Regular Board Meeting - 12/15/2025

001If you have that awkward silence, it builds anticipation >> until Bob asked someone to speak. Making sure everybody's up. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> All right. All right. We'll get our mics on then. Wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful. All right. The December 15, 2025 board of education meeting will now come to order. And Mr. Dr. Lobach, would you please lead us in a pledge? >> 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. >> Mrs. Sabalowski, roll call, please. [clears throat] >> Is that on? >> Miss King here. Miss Ligman >> here. >> Mr. Malay >> here. >> Miss Becker >> here. >> Mrs. Liddell >> here. Mr. Estus >> here. >> Dr. Martelli >>

002here. >> Mr. Lobach >> here. >> Mrs. Hill >> here. >> Dr. Bruno >> here. Uh, and if you will just indulge us. We have to take a really, really, really brief close session meeting. Don't go away. We've got some real surprises for you this evening. So, we're going to disappear here in a in a second and then we'll come back out uh and get this thing going. Okay. All right. May I have a motion to adjourn to close session to confidentially discuss section 2C1, the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee to determine its validity and section 2C10, the placement of individual students in special education programs and other matters relating to individual students. >> Motion. >> Second. >> Motion by

003Jason Lobach and second by Ted Estie. Any discussion on this? No. Roll call. Mrs. Mrs. Sabaloski. >> Mr. Estess. >> Yes. >> Miss Becker. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Leau. >> Yes. >> Dr. Martelli. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lobach. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hill. >> Yes. >> Dr. Bruno. >> Yes. You didn't leave. I heard the music. That's what kept you right. All right. It is 6:40 p.m. and the board is back in open session. Excuse me as I turn this page here. We're going to do a quick roll call. Make sure everybody came back. >> Miss King >> here. >> Miss Ligman >> here. >> Mr. Malay >> here. >> Miss Becker >> here. Mrs. Lau here. Mr. Estus >> here. >> Dr. Martelli >> here. >> Mr. Lobach >> here. >> Mrs. Hill >>

004here. Dr. Bruno >> here. The first thing up is for us to hold a brief public hearing on the 2025 levy. And that hearing will now come to order. The 2025 levy has been on file and conveniently available for public inspection beginning November 18th. To date, the district has not received any verbal or written comments on the 2025 levy. Pursuant to public act 102-0895. Attached to this evening's agenda is the district treasurer's report which illustrates the cash reserves balance of all funds held by the district related to its operational levy and any obligation secured by those funds. Members [snorts] of the public who wish to address the board on the budget should check in with Mrs. Moch or Mrs. Sabaloski. Um she will call your name when it is your turn to speak. Speakers are

005asked to maintain respectful decorum and limit comments to three minutes or less. Please note that all meetings including public comment are livereamed and recorded and become part of the official record. Is there anyone wishing to make public comment? Right. Okay. Very good. Then may I have a motion to close the public hearing? >> Motion. >> Jason motion. Second. >> Second. >> Ted. Uh all in favor say I. >> I. >> And the public hearing is now closed. Okay. Now we get to start. Yeah. and we start. You get the best stuff, man. Fantastic. Celebrations and recognitions. I get the students. >> Well, I would like to invite up our wonderful Hadley Orchestra and band team here. We've got Mr. Chris Cooper, Mrs. Samantha Tribbley, Mrs. Georgia Almus to come and tell us about these wonderful

006musicians we have. >> Thank you. Good evening. Um, the Illinois Music Education Association or ILMEA offers the opportunity to audition for an honor festival where talented middle school students come together for one day to rehearse and perform in a concert with a professional conductor and educator. IMA District 9 is made up of many school districts from our surrounding area, including DuPage, Kendall, Kaine, and parts of Cook and Will counties. Auditioning for IMEA is a large undertaking and takes dedication and hard work. We as their teachers are so proud of our students dedication and musicianship. And Dr. Jeff McHugh, our superintendent and our school board of education would like to recognize the students on their accomplishments and also present them with commemorative plaques. We would like to congratulate Hadley Junior High musicians who were selected to

007participate in this prestigious festival. Eighth grader Zachary Swenson on trumpet. [applause] Seventh grader Malita Oil on Viola. [applause] >> [applause] >> Seventh grader Isabella Kim Anviola. [applause] We have an eighth grade student named Ingred Eller Meyer that plays the cello that could not be with us this evening, but she also made it this year as well. So, let's congratulate her. [applause] And last, but not least, eighth grade uh student Emily Scarleski on violin. [applause] Thank you. These students were selected through the audition process and participated in the ILMA District 9 festival on Saturday, November 15th at West Aurora High School. It was an absolutely beautiful performance, I know, for both band and orchestra. And we're extremely proud of our young musicians that work so hard and so diligent to achieve these skills. Thank you board,

008the school board for uh inviting us and help and having us this evening. We really appreciate your support. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. [applause] >> So I I think we're going to get a little performance here, but before we do with would any of the students or all of the students one at a time would you like to come up say anything at all? Thank your parents. Oh Emily, there you go. Emily, please take a minute. Please >> take a moment. [laughter] >> For the past two years, I've been up here. I've been scared, nervous. But now, I stand up here tall. I'm confident in my abilities. I'm proud of what I've become and I'm hopeful for what I will become. Ma for me is such a good experience. I made a lot

009of new friends and it's just something to look forward to every year. And every year I think the same I thank the same two people. I thank Miss and I thank my mom. Without them I wouldn't be able to share this joy of music with other people and with myself. So for the third and final year, my name is Emily Scarleski. Thank you for having me. [laughter] >> Thank you Emily. It's wonderful. [applause] Anyone else before we hear some of your musical talent? No. Okay. Dad's looking at son. Son's looking at dad. Oh, okay. No, he isn't going. Dad. Oh, there he is. Oh, there we go. All right. [applause] >> [cough and clears throat] >> Well, last year I was in the IMA Jazz and that time I was pretty scared of cuz I'm

010with all these other kids and like it's a very professional thing and now that I'm in the professional professional thing, it's [laughter] even scarier. But I feel like I have a little more experience with it. And it's also just like really fun because I get to play this amazing music with all these other kids who are just as good as me. >> And I think like I think a lot of the the experience is also pretty good too. and a lot like being able to play right with a professional conductor is pretty cool I think. And I would also like to thank Mley and Mr. Cooper for being my pretty awesome teachers and just being able to be in the ILMA at all is awesome. So, my name is Zach Swenson. THANKS. [applause] OKAY. All

011right. Well, um, [clears throat] anyone else? Yes. No. Yeah. Okay. >> Wonderful. Zack, right? >> Yeah. >> You know, this opportunity, it's to all of you. You know, you had this opportunity to do professional things with professional people, right? and seventh grade, eighth grade, um, fast forward yourselves eight, nine years, getting out of college, looking for your job, you're sitting there interviewing with another professional. You can now look back when you were in junior high and say to yourself in that interview, been there, done that. I've sat with professionals doing professional things, knowing you belong with these professionals. music just isn't something really cool that you're bringing to us today. It's something that sets you up for the future. When you're saying things like that, those are those foundational blocks that that'll continue to build

012on not just in your in your music, but with everything you do going forward. So, congratulations to all of you. >> Wonderful. Wonderful. All right, Samantha, Chris, are you ready to go or are they ready to go? >> Yeah. Yeah. Let's play one more time. >> All right. Is this where we get to Is this where we get >> I think we have some professional percussionists who are going to help us out too, right? >> Professional. >> Well, well, I don't know how far I'd go with that. >> Professional perussions. [laughter] Do you want us to join them here? >> Oh, looks like we're in the band. Should [applause and cheering] we be together here? >> Ready everybody? Here we go. One, two, ready. And Heat. Heat. [music] >> [music] [bell] >> Oh my god.

013[applause] Awesome. >> Thank you. >> Great job, guys. >> Good job. >> Great job. Well, that checks one thing off my bucket list. Playing with professional musicians. [laughter] All right. Fantastic. Thank you very much. [applause] Okay, we have got a presentation uh this evening. Uh this is our special special education review findings and I'm going to again turn to Dr. McHugh and Molly to facilitate this presentation with our consultant. Thank you. >> Yes, I have the distinct pleasure of introducing Dr. Leanne Frost. She's going to share the report of um our special ed services as she sees them in district 41. And then afterward, if there are questions from the board, Dr. Frost can answer them. Um, Molly Victor, you'll help with that as well as myself in answering any questions you may have. >>

014Perfect. [gasps and sighs] Thank you for the opportunity to present a summary of the findings um, this evening. Since the formal report has already been distributed, I'm just going to give you the highlights, just a brief presentation first, and then I can answer any questions that you have afterwards. So, um, this presentation really talks about what I saw as strengths, challenges, and key recommendations. So the district requested a special education review to update information about special education services. My understanding is that the results of this review will be used so that the district can build upon the strengths and bring greater focus to the areas of challenge with the ultimate goal to improve the educational outcomes for students. The review focused on the following components. A survey and analysis of special education programming to ensure

015an appropriate continuum of services within schools. An assessment of service and instructional delivery options to ensure students are growing in their educational domains. An assessment of the staffing allocations for the district in each school to ensure all students educa educational needs can be met. And a survey and analysis of parental communication from the district to parents of students with special needs. >> [clears throat] >> To address the components of the review, the following activities occurred. Um there was data gathering from the Illinois report card district student management systems and district created artifacts including information on the website observations of special education service delivery options. Office hours for staff to discuss strengths and challenges with me and then also office hours for parents to discuss strengths and challenges with me. Within these activities, strengths and challenges

016were identified which resulted in providing accompanying solutions for the district to consider for implementation. So, beginning with strengths, the district has demonstrated many strengths including the identification and consistency of eligibility determination, meaning that the district maintains a consistent rate of students eligible for special education. The rate has been around 12% annually for the last four years. Additionally, the district maintains a high degree of consistency in student identification across all 14 disability categories over at least the last four years. The district also practices a high level of placing students in the least restrictive environment as measured by the state educational environment data. It should be noted that LRE is a foundational component of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which is found in part 300.114. Data show that the percentage of students served in the general

017education classroom 80% or more of the day, which is also known as indicator 5A in the state of Illinois, remains well above the state target. In fiscal year 25, the district rate was 72.3% while the state target was 53.5%. The district EE rate is declining at a rate slow rate slowly slightly over 4% in each of the last three years due to the opening of the continuum of service. Yet with this decline in the rate, the district still exceeds the state target. Additionally, the number of students in separate settings known as indicator 5C signifies the district is largely capable of providing internal special education programs for almost all its students. For fiscal year 25, the district outplaced approximately 22 students. When a district has a high LRE, it is important to see if students are

018demonstrating academic achievement um and proficiency to correlate with the least restrictive environment. Hence, the state assessment results were examined. It was found that students with IEPs in district 41 scored proficient at twice the statewide rate for students with IEPs in both ELA and math. To be more precise, for ELA, 32.2% 2% of students with IEPs in district 41 scored in the proficient range, while only 16% of students with IEPs statewide scored in the proficient range. For math, 26.5% of students with IEPs in district 41 scored in the proficient range, while only 12.3% of students with IEP statewide scored in the proficient range. This demonstrates that many students are showing that at least one factor, the educational environment, is appropriate to their learning. Another strength is staffing. The special education t teacher case load ranges are

019between 7.6 and 10.5 students for this fiscal year. This is a typical case load based upon my experience in which many districts utilize a case load average of 8 to 10 students for resource services. The district does not exceed the state regulation on class size as well. That is found in part 226.730 of the Illinois Administrative Code. In regards to related services, the district utilizes a needs-based formula taking into consideration IEP minutes, MTSS services, annual re-evaluations, and student behavioral needs to determine hiring and building allocation. With that formula, the amount of speech therapists and occupational therapists hired is appropriate and they are allocated equitably to each of the buildings. In regards to social workers, the district uses the same needs as based formula to determine hiring and building allocation. The current staffing of 10 full-time

