001Are we ready, Dan? Awesome. So, I will call the meeting to order on this Wednesday, April 16th, 2025 with a roll call, please. 6:03 p.m. Thank you. Dr. Michael Thomas, present. Lauren Den, present. Amy Shepard, present. Rachel Marquis absent with excuse. Yes, absolutely. Denise Jones. Yes. Michael Miller, present. Colleen Climzac, present. Yes, we do. All right. If we could please stand for 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. Um, so I actually have an addition or a a an adjustment to the agenda. if I could have my board take a peek and if there's any other adjustments as well. But I um am making one change uh revision item number
00212. Um we are moving it from action to amend administrative job description and title to uh instead of what's listed to coordinator of belonging and student success. Any other changes? Make a motion to approve the agenda as presented with the change amended. Excellent. Second. Excellent. And a roll call, please. Yes. Doc Michael Miller, yay. Dr. Michael Thomas, yes. Lauren Dow, yay. David Shepard, yes. Denise Jones, yes. Colleen Climac, yes. Motion pass. Awesome. Thank you so much. Okay, reports. Reports. All right. Our first presentation tonight is an update from our parent advisory committee and Miss Reed is here to present on the behalf of our pack. Thank you, Mrs. Reed. Thanks for being here. Yes, right up here. Welcome. Hi. Thank you. Good evening everyone. I am very excited to present on behalf of the parent
003advisory committee. Um thank you Dr. Williamen for the opportunity. So I want to start off talking about tween club. It's the first of our agenda items. Super successful event. Um if you want to call 130 fifth graders successful at one time. I know. Um at least that's what had our RSVP and it definitely seemed like they were in the room. They had a great time. Um they had pizza and so they were very happy. Lots of screaming, lots of dancing, lots of activities. Um the parent committee was also very excited because a number of them had had tween club when they were in the district and so it was a a great um opportunity and wellreceived by them and looking forward to more events next year. My fifth grader will be moving on to CMS,
004but super happy that she got to participate in this um event. Also update on um project tree from the group. Um, I am personally super excited about this as well. Again, I have a fifth grader who's been in Project Tree since the third grade. Um, and it's been an awesome opportunity. The teachers are um, awesome. They they move things along in a pace that the students are challenged but also not overwhelmed, which is super important in my household. Um, I am really excited about them moving away from the earlier start. I know some of the parents um had some challenges when the late start days with getting one child to Project Tree School and another child to another school. And so it's nice to be able to have them now at their school. And I
005also like the idea that it's going to be more inclusive. So students who may not have tested into Project Tree would have the opportunity then to participate in the in pieces of the curriculum that they may be more advanced in. Um I also lastly want to talk about the move to it being from kindergarten. Um, I think that's also a great move as well. Third grade was an awesome start, but my daughter was a bit more advanced when she came in, and so having this program start at kindergarten, I think will be a great addition to the program. So, hats off to all of you for that changed. Um, we also talked about social emotional learning, which unfortunately I was not aware of, but good to know that now there will be a more um
006structured curriculum surrounding this. So we talked about how the teachers now will get the training and then they will all be teaching according to that training. Um so the board or our our committee was very excited about that as well. Um they also mentioned that they would like the idea of a round table for parents to sort of talk through some of the ideas that the teachers would be teaching the students so that the parents may who may need help with implementing that in their own homes could have that opportunity as well. Um lastly, we talked about culture night. Um also was in attendance for that super great event and I know how hard it is to pull off an event for the first time with so many moving pieces. Um the committee did make
007a note though that because the culture night was held in Black History Month, they thought that there wasn't a great enough um representation for African-American culture. Um, and I understand in speaking to the DEI um, person at the board, I'm sorry I forgot her name, but she I I felt so bad because she definitely explained it well even at that night that, you know, wasn't our fault, you know, by no fault of hers that they did not show up. But the group mentioned if we're going to have an event, you know, especially in Black History Month, we want to make sure that all cultures are appropriately represented. And that was the summary of our last meeting. That's a full meeting. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Very full. Thank you so much. Thank you, I I just want
008to speak to the importance of having parent voice and all of our decision making and all the things that we have done this year including tween club which I was so excited to have and I've heard great results from our fifth grade students and that feedback is absolutely taken. So, I just met with Amanda Hatar today and what we intend to do is break out Black History Month celebrations and moving cultural night to April in order to represent them both appropriately. So, thank you so much and I really appreciate the update. All right, next. I'm so excited for our next presentation. So, um Dr. Don Parker is here to present out on our CMS mentoring program as well as celebrating our students and the success they had in this program. So, Dr. Don Parker, I'd
009like to welcome you up. [Applause] He was gonna make a public comment and I was like, Dr. Don Parker, I think you Yes, you are on the Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, Board of Education, uh, all the board of education members. Good evening, Dr. Woodland, superintendent, and good evening to all the district administrators and building administrators who are here, and of course to the community. Thank you guys for having me. My name is Dr. Don Parker and I'm excited because I had the opportunity to run the power resilience program at Central Middle School and I'm very grateful to the district for having me to come in and run this program. As a professional development provider and an educational keynote speaker, former principal, I've traveled and I've been at schools providing professional development keynote speeches
