001All right, everybody. >> Let's get this last one of 2025 underway. >> That's right. >> That's crazy, >> right? >> All right, we're going to be calling this meeting to order. Board of Education regular meeting, December 17, 2025. Call to order 6:02 p.m. roll call, please. David Shepard >> present. >> Lauren Dowin >> present. >> O'Neal Gray >> present. >> American present. Dr. Michael Thomas >> present. >> Denise Jones >> yes. >> Michael Long >> present. >> Excellent. Thank you. You all could 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 all. If the board could please review the agenda in front of
002them and if there are no edits to be made, if I could have a first to approve motion to approve the agenda. >> Wonderful. Is there a second? Second. >> Very good. Roll call, please. >> Dr. Michael Thomas. >> Yes. >> O'Neal Gray, >> David Shepard, >> yes. >> Jones, >> yes. Yes. >> Rachel Marquin. Yes. Lauren Dowen. >> Yay. >> Michael. >> Okay. >> Excellent. Jumping right in. Staff reports. Dr. Woodland, please. >> My first report I am giving on behalf of our eighth grade student advisory. So, December is a very busy month, so I gave them the time off. Um, so our eighth grade student advisory, they wrote this statement, just so you're aware, noticed a decline in students emotional well-being and an increase in students experiencing difficult emotions at school. In response,
003they sought a speaker who could genuinely connect with students and support them through these challenges. They selected Zion Given after hearing him present at the high school where they thought he was highly effective and connected with students and spoke meaningfully to the challenges that they faced. Um I'd like to also give a shout out to Dean Weston who's helping us arrange for this presentation that will take place in February. And so I'm going to just show a quick um YouTube video that they also found um to display what he really supports. Y know what up in County Middle School? I'm so excited to be here with y'all and we're going to talk about some vulnerabilities, but we're going to do it in a fun way where it doesn't feel awkward. So, I can't wait to
004hang out with y'all. >> He was really funny, but he also was really inspirational. Like, he made me cry a little bit because it was really relatable. >> He's very just warm and genuine, and I'm really impressed with how he can connect with the high schoolers. Z is just like really full of energy and super positive. So, it was really great to be around a nice like approachable adult. >> One thing that really stuck out to me is how serious he can be when he's giving out a true meaningful message. >> I'm rocking with high schoolers, so I know how this goes. The adults in this room cannot help you if you don't know what's going on. Asking for help is the strongest thing somebody could do. We can talk about our feelings. >> He
005knows that we go through a lot and the mental health is a really big part of our life. No matter even if you think that someone isn't listening to you, there's always someone. >> You really brought that message home and you gave us some ideas of what it is that we need to pay attention to in ourselves. >> I can look at you and tell you for certain that you are enough. >> So, um, we look to have Zion Given visit visit visit us in February and we will provide an update when it's completed. Any questions? Okay, great. >> Okay, next up. >> Um, next up on my report, I will be providing the board with information and I do encourage all board members to chime in. Um, so in front of you, you have
006the public opinion survey results and you have the more detailed view. Um, to remind us, I think it is important for us to go back as to how we got to this point. Suzanne, if you could go to the next slide. So, the district engaged in a strategic planning process that was three years ago. We also conducted a very deep facilities needs assessment. We sought many, many, many sessions with our architects as well as with students, with parents, with community members to really take a deep dive into the needs of our facilities. From there, we also conducted community surveys and we put together a proposal that was then presented to our citizens task force last spring. That citizens task force recommended that we survey and test in the larger community the larger proposal which included
007renovations and additions to all four of our elementary schools which included the rem the removal of our mobiles as well as the addition of a new middle school um replacing our existing 98-year-old middle school. So, the purpose of all of our public relations push this past fall was to provide the community with essential information to bring us to the point of this public opinion survey. And so, I'm going to go through very highlevel overview, really slide one and slide 26. And I want each Ford member as well as the community to be aware that a more detailed letter will be sent out to all community members that will detail more specific information for their consumption. So to introduce the survey itself had 18 questions and it was also partnered with an associated fact sheet and
008there was much much much information that came prior to that point as well. Printed survey and fact sheet mailed to 8,24 registered voters households on October 27th. The online survey was accessible via QR code or a printed survey. There was also text messages with survey links sent to 9,565 voters on November 5th. Our response rate was 1,94 surveys returned by November 20th. They received an additional 35 surveys added after cross tabs, 14% response rate overall, which is typical and even a little bit higher than what the the company would typically see. And the rationale behind that, just to give everyone some context, is what they would say is that these would be the group of people who would actually come out and vote. Okay. Um, so 58% were male. QR code was 20% and text
009was 21% in terms of response rate. So I am going to jump to the summary of the results. And so if you recall the survey itself addressed the larger proposal which included the addition of and renovations of all of our elementary schools and the new middle school at a total cost of $19.8 million. That support came in at 38% yes. When I say yes, that means probably yes and definitely yes. 55% no. That means definitely no and probably no. And 7% undecided with no response rate or no response rate. The second question was driven on the smaller proposal. So 75 74.9 million which would be just the new middle school that came in at 40% yes again yes and probably yes 49% no which means definitely no probably no and 11% undecided with no response.
