001Can I get a motion to reconvene the regular meeting of the township high school board of education? >> Miss Smith. >> Mr. Malero. >> Hi. >> Mrs. Tix. >> Hi. >> Mr. Okano. >> Hi. >> Morris. Hi, >> Dr. Fischer. >> I >> Miss Farmer. >> Oh, I sorry >> Miss Smith. I >> Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Miss Smith, would you please read the vision statement? Through expectations of excellence and by providing equitable educational opportunities to empower each student, our graduates are prepared for college careers and to serve as contributing members of a dynamic global society. Thank you. At this time,
002the board of education opens the floor for public comments. The board will receive public comment from any individuals present this evening and have submitted a request to address the board for the established procedures. Comments will be limited to three minutes in accordance with board policy 2230. We believe that all participants in the meeting desire the best outcomes for our students, families, and communities. As a reminder, this meeting is being live streamed and will also be archived and available on the district website. Latisa Jones Good evening, board of education, superintendent, administrators, educators, staff, and members of the community. My name is Latisa Jones, the village administrator for the village of Brody. I'm here this evening on behalf of Mayor Katrina Thompson. Mayor Thompson was unable to attend today's meeting in person. However, she has prepared a
003formal statement to share with the board. She has also requested additional speaking time if this message extends beyond the 3minut limit. At this time, I will read Mayor Thompson's letter into the record and following my remarks, I will provide each board member and the superintendent with a copy of the letter for your review. Good evening. On October 13th, I responded to the superintendent's email with a list of questions regarding the proposed 2.9% tax levy for district 209. I appreciate his followup and the opportunity to meet with the mayors on November 3rd to discuss both the district's needs and the progress made in such a short period of time. That level of engagement is exactly the kind of collaboration our community needs. If you say our scholars matter, then our actions must reflect that commitment. Student
004success does not happen by chance. It happens through intentional investment in people and programs that meets students where they are. I'm particularly concerned about special education which has been adequately funded. I'm sorry, which has not been adequately funded or staff accordingly to the needs of the students it serves. Every student deserves support and resources needed to strive. The proposed 2.9 levy provides critical stable stability in key areas. Number one, instructional and class size, maintaining current staff, elective opportunities. also keeping class size stable and preventing hiring freeze, college and career readiness, continued dual credit and CTE partnership that prepares students for life after graduation, student services and MTSS, sustain prayer professionals and staff who are essential to students well-being and learning safety and facilities, transportation and technology. Keep bus routes consistent. Establish campus safety and maintain
005the 1.1 rotation of cyber support, athletic and activities and pair professional development support events and continue professional development. I recognize that this 1,350,739 increase in the district's administrative budget, which is intended to strengthen the educational support and provide additional support to the schools. The purpose of this investment is to ensure students outcome for all learners through data-driven collaboration with principles aligned with resources and accountabilities towards improvement goals. Over the past eight fiscal years, District 89 has demonstrated strong financial stewardship with revenues consistent exceeding non expenditures and maintain healthy reserves well above the 120 to 180 day benchmark. With a community surplus of approximately 110 million, the district is a in strong position to reinvest in the people and programs that directly impact our students. We must invest in the students requiring investing in our staff.
006As leaders, we cannot speak on putting students first without funding the teachers, the pair of professionals, and the support system that's making learning possible. For that reason, I support the proposed 2.9 tax levy because our scholars deserve it and because the board campaigned on the principles that students come first. Thank you. I stand before you on behalf of America Trinda Thompson. >> May I torch the board to give you the letter? >> Okay. >> I just want to ask >> you. Excuse me. Thank you. Aya Adabago. Adabajjo. Sorry if I miss. >> All right. Good evening community and board and administrators. My name is Ia Adibajo. I'm a parent. Um two of my children, well, one has graduated, one is still he's a junior currently. And basically, I'm just coming like in summary of the
007experiences that we've had the last couple years, particularly with my youngest son. Um there continues to be um that racial animosity amongst the students. We've had a few incidents not only with my eldest son but still with my youngest son. Um, and I'm not going to rehash things that have happened uh in the past, but most recently uh did bring my concerns to uh the current principal um and still feel like uh the matter is not has not been addressed and hopefully will be addressed. I know that the uh uh Dr. Sanchez and my son's father were talking about working together to um perhaps bring some programs. I don't know what the status of that is, but um I do feel that in that meeting um the principal allowed himself to get pulled into a
008conversation about policy and higher education and statistics etc. and overlooked the concern of a mother who um is concerned about the well-being of not only her son but the other students um that attend school here in particular and um specifically the black students. But I do feel that um the Latino and Latino students are also affected and all the students overall and in general. what this tension has been between my black son and the Latino Latina Latino Latina students. I didn't bring my resources, but um I do plan on sharing them at some point. Um but basically I'm just coming in kind of like in in summary and conclusion that I don't have faith that uh the administration, the school board, um the teachers have the um are willing to take the steps to kind
009of address these things because it's much easier to focus on education because of course this is an institution of education learning. Um but it's it's it's a real t touchy sticky type of subject and we talk about race but we're not doing our children any good by not addressing it. Um when uh Dr. Gianos was here was here she had mentioned this program called courageous conversations with um which I think would be a really great thing to bring to the school. I did mention that in the meeting with Dr. Sanchez. Um, so hopefully that's something maybe, you know, I put it out there. Maybe y'all can address it and maybe look into something like that because it looks like it's a very fair objective way to kind of bring those conversations to the students because
010these conversations must be had. Um, uh, what else? I'm just kind of winging it because I've been keeping notes over the years and it's just really too much to to say. Like I said, I don't want to bring up the things in the past just moving forward. Um, I think that uh not I think you all need to work on getting more black teachers in this school in particular because this is the only school I have any uh experience with and more Latino and Latina students because I don't I mean uh teachers because I think all of our children need to be represented. Um thank you. >> Thank you. Yes, we have a few. [clears throat] I'm going to stand for this one. So, before I turn this over to the principles, there has a