010all across the United States of America. And I meet with school leaders almost on a daily basis. And so many school leaders and building administrators talk so much about what they want to do in order to support students to reach their full potential. And I found sometimes that the adults who are saying that are really sincere in what they say. But I've also found that a lot of people say it just because they think it's the right thing to say. Uh, but I want to thank you guys for taking to heart uh and answering the charge in order to do what's best to support students here in Evergreen Park community and supporting them with the resources that they need in order to reach their full potential. So, thank you for that and thank you for
011having me to come in and run a program. I really appreciate that. I really appreciate your sincere efforts and commitment to supporting students, especially those students who need more support. Uh the reason this program was important to me is because I always said the reason I became a PE teacher and coach was to do the same thing for the youth that my PE teachers and coaches did for me. Because as a youth growing up on the south side of Chicago who could have went either way, it was really my coaches and PE teachers that supported me, inspired me, gave me hope and inspiration and really made sure that they were giving me guidance so that I can go in the right direction. And I promise without that guidance, without that me mentorship, I would not
012be here standing in front of you guys right here today. And so that's why I wanted to answer the call to also do that for youth because I got away from that the further I uh went up in my career uh became a principal and now speaker where I do a lot of work uh helping teachers and school leaders. But I got away from having that hands-on impact and engagement with students. So that's another reason I'm excited. Uh I would like to thank the students and I would like to honor and celebrate them for participating in the program and I want to give them a call to action just to remember all of the lessons that we taught you during the resilience program. Remember all the commitments that you made to yourself and all the
013improvements that you made. I want to encourage you and inspire you to continue on that path so you can understand the power that you have to make a difference to reach your full potential and to stay on that path of doing the great things that you're going to be in life. You guys are some awesome young men and it was totally my honor and pleasure to work with you guys during this last 10 weeks. And I saw the change from MIDI one to MIDI 10. That's why we have celebrations uh celebrating you guys' growth and your commitment to stand on the right path to be leaders in the school and your community. Uh I would like to also acknowledge uh Ken Marl Jones who just walked in. He volunteered his his time and his wisdom
014with the boys and he was committed to coming to all the meetings and sharing his personal stories and just in inspiring and motivating the students to make healthy choices, make healthy decisions that's going to impact their education and impact their journey in life. So, thank you for that, Mr. Jones. I also would like to thank Claudia for coming in and videotaping one of our meetings and creating this awesome video that displays uh the commenating activity and and the boys testimonials on how the program has impacted them. And I would also like to thank Amanda Hatar and Dr. Mohler because I'm telling you they just opened the doors. They were very warm. They were very supportive of the program and uh they asked if it's anything that we needed and I just uh thank them for
015getting behind the the vision of supporting the young men in their schools so that they can continue to uh be successful in school. Um, and also I would like to offer the opportunity to continue working with district 124 and continuing to work with some students who need this kind of support and also opening up to the young ladies because I also have curriculum ready and available and mentors ready and available to work with the young ladies who also need that encouragement and support. And before I close, uh, I would like to give you two copies of my book. The first title is Be the Driving force Leading Your School on the Road to Equity because that's what you guys are doing. And to me, what equity means I know that equity is a bad word.
016Now, okay. But but my definition of equity is giving each person what they need in order to be successful, to reach their full potential. Okay? That's what equity is. And that's what Dr. Mole and her team are doing in district 124. And my other book is written for teachers. It's called building bridges, engaging students at risk through proper relationships. And it talks about how positive trust and relationships with students will really help them engage more in school, have better behavior, how how they will show teachers more mutual respect, and also work hard to achieve in the classroom. So, here's a copy of both of these books. Dr. Willie, thank you so much. I appreciate you and your service. And also, All right. All right. Mr. Atar already has one, but I want to give you
017our official power, resilience program t-shirt. On the back, it says, "I have the power to make a difference." And power stands for perseverance, ownership, wisdom, excellence, and resilience. And those are the qualities that we taught the young men in the program. So, here's a t-shirt for you. I also like to gift Dr. Mohler as well. Thank you. I appreciate you and thank you so much. And I look forward to continuing to work with you guys and support the students and staff of district 124. Thank you for this time. Thank you. Watch the video. Yes, you got to watch the video. Love it. And then we have certificates for the boys. Do you want to do that first or after the video? Do after the video. Okay. [Music] She says, "I worked hard on this video.