020equivalents for social workers exceeds the calculated Illinois average, which is based on student enrollment, and it's one social worker for every 420 students. So that would produce 7.94 staff being accounted for in the district and the district again has 10. This also accounts for 75% of the professional organization recommendation. With psychologists, the current staffing is seven full-time equivalents. Again, exceeding what the state would be recommending. The state would recommend 3.82 based upon the state average. So again, you're exceeding on what the state is um seeing as an average for within the state of Illinois. And it's slightly over the 100% of what the professional organization recommendation is. So when you look at all the staffing pieces, the district is staffed appropriately. Additionally, based upon data housed in the Illinois report card, the district touts a

021low teacher turnover rate of over 90% retention since 2018. Okay. Oops. Sorry. Okay, continuing on, there is a relaxation of the full inclusion uh service delivery and the availability of alternate curriculum in which staff and parents have expressed gratitude. This change has created greater flexibility for servicing students IEPs. Additionally, alternate curriculums are targeting specific skill development, which teachers report allows them to teach students at their instructional levels. Staff noted that some students have flourished in their skills, are engaging in more appropriate behavior, and are seeking out their peers for social opportunities due to these changes. When it comes to resources, the district has many resources besides the appropriate staffing levels. Staff report the availability of materials, the opportunity for training, flexible seating, and the provision of augmentative and alternative communication devices. Parents also acknowledge the

022range of resources available in the district for students. In terms of effective best practices, I observed several effective best practices being used to instruct students. I do want to highlight the community-based or inschool-based coffee cart service as it was a great way to incorporate daily living, academic and social skills to address student needs. Moreover, I observed teachers providing many prompts and techniques to engage students and allow them to produce correct answers without the teachers providing answers for them. Additionally, teachers used a variety of forms for positive feedback. The preschool program was also highlighted as a strength by parents. Many parents indicated that it is a wonderful program though perhaps underutilized. Lastly, collaborative rate collaborative relationships was also noted as a strength by several parents and staff. In summary, the district demonstrates significant strengths in several

023key areas highlighted by a commitment to student success and compliance with state and federal mandates. Conclusively, the district has many elements of their special education program to celebrate. Challenges and recommendations for solutions were provided for four educational elements including planning for logistics, special education instruction, communication, and professional development. It is important to note that some of the solutions can address the challenges in more than one element. When looking at the planning and leg logistics element, three challenges were noted, each having corresponding recommendations for solutions. The first challenge of planning for logistics are data submissions. Data submissions must be entered timely and accurately to maximize compliance and operational efficiency. Inconsistent updates make datadriven decision-making and changing systems difficult. Therefore, the re recommendation to the district is to develop additional resources such as checklists to ensure staff

024are knowledgeable about data expectations. Physical space is an issue too as many spaces are small and distracting which hinders effective instruction and behavior management and impede on privacy and confidentiality. Specifically because of the small spaces, there is a lack of instructional technology such as projection boards available to special education teachers. Also, students do not have dedicated calm and quiet spaces for them to self-regulate sensorally or behaviorally. Sorry. And there is a lack of compliance with some Americans with Disabilities Act aspects thereby limiting student access and participation as well as safety being potentially impacted. Hence to address the physical space issues the district should conduct a compre comprehensive physical space study to assess and remediate the inadequacies. The master schedule also impacts student services as special education services are not prioritized. Thereby, the IEP may not

025be implemented as it was intended or written. When scheduling students with IEPs first, it maximizes student instructional time and staff efficiency as students can be grouped together according to their needs. So, the recommendation is being made to prioritize the scheduling of students with IEPs first to ensure legal compliance, to maximize instructional time, and to increase staff efficiency. The next element is special education instruction and it contains four areas of concern. The first being the MTSS process. Staff and parents report difficulties with the process including issues with the consistent application of eligibility assessment administration potentially service delivery the transition to special education domains and the dismissal process. As this review did not investigate the MTSS process, the district should consider an appraisal of the MTSS process in the near future. Besides concerns with the crossover from

026MTSS to special education eligibility, staff also expressed concern about the process for students in with EL needs to receive special education services, which again needs further investigation. Disproportionality data were also examined in which areas of caution were noted. As a result, the district is advised to proactively review their eligibility determination processes to ensure that bias nor discriminary discriminatory practices exist within the identification process. Oops. Sorry. In reviewing the trends of the state assessment and the district achievement gap between students with and without IEPs, it's noted that there's been a steady increase in that gap year after year over the last four years, indicating that many students are not achieving successfully and fall falling further behind their peers. When this occurs, it's appropriate to examine the continuum of service as well as curricula and staffing. However,

027in District 41's case, it does not appear that staffing allocations are a component to consider at this time. A continuum of services is a legal requirement as noted in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It's in part 300.115. It delineates the range of services available to students with IEPs in the district. In district 41's case, the continuum of services has a small range and does not incorporate the need for more intensive full-day programs and services. In order for students to learn, they should meaningfully participate in the appropriate learning environments and grow in their educational domains. Students will not grow in skills when they are only exposed to general education curriculum as opposed to receiving targeted skill instruction. building their skills to access general education curricula. As noted in the law, student services should not be

028determined by a specific service delivery model, but based upon student need and performance. Hence, a continuum of services needs to be created with key components that address services, individualized supports, flexibility, and collaboration. The continuum of services should result in a product that is accessible to staff and be used to guide the development of parts of the IEP document. In continuing to address the increasing achievement gap, a robust curriculum map of which the district has begun creating addressing all academics and needs should be developed. This map should include research and evidence-based programs and techniques to ensure meaningful educational growth for students receiving special education services. The map should also include with each program or technique a student profile, the skills addressed, service minutes to ensure fidelity, service delivery models and groupings, and progress monitoring tools. The

029map needs to encompass the diverse needs of all students, including students with EL needs. Staff training and coaching needs to be ongoing to ensure fidelity. Additionally, a mechanism for ongoing program level assessment to ensure designated programs and techniques are demonstrating demonstrating positive results needs to be created. Communication was another area of concern for parents. Issues of communication centered around not having access to guidance documents to understand district and school processes. Additionally, parents report inconsistent homeschool communication regarding student needs and difficulties with grade level transitions between buildings. Hence, a parent staff collaboration group to develop communication tools is being recommended. Staff reported communication issues associated with procedures and practices and their implementation across all buildings being consistent. Parents also noted the lack of consistency of interpretation and implementation between buildings as well. Hence, it is being

030recommended that for staff the district utilize a staff committee to develop guidance materials and post them on district technology. Additionally, staff meetings to discuss the procedures and practices needs to occur to assist in consistency. The implementation of establishing both a parent and staff committee is important so that there is clarity of where issues exist and the supports needed. Also, when committees are established, the members can act as ambassadors allowing them to assist others in the interpretation, understanding and implementation of the guidance materials. Professional development is the last area identified as a challenge. A range of professional development topics were created within the scope of the review of the district special education department for both staff and parents. The staff capacity building professional development spans across many areas of special education from the regulations to implementation

031of best practices. The trainings identified include participation by a myriad of staff from general educators to special services providers and includes administration for parents. Limited trainings were identified but were associated closely with parent rights, district procedures and processes and school home connections. As only a limited number of parents participated in office hours, the district is highly encouraged to reach out to parents prior to any planning. In summary, the review found several key uh strengths in how special education is being administer administered in the district. However, greater attention needs to be provided to the areas impacting student growth, such as developing an expanded continuum of services and a curriculum map, allocating appropriate learning environments and prioritizing scheduling for students with IEPs, and having training for both parents and staff. Additionally, greater attention needs to be given

032to trending and using data to make informed datadriven decision-making and properly assessing systems and processes. Lastly, communication systems and tools need to be created so that the district is more transparent regarding student services and staff expectations are clear. Addressing the identified needs will enhance a district student centered focus and lead directly to improved educational outcomes for students with IEPs. Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay, then we're going to open this up >> and allow the board to ask any questions that they have that we had. We have had an opportunity to raise some questions that we submitted to the district. So, I think the response could come from the district uh or from uh our consultant. Okay. So, let me open. Jason, you have a question. >> A comment comment question comment. >> First off,

033I would thank you for your part. I appreciate I appreciate I want to thank Jeff also Dr. Q and this is the third special education review audit whatever word you want to do since I believe 2017 um each report we've received since then the scope um uh the scope the wrong words but you could see a progression in the special education service being pro provided by the district and you can see the growth um and I think that's something that that that we should know Um when I when I saw the report and I read it, I I said I wasn't surprised having a kid with I have a couple kids with IEPs in the district. Um specifically one with with Down syndrome but thus greater um educational needs. Um if you were to say

034what challenges is my child facing this year in district 41 regarding his education, you could almost make a checklist. So I wasn't really surprised. Um, and I think that's that's a good thing. I think in saying that, I think it's important to note that in the in the work that you did, at least from my individual experience, um, you hit what I see as a parent, um, needs attention. And so I, so I I was glad to see that. Um, one question that I asked that that I wanted to ask was specifically um, I was having a hard time recon reconciling um, some of your recommendations with your comments as to staffing. Um, regardless, I'm not I'm not here to say staffing is an issue or not an issue. Um but what you're finding was

035that special education staffing and putting aside the related services u that special education staffing v VR special education teachers was not an issue. Um and in reading it to me it sounded premature to say that um in light of your recommendation of focusing a master schedule, continuation of services um and you know expansion of curriculum and what have you. Um because what I what I don't want to see and so correct me if I'm wrong is to say great our staffing's good so we can look at expanding our you know the services being provided. Um we can look at our schedule mapping now it's going to point out some deficiency we may have or may need to focus somebody. How do you how do you do that work without with the pre-ordained notion that staffing

036levels are right? >> So staffing levels are correct for what you have as your continuum of service. Now, >> okay, >> if you expand your continuum of services, so if you have more intensive full day programs for students, you're going to see that the 8 to 10 students for a resource teacher are not going to be adequate for an instructional teacher or a specialized program teacher. So, in the report, it does talk about if the continuum of services expands, you may have to look reook at the staffing needs. And but I mean and that I agree with. I also I want to look at both sides of the coin. So if you're going to look at a more instructionalized um need for your staff and an expanded curriculum or expanded continuum services, if you look

037at, you know, a more expansive curriculum um that needs more um what's a D word I'm looking for? I just blanking out of my head. Um, but where you need to make changes to, adaptations, what have you. I'm blanking on the word that I that I want to use. Yeah, differentiation. Thank you. I knew you started with a D. >> Um, >> I I see that as also a need where that in doing so and looking at differentiating your instruction, which would more likely come along with looking at your curriculum, whether that be science, social studies, where that could be something that staffing may be a factor as well. It could be. Um, one of the things that I was really focusing on too was looking at some of our students who have more intensive

038needs and there are not curriculum programs for them. So, you have students who have um uh concerns with uh more behavior, have more uh characteristics of autism, but there is no curriculum that is being prepared for them at this time. So, >> let me just ask that. I was >> Yeah, I just want So, could you kind of expand further on that because >> Sure. >> I don't want to say anything without hitting a nerve because that kind of it'll hit a nerve. So, expand on that. >> Sure. So, when you do a curriculum map, one of the things that you're looking for is you're looking to make sure that it crosses over for all students. Okay. Some students you can take the general education curriculum and adapt that. Some students need more intensive skill

039development. So you're looking at more of those um uh Orton Gillingham based programs. You're looking at um there are very u specific programs for students with autism. One of them being u called Teach Town. Um I'm kind of a I like that program a lot. >> Yeah. No, I'm familiar with some of those. Yeah. And so those are things that are not being incorporated into your curriculum map right now. And when you incorporate those and you provide those in the appropriate setting, you will probably see that you're going to need um not have that 8 to 10 students in that grouping. You're going to want more probably to a five to seven number of students within that grouping. So that could change your staffing based upon the development of that continuum of services. They all

040play together. >> Okay. And one last question then I'll move on is that one thing I didn't see mentioned and I could have just missed it and that I when you're talking I didn't see any mention of our PAR educators. Is that something that I missed or is that something that you addressed or or you know do you >> parents parents saw that as a strength but I did list it in the professional development that para educators needed to have some additional training. >> All right. Very good. Thank you, Jay. Yes. How about uh right side of the board? Amy, >> I' I've got a couple. >> Thank you. Um, I was wondering as I was reading that our district uh for students in the classroom for 80% or more of the time in other

