Regular Meeting - Oct 28 2025

001on the road. >> Kirby >> here. >> Kim not here. Perez >> not here. >> Moore here. Spurlock here. Ross Driven >> here. Johnson here. >> Can we um would can we uh change the order of the agenda? >> Yes. >> Okay. because we have um Rob I don't know if he's on the phone yet. Is he on the phone? >> Are you going to do public comment first? >> Public comment first. >> You want to do public comment? I'm sorry. >> Yeah. Sorry. >> I don't know if he come on. >> I'm sorry. I didn't know. >> Just keeping track of time. >> I am. >> Okay. Is it five minutes? >> Five minutes. Okay. 3 minutes. >> 3 minutes. Yes. In the present. So, I like the artwork from the Julian students out

002in the hallway. Very nice. Last May, I had a great time at Julian as a presenter for career day. I was concerned, however, about a couple things I saw inside the building. I saw a poster very likely created by a student that said, "Bans offer bodies." And then noted, "Planned Parenthood helps women get abortions." It's disheartening to me that this kind of sentiment is President Julian that someone would think abortions are healthc care somehow a measure of female empowerment and would regard Planned Parenthood as worthy of support. From the moment of conception, we are each a unique living human person deserving protection. Abortion kills the innocent and it furthermore does both physical and psychological harm to the mothers. Planned Parenthood is an organization that seeks to profit only by killing babies through abortion leaves mothers

003hurt. I'm wondering what info is being presented to students that would prompt the creation of such a poster. I would hope that students would work to provide real solutions for those in crisis pregnancies like fletching diapers as happens at my home parish. It would be a sign of it would be a great opportunity to pull the dignity of moms and their children. This poster instead is to me a sign of sewing confusion. And that brings me to something else concerning. Before my presentations, I went to use the washroom and I saw a dispenser of female menstrual hygiene products inside a male washroom. And I saw the same dispenser when I used a male washroom inside Brooks when I was serving there as an election judge. And I thought I had stepped into the Twilight Zone

004that a public school would seek to sew confusion in students and cause them to think their biological gender is just a social construct and can be done away with on a whim based on how they feel about their bodies if they feel like they were born in the wrong body. It's time for us to consider that we are all created in God's image with dignity as male and female. A design that is meant to reveal God in the world in a specific complimentary way. Because this reality is embedded deep within us, no one can truly claim to be born in the wrong body. Some may claim that what I say is a religious viewpoint has no place in public schools. However, removing God from schools does not create a neutral vacuum. Another world view will

005replace it. And that's what I'm seeing with this pro parenthood poster. Female menstrual product dispensers and male washrooms and pride flags all over the school. Not to mention Dr. Shaw's remarks about Pride Month when she spoke at the eighth grade graduation ceremonies back in June. I don't [snorts] think promoting such an ideology is helping anyone, let alone students, especially those who are struggling and need real compassion. Furthermore, I think about the district 97 middle school students I teach religious education who this constant school 5 days a week. I do my part in class to help them see the truth. And as a alumnest of this district, I care about the students here that they will know their great worth and god-given dignity and can live with great purpose. And I hope you will do your

006part to put an end to this erroneous ideology in the schools and affirm the inherent dignity of all students. Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy. Amen. Thank you for your time. The back is just something else >> and aar >> good evening. Um I'm here on behalf of my wife. Um my wife is aguire. She works as the administrator over at Brooks. Um she's asking for a leave of absence. Last week we came across a family crisis. She was kind of nervous asking for it because she wasn't sure whether she was going to get it or not. Um, all I can say is uh she's been a very uh committed employee to this district

007for over 24 years. I don't think there's anybody in this district that knows of her that can question that. And uh I'm not sure if you'll approve her leave of absence, but I just wanted to make sure to let you know that it it's it's not without merit that she's gone. um this what we are going through is not easy and not your typical situation but all I can say is that she's responding as a typical mom would do is take care of her kid which is our son who is also a came to district 97 well he went to Brooks went to OPRF and um she's doing what she needs to do to help our family go through this event Um there is also grandchildren that are involved and all I can say is

008even though she comes home sometimes a little stressed of her job duties um taking care of all the subs and filling in everybody but you know nevertheless she comes in or she goes into work every day. she does her job to the, you know, to to the highest regard from any of the principles that she's worked for. And I just hope that this board considers the sleep of absence more than, you know, serviceable for her for the 24 years that she's been there. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> All right. Have a superintendent or we do that. We we would like to change the agenda around a little bit. We have um Rob is going to be on the phone. He's actually out of town. Um and Crystal, if you want to come

009up and we're going to we're going to switch around 9.1, I think it is 9.2. And that's to accommodate Rob. Rob, are you there? >> No. Sorry. >> That's okay. I didn't get my links live, so They changed the cable on me. >> Do you want to pull this back? >> Pull anything back. >> I'm going to just shoot it right there. >> Here, I'll do it. I'll do it. Let's throw it. I know the last time I plugged a phone into a phone to be >> That's the last time I saw a phone jack like that. >> An Ethernet. Looks like >> Do you want to start with John or Yeah. Just get up some background. >> Okay. Is he there? >> No. >> Yeah. >> So, um I will certainly open up for

010any questions. Uh but I just wanted to say from from the memo that you received the one note that was not in the memo was there's two resolutions and the purpose of the two is to minimize the amount of the TAWS. So as much as we can transfer from working cash, we minimize that. Um so yes, that's the only difference of the memo. Did you have any questions? >> So, I'm just going to ask publicly one that I asked Rob privately so that people can hear it and that is to say this is the second time in my tenure here that we have had to do this and this is not on the board. It's Cook County not sending us the money that we are owed. Um, is this something we foresee happening more frequently?

011Um, or is this again just what we see as a one-off thing and we're not anticipating that this will continue? Um well it is the particular reason for this delay is a software they transfer their software um it's taken longer than they thought there's a lot of leg work from you know different you know the county the Cook County the clerk the treasurer so it's a big undertaking so I don't foresee this particular delay being the reason but it can happen and so as we talked about I want to say in August that's why we want to try our best to get to six months because the truth is if we had six months cash on hand, we would be fine >> or at least very close to fine. And so our working cash could

012have covered it. So I think >> the best we can do is be prepared that there would as long as we're relying on other entities for funds for revenue, we should have enough on hand to handle that. >> So I mean that opens and I don't think that's what you're Can we just introduce Rob real quick? >> Hi Rob. Rob, are you there? >> Yes. Hi. [clears throat] >> Good evening everybody. I'm a little cold. Sorry. >> Okay. Sorry. Um, if we're so our policy is 3 to 6 months. So, not that we should do that at this meeting, but if we think we really should have six months, then we should change our policy because right now six months is the top. >> It's 3 to six months. >> Yeah. Range. It's a range,

013not >> right. With the top. So, if it maybe should be 3 to nine months, right? So, that or six to six to nine months instead of 3 to six months. >> Yeah. I I I think that I think that um [clears throat] especially being a school district in Cook County that we have this unique uncertainty of the day tax collections are due that raises the um the need to consider at least raising that u that top number. >> Agreed. And a district our size is different than another district. like we receive a lot of revenue and the cash flow is a big deal when you're this size for what we need to pay at the beginning of the year and the cash flow that you have for expenses in a school district. It's just

014a little harder to manage. >> Correct. You you you and you're all Yeah. So, a school district like yours, not only in Cook County, but also being dependent on real estate tax revenues and not state and federal revenues, um, makes it even more so because your district, you know, maybe 75 80% of your revenues come from real estate and you're in Cook County, um, you know, in southern Cook County, for example, they're subject to the uncertainty of tax collections, but maybe only 30% of their money comes from real estate taxes, and they're getting large evidence-based funding payments every month to help with their cash flow. >> Correct. >> Crystal, >> yes. >> Just for folks that may be watching and have no idea what we're talking about, would you mind just giving like a quick

015overview of what the issue is that we're solving for? >> Sure. So, the property taxes are typically due September 1. They are delayed. And so, that revenue that we would typically be receiving from August to now, we haven't received. They still don't have a firm date. And the firm earliest firm date is December 1, but it could be as late as the end of January. Um, to give you a rough estimate, if that if we don't receive funds very quickly, we would be at a fund balance of $114,000 by the end of November. That doesn't make anything for us. Um, we would then receive some of our we haven't been to be proactive. I have not been reinvesting any uh, you know, investments that have come uh, available. So we just haven't we kept them