010There was a strong intensity for opposition. By that we mean 20% definitely yes versus the 41% definitely know. There was definitely pockets of support. Our parents of schoolage children are supportive overall. The actual number tied to that was 56% but less supportive than typical. We would typically be looking for around 70% of our internal base to support the proposal. Females slightly more supportive than males at 46 verse 32%. And our highest level of support came from students at Northeast or families from Northeast Elementary School, but they also, just to throw a caveat in there, had the lowest response rate. So high awareness, 90% had heard a lot or some about the proposal which was higher than typical. So I do believe we did our job and getting the information out there to the public. High
011concern regarding tax impact, 83% somewhat or very concerned versus the the addition of taxes versus 15% not very or not at all concerned. priority of projects. There was a slight preference for replacing Central Middle School over upgrading the elementary schools. So, I think this really begs the question of what next? And so, I'm going to go to the next slide. So, I'm calling this a power pause because I think we would all agree that timing is everything. And most recently and especially in Cook County is especially Eric Garcia and I discuss um the assessment rate the board and I you know we've Michael and I have done many presentations with our EP podcast um and recognizing how many people have really talked about affordability. So at that point too, I think it's also important that
012some anecdotal notes that I've heard from people since we've released this information is that some community members had expressed why not just put it on the ballot or why not just allow the community to vote. And so I would really like to encourage the board to really think through that and if not now then when because we do still also know and recognize that this facilities related concern is not going anywhere. Um and I do believe that that has been our message um throughout the process. Um, I would also encourage all of us, I think so many of you, I'm so appreciative all the time you've dedicated to this project and our facilities that we continue to engage in community conversations around the needs of our facilities. Um, and the district still has a remaining
013balance from the bond proceeds in which we intend to use. So, if you recall, we did have a bond that we issued um that the board approved. We still have a balance remaining on that bond and we do intend to bring a proposal to the board for bid to complete the northwest related projects that we have already recommended. So we did a baitment last summer and then we will do a bid paint for um this upcoming summer to complete that project. Uh at the January meeting, DA architect firm at my request will be bringing a list of high priority items to the board to review relating specifically to Central Middle School. I am not saying that those are going to be recommendations. It's solely going to beformational. I can tell you upfront that the the
014cost proposal that I received today was $5.1 million. And so we do not have that dollar amount obviously in our fund balance that we would recommend utilizing to address some of those higher priorities. My recommendation will be made to take this list to our facilities committee to then make more of a further recommendation in terms of next steps. So I would open it up to all board members. you know, this is your opportunity to share what you learned from the process, for me to share what I learned. Of course, there's a list of things that I would do differently. Um, and you know, I'll be vulnerable. I think maybe maybe me me and Michael are the only people who are like the most disappointed about this. you know, a phase of like we we were
015very hopeful, but I also think our messaging around um making sure that we do listen to our community and we did start with that in every, you know, session. Um I think Denise has really said it well that we we knew there was going to be um resistance and so timing probably is the most important thing for us to consider and continuing to go down that journey. like I like to say something. >> Yes, of course. >> As the board members, our priority is always the number one priority is our students and that includes ensuring that they have safe and healthy and well-maintained learning environments. And because this so directly impacts their daily learning, their overall well-being, I feel like I'd be remiss if I didn't advocate for giving the the community an opportunity to
016weigh in in a public vote. And I think that, you know, allowing the residents to go to the ballot box and make this decision publicly, not only it honors our responsibility to the students, but it also honors our responsibility of maintaining that trust and transparency that we so we so strive for every day, you know, and so I just that's that's my personal opinion on on that. >> Thank you. >> Want to pick it back off of that? I look at it as, you know, we owe it to students to try it. I mean, what do you care? It's fear. Who cares? We put it on the ballot. We put it out there. We see what comes back. The information that we get back, we know where we have to work from if we have
017to put it back on the ballot again in November. But we can't sit here as a board and say, "Well, you know what? Might have failed, so we didn't do it." We do it. We have concrete evidence that we did it. This is where it came out. If we find out that the quadrant voted this way and the quadrant voted that way, then we know where to concentrate our effort the next time. But we can't just sit and say, you know, fear of it failing. It's going to keep us from going forward. We just keep going forward. Most things pass in election cycles on the fourth time. Sometimes >> maybe we'll get on the first. Hopefully, it's midterm. Not a lot of people should come out in the midterm. Maybe we'll just roll the dice