041districts that you've seen, you know, a higher I know we said um that we kind of relaxed the full inclusion and so what I'm wondering is um are the students who are in there 80% or more of the time since we're so much higher than the state. Um I don't know if it's a recommendation or baseline or but um does that mean those students are keeping up in class and that the 80% is working well for them or does it mean maybe they need additional supports that they're not getting? So with the 80% you have many students who are achieving in the proficient range on the state assessment but you have many students who are not and you can actually see in the achievement gap data. So the higher the number in the achievement gap

042the larger the spread is between students with IEPs and without IEPs. So you can see your achievement gap is increasing over the last four years. So the I students with IEPs and students without IEPs that gap is increasing. So students without IEPs are excelling more than students that have the IEPs. And so you want to close that gap. And that's why we go back to looking at educational environment because the current educational environment is not working for many of those students just like the curriculum is not working for many of those students. When students are in general education um classrooms and they're there for exposure purposes, then they're not getting that targeted skill instruction. Once students get targeted skill instruction and they are mastering that, then you can see them accessing general education curriculum. But

043if they're only in there for exposure purposes, generally they do not have the skills then to access the curriculum. So you do have to look at that because you do have some students who are in the general ed curriculum who are accessing that. Um but you do have some students who are in the general education classroom that it's not me they're not meaningfully participating in them. Um, I did have teachers tell me that, you know, there are some students that they have to go to the science and social studies and it's an overwhelming experience for them and they can't stay in there for the whole period and they come out frequently. And so um because they they just can't handle the stimuli, they can't handle the um they get overwhelmed within that environment. And so

044we have to recognize that and be able to make sure that we're balancing that for students. One of the things that you did see from the teachers is that they were saying with the relaxation of the full inclusion they were and with the alternate curriculums that they were seeing that students were engaging more and that they were producing better and that they were you know basically um in in a better situation where they could access their peers as well. So, you know, you want to find that balance where you do have that instructional time with students that that instructional um uh teaching with students. If students are at a frustrational level, it they're not able to access what the instruction is that's being given to them. It's going to be overwhelming for them. >> Can

045I push back on that? >> Can I push back on you on that? >> Sure. >> Okay. Um >> and then I'll push back. >> Great. Thank you. Um, one of my main issues with that is that and I and you said specifically science and social studies. Um, and I'm going to assume that you're talking about your K through five science and social studies there. Is that fair to say? >> No, I just I want to make sure that we're talking the same conversation here. Okay. Um, and I say that and I I made that diff that difference because um, in our six to eight, there's more of a co-eing model here where you have co-teers in a science classroom, co-teers in a social science classroom that are so you have multiple um, certified teachers

046in a classroom that are better able to differentiate in that learning environment. Um, where a K5 that that's not necessarily the same. Um in our math and our literacy curriculum we have a curricula that uh provide for of a differentiated instruction in the curriculum that we have. My understanding could be wrong the science and social studies curriculum that we are using now does not have those same availability to our teachers. Is that correct? >> I did not look at uh the general education curriculum. And so I I I bring that up to say it's easy to say that kids with IEPs aren't meaningfully participating in a class that they may not be able to absorb the material. But if the material isn't presented in a way that allows them to absorb it or allows the

047teacher to adequately assess what the student is absorbing, it makes it difficult for me to take your finding that say, "Hey, these kids just might not be excelling." When we don't have a curriculum that allows kids to be properly assessed, it makes it diff relaxing inclusion is wonderful. However, there's also, you know, looking at a least restrictive environment and seeing where does a kid thrive and I'll look at my child for as an example to say some of his issues are coming when it comes to science and social studies. when you have conversations with staff and this again this is an individual conversation is that the same level the same options in our curricula to differentiate the instru to differentiate that assessment to actually understand what a a student is actually taking away from um

048the instruction isn't there where in the literacy instead of writing something out you may have writing prompts you may have uh multiple choices that are read and that you can say, "Yep, we've read this story and this is the point. You can tell me this, what have you." But when you have a science curriculum that doesn't have those same things for them, and then you put a teacher in a situation where the teacher has to break down that curriculum to differentiate to students that may or may not be able to comprehend that curriculum when brought to their level. and then to make the statement that well these children aren't really meaningfully participate. We I don't what I don't hear in this is the why aren't they meaningfully participating. >> So >> is it the student

049is the curriculum because that's a but but that's a big big statement to make. I I want to just if I could just just pause because you put a lot on the table and I wanted to give Leanne a chance to comment. But Molly, if you had any insight as you're listening or clarity, I want to make sure you also can. You just have a lot on on the table here and I didn't want it to go on too long before Leanne get a chance to respond. >> Okay. So, what I'm recommending with a continuum of services is that it get expanded. I'm not saying that if inclusion is working for a child that you take that away from them. What I'm saying is that if you have students who have higher needs, and I

050did see students who had higher needs, you have to program for them, too. You can't expect them to go into an inclusionary model where they can't stay that they can't participate, where they're overwhelmed. you have to find another um environment for them to be able to be successful in and gain those skills so that they can go back at some point to possibly engage within the general education curriculum. So, I guess my question is, do we have a method in place to determine why a student may not be able to meaningfully participate? Because because I'm hearing you say we don't have the cool. No, no, but but but >> I don't think Le can answer the question. >> But that's fair to say that though. >> I think Molly maybe can respond to that. Lean,

051I don't think you're in a position. >> But I think as part of the assessment, it's important to know whether or not the district has the things in place to do that. >> Yeah. And this is all important to interrogate where we go next. But Molly, do you want to offer a response to brother Jay here? >> Yeah. Jason, will you just repeat that one more time so I make sure I get exactly what you're looking for? >> Yeah. So her statement was we have kids that aren't able to meaningfully participate in the general education classroom. And I'm sure that is the case in some situations. My question is given the fact that you know mention of we don't have proper you know um STEM spaces we don't have you know we have kids showing

052behavior issues we have kids not getting curriculum and you know having behavior issues because of these things do we have the proper methods in place to actually understand the why as to why some students may not be meaningfully participating because that's what I'm seeing these things but I don't what what I'm missing is the, you know, we have X and we have Z. How are we getting there? And that's where I'm kind of, that's where my push back, my push back isn't the what Z is that I think the thing to me when I think about this is what's best for kids, right? And so in looking at that, do we have those processes available to us given some of the deficiencies that have been identified which I think are are valid um to make

053statements that kids aren't able to meaningfully participate. >> Molly, is that clear to you? >> Yes. So I think at the heart of all of this when we talk about students with IEPs is an individualized plan for each one of them. Right. So to answer your question, do we have a tool to say why? We don't have one tool, right? >> Proper tools. Yeah, >> we have lots of tools, right? We have individualized evaluations for students that tell us about their achievement level, their behavioral needs, their social emotional access, all of those different pieces that as an IEP team, we make decisions globally, as a school, as a district. Do we need more tools? That's for us to explore based on what Dr. Frost has has shared with us in this report. >> And I

054think that's just what my push back is because to me I think she you've identified some real issues, you know, lack of cool down spaces, you know, behavior um issues with kids storming out of classrooms because they they they're not understanding the curriculum. Um you know, I I I think those are all valid, but until you get to a why, I I think it's difficult to make a statement that kids aren't able to meaningfully participate. And [clears throat] I I that's a problem that I have >> on the record. Duly noted, counselor. Uh and Amy, we're going to come back to you if you don't mind, but Chris, you wanted >> All I was going to say, I think the key word that Leanne shared was balance. And that's I think the difficult piece, not

055just for our students with IEPs, but for any of our students. >> Um you know, I was thrilled to see in the report that we've got 72% of our students that are in the gened classroom 80% of the time or more. I think that's a wonderful thing. We want that comes down to expectations and that comes down to mindset for our kids and for our staff members. So to have that high percentage of of our special ed students in the gened setting for 80% or more of the time, I think is a good thing. But if that balance is wrong and we don't have the right continuum of services, then we have to look at it. But when I look at how our students with IEPs are performing relative to the state, we're twice as

056high in terms of the achievement. And so I think some of what we are doing programmatically must be working here. And and so those were the two points that I wanted to bring out was the percentage of students that we've got participating in the gened setting and the overall achievement I thought was fantastic. I mean twice as two times higher in ELA and more it was two and a half times higher in math. So I think those are are great things to you. Jeff, I guess my concern is is that we're 5% lower than the rest of the state when it comes to identifying students for special needs. And it seems like there was some pieces in your report around eligibility being a stressor for parents and staff. And if we're already stressed for space

057and that number starts to increase at all, that stressor gets amplified now. >> The space >> stressor. So I don't know what that means for us as a board, but that is something that I see a step or two down the road that becomes concerning. >> Let me then come back to Amy. I hope you don't mind the digression. I was hopeful that this would help you get >> what Dr. Martelli is saying really also helped me understand because my background is not education. >> Um, but I did have a couple more questions. Okay, >> you're up. >> Um, I noticed in one of the things I took away from the report was the master schedule and coming up with a good master schedule. And I'm wondering um what do like if if you've done

058a report for a district and found like oh this district like they've really got their master schedule together and that's like one of their really big strengths. What do they do to make that a strength? So, um, the before I retired, I was at Park Ridge and so I had worked with our principles in working on that master schedule for students with IEPs first and then planning the rest of the schedule. Um, when I do audits, I do see master schedule being uh prepared first for gened and then students with IEPs are then placed in the holes. And so that doesn't necessarily work. And so in many cases what you'll see and one of the cases that I saw here was I saw a teacher with three students but each student doing something different. I

059she was teaching Wilson to one student. Another student was working on social studies and another student was working on site words. That's a lot in one period. But if you look at what the needs are of the students first, the students with the IEPs, and then you can figure out how to group them and then how to prepare that, it will work better and it be more efficient for your staff. By the same token, there are some times where teachers are only working with one student and so is that really the most effective use of their time too? Is there a possibility of grouping them with another student so that you compare them together? So again, it works on both ways. >> Okay. And then my understanding from the report, and this one's just a

060yes or no, is [cough] it sounded like when the when putting together a master schedule where IEP students are considered first, it does not negatively affect anybody else. If anything, it is better because your teachers are their resources are better allocated. >> Again, I'm going to go back to the word of balance. Um but yes, >> okay, >> you know, it is a process. It's not >> it it's not like, oh, this is what we have. This is how we're going to do it and it's easy to do. It is a work of it is work. >> Yeah. [laughter] None of it sounded easy. >> Yeah. And then my last question was on the communication and I was just wondering if you knew of any districts that may utilize an app for that. I know

061apps have come up in a few different things. >> So, I mean, not necessarily apps as opposed to systems like Clever, Seesaw, those kinds of things. Um, I did notice um when I talked with some uh parents from I think Hadley Hadley uses an app, >> Steve. >> Yes. >> Huh? >> A communication app. >> Yeah. Uh, my talking points. >> Okay. >> That mean does that ring a bell? >> I think so. >> Yeah. >> Would you just repeat what Steve said? >> Steve said that they use an app called My Talking Points. >> Thank you. >> Good. Amy. All right. Good. >> Thank you. Thank you. Let me swing over here. >> Okay, >> Miss Liddal. >> Um, thank you, Dr. Frost. When I first opened the report, I it was so thorough.

