001The September 22nd, 2025 board of education meeting will now come to order. Mrs. Mo, roll call, please. >> Miss Becker, >> here. >> Mrs. Lidda, >> here. >> Mr. Estes, >> here. >> Dr. Martelli. Mr. Lobach >> here. >> Mrs. Hill >> here. >> Dr. Bruno >> here. Last week, Dr. Martelli notified the superintendent that he would be unable to attend tonight's meeting in person due to work obligations and requested to attend remotely. May may I have a motion to allow Dr. Martelli to attend tonight's meeting via Zoom? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All right, then. Roll call. Mrs. Moch. >> Miss Becker. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Leau. >> Yes. >> Mr. Estes. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hill. Yes, >> Mr. Lobach. >> Yes, >> Dr. Bruno. >> Yes. Let the record show
002that Dr. Martelli joined the meeting then at 7:35 p.m. >> 6:34. >> Well, what that's absolutely right, >> Eastern time. >> I did. I did that because we have our new staff here and I wanted them to make sure they were paying attention to content and they all did. That was a success. Well, with that, thank you, Mrs. Smoke. Mr. Lobach, would you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance? What's going on here? >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Very good. Uh first up uh is the requirement um to hold the public hearing on the 2526 budget. Uh and it is now 6 I emphasize 6:35 p.m.
003And the public hearing on the 2526 budget will now come to order. The 2520 will now come to order. >> I just said that. >> What? >> I just said that. I know you are, but what about >> it? Doesn't really happen like this. >> All right, I want to keep going. >> The 2526 amended budget has been on file and conveniently available for public inspection begin beginning August 19th, 2025. To date, the district has not received any verbal or written comments. Members of the public who wish to address the board should complete the sign-in sheet and indicate they wish to comment for the public hearing. Mrs. Mrs. Mo will then call your name when it is your turn to speak. Speakers are asked to maintain respectful decorum and limit comments to three minutes or
004less. Mrs. Moch, is there anyone wishing to make public comment on the amended budget? >> Okay. Thank you. Now, it is now 6:36 p.m. May I have a motion to close the public hearing on the 2526 budget? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Any discussion? All in favor say I. >> I. Hi. >> Hearing is now closed. All right, >> Chris is with us, correct Nancy? >> Do we need to announce him into the meeting? >> We need to announce him. >> Pete and repeat. We're sitting a tree. Pete, pill out. Who is left? >> He is not. >> He is on. Do we need Okay, I'm going to acknowledge that Dr. Martelli has joined the board meeting. Thank you, Chris. All right, let's then get into the business. And we have right up the top,
005off the top, a recognition of our new staff, some of our new staff who are with us this evening. And Dr. David Bruno is going to facilitate this part of the meeting and introduce our new people. >> Yeah. Um, excited to have uh about eight or nine people in the in the audience with us. Um, a little bit before I announce them, if you recall, we had a very large hiring year. We had about 60 new staff members come this year to uh our district. We had to hire it because we opened a building. So, we had a lot of transferring of staff to go to the kindergarten center. Then we had to backfill those positions. Um but it came out to be around 60 positions, a little bit more. So, it was a busy
006summer. Um we are fully staffed. Um we're one pair educator away from being completely staffed. Um but we are almost fully staffed, which is very exciting this time of year. That's uh that's not normal. Um but from the teaching side and the GIA side, we are fully staffed. Be fair educators. We're almost there. Uh so getting into this, we want to introduce the people that came out. We invited everybody out. Some have busy schedules, so they're unable to make it, but we have some great uh educators in behind me here. Brian Hershey from the kindergarten center right here. You can stand up and wave. Yeah, there we go. Jaclyn Doherty from Churchill. Okay. Leah Mesman from Churchill. Stacy Coella, a PAR educator. Linda Seir from Lincoln, Ally Roush, Ben Franklin, Kim Binsfield from Ben Franklin,
007and Chelsea Chardell, Ben Franklin and Lincoln. And as you know, we always have a fun video that we do on opening day that can be found in your packets, and I think it will be posted uh in the in the information online tomorrow. So, we're going to do that. But I don't know if you have any questions for them or you want any of them to come up. >> Uh, >> I think you give a speech. >> Well, should they give a speech? >> Yeah, I think I could. Uh, but I would like to invite each of you to just uh take a minute and come up and say whatever is uh on your mind. Um, so don't be shy. We're all friends here. Someone's got to start this off. What if you want to
008come up and have one thing that you love about district 41 that you since your time has been here? If you can think of something, come up, share that, and then uh we'll keep it moving. >> Allie's going first. >> Hi, I'm Ben Franklin and the staff and everyone there has been so supportive and amazing. So, that's been really great for the transition and >> wonderful. Thank you, Ally. Thank you. >> She sort of stole my thing. I feel incredibly supported whether it from new hire training. Um I left Church Hill, the um gifts that the Church Hill family gave me and the kindergarten teachers. I teach kindergarten at Abe Lincoln um and the staff at Lincoln. So I just feel incredibly supported from co-workers, coaches, administration, and everything. So that's I think been really
009great. >> Wonderful. Thank you. >> Okay, so at the K Oh my gosh. at the kindergarten center. It's great. We're opening up a new building, getting to see these 215 kindergarteners walk around the halls and starting to learn behaviors that are expected. Um, I just have a staff that's amazing. We're all learning and adapting our plans every day and it just seems like we're going with the flow right now and it's working. >> Lovely. Thank you. Thank you. I guess for me I would say the sense of community because I'm getting to know not only the teachers in the building but also parents as well. So >> beautiful. Thank you. >> Uh I feel like everyone has said a lot of really good things but the camaraderie has been phenomenal. I'm at two buildings and
010um I'm getting to know a lot of different staff and students and parents and everyone has been so welcoming and supportive and it's clear there's a strong community here in Glenn Ellen. So I'm grateful for that. >> Thank you. >> Um as a first year teacher I just feel the sense of support amongst the staff and the teachers and the administration to really make sure we have all the recess resources and knowledge we need to give our students everything they need. But you also just see it in the kids showing up to school happy to be there and excited every day. And that says a lot about everyone that works in this district. >> Very good. >> Um I'm someone who has a ton of questions when I start off somewhere new and so it's
011been great having somebody to answer every single question along the way. Um and I've been having a lot of fun with my students too. Meeting and navigating a new grade level has just been really enjoyable. So, I gotta ask. So, you found somebody to answer every question that you have >> so far. >> Who you got? >> Between I mean between the principles and the and my teaching staff, like I've I don't have a question unanswered yet. >> Wow. Let me know when that happens. I want to know what that question is. >> Wow. Um, I'm at Churchill and it's more like a family. I started off subbing for two year like subbing. So, I was subbing at Churchill almost every day last year and the year before. So, it made no brainer to like
012come full-time. So, >> but it's great family. >> Well, thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. I think we got anything you'd like to say? >> No, this is a great group. The six that we brought on and what they're doing in our buildings um with our kids every day. Um I know cabinet and all of us have been able to walk around and see what they're doing and they're doing amazing things for our kids and that was one of the things that we told them like it's a special group because it's so big. Um and we're just excited to see what the the future holds and we're going to support them like you're hearing it. Not just from the district office, from their mentors, from their grade levels, from their principles. Everybody wants them
013to success, be successful, and uh I think you heard that today. So, we're excited to see how the year rolls out. >> Indeed. Board members, any final thoughts, comments before we let these hardworking people? >> Just real quick, I've said it before and I'll say it again here tonight. Um I think D41 is the best damn district in the state and I'm really welcome you. I'm happy to welcome you here and um I'm glad that you're here to be a part of it. And I think what's really important, what makes D41 the district that it is is our staff. Um and what you're saying here tonight and just those few minutes above force you to come up and talk is that reinforces that that it is the staff and that camaraderie between staff and putting
014those students first. So welcome and welcome to the staff. Welcome to the district. Well, with that then, uh, if no one else has any Katie to know, uh, we'll let you. You've had a long workday and we'll, uh, we'll let you go. Thank you so much for coming and maybe promise to come back at the end of the year and we'll ask again. We'll see how happy is, right? And we'll and then we'll see whether or not there are any outstanding questions, too. All right. Thank you. Thank you, David. Thank you all. [Applause] Okay. All right, we're going to get into the presentations uh part of our meeting and the first one up is on the strategic plan. A look at priority number four in the metric update and I'm going to turn to Dr.
