001I'd like to welcome everyone to the regular board of education meeting tonight, November 20th, 2025. Um, the board convened at 6 p.m. earlier tonight and moved immediately into close session. We're now reconvening back into open session after a quick pause. Um Kathy can now present uh stronger together 109. >> Is that right? Yeah. >> We did. >> Excellent. Um well, I'm going to turn it over to our friends at South Park. Marcy, you can start us off. >> South Park principal Marcy is going to microphone. >> Oh go together. Hello everybody. Um we're really excited to share with you about the Let Grow experience. Um this is something that is really meaningful to those of us who have been watching closely um and concerned about our kids growing levels of anxiety and some of the
002mental health concerns. And one of the ways that we can combat that is by giving kids more opportunities to be as independent as possible. Because there's nothing that's more anxietyprovoking than thinking you can't do anything on your own. When you know you can do things all on your own, you start to build confidence. This is actually a home program. So, not only are you going to get to hear from some of our amazing South Park students, but I'm going to invite their parents up because their their perspective is really important to help everybody understand the impact of the Leo experience. So, I'm also going to introduce Mrs. Kelly Jang. She is part of one of our committees that's leading this work at South Park. But the idea here is what's on the screen. When adults
003step back, the kids step up. And it all begins with a homework assignment where we ask our students, can you go home and do something new all on your own? So, Mrs. Jong, I'm gonna have you talk a little bit about this whole experience and how we've launched that at South Park. Okay. Sure. So, um, Let Grow is a project that is beyond just our school and our district. Um, we learned about it several years ago actually. Um but we uh on our goal four parent engagement committee, we put out monthly themes for let grow where the teachers can share some information um with their students. These are these have been our themes for September, October, November. And it's not a whole lot of information that they really cover in class because most of that
004goes out to the parents. And then at home, students are challenged to try something that maybe they have not tried before. Um especially something that they should be able to do on their own, but maybe they just for whatever reason have not tried yet. And so um we have some students with us today that have done that. All right, students. All right, can you all stand up and join me where I'm going to stand right next to you? Come on up. We're going to go down the line and you're all going to share your LetGrow project and what you learned from it. All right, Maggie, you ready? All right, tell them what you did. >> I loaded the dishwasher up by myself. >> Loaded the dish. And what did you learn from that or how
005did it make you feel? Um, it made me feel um happy and impressed. >> You're impressed with yourself. How do you think it made your parents feel? >> Good. >> I think so, too. All right, Willow, talk about your project, and then we'll let your brother share. So, um, for one of them, I unloaded and cleaned the dishes, and it made me feel really good, like I was the mom of the family. >> Do you agree, Izzy? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Talk about what you did cuz this is kind of a family affair in your house. >> Um, making eggs. It make me feel like happy [clears throat and snorts] and it made all my family happy. >> Yeah, I would be happy with your scrambled eggs, too. All right, Carter, we actually featured Carter
006on the morning announcements this morning and tell everybody, you've been working on this since kindergarten. You're now a first grader. So, talk about kind of what you started with with your LER project and how it's changed as you you've gotten older. Um, when I was in kindergarten, um, I started taking in the garbage. And now that I'm in fourth grade, I start taking in and out the garbage. >> I said, do you want to come to my house? I've been asking all of them. All right. So, the garbage goes in and out thanks to Carter. And then Miriam, your story is also I think I have to invite your mom up, but you tell kind of your LCRO project as a fourth grader and then we're going to we're going to tap mom. My LRO
007project as a fourth grader was um walking to school by myself as my September LRO project. It made me feel more confident than I than I did when before when I was in third grade. >> And have you also biked or just walked? >> Just walked. >> Okay. When the weather when the weather permits. This is my favorite quote from Miriam's mom. She text she emailed me and said, "I was a nervous wreck." So, I guess this was my let go project. I love that. >> I gotta You got to get on the mic because we're we're streaming this. >> So, um, thank you. I felt accomplished, too, you know, like I was like, "Oh, I did something." You know, I'm not being as overprotective of my kids. You know, it's she's my firstborn, so
008it was like, "Oh my goodness, I don't know if she reached." I just ran around the school afterwards to make sure she was there. I couldn't see her, but I knew, you know, Dr. Fouse knew she's walking to school and her teacher knew and they emailed me back. So, you know, it the first time was really uncomfortable, but then I realized that um we need to push them and we need to push ourselves as well. You know, if we're uncomfortable the first time around, it's going to get better. But that's where the real learning is. You know, when they're uncomfortable when we are, they're figuring things out on their own and they're going to just, you know, develop that confidence. And so we're hoping when the weather permits she will walk to school more and
009then also maybe to a couple of her friends houses. >> Great. >> Thank you for sharing that. And then other parents who want to share insights. I know Brooke Goldberg told me that um you said to me recently we use the the the language of let grow all the time in our house. You got to actually stand up here. So can you talk about that? >> Yes. Well, first I just want to say thank you to Dr. FA for bringing this to South Park. It has truly been life-changing for my family, but also for the broader community. So my friends and I literally h like have a hashtag # letrow and we say it all the time every single day to each other when we're trying to push each other to get outside of our
010comfort zone um and to encourage our student or children sorry to do things that might not be comfortable for them to like really empower them to be independent. Um, so for example, um, a lot of times when we're at restaurants or on Fridays, a lot of us try to maybe go to McDonald's after school to hang out. We'll encourage the children to go and order for themselves, right? So you'll go up to the counter and we're always like, "Let go, let grow, let go." Right? Like we're like pushing them, let grow and we're all screaming, #, let go and do it. So, it's become um just part of our vocabulary now in our family and I think in the broader South Park community. >> And you had a really great moment as a friend and
011neighbor encouraging somebody to let their own child let grow. So, this is where we're talking about this is not just you and your own child. We're part of a a a village, a community. And can you share that little anecdote from the other day where you >> you encouraged your friend to let go and let her daughter grow? >> Yes, it was a great story. Um, so we were at the park cuz it was a beautiful day last Friday. So we were at the park at South Park and one of the kids left their water bottle um in the school building. And so one mom goes, "Okay, I'm going to go with her to go get her water bottle." And I said, "Absolutely not. We're going to # letrow right now. This second grader can
012go and ring the doorbell and go ask, you know, Mrs. Newman to let her in and to go get her water bottle." And she's like, I don't know. She's I'm not going to be able to see her. I don't know that like it's safe. I'm like, "Safe? We're what? We're on school property. We're in Deerfield. We're fine." So, um, we really I looked at that mom and I said, "You're going to let her grow right now. She's going to do it." And then the child looked at me and goes, "Bro, come with me." And I said, "Absolutely not. If you want that water bottle before the weekend, you are going to do this on your own." And so the child went, she rang the doorbell. Miss Newman let her in. She got her water bottle.
