001and giving them the look as soon as you have like >> got thumbs up. Okay, awesome. Time is now 7:06. Like to call this meeting to order. L can you please call the girl? >> Sure. Johnson >> here. Ross >> Here. Moore >> here. Perez is absent. Kim >> here. >> Carney >> here. >> Meeting call for order 707. >> Thank you. We're going to begin with public comment. Public participation is vital part of our organization success. During during a board's business meeting, community members are invited to speak during a public comment period. The board welcomes participation, but generally does not respond during public comment. Those who wish to speak are required to sign in in a public comment sheet prior to the start of the meeting. When your name is called, please step up
002to the podium and state your name for the record. Public comments are limited to 3 minutes. If you're still speaking when we reach three minutes, please finish your thought and conclude. If multiple individuals wish to address the board on the same subject, the group is encouraged to appoint a spokesperson. If lots of commenters um then the board president reserves the right to shorten the time for each person to address the board through a public comment to conserve time and give the maximum number of people an opportunity to speak. All speakers are asked to conduct themselves with respect and civility towards others. Thank you. So the first person it looks like pic. >> Thank you. Uh I'll be referring to a document that I can hand out so you can take a look at it. [clears
003throat] >> Good evening. My name is Bob Pickrol and I'm calling I'm here today uh to speak in favor of sending our eighth grade students to Washington DC. Now for the eighth grade trip. Now we know over the last two years we've sought alternatives to the DC trip. Last year we did St. Louis and the year and this year we did Nashville. The idea of finding alternative location was to reduce costs thereby [snorts] making the trip more available to students and hopefully having more students attend. Uh specific one of the goals is have additional black and Hispanic students attend. So I submitted a request to the district this past week to see whether that goal was achieved. uh and the numbers which I've highlight a few here indicate that it was not uh the most
004last time we went to DC was in 24. So I'll make the comparison to that year. Uh in uh 2024 we went to DC 339 students attended. This year in Nashville only 212 attended. That's down over 100 kids and a 37% drop. number of uh black students among them in 24 to DC was 53 to Nashville 47 an 11% drop and the number of Hispanic students who went to DC in 24 was 41 and Nashville this year was 30 a 26% drop so we've seen over a third drop in overall students and then the target communities that we were attempting to elevate the numbers those dropped as well so far from encouraging ing and participation and resulting in greater equity. This is reg result [cough] overall reduction in people participating in the DC trip. Now
005I don't know there could be a number of reasons. We all know that there is a um a shadow trip that goes on. Perhaps all these students are simply going on the shadow trip. I don't know. I don't have those numbers because the very nature of the shadow trip is that it exists in the shadows. I don't know those numbers. What I do know is that the DC trip or the trip as funded by the district is going down consistently in all areas. Um, one thing that I and part of the reason this all sparked my interest, I did see an article in the Wednesday Journal. This came out on oh the 28th of April in which a district spokesperson said the following with regards to the Nashville trip whose numbers you see before you.
006Quote, "By prioritizing equitable access, the district has increased participation among the priority groups named in our our equity policy, specifically black, black and brown students." You can see the numbers. That is untrue. Uh, Majesty 3 goes on to say, quote, "These rates now match or exceed their representation across the entire eighth grade class." And I remember when I read that article, I said, "Rates? That's an interesting way to phrase that because we aren't trying to increase the rate because a rate is a percentage of a total. So you could plummet the total number and still increase the rate with fewer participants. The goal here is to increase participation overall, not increase the rate of a lower number. Um so uh in any event, you may get further information about this. This I think pretty clearly
007paints an overly rosy picture of the reality that of these trips. I think the students are better served by uh going to DC. We get better participation. We get betteration participation overall and of the targeted groups and that increases equity. >> Thank you. >> My one final point, I know I'm finish my thought. uh when uh wealthy kids go to DC and the kids of lesser means are forced to go to alternative location that does not serve equity and I'll just say we have a rich man's son in the White House right now. You can decide for yourself what a good job he's doing. We I would like to see some a different type of person in the White House. And uh we have kids who know the value of a hard day's work and
008uh appreciate what they have and perhaps didn't have the same benefits that the current White House occupant has. And I would love to see one of them in the White House and that's what I sent in DC. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> Uh Lisa Pelquin. >> Hi there. My name is Lisa Pelwin and I wanted to talk with you about the eighth grade class trip to DC. As we speak tonight, our democracy is in jeopardy. In Tennessee and across the South, we see redistricting efforts that threaten to silence the voices of people of color. And it's a call back to the old Jim Crow era where influence is reserved for wealthy white people. While we should be alarmed, we shouldn't be surprised. this country. Since this country's inception, [clears throat] there have
009been those who want government to represent just the needs of the only of wealthy landowning men. Nowhere is this more visible than in Washington DC, where monuments like the Lincoln Memorial stand as a testament to the high cost of expanding voting rights. I stand before you because our students must understand how their government is designed and more importantly, whose voices are at risk of being excluded. A robust civics's education begins in the classroom, but is solidified during the eighth grade class trip to DC. By standing in those halls of power, our students will be inspired to protect our democracy and make sure it's accessible to everyone. We must ensure that our students have that opportunity. The district's 2019 equity policy states that programs that have an over or under reppresentation of any group of students
010must be carefully reviewed to ensure it meets legitimate educational needs. I hope you would agree with me that demonstrating to our children how each of them, regardless of their background or landowning status, can participate in our government is a legitimate educational need. Your policy goes on to state that when there is inequity in a program, it must be modified. I believe the district has been attempting modifications by organizing alternative trips to St. Louis and Nashville. As the data you've seen tonight indicates, these efforts have actually actually created greater inequity. Fewer overall kids and fewer kids of color going on the district trips. And with a shadow trip to DC, some kids from wealthy and connected families learn how to engage in our government while everyone else got to learn about country music. You'll remember last
011month when I introduced you to the term schmeckme. This looks like equity from a distance, but when you get up close, realize it's the opposite. Equity is when we keep the same high outcome for all kids. When we modify the goal of the trip from learning about how to participate in democracy to learning about Paty Klein, we are engaging in schmequity. When we celebrate increases in percentages when the actual number of kids participating in the trip goes down, we're celebrating schmequity. Tonight, the district presents will present their information about the class trip. And I really hope you'll push for equitable modifications. Ideas like shopping around for the best deal we can get on a DC trip. I don't know if you know this, but in February this year, the Bob Rogers Travel Agency, which the
012districts worked with before, said they could facilitate our class trip for about $1,400 a kid. Or we could also start setting up systems for families to spread the cost over a longer time. Ask families to round up the cost of their own kids trip to help be inclusive of other families. And if the district's really committed to living by its equity policy, they could increase the amount that they're contributing to this trip. In one month, our parents have raised over $4,000 to ste demonstrating the community's commitment to this effort. But we know more will be needed to ensure every kid can visit DC. And while we appreciate the district's willingness to listen, we are now asking for tangible, active collaboration. We need a communitywide effort where the district, the board, families are all working together
013for the same goal. Let's go allin for DC. >> Thank you. Michael Ericson. >> Michael, are you also presenting with Drew and Amelia? >> Yes. >> Okay. Do you all want to one one spokesperson? All right. Great. >> Why don't you come with me? >> Good evening. Uh my name is Michael and I'm the parent of two home students. Um my daughter Drew is here with me as well and my other daughter is in Mac. Um, as some background about me, I co-founded the Holmes Bike Bus with my two daughters. Um, and you'll hear from Drew in a little bit. I also organized the bike to school day events for our school. Um, last Friday we had more than 80 home students who chose to ride bikes and scooters to school to celebrate National Bike
014and Roll to School Day. Um, and if each of those students had to ride by cars, that's more than four blocks of traffic we kept off the streets. Um, the bike racks outside Brooks Middle School exhibit a similar demand for safe routes to school. In short, I spent a lot of time thinking about how to keep kids safe on our streets. Um, there's a piece of artwork I brought um that kids collaborated with um when they spoke at the um village board meeting last uh winter um in favor of the vision zero plan. There are nine students who came out and spoke in favor of that. Um the origin for this specific public comment starts almost two years ago um to the day as I went to pick up my kids from their afterchool program.
015um that meets at homes. I watched as a driver was as a child um prek was almost killed by a distracted driver turning left. The driver had been on their phone and I noticed that the young cyclist has started to cross with a walk signal. To this day, I'm convinced I saved that child's life by screaming. It's not uncommon to see the same behavior happen several times per month since then, including one time when six six pedestrians were in the crosswalk with the walk signal and the car still tried to turn through. It took until this spring for the village to finally add in yellow vertical deflectors to narrow the turning radius. This forces drivers to pay more attention when turning and it is remarkably curbed the aggressive the aggressive driving behavior almost entirely. One
016of the more frustrating aspects of this delayed timeline was it often felt like I was on my own to advocate for this change. As one of the largest taxing bodies in the village, I'm asking for closer collaboration between district 97 and other village entities such as the village board, the department of engineering, and the Oak Park Police Department to keep our students safe as they get to and from school. It should not take a tragedy for us to act. Joshua and Leo, cyclist, 16, Portage Park. Jalon James, 11, cyclist, North Lawndale. Anakin Perez, nine, pedestrian Austin, Lily Shambrook, three, Passenger on a Bicycle, Uptown. In closing, I hope that when you hear the students and their parents speak tonight, you'll also listen between the lines and hear the potential for these students to be change
017agents, creative dreamers, and holistically well within our community, making a community that's safe for students of all ages and abilities to navigate on foot and on bike. Thank you. >> Thank you. Hi, my name is D and I'm a fifth grader at Holmes Elementary and my close fellas and me and my sister Amelia were crossing on Chicago and came by homes. We started to cross but then a car started to turn. We were around 2 ft away from the car. That car was way too close and we were in a cross right next to school. This is one of my close calls and I had many other and this is definitely not. Now I'm needing to find a safe way to get to Brooks. Thank you, [applause] >> Julia. Jenny. >> Hi. >> Um, I'm
018going to change topics to tech. So, I was wondering if the other bike people want to go first. Would that make process or? >> Sure. >> Any other bike? >> What's that? Does any other bikes do anyone want to go together? So that we're so kind of speaking about spring time and I'm speaking about bikes. >> Hey, if you want to have all the swap. >> Yeah, if you guys [clears throat] never present in person anymore. I'm always on the Zoom camera. It's weird. Um, good evening. My name is Jenny Steven and my husband Mike and I are parents of two Longfellow students. Mikey is a fifth grader and Joey is a second grader. Um I'm here today to share the story of a close call that I experienced while biking in a park with
019my oldest son. Um because I want the board to work with the village to improve bike and walk safety, specifically around our schools. Um it was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in April. My son Mikey and I were riding our bikes home from Dan's bike shop where we had just gotten our first uh annual tuneup of the season. Uh we were headed east on Van Beern approaching Ridgeland. Um we stopped at the intersection and the drivers on each side stopped to allow a family on foot to cross on the north side and my son and I to cross on the south side. We started to cross the street and that's when an impatient driver about five cars back zoomed up through the parking lane on the right. I collided with the side of the car and
020toppled to the ground. Thankfully, my son was a beat behind me and was not hit. Had it been 1 second earlier, it would have been a much different outcome. The pain of his thought lingered well past the minor bumps and bruises I got that day. My fifth grader Mikey is not here tonight, but gave me permission to share an excerpt from his statement. He wrote, "I felt shocked and scared. My mom and I could have ended up in the hospital, but luckily we were okay. If the car had hit us, I would have ended up missing all the fun stuff at the end of fifth grade. Three field trips, the Longfellow ABC Countdown, and my fifth grade recognition ceremony. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he could have missed so much more.
021The thing I love most about Oak Park is the sense of community and how we help each other. After my collision, several drivers stopped to check on me. Some friends from Longfellow who saw the accident stayed with us until my husband arrived and even dropped off cookies and wine at my doorstep later that day. And a neighbor on the corner offered up his ring camera footage and told me about the Bike Walk Oak Park Facebook group that led to me being here tonight. I urged the board to channel that same sense of community that makes Oak Park special by working with the village to improve bike and walk safety around our schools. We all deserve a safe biking and walking community. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> [applause] >> Granny Richie. >> Hi, my name
022is Franny Richie. Um, I chose Oak Park for my family because I wanted a place where my children could navigate around the community on their own. Um, you could also take my hometown and put it in Oak Park. You'd never know, which is a source of pride and embarrassment for me. But I wanted to give them the childhood that I had where I had a ton of freedom to move around the neighborhood on my own. Um, the village has made huge strides in the last decade since I got here. There's been a ton of investments. The trustees have been amazing. Um, and the schools have have made some changes. They've been very receptive, but the physical footprint of the school looks essentially the same as when we got here. There aren't new bike racks. There
023aren't changes to the way that students access the schools. So although the streets are getting safer, there's been a little bit of a lag in terms of what the principles and what D97 have been doing to kind of match the village's investment. Um, and in fact in some schools there's an explicit policy against bic bicycling to school and there are no places for students to put their bicycles because of that policy. It's a policy that survived at only three separate principles. Um, and uh, I go to Longfellow where my children go to Longfellow, which is not a school that has an anti-cycling policy, but there's a very inconsistent amount of messaging around what you are allowed to do at different types of schools. Um, obviously we all know that a lot of students are cycling
024to the middle school. And the former director of facilities, Jean King, told me that after the Madison Street rope diet, she saw just a huge number of students bicycling the Brooks and Julian and she couldn't keep up with the bike racks. As soon as she put them in, they'd fill up as she put them in. And if you went by in one of the first beautiful days in the last week or two, you will have seen [clears throat] they're everywhere. Every tree, every light pole, every bike rack, there's a real appetite for students who want to cycle. Um, and I really hope that my children will will be able to do it and that it will be an increasingly pleasant and safe way for them to get around even more than they already do. Um
025so what we would like to ask uh we being um the two people who came before me and the other representatives of bike walkout park is that the district adopt an explicit policy in support of bicycling and walking to school at the district level. Just saying that the district supports students walking and biking bicycling to and from school as an activity that is beneficial to student health and wellness long-term physical activity metrics and village sustainability goals among other benefits. Um the district ideally would not permit any policies at individual schools that prevent walking and bicycling to schools such as those that currently exist. And um the D97 continue to work with its constituent elementary schools and middle schools as well as the village of Oak Park to improve walking and cycling access to all schools.
