Regular Board Meeting - 4/21/2025

001probably the most productive and I feel like the most um worthwhile conversations that we had um being able to discuss as um was stated just the the need for that PE 5 days a week. That's a conversations that we had at multiple board meetings and and other um at other times. Um but I felt like the most important part of the process was that our voices were heard. Um teachers were at the table. we were able to provide feedback um and give input. Um we were able to go back to our own buildings and discuss what was going on during our meetings with the staff and then really hash out a plan that we felt was best for kids. Um and addressed all of the needs that the district had and that that the students

002had at each building. Um I would go to the meetings and I was I don't know I'm a nerd about schedules. Um I've enjoyed doing schedules um all my all my career. Um, but what I found to be most um I don't know, I don't know the right word, but um I guess productive um was the conversation that we would have um based on the schedules that Karen presented. um she is a wizard and was able to put together an A and a B schedule. And then using those A and B schedules which just had the specials in the places where they needed to be, we were able then to discuss as as a committee and within our own buildings, how we could make those schedules work. Um and then we had the freedom, we

003were given that freedom through the discussions that we had in committee, we were given the freedom then to go back to our buildings and decide which one works best for your building based on the needs of your students um for each building. Um some buildings chose A based on the based on their needs. Some some buildings chose B. And then from that process um as time went on and once we made that decision as a committee and decided either A or B then we took th that that work back to our buildings and started to fill in the academics. How does this structure with all of the specials then um become an actual building schedule? Um so in the process at Ben Franklin um we've been having discussions about where grade levels are going to

004put their academics within the the day and the conversations have focused around um incorporating um special ed and how does that look for kids with special needs and how is that going to be addressed through um a special ed schedule? H how will co-eing be addressed? um all of these questions um that previously maybe we hadn't been involved in in a while, all of the staff is talking about it and I I find like we're walk in walking around the building, people are talking about the schedule and how is it going to work and who's going to be able to be available for this student or that student and it just has become this whole community. um something that I didn't expect for it to be. Um but it's become like a central conversation for

005us and like a rallying cry of how can we make this the best possible schedule for all of our students. Um and so that's been a great benefit I think um from the idea of bringing this to a committee instead of having just a few people work on a building schedule. How can we involved every stakeholder so that everybody has a voice and everybody has the buyin that you need? Um because we know building schedules, they're they're never perfect. There's always something that's wrong or there doesn't work the way you think it's going to. You put it in place and it's like, "Oh my gosh, I didn't think about that." But at least we all now have ownership of that. And so we can go into it and not blame X, Y, or Z for

006this schedule. It's our schedule. We built it. If that makes sense. I don't know. Die. Great. All right. Thank you. That's great. So Karen's going to come up with Chris and they're going to explain kind of the changes. We started with a lot of ideas and then as we put the schedule together and broke it down, we came to these changes that we were going to change uh do or create for the 2526. So if Karen and Chris want to come up and talk to those sorry. So as you as you see in the chart as we spoke about so the we have the current on the left and the uh the new schedule on the right the most significant changes were the five times a week for PE for 25 minutes a day um

007FL will go from 30 to 25 minutes now also to um uh Sus's point there were members from the FL department Juan was there they were all in agreement they actually are very excited about this because um our focus now is giving them a classroom where they can actually be and they feel like they can uh recoup those minutes uh through the through the lack of transition that time that they need to take to go between classes. Um Juan feels uh very comfortable and confident that this is a good move for kids as well. Um we've uh are we gave an additional few minutes there again for transition. If you've ever been in art classroom with elementary students, you know there's a lot of in in um transition. Um we were able to give music

008a bit more time as well. um DLS and um there's that launch recess that we were able to uh not only meet the mandate of the 30 minutes but um also do that wonderful gave that wonderful opportunity to kids. So that's the overview. I'm going to actually turn it over to Karen because as they said, so Karen is the um curriculum coordinator, TOSAs, so the teacher on special assignment. She and I work really closely together. Um and she has been absolutely instrumental in being able to take this idea and make it work. And then I think the principles will be able to speak to the fact that not only did she come up with it once, she went to every single building with every single principal and met with them to Sus's point to take

009this this um template and breathe life into it at each building. So I'm going to let you speak a little bit about that process and how you made it work. We can talk 25 and the 50 and how that works like a puzzle. All right. So, as Chris had said, um, and with, uh, David, we talked about how important it was to get everyone on board. So, um, I met with each of the elementary school buildings and Sarah a couple of times to to talk through the full day kindergarten as well, just to see what think differently than we have in the past. How can we just um make it so that teachers still have their their PLC time and plan time and that everything as consistent and even as possible um in terms of

010um the the the course load if you will. So we 25 minute chunks makes it a lot easier especially when you think of lunch and recess because 225s makes 50. So when you put those together and you can think of the the specials within 25 minutes then it became a a a game of how do you make 50 minutes? So when for PLC's being 50 minutes long um which what can we put together within a day to be as consistent as possible. So we had a couple of we had schedule A which put um PE and specials like together to make the the time the PLC time and then schedule B to be um uh PE and flesh together and then schools got to figure out how it worked best for them. Um I think

011that's it. Yep. Very nice job. She did a fabulous job. puzzle. Thanks. So, I think before we get into next steps, when we look at the schedule, one of the things is how' this come back to HR with staffing, right? Uh because a lot of it curriculum work and and Chris and her department did some amazing stuff with Karen and all that. The cool thing about the staffing part is is when you look at when we added the K center, we had to staff that building. Well, we know there's only going to be maybe 12 sections at total there. Right now, we're trending around 10 sections. So, we know when we look at what our full-time employment for some of those specials are, they might have extra time. Here's the cool thing, right? Church Hill

012is one of our largest buildings and they needed more staff. And so because of the kindergarten center, we were able to say to uh we'll use the DLS. You have open time in your day because you of the sections you have at the K center, you're going to go now over to Church Hill and support them and their classes. What does that do? Instead of having classes where they talk about sprinkling or putting classes together, now classes are are able to have their own DLS time or their own PE time. They don't have to double up there. And so because of the kindergarten center, we were able to do that. And then Sarah's work with Amanda and Karen was able to look at those two schedules, see how it fits. So when you come back

013to staffing, we're maximizing our staffing at the K Center, not just to support the K center, but to also support Church Hill and some of the needs that they've been looking for when you talk about equity of staff and being a larger building, we were able to fix some of that. So we're excited to see that roll out too and see how that plays out. um the the principles have been integral um with this conversation and how they've led it as the instructional leaders in their buildings and the ongoing conversations that they've had and that they're going to and I'm going to let them speak to that because um they deserve a ton of credit because of the work they've done over the past few months. So I'm going to let them all speak. Well,

014I just wanted to kind of add on to what David was saying about um the work that we're doing between the kindergarten center and Church Hill and just as a group um all of our buildings during the process every year. It's really collaborative between the principles and our our staff because we do um share staff members and we do have to make schedules at the four elementary buildings that work together to provide the best that we can for kids. Um, so I think that even got amped up this year even more because we sat down more to look at it together. Um, so that collaboration was really wonderful. And then again, um, working with Amanda and Churchill, we're able to provide the dual kindergarten students at Churchill, um, coming into the kindergarten center and using

015the staff at the kindergarten center in tandem with the Church Hill staff. And it's been really great, you know, working with those two staffs together to create um, building schedules that work for everyone. And then also I think now we're just getting down to the the minutia and how kids are are traveling through the building and how will we do these transitions. And I think that's where we get to every year after the big picture is done. It's working down to minute by minute how are the kids moving about and how can we do that the best um in all of our buildings that are all very different. So and I think that as we look back to how we used to do the schedules I think Susie Sarah and I we worked in Franklin

016schedules like 14 years ago. So, it's nice getting back together and seeing people come that you haven't seen in a while being included in these committees. Um, I know that at Franklin, um, Susie's right, there has been a buzz like we, you know, thanks to David and Chris and Karen, like having a clear-cut procedure through the whole thing, starting with what was non-negotiable for each building and then making that fit. Thanks, Karen. And then going into where we did share people like band and orchestra every day, starting with that as well. And then finally ending up where we are now is looking at the programs like special ed and foreign language. Just this week on Friday, I'm sorry, on Thursday, my special ed team and Jamie Linder met and started hashing out the case loads

017um which resource teachers will be working with which students. That actually has an effect on the schedule. So it kind of goes a little bit deeper when you think about it, just not times and and transitions. In Franklin, we have an older building, so parts of our building get really congested due to the narrow hallways. That had to be taken into consideration as well. So so many of those things that you know you really don't think about but we reminded each other of um just was it was very fruitful. It was very rewarding and it still is our next step is I think we need to just kind of start filling in our academic areas and that'll be the fun work. We have a BLT meeting on Thursday and we'll talk about it then. But

018um I want to thank Billy Vanuzer and Liz Liz Loan and and Jamie Linder for Franklin's membership on the committee and just the work that we did through everything with our BLT and at our staff meetings. So, it's just um it's been very rewarding. And also for those of us that used to be on the TFES, the teach um teams for excellence from years ago, Erica, that we used to have, I think it's been great to see people that you see in the district, but haven't worked with in a while. And that was very rewarding for us as well. And just from my standpoint, um my building was the one that chose a different route. There were schedule A, schedule B that were brought forward to us and the Forest Glenn staff felt very strongly

019that uh schedule A was one that would work better for us and we were given that flexibility. I think that's one of the most important things um from this entire process that people would say is the the conversations and flexibility um to be able to look at things differently and and take a different approach um is greatly appreciated. So we are in the same stages uh of working through now um trying to make the academic pieces uh as fluid as possible and trying to work through as we build our class list for next year and our um just the flow for the building. So um the entire process from beginning to end has been uh a very collaborative one and I think flexibility again has been greatly appreciated. So [Music] yeah and I think it's

020a round of applause for everybody that isn't able to make it from our committee. Um this was a special committee that had honest, raw, and authentic conversations about what do we want to do for district 41 and what do we want to do for the students of district 41. Um, so to be here, I know everybody's was excited to see that it was that it came to fruition, that it worked because when you first start a schedule, you're like, is this really going to work? And then as we were into it, like it came together really nicely. And so everyone involved, um, just want to give a big shout out, a thank you to um, and that's kind of our presentation. And unless you have all questions. Wow. Thank you. Very good. Jay, I don't

021have any questions. Um, but I do have a comment. Um, I really don't have a question because I I appreciate this update. Um, because the board, this isn't our work, right? This is your guys's work. Um, but what is our work as a board is is that higher level view. And when I look at this from from above, right? Um, and and it is really what this whole kindergarten center has kind of voiced uh without without words, but to the staff of this district is that there's opportunity for growth here for you. There's opportunity for leadership for you. There's opportunity for your voice as an individual staff member to be heard. Um, when you look at the staffing for the kindergarten center, you've seen so much internal movement, people saying, "This is an opportunity for

022me to do something that I want to do in the district in a different manner." Um, I liked what you said earlier where you had a committee for the scheduling for the kindergarten center and you had staff members say, "We'd like to have this conversation for all the elementary school buildings and those voice those staff members voices were heard and it came to fruition for this update today where you can see the excitement, you know, from all these people that came up and talk and what what Scott said at the end is that even in that list, there's that flexibility for all the buildings to be heard and all those voices to be heard That's what's exciting to me is that we're really seeing the opportunities for people for growth in leadership and for their

023voices to be heard and really make this a place where as I said it before to be the best damn district in the state. So that's what I really would like you to see out of this. So thank you. Thank you to all of you for doing that. Very good. Well said. Anything else? Just the state. Oh well we can we don't need to put parameters on. He said just I know what he said. Yeah. Yeah. Um just I want to echo that I love how excited everybody seems and uh particularly just about that opportunity to look at things differently and work together so collaboratively and um really it seems like you've come up with something that you're very proud of and excited for what the students will experience next year because of all of

024this collaborative work. So um kudos to you guys. Um really exciting to to see um and hear um that excitement come through to the board. It's kind of like you gave me flowers on a random Tuesday. Like I didn't ask for it, but it's so it's very nice um to see that kind of get that look into how you're working together so excitedly and collaboratively for the kids. I do have a question or maybe a comment and a question. You know, I know you said you're fleshing out the academics. I just want to say I think it's all academics. It's just all these pieces are so important for the kids, but I know you're referring to like the core classes of math and um literacy literacy. Is there another one? Math maybe science. Um so

025do do those times get a little bit shorter or they are going to stay the same? So the yeah that was um so the non-negotiable is that the overall instructional minutes would not be impacted. So um there we did the the it does it will look on the schedule as if writing is a bit shorter but it's actually but it's not and the reason for that is um during that time often was when um in order to um make sure that we had our kids receiving that 30 minutes of of unstructured play. We did pull time out in the morning typically when the literacy block happened or the afternoon for them to have a brain break or a recess and it typically happened during the writing time. Now that we have five days of PE

