001Okay. >> Hey, Will. >> Yeah, it's on. >> Okay, good deal. Okay, I think it's time to get started. 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 collective negotiating matters between the board and representatives of its employees. No action was taken during closed executive session. Uh now would everybody 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. [snorts] >> Do we have a recommendation for tonight's agenda? >> Yes, we do. I recommend the board approve tonight's August 5th, 2025 open session board meeting agenda as presented. >> Can I
002have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. >> I. I. >> Those opposed. >> Motion's carried. Okay, we'll now move on to our public participation portion of the agenda. Miss Bradford. Seeing no one tonight, we will move right on to our board discussion. Is there anything at this point in time individual board members would like to bring up? Seeing none, we'll move on to Dr. Curry. >> Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak again on energy. I'm sure you're over it, but at least Becky is back to help uh discuss a little about the auction that's coming up that we talked about last time. So, I'm going to turn over to Becky and then we'll take questions. >> Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you
003all. It was great to see you all again. Um so, if you remember last uh last board meeting that we were discussing the upcoming energy contracts, natural gas and electricity that you can purchase through a third party. Uh you still have Amarind as the utility. And so we went between that time and now we went back out to market and evaluated some indicative pricing rounds um from the supplier community and we're going to share through those tonight. Um and then also established the thresholds for running a live reverse auction and that would be what's under the consent agenda for this evening. So just as a backstory, it kind of helps to understand where you're at to know where we're going. Um your last contract with Constellation was a long-term contract. It was about a five
004five-year term and it was also uh locked at the lowest point in electricity rate history. So the rate that you have paid for the last 5 years has been pretty remarkable. Uh it was about 4.7 cents a kilowatt hour. A kilowatt hour is the unit of energy for electricity. So you pay that same fixed rate per unit of energy for every um bit that you consume over the term of the contract. Um versus today's rates. This is about a third of what today's market is. Uh if you have any of you have gotten your Amarind bills for this month, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's a bit brutal out there. Um so the current contract expires in December and uh so this is just some of the the information that we have about
005your current contracts. Right now your annual usage is just shy of 19 million kilowatt hours. And with the installation of solar, if it's completed at all sites as recommended or moving forward with, that usage will be about half, about 50% less within a two-year scope. So, that's going to save you considerably on your energy cost in the future, regardless of what rates do, because the cheapest kilowatt hour you pay for is one you never use. Uh, so that was an outstanding move that you took prior to some of these rate increases that we're experiencing. So all of these squiggly lines just represent what energy costs are in the open market. There's a thousand different charges that you pay for for your supply whether you're with Amaran directly or if you're with a third party supplier.
006But this just represents the actual energy itself, the juice that comes across the lines. And this is traded in what's called the futures commodity market. So think corn or soybeans, anything you're buying into the future. So the intent with energy contracts is to buy today for what you're going to use tomorrow. So this is a way to establish budget stability um insulation from any risk in the market from weather extreme weather events, geopolitical events, uh things that really create volatility in the pricing. This allows you to have budget stability um and protects you from any of those really big hills and uh kind of that's what we mean by volatility is when the price goes up really really quickly um over the term of the contract. So as I mentioned before you guys locked at
007the lowest point in history since energy was deregulated in this great state of Illinois and right now the market has been consistently increasing from an increase in demand. So think coal plants retiring, AI coming online when you have more demand than you have supply. If we think of economics 101, what happens to the price? And that's what we're seeing across the board. Throw into that that we're having one of the hottest summers um in recent history and it's further complicating the energy pricing market. Uh furthermore, there's this uh little word called capacity, which is a fancy word for grid reliability, meaning that we have generators who are on reserve dis to dispatch electricity so that we don't have blackouts. We've never experienced those in Illinois before. Um and that's because we pay into this reserve
008fund to keep dispatchable energy at our beck and call. Why do I note this is that that cost went up 10fold June 1, which is why we're seeing energy cost uh kind of exponentially go through the roof. Okay, so that's kind of your energy 101 um that you can share at your next dinner party. Uh so let's move on to the actual quantifiable results for you. So going out to market for your electricity accounts specifically. Um this product type is called a pass through capacity and transmission. And when we talk about product type, it means which pieces of the pie for your energy supply are we fixing and which pieces are going to be uh just a real-time price that present themselves on your invoice each month and will have variability depending on real-time market
009pricing. So what I would be recommending to uh for going forward is a pass through capacity and transmission meaning that those two portions of your supply rate will not be fixed as part of your rate. you will still be responsible for those costs and we'll see on the next slide what an estimation of what those are so that Dr. Curry can plan for those in the budget. The reason that I would recommend not fixing them upfront is that if you do decide to go for a longer term contract, what you fix today is based off of what you've used in the past. The supplier is looking at your last two years of energy consumption and your cost to determine where you're going in the future. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this presentation,
010your usage is improving by 50% within the next two years. So if you take a contract longer than two years, you're not going to get that benefit until that contract expires. So I really don't see any defined benefit and you locking in those two additional demand charges. Um so for this evening for the consent agenda, the portion that's highlighted in orange is the approved threshold for conducting a live reverse auction because energy prices change every five minutes. and we put this in the board packet a week in advance of the board meeting and then we conduct the auction. Um the top line, the seal qualifying RFP results are the the results for the low bid supplier um when we conducted that indicative qualifying round. So for anyone to participate in a live auction, they have
