001Okay, we'll get our meeting started tonight with a public hearing for the Mon Piatt Special Education District FY26 budget. Uh like to call the public hearing to order and note for the board that public and public that this hearing is to give an opportunity to the public and board members to present any written or oral testimony or comments on the subject of the tentative budget for making piatt special education district for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025 and ending June 30, 2026. Board of Education had a tentative form for this budget prepared by the business office and the board secretary has made the same conveniently available to the public for inspection for the last 30 days prior to tonight's action. Miss Bradford, have we received any written comments? >> No. >> Uh, is there
002anyone wishing to speak to the board? Seeing no one, >> we need to do the pledge. >> This isn't this is a separate >> this is just a public hearing for the the making pie budget. Then we'll move right on into our regular >> Okay. >> Sorry. >> Um is there anyone who hasn't signed in who wishes to address this issue? >> Seeing none, do we have any board members who have any questions about this issue? Okay, seeing none, I declare this public hearing closed. So, at the close of this hearing, Board of Education will move on to our open session meeting. 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 and pending and/or threatening litigation. No action
003was taken during our closed executive session. I would now ask everyone to join me in the pledge. >> We'll catch up with you, Mark. 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 >> we have a recommendation for tonight's agenda? >> Yes, we do. I recommend the board approve tonight's August 19th, 2025 open session board meeting agenda as presented. Have a motion to >> move. Second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. I. >> Those opposed. Motion's carried. Okay, we'll move on to our district highlights. I believe we begin with Dr. Gray and Maria. Who's who's taking this one tonight? >> Seven mindsets. >> I have a
004special guest coming up tonight to present from seven mindsets. Come on up. Hi. >> Hi. >> So, we went to the Ultimate Life Summit or the ULS7 Mindsets University and that's in Orlando, Florida. And um basically just a bunch of people from all over the world come together to this conference and you stay a week and you get to talk about seven mindsets and how it can like improve your life and what you can do for others using seven mindsets. And uh super plus you go to Disney so that's awesome. And um you get to meet so many new people. Like I don't know if you see the picture in the middle. Those were my best friends when I was there. They're amazing. I love them. And really just everybody having the same mindset and
005all being so close and connected in such a short amount of time built like the perfect environment for everybody to really work on their goals and their dreams. And I saw so many people just completely come out of their shell and it was really amazing because it was a short amount of time and everybody really just connected and I think that seven mindsets could help us do that. >> Thank you. Awesome. what she said. >> Good job. >> Um, now you might not realize it from his shyness right here, but Lincoln actually participated in the Seven Mindsets talent show. >> All right. >> And he did fantastic. So, I mean, that's just what this um shows that what kids what it empowered kids to do. We really should be sending more kids to this every
006year. It was absolutely phenomenal and not the seven mindsets that we're doing in the schools right now. Like it's the way they're presenting it, the way they're doing it. Um Beth and I attended the teachers university and it we are not doing it justice in our district. We're not doing it to fidelity. I think um there are some young men that I met that were at the kids portion that are from Ohio and they were seniors. They have been teaching their peers seven mindsets since they were freshmen and they were going into K through eight schools and teaching it to their peers. And so instead of them hearing blah blah blah blah blah from Charlie Brown's teacher, right, they're learning it from the people that are in their neighborhood, the kids that are on the
007football team with them, right? And it's just it was really incredible because it gave those older kids empowerment, too, right? So I just that's my takeaway that I really liked from it. do it. >> Um, we learned a lot of how to implement it better um, presenting it to the teachers, how to get them to um, use it more um, effectively in the classrooms also. And there was a conference inside the ultimate life summit which was called Mindsets University and so we got to spend two days doing that also. >> Yep. >> And I didn't realize too that uh, districts are sending multiple teachers just to that. So it's not just the un the ultimate life summit but the mindsets university. So Poria had like 28 teachers there or something. So we got to network
008with them and connect which was really cool. Um yeah >> sounds good. Sounds like you guys have some changes in the works. >> Yeah. Yeah. Putting things into motion for sure. >> Good. Good. >> Well, I'm glad to hear from all of you. I appreciate you coming up. Any questions from the board? So what is seven mindsets? What exactly is it? >> Um it's basically a framework that the kids can use to reframe how they think about their lives and how they can apply it so that they're thinking about their choices ahead of time and about their future and what how their actions are now will affect them later on. >> So do you need specially trained teachers to teach this to our kids? Uh, no. There is a platform available that um the teachers
009have access to um that has pre-planned out lessons, but you can also have the teachers look at those lessons and go off on their own to make it more relatable to them so that the kids feel like they're connecting on a more real level and they're not being fake. >> Social emotional learning curriculum. Yeah, >> essentially the kids did a whole life plan while they were there and then we did an adult one. It was a little different. So, it's very cool. >> So, at the end of the day is youth empowerment. You empowering them, right? Which if we don't take that mindset, then we're going to lose. >> Yeah. And then there, you know, there were other uh people there. there was um a set of educators from Atlanta who were in a juvenile
