001There was a >> Mhm. >> Right. Good evening, everyone. I would like to call this meeting to order today, May 20th, 2026 at 6:12 p.m. Can I have a roll call, Madam Secretary? Sure. [snorts] Um, Michael Almiller is um absent with notice. Denise Jones. >> Yes. Rachel Merriken. Yes. David Shepherd. Yes. Lauren Dowden. Present. Dr. Michael Thomas is absent with notice. And O'Neal Gray. Here. I have a quorum. All right. And can we stand for the Pledge of Allegiance? 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. All right. Um I would like to amend the agenda. I have an addition under section nine, action items A, consent agenda seven, personnel recommendations, A,
002additions. Uh I would like to add number seven, Allison Hanson, seventh grade math teacher, effective August 11th, 2026. Can I have a motion to approve the agenda as amended? I'll make the motion. Second. Okay. Rachel Merriken. Yes. Lauren Dowden. Yay. Denise Jones. Yes. David Shepherd. Yes. Dr. Michael Thomas. I is I absent. Oops. O'Neal Gray. Yay. All right. Motion passed. I think I killed those guys off. All right. Moving on to the staff reports and I'll turn it over to >> order. Well, I wanted to make a request for the agenda. You just approved the agenda. We approved the agenda and Who's going to work it. And whatever you like to do we'll do it toward the end. And you still have your opportunity to speak. Okay. First up we're actually going to do our
003Evergreen Park Library update. So Mr. Frank Murray, welcome, welcome. Thank you very much. District 124 Board of Education, thank you for allowing me to be here. First of all, I just want to give a shout out not only to Ms. Brewer but to the amazing staff and administration at District District 124. My daughter actually was with Ms. Brewer last year and we were extremely happy that she was able to get that award. That's just >> amazing. It's it's wonderful. I wish I was following her up. I really do. >> [laughter] >> Um but I am here on behalf of the Evergreen Park Library. My name's Frank Murray, I'm a library director. We are embarking on a community reading challenge for our summer reading theme. We want to challenge the Village of Evergreen Park, its residents
004and community members to read. We want to bring back the joy of reading. Uh we have two goals for our uh our community. We want to increase the number of participants. Uh we want to last year we had 826 people. We want to see over 1,000 people participate. Um last year we read 424,000 minutes as a community. We want to We want to see us increase that to 750,000. And this is all to get people excited and return to that joy of reading instead of getting lost in our screens. So why am I here in front of the board of District 124 talking about this? Because we need your help. We need your administrators and your teachers' help. Um we want to We want to get adults reading. Um people adults don't think this is
005for them. They think it's for kids. Um this is This is a big initiative improving reading and literacy and we need our adults to model that for our students and for our children. So, we need your help. We got 3 hours for you to help us out. We need you to register for summer reading, we need you to recruit readers, whether it's your family, friend, or community members, your neighbor, and we need you to read. It's really simple how it works. All you have to do is read 600 minutes. That's 10 hours and 2 months. Not too bad. Reading to a child counts. Reading to an adult counts. And also, some people get upset about this, but I'm the librarian I get to make the rules. Audiobooks, too. Audiobooks, yes. I mean, yeah, podcasts. Take
006out your phones. I see your phone coming out. Uh-huh. >> [laughter] >> Yes. So, yeah, thanks, uh, Lauren. Yeah, if you'd like to register now, you can definitely scan the QR code or visit the library's website or stop in whenever you want, we'll get you signed up. Um, but it's open to everyone. Evergreen Park residents and, um, non-residents. It's open to everybody. We also have some really cool prizes, um, some of which are featured right up there on the slide right there, but every 100 minutes you read, you get some fun little prizes like some gift cards and whatnot, but our grand prizes, and this is for adults, not just the kids. These are adult grand prizes. We have Dozing for Dinos, which is from the Field Museum for a family of four. You can
007sleep over with the dinosaurs in the Field Museum. We have a wonderful Spoken Vine gift basket that features a gift card, $50 gift card, and some delicious wine. There's, uh, an outdoor kit in the top left corner featuring a fun little outdoor chair and a lot of gardening fun. And the craze that's sweeping Evergreen Park and the nation, mahjong. There's a mahjong set. And then one of our bigger ones, uh, we got our hands on a 55-in flat screen smart TV Vizio. So, those are the grand prizes for adults. Sign up and participate. You can do it. Um if we meet these community goals, getting over 1,000 readers or 750,000 minutes, we're going to have a big block party at the library. It's going to feature Pappy's, um the carriage, we're going to have a
