001And Miss Malbec, we are ready. Good evening everyone and welcome to this meeting of the board of education of Glen Brook High School District 225. We'll start with the roll call, please. Mr. Downing present. Mr. Guaki present. Mrs. Hope. Miss Mullenbeck here. Mr. O'Hara here. Mr. Shin present. Dr. Steinberg here. Six members present. Uh, first item on the agenda is approval of the agenda. Uh, Dr. Grall, have there been any changes to the agenda since it was circulated? There have been there have been no changes to the agenda. However, I have updated or or included an updated personnel report. Okay. Um, in that case, could I please have a motion to approve the agenda? So moved. I second. All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. That brings us to the superintendence report. Dr. Grall.
002All right. Good evening everyone. Thank you so much for being here in this lovely June day. Today we gather for a little bit of a a bittersweet celebration of someone who might be sitting right to my right. Um we were just joking a few moments ago last time um that we had a little conversation about Dr. John's. I was scripted and he was not. And this time he is scripted and I am not. Which we'll let you evaluate how this goes. [laughter] Get too long-winded. Um at the end of last week, we had an opportunity to gather actually in this room uh to celebrate uh three retirees from the school district um that work in this building. We had Mrs. Linda Regal, our enrollment manager, Mr. Dr. Peter Spiro, one of our long-term technology specialists
003and Dr. John's. And it was really fitting to be in this room for that celebration because I was one of the fortunate individuals to be part of the panel that first met Dr. John's here at Glenbrook. And I also remember you later on telling me a story about how you had all these packets ready to go or were they ready to go because you had a little printing issue and you were very flustered in your mind. But when you came in it was or you were organized, you were present um and engaged in the conversation. But there was a really cool thing that I took away from um from the interview. Um at the time we had representatives from the village uh some administrators, teachers, support staff members and we also had some students um
004from Glenrook North and Glenber south joining the panel and I remember as Charles was going through and you know you're asking question or being asked questions answering them he'd always take uh good notes to make sure he addressed those questions. But when it came to the students having an opportunity to ask questions it really wasn't just a question and answer. It was a real conversation. It was a true dialogue back and forth. And it was not really like an interview. It was someone who's been in education a long time talking to kids just like they were your own children and really understanding what it was that they were interested in, what they were excited about about being a Spartan or a Titan. Um, and really what they're looking for in a new leader. after the
005interview ended uh and we had an opportunity to meet all the different candidates. That was the theme that I recall going around the table hearing about how Charles connected with kids because to his core, he believes that when we come together in this room, when we are working each and every day as administrators, we are here working to support our students to make sure that they are successful and their voice is equally as important as the village repres. representatives, his administrators as staff members. And that was the entry point to Charles. But Charles is a systems thinker and he always knows that it's important um to incrementally improve things sometimes slowly but surely. And Charles first came in in his first year and he had two topics. I remember uh we were meeting in my
006office um after giving you a very large basket of different items to welcome you to the district. Um and we talked about this thing called a strategic plan and we talked about a very unique board policy manual. And at the time, let's just suggest that you thought it was kind of important to navigate through these things, but the reality was it wasn't just time to do it. We had a lot of things going on in the district and slowly but surely we um we needed to equip ourselves, prepare ourselves for that. Also included in there is actually with the board having all the board come together to learn together to share together to identify where we have great strengths and where we have areas for growth. And then as you have all these thoughts of
007where you want to get us and you're starting to make headway, a global pandemic came upon us and everything changed. And as we went through a pandemic, you kept the students at the forefront. And to true credit to your leadership, we were the first high school district on the Northshore to reopen and welcome back our students for in-person instruction. And it's because at the end of the day, it was from that that foundational element that you started with on your first day, ironically, in this room just before there was plexiglass. And it was about making sure students had what they needed to be successful. Fast forward a little bit longer, as we navigate through a pandemic, as we welcome our staff and students back, we start to see that there's still areas for growth. And
008some of those areas grow for growth again came back to students making sure that students had what they needed to be successful in our classrooms. We talk about the total classroom initiative. Sometimes also equally exciting the total bathroom initiative soon to be met with the total hallway initiative. Very important things. And you shephered that through. Do you remember those great conversations about soft seating wheels on different things? whether or not the hallway was truly an extension of the classroom, all good things. And even when there were challenges presented before you, you still pushed ahead because at the end of the day, that's what was best for students, that's what was best for supporting teachers and ultimately connecting with our kids and getting them what they wanted. But you didn't stop there because you modeled something
009that I truly can only aspire to do. Charles has a great excitement and passion for every sport that exists and would go through perhaps a difficult day and still on your calendar make sure that you made it not just to one or two but if you could three different athletic contests. And unlike me, you understood everything that's happening on all of those things and were very helpful in guiding me. But why? Because at the end of the day, you did it because not only did you want to make sure kids had what they needed to be successful, but that's what gave you energy and drive. energy and drive so much that after going through all of that, we actually created our first strategic plan in what I would argue is 70 plus years of the
010district and trying to get people at the Glen Brooks on the same page for four goals with the proper semicolons and spacing and and word conjugations all come together. It's a little bit of a challenge. Um, I don't know what's more challenging, more English teachers now on a strategic planning committee or lawyers, one of the two or maybe a combination. But you saw that through and now we're entering our our third year of not just a plan that's for a few goals for one year, but a five-year pathway that's going to get kids again, goal one, getting kids what they need to be successful and to be empowered. [clears throat] And while that might have been enough, you transitioned to this role and you took on two exciting things. We'll start with the maybe the
011quasi most exciting. Charles has such a passion for making things are organized and put together and taking burden off of people's uh plates that you took control and owned the compliance visit from the North Cook ISC. And I just want to highlight something here for some administrators that are sitting around the room. Normally we have a whole lot of expectations and responsibilities and forms and trying to find things from 3 to 40 years ago. And you were committed to eliminating as much of that as you could. Why? Because it comes back to you wanted to make sure that people could focus on kids and get them what they need and you were going to take care of the next part. But then I think it's a true professional capstone. My friend, you walked into the
012most unique board policy manual that might have ever been created through decades and generations of attorneys that have sat on this board of education. And you hit the reset button, which I think we made an argument you didn't think was necessarily going to happen in this timeline, but again, you brought us together. Sandy and Matt can attest. We had a lot of great conversations, a little bit of humor. You had copious notes of all the uniqueness because you not only reviewed what the model policy is, what most school districts had, you reviewed everything that we had and then everything that we do that's not written and you had to put it all together. So it came in one final product. And so for every administrator that will come after you, we will be able to
