001at 6:30. >> Yep. >> We're good to go. >> Okay. >> Well, are we live? >> Yep. >> Okay. Here we go. I'd like to call the open session board meeting to order. Can I have a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Miss Bradford, would you call the role? >> Mr. Hail >> present. >> Mr. Reynolds >> here. >> Mr. Wetzel >> here. >> Dr. Laorenson >> here. >> Mrs. Tyus >> here. >> And Mr. Cleger >> here. >> Six I one absent. >> Now ask everyone to join me in the pledge. I pledge algiance 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 >> we have a recommendation for tonight's agenda? >> Yes,
002we do. I recommend the board approve tonight's September 9th, 2025 open session board meeting agenda as presented. Got >> a motion to >> move. Second. >> All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. >> Those opposed. >> Motion carried. We now move on to our district highlights. Christie, I think South Shores is up tonight. >> Welcome. Thank you for having me. I'm >> sorry that was Maria's job. I'm Christy Molenex. I am the principal at South Shores. Um, this is my last year as principal at Southshore. Just want to throw that in. 9 months and 14 days. Anyway, >> who's counting, right? >> I have a app on my phone. So, anyway. Okay. I never use this thing correctly. >> the green button. I pushed it once. Okay. Our school vision at Southshores is
003to prepare and motivate our students for rapidly changing world and instilling in them um critical thinking skills, global perspective, a respect for core values of honesty, loyalty, perseverance, perseverance and compassion. Students will have success for today and be prepared for tomorrow. um our ELL ELA goals and our math goals. These are our school improvement goals and it's to increase by 5% in the spring 2025 benchmark as measured on fastbridge early reading. It is the same for math but we left the 5% off the five off. So those are our school improvement goals. Um our staff have uh highlights we um certified staff we have 95% we're missing one crosscat teacher but we do have a retired crosscat teacher and another retired teacher that is um filling that classified. We're 100% staffed. We now have a
004full-time social worker. We did not have that last year. And we now have a full-time teaching and learning strategist. Our front office is 100% staffed and me and Miss Patty are going to retire. Miss Patty has been at South Shores for 44 years. >> Wow. >> And the kids the kids when I tell that to kids, they'll go, "My grandma ain't that old." >> Open house was a huge success at South Shores. We had um 94 parents sign in and came to visit with their teachers. We also did our family cookout at that time and we served over 200 hot dogs. So that was a lot of people. Um we always do student of the month at South Shores. This was our first student of the month and the kids are always super excited. They
005get to get a certificate and then Miss Patty always has all kinds of incentives. She calls everybody and they get different certificates. Sometimes it's Culver, sometimes it's Texas Roadhouse or whatever. And then they get the gold coin to get a book out of our book vending machine. And here are the kids getting books out of the book vending machine right after the assembly. That's always a pretty exciting time. And then they always like to see what other books the other kids pick. Sometimes like a kindergarten will see a sixth grader pick a book and then they were like, "I'm gonna get that." And I'm like, "No, you're not." You know? So, um, grandparents day was today. We had 141 special adults um RSVP. I think we had more than that um for grandparents day today.
006And the families enjoyed milk and cookies. They had a photo backdrop. We played a game of heads and tails which was really fun and lots of pictures. So it was a great day and lots of compliments. I did have a chance to talk to the parents, grandparents before the kids got there telling them how important it was that they need to read with these students. We can't do it all, but they need to listen to the students read, read with them. You read a page, they read a page, however you want to do it. And if you need books, I will get you books. So, lots of parents were really receptive about that, too. So, that was a good thing. And that's it. So that's what's going on at South Shores. If you have any
007questions. Alrighty. Thank you. And I will not be here next year. So I will be watching you from afar. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations. >> Every other Tuesday night you'll be watching, right? >> Okay. We'll now move on to public participation. Miss Bradford. >> None tonight. So >> except for I have one comment. I'm sorry. That was emailed to me. That was from Alana Banks and it will be added to the minutes uh for September 9th at the next board meeting. >> Okay. Thank you. Move on to board discussion. Is there any are there any comments, thoughts from board members tonight? Okay, seeing none, we'll move on to reports from administration. Uh Dr. Lesby. Good evening, President President Cleer, members of the board, Superintendent Clark, and community members. Tonight, I will present the annual enrollment
008update for the current 2025 2026 school year. This presentation summarizes the most recent enrollment data for this school year and provides brief comparative insights to some of last year's 10-day enrollment update from September 2024. Before I start, I wanted to be sure to extend my thanks to Mrs. Robin Miller as well as Mr. Elden Khan for their support in this endeavor. Green button. Yes. Awesome. Online registration opened on July 1st, 2025 for this school year. As of August 8th, 90% of students had registration completed. This marks an improvement from the 88% registration rate reported from last August. Families who did not make the July 31st, 2025 online registration deadline were required to check in at their school to complete registration. The continuation of these practices encourages timely registration to help maintain accurate student data. All
