CCSD 46 Board of Education Meeting: June 10th, 2026

001Just waiting for the official time. I think we can go. Don't you think? I think so. Okay, we're going to go ahead and get the meeting started this evening. Welcome everybody. Good evening. This is the community consolidated school district 46 board of education meeting this evening, Wednesday, June 10th, 2026, 6 p.m. here at Frederick School. I need a call to order and a roll call, please. >> Mac >> here. >> Braden absent. Nash >> here. >> Halverson here. Hume absent. Miller here. Weedman >> here. >> Okay, thank you. We have a quin. Please join me for the pledge. I >> aliance 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. >> Thank you. Uh I do

002need a motion to approve the agenda for this evening with two adjustments. We are removing two uh action items from this evening's agenda to be discussed further at a later date. We are removing the uh Prairie View marquee sign vote this evening. We are also removing the SCS strategic plan contract amendment from the agenda this evening. Both will be discussed at a later time. So I need a motion to approve the agenda with those removals. I'll move. >> Oh. Oh, yes. And I'm also Thank you. I'm also moving the consent agenda and the action items up immediately after the track and field recognition. And I'm also going to say that this is Dr. Glickman's last official board meeting this evening. So, she doesn't have to feed me information anymore on what to do on the

003agenda. And I'm going to be flying solo for a few months until Dr. Carona gets used to my omissions. Uh but we have something special later on for you. So we will get to that a little bit later in the meeting. >> Okay. Miller >> I Mac >> I >> Halverson >> I >> Weedman >> I >> and Nash >> I >> Okay. Thank you. Uh do we have any uh public comments signed up on the end of the table there for the first round? No, not at this time. Okay. So then we will move to the recognition of our track and field athletes this evening which is always a super fun part of the meeting. I will hand it over to coach EA correct or Yep. >> Yep. Okay. Y >> you >> otherwise

004our friends at home won't hear you. >> Am I on? >> Okay. Um Wait, I pushed the button. >> It's red. >> And then Mrs. EA, you actually have to talk into it. You can't walk away from it. >> All right. This isn't really my forte. Um, I'm a good speaker and I talk a lot, but not in front of a microphone. So, first off to the board, I'd like to thank you and we appreciate you honoring our athletes, inviting them here tonight to honor them um for the achievements that they have made on the field, track and field. And um these accomplishments come on their own merit. These girls are amazing young athletes. They work hard. They do what coaches ask them to do and they are committed, focused and I am extremely proud

005to have been their coach. I will miss being their coach. We have Molly. Molly, would you stand up please? Molly was a hurdler. Um, first year she tried hurdles. You know, whenever a coach gets someone who wants to do hurdles, it's like because man, I think they're scary. But anyway, Molly did the task. Um, she ran her first race with a 19.9. I thought it was great. I thought it was great. And she continued to improve with each race, each um, meet that we had. And she ended up with the best time at 1746. That's two and a half seconds off um, her start time. And that is totally awesome. Two two hunds of a second is totally awesome when you're talking track. So she came first in at our sectional meet, qualified for state,

006and she had a great state time of 17.94, no 93, because 1794 was the time that you had to make in order to qualify for state. So Molly did an exceptional job. Um, and we are extremely proud of her. [applause] Next, I have Laya. Laya is our shot putter. Laya is a sixth grader. Laya is totally amazing. She can throw the shot, the disc. The shot is more of her um, you know, power play right now. But she can run. She can run very well. She can run at 200. She can run an 800. She does whatever the coach asks her to do. Um, she was first at Ross Gant, that's a big central meet with 23 teams. Um, she was first at our conference. She was first at our sectional. Um, the state qualifying.

007Um, shoot, I think I messed that up. But anyway, she's very close to it and she qualified and she placed fourth at state. Fourth at state. [applause] So, she's amazing. Okay, that's good, I guess. Now, our last two, I'm going to kind of talk about them together because we have Evelyn. Evelyn's a sixth grader and then we have Eileene. Eileen's a seventh grader. These two have been I don't know in a friendly little rivalry throughout our whole season. They are 1600 meter run runners. Um they I've worked with these girls for well Evelyn this is my second year. Eileen my third year. They are amazing runners. Cross country. They just they have a focus. They have a drive. They have a dream. I don't know what it is but I don't really have to tell

008them anything. just really I'm just out there to support and encourage. These girls have raw talent. So anyway, um they didn't have their first race together because Eileen was at a soccer tournament, but that's okay. But then as they ran each meet together, Evelyn started the season off with a 554, five minutes 54 for the 1600 meter. Eileen started off with 559. She was under that six. Awesome. Amazing. And each meet they progressively got better. I mean, one was 544 and Eileen Evelyn was 542. Eileen was 540. Evelyn was 539. Eileen at the sectional meet. Oh, that was the best darn meet ever, wasn't it, folks? Uh, well, those of you that went, they were racing neck and neck. neck and neck the whole four laps. I was just like, "Who's gonna do it? Who's

009gonna do it? Who's gonna do it?" Well, Evelyn did. Uh 533 to 534. I mean, like 510 of a second different. I mean, they were right there. Um, amazing. And they both qualified for state 10 seconds below the state qualifying time. 10 seconds below the state qualifying time. That is totally amazing. And just to put into perspective also, Eileen started off with 559. She ended up with a 534 30. I don't know. Is that the right math? 30 30 Evelyn 554. She ended up with a 533. Amazing. I am so proud of these girls. I'm sure their parents are, the school, everybody. But these girls need to be proud of themselves because you did amazing. And I know you will continue to do amazing in any sport and anything that you decide to go after

010because you have dedication, you have focus, and you have sheer will, your drive. And I'm proud of you. [applause] THANK YOU, Coach Effan. That is impressive. We've got some uh ribbons up here for you if you'd like to come up and collect them. >> [applause] >> Yes, congratulations. Job well done. Thank you, Coach Eper, for sharing those inspiring stories. >> Thank you. >> Yep. Yep. Okay, we will go ahead and continue on. All right, I am moving now. We need a motion. I'm moving up the consent agenda now. So, we need a motion to approve the consent agenda this evening. And uh Dr. Glickman is going to explain something before we take the official vote, but I do need a motion in a second, please. >> I'll second. And this includes the personnel addendum report

011that was shared with us earlier today. Dr. Glickman. >> Yes, thank you. Um, well, we don't usually spend time talking about the consent agenda, but there is one item on there that is rather unusual that I wanted a moment to explain. So, on the personnel report addendum, um, there is my request to retire one day early. Um, so I wanted to explain that because it's not that I just wanted to get out of dodge as they say. Um, it [laughter] really it's just has to do with the fact that there's a an option through the teacher retirement system um for how the pension comes to people. That is not open to me currently unless I retire a day early. It is actually set to be extended. It went through the state house and the state

012senate and it is currently sitting on Governor Pritsker's desk waiting for his signature. But I couldn't wait any longer. So I asked the board, could I just retire one day early on uh June 29th instead of the 30th so that I can take advantage of that. So that's what that's about. Um if you so approve this agenda, then the magnificent Mrs. Block will serve as superintendent on June 30th until Dr. Carmona begins on July 1. Any questions for me about that board? Okay. >> Okay. >> Sorry. Nash. >> I Halverson. >> I >> Miller. >> I Mac >> I >> and Weedman left. >> All right. Thank you. Uh we are moving the action items now up above the board reports and superintendent report. Um we need a motion first to approve the 2026 2027

013board meeting calendar as presented to us last time. >> I'll move. I'll second. >> Any comments or questions? Okay. >> Miller I. >> Mac >> I. >> Nash >> I. and Halverson I. >> Thank you. Motion carries. Next, I need a motion to approve the Summit K12 connect to literacy as presented to us. >> I'll move. >> And I just have a >> Yes, Miss Miller. Go ahead. >> Dr. Clickman, could you just confirm or Mrs. Clever um that this is a cost savings to the district? >> Can you talk more about that? Um yes, thank you for asking. Um there is a cost savings uh at the number of $42,620. So we're very excited that we can have uh a more comprehensive uh product for our scholars in addition to significant savings. >> Okay.

