GCSD9 Board Meeting - Oct. 25, 2022

001I don't know. I don't [Music] know. Wait. [Music] There's one. Sorry. Yeah, we're good. Good evening everybody. Welcome. Thanks for being here. We got a great crowd tonight. Appreciate that. We will call the meeting to order of the Granite City School Board of October 25th, 2022 to order, please. Roll call. Stacy here. Benny here. Kenogal here. Currin here. None here. Wilms here. Miss Linger here. We have a fantastic thank you. Uh we will stand for the pledge of allegiance please followed by an invitation given by Mark. For those who do not wish to pray with us you may call at that time. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America for standing one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. [Music] As many of you may know, a year ago,

002our community was uh struck with tragedy when Officer Timmons was killed. And uh that was just a year ago tomorrow. Yesterday, you know that uh we also suffered loss in this community. Even though it's across the river, it affects schools and u the sad loss of the student Alexandria Bell and also Jean Cahuchka. U both were were killed. We know that more than ever before we need the protection of God. But I'm going to ask you first to pause just for a moment of silence as we remember these lives that were lost as we grieve with these families. Would you join me in that pause? [Music] And now, our gracious God, we thank you for this community. We thank you for the dedicated administrators, the teachers, the support staff that educate our our students. We

003thank you for each one of our students that that bring such joy and uh accomplishment to us. We pray today more than ever for your peace and your protection to be upon our school district. We pray pray that you would keep away all harm, danger, and evil. And we pray that you would be honored. We thank you, Lord, in the midst of this tragedy that we have the opportunity tonight to celebrate the great accomplishments of our students. Lord, thank you for this bright moment that we have to honor these who have excelled. We pray that each one of our students would excel in all that they endeavor to do. We pray that your blessing would be upon this board as well. Give them wisdom tonight as they serve in a spirit of cooperation. We ask

004all of these things in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you. Thank you very much. So, thanks again for being here everybody. It's a a lot of mixed emotions tonight uh with what Pastor Maynard had shared with us uh the loss to our community a year ago and even as late as yesterday. We also have some good news tonight. Um and you're going to hear a lot of good news very shortly. But first on the agenda, we are uh bringing in uh swearing in a new school board member to fill the unexpired term of one of our board members who resigned a couple of months ago. So I would ask Susan Bryant to step up, please. And this is a swearing in for her to join us up here as a school board member. I don't know

005if I'm going to need you or not. I probably will at some point. Would ask that you raise your right hand, please. I, Susan Bryant, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of the member of board of education of Granite City School District in accordance with the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Illinois, and the laws of the state of Illinois to the best of my ability. I, Susan Bryan, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office, a member of the board of education of Granite City School District in accordance with the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Illinois, and the laws of the state of Illinois to the best of my ability. I

006further swear that I shall respect taxpayer interest by serving as a faithful protector of the school district assets. I further swear that I shall respect taxpayer interests by serving as a faithful protector of equal districts assets. I shall encourage and respect the free expression of opinion by my fellow board members and others who seek a hearing before the board while respecting the privacy of students and employees. I shall encourage and respect the free expression of opinion by my fellow board members and others who seek a hearing before the board while respecting the privacy of students and employees. I shall recognize that a board member has no legal authority as an individual and that decisions can be made only by a majority vote in a public board meeting. I shall recognize that a board member has

007no legal authority as an individual and that decisions can be made only by a majority vote at a public board meeting. I shall abide by majority decisions of the board while retaining the right to seek changes in such decisions through ethical and constructive channels. I shall abide by majority decisions of the board while retaining the right to seek changes in such decisions through ethical and constructive channels. As part of the board of education, I shall accept the responsibility for my role in in the equitable and quality education of every student in the school district. As part of the board of education, I shall accept the responsibility of my role in the equitable and quality education of every student in the school district. I shall foster with the board extensive participation of the community, formulate goals,

008define outcomes, and set the course for the Granite City School District. I shall foster with the board extensive participation of the community, formulate goals, define outcomes, and set the course for the Granite City School District. I shall assist in establishing a structure and environment designed to ensure all students have the opportunity to attain their maximum potential through a sound organizational framework. I shall assist in establishing a structure and an environment designed to ensure all students have the opportunity to attain their maximum potential through a sound organizational framework. I shall strive to ensure a continuous assessment of student achievement and all conditions affecting the education of our children in compliance with state law. I shall strive to ensure a continuous assessment of student achievement and all conditions affecting the education of our children. compiance with state

009law. I shall serve as education's key advocate on behalf of our students and our community school to advance the vision for the Granite City School District. I shall serve as education's key advocate on behalf of students and our community school to advance the visions for the Granite City School District. I shall and I shall strive to work together with the district superintendent to lead the school district toward fulfilling the vision board has created fostering excellence for every student in the areas of academic skills, knowledge, citizenship, and personal development. I shall strive to work together with the district superintendent to lead the school district toward fulfilling the vision the board has created, fostering excellence for every student in the areas of academic skill, knowledge, citizenship, and personal development. Thank you very much and congratulations. Thank you.

010And I promise I didn't write that. I didn't make that up. That was something we had to do. [Music] And Miss Bryant, we'd ask you to join us up here at the table. Thank you so much. They banished me down. Sorry. Okay. U again, congratulations, Miss Bryant. We appreciate it. Thanks. Thank you so much. Um at this time, we'll go to item number four, which is public comment. Is there anyone here tonight for public comment? Uh hearing none, I'll turn this over to Miss K, our superintendent, to uh for some more good good news tonight. Tonight, obviously, we have some great GCSD9 athletes to honor. I think there's a lot of them. I think 34 of them, I think, tonight. Some of them might be sick, but I was pretty excited. So, first we have

011our eighth grade baseball team and coaching staff to join us. So, if the coaching staff could come up here for the baseball team, that would be great. [Applause] your coaches, too. I have um I'm gonna read them off. So, the coaching staff consistent head coach Scott Smallley, assistant coach Brandon Robinson. [Applause] There we go. There we go. And then we're going to go into if the volunteers give up their own time to work with this team and I want to make sure everybody knows that. I think that that really shows some commit and dedication to these young athletes. So I really wanted to thank you for that too. So we have um volunteer coaches Mr. Are you Don or Randy? I'm Randy. Okay. Mr. Randy Christie and Mr. Eddie Bradley. [Applause] There we go. There's

012Thank you very much. And their time and commitment will definitely is demonstrated in the success of our effort. So give one more hand was the other one that's not here this evening. I'll give that to Mr. dog pass away. Oh no, that's as much of your family. So, what I'm going to do now, I'm going to read through um these athletes. Um we're very proud of this group of young men. I was fortunate enough to watch them play a couple of times, which was really cool. Totally impressed with some of the moves I saw. I'm a complete baseball fan. Okay. I started for the baseball team when I was here in school all four years. uh something I really enjoy that comes with joy modica. I went with Mr. Monica, Mr. Champion, Mr. Patton, Mr.