013focus on what kids need because of the foundational work that you have developed. So on behalf of all of the administration, on behalf of all of our students for which you have graduated during your tenure here, and most importantly for over 38 years of support, success, and excitement in public education, thank you for spending the last part of it here. And thank you for helping me not come into a bad board policy manual and not have to deal with compliance and having it all there. We will be better for you. So before he gets to speak, can we give Dr. John his first round of applause. Thank you R.J. I always appreciate your kind words uh and and so well delivered. I think it's also testament that we all should be aware that R.J. has
014almost perfect memory and can remember things from seven almost eight years ago at this point. Uh thanks for mentioning the kids. Um, last week I had two weeks ago I had a chance to run into the mother of one of those students and uh catch up with her and you just realize what incredible students we have to make it all worth it. So um I realized today I did not think I was going to get emotional. I thought last year was my emotions. [laughter] So, uh, it is odd that I get to do two retirement speeches, um, a year apart. Um, but thank you, uh, to the board, especially this is my 22nd year, but this is after 22 years of school board meetings. This is my last one. I know I'm not up to
015Skip's level yet. [laughter] Standing in the Okay, very good. Uh, a lot of board meetings, a lot of late nights. Um, but a lot of good has been done during those meetings. And we've done good things in all the districts I worked for, uh, especially the Glenn Brooks and making sure that we are putting together the very best that a community could put together for young people. I want to thank the board for the opportunity to let me serve in the ameritus role. It has enabled me to make contributions to a district that I love very much. My work during this time has been personally gratifying. It also very nerdish and uh hopefully it will have the lasting impact that R.J. mentioned on the district. Uh this year we were able to complete some nagging
016initiatives that would as R.J. said made it very hard for a new team to to take on, but they are still very important and they establish a foundation for future work um and to keep the district running strong. and we'll make sure that as the continuous improvements continue uh it there's a strong foundation for the district to work off of. I I was able to support Dr. Grall on an ADNE basis. This has been a real treat for me as a longtime leader and a student of leadership. I had the chance to see a tremendous leader transition to his new role. I'm not your dad or anything, but let's get [laughter] um into his new role. And he's and he's had a brilliant start and and from an object well quasi objective uh position. Um
017he was great to work for work with when he was assistant soup, associate soup, deputy soup, and he has become a tremendous superintendent. He has a powerful vision and is executing it remarkably. Leveraging the strategic plan, strategic plan, keeping a living plan and improving it by making the goals more concrete and providing consistent reporting which will be valuable to the district over the next several years. As a result of this work, we have seen huge gains for this district in terms of getting work done and our execution of important things. Uh, of course, R.J. will rightly tell you that his success is due to the quality of his cabinet. His team, the senior leadership team of this district is doing great work. Just look the other way. They have identified areas that are ripe for
018meaningful continuous improvement focus and are exhibiting skills, aptitudes, and courage to really get the right work done. The team is highly collaborative. It's very fun to watch them work as they either support each other or give them that give the other the look of I'm not so sure. Um but they share a common commitment to the mission, vision, and goals of the district. They support each other and hold each other mutually accountable, which as you all know are the hallmarks of great teams. Uh across the board, we've seen great gains uh throughout the district. Absolutely essential to this work are the leaders in the departments in the buildings. We have an excellent crew leading at these levels. These teams are relatively new, but are coming together exceedingly well. uh they're mutually supportive, highly collaborative, driven,
019and focused. And these are the the folks who carry out our work on a day-to-day basis, and they translate plans into action, and substantate progress is being made. Ryan knows he can make my day at any minute by giving me an update on what's going on with our curriculum plans. He's already sharing me videos, and it's all I can do not to somehow engage in really the last hours of my work in the district. Um, I [clears throat] believe an area for true celebration in this district is the leadership that is being done by non-administrative leaders. Several years ago, an emphasis was made to grow our own leaders. Uh, and a large number of our staff participated in a collaborative venture and are emerging as leaders in many ways. Some of them are now our's.
020Uh, but they're also taking on other roles where they don't have the title as an administrator. And that's a hard that's a hard role to be in. It it takes a lot of expertise. It takes respect from your colleagues and takes a lot of skill. And we're seeing these uh leaders emerge in support of our athletic programs. And I'm very happy to report in terms of the leadership of our course teams. And this is essential work for the big long-term progress of this district. I believe this work will set us up for success for years to come. The skills of leadership are applicable in so many environments. Even if they test test this out for a year or two and say it's not for them, they've still grown and it still helps our district. Our
021teachers and staff have really stepped up as they have endured many changes this year. I think we all felt a little destabilized at times by the new calendar. Even I was at the sideline of a of a game and like what the school year is over already. I'm not ready. I didn't get to see a certain sport. Um and I was part of making that change. You think I would have been ready for it. Uh you also explained why the clock keeps going at different times. [laughter] U so we've had many leadership changes across See, now I got to stick to [laughter] my script. I shouldn't have I shouldn't have done the script. Um we have a lot of changes. our staff have stepped up to help our new leaders find their footing and on
022board um in order to preserve and protect the values that we hold most dear in this particular district. Uh they they um I'm also proud of of our leaders in our different departments in particular. I'm proud of our athletic departments. It is a massive job. It's hard to imagine how much an athletic director has to do. And we have excellent athletic department leaders. They continue to make sure our coaches are supported and are able to develop our athletes. Our arts programs continue to be a source of pride and the staff and the leaders who work in these departments have worked very hard to build both enrollment and quality. They took a huge hit with COVID. You think they are dependent on what's happening at fourth grade and those students who were in fourth grade when
023COVID hit are just now finally starting to leave through the pipeline and and the rebuilding those programs has been such a focus for our art teams uh and it's working. They've done so much outreach into the community. It's really great to see. We never suffered quality, but we we did need numbers and their program is so much more robust now and they're very excited about what's coming. Um, I'm always proud of our activities program. Uh, in particular was great to see how our activities program responded to the new graduation location. Something completely new to them. Set aside things that they used to do and now tried things that were new. And we had very wonderful graduations. We've had great engagement with curriculum work this year, including a massive increase in the amount of summer curriculum
024work that is already underway. We have seen widespread utilization of belonging principles and high yield practices in our classrooms. And we've advanced our programs practices and how we respond to crisises and student needs in a way that that really makes me better able to sleep at night. Uh and we have made great progress in our self evaluation of our special education program as well as a very successful launch launch of our transition program. uh went to the graduation about two weeks ago and is really great to see kids as they emerge through our programs. There is so much to bring great pride to our community. With these successes, while sailing is smooth, I recommend that leaders take stock of the characteristics of the truly successful leaders in our district and contemplate a portrait of a