010justice uh facility and they actually brought students um from their place and I mean the testimonies and talk from these kids was like outstanding but there are churches that are doing it and you know community centers that are using it and stuff so it's just it's not just for schools. >> Yes ma'am. Outstanding. Yes ma'am. So, in your talks with either teachers there or teachers in our district, what do you think are maybe some of the barriers that we might have to people teaching it with fidelity and is there anything that we can do to help? >> I mean, hearing from those kids there, I really think it's because they're hearing it from teachers and not their peers, right? I mean, listening to those older kids, that just inspired me so much to really like
011get our older kids involved, teaching our younger kids this kind of stuff because, you know, they don't want to listen to a white woman from, you know, podunk country place, not from here, right? They want to listen to someone that they're in their neighborhood with, that they're on the basketball court with. Like, they want to hear from these people, right? And they're going to listen to them more than they're going to listen to me. They can listen to me in the classroom, but then they're not going to really take that that much. And that's what this kid was telling me. I think he's in there. No, it's not that kid in the yellow hat. One of the kids there, they were telling me, they're like, "We saw so much change in our community from lower
012crime to higher, you know, engagement in after school activities like those things when we started doing this and as we kept doing it." So, it was really great to watch them lead that. So recognizing our peer mentors and building them up. >> Yeah, for sure. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Anything you think? >> I won't let you take that conviction alone. They don't want to hear from a whole black man. >> It doesn't matter. >> Well, I appreciate it. But I mean, it means so much more when it's coming from their peers, right? You know, >> it does. So, >> I appreciate you all. Thank you so much. [Applause] you ever hear that before? >> Okay, moving on. >> Uh, Persing Early Learning Center, Sarah Nupal. >> I'm going to start right and say good
013evening. I've been saying good morning to everyone since I walked into this building. So, I have acknowledged that it is now evening. So, good evening. Um, I am Sarah Nupel, the principal at Persian Early Learning Center. We are a grant-f funded preschool program um for children who are three and four prior to their eligibility for kindergarten. And we are also the home to the Mick Pyatt Special Education Cooperative's early childhood program. Um, all in total, that's about 420 tiny little people who came back to school last week on Wednesday full of joy. I always tell people if there is joy missing in your life, you have not been to see me recently. Um, we are blessed to have really truly, and to all of you who are watching, because I know you all are, we
014are blessed to have one of the nicest groups of families I have ever worked with in what is now 27 years in DPS. They are kind, they are caring, they are 100% committed to doing great things for their children. Um, we've had almost 100% participation in individual orientation. So, individual students and families meeting one-on-one with te teachers during those two weeks before school started. Almost every single child and family was there, was showing up, did it um and was happy to do it and happy to be a part of that. We have a very long wait list about 170 kids who are waiting for spots. Um, unfortunately I have no space to put 170 kids and no teachers to teach them. So, we are enjoying the time and the space that we have with the
015people that we have there. Um, I need to say a special thank you. This summer we had some really nice upgrades to our outdoor facility. We got a really beautiful awning um in the front to provide some shade to children as they wait for buses and parent pickups. So, big thank you to Dr. Curry and the awesome staff at BNG because I'm going to tell you that those guys were out there during those two weeks where it was like a million degrees in the surface of the sun and they were up on the lift on the roof and it was miserable. Um, and they came every day and they smiled and they were happy to do it. So, we are looking forward to our first family event that's next week. We're going to have some
016popsicles on the playground and have just a really chill opportunity for families to come. They can play on the playgrounds, have a popsicle. Hopefully, it's not a million degrees and we're looking forward to a great year. >> Cool. >> Question. >> Thank you, Sarah. How much space do you need >> for the 120? >> Um, I would need, let's see, Dad always said, "Ask for more than you need so you get what you want." I would need six classrooms and two offices. I'll be real honest and tell you right now, the biggest issue for us is gross motor space, a gym space. Um, we have 15 classrooms that are all trying to get into the gym when the weather outside is too hot like it has been. Um, or in the winter time too cold
017and there's just our kids are only there for 2 hours and 40 minutes. So, we can't we can't make the math work. Um, so if there's anyone out there that would really love to be a benefactor for prek, we could use six to eight classrooms in a gym. >> So, how many teachers then? That's the real challenge. >> That's the real challenge. six to eight >> six to eight >> for every every classroom we opened would need a certified early childhood teacher and one to two certified pair of professionals. So I mean it is a it is it is not just a space concern, it's a staffing concern. And unfortunately um many of the institutions around us that have been um kind of our our pathway for teacher ed programs have discontinued early childhood programs
018and so the the path for early childhood teachers in our area has gotten very narrow. So would would Enterprise satisfy your requirements? >> Um the you're asking me to talk outside of my lane. Um the footprint at Enterprise is very similar to the footprint that we have. I don't know that we would gain much more space from that move. But that's me >> in addition. >> Um again, way outside of my lane. Way outside of my lane. Um the teach the staffing issue really is is the critical piece to that. Okay. Good job. >> Thanks. >> Have a great year. >> Thank you. You too. >> I hope you experience as much joy as we do. [Applause] >> Okay. We'll now move on to our public participation. Miss Bradford, do we have anybody? We do.