015McHugh to introduce this. All right. Well, Erica Crabial, our chief communications officer, is going to co-present with me. This is the first of many metrics reports. We now have eight metrics on our strategic plan. We want to keep these front and center at board meetings out in the community with staff, and we're starting off with goal four, which is strengthening community connections. Now on our strategic plan, our two communication metrics are we asked the parents last spring and community members. This was everybody everybody who is a a taxpayer to our school district. We asked them two questions. District 41 communicates with me effectively and district 41 provides opportunities for me to provide feedback. 84% noted that they agreed that we communicate effectively and 83% agreed that we provide opportunities to to prov to provide feedback.
016When we looked at these measures, we thought that's pretty good. The people who took the survey clearly are feeling many are feeling like we're communicating effectively and offering opportunities to provide feedback, but not all. And I think in district 41, we strive for greatness. We set the bar at the end of not not this school year but next school year to be at 90% or above for both of those metrics. [Music] The reason that we feel so strongly that we want to pull people in more is the Wii and we are D41. And we do strongly feel we have an incredible staff, terrific administration, a great board. We need to engage families. We need to engage the community and students to really round out that we and we we are working on many levels to
017do that. And it all starts with this. One of the things I said on opening day to staff is to me if the three most important things in real estate are location, location, location, the three most important things in education are relationships, relationships, relationships. And I feel like we have really committed to leaning into conversations, especially tough conversations when maybe people aren't happy with things that are going on, being present, getting out there, being in schools, our our administrators are getting in buildings, uh the board is getting out there, and it's creating opportunities for conversations. So, to get to 90%, I'm going to throw this to Erica. She's going to talk about how we're doing that both within the communications department and at the district level >> in the buildings with our staff and administration
018and then what you the board have been doing and then we'll talk about where we go from here. >> All right. Well, I love this slide because this represents what we're do already doing in present time. These are some recent photos of us building a culture of connection and building on the foundation that already exists here in district 41. So you'll see, you know, we participated in our first Fourth of July parade. We welcomed everyone to the new ribbon cutting and celebrated with, you know, over a hundred people across the community. We volunteer with the Lions Club. You'll see Jeff there. You know, I don't know if a lot of people know this, but there are 250 kids in our district that receive snack packs through Kuanas, and that's packed every single week. And so
019Jeff and I know several of you on the board have done that with us too. Uh we had the student advisory committee there represented and then um earlier at the beginning of the school year, Rotary had us out partnering with them doing a back to school fair. So um there's already a lot going on, but what we're going to do is is be a little more strategic and intentional in building these relationships and making the connections. So that starts with the with the district level. The this is a layered approach. So like Jeff said, you're going to hear about the district. You're going to hear about what staff and administrators are doing and really importantly what the board is doing and how you're contributing to the Wii as well. So we've strategically made some adjustments
020and one of those adjustments is creating communication guidelines for all staff. I'll talk about that a little bit later as well, but we're looking at how quickly are we responding to families? How often are we connecting? How much are we talking about specific students? And that is we're just asking all staff to lean in like Jeff said earlier. So that leaning in is going to create more connections and principles are working with their staff at their buildings to talk about this and how to do it. It is somewhat of a science actually, believe it or not, to have a structure because once uh the school year starts going, time starts to go faster and faster. But we need to make time for relationships and being intentional. And then I also had before the start of
021the year I had the opportunity to meet with new staff and we did a training on building relationships as well there. So we're starting to be very intentional about this work. Uh we also have the superintendence councils which was new last year. These are wonderful opportunities to meet different stakeholders in person along with gathering feedback through surveys like the five essentials, humanex, school perceptions, and then some more informal surveying like what we did with the personal tech devices which we all know directly influenced that policy that we have implemented this year and Jeff will talk a little bit more about that. We have a new website that's launched and so this is exciting. It's a work in progress. The website is never done. But I wanted to share one of my favorite new features about
022the website and that is that we have added a welcome center. And this welcome center was something that an idea that came out of the last strategic plan. And so now we're seeing it come to life. Thank you. So, with all of these different communications, I just thought you might be interested in seeing how we're reaching through social media, our digital communications, our print news, our website. So, these are some of the analytics that uh are up to date just from this past month. And our community partnerships. This is really a point of pride for us in the district. We This is not an exhaustive list. This is just what would fit on my little banner slide, but we try to give back to the community as much as they give to us. And I'm
023really proud of our district for doing that. Whether it's principles or like you saw Jeff or you all going and snack packing or volunteering, it's really a wonderful partnership. We're grateful to them and that they also in return work with us and truly would do anything for us that our students need and our families need. I want to highlight just quickly how really special our relationship is with the Glennon Police Department and the fire department. The trainings that they do with us and uh they spend significant time with our staff and there's going to be a parent session for safety coming up next month that's being scheduled. So just it's we're so connected with one another and that's what makes it work. And I don't think it's like that everywhere in every district. So I
024just wanted to highlight that as something very unique to us. All right. And back to another layer, the teachers and the administrators. Earlier I mentioned the communications and engagement guidelines that came from the district that we're embedding starting from our newest staff all the way to people that have been in the district for a long time. And here are just some examples of what are in those guidelines. I mean, I could do a full presentation just on this, but quickly I wanted to share that we always encourage people to respond as soon as possible, especially if it's an emergency. However, we know that everyone's busy and teachers are teaching during the day. So, we had said within these guidelines within 48 hours for non-emergency situations, but of course, as soon as you can is always
025preferred. Teachers are sending out weekly communications and connecting individually with parents throughout the school year. Not to say they weren't doing it before, but we're highlighting it and saying that, you know, this is something we should be doing and we want everyone to have a system in their lives and to think about it so that it happens intentionally. Um and further one of my favorite new additions is that we have created a wed41 calendar for cabinet members and administrators to then share with staff which include um different events like community organization events, PTA school-based events, visits to school throughout the week. You know, cabinet members will will join Jeff and and go around to different schools to engage that way. So again, just bringing us back to building that culture of connection through relationships. And