013And the friend's looking at me and like, "It's been 3 minutes. I don't know if she's okay." I'm like, I promise you she's okay. Like, she's fine. And there, the child came right out holding the water bottle running. And I It was like a great example of just letting them grow. >> Thank you for sharing that. Um, so that's the idea. Independence leads to new problem solving, resilience, and joy. How did you all feel? Did you feel joyful and happy when you did your projects? >> Yeah. Are you going to keep doing them? >> Yes. >> Yeah. I think your parents would be sad if you didn't keep doing the the dishes and the and the cooking and the garbage and walking to school. These are amazing examples. Um, any other parents want to share
014their insights? Did we cover them? Go ahead. >> Yeah. Uh, I also want to say thank you to Dr. Fast and everyone at South Park. Um, Carter's been there through the early learners uh and everything up until now and it's uh it's been a great experience. So um so Carter, you know, it started with taking out the garbage and then we he wanted to do more. So we have the chore chart and he's doing additional things. His daughter Haley or my daughter Haley, his sister Haley, sorry, um is she wants to join in so she's doing it as well. So it's really just kind of spiraled similar um in a similar way to um being able to to do things for the family and uh you know it's it's it's a way for us to
015to let go as well. It's, you know, very different world than, uh, us growing up. Grab your bike and come back for dinner kind of thing. So, um, you know, I'm a true believer in, you know, you never learn how to get back up if you don't fall down. So, having to let them, uh, experience those things for themselves. >> Thank you so much. >> Oh, one last one. >> No, so just really fast. Um, one of the things that I've loved about this program is that the kids choose their own project each time. And it's been really fun to see what in what ways Maggie wants to become more independent. So, she actually walked to school by herself last year as a first grader. Now, we live a block and a half from school
016and I could see her almost the entire way. The only street she had to cross has a crossing guard. But still, it was building that confidence. It was being able to go walk the dog by herself and learn how to do those things. And every month, she's the one who who picks the project. It's not about what I think she needs to learn to do. It's what she wants to learn to do, which I just has been really meaningful. >> Thank you. All right, I will turn it over. Are there any questions from the board for students or parents? >> Well, I just want to say one of the things we're doing as a district is productive struggle. and this fits perfectly within it. I know this is a South Park specific project, but you
017know, hearing your stories both as parents and kids, it's perfect. I'm super excited at the potential and possibility that this could go to other schools in the district sometime soon. Um, and I appreciate you kiddos coming today and telling us these cool things you're doing. And I love get that you guys get to hear what each other are doing and maybe it gives you guys new ideas so that the community benefits as a whole from what all of you are doing. It's not just isolated in everyone's families. So really cool. Thank you guys for sharing. >> Love it. Um thank you for coming in students and telling us what you're learning to do through lect. I have a question for the students and then I have a question for um Marcy. Okay. >> So first
018is for Marcy. Did you have any push back initially when you rolled out LCRO, whether it was from the educators or from families and they were like, "We're not doing this because no push back." Um, the idea was actually brought to my attention by a former South Park parent uh back in 2019 um or 18 even. So, prior to the pandemic and it wasn't the right time for us, but we had a couple of teachers wanting to dabble in it. I think the timing was right and it was also really prominently featured in the anxious generation by Jonathan hate saying like hey this is a way that you can combat some of these challenges. So I wouldn't say any push back. I will say it is not something that's controlled by the school. It's a
019home project. So we can do the best we can as as school leaders and as teachers but we really are relying on the partnership of our families. And that's a little challenging. >> Yes. And so that's a perfect segue to ask the students. Okay. >> Was there anything that you wanted to do through LCRO where your parents said, "Nope, not doing that." >> Anyone want to share anything? >> Did you have a project [laughter] talking? >> Uh, I really wanted to uh bike to my cousin's new house because but it was over the highway. [laughter] >> That's a good example. Thank you. >> As a South Park parent, um I love this project so much. Uh we I know we talked about it years ago before you implemented it, but after I think the other
020parent shared it with you. It has been so cool to see the kids get into it. We've had to push ours a little bit to do it, but I I agree with the other parent who said that we're using the LetGrow in many other areas. When we see our kids not doing something, it's like let grow and then they they start to do it. I was at a party and you know it's like some kid asked can can you go help me get abandoned? I'm like they're you you can go do that. They're they're right there. And also I I feel the same feeling you felt cuz the first time we let our daughter ride her bike like from one part of the neighborhood to the other and like we didn't know where she was.
