a dinosaur theme, which was a huge hit with the kids. Uh we also have Kona Ice comes out and they do snow cones for this all the students. Uh this year new test we had Macon County Conservation Rock Springs come out and they had um some different um furs and different things for sensory for the students to touch and see. Uh Decatur Art Council is also a big supporter every year. They come out and do an art project with the students. Uh this is uh Lambda State Foundation for Educational Studies. This is our teacher sorority that is a big sponsor and supporter of our event. And they come and not only
006are they one of our biggest sponsors, they also host their own stations, too. So. Uh this year we had Fun to Go Inflatables, which was new test. Um they are a local company, which was great. We we like to include more local businesses. And they were they were wonderful wonderful. The kids enjoyed them. Uh Scovill Mobile Zoo comes out each year and supports us. They brought some turtles and some other things this year. Uh the Ag, Eisenhower Ag um they came and Mr. Davison and his students uh did a lot with this with uh the event this year. His students did actually did a presentation to us and come up with their own ideas of ways they wanted to be part of it. They had sensory bins, they had animals. They created all of the
007little animals. Um they printed them and they came up with all the games. It was really cool. Um Also new this year, we had Black Eyed Jack's Tattoo professional tattoo artist um come out and do press-on tattoos. This was a huge hit. All the kids loved it. Staff loved it. Um the tattoo uh station, the tattoo parlor, they loved it, too. They they said they they loved to come back. Um Some of the tattoo professional tattoo artists are previous Eisenhower grads. So, they were excited to be able to come back and give back. Uh Macon Resources comes out. They always run their music station, which is a big hit. And this year uh fire station two came out and brought a fire truck, which the kids loved that, too. And uh another way that our
008students with inclusion uh Mr. Bristow uh heads up our art students doing face painting. And then Starbucks always participates. They bring out snacks for the kids. And then this is a list of all of our community volunteers. I'm not going to read this to you, but I'm just going to highlight a few. Like I said, the teacher sorority, uh Zack Shields with the um Decatur School Foundation, Macon Piatt Um I mean, just you know, all the support of our admin. We wouldn't be able to put this on if we didn't have all these people that donated not only their money, but their time and their support for us to be able to put this amazing event on for the kids. Um and then also with me, I want to introduce I brought my co-teacher who
009also helps me put this event on, Miss Becca Massey. And then I have some students with me. And I've brought them cuz it's going to be more exciting to listen to them talk instead of me. So, I brought This is Devonte McMillan. And Devonte's going to let us know what his favorite part was. Uh the the sensory museum Okay. and the face painting and uh basketball. Okay. All right, very good, Devonte. Thank you. All right. And then next I have uh Michael Finch and he wanted to come today. He was very excited to come and share what his favorite stuff was. My favorite thing was the tattoo place, the face painting, and the truck thing and and everything. The sensory museum and everything else. Just everything, huh? All right, very good, Michael. Okay. And then
010I also have Cain uh Fairhile with me. And Cain, can you share with them what your favorite thing is? Very good, Cain. Okay. I had another slide on there, but it basically was just an end Oh, there it is. Brought to you by us. Good job. All right. Thank you. Thank you so much. Um did anyone have any questions? Miss Hostler, you are magic. Uh if you ever leave us, I will tackle you. Uh >> [laughter] >> No, no. I will tackle you. Uh I I attended Panther Palooza. It was absolutely wonderful. The way you organized it, the way you put it together, everything that the kids got out of it. I I It was so enjoyable. I was standing in the rain and the foam. And the foam machine, by the way, never runs
011out of foam. >> Never. No, no, no. Am I lying? No, it doesn't He brings plenty. >> there for what? An hour and a half? And the foam never stopped. So, uh I want to thank you for what you do and uh the way you elevate our students. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for making a time to come. I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I will tackle you. >> [laughter] >> Our next district highlight is Eisenhower High School math teacher, Ms. Hannah Leibarger. Mrs. Leibarger has taught in DPS since January 2009 and was recently awarded the 2026 Award of Special Recognition in the Classroom Teacher category from the Illinois State Board of Education. This honor recognizes educators who make significant contributions to their schools and demonstrate a deep commitment to equity,
012student success, growth, innovation, and lifelong learning. Hannah's dedication to her students, colleagues, and school community is truly appreciated. And we are proud to celebrate this well-deserved recognition. I'd like to share a brief video so we can all learn about Mrs. Leibarger. Since I've been principal at Eisenhower, Ms. Leibarger Rodriguez. [clears throat] Since I've been principal at Eisenhower, Ms. Leibarger has been a member of the leadership team. She's also the math department chair and she contributes to her peers and the students equally [music] by making sure that everybody's included, students get what they need, and she is really great about meeting students exactly where they are to help them >> [music] >> through math courses that are especially challenging for students. Ms. Leibarger is extremely deserving of this award. She goes above and beyond for her
013students. She is very involved with them as well inside school as well as outside school. She meets with the families [music] and she really does whatever it takes to make sure that the students are successful. It's a really big deal to be recognized by your peers as well as different leaders of the school. Ms. Leibarger is so deserving of this and I know that she will not make a large deal about it, but it is extremely important to be recognized in this field and I believe that she's the most deserving of that recognition. I was just about to call your name. >> [laughter] >> Welcome. Would you like to share anything else? Um I would just like to say thank you, obviously, for um Dr. Rodriguez for nominating me and going through that whole process.
