001All right, Mr. Carney here. Uh, Dr. Kim here. Dr. Pettis here. Here is absent. Ross Driven is present, but she's in the restroom. And M. Johnson here. All right. Have a public public hearing physical education waiver. We have public comment from Jeff Be. Hello. Good evening. Uh my name is Jeff Featherstone. I am currently a PE teacher at Julian Middle School and I just completed my 29th year in the district and I'd like to thank the board for the opportunity to speak about the PE middle school waiver. Um during my career in district 97 all the electives had the same number of minutes as core classes and with the new schedule this not happen the new schedule will have PE on an AB schedule similar to last but we're cutting the minutes from 75 to
00250 while core and other other electives will have class every day. This means that the students will miss 75 minutes of physical education every two weeks with the new schedule compared to the current schedule. But if we were to have this elective, physical education, uh be an everyday elective, it would increase us to 250 minutes per week. Um while best practice is for students to have daily physical education, state guidelines require physical education a minimum 3 days a week. And yet we are unable to make this happen with a new schedule. In the information shared with the community, it was stated that students would get 17 minutes of lunch recess daily with equipment and there is a need for that. But this would mean that a student on their off day would only get 17
003minutes of activity. Also, what happens when it rains or in the winter? That student's going to get no activity. Also, how much equipment will be available? If half the grade levels outside, there will be a need of a lot of equipment. And what's going to happen when this equipment goes missing? Physical education benefits the whole child, which is a goal of a portrait of an eighth grader. A holistically well student is one of the eight dimensions and if the eight and this is a quote from our uh district website. If the eight dimensions represent the culmination of a thoughtful and collaborative community engagement process and each word was carefully selected by our district 97 design team to reflect both the educational expertise and the values and priorities of our community. Why are we cutting physical
004education minutes? The benefits of physical education in schools include physical health, improved cardio fitness, stronger bones and muscles, improved flexibility, and helps maintain a healthy weight. Also, it helps with better sleep, promotes a more restful and consistent sleep pattern. Healthy habits fosters lifelong fitness habits and reduces the risk of chronic diseases. Mental health reduces stress, anxiety, and depression. cognitive development, improves concentration, memory, and academic performance. Finally, it also helps with social skills and encourages teamwork, leadership, and cooperation through group activities. Are these not things we want for our students? I hope this is not too late to fix this. Thank you for your time. Thank you, [Applause] Deiana Hart. Good, good evening. I'm Diana Hart. I am a current PE teacher at Julian. I just finished my 23rd year at Julian. Um, and I probably
005I'm going to try to skip around and not repeat a lot that Jeff said, but I'm just here basically to defend our field. And, you know, with the schedule change, our minutes are being cut drastically. Um, and over the years, throughout my career, um, our PE program, we're really proud of our PE grow program and our department has built that we have built throughout, um, the time I've been here, and we especially pride ourselves in our ability to adapt and create fresh curriculum over the years to keep our students engaged, active, and healthy. Um, I'm disappointed to hear that our district will be applying for a waiver since our new middle school schedule will not be in compliance with the state's PE requirements. Um, it almost seems as if we're asking for forgiveness. We're not
006doing it the right way out of the gates. So, it's just kind of a little bit like I wish we didn't have to ask for this waiver. But, um, anyways, I was going to talk about the recess, but Jeff already covered a lot of those. Um, but PE classes do offer a structured and safe environment for physical activity and for learning to take place. It would be awesome, and I know it might be too late, but I'm going to still get out there. Um, it would be awesome if we could consider making PE a daily part of our students experiences. It would be awesome if we could create a new schedule that wouldn't need a waiver from the beginning. Um, and I don't think it's too late to take a closer look at our middle
007school schedules and come up with something that fulfills PE and health requirements instead of applying for this waiver. Um, today more than ever, students need movement and physical activity for mental health. And this waiver states uh that more time will be allotted for social emotional learning when in reality this schedule change will not only cut down on PE time, it will dramatically decrease the amount of health curriculum. Um, health is, I think, the perfect place for social emotional learning to take place. um health is going to be going from over 2,000 minutes of of instruction per year for for the kids to only 750 minutes of of instruction per year. Um which is also not in compliance. So we made a waiver for that. Um again, I just hoping I'm hoping it's not too late
008to take a closer look at our middle school schedules and come up with a plan that fulfills PE and health requirements instead of applying for this waiver. And I know I'm probably too late in this, but just thought I had to put my uh get out there and ask just just to get it out there. So, thank you for listening. Thank you, Catherine Brinkman. Good evening, Superintendent Shaw, members of the board, school and district staff, and community members. My name is Katherine Brinkman and I teach health education at Julia Middle School. I'm here today as a concerned teacher, advocate, and member of our Oak Park community. I stand before you to raise a concern that should unite all of us, regardless of background or ideology, the health, safety, and well-being of our children. Under next
009year's proposed schedule, our middle school health education classes are held for just six weeks per year with classes lasting 25 minutes less per session than originally designed. That's approximately 25% less time spent per week compared to the prior structure. In total, this adds up to significantly less than the Illinois State requirement, which mandates at least 18 weeks of health education over the course of a student's middle school career. By holding classes every other day for 15 minute or 15 minutes 50 minutes. This puts students at about three weeks of health class per year which would make their total time in health education class only 9 weeks throughout their entire middle school career which is half of what is required. We're falling short of what our students are not just legally entitled to but what they
010desperately need in today's environment. Now let me be clear. This is not simply about checking a box. This is about preparing our students to make lifealtering decisions in a world that exposes them to serious risks incre at increasingly younger ages. Since January 2024, Oak Park has reported multiple fentanyl related overdose deaths, including seven in early 2024 alone. Vaping is now an epidemic among teens. According to the CDC, over 10% of middle school students have tried ecigarettes beginning in sixth or seventh grade. Teen sexual activity is also starting earlier. The youth risk behavior surveillance system reports that nearly 15% of students have had sexual intercourse by age 14. Peer pressure is cited as the top reason teens begin experimenting with drugs, alcohol, and sex. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 70% of teens who
011start using drugs do so because of peer pressure. The ability to say no effectively, a skill taught explicitly in quality health education is statistically correlated with reduced risk behavior. When we ask our educators to teach a fullear curriculum in a quarter of the time, we are forcing them to put we are forcing them to cut content that could literally save lives. Do we cut education about consent and boundaries, about mental health and suicide prevention, about nutrition, physical wellness, or substance abuse? The question is, how can we afford to cut any of it? We're essentially gambling that students will somehow absorb these vital life skills through osmosis or that their families will fill in the gaps. But the data tells us that this doesn't happen. In fact, schools are often the only place where children receive
012accurate evidence-based information about their bodies, emotions, relationships, and choices. I urge the board to consider the following steps. Restore health education to be at least every day during their six week slot of health to begin aligning with state standards. Reinvest the full class time as this will ensure students receive meaningful and equitable instruction delivered with fidelity. Conduct a curriculum audit to identify what will need to be cut and what impact it will have on learning outcomes. Engage parents and students in feedback sessions to help prioritize what is most needed in the health curriculum. This is not just an educational issue. This is a public health issue and a moral imperative. Our students are telling us through data, behavior, and outcomes that they need more guidance, not less. I ask the board to listen not just
013to me, but to the research and the numbers and to our kids. Let's make a commitment that every student in district 97 receives a full comprehensive and impactful health education that they deserve. Thank you. Thank you. Peggy K. Good evening. Peggy Kell, 8:15 South Humphrey. It's nice to see you again. Um, with the new middle school being with when the new Julian Middle School was built in 2000, great care with and planning went into design of the physical education facilities. Three locations for classes were designed because we had three classes period, about 120 kids period, the third floor gym, second floor fitness room, the first floor main gym. Finally, having sufficient spaces for activities, the department and curriculum flourish. Students have the opportunity to play individual sports for the first time like badminton, ping pong,
014and and yes, pickle ball. Um, a variety of team sports along with dance. The fitness room was well used along with for cardio and strength training. Students even had the opportunity to go off-site for bowling during PE classes at that time. Julian's physical education program received their first blue ribbon in 2007 from Eford, the Illinois Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. This award is for exemplary program status based on the Illinois State Learning Standards while employing a variety of activities to meet the needs of all students. Slowly though, the middle school physical education has been diminished. Health classes are were once part of the team rotation then came out of PE class time. Block scheduling comes along and reduces the program further to every other day. Now with the proposed schedule to um
015to continue PE every other day, a waiver is being considered. This new schedule plan also includes having no physical education scheduled during lunch periods so that the field and other facilities can be used as recess for students. recess for middle school students. Don't think I've ever heard that before, at least not in the professional circles. As a teacher in district 97 for over 25 years, I understand all too well the pattern of changing scheduling, curriculum, priorities every few years. Bora program came and went, block scheduling come and go. Advisory came and went. A daily program of physical activities for middle schoolers has been shown to prove improve mood, enhance social skills, and reduce anxiety. to say nothing of the benefit of moving for uh to burn off energy. Had we learned nothing from the lockdown
016during CO, the district is deluding itself if they think before and after school clubs and sports will reach all students and being a meaningful substitute for daily PE. And yes, there's waiverss for our elementary schools that are used because there's no space to have PE there in the elementary schools. There's every day. There's not enough teachers to teach PE every day in the elementary school. But that's not the case at our middle schools. These buildings were built to reflect and accommodate what's important for this age group. A team of teachers for a group of students, elective choices for students can so students can explore new subjects and space um for daily structured physical activity. The district is missing the mark with this plan for a waiver. You must do better. I'm retired. If you need