016liquid but we'll get some more in December but then if we this continues at the end of January we'd be about -14 million. So in order to do uh you know to make sure that we can make our payroll and and AP and different things obligations that we have we have the choice of either liquidating our investments or tax anticipation warrants based on the finances of a tax anticipation warrant that's about 5%. liquidating our investments. There's one particularly large investment that right off the bat you're talking $50,000 and with a ton of CDs, you're talking close to $200,000 that it would cost us to liquidate. Now, it's not too much difference, but TAWWS might cost us about 150. But the difference with the TAWs, as soon as we get the money, we can, you know,

017prepayment penalty, we can we can minimize that. But a CD or any of our large investments once we break it we break it and then we've lost it. One of it's unfortunate but one of our largest ones is like year out. So we are breaking it early and it's costing us a fortune. So the most efficient and you know responsible I'd say longterm and short term are the TAWs. And if something happens and we don't have to do it now this and keeping in mind this is a potential in my perfect world. We're going to manage we're going to pay bills as you know close to 30 days as possible. We're going to hope that we have all of the money that we receive in other revenue and we don't have to do to do

018the warrants. But this is a proactive plan that if we do it, we got to do it next month or in November. So, um, in essence, this is the most effective way that's most timely and costefficient. Thank you. >> I have any questions, [snorts] but thank you. And I was actually talking to a board member from New York and they're doing the same thing. Are they using the same software? >> No, they're not. [laughter] I was just saying like what's happening on your school board? Um, so she said they're doing the same thing. They're actually dipping into their reserve so that they um don't have to use they don't have to like borrow and take those penalties. So it's not just click county or it's just not Illinois or park. We're going to work toward

019that having reserves. >> Rob, were you saying something? >> No. Think that was perfect. You said it very well. >> You want to take a vote or we going to just take we going to vote on the next one or this? >> Uh the resolutions, there's two resolutions. One would be for the working cash and one would be for the tax participation. >> Discussion and action. >> Yeah. >> But do you have any questions on the working cash fund? So you want to give just like a quick overview of that? >> So the working cash we have a pro there's a there's a formula. So what you have in your working cash a percentage of that can be used to transfer. You do need permission from the board to transfer from working cash. So that's

020what the permission for this resolution is is to transfer that to the ed fund. And then the other uh resolution is the actual anticipation warrants or tax anticipation warrants to to go ahead and issue because it's like going out for bond. You got to issue you got solicit. So that's what the two different resolutions are for. Can I get a motion? >> Right. So, >> yeah. So, so you the on December 1st, you have a principal and interest payment on your referendum bonds. The taxes generated to pay make that payment are the taxes collected in March and the second collection. So, since we haven't received the second collection for the you so for the same reasons, we would have to move some money over to make that December 1st payment. [clears throat] But both of

021these are a product of the delay of Cook County taxes. And and while the while the working cash fund um action will happen no matter what because even if the due date was December 1st, the taxes really don't start coming in till after that. Um we will not pull the trigger on a tax dissipation warrants until the time comes that the fund the district is going to go negative. So only if that happens will the uh tax dissipation warrant issue happen. Um but if if funds do come in before then we just won't even execute the work the tax dissipation warrant and the district would not incur any fees related to that. >> And and and yes right is with the the working cash would be to the bond and interest the taxpipation would be

022to fund. >> Thank you. >> I move that are we ready for a motion? Did you say >> I move the board of education district 97 approve the resolution authorizing the issuance of not to exceed $12 million in taxable tax anticipation warrants in anticipation of the collection of taxes levied for this the year 2024 by the board of education of the district for educational purposes and authorizing the sale of said warrances warrants to the purchaser thereof. Second. Second. >> Kernney. >> Yes. >> Sperlock. >> Yes. >> Ros Striven. >> Yes. >> Her Johnson. >> Yes. >> I move that the board of education. Is that everyone? >> Is that everyone? >> Yes. >> I move that the board of education of elementary school district 97 approve the resolution loaning funds from the working cash fund

023to the bond and interest fund. >> Second. Ross Driven, >> yes. >> Kernney, >> yes. >> Spurlock, >> yes. >> Her Johnson, >> yes. >> Moore, >> yes. >> Thank you. >> All right. Now, we're going to go to update even though I wasn't on there this time. Um, you know, [snorts] at the last meeting we talked a lot about um our safety all of our safety plans and our protocols that are in place um districtwide and we've had some some things that they're going to talk about that have occurred um recently and we thought it was really important that we give the perspective from a building level so that parents have more assurance about what actually is happening in the building. So Felicia and Patrick are going to review some of the protocols. >>

024Yeah. Uh thank you for having us. We're here tonight to um give an update to the board on um our safety at district 97 and how we are continuing to provide support to our staff, our students, and our families. And as many of you are aware, as well as the community, there has been several um reports of ice activity in the Chicagoland area and nearby suburbs, including ICE, I'm sorry, including Oak Park. Um and we know that these reports have caused concern and anxiety in many of um our community members, including our teachers and um parents. And so we just want to take the time to acknowledge those feelings and let everyone know that their safety is our top priority. >> And in light of this, uh we've received several thoughtful questions from our staff

025and our families regarding our safety um procedures and um how we respond to situations um such as what Patrick um mentioned that recently have happened in our community. And we really do appreciate um that partnership um with our families and our staff. and we want to provide reassurance of the steps that we take in situations like that to ensure that we have a safe safe, welcoming and supportive environment for um our students, our staff and our families. Um so, as many of you know, we've spent the last several years putting several safety procedures in place, guidelines. We um drill uh run drills every year with our students and our staff. We have training every year for our students and our staff. We have the poster, the ID badges. We remind staff to wear their vest

026when they're outside so that we know who's on the playground. We have um our visitors sign in. We ask people to wear our D badges and we ask teachers, you know, not to prop doors open. And so we've taken several steps over the past several years to ensure that um our students are safe. Uh most recently we had an incident in the community around one of our schools and they did exactly as they should have done and enacted one of our standing response uh protocols um to make sure that um our our students were u safe inside of the building. So uh we were really happy about that. They responded just as they should. We got a lot of positive feedback from the community um about that. So, we will continue to um practice and

027and and and refine and and and put things in place um to ensure that our our schools are safe for um our staff and families and um our visitors as well. >> And just to kind of give an example of what that may look like in practice. So when we get a report of something from one of our schools um say it's one of our elementary schools um that administrator um will reach out to Felicia and myself. Felicia and I for example um that's um take one of the schools. We both um went to the school together with the administrator walked around the perimeter of the school and as the team decided what are the next steps that we needed to take. Do we enact one of our safety protocols or was it okay to

028resume with the rest of the day as normal? Um, keeping the safety of our staff and students uh as top priority. Once we determine what are the next steps and then we determine do we need to collaborate with any other departments here at district office. For example, Amanda, do we need to get in contact based on the next step? Do we need to send any communication out to our staff? Do we need to send any communication out to the community? And as a team, we're doing all of this really quickly because we know that there's a lot of different moving pieces that's happening at once. And we want to make sure that if there's things that we need to get out to staff, we get that out to staff so they're feeling secure in the

029building because they're in front of students. And if there's things that we need to get out to the community, we get that out to the community. If we need to enact one of our safety measures, we do that as soon as possible. So, these things are all happening um as an administrative team and we're trying to make sure we're doing that really quickly together as a team based on all of the safety measures that we already have in place. And so that's the training, that's all of the things that we have in place and that's what we have been doing um recently with everything that has been happening within the community. >> But our standard response protocol really is designed to respond to any type of emergency that we have. However, um specifically for ICE,

030um we do um did provide our front office staff with specific instructions regarding what they are to do um if um an ICE official were to show up at their school. So, in addition to our stand response protocols, we gave additional information um very specifically to our staff um run out of staff regarding that. I just want to say thank you. Especially the piece about how to talk to kids because that has been something a few uh parents have reached out like how do I explain this to my kids and I see people saying like I don't feel safe with my child walking back and forth to school and they but they have to work right. So um I I appreciate that part in there. Um, is there one of the questions I've kind of

