001All right, everybody. Welcome to the board of education meeting for Tuesday, September 12, 2023. Um, Silva here, Bradley here, Stacy here. Currin here. No, Linn here. Vinnie here, Miss Forbes. Okay, we have a quorum and if everybody would please rise for the pledge of allegiance followed by invocation by Pastor Jay Cer assembly. Pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Dear heavenly father, I thank you for this time. Lord, I thank you for our students of Granite City, um teachers, administration, our board of educators. Lord, I pray that you would be with us in our midst tonight as we discuss um the people of our town in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen.
002Thank you. Up next is public comment. I believe we have three people. Sorry. Okay. If one of the three uh would please step to the podium and uh introduce yourself and go ahead and have Yeah, we try to keep everything to about 3 minutes. Um but go right ahead. Yes, I've timed it and I'm trying desperately to make it there. I've been practicing for a while. Sorry. We appreciate your preparation. If I talk really fast, that's why is because I know that I want to be respectful of your time and respectful of the time limit. Hello, my name is Ashley Henderson. Um, I have two small kiddos in the district and am a lifelong resident of this wonderful community. My husband is a Granite City Police officer and I am a former educator turned small
003business own small business owner. I have been hearing that neighborhood schools are finally being considered. I wanted to take a moment and say thank you. The thought of someone actually putting this plan back into action brought tears to my eyes as I feel it's what students and parents in this district desperately need for a multitude of reasons. One being transportation. If you haven't taken the time to drive the routes for parent pickup with the multiple dismissal times, I highly recommend you give it a try. I don't know what I would do if my schedule if my schedule wasn't flexible and it's still difficult. We only have two children and pickup and drop offs are hectic trying to get from one place to the next. I'll never forget the year we were at Wilson and Prather.
004Racing from Wilson to Prather was a nightmare and so stressful for our entire family as we only had 10 minutes to get from one place to the next. Trying to explain to my kindergarten daughter that I was sometimes late because of a traffic because of traffic or a train wasn't easy as she only understood that I just wasn't there on time. I don't know what we would do if I hadn't left my normal 9 to5 that year as we do not have grandparents who can help us out. I do not understand how families or especially single parents deal with this every year. Yes, we have buses, but they also have restrictions as living too close can cause pickup issues and the district hasn't always been accommodating for transfer requests for parents who simply ask to
005attend the building closest to them per their grade level center. And from my understanding, in some cases, because drivers are having to go all over the city, kids are having to be at bus stops as early as 6:30 a.m., which we have all seen many studies that show that more sleep increases a child's success in school. Last year was a dream. Being able to have my kids in the same school made for the best year ever. My kiddos loved having their sibling in their building. It helped with their confidence and education all around as we were able to stay on a consistent schedule. Unfortunately, this year we are back in the same boat. And while the buildings are closer, this school year has started off stressful. When I talk to my kids about this, not
006only do they state that they miss their siblings, but something else was brought to my attention. They have they have expressed that changing schools is hard. getting just getting used to new buildings and new people in their words is scary. And I thought about this as adults change is hard. It takes us months as adults to adjust to new jobs, new places, new people, and we have fully developed brains. And yet we ask our kids to readjust and learn new skills every two years. This has this has to be st stressful on their learning capability as well as their social skills. I know for my own for my own kids, my son struggles to make friends and last year he was finally able to get in a good groove as he finally felt familiar with
007his environment. This year has been rough as far as lunch is considered. The constant stress of having to start over again has already impacted how much he's eating on a daily basis. I have always been proud to be a part of this town. I take great pride in saying that I live in Granite City when people ask. What I love most about it is that we are a town of hardworking people. Somehow that seems to get translated into parents who simply don't care about our kids or district. Being a working-class town doesn't mean that we don't care. It might just mean that we can't make every PTA meeting or conference because of shift work or overtime opportunities. It might mean that we can't join the PTA at all as now we are required to pay
008for each separate school fee or possibly having to choose which one you can join if you are a parent of multiple children. As a workingclass community, it might mean that we can't show up to events during the day due to work conflicts, but we would be happy to attend after school events if they were offered more at the elementary level. We have thoroughly enjoyed the reading nights. I feel a lot of joy knowing that we now have a school board who truly understands what it means to be a resident of this city. I understand that these learning centers were not your doing. I understand that we are completely down two entire buildings as neighboring house is no longer deemed safe and where the essentially lo school was transformed into this new board office. I also