013Mcken, Mr. Rojack, all those old names in uh baseball, but I uh got to be a part of that. So, it was really fun to go out and watch you guys. I wish I could have been there more. The Roxanna game was very impressive. Just saying. So, I wanted to make sure I did that. So, I'm going to call you out and I've tried to get your names correctly, but just yell at me if I'm wrong. So, when I call your name and have you come on up and I'm going to hand you your um certificate, okay? Read the C through. I don't think they're in the same order. Or if you want to read just the certificates, there you go. But now so just the same, right? Okay. So I was going to read

014them up. So uh uh Ben Wilson, come on down. [Applause] Did you say that right? Did I say Ben? That one was a little tricky. You want to hold it up and I don't have to take the pictures or get pictures. I don't know your mom. I don't even know who that lady get up there. We'll take a team. Okay. Challenge. Uh, Landon Battlei. Did I get it right? He's not here. He's not here. Did I get him right? [Music] [Applause] And Andrew will not here also. Uh, Ken Tuck Bradley. Oh, no. [Applause] See, you could be a little shy. Should I make it a really big deal? You stand up, take some pictures. Does Eddie want to come closer and get a picture? You want a picture down here? I thought you might just

015want a picture. Um, also we have Teemo Bradley coming up. [Applause] All right, once again for pictures. Good job. Okay, good job. Aiden Cooper. [Applause] [Music] a Dawson Hawthorne. Oh yeah, [Applause] Michael Cherry. Woohoo! You get a picture, too. Picture. Oh, yeah. That's right. Noah Goss. Did I see the right, [Applause] Nathan Torres? I love these sweatshirts, too. I should have got one of those. [Applause] Mason, you hear sick? How do I say? I tried to help you. You hear sick? Did I do it better? Okay. Sorry about that. Wyatt Wheatly here. Okay, here we go. Shane Burgess. [Applause] Logan Ripley. [Applause] Conor Schaer. Good job. Riley Edington. We got pictures so we don't have to stand. Hold them. We'll come back. [Applause] Keegan bro. Okay. But I said it [Applause] right. Okay. Dallas Condrich.

016[Applause] Zach Leard. [Applause] would be Kenneth Watkins. [Applause] All right. You want to attempt? So, um, what I think is really important tonight, I was fortunate to watch them and I was incred incredibly impressed not only by their athletic ability, but really their sportsmanship and commitment to each team member is what I noticed. They continually cheered for each other and celebrated your success as a team. And I noticed that when people were out batting, you were really good about supporting whoever was up there. Were they out in the field that made a good play? Anybody else was really good about supporting and cheering on and that's huge. That's is a big testament to the coaching staff as well, but to you and I was really proud of that and proud that you're representing Grey City

017School District with that as well. Um, they had a winning season and they became, here's the kicker, ISA class 3A region 16 [Music] champions just about everybody around us at least once, right? And so, um, I wish I could have been in more games, but I'm sure I'm going to get to watch them for a little bit longer. So, congratulations to all of you. We're really proud. Let's take a team photo. We'll try. We'll try. I'm gonna get out of this one. I'm going back over to Yeah, it's going to be tough. Oh yeah, we got show. We got Chuck, can you move that one a little right? Hey, Chuck, can you move Chuck, can you move that one to your right just a little bit? Yeah, that one. Yep. There you go. All right.

018All right. Parents, go ahead. Don't move, guys. No, move it down. And it's upside down. Hold on. Oh, you got time. We're in no hurry. Oh, yeah. My phone's almost dead. Uh oh. Thanks, coach. [Applause] Thanks, guys. Good job. Good job, guys. Away. Good job. Congrats. Congrats, guys. Keep it up. Good job. Good job. Job, guys. Job. All right. Good job, man. Congrats. Congrats, coaches. Parents, we can go. Thank you. Stay watch. Uh we're also here tonight to honor another eighth grade uh student from Koolage. As a cross-country mom of two boys that watched cross country meets for I don't even know 13 plus years. This one I kind of close to my heart and what he did was absolutely spectacular. So we are honoring eighth grade college student Landon Harris tonight for his persistence

019and dedication to the sport of cross country. Come on up [Applause] Landon. Coach up Mr. Miller as well for all his hard work and yeah Miss Titchel and sorry and Mr. Miller up for their [Applause] coaching. So on October 8th uh Landon became the IESA 3A sectional champion which is in itself an honor. But on October 15th, and this is only I think we only have a couple state champions in Warrior Brave history. So this is a really big deal. He became the 2022 ISA 3A state champion with a time of 10 minutes 27 seconds. I want to point out that cross country athletes kind of live for their ps. Uh this wasn't even his PR and he won state. So a personal record is a PR. So, it's a it's a field where you

020sort of compete against yourself and as a team, but uh the fact that he won the the Illinois State 3A championship and it wasn't even your best run is absolutely phenomenal. And I wanted to point that out because that's really important. U isn't your PR 10 minute. I have it on here. I think it's so I said he won the state meet running time which is not even his personal record of 2 miles and 10 minutes. We got it. [Applause] So Landon is also the cross country team captain and was voted most valuable athlete. Coach Miller and all of us here at Gran City School District would like to congratulate Landon on this spectacular performance and let him know how very proud we are of your accomplishments. So come on up. We're going to do

021this. Landon Harris family come on up too. I'm going to present certificates to Landon. So, we'll have the mom, dad, grandma, hang out over here. [Music] I think I know this guy, too. Maybe. I don't know. So, we have a couple certificates tonight. The first one is for the uh cross country sectional champion with the time of 10 minutes. Um, let me give you that one first. [Applause] And this is super exciting to present. This is a certificate recognizing that you run the cross country state championship class 3A on the 25th of October 2022. We're [Applause] presenting. All right. So, can we come together here? [Applause] Here we go. Couple more. Congratulations. [Applause] Oh, sounds a great night for cool and gentle. Just a little, right? So, um, thank you all for being here and

022I so proud of all the athletes and dedication coaches. Thank you so much. No, it's awesome. parents enjoy last year taking it all in kind Wow, kind of cleared out just a little bit. Okay, we'll continue on. Um, thank you again, Miss Cam, for doing all that. That was fantastic. Wonderfully. No doubt about it. Congratulations to all the college baseball players and Landon, our cross country runner. Well done. Uh, item number five, minutes, the approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of the board of education held on September 27th, 2022. So moved. Second motion for the second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. I. I. I. Any opposed? The eyes have it. Item number six, consent agenda. Anything there that you want to say about the gifts? I I can start too

023with the overnight student trip. Um, Kulage Junior High School Science Club with Miss Terry Coons. I did ask about that. It is sponsored by the zoo there. It's been done for years. I was assured that it was all safe and talked to Miss Heath at the high school just so I felt better. and it sounds like a great time and a great opportunity. Did you go? Um, I didn't get to go, but I know people who have been on the trip before and they really enjoyed it. They say it was probably one of the favorite things they've done at Coolage. So, okay, great. So, I just wondered if someone would wonder, you know, I was like overnight trip. As a mom, I couldn't help it. I couldn't help it. Right. So, so, and then the

024gifts, um, it was very exciting. We had an individual donate some money for just social workers. Uh, that was really nice. Mitchell had PTA donations. Robbie Steam gave a substantial uh gift to the golf team and the Granite State Police Department um helped with the the wrestling. Um so that was fantastic. It's always really cool to be able to talk about donations we have from the community and how much they support our school district. So that's really wonderful. So thank you for that. Appreciate it. Um if there's no questions or otherwise I'll entertain a motion for the approval of the consent agenda as presented. So move second. Motion on a second. Roll call, please. Kenogo. I. Currin. Hi. None. I. Bryant. I. Stacy. I. Vinnie. I. Wilms. I. Item number 8A. Rescend retirements and resignations.