018and just luck up because a lot of people didn't show up. Or maybe in November we might have to put on the ballot then when you know there's a lot of people that's come out. I mean, but we we push until it pass. That's the way I look. Only thing that just keep going through my mind is if not when. >> Yeah. >> If not when it has to happen because u our children the students are suffering over there. >> So if not now when is the question and we don't have long to answer it. I mean, I agree with Denise like the idea of um when being the key factor. Um I I think from the results like I felt like I there's some strong opposition in terms of tax increases. Um I think
019that was pretty clear that people seem like now was not the ideal time. Um but that when piece kind of I don't know you know how long it's going to take for the economy to stabilize or things like that where people would feel >> more comfortable. Um, so I mean I think for me the biggest thing is, you know, we're taking a pause really trying to think when is the when do we do it? You know, like I mean is as David said, you know, like you know, you can run it a bunch of times, but I just know as someone who works in education, you know, when these referendums fail, the chances that they come back for success are very slim. >> Um, people say, I voted no on that. You changed the wording.
020They don't listen to the wording that you say. They say, "I already voted no." Um, and it becomes a very hard and uphill battle. I mean, my wife's at Lockport High School, and they've ran referendums for the better part of 20 years without having any success. Um, you know, where like if you do it the first time and you get it through, that's probably your best chance. Um, but I do think that like thinking of the when is important because we all know like anyone who's walked through that building knows like the facilities there need to be remodeled. I mean kids got 4 foot hallways, you've got like a cafeteria that's stuck in a basement. I mean those are things that like our kids just deserve better as somebody who lives in the community, someone
021who, you know, teaches the kids in the community. Like that's not what I think Evergreen Park stands for. >> Yeah. in terms of the facilities that we're going to send our kids to. I mean, we've got teachers in the room. You guys do an amazing job. >> All right. Um, but it's not fair to them, you know? I mean, it's just not fair to the people who spend their days in that building. >> And just think about it. It's a roll of the dice. If you think about it, when you look at ballots and you go down, people will vote straight. Sometimes people vote for election judges that they've never heard of in their life. >> People will just vote because they friend voted in the in the same way. I mean, it's not like
022we're going to put it on the ballot. It's going to say this is going to, you know, >> cost you this and this. It's break. It's not that it's going to be a question and it's going to be like a yes or no. And sometimes you just luck up that people answer yes. Oh, it's the school. Okay, that sounds good. I like the school. And they just answer yes. I mean, but if they do answer no, I mean, what did it cost us? We now know where we stand, what we need to do, and where we need to go and reapproach. And that's that's bottom line. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't immensely disappointed uh by the outcome or at least the the where we stand right now. You know, I've sunk three
023and a half years into this so far. I'm not going anywhere. These problems aren't going anywhere. We're not kicking the can down the road. So, I want to make sure that my board is aware of the fact like this isn't to just sweep it under the rug like, "Oh, shucks. We failed. let's figure something else out. I'm still standing by this. I'm not pumping taxpayer dollars into bandaids on that bill. >> That's why we're in this position. And so when we pass something, it's going to be to deliver a facility that actually solves a problem. Right now, I think what we got put in front of us was information that indicated we did a inadequate job of connecting with our stakeholders, the people that actually use the buildings. For me, that was one of the
024hardest statistics to look at was our families that use our buildings. we couldn't even touch 60% support. Uh so I feel like that's one of the big places to really zoom in on and I want to encourage anybody that's listening at home or anybody that here that's here tonight that's really disappointed to get engaged. There's a lot that can happen. Uh especially from a grassroots perspective. I feel like top down leadership has taken this as far as we're going to get it. We're not abandoning it, but I mean, there really needs to be people in the community to continue to talk about it, to talk about how important it is to them, how important it is to just keep this community in a place where we can be proud of it, where we can be
025proud of the results. And just, you mentioned how great our teachers are over there, and I couldn't agree more. And when you have great teachers, you don't give them poor supplies and expect great results. You know, we have to continue to pump in great resources to get great results in spite of how good of a job that they do already. We have to give them the best resources to do the best job. So, I'm hoping that anybody listening at home that's disappointed by this will reach out to me. Send me an email, shoot me a text. Let's go to Porter Collins and grab a beer. I'm going to talk to you about ways you can get involved. Uh I'm thinking right now petition is one of the things that I'd love to see from the