021She doesn't have a watch or a phone. So it's like [laughter] oh boy uh is she coming home and how is she going to know? And it's like what do I do if she doesn't? So that was that was for us, right? and she made it and it was cool. And since then it's been awesome to see their independence and I just love I love watching them try new things and feeling more independent because the confidence is just soaring which I think is awesome and I hope I hope you guys keep doing it and feel really good about the stuff that you're doing that you weren't able to do recently and now these things that you actually you probably always could you just haven't had the opportunity. So all these things that you're going to
022figure out that you can do is going to be really neat. >> So keep it up. Go team. >> Awesome. All right. >> I'll I'll be quick. Sorry. I just want to say congrats to the kids for all your new responsibilities that you're taking on. It's great. Um and really thank you to uh Dr. FA for part, you know, emphasizing that it is a partnership with parents and um I I know I try to think of productive struggle, but I really like just let grow because it it resonates with the kids easier. Um whereas you know if I'll say to my son you know productive it's like what huh mom but this just it resonates and I think it just gives that accountability. So thank you so much and congrats kids. So before we have
023a certificate for all of our students who shared their stories with us. I want to remind you that stronger together you passed a resolution um at the beginning of this school year. Stronger Together Deerfield a communitywide initiative. um you passed a resolution in support of stronger together and one of the action items that as a board you committed to with the help of our schools was to implement let grow in every one of our elementary schools. So South Park certainly is well underway but I think we'll hear from the other elementary schools throughout the year of their initiatives in this area. And so parents, please talk to your friends across the district about how well it's going. Okay, kids, when I call your name, will you come up and get a certificate? Then we want
024to take a picture of you. Is that okay? Is everyone okay being in a picture? Okay, Maggie. [laughter] >> That's a big chair. There you go, Willow. >> And stay here, Maggie. There you go. Izzy, Carter, and Miriam. And now we can give them a round of applause. [applause] And will you stand right there by the board so I can get a picture of you all together? Is that okay? Hi guys. You take a picture with us. >> All right. We'll do one with a certificate and one with us. >> Okay. Ready? >> One, two, three. And then if you'll hold your certificate down, we'll take one more. Okay. Thank you. [applause] >> Good job, guys. Thank you so much for coming. All right. Next on the agenda is the public hearing truth and taxation
025tax levy. The purpose of this hearing is to seek public comment on the district's one district's 2025 tax levy pursuant to the provisions of the Illinois opens Meeting Act. Notice was published in the local newspaper on November 13th, 2025. Hearing is now open at 7:21 p.m. Hearing requirements call for us to ask for comments three times. Does anyone wish to comment? Does anyone wish to comment >> audience? >> The audience >> on the on the tax levy? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> [clears throat] >> And if you you don't have to do it now, but fill this out so we have it for our records. But go ahead. >> Uh, good evening members of the board and administration. My name is Michaelitz. I am [clears throat] a resident of Gerfield and I I oppose the
026referendum. Uh I mean >> excuse me sir. So on the referendum this is for the tax levy for next year. The referendum you could there's going to be a moment for that at the end of the meeting for for public comment. So >> well I apologize. I'm not sure what the difference is. >> Sorry. Yeah. So the tax levy is for what what we're leving in terms of taxes for next year. The referendum is a separate subject associated to the to the tax levy. So, will there be opportunity to comment on that? >> Yes, you will. You'll still have an opportunity to comment. So, if you can fill out one of those uh those sheets and then you'll have an opportunity at the end of the meeting to to comment on the on the referendum.
027>> Okay. Thanks for explanation. >> You're welcome. >> That's fine. >> All right. And then the last the last uh opportunity. Does anyone wish to comment on the tax levy? All right. Thank you. The hearing is closed at 7:23 p.m. Next on the agenda, superintendent report. >> This is going to be short and sweet because we have a number of things to update everybody on relative to the referendum and the the conversation around that. So, this was the last couple weeks have been band and orchestra concerts. Uh these are both held at Shephard. Uh there'll be separate ones held at Caruso later on. Uh but uh one of these is one of my favorite meetings uh gatherings of the entire year. There must be I don't know four or 500 parents that come and uh
028we have one parent there in the center uh videotaping. I don't know who that might be. So uh proud parents all over the place. And one of the things I love about these board meetings is that we have the best seat in the house because we get to watch the parents watch their kids. And that for me is really one of the best things in life. And for our band and orchestra concerts every year, it's the fourth graders playing and they know how to open their instrument case and play three or four notes and every parent in the whole audience is standing there videotaping it and it's just fabulous. So, so we had that. >> If I could just take two seconds to shout out all the directors in band and orchestra uh across elementary
029and middle schools. It is remarkable uh how much growth the kids make between fourth grade band and eighth grade. It It's truly amazing and they are gifted teachers. >> I've been doing this for a long time and it never ceases to amaze me when the fourth graders play and they can literally play half dozen notes, right? And then fifth grade plays and they sound like a band or an orchestra all of a sudden. And then you get to the jazz bands and all that other stuff is just absolutely astounding. So wonderful teachers and proud parents and talented children. So what's not to like? We have coming up beginning tomorrow. One of the benefits of being on the school board is the opportunity to continue learning from each other and from other board members from around
030the entire state of Illinois. tomorrow and Saturday and Sunday, the board will head down to uh the a number of hotels down in the the center city for the statewide joint conference and uh have an opportunity to break bread, but also there are a lot of learning sessions going on. I think uh one of them has a session on school finance beginning at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. Another one on uh what's the one that you're going to Ry? You're going to one I think too. I can't remember what it was. You're going to >> Fierce Conversations. Any number of different special sessions that folks are going to. Uh then we'll disperse around the various opportunities. So, and then we also have our president joining the advocacy uh aspect of the conference, the delegate assembly, which the
031first time ever the pressure is on. So, uh, that is an annual conference, uh, downtown Chicago. So, thanks to the board for taking time away from work or and or family, uh, to serve the community. All right. Next on the agenda is community participation relative to matters on the meeting agenda. And just for clarity sake, sir, that this is the the referendum is not on the agenda. So it'll be is it? >> Yeah. >> Oh, okay. So actually he can comment on this one. Okay. All right. So this 109 has two opportunities for public comment where many organizations offer only one opportunity. Our policy stems from the community's long-standing commitment to public discourse and representation. Take all public comment very seriously. While public comment isn't a back and forth, but instead an opportunity for the
032board to listen. Please know we listen very carefully. First pre period of community participation is solely for items related to the meeting as a meeting's agenda. And on the second period of community participation near the end of the meeting, it's open for all matters. If you wish to comment, please fill out a community participation form located on the podium and hand it to Rebecca Rudd. Um we will call you up one at a time in the podium to speak and please limit the length of all comments to no more than 3 minutes. Sir, actually this is your opportunity. We I'm sorry. I apologize. I thought I thought it was at the end, but this is an opportunity. >> Thank you so much. >> Um so yes, my name is Mike Khif. I'm a resident of
033Deerfield and um you know my kids used to go to Caruso school and while of course it's awesome to be in Deerfield everybody knows our schools are very well ranked and uh colleges know Deerfield High School by name so that's great um but I think that this referendum is really coming at the wrong time and specifically let me just maybe speak from a point of view of a taxpayer um and you're all very much involved in the school and you know all the details from the school administration's point of view and the teachers union point of view um but I [clears throat] don't know if you really hear a lot of pe perspectives from taxpayers point of view which is that uh one you know on a 2400 foot house it's already at uh $15,000
034a year property tax payment between all of the taxing bodies, [clears throat] you know, the high school, the village, the library, the 109 district. So, $15,000 is a lot. In fact, we have friends who have [clears throat] moved back to Green Bay, Wisconsin from Deerfield a couple of years ago, and they're paying $4,000 in property taxes and they not complaining about their schools at all. Uh, so 15,000 is different from 4,000 by a lot, right? That's like um somewhere between 25 and 33% that [clears throat] they're paying in Wisconsin. Um my monthly mortgage just went up by $300 a month just this month. Uh specifically because of escrow payments with the higher uh property insurance prices and some of the other tax increases that other bodies have put in. Um, you know, I think there
035well over like 10 different property taxing bodies on my um county bill that shows up for property taxes and I think [clears throat] yours is the largest one, larger than the high school and I saw in the survey that just happens also to show up today. So, my mortgage statement showed up a few days ago with an extra $300 a month, and the survey showed up today where I saw that there were two options. The second one being a total rebuildable four schools and it doesn't sound like it's going to cost only $678 per $10,000 of tax money. Now, um, if you, and I feel like that's a little bit of a scare tactic, saying that, well, if you don't vote for this small referendum, then we're going to shut down all four schools and
036rebuild all four schools at the same time, which sounds like it's could raise our taxes by, you know, 50% or something like that given the fact that you guys have to use all unionized contractors to build everything. So, I think that um you know, if we see what's happening in Chicago now with the mayor of Chicago giving away so much money to Chicago teachers union and trying to pass this tax per head where >> Well, that's very sorry. Anyway, I'll just finish last sentence where um you know companies like McDonald's are probably going to pull out of Chicago because of the taxes and people might not be able to afford to pay property taxes in deer anymore. Thank you. >> Thank you, sir. Appreciate. Right. Uh, next on the agenda,formational items. Uh, 8.1 redefined 109.