019Okay. Board of Education would like to note the following. During public participation, identify oneself and be brief. Comment should be limited to three minutes. Any public comments submitted to the board secretary will be included in the record. Please note that during any board of education meeting and public participation, board members do not respond and/or comment to public comments. All comments are referred to administration. Furthermore, the board refrains from referring to specific students or staff members by name and requests that public commenters refrain from doing so as well. The request that you omit names is made to protect you from allegations of liable or slander or from violations of the Illinois School Student Records Act. It is not intended to shield an employee from criticism. Miss Bradford, do we have anyone wishing to address the board?
020>> Sam Mills, [Music] >> Board of Education, and Dr. Clark. I'd like to start by saying summer's over and we're back to school and there's some positives that I saw and I wanted to talk about some of those positives here in the first a week and a half. I was at the opening of Danby, Dr. Clark, you were there with me and I got to say the teachers, TAs, secretaries, administrators, every adult in that building, they were clicking. I mean, they were together. It was clear they had practiced. They were ready to go. Uh I've got to give them all the props in the world. And the parents, I was out in a shirt, tie, everything in the parking lot in the sun, baking, guiding parents around. They were patient, they were kind, they were
021asking questions. It was a great experience. So, some real positive things coming out of Danby's opening day. Um, today I got to see a fire drill at South Shores. I was actually standing by your daughter outside, Mr. Hail. Uh, and again, they were in lock step. It was clear everybody knew what they were doing. It was professional. Students were in lines. People were quiet, it was quick. So, another positive of the district. And then my favorite one, I got to talk to an international teacher from Kenya and I think we can just call them teachers now because here they are, right? And he was the most excited to start teaching indicator. I mean, he was really like feeling himself and he wanted to share the culture with the kids. He wanted to share everything about
022his his transition to the new world or new world. Oh my god. You can tell I taught social studies for too long. Sorry. Oh boy. >> Wow. >> I >> Wow. >> That's what he called it. I told myself someone say that. But he also wanted me to note. He said, "Look, what I really need you to know is the teachers around me, they're helping me so much in the classroom and out of the classroom." He said he felt welcomed and loved and that really stuck with me. Um, I'm going to transition a little bit. I'm not going to try to go negative here, so don't stick with me. But I do have one thing I want the board to keep on their radar and and it's something that's not going to surprise you. We
023as the DEA recognize the financial concerns that are facing the district with the changes in DC, the loss of funding, our loss of population indicator. Uh we're worried as most people in this field are. We want to encourage the board and our district leaders to work with us to prioritize how we can spend our resources to reach those that directly serve our students. So, we are always willing to sit down and talk about what could potential moves look like, what are things doing. I would love to be more proactive than reactive in this district. So, I just want to put that out there. I'm willing to work. I'm willing to talk. So, if you need my contact information, just get me. That's all I have for you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Megan Merrick. Good
024evening. My name is Megan Mrick. I do work at Dansby, but I'm here tonight as a parent. Um, I've got did have five DPS students. My son actually graduated from MacArthur and we're moving to college tomorrow. So, now I have four DPS students. Um, I come on a positive note. Also, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has made it possible for the summer program vouchers. Maria in particular um and every the board uh Dr. Clark, everyone who has made that possible to be um available to families, those who don't know, every student is able to get $350 worth of summer program vouchers to use um as they wish during the summer for programs within the community. My students um benefited greatly from that. My my children who are students uh benefited
025greatly from that this summer. Um, we did all kinds of sports camps, Rock Springs nature camps, uh, art and music camps at Milikin. And I just hope that as we are looking to the future that that's something that we consider to to keep, um, providing for students if possible. That's all I have. Thank you. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> That's it, President. >> Okay. We we appreciate everyone's comments as usual. Thank you. Uh, we'll move on to board discussion. Is there anything anyone on the board would like to bring up tonight? >> Well, I I'd like to talk about uh what Sarah was talking about. It it sounds like there's a huge need. If you talk about 120 people on a waiting list, um you know, we've got this this this campaign, this 2030 campaign