017to look at this again, I offer my volunteer services to be on any committee for the summer so that we can hit the ground running with a beneficial program for all students come August. Thank you. Thank you. Um, welcome. Good evening. Uh my name is Tom Roco. I am a 23 or this is my 23rd year. I just finished teaching here in Oak Park. I did uh my first 13 years at BY Elementary School. I just completed my 10th year at well I was at both Brooks and Julian for a little bit. Now I've been at Brooks for the past four years. So, I am here because I'm speaking on behalf of a student named London Jordan. She is a graduate of Brooks from this past year as an eighth grader. Unfortunately, she could not
018be here tonight, so she wrote me a letter that she would like me to share with you guys. So, I am speaking on London's behalf. And here is the letter. Dear D97 board, my name is London Jordan, and I just graduated from Brooks Middle School. Based on experience and research, I believe there are several arguments for why the aotted physical education time should be left as is. And I think about every fitness website in existence would agree with me. For starters, PE has tons of great benefits. After sitting in cramped desks for hours with only passing periods to get blood moving, PE is a time for students to let off steam and take their mind off their assignments. Many many middle schoolers already don't get to move around a lot because of homework, screen addictions,
019etc. So, PE is a great way to help them get off their phones and out into the real world. In addition, PE also helps kids build stronger, healthier bodies and boost their mood in the way that hours of Tik Tok reels cannot. Not only will they be happier, but they'll feel physically better and enjoy numerous benefits such as heart health, stronger muscles, and better endurance. Physical education isn't just exercising. Part of it is teaching kids these benefits, as well as other ways to keep them physically and mentally healthy. Many of these topics and more are covered in health classes, which for Brooks takes place at the same time as PE with rotations. Cutting PE time would mean cutting health classes, which are tracked full of very important information such as first aid, CPR, sex education,
020drugs, staying safe, and more. This is very important for kids to know as it can keep them safe and away from a lot of stuff that could really hurt them. It could even end up saving a life. Health class also provides a lot of information about healthy diets and things that help kids be healthier and happier just like physical education is a part of the curriculum. Physical education isn't about forcing kids to get some exercise and learn muscle structure because it will be better for them. It quotes it is also fun. I've seen plenty of games that last for an hour or more only because when the players are having too much fun and the whistle is blown, then they get a little upset and they don't want to play because that's again her words
021and they want to keep playing. So just as band and orchestra classes are offered to encourage kids to love music, PE encourages kids to pursue their passions. In many cases, PE may even be the class that helps kids find that passion in the first place. Plus, playing all those team sports in a is a team building exercise, a vital skill for kids to have later in life as they enter jobs and careers. The result of all the above is a happier, healthier kid who is better prepared to enter the real world. This is why I believe that cutting PE would be disastrous for future generations of kids who will be coming to the district 97 middle schools. Thank you for your time. Sincerely, London. Um, I had the privilege and honor of teaching London all
022three years in PE at Brooks Middle School and without a doubt one of the best students I've taught in my 23 years of teaching. Great student. Um, she couldn't be here again because she's at a marching band camp and I think the thing that really stood out to me as a teacher is when you have kids come up to you and say, "I really want to get stronger for, you know, football or basketball." Um, when she said marching band, it kind of took me by surprise and made me realize that, you know, I it made me think about what I need to go outside of my box and thinking just in pure true athletics and understanding that Bravo, arts, different types of band, orchestra, physical education plays a vital role in all those areas. So,
023thank you for your time. I hope you all have a wonderful summer vacation and uh, thank you. Thank you. [Applause] All right, that concludes our public care on physical education waiver. Can I get a motion to um close session for close this uh portion of the meeting to close the hearing? I move I move that the board of education park elementary school district 97 move to close the public hearing on the district's physical education waiver request. Second. Thank you. We'll now move into our regular schedule public. Oh, sorry. Miss Ross Trib. Uh, yes. Yes. Dr. Perez. No. No. This is We're closing the voting to close the session. Mr. Ker. Yes. Dr. Kim. Yes. Mr. Johnson? Yes. More? Yes. We can keep it open if you want. Yeah, that's what I meant. Okay. And now
024uh we have public comment. Um I need to read something. Uh Paul Rubio. Who's keeping track of my time? Okay. Good evening board of trustees. Two days ago on Sunday, June 8th, I celebrated the 20th anniversary of my Julian 8th grade graduation. The class of 2005 was distinguished as the first group of students to start as sixth graders in the current Julian building whose construction was completed in 2002 and then be there for 3 years. While I was nervous about starting there, subconsciously I felt a sense of excitement walking into a brand new building. I'm grateful for all who made it possible for me and my classmates. My three years at Julian had an enormously positive impact on me. While all experiences in our lives influence and shape us in some way, my time at
025Julian truly defined me into the person I am today. I engaged my interest in an enhanced way, especially participating in the National Geography League competition. I grew in a sense of patriotism that inspired me to do my civic duty serving this country. I experienced the diversity of Oak Park in a deeper way. For example, I met many Jewish people there at Julian among my classmates. And learning about the religion and culture caused me to turn inwardly and reflect more on who I am and appreciate myself and my faith even more. As a result, even at a public middle school, I experienced an abundant blossoming of great zeal for my Christian faith. I was inspired to embark on a journey that led me from middle schooler to middle school catechist, a role I've had for 12
026years at Ascension Church here in Oak Park. I hand on the faith to my students, many of whom are Julian students. In that light, it was so fitting that June 8th this year was Pentecost Sunday, a major Christian holiday that celebrates the descent of the Holy Spirit that brought the church alive. Furthermore, red is the lurggical color for Pentecost, and that's the color of the cap and gown I wore on the evening of Wednesday, June 8th, 2005, the graduation ceremony. Part of the Catholic tradition is the Pentecost novena, a 9-day prayer devotion bridging the gap from Ascension Thursday to Pentecost Sunday. This year, it began on May 30th. And on that day, I went back to Julian to be a presenter at their career exploration day. And I'm wearing the shirt from that event. I
027had such a fabulous time being back at Julian straight about what I do for my work as a library cataloger with current students. I received such great hospitality and enjoyed seeing how the students engaged with the activity I gave them and the questions they asked. As I reconnect with Julian, I'm reminded of a stanza of poem a Puerto Rico regresso written by Jose Gautier Benitz. This stanza served as the inspiration for the title of Sonia Sotomayor's memoir, Forgive the Exile, this sweet frenzy. I returned to my beloved world and I am in love with the land where I was born. Those words truly resonate with my recent anniversary celebration. Indeed, these fa past few days have given me so much reason to celebrate because my Julian experience brought me great joy has brought me great
028joy for the past two decades and I'm grateful for the opportunity to spend a few minutes sharing my thoughts with you. Thank you. Thank you everybody. Um we will now move on to the superintendent overview. So, um, thanks everyone. Good to be here tonight. Um, for the superintendent overview tonight, I have on the next slide, um, here we go. Two, uh, different areas. want to take a moment to recognize uh as we close out this school year, thanks Michael, the June celebrations and also uh briefly like what's ahead as we look toward the next year. So, um, want to take a moment to recognize and thank, uh, our, you know, all all the celebrations and our community for all the celebrations. Around the corner this June, we have, um, Pride Month and Junth. And so,
029we also have our Brook students just tomorrow, right here at Village Hall who've been selected to pro present their inspiring speeches. So we have them here on this slide and I'm going to be there and looking forward and welcome everyone to join us for um you know how we celebrate and elevate identity in our village. We also celebrated right in this room uh two weeks ago when was that last week um our retirees and so want to acknowledge and thank them for their service in our district. It was wonderful to circle up with them and hear um all the different affirmations about um how much they value uh their time here with us and uh we wish them well and we have their phone numbers because we uh will be calling them back to be
030substitute teachers. So um you know as we look forward to next year these are our four transformation goals. We've seen these before we put these up um you know this first area leading learning and celebrating together. underneath them we have two you know major sub goals. Uh the second area the second transformation goal we design for all this is our work in schools to make sure that we are designing our instruction our experiences. We'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute in terms of the master schedule for middle school. We align our resources. We'll also hear about this tonight in terms of the master facility plan and of course our school and community safety. And then we learn everywhere is our understanding that in order to really get to the full vision
031that our district has for all children, we need to think about that portrait of an Oak Park eighth grade graduate and how do we extend the expertise of the school district to out of school time and to early childhood. That's how we're going to level the playing field and make sure we get to excellence for everyone. And so as we look to next year, we're looking uh you know some of the highlights on our minds is really in terms of that first area upholding our values through really authentic engagement. Thinking about how we move from transactional to really slow down engagement, our professional learning, getting closer and more connected around what we're here to do together and then celebrating and elevating who we are and how we're proud to do that in an unwavering way.
032Uh we design for all. We're launching um and refining our new master schedule. I'll talk a little bit more, like I said, about that in just a minute. Um and also in terms of the master facility plan, really thinking about how sustainability, how does that come to play in the decisions we make and how do we make the take those long-term um assessments of what we're doing and and look for those investments. and then bringing the portrait to the portrait to life. Thinking about what are those signature experiences where we want people to say if you went to Oak Park, oh then in third grade you must have or in fifth grade you probably because those are those signature experiences with our within our school district and within our community. So those are some of
033the great things that are on our radar. Um, I want to start by affirming and thanking the teachers who uh who spoke just now about um uh about the PE waiver and um and the you know the the discussion about our master schedule. I want to just acknowledge that um you know we had right here in a few minutes in the room we had current teachers who are passionate about what they do and why and how that how their work and their practice impacts our students. We had a retired teacher, a community member. We had a student whose voice was spoken into the room and it's that kind of advocacy and that kind of engagement of voices that actually got us also to this master schedule. So there was a lot of teacher participation, administrators
034getting voices from students, getting voices from parents and um and from our staff to really wrestle out what should this schedule look like. So, I want to affirm the teachers that were in the room today to advocate for their perspectives as well as all of the teachers and administrators and students and staff and families who weighed in on the master schedule that that we are implementing. Um, that includes meeting this PE waiver, but all of that participation is how we do this work really well. You know, there's always trade-offs when we're talking about the finite um, you know, time. we can't do everything within the school day. And I also want to say that this is a um an ongoing process. So the PE waiver that's in front of the board today is not forever.
