001Amazing. meeting started here shortly. All right. We're going to be calling this regular meeting of the board of education to order at 6:00 pm on February 18th, 2026. If I could please have a roll call. >> Dr. Michael Thomas, >> present. >> Lauren Den, >> David Shepard, >> present. >> Denise Jones, >> yes. Rachel Marquin present. O'Neal Gray. >> Yes. >> Michael >> present. >> Hi everyone present. >> Thank you. If you all could please stand and join me in the pledge of >> 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. >> Thank you very much. If the board of education could please review the agenda in front of them and if there are
002no additions or deletions to be made. If I could have a motion to approve the agenda as presented. >> Motion to approve the agenda. >> Excellent. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Very good. Could we have a roll call, please? >> Dr. Michael Thomas, >> yes. >> O'Neal Gray, >> yes. >> David Shepard, >> yes. >> Denise Jones, >> yes. >> Lauren Dowen, >> yes. >> Rachel Marquin, yes. Michael Miller, >> yay. >> There we go. >> Excellent. Thank you. At this time, we will go into staff reports. Dr. Dr. Woodland, if you would please take it away. >> Yes. My first report is from our CMS student impact group and introducing them will be Dr. Mhler. >> Hi everyone. >> Good evening. >> Um so today I'm really proud to introduce a group
003of students from our principal student impact group. Janella Oliver, Leah Crawford, and London Orange. The purpose of the CMS student impact group is to honor and elevate student voice, listening to their current reality at school so we can continue to learn, grow, and make CMS the best place it can be. Um, in our previous meetings, the students said that they wanted our goal to really focus on um, community and bringing our school together. So, at our meeting two weeks ago, a few of our students reached out to me and wanted to talk specifically about about Black History Month. So, at our meeting in the beginning of February, um actually the students led an honest and thoughtful conversation about how we can celebrate Black History Month and we talked about ways to increase opportunities for students
004to feel seen, heard, and represented. So, their ideas were in, you know, insightful, heartfelt, and rooted really in care for their classmates and our school community. So, it's just another um time to emphasis emphasize that I'm just grateful for their leadership and proud to share their voices with you this evening. So, please join me in welcoming Janella Oliver, Leah Crawford, and London Orange. Your story is what you have. What you always have is something to own. Michelle Obama. Here are our stories. >> I know I am unique. In every place I go, I embrace the specific beauty and complex of my identity identical story. In spaces where I'm pressured to blend in and be hidden, I stand out as my authentic self defining the structure piece structural pieces of me, my curls and my and
005the unique glamour of the color of my skin. I know I am intelligent. I find solutions to every problem through where whatever challenges I'm forced to go through. I have control over my emotions no matter the situation. And I have the intellectual maturity to calm down any situation. If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We do great things. >> I know I am great. I don't shy away from what the future holds for me. I express and stand up for myself and and others when needed. And when it comes to being Africaname, I don't try to hide the fact that I am black. I show it through my hair and the way I present myself. I know I am a visionary. I
006honor and learn from the past using it to shape my future. The way I dream and manifest my future is my power. And I carry that mindset through. I can empower myself through any challenge or situation. I know I am powerful. I make a positive impact in every room I walk into. I use my leadership skills to help teach people to learn to be as powerful as I am. I plan on giving my powerful energy to as many people as I can. Being powerful is something in all African-American people today. Believe you can achieve. You must believe in yourself. You are more capable than you think. Simone Body. As you can see, African-Americans have made history, and we will continue to do so. >> Black history isn't something you remember, is something you continue. We
007are black history. >> Thank you, ladies. >> Thank you so much for presenting. And it's also my understanding that you are going to be presenting tomorrow evening. Is that correct? At our Black History Month event. Um, so I just a reminder to all of our board members, we have our Black History Month event tomorrow evening that is at Southeast Elementary School and it starts at six o'clock p.m. Okay, so next up on our agenda, we have our five essentials survey reminder. Um, so our five essentials survey is a survey that drives organizational culture and climate. It is our time to take our five essentials survey and we encourage our parents to do so and our principles dedicate specific time for our teachers to also submit that survey. The five indicators that positively affect school success
008are indicated in effective leaders, collaborative teachers, involved families, supportive environments, and ambitious instruction. And obviously as you are all familiar with our principles report out on our five essentials results annually and we do you utilize this data in order to make positive and effective changes within our building again driving culture and climate. Um, as you know, I'm a firm believer in organizational culture and it really helps to support the academic side of our success and we want to make sure that our teachers feel valued, heard, and appreciated and everything that they do along with our parents and um stakeholder feedback. Um, so this is just a reminder that that survey is now open and it closes on March 13th. Okay, next up um is our strategic plan for our 26 through 29 school year and
009I am pleased to present this with you tonight and I'll be co-presenting with Dr. Carlson as well as Rebecca Terrell and so I'm going through specific aspects and I just want to first appreciate all the board members who attended either the virtual sessions or our final session that was in person most recently. One of the main pieces of feedback that I heard directly from the board as well as our administrative team, our stack and staff and stakeholders is we have done so much in the district to really drive our goals, but how do we take those goals and really elevate them to the next level. So the process of strategic planning is to embrace continuous improvement, right? So, we can always look at our test scores, look at our five essential surveys, look at what