025It is recommended that the following retirements and resignations be rescended. Miss Eric Kinsey, Secretary of the Board of Education Office. Effective 6:3025. Mark L, principal Mville 12 center center effective 6:3023. Approval is recommended. So moved. Second. Motion a second. I think I can do this byation. I think we can too. All those in favor say I. I. Thank you. I. Those opposed. The eyes have it. Item 8B, retirements and resignations. It is recommended that the following retirements and resignations be accepted. Miss Aaron Kinsey, Secretary of Board of Education Offices, retirement 83127 and Mark L, principal went 12 center retirement [Music] 1222. This approval is recommended. So moved. Second. Motion second. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Those opposed. The eyes haven't. Item 8 C, requests for leaves of absence. It is recommended

026that the following requests for leaves of absence be approved. Miss Kelsey Moo, life skills teacher at Kulage Junior High School, effective 1323 to 4323. Um, Miss Rhonda Nolan Best, second grade teacher Wilson, effective 103122 to 12323. So moved. Second. Thank you. appreciate that. Not trying to be a move, but whatever. Thank you for keeping it moving. I should say I I got it, but I have a motion to second. Any discussion? No. Um, all in favor say I. I. I. I. Those opposed? No. The eyes have it. Item 8D, extracurriculars assignments for the 2223 school year. Uh, you have detailed information about this item below. The GCSD9 administration is recommending the following extracurricular assignments for the 22 23 school year. There are quite a few, so I'm not going to read them off. It's two

027pages, but you no approval's recommended. Got a motion by Eric. Second. Second by Tal. Thank you. Any discussion? Just for clarity, these are all lunch duties for the quarters, right? Yes. That is correct. Standard kind of things. Yep. Yes. Right. Those are lunch duties that we need for supervision during the lunch hour. They're very necessary that we have to do on a quarterly basis. That is correct. Thank you. Thank you for that. Appreciate that additional discussion. Uh all those in favor say I. I. I. I. Those opposed, no. The eyes have it. Item 8E, certified and classified substitutes. Detailed information is pro provided below for this item. It is recommended that certified and classified substitutes applicants be board approved as for the 22 23 school year. We're very happy about this certified subs Alexandria Bibbons,

028Steve Gower, Taylor Kibbert, and Kathleen Vano. Classified subs. Shakita Blake, Rachel's Hamilton, Brandy Webb, Alexis Duos, Megan Harton, Teresa Willis, Shelley Fowler, Kimberly Jackson, Alma Gonzalez Lopez, and Charles Slimbert. Approvals recommended. So move. Second. Second. Any discussion? Just that we're very happy. Yeah, that's great. Fantastic. Uh, all those in favor say I. I. I. Those guys, I'm sorry, Zack. How many count? The eyes have it. Uh item, where are we? 8F, employments to the 22 23 school year. You received detailed information about this item. The board administration and the interview committee consisting on Mr. Don Harris, Mr. David Keel and Eric Mitchell requests approval to hire Miss Carissa Warfield as a social worker at ESSC Lake School for the 22 23 school year pending completion of the certification program which is December of 22 and

029submission of her required paperwork which we are assured that she's finishing school and she's working for us now. So they're very excited to be able to hire her. She was our only applicant. So moved. Second. Motion second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. I. Those opposed. No. You guys have it. Item 8F2. You have received detailed information below about this item and the board administration and the interview committee consisting of Miss Mickey Watkins, Mr. Steve Matthysse, and Mr. Darren Dew regressed board class board approval to hire Miss Laura Cell, which you might have seen in a recent video as a special education teacher at Grand Cia High School for the 22 23 school year pending her completion of certific certification program as well and submission of her paperwork. She's been an excellent employee

030for us doing her um student teaching here as well and she did make a video for the district to try to encourage people to apply. So, um, we're excited to be able to have her on in a new position. So, move. So, move. Motion by Eric, seconded by Linda. Okay, very good. That'll do. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. I. I. Those opposed? No. The eyes have it. Item 8F3, title one pair of professional. You have received detailed information about this item below. The board administration and the interview committee consisting of Dr. David Keel, executive director of operations and Thorheart principal Karen Robertson uh request board approval to hire Miss Cherylyn Hackathol as a title one parent professional at Throheart Elementary Center for the 2223 school year. There was only one applicant

031for this position as well and they are thrilled to have her. Approval is recommended. Second. Who you giving that one to, Cory? She's laughing. Talent is one. Okay. Very good. There's a race. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. I. Those opposed? No. The eyes have it. And item 8 F4 special education para profofessional. You have received detailed information also about this below and the board administration and the interview committee consisting of Miss Mickey Watkins, Christristine Nashes Caberna and Jodie Batson request board approval to hire Mr. Quentyn Wy as a sub professional at Griggsby Middle School for the 22 23 school year. Also, we have very few people applying for these, so we are thrilled. They've been great interviews and we're happy to have them. Um, it's pretty desperate at this point um prepare

032professionals in some other positions. So, we're really happy um to be able to hire these people. Approval is recommended. So, move second. Motion and a second. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. I. I. Those opposed? No. You guys have it. Item number nine, old business. I don't think we have any old business in the past. Item number 10 A, quick running start. Yep. We request board approval to enter into an intergovernmental agreement uh to continue offering writing start program at Southwestern Illinois College as SWIC. Um I can read all this if you want. The since well for about nine years um we have approved an ongoing student participation in this dual credit program at the parents expense. Suk is proposed to continue the program at a rate of $4,318 per student per

033school year. eligible students would participate in their junior and senior year of high school and would have the opportunity to earn a high school diploma and an associates degree simultaneously. That's a really good program. Swick has also um agreed to bill the parents directly which eliminates the district from making payments to Swick and then requesting reimbursement. It's an excellent program. I'd like to see more students involved. I know that we've kind of talked about that some of the high school administration is out here about how we could maybe bump that up or maybe offer scholarships. Um we're into ways to increase um the involvement in that program. If I could ask, how many students do you think have taken advantage of this and have earned that associates degree by the time they graduate? Over the

034years? Yeah. Oh jeez. Certainly had an impact on the numbers of the kids that have taken advantage of it. Last year we had five. I I would say probably total we're approaching 50 or so students that have been able and it's been about 10 years I'm guessing close to it. Yeah, nine years I think. Totally. I think that if we could offer maybe people if they would want to sponsor a student or offer some scholarships for that I think it would be really interesting because I think more students would be able to maybe take advantage and I'm sure Dr. Miller would have those oh that's true numbers because she works with that program pretty close. I can get that for you. I appreciate that. It's just such a great program and great opportunity. And you're

035right, I just wish more would take advantage of it. And just it's it's parents that are out there. You really should look into this program for your junior or or even right now sophomore going into the junior year next year. Start thinking about this because it's a great program to be able to graduate with a high school diploma and an associates degree at the same time. Really give you And Miss Patroller, could they contact you if that as or who would they contact? Dr. Miller, actually. um they receive an invite for um information regarding the program in January typically. Oh, okay. Next year. Yeah. And and then there's a process that Dr. Miller could we work with Mr. Mitchell to get that out there more maybe a little bit through um social media and stuff

036like that would be great. Okay. Wonderful. Approval is recommended. So moved. I'm gonna give that one to Linda and seconded to by Erica. Did I hear that? Okay. Very good. Um and I probably This all involves money here too, I guess, in some respects. Um I think Yeah, we'll just do roll calls on these, please. Any any additional discussion by the way. Okay. Roll call, please. Stacy, I. Vinnie, I Curran. Hi, Nun. I Bryant. stay in Wilms. Hi. Item 8B. Um this is uh recommended you have received um um other information on this before now. Um the FYI 22 audits 2022 audits with RC school district and region one they received under separate cover. Uh recommendation is requested. Zack Shur Mr. Suri do you have any comment on that? Nope. They'll be available on our

037website tomorrow. So move any approval. Second. Motion in a sec. A second. Any discussion? And I do I just want to say uh because Linda and I looked at these audits a few years ago when they were coming in. And I I think a lot of the things that we saw in there before Zach have been taken care of. So we we certainly appreciate that. I think the one couple of things that are out there just because it's um cash basis accounting versus acral basis accounting really is what a lot of that comes out very well done. He said excellent job. Thanks Zach so much. Well done. Thanks Zach. All right. Roll call, please. Vinnie, I Curran. Hi. Nun I. Bryant. I I'm sorry Stacy. Hi, William Wilms. I item 10 Creation of Mville Life