035It's for a a three-year period of time over which we need to assess like how is it going and and really kind of wrestle with um what are the trade-offs and what are some adjustments we need to make. And so really making sure that we are um you know continuing to assess how are things going and how are we looking for those opportunities um for daily uh engagement. So, we'll have our team up here to answer the board's questions. Um, because we're eager to make sure that we're affirming like holistic wellness certainly like time with a PE teacher is like crucially part of that, but then all of the other ways we're thinking about students really owning um that that opportunity to move their bodies and develop. So, um you know, and and we always
036have our let's talk for the ongoing conversation. So that's um the overview for today and then we can get started with the presentations. We have the.1 to the middle school care for exploration exploration update. Sorry. Yes. So we have uh Dr. Dele Leon, assistant superintendent of middle schools coming up as well as Tracy Ham, our director of universal design for learning and Dr. Dr. Ebony Loftton who is our chief learning innovation officer can get a coffee. [Applause] All right. So uh good evening uh for members and community. Thank you for the opportunity to for us to share with you some of the work that we have done regarding about career exploration. very excited to have the opportunity to share with you tonight. So far our work as a was mentioning a lot of this kind
037of falls on that transformational goal or with this of the designing for all and with the idea of that middle school redesigning as we look as part of the big package of how things fit together into this work. I want to acknowledge like all the all the all the team that has been participating into this process and really coming up to to this point. Uh we're very fortunate to have representation from our staff and really multiple perspectives throughout uh this work and really looking forward for your work ahead of us as we continue doing this collaboratively with with our staff. So the agenda for today we're going to be talking about the background about career exploration. We're going to make some connections with portrait and also we'll be sharing our next steps in your your
038time. So when we talk about our why as we know like middle school is is a critical time for students as they are uh developing those skills and thinking skills about their aspirations. uh the career exploration also was that engagement opportunities for them to start think about the planning and and really making those connections of what they're learning with the with the real life uh real world opportunities. As you can see, there's a lot of benefits right there listed positive outcomes, student concerns, and effective programs preparation. But overall, what career exploration uh helps out in middle school, it's about starting addressing those anxieties of the students, but also start like preparing them to to to plan, but also to start thinking about the actions that they have and advocate for themselves about their future. So
039I think that provides that window that opportunity for students to learn what potentially things could be and then for that also provides the tools about how they can engage on that. So a lot of this work is also part of a mandate from from the state. It's part of the the requirements that we have. So uh there's a framework that is called like a pace framework. It stands for things a postsecondary career inspiration and in this uh in this framework it provides key points that students need to meet as they go through the transition from year to year about what is expected for them to guide them through the process. This is also frameworks that they are developmental appropriate and then also there's a sequence not only in middle school but also for access to
040the high school. So the requirements by July 1 of this year is that we adopt uh a framework then that we have uh adopted and implementing activities accordance to this framework and then also that these resources or these decisions they are are posted on on our website as part of the requirements that we have for for July 1st and 2025 that's what also the importance of pieces of sharing this from our this information about h how we're meeting these expectations but also how we are projecting for the future and the work ahead of us of how things are going to change. So as I was mentioning the key points and this is the an example of of uh the framework that that is provided by by the state and this is where you get to
041see the sixth grade the components the key components that they are targeting in sixth grade and then the seventh grade and eighth grade and how do they work together you um so we're really excited about this work and I think one of the best things um that we were able to do just as a team when we first started thinking about it was making those intentional connections to the portrait. Um so the reminder here is that the portrait really is um about those core competencies and that the community has agreed upon to make sure that we are having a collective vision for all of our graduates as they leave us um starting in prek and continuing all the way through 8th grade. Um so as a reminder um we have those eight dimensions and we're
042really excited about um kind of how that came together where the community, the teachers, everyone's fingerprint was on kind of what this collective vision would be for our eighth grade students. And so when we think about one of the dimensions um career explorer um we really want graduates when they leave us to be able to explore a wide range of careers um along with their qualifications and that includes college and non-ol pathways. So the sky's is the limit in terms of what we want to expose students to and have them have that kind of opportunity to experience different um careers and options. And so we just um shared a few pictures um for our college for kids um at Triton that's actually going on right now. We're heading into our third day tomorrow, but we
043have um spring break and then last summer's pictures up there because these are the students we want to really kind of talk to um to see where we missed the mark, where we hit the mark, and what we need to think about in terms of as we explore career exploration both inside and outside of school, how we can make sure that those porch connections um live and breathe in that work. So, in talking about the implementation planning, we have um come together this spring and worked um with um a core group that um Dr. Deleó had shared with you. But we have also taken the time to reach out to all of our middle school staff, certified and non-certified, to um help us consider what would be um important for our sixth, seventh, and eighth
044grade students to understand and to um engage with relating to career exploration. So, at the end of April in 2025, we met as a core group with our middle school administration as well as our student success coaches and our UDL coordinators to be able to consider what would be important in learning about career exploration. From there, we reached out and had our first meeting last week with a um group of um teaching assistants and uh teachers to talk through what do we want to communicate to our community through our website um including that um information around PACE, but also how do we want to develop um our curriculum as we explore different career pathways for students. Um we are um coming together next week to talk through what our website should hold for our community
045so that they understand the work that we're going to be doing. And then we will be meeting throughout the summer and into the fall to talk around specifically what do we want our sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students to participate in as they learn about their uh career options. Um I'm not sure if any of you had an opportunity I understand for Dr. Dio that he had provided you with some demo links for our school links which is a platform that allows us to help students explore their interests around careers around things that they get excited about so that they can take a look further as to how that can um become something that they may um learn more about or consider as a lifelong goal for their career. Um this is going to be
046a second half of our work. Um we're very excited to share that the school links um platform is something that also our um companion district um of Park River Forest also utilizes. So it's something that we can work handinand with our high school. Is there any questions that we can answer for you around career exploration? Were you going around the table or should I just ask if I We could go around the table. Start with We have something similar at the high school. So, the students will get a preview by using it here in the middle school. So, that's encouraging. Um I actually love all their interest inventories and it's a really cool more of a comment, not a question or whoever wants that. I don't have one. That was my question. So, all right.
047I think we're me. Um so I have more of a comment as well and that is just to be mindful as we're moving forward with materials much as we were with all of our other um curricula that we have been coming up with um that we are looking for people of representations of people with different diver diversity ethnic backgrounds, races, people with disabilities as well um just to make sure because see it and be it are related. Um, so just make sure that we are being cognizant of that and the materials that and and the people that we bring in. If I can add to that, I think one of the cool thing about the what we're doing, I just saw the uh base framework which is kind of like the baseline and then also
048how schoolings meet those those components. But that doesn't mean that h that that's that's has to stay there. We can actually supplement and add things and make it like our own program. And that's where you saw in the timeline that that that Tracy shared with you that we are planning bringing the team into really audit what's happening in our classroom. How we can leverage on that. We have career um exper exploration days events that are happening. There's a lot of really uh great learning opportunities happening in the day in our in our class in classrooms multiple levels. How do we tie them into that? So that framework that you saw, that's kind of like the base, but also the idea is that we built on it to create our D97 framework of career inspiration that
049ties to the portrait of a graduate along the way. So that's a project, you know, that we're going to be building along the way. We're meeting the the requirements from the state, but also the end goal is to tailor it to our community, to tailor to our students, to tailor our our needs as well. Thank you. Um, I guess this is more of a comment than a question, although if you have thoughts on it, uh, that would be great. But one of the things that I think one, I think this is great. I'm really glad that that you all are doing it. And one of the things that I think would be could be particularly powerful is to think about how this notion of career explorer ties to our other kind of values and priorities.
050And in particular, the one that comes to mind for me is like the change agent one, but just helping kids think about the careers that affect the issues, community, etc. that they care about and also kind of conversely like being able to look at potential careers that it's not part of it should obviously I like to do this, I'm good at this, etc., but also understanding I care about X, you know, how does this sort of impact on that for better or worse, you know, that kind of thing. I think that um being a global connector, being a change agent, connected to community, really giving kids a sense of agency over the things that they care about is really important. Um, and so, um, I didn't look through all of the options and I haven't
051explored the links, but I hopefully there's a way to sort of, my concern would be that an offtheshelf thing wouldn't necessarily consider that or elevate that kind of consideration, but I think for us, for our community, those are prominent considerations that we would want to lift up for kids and help them kind of factor that into their exploration. John, well, I actually I do have one. Sorry. Um, uh, I know like when they get to high school, like students who are like in, um, pull out like resource classrooms have like a life skills transitions course. Um, are they also included in this? And think I'm just kind of thinking back to NY's comment about like the not just the representation in terms of who shows up but also thinking about kind of the array of
052opportunities. I'm just wondering if you also kind of build that in. Um so the nice component I think that will supplement and um support this is our students that um are identified with IEPs. this is a necessary component that we complete um in our eighth grade year. Okay. So, it really does talk with them about what are their interests where what would that lead to in in terms of a career study or um the trade and those types of things. So, we already start talking about that already. This is to help supplement those types of activities that we have going on. Great. And just kind of thinking about our college for kids experience right now, even in summer school, about 40% of our students identify with a disability or have an IP. Um, so we've
053been really intentional about kind of figuring out how to make sure that we have access and entry for everyone. Um, but also making sure they're having a good time and the same experience around getting that opportunity. I just want to like guess. Um, so Becky mentioned that the high school has something similar and it was really really sweet. Um, I love the fact how they used alumni and so you had tons of alumni like people graduated in the 80s, 90s and beyond who were like I came back to my alma mo and this made me so happy. So similarly um like getting the community and the alumni like making that special shout out um to the community because people are always like excited to come back to where they've kind of started and then if
054there is any opportunity for partnership so that you guys aren't doing so much work to reinvent the wheel when they've already done a really great job. Um, and then that way to Becky's point, they'll say like, "Oh yeah, we did this, but not in like, oh, we already did this, but like they kind of know what it is and they're excited about it." Um, so those are just two quick call outs. Thank you. Great. Kathy, actually just adding to that, the going through this process and kind of getting ourselves immersed with that. we were in a training and we had opportunity to meet the OPRF uh person in charge and and we connected and right away and we were actually in the same table talking about about this work. So the opportunities as you were
055mentioning they're huge. Awesome. Any more questions, comments? All right. Thank you guys so much everyone. Make sure our thing to master facilities plan A update. Yep. So for this item we have our colleagues from STR uh Megan and Jennifer and also our senior director uh John Hullman as well as Michael Erens our chief technology officer and Megan I don't remember your last name sorry. support. All right, good evening everyone. Um, nice to be here again and provide you with an update of what we've been working on lately. Um, a little bit about the agenda. We're we're going to review the timeline again uh share a progress update um and talk a little bit about required maintenance and some of the summer 2026 work that's coming ahead. So our timeline um we are currently within phase