026and the additional time um for lunch and additional minutes and the specials it it looks on paper but they actually are going to get more time instead of less time. So that was the non-negotiable is that we are that was the one thing I said I was that was I was I was kind of tough on that one like we will not touch instructional minutes. You can add them but you cannot take them away. Um and that was hardcore like that was uh non-negotiable. So even though it may look as though that that is a little bit of time lesson writing they're actually getting more time because of the way we were able to structure that that activity for kids in a different way throughout the day. J did you say you had a comment

027or was that okay? Very good. Can I ask a followup really quick? Yeah. Sorry, Dr. Webster. So, are they um will they not do brain breaks anymore? I'm sorry. You went away before I had a chance. Sorry. So, um I mean it's not like So, yes, the kids will still get a break during the day, but what we talked a lot about for those of you that were on the committee was um building those breaks in by transitioning, right? By going to specials. Now that they're going to flex in a different classroom, we build in the brain breaks that way. um they get the PE every single day. So they have that not it is a a movement break every single day. Um so like as far as like taking these 15 20 minute recesses

028that we needed to take in the middle of the day that isn't going to be necessary anymore but the kids are still going to have breaks right they're still going to have time throughout the day to shift gears to kind of you know slow down a bit. Um, so yes, that will that we will still have time for kids to have a break during the day, but we will not need to necessarily have this really uh tight brain break type of uh piece in the schedule. Before I run away, I'll just make sure. I think we can let you sit back. Go ahead. Thank you, Chris. David, did you have any? No, we just think you like leaving the notes from 2017 and what you wanted to do back then. we kind of just brought

029it to life in 2025. So, thank you for that. Well, it is a it is I remember those conversations. Yeah. And the conversations were like how do you do those scheduling and and I remember about just randomly I'm sorry. How do you I remember those conversations. It was how do you do those scheduling? How do you get PE five days a week? And it there was there was a lot I mean those are pretty intense conversations back then. How to make it happen? And I remember randomly being in Churchill one day and just it was it was in I forget who the assistant principal was at the time but being in that office. I don't remember why I was there but just seeing like that whiteboard all the colors up there and it just spread

030out how they were trying to figure out their schedule. It's intense of what goes into it and I don't even know what all goes into it. I just saw it and it kind of blew me away without knowing what I was getting blown away about. Um but I remember those conversations there in 2017 it was how can we do this? So there was a lot of push to try to get to get it in there and from all the staff I'm sure Eric you remember it too as to buildings are saying we can't figure out a way to do this. Um and now what you get was that's what I was saying going back to when staff has that opportunity on their own to come up and say this is something that's important to us

031and I forget who said it as I said we had everybody at the table and we made sure we had all these stakeholders. I think that's the difference between then and now is that is is that this is something that we had all those voices and when we had all these voices um and and we come to the table, you know, with these different alternatives, I think that's that really what becomes a difference. Yeah. That's where the magic happened. Well, you hear all the time um that it's magical when educators kind of get together and it seems to me that you've sort of turned water into wine. Um, and we look forward to seeing it. Or apple juice. Okay. Into apple juice. Uh, but well done. Thank you for the presentation. Very nice. We'll let

032you go. All right. All right. Okay. We will move then to public participation. Members of the public who wish to address 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 ask to maintain respectful decorum. Limit your comments to three minutes or less. With about 30 seconds to go in your comments, I will politely ask you to finish up. Mrs. Moch, is there anyone wishing to make public comment this evening? Jane Bokeman. There she is. Good evening, Jane. years ago. Is your mic on, Jane? Is the green light on? About 30 years ago, uh before I was a member of League of Women Voters, my husband was elected to the school board in the town where we

033lived. The first evening he came home from a meeting and he said, "There was a woman there who told me she was from the League of Women Voters and observes all the board meetings." And my first reaction was, "That woman must not have anything going on. So I little did I know that I was going to spend about 10 years as a board observer and I'm my tenure is over now and I just want to tonight say express my appreciation to the all these administrators and teachers and all the things they do for the students and how hard they work to make sure everything's going well. I know sometimes things don't go exactly the way you planned, but uh I know they always had the interest of the students in mind and especially I'd like

034to thank you board members who v I know you have a lot of other things going on and you uh volunteer to to take all the responsibility and use your expertise to keep the schools on the track and I appreciate it very much and especially as I I also want thank the student board members because I know you have a lot going on too. So, thanks a lot to all of you. And Jane, thank you for all those years. We appreciate you. Mrs. Mo, Rebecca Taylor. Hi. Hi. My name is Rebecca Coleman Taylor. I have students at Hadley and Churchill. Ideally, I'd make these comments after the discussion on the student personal technology policy tonight since I'm guessing several of them will be made moot by that point. However, with the placement of public participation

035in the agenda, I'll risk some repetition and provide my input for consideration now. Overall, I'm pleased by the streamlining and additional clarity of the proposed policies and making them more consistent between the elementary and middle school levels. I was struck by four things as I skimmed through the proposed edits today, and I'd encourage some discussion on these items before finalizing the policies. Number one, the proposed basic policy is now quite clear and consistent about electronic devices being powered off, put away, often out of sight during the school day for preK to 8th grade. What is less clear is where the devices should be exactly. The current KTO 5 policy says they have to be in a backpack, cubby, locker. They must be off their person and out of the classroom. That language is removed in

036the proposed policy. So, is a pocket an acceptable storage location? A backpack in the classroom, inside a desk? I don't really care, but I think some clarification and examples would be helpful about the appropriate places for storing them. Number two, the before and after school use policy now seems related to the time of day and not the location of use inside or outside the school building. This is an important change that will have some natural consequences. The current policy is that devices have to be turned off prior to entering the school building. So, the new policy seems to mean that students can use their devices while still inside the school building as long as it's before or after school hours. My guess is that this will be more palatable for some parents who might prefer

037that their student can get their watch back on before they leave the school building instead of fumbling with it outside. But it also means that at 3:30 there will be a scramble in the classroom to um get those devices. So clarity on this will be important so that everyone's on the same page for what is allowed, what's not allowed. Again, I don't have a strong opinion on that. Number three, the enforcement steps are now more clear and consistent, which is great. However, the enforcement steps start off with the first step being at the teacher's discretion. So, this seems to suggest that all enforcement of the policy will be based on individual teacher discretion. Um, it seems like this could result in some teachers enforcing or others not, and therefore become a slippery slope to whether

038the policy exists at all. equally important. I'm not sure it gives teachers as much cover from the policy as it could. I'm not sure how to solve this, but this seems like something to consider in terms of consistency and how best to empower teachers. Finally, number four, it seems like the new policy limits exceptions to the waiver process. I see that technology used for academic purposes with direct guidance from teachers is removed from the policy. I think this means, for example, that teacher discretion regarding listening to music on smartphones in the classroom would not be allowed. But if that's correct, I'm not sure it comes across unless you're comparing the old policy to the new. So, I'd suggest more explicit clarity on what is and is not allowed in the classroom and what discretion teachers

039have in their classrooms. Again, I'm not making an opinion there. Um, most of all, thanks to all of you, administration and board, for your work on this revised policy. Can't seem to shut it off. Thank you, Rebecca. Aaron Lindren. Hi everybody. Um, is this on Is it green? Green? No, now it's green. Um, I am not going to be as eloquent as Rebecca as I had not much time to read these before the meeting. Um, but thank you all so much for your work on this issue. Um, I know you guys get a lot of flack a lot of times about a lot of issues and so I know that Rebecca and I and the rest of Glenn Allen Unplugged have had a really wonderful time engaging with the board and especially with Dr. McHugh

040and his staff. Um, and yes, I think the policy revisions are coming out the way we want them to, which is wonderful. But nonetheless, I think even if there would have been a different decision made, um we can't say enough about the way you've engaged with the community on the process and we really appreciate that. Nonetheless, we have to be picky or else we wouldn't be us. Um so I also am just going to suggest a few changes. Um point one in the policy, uh it says u for all students and it's a change from from for K to A. They took that part out and it says, "Personal technology will not be utilized during school hours unless use is authorized by an approved acceptable use of personal technology authorization." And then you scroll down

041a couple pages and there seems to be two forms. One is the acceptable use of personal technology authorization. And I think that's something that we want all students to sign to acknowledge this policy and be held accountable by it. And then there's a second form which seems to be an optional waiver that folks could sign if they have medical needs, learning needs, um to use technologies in the classroom. I think what the policy is trying to say is that technology isn't going to be allowed, personal technology is not going to be allowed to be utilized during school hours unless you have a waiver. And just reading it quickly on first glance, that did not come across. Um, the second point is going to be to reiterate what Rebecca said when it comes to the administrative

042procedure on what do we do when we when there is a kid with a personal tech device. That first point of um at a teacher's discretion, a verbal directive to turn off the device and put it away will be issued or can be issued. Um it doesn't it's not clear is that is that the first strike that's the warning and then the next strike the cascade of events happen or it just it doesn't seem to be worded like if it is a warning great give it and then after that if it occurs again then these other things happen seconds I'll also reiterate I think getting rid of the optional warning gives teachers a lot more cover to enforce the policy consistently and not being like oh well Mrs. so and so gives the warning, but

043Mr. So and So is really mean and doesn't. Um, I'd also reiterate with Rebecca, where are we putting these things? And I would suggest not pockets, and that would be um explicitly spelled out by the policy. There's some studies showing when tech is on your body, even if you're not looking at it, um, that it's very, very distracting. So, thank you so much. Really appreciate everything. Wow, you got it right in. Beautiful. Thank you, Mrs. V. Erica Nelson. Good evening. Erikica Nelson, a Wheaten resident with children who graduated from District 41. Uh I walked in tonight with Mr. Klesfititz and it's my son's 27th birthday on Wednesday, which means he had you when he was six, so and neither of us have really aged that much or our community outreach group. So, always good. Um

044I am not able to attend the May 5th um school board transition meeting. And so tonight, I want to thank board members the Sed and Dr. Steve Mo for saying yes to the ask to serve our students, the D41 community, and the community at large. When we celebrate our students achievements, whether they're quiet moments of personal growth or a big wow milestone, I'm always reminded that these successes don't happen in a vacuum. Behind each opportunity is a foundation built by the thoughtful leadership and vision of our board members as they collaborate with our school district leadership. It's clear how much each of you cares. All of you and that care has shown through in every decision you've made and every challenge you've had to face. You've given your time, your heart, and your energy so

045generously. As you retire from your role, please know that your service has shaped countless student journeys in both seen and unseen ways. Thank you for everything you've given with the support from spouses and family members. Your contributions in this volunteer position add to the positive legacy of those who served before you and those who will come after you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Very nice. Magdalina Nuinski. Did I say that correctly? Thank you. Hi. Good evening everyone. My name is Magdalena. I present a group of parents from Forest Glenn in regards to the bus issues. It's especially bus number four. I'm pretty sure some of you are familiar with that. Um so I just want to give an update of what's happening since the issues we've been experiencing. So, for this month, we only

046experienced one time when the is the the bus didn't show up to our stop, meaning like they missed it, but it looked like there was a new bus driver. Uh, we were not notified or anything about that, but we just ended up driving the kids to school. Um, but we seeing that something is being done with our current bus driver. She's on time whenever it's in the morning and when the kids are being dropped off. So, she's always within that time frame. So, we're glad to see that, but we want to just make sure that Safeway is still pushing. We're working on timelines and making sure that all the kids and forest Glenn and all the other schools are making sure that the kids are getting on time. It is important for our kids to

047be on time at school. They miss a lot of banks in the morning and you know seeing my daughter being you know like mom I can you please drive me to school and having another one that will be probably in the bus moving the next year. I just want to make sure that um the company's doing their job and we want to get the kids safely and on time to school. So hopefully next month I'll have better news for you. No issues but I just want to give an update to that. All right. Thank you for this evening. Thank you very much, Miss Noore. That's it. Okay. Thank you all. Thanks each of you. All right. We're going to then jump into reports and that's back to Dr. McHugh who's got a couple of updates.