026community. Something organic that just has support written all over it. >> It would mean a lot, I think, to us to put something on the ballot one time. I don't want to do it eight times. Nothing personal, David. >> Okay. >> Uh but yeah, >> I kind of disagree when you said that we didn't do everything that we uh were supposed to do to get this the information out to the community. As a matter of fact, we received so many emails in support of going to the ballot box. So my question is also again where were those voices when we needed them at the um bondformationals? Where were those voices when we needed them um during board meetings and where were those voices when we needed them on social media for all the um hackers,
027you know, computer um >> keyboard keyboard warriors keyboard warriors. Where were those voices when we needed them? And uh um I do challenge, you know, the community to come to some of the board some of these board members and express their support of the referendum. They pulling us tapping me on the shoulder in jewels asking what happened. >> I we were going to vote yes for it. Well, where was the voice when we needed it? We need the community, you all, the community to go out and help push it. if you were going to vote yes, the survey didn't express, your voice and your agreement with it. So again, if not now, when and I think the when is very soon, I agree with David that it has to be, you know, not, you know,
028years down the line. It has to be, you know, >> you know, our community changes. There's going to be new students that's going to enroll the next school year. There's going to be new families that's going to move in. There's going to be other families that's going to move out. There's going to be grandkids that's going to be born. >> Our community will evolve. We can't stay static. So, it doesn't make a difference. And again, it doesn't hurt us to put it on the ballot. I mean, with respect, if it goes 20 times and it passes on the 21st time, I don't give a care. It's you can't be stolen and and and like put in like a a steel kind of box where if you go left, you go right, there's nothing to be
029accomplished. If you go up and you go down, there's nothing that's going to be accomplished. So, I'm just going to sit here and just say, "Oh, well, I tried." Our job and what we owe to our students is to try until we succeed. That's what we teach them. They fall down, we tell them, "Get up, try again." That's that's what we do. We have to set an example. We're going to push until we get it passed. That's just what it is. If it's not this board makeup, maybe it'll be the next board makeup or maybe it'll be the next group of community, you know, uh, parents and that moves into the community. Don't care. It needs to pass because the school is going to keep crumbling because it's going to keep getting older and it's
030not going to repair or fix itself. >> So, that's just me. No, you know, offense to anybody. I don't care if we put it on the ballot five times in a row until it passed. That's what we need to do because it's a need that has to be met and we owe it. >> Yeah. I mean, it's coming down the line. It's the school, like you said, Dave, it's not going to fix itself. And fear, fear of opposition is always going to be there. Everybody, everybody has an opinion. So, I mean, look at it like this. You want these kids to excel. This is what we're here for. Got the some of the greatest teachers in the in in the Illinois and United States. And not to sound, you know, patriotic, but you can't expect
031them to come in every day with those students and succeed when you got infrastructure just falling apart. >> Come on, people. >> Let's, you know, let's let's let's get realistic. >> And where was our student body at? 90%. Was it 90% of the students said they wanted change or something like that when we did the survey? >> I don't It was a very high number. I remember. No, >> the kids wanted a new school. Yeah, that they want a new school. I agree. They need a new school because it's like a dungeon and it's just >> they are in there. >> The learning environment really means a lot. >> You know, to to piggy back off of what Michael said though about the grassroots, I think that's super important. The one thing that I really
032did hear from um parents in general is that the yes vote in my in my opinion more anecdotally didn't come to theformational sessions. So, I do think that they didn't know necessarily the impact that the public opinion survey might have had on the bigger picture decision because they were a yes. >> And so, if they didn't then complete >> the survey results, it may not be properly reflected. >> Um, >> just to go back like tonight was the night in which the board would need to have taken legal action in order to place something on the March ballot. So the next opportunity would be November and the board would need to take action in August. Um so just logistically some things for us to consider. Um and then obviously after that we would have to
033wait until the presidential election. >> Well, here's one thing we'll consider. We'll hold all the informationational sessions in the basement next time. How about the lunchroom? We'll put them on down there so they can actually see, you know, or we we'll, you know, >> we'll find something out of extremely uncomfortable so they can actually deal because people that come out are normally the nose. They're the naysayers. They Okay. So, we put them in environment >> and then we hold informational session for about 3 hours. Yeah. About 3 hours. We sit down there without any air conditioning going on, you know, some heat or something, you know, and and let them feel what it feels like to be a student inside the school >> or go from from the mobile to mobile and >> Oh, yeah.