008um amazing bubble magician that'll be there for the kids. It'll be a great time. And we're looking at that being August 8th. But please, please, please help us promote it. We need our adults first to set the stage, model that for us and for our students and children. And we have all sorts of wonderful stuff, flyers, QR codes, everything. Thank you guys all very much. If you don't have any questions, I can stall a little bit longer for Ms. Brewer. She wanted to just pull up. She wanted to just pull up. Yeah. No, we can move on to our two presentations. Thank you so much, Mary. Thank you, board. Thank you very much. All right. Next, you can move on to So, one of our strategic plan goal areas is the the district will continue
009to prioritize student belonging by incorporating student voice in decision-making, promoting inclusion, connection, and a positive and safe learning environment. And so, today I have representation from three of our principals, um Central and two of our elementary principals to discuss how we incorporate student voice in our decision-making process. So, representing our elementary buildings are Dr. Bannick and Mr. Liska. We are going to begin with. Awesome. So, with our strategic goal, we are trying to increase student voice within our schools. So, we do it um in many different ways. It looks slightly different in each school, but we have some general things that are similar across the schools. We decided to do it together. Um so, the first thing all of our schools have some sort of student council or I lead program in which we have
010student leaders within the buildings, and they organize different things throughout the school like our community events. Uh for example, we we partner with the Evergreen Park Food Pantry to do a food drive each year. We do letters to veterans. We do uh collect toys around the holidays for uh various organizations around the community. Uh so, typically what that looks like is our officers and our our student council meets monthly with uh the principal or with the um the the teachers that run the the student council, and then they come up with ideas, and then we kind of work through those ideas and help them implement them within the school. Uh also with at Northwest, we have a special I lead program that we focus on uh PBIS implementation. So, for example, this year we were
011having some um issues around some things, so we went to them, and they came up with some ideas, and we actually created some things students helped create lessons and created videos to show to the students within the school to kind of address those things and come up with different ways to improve that. Um In addition, we have kindness club or uh at Northwest, we call them fifth grade ambassadors that work on spreading kindness throughout the schools. So, what this might look like is like at at Northwest, they put notes on student lockers, they welcome new teachers, and do different small acts of kindness, and take the lead on school-wide celebrations and different things like that within the school to help them improve. And Mr. Lesko will take it Yeah. And additionally, you you see those
012students um you know, uh work together to to tackle those issues. You see some kids um delivering presentations on our school-wide expectations um at various times throughout the year, pretty much on a monthly basis depending on what we're seeing. And we know that um the students really lean on their peers and and listen to their peers when stuff uh pops up um and and needs to be addressed. Um we also have our students who step up to help um support our younger students navigate lunch and recess, which can always be a a challenge if if it's your first time in a in a school lunch or recess period. I'm just always so amazed at the way um that our students step up to the plate and really just provide the best recess period or lunch
013period for those students. We've had a number of opportunities too where some of our fifth graders have been on field trips, especially in May as they go over to the middle school for step up day or roller skating to to get to know each other as they make that transition. And our fourth graders are just super excited to jump in and be those monitors and serve as those and learn about the shoes they're going to fill next year. There's a lot of interest always in our principal for a day programs. I know we've been been doing those around the elementary schools the last couple of days. And it's always interesting to sit down across from whichever student that is and kind of hear their perspective and how they like to spend their day. Additionally, those
014student surveys and student club ideas kind of help drive some of the offerings that we have. So just looking to continue to expand and and and empower students. I think time and time again you see when you when you give students that agency and that voice, they they go above and beyond and step up to the plate and just have things that you didn't even maybe think about when you're preparing those things. Thanks. Thank you. All right. Good evening, everyone. We are excited to talk about what student voice looks like at Central. And I do have two of our student leaders here that I'm going to introduce in a second. But just before I turn it over to them, I did just want to thank a special thank you to Elena Liskey and Julie Kelly