014And something else I just want to share real quick to you, uh maybe future administrators or future educators, um we actually didn't really know a whole lot about the process. So, I encourage people to kind of get out there and look into it. Um it is a little bit of a of a application process um that you have to go through with ISBE. Um but I think we were the first kind of team duo here to be nominated and um awarded from Macon County ever. So, that was a big deal. And I I was kind of digging into that and noticed that no one else from Macon County has ever ever um been honored with that. So, that was a big deal. And so, I just say thank you so much and I appreciate that
015and um I look forward to more people being nominated from our administrators and our districts and putting all of our our teachers out there cuz they are absolutely wonderful. But it was an honor. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you so much. Mike, can you get a picture for me, too, when Misty is done speaking? Oh. You don't want to say anything? I just want to say thank you, too, Ms. Leibarger for everything that she does for our students um day in and day out with our leadership team. She is definitely a leader and a bright light at Eisenhower. There are great things happening in DPS, so I definitely want to encourage, just like Ms. Leibarger, to make sure that we're spotlighting some of the great things that are happening not only at Eisenhower,
016but also DPS as a whole. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Thank you. Congratulations again. Our final highlight this evening is Johns Hill Magnet School. Here to present their school highlight is Principal Michelle Pryor. Good evening, everyone. Um as I am doing my introductions, I would like to just offer um an introduction to Estreya Ponce uh Ponce, sorry, Estreya Ponce. Um she's got a little token of appreciation for all of you from Johns Hill, so she's going to hand that out. Um but I do want to thank you while she's doing that for the opportunity for us to be able to do um a spotlight, not only for Johns Hill, but for all of the buildings. Um although we get a little bit nervous about putting ourselves out on the mic in front
017of you. Um you can go ahead and you can just give one to everyone if you like. Um it is really important, in my opinion, that we have an opportunity to be able to highlight all of the wonderful things that are happening in DPS. And so, thank you very much, Dr. Clark, Ms. Bradford, and the board for allowing us to do that. It means a lot to us. Thank you. You're very welcome. Estreya does have something um that she has created um to speak about and um that she feels very passionate about our school. And so, as soon as she finishes handing out all of our little tokens of appreciation, um again, they're little eagles. Once an eagle, always an eagle is our motto at Johns Hill, so we thought maybe you could all walk
018away with a little a token of our appreciation. So, Estreya, it's all for you. Okay. Good evening. My name is Estreya Ponce and I've been a student at Johns Hill since kindergarten. Johns Hill is very important to me because it helped me learn English, introduced me to my friends, and has given me my teachers. I was a part of the English as a Second Language program for 4 years before I exited. US The ESL program taught me to speak and to read and it also taught me history of the United States. I also learned to write in cursive. I'm a member of the band and have been since fifth grade. I play the flute and I love it. Mr. Miller has taught me more than music. He has taught me how to be confident. My
019favorite project from band was when we were studying mariachi music and got to present for the younger students. We have also gotten to go to basketball games and play with the high school bands. In addition to band, I'm in choir. I love to sing and I sang the national anthem for the volleyball games. I'm a member of the student council and the cross country and track teams, too. Being at Johns Hill lets me do all the things I want to do, including learning about new cultures while staying in touch with mine. Johns Hill is a really good school full of good people and teachers. There's no other place I would rather go to. Thank you so much. Thank you, Estreya. We really appreciate you as well. Um I also have a teacher here that's going
020to go through some of our slides and then I'll be back on the mic to talk about data. Um and so, our teacher that we have chosen for tonight is Mrs. Kim Miller. She's a social studies teacher. Good evening, board. Um my name is Kim Miller. I have been the pleasure of working at Johns Hill Magnet School for the past 26 years. Um during that time, I have witnessed many changes um within our schools and districts, including opening of our new building in 2001, and the exponential growth that it now uh of the students that bring over 640 students um to learn about the Johns Hill way. Um the Johns Hill way is kind of rooted in arts integrated. Um is it arts integrated. An approach that gives students meaningful opportunities to express their learning,
021build connections, and demonstrate their understanding of the world through creative experiences. Our students are not just learning content, they're living through art, music, movement, and performances. Our buildings have changed, but our commitment to to creating something special together has only grown grown stronger. The approach is working. In our eighth grade language arts test and STAR testing, 62% of our students are at or above grade level. Compa- And the benchmark of the district is 40%. The success reflects the collaboration efforts of our entire K-8 building staff who meets challenges head on, continuing to strive towards excellent as a commendable [clears throat] school. We have a lot of challenges, but we always seem to find a way to meet those challenges. Johns Hill has a special place. You can feel it the moment you walk in the
022doors. The feeling is home. It comes from the students, the parents, the teachers, and the staff, and the administrators who hold themselves to high expectations every single day. That is why we have a 90% teacher retention rate and a 92% attendance rate. We want to be here. We are committed to helping all of our students thrive. Our ELL population makes up approximately 30% of our overall population. Students bring perspectives from 14 different countries, enriching our community in countless of ways. Research from Dr. Chao, American University Professor of ELL, emphasizes the importance of connection and the sense of safety at the K8 building brings. The through our bilingual staff and our strategies we implement, we support not only our ELL students, but all learners, ensuring understanding through inclusive arts-integrated practices. Defining features of Johns Hill is