011to show us what they're working with. We have to be able to confirm their terms and conditions well in advance. And so that represents the low bid. The threshold is that low bid plus a 10% um adder for market movement. What this allows you to do is if for some reason the market has moved a little bit between when we got these prices and we conduct the auction, we're not coming back to the next board meeting saying oop, the pricing moved and then be in a similar position in the next month. Um, ideally we would want to try to be at or beat that first line. Um, but the orange is what you'll be approving for the consent just because of the nature of the market. Okay. Uh so this next one, this is just
012to set the expectation. Again, this is not what I would recommend contracting for, but for budgetary purposes, I believe it's it's uh best to be transparent that when we talk about an increase in energy cost based off of uh compared against your last contracted rate, you're looking at at minimum probably a 100% increase in your energy cost, which again, why you did solar is such a great great thing because the all-in right here you're seeing is around 10 cents. As a reminder, the power purchase agreement rate that you have for solar is 2 cents. So 20% of what your fixed price will be for the remainder of your usage. So that was an outstanding contract to enter into. Um so again, this will help uh Dr. Curry budget for the upcoming year. Um and in
013hopes that the solar gets installed very quickly and very effectively so that uh to limit your exposure to that. Okay. So that's the electricity portion. And this is a portion that will be conducted through a reverse auction. Should you choose to approve that this evening, that will be conducted on Thursday. And if these thresholds are met, um then admin an administration reserves the right to enter into a contract at that time. If the thresholds are not met, we walk away. The uh auction is not obligatory. It is just that if you want to accept the auction rate, you have to take it that day because suppliers take out any margin or any capacity to to hold that price. Um, but it's not obligatory that you have to accept something on that day. Any questions on
014electricity before we dive into natural gas? Beautiful. Okay. So, same thing with natural gas. Your contract is actually been on what we're call a floating contract. So, it's been on a month-to-month agreement right now, meaning that you don't have a fixed position in place. Not that big of a deal in the summertime. You don't use natural gas in the summer. Um, but heading into winter, we'll certainly want to get this buttoned up. Um, so your previous contracted rate is what we see there, just shy of 44 cents of therm. Um, and so the contract start date for this would be September 1st. Uh, more squiggly lines for you to look at. This is just relating to natural gas. So we highlight here when your last contract was signed in April of 2023. [clears throat] Excuse
015me. So you can see there's not really a large difference between where the market was two years ago uh, versus where it's at today. Um, you know, really what we're looking at here is again budget stability and what are the risk going forward. Um, weather patterns becoming more unpredictable. We're seeing winter extend into March. You know, it's starting later. We'll have 70 degrees in December, but then in March we'll have some really cold bouts. Uh so really we're trying to just insulate um your your potential risk in the marketplace from any uncertainty, especially as it relates to weather because with energy prices, they're often reactive um to the situation. And when you're entering into a futures contract, the idea is to be proactive. Oh, that's really tiny. Uh I don't know if you can see
016all of that. Um but with this, the product that we're recommending is what you had on your previous contract. It's called 100% swing. And what that means is that your usage can vary each month 100% above or below what was anticipated for you to use in that given month. And you're offered the same fixed rate. Why this is a great product is that if we do have a polar vortex and it's subzero temps for a long period of time and your energy consumption during that month is 20% more than what was expected, you're not paying spot market prices, which could be 10x what your contract rate is. You still pay the same fixed price. Uh so this has served you really well in the past with some of the weather events that we've had that
017have been quite unpredictable and created a lot of unstability in the market. Um and I would suggest this product going forward especially for school districts. Schools who don't opt to take this product um will find themselves in positions where they will get their entire months or their entire fiscal year's budget with one month of an invoice. So we don't want that to happen. Um, so as you can see, like based off of that previous graph, it's relatively flat. Um, you see the suppliers there that are willing to offer this risk adverse product, we would say that we're transferring the risk from you as a school district to the supplier. They're going to cover uh all of the risk as it comes to natural gas pricing. And with the rates that we've seen, it's relatively flat
018from what you had before, less than a 1% differential. Um, so really great to see. So with this, we would not be conducting an auction because there are fewer suppliers that participate um for this type of product. So this would be um a refresh of the pricing on Thursday. Um and then making a decision from there if you want to act now or hold. Okay. So for the next steps, uh I believe it's on the consent agenda this evening to uh conduct the live reverse auction and authorize the administration to sign new agreements for both natural gas and electricity if the conditions are favorable. Uh we would run that reverse auction and conduct the RFP for the natural gas this Thursday and then provide you those results at the September board meeting. >> Okay. I
019just threw a lot of energy stuff at you. So uh when you make the consent agenda, it's for someone from administration to if you approve it to to do the final signature and accept it. I think if everybody in here is okay with it, it's going to be me. So does anybody have any concerns with that? Okay. So that's basically what the consent item will be will be for me to make the decision after the live auction. >> Any questions? >> Any other questions? >> Okay. All right, great. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. >> Okay. Uh [clears throat] just a quick update for the board. Um first I well actually to the community. I want to thank the 89% of the community that went online and did registration. Thank you so very much. We're
020looking forward to receiving our babies uh in the next couple of weeks here. Uh for those families that did not register, as a reminder, you will not be able to register your child on the first day of school because we will be handling our students that are there. So, please get in contact with student services or your home school for your next steps. As a reminder to the community, we do have three new policies on obnoxious spells. Please refer to um the district website. It is going to be policies 7160, 7190, and 830. And we are still enforcing our cell phone policy where there is no cell phones in school during the class class period passing periods or during the lunch hours. Finally, it's a lot of remembering. Um, finally, I want to make sure