026Thank you so much for your time. >> Thank you. [clears throat] [applause] >> All right, that concludes our um discussion about Julia. Oh yes. Uh, Julia, Jim, please. >> Um, so I'm probably one of the less informed here, but I um I was naive. I did not realized until reading the article in the Wednesday Journal last week, that um my kindergartener, my soon to be kindergartener, she'll start this fall, is going to be receiving an iPad. And honestly, I've been really upset about that since then. And I'd really like to understand why. Um, so I'm hoping that you guys are looking into that. And um and I'm glad that there's already some momentum behind that, too. >> Thank you. Uh Elise Coleman, I'm actually here to talk about DC, so sorry. Um my name is
027Elise Coleman, and I'm a parent of two current and one former District 97 student. and I wanted to talk a little bit about educational equity uh and the eighth grade trip. It used to be that the DC trip was the capstone event of civics education for middle school students in Oak Park for years. Um and in the last couple of years, the district appears to be using equity as a blunt instrument in order to uh organize this trip effectively or perhaps get rid of the trip entirely. But the end result is that wealthy parents have privately organized a DC trip which ends up excluding our underserved students and altogether increases the equity gap. Um, civics teaching in American public education has been in decline for several decades and I think it shows in our current
028politics. After the No Child Left Behind Act led schools to focus on standardized testing, many public school systems stopped investing in areas outside that scope, especially in subjects like civics. So perhaps this national devaluation has persuaded us that this subject is of limited value and we no longer leave a trip to DC as important for students to understand their government. In many recent conversations with the district about the eighth grade trip, there's little discussion about the educational value of it and instead it seems to be predicated on an opportunity solely for entertainment purposes. It is not clear that there was an underlying educational theme to go to Nashville this year, for example. So rep prioritizing a DC trip is a matter of equity. Specifically, it's about equity regarding civics's education and who gets to learn
029about government at the seat of power. The district has suggested that the Nashville trip, which again did not have a specific goal for educating the students, was more equitable across local demographics based on the number of participants. However, as other uh people have noted, it did not take into account the 35% drop in participation overall from previous years. It also ignores the 49 I believe it's 49 D97 students whose affluent parents privately organized to send their children on an educational trip to Washington DC uh with a group of ascension students in lie of participating in the Nashville trip and I believe this maybe even includes one of our school board members. um this would have been nearly 20% of the entire group of students traveling and only that 20% got a tour focused on civics
030education and not through our public schools which is a deeply inequitable outcome for our students. So the board and district should once again prioritize going to Washington DC. Both parent and teacher surveys in combination with the external trip data demonstrate that there remains strong demand for a DC trip. As a community, we can prioritize this for all of our families with solid funding and community fundraising to ensure that students who qualify for free or reduced school lunch or even students who just find that $1,400 is a lot um but they still want to participate. I was a student in River Forest um in middle school and I was unable to go to DC with my peers because of funding and it was a loss for me. Um, but here in Oak Park, we are an
031affluent district with a long history demanding equity in our town and so we should do this on principle. I'm currently part of an effort to fund raise and have been amazed by the outpouring of support in the very short time we've had to organize and I think we can and should make this happen for all of our kids. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Alison Lipman. >> Hi, good evening. I'm Allison Lipman. Um, I have a third grader and a sixth grader. I'm not going to share their schools because um, I want to talk about screen time and devices in schools and I think this is happening everywhere, not just at their schools. Um, those of you who got your children's consent, um, that was very kind of you. did not before sharing their
032information. I have a few things for you to see some of their browsing history um and things that are happening during school time on. So, for those who don't know, in elementary school, the kids all get an iPad and in middle school they get um a Chromebook and I knew some things were up when they started shutting their devices as I was getting closer to them. Um, and one thing that's going on is well, our kids are just so so so smart, I think, as we know. And so they are finding all sorts of workarounds. And one way that they are doing workarounds to get to all sorts of things is they all create these PowerPoints, these Google slides. Anyone know what I'm talking about? >> Oh, yes, I know. >> Okay. So there are
033these Google slides and they share them on school devices through emails. Um so they email each other. There are these um this doesn't show up but when you look at their email it's like an assignment from a teacher. There's school donuts for sale and then there's they are all sharing these slide decks with each other and it's all timestamped. So, it's during the school day, it's during school hours, and they shared uh websites that you can't normally get to, but there are some workarounds by doing it through Google Slides. Um, and then they ban each other from different things. And so I I'm concerned because not only the screen time and doing it during academic time, but also I think school devices are being used to bully and intimidate and say bad things about other
034kids, which I think I know the school board would not want happening during school time and on school devices. So you'll see on some of these it says banned people. you know, they're not and and it actually I, you know, crossed it out, but it actually has lists of kids on different things. These kids are banned. These kids are banned. These kids are banned. Um, and then it gets passed around. So, that's a real concern of mine. It's a concern of mine because when I asked my kids, when is this happening? The number one, and I asked their friends, the number one answer was during win time. And when is like a study hall time in middle school. And those who didn't see the news recently that um time the length of win is supposed
035to increase next year and already it's I've heard from many many teachers and kids that it's a again I won't share what school but I've heard it's a total waste of time. There's no curriculum. Um and this is what they do during when and I'm very concerned that that length of time is going to be expanding increasing next year. Um, and then in also at the most basic level, oh, I'll just say one last thing. Logistically, kids can open private tabs on Safari. So, I can see their search history for the search history I can see. But if you also see here, they can actually go to private and open up their own private tab. So, that search history, that browser history is not shared at all. And I spoke with um the IT department
036about this last year and um I have looked into it. It can that feature could be turned off. So at minimum there are lots of things I want but that's one of the things I hope that we can at least default. I think our 8-year-old should not be able to go private in their browsing history. Um because you can see the stuff is pretty bad and it's much worse uh what we can't see. So hope you'll consider that. Thank you. >> Thank you. [applause] Annie Annie Wilson Wilkerson Wilson. [snorts] Um, so everything Allison said. Um, all right. I'm Annie Wilkinson. I'm a parent of two D97 students at Irving and Julian. I'm an educator, a writer, a professor. I'm a colleague as a fellow elected library board member. and I'm here to address you as
037all three of these things tonight. Um, and I want to start with a story. So, when my child was just eight years old, he witnessed someone die. It was a terrible accident. Uh, a ski racer going off a ski jump and crashing into a fence. And he witnessed this person's last moment, and I wasn't with him. That same week, he saw a clip from a movie in which a scary, freakish alien creature jumped out at the viewer with a gaping mouth, and it was terrifying. I saw it later, and I can still replay that scene in my head now. The movie was rated PG-13, but I later read that it was initially rated R, but they cut one or two of the worst, very scariest scenes to ek out a pg-13 rating. And it wasn't
038with him for that either. Um, I didn't know he had seen these scenes until later um, in the week and I wish I had known because he was having nightmares that night and I didn't know why. Not long after he was fed an advertisement on YouTube for wix.com, a company who does not share our family's values and I wouldn't have allowed. He clicked on it and he took it took him to a site where he could build a free website which he proceeded to do and upload his picture and that of his best friend which was right out there on the open internet all eight years of him. And I'm not sure if it was before or after that that he learned on YouTube all about the different options for guns in Fortnite, which is
039a platform that is actively being sued right now for exploiting vulnerable young people and that we have never owned and I would never let my children play. Now, you might be thinking, how negligent. How could you have let your kid be exposed to these things? Where were you? How could you not have known? But I'm going to turn that question around and put that question to you as the people who oversee district policies because all of this and more happened at school on the school iPad given to my child by D97. And while I would never allow any of this at home and I didn't know about it until later. So, let's be clear. This is not my child's fault. We've known since the 1960s that most kids can't pass the marshmallow test. Why did
040we hand them the internet and then say don't press this big red button? It's not the teacher's fault. Irving teachers are the very best and they cannot teach and manage devices at the same time. It's unfair to put them in that position to ask of them. And it's not our principal's fault. Our amazing Irving principal has worked with me every step of the way in the arms race that we've been in trying to gain control over the device and plug every hole. She was handed this problem. We've all been handed this problem by the school district when they handed our kids devices without adequate parental and teacher training and controls and without sufficient guardrails. And the truth is all of us except our kids who are failing share some responsibility for this and for changing
041it. I'm looking forward to hearing about the steps that the district is already taking and I want to name that this is a beginning and not an end. And a really quick aside, an hour ago I thought my child was my sixth grader on their Chromebook was upstairs doing freckle. that's what they use for their math homework and discover he was actually on YouTube and lying to me about it. My kid is on already on an allowed list white plan only at Julian where YouTube is supposedly supposed to be extra blocked which is what I understand is going to be happening next year but something about typing in the direct IP address. Maybe Michael Iron you can explain this to me. don't know how it works, but it is another thing that as Allison mentioned,
042getting around that in in my home, you know, without my my knowledge or understanding. Um, so the evidence-based policy changes that we need in these areas are in your hands. I'm here to do this work with you, and I know that many other parents are as well, ideally as partners. Um, and we're here to see it through with you. Thank you. So, thank you for listening. [applause] Amanda Crockett. >> Hello. Uh, my name is Amanda Crockett. I was here a couple of weeks ago also. Um, and I just want to like yes to everything Edwin has said so far about screens. I'm a kindergarter and it is so daunting thinking about his screen time use increasing even even more as time goes on. I was thinking earlier today about how years ago before I had
043a kid, I heard, "Oh, kids are starting to get devices in school." And I thought, "Oh, that's that seems good, right? We all kind of signed on to this idea that tech in schools was a great idea." Naively thinking this was going to help augment what was happening in the classroom. But never did I imagine that it would lead to screens replacing books or 11year-old spending 8 hours a day looking at a computer instead of at a human face. Right? We have evolved as humans to learn from humans. We part of our memory works in a 3D way. So, we turn the pages of our book and that helps us remember what's happening, right? But a 2D screen can't teach us in a in a 3D way. And then that gets in the way of
044what we can retain and remember moving forward. Uh neural pathways get blocked. They don't get created when this happens, right? The screens are really interrupting what's going on. And in addition to that, we're signing on with these big tech companies who have no interest in keeping our children safe or educating them. They they have interest in creating consumers for the future. Uh the Internet Safety Lab did a study. 96% of edtech apps share children's data with third parties. 96% of edtech apps share children's data with third parties. Parents have no control therefore of what these third who the third parties are and what information from our children is getting shared. The district has spent a ton of money on all this technology. So let's let's use it as something that can help and then set
045it aside. Let's change the way we're using it. Let's minimize the way we're using it so that we can get value from it, but it doesn't take over the teaching environments in schools. There's research that says kids coming out of tech-free schools are doing the best. They're going on to great schools. They're doing well getting jobs easily in school because they've been taught how to learn. They know how to look someone in the eye and have a conversation. Right? These are things that we're losing. They know how to ask questions. They know how to think for themselves. They know how to solve problems. They know how to be good listeners. They know how to forge relationships. They know how to build community. Technology cannot teach these things. Instead, it robs us of these things. I
046don't want my son to learn to trust Google and AI more than his own ideas. We got ourselves into this problem, but it's not too late to get ourselves out. We have the opportunity to choose to do something different to lead what happens next in the evolution of education or to fall behind. And I truly hope I'm excited to hear what changes are going to be made. Uh and I I truly hope that we choose to keep helping push education forward and not get stuck in the past which is screens in schools. Thank you. >> Thank you [applause] Connor. >> Hello. Good evening. My name is Brena Connor and I am a parent of a first grader at Man Elementary and I am also a member of Screen Sense Oak Park which is a parentled
047community organization with an initiative of focus focused on limiting screen time and device use within our elementary and middle schools. I was here four weeks ago to raise concerns around iPad and device use in our elementary and middle schools. And today I'm here to express gratitude and um excitement for the collaboration and support that we've experience from the district's chief technology officer, Michael Armst. Over the past several weeks, Michael has opened his office to meet and collaborate with us. And his response has been open, responsive, and genuinely receptive of our concerns. And that kind of partnership with a district leader means a lot for a group like ours and we do not take it for granted. We are encouraged by the early changes that are taking shape within the district and we are all watching
048Michael's 10point plan with great interest and optimism tonight. I ask the board to keep device limits and screen time limits top of mind as you move forward with this planning because the research is clear. Healthy children's healthy development depends on meaningful time away from screens, time for play, time for in-person connection, and time for reading physical books among other things. The decisions this board makes about how and when students interact with technology have a direct impact on child's well-being. And we believe that Oak Park is positioned to be a leader on this issue. One priority that's top of mind for me is the elimination of onetoone devices for elementary school students. Simply put, I do not want the district giving my first grader a device. Thanks for your time and thanks for listening to our
049community. Thank you, [applause] >> Jen. I'm sorry. Hi everybody. Hello. Okay. Um, my name is Jen Baldesari. For those of you who don't know me, um, I teach seventh grade at Julian Middle School. Uh, I'm in my eighth year at the district. I love it here. Um, I serve as MTSS team leader, um, department chair, I'm sponsor of the lunch trays, and I've been nationally board certified since 2021. Um, I'm writing and speaking, well, I already submitted this letter to you, but I wanted a chance to read it out loud. Um, to formally request unpaid leave um, as starting after 36 weeks of pregnancy, which is today, and to provide additional context about my situation. Um, back in January, after my 20week appointment, I made a request to take maternity leave starting at 36 weeks.
050My intention in requesting to begin leave at that time was to ensure as smooth a transition as possible for everyone involved. I wanted to avoid a situation where I would be present one day and then suddenly absent the next day. Um, planning ahead would allow my students to adjust more comfortably, provide my administration, grade level team, and department with adequate time to prepare, and give me the opportunity to coordinate thoughtfully with my substitute to maintain continuity in the classroom. I also anticipated typical third trimester pregnancy symptoms and the ways that they might negatively impact my teaching. I've done my best to prepare throughout the past few months. I notified my principal, team, department, and students of my tenative leave date. I've made deta detailed plans for a long-term substitute, and I've collaborated with both of
051my teachers or my co-teers on these plans to ensure a strong finish for students instructionally. The missing piece has been approval of my FMLA paperwork. There's been considerable back and forth with HR, and even after submitting FMLA paperwork four times, I've been denied these. This has made it difficult to fully carry out the careful transition that I had initially planned. As outlined in my doctor's note, I'm currently experiencing pelvic and back pain as well as difficulty sleeping. As anticipated, these symptoms have made it increasingly challenging to manage the physical demands of teaching. Since HR has found my doctor's notes insufficient to approve FMLA, they've now given me the option to request unpaid leave until the end of the year. Therefore, I'm writing and speaking today um to request unpaid leave from May 14th um that
052would be Thursday until the end of the school year, which is June 2nd, 2026. I apologize about the last minute nature of this request. This is exactly what I wanted to avoid. Um I remain committed to supporting a smooth transition for students. I appreciate your attention to this matter um and your understanding of the medical, logistical, and emotional considerations involved. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Kate O'Keefe. >> Hi. Um I'm Kate O'Keefe. Uh I'm a teacher at Percy Julian um sixth grade English language arts teacher um and I'm here to talk about the proposed changes being made at the middle school level um and how they're going to impact the student experience. Um, so as I said, I've taught uh for I guess this is my 10th year in district 97, but eight
053years at Percy Julian, sixth grade ELA teacher and um I'm currently on sobatical. So I'm pursuing my ESL endorsement, but I will be returning in August. And this kind of explains why I have the energy to be here tonight, unlike some of my colleagues. Um uh I live in Oak Park. My kids went to district 97. So two things I wanted to talk about. The first is um as you know our middle schools are large 900 students in each. We make them feel smaller by dividing them students into teams. Um this follows the middle school model which I learned about when I got my middle school endorsement. Each smaller group of students has the same four core teachers plus a special educator and everyone has a better chance of getting to know each other. The
054added benefit is that this team of teachers also works together and has the same students in common. Dividing 300 students per grade into two teams instead of three teams, okay, means that each team is going to have more students. So, what was one a team of three uh 100 students is now going to be a team of 150 students. Um, and at the same time, each grade, from what I understand, will have two fewer teachers and two of the remaining teachers will split between teams and will split subjects. Um, so this, as far as I'm concerned, is not ideal. Um, especially for sixth graders who are already experiencing a huge transition. They're moving from smaller elementary schools to our larger middle schools. They're losing connection with the adults they've known all their lives. They're meeting
055hundreds of new students, all while going through puberty. So, it is not the easiest time of life. The other change which my colleague Becky Ward came and spoke about uh last time um is that the current configuration where teachers have four core classes of up to 29 students. So that's this year. I I wasn't I'm not teaching this year but four classes of up to 29 students. Teachers next year will be teaching five classes of up to 29 students. So, in my last seven years of teaching sixth grade language arts at Julian, I've taught between 90 and 100 on average students per year with an average class size of around 20 students. When I return, I will be teaching up to 145 students. So, that's 50% of roughly 50% more students to get to know,
05650% more parents to be in touch with, 50% more student work to grade. So if it takes me four minutes to grade a writing assignment, 100 students that takes me 6 hours and 45 minutes. Okay, doable on a weekend sometimes maybe two weekends. Okay, but think of all the writing assignments. So then now we add 45 more students. So that is now 9 hours and 45 minutes. Okay, so from what I understand also we are losing a planning period. So 50% more work in half the time. And on top of that, ELA teachers are piloting new curriculum this year, which means all new units and lessons for English language arts teachers to plan. Um, my values as a teacher and a person are connection and growth. This is the lens through which I make choices.
057These are the values that made me want to be a teacher. Now last year 26% of my students made expected growth on the IR test and nearly 50% in addition to that another 50% of them made what's considered strong growth. Okay so higher than expected. So I was very happy with this data. Um, but I wonder what will my teaching this coming school year? Will I facilitate the same kind of growth when I have 50% more students, new curriculum, and less planning time? Will I be able to um develop the same sorts of relationships with my students and their families when I have 50% more? I don't know. What I do know is that if these proposed changes are implemented, we teachers are going to need our supportive community. We're going to need families to
058continue to be supportive and we're going to need a lot of support from leadership here at the district. Thank you. >> Thank you, [applause] >> Maline. Harley She's she's gonna speak first and then I may >> um and I'm in first grade and I go to school. Can you please put balls in sooner so kids can learn faster and better? So, it was not very good because I could hear the other classes and it was hard to hear my teacher. [applause] So, I'm Tina Harley. I'm Maddiey's mom. I'm also a uh mom of a seventh grader and Julian and preschooler. Um what Maddie was talking about um her classroom at Irving is in what we call a first grade pot. It has three rooms. Hers is in the center um and she has an exterior
059wall which is like to the outside an interior wall and these are actual walls um that goes through the hallway where they enter. And then the the between the classrooms is not real walls. It's a divider that slides like you know like way back when they slide. The top is actually open to the other classrooms and it does not close entirely. It's not secure. You can actually peek through. Um my girl scouts did that once [laughter] but um so you can actually see through the other way. So when they're sitting in the classroom, especially Maddie when she's sitting in the first in in the middle one, you can hear the other classrooms and not just like a muffled response like down the hall. Maddie says that you can hear them so much that she actually
060knows that one of the classes next door is a day behind in the lessons, the other one's a day ahead. So, they can hear exactly what's being said. Now, you know, some people can ignore that. Maybe hopefully they can go about their day. But if you're a neurode divergent, you have ADHD or something else. Imagine that like you all the time are already challenged trying to hear, trying to focus on your teacher, now you're hearing their lesson and this lesson. It's extremely difficult. So, I I did get word from um the principal that they are building walls, but it is not until 2029. And this isn't a new issue. Like, I've been in the district for since 2018 and I remember distinctively at PTO meetings hearing that and I'm like, what? Why are there no
061walls? What are you talking about? Um I talked to a faculty member today who had been there 16 years. She said it's been going on since as long as she's there. So, we are up to at least 16 years knowing this issue. We haven't and we're finally like, "Okay, we're going to do something about it, but you have to wait three more years." Um, and I can tell you from being at Irving, like I question what like how much are we um being fair with our funds allocated to various schools. Our school in the time that I've been there has only had one major project that I know of and that was the media center which ironically was directly above the first grade pot. So I don't know why it wasn't addressed then. Um so
062I'm here also today to support her but then also talk about neurode divergent in our schools which um they'd be the most affected by that. Um, so I've noticed a pattern that neurode divergent students, especially twice exceptional or 2e students, uh, needs are not being met in D97. For those of you that may not know, uh, twice exceptional children are both guilt, uh, gifted and have a learning or developmental challenges. Some of these could be autism spectrum, ADHD, dyslexia. Um, and these kids frequently don't receive appropriate support leading to anxiety, depression, behavior problems when placed in programs that don't match their complex needs. I, you know, I'm going to keep to the time, so I'm just going to give you guys the rest of the paper. Um, because we were kind of talking about two
063issues, but um, I do want to say that thank you, D97, because you have been listening to a lot of things. Um, thank you to the screen sense people that have been advocating for that in in our Irving building. I've already noticed the screens changing. Um, also with the middle school redesign, I know that like there's a lot of pluses and minuses, but I've watched it all the way through. We have a seventh grader, so I've been paying attention and we all spoke for more uh emotional social emotional time, more lunchtime, and that has changed. And I'm hoping that this longer wind time that we use that opportunity to meet the needs of our students with 504s IEPs and SOSA can benefit from more that that we're actually using that time to all these things.