048Yes. No. Yes. helps when you turn it on. Hates that. Okay. Superintendence report, please. Doing great tonight. Go too quick. I only have three topics, but all three are very important. And we're going to talk about transportation. We're going to also do a brief kindergarten update. And then we'll finish with the community survey. So, transportation, um, it hasn't been where we want it. And were you able to view the webinar? Unfortunately, I was not able to attend, but I did look at the video when I asked to. So, yeah. Good. Good. Maybe afterward, we can talk a little bit about it. Um, we've been talking, if you tuned into the last board meeting, Eric Deporter talked about the fact that we went out to bid back in January. We were looking at options and we

049don't have a lot. And we've been talking as an administrative team, we've been talking with the board. The one stakeholder group that we didn't have a chance to to communicate and mass was our busing families. So, um, we did a webinar about a week and a half ago and, uh, we recorded it to send out to all of our busing families to put basically our two option, our main two options out there, which is we continue with Safeway and we are continue to push them to be better, to be more on time as we look ahead to next year. We could also go to another provider at an extremely high cost. That is an option, but we're we're weighing those right now and Eric Deporter continues to work on a weekly basis with Safeway. But

050we really the webinar was twofold. We wanted to inform the parents of busers where we're at right now. And we also wanted to get some feedback. So parents submitted questions on a form. We answered them in the webinar. We've been continuing to get a few questions, but we were able to hear what are the main pain points and we want you to continue to let us know how the buses are doing as we move forward to decide are we going to stay with Safeway again demanding improvement or are we going um to go to another provider. So um thank you to all the families who watched it. If you did not have a chance to watch the webinar, it is 30 minutes of I thought fun. Eric, I don't know about you. Molly was on

051it. Erica. Um, but if you have any questions whatsoever about transportation, Eric, myself, we are happy to take your emails, your calls, um, as we work through this kindergarten update. You heard Jack from FQC talk about the construction part. Um, Jack, Dave, Eric, that team has been working tirelessly on the construction part. In the meantime, um we are also working on the back end of getting all the logistics ready for for full day kindergarten, half day kindergarten, dual language kindergarten. Um so there's been a lot of communication to kindergarten families going out. We're going to try a kindergarten information night this spring. And by we, that's the royal we because while I'm there, it'll be our fine principles who are putting that out, our cabinet, and I will be there shaking hands and maybe saying

052hello. But that will be a great opportunity for all of the kindergarten families to come together full day, half day to get some information. And I'm really pleased that um our our PTA executive board, one of whom I'm looking at right here, has been talking about how PTA can support the kindergarten center since September, Kate, September, October, last year. We've been working before you got here. even preme we've been talking about this and through that tireless work along with Sarah Rodriguez um our cabinet Nancy um and Erica I feel like we're getting really close to to going into next year to make sure that that kindergarten center is supported from the PTA um a lot more information will be coming out soon on kindergarten um to families please stay tuned am PM um I have

053reached out to individual families on things so there's just there's a lot going on behind the scenes while the building is going up, so are the plans behind the scenes. And lastly, um, for those of you who got a survey in the mail from District 41 and said, "Another survey? Are you serious?" Yes, we're very serious. And this is a survey that is incredibly important to us. We spoke about it at the last board meeting that we did the last community survey. Erica, when was that? 2020. Does that sound right? This is sent out not just to families in district 41, all of the communities that we serve, 80% of whom don't have don't have children in our district. So, this is a way for us to get perspectives of current families as well as

054community um perceptions on how are we doing and some of these two of these data points are on our new strategic plan. Um we are reading every one of these. We're looking at the trends and we'll be reporting I believe in May to the board, but please complete it by April 28th. This most likely if you're a staff member, it wound up in your email inbox. We also paper mailed that to people to families and also I think in multiple languages. But we're not just surveying people for the sake of surveying. This information is really important to us and I can't wait to see what are the areas that we're doing well in and what are some opportunities for growth. Any questions about the superintendent's update? Well done. Thank you. How are we doing on

055Is your mic on? Jess, how are we doing on response rate so far for perceptions? I believe we have at least 400 responses back. 500 over five over 500, which is not enough because there's more than 500 people that live in our communities that we serve. Uh we want all of them. Um Eric and I were talking today. We're not sure what what we're looking for. 50% is like an unbelievable survey response typically, right? If you get 50% of the respondents, that would be Yeah, Chris is saying just trying to lower your expectations. Um, according to Bill Foster, he thinks we'll get over 10% and that's typical for this type of community service. Not enough. Not enough. I want We would love more. We're working on doors then, Jeff. Maybe. You said maybe. I'm going

056to be everywhere. Um, right now I'm talking to all 15 of you out there. Uh, please complete that survey, anybody watching this recording. U, but yes, I I know that's lofty, but this is I want us to get in this communication loop of um we send out information and questions, you tell us how we're doing, and then we respond to that. That doesn't mean we're always going to do everything the community wants, but I hope and I hope you saw that in um Dr. Bruno and Dr. Webster's update with the teachers. This is we are we are D41 and and the Wii means we need to engage with the community and these surveys are a great way for us to get information so that we can continue to improve. Well, I have a text chain

057with my neighbors. So, I'll put it out there if every other people I'm sure have that as well. So, everyone in this room is responsible for getting on their neighborhood text chain and 50% people. We just jumped from 10 to 50. Sorry, Erica. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Jeeoff. Um, board, we're going to need to take a short break here in just a couple of minutes. Are there any board members who have brief board reports that we can do before we break? Otherwise, we will wait till after the break. Go. I just need to apologize to Lincoln PTA. I was supposed to be at your board meeting and I was looking and prepping for the meeting tonight. I missed it. I It was I something came up during that day. I missed it. I

058apologize. I will send out an email personally apologizing but I noticed it in prep for the meeting that I missed it. So I apologize. Thank you. Anyone else? Ted, just real quick quickly. I was able to attend the Forest Glenn PTA meeting last week. Um as and it's always great to to be able to listen as they finish up their year and plan for next year. And uh I'd like to say thanks for inviting me. Okay. So, it's good to get invited. Anyone else with a brief report to touch on, Dr. Michael? I know you do. Mine was really short. Um, I went to the PTA executive council and we really kind of talked about what we were discussing earlier. Anyway, so about the kindergarten and how that might fit in. So, I also we

059did a policy meeting as well. And so, um, we'll talk about that a little bit later, but that's really all I have. Thank you. Anything else from the board? Student board reports. Can you do yours? Do you have a Do you have a report? Can you You want to do it after a break? Oh, you would prefer. Okay. Well, then given what the student board members want, we're going to take a a brief pause and we'll be back be back here within 15 minutes. How's that? Thank you. Okay, thank you. We're back in session. Miss Mo, roll call, please. Miss Rinman, here. Miss Manik, here. Miss Darrento, here. Mr. Estes, here. Mrs. Butterimer, here. Mrs. Hill, here. Mrs. Sad here. Dr. Mo here. Mr. Lobach here. Dr. Bruno here. Thank you very much. And where

060we left off, we were waiting for this student board report, which it looks like Allesia is pulling up now. So, who's up? All right, go ahead. So, first of all, I hope everybody had an amazing spring break. I hope it was relaxing for all of you. To start off, St. Baldicks. So, I apologize if I I forget if this event happened before or after the last board meeting, but it was a huge s success and it just keeps getting better and better each year. The d the donations at this event were like really big and there's a tons of shaves. So, it was really fun. So, just wanted to I got talk about that. Um, also me and my family got dinner at Portillos's this past Thursday to like support the Special Olympics team. So,

061we got dinner and half that money went to the Special Olympics to like kind of fund them for whatever they need. Um, the only other thing I have is to promote a lot of concerts happening in the future. There's a jazz concert happening happening in May 1st, an orchestra concert happening Thursday, May 8th, and band concert 7th grade May 15th and 8th grade May 20th. Thank you. Okay, so a couple weeks ago, the whole seventh grade body went on a field trip to the Science Institute of Chicago. It was a fun field day and students showed their best behavior and demonstrated the Wildcat way outside of school. Um on the last week on May 15th on the SIP day, I think so. Um the seventh and eighth grade orchestras performed for the fourth graders of

062all elementary schools in the annual demonstration concert. Fourth graders were exposed to Hadley's orchestra, band, and choir programs and will be signing up for programs next year for fifth grade. Um also I would like to say that Hadley is having its international light for the second time ever on April 30th. It is encouraged to come and see the cultures of our Hadley families and there will be tables and performances. And it's not too late to create your own table as well. Um, visit the Hadley website for more info. Thank you, Tess. Building off of what Helen said, students who did not participate in the Headley Orchestra, Band, and choir demonstration concert or exploratory students went on a field trip to the College of DuPage to learn about future potential careers. Headley students experienced refresh assemblies

063at the beginning of the quarter to reset expectations for the rest of the year and help students to finish strong. All Headley grade levels were will endure a bike safety assembly tomorrow, Tuesday the 22nd. Outstanding. Worth waiting for. Thank you. Okay. with then we will move on to uh our discussion items and the our first one up is the first reading of the board policy revision referencing student personal technology and policy committee has met but I'm going to turn it to to Jeff to facilitate this discussion please I don't want to go too far back I think the committee of the whole meeting um that we the most recent committee of the whole meeting if you'd like to go back for those of you watching at home. That will really give you um a nice

064synopsis of where we were headed and what we heard at that meeting. And as you might have heard from Rebecca's and Aerin's comments earlier, we are expanding the preK5 plan policy to 68. That is the recommendation. U at the last board meeting, I asked directionally if we were on track as an administration in in in expanding that. While cell phones we don't feel like are going to have a major impact because already there's a lot of I think tight policies um across the district with that smartwatches seem to be u one of the biggest personal devices that was inconsistent and more of the distraction. So what we tried to do is work into the the policy our administrative team um led by Nancy Moch working tirelessly on trying to get the verbiage Erica you two

065crab to get the verbiage to match what we heard from the greater community um a few of the points that while this isn't directly responding to public comment I think that it is a good differentiator between what we were thinking so uh one of the comments made was about what is often out site mean? Does it mean in a backpack? Does it mean in a cubby? Can you have it in your pocket? And this is one of those pieces that we left it uh from a policy standpoint, we we weren't as descriptive to say it can't be on you because the biggest thing that stuck in my mind after talking to students was you the number one reasons you wanted your phone on you was that security. that in the event that there was a

066crisis or an emergency, having that phone or that watch near you was really important. We heard that from the three of you. We heard that from the superintendent student advisory council. We heard that from the students who were at the committee of the whole meeting. So for this first policy, we were we thought we would put it in there to be not so descriptive as to say it needs to be either in a in a cubby in the classroom, in your locker, in a backpack. We tried to say it can't be on you. So, a watch can't be on your wrist. We were explicit with that. Um, a cell phone, could it be in a locker, a backpack, or not even coming to school? Of course. But could it be in somebody's pocket? According to

067the policy, it could. And we thought going in here and seeing how it goes, we can always change. We can always tighten it up a bit. Um, the student voices were in my head this whole time about what you were feeling because I had never even considered that. I had thought you want your cell phone so you can be texting, so you can be playing games. Um, and we heard that from a lot of students. It also came out loud and clear in that survey. And again, going back to the superintendent's report, we read those and the number of comments of students who said, "I just want to have my device near me in case of an emergency." We're trying to thread the needle with that. So, I'd say out of the policy, expanding K5

068up to 8, preK5 up to eight, but not being so prescriptive as to say it has to be in a backpack or a locker, but it has to be off and out of sight. Um, I' I'd say and I want to look at Ted and Steve to see if anything else from our policy committee you wanted to highlight for the board as we jump into this discussion. Um, can I Sorry, Steve. Did you want to No, no. Uh, so safety. One of the things that I kind of learned in the community meeting about that safety issue because I feel the same. I just want my kid to have it so that if I need to get in touch with them, they can I can be in touch with them. But one of the things that

069came out of that that I learned was that the kids aren't really safer and that they can in a situation like that, they can actually um be a liability. So is there like we do the drills? I mean, and I feel like if we're making kids do the drills, we're making them very aware that there could be an issue. And so that's a very real feeling, but can we do more education on how those devices could become a liability and how to prevent that in that situation so that we're addressing that piece? Yeah, that's a great that's a great point. Funny, I remember when I'm moving my first kid into U of I um in the stairwell of the dormatory, there was a sign in case of emergency, please exit the building before tweeting about

070it. Before what? Before tweeting about it. But it's true. I mean, they can't it was real issue that they're putting up signage about. So, yeah. So, uh Steve or Ted, did you have anything that you wanted to ask? Well, there was also a comment that that you made um about if if you try to prescribe where does this device have to be, then you start getting down the path of you don't want to be frisking students, you know, to make sure they don't have it in their pocket. Um and I think that was an important point, too. Yeah, that's a great point. I I think it's impossible, of course, unless we were to frisk every student, which we are not doing. Let me be abundantly clear on that one. um the often out of sight.