023the opportunity to for students to perform and demonstrate their knowledge. During Hispanic Heritage Month, um our halls come alive with music and dance and learning, celebrate the contribution of Hispanic cultures through experiences like rhythms and movements. And we got to break out some merengue as this year. Our middle school students take learning even further by teaching younger students about the rich and vibrant history of African Americans. They design and deliver lessons that incorporate the art, exploring artists like Alma Thomas, or bringing poetry such as the works of Langston Hughes to a rhythmic beat that we recorded on um on the iPads. Through arts integration, history becomes vivid, meaningful, and a joyful experience for our students. We also host arts integration nights, where our gym is transformed into a living museum of learning. Student-created artwork, performances,
024career explorations fill the space. There is not a blank space in our entire gym. And if you have never been to our gym, it is three basketball courts, and it was filled just this last Friday night. The music plays, and the students dance, the aromas of food from around the world create a truly immersive, multicultural experience. Then there is all of the drama. Good drama, of course. Productions of Honk not only teaches students how to perform, but also deepens their understanding standing of character development, plot, and empathy, beautifully aligned to our BIS programming that focus on positive relationships. Even our younger performers shine in production of Bugs, where they sing, they act, they share their learning about the world of insects. And that's just the drama that you see on stage. We also have classrooms
025that are interacting. We have classrooms who are acting out Westward Expansion. All of these things is any day that you walk into our halls. Why do we do this work? Well, because we know that this learning is the most powerful when it's connected to our emotions. Through arts, students experience the pride and the joy of learning. They create, they perform, they demonstrate their understanding in ways that stays with them for a lifetime. Our staff has been extremely dedicated to designing these meaningful experiences every single day. And together, we are building something truly special at Johns Hill. Thank you, Mrs. Miller, um for just allowing um this this I guess the spoken word to express all the things we do at Johns Hill. Um and teaching and learning is just never-ending there, and it was very
026well done. Thank you so much. Um the next part is again the reason why all of this works, and we're going to talk about data. Um For referral data, we have decreased the the referral rate of of referrals by 21% this year. That's on top of the decrease that we had last year, which was substantial as well. We also decreased the the suspensions. As you can see from 2023, we started at 330 suspension days out, and at 2026, we have 168. Again, this is the the reaps of the reward of what you just heard from Mrs. Miller. This is why things are working at Johns Hill. Um the attendance rate as well has been pretty steady at 92%, which we're really proud of as well. Um the teacher attendance for this year is 99% of
027the teachers have fewer than 10 absences, which again is something that we're very proud of. I know absenteeism and the attendance rate is a is a big data point that we are all focused on as a universal uh uh district, but we are proud that our teachers are achieving this percentage. Um I Excel is another big platform that we use to help provide extra support for our for our students. And as you can see, the kids have answered over a million questions this year. They have mastered 16,000 plus skills due to our IXL platform that we use for for some just extra help. We've also logged about It's probably closer to 9,000 hours now because it does go up very quickly, but when I did do this data, it was 8,000 hours the students have
028been on to IXL to help enhance where they are at that moment. So, it definitely is helping us achieve these next um percentages. We talk a lot about achievement gap, and what the achievement gap looks like in Decatur, and we have a lot of discrepancies about that achievement gap. I wanted to show and kind of highlight again this is one slide that I'm very prideful of, and I think our school also needs to stand out a little bit because of that. The achievement gap, and this is all data that came from the Illinois report card, it shows our math scores for low-income and non-low-income students in 2019 was at 17%. So, the achievement gap was a 17% gap between non-low-income students and low-income students. In 2024, that achievement gap has has deficit or had has
029went down to 9%. And as you can see for the rest of the scores there, that achievement gap has been significantly lowered and shortened, which again I feel like is a huge highlight for Johns Hill. I don't know that you see that on all the other schools' data. You can see that the black and the white achievement gap at 2019 was at 27%, and now we're looking at 3%. The same way with Hispanic and white, we have 33% gap in 2019, and unfortunately, it does say it's 2024, but as you know the report card, it only reaches down for a year or so, so that's why it's not doesn't say 2000 26. Um but again, that achievement is down to 3%. Um black and Hispanic was at 6%, it's down to zero. So, the achievement
030gap is zero as as right now. Um the one that I thought was very interesting was the male and female ratio for our math assessments. Before in 2019, females always outperformed male um candidates or male kiddos. And so, the last 2 years, not only have we closed that achievement gap, we've also flipped it. And so, now males are overperforming the last 2 years than females, and the the gap is only at 9%. So, that is a huge data point that that I'm very proud of for us. Um the same thing with IEPs and non-IEP students. In 2019, we had a 23% achievement gap. We're at five, and that is very important to me because of this the next slide that you'll see. When we have been targeted for the state designations, it's been for our
