001you come to order never walk Paul please Babcock here Kevin here Eggbert yeah Graham here pun Morrison here Seaford here we are mindful at this meeting in all of our meetings that the mission of school district 15 is to produce world-class learners by building a connected learning community this evening we're going to be led to pledge by students from Carl Sandburg junior high and the nest principal Doug harder to bring his kids into leaders from the pledge and tell them tell us about their accomplishments [Music] dr. Thompson for president Babcock members the district 15 Board of Education community members thank you for inviting us to this board meeting we chose to bring students from the Kyle Sandburg junior high school team that participated in the Lego robotics competition they are Josephine Logan josè accomplishments of
002this along with the obvious challenges and successes within the competition itself these students and many others in this inclusive group establish new friendships collaborate effectively raise money for the Buddy foundation the Carl Sandburg Lego team and the judges award again this year for its an inclusive character and teamwork and this is just a small portion of the group that made up the Lego robotics team strong because you have everybody get together so we could get a photograph okay of everyone in there and then you can lead us in the pledge here [Music] to [Music] one more one two three today please write place please [Music] okay [Music] watch your statue nice job [Music] congratulations to all of you [Music] the first item in my section tonight is the recognition of the district 15 spelling bee
003winners from all the schools and the overall winner and mrs. Mullins is going to be making those announcements [Music] good evening pretty big president Babcock dr. Thompson and members of the Board of Education and our wonderful families and community members I am on the Polly Mullins the district literacy coordinator and I am thrilled to introduce you to our master spellers in our district each speller each student in standing up in front of you first started out with their class spelling bee or grade-level spelling bee they then moved on to their school spelling bee and then maybe for part of the district spelling bee which was on January 12th I won't say that this is a remarkable group not only because they can spell it amazing what eight words that most of us for that spell
004check we would never survive and these students not only were they remarkable just to have intelligent and smart they are but these are so calm and courageous I think the adults in the room of the spelling bee probably had more nerves than you all did so I would like to just say before we give the awards and everything can we just have a round of applause for this now I asked them if I they would like for me to say their names or if they would like to say them and what did you say it's a very big audience today so I am pleased to UM give them certificates for little wards and introduce you to our district spelling bee winner who is Calvin who is Calvin [Music] really it was all runner up and
005a very special thank you to miss O'Hara where is time there's a hair because I recently relocated from New York so for pronounced pronouncing which you can see I may have been having a hard time may all the words I would have a bit of an accent so like water or things like that so I will say thank you so much for being our announcer so I'd like to start with Joseph certificate congratulations Joseph is elementary critique you who is absent in junior high rise from grade 7 Winston campus junior high is also absent now we also have for Lily Kim who is 5 I'm sorry Lily say your school again [Music] and from Central Road Calvin who is both fine at Central Road and then was our district winner of the winner so thank
006you thank you thank you for being such amazing students and for being part of our spelling bee you are inspiring to all of us so can I just have one last round of applause the amazing award also invented initiatives to lepen not everyone is you can start right that way there you go that's your Thompson walk in front of the iceberg nice job no go ahead he's no regular so you're going to stay in the line and go oh right thank you all I don't want you to trip over the casework congratulations [Music] maybe see you next turn [Music] next time my section is the recognition of a tradition in the district sixth grade two ball tournament winners and Adrian Bailey is not feeling well tonight so dr. Shore is going to fill in for
007her Thank You dr. Thompson good evening president Babcock Board of Education and all present I am proud to recognize our sixth grade two ball winners this evening about sixty boys competed at the Palatine prep district on Tuesday February 7th and about a hundred and sixty girls competed on Wednesday February eighth we had two divisions large schools and small schools the large schools included hunting Ridge Lake Louise Lincoln paddock Virginia I'm sorry Virginia Lake Pleasant Hill Jane Addams and Central Road and the small schools included the small schools were Kimball held Thomas Jefferson Marion Jordan winston campus Elementary Willa band Sanborn and Whitely now if you're not familiar with two ball I was not familiar with two ball until I started in district 15 is a very exciting game it is a two ball Bunch obviously
008where our two students have to one minute rounds where they completes the different points that are marked on a basketball court students need to pass tests of their partners after shots and move around the court in two different spots they can earn points for attempting shots at each spot and they were very careful to not travel or double dribble spots can be worth two three four four or five points depending on the distance from the basket in both rounds were added together for their final score was very exciting and positive events it was packed over there for parents teachers administrators friends and other spectators of all the to wall competitors the students put in a ton of time with their intramural coaches who are here with them tonight to practice their basketball skills and to
009work with their partners I want to congratulate all of the participants and here are the winning teams from each division mr. Silva do you want to enter your crew play on David solo from hunting Ridge and this is Nathan and Caleb hi I'm Sharon Rusk I teach at Winston campus Elementary and I'm very proud to recognize Tyler and Julia coach can you see on TV from Nick in school and this is McKenna and Abby was at a basketball tournament today so [Music] congratulations to our first place two ball teams and all of the students who participate in this exciting event and thank you very much to all of the district [Music] that's congratulations to all of the winners and special thanks to their PE teachers for all of the time and effort that they put
010in and thank you all for being here this evening situations I didn't get but I was that last year thank you [Music] that flower dies before we continue I just have one other spelling bee I know that I'd like to congratulate and this is Jen's from berry and Jordan so congratulations [Music] but it's a couple more items in my section the first I just want to report to the board the activity of the superintendent's Committee on communications and community agent we met on Monday this is our second meeting the first meeting was with director of communications from Barrington c20 she gave us a lot to think about told us about what the structure is in her district we got information from the national school public relations Association on what school districts might consider as far
011as a communications department and as I stated with the departure of Tim who was our writer Tim Waldorf it gave us an opportunity to restructure the department so the committee talked about restructuring the department and we really believe that we need a professional person that's got a degree in communications to come and help us and so I think that what we're going to do is we're going to come back with a formal proposal for the April board meeting about restructuring your department and so I'm going to give you some information to consider the next month to look at and then the formal proposal will be at the April board being free to consider the restructuring of the department and I think you'll find that our efforts to have two-way dialogue to reach as many people
