001Good evening everyone. We're going to get the October 6, 2025 7 p.m. regular board meeting to order. Secretary, please call the role >> Valencia >> here. Squentes >> here. >> Johnson >> here. >> Olivas >> here. >> L >> here. >> Reyes >> here. Moreno >> here. >> Everybody please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right. Before we uh I'm going to need the public comment um signup sheet. All right. But before we go into the public comment sheet, I did want to move ahead one item. um prior to public comment and that is 4.8 which is a student board member report.
002Do I have any issues with that? >> Yep. >> Okay. That way >> that way the student can then return back home and do some homework. >> Perfect. So with that I would like to have our new student board member come up. We have Zeon Liialwala. Uh this is Zeon's first uh public comment to the board and to the community. So let's give him a warm round of applause please. Good afternoon. I'd like to thank the board for this opportunity to speak on behalf of the student body. In my first report, I'd like to highlight some events that we've had recently at Easter High School. Last week was homecoming week and we started off with each graduating class having the opportunity to represent their own values and interests by decorating their own hallways. We also
003had spirit day events throughout the week. On Monday, different classes dressed as different phases of life from childhood to senior citizenship. Next, we had bring anything but a backpack day, twin day, and class color day. Teachers also participated on Thursday by wearing pajamas. Friday was black update, and we also had our pep assemblies on our fall sports teams and our first ever girls flag football team. There were performances led by our dance team, cheer team, and band. Throughout the week, we also had students versus faculty volleyball, karaoke, and a movie night. Friday night featured a homecoming football game with a pink out theme. NHS ran faith spacing during the game and Spanish NHS sold hot chocolate and other treats. We had Tomat cheer alumni from years past at the game to cheer on our Tomats
004as well. That night, our home our homecoming court nominees were also announced. We had a halftime performance led by our band. We had an incredible turnout and level of engagement and it was not a game to miss. Finally, on Saturday night, we had our homecoming dance. The gym was transformed to fit our under the stars theme and our DJ led an unforgettable night. There also food trucks and drinks available at the game and our homecoming royalty were also announced. While these events alone are extremely exciting, the best part of last week was the fact that so many student groups came together not only to experience these events but to actively contribute to them as well. Our class of 2026 especially flourished in leadership roles and many of the events many of the events mentioned were
005originally student ideas from student council or different societies and ended up being student led from selling tickets to drinks uh to helping decorate. Students were extremely engaged and took ownership of the experiences of the entire school. Again I greatly appreciate this opportunity to represent the student body and speak on behalf of Sorl. Thank you. All right, we're going to start with uh public comment. In order to speak at the board, you would have had to sign in before 7 p.m. Respect the threeminut time limit. Respect the confidentiality of students and staff. And make sure to keep uh comments appropriate. We'll start with the first one. Cynthia Latimer unfortunate that we are here again having to speak about this issue and let me be clear I am not interested in your board politics. This is about
006our children and the only reason each of you sit around this table including the administration. Every word you speak, every action you take has a direct impact, positive or negative, on the students of this district. The statements made by Miss Reyes were not offhand or private. They were said they were not said around the family dinner table, nor at a backyard barbecue. They were spoken with intention, with thought, emphasis, pauses, and examples. made in a formal setting on district property during a process meant to earn a seat on the board, a position of trust and authority over our children. They were set in a setting where one's views are shared to convince others that based on their views that they are fit for this board. She stated a belief that some students, specifically black students,
007should be denied access to a board approved opportunity. And that belief was offered as a qualification to gain a position on this board. So whether Miss Reyes was a sitting board member at that moment or a seeking member is frankly irrelevant. It was and is directly related to this board seat. She said what she said and now she sits among you. and what she said was and is inappropriate and wrong. And if those of you who were present said nothing, then silence becomes agreement. Your silence tells this community that discrimination is acceptable, that it's fine to deny opportunities for some children so that others can have an advantage or keep an advantage. Three weeks ago, I asked all of you to go on record because your silence also speaks. The community has asked you to