031gotten, um, do you contact like is it like something that goes out to all schools? Like if there's a ICE sighting at Whittier, do all the schools get notified? Um, how does that work? >> Not necessarily. Um, and it also depends on the proximity to the school. I mean, one of our schools, we had something happen like right at the intersection of the school. So, we did notify that school. uh we um notify OPRF and then the other schools in district 97 knew as well for if there is something that maybe something that's happening in the community um we had one of those um this week um it wasn't it was like several blocks from the school so a notification did go out to that school um that school's community but it did not go

032out um you know districtwide and and earlier this year Amanda um sent out a like communication protocol and we really do follow that and looking at who is most impacted. So if we just contact sometimes it's we just contacting a classroom about something that happens. So we really do look to that protocol to see who may be most impacted, who may need to know that information, what community partners may need to know and it just kind of depends on the situation. And school leaders have also sent out communications to their staff just saying that please be aware that as things happen, you will be notified if it impacts our school community. And [clears throat] so if it impacts our school community, we will send something out to you letting you know what has occurred and

033how we need to proceed. But in the meanwhile, we just all need to be vigilant, >> active supervision outside, keeping on your vest. If you see something, let someone know. And so, making sure that we're doing everything we need to do, but also know that if something is happening within the school community, we will let impacted individuals know. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. Did your transformation go up? It's under. >> Okay. Awesome. >> Thank you. [snorts] >> Okay. All right. All right. So, good evening. Uh thank you for the opportunity to share with you uh some updates uh that are happening in middle school. So my name is Luis Leon. I'm the assistant superintendent of middle schools. >> April warriority the principal of Brooks. >> Nick Philipski the principal

034at Julian. So today we're going to be uh going through some framing at the beginning. Today we're going to be talking about some of the updates we learned about launch and social time the our [clears throat] intervention block uh the middle school connection and then we have opportunity to answer any questions that you might have. [snorts] So all of this uh that we're doing is is frame on the idea of that we're designing for all for all our students those learning experiences that they are so important for these uh important and crucial years in their their lives. So with that it's like how do we look through the through through this those experiences for our middle school in our middle school settings are is what we're trying to to problem solve around. So with with

035that uh the drivers on this is our equity policy best practices as as framed from the the um association for middle level education or known as AML and they are also framing on the what is considered best expresses for students which are those components like experiences that are responsive for those unique needs for students where their identity is reflected in those in those spaces. the that are challenging where students are actually had opportunity to to push themselves and really grow those experiences that are empowered where they have opportunity to take that ownership. Ownership is the key important component through that process that equitable that means about the access into those opportunities and that that is engaging that is actually relevant and interactive and that motivates the students to participate through this process. So as part

036of our process of redesign, you have seen some of the these priorities. These priorities were created by from feedback from our community, meaning uh our families, our students, our staff, and these are uh some of the priorities that we're going to be talking today. So we'll be talking about the launch experience, the consistency uh alignment between both of our middle schools that is very intentional and also how we are re-evaluating and redefining that time of u intervention and advisory and then with that also how we continue growing into that transition time between fifth grade and sixth grades. So, one of the places that we looked at this year with our master schedule redesign was at our lunch and social time and how we're making that more structured and supportive for our students. Um, one of

037the big changes um was for our campus specifically over at Julian um where in the past we have been having all of our social time um happen in front of our school right by Ridgeoint. Um, but with our shift in our master schedule, we increased our safety by getting those kids onto the field. Um, which has been a huge change, not only for their safety, but then also for the social interactions they're able to actually have when they actually have a space that's meant um for interacting, for playing games, for um so you if you ever u get to see um the field during the middle of the day, you will see the kids having a blast out there. Um, and it's great to see that they have that safe and supportive space for um,

038better supervision and better access to um, actually engage with each other in a social way. Um, we'll [clears throat] continue to collect some uh, feedback from our staff and from students um, about this and continue to be adaptable as we go throughout the year. We've also been looking at our uh purpose of our goal or our our sore and advisory time sorry and looked at uh creating that win um taking the structure that we have at our elementary schools and expanding it up into our middle schools for some consistency um but then making it middle school appropriate. Um this year we made sure that we aligned our practices um for win at both campuses. um our instructional coaches have been collaborating and supporting our staff and implementing that time um so that students are all

039see receiving what they need um as the name stands. Um so they have we've started tier 2 interventions during that time um and then tier one interventions throughout all of the win classes. Um and we'll talk a little bit more about that in a moment. Um but as we look uh towards also best practices and advisory which we know is a great uh important piece of middle school um we are starting actually tomorrow um a committee that's looking at how what does advisory look like for D97 and how might we um better incorporate those practices um in our current structure. Um so we will be looking at um our middle school um best practices through ANLE. Uh there's an advisory book which I believe um you guys will get copies um so that you can

040read along with us and go on that learning journey um as we look um to roll out uh the advisory structure for school year 28. Um as we're obviously having a lot of big changes at the middle school, we want to be um thoughtful and pace ourselves as well. um so that we do things um in a right and good way. >> Uh one as Nick mentioned uh talking about our intervention time uh one of the things that we've layered in is a focus on executive function. Um specifically we're using a curriculum um called Smarts Connect. Um Dr. Loftton had shared some information with all of you back in the spring. Uh we uh so the smarks connect helps students set goals, manage their time, think flexibly and take ownership uh of their learning. Students

041engage in a metaccog survey which helps them identify their areas of strength and opportunities for growth. Uh the teachers then use that um feedback from that survey to help organize lessons um that are will be connected to one of those um cogs you see on that graphic there. Uh in addition to uh our roll out of executive functioning win where we're focusing on two two days a week there'll be an explicit lesson. The other three days of the week students are implementing what they're learning. So, they're looking at their missing work, thinking about their strategies, um, and and all in that same class period with the teachers there to support. Um, in terms of what's next, every six weeks, we'll be checking on the progress of the students. We'll be looking at their missing assignments.

042We'll be looking at tardies. will be looking at their overall organizational um components and determining like do they need to continue or would it be helpful for them to move on to another uh win opportunity. Uh speaking more of uh when in addition to our executive functioning we have um our tier 2 support and reading and math. Um all of that is data driven. So after our STAR assessment uh window, we looked at the data and made some decisions about students that might need additional support in ELA or math, which they will get during the win period. Um we do hold benchmark meetings about every six weeks, similar to the elementary schools. Um and we make decisions based on how kids are progressing. Uh also doing win time. Uh we've sent out communication around our

043access to algebra opportunity. Uh that has a little difference this year where we're offering um kids to engage in that coursework during trimester 2 and trimester 3 and removing it from the summer. Um hopefully ensuring kids have more access uh than in the past. We're also uh going to be sending out communication for students to um opt into a modern African-American studies course which will be offered either they can engage for one trimester either trimester 2 or trimester 3. And we'll continue to support our teachers around our um Renaissance software which is our star software around our MTSS structures and continuing to look at and monitor how kids are doing. So with that uh also looking about those transitions and that was uh the second year that we run our middle school connection. Uh we

044took some of that feedback and that was very important about what about that we got from you from our community about how do we reach out to those families who maybe were not able to participate to ensure that that access was there. So I can tell you that we were able to actually contact every single family. We had an enrollment of 92% um of of our students participating in the program which was an increase from last year. We were in the 73 now 92. So that's a really significant increase. Uh our team worked really hard. We're proud of that. But also uh if you do the math you can you're going to see an increase of numbers. That means that there were some also new students who who signed up um some new students in

045our community and we were able even to reach out to them and that access for them to participate in this program. So also our staff uh were uh very consistent on on participation. Staff is very motivated and it was really good to see uh people wanted to come back and really participate. And also uh this year we were able to increase our student engagement uh our student ambassadors leaders. recently went from 12 to 16 and then with that uh defining we kept an eye on our numbers and enrollment demographics and making sure that nobody was left behind. So the highlights overall from our students uh there were like 12 12 activities that they participated in the course of these three days. Uh 97% of our students reported that middle school connections help them prepare for

046the sixth grade uh uh experience transition. Also 97% of the students reporting that the the highlight of actually being able to meet like make a new friend or or being able to connect with a teacher which was one of the major uh components from this program for them to feel that they belong. they don't feel like feel comfortable in the space and for some reason they they love the tail t that was like the biggest one and they really enjoy the tition. Um and then from the staff as well I won't read that for you but you can read it but uh for for this the highlight is about this is not only a connection for for our students but also for our staff with our staff with the students and between staff and staff

047and really this improving the culture in our sites as well. and that team approach, that collaboration time, people coming together for for the for what's best for kids and and you can see the spaces of staff are enjoying with the kids and definitely that was a very one of the highlights and really looking forward for next year. So with that some of the pieces that that we have identified as our next steps is uh continue improving that communication with our families that s day safety day is very important. We heard that from them as we were reaching out to those families who were not able to participate because they made commitments. So as soon as we know about the professional learning calendar that approval, we probably going to be jumping right away and communicating those

048dates to our families. Then also increasing the amount of uh access for surveys from our families. I think we didn't hear enough from our families. We want more more of the feedback or more constant opportunities for them to to provide that feedback. Also, we are want to explore that opportunity to use our power school system uh for enrollment. We actually find out that we were using the word registration for the program and there was some confusion in our community about oh I'm registering for the program but they thought they were registering for the school. So that was a lot of clarification from that from from that from that uh process. So we learned that maybe we shouldn't use the word registration. It should be used like sign in or enroll to or something like that.

