001Okay, very good. Good to see everybody this evening. The April 20, 2026 Board of Education meeting will now come to order. May I No, not today. We don't have any visiting students today. >> walked in and I saw all the musicians walking in. I was hoping that they were. Well, Mr. Loback, would you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? >> [laughter] >> Where is it? Here. It's over here. It's over here. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Roll call, Mrs. Smog. Mr. Loback. Here. Mrs. Hill. Here. Miss Becker. Here. Mrs. Ledoux. Here. Mr. Estes. Here. Dr. Martelli. Here. Dr. Bruno. Here. Miss King. Here. Miss Ligman. Mr. Malay.
002Thank you very much. Okay, as is our normal course of action, we start off with celebrations and recognitions. So, Dr. McHugh, take it away. Yeah. Um Mr. DiVilio, I don't know that our student athletes were able to attend tonight. Is that true? Okay, there was a Oh, we've got one. >> [laughter] >> I thought you were coming to give public comment. Now you are. Even better. Well, all right. Mr. DiVilio, could you do the honors? Thanks. Hi everybody. Good evening. So, a couple things. We are in our second year of the new athletic conference. Two years ago, we expanded. We now have 12 teams. Just for your information, the Wheaton um District 89, District 44. And we did that just to have more opportunities for our students to play different you know, different types of
003teams at different levels of teams. So, we're wrapping up our second year of that. Um I think what's important from a from a principal lens is that we have about we're hitting about 60% of our student body. So, if you think about that, it's like that's over 600 students are benefiting from our stipend, our supplemental pay. We have a very robust set of clubs and activities, athletic activities to help kids connect to their school and feel and help build that pride. So, this winter, our sports team showed some real grit and perseverance. The coaches and parents are very proud of our student athletes. In boys volleyball, there were a total of 32 student athletes. They participated across both seventh and eighth grade teams. The seventh grade team captured the silver division championship. Check this out.
004They had a regular season record of five and six. They headed They had a total record of eight and six. They headed into the tournament a complete underdog and they ended up winning winning that championship. So, they are already They are geared up for their eighth grade year. Congrats to our boys volleyball team. The eighth grade team, also really special. They are in their second year in a row of undefeated. Um so, both as seventh grade and eighth grade, they finished an overall record of 12 and one and that one was a um like a scrimmage, kind of a non definitely non-conference game. So, I can't say completely undefeated, but 12 and one. Back-to-back championships, winning titles in both their seventh and eighth grade seasons and their future will be a very exciting as they
005transition to playing for Glenbard West next year. For our girls basketball, we There were 15 students on the seventh grade team. They lost in the semi-finals by a score of 24 to 22. They had an eight and three record. There's a great group of student athletes the coaches are very proud. And on our eighth grade girls basketball team, there were 13 girls on the team. Unfortunately, no championships this year with a record of seven and four. The coach that though did have a lot of heartfelt things to say about the great bunch of girls who work really hard and they're very supportive of each other. There is not a better team were his words. Okay. What team did you play on? I played on the seventh grade girls team. The seventh grade girls team. Do
006you have anything you'd like to share about the seventh grade girls team? It was just really fun to do. Yeah? Okay. We're going to come back to that. Think of some some other, right? Okay. But what's special is that you see the the guy on the podium there. So, we're going to welcome Coach McCloskey, our wrestling coach to the podium to give us some more detail. Cool. Thank you and thanks for having me tonight. Um 60 students came out for the Hadley wrestling team this season. Uh 54 of those ended up fully committing. Um we have a quite a lengthy season um which the teachers thank me for because I keep these kids busy for three and a half months long. So, uh and then when it's done, a lot of the teachers say, "Can't
007you like extend the season a little bit more?" And you know, so they can get some of their energy you know, nervous energy out. Um and I'd like to because I have so much so much fun with the kids. Um one of the interesting things that's happening is that 12 of our wrestlers were girls. So, it's really taking off becoming really interesting as a sport as a possibility for girls. I know Glenbard West usually has 15 to 20 kids and they they have an all girl team there that they're very proud of. Um next year as a result, we're excited for the IESA to kick off an all girls sectional and state tournament to accommodate the growing interest. So, we're really the coaches are really excited for that. Uh This year, our team's record was
00811 and eight. We had 30 wrestlers uh enter into the regional tournament with a chance to go to sectionals and downstate. So, I think that I we really love the you know, the great amount of uh people that have that that um that chance. Uh six of them got to the sectional tournament and only one student made it to the state tournament this year. Our sectional tournament in the last five years has been super super hard. Um which is good and bad. Good because I don't have to babysit anybody who makes it to the state tournament because if you make it to the state tournament, you're really good. Um so, bad because we used to have more people make it to state, but that's okay. Uh this year, Ben eighth grader Ben Illingworth, uh it
009was his fourth year with our program. He made it to the state tournament. He started as a fifth grader. And uh Ben, you know, he embodies uh he's a terrific kid. He embodies hard work, dedication, and perseverance. And um you know, just looking at the first year as a fifth grader, he his record was two and three on the second string, you know, junior varsity. So, here he is as a fifth grader. And then just by staying committed to the team and and putting in a little extra off-season work his eighth grade year, he finishes eighth grade season with a record of 41 and 1. And pinning all of his opponents at the state tournament and becoming only the fourth state champion in our in the 20 years that uh since I started the program.
010So, it was an absolute joy because he's kind of the kid that I hope for that I get to like, you know, get my hands on and work with for 4 years and you know, and mold them and and he's a kid that really really listens. Um so, it was just a joy to kind of watch him progress throughout the four years. Um Ben is you know, like I said, he's a terrific kid who's set a great example as our main captain. And then as a result, our team bonded well and they were really supportive of each other and respectful. And uh you know, as an example, on several occasions, he got our team to sing songs together on the bus on the way to our competition, which is very unusual, but it was really
011cool. Um and so, although Ben and his family couldn't make it, they they really wanted to thank the board for this thoughtful um invitation uh for this recognition. And uh I'm also proud to be here on behalf of Ben and also the rest of the team. And I thank you for having me, too. >> [applause] >> Okay. So, all the athletes and coaches were invited uh this evening. As you can see, many of them couldn't make it, but I do want to give you a shout-out and say thank you for coming and to be recognized. Is there anything that you'd like to share, like what you learned or what you enjoyed most or would you do it again and why? Wha- what Why don't you come on up here, introduce yourself, and you can do
012this. It's just small group of people just chatting. >> that goes out. >> [laughter] >> Please. So, it was like really fun like >> are you first of all? I'm Maddie Lozic. Okay. Wonderful, Maddie. It was just really fun with all the girls and like practicing and all the games and the bus rides and stuff. So, yeah. And maybe your highlight during the season? Do you Can you think of a highlight moment? Well, we never lost a game, so. Oh, that's that's that's quite a highlight. You never lost. >> [laughter] >> The whole season was one highlight. And do you And you'll keep doing this, do you think? >> Yeah, next year, too, so. That's wonderful. Mom, any thing to say? Obviously, you're the All right. Well, one Uh well, we're glad that Maddie that
013you could make it and congratulations. >> [applause] >> And one other thing, coach, how long have you been at the helm? 20 years here since I started the program. Oh, you started the program. Yeah, and it's been I I've been so lucky with all the participation. I I mean, since year one, I've gotten 50 I usually get between 50 and 60 kids that that come out, so. I've been really lucky and just it's been a joy to work with uh you know, all types of students. Well, thanks for putting all that time in and building the program. It's wonderful. >> My pleasure. Thank you. May I add something, Dr. B? Yes, of course you can. And Um and I'm adding this because I know Mr. McCloskey's wife and son at Lincoln and I'm thanking her,
014too, because I've heard her say it's a very long season and little Charlie goes to all these things, too. He's coming here next year, so I have to take over for 3 years and she gets a little bit of a break. Ah. Yes, so thanks to the whole family. We appreciate it. Well, thank you, coach. All right. Very good. >> I also want to thank uh Mr. DiVely for being such a great supporter of the program. It's been it's been a big big difference. >> [clears throat] >> Does take a team, doesn't it, coach? All right. Well, thank you very much. And I think that was our Yes. Okay. Well, you know, it's sort of nice having Not that I mind having musicians. It's always great, you know, I'm always encouraging lots of music at
015board meetings, but nice to be celebrating students doing other activities uh here at Hadley. Okay. Uh we will then go to public participation. Members of the public who wish to address presentation Oh, I skipped right over. They got that one thin line there. Yeah. Good catch, Dr. McHugh. So, we do have a presentation on special education and the next steps. You If you all recall, we did have a special ed review uh and the district's been hard at work addressing it. So, Molly, Jeff. I mean, I think Bob just introduced it. I think he did, too. That was my You stole my line. I was going to tee this up, but I think you teed it up beautifully, so. >> to add? Do you have the clicker? Then I think we're off and running. Um
016yes, as Dr. Bruno said, I am here to give an update on the special education review. Um as you may remember, Jeff and I were here in Well, let me back up a little bit. Dr. Frost came out in December and she shared her findings um from all of the different uh sources she reviewed. She provided us with Oh, I forgot I had the clicker. >> [laughter] >> I was just like really engaged here. Okay, here we go. How about that? Now you can see what I can see. So, Dr. Frost came in December. She gave us 11 recommendations based on her data review. She looked at um IEP data. She talked to parents. She talked to staff. Uh she did a a full review. So, she gave us 11 recommendations to consider. Jeff and
017I then came in January and we chose to focus upon reviewing all of it on expanding the special education continuum and establishing a student services parent collaboration group. These goal areas, as you can see, will address eight of the 11 recommendations from Dr. Frost. We wanted to target these eight recommendations as we believe that they will have the greatest impact on students, their families, and the staff supporting them. The remaining three recommendations will be more specifically focused on in future years. Although I think we find as we will find as we work through these these two action items that we will address components of the three that aren't specifically addressed uh in these two action steps. The first uh step that we wanted to start with was establishing a student services parent collaboration group. That
018is a mouthful. And know that we have a better name, which I will announce as we get through this. Um we started off by forming a small steering committee to help us to develop the structure of the larger collaboration group. We knew right away that we couldn't bring in everyone who was interested in this topic to help us plan the logistics and the and the membership and and different topics, so we wanted a smaller group. That membership from for the parent side of the steering committee was pulled from our existing IEP 504 parent network leadership. We have three of those in three different buildings, and so those three parents were able to join us. The other parents were nominated by their building administrators for being a a great partner in the IEP team in a
019collaborative way. Um and the staff who joined the steering committee all volunteered to be a part of it. Uh no one had to be asked to join. Um the purpose of the steering committee was really to help us figure out what is our structure and how do we develop content for the larger group. The committee has met twice so far, once in March and once in April, to develop their objectives for the planning committee, propose goals for the full collaboration group, and create a plan for an upcoming event that will include the full collaboration group. The steering committee offered suggestions on the group's goals based on their experience at the building level, as well as through the data collected from Dr. Frost's support report. We spent a lot of time talking about membership and outreach.