012as possible to engage the community in as many ways and as often as we can will be greatly enhanced by the restructuring that's been talked about so I'm really excited about that Zubair and Jessica were both there we had Matt bar beany and teacher and from this building actually that's quite knowledgeable about communications in social media and so we're excited about the proposal and you should see that in the next week or so and then we'll have it as a formal action item at the April meeting that the meeting was was very productive I mean I think that really the idea of enhancing the social media presence of district 15 is probably the obviously the biggest thing that came out of it I mean I think methods about which districts communicate with the parents that
013have changed drastically and while we do have you know a social media presence now to be able to enhance that it's an exciting tool that you know I'm looking forward to be proposing it's great so I will be sharing that with you shortly and then bringing it back for the upon meeting the next site of my section is an update from our nutrition committee that's one of the board's goals for the year to focus on finding ways to have more nutritional items offer to our students and maybe even some more culturally responsible items that would would be a liked by similar students and so dr. Barbie Nia's led that committee I'm gonna ask him to come up to talk about the work that committee [Music] good evening dr. Thompson president Babcock and members of the
014Board of Education did you know that this week is National School Breakfast Week and then tomorrow is international school meals day and I'm here tonight talking about a nutrition committee update so I think that that's that's very appropriate in terms of the reason why this work has occurred or the what rather is that the Board of Education has a goal for for continuous growth and improvement that deals with evaluating our current nutritional service offerings to students so that we can identify areas of enhancing those offerings including and improving nutrition and providing culturally responsive food choices to our students so that's the water the Y rather that this committee formed and the how in terms of how the committee interacted towards working in terms of identifying potential recommendations for us to consider we're going to talk
015a little bit about the the committee membership the composition of the committee the process that the committee followed the parameters are the guiding principles that the committee worked in and then before opening it up certainly two questions the draft goals or recommendations from this important work group so the committee membership in terms of a snapshot we wanted to get is broad base of representation as possible so we started with their parents and by invited and involve teachers nutrition service employees we had a community partner two building administrators and then three district administrators and this is where you know I put in a very good work for our director of nutrition services mrs. Bobby Deborah and her assistant director Kristen Voight Kristen are you here this evening where's Kristen thank you for your efforts Bobby would
016have been here however she is visiting it was a planned vacation to Colorado she's not skiing or anything but she's visiting her grandchild and so I think that that's a good reason not to be here tonight so she entrusted me with providing this update as you can see our parents were the largest representative group in this committee and that was done intentionally it was done by design because their kids are the nutrition services departments number one customer or client and so we wanted to make sure that parents voices were heard although there weren't students on this committee I'm gonna use the word yet I do believe that this is a great place for students to get involved and as this presentation continues I'm going to be talking about how we're gonna make sure that we
017capture or solicit student voice in terms of making decisions in the area of enhancing our nutritional content in terms of items served as well as offering more culturally responsive food choices for kids in terms of the representation of the group eleven of our 20 schools were represented at the table and for municipalities Palatine Hoffman Estates rolling meadows and Inverness and that represented students who are in preschool all the way through eighth grade in district 15 and so many of us that were on this committee have not dedicated our lives for the purposes of food and nutrition services we like to eat and I one of those individuals I like to eat but I didn't really know and many of us didn't really know we at least had various levels of understanding about what it exactly
018takes to run a food service department in a district that serves 12,000 students on a daily basis and so we have really started off in the first two meeting with learning getting to understand seeking to understand first prior to coming up with the recommendations or the draft goals that I'll be sharing later and so this is where Bobby provided in the first meeting in December a critical overview of the nutrition services department and that's where we learned as a committee you know what it takes behind the scenes to serve 7250 meals once again 7,000 250 meals on average on a daily basis and as a parent myself I can attest that one meal a day with my boys might be challenging Bobby and Kristin and their dedicated staff of professionals serve 7250 on average on
019a daily basis the other thing that we did is we really wanted people to be able to put their eyes on the district's facilities and so we did have site visits as a part of this as well each of the five committee meetings we had were at a different school so that at the beginning of every committee meeting we took time and Bobby took us on a tour of the facilities so that we could see you know where the magic happens but we also had site visits that we offered during the school day at three of our schools so that committee members could actually see you know kids going through the lines I mean we're talking a set up we're hundreds of kids going through the lunch line getting their food you know paying for
020their food you know and then going down and sitting down to eat we took a look at what items kids were choosing what items kids weren't choosing what they were eating coupled with what they were necessarily throwing away so that gave us an insight that really helped in terms of that awareness building piece second meeting that we had in January focused on having an opportunity to talk about those site visits for those committee members that couldn't go and actually see things in action during the school day and then Bobby presented an additional time with respect to our existing facilities and that's where you know we learned things about our central kitchen for example which is located here adjacent to Walter our son Ling that's where we learned that 4,500 lunches and 800 breakfasts are packaged
021daily and then later distributed throughout the district and so that's a lot that's a lot of lunches and breakfasts folks and that's also where we learned that 3,700 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables are washed prepped counted and packaged on a daily basis as well and then distributed throughout the district now one of the team members that I did not mention when I was going through the committee was our consultant we did hire a consultant to help us think through this important board goal to give us a national perspective in terms of best practices not just across the state of annoy but regionally and nationally and in that added some considerable value once again to help the committee members who haven't dedicated their lives like Kristen and Bobby in terms of food services so that