049So that was one of the highlights but also being smart about it and utilizing their own system. So as they are able to to register they also kind kind of like two pairs with one stone in the sense of really being able to get two of the process done at once. So we want to spend some time in in exploring that opportunity and see if that that will pay off. And then also uh the continue serving our student ambassadors. Uh this year we're able to provide like a half day uh for uh our ambassadors to get a familiar. We pilot some activities at Brooks and we got really good feedback from that. We want to increase on that opportunity as well uh for our student ambassadors to be be more involved involved. And lastly, now

050that we have two years and we're seeing this difference and staff are reporting that they're seeing the difference in the building, we want to start being intentional about starting to look about the historical data about how what those trends are telling us and that what pieces that that that we uh were learning along the way. So this next summer coming up and that will be our our third year in a row. So we'll have a full cohort of students that went through this process as a middle school connection. And as the next steps overall for our for our middle school is continue working in these redesign projects. And now that we have a structure, we can want to start looking into those spaces and make those spa spaces import uh significant for students and really

051improving those learning experiences. Then also with that collective feedback uh mid year from our families about improvements, things that we need to be thinking about tweaking our schedule or our experiences. They are also important and then also continue uh building that consistency between both of our sites as we are rolling things up and we're implementing things. So with that we'll have uh this is some projected presentation doesn't mean that are the only ones uh definitely we can have more but these are the ones that we have already overseen about uh bringing in December 9 about student ownership uh talking about social emotional uh screeners uh social uh social science implementation you'll get an update and we'll be able to share with you that information as well and then teacher leadership roles CLA ELA resource review

052capabation update and the winner advisory update of the year of the work that we're just starting. And then with that, we just want to say thank you for your time and the opportunity and we're open for any questions. >> Thank you guys. Thank you. >> All right. Uh report all that. Um, approval search form con contract superintendent search. I think we need to do the consent agenda first, right? >> This motion. >> I move the board of education approve the consent agenda as presented. >> Sorry, I said it really low. >> I'm sorry, I didn't hear anything else. I'll second. >> Pier, >> yes. >> Uh, Moore, >> yes. >> Spurlock, >> yes. >> Ross Driven, >> yes. >> Her Johnson, >> yes. >> Um, for the next one for this, because we don't have

053the contract, you want me to just approve? >> We do. We do. It's not leaked. >> That's new. >> It's [clears throat] not leaked. So, if you go to the IASB professional services agreement right there, pops up. I move the board of education approve the agreement for superintendent search services with Illinois school board association as outlined in the amount of $10,500 with cost and additional services as determined second >> Ross driven. >> So I apologize I'm just because this is new I was looking and the numbers don't match but that could be because I'm reading it quickly. Um I feel more comfortable checking really quickly if you want to start with someone else. >> Which numbers? >> Um Holly was saying uh 10500 and in the contract it's saying quickly >> 10,400 400. >> There's

054also the additional second document. >> I was going to say the second page is different. >> So I think the total is 13,400. The >> second page says 10,500 which is what I said or what I not that I said it >> but if you look at the menu of services document >> that's the add-on I believe and that's 3,000 more. >> So the total I think what we're approving. >> So you have >> so actually it's not 3,000 more. It could be more than that. And the way the motion is written, we say plus the add-on. That's just on a per. >> So I actually think it's correct. >> Processing it as we're doing. I just wanted to make sure before we go through. >> It's a menu and you can you can change

055it. You can add to it. >> Just seeing the additional things has added makes me feel comfortable. Okay. Sorry. Let's try again. Now [laughter] >> take it from the top. >> You want? >> Yes. >> Kernney? >> Yes. >> Sperlock? Yes. >> Herd Johnson. >> Yes. >> Moore. >> Yes. >> Sorry, I just clicked off everything. >> I move that the board of education district 97 approve the additional cost to purchase the K through5 mathematics pilot resource Desmos Math from Amplify not to exceed 11,832, which brings the total cost to $34,142. Second. >> Uh, Ross Striven, >> yes. >> Ernie, >> yes. >> Spurlock, >> yes. >> Her Johnson, >> yes. Moore, [snorts] >> yes. I move the board of education vote park district 97 approve the purchase of a Ford F350 with Maro brothers

056and Ford Etransit van with Curry Ford commercial part of the state contracts in the amount of $131,089 as presented at the October 14th 2025 meeting. Second >> Kernney. >> Yes. >> Moore. >> Yes. >> Spurlock. >> Yes. >> Rosen. >> Yes. >> Her Johnson. >> Yes. >> All right. So, we already talked about 9.1 and 9.2. U. So, we'll move on to discussion items. Uh, 10.1 SY 26, summer programming. Hi. >> Yeah. This one. So, we're here just to discuss um a look back at SI25 summer programming and also our recommendation for SI26. And >> before we get started, just take a little time to acknowledge the summer school design team. We have several members from our core instruction um team with also members of our learning innovation department. [snorts] And then tonight we have

057our presenters sitting here at the table and want to say a quick thank you for those who aren't here. So obviously all of our summer learning teams, our families, students, and our community partners that need our summer access. >> And just a quick overview of tonight's agenda. We're going to start with just an overview of our programs, starting with our research evaluation questions. What did we learn from our programs over the summer? And then just to kind of go over our recommendations for SY26 um summer programs. and we remain super excited about our park district of park partnerships. So Moren McCarthy, our deputy director of recreation, is here answering questions, but just wanted to give an overview um of the programming that happened this past summer. Um so there was an increase in the number

058of students that were served with 89. Um we're approximating that 20 were first time scholarship recipients and um 13 activities with um Spark being the one that was most >> Yeah, Spark's the general camp and skate and swim. >> Yeah. Um and we always want to look at just kind of where we are with demographics. So where there was an increase in the takeup rate, so last year it was at 12%, this year we're at 14%. Um and we're definitely seeing some movement in the positive direction with our demographics. Um so while black students are still less likely um we did see an increase in um Spanish students um and also English learners participating in the programs >> and we are anticipating um that our budget request remains the same and we also kind of

059figured out some of our lunch issues where we were able to provide lunch to kiddos >> is key [laughter] >> um through the use of our federal programs. So, um, overall we're excited about the partnership and wanted to pause here and see if you had any questions for us or Marine before I let her >> I was just wondering before we ask questions if you could give our listening audience just a two sentence overview of what this collaboration was. >> Oh, of course. >> Yeah, >> we've heard it before, but [laughter] people may not have heard it before. >> Um, actually, Marin, do you want that? >> Sure. So, um, we've partnered with the school district for years. um when the half day uh summer camp or uh summer school ends that we we were

060providing the helping provide the care. Um but this the third second year second year two years ago uh it came to our attention that um you know it' be great to get kids involved in more than just that program. Uh and you guys had funds that were available to serve uh this demographic. Uh, and we dip into our financial assistance fund um to sponsor uh anyone who is on free and reduced lunch entering grades one through five uh can get up to two free weeks of day camp. Um, and the any camp that we have um so it's not restricted to any camp or they can do the one month half day summer school program so that they can participate in summer school and um working parents can can take advantage of it. So that