038Skills Classroom. I am going to hand this over to Miss Nikki Watkins to discuss since she has a lot more information to explain. Um so we've had um a large number of students um in the first and second grade life skills classroom. Um we have students with a variety of ability levels in that classroom as well. Um, so we were asking for permission to be able to split that classroom, which we would then staff with a long-term sub. Um, then we would also be able to have a pair professional in that classroom. Um, as well as the behavior check that we already have currently on staff. So, um, you know, the the permission that we're seeking is so that we can put a long-term sub um in that class so that we can provide for

039the students in that classroom because the numbers are not guaranteed to be the same. So that's part of the reasoning for that at this point. Right now though, we're in the process of trying to find a long-term sub. So it is pushing that creation back a little bit. We did have a longterm sub, but then she was she contacted me yesterday to let me know that she will not be able to do it due to some health issues that she's been having. So I've been in contact with HR. they are currently working on identifying another person to put in the classroom. Um I think that some of our issues with um the large number of students in classrooms has to do with our inability to be able to place students into um outpace facilities um

040as they also struggling with staffing to be able to um accept more students. So, um, the best way for us to be able to manage this situation is to split that classroom. It is a real problem. I know you hear staffing issues everywhere and see signs everywhere, but it affects things. You can just see how those tentacles reach out and it it affects things all the way down the line and it can be very frustrating uh to all involved. But we are working very hard. The pair of professionals we hired tonight trying to find and being able to work with Dr. Dixon's group have made it a little easier. But we anyone out there wants to be a pair of professional right now. It doesn't require does not require the 60 hours or a test

041for the next three years. You can be a temporary pair professional and work on getting your your information your 60 hours or your license work keys. Um we're going to provide some classes on that during that three years so you can be certified. So please if you haven't applied already or you show some interest, please contact the district. Sen motion and a second. Any discussion? I'm just I support this. I'm just curious regarding quality of instruction, you know, so we're going from having a life skills teacher, which yes, the class is big, and then we're going to having a long-term substitute, which be the best teacher in the world. But how are we going to ensure instructional continuity and quality for those classrooms? The original person that we identified was a retired life skills teacher.

042So that was our original plan to do that. Um, so in order for us to ensure that educational continuity, we have speaking with the other life skills teachers. She has agreed to also be in contact with the other classroom. Uh we have the curriculum set up for them. Um so they'll be ready to walk in and meet the kids where they're at. We are going to review their IEPs with the teacher. Um the pair professional that would be in the classroom is someone who is familiar with the students already and the behavior check is already in the classroom as well. So then there are people who the students are already familiar with and will be comfortable with um and then you also have the support of administration to help them get started off that. Thank

043youelcome question. Anyone else? Roll call, please. Cory Kenobi. Curran. Hi. None. Hi. Bryant. Hi. Stacy. Hi. Vinnie. Hi. Wilms. Hi. Item 10D, renovation of the GCHS special education foods and lab. Uh, I'm going to read this and then see if she has anything else to add to this. Um, our special director, in order to enhance the ability to address transition related programming, a renovation of the existing specialed food lab is warranted. The renovation would change the foods lab into an independent living skills lab and include two regular kitchen bays, one American Disabilities Act kitchen bay, laundry facilities, a living room area, and a pantry. Space is also allotted to incorporate activities to further job exploration, exploration, post-secary education, and community based agencies to provide services to potentially support students now and after graduation. The construction

044application has been sent to Isby and approved. The ARP American Rescue Plan idea funds will be used to complete the project and a blue blueprint was provided for clarity. An approval is recommended. We're pretty excited. Any details should have believe that improving our transition program is paramount um for our students in order when we upgrade this lab. You know, traditionally it's just been basically foods, just learning how to cook, but there's so much more to independent living than just cooking. And so that's why the incorporation of like a living space so that we can do some housekeeping activities. There's also um the kitchen bays right now um are outdated and um I would like to have the one kitchen bay be more accessible kind of like we did with the cafe with the adjustable height

045um tables, the under counter microwaves, um those types of things, the laundry facilities, everything. Um so not only would it be foods and cooking, but they had a small computer um to where we can do some um career exploration activities. Um also having them looking at and knowing about different agencies that they can be in connection with and um not just for when they graduate high school, but some of these agencies can provide support for some of these students and their families now. So I think that making those connections early, but I think this would be a great way to support them in also fostering their independence and knowing how to advate and to do these activities for their own so I think it's a great opportunity move to approve second long awkward I did

046have a question sorry that I catch the I've got two after okay how much are the parents involved in the program of the the carrying home of these activities and skills encouraged in the home setting. So that there's that ability to show uh you know the parents how much they're learning how this will definitely increase parental involvement especially when we are starting to um make connections with outside agencies for them. the parents need to be included in those types of activities before they're begun. So I believe that this will include in the transition process as well. And um is there an opportunity for the parents to come and experience the actual classroom as it's as as it will be set up so that they get a chance to kind of walk through and see what

047you have as always. Okay. Thank you. Um I just I was curious on uh the funds and maybe it's something separate. Um is this the room that had a few roof issues or ceiling? Yes. Okay. Is that a part of that? No, we are calling the environmental people out to do that first. That is not I've been in contact with buildings and grounds. Okay. We're talking to environmental consultants on that. Yes. And do we have an idea what the cost total cost is going to be of this? We're putting it out for bid. Um, but we have a dollar amounted. Okay. And you don't have to say that if we're putting it out for and it's covered under the idea grant. So that's% covered under which is fantastic. Right. So the cost is a dollar

048is what you're saying on it. Excellent. I do have a motion and a second for that. Roll call, please. Currin, I. None. I. Bryant. I. Stacy. I. Benny. I. Kenovo. I. WSMer. I. Item 10E. Contractual autism consultant services. Um, in order to provide more support for students and teachers, we are requesting that we enter into a contract with Believe You Can Counseling and Educational Services. These services will also be charged to the idea part B grant and approval is recommended. Any questions would also miss Watkins is on there tonight. It's special. Sorry. So, um, with the Believe You Can program, uh, we had Miss Amanda Marty come into um um do some onehour trainings with our staff during the um institute day. Um I believe um most of the majority of the feedback that we

049received was positive with her. She has a long-standing background in working with students with autism. Since we are seeing an increase um in students diagnosed um with autism recently, um I think that having um another person in the classrooms to come in do some observations and to consult with our teachers and staff just to help to provide that extra support. We have not worked out all the details yet because we waited to get approval before we detail. So is this person also going to help with individual individual students in terms of of giving some suggestions and support with some of the some of the problems that may have been noticed but not ironed out you know or worked on. Yes, she can work with them as well. What mean she would do is her role

050would be to um observe and to give consultation. Um we have other people with hands on going on right now. So I think that having just the extra support of someone coming in and giving our teachers um some ideas or giving families ideas and helping to support them within the educational environment is what her role would be. That was the second question I was going to ask about the family connection with this person. Amanda has always had um strong ties to her communities um and she is currently working in a few other school districts. I think it would be beneficial for us to add her to ours. Thank you. You're welcome. So move. Second. All right. Any additional discussion? Roll call, please. None. I. Bryant. I. Stacy. I. Benny. I. Kenovo. I. Curran. Hi. And

051I. Item 10F, Frohart roof bids. I think I'm gonna hand this over to Mr. Smith. I do know that Froh Hart was next on our list for immediate need. Do you want to a little bit? Yeah. Um, we have uh we had four bids. BACH was uh 1,63,739. Batty was 1,77 uh,674. Lakeside was 1,356,84 by state was 1,529 um,000. And with those, we have Batty right now that's doing our roofs, and they've done a really good job for us. The difference from Batty's bid and Bar's bid is $13,935. It's my recommendation, really our recommendation that we go with Batty because of uh the quality of work they've done. They've done a lot of extra work for us at Griggsby uh as far as removing um exhaust fans, covering up the holes whenever it wasn't in