034Maybe we can hold it like mobile. living in the mobile. How about that? >> Go mobile to mobile. >> I mean, it's going to everybody's going to have a complaint, but you know, it's it's here >> and got to address it. So, you know, >> I think it's very disheartening. It was it really I was really disappointed when we see the results. Really, I really thought like, oh, we're going to do this. This is going to be great. everyone's going to see what I see, you know, and that's not what happened. And so it was really disheartening to to hear and to see and, you know, you want to go with what the community says and try to uplift them and make them see what we see. Um, and then it's like, you know, like
035Michael said, I don't want to put band-aids on this. Like when Dr. Woodland was just talking about, oh, we'll have facilities meeting and we'll talk about this 5 point something million. Right away, my mind's like, are you kidding me? you know, are you kidding me? And then what next? You know, and then some of these people that came out, what they said, why wasn't this done before? Well, that's what we'll keep hearing year after year after year when the numbers keep going up and more stuff happens. Why didn't we do this before? >> So, we I do feel we need to regroup. >> Yeah. >> Figure out what our next steps are because >> I I don't want it swept under the rug where we're done because I think some people feel like, oh, they're
036done. They're moving on. It's not going to happen. we got what we wanted and then I I mean I don't want this swept under rug. I don't want to put band-aids on things. Um we have to sit and regroup and figure it out. >> And again we got to remember our enrollment is switching from public to private there. There's there's there's enrollment happening that way. And then we have next door where Oakland is building a brand new school. It's really pretty. It's on the corner. Everybody can see it. You know that's >> we're not going to win if we don't do something. >> We're just going to continue to lose. you know, and for everybody out there, people don't move in and out of the community. Your property taxes, you know, may be high, but
037the value of your property doesn't increase neither because there's no real estate moving around. So, families don't move in. And think about it, when you move into a community, first thing you ask is >> what kind of neighbors, neighborhood it is, how safe it is. Second one you ask about is the schools in the community. So if you skip over Evergreen Park and go over to Oaklan, then our our property, it doesn't, you know, appreciate in value. It it doesn't because there's nothing moving. So, you know, I tried to explain it at one of the sessions. You have to understand, you have to invest in the community that you live in. >> We pay a higher property tax because guess what? We can look out our windows at night at 9:00 and say, "Who is
038that?" Because no one walks around the streets around here at night. That doesn't happen. Or we can send our children outside without to have to go to the window every 5 seconds to look to see if they okay. Or hearing gunshots while you trying to cook in the kitchen. This is why we pay a high property tax and you have to commit to your community. So I don't care how many times we do. If they learn to commit to the community, they going to build a school. This is why I'm laughing. >> Well, more to come. Um, of course, we're continuing the conversation. It is not closed. Um, our next opportunity would be November and we will continue that conversation going >> To be continued. Yes. >> Okay. Next. Um, this is just a brief
039update. So, we have our school resource officer, Officer Wright, who is amazing. We all love her. She was on the news not that long ago, too, wasn't she? Um, she did an amazing report. Um, she keeps our schools safe. If you recall, we did an attorney training in August and um they recommended that we revisit our SRO agreement that was from 2013. It was a really good idea for us to revisit. So, attorneys from the village to us went back and forth. Um the village has officially signed the agreement. You have to take action on it tonight and then Michael will sign for the board. It's all very typical. Nothing to be questioned. So, Any questions? Okay. And then last we have Jim Hennessy for our health life safety report. >> Hello. >> So last
040month we had our annual health and life safety inspection with South Cook and I'm pleased to report that we had a great inspection. um very few things found in violation of any health or life safety uh aspects. The only things they noted were two um electrical panel boxes that were unlocked, but they were unlocked at the time because someone was working on them. So um >> that's how it works. >> But everything else they they thought the schools looked great and clean. They did bring up the elevator at Central and he didn't put it on the report because I said we're getting a new school. Don't worry about it. So, um I guess I jumped the gun on that one. But he did say it it's definitely something we need to really look into because