026about how we're going to use our buildings, our extra buildings. To me, the reason I I asked her about Enterprise is that I obviously it's an empty building now. Is that correct? >> Yes. >> So, I mean, I I I just want maybe we should consider ways to expand her program. Obviously, not immediately, but with such a need. And I don't think it's going to shrink. I think it's going to be an expanding population. that we as a board and and and administration give some thought to how we can satisfy that that demand. >> Um I would just say those conversations when we go back to our strategic planning those came up in those uh discussions. So all of those things will be taken into consideration. >> Other thoughts? um not specifically what Mark was
027talking about, but um in in the overall as we talk start to talk about as a board looking at professional services and working with administration, um I I I personally as a board member would like to see conversations around some of the more long-standing uh contracts that have been floating out there for professional services like architecture uh to to look at those uh as we uh have started now looking at legal and then moving forward from there. So those would I I would I would ask if it's all possible to start looking at some of those uh to make sure that we are spending the dollars taxpayers give us in the best way possible instead of uh uh how some things have been done historically over the past 20 years here. I think what this
028does is too it highlights Mark's request highlights the need to re-engage the roadmap 2030 so that we have a sequential logical approach to what our what our facilities are going to be what they're going to look like u moving down the road because we have several moving parts that need attention and need attention pretty quickly. So to get that process re-engaged and re-engage the committee uh that spent a lot of time, effort and energy in that area too and and Will was actually one of two board members on that committee. Um so in addition to the superintendent search, uh I think we need to look at re-engaging that fairly quickly here as well so that we can uh see some progress in that area. I I really from my personal perspective, I'd hate to see
029us begin to engage again in one school at a time rather than a districtwide look at what we're going to do with our facilities districtwide because we have some that we know we have excess capacity. We know that. So, we're going to have to begin to look at how are we going to address those issues moving forward. >> Thoughts on that, Will? Um yeah, I I think that the first piece is that we need to think about roadmap 2030 as not a solution for buildings but a uh but uh a pathway to education because at the end of the day the buildings are just tools and in the place which we educate children and they do affect the educational outcomes however not as much as teachers and curriculum and all those things that we actually
030do for education. And so I think as we restart 2030 and I think that's one of the places that our community really got lost in is what building was going to have what name, what was going to open and what was going to close, but reframing that conversation is one around education. And then as we work out how we want education to look like to work best for our students and families and then after that make make good facts based decisions on what our building should look like. Absolutely. And that's part of it. And I think if we just call roadmap 2030 just the building plan, that's that's not what it needs to be because that is it. We we have tried that several times in this district and it has led us to disaster.
031So looking at education first I think is going to be the most important piece. >> I think it's probably reframing that reframing that conversation and integrating the total picture rather than getting lost on the facility picture which gets a lot of attention. And what we should be worried about are how our kids are achieving. At least that's my perception of it. >> Can I >> Anyway, other comment. >> Can I ask you how many contracts besides like the archives? Do we have a lot? >> I we can get into that with Dr. Curry and staff, but when you look at like professional services and things that don't necessarily that that have been consistent contracts that don't have times for ending for professional services. There's people that might have been contracted with the district for 20
032years, 25 years. And I I've never been in an organization either in my time in the nonprofit world and now in the corporate world that you've allowed that. There's always some sort of review period 3, five, seven years, something like that. I think that even if we do end up going with the same people for these services to tell them to sharpen their pencils and actually go have those conversations does better for um our does better for us to ensure that we're getting the right services. >> Okay. I I had something to say. >> Okay. >> Um so I was going to talk about roadmap 2030 as well and and getting that started. Um but kind of what you you know you were talking about as well and also with the superintendent search and the
033focus groups. One thing that I I really want to maintain is that we need to be focused on students, families, teachers, and staff. And one of the things that I've noticed is we've been really heavy in making sure that um you know trade unions and businesses and higher education and you know groups in our community who might not have, you know, actual time spent in our schools have their needs met and their voices heard. And one of the things that I would focus I would like our group to focus on and our board to focus on is kind of listening to the community in that I feel that there's a really large emphasis on those other groups when we need to listen to our teachers, we need to listen to our parents, we need to