064[snorts] I'll just give the rest of the paper. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. That concludes our public comment. Thank you to everybody who came out tonight to uh share your comments and concerns with us. Um if you have not if you had um anything written if you could please give us. >> All right. So next I'm going to hand it over to Patrick to talk about teacher appreciation or [clears throat] staff app. >> Just staff appreciation. So before we jump into the agenda, just really want to take some time and just acknowledge a few individuals that make this district an amazing district. Um last week we celebrated um D97 staff appreciation week and recognized all staff members who support our students, schools, and families each day. We want to take a moment
065to thank our staff for their dedication, care, as well as our PTO's and families for helping make last week such a special week for all of our staff. Additionally, um we also celebrated school nurse day. We also want to recognize teacher appreciation day on May 5th and school nurse day on May 6th last week. Last week was a very busy wake week of appreciation. Um, our teachers and nurses make an incredible impact on our students every day and we are deeply grateful for all that they do. Really excited to um announce that we brought back we are D97 which just takes the time to really acknowledge those individuals within our district that that are continue to go far and beyond um their duty to make our schools a special place for our scholars. And so
066in April um we acknowledge two of our individuals. We acknowledge Jasmine Brooks from BY and Alyssa Mcgrome from MAD. We launched the D97 initiative earlier this year to celebrate individuals whose actions reflect our shared values and make a meaningful difference for our students. Since launching the program, we have received more than two dozen nominations from our staff throughout the district. So, we want to take the time to congratulate our first two, Jasmine and Alyssa, for all that they do within our D97 schools. And last, National Bike Month. Finally, May is National Bike Month. D97 is proud to support a safe, healthy, and active lifestyle through wellness initiatives and bike education. So, thank you to all of our staff, families, and community partners who help support this work. And on the 26, we hope to make
067a proclamation for National Bike Month. So, thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Up next, we have transformational goal area updates. So, first up we have the portrait of a eighth grade graduate update, Dr. Loftton and Marvin Childress. Well, hello. So, we are on here to provide a brief update on what we've been up to with the portrait. So, super excited to get into that. Um, and I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge our amazing team. So, Anna, Towanda, Donna, and Amanda have been with us since the inception of the portrait. and super excited that they remain with us but also beyond excited to introduce um our community learning and entrepreneurialism say that twice coordinator Barbara Childris so >> thank you I just want to thank Dr. Loftton and the board for, you know,
068putting me in this role. I've been in D97 a long time. Got a long history and uh this is an amazing opportunity. So, thank you all. >> So, um we are going to take just some time today to talk about some focus dimensions. So, what we've been up to um around the district, also outline some signature experiences, which are things that happen consistently across schools. And then also want to highlight some of our portrait partners um who have really made sure that the portrait lives in the community as well. Um this is just a brief reminder of the eight dimensions that the community decided upon and um we're going to get into how we arrived at our focus dimensions. So initially we created focus groups with teachers uh teaching librarians, teacher assistants and students and
069we the consensus was that we took those eight dimensions and we kind of narrowed them down. We spoke about what the teachers and what these the staff wanted and we decided that it was decided that we wanted to do powered by literacy for our elementary groups. We wanted to focus on career explore for our middle schools and then collectively the eighth grade students wanted to wanted the district to focus on being holistically well. >> So we'll start off with kind of that focus dimension of power by literacy which is really important in terms of making sure that students are critical consumers of knowledge able to take in information and also analyze evaluate and figure out what is helpful. So, our initial initiative, I know we've had author visits before, but this particular author visit, we
070were able to partner with uh Virginia Martinez, who was actually the first Latina lawyer in Chicago. In addition to that, she's also a her student her children went through D97 and now her grandchildren go through D97. And so we were able to bring her in like on a book tour where she went to the schools and was able to read to those students and then collaborate and also it was good to see the students get excited about seeing um a Latina who you know represented them and they could kind of see themselves in all of these opportunities. Another uh initiative that we did was the story walk. Originally, it's called a story hike and we partnered with the L uh Laura Meglin and essentially we deconstruct books. We put those books on yard signs and
071we place them strategically around the community around the outdoor spaces at the schools. And not only does it allow teachers and students and staff to kind of bring the indoor education to outdoor spaces, but it also allows the community to enjoy this. So this story walk is where you walk, you are, you read the book and you kind of engage. And this particular one was our first launch at Hatch. And what they did is they combined their fifth grade students with their kindergarten book buddy counterparts and they were able to read to them and take them on that story wall. >> And we are also getting creative with supporting students um at all times during the out of school time experience. So um we actually at Wood Whittier just last month started before school literacy
072groups um which is focused on specific literacy skills that our amazing teachers are able to deliver um in the morning. >> And we didn't create battle of the books but the teacher librarians at Julian and um Ed Brooks they Miss Nelson and Miss Winshell they invited us to come and see how we could partner with them and and create a space for the portrait. And so it was really good to see literacy kind of in motion, right? And this actually sparked a an initiative that we're doing right now that you'll see in a later slide. And then this family literacy night, we did not again create this. I want to thank Dr. Lawrence and her team um for allowing us to come in. So they did their family literacy night for the curriculum and they
073allow Dr. Lawrence allowed us to kind of set up a table where we were able to do a manytory walk and create these activities and just let the community see how this goes. And if you look at that photo on the on the left, we even had a board member come and do that that uh story walk with us. >> I'm just going to quickly interrupt and say it was super fun. [laughter] >> And Patrick Creep really taking pictures for me. >> I know. It's very weird. It's very weird. [laughter] And then this is that uh piggyback thing that we did with the book uh battle of the book. So May is National Get Caught Reading Month. And initially we wanted to promote like uh the old school deer time, drop everything and read. Um
074but it created a little bit of a difficulty. So what we did is we took pictures of uh employees at the district office and we created that collage and we sent that out to all of the schools in a flyer sense to kind of promote literacy as we move into the summertime and we know that the reading can kind of fall off but we wanted to actually um you know push that. And then moving into um the career explore dimension. Obviously we want to support students in kind of discovering what careers might be of interest through both college and non non-ol um pathways. And one of those ways that we do that we actually um this is the second year of this program running at long fellow. We have a number of students who are
075participating in junior docs which exposes students to the medical careers through um folks streaming in and also gives some really nifty lab codes. It's weird. And this is another partnership that we have. So, we partnered with Mathnasium, which has been in the district forever, but I don't think it has um pushed a real partnership. And actually, right now, the partnership that they have with the middle schools is kind of a result of this. So we did a family math night where mathnasium came in and they agreed to do a family math night at every school for free and kind of take that that that fear of mathematics that math can be, you know, a family affair. And that was a really really good initiative to see families and students coming in and and and [clears
076throat] working through those math uh stations. And this again, um, we also had author visions at the middle schools where kids were actually able to talk to Virginia Martinez and Ariel Vincent in person to kind of probe what that looks like as a career. Um, so they were able to answer questions. Um, but just wanted to highlight again, um, that career pathway potentially. And then, um, this year was the first year that we actually had a junior varsity team. So, expanding our STEM reach across, um, both middle schools, so over 100 kids, um, had a chance to participate. Um, so excited about the expansion there. >> And then this is actually, so if you were to ask what the portrait represents and how does it look, the portrait is not something new. It's essentially what
077teachers are already doing, what students are already doing. It's just kind of putting a name to the face. But if we were to ask what that looks like, I would have to say the J-Hawk Journal, uh, that the students do the newspaper at Julian. And what we were able to do is we were able to collaborate with the Jay-Hawk journal, the OPRF trapeze, and then the Wednesday Journal. And so we're creating these pathways, right? And so it's it's it's these career connections in real time. So if you look at the title, we have the Jay-Hawk journal, OPRF, Trapeze, and Wednesday Journal. So, it's this this segue into career as students are actually in real time learning how to navigate and how to push forth these these um careers and it was a really really exciting.
078So, make sure you read those. All right. >> My journal just dropped today. So, >> we have a B be and rat problems. >> Say it again. >> We have B and rat problems. Julian, >> yes, [laughter] >> we we don't do the stories. I do [laughter] the story. Uh, and then this was a really proud moment also. The Black Student Union, we were able to uh partner with them and we went on a a field trip to the Dabo Museum, which surprisingly u many of our students have never even visited the Dabo Museum. And when you think about the, you know, Chicago and what that represents, it's really a missed opportunity. And so I'm glad that the Black Student Union was able to secure this field trip. And we we talked about what it
079is to be a dosen, what it is to be an activist, what it is to be a curator. And it was good seeing the students in this space where they could actually see images of their history and and kind of follow and kind of feel that pride. It just was a really surreal moment. And then while we didn't create career day, um definitely give a shout out to Adrian and Denise for the career day really really went well. But what we did do is we were able to collaborate with people on the portrait side. And so we collaborated with Style for Kids, which is a salon in Oak Park that kind of helps about hair care. And that group is actually coming in because the Black Student Union wanted to do a program about how
080do you care for hair culturally? And so they're going to come in and and kind of give a seminar to the Black Student Union. And if you look at that second picture, that's Destin Rose. He's a 16-year-old OPRF student who has um is a fashion entrepreneur and has quite a successful business. And so he came in and it was good seeing him talk to the kids who's he, you know, he's three or four years older than they are. And he was able to talk to them about being organized and kind of going for your dreams and setting up businesses. And so that was really exciting. And then that third picture is uh Asia Babington. She's the uh owner of Salvage Sanctuary. She's a D97 alum and she spoke to the kids too about starting your
081own business and kind of that creative dreamer. And then that last picture is a a Oak Park alum as well, the Bonner Group. They're an eco-friendly cleaning company and they actually flew in. We got them to fly in u from Nashville. They paid for it. [laughter] they they flew they flew in and they and what what was cool about that is the students that participated in that program they gave each student a dollar and told them how to invest it in terms of percentages. So that was really a nice thing to see. And then um finally ending in terms of the dimensions with holistic well where we really want students to be able to advocate for themselves in a number of different ways physically, emotionally and um socially. And so um what we actually did
082this year and this is our I think um [clears throat] not the first year doing this but all of the rainbow clubs from our elementary schools were able to gather at the Oak Park Library for another author visit with Michael Lei. Um and we also have youth advisors. >> Yes. And so we created the youth advisory committee at both Julian and Brooks. And this is a committee that is kind of it promotes student voice, student choice. And the opportunity was really exciting because we got a chance to see students really live in that environment and speak about things that they wanted to change, you know, from lunch to policy to curriculum. And it was really good to see them advocate for themselves. Um, and then we also wanted to highlight a few of our signature
083experiences much like the story walk which happened across a number of different schools. >> And this is kind of what kicked off this whole uh ride. Uh, what we wanted to do is we wanted to bring uh celebrate marginalized people, you know, the the black and brown community that created hiphop as as as not maybe as you all might not know it, but hip-hop in its in its inception. And we created this essentially a park jam where we had live graffiti artists come in, live DJ and live break dancers. And we kind of did this all simultaneously at each school where they were able to participate in this and and the message was everybody gets a seat at the table, you know, promoting community and unity. And it was really good to see even staff
084members, you know, participating. It was really a nice experience. And we also want to lean into um what we consider great level experiences. So we know that for fourth grade all students get to experience Lloyd Wright homes. Um but we're also starting something at our second grade level where students are taking a trip to the Oak Park Museum just to understand their local community context and have some interaction with what Oak Park was actually founded on and some exploration there. And finally, we want to end with um thanking our community partners because we have a number of um individuals and organizations within Oak Park that really help us support how the portrait lives and breathes. And we're not this is not an exhaustive list, but we are going to highlight a few um some who
085are in the building right now. And we'll start with this one. >> And so we partnered with new moms. And while the new moms, you know, only funnel into Whittier, it was good to provide a space. Sometimes these spaces can seem a little isolated, and it was good to provide a space where they can ask questions and kind of help help them navigate through being a D97 parent, uh, and family. [snorts] >> And then, um, OPF is now open. Um so we wanted to highlight their long-standing partnership with the district but also um highlight their name change and they have been a partner with us through our after school experience as well as really expanding some of our summer work. So we will be um having an o open takeover in the last week of
086middle school explore this summer [snorts] >> and we're really excited about this partnership. While we have a partnership with D200, you know, we bridge the gap and we bring them in to speak to the middle schools. It's exciting because we're trying to be more intentional and create more of, you know, a better transition for our eighth graders as they navigate into high school. An example of that would be the the Julian Jay-Hawk journal into the trapeze. And we were able to partner with them and create these experiences and you know moving forward where we expose traditional academic paths to careers as well as non-traditional academic paths to careers and kind of take that stigma off of it. Uh like their barber program, their cosmetology program, the the entrepreneurial program and just kind of expose that
087and bring it into our uh D97 students. Um and finally, we want to just highlight our partnership with the township and I'll be here um in a little bit to talk about the YET program, but um Dominic was wonderful enough to share the mantra or poem that some students have um created. And we will end with that. >> I am sufficient. >> I am love. >> I am fresh. >> I am pressure. >> My voice is powerful. >> I'm good right now. I may go anywhere I choose. >> I may go anywhere I choose. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Nancy, >> so I just have a couple quick comments. Um, one I already said the event was super fun, but I also wanted to say uh encourage others the next time you have one
088of the literacy events. Um, it just was it was very illustrative of how um the words that came from were pervasive, enveloping and engaging the use of literacy was in the district or is I should say is in the district. um from talking to from using literacy to also address science topics from [clears throat] having multiple you know we're we're reading we're reading in a group we're reading separately we're looking at words we're doing physical activities it it was really education kind of at its best and so for me as a board member it was very heartwarming but I also say for families for caregivers if you have time to go to these events it is a great way to see what is going on in the classroom so when your student says yeah we
089we talked about birds then you see the whole big surround of what was talked about. Um, which is really nice. Um, and then I just want to say thanks to everyone who was working with you on the career piece as well. One of the things that that I used to do at Adler was a career piece and the amount of delighted faces on teens when they realized that if they loved arts and sciences, they could do things. Um, having all the seats at the table. Yeah. having everyone be welcomed in to say there are many careers out there and many avenues for expressing your entrepreneurialship, your brilliance, I think is just unbelievably critical at a middle age. So, thank you for that. >> Thank you. >> Um I just want to say thank you. Um,
090when the portrait of a graduate was born, I for one, even as a board member, couldn't always articulate what that meant. And it means many different things at many different times. But this is an excellent illustration and a way of bringing that portrait, those concepts from the portrait to life. So, thank you very much for this presentation. Um, thank you. Uh, I actually really appreciate you guys taking kids to the Dabo Museum because I think there's a lot of things in Chicago that people look over that are actually free and pretty amazing. Um, I actually had a question about the family literacy night. I was curious if you um did like specific work to try to target multilingual families or bring in resources for working with multilingual family. you're giving. [laughter] >> Hi, Dr. Lawrence.
091>> Hi. >> I think that the the answer is always I think um so that's always kind of in thinking about equitable access I think in any way that we're thinking about literacy um has always been important and for us when we actually [clears throat] um did the story walk we made sure that language was represented um so that it was kind of just a part of the way that the fabric of the way that it worked. We actually had a few staff members from the multilingual department there to represent >> and they actually ran a few stations. Sorry to I didn't mean to take your your glory. >> Well, I was just going to say it was delightful as a board member to hear conversations going on in multiple languages with parents and with
092staff. And I think I like I'm asking specifically because I'm thinking of a student I had who worked with mostly Burmese refugees in her school and she talked about how to support their early literacy when a lot of the parents don't speak English. So we um and a lot of them actually aren't very literate either in terms of their own native language. And so we talked about >> like how she could work with those parents. And so I'm thinking, you know, even for my own parents, like when you have people who've been either schooled outside the United States or don't have English as like a very strong language for themselves, >> like how you help them um figure out how to support their kids. So >> absolutely. >> I appreciate that. Thank you, >> Holly.