015who are the sponsors of student leadership because truly they do create a really magical space where students feel safe to come up with the most creative and fun ideas constantly, which they'll talk about more, but just to really build community and build a sense of, um, connection and voice in in our school. So, I'm I'm always in awe of what our students can come up with and think about and do. Um, and I really am grateful for all of the staff that make that happen. So, without further ado, join me in welcoming Shaden Rouser and London Orange who are going to talk about more, um, what student voice looks like. So, in student leadership, we do positive notes on lockers and motivational signs for the last month of school on each door. We host school
016social events, uh, volunteering at excellence breakfasts, leading incoming sixth grade bingo night, hosting Veterans Day assemblies, and helping with cultural night and events. Principal Student Impact Group, hyping up STAR, Black History Month, student-led live school store, student mentors, hosting eighth grade awards, Lead Worthy Class Organizing Incentive Assemblies. And maybe you can tell them like what kinds of events you guys have come up with, these social events. Um, I know I helped out with the Black History event, um, where me and Shaden gave a speech about how we can include so many more cultures into teaching at schools and, um, talking about what each culture has went through and how we can bring that impact into the schools today. Thank you so much. All right. So, it is now time for us to celebrate our Golden
017Apple winner. And so, >> [laughter] >> speaking on behalf of our Golden Apple winners, Dr. Bannick, and we of course I have the news clip that we're going to show. And the board would also like to present you with something at the end of this. So, Shavon, we're so happy to have you. I'm so happy to see your daughter here as well. So. We just came from drama club. >> [laughter] >> We were like, and we have parents coming to buy tickets and we're like, "Oh my god, WE GOT TO GO." >> [laughter] >> WELL, WE MADE WE MADE IT ALL WORK. SO, thank you so much for coming. So, last month we talked about how awesome Miss Brewer is. So, she does a great job within the classroom, just making real connections with students,
018with doing hands-on things, using Pear Deck to get them talking with each other. And just we we're working as a school on accountable talk. And that you really do see that shine within her classroom. I think where Miss Brewer really shines, like we talked about last time, is just the relationship she builds with students through the activities that she does, through drama club, like we just talked about. Our show's tomorrow and Friday, in case you want to come. Um We also She does uh mentoring, tutoring, uh the student ambassadors that we just talked about, and so many other things within the school. So, one of the things that came across during the interviews um is that students come back to come see her. They have like a Her window faces towards the park, and so
019they they call it the drive-by window, cuz she'll open it up and continue to talk to alumni that come back to [laughter] visit her. Which which just speaks to the relationship that she builds with the students. Uh so, the way the process worked was there was like 500 to 600 applicants for the Golden Apple Award. >> They narrowed it down to 30 finalists, and they had a special breakfast that we went to. And then after that, they chose nine people to actually get the award. And so, I kept it secret for a month, which was hard. I cannot believe that. >> [laughter] >> Organized the surprise at the school to to congratulate her. And so, that is the news clip that you will now see. Think safety. Think Granger. for trusted products to lock, anchor,
020contain, and protect. Granger. A fifth grade teacher is being recognized today for the big impact that she's [laughter] making in the classroom. She stays late working with kids and she even comes up with new ways to teach. >> Love it. Today she received a Golden Apple Award for excellence in teaching for all that great work. And Regina Waldrop brings you this report from Evergreen Park to tell you all about it. >> [cheering] >> When it comes to surprises, this was a big one. >> [cheering] >> Shavon Brewer's new title, Golden Apple Award winner. >> [laughter] [laughter] >> So at the beginning of the school year, Shavon Brewer noticed that some of her fifth graders at Northwest Elementary, well, they were struggling with confidence when it came to math. She decided to change things up a
021bit to better meet their needs. And it's just one of the ways that she's helping students succeed, but also to feel seen and heard. I did not think I was going to get chosen. I you know, and I I honestly, I do what I do for my children and I winning Golden Apple is a is a bonus. I'm just so happy for her. Just so happy. She's so deserving of this. And you know, like from the day she was born, I just knew she was destined for greatness. Shavon has been a uh a motivator and a you know, a real superb person when it comes to everything that she wanted to put her mind to. I'm very proud of my mom, you know, for the last few months, you know, she Uh, been using my
022car to get to and from work. And, you know, it just shows the long hours and dedication that she puts in to like help these students. >> [cheering] >> Every year, it just keeps getting better. I have amazing students, and I'm going to keep being amazing. >> [screaming] >> In Evergreen Park. I love that car. >> [laughter] >> NBC 5 News. >> pumped they are for >> I know, I love their enthusiasm for her. >> That is so, so sweet. >> In case you don't know, you might have seen it in the story. Golden Apple Award recipients, they got a $5,000 check right there, and they also get a paid spring sabbatical at Northwestern University. So, congratulations to them. >> Absolutely. It's nice that they get some significant gifts as well. And this is no