034listen to our students. Yes, our high schoolers, you know, our elementary students. What do they want? Um, and I feel like they're always at the bottom of the list or they're always the smallest percentage. And I feel that right now, um, we have a problem. We have a problem of a teacher shortage. And it's not, you know, it's really bad here in Decar. And I feel that only those people are going to be able to tell us how to solve that. Um, and how the our superintendent can do better. And so one of the things that I'd really like us to focus on is not and I and I feel that the you know hearing from those other groups is important but I feel like we should be listening to a small subsection of them
035and a lot of our people who are working with our kids and living with our kids and our kids every single day. So, I just really want to make sure that on both the superintendent surge focus groups and also on our roadmap we're reflecting how many of those people are are having their voices heard and not just on a survey but in person. I think that's really important. >> Good thoughts. >> Absolutely. >> Anything else? >> We focus on a timeline now. When we first discussed it, we talked about how we wanted to hand this to a new superintendent, not >> wait until we got one. >> I think the there's some information that went back from Miss Bradford to just general district information. They're preparing the questionnaire. We're also I think on the clock
036to provide some some feedback just like Karen just like you provided uh some feedback to them for developing the focus groups. >> So I think that's >> I meant 2030. >> Oh roadmap 2030. I think we were looking at trying to get superintendent search kicked off and then get 2030 going uh this fall. I know Will and I had a conversation or have had some conversations about that and um it's it's really important that we have the conversations here as well as uh see some action moving forward. >> So, do we do we see any parts of 2030 that we could do without waiting for the superintendent? Is there is there areas there that might the board might spend some attention on? Well, I think we need to spend time on all of it so
037that when we do have a new superintendent, we can give them that charge. I think that that's what what we need to do. But now that we have our outline of when we're doing the superintendent search and stuff like that, we need to get moving on this >> and we need to be in a position to do multiple things at the same time. And that's that's where we need to get >> get moving here. The thing I'm concerned about is I don't want to use 2030 as a crutch to not do the business we need to take care of today. Um like for example dentist school uh dealing with purging. Uh these are things that I understand it might be peace meal but we can be proactive in dealing with our teachers and our families
038and trying to communicate ways to to problem solve while we're moving along. I don't want to I don't want to miss an opportunity to do good before we get to 2030. And I I think we we need to take take that charge seriously. >> Can you expound on that a little bit? I'm I'm >> sure. I just want to make sure um like could we proactively find a way to deal with Dennis school as an example? Okay. >> I at the end of the day, the board can do uh whatever they choose as long as they have four votes. I mean, that's that's really what it that the piece that comes down to. And I I guess the biggest issue is we have to do this right >> because it's been done so wrong so
039many times in the past. And to get it right, I uh to get it right uh for me is is the most important thing. And I mean, at the end of the day, five years down the line, we're gonna look back and say, "Okay, we did these things wrong." But we have to make sure um that we get the superintendent search done correctly, which I think we're moving that that way. And then we also have to have time to give 2030 the attention that it deserves. Last thing that I really want to see is that we get down the road and we split our time so much and we get so amped up that we do both things not to the best of our ability. >> Yeah. I don't want to dissuade 23. I think
040it's important. I think a lot of the ideas coming out of there need to be considered and looked at and like you said >> um to look at it in a wider perspective as Karen says what are best ways to to help teachers to find teachers to integrate teachers to find new ways to teach our students to raise test scores. I agree with everything all of you are talking about. I'm just saying you know we've got to make sure our boots in the ground are being supported right now. Absolutely. We got to make sure our teachers are being supported right now. We got to make sure those teachers that are feeling, you know, out there on an island, we're listening to them. And I Karen brings up a good point. And as we do the
041superintendent search, and I think we need to be as aggressive as we can with the timeline. I mean, I'm talking about shooting for a January February timeline trying to find with everybody having a say the individual that's going to help run our district. But I'm just saying I don't think we wait for the horizon in a few months when we can do some good now. That's all that's all I'm concerned about. I think the one issue too that we've we've talked all the way around the room here and the piece that's been missing in this conversation tonight that I would urge all of us to think about is the Dr. Curry piece and that's the financial future of the district and how we're going to we all have ideas about how we can improve certain