026the next one and uh your work as a board is I say the most significant but very significant is a significant part of all of this and that's because the community chose you and you represent them. And so you already do this work in so many ways as we all do. And so I just wanted to remind you and show you how impressive of a list of all that you're doing as a board already. And I know you have more ideas for this for the future as well, but the committee of the whole meetings were impressively attended last year and I believe that's because you chose timely topics and also topics that were of interest to the community. We had standing room only and that was really really exciting and it was meaningful to the
027community. You also celebrate at board meetings the staff that came today but regularly with kids and music and so keeping that celebration alive is also bringing people in so you can meet them and shake hands in person uh is a highlight. Uh in addition you participate in community service and you attend school events and I don't know if everyone knows that there's a board member at every PTA meeting which is I mean doesn't happen in my children's school district so I think that's really special as well. and you present district 41 on community boards like the D41 Kids Foundation and the Partnership for Educational Progress PEP Foundation. So, there are more. This is not again an exhaustive list, but I just want to thank you for being such a strong part of the Wii as
028we continue to strengthen our connections in the community and that will lead us to greatness. >> You stole my line. So we will continue to update you on communication and engagement efforts. We have three committee the whole meetings coming up. So those will be topics that will we'll be looking for topics to pack the house again. And I just want to give a shout out like you said Erica to the the staff has gone I think above and beyond. Our cabinet team in back has been um extremely visible seeking feedback connecting with people working in as many stakeholders as we can. I'm really proud of that. Our our principles are doing it at the building level and assistant principles and then the teachers and staff and um hopefully you are feeling that those of you
029with with children in our system still that they're really focusing on those three Rs. Relationships, relationships, relationships. Um, first of all, thank you uh for the uh presentation and we should also acknowledge and you went through that slide a little quicker uh than my eyes could capture but you had a slide that had some numbers and it was the way people were in engaging. Thank you. Uh, and I think this also is a credit to work that you're doing, Erica, to try to get a message out in a multitude of of different ways and giving people options for how they um for how they engage. And I, you know, I wonder how you So, first of all, thank you for that because that's on top of everything else that you that you noted. But I
030but I wondered what your u impression was of the impression. >> You know, >> it's grown so much in the last few years and through the pandemic too where we just started doing so much more digitally. So even though we've had District Digest for as long as I've been here, just 12 years, we, you know, just not too long ago started being more active on LinkedIn. And that's a partnership between David and myself and the HR and communications department. Uh Instagram is not as uh we haven't had that as long as Facebook, for example, but we do know the majority of our social engagement online is through Facebook. So, we do we do, you know, make sure that we get our messages out through the social media channels that are being used more and more.
031And so, I'm really happy with that. And I in August, just in August, we had 35,000 visits to our new website. >> So, I was pleased with that number. I wasn't sure what it would be, but we're going to keep monitoring that and looking to see what parts of the website people are going to the most through the analytics and partnering with the tech department and fisel on that as well and search engine marketing and all this optimization and all the things. So, um I'm really happy with the results when we put all of this together. I think we are reaching a lot of people, but we can continue to do more >> and we have some ideas. >> Yeah, I bet you do. board. Any reactions, questions for either Jeff or Eric? Go. >>
032What does the bottom corner thing say? >> So, that's we have a district 41 app and it's there 12 uh 1,277 downloads. >> Okay. Couldn't see the word download. Thanks. >> I just wanted to know, you know, you you talked with the school board and you talked about, you know, the attendance at the committee, the whole meetings last year. Uh I don't think any point point of that of recognition should go to this board. I think you know when this subcommittee is put together when Jeff was brought in a lot of that the talk was we do a lot of communication but what can we do to more effectively communicate and I think you know the attendance at those cows that you as an example that you use is more a result of the effectiveness
033of communication and the changes that have been brought about to more effectively communicate that are that that show that that result so I don't want to see that, you know, that praise going to the board. It needs to go to, you know, the communications that, you know, the work that has been done to how do we effectively communicate better with this community and then what is being shown by the effectiveness of that communication bringing people out here. So, good job on your guys' end. >> It's always a good sign when nobody wants to take credit. You can get a lot done right and you don't worry about who takes the credit. Anyone else? Yes. Okay. Well, Dr. McHugh, anything from you? Erica, thank you. Keep up the good work. Much appreciated. All right. We will
034then move into our public participation portion of the meeting. Members of the public who wish to adjust the board should complete a form and submit it to Mrs. Moch. We ask that speakers respect that we are obligated to adhere to YouTube community guidelines and are asked to maintain respectful to limit comments to three minutes or less with about 30 seconds left in your comments. I'll politely uh interrupt to remind you to finish up. Mrs. smoke. Anyone wishing to make public comment this evening? >> Magdalina Nuinski. >> Thank you. Please. And Magdalene, make sure that the mic is turned on that it's green. There may be a button there. >> Yeah, there you go. And it'll turn green there. Okay, you're good. Please start. >> Well, good evening everyone. My name is Magdalana. Um my daughter
035attends Forest Glenn and the issue that I'm bringing in to the board is buzz number four. I don't know if you remember last school year we had some issues. Um it's been ongoing but um with new school year I decided to kind of monitor the days for the pickups and for the drop offs. How is it going? So far the mornings are good. The pickup is on time. the kid gets to school on time and she still has available time to start the day. The only thing that we've noticed is there's a different bus driver in the morning and the one in the afternoon. Uh the one in the afternoon that drives, Mrs. Key, um she was the driver for the last school year. She's awesome. So the kids love her. At least my Emma
036loves her. Um but we've noticed it's just the difference bus drivers. But it's good. I think it's just the routes that they set up just to make sure that it's enough drivers which there was a discussion last school year like if there's enough drivers to make sure that um all the buses are covered. The only thing that we've noticed it happened more than twice the buses get delayed to pick up the kids from school. Um usually it's 20 25 minutes. It happened like two or three times. We get a call from the school that the bus is being delayed and the kids will need to wait additional 5 to 10 minutes, but it's already like 4:45 450 at the time. I'm sorry, 3:45, 350. And usually the bus for at least my daughter's uh drop