031special education population. So, you can see that the improvements that we have put in place are working not only to close the achievement gap, but also to to help with that state designation to be commendable. Um and over on the other side for the ELA data, again, the data speaks for itself. We we're very very proud of the achievements that we've accomplished for the longevity data, and anticipate that the new data that comes out is going to show the same kind of closing of that achievement gap. So, super excited about that. Um another sense of pride is this slide. I am very very excited to be able to present it. On this side is the same graphic that you saw earlier about the low-income students. We have 79.6% of low-income students at John's Hill. We
032have 13.2% that have IEPs. We have 1.9% that are homeless. Um we have 30.7% of our population as English learners. Um again, we talked about our attendance um percentage of 92. And then the student mobility is at 9.4. Um despite some of those um higher percentages, you can see in the last 7 years, from 2018 to 2025, we have been commendable in the state designations five times. Um we are really, really excited about being able to put those kinds of numbers and those kinds of of uh designations out on the board. The 2 years that we were targeted, like I said before, we are targeted with our special ed population. And in 2022, we actually made growth that was um was I guess the easiest way to explain it is we made substantial growth to
033the point that the state did not have us on a watch list. Um when you're targeted, you're usually on a watch list for 3 years after being targeted. Um in 2022, we did not have to do that for 3 years. Um and then again, um in 2025, again this year, we have been commendable again. So, super excited about that data. And again, all of that is in to contribution to our teachers, um to our families, and to our students for making education a very important part of their life. And ours. Um another thing that I really wanted to highlight is that we have a DARE program um that we partnership with um with our fifth grade students and with the Detective Larson. Um that's the first DARE program of the new standard um that we've
034had in the entire region. So, we're the very first one. Um super excited about that. The graduation is coming up on May 19th at 1:00 p.m. Um there's going to be all kinds of hoopla going on for that day. Um and the kids are super excited about it. The parents are excited about it. And um there may or may not be um a uh a appearance for the armadillo from Texas Roadhouse. I think his name is Is it Andy? Or maybe it was a cousin of his. If that's not his name, I'm sure it maybe a cousin of of Andy will be there. Um so, the kids are pretty excited about that, too. So, Um one of the goals that I had been when I became a principal is I wanted to really try to
035bridge that gap in between community partnerships. Um and I feel like that that is something that John's Hill has been a great uh platform or a great avenue to try to start that bridge. Um as you saw from our last presentation, um there's a lot of community partners that are out there that really want to be involved in our school and really want to be part of, you know, something that is is uh such a a fantastic opportunity for them to get into um into the schools. And um this is just a few pictures that we have um when it comes to our mural that we um that we painted. Um the other one is about our community partners for our community garden that we have. It's right across the street from John's Hill. Um
036we have a little red library that we use and we fill up with books whenever needed. It's a give a book, take a book um you know, kind of situation, but we always fill those books up. We also have the community garden garden that the kids actually plant all of those seeds and the 4-H extension office comes over and helps us with that. And uh then they actually get to see them um coming back to school. And um it's beautiful. If you haven't been there, please take the time to go see it, especially in August. Um this is another list of all of our partners um that we uh that we, you know, reach out to and that have really helped us become who we are. Um there's so many of them. I'm not going
037to name them all, and there's probably a few that I've even left off. So, I hate that that if that does happen. Um but again, it takes a village to get us where we want to be. And this really um again shows that the the community is willing to be out there and to help us if we just reach out and ask them. So, All right. Um we do have a little bit of a highlight video, if it's okay. It takes about 2 minutes. If you're all right with us going ahead and playing that. Um it's kind of a little bit of the past and the present. And so, we'll take a little bit of time to watch it. >> [music] [music] >> So, as you can see, when you integrate the arts into um
038the curriculum, I think that you can kind of understand now where our data is going. And there's a reason behind the madness. We always like to showcase all the fun things that we do um as principals and as students and as teachers, but in reality, those fun things have to be intertwined and they have to be intermeshed into the data. And um and you have to get results. If you're not getting results, then you need to go back and re and rethink things. But I feel like that um with the data that I presented today, that you'll see that the arts integration piece is really doing what we're asking it to do. Um and the students are making memories, the teachers are enjoying what they're doing, and um and it works. So, do you guys
039have any questions for me? Great job. Doing great stuff. All right. Thank you. That will end our district highlights for this evening. Okay, we'll move on to public participation. Ms. Bradford. None today. >> Seeing no public participation, uh we will move forward in our agenda to board for discussion. Update on road map. Uh Jay, are you Thank you. Ask Thank you. Good evening, board. Uh Ms. Tyson, anything you want to add before I just give some highlights? Go ahead. Okay. Uh Excuse [clears throat] me. >> [snorts] >> So, we are pleased to announce that we have completed phase two of the process. And in phase two, were uh three deliverable products and a bonus. So, the three deliverables were the strategic plan on a page, which is our vision, mission, values, and goals. Uh the