056three uh this conceptualization phase. So, we're we've completed a lot of our facility assessment surveys and gathered a lot of data. And at this point, we're kind of um trying to organize all of that data so that we can be ready to hit the ground running in August, September, and October to really coordinate with the fact committee about how to prioritize a lot of the work and the challenges and the opportunities that we have identified over the past few months. So, uh, on track for a December, um, presentation to the board with the master facility plan. Since we last met, um, we have continued to work with the FAT committee. Um, May 20th and June 9th, just last night, we met with them again of the sustainability exchange uh, got together on May 20th. We've
057continued with um, confirming some information regarding program with principles with an elementary case study meeting um, on the on the 17th. We actually met with the the the separate feeder school principles in order to confirm some of our assumptions and then also with the middle schools on March 20th and April 10th as well. And our last board update was on the 18th. Um going to turn it over to Megan to do a little bit of progress update. So I'll dive in a little bit more. Uh last we spoke we were working a lot on the capacity space utilization. Kind of walked through what that looks like. And at this point, now that we've evaluated all those spaces, we're in report um compilation mode on all fronts for that. Um and with that, as Jennifer mentioned,
058we didn't meet with the principles from all the elementary and middle schools. So really wanted to make sure that they were involved, making sure we're evaluating all the space needs and criteria communally across the district. Um and making sure we're able to have that really open discussion and feedback. um the facility conditions assessments, we have officially walked through all of the schools across the disciplines. So now that's being organized into a series of worksheets for each facility to evaluate um and help us to prioritize the potential next steps and improvements. Um so to kind of walk through what that's actually looking like, um there's four categories that we've divided the improvements into. site, building envelope, architectural elements, building systems, and this list is being compiled from a series of places, making sure we bring it
059all together in one place. So, looking at the facility condition surveys, so those walkthroughs I just mentioned, um the space utilization walkthroughs and input from principles, uh PTO comments from walkthroughs, communications from the principles to building and grounds, and case action items. So really the goal is to bring all these together into kind of this one one space. Sorry. Oh yeah. Um can you talk a little bit or can you briefly is it possible to briefly the categories site building envelope um what are some of those terms? Yes. So site is uh thinking like landscape hardscape things like that around the building. And then building envelope is more things like roofs, walls, windows, doors. Then architectural elements. A lot of those are things within the building. So that might be stair treads. That could be
060interior doors, case work, um floors if I didn't say that already. And then building systems would be mechanical, electrical, plumbing, kind of things. So I do not know any of these things, but I'm sure there are people watching also. So I just want to be mindful as people are watching to understand. Yes. Thank you. Does that help or did that thing? And so I'll dive a little bit more into how we're assessing across these worksheets. So kind of a zoom in from the last page, looking at the item description. So again, when I was saying site, there's kind of that heartscape section and then thinking a description of each item, the condition it's in, and then an estimated cost. So assembling that information and then using that information to evaluate against the guiding principles and
061using those to all those pieces to prioritize the improvements and create a target year to do this work which will come after that prioritization. So there's kind of a series of things all pulling into one place to prioritize together. Um the conditions legend of each thing is identified against good, fair, poor, critical which is being evaluated by the wider team. Um and then will be prioritized in collaboration with back um the district 97 and staff and our team. And the in progress guiding principles that we're working we're working through and iterating upon are having ready to open buildings, enhanced safety, uh aligning with case goals, arts and culture investments, assessing critical infrastructure needs, community support opportunities, educational spaces align with curriculum, and addressing health and safety health and life safety requirements. So that's kind of
062how that's the criteria in addition to that kind of poor to good that we're helping to prioritize as a library. And last but not least, the safety and security analysis. Um I think that's something that we mentioned last time that we were moving forward with. Um, but we will be scheduling those assessments with the West 4 team, but we got good news that we have a few a few of them at no cost because they're able to reallocate resources from other districts who did not use it. Um, so we're working on scheduling that to integrate into our findings as well. members of um as we touched on at our last update, there are some um immediate required u maintenance items that we are trying to focus on and I think a lot of this is
063stemming out of um there there have clearly been some uncertain and volatile um financial things going on in the the climate these days. So just having a very thoughtful um way of of planning and forecasting uh in this in this kind of uncertainty is is where the district is going right now. So, as we as we know the things are probably only going to get more expensive, we want to be able to plan and start addressing these things in the summer of 2026 as we continue to evaluate and plan ahead for the longer term of um keeping your assets in good functioning order in the future. So, uh, the charge has been to allocate around $4 million of total project cost for the summer of 2026 to address some immediate needs that are, um, are
064not going to be putting us into a we're trying to select items that won't um, require a lot of extra thought and not done not be done in a thoughtful way, but can be easily addressed over the 2026 summer. Um, additionally, uh, John's team will have a contingency for emergency repairs of around $400,000. Um, but the commitment is still to continue alongside of the, um, these these summer projects for next year of the master facility plan. So then we can additionally forecast and plan ahead for the years to come. So um and the some of the reasoning for this is that the master facility plan is is planned to be um rolled out in December. Uh and it's ideally um the time to put projects out to bid for a summer project is the fall
065before that. So September, October. So because that doesn't quite align, we're looking to kind of in two different directions so we can simultaneously work on the summer 2026 work. At the same time, we continue on with the master facility plan work. Um so we we are obviously we're going to continue working with the core team. Um we have been um contacting with Bully and Andreas are going to help us do some estimating of those light items that we input on all those worksheets that Megan shared with you earlier. Uh we will be working with facts starting in August to start taking a look at all that information and further prioritizing and and figuring out how we can work with the district then to um take a look at the annual funding level as we move
066forward starting in the summer of 2027 and beyond. And just to give you an idea of kind of how that's going to work simultaneously, we are confirming right now the summer of 2026 work, we'll be working on those construction documents over the summer and at the same time we will also be doing the data input into the worksheets for the different schools and working with Lily on those estimates. Uh we will reconvene um in August, September with FACK to help them not only give them an opportunity to review the construction documents for the the work that's going to be going out to bid for the 2026 summer, but also then begin the prioritization work for the master master facility plan. Um and then we'll roll out uh the the bids. We'll review those bids with
067fact. They will bring those to the board probably in November. Um and at the same time we'll be working with back and forth and putting together our master facility plan information to prevent present to you in December. And then we'll kind of start the whole process again over the next year. So once the master facility plan is approved and adopted, um we'll do a reassessment, make sure that we have the critical items identified for the summer of 2027, uh begin that work again and and still incorporating fact along the way with um not only confirming the scope, uh reviewing estimates and the documents to to for um for their expertise and input as well and then again rolling out those bids in uh the fall of 2026 for the summer of 2027. So, our next
068steps will be um finalizing the summer of 2026 uh scope items, getting those estimated and putting together those construction documents. Um we'll review all of that with pack. We will kick off the summer of 2026 project planning and then um continue with the master plan work um as described, data input, getting estimates and um collaborating with the core team. Are there any questions? John, um, thanks for that presentation. It was actually really good. Um, I should say it was I shouldn't say actually. It was good. I'll take it. Really expectations. Um, I because my kids came from Lincoln and I know Lincoln parents always ask like, "Is air conditioning somewhere in this?" cuz I know like some of the buildings are old and we've gotten a lot of letters in the past because of increasing
069uh temperatures and I know you talked about climate change was also kind of taken into consideration. Um but is there kind of a long-term plan for trying to retrofit some other classrooms or that's just not as high enough on the priorities? Um what I will say is that the the work that we've done to air condition the school to this point were part of a referendum initiative. Um, so I think that um it's not a priority in terms of critical improvements. Um, that may be fair to say. However, if if it was a board directive that that it's, you know, I think it's it's something that needs to be discussed further, but right now it's not one of the things that's going to keep your open and the amount of years of days I think
070this year that it's really to the point where air conditioning is needed has not been any. It is it is one of the things on our list to be uh talked about and prioritized through this process. Yeah. Just because I know we as those days peak, we get the we get right. Yeah, I know they're they're a few days but they're the loud comments. Yeah. Um so kind of tangential to what Jim just brought up. Um as we're looking at the priorities, are we coming up with ones that are honestly if we if we have outside funding? If a grant came in, we would do it, but otherwise not. I'm thinking in particular, for example, of our middle school science rooms, which are functional at this time and yet, you know, last year we had
071a sixth grade science or it was the year before sixth grade science class on a carpeted room trying to do labs, right? So, um are are you gathering information on things like that that maybe aren't in the cards um in our current budget, but could Yeah, we are always keeping an eye out for different grant opportunities. I mean, the fact that we have genderneutral bathrooms in both the middle schools as a result of an outside grant. So, um, yes, and and we have those those challenges all listed on there so that it, you know, the science classrooms and the art classrooms, the fact that there aren't the same amount that you have in sections that are required is on the list as a challenge. in it so that it's not lost and that we can
072keep finding synergies is really what I'm always trying to do is like if we're doing work in someplace and we can we know that there's another maybe educational element that we can solve at the same time it's something that we really want to do because we're then we're really getting a larger bang for a buck for the district thank you yeah Johnson question I think um since I'm one of the newest board members, so um you might have questions that have come up before. Um so forgive me for that overlap, but the biggest concern was just you said that there was a review of capacity analysis and that there's the required program spaces with principles, etc. You know, as you can imagine, there's some schools that have been updated that are just newer. And, you
073know, I can understand where the priorities would be for those that schools that are running out of space or that, you know, are trying to move around schedules because there's not enough space. So, I'm curious if your analysis covers those kind of pieces. I can only speak to Irving at this time. It It does. Um we so a as a team we came up with a list of required program spaces and then we evaluated each facility as they're currently being used against that list. So there are definitely um some disparities between the different facilities about who has what and who doesn't. And so we've noted those and again they'll be on the worksheet just so that we don't lose those things. Um and that report um we're hoping to put that out as as a
074draft with the team and then get that out separately even though it will be part of the the final product at the end. But it it kind of lives on its own and it it does provide some good data about where um where the facilities stack up against the ultimate vision that the district has for different facilities as well as just meeting the current curriculum needs and um educational spaces like you know as you say Irving does have some challenges. it with some spaces that are just Yeah. And I and I I think in terms of budgeting, I would love to hear, you know, how those priorities are being versus like no offense, but air conditioning versus like can we have can we have enough space for after school care? So, that is something that's
075offered in most buildings, I think all of them now at this point. And sometimes like they have to cancel activities that that have been paid for by parents to house other programs. So that happened in their auditorium for example. Their auditorium also is like incredibly hot and so on days when they have indoor recess it's like not even sanitary in there just because of all the yuck. Um so just things to consider. Thank you. Thank you. So taking all these things and making my question um we heard earlier today about PE waiverss and the amount of physical activity and um the importance of recess. Um can you remind me are there what are the plans for like the outdoor space in terms of um where the where kids are gathering for like their free time?