093>> Uh I have nothing yet other than thank you. That was a great presentation. Good to see everything in action. >> I echo the thank you and appreciation >> and I think you're Can I stay here? [laughter] >> Thank you. >> And congratulations on your new role. >> Thank you. >> Or not. >> I mean, yeah, I guess that's right. [laughter] >> All right, we're going to move on to the eighth grade field trip. >> All right. Um so we just wanted to provide a quick update on um our plans for this year um moving into next year. So um just want to preface this with no decision made. We wait for the family and student vote and so this is not necessarily a a finalization of what's happening but more just an update on
094the process. Um so the policies that we always keep in mind in time we're making decisions are obviously um policy 712 around um interracial and educational equity alongside our field trip and waiver of students policies. >> [snorts] >> So, we heard a couple of questions um that seem to kind of surface over time and so we wanted to take some time to actually answer those and then um that will lead into what it is we plan to do this year going into next year and um also I'll end with what we're going to what our recommendation is um kind of beyond SY27. So the question um that we heard was do the demographics of the field trip participants reflect the overall composition of the district and the answer there is yes and the only way
095to do this is actually using percentages. So we're talking about the way that the state describes um our overall student body it is by rate. So if you take a look at the graph here um we the first time that the district actually sponsored a trip to DC was um in 2023. um before that that it was district supported but not officially district supported. So any of those trips that happened before 2023 were largely led by um parent groups. So when we started um you'll see that um for example um in the multi-racial uh student group um 13% of the students who attended um in 23 were multi-racial 14 um% in SY24 when we again went to DC and SI 25 that was at 13% at Nashville that was at 15% and we [clears throat]
096always bump that up against the district demographic because that tells us if we're actually meeting um are representing the entire student body. So that last green line, I know it doesn't look green here, but the last line um would be 13, which tells us um that we are meeting um in terms of the makeup of that particular student group, we are actually kind of meeting our target there. Beyond race, um we also look at students who qualify for free for reduced lunch as well as students who um qualify for IEPs. So this is the same kind of um setup in terms of the graph. So again starting at SI 23, 24, 25, 26 and then the district demographics are in the last lane. The second question that I think is really also important is um
097in order for something to be considered a class trip um we would look for at least 85% of our students to actually participate otherwise an experience that's held by maybe half or so. Um an example of a class trip for us might be great America because there we have anywhere from 80 to 91% of children actually attend that trip on a regular basis pretty consistently. So we have not met that rate. Um, and that has not been the case since 2023. So again, um, both trips to Washington were at 45 and 55% respectively. Springfield, St. Louis is 52% and then Nashville we had a 35. Third [snorts] question is why is this happening? Um, so what is our actual working hypothesis as to why we have yet to improve our participation rates? The answer is
098actually what is the beauty of a question. So this these are actually um responses from the survey that was delivered to seventh grade families this year because we wanted to actually have these conversations a bit earlier than we had in the past. That was some feedback that we received and you'll see that um the question was just as we consider potential field trip destinations, what factors make a location accessible and welcoming for all students and families and the responses ran again. So there was definitely um a move for Washington DC or or a desire for that. There were also desires for um driving the Springfield in St. Louis um making sure that things were affordable, a traditional experience such as DC. So the reason why we're not probably not going to see um 85% of
099any particular class make that trip is because we have different ideas of what makes up a an eighth grade trip altogether. And that's nothing's wrong with that. That's just kind of the reality of where we are now. So that leads us into what is our plan for SY27 um and the work that we've already done so far. So in December we um sent out a survey and that some of the results were just shared. We had 105 family responses um from our seventh grade families. In January um we had an information planning session that we held on the 20th and we had about 50 attendees. Um and the task that we provided to those attendees was to take an individual scan of the survey data. So we made that transparent. You can see that anytime
100you've shared it many times with our seventh grade families so they can kind of see what the answers have been. Um there is then a group discussion around um kind of looking at a summary of those findings and there was a padlet that we all kind of completed. We talked about those findings and then we talked about what a proposal might look like for. So, this is just kind of the Padlet where you can kind of see that there are a number of different answers um for what any given survey question was from price all the way to what those barriers could be. So, we just wanted to make sure that everything was transparent in the open for people to analyze and and look at as they they saw fit so that we were not
101the only ones kind of making assumptions based on the data. Um and once we kind of engage in that exercise um we allow parents or um encourage parents to families to submit a proposal for a field trip destination um by February 14th. Um we ask that the proposal includes some pretty important information for us. So first where is it that you're proposing that our students go? Um what are the goals in the portrait connections? Um also what key sites and activities might be visited. um what would be the approximate cost per student if um known and then a fundraising plan if it applied. So in terms of a timeline um moving into 27 um I I've kind of outlined everything that I shared so far. So we had the family planning session proposal due in
102February. We completed the vetting in advance of um March 4th. So, anyone who um submitted a proposal received feedback on the proposal. So, as of now, we had one to Washington DC, several to Washington DC, one to Philadelphia, and we also have an outdoor education trip that has been proposed. In July, um we'll look at um doing a family vote to kind of see where we are. And then in the fall, we'll have student voting. And then I will come back forward um with a recommendation. And so I just wanted to share a little bit about kind of um what our thinking had been prior to S527 and then what we're um recommending for um S528. So we did want to set parameters to make sure that the trip was affordable for most families. So
103we kind of used a parameter of making sure that there was ground transportation um and a perost kind of student limit. given that we were um trying to again also think about how to be more collaborative with families and students um for this year. We kind of made that shift. You'll see because we're talking about a little bit earlier this year, we're able to kind of make some changes, but I will say um for SY28 and beyond um my recommendation is kind of considering whether or not this model is actually a viable one. We have not been able to get to that 85% target um despite our best efforts no matter where we go. Um, so what I and my team is recommending is a return to pre SY23 um, models so that any out
104of state travel would be optional and the district would support um, anything that could actually get to that participation rate of 85%. So parents just or can you just explain so parents would organ parents want to go to DC they organize it on their own >> and and then what do you mean when you say the district would support anything we get to >> so if we're thinking about a trip so for us it might be great America because we know that we can get students to great America and that that 85% of our students are already interested in going so that's something that feels like a class trip as opposed to just they have um so the goal is to to limit out of state travel. Um, so anything that would be out of
105state would be >> So you didn't mean the district would support getting students to like the a private DC >> no conclusion. >> Yes. >> So prior just like let's >> prior to 2023 and I lived this I just don't remember. [laughter] Prior to 2023 parents organized the trips. >> Yes. >> And we picked the vendors. >> Parents organized it, but teachers could attend as partial chaperones. >> Yes. >> Parents organized in a parent chap >> and the PTO took the money. >> Yes. >> To put into like just as a receptacle because they could they have a bank account. They took the funds, okay, >> and transferred them. But there was no >> scholarships. There was no contribution financially from the district. So both of my children went on the eighth grade trip. [clears
106throat] >> Julian and Brooks both went to DC. So both PTO's got I don't remember this. Both PTO's got together, decided we were going to the DC trip. I do remember there being a vendor and I do remember >> the first kids vendor was different than the second kids vendor. Probably didn't matter. >> About a 100 kids would go, maybe 150 and they were like four to a room which was not popular. still still. [laughter] >> Um, okay. >> I also remember having the opportunity as a parent to go as a chaperone and it would defay some of the cost at least for me I think. I think >> why did we switch models? We came inside to make it available because I led this. My kid was in going into eighth grade and I
107said, "This is crazy that we are outside and not every kid gets to go. Let's bring it in-house and let every kid have an opportunity to go." >> Okay. >> And then that first year we had parent chapons which defraed a lot of the cost. >> This is 2023. >> 23. But we didn't start organizing till October. So it was very late for people to plan. It was also Mother's Day weekend and we it was it was really difficult. We switched vendors because the other vendor was >> I remember switching vendors. >> Yes. And then we tried our best to get the word out and get as many people as possible. And we spent $5,000. I think >> 2023 was not necessarily a great year to compare to prior year because of the the things
108you mentioned. >> And we did double the amount of people went 279 from like the average of 120. We did >> Yes, >> we did try to make it available. We had good donations. We got a bunch of kids free luggage to come because they couldn't afford to that. So, >> I think it like speaks to the cost too, right? Like there the number of emails we've gotten from last parents who would not qualify for like scholarships and things like that. I mean, really middle class families or people have twins. Like, it's it's a huge cost. It's it's funny. I actually pulled one of my classes and asked like since I didn't go to eighth grade around here, I was like, "How many of you are from the area? How many of you had like
109a DC field trip in eighth grade and they kind of ranged in age? So for some people it was like 5 years ago and for some others it was further out. The vast majority of them surprisingly didn't go. Um which was interesting. I think I only had in a class of like maybe 12 students like only two went and then some people like especially CPS graduates like they it's not even a thing they do. They go to like Springfield and things like that. Um because for me I think the question always comes back to like what is the purpose of the eighth grade field trip and you know and I've talked about this before and um it's interesting because I think you know a year or two ago people were concerned about kids particularly kids
110of color going to DC at all right and like what is expected and what you know what are they going to see and I you know just like kids don't go to Chicago and see the Double Museum I think a lot of kids like I went to Springfield for the first time ever for the Illinois Reading Conference. Um, and I so I think there's a lot of kids who either for a variety of reasons don't get to see Springfield either. >> But why? Like >> we did go to Springfield when my kids were in seventh grade. We stopped that trip during co is my understanding. >> I'm old as dirt and I did seventh grade. [laughter] >> Really? >> I know. >> I did the seventh grade Springfield trip and I did the eighth grade
111DC trip. My kids did the same thing. >> Charles from Palatine. >> Doesn't matter. I did it. I think it is a right of passage. I for one would like to see. And there's so much education that happened on that DC trip. And then lo and behold, 5 years later, I went to school in DC and I remember some of the things that I saw and that I did. But it helped me understand our government. I Great America's awesome. But what's the educational value in Great America? >> Well, I'm already going to Great America. >> Unless we're going to talk about physics and velocity, >> it was an example. Um, we're going to talk about science and velocity and how you build a roller coaster, which is actually pretty educational. But, um, I am just
112going to speak as [snorts] an individual board member. I would like for us to try to see if we can make DC work. I think we know what doesn't work. But I would like for us to try to see if we can make it work and to be inclusive and help our fellow families that need our help economically. I don't know what that looks like, but I think there is a whole lot of smart people in this room and in this community that we should be able to figure it out. Go ahead. >> Um, so a few thoughts to share. One is um I think that part of the reason we brought the DC trip in house is that because it was sort of neither external or internal there were liability concerns. >> So we
113brought it in house to address the liability concerns >> and then after we brought it in house we realized that it actually violates policy 6240 on field trips. For those who don't know, policy 6240 field trips say says that all parents or guardians of students have the opportunity to go on field trips, have their kids go on field trips, and they are responsible for all entrance fees, food, lodging, or other costs except that the district will pay such costs for students who qualify for a fee waiver under board policy for 140. So that generally refers to students that are below 200% of the federal poverty line, which is the free and reduced lunch, cut off, students that are homeless, etc. At the time that we were looking at whether to continue the the DC trip,
114we looked at what it would cost us as a district to actually abide by our own policy. >> My recollection is that that was a very large number. >> I am 100% in favor of our students engaging in democracy. I'm 100% in favor of our students having a sense of agency. I am a environmental advocate in my not board member career. I work on legislation, policy, etc. I think those things are vital and they're only going to get more vital for our kids in the future. If that's the problem we're trying to solve for, then I would like us to think about what are the different ways that we can solve them and what do they cost and is the cost of a DC trip where we abide by our policy to guarantee the cost
115of students that qualify for it or that that is the most cost-effective way to achieve that goal. I personally am not convinced that it is. I never went to DC as a student. Didn't change my career path. I'm sure it has changed some students career paths, but I think there are a lot of ways to engage kids around advocacy, democracy, etc. Um, and I think probably for that amount of money, we could do things that are um very robust and not restricted to like a, you know, defined trip period. >> I just want to um I think one of the things that is kind of frustrating is this narrative that it's like black and brown students can't attend because of finances. I mean, I'm looking at Venus Herd Johnson who [laughter] is older than >>
116No, Venus her Johnson who is very successful and could have her kids car is better than mine. I'm like right past her house like you know. [laughter] So I I think I just want to step away from that. And >> to my other call is then to look at why. Like I think if you ask kids, most very cool eighth graders, if they want to attend, and I think that's where we get the answer. I think we're putting this blanket thing that like black and brown kids can't afford it, which is lazy. And number two, I I I just think I I am as old as flowers. And when I went to Emerson, we went to Springfield and it was >> flowers. [laughter] >> It's above the dirt. THE DIRT. >> YOU [laughter] GUYS, I'm
117not as old as dirt, but I I attended Emerson. >> So, that lets you know I'm I'm old. I'm a geriatric millennial. And so, my point is that I I think there was a rush to kind of get things done. And so, I think it just needs a lot more care and dedication to see like why aren't kids going? Because as a parent of twins, if the trip is $2,000 per child, even if you give me a 10% discount, I'm not going to go to DC for $4,000 for my twins to come back and still complain because that's what 12, 13 year olds do best. And so I think just being more thoughtful about to John's point, what is the purpose? What are they doing on the agenda? Like if you're just going to McDonald's
118in DC, like that's not really meeting the criteria. I love that the students who went to DC this year were able to talk to our representatives. That is an experience that I think they will come back and be like, I saw Danny Davis. Um but I think the or Tammy Duckworth, I will say her. Um >> much better. >> Yes, much better. So, I I just think that I think this was done >> in a rush and I appreciate the effort and I realize that this has been like a huge undertaking by you um to like fit into this portrait of a grade graduate. But I do think that to Gavin's point, we can be a we can be way more thoughtful because even if we're fundraising this year, then next year the kids are
119going to be like, "Why didn't you fund raise for me?" So, we have to make sure that this sustainable, but really I think getting to why aren't families going? Is it I think we assumed it was finance, but we see that >> I don't think that's the answer. >> I mean, my go my kids, he was like, I heard it's really busy. I don't want to do [laughter] >> I mean, and we also, just to um to put some context to it, we also Well, I did not. >> Dr. Loftton actually reached out to just kind of do her research around like what are surrounding districts? What are some of the things that they're doing and is this a common practice? Can we gather some other ideas of what we should be doing with the
120glasses? >> The lights are killing me. >> Um, but in her research, she actually found out that there are our surrounding districts are actually coming up with other great ideas that are within Illinois. Not too many districts have they have moved away from or have never did the Washington DC trip or they're moving away from it. But there's still some districts that are doing it and they're doing it in different ways. So I mean even doing that research we found out that many comparable districts are finding ways to kind of give that eighth grade experience, that educational experience within the state or they have other um supports to kind of do the Washington DC trip. So, and I don't know if you want to add anything to that, >> Dr. No. Yeah, we uh contacted
121River Forest Evansson and they are not going to DC and River Forest has a similar model to um what we were doing prior to 23. Um also Parkridge has a similar model. There are um I think Hinsdale and Kennelorth do do a DC trip. Um I think they have fewer students so it's a little bit different. So um so there are a number of models where it they zone in reforest the main thing for the eighth grade the eighth graders is um during that last week they get a chance to actually choose a community service project. So they get to go out and I think that is probably really really also impactful for for students um where they get to pick kind of maybe a veterary something um that really kind of speaks to them
122and that's kind of their capstone. So along with Great America, I think everybody goes to Great America. >> They also go to DC. It's privately organized. But about 95% of the kids go because they only have they have 180 kids and about 180 kids go. >> And that's what we found out for some of the other districts. They do the privately. >> They do it privately. >> So it's just like we used to do before >> priority. Yeah. 20. >> Yeah. And I I hear you and I thank you for that. But I guess I'm in Oak Park and I r forest and so I would like to know why aren't our kids going? because in in previous survey results it hasn't been a significant number of respondents. I remember like at one point I
123think I don't want to tell you the number I think because it's probably wrong but it wasn't a substantial amount and then I like asked my twins like did you get the survey and they was like what are you talking about and maybe they weren't there today I don't know but I think like until we can say 85% of students said they want to do this or they they aren't interested in a trip they rather go to great America I think it's going to be a continuous battle of folks who want to go to DC folks who don't want to go to DC and folks who just don't care. >> Yep. >> Um and that's even in like be the advisory group and I think that's probably a great vehicle to have a conversation. But
124what we've been hearing anecdotally is if your friend is not going, I'm not going. And so once we have that kind of snowball of my friend's not going, >> um then there there's nothing more intractable than getting a child to go when they don't have a friend group, especially in a group of four >> where I now have to share a bag with someone essentially. that I think that I I remember this the survey that Jung is talking or the response that she got it's too busy I mean that is an easy response there is nothing good when you have 250 kids traveling that are not busy and the answer is that from a kid in a survey I don't want mean to disregard their feelings but in the end they would say they were
125bored if you didn't do it that way so like that so when you right when you pull so when you pull out that >> a very low mark >> exactly so when you pull out that comment I do think that those survey responses that I recall from DC were overall very positive other than that comment because it is in order to see everything you're going to see in 4 days in DC. I went with my both kids, one with the school trip and one with a different trip and they it's it has to be busy and you know there's no other way because I like my tired by the time they get back >> and then right and then you have a nice night's sleep and a better day the next day for sure. Yeah,
126two of those people are sleeping on the floor, >> which which I will say is where I would flip the question a little bit too before we even get to that, which is why are we going as a district? >> What is I mean, people have brought this up. >> We need to know why we're going >> in order to just help work with students to figure out where we're going and where they might want to go. >> Because I will say if it's civics, we want people to understand our government. My whole world right now is young [clears throat] adult youth informed voting. And I will tell you, understanding state and local civics is something that is deeply missing and deeply impactful to your world. And not understanding how state votes go, not understanding,
127you know, what's happening down in Springfield and what impact that has on you locally is a nationwide issue, but is also specific in Illinois, something that kids don't understand. So, if that's what we're looking at, then looking in state makes a lot of sense. But let's talk about and bring to the table what is it that this trip is about because again it goes to that we're always going to say is it DC or is it this? I have memories of this. I you know I have fond memories of DC as well but I lived outside of DC so cheating. Um, so I think looking at why are we going and then look to see what meshes with what students would be interested and families would be supportive of makes a lot of sense. I
128also want to throw in I worked at museums for many many years and when I wasn't working at museums for the most part I was working at nonprofits and fundraising has big peaks and valleys and so saying that this is something we're moving forward with year after year as a district. I I get very concerned about that especially in the fiscal times we're in um and the fiscal environment that we're currently in. Um I that brings up so from a private trip perspective the most you can do if you are trying to make it as inclusive as possible is put something on Facebook right like here's if if we're going to offer if we're going to change our model to be private trips will we give these f these groups of people that want to
129fund raise and want to make it as inclusive as possible access to the email address to send out notice like to use our our like contact means so that they can be inclusive. I know that when we were working on fundraising, like we talked about doing a dance for DC and then model it after the Bravo Halloween dance, which makes about $12,000 and to help fund raise and like are if we're going to go to that model and I don't know how they do it in other districts, will we still let that those groups of people be as inclusive as possible fund help offer opportunities to fund raise and things like that or is that are we closing the door kind of on the connection at all? I think we would be able to advertise.