023Now, no small thing. >> In addition to that, that genuine shock and surprise And the hearts jumping out of the chest, right? So sweet. >> [laughter] [applause] >> Yeah, we would love for you to give us a speech. >> [laughter] >> I'm like, I'm not prepared. I'm sorry. Um Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Um this uh winning Golden Apple, like I said, was truly an honor. Um I I'm I was very thankful for the process. I was very thankful for Golden Apple for seeing, you know, recognizing me and whoever nominated me. I'm also very thankful for that, too. Um And like I said in the video, I do what I do just because I love my students, and I love what I do. Um I Teaching is really a passion for me. It's It's I
024really do give it my all every single day. I I leave nothing on the table. Like the kids say, "You ate and you left no crumbs, you know?" So, I want to be the best version that I can be for my students. Um you know, just yesterday I had a student who um came by my classroom to show me her cap and gown, you know, that she was graduating. And she came by at 7:00 at night. I I like, "How did you know I was going to be here?" She was like, "You're always here." >> [laughter] >> And I was. I was there. I was setting up for a drama club. So, um I do what I do for my students. They know that it is very touching to see them come back even when
025they've gone on to middle school and high school and they still come to see their fifth grade teacher. That's how I know I've made an impact on that student's life. Um and I just love what I do and I love that I'm here for Evergreen Park. So, thank you everybody. So, [applause] Janice is going to help me give this to you. So, the board would like to also acknowledge and give you a $500 reward for classroom resources that you can use throughout the classroom. So, obviously this is a really big deal, Shavaughn. So, congratulations. [laughter] Like you I'VE ALREADY CRIED. BUT WE LOVE TO WE'D LOVE FOR YOUR DAUGHTER TO COME UP, TOO, to get a picture. Sorry, we're like unprepared. >> [laughter] >> She literally was helping with She's my stage crew manager, so.
026Awesome. Awesome. Yeah, and if the board would like to come up TO GET A PICTURE, THAT WOULD BE GREAT. I have NO MAKEUP ON. >> [laughter] >> OH MY GOSH. You can submit your invoices to Eric. He'll help you. >> [laughter] >> Oh my gosh. I'm like shaking. My heart's pounding. IT'S B DAY. >> [laughter] >> OH MY GOSH. And we got to balance Yeah, 195. book markers. Smile. Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> I'm glad you could make it. When your When your brother told me you he dropped you off at school, I'm like, "Oh my gosh, maybe Mom didn't want you to be dropped off." >> [laughter] >> Well, the thing is my car has been down for a couple weeks and the car and so like >> [laughter] >> But
027thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Yeah. >> [laughter] [laughter] >> Have a cupcake. All right, Dr. Carlson. >> [laughter] >> Mine is not nearly as fun or exciting. Um so we have two really quick things tonight. Um the first is our consolidated district plan. We do this annually. Um just as a reminder, uh the state has kind of made it a little bit easier to um go through all of the applications for all of the grants. They kind of put all of the um work together in one spot and then it filters out into all of the different grants. So our consolidated district um plan, which had been sent to it covers title one, title two, title three, title four, and then also our IDEA flow-through, and then also our preschool grant. So we write
028into this all of the professional development that we are doing. Um what we are doing aligned to each one of the the grants. Um our bilingual service plan is in there, like kind of everything is in one place, and then they make sure as we go through and write the grants and budget um that it all aligns back to our consolidated plan that then is board approved. Um so that you had hopefully to look through. Um part of that this year, part of the consolidated district plan is the family engagement plan. Um this is a policy um that is part of, like I said, that CDP, and it's a requirement of ESSA. It really ensures strong partnerships with our parents. We've had this plan. It was not previously something that we needed to have board
029approved. So, it is something that we've had that we've been working with for quite some time. It had appeared in our handbook and things like that. But, it includes really four parts. Our parent involvement, so what we do as far as school review and improvement. So, some of the things that we talk about in there is parents are encouraged to actively and be involved in their children's education. We also have many different opportunities as far as our strategic planning process that we've done. Our parent advisory committees including our special ed parent advisory committee, Dr. Woodlin's parent advisory committee. We also have our MPAC group which is our multilingual parent advisory group. We have our handbook committee. We also do the five essential surveys. We have a number of different ways for parents to kind of