062So, thank you for all the work you did and talking with staff and parents. Um, we really appreciate it. And I'm a newer board member, so this is the first special ed review that I've been part of. I know we've done two others the past couple of years. Um, and one thing, you know, since getting to know Jeff and working closer with you, one thing Jeff has said, and maybe Jeff and Molly, this question is more for you guys. Um, but the report is so detailed and so thorough and there's so much information. And Jeff, you have said like, I've heard about special education from parents over and over. So, I think I'm wondering more like, well, now we have all this information. Where do we go next? And and what do we do? Because

063it's the administration who will be, you know, working on and implementing changes and, you know, will support. Um, but what what's next, I guess, and what can parents and the community expect? >> Okay, I'll start and then Molly, you can jump in and fix anything I don't say. Well, this reminds me, as with instructional technology, it's so big. We're not going to make one change and all of a sudden all of our challenges in in special education are fixed. This is going to be a years'sl long continual improvement. I think this report for me, kind of like you, Jay, there weren't a lot of things that jumped out as a surprise to me. Uh, the space scares the heck out of me because I was worried about that just in general. But just like you,

064Chris, that amplifies that for me. I think it's a matter of we got this report, I think was it last week that we look through it. So, our next steps are to do just that. We need to digest this. We need to talk to it. Won't just be Mie and I sitting in the room making decisions. We're going to run it through a lot of different people about where we go, how we do it. I do foresee us moving the ball down the field in each of these areas. Some will be faster than others. I mean, already I see some of our our parents in the crowd here. Our communication with parents is already something we know that's something that can happen sooner rather than later versus the spaces the space issue is much bigger.

065So, we're going to look to tackle these things and it'll be ongoing. We won't be done by the end of this year. In fact, we won't ever be done. I think we'll constantly try to improve. Um, but that achievement gap right there is something that um, it's massive. We have a huge So, as as well as our students are doing, I I think our students in general are are doing better. So, our students with IEPs, we have to accelerate their progress even more to keep up, and we want to close that gap. So, there's a lot of work to be done. I I think it's a lot of good work already and now we just need to prioritize where we go next to get even better. What would you add to that? >> Um I

066think the one thing I would add is that as Dr. Frost said, so many of these areas overlap, right? So as we move the needle on one, we'll see other things kind of coming along with it. Um and so Jeff is right. We won't do anything overnight. We won't do anything by the end of the year, but we will make little changes that I think I hope everyone will see the impact of that on our our student growth. [snorts] >> We won't do anything by the end of 2025. >> Yes, >> we'll be doing things in 2026. [laughter] >> Thank you for clarifying. >> Indeed. >> I just want to know just really quick. Oh, are you done? Oh, the only other one I I did think I liked hearing both parents and staff saying

067that they were feeling the positives of relaxing um some of the inclusion or the new curriculum. And I think Molly, when we were emailing earlier today, you said that started in 2324. Was that a result of one of the other studies that were done or can you just speak to the changes a little bit? Yeah, it was not a result of one of the other studies. The last study was done in 2020. Um I I can pinpoint it back to the 2324 school year. That was when I took over the student services department. I had the uh I was able to be here for a year right before that in a in a different role. And so, um, I used what I learned in that year to say we might not be hitting all of

068the different pieces that every student needs. And so, what would happen if we made some changes? Um, and that's when we started to roll out some of the changes that Dr. Frost talked about in her report. >> Got it. No, no, thank you again. It was really very thorough report. Appreciate your responses. >> Do you have something quick? >> I I just wanted to know, well, my push back has meant no way to diminish the work that you've done. I I'm always going to be critical. But I'm always going to push back and I think it's important to give a grain of salt so you understand my grain of salt. I'm always one that's going to push for more inclusivity in education. I to in my personal opinion that that it's important that kids are

069educated in the same manner of the world are going to live in. I think in looking at it at your presentation and it is embodied in your report as well, but just I think my goal probably the same as what you would say is that that meaningful participation in learning environment is is finding that way for all kids to meaning participate in the proper learning environment. >> Yep. >> And and and that is the basis of my question is is that is that how do we determine >> the best way for kids to meaning meaningfully participate and that's really my why. I appreciate the clarification, Jay. Always. Let me come over here and see if Julie and Ted have any thing that they wanted to Yeah. Um then, uh Dr. Frost, can I ask you

070on page 16 when you get into the technological support >> and you mentioned the district does maintain an inter and actually maybe Molly or Jeff are going to answer this question for me when I think about it now. U the internal website and then there is a share drive. You then list a number of items that you would recommend be on that share drive. >> Are you acknowledging that they're not on the share drive? They are in the share. Are you just saying these are the things that should be there, but you didn't look for say or or are these there or not there, Molly? >> I think that's a yes and a no. [laughter] >> That's what I took too. >> Yeah. Um, so many of these things that Dr. Frost lists out are

071on there. >> Okay. >> Do they need to be expanded upon? Yes. Do staff need to be reminded where to find these documents and how to use these documents? Yes. So, I see them all as as growth for us, right? We have the, you know, the the guidelines. We have the foundation for it. We need to grow. We need to make the the documents more accessible and we want staff to use them more regularly. >> Okay. Yeah. Great. Thank you. Then I have just one last question. Um, and it's really more about the work that you do, Dr. Frost, and what you see from other school districts. As you looked at our strengths and challenges, and I and I think you can certainly hear why we're uh we're we're pleased with successes, there is a

072keen commitment to addressing the the any challenges that you noticed uh that you recognize. When you look at other districts and you look at our review, how does this fit within the other sorts of concerns or challenges? Are they are we unique? Are we one of a kind? Uh are we well within the mean in terms of what school districts are >> we the best state, Bob? >> Oh, we're above. >> You're above. >> Oh, good. [laughter] Okay. >> So, you guys have a lot of great strengths within the district. Um, and the tools and the formulas that you currently utilize are really good. They just need to be expanded. Um, they need to incorporate some more information. Um, I have worked with some districts that um, I could not say that it's a correctable

073uh, issue. Um, but I would not say that here. These things are certainly enhancements that you will see um students being able to utilize and then grow in their skills and you'll see the results. >> Very good. Well, that's a good note to close on. I I think >> 2017, remember Bob, it said a need for systemic change. >> Oh, yeah. >> Now, it says there's work to do to be the best damn district at the state. >> I didn't quite see that in here, but I'll read between the lines. I [laughter] know that Dr. Fost said that implicitly. Uh before we close then, Molly, Jeff, any sort of final thoughts uh on the review or the commentary here? >> Well, thank you, Leanne. Thank you for all of your work. Thank you Molly for

074all of your support and lining up for all the parents and staff who came out and weighed in and we've got work to do. So, we will be back in front of you um very soon. Katie, to your followup about where do we go next, but Leanne, thank you again. This was months and months of work and we appreciate that. >> Dr. Frost, thank you so much and nice holiday for you. >> Happy holidays, everyone. >> Here we go. Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. Uh, then we'll move on to public participation. Members of the public who wish to address the board should complete a green form and submitted to Mrs. Sabaloski and the board. We're calling you the board recording secretary. Well, you guess you are. Tonight, speakers are asked to maintain respectful

075decorum and limit their comments to three minutes or less. We'll have the uh clock on the wall and I think it's going to sing a song or there'll be a note or two when you get to the three minutes. Please note um uh I speakers are asked to maintain respectful decorum and limit their comments of course to 3 minutes or less. Please note that all meetings including public comment are livereamed and recorded and become part of the official record. Mrs. Sabaloski, is there anyone who wishes to make public comment this evening? >> Helen Basaki. >> Thank you very much. Helen, welcome. I I attended [clears throat] one of the special education review meetings with the consultant. Um, as stated, what I came to find in our discussion is that this review process does not include

076MTSS. I know that's part of uh the recommendation to further investigate, but since you are not obligated to use any of these recommendations, I'm here to vehemently encourage and ask you all to keep in mind the inextricable bond between MTSS and special education. Also, when it comes to staffing, there aren't um specially trained literacy coaches in every building um preferably trained in Orton Gillingham. So, I think there will be a future staffing issue, especially if access is expanded. Not every child comes into D41 with an IEP. you have a whole spectrum where maybe they graduated from their preschool therapies by a hair and kind of just missed the mark of securing an IEP. I have a seven-year-old in that position. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up down the road needing an IEP or

07750 or four were just entering the waters of that. We have my older son that in district 41's eyes in their very inflexible data parameters never met the mark um for a learning disability in their point of view, but anyone with eyes could see that there was some form of dyslexia, disgraphia going on there. and still is. There are all sorts of kids that are going to fly under the radar, so to speak, or fall through the cracks. It will always be an imperfect system, and that's to be expected. It's the inflexibility and the absurdly drawn out process, as well as terrible communication and transparency that are the problems here. Um, a reformed MTSS system would help these children as they're on their journey towards perhaps eventually securing a 504 plan or IEP. There are

078children who have learning disabilities who won't ever qualify. For example, a dyslexia diagnosis does not guarantee you a 504 IEP plan. Disgraphia doesn't at all. And parents are actively discouraged to not waste their money on neuroscience testing because the district does not have to accept that fight that finding that is said explicitly in domain meetings. A reformed MTSS process would aid students if they never qualify or don't qualify. um uh if you have a 504 IEP, you're guaranteed legal protection from the state of Illinois if it were to come to that. There all the rest of us have is MTSS. It's a district- created policy that you can make as inclusive or exclusive as you want. But these are still potential special education kids that need that safety net and of course other children in

079general education as well. But we have to ensure rapid aid and identification in whatever ways we can as parents and students that are on this journey. I think some of parents most major complaints are the length of time it takes to be considered eligible if you ever are >> kind of no matter where on the spectrum you fall and even months or a year of waiting for some kind of intervention is detrimental. Let alone the families that had to wait years like me. Just imagine that your child is having difficulty reading, writing, spelling in first grade and that you despite your best efforts can't get anyone to do anything about it, even the most basic tier 2 intervention. That's what happens to many parents. I hope that you take all of the consultant suggestions and

080even hire her on, but that you also investigate and wrap the MTSS system into this as well so that there is a seamless connection and transition for all children no matter where they fall on the spectrum as spectrum of need. Um, on a definitely related but separate note, my kind of my journey through all this as you know has been long and arduous. >> Helen, can you one thing that I know our children have been taught are to stand up for what is right, which I have consistently done and persistently done. However, I've been met with punishment instead of aid. Um, last year I received a letter that I've been asking is formally retractive retracted cutting off communication with me on the broad topic of literacy. And I once again am asking that you amend

081or retract that letter. Um, because I've only been standing up for what is right. I haven't done anything disrespectful to earn that treatment. Um, >> I I appreciate that you >> I look forward to hearing how we resolve this matter and the changes we're going to make to the MTSS and special education programs and that the letter that was sent to me last year is retracted and amended. Thank you. >> Thank you for your time, Helen. Thank you. >> Anyone else, Mrs. Sabalowski? No one else. All right, then we will move on to reports and we're going to lead off with our superintendence report. Thank you. I don't mind if you guys drive for me from the back. >> There we go. Thank you. Okay, there are five I think five topics tonight. If we

082can flip over to the next slide that we'll go through tonight. And the first one is going to be Thank you. kindergarten pre-registration. So, in the month of November, we repeated the kindergarten pre-registration process from last year. We had over 300 respondents last year, which was, I think, probably a record high for getting those types of numbers. We were thrilled that we had over 260 this year. The numbers are pretty much exactly the same as they were for this current year. 70% of parents saying for next year they're going to choose full day and the other 30% for half day. So, extremely similar. Now, I want to remind you for those of you who have a kindergartener coming in next year, you're halfway there. So, you pre-registered. We'll be able to make some preliminary decisions

083made based on this data, but registration will begin in January. Miss Mo, it is January, correct? In January. And that officially registers your child and that's where we'll be able to lock that in. But thank you to everybody who pre-registered. It's very helpful for us as we talk about space and staffing and everything else. Instructional technology. Boy, there's been a lot of conversation since our November 3rd committee, the whole meeting and even our our November board meeting. There are going to be some quick changes, some medium speed changes, and some longer changes. The quickest was kindergarten. So, one of the things we heard is our half-day kindergarten students were bringing home Chromebooks and our because at the kindergarten center there are chargers there, those students did not have to bring Chromebooks home and neither did

084our dual students. our fine tech department and our buildings and grounds department made it happen to have chargers in those half-day kindergarten classrooms. And as of last Monday, no kindergarten Chromebooks are going home. Um, you can you can all hold your applause. I know that people at home are clapping if they have a kindergartener. Grades six through eight Chromebooks will continue to go home, but one of the big conversation points out of that committee, the whole meeting is what about grades one through five? And if you recall from the survey data, students, staff, and parents all said K2 shouldn't go home. But we're wondering, is that just K2? What about three, four, and five? So, right now, we're engaging staff in getting their opinion because that was one of the voices we didn't hear as