037>> Kath. >> Sure. >> Okay. Um, just an update on the [clears throat] information sessions we had throughout um, October, September, October. Sorry, you're not on. >> 381 um people attended our in-person information sessions throughout September and October. Um we had 70 people live on our virtual information session um that we recorded and put on the website and have since had 148 views on that. Um, so we've done our due diligence and reaching out to the community with information um about the proposed possible referendum. Um, we mailed out three mailers, two newsletters and the survey to 7,900 registered voter households um who receive those. And in addition, um, a text message went out, I think today, um, and maybe last week as well, um, to encourage that feedback. Um, as you know, that survey is
038something that, um, will help you understand the community's feelings about um, the referendum. Um, but since our last meeting, we've had the Wilmmont Saturday information session. We had a Chamber of Commerce lunch and learn um with local realtors and then our final session at Walden um as well as that virtual session and you all have been out in the community. So, it's your time to share what you may have heard. Uh we've already heard from a community member this evening. Um, but what are you hearing about the information we shared and the possibility of the referendum proposal? >> I can start. I was at the Walden, the final info session at Walden and I've had an opportunity to speak um individually with some community members. Um, one of the questions raised was if the board
039chooses not to put this on the referendum um or chooses not to put the referendum on the ballot, excuse me, uh, then what happens to our schools? So, uh, just some questions raised about what plan B could or might look like for our properties. Um, another question was, uh, how are costs calculated to get the total referendum amount? Um, and are all is everything been contemplated in that all-in cost? And it was helpful to have, uh, John at the Walden info session. I think people got some good answers there, but I'm assuming that's part of the FAQs on the website. um uh questions about can we do something less expensive and that in uh other communities the total referendum was spread across more households because those communities had more uh taxpayers and more homes or
040larger communities. Um and the other question that I got asked twice was why aren't we spreading this project across a longer period of time? Um, again, John and Mike being at the Walden meeting, it was helpful for them to provide some answers to the people that asked them. Um, and then finally, is there a timeline associated with getting village and zoning approval for everything related to the construction projects? So, those were a couple of things that floated to the top >> and I was at the same meeting and I heard all of those as well as one other thing that was interesting that kept coming up was is this a done deal at this point? We are have we already made our decision? Is there any more opportunity for community input? A lot of people
041wanted to know, would there be any more reaching out? Um, but yeah, a lot of people were kind of under the opinion that maybe this was we were not necessarily listening, but we really are. And that's important that I want to say that out loud. I know we're not going to answer a lot of these things today, but yeah, this it is still we are looking to hear from the community still about what people are thinking. And this is not a done deal at this point. >> Yeah. And I think I think that's an important point for those that are watching um on the stream. You know, I and I've been voicing this in several meetings that Mike and I have had with say with say PTO's and and others. Um you know, the the
042decision to put the referendum on the ballot is still not a decision that we have made which will happen in December. Um I will say this though is I think um you know there is an understanding of this board and anybody can pipe in if they feel differently but I believe um this is accurate that we recognize that there is something that we need to do right that an action of doing nothing is actually worse um a worse decision and so uh I think it's it's probably appropriate you know to I I can understand the p the perception from the community that you know a decision is a foregone conclusion but that's not necessarily the case but we still have to evaluate some of the information and the most important thing is really in the
043survey to get the feedback and comments from community right so we can make an informed decision in summer >> I um I attended the last virtual session and the only virtual session that we had uh what I thought was very fascinating was it was online and we had a lot of questions come in during the meeting during at the chat box. And my favorite part about all of that was the engagement that we saw from people that joined the virtual meeting. Like asking questions in real time was pretty cool. But more importantly, all of the well, I would say 95% of the questions asked had been asked already and we had them on our Q&A. So it's none of the questions are unique, right? How does this impact our taxes? What is the timeline? Um
044how are the students going to be shuttled back and forth? what's going to happen to their learning. All of that is found on our website. And so I just wanted to acknowledge, you know, Kathy, thank you for hosting these events. I think they were really important to hear all voices and the fact that if you weren't there, it's okay because we do have the information that lives on our Redefin 109 website. and I was at the uh Chamber of Commerce lunch. Um because they were obviously focused on the value of the houses and and kind of how they were going to bring new residents in. Um [clears throat] first one was just the tax implications and the duration, understanding how long it would stay on people's taxes. Um another big one was understanding if all
045the new construction that's coming in, was that taken into account in all the planning? And John did a great job of assuring them it was. Um, and then lastly, they all did go on a tour like any other and we did air at Walden and everybody got to look up and understood why we were doing it pretty quickly. So, um, it was good feedback all around. >> Um, [clears throat] I'll, um, I was, um, I attended a few of them. I think um, two in person and I attended the virtual. I I just want to comment and commend [clears throat] Kathy and the administration on how from the early stage from one of the early sessions how you really evolved you know presenting and how you worked and communicating with the community um is I
046think the Walden one the first Walden one was just really it was just a lot of folk we were answering um individual questions and we were taking longer times and so we were able to really have more one-on-one conversations with other members in the later sessions. And so I really like that. So I want to just commend and and comment that that really made a difference. Um and I think some of the questions that I've been asked is, you know, um have I have I paid for the last referendum? That was one question. Um and then the same question that Kelly received, well, what happens if this doesn't pass? Um, and then a few surprising comments was what referendum, you know, and um, and I think a lot of that is I have to remember
047that as my children are aging out of 109, you tend to focus on where your kids are going. And so I am fortunate to have younger kids still. Um, and so it's really good to have that engaging conversation with friends who may be exiting the district just to let them know it's still going to impact them. And so I think it's just been overall very good conversations with any everybody and I just want to thank you guys for all the work you put into it. So >> okay. So what's next? Um the poll that is out there now um closes on November 22nd, but surveys that are received um by December 1st will be included in the analysis. Um the referendum task force will reconvene in December to review that data, the other input that