020And where we landed was that the steering committee wanted to develop a structure that was inclusive of all interested parties. Agreeing that membership for the full collaboration should be kept open, and any interested staff or parents can attend any and all events. The committee also brainstormed opportunities to extend personalized invitations to all families for upcoming events. Finally, the committee agreed that the content from the event should be made available after the event through some type of recording, posting of presentations, or memorialization of what the the outreach event or the committee discussed on the district's webpage so that the content can be accessed at a later date. Finally, we planned to host at least three events each school year. And what is most exciting is that after much deliberation, the steering committee has decided to name
021their group the special education staff family alliance. And if you're familiar with special education, we love our acronyms, so that will go by SESFA. Rolls right off the tongue. >> [laughter] >> So, SESFA will be hosting their first outreach event in May. Uh the details are here. We will put out a whole lot of communication about it, but we do encourage any and all interested parties to attend. All right, our next goal was to focus on expanding the special education continuum. Dr. Frost shared in December that District 41 had a gap. Before I say this, I have to we will we had a little bit of a transition error with um our formatting, so please excuse that my arrow is not lined up correctly. Um I just have to put that out there before y'all
022thinking, "Oh, that doesn't look great." Know that it will. Uh so, let me back up. Dr. Frost shared in December that District 41 had a gap in our current special education continuum, meaning that as a district, we could improve upon how we support all students in District 41 schools. The student services team at the district and building level review reviewed Dr. Frost's data and student specific data at all of the buildings. The following slides will review the continuum of services and highlight the areas that will be expanded for the 2026-2027 school year. The information shared about each step on the continuum is meant to be informative for all. Decisions about individual student needs will always be made by the IEP team. The first step on the continuum is general education with supplementary aids. In this
023step, your primary teacher is a general education teacher. Accommodations and modifications are provided in the general education classroom, and often the details are listed on the 504 plan. The purpose of this level of support is to to allow students to access the general education environment in the best way possible. Moving to the next step on the continuum, this is what we call resource. At this step in the continuum, the student is accessing specialized instruction from a special education teacher. That might be through a pull-out where the student leaves the general education classroom to receive some level of support or a push-in model where the special education teacher is supporting the student in the general education model or in the general education classroom. The purpose of this level of support is to provide direct services to
024allow students to meaningfully access the general education curriculum and environment. Moving on on the the continuum is instructional. Students who benefit from this level of support may need an alternative specialized curriculum provided in a small group setting with extended time and repeated opportunities to master the content. Students who receive this level of support spend the majority of their day in the general education classroom, but do have significant portions of the day pulled out to have uh that alternate or supplemental curriculum provided by a special education teacher. The purpose of of this level of support is to provide direct services to help students close the academic achievement gap. Moving to the next step, we're looking at specialized programs. This is the spot on the special education continuum where the expansion will be most evident. When Dr.
025Frost analyzed the district's data related to educational environment, she identified that students in District 41 were not receiving special education supports through specialized programs. Her recommendation was to expand the specialized program offerings in the district to better support all students. The student services team in each building analyzed student data, including rate of progress and type of instruction needed. That analysis was reviewed at a building and district level to determine the types of specialized programs that would be most beneficial for our students. The first type of specialized program will support students through a structured model. The primary teacher in this program is a special education teacher supported by programmatic related services as well as paraeducator support throughout the full day. Students who benefit from this type of program thrive on routines, schedules, visual supports, and independent
026workstations at their level. In addition to academic support, this program will incorporate explicit instruction related to daily living skills, social communication, and age-level appropriate executive functioning skills. The second type of specialized program will support students through a functional academics model. The primary teacher in this program is also a special education teacher supported by programmatic related services as well as paraeducator support throughout the full day. Students who benefit from this type of program require a replacement curriculum due to significant academic difficulties. In addition to academic support, this program will incorporate explicit instruction related to independent functioning skills, social skills, and age age-level appropriate executive functioning skills. The third type of specialized program will support students through a behavior support model. The primary teacher in this program is a special education teacher supported by programmatic social work
027services as well as paraeducator support throughout the full day. Students who benefit from this type of program require proactive behavior support and explicit social skills training. And the final step on the special education continuum is a therapeutic day school, commonly referred to as an outplacement. The purpose of this type of programming is to provide intensive academic, behavioral, social-emotional, and or functional support. Students who benefit from this type of support require a specialized environment outside of a general education building. These placements are all outside of the district boundaries. While we have done a lot of work on the action steps presented in January, we have more work to do prior to the start of the new school year. The student services teams at each building will be connecting with families whose children may benefit from the
028expanded services available in the specialized programs. The building teams will also participate in professional development related to the expanded teams, specialized instructional models, and expanded resources. Building administrators will continue collaborating with district staff to determine the best physical space and schedule for the specialized programs, as well as developing a professional learning plan for the staff who will be supporting these programs. As we work through these additional action items, we will plan to share more updates in May. Thank you, Molly. Dr. McGee, did you want to add anything before I turn it over uh to the board? Uh let me now turn to the board and see if they have questions uh or comments. I'll start with Amy. Thank you. Um thank you for the presentation. You said um during it that the specialized program that's
029a new item that we didn't previously have. It's ex- it's expanded from what we have had previously, so students have received some portion of their day supported in this way. What we are doing is clarifying, structuring, and expanding what that support looks like so that students can get that for larger portions of their day in a more consistent model. Okay, and then how do students I guess qualify for that? I know you said like, you know, if they're below grade level, is that based on what their teacher might see or >> Yeah, so any of these the students who are accessing these programs have an IEP, right? So, there's a a whole process that goes into qualifying for an IEP. Um it would be the IEP team who makes that decision based on a variety
030of data sources, both, you know, our curriculum-based measures, our district and state assessments, as well as the standardized assessment that goes into becoming eligible for special education. Okay, thank you. Sure. Thank you, Amy. Jason. So, I just have one concern, and I'm just going to throw it out there. It's not really as a question, but it's a follow-up on a question that was asked prior to meeting. I forget who asked it. Um but it's about staffing. I do have that concern. As if we're looking at as we sit here saying staffing neutral, um I have concerns about that because if you are expanding the program, how are you staffing the expanded program without turning this into more of a field of dreams situation? If we're building something, we have to fill it with somebody because
031we're taking staff away from something else. So, it's not really a question to me cuz, you know, I mapping things out, what I I don't know who's what what what assignments are ready that stuff for the upcoming school year, but that's one of my concerns. That's why I'm not really asking it as a question, but that's one of my concerns that you know, when you're expanding the program, you need to make sure that it is properly staffed in order for it to be effective. Okay. Yeah. Anyone else? Kitty, no? Ken, yeah? Molly, first of all, extensive interaction with lots of stakeholders, lots of voices, lots of people in the schools, quite a bit of thought into how this continuum gets played out, and obviously the dynamics around staffing, dynamics around space are yet to be
032really determined, but I do appreciate from the board level the quick and [snorts] deep and extensive dive into the review and actually addressing I think you said eight of the 11 recommendations. I mean, it's an important issue for the district, and it's good to see quite a bit of urgency and and movement on that part, and particularly the buy the the the reach out to both internal staff, but also parents across the district. That is, I think, a a real positive element to extending this continuum that's I think been on people's minds for lots of years, and it's good to see a plan now for for doing that. So, thank you, and like Jay, I think we'll probably all be really cautiously watching to determine whether there any unintended consequences, where do you have to