009understand that at the time the district was just trying to improve I'm sorry to improve um learning and meet state requirements but we gave it a go and now have seen that the costs do not outweigh the benefits and our child our children's ed education and well-being is now suffering. Parents are burnt out and families are desperate for change. I have seen families leave this town or move their kids to private institutions because of the learning centers and the challenges it has presented to this district. I love this town with all of my heart. Granite is different in the best way possible as we offer programs and classes that aren't available in other neighboring schools. We have a lot of heart and a lot of grit. Please don't mistake our economic status for lack of
010caring. I feel a lot of joy knowing that the board is ready to move forward to represent the needs of this town. I'm excited to have a board. I'm excited to have board members that want to see this district thrive by not trying to make us like ever carbon, but by meeting us where we are and thinking about what the families that actually live here need. I know this isn't going to be an easy task. And of course, it's not going to make everyone happy. And yes, kids will have to adjust to different buildings as they age into middle school and high school. But we are asking a lot of our younger students. Presenting them with a problem that we created seems unfair and we have a chance to fix it. Thank you for giving
011these kids a consistent place where they can call home for longer than two years and a chance to build relationships with peers and teachers that can create powerful progress in their education. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you so much. Hello everyone. My name is Ross Tyler and I'm the parent of a second grader and a future kindergartener. I have lived in Granite for basically my entire life and I do like Ashley love this community. Um I've heard talks about bringing back neighborhood schools or the I guess it's called multi-level grade buildings. So, I'm here again just basically to show how excited I am about that and say thank you for, you know, considering this and bringing this back. This is going to be fantastic. And when new board members were elected this
012spring, this was the hope for parents in the community. And to hear that the plan is getting started really makes me excited for the future of our district and our community as a whole. Um, I know this project is a lot of work, but I'm telling you, this is definitely what our community wants and needs. Um, we only have one child in school currently, but next year we'll have two. And with me and my wife's schedules, we're already very busy. And I can't imagine how stressful it's going to be having two kids in two different buildings. My wife and I are both um very involved in our son's school. So, the thought of double the conferences, double the PTA meetings, and classroom parties is a bit overwhelming. Um and uh but me and my wife
013have a lot of help and we're we'll be able to make that happen fortunately. Um and when you're planning um the future for schools, I think I I like to think of those families who aren't as fortunate as mine. And over the last two years, my son has made some great friends um at his school. We've spent time with their families at parades, swimming, birthday parties, and so much more. And all these friends um have different families, different backgrounds, and different beliefs. Um the one thing we all have in common though is we want the best for our kids. We want siblings together. We want to take one school field trip, no matter where it is. Um, we want parents to understand that the closest school may not be the ones that their kids may
014with that their kids may attend, but we know we can't please everybody. So, we just want what's best for our kids and they should be at the forefront of all of our decisions. Thank you. I was trying. Sorry. I I do have something planned. Trying to do this onehanded, but it's lots of fun. I think it's a good illustration of what it's like to be a parent. Exactly. So, okay. You know what? I'm just going to wing it. Okay. So, hi, my name is Ashley Warren. Um I am the mom of four kids who are in the district. Um she will be in um prek next next September. So if things I mean I am very very grateful for you guys to be considering neighborhood schools. Um because let me tell you it is incredibly
015stressful. I already spend five five and a half hours in the car just doing drop off and pickups every day Monday through Friday. And that's only for three kids. Um so and that's going from Mitchell to Mville and then to ECC. And there's big gaps of time in between start times. Um, my kids are incredibly stressed out about it because they have to wake up in very early to get ready and then they're having to sit in the in the van, you know, for several hours waiting for their turn to be dropped off. Um, my oldest daughter who is in third grade, she did not want to leave Mville. She cried every single day when she found out that she had to leave and she still cries every morning wishing that she could go back
016and see some of her friends who are now in second grade. Um so fortunately um I do have some people in my family that can help me with drop offs well with pickups. Um but that's not always easy. if my husband is even 5 minutes late, then he's late picking up my son um who gets out at 3:15. Um so, and then if I because I do sub in the district, so if I sub then, you know, if I was able to just sub at one school and they all got out very similar times, then I wouldn't have to, you know, rush to be picking up at a different school or having to set up somebody else to pick up another child. um where um and then also having to pay for three different PTAs,
017having three different fundraisers to do that are going on simultaneously and then also having multiple book fairs to to do that are all simultaneously and they all need volunteers and you know class parties. They're not always organized on the same day. I know this year that you know the principles have kind of gotten together to try to you know stagger them so that parents can attend more but the years before they were not and some of them were hosted on the exact same day the ex exact same time. So trying to explain that to you know a 5-year-old and a seven-year-old that you have to pick and so they think the one that you pick is their fa is your favorite child. So you try to balance that. Um so and then you know PTA