009enrollment and class size monitoring are aligned to board policy 62000, which governs instructional arrangements and provides guidelines for equitable student placement. This policy outlines how we structure learning environments from grouping students to class size limits to instructional flexibility. Currently, every class across K through six is within the board's approved caps, which means principles have the space to focus on optimizing learning and establishing positive structures rather than excessive emergency adjustments. It also reflects a balance between board policy, district staffing, and our commitment to meeting individual needs. Elementary and secondary enrollment data reveal that as of the fall, no buildings are currently over capacity at any grade level. This represents a positive shift from the prior school year. At the elementary level, overall enrollments remain stable when compared to last year. The shift from multiple classrooms exceeding
010cap in 2024 to zero over cap classrooms currently highlights improvements in planning and registration followup. The absence of overcap classrooms also demonstrates infect effective monitoring and adjustments resulting from the commitment of our principles and support staff to help ensure balanced class sizes across the district. At the secondary level, enrollments also remain consistent with no experience of significant enrollment fluctuations for grades 7 through 12. This stability supports efficient scheduling and ensures adherence to capacity standards. Key takeaways for this presentation include the following. Registration completion improved this year from 88% to 90%. 88% last year, 90% as of this year. Last school year, multiple schools experienced classrooms over capacity. However, there are currently no buildings over capacity. Elementary and secondary enrollment trends remain stable, supporting district instructional goals. And the enrollment tr trends for this school year
011reflect continued improvement in registration rates and stronger alignment of class sizes within our established board policy which positions us to maintain equitable and effective instructional arrangements for all students. Any questions? >> Um one question that I had is um in the one slide that you had about the class caps there was one at the end that said new classroom. What what does that mean? >> That is a possibility of discussion. If we were to need, we would be able to increase to that amount. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Any other questions? >> So, in the overall, we've lost 45 students. >> 42. Okay. >> Uh from last year. >> Okay. >> Um I I guess what does that look like when compared to the demographer study from 2022? our demographic study. >> Yes. >> Um
012I think we're on trend. I just think it's just a matter of that small number of students the difference. Um I think the the added advantage is that while we are lower than we were regarding student student enrollment, we are certainly not over cap any classrooms. So our instructional practices still remain effective. I'm going to go a step further because I think what you're asking is the demographic study that was done. >> Yes. Uh yeah. >> Okay. So, and I'm I apologize because you don't have this. >> Um so, the demographic, it's okay. >> The demographic study basically shows us that where we are right now was projected for us to be there in 2032 >> 29. Okay. So, we're kind of like right there. We're >> Yeah. >> So, we're ahead of ourselves a
013little bit. Okay. And so what we are constantly watching is um the number of families that are pulling away from the district. So when I said we're going to go back, we keep looking at the data. We try to make sure we are staying on top of it. We'll take another look again in October to try to see where we are. Um but we do believe another study is needed because of the decline. Um enrollment is faster than what we expected it to be. So I will make sure that I keep the board and community a breast of that. But right now we want to get them in. We still have families that said they were registering that still have not yet. So, we always try to wait until after that Labor Day, give them
014time to get in and get going. So, we'll come back around October. >> Elden, if you're speaking, they cannot hear you. >> No, the listening audience cannot hear you. We're about 94 students um out in terms of being in the queue for registration. So that may certainly close that gap. Um but that's where we stand currently. Still waiting on those families to finish their enrollment processes. >> I also noticed that there were quite a few um students that were lost from Eisenhower as opposed to MacArthur. Was there um like a community reason for that or do we know? I am not aware of any community reason. Um I can't I can't >> we don't either. Some of the the things that come up it's like oh they're going to private schools and granted some may
015be but we're also noticing a decline indicator. >> So >> yeah it just seemed like it was a lot more from Eisenhower than MacArthur. So I was wondering why there was a discrepancy. >> That's been the trend over the past couple of years that we just been monitoring but we can't just pinpoint one specific thing. Okay. >> And when you say you have 94 kids in Q, does that mean that those children need to do that those families need to do something or is that just that they haven't come back yet? >> Whether it's complete residency or actually come in to complete any other outstanding protocols. It may even be that the student has completed that registration and we're waiting to get a schedule established. >> Okay. And so, and that number is not included