014Halverson >> I Miller >> I Mac >> I >> and Nash >> I >> Okay motion carries next please I need a motion to approve the contract amendment for Mary Murphy assistant principal at Gra Lake Middle School as presented to us >> I'll move >> I'll second >> Mac >> I >> Halverson >> I Miller >> I and Nash >> I >> motion carries Thank you. Uh, next I need a motion to approve Stephanie Nicole as the assistant principal of Avon School as presented to us. >> I'll move. I'll second. >> And I will hand it over to Mrs. Luck. >> You can stand right here, right next to me. [laughter] Uh it is with great pleasure uh that I introduce Stephanie Nicolleti. Uh Stephanie has worked for CCSD46 since and she has served as

015a kindergarten teacher at Meadow View, a media specialist at Avon and she's currently the instructional coach at Avon. Um having worked closely with Stephanie in her role as instructional coach because I oversee them. Um, for the last three years, I have witnessed firsthand her deep instructional knowledge, her tireless work ethic, and unwavering commitment to the success of both our educators and our students. These experiences, along with her leadership abilities, make Stephanie a wonderful addition to Avon school as assistant principal. Pending board approval tonight, we would like to welcome Stephanie to our leadership team. [applause] Okay. And here we go. >> Miller I. Nash >> I. >> Mac >> I. >> And Halverson I. >> Motion approved. Welcome to the district, Mrs. Nicollet. [applause] >> Okay. Now I'm going to flip back to the other part

016of the agenda. Uh board reports. Uh this is an opportunity for the board to share any updates. I'm going to go ahead and begin just because I have just one thing. Uh regularly, annually, the board reviews minutes that are taken during the close sessions that boards have and there are very specific requirements and parameters for boards to enter into close session. Uh during that review time, the board takes an opportunity to review anything that may or should be released to the public. And at this time there was nothing identified that were outside the parameters of what a board operates in during close session. So at this time no additional minutes from close session will be released to the public. That is my update. I'll go down to Mr. Miller. >> Um so I have three.

017Just wanted everyone to know that we didn't do a community cafe this year because we are entering into strategic planning and that was then postponed just a little bit. So, um, so we took a hiatus, but we are going to pick it up next year. So, I met with Courtney Doninger at the library and outside of school and not in our schools, but at the library, um, we've decided to have a community cafe focused on literacy and we'll be um planning starting the planning for that will start in September and then we're hoping for a January, but no staff time will be required or no facilities. So, um, wanted to move it there. And the second one is that the forest preserve is now, uh, I'm using this term lightly, but partnering with the community

018engagement team to help our PTO leaders understand how we can really leverage our outdoor learning spaces during discovery days, adventure days, and exploration days. So, those are just um, two things. If you want to talk more about it, happy to do that, but wanted to let you know that those are in the works. And then um, The last one is a little more sentimental, but Dr. Glickman, this is your your last meeting, and I just want we've already said many of the things that needed to be said, but I want to thank you for your service. Thank you for the endless hours that you have put in that far exceed the commitment that you make to us contractually. Thank you for the culture that you've created, and we will miss you. Thank you. Uh, first

019I'd like to recognize the season of graduates that we've just had in our community. So, big congratulations again to all the graduates of D46 and D127. So proud of all of our uh students and the bright futures that they have ahead of them. Uh, two community things. Um, I'm certain if Mrs. Braden was here, she would remind the community and those at large of the pride parade on Sunday, June 14th that starts at 12:00 pm in downtown Grace Lake. Um, as a district, we always support and we'll be out there uh strutting our stuff again down Center Street this year. Then uh later that week on June 19th or Junth as it's called um we will have our annual Junth celebration of Freedom Walk here in Grace Lake as well. Uh starting a little bit

020earlier this year at 4:30 and beginning at the Graves Lake Heritage Center and Museum. So for those who've supported and participated in the past, it's the reverse walk. So, we're starting at the museum, making our way back to the library, and want to just thank the community for the outpouring support, the volunteers from D46 staff, um, teachers, the community, and our soon to be departed superintendent, Dr. Glickman. Um, so I'll close with thank you, Dr. Glickman, for all of your support and dedication to our community. You came in and was thrust in the thick of it. Um, and your leadership and guidance through everything um has been remarkable. When I think about my time on the board, which was shortly after you joined, it's it's kind of book end and maybe three end by um

021three critical events that you helped navigate us through with just extreme professionalism, calm and finesse. Um, that is Strike, that is COVID, that is Grace Lake East [laughter] or GMS East, I'm sorry. Um, and um, you you've just done everything exceptionally well and just mean such poise and have been a beacon to other districts that they are now learning from us in the ways of D46 as a result of your leadership and your team. So, thank you. Mrs. Hverson, >> Dr. Glickman, it has been a true pleasure working with you and I echo the sentiments of my fellow board members. Thank you so much. >> Dr. Glickman, I need to hold my emotions so I can get through the rest of the agenda. I have things to share, but I'm going to share them a

022little bit towards the end. So, I'm going to hold on to the inside for a moment. Okay, that concludes board reports. I'm going to hand it over to Dr. Glickman for your final superintendence report in district 46. >> Thank you. Well, um we're going to start with talking about summer school. So, I'm going to hand that over to Annie Gluck. Thanks. Uh so, we currently have three programs running um that all began on June 1st. So, we're about a week and a half in. Uh Bridges and Adilante are being held at Park Campus and extended school year or otherwise known as ESY is being held at Prairie View School. In Bridges, we have 37 students and four staff members. Uh there's a K1 combined class. So, we have we're serving students kindergarten through fourth grade.

023Uh teachers are sending out class communication to families through Parent Square. So, we're utilizing some of the same platforms that we use during the school school year. Um and then they're also been sending some personal emails just highlighting relationship building and and setting the culture for school. Um, Bridges, uh, is housing our students and uh, it's funded through title one, so it's housing our students who are from Avon and Prairie View schools. Adilante is, um, serving 137 students this year and we have 15 certified staff members and four pair professionals supporting them. And, uh, most of the students are very excited to be back at Park this summer. Um, and they are they've shared with me that working in tandem with construction has been pretty seamless. So, that is really important to know because Park

024is having their media center renovated um as is Prairie View. Um, and so Adilante is serving our uh students K8 who receive multilingual support during the school year. And then last week, lastly is extended school year or ESY. We have 66 students participating in ESY with 37 staff members. Um and during that first week's uh students last week were eagerly um engaged in hands-on learning activities and building some new friendships in their classroom. So um those are students uh who are prek through 7th grade who are IEP entitled. And then in addition to that, this is the third year that we are working with the Illinois Virtual School Academy. Um and we have seven students that have um enrolled in that program. Thank you, Mrs. Gluck. Um, Mrs. Gluck mentioned construction. Uh, you all saw

025that as you came in. We couldn't use that entrance. How people probably didn't even realize we had a door over there, right? Um, so I'm going to invite Mr. Brad Goldstein, who is relatively new to this table and here only for a short time, a short engagement. Um he is our interim director of finance and chief school business official and ask you to talk about construction. >> So construction is going well. Uh we're on time right now uh and on budget. Uh we're most of the work is happening in the four media centers uh as well as some exterior masonry work including this uh wall around the um the garbage area in back here. Um we've been meeting weekly every week with uh Dr. Glickman, myself, our Amanda Pelsur, and Jose along with our folks

026at Bear as well as our architect of record. Leslie's been there as well. Uh she'll be sharing some great pictures of the demo work that's happened in our school to kind of give you a chance to see the before and after. Uh and that'll be up on our website so the community can see that as well. But things are running smoothly. Um dealing with uh issues as they come up. They typically come up during the demolition process and that's where you see the major issues and uh just have seen some electrical plan panel placement issues at Park and Prairie View, but nothing um too shocking. So, uh we're excited to see what is the result in August. >> Do you realize you said electrical panel, but nothing was too shocking? >> I just had to

027pull it out. Come on, man. >> I did not. Thank you for that. >> All right. He'll be here all night. Okay. Uh board, at the last board meeting, I shared that the guardian staff advisory committee meeting had met, but um I didn't have many details for you at that time because we had just met and we needed to do some organizing and that I would come back tonight and share more, which is what I'm doing. So, as a reminder, that committee assists in the development of student behavior policy and procedure and provides information and recommendations to the board. uh we had 23 people present at that meeting. It was a mix of parent guardians, staff and administrators and much of our conversation focused on electric communication devices. Um so I will note that we

028are currently awaiting specific guidance from the state regarding the requirements of a new policy. So that is coming and so for that reason we did not look at drafting a new policy because we're going to get really specific guidance. However, there were a few areas of our student handbook that we wanted to get updated, and so that's what I'm sharing with you this evening. Uh, first of all, we want to address the new topic of AI glasses, which we have started to see pop up at some of our schools up with our older students. So, we wanted to get that into the handbook. Spoiler alert, they are not allowed um for students to be using them in AI function during the school day. Um, we wanted to define wireless communication devices a little more clearly.