130I don't know that we'd be able to share like direct information, but I think there's there and I'm looking at Amanda. Sorry. Um, but there'd be a way to maybe share the information through our channels the way that we >> typically we cannot provide legal counsel is what they >> like direct we can provide directory information that's public for our policy and >> although there's no directory really because I've asked folks now like we don't do a directory anymore. the information like that's information that can be provided upon request. Um but we don't generally like we don't some schools don't do school by school directory. That's something that can be handled. However, what I will say is that prior to 2023. >> I do believe our schools and our district sent some things on behalf
131and I do think that created some of the confusion you know about >> teachers who was sponsoring the trip. So, I think we would just need to be extremely clear, but I don't like Ebony and I have even talked a little bit about some of the fundraising stuff like I think we can figure that out. Um, we have parameters for that. Um, but and that was happening previously, but I do think we need to be clear about who's >> Yes. Okay. >> Um, and I also think if we as a district aren't doing that for equity reasons, then I think there's a discussion to be had. >> I would want to think through whether we as a district could then amplify something that we're not doing for equity reasons. But, um, I had a question
132about just the this SY27 process. >> Um, so I'm looking at the timeline. So people are coming up with maybe you can just walk through it rather than having you try to walk through. >> Sure. So the um when we had our meeting u with seven families on the 20th that's when we launched the proposal. Um we received the proposals that were due on the 14th. Um and so that kind of started and gave them feedback on whether or not it was a go or made sense and that kind of thing. So people got that feedback. we actually connected the Washington DC group and the Philadelphia proposal together. Um so the vetting actually happened in advance of the fourth and so by July 1st what we're asking for is in order to to actually reach
133the ballot because that's when we want to we have to start planning in August no matter what um because we have to secure whatever it is that we're going to secure and make sure that we have a number of viable itineraries over the summer. So in July, we would have families kind of have a a bite at the apple in terms of narrowing our ballot to what we present to students in the fall. >> So any potential trip that raises 50,000 or more ends up gets onto the ballot. So, we looked at the amount we spent on trip fees purely, just fees um over the last two years and [clears throat] came up with kind of level funding, leveling it off if an average was $50,000 around those two years in terms of what was
134um a trip fee cost. And so, if it's going to cost more than that um then they would just have to fund raise the difference um so that the district contribution remains relatively. >> Okay. And then how would how is total cost being calculated? >> So the um proposals actually kind of come up with that. So the families have contacted vendors. They have kind of figured out a per student cost. I gave >> but like as an assumption >> that there's 120 students who qualify for pre- reduced lunch at in the >> assumption is you would have raised enough money plus our 50,000 to cover all of those students they wanted to cut. >> Um and then we gave numbers around like what 80% of the 120 might be. We looked at the number of
135seventh grade families who currently qualify for free reduced lunch. And yes, it is not all um >> black and brown. Yes. So um that that we looked at that and that was a number that we provided is what we'd have to actually target >> and and I guess we're not entertaining going back to a model where parents can chapron so we can create more dollars available for kids. >> Sure. So um the way that we're kind of thinking about it um and I and I don't want to speak for the schools too. I know that we can probably um increase the number of parent chapters. I don't think we can eliminate staff if that makes sense. No. So, so I think um even if you just for example um if we have we have 600
136kids in a class. Um so for chaperones they typically um have groups of 10. So that means that we for 600 kids we get 60 chaperones. So if we split um 30 and 30, so 30 staff, 30 parent, that means that we can allow 30 students of the 120 to actually have their trip paid for. So then the difference would be for the 90 students, depending on how much that cost of the trip is, that's what would fund raise fund raise. So if it's $2,000, it would be $180,000. >> Does it have to be Did you have >> Does it have to be half like you said 60 chefs? Does it have to be half teachers, half parents? So, um, having been on both trips, um, both to Washington DC and Springfield, um, there are
137some things that have come up that I think you need staff for. Yes. Um, so in terms of just some safety issues. Now, do we need [clears throat] did we swing pretty far to the maybe to the left in terms of not having that? I think we can definitely strike a balance, but I think that we do need to have Yes. >> staff present. Um, and I know you're speaking from Springfield like we Yeah. Um so there are just some instances and also um our staff kind of knows beyond just the immediate friend group. They know all of the students in a particular grade pretty well and are able to navigate some of the complex social relationships that they may have. Um and so I think our staff both in DC and in Springfield were
138really adept at kind of working that through and that may just not be knowledge that parents have but I think also parents bring a different perspective in terms of obviously a deep knowledge of of their kids and students too. So I think that's also valuable. So, I would say um if we're going to kind of think through it, we have to >> I asked that question because I'm assuming we we pay our teachers. So, that's part of the budget. >> But then I think also to your point about safety. I know there was some concern about the National Guard right now in DC. Um political violence, >> um violence against black, brown, and queer um people. And so just thinking about how do we make sure that our kids are safe? >> Um and then
139having the the tools and support necessary to keep them safe because I couldn't tell you what I would do with 10 kids and someone comes up. I mean, I would protect them at all cost, but >> I also just wonder like what's that ratio >> so that we can bring the cost down, but if it if it's like we have to have 30 staff, let's just say, then [clears throat] we know we're paying them, right? And do we pay for their lodging and all that stuff as well? >> It's covered through the if their chaperon is covered. So you can take it to either pay for the staff member or if you're a parent you can take it to pay for the student but we do pay um there's a overnight rate for um I
140think it's 150 >> 150 under >> and then for TAS it's it's hourly so um depending on and we do have TAS go because there are students who require perhaps onetoone support to be able to access >> and [snorts] that v that's variable um depending on who attends. I'm just watching. >> Yeah, I was going to say um I know this is a very robust conversation. So, in terms of next steps, when will you be coming back to get a yay or a nay from us? So, um I plan to keep the same schedule. I usually come in September, but if if you'd like me to come before that, I'm actually do that um for provide updates however you'd like. The plan was to keep the typical schedule. So, it would be September. [snorts] Does
141that work for everybody? there's only two boards left. >> I also I think I would no matter what I guess I would like to see a variety of options, but also their pricing because even with DC the pricing depending on who the provider is was had a had a variable. >> Um and that that could make the difference. But >> but did you tell every you told everyone they have to use ground transportation? I'm not sure. Oh, no. So, this is prior. Yeah. Prior to S527, at this point, it's pretty much open in terms of our proposal. So, as long as you're able to make kind of what our the fundraising um limit, we have not use those same parameters. So, um you can fly if you like. Um so, like I said, we do
142have a number of options on the table. We will propose Springfield um as we all as kind of a standard for kids to families to choose from. Again, we also have an outdoor education proposal that's on the table. And then I believe there's um still some work being done with Washington DC. >> All right. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next is 6.3 core instruction ELA resource review and update. We are super behind your eyes. >> I get I get in trouble for that. So that's why it Just can't see your eyes. Can't see. You >> can't see me give you evil eye. >> It is a little weird. >> That's really disconcerting. I was like that while I was [laughter] going to be watching this on YouTube and be like,
143"Who the heck is she [laughter] >> see?" All right. So, Dr. Lawrence, >> thank you. Um, I am happy to be here today to talk about middle school ELA. So, a shift a little bit from elementary into the middle school world. And I am joined today by um, Vina Raja Shaker, our curriculum coordinator for 6th through 8th grade ELA and mathematics. So, we're just going to dive right into our presentation. Um, our theme for the middle school work this year is elevate middle school ELA, enhancing instruction, expanding resources, engaging voices. So, today we are going to talk a little bit about our why. Um, is that our timer? [laughter] Um, and we're also going to focus on our priorities for the sixth through 8th grade ELA department this year. uh we will um close out
144with our pilot timeline and next steps and then we will also have an opportunity for the board to ask questions. So I'd like to start with a quote. Um this quote is from reading reconsidered which is a text that our um middle school ELA department um engaged in this year. So, if you can take a look at that quote. So, this quote uh reflects our hopes and our expectations for D97 um middle school students. And as we talk a little bit in our presentation, you'll see the connection to our mission statement to this quote as well. Our why. So, our goal is to make sure that we're providing equitable literacy education for all district 97 students. And this begins with our board um policy on equity. Um it's important that we provide equitable access to
145highquality instruction and culturally relevant curriculum. Um, this equity theme also connects to the Illinois comprehensive literacy plan that was released um by the Illinois State Board of Education in 2024 and it really focused on um evidence-based literacy instruction and highlighted the seven components of literacy that all students should have. Um equity also connects to the framework for teaching which is um the excellent teaching um standards um that ensures every student regardless of their identity, culture or background or their experiences, they have the best instruction possible. So now we're going to talk a little bit about our department um ELA department priorities for this year. So there were three priorities um enhancing instruction, expanding resources and engaging voices. So the first priority um around enhancing instruction is really focused on um the targeted professional learning that
146we provided our middle school department this year. Um we did this in several ways. We had collaborative book studies with teachers. Um we also provided training to support evidence-based practices and um teachers engaged in a learning walk and um really got some ideas from classrooms and also feedback to refine instruction. The second priority expanding resources this year was our resource review year for the middle school. So the majority of our presentation will be focused on that today. Um and our last priority um and doesn't mean that it's the last but it is very important but it's priority number three is engaging voices. Um we really wanted to provide a space for not only teachers but students and families to have a voice um in what literacy looks like in district 97 at the middle school.
147So now I'm going to hand it to so as uh Dr. Lawrence mentioned priority one was is enhancing instruction which we approached in multiple ways through professional learning um that included a book study and learning walks. We began the year by diving into the book reading reconsidered to engage us in thinking more critically and deeply about literacy instruction and implementing the three key shifts with the standards which is building non-fiction uh building knowledge through contentrich non-fiction uh evidence-based reading and writing and regular practice with complex texts. We partner partnered with West 40 um particularly Dr. Erica Lucasik to continue growing our collective knowledge of evidence-based literacy practices and reflecting on our own current practices to strengthen student learning and engagement. The theme for our professional learning with her this year was the El Park flow
148where teachers had the opportunity to share, discuss, reflect, and add to their lesson planning toolkit. Um we also implemented learning walks this year with Dr. Lucas, the department chairs and our instructional coaches at the middle school to learn what is working well for our students in terms of instructional practices and engagement strategies and then to talk about um how we can continue to enhance our instruction um after our learning walks and our debriefs this past fall and winter. All of this helped us to prepare the teachers to embark on the curricular resource review journey and use their expertise to critically review and evaluate comprehensive tier one ELA resources to pilot. So this brings us to priority two expanding resources. This process probably looks familiar to all of you. It's similar to the process that the
149K5 teachers engaged in with the ELA and math curricular resource reviews except for the intentional shift um of breaking down the process into phases to really make the journey more seamless and align with the middle school professional learning calendar um for the 39 general and special education middle school ELA teachers who were involved throughout this process. The photos on this slide show the teachers participating in vendor presentations that took place um during this process. And an additional shift you might notice in phase 4 is that um we included student voices in a different way which I will talk about in just a little bit. And so with the ELA curricular resource review, we approach a decision-making process by re reviewing data and building consensus. So using a consens consensus building protocol. Sorry, I'm really dry.
150Um, ensures that the decision is grounded in equity uh by ensuring that various perspectives are heard and all student needs are considered. So, I'd like to just briefly um share the ELA department's curricular resource review journey. On the left hand side, we started with 13 comprehensive resources that were recommended by teachers and families that were green on ed reports andor approved by um the knowledge ma matters campaign. The first graphic shows a comprehensive view of ELA, its multiaceted nature and the components that contribute to mastery of English language uh English language arts. Um the next graphic is representative of the questions um that we sent to the 13 vendors based on the needs of our ELA department and also um aligning to the seven criteria such as mission statement and standards alignment, instructional approach, uh
151differentiation and accessibility, um cultural cultural responsiveness, um and then the ELA uh department reviewed and rated um these responses to determine the top six resources to invite for vendor presentations. And during the vendor presentations um they used the ISBY curriculum evaluation rubric which was similar to the K5 teachers to evaluate those six resources. So then we come down to the six comprehensive resources. At the April 22nd department meeting, which occurred recently, the teachers used all of the information that they gathered um to um rate these resources on the seven criteria. And the table right there shows the total score for each resource. And as you can see, imagine learning study sync, common lit, and honort into literature uh emerged as the top three resources. And you can see that the scores the differential is really
152a tenth or two tenth of a point among them. So as a result there were three pilot proposals that were put forth by the department incorporating these three resources. So there were three pilot proposals on the table and um as you can imagine um there were some teachers who favored one resource over the other. So there um was a bit of a challenge for the department to come to consensus in terms of the top two resources out of the top three that would be um piloted for this year. So um when consensus is unable to be built um within the department then the decision then goes to the core instruction leadership team. So the core core leadership team core instruction leadership team um met last week um and they thoroughly reviewed the three comprehensive resources
153that the department set and um there the meeting included not only the team coming together to talk about um the teacher data that was available but they also uh discussed the student input that Fina will talk about in the next slide and they also Alo part participated in vendor presentations. Um so they also learned more about each of these three resources. So as a result of this work that happened last week um the team decided on proposal two um which was HM into literature and imagine learning study sync. Now again you can imagine that some teachers are excited about this proposal being selected. Um and then there are some teachers who are not um as excited [laughter] as I can say. So um I have met with um members of the ELA department um yesterday
154and today just to kind of talk through the rationale um for the decision and also providing them an opportunity to share their feedback on the process. And I think those meetings have gone really well. We want teachers to know that we value their input. um we value their insight and um on the next slide Vena will talk through why these two resources were selected by the team. So as Dr. Lawrence mentioned the core instruction leadership team um selected proposal number two which means that the ELA department will be piloting uh Imagine Learning Study Sync and Hilton Mifflin in Hardcourt into literature. I always forget the hard part. Um and so both of these resources offer robust differentiation. Some of the rationale that we gave and that um supports this decision is that um the robust
155differentiation and accessibility that they offer for a wide range of learners. um the hybrid platform, learning platform that they offer in terms of digital and print resources for teachers and students and also that they are knowledge driven or knowledge building units in both resources that really align with what we adopted in K5 um this year with CKLA. So these were some of the and then you can see that there's some more uh bullet points up here that support um the decision for uh these two resources this proposal to be chosen. So um as we uh transition to our third priority of engaging voices, the teachers really drove this process from the very start by revising the mission statement and coming to a consensus around this version of it um which is on the screen for
156you to take a look at with pictures of teachers collaborating on this work around it. All of the phases throughout this curricular resource journey really include highlighted teacher voices in every step of the way. It was also important for us to make sure that we provided families and students an opportunity to share their thought uh thoughts. So, we sent a family survey in November uh to learn about their students ELA learning strengths, areas of opportunity, hopes, and resource recommendations. We were also excited to hear um from students during this curricular resource review. So, in April, we partnered with Dr. Loftton and Marvin Childress to engage the youth advisory committee at both Brooks and Julian in the process. This group of students received the opportunity to review the studentf facing print materials from the top six