022certainly helped us as we transition to the third meeting where the committee basically took the entire meeting and brainstormed options or possible recommendations in the board goal areas once again of enhancing nutrition as well as providing greater culturally responsive food choices that led to meeting for where as a committee we sat down and that's where we evaluated the ideas that we brainstormed we really thought that that third meeting was about ideas we didn't want to be critical or evaluate at any point at that point we had a dedicated meeting for that purpose and it was from that meeting that the draft goals and recommendations were generated meaning five is coming up I and that meeting is going to be next week that's what we're gonna finalize the draft recommendations that are shared this evening as
023well as identifying representative group hopefully a lot of our parents to present with me to the district Wellness Committee in April because that's the body or entity that's going to take the work that the nutrition committee did review revise it and then determine in terms of what they're gonna bring to the board or what it ministerially we're going to moving forward with respect to the board goal the committee's recommendations in terms of our guiding principles this was something that we said we had to work within I mean of course following state federal nutrition requirements of which there are several volumes in fact considering recommendations from the consultant there's no purpose in having a consultant if we don't consider their recommendations we also wanted to work within the existing footprint we do recognize that that's something
024as an area of the wealth and improvement that we do need to take a look at we have very very limited prep space at our elementary level and what we did as a committee is we acknowledge that but we said we have to work within that at least right now we also indicated that we needed to be fiscally responsible that there would be changed but that it would be gradual so that our system can accommodate that given the fact that we have competing priorities and initiatives as well as that each goal area would have to have evaluation component there's no purpose in having a goal if you don't have ways to evaluate it to determine you know if it's effective or not so this is when we transition to the goals that the committee developed
025there's actually two sets of goals the committee came up with 4i but the administration has two additional goals on top of that so for a total of six so the first goal is that the Department of Nutrition Services will modify menu items names and marketing to better reflect the healthy nature of existing offerings prior to the first day of school so the example that I kept harping on and the committee was Bosco sticks I had no idea what a Bosco stick was what I learned is that it's actually a whole-grain piece of bread and they would call it Bosco steps with dipping sauce well it was whole-grain bread I and then marinara sauce well let's call it what it is so people can know what it is and so that that's some of the things
026that we're trying to do once again grains are healthy marinara sauce is healthy and delicious but we need to call things what they are so people know what they are so that's the example there the other thing that we wanted to do is we wanted to go techie and we wanted to purchase an app a meal app and implement that for the start of the 18:19 school year right and I believe we believe is a committee in under promising and over delivery if we can deliver on the sooner than the start of the 1819 school year we will but we're looking for an app that can be is on a smartphone etc we know kids have them we know parents have them it's the way of the world that will allow our menu items to
027be seen on a weekly basis or a daily basis and for kids and parents and staff to look at the nutritional content of each of those menu items as well as and this would be great rate them because that will help Kristen and Bobby in terms of having metrics about what kids like and what they don't like so we can possibly adjust our menus accordingly the third goal in this area is increasing the number of vegetarian options that are served on a weekly basis and so we are gonna begin doing that immediately after the start of the 1718 school year as well and then we're gonna review our existing on menu items in terms of our cart and pre plate with an outside consultant and present recommended changes that will enhance nutrition to the nutrition
028committee that we will then take to the Wellness Committee either sometime this year or sometime next year the committee that Kristen Bobby and I and all those other 18 members are actually 16 members served on is going to be a standing committee now year in and year out so that we can focus on this not just be a one and done but really look at nutrition and culturally responsive food choices on a regular ongoing basis the other to recommend a areas are administrative in nature and they involve surveying and this is where I talked about making sure student voice is captured we really need to make sure that we survey students and we're thinking about how we're going to do that we'd like to do that this year as well as our parent community and
029in terms of what they like about what's currently offered what can be continuously improved upon otherwise what they don't like but this is also where we're gonna say we value diversity and that's what makes us strong it's what makes us strong as a district it's what makes us strong as a state and it's what makes us strong as a nation and what we're gonna do is that's what we're going to ask our families because much of culture is celebrated through food breaking bread around a table I and spending time with people you care about and we're gonna ask our students and parents what cultural items are served at home that you would like us to consider incorporating into our menu so that this way it's not just the 18 committee members that make that decision
030about what is going to be culturally relevant but that we survey our kids and we survey their families to determine what those things are and those themes and outcomes from that survey will drive improvements in in our nutritional opportunities and in what we serve but also we also are culturally responsive choices and that becomes the metric that the nutrition committee will use every year moving forward the last one is we are going to pilot and this happens to be one of my favorites flavor stations schools to be determined flavor stations natural nationally really become the norm and what that allows kids to do is you know it customized their meals and so we'll have spices and sauces and other things you know to really individualize meals that will pile it will evaluate and then we'll
031determine where we're gonna go from there I do have to say one of the other recommendations in terms of a smoothie machine didn't make the final cut a little bit depressed about that I did both for that it's not out there all right but before I and I do want to say thank you to the committee 18 people gave up their time away from their family their loved ones their friends etc to really tackle this issue and do it in an open-minded way where we learned first we sought first to understand and then we delved into the issues they gave up their time and the service of others and I want to make sure that I say publicly that I deeply appreciate their efforts and I know we have some community members here this evening
032besides Kristin Voight's jennifer is allah has me so if you could stand up I want to make sure that you're recognized the Jennifer leaves when we get so I think that's it Jen Jen and I learned that we both like the flavor stations and we're probably gonna trade hot sauces after the meeting in case anybody's interested so with that being said that's our update what questions you have thorough job how much weight did you gain [Music] you know the question you know maybe from speaking with the consultant facade the culturally responsive foods I would just you know he was he or she able to provide example just how you have culturally responsive foods have you've been able to work in kind of a mess you know quantity cuz I would just think that would be