037off gets around 5, like 4:45, 4:50. Last bus drop that was delayed um she got like at 5. and the bus driver, it was a different bus driver. He missed the stop, but he went back. Um, but he noticed that he missed the stop. So, but he went to the other girls. It's just the issue of that. But otherwise, it's going well so far. Um, but just to kind of give a points on that and um I'll keep monitoring um probably for the next month. Hopefully, I I'm able to come in and just kind of give you a feedback of how it's going. But I'm happy with the morning cuz it was the issue last time. So I'm happy with the morning and other parents too. And sometimes the bus driver is usually maybe couple
038minutes before which is fine. You know, you always be there like 10 minutes before your time pickup pickup. But um it's just a good uh good to see that it's improving. >> Good. Good. >> Okay. >> Well, that's very good. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> And really appreciate the very efficient feedback, too. Thank you. Okay. Well, let's move into reports and we will start with the superintendent report. Dr. McHugh. Okay. I have five things on the report tonight. They're all fairly quick unto themselves. Let's start with kindergarten center. At the last board meeting, we were eagerly a awaiting the ribbon cutting ceremony. You all were there. For those who weren't, I believe you can go on the website and see video of it. Can we not, Erica, for that? So, it was
039a just a fantastic celebration of all of the hard work of of putting up this building and everything that went into it. Um, again, big shout out to Dave Scarardo, Eric Deorter, uh, and everybody else who made the opening such a success. We had a great start to the year there, too. Um, as Brian, the music teacher there, had said, everything's new. We're learning every day, and boy are they ever. And as they're they're figuring this out day by day. I was just there last week. It is amazing that they've been there three weeks, Amy. A little over three weeks. And student, it looks like they've been there all year. Like I I it's just amazing. A building 200 some 5-year-olds. It looks like they've been here all year. I don't know how they are
040when they get home, but in school they are on point. And there is an article, not sure if you saw this in the Daily Herald. This was Saturday's Daily Herald on the Kindergarten Center. Um features Sarah Rodriguez. Just a really nice piece that gives you a well-rounded view of um everything that goes in on a daily basis to making it happen. Um and thank you to the board for making it happen as well. [Music] TRS and IMRF reports. These are two reports that according to school code we need to present publicly every year which we are doing so right now. So we are going to check those off. If you have questions about this afterwards, please see Eric Deorter transportation. It was really nice to hear um the the comments from that parent. Uh Eric
041is is nodding his head right now because he and Shannon Sidler have been working um extremely hard to get busing to greatness. Last year it was not even close to greatness and this year we're monitoring it very closely because it's going to need to get there. We've seen improvements one through eight in some cases dramatic improvements. There are some buses that aren't there yet but Eric and Shannon are partnering with Safeway. Uh the disappointing part has been the little ones has been preschool and kindergarten. Um for a number of reasons were a little bit behind the eightball of of where we wanted them to be. And I know Eric and Shannon some days I think that's all you do is just non-stop with busing. And while it is turning around, it's we still recognize it's
042not where it needs to be. But just know it is not for a lack of work on our part. And we are going to hold Safeway to that same standard. They need to be great. We have a new penalty structure in place. you approved it last spring. Uh there were only three days of school in August and kindergarten and pres kindergarten and preschool hadn't even started yet. So we gave them a three-day grace period. We will be enacting penalties for the month of September. That'll come to you in October for some of the routes that weren't on point. Personal and instructional technology. So that was the logo that we are using. If you walk into a D41 building, you'll see that logo everywhere. I remember at the August board meeting, I said, "If everybody just
043holds the line, it's going to be fine." It has been more than fine from my standpoint. I'll just speak for myself. When I'm in buildings, I do not see students on phones because they don't have them. I do not see students on watches because they're not on their wrists. I haven't heard a single complaint from a student. I talked to a lot of kids, not a single one. Teachers seem happier. Parent responses overall have been good. It is going far better than I could have dreamed. And I think that is because of number one the work that the staff and administration including everybody at the back table, our building principles, assistant principles, teachers are united. I think it's the families too. Families are recognizing what we're trying to here. And then the kids kids are
044going to kids are flexible. They'll they'll go with whatever. The kids are always the easiest part in my book. So so far so good, but we know it's going to eb and flow. But now we're going to talk about instructional technology. So that was one of my big ahas when we went through the engagement last year. people really want to talk about and by instructional technology I don't just mean the Chromebooks it's not just the devices it's how we use the devices so we're going to run this through the same process do a lot of engagement Dr. Webster, um, Fiselbe, myself, Erica, we're going to be doing a lot of engagement with the broader community as we look at how are we using instructional technology in D41. So stay tuned for that. And lastly, you
045might have seen a full house in the office right over here. At the last board meeting, you approved a specialed review of Dr. Leanne Frost, the consultant, and she was going to be doing some facilitated office hours. Well, we had the first one at 5:00. They just cleared out of here now. And there's another one tomorrow. It's virtual. What these are is, and Molly, I'm gonna try to I'm gonna try to say it correctly. If not, just give me the stop talking sign. Um, the reason that they're called office hours is it's not a set come in and talk for 30 minutes because what Dr. Frost is really doing is gathering a group of parents, um, hearing from them, being able to really sift through questions. I don't believe there's a time limit on these
046because she needs to make it flexible based on the group. if there's three versus 30. So, you'll see 5:00. What time does it end? It ends when it ends. There's no RSVP, I believe. You can just come on in and you can come into whichever school you want, I believe. Um, and these are open to all families of D41 students. There's also uh, as you can see, some interpreted sessions and we are also doing having opportunities for staff to weigh in. We want a robust picture. We are D41. We want a picture of what everybody is thinking about what's working well in special education. Where are opportunities for growth? I want to thank Molly for all the work that you've done. And um Dr. Frost, I believe she's going to come to the board in
047December with that full report. These, for those of you watching at home, are also on the website. If you go to the main landing page, there is a a special education review block right under news. You can click there. Um and please come. We'd love to hear your thoughts and your feedback. That's all I got. Questions? >> Jay? Y >> Jeeoff, I wasn't here for the last meeting when the board approved the special education reviews. I just I wanted to just say something to add to that point. I think continuing to monitor your programs, whether it be special education or what have you. Um extremely, it's extremely important in continuing the betterment of your programs. Uh this will be the third special ed review that the district has done since I've been on the board.