061is where this program started and is. Um, so we've seen some growth this year and, you know, we're committed to doing it again next year. >> Um, I'm really glad we're doing this. I'm curious in looking at the disagregated takeup rate numbers like are you do does this pattern mean anything to you or and are there things that we're trying to do to understand it better? like if there's nothing that there's no narrative that jumps out to me looking at that, but I wonder if there's something that jumps out to you all. >> Yes. Because we have a targeted group and we want to continue to improve on that, improve upon um our demographic representation, we're wanting to be clear and super crystal clear around our communication as we send this to families, but also

062I know we've offered like a a family night where folks can come up and get help um registering for classes. So, kind of thinking about how that's positioned. So, we're just trying to figure out what outreach magic we haven't had yet. >> Um to make sure that as we're monitoring this, we continue to see improvement. >> Yeah, we have it set up so the financial assistance and they're preapproved before registration even opens because some of our camps fill in the blink of an eye. So every child has the exact same opportunity at the exact same time. Um so a lot of work goes ahead of time. We don't talk to families. We don't market the families. That's all done through the school district. So, uh, the general public doesn't get confused. Um, but we are

063available, um, in a group meeting and Scott, who manages our financial assistant, meets one-on-one with many, many families, particularly the new ones, at at their time, at their convenience, um, to make sure that they get enrolled and know how it works and are ready in the system. So, when registration opens, uh, we can click it and they can go. And we do hold back slots for a month from the time we register. So that if a family might not be ready to go the first Saturday in February, there's a month that the school uh social workers can work with those families to to get them enrolled. And then after a month, we have to release them back to the general public. But we do acknowledge that not every family is as organized at 8:30. >>

064You hit that box at the end of the section. So, we do try to work with the families where they are to make sure that they all have the same access to everything that every other child in their their classroom has. >> Great. >> I just want to say I really appreciated that especially since um some folks may be accessing mobiley and doing that at 8:30 when everyone else is on can be a little Yep. >> having tried that once myself. Yeah. Um, but I I did want to also ask, you kind of made a side comment about lunch figuring out and was wondering also about transportation for they're doing the half day um and then summer school. Are there other tweaks that need to be made? How is how are those logistics working out?

065>> So, I think we try to as much as we can at least have programs within walking distance [laughter] >> um so that transportation is not a an issue. Um, yeah. Yeah. Okay. >> And we're on track to do that again next year. We've already discussed where our camps are going to be in conjunction to the summer program that the school runs. So, >> I appreciate that level of coordination. Thank you. >> Thanks for >> um so as we move on to our uh district 97 programs, um we just wanted to kind of root in the why we actually have summer programming. um appreciate the write up for the Wednesday Journal kind of highlighting um the innovation that sits within those programs. But when we think about why there's five key areas um one that

066you'll see that's a thread across all of our programs is the idea of youth development. Um to making sure that our students have become healthy and and amazing citizens. Um we also have programs but not all that target um preventing academic loss. Um we also want to provide targeted instruction when we can. Um also, um as you'll see through like our summer music and uh programs and that kind of thing, you'll see kind of kids exploring new interests, subjects and activities. Career exploration is another one um in terms of helping students looking at new career paths. So there are a number of different goals that exist as a thread through our summer programs. >> So we thought it would be important before we kind of get started into kind of looking at each program to

067figure out which program actually hit each of those goals. And so as Ebony just stated, each one of the program that's programs that we offer kind of focus on youth development, but only four of those um nine programs have a academic target um focus to them. And then only a few of them career exploration and then a few of them have an exploration of like the interest and advancement of skills. And we'll kind of we will dig a little bit more into those programs. which leads us to the research questions that kind of guide um how we determine whether or not the work was successful. Um so there's some just process questions that we kind of want to think through all the time in terms of who's accessing the programs and who's not and why

068not. Um but in terms of short-term and long-term outcomes, which we'll um briefly go over in just a minute, we are interested in how staff, families, and students feel about the programs, but also for certain programs because we have different goals, we're asking different questions. Um so you'll see like for example foundations interested in how u many students actually show improvement um during the course of the summer where um ESY may be looking at how many students actually maintain um or grow progress as they look at that first trimester report card [laughter] >> that was from our summer music camp and I didn't realize it was that loud so we won't play it at that [laughter] volume. Um but it's a beautiful song. Um, and so last year we had about 630 students run through

069our programs or go attend our programs. Um, this year we're at a thousand, which is almost 20% of our total student body. Um, so we're really excited about the growth um, and seeing that some of the work in terms of outreach is actually um, coming to fruition. I'm so sorry. Did I just >> No. Yeah, you [laughter] continue on. You're you're on such a roll. I don't want to interrupt you. Go ahead. >> I'm so sorry. Um, so in terms of kind of answering some of those short and long-term questions, um, and also kind of the data questions that we had, we wanted to put everything kind of in a chart that compares where we were last year to where we are in terms of this past year's past summer's um, programming. So you'll see

070an uptick in almost um, at rate area in terms of the number of students who attended. Um, also largely in takeup rate, you'll see um, increases there. Um but what we we pay attention to um probably more closely than anything else is kind of are the students that are in our programs representative of our overall student body. Um and you'll see with middle school explore that is the case. Um with ESY we found that male and students who receive pre reduced lunch were less likely to attend um and while boost is students who speak a language other than Spanish were less likely. robotics, white students and female students were less likely to attend. And in math advancement, um students who qualified for free and reduced lunch were less likely to attend, but overall we're seeing

071growth amongst all of the demographic groups around attendance. So we're trending in the right direction. >> Quick clarifying question. Can you explain for foundations how the number of students went up but the takeup rate went down? >> So the denominator got larger. So um the new the just pure ins size we had an increase but in terms of just of the pool of students who are eligible that became larger and so that percentage and it was by like one if it's down by.5 we still accounted this down so um thank you they were very small >> sorry no I'm not gonna >> um and so in terms of our long-term outcomes across each program um and I'll focus on those first. So for middle school explore, we obviously had high satisfaction levels among students and

072teachers. Um and the question that we asked um was uh growth from summer to fall. And because our data systems changed, we don't have a great read on that number. But what we did do instead was actually go into the classrooms this go into the schools, middle schools this fall and talk to kids who actually were in the summer programs to kind of get an idea of how they felt about it, what was good, what worked, what didn't work um and where were they in terms of their career um thoughts even at this early age. So um so we had some um feedback that said that 82% of college of students had college aspirations while 18% were more interested in pursuing trades which gives us an idea that we need to kind of make sure

073that we have all kinds of opportunities available for students and um by and by and large they did um think the program was effective as evidenced by the high satisfaction levels in ESY also high satisfaction levels among family and students. Um, and so this November 2024 date is accurate because what we said was we want to see if students actually met the goal in the first trimester and we have not reached the first trimester yet. So we went back um and because English language arts was a goal that was common amongst um all the students who were in VSY, we found that 77% of students actually um met that goal in the trimester prior. And then for multilingual boost, obviously moderate satisfaction amongst teachers. Um but 75% of um our students who were assessed increased

074their English language proficiency. Um and 82% of students assessed um maintained or increased. So um >> so with foundations we had high satisfaction rates amongst our families, moderate satisfaction with our teachers. They were early adopters of our assessment system and so they were the first ones first ones to kind of get a chance to use the Renaissance assessment system in their classrooms. Um but we also saw um students saw better um growth or typical growth in early literacy, reading and math in the fall benchmark assessments. So that was great. Also, our lowincome students saw more growth than their higher income peers in reading. So, kudos to our students that participated in foundations. Um, in robotics, we didn't get enough responses to actually capture that data. Um, in music, high satisfaction rates amongst families, students, and

075teachers. In math review, high satisfaction um rate amongst families and teachers. Um for the long-term goals, we actually had a um average increase from pre to post of 21 points. Um so kudos to the math review. For math advancement, we had a 80 U% pass rate on the assessment. We also had an increase of eighth graders passing algebra 1 across key demographic groups. So kudos to both math review and math advancement. And last year, um, we set some goals around, um, just increasing alignment, making sure that we got the word out by actually going on a road show to buildings to talk to teachers, um, who have the most direct line to students um, and families to make sure that we kind of increase those numbers. We also wanted to think through how to make