018Let's do this." I stopped getting in trouble a lot and I stopped cursing. I learned to like control my emotions, everything. I used to be getting in trouble like every other week and I was I was getting so close to be sending out the school to a different school. Then program taught me like how to like think before my actions. This uh group impact me so I won't get like suspension or detention. I appreciate that. Yes sir. Yes. Yes. That's good growth. That's good growth. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you. I used to get in a lot of trouble last year and uh when I when I have been taking a program it I haven't been really getting in trouble that much and uh my grades are good. I I almost have straight
019A's. [Applause] That's great. That's great. Yeah. And uh what I'm going to do moving forward is keep keep doing what I'm doing. Get good grades and stay out of trouble. All right. Congratulations, man. I feel great. What I learned is how to control my anger and not always I have to like I don't always have to say something that could like count or like be mindful of what I do. This program has helped me um control my anger and um think about better solutions to stay out of trouble. group has helped me. It helped me control my anger and emotions in like difficult situations cuz I had like 40 writeups at the beginning of the year. Mhm. And it deducted the amount of my write ups, improve my behavior in class. And our leader is
020thoughtful cuz he didn't have to bring go out of his way to bring us like uh stuff he bring us and like um he talks good and he knows how to uh connect with us. He knows how to talk with us. It's all man. Yeah. This Michael Jordan right here. No, I appreciate that. And it's easy to connect with y'all because like when I see y'all, I see myself because I see how much potential y'all have. And I remember when I was y'all age, like I acting in the same manner. And I just needed somebody to help me and give me advice to help motivate me and inspire me to do better. And so I'm glad that you guys are listening to the lessons we teaching y'all. how you guys are also inspiring to do
021better. So, I'm proud of y'all. Hey, why don't y'all give each other a round of applause? 1 2 3 4 5 6. [Applause] That was amazing. Thank you so so much. Absolutely. So, we do have some of the boys and their families here today. So, we're going to call you up. Um, do you want to help me? Be great. It was definitely a team effort. First, we have Kamari. Not here. Okay. Maria is not here. We don't need name. Say their names anyway. Yeah, let's say their names. Yeah. Okay. So, uh, we're gonna read the boys' names. Some of them aren't here, but the ones who are here, please come up when you hear your name. Kamari Butler, Marian Crosley, Cameron Smith. I like to call him Big Cam. Well done, Pedro. Hey, stay up
022here. Step. Thank you. Pedro Martinez, Lierra, Jonathan Smith. Amen. Jonathan Boyd [Applause] Higgins. All right. and Jamari Ma who's not here. No picture, no photo. Absolutely. Okay. Is the board coming? No, we could. We can. Sure. Why not? Sounds like these gentlemen did all the work. But yes, absolutely. How you doing there? Doing great. You're taller than I know. Trying to be I need Claudia to balance. I know, right? Always. Like always. Thank you. Thank you so much. Well done. Can come for a second. Sorry. I don't um share this with a lot of people. Um you all are definitely me when I was your age. I'll tell you why. Because I didn't have him, but I had another person. Um my junior year of high school had like four Fs, two D's, didn't go
023to school, went for the lunch period, hung out of the neighborhood, friends got shot, killed, they sold dope, everything. That was me. That was my whole life. I had an accounting teacher. We talked about her. We called all types of names. She had a beehive. All type. I mean, we clown this lady. She took a special liking to me for some odd weird reason. This lady learned about my life. She learned about the gangs I was running from. She learned about, you know, what I needed to do in life. She got me a job at McDonald's just so I can be at work so therefore the people in the games wouldn't be trying to get me to be in the games and hang out with them. I can tell you it works. Okay? Follow whatever
024this man is saying. It works. I rose all the way up to being a chief of police. I hated the police when I was little. I hated the police. But just looking at this and looking, you you were me when I was your age. I'm telling you. Seriously. So, just follow whatever this man is is doing and whatever you need to do to expand. I got you. Appreciate it. All right. God bless. Thanks for support. [Applause] Thank you, Mr. Jones. Thank you. Amazing. Thank you so much. I know, right? Good news. Okay. 2526 registration updates. Um, so this is a huge celebration for us, our first year in which we have completed our spring registration. I want to first and foremost thank the board of education for implementing a 50% discount to our families in
025order to for our administrative team to be able to proactively plan for the upcoming school year. And so you'll see we've had 1,05 students who have submitted returning student registration um which is a huge success for our first push. And then our new student registration, we currently have um 66 students which is 57 kindergarten kindergarten students which also helps us to plan appropriately. Um this is just a reminder that postcards were sent on April 14th confirming residency. So be on the lookout for the postcards coming to you soon. if you've verified residency appropriately. And then we will have two open residency verification evenings that will be held um one at Central Middle School April 29th and then another May 6th at all of our elementary buildings. That evening is only for parents who did not