048we've received um through thought exchange and through comments in the community. Um and they'll make a recommendation to Mr. Simick to bring to the board. Um the board will also have time in a committee the whole meeting to review all of that data and then the board vote um will be at the December 18th meeting. So um if the board chooses to put the referendum on the ballot either in its current form or make some revisions um election day is March 17th. Um and we'll have more information sessions. We'll do it all over again because our goal is to make sure that every community member has an opportunity to understand the impact on their personal situation on the community um and make an informed vote in March. Um we'll keep the website up to date
049at dps109.org/redefine. We'll continue updating um those asked and answered pages. Um and as we get further along along there will be more of those and we'll continue to do that. Um but the district will provide information only as we have done. Um there citizens can advocate one way or the other but the district will inform. >> All right. Anything else? >> All right. Next on the agenda, freedom of information requests. John. Yeah, there's five in your packet. I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. Any questions on the FOS? All right. Uh, acceptance of fiscal year 25 audit. Yeah, the finance committee met earlier this evening and our lead auditor from uh Lauderbach and Aean was on hand to present the audit of the 2425 uh school year. Uh we received their highest
050opinion which is an unqualified opinion clean audit. Um like to thank Ben Casti who is uh really stepped up and uh he took the lead on working with the audit firm on this one. Did a great job. >> Just want to congratulate you on being unqualified. Well well done to the entire finance department. >> A lot of lot of heat coming in tonight. Yeah. [laughter] It's a really it's a real tough honor. Um but in all sincerity um what are we at? money or how many I know this at the balance budget, but how many years ongoing now has it been for that particular acknowledgement? >> Uh uh we've we submit we go further than the annual audit and we submit an annual comprehensive financial report that we submit to blind peerre by two different
051entities and we've in excess of 10 years received recognition. >> Incredibly impressive and and not a light lift. So thank you. >> Um I have a question for you. When you submit, do we also receive um do you also do peer reviews of other districts? >> We don't. Okay. So, um the two entities that we work with are the Association of School Business Officials International and the Government Finance Officers Associations. >> They have um folks that apply to be on those committees. Okay. And so, um we submit and they're, you know, uh group of qualified folks that will review it and offer us comments so that we can improve our report year-over-year. >> Okay. Thanks. Just curious. >> Would you like to apply to be on that committee? [laughter] >> No. No. I mean, I
052just just curious. >> I'm just kidding. All right. Uh, next on the agenda, uh, FY26 school maintenance grant. >> Will we do this one each year? Uh, the state of Illinois, uh, will, uh, match, uh, or will give us up to $50,000 if we have, uh, $100,000 or more of qualifying maintenance projects to do. uh we deliberately will identify more than $100,000 to make sure that we have uh enough in maintenance projects that we are uh we know are coming our way so that we can recapture these dollars. But the board needs to approve the maintenance grant for us to recapture those dollars from the state. >> Yep. All right. And then uh any questions? >> No questions. But did we I guess it was a question. Did we get last year's like all Well,
053we asked. Cool. Thanks. >> All right. uh recommendation for Cisco secure access. >> Yeah, this is one from our outsourced IT provider recommending that we make a cyber security posture improvement. Um and then we vetted this recommendation further uh by another third party, the learning technology center, and we're recommending that we execute a three-year agreement for Cisco Secure Access. Any questions? All right. a recommendation to resend district 109's previously approved resolution with an effective date of July 1, 2026 to withdraw from True North Educational Cooperative. Mike, >> yeah, stay tuned on this one. It is at the moment in our best interest to remain in the co-op in part because there is not a uh membership fee at this time that uh the co-op is guaranteed for the coming year but also that uh our
054ability to withdraw would not have been feasible according to the state board of eds timeline. So uh we do have a number of questions while we will be in the co-op for the coming year. where we do have a number of questions that we'll be posing to the co-op and then uh considering from there what is in the best interest of 109. 4 this year along with uh a number of other districts who have submitted uh their uh application uh their resolution to withdraw from the co-op. Uh we are uh I recommend that we resend that for the coming year and then uh see how things uh shake out. >> Would it be would I add some color if I do my committee update now? Yep. Um, we had a True North board meeting last
055night. Um, wish you all were there. Uh, two things of note. One is after an extensive amount of work by the reorganization committee, the True North administration, and several different lawyers, the brand new articles of agreement, which at one point they were trying to redline the old ones, and then it turned all red, so they just made new ones, um, finally got adopted. It was a huge lift, and everyone was very excited about it. So, that was unanimously adopted last night. It changes the governance structure uh predominantly over to the superintendent in the region. Governing board will still convene for school code related requirements, things like passing budgets and employing the executive director. Um but certainly an exciting moment considering several months ago uh the conversation was solely based on dissolution of the cooperative and
056so for the kiddos that are served through True North um this was certainly a really important evening. Um, in addition to that, we took a non-binding straw poll of all 18 member districts to determine given the data they have to date and the passing of the new articles, would they consider staying in or withdrawing? And so, out of the 18, uh, district 34, which has always been in the withdrawal process and had already been granted withdrawal through the state, um, stated that they are continuing to pursue that July 1st, 2026 withdrawal that they've been granted. One district said that they are undetermined at this time. and then the remaining 16 all indicated that they're staying in the cooperative. Um, so that was Can I answer any other questions? >> Was the was the driver of
057the 16 and you may not know the answer and that's okay too, but was the driver of the 16 um moving towards the co-op again because of the membership fee? Was that a big article of agreement push and lift? >> Sure. I think it was likely one of the biggest driving factors. I think the uh individual districts had indicated that they um wanted some more autonomy over the decision-m of their students and their relationship with True North. And by having an uh pay as you go, I guess for lack of a better term, um model, you get to make the choices within the cooperative that work best for your district and your students, and you pay for what you're using. Um, >> so for districts that are heavily entwined with True North and leverage their