076Are there plans for that? We have not gotten in deep into that discussion. We have talked a lot mostly about Julian just because of the the safety concerns of the front. Um I understand that that this the new schedule is addressing that somewhat. But I I think that that is an opportunity to have more discussion about exterior um spaces like that and safety. I think the um the other topic was making sure that there was a safe way for kids to even a bike to school which would again would get add to the ability to be moving and things and having that safe um to get yeah to schools and Dr. Felicia Starks our chief safety officer that back and is part of this conversation and part of this process too. Yes. Pat and all
077that. Second round of questions. Anybody comments? Thank you. One one thing I would like to add uh kind of quickly is that while um our initial plan is going to identify the first five years uh of recommended uh improvements. This isn't a five-year plan. This is designed to be a living document uh where we're reviewing it annually or at least every other year and rolling in the next five years and continue to keep moving forward on our list. So this is not intended to be a oneot and done. This is intended to keep moving through our priorities. Yeah. And I think that's probably always necessary, but especially with the kind of fiscal uncertainty, we're just going to need to be agile. Um, but I really appreciate the way that you've designed this so that we
078have all the different information to bring to the board, you know, a recommendation for for good decisions. And we are having a joint meeting with the financial fork sounds like the financial advisory committee and fork which is a financial oversight. I missed something committee. I don't remember. Um but those two groups to talk about our facilities, our buildings and then our finances, the co the volunteer community uh committees will come together and we'll have that joint meeting to talk a little bit about where we are, what's happening more a little bit more in depth. So thank you. Y thank you. Thank you. I did have one more comment actually. President Moore, is that okay? Go ahead. Okay. I I think the only other thing the the other reason why I brought up like Irving was
079just historically to review parks were updated going from the north side then down to the south side in terms of community. So just thinking about historically how we update things that's something to consider. The other thing was that also happened with flooding in Oak Park. So, I know that's not the responsibility of D97, but just something to keep in mind that when updates happen, it happens on the north side before it happens on the south side. Thank you. Yeah, thank you for the comment. Thank you. Thank you. Next, we have the agenda. Can I get a motion? [Applause] You have to make an amendment. Yes. So, we have an amended personnel report. U President Kim. Yes. I motion that the board of education of district 97 approve the consent agenda with the personnel report affected
080amended sorry to reflect administrator salaries for the 2025 2026 school year. Second Mr. Carney. Yes. Dr. Kim. Yes. Dr. Pettis. Yes. Uh Miss Moore. Yes. Mrs. Berlock. Absent. Miss Ross Driven. Yes. And Mr. Johnson. Yes. Concent. I'm going to get a doctorate so I can be Dr. Moore. Okay. We can we can just start doing that if you want. No, I have too much respect for school. Um, next is where am I going? Action. 101. Yep. Sorry. Uh, my screen is so small. Lake uh 10.1 school year 25 annual audit services contract. So we brought this forward back in May and so we're bringing it forward for action tonight. I move that the board of education approve engaging Baker Tilly US LLP to perform auditing services for the 2025 fiscal year as presented on May
08127, 2025 not to exceed $75,650. Second. Most Triben. Yes, Dr. Pettis. Yes, Mr. Carney. Yes, Dr. Kim. Yes, Mr. Johnson. Yes. And President War. Yes. Okay, now I figured out what 10.2 um school year 26 annual contract renewal. Yes. Yep. I just wanted to make sure that um to say to the board that based on the questions we got last time, we did provide more detailed information. So if there are any additional questions, we're happy to answer them. I motion that the board of education of Oak Park Elementary School District 97 approved the SY26 contracts for HR and business in the amount of 122,28828. Second, Mr. Mr. Carney. Yes. Dr. Kim, yes. Dr. Bennett, yes. President Moore, yes. Strain, yes. Mr. Johnson, yes. Motion passes. Um, I motion that the board of education approve contracts
082for teaching and learning in the amount of $248,18612 and for student services in the amount of 3,3,588,3854 which includes out of district tuition, a portion of which will be reimbursed through federal grants. Second, I think First up, Dr. Kim. Yes. Dr. Bennett. Yes. Miss Moore. Yes. Mr. Ross Trimman. Yes. Mr. Johnson. Yes. Mr. Carter. Yes. Motion passes. 10.3 Social Sciences Curriculum Recommendation. Can I get a motion? A motion that the board of education of Oak Park Elementary School District 97 approve the purchase of grades 6 through 8 social science curricular materials uh social science textbook and professional learning from Discovery Education at a cost of $92,280 second Mr. Ros yes Dr. Bettis yes Mr. K yes Dr. Kim yes Mr. Johnson. Yes. Miss Mo. Sorry. Yes. Yes. Motion passes. Yes. Uh next is um discussion
083action smarts connection contract over 25,000. So um we have Dr. Ebony Loftton is coming up. If uh the board has any questions, we're happy to to answer them at this time. We might not need to come up. There's no question, right? Are there any questions for Ebony before we make her get up here? She's already halfway. I'm not going to make her walk up here. I have a question. I was just all over the window. I mean, we know what it is, but like for those at home. Sure. Come on up, Bethany. You did save us a lot of time. So we um are proposing that the middle schools um for students who receive tier interventions are able to have access to smarts connect which is an executive functioning um curriculum which really focuses on
084task initiation organization um all of those things that undergur um academic skill development. Um we are proposing that we use title one funding in the amount of $35,500 to um support this effort and our middle school teams have spent some time um exploring and landing on this curriculum. So and also have a plan to kind of see how it goes from here and and I would just comment again for people's understanding this is money we are allocated because we're title one building and so it's not like coming out of another pocket. So, it's just for the public's understanding. So, this is you use it or lose it. Or our order. I think G was first. All good. All good. Um I you alluded to this, but um I was going to ask about um the
085sort of how we assess if it's if it's one, I'm a big fan of executive functioning. I have two kids that could use more uh and but would love to hear um how We plan to sort of take stock of of what it's doing for us over the year so that if we're when we're at the renewal stage, we have a good sense of whether we're getting what we hoped for. Yeah. So, I don't want to speak fully for the middle school team, but I think I'm confident in saying that we anticipate using this during our win time. Um, and the teachers actually have um access to the the lessons and so within that there are a number of surveys and tools that they would use. So, we'd see how students progress on those tools.
086But are also we hope to kind of look at work completion because that's really the goal to make sure that kids are starting and finishing tasks and organizing themselves in a way that um kind of gets them to the goal line along with grades. Um so I think the team will kind of really coales around those around some of those areas to figure out what we'll look at the end of the year. But I would imagine those would be the things that we would be looking for in terms of whether or not we continue to fund um this effort. That sounds great. Um when we get to that fork in the road, it would be great to hear about how those are going. Absolutely. Enis Johnson Gavin asked my question. Nancy Rostro Nancy Moore Rush.