076sure that we center our local cohorts and also kind of using federal funds to provide lunch. So, all those things that we set as goals were met this past summer. And so when we think about our some of our key takeaways, um, one of the things and we're doing it now with coming to the board earlier than last year is that we're able to kind of schedule and early and announce programs earlier this year, which will put us in a much better position in communicating things out to the community and to our families and also to teachers. Um, our goal would be to have information in the hands of our classroom teachers before winter um, conferences because we found out they are the best leverage in getting this information to parents and really signing up

077for those programs that have an academic focus. Um when we talked to ed counsel and when we did the road trip to different schools, the teachers actually said, "We know the students, we know um the families. We can actually get the information and reach [clears throat] out to those families." Um we also heard from families. We're not receiving the emails um regarding some of the summer programming. And so we found out that if we get it to the teachers, if we get the information to to them, they can really help us in increasing um the family um the demographics that we're looking for, the students that we're really trying to reach. And so in thinking about our key takeaways, that's one thing we really want to kind of get ahead of and get information out

078to families as soon as possible. Uh, and that's why we're kind of trying to get the ball rolling as soon as possible. So, the timeline, so we started in August and September with just kind of looking at our data from SY 25. Um, we looked at our research questions and some of the things we wanted to focus on for SY26 that we kind of presented tonight. Um and then we drafted the SY26 um budget recommendations um October. We are presenting to the board tonight and our goal will be to confirm some of those dates for SY26 and then also be able to launch the park district partnership so that we can begin working with them as soon as possible. And then our goal for November and December will be to start updating our curriculum assessments

079and professional learning based on some of those feedbacks that we got from teachers, especially those programs that really have an academic focus. Um, and then also begin working with our families to get that information out to them as soon as possible and then start um hiring for staff. and then the summer spring focus on the professional learning for staff and then begin launching our programs. Um so the cost for the total that we have um is 666,472 some of that which is is dollars which is uh funded through grants. Um last year we spent $665,14346 um on summer programming. So we're looking at an increase of about a less than $2,000, but um we've divided up by program um and just indicating which ones will be funded by grant funds. >> Take questions. >> Yes,

080like you have a question. >> I do sense. Thank you. Um, so, uh, first quick one is, so next year we won't have access to algebra and that was 200 students this last summer. Is there any, so that feels to me like we then have maybe more capacity to do something else. Is that have there have been any thoughts around that? >> Yes. So, we've had discussion um about what that could look like, but I think the logistically the tricky part is um we think about like a math almost, for lack of a better word, enrichment program and the capacity. We already don't have enough math teachers in the summertime, which is why we're really excited about access to algebra moving to this space. Um but then once we increase that number, I'll be able

081to actually respond to the need. Um and because we're actually kind of ensuring that we have more access to algebra during the school year, um what exactly that need would be. Um so we put in um room for at least to pilot something, but we want to make sure like proof of concept is exists. >> And [laughter] we als we also we want to take the time to make sure that it's actually thought out and meaningful and not just trying to >> something out. Yeah. >> Exactly. >> Absolutely. Um, and then can I ask one more, Scott? >> Okay, cool. Um, you were talking about um, reaching out with teachers, which obviously is a great way to get to families and students in the barrage of emails that we get. I was wondering if you

082have also considered reaching outside of school channels to reach different audiences. >> Or if you haven't, I might suggest like as an option, um, thinking about spaces where people are and coordinating just like you have with the park district, you know? >> Yeah. [laughter] Yeah. Yeah. I think that makes a ton of sense. Um especially around just outreach. Yeah. And mainly in the way that we did even with like kind of some of that fortune engagement and going to spaces that we wouldn't normally go into, but I think it makes a ton of sense. >> And I then I just want to thank you for adding in some qualitative looks this year. I know we've asked for that in the past and I appreciate that you're moving forward with that because I do think it

083lends more to the story. >> Yeah, for sure. It's also fun to talk to kids Johnson questions. >> Um, I have one quick question or I don't know if it's a quick question, but before I say that, uh, just congrats. I feel like this is the second year in the row in a row that we've gotten like really positive results back from the summer programming in terms of student growth and and objectives met. So, it's really great to see this again. Um I noticed in in the timeline slide it um indicates that there's going to be a formal formalized budget request for board approval. Can you just kind of walk through like the timeline of like we're in October is it is the expectation that next board meeting >> Yes. So we have a number

084we presented the what our recommendation is um and so I know you want to keep the two meeting cadence. So um we will ask for approval. Okay. And and when we get that, will it be broken down a bit more in terms of like what the cost cover and what the >> Yes. So I think last year we did a spreadsheet so I can follow up again with that same thing. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Uh I was wondering are there evaluations for each of these programs like at the end for students and parents to fill? >> Okay. Um I noticed last I forget when it was but um the folks from base campaign so has there been efforts to like coordinate um I heard from a few parents like oh base camp is at

085this time Bravo at this time and I noticed that it feels a little weird because we have cast here but Bravo's not represented and I know that we don't support Bravo in the same way but I think two really great middle school productions and and then to not have bravo which was like the whole time that math enrichment was. Um so have there been any conversation or any efforts to try to coordinate like this is what you doing this um for parents who are trying who like me who have multiple children or children who want to do multiple things. [snorts] So that is a tricky part with the summer because it's so condensed. But for the question first question about OPF app um we actually have been in contact with them. So they are going

086to do kind of a takeover of our third week of middle school explorer. Um so they are looking at kind of um a career exploration theme much like what they did with the Fridays last year. So we'll definitely work on that. Um and we do have dates for everyone but trying to >> we're trying to I I don't know because June July is just so heavy. >> Yeah. >> But we do are aware of the dates. Um, and so to the extent that we can, if we need to massage something, we can to make sure that kids get their energy. Yeah. Actually, that bravo program was like super super super popular and my kiddo was I was like, "Sorry, it's math all day." So, it's just >> um but Oh, and then my last suggestion,

087recommendation, as annoying as I sometimes feel they are, the text messages are sometimes more helpful. So maybe something right before um conferences um just to say don't forget that you know there's going to be this because as a parent you're like going in like I want to know about their grades or discipline blah blah blah but for parents who um might not read the whole thing that little text message might just be helpful um folks of NY's point about the different channels and ways of communicating. We were just literally talking to Amanda about just how many things are coming at families like even though we try and do things on a certain day and like trying to like manage the message. So I think that's a great idea. >> Yeah. As a um having a

088freshman the high school is not shy about them text messages. I'm like oh my god. But it's helpful because it's it's quick. It's that thing. It's not like a billion things. So um yeah. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. Uh 10.2 2026 2027 draft calendar. Hi everyone. So, um, this year we're going to do something a little different rather than showing you some boxes and trying to talk through a little bit. Um, so for 2627, um, as we talked about historically, we have tried to align as best we can to district 200's calendar. Um, for the 2627 school year, district 200 is going to start a week later than usual because of construction. So that is one of the main reasons why this year this presentation is a little bit different.

089So what we're coming to you with this year are several options and just kind of want to present that and then see what feedback you have or what you'd like to do next. >> Can I ask a question? >> Yes. I I noticed on that that page >> it says 2728. I thought they were starting the 25th. >> Yes. So I'm about to show. Oh, they are. So, these are the things that are fixed. So, the blue is um when D200 is starting. So, um D200, let me go one more and I can show you. So, D200 is starting Monday. Um the students are starting on Monday, August 24th, 2026. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Wait, where is that? >> You know what? It's the first one says conferences. That's why it's confusing. Sorry. That's

090okay. I was looking at the first one and I thought it was >> Yeah. So on this particular slide, what we're talking about are dates and we really tried to focus on just the dates that relate to the students, not necessarily the staff. So these are fixed dates on our schedules that are different and relate to the students. So fall parent teacher conferences um our fall parent teacher conferences would be the week of um October 22nd. And so ours would be the 22nd and the 23rd. District 200's parent teacher conferences that year would actually be the 28th and the 29th. And then what's happening is they are actually planning to have a non-attendance day on the 30th. That's Halloween for us. We would be sell you know we would have parties and things like that.