058services and programs quite frequently, they will pay for that. And for certain districts that may only have one student needing the services that year, they'll pay proportionally for that. >> Got it. So with the new articles, do we know um the implications if we stay in it, what the financial impacts will be tomorrow versus what we know today and what we pay today? >> Are you talking about specific to withdrawing at any point? Yes. So, uh, per the new articles, any future, um, um, resolutions to withdrawal on behalf of districts, you would be, should you be granted that, uh, withdrawal, you would be forfeiting all your rights to the assets of True North, but there will also be no um, liabilities assessed to you other than if your district has committed towards an FTE. So,
059for example, if we had a student going to True North and for the 2728 school year we committed to 1.0 FTE for that student, we'd have to finish that commitment. That's a commitment we made. Otherwise, there's no auxiliary uh liabilities that we'd have to pay out. >> I heard Mike you say something around the state wouldn't allow us to withdraw. Is tell me more about that cuz like it went to 16 people that are saying stay in. Are we in because the state won't allow us to withdraw or because >> Yeah, I think I probably didn't express that as clearly as I wanted to. So, there is a process that you go through in order to withdraw and there's there's a a timeline that you have to meet. So, you have to have certain meetings,
060you have to submit certain reports and so on and so on. And uh the conversations that we had with them is you are not uh because of the the time of year uh for 2026, you're not going to have sufficient time to meet all of these obligations. Uh and you know the the wheels to the bureaucracy turn slowly in Springfield. And so uh because of that uh there's no point in us trying to pursue that. would be a lot of missspent or wasted effort trying to exit on 2026. Right. >> And can I just add we we anticipated that could be a concern because when we submitted we were one of the very few districts who did not follow the suggested 18-month timeline um and had had pushed that. So that was not >> necessarily
061surprising for us to hear. And then you know um we'll continue to try and get any remaining questions answered. and they've been really great about trying to get us the information if they have it. Um, and then, you know, come back to the board if we decide that we would need to consider um, submitting another petition potentially for a future date and that would need to follow the 18-month timeline. So, just keep that in mind. >> So, to hit the 7127, [clears throat] we would need to know like a month. >> We would probably be speaking to you again in December. Okay. In all transparency, because that would need to be um, submitted by January. >> Yeah. And that submission would be we would forfeit any assets. >> Correct. >> Um okay. So this um
062us >> Rosie, I apologize for interrupting you. You're forfeiting potential assets because you would only be uh privy to them should the district dissolve and then sell the property. >> Okay. >> So for example, if a district withdraws there there was never a slice of assets that were handed to you in the first place. It was only upon dissolution of the full cooperative. And if the cooperative never dissolves, then there weren't assets for you to get in the first place. So, >> okay. Um, and then us rescending now, I guess I'm trying to follow this. Um, does not mean that we won't do it again in the future. >> It is possible. Yes. Yeah. So, we're going to submit these questions and there are a number of outstanding and important questions and we want to
063see what sort of response we get to those. One of those is for example is there going to be a reinstatement of a membership fee, right? And what are our potential financial obligations going forward? How is a financial model going to work? because the financial model is effectively guaranteed for the coming year but years out there's some questions about its viability and we want some asurances on that because if there is not a membership fee um it it is effectively a very sound insurance policy for us because we have a a placement for a child should we should we need one >> but if there's a membership fee um we We received so few services from the co-op that it's been a lot of expenditure for a limited amount of services that we got. >>
064Okay. Um and then so I think I I I appreciate that answer and just trying to think ahead like even with like a 5-year window for them. I mean to completely remove this you know membership fee has to have a huge impact on their revenue and how are they projecting out you know at least 5 years down the road whereas as you said how do we guarantee that we're not going to get hit with another very large membership fee like what's the wording and I probably am getting too detailed of this new um >> yeah just on the highest level um the state provides EBF evidence-based funding and that goes to the cooperative and so that is going to be used for I guess what lack of a better term fixed costs >> associated with
065the cooperative and then the rates that you would pay. Okay. So, for example, if you have a student attending NSA, a Northshore Academy, there would be a rate for that student to attend and that rate would capture not only the cost of the student attending, but would also capture auxiliary costs. For example, um a portion of paying for the executive director or uh PP&E plant, what is PPE? Plant property and equipment. Thank you. A slice of pie for that. So the rates uh upcoming will be higher than the rates in the past, but you're also not paying a membership fee, >> right? So we're paying the service for >> you're paying directly for that child to take advantage of that program >> and they're also receiving a reimbursement as well. >> Well, there's also John
066the um POS, you know how like districts can apply for the statebased do you know what I'm talking about? >> So because it's now that it used to be only when we I Yeah, I'm on a roll with the final [laughter] >> could be answering the wrong question, but previously we could submit um for some reimbursement, not entirely if a student was placed at a private therapeutic day or a residential placement. Um that legislation changed. I think this is the first or second school year where now we get some reimbursement for public which is Northshore Academy. So yes, that the tuition is projected to increase based on what Kelly is sharing because you're also covering some of the the costs. Um, but you would we would still be get some reimbursement back. >> So, we
067would potentially get that reimbursement from the state and True North gets the evidence-based funding to help offset basically running the cooperative. So, there's kind of money flowing in two ways. >> Rosie, you're spot on with one of the questions that we're looking to get some more detailed actual, you know, specific financial projections is, you know, past this upcoming school year. >> Will that EBF be sufficient to maintain, you know, their kind of static costs, you know, that they know, >> right? Because I'm sure they're incurring a lot of costs here. So, um, and one last thing, Kelly, thank you for all your work you're doing on this. >> It's You can thank Mike soon for all of his work. He'll be attending monthly meetings. >> I received a dozen invitations for [laughter] meetings. >> There
068you go. >> Yeah. You stole my thunder a little bit, but uh, no, I wanted to thank Kelly for sure. >> All our work. It's It was an I mean, we've had multiple multiple conversations about this and it's incredible. It's an incredible amount of work that happened in a very short period of time and it was in a very stressful I think environment for um True North and with Kelly at the head of um that board um I think was in a often time awkward position um that I think she navigated u beautifully and I think there's a lot they owe to her leadership for getting um getting to the getting the district in the position that they're in today and to continue to exist. exist, which was not always a given or a guarantee.