033an issue but okay how do you get you know where certain types of foods have been repeatedly done and so everybody knows like you know how peeps is gonna be you know he knows streamlined and and you get to get a lot of it but for for the other foods that are regularly provided the consultant you know it wasn't your she provided guidance with that yes and so what what guidance we received was reaching out not only in the form of surveys but then you know demographically having an understanding of the communities that surround each school and then engaging in conversations within those communities you know to really determine you know what the interest is so that instead of providing things that kids might not be taking because that's not what they're seeing at home
034we can do that so it's it's all about conversation it's about surveying in conversations locally and that that is going to be an opportunity for us because that could mean that in our district that we're going to have degree of differentiation talk about differentiated teaching and learning for our kids this is an opportunity for us to differentiate you know what we served in terms of each building based on the demographic around that particular school or set of schools and so it's really about engaging the parent community and kids finding out what they like and then making some judgments from there that's a good point I mean engage many we've talked about even with respect to the Communications Committee about you know different ways to communicate and I think you probably find that some parents get
035involved with things that they're more passionate about and food does is it is a passionate subject for a lot of people so this could maybe go get a lot of involvement I think and we also talked about having like a food tasting Expo one of the other things that our consultant Jean Ronnie from food service management LLC had indicated and she really she was very very helpful to this process you know she indicated that what you do is you also offer tastings you know and you make it educational but then you invite people out you know and you have conversations about you know what the food tastes like and you go from there you know it's really exciting about this is we celebrate diversity and we're extremely inclusive of all kinds of students and so
036this is a way for students to be proud of their culture and for other kids to get to learn about other kids cultures if we have culturally responsive food so it's really it's very an exciting thing too it's fantastic you know I'm sorry are you proposing then duh not with our nutrition services then they are going to be able to differentiate with meals that they prepare for the different schools I think we're going to have to get to a point in order to address this board goal about culturally responsive food choices at a certain point in time we're gonna have to talk about scale what are we gonna do across all 20 schools but I do very well believe that we're gonna have to look individually at schools or subsets of schools as well you
037know I'd be able to make some decisions you know that meet this areas well I I do think it's your point president Babcock yeah we are gonna have to differentiate we're going to scale up do some global work but then we're also gonna have to differentiate as well I think it's great that we're gonna get the kids involved first of all you there's a lot of kids that know that I'm on the board and I get this quite a bit what does the food get better but also being on the side of working in the business I think it's great to see in talking to a lot of food service directors that trade show that I go to the biggest disappointment is seeing what goes in the garbage can and the amount of money that's
038wasted so I mean I'm the flipside of offering a better menu and some items that kids will really like cost savings that will come to it and it also could be a big help to someone like me the manufactory business you know what are kids looking for them we think we know what they're looking for we produce it and put it out there it flops so great to see a committee like this career well we remember Seaford now you can say you can talk to this guy but one of the things that I seriously want to consider for next year because this is a standing committee I do think students should actually be on the committee as well yeah because if they are our end users of our of our nutrition services offerings they should
039be no cliche or pun intended at the table - yep agree today what kind of labeling do we have around vegetarian meals or ingredients at all do we have that labeling going on or I'm glad this is not final jeopardy board member Morrison Kristin everyone say we have vegetarian salad that we offer and we do try to add in more vegetarian items but that has been a concern for some parents do we have it labeled adequately where you know a vegetarian student can walk into the cafeteria and readily see that the Zoey is labeled on the menu as a vegetarian salad but also if the vegetarian salads are packed in a Inge container and they're marked with with a vegetarian sticker so it's obvious that you yeah is there any work or focused going forward
040to be to improve the way we notify the students of what specific ingredients are in each meal that's the app the meal app that we're really looking at what we're trying to strive for here is radical transparency we want kids and their parents and their staff to know what's on the menu and what ingredients are in each of those items so that they can make is informed a choice as possible about what they're putting into their bodies thanks Matt looking forward to the final report next month finalists remembrance of Joe Kisco passed away this week Joe Kiska worked in district long ago I think anyone else Craig's trying to beat his Venus record but Joe worked in the district I think almost 54 years he was 91 years old he was our historian he served
041in many capacities from teacher to acting superintendent Joe was flag bearer for the district always wanted the best of the district and much of what we're we're known for today was the result of Joe being in charge and working here so he lived a long good life always dedicated district 15 and he'll be missed we're going to move on to reading an acceptance of the minutes we have the suggested motion please make a motion to approve the minutes from the following meeting of the Board of Education February 2017 through the Board of Education meeting as presented Orson high Seaford motion carries before we move on to board discussion and reports if we've already received several sheets if anyone is interested in addressing the board this evening if they would fill out the sheet that was
042in the lobby as you came in and get a tour board secretary before we reached the citizens addressing the board we would appreciate it moving on at rad dr. Chapman well there's been a lot of discussion in that much action in Springfield my perspective in the school's perspective I think the significant issue would be a trade-off in terms of income tax versus property tax freeze at this point parked for us in this part of the state is that we don't get very good return in terms of income tax that goes to Springfield and is allocated at various parts throughout the state and of course the real estate taxes that we do collect are spent locally so they're wings to be seen so we are mr. Siefert the one-five foundation the next upcoming event for the
043one-five foundation is april 22nd at dirty knowings of dueling pianos event then it's a Friday night but positive and details are on the one-five website 22nd we are going to provide two citizens addressing the board please remember that this is not a dialogue between you and the board we have a specific issue which requires a response superintendent and Thompson will get back to you please state your name and identify any group that you represent please limit your remarks to no more than five minutes if someone previously has articulated something with which you agree please state that you agree rather than reiterating the entire comments finally avoid comments specific to any person student or staff member respecting their right to privacy this is not the forum to comment on personnel issues with that being said we