087I have a small question. Um actually since you're up here, um so I know this is specifically targeting kids who are at tier three. Um, could this be you like I don't know if it's like individual licensing or it's for the district but like could people use this with other kids like if they want to use it during advisory or like whatever. So the targeted group for title one has to remain the same but in terms of the teacher license it's a teacher license and it serves 25 to 30 students. Okay. Um so they would be able to flexibly so if students perhaps enter that targeted group and exit that targeted group or if you want to think about following a student in a different class the teacher has access but when time is for
088everyone right because that was my question and then I didn't ask because you said when which is when it would happen right you get different interventions for different things so not everybody gets the same intervention. Got it. My my question was I wanted to know if everyone every student would have access to the smart connect in order to use the title one funding we would have to use it for a targeted group of students. So not every student would have access to it. Oh that is my question. Okay but it would happen during when time no I thought I got the answer to my question and what you said but I didn't. So, okay. So, then my question is, even though kids may not qualify under title one or have an IEP or even a
089504, executive functioning skills are something that every student needs. So, we have this targeted program for this group of students. What are we doing for to enhance and develop executive functioning in the students don't that don't fall into this category? Yeah. So the cool thing is um that the teachers are also getting training. So even if they're not using the specific curriculum, they're also still getting the knowledge. Yes. To support um all students even if they don't fall within this but that particular targeted group. So the materials and the lessons are for students in that targeted group. But the teacher knowledge could apply to to any student and you did say that. So I sort of got an answer but now okay putting it together done now. Um, so I was super excited today to
090learn that the library actually offers executive functioning services. Um, and so I'm wondering I'm making an explicit ask that this summer as we're working on a calendar and we're strategizing and building structures for our presentations for next school year that we have like a targeted date. So, whoever's reporting, we get that um to have a a date or at least a month that we're going to get a um update on this because I feel like we get a lot of updates and then we forget and then we're like, we heard about it sometime a long time ago. So, just being intentional because I do to everyone's point, I think that is so critical and as someone whose child doesn't um qualify um and or might qualify, we just haven't gotten tested. Um, but I think
091there are a lot of kids who are struggling with executive functioning. And so if there's a way to expand this, maybe partnering with the the library if they're offering these services um or as you mentioned, there are teachers who are getting that um training, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have a packed day rate. So then how are we like addressing those kids who don't qualify, but could very much use it to go from like being a C student to a B+ student? No, absolutely. And I would just add to that like if we if this works really well in the coming school year, like we can't use title one funding for all of our students, but we can use funding for other students. So if we feel like this is really a benefit, I
092think that to Venus and Sharie's points, um it would be worth considering whether we invest in making more broadly available. Yeah. and I will definitely circle up with the principal team to get a specific date um to report back and to also get some more specifics around um the measures that we're using. And I think to your broader point, Sheree, it would be helpful. I think we're eager to bring to the table the things that you as a board want to spend more time on. So, I think we've talked about getting together over the summer and on the front end, what are those things that you might want a lot more time for? And then those things that are just like give us a quick update and move on so we can kind of, you
093know, plan ahead for what what ma matters most to you. I plan on sending the 4 a just kind of like a followup on like what things we're hoping to see, what's a reasonable timeline when we want to see it, what are some of the metrics that we'll be asking for cuz I feel like sometimes there's a disconnect. Like you guys are like, I gave you all this information and we like we want to know what color it was. So, um, thank you very much. Of course. Thank you. I have one more question. Wait, I'm sorry. Yes, just to make it worth your while for coming up with um what is how is this being communicated and rolled out to parents so that they can support these executive functioning efforts in this student population. So
094again, speaking for the middle school team, um as we enter the school year and we're connecting with the teachers, um there is a necess I believe there's a parent kind of family um communication if there isn't one built into the system, that would be kind of the here are the skills that we're working on. Um here's what we kind of think through in terms of reinforcing at home. So if it's kind of getting helping a student get straight to a task or what are those um motivation kind of things that we want to make sure kids have, there should be communication along the way. um from that when teacher um because it is teacher specific to those students and I know specifically the case managers um for students who have IEPs. Okay, thank you. Hi
095K, did you have any other questions? No, sorry. Thank you. All right, thank you. Thank you. All right, can I get a motion? I motion that the board of education moves to approve the purchase of Smart Connect at a cost of 35,500 using Title One grant funding as presented. Second, uh, Mr. Carney, yes. Dr. Kim, yes. Dr. Pettis, yes. Miss Warm, yes. Miss Ross Dven, yes. Her Johnson, yes. Motion passes. 11.2. Two, approval of physical education waiver. Any additional questions or comments? We heard from the public earlier today. We were able to review everything. So, you don't have any questions or comments? I had a question. So, I don't know if I missed it, but I wasn't clear that health was also going to be cut to the extent that it was. Um, you know,
096at this time, I'd like to invite up uh Dr. Deleon, and we have our two middle school principles, Nick Filipowski and April, here as well. So, if they can come on up. Thanks for being here. We should get some music like on the prices, right? Yeah. Nice. That will make me more excited to come the prices, right? All right. See, now we're like middle school. Where's the buzzer? All right. Great. Sorry. S go ahead. So, yeah, I just was surprised uh I guess I didn't make the connection that they do health during um and so uh I am a little concerned about the loss of health minutes. Um and I don't know if there was truth to the we'll also have to seek a health waiver then. I think one of the things that's important
097to know too is that it's not necessarily a loss but a meeting of where what was happening at both um campuses. Um so like the current model um at Brooks is what we're moving towards for Julian, right? Um so it may feel like a loss but it's also a level setting. Um so something that is that why more of the teachers were from Julian? That's an ask. Okay. probably. What was your question, John? I was asking if that's why more of the teachers were from Julia because I thought that was odd that most of the teachers were from Julian. Very good question. Um and one and you know some of the teachers too that were um part of our this process as well. Um so they you know were a part of that voice and
098had that opportunity. So the requirement are 18 weeks uh in the time of the school the span. So that's why it's being brought down in those those seats and they go in in companion with be for the most part in all the other districts as well. The school code doesn't mention um anything besides that because of the fact that every school district has different Yeah. different minutes in their day, different minutes in the contract, all of those different things that are localized. Um, so it we still believe that this is meeting everything and and have checked on that. Nancy, so u my this is kind of a a comment slashquest. Um, so this the whole schedule is a big change for next year. Um, which we appreciate. I mean, we we've asked you to put
099in more minutes for e for for langu English, more lang more for core subjects for math. Um, and yet we still gave you the same amount of minutes in the day. Gave you a little magic trick to do on that one. Um, so I appreciate the the struggle that this has been to kind of figure out and work with everyone to come up with a schedule for this next year. Um, what are the plans to review it and check in over the next year? Um, I this is obviously the first test run, so it is no harm, no foul. If then the next year it's like, whoa, that didn't work. Um, so I'd like to find out like what are you looking at in terms of reviewing the year? And again, as we've been talking
100about check-ins, can we get a check-in mid year to see how things are going? We'll see. Yes, definitely. You know, definitely it's something new that we need to we're immersing and we transition into it, but also we need to let things settle in and troubleshoot things with our our our staff throughout the process and and that's something that we're committed to. I know one of the other ask from the community was to really revisit what advisory looks like and what sword looks like and that's only work that we actually is coming up as well then we're able to identify the serious. So having said that it's our intent to really come back uh to to you and the community with updates but also to work with our staff throughout this processes to make sure that
101we are addressing those needs along the way. Um yeah so I think that the waiver uh I think the waiver from my understanding we can go all the way to five years we didn't go to five years we went through three years also because we also are aware that that it's a a contract in three more years and and that might signal for us that change already as it is. So being responsive to that, that's the reason why we went to three years instead of five. And then also for us to figure out things together along the way. And I just a quick follow up, but it's related. Um so so related to that, I just wanted to say I appreciate greatly while I'd love to have you all come back, the fact that you
102are going to be checking in with teachers along the way and seeing how that can actually shift and change in work. And specifically because we're talking about the PE waiver here, time for kids to be moving, times for kids to be getting that that wiggle out. Even though they're middle schoolers, they still have the wiggles. We know. Yeah, as you're aware. Yeah. So, sort of to that end, um, with NY's question, so we are having less PE minutes. Um, it's three days one week, two days the next. Am I saying that? Okay. So, there are some benefits to mental health to getting the wiggles out. How is what's the plan to manage the mental health and the wiggle health of our middle schoolers without having um that the PE time to help you know settle
103them. Yeah, thank you for the question. I think that's a great point. I think it doesn't that aspect doesn't leave on a PE teacher. is for everybody who works in a school setting. All of us we have to be in the lookout for student needs. All of us will need to intervene when those things are needed. But also we as you as you heard about smarts uh interventions opportunities to get created during our access time for those opportunities but also within the length of within what's happening during those uh instructional times. There's a a movement there's ways that deliver the deliver of instruction instruction can also support that that component and not only of the learning the movement but also the social emotional of students as we incorporate that in our lessons and we are
104attentive to that that's will be some of the pieces that we are looking forward we're moving into the new Danielson framework it also is a very student centered uh framework about looking through the lens of teaching about students, how we design around that. A lot of our team in school improvement is about student learning experiences. So we are planning in in continue working with everybody in tuning up and really level setting across how we work with each other to address those needs. You guys want to add anything to that? I I agree with everything you said and and and I would also say by changing our schedule from the block at 75 minutes to 50 minutes just by the nature of that schedule kids are moving more often throughout the school day passing period time.
105Not that that you know makes up structured PE time but there is like more movements scheduled throughout the day by making this change in hospital. And part of that is also just cognitive shift. Um not just physical movement. Um but as far as mental health, part of that cognitive shift is important. So having more of those frequently throughout the day um should help as well. Um some of that balance. Can I ask question? I will. Can I ask? Ask the president. Well, I'm interrupting you. This is a hard question. So, I don't necessarily know that you'll have an answer, but I want you to think about this, and this is for you, Dr. Shaw, too. Once we take this away, it's going to be hard to get it back, right? Once we take away these
106minutes for PE, it would be difficult to put them back into the day. Stay with me for a minute. Because if we do this scheduling and we all say this did not work, we may not be able to pinpoint that it didn't work because we took away PES. And I just want everybody to sort of be aware of that that it's very likely we will not easily I'm not saying we can't ever, but we won't easily be able to go back to adding those PE minutes in. Just an FYI, I think that's one of the reasons why we were intentional about the three years matching the contract. Um because this isn't about anyone up here or anyone on the committee who said like let's take away from PE, right? But listen to the input of
107all the stakeholders and you remember how much we involved different stakeholders and had opportunities for input and what rose to the top was other other priorities right not that anyone saying we don't want yeah this isn't important um my teachers actually we were all talking outside because they know how much I believe in it but it's just again the time of the day and we didn't get any more of it so so with those priorities, what's the balance that we heard and we tried to listen to the community. Um, but if we come back in 3 years and there is an opportunity to have a longer day or have right then that gives us an opportunity to rebalance our priorities with a different set of circumstances. Um, so I think that's that's why we're here