008act on this issue. You have received a properly submitted letter requesting that the issue be placed on the board agenda, which would allow you to speak and formally act on a censure. Yet, there's been no resignation, no censure, and no accountability. Because none of you have spoken on this issue, your inaction now reflects that each of you all agree that her comments were acceptable. If that's the case, then this is a bigger issue and perhaps others should also consider stepping down. Our children deserve leaders who will advocate for all of them. Either uphold your vision to ensure that every child re reaches their full potential or have the integrity to remove it from your website and step aside so that someone who believes it can lead act. Don't play politics with our children's futures. Be
009the example they deserve to seek. Why hasn't she stepped down? Why hasn't there been a censure? Why is inaction the response to injustice? If this is about politics, then you've lost your sight of your purpose. And our children are the ones that pay the price. Now, let's get this addressed, resolved so that the district can focus on the only reason it exists, which is our children and the teaching and learning for all of them. >> Anthony, next speaker, Vincent Gettis. Good evening. I'm Dr. Vincent Gatis and I share the um unfortunate fact that I'm here again uh this month. I want to reflect on Ms. Reyes's written statement from the last board meeting uh where your argument was that in your confusion, your nervousness of this interview uh you said these unfortunate words that bring
010us here again tonight. Well, I want to take a pause from that for a minute. Uh because in psychology, we know that there are things called structural beliefs. A structural belief is that belief on which all other beliefs are attached to. I'll give you an example. When I became a Christian, my structural beliefs changed. And then everything else had to change to line up with those structural beliefs. So when we're nervous, when we're confused, when we don't know what's happening in the interview, we are, you know, I'm I'm nervous. Where do we speak from? The deepest part of what we know and those are structural beliefs. And here we are. Why is this important? Because if this is what you're speaking from at that moment, then it's not a matter that, oh, I just misspoke.
011It's that you spoke from the place of your most confident belief. That black children don't deserve all the equity and inclusion that other children do. So, here we are. So, let's assume that you learned something which you said in your letter that you read last month. Maybe you've examined your beliefs. Maybe your apology was genuine. If so, meet with us, meet with leaders, meet with parents, propose the changes that show that you are willing and want to be a champion for black kids, for Latino kids, for white kids, all the children of this district. show that you actually have a belief that you want to, and I quote, educate and empower all students to reach their full potential. Because if you do not, and if you do not do anything but stay silent, we know
012what all of your structural beliefs actually are. Thank you, J. Jeriah Donaldson. Hi, my name is Dia Donaldson and I wanted you to really see what a student from the dual language program looks like. Uh, my daughter shouldn't have the same access as your daughter. She's actually in classes with your daughter. Uh Joselyn also pointed out that the boys that are on the picture here, those are boys that she knows from the dual language program. So you have a a a black boy next to a Latino boy. But that's not what you believe though, even though these are the images that you have. And I want to make sure that you look at the face and tell me that my daughter doesn't deserve the same opportunity as your daughter because she's black. Tell me. And
013just just as doctor said, you were confused and everything. Now, in your right mind, do you think that my child should not have the same opportunities as your child? As a parent, I I just want to know, are anybody up here, should my daughter not have the same access to the program? She's been in it since it started along with your daughter and along with those children. So, when you say hurtful things like that, I want you to make sure that you see the face. You see what an impact. It's not just that you say something quietly in a room and it goes away. That is devastating. My daughter has been with your kid. She's been been she's talked to her. That's a friend of hers. How do you think we feel to know that