026pass residency verification. And we'll send another reminder about the purpose of that evening event when we after spring break. August is going to look so we are so hopeful. Oh my gosh. Amazing. That's really great news. And hats off to whoever worked in the background to make the registration work, right? Cuz it was a a breeze this year. It was And it was a breeze. Did your stuff a breeze? Awesome. Great. Thank you so much. All right. Next on the agenda, we know her. is the recognition of our retiring board members. I'm gonna cry. So, just everyone bear with me. So, this evening, we gather together to celebrate the many years of selfless service provided by Miss Colleen Climac. Assisting me in honoring Colleen are members of the union leadership, not because I requested their
027attendance, but because of the fearless leadership that Colleen has provided. To start us off in congratulating and celebrating Colleen, I would like to begin with introducing Miss Leslie Manion, Union President. [Applause] Good evening everyone. We wanted to thank Colleen for her unwavering support and leadership. As school board president, she has been a steadfast advocate for our schools, students, and staff who make our district thrive. Colleen, I'm going to cry. Your your dedication, collaboration, and open communication have strengthened the relationship between the board and our union. You have always been willing to listen, engage in meaningful dialogue, and work toward solutions that benefit everyone in our school community. Your support has not gone un gone unnoticed, and we sincerely appreciate the respect and professionalism you have shown in every conversation and decision. As you step away
028from your role as school board president, please know that your leadership will truly be missed. Your impact on our schools, staff, and students will be felt. While we will miss working with you in this capacity, we know your passion for education in this community will continue in many ways. On behalf of the union and all of the union members that are here tonight, thank you for your service, partnership, and unwavering commitment to what truly matters, our students and our schools. We wish you all the best in your next chapter. [Applause] You didn't tell me on Monday. Can I hug everybody? [Music] Thank you. [Laughter] What did she say? [Music] Thank you so much. Thank you. [Applause] We're not done. Um so um serve in the capacity of board president for the past four term four
029years in her term in office and was seated with me as the board president at the same time. I had no idea what I was signing up for by the way. You just like take the job and you pray and hope for the best. But I was so glad to have Colleen sitting next to me. The countless hours, events, emails, phone calls, meetings, interrupted family time. I'm so sorry, Greg. I just call Colleen and she's always shocking Corn. It's just a summer thing. It's what we do. And she's provided this commitment to this organization that's unlike any other. I was just in a meeting the other day and Paula was like, "She comes to everything. She just comes to everything and it's not because she has to, it's because she wants to." The word selfless
030does not even begin to describe Colleen's leadership style. By far the most impactful change that Colleen has made is the massive shift in organizational culture that has occurred in such a short period of time. a skill that's facilitated by deep listening to the voices of the people in the trenches and responding with grace, kindness, and compassion. This skill, unlike any other, has created this strong relationship built on trust that was needed so greatly in this EP family. I'm beyond thankful for your leadership and will forever be grateful to have served alongside you. Thank you, Colleen, for being an amazing leader, but more importantly, a truly special person. You will be greatly missed. Now, I gave Michael Miller the challenge of raising reading the resolution. He's he's gonna read the resolution. And then you have swag
031to honey. I'm glad you're here because I don't know how I'm going to get all this home. Like resolution of appreciation for Colleen Climzac for service as a board member of the board of education, Evergreen Park Elementary School District 124. Whereas Colleen Climzac has provided selfless service to the students, parents, and community of Evergreen Park, Illinois with distinction as a member of the board of education. Whereas Colleen Climac has consistently considered the quality of education provided to the students of Evergreen Park Elementary School District 124 as her prime and overriding responsibility. And whereas Colleen Climzac has significantly contributed to the many decisions made by the board of education with her open-mindedness, intellect, sense of fairness, and loyalty. Now therefore, be it resolved to command to commend Colleen Climzac for the Apheret accomplishments and to convey
032the genuine appreciation of the members of the administration and board of education of Evergreen Park Elementary School District 124 for her dedication during her tenure as in serving as member of board of education dated this 16th day of April 2025. Oh my gosh. And then um this is all like the board's idea. So I think you should open this. I think I think you should open that. Okay. I didn't know any of this was happening. You didn't. I have a class that started today um an education in my own professional development and I had to take myself off screen because I got an email from district 124 appreciating me and I was like oh my god that's my face like holy cow oh it's a different color who's your favorite color so I went risky
033could could you Hello. Blue is my favorite. A you know me. Hey. Okay. All right. Oh my. Not my idea. Your parent's idea. My gosh. What does it say on the front? AP family. What? Um so it be evergreen. So AP family be evergreen. And then Evergreen Park Elementary School District 124 President for a little bit longer. Little bit. Little bit longer. Couple more weeks. A little bit longer. And you can really thank for this one. This is really heavy. Yeah. Oh my god. But it's great. I won't pound this one hard, guys. [Laughter] [Applause] Oh my gosh. Oh, that's gorgeous. I I won't pound it in anger at anybody. Right, Claudia? I I won't. My days are done. Oh my gosh, you guys. Claudia remembers the co days. My gosh, thank you. You're welcome.