071I also do have experience in previous districts that did this and it was highly successful. But it does come down to another point that may or may not have been made in public comment about how do we make this enforceable for teachers to where um teaching is hard enough, let alone when you feel like you have to be reminding students and we want it to be clear for students, too. We don't want you to think, well, in one class I can use it, in another one I can't. So, I think just to your point of um making sure we're all on the same page, I think working with our principles, working with our our staffs on what this looks like. Um so that it is clearly enforced. Um I I think that will be the

072key going in so that the students know what's expected, the families, the staff. Um and I think we can hit the ground running to start the year where of course there's going to be incidents still, but I'm feeling confident because we've gone through this engagement process that at least everybody's aware of the expectations. Anyone else? I'd be curious to Yeah, we haven't talked since this policy came out. So, the three of you, are any of you willing to just share your thoughts about this? I don't want to put you on the spot, but I'm really curious. Did the new policy already come out? This is the first reading, so the board's going to talk about it to vote on it at next month's at the next board meeting. Okay. Just checking because I've heard some

073like I had one teacher I think said, "Oh yeah, there's a new policy. These are our rules, but like it wasn't applied in other classes." And I think right now there's a lot of like miscommunication about the tech policy. I think there always has been, but especially right now. Yeah. I was just confused as to where the standing was. Do they have access to the policy? put your Do the student board members have access to the proposed policy? Yep. Yeah. Somebody didn't read their board. I I wasn't going to say that, Robert. I wasn't trying to put anybody on the spot. I was just making sure they actually had it. Current policy or the newly proposed policy? Newly proposed. Newly proposed policy. It's in the board packet. No. Yes. All right. you have a lot

074to do. It's a lot to read. So, any thoughts from the student perspective um about this for the students, I'll just say in in looking at the things, it is a different way to to kind of read documents that you may not have seen. The way that that revisions are written, the way that they're red, the way that they're added, it's kind of a different way that you may not have seen before. So, I can see where that confusion may have lied between the current and the new policy because they're kind of written in the same way. So I can see where that confusion is. Helen, you were going to Oh, yeah. So the current the new policy is like off out of sight, out of mind, right? Basically, I've been hearing that since like

075sixth grade from like basically everything. Is it like just like reinforced more this year or I mean no in the new policy. I mean cuz out of sight out of mind I've been hearing that for like the past couple years in Hadley. Well that makes me feel really good to hear that that has been going on. That's also my experience that especially with cell phones. I think smartwatches has been something that's different because when I'm at Hadley, I see probably nine out of every 10 students have a smartwatch on. And then also that in class right now the policy says in 68 that a teacher could allow whether students to listen to music. It could be used educationally. The new policy would say we're not using personal devices for anything. You can use the school

076devices but no phones, no watches used in school. It's the main difference. Sorry, I just want to say that some teachers, of course, like there's some stricter ones, there's some more laid-back ones, but they all want their students to learn and they all want like their phones to be put away, whatever devices may be a distraction to them. But I'm really glad that you guys are like putting security first as like maybe a more prominent reason that phone should be like allowed during the school hours. But I feel like that's a really important reason. So I'm just really glad for that. Thank you, Jeff. Just one clarification upon my reading of it. I thought it was uh clear, but I I did have a a question just to confirm. When we speak to the teachers

077discretion, it is in reference to an academic need requirement. It's the Is that what it speaks? Does it speak to a certain kind of activity or is it more open-ended? Are there parameters around the teacher discretion? When I read through it, I maybe I read into it for academic purposes. There was some academic reason beyond the waiver that the student has the waiver for help. And I think that's a good point and I I did take those notes down. That's something maybe we can make a little clearer in here. We are taking away the for academic purposes will no longer be part of this. That was part of the old but we have Chromebooks. There are other technology devices that there should be no need during the school day for a student to access it.

078I think the discretion piece coming in is um I'm putting my former teacher hat on. Uh there's a difference between a student who accidentally had the phone out if we had a student putting things out on the desk and forgetting to put it away and then all of a sudden now I'm getting that taken and put moved to the office when that wasn't the intention. Maybe it was an oversight versus somebody in the back of the room trying to sneak in text. Those are two different things and we want to give teachers a little bit of we don't want to have it so zero tolerance that we are coming and moving to the cascade on something that the teachers discretion knows that that isn't what the student intended. What we will need to do though

079is work with our teachers so that it's not warning warning warning warning and we never get into the progressive now this needs to go to the office. So I think there's a fine line for that. We want to respect teacher teachers knowing their students but at the same time we want to give them the cover of saying this is the policy and this is what we're doing. Good to clarify. Thank you. Okay. Then we will come back. First of all, thanks to Nancy, Erica, Jeff, the all the committee folks, the students. Um and we'll see this back for its second reading uh in in in May. Okay. All right. We've got a couple of other well actually four other items uh to to address here and we're Dr. Webster, it looks like you're going to

080walk us through uh these four uh these four pieces. Yes, thank you. Um yeah, you had a lot of me time tonight. Okay, so um I believe the first one on the docket is if I'm looking at that. Okay. So, um last year, uh Andrew Peterman came to the board and um asked for approval to adopt at the at Headley for 68 for for math primarily. Um which the board did grant. Thank you very much. And it has been uh very successful at Headley this year. There was a lot of positive feedback. So the uh elementary coaches approached me and said they were hearing from a lot of teachers that they were very interested in seeing if this would also be beneficial at the elementary level. So um we trial it we did trial it

081we did a trial at the elementary level and um got wonderful feedback from the elementary teachers at well as well. Uh when Eureka changed to a newer addition called Eureka Squared, we used to have um uh an online tool called Zern that aligned very closely with Eureka. When Eureka updated, Zern no longer matched. Il matches. It also has an ELA component. So, um the teachers that tried it were very excited. We did surveys and all sorts of things. Very positive feedback. So my recommendation tonight um is that the board consider I won't this is for discussion only that we extend the EXL subscription that we currently have from 68 to K8. It also provides a nice transition for our fifth to sixth grade transition as well. So, um, currently, uh, this number includes the, um,

082deletion of Zern, which will be a savings of $10,000 per year. And then, um, currently we're paying $20,000 a year, 20,400 for Hadley. So, this three-year cost actually will include um the deduction of both of those things. So, um, at the May 5th board meeting, I will be bringing this to the board for um, approval. Any questions on board? No. I just I love hearing about the fall of Zern. Didn't love the fall. Wow, that's funny. There was a lot of trauma in my house. All right. To be replaced by something even bigger and better. So, I have a question. Sorry. So, the next question hold on. I'm sorry. I apologize. Question. I guess it's it's a concern because and I brought it up last time too and it was brought up at the cow

083meeting about you know the kids having um instructional time on their devices and then if we're looking at it starting at K I I'm just I I hear the teachers I hear you Dr. Robster but again how do parents feel about it? Have we looked into that? And how have they done it without it? Can they still do it without it? I I I'm just playing devil's advocate here, things for us to think about before approving. Yeah, of course. So, again, this is replacing something that we currently use, which is Zern. Um, it's a supplemental resource. It's meant more for independent practice and guided practice, not for direct instruction. So, this would be, for example, if you think about um an elementary classroom where they have centers and they have different things that they do

084during different times of the day. This would be for a short period of time that they could use um to reinforce skills that they're learning in class, kind of practice, like independent practice. Um and it also a lot of times parents actually have appreciated having the ability to have kids work on something extra at home if they want to give the kids extra practice that has it there. So, um it is not replacing instruction by a teacher. It's not replacing small groupoup instruction with the teacher. It's it's supplementing and enhancing the instruction that they're receiving in person from teachers. Okay. Can I ask a clarifying question as well? Of course. So for for homeworkam for example, if if a teacher decides to give math homework, it would either be the workbook or it would be,

085but it wouldn't be both. No. And technic and typically it would be the workbook. Okay. This would be more of an optional thing if kids wanted to work on at home. Typically it would be the workbook. Again, the purpose of EXL will be to enhance and supplement core instruction mostly in that center period time like when teachers are working with small groups and the kids rotate through different activities. This would be one activity they could they could do. Thank you. Thank you very much. The the second item is HMH. This is the big one. So, um as you know, I came last year. We adopted HMH as our corecurricular resource. Um, at that time, um, I mentioned that we were only going to enter into a one-year contract instead of a six-year contract because I

086wanted the teachers to have the ability to use the instructional resources for a year, uh, the print materials particularly to determine which materials they felt were useful, um, and which they felt maybe were not. And so, uh, we just didn't through the small pilot we had, we didn't really have a broad enough voice from teachers at that point to determine what would be the most useful. So we spent this uh this first year gathering that feedback and we met with each of the individual PLC's at each grade level to talk about what they felt was useful and what they wanted. And so this is the feedback that they've given us um as far as the print materials. It also includes digital the digital online component but this is primarily for the print materials for the

087different workbooks. Um this is a five-year contract which is why the cost is where it is. The benefit to that is that especially with there being so many uncertainties right now as far as um prices prices of things and um costs. This is a one time. We pay this one time now and then all the shipping everything all the materials are covered for the next 5 years. So it's one time so we get the price that it is today. Um so if there are cost increases for shipping, cost increases for paper or print or any of those things we are um cushioned from that because we will enter into this contract. This will take us through to the next instructional review cycle. And I feel confident after speaking with teachers and giving the opportunity to

088use these materials that these are the ones that are most beneficial for our students going forward. Very good. I particularly like the fact that it brings us up to the next cycle of review. That's a nice coordination of the curriculum. Yes. With the extension. Okay. Any questions on HMH? No. Elementary social studies. Okay. So, just as we were TLA's been busy this year, in case you can't tell, we've been we've been working hard this year. Um, so, uh, we've also been doing a social studies review for elementary as I was here just a few weeks ago with Hadley. Um, the core difference between elementary and Hadley is that elementary embeds social studies instruction into the literacy block. When we uh adopted HMH as our new curricular resource, um, it also became time to look to

089make sure that alignment um, was still in place and how it looked because, you know, it's a different approach. So the social studies committee this year did all the alignment work between HMH and social studies. We identified the places where there might have been gaps or maybe not to the same level that we would expect for a qu a quality social studies uh curriculum. Uh we worked with other districts that follow the same model that also work with HMH um and trial a material called studies weekly that we feel um is a perfect complement to the HMH core curricular resource for social studies and fills in any gaps or enhancements that we feel are necessary. This is again a onetime cost for six years. This will get us through this will align um with the

090social studies uh instructional review process. So this six-year contract takes us to the next time we do a review. Um and again this will be um the print material cost for uh six years. Again these are all for discussion. I'll be bringing these to the May 5th board morning meeting for approval. And the board of course does have a very extensive report. Yes, I have extensive reports on each of these for all of you for your for your reading pleasure. Yes. All right. Very good. Thank you. And I think we have one more. We do elementary AEC and this is for um our accelerated and enriched uh curriculum. Uh so the AEC teachers approached me. The current CMP connected math that they use for their program has released a new edition. Um with the new

091edition they have student workbooks. Currently, we do not use student workbooks for AEC because they were not studentfriendly, not really generated for the type of workbook that you would think. They were not a consumable workbook. They were more of a a textbook type of thing. Um, AEC teachers are very excited to see that they have added a student workbook and they feel it would greatly enhance the experience of our students in AEC. Um, and it aligns well with our one of our core focuses on math for all students and really um continuing to increase that growth. So, this will be um they didn't offer a multi-year contract. Not every not every company offers multi-year contracts. So, um this would be a yearly cost of of $12,000 for uh student workbooks for our students in fourth

092and fifth grade AEC. And it enables you to do the one year to twoyear uh accelerated. It's only a yearly. They didn't have not the contract, but the the workbooks are usable to Right. Correct. We do we would do we would purchase these yearly and this again we would purchase yearly until the next math instructional review in three years. Um and then we will be reviewing the AEC math uh curricular resources as well as the um standard genet again for discussion only. Um this will be for approval at the May 5th board meeting. Yeah. All right. Have some dedicated time to those instructional items which is that's all I have the purpose right what we're doing. Yes. Very good. Thank you. All right. Thank you Chris. And we've got one more item here. here the

093tentative 25 amended budget. Eric, please. Yeah, thank you. So, tonight we're presenting the tentative amended budget. And if you recall from previous meetings, the reason we're doing this because we don't typically do an amended budget in this district unless something happens. But the reason we have to do it this year is because the board made the choice to purchase a piece of real estate earlier this year. Um, that was not a budgeted expense. So, according to school code, we need to have an amended budget prepared and approved by the board. So tonight, um, first we'll just kind of discuss what's in the, uh, amended tentative amended budget. Um, before I do that though, I just kind of want to talk about the process. Uh, an amended budget is the same exact process as the original

094budget we passed back in August and September of 2024. So tonight, we'll talk about what's in the amended budget. Uh, further in the agenda or later in the agenda tonight, the board will be asked to take action to put this tentative amended budget on display. It's required to be on display for at least 30 days. Uh and then we will set a public hearing date because it has to be on display for 30 days and the time between tonight's meeting and our May meeting is not quite 30 days. Uh the action request will come to the board in June. So that's just kind of the procedural parts uh to this process. But as far as the amended budget goes, you can see on the attachment in the board packet, there's really only nine uh account

095codes that we're even amending. Um, the main one, as I've referenced earlier, is the property acquisition uh account line that had a budget of zero dollars. So, we're modifying that budget line item to address that previous real estate purchase. Um, importantly, we're also adding dollars in there in case the board makes a decision to buy another piece of property. That is a potential. Um, if the board chooses not to do that and they stay at just the one piece of property that was purchased earlier this year, I will remove that additional cost from the final amended budget which will be presented in June. So the rules are you can estimate uh an expense in the tentative budget and you can decrease that expense when you go to the final budget but you cannot increase it.