029So those are cell phones, smartwatches, AI enabled devices such as glasses, and other personal technology. We kind of put that um vaguely in there because who knows what's going to show up in November, right? We just don't know what's happening next. Um, and then we're making it clear that devices can be confis confiscated if expectations are not met. And so I'm just going to read to you what those expectations are just to bring that to the top of mind for you. Use of any device is not permitted, including but not limited to turning the device on, checking messages, text messaging, instant messaging, playing or recording, voice or video, listening to music, internet use, photography or video, etc. And then it states that students who bring wireless communication devices to school will be required to keep

030their devices off and out of sight at all times. We are also likely going to be adding in some language that makes um students and parents aware that if students do choose to bring devices to school, it is their at their own risk. We have had um complaints from families that my child brought their you know smartwatch to school and something happened to it and the school district is not taking on that responsibility. So those are the things that we are going to be adding to the handbook. Any questions about that? Okay. All right. All right. Well, board, I have one more topic in the um superintendent report tonight, and it is this. Uh leaving retiring in the middle of the summer can be a little bit weird because you say goodbye a lot. Um

031board, some of you have already said goodbye to me several times. Um while school is in session, uh there are retirement parties, which is very lovely. You say goodbye in schools. You receive beautiful cards and posters from students at schools and you plaster them in your office. Uh there's lots of one-on-one conversations and messages with um with staff members. I said goodbye already in the newsletter, the community newsletter a few weeks ago. Summer hits and you're still here. Um and saying goodbye continues. I actually um I had well tonight's my last board meeting. I had someone ask me tomorrow uh yesterday. Oh, are you are you leaving the day after your the board meeting? No, no, I'll still be here for a few more weeks working. You get to that point where you kind of

032feel like people are wondering why is this person still hanging around? I'm working. Cabinet, can you please speak for me? I'm working. I'm working really hard. Um, but it just feels odd. Um, but that stated, I do want to take this opportunity for one final goodbye. There is so much that I will miss. And there are things that I will not miss. And this is a bit out of character for me. People who know me well will be surprised that I am starting with what I'll not miss. It's not my usual way of doing things, but I'm going to state I will not miss calling snow days and remote learning days. I will not miss the sound the uh the text alert on my work phone and my husband won't miss it either, especially during

033vacations. I will not miss sharing difficult news and I will not miss knowing that most decisions that I make or that I lead will not make a lot of people happy. Um and I will not miss leading through a crisis. And um Mrs. Nash, you mentioned a few of those. And that brings me to the bingo board. So that's kind of been a running joke between a lot of it. A lot of us I've talked with board about it. Um, administrators have talked with me about it. I've had other superintendents talk with me about the bingo board. And the truth is, the first time it was brought to my attention, it was one of our attorneys that we work with who said very soon after I'd gotten here, "Oh, you're starting to fill up your

034bingo board really fast." All of the squares on the bingo board of the things that might happen in a school district seemed to be happening very quickly. And um as I have commented to a few people um I could actually fill up two of them at this point. But what we haven't talked about is the free space. And um if we're going to be very literal, the free space on a bingo board, it's the space you don't have to fill up. But I am thinking of it as the space that was already filled with support. And so that's what I want to talk about tonight because first of all that's you board. You've been my free space. You've shown trust in me. You've led with courage which has supported me in leading with courage. You've

035made and supported difficult decisions on behalf of our students. And you've always understood the person inside the superintendent. And I really thank you for that. And that is you leadership team and teachers and staff. You've also been the free space. You have um led with perseverance. You've been um masters of collaboration, always improving on ideas. You've made and supported the difficult decisions that we just talked about made on behalf of our students and you've carried them out. So, you've been the free space and it's also the community. You've kept your focus on what is really important, our children. Um, you reach out to one another. You regularly show our staff how much they mean to you. And that is not happening all across the state and all across the country, but it happens here where

036the community lets staff know how much you mean they mean to you. you have been that free space. So all of this free space, that's what I'm going to miss along with um our sweet, energetic, questioning, wondering students and their their beautiful faces. And so now I am handing those blank bingo boards over to Dr. Carmona. Um he can fill them up. I hope not as quickly as I had to, but I know he is ready to to to deal with whatever comes. Um, and he will know that he has free space with the board and the leaders and the staff and the community. And that Dr. Mack is my very last superintendence report. >> Thank you, Dr. Griman. It has been a true honor. All right, I'm going to hold that for a moment

037and we are moving on to the uh finance committee portion of the agenda. Mr. Gordon, I'll invite you to join us at the board table, a member of our finance committee. And I'll hand it over to Dr. Glickman and Mr. Goldstein. Well, before we reorganized the agenda for need, there would have been a few agenda items in between that free speech stock and this financial update, making this all the more awkward. But that's all right. So earlier tonight, as in about a minute and a half ago, I referenced sharing difficult information. And regrettably, tonight is one of those times where we do have to share difficult information. In a few moments, our interim director of finance and chief school business officer, CSBO, Mr. for Brad Goldstein will present a financial update and that will be

038followed by the preliminary fiscal year 2027 budget. The financial picture that Mr. Goldstein will be sharing is not what was expected. The budget includes a deficit spend that is of concern and it is important that you hear about that directly from me first. Specifically, in January, our then CSBO projected a deficit of $1.03 million. However, based on our review of current financial data, the preliminary budget shows a deficit of $3.8 million as of May 29th. Mr. Goldstein will explain this in detail shortly. I will note that over the past week, we have already identified areas for savings and improved revenues, including information that has come since the state budget passed on May 31st. Lots of things have been happening very, very quickly. Throughout this past school year, we have discussed this uh the severe external

039pressures facing school districts across our state, including ours. Specifically, like other districts, our insurance costs have spiked. Transportation costs have risen at the same time that state reimbursements have dropped, and the cost of providing supports for some of our students who are entitled to special education services has risen significantly. However, these external pressures are only part of the reality that we are facing. Budgeting decisions, including staffing plans, are built on projections. The five-year projections shared with the board in November and January were prepared by our former CSBO, who in December of 2025 resigned effective June 30th, 26, and now following a self-requested leave of absence that began in mid-March, has resigned from the district effective yesterday. Upon transitioning financial oversight to Mr. Goldstein, we initiated a rigorous review of our financial data. That review revealed

040significant negative variances between those previous projections and our actual fiscal reality. While some cost increases in insurance and special education were anticipated, as we've discussed, we also discovered that the re revenue projections previously presented to you for property taxes and grants were inaccurate. Those revenues were overestimated, and Brad will give you more specific information shortly. I deeply regret having to share this information with you tonight. I know that it raises difficult questions and I share your frustration, but I want to show assure the board and the community, those who are here tonight, who are watching and who will be hearing about this in the time to come. Want to assure you that we are already taking action. Please know that we are actively working to find areas for reductions in order to positive positively impact

041the budget. That stated, it seems likely that more changes will be needed in the years to come. I am confident that the board of education in consultation with the district 46 administration and in the and in communication with the community will be able to navigate this challenge and create fiscal stability. And I do wish to share that we're very grateful that Mr. Scott Wald is with us tonight. um he is the new CSBO who will start on uh July 1st and we have been in a lot of contact with uh Mr. Wald and also with Dr. Carmona about this topic and with that I will turn this over to Mr. Goldstein to present a um more specific financial update and then the preliminary budget. >> Thank you Dr. Glickman. Good evening, uh, President Mack, members

042of the board, Superintendent Glickman, staff, and community members. Tonight, I would like to provide you with a financial update regarding the development of FY27 budget, preliminary budget. As part of our budget review process, we identified many significant factors that have impacted our current financial outlook. I will walk you through those factors, explain the changes from the 5-year forecast presented in January, and discuss the steps administration is taking to address the projected deficit. Before discussing the financial information, I want to briefly acknowledge that every budget, every presentation we make and decision we make is guided by our district mission, empowering learners, creating equity, and cultivating community. Our goal throughout this process is to ensure that financial decisions continue to support student learning while maintaining the long-term fiscal health of the district. So an overview uh as

043we begin developing the 2027 preliminary budget, we discovered errors in the revenue assumptions that were incorporated into the five-year forecast presented to the board in January. As Dr. Glickman mentioned at the same time we are experiencing expenditure increases in several areas that significantly exceed normal inflationary trends. The combination of these forecasting errors and expenditure increases has resulted in a projected operating deficit as Dr. Glickman mentioned of approximately $3.8 million in FY27. While this projection is concerning, it's important to emphasize we've identified these issues during the budget development process and the administration has already begun taking steps to reduce the deficit and improve the accuracy of future forecasting. The first major factor involves revenue assumptions that were made. They cont and were contained within the prior forecast. The most significant issue relates to state grants. Approximately

044$1.8 $.8 million in grant revenue was inadvertently carried forward in the future years beyond the years that those funds were actually available. As a result, the forecast overstated recurring revenues over multiple years. In addition, property tax revenues were overstated by about 518,000. Given that the levy process had already been finalized, those estimates should have estimates should have been more closely aligned with the anticipated revenues. Together, these revenue issues created an overly optimistic financial outlook and account for a significant portion of the variance between the January forecast and our current projections. The second major factor involves expenditures that are increasing at rates well above those that were anticipated. Like many districts across the region, we continue to in face inflationary pressures across multiple uh operational areas. However, the largest driver of increased spending is special education.