025leader for the future. This is a different type of succession planning in which other than the type where individuals are identified to be future leaders, you you make a picture of what you want your leaders to look like and then you can build around that. You can highlight and you can and you can uh reinforce when people are exhibiting those characteristics. We're in smooth water. Sailing is good. Now is the time to start to tap into these things and take a look at the tremendous leaders that we have uh uh in in our buildings. Finally, turning to the board, I believe the governance team, the board and the superintendent is is operating extremely high level. It has been a treasure to watch you all work. A great deal is getting done. Important information is being
026shared and meetings are at a reasonable length. A sense of predictability, consistency, and evenness in the meetings is present. And this, I'm sure, is gratifying to everyone. When we were getting home after midnight, it was a little rough. Uh, but again, being in smooth waters gives us an opportunity to prepare for the future. In previous conversations about eight months ago, there was a discussion about developing board shared agreements or board commitments that you'll see in many school districts. As I've shared with Dr. Grall. I found examples from district 86 and district 211 who are pure districts to us. And I think that this is something that would take us to the next level as as governance team. I think it would really help developing and bringing on new board members. Something to return to to
027think about. Now that there is a viable strategic plan and policy manual, it is an opportune time to develop and delve into this work. In my experience, it's very beneficial for the onboarding and and as you probably know, Dr. Val has taken and has led the process of taking the strategic plan and ensuring that we have taken sorry policy manual procedures and then capturing the practices that we have and every department has created a guide book for their particular department. And the reason this is important, I think it's helpful this part this this particular district is in the old days we did everything by word of mouth. And by making things concrete where it can go and be looked up, people feel a sense of consistency. Things are predictable and and safer to them. And
028I think that a board governance handbook is something to put on your future. in particular because I can't get out of my policy mindset. We talked in our policy manual about how policy 130 school district philosophy needed to be returned to. And I think that would be an excellent opportunity for either the communications committee or the policy committee come back to. That's it's it's good. There's good content there. The language is a little dusty and I I think it would be a good place to start. uh and I think it's again uh while there's the luxury of smooth water, it's a good time to go back and explore that. So in total the district is operating extremely well under the leadership of Dr. Gll and his cabinet. It really has been fun to watch. The
029right people are on the bus. The mission vision plan are sound and being well implemented. There is clear momentum behind the work that has been completed this year and on the near horizon. sustaining this m momentum is likely an objective for the future reaching way back to Jim Collins's books built to last and good to great. He talks about a metaphorical flywheel and from my vantage point that flywheel is turning and at a pretty good clip. Uh supporting the cast of characters that I mentioned tonight is a great way to keep that rolling and gathering speed. And I think for the well-being and the strength of this community, that's something we want to cheer on as much as we can. Great things are happening in district 225. Great things that we can all be proud
030of. And I've had that wonderful opportunity to to be an observer and a bit of a participant in it. And it's been a real treat. I appreciate the opportunity to share my thoughts. I'm very proud of my time in this district uh and and uh am very excited about the current leadership and I'm confident that even higher heights are on the horizon. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So at this point, not to interject, but I'd like to off or ask Miss Mullen, may I borrow your gavvel for a moment? Thank you so much. And the thing of which to hit it on. Thank you. And Dr. John's you have selected for your celebration of excitement brownies and cookies which are present right over here and you have indicated that this is your final board
031meeting of the career. So would you like to bring us into recess? I if we could take about 10 minutes, my You're back. I said bar reports and then All right. If the board is willing, we'd like to do a little bit of a flip-flop and allow representatives from the community to speak first. Is that okay? Sure. I'll turn it over to Miss Mullen. Okay. Um, next on our agenda is a little bit of a flip-flop. We will have our community visitors and Oh, where's my little This period will be limited to 30 minutes. Um, individuals who'd like to address the board of education during the regulation of community hazardous portion of the meeting have indicated by writing their intent. And we have one person who's come to speak with us tonight. Um, sorry. Um
032Harry Kishes crema seti close. [laughter] Okay. I won't take 30 minutes, but I'm honored to have the chance to speak this evening. So, thank you for recognizing me. I'm Dr. Carrie Krimoli. I'm the superintendent for the Wultt Public Schools District 39, and I'm here um on behalf of my colleagues to recognize Dr. John's. I'm gonna not look at Oh, the clock is already ticking. Okay. Good evening everyone. It's an absolute honor and privilege to stand before you tonight to celebrate the phenomenal leader, consumate professional, and above all, a truly great friend, Dr. Charles Johns. On behalf of myself and fellow leaders and the countless educators who have been fortunate enough to collaborate with Dr. John's over the years, I want to say a profound thank you. Thank you for your leadership, your unwavering service, and
033the quiet brilliance you have brought to our profession. I have the distinct pleasure I've had the distinct pleasure of working alongside Dr. John since the very early days of our leadership careers. And while I won't say exactly how long ago that was, Charles kind of hinted at it a little bit, I can recall Dr. John's visionary leadership spanning more than the 20 years that I have been serving as a school leader here in Illinois. Even back then, whether he was serving as a building principal or assistant superintendent for educational services, Dr. John's was always ahead of the curve. Long before acronyms like RTI, MTSS, and PLC's became standard educational buzzwords, Dr. John's was already living them. He was leading professional development, breaking down silos, and helping teachers collaborate in ways that were entirely groundbreaking at
034the time. He didn't just talk about student growth. He engineered systems to ensure that every student had access to rigorous teaching and exceptional learning. For those of us aspiring to lead improvement efforts, Dr. John's was our inspiration and someone we invited into our own districts to help lead professional development with our teachers and teacher leaders. Yes, 20 years ago, he was doing this work. He had this incredible knack for taking deeply complex educational challenges and making the solutions look absolutely effortless. As Dr. John's transitioned into the role of superintendent, serving with distinction in DuPage and ultimately here in North Cook at Glen Brook High School District 225. That inspiration only grew. As a superintendent, Dr. Johns has always been a leader and a mentor to many. He has shared his expertise generously, mentored countless colleagues,
035and championed e educational excellence at every turn. He has been a role model of integrity, professionalism, and tremendous care for our entire region. But as impressive as his resume is, and as vast as his professional impact has been, I know what matters most to Charles. This shouldn't be happening. [laughter] [gasps] Behind the titles and the strategic plans, the accolades, and yes, the policy book he just spent way too long talking about, Dr. John's leaves behind the exact legacy he always intended to create. That of a deeply caring educator who put students first always. Every decision he made was rooted in a genuine care for students, families, and staff. Today, we aren't just celebrating the conclusion of a stellar career. We are celebrating the thousands of lives that Dr. John's has touch touched, shaped, and elevated.