030be involved in some of that school review and improvement process that we have. Communication. We list out the number of different ways that we have that we communicate with our parents things like through our newsletters. We have principal newsletters, superintendent newsletters, teacher newsletters. We use Dojo and Kinvo very regularly. We have parent teacher conferences and then we've done a lot of work on our school website. So, all of those are different ways that we communicate with parents. And then parent materials and training. So, some of the different things that we have for that. We have our curriculum nights. A lot of our parent newsletters now particularly the teacher newsletters really do give tips on what you can be working on at home, how you can help your students, some of the things that we're doing
031within the classroom. We have our resource fair and then we also have different program programming informational meetings. And the final piece to that is potential barriers. So, what are as as if we do identify what are some of the different ways that barriers that might be in the way for parents to be involved and what are some of the things that we could do to overcome those? So, we've identified things like economically disadvantaged, different disabilities, limited English proficiency, and even limited literacy. So, what are some of the things that we can do to help overcome those? Such as have child care available at some of these parent nights, serving food often goes a long way in making sure that people come in and become involved. We do a lot of translating and a lot of
032different ways to reach out to our multilingual needs as well. Um this plan was also reviewed both with our parent advisory committee, and then also with the handbook committee, too. So, trying to get a number of different inputs in it so that we can make sure that we've added everything that we can. So, that is all stuff for you this evening. All right, thank you. Thanks. Neurodiversity Week. Okay. So, Monday we kicked off our Neurodiversity Spirit Week. Um so, this is the schedule that goes out to all the buildings, as well as a little announcement every morning. So, Monday we had Magnificent Minds, where students were encouraged to wear hats or wild crazy hair to celebrate that no two brains are the same. Um Tuesday was Tie-Dye Tuesday, wear rainbow colors or tie-dye to celebrate
033the spectrum of neurodiversity. Um today was what's your passion, wear a jersey or shirt um showing your special interests, and ask others about theirs. Um Thursday was Be a Good Sport, wear Thursday will be, wear um sports gear, focus on patience, encouragement, and including everyone. And then Friday is sensory friendly, so wear comfy PJs to practice empathy for those with sensory sensitivity. Um Monday all staff were encouraged to wear their neurodiversity t-shirts, which you guys have as well. Um and then included in our neurodiversity week, um we also have lessons. So the lessons were developed by the special education behavior sub committee. Um so this year is the first year that every single grade level has their own individual lesson. Um so anywhere from kindergarten um reviewing the book every brain is beautiful to second
034grade doing a um lesson about All My Stripes, a lesson about autism acceptance. Um as obviously the grades get bigger, we have more developmentally appropriate um lessons um in the middle school with examples and those are advisory teacher led where the elementary buildings we still have our vice principals or assistant principals doing those lessons for each grade level. So just a couple of random pics. I had our models Ali and Meg um show our shirts, um but we have um our Monday um crazy hair and hat day, um tie dye Tuesday, and then we have down there passion. Obviously we have a passionate fisherman and then >> [snorts] >> a lot of the boys in that picture have sports gear on. So they'll be they'll be wearing those again tomorrow, I'm sure. So and I
035mean we did neurodiversity neurodiversity week this week because Tuesday is our big Special Olympics event. So wanted to do it leading up to that. So lots of fun participation in the buildings. Any questions? No. Thank you. Great. >> Statement of expenditures last month, nothing crazy happened. Salaries and benefits took up most of the expenditures and then also we tried to finalize all purchasing. So, most of the expenditures should be in outside of salaries and benefits. I think that there will be just some minor purchases happening at the next board meeting. Good news though, over the last month we received $6.5 million in real estate revenue which is finally aligned with what we're expecting. So, it feels very relieving that we're receiving all this. So, currently we received $32.8 million compared compared to prior year. It's
036less but also there's you know some grants that we're receiving last year and some we did the one-time bond borrowing of $6.3 million. So, all those add up. So, we're going right along line with what was expected. So, that's good. And as a result, the fund balance has been gone back up. Um it's gone back up to what we were hoping it would be around this time. And then next month we have three pay We have three pays in May. So, we have a little more expenditure. So, I expect it to go down just a little bit next month but overall we're in good shape. Any questions? Thank you. Thank you, Eric. All right. Moving on to public comments. Are there any public comments? We do not have any public comments. All right. So, Michael