033make tweaks along the way, but this is really a good faith effort in in my opinion. So, thanks for rolling up your sleeves. Yeah. Well, I had one other question to kind of go off of what Jason was just suggesting, knowing that these programs are specific and the students that are qualifying for them, their services are more intense. I was just curious if that's going to be if the related services would be bolstered in the buildings in which those programs will be held. So, you know, if we're talking about intensifying behavioral supports or executive functioning, speech and language, OTPT, things like that. I didn't know if if that falls under the staffing category that Jason's referring to, or if we're going to hear more about it in May, but it just begs the question, knowing
034that we are growing this more intensive kind of program, what does that mean for the related services, not just for the program itself, but also for the students that they would be otherwise service servicing in that building. Mhm. At this point, like like Jason said, and as we've talked about, we are thinking it's going to be staff neutral, right? As we unpack all of this and we really look at individual student needs and and, you know, get deeper into it, we may come back in May with with more details, right? At this point, our plan is to provide primarily programmatic support, so really bringing that related service support to the specialized program. Where that benefits our staff is that to support all of the students in one location, rather than trying to fill their schedule
035with 20 or 30-minute blocks of time. They can provide support within that specialized program as a part of the instruction that's happening in there. Our hope is is that by building a schedule programmatically, they'll be able to be more efficient with their time. Still lots more to to unpack and and to look at, and so we'll spend the the next couple weeks doing that and and bring more information back in May. So, that might be similar to how we provide services in early childhood as well. Same kind of a model. >> Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Very good. Well, thank you, Molly. Thank you, Jeff. Yeah, thank you. Very good. Okay, now we'll get to public participation. Members of the public who wish to address the board should complete a green form and submit it to
036Mrs. Mock, the board recording secretary. Speakers are asked to maintain respectful decorum and limit their comments to 3 minutes or less. Please note that all meetings, including public comment, are live-streamed and recorded and become part of the official record. Mrs. Mock, is there anyone wishing to make public comment this evening? Rebecca Taylor. Rebecca Taylor. >> [clears throat] >> Hi, my name's Rebecca Coleman Taylor. I'm a Churchill and Hadley parent, and I'm also representing representing the community group GE Unplugged. Change can be hard, but is sometimes surprisingly smooth. While I was pleased with the district's new personal technology policy this school year of powered off and away for the day, I anticipated significant pushback from both students and some parents, especially at the middle school level. From my limited perspective, I've been pleasantly surprised at how
037smoothly families seem to have adjusted. Hopefully, you've seen the same from your district-wide perspective, as well. As the April Chromebook trial is well underway, I'm hopeful that the same principle holds true, that change may be easier than we think. I'm looking forward to the district's outreach to parents, staff, and students on how the Chromebook trial has gone. From my view so far, it's been successful. My middle schooler reports excellent compliance with the no Chromebooks during lunch trial and says that he hasn't heard kids complaining about it. Now, I can't say he has his finger on the pulse of all Hadley students, so I'm eager to hear the district's findings. My elementary student was sad at first about leaving her Chromebook at school, but she also hasn't complained about her heavy backpack at all, and she
038hasn't mentioned her Chromebook since the first week of April. She's quickly adjusted to the new normal of no Chromebook at home, and it hasn't affected her school work at all. One important consideration for whether Chromebooks should come home in elementary school are issues of equity. With the broad range of socioeconomic status that we see in D41, I'm sure that the administration and board are thinking about whether the Chromebook coming home provides a critical technology resources in the home resource in the home for some students. I'm very concerned about issues of equity in our district, as well. I encourage you to keep this in mind as you seek feedback on the trial. However, I also encourage you to not make assumptions about the role that the Chromebook plays in the homes of various D41 families, even
039those with fewer resources. My friends in D41 with a different socioeconomic status than myself have expressed similar views to my own, a desire to not have another device in the house to negotiate screen time on, and an acknowledge that acknowledgement that their elementary kids aren't using their Chromebooks for school work at home. Although some said to me that because of a language barrier, it was hard for them to know whether their child actually needed the Chromebook for homework, so they felt a bit disempowered in being able to manage Chromebook use at home. When I probed several friends about whether having the Chromebook at home was useful for other things, like filling out school forms or using the internet for other important tasks, they said they didn't need it for this. Now, my informal conversations with
040friends is hardly a generalizable sample, but I encourage you to specifically seek out information >> Rebecca. >> different parent groups in D41 in order to make sure that any policy changes take into account the diversity in our district. And I'm sure that if the policy did change, there could be exceptions made for certain situations when a Chromebook at home is still vitally important. Thank you for your thoughtful work, as always, on this technology issues in D41. Mrs. Mock? Okay, very good. Then, we will move to our superintendent's report. And Dr. McKew, you looks like you've got the remote in hand. Okay. There's your music hit for the evening. And if we get out of here soon, we can go down the hallway and listen to the the spring swing that's going on in the auditorium.
041Five topics for you today. Hadley school visit, e-bikes and e-scooters, Rebecca, you were kind of a plant here, April Chromebook trial update, e-learning emergency day survey results, and the development of our new strategic plan. The superintendent's community advisory council went on a tour of Forest Glen back in October, and it was such a hit, they said, "We want to see Hadley." So, last week, Steve and his team generously opened up Hadley for any council members who were able to come. I believe there were 10 or 11, Erica, who came to Hadley, and there were 16 different classrooms that we walked through for about 15 minutes each. Some of them core subjects, some of them exploratory, and it was a wonderful way to open up our doors to share with the council, "Here's what's going on
042at Hadley." And Steve, you told me this was not a dog and pony show, correct? This was the everyday, don't change anything, this is what school looks like at Hadley right now. So, opening those up, council members interacted with students, with staff. We were able to debrief afterward, and it was just a wonderful way to get feedback for me on what they saw. Steve was able to sit in there with some of his staff, and it was a wonderful experience. They were very grateful for that. So, Steve, thanks for opening up your doors. E-bikes and e-scooters, as a reminder, the Village of Glen Ellyn passed a new ordinance saying no e-bikes or e-scooters for for any children, I believe it's under 16, so that would be all of the District 41 students. We implemented this
043after spring break. It's been going exceedingly well. Steve, it's still going exceedingly well. On school property, we were told that some of the students might be looking for workarounds, parking their bikes in some and their e-bikes in some nearby neighborhood parks, but we do not have e-bikes and e-scooters, Jeff Burke, I don't think, running back and forth in front of Ben Franklin. So, it our emphasis is on student safety, not only the students on the e-bikes and e-scooters, but other students walking to school, drivers in cars worried about hitting students. So, this has been very positive, I think, from a safety standpoint for our kids. April Chromebook trial update. We have 2 weeks in the books, and again, I think Rebecca teed this up nicely. Chromebooks stayed at school for grades 1 through 5. Kindergarten
044also keeps them at home, but that was a change implemented earlier in the year. >> [snorts] >> No Chromebooks used during indoor recess, which sounds like that has not been an issue at all. And then the grade 6 through 8, no Chromebooks during lunch. I'm glad that Rebecca, your child had some positive feedback. Um, let's ask our student board members. How's that going for you, eighth graders? So, what I've seen with it is that in general, I think it's less beneficial than I expected because, at least like in my experience, every like nobody I I'd say that the students aren't a fan, but also like I don't think it was expected for them to be very excited that they're not allowed to use their Chromebooks. Um, but I've noticed that at like some lunch tables,
045it affects like some conversations, and some of my friends are nervous to get their Chromebook taken. So, I think in the future, I don't think that the Chromebook ban is a bad idea. I just think that it needs to be more gently enforced because now all my friends, like sometimes they forget that there's a Chromebook ban at lunch. So, then they pull it out, and then their Chromebook gets taken. Um, so I think in general, it's a good idea. I think it just needs to be executed differently. Thanks, Chloe. My table just we we didn't really use like computers before the ban, so there hasn't been much of a difference. So, yeah. That's Sixth grade sounded like it was the grade most impacted. At least, that's what my student advisory council told me these two
046being on that. And it sounds like Steve, from your standpoint, it sounds like it's going fairly well, not perfect, but we're getting some good results on that so far. I want to remind everybody there will be surveys coming back. We are going to try to get a wide range of feedback from students, from staff, from families about where we might go for the rest of this year into next year. This is really the low-hanging fruit. The bigger question that I think all of us at the board table are wondering about is what are we using these devices for, anyway? And being tech-intentional, as some would say. And the work of that next year will be working with teachers to figure out what are Chromebooks and technology in general best suited for, and what don't we