010we're doing, and determine where are we at, how do we improve, how do we get better. We reflect on our success. We've done so many things well. What were our challenges, our opportunities to grow, and develop a plan that reflects our goals? And then, of course, as always, we want to live the plan. So the number one piece of feedback that I believe I consistently hear from my administrative team is we don't want a strategic plan that just sits on a shelf. We want it to be actionable steps that really allow us to take um continuous improvement seriously reflect on our practices and improve. So I'm going to start with the understanding of our pillars based on feedback again from the stakeholders that participated in the strategic planning process. So our current plan will be
011built upon three foundational pillars. Curriculum and instruction, student services, student services and culture. Throughout that plan and again based on feedback, communication, collaboration and belonging will serve as the plate upon which everything we do. And so what we really recognized throughout the process and learning experiences through the past four years is student services, curriculum, culture, they won't work unless if we have communication, collaboration, and belonging. And so those are really the plates to everything that we do. So these guiding principles will ensure that every decision, initiative, and outcome reflects our shared commitment to student success and community partnership. Any questions so far? Okay. So I'm going to present our first goal which is around culture. And our committee really emphasized the fact that we needed smart goals to drive progress. So how do we me
012measure our progress along the way? What are those benchmarks? I'm looking at my my principal team in the back. They're really driven on data. Like how do we really measure our success? And so each of our goals will be reflected with smart goals specifically. And culture is really broken into three categories. parents, students, and teachers, right? Because those are our three biggest um stakeholders that we serve. And so by June of 29, the district will strengthen family engagement by developing annual family engagement surveys to gather meaningful feedback on communication, involvement opportunities, and school home partnerships. And so it is really our intent to develop a survey that's really directed towards parents that will increase family participation. And that's all parents. Our student, as we just saw, strong student voice. Oh my gosh, I hope they
013took their cupcakes. >> Just want to make sure else I was I was going to have you deliver them. Um, so by June of 29, the district will foster a stronger sense of student belonging by implementing targeted practices that promote inclusion, connection, and positive school climate. And so we have a district equity leadership team, and I want to give you a little bit of context. Actually, um, both Julie and Alina have sat sat on this team at different points in time. Uh, but this team has really worked to develop a student-based survey. And I just want to provide you with some data. So that survey was implemented this past fall and our current baseline data is demonstrating that only 56% I don't want to say only but 56% of our third through fifth grade students
014for example feel as though that they belong in their school. So obviously that number is a number that we can absolutely improve on. And so how are we going to go about doing that? So, our goal is to improve that overall student belonging rating by 5% over the duration of the strategic plan and we're going to do that through student voice. So, I'll get to action plans. So, by June of 2029, the district will increase its collaborative teachers rating on our five essentials survey by at least 3% as measured by staff perception of trust. So that's a specific indicator in our five essentials survey, shared responsibility for student learning and collaborative planning. So obviously everything that we do within the district is really driven on collaborative practices between teachers, making sure teachers have vertical articulation
015time and the opportunity to reflect and grow with one another. So success criterion, I'm going to talk broadly about what these look like. So, uh, parent feedback, we have a variety of different venues for parent feedback, but we want to continue to grow on what that looks like and sounds like. And so, ultimately, each building level has parent related groups that they receive cycles of feedback from. We're going to continue with our parent education, um, parentist partners. That's done at the district level. Um, we have our special education group, our B, uh, our by my gosh, I'm being BPAC, our BK. I was looking at Michael. like he's going to remember the acronym for me. Um uh and that's ultimately to again have cycles of feedback from parents. Um and then again we have a
016variety of different community related events and we had our PBIS committee that really focused on community engagement and involvement. We're going to continue to prioritize student belonging by incorporating student voice and decision making which promoting inclusion. Um, each building principal, and I think that there's streamlining that could be done here specifically, but each building principal, as you just saw, presented by Dr. Mohler, has their own venue for student voice. But how do we really compile that information, bring it back to make actionable steps and actionable decision making that could really allow for a shift in our direction as a district. And then the final key indicator um tied to culture is really continuing collaboration by implementing structured opportunities for teacher voice. Um we've done I think Ashley last year had I remember it in her
017evaluation like 46 committee meetings that she held in one year and that's to provide um different opportunities for teachers to come around the table talk about curriculum instruction um grading practices um and ultimately we had heard when we first started here loud and clear that teachers want to have a seat at the table and we obviously believe that teachers should be involved in that decision-making process. And so again, those continuation of uh feedback loops, we have other district venues such as DER, um you know, our TLC committee. There's many committees where teachers have the opportunity to share and implement their feedback. Uh the last part of this is collaboration and communication commitments. So ultimately we want again collaboration, communication and belonging to be the foundation to um this particular goal as well. Um so making
018sure we have family resource hub available. Parents spoke really heavily about that like we have the resources but making it accessible through communication. Um ensuring representation across demographics, neighborhoods and schools and every stakeholder group that we have present. Um, and then communication obviously needs to continue to be relevant and transparent in order to build trust, which obviously shifts and shapes culture. So that is a big picture overview. Obviously, more details um in front of you on culture. And at this time, I'm going to have Becky come up and discuss student support services. Okay. So, I'm going to talk a little bit about um the three goals um that we developed as a group. Um two of the goals we spent a lot of time on and then after reflecting and kind of rereading the overall