045Private placement tuition costs and seedall related expenditures are currently projected to increase by more than 21% this year. In addition, health insurance costs are expected to increase approximately 17% this year. Those are highs we haven't seen in the industry before. Transportation continues to be another challenge. straight state transportation reimbursements have not kept pace with our actual costs resulting in a funding gap exceeding 60 60%. This requires the district to dedicate additional local resources from property taxes simply to maintain the transportation operations we currently provide. The cost pressures are not again unique to CCSD46. Many neighboring districts are experiencing similar challenges as particularly as enrollment trends uh continue downward. This slide illustrates the impact of these changes on our multi-year financial uh outlook. As you can see, the FY26 projection remains in place because those figures

046are largely based on actual results and the budget when beginning in FY27. However, the revised forecast reflects larger projected deficits than those presented in January. Uh for FY27, the projected operating deficit has increased by approximately uh from approximately 1 million, just over $1 million to approximately 3.8 million. While the revised forecast presents a more challenging picture, it also provides a more accurate foundation for decision-making. Accurate forecasting allows us to identify issues early, take corrective action before they become larger concerns. It's important to view this information in light of our recent history as well. To give you some perspective, it is not unusual for the district to have deficits. As you can see by looking at the slide showing three out of the past four years with deficits in the range we are currently facing. This

047last year is an anomaly due to our debt service payment not being paid. This is the first year of our $2.5 million debt payment for our debt certificates that will continue for the next 20 years. This two $3.8 8 million corresponds to a 4.8% deficit versus our original projection of a 1.7% deficit. Administration has already begun reviewing all departmental budgets to identify opportunities for cost savings and operational efficiencies. Through the process, we believe we have already identified about $400,000 in net positive budget impact since we finalized the slide uh the slide deck and the budget on May 29th. Uh we are also awaiting final revenue uh information from the state. Although the state has passed the budget as of May 31st, it's sitting on Governor Pritsker's desk and we are awaiting his signature. Those updates

048will be incorporated into future budget revisions. It is also important to recognize approximately 90% of our operational budget is tied to contractual obligations. These include collective bargaining agreements covering salaries and benefits as well as contracts for services such as special education, transportation, food service, and custodial operation. So all of our contracts that we have with our vendors and our staff and our administration are helping uh are our covering 90% of our budget, which makes it difficult to make changes that will positively impact in this coming year. Because such a large portion of of it is committed, meaningful reductions will require careful planning and thoughtful evaluation. Over the coming months, the administration will continue refining expenditure estimates, validating revenue assumptions, and identifying additional opportunities to improve the district's financial position before the tenative budget presentation in

049August. In closing, while the revised projections present challenges, we believe identifying these issues now provides the district the best opportunity to respond proactively and responsibly. We remain committed to financial stewardship and transparency throughout the budget process and will continue providing the board with updates and as additional information becomes available and further budget adjustments are developed. And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions before we head into the budget uh preliminary budget. Any comments or questions at this point? >> Mr. Miller, >> Mr. Goldman, I just want to Goldstein, excuse me. I want to thank you for the work that went into just giving us some more accurate information. I know it's not perhaps the easiest interim position you conditions to come into, but um just thank you. >> No, you're welcome. Um I've

050I've dealt with issues like this before. In fact, uh, after I left this district originally back in 2010, I went to Hawthorne School District and we had a $6 million deficit five years out. Uh, there were difficult decisions that had to be made. We made them together in concert with everybody, the community, the board, uh, the superintendent, and uh, we were able to dig ourselves out of that hole and ended up with surpluses each year, slight surpluses each year that I was there. So, I'm going to be continuing as a mentor with uh, Mr. Wald. I've met with him twice already. We're meeting another time before he starts and then I will be uh spending look it looks like about a half a day a month uh with him. So I will help help us

051with this process and create a through line. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Yes. >> Thought you were going to ask a question. Um, you may or may not be able to answer this question fully, but I think one of the questions that your presentation will um, present from staff and community is where the cuts may or may not be made. Are you able to comment on any general direction in that or not at this time? >> Um, no. Uh, we're going to identify some, uh, currently planned spending and we can discuss that when we get to that slide. areas where we think we're we know we're going to have discussions before decisions are made. So, um after the budget, preliminary budget is presented, you'll see a slide on that. And uh we're already seeing

052seeing [snorts] some items that are coming through the state that we believe will help us on the revenue side. Um categorical mandated categoricals uh look like they're coming in heavier than they were. the uh evidence-based funding which was funded at 300 million is looking like it's going to be signed off at 350 million. Uh so that'll it won't solve the problem but it'll create additional revenues than that we didn't forecast because the the bud the state passed that budget on May 31st that included that. So I don't see government governor Pritsker not signing that uh that increase. Um so hopefully that'll help us going forward. >> Thank you. >> Sure. we can switch to the preliminary budget. So tonight I will present the FY2627 budget. The purpose of this presentation is to provide an initial

053overview of the district's financial outlook, discuss key factors influencing the budget, and outline the steps that will occur between now and the final budget adoption in September. As a reminder, this is the preliminary budget. Additional updates will occur over the coming months as revenue is finalized and the revenue picture is completed. There will be a tenative budget on August 12th and a final budget presented uh 30 days after that. It will be on display um in the in the district office and on the web. All right. Uh again going back to that mission always focus on the students when we uh develop a budget. The budget also serves as a tool for implementing the board's strategic goals and policies. In particular, the budget supports our ongoing commitment to maintaining equitable and highquality learning environments while

054ensuring that financial decisions remain aligned with the district [clears throat] priorities and long-term planning efforts. As I mentioned, tonight's discussion represents the first step in the formal budget process. Not that we haven't been working on it since October and putting that staffing information together. Um, but this is the first look for the board. Following this presentation, the tenative budget will be presented in August. The budget will then be available for inspection, as I mentioned, for 30 days before we have to turn it into the county by the end of September. Several significant factors are impacting the development of this year's budget. Some of them we've mentioned in the prior uh slide deck. The most notable expenditure pressures are coming with special education services which are mandated uh as part of our educational programming. Private placement

055costs are projected to increase approximately 30% over the year-over-year while seedall costs are increasing by 22%. Driven in part by higher enrollment in seedall programs but that is about 12.7% increase in student count but a 22% increase. Part of that is driven by seedall's uh realignment of their uh their strategy to align the program cost to the programs they are running. Uh so there are doing that first step this year and we'll uh we'll see the results of that and see if that changes next year. Health insurance renewals are also significantly higher than historical trends. Again uh running at 16% just over 16% for our PO and 17.4% for our HMO. uh revenues reflect a levy increase of 2.9% in CPI in 2025 which is levied in the 27 tax year. Um whereas if you

056I don't know if you listen this morning on the radio the CPI came out it's running over 4% 4.2%. year-over-year. Uh it's important to remember in a school district everything happens in with a lag. Just like CPI is a lagging indicator our taxes are lagging. So, we're operating off that 2.9% revenue increase that's impacting next year's budget, but we're seeing inflation much higher than that. And you can see that in the numbers I'm sharing. Um, we will benefit from that in several years when this year's CPI impacts uh 2029, but unfortunately, we haven't seen that yet. Uh, we did see a decrease in our IMRF uh which is our Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. We do make contributions on behalf of our cert our uh our classified staff which is our non-eing staff. All of our

057employees that are not teachers or administrators uh are part of IMRF. Uh that rate it fluctuates based on the actuarial assessment and uh l it does fluctuate up and down between years and this year it is going down and um that will save us $40,000 in when we see the next iteration of the budget. uh key inflationary impacts uh we're seeing are on energy and goods and services. Anything related to transportation that's delivered uh is seeing the increase in gas costs. So it's important to understand that those all run through uh all of our costs. One important point uh that I want to make is staffing changes have uh positively I impacted the budget but not enough to opposet the offset the operational costs that we had mentioned. Transportation costs um have are funded by

058the state at about 37% of our actual cost creating a budget gap that has grown by 10% in four years. So several years ago, uh, that was funded at 50%. It is now funded less than 40%. Revenue factors. The Illinois state budget uh had not passed prior to us putting this together. Um, we mentioned that and uh projections include a slight increase in that EBF. We're hopeful that additional funding will come into EBF in the neighborhood of a couple hundred,000. Again, mandated categoricals are projected to be flat and federal revenues are projected to go down by 3.4% um due to continued cuts to education at the federal level. our current situation. Uh it is important to recognize the progress that has already been that that structural deficits are not the cause of budget deficits are

059the symptoms of structural of our structural deficit but not the cause. Operating expenditures plus necessary capital work have outpaced revenues. If the state does continue to fund additional EBF uh increases, evidence-based funding, the district could see event see and eventually eliminate some of these structural deficits over years, but we're not counting on that. The district again is only able to levy an amount uh relative to CPI from the prior two from two years prior. Again, in April 2024, the community passed a limiting rate referendum for the operational budget of $7.8 8 million in the first year with CPI factored in after that. So we intended that to see that grow to help our financial situation um to take care of the capital projects that we are uh we have planned and uh so we have

060seen that but it hasn't impacted our budget in the way that we had projected. This slide illustrates the continued import importance of state funding to the district. Evidence-based funding remains a critical component of our financial outlook and will continue to play a major role in our ability to address address the structural challenges uh financially. We do receive just over $1.1 million more in this coming year again uh with that hopeful additional funding coming from after the budget is finalized. Preliminary operating uh budget looks like again in the first year. This is the first year of our $2.5 million transfer out of operating funds to pay for debt certificate as planned through the referendum. We will see this impacting our budgets for the next 20 years. Again, we will have $2.5 million coming out of our