034A million thank yous. Oh my goodness. It occurred to me at 4:03 that I might have an opportunity to say a few words. Of course you. It's your meeting. It really is just a few. I promise. Um, thank you all. I have to write it down. Oh, don't forget. Um, and I wrote this two hours ago and it's so true. I truly am overwhelmed. by the accolades and the the folks that are here like man um serving this district for the last eight years is something that I am so proud of. I'm so proud. Like we can be proud of the good things, right? That's not a sin. We can be proud of the good things. Um, but truly the work we've done and the progress we've made and serving the last four years as
035your board of education president is truly an honor. Um, I'm so humbled by your trust and your confidence that I could actually do that. So, thank thank you. Um, and more important than anything I've done though is the collaboration, the collaboration, the working together over the last eight years and most powerfully over the last four. Absolutely. We have done and are doing and will continue to do such good work. Yeah. And I know that and that's why I that's why I joined. I didn't want to change anything when I came in eight years ago. I just wanted to be a part of the good work. And so, thank you all for letting me do that. Um I'm so proud of our students. I just got to go hang out at the career fair at Central
036Middle School and it's chaotic and noisy and crazy and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. It's good. You guys are awesome. So, thank you so much. Um, and I'm so grateful for our teachers. I am so grateful for our teachers and our administration for making the magic happen. Except you all know it's not magic. It's not magic. It's really hard work. So, thank you. Um, and as Michael just mentioned in the meeting before the meeting, but after the first meeting. Yeah, this is my third meeting. So since 4:30 is that none of this works without a supportive spouse. Thank you, Craig Climzac. I couldn't do it without you. Couldn't I am forever grateful. I am forever proud. I am forever attached to our phenomenal superintendent. Um yeah, the tears started really early today. Thanks
037so much. Um that's okay. Um and also to the board members. I you all don't know, some of you know. Um I am so lucky. I am so lucky and fortunate to work with the people that I work with. I really am. Um so thank you so much. And um we also we all take we all as the board and the admin take into ourselves the weight and the trust that our community entrusts us with. You you trust us with your kids. What could be more important? So thank you for that. Um we all take that to heart. I know we do. And I will continue to take it to heart. I'm not gone far. We're not moving. Are we moving? There have been days that he has said right across 103rd Cal we could
038just and it'd be easier and I said no. And I'm so glad that I've been here. So thank you so much. I appreciate you all. I'm going to stop talking now. [Applause] So Woo! [Applause] Oh yeah, picture. Yeah, we should take a picture. You wait till I'm all red and blotchy. Sorry. Everyone should Everybody red and blotchy. Great. You still look beautiful. Oh, thanks. It was 90s grind day, but I wasn't going to miss this. You're fabulous. I love it. Can I still group text you guys? No. Yes. No emergencies at 8 a.m., right? No, you're not going to miss that at all. All right, I'll go. Thank you. [Applause] Okay. Sorry, Ashley. You're up. You all had quite a stack um in your board packets of our schoolwide plans. Um, Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, and
039Central are our title one schools, and they all qualify um for schoolwide status and schoolwide programming. Um, what that means is that we're allowed to use the Title One funds for the entire school. We don't have to just target one specific student population. We're able to use it for general school improvement across the entire building. So it allows us to do um bigger things such as academics, seal behavior. We can focus on the entire school population, school climate, as well as professional development for all of our teachers. So it really just um frees us up to be able to do make a lot more impactful change with our title one funds. Um part of schoolwide status is a schoolwide plan, which you had one for each of the buildings. Um those need to be board
040approved every five years. So this was um our fiveyear splits up I think possibly a little bit more. So um those uh needed to be approved. You will notice that they did look fairly similar. I think that that really speaks to the fact that a lot of the things that we're doing we're really trying to do districtwide. Um so many of those things we're trying to increase consistency and increase school experiences across all of our buildings. Um so a lot of our goals are really aligned in that way. So those are in your packets for approval tonight. Okay, any questions? That was a lot of work. It was a It was a lot of work for many buildings and um yes, they all hosted meetings and got feedback on them and everything. So, we appreciate
041the building. Thanks. His nephew calls him E. Yeah, he can say Eric, but baby steps. Oh, yeah. We have a new nephew. A new niece is a new he has a new girl in labor. Should make it happen. He's so certain. So certain. A couple of us were wrong, but Oh my gosh. Very exciting. Congratulations. Thank you. So in March we had 12 foyas. One from Smart Procure, 10 from Proton.AI um AI do foyas now. and one from postal source.com. All those have been completed. Do we have a legal obligation to AI? They're in the process of trying to get rid of that. Okay. They they figured out that they could do these foyers. So they sent 10 separate foyers asking for 30 years of financial data and it drove everyone nuts. So now the