019strategic plan. Um we thought it was important to add that additional third goal in regards to family participation satisfaction. Um, so our first goal is all about um, and again, smart goals written. We're looking at the um, 5A state performance plan target. So I usually report on this in September, October, but we're talking about our kindergarten through 8th grade students who have IEPs and served in the general education setting 80% more of the day. So we are below the state target um which was um 53 um50 and we are at 47.40. So our goal obviously is to um increase um access for our students in Jed high quality um instruction and some of the action step that steps that we're going to do. We're going to continue continue to collaborate um with our district level
020administrators, but also um moving into next year, we really want to have some more like schedule times and build that collaboration at the building level between our special education teachers um and our Jenna teachers. So, we have a little project going on in our instructional classrooms at Southeast. Um but we obviously want to spread that over across the district um to all of our buildings. Um, we've also been focusing on assist of tech and accommodations for students and we want to make sure that we're like diving into those um and you know providing that job embedded PD to our teachers to make sure that they um are able to support students to access those accommodations um or you know access curriculum through assistive tech. Um, and then our next goal, um, the district wants to
021strengthen our MTSS practices by expanding social, emotional, behavioral, mental health supports to improve student well-being and academic outcomes. Um, so, you know, as you know, we worked a lot on our MTSS, our high quality tier one instruction, and we've kind of moved into defining that in the realm of SCS, SEAL and behavior supports. Um, so we really want to we this year we've really been focusing h how we're streamlining that across the district. Um, using our PBIS system, using those tiered fidelities. Um, so again rolling out next year we kind of support our buildings. Um, support at the building level and then have a district level team kind of analyzing um, and determining where then each building like needs that support based on their tiered fidelity. Um we also again will continue to provide that
022job embedded um learning opportunities um for all of our staff and then targeted staff as needed um in those SEAL trauma-informed practices and just how they can support um more of their students. Um and then again coaching consultation and then we're obviously always looking to expand our partnerships. Um, I think that, um, we have a lot of unique situations here sometimes. I'm sure most school districts, too. Um, but I I there are always so many people, um, willing to help and willing to do the work to support families um, in getting, you know, some of those outside resources. So whether it's at the district level, the building level, um you know, we created through our DCLT that resource manual. I feel like we're always looking to um explore and expand our partnership. So, and then
023our last goal really um is about strengthening family participation and satisfaction in the special education process. Um so by providing structured meaningful equitable opportunities for families of students with disabilities to engage in IEP 504s, trainings, advisory groups and school activities. So um we did establish our um special education family um our CFAC group. Um so we've held a bunch of different parent workshops this year. Um, one of the things that we learned last year was um that transitions were a big um not hot spot but you know a very um caused a lot of anxiety for parents. So we had like an early childhood to EI transition. We teamed up with SXU birth to three um and our child um Easter Seals and then we also teamed up with the high school and had our
024eighth grade um to high school transition meetings. just a little bit about before they had their actual transition meetings, what you can expect and just more informally ask some questions. Um, we also had some of our speech pathologists from Northeast and Northwest had um a parent night at Northwest a couple weeks ago all about speech and language disorders and um how they can um facilitate play with their students devices. So, uh, we're always looking, um, at obviously our professionals in the district to, you know, put on some of those trainings as well. Um, and then we do have a current parent survey that's completely focused around the IEP process and the parent experience. So um you know what was your experience with the you know how satisfied were you with the evaluation process with the
025IEP meeting itself with your um ability to participate share your child's strengths and have those opportunities. Um one of the things that I think is really important is clarity of the information. Um there's so much information during the special education process. um you know, we want to make sure that our parents have opportunities every step of the way to stop, ask questions, and get clarity. Um so, we've definitely seen um an increase in in our parents reaching out, whether it be directly to to us at district office or to even their building level special education teachers, related service prior and school psych sites for clarity um just on the process and like what's next. Um so, those are some of the things that we're doing. Um, again, I have the success criteria for each. Um,
026so 2A, we want to increase student access, students with IEPs access to that high quality grade level standardsbased instruction alongside their gened peers. Um, success criteria two, again, increasing the effectiveness of all our tiered SEAL and behavioral interventions, ensuring implementation, fidelity, and progress monitoring. Um, and making sure it's data driven. um a lot of times and behavior of some kind can get a little tricky. So making sure we're having those conversations and looking at the data that we're using to identify students um support students and and progress monitor students and then increase opportunities and events for and activities for families of students with disabilities. So and then again we have our communication commitments. So, um I think our last goal kind of centers a lot around communication as well. Um but again establishing structured opportunities
027for parents. Um I think I think especially since postcoid a lot of parents are are appear busier. You know, it's the drop off, it's the pickup. So just having opportunities where they're around other parents um of students with disabilities. So that's really our goal. Um, and then getting input from them directly like you know we obviously with the survey we did leave it open-ended any suggestions because I feel like in order to make change you need to know um what exactly is it working? So and then providing clear timely and accessible information. So making sure um that all of the information and resources are posted um you know on the website. um we have our own little student support services hub, but then also to the building um administrators so they can get those out