040second one is the SWOT analysis, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Um that's been finalized. The third was the balanced scorecard, or the key performance indicators, that data side of the strategic plan. And the bonus is we asked any individual who wanted to offer advice, recommendations, suggestions, "What would you do if you were in charge to make improvements in each of the five goal areas?" And that's our high-leverage strategies. So, we've got quite a collection that we've received from staff, from the community, uh from the forums, from our surveys. And we'll also be presenting that. So, on May 26th, um we will have our uh road map team will have a small subset of folks who will be coming up in front of you, sharing the process, um the recommendation, the actual products, and then we'll
041close that out by talking about what do phases three and four look like. So, we'll kind of tee that up as well. Um Ashley's been working with the writing team. Let give her just a minute on how we came to closure on those deliverables. Yes. So, through collaboration and use of electronic um communication, we were able to gather input from feedback from our staff forms as well as our community forms and the roadmap communities feedback. So, collectively we worked. We went into the document. We exchanged feedback, comments, further explained and we were able to bring that back to the committee last week in its final draft form and I really believe that you all will be proud of the final product that we will present next month collectively. Questions, comments, anybody anything related to roadmap?
042Board questions? >> Thanks for your hard work. Okay. We'll look forward to that presentation. >> I just have one question. Have you made a decision on anything? We've made a decision on what the plan on the page is going to look like, what the balanced scorecard will look like and what that SWOT analysis will look like. So, >> else? >> Nothing else. Okay. I just have to keep saying that. >> Yep. Next time we'll give more about what to look forward to in phases three and four and committee structure and and all of that. So, um thank you. Okay. Thanks. Thanks for all your effort. Anything else the board would like to discuss at this point time? Okay, seeing none. We'll move on to our consent items. Does anyone want any items pulled from the
043consent calendar? Do we have a recommendation [clears throat] for the consent items? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the consent items as presented which includes A, minutes open closed meetings April 14th, 2026. B, financial conditional report. C, treasurer's report. D, job description secretary to the chief operational officer. E, intergovernmental agreement IGA between Maroa-Forsyth CUSD number two and Decatur Public School District number 61 for the transportation to Hope School in Springfield, Illinois. F, resolution authorizing the release of district technology. A motion? So moved. Second. Any discussion? Ms. Bradford. >> Mr. Hale. Aye. Mr. Clevenger. Aye. Dr. Lorenzen. Aye. Mrs. Tyeus. Aye. And Mr. Reynolds. >> Aye. Five aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. Thank you. Can I now Can I just go back one Sure. I'd like to ask Rochelle one question. How
044do you feel the no cell phones are working in in the school? Uh we're still struggling um more so at the high school levels than any other levels. I see referrals where you know, they've been asked to put them away. Um I don't remember the total number off the top of my head but I can get that information for the board but it's it's still a struggle. Um but we just stay steadfast. We keep telling them to put them away. Thank you. Anything else? Okay, move on to our roll call action items. Do we have a recommendation to ratify and approve a Macon-Piatt Special Education District Special Education Administrator? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education ratify and approve the contract for Jessica Carlow, a Macon-Piatt Special Education District Special Education Administrator for the 2026-2027
045school year as presented. Please note I'm sorry. Please note the Macon-Piatt Special Education Executive Board approved this item during their April 16th, 2026 board meeting. A motion? So moved. Second. Any discussion? Ms. Bradford. >> Mr. Reynolds. Aye. Mr. Hale. Aye. Mrs. Tyeus. Aye. Mr. Clevenger. >> Aye. And Dr. Lorenzen. Aye. Five aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. Thank you. Is Jessica in the audience? Yay! Come on up. >> up. Didn't know you were going to get to make a speech, did you? >> [laughter] >> Um good evening DPS Board and Superintendent Clark or Superintendent Dr. Clark. I'm truly honored to be recommended for the special ed admin position. I look forward to ensuring each student receives the support they need to thrive and I'm eager to work with the dedicated teachers and families to
046make that happen. Thank you for the opportunity to serve the community. Thank you. >> Thank you. Do we have a recommendation to ratify and approve a Macon-Piatt Special Education District Special Education Administrator? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education ratify and approve the contract for Lindsey Hale, a Macon-Piatt Special Education District Special Education Administrator for the 2026-2027 school year as presented. Please note the Macon-Piatt Special Education Executive Board approved this item during their April 16th, 2026 board meeting. A motion? So moved. Second. Any discussion? Ms. Bradford. Mr. Clevenger. Aye. Dr. Lorenzen. Aye. Mr. Hale. Aye. >> Mr. Reynolds. Aye. And Mrs. Tyeus. >> Aye. Five aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. Thank you. Lindsey? Yay! Come on up. >> I just wanted to say thank you so much for this opportunity. I've been with
047um I've been in education this is my 27th year finishing up and out of those 27 years this is my 23rd year with Macon-Piatt Special Education District. So, it's near and dear to my heart. I'm so excited to be back with an amazing team next school year and looking forward to it. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> guys so much. Do we have a recommendation for for the personnel action items? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the personnel action items listed in the memo from Monica Wilks, Director of Human Resources and the Human Resources Department as presented. A motion? So moved. Second. Any discussion? Ms. Bradford. >> Dr. Lorenzen. Aye. Mr. Hale. Abstain. Mr. Reynolds. Aye. Mrs. Tyeus. Aye. And Mr. Clevenger. Aye. Four aye, zero nay, two absent, one abstain. Motion carried.