042state's trying to stop that. So it has to be they're saying it's a computer, not a person. Yes. So it's they're trying to make the law that a person has to send not a computer. Seems reasonable. It does, you know. Well, who do you respond to, right? Who are you responding to if it's AI? Yeah. Oh my gosh. Thank you for your patience. I just got sick. Sorry. Forward. Forward. Yeah. Stop. Statement of expenditures. Nothing crazy last month happened outside of salaries and benefits. Statement of revenues. We received a good portion of what was expected for the second half of the year with tax revenues. We received just about all of our tax revenues for the year. So that's it's a good thing. We're on time. Yeah. Okay. As a result of us receiving all
043these tax revenues, our fund balance has gone up. Our ad fund balance is up as over $13 million, which is a healthy fund balance. But we have received majority of our revenue. But at the same time, we still have some payrolls to come and the summer pays and those things. So, the fund balance I do expect to come down going forward. Um, and then I wanted to say something too with it being Colleen's last board meeting. I didn't spend any more money this No, you didn't. I'm not really good with words, so I made a chart. [Laughter] So, this is a chart of the first board meeting with Colleen as board president to the last board meeting of Colleen as president. I wish I could take any credit in our month in our fund balance
044reserves. Now, I want to state this is from April, not the end of the year. So, it's not the end of the year fund balance reserves, but you know, when I first started here, I was just a young admin that was was nervous and uh Connie gave me some confidence I needed. Oh my gosh. So it was really helpful and she gave me the trust to do things that were needed to do. So I I wanted to thank you. [Applause] There was a school board like recommended level of six months of fund balance reserve and we are we are past that now. So I that's just really awesome. So thank you. It's it's collabor it's it's a team effort that never would have happened never would have happened without any good presentation. It was a
045403 idea too. You're even good at money. What's that? You're even good with I I They're good with money. I No, they're good. Oh my gosh, that's awesome. Collaborative. Grab a cup. Make sure you guys grab a cupcake. Take snacks. We celebrate. Don't leave. Here you go. Everybody's earned a cupcake tonight. Yes. And you do not have to stay. If you'd like to leave your cupcake, happy to leave. And make sure you grab a cupcake public comment. Yes, actually. And I was just getting ready to read this for the last time. There you go. Okay. Michael said he wants all my scripts. I said he can use whatever he wants. Okay. So uh thank you. Um so um we have a narrative that we read at every board of education meeting including this evening per
046board of education policy 2230. 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 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 do hear them. We respect them. We listen to and take into account all community member concerns. If there is a specific question that comes up that we can respond to after the meeting, we will do so in a timely manner. So, I do have one public comment this evening from um Deborah Higgins,
047please. Thank you. Thank you so much. It was like a last minute thing. Welcome. No, um I wanted to let everybody in the room know that um three years ago I applied to be a traffic safety commissioner and I just was reimpport re um appointed. We have a traffic safety meeting every month at at the city hall. Okay. And so I would like to invite everybody who's here that has traffic concerns and we know the one at CMS is really ugly. Um so for the month of May we have it on um May 12th at 700 p.m. at city hall. for the month of June. We have it at nine at June 9th at 7 pm. And even though we we approve stop signs, we approve um handicap parking for citizens of of Evergreen, we
048really would like your input. Somebody sitting in this room or somebody that hears about this may come to a meeting and come up with a very innovative idea for us to help with traffic. Now I moved from northeast over to northwest quadrant and I'm a corner house and oh my god it is like a 93rd. It's like so crazy over there. So I really wanted to let everybody know to come. Deborah Grand is our chairperson and they actually are looking for someone to fill a spot. Come on. It's really great. So, and it only meets once a month and it's at 7:00. So, you know, you just never know. But that I wanted to let everybody know and and our concerns that we have. The mayor will come and we also want to make sure
049that we addressing the concerns that the parents have about traffic around the schools. You guys probably didn't even know we had that, did you? Honestly, I don't think I did. I'm so glad you're here. Yeah. So three. So please feel free to come and if you can't make it um you can always look on the website on the village and you could send us an email or something. But I really like to see people participate because my sons are tired of going and actually they do get up and make a comment. So, I would like to um because I know traffic around the schools is are sometimes real issues and I know it's a real issue at at Central and so we want to hear from the citizens on what should be done. Thank you.