085much of at the committee, the whole meeting due to parent teacher conferences. We're engaging staff about that. And another one of those topics is utilizing Chromebooks at recess and lunch and for rewards. Those are two big topics that we are talking to staff about about what we might want to do knowing that screen time is a concern not only for parents um but also for the educators as well. So you will be hearing more from me at next month's board meeting on this. Couple big safety conversations have been happening. If you recall back in boy the September board meeting uh when the weather was nice and everybody was on ebikes and scooters there were a lot of concerns about safety um particularly at Hadley a little bit at the elementaryaries and we had a big

086meeting with the police with 87 with 89 district 89 with the park district with the library with our community partners with the village on what do we do about ebikes and it really came back down to that ordinance so that group of people. We're going to be looking at that ordinance again to see is this ordinance still working? And then there will be some implications for us as a school district based on that because I know we have not only parents who are concerned um we have people in this room that are concerned especially um around Hadley with there have been there have been accidents frankly that have happened and there have been too many near misses that when it comes to safety um it it really is a big issue. So that conversation just

087took place last week. There will be more to come in the coming months and I do anticipate seeing some changes with ebikes and scooters at least in district 41 if not broader as we get into the spring. Also, last week at the board meeting, we had a few parents come and talk about the cross uh the the intersection of Bloomingdale and Geneva. I also talked to the police about that. Since that board meeting, we have had an increased police presence at that intersection. The lights are working. So, those signal lights, at least I've been told. You'll have to let me know if the times are off. What >> time are they supposed to turn on in the afternoon? >> They're supposed to come on by 8:00 a.m., I believe. >> What about the afternoon? >>

088At least until after the students at Church Hill. It should cover that whole time. >> Okay. I know they're not on by 3:05. >> Oh, starting on at 3:05. >> Yeah. >> I don't know what time they're supposed to start at the Are they supposed to start at 3:15? >> I thought it was 3:15, but let me revisit that and and see what that is. Um, and that was through the through the county. And this whole intersection is very complicated because in talking to the police, I talked to the police about a cross getting a crossing guard there. And they said again, we have a crossing guard down the road and that that should meet the needs of of our families. If somebody is on the north side of that, that would be a busing

089family because it's a hazardous crossing. Secondly, um, I talked about getting some signage there and that is something that Glenn Allen can't do. That's got to be the county. And also, can we expand that to make it a broader school zone to lower that speed limit? And I think Eric, we have reached out to the county about both of those things. The police said they tried, they didn't get anywhere, but they said coming from us, it might be different. So, I'm hoping that we have some positive changes at that intersection. As I know, it's uh it's very worrisome for many of our families. >> Can I push back a little bit on that no crossing guard thing? Okay, I disagree because you are then having to walk an extra 7 to 10 minutes to go

090past the school to cross there to go all the way back. And when you have kindergarteners or first graders with little legs, it's going to take even longer. So now you're having an additional 10 to 15 minutes to get to school. and I have a kindergartenner so her legs get tired and that's really far and that's a lot to ask of those little legs. So I disagree with that assessment that it's a that going down to the Kennallorth and Geneva intersection is a valid second option. I think you're much more likely to have parents say, "All right, well, I guess if there's not a crossing guard, we're going to cross here anyway there. It's not >> it's not enough an incentive to traverse an extra 10 to 15 minutes." >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's

091a that's a wonderful perspective. I also had wondered how many families are crossing there, like what is the number because we never had that before we had the case center. I think one of the things I learned through all of our safety conversations this fall is there are numbers of in order to have a stop sign or order to that you need 20 to 25 people crossing at any point in time. I do wonder about that. So that's something we could gain some more information on as well. Um but at this time the police department was um unwilling for that. And just another small anecdote about safety and intersections, and that's that today between noon and 1:00, the intersection of Western and Geneva was shut down due to an accident. >> Oh boy. >> So

092it was not during school walking hours. Goodness. But >> it again is another intersection that we do have students Yeah. >> crossing. >> Yeah. And that's a scary one. That one right there is a that's a big one. Um we're going to keep on with transport. Speaking of scary topics, Eric, we can say that because we have uh 4 days left before we switch over to a new bus company. Um the first week of December, we were worried about while Eric and his team and also 87 have been pushing Safeway too. You still need to bus our students until December 19th. We do know that they're with with this transition, it was going to be bumpy. So, we proactively opened all schools early for bus riders, especially with the brutal cold that we've had. We

093haven't had a ton of people, I think, taking us up on it, but the fact that even handfuls of students at the schools, it's just something more we can do. Hadley, have the numbers been >> growing. Okay. So, that's it's a good amount. So, um appreciation for the principles who made this happen and the staff members who are um coming and and supervising in order to keep our kids safe in the morning. With that transition, first student begins on January 5th. There will undoubtedly be changes made to routes, especially those that are tiered with district 87 because first student can make those earlier to get those kids to school earlier. We can't impress upon you enough. Check Skyward at least on January 4th, if not sooner. First Student will be making changes up until that

094point. Correct, Eric? >> That's correct. Yes. The main change being the time. They're not going to change the routes. They're just going to change the times. >> And lastly, the Hadley schedule. We met uh David, I think it was a week ago, two weeks ago, Steve, that we met with the Had Hadley scheduling team. And the goal of doing this is to align the schedule, staffing, and structures to meet both student academics, but also the students well-being because you're more than just a test score, kids. We want you to love school and and feel like it's taking care of all of you. So, as I talked about, I believe at the last board meeting, we surveyed students, parents, and staff. And here's what came out of it. There's far too much text on my slide.

095All of cabinet is looking at me saying, "Uh, hey, what's what's with less text on our slides?" And then the superintendent puts that. So, I'm not going to read all of this for you. This is for documentation purposes. if you would like to go back and take a look at this. One of the things that stood out to me when we really did compare them is the amount of alignment with the students, the parents, and the staff was kind of unreal. Uh I was amazed. And in fact, I think last time, Dr. Bruno, you asked a couple of our students, and you said two of the points on there. You talked about passing periods and you talked about the opportunity to if I take band, instead of taking world language, maybe I'd like to do

096a different exploratory. Those were things that came out on all of the surveys across the board. So there is a lot of alignment which is really good. You'll see the staff only themes I think because there's so many intricacies that maybe the students and and the parents don't see on the back end that the staff wants to look at. Those four areas there the staff is looking at and there is representation. Steve, I feel like a number of the departments are represented on this committee and they're putting their heads together and it gets down to something that um Molly, I think that you said, Jay, I think that you said, maybe Leanne said it, it's what's best for kids. And this is very tricky to figure out what is best for kids when there's so

097many different levers to pull. And I think when you get everybody in the room at the table to help come up with an idea, um this is what we're operating off of right now. So the committee now took we met we met they're going to go back and talk to their teams more and I believe that some schedules are being drafted some initial schedules are being drafted and we're going to get back together and talk again. So we will have more of an update in January for you but it's been a a very productive committee. Thank you David. I know you've done so much work. Chris, thank you for all of your work on this. Steve, thank you for being a part of this. Um and of course all of the teachers who are giving

098their time for it. I'm going to come up for air and see if you have questions about any of these five topics. >> Let me see if my colleagues do. I I did have a question about that last slide, but before I ask it, any questions that any of you had? So, >> so I say it just notes like how >> Oh, sorry. >> It's kind of just notes like that last slide like how everything is interrelated what we do here, right? You can't talk about the special education without talking about transportation, without talking about, you know, safety getting to and from school without talking about scheduling. Um because on one hand when I say you know this is the benefits of co- teaching that you have x y and z then you see you

099know up on the staff issue as to co-eing issues but I think what's important and look at this like you said when you talk about best interest of kids but it's also the question I asked like what's the why right what's the why and and I'll just use co-eing as an example co-eing is a thing right that can do something and provide benefits um but what's the why for it right and once you get to that why is it Okay, then how do you satisfy that why? And is co-eing the best option? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, >> but what's the why? And that's really to me that's the important part behind it. What what's that why? And how do you address that why? What in a way that's best for all kids. >>

100Yeah, thanks Jay. Uh well actually to stay on that point my question was I I found you know as I look at the other language uh there there is some more directive language you know like increase passing period make it's clear it's giving direction and under the staff thing uh eliminate is a is a pretty strong direction that's not revise and so I don't know David or Chris if there's any elaboration as to eliminating and and then what exactly is getting eliminated meaning where are is the co-eing happening because it's a it's reference as the models so it seems fairly dramatic to eliminate the models so any clarity to understand that David you're shaking your head and chuckling come on Dr. Bruno, >> do you want to start? >> Anything? >> Um, I think it's

101been a it's a great question. I think going back to what Jason said about the why, uh, it's about whole child, right? And making sure that the experience that they have at Hadley, uh, captures that whole child, you know, in all those different areas as you see on the lefth hand side, some of the changes that they're recommending is related to that. The elimination of the co-eing model, I think it kind of goes back to like what Jason said that it's it's a thing, right? And so the conversation on the table is um for lack of a better word is that thing co-eing making us successful or is there another way to deliver that type of support? Uh that's the conversation that's going around. We have every uh department represented at the table. So we're

102we're having those. So when they say eliminate, I think the team of teachers and administrators are looking at it as saying, could we be doing better? Because the thing that we don't want to change is academic rigor. And we want to make sure that all children regardless of disability, race, or gender, are getting the experience the same way anybody else would. Um, and so when you put those together and we start having that, one of the things that the staff said is we could be doing it differently, which means eliminating the back 20 as they call it and and and getting rid of co-eing. Now, if you follow up the question, ask me what does that look like? We're not there yet. Okay. You know, one of the things that Steve is doing with a

103small group right now is reaching out to different junior highs and middle schools that are performing at our level or more across the state and asking to see their schedules and asking to see like where is that magic that they're that they're they're seeing success with all of their students and seeing can we replicate it here because the one thing is we we have minutes and we have periods and we have things that to address and so when you put those pieces together trying to address all these is impossible. We just told the staff today that like we can't do everything. So what becomes a priority? What becomes important? And how then do we piece together a schedule that is robust, academically rigorous and meets the needs of kids? When you look on the lefth

104hand side the world language, when we talk about the band and orchestra that our students shared, you know, last time and also in the surveys, how can we start to look at different ways to still keep that environment but also make it better? >> Great. And if we can figure that out, that's where the magic is. And I think Chris is going to piggyback on this. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thanks, David. I just wanted to clarify. I think there might be some confusion when we're talking about co-eing. Okay. >> What we're talking about, right? So, I think it's it's separate from the special ed model of co-eing. So, Jason, I'm wondering if that if that is different. >> It is different. Right. So, just to be clear, this isn't um the collaboration or the

105push-in model of special education teachers coming in um during class time to support students in the general education setting. Those those kids that are there 80% of the time, it's not that type of co-eing. That's that's not what they're talking about or asking to eliminate. So, I think that's a really important point of clarity. Um what we what what they are recommending is it's a an additional model in addition to the special education model of co-eing in the gened classrooms with genetic teachers. Um it is a model that's kind of unique to Hadley where they have um classroom teachers from many different content areas that have um in the period of their day that back 20 that we call which is intervention period push into another teacher's classroom to be an extra set of hands

106during that period of time. um it could be they're not necessarily always in the content area. Um it could be maybe an English teacher pushing into a math department. So um while we love the idea and the staff loves the idea of having those using um our really certified expertise staff to provide intervention during that time, we're looking at um expanding the time that we have to do that because 20 minutes is really hard. and then finding out um to maybe try to do it for 30 minutes or so so that we have more targeted time to do it and we can use staff more intentionally. So it's not I just wanted to be clear so that people knew like because that again that eliminating word is is pretty strong. So I wanted there to

107make sure that there was clarity on what it is they're talking about eliminating to reintroduce in a different way in a longer period of time more intentionally with a clearer why. And and I think part C, right? >> Yeah. >> When you look at like that top bullet on the lefth hand side, desire for a dedicated intervention hall period, it we're we're kind of having conversations from different junior highs and middle schools and there a lot of people are calling it win time. What I need time, right? And that goes to therapies and services. So, is there a way instead of a co-eing model where maybe there's pushing, maybe there's another way to look at specifically targeting students and targeting in a good way, not targeting like addressing it, but like what is their needs

108and how do we support them so that they are still being included in their core curriculum, but also getting the services that they need to be successful, >> right, >> overall. And so, we're looking at at an option like that that could be kind of like Jason, what you said, like, you know, a thing like this could be a different thing in our schedule. Okay. >> And I think it's important to recognize is that when when I sit here up here and I say, you know, and I bring up a word like co-eing, right? When talking about a special education report and then you as I say it as a positive, you see up here eliminate co-eing. Those while they sound like, oh my god, Jay just said co- teaching is good and then there's

109a thing up there eliminating bad. No, what's important is that we talk about that why, right? And just because and especially and I think it's especially important to point out as a board member, right? that board members can up sit up here and ask questions and and when we ask questions especially myself we'll ask pointed questions we address things that doesn't necessarily mean that the questions that we ask are pushing towards the right outcome I think what's important is that we look at the wise why are you asking the questions what is the answer you're trying to get so I think what's most important is that we continue to ask these questions and we continue to focus on that why to figure out what if what we're doing is the best thing for all of

110our kids >> I It's so important. >> Thank you for clarifying that Chris. I was under the wrong impression. So that was very helpful. >> Good. My pleasure. And you know when you speak we spoke earlier in the process you know we did build that intervention block into the master schedule at elementary. Again it's a work in progress about how that time is being used and for for all students special education students. And again we're looking to do that something similar at Hadley to address the needs of all students also for extension. Right. Right. So, I know we haven't talked a lot about that here either, but this isn't just solely for students that need scaffolding. It's for kids that are at grade level that can use additional practice and kids that need something more.