028as well. And then our belonging commitments. Obviously, we want to make sure that all of our students, especially those with disabilities, learn and grow um alongside their peers to the greatest extent possible and um fostering environment for our students as well as our families, welcoming and warm. So, pretty excited. So we have several goals tied to student achievement um or two goals actually. Um we spent some time I think in the strategic planning process kind of talking through these and getting feedback from the group and I think that that was really helpful. Um we are really we we do a lot of work around student growth and that obviously remains what our our primary goal is is to make sure that our students are growing um a year's worth of growth within one year but
029because a lot of the work that we've put in it also we want to also make sure that our students are becoming proficient on those grade level expectations. Um so kind of shifting that focus a little bit and and really looking at what we can do to move those proficiency levels. Now, um so our first school really looks at overall the district will demonstrate sustained progress toward maintaining commendable um rating or a higher designation in all of our schools. It's designed by ISBY um say board of ed um accountability framework district will increase percentage of students meeting and exceeding ELA and math standards by an average of 610 of a percent. We went back and forth on this and we talked about you know grow or proficiency kind of fluctuates every year. you know, you
030might have a year where you're up two points and the next year, you know, you're down a point. So, we really want to look at that average trend growth over time. Um, and really get to a place where we are, um, have approximately three percentage points of growth. Um, we did look at trends over over the last few years and that seemed more appropriate. We had five at first and we decided it seemed a little steep. Um, so that was the goal we settled on. um that is all of our students looking at proficiency overall. Um we also really want to focus in on some of these student groups specifically and make sure that we're doing what we can to close those gaps. So similarly, we will reduce identified student group group proficiency gaps by
031the same and average of 610 percentage point annually resulting in a total reduction of approximately three percentage points over five years. Um, and we're really using I'm going to talk about really our multi-tiered systems of support framework that's going to help us really focus in and be able to do that. Um, so these are the two goals that we have identified um for curriculum and instruction. Our success criteria will continue to implement um the high quality tier one framework collecting data providing job and better professional development ensuring strong tier one instruction for all students. really we know that the impact of instruction within the classroom is really what moves our proficiency levels. We've done a lot of work to make sure that we have researchbased curriculum um that meets our standards and we really want
032to focus in on what we're doing within the classroom every every day. Um we do our learning walks three times a year. We've designed our um high quality tier one framework that is based on what we know is good teaching and what we at Evergreen Park recognizes good teaching and researchbased instructional practices. And so we do those learning walks. And for this, we're really focused for this um success criteria specifically, we're really focusing on our component three, which is our whole class um instruction. So really that tier one piece. What does that look like? And we will we collect that data three times a year. And then we really design our professional development in a job embedded way with our instructional coaches working in one-on-one with teachers and working with teacher groups to make sure
033um that they're able to meet all of those tier one needs within their classrooms. Our second six back one more sorry. Our second um is the district will implement a consistent multi-tiered system of support um plan districtwide. So that first success criteria really speaks to tier one, all of our students. Um, and when we're talking about a multi-tered system of support, we're really looking at who are our students that need that little bit extra. Who are our tier 2 students that maybe need a little bit of additional support and who are our tier three students that need maybe some more significant interventions. Um, we've done a great job, I feel like, making sure that across the district, our tier one practices, um, curriculum and instruction expectations and all of those things really are consistent. And
034we're now kind of shifting that to say, what can we make sure that we're doing across the board at tier 2 and tier three across the district. All of our buildings were doing great things. um we want to pull the best from everybody and make sure that we all have a consistent way of approaching tier 2 and tier three interventions that'll meet the needs of those specific student groups that we have more on an individual student basis. Um so those were our success criteria. So um like Dr. said communication belonging really um the plate which everything is based on. So communication we'll communicate um data and instructional decisions transparently. We want to make sure that we are sharing out that data and that we are making sure that everybody knows where are we with um
035with our our growth on our benchmark assessments which we do share out as well as our our IR results as well. So making sure that all of that is transparent and shared out regularly. Um and the district will share progress and outcomes from our MTSS implementation. We really did start piloting that process this fall um and and formalizing it so that next year we can make sure that we have tweaked it as needed throughout this school year so we can roll it out at the beginning of next year. Um so sharing the progress of that as well and then our belonging commitments. Um students aren't going to learn and become proficient in a place where they don't feel that they belong. So we need to make sure that that that occurs first and foremost. So
036fostering an environment where staff, students, and families feel valued and heard. Um especially in those conversations about data and equity and their their school improvement. Um I think for students kind of the next piece even more importantly, we want to make sure that we are providing all necessary professional development for staff when it comes to um all of those culturally responsive pieces that we need to be working within the classrooms every day. um we need to make sure that that work is getting getting to the building level and it's getting to the classroom so students are feeling that impact. Um so that was the second piece. So all >> thanks. >> That concludes our report on strategic planning. I'm happy to answer any questions from any board members comments. Um, it is an action item.