096So that's why you see the larger number in that estimated uh expenditure line for land acquisition. Um the other items in the tentative budget, just real quick to to note, um our interest income this year has exceeded expectations, uh modifying our revenue to adjust for that. Um additionally, the corporate personal property replacement taxes from the state are coming in quite a bit underestimate. So there's an increase in interest income, but there's also a decrease in our expected receipts connected to that replacement tax line item. Um the other adjustments you see on this attachment are really just accounting adjustments to place dollars um more in line with what this year is trending towards. Um there was some changes to our title grants this year. We received uh an aotment of dollars greater than we expected. So

097we're using this opportunity and presenting an amended budget to correct those amounts. So, um, the other items you can see, there's just two other ones I wanted to mention on the expenditure side are really just based on our experience this year. There's a transportation line item connected to our Mckin Vento families that was trending in the direction where we're going to overspend that budget. So, we're adding some dollars there. And there's also uh the same situation in our telephone service line. We made a change last year and some of those costs to incorporate that change were a little more higher than we expected. So, just cleaning up those two small account codes. Um, but with that, happy to answer any questions. Okay. Again, it's it's we appreciate you explaining the process, explaining what the school

098code requires, why we we're in this situation. It's all very clear and it was good to see the uh the breakdowns uh in the attachments. Thank you. Questions? Yeah. Okay. Well, then that is it for our discussion items for this evening and we'll move into the action items which begin with the uh consent agenda. Are there any items board members would like to be removed from the consent agenda to be considered separately? Hearing none, then may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda which includes the employment recommendations, resignations and retirements, administration compensation, non-unionexempt compensation, approve or of probationary non tenure renewal staff contract, acceptance of April 21st, 2025 resignation letters from teachers Armstrong and Robinson, disposal of surplus property, Donation and gifts, Freedom of Information Act report, investment schedule, monthly revenue expenditure summary

099report, school district payment order, summary of bills and payroll, treasurer's report, vandalism, boo. Uh the open and close session board meeting minutes of March 17, 2025. Open and close session minutes as uh presented. Motion second. Second. Very good. Um Mrs. Mo, Mrs. Smoke, please. Mr. Estes, yes. Mrs. Butterrime, yes. Mrs. Sad, yes. Mrs. Hill, yes. Dr. Michael, yes. Mr. Lobach, yes. Dr. Bruno, yes. And I would note there was nothing else to said on the vandalism report. Yeah, I know. Now, I'm going to turn to Dr. Mcu because we've got some we still have some special guests in the room and some important things to announce. Yes, we sure do. We sure do. Uh we're going to do this one at a time. We have three new members to the district 41 family. We're going

100to start in alphabetical order and I'm going to say a little blurb and then I'm going to have um each of you come up. So Christine, you know that's starting with you. Um we have a new principal at Churchill Elementary. Her name is Miss Christine Erenss. Christine, currently you're an assistant principal in Norwich and prior to that you've been principal of ESY K8, uh, as well as a multilingual Spanish teacher, grades 6 through 8 in Mount Prospect, District 57. Um, you're coming to us with a lot of enthusiasm, uh, and excitement for uh, the Churchill community, and you are going to be fantastic. So, please put your hands together for Miss Christine Arens. Christine, come on up. [Applause] Oh my goodness. Hi, I'm Christine. It's lovely to be here tonight. Thank you for inviting me.

101Don't be nervous. Speech. Well, you didn't prepare that long speech. I did not. Um, you know, for as long as I' I've grown up and raised in the Chicago area and Glenn Ellen has been a superior community. So, I'm really excited to join as principal of Churchill and I'm ready to get started. I I look forward to August 1st of this year. Awesome. Well, fant and I would I I would mention I don't know why I should, but Jeff didn't mention it. I don't know how he didn't. I see that you got your bachelor's degree in elementary education from where? The University of Illinois Urbana Champagne. Well, there you go. Always important to get that on the record. Dr. Mcu, you have a housewarming gift. Oh, thank you. Housewarming. And now we're gonna Oh, sure.

102Thank you. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Here you go. I didn't plan this very well. I'm just going to grab a roving mic. Um I'm not even going to go with my notes. Um Fisel, you're next. You're a bee. Come on up. We have um Mr. Fisizelb. He is currently the director of information technology in uh Gulf 67. You've been there quite a long time and thought this District 41 looks like an amazing place to be. Um you also uh are a former service member United States Navy. Thank you for your service and did not go to U of I, but that's okay. Well, I noticed that here, but it's okay. And we are thrilled now that you are the director of um technology and innovation in district 41. So, please give Mr.

103Dr. B, a round of applause. Thank you very much for this opportunity. Um, yes. Uh, I'm very excited. Um, this is an incredible community and I'm I've been looking forward to this. My fun fact, uh, my first I have two boys. My son was actually born in Glendale Heights. So, it's kind of like a full circle coming back over here. It's kind of nice. Uh, I'm very excited. I mean, the I wanted to immerse myself right away. I wanted to come before even the board meeting started. So, I I'm looking really forward to it and and I've been I've received such wonderful just welcoming from everyone and it's been a delight. So, I'm extremely excited and I I can't I can't wait to get started here and have some fun with everyone. That's lovely. Very

104good. Very good. Please. [Applause] Thank you. Yeah. Welcome. Okay, Dean New Kirch, I didn't memorize all the bio, so I'm going to just do my best. Go winging it off the cuff. You want to read it? Um, yeah, there we go. Well, I know you are uh you are ELLL through and through. You were a former ELELLL teacher, Spanish and social studies teacher. You were also an Elmherst 205. Um, currently in Geneva as the ELLL coordinator. Is that okay? ELLL district coordinator in Geneva. Um, you have a passion for languages. So, who better to have as our new director of language programs than D. Nukeurch. So, D, come on down. [Music] Uh, my husband was hoping that I would have to do a speech. Um, I was warned of this. I'm super excited to start.

105Um, I've been really excited to take all my experiences and just keep learning and keep growing and partner with um, awesome students and families and community members. So, um, and a shout out to my husband for coming out and talking me into uh, taking a new risk and a new challenge and I'm really excited about it. Lovely. Thank you. Photo bombing. Wow. Well, I I do want to I do want to uh say that it's wonderful to have D Fisel and Christine with us. Thank you for joining the uh community and I especially want to give notes of appreciation to the HR office and the committees and community folks and parents who all lended a voice uh really to not only look for the best and the brightest uh but also to demonstrate uh that

106you're welcome here u and as Jay said earlier, uh, you really can do great work. Uh, if that's what, uh, if that's what you're looking for. So, and it better be. Yeah. There you go. All right. Uh, I thought maybe that was worth not saying, but but thank you all and and to your families, spouses, partners, uh, who support you in in this endeavor, in this change. U, you're now a part of the family. So, we look forward to getting to know all of you. All right. Can I piggyback on that? You most certainly we are D41 is our hashtag, but it's also the way we do things and the selection of the three of you was truly a we. You met with uh parents, with staff members, with cabinet members. Um so I want

107to echo the thanks. I want to give a special shout out. Dr. David Bruno uh worked tirelessly. I don't know that you've slept over the last month of of coordinating the Wii and pulling everybody together. So I just want to give you a heartfelt thanks. Um we landed on three phenomenal people. um due to your hard work. So, thank you for that. Okay, very good. Now, they're not on the payroll yet. Do they get to go home or do they have to sit through the rest of the Please let them go home. It's 8:30. Welcome to All right. All right. We will uh then move on to recommendations. And the first up is approval of increase in the compensation of the superintendent in recognition of Dr. McHugh's excellent performance in the first year of his

10824 to 27 employment contract with the board and the importance of achieving a competitive compensation package. May I have a motion to increase Dr. McHugh's base annual salary for the 2526 school year by 4.22% to $234,495 and to make for the 2526 school year a non-elective contribution for the benefit of Dr. McHugh in the amount of 5,000 to the district's 403b annuity plan payable no later than June 1st. I need a motion. June 30, 2026. June 30th, 2026. Motion. Second. Sorry. Second. Yes. Nancy, did you get is that Mrs. Hill and No, me. Oh, Ta and Lovak. All right. Any further discussion? Dr. M. I just say I think it's well deserved. I I I we're we're thankful to have Jeff here and and it and it's it's welld deserved. We've enjoyed your first year.

109Look forward to many more. So, great job, Jeff. Doctor, thank you. Very good. All right. Roll call. Mr. Estes. Yes. Mrs. Bodimer? Yes. Mr. Lobach? Yes. Dr. Michael? Yes. Mrs. Hill? Yes. Mrs. Sai? Yes, Dr. Bruno. Yes. And motion passes. Thank you. Uh, next item up is approval of professional services contract. May I have a motion to authorize Dr. David Bruno, the assistant superintendent for human resources to enter into a professional service contract with is that Faxis Health Solutions LLC for a cost of approximately $21,420 for the time period of April 14, 2025 through the end of the 2425 school year funded from the district budget contract services special education account as outlined in the board report. Motion. I need a second. Second. There's that. Any further discussion? Very good. Roll call. Mrs. Moch. Dr.

110Michael. Yes. Mr. Lobach. Yes. Mrs. Butterr. Yes. Mr. Resties. Yes. Mr. Sad. Yes. Mrs. Hill. Yes. Dr. Bruno. Yes. Uh motion passes and approve of the last day of the 2425 school year. Board members school student board members got very excited. Right. During the course of the school year, the district used one e-learning day. due to extreme weather has met the state mandated student attendant days without using any of the required tenative emergency days in June. May I have a motion to approve Tuesday, June 3rd, 2025 as the last student attendance day as outlined in the board report? Motion. Second discussion. Tess, you're all excited over there. Are you okay? Okay. Thinking about June. She's adding it to her calendar right now. She's looking at it right now. She's making plans. Mrs. Mo call Mrs.

111Butterrimer. Yes. Mr. Robbach. Yes. Dr. Michael. Yes. Mrs. Hill. Yes. Mr. Resties. Yes. Mrs. Sad. Yes. Dr. Bruno. Yes. And the board policy uh revisions. Uh this is uh not the student the personal technology. This is a second reading and adoption. Uh may I have a motion to revise and adopt the board policies as presented? Motion. Second. Any discussion? Yeah, these are just a press the press. Mrs. Press, this has nothing to do with the district personal technology. Just wanted to clarify that. Okay. Mrs. Moch, Mrs. Bimer, yes. Mrs. Hill, yes. Mrs. Sia, yes. Mr. Lobach, yes. Dr. Mo, yes. Mr. Resties, yes. Dr. Bruno, yes. Thank you. Next up is the -ate, the pawn network uh whole district. This is the switch replacements. May I have a motion to approve engaging with Pentegra to

112provide equipment licensing and install a passive optimal network at CSO Lincoln, Franklin, and Churchill at a total cost of $730,565.87 87 with $640,816.70 being eligible for -ate funding and being reimbursed approximately $320,48.35 for if anybody's doing the math for a total cost down of $410,15752 funded from the 2526 technology budget as outlined in the board report. Motion follow that second. All right. Very good. Discuss. Mrs. Mo. Mrs. Sad. Yes. Mr. Estes. Yes. Dr. Mo. Yes. Mrs. Butterr. Yes. Mrs. Hill. Yes. Dr. Bruno. Yes. All right. Durbach. Yeah. It's okay. So anyway, you got it. You got it. Two more items. Place the 2025 fiscal year tenative budget on display. May I have a motion to approve the resolution notifying the public of the hearing scheduled on Monday, June 16, 2025 for the 2425 amended budget

113and the placement of the 2425 tenative amended budget on public display as outlined in the board report? Motion. Second. Any other discussion? Very good. Roll call. Nancy. Mr. Estes. Yes. Mrs. Butterrimer. Yes. Mrs. Hill. Yes. Mrs. Sad. Yes. Dr. Michael. Yes. Mr. Lobach. Yes. Dr. Bruno. Yes. And then finally, approve the consolidated district plan. May I have a motion to approve the 2526 consolidated district plan as presented? Motion. Second. Any just briefly? This is just for grant submission. This is nothing to do with consolidation of school district. This is just consolidation of grant application submissions. That's all it says. Good, good, good. Always worth clarifying that. Does have a bad name. It does. Yes. Roll call. Mrs. Mo. Mrs. Hill. Yes. Mrs. Sad, yes. Mr. Robbach, yes. Dr. Mo, yes. Mrs. Butterr, yes. Mr. Resties,

114yes. Dr. Bruno, yes. And that motion uh passes. Can I say a quick thank you on that one? The consolidated, it's it's a quick board check, but the amount of work that goes into that is incredible. As somebody who used to do that in a former life, I am grateful for Dr. Chris Webster taking that on, organizing it. Molly Victor, you're involved. Juan, there's so many people coming together to make this happen. So, it's a lot of work. It's probably, I don't know, 60 pages all printed out in tiny font on that, but it's critical for us getting our funding. So, thank you, Chris, Molly. Thank you for all your hard work with this. Um, Juan, and everybody else who's involved with that. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Uh, we we'll move on to

115our board governance learning together. And we do have uh uh three items here. We'll we'll begin with the advocacy report. Uh yes, Julie, what do you have for us? Well, we have a report and also we read this book. So, I was like, maybe I can ask ChatGpt to help me on this. You should. So, I gave Chat GPT our outline and I was like, create a letter to an elected official from a elected school board. And so, it did that and then I fussed around with it and added some things. Um, so what you have, it's probably updated even from this morning. um is what Jet Chat GPT and I put together. So I am I guess looking for any feedback, any changes, additions, deletions, word choice, whatever. Um and I we still need