061operating funds to pay down those debt certificates. It's helpful to evaluate the actual impact on operating funds exclusive of this transfer. The chart illustrates the district's revenue sources. Property taxes remain our largest source of revenue, accounting for approximately 58% of our total revenues. State funding represents approximately one-third of revenue, while federal funding, investment income, transfers, and other local revenues make up the remainder. This chart highlights the district's dependence on a relatively limited number of major revenue sources. This slide illustrates how our resources are allocated. As I mentioned, a large portion of our funding goes towards salaries and benefits. And you can see that in the uh two larger pieces of the pie, as well as purchase services. And it's important to understand that purchase services, a lot of what makes that up are salaries and

062benefits. It's for our outsource services that we provide. Transportation, that's bus drivers, food service, that's people who handle the food in our buildings. custodial services for our nighttime custodians. That's a outsourced service that is part of purchase services. So, it's important to understand a lot of that is labor as well. You can see here the income on the revenue side and the expenditure outflow uh for our operating funds. Uh it summarizes the budget and the impact of current revenue and expenditure assumptions. As we continue refining these assumptions over the summer, these figures may change before the tenative budget is presented. And just important to note that money does flow into the funds differently depending on how we allocate them in our tax levy. So if we find a shortfall in one fund, uh we may

063utilize it to fund another fund. Uh so as you can see here, we're probably we're levying more in education than we are in our operation maintenance fund because we have uh we need to balance those out to ensure we have a fund balance that's in in in balance. This gives you overview of all our funds together including our debt service and our capital projects fund. Uh there is a $14 million uh variance there. And again $10.7 million of that is related to capital projects that was funded through those debt certificates. So the income on that capital projects is from uh interest and the uh outflow is for those capital projects. staffing uh staffing changes identified in the staffing planet plan presented in the March 18th board of education meeting uh this budget reflects a savings

064of $1.05 million in savings in salaries and benefits. So the positions that uh were brought to the board in March uh have impacted the budget positively. I want to again highlight the impact of the $2.5 million transfer for debt certificates because this transfer is new in 2027. Comparisons to prior years should be considered. Uh you should look at that when you're looking at the impact on that uh on the operating funds. So I uh have identified the slide as currently planned investments. We haven't committed to uh any of these items except for some of the capital projects you'll see at the bottom. Uh but we will be discussing these with the administrative team over the next couple months to determine uh what we believe we need and what we believe we can maybe put off.

065One of those items I'm just going to point out is the classroom electronic displays. We were going to do upgrade 20% of those or about 40 of those panels um or in in December and because they're reaching end of life, but we've decided to move forward uh likely with a $50,000 budget toward that and just replace those items as needed rather than doing a blanket replacement. Uh those two items at the bottom are highlighted and asteris because those are out of our non-operating fund. So, we have a grant to fund our masonry work and concrete work from DCEO. And then the med media center renovations and safety security upgrades of $10.7 million uh is coming out of our capital projects fund. So, those are excluded from our operating funds. Uh it's important to also understand

066that there is will be likely a initiative on the ballot for a 1% Lake County sales tax. We don't have an inkling as to whether that will pass or not. It will most likely appear on the ballots for the November general election. If that referendum passes and a 1% increase uh is allowed by the county, that money will pass on to the school districts. And that amount we anticipate to impact us on an annual basis for $3.5 million, which is a huge uh huge benefit to the district if it does pass. This funding is restricted and can only be used to provide for any of the following. [clears throat] facility and security upgrades, paying down existing debt. So, our debt certificates would be an example of that, which directly relieves property taxes, and then also

067funding school resource officers and mental health professionals to assist in the schools. So, there are restrictions on this, but it would allow us to utilize those funds to maybe offset other spend expenditures that we already have be built in the budget. But just a reminder, even though this pass if this passes in November, this won't go into effect until July 1st, 2028. So it will impact the following years if it does pass. We have identified potential savings in uh revenue sources. Uh an evidence uh as I mentioned a increase in evidence-based funding is likely due to the state budget passed on May 31st. Um so we hope hope to have that news to share with you before the tenative budget. There is a teacher vacancy grant renewal. We've received that last year uh and it

068has been h haveved. So we're looking at about 60,000 in revenue related to that this coming year. Uh we're hoping to see additional funding for transportation. They've identified it as a mandated categorical increase. Um but uh we're cautiously optimistic on that. -ate funding is utilized to provide uh for technology in our buildings and that comes from the federal government for that t excise task task tax you pay on your phone bills and your cell phone bills and your internet bills that does help fund schools at the federal level and we will be seeing an increase in that by about $60,000 and then again that expenditure reduction rate uh from uh the IMRF rate going down will impact us for about 40,000 Again, that 1% sales tax would equate to about three and a half million.

069And upgoing and upcoming and ongoing meetings with all departments have already begun to examine potential expenditure of deferments, things that we can put off uh as needed and then decreases uh if we find that we have areas we uh will work with our teams to ensure uh we can do so with the least impact on the classroom. Our our goal is to minimize the impact on the staff and the students of the district. Um so it's important to realize that our next steps uh again we will be putting this on display uh once the tenative budget is approved in August. So there is nothing to share uh with the public at this point in time as we uh do that difficult work of uh using a scalpel uh and taking it to the budget and

070looking for those uh material changes that we can make. We will be uh worked with Mr. Wald uh this last Friday. I shared this information with him. We had several discussions and we we're talking about how to move forward uh with the team in order to be prepared for that August budget update. You will receive we've worked uh we're working with Dr. Carmona and Mr. Wald to ensure that you're kept informed during this process. Uh we will also prepare five pro five-year projections for the finance committee that has been presented in November of the last four years. My recommendation is that Mr. Wald and I work on that uh when he comes on board and get those prepared to you sooner so that you can see the uh the impact of those changes that we're

071making uh in real time. Uh in closing, the preliminary budget reflects both the challenges and opportunities facing the district. While expenditure growth continues to exceed revenues in several key areas, the district remains financially stable and proactive in addressing these challenges. administration will continue refining the budget, identifying efficiencies, and pursuing additional revenue opportunities while maintaining the commitment to students, staff, and community. Thank you for your time this evening, and I'd be happy to answer any questions at this time. >> Mrs. Miller, do you have any comments at the moment? >> Um, so again, thank you. Not easy news to deliver and we've had a little bit of time to absorb it. So, I don't have a question, but I do have something just to bounce off of you. Mr. M, Dr. Mack, you and I have

072already talked about this >> informally, but um when I first heard about this, I had to go outside. My yard looks awesome because I weeded a ton. And um then my next step was to put a mirror in front of my face and say, "Okay, so how did I contribute to this?" And where I landed with that is just we can't talk to each other outside of these meetings collectively. And I think it would be really valuable for us as a board collectively, not just informally but collectively to come together and figure out with the policies and the checks and balances and the finance committee and the things that are already in place, how can we come together to really do a postmortem of this to make sure that we learn from it. So I

073would be happy to do that if the board is interesting interested in that. I would be happy to find places or dates or >> and I would think so and I think we would gauge the I mean gauge everybody. >> Summer board meetings as you can see uh can be the uh challenge uh for us. We have people who are uh you know have work obligations and family obligations. And so for action items, we had a a quorum and now it's now now it's just you and me for the remainder of the meeting and that happens generally in July and June July maybe December sometime. So uh the reasons there but I do think those conversations need to be had in conjunction with the finance committee. Mr. Gordon is sitting at the table with us

074this evening. Would you like to share any thoughts or comments about them? >> Yeah. No, I I have um several comments questions. So while the in would echo um Mrs. Miller's comments just in thanking you and for jumping into this. So while the 3.8 million deficit does sound rather daunting um someone told me that the percentage of the deficit is about 4.6%. So is that >> four I think 4.8 is what >> 4.8. Okay. So that >> of the operating budget. Yes. So that makes it sound a little bit more manageable at least in in my mind. >> Um regarding the five-year projections um does that assume um and you'll have to remind me of like when we go to the bond market or if we've already gone for the entire 20 years. Does that

075assume a steady bond rating or does that assume an increase in the bond rating or a decrease in the bond rating? And can you comment on the next time we do have to go to the rating agencies and the potential dollar amount that that may impact the the five-year projections? >> Very good question. Thank you. Um, I have been through referendums before and I have had to speak to bond uh rating agencies and uh just to let you know we've we've have we've we've uh we have the set up for three tranches okay >> of bond of of of the debt certificates. So even though it's a steady $2.5 million for uh 20 years we haven't taken out all of those bonds yet. So we've took out the first trunch of 16 million. We're looking

076at another trunch of 20 of I believe 12 million and then five million. That 12 million we're looking at uh in December of 2027. So we are a year and a half out. Um so we would go out then and would need to go before a bond rating agency as well as 2031. December of 31 is the last 5 million that is uh as part of the uh that $2.5 million a year. So that $2.5 million a year doesn't happen uh without those second two tanches. Uh it's happening now and it's layered so that those come when those come on uh it ends up being $2 and a half million dollars every year. Okay. Level. Um yes it it would impact our rating and it would have a negative impact on our bond our our