108and and and you know no new information really. I think um people maybe hadn't walked down the road and I don't know that we had even uh considered that we would need one until it was brought to our attention and we asked and even in that sense the state didn't give us a mandate that we had to do this um right they um said consult locally and we're just trying to do everything the right way um and be transparent um which is why we're going through this process Mhm. Ro, um, thank you for all this. I know this is a lot of tough balancing. I know that wherever it landed, we like nobody's going to be 100% happy with it. Um, and uh, that as you were saying, Nick, that things that we care about
109have to sort of get traded off, not because we don't care about them, but because there are competing priorities. Uh given that I I do appreciate this notion that there will be this constant assessment of it. I think that um no matter how much thought goes into it, you're probably going to find out very quickly that some things don't play out the way you think they're going to and some time some things may take a little longer to to figure out. And so I think being really attentive and nimble is going to be really critical. And I appreciate the uh willingness to sort of share back out with us in the broader community in a sort of open constructive way like hey this is going great or this thing we realize isn't going as well
110as we had hoped and we're going to fix it. I think that's going to go a long way towards building faith and trust in what we're trying to do. Um just a couple of one quick thought and then one follow-up question. The thought is I think that I think we're focused on PE now because we're talking about the PE waiver. Obviously, there's a lot of other things that are involved in this, but one of the things that came up in the public comment and that's been on my mind is this notion of, you know, the 17 minutes of lunch being an opportunity for kids to get physically active. And I know as with a kid who recently graduated from Julian, it's a hard thing to do at Julian under current circumstances. you know, you drive
111by and you see the kids hanging out in front and there's not a whole lot to do there. So, I do think that's an area where we're going to want to be thoughtful and creative and about how we make that a real option for kids. Like not not just like, hey, here's a few footballs and you know, whatever if you want, but like organizing things potentially and um just sort of making sure that if we're committed to that actually being a PE light or whatever the right way to characterize it, you know, that we that that that's going to take some effort. Um, and then I just had a quick followup to Jung's question because I also hadn't really thought about the impacts on health curriculum and I know you had said this is kind
112of getting us on the same page with Brooks and the the one thing or a thing that's really important about this I think is that health covers as we heard in public comment covers issues that are really critical for kids at this age. like it's not like well you didn't get it in sixth grade but you'll get it in high school or you know like this is really developmentally important stuff and and my question is like have you sort of looked at how that change in format will affect the curriculum that we're able to deliver and are we confident that we can get those essential um topics curriculum etc addressed within this new schedule in a way that does them justice Dan actually probably will be a good answer for for Brooks because they're already
113doing that kind of structure like covering content. Yeah. So, uh, our health teacher who's been working with us for six years now, um, has designed the units with in sixth grade, 7th grade, 8th grade has focused in on those core ideas and those concepts. And we have not had any feedback to indicate otherwise that our students aren't getting the education and learning that they need as it relates to the health outcomes. and and is there communication across Brooks and Julian as Julie how to make that trend? I was going to I was actually kind of add to that. I think the good thing that we're doing now I think you have seen that middle school's coming together more and more frequent. We're designing schedules that they are very similar where to have access for staff
114to connect even throughout the day some level. Then also we're structuring a department base where they get to collaborate with each other throughout across both buildings. So there's that cross colonization like across our buildings about best practices, what's working, what's not and and we have that entry point to to also collaborate with other departments to figure out what's working, what's not, how we can problem solve together. Great. Thank you. Um my so yes kind of circling back on a couple topics and you know rounding out the conversation about um the whatifs right so by making a decision to wave you know time because it really is time not just days of PE and health for middle school students we are kind of allocating about 50 minutes for social studies science guaranteed every single Okay. So,
115when it comes to the wind time and this is again just forformational purposes I I've heard you know that could be where we build in some structured recess time and I guess my question is who will facilitate those activities? And the reason for that again is you know has this been fully thought out? So in the high school setting we currently have eight periods of the day. Yes, kids are moving, but that means more time needing to supervise students. So, right now, a lot of the behavioral issues is during unstructured times. And so, what I'm hearing is we're moving from a model of structured PE health time to unstructured time, transitions in the hallways, and a a potential for a structured recess. Well, regard about win time actually that's structured time for interventions what I
116need and they were moving into that direction and to really tailor things for students based on social uh social emotional needs, functional skills, academic needs and that's where actually our we're leaning into into that. So movement interventions like that is is not only less stable but it's also part of the daily instruction across. So you're right. It has to be structured. It has to be some sort of purpose or some sort of like system in place to support that. Uh as as GI was mentioning even like research time are we providing the structure for for those components to be efficient to be able to meet the student needs is is something that that that we are actually looking invest work on. Yeah. I think that the for the structured movement time or the or unstructured
117movement time is the social time that we already have. Um so again, not a change. One of the things that will change that's really nice is actually having the field then under the new schedule for Julian students to be able to do more activities whereas right now they're you know just in front of the school. Um not to mention all the safety concerns that I have had with that. Um right so Um but that they you know when we in the fall winter months when they actually do have the field they do use that time to move and and and so giving that opportunity back during that social time. Um but when time you know one of the things that we've talked about uh with our middle school redesign too is looking at programming still
118um and what are the things that we offer. So I don't know like is there you know what you taught. Um, April talks about when she used to teach dog training. Um, you know, like as just like a choice thing that she really enjoyed and you know, do we know like there are going to be some teach yoga, you know, classroom yoga? Maybe that would be wonderful offering. We're just not there yet about those pieces. And again, not that PE is not important and given a different set of circumstances, could we look to rebalance? Absolutely. Um, that would I think still be a desire. Um, but that is just not where we are right now. Also, like if I can add to that, I know you mentioned about even being able to run more periods.
119I think like elementary is running a seven day uh seven hour uh student day where we have a shorter day six and a half even the high school has even longer than than elementary seven plus almost seven and a half hours. So we are working with what we have. We have limitations on time but also the complexities that go with with the uh agreements with you know in our contracts with with our staff about them how much uh time is allocated for planning and how we organize around that because that's important that's important for staff to come together work and plan and prepare for it. So those are pieces that it might not shown but also they are creating uh um difficulties in how to drivers how to uh puzzle things together the only way.
120And I think my last comment, not a question, just something to think about is just as a trained school psychologist working with kids that have a motor running at all times, I really do worry about our population without structured physical ed and some decision-making curriculum such as the consent information that was provided in health. So, I know they get that in high school, but I will say that we're still at a at a good age right now to implement some of those ideas. So, I'm struggling because the gra the portrait of a graduate could potentially also say everybody's collegebound and we need more science, more social studies, more math, more ELA. And what about those other types of, you know, intelligences? And I I think that's important that I don't I think we're hearing we're
121not getting rid of those important things from health, right? there may need to be some like level setting across the two um campuses to understand how that's done but like it's not that you know um and a reduction in minutes for sure um but but because we don't have more to play with right so yeah I was going to say I could actually as um you lost one of my kids you still got two um so my kids are my kiddos are Brooks and the current um system I will say my kids talk about it a lot. Um, we are very we're trying to like do a mix of gentle parenting in our household. So, we we have a lot of like really hard conversations early on and we are very honest with our kids.
122Like they ask a question, we answer the question. Um, and one thing that has been fascinating to me is when I think I'm teaching them something, they're actually teaching me and it's all something they learn in health. So, it is a very robust curriculum. Um, we I remember my daughter was like, "Someone's a-romantic." And I was like, "Wait, what?" And so like they broke down like a-romantic, asexual. Um, and and these are these are my sixth graders. Um, and so they talk a lot about it. They talked a lot about drug use. Like, um, and and I think they also do a very good job of like tailoring it to the audience. So like my son just graduated 8th grade. he's able to say, "Oh, this is what we learned in sixth grade, what we
123learned in seventh grade. You're gonna learn about that next time." Um, and then as they rotate it, so some kids are taking like actual PE and then some are taking health. So then they're talking to each other like, "You're going to learn about this next quarter um or trimester." So I will say that it it it works and I understand the hesitation. So my I guess my recommendation um I think that some folks are going to watch this today or they may see the part about public comment and go cook and and not hear all of this. So maybe in the beginning of the school year to kind of like flush that out a little bit more. And I do think that having that um teacher buy in is really important. Um, and so maybe
124just something to kind of get people on board because I wouldn't want people to watch like a portion of the board meeting and not know that we had this really robust great conversation where you talked about all those things. Um, so that that's just my only recommendation, but thank you. I have um just two hopefully quick questions. Um, so I know this is for a three-year waiver and there's currently a new schedule coming out in the fall. Is that does that mean you're tying yourself to that schedule for three years also? No. I mean I think that we're when we discussed our scheduling even with our committee um we talked about this is our first iteration. Okay. And there are things that we need to be thinking about that aren't currently in our schedule that
125we need to evaluate like our career exploration like how are we going to evolve that over the next couple years is just so there's even the possibility that PE could come back. I think that I know probably not I I think that you know we have to evaluate where we are and then make decisions based on that. Um, and then actually connected to that comment, um, is I and what said like how are you going to determine whether this was worth it, I guess. So like what are the measures you're taking? Um, because you know some of these PE teachers you they've teaching a long time and they might not be here in three years. they might retire or you might have new teachers or you know and so I would I would really encourage
126you to think about what your measures are going to be now so that you can start collecting that data so that when you do come back because some of us won't be here in three years but some of us will um and so then this question is going to come back up of like why why should we continue doing this call out um if I got a unless someone has like a super burning Of course I do. Um, what is your cadence for evaluation? Like you've told me you're you guys are going to keep looking at this and evaluate it, but like what's the cadence of that? Thanks. So uh Kaden so we are engaging with our with our departments in a regular basis like we meet we have uh an opportunity to meet with
127them at least like once a month and definitely that will give us a way to pro monitoring the how things are happening. Um, having said that into the overall uh overall process of our schedule, I think definitely uh we're looking into assessing this every trimester and see how things are are moving. Okay. I think like reporting to you to all of you, it will be part of our process as we're learning and sharing having that open communication with our staff and with you throughout. Yeah, I think Luis answer you know that ongoing kind of formative assessment through all the things that we do. But I do think it's an important discussion in your question Jang about like what is it that the board would like to see because what's that level that's that board level