047need them for? What could they actually be detrimental for our students? So, I look at this as a good start, but next year I think we're really getting into the heavy lifting with our instructional technology. >> Jeff, can I ask Chloe a follow-up question? Absolutely. Chloe, you had made the comment that the conversations are different Uh, >> at the lunch table. What do you mean when you say different? So, I think the way that they're different is um, sometimes like examples, like sometimes you're talking about something and just somebody has no clue what you're talking about, then sometimes we use it to like show pictures and like explain what we're talking about, and that's the main difference in conversation. Okay. Interesting. Thank you. That's fair cuz I've had we've had a conversation with somebody and
048just like, let me just Google that real quick cuz I don't know what you're talking about. Oh, that's what they're talking about. >> Pull out your phone to show somebody. Yeah, I could I could understand that. Okay. E-learning [snorts] and emergency days. I had been hearing from a number of parents and staff about e-learning and emergency days. Would it be a possibility to not use e-learning days right off the bat, but to have what are what are now called emergency days? They're your our traditional snow days where we would have no school and tack on an extra day either built into the calendar or at the end. So, we surveyed parents, we surveyed staff, and both groups, the blue is in favor of using e-learning days over emergency days. It was pretty close with the
049parents, not as close with the staff. I think based on those responses for next year, I think we need to if we ask people, we need to follow that. So, there will essentially be no change from whether or not we go to an e-learning day over an emergency day. We have a burst at 6:00 in the morning and we can't have kids going to a school, we're going to have to likely call an emergency day. But otherwise, we'll do a typical e-learning day. I'm always watching the weather days in advance, so if there's any likelihood that there could be an e-learning day needed, we'll send the Chromebooks home in advance. But otherwise, parents, you don't need to worry about in general us going to these snow days. What may change is what we're doing within
050the e-learning days because there were a lot of comments that said from parents and from staff, some ideas of what we could do, some tweaks to make e-learning more effective. So, that's something I anticipate talking to staff about and figuring out how do we make e-learning as impactful as possible for our students should we have an e-learning day next year. Just out of curiosity, Jeff, if we were to have more e-learning days, do you think this is a survey that we could use once again should the content of what's happening during those e-learning days change? The hope would be is is that more than 54% of parents would be supportive of an e-learning day should that day look different. >> Correct. Yes. >> [snorts] >> And lastly, strategic plan. We are headed into year five
051of a five-year strategic plan. So, we'll be developing a new plan next year. On May 4th, oops, on May 4th, pending the um, change from a committee of the whole meeting to a special board meeting that you'll be voting on later, I would bring forth three consultants to give proposals to lead us through the work. I would anticipate we would begin the process with stakeholder groups in the fall. We would start planning immediately as soon as we locked somebody down to to help us do the work. And the community engagement we're going to need across the board because this strategic plan isn't my strategic plan. It's not our staff strategic plan. It is the board and community strategic plan, and we're going to need a lot of voices at the table to help us determine
052where we go for the next 5 years in District 41. Questions? Yep. Okay. Uh, questions, comments, Amy. Uh, I I more have a comment. So, I have been asking parents and students what their thoughts are on the Chromebook trial. And every parent I have talked to is in favor and thinks it's great. Every student I have talked to >> [laughter] >> wants the Chromebooks back. They would stop me in the hall and say They stop me in the hall and say, "Dr. McKillip, are you the one responsible for making us [laughter] put our Chromebooks away?" I told my own son I was responsible. I said, "Hey, >> [laughter] >> deal with it." >> the fall. Right. >> I took the fall. Okay. I also had my daughter uh, specifically say I like a lighter backpack.
053She specifically said that. The lighter backpack. Yeah. So, Ted, were you Okay. Any anyone else? On the on this on this topic, um, I do appreciate, and you've noted that maybe it's the low-hanging fruit, and that's probably a smart way to begin this longer process. Uh, but but an important and and and rather fascinating experiment. Uh, and I appreciate the the superintendent and the district at some risk that not everyone's going to be happy with it. Not that you have a lot of research on, well, what do you do if you take Chromebooks away for a month, right? Uh, given that the whole country went one-on-one when it almost, you know, less than half were there before COVID. I appreciate the fact that you took this step and that we're going to gather some really
054important information on it, and I think good leadership comes with making decisive decisions, but also taking some risk and being okay with it, feeling safe enough to do it. And on this topic of educational tech, I did want to share with the community cuz I do think there's lots of interest in the in the community about what we're doing with technology in the classroom. If you have uh, or you have access to uh, Sunday's New York Times or you're Sunday New York Times subscriber, in the opinion section, uh, there's quite a provocative piece called You Can't Game Your Way to Real Education by an historian from the University of North Carolina who's writing on the on on on EdTech, and uh, it does speak to a lot of the questions uh, that that we have
055here. And in the piece, uh, there is a book that's referenced called The Digital Delusion. Uh, I'm not saying it has to be the next book study or that we would engage to come I'm not saying that, but some of us probably will read it. >> [laughter] >> Uh, but for those of you that are interested in in this topic, uh, you you might want to uh, uh, look up the that Times piece. Again, it's called You Can't Game Your Way to a Real Education, and the book is called The Digital Delusion. And also wanted you to know that the board remains fully engaged in better educating ourselves. And I and I think the author's got a more critical view, uh, but the but but the the one-on-ones have been in place long enough that
056there's now a body of research that is starting to generate robust findings. So, anyway. I think it's fair to say that Amy's going to read that book this summer, right? >> Oh, Amy I think we'll probably lead the the next discussion the next discussion with with Katie's assistance, right? >> [laughter] >> All right. Dr. McHugh, thank you. All right, let's turn to board reports then. Any board members who wish to provide a report on where you've been and what you've done? Ted, that's why you were leaning into the mic. I'll I'll let other people go first if they want. Anybody else? No, well, it looks like Amy's ready to go then if you're going to defer. Um, the D41 Kids Foundation is putting on their summer musical. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought it was on.
057The D41 Kids Foundation is putting on their summer musical. Sign-ups are open and they are going to be holding their auditions. I believe it's the first week of May, but look on their website to be sure. And um, Forest Glen put on Newsies Jr. And unfortunately, I was not able to attend due to work travel, but my daughter attended and she is very proud to share her board report. She says, "It was great. The actors were the best. Their hard work paid off. My favorite part was when they were on strike and they sang, 'It's time to seize the day' and yelled, 'We're on strike!'" >> [laughter] >> Yeah, I think that was my favorite part, too. That probably Of course it was. Thank you, Amy. >> [laughter] >> All right, so um, two Fridays
058ago I attended the uh Churchill International Night. Oh, I missed that. Oh, okay. Oh, I'm disappointed I missed it. Okay. All right, so um, this is a yearly event put on by the PTA. I appreciate all the effort. Um, thanks also to Rebecca who is here. Um, I was invited to play a little bit of a part. Um, the students represent the um, different countries and they have their flags. This is them lining up here before parading in. And uh here we are parading in led by me on the bagpipes and there's Rebecca again. >> [gasps] >> Um, here's here's all the flags gathered. Um, if you look real closely, the guy next to me um, with the blue Argentine flag uh, very bright student. When it was all said and done, I was out
059in the hallway and he said to me, "You did great." >> [laughter] >> So, I like him a lot. >> [laughter] >> And so, here's an idea of how many people showed up. It was a great event. It always is. There's always a lot of people who show up. And then here we are head up headed back out and all the flags behind me. So, it was a it was a fun night. Thanks a lot. I'm glad to have been invited. That is Rebecca, how many years or how many years since Churchill hosted? Anybody know? A lot. Just a lot. Many, many years? 15 or 20 years? Okay. I was good with a lot. Yeah, you were. Ted, had you led the parade for all 15 years? >> Nancy is mouthing 20. >> what is
060it? At least At least 20. Beautiful. Yeah, it's quite a sight. Uh, thank you. And thank you, Ted, for participating as you do. All right, let's see who else. I attended the Lincoln PTA meeting earlier this month. They're talking I'm not I'm uh following up on their their auction trivia night and then just plans for the end of the year, so. They've had a great year and looking forward to confident plans for the end of the year. >> [laughter] >> Okay, very good. Anyone else? Katie, please. Yes, um I attended the PTA exec committee meeting last week where they elected their new slate of officers for um, 2026-27. It was uncontested, which is always, you know, very peaceful and fun and exciting. Um, and then they talked a lot about I thought this was interesting
061kindergarten center since they were new this year and didn't have a PTA going into this year and funds to work with. Um, the council had given money to the kindergarten center to fund their PTA this year um, and have recouped some of it. So, they were talking about ways to make the PTA successful next year since it will be the second year of the kindergarten center, but I mean getting a PTA started is huge undertaking. So, it was really interesting to hear about. Um, Jeff was there, talked about um, the technology and it was sort of interesting to hear, you know, it was very it was like the third day of April maybe, so the students had only been in in it for a couple days, but it was interesting to hear from the parents