014my this is a friend, but your mother really hates us? Come on now. I'm asking you. No, don't shake your head because you ain't you a you have done nothing to show that you're sorry. You sit up here like you can't wait till this is over. But I want you to know that it's affecting people's lives. It's affecting parents and students. We have every right to opportunities just as anybody else. And that's it. Come on. >> Thank you, >> Dr. Peggy Hicks. >> Good evening. >> Um, I'm Dr. I'm Peggy Hicks and I'm here tonight again. We're here again to address the impact of the statement that was made by Myra Reyes concerning our black children, our AfricanAmerican children. And uh we the statement was mean-spirited, derogatory, and inflammatory causing profound trauma to our children
015and to our community. At the last meeting, we heard a scripted apology. And I have a question for all of you guys sitting here. Will you continue to remain silent of the injustices that was spoken concerning our children? Will you continue to sit here and do nothing because you're part of the prop the board? Do you believe that this statement was hurtful and racially motivated? Have you as a board member done your due diligence? Have you? Obviously not. We're back here. I think this is meeting and we've had meetings with the superintendent and and others and we've gotten nowhere. And we want you to know tonight that we're going to continue to stand for our children because Juan, if I believe it was your child and you felt like that child was oppressed and discriminated
016against, you'd be standing here too. Superintendent, the same thing for you. If it was your child, you'd be standing here, too. So, so we want you to do something about this injustice. This is so disheartening. to think that in 2025 we're back to 1960. Very disheartening. Again, we reference your mission to educate and empower all students to reach their full potential. When you have traumization, how do you expect them to reach their full potential? So again, as my sister Latimore said, you need to take it down if you're not going to represent. There's a quote that was made by Desmond Tutu, and I'm going to leave this with you, and I hope that you will not be a do nothing board, but you will address this issue head on, and you knew about the issue
017be before it became a real problem. And we're not here for political stances. We're here to represent our black children. And Desmond Tutu said, "If you are neutral in a sit situation of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." My Reyes is the oppressor. Thank you. >> Next speaker, Regina Brent. Good evening everyone. I'm not here to preach tonight. I'm here to teach. I want you to know that this week is one of our most popular leaders I consider in this country. He's ill now. He's in a wheelchair. He cannot speak. His name is Reverend Jesse Lewis Jackson. This is his birthday this week. And I found something on the internet just before I got here saying that he had a fireside chat back in 2017, I believe, with uh a well-known Hispanic
018leader, Mrs. Reyes. and he reminded the gentleman about the fact that Dr. King Dr. King had written a letter to Claudia Gonzalez Romo and he reminded them how Dr. King assembled the civil rights movement and the letter was to Cesar Chavez recognizing the suffering of farm workers as a shared cause. So I'm saying that in essence I thought we had something in common that I would be feeling secure about my people whenever your people was approached with giving them the opportunity of a lifetime. I want to say to you that I enjoyed Azie Gilliam. I'm wearing a white socks hat from Venezuela. Had a lot of respect for him. Only to hear about your demise because that's what it's going to be. I want to say to this board tonight out of all due respect
019because I ran for office out here and I understood the principle of a fiduciary oath that when you take that you're supposed to be upholding the principles of a human being. I'm hoping I wish today when Sandra Bland was found hung in her cell that somebody had come by to at least monitor her stay there. She would be with us today. Trayvon Martin, Zimmerman, Hispanic. I wish somebody had have been there to stop him. Freddy Gray, same thing. Six or seven officers. Eric Gardner, Laquan McDonald, we can go on and on and on. Brianna Taylor, if just somebody had been there to say, "Get your knee off of George Floyd's neck." Don't Don't speak ill ill about these people. These are black race people. Don't Hey, don't hit him again. Get Eric Gardner up off
020that ground. If somebody had just been there to say that, but you know what? They didn't. And so now Mrs. Reyes is your poster child of your board. >> So that means you're complicit and you're in the what she's doing. >> Miss Brent, >> I'm asking you for the greater good of the people. Mrs. Reyes, please step down. Step back. Right. Next speaker, Randy Writer. Everyone has come up here and tried to probe your motives. They seem very very clear to me. It's obvious you don't respect our community at all. I have never seen such a bunch of feckless cowards in my entire existence. You sit up there every meeting, silent, looking at us as if we're crazy for being up here talking to you. I'm here to tell you I'm done playing with you.