021that all of our uh families understand that if you have moved, you must notify your uh home school to let them know so we can send records to your new school as well as transcripts. You will not be able to attend the Decatur public schools if you do not live in Decar public schools. And that ends my report from administration. >> Okay. Any questions? >> Okay, moving on. We'll move on to our consent items. Does anyone have an item that they'd like to have pulled from the consent agenda? Do we have a recommendation for the consent agenda? I recommend the board of education approve the consent items as presented which includes A minutes open close meetings July 15 2025 B freedom of information report C bill bills D financial conditions report June 2025 E treasurer's
022report June 2025 F release July checks early G annual agreement invoice between Decar public school district 61 and power school for the 2526 school year. H. Approval authority for administration to accept electric rates and auction. I, district safety hazards annual report. J, schoolboard policy and exhibit from press issue 118. K. Job descriptions. A. Director of buildings and grounds update. B. School health services update. >> Do we have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Discussion. Miss Bradford. >> Mr. Hail >> I >> Mr. Cleger >> I >> Mr. Wetzel >> I >> Dr. Laorenson >> I >> Mr. Reynolds >> I >> and Mr. Joiner. >> I six I zero nay, one absent. Motion carried. >> Thank you. Uh we'll now move on to our roll call action items for the evening. Um we'll
023now move on to Superintendent Search Firm. I recommend the board of education approve the Illinois Association of School Boards Professional Services Agreement and Menu of Services fee as presented. >> Second. >> Did we get a motion? >> No, you just made it. You moved it. >> Okay, I made it. Got got that clear. Now >> got a second >> discussion. We do have in the audience tonight, >> Mr. Helton and a member of his team too, Dr. Ayella. So, I'd like for him to talk a little bit about his team and then any questions from the board um can we can direct those to them and we'll get this process underway. >> Good to see everybody again. [clears throat] Good evening. >> I uh Dr. Yala, would you like to introduce yourself? >> I sure
024can. >> All right. >> Good evening. I'm Carmen Ayala. If I look familiar to you, yes, I was the former state superintendent. I've been with the Illinois Association of School Boards for two years now. And um my background uh I've been a superintendent uh have been assistant superintendent uh most of my career has been in large unit districts large unit districts that look like 29,000 students in over 30 schools >> and as a district superintendent a smaller elementary school district. So I have the experience that goes from very large to medium size. Um one of the passions that I have and people who know me um I'm the author of the equity journey continuum. So equity is something that I am very much in tune with and I look at a district's population. I look
025at the students, the groups, and we try to find candidates that would be the best fit. That is what it's all about. It's finding the best fit for you to help make your school district as successful as possible. >> So, a little bit about me and how I can help. Um we look to have as we said last time that we met last month um we'll have other consultants uh on the back end doing some work as well but uh myself and Carmen will be on the front side in district doing a lot of the stakeholder work etc as we're going through it but we wanted last week or last month uh she had a conflict unable to come and wanted to take that opportunity this year or this month to introduce her and looking
026forward to working with Decatur 61. one. Thank you. Questions for the board. >> Um after tonight, how quickly will we be able to start? >> Tomorrow. [laughter] >> Yeah. Um that's one of the things we need to do. Um [clears throat] you'll have the board action tonight. Um I'll be in conversation. Uh we'll get that information. There are some things that we need to do. We will get some information out to you, but we will start the ball rolling uh right away tomorrow and uh we'll need to get some point persons figured out all of that backend stuff. We'll have it all we have the right questions to ask and then once we get that we'll get get things rolling. So, >> okay. And this this base contract in here is for the $10,400 for
027just for just the search. We had talked about um constituent groups uh committees. Uh >> I think the focus groups was another point that we probably should talk about tonight as well. And >> I I think a number that um I I know Jim and I had a conversation yesterday and I think we're probably at least four to six focus groups. >> Okay. >> Um in that. So, uh, I would suggest that we just add that to the approval tonight so that we'll have a pretty clean approval and we can move on forward. >> Right. And if the if [clears throat] the board wants to add the practice interview later, that can be or the tail end pieces that can be with a semi- finalist as well. And it just takes another board action. I
028know that was asked last time. So, >> so we would need to do both the um beginning staff community stakeholder focus groups and then also we would need to do um the stakeholder group interviews with the semi- finalists. >> Correct. So the the first set of um focus groups would be to see what people want in a superintendent and then the second set of group interviews would be with semi-finalists. So we're going to need to think about how many days we would need for each of those sets. >> Correct. Correct. Correct. >> And how many and how many consultants? Correct. >> Yeah. Yeah. And as right now. Yeah. At the end. Yes. >> Yeah. Because the alleart items say uh per day per consultant. Correct. So, I want to make sure we understand the costs
029and we're transparent with those. >> Yeah, the per day is I mean we'll mix and match the 1500 per day. So, that that's I mean that's how we're that's we're a team and that's how we do things. So, it'll be all upfront. It's just at the end whenever you do the semi- finalists depending upon how many groups you want if they're homogeneous it's you know we we can provide additional consultants for that and we'll do that same time as round two interviews and that can be approved at a later time or you can approve them tonight. I mean all of those pieces can be done. [clears throat] And when it comes to the focus groups, do you have a list of suggested people we should have on those or is that something that this board
030needs to de develop? >> Each place is a little bit different, but yes, you're looking at staff, you're looking at parents, you're looking at business leaders, you're looking I mean, there's and and unions. I mean, you have all of those pieces within each district that are unique. And it's up to us to have those conversations to you and ask you, who do you want to be who do you want us to talk to? Who do you want us to have that face to face time with? >> Add anything? >> Yeah, it depends on the makeup of the district. >> Certainly, Decatur is a larger district and so you may want to have a focus group that represents community members, parents, because you have 15 schools. You may want to have a couple of parents from