037You also have a It's now a two-pager because our goals were expanded. You know, I love a good one pager, but it didn't fit on one page. >> Yeah. >> Um, yeah. Uh, I very different process than last time, much more streamlined, but um I I definitely believe, you know, we're on the right track and we want to just continue to do the the great things that we're already doing. And I want to just kind of issue a challenge that I had given you a while ago on the previous strategic plan and you guys did a great job of it and I just don't want us to lose sight of it. Uh whenever presenting out an opportunity to tie things to the strategic plan. >> Yeah. >> It's always appreciated as a board member. We
038spend this time working on this thing. >> It's always nice seeing how the initiatives that are being executed on tie into the plan. And I think it's great for the community, too. It just keeps it at the forefront. And I think that helps us keep it as like a living document so we can keep track of it, keep track of how it's going. >> So you guys did a great job on the last one. I'd love to see that continue. >> Yes, great point. >> Next up, we have Eric Gy. >> There's nothing about money in that plan, Eric. What the heck? Um monthly financial statement of expenditures, pretty consistent expenditures as other months, uh salaries and benefits took up just about all the expenditures. Revenues is a little bit of a different story. So
039we started to receive some of the revenues that were promised from Cook County. Um that tenative payment plan was not actually accurate, believe it or not. So So we only received 34% of our fall uh tax collections so far, but at least it's something. Um, and we're getting everything. So, it's just a matter of time. So, I'm just happy that they're starting to send it out. Um, it's really frustrating. >> You should be allowed to charge interest. >> That would be nice. >> That's right. >> We could have frustrations out there right now. >> As a result, our fund balance has gone up. My expectation is for this fund balance to keep going up over the next month or two as a result of the revenue payments. Um they did announce yesterday that they fully
040expect for the tax payments to be on time for the spring time, but we all know. So um yeah, audit review, waterback, and amen. Um the audit review will take place at next month's school board meeting. We had a memo put together from the auditors, and you guys should have that memo in your packet >> in your email. >> Email. Update on school fees for the 2026 2027 school year. The 2026 2027 registration fees will remain the same as prior year's fees. And that is early childhood is $20, kindergarten $50, grades one through five is $130, and grades 6 through eight is $140. And then finally, um this is just a reminder that year two of the tax abatement for the property tax relief grant is coming up. I we have to have that submitted
041by April 15th to state and we have a certificate of abatement last year that we had covered both years. So now they will take care of it for us and submit on our behalf. But I still call them and bother them a lot just to make sure because Yeah. >> Does anyone have any questions about any of the financial? >> I just want to say like thank you to you and Jenna for being fiscally responsible. Um, I mean, I think that the when you see these these numbers come in like in knowing that tax payments can be delayed and I mean I think just kind of where things are at in our ecosystem right now >> um where we don't know what's going to happen in six months. I just really want to say thank
042you for you guys being fiscally responsible where like this wasn't a major issue like it could have been if we didn't have money saved up to handle these unforeseen or unfortunate circumstances. >> I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thanks everyone. >> Great. And now Becky is going to present out on Special Olympics. Or do you want me to just Here's one side. Yeah, just one side. >> Okay, here we are. All righty. Crazy to think about. Um May 26. >> Yes. Um 2026 again at the EP Sports Complex, 10 o'clock. Um practices will begin the week of March 16th. 45minute practices. We have about 18 coaches this year. Seven are returning, which I think is great. Um I will say it is a huge variety of like who shows up. We have
043pair of professionals. We have a ton of gened teachers um middle school teachers um special education teachers, support staffs from school psyches to social workers to our speech language pathologists. And then we also have a ton of um staff that would like to volunteer. It really is I think they do a great job at the building um cheering their students out. And then it is just such an awesome fun atmosphere um when we get to the complex um and a ton of parents um are and grandparents are out there to kind of see it all. So excited about that. Um Special Olympics, the week before we we did this last year, we did our um neurodiversity week. So um the week prior to the Special Olympics. So we'll continue do that to do that. um
044excited this year to have um we've already secured our um declaration of the games opening. So last year, Mayor Kelly Burke came out. Um our first inaugural year we had um silver medalist Abby Murphy who will be competing tomorrow for the gold in the Winter Olympics. Um but this year we have our um 14U um Evergreen Park Eclipse girls softball team coming out who participate in the World Series. So they're going to declare the games open. So >> Oh, that's awesome. >> So I'm excited about that. So great. >> Yeah, it'll be cool. Um so yeah, so we'll we're going out. We're hoping to um I think one of the things that we've kind of seen from you know our second year was um oh I didn't know I could participate like everybody assumes that
045it's only students with disabilities but really the point of Special Olympics is to have both students participating together. So um I'm excited to see like what kind of turnout that we're going to have this year um because the kids love it and and I think the staff loves it as well obviously with returning but it's fun. So that's it. to be continued, but obviously everybody's invited as well. So, >> thank you, Becky. >> Moving right along, we at the public comment section of our agenda. Do I have any green cards? >> No green cards. Per board of education policy 22:30. A few reminders specifically about the logistics for the public comment portion of every meeting, including this evening. as is posted on our agenda publicly for every meeting to respect all of our stakeholders, our
046commenters, our board, our public. We adhere very closely to the three-minute time limit for everyone. We will set a timer and we expect everyone to respect their three minutes. In addition, we do not respond to public comments at board meetings, but we hear them. We respect, we listen to, and we take into account all community member concerns. If there's a specific question that comes up, we can respond after the meeting or we'll designate a staff member to do so if that is appropriate. Okie do. Let's move into our board reports. Mr. David Shepard, could you please report out on Arrow's governing board meeting? >> Sure. At the meeting, look, right, it was right after we had our last meeting about a month ago. >> It was a busy week for you, huh? >> It was
047basically Facebook. No, but um very uh short meeting. They basically uh just went over the budget in the meeting. They did do some bids for some new vehicles, three new vehicles. um it bid it with Curry Motor in Napleton. Curry had the lowest bid, so we approved for them to purchase the three new vehicles. Uh they needed a new tractor to help move the snow. So, we approved them to buy a new tractor. And then the rest of the meeting was pretty much about um they have to change the way that they build in order to comply with like the Illinois Review Care some some place that it's all to do with them getting reimbursement back. So, my understanding of it is like the magical number was $2.7 like million dollars they have to get