041>> even if we do push and end up getting a new school at some point, >> it's a few years from now, that elevator needs to be replaced right away. Yeah, >> it's it's bad. >> It does. Yeah. >> That will be in the quote too from the architects that will present in January so you can ask more detailed questions about that the time. >> Um and of course with these guys being from South Cook, the number one question is when are you getting rid of the mobile? Um they they walk through them, they're like they're they're usable now, but you guys really still need to focus on trying to get rid of these. So I mean that's the continued message from South Co all the time. So, I expected that. >> Um, but overall
042they were happy with how the schools looked. They they realized that they're older buildings, but they said they were wellkept. Every I was happy everyone did their part to make sure everything was safe and >> got a great review. So, >> yeah. >> Well, great job, Jim, and to your team. I know you all take great pride in keeping our buildings safe and clean. So, you guys are doing great work. >> And all that snow this December, >> my gosh. That's not That's not taco. >> No, no tacos. No. >> All right, Eric. >> Statement of expenditures. Um, from November, nothing out of the ordinary. Salaries and benefits took up majority of the expenditures for November. revenues. Uh we started to receive some grant revenue. That's the increase you're seeing. We did not receive any
043property tax from Cook County yet. Uh kind of disappointing personally. Hopefully we could see that by next month. Um and as a result, the fund balance has gone down again. What I fully expected go back up once we receive the tax payments back though. >> Was there I'm assuming not, but is there any update from the county? is I feel like last we heard last month it was announced that they was going to be released. >> Yeah. So there was a lot of discussion today about the tax process with Cook County and it goes back and forth. The blame is getting pushed to Cook County from Tyler Technologies and Cook Countyy's pushing the blame on Tyler Technologies and essentially Tyler Technologies figured out how to process the tax bills and send it out to the
044taxpayers and collect the tax money, but right now it's figuring out how to disperse the money. So >> that would be roughly $13 million for us at the moment. And so it's just frustrating because if we had that money, we would be able to invest that money and then that's a source of revenue that we have and it's just very frustrating at the moment. So more to come with that. >> You know, when I don't pay my bills, I can't help but notice that they turn off the gas or the water or the power, but when the county doesn't pay their bills, it's inconvenient. It's it's annoying. >> Any other questions? Thank you. >> Okay, so we've got we've got a public comment this evening. So, I'm going to do my spiel real quick. All
045right. Per board of education policy 2230. A few reminders specifically about the logistics for the public comment portion of every meeting every meeting including this evening. As is posted on our agenda publicly for every meeting, to respect all of our stakeholders, our commenters, our board, our public, we adhere very closely to the three-minute limit for comments 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 that we can respond to after the meeting, we will do so in a timely manner. And our public comment this evening is from Miss Paula Palic
046wearing an awesome Led Zeppelin t-shirt. Thank you. >> Thank you. I love your sweater. >> Was admiring it. >> Okay. Hi. >> I stand before you today with a weight in my chest that's hard to put into words. I'm here because Chris Lavin, our associate principal, is resigning. And while resignations happen, this one feels different. This one feels like a loss. Lavend does not simply work at CMS. She belongs to CMS. And more importantly, CMS belongs to Lavan. Every day, Lavin makes the school feel like a place where people matter. A place where staff is appreciated, students feel safe, and families feel heard. From staff spirit weeks to sunshine carts, raffles to staff of the month recognition. Labin understands something deeply important. When you care for the adults, they are better able to take care