091So we are not proposing to close on that Friday. So we would be open. And so in reading this chart, October 30th, they are closed, but we're open on all three of our options of the calendar. >> Can I ask a question? >> Yeah. If we start in option B and C >> a week later, how are we fitting in conferences on that same week? Why wouldn't is it because of that Halloween? >> It doesn't really um the weeks don't really change us very much because our reporting is really more of a progress report. So it's not an end of a progress, it's not an end of a reporting period. So that week doesn't really change when we would do parent teacher conferences. That's traditionally when we would do them. So um again for Veterans

092Day in that year, District 200, just like us, we don't traditionally take Veterans Day off. During that year, they are planning to take Veterans Day off. So our options don't necessarily change that year. So, we are planning to stay open on Veterans Day where they are planning to take off. Um, our winter break aligns the same with their winter break. However, because of when they're starting, their finals are not going to be that same time. So, generally they would have an institute day when they return from winter break. We are still planning to have the institute day. They don't. So that is what the difference is in that January 4th um of in um coming back from winter break. So their students don't go back or their students go back to school. We do we

093have an institute day. So the students would be out um and so then their finals are that week of the 25th. So they have an institute day and so they have no students. we are actually open that January 25th and then we have spring parent teacher conferences they do not and so then that's when our spring parent teacher conferences are so these are the differences in the schedule that are pretty fixed in keeping with our normal schedule any questions about those days about this slide here >> I'm sorry I'm trying to understand like what the differences are because This option A, if I'm looking at this correctly, >> There aren't any yet on this slide. >> Okay. >> Between A, B, and Z. >> Yes. So, these are the fixed ones. Just identifying when we

094would be in in school or out of school and when they are planning to. So, it was pretty much like again generally we're in school for like Halloween, but for this one, they're taking a non-attendance day. Um, Veterans Day, we're generally in school, but that's an anomaly. they're actually going to take that day off which is not normally something that we would do. >> Can we assume then that Thanksgiving break is the same? >> Yes. >> Okay. However, when we go to our options, so this was the um slide. Okay. So, um now here are some options. So, district 200, this is what they published. This is what they have um actually printed for the 26 27th school year in the blue. [clears throat] So yes, they're going their students go back to school Monday,

095August 24th. Um, and so we are proposing if we stayed on our normal schedule, we our students would go back Wednesday, August 19th of 2026. However, we could push back a week as well and we could our kids could go back on August 26 and that would still be the Wednesday. So we would have teacher institutes Monday and Tuesday like we normally would. So A is the normal week that we would stay on our normal schedule. Options B and C. Those are the two. How that impacts us is the end date. The end date for option A puts us Jan puts us in June 1 where B and C puts us that following week closer to the end of school for district 200. you'll see that there's a difference in either June 8th or June

09610th and those differences are impacted by the Thanksgiving week that you were talking about Sheree and because a lot of districts because of attendance rates around Thanksgiving week are starting to close the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. District 90 has not and district 200 has not, but I put it on there as an option board um for option C. We did talk about this with the calendar committee as a possible option to put us further out into June. Um and that's where the June 10th is an option in option C. Um, but if we stuck with our yet regular schedule, sticking with the normal Thanksgiving break, which is what district 200 has, then you're looking at option B. Um, the only other differences are where we place our institute day. Um, the other institute

097days that, uh, district 200 has right now, they have institute day on March 1st. And then in option B um we had moved that March 1st institute day to May 7th as just moving it a little later in the in the year because we have that other one January um 4th. So those are the options based upon just some anomalies in the schedule. again pushing that back um pushing that start date back um based upon the later start date for the school year. Knowing that some families have students in both um trying to figure out making sure that we have room for middle school connections as that's been um a priority of ours. Um and we wanted to be able to provide some um flexibility and some options and um be able to have some

098feedback for the board >> for the um just a question on this institute day 57. You could move that institute day back to 31 on option B. >> Yep, you can. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Um I don't know if we're ready for questions. >> Yes. Y >> um so I think that my understanding as someone with a high schooler, >> yes, >> the high school population has never gotten to school this late and parents are planning vacations. Yes, >> I think we are best served >> to line up with option B with their that date because I think that families are about to take advantage of going to school in August and not only would we lose lot of kids on the week of August 19th, but we'll lose the middle school connections cuz

099we'll they're they're not going to be in town. So I I just think that this is the first and the only time OPRF will probably do this unless they decide to move exams after winter break which is heavily resisted by the students. So um and it it also lines to like how long staff will be able to be in camps. Um and if we end on June 1st, parents won't have sta like park district won't be able to start camp without staff and they're not ending till the 9th. So I think my position would be that I think this is we should line up with them even though it's a little later. So >> you're saying B or C? >> No, I well I prefer B only because I think that the the I don't

100agree with the Thanksgiving closure if D97 if D200 doesn't because you then you're going to have families that are going to be torn with the taking out kids or missing work. >> So my one question with that is that calendar only has 181 instead of 182 days. Is there any way to recapture that extra day for B? >> Yes, I will double check those. We were there's like 12 people on that committee. So, we will double check what that count was. Yes. And related to that, is it possible to just get numbers of student because this has total days, but it would be nice on the examples to have number of >> student days. Number yes, it's 176 student days, four teacher institute days, five emergency days, >> and and then the parent teacher conference

101days. So it comes up to 187 total days, >> okay, >> is what we're is what we account for. >> Okay. Yes, >> I was just Oh, sorry. Do you have >> um you had mentioned that attendance tends to be down a bit the Monday, Tuesday, Thanksgiving week. Do you have a idea of how by how much? >> I do not um I did not pull that for us. I pulled it just across the state. That's a that is a typical which is why people had started to close. But that's why I also referenced district 90 does not, 200 does not. And so it was just put out there as an an option. And again, right now, we even checked for um district, as I said, district 200 did not. And then the proposal that

102district 90 is moving forward with for their 2627, they are not proposing that for the this coming year. So, it's not been something on our radar, but it's just been a conversation piece. I was just curious because I also think that um the longer kids are out of school, the harder it is for them to get back into the um group of things. So having a whole week instead of a a long weekend um if if the payoff and in that you're not missing kids is uh sort of offset by how long kids are gone. So but overall um I think I uh and I agree with Holly like I think based on what you presented I think looks like the best option. >> Yeah, I was even going to say like especially if we

103could move that institute date up to March to kind of line cuz I know a lot of parents struggle with that. And then will there be any implications for the schedule change? Like I just making sure we're thinking [snorts] holistically about all the should have, could have, would have, maybe if so. um if there's going to be like making sure we keep this in mind as you guys are thinking through the schedule changes so we don't come back and say oops we forgot that we changed this. So yes, so there are eight um OPTA members on it and there are members um one from Brooks and one from Julian on this team as well. And so we the um members most of the members on the team are from the from OPTA. >> So I

104just want to clarify because H and Gavin both you were saying you prefer the one if given attendance and given the likelihood of with Thanksgiving if those days are off. Um I'm seeing that as draft C, not draft B. >> I'm not saying I prefer giving the whole week off. >> Okay. I didn't. Yeah, I didn't say I said I don't want to give the week off either. >> Okay, that's what I was like, wait, that didn't Okay, I didn't misunderstand you. Okay, cool. Never mind. U just going back to it. Just double check with the contract to make sure we're getting all the dates that we're supposed to be getting. >> We'll double check that. >> Yes. >> And is this >> is this are we late in releasing this? >> No. So, we

105actually started to schedule this in May. Um but however, uh District 200 just approved theirs in August. So, they met at the beginning of this school year. So, we're just trying to catch up with them now. We postponed it because they were trying they postponed it until the beginning of this school year to get theirs approved. >> So, you got So, we wait on the approval of theirs. We don't collaborate. >> Correct. >> Okay. The park district had asked and I was like, I don't know. >> Yes. We um I spoke to the HR um administrators um to try to get ahead of it to work with them to have some conversation with them ahead. Um but they had been trying to get information on their construction schedule. And so that's what the delay was

106at the end of last school year. And so then once they they move forward this year. So then my hope is that then next year we can actually start to have conversations so that then planning for the following year we can continue because they used to do two years at a time but the construction has kind of um put them off a little bit. >> Okay. Any other questions? >> All right. Thank you. >> Yes. And then I'll get you more information and then we'll have a vote for be ready to vote for next board meeting. Thank you. All right, scrolling up, scrolling back down. Looks like we're at a concluded remark. Concluded items, board remarks. Well, I would say on the 18th, Venus Her Johnson and I along with the former uh board president