016in these. >> No. >> Okay. So it if all 90 of those kids were to register, then we'd actually see growth in the district this year. >> Correct. >> Okay. >> Wow. >> Any other questions? >> Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. >> That will end our reports from administration. >> Okay. We'll now move on to our consent items. Does anyone want to pull any of the consent items? Seeing none, Dr. Clark, >> I recommend the board of education approve the consent items as presented, which includes A. Menace open close meeting August 19th, 2025. B freedom of information report, C bill, D, financial conditions report. Do >> I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Yeah. >> Any discussion? >> Miss Bradford. >> Mr. Reynolds. >> Hi, >> Mr. Hail. >>
017Hi, >> Mrs. Tyus. Hi, >> Mr. Wetszel. >> Hi, >> Mr. Clevenger. Hi, >> and Dr. Lorenson. >> Hi, >> Six. Zero nay, one absent. Motion carried. >> Okay, we'll move on to our roll call items. Uh, do we have a recommendation for the separation agreement? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve the separation agreement between Decar Public School District 61 and James Delard as presented. >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Miss Bradford. >> Mr. Wetszel. I >> Mr. Hail >> I >> Mr. Reynolds >> hi >> Dr. Laorenson I >> Mr. Clevenger hi >> and Mrs. Tyus I >> six I zero nay one absent. Motion carried. >> Do we have a recommendation for the personnel action items? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve the personnel action
018items listed in the memo from Monica Wils, director of human resources and the human resources department as presented. >> Have a motion. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Miss Bradford. >> Mrs. Tyus. >> Hi. >> Mr. Wetzel. >> Hi. >> Mr. Cleger. >> Hi. >> Dr. Loren. >> Hi. >> Mr. Reynolds >> and Mr. Hail. >> Hi. >> 6 I 0 N one absent. Motion carried. >> Do we have a recommendation for the Steven Decator Middle School HVAC automation upgrade? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve the Steven Decator Middle School HVAC automation upgrade as presented. >> So move. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> Dr. Curry, could you give us or Floyd give us a little update on exactly what's being done? Uh it's adding new controls to to the old controls are
019starting to fail and um we're putting new computer controls into them so we can u keep the efficiency and and the comfort level in that where it needs to be. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Yes, >> Miss Bradford. >> Dr. Lorenson. >> Hi, >> Mr. Hail. >> Hi, >> Mr. Reynolds. Hi, >> Mr. Clevener. I >> Mrs. Tyus I and Mr. Wetzel I >> 6 I zero nay one absent motion carried >> do we have a recommendation for the boiler piping upgrades at social emotional learning academy sila >> yes I recommend the board of education approve the boiler piping upgrades at social emotional learning academy sila as presented >> so move >> second >> any discussion Miss Bradford >> Mr. Cleger I >> Mrs. Tyus. >> Hi, >> Dr. Lorenson. >> Hi, >> Mr.
020Hail. >> Hi, >> Mr. Reynolds. Hi, >> and Mr. Wetszel. >> I >> 6 I zero nay, one absent. Motion carried. >> Okay, we'll move on to our announcements and upcoming dates and so forth on the screen. I think we'll see those on the screen. Board of Education and our administration sends condolences to the families of Doug Dehorty. Passed away Friday, August 22nd. Mr. Dehorty was the husband of Carla Dehorty, a retired teacher and current substitute at Franklin Grove Elementary. Max D. Weaver, who passed away Tuesday, August 26, 2025. Mr. Weaver was the father of Sonia Castle, school psychologist at the Mon Patty Special Education District. Condolences go out to both those families. Uh important dates, September 10th, adopt a school event at the Scoville Zoo Schilling Education Center. Uh district-wide half day on the
02117th. Uh check with your home school on that. Uh induction of athletes and coaches to the Decatur Public School Athletic Hall of Fame during the halftime of the Eisenhower MacArthur football game. Uh kickoff for that game will be at 5:00 p. p.m. at MacArthur High School. Uh there's also a banquet on the 19th before the kickoff for it's a by invitation for the athletes or coaches or whomever being inducted. Uh additional reminders, uh my favorite one, every year at the beginning of the year, Wednesday, no October 15th, the deadline for required immunizations and physicals for the 202526 school year. Then as a reminder and a and a request for everyone in the room and everyone online um and watching this um our the board of education is in the process of our superintendent search um
022and we would encourage everyone to complete the survey that's online on the DPS website. uh important that's probably the most important job that a school board has is the employment and relationship with a superintendent. So we would encourage our community to take part in that. Let us know your thoughts uh as we move through this process. Uh those comments and thoughts will be will provide us a basis for our interviewing process and our superintendent search going forward. Um, everyone in our community we would hope would participate in that. Valerie, it'd be great if you'd just mention that at some point in time. There's nothing like a direct request, is there? Um, the survey opened on Monday, September 8th, and it'll close Tuesday, September 16th. So, once again, please take a little bit of time and
023help us out by engaging that process. Um, Dr. Clark also has an announcement here. >> Yes. So, DPS61 is looking for anyone willing to join our winning team. We are going to have a job fair, a tailgate job fair. September 19th, 2025 at 300 p.m. we will be right before the Panthers versus Generals bragging rights game. So, if you're ready to be part of this winning team, be there or be square. >> There you have it. Public portion of the next regular board meeting will be 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 23rd, 2025 to Kyle Administration building. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> So move. >> Second. >> Got a second. >> Second. >> All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I. Those opposed we stand adjourned. >> We did it.