044are going to start with Kim keval cable I'm not sure I said that right yes if you see here you can have a seat and the microphones are on my name is Kim Kapil thank you I'm here as a parent as a district of Palatine and I also represent over a hundred people that are currently outside thank you for the opportunity to speak my eldest child attends kindergarten at Lincoln Elementary thanks to his wonderful teacher and all the staff at Lincoln he waits far beyond his grade level and looks forward to this to school as the best part of his day my family and I moved to Palatine three years ago we came from Chicago we're a neighborhood Elementary School scored a 3 out of 10 stars on great schools comm Lincoln Elementary by contrast
045scores 7 stars as a parent I'm extremely grateful that my children attend public school like Lincoln and I want to extend my most sincere congratulations to the school board for their excellent service over district district financial health scores three point nine out of four which is a miracle in the state of Illinois your students most high rates of academic success and student achievement the facilities are welcoming safe and offer students access to state-of-the-art technology and as a former teacher I especially appreciate in the future our community has to make some tough decisions we need a new school we need to find a way to pay for it without putting anyone at a financial disadvantage we need to find a way to offer full-day kindergarten even though the classroom space does not currently exist we need
046to maintain the high standards for excellent student performance in the absence of leadership from both state and federal government and that is why as an American and as a parent as a teacher I implore the school board to focus on the task at hand and not capitulate to the demands of an extremist community group who offers no insight into these very real challenges and only interminable outrage and boundless chaos the concerns of this group notwithstanding title 9 continues to protect all students against discrimination including students who are transgender and the Illinois humans right Human Rights Act contains specific provisions based on gender identity in the essence existing state and federal laws mandate that public schools treat all students with dignity and humanity the current presidential administration cannot and did not change that I am thankful
047that my district public schools are strong they're so strong they attract people like me from the city they consequently contribute to community growth in a way that other public institutions cannot therefore as residents we must protect our public schools we must protect them in our communities because America's greatest resource is not shale oil or technology companies but our people and our children as a people are American identities forged through a shared commitment to the principle that all people are created equal under the same laws that principle means nothing by itself it has made manifest only through our actions consequently each American generation crawls over our principles and how best to carry them out in an ever complicated world these quarrels are our American inheritance for our country exists not as some destination but as a
048ceaseless journey a timeless quest for balanced civil rights as we move forward in this journey we must remember that our equality is bound up with one another people do not have to lose their rights in orders for others to gain so we voice our thanks for your faithful service to our community and our children we voice our support to our school boards in our public schools we support our schools our communities and our great country which has declared that every child has the right to an education and we support you and fulfilling that right which is the first means that we as an American people fulfill that sacred and original American us to all our children and that is of equal opportunity thank you Thank You Kim Linda cap go [Music] [Applause] good evening my
049name is Linda Kepco I'm a resolute Palatine and I am here to discuss or talk about the macarena versus bathroom policy that you have been stated at district 15 and I wanted to start off by reading the ending the conclusion of a speech that was given by a group of 10 high school students in district 211 that they state quote currently you are allowing one student to do something that others cannot at the expense of many others right to privacy why are our rights and feelings not validated why are we being dismissed we urge you to take a stand and fight for the majority of the students or actually that really should say all students who represent the right to privacy within the intimate environments of the restroom and locker room by blurring the lines
050one student receives a special privilege and if we keep learning along those lines and expanding the boundaries one day there will be none that was the final statement of these girls from district 2 11 and as the previous individual had stated that we do not have the right we do not have the right to lose our rights what did she say to none of them you do not have to lose our rights by fulfilling the rights of others and therefore I agree with that statement because all children should be looked at as equal and worthy of having their rights validated I was kind of frustrated at a forum that was held last week we had journalists there that continue to use the sucks and gender interchangeably because they are two different definitions sex is biological
051which cannot be changed gender according to medical diagnosis can be fluid and changed so I was frustrated that it was documented that's they stated that all the board members some were saying that gender or sex could be changed and I'm here to tell you about a six I instead is not a fact when you have an X Y chromosome you have a X Y chromosome for the entire duration of your life so those two words cannot be used interchangeably title 9 protects the definition of sex it does not protect the definition of gender just wanted to state that also based on what the girls said at their end of their speech they were talking about blurring the lines and I ask you has the district really stopped to think about in consider when you open
052the door for one you then have to open for all so I ask you do you allow a 56 year old male with a diagnosis of trans ageism to enroll in your kindergarten class do you allow the anorexic child to starve themselves do you allow the trans-species child not to legally not enroll in school because they view themselves as an animal and then do you allow that child if he does attend school to eat without their hands do you allow a trans drip trans race student to label themselves a different race on all legal documents do you allow a trans abled student to roam the school freely so that they may look for opportunities to crush a limb or blind themselves when you accept one you must accept them all and I just wanted to
053know if the board has thought about those kinds of issues and also what the trans abled student but the diagnosis of being trans able do you allow that child or that student to receive an IEP filled with accommodations because they believe that they are physically impaired I just would like to know that in the school system nothing has ever done unless there is valid data everything is proven on data we have to prove data before any kind of accommodation or anything is provided so I would like to ask the board also where is the hard data I'm not asking for opinion or a social agenda I would like to know where the hard data is that proved help you guys come to the current policy for them this bathroom locker room issue 10 seconds Linda
054oh okay I also want to state that the brain does not fully develop into the age of 25 that all children are growing and developing and attempting to become who they are themselves some children I'm sorry I'm getting nervous now because I'm a time crunch all children go through their own personal experiences and some children prooved choose to do it privately but that does not limit or invalidate their struggles they have just as much merit as the person who tries to bring their struggles open thank you so I challenge you as I finish here in a public setting I would like you to change in front of all of us and the reason mind under your time to sell so ok what I just asked you to do is what a 12 year old girl