157resources that um we showed you before. So, as you can see, these pictures um show what this process looked like. And what really stood out for me personally is how seriously the students um took this task. They closely reviewed the materials and really gave their honest feedback about how the materials made them feel connected, engaged, and challenged. So, now we're going to close out with our pilot timeline and next steps. So as you can see um we will begin this work um in by um determining the pilot timeline for next year and identifying the units of instruction that will be piloted next year. So our target date for having that done is May 15th. Um on May 20th during the ELA department meeting, Vina and I will present a pilot plan to the department and
158also um provide them with an opportunity to take a look at the scope and sequence um and select the units that they will start the year with. Um by June 30th, our goal is to make sure that our pilot professional learning plan has been designed um and we've updated the scope and sequence and we are ready to roll out training um at the start of the school year and by July 15th we will order pilot materials um for teachers and students. Today I am actually not here to ask for money for the first time in a long time. Um because uh all of this the total cost will be under the $25,000 uh threshold. So we're excited to share that. So that concludes our presentation and um we are open for all questions. Alice, >>
159all good. Thank you. Good information. Um, I know when you guys did the pallet pilot previously with the person that nobody wants to talk about, um, they really liked [laughter] the book sets. >> Um, which is which was really cool. It looks like there's also books that are coming with the units like Okay. Cuz I know my u my kids really liked like the novel studies and stuff they did. Um, I know that wasn't part of the either of the curriculum, but uh, and so I wanted to make sure that like stuff like that would be retained. And then I'm also assuming that [snorts] like they're like pretty diverse and all. >> Absolutely. Okay. Yes. Okay. >> Visit. >> I just have a um quick question. How so? Sorry. I remember my girls in our
160third grade and I was towards the end of my first term and one of the pieces of feedback that I got from a lot of teachers is they feel like they're always learning something new. They don't have time to like sit with curriculum because they're being asked to jump to something else. >> And at first I was like, but sitting on this board for seven years now, we've done a lot of curriculum and a lot of pilots. [snorts] So my question is how long has the district been using the current curriculum and then why are we switching? >> And I'm going to let you add some of this too, but um so right now our middle school teachers don't have a curriculum per se in terms of um from a publishing company. Um there are
161teacher created units um that started from IB units and you know that we're no longer an IB district at the middle school. Um but those units were revised and refined and Veno was instrumental in really guiding the department through that. But um we really wanted to make a shift to more of a comprehensive resource that sort of has most of the components that teachers need. Um with the units that teachers have built out, we've had to sort of pull supplemental resources to support them. Um and we really wanted to move in the direction where the resource was more comprehensive. You want to add to that? >> Yeah. So, um they had had the IB units for a long time and those are really in-house units that have [snorts] been created by teachers and they worked
162really hard on it and um and it's close to their hearts. So, we when I came on board, we kind of uh redesigned the units to make sure that they were standards aligned um that they included a variety of texts that um students can see themselves in. And at the time we had esser funds so we were able to purchase class uh classroom libraries. Um we also wanted to give the students choice with text and when it comes to like independent practice and reading. Um and then we also um worked on creating common summitive assessments. So really like starting to work on that like what is our goal with our units? What standards are we prioritizing? what do we want the students to learn and know and be able to do and how do we
163backwards plan from there. So we have been doing that work and every year the teachers have been refining it and tweaking it a little bit but like Dr. Lauren said, we really I mean last year um we did a deep dive into the literacy plan um and just learning about like and looking at the seven components of literacy and feeling like it is time that we need a comprehensive resource so that if we have the what we can focus on the how with our students. And then one last quick thing, given the public comment that we've been hearing for the past couple of weeks, do either of these have like books and workbooks and not such a dependency on uh technology. [snorts] Both resources are um they have a hybrid platform. So there are print
164and digital resources. And so the pictures you saw the students, they were looking at all of the print resources that were the student facing resources. So yes. And do you have any um expectations or guidance about how much you'll have teachers using like tech versus old school I guess like I say like books and workbooks. >> Yeah. There there will be a balance and um I think it's just important that whenever um the device is used it's being used in a purposeful way. Um and so that will happen once they you know receive training on the resource and so some components would need to be utilized with device while other components may need to be utilized with the workbook and the text. So um I think just learning more about the resources and figuring out
165what's more purposeful for students in terms of when the device should be utilized will be important and that will happen during the pilot process. Thank you. Thank you so much. >> Good to see you again. >> Good to see you. Thank you. Thank you. >> Can I get a um question for the consent agenda? >> I move that the board of education of Oak Park Elementary School District 97 approve the consent agenda as presented. >> Second, >> yes. >> Holly [laughter] Kim. Yes. >> Johnson. >> Yes. >> Moore. >> Yes. >> Perez is absent. Motion. >> Okay. Uh approval close session minutes from April 14th and April 28th. >> That's all chart. >> Yeah. Sorry. [snorts] >> Uh 81 >> 81 action items through five math curriculum adoption and recommendation. Can I get a motion
166or anyone have questions first? This was what we um previously got a presentation on, >> but if no one has any questions, we can go to the motion. Anyone have any questions? I move that the board of education approve the purchase of K5 mathematics curricul curricular materials bridges and mathematics from the math learning center at a cost of $511,040 and organizational supplies from Amazon at a cost of $6,31.77. Michaelels at a cost of $15,447 and a Walmart at a cost of $823. Second Johnson >> Rosen. >> Yes. >> Um I'm building >> more. >> Yes. >> Ask Kim. >> Yes. >> Motion pass. >> All right. Um 8.2 school year 27 teacher leader roles recommendations. We heard about this at the last board meeting. Does anyone have any questions? >> All right. Can I get
167someone to read? >> I move that the board of education of Park Elementary School 97 approved the 2026 [snorts] 2027 teacher leadership roles at a cost of $663,000. >> Second, >> yes. >> Johnson, >> yes. >> Kim, >> yes. >> Abstain. >> Yes. >> Is absent. Roger. >> Yes. Motion passes >> 8.3 SY27 student registration and lunch fees. Anyone have any questions? >> Cuz uh Jen's about to run over you. [laughter] >> Like nobody want to read the question. >> I move the board of education approve the student fees for the 2026 27th school year as presented on April 28th, 2026. >> Second. >> Carney. >> Yes. >> Kim. >> Yes. >> Whereas absent more. Yes, >> this one was easier to catch up on. >> Yes, >> Ros. >> Yes, >> her Johnson. >>
168Yes. >> 8.4 food services contract renewal. Any questions? >> Go ahead, John. >> I move that the board of education [laughter] Nobody else is in the document. So, I move that >> Oh, it does. Nobody else in it. >> Okay. >> It Somebody disappeared. I move that the board of education of Oak Park Elementary School District 97 approve the IG agreement with Oak Parker Forest High School for food services as provided in the board packet and presented at the April 28, 2020 board meeting. >> Second Johnson, >> yes. >> Moore, >> yes. >> Kim, >> yes. >> Spur, >> yes. >> Ros, >> yes. Whereas absent motion >> 8.5 sight solar contract [cough] >> Joe right I move that the board of education of Oak Park Elementary School District 97 approve the contract with general
169energy in the amount not to exceed 1,814,440 for the district 97 on-site solar projects for Brooks Middle School, Julian Middle School by elementary and Irving Elementary as presented at the April 28th, 2026 board Second >> carne. >> Yes. >> Kim, >> yes. >> Perez is absent. More. >> Yes. [snorts] >> Sterling. >> Um, yes. >> Rosen, >> yes. >> Johnson, >> yes. >> Hopefully this will make Venus more happy. 9.1 IGA Youth Engagement Program. Um, we have a presentation. He was like, "Yes, [laughter] >> presentation is 10 minutes and y'all got 10 minutes to ask questions." [laughter] >> So, we are here >> because our two intergovernmental agreement is expiring. Um, so commencing on July 1st. Um, we are seeking another two-year intergovernment agreement with the um, Park Township. >> So, I'll let you guys
170introduce yourselves and we have a couple you have a couple sides to work through. >> Perfect. Thank you everyone. My name is Laura Devit. I am the youth engagement program manager for Park Township. >> And I'm Jacob Madson. I'm the community justice manager at Oak Park Township. >> Oh, >> yeah. So, uh, just a brief overview of the youth engagement program and the IGA. Um, it [clears throat] started out as the youth intervention interventionist program in 1996. Um, and they focused on uh, addressing youth gang involvement, substance abuse, and violence in the communities of Oak Park and River Forest. Um, and there's currently nine tech there was nine taxing bodies supporting the program. Then in 2019, the program shifted and became the youth engagement program. Um the program hired a master's level social worker and
171clinical supervisor as the director who had her um LCSW so she could supervise and was licensed. And then the program manager also acquired an LCSW in 2021. And then in 2022, um the program changed names, uh based on community feedback from partners, youth, and families who participated in it, um to the youth engagement program to help sync it better up with the services that were now being offered. Um which is free mental health counseling for youth in Oak Park and River Forest. Um and then Laura will go over the current staff. >> Yes. Currently our staff consists of myself. I am the engagement program manager. I have my LCSW and we have two full-time youth engagement specialists. Sophie Fernandez who is also bilingual in both English and Spanish and provides services in both languages. She
172has her LCSW and Marty Aronda. She has her MSW and LCS LSW and she's preparing for her clinical exam. And we also always have a master's level social work intern with us. Our current one is actually graduating and leaving us this Friday. Um so we will um have a new intern in the fall. So this is our annual statistics from this past year. So the township is on a school year on of April 1st. Um so this current data is from April 1st, 2025 to March 31st, 2026. So in this past year, we saw 76 unique clients. That means those clients are being seen on a weekly basis. 62 of those are Oak Park residents. And I apologize, that should be 41 um are district 97 students, not 14. So flip-flop the numbers. Um and
173in this year we saw 81 referrals. So 37 of our youth referred are for anxiety and depression. 13 were students facing a crisis or trauma. 26 behavioral concerns. And then five students who just need some more mentoring. So that's more of a short-term um individualized program. And then out of this year we had 42 students complete our program. 28 of those youth met their goals completely. they successfully transferred our out of our program. Six youth were needing maybe a higher level of care. So we worked with the families to make sure that they were referred to the appropriate resources. And then five youths um sometimes we just don't hear back and they just stop coming. So we always follow up with the families but then we'll end up closing out. We had two youth just
174refused services and that's totally okay. And then one of our youth um moved out of the area. And then in total we had 980 youth um sessions conducted this year. And this is just a current snapshot of our current case load. Um, as of today, we are currently seeing 41 students total and 25 district 97 students. So that is seven students from Brooks, four from Julian, three from Lincoln, two Longfellow, three from Irving, two from Holmes, three from Woodyear, one from Man, and we are currently uh have about five pending referrals. So those are students waiting um for services to start. We're kind of in that intake process. And then aside from our individual case loads, we um collaborate with district 97 in various ways. So our team yearly um participates in the back to
175school nights. I know Julian and Brooks, we look forward to those every year. And we also will attend some of the elementary schools um events as well. I know this week we are attending at Lincoln um the parent reading night as um so we're looking forward to that. And then we also do a lot of collaboration meetings with staff outside of just like our individual case loads. Um, so we'll meet with staff teams and come in throughout the year and give our program presentations just to make sure all of the staff are aware of our services. And then we also have a partnership with Oak Park Public Library. So if there's any middle school aged youth that are there, their staff can give us a call and if there's any um behavioral concerns that they
176have or any concerns of, you know, maybe they have some students that have been um kind of on their radar just needing some more support, they can give us a call and we can go to the library and provide that support. And then I also have been um able to participate this year at the D97 the universal screener for the [cough] committee. Um so I've been really enjoying those meetings and continuing to those into the fall and that is just kind of a quick snapshot. Is there any questions or concerns for IG? >> Yeah. >> Um thanks for this presentation. I was wondering if you could give like an example or two of of what it looks like when someone meets their goals and what kinds of examples of like what those goals might be.
177>> Sure. So, a lot of it a lot of our students are coming in a lot of social anxiety with peers really struggling to make friends. So, we really work on building those students up, finding what are their strengths, working with families, giving them tools for that. So, we've had a couple students come through. Um, I worked with a student personally who was very nervous about going to middle school. Um, we really worked on making friends, you know, how do we start conversations, you know, using communication skills and that student ended up going and being on in Bravo and really excelled um, and took one of the lead roles. So, I think just finding what are their passionate about, how do we make friends and, you know, use that those skills um, and meet them
178where they're at and see what's needed. Um, and a lot of it is just as we see the goals met. So, it could be also advocacy in school. So, some students are really struggling academically and they just don't know how to or don't have the confidence to go up to the teacher and ask for help or get some of those added resources. So, we really go over those communication skills working with the teachers and partnerships. So, really figuring out like individualize what that looks like. And we also get feedback from both their um school team and then the families as well. >> [clears throat] >> Um, so I again thank you for the presentation. Um, I was looking I I love that you're working in different spaces where teens are or where students are I
179should say with the libraries. Um, has there been any consideration of working with the park district for the teen after school program? >> We um are working we do not currently have an IGA but we have had some park collaboration and we have met some students in like the CRC. We'll use some of their spaces to meet with students. Um so if they call us in you can always report. >> Okay. >> Um what is your connection or is there any any connection with the Oak Park mental health board? >> Yes. So the community mental health board is one of the funding agents of Oak Park Township. So we collaborate um with them. So they're kind of a branch of the township. >> Okay. Um, what about the kids that when they go on to
180high school? >> I know that you were just telling us about D97. Does that make up the other group of youth that are Okay. >> So, we see both uh district 90 and then district 97 and district 200. So, a lot of our eighth graders will go and help trans >> continuity for that. >> Yeah. >> I know right now that there's a extreme need for counseling and mental health. Do you partner with other um agencies in and in part because I know someone I know a family who started off and they had like a therapist. >> They there was a loss of income then they couldn't afford therapy anymore. So do those organizations like refer you guys to say like this person was a person that mosaic they can no longer afford services. Is
181there any opportunities for those things? >> We definitely collaborate. Tenno, we get a lot of referrals from Thrive or if we do see weight lists, we I attend a bunch of meetings with local um private practices and different um mental health organizations. So, we all kind of collaborate and let each other know, hey, there's a wait list here, there's, you know, we don't have a wait list. Um and also, we do have a lot of families that whether their therapist maybe had moved or relocated or the financial um concerns or insurance changes, we definitely get a lot of you youth um referred for that reason. So we we collaborate, but I think a lot of it is through the schools and the families kind of getting those resources. >> And now another question that I
182had because I know of you guys because I'm on the board, but I'm wondering is there an opportunity to like get that message out a little like doing events at school like during the school day so that kids go home and they say somebody from Opac Township came and they did this really cool event. I feel like sometimes it's like not that you guys do, but I feel like sometimes like a situation is already happening. And so I'm wondering if if it was more like visible to kids and then they could say, "Hey, what about this?" and go ask their teacher, but I feel like if it's in spaces that they're not usually in, like you don't go to the library often, you might not have experienced that. And the teacher might not refer because
183they for whatever reason, a teacher might not refer. So opportunities to kind of like proactively go to win or something like that in the schools. >> We would be happy to do any any collaboration. I know [clears throat] we were partnering um partnered with Brooks Middle School this year. We're at school social work week. So we were able to go to lunch and it was in the library. So students were able to come and engage. We had like a social emotional learning activity. Um but we are more than um happy to engage with any any schools with any um activities like that. I think that's a great idea. Can I work on facilitating some of that too as we kind of think through what the next iteration of the schedule will be too? >> Yeah.