021I've already filed paperwork. So you don't that's the only thing you going you people are going to understand. You have the power to remove this bigot off the tell off the off this off the uh board. All it takes is a simple vote, a majority vote of you. But you don't have the kahunas to do it. I don't care whether you like my language or not. I'm talking directly to all of you. This is ridiculous. We are a part of this community. Our children go to school here and we got to deal with that. None of you are above reproach. None of you. Which one of you will stand up right now and and raise your hand and say, "Get her off the board." I'll bet money that none of you have the heart to
022do it because you're a bunch of cowards. I'm not going to keep wasting my time coming up here talking to you people because it goes in one ear and out the other. This is the third fourth time I've been here personally. You don't care about our kids. You don't you don't give a damn about our kids if you did act. But you won't because they're expendable to you. They're not expendable to me. If it were up to me, every one of you lose your seat. Every one of you. None of you are worth the time it takes to to stand up here. She'll be here next month. She'll be here next year. >> Your time is up, sir. >> Yeah, I guess it is. >> Thank you. >> Next speaker, Ben's Maravia. My name is
023Vince Maravia. I am part of the four world and I'm here. I was listening to them. I suffer a heart attack in uh two weeks. I'm going to have an open heart surgery. My wife has cancer. And some of these people that they that they were talking about discrimination, about mistreating the people, they used to do that when I work at the youth center. We had a very good program and every board meeting it was oh the soccer uh kids they are discriminated against the African uh the basketball players for me they humiliate our kids but thank to to the humilation thanks to them here I'm just going to show it to you what you did here you He went to the University of Aurora univers he's a coach now. He was the best soccer
024player in the the the uh the United States. This guy he has his own company. And see every week we had to go I had to see my wife crying because the accumulation I saw the kids that they were crying because they didn't have a documents and these people instead of saying you know what we have to work together we have to do no every night I even went to that thing to kill myself because all the humiliation that I got in that place And see if if you see here, I was chosen to represent Illinois for the Mexican government. Why? Because we had such an field and such a small uh youth center. But thanks to the parents working together with the police with everything, we were able to reduce the crime to nothing.
025Now you have a coaches at different uh different high schools even at aabi community college and these people they didn't think that they were able to make it they always put them down and now they are here asking for her to remove her at that time every board meeting every month every month every month they used to be the same song how can we work together and I even had to send a letter that my grandkids half of them they are Latino AfricanAmerican why did I have to do that none of them they did that and now they are that's a reason that as a board work with the everyday people a lot of that they always work with the nonprofit organizations but we had international programs too thank you >> thank We have three
026additional speakers. Um, is it okay to continue on? I know we have board policy that we only typically go around 20 minutes, but we only have three left, so we have consensus. Okay. All right. Next speaker, Wanita Wells. As a former board member of district 131 from 1993 to 2011, I encouraged dual language as part of the curricul curriculum. However, it wasn't instituted when I served on the board. I recall visiting the early childhood learning center on Indian trail as a sitting board member and heard one of the teachers ask a question in Spanish and an African-American student responded. She asked the same question in English and a Hispanic student responded. I was overjoyed to discover students were teaching each other different languages even before dual language was officially part of the district curriculum. It
027was involving by efforts of the students. I also recall when a sitting when sitting board members wanted to remove English as a second language from the district and the outcry from Hispanic community. I do not recall the community to asking the board members to resign. They focus on correcting the issue. I also remember uh sitting board members asking the boys to men program not to be part of district 131 even though it was not part of the curriculum nor was it an afterchool program in the district. Students involved in the group were encouraging other young men to join the group because of the social skills offered in educational opportunities. The group mirrored students population in the Roy area. The boys to mentoring young men spilled into the district offering difference positive influence. No one asks