077interest rate because uh that dictates what your bond what interest rate you're going to get on your bond. >> Sure. And uh so we do have some time. We have a year and a half to map that out luckily before we have to go before the bond rating agency and ask for more money. Um then so I'm not sure if that answers your question. >> Yeah. Okay. Okay. Um and then my other question would is um given the kind of acuity of the error that you all found, when is the next audit scheduled? And do you have concerns that you may want to is there anything that you've found that would make you think that an audit would be necessary to do off cycle if it's not until like later in the year or are

078you confident with like the current state of the financials as they're presented? >> We're we're having an audit. We're in the process of beginning our audit. We're in the preliminary structure. Uh it typically starts in June and ends sometime in September and then the audit report is brought before the board in November. Have absolutely no concerns about that. There is there is no uh indication that that is going to be an issue. Uh I've been working with with our comproller. Um don't see any errors in how we've been handling business. It's just an error in the forecast >> and just the projections. Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. Yeah, I just wanted to comment on that as well. We've had some wonderful clean audits. Um, these errors are the not the kinds of things that

079an auditor is going to find. And in fact, board, you may remember that I actually had somebody about two months ago, maybe a month and a half ago, come out from the state to review our five-year projections. That person also did not find these errors because they are not mathematical errors. They're errors about that you have to have the background knowledge on. You have to re know no actually this is not what we collected in property taxes. You have to know these grants are not pulled through and an auditor is not going to know that. >> Thank you very much. I I would echo the comments of my colleagues. Thank you for coming into a difficult situation and giving us a lot of information to absorb. Thank you. Appreciate it. I appreciate that. I'm just

080going to speak here for a moment. Um, am I correct that what we have left on the agenda are two presentations? >> That's right. We've got the strategic plan. >> I'd actually like to make a recommendation to the board about that. We certainly didn't expect that we would only have two board members present at this time. We absolutely should hear from the resource conservation committee because we've got members of that committee who made time to be here this evening. I would recommend um that perhaps we only have that presentation tonight and we move the strategic plan presentation to another evening. It would make me sad to do that because I am so very proud of the work that we've done this year and I'm excited about the work that's ahead, but it's not about me.

081And so, um, I think our our cabinet would probably appreciate the opportunity to present the information, the wonderful work they've done this year in front of a fuller board. Would that be okay with you? >> I I I would agree. Okay. >> And apologies again from the board for a little bit of an attendance issue this evening. >> And we had the rain, too. And the rain day and an exploding pen in my pocket. >> Yeah, I heard about that. So, okay. >> But there's cake. I have not mentioned that there's cake. This is one of the meetings that >> gone off the rails. All right. So, that's what we're going to do. We'll um we'll move that one to the July meeting. >> That's fine. Thank you for that recommendation. >> Earlier, uh I'd

082like to call up the rest of our team to do the presentation. >> Yes. >> Uh earlier today, Miss Mrs. Gluck was telling me that it's the the Amy show. Uh tonight, you get the Brad Show. [laughter] Uh so uh I want to uh thank you uh for the opportunity to speak to you tonight. Uh we're here to give you an update on the work the resource conservation committee is giving uh has has done. Um the committee continues to focus on environmental stewardship, resource conservation, waste reduction and sustainability initiatives that align with the uh board policy and district values. We will share uh our updates on solar and energy production, composting efforts, printing reduction initiatives, community recycling programs, and committee membership. I'd like to start by welcoming up the members of the committee, have them

083introduce uh themselves and share their role in on this committee. >> Good evening. Uh my name is Jose. I'm the uh director of operations, maintenance, and safety for a district and a member of this committee. I'm Becky Palitener. I'm the information specialist at Frederick and now GMS. Um, and I'm one of the certified staff members on the committee. >> I'm Abby Petrainski and I'm the resource conservation volunteer for the district and I headed up the composting program that was started two years ago. >> Thank you. Uh, feel free to have a seat. Um, I also want to thank Amanda Pelor, our uh, director of technology and uh, who has is instrumental in putting this presentation together, is a very important member of this committee. Unfortunately, she's not feeling well this evening. Um, so we worked

084on this together and I wanted to thank her. Again, back to our mission. Uh, why we have this uh, resource conservation committee is because of our students and we want to make sure there's a sustainable environment for them. Uh we're guided by our board the board values by uh policy uh se 470 that focuses on the reduction of solid waste. It's also guided by the district's vision of including proactive collaboration in decision-making and involved community uh and an involved community that benefits from different perspectives and shared experiences. Jose is going to speak on our solar update. So, one of our uh district's most successful sustainability initiative initiatives has been the uh solar program. The solar arrays remain an important component of our long-term sustainability efforts. So, since the installation of these four solar arrays, that

085district has produced over 15 gawatts of AC power. To put this into perspective, the carbon emissions avoided through the solar generation would require more than 250,000 trees uh to absorb the carbon output. The district has avoided 14 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. The results demonstrate the significant environmental impact the district the district's investment in renewable energy. All right. Uh before I begin, I want to share just some analysis from the EPA from 2023 about the impact of food waste in the US on greenhouse gas emissions. They uh the equivalence of the amount of food waste that the US produces that is in landfills is equivalent to over 50 million gas powered vehicles. Um, so it is a huge impact and I'm really proud of our district for taking action on it. Um, the committee

086met in April to review the district's composting program and the overall waste diversion efforts. Um, we also sent uh the custodial staff uh survey and h asked them questions about their complaints about missed pickups by waste management. Most of those schools are pretty good. There were a couple of schools that have had quite frequent mis pickups up to two times a month and that's uh significant considering that it's food waste that's collected once a week it's get picked up and so if it's not picked up that creates quite a problem. Um so we're evaluating service levels and if necessar necessary we'll explore alternative providers to ensure program effectiveness. Um a new waste audit was completed during January and February of this year. So, I went to each of the schools um two uh uh days

087to weigh all of the streams of waste, including recycling, the liquids, uh the food waste, and um I I'm able to record it into a spreadsheet and um we discovered that the result results continue to be encouraging that with most of the schools uh diverting between 82% and 93% of the waste from landfills Um the best results in schools are ones that have a dedicated custodian um a staff compost champion and student leaders as um those are the ones that have the best results in terms of how the students are sorting their waste at the end of um each lunch period. Um, and with the data that I collected over those two days, I averaged all of the waste streams and was able to calculate out for a full for this whole school year, there's

088a projected 112,000 pounds of uh waste that has been diverted from our landfill. Um, I was able to use a calculator that's on the EPA website that equs that of the 112,000 pounds, there is recycling in there. So, I didn't count that number, but 88,000 pounds of it was liquid and food, and that equ um is equivalent to about 27,000 uh pounds of carbon dioxide that we were kept from uh the atmosphere. So, that's pretty significant, especially if every school district in the country did that. Um, and I think that's about it. So the next steps uh the district has received updated proposed pricing from waste management to evaluate the renewal of our contract this coming year. Um this information will be evaluated by the incoming administration and the committee to determine how the district

089will move forward. Today I was uh actually we have Stephanie Castar Katsaros. Am I butchering that? uh from Breitbeat. Uh she works with the village of Grae Lake in an analyzing contracts like waste management and composting uh contracts. Uh it there is no cost to the district to utilize her services. So um I'm having her uh she shared information with uh another uh uh colleague from Swalco. Um so I will make the introduction between she the Swallco uh lead and uh Mr. Would uh so they can meet in early uh in early August after he gets his feet wet to analyze the contract and to uh see how her organization can help save us money like they do with the village of Grace Lake. So I appreciate her reaching out today. Um one area f

090of focus for this committee is the use of paper and printing uh throughout the district. This chart shows the printing data from July uh through April over the past three years. You'll see that during those time periods we have seen a a reduction in in printing over the years. One mechanism that we have used to reduce printing uh while also providing security for sensitive documents is our paper cut system uh which hold print holds print jobs uh so the staff can release them with their badge. So if I print something it's not going to be printed if I don't need it because if I print it and don't go up to the copier and use my badge to swipe it um it won't be released. And that that's important also for sensitive documents. If I'm

091printing a legal bill that has sensitive information on it, I don't want it going to a printer somewhere away from me that I might forget about it and somebody might have access. Um, this reduces extra prints and uh piles of forgotten print uh documents. As you can see, from July through April, there were nearly 150,000 pages that were not released. This is about 300 reams of paper or a little over 14 trees. District continues. Oh, I'm taking Deckie slide. >> I'm perfectly okay with that. Um, so I always run kindness programs here at Frederick and we always talk about how a small thing can make a big impact. So every year we try to do a collection and this year I found Danielle Danielle cares for chairs and it's uh she started it as a