031each school. We don't don't necessarily want to have too large of a group because then people don't get the opportunity to have their voice into the conversation. So generally the group is about 15 to 20 uh constitutes a focus group. Certainly teachers wanting to make sure that all of the schools are represented. Um, the inclusiveness is very important because you want to make sure that when you look at your teacher group, for example, you want to make sure that you have teachers that are representing the different grades, the different programs, early childhood education, gifted, special education, the different programs that you have. And so [clears throat] all of those pieces, we would work with you, but in the end, you would be selecting the individuals that would be participating in the focus groups because you
032know them best. What I always say is we want to make sure that we have we want to make sure we answer ask the question, who's not at the table? Who are we missing? Because we want to make sure we capture the voices of everyone. And so those focus groups help us to then put together as well as the survey >> that will be one of the first things we'll be working on uh put together the announcement of vacancy. What does the board value and wants to look at in the next um superintendent as well as the community voices. >> So there will also be a survey that is sent out to [cough and clears throat] >> you'll get the online survey right away. And um so that will be to all the stakeholders as
033well. >> Yeah. >> The online survey we generally recommend that it gets pushed out. A lot of times it's through the website through your communication channels. And so that's open to staff. It's open to parents. It's open to your older students as well to provide feedback. And then we have the ability to it's an [snorts] anonymous survey, but we have the ability to pull out these. This is what all the teachers are saying. This is what all the parents are saying. Board members, you have the opportunity also to submit your survey responses as well. And we can give you information about what the board is looking for collectively in the next superintendent. >> And then then we present this information in an open session, right? Right. So everything is transparent [clears throat] and Yep. Everybody
034>> So even if people aren't able to be a part of the focus groups, they can still have their voice be heard. >> Absolutely. >> Great. >> Other thoughts? [snorts] >> When questions? >> When when will we need to have focus groups selected by? >> Um next three weeks. >> Okay. >> Within the next three weeks, I would think. >> Yeah. [clears throat] If you have ideas now, it would be helpful. >> Yeah. And considering you have the opening of school coming. >> Yes. >> You know, realistically, the focus groups will probably take place, I would say, midepptember. >> Yeah. >> But we would need the lists and things of that nature before that. So, >> we can get the online survey for those pieces. That can happen rather quickly. And so, once school starts,
035we get the information out. I mean, that's an easy thing to disseminate. That will be one of the first things we do. So, >> yeah, we have a template letter that we provide that you can use and adjust >> um that comes from the board inviting [snorts] staff and community to participate in the survey. >> Okay, other questions? >> Um, how many focus groups can a consultant do per day? So, when we're thinking about when it says how many days do we need, >> we'll work from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. >> How many focus groups can you do? >> Depends on the size of your groups. >> Okay. If if they are 15 to 20. >> Yeah. If they're 15 to 20. >> Sure. >> Yeah. Generally, the focus group is about an hour
036or so uh to get through a series of questions. Um, so with breaks in between and whatnot, you can probably fit in a good five focus groups in a day. In a full day, >> as long as there's communication on the front side, right? Everybody knows where it's to go. Yeah. I mean, all of those pieces. So, yeah. >> Okay. >> And it's important to offer an evening focus group for your community. Generally, the parents, we do those in the evening for the most part. Teachers, we do right after school. Those kinds of things. Other questions? >> And and I guess this is just housekeeping. So when it comes to these focus group pieces, I mean, do board members serve names in the hat and then we all decide who goes on that or h
037how does that exactly work? That's what I'm trying to get at. >> How how does how do you come up with a roster? I mean, it's just Yeah. It's it it's your communication because you know your communities better than us >> and so you all have constituents that you represent and so you know listening last time I know that you wanted everybody to be able to have an opportunity and have a voice and I think that that's what we're here to do is to listen to the voices. So I think if we individually can feed information to the consultants, we get the email addresses from them and can send can send that I'm sure staff will have some input of individuals that should be a part of those groups as well. I think that makes
038a lot of sense. >> That's why I said that's why it takes about three weeks to kind of get the ball rolling. So, >> and you want to have key individuals, for example, in your staff, you want to have your collective bargaining leadership where you have your parents. If you have parent organizations, you want to have parent leaders. Uh many times you can ask for volunteers and interest and draw from there. Um but again really just identifying who the key people are that are very active in the district that speak to the parents when they're out in the supermarket who do the fundraising who can gather more of the voice [snorts] input to then provide the feedback in the focus groups. >> May I help you just a little bit? What's that? >> In the
039past, um, I work with administration and we came up with people in different groups and we'll submit it to the board to see if that's what you like or you may want to change it or >> whatever. We just come up with something [clears throat] for you since a lot of them are boots on the ground and >> and present it to you. Then you let me know I want to change this person or you know, however you want to do it before we give it to them. Okay. >> If that's how you want to do it. I >> I think it's a good collection point. >> I was going to say I think it'd be great. I I think every bargaining unit needs to be heard from. I mean, for sure. They are. >>
040I think so. I would like a swath of >> them because I want to make sure every from the TAs to the secretaries to they're all going to have different voices. I'd like those to be heard. >> And then um I I think the community is huge. >> Uh parents need to be involved. I love your idea of talking to them during the evening. >> It's included. >> You also have your administrators. That's a That could be a focus group. >> Mhm. That as well. So, if you want, we can move forward with getting the groups together and send them to you guys. I'll send them to you and you kind of let me know separately how you feel about it. >> And we'll collect that. You and I can have a conversation about that.