042things certain pieces of the puzzle. The end of the day we have to pay for all those pieces of the puzzle and then that's where we have to make choices about how we can how we can pay what's what our priorities are and how we move forward with those with the dollars and resources that are available to us. So, anything else? >> Um, yes, two things. Uh, the first is in my time on the board since in the past two and a half years, we've never had only positive public comment. So, that is definitely a shock and I think it's good that for all of us that were heading that that direction. And secondly, I want to I appreciate all of my fellow board members. This is the best conversation that I've had in two
043and a half years that we've actually been able to start talking about issues. So, thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> Okay, I would concur with that as well, Will. Okay, we'll move on to reports from administration. Dr. Curry, good evening. I believe there's a PowerPoint, but if there's not, I have it right here. So, we did the live auction. I Oh, perfect. Thank you. This never works for me. There we go. All right. So, the live auction was last Thursday, Thursday the 7th. Um, and as you can see, there's actually a link that I can share with you, uh, that you can actually the the actual auction and the M will be online for a for a year, but as you can see, the initial, um, I guess bids, for lack of a
044better term, um, came in pretty high to start. you every time you have 15 minutes and then every time somebody makes a different bid within the last two minutes the clock resets for two more minutes and it just kept happening. Um in the end the numbers aren't fantastic but they're they are within your threshold um that we that you approved at the last meeting with Becky. And again, this thing never likes me. Here we go. So the rate that we received um that I decided to take again that's the that's the uh beauty of this job in the end you you own the decision uh me you gave me the authority this was the best that we saw Becky hadn't seen hardly anything uh change for weeks and so when we were able to get
045a three-year deal um at that rate uh we took it it's a $230,000 increase to the budget and the cost of electrical in the with with who we are right now because remember hopefully if things don't get derailed by DC we're going to have quite a bit of solar right so but for who we are today about a $230,000 increase on the supply side we still don't know Amron's number yet but that's expected to double so that could be as much as $800,000 more dollars so your electric cost could be in the two and a half $3 million range just depends on where we're at when get started here. U we'll talk about that in the budget scenario. Um but uh so that's the live electric auction for the supply side. A three-year commitment um
046at point uh 05796. Natural gas turned out a heck of a lot better, only a 4% increase, and I jumped on that for four years at an additional $6,498 a year. That is not a large amount. Also, we don't use a lot of natural gas like we used to. We're almost all electric. Um, we're replacing boilers all the time. But just as a reminder, none of this includes the delivery charge from Amron for the electric piece. Um, and so, like I said, that's budgeted at currently budgeted at twice of what it was last year because that's what I'm hearing. So, those are the numbers from the live auction. I didn't think Becky needed to drive down here to tell you that, so I saved her the trouble. Any questions? >> So, this is electric has
047gone up 26%. >> Uh, yes, 26%. Correct. >> It's not bad, right? >> There's still the other half, but yes, we were concerned that it'd be it would be 100 and 100. So, it's right now it's 26 and 100 for the two pieces for electric is what we're budgeting. So, there's two halves to the pie. So, 26% to the one half of supply and I'm budgeting 100% increase. um for the delivery charges from Amron and then the uh natural gas is only 4%. >> So what could be the issues from the feds about solar and when would we know if it was >> Well, it's a great question. Um have been meet with uh we we do a check-in once a month. We met Floyd what about two weeks ago? Yeah, about two weeks ago.
048uh they seem very optimistic, but there's a process that includes Amaran for I'm just going to make it super simple, approving the project and then the developer putting a shovel in the ground and laying in some sort of infrastructure by a certain timeline. If that doesn't happen, there's a good chance the incentives go away and in the contract they can walk away from a project without incentives, right? there's no reason for them to do it or for us to get the the two cent which would be fantastic the two cent rate but they have to get the incentive that's how PO works. So that's our big concern and it a lot of folks are concerned about it. Um we feel like some of the projects for sure will make the cutoff but we don't know
049when the cutoff is and we don't know how how soon Amron will get through a lengthy approval process. What I what I read from the Wall Street Journal today was that the Trump administration has said that they're going to give everybody about four years in which to get these projects done and all of the like solar all the stocks in the solar area jumped yes Friday and and yesterday because of these comments because it was a lot less restrictive than what was expected. So that's good news to be optimistic about >> that's good news because that's not the that was not the general feeling 3 days ago. So that's really good news. >> Anything else about electric or gas or we can put this to bed for a long time. >> Thanks. >> Okay, >>