116to finalize who we're sending it to. Am I right? A recommend there was a re I had made a recommendation that it could go to the um state board of education superintendent, right? who will be receiving communication from Washington and then communicating back on behalf of the states school that that seem to be one possibility um in addition to um elected congressional leaders. That's an interesting Congress and Senate Association of School Boards saying that this is important to us as an individual to the That's right. I think we did note that it could go to the head of the Illinois Association of School Boards ASB. Okay. Does those four general categories sound good to everybody? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. I think what you have covered in there is pretty extensive. Well, it's extensive, but

117it's also more federal issues and that's really what we wanted. Correct. Right. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't want to go in and words smmith it because, you know, as you said, I've used chat GPT for similar purposes, right? Um when you have a task that's kind of mundane in doing and that we had done the thought work already. Yeah. No% let me give it a whirl. And you can use it and it can and like a lot of times for me like I've used it as given me a good start. Like it might not be something I want to submit but it's something that oh great that took all the a lot of times it's hard just to get started. Yeah. And so it gives you your start and then you can go from

118there but I think it really hits um did it leave anything out that a board member thought should be in and I guess you could only put so many omissions. It didn't seem It looked great. Pretty thorough. Yeah. Very thorough. Well written. Thanks Chat GPC. You you you both did great. Great. Thanks. Yeah. But if you look at what we've talked about tonight at at this board meeting, you know, we looked at the budget and we talked about title funds, we we talked about transportation, we talked about communications and privacy with technology and those kind of things. We talked about special education resources, but we talked about scheduling. These are all things that affect our students and our staff and the day-to-day operations of our school. This isn't just, you know, words that you use

119just because you want to say you're doing something. This is real stuff that we've talked about tonight. It matters. Yeah. I mean, and so is important. And we looked at two of the items that, you know, those were that amended budget that were that we that we're going to be publishing. There's two six figure line items um from federal government grants. Um these are real things that that we're advocating to be continuing. And those title funds are some of our marginalized kits that, you know, another allied items that are around there was were some of our homeless kids. you know, we're it's important to us as a district that we represent and support, you know, our students and our families that need it most. And so, and that's what's put forward tonight at this meeting

120and what's put forward here. That that is our work. It is part of our work. It's encouraged uh that boards do this stuff. Yeah. All right. So, then Oh, I was just going to say, what's next? Is Mrs. Mo next? So, if we've got consensus, Yeah. Taba, you had I just saw one typo. Oh, good job. Fix it. Where's the editor? I can't I can't edit it. Oh, no. No. Tell me and I'll fix it. Sorry that was not clear. Um, it's just in the keep public schools public. There was just extra spacing. Oh, yep. Currently or currently. I love that you caught that. The editor is just always there. Yeah. Okay. Did I never edit? Well spotted. I don't That's good collection. Chat didn't notice that one. Hold on. All right. I didn't have

121one of my addition. So, if we've got consensus on the letter, uh Nancy, because we've done these things before, but you uh correct me. Uh Julie can any clean up she has to do, she can forward it uh to you. And I cleaned it. Yeah, it's cleaned. I fixed the space. Well, besides elected officials, I just want to make sure, Miss Hill, if you could just send me who you want to send it to, I'll get their addresses and things like that, but I'd like you to provide that to me in case I miss something. I don't want to over Yes, I can help somebody. Okay, course. Thank you. And then just for I think obvious clarification. I don't think I have to tell you this, but just in case, there are are notes below

122the letter. So, the notes clearly do not need to be sent to anybody. Just the letter. I figured that was clear. I just wanted to say it out loud. Julie, thank you. Oh, that's fair. Thank you. Yeah, important work. All right. Good board. All right. So then I guess Julie sort of segueed and dipped into the our second topic, right? And yeah, it's all about brave new words. Take it away, Jess. Yes. So we are reading Brave New World words by Sal Khan. He's the person who created Khan Academy. um as well as uh something something world school I don't remember but um he's got a curriculum that's for all the world that he um um published in 2020 and now he has K Migo which is an AI powered tutor program um and this

123uh book was a huge advertisement for K Migo um but also Oh, very interesting and visionary in terms of like where AI could take us um in education. Uh I would say it's already probably dated because he uh wrote this before chat chat GPT 4.0 came out. So um so you know things are moving really quickly but uh Julie you inspired the first question or my first question was going to be like since reading this what um additional AI things have you all experimented with and what did you think about it any and did anybody um subscribe to Kigo? I did not I did not subscribe to K Migo, but I did try. It's funny you mentioned that whe there'd be a chapter, I would start trying um the the things that they suggested like

124talking to historical figures and that kind of thing. So, I did do that. Um another thing too that they mentioned that I thought was interesting, um I didn't try it, but they talk about AI as a as a therapist, and I thought that was kind of interesting. And the studies show that there's a reduction in depression after four months of using it. Um, there's also psychology and parenting tips and some other things which is kind of interesting. They also talk about simulating empathy and I have mixed feelings on anything that simulates empathy but um it's a good place to start. I think it's at least some a spot to uh to take a look at to start the whole process of you know looking into those kind of things. So I thought it was interesting

125but yes I did try various things as we're going along in the chapters. So yeah very cool. I I do want to disclose that I work for a mental health care company that is using AI to deliver uh mental health services for anxiety and depression. And please don't use chat GPT to do that. It's not safe. Um uh if it's not meant uh to be a therapist, uh it can be very dangerous. And so please look for something that's been purposely built for that and has lots of good recommendations. Um but yes, what else did who else tried some things? Yeah, I had to give a um a talk. So I was a little overwhelmed with my own my own talk and I asked Chat to be to make it into notes that I could

126just present with. And then we went a little further. I'm like, can you make slides? But then I didn't like the slides, so I just took those out. But then when I went to present, I couldn't follow Chat GBT's notes. Oh. So I ended up just kind of taking the talk into a different direction. So I don't know. I haven't found it to be beneficial to me just yet. But yeah, you got to keep experimenting. Experimenting. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It would be good. Sorry. I don't know if this is quite relevant, but in school we were working on like a history project. So I went on this website called Britannica. I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right. That's an encyclopedia from everyone. that they would go door to door and they would sell

127it to keep on your shelf. All right. Shrink up now. Who's got Who's got a box downstairs in a closet which we need to bring them over. Textbooks. Team world book over here. That's what we had. Sorry. Sorry. Go ahead. You touched on her. Um, but there's this one setting where you can say ask the chatbot where basically just instead of you going through every single article and you search up and read all the 10page articles, it just kind of it asks you a question and then you can say and then it brings you information from that website instead of from all over. So you can kind of trust it more in my opinion than like in my opinion Wikipedia I just don't trust. I don't use it at all. So, Britannica just kind of

128it's true information. I trust it a lot. So, that's great. Yeah, you have to be critical, think critically about all those sources. Sounds very cool. Oh my gosh. Britannica, good times. And anyone else, you know, go ahead. This is much more important. Go. I would like to say that um we're doing like a project in social studies and like Google not really a credible source but maybe if you seen if you ever search up a question it says like Google AI sometimes that gives me like ideas cuz maybe I don't know how to start a paragraph and they just give me some ideas like maybe like sentence starters I could use or some ideas so I can just like really build my project out out of Google AI. I mean I don't like not copyrighting

129anything. Not plagiarism out here, but just giving me ideas. Mhm. As an attorney, when you cite something, it is not plagiarism. Cite your work. I think one thing that I've seen just both in my work of uh as an attorney, but also just like as a wood as a hobby hobbyist woodworker, right? And a lot of talk in the woodworking community is the use of AI for for designing projects and these kind of things. And both of my job as an attorney, both as as a hobbyist woodworker, what I see in using AI is a lot of the details are missing a lot of times most of the important details, right? Um application of laws when things go into effect, who they impact, where you're joining things actually how you put stuff together, AI put

130together a lot of stuff that's impossible to build. Um, but but I think as as Helen was saying, it does where I see it in my my life and in my applications is that it does give a really good start. Um, and it does give, you know, in looking at, you know, legal research, it does give you the ability to whittle stuff down quicker. Um, but but as I said, you know, you do got to site your work. You got to make sure things are good. just that starting point might save you just that where do I go now? I have a literally have a place I can go right now and it can help me and sometimes figuring out why something is wrong will get you on that right path. So that's where I'm

131seeing it helpful. No. All right. Additional questions. Did you have additional questions? Just I do. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You didn't you didn't I didn't I didn't talk. I did not experiment. I didn't experiment with it but uh but I did but I did do a lot of additional reading okay on on on the on the topic uh from multiple sources. Education Week happens to be, I think, a very credible source for educational research and they had multiple issues and stories that touched on the use of AI and and and I was struck by the fact that um what they all had in common was uh it was on the aspects that are are sort of around instruction. They weren't about improving instruction, but it had to do with, for example, right? I guess you can

132make an argument. It's certainly related. Helping teachers write a test, right? Create a quiz hashtag differentiation. some well maybe maybe so um there was a focus on um on and actually it being used for some professional development actually to sort of design professional development and also what what was constant across the research that they did was this idea of time as an asset which Khan makes big he certainly stresses right that it's it it has the potential for returning time to the teacher, which is, you know, such a cherished asset. And we heard earlier in the meeting about reorganizing the elementary school and how you sort of make magic by moving minutes around and and it was all about time. Uh and and I guess just reflecting two things. one was well you know but

133do you need technology uh to do that right I mean what is it is the option to go to technology in order to create more instructional time or to give the teacher to so that a teacher doesn't feel burned out for example um I do think there are alternatives to the technology would come which come with their own you know burdens and and and hassles And the other thing was that none of the research actually got to pedagogy. Like it never actually got to saying that it that it made you a better instructor. It you you and I understand an instructor is more than just um providing information and and engaging in socratic dialogue and putting you know creative deep thinking projects. I know it's more than that. You do have to grade right. Yeah.

134Uh so so so maybe all the potential is really around and I think he even refers to it as a kind of the dull boring dirty work, right? Uh so maybe there's some potential there, but none of the research really yet speaks to it really improves your instructional skills. But it does seem to offer opportunities to manage and navigate work which is really a product of what the you know what the district puts on you know teachers and it's how many kids they put in a class and how many mandates the teacher has to meet right so the problems I think I think is comes from some other place but maybe the technology is responsed I enjoyed the book I really enjoyed the book so I didn't practice with it but like I said I

135did a lot for reading interesting podcast uh called Good Robot. Might want to look at it. It's a four-part series about AI. But they don't actually he doesn't actually get to teaching until the what I would call the core instruction in the classroom until near the end. And it's only a handful of pages. Mhm. And I think it's because he just doesn't have a whole lot of really good academically done robust research, you know, and maybe that's fair because this is changing as we're speaking. So I guess I still remain a a cautious sort of I don't know skeptic. It's not a bad thing really to be a skeptic. Oh, and I'm not so sure it isn't. Maybe it won't replace teachers. No, but it does sound like it could replace a lot of aids.

136I don't know about that either. But yeah, interesting. Interesting. Um, well, I I I wanted to answer the first question first, too, and then I I want to come back to some of the things you said, but um I use uh AI every day and I loves it. Um it's really um when I joined my company there were six of me and now there's one of me and I do probably three times the work. So um it's uh there's a lot of moving plates and it really helps me to manage all of that. Um but one of the very cool things that I just used last week was called deep research and you might be interested in this. Um open AI has a deep research uh Google Gemini has a deep research I think they

137all have a version. Um, but essentially you have to uh open ais they let me try it free for once and Gemini let me try it free for more than once. I don't know how many times I can keep doing it but um the uh cuz I've paid for nothing but um I I put in I I had a topic that I wanted to do primary research which is talking to people about the thing. Um, and but in order to prepare for that primary research, I wanted to do the secondary re research, which is like look at all of the information about digital mental health and how people engage with it. And you know, there's a lot out there. Uh, Deep Research found over 300 sources and combed through them in 10 minutes and did

138a summary for me that I could read through. And then I was like, "Okay, well, create a test plan then." Okay, now that you have the test plan, create a script for me. Um, so I did that with two and then I was able to take the script that I wrote, the test plan and script that I wrote and Frankenstein them. It just helped me fill in the blanks and just think a little bit more broadly than I had originally been thinking. And I just highly recommend that. That's so cool. Um, and it it felt, you know, there were things that I read and I was like, I don't I think it misinterpreted that. Um, so you do still have to know what you're reading and be critical about it. Um, but it it does

139help you bring a lot of different pieces together in 10 15 minutes time. Um, and then there's a new feature out there. Google has uh something called notebook LM and essentially you can feed it all the sources that you have your notes that you took during class along with the articles that you read and um it helps you synthesize those thoughts um and create mind maps and um you can quiz it you can ask it like you did Britannica and you can say um I don't understand this concept what did the notes everything that I've uploaded can what can you tell me about it and so that's a way of kind of creating a custom thing. So, very very cool stuff. Um, and at West I know my daughter um for I don't remember which