052part of the bid. Uh they've left those curbs there. They uh roofed around them. Uh they've patched some work or did some patch work for us on different buildings at a lower cost. So uh it's my recommendation that we go with Batty. They've been very timely as well. Very very is really important for us. We really had no complaints. None. What's what's the time? I'm sorry. I was going to ask same question. Go ahead. the time the timeline for when this the the reason we're doing bids at this time of the year is so we ensure that we have the roofing products and the material at the time that and that's going to be next summer. So as he gets those materials in his yard, he's able to purchase those. We'll probably end up paying

053for those uh at this time. uh it'll take him probably six months or better to acquire these materials. So that's why we have to do it so early. We're actually that's doors everything we're doing now for summertime and it was in your plan. Yes, it's it's definitely and we'll be doing this again for another building next year. Are we experiencing any damage as we uh right now Froart has some very severe leaks in their building. Throwart's probably the worst roof as of right now. Um there's there's there are leaks in that building that um uh we cannot find. We've had contractors on there we can't find. And with the corrugated metal that the roof sets on or the the roofing membrane sets on, the leak could be anywhere and it's going to travel down that

054metal and it ends up in room 12 and 13 and it's a mess. So, we're hoping to get this done. So approval is recommended. So move second. Any additional discussion. Is it possible at all the like if things come in and we have some great weather like over a break or something? I'm just thinking of weeks in the building until summer. It it's the problem is just getting the material. Yeah. You know, it's going to it's going to take them that long to get the material. One thing I I what we've what we've done at Griggsby um and Coolage too, we try to get the tear off done so there's no kids in that building in case there is a bad spot, something does fall through, there's no one in that building. That's why we're

055trying to do these over the summer. Thank you. Thanks, Eric. Roll call, please. Bryant. Hi. Hi, Stacy. Hi, Benny. Hi, Kenobyl. Hi, Curran. I none I Wilmser I then item uh item number 10G new community solar guaranteed savings program uh Mr. school and I have been working with Chuck Sutton from this group. They have saved us a substantial money amount of money just too little this not this whole thing that you already have but since April of 21 we have been participating as a two community solar projects located within the Amaran service territory. These two solar projects are the rich farm project and the sandal project. Those are um solar farms. So they create the electricity and then we buy it through Amarine. The community solar subscription program has served the district quite well over

056the past 18 months with more than 42,000 already in net savings through reduced electricity supply costs. We are recommending the approval of new solar guaranteed saving subscription agreements with the ridge farm and sandal solar projects through their authorized agent Chicago based MC square energy services LLC for a three-year term and a 25% net guaranteed savings to the district as well as execution of the statemandated community solar AP disclosure forms as provided by the Illinois Power Agency. Approval is recommended. We have been very happy with Mr. Sutton. He is always was ready to we had an hour meeting with him where he explained everything. Um we've been really pleased with that. Approval was recommended. So moved. Second. Motion and a second. Any really technical questions for Miss Can on this one? Yeah. I did sit in

057for an hour with them. I feel pretty good about solar farms. I understand it. It's okay. And this I really like this company too. Um Chuck said, he does a great job. He's always ready to thing right on the projected savings on it over three years. Yeah, it has here, right? And they are accessible between 100 between1 and $120,000. That's pretty good. Oh, yeah. I mean I mean I think it doesn't it doesn't cost us anything. I mean it seems like a logical thing to do and it's a green thing to do as well. Yes. So positively and things are becoming more and more common as these solar farms are popping up and more importantly I think with electricity right now cost I think it's a great idea. Any additional discussion? Roll call, please. Stacy,

058I. Benny, I. Kenogal, I. Curran, I. Nun, I. Brian, I. Wilms, I. Item 10H, creation of truency homeless interventionists position. Um, recently we just hired Miss Millie Lman. She was our homeless liaison through the title one grant. her time her uh salary was paid through them. It's part-time. She moved to the business teacher at the high school. So, we have that vacancy. We've also been working with the Madison County Regional Office of Education uh truency division, Mr. Tim Rhyr, and we have been identified last year and this year again as a very high uh truent especially in the younger grades. I see a direct correlation between that and postcoid uh people just not getting used to getting their kids up, getting to school. I rode along with Mr. Rhyr a couple times uh last spring

059uh with some truent things and just to hear what some of the parents were saying and and the effectiveness of us going out was pretty amazing. Um of the like maybe 20 stops we made, I mean over 10 of them just by me talking to them and and trying to encourage them and do what we can. I think it's really important at least we start with a part-time person that could fill both these positions and we just combine it into one to start. Um and we'll be able to pay for the first couple years here for this second part of this the truency part through the esser grant because I definitely think it is you know partially at least because of the remote and those types of things. So we are recommending this new position

060um right now um grant funded as well. So I just really think it's important we have listed the job description um here and we just need permission to post it if you all agree with that. So, are we saying that? Sorry. Go ahead. Will this job start? I see the steps in here. Does it start at step one? Yes, it does. Okay. It's it will start at step one. I didn't know if there was something somebody could come in and and it's 12 month. So, that's right. So, and that's what we use um for that. So, um they will be here. We are looking for an associate degree preferred. Um but a lot of that is will be listed on the posting on the website. Looking through the requirements and the job description. Will a

061half-time person be enough? Well, that's what we're going to be. It'll be half homeless and half truent. They may So, it's one full-time position. One full-time position, but it may bleed over in one direction or another, but we'll see depending on the need. I mean, I see a larger need for truency, but right now, we can start with this and it's grant funded and we can go from there and see if it makes a difference and see if we we can re regroup and see what it looks like at the end of the school year. How much of a difference it made and if we do need to to add someone else. So to clarify again, this is going to be my question. We have a part-time leaison that through the title one. Yes, we

062are we keeping that plus this full time position. Well, it'll be half and half. They'll be build half to esser half to title. So it's one full-time position build between two things. So we're not going to have position and a half. Nope. This is all one. Yep. Gotcha. Thank you. So, I was trying to get clarity. No, you're fine. Make sure I understood. Salute. Second. Motion a second. Roll call, please. Benny, I. Kenogo. Hi, Curran. Hi, Nun. I Bryant. I Stacy. I item 10. I technology recycling. This is for Brad, but just to uh the following was picked up the list you have uh by PCs for people and process for recycling um we just need to have recommended they have been amazing the PCs for people and what they do to help others technology

063I think the library didn't you work with them we we've tal yeah it's been a while and like they provided things like I said before to our senior center they provide to a lot of community places um they restore them they wipe them clean you're fine with that right Mr. Smith, our technology person. Yes, ma'am. They they they also send the the necessary u certificates um for data destruction and and such. So, uh we have those and uh yes, I'd recommend uh that this list be approved. Yeah, the list is a lot of Chromebooks, laptops, and old stuff that we don't use, and not all of it will be repurposed. Some of it will everything will be properly recycled. Perfect. So moved. Thank you. Second. Thank you, Eric. Sometimes they're fast. Roll call, please. Kenogo.