055feels in the privacy of a locker room they are feeling that the world is egocentric and looking at them even in the privacy of a ladder room our next speaker who's that Jane and wobbler she's coming [Music] good evening it has been brought to my attention that when a policy change was made within district 15 regarding locker room and restaurant access no notice of policy change was provided to the parents prior to implementation if this is correct my next comments are directed more towards the administration than the school board members common courtesy and respect to parents would be to notify them before this policy change occurred as a parent it is my responsibility to talk with my child as to how I would want them to act or react in that situation for parents to
056have no notification opens the possibility that my child may encounter an uncomfortable situation that I have not been able to prepare them for it is my responsibility as a parent to instill specific morals within my child it is not the teachers or the administrators responsibility to impose their morals on any child I'm not saying any specific moral is right or wrong I am simply saying that it is very disrespectful on the part of district 15 to not advise parents before this change was implemented thank you to larger Fraser [Music] my name is Roger Fraser and a resident of Rolling Meadows and I had the honor to teach in district 15 for 28 years started my career here in 1977 500 and 2005 in that in that space of 28 years I saw a change a
057change in attitudes toward toward children core in the first year this is a little and please bear with me in my first year in teaching at pack school a little boy effeminate a very effeminate little boy took his lunch and sat at a table sat at a table where there were a few other students all of those students moved to the end the opposite end were that little boy was City that doesn't happen anymore in district 15 in 2003 I saw a boy seek misidentified as a lossless wuzzle student verbally assaulted at the beginning of the Second Gulf War of the United States the principal called parents these anecdote show that our school district district 15 that I'm extraordinarily proud to have worked for we set the standard not only for superb academic achievement but
058we set the standard in this state so what is decent and what a safe for our students when I left here there were 62 different languages spoken in our community our school district had to address children speaking 62 different languages on a daily basis because as the man will just spoke here about you know the necessity for respecting you know cultural differences in food expense he spoke so eloquently just reinforced my pride in being a part of this community and I want to thank you I want to thank each of you for against setting the standard in the state so what's good it's why people flock to this district not only as I say for the it for the academic as excellence but for the fact that they can trust that their children are going
059to risk going to go each day to a school where they won't be bullied they won't be picked on they'll be respected and not just by students but by faculty and administrators and by you so again III really I wish I could I wish I were teaching today you know III retirement but I miss this thank you thank you [Music] Green all right I know I'm gonna mess this up Leslie thank you [Music] thank you I don't have prepared marks I felt spontaneously compelled to address the board in the community unless they are as Mandi mother of two boys who have not yet started attending school in Palatine and I'm here as an individual and I felt compelled to speak professionally as a civil rights attorney I'd like to commend the board for their already
060inclusive policies children who are diverse multiple different levels of Najera specifically to address the progressive and open transgender policies and to encourage you to continue to base your policies as you apparently have on facts and on a complete understanding of the law on an understanding of what title nine protects from the disability rights point of view which is my specialty on what the IEA represents that it is actually a 504 plan section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act that would provide an accommodation for a child with a physical disability and not necessarily an IEP and I do mentioned that is because there was already some a lack of understanding spoken by other members of the community in relation to the law so I encourage everybody listening including the board if you ever have any misunderstanding about
061what has happened in district 211 I encourage you to do what I have which is actually read the United States Board of Education opinion last year before making assumptions based on news articles or word-of-mouth that certain things were provided that were equal when in fact they were not and when in fact they were humiliating and when anybody who's a member of the community or a parent could read those facts despite maybe not having expertise to understand the law read the facts I challenge anyone to read the facts of that particular case and says that is one of the motivations way many people are here to read that and try to keep your eyes dry and try to ask yourself if you could go to that student or somebody facing those things and say yes I
062do expect you to stand out in front of your whole school because the home may have learned it unfortunately in other parts of the community that their reactions that are based on fear and stereotypes and not on facts at all or on any real dangers deserve to have equal access meaningful and access to their education in a safe environment and I challenge everybody in this community encourage the board continue respecting that we all teach our children and that the board of education support they do that all children regardless of how they were born they identify what their capabilities are how they look to the public have the opportunity to attend school in this district and grow to be adults that can live courageously confidently and hopefully thank you Adrienne Somerville my name is Adrian Summerville
063my name is Adrian Somerville and I'm a trans man what that means is designated female and identified as male I use male pronouns transitioning into what that means for me I really thought it was peak because so ozma we're talking about how make bathrooms and locker rooms and all this stuff regarding trans people affects trans people we're not looking at trans people we're talking about the theoretical trans person in the room as opposed to looking at them and realizing that whenever we say only can't use the bath and body can't use like oh you can't use these spaces we're talking to people we're saying people aren't a lot of twos these facilities that other people are about to use we're saying that these children aren't allowed to go to the bathroom that hawaiians with them
064and that's damaging I wanted to share more specifically just how damaging Bennett that can be I know that whenever I was growing up going to school both in like high school and college I I didn't necessarily always feel safe going at bathroom not because of rules that were put in place not because the school board said oh you know you can't use this bathroom I felt scared because of my peers because of the staff because of everyone else who was in the school building and what they brought to the table I have never heard of a case of a trans person attacking someone in a bathroom I have myself experienced violence in bathroom you think of them trans and I lives with me that lives in me forever the fear of going to the bathroom
065which everybody does and we're asking children asking children to fear going to the bathroom we're asking children to fear going into like changing spaces we're asking these children to be afraid for the rest of their lives just so that people can sit in their old conservative ways regarding what what humanity is and I think that's very very important to bring the conversation back to not just transgender people to trans people the latter part and that being people we're talking about people and I know and I want to reiterate that we're talking about people okay one more time people we're not magical mystical weird things we're not delusional we're not monsters we're just people that go to the bathroom that you know change when we go into our workout facilities whatever we're going to like other