041Then we get everybody on the same thing. >> You Okay. >> Okay. >> Sounds good. >> And one other question, Bill, on this. I know the menu, services, and fees is on the agenda, but however, there are some options here that I think you as a >> I think the option we were going to take the base tonight. Everybody can weigh in on this. We're going to take the base tonight and then um a suggestion would be to start with uh 3 to 4 days of consulting work and if we need to increase from that then we'll pick from the array of services going forward and we can bring each one of those as the need arises. >> I would just advise to be careful because that that can get kind of expensive if we
042start running up days and consults. I want to make sure we have a num a financial number that is that everybody understands >> and I think Dr. Curry can keep us up to speed on where we are in the numbers and >> um we get that we can get that report on a regular basis. So >> I also feel that it's money well spent when it comes to being transparent to >> I totally agree in our community. >> I just think we need to let everybody know what's going to cost. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, we'll have the base. Well, we're working on housekeeping here now. >> Good. >> We're going to have the base and uh let's say we start with three full days for now and if we need to increase
043that, we will. >> Is that three at the beginning and three at the end or how are we doing? >> I think we can look at the end as we move into this and determine how many we're going to need at that point in time. Would that work for you? So, first we're just going to do three inser in district focus group days at the beginning and then add on uh the stakeholder group interviews with the semi- finalists. Yes. >> At a later date. >> Yes. >> Is that what we're saying? >> Yeah. So, the number we would be asking for is $14,900. >> That sounds right. >> That's what I That's what I added up if it's three days. >> Okay. Okay. No. Do you have that? >> No, I don't. >> For for
044an action. So, we're going to do the base of 10,000 >> 400 >> 104 >> and then I'll cart item one for three days. >> For three days 3,500. >> Okay. So, at the 1500 >> 4500 >> each day >> additional 1500. Okay. >> Correct. >> Add that to 104. >> Yep. >> 4500. So that's what we'll be asking for approval for tonight. >> So you're going to do the 104 and the 1500? >> Yep. >> Okay. >> 4500 because we got three days. >> Oh, three days. 4500. Sorry about that. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Okay. 149. >> Mhm. >> Okay. Anything else? So we're all clear. It'll be 149 that we'll be acting on tonight. And Miss Bradford, call the role. >> Okay. >> I thought she was going to say something. >>
045I was just going to say I look forward to working with each of you. >> We look forward to working with you. >> Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. >> Okay. It's been motioned and second for the approval of IASB professional services and agreement and menu of service and fees in the amount of $14,900. At this time it was motioned by Mr. Clevener, seconded by Mr. Reynolds. Mr. Wetszel >> I. >> Mr. Hail >> I. >> Mr. Reynolds. >> Hi. >> Dr. Lorenson. >> Hi. >> Mr. Cleger. >> Hi. >> And Mr. Joiner. >> I >> 6 I zero nay. One absent. Motion carried. >> Thank you all very much. We look forward to engaging this process because there's no more important job that a board of education does and select a superintendent.