048Um, and I remember the first one. It was a big deal. And I remember the second one. It was a, well, we did this a few years ago. Like, like, do we have to do this again? I didn't need to show up for the last one because it wasn't a big deal. And I think when you start embedding audits and reviews into your programming, um, all you're going to do is continue to improve that programming. uh you know when we first had the special education strate strategic planning committee one of the things that I repeated was I don't want to see a perfect special education program because if you get a special education program that's perfect the next day it's not and what I want to see is special education program that is continuing to
049strive to be the best that it can be and by continuing these audits that's another step in continuing to better the program so I was very happy that that was brought to the board I was really happy that the board approved that we absent. So, thanks >> Dr. Martelli. I want to make sure that we give you an opportunity um to join in if you had any questions or comments for Dr. McHugh. >> Questions or comments for Dr. McHugh? >> Uh I do not at this time and I think I was applying the ointment with the echo earlier. So, I'll leave my comments to a minimum tonight. Thanks for falling on your sword there, Dr. Martelli. Okay. Um, anyone else? Yes, Amy. >> I wanted to add to the comment on kindergarten since Dr. McHugh
050kept kind of looking over and say that at least for my family, it's been very, very positive. My daughter wants to go back every day. It's so fun. I get to do all kinds of new things. And on Friday, if we behave, it's the koala way. We get to go down the slide. >> So, a very positive experience. >> Thanks, Amy. >> And and is it true that our own Dave Scarmmado >> heard >> took a ride down the slide? >> But I heard >> safety first. >> You got to >> Hey, when does the board get to do that? >> He was following the Koala way. We get board invitations for board members to go down with. >> Okay. >> A new voting system. >> Wonderful. All right. Yes. Anyone? Yes, Ted. >> Uh,
051I wanted to share a quick little anecdote from from the opening. I was talking to some of the construction crew who had obviously been there for months and um they were telling me how they were sure that that there were lots of kids anxiously waiting to get the get the place open because they were constantly having to clean off fingerprints and newsprints from the window outside of the building. these kids coming over and visiting and trying to learn. So, >> great. Yes, Katie, please. >> I just want to add a big thank you on transportation to Eric and Shannon and Jeff and everyone who has been staying on top of it. Um, I mean, this was our first year riding buses and I've heard all the stories and didn't know what to expect. And I
052did not expect to be yelling at my kids to get out the door because the bus's coming and that is happening right now. And it has just been wonderful. And I know that's because of all the work that you're putting in. So from the parent side, thank you. >> Wonderful. Wonderful. I just want to note that all the items that you noted, all of them um certainly noteworthy. I'm really pleased that uh your you and your district team is focusing on technology use in the in the classroom. Uh it's a it's something nationally being debated. It's come up in this community. Um I think people on the board also have expressed some questions. I think it's the right thing to do. It's the courageous thing to do. It's it's a big thing, frankly. Uh, but
053I'm I really appreciate that you're that you're taking it on and that you moved on it uh so quickly. So, we'll we'll uh we'll see where we go with the community on this issue, but a really important one. Thank you. Okay. All right. Uh let's then pivot uh to board reports. And you heard Erica talk about all of the reports and the things we do in the community. So, boy, I sure hope we got a bunch of reports tonight. Uh, so who's got a report to make us look good? >> Ah, good. Katie, go. >> I'm getting ready for this one because we were It's Amy and I together a little bit. So, um, two sat week and a half ago on Saturday, we attended a super Saturday through the Illinois Association of School Boards
054for new board members. It was in Neighborville. Um, it was a 9 to3 event and it was all new board members. um both within DUP page and other areas throughout the state and we went through all there were all kinds of different sessions. It was principles of effective governance attorneys spoke about the open meetings act and we went through different scenarios. Is this a violation? Is this not a violation of OMA? Um we talked about our role in board policy and then also there was someone fantastic who spoke about advocacy and um the role that school boards play in that specifically in Illinois. I think Bob and Julie probably have something to share about that because Amy and I were like, "That's Bob and Julie, huh?" Um, >> one analogy they shared that I thought
055was really awesome was they talked about the balcony versus the dance floor. You guys have probably heard this when you've gone to Super Saturday. Um, but for as a new board member, it really helped me understand that the district and the administration, they're the people on the dance floor and the board members are up above in the balcony. Um, I don't know. I just thought it was a very like realistic way of figuring out how we all work together. And then um oh we there was one really good suggestion we found when they talked about public comment. Um some I forget which board suggested this but they talked about maybe having the timer up on the screen so whoever is speaking can see exactly how much time they have left. >> Um so we thought
056that was a really interesting suggestion. And then to close it out, um, we brought some trivia for the board and maybe Dr. McHugh. Um, and that is how many school boards in Illinois do you think are members of the Illinois Association of School Boards? >> Well, I happen to know this answer, so I'm going to let one of the other board members take a guess. >> How many Go ahead. >> I was going to say someone who knows could be Ted. That' be my guess. So we should just defer the board's answer to tech. I don't know. It's like a lifeline. If I were to guess, who would be the most likely? >> I've heard the number over and over again and it doesn't stick. >> Is it starts with >> 67? >> Starts with
057an eight. >> Is it is it all >> Jay? I really don't know the answer. I'm just trying to get somebody else to take the heat off of me. >> There. What is there? 862 boards. >> You're so close. There there's 849 who are members of the association >> and >> oh Dr. Martelli >> how many Dr. Mortelli >> how many did Google say >> Katie what's the answer >> it's 849 and they said that is 99% of school boards in the state. Yes. So almost everyone. >> Okay. Strong support for the state association. Wonderful. >> Any more trivia? >> No more. There was one more. I didn't I didn't write it down. No more trivia. Um >> Erica, that could be a new feature to be a trivia question. Every board No, you don't.
058>> Okay. No trivia. >> All right. >> And then the only other update I had um I attended the meeting for the PEP um partnership for educational progress that Erica was speaking about and Erica Nelson, the president, is really wonderful. We had lunch um separately and she sort of filled me in on everything that PEP does and how we can get involved. Um, and she's really looking forward, I think, to re-engaging the community and making sure everyone is aware of the scholarships that PEP provides, but also having various funds for teachers and what they can do to help schools. So, more coming in that area. >> Wonderful. Well, they are a great organization, so it's good to hear about them >> rearing up. Amy, maybe I'll >> I was gonna say, can I go next
059so I can >> Yes. And >> I also attended Super Saturday with Katie and wholeheartedly agree on the timer for public comment. I just think it would allow people to pace themselves a little better, make sure they get all their thoughts in. Um, the other thing they emphasized was the importance of mentorship. So, I want to thank Ted for sitting down with me for a mentor meeting and going over board procedures and norms and where to find different information. So, thank you. >> You're welcome. >> And the one quote that stuck with I don't know if it stuck with you too, Katie, but they said the the quote that everyone was kind of taking away was the biggest room is the room for improvement to always try and >> do better. >> So, that was
060super Saturday. And hold on, I have my notes. I also attended the D41 Kids Foundation meeting. They officially welcomed Steve Mico as a new member to their board. >> So, I know many of you know him and it's exciting that he is continuing his volunteer work. Um, September is their big month for back to school and their supplies for success program donated 593 school supply kits and 385 backpacks for students in need. So, thank you so much to the D41 Kids Foundation for that. >> And as the weather is getting colder, um they are getting ready for their winter outerwear program to make sure kids are properly clothed in the cold weather. And my third one, this was the last one, I also attended the Hadley PTA meeting. Um, they did talk about the personal