062at that meeting and they um, I felt like they they didn't have a lot like thought it went really smoothly. Um, also attended the PEP committee meeting the evening before that. Uh, PEP's coming into their busy time of year. They are the organization that sort of facilitates scholarships um, for the four Glenbard high schools. So, they attend different scholarship presentations at West, North, um, etc. in May um, to present scholarships to students. So, I volunteered to be the representative um, to go to the evening at West. So, I'm really excited just to see what that's like since so many of our students go on to West. Um, I mentioned this last time, but they are looking um, for a more user-friendly donation platform for people who want to make donations for scholarships. Uh, they're last
063time they were looking at Givebutter, but now they're looking at a different platform um, called Little Green Light that has less clicks to actually get to the point where someone would make a donation. So, an even better user-friendly experience. And then there's also because there are representatives from the different districts at the PEP committee meeting, um, Steve Nerad from D89, D89's redoing their strategic plan right now and it just kind of came up off the cuff, but they were like, "Oh, and you know, Dr. McHugh has attended some of those meetings to see how it's going." And I so, shout out to Dr. McHugh for being there. I just thought that was like a really interesting tidbit as we um, get ready to go into ours. And then finally, this hasn't happened yet, but I
064want to put a plug in the Glen Ellyn Children's Resource Center. So, not directly D41 related, but one of our community partners and provide a lot of after school support to some of our students. Um, they're having their big fundraiser next Thursday, April 30th um, at Arrowhead with they bring I think I attended last year. I don't know if that was the first one, but they bring a really popular author in and this year it's the author of a book called Heartwood, which is a New York Times bestseller, really big thriller. It is such a fun way to go and support the organization and I think the evening is sold out, but there's a waiting list for tickets and you can also they do you hear raffle basket and you're like, "Okay, raffle basket." They
065have the best raffle baskets and you can buy tickets even if you're not attending and they have like there's like spa gift cards and golf outings and um, they also have you can buy a bookmark on their website and you'll get like a surprise book that's wrapped up from the bookstore. So, really cool ways to support the GECRC and um, if you're looking for a ticket, you can put yourself on the waitlist and go and it's just a really great community event and great organization to support. So. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They certainly are. Thank you, Katie. Anyone else? All right, well, then I I will close the board portion of this just by noting that I had the pleasure to attend the Hadley uh, PTA meeting and just to note that uh, the new incoming
066uh, principal, Dr. Grabania uh, participated and was introduced uh, to the PTA members and it was nice to see her again and chat with her a little bit. So, good for her uh, to attend that uh, that meeting. Okay. Now, over to Chloe and Joseph for student board reports. So, in sixth grade, not all that much is going on, but school-wide um, we're doing this new um, I don't even know how to describe it. Kind of like a game and it's called Quack Quest. So, um, Ms. Love has hidden a bunch of [clears throat] tiny little ducks around the school and during passing period, after school, before school, anytime that you're in the hallway and some of the ducks are hidden in classrooms, you can try and look for these ducks and they are very
067well hidden, I'd like to say. Um, I think I think the most that I've seen somebody have is seven and that is very impressive. Um, but the goal with that is um, the more ducks you have, then you get to go like the person with the most ducks and I think like the top three people, I believe that they get to go on a walking field trip to Lake Ellyn to eat lunch. Which is a very fun opportunity. Um, there was also the demonstration concert for the fourth graders uh, last week where the orchestra and band performed for the fourth graders to encourage them to do band or orchestra next year in their fifth grade year. And that's about it. In eighth grade, a lot of stuff is going on because at the end of
068the year um but yeah, there was a demonstration concert. Um there was the ISA, the Illinois Science Assessment. Uh it's like all the eighth graders took it um last week. And there's also eighth grade grad- graduation pictures a little while ago for um yeah, just graduation. So So just one clarification about the ducks. Are they it it's school wide, did you say? Yeah. Okay. And they're definitely ducks, they're not rabbits. Okay. There is a difference, Robert. >> Okay, thank you. Oh, is there? >> [snorts] >> Ha-ha-ha. >> to be a chicken, I don't want to be a duck. Well, thank you. Thank you both. All right. Okay, then let's turn to our discussion items. We have two. We're going to begin with a tentative amended budget. And Eric, you will facilitate. Yes. So tonight in
069the board packet, you will see a tentative amended budget. Um the reason you see that is for a couple different line items that are basically greater than the 10% um change from the original budget that the board adopted back in the fall. And specifically that tonight what I do is kind of go over just a few of the accounts. And there's only when I'm looking at it in front of me, there's only five different accounts that we're adjusting in this amended budget, but they are bigger accounts. On the revenue side, there's um the federal IDEA part B flow-through grant. We had more rollover dollars than expected. That was an increase of $318,000. So we knew we had that money coming. So we're going to amend that revenue line in the budget. Uh additionally because of
070our increased transportation costs, um we actually got a greater state reimbursement for transportation than was expected. So I'm also going to amend the budget by an additional $133,000 just to capture those dollars uh to more closely reflect reflect what we received. So on the revenue side, that's a total of $454,000 we're adding to the revenue side of the chart. Um on the expenditure chart, and that's really why we're um looking at an amended budget tonight. There's a couple different areas we wanted to adjust. Um the first being transportation. As we all know, when we switched to First Student after winter break um the new contract with First Student calls for quite a bit higher daily rate than we were paying. Um and as such, the budget needed to be adjusted to reflect that higher rate.
071Um in the amended budget, you'll see that I'm increasing that line item by $1,825,000 approximately for the rest of the school year. So that'll get us closer to uh what our expected expenditures are for that line item. And then additionally there are two capital projects. Um one was an emergency project at Abraham Lincoln that needed to happen this fall to replace their announcement system that crashed and was not repairable. Um so we're going to adjust for that expense. That's a $77,000 line item I thought I'd include in the amended budget. And then the last one is really a timing issue. Um and it's connected to the kindergarten project. So um when we set the budget for this fiscal year um many of the expenses that we expected to pay last year didn't get paid until
072July and August. That's just a timing thing, it happens all the time. Doesn't mean we're paying more than we expected to pay, but the timing is such that more of those expenditures are falling into this school year, this fiscal year. So we're going to change that line item as well. So that was an additional $2,032,000 approximately. So the increase if you total up those three items is $3.9 million. Um so when you factor in the the the net change, when you consider the $454,000 revenue increase the $3,934,000 expense increase is a net impact of three $3,480,027. I mention that just to kind of set again the overall expectation for this year. We will be in a deficit, and we planned on that. We planned on that because we knew we had these trailing um expenses
073that are connected to the kindergarten center project. Um originally when we approved the budget in the fall, it showed a $7.4 million deficit largely because of the case center. Now that goes up to $10.9 million. Um again, most of that is timing. The big change that wasn't expected really is the transportation increased cost. Um but we knew that was coming based on the contract we entered into with First Student. So that's a summary of the changes. Are there any questions on those items? Eric, just to be clear, so that difference between what was forecasted 7.4 something and 10 is mostly largely the increase in transportation to fix the transportation. Well, yeah, the the change are the items I went over, but the reason why it's a $10.9 million deficit this year is nearly entirely connected
074to the kindergarten center project. This amended budget includes an a dollar $1.8 million in transportation expenses that would be different than that, yeah. Okay. And Eric, you already answered this one. I we were going back and forth before the meeting, but I think for it's really important to hear as a community member, like when I read this ahead of time, I was like 10, you know, million dollar deficit, that's huge. And I know it's planned. I have complete faith in you. I think we all do, you know, I know you know what you're doing, but I think as like as a regular person, a taxpayer who's seen this, can you talk a little bit about how we plan for it, how we're going to reduce that deficit, what the future looks like, what we're thinking
075about? Abs- absolutely, yeah. And I think you hit the right right term. This this we knew this was coming. So, you know, we knew when we're embarking on the kindergarten project, we were going to spend down fund reserves. It would look as a it would be presented as a deficit budget because obviously over the the two two-year and it's now going to be a little over two fiscal years, it'll be you know, close to 28 million and change on that project. So we knew there were going to be some deficits pending. So having planned for that, and when we did that, we knew that that amount of money was what we wanted to spend to not go too low on our fund balance. We didn't want to exceed that number by a large margin because
076then we start getting into a lower fund balance than we really thought was uh fiscally prudent. So moving forward, you know, as we complete the kindergarten center spending, and specifically to your question on how how are we going to not have a $10 million budget um there's a number of things that will factor into that. Um in addition to the kindergarten project this fiscal year kind of closing out and a lot of dollars going towards that >> [snorts] >> um we had a curriculum adoption. We had a curriculum adoption that's going to cover five years, and we paid for all in this fiscal year. So that was an upfront cost. So that that line item was nearly a million dollars, so that won't be on the books next year. Um additionally, there's some transportation um