140class, but they she had to write a paper and the teacher said this is how it's going to be graded. So, that's the rubric. They fed it into their AI system as the rubric. Um, and then when they had their draft of the paper, they could run it through the rubric and it would say, "This is how the grade you would get and this is the feedback on these pieces of your um essay." And so, uh, then they can go back and they can iterate it. So, um, very cool stuff. I'm fully on board. Um, but I do think we have to have really, um, what's the word? uh meaningful conversations or deliberate conversations about it. So that takes me to my next question which is what strategies can we use to engage students, staff

141and parents in meaningful conversations about integrating AI and whether or not we should and if we do at what grade level, you know, it's probably not at kindergarten. Um you know, we need maybe maybe it is maybe it's not. Let's any thoughts about that? Well, think about this from an easy integration perspective and and and let's take an elementary school child and it's library day, Wednesday. They need to go pick out their library book and I know my son kind of nervous on library day because it kind of can be overwhelming to go into a library and pick out a book and how do I know which book I'm going to like? Um, one of the nice things about whatever program you're talking about is you can quant I like this book. I like this

142book. I like this book. I don't like this book. I don't like this book. Can you help me pick out help me pick out a book? Um, so there's easy ways to integrate that can be very beneficial to kids. um without really jumping in to education, without jumping into teaching, but introducing in a way that can help kids in a very easy, productive way that I like that's where I see it. That's how I use my life is just kind of how can I take stress away by using something, right? Um as a tool and and I think whatever it may be, I think there's always an easy introduction, right? For sure. Um, yeah, I did want to get back to your point too, Bob. Um, maybe we're going along, but um, can it make

143you a better teacher? I think so. I don't know if there's applications out there, but in the in the framework of therapists and mental health, um my company has been delivering um it's not mine. The one I work at is been delivering um mental health services between clinicians and patients via text for 10 years. So, they have 10 years of texting back and forth. And so they are able to use AI to analyze those conversations and and and say, you know, based on the outcomes that they're seeing, say, this is what makes a good therapy session. This is kind of the cadence. This is the kind of responses you have to have. Um, and so yeah, it's made made for better therapists because it can take all that data and find patterns um that you

144can learn from. Um but yeah, so I think there's applications for that. Yeah, Tess, um I really wanted to like process before I said anything because I feel like this is a really great and deep conversation. Um, so I guess when we were talking about the initial like use of AI, I've never I guess personally considered the idea of you know artificial intelligence being like present in the classrooms and you know being usable by students and teachers cuz that just never crossed my mind and anytime like I've been met with the idea of artificial intelligence in the classroom it's been like don't use chat GPT to write your papers and that's like you know a given. Um, and a lot of the times that I've, you know, ever used AI, it would be on like

145Spotify or if I'm doing a Google search, a lot of the time you will like search something up and there will be like a summary answer at the top. Yeah. Yeah. And I think like what I at least heard that we were discussing was the potential of students using a or not students, teachers using AI to, you know, help them become better educators. And I guess the thought that I'd like to um pose is that if teachers are using AI to become better educators in the sense of I don't know writing lesson plans, creating slideshows and like I think about this as like a function like there's input and there's output. The input is what the students are getting and the output is their assignments. So if all the input the students are getting is

146AI generated, does that mean that their output could also end up being AI generated and it would be okay? Because I feel like that's a weird message to send like you can't use AI but like the teachers are going to use it. And I guess like I'm not trying to say that as like an accusatory thing. I just it's weird to think about dehumanizing a learning environment a little bit by incorporating artificial intelligence. And I guess it just makes teachers seem I guess it doesn't make them seem anything, but I feel like it sort of takes something away from them that they were doing before. And maybe that's a great thing. It's super helpful, but it's also like a question to think about and pose in your mind like do we want to do this?

147Like can we like take a step back from this? I don't know. That was just a thought that I had while we were discussing this. Well, by the way, that was perspective. Yeah. Really? I think yes. Right, Dr. BR. I mean, that was the best advertise advertisement I've ever heard for listen first, work it through your head, right? Use some deliberative thought and then and then speak. But that was beautiful. You're my hero. Thank you. I want to model that. That was well said. Yeah. Uh moving on. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. No. Yeah. I definitely I definitely think we should be thinking about those things and talking about them as a group because, you know, I'm on one end of this spectrum. I'm pretty gung-ho, but there's room at the table for the whole perspectives, the

148whole spectrum of perspectives. So, um yeah, back to that question. Do we do a committee of the whole? Do we um send out a survey? Do we have discussions? Where does it start? Does it start with the administration and the and teachers? How do how do we you know, when I I I think back to law school, right? And and I just tell this story because I think this is kind of an organic starting spot, right? Um when I started law school back in 1998, you had an encyclopedia back then. There were no So no, but but what it was was you had manual shepherization, which attorneys out there like, "Oh, I know exactly what that what you're talking about there." But shepherization was it was a process where you'd go and you try to

149you'd have to shepherdize your case law to find out whether or not it had been overturned by different courts. Um but at that same time um there was programs being written um by various research companies West Lexus Nexus what have you um that were doing real time shepherization um for all case laws and statutes that would it was just coming up in in your programming as part of the packages and that was that was changing at the time. So I was part of the the classes that learned both we learned how to uh do old school cheerization which I have no clue how to do anymore. Um and we learned how to do digital separation and use you know the yellow flags and red flags what these meant and how you could do good sources

150online. Um but to that that is it is a source of early on artificial intelligence. Um, but it did specifically change the way that students were taught in law school. Uh, specifically because it got rid of an entire semester or however long of of of a legal research class and brought that down to, okay, this is what the yellow flag mean, this what the red flags means. You can go do here for other sites starting other sources citing and you can move on in five minutes. Um but before that it was a process of publications with pamphlets being stuck at the end of the book and you had to check it was a process um and a long process that we learned. Um and so I I go through all that to say there's a

151point where this is going to come into teaching organically just like it did with teaching shepherdization and teaching legal research. Um, and at some point you can't avoid it because when it comes to letting Weslaw or Lexus or whatever your process is, do your shepherdization for you and it's relied upon and it's good and it tests it out. Well, obviously that's going to save clients hundreds and thousands of dollars um, you know, per billion cycle honestly. Um, and law students is going to save just hours and hours of time. Um, so and and so it's going to come into your classroom. And so I I think that trying to force it probably isn't the right way in my mind, but and looking at it a way that things are going to come up like I

152think but I think like the older you get like you know we're going to write an essay, do you need to write x amount of paragraphs on what obviously you know kids may do it. I think when you start getting into situations where you know where kids are going to do things, I mean kind of like when you have Robert Crown, you you you have Robert Crown because kids are getting to that point in their life where you need to start having conversations about different things, right? Where kids are going to start using AI to do, hey, I'm going to write this essay or whether it's, you know, three paragraphs or whatever. Maybe that's a time where we're we know kids are going to start using artificial intelligence to help them do their work. Maybe

153it's that's that time to say, okay, what are we going to do? Are we going to are we just going to let it be or are we going to address it both as a teacher and and for the students? Let let me jump in here for for both All that's good, but also to be attentive to to time. Oh, I'm fairly fine with that. And uh Dr. McHugh, you were about to turn your mic on because you had I think a direct response to Jess's question about how we might get into this conversation. And then by the way, you seem to have done pretty well uh with the tech, the personal tech and some other matters. And so I I'd love to hear what your response is. I I'll try to give a streamlined version

154of my thoughts. I think I could talk all day about this. I'm fascinated. So it's here and we're all using it whether we like it or not. So it's not an if. Um girls, you just said it. You Google anything. AI is working. It's built into our phones. If you're not using tech at all, it it's still probably impacting you when you go to stores and all of that. So it's here. I do liken it to the calculator, to the internet when that first came out. There's certain foundational skills we need, but uh it won't be an option not to use it. It currently isn't. So, how do we do that? Um I think we're just scratching the surface with our staff. I think it starts with our our staff, the teachers getting to learn

155about it. Working with students on that. I think for our next steps, instructional technology is our next conversation that came out of the personal devices was the first step, but as we heard through that engagement, our community wants to talk about how are we using tech at a broader level. This is one, I feel, branch of that. There's many branches, but this will be a this isn't just to me a committee of the whole. This is part of the next step of our district 41 conversation on technology going into next year. Um but yeah, for all those reasons, we need to find ways. It's not should we use it, it's how do we use it in class for students and um we need to figure that out. And I think it might be interesting for

156the policy committee to review our AI policy soon after you've read the book just with that lens. um just to see if I best intentions. I wanted to review that before this meeting, but I didn't. So, um so just punt it back to you guys. Um but that that to to review that with fresh eyes and say, does this address some of the things we read? And maybe it it was pretty comprehensive and not that long ago, so it may, but I think it'd be a good first step for the board. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Can I can I make three very quick points? You got the um they are not related to a future meeting or a policy re review, but the book and I can't believe I found it in here, but I knew

157it was on which side of the page it was on and I got it. So, I wanted to say slashread this. um he's making claims about the efficacy of um Khan Academy which precedes uh Kan Migo which at least in my fifth graders class they are currently using. So, I don't know how widespread that is in the district or other Illinois districts or whatever, but his claim says even before Kan Migo, okay, I got that on. Um, efficacy studies have shown that classrooms using Khan Academy as little as 30 to 60 minutes a week during the pandemic not only avoided COVID slide, but outperformed pre-COVID standards by 20 to 40%. And then he says it didn't cost such and such dollars. It was free. Um, and that and I don't expect anybody in this room

158to have this information at all. I don't remember how long D41 has been using Khan Academy. Um I know that my daughter's specific classroom they have to do 40 minutes a week and I wonder if this district has seen has seen those kinds of gains using this. Um and I don't I don't need an answer right now and I don't even need an answer. It was a curiosity of is this is this data reflective in our district? Because if you know my fifth grader and the other 24 or five kids or whatever in her class are doing it, we theoretically should see an overall gain. While it might not be my specific kid, overall we should see a gain, right? And so I was curious if we've actually seen that. Again, I don't recall how

159many years we've been using it to if you could see in the data already, if we have to wait a couple years, it was a curiosity. Um, my second comment was, and this is mostly just because you are our resident tree hugger, um, it's really terrible for the environment. Terrible. It's It uses a ton of energy. I saw a headline in the last two days probably that people being polite to chat GPT are killing energy. Like just using so much energy, just being polite to chat GPT. So to ask it to create to give it a full sentence asking it to create a letter like I can't imagine the energy uses. Also it like just sucks water like just terrible. Anyway, it's here. It's not going anywhere. We just have to like power it so

160that it doesn't further destroy the planet. That was my second thought. My third thing was um I was listening to a podcast today and so I was I was at the gym so I was also like counting to seven or eight or nine or however many I could do while listening to the podcast. So I did not have time to take notes. However, they were saying that some business review and I didn't catch it and I didn't rewind came out with like the top three reasons people use AI. Again, I couldn't take notes because I was like doing something not like this though. Um One of the top three things was therapy. That is like one of the top three reasons people use AI. So that was interesting, especially given um what you do for

161a living. But um anyway, those are my three things. You can respond. You don't have to, but that's what I had. Well, interesting. Yeah. I I think um building off of a couple things. First, Steve, you you had said um I don't think it can uh replicate empathy. And actually, it can. That's real good. It's really good. Um and then um Julie, one of the things that you said really um brought to mind this idea of like how can we equit equitably use it? And so if our I' I'd like to know if we're using Khan Academy, who is that accessible to? Is it accessible to our highest performers or is it accessible to our full range of performers? And are we are we making that equitable? um and and how do we make it

162equitable as we move forward. So that's another big concern. Okay. Well, um we've probably exhausted the time we have um even though perhaps not the interest, but thank you everyone. um look forward to seeing what's next from the administration and where we can go with next steps as uh our staff wraps their arms around it as well. Jess, thanks for recommending the book and board. Thanks for digging into it and taking it seriously. Okay. Can't wait to see what the third u book study looks like next year though. I think right next year. All right. Well, we do have one uh final item and um a very important one. um that we need to give proper attention to now. So, Dr. McHugh, please. Yes. So, FABA, it is my honor to recognize and thank you

163for your dedicated service to the District 41 Board of Education since 2021. This is your last official board meeting. Um but we hope that you're going to stay involved and connected to the district. Throughout her time on the board, she has generously volunteered her time on numerous district committees, including the policy committee, calendar committee, supplemental pay committee, and strategic plan subcommittee. She regularly attended PTA meetings and school events, and consistently represented our district and community with integrity. Her thoughtful leadership and unwavering commitment to our students, staff, and families have made a lasting impact, and we are truly grateful for her service, including this new superintendent that you showed the ropes to. Um really appreciate you, and you will be missed. And we have a small token of our appreciation. [Applause] [Music] Thank you so much,