028the board members to resign. I am saying all this to say there has always been conf conflicting interest in all school districts over the years concerning our students. They were addressed. They were corrected and will continue to be corrected and opinions would opinions would continue to be voiced as long as everyone have a different opinion. The comments of dual language discussed a year ago in a closed session was not spoken by a sitting board member or as an action item on the board's agenda to address. Nor did the board select to seek the candidate to fill a vacant position that made the statement in a closed session interview. The community elected her in the 2025 election. This board is comprised of members the community selected using the voting process. I have to admit I have
029not been included in the various discussion but watch the live September 15th board meeting online. I am in support of all students having equal standing in learning skills that allow them to be successful. However, Ianita Wells not in favor of Miss Reyes uh resigning. >> Miss Wells, your time is up. >> Thank you. Next speaker, Claudia Ruiz. Good evening. My name is Claudia Ruiz. I am a parent in the district. Um, I came to talk about something different than the rest of the other speakers, but I do share their sentiment as well. So, um, in solidarity, um, I actually, uh, wanted to come to speak to all of you. um to so quote unquote get the ball rolling in a couple of things and um just kind of uh put that conversation out there. Um
030when you are doing um online registration and you're trying to pay fees and things like that, I know it's like totally tonedeaf and I'm so sorry. Um um I was thinking if there is any programs that we could use or we could initiate um to have those like fees and things like that paid online as opposed to having to pay cash or like a check. Um, I've been speaking to various parents around the district and we've talked about having the convenience of being able to pay those things online on your phone just like you would use the app like Synergy or whatever app that we're using at the moment um to log in to check the attendance and things like that to have uh a readily available to pay those fees. Um, that's something that
031we talked about. Another thing that uh some of the parents talked about at the Easter High School is uh creating a ramp um on one side of the stadium or what that would look like or to see if maybe get what some kind of ball rolling again. Um so the kids who are in band, my three children are in band. Uh they're all at the high school. um they often have to roll carts and things of instruments across through basically down the road and then around the stadium through the stadium just to get to the stadium when they're performing for marching band and things like that. I think starting um a conversation about getting a ramp not only for the band students but it could benefit any uh for sports and any other um events
032that we have. it would just be easier access um because door six is directly through that entrance that would uh have that direct ramp to the stadium. So, those are a couple of things that I wanted to bring up to the board and maybe start the conversation. Um and again, I'm so sorry that my um comment is a little toned up, but um I do stand in solidarity with the rest of the speakers before me. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. And the last speaker is Curtis Wilson. May I begin? Good evening. So, I scarcely know where to begin. When I sit back and think of the comments that were made um in a job interview, if it had been Miss Annette, someone who's Caucasian or Mr. Bernie or Mr. Andy or Mr. or
033Dr. David or even Jud or Dr. Amy or Dr. Michael or John, the community would have had your hands on a platter. Why is bigotry acceptable in 2025 depending on who it comes from? It's unacceptable at all levels. All levels. I have friends of every persuasion. If you know anything about me, my goal is to serve. It's to serve the community regardless of what you look like, your age, your district. None of that matters because at the end of the day, as Dr. Gatis said, my faith compels me to show you love. To show you love. And the comments that I read were the antithesis of what I believe. One of the things that bothers me about um unmitigated or unchecked bigotry is that it becomes like a cancer. It's insidious. It will waft around
034and latch on to others and pull them in. And then what does that do? That deteriorates our society and our community where I don't see you as a brother or a sister. I see you by some demographic, by some artificial uh variable and I demean you. I take away your humanity. That's a problem. I don't see you as an a a competitor or someone who I need to um to diminish. I see you as a community member, as my neighbor. I see you as someone who I work with, who I uh um looking to expire uh inspire and to um to uh to to build together with. This was an absolutely disgusting thing. And I see you sitting here looking at me now with this look of just discontent, this look of just total disgust.