011a teacher here that I would like to uh recognize and actually have one of her students here that's going to present the award to her. Um, but tonight it's my pleasure to recognize an exceptional educator from Proviso West High School, Miss April Senise. Miss Cise serves as our manufacturing teacher and has been instrumental in building and advancing our manufacturing program, which continues to be one of the strongest examples of hands-on career focused learning in our district. Our manufacturing program was originally part of the national partnership with SME Prime, which stands for the Partnership Response in Manufacturing Education. This initiative cost this builds cost-effective and tailored manufacturing engineering programs in high schools and across the country providing equipment curriculum teacher training and scholarships along with funding for manufacturing related extracurricular activities and program sustainability. Through the
012initial three-year SD Prime grant, our program um received approximately $360,000 in equipment, training, and related support. Now that our original three-year term is concluded, our program has proudly been selected and transitioned to becoming an SEM prime alumni status. As an alumni program, we become eligible to apply for sustainability grants to continue advancing our work. And thanks to Mrs. Senise's initiatives and leadership, she successfully submitted a proposal that earned Provisal West an additional $17,000 for this current year. YES. [applause] BEYOND SECURING FUNDING, MISS Nie works tirelessly, as we all know, to ensure that her students are career ready. Each year, she helps students earn a variety of industry industry credentials, certifications, and gain hands-on experience through this apprenticeships with local manufacturers at regional and win awards at regional and state level manufacturing competitions. On behalf of
013the entire district 209 um and with the and the board of education, I want to sincerely thank you. At this time, I would like to present Raphael Martinez, one of her students, who will present her with an award. [applause] Congratulations. >> CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] >> This time I'll turn it over to our principles. Uh starting with Mr. Hall from Provis East. Gentlemen, you can stay at your seats and present your your microphone. Unless you want to come up, whatever you want to do. [snorts] >> Good evening, board. uh Superintendent Mohill and and everyone in the audience. Uh I have the pleasure of standing here this evening. I want to introduce uh Iet Bugard Sanchez. I bet is from [clears throat] Barcelona, Spain. She's a foreign exchange student at Proviso East. She's a sophomore. She made the
014decision to come over here by on her own. Uh she left her twin sister who was in Vancouver to come here and they're both foreign exchange students. her uh point exchange parents uh Valentine and Angela as well as her point exchange coordinator Isabella. They're all in the audience and they with this process started last spring with them asking can we bring and ask y'all had a lot of emails going back and forth with whether or not we can make this happen bring a student in as my you know I've been in education a long time I've always gotten questions about foreign exchange students coming in that was typically from Nike we're trying to bring an athlete over for basketball reasons for my background but never one is just coming to be a student. Uh exact,
015you know, she made straight A's uh first quarter. Uh she's on our cross country and uh track team. And although she's only here a year, uh after we got her settled in around the second day, I changed her schedule. I put one of her classmates or teammates uh that she was out cross country with the week before. She's miserable the first two days, but she's been smiling ever since. So, you know, I see her every day. She's a joy to have in school. She lifts up to school. She smiles all the time. Um, and I can go on and on talking about her. Um, but you know, it it's good that we can provide this experience for her. Uh, I told her I was going to let her say a few words. She's a little
016bashful, but you know, we're glad to have her. >> Her parents will see this board meeting. Uh they're 7 hours ahead of us. So they'll wake up to it tomorrow. Uh we're going to make sure they get the link. Uh uh And you want to come up? >> Oh, okay. >> Mom, I'm videoing. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> Oh, you video. >> Yeah. >> Okay. You got to get on video. >> Okay. >> I need to say something. >> Yeah. You say hello. Hi. >> Hi. [laughter] just a very large thank you to, you know, everyone who has helped us get her here. Um, being the first foreign exchange student for Proviso East meant that there were a lot of unique challenges. Um all of which we as new parents uh to a proviso student have
017felt incredibly supported um with uh especially with um the coach uh for her uh cross country team and track team and the students that have uh fully embraced her. um we have taken our role as snack moms very seriously for the coach team and um really look forward to seeing her flourish and and finishing out this year at Proviso really strong. Um so thank you everybody who helped sign the paperwork and uh get everything stamped so that way she could get her visa and and come here and really get to see the culture of uh this great community. >> [applause] >> Hello. >> She speaks three languages. >> I don't know what to say to say thank you everybody for like letting me be here and thank you to my family and my host family
018here and all the friends and you guys that they made this possible. You know, I always say I'm like a first love, unforgettable, because there's no one like me, you know. [laughter] So, yeah, just I'm so happy to be here. So thankful for letting me be here. So, yeah, thank you so much, [applause] >> Mr. Christian. I don't think I should come behind writing. He just told me when I walked in that I bring the whole school. That's the first thing he just said. Then he said, "How to beat that?" You see, [laughter] this is nut. Right. So, we have um um I'm very excited. Um when we came last year um last um board meeting, we talked about our student leadership team. We also talked about our leaders of the pack. And so, these
019are some of our students. We invited like 14 of them, so we did try to pack the place. [laughter] Um, but they did not come. But what I wanted to do is introduce Maggie, who's not only a part of our student leadership team that helps make decisions about our school when there's fights, when there's um a tardy situation that we're addressing, just things about our school in general. She's part of that. She was also just nominated at our leader of the pack um on Monday for being a stellar teacher, a stellar student in English class. So, she's going to show you what it looks like once she comes up. She was nominated actually twice and I'll show you what we give them. And then I also Devin Given is a part of our student leadership
020team and I'll tell you what he does or he'll tell you what he does and then we have a gift for you. So, Maggie, take it over. [applause] Um, thanks. Uh, this is the first award that I received, I think maybe two weeks ago. It just says my name here in the pack and I think I was nominated by my naval science instructor because I am in in TC as well. Uh, this is the second award I received for the English from the English department. Uh, I think my teacher Miss Bates nominated me. So, thank you to her for that. Um, I also have uh along with this award that I received the first leader of the pack ceremony I received a certificate of leadership from the student leadership team. So Mr. Christian and his
021uh team thank you guys for that. Uh second award that second award at the second event I received the high honorable achievement um again from Mr. Christian and his [applause] Yes. >> Uh so aside from the student leadership team, I am the commanding officer at Provis West High School and OTC. So number one in charge to take care of everyone. Uh the relationship between my master chief and my senior chief and my cadet staff and other cadets. Um as you say, um I don't know. I feel like we did a good job. We do a lot for the community. Um, we're updating our social media, so hopefully you guys can see that. Uh, another thing that I am in is the National Technical Honor Society, which Miss Anise is in. She's >> able to see