050that ends our report from administration. >> Okay, we'll now move on to our consent agenda. Does anyone want any item pulled? Do you have recommendation for the consent agenda? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve the consent items as presented which includes A minutes open close meetings August 5th 2025 B bills C treasurer's report D descriptions a secretary to the athletic directors B secretary to student services and buildings and grounds. Do >> I have a motion? So move second. Any discussion? >> Miss Bradford. >> Mr. Hail. >> Hi. >> Mr. Clevenger. Hi. >> Mr. Wetszel. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Tyus. >> Hi. >> Dr. Lorenson. >> Hi. >> Mr. Reynolds. Hi. >> And Mr. Joiner. I >> 7 I zero nay. Motion carried. >> Thank you. We'll now move on to our roll
051call action items. Do we have a recommendation for the personnel action items? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve the personnel action items listed in the memo from Monica Wils, director of human resources and the human resources department as presented. >> Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Discussion. >> Miss Bradford. >> Mrs. Tyus. >> Hi. >> Mr. Wetszel. >> Hi. >> Mr. Joiner. >> Hi. >> Mr. Clevener. >> Hi. >> Dr. Lorenson. >> Hi. >> Mr. Reynolds. >> Hi. >> And Mr. Hail. >> I. >> Seven I zero nay. Motion carried. Do we have a recommendation for the employment of a director of buildings and grounds? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve the employment of Floyd Bolt as the director of buildings and grounds effective
052August 20th, 2025 as presented. Do >> I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Miss Bradford. >> Mr. Reynolds. >> Hi. >> Mr. Hail. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Tyus. >> Hi. >> Mr. Wetszel. >> Hi. >> Mr. Clevenger. Hi >> Dr. Laoren. I >> and Mr. Joiner I >> seven I zero nay motion carries >> Mr. Bolt would you like to make any comments >> board members thank you President Clevenger Dr. Clark, I appreciate it very much that you continue your faith in me to try and provide the district and the students and staff with the best facilities and people. I you see my people showed up tonight. They all came to support me which means a lot to me. >> I have a very good team. >> We all
053get along very well. We help each other well and it's it's been outstanding so far and I expect it to continue till I retire. >> Good deal. >> Thank you very much. Thanks. [Applause] >> Do we have a recommendation for the memorandum of understanding between Decar Public School District 61 and Decatur Education Association for the extended day nurses? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve the memorandum of understanding between Decatur Public School District 61 and the Decatur Education Association for extended day nurses as presented. >> Do I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Miss Bradford. >> Mr. Cleger. >> Hi. >> Dr. Laorenson. >> Hi. >> Mr. Wetszel. >> Hi. >> Mr. Joiner. >> Hi. >> Mr. Hail. >> Hi. >> Mr. Reynolds. Hi. And Mrs. Tyas.
054Hi. 7 I zero nay. Motion carried. >> Thank you. Do we have a recommendation to adopt the resolution for making piatt special education district budget for fiscal year 2025 2026? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education adopt the resolution for making pyet special education district budget for fiscal year 2025 to 2026 as presented. >> Do I have a motion? >> So move. Thank you. >> Any discussion? >> Miss Bradford. >> Mr. Joiner. >> Hi. >> Mr. Clevenger. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Tyus. >> Hi. >> Dr. Laorenson. >> Hi. >> Mr. Hail. >> Hi. >> Mr. Reynolds. >> Hi. >> And Mr. Wetszel. >> Hi. >> Seven. I zero. Nay. Motion carried. >> Do we have a recommendation for the tenative budget for FY2025 2026 for Dec Decar Public School District 61? >> Yes. I
055recommend the board approve the FY20252026 Decar Public School District 61 tenative budget as presented. And after the motion and second, Dr. Mike Curry, chief operational officer will present information on this item. Also, after the presentation and vote on the FY2025 2026 Decar Public School District 61 tenative budget, I would ask the board of education to set the public hearing date for Tuesday, September 23rd, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. at the Cow Administration building. And note, action will take place at that meeting as well. Do >> I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. discussion. Dr. Curry >> discussion. So, um there is no real presentation tonight because we're still penciling the expenditures the best we can. We've been working at it now for for a good long month. Um we are still trying to learn
056who we are as staff. You know, we've got a lot of teachers coming in. We've still got a lot of vacancies that that are being filled by those teachers as they come in. What does that look like? What does that cost? We have included inside the numbers you have now vacancies across all categories. So, we have to determine whether or not those will all be filled, what what they'll look like with a sub. So, we're still kind of penciling those expenditures in. We've included all the departments wants. Um, but now it's time to talk to them between now and the final about their needs versus their wants. Um, and then, you know, Sam is correct. Revenue concerns, they're real. They're not just real indicator. They're real in Springfield, Champagne, Danville, Bloomington, O, Idaho. Everybody's got