061tech policy and said they have not had a problem at all with it, that it's been going very smoothly. Um, and they talked about curriculum night that they were having it. Um, the parents did comment on ebike concerns and scooters. Mhm. >> Um they were very concerned about, you know, driving when they were going to pick up kids and kids zipping around and um emphasized to please make sure you share with your kids to be careful and obey the rules of the road. And they are going to have a presentation in October for rules of the road and safety. And with that, I'm done with my reports. >> Well done. You were busy. Thank you, Amy. All right. Someone who isn't Katie or Amy then and didn't attend the Super Saturday. Jason, >> I attend
062a Super Saturday eight years ago. Nine years ago. >> Um I remember it was the night of one of my kids graduations and I was rushing back to the Glenard Western graduation. Um I'll always remember that. Um but I attended the as a result of that I attended the Churchill PTA meeting um last week. Um good meeting. the new principal was there which was was great to see. Uh one of the the main topic for that was brought up to me was just pedestrian walking and those kind of concerns. um specifically traffic as to Hawthird in in Geneva and just safe walking paths and I know and I I mentioned it to Jeff and I remember was it last year I think it was last year that uh McGllen Police Department as Eric said we
063have a good partnership with came and gave a presentation to PGA Council specifically about traffic and the safety plan of the Hawthorne and I didn't know if there's information that could be shared as to that um and a request was uh information to go out just like what are the safe walking paths they see people walking here there and everywhere just what are the safe walking paths so they can best communicate that out um to to students and the families >> yeah good yeah important yeah very important uh Ted >> right so um a month ago I had the pleasure of attending the welcome staff back celebration and several other people. That's always a good time. Um and uh a lot of good energy. A lot of good energy. Um and Dr. McHugh emphasized some
064of those same messages that he shared here tonight about um relationships and greatness. Apparently, you said the same thing at the PTA council meeting a week or two ago. It's the same the same message over and over >> because I went to the Abraham Lincoln and the Ben Franklin PTA meetings in this last month. Both of and heard about your PTA council presentation. Um, as as Erica mentioned, it's actually pretty unusual for school board members to be going to the PTA, but I appreciate that opportunity. I'm glad that we're invited to go because it gives me a little insight of of like all all the stuff that is happening, you know, and it's really impressive the amount of work that goes on in terms of enriching the experience for kids, >> right? And then I
065I'll give you I think I've done this pitch before. Even if you don't belong to the PTA, sign up for their newsletter so you know what's going on, right? But becoming a member is a good idea too because they need the money to do those programs. But uh but for example, I'm on the mailing list for all of them. So I get I get all of them. Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you, Ted. And Julie, I know Julie, you'll have more to say. >> I'm gonna save mine for later to talk about later. >> Yeah. Okay. We'll give you that opportunity. Uh, and I just wanted to note in closing that I can attest I I was a witness uh to Dr. McHugh's presentation at the PTA Exec Council because I was sitting in the room
066and I and I heard it all I heard it all said. Uh and I will actually also defer some comments to the board governance period because one of the things I do want to ask the board is to consider another book study and some interesting ideas were floated by PTA exec council. So Dr. Martelli, I don't want to leave you out of this. Do you have a board report that you'd like to present? >> Yeah, sure. I attended the forest blend board meeting and we talked about a lot of the things that were already discussed at tonight's meeting. Uh we talked about transportation. We talked about the full AK ribbon cutting. Um I mentioned our board member David and then we also had a reminder about the personal tech policy and then got into much
067of what Dr. McHugh talked about regarding uh technology use in school. So, it was a very good board uh PTA meeting and much of what we talked about has already been discussed and echoed in previous comments. >> Thank you, Chris. All right. Very good. Thank you, board. Eric, I think we met the bar. Did we? Did we? Okay, good. Well, we'll keep trying to do better, right? Room for improvement as Amy noted for us. Okay. Uh thank you. Let's move on to a discussion item. And this is uh something that we need to do. We always do. Uh fund transfers. Uh Eric, please. >> Yes. As you mentioned, this is an annual process um where we bring to the board a discussion and then the following month action connected to transferring funds out of our
068education fund into the appropriate in this case operations and maintenance fund and capital projects fund. This is in order to comply with the Illinois school code fund accounting rules. Um very standard process. Uh so as you'll see this uh this year we're transferring $5.26 million out of the ED fund into those two funds. The bulk of that transfer obviously is connected to the full day K project. Um we still need to move some money into the capital projects fund to cover the trailing kind of final uh expenditures that we need to pay out to contractors to complete that project. Um and as I mentioned, we do this each year uh later tonight when you're asked to approve the budget. These amounts are included within the budget. So, similar to what we've done in previous years.
069>> Thank you. All right. Any other questions for Eric? Very good. All right. Then we've got a list of action items. Uh we begin with the consent agenda. And are there any items board members would like to have removed from the consent agenda to be considered separately? All right. Hearing none, then may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda which includes the employment recommendations, resignations, and retirements with resignations as noted on the personnel report, revisions to the job descriptions for the assistant superintendent of teaching, learning, and accountability and the 12-month principal position, disposal of surplus property, freedom of information act report, the investment schedule, monthly revenue expenditure summary report, school district payment order, summary of bills and payroll, treasurer's report, board meeting minutes from August 9, August 18th, the regular meeting, and then
070uh the same night, August 18th, the closed meeting minutes as presented. May I have a motion? >> Motion. >> Second, >> Mrs. Mo, roll call, please. >> Dr. Martelli. >> Oops. >> Where'd he go? >> Hey, where you going? his back to us. >> Yes, >> Becker. Yes. >> Mrs. Leau, >> yes. >> Mr. Resties, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hill, >> yes. >> Mr. Robach, >> yes. >> Dr. Bruno, >> yes. Thank you very much. All right, we've got um a couple of recommendations. We begin with uh board policy revisions. May I have a motion to revise the board policy as outlined in the board report? >> Motion. Second. uh a discussion on this, maybe a brief just note of why we're why we have this on the agenda. Ted, I'm I'm not an expert
071on it, but you got the the um uh uh motivation for it from from uh Mrs. Mo. Uh this is in preparation for um now I can't remember exactly what it was. It's very minor, but um >> it's a >> Here we go. >> So, um there's a submission deadline with with the state board of education that we're we're meeting in order to make sure that we're in alignment. >> Okay. Good. All right. That's it. We're good. Thank you. Very good. Then roll call, please. >> Dr. Martelli. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lobach. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hill. >> Yes. >> Mr. Estes. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Becker. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lidda? >> Yes. >> Dr. Bruno? >> Yes. Okay. Um, that passes. And then to approve the 2526 fiscal year budget. And earlier in
072the meeting, the board held a public hearing on 2526 budget. May I have a motion to approve the 2526 fiscal year budget as presented and outlined in the board report? >> Motion. >> Second. >> Any further discussion? >> Very good. Mrs. Mo, roll call. >> Dr. Martelli. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lobach. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hill. >> Yes. >> Mr. Estes. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Leau. >> Yes. >> Miss Becker. >> Yes. >> Dr. Bruno. >> Yes. And motion passes. And then finally, um, man, we just got right back into doing it, right? It's like non-stop. Authorize to prepare the 26 26 27 fiscal year mo budget. May I have a motion to approve the resolution authorizing the administration to prepare for the 2627 fiscal year budget as outlined in the board report? >> Motion.