036Charles, you have left an indelible mark on our profession and on all of us who have had the joy of working beside you. Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for your service, your collaboration, and your profound care. We wish you all the joy, relaxation, and excitement away from policy that all the retirement adventures might bring to you. It is very welld deserved. Thank you, Charles. Thank you so much. Now we will have our board reports and uh tonight's report will be coming from u members of the finance committee who met prior to the regular board meeting. Um we'll hear first from Mr. Downey and then from uh Dr. Steinberg. The finance committee did meet today. Uh one of the topics that I'm going to discuss is that the um the the financing for the
03710-year facilities uh master plan. Um, I know this is a lot of this has been talked about before, but it's sometimes it's good just to kind of take it from the top and and can you understand why everything comes together, but um, [snorts] uh, it's these buildings and facilities and grounds have been around for over 60 years and a lot of them have we've [clears throat] extended their useful life. Um, um, and many of them um, if we don't address it very soon or become safety issues. So, uh, over the past 15 years, we've been pretty good about using our operation funds to be able to, uh, um, the interest from the operation funds to be able to kind of maintain things, right? And you'll see a lot of what we talked about this tonight
038with her Dr. John's did working on the classroom inside, making sure that the uh, um, everything was up to code, but also kind of advancing it. And it was really kind of focused again inside for academics, but uh you know there's a lot of facilities and grounds and stuff outside of the building too. And so as I mentioned they're they're coming to the end. So in anticipation of this uh we put together and probably spent two years putting together a master facilities plan um and to address both campuses total over the next 10 years. in this facilities plan will be over 10 years starting in 2027. It's going to cost the district about $150 million. 95 of that uh million is going to be in safety bonds. We're going to reissue safety bonds and address
039the safety issues, which we want to make sure students and faculty and people coming to see them are safe. 30 million million will be reissuing um working cash bonds. um they've we're coming to the end of those bonds and we we can actually reissue them and so it's really no cost to our taxpayers. Um and 25 million will be through the operation funds balance. We make about $5 million a year in interest and we're going to take about half of that and and address this uh master facilities plan. One caveat we looked at was there since a lot of this is kind of upfront or kind of this 10-year plan, there's a I don't want to say disproportionate, but there's a bigger portion that we have to address in the first couple years. And we're
040we may issue some uh death debt debt certificates [snorts] uh just to pull some of that money up front. We may not, we may not have to, but we may issue some of that, too. Again, really at no extra cost. I I think that is everything we discussed about that. Oh, yeah. Sorry. Whoop. Look out. Timeline. So, uh, for those of you that are following at home, um, we'll probably, uh, set the schedule. There's several steps that need to take place. First one will be uh at the July 13th meeting where we'll uh hear from our um person that's issuing the debt and um most several steps in between ending on February 22nd. Any questions? Dr. Steinberg, did you have something to add? Not you guys. That's it. No, I have something else. No. Any
041questions on that as a any questions on or something to add? Did I miss anything? Committee did I hit it? Drop the mic. That was fun. Okay, Dr. Steinber. All right. The second the second topic that we covered, we had the presentation on a partnership and professional service agreement with with motivated learners. And the idea is to enhance our our services that our instructional assistants provide. And this is a one-year plan that will help us train some of our IAS to become registered behavioral technicians and to enhance the capacity that we have to support our students that need support from IAS. Both at the two buildings GBN and GBS and also the transition services location. This is a one-year program. H it's through a partnership. So it involves bringing four individuals to become the trainers
042that are not going to be district employees. They're going to be part of this organization. And the hope is not only to train the people that we have, but to build the capacity so this could be sustained through years to come. Not sure cost is $292,000. And I think it's coming to vote today or it's going to be coming to vote later today. Any questions? Just one clarification. The cost is being paid by idea funds. Thank you. That's a good point. Yes. Grants. Federal grants. It's not not out of our So, it's not out of our pocket. That'll be on that's on the consent agenda. Yeah. Okay. Okay. With uh no questions, we will move ahead. And u thank you. Um if if any other board member wanted to have take time during board reports
043to share anything, now is the time. Okay. Uh next on our agenda, we have our consent agenda. Dr. Grall, have there been any changes to the consent agenda? There have been no changes. Just a reminder that we uploaded the new personnel report before the meeting. That's right. Um, could I please have a motion to approve the agenda? Second. [laughter] Mr. Down. [laughter] Yes. Mr. Downing. Yes. Mr. Glowaki. Yes. Yes. Mr. O'Hara. Yes. Mr. Shine. Yes. Dr. Steinberg. Yes. Miss Mullenbeck. Yes. Six members voting yes. We do have a public hearing tonight regarding [clears throat] the health and safety amendment for exterior site improvements. At this time, I am opening the hearing on the health life safety amendment for exterior site improvements. Are there any questions or comments from members of the board? Are there any