066areas we're gonna pour we're gonna change we have bodies everybody has bodies and it's they're not weird they're not abnormal they're just bodies the bathroom I'm not worried about what other people are doing about myself my hands and leaving [Music] a little confused why everyone else feels so entitled to ask what I'm doing a bathroom to ask what would you know Talia that I have that's inappropriate to ask these children it's inappropriate to ask anybody and I think it's inappropriate for that do you a question I also really wanted to thank all of you here before having these policies in place to already protect trans kids and I really really really heard you to continue protecting trans students it's not just about whether or not a student can be at school it's about the fear
067from not being able to use these facilities the theater into people around them and that fear causes them not to do well in classes it causes them to be afraid of just going to school causes them to be you know fall behind in their homework it causes them to not want to be active in their school environment it causes them to just not see have a good outlook on life and I think the point of this phone in school and what it seems from but I've heard today the point of this one these districts this to see kids thrive and I think for a child to thrive the child needs to feel supportive the child needs to feel supported in all aspects of who they are not just supported in their academic endeavors but supported
068in their own personal endeavors and supported in their own personal identity thank you guys [Music] awesome [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] good evening my name is Terry Paulson and I'm a current resident of district 15 my children graduated from district 15 schools I thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight many of us are here because we strongly object to your decision to place students of the opposite sex undressed together in locker rooms of d15 schools we were told at the community education session that it was supposed to help us understand fit the session that was supposed to help us understand putting boys and girls together in the locker room that there are over 900 genders and male and female are nothing more than arbitrary categories to which doctors cruelly assign newborn babies how many people
069here actually believe that transgender activists are demanding that we reorganize not just our schools but our entire society around an alternate reality that does not exist all empirical evidence suggests that what we are actually looking at is a very strong delusion yet is it any stronger than anorexia the body dysmorphia agoraphobia or any number of seemingly intractable mental disorders why do we not reorganize our schools and society around those delusions what in fact is the difference between a dangerously thin teenage girl and a girl who thinks she is who thinks she is fat and a teenage girl who thinks she is a boy if we're honest the only difference is a multi-million dollar Lobby group and a lot of political power educators like to talk about teaching kids to think but our schools are in
070fact teaching kids that feelings matter more than facts and that tolerance requires the sacrifice of truth but it isn't necessary for us to subject our personal feelings and desires to any standard outside of ourselves if you are going to teach students that by a biological girls sometimes a boy and vice-versa you may as well teach them that 2+2 is 5 and the earth is flat the evidence for it is the same on one hand we can and should have compassion for trans people on the other hand it's hard not to notice their lack of compassion for others in their single-minded obsession to be treated as the opposite sex they seem to be completely indifferent to the suffering their demands inflict upon others still I can follow their motivation they are truly convinced that if we
071would all just give in and go along with this most of their problems would go away I think they are gravely mistaken and I think it's selfish but I can at least understand the motivation what I can't understand is you you educators you school board members you candidates this is not personal for you why do you not care about the innocence and modesty of young children why do you not care that this is only a 10 year old experiment the outcome of which we are decades away from realizing why do you not care that most kids outgrow gender dysphoria if not affirmed in it but will now instead be consigned to a lifetime of desperately trying to be something they are not why do you not care about the trauma that sharing intimate spaces with
072the opposite sex inflicts upon the many survivors of sexual abuse why do you not care about female athletes whose hard-earned positions will be taken by males why do you not care about the truth itself or are you simply afraid the fig leaf is gone the Obama directive has been rescinded in the Supreme Court announced on Monday that it is not going to come to the rescue this rests squarely in your lap our local school board I urge you to have courage do not continue to capitulate to moral insanity out of fear if that is what you are doing God warns us that fear of man is a trap in the last book of the Bible there is a scary verse listing a number of groups of people who are adjusting for the lake of fire
073and a very first group listed is the cowards I will leave you with the words of Jesus himself quote do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell god help us to have the courage to do what's right not only for our own sakes but also for the sakes of these children all of them thank you Vicki Wilson I'm here tonight to talk about privacy in the private spaces of our d15 schools the federal guidance that put D 211 in the spotlight in 2015 when six million dollars in federal funding was threatened money designated by the way for special education and low-income students that Gaiden has been rescinded and there is no federal law requiring schools to violate student
074privacy Congress has not acted to change title 9 and the Supreme Court will not be hearing the case this month after all as for the state law we have the Illinois Human Rights Act and this Act has an exception for facilities distinctly private since the Act does prevent discrimination based on gender identity yet has this exception what does that tell you well it tells many fine legal minds that privacy and private spaces is not discrimination there's very good reason why these private spaces have always been designated by Anatomy an objective standard because once you harm a child's modesty and innocence you can never get that back doing away with that objective standard has consequences for vulnerable growing children this objective standard is not bigotry nor should it become controversial this is simply the only way
075to have a public policy that protects all children including those who struggle in no way do I believe a child should be forced into a space where they are uncomfortable but the space reserved for the opposite sex is not the answer either this should be obvious privacy begins at the locker room door since children change clothes out in the open privacy screens inside the locker room do not protect all children from seeing or being seen by the opposite sex for children who are caught between the two locker rooms a third option a place where they are safe and their needs respected option protects every child this is what I would request if it were my child struggling I have deep real compassion for children struggling so for them and anyone who prefers extra privacy the
076district should ensure they have a private and safe place this is the compassionate and sensitive solution the other side will say we don't care or even go so far as to say we think children who struggle with their gender identity shouldn't exist at all but those are horrendous outrageous lies no child should ever be bullied for any reason and we all need to embrace all the unique characteristics of every child the activists will also try to say this as all new times have changed and you don't want to be on the wrong side of history the fact is there have always been children who struggled with their gender identity this is not new what is new is how the adults are reacting I have personally heard from people who grew up wanting to be the