073>> Second. >> Very good. Any discussion? And finally, Mrs. Milro call please >> Dr. Martelli. >> Yes. >> Mr. Lobach. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Leau. >> Yes. >> Miss Becker. >> Yes. >> Mr. Rusties. >> Yes. >> Mr. Sill. >> Yes. >> Dr. Bruno. >> Yes. Very good. Motion passes. All right. Then let's move on to our board governance learning together segment of the meeting. And we've got two uh pieces here. And we're going to lead off uh with Miss Hill giving her robust advocacy report. >> I thought later would be much later. That went fast. >> Um I I I will keep it short. Um last weekendish, Bob and I attended a conference in Washington DC with the See if I can do the acronym, Bob. The Consortion of State School Board Associations. >>
074Oh, you did well. of which Illinois is one of 25 state associations that belong to this. Um and so we had one day of um hotel basement conference learning stuff and then one day on the hill talking to legislators. Um so that first day um was a lot about kind of like government happenings. Um we had a session on AI which I thought was really interesting. I know we've sort of dipped our toes in it at this table um over the last couple years and um had a really I thought fascinating presentation. I took a ton of notes on that one. Um and then Bob and I earlier this week I think I've lost track of time. It's a flat circle but I think it was earlier this week we met with last week met
075with um Dr. McHugh here. Um so just you know they talked about a lot about like does your state have guidance or not on how you use it in schools and education. Um, Illinois does not. It's supposed to be coming like next spring, I think. Um, and so then I was sort we were Bob and I were wondering about, you know, internal policies and I know I know we have some, but they're basic and they're old because this technology and the usage of it has moved so fast um that, you know, as soon as you write it down, it's kind of already out of date. Um, and sort of what are the policy implications for all these things, especially with like face and voice and privacy concerns. um you know, we need to make sure
076we protect the people that work at D41 and the students who um attend here. Um anyway, so I thought that was a fascinating presentation. And then our main purpose was to oh and then the very end of the day were state breakout sessions where we actually had an actor train us and she taught us a lot about um like how to communicate with people even if they're not going to agree with you and how to make sure um you know you have their attention and they have yours and we sort of we played this game I guess where we I don't I don't couldn't tell you how many people how many of us were there and 20 30 >> more people were there more than 20 20 or 30 people in a circle and you
077had an imaginary ball and you would have to like throw the imaginary ball to somebody else and to throw an imaginary ball and be like, "What do we say, Bob?" You would have to call to look in their eyes or what get their attention and say, "Ball red." And then, you know, and then they would have to catch the ball and say, "Ball red or red ball" or whatever. And then you and then eventually we had several quote unquote balls going through the air and it became a mess. And at the end of the game, you know, four people have a red ball and you're like, "Well, there's only one red ball." So, communications got crossed, right? So, it didn't work. And so, then the game changed. It's like, "Oh, I can I don't have
078to stand here. I can walk over there and hand the person the ball." So, the person knows that they have the ball. And then they introduced silly things like a snake and a, you know, all kinds of stuff. And at some point, there was a baby. And at some point, the guy with the baby was like, "I'm not going to throw the baby. I'll just hold the baby." So, he just held on to the baby the whole time. Again, all imaginary, just air. Nothing really actually changed hands. Um, and no actual babies, just to be very clear. Um, so, and then we talked about, you know, we broke into smaller groups talking about who's going to which meeting, h, who's going to talk, especially with the senators. The senator meetings were huge. I'm talking to
079like orange chairs. I'm sorry. Um, senator meetings were huge. So, we really broke down like who's talking about which topic. Um, and so we were mostly there to talk about title one funding, title two funding, and IDEA funding. And there were also, um, some people were more focused on -ate because that meant a lot more to them. We do use it in our district, but I think it's more essential in other districts, um, for their specific needs. So, I I'm sorry, I'm trying to make it short. It was a It was a busy two days, and it was fascinating and empowering. It was really cool. Um, side note, thank you for this opportunity. I I loved it. Um, so our first meeting was Senator Duckworth. Um, she was a really enthusiastic supporter of public school
080funding, particularly passionate about um, IDA and um, really passionate about like high school districts. So D87 people, if you're listening, talk to to Senator Duckworth people because she really wants to help you do a lot of different things. Um, so, so yeah, she was like, "Yes, and we can do this. Yes, and I wanted to do this. Yes, they messed that up. We should do this." You know, it was she was all in on what we were talking and, you know, became more of a conversation. Um, and then Bob and I met with Congressman Casten and Congresswoman uh Ramirez who uh represent different parts of District 41 area. Um, and they were also very supportive of public school funding. Um, and then I just have some bullet points here. Expressed some disappointment and frustration with
081the cuts um, from HR1. That was the bill that was passed in summer. When did that pass? Summer. >> Um, and the upcoming proposed budget bill unsure about government shutdowns. And that that was a big topic of conversation. It's always like a magic eightball. I mean, you don't really know. Um, Congressman Casten asked about um aggregated district-wide data on mental health issues. Um, if you guys recall a couple years ago through his office, D41 got a $250,000 mental health grant. >> Yes. >> Um, and we forgot to follow up with you on the numbers for that. Um, so we can do that later. Um, so he was he was following up on that because he remembered and he was like, "What kind of data do you have? like how big of a need is this?
082What what do they need and what you know did you get a way to expand that or to get money from somewhere else? And we were like definitely not. Um so he had a lot of questions and follow-up questions about that and um requested some numbers because he's you know he's trying to help too and he just needs more information to try to do a better job. Um and then I think Congresswoman Ramirez asked about tracking the absenteeism. Is that right? due to the um immigration ICE situation happening right now in the communities. Um and I think at D41 we haven't really seen much that's directly related but it's you know it it can change um so she asked a lot about that and she has a lot of this a lot of um immigrants
083in her district so that's a big focus for her. Um, so our job now is to keep, I think, doing what we're doing at this board table, continue to support and fund public education. Um, maintain those relationships with these folks that we talked to. Um, and again, thank you for sending us. It was a great learning experience. Um, I think it's really important even if people even if your legislators agree with you. I think it's so important to continue to put yourself in front of them whether it's actually physically in front of them or like a phone call or a letter or whatever. Um, just to keep it always front of mind because as I think we at this table agree and I'm sure the folks in the back table would agree, you know, our
084public schools are really cornerstones of our communities. Um, and if we don't have public education, what the heck are we doing? So, um, >> anyway, Bob, what do you have to add to that? >> I'm not gonna >> lots of things, I'm sure. >> No, no, no, no. I'm not gonna really, uh, add to it at all. It's an important place to be. What's happening at the federal government is truly, um, worrisome. Uh, it's it's destabilizing and it's could very, you know, well threaten the stability of of public schools. Uh, there's a lot of funding in those title funds. We may be fortunate that we're not overly relying on them. Uh uh but in addition to those funds and every penny counts, certainly cuts, possible cuts uh to Medicaid uh would have a higher uh
085impact and lots of grants have have been have been shuttered and per and even if they passed the continuing resolution at the same level, uh it would be uh a cut because it would be at the same level which was at the same level with the last continuing resolution. And of course, IDEA, the U individuals with disabilities, the act that grants them protections and and and ensures that they're properly um their concerns are properly addressed. The law says it should be funded at 40%. Uh local school districts, 40% of their expense should actually come from the federal government. The federal government should be providing 40%. Uh, Eric Deorter, what do we get? >> 40%. >> No, we don't get 40%. Maybe maybe we get 10. >> Yeah, I think 10 would be a >> Maybe
086we're rounding up. >> Yeah, maybe a round up to 10. >> Yeah. And so even if they continued at the same level um you can see how underfunded uh that is. And this is really Congress not funding a law that you know that they in fact passed and are constitutionally obligated to enforce. So, so it's a real challenge and it's become more so. Uh so I think we do have to be attentive to what's happening at the federal level in addition to what happens at the state level through lend to try to advocate as much as possible and the more information we provide uh to uh uh to folks at at ISB who are in a position to constantly communicate with legislators. uh the the the more our community voice is being right is being
087heard uh in in DC uh as well of course in Springfield. So and Julie did a terrific job. She took the lead in a couple of places with big groups of people particularly uh with Senator Duckworth and she did a great job. So again thank you all for giving me the opportunity to attend participate. All right. Okay. Any questions? No. All right. The the the other item here is I wanted to suggest that the board take up another book study. We have done three I believe. I believe we've done three. Um and certainly the anxious generation aligned really well with where the community was at and contributed I think to the movement that led to the policy change. and in thinking about in moving into the future when we will be within two years Dr.