044questions or comments from members of the public? Since there are no additional comments, I will entertain a motion to close the public hearing on the health life safety amendment for exterior site improvements. So moved. Second. Mrs. Smith, will you take the role? Um, [clears throat] sorry. Mr. Gaki, yes. Mr. O'Hara, yes. Mr. Shine, yes. Dr. Steinberg, yes. Mr. Downing, yes. Miss Mullenbeck, yes. Six members voting yes. That takes us now to our Do I need to read a resolution or read them? Let me look at my script. Oh, with a vote of 620, I declare the hearing on the health life safety amendment for exterior site improvements closed. And then the motion will And now we have a resolution. Yep. At this time, I will entertain a motion to approve the resolution authorizing the health,
045life, safety amendment for exterior site improvements. So moved. Second. Mr. O'Hara, yes. Mr. Shine, yes. Dr. Steinberg, yes. Mr. Downing, yes. Mr. Glowaki, yes. Miss Mullenbeck, yes. Six members voting yes. With a vote of six to zero, I declare the resolution authorizing the health life safety amendment for exterior site improvements passed. Now, just offer some logistics. Um, Dr. Patak and I are meeting with Archon tomorrow to formally submit the amendments to the Illinois State Board of Education, which will first go through the North Cook ISC and then to the uh state board for review. Um, that will be about a month or two process. So, we'll keep the board informed as we learn more. Thank you, Dr. Grall. Moving on to our discussion action agenda. Our first item is the emergency medication access initiative. We're
046excited to welcome Dr. Cummings and Mrs. Julie Shellard, our assistant manager of nursing services, to talk about an important initiative. We kind of gave an early preview of this at the last meeting. And uh Dr. Cummings. I don't know if you're doing an intro or is Mrs. Sheller just going. Turning it over. All right. Hi everyone. Is this on or I think you can hear [laughter] me. I have a little show and tell for us. Um just want to provide some information and background information on this initiative. Uh I think the impetus for um the emergency medication access initiative is in the name itself. So emergencies, medical emergencies, as we all know, they're unpredictable. They continue to happen frequently in the buildings whether that's for staff or students. Um and you know medical responders in
047the building need to attend. We are very fortunate in our district. We have very robust nursing staff um in both of our you know Glenrook North, Glen South and we also have uh first responders uh in uh our athletic training teams as well. Um but access to emergency medication has been limited. uh really what we have for in the way of stock medication has been um EpiPens and we've maintained a stock of those in the nursur's office and the athletic training rooms. So with updates to school code um you know recent updates that outline requirements for the stocking or the maintenance and administration of undesated emergency medications in school. uh school code is outlines uh you know training requirements, standing orders and protocols, reporting requirements. So you know this is perfect timing in my new
048role because part of my new role is to ensure compliance. Um GBN uh in particular Jen Corber received grant monies from the village of North. We are very um excited about this and the grant was titled uh the opioid fund grant and the objective for the grant or for utilization um was to be used in providing training and resources for opioid awareness and prevention. So again I just want to make sure you know we were compliant already with school code. So this sort of just expands our compliance efforts. Um, you know, we're providing or we're moving to provide access to all and breaking down some of those barriers to access, you know, whether they be financial, socioeconomic, um, access to medication, health care. We've partly already done this with the advent of the school health
049center, which is awesome. You know, I can't tell you countless times the nurses are called down to PE for students that are having asthma attacks. we get down there on site, students don't have their inhaler. Um there's students in the cafeterias uh making various choices, food choices, and they don't have their EpiPen on them or simply my parents can't afford my medication. So, this aligns with our district 225 strategic plan and providing access to staff resources and supports to meet student needs. You know, think of those larger scale events, extracurricular events after school, variety show, uh musicals or nights when there's multiple events in the building. Uh you know, emergencies can arise at any time. So, this will provide access um for trained individuals to provide emergency medication should the need should the need arise.
050So, what went into this um initiative? you know, planning, obviously, research, school code. Um, I've collaborated with area school districts, their nurse leaders. Um, I've reached out to the Illinois Association of School Nurses. I've talked to their leadership throughout this school year. And the main components obviously are training for staff. So, I um did a lot of work with Nutrier this year. They partnered with a consulting firm called AED Essentials and I have uh lined up a training for various um building administration team members, some that are here tonight, our athletic directors, our school resource officers, etc. Um that is upcoming in June. And then ongoing annual training. I will be partnering with HR to work to insert our um global cons uh global compliance network, our GCN online modules. And then there's always on
051demand training through the rescue program, which is um an initiative in Illinois, which is actually where we get our free inhalers from. Um and then always Cook County. So training and then equipment. Here is our little showand tell. This is what the boxes will look like. Uh I worked with building administration to come up with uh you know we went through the school maps and where we would strategically place these along with the AEDs. So it makes sense emergency access um AEDs. What will be included in these kits specifically? Narcan, opioid overdoses and albuterol. So inhalers, rescue inhalers. Um and then the other piece is is oversight. So maintaining stock inventory, you know, checking expiration dates, uh oversight for training, oversight for reporting requirements, and then ongoing review of the process and how it's going.