077not transportation, technology capital spending that we have in this current budget that is going to go down in future years just because we're tackling some of those more expensive larger projects. So we knew this, we planned for it. Um thankfully, we're in a position where uh much of our facilities work um has been completed over the last six to eight years to update our buildings to where we're not um reactively addressing mechanical failures and system failures. So we're in a good place for that. I mention that because as we look forward part of our planning will be to kind of kind of rein that in a little bit. You know, we've done a lot of proactive work to put our buildings in good places. We don't need to spend as much in the next couple
078years. And that's been the plan all along as we adjust to operating another building. Um and what can we do to make sure that we're spending appropriately um put ourselves back into that position to begin to build fund balance back up to a little bit more uh comfortable range. Um we're we're at the bottom end of our fund balance policy right now after doing this case center project. So this will enable us to kind of move back up. Um and with that, I mean, I think it's it's worth saying that, you know, we've also looked very closely at staffing. You know, we are a people business. Most of our money goes towards salary and benefits for the people that work in our district. Um through attrition and some very purposeful uh review of our class
079sizes and our building staffing um and in consideration of our our declining enrollment, we're down 100 kids versus where we were five or six years ago. Um we're going to be able to uh contract a little bit. Um you know, and condense some of our grade level sections. Maybe we go down a section here or there based on enrollment. So as we look at those things, you know, with an eye towards your issue and your concern that you raised very importantly that it's important to watch closely um where we are spending dollars. And when there's an opportunity to not spend them, we're going to absolutely plan for it. Thank you. That's really helpful. And thanks for being so thoughtful and looking so far ahead. Absolutely. Um just one last comment on the amended budget proce-
080process. I just want to state this, you know, it does require the board to approve placing the tentative amended budget on display, which will be your action request later tonight. Um it needs to be on display for at least 30 days. Based on the date of our May meeting, that means we're going to wait till June to bring you the approval request for the amended budget. Just wanted to put that out there. Um, and also just make note that the tentative amended budget will be on display and available for anybody that wants to look at a copy of it. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Amy. I had two questions. >> Please. Uh, the first one was you said that the invoices for the K Center work ended up being due this fiscal year. So, does
081that mean the previous fiscal year you carried over what you thought you were going to be paying? Yeah, so that's a good good clarifying point. So, the way we paid our contractors is basically they have to submit all of the appropriate paperwork to our construction manager before we we release payment. The cost doesn't change. It's just a timing issue. So, we didn't pay it last fiscal year, we're just paying it this fiscal year. So, And then my other question was how how is our fund balance? Is it I know you said it's on the lower end, but is that where we forecasted it to be? Are we in line and meeting the budget that Great question. As we, you know, embarked on the K Center project, we talked quite a bit about what what's a
082comfortable level for us to go down in our fund balance once we're done. And we set that target right at 18 to 20% as a floor. Um, I think we're going to be closer to 22 to 23%. So, so we are where we expected to be, maybe going to be a little bit better. You know, each year our budget generally performs a little better than I, you know, write it to. We do that purposefully, so it's a little bit conservative. So, if we have a high cost year, maybe we have a mechanical failure or some type of high expense that comes in, we're we're not going to blow through the budget. So, usually we end the year a little bit better. So, I'm hopeful that as we end this current fiscal year, you know, we
083haven't had those large expenses. Um, so maybe we'll be closer to the 24 25%. Um, amounts, yeah. Thank you. Yep. Anyone? Derek, you want to mention to the five-year forecast? Yeah, so so that's that's a great thing to bring up too, and we're going to talk about this um, in in in coming meetings. But generally, you know, as we go through the, you know, the not only the process of this amended budget, but also in developing the budget for next fiscal year, you know, this is going to be that point where we're adjusting to this new normal, right? We're going to have additional transportation expenses uh, with our first student agreement, which is a multi-year agreement, um, and we'll we'll be in the second year of operating the kindergarten center. So, with those two variables
084in play, we will absolutely be preparing five-year projections to kind of show us responding to those new variables as part of our spend each year, so we can we can know exactly what to expect. And I think it the time of it is perfect as we're also embarking on our um, comprehensive five-year plan for the district to know this is the state of our finances, you know, and that I think is going to inform, you know, decisions that we made relative to what are we going to do for the next five years. So, that will be forthcoming later closer to the fall. Okay. Anyone else? Eric, thanks for taking the time and the and the explanation. >> Absolutely. And the and the planning. Okay. We have a second item. Erica and Faisal on Parent Square
085communication. That's right. So, tonight Faisal and I are bringing forward for discussion a recommendation for a new communication platform. Currently, District 41 uses a number of different platforms to communicate with staff, parents, and the community. We're recommending moving to one platform that will streamline all communications and creates more consistent and user-friendly information. After feedback from the District 41 Community Connection Subcommittee, a review of several different platform options, and feedback from other districts, we're recommending District 41 move to Parent Square for our communications platform. Moving to this unified platform is expected to reduce costs over time, save staff time, and also provide fewer platforms for staff and families to manage. In the board report, you will see that we would no longer need a few of our current communication tools, and the savings would almost cover
086the cost of Parent Square. And in the future, we may be able to also remove some other tools in the district um, to also provide some cost savings. In addition to Parent Square's communication tools, such as mass communication, classroom, parent-teacher communication, the mobile app, we could also look to use this platform in the future for things like attendance, forms, permission slips, surveys, um, and others in the future. Open to questions and discussion. Ooh. Questions, discussions? Yeah, Amy. I am so excited for this. >> [laughter] >> You or your daughter? What? Is this you or your daughter giving the report here? I just This this is me. Okay, just just wanted to clarify. The amount of things that unfortunately get lost and I can't find later in emails, I'm so excited for it to be in
087one place. I have really, really high expectations for the people at Parent Square. >> [cough and laughter] >> So, I don't know that that matters to them, but and the other thing I wanted to point out, I don't know for other people who have students if their teachers use ClassDojo, but I'm really hopeful we won't have to use that anymore because the amount of spam crap that I get from ClassDojo trying to get me to buy things is so annoying. So, I'm very excited for this. Okay. Very good. Erica, Faisal, thank you. All right. Now, let's move into the action item. Are there any items board members would like to be removed from the consent agenda to be considered separately? Hearing none, may Uh, hang on. Ooh, oh, oh, oh, oh, Ted, you have something.
088I'd like to um, what's what's the technical term here? The I'd like to pull item 7A2B donation and gifts for separate discussion. Okay, then we will pull donations 7AB and we will to definitely we will. >> [laughter] >> I need a second. Second. Mr. Loback? Yes. Mrs. Hill? Yes. Ms. Becker? Yes. Mrs. Ledlow? Yes. Mr. Rustees? Yes. Dr. Martelli? Yes. Dr. Bruno? Yes. All right. Well, with donations pulled off the consent agenda to be considered separately, then uh, we will uh, employment recommendations, resignations, administration and non-union exempt compensation, and approved probationary non-tenure renewal staff contract, disposal of surplus property, Freedom of Information Act report, investment schedule, monthly revenue expenditure summary report, school district payment order, summary of bills and payroll, treasurer's report, and the March 16th, 2026 open and closed session minutes. So, I need
089a motion. Motion. Second. Someone? I'll second that. All right, there you go. You got a bunch of seconds. Mrs. Hill? Yes. Ms. Becker? Yes. Mrs. Ledlow? Yes. Mr. Rustees? Yes. Dr. Martelli? Yes. Mr. Loback? Yes. Dr. Bruno? Yes. All right. Nancy, do I need to have a motion then for the Yeah. May I have a motion to approve item 7AB on the consent agenda, uh, donations. Motion. Second. Any discussion? Yes. Thanks, Eric. Good to know. I have to get it in quick or Bob slides right past. Okay, so we have a number of generous >> Say thanks to you. We have a number of generous donations. Um, and I usually try to call it out when we're doing the vote, and that's not really the It's not the way you're supposed to do it. Um,
090so big thanks to Abraham Lincoln PTA and Ben Franklin PTA for their generous donations. Also, Thomas Liebing for some drum equipment. Um, the Karen Family Foundation for some library furniture at Churchill, and Save Glenbard's Hill for oak trees and landscaping at Abraham Lincoln. And if I'm not mistaken, I think 135 people contributed to that. Is that correct? Mr. Bruno. Okay. All right, so I just want to thank everybody. Thank you very much. And thank you for being consistent and improving on the process. We appreciate that. Usually, you know, if it's one or two in there, and I just kind of slip it in instead of delaying the meeting. This is the better way. Mrs. Hill. Ms. Becker? Yes. Mrs. Ledlow? Yes. Mr. Rustees? Yes. Dr. Martelli? Yes. Mrs. Hill? Yes. Mr. Loback? Yes. Dr. Bruno?