107for D90 and the board president for D200 hosted a what does the board do for a group of u middle school students and the feedback was a lot. It was really good feedback. Um, but it got me to thinking about we at one point had talked about having like a student representative for the board and so just wondering, you know, we can talk about that at another time maybe once we have a new superintendent. Um, and then the other thing was uh one thing we had told the students was like we do um forums and town halls and stuff like that and to like put that kind of back on our radar. They had a lot of really good feedback about the lunches, the time that they have to eat lunch. And one thing that

108I had never heard, which was new to me, was the portions. So, some of the um I forget if it was my child or another child said that they got like three or four chicken nuggets. Um and for a middle schooler, um that's not a lot. Um so, just something to keep on our radar as we think about like sustainability. And I know we had a couple students come to talk about lunch in the past. My daughter was supposed to come today, but she changed her mind to talk about the lunches. Um >> to give public comment. >> H to give public comment. >> She said she's going to give public comment today. She was like, I'm just going to email it to the board. Um but um but no, it was really good and

109just kind of reminded us like what our purpose is and hearing from the youth was really impactful. So yeah, it was just a good time. >> [snorts] >> else. All right. Will you say something? >> No. >> Tired. Um, standing board assignment reports. Fact met yesterday. Um, we are comingish to the end of the master facilities plan process. Um, and the committee's put in a lot of work. Michael's put in a lot of work. John's put in a lot of work, which is very appreciated. And um I expect that in the next couple of weeks, we're aiming to have something for the board to look at that list priority. Is that >> Yeah. So fourth fact meeting will be on the 10th. >> Oh, December 3rd. >> December 3rd. >> Okay. >> So I would

110say probably after that, >> not a couple days. December meeting that we can. >> Yeah. Um, one thing just to foreground for folks is that um, the committee has been very deliberate about identifying by at categorizing needed um, or desired investments in our facilities. And the party one things are things that are there because they feel like these are things that have to get taken care of. And the priority one things will likely exceed our $4 million kind of back of the neck and um estimate for what we want our summer capital projects to total up to. So um that will be a discussion obviously for the back and forth meeting uh and something that we'll need to grapple with when we get a little further to the closer to the finish line. >> Thank

111you. that sorry um that's we're meeting the 19th is our next meeting but we are going to um probably be asking the board to participate in event in what do we have the date for the event or we just say March >> um we're determining that >> determining that um the PTAC has been having discussions about kind of getting being more proactive in educating the community kind of about [clears throat] like developmentally appropriate behavior so that we can then kind of help parents with their own kids and then with interactions with other kids. Kind of talking about kind of brain development and um and then your responses to it like not being punitive and what restorative means and why um sometimes people are very anxious to hear about consequences and how restorative restorative practices is

112a consequence. It's just not. So um uh we are meeting a couple other two more times and then the goal is to have a community conversation about this led by some national board teachers who have taken this on as part of their um project with regards to that. So um we'll be wanting the board to have possibly a breakout room or a walk around at least be be visible on that day and when we have the day we'll share. >> Awesome. That sounds super cool. Um, thank you. Uh, for >> guess the master facilities plan didn't sound super cool, huh? [laughter] >> We have a meeting >> Monday, next week. >> Uh, IGA. >> So, we are we met with the li a smaller group of us met with the library to talk about getting

113an IGA web page set up with the resources that we're creating. One of the first things that will be added to it is the document that all the the government entities have been working on um on how to run for office. So if you're interested, you don't have to figure out, oh wait, all of these get turned out turned in at the Cook County Board of Elections and these get turned out in a village hall. We wanted to make it something that's people who want to run are actually focusing on that and not getting hazed [laughter] to figure out how to run for office. Um, and I'm going to throw a shout out to Venus because I believe this was actually partially completed while you were on the board or on. So, thank you for

114that. >> Um, and uh, still working forward and just coordinating especially in heightened times with ICE around to just make sure that we're all communicating clearly. I was going to make a joke about Hazen, but I'm gonna uh PTOC, we have not met again uh since last meeting. >> Next week. Yes. I got to look better at my calendars. Um D97 sustainability. >> Uh I don't think we've met since the last board. >> Yeah, we got more of those coming up the week after next. >> You guys gave a riveting presentation on panels. I feel so much more educated about panels and >> thank you so much. [laughter] >> Uh collaboration for early childhood. >> Uh there is a meeting coming up next month. >> Okay. >> Are Becca and John on any of your

115meetings? [laughter] >> John's with PGA again. >> He's on faculty. >> OPF >> and John's on think. Is that John? OPF. >> Yes, that's >> okay. See you. Uh, Opier >> Community Council had a meeting last week. Um, it was great. Um, there is a glitch in the matrix about collaboration with um, admin there versus admin here. Um, so I will work to iron that out. But there continues to be strong feedback and outcomes from the honors for all programs. Um, so this is the first group of the seniors that are there now is the is the four-year group and so the pos the they have a full four years of data through high school and the feedback has been really positive um for that. So, some of those reports are available on the um

116OPRF board um school board, I guess, meetings or whatever, but I would suggest uh taking a look at it. It was pretty impressive. Um, and we do have a um collaborative agreement. So, I wasn't sure what happened with being able to share information about students, but I will it was the feedback was given to me. So, I will make sure um that I share that and get the names and make all the connections that you made. Okay. Uh John is not here with her notebook to tell us about it at bread. We'll hear about it next time. Um agenda preview for November 18th. Uh we have uh school calendar approval, the FY26 summer programming budget request, tenative tax levy presentation, school maintenance grant application. What's that? >> Um application. Yeah. What is that? >> I

117don't think I don't know if this mean I don't think this has to be an agenda item, but in light of the fact that um a lot of our national board teachers have submitted their projects, could we get something just kind of in our weekly update about what all the different projects are? >> Sure. >> Just a list. I >> maybe it's for the panels. >> We're in the process of reviewing them right now. >> Yeah. Whenever they're whenever it's ready. >> So, what is this? >> The name isn't the national board. That's not what she's talking about. >> The school maintenance. >> Oh, no. I was asking for something a separate that triggered me to think of something else that I said is not for the agenda, but could we get a report out

118on it? You don't have to talk. Sorry. >> So, what is the school maintenance grant application? >> There's great grant funding for some of the projects that we would be able to do for this next year, >> like the capital project. Um, so they got this grant before. I believe it was for the gender control bathrooms before. So it's pretty there's some of that funding that we could use for some of those capital projects or this working with STR as part of the process to work through that grant. So we'll have an update the next time what that would be use for the for the 2026 summer 2026. >> Awesome. Okay. Thank you. I was like, "What?" Um, no. Executive board. >> All right. Can I get a motion to Can I add >> Did

119I miss board remarks? >> You did. >> Yes. [laughter] >> In fact, you didn't say you missed. Would you like to do that? >> I do want to ask um and I don't know where it's not an agenda item, but we're we've come to this place a second time now with regard to relying on the state for funding and there being um a delay and us having to alter the manner in which we um operate fiscally as a school board district. However, I want to and this is a Rob question and a crystal question. I want to explore developing a D97 foundation so that we can begin to separately accumulate funds that help our district. >> Usually we use foundation dollars for this purpose though like a foundation is a little separate. >> So Kylie,

120what do you want? Well, so that was the question I asked raising our policy so that our fund balance is no longer capped at 6 months. That's the that's the point. We would have to raise it so we have it cap between 6 and 9 months instead of 3 to 6 months. And that would do that would accomplish that. >> And no, it wouldn't. Why? Because we have the same pool of money. >> Can I just say a fun ballot? Go ahead. >> If we're going to make this an agenda item, we can just make it an agenda item so we can have a longer, more thoughtful conversation about it. Um, I I agree with you, but you we're still operating with the same small, >> but you would build up more savings so that

121it would be there balance. >> Hey, hey. Okay. Sorry. >> I believe the president said we're talking about this [laughter] later. >> She's about to adjurnn and then I want to say it, right? >> All right. Can I get a motion to adjurnn? >> I move we adjourn. >> Second. >> Vote. >> Kernney vote. >> Ross Griven. >> Yes. >> Spurlock. >> Yes. >> Bird Johnson. >> Yeah. Worsh. >> Yes.