048Do we have a recommendation for the employment of a principal at Decatur Alternative Education Program? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the employment of Angela Jones as the principal of the Decatur Alternative Education Program for the 2026-2027 school year as presented. A motion? So moved. Second. Discussion? Ms. Bradford. Mr. Hale. Aye. Mr. Reynolds. Aye. Dr. Lorenzen. Aye. Mr. Clevenger. Aye. And Mrs. Tyeus. Aye. Five aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> My principal told me to make it short and sweet, so Um good evening Dr. Clark, Mr. Clevenger and the rest of the board members. I am honored to accept the role of principal of the alternative ed program. I want to thank my current administrative team for their support. For their support. And I'm especially grateful to
049Dr. Rodriguez for the opportunity to grow under her leadership. I must also thank my husband who didn't question the decision to move a thousand miles away from home and supported the move here every step of the way. I believe every student deserves structure, support and high expectations. My commitment is to build a culture grounded in accountability, strong relationships and growth. Again, thank you for the opportunity. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have a recommendation for the employment of a principal at Dennis Lab School? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the employment of Gina Auterbridge as the principal of Dennis Lab School for the 2026-2027 school year as presented. So a motion? So moved. Second. Discussion? Ms. Bradford. Mr. Clevenger. Aye. Mrs. Tyeus. Aye. >> Dr. Lorenzen. Aye. Mr. Hale. Aye. >> And Mr.
050Reynolds. Aye. Five aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. Thank you. Gina. Come on up. >> [laughter] >> Okay. Good evening Dr. Clark, members of the board. Dr. Craig threw me on the bus cuz he said I didn't have to speak but okay. Um I just want to take this [clears throat] opportunity to thank you so much for the opportunity for the principalship at Dennis Lab. I am looking forward to working with the board, the school district, the families and the staff to make Dennis Lab the best it can be and do the best for our students. Thank you so much. Have a great evening. Thank you. >> Thank you. Do we have a recommendation for the employment of a principal at Johns Hill Magnet School? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the
051employment of Henry Walker as the principal of Johns Hill Magnet School for the 2026-2027 school year as presented. A motion? So moved. Second. Discussion? Ms. Bradford. Mrs. Tyeus. Aye. Mr. Clevenger. Aye. Dr. Lorenzen. Aye. Mr. Reynolds. No. And Mr. Hale. Nay. I have three aye, two nay, two absent. Motion carried. Do we have a recommendation for the employment Oh, no. I know he's not here. >> Okay. Do we have a recommendation for the employment of an assistant principal at Dennis Lab School? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the employment of Lasagna Reed as an assistant principal at Dennis Lab School for the 26-27 school year as presented. Got a motion? So moved. Second. Discussion? Ms. Bradford. Mr. Hale. Aye. Mr. Clevenger. Aye. Dr. Laurenson. Aye. Mrs. Tyer. Aye. And Mr. Reynolds. Aye. Five
052aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. Thank you. Lasagna. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I am so excited for this opportunity and to join the district. I so look forward to meeting the students, staff, families, and coming in to doing it one of my presentations one day soon. So, thank you. I'm ready to hit the ground running. Thank you. Do we have a recommendation for the employment of an assistant principal at Johns Hill Magnet School? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the employment of Libby Kirkland as an assistant principal at Johns Hill Magnet School for the 26-27 school year as presented. Got a motion? So moved. Second. Discussion? Ms. Bradford. Mr. Reynolds. Aye. Mr. Hale. Aye. >> Mrs. Tyer. Aye. Mr. Clevenger. Aye. And Dr. Laurenson. Aye. Five
053aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. Thank you. Libby. Thank you very much. I'm a proud proud DPS graduate, so it is very um honorable to be able to serve our DPS students in this role. It will be very hard to leave my Muff family, um but I'm already wearing the Johns Hill colors um and looking forward to learning the Johns Hill way and soaring like an eagle. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have a recommendation for the administrative support schedule, an update? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the administrative support schedule update as presented. So moved. Second. Discussion? Ms. Bradford. Mr. Clevenger. Aye. Dr. Laurenson. Aye. Mr. Hale. Aye. Mr. Reynolds. Aye. And Mrs. Tyer. Aye. Five aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. Do we have a
054recommendation for the intergovernmental agreement for alternative learning opportunities between the Macon-Piatt Regional Office of Education number 39 and Decatur Public School District number 61 for the 2026-2027 school year? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the intergovernmental agreement for alternative learning opportunities between the Macon-Piatt Regional Office of Education number 39 and Decatur Public School District number 61 for the 2026-2027 school year as presented. Got a motion? So moved. Second. Discussion? Uh I got one quick question. This is uh for us to continue to work to >> [clears throat] >> sending students out to ROE to get um to get help and have classes and stuff like that. I just want to make sure I understand. That is correct. Um the focus is going to be on uh academics, truancy, um credit recovery, excessive behavior.