184Thank you. >> Any more questions? >> All right. Thank you guys so much. >> Thank you. >> Oh, could you just say on the record what the cost is of the contract? >> Yes. Sorry. So, >> Oh, it's okay. >> What is it? So for um next 2627 the cost would be $39,637 and then for the 2728 year it would be $40,826 and so we'll be um having vote next to approve both years. >> Yes, it is a two-year agreement. >> All right. So >> I have a I have another followup. receive information after the first year >> to see how successful it was before the second year goes into >> progress monitoring how well the first year went and anything that needs to change for this. >> Yes. So they um will do regular
185is there something special that you want us to just like when we get right into the second year because we do >> Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. >> All right. Sorry, there's a school. There's a school where we >> Matt 9.2 man elementary parking lot bid. Michael >> Michael just stay there. >> Um so the parking lot bid. So there's a couple different things. Partnership with the park district because it's our parking lot at man. Uh we had to run the bid, put that all out and everything. Uh two bids came back 30. We actually went out to bid initially and the bids were really high. back out um 35,000. We've worked with the park district. They have a letter that they've sent because they'll be covering the entire cost of this. Part of that partnership
186was is they're building the new facility at man um and the size and all of that. They had to have certain square footage of parking and handicap parking. Um so instead of having them build an entire new lot to be used typically in the evening later in the hours um and save the green space can partner to do this. Um, and the main piece of this is adding some um some spots for handicap accessibility because of the space and size and all of that. So again, they'll be taking care of this cost. Uh we would just invoice them the same way that we would any other thing. And then they'll be doing some additional work around with fencing and helping to relocate some of the garden beds and things like that. So >> So the
187footprint of the parking lot is changing >> slightly just because of these handicap spots. So the if you have in the back part so it would be the oh my gosh >> Brookshire >> west side. Yeah west side of the parking lot that fence right there that will get extended out >> like a little garden beds >> two spots the garden beds will get moved or relocated >> relocated though like not >> correct >> they're not going away. >> Correct. Okay. Yeah. And we've worked with Ali and uh the PTOS and all that on these conversations around what options they would have to do and size to with the least possible. >> So do we have to vote on this because we're not paying for it? >> We do because we had to run the
188bid for it and then um and it's over >> because there's initial costs that would go that we have to do and them for it. >> So we're paying for it but then invoicing them to get the money back. Okay. Yeah. >> For the full amount. Okay. >> I remember when they were putting basketball courts up and it was a whole bunch of opposition. Is there have you heard any opposition to this plan? >> No. I know initially there were some conversations, but a lot of were taking away cutting back on some of the green space by them using this lot rather than building their own >> um their own parking lot. So, I have not heard since some initial >> conversations of what we're going to do. Just wonder how to get across. >>
189I think that wasn't some of it. Weren't they changing the footprint of the existing building? >> It it was it was also changing the hill and the corner and like the tala, but that was not related to the the school. It was just the park district's initiative. >> No, no. Yeah, it was the park district, but it it affected students ability to use that space. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> And if we didn't do this and they had to build their own, I mean, they'd be taking a lot more square footage of green space out of that area. So, >> just flagging in case it comes back up to try to get in front of it as much as possible. >> Uh, any other questions or comments? >> All right. Uh, technology plan update and
190recommendations come up. We should have moved this to >> Yeah, thanks for sort of hanging around. [laughter] >> Um, so appreciate the opportunity and uh so I'm here. Will Brackett, our director of technology is here as well to uh speak to some of this, answer questions. Uh, again, I know it's time almost 10 o'clock. Uh so there's a lot here and a lot of conversation but even in the 10 to 15 minutes it's not going to cover everything right so um I will go go through a high level um and as part of this um just as to the group and the public and whoever's watching um every three years we do a new technology plan we've leveraged an iLearn advisory process that includes uh students staff and community members that serve on that uh
191committee to help kind of design what that looks like and outcomes of that, recommendations and everything around that. So, um that three-year plan was approved last year. Uh and then annually we'll come to the board for seeking any things that were not committed in that first year um for any approvals. So, that's what we're doing today and then I'll talk a little about recommendations for next year and areas of focus as well and then some next steps. So as we ground this work uh mainly in the I uh we we align resources but it connects to all of these different groups obviously with the infrastructure the technology operations all of those things tied to that um which also was signified here um and Tana is not here but shout out I know she had originally
192created this slide and we're just kind of used it to really signify again that back and forth to all of these different areas with those schools the different committees the different departments again instructionally, operationally, however that might be, but again, how we do our work and support that work within the district. So, kind of started off this way, where we came, where we're at. Um, these three-year tech plans, um, a ton of thought, a ton of feedback centered really around our students, and that's why they're at the table, that's why they're with us is how do we provide those experiences and and structures and systems in place to do that with them. Um and then it is and I talked about this last year, how do we are we agile and evolved and that's some
193of that conversation right now, right? So how do we take what we have in place and some foundational things ensuring it's still rooted and and aligned to our portrait and work that we have and those goals of what we're expecting in the classroom and things that Tana had talked about with these pilots and these different instructional practices too. um keeping those in mind but finding that um alignment to those and things that change and priorities and um that as well. So, so when I was when we've been thinking about these things to kind of highlight some of those things and and you heard it from Tanda so and I've shared this too um with different groups and again thank you for continuing to collaborate and and share that tonight too um with our parent groups
194and again these advisory groups as well. So being balanced and purposeful. So like that's first because that's how do we continue to find that and strike that balance and that's going to be an ongoing thing. Got a lot of classrooms, a lot of schools, a lot of that. So that will be something that we'll we'll continue to talk and reiterate um with any type of new curriculum or new resources and so on. Um and how it's enhancing what's going on. It's not a separate thing. It's not just a device. It's not doing that technology for that purpose or sake, but it's how are we envancing what's going on in the classroom and it's focused on the instructional uh piece first. Uh I think some of the positive pieces with this is like as the kids
195grow and I know we have conversations for like what that looks like for kindergarten versus 8th grade, but seeing how that builds from a kindergarten, what that scope and sequence, what we're doing to prepare them when they do get to third grade that they're developing some of those core skills. Uh but again, if you go back to like what is Falison, it looks very different and should look different for a kindergarten um student um versus an eighth grade student. U some of the standards that we've talked about and shared for C's. So we want our kids, we're not putting devices in for specific skills. Um and we've talked about that a lot. the apps that are on the devices, the programs that are on there are more so centered on how are they creating, how
196are they building those skill sets within um how they're leveraging these devices along with the curriculum areas. So, how are they communicating, how are they collaborating, being critical thinkers um and creating uh and then the ISTY standards are another group of standards that we kind of frame around. Uh, I'm not going to show the video tonight. Again, be cognizant of time, but there is a video that we've shared before and it takes this SD standards and kind of puts them out into child-friendly language and into action of like what does that look like? And we share this with new teachers every year, too. Um, and we talk to them about like what do you see? What do you not see in that? And we talk a lot [clears throat] about like you don't see a
197device in every person's hand, in a kid's hand. It's not in everything that they're doing. It's that again that balance piece of that and it's a tool to enhance and extend some of that learning that's happening. But there are other things and that's where we'll talk about like tie into UDL or student choice and voice and what does that look that it's not always that they may want to go and create an iMovie or create something to show their learning. They may want to do a poster board or some other way to demonstrate that and having that choice for them to do so. Um, another piece is continuing to think about how do we support the students? How do we support families with the resources, the tools that are out there? And that's something that
198we can continue to improve and be better with. Um, and the last bullet and kind of talk of this as we focus around like what types of experiences do we want for our students around instructional tech um, and conversations that we have with our staff. So like it can help with personalized learning. it it provides different access to some of our STEM, our design, our robotics curriculum. So, there are some of these different things that we're doing of how we prepare our students digital citizenship. Like, how do we weave all of those things in there and again strike that balance with what we're how we're using it and make sure we're maximizing that screen time and it's not in ways that are not the intended use and the ideal time. So, all right. So, it's
199kind of like again setting that framework and and founding of that. Um, there's also other things like when we think of state testing, we've got to have devices and resources to be able to do that. Um, and other types of local testing, Renaissance Star, some other types of tools that we're using as well, conversations with Donna and the the student services team. So thinking about that perspective and I know that's what talked about here as well for our students that have different individualized needs that that what we share and any guidance or anything like that that also keeps it to different students and their needs and their communication. They may need these devices on it all day long to be able to communicate and access certain things or access the curriculum or access conversations with
200their staff. Again, those are all it's not the same for everybody, but it's how do we find and and continue to ensure that that all students can access the curriculum that they have and that they have the accommodations to be as successful as possible if they can. Um, so these are just some of the resources that are being used, but again, that we're just we're still prioritizing that. Um, so now I'm going to go into like just a real quick overview of like what's happened this last year and what the next three years look like. Um, and then talk a little about some things for next year look forward. So last year um we approved uh Chromebooks and iPads u and that was K through 8 uh cases for K1 and then the three ongoing
201items and this came out of a lot of the I learn conversations. So ensuring we still have some professional learning again that doesn't it's not just in here because there's professional learning in a lot of other budgets and places and Tana talked a lot about that too within the curriculum. um internet for all. So we provide hotspots and access to families that are in need of that. Um so we have that as well. And then innovation research again was a piece that came out of I learned probably two or three tech plans ago. Uh how do we support our staff that come up with different innovative ideas or things that they can leverage? Again, not just a technology but an instructional practice and it could or could not tie to that. Some of the things
202that I've done is uh our design and modeling and robotics program in our middle school that they've had some of their some of the equipment that they purchased has come out from that initial ideas and then how they continue to build that. Um so others all of our kids can be able to kind of design those things and then create products that come from from that curriculum. So that was last year. Going into this next year, the recommendation again the the 2026 we've already the lease is there for the devices. So the what as part of the memo what's the ask that would be next week or next week in two meetings would be to continue to support internet for all professional learning dollars in the innovation rel. So 35,000 is the only additional dollars
203that we would be asking for u into the next year. I'll go through these quick because the same thing applies the following year what we'd be asking. Um and then the fourth year is really a preview and that big piece is the staff device refresh and Apple TVs in the classroom is what we're projecting out at that time frame. Again, annually we're going to come to the board and have these conversations. There's other things as part of this that come up. Um but that's that's the preview right now. All right. uh shared this slide. Again, this is just some background. As every time we do this, we think about we leverage, we leverage other partnerships. So, some of our partnerships with the village and the fiber are some savings that we continue to look at.
204How can we start to find or how do we find additional savings or projects that we can do to offset some of these uh expenses and things that we're doing in the district. Uh the next couple slides are just a reminder of the process that we've gone through with whether it's I learn or talking with different groups of students and feedback that we get from them as we make these decisions. So again, I'm not going to go too um in depth with this because these are slides that we shared a year ago. Uh but just a reminder to everybody of like how we engage other people and some of the feedback that they provided. I mean, you're going to see some of these things too in these slides about things that I'm about to talk
205about and things that we continue have been exploring around some of the the access with YouTube or access with uh some of the different controls or filters and systems that [clears throat] we are talking about going into place for this next year. All right. So, some of the instructional guidance I'm going to go through and and Miss Connor talked about the 10 things that we've been meeting about. I've shared this with a number of of staff and got some feedback around this. So, uh I know there's a lot there, but there is a lot to the conversation of this and some of the things that are going. So, again, um please I'll just whip right through it. So, the first one is we've had some guidance around instructional technology use. We've been one to one
206for since 2014. So we've had that. But how do we look at that again and reframe and make sure that we're clear on what does that guidance and that's collaboration again with Tanda core instruction team, student service to make sure that that guidance is up to date and and is aligned to everything that we have now versus before. And then that's clear to also teachers and families and students as well. Um so that's the work that we'll be doing over the summer. Uh transitioning our device filter. um we are actually piloting about a year ago. We weren't able to get some of the things or we weren't comfortable with making that transition then. So we are we're moving forward with that and that will have a parent portal access and opportunity to begin recording from
207that as well. Um and then continue to do the training with that uh the Apple screen time as well and and making sure >> class will give us a third. >> Um and then monitoring continuing to block social media is a thing that again we've we've heard the conversation those have been some things so we want to make sure emphasize that. Um number four is removing student access directly to YouTube. So, we've worked with some of our LMS tools that we use across um the classroom. So, Seesaw, Google Classroom, and Canvas, and we can embed videos. So, they could still use curated content, curated videos that are tied back to instruction and what teachers would like to use and leverage to emphasize or extend some of that learning, but we are able to do that
208without having direct access for students. So, that we would remove that going into next year. I we've talked to other districts too that have explored and have done that and what the impact has been on them. Um and it has with some of these tools and how we can embed videos. It doesn't have that same impact. Um but it removes the kids access directly to YouTube. So they can't go to safe YouTube and they wouldn't be able to go to YouTube.com. All right. So it's all curated content specifically. Um we last year we talked a little about this. We do have carts for K2 available. Carts and techtubs. Um it's not always used uh some of it space but they are available they are used. We'll continue to do that. We are having conversations curriculum
209with schools and what does that look like potentially at the older grades but right now we have access we have enough of those for the K2 classrooms. Um and if we were to do that and provide more access for three four five that would be an expense that we would have to incur. >> Is that for charging? >> For charging. Yeah. So the kids don't take a two kids don't have to take their iPad home. >> They wouldn't have to. Yeah. So in some of that, if I'm impractical, like if I'm a second grade teacher, which it was, um if there's a project or work like in a week, I'd be like, hey, there's some homework this week. I'd send an email, hey parents, the device would come home. Here's what's going here are the
210assignments or the type of work that they would have. Otherwise, they could stay at school. If it's some of those weather days and there's anything leading around that, but it would be a communication. Hey, they're going home today or they're going home this week or whatever that might be. And it would also be if if a student needs it for accommodations or any of those types of reasons, they would be able to continue to take that home on a daily basis if they needed that. We know that sometimes the device is the only device that fam that families have too. So that would be something that they can continue to have and we will work with them to and schools will work to ensure that they have that information. Uh so >> would they be
211able to decline and say they're going to use the family computer or whatever >> uh for a kid homework assignment >> a homework assignment >> they can they can always for sure use a use a device that they have at home they would like to >> I think some of it's the >> the applications that they have they may not have and that's a little bit of the having that uniform that piece of it but also >> knowing what's all the devices that are filtered in that way I'm not saying that family devices are not, but if that's what they want, again, that's that conversation with that teacher and with them to be able to really talk through what that is and looks like. >> So, since we're asking questions now later, um I think
212one of the things that's come up on several issues um is consistency across schools. So, I think having a plan for this is how K2 is handled >> is just going to [snorts] >> Yeah. And there's there is a piece of I mean it's still having some autonomy for the teachers and for them to work through >> of that choice but there's some guidance for it and then what does that look like and and then then again families are advocating to for what they're looking for what does that look like at home. So that's that conversation that I'd have with a parent directly with that teacher to here's what my expectations are and what we would look for on a day-to-day basis. >> Y but I hear you. >> Yeah. Um, again, real quick through
213this and Will started mentioning this, exploring tools and metrics related to screen time and instructional usage. This came up last year. It's come up multiple times. I've been exploring this for a number of years. How do we identify what does active use look like and pulling those minutes and screen time on an iPad, it's going to show everything. It'll show you how long you've been on a camera, on a web browser, on a certain application will show you all of that. Apple doesn't roll that up to us on an enterprise level to be able to see that. have asked the question again a couple weeks ago. It's not currently in place to do that. We have a tool that we're moving to for some of our single sign on and app like that piece of
214it that [clears throat] there is some information that they're putting in place that we may be able to capture that. I haven't seen it all yet because they're rolling that out for us to see how those metrics could be and how we could leverage it and then how we can inform others. So that's something that we are exploring for that. And I would say like what is passive versus active. That's a bigger conversation too. Um and the the right type of screen time and that's that balance versus like an example of just watching YouTube that's not educationally focused. That's not the time we want them to be spending on that. >> And Aristotle is also going to give us a vector for screen time too. >> Y >> uh the last reminder of district policy.
215This is some of these are are conversations that we've been having. We have a policy for this. Personal devices should be away. Um some of them say away for the day. They should be in their backpacks. They should not be out. Um so that's just a reminder and we'll continue to include that in our guidance too across the schools. Um, one other piece implementing restrictions around award free choice recess time and kind of limiting that time or taking away some of the tech tech use during those periods of time. Again, that's that balance and focusing on how we want them to be using it and limiting and using it in the way that's most effective and tying back to the curriculum rather than using minutes for something that's not what we want them to be
216using it for. Um, and I know there are a couple, and it was, you know, in an article recently, that there are a couple schools that are ready starting that or exploring that with their staff and putting that in place. Um, ongoing training always going to have to happen, community conversations, and that's some of the collaborations of what does that look like and how do we support our families around that? And I mentioned this before, I learned advisory, so applications will be going out soon. So, we're going to reimagine what that looks like and make sure that that kind of comes with um the future. Yeah. [clears throat] And the next steps are a lot of those things I talked to kind of implementing those things and and so on. So I will uh leave
217that there but I will stop and ask any questions. >> Yeah. >> Um thank you for this. Uh and it was nice to hear that some of the folks that have been expressing concerns appreciated the engagement. I don't have a question so much, but um I think it would be great as these action steps get implemented to just get updates along the way and also push those out to the community as well. >> Maybe you're thinking about that already. But anyway, I think we're interested [snorts] to do >> I was gonna say related to that, it might be good to consider. I know. Uh board member has not been on iLearn in the past, but in this case because it's heightened. >> Mhm. >> I consider putting a board member on that. >> Yep. >>
218And yes, I'll volunteer. So, [laughter] >> you were on there before you were >> I already filled out the application for like way back when. [clears throat] >> I'm a friend. >> I feel like a man asking the question that's the elephant in the room. So when we went one to one, K through K through 2 grade didn't have iPads. They had them in the classrooms on the cards, but they didn't take them home >> and they stayed there. Are we ever considering um and I know this may be a curriculum/technology question, but are we considering going back to that >> where they just stay at home or or excuse me, stay at school? Mhm. >> Um, so I think that's that's kind of that conversation that I'm having with with Tanda. I think there's
219more conversations to like and I've had informally with principles, with teachers. >> I mean, you gave good at home and I think it isn't [clears throat] every day. So, especially for a K2 that the carts are there, they need to be secured. They need to be charged obviously, but there's access for that currently and infrastructure in place to do that. So that is likely where we're going to end up landing because there are >> some families that need that. Correct. >> Okay. >> Yeah. And we've added assessment needs that those devices meet when we made them switchers that uh now they don't have to take them home but the one they weren't one to one either um before co um they were classes and they would share carts at times. Now >> K through K
220through two was >> K through two, right? They had carts, right? >> They had courts and they were >> three to five was one to one, >> but we went one to one. Yeah. For co we do >> and we stayed there and some of that assessment then followed because they had the access to the class. >> Okay. >> So it's hard to pull that >> back into it is are from an assessment standpoint or a family needs standpoint are we evaluating that on a year to on a yearly basis? >> I think that's that piece of over these next three or four years. I mean there there's a lot of value in it. So the conversation of like what the device I'm not downplaying the cost of the device or anything like that. I
221think there are a lot of things that can do. But I think as you look at this over a 5year period that turn on what that can be even in a balanced not spending hours on that device. there are still valuable standards and things that we're growing and learning and and teaching the students and having them see them build those skills from even in kindergarten first second grade. So then when they do get to third and fourth in the middle school that some of those core skills um are there but again under the guidance and kind of instruction of staff and helping teach that as well. Um, so I would say like that's probably more down the road if that were something that we wanted to explore. But I think the value is there and
222even if it was a shared model which was a conversation which was what was done before it was like one cart. The problem with that is then one teachers using them [clears throat] and they're not using them like then the other ones don't get that in that grade level as much as often and then it's [snorts] ends up being where they just don't use it at all. And there are certain there are certain interventions and some of that personalized learning that then starts to go away and it looks differently or is not as accessible for for students or for staff to be able to manage that. >> I don't know if that answers your question. >> I mean yeah it did. >> Okay. >> Good. Good job. Um, so I was thinking about the the
223one um person who commented about the kids doing like the your band on the Google slides with each other and I'm dating myself, but I was like, "Oh, it was like the slam books back in the day." So, these are things that kids are have been doing. Um, but I was curious and I don't know if you can answer this because it crosses over to but I was curious if our curriculum or elsewhere they talk about like what cyber I mean we talk about bullying but also like what cyber bullying is and obviously the kids aren't texting each other in the same ways that middle schoolers are but it's still the same idea right so I was wondering if we address that and then kind of connected to that um is also whether we have
224conversations with kids obviously in developmentally appropriate ways about like tech being potentially harmful. Um, and I know like household to household that sometimes happens. Um, but it would be interesting to kind of have a cumulative effect of kids being aware. Like I'm listening to an audio book right now about like boys in schools and all the ways that boys are really falling behind. And I don't know if I agree with everything, but there is a lot around like technology and video games and things. um as well as like the pushing down of academics into younger younger grades. Um so it's just gotten me thinking. So sorry that was multiart. So kind of the cyber bullying and then also like whether we whether we teach kids about kind of like digital literacy awareness >> on purpose.