022that. >> She's right there. >> Oh, okay. Yeah. Uh, Miss Anise, thank you for the opportunity. And she just let me know a few days ago that I became the president for that club. So, [applause] tell me what you do with SLT. you want to talk or something. Okay. Good. Good evening everybody. My name is Deon Given. I am a member of the student leadership team. Um I currently am the social media manager which is in the works. Um, I don't have too much to say on like Maggie, but um, >> I'm just I just enjoy being on the SOT because I'm [clears throat] part of the mission of making FO West better than just, you know, the best. [laughter] Um, I enjoy it. Um, you know, [snorts] we've done very small remarks, but we're
023definitely getting there. We're planning on building painting a m a mural on one of our walls. Um you can definitely get into that more. Um we're definitely building up as the beginning, but more is to come for sure. Um I'm sorry. That's pretty much all I have. Um >> yeah. So on the behalf of um SLT, what we wanted to do is number one um the board members and Mr. Mo have kind of gotten on us about kind of not having swag. So we want you to wear this to East the next time you go. Don't wear it once you go to East. Each board member Janessa has that. You're going [laughter] to get um a new t-shirt from us that has you know Proviso West Panthers and then on the back it says um
024what our logo or slogan is for the year which is better. So you'll get one of those. Then we're really excited because we tried to do a lot with our soccer team to let them know that they were supported. And so, um, we're also going to gift you one of these. They just, the soccer team doesn't even have these yet, but because our soccer team won the championship, we're giving each one of them championship t-shirts that says they're the 2025 body armor champions. And guess what? Has their number and their name on the back. So, you won't have your number and name. You won't have I think Mohip says Mohip on the back, but you you won't have yours, but you'll certainly get that. And we definitely appreciate you. And these are this is this
025is what our students are doing. As you see, we have our shirts on. Um our teachers will have these as well. So, we're really excited about making our school better. And that's our presentation. [applause] Mr. Hall, too. >> Yes. [laughter] Take a picture with this right here. Take it real quick. [laughter] board. Um, as I mentioned last uh board meeting, we were working really hard at the end to establish and institutionalize a program um that would really be collaborative in nature, right? Um, and what came out of that was four student of the months uh each month, one per grade level. Um, and one of the individuals who truly helped develop the program was Mr. Neil Rusty who's here with us today. So what we're doing is that each month um again collaborative this is
026not about administration choosing students it's truly about the people who are in front um who know the students fully and are uh working with on a daily basis. So um each department each month will choose four students um and Mr. Rusting said hey I want to get in front of the board and I want to present these awards to students. So with us today, >> good evening board and everyone else. Uh so I'm I'm very proud to be able to represent the English department at PMSA. Uh we developed a set of criteria that we would use to choose a uh a student of the month for each grade level. And those criteria are character and integrity, academic effort, positive attitude, impactful leadership, and reliability and maturity. Um I look around I don't know if all
027of these uh students are here but whether they're here or not they deserve to be recognized. So uh for the freshman we chose Hiro Ariano. He's a he's a conscientious. [applause] >> He's a conscientious student who displays an impressive love of learning for one so young. Despite his prodigious talent in reading and writing, Hyra displays refreshing humility. his frequent contributions in class are invariably offered with respectful consideration even while they they astonish us with his insight. So I've been told by his teachers that he says he always doesn't think that he's worthy. But uh Miss Feifer thinks you're great and I think Miss Feifer is great. So by the transitive property of great that means you're great. And uh so I hope you'll accept this award. [applause] Good job. >> Let's take a picture. My
028new best friend. [applause] >> Thank you so much. >> Uh for the sophomores, we've chosen Diana Servin Gamino. She's a super reader who is setting records in our LRC. She is also a talented writer and she's the student one she's the student teachers go to when they have a particularly difficult question for the class. She's friendly, generous, and a great role model. And I think while we've been up here, she's already read another couple of books. Is she here today? Oh, she is not. All right. Well, uh I'll I'll change the name and I'll take the award myself. Uh for the juniors, we chose Tiffany Tala. She's except she's exceptional in a host of areas. Every day, Tiffany arrives to class with a smile and is ready to learn. She participates eagerly, whether it's in
029front of the whole class or with small groups. She is dedicated to practicing and refining her writing. And here she is right now. In fact, she helped me write this for her and uh [laughter] and uh her writing and her analytical skills and makes classroom makes the classroom better by being in it. >> Thank you so much. [applause] That's not you. >> Would you like it? We have extras. Okay. >> Oh, yeah. I'll take them. >> Dr. Sanchez. >> That's the >> Oh, I apologize. >> You can tell we did not rehearse. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. [applause] We're not done. Uh for our seniors, we chose Nissa Morgan. Uh she takes her work seriously and is deeply invested uh in revision, wrote, and often soliciting feedback from her teachers and producing
030multiple drafts of essays. She's deep thinker as well as a gifted artist and a committed activist. She loves learning and spreads that love by inspiring her peers with her remarkable insights and energy. And I told she's not here tonight. She's not here to. And uh and then there's the [snorts] uh Oh, here it is. The Python of the month. Is this correct? >> And you got this. Oh, you have it. Okay. >> Thank you all. >> Thank you. [applause] So, aside from school of the month, we also have Python of the month. And Python of the month really uh embodies our motto, right? Driven by excellence, quality, and kindness. And this month, Python of the month is Eric Lazaro. Eric isn't here today because it's his grandmother's birthday. Um so, he wanted to spend time
031with his grandmother. But let me tell you a little bit about Eric. Eric holds a 3.8 GPA. He's only missed one day of school this uh semester and he's involved in so many activities. um he was part of our play that um happened last weekend and he was a key part of our assembly that happened uh last month as well. Eric um aside from that was also a mentor who helped um transition our incoming ninth graders. So when I first met him, Eric was extremely kind. Uh he was actually showing me around. So um Eric is a very kind. So So today's month's Python month is Eric Lazaro. [applause] Thank you all. I'm also looking at Mr. Stein's like Python thing. That's pretty. >> Your logo is pretty cool. >> At least we have >>
032Oh, >> but like it's a pretty sharp sweet looking. We clean up so we can see it. beginning of my modeling career. [laughter] >> Nice. You guys have good. >> All right. So, this is the reports and communication for the board president. Um, [snorts] good evening everyone and thank you for joining us. I want to take a moment to pause and recognize something important, something that I think deserves to be celebrated and lots of attention. On October 30th, Mr. Moab shared the results from the most recent Illinois State report card. And for the first time in a long time, Verizon Township High School District 209 has real measurable progress to be proud of. You will all hear much more uh during Mr. Mohip's presentation tonight and all the details, all the good details. But our