035But I'm unbothered by that because I know what makes you cheer. So I don't care what you bother by because I've seen what makes you cheer. I've seen what you've told your colleagues in close session in a job interview. That's unacceptable. I just I'm I'm unbeliev I I just can't believe in 2025 not 1825 talking about wanting and rampid bigotry as far as someone's core values as Dr. Gatis has said these are heart issues. Out of the mouth flows the issues of the heart. And so with that, I encourage you to self-evaluate. We would welcome your resignation, but I know it's probably not going to happen. We'd welcome a censure. It's probably not going to happen, but know that this is this will judge you. This will determine how you're seen in this community from
036this day forward. Thank you so much. >> All right. Thank you. Um before we continue on with the regular board meeting, um I did want to address one thing and that has to do with the censure. Um you know, I did receive a request by email from community members for a censure and you know, I did reply back that I did have to check with our legal representative and Bernie, if you could give a brief response to that, please. Uh yes there are there were two components uh to the request uh and they have uh the answer to that request has has uh different um uh has has different results. Okay. So with regard to uh the the request was couched in a mo uh a request to place on the agenda a motion to
037censure a member of the uh of the board of education uh for comments that were made uh prior to uh her appointment or election to the board. Uh with regard to that um censure has a specific meaning and specific consequences uh that must be uh must be dealt with in accord with the policies of the board that are now existing. Uh those policies are based upon a code of conduct for board members. Uh that code of conduct adopt is adopted by uh adopts the uh Illinois school board. um associations um press policies uh with regard to the code of conduct and that code of conduct is reflected uh in the oath that all of the board members take. So with respect to that that code of conduct pertains to actions taken while a member of
038the board of education. uh it does not um accord um sanctioning a statement made by a private citizen uh whether or not that's made uh in a board meeting uh in either an open or closed session. With regard to the um so a censure uh is a disciplinary proceeding and our policies say that where um such requests are not covered by our board policies that they are then deferred to the Robert's rule of order. The Robert's rule of order uh with regard to board discipline is found in section in chapter 20 um of the current rules and they also apply only to conduct that appears in the uh appears in the uh that occurs during uh service as a member of that uh community. uh private citizens um are not uh are not sanctioned uh
039for uh specific statements that are made as a private citizen. Now also with regard to that that is in keeping with the disciplinary policies of the state of Illinois with regard to this board's authority to remove a member uh that is covered by the Illinois uh school code which defers to the uh superintendent of uh the regional superintendent of schools the authority to remove a board member for the failure to undertake the responsibilities of a board member during service as a member of the board. So with regard to that a sanction that you know censure has a specific meaning uh and that is a sanction and specifically that can be in conflict with our policies that support people's uh right to speak. So uh sanctioning someone for speaking as an as an individual and as
040a member of the as a member of the community uh is not something that is called for. Now having said that uh the request was to put this on the agenda uh for a motion to sanction. So to the extent that that motion to sanction uh is not an appropriate matter then becomes the uh the issue of what does the board have the authority to do at a meeting such as this. So whether or not a matter is on the agenda does not prohibit this board or any member from discussing an issue that is not on the agenda or from making statements as it relates to conduct of anyone that has occurred under any circumstances that affect the um the integrity of this board. So to that extent the board is free to uh make
041comment with regard to uh any issue that they they may wish to address. >> Well, thank you. >> So I do have a statement uh from the board. Um and I apologize I'm I'm still sick. I started with cold last week and so if I call for anything I apologize. So, the board of education of East Aurora School District 131 stands united in denouncing the statement made a year ago by a resident of the district during a closed session who has since been elected to the board that suggested providing dual language services to African-American students would somehow disadvantage our bilingual Hispanic students. Such a sentiment does not reflect the values of this board nor the community we serve. We affirm with clarity and compassion that this board of education has never considered, will not consider,
042and will not take any action that deprivives any student of the services and opportunities they deserve. Every child in East Aurora is entitled to an education that uplifts, supports, and respects their unique needs, culture, and potential. This board embraces both the letter and the spirit of our policies that guarantee fair and equitable treatment for all students and staff. I ask each board member I ask each member of the board to reaffirm their individual commitment to our shared mission to educate empower every student to reach their fullest potential in an environment rooted in equity, inclusion, and dignity. In pursuit of excellence, we the board remain committed to fostering a culture of respect, collaboration, and trust. We acknowledge and deeply respect the concerns expressed by community leaders and families who feel that trust has been shaken. We
043hear you and we commit to listening, learning, and acting with integrity. Our policies carry meaning only when they are lived out in our actions. As part of that commitment, this board will be engaged uh engaging in training to root out unconscious bias, ensuring that our decisions, conduct, and words reflect our values of equity and inclusion. We will seek a program that strengthens our collective understanding and enhances our ability to continue serving all students with fairness and compassion. We also call on our superintendent to join us in this work, ensuring that our students and staff experience the benefits of our policies, not as a promise on paper, but as a lived reality in their schools and daily interactions. Together, we will nurture culture where equity and inclusion are not aspirations, but expectations. Furthermore, we recognize the
044importance of giving our community meaningful opportunities beyond elections to shape how our district lives out these values. We are committed to creating new avenues for community voice and participation, ensuring that no one feels excluded from the table where opportunities for our children are created. We the board welcome the active participation and constructive feed uh feedback from our community and we are grateful for the courage of those who have spoken up. We embrace this as an opportunity to grow together with humility and hope and we look forward to continued dialogue and building stronger more inclusive inclusive structures of trust. So, at this point, I do ask that each member of this board join in endorsing this statement and commit to moving forward together in service of every child in East Aurora. And we'll start with Mr.