111Maybe they need some extensions. So, that that is the purpose of that time. And how do we restructure that current model >> to better meet the needs of a broader swath of kids in a more dedicated period of time with a clearer why. >> Thank you. >> Could I ask one question on that? Yeah. >> Um I'm really into the timing tonight. Are is this something that you're targeting for implementation in the 26 27 year? Is that some What does that look like? >> I think originally that was the plan. I think it's going to depend on we're not going to we're not going to push something for the sake of doing it. So if we have something that's ready to go, then we would roll with that. I think there's there's lots of different

112options on the if if we don't have it ready, we could certainly try some other things. We're not positive. I I don't think we're there yet. that I'm looking at the back of the room to know that for sure. >> Our our ultimate goal would be if we can do it for next year, we would love to. I think as we are digging into this deeper and now coming back to the board next month and the following month, when you look at staffing numbers, scheduling, some of those unknowns until we get those final pieces, it could change our implementation. But I just was talking to Steve earlier today and and we're committed to try to bring something to move forward. >> No, it's great work. Thank you for looking into all this. It's awesome. >>

113Thank you. All right. Yes, Amy. >> Um I had heard several people, students saying that um they would love the opportunity to do exploratories and band or orchestra. And I don't see that as a note on the survey theme. It's bullet. It's bullet four. >> Make that means [snorts] >> and you're right. >> It did come up in the survey though. >> It did come up in the survey. It came up at the student board table last time. Student board members, do you have any thoughts on this from your lens? Um, I feel like I think that making world language optional is a good choice, but I also fear that it could have an impact on our language teachers at Hadley cuz there's only one French teacher here. And I feel like maybe possibly there

114might not be enough interest in language if it becomes optional. Thanks, Chloe, Joseph, Sophia. >> Yeah, I agree with that idea. And also, I think world language is obviously just a great thing to learn and it helps you in so many other things just like how music does. So, I think that's also a really hard topic to um just like decide about which one that you would do. So I think that you know kids who do music and um or world language they would both benefit but in different ways unfortunately. >> Thanks. >> Um I have heard that um some people in my orchestra class also wish that they could do band. So like kind of like a orchestra band combo. >> Yeah. >> Interesting. >> Come at the choir thing. is so do I

115clarification for um this Dr. Bruno is is the schedule so tight that it's literally making world language optional and then having that greater flexibility or keeping world language and not is it come down to just this one offering in order to it's a big piece of the discussion. >> Okay. >> Right. If you move world language out of a core into an explore, it opens up opportunities for for students to get their explore. And so for us as we navigate this putting all the pieces together, but this is a is a big talking point because of how it is right now in the design. [snorts] >> Okay. So you're saying like theoretically if world language were optional a student could do orchestra and the book talk class or the theater exploratory. Okay. Because right now

116they it's either or the explorator or music. Got it. Because they have to do world language. >> Correct. >> Got it. Okay. Thank you. So I guess the question would be is that would world language be considered optional for if you're not taking if you're not involved in the arts program this like band orchestra music. So the world's lang the world language topic is in the infancy of that conversation. But the way I understand it currently is by making world language optional. It would be optional for all. So it wouldn't just be optional for students that were taking music or a chorus and then required for students that weren't. It would be optional from my the conversations we had. That's the conversations that have happened that has been the suggestion um from like Dr. Dr.

117McHugh said it was amazing how strongly the four there was four main themes. How these main themes came out >> across all three stakeholder groups. So um nothing has been decided about world languages. Nothing has been decided about the schedule period. These are just talking points that we have but as it stands now it would be a world language would be optional for all. It would be a pathway like a seal by literacy pathway that they could follow. Well, that's a good question is that how does that how does that affect our STEM our flesh programming at first through five? >> How does it affect the flesh program or still by literacy? >> Yeah, like you know how does that affect flesh? is if you I know it I I know because we're talking about

118Hadley it does it but once you start having that conversation of >> so the world languages are optional at Hadley then >> the ultimate goal actually of that um in addition to you know um providing the opportunity for our students to be um multilingual multi-iterate beyond just you know multiling bilingual when they be biliterate is one of the ultimate goals is they can take the seal of bi literacy when they get to their junior year of high school this would not impact that Um, and I I can say that confidently having come from unit districts prior to working in Glenn Ellen. Um, we are very fortunate that we have the Spanish program K5. I mean, [clears throat] that's very rare. Most often when students go to high school um, and they go on the CILA

119by literacy path, their first exposure to language is their freshman year of high school, right? Um, and they still can perform at high levels. So our students will still if if a student chooses not to take a world language um and they still have that plus experience K5 they will have that foundation in place so when they do go to high school they are still going to pick up at an advantage over students that did not have that exposure in elementary school. Um >> yeah so it it that would be the the longer term impact. So I see Dr. Mchugh also nodding his head from familiarity with K12 districts that it it's it's typical for that first exposure to happen in ninth grade not first grade. So our students will still be starting at at

120West with a significant um advantage. Dr. Muay. >> Yeah, I think that yes, you gave a very good answer for I was just going to say it shouldn't impact it. shouldn't. But then when we start saying that we're not going to require world languages at Hadley, then the question that falls down to then why you required it at elementary. >> Well, these are pretty big. >> They are. They are. >> But let's not let's not dig into this yet. Let's let >> I'm just asking a question. I'm not digging. I'm asking as a band kid in junior high that you know couldn't take a language in high school because I was in band. So I asked that that's my standpoint from that. >> Yeah. I just don't want to take the conversation any further. It's

121pre it's it is really uh premature but that you you were very helpful as were both of you and kind David were you about to say something kind of just next steps right like so we want to make sure that we're completely transparent with the work that we're doing um what our goal is is to come back to the board um with Dr. McHugh and really have a schedule mapped out is kind of our next step to share and continue this conversation. Um, this is why we wanted to do it today. Uh, and and hear your feedback right from from your lens from the board table on on what are those big rocks and what are the importance pieces to to the board and the community. Um, and also then as we move forward bringing

122that concept more to life and what does it look like, minutes, offerings, uh, does it change what we're doing right now? making sure that's completely out there so that everyone knows and then really looking from there finalization after that conversation. So the next one is coming back with a schedule and then from there is that finalization of those details. Okay, good. We'll look forward to that for sure. Good work. Thank you. Yeah. All right. All finished. Then we will turn to the board. Are there any board members who have a report? Go ahead, Katie. You're up. >> Yeah. Um, just a couple of updates. So, there was a PEP um board meeting and PEP is going through the process of their annual appeal. If you aren't familiar with PEP, it is the organization that supports

123um all the different feeder districts that are going into D87 schools. Um, so you might be receiving a letter about uh donating to that. And then is it the appropriate time to talk about triple I or we can >> let's wait till we got >> perfect. That was my other big update for now. And then um calendar committee calendar committee we're going to touch on later as well. >> Thank you Katie. >> Yes. >> Julie Ted Amy Julie >> I'm just going to save mine for the advocacy report later. >> Got it. Ted, how about yourself? >> Oh go ahead. I'm sorry. I'll just put in a quick building off of Katie's the D41 Kids Foundation Matt and they're also doing an end of the year appeal and working on their um their coat drive

124and and warm winter winter outerwear program. >> Mhm. >> For students who need winter outwear. >> Thank you, Ted. So early this month, I attended the uh PTA council meeting and uh I was reminded when you were talking about the uh pre-registration after uh Dr. McHugh brought that topic up at at that meeting. We had a pretty pretty nice it was a short but very interesting discussion about how much some of the parents really like our our kindergarten program and also how you know trying to explain why didn't the the numbers change on the you know from the 7030 split and um um I thought that was that was certainly wasn't planned discussion but I thought it was pretty interesting. >> Thank you Ted. Yeah, >> Dr. Martelli. >> Uh, no reports, but I was

125able to attend the fifth grade band concert across the districts here at Hadley. It was a wonderful performance and the musical at Lincoln School, Beauty and the Beast, was put on and that too was fantastic. So, just some fun stuff with kids. >> Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Anyone else? Did we get everybody? >> Oh, since he's here, I should say Mr. Dively gave you guys some competition for doing the bells at the orchestra. Hadley orchestra concert last week. So he really he got up. He even had a hat on. So he really hated the part. >> But it was a great show. >> All right. Well, >> okay. The hat makes the performer, right, Mr. Hadley? Yes. Uh I I just want to just acknowledge because Jeff noted in his

126report around uh the importance of instructional technology and the deep dive and the what will be a thoughtful incremental approach. I have the pleasure uh as the board president of sitting on the continuous improvement team. Uh and I can attest that building leadership across the district under Dr. McHugh's direction and the assistance of Dr. Bruno uh really did dive into talking about instructional tech. Uh they really do have it on their agenda. So if anybody doubted a sense of urgency or importance um you should rest assured and you saw it kind of you experienced it in those in that CIT uh uh meeting and it does bring you some confidence uh that the wheels are turning and people are really thinking seriously about where do we bring this um going forward. So, uh just an

127acknowledgement of that building leader, all those BU building leadership uh teams. So, thank you for letting me be a part of that. Okay, student board members, where do we go? Who's up? Joseph. Yeah. So, there was a PBIS flood week, which is uh like prizes for being prepared. And yeah, there the orchestra winter winter concert on December 11th. And there's an eighth grade band concert tomorrow. >> Thank you. What's a band concert? So, >> uh, so in sixth grade right now they're learn well they actually just finished their unit on Malala and [clears throat] also they learned they read I think I believe it's a true story. Um, about a girl who has to pretend to be a boy to survive. Um, and it's a nice like cultural like learning thing that we that I

128did not experience in sixth grade. So, that's pretty cool. Um, and on Wednesday, the sixth graders are going to be seeing the Christmas Carol live. Um, and I believe that I'm the only student board member who takes the buses. So, I just wanted to say a little bit about that. Um, >> I'm pretty sure it's pretty clear that the buses have not been on time. Um, >> no. [laughter] Really? >> This is firstand reporting and that is >> you didn't know this. >> Yeah. So, the past five days I have not arrived to home room on time. >> And two of those days I didn't make it to home room at all. So that means that I got to school after 8:40. Um, so not great. >> No. >> So I'm really hoping that first