018meetings are sometimes on the same day at the same time also you know those are ti tied to be staggered but it becomes very stressful and then fortunately my family we do make enough money that we can afford you know $30 to join three different PTAs but not everybody's that lucky you know not everybody in this community is that fortunate to be able to have that um so and you know and every PTA is run differently nothing is consistent across the board. And that say that goes the same thing for every school building that my kids are in. Nothing's consistent. So my kids don't understand, you know, different rules for different buildings. Um because everybody runs them different, which I I mean, I get, you know, principles, they all have their own styles. They all,
019you know, want to do things a certain way, but I think there needs to be more consistency because it is very stressful for my for my kids and other kids. They also miss um having their siblings in school. Like my daughter and my son actually got to go to school together for one year um when she was in kindergarten and he was in his first year of preschool. But since then, my kids will not be in school together. My oldest two will not be in school together until my daughter is a as a junior in high school and he is a freshman. So, I mean, that's that's a long time to wait to be in the same school with your sibling when they're only two years apart from each other. And all of my kids
020are two years apart from each other. So, you know, my oldest is eight and then I have a six-year-old, a four-year-old, and a 2-year-old. So, if we went back to neighborhood schools, you know, they would at least, three of them would at least be able to be in the same school for several years together before they have to transition. Um, I grew up in the military. My parents were both in the military, and my kids are switching schools more than I did. So, I mean, that's that's insane to think that somebody who lives in a community whose permanent resident has to move schools so many times. It's expected for somebody whose child is in the military to have to move every 3 years, four years, but not somebody who lives in the same town, you
021know, having to move every two years. I mean, that it's incredibly stressful if you don't get to make and keep friends. So, especially the ones who go to kindergarten together, you know, you don't My son may make some of his best friends and they both go to Wilson and he goes to Mville. So, and he won't see them again until, you know, junior high possibly, you know, high school, you know, if they even get to get to even be in some of the same classes together. So, um I really really hope that, you know, going back to neighborhood schools, whether it's K through 4, K through six, something has to be better than what it is now. Thank you for hearing me. I really appreciate it. Thank you very much. Sorry for our turn's over.
022Do we have anybody else? Yes. I feel like the odd one out talking about neighborhood schools. Okay. But um can I have um my name is Marcia Brown and I too grew up and have been raised in Granite City. I'm very proud of my town. Um a very very I'm a very um uh supportive warrior. So I'm very uh you know I I'm very passionate about my school. So, um, and when I was preparing what to say today, I always feel like it's important to go back and address what's important to you. And so, um, in your statement of what you believe, the first statement was children are at the foundation of every thought we have, every decision we make, and every action we take. So, um, I wanted to bring to you to your
023attention. I'm a a high school cheer parent and we've had um some incidents that uh we'd like to bring to your attention uh so that maybe something can be done about this. Um on August 31st of this year, the GCHS cheerleaders and coaching staff were bered, belittled, and cursed at by another staff member of the Granite City School District. This is the second time within a year in which our children were exposed to intimidation and unfair treatment by an adult who has assumed a leadership role within our district. At as with the first time, our coaching staff and parents went through the appropriate channels to express frustration and disappointment. They were met with excuses from administration and told it would be addressed. Apologies were issued both times by the staff members. However, we the parents
024do not believe an apology given while chewing your lunch is sincere or appropriate. Our children have yet to see a visible consequence for the actions of these adults that we have entrusted to care for our kids. What example are we leaving for them? Upon hire, each employee is provided a handbook. This handbook spells out the expectation for staff members. page two or page eight on the electronic copy specifically states that in general all employees of the school district have these common functions. Number two, to be fair, courteous, and cooperative in all relationships with fellow teachers, pupils, parents, and the public. Furthermore, the handbook states, "Staff shall maintain high ethical standards in all relationships." In both instances, the guilty party did not uphold these standards. Yet, according to one of those employees, no consequences were handed
025down for the behavior. Both times, our athletes have been instructed by their coaches to forgive and forget and are held to a higher standard and take the high road by their administration and support and continue supporting the coach that disrespected them, their coaches, and their sport. This has them confused and frustrated. If a student had behaved in this manner, according to the GCHS student handbook, there are 13 different measures of punishment, none of which include an apology as an option of consequences to poor decision-making. I could continue talking and give you all of the facts that pertain to this issue, such as the administrator who has not only dismissed these concerned and turned a blind eye to this behavior, but has attempted to lay responsibility at the feet of our children's coaches. I've included the