037left me um to read this per Board of Education Policy 2.230. A friendly reminder specifically about the logistics for the public comment portion of every meeting including this evening as it is posted on our agenda publicly for every meeting to respect all of our stakeholders or commenters, our board, our public. We adhere very closely to the 3-minute limit for comments for everyone. We will set a timer and we expect everyone to respect their 3 minutes. In addition, we do not respond to public comments at board meetings, but we hear them, we respect them, we listen to, and we take into account all community member concerns. If there is any specific question that comes up that we can respond to after the meeting, we will do so in a timely manner. All right. Moving on to
038board reports. We're going to have um either Rachel or Lauren to uh report on the review of technology. I'll speak today for the technology committee. So, we had our first ever technology committee meeting um last week. Was last week? Yeah. May just goes by so fast. Um it's a newly found committee. Uh Rachel and I are on it, and Dr. Carlson and Mr. Dan Lee were also there. Um Dan facilitated for us. And then essentially for this new one, we just kind of went over uh what we've done, where we are, and where we're going. Um so, some district improvements for the 25-26 school year, there's been a lot of internet improvements. Um we were able to get the max amount for our our state funded our e-rate. I'm not going to go into e-rate,
039but I have a lot to say about that. Um we also rolled out the MFA for our staff and students, and there was a PowerSchool server replacement that seems to make things go much quicker now for for teachers. Um the PA system is currently being worked on. It'll be complete June June 9th. The current projects are staff and student acceptable use policies are being refreshed. Uh some server capacity increases for our security cameras. And then in the upcoming 26-27 school year, something I'm really excited about, AI professional development for teachers. Um there's also cybersecurity evaluations and assessments through our insurance co-op. Casting and screen sharing options for our teachers, which should be a uh positive for them. And ticketing replacement option. So, I feel like last week I kind of bore last meeting I bored
040people with tech stuff. I'm doing it here again, but it's important. Yes, absolutely. Thank you, Lauren. Thanks, Lauren. Okay. Mr. David Shepherd. Aaron You're Aaron Board meeting before. I attended the Board meeting. And since we're wrapping up the end of the school year, most of this was about uh collection of uh policies and, you know, schedule graduations and things of that nature. Um we did go over the new way that they have to present the budget. And it's it's kind of weird because now the state is requiring them to use 2025 numbers to justify 2026 numbers, which puts it kind of at a um disadvantage because of the the enrollment in 2025 is different from the enrollment that's going to be in 2027. So, they're still trying to get the kinks out of it. The
041state is not giving them like a clear direction of how much they can basically charge per program. Because now the state dictates that. So, that's all with the new state law that was passed. In the end, it's a good thing. The only thing I heard is that we'll get a uh for every 8 cent on the dollar that we spend, every 8 cent we'll get reimbursed. I did hear that part. So, that goes back to the co-op, to the actual district school. So, that's it. We'll get 8 cent back from every dollar that we sent over there. So, that's a good thing with this new program. Um we also discussed to adopt some of the new uh special education co-op policies. They were basically plus plus policies. We just adopted them and put them on
042in there. However, we did go over the It is called the special education Give me one second. The special education procedure was revised. So, to my understanding, there is one overall master document that Arrow has that uh applies to all of the actual schools that are participating in the co-op. So, if the state ever came in to question us or do some kind of inspections or question, the first thing they're going to ask for is this policy. And they want to make sure that the policy was refined and you know, had all the up-to-date, you know, regulations requirements in it. And the idea is if they step in one school or any schools, that the policy's going to be the same at every school. So, we're all following everything that the state required of us
043when it comes to special education. So, we got that passed and approved. It was done. Uh we made a uh We added one more thing to the calendar. It was another holiday we had to add as something that we just put in. It was minor. We elected new board officers, which are the same officers that we had before cuz they knew what they were doing and we felt confident to let them do what they do. Uh pretty much after that we went over They gave us the the revised enrollment. Uh they actually made a plea once again that they do not have enough room. They did open up two other classrooms in two other districts. They are begging, screaming, yelling, scratching, fighting for some other district to step up and give them room because they