052So that's that's what we're looking to install. Questions? Mr. Downey? I want you. I don't want to go out of out of turn. No, that's great. Um I think it's well needed, especially being a coach and having kids in that need that kind of stuff. One needs an inhaler, one needs an EpiPen. Are the um is this I'm assuming then the policy is the parent signs off on on this. Do you have to have a medical? So we have what's called standing orders from the state. So the standing order allows the administration of these medications by trained individuals who might recognize signs and symptoms of opioid overdose or acute asthma exacerbation. So no we in that case we would not Oh great yeah even better. Yeah right great works. I guess just just something occurred
053to me. I see um I didn't think about it till right now, but they're locked, right? So that everybody has a key. Sorry. Go ahead. Yeah. No, no, they there is a lock, but according to the school code, it should remain unlocked so it's accessible. So it will not be locked. It will alarm when opened just like the AEDs. Okay. Which is a good thing, you know, to indicate, hey, there's an emergency in this location. Come help. Is there any concern about people taking the medications in there too? I mean maybe not here as often but yeah here too. Yes, for sure. Um and that is why we will not be placing Epipens in these boxes. [laughter] Anything that could potentially be weaponized, for example, um I mean we hate to go there, right? Or
054sold, right? Because they're so expensive. Um, Narcan, if you administer Narcan to somebody who has not overdosed on an opioid, there's really no harm that will come of it. Um, you know, eluterol, I suppose if you inhaled an entire inhaler, you'd have, you know, your heart rate would be through the roof. Um, but if you're looking at, you know, whether the risks outweigh the benefit, the benefit of having the access to the medication farly, yeah, fundamentally all the had their own galleries that you you know, right? I just curious. Yes. No, thank you for bringing that up. We've we've also thought about that piece. Yes, Dr. Steinberg. So, what do we have? I'm assuming the answer is yes, but what kind of systems we have to check them? No, Albuer has limited number of uses
055and people take one. Who's going to be in charge of controlling? [laughter] So similar to the athletic trainers who maintain our ads. Yes, I will um be coming up with a process right to to maintenance all 22 of them. Maintain and monitor I should say. Yes. And and sorry ultimately going to what we're talking about with the stadium. There'll be one of these in each of the stadiums once we get that up and running too. Yes. Yes. Um, not every location in the building with an AD, but uh, we've strategically placed so there's access, somebody can access this within 3 minutes to the I don't want I would assume it go with the trainer. Yeah. Yes. Yes. One will be with the trainer as well. One will be in the athletic training office. Yes. When
056they take it, I'm sure they take it out on the field for track or football, whatever. So, all that stuff comes with them. They're going to have Mr. You referenced epiens not being included in there, but uh I know there's other now dispersement mechanisms besides the needle and everything that for epinephrine. Yeah, we now have seen the nasal spray, right? So is there any consideration that that be included because in some cases those are life-threatening for safety. Yeah. Um definitely something for us to look into. Okay. I I would strongly encourage you to take a because there's some students that I know have it's a matter of seconds, right? Oh yes. Yes. So absolutely. Um other location. Yeah, we will have epipens at least for now. Our thought is they're already in the nurses offices
057in each school. They're already in the athletic training offices um the main office and potentially um student activities office. And I know some of the students are are able to carry it themselves, but Oh yeah, students are highly encouraged and able to carry them on their person for sure. This is in the event that they don't have it or that we come upon an emergency. You know, you can develop an allergy at any time to anything. Yeah. Has any is there a reason why we wouldn't have these boxes in the cafeterias? Particularly if we were to have um EpiPens or some sort of, you know, allergy related. It feels like the cafeteria would be a natural place to have it. Yeah. I think, you know, I don't Do I have the memo in front of
058me? We did list out the locations and I did go through with building administration um you know really highly populated areas in the building. I just need cafeteria on the list. It may be that one of these hallways is so adjacent to a cafeteria that is close enough but it just feels like we can certainly we can certainly add one. Yeah, that would be that would make is there anybody in the cafeteria that would be able to recognize that though is the question. Oh well that's a good question to be able to administer. So our security staff does receive this a considerable amount of this training. Um we also have a a decent amount of staff members including our SRO's uh who are around those large areas. But with respect for example to Glenrech South
059um it's at the student activities center um which is in direct proximity um and over at Glenrook North we have two approximate uh approximal areas. Great. Um the I would um echo Mr. Gaki's comment about um recognizing the issues about having the EpiPens in the boxes. If there's some way that um we can have that medication available um you know time is of the essence with those allergy reactions that would be helpful. That's something I guess to think if think of a way if we can activate that. And then also I saw um that the legislation may allow glucagon in the future. So just keep an eye on that because we certainly want to have that available if that becomes permitted. But this is terrific. I think there's no one who would no objection [laughter]
060to having these these very important life-saving medications available for our students and staff and visitors when they need them. So may I just add to what you said? I think it would be good maybe if you just just if you just had it in the cafeteria just the epipens there or areas that where they would eat. You know, you don't need to have it everywhere. Yeah. I think our idea for sure, but I think the idea is um where we strategically p place the epipens or the epinephrine is [clears throat] where adult eyes would be on the box. Sure. Because it can it could cause harm if it got into the raw hands. Of course. But of course. Right. It's that fine balance of having access. Yeah. Okay. Great. Uh well, thank you so much.
061Thank you be anymore. The next item on our action agenda is 27 to 28 curricular change proposals. Mr. Britag Mr. Bag Mr. Brittag will walk us through our annual process of looking at new courses, revised courses and changes. Um important um kind of scheduling process. We used to do a lot of this work later on in the fall and this is the first year as part of the revised calendar and our curriculum improvement cycle that we're moving it to the summertime so that we will have plenty of time to implement for our new course guide which then leads to course requests uh happening right around uh the end of fall early winter times. So Mr. Brit let's walk us through. Yes. I I wish Dr. John's was uh still here as this was one of
062our first encounters as well. He came to me and he's not aware that we pivoted this but he came to me and said just curious why do we launch courses after course registration and the course guide there seems to be a misalignment in the sequence. So, um, and he and then I said, "Yes, we have that." And then he had many maps drawn up to show different ways you could do it. So, I know you would be proud. So, with that, some things I want to highlight um that are really important is I do think this reinforces the continued efforts by our instructional supervisors tied to the strategic work. First and foremost, um, as Dr. Revel mentioned this is a new structure in terms of when we're bringing these forward. So for um the excitement
063of our IS's is this is the second time in the same year that they went through this entire process. So you can imagine their their energy was high so to speak. Um, as they did do this, their their number one focus was how do we create a longer timeline so that our teams have time to really work through the development process, but also so that our students are very aware when uh Dr. Cummings process takes hold that they are very aware of their courses and what they're registering for. So that's number one and that's very much tied to our students and their pathways work. But second to this is that you can see that there's a greater focus on the curriculum mapping process and the work on how our sequences unfold because if you didn't
064notice there are no new course proposals for 2728. Instead of focusing on what is new or what could we be bringing instead their shift became what would it mean to create greater alignment. What would it be to ensure that when we look at the opportunities that students have for early college experiences that those are aligned across the district. end. [clears throat] What courses do we have that currently could be modified or what we uh affectionately said behind the scenes converted to dual credit with Oakton. So, this is a really exciting time because I do think it shows how much effort that our buildings are putting into long-term uh thinking in their work. So with that, I want to highlight just two really important areas that um we had identified early in the year uh last
065year, forgive me, that were misalignments that we needed to work through and we feel very strongly that we've made tremendous progress. Um first is sorry uh first is in our English area. Our English teams have come together and over the next two years will have created alignment at the senior level in terms of the courses our students have access to for early college experiences. Right now there's been quite a misalignment and as our juniors leave their year and enter their senior year that um imbalance between the buildings has been a cause of concern for us that we may be limiting our students. So the changes you would have recognized that our both departments will have two dual credit course offerings along with their two AP courses. But a year from now when we come forward
0662829 they will have three dual credit and they will be the same. So right now um North will have two dual credits and South will have two dual credit opportunities but they're slightly different. Um they both will offer English comp but as you see here um South will offer intro to fiction and North will have effective speech. A year later, North will adopt the intro to fiction and South will adopt the speech. The reason being is we need the staffing work to get those in place so that um we have the right credentials for able to for the ability to teach those as dual credit courses and the time to get our teams up to speed. North has had a a speech course on the books, so converting that made sense. and South had a
067really strong course called contemporary fiction that aligned really well with Oakton. So that English move really shows the power of the partnership not only between North and South, but when Oakton can review our courses and and help us create this kind of equity and the opportunities that we we know our students deserve. and also our science departments. Um, we noticed an interesting prerequisite difference between North and South when you arrive in their physics courses. Now, it might seem small, but one had you must have completed geometry and the other had you could be concurrently enrolled in geometry. You can imagine that seems small, but it's pretty significant across uh across the district, especially when we're talking about accessing physics as a freshman. So, our teams have worked for the last 14 months on that process.