026harass I haven't included the harassment our children have faced from these instances in which their safety was threatened. Um my daughter um personally has been intimidated and drafted a statement of how she felt unsafe walking this the halls of her school and had been intimidated by their her peers because of what has happened in this incident. So that has made me even more passionate about this when I sit sit next to a statement from my child and she has to feel that way walking around her school. Um I haven't included dis disrespect our athletes are faced with every day when students climb over their equipment or damage the items we fund raise for. We the GCHS cheer parents will no longer tolerate this behavior. actions have consequences and we will no longer accept it's a
027personal personnel matter as an excuse to do nothing to protect our students and their coaches. We deserve an explanation, a visible punishment and our children deserve better role models. And I also I want to share with you um something that was that was sent by a student, one of the students that was berated and then later pulled aside by the coach and uh they they sent an email to a staff member and gave them this information. I'm emailing you to tell you I just talked to the coach. He asked me a question. do I want to play? I told them, I want to do both sports, but I honestly don't want to play for a team with players who've been talking bad about me for a week now or for a coach who has said
028hurtful things to me in uh honestly I felt feel peer pressure. I know he apologized, but I just don't want to deal with the with the drama. It has me mentally drained. I don't mean to interrupt whatever you're doing, but I just wanted you to know how I really felt. I hope you have a blessed rest of your day. And this comes from a 14-year-old student who has that that mindset that this has affected him in this way. So, we're just we're just ask we understand it is a personnel m uh issue and we don't expect the details to be discussed with us. But um I had I had a conversation with an administrator and I was asked to provide specific details. If you provide this we will we will take action and my daughter
029made a list of you know the people involved. We had another situation where I had all the details and in consideration I decided that I was not going to have any of those students punished because they were misled by one of their leaders. So I chose not to give the details and I hope that you know whatever has happened will be enough to take action against this this specific person. Thank you so much. Thank you. Turn just a bit. Um the uh GCSD9 board of education administration would like to take a moment to recognize Kyle. Did I get that right? [Applause] [Music] Oh no. I are you want to say something or you just here for recognition? She'd like to. I'm thrilled. But if you want to I even brought a picture of you on
030the day so everybody could see. We welcome you to speak but don't feel like you have Don't feel like you have spot. Um I don't have much to say. I just want to um thank you all for noticing and um being there for um any type of support and because this is this is very very um it's not easy um to uphold such a title. So I just want to say thank you all for being uh supporters through whatever you see and there will be more to come. and this is okay. So, and hold your picture. So, we would like to honor our 2023 graduate graduate, Miss Kyla Ghart for achieving the honor of Miss Illinois Junth, which is a really big deal a little bit. She achieved this honor on June 3rd. I'm correct.
031At East St. Louis Higher Education Center, each state winner of the Miss Junth in each state competes on a national level. Correct. Then for the national Miss Junth title. So Junth is a national holiday for those who don't know that marks the anniversary of the day in 1865 when the news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Galveastston, Texas nearly two years after the document was actually issued. So that's significant as well. Celebration of this day grew. I have goosebumps grew across the country until it was proclaimed a federal holiday in 2020 by President Biden. Absolutely. So, we would like to congratulate Kyla on her accomplishment by presenting her with this certificate from the district. All right. [Applause] Was it amazing going to Is it in Memphis? Where's the national competition? Philadelphia. I think it was in
0322020. It was in Memphis. I got that wrong. I'm sorry. Um, anything else you want me to add? I'm sorry. Do you want me to add something? Yes. Oh, come on up. The more people This is a big deal. And she also sang if anyone's at graduation. It was amazing. I just want everyone to know. She sang the national anthem and it just brought tears to my eyes as well. So I wanted Thank you graciously for allowing me to say something. I wanted this district and this school to just know. She's a product of you and her theme, she's going to be coming out as a mocking Jay for Junth and her fight um with special education and her taking on the banner now with special education is really a product of this community and
033the spirit of diversity and what is possible. So, I really didn't want to miss that. She will be riding from Granite City to Philadelphia with that theme of that mocking [Applause] J. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you for being here. She's amazing. Thank you so much. And then I put that so everybody could see when she won. When is the when is the national? I didn't get the date I was looking for it. It's October 14th. Well, we will be rooting for you. Is it online? Is there a way to watch it? Absolutely. I believe we will be streaming it. You share the link with us. We'll definitely put that on. Okay. Well, then we'll all be working for you. Congratulations. [Applause] And since it didn't happen until June 3rd, it was after graduation.