046>> We agree with you. We agree. >> Thank you. Good to see you as well. >> Safe travels. >> Nice to see you again. >> Thank you, sir. >> Thank you. >> You as well. >> Cold hands, but [laughter] >> yes. >> Thanks for coming. I'll be out here again, I'm sure. Thank you. Yeah, we hope to see you on a regular basis. Yes, sir. >> Okay, moving along here. 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. >> So motion. >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? So these new teachers are is there going to be a list of the international
047teachers or is this is this some of them? >> We don't um we're not separating them out. So as they are coming on they'll be part of the employment uh recommendations. So some of them are in there. >> Okay. Are the October the ones that are coming you said later are they in in that listing? >> No. Um they're okay. >> Okay. Um, all of our international teachers have already been on personnel action at a previous meeting. So, they've already been approved. >> Thank you. So, they don't have to come back in any other time. >> They do not. >> Okay. Thank you for that. >> Okay. Miss Bradford. >> Mr. Joiner. >> I. >> Mr. Cleger. >> Hi. >> Dr. Laorenson. >> Hi. >> Mr. Hail. >> I. >> Mr. Reynolds. >> Hi. >>
048And Mr. Wetszel. >> I. >> 6 I. Zero. Nay. One absent. Motion carries. >> Thank you. Do we have a recommendation for the employment of an assistant principal at Eisenhower High School? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve the employment of Ryan Aman as an assistant principal at Eisenhower High School effective August 6, 2025 as presented and he is in the audience. >> Well, let's wait. Let's wait. >> We have a motion. >> Let's wait. >> Make a motion. >> We haven't hired him yet. [laughter] >> Yeah. No one's Don't stand up yet. Second. >> Who motioned? I'm sorry. [laughter] >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. Discussion. >> Who motioned? I'm sorry. >> Motion. He second. >> Okay. >> Miss Bradford. >> Mr. Clevenger. >> Hi. >> Dr. Lorenson. >>
049Hi. >> Mr. [clears throat] Wetszel. >> Hi. >> Mr. Joiner. >> Hi. >> Mr. Hail. >> Hi. >> And Mr. Reynolds. >> Hi. >> 6 I zero. One absent. Motion carried. >> Congratulations. [applause] >> Would you like to say anything? congratulations. >> All right, this actually helps because we had freshman orientation day one today and uh I'd use my voice quite a bit, so I actually appreciate this better. So, um first off, I just want to want to thank you all for um giving me the opportunity to to come serve your district. Uh, I want to thank my team of Eisenhower administrators that, uh, are all here this evening, uh, Dr. Rodriguez, Mr. Jesse, and Miss Jones. And, uh, I look forward to to, uh, getting after it here and, uh, uh, doing what I
050can to to make the school and the district, um, the the best place possible for everybody involved. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Welcome. [applause] Do we have a recommendation for the employment of an interim school health services administrator? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve the employment of Caleb McCreary as interim school health services administrator effective August 6, 2025 as presented and she is here as well. >> Do I have a motion? >> So move second. >> Second >> discussion. >> Miss Bradford. >> Mr. Wetzel. >> Hi. >> Mr. Joiner. >> Hi. >> Mr. Clevener. >> Hi. >> Dr. Mr. Lorenson. >> Hi, >> Mr. Reynolds. Hi. >> And Mr. Hail, >> I >> 6 I zero nay, one absent. Motion carried. [applause] >> Hello. I just want to thank you guys
051for this opportunity. I'm so excited. Um, my bachelor's degree is focuses on health disparities and I'm so excited to bring community and healthcare together. Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Do we have a recommendation for the three-year lease agreement between Decatur Public School District 61 and the Regional Office of Education? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve the three-year lease agreement between Decar Public Schools District number 61 and the Regional Office of Education number 39 as presented. Do >> I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. Discussion. >> Miss Bradford. >> Dr. Lorenson. Hi. >> Mr. Hail. Hi. >> Mr. Reynolds. Hi. >> Mr. Joiner. Hi. >> Mr. Cleger. Hi. >> And Mr. Wetzel. I >> six I zero nay. One absent. Motion carried. >> Do we have a
052recommendation for the waste management contract for 202526 and 2627? >> Yes. So recommend the board of education approve the waste management contract for 202526 and 202627 as presented. >> Motion. >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Miss Bradford. >> Mr. Reynolds. >> Hi. >> Mr. Hail. >> Hi. >> Mr. Wetzel. >> Hi. >> Mr. Cleer. >> Hi. >> Mr. Joiner. >> Hi. >> And Dr. Laorenson. I >> 6 I zero nay. One absent. Motion carried. Do we have a recommendation for the contract agreement between Decatur Public School District 61 and Mon County Mental Health Board for FY26? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve the contract agreement between Decar Public School District 61 and the Mon County Mental Health Board for fiscal year 26 as presented. >> Got a motion. >>
053So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> So how how many people are involved in this? Who wants to take that? >> Thank you. >> Good evening. Um, this is for our behavior interventionist. It's a yearly agreement that we sign. They they provide funding for three of those positions. So, we have three interventionists that throughout the year are meeting with all these kids and they do billing summaries and we communicate back and forth with Mon County Mental Health Board and they continue to support that effort. So what's the difference between an interventionist and like the um counseling people that we have? >> Yes. So so the interventionists are really just working with kids through the MTSS process. They're doing behavior interventions. Um counseling requires a completely different degree, a different skill set. Um on the
054counseling side, I mean there's some overlap with the social emotional health and mental health, but interventionists are not licensed to treat kids for mental health or to make the you know recommendations for therapy etc. So there is a crossover but it's a completely different job field. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Anything else? >> Thank you. >> Yep. Thank you. Anything else >> Miss Bradford? >> Mr. Hail. >> Hi. >> Mr. Cleger. >> Hi. >> Mr. Wetszel. >> Hi. >> Dr. Laorenson. >> Hi. >> Mr. Reynolds. Hi. and Mr. Joiner. >> I six I zero nay one absent. Motion carried. >> Do we have a recommendation for the crowd strike annual renewal? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve the crowd strike annual renewal as presented. >> Some move. >> Second discussion. >> Miss