050Thank you, Deborah. [Applause] We've got ideas already. Yes, we do. Amazing. Thank you so much. I I got stuff. Dan, I still got stuff. Thanks for coming, boy. Yes. Thank you. Don't forget your cupcakes. So, Dr. Parker, don't forget your cupcakes. Right. Thank you. Definitely earned your cupcake. Thank you. And Miss Parker. Thank you. I know check in with a second. Okay. So, to be timely so Denise doesn't remind me again that I'm what's going to hold up the works here. I don't know how we locked out with such a nice concise agenda, but we did. Okay, so um thank you. Oh, she's left uh there for the public comment and we are moving on to our um action items. So um first motion is to approve the consent agenda. Um number one, approve monthly
051transaction reports for March of 2025. Number two is to approve fund balance reports for March of 2025. Number three is to approve expenditure reports and projected payroll report for April of 2025. Number four is to approve board minutes for the regular meeting of March 19th, 2025. Number five is to approve the close minute session the close session minutes for the regular meeting of March 19th, 2025. Number six is to approve destruction of close session tapes from December of 2020. And number seven is to approve the personnel recommendations as listed with a number of additions. Amazing. Um and two FMLAs and resignations as listed on our agenda. If I could have a first motion, please to approve consent agenda item A. Motion to approve consent agenda item A. Excellent. And a second. Second, please. Great. And
052a roll call. Dr. Michael Thomas. Yes. Michael Warilla. Yes. Denise Jones. Yes. David Shepard, yes. Lauren Dow, yay. Holly Kac, yes. Motion pass. Excellent. Um, item B is to approve the assistant principal at Northeast Northwest effective July 1st, 2025. Mot. Thank you. I was like, wait, I saw her. I don't have my glasses on now, though. So, I knew I saw you. Okay. Motion to approve agenda item B. Great. Thank you. And a second. I'll second. Excellent. And a roll call. Dr. Michael Thomas, yes. David Shepard, yes. Lauren Dow, yes. Denise Jones, yes. Michael Willer, yes. Colleen Cleac, yes. Motion pass. Excellent. Items do. Yes. So, I would like to congratulate Miss Britney Vienna for the for a accepting the position at Northeast Northwest. She comes with a lot of positive en energy and great
053great fit for both Northeast and Northwest. So, we're so excited to have you, Britney. So, you can come on up and grab your swag. Swag. you go. And of course, you're very green. I know, right? Way to represent. Thank you so much. Congratulations. Amazing. Amazing. Um, we got good things on this agenda. I like it. Um, item C is to approve temporary assistant principal at Southeast Southwest effective July 1st, 2025. If I could have a first motion, please. I'd like to be first, please. And a second. Second. All right. And a roll call, please. Michael Wall Miller, yay. You're first. Okay. Dr. Michael Thomas, yes. Lauren Dow, yay. David Shepard, yes. Denise Jones, yes. Colleen Cleac, yes. Motion pass. Excellent. Hi. So, I would like to introduce Miss Sullivan. Um, I if you've ever been
054in Miss Sullivan's classroom, her classroom is just the epitome of classroom culture, warmth, kindness, compassion. We are so excited to have you on board. We will miss Kathleen greatly, but you will fill her shoes wonderfully. I am dressed for dodgeball here. I just play kickball after. We are so excited to have you. Thank you so much. [Applause] Congratulations. So good to have you. I was just saying that I was in on a school tour in Miss Sullivan's fourth grade class and it was kinetic and potential energy. There was so much energy in that room, let me tell you. So much movement. And I was like, "Oh, she's going to be perfect. It's awesome." So, thank you. Um, item D, please, is to Oh. Approve the resolution honoring retiring board member. If I could have a
055first motion, please new school psychology. I have the old version. Sorry. That's the one I wrote notes on. Even more important. Okay. Um D. Ah, excellent. Is to approve our new school psychologist uh effective August 18th, 2025. If I could have a first motion, please. Motion approve. Agenda item D. and second. I'll second it. And a roll call. Michael, Dr. Michael Thomas, yes. David Shepard, yes. Lauren Den, yes. Denise Jones, yes. Michael Wer, yay. Colleen Cleac, yes. Motion passed. Excellent. Okay. Um, item E is to approve resolution honoring retiring board member. If I could have a first motion, please. I'll make that motion. Second, please. And a roll call. Denise Jones, yes. Michael Miller, yay. David Shepard, yes. Lauren Dowen, yay. Dr. Michael Thomas, yes. Hi, yes. Motion passed. Thank you. And now, uh, and