033schools are showing growth in student achievement, freshman on track, 8week coursework, college and career readiness, and more. These numbers reflect not only the hard work of our students, but also the dedication of our teachers, Mr. Mr. Moab and all the administrators, the support staff, and the families. Every small step forward presents hours of effort, persistence, and belief in what our students are capable of. And that doesn't mean that our work is done. We know there are still challenges to face, systems strengthened, and goals yet to be reached. But progress deserves to be recognized. Because when we only focus on what's broken, we risk missing what's being built. We must remain steadfast in our commitment to high expectations from all. Our students deserve that. So I want to ask everyone here, families, staff, students, and community
034partners to help share the good news. Talk about the growth. Celebrate our students. Lift up the positive stories that reflect who we really are and what we're really striving to become as a district. Negativity can spread quickly, but so can pride, so can encouragement, and so can hope. Let's choose to amplify what's working while continuing to roll up our sleeves and to do the hard work that remains. Elevating expectations, not accepting mediocre. Because when we say it, we should really mean it. Equity, excellence, and relevance for all. Together, we can keep moving forward, especially when we stay dedicated to keeping students at the center of all things we do. Thank you to everyone who contributes to that progress each and every day. Um, and also there is a marching band, Battle of the Bands for
035Pro East this Saturday. So, I hope to see you all there. Thank you. >> So, we're going to play musical mics for a moment here. Um, but before moving into the superintendent report, you typically begin over time, but there's I just want to make one quick statement just to just to honor our veterans, right? So tonight, I want to take a moment to recognize our veterans um during this this recent Veterans Day that we celebrated um and to really honor the men and women who have served our country with courage, commitment, and sacrifice. Their service has protected the freedoms we enjoy and the opportunities we strive to provide for our students every day. We are especially grateful for the veterans within our proviso community, our staff, our families, our alumni, our future future [clears throat]
036veterans um that are coming through our schools now. Your dedication continues to inspire us. As a district, we remain committed to teaching our students the values reflected in your service, responsibility, integrity, and service to others. I would like to note that we still observe Veterans Day, which is something that not all schools around our state are doing, but we realize the commitment and we want to take that time to honor all of our veterans. To all veterans, we say thank you. Your sacrifices will not be forgotten. >> Good evening everyone. >> Good evening. >> Thank you. This evening, I'm presenting the recommended 2025 tax levy for Proviso High School District 209. This annual process ensures that we capture all allowable revenue under the state tax cap laws while maintaining our long-term financial stability. It's Thank
037you. >> At this time, I will present the timetable for the tax levy adoption. On October 14th, the estimated arable tax levy was presented to the school board. On November the 12th, the board of education, which is today, uh will approve the 2025 tax levy. And by December 30th, we must file all necessary documents with the county clerk by the last Tuesday in December. Next up, factors to consider in making levy decisions. When making levy decisions, we must consider three main areas. Our fund balance reserves, the quality of educational programs, and our facility needs. The goal is to maintain strong reserves while continuing to invest in our staff, students, and buildings. [clears throat] This schedule here gives you the CPI history. And as you can see this year that proviso 209 is requesting the 2.9%
038increase from the prior year's extension. If you take a look at history of tax caps in Illinois, this is the lowest it's been since 2022. This breakdown here shares our breakout of our real estate property taxes. Property taxes make up 63% of our total revenue. The rest comes from state and federal grants, which can fluctuate from year to year. That's why the local property tax levy remains our most stable and reliable source of funding for our schools. This table here shares the recommended tax levy for levy year 2025. As you can see the 2024 tax extension, this is what we actually receive. 2020 2022, this is what we're actually requesting. In total, 78,587,000. This captures the maximum allowable growth under the cap and includes revenue from new property coming onto the tax. This slide here
039speaks to examples of how much the estimated increase would be for a homeowner. So, for example, if a homeowner has a property that is valued at $300,000, the estimated increase to the district 209's portion of the tax bill would be approximately $4.33 per month, which equates to $52 a year. Of course, it must be noted that homes of valuation greater than or less than $300,000 were increased or decreased proportionately. Every year during this time, we must present the public act 103394. And this basically shows our three-year financial data shows consistent spending and a healthy fund balance, roughly 64% of annual expenses. This demonstrates strong fiscal management and positions the district to handle future costs and capital needs responsibly. In summary, the recommended 2025 tax levy reflects responsible fiscal planning. It stays within state limits. It
040protects our fund balance and ensures we continue to provide highquality educational services for all proviso students. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. Next up, we have the treasures report. There is no secret that there was a continuation with the tax delay, right? So, our revenue, we have only brought in 10% of revenue thus far for this um fiscal year. However, expenses that are going out, we are at 27%. However, the Cook County Treasures Office has announced that the second installment of the 2024 property tax bills will be mailed on November 14th with a due date of December 15th. We need the revenue like yesterday. That is the conclusion of the treasures report. Next up, we have the bill list. Are there any questions pertaining to the bill list? Okay. Um, if there are any
041questions, it is the spirit of Thanksgiving, right? And so I just want to take a moment to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone here, but also my amazing business office staff. I want to share um their gratitude and their hard work and dedication and commitment that they demonstrate throughout the year. They service all the schools. They do it every day with a smile, even on the most challenging days. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I just want to send a special shout out to them. If we can just give them a little clap because they [applause] >> and that concludes my um presentation for today. [applause] >> Yes. >> Pass it over. >> Yes. >> Is this a difference? >> You know, I didn't see those principles answering their bills might be late. Their checks
042might be late. [laughter] Just saying. We might not approve some stuff. Uh so I have one brief update before I get into the numbers and celebrate the great things our principles and our teachers have done this year. Um and that is simply um that on November 20th at Proviso West we are going to have a um a town hall to talk about what the the desires of the community will be for our outdoor sports complex. So we are excited to get that feedback. We've already done a survey. We had a significant amount of people provide [snorts] information in that survey [clears throat] and this is another opportunity for our community to come together and help us understand how best to use these funds to support our district and support our students. >> Um, moving on.