044don't have anything else. They've already stopped taking children from outside of the co-op and that's but they're coming to the point where they might develop a waiting list because kind of like ran out of room. So, they're asking if there's any room that we have anywhere in any one of the schools in any one of the districts that they can conduct a class. And most of it is covering you know, the children with autism. Uh then they did give us the numbers on um where they opened in 2023 versus 2027 uh projected enrollment. And you know, we we we have some some high numbers of how many individuals we have participating in the arrow, you know, program. Overall, our enrollment from September 2023 to the 2020 I'm sorry, it's 2026 2027 projected school year we're
045up 152%. Wow. Um and next closest to us is Summit, which is at 93% increase. And then you'll have um coming in third, you'll have Little Springs. So, this either tells you one or two things, which is I mean this is kind of it it's silent in the room when we were there. Um like what's what's really going on? Why is that in such a short period of time that our our needs for specialty programs like this is increasing so much. And why is it concentrated kind of high in Evergreen Park area? So, is that we receiving individuals coming over from Chicago, maybe? Could it be just because we are, you know, have a turnover in the community? Maybe possible. But, it shows that there is a dire need for this program just by the
046numbers alone on paper. So, they just wanted to bring that to our attention to to let us know that, you know, basically this is real and the numbers show and they were kind of like projecting what where to be, you know, the next 3 years. Right. So. And pretty much after that, uh, that was pretty much it. They laughed and joked for a while and then we went to closed session. All right. Thank you, David. Yep. Moving on to item eight. Board comments at this time. I I just want to say I'm really excited about this program. I know she left already, but both of my daughters were in there, you know, had her. Yeah. I remember my older daughter um was in the car, we were driving, a friend called cuz Ms. Brewer was
047on the radio. And she was on the radio and they were all excited and it so happened she was actually talking about my daughter without saying her name and like it was just exciting. They were talking about reading and this and that what she did in the classroom. It was just It was a funny experience cuz I'm in the car with my daughter, her friend called her, Ms. Brewer was on the radio. It was just a That's awesome. >> cute experience and you could tell she just gives it her all. She does. Mhm. She does. Absolutely. That's good. Really really nice. Thank you, Rachel. All right, moving on to action items. Um I would like to uh Can I have a motion to approve the action items A to this agenda? Um What was the
048one dollar I'm reading them one by one. Yes. >> The consent agenda, number one, approve monthly transaction reports for April 2026. Approve fund balance reports for April 2026. Approve expenditure expenditure reports and projected payroll report for May 2026. Approve board minutes from the regular meeting of April 2nd, 2026. Approve the closed session minutes from the regular meeting of April 22nd, 2026. Approve the the s- destruction of closed session tapes from January 2022. Uh personnel recommendation, we have additions, FMLA, uh leave of absence, record resignations with intent to retire, and resignations. Can I have a motion for action item A? I make the motion. Second. Okay. I'll make the roll call. Rita Merriweather, yes. Lauren Dowden? >> Yes. Um >> [clears throat] >> David Shepherd? No at this time. O'Neal Gray? Denise Jones? >> Yes. Yes.
049Motion passed. All right. Can I have a motion to approve action item B? Uh approve maintenance custodian summer help temporary. Did I say it right? Mhm. Um we're talking about Judas Paul. Can I have a motion? I'll make the motion. I'll second. And can I have a roll call? Rita Merriweather, yes. Lauren Dowden? >> O'Neal Gray? This is hurting me. Oh, yes. Uh David Shepherd? Denise Jones? >> Yes. Motion passed. Okay, can I have a motion to approve summer to approve the summer school staff. Action Am I saying it Action item C? Yes. Approve summer school staff. Bear with me. It's my first time. >> [laughter] >> And I'm being Dr. Michael Thomas. He's the one who always jumps in. >> [laughter] >> So, I can't got to catch up here. All right. Um I'll
050make the motion. I'll second. Table returned to you tonight. So, we're Rachel Merriken, yes. Lauren Dowden? Yes. Excuse me, I've been losing my voice. David Shepherd? Yes. O'Neal Gray? Denise Jones? >> Yes. Motion passed. All right, can I have a motion for action item D to approve new assistant principal at Northeast School effective July 1st, 2026? I'll make the motion. I'll second. Oh. Roll call. Yeah. >> [laughter] >> I've been going along with it anyway. Rachel Merriken, yes. Lauren Dowden? >> Yes. O'Neal [clears throat] Gray? This is for new assistant Item D. David Yes. David Shepherd? Yes, I'm sorry. Denise Jones? Yes. Motion passed. And we're going to introduce her. So, Karen, come on up and introduce your NEW ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL. >> [applause] [cheering] >> I WANT TO CUE THE SONG I'M I'M EXCITED. YEAH.