077opposite sex for years but then the feelings eventually went away as they reached adulthood they are so grateful they did not grow up today they know they would have gone up and given hormones and transitioned and cannot imagine how miserable they would be today if they had you see the research shows the vast majority of children outgrow these feelings I've also heard from folks who did transition and are suicidal now because they mutilated their bodies and can't fix it they told me to keep speaking there is no harm in waiting to transition until one is an adult and the brain is fully formed but there is harm and pushing kids into it great great harm one group of fragile children who are often forgotten are the children who have abuse and their sexual abuse in
078their history statistics show one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18 and much of this abuse takes place in bathrooms and locker rooms now hold on I am not in any way suggesting the children who struggle are predators not at all let me repeat this is not about kids at risk of getting abused but the fact that they are extra sensitive to these practices and policies abuse survivors you see are especially at risk even when no harm is intended because harm automatically occurs as these fragile children suffer flashbacks and significant emotional and psychological distress when the opposite sex is in proximity to them in vulnerable private spaces but there's more to the story as Terry alluded to mentioned already you CD 211 went so far
079as to hire a consultant to satisfy the federal illegal and unconstitutional demands they've taught the community and education sessions there are more than two genders when asked how many there were we were told with a straight face it is up to 900 now yes you heard me right 900 this is not about children who are male and identify as female and vice versa like there have always been this is about the 900 plus gender Theory do you think it's healthy to teach young children there are 900 genders from which they can choose before we move on I'd like to read read something from the board that we have all reviewed community Consolidated School District 15s practices regarding transgender students use of bathroom and locker room facilities is rooted both in both the state law Illinois
080Human Rights Act and district policies regarding equal educational opportunities non-discrimination is not an gender equity I'm sorry we listen listen to you I would say I would ask that you be as respectful these policies 7 - 10 + 7 - 20 which were adopted by the district in October of 1994 revised in September of 2012 and November of 2014 respectively after multiple public made ratings are balanced with common-sense measures to protect the privacy of all students using these facilities [Music] we're going to be moving on to action items I make a motion to approve the March 2017 personnel report as presented sucker discussion discussion motion carried item 17 321 honorable dismissal of two teachers may have the suggested motion please I make a motion to prove that honorable dismissal of the teachers as teachers as
081follows Maureen Anderson joy War Robert Bowen Darcy de Loup de Sousa Masterson Kaitlin Eidos Kaitlin Meza Mary olds Monica blocky Brooke Cielo and Sarah Smiths and Susan wares a second second discussion roughly how many of those teachers I know we do this every year how many are rehired usually I said you remember the percentage any other discussion roll call please Egbert all right Korean hi hon hi Orson all right Seaford bye bye I Chapman motion carries item 17 322 dismissal a second year probationary teacher for those other than reduction in force may have the suggested motion please I make a motion to approve the dismissal of second year probationary teacher for reasons other than reduction in force as follows Lawrence Johnson a second discussion Boca green time fine Morrison I see four five Babcock aye
082Chapman right pepper right motion carries item 17 323 bit award for cafeteria tables we have the motion please make a motion under contract for cafeteria tables bed 17 that 0 1 3 2 Nelson that will keep any of you Alto California for a total bit amount in the amount of 145 590 679 as recommended second discussion roll-call fun hi Morrison alright Seifert right Babcock hi Chapman hi expert great hi motion carries my wife said after seeing this I can never complain about any of her purchases it for home anywhere we're spending a hundred forty five thousand dollars on tables idem sterling you could be in big trouble I am seventeen three twenty-four request request for Proposal taxi services for student transportation the contract over the taxi services for students petitioned in 10 - 2 0
0831 5 - both American taxi dispatch in 2017 to 2019 has recommended a second discussion I have a question I noticed that one of the vendors is a cost per mile and the other one is an hour degree is there a reason that it's without ado two different chairs my question that's a very good question so spends about two hundred thousand dollars Iran basic services mostly from McKinney Vento which is federal legislation law for homeless students so if a student starts their school year in Palatine fifteen becomes homeless goes to Mount Prospect to Des Plaines we didn't have to arrange transportation which is usually via a taxicab and we split the cost with with the other district or vice versa if they started no prospects on the Palatine the one vendor which is Grand Prix
084transit was it was a vendor this year a new bidder can bid on a per out basis they they didn't have the resources to do all of it but they did up to five routes so what we so we must have ran an ad looked at we're pretty sure we could save money by going on a per out basis and how can we do that because we're gonna have really liked it in advance instead of a taxicab so we can depending on the proximity the students put two three four even five students in one minivan and take them to the to the appropriate places so there was a little bit different of a bid that they did bid on it was a bit alternate but in reviewing a bit alternate we believe there's cost savings
085in there so started being scheduling similar to what we do with our buses just on a smaller scale so it's not a smaller scale and actually safer - it's to say it costs a for motor transportation because it is a larger beer thank you thanks Mike any other discussion roll call please Morrison hi Seaford all right bad cotton hi Korean all right motion carries item 17 325 bit award for fuel you know the motion please make a motion toward the contract for the fuel bid 17 - 0 1 6 - al Warren cannon Indiana for an estimated annual amount for unleaded fuel and diesel fuel of 449 thousand eight hundred and fifty-six dollars as recommended second discussion welcome Seaford by Babcock hi Chapman nice hi hon hi motion carries on the consent calendar item 17
0863:30 does anyone wish to remove anything from the consent calendar many of the suggested motion first I make a motion for the consent calendar as presented Orson Seaford High or five requests enter responses for information of the Freedom of Information Act during the create for February 2nd to work second on January 17th 2017 a request received from Denis Burton Bishop Plumbing Inc DesPlaines Illinois the response to this request was sent on January 25th On January 14th our February 14th a request received from Lindsay Halloran office administrator for the response to this request was sent on February 22nd February 16th the requests received from Lindsay Halloran office administrator the response to this request was sent on February 22nd On February 16th a request received from Gale Newton Petroleum traders corporation Fort Wayne Indiana the response to
087this request is sent on February 22nd and at February 28 requests received from an anonymous requester the response to this request is pending and we this anonymous requester we did Chucky legal and we did have to respond yes we are motion to adjourn please so second all in favor