043>> Will it be live streamed? >> Yes, it will be live stream board members will be >> um but moving on. I know Jenny uh board member President Barberan teased this to say you know talk about some of the great things and I know we've been trying our best to highlight all of this as often as we can. Um but one of the most you know proud things we have here is that all three of our schools are commendable. Um this is the second year in a row that we had all three of our schools commendable [applause] and a huge shout out to Principal Hall at Proviso East. Not only did he get us to commendable last year, he kept [clears throat] us at commendable this year, which is a a difficult feat for for
044anyone. So, Mr. Hall, principal ho, it's been five years. You have done tremendous work there and the results that we're going to go through here will show that [clears throat] >> was that >> trying to make sure attention. [laughter] >> Moving on. um looking at the equity journey. And so this is something that doesn't get a lot of attention um when we thinking about how the schools are improving, but making sure that equity is at the heart of all of our decisions. We've heard some from community members, we've heard from staff. It's something that we need to make sure that we're keeping our attention on. So proud to announce that we've made uh growth in all areas, student learning, learning conditions, and elevating educators as as as noted on the equity journey continuum. um but
045really want to spend uh or highlight that we've made the most growth in student learning and I think that's really going to be uh seen as we're looking at the data as um as as reported in this last state report card. But before we get into that, you know, each school has there's a formula that we use for each school to determine where they are in their status, whether they're, you know, temporary or commendable. And so this is just a breakdown of all the different components. They look at ELA proficiency, graduation rate, ninth grade freshman on track, science proficiency, math proficiency, um EL students proficiency, chronic absenteeism, and climate and climate survey. And so while we, you know, are making great strides in all of our schools, um we do have the ability to improve
046in several of our schools. um east and west notably um are in the mid-40s and we know the goal for our schools are all to be commendable um proviso math and science academy missed their exemplary exemplary status by just a few points if they were at 90.72 they needed to get to 92.3 I am I am fully confident that next year um PMSA will be that ex exemplary status um in the current state of But this is a number I really want to celebrate more uh than anything right now. And I'm just going to leave it there for a second because this is not something we in any of my announcements have have really made known. Right? I know we looked at all of the different schools and the great things that were happening in
047each school. But when you look at as a district in general, what we did with our ELA and math scores, there was at for ELA, we showed percentile growth of 89.94 in in in ELA and 89.8 in math. [applause] So almost doubling our scores um in both ELA and math. So that's when you take all of the scores combined um and look at that. I was not able to pull the science. We know that science is an area that we you know we we we will focus on this year because we did see some some drops but um we are extremely proud of our teachers, our students, our families, the support of this board of education, the leadership of our schools and the central office team all working together to make something like this happen.
048Uh next is I want to take a look at proviso east and this is their proficiency scores over the past three years. As you can see, Principal Hall has kept a steady drum beat of improvement in his schools, increasing his proficiency from 6.1% in 2023 to 12.8% in 2025, doubling his scores in just two years. And we're seeing even even greater greater um improvements in math, moving from 1.7% in 2023 to 5.5% in 2025. So incredible improvements in both reading and math at proviso east. When we look at their science scores, as I mentioned, it did come back to the the level of of 2023, but we also know that there were some shifts in the testing and requirements for science this year at the state level. At Proviso West, we saw again tremendous growth.
049I think we you've highlighted this in in several ways, but over the last three years growing from 5.9 to 21.3 and just in one year growing from 6.6 to 21.3, which is a 225% growth in just one school year. Um, as you see, their math scores had been stagnated, but last year really exploded from 2.9 to 11.4, which is a 293% growth um for Matt. So, great job. [applause] schools and the you know the hits keep coming because at um proviso math and science academy oh I'm sorry um so again the science section we saw a slight drop in science at um proviso west looking at PMSA we continue to see growth here as well seeing uh growth from 40.7 to 65.4 4 in ELA and from 35.7 to 52% in math. So, continuing to
050see um great growth at PMSA. I know under um Dr. Sanchez's leadership, these scores will just continue to rise. Um and looking at their science scores. Um they were the only district in the only school in the district that had an increase in science scores, which is good. We're a Matt Science Academy. Um so, it's good to see that our science is continuing to grow. um in this in this category. Some other things that are are not are worth mentioning. Overall, as a district, we saw our freshman on track rate grow from 61% to 71%. Um specifically at Proviso East, the the freshman on track rate grew from 53% to 65.6%. At Proviso West, our score grew from freshman on track grew from 51.9% to 62.4%. 04% and at ninth grade on track at PMSA
051continued to rise even though it was at already at a very high level from 94.3 to 95.87. Looking at growth rates for graduation, we're seeing that East and West are are right at the same level around 85% and we're seeing growth continuing at PMSA as they're narrowing in on the 100% graduation rates. When we look at um each school's attendance, excuse me, uh we're seeing significant growth at Proviso East over the last two years, growing from 79.2% to 87.1%. We're continuing to see high attendance um as we're reporting every week. Um Provis East right now is at around 89.3% uh average daily attendance. So continuing to show great improvements in students coming to school and that's a testament to our principles encouraging our students and motivating our students to be there every single day. At
052Proviso East we provain from 68.2% to 83.9% this school year or last school year and this school year they're right around 89% so far. and at proviso math and science academy continuing to see increases in attendance growing over the last two years from 91.1% all the way up to 93.5%. So when we see our students are coming to school that our freshmen are more of our freshmen are on track we can assume that we are going to see continued growth in our proficiency scores because when you have uh when you build a a culture of winning and learning for our students and we're ensuring our students are in class every single day. You know the we expect to see these continued growth and talking about attendance and and looking at it in in a different