045Lofty. >> Yes, >> I absolutely do. I'm going to give a short speech. Thank you to the African-American community for expressing their concerns. I do not support the inappropriate comment made at an interview for an open board seat a year ago. But remember, Miss Reyes was not picked to fill that seat. Theodia Gillespie was fix picked to fill that seat. I have not seen any racism whatsoever from Miss Reyes or anyone on this board. No one has ever contacted me about any unfair treatment of African-Americans nor any group since I've been a board member. In two years as a board member, I can only remember two instances where I thought race might even remotely be an issue. And one, I reached out to a leader of your community and I was told that they wouldn't
046get involved because they didn't know the person. Okay. The other was a situation in April this year where a union representative complained to Dr. Halverson about what um she felt there might be a racial issue. Mr. Halberstein immediately took action and removed that administrator going forward from those meetings. The release of information in a closed session is improper. It's a violation of our policies. Perhaps you should look at why was this tape released? Why was this brought? Was it really to protect racism or was it for political gain? But however, Dr. Halerson said he has discovered some issues. So, he's hired a consultant. He's going to work on the climate and culture. I know as a board member when I came in two years ago, it was a big issue. I never heard racism, but
047if that's present, we're going to fix it. I'm a bull in a china shop. Everyone will tell you it's not going to stay long. If we have racism here, it's not going to happen. Miss Reyes was asked if she would step down, but she said she worked too hard to get elected. And anybody who's been an elected official knows it takes a lot of work. I must have knocked on a thousand doors when I got elected. Okay? So, it takes a collective group. We would love to have an AC African-American representative on this board. So, you put one up and we will support them. I will. I'm sure that most of us will. Mrs. M. Reyes has agreed to voluntarily take on bias training and Dr. Halverson has shown a willingness to listen and tackle
048the heart issues. He's only been our superintendent for six months. Okay. So, let's give him time to fix the issue. I'm a practicing attorney. I have a lot of experience with discrimination. You might remember Mooseart, the case where the IHSA passed a bylaw. They wouldn't let an African student from Congo play sports. I sued the IHSA. Three years of my life, pro bono, no pay. We won and he got to play. They appealed it to the appela court in Elgen and the Illinois Supreme Court and we won them all. You think I'm going to let discrimination happen? I started street wise, the homeless paper in Chicago 33 years ago. We've helped 17,000 homeless people. 84% of them are African-American. I've never taken any money for that. You think I'm going to let discrimination happen here?