055It's just a variety of work. Um they focus on grades 4 through 12. Yeah, I couldn't Yeah, I couldn't support this enough. This is fantastic. Thank you. You're welcome. Ms. Bradford. Dr. Laurenson. Aye. Mr. Hale. Aye. Mr. Reynolds. Aye. Mr. Clevenger. Aye. And Mrs. Tyer. Aye. Five aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. Do we have a recommendation for the consolidated district plan? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the consolidated district plan as presented. Got a motion? So moved. Second. Discussion? Ms. Bradford. Mr. Hale. Aye. Mr. Reynolds. Aye. Dr. Laurenson. Aye. Mr. Clevenger. Aye. And Mrs. Tyer. Aye. Five aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. Do we have a recommendation for the Prep Academy MacBooks? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the Prep Academy MacBooks as presented. Got a motion?
056So moved. Second. Any discussion? So, we give these MacBooks to the kids? That is correct. Other discussion? Ms. Bradford. Mr. Clevenger. Aye. Mrs. Tyer. Aye. Dr. Laurenson. Aye. Mr. Hale. Aye. And Mr. Reynolds. Aye. Five aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. Do we have a recommendation for the international teacher professional development and coaching contract for 2026-2027 and 27-2028 school years? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the international teacher professional development and coaching contract for the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 school years as presented. Got a motion? So moved. Second. Discussion? Is it Is there going to be a Is Mary going to be tracking this? I like the effectiveness of this. It's a lot of money. It It It is. And yes, um she will be tracking. I know Mary is close by. Um
057but one of the things that I do love about what they do, they not only get uh the information from the students about how they are learning with the international teachers, but uh what we can do to help make things more efficient for them. Uh like the learning curves that they have, kind of like get them acclimated to how we do things here in Decatur. But it's both sides, and so they're able to not only get their strengths, um but we also get to focus on some of their areas of improvement. And they are there to do that as well as make sure that they're getting information from everybody that they encounter so they can better assist them in the classroom. Thank you. I I would I would also ask, I'm sorry. I didn't mean
058to scare you, Madam I would also ask that somehow more scaffolding be set up for international teachers to get them acclimated faster. Yes. Uh I hope I hope we're looking into doing some form of that. Yeah, so if you uh remember we first started, we had a plan and then everything went sideways when they started changing, you know, how they were able to enter into uh the US. And so we are learning from um what we were not able to do, and this is part of it as well. We're building throughout the entire year, not just with the beginning. So, we've learned how we can onboard them faster, but at the same time what is going to be needed throughout the entire school year. That's great. Thank you. You're welcome. Ms. Bradford. Mrs. Tyer. Aye.