069So, um, thank you for all that work. It was an incredible amount of time that you had to put in to do to do that. >> It's very kind and flattering of you and just to continue to pass on that credit where credit's due. The two new interim superintendents, Dr. Ganell and Mr. Nelson, are absolutely incredible. They have lifted so much in the past few months. And then the superintendents that have served on the reorganization committee while they were, you know, opening the doors to their classrooms and districts on the first day of school in August were simultaneously up all night doing these reorganization plans. So, a lot of people put in a lot of effort to get the cooperative where it is. And, you know, while we as a district may not fully understand
070our relationship long term, I think it's an exciting moment for the cooperative and and for many districts that rely heavily on their services, this was a really big deal last night. So, Okay. Anything else? All right. Next on the agenda, action items. Consent agenda 9.1.1 Approval of meeting minutes. Committee of the whole minutes, regular meeting minutes, and close session meeting minutes from October 16th, 2025. Policy 2 col 220 9.1.2 Personnel 9.1.2.1 Resignations retirements policy 5210 9.12.2.2 2 leave of absence policy 5 col 250 9.1.2.3 employment of certified staff I don't know I don't have to say the policy right um >> you don't have to >> yeah 9.1.24 employment of educational support staff 9.1.2.5 employment of at will staff 9.1.3 bills for payment may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda >> so
071move call please >> Dr. Mr. Dornfeld. >> Hi, >> Miss Jakamu. >> Hi, >> Miss Joyce. >> Hi, >> Mr. Murev. >> Hi, >> Mr. Abraham. >> I >> Miss Bonner, >> hi. >> And President Quell. >> Hi. >> Motion carries. >> 9.2. Treasures report. May I have a motion to approve? So move. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Miss Jakamu. >> I. >> Miss Joyce. >> Hi. >> Mr. Merv. >> Hi. >> Mr. Abraham. >> Hi. >> Miss Bonner. >> Hi. >> Dr. Dornfeld. >> Hi. >> And President. >> I. Motion carries. >> All right. 9.3. Recommendation to accept fiscal year 25 audit. May I have a motion? So moved. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Miss Jakamu. >> Hi. >> Miss Joyce. >> Hi. >> Mr. Mira. >> Hi. >> Mr.
072Abraham. >> Hi. >> Miss Bonner. >> Hi. >> Dr. Dornfeld. Hi. >> And President F. >> Hi. [snorts] >> Motion carries. >> 9.4 resolution approving aggregate levy for the year 2025. May I have a motion? >> So move. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Miss Joyce. >> I. >> Mr. Murray. Hi. >> Mr. Abraham. >> Hi. >> Miss Bonner. >> Hi. >> Dr. Dornfeld. >> Hi. >> Miss Jakamu. >> Hi. >> And President Quell. >> Hi. >> Motion carries. 9.5 resolution authorizing a supplemental property tax levy to pay the principal and interest on outstanding limited bonds of district 109. May I have a motion to approve, please? Move. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Mira, >> Mr. Abraham. >> Hi. >> Miss Bonner. >> Hi. >> Dr. Dornfeld. Hi. >> Miss Jakamu.
073>> Hi. >> Miss Joyce. >> Hi. >> And President Qu. >> I. >> Motion carries. >> 9.6. Resolution authorizing levy for special education purposes. >> May I have a motion, please? >> So move. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Dr. Abraham. >> Hi, >> Miss Bonner. >> Hi, >> Dr. Dornfeld. >> Hi, >> Miss Jakamu. >> Hi, >> Miss Joyce. >> Hi, >> Mr. Mir. >> Hi, >> and President Quell. >> Hi. >> Motion carries. >> 9.7 recommendation for the board to take action to approve a resolution to rescend district 109's previously approved resolution on June 17th, 2025 to withdraw from the new True North Educational Cooperative with an effective date of July 1st, 2026. We have a motion to approve the resolution tonight rescending the intent to withdraw with an effective date
074of July 1st, 2026 from True North. >> So move. Second >> roll call, please. >> Miss Bonner, >> I. >> Dr. Dornfeld, >> hi. >> Miss Jakamu, >> hi. >> Miss Joyce, >> hi. >> Mr. Mira, >> hi. >> Mr. Abraham, >> I. >> President Cole, >> I. >> Motion carries. >> All right. Uh, next on the agenda is committee reports. >> Um, I should have given my report earlier when we reviewed. Um but we had our finance committee meeting tonight where we reviewed um our audit that we just um approved. Um but I think I just want to comment you know that it's really you know it was a very glowing report as mentioned earlier. Um but the audit really ensures that we are doing our due diligence that we are looking at the
075processes we are listening to the recommendations of the auditor. Um, and also looking ahead, um, I do want to comment that, um, besides getting a glowing report that we were awarded, um, was it I have our little I printed out today. Um, the certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting, which I think is very impressive. and also the Association of School Business Officials International awarded the district the certificate of excellence in financial reporting. Um, and I really do think that these are excellent things to see, you know, in our board packet knowing that John and Ben are doing an excellent job. So, thank you so much. >> That's all I have. >> Any other reports? >> The policies needed next month. >> All right. Uh, next on the agenda is the second opportunity for
076community participation. We take all public comments very seriously and while public comment isn't a back and forth, but instead an opportunity for the board to listen, please know that we listen carefully. The second period of community participation near the end of the meeting is open for all matters. If you wish to comment, please fill out a community participation form located on the podium and hand it to Rebecca Rudd. We will call you up one at a time the podium to speak. Please limit the length of all comments to no more than 3 minutes. And we'll call Joseph Copsic. >> Is it good, guys? >> Go into a locker room with opposite sex children and adult strangers. They'll be fine. Are these kids, these seven-year-olds walking in here, are do they know they'll have to share
077locker rooms with opposite sex kids in a couple years? I don't think so. This is not informed consent. We heard one parent say tonight, "Everyone knows it's not as safe as a world as it used to be when you could ride your bike to school." And then they jump straight to, "So, you better let your kid ride their bike to school." It's like, "Go, Johnny. Get past those kidnappers. Go." Uh, what is the line of thinking here? If we try to watch our kids all the time, then the kidnappers win because we're living in fear. My mom took her eyes off me and I got raped in our basement by my dad when I was eight and nine. He's a lawyer. Richard Escopsic, who defends accused child molesters for a living. But he was also