047of the children. That belief is lived out daily through an open door policy that is real, not symbolic. Lavin is where you go when you need anything. Lavin shows up everywhere. In the hallways, at the lunch tables, after school, at games, events, meetings, moments that didn't even make the calendar through weekly newsletters, bulletin boards, lunch groups, and even dressing up as a school mascot, Leaven reminds our students at school can be joyful and that joy belongs to them. But beyond the visible moments is the unseen work that truly changes the lives. Lavin is the backbone of our PBIS system, ensuring supports are not just in place but meaningful. Monthly meetings focused on schoolwide interventions, school tools, incentive assembly, live school implicate implementations. Six week check-ins to ensure that students are never just data points. Their
048names, their stories, their children who deserve our best. Lavin leads our social emotional learning with both precision and heart. creating lessons for the staff so we don't have to worry about it. Implementing capturing kids hearts and holding us accountable through fidelity checks not to control but to care because consistency is care. Systems are built not on punishment but on understanding. Lavin met with students who struggle to show up. She listens to their story. She communicates with families and she has built layers of support. Always asking what does this child need? When behavior challenges arrive, Lavin leads with balance. Accountability paired with dignity. Restorative conversations. Clear expectations. Support for staff during difficult moments. Advocacy for students who need more than consequences. They need someone to believe in them. Someone who reminds them that they make better
049choices and are better people even if they mess up. In all of this, Lavin remains human, compassionate, steady, present. Livven supervises lunch, walks the hallway, supports parents, coaches staff, holds restorative conversation, and leads with integrity even when it's hard. CMS is not just losing an administrator. We're losing a leader who makes people feel safe enough to be vulnerable and strong enough to grow and supported enough to stay. Chris Lavin's impact is woven in the fabric of our school, in our systems, our culture, and our heart. And while I know we should accept this resignation, I'm hoping beyond hope that the board can do something to change her mind. CMS is about to lose an irreplaceable part of ourselves. >> Please don't let Labin go without a fight. >> Thank you. Thank you. Okay, board reports.
050So, the finance committee met last month on November 18th, and I believe you'll have to excuse me since it was a month ago. So, I believe we started off by setting or agreeing to a cadence of when we're going to meet and the topics, the tentative topics for these quarterly meetings. And so I just wanted to, you know, say thank you to to Eric and to to Jenna for uh hearing mostly me complain about how there's like no real system to it and I wanted it to be formulaic. I wanted to know what to expect from it. I just thought, you know, with with finances being such an integral part of what the school district is and what it does, we needed to have some sort of regular expectations behind it and just kind of
051formalize the meetings more. And so they heard me on that and I just want to say thank you for doing that. Um, after that we talked about the Cook County taxes because that was still hot topic a month ago for us. And unfortunately at the time we were learning that it was actually going to be dispersed and there wasn't going to be any further action required by the board. Uh there had been tentative plans about seeking short-term financing in order to cover some uh gaps that could come up from the delayed dispersement. I wonder if we're going to be having some of those conversations in the near future given the uncertainty that apparently still exists around it. Um, and then from there we went into talking about negotiations, which uh it was mostly a numbers
052based conversation and just helping educate the board members that were present on the state of the finances, modeling out what could be the state of the finances should X happen. I won't get into too much more as negotiations started on December 3rd. Uh, and I feel like it would be best to keep all of those conversations in the negotiating room. So, I hope everybody understands that I won't be reporting out on any of those details at the moment. Uh, but that was the finance committee meeting last month. Moving on, action items. We have the consent agenda in front of us. Item one, approve monthly transaction reports for November 2025. Item two, approve fund balance reports for November 2025. Item three, approve expenditure report and projected payroll report for December 2025. Item four, approve board me