053trend trend line. We have made seen incredible improvements in both chronic absenteeism and chronic truency um growing or being reduced over the last two years from 66.4% all the way to 51.49 and our chronic truency rate um improving even more from 64.2 to 45.4%. So great work. All the work you're doing for with with for with for with for with for with for with for with for with for with for with for with for with the tenants and trency is is truly paying off. At Proviso West we see considerable numbers as well. Um over the last two years chronic absenteeism has shifted from 84.1% to 55.5%. And chronic truency from 80.6% to 48.6%. And so I do want to just pause and celebrate this because this is tremendous growth. I haven't done the analysis, but
054I imagine this is some of the strongest growth we'll see in the state when we're looking at um just how much we're decreasing or improving our rates of students coming to school and our students, you know, not only coming to school but then going to class, right? So, this is this this should not this should not go unnoticed just the great amount of of effort and improvement that this district has made. However, we are still twice the average and so as there is a lot to celebrate, we still have a lot of room for growth. We need to see these numbers, you know, on par with the state, which is, you know, closer to 20 to 25%. And so, I know the work that um Dr. Macintosh is doing alongside Dr. Kermis and her counselors
055and our principles with our MTSS. Um there is a constant there's a constant attention to our students both freshman on track all students on track students passing their classes and as well as as attendance. We're also working with PLCCA um we double the amount of supports that are being provided by them to help us with some of our most um some of our most uh challenging students. So allowing our staff to work with with with you know tier two and tier three students, but then some of those students that are really stubbornly um struggling, being able to have um being able to have case managers from PLCA to go to the homes and work with the families and really do some wraparound supports. It's something that's been missing in education for quite a quite some
056time. And so being able to um partner with a community organization like PLCC I think is going to also help us in these areas. Um the attendance at PMSA is is continues to be strong. They're right around state averages for chronic absenteeism. But for the first time their chronic truency rate is in the single digits. So all the way down to 9.5%. So this is a true testament to the leadership and to the systems that we have in place at PMSA. Um, I do want to talk about our AP tests because we saw significant growth in the amount of students that are not only taking the exams but passing the exams. You can see from 2023 to 2025 with Proviso East, he's grown by over a 100 students that are taking AP exam um or
057taking AP tests from 175 to 285 and also growing the amount of students by 80% um that are passing from 11.4% 4% to 27.4%. When we look at Proviso West, we see that they're they're both growing the amount of tests that are taken, but also significantly increasing the amount of students that are passing. So, when we look at where were last year um 7.6% of the students got a three or higher on the AP exam and this past year it was 30.7. So, about a 300% growth in students passing the AP exams. And at PMSA, we still see this trend upwards, right? So, we went from 32.7% in 2023 all the way to 59.6% in 2025, almost doubling the amount of students over the over the past two years. So, really great work happening. So,
058I know there are people that will say that, you know, a lot of our scores are are because of the state changing the the cut offs, right, or the benchmark of what proficiency is. And yes, it did help in some degree, but not it it does not it does not account for all the great work that is happening here. And that's why I wanted to just take a moment to talk about freshman on track and attendance and AP pass rates because that is just that's just the work that we're doing here and that has nothing to do with cut scores or shifting from an SAT or to an ACT. These are these leading indicators that are going to that are telling us that we're doing the right work, that we need to continue doing this
059work, and because of it, we'll continue to see the growth um year over year as we do this um as we do this every day. Um the last thing I want to highlight is our teacher attendance rate. And so what this graphic is showing is last year 36% of our teachers um had missed 10 days or fewer. And so that was in 2024 only 38%. In 2025, 64% of our teachers missed 10 10 days or fewer. And so it really does show the power of teachers showing up and being there for our students because I know the increases that we saw that I just presented to you would not have occurred if our teachers were not in attendance like they were last year. So this is a great testament to the teachers, to the power
060of a teacher and why their attendance matters. And then finally, uh, just want to remind everybody November 18th where we will have a state of the district where I will go over this information maybe for the last time, maybe not, right? Uh, because I know I've said it a bunch of times, but it's just great. It's just great information that needs to be celebrated, needs to be repeated, and can help really, I'm hoping can start shifting the conversations around what the educational experience and what the student experience is like here at Proviso Schools. And at the state of the district, we'll also talk about some of those systems that we put in place, some of the new positions that we've hired, some of the new strategies that we have that we are hoping they're going
061to lead to uh continued success. And with that, I conclude the superintendent report. There you go. [applause] And then moving on into theformational items, and we only have a few for this week. Um, so the first one that I would like to discuss is the student staff uh student board member. And so this is policy 2260. Um, we did our first this will be the first reading. I'm sorry, this will be the second reading. Um, and so as we discussed, this is we're looking to have a junior or senior from each school um, be part of the the school of be part of the school board. Some things to to highlight on this is they they will not be voting members. um they will not be in close session but they will be part of