129student does better for us. >> Yes. Yes. Thank you, Chloe. And our apologies. I'm sorry for that. >> Um, although seventh grade had a great month. They didn't have two or anything too special individually, but for all grades, we did a science and social studies swap marking the end or the midpoint of second quarter. And science is piloting a new program. And so that was something new. And um student led parent teacher conferences were held throughout the month. >> Okay. All right. Well, thank you very much. We will then move into our discussions and we're going to start with that school year calendar you've been hearing some things about. Jeff, you're facilitating. >> Yes. So, if you looked in the board report, you can see the draft of the calendar and you can see we

130have some highlights of the tenative [snorts] dates. This is to be voted on next month, not this month. For those of you that have not had the pleasure of sitting on the calendar committee, boy are you missing out. Uh because it's really tough. There's a lot of complex factors. Uh I had a student email me last week and she said or he I think it was a she said, "Dr. McHugh, just wondering why are we ending on a Monday this year? Isn't there something you could do differently?" And I I did respond to the student and I tried to give a a better answer, but Miss Moch, how many calendar committee meetings did we spend last year trying to get that last day of school not on a Monday? We have to balance a lot

131of factors. So students for so that may maybe it's somebody that you know that emailed me about this. Um we need to balance uh we try to follow the high school a lot. They typically start a little earlier than us, but we try to keep on breaks, winter break and spring break with them as many days off as possible because some of our 41 families also have high schoolers. We try we try to follow a DUP page calendar. A lot of the districts in DuPage kind of try to time up their start and end times at about the same time because some of the teachers who teach here have kids in other districts and when their kids are off that creates them. So, we try to balance that. uh we there's so many factors we

132try to uh stick with what we have done traditionally that's worked while also taking feedback on things that didn't work and trying to adjust for that. So when you look here it's not perfect but we this year's proposed calendar goes back to not this last year but the year before that. We started a lot later due to the construction of the kindergarten center this year. We would be going back to the earlier start. I believe the first day of attendance for grades 1 through 8 would be August 19th, which is more in line with that. And uh finishing on a Wednesday. We tried to get that earlier in the week. It just landed on a Wednesday, but the the last day would be June 2nd. So, Miss Moch, would you have anything to add because

133you spend copious amounts of time trying to make this all come together. >> Thank you for everybody. >> Well, on that, if I I just wanted to give Katie the floor for a minute. you >> I don't know if I would use the word riveting for the calendar committee. Um [laughter] but I one thing I expressed during the meetings and thank you to Nancy because there's so much to keep track of so much and how she does it. Um one thing I've heard from the community is why can't we be more in line with D87 specifically from families who have high schoolers and younger students. Um, and I think one of my big takeaways was that it's much more complicated than any of us really know. Um, it goes down a lot. They're two different

134districts, which means two different uh, teacher and admin contracts, union contracts. So, that's um, part of it. It's high schools typically start earlier sometimes because of sports. Um, and I do think there were some wins in this new calendar in terms of if you'll look specifically at like starting with Halloween, um, and then having an institute day that Monday and then I think the next day is election day. So, we're off that does align with D87. Um, their schedule is different as well because who wants to take finals after winter break? So, they're going to go to school during the Thanksgiving week, whereas D41 does not. Um, so overall, to echo what Jeff said, it's much more complicated than I ever thought, but I appreciate you guys listening and again, Nancy, I appreciate you pulling

135it all together because it's a lot. >> Very good. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, the next item up is a cost sharing agreement with Glenbard High School, District 87. Eric, Jeff, please. >> Yeah, I could just address this kind of quickly. It's a pretty simple thing. So, as part of our transition away from Safeway to First Student, which I am also looking forward to a whole lot, um, Safeway needed a place to stage their vehicles because they were basically evicted from one of the two bus depots they used to serve our district. So knowing that and with the goal of avoiding a service interruption, both district 87 and district 41 kind of partnered to secure a lease on that depot that was in the process of evicting Safeway. So what you have in front of

136you tonight is just kind of a summary of what that looks like. Um in in essence, both districts use that depot equally. So we believe it would be appropriate to have a 50% cost share. So, share the cost that we're going to pay for this short-term lease evenly between the two districts. Um, the dates of the lease started um effective November 20th, and will run through this Saturday, December 20th. Um, at that point, we would then vacate the premises. Safeway would leave the pre premises and first student will then be moving in to take over the bus depot. So, um, kind of a brief discuss, you know, kind of highle summary of what that looks like. It's not super complicated, but it was critical uh that we had a space for Safeway to put their

137buses because >> correct. >> Without it, they wouldn't have had an opportunity to continue to serve us. >> Questions? >> Yes. No, it's quite rational and reasonable and understanding. Yeah. Jay, >> I think this is just especially when you look later down the agenda, right? We're going to have the approval of next year's levy and then we're going to have the approval of this agreement. as a board, we sit up here and one of the things that we can do budget-wise is approve the levy to bring funds into the district, >> right? >> And then we look at what does a district do with those funds? They have to do transportation, they have to pay teachers and do all the things, keep these lights out, what have you, but they also have to budget for

138emergencies and and contingencies and plan for a bunch of whatifs. And I just think it's commendable what Eric, you your team have done to take the budget that is given to you and been able to look at kids aren't getting to school on time. We need to adjust. You were ready to adjust. You had your plan in place and then you had an eviction that even affected your secondary plan and had in place and you were ready and able to adjust to that and come to a solution. um that keeps our kids getting to school in a timely fashion. Um but it but I you know we can set a levy and we can bring funds in but you know the use of those funds and I think this is just highlights this how you

139know well the district works within its budget and utilizes its funds and you know to make sure that it's able to best provide for kids. I I I just think it's commendable how we're able to navigate that within the budget. There you go. Thank you. Okay. Much appreciated. All right. We've got then we'll move on to our uh action items. And under the consent agenda, are there any items board members would like to have removed to be considered separately? Hearing none. May I have a motion to approve the consent agenda which includes employment recommendations, leave request and terminations as noted on the personnel report, disposal of surplus property, donation and gifts, 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

140the November 17, 2025 regular open and close meeting minutes. Motion >> second. >> J motions. >> Second. >> And it sounds like Amy has a second. Uh, >> Mr. Lach. >> Yes. >> Mr. Martelli. Dr. Martelli. >> Yes. >> Miss. Becker. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Leau. >> Yes. >> Mr. Estus. >> Thank you to the Ben Franklin PTA for their generous donation. And yes, >> Mrs. Hill. Yes. Dr. Bruno. Yes. Thank you very much. Uh, at this point I'm going to turn it back to Dr. McHugh. >> Yes. You just made a big hire. >> We did. >> Um, you did >> what? >> You did. You just made a big hire. Uh, Dr. Webster, this isn't your formal going away party. We sincerely want to thank you, but you've got many months of work

141ahead of you, and we are grateful we're going to just ring every last bit out of you before you sail into retirement on June 30th, 2026. >> But this timing at this time allows you to transition with our new assistant superintendent for teaching, learning, and accountability, Dr. Kristen Williams. I have your formal bio. I don't want to read your formal bio. Uh you'll be able to see it in the press release. Um Kristen is about kids. She puts kids first. She's a collaborator. She has a very very high bar. We talk about greatness in this district. You want to do things at a great level and you have done so. Um starting as a teacher of every single elementary grade. Is that true? >> Second throughth. >> Second through 5th. Uh you then went into

142district office in Arlington Heights District 25 where you spent six years in teaching and learning as an administrator. then went to Park Ridge to Franklin, I'm sure. Good Franklin. We've got a Franklin here, too. Uh to Park Ridge to be an elementary principal and now you are joining us to be our new assistant superintendent. So, I wanted to welcome you and give you a chance to speak to your new board. >> Thank you. Um thank you so much for the warm welcome and thank you for the opportunity. I think um going through the interview process, one thing that was abundantly clear as I had the opportunity to meet with some central office staff and the greater administration team um community members and and our teaching staff um was that the dedication to the students in

143this district is so evident and something that I pride myself on in everything that I do from a daytoday um living as an educator and it's something I really wanted to be a part of. Um, so I'm really excited about the opportunity just to continue the excellence that's already happening here in District 41 and see, you know, the sky's the limit for us and see where we can take it. So, um, thank you so much again for the opportunity and I'm really excited for what the future holds for us. >> Well, all right. First of all, lots of applause [applause] and uh, board. I ahead of time I told you to really kind of develop some really tough critical questions for Chris. Nah, never mind. No questions like that tonight. Those can those can wait.

144But if you have any questions or comments, feel free to bring them up. But >> I just wanted to extend a warm welcome. >> Yeah, it's great to have you here. Uh and thank you for saying yes to us. >> Thank you. >> Okay. And it looks like we've got a gift. >> So fun. >> Well, how about that? [laughter] >> Thank you. >> Think this may I have? I think that has to do with yourself though, Jeff. >> Thank you. >> Welcome. [applause] Welcome. >> Negotiate, renegotiate the [laughter] contract. All right, let's get into u motion >> recommendations here now that we've made an important hire. Uh the 2526 and you heard Jay note it the fiscal year levy. May I have a motion to approve and adopt the 2025 tax levy resolution as

145presented. >> motion by Jay. >> second by Dr. Matelli. Any discussion? Roll call. Amy, >> Mrs. Becker, >> yes. >> Mrs. Liddo, >> yes. >> Mr. Estus, >> yes. >> Dr. Martelli, >> yes. >> Mr. Lobach, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hill, >> yes. >> Dr. Bruno, >> yes. And that motion passes. Next up is to approve the letter of agreement with Glenborg Township High School District 87 for payment of a portion of rent and utilities for use of transportation facility at 505 East North Avenue Carroll Street. may have a motion to approve and authorize the superintendent to execute the letter agreement with Glenbour Township High School District 87 for payment of a portion of the rent for use of transportation facility at 505 East North Avenue Carol stream in the amount sent forth in the

146letter agreement as presented. >> motion by Jay second by Mr. Estes any discussion roll call Amy >> Miss Becker >> yes >> Mr. Lobach >> yes >> Mr. Estus. >> Yes. >> Miss Becker, oh >> Mrs. Lidda, >> yes. >> Dr. Martelli, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hill, >> Dr. Bruno, >> yes. And that motion passes also. And with that, then we are we've completed our recommendation section. We're going to other or board governance learning together. And we want to start with the advocacy report uh that Julie has. And at the table you will see a draft of a letter that Julie has authored on behalf of the board. Julie. >> Um I had a few other things but we'll go to the letter since you wrote them. >> Oh I'm sorry. Yes. How about Yes.

147I Why don't we do that first? >> I'm sorry. >> All right. Um that's okay. We can do this. So this is what I wrote and got a little chat GPT help. But did you guys have any changes you wanted to make? Additions, subtractions. >> Did I spell anything wrong? >> No, I didn't. [laughter] Get the spelling right. >> I'm looking at spelling now, but I think your letter is on point issue wise. >> Did it work for you? >> I thought it was very well done. >> Yeah, I did too. >> Excellent. Um, so then we send we asked Nancy very nicely if she would help us send that to our federal legislators, right? >> That's correct. >> Okay. >> No. [laughter] She >> Nancy, would you please help us send this to our

148>> I guess it's how you ask. >> Thank you, Nancy. >> Okay. Thank you, Julie. >> I have a couple Can I do a couple other things? >> Yeah, you should go topic. >> Yeah, rip them off. >> Um Okay. And then um I am co- leading chairing something. Um a federal committee at LED. I think I mentioned this last time. T and Amy, I'm sorry. I don't know what to do in the split screen here. Um but then that's awkward too. Anyway, um so we are currently working on a short survey for districts in DuPage to help us understand what matters most. And I know ISB did this, but it's a different organization, so we're going to kind of have to like do it again um so that we can be well prepared for

149our uh conversations with legislators in the spring. Um, and because I've spent a little time talking, Cara is her name, she's in the school board at the high the Downage Grove high schools and I never remember the number. Um, but since our district, our board does a lot of this kind of advocacy stuff, she's like, "You guys really do a lot. I don't know that a lot of people do that." Um, would you be comfortable if we shared the things that we write with her board or other boards just to either change, you know, the important words in it or use it as is and sign off their names or whatever? Like, is that okay? Can we do that? Can I just like send this to Cara so she can sort of copy and paste?