064I. Currin. Hi. None. I. Bryant. Hi. Stacy. Hi. Benny. Hi. and loves mar. All right, item 10J. We're getting there, folks. We're getting there. This one's a good one, too, though. This is Yeah, this is a great one. Another good night. Uh, creation of the Koolage Junior High School Scholastic Bowl Club. Okay. Um, we are recommending to create the Scholastic Bowl club at the Koolage Junior High School. Um, the club will be coached voluntarily for the first three years. Um, Brian Welzer, who is a language arts teacher at Kulage, and Miss Jamie Kamat have offered to do that to to create a feeder system. Miss Pamat started Scholar Bowl. Somebody correct me. Has it been three years? Is this the fourth year for Scholar Bowl at the high school longer than long? I thought I

065thought she read it was gone for a while and she brought it back. No. Oh, never mind. Okay. Sorry. Sorry. I thought she wrote Well, it's been amazing the last three years. Like a regional, right? Okay. They've done really well in the last three years under her coaching. Just How about that? That was good. Um, so she'll be and I love the idea. Um, I was a scholar coach for 12 years at my old school. So, I kind of have a special place for this, but I think it's another great opportunity for kids and to get them involved um and to move them on then into the high school into that program. So, uh, approval is recommended. So, moved. Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. Currin, I. None. I, Bryant. I, Stacy. Hi, Vinnie. Hi

066Kenob. Hi. And Meyer. Hi. I think that's a fantastic. I even offered to moderate. Is this a master school program? And do they have a special room? They usually go in that teacher's classroom. I know that's that's great. They're kind of fun to go and watch, but some of the stuff that they ask that's what I would like. Well, know that. Well, they made us compete last year like Miss Heath organized and So we would the faculty competed, we lost um to the kids, but it was fun. Had a great time. Yeah, it was great. I think they felt really empowered. We should do that again in live stream. Oh, no. I don't think so. Although I did know the literature. [Music] Item 10K, self bid approval. Okay. So, we're gonna We have Mr. Greg

067Williams here also from SM Wilson. You all received some information in your packet and it was emailed to you. Um, we've received information concerning the bids for this project because they are the project managers. Um, we also had an original bid for the softball field of about 1.5. We did receive a tiff payment um to the district from the Sunburst Coke uh thing which um put us at about 300,000 which is going to allow us to turf the field as well. So, I wanted to talk about I know great news. Um, and Mr. Williams is here. If you have questions concerning the bids on here and we have also um given you something that shows you where the alternates are on here, um, you're include this. And I did want to talk quickly about the

068at the end of this, it has points out um, where's the here's the the very last line of your sheet that looks like this. It says program total with additional alternate 3B rot iron fencing that is on there. It was going to be just something extra, but we have looked into Mr. Moran, Mr. Depw, Mr. Smith have went around and looked for areas um within the high school junior high complex how to ensure the perimeter. Uh so other than chain link at certain places, although I think that would be cheaper and I am trying to figure out how we can do lighting in the next couple years. I think it's very important for us to secure the perimeter of the school area as well. So the rod iron that is existing out in front of

069the high school, it would look like that. Um you have that picture and so that is something as an alternate bid um on there that we're looking at as a safety measure. So that is why that is and and when we you know too sorry when we talked about it um the the ride iron fencing I think just is more aesthetically pleasing um than surrounding the school and chain link fence which I've seen you know makes it look a little like trying to I mean you might as well put barb wire at the top of it you know some schools have done that no it would not look good I mean it just doesn't look good the difference, Mr. Williams, would between rod iron and chain link would be a significant difference, but I think

070about 80,000. Yeah, it's about 80,000. But I think just and it's heavier. Uh I think you're not going to be able to run into it. I think you're going to be a lot happier with Sergeant Stacy, right? That it's actually safer probably too to have that. Yeah, it could be. I mean, you can squeeze a low back could squeeze through there easier than like a chain of fence, but I mean, um, it's you're just building layers of security. That's all you're doing. I think the permanence of it looks one one one problem you'll have with chain link and you can look along the the baseball field and the football field is where people have tried to climb the fence and and kids have climbed it for baseballs and things, put their cleats in there and

071it dents the fence. Well, you would have a whole campus of that. the rod iron. You're not going to have that. Not happy. So, I think that that's why Yes. Hi, Zach. Hey, how's it going? Where exactly would the fence start and like end at? I think I was a little confused. I went from sailing to the inter parking lot. Well, you didn't get the picture cuz he just brought it tonight. So, I'll make sure to get this to family. We can email it to you right now. holding milky right now. But it goes along Failing Road and along Namoki Road and then it goes down like where the parking lot is for baseball. Correct. Yes. Right. And goes across and connects the baseball fence. Yes. Right now. So that's we're looking at the broad

072area fencing. So the front of before the Koolage it ends at the Koolage parking lot entrance. Is that correct? Yes. And then it'll go all the way down to failing to failing road where CVS is. It'll go all the way down to the baseball field and the new softball field. No, no problem. We'll make sure you get that. Sorry about that question. I have a quick one. Um I noticed on the drawing we have uh alternate tube water line. I didn't and maybe I might have just missed it. I didn't see that in the breakdown. It's listed in adult two um under the earthwork. Okay. So it isision. Okay. Okay. So you might want to add that that's water there too. So are we turfing the entire field? Yes. Or the entire field because it

073wasn't much difference to do. That's what we talked about. There wasn't much difference in price. super minimal and and the issue Well, that's I guess that was where I was going with it. How much would it save us if we turfed the infield and the outfield was grass? Yeah, it was it was a minimal difference. And the problem is is the scheduling of it because we would have to get the uh the outfield graded and and seated. Yeah. And growing grass before the beginning of the of the school year, before the beginning of the season. So, it kind of made the schedule a little bit messed up, but it it really honestly, yeah, it was it was a minimal cost difference. I was like, "Oh, that'd be cheaper." Oh, well, then yeah, there's, you know,

074irrigation. Another thing we looked at is just maintall maintenance. Yeah. You know, w with if it's all turf, everything inside of that fence, we don't have to we don't have to bring a lawnmower in there. We don't have to worry about a lip eventually between the turf and the grass. That's constantly have to be that would have to be addressed. So this here there's there's none of that. That's the last uh sport too at high school that isn't on our in within our campus. So I like the idea of being able to have them everyone on campus now in that big facility sports facility. I think it would be very nice and we can keep adding. We can add lighting when we get that and some of some of the stuff we can do. Um

075some of our guys can do some of the maybe the paving in the parking lot we can maybe do on our own as well. So that's why those are all kids because maybe we can afford this but not all the extras at first but we can get it the main part started and go from there. So approval. So we're I start say we're looking to approve this. Okay started second. That's exciting. A second. Any additional discussion or question? I just I guess I just wanted to feel like the security still there'll be enough security with that kind of product. I I think so. How tall was it? More than six foot. True. It's six foot. It's in front of the high school. You're not going to scale that very easy. Yeah. On the Madison Avenue.

076Yes, I think that looks really no matter if you went with rod iron or chain link. You can climb chain link, you know. actually probably harder to climb the rod iron. Um, and you're just, once again, you're just building layers of security. I mean, short of building a a castle around that, you know, stone wall around. Um, you know, you're not, you know, you're just building that. I think that'd be cool. Might be one of the first that I've ever done. I like it a lot. those drinking crabs. Help us with that. One more thing real quickly. I just got the picture. Thank you for it. Um, is it is it going to affect the I know the turf turfing of the football field might help with this, but is it going to affect the

077practice soccer field out there at all or is that going to end will the outfield fence end before that field? It'll end before that field. Yes. And that that was part of the master planning out for the sports facility. Good question. to make sure that it it was not affected. I like that actually the safety of that where the balls aren't going out into the street and they're running out. Just from a physical standpoint, I like the idea of that BM and that fencing being there as well. All right, I think we got a motion second, right? Yeah. Okay, cool. Roll call, please. None. I Bryant. Hi, Stacy. I Benny. Hi. Kenobi. Curran. Hi. Well, Miss Meyer. Hi. Item 11 A presentation. Do you want to do the first real quick? Yeah, you can. Can

078I do for you? Absolutely. Okay. Um, we speaking um I heard from Mr. Spoon and you're firm that we don't have to read these all out. We should say we received three requests under the Freedom of Rage Act during the period of September 21st, 2022 through October 17, 2022. Um, and All these requests were handled by the administration, meaning aka Mr. Mitchell. Thank you, Chris. We appreciate it. Very good. And we don't get action on that. N and then we can do we're excited about this tonight. Okay. Um what is I went to our district PD day and on the list the menu of things that um teachers could go and watch or listen to under professional development. I was intrigued all of a sudden I was completely drawn because I was a former high