056item F is to approve resolutions honoring our retirees. I have that. Do I have a list of retirees? It's the folder. Of course, Sonia's taking care of me as she always does. Okay. I got some where's to do myself. All right. Um, cool. Okay. So, this is a resolution honoring the retirees on the occasion of their retirement from school district 124. Whereas the board of education desires to recognize James Rage, Sharon Berseron, Louise Baldwin, Camille Dicki, Heidi Murphy, Rose Kennedy, Susan Man, Margaret Smith, Donna Dilly, Linda Blazer, Debbie Given, Julio Khan. Oh, she just parted. Uh Christine Grebner, and Cheryl Floramo. on their occasion of their retirement. And whereas the board of education wants to thank all of them for their hard work and dedication to the students, parents, and staff of Evergreen Park Elementary
057School District 124. Now therefore, be it resolved by the board of education of school district number 124, Evergreen Park, Cook County, Illinois, as follows. Section one, the board of education of school district number 124, Evergreen Park, Illinois, congratulates our retirees on the occasion of their retirement from the district after many years of selfless service. Section two, on behalf of the residents of school district number 124, the board of education expresses its heartfelt appreciation to our retirees for their many years of devotion and dedication to the school community of Evergreen Park. Section three, the board of education wishes all of our retirees and their families all the best of good health, good times, and happiness and a muchdeserved retirement. And this is approved and adopted the 16th day of April, 2025 by an affirmative and confirming
058roll call vote of the board of education. A first motion, please. First, and a second, please. I'll second that one. I'll second that one. Yes, I will. And a roll call. Mike War. Yay. Colleen Climzac. Yes. Denise Jones. Yes. David Shepard. Yes. Lauren Dowed. Yay. Dr. Michael Thomas. Yes. Motion pass. Excellent. I can't do the math as fast in my head. There's like 300 years of service represented on this sheet. 35 33 28 27 25 24. Like, come on. Amazing. Amazing. Thank you so much. I guess I'll let you retire, Linda. [Music] We agreed that we wouldn't go far, though. We sip and sample at the library. We said we'd stick around and do stuff. So, just saying. Um, okay. Um, item G then is to approve our schoolwide Title One plans as presented by
059Dr. Carlson. If I could have a first motion, please. Motion to approve agenda item G. I'll second. Excellent. And a roll call. Dr. Michael Thomas. Yes. David Shepard. Yes. Lauren D. Yay. Denise Jones. Yes. Mike Warm Miller. Hey, Colleen Climac. Yes. Motion pass. Excellent. Item H then is to approve Rival 5 60-month main service agreement for telecommunications as presented by Mr. Lee last time. If I could have a first motion, please. Motion to approve item H. H. and a second. And a roll call, please. Dr. Michael Thomas, yes. Denise Jones, yes. David Shepard, yes. Lauren Dow, yay. Michael Miller, yay. Colin Cleai, yes. Motion passed. Excellent. I will say I talked to our tech director and he was totally like excited about this company. So like I feel like it's a really good and he
060spoke good words that I didn't understand, but we'll take those as good things. Okay, I love it. Um, awesome. Okay, so item eight is to re recess to close session. Oh, wait. Pursuant to the Open Meetings Act, um we will be recessing 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 and the placement of individual students in special education programs and other matters rel relating to special to individual students. Um, if I could have a first motion. Make a motion. Great. A second. Second. And a roll call. Any objections to the previous Oh, check you out. Mary, that's
061where Mary's office. Right. Right. There you go. Okay. Uh, so we will be coming back after close session. There are action items to be taken. I do not know when that might be. And we will not be um continuing to the live stream. So you can stick around if you want to, but um thank you so much. I had to stack it just for Colleen. You had to stack the I know we had to do we have to have a close session just because Oh, wait, wait. We're not done yet, so I can't hit the gavvel. Okay.