068um a lot of long conversations, a lot of interesting physics topics and bringing the math team in to really understand the skills required for mathematics and they have found a really strong spot and it will be tied to our accelerated placement process and what they're scoring and the recommendation process along the way. So instead of having a steadfast rec uh requirement of a math course, they will actually be using the students math scores and their experiences and in their eighth grade to do that. Um the details on that will show up in our course guide which will come to you in August. But this is a significant step forward for our district to ensure that physics is accessible the same at both buildings as well. Um I'm very proud to say that both schools will
069now offer anatomy and physiology. This was a request that has come from both families, students and our principles as well as the science departments really wanting to work on that. And along with that there is a proposal uh currently in place with Oakan so that that anatomy and physiology class will become dual credit um by 2829. So, a lot of strong progress, a lot of partnerships both internally and externally to continue our process moving forward. Um, finally, I just want to make two quick notes that for the first time you might be seeing that we're saying that a course will be adopted either either 2728 or 2829. The reason for that is in the process of our timeline, we then at this current moment bring it to Oakton and then Oakton does the review process.
070They're a little bit different in their timelines than ours. So they appreciate the runway, so to speak, that we give them. So they're currently in review and that's why there's a a timeline gap that could be 2728 or 2829. But we like that we're building long-term plans. Our I is currently and this is point number two developing a three-year plan for early college opportunities to understand what their sequence and where these conversions can can occur so that we can shrink that timeline a little bit as we work with Oakton. But beyond that, I know there were some additional courses that were minor updates associated with the accelerated placement act, but I'm happy to answer any questions about these 2728 course proposals. Thank you, Mr. Brite. Um, Mr. O'Hara, uh, just to be clear then on
071the the physics one that they're the freshmen are still going to be taking physics, right? Correct. Okay. Correct. They they have the option obviously of bio or physics. Okay. Yep. Dr. Sh. No, Dr. Steinberg. No, I think it's great to have this in a timely way so ninth graders can know what they are walking into it. And since you mentioned, I wonder if this may be disruptive, but the college calendars end and start in July. That's why you're having the misalignment with Oakton. But I don't know if this is feasible for us. I mean all all universities have the contract to July. So yeah, I think though we've worked um Miss Cohen who is um our is of advanced academic programs in the academy has worked deeply with Oakton to take our timeline and match
072it up as best we can given the the collegiate calendar. And we think uh actually with that alignment we get kind of the first intro into those uh adoptions. So we feel really good right now. That's great. Yeah. Quick comment. This is great. I think anytime you can help kids get dual credit, give them an advanced start on their college, you know, it's good for them. It's good for their parents' pocketbook. Yep. Mr. Black. Yeah. I was going to just echo the same thing. It's wonderful the work that you're doing on the dual credits, especially as more and more students are going in getting dual majors or multiple certificates. They're using all these advanced credits and stuff to not some of them are ending early, but you're the studies are finding that they're actually getting
073more credit to be competitive in the market. So, anything we can do is greatly appreciated. Absolutely. Thank you. this. Um, again, this, as everyone said, I think we're all very excited to hear about um the dual credit opportunities. Um, one thing that occurs to me, and I'm not exactly sure how we would approach this necessarily, and this is just based on my experience, but my understanding is that, um, a lot of our kids who are going to Oakton, for example, um, Oakton has relationships with many of the Illinois state schools, um, so that the the credits were transferred seamlessly. Have we looked at whether those schools have certain classes that are sort of required for every gened kid to take? Um, and can we make sure that when we offer dual credits, they are checking
074those boxes. I say this, my my daughter goes to school in California, everyone in the California state system has to take a communications class, a particular communications class. There's no way around it. You can take it in high school if you go to if you're in school in California. Um, and a lot of kids do because they know this. Um, if there's some if we can leverage those sorts of like little tricks where we can give our kids a, you know, an extra leg up so that when they go to Oakton and then they transfer to ISU, they've already got the English that they need to take in their back pocket. You know, they don't have to worry about checking that box anymore. Yes. One of the things that we are very excited about the
075the majority of our dual credits um pre2324 were what were um mostly known as electivebased or careerminded uh dual credit courses. We have put tremendous energy and focus into what are known as II or gened dual credit courses that um by by statute in law, we have the ability for those to be transferred at the majority of our public universities. the other pieces in our in our teaching and learning handbook and inside of our course guide that you'll see there will be a deeper look at how Oakton's courses apply beyond um the or excuse me apply to the universities our students might be looking at. So Oakton has partnered with us in the development of that to make sure that there's just a little bit more clarity on what is truly a general education credit
076and what is considered an elective. I know u my son just recently graduated and my daughter's going to be a junior. This has been something we've even wrestled with in our household. This seems tremendous and then you come to find out it's an elective and doesn't really transfer. Um, a great example of that would be the anatomy and physiology course. The original work on this was that it was going to be what Oakton calls bio 109 and that would not that would have been an elective anatomy course. So in partner with them, we reviewed their advanced anatomy courses and with that it not only becomes a general ed course that can transfer to our public institutions. um we just had to look at our curriculum and make um a couple changes such as how would
077students uh work on dissection such as with cadaavvers and things of that nature. But those are the right kind of uh steps to ensure that the course does transfer and that it's deeply aligned with first and second year uh colleges. Excellent. And I think, you know, to the extent that we can be pushing this in the conversations that um our students are having with their counselors, even when they start with their planning as freshmen or before with even in 8th grade, not to program them too young, but if they have a sense of, you know, I want to I I really would like to accelerate my education. I'd like to um keep this cost-effective. You know, there are ways to do that with prior planning. And to the extent that we can, you know, um,