225Yes, we do. Um like we can always do it more often and ongoing, right? So, but there there is a number of things that I know is embedded in with some of the teacher librarians when they go in there as well as like call it boot camp. I don't know. I don't necessarily love that at the start of the year but like I mean but that's there there are a number of lessons that we have but it's then what do you do six weeks in six months in and then we kind of come back to that. I know that there are retachings when something happens that there's conversations that maybe do at a grade level or within a class that that would happen. But um I think we could always continue to be better about
226that and and those are some resources for how do we continue to build that out? >> Um and some of the like community conversation like I know some buildings have done that but it hasn't been like consistent across all of our schools but how do we build that into some consistency? Um, and we just we have the communicating going to what Gavin said like how do we do these actions that I communicate out to families and we need to do that. We that's an area we definitely can be better and I know I said that a year ago. It's just like with everything where do we do that in the center and focus our work to make sure that that is a priority. >> We had a parent university about some of this. I mean
227>> just because like I'm always like >> probably not directly to this but um I think there's been again some of the schools have brought in guest speakers to talk specifically around this. I don't just >> I know they've done it at the middle school, but like I'm just always really disturbed by how early people start putting screens in like babies hands and I don't and and sometimes it's just like I just need a minute like again sometimes it's just survival but I also don't know if sometimes people are aware of like the long-term cumulative effects of that that it might be >> I don't know it might be something to consider for like a parent you or really trying to help people understand like the long-term potential harms of some of this as it
228builds. >> Yeah. >> Maybe a collaboration with child collaboration with child. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Um so I had similar questions to where Jung was going in that sometimes like if we were to if we implement some of this stuff we're kind of for some K through K and one they're going to feel like it was taken away from them because they've just experienced it. Sometimes you make something more enticing >> when you decide that it's no longer okay. >> And so I I I hear you on the parent angle, but I was even thinking on the kid angle. We I think >> even young kids, there's probably a way in a developmentally appropriate way to start educating them. Not just on like cyber bullying and >> you know, whatever picture you post right now,
229your future employer is going to find, but more about like, >> you know, if you you have to like start to think about your screen time when you're young. and I, you know, be out being outside like making those kinds of little choices like it's more fun to be with friends than to be on your screen with your friends. >> Um, some kind of I mean I don't I'm sure there's some kind of formal stuff but even just >> the conversation about why we're taking them away like >> nobody's really p you're not being punished. You didn't do anything wrong, right? Like things like that before cuz some of those kids are going to feel like you know why why did we lose this? We had this all last year and >> and just conversations
230in general about, you know, your brain's going to turn to mush, so we're taking it away um in better way. >> You said mommy's on her phone. >> I was saying, [laughter] >> well, I was about to say, yeah, you know, there's, you know, those are things when you talk about your developing brain, right? like well and also you know encouraging people to do a screen free day every you know once a week or >> whatever like let's do a screen free day in the district where everyone take you know screen free for you know things like that that make it um a little more community building around >> the idea um I will say from on the boys perspective I do find that once we can get this weather to break and the biking
231starts and like they're just out there's outdoors it's there's also like a seasonal thing to it for a lot of kids and not all kids. Some kids are very screen dependent even in the summer. But some of this is we know it's cold outside and they're not biking to each other's houses and they're not going outside and playing with neighborhoods. So maybe even adjusting things seasonally and being just highly aware of that. >> I feel like they did an episode of Abbott where they tried to do it and the adults failed the thing. >> Um my question I'm a proud park mom. My kids hate it with all their life, but I bring it up because there's a feature that I really love that I can do like bedtime and so they can't access anything.
232So, I'm just wondering are there apps like that that you guys are considering? I know Barky can put on Apple or Android. And so, I can I have screen time, school time, free time. And so, at 8:00 every night, all I hear is the ah mom and I'm like, it's time to start winding down. So I think for the parents to the point about the balance >> if there was an opportunity for parents to say okay now you're at home I'm turning it off but it's still there still charging if they needed it parents can >> I forgot to do my homework um when it's time to go to bed then you can put it back on but if there's something that parents can monitor and it's like I said I I can do work
233from my phone my husband can do it from his phone we can say who they can It's just a lot of things that we can do and it doesn't have to be park but an app like that where you can kind of control. >> Yeah. And so security has it. Um again there we've been with them for a long time. There's good or bad things with it. Uh but we are pivoting to a style K12 that would still have that availability. Uh on iPads or on iPads the screen time can do that. Um, but we made sure that when we moved to aerosol, there are some of those things you do securely that you could pause the internet. You can turn it off. Doesn't have to be on that device. You could do it from
234your account on a browser on your cell phone, on an iPad, whatever. That would be the same type of thing with Aristotle. And again, that's fully acknowledging the conversations like some people are just not aware still of that. So making sure that everybody's fully aware as we go to this next year and communicating and saying here are the tools but like trying to really simplify that because there's so much information that goes out >> to like here are the things that it is and here are the quick resources of how to do this and how we can and then consistently put that out. I would say that parent teacher the the welcome night the curriculum night um send out a video like >> you could also talk as part of like discussions with community what's
235opt- in what's opt out >> I mean some of it maybe it's opt in automatically before it shuts off at 8 p.m. And then parents can make a decision to opt out. Yeah. And I our our plan for Aristotle is to right now with securely parents have to ask for the parent portal in the in uh the what we're doing with Aristotle is we're building all the parent portals right away and we are going to push out to all the parents their information to create those. And I would um now that I'm hearing the feedback here, that's going to come with a video, how to do this, how to set up your your um your schedule cuz you can schedule up saying, "Hey, 8:00 to 6:00 a.m. It's off." Um across both device, uh both
236types of devices and we can we can just have a checklist for parents like that. And yeah, I like that feedback down here and here. We'll implement that. All right, Michael, you got four more things you're going to bring us through. >> Um, all right. This is the copier, I think. >> Yep. 9.4 copier RFQ contract. >> All right. So, memo's there. You have access. So, every 5 years, uh, we've got a 5-year contract. We were up for it. We went out to our PRFQ. um had a number of I believe it was five different vendors that supplied proposals um and again for everybody this is also print shop and in our buildings um did a huge process for this probably what five years six years ago and had a number of stakeholders and we
237continue to get feedback from it um so the solution proposal that we have here is going to be pretty similar proposal um we've sized things a little bit different specifically in the print shop. Um I know we've talked with core construction there's certain materials that have to be ordered with it so we're not printing some of those things. Also our um plan to think about sustainability and how do we print less and do that. We kind of support some of those actions as well. Things at the buildings though they'll have very similar speeds and and size and capacity of of the fleet of copers. Number-wise, it'll be about a 12,000 about $13,000 increase annually um from the last five year, but it is from the 10 years ago. It is still a decrease from that
238time because of some of the changes that we did and some of the time error. Yeah. With it. So, it is remaining with Canon. Our recommendation is to remain with Canon. Um that's based off of the process and everything. EV valuations that we went through. >> Any questions? >> One quick question. If we are successful in getting people to print fewer things for sustainability reasons, do you anticipate these costs going down or are they pretty much just fixed? So part of what we did, we do have um and that 12,000 does include the overages that we have paid for in the last five years, but we took what that number is, what it has been for the last 5 years, it's already built into what we have budgeted. Uh but we left the numbers at
239our CO numbers. We weren't pretty much at all. So, we assume we are going to have overages every year and we'd rather do that so that that number stays lower and that was different than the original five-year contract that we had. >> So, we have some of that built in and we're talking through with the task force a little bit like what incentives can we provide to schools that meet certain targets or certain things and cut those costs. Um, so >> all right. annual 9.5 annual contracts expend. We have the school year 27 operations tech contracts type memo. Yes. So what I put in there uh I know this and we talked about a little bit today. There's a number of processed kind of as we go through this. All of these would come to
240you before the the last that summer meeting in June. So we have a number of them that have been compiled. uh police officer safety ones, HR, uh core instruction, student services. So, this one got in there. So, what I would say right now, especially out of time, all of them will be in the board packet the next time within seeking approval on that June board meeting. >> All right. So, this is just like kind of give you a couple examples of that and then we'll come back and we'll also include it. Make sure you have it on any Friday update. So you'll have a plenty of time for the June meeting, but we will come back as a whole and we can talk about it at the next meeting. So this is just the start
241of that process and we're working through some things. We didn't get some of them back from some of the vendors. So that's why we're working through. So nothing to unless there are questions or things that you guys have kind of >> anything immediate. Okay. Uh 9.6 crossing guard contract. >> Lucia, that's not Michael. You [laughter] >> sure you don't want to say Michael? [laughter] >> Good. >> Capital project. >> That's Crystal also. [laughter] >> I mean, Michael, if you want to say, >> but if you want to go home, that's fine, too. [laughter] >> So, um, good evening. Um, so the memo's up there. So, um, we are in June, uh, coming to the end of our, uh, two-year contract, uh, with, um, Andy Frame. That was the last, um, extension from the, uh, last,
242um, RFP, I believe, that was in place. And so, uh, we had to go out for a new, uh, RFP, which we did, and placed to add, and it was a journal in April. Um it closed May 1st and from that RFP uh we did get uh three proposals. One from Andy Crane and two from um two uh companies that uh do not operate in Illinois. So once um all of the proposals were received, I did uh review them and um based on the uh review, uh my recommendation this evening is that we continue with uh Annie Frame for a variety of reasons that I've highlighted. Um one is uh with an RFP, it allows us to uh it's different from a bid. We don't have to go with like the lowest um price, but
243it allows us to pick a um company that um really provides us um with um the best u needs for us, thinking about the safety of of our um community. And in evaluating all three proposals, again, frame to me rose to its top for a variety of reasons. uh primary factor is um their local presence um which allows them to respond very quickly um if there is an issue in addition to they've been servicing our community since 2010. So um 16 years is um a long time that they have been with us. They know our communities. They know our traffic patterns, our intersections. Um but in addition from a budgetary standpoint point uh Andy Fang's proposal was still the most competitive. Uh their uh hourly rate uh the basic rate was the lowest of all
244three of the companies and their over uh time rate set um in the uh in the middle of three companies that were u that submitted u proposal. So I own Michael. So, um, Michael, >> I've already asleep, so that means it's time to go. [laughter] Just kidding. So, basically, um, the, uh, Annie Frank is willing to enter into another, um, two-year um, contract um, with us. Um, the rates that they gave us uh, represent a 4% increase over the the last two years um, contracts. Um, and I asked about what if we wanted to enter into a uh just a yearly contract and of course they said the be a 3% less you increase per year. So by [clears throat] entering less you into the multi bless you year contract it does uh provide the
245district with um cost savings um overall and um again uh I will continue to work with them to uh make sure that uh we are um receiving the highest level of service and I have found that they're very responsive when there's issue a parent issue I call we have meetings um they address situations um very quickly um the the supervisors go out and um stand on the post themselves if um you know someone does does not show up. So they're very responsive to our safety needs and our concerns. Um the cost uh for the next two years representing um $431,072 is the projected for uh each uh for school year 27 and school year 28. And that represents a supervisor um 38 uh crossing guards at 30 sections. We have six sess um posts that
246um are really busy intersections. So multiple crossing [snorts] guards are assigned to um those posts and we've continued to refine those over the years. So, um if uh the board um is okay with my recommendation, I would work with our legal counsel who also review all three proposals uh alongside with me [snorts] and bring forth a um contract proposal for the um next board meeting to enter into a two-year contract with Andy. This time, I'll take any questions. I have a very quick comment that does not need to be discussed tonight because it's 10 o'clock. Um and it is just it would be nice as part of this to be um as folks mentioned earlier coordinating with village park and the safe streets pieces on how um it you know whatever connections we can make
247between things that the crossing guards are seeing that fall under the village oak parks >> purview um to just make sure that we are creating the safest paths for our students. >> Oh sure. So um the um >> but that's not part of the contract. So >> um true. I did not mention in my memo. However, um I am in regular communication with the transportation engineers. Um they are having initiatives for life safety um improvements around our schools. And at the beginning of the school year, um myself and um the representatives of Andy Crane did meet with the traffic engineers and we reviewed every crossing guard um intersection and information was shared with them about some of [snorts] the things that the crossing guards um have seen that they do um take note of that.
248I also have regular communications with the [snorts] um police department and we talk about traffic patterns and when I call they come out um but you know as soon as they leave and behavior uh returns to what it was before. So uh there have been concerns that expresses sometimes a lot of times it'll come from parents. Um sometimes it comes >> [snorts] >> uh via the principles from a parent and um the police department and even the traffic engineers have been very um responsive to listening to concerns and you know putting up signs in front of schools making we have discussion about some schools making um the um the street in front of the school a oneway um whether it's you know permanently or through uh you know school hours. um when school is in
249session and you have to talk to the residents and they have their whole process that they go through to uh make that happen. But they've been very receptive over the past several years and in in working with us to address um concerns that uh we have brought to their attention. >> Okay. Thank you. >> All right. 9.7 resolution authorizing transfer of Oh wait. I can't read it. >> Anyone has any I don't know if anyone has any questions just happens every year. >> No. >> Sorry. >> You know what? [laughter] >> All right. including items, board remarks. >> Anybody? >> I have some something. >> Make a sweet. >> Sure. I'll make it quick. Um, so I'm disappointed with the position direction that sounds like we're going to go on DC. I think we're establishing
250a trip that will I feel like we like are trying to wipe our hands of the inequity, but we're just kind of condoning an inequitable situation where some people will still go to DC and then other kids won't. I hope that we make an Illinois trip that's a really great experience. That's really what matters. But I can see kids um who can afford it going on that trip that's school sponsored and then going on another trip. Also, um I think the value of the trip is more than $50,000. I know that that's what we've said we're we've spent, but I my recollection is not that I had asked that we put up the amount we spent on each trip and how many kids went, but I don't I haven't seen that information yet. um and
251compared to the learning that's accomplished on the trip. I I would be in favor of considering more of an investment. Um I do hope though that as someone who's worked really hard to be inclusive in DC in multiple settings, including helping years when I wasn't that seventh grade year when I didn't even have a kid that was involved. Um I hope the district helps eliminate barriers financial comfort with a program conducted away from school with with parents some other parents aren't going to know. kids that might have acute needs medically or other kinds of needs related to social and emotional aspects um that they the district still provides support. So if those parents do want to send their kids that they can um they can feel comfortable that the school will help them out. Um
252I know one of the most rewarding things uh going on one of the years was the kids with special needs enjoying them themselves on this trip with their friends. Um, and it would be unfortunate if we end up on a trip where none of those kids get a chance to go. So, I I don't think that we're um by not participating in it, I don't think that we're actually living up to the equity policy. Um, but I do understand that the challenges associated with it and um maybe you know just hope that we can still support any families that want to go um even if it's a if it's a private trip and and help them out as their needs are their needs are met. >> Thank you, Holly. Anybody else? I'm Harriet like she
253about to kill me. Um committees fact Gavin Nope. >> All right. Fourth. >> Nope. >> Uh, sustainability. >> Nope. >> Policy. >> Um, we're going to talk about policy next time. >> Yeah. >> Collab. Uh, we have um blast off to kindergarten coming up on May 17th. That day. >> Yes. Okay. Thank you. Um, tomorrow I am getting up at 5:30 in the morning to head down to Springfield for uh early childhood action day. Um, going to talk to folks about perhaps supporting things like the collab and other spaces and supporting the collab. Um, and finally, they will be coming in as is on the agenda to talk to us about our contributions which they have been teasing up at our last um tri board meeting and at other meetings. So, uh, be prepared for
254some spreadsheets. >> All right. Uh, CG has not met since last time. I go >> Oh, that's me. Sorry. Um, yes. Uh, I'm I'm going to say we can wait on that one until next week. >> Okay. Uh, OPF. >> Um, we are meeting Wednesday. >> All right. Uh, a PR of community council. >> Um, okay. Uh, parent teacher advisory council. We're meeting on the 20th. All right. Uh, PCSC met yesterday. We talked about um the tech issue. We also talked about better communication and collaboration with the board of education. We talked about um Amanda like I wrote down notes. I promise you I did but I can't find them now. Oh, tech communications. Um and then uh we talked about the opportunity for the to meet with the new superintendent. Um anything I'm missing?
255>> Um just reminders about blast off. Um all eight of our elementary schools will be there. Uh district will be there. We'll have lots of fun. Um, it's always a really good >> machine. >> I heard it's broken, >> but I still I shouldn't say that because it may discourage people. >> I was like, I'm not. >> I just said the count. >> Yeah, if you can swing by. It's It's really Ed. Uh, no. No. All right. Um, next thing, uh, looking at the, um, proposed items for next time. Um, so I, there's a lot of these items that we just went over fast. I'm assuming they'll go on the consent agenda. If we, if and and I guess I think the only thing is if we put some of these contracts that are larger
256on a consent agenda, we have to make sure we put the dollar amount. But I think that some of these ones that we talked about, I would suggest we consent agenda. >> I was going to say I think actually we should start digging more into the consent agenda because there have been times they missed stuff. We missed stuff. So um I guess like make it that concerted effort to review the consent agenda and write down questions. I know I'm I'm not that great at that, but I am going to make a a effort to ask more questions. But everybody because there may some things I don't know about and or know to ask. Thank you. >> Well, and if there are questions, we should just pull it off aenda and put it on the regular
257agenda. >> Yeah. >> Um, all right. So, I don't want to bore you by reading the proposed items, but >> I will just throw in that early childhood collab um collaboration for early childhood, the contribution review, because that is complex, there are a lot of documentations that will be coming with that. They are more than willing to meet with anyone to talk about it to answer any questions obviously at the table but in advance if you're there are questions that you have on it please feel free [snorts] I