079school teacher right to a presentation that two of the students one of them being our student board member and the other being Mr. Lucas Hutchings um talking about how stressful and how things can affect students at high school and how teachers can can maybe be more in tune to that and maybe help understand it better. And I thought it was so good and the fact that they got up in front of everyone, teachers included, and and were willing to share this. Um they were very vulnerable in it. I think it's excellent. So they've shortened it, but I thought it was really important for you to see at least a part of it. They did a lot of research. So they're going to do like a little 10 15 minute thing on a brief because it

080was almost an hour. So I'm really excited when students can come in. They love the title and I sat there and it was wonderful. So you're on Caitlyn Lineer and smile. You're on camera. So um hi, my name is Caitlyn Linger as Miss Tan introduced me. Um, we are going to be talking about the modern struggle and stresses of being a student and we are both students at Granite City High School. I'm a senior personally. So, and I'm Lucas Hutchkins. I'm a junior at GCHS. I know some of you realize that being a student is hard sometimes, but some of you don't. We want to make it super apparent that student lives have been changing a ton within the last few years and that they can be super stressful. We both realize that we are

081not teachers and we do realize that teaching can also be a super stressful job. However, we're both students. So, we would like to share some insight into how our lives as students are. We'll be sharing data that was gathered on a national level and then we will go on to sharing data that we gathered at GCHS through a survey. We initially chose this project because we both feel that some teachers do not understand the stresses of modern high schools. We may have some advantages, but we also have many stressors that we will be discussing discussing. On that note, let's get started. It doesn't want to work, I guess. Go ahead. Yeah, just click on the Yeah, there we go. Yeah, now you should be able to. Okay, so change it for you. Thank you. We

082are going to start off this project by looking at some data that can be found on national and international levels. This data can vary a lot, but we mainly looked at data that was collected within the 13 to 20-year-old age range. We're going to compare data from 2013 to now. First, we're going to look at a stat statistic from the American Psychological Association. The statistics collected in this survey were mainly from 2013. The APA reports that teams reported that their stress levels during school year far exceeded what they believed to be healthy, 5.8 versus 3.9 on a 10point scale. And topped adults average reported stress levels, 5.8 for teens versus 5.1 for adults. 31% of teens also reported feeling overwhelmed and depressed or sad as a result of stress. 36% of teens reported feeling tired

083and nearly 23% reported skipping a meal due to stress. However, even today, the mental health crisis that stems from stress is still super relevant. Springer made reports that teenage anxiety has increased within the past couple of decades. Between between 2012 and 2018, the amount of teens that tested positive for anxiety increased from 34.1% to 44%. This was the most rapid increase of teenage anxiety within six years. Some factors of this anxiety can range from current world events, politics, social media, but most importantly, the pressure to succeed. The New York Times had an article written about this. Even Even though students are considered to be more educated, they they have highly alarming rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal behaviors. In 2019, 13% of students reported having major depressive episodes. This was a 60% increase from 2007.

084Forbes magazine also added to this conversation, stating that 58% of students are very concerned or somewhat concerned about their own mental health and equally their own emotional health. 39% of students disagree that their mental health needs are being met at school. That being said, let's talk about the impact of stress for fulfillment. The Mayo Clinic discusses some negative impacts of stress being headaches, chest pains, upset stomach, or emotional outbursts. Other effects can include withdrawing from social events, overreacting or undereating. What some people when some people feel stressed, they might even turn to drug or alcohol use. We all know that none of these effects are healthy, especially on students. Another major impact that some people experience is suicidal thoughts. In 2020, the psych psychology and education journal discussed a phenomenon known as test anxiety. Pakistani

085students who are highly pressured by their parents to get stellar grades got so stressed to the point where they think about committing suicide. Another thing we would like to discuss is a concept called the well-rounded student syndrome. So what does it mean to be a well-rounded student? I'm sure many of you can think of a few kids as soon as I said that. A well-rounded student by definition is a student who has a wide array of interest and attributes about them that make them stand out. While being a top academic student is another way to be considered a good student, being a well-rounded student does not rely on it. While being a well-rounded student is an amazing thing and can help kids who don't make perfect grades have a competitive edge when it comes to

086the college application process, it can also be super super stressful for students. Being involved in multiple activities or having a job on top of completing hours of homework can be super overwhelming. Another thing that isn't helpful is that when we talk about how stressful it can be with our teachers, some teachers respond by telling us that it's our fault for choosing to join so many activities or having a job. But as previously mentioned, many colleges now look for well-rounded students. We as students shouldn't feel shamed for participating in activities that we enjoy. We also shouldn't feel ashamed for having a job. Being a well-rounded student is important in today's society and should be fully supported and celebrated. Um Let's start with some of our studentbased research that we conducted. We felt that it was val

087to hear from our student from other students and the student bies body, pardon me. So, the next part of our project involved a survey that we sent out to them. We asked a variety of questions that you will see on the screen here shortly. The questions range from mental health to circumstances regarding their personal life. We had 119 responses. Now, that may not seem like a lot, but this is roughly 10% of our student body. We also want to remind you of the external research we did that relates to these issues. The first question that we asked is, "Do you feel overwhelmed at school?" 79.8% of students responded that with the answer yes. We were shocked that such a high number of kids felt overwhelmed at school. We also asked, "Do you ever feel like

088some of your teachers don't understand you?" 56.3% of students answered yes. If a student feels like they aren't being understood in the classroom, how are they supposed to feel connected to their schoolwork? We went on to ask if students wish their teachers knew what they were going through. 80 80% of these students responded yes. Similarly, 92% of students think there are their teachers would benefit from knowing about their about different students struggles. Because of all this, we asked them, "Do you have circumstances that make it hard to complete?" So along with the answers that are on this slide, another student replied, "Last school year in November, I had surgery. I missed school for three days before surgery and 11 school days after surgery because I had CO I returned to school for 3 days." Oh,

089sorry. I just read over that part. I returned for school for 3 days before contracting CO and strep throat. This caused me to miss another 10 school days. Throughout this time, I was denied virtual testing and I was instead expected to test when I had returned to school. I took an exam after I had returned and scored higher than the majority which led to suspicion of academic dishonesty. I was accused of cheating and was forced into an oral examination in which I passed. This student went on to say how they felt embarrassed and that this situ situation was hard on them. That moment must have been super embarrassing for that student and really hard to go through. Speaking of embarrassing moments, a number of students felt like they had been embarrassed by a teacher. You

090can take you can take a moment to read the responses all the way. So, I'm going to give you guys a second to look at that. I know we're like blowing through some of these. To continue on another note, students have a lot of various stressors. The bar graph that is showed here showcases how students responded to what they defined as a stressor. As you can see, the top answer was school, followed by friend related issues and family related issues. Since we thought school would be a top defined stressor, we decided to ask students to rate their stress on a scale of 1 to five. As you can see on the next slide, these are student responses, one being least stressed and five being most stressed. A majority of students answered four, meaning that they

091feel high levels of stress, but it may not be at the highest point yet. A lot of these statistics must seem super shocking to some, but I know personally they aren't that surprising to me. With all this stress, I wonder if this is affecting people's sleep. In fact, Baylor College reports that high levels of stress impair sleep by prolonging how long it takes to fall asleep and fragmenting sleep. Many students don't get enough sleep that they need. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that teenagers aged 13 to 18 need roughly 8 to 10 hours of sleep. However, when we asked how many hours of sleep do you get at night in our survey, only three students stated that they get eight or more hours of sleep. Of all those stressing factors, you have to