091Yes. Now we can thank and grant. All right. Dr. McHugh, would you like to say something? Well, I would, but I think it's more appropriate if we invite Christine Aarons, the principal of Churchill, up to tell you about who you just approved as the new assistant principal at Churchill. Good evening. After a comprehensive search and interview process, I am pleased to introduce Joseph Colucci's as the next assistant principal of Churchill. Joe has dedicated a majority of his professional career to special education and student services and he blew away our team of teachers on our interview panel with his knowledge and communication regarding special education and student behavior management. I couldn't be more excited and proud to continue the momentum of greatness at Churchill than with a Joe by my side. So please join me in
092WELCOMING MR. COLUCCI. >> [applause] >> LOOK AT THAT JOE, YOU HAVEN'T EVEN DONE ANYTHING and we're already giving you prizes. How about that? >> I just know that it's going to get really confusing up here. We already have Dr. Bruno and Dr. Bruno. Now we have Cletsbit and Cletsbus. Forest Glen principal Scott and they they they sound very familiar. They sound very close. Going to get really confusing up here. >> [laughter] >> I just want to thank Dr. McHugh, Mrs. Aarons and the members of the board for the warm welcome this evening. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to get to know you all better and work with you. And I'm very excited about the opportunity. So thank you. Welcome. We're very excited. Joe, um can can I ask just and I absolutely appreciate you
093stepping up. You obviously had likely had other school districts perhaps that you were looking for opportunities. It was there something in particular about this opportunity at at Churchill that really attracted you? Yeah, Mrs. Aarons and I happened to work together in a previous district and we talk on a regular basis and she's just told me all the wonderful things about the district and about the school and when she hinted that there was an opportunity I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring and and see how things shook out. So I'm excited about working with her again and getting to know the rest of the team over there. We are very excited to have you part of a very very special place and would you like to introduce your you introduced her who she had
094two roles. If I recall she She does have two roles. >> Well please. Well she has multiple roles. More roles than that. She's my my wonderful wife Nicole. She helps me raise our four children that we have and she's also the best school site that I've ever worked with. So >> [laughter] >> All right, well that is that is terrific. Board any other thoughts or comments? Well then maybe there's a picture. And some swag that comes. Is this David? David did you put this together? He's our swag guy. Oh my back is starting to seize up on me. Joe's watching me on video right now going to look at that old man. Got a cramp in his back. >> [applause] >> Churchill Oh we got Churchill swag. >> [laughter] >> So much swag. And I
095just want to know because it's a long a work day I and I don't normally do this but I think I probably should start. One of our principals from Ben Franklin, Jeff is with us this evening and I appreciate that he's with us and in part probably to a acknowledge a a colleague and that that kind of solidarity is is really affirming. I think it it speaks very well of your leadership. Thank you for being here Jeff. Okay and Mrs. assistant principal anything you got to say? Bob wants anyone to come up [laughter] and speak. Everyone. >> Bring the kids. Oh it's also doctor. Oh. He's a school psych. Well he said that. Yes. >> So that's a doctor. >> [laughter] >> All right, fantastic. Very good. All right, then we'll move into recommendations. We
096got a few here. Let's go. First one, approve the last day Christine you're happy about this right? You said you'll count those days Only 34 days. It's only >> [laughter] >> Christine knows what what the day is. Approve the last day of the 25-26 school year. During the course of the school year the district used one e-learning day due to extreme weather and has met the state mandated student attendance days using any of the required tentative emergency days in June. Please note that the report and recommendation reflects that Monday June 8th, 2026 is the last student attendance day for full day kindergarten and grades one to seven. Half day programs and eighth grade last day is Friday June 5th as outlined in the board report. I need a motion. Motion. You second? Second. Any further
097discussion on this? Then Mrs. Milk roll call. Dr. Martelli? Yes. Mr. Estes? Yes. >> Mrs. Ledoux? Yes. Ms. Becker? Yes. Mrs. Hill? Yes. Mr. Loback? Yes. Dr. Bruno? >> [clears throat] >> Yes and the motion passes. Second, change of May 4th, 2026 board meeting. May have a motion to approve changing the May 4th, 2026 committee of the whole meeting to a special meeting as presented. Any discussion? And and just a just a quick reminder Dr. McHugh noted earlier that we will be using that May 4th meeting to invite some consultants to help plan and lead the next strategic plan and that's the reason for this. Oh who did the second? Amy. Okay then roll call. Mrs. Hill? Yes. Mr. Loback? Yes. Dr. Martelli? Yes. Ms. Becker? Yes. Mrs. Ledoux? Yes. Mr. Estes? Yes. Dr. Bruno?
098Yes motion passes. Third item, approve the board meeting calendar for 26-27. May have a motion to establish 26-27 school board calendar as presented. Motion. Ted is the second. Any further discussion? Okey-dokey. Roll call Mrs. Milk. Ms. Becker? Yes. Mrs. Ledoux? Yes. Mr. Estes? Yes. Mrs. Hill? Yes. Mr. Loback? Yes. Dr. Martelli? Yes. Dr. Bruno? Yes motion passes. Item four is the technology recommendation Wi-Fi access points and Hadley switch work. Motion. >> [laughter] >> Amy's anxious to get this one in. May have a motion to authorize the administration to engage in the following project funded from the 26-27 technology budget the purchase of network switches, firewall and access points from CDW at the cost of $277,402.40 with an anticipated e-rate reimbursement of $120,506.48 as outlined in the board report and the Hadley cabling project at the
099cost of $350,233 with an anticipated e-rate reimbursement of $187,616.50 by Chicago Voice and Data Authority as outlined in the board report. Motion. I need a second. Did you say motion? He said motion. >> Okay then second. Amy's got the second. Any further discussion on the tech purchases? All right, Mrs. Milk. Mr. Loback? Yes. Ms. Becker? Yes. Mrs. Hill? Yes. Mrs. Ledoux? Yes. Dr. Martelli? Yes. Mr. Estes? Yes. Dr. Bruno? Yes motion passes. Now Hadley world languages curriculum resource recommendation. Approve the adoption of the comprehensive classroom Somos and the comprehensive classroom Waitus at Hadley Junior High for both Spanish programs as outlined above to be funded from the teaching learning and accountability budget. Motion. Need a second. Second. There it is. Any discussion? All right, lots of curricular purchases this time around. Mrs. Ledoux? Yes. Mr.
100Estes? Yes. Mrs. Hill? Yes. Dr. Martelli? Yes. Ms. Becker? Yes. Mr. Loback? Yes. Dr. Bruno? Yes. And speaking of curricular Hadley health curriculum resource recommendation. May have a motion to approve the purchase of Teen Health by McGraw Hill as a curricular resource for health classes at Hadley Junior High for a total cost of $20,363 supported from the teaching learning and accountability budget as presented. Motion. Second. Any further discussion? Yeah please. It it is not just about this in general but you did motion there's a lot of curricular stuff out on the agenda. And I think it's that is an important thing to to note because it it's not just today. It's just what we've gone through with science, with social studies, recently with math, with with reading. That is a continually evolving of a curriculum
101that that's being taught here and it you know it it goes to show you know what goes into not just into the classroom but just that planning for the classroom and how that is continually being looked at and continue to make sure that we have the right tools in place. We have committees in place to do that. That this isn't just a static form of education that's being presented. That this is something that there's a lot of work that goes into not just reading and math but but to our specials, you know, to to every piece of programming that is taught in this district. There's a lot of work behind the scenes that goes into it and I think it's important to note that there are a lot of curricular things on the agenda because
102there's a lot of work going into curriculum. And lots of reviews that just happen to be on the same cycle and to Eric's point earlier, a lot of multi-year purchases that are all coming up up front. So, uh good to get to all of these. All right, then I think we are ready for roll call. Mr. Estes? Yes. Mrs. Ledell? Yes. Ms. Becker? Yes. Dr. Martelli? Yes. Mr. Loback? Yes. Mrs. Hill? Yes. Dr. Bruno? Yes, motion passes. Staying on the topic, K-8 art curriculum resource. May have a motion to approve the purchase of the Art of Education for the flex and pro licenses as the primary curriculum resource for K-8 art for $8,202 to be supported by the technology budget. Motion. Second. I think we've discussed curriculum pretty much fully. Mrs. Mock, roll call. Mrs.
103Ledell? Yes. Dr. Martelli? Yes. Mr. Loback? Yes. Mrs. Hill? Yes. Mr. Estes? Yes. Ms. Becker? Yes. Dr. Bruno? Yes. But one more on curriculum. Multi-tiered system of supports, MTSS, curriculum resource recommendation. Administration recommends that the board approve the following as additions to the district's MTSS intervention toolbox, Lexia Core 5 and Lexia Power at a cost of $27,800 for 3 years, supported by the technology budget, and Bridges math intervention for a cost of $12,280 supported by the teaching, learning, and accountability budget as outlined in the board report. Motion. Second. Here's that. Any further discussion? Yeah, I think this is and I have a note of this. So, this is something that wasn't addressed in the sped audit, but was mentioned in the in the sped report as to this is an area that the district needs
104to address. And this is just you know, the tip of of the work that's being done. So, it's a nice see that this is a start and that there's more to come after this. So, I think that it's great that this comes along honestly organically outside of that report. Um but it's a nice starting point to see where we're going. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mrs. Mock, roll call. Mrs. Hill? Yes. Mrs. Ledell? Yes. Mr. Estes? Yes. Ms. Dr. Martelli? Yes. >> Ms. Becker? Yes. Mr. Loback? Yes. Dr. Bruno? Yes, motion passes. All right, now on another topic. >> [laughter] >> Approve the consolidated district plan. May have a motion to approve the 2026-2027 consolidated district plan as presented. Motion. Second. Any further discussion? Yes, this is just consolidation for grants, not consolidating school districts. >>
105[laughter] >> Kids consolidate grant work. To get ahead of to get ahead of that. Mrs. Mock, roll call, please. Mr. Loback? Yes. Mrs. Hill? Yes. Mrs. Ledell? Yes. Ms. Becker? Dr. Martelli? Yes. Mr. Estes? Yes. Dr. Bruno? Yes. Motion passes. And finally, as we discussed earlier in the meeting, place the 2026 fiscal year tentative amended budget on display. May have a motion to approve the resolution notifying the public of the hearing scheduled on Monday, June 15th, 2026 for the 2025-2026 amended budget and the placement of the 2025-2026 tentative amended budget on public display as outlined in the board report. Motion. Second. Second. I think we had quite a bit of discussion earlier in the meeting on that. All right. Roll call, Mrs. Mock. Dr. Martelli? Yes. Mrs. Ledell? Yes. Ms. Becker? Yes. Mrs. Hill? Yes.