034So, um, thank you for letting us know. So, we made sure we Thank you for coming back. Um, at this point, we're I think moving on to the more businesslike session. Uh, so if anyone would like Okay. Rudolph, are you sing at the singord again as Illinois Jun Committee? We thank you. You know that's not of separatism when it's not like good luck. And now Yes. Oh, no. It's not. Oh, it's Linda. That's right. Sorry, Linda. I know. She's pretty amazing. I wanted to take this opportunity this evening to recognize the work of our Granite City District 9 administration. As a member of this board since 2017, I know that our mission and purpose here is to provide the best classroom learning experience with caring teachers and building staff making a difference in our students
035lives. Still a little cleared up with this. Recently, it seems as though there is some cynicism regarding work towards that purpose. Granite City District 9 administration along with a diverse steering committee in which Talon and I were on has served and has been working towards a long-term strategic plan to push for continuous improvement across the entire district. We are excited to begin implementating implementing this plan and having new voices contribute uh ideas as we continue to improve. We all want to work together to build, preserve, and provide the best for our children. As a board of education, let's remember what we were elected for. I want to work with my committee members, the board, and our superintendent to support and continue the district's transformation. Our superintendent, even before she took her position in July of
0362020, continued in her position at SIU instructing student teachers. She also worked with a nonprofit helping the fa the foster care program in the area and still spent hours here in this building without pay observing meetings and acquainting herself with the entire staff and personnel. When she officially began as our superintendent, she worked to create a culture of teamwork, respect, trust, talent, and energy. The board that hired her gave her goals and expectations, which she began working towards the minute she was hired. She began with ordering devices for students and teachers with grant funds to help us through the pandemic with some sense of continuous learning for our students. Our administrators were proud of the work they were doing and the extra hours they put in during the ravages of CO. Responding to the everchanging
037demands of the government's COVID mandates became a focus for this team. No one had faced issues like this before and never have. I have never seen a group of people bond together to work thoroughly and through this final the final reopening of our schools so well. from managing buildings and grounds issues including sanitation procedures to mask mandates and social distancing throughout the buildings. They all continue to remain late as needed to prepare for the next day in this uncharted crisis. I have been a witness to our administration's handling of this education crisis. The superintendent encouraged team problem solving and told me often how proud she was of the entire group. They came to her office with ideas and possible solutions. And they have always appreciated her willingness to listen and implement ideas that helped everyone,
038especially our children. Knowing what her administrators were capable of, some of their individual responsibilities and expectations were changed to meet the growing demand for new procedures and needs for the district. planning remote learning, distributing Chromebooks, maintaining a helping a helpline, training staff, learning how to communicate in a remote way, keeping our buildings safe and sanitized, managing federal grants to keep all of this going are just a few of the many things that they all took on during the past three years. Everything was focused on providing vital services to our students. Our superintendent was focused. Our superintendent and the administrative team develop an developed an extensive extensive interview process that recommended only the highest qualified uh candidates for our school district. Transportation was also affected by COVID. Even though we decided to keep all of our
039drivers employed during the remote time, finding enough to drive when we went back, even part-time, was disastrous. No matter how hard our transportation director worked and the lack of experienced drivers, their unfamiliarity with the routes and the routes themselves outdated and never reported led us to search for more of a more reliable company. first student took over in 2022 with less drivers than we we needed to run buses for all students. Having to cut transportation for some was an extremely difficult decision, but one that we could not avoid. The communications manager and transportation director worked so hard to make sure that the district was doing all it could to provide service to our students. I went in one day to pro to the board office and saw almost every board administrator in the transportation office
040trying to deal with the many bus issues that were coming their way late into the evening. It was another time when I saw this devoted team working together to solve problems as they came. No matter what the crisis is, our superintendent and administrative team is ready to respond to the news media. After one media interview during the bus crisis, over 30 people applied as drivers. Keeping the public informed and being upfront with the media and community was had been a constant under this under this administration. Granite City District 9 has had both positive and negative stories over the past three years, but our team has been great at keeping everyone as informed as possible throughout. Frequent board updates are sent to make sure we are all in the know as well. The superintendent uses videos