164Tab, I'm sure your colleagues have some some thoughts. Uh but uh I would like to defer to you. Uh you have the floor. Three minutes. Three. Thank you. Um I I I was thinking, okay, should I write this out? Should I should I just speak from my heart? So, this is a combination of both. And um when I was trying to think of what words I'm going to say today, those of you that don't know, uh last year I took on a position to teach PE at a private school in Wheaten. And today, um this kindergartener, she says to me, "I'm going to help you because there was a new student in class uh who didn't speak English." And I said, "Okay, what are you going to do?" and she's like, "I'm going to translate

165for you." And I said, "Okay." So during our activity, she's holding her hand. She's uh translating for her, making her feel at ease. And um I just realized this is why I did what I did. like this is what I took on this position for was to be an advocate for those that can't speak up, that can't um express themselves, that can't be at the table. And afterward when we're uh going back to the classroom, she's at the end of the line and I'm right behind her. She takes a deep breath and she's like, and you could tell like she's just exhausted from this helping that she was doing. And I told her, I really appreciate what you did. And I think she was just I mean, it's a kindergarter. She's just waiting to hear

166somebody say, "Good job." You know, but that that that breath that she took is also part of this work that you're not going to be recognized. you're not going to be people aren't going to know what you're doing and why you're doing it, but you know and and it's a constant I mean everybody's like four years went by and I'm like no no no not really they they were pretty slow and uh the advice I was given when I got on the board from um another board member in Minnesota actually he had said um don't rush things don't rush things just be there to listen first and see what needs to um what need what needs the district needs and then come in as you're needed. And so I really came in with that and

167sometimes you know people don't understand the board work that it's it's not you want this to happen so it happens. It really is. It requires time. It requires patience. It requires listening. It requires um a lot of time sacrifice. Um and if it's going to meant to be happen, it will happen. If not, it's okay, you know. And we had very um eventful four years. Um I you know, when I had originally been asked to join the board, um I was using my husband as a reason to say no. I'm like, I'll ask him. And um and when I when I asked him, he's like, this is exactly what you should do. And I said, man, no, you were supposed to be my, you know, escape out. And um and I'm really grateful to my

168family and my friends that are here because um the support, you know, without their support, I think my brother left. I think he just gave up and just couldn't sit here any longer. But um you know what this little girl showed me today? She reminded me like I wish I had that when I was an immigrant exactly at that age that somebody saw me, was willing to help me, was willing to translate for me, was willing to communicate for me and help me feel like I belong. And you know this is what I came into this position for to that one-third of our district that is minority to to let them know that yes you belong here and um this this last election it not being contentious I want to believe is a is a

169testament to to we're doing something right that the community is pleased with the work that we're doing and didn't feel like they needed to go up against us and understand that we are on the the community side and uh I'm really grateful for that. Like I feel like I can step down with the with the peace of mind that you know our work is is being recognized, appreciated and supported. And um I remember when we were campaigning and canvasing four years ago, bunch of my family members and friends were with me and um I had like doors slammed in my face and people not wanting to hear what I had to say. And there was one individual uh a minority member of our community. My husband was actually canvasing for me. And he uh he

170literally said, "I'm not interested in what she's doing. I don't care. I don't want to hear it." and and my husband said, "Okay, just we're just going to leave some material. You can look at it and um and you know, hopefully you will see what she's what she's trying to do." And then within a few minutes, he actually ran after my husband in a good way and um said, "Oh, oh, okay. I just looked over uh your wife's uh campaign and yes, this is what she's doing is so needed and and uh and it's so important." and we were able to get him, you know, his support. And so, uh, I hope, you know, even though the board is not going to have a minority person on there, uh, but I hope that, you know,

171me as that broken record DEI, you know, minorities bringing in that voice, that perspective, um, that you guys keep that going. And I really appreciate uh each of you for being you know part of the work that we were able to do even especially the kindergarten center coming about. It's because uh there has been a level of respect, appreciation, understanding and support and uh really listening. Like I can't I can't emphasize that enough that we've been able to even if we didn't agree there's always been listening and a willingness to understand each other. So, I hope that and I'm sure that's going to continue. And I um I want to give a shout out to the board members um these last four years and even Melissa while she was here and Jeff this year um

172in Ramadan they would fast with me if we had a meeting and I that means a lot because um one it's always weird being the odd one out but two it really brought I hope a fresh perspective on what you know a a portion of of the student population is going through every Ramadan trying to be in school, do gym or um and not eat or drink anything. And I really appreciate that because you didn't have to do that. Um also even having to pause the meetings, take a recess so I can pray. Um you know, that wasn't spoken of, but uh I really do appreciate that. That means you know uh you you saw me and you you you respected what I needed to do. Um and even when my mother passed away um

173some of you came and attended her funeral. So these are things this is this is how a board should be should be like family where you can trust each other and be there for each other. And I really really appreciate I want to really thank Nancy and all of the cabinet um that I could even come up and just just speak just share just contribute just be myself. That means a lot. Uh, I know sometimes like I can't explain everything and you know David, we were having a conversation about fasting, but it's there's an understanding and a willingness to to listen and I appreciate that and all the work that you guys are doing, have been doing and are continue doing. I'm really really thankful for that. And then um, of course, Jeff, just been

174such an honor short-lived um, for me to get to know you and work with you. But um I said this to you, you know, at the last meeting that you are receptive to feedback and you are very willing to listen and um you know Jeff even accompanied me. We visited the the mosque that's in the district. Um, and that takes courage and um, and I appreciate you doing that and I hope um, you know, you have a good resource with that um, opportunity that opened up since then, but I really have enjoyed working with you and um, you're I'm I'm so grateful that the district's in good hands with you. Um, and then of course Ted and Jess and Bob and Jason and Julie. It's Steve. Thank you um for uh letting this be something

175I look forward to doing. And that can't happen if you don't get along with your colleagues, that you don't have a relationship with your colleagues. Um Steve sending me pictures from Pakistan. and praying that I get to go one day to visit my home country. Um, you know, that that really means a lot to me. Um, and I'm going to miss working with you all. This is wasn't supposed to be a note about what I've done. It's supposed to be a message of what we have done. And I'm so grateful for that. that to show the community what people can do when you're not coming in with, you know, this bag of grievances. You come in willing to do the work to step up, step in, step forward together. And I hope um I've been

176able to be a part of that. I'm really grateful that um I've had these four years with you all. Um and I'm I'm I'm honored that I had this opportunity. I'm really grateful to the community. um for for giving me this this this chance to represent. I I seek forgiveness for any of my shortcomings. And you know, this is not goodbye. This is what else can I do? Where else can I uh contribute? Where else can I in what capacity can I um step up and and be there for my community? Like I said when I was running that I'm a community steward. I'm here to serve. Um, and I'm just uh I'm really grateful for my family for for being so um patient through all of this. My my little one was the most

177excited um that I'm stepping down and and this is just a reminder that, you know, we have other things that we have to do. So, um I think I've um I think I should stop there before I um lose my composure. And I want to thank my in-laws for being here. And um I miss my parents. You know, if they knew that I'd be sitting here, I think they would be really proud because as immigrants, they just did what they had to do to give us a better education. And now being here in this seat the last four years, I've been able to give back and pay it forward. So, I hope I've made them proud, too. But thank you. Thank you for everything. I love you [Applause] all. I don't want to cry more

178than you are, but I don't want to take another gratitude we have for to able to work on I don't have fin I have medium with us not final medium um two things um you know throughout your four years um you mentioned being the only minority of a a person on the board and I've seen that burden that you've carried Um, but I want to let you know that in that burden, you passed on to me, um, some knowledge, some understanding, and I think most importantly, um, some curiosity and some want to know more, to want to better serve a per, you know, a portion of the community that that I don't know as much about. um you've you've given me the opportunities that I may not have otherwise took. And I think it's more

179to say that I might not have otherwise took because we always have these opportunities, right? Um but you said, "Hey, this is an opportunity. Would you join me?" And I appreciate that because it gave me the opportunity to take that opportunity and to sit in someone else's shoes and then have conversations with my kids about that and then them telling me about, you know, well, my friend is going through this and this is how it affects them and this that conversations I would not have otherwise had. And so while I know you carry that burden, I want to tell you that I'm glad you did. I I've said a lot of times at this table that when tables speak, shut up because it's going to be something important. And a lot of times it is.

180I'm very proud to have served with you. Thank you, Jay. Thank you, Thea. Man, nice. Yeah. Anyone else? Dr. Michael, you're about to hit the button, please. Um Oh, boy. Maybe you go next. Deep breath. We all love TA. I I won't go long. I just wanted to say Taba that I think your quiet thoughtful nature will um be welcome anywhere you find left you find next to serve. Um and yes, when the speaks you listen because there aren't a lot of words from her at the table. So it matters. Um, and so I appreciate all that you've brought to us and all of your work and all of your time and it has been a heck of a four years I think, hasn't it? Um, but um, I'm very glad you were a part

181of it. And don't be a stranger. Nice. Nice. Yes, Ted or Jess. You go first. You go. So, first off, I want to thank you for stepping up. I I I'm I thinking back four and a half years when we I'm like we got to find somebody else to run for the board and I met you and I said I'm going to I'm so so glad that we have somebody normal running for the board and I did everything I could to help help you out and but I and I was nervous too. I was nervous because there was somebody there was one story um somebody was trying to collect signatures for you and and she was getting people who would look at your name and they would refuse to sign it and I'm like oh

182I didn't know I lived in in this kind of community but after the election you're the one who got all all most of the votes and I'm like there we go And so again, I thank you for your perspective. Thank Thank you for stepping up. Um I've really really enjoyed working with you and I'm better for knowing you. Nice. Thank you, Ted. Yeah, Jess, please. Yeah. Um we're running out of things to say here, but it really has been an honor to serve with you. I really have appreciated your perspective and your questions. Um, you've definitely made us a better board and I appreciate how inclusive you've been to share uh your perspective and culture with us and invite us in to different experiences. Um, and uh you you're definitely going to be missed. Um,

183but I I very much appreciate your persistence in speaking out and speaking up. um and really your thoughtfulness and you have my number and now you have copious amounts of time to have a coffee. So, let's do that. Thank you. Dr. Michael, will you I will try do your best. Um yeah, no, it's really been great working with you and um thank you for taking my phone calls and and your availability. Sorry, when I get tired, it's harder to um but no, I just appreciate your your input style and discussions and you know, everything that you've said over the last two years has always made sense. So, it's always resonated and so I I appreciate that. So, as Yeah, you did you did well. Uh look, I it's always uh it's always difficult to say

184uh goodbye to someone in a role uh that you've come uh to know them in because it does feel that a little piece of each of us goes with you and hopefully that's something that brings you comfort. Um but a but a large part of you uh a large part of your very quiet decency and integrity really fills my heart through some of the most challenging times um that you experience as a board member. um the goodwill of your colleagues, the example uh that a person sets really can fill you up and and and so it is bittersweet to say goodbye to you in this role. Uh but you've served well. You've served honorably. you've been a model on how to serve. Um, and others can look for that opportunity and if they do, I

185hope they'll think about how you governed uh in the in this role. and you did indeed have to take on um some of the additional challenges that come with being a minority member of the board and representing a community whose voices are not so easily heard. Uh and and and despite that, you weathered it and I think your faith in prayer were critical. uh uh to that uh and it was inspirational. So I feel that I'm changed and I'm grateful for that and I will miss you in that in that seat. But I'll be eternally grateful that you sat into it. You sat in it so nobly for the four years. And and if I may, I want to thank your husband for giving you the correct answer. Yes. Way to go. Uh and and

186and to your family and to uh your your your community uh supporters. Um thank you for sharing her with us for four years. So please take care of her because um I don't think your good work is done yet. No. All right. It's been an honor. It's been an honor. Yes. Anything else? Yeah. Okay, David, thank you. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Yes. All right. We're going to then move on and just say that we've got some upcoming meetings. Um, Monday, May 5th is when we will hold the uh well, actually, we'll hold a a regular meeting, but then there will be a reorganizational board meeting and the new board uh will be seated. Uh Monday 19th uh will be a regular board meeting and we have on the schedule June 2nd as a committee of the

187whole meeting, but we're not anticipating that we would use this date for a committee of the whole meeting. It's on the calendar, but we're not anticipating uh that the board will uh will meet on that day. That's good. Yeah. Are there any items any are there any items board members wish to present for consideration to a future agenda? hearing. None. May I have a motion to adjurnn to close session to confidentially discuss section 2C1, the appointment, employment compensation, discipline, performance, section 2C, two, collective negotiating matters between the school board and its employees or the representatives or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees. Section 2C5, the purchase or lease of real property for the use of the school board, including meetings held for the purpose of discussing whether a particular parcel

188should be acquired. Section 2C5, student disciplinary cases and section 2C6, the placement of individual students in special education programs and other matters relating to individual students. And the board will not be taking action after close session. Motion second. Second. Second. No discussion. Mrs. Mo, roll call, please. Mr. Estes, yes. Mrs. Bimer, yes. Mrs. Hill, yes. Mrs. Sia, yes. Mr. Robbach, yes. Dr. Michael, yes. Dr. Bruna, yes. And again, we will not be taking action after close session. So, good night to all of you. Thank you all.