092wonder, how do people manage their stress? The number one response that we received was, "I cry." It is super upsetting to know that a lot of students feel so overwhelmed and stressed at times that they feel the only solution is to cry about it. Keeping this in mind, we know stress can reach outside of school, too. So, we were curious if students have life, pardon me, life circumstances that might prevent them from doing school work. Knowing about other people's struggles in life really helps open your eyes. I know reading some of these answers helped me open my eyes to other people's situations that I didn't even know about. For example, a lot of kids talked about having to watch or care for their siblings for long hours at night. Some students shared how they wish

093they had more time to complete homework most days. Another factor that we saw is many students didn't have time to complete homework because they have a job. As you can see on this slide, 42% of students who replied to our survey reported that they have a job, while 51% said they take the job for extra money. 27% reported they work they work so they can support themselves. 7.8% of students said that they work so they can help support their family. Then% of the students that responded said they had a job because of all the above reasons. To continue on, we listed these statements on the board that students agreed with. We also inserted the percentage of students that agreed with these statements right next to each individual one. I'll give you guys a few seconds

094to look over that. Okay, so we're going to move on. Then we have some ideas on ways educators can improve their classroom. These ideas are coming from us and students. They can easily be implemented in a classroom. Some you can even implement tomorrow. The first idea is improving studying study guides for quiz quizzes and tests. Having a filled out study guide does not help very much. What I found helps a lot is a study guide with 50/50 filled out with two columns each. For example, a 20 question math review with 10 fully worked out problems and were shown and 10 blank problems for students to do themselves. This allows students to see how it's done and then lets them do it themselves. The second idea we had to improve classrooms is the way classrooms are

095weighted. Some classes are heavily reliant on one grade, such as a midterm essay or a test. However, if you aren't the best essay writer or not a great test taker, you might not have the greatest scores on these assignments. It might even take you until the end of the semester to fully recover your grade again. This can easily be prevented if you provide students with many opportunities to increase their grades and don't make class reliant on one project or one test. Plus, if you make homework worth more than one or two points, it might help increase kids grades, and it might even make them more motivated to do it. Sometimes people don't want to do their work if they know it won't majorly affect their grade. The third idea is helping students when needed. We

096know tutoring is available, but some students are unable to come to after school tutoring. While you might suggest peer tutoring, some students may not be able to teach the exact methods at a teacher does. You can offer them help during study hall, warrior time, or before school. You can also help students by making sure they understand the material in class. For example, having students answer questions or do problems on the board and guidance can be beneficial. Then if they do not understand it, you can address the issue there and help explain it to them more carefully and clearly. The fourth idea we discussed is returning quizzes and work sooner rather than later. It can help students realize what to improve on and what they need to work on before their final test in that subject.

097Our fifth idea is taking a break in class. We know that this isn't realistic to have a break every day, but having a fivem minute break in between work to allow students to digest the material they learn can be beneficial. One last piece of advice I would like to share is a quote I've heard. Be someone whose class you want to be in. It might sound corny, but it's true. I know many teachers who initially thought that they didn't want to be teach, but one teacher changed their mind. It is super important to have a connection with students because that's how they learn and grow. It can also help motivate students to do work more work and understand material. Building connections between students and teachers is important because some kids really need that guidance. Who

098knows, maybe you can inspire someone to teach one day. We really want to thank you for sitting in on this presentation. I know it might seem like we're being super critical, but we just wanted to make some we just wanted to share some insight from a student's perspective. We both app all of what the teachers do for us. Yes, we really appreciate all the staff at GCHS and everyone who's worked with us and we know it's really hard, but thank you guys for listening to us and I hope everyone enjoyed this and was able to take something away. [Applause] Thanks guys. That was absolutely fantastic. That was just a little bit. They did they had a ton of research. It was incredibly well prepared. Um and they cut that down. That was really good. They

099picked a lot of the good points. Uh they did a great job seeing any staff members, but I was at my own school's institute and I was my phone was literally blowing up like I had like 10 different people about your presentation. My husband who acts like for everything was raving about your so I didn't know that. It was really well received. And again, like it's sometimes when you give presentations like that, you don't know like did they connect with it? Did they take away from it? But again, I heard from a variety of kinds of teachers too that were texting me and telling me how impressed they were. So, thank and I see why. Thank you for that. And I think how importantly it is we can inspire others to teach. I know that

100I was a high school teacher and that's something that is always important making connection and being there for that student. Um, it's a very important job. I can't over over stress how important teaching is and what it can do for kids. One caring adult can make the difference in a child's life. So, I think everybody I I completely agree with everything that you said and and alert to of many of the things that that you brought up. Uh I, you know, was impressed and and affected by a teacher that I had and it turned my life around. Uh So I I know what you mean. Uh and and we you know you have teachers that some students are drawn to to and I think that's important that those teachers be open enough to uh accept

101uh a student who needs maybe a little encouragement or be told that they're doing a good job, that there's a lot of potential, they have a lot of talent. Uh that's just so important and it happens in a in the school situation where it's really important for that that student to be uh given that reassurance. So, thank you so much. And you two have a lot of talent and bravery and cou courage to get up and to talk about this and to make a difference. So, thank you again. Well done. Very well done. And school, high school, I know, is so much different today than when I graduated 10 years ago. Oh, yeah. whatever. So, I I appreciate the insight because it that certainly is very helpful just all the things that you had there

102and I wish I would have seen the full presentation. It was excellent. Did anybody record it? I I don't think so. We probably should have done a shame. We'll make them do it again. We did record this though. So, we'll have Well, thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you both very much. Great job. Community college. Oh, it would they're relevant to the community college students there and what they go through. It be interesting when you move on follow up. Thank you. Presentation they're going to give right when she comes back Lucas can help because he's a junior. So excellent. I know. I was really impressed. I'm glad to hear about the feedback. Very good. Uh item number 11 C discipline of student. Okay. Um you've received detailed information about a student under separate

103cover below. The administration is recommending to your expulsion from October 25th, 2022 to October 25th, 2024. Second. Motion a second. Roll call, please. Bryant. Hi. Stacy. I. Benny. Hi. No. I Curran. Hi. None. I and Wire. I uh we had an item on that's not there anymore. Executive session. Um so we have no executive session and we do have executive session minutes. However, uh item number 13A, approval of the executive session minutes of the special meeting of board of education held on September 27th. So move Second. Any discussion? Roll call, please. You guys waiting on me. I'm sorry. Sorry about that. Sometimes it happens. Serious. Kenogal. I Curran. Hi. None. I Brian abstain. Stacy, hi. Benny, hi. And Wilmser. Hi. And item number 13B, approval of the executive session, minutes of the regular meeting of

104the board of education held on September 27th. So move. Second. Roll call, please. Currin. I. None. I Stacy. Hi. Benny. Hi. Kenobyl. I and Wilms. Hi. Um, setting the agenda for November 15th, 2022. Anything special? Um, this special I'm sorry for the the next regular board meeting. You're saying, right? Yes. Okay. With so many uh band students, we have a plan. I start saying I was going to say, do we want to move it? I have a plan. I have I don't want to give it away. It's a pretty cool plan because Those of you that don't know our band, uh, the Marching Warriors were amazing and won, uh, class 5A at the UI Championship. So, we're going to recognize them at the export meeting also with a teacher that received the Emerson Excellence in

105Teaching award as well. We're looking at maybe venue change location, right? Okay. That's what I was getting. I was like, all the band members are not going to fit in this room. I did take them cookies today. They were happy. Excellent. Uh we probably will have a special board meeting on November 1st, I think. Did everybody get that? Um and then we also have some training coming up. Yes, the 21st. 21st. Okay. Very good. Anything else to come before the board tonight? Very good. I will accept a motion to adjourn. Please move. Second. All those in favor? We are adjourned. Time