062this board and can we can help these um supervisors for provide advisory um information to this board. We're also looking for students that have a propensity around governance. So, we're looking to um attract students that are part already part of the student student government. And we think this is going to be a nice tie-in where the student government um that member from the student government that is sitting on the student on on the on the school board can then take the information back to the students, right? And we're hoping to provide a a nice back and forth between our students and our board, cutting out, you know, these pesky administrators that that are sometimes in between you so you can hear directly from students what they think about our policies, what they think about the
063direction of the district and what they believe should be happening here in our schools. >> Um, >> I have a question. >> Yes. >> Um, just to go back to the the certain um the student representatives How many how many members how big is the student council for your school? >> I'll defer to the principles um that are here. >> Rodney, do you know how many you have on your student council? >> 35 or 40. >> Mr. Principal Christian, >> I don't know that exact number. We counted at homecoming. It was more than 15. >> Dr. Sanchez around 20. Um what are the basic requirements to be on the city council? Is it >> they just have to have an interest in in it's different from student government. It's just student council where they're just
064being a part of the activity and and having a voice in in some of the decisions made at the school recommending uh activities uh student centered activities and also just helping us with things around the school. >> Okay. Um the reason I asked is because I'm I am 100% on board with the student representatives. However, um it sounds like we are only electing kids from the student government or the student council. I think there are a lot of other kids that aren't may not be in student council that also possess leadership capabilities that um could also have an opportunity to be on the board. I don't want to exempt anyone from that selection. >> Okay? >> I don't know how that would work. I don't know the details. I just I just I'm just saying
065I don't want anyone to be exempt from the selection process. It shouldn't just be limited to student council. >> Okay. So, we could, you know, have some conversations with each of the board members and make an update if we feel that's don't have a problem with that. >> And also, do we have like a fallback plan in the event one a member is is not coming to the board meetings? Um, how do we figure out who the replacement is going to [clears throat] be? Do do we have a fallback? >> There is not a fallback claim. So, >> I was going to piggy back off of that and suggest because uh the other um schools that I've seen had a pair and I know that that might right having six students here, but it might
066be good to maybe select two from each school and have them partner and then they can cover more ground, they can hear more voices and then they, you know, switch off. one goes this month, one goes next month. So that would be or even maybe one a senior, one a junior. I don't know. But just something that gives a little bit of I mean it's hard for us to make it to two meetings a month, let alone >> um a student with all the other responsibilities. So it would be I mean and I would be even open to more if we feel like there was because we have two meetings but only one would show up per school like as like a delegate for the group. >> I have to just discuss it more because
067we are starting this halfway through the school year too. So it is a short term for this first one and it might be >> better to >> test it out and see and then at the end of this school year when we have a full term kind of decide like was three enough do we need six right do we need to have ultimate and get their feedback >> right so I think perhaps just since it is a half a term >> if we had six we wouldn't even have they wouldn't even have an opportunity to attend one meeting each right because it'll be a half a So, I think it might be like you start small, test the waters, make sure we have our process and procedures and that we can handle three, right? Because
068they're going to need mentorship and training and then >> I don't want to bite off like you know >> bite off more than we can chew before we even get it off the ground. >> Yeah, I'm okay with that. and I would assume that like an interest survey would go out to all right that are >> not just student house right every >> they can have some elections at the school level but you know I mean we we've had similar in another district where we had students on the local school council >> but they weren't vote members >> and so I think a couple of us have been exposed to that we know their process. >> So, it'll be going to be very soon. >> Yeah, we can make some updates to this. >> Thank
069you. >> Um, the next one is on graduation recognition for MSA students. And so, this is just an initiative to make sure that we're honoring our students in some way that are going through the MSA program. And so, not this is not to be confused with PMSA. PMSA students have their own diploma. They have their own graduation ceremony. These are the students that are at Proviso West and Proviso East in the math and science academy. So these are students that have [clears throat] while they're getting a diploma from either proviso east or proviso west. We want to make sure that we're recognized the recognizing the extra work that they have been doing. Um and so for that we want to make sure you know that they're doing 25 credits instead of 22. So we want
070to make sure that we're we're presenting them with some type of medallion and some type of regalia to to to honor them. And so we just wanted to bring this to you, bring it to you for a vote on um the December meeting. While this doesn't necessarily require a vote, we're asking this to be done and having the board take some action on this so this could be definitive because from my understanding that it's shifted from year to year and then there's been years where nothing has happened. So we just want to standardize this practice to say if you go to one of the MSAs at proviso east or proviso west this is how we are going to honor you at the graduation ceremones uh the information items for this week. Moving on to the
071uh approval items. I know we've talked about these in committee the whole at the previous board meetings um but I do have slides anything going through the approval roles if there's anything that you have questions about before we take a vote happy to pull those slides up and bring the appropriate staff member to discuss >> um I had a question um regarding policy 260. >> Yeah, I meant to pull that off. >> Oh, thank you. >> So I apologize. So, I'll bring it in December for a first. >> Just an FYI, I have questions. >> Thank you. >> Anyone questions on the No, I hear no questions. We don't need to review any slides. We're good. All right. You ready? May I have a motion to approve the AP testing purchase from the college board