106Mr. Loback? Yes. Mr. Estes? Yes. Dr. Bruno? Yes, motion passes. Thank you. Awesome recommendations. Okay, the next item up is our board governance learning together. Father Ed. Um the first item that we're going to address is the affirmation of the Board of Education code of conduct. As you recall, uh Father Ted brought to folks' attention that we needed to resign because there was some changes. Uh and so, uh we're going to take care of that tonight. Uh per board policy 2:80 Board Member Oath and Conduct, a school board must affirm the adopted board member code of conduct. Um and the code includes the the following. Now, to avoid the discordant sound to everybody's ears of all seven of us trying to read this thing out loud at the same time, if the board would not
107mind, I'm going to read this on our behalf. And so, the only discordant sounds that people will hear will be my own voice >> [laughter] >> to to seven of us trying to harmonize like uh I don't know, the Bee Gees or something. All right, so here is what is in the board member code of conduct. As a member of my local school board, I will do my utmost to represent the public interest in education by adhering to the following standards and principles. I will represent all school district constituents honestly and equally and refuse to surrender my responsibilities to special interest or partisan groups. I will avoid any conflicts of interest or the appearance of impropriety which could result from my position and shall not use my board membership for personal gain or publicity. I
108will recognize that a board member has no legal authority as an individual and that decisions can be made only by a majority vote at a board meeting. I will take no private action that might compromise the board or administration and will respect the confidentiality of privileged information. I will abide by majority decisions of the board while retaining the right to seek changes in such decisions through ethical and constructive channels. I will engage in and respect the free expression of opinion by my fellow board members and will participate in board discussions in an open, honest, and respectful manner honoring differences of opinion or perspective. I will prepare for, attend, and actively participate in all school board meetings. I will be sufficiently informed about and prepared to act on the specific issues before the board and remain
109reasonably knowledgeable about local, state, national, and global education issues. I will respectfully listen to those who communicate with the board seeking to understand their views while recognizing my responsibility to represent the interest of the entire community. I will strive for a positive working relationship with the superintendent respecting the superintendent's authority to advise the board, implement board policy, and administer the district. I will model continuous learning and work to ensure good governance by taking advantage of board member development opportunities such as those sponsored by my state and national school board associations and encourage my fellow board members to do the same. And finally, I will strive to keep my board focused on its primary work of clarifying the district's purpose, direction, and goals, and monitoring district performance. And we will sign an original of this before
110we leave this evening and Mrs. Mock will provide that form. So, I thank Ted again for bringing this to our attention and certainly I'm gratified by all of my board colleagues' adherence and attention to these norms. It really does help us do our work effectively. Okay. I have a possibly silly question. Oh, you do? I do. Um I'm noticing that some of the names are formal names, Robert, Edward, and I don't know is are you a Chris? Are you a Katie? Are those your given names? Kathleen. Okay. Do we need to change that or is it okay to use the names they normally go by? I would think we could use the names that I'm good with Chris. >> board members are comfortable using and are known by. Unless you want to be Kathleen. I'm
111a Katie. Okay. Oh, there you go. Good for >> Quit calling me Kathleen. I I was actually surprised cuz so well, the last one I signed said Ted. So, I was surprised they got changed that way. >> I didn't know cuz I saw that it was Yeah. A little combination? Yeah, a combination. So, I didn't know if there was a way that it was supposed to >> Glad to hear putting forth your ascent. Well, you know, good for you to ask it now, Amy, so we don't have to come back at the next meeting to do it again. I'm not reading this thing again. Okay. I will [laughter] do that. I will change it before you Oh, there you go. If if you want. She I I'm only changing that. No, Ted's fine with I
112think >> I can go either way. That's fine. Okay, then we don't have to change a thing. Okay, so now that I've read it, I need a motion to affirm the adopted Glen Ellyn District 41 Board of Board of Education code of conduct. Motion. Second. All right. No discussion? No discussion. Very good. All in favor, say aye. Aye. All right, done. Now, one more item here. And I'm going to Is that a ropes course? I'm going to turn to Dr. McHugh for this one. On the ropes course. We're going to put those norms to the test right now because you just said you would participate in professional development with the state school board association. Let's prove it. I was hoping this was a ropes course. >> [laughter] >> No ropes course. So, we have held
113board retreats the last 2 years. I believe this past year we did starting right, a session of starting right, which is more on board governance. I think 2 years ago, my first year here, we talked about board norms and we talked about just general board governance. In looking at some of the offerings IASB has, one of the ones I'd like to put forward and I've talked about about this is setting district goals and direction from from the board view. Now at I think it was in the fall at the IASB dinner we were the grand winner of a free session with IASB. So we can do this free of charge and um >> [laughter] >> it's I think we wanted to have the discussion here at the board table. Number one, is this something you're
114interested in doing? Do we want to look at a different topic to cover? And then if so, when? Do we want to do it over the summer, at the beginning of the school year? Bob, what am I missing? Uh nothing at all. I think we're I think that's an intriguing question to address because it's a broad but specific question and I think that cuz I don't I guess that's just coming on the board, but even in meeting on the board for for a while, it I I think that [cough] that's a question that a lot of people can struggle with as in what's a proper goal and in looking at the goal how from a district perspective what's a good goal or is that you know, I think it's a good I think that's a
115a solid topic that would gain draw a lot of conversation and interest, I think, in my opinion. I agree. And coming prior to the new strategic plan I think this is Yeah, it would. So is the board good with Yeah. Now the challenge is going to be Ropes course? What? He gets a ropes course. But wrangling a date, is that something you want to try to do here or do we going to do something Nancy through some sort of Nancy did find some dates that IASB is available. Whether we try to do that here or another way. Um I do I do have some dates. The session's 3 hours, so we'll need half a day whether morning or afternoon. We could also do an evening, we could do a weekend. Fall time. Nancy, did did
116you want to float some dates people can look at their I've got them. Oh, well you got them all. She has me well prepared. >> Oh, she does. Yeah, she's good that way. Okay, what do you got? Well, before the start of school there are only three possible dates we could do. Thursday, July 23rd. And then two days in August, Thursday, August 13th and Friday, August 14th. It's getting very close to the start of school, which I believe is the next week. And I haven't even checked in with the cabinet team. They may have me booked for new teacher orientation or What were the dates before August? I'm sorry, John. July 23rd, Thursday, July 23rd and I wasn't sure with vacation plans in July if people will be around. Thursday, July 23rd. >> I'm good
117so far I'm not surprised but I'm good Julie, you're making a funny face. >> [laughter] >> I don't think that one works for me. Yeah, but July 23rd is not the greatest. >> good for Ted either. We could also look to start to do it after the start of school. This doesn't have to be done at any particular time, so we could look at some days in late August or even early September. Is there a preference? Well, before you jump do you want to look at the two August >> and the 14th? I can't do the 13th but I can do the 14th. I have nothing on those days, which is odd. We're talking about during the day. Is it a Friday that a Friday? 14th is a Saturday, 13th is a Friday. No, no,
118no. No, I have nothing. >> 13th is a Thursday, 14th is a Friday. Yeah, is that the Friday the last Friday before school, the last weekend? So you don't like that, huh? I don't like that cuz I could easily see my wife saying let's get one last trip. Okay, those days aren't going to work. Got it. Okay, so maybe we can't do this year. Well, we can do it here just not on those three specific. Or do we do it on a Saturday? >> want to try What was the other day? What about the last week of August? The 26th, 27th, 28th, or 29th, which is a Saturday. 26th is probably bad. The 25th, 27th, 28th, 29th. So you say 26th? >> So no to the 26th. How about the 27th, 28th, or 29th? Cuz
119Wednesday's a just No 27th. How about >> Anything but the 27th. Okay, 28th? I don't think any of those days are going to work unless it's the 29th. Saturday, the 29th? >> Yeah. Well, maybe we got a winner. Well, what's you know, okay. Yeah. Okay, going once. In the morning? Morning, [snorts] afternoon, what what's best for ever evening, Saturday night? Yeah. >> [laughter] >> Morning of Ted and Ben and the ropes course. Is it open bar? We should say tentatively So we'll look at a morning time. >> Look at a morning on the 29th. Like a 9 to noon. Okay. On my pad here. Okay. I like that date. August 29th is the date morning to sometime morning to noon, okay? I would say we put it in pencil and just make sure we're all
120good. All right, Nancy, maybe you'll send out a note just to get a confirmation when we go back and check other calendars. My calendars are not syncing right now, so Okay. All right, wonderful. Thank you. All right, we've got some >> [snorts] >> upcoming meetings. Um you know about the May 4th now what will be a special board meeting at 6:30 here at Hadley and then our regular board meeting on May 18th back here at Hadley. I make a motion to adjourn the closed session to confidentially discuss section 2C the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees. Motion. Anything else? Second. Any other Any other seconds? I did second. But before that, do we have anything else to discuss? Nope. Okay. We do not. Chris was the second. Okay. Dr. Loback. I'm
121excused. Chris [laughter] Loback. On my diploma Juris Doctor it says that. Miss I get that. Mrs. Hill. Yes. Miss Becker. Yes. Dr. Martell. Yes. Mr. Estes. Yes. Mrs. Ladau. Yes. Dr. Bruno. Yes. Dr. Jason Loback Esquire. >> Thank you. >> [laughter] >> The board will not be taking action after the closed session. Thank you all and good evening. >> [snorts]