051>> [laughter] >> SO, I have here Latoya Givens, Um our new assistant principal to the Northeast team this fall. She joins us from Posen Robbins School District where she served as an instructional coach. Um and she played an integral role in supporting student achievement and staff development. Her passion for student success, collaborative leadership style, and commitment to high-quality instruction will be a tremendous asset to our school community. We're thrilled to have you join the Northeast family and look forward to the positive impact you will have on our students, staff, and our families. So, let's welcome Latoya. >> [applause] >> Congratulations. Congratulations. Welcome to the Evergreen Park Thank you so much. Nice to meet you. Thank you. All right. And um next we have Yeah. Action item E. Okay. New assistant principal at Southeast School. Yeah,
052Southeast is next. Southeast School. I'll start over. Action item E. Um approve new approve new assistant principal at Southeast School effective July 1st, 2026. Can I have a motion, please? I'll make the motion. I'll second. All right. Can I have a roll call? Risha Meriquin. Yes. Lauren Dowden. Yay. O'Neal Gray. David Shepherd. >> Yes. Denise Jones. >> Yes. Motion passed. And Kathleen is going to going [applause and cheering] to introduce her assistant principal. She was unfortunately she had a family commitment tonight. So, she's going to introduce her. Good evening. I'm very excited to introduce the new assistant principal at Southeast School. Her name is Kim Kelevoda. Sorry, we're still getting used to each other's names. Um she regrets not being able to join us tonight, but she wrote a message she would like to share
053with you. And I'm happy to share that message cuz I think it's a great introduction. So, this is from Kim. I'm incredibly excited to start my work with the Southeast Elementary team. I began my teaching career teaching second and third graders in Las Vegas before finding my way back home to Chicago where I've been teaching or leading in elementary schools ever since. I've been in school leadership positions for the past 13 years, 11 years in my current assistant principal position. I consider myself a servant leader dedicated to empowering students, families, and teachers. I'm especially passionate about providing rigorous academics and ensuring students, teachers, and families have exactly what they need so that all learners can reach their full potential. Additionally, my past educational experiences have led me to a particular interest and expertise in supporting
054English learners, equity initiatives, and social emotional learning and behavioral needs. My true hope is that every individual in our school community enters the building with a sense of belonging and optimism. I look forward to learning more about the great things already happening in Evergreen Park and partnering with the team in the endeavors for continuous improvement. So, a big welcome to Kim. >> [applause] >> Okay. Will she get her swag bag? Yes. All right. >> be in Southeast next Tuesday, right? Yes. So, we'll give this to you so you can hand it off to her. Moving on to action item F, approve new assistant principal at Southwest School effective July 1st, 2026. Can I have a motion, please? I'll make the motion. I'll second. All right, can I have a roll call? Grace American? Yes. Lauren
055Dowden? Yes. David Sheppard? [clears throat] Yes. O'Neal Gray? Denise Jones? >> Yes. Motion passed. >> [applause] >> And Mr. Woska is going to introduce his assistant principal. Uh so, it is my pleasure to officially announce Amanda Perkins as the assistant principal at South Boston Elementary School. Uh throughout the interview process, uh it was clear that Amanda brings an incredible depth of knowledge and a diverse skill set to the position. Her background includes experience in teaching, instructional coaching, as well as a deep expertise in special education as in case management. She has a strong understanding of foundational child development, which guides her student-centered approach. On top of her professional and hands-on experience, she is the ultimate lifelong learner, which we always seek to embody uh in our students. She holds not one or two, but four
056master's degrees. Um and I always love to hear what uh previous um uh supervisors and and colleagues say. Her references spoke glowing volumes about her character and work ethic. They consistently highlighted her incredible initiative and her natural ability to build strong, trusting relationships with staff, students, and families alike. As one of her former supervisors put it, "Amanda is a go-getter. She knows what needs to be done and often and often accomplishes it before I can even think to ask her to." We're incredibly fortunate to have someone with her expertise, drive, and heart joining our community. Please welcome Amanda Perkins. >> [applause] >> Congratulations, Amanda. We're so excited to have you. Here you go. It's nice to meet you in person. >> Congratulations. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. All right. Moving on to action item G, approve consolidated
057district plan. Can I have a motion? I'll make the motion. Second. And can I have a roll call? Rachel McQueen? Yes. Lauren Dowden? O'Neal Gray? David Shepherd? >> Yes. Denise Jones? Yes. Motion passed. All right. Action item H, approve family engagement plan. Can I have a motion to approve action item H? Yes, I'll make that motion. I'll second. >> [clears throat] >> Rachel McQueen? Yes. Lauren Dowden? Yay. David Shepherd? Yes. [clears throat] O'Neal Gray? Denise Jones? >> Yes. Motion passed. All right. Bear with me. Action item I, approve resolution honoring additional retirees. Can I have a motion for action item H? I'll make the motion. >> I'll second. All roll call, please. Rachel McQueen? Yes. Lauren Dowden? >> Yay. O'Neal [clears throat] Gray? David Shepherd? Yes. Denise Jones? Yes. Motion passed. Thank you. Thank you
058all for bearing with me. And at this time, >> [laughter] >> I would like to adjourn this today's board meeting at 7:03 p.m. All in favor, say "Aye." Aye. >> [laughter]