088Mcu looking at a new strategic plan. Uh I'd like to recommend a book titled what school could be. You may not be familiar with it. I did provide a link uh in an email to you. uh the author Ten Ted Dmith I believe went around and visited 50 states and talked to teachers, talked to educators and he talked to them in schools all across the board, public, private, he talked to charter, he talked to small schools, he talked to rural schools, he talked to large urban schools. And the idea was to find out what are some of the really compelling interesting ways that educators are serving the needs of children. And he really put it together in a very accessible book. It's not a large book. Uh it was a it was a best-seller. There
089is a website uh that you can visit. He he has um he's the I believe the executive director of a nonprofit uh that's created a network of schools that belong to what school could be. There is a podcast. Uh I've begun to listen to some of the some of the podcasts and I think it's just it would be a really holistic book that would touch on lots of different areas and it would be a good intellectual exercise around oh they did that they did that here they did that there. Why did that work? Why didn't that work? What could it mean uh for us as we move into the future? So, I thought it would be a fun read and we'd be right at the sort of appropriate point, I think, to read a book
090like this. So, um I I know you have to read a book. I I agree. We're asking we're asking people who are busy who have lots of things to do, but we would spread it out. You know, we'd spread it out. Uh right. And I'm happy to certainly facilitate and take a lead on this book if you're interested. >> Is there an audio book, Dr. Martelli? I think you're familiar with the what school could be network. Is there an audio book? Maybe there is. I don't know. >> Based on what I've read on it, I'd be surprised if there wasn't. >> Yeah. Yeah. It's >> I'd be surprised if it wasn't. >> Yeah. You know, I don't know if there is an audio book. Um >> I have a machine in front of me. I'll
091tell you. >> I would say the second iteration of some of his work. He also wrote a book previously with Tony Wagner called most likely to succeed and Tony Wagner wrote a book uh saying something around creating innovative students and things of that nature. U the one thing I will say about the book is is that it is related to high school more high school age students. >> Yeah. But that does not mean the concepts that they're discussing in this book are not relatable to our K through grade system. They absolutely can be. And so I think if you read this and you're thinking more along the lines of high school that it's very easy to transfer this, you know, concept to the elementary ages. >> Yeah. And so I'm glad you made that point,
092Chris. That's a good distinction and certainly uh have more direct bearing immediately on the middle school. Uh so what do we think? Are are we in agreement to read this book or would you like to think on it? Would you like to have opportunities to Jason did find out that that there is an audio? >> Yep. >> Seven bucks on $7 on audio audible.com. >> There you go. Uh any thoughts? Any negative thoughts? No, no negative thoughts. >> I don't know enough to to have a positive or a negative thought. It seems like a little bit of outside the box thinking. It's a, you know, some of the guys a former venture capitalist that kind of got into education and say, "What is missing from >> kids? What is keeping kids out of different jobs?
093What what what measures are are stopping kids from continuing education, what have you." Um, I haven't spent a lot of time looking into it, but it sounds a little bit of out of the box thinking, >> you know, I read an excerpt from his TED talk about the Billy Madison project at Iowa, but it was about getting parents involved to see what a day in the life of school can be, things that right. >> Um, which again, when you when you're talking about different ways to better education for kids and involving parents in their kids' education, that doesn't seem like a bad thing. >> No, no, no. Yeah, it it is a lot of outside the box. Uh and it and it does cover the really the waterfront for ideas. Um so if we're nodding
094then we can go ahead and give this a shot. Yeah. >> Yeah. Okay. I'm seeing nods, right? Nods. Okay. Uh that's good. Um now I mentioned PTA exact council. When I when I attended the last one, I did raise this idea of of maybe well, welcoming the community as they did almost serendipitously. There was a kind of a parallel read of The Anxious Generation, but maybe we could be more intentional and perhaps do a do a book study that would be a book club uh that would involve the community in some way, shape, or form. Uh they were suggesting things like work with the the library and the bookstore to to to promote the book and to make the book available. uh possibly doing some of the uh of the book club meetings virtually. That
095might be an easier thing for them uh to participate in. You do kind of lose the immediacy of of inperson. And obviously we have our board meetings where we can uh relate to the book. Uh, but I I I know that Erica was also there and I think took copious notes and we could maybe at the next board meeting put together a kind of a proposal for for doing this. Um, and then start reading the book perhaps from that point or we can get a hold of the book before then and we can start with the community with the next board meeting. We'll see how that works. Yeah. And Yeah. and and and to to Chris's point, it there is a focus on on high schools, but the conceptual ideas really are intriguing, frankly, uh
096from one school, one chapter to the next, and I think they could be applied uh or not, but it'll certainly get us thinking uh kind of holistically. Yeah. All right. Well, well, that's great. Well, thank you. I appreciate that. Then I'll work with Erica to have something for board members to think about in the community by the next board meeting and we'll get copies of the book. Very good. All right. We have some upcoming meetings and uh we got one on October 20th which is a regular board meeting and then we've got one on November 3rd. It's a committee of the whole meeting and I'm looking forward to seeing whether we can meet our standard from the previous year, whether we can pack the house again. U I'm looking at Dr. Muda to do that.
097Uh and then we'll have another regular board meeting on November 17th and that one is kind of special even though it's not a special meeting. It's a regular meeting, but we are going to hold it at the kindergarten center. Okay. So, that will be really >> vote by slide. >> Well, vote by slide. >> All in favor slide. >> All by Oh, that's going to be exhaust. But Nancy, hopefully there won't be too many items to vote on during that meeting. Up and down the slide. All right. Well, we're looking we're really looking forward to that. All right. Uh any items board members wish to present for consideration at future meetings? Very good. Then it is now 752. >> Motion >> p.m. May I have a motion to adjourn the September 22nd, 2025 regular board
098meeting? Jason motioned. Need a second. >> Second. >> All in favor say I. >> Slide. >> I. Um meeting is adjourned and the board has no need for close session. Wow. >> So we are done. >> Thank you folks. >> Okay, for the record I can tell Parker that I work 67 into a board meeting appropriately.