041to help spread messages about many things happening in the district. She is straightforward and hopeful in her video updates and offers encouragement to the community and parents no matter how difficult the crisis. During CO, very few superintendent volunteered to go online and go on air. Superintendent KN has been recognized by many of in the state and has done what others were not prepared to do. No school board or superintendent has ever been faced with an epidemic of this proportion, nor have they be been trained to do so. No one was prepared for this. And yet, vile, despicable, and appalling calls came into her office daily, some from some in the community and in the public, complaining and criticizing issues uh that were out of her control. callers were treated politely and with courtesy and respect
042by her office personnel and were invited to come into the office and discuss and talk about the problems uh with the superintendent. Some took their took her her up on her offer, but many chose to complain on social media without giving the district a chance to respond to untrue or invalid attacks. It is impossible to please everyone, but our administration has put the needs of our students first. New safety protocols, academic improvements, and facility upgrades are all among the daily responsibilities of these few dedicated people. We have the same number of administrators, and in some cases, we have less than many of the districts around us. We must now look to the future and be ready to face this human disaster again. Will we be prepared? Will we have the manpower, the courage, and wisdom
043to protect ourselves and our families? Have we learned anything? Or have we only gravitated toward living with cynicism and distrust? We can only build and protect together. Our children must go forward prepared with dreams, their ambition, and their love. We are all the guardians of their hope for the future. We must protect and provide them together. Let's please use this time and new strategic plan to improve and support our students and our Granite City District. Thank you. Um moving on uh we can do the approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of the board of education on August 22nd 20. So move all those in favor I can get that right. Yeah. I I Okay. Yeah. Um and then now consent agenda which is what contains those items that are repetitive and routine in
044nature. Any member may make a motion to approve the consent agenda or request that any items meet section seven for individual discussion and consideration. We have a motion. Second. And you want to go ahead and talk? Yeah. Um this is the part where uh I always like to bring this up because there are so many this community. You talk about being proud from granite. Every time I love this because so many people take time and money and resources to give to help our district. So, uh I want to talk about this time. I know that Pope Luther Church um gave money and um donations of student clothing. A lot of our students need different items and they collected and did that. I just think that's amazing that that they even think about us to do
045that and I just want to be pushed into that. The steel workers organization and the active retirees sore also collected money to help with that. They do school supplies. It's amazing how many schools I know that most of the principles are here. You got shipments of all kinds of things. Every school got a large amount of donations and that helps throughout the whole year. Kids come with stuff but by month in they don't have things and and it really makes a huge difference and we're so appreciative of all the people that gave money for our children. Um I know that at Froart adjacent to Central Christian Church. Well, they're amazing. Every year, Miss Robertson Robertson has told me they give $10 gift cards to every staff member in addition to snacks and things for them
046and nice cards of encouragement, which I think is amazing. I just always want to thank them for that, too. Um, and another huge district supporter, Mr. Rob Ste, who owns Dairy Queen, also is amazing. He gave a monetary donation for the golf team, which is very much appreciated as well. So, I just wanted to make sure that I talked about all that because it's really important that we recognize those people that support our children. Thank you. We do have a motion to second. So, Stacy, I l Vinnie I Silva. Hi, Bradley. Hi. Okay. Um 8A retirements and resignations. It is recommended that the following retirements and resignations be accepted. Miss Jody Bton, principal Mitchell, retirement end of 2027 28. Mr. William Carpenter, monitor GCHS resation 82323. And Angela Wler, PAR professional at Mitchell, resignation effective
04791423. Move to approve. Second. Any discussion? Okay. Hi, Noble. I lin I Vinnie I Silva I Bradley I Stacy I Okay. Uh 8B requests for leaves of absence. It is recommended that the following requests for leaves of absence be approved. This time in flat cafe Prather effective date 1623 to 11823. Miss Cynthia sixth grade teacher Gby effective 81823 to 11823 Mr. Dave, custodian, GCHS effective 41723 to 9423. Miss Lori Cav English teacher at GCHS effective 9 10 2022 23 to 1124 and Miss Lorie Wicks parent educator prankler effective 91423 to 1272 discussion roll call I silva I hi hi Um right here 8C requests for extensions to leave. It is recommended that the following request for extension to leaves of absence be approved. Mr. Hillian GCHS 9628 to 126. Roll call. Litman. Hi. Benny. I
048Silva. Hi. Bradley. Hi. Stacy. I Okay. Uh 8 D. Extracurricular recommendations for the 232 24. You have received detailed information about this item below. The administration is prepared to make recommendations for a hold of discussion in executive session. The GCSD9 administration has recommended the following extracurricular assignments for the 232 school year be approved. Also, the Grant City High School team sports team coaching position has been a voluntary position for three years for the teachers collective bargaining agreement. Per this agreement, teams, clubs, and activities are to be considered for compensation after three years of volunteer work. We have run the esports team information through the extracurricular rubric and are recommended to be placed on to high school coach. The extracurricular schedule, Mr. Christian is recommending Dland who has been volunteering position for the past three years.