055Bradford. >> Dr. Laoren. >> Hi. >> Mr. Hail. >> Hi. >> Mr. Reynolds. Hi >> Mr. Joiner. Hi >> Mr. Cleger. Hi >> and Mr. Wetzel. >> Hi. >> Six eyes. Zero nay. One absent. Motion carried. >> Do we have a recommendation for the seven mindsets one-year renewal agreement? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approved the seven mindsets one-year renewal agreement as presented. >> Motion move. >> Second discussion. >> Can can somebody explain this because I I don't understand what what I'm voting on here >> for seven mindsets. Thank you, Dr. Gray. Hey, so seven mindsets is what we use for our social and emotional learning. Each school has lessons that they go through with students. For example, at the high school during their home room, they use the seven mindsets to kind
056of set the tone and have students talk about their social and emotional well-being. Also, coming up on August 19th, I'm going to have a group do a presentation again. They attended the seven mindsets conference and they're going to talk about the impact that it has on our students and what they're able to do and how they're able to deal with some of their emotional issues based on strategies and lessons provided in this SEAL curriculum. >> So, is this curriculum currently taught K through 12 at DPS? >> Yes. Mhm. >> Is it what we formally used to use for character uh building to kind of help with character ed how to react to certain things instead of >> those lessons are embedded throughout? Yes. >> Okay. >> And so this is on top of other programs
057alongside other programs for social emotional learning. >> This is our base for social emotional learning. So like you know have you have your playbook? This is our playbook. So every student in the district is exposed to this K12. So there's lessons that are taught in classes. >> How is it delivered to middle school if um they're getting it in like home room at the high school level? >> So in middle school they're well not just in middle school but it's weaving throughout the lessons and classes. So from K8 it'll be a lesson taught throughout the school day. So they may have a time for it. It may be in the AM. It may be in the PM. question. Other questions? >> All right. You'll have a presentation on the 19th, so it should be exciting.
058>> Thank you, >> Miss Bradford. >> Mr. Cleger. >> Hi, >> Dr. Laorenson. >> Hi, >> Mr. Wetzel. [music] Hi, >> Mr. Joiner. Hi, >> Mr. Hail. >> Hi. >> And Mr. Reynolds, >> hi. >> 6 I zero nay, one absent. Motion carried. Do we have a recommendation for the payment to Northern Illinois University for providing professional development and programming to American Dreamer STEM Academy during the 2024 2025 school year? >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve the payment to Northern Illinois University for providing professional development and programming to American Dreamer STEM Academy during the 2425 school year as presented. Do >> I have a motion? Second >> discussion. >> So, do we know how much this We don't know how much this is yet. >> Um, do you have that with you,
059uh, Dr. Curry? >> Yeah, >> here it is. 36,911. Thank you. >> There it is. And to clear up the American Dreamer, the contract was entered into before Dansby opened. So, the contract speaks to American Dreamer. It's the Dansby staff. >> I I got a question. What what is this professional development going to look like for for the staff? >> That's something that Principal Ellis could answer. >> Actually, I do have a little bit of information. >> So, um, as you know, uh, Dansby is a STEM academy and so they were working with fundamentals to help strengthen that skill set for um, for the teachers and they planned lessons um, things that they can utilize like manipulatives. They did all of that throughout the summer that is STEM. Yes. to help prepare lessons for the
060kids coming on board. >> Um, where where is this funding coming from? Is it Can you tell me what category we're spending the money out of? >> Dr. Curry, do you know where do the funds come from? >> It's grant related. >> Okay. Grant related. Okay. So, other schools can apply for this grant. >> I don't know what particular grant it was. Do you do you know? Thank you. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Appreciate you on this one. So, this is coming from the title one school improvement grants. So, this is linked to D um American dreamer school improvement plan. And so, this was all part of that grant. >> Okay. Okay. >> Thank you. >> And I think that they [clears throat] got those uh STEM carts as well. >> Okay. >> And stuff.
061So, it's probably how to use those, I guess. >> And so, we're paying for last year, correct? >> No, it was training. >> The training is ongoing. >> Okay. But this says 2425 school year. So last year. >> Yeah. >> Mary, >> are they still going to continue to get training or is it over? >> I believe. >> Sorry. It's okay. I >> So niu, this is part of their learning partnership. So they received the training last year and it carries into what the work that they'll be doing this year. So I believe that they've already received the training. >> Okay. >> Wow. be built. >> Any other questions? >> Miss Bradford. >> Mr. Joiner. >> I >> Mr. Cleger. >> Hi. >> Dr. Lorenson. >> Hi. >> Mr. Hail. >> Hi. >> Mr. Reynolds.
062Hi. >> And Mr. Wetszel. >> I. >> Six eyes. Zero. Nay. One absent. Motion carried. >> So, so are we calling uh Dansby stem or steam? >> Did they go from stem to steam or steam to stem? >> Steam. >> Stem to steam. I had to make sure. >> Added the art. >> Yeah. I thought so. Yes, they are. >> Okay. Do we have a recommendation to ratify or and adopt the July 1st, 2025 to June 30th, 2028 collective bargaining agreement between the Decatur Public School District 61 Board of Education [music] and the Decatur Federation of Teaching Assistance, DETA Local 4324, Illinois Federation of Teachers, American Federation of Teachers, AFL CIO. >> So moved. Second. Oh, sorry. >> She has to make the recommendation. >> That's right. [laughter] >> But you let the lady speak.