059Mr. Clevenger. Aye. Dr. Laurenson. Aye. Mr. Reynolds. Aye. And Mr. Hale. Aye. Five aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. Do we have a recommendation for the parking lot at Hope Academy? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the parking lot asphalt at Hope Academy as presented. So moved. Second. Any discussion? Ms. Bradford. Dr. Laurenson. Aye. Mr. Reynolds. Aye. Mr. Hale. Aye. Mr. Clevenger. Aye. And Mrs. Tyer. Aye. Five aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. Do we have a recommendation for the parking lot at Stephen Decatur Middle School? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the parking lot asphalt at Stephen Decatur Middle School as presented. So moved. Second. Discussion? Ms. Bradford. Mr. Clevenger. Aye. Dr. Laurenson. Aye. Mr. Hale. Aye. Mr. Reynolds. Aye. And Mrs. Tyer. Aye. Five aye, zero nay,
060two absent. Motion carried. Do we have a recommendation for the parking lot at Running Reds Drive? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the parking lot asphalt at Running Reds Drive as presented. So moved. Second. Discussion? But I Can I ask you a quick question about this parking lot? To clarify, it's not a parking lot. It is the entire Running Reds Drive. Oh, okay. Thank you for that. Okay. That street that starts with a W. Yeah, cuz that that parking lot >> Woodford, thank you. This is That That parking lot is the state of Rhode Island. And so I mean >> Yeah. What are What exactly What are we paving? We're paving the repaving the entire thing, milling it up, repaving the entire strip, and adding a little bit of a shoulder. We're required
061to do this with the park district in tandem. We pay 2/3, they pay 1/3 by an agreed-upon IGA from 2018-19. Thank you. Floyd's here. Okay. Anything else? Thank you, sir. You're welcome. So, can you clarify what they're voting What it is What is it on? Repaving Running Reds Drive. Thank you. Ms. Bradford. Mr. Hale. Aye. Mr. Clevenger. Aye. Mrs. Tyer. Aye. Dr. Laurenson. Aye. And Mr. Reynolds. Aye. Five aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. You know, I could give you a little history on that, too. That sounds good. Little history. That road was actually moved from near the railroad track because the front of Stephen Decatur's actually the back of Stephen Decatur now. And the road was moved over on the other side. That's what you get when you get old and been here
062for a long time. >> [laughter] >> Do we have a recommendation for Wold Architects and Engineers for the master facility plan for Decatur Public Schools? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve Wold Architects and Engineers as a master facilitator for the facilities portion of the strategic plan for Decatur Public Schools as presented. After for board vote, administration will ask for a consensus to move forward to discuss the scope of work along with financial obligations with Wold. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Discussion? Ms. Bradford. >> Mr. Reynolds. >> Aye. Mr. Hale. Aye. Mrs. Tyes. >> Aye. Mr. Clevenger. >> Aye. And Dr. Lawrenson. >> Aye. Five aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. At this time, administration is asking for a consensus from the Board of Education to move forward to discuss
063the scope of work along with financial obligations with Wold Architects and Engineers. Note, a recommendation will be forthcoming to the Board of Education at a future board meeting. >> [snorts] >> May I have a consensus? We have consensus? I think we have consensus and hopefully we can move very quickly on that, maybe next meeting. That's That's my goal. Okay, good deal. Okay, do we have a recommendation for the one-year contract renewal with All Town Bus Company? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the one-year contract renewal with All Town Bus Company as presented. So moved. Second. Discussion? Can you talk a little bit about the performance of All Town? Absolutely, they're also in the back of the room. Okay. So, I've served as a transporta- transportation director in the past and there is nobody
064loves their transportation company no matter who it is. Um but over the last two and a half years, we have I think we've held All All Town to task on doing some things better. Um one of the things that we're really trying to work on over the past two and a half years is communication between our team and the bus barn and I have seen growth in that. Um we've asked for more people to be on the management side over here at the bus barn to improve that communication and I've seen growth in that. I mean, we've had a few slip-ups but you're going to have a slip-up with anybody but we've had fewer slip-ups in the last year and a half than we did prior. Um so, I'm very comfortable recommending to you to
065stay another year with All Town. I have partners or colleagues who have other transportation companies and they they bemoan, you know, their relationships as well. So, it just depends but you're going to have the same drivers. The only thing that would change would be the office structure and that's the one thing that I've been focusing on All Town for is improving office structure and communication and I've seen growth. Okay. Ms. Bradford. Dr. Lawrenson. Aye. Mr. Reynolds. >> Aye. Mr. Hale. Aye. Mr. Clevenger. Aye. And Mrs. Tyes. Aye. Five aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. Do we have a recommendation for the Will Scott office trainer contract extension? Yes, I recommend the Board of Education approve the Will Scott office trainer contract extension as presented. So moved. Second. Any discussion? Ms. Bradford. >> Mr. Clevenger.
066Aye. Mr. Reynolds. Aye. Mrs. Tyes. Aye. Dr. Lawrenson. Aye. And Mr. Hale. Aye. Five aye, zero nay, two absent. Motion carried. Thank you. Uh I think we'll move on to our important upcoming dates. I think you'll see those come up on the screen here in a minute. May 2nd, Eisenhower High School 2025-26 school year prom, Hickory Point Banquet Center from 7:00 to 10:00. Uh May 8th, 2026, Decatur Public Schools retirement celebration and that'll be at Richland Community College Shilling Education Center. Uh check-in for that is at 4:30, dinner program begin at 5:00. May 16th, MacArthur High School Class of 2026 graduation ceremony, 11:00 a.m. in the MacArthur gym. Same day, Eisenhower Class of 2026 graduation ceremony at 2:30 p.m. in the Eisenhower gym. And this is the day everyone's waiting for. The 26th is the
067last day of school. And it's also a district-wide half day. Mr. President, did did we discuss the Dennis Lab portable office trailer? Uh-oh. You did. That's the last It was the last one. Is Is that the Will Scott Yeah, that's the trailer. >> space that they I'm sorry to jump up here but it's the office space that that they required to ask for a couple years ago so they had more space to have private meetings and since we're there next year anyway, we need to renew that lease. Okay, sorry I didn't put them together like I should Are you okay now? >> Yes. Sorry. Okay, the public portion of the next regular meeting of the Board of Education will be 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 12th, 2026 at the Call Administration Building. Do I have a
068motion to adjourn? So moved. Second. All in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Those opposed? We stand adjourned.