057revenue concerns, but like many of our urban districts that uh allude to districts like us, we have a revenue expenditure problem. And so when we get our revenues reduced, um that plays a big role in what the budget's going to look like. So there'll be a lot more at the hearing for you. Um to give you in-depth now is only going to be 80% of the current picture. So, um, there's nothing really to present at this moment in time. >> Okay, we'll look forward to that conversation. >> Thank you. >> Do we need a separate motion on the public hearing or is that all contained within this? And is that appropriate? >> Yes, you do. And as my error, I did not put it on there. >> Okay. Well, we can do that. >> But
058right now, we need to call the role for the tenative. >> We do. We do. and then we'll >> do the um motion for the public hearing. Absolutely. >> Let's call the roll then. >> Mr. Wetszel, >> I >> Mr. Hail, >> hi. >> Mr. Reynolds, >> hi. >> Dr. Laoren, >> hi. >> Mr. Clevener, >> hi. >> Mrs. Tyus, >> hi. >> And Mr. Joiner, >> I >> 7 I zero nay. Motion carried. >> Okay. Now, do I have a motion to set a public hearing on the district, the Decator Public School District 61 budget for Tuesday, September 23rd, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. at the Kyle Administration building? >> So, move second >> discussion. >> I'm sorry, who second? Who second it? >> Okay, all in favor by saying I. >> I. Those opposed
059say nay. Motion carried. >> Okay. Moving on. Do we have a recommendation for the fresh fruits and vegetables program? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve the fresh fruits and vegetables program as presented. >> Have a motion. >> So move. >> Second. >> Discussion. Could I get a brief description just just an overview of what the fresh fruits and vegetable program? >> Absolutely. >> Sure. I'm just going to read from the cover sheet because it's easier if that's okay with you. The purpose of the fresh fruit and vegetable program grant is to increase fresh fruit and fresh vegetable consumption the schools that participate in the NSLP. That's that's the program we participate in. Priority is given to schools based on free and reduced eligibility. Eight schools were awarded the grant. Due to the
060cost of the associated purchases, the district initiated the competitive bid process. Airark won that. Um and their estimated servings per day of 3,99 for three days per week. Um bids were sent to Kroger and Walmart and we received no response. Airark's done this for us now for several years. Dennis Lab, John's Hill, Monasuri, Muffley, Parsons, Franklin Grove, Bomb, and Hope will all receive a uh healthy dose of um fresh fruits and vegetables. >> So, >> thank you, sir. >> Is that good enough? >> Yeah, >> sounds good. Thank you. >> Very good. >> Any other questions, >> Miss Bradford? >> Dr. Lorenson. >> Hi, >> Mr. Joiner. Hi, >> Mr. Wetzel. Hi, >> Mr. Reynolds. Hi, >> Mr. Hail. I >> Mr. Clevenger >> I >> and Mrs. Tyus >> I >> 7 I zero
061nay. Motion carried. >> Do we have a recommendation for the ongoing Omnigo report writing software for security? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve the ongoing Omniggo report writing software for security as presented. Do >> a motion. >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Could I have a little explanation of from Mr. Tally the or who would give us a little description of what this does? >> Yes, come on up. >> Mr. Tally, >> we wouldn't want you to feel lonesome out there. So, >> thank you, sir. President Clevenger, board clerk. Uh, yeah, the Omniggo report writing system was brought before the board uh a year ago. It's a it's a robust system that allows security staff to take reports on incidents that occur within our buildings. Um, and then any of
062we're able to capture data and review that data to see where we need to deploy other strategies to keep our students and staff safe. Uh, it also can be pulled by certain individuals. We had an incident as an example where student services needed a report prior to a police report being generated and we were able to have that uh ready for them. >> Thank you. Can I ask another question? One quick one quick question. So it it helps you deploy staff like let's say you need more security at Eisenhower. You would take these reports and use it to maybe move people from MacArthur to Eisenhower or exact how how is it used in its final conception? >> Well, after reviewing the data, if it shows that there's some type of activity heightened, yes, it could
063be used for that. >> Okay. >> As an argument. >> Okay. >> Other discussion, Miss Bradford. >> Mr. Hail. >> I. >> Dr. Laoren, >> hi. >> Mr. Wetzel. >> Hi, >> Mrs. Tyus. Hi, >> Mr. Joiner. Hi, >> Mr. Mr. Reynolds, >> and Mr. Cleger, >> I >> 7 I zero nay. Motion carried. >> Okay, we'll move on to important upcoming dates. August 20th, our high school open houses. I believe you'll see all these on the screen. >> Um families, please check with your home school for start times for all these open houses. Uh September 1st is a Labor Day holiday. No school district offices are closed. Uh September 17th, districtwide half day. Again, check with your home school. Uh September 19th, induction of athletes and coaches into the Decator Athletic Hall of Fame
064and that'll be during halftime of the Eisenhower MacArthur football game. Kickoff for that game is at 5:00 p.m. Uh, additional reminder, my favorite reminder of the year every year. Please note, Wednesday, October 15th is the deadline for required immunizations and physicals for 2025 school year. Public port for portion of next regular meeting, the board of education will be 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 9th, Kyle Administration building. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? >> Some move. >> Second. >> All in favor signify by saying I. >> I.