078be really open and help them in navigating what can be quite complex, um, I think that's going to be very beneficial for them. So, absolutely. Kudos. If I can add, there's I I mentioned this in the past, there's a little bit of a paradigm shift because people want to take in high school advanced classes, right? which do not necessarily transfer out the way we intend. But the reality when we talk about dollars and cents and time if I take in high school a gened course my time is the same except that I can later take the the advanced course in college where I'm going nothing wrong I got the teachers in high school but in college I'm going to take that course at a different level. It's just that as parents sometimes we say we
079rather our kid take a calculus 3 or AP or something like that versus taking a music class that could be part of the genet because it's needed or a regular life science class. So I think we need to work as a community to figure out and there may be different interests. There may be interest from families who want to just accumulate credit. So you would later go to Oakton, you finish your GED and it transfers as a package. So you save two years of college, but there may be other families and maybe I really want that highlevel math course so my son or daughter can. It's also all about having the options, right? Knowing what your options are. Yeah, I think that's been the most important that the English department has been they truly are
080a a a guidepost for us in their work by having uh English composition one our students just imagine that the first group of accelerated placement act the thing we talked so many years about and the pros and cons that but one of the tremendous benefits both English instru instructional supervisors have set up that English composition 101, a required course in almost every university is our accelerated placement course. That means the majority of our students will have that as their recommended course. But still, there's AP courses they could take. There are non-dual credit courses. There are those options available. But imagine not only getting ahead but for some students the confidence that I can do this course and maybe changes the trajectory. So um I think you're absolutely right that showing multiple pathways not only for
081advancement but also confidence real confidence. So we're excited about that. Excellent. Any other comments, questions? Nice work. Thank you Mr. Brittag. Whoops, my screen has gone dark. Oh no, I hit the wrong button. Okay, it's okay. [laughter] I I can help out with this next one. It's pretty straightforward. Um, as Mr. Downing mentioned there are several steps that need to be gone through in order to ultimately issue debt uh which includes debt through the debt service extension base um uh life safety bond debt and then also debt certificates. Uh the first step is um to be aware that the board will need to approve a resolution um at the next meeting. So this is at the July meeting which is intent to issue. So first we issue an intent to issue then we do a
082public hearing then we approve the um uh the intent to move forward. Then a few months later we actually issue the debt. So there's just a variety of steps here. So the resolution presented before you is uh solely forformational purposes. Um I note the finance committee discussed this in detail. Happy to answer any other questions. This will come back next at our next meeting in July on the consent agenda. Uh this will actually go to a public hearing. Oh public and then be approved following the public hearing. Got it. And I will have a script. You will absolutely have a script. Okay. [laughter] And I will make sure I have a copy of the script in case anything comes up. in case I have any uh technological snafoos. Excellent. All right. Um we are now
083moving on to topics for future board meetings and I see that we will have a public hearing on the 2526 amended budget this Wednesday, June 10th at 6 PM. That is correct. I would just want to remind everyone 6 o'clock p.m. There is no consent agenda. There is a roll call, approval of agenda, public hearing, and then approval of the amended budget followed by adjournment. So, it's a very abbreviated meeting in this room 6:00. And then for those who might want to stay, the True North governing board meeting will take place at 7:00 right here. Um, so all are welcome in addition to Dr. Steinberg who is definitely going to be here. The one other thing that I didn't write down here, but an early preview, um, I thought we would do something a little
084different in July, and I hope the board will give me a little leeway to do this. Um, for our July 13th meeting, I actually am going to invite all of us to visit one of our construction zones. All right? So, it all depends on how the next have to wear a hard hat. you might have an opportunity to wear a hard hat. Um, we're just waiting to see how the next week and a half goes, whether or not we would be over at GBN to walk through the newly um the currently newly constructed or being newly constructed nurses office and school health center, or whether or not we will take a trip through the pits on the first floor and the second floor to see some restroom remodeling over at Glenberg South. Honestly, all of
085these projects are exciting in their own right and are also equally complicated. So, it's cool to watch it. And also, I thought this might be a really great opportunity for us to have some on the job site discussions as we are going to go into a major capital project in the following year about how we might want to document the progress on these projects, share um and all those things. And yes, perhaps you too can carry that hard hat a few more times to join us through different things. So, um I'll follow up on exactly where we'll be, whether it'll be north or south. It all depends on how everything flows in construction. Um but that would mean we would not be in this room, which is slightly also convenient because we are looking to
086uh remove the wall that you see right there. Um and so this room would be under also construction under renovation. This is under construction. This is a different This is a less exciting construction zone. You're not suggesting we have our meeting in the bathroom. No, no, no. We would like if we're at South, we'd be in the lysum. If we're at North, we'd be in the Spartan conference room. It's like the school board equivalent of having class outside. So, I'm excited. And then in the classroom for the August meeting, we will also be at one of the schools um because we're looking to to tie that in also possibly for a ribbon cutting. So more coming there. Excellent. I guess for topics for future topics at some point. Uh could we have a review of
087how AI is being used here by the teachers and everything? comments that my colleague made last time was a perfect example of uh how a professor was misusing a tool and ging it as as you know kids uh where the headlines came up from kids or forging things and everything which they weren't. Yes. So yes, it's we're becoming too dependent I think and so I'm just curious what we said here. Absolutely great topic. AI there some suggestions. You can always uh let us know by email if something comes up when you can't sleep at night. You're like, "Oh, this would make a great board topic." Um okay. [laughter] Uh I and we do have um a closed agenda tonight. This evening, the board of education will enter into close session to discuss sensitive matters as
088allowed under the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Please note that no action will be taken following the closed session this evening. At this time, I will entertain a motion to consider the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity. and litigation. When an action against, affecting, or on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or when the public body finds that an action is probable or imminent, in which case the basis for the finding shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting in
089accordance with sections 2 C1 and 11 of the open meeting act. So moved. [laughter] Second. Is that your second? Yeah, second. Okay. [laughter] All in favor? I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Okay. We are going in closed. Okay.