048to and then like anything over that amount is what they can receive back from the state. However, they can't bill like individually anymore and then there's certain programs that cannot be a part. So, they have to break up the building. It all comes out to the same numbers in the end, but it's just like they can't individually like bill for like a janitor here, this, like that. It has to be one charge that they're going to charge each district and then it's all locked together. And then once they get to the magical number of 2.7, anything over that is what is reimbursed back to them and then that is, to my understanding, reimbursed back to the districts. So there's money coming. Strange formula, it's all new. Uh that was pretty much it. Did they encourage
049you to participate in any other graduations because they had some pretty um you know like star stellar students who really faced a lot of adversity when they were in the regular districts and they really turned everything around. So they was kind of like pushing out to maybe attend the graduations just to see these these great students and then we talked about karaoke forever. >> Oh my god. Forever. And that pretty much was me. >> All right. Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Next, we had a facilities committee meeting last week. Uh I'll I'll touch on that. Uh so really that was us kind of regrouping with our architects. Uh last month I had tasked them with trying to come in with a lower number for a new central middle school. >> Uh I gave them a
050very aggressive goal of 55 million. They did their darnest to try and hit that and they kind of did. And I'll tell you why it was a kind of. Uh they presented two options to us that were around that like very very near that number but they were both options kind of focused on same old solutions at Central Middle School where it was they're going to keep a portion of it knock down the rest and then do like a a mega edition renovation. And while the number looked good, I just I don't know. It felt like morally with all these problems we've had at Central Middle School is just the wrong place to start, right? Starting with what has brought us to the need in general, which is a new building. And so the the
051number that they came in at with still a new building, we were able to parse out some of like the frills and some of the nicer, more, you know, top end finishes on it, >> I believe, was, and correct me if I'm wrong, $68 million. billion. >> So about $5.9 million cheaper than what was originally quoted in the original build of it. It's still a very similar building. I think it'll absolutely uh meet the needs of the community and it'll certainly be an improvement and logistically it's just better because with that tiered build, there's an opportunity to keep school in session. That was like one of our major questions for the the the Franken buildings as I was calling them was Franken. What do we I was like, "Okay." So, we knocked down three-fifths of
052the building or three-4s of the building. Where are the kids gonna go, right? Like, we we got to put them somewhere. And like literally, we have no space. Yeah. Oh, man. >> So, yeah. So, we we just decided that those options really weren't adequate. So, I think what we really ought to do is move forward with this new number, this $68 million number, new Central Middle School. I think we should really start all of our communication, all of our messaging to the community. >> We have heard you. The initial project was too wide in scope and too high of a number. This is more refined and it still addresses what we think is the core uh need of this school district and of this community as a new middle school. >> Um so our action
053will be to take a vote by August of this year to advance it to the ballot for November. Uh, and I think that we should absolutely proceed down that course and put it in the hands of the voter and let them decide. >> It's a democracy after all. Are we sending out another survey or >> I I would advise the board to not send out another survey and the main reason why is because our initial survey data response provided us information and community pallet in terms of tax impact which they they said clearly the tax impact was too high. So we know that >> we have now then in turn said we've listened to them right >> we as a board as a leadership team have said we're going to prioritize our priority we've set
054is also central and our survey data has also indicated our higher need right now I'm not saying forever but right now is central middle school and because of that I I believe our communication should be twofold in terms of uh presenting that issue to the community our res resol solution lowering the cost. >> This would be about half the tax impact >> about half the tax impact. >> Um and so one of um Michael and I's discussions and also at the facilities committee meeting um we intend to have the architect back in March as well as Tammy who is PMA who is our bond council to really go through specific t tax impact with the board so that we can start publicizing that in the larger community. um as a whole. >> Let's go. >>
055And we just let the >> let the voters make the decisions. >> Yeah. >> Um and definitely some other um action that I believe um that we need to take in terms of, you know, as a reminder to the board, you know, as a board member, you can't take any additional action come August, but as a community member, you can. Um, so really thinking through who's going to help and support in leading any sort of campaign is really at the forefront of my mind and really relying on our internal community members who have really conveyed to me either personally, anecdotally and said that they are a yes vote. They really do believe that this is best for our community. Um, and really pushing that message out as much as possible. Um, I I anticipate doing
056some and I'm open to feedback. I'm happy to discuss this publicly now. Um, I'm open to doingformational sessions. I don't see a need for as many as we did. >> Um, maybe two potentially and obviously I would only have them at central. Um, but I think smaller venues in which we have our direct parents, our parents who are currently existing in the community to really help support and push um the campaign would be our our best indication of success. >> Agreed. >> Any feedback? >> I I mean I think that again based off of our feedback I think we heard, we listened, we accommodated. I mean, I think that this is the most pressing thing that the district has in terms of the quality of education that we can give our children is dependent on
057sometimes the structures around us. >> Um, and I think that, you know, again, as a parent of a student who plays multiple sports and gets in and out of all of the other middle schools that are around, um, we're lacking. you know, we're behind our peers. I think that, you know, people move to this village because of the quality of services that we give our families and we give our children. Um, so I think that to to fix that problem is something that like needs to happen. Um I think just you know from people I've talked to coming in at a number that's about half >> um I think is very beneficial for the taxpayer. I mean >> you know people it's a real life concern in terms of finances and that tax bill going