092high school project and she collects bread tags from across the globe. She just got a delivery from Canada I think. Um, and then she sells these to a recycling center who then reuses that uses them to make furniture and to make prosthetics. And then she uses the money from selling them to buy wheelchairs for local kids. She's now at Purdue and continuing this work while doing a full course load, which I think is really cool for her. Um, and I thought, we can do this. We can help. So, this was a district-wide collection of bread tags. I will say the um, lunch staff here at Frederick were rock stars in this. About a third of the bread tags collected at Frederick came from them. Um, so if you don't know, bread tags are not recyclable

093in home recycling. They are a special plastic. They have to be done a certain way. So if they are going into the garbage or even into your home recycling bin, they end up in the trash and then they sit there. So by pairing with um Danielle Cares for chairs, I will be driving about 10 pounds of bread tags. That's 13,600 bread tags approximately. I did not count them all. Um, if you want to see what nine pounds of bread tags looks like, I have it sitting up here. Um, but I'll be driving that to scarce, who will then send that with their other massive collections um to Danielle Cares for Chairs. And I've already had one school request that I keep running point on this. So, this might be an ongoing contribution that we can

094do. Um, and it's again those little tiny things that you don't even recognize can make that big impact. And I think that's something important for the students to start understanding. >> Thanks, Becky. Uh, make sure you get a picture of your big box of tags with Leslie so she can post that on. Make sure people are aware of it. Um, as you've heard in the past, the district does use electronic recycling program, Digital Red, uh, that has a zero waste model. Uh, they use as much as they can from recycled uh, uh, technology equipment and then break down everything else. We've done one round of recycling with them uh, this year, resulting in about 8,200 8,300 pounds of CO2 saved. We have worked with resellers on our Chromebooks uh our Chromebook vendor to recoup as

095much funds as we can uh from retiring devices. This past year we did a refresh of our certified staff laptops and sold our retiring devices. Those funds were used to pay for one of our lease payments for the new devices. We use the same practice with our retiring student devices. As you know, we've extended our life cycle of student devices from 3 to four years, meaning we are getting as much use out of them as possible. These devices were retired last year and were used to pay for a small portion of our new student Chromebooks. Uh I wanted to acknowledge all the members of the resource conservation committee. Uh it's comprised of staff members, administrators, uh and community volunteers who share their interest in s sustainability and environmental stewardship. uh those administrators coming off the

096committee will be replaced with the incoming uh uh superintendent and uh CSBO uh who hold their corresponding positions. We appreciate the time and expertise of each member and appreciate their collaboration in helping advance a number of successful conservation efforts through the district. Uh so and happy to share any more information at this time. >> That is wonderful. Thank you for sharing that. I know we talk a lot up here about how do we measure things and what do we see and this is exactly what we like what what I am craving to see how many metric tons of carbon or or how many gas cars have been or I had no idea that bread tags were unrecyclable and and my wife has really focused on recycling and is on me all the time for it.

097So now I have a new So those are the types of things that I think just it will ripple into the community with us and I think that's absolutely fascinating as well as the bread tag. So that's going to be something >> I didn't know that either. You know what they want. >> I no it's it's it's amazing and that and that I think speaks to some of those measurements that we ask about on a regular basis to actually see that it's working in the district and contributing to a better planet. I appreciate that very very much. Um so I have one comment and four questions. Um just want to thank you all for your work on this. Um when the resource conservation federal legislation was passed in the 70s, it was really a bipartisan

098effort to improve public health. It was a public health issue. And if you have uh family members or anyone who's touched by cancer or allergies or asthma, uh these are the types of things that we can do to help make all of us healthy. So, thank you. Um Mrs. Plightner, as you said, these things seem little and yet they have enormous impact on families. So, thank you. Um, as far as questions, so so much to celebrate here and, uh, this is more, we've already talked about this a little bit, but I'm always interesting interested in the econom or in the environmental impacts, but I'm also really interested in the economic impacts. And we've got solar, we've got LED light bulbs, we've got green cleaning, we've got um the automated building systems, and lots of building

099efficiencies. So, I know that you likely have had your hands full over the past few weeks. Um, but I'm looking forward to looking at how comprehensively we have uh those efforts have impacted our economics as well. Um, so thank you for agreeing to share that with us as it becomes available. >> Um, so I guess that was a a comment, not a question, but my question is you've included pres in your presentation several vendors. Um, which makes me think about procurement services. So, waste management certainly, but digital red, um, paper cut and organic life, too. And I'm wondering if there's anything that we should be thinking about as we consider our procurement policies and related procedures. Like, is there anything you're learning that you would recommend we move forward into strategic planning? >> Sure. Um

100it's important as you evaluate these of course we're we're guided by the board policy on um on in our board policy manual that dictates how we procure things. Uh certainly that can be evaluated. Um there are financial impacts uh in anything you do. Uh so it's important to balance that and then the state also has many requirements as far as bidding. uh you you do need to take a low uh a lowcost provider on anything over a certain amount. So $35,000 is the state's threshold. Our board asks for anything over 25,000 over uh 20,000 um to come to the board. So it's important to know that when we do that, we we do have to go with a lowcost vendor in many cases. There are exceptions. If you have a transportation provider and it's within

101a percentage for a renewal, then we we can possibly make some decisions and determine no, it's not worth the headache to go with that vendor. Um, so in in all the cases that you mentioned, paper cuts a software that integrates with our um our current our all copers, not necessarily our copiers, but it is pretty much a proprietary product. Um, there there is a cost to it, but it does any other product would act in the same way. So, it's a matter of determining which is the lowcost provider for that. Um, as far as waste management, we have the ability to extend and renew that contract, but we need to look at that uh with Stephanie and and and determine if they we we obviously want to make sure we're being serviced correctly. We have

102had meetings with them over the last couple weeks to ensure that the missed composting pickups are addressed and they they were very re um very um very much active after we met with them to come out to our buildings the next day and make sure we're getting what we need. So that's important. >> Wonderful. Thank you so much. And you said the procurement policy is one that guides >> guides our procurement process. >> And so do you happen to know that number? >> I believe it's 410. >> 410. >> Yeah. Maybe that's one we put on the next policy committee. Okay. Um, two more. >> I'm wondering what resources and structures that you would need from the board in order to um in order to move this forward and align it with the US Department

103of Ed's green ribbon schools framework that we agreed to use in the educational adequacy report. So, is there a way that we can support you in this work? >> Uh, I mean, obviously I I will only be here for a little bit longer, but uh Mr. Wald, I'm sure, can put a list together of what what steps he would recommend to move us forward in in the direction of resource conservation and sustainability and additional product projects that uh the resource committee can take on that don't need to necessarily land on his plate, but he can certainly bring to the committee to analyze. We have a great group here that uh I mean they're giving their time outside of their school day or or workday um to to do these projects and to make sure that

104we're sustain we're providing sustainability within the district and being environmental friendly. Uh it's not wasn't part of this, but we have a community garden going in that's already up and running over at middle school which lends to sustainability and growing our own crops and and feeding our kids in our schools. So things like that. um maybe that'll be a focus of that that project and expanding on that project will be a great way and resource uh use of the resource conservation committee. >> Okay. Thank you. And then last one um just more generally, how does the work and I'd be curious about feedback from the whole committee too. Um how does the the work that you're doing empower learners? >> I think Abby can probably speak to that best >> and and maybe Becky too.

105Um, as far as it empowering learners, uh, like I mentioned before, the biggest success schools are the ones that the kids are taking pride over standing over the food waste bin and making sure that only food waste is going in there. Um, it's the staff that also takes charge of it. They have a passion for it maybe or um, the custodians that take pride in their work. So it's really an across the district every person in district is um coming together as a community to do something really good. So simp you know compared to like the bread tags if everybody does their small part um it helps to build that community and clearly the kids are learning um important life skills about you know why this is important and they feel like they're contributing to

106something that many of the many kids especially as they get older are starting to be concerned about with climate change. So, um I think too, we didn't talk about it, but there's a share table as part of that waste management process. So, anything from Hot Lunch that is like a whole fruit item or a sealed package from um Hot Lunch that somebody doesn't want in their Hot Lunch, they can put at the share table and then other kids can take that if they need a little bit extra. So, um that helps to make it more equitable in terms of what they need and serve serving their needs. I'll share one cute little story. I had a group of girls come up to me and say, "We need to tell people about this. People don't know

107what's going on. We need to do something." So, they took their lunch in their recess time and they put together a commercial. It is on the Frederick Facebook page if you want to go look check it out. Um, I don't know why they're wearing sunglasses, but they are. But they wrote the script. They did the research. They were asking me questions. Um, and they took their time in order to make a commercial that we could send out to be like, "Hey guys, this is what this is why this is important. This is what we're doing." Um, so that was students in being like, "Hey, we can do this. We can fix this. Let's this is how we're going to change it." Um, so I really liked that they took that initiative. Um, and so hopefully

108we'll be able to keep some of that momentum going with them. >> I hope so. >> I do have one add-on to that that now that I'm looking at this member list, the one thing I see missing is students. And uh I think adding a student or two to this uh would be the right thing to do and an important thing for the next administration to do. Uh I saw the passion that they had for the garden when I went over and talked about that project with the community and with the village uh people from the village and I looked at those kids and I thought to myself, man, you can get anything done with kids. >> Amen. [laughter] Uh so um I would highly recommend adding a couple to our member list of the

109resource committee. >> Thank you so much. >> Sure. Appreciate this. >> Sure. >> Thank you. Thank you very very much. I'm confident that uh I'm confident, Mrs. Miller, too. That paper cut has exclusively saved 150,000 pages from me alone printing and walking away in the afternoon and forgetting what I printed. So, that is a good thing. Uh, that brings us to the policy segment of the agenda this evening. We have board policies that were reviewed at the policy committee earlier this evening. Um, am I handing it over to you, Mrs. Miller, for any comments or Dr. Clickman? >> I'll just start I'll just start with our our part of it. um we really took a step to reorganize and revisit our norms and agreements in the policy committee. I don't know why you were there.