078a school board member just like you guys, except in Lake Bluff. So don't think for a second that your associates aren't capable of such a thing. My parents were watching me when my dad's friend grabbed my ass at his at his pool parties in the '90s. Scott Gibson, watching or not watching your kids are not guarantees that your kids won't be abused. If you're not going to watch your kids, then don't have kids. But I came here to talk about Asher McMaher, one of the biggest proponents of the uh the boy who went into the girls locker room, who characterized what happened to the boy as an attack, [gasps] even though he arguably attacked the girls by committing voyerism, not accusing the kid of the attack. I think the uh parents of the boy should
079be investigated. So Asher Mcmah is a trans transgender individual who is married and has two children, serves as the founder and executive director and a board member for the transgender rights advocacy organization, TransUPfront Illinois. Mcmahar lives in Berwin and used to be named either D or Ray. D and Ray McMar are married and are both transgend trans transgender and they have two kids who are transgender. What are the odds? The title of the article I found that out in SCMP.com. The title of the article is meet the world's youngest transgender model which just means drag queen Noela Mcmah. The 10-year-old is about to walk the at New York Fashion Week, knew her gender identity before age three and is already an LGBT activist. The parents refer to Noella's youngest younger sibling as a they be
080like they and baby. So, these are your allies. This is how Asher McMar is raising their kids. Members of the school board, this child has been modeling since the age of seven. We know from Jeffrey Epstein's links to Victoria's Secret owner Leslie Wexner that the modeling world is no place for minors. While it's true that no child has been molested at a drag queen story hour, the first child drag queen in America, Desmond Desmond is amazing Naples was likely drugged with rofies and then sexually assaulted by a transvestite drug addict named Michael Alec, the subject of the film Party Monster and the inspiration for the character Stefan on Saturday Night Live. This is the legacy and history of successful child involvement in drag in this country. Being transgender used to be about transcending gender. Now
081it seems to be about focusing on gender non-stop, objectifying your children, getting away with it by calling it self-expression. You have no idea what you may be enabling here. >> Thanks, Jeff. All right. Next on the agenda, um, board superintendent other, >> I've got one. I'd like to say thank you to uh John and Kathy [snorts] for a huge amount of public engagement and repeated presentations all over the community and say thanks to the board members for uh their attendance and their uh careful listening skills to the community. And one of the things we learned in conversation with our PTO representatives is uh the when the surveys arrived in homes, absolutely no one was surprised. And so one of the rules in marketing is after you hear something six times, you begin to listen. And
082it's clear that the me our message has gotten through. And it wasn't uh for lack of of trying to make all that happen. So great work. and uh you know well begun is half done and next up is to find out what the polling looks like and to process it with the task force. >> Um I just want to give Kathy a shout out. I got my board journal and I was reading it and I [clears throat] was reading something that I hadn't seen who was attributed to what was being like said. So I'm going we do this in our district and then it literally says Kathy Kadigian and I went well the more you know. Um, so kudos to you for participating in this article, but the whole I don't know if the board
083members have had a chance to read theirs yet. This whole uh IASB journal has been really helpful. It's all about community communications. So, congrats to Kathy. >> All right, so I'm going to couple things. So, triple eye, just for all the board members, 3:30 p.m. is the first session tomorrow. So, might want to get down a little early to get checked in. there's a long line usually to get checked in so plan accordingly. Um I know I thanked Kelly earlier for the her work on True North, but I also want to thank um all the administrators and Mike and Joanna. I know behind the scenes you guys did a lot of work as well um associated with it. I I I can't, you know, say enough. I think all of us on the board have
084had the conversation that we know that there are kids that are serviced by that district that that in districts that absolutely need those services. So the fact that a solution was um arrived at that continues the existence of that district is a good thing um and a positive thing something that we all wanted despite our um our decision to withdraw from the district at that time. So um thank you guys for for that work. Um congratulations John again every year right continue to keep it going right. Um and then finally I attended a session with Danielle on AI last was it last week? Yeah. Yeah. Two weeks ago. Yeah. Um I will say this is that one takeaway that I took from that I took away from that was that the kids know more than
085we do. And so um it was extremely impressive to hear the kids' views on AI and their perception of adults and how we believe they are using AI versus how they're actually using AI. Um so um I'm excited to hear any additional outcomes that come from that. Um, I think it is a critical topic that we will need to address in the coming or in the very near future. Um, and I hope to hear more from the kids to be honest with you to see what else they think. Right. Anything else? >> Question of the day. >> I don't have a question of the day. >> H I know. >> I mean, I did have one, but I can't remember who said it. I think they somebody asked the kids what they were going to
086do next for their parents. So, it's a good one. I need to ask my kids what they're going to do for me next. Um and then uh so [laughter] >> next on the agenda uh we're going to go back into close session to discuss discuss the appointment employment compensation discipline or performance or dismissal of specific employees specific individuals who serve as independent contractors in a park recreational and educational setting or specific volunteers of the public body or legal counsel for the public body including hearing testimony on on a complaint lodged against an employee employee. a specific individual who serves as an independent contractor in a park, recreational, or educational setting or a volunteer of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity. However, a meeting to consider an
087increase in compensation to a specific employee of a public body that is subject to the local government wage increase transparency act may not be closed and shall be open to the public and posted and held in accordance with this act 5 LC 5c120/2 C1. The board will reconvene to open session for the sole purpose of adjournment. May I have a motion to adjurnn into close session? >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Dr. Dornfeld. >> Hi. >> Miss Jakamu. >> Hi. >> Miss Joyce. >> Hi. >> Mr. Mira. >> Hi. >> Mr. Abraham. >> Hi. >> Miss Bonner. >> Hi. >> And President Cole. >> Hi. Motion carries 8:11