063>> Sorry. Sorry, Dr. Clark. >> It's okay. >> Yes. I recommend the board of education approve to ratify adopt the July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2028 collective bargaining agreement between the Decatur Public School District 61 Board of Education and the Decatur Federation of Teaching Assistance, DEFTA, local number 4324, Illinois Federation of Teachers, American Federation of Teachers, AFL CIO, as presented. And after the motion and second, Monica Wilks, director of human resources, will present information on this item. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Now, >> good evening, board. Um, we come before you with the good news of another contract ratification with a really fine group of individuals. Look at that picture. that picture. [applause and cheering] >> Now, I will point out that there's one handsome young fellow that's not pictured there. He had
064to leave early that day, but our chief of operations, Dr. Mike Curry, was part of that group, >> and I was not able to adequately Photoshop him into the photo. So, >> yes, absolutely. Um, I will allow my colleague to introduce herself. >> Y'all know I have a script. Good evening to Superintendent Dr. Clark, uh, President Clevenger, and to the uh, board, uh, to each of you, my father's cheering. Y'all, if y'all go to church, you know what that means. I stand before you tonight overflowing with gratitude after months of cooperative efforts that began last March and culminated in the successful ratification of our 2528 DEFA contract. I couldn't feel more proud and thankful. I'm so thankful for everybody that was um on the bargaining team for the district, my rockstar team back here along
065with Jen uh White from if we are grateful and so very thankful that we were not only heard but we were taken serious. And for this we are grateful. So that's all I'm gonna say. I'm not gonna say no more. >> A [laughter] [applause] I need to Oh. Oh, never mind. There you go. The minute I said it's not working. There we go. Um I just want to highlight um the respective bargaining team members. Um so Michelle, I'll have you go through your team if you would. >> For DEFUB, my team is yours truly, Michelle Mitchell. Uh, Jan White, IFT, AFT field service director, Kleta Murray, which is my awesome secretary. Shayen Shaw, who keeps our money in order, Aisha Deans, who show up when she can, [laughter] Susie Nissman, who is a rock star
066who came from DEA who has helped us tremendously. Chalet Gooden, which is my first born, who is our communications person, and Janet Lear who is my first vice. I am so grateful to each and every one of you. >> Can we have y'all stand please? Since you're here [applause] for the DPS negotiating team, u myself is the chair. David Braun is our attorney. Um your very own Mark Reynolds sat on our bargaining team. Did a fantastic job. Um our chief operations officer, sorry Mike, I got your title wrong on there. Um Deianne Hillman, um Dr. Sarah New, uh, Tasia Burks, Kathy Horath, and Liz Lang. So, thanks to everybody who was involved. Uh, just a few contract highlights. As you guys um see on the board agenda, it's a three-year contract effective July 1 through
067June 30th, 2028. There were 28 language items that we worked through and resolved. Um, there are approximately 314 DEFA members. The contract was ratified on June 28th, 2025 with a 99% approval. Um, so we're bringing it to you tonight for you to approve and ratify. In terms of the financials, um, there was a $1.50 raise added to the base for all three years. Making the new base step at step one was 60 hours, $2150. Can we answer any questions for you? And I just must I just want to say on behalf of the district, it was a very very pleasant bargain. We really enjoyed all the time we spent with these folks and we worked together really really well. So, thank you for that. I don't have a question, but I'd like to say thank
068you on behalf of the me and the board for everything that you do for students and our schools every day. >> You guys are amazing. >> We're good. >> Can I have a green? >> Thank you. [applause] >> Mr. Bradford, >> Mr. Wetszel, >> I >> Mr. Hail, >> I >> Mr. Reynolds, >> hi >> Dr. Loren. >> Hi, >> Mr. Cleger. >> Hi, >> and Mr. Joiner. I >> six I zero nay one absent. Motion carried. [applause] >> Okay, moving on to our announcements and upcoming dates. Uh condolences from the board of education. Um Martin C. Catmus passed away Wednesday July 16th. Mr. was the father of Kathy Hath, director of the Mon Patty Special Education District. Our condolences. Uh Brian S. Briggs passed away Saturday, July 26th. Mr. Briggs was a husband of
069Niola K. Briggs, classified staff secretary in the human resources department, and father of Zachary Briggs, our student interventionist behavior specialist at Steven Decator Middle School. Our condolences go out to both those families in uh these difficult times. Uh important dates coming up. A August 11th our building meetings. Uh August 12th teacher work day. August 12 K6 and K8 grades open houses. August 13th a red letter day here. First full day of school for 2526 school year. August 19th middle school openhouse. August 20th high school open houses. uh remind our parents to check with their local schools to confirm those times. Uh September 1st will be the Labor Day holiday. No school and district offices are closed that day. And September 17th is a district-wide half day half day. Uh check with your uh home school
070regarding the release times. Uh additional reminder, here we go again. My favorite part of the announcements, Wednesday, October 15th is the deadline for required immunizations and physicals for the 2025 2026 school year. You'll hear that one at every meeting going forward. >> Uh the next meeting, the public portion of the next regular meeting of the board of education will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, August 19th, 2025 at the Kyle Administration building. Uh do we have a motion to adjurnn? So >> move. Second. >> All in favor signify by saying I. >> I.