150>> I don't know. But honestly, >> does that bother you guys? >> It's kind of public record anyway. So, right. Hi. Think it's great. >> I have no problem with it. I'm like, I'm happy to share it with you. You just fill in the, >> you know, write proper nouns or whatever. And when you're right, you're right. >> It would be great to have. Sure. I think so. Right. Great. >> I will share some things with her and anybody else who wants to join the fight. Um letter sharing letters. Cara. Okay. Also, I at triple I >> delegate assembly. I won't talk about the other stuff. Delegate assembly. There was one resolution. Um it passed 344 to 10. So that was uh basically anonymous or unanimous, not anonymous. um on the uh school bus funding

151stuff. So that was quick and easy on the resolution front for that. >> That's all I have for this part. >> Okay. >> Great. All right. Well, Julie dovetailed right in there to to triple I. So, why don't I open it up because there was lots of attention uh attendance and attention uh at at Triple I uh with one exception. >> Yeah. One exception was me. I I did not attend triple I I apologize. I had the opportunity to spend a weekend with my wife for our 20th wedding anniversary. My kid, my college student came into town and said, "I will watch the littles." So, we took that opportunity that weekend. And I am not apologizing for it in the least. [laughter] >> That's funny. She she emailed us asking us to take you to

152trouble. >> She did. That was probably true. That was probably true. [laughter] >> Well, why don't let me let me start with Katie um here and then we'll kind of work around the table, please. Yes. Um, thank you to for your support first of all to the district. It was I had no idea what to expect. It was my first time going to Triple I and when I saw 6,000 people in the city and like coming together from all the districts in Illinois, it was such a great experience. Um Amy and I got to go, we started with uh board or scenarios for new board members for three hours and and it's, you know, always nice to be um surrounded by people who are kind of learning all the ins and outs like we are.

153And um the other session I went to a couple different ones. The other one that really stood out to me, I did special ed 101 because I knew we were going to be talking about the review at this meeting and it was fantastic. It was run by like the Mollies um from the one of the Oak Forest school districts and one thing they really touched on was the board's role in a review like this and how we are there to support. So when you know if any changes come down the pipeline or you were to suggest hiring additional um staff or anything like that, it just really it really helped me separate like Katie, you don't need to be asking 5 million questions about the special ed report because you guys know what you're doing.

154Um but getting back to that oversight position and it was also it was I learned so much about how someone qualifies for an IEP and everything that goes into it. and there's just so much to know and I was just very grateful walking out of there that I had the opportunity to learn all that stuff and then also to the board and um to the people from cabinet who were there. It was nice to get to talk to everyone is human beings. Um you know one thing I didn't know coming into this as someone who had never done this is about the open meetings act and if there are more than three of us together we cannot talk legally about board business. So, it was just nice to spend time with everyone and learn like,

155oh, Eric lives here and Dr. Bruno has this many kids and you know, it's nice to relate on that human level when we don't always get to do that during these meetings. So, I really enjoyed that aspect of it as well. And again, really appreciate your support in us going there. >> Yeah, thank you. Yeah, that's good. Lifting it up and recognizing that we're we're humans and we we could be human. Terrific. Dr. Bartelli, what do you got? >> I have nothing. >> Yeah, you're >> nothing. Nothing more to share. >> Empty. That was it. That summed it up. >> I attended a lot of finance meetings. >> I want to know what Eric's talking about. >> Oh boy. [laughter] >> That's because you were attracted to the riveting stuff. And >> that's right. >>

156Did you get any answers? >> Plenty. >> Yeah, >> I could explain the levy and the new construction and all that stuff if you'd like. CPI from the year prior. You mean, you know? >> Yeah. Yeah. >> That language. Yeah. Yeah. There is an incredible amount uh covered at Triple I. All kidding aside, well Jay, we got you taken care of here. So Amy, >> right, >> I attended several sessions. I did the scenarios with new board members with Katie and I also attended another uh realworld school board scenarios. Um, and that one encompassed uh board members who were new through people who had been doing it for several years. Um, which I always really like learning about other scenarios and how to handle them, good practices. Um I attended another one on um putting

157kids first during polarizing times and you know focusing and making sure that what we do is always for the students for the kids and in their best interest. >> And then I got to nerd out a little bit with the building relationships and facility work which made my little engineering heart happy. Did you and Dave sort of put your heads together around building? >> Uh, he didn't go to that one, but next time. >> Okay, thank you. Interesting. You find that session that really does speak to your own identity and interest and knowledge. >> You know, we hear a lot in the district and heard it in the special education report space. Amen. and you know looking at how different um districts are dealing with space constraints and what they've done to remedy some of

158that and including building new facilities. >> Yeah. Yeah. Great. Great. Thank you, Amy. Ted, >> so I I attended um two Friday focus workshops. Um, one, um, was on finance, uh, led by or I guess led by, um, the [clears throat] finance officer from, um, the Elgen school district. >> Uh, yeah, U46, which is the second biggest school district in the in the state. Uh, I've heard her talk a couple of times before, and I always pick up a couple good nuggets from her. But I also appreciate um sort of as you were mentioning, you meet other board members from other districts and you and you hear about the challenges that they have, right? And as as you start talking about evidence-based funding and and you know, we're tier what >> one or four. >>

159Yeah. I never remember which one is which. We're tier four, right? Yeah. Tier four means we get the least amount of money. Um, but you know, there's other people at the table who are tier one and two talking about, you know, the struggles and stuff that they have. Um, and uh, it it's it it's it's all it's eye opening. And then the one I did in the afternoon, there were a couple other people there with me. Um, and it was not exactly what I expected, was called leading schools in a highly polarized world. and um rather than like here's a couple tips and tricks type of a thing. It was presented more as how do you engage um the community as a whole in in in a big project and it was and he didn't

160use these words but it was basically doing a strategic plan and I'm like you know we do a lot of this stuff already. I mean, he had a couple little things that were kind of nice and I took some notes on it that I can share at some point. Um, but uh I'm like, yeah, I guess we're kind of doing that where we're trying to make sure that we're getting a broad representation in a lot of this uh community affecting work that we do. So, >> great. Thank you, Ted. Thank you, >> Julie. You did more than just go to a delegates session. Yeah. two other um two other sessions on that Saturday, but um one was led by IAS IASB, but the one I wanted to talk about was um led by a woman

161that Bob and I met in DC this fall. Um she is at the Arlington Heights uh school board, Anisha something, I don't remember her last name. >> What is it? Patel. Okay. Anyway, so she works in like change management and um like team governance stuff and so she gave this talk and I wanted I took a whole bunch of notes but I wanted to just sort of like touch on um how she talked about boards or teams um evaluating themselves. And I'm sure that Dr. David Bruno could school us in the many ways I'm sure that exists to uh rate one's own team, but this it's okay. You don't have to pay attention, but I was thinking like you're going to have a thousand ideas. Um [laughter] um so I'm just I just want to

162run through a few because um I thought it was really interesting. It was really like I guess the kids would say like vibe based like it was very much like rate your clarity about your role and responsiveness as a member to >> Oh jeez, my handwriting. um as member of the board uh to what degree do we hold one another accountable peer-to-peer to what degree do school board something filter through uh to other commitments. It was a lot about like how do we work as a team? Do you feel psychologically safe in your team? Do you feel do you feel open to be kindly critical? Do you feel open to being honest and disagreeing and or and agreeing? Um, so I thought that was a really fascinating and she did a much better job than

163I did, but I thought that was a really fascinating way to think about like how how does a team work as a team and how do you find places to um improve that aren't like particularly task based or like really really detailed but just like an overall do you feel safe here? Do you feel do you feel like you can be yourself and you can contribute safely and you can also disagree safely? So I thought it was fascinating. I really enjoyed it. >> Um but that was my that was my highlight. >> Very good. Thank you. Um, I will just add that uh and I I I've been doing this uh ever since I was first elected to the presidency of the board and that is to look at these Friday focus workshops uh from

164a leadership lens and look for sessions that continue to uh help guide me to self-reflect on the job that I'm doing uh in this position so that all of you can be at your best uh and that we we do function in a very high performance way. Uh and and each year you do pick up uh just a a little bit maybe a nugget something. Oh, you know, maybe I could be doing that or should sort of think uh uh about doing that. and and and one of the sessions uh addressed the the importance of trust uh within a school district. Trust amongst the board, trust with its school leadership, trust with the community. That that is the in that is the greatest of all assets. um and thinking about how all the work speaks

165to whether or not we're raising that level of trust and and I thought wow you know having that special ed uh uh report and it has some challenging aspects to it uh but part of that trust is being honest where you need to make improvements right and and and recognizing that so it it felt like the triple eye session and then the real world practice uh came to came together. It's a terrific conference. >> It really is a and it's and I want the community to understand that that the whole, you know, this is a whole board buy in to do uh to doing that sort of stuff. I better put my hands under the table to going to this and putting aside that time and it's a commitment. So, it's it's part of a

166high performing board. So, thank you. Yeah. For all of that. >> Can I make a note as to the delegates conference that Julie attended? And it's really not this one. as more past delegate reports because we we we talk about this letter that we're going to send out advocating um of to the Department of Education. Um years ago um I don't remember how many years ago we sat at this table we put together a resolution um or support a resolution I don't exactly remember regarding safe gun storage. >> Oh yeah. And that got to the delegates of the committee or whatever it was for presentment to be voted on that day at at at triple and it got voted down. And the next year Julie came back and said, "Should we do it again?" >>

167We did. >> And Jay said yes. >> I did I did say yes. I did say yes. But that but it's more Yeah, let's do it. We all let's do it again. And it got voted down. And then the question was asked, "So what next?" And those conversations continued. And so it it's funny. You see something that gets shot down once that gets shot down twice from an advocacy perspective and then you keep asking those questions as to what next. Those conversations continue and the advocacy continues. And not that this board like was instrumental in getting the Illinois Safe Gun Storage Act passed. >> I was going to say it's a lot. >> It's now the law. >> It's almost in a couple days. Continuing to advocate for what you think is important and what

168you think is necessary to keep kids safe is important. And while you may not see success today and while you may not see success tomorrow, continuing that work is going to do nothing but result in betterment for our kids. Well, something that got um that did that that I as we didn't want to advocate for a number of years ago, we that continued advocacy by others including ourselves resulted in, you know, the state passing the state safeguard storage law. So, I think it's important to note that it's important to continue that work and this work does lead someplace and it does lead places important. >> Amen. Finally, just another commercial uh a prompt promo, right? I brought it with me, right? what school could be. We'll have our first community talk about building trust uh

169book talk facilitated by Dr. McHugh uh in January. I know the book I know the board fee February I'm I'm so like anxious to do it. >> All right, we'll do it in February. It gives the board a little bit more time to read. Uh and I'm boy I'm so tempted like to read from the back of the book but uh because I really do love this page here, Chris. But I'm not going to do that [laughter] because our meeting is getting long. But we really do hope people are engaging in the book and we'll have that date marked in February. Okay. All right. Very good. Finally, upcoming meetings, Monday, January 26. 26. Yeah. 26. Right, Molly? It's another year. There we go. Hopefully, we're going to make it regular board of education meeting, right?

170And then it's February, February 9th, 2026 where we'll have the committee of the whole meeting and that is where we will focus on the on the book study. All right. May I have a motion to adjourn to close session or confidentially discuss section 2C1 the appointment employment compensation discipline performance or dismissal of specific employees including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee to determine its validity as section 2C14. Discussion of meetings of minute meetings lawfully closed under the open meetings act whether for purposes of schoolboard approval of the minutes or semiannual review of the minutes as required by the act. >> Motion >> Jay motions >> second. >> Ted seconds. Any discussion? Roll call. Amy. >> Mrs. Leau. >> Yes. >> Miss Becker. >> Yes. >> Mr. Estus. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hill.

171>> Yes. >> Mr. Lobach. >> Yes. >> Dr. Martelli. >> Yes. >> Dr. Bruno. Yes. And the board will not be taking any action after close session. Good night to everyone. Happy holidays. Be well. See you all soon.