049And below that is a list of stipens. Most of them are lunch duty. There's some spelling duty. They are listed below. You'd like me to read them. Okay. Move to approve. Second. Any discussion? Roll calls. Vinnie. I Silva. Hi. Bradley. I Stacy. I Noel. I 8E. Extracurricular volunteers for the 2324 school. You received detailed information about the item below. The administration is prepared to Recommendations are hold for discussion in executive session. The GCSD9 administration is recommending the following extracurricular volunteers for the 2324 school year be approved. Clark Spalding GCHS girls and boys golf coaching Christie baseball and havoc school baseball approval is recommended. So move second call. Silva. Hi, Bradley. Hi, Stacy. Hi, Curran. Hi, Noble. I linen. Hi, Vinnie. I 8F, secondary library aid. Recommendations for the 2324 school year. Hello. You've received detailed
050information about this item. Administration is prepared to make recommendations or hold for discussion in executive session. The GCS9 administration has recommended the following applicant for the 2023 24 school year be approved. Mr. John Wiser, secondary library a cool junior high school. Approval is recommended. Second discussion. Roll call. Bradley. I Stacy. I No. I lit. Hi. Vinnie. I Silva. I 8G. Granite City High School student workers co-ops for the 2324 school. The GCSD administration has recommended the following student workers for the 2324 school year be approved. Um these students work with the tech department ESL mostly um Morgan Miller, Abigail Smith and Jaylen for any question. These are co-ops. We have other that are working right these are just ones that are working for the district directly that's what I was trying to so it's really
051nice because they get experience in in something learn tech skills skills really Christie could speak to our ESL cos yeah they go around to the schools and they help our ESL kids and they work one-on-one and with groups with them with the kids under the teacher supervision tonight they have three more ESL [Music] Stacy Iran. Hi Noble. I Linn. Hi. Vinnie. I Silva. Hi. Bradley. Hi. H. Certified and classified substitutes. Recommend the following applicants be board approved as substitutes for the 23-24 school year. Certified Carolyn. classify Kathy Goodwin, Mary Ross, Alex, Alex, Donald, Thomas, Raven, Amanda Patterson, and Sharon West. So, discussion. Hi, Noble. I I sa I Bradley I Stacy I 8 I one employment of one administrative assistant uh enrollment center uh GCSDI administration interview committee consisting of Mr. Brady director of student
052services Chris Mitchell major communications and Christina Sage administrative assistant and recommended deployment of the following candidate as an administrative assistant enrollment center 234 school miss Tabitha Smith approval is recommended and the submission of required paperwork second discussion roll call I Silva I Stacy I um 8 I2 employment of one pair professional the GCS9 administration committee consisting of Nikki Watkins, director of special education. Joel, supervisor of special education, I recommend the employment of the following candidate as a parent professional for the 2324 school tests. Approval is recommended submission of paper. So move second. Hi Vinnie. I Silva. Hi Bradley. I Stacy. I Noble. I 8 I three. The employment of 19 cafe workers. Um actually Chris can do you want to kind of tell them why there's 19? Yeah. Well during co we had a lot
053of retirements. We had a lot of permanent subs that we were moving to different places depending on our play count and we were at a point where um some of our our capture orders bid bid to different places and we were just at a point where we can actually fill these positions including the play count and get us to the proper staffing levels and everywhere. So we're lucky enough candidates and we actually have through a lot of work from all the staff here in our internet we've gotten a lot of applicants to be subs to where we're going to get a better pool from that too. So we're really excited about that. So the GCSD9 administration and the interview committee consisting on Miss Christine Nasa, Mr. Chrisella, and Christy Crider recommended the employment of the
054following candidates as cafe workers for the 2023 school year. They're broke down by the eight ones and okay Samantha thank you these are eight hours Michaela Campbell and Christina Warden four hours blue sorry I apologize Amanda Gleer Sarah Julia Campbell Alma Gonzalez Lopez Rene Leah Cather Jennifer Hart Teresa Willis Charlene Melania Murphy Sandra Wy Shel Beth Ramos and Michelle Smith approval is recommended for the people the submission of the required second discussion call I Stacy I Noel Iman. Hi. Okay. Um 8 I4 deployment of one special education administrative assistant. Below is the detailed information about this item. The GCS9 administration and the interview committee consisting of Miss Nikki Watkins, Mr. Bren Irv, and Mr. Reiki are recommending the employment of Sher Nichols, a special ed administrative assistant for the 2324 school year. Approval is recommended
055pending the submission. So move second discussion. SA I Bradley I Stacy I Noble I Liman I Benny I Okay, on to new business 10 A. The approval of GCHS school resource officer SRO for the 2324 school. Permission is requested for the continuation of the school resource officer for the 2324 school year. It is recommended that officer Elliot Prankmire remaining the SRO the assignment at Grand City High School. Expenses for providing this program be covered by the district and cost are dependent on the salary of the officer in this approval is recommended. Yes, this is approving the SR contract the intergovernmental agreement we have with the city regarding all these these three is an annual we do it every year. Uh yes, the the college, the high school, and Saber, the one at Blake, it's a