128metric I do think that that's an important because otherwise we might be assessing in some way but that's important for me to know and for us to know that what are those metrics and I think that's the appropriate conversation for us to have as a board and superintendent and admin team is what are those needles that we're looking to see move as a result of the things we're bringing And that's probably the conversation we haven't had and that's a perfect open session discussion and we're all excited about it because we see things but then we want you to see the things at your level that you want to see and we don't want to guess about it. Yeah. So I'll send um after since Holly is not here and she did kind of flag this
129so I'm kind of glad that she did. So when she watches this, I'm acknowledging a Holly. Um so when she watches this, she'll get a chance to review this meeting. Then I'll send out a a um followup. So as you're going home tonight, think about the metrics you want to see in the next couple of days, and then I will send that to Dr. Shaw. We're going to be meeting over the summer to talk about a calendar or like when we're going to get updates on stuff. um and so we can include that when we have that meeting and then she'll be having two ones with each of us so we can continue to um highlight those things as well. I did want to move on to the next thing. So if you do have
130any Yeah, we got to vote. Yes, I was going to say I want to move on to the next thing which is voting or getting a motion and then um Yeah. So thank you guys very much. Thank you. motion, please. I move that the board of education of Oak Park Elementary School District 97 approve the physical education waiver request to be submitted. Uh, Mr. Ros, yes. Dr. Bennett, no. Mr. Car, yes. Uh, Dr. Kim, yes. Mr. Johnson, yes. With pause, please people. Yes. Motion passes. Okay. Get the wiggles out. Uh, next thing 11.3 click renewal. I move that the board of education approve the renewal of the click liability insurance at a proposed premium cost for 2025 to 26 of $386,659 as second Mr. Carter. Yes. Dr. Kim, yes. Dr. Pettis, yes. More. Yes. Miss
131Ross Triban. Yes. And Mr. Johnson, yes. Motion passes. No calls. 11.4. Self renewal. I motion that the board of education of Oak Park Elementary School District 97 approve the district's total contribution to self conservation cooperative in the amount of $43,93. Any questions before we vote? All right. Do you get a second? Second, Mr. Car. Yes, Dr. Kim. Yes, Dr. Pettis. Yes, Miss Moore. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Ch. Yes. 11.5 village of Oak Park IGA water meter data collection. Oh, were there any questions or comments? Okay. Then I motion that the board of education of Oak Park Elementary School District 97 approve the IGA with the village of Oak Park for water meter data collection as presented. Second. Mr. Ross Striven. Yes. Dr. Pettis, yes. Mr. Carney, yes. Dr. Kim, yes. Mr. Johnson, yes. Miss Mole,
132yes. Motion passes. Sorry, I didn't get to come down for the prices, right? But next time. Oh, they're coming down for the next one. Yeah. I'm thinking wrong. I'm thinking forget that. Yeah, the family. There you go. Oh, yeah. I need to go. I'm going to I'm going to have to find that for you, Sheree. Yes. 11.6 is community seller. We previously talked about this. So, yeah. So, real quick, this was back in September. Um and we've been working through with Luis and John and Becky um on the contract negotiations back with Nex Amp. So this is an opportunity to come back. We're at that final stage to really sign off on the contract. uh it is actually two contracts uh because the ability to have and you'll correct me if I'm wrong but um
133within the state law you can only have 40% of the main whatever I'm not going to use the word right but whatever the main person or the largest capacity can only have one organization or entity can only have 40% of a solar farm so that's why we're broken up into 40% and 12% in two different farms contracts are the same but we want to just come back to the board share some of information. Becky will kind of give a quick overview to all board members of that and answer any questions. Yeah, thank you all for having me and nice to meet the new city board member. Um, so just I'll give like the 30 second overview of what community solar is and what it means for anyone watching who maybe doesn't know. Um, so community
134solar is intended to make solar accessible for people that it otherwise would not be. So this is not onsite. This is completely different from anything we've discussed in the past about something that would be on the rooftop. Um, this would be an offsite separately owned and managed by a community solar developer and the district is just participating in the program via a discount program. So, uh, the way that it works is the the legislation, the way the program is designed in the state is that for these large developers to build these multi-million dollar assets, um, for them to get the credits from KMED, they have to pass through a subscribers utility bill. And then so that would be you in this instance. So the credits would pass through on your utility invoice. So it' be
135a negative number, a credit actually on your invoice. And then that same developer turns around and bills the district um for the same amount of those credits less the discount that you have uh been approved for. In this case, it's a 10% discount. So that 10% is what the district is able to net and save. Um, and so it results in uh about $58,000 a year in projected savings. This is based off of last year's numbers because we have to kind of look at what you paid in the past to determine what you had estimated would be an estimate to pay in the future. Um, comments rates did go up pretty substantially June 1st, though. So, I would say that this uh $58,000 is actually quite conservative. It's a 20-year contract uh because for a
136developer to make a multi-million dollar investment, they want to make sure that they have the offtake for a long period of time. For someone with good credit who pays their bills, i.e. school districts, you are kind of their bread and butter. Uh so it is a long-term commitment because the life of solar is 20 to 25 years minimum. So it's a 20-year contract with that $58,000 projected annual savings would be about a $1.2 2 million estimated um cash flow positive to the district for doing nothing more than signing two contracts and paying an additional invoice each month. Did I do it justice? Okay, great. And so, as Michael was saying, the reason for the two contracts is that that same legislation only allows for one single subscriber or anchor subscriber to take offset 40% of
137any single field. uh so that they don't have someone come in and take the entire um in the farm. And I also note this for anyone watching that this is accessible for anyone in Illinois, even residential. So this uh is a program it seems like if you've gotten a flyer in the mail or something that sounds too good to be true and sounds scammy. Look it up, Google it. It is legitimate. And I think for residential it's like 20% savings. So, especially with everyone's bills going up in the summertime, um you can look into it so members of your community can also participate and uh secure some savings on their electric invoices. Questions, comments? Anybody want to sign up? I would sign up. Did you? Cool. Yeah. Few years ago. That's awesome. Did you ride
138your bike here too, Gavin? I did. It's perfect. Gabby, you got to give us an update. Let us know how it goes. I Well, I've been on it for several years and I'm saving money. So, I would encourage you all to do it. All right. Particularly if you can't my house doesn't isn't well situated for rooftop. So, if you're in that situation, it's a good it's a good uh second choice. I want to talk to you because uh we are also all right. Sorry. Um Okay. So, can Michael there's not so because there's not a cost to it. Uh, so there's not an action. I know it was listed on discussion and action. So there isn't that action. It would just be for us to send the contracts to Dr. Shaw for her to sign.
139Uh, but again, just wanted to be able to share the update and where we're at. And then again, it's a sustainability policy just transparency of of some of these action steps that align with policy. So everybody who's watching who now wants to sign up should contact Michael and we want to thank you for waiting till the very last. Sure. We have our last Yeah, we have a pop quiz on our on our district initiatives for you. Be so glad to participate. No, this is great. Thanks for having me back. Thank you for Thank you. Thank you. All right, that brings us to concluding items 12.1 board remarks. you get. Um, I just want to say um, graduation was last Monday and it's only been and Tuesday. Seems like hour ago. Yes, my grocery bill says
140the same. So, uh, the end of the school year. I just want to just congratulate all of the graduates and all the teachers and all the families um that were able to participate. Um, and just also I think um I was sharing with everyone earlier today that um we're in some really tough times right now. And so just encouraging us to be a little bit more neighborly this summer. Um check in on folks, check in on our students. We talked about mental health. Um check in on our teachers. Um there are folks that are really living in fear right now. And so just that extra like smile, extra checking in on folks will really go a long way. And I think um reminding us ourselves like our kids are listening and they're watching. Um I
141had said something that was not so nice and my kids called me out on it and I was like cliche. Um so yeah, just wanted to like elevate that. We made a lot of progress and we don't always agree on things but just to be mindful of like what we're saying and how we're treating each other during these really tough times. Thank you. Should we hold your hands and start singing your hand? You don't wash your hands. For the elementary schools, I'll say there was a nice event very similar along that same weekend. End of the year baring and it's um coordinated by a committee from the PTO and the goal is to fund raise for the incoming fifth graders. So fourth graders volunteer with their parents to fund raise for things like everyone gets
142a yearbook, you know, and any of the trips that they take, things like that, field trips as fifth graders at Irving. That was really nice cuz the rain was coming in and parents were like, you know what, can we just wait till delay it for an hour and you should have seen the turnout was better than I've ever seen. So it was really nice for the community to come out to support that. And it also gave the outgoing fifth graders something to do on that last day of school. All right. Nothing else. All right. Of course, I have something to say. What did you say? Aren't we in water marks? No. What was the other thing? What did you say earlier with the caveat or the jumping gun to say? Yes. I thought she was
143going to make with a with a pause. Yes. Thank you. No pause. Um, I want to absolutely say congratulations to our graduates. So exciting. 8th grade is such an awesome graduation and embarking on your high school career is super exciting and those four years go by faster than you believe and everyone says it until you get to your senior year and you realize they were right. I also want to acknowledge all of our retirees. um so jealous, but thank you for all of your hard work and your dedication. And even some of the teachers that came up and spoke were 20 plus year teachers. Um and teaching is such an awesome profession, but it's really awesome for those who have made a career of teaching and have been doing um impacting kids in such a
144substantial way for decades uh upon decades. So congratulations to them. I also want to acknowledge one of our own. L is not here today and that is because she is at an honor ceremony for her graduation on Saturday for her master's degree. So let's [Applause] No more pauses. All right, let me hit play. Um, Vice President Kim, do you want to do board assignments? No, I don't have them set up. Uh, because people were so slow responding to my email. So, I will send out maybe next time. I will send out the actual assignments by the end of the week so that there can be a handoff. I know a lot of the committees are kind of uh on hiatus for the summer, so there's not most of them there's not a big rush, but
145yeah. Um, so look for that in your box this week. All right. Uh, next board meeting is August 12th. No, you're jumping the board board reports for what we're currently assigned to. Oh, that's what I was asking you to do. Okay. Well, I was going to give the report for everybody. No, I was asking did you want to do the thing? Oh, that's why I just said no. It's good to see you guys working out in real time. Transparency. I like that. Does anyone have board assignments? Yes. Uh fact met yesterday, but uh Jennifer brought you guys all up to speed on where we are. TAC is on pages till the fall. For met and the last time we had a board meeting, the information from was presented. IA I haven't been able to attend
146an Igo meeting PTLC that Holly you know Holly where's yeah I think that's I don't think they probably sustainability task force uh nothing beyond the sack update I think uh CC Um, so we are meeting again in July to look at the IGA. So everyone should be looking at their uh mailboxes kind of midsummer, take a little break out on the deck and take a look for any questions we might have and then we'll be bringing that in in the fall. I was not able to attend OPF, but Becky attended on my behalf. Thank you so much. No problem. Um the biggest thing they were celebrating also the sacileris so that was in their part of their conversation about awarding the stayac award. They will be having like an official reception of sorts later on
147this month but I haven't seen they might send you the date. Um and then they do have programs running in four out of eight buildings after school. And so just kind of they're trying to spread information beyond just being a base camp, summer camp. Um and they're talking all about branding. Um and I think that was the biggest thing. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. OPRF uh community council. No report. Ed, uh they had their last meeting of the year. they just kind of wrapped up which bills did not get through, which ones might be revisited uh next year and then some of the new bills that are coming down the pipe as they go into summer recess. Um, one that I just kind of caught was uh that was interesting was um where' it go
148now? I don't know where it went, but they're looking at um school districts oh here it go to annually report disagregated data for law enforcement referrals. Um, so I just thought that was kind of interesting in terms of looking at who when police are called, who it's called for, and um, just further understanding some of the systemic issues that come in. Um, but yeah, there's there's a bunch of other legislation. Um, I can send for send forward the uh, the PowerPoint if folks want, but nothing huge right now. All right. So now that's the next board meeting is going to be August 12th. Um and then uh no full session. No need to move to full session. Can I get a motion to adjourn? So sorry quickly. So we don't have any agenda yet for
149August 12th. I move we adjourn.