110So So [laughter] that's what we did and then um identified a few policies that Dr. Glickman can inform us all about and essentially we would approve we would recommend approval of I believe all of them. >> Thank you. Yeah. And we wouldn't be approving those till the next meeting anyway. Um yeah, mo almost all of the policies are um policies that have very very small changes um based on change in law and some recommended um updated wording from press. There were a couple that have questions that needed to be answered and so the policy committee discussed those and I can review that with you. Um policy 2200 types of board of education meetings um had there's a required question about whether or not the board posts agendas um at the location where the meeting is

111to be held and the answer is yes because the meetings are held here and we post the agendas at all of our schools. So that's the answer to that question. Um, and then I asked the policy committee if if there was an interest in removing a particular sentence out of that policy. So, I'll just pause and remind everyone that um although a long time ago, our school district used to move the polic uh excuse me, the board meetings from building to building, we've not done that for a long time. All of our meetings have been here in this room and there are specific reasons for that. This room is easily set up to be able to stream um to you know community members and to have a great recording. This is a really good space

112for that. So for that reason and honestly to cut down on confusion for board members and the and the community, we've elected to have all board members here. I state that because there's a sentence in the policy that says unless otherwise specified, all meetings are held in the schools on a rotating basis. We don't rotate. Um that's still okay because it is otherwise specified um on our on our um website. It states where the meetings are going to be held. But I asked the policy committee, "Do you want to just lift this out and not have it be in the policy because it could be confusing?" And people in the policy committee felt like that made sense to just pull that out. So, um, that's that's the recommendation for that one. Um, policy 2220, which

113is also about board meetings. Um, it's the board of education meeting procedure. Um there is a question that has to do with what method that the the board would like to use if a community member asks a board member um to consider putting an agenda item on the board agenda which is in fact in the policy and there was some specific lang language about it could maybe only be at a certain point in the board meeting and the um committee felt that that wasn't necessary. So, um, you know, if board members come to you, Dr. Mack, with a request that they've gotten through a, um, community member and the board selects to, you know, to put it on the agenda, it can be at any time on the agenda as appropriate. And, um, that was

114it. Yeah, there's nothing else I think that we have to discuss. Okay. So, those will come back to you for voting at the next board meeting. Very good. Thank you. Uh, do we have any topics for future agenda items? Your >> last one. >> Yes. Actually, I'm going to invite Mrs. Gluck to share the next board agenda. >> Yes. >> Yep. All right. So, our next board meeting is on July 8th. Um, we moved the strategic plan update to that. So, we will have the strategic plan update. Uh, there will be discussion and approval of policies. uh that you just heard about. Um the right at school contract extension, there'll be discussion about that. Um student information system, there'll be some discussion about that item. Um district office basement project to address some moisture in

115the basement at district office. There'll be some discussion about that. [laughter] Um >> fun time. >> We don't need to get any we don't Yeah. And then the last discussion is one that Mr. Goldstein was just talking about and that is about the renewal or going to bid for garbage recycling and composting. Um and then the meeting after that will be August 12th. Um there will be a finance committee meeting that night and with the tenative budget presentation and then in addition there'll be approval of the topics that were discussed at the July meeting. >> Thank you Mrs. Gluck. Thank you, Dr. Glickman. Uh, that brings us to the recognition portion of the agenda tonight as we say goodbye again to Dr. Glickman, our outgoing superintendent. Uh, about uh, was it a week or two

116ago now, we were able to celebrate with you at the, you know, retirement celebration piece where where all of the board members were there in celebration uh, of that which was a very nice event. And I did want to share with the public on public record that we did at that time also present you with the creation uh unanimously by the board of the Dr. Lynn Glickman Young Women in Leadership Scholarship that will be an annual scholarship uh funded by the board uh that honors your work as an educator and as a leader uh in public education over a very long and storied career. and uh that the the specifics will be worked out a little bit later and of course you will be notified of those uh because we do anticipate having you here

117hopefully at times when that scholarship is presented which would be lovely. Uh so I do want to share that on public record uh as well. Um we have a couple of items for you. We have cake for you tonight and that will be in a moment which has become kind of a tradition in this particular district. And for those members of the public who are here on a night when cake happens that is two things can exist simultaneously in a space. We can receive challenging information as we did tonight and we can also have cake simultaneously and that is just something to remind ourselves of. Uh as we recognize the retirement of Dr. Lyn Glickman. This evening, it is important for us to pause and honor a career dedicated to public education, to service, and

118to leadership. Leading a leading is never easy, but leading a school district is never easy either, and it is certainly not linear. It requires making very difficult decisions, navigating challenges, balancing competing priorities, often delivering news that not everyone wants to hear. The role demands resilience and courage and a steadfast commitment to students and staff and families and community. Throughout her tenure in District 46, Dr. Dr. Glickman embraced those responsibilities while working to advance opportunities for students and strengthen our district's future. Her leadership helped guide District 46 through both successes and challenges. And along the way, there were lots of achievements worth celebrating, relationships built and fostered, progress made most importantly on behalf of the children and the communities that this district serves. Those accomplishments deserve recognition. It can be tempting to focus, as we often

119do as human beings, on the difficulties of the moment, especially when those hard decisions or disappointing news are part of that conversation. But leadership should be evaluated in its entire breadth, in its entirety, even during challenging times. It's important to acknowledge that dedication, that service, and that positive impact that someone has made over the course of an entire lifetime career. Today, we celebrate Dr. Glickman's years of commitment to District 46 and to public education. We thank you for your service. We recognize the challenges that you willingly accepted as a leader, and we wish you the very best in your retirement. Your contributions have helped shape the district and that legacy is honored and will be remembered. [applause] We have more. So, we did get a chance uh at the last board meeting to share a

120wonderful resolution that was introduced by Representative Laura Favia in the state legislature, which was a great honor. Well, we have a resolution of our own and we're going to enjoy that. And this is a resolution to honor Dr. Ling Glickman and I'm going to read it. Whereas Dr. Ling Glickman has faithfully served Community Consolidated School District 46 with distinction, dedication, and exemplary leadership as superintendent. And whereas throughout her tenure, Dr. Lickman has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the students, staff, families, and community of District 46, placing the success and well-being of children at the center of every decision. And whereas Dr. Glickman's vision, integrity, and collaborative leadership have strengthened educational opportunities, fostered innovation, supported student achievement, and advanced the mission of CCSD 46. And whereas she has cultivated a culture of excellence, respect, and continuous

121improvement, inspiring educators, administrators, staff members, students, and community partners alike. And whereas Dr. Glickman has guided the district through both opportunities and challenges with professionalism, wisdom, compassion, patience, I should add, earning the respect and admiration of colleagues throughout the educational community. And whereas her dedication to public education and her steadfast service have left a lasting and positive impact on community consolidated school district 46 that will continue to benefit future generations of students. Now therefore, be it resolved that the board of education of community consolidated school district 46 hereby expresses its deepest gratitude and appreciation to Dr. Lyn Glickman for her outstanding service, leadership, and commitment to educational excellence. And be it further resolved that this resolution be entered into the official records of the board of education and that in a copy be presented to

122Dr. Glickman as a lasting expression of the board's appreciation and esteem. Congratulations. [applause] And we have a plaque because a a ending care not an ending career in public education but a a chapter turning deserves a plaque. So I don't think I need to read the plaque but uh it is a plaque honoring you as well and your service to the district. So thank you for everything that you have done to district 46. [applause] >> I hope I have enough wall space for all of these beautiful things. Thank you very much. >> Well, board, I've already said what I had to say. >> Um, also only two of you are here. [laughter] >> Thank you very much. >> The two that stayed for the cake. >> Yes. Yes. Lots of cake for all. Thank you

123very much for this beautiful honor. >> Absolutely. >> All right. >> Are there any public comments signed up at the end of the table for that? No. Okay. Uh seeing as then we no longer can have a close session because it's only you and me and therefore we do not establish a quorum to pull the board into close session. So yay and oh at the same time I would like to uh can I can we even vote to adjourn the meeting? I think we can. Can we >> have to spend >> Okay. I need a motion >> to adjourn the meeting and I will second it. Miller. >> I Miller Mac. >> No. Yes. >> Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Glickman. Thank you every for being here.