058up which it does every year. Um but I think that you know again talking to the fiscal responsibility that we mentioned earlier. Um, you know, this is another way that the districts being fiscally responsible to the community members who pay their taxes to give us, you know, the the funds that we need to to operate. Um, but yeah, I think this is a phenomenal idea. I think like let's let's do it. Let's make it happen. Um, yeah, let's get a big gym. >> The stage stage auditorium. >> I'm go out there on a limb here. Um, we did not look into taking donations the last time. >> Mhm. >> And I think this time we seriously have to. >> Okay. >> Because here's the problem is it's as we're putting all of the weight on
059the backs of the actual, you know, parents here, >> you know, actual senior citizens here. There's plenty of businesses here that will love to be part of history. Plenty of businesses here who I mean, my son, he worked at the local, you know, pizza place here for a while. you know, plenty of businesses here that employs students, >> you know, why not have them on a sheet of paper showing that all of them are participating and let's a parent say, "Oh, wow. They're all in." Oh, yeah. I eat there the pizza place all the time. You know what I'm into? Yeah. >> You know, maybe. And then I mean, let's get them some kind of art. Let's build I mean a wall inside the school of all the original donors of when it you know,
060people signature, whatever we want to do. But we have to get more stakeholders. We can't let the actual taxpayers themselves, I mean like the parents and the poor people or the seniors just believe they have to carry all the weight. So I mean even if they only donate a dollar, $100, $10, it's it's maybe a dime in a bucket, but it's still them participating in the future of the children. >> So I'm really hoping that we can do that this time >> just to get that extra support. >> Sure. I'm open to it as always with these kinds of things. I want to talk to the lawyer, make sure that those are things that we can do. Um, but yeah, I mean, I I think it's it's going to be a big lift from the
061community no matter what. And I think finding ways to have us all own it a little bit more than just through the tax bill is a great idea. >> Feels rad. Yeah. >> Okay. >> Denise, Rachel, anything? >> Let's do it. >> I'm ready. ready. I I'm gonna put Rachel on a marketing um push because I had a couple people when Rachel gave her speech um come up to me and say like Rachel changed their mind. >> So, >> we just have to remember her speech. >> So, yeah. >> All right. Thank you so much. >> All right. And so for the very first time ever, we're going to have a report out on our giving committee. So Mrs. Lauren Dow, if you don't mind, and then also if you could speak to uh item
062D as well once you're done with the giving committee. >> Um so I'm going to be talking about the newly formed I think there's a slide for that one too. Newly formed giving committee um with myself and Mr. O'Neal Gray. And there there was a need for this to be newly formed. we thought that there was a need for a structured and intentional board giving so so we can support student experiences across the district. Um so I'm just going to share some updates about how we're going to approach the board donations this year. And thanks to Eric and Jenna for you know your help and in and guidance and shaping the the financial parameters around this because I I would just give as much as we could give. >> Just keep going. just keep. >>
063So, with the creation of the committee, there's also a creation of two new giving opportunities. And I'm going to jump around because the first ones on top is the booster organization request. And essentially what we're saying is any um recognized booster club can request a $150 annual donation from the board of education. Um, and then the second new one, it's actually the last one on the list here, is the hashtagbe evergreen board of education activities scholarship. I think we could maybe work on the name a little bit with some help. >> Um, but essentially this this is a newly created uh scholarship that's out there to support students um who might not benefit from athletic based funding. So, the fine arts, um, enrichment programs, extracurriculars that will be more impactful, maybe reach a broader student
064base so that they can feel, um, engage in and and belong in in the community, even if they're not necessarily athletes. So, I'm really excited about that one. Um, I'm going to go back up. We're going to continue on with our D124 back to school bash request like we have always done. We're also going to continue on with our Evergreen Reads purchasing books for schools and families just like we did with packs this year. And of course, we're going to continue on with a Mullron scholarship, but we did refine it a bit. So, this is new. So, board members, if you have questions about this, um, in the past, we had come up with an amount, let's say $300 per student, and then anything above that was the family's responsibility, regardless of whether or not
065we met our $4,000 cap. This year, we're going to fulfill individual students up to $300. And if we have extra monies in our cap, we're going to redistribute until we've spent all the money because why hold on to that, >> right? I don't know if that's okay, but no, we're gonna keep we're gonna keep >> Eric just gave you a look. >> We're just gonna spend it all. Make sure that we're giving as much as we can. >> Um, and on that note, at the end of next week, both the MCronone scholarship and the Be Evergreen scholarship are opening up. So, we encourage staff and families to spread the word and try to make sure any eligible student is um out there and aware of these opportunities. >> Great. >> Thank you. >> Looking forward
066to it. really been excited about the idea of having it be, you know, because we're always involved in in these in these giving opportunities, but it feels like it's it in the past has been so haphazard and just kind of thrown together. Yeah. And I just felt like >> Yeah. I like >> it's nice to have some structure around it and some expectations around it. It gives predictability to it. And I think that that's a big part of like giving opportunities is is predictability and cadence. So, >> and I actually wanted to the the board organization request actually came from a Northwest booster club that said, "Hey, we're having this Mustangs night out. Um, could you do anything?" And I said, "I actually just joined the giving committee, we'll add it on there." >> Excellent.
067And if you know any worthy students and you want them to apply or you can nominate them yourself, it opens at the end of next week. All right. So, here we are in our action items. So, we're going to start with our consent agenda. So, item one, approve monthly transaction reports for January 2026. Item two, approve fund balance reports for January 2026. Item three, approve expenditure report and projected payroll report for February 2026. Item four, approve board minutes for the special meeting for strategic planning of January 14, 2026. Item five, approve board minutes for the regular meeting of January 21, 2026. Item six, approve closed session minutes from the regular meeting of July 2020 January 21, 2026. Item seven, approve destruction of closed session tapes from October 2021. Item eight, personnel recommendations. There are three
068additions, an FMLA leave of absence and two resignations. Do we have a first motion to approve consent agenda >> on the minutes? Sorry. >> Yeah. >> Page nine of 12, which is a typo. >> Page nine. >> Yeah, page nine. >> Okay. Just want to note because it's got someone who rendered a vote that is not >> part of the board. >> Okay. >> Thank you for catching. >> All right. Okay. So, with that correction to be made, uh, is there a first and is there a second? >> There's a second. >> Could we have a roll call, please? >> Sure. >> Dr. Michael Thomas, >> yes. >> David Shepard, >> yes. >> Rachel Maroquin, yes. Lauren Dow, >> yay. >> O'Neal Gray, >> yay. >> Denise Jones, >> yes. >> Michael Al, >> yay.