072in the amount of $148,680 as presented? >> So moved. [clears throat and cough] >> Second. >> Please call the RO. >> Miss Molin. >> I. >> Mrs. Hixon. >> I. >> Mr. Okampo. >> Hi. >> Miss Morris. >> Hi. >> Dr. Fischer. >> Hi. >> Miss Barbhead. >> Hi. >> Miss Smith. >> Hi. car. >> May I have a motion to approve the Triton dual degree program for school year 2026 2027 in the amount of $30,60,000 986. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Please call the RO. >> Miss Molina. >> I. [cough and clears throat] >> Mr. Okampo. >> Hi. >> Miss Miss Morris. >> Hi. >> Dr. Fisher. >> Hi. Miss Barberhead. >> I >> Miss Smith I. Motion carried. >> Item 14. May I have a motion to approve the Triton dual enrollment
073program for school year 2026 2027 in the amount of $95,400 as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Please call the RO. >> Miss Malinero. >> I. >> Mrs. Hixon. >> Hi. >> Mr. Okample. >> Hi. >> M. Morris. >> Hi. >> Dr. Fischer. >> Hi. >> Miss Barbin. >> Hi. Miss motion carried. >> May I have a motion to approve the voucher mail per card purchase for dual degree and dual enrollment for school year 2026 2027 in the amount of $64,000 as presented. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Please call the RO. >> Miss Malino. >> I. >> Mrs. Hixon >> I. >> Mr. Okampo. >> Hi. >> Miss Moore. >> Hi. >> Dr. Fischer. >> Hi. >> Miss Farberhead. >> Hi. >> Miss Smith. I. Motion carried. May I have a motion to
074approve the press plus policy issue 119 which includes review and/or revisions to policies 7140 7300 880 22 240 110 120 130 210 225 240 330 450 490 41 180 520 5 270 740 790 7130 30 7 through25 and 8 1110. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Please call the RO. >> Miss Malinero. >> I. >> Mrs. Hickman. >> Hi. >> Mr. Okampo. >> Hi. >> Miss Morris. >> Hi. >> Dr. Fisher. >> Hi. >> Miss Barb. [clears throat] >> I. >> Miss. Smith. I. Motion carries. >> May I have a motion to approve the price of East Concrete Curb Replacement with Abbey Construction Company for a total of $70,000 as presented? >> So moved. Second is callable. >> Misso, >> hi. >> Mrs. Hixon, >> I >> Mr. Okampo. >> Hi, >> Miss Morris. >>
075Hi, >> Dr. Fisher. >> I, >> Miss Farberhead, >> I, >> Miss Smith, >> I. Motion carries. >> Item 18. May I have a motion to approve the district 209 emergency evacuation share purchase for proviso east 10 in the amount of $17,030, proviso west 10 in the amount of $17,030 and PSA 1 in the amount of $3,430 from co-op partner ranger as presented. >> So move second. >> Please call RO. >> Miss Malino, >> I. >> Mrs. Dixon, >> I. >> Mr. Okampo, >> hi. >> Miss Morris, >> hi. >> Dr. Fischer >> I, >> Miss Barberhood. >> Hi, >> Miss Smith. >> I motion carries. >> Item 19. May I have a motion to approve the FCC cyber security pilot program funding decision, Mindsite Uncommon X, in the amount of $229,281 as presented. >>
076So moved. >> Second. >> Please call the RO. >> M. Malinero. >> I. >> Mrs. Hixon. >> I. >> Mr. Okampo. >> Hi. >> Miss Morris. >> Hi. >> Dr. Fischer. >> Hi. >> Miss Farberhead. I >> Miss Smith I motion carried. >> Item 20. May I have a motion for the approval of the 2025 certificate of tax levy resolution including an increase of [clears throat] 2.9% as presented? >> So move. >> Please call the role. >> Miss Malino >> I. >> Mrs. Hixon. >> No. >> Mr. Okampo. >> Hi. >> Miss Morris. >> Hi. >> Dr. Fischer. >> Hi. >> Miss Farber. >> I. >> Miss Smith. Nay. Motion carried. >> Item 21. May I have a motion to approve the fiscal year 26 illuminate illuminate consulting contract in the amount of $30,000 as
077presented? >> So move. >> Second. >> Please close the role. >> Miss Malino >> I. >> Mrs. Hixon >> I. >> Mr. Okampo. >> Hi. >> Miss Morris. >> Hi. >> Dr. Fischer. >> I. >> Miss. Farberhead. >> I. >> Miss Smith. >> Hi. Motion carried. >> Item 22. May I have a motion to approve the Baker Tilly classification and compensation study in amount of $54,100 as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Please call the RO. >> Miss Malinero. >> I. >> Mrs. Hixon. >> I. >> Mr. Oample. >> I. >> Miss Morris. >> I. >> Dr. Fischer. >> I. >> Miss Barton. >> I. >> Miss Smith. I. Motion carried. >> Item 23. May I have a motion to terminate the employment of district security guard Sheree Lori as recommended by administration? >>
078So moved. >> Second. >> Please call the rule. >> Miss Malinero. >> Hi. >> Mr. Hixon. >> Mr. Mr. Okample. >> Hi. >> Miss Morris. [cough] [clears throat] >> Hi. >> Dr. Fischer. >> Hi. >> Miss Barbin. >> Hi. >> Miss Smith. >> I. Motion carries. >> Item 24. May I have a motion to approve the resolution authorizing a notice of remediation for tenure teacher Clelesio Kings as presented by administration? >> So move. >> Second. >> Please call the role. >> Miss Malinero. >> I. >> Mr. Tix. >> I. >> Mr. O' Campbell. >> Name. >> Miss Morris. >> I. Dr. Fischer, >> I. >> Miss Barbahan, >> nay. >> Miss Smith, I motion carries. >> Item 25, may I have a motion to adopt the minutes of the October 14th, 2025 board meeting? >>
079So move. >> Second. >> Please call the roll. >> Miss Malinero, >> I >> Mrs. Hixon, >> I. >> Mr. Okampo, >> I >> Miss Morris. >> Hi, >> Dr. Fischer. >> Hi, >> Miss Barban. >> Hi, >> Miss Smith. Hi. And she's here. Item 26. May I have a motion to approve the bill list submitted to the board and dated November 12th, 2025 in the amount of 5,398,615.76. >> So move second. >> Please call the RO. >> Malinero. >> I. >> Mrs. Hixon. >> I. >> Mr. Okamp. >> I. >> Miss Morris. >> Hi. >> Dr. Fischer. >> I >> Miss Barberham. >> Hi. >> Miss Smith. I motion carried >> and may I have a motion to approve the November 12th, 2025 personnel report including the hiring, assignments, resignations, separations, statement positions, and
080lease of absences. >> So move second. >> Please call the role. >> Miss Malino, >> I. >> Mrs. Hixon, >> I. >> Mr. Oample, >> I. >> Miss Morris, >> hi. >> Dr. Fischer, >> I >> Miss Barbad, >> I >> Miss Smith, I motion. Thank you. And Miss Symphony, please read the FOYA report into the record. Between September 10th, 2025 and October 23rd, 2025, there have been three foyer requests received by the district. Those foyer requests were submitted by Lydia Simra, Anthony W, and Michael D. Birchart. Two of those requests have been fully responded to by the district in accordance with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act and one response is still in process due to the time of old business. New business I want to thank um Mr. Christian for welcoming me today
081into his school for our uh speaker uh Erica Chris >> Gil Gilchrist >> Gilchrist I forgot the I'm so sorry um she was really amazing and I really appreciated that extra effort with our female students um and um really just spotlighting what we can to um acknowledging that we have more in common than our differences. And so I look forward to any future assemblies, but um that room was um electric and it was really a special moment for me to be a part of it. So I want to thank you. >> Anything else? Hearing none, we want to make a motion to adjurnn. I move to adjourn. All in >> favor. [laughter] >> Thank you everyone for coming. Please help. Thank you for the letter. Thank you so much.