0565year contract. That's why it's not on here. So second discussion roll call. Bradley, I Stacy, I Noble, Ian, I Denny, I Silva, I Okay. Uh 10B, the approval of the Koolage Junior High Schools. uh resource officer for 2324. Okay. Permission is requested for the continuation of the school resource officer for the 2324 school year. It is recommended that officer Scott Penny remain as SRO and the assignment at Kage High School, Kage Junior High School. Expenses for providing this program be covered by the district. The cost is dependent upon the salary of the officer of this agreement. Approval is recommended. Roll call. Stacy, I lin. Hi, Vinnie. I Silva. Hi, Bradley. Hi. Okay. 10 C. The approval of the Grizzby Intermediate School, Saber and School Resource Officer for 232. The permission is requested for the continuation
057of the Saber School Resource Officer for the 23 23 24 school year. Is recommended that Sergeant Matt Maui remain a saber SRO in an assignment at Griggsby Elementary School. Expenses for providing this program be covered by the district. The costs are dependent upon the salary of the officer in this assignment. Approval is recommended. So move discussion. Roll call. Curin. Hi. Noble. I silva. Hi Bradley. Hi Stacy. Hi. Okay. Um yeah, 10D is hearing. Okay. Um the GCSD9 administration is recommending an increase for the GCSDA hearing officers from $100 per hearing to $170 per hearing. $17. Um it has been raised for over 10 years. It requires anywhere from two to six hours depending on how It is so and they can get paid over 200 per day of administration. So we just think it's it's
058time to do that. Approval is recommended. So move. Yeah. You just don't know but might be short. I like Noble. I lin I Stacy. Hi. Hi. You know what? It's um Yeah, we'll go. Uh we don't have any foyer requests this time. So, um, we do have, uh, mentoring program presentation from the teachers union president, Chuck N. No, no, I'm good. Sorry. Um, so, as you know, my name is Chuck now. Um, I've been the president of the Grand City Federation of Teachers for 16, I'm sorry, the teaching for 16 years. Over the half that president of the Grand City Federation of Teachers. Um, one thing that, um, I've always prided our, uh, our district on and our, uh, our union on is collaborating with administration. And I don't think there is a better example
059of that than the mentoring program that we have enjoyed here for the last four years. Um, in January of 2021, I think it was, Superintendent K emailed me and said, "Hey, look into this program. I think this is something that we should do." Um pretty much immediately uh curriculum director uh Kristen Devos Caberna and myself started coordinating to get this thing together, compiling lists, meeting with the liaison from the IF to put forth this program that is a complete collaboration between the Illinois Federation Teachers, the Illinois Education Association and the ISB, also fully funded by those organizations. Um, each first, second, and third year teacher in our district uh is assigned an on-site mentor as well as a uh a virtual instructional coach. Um, we even have some of our members that are serving as
060virtual instructional coaches for districts all across the state. So, um, I don't think there's any better way to sum up this program than for some of our members to speak for themselves. This past uh summer, the Illinois Federation of Teachers sent a filming crew to Kulage Junior High School to speak with um a couple of our members uh that have been uh participating in this program. So, without further ado, Chris smile girl. My name is Teresa Meador. I teach at Griggsby Intermediate School and I'm beginning my 30th year of teaching fifth grade. My name is Jackie Payne. I work for Summit School District 104 as a special ed facilitator and instructional coach. First couple years as a teacher, I think is really intimidating. It's very overwhelming. I remember the first day that I came into
061the building before the school year even started, Teresa was actually the one who met me in the parking lot. So, she was really the first person that I met in my building. And then to find out that she would also be my mentor when we kind of already had like a relationship, that was very exciting to me as well. It probably helped me as much as it helped my mentee. A lot of times people leave because they just get burnt out. And I will tell you, working with a younger teacher, I think helped me not get burnt out. You know, she just having her enthusiasm and her excitement is infectious. The program works by um getting paired up with teachers um not necessarily within your school district, but somewhere in the state of Illinois. We
062were paired based off of expertise. So I all the teachers that I worked with were all from special education as I'm a special educator and I can offer the advice and the and the coaching um through that lens. I would tell other educators who are thinking about becoming a virtual instructional coach to do it. Um it is a great program not just for the teachers that you're working with but also for yourself. Embrace it. Set aside the time to really do it and dedicate yourself to it. It'll definitely pay off in the long run. [Applause] As you can see, this program has a huge impact on our district and so I thank you for allowing us to participate in this program and also for allowing us to continue. Thank you so much. Thank you very
063much. Family of teachers who are amazing in our district. I just want to point that out her daughters is here. Where's she's watching? [Music] Yeah. Um so I think with that um we do need to call to a journ for executive session under five. There's something that's yeah the appeal right that's we have to do that in exe. That's right. Okay. Move to move into that's going to be under 2C9. We also have a discussion under 2C1. Second. We need roll call vote. Vinnie Iva. Hi. Bradley. Hi. Stacy. Hi. Current. Hi. Noble. Hi. Lin. Hi. Okay.