069>> Motion. >> Wonderful. Item B, approve and adopt new strategic plan for 2026 to 2029 as presented. Do we have a first motion to strategic plan? >> Excellent. And a second. >> Wonderful. And could we have a roll call, please? >> Okay. Dr. Michael Thomas, >> yes. >> O'Neal Gray, yay. >> Lauren Dowin, >> David Shepard, >> yes. >> Rachel Maroquin, yes. Denise Jones, >> yes. >> Michael, yay. >> Very good. Item C. Here we go. Giving committee in action. Approve board of education donation to Evergreen Reeds not to exceed $2,450 for purchase of packs by Sarah Penny Packer. That's a fun name to say. >> Do we have a first? >> I'll make that motion. >> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Is there Excuse me. Can I have a roll call,
070please? >> Changing it up. Denise Jones. >> Yes. >> Lauren Dowen. >> O'Neal Gray. >> Yay. >> American. Yes. David Shepard. >> Yes. >> Dr. Michael Thomas. >> Yes. >> Michael. >> Yay. >> Motion pass. >> Thank you. Item D. Approve first reading of revised board policies 260, 510, 5200, and 6315 as recommended by the Illinois Association of School Boards. Do we have a first? >> I'll make the motion. >> Wonderful. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Could we have a roll call, please? >> Rachel Maroquin? Yes. Dr. Michael Thomas. Yes. >> O'Neal Gray. >> Denise Jones. >> Yes. >> David Shepard. >> Yes. Lauren Dowen. >> Yay. >> Michael Miller. >> Yay. >> Motion pass. >> Very good. >> Item E, approve second reading and adoption of revised board policies 260, 2120, 480,
071510, 5200, 660, 6315, 770, and 7180 as recommended by the Illinois Association of School Boards. Is there a first >> motion to approve agenda item E? >> Excellent. Is there a second? >> A second. >> Very good. Could we have a roll call? >> Dr. Michael Thomas. Yes. >> David Shepard. >> Yes. >> Denise Jones. >> Yes. >> Rachel Maroquin. Yes. O'Neal Gray. >> Yes. >> Lauren Dowen. >> Yay. >> Michael Miller. >> Yay. >> Motion pass. >> Thank you. Item F. Approve first reading of revised board policy exhibits 270E and 2160E as recommended by the Illinois Association of School Boards. Do we have a first? >> I'll make the motion. >> Excellent. Is there a second? >> Who wants some more? >> Dave. >> All right. >> Roll call, please. Rachel Marquin, yes. David
072Shepard, >> yes. >> Lauren Dowin, >> yay. >> Denise Jones, >> yes. >> O'Neal Gray, >> yay. >> Dr. Michael Thomas, Michael, >> yay. >> Motion pass. >> Excellent. Item G, approve second reading and adoption of revised board policy exhibits 270E and 2160E as recommended by the Illinois Association of School Boards. Is there a first? >> Motion approve agenda item G. >> Is there a second? I'll second it. Thank you. And could we have a roll call, please? >> Sure. Dr. Michael Thomas, >> yes. >> David Shepard, >> yes. >> O'Neal Gray, >> yay. >> Lauren Dowin, >> hey. >> Rachel Marquin, yes. Denise Jones, >> yes. >> Michael, >> yay. >> Motion pass. >> Very good. Item H, approve school fees for the 2026 2027 school year. Is there a first? >> I'll make
073the motion. >> Excellent. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Very good. Could we have a roll call, please? >> Rachel Maroquin, yes. Denise Jones, >> yes. >> David Shepard, >> yes. >> O'Neal Gray, >> yes. >> Dr. Michael Thomas. >> Yes. >> Lauren Dowen, >> yay. >> Michael, >> yay. >> Motion passed. >> Very good. Item I, approve year 2 tax a uh appear, guys. I'm just >> It's time to go closed, I guess. Approve year two tax abatement aligned with property tax relief grant. Is there a first >> motion to approve agenda item I? >> Excellent. Is there a second? >> Skip it. >> Second. >> Who wants some more? >> Okay. Neil Grey senior >> I gave it to you to >> you're good. >> Dr. Michael, >> yes. >> O'Neal Gray,
074>> yay. >> Denise Jones, >> yes. >> Rachel Merquin, yes. David Shepard, >> yes. >> Lauren Dowen, >> yay. >> Michael Almond, >> yay. >> Motion pass. >> Excellent. >> All right. At this time, we are going to recess to close session to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the district or legal counsel for the district, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee or against legal counsel for the district to determine its validity 5ilcs 120/2C1 as amended by PA930057 and the placement of individual students in special education programs and other matters relating to individual students 5 ILCS 120C10. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Excellent. >> All right, everybody at home, >> the stream is about to end. All of you here, thank you
075so much for attending. You're welcome to stay. We don't know when we will be back from closed session, though, so no pressure. Grab a cupcake on your way out.