053cannot talk tonight. Item four, approve board member board minutes from the regular meeting of November 18, 2025. Item five, approve the closed session minutes from the regular meeting of November 18, 2025. Item six, approve destruction of closed session tapes from August 2021. Item seven, we have two additions to vote on, two FMLAs to vote on, two medical leaves to vote on, and three resignations to vote on. Do I have a first? >> Second. >> All right. First and seconded. Thank you. Could I have a roll call, please? >> O'Neal Gray. >> Hi. >> Denise Jones, >> yes. >> David Shepard, >> yes. >> Lauren Dowen, yes. >> Rachel Marquin, yes. Dr. Michael Thomas, >> yes. >> Michael Miller, >> Yay. All right. B. Approve first reading of revised board policy exhibits 220 120E1 220 120
054E2 125 E3 22 220E4 22 220E7 22 220E9 22 240E1 22 240 E2 520E as recommended by the Illinois Association of School Boards. Is there a first? >> I'll make the motion. >> Excellent. Is there a second? >> Who wants it? >> I'll give it to Shepherd. How about that? >> All right. And roll call. >> Rachel Maroquin. Yes. David Shepard, >> yes. >> Denise Jones, >> yes. >> O'Neal Gray, >> yay. >> Dr. Michael Thomas, >> yes. >> Lauren Dow, >> yay. >> Michael, >> yay. >> Motion pass. >> Very good. >> C. Approve second reading and adoption of revised board policy exhibits 2120 E1 220E25E3 22 220E4 22 220E7 22 220E9 22 240 E1 22 240E2 520E as recommended by the Illinois Association of School Boards. Is there a first? >> Approve item
055C. >> Very good. Is there a second? >> I'll second. >> Excellent. And could we have a roll call, please? Dr. Michael Thomas, >> yes. >> David Shepard, >> yes. >> Lauren Dowin, >> yay. >> O'Neal Gray, >> yay. >> Rachel Maroquin, yes. Denise Jones, >> yes. >> Michael, >> yay. >> Motion pass. >> Thank you very much. Item D, approve intergovernmental agreement with the village of Evergreen Park regarding school resource officers. Is there a first >> motion to approve agenda item D? >> Excellent. And a second. >> I'll second. >> Very good. Roll call, please. >> Dr. Michael Thomas. >> Yes. Rachel Maroquin, yes. Lauren Dowin, >> yay. >> David Shepard, >> yes. >> Denise Jones, >> yes. >> O'Neal Gray, >> yay. >> Michael Miller, >> yay. >> Motion passed. >> Thank you.
056Okay. At this time, we will be recessing to closed session to discuss collective negotiating matters between the district and its employees or their representatives or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees. 5 ILCS120 C2. Uh, all in favor? >> I had a flow for just one second. >> Oh, >> one second before we wrap. Um, I just want to put this out there. Sometimes when we learn and we grow as adults, it's kind of cool to share a story. Um, Amanda, I want to tell you thank you. I'm going to tell you why. Um, when the whole DEI thing came out, being African-American, DEI, it kind of it didn't sit with me well only because how I was raised and how I went throughout life. We had to earn everything in
057life. Everything was off of merit base. Nothing was given to us at all. Period. Point blank. So my ideology was always well I don't I don't agree with that. Uh I warmed up over to like 50/50 maybe. But again I'm the person who sits back and I absorb things and I learn and then I speak upon it. Well before I can speak upon it they changed it and flipped that all over. So the original culture night I didn't go to because that's that's how I felt about it. However, I did attend. I was getting dressed. I was getting ready to go someplace else. I had other appointments and something in my head, I don't know voice, whatever it is, it was like, "Nope, change plans. Go to coach tonight." I went, I can tell you,
058I could see the amazement in the children's face as they were performing. I can tell you, I can see how happy they were to like set up things and break down things. I was able to see that it really wasn't about what my head kept forming it to be about. It was about just seeing how proud those kids were to teach us something that they knew or something that came from their family or something that we didn't know about. And as I walked around to the different tables and I ate food from Italy and and and and a different countries. I've never done that a day in my life. I don't travel. I got a passport, no stamps. I'm not I'm never leaving the country. So that was the first time I've ever had food
059from someplace other than America. And it it was just a revelation. And I I I learned something that day that sometimes sometimes sometimes you just have to go and experience something. You got to push yourself to to do it in order to see what the end result is and don't prejudge it in the beginning. So I wanted to thank you personally for doing that because you helped me grow as a person. So that's it. >> Oh, thank you for those words. >> Amanda, it really was a great event. >> Okay, great. No spoilers then, but it was great. All right. All in favor? >> I All right. All right. Everybody at home, this is where the stream stops. Happy holidays, merry Christmas, all the good stuff. Happy New Year everybody here. We don't know when
060we're coming back. You're welcome to stay. If not, grab some cupcakes and have a merry Christmas, happy new year, and all the wonderful things.