049Not going to happen. I would like to reiterate Mr. what Mr. Wiler said in a more common understandable um expression that the board does not have any authority whatsoever to remove Miss Reyes. Think about it. Anytime there's a 43 board, we could remove anybody we want just conceptually. But the law is we can't do it. She's an elected official. Once you're elected, there's you wait you vote at the ballot box. There's an election in two years. She gave an apology at our board meeting on 9:16. We're all volunteers on this board. Let's make this a teachable moment. Let's move past this. Let's try and move ahead. And I'm going to close with this. Many of you in this many of the leaders in this crowd are Christians and part of the minister alliance. I heard
050Dr. Data say it. The Bible says, "Forgive us our sins." And we have forgiven our sin against us. Hey, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That's how I feel. Anyway, any leaders have issues, you contact me. Most of you have my cell phone. You know how to get a hold of me. Contact me. We will take action. Thank you. Mr. Leas, I don't have a statement like Mr. lobster here, but I am joining in endorsing this statement to commit to moving uh together as a whole. Um, many of you personally know me, know who I am, know the many hours that I've worked in this community community, working with everyone here in Aura. So again, I am committed to working together to ensuring that our district moves forward to ensuring our students, all students get what they
051need. Thank you. Thank you. >> I also endorse um the statement that um COPE provided. Um, but I also have another statement that I prepared just in case. Um, I want to begin by acknowledging that I am no stranger to making mistakes. I've been someone who at times has spoken before fully thinking things through and I've had to learn from those moments. I've always seen them as opportunities for growth and I imagine many of us in this room have had similar experiences. That's why I want to approach this situation with both honesty and compassion. Unlike some, I had the opportunity to listen to Maida's full interview, not through word of mouth or social media, but through the proper channels. What I heard was more complex than what has been portrayed. Yes, there were some comments
052that were found troubling. I respect that. Yet those comments were part of a larger conversation in which Maida spoke proudly about our children's sorry about our district's leadership in dual language education. She talked about how these programs allow others to step into our world as Latinos and how communication is only effective when both people share a language that matters. What concerns me is that this nuance is being lost. that some are only hearing what they want to hear, others may have been misinformed, and some perhaps intentionally are stoking division between black and brown communities. If that's the case, I must ask, has that been the the goal all along? Because we know that when our communities unite, we are powerful. We are capable of real lasting change. But when we're divided, we weaken our ability
053to advocate for the students and families we all claim to care about. To the person who started this, I don't know your reasons, but I do know that this com that but I do know this. As a community, we are better than this. Every board member here is a volunteer. We serve because we want our community to thrive. Because we believe our children deserve equitable opportunities and our staff deserves a supportive environment in which to grow. I reject depriving any child of any program or service in the district. I have never had the slightest inclination of differentiating between any race, gender, or creed. Myra apologized. I ask that we at least receive that apology in good faith. She is not the enemy. The real threat is our inability to work together, especially as people of
054color. We have a chance to model something better, not just for our students, but for our entire district. Let's reject this narrative of division. Let's choose unity. Let's choose or let's show our children, all of them, what it looks like when leaders make mistakes, reflect, and we all come together for the greater good. On April 1st, the community spoke, and that Johnson received 1,622 votes. Myra followed with,413. I had the honor of receiving 1,199. And that's just 20 votes ahead of Theodia. On May 5th, we elected Juani Fuentes as board president, Saul Levas as vice president, and Jud was unanimously selected as secretary. This is the team, the community and board voted for. This is how we move forward together. Miss Johnson. So I wanted to um agree with the statements that you made. One
055I wanted to just say that um you know we have created a environment um here with the board that we want to ensure that all of the students, staff and community have what they need from the school district to be successful. I want to talk about the school district for a few minutes. Um, you know, many of you know me and you know me for the last 16 years and I have certainly worked very hard to make sure that everything was equitable for all of our students, that our students had the same things that uh other other school districts were more affluent. And it's been hard with district 131 because we so much rely on on the state and the federal government for our revenue. So, so we did that and and I have been
056totally committed to doing that and I want our board to get back to the many issues that the district faces which we have to do something about our declining enrollments. We have to do something about the fact that we have lost state and federal revenues. As a community, we need to come together because many today are fearful of going to school. And that again is is a horrible thing that a child can be denied an education just because they're afraid to go to school. How sad is that? It's only going to hope it's only going to erode the school district more because we're going to continue to see more declining enrollments and and that's going to take a lot of dollars away to to be fair and equitable to all children. We have teacher shortages.
057That is difficult and we have to make sure that our current staff has all of the tools necessary that they can they can work with our students today. So these are not all small issues because today if the board doesn't address these issues, we will go back to things that have have not been seen in this district for the last 15 years. And I know many of you in the audience personally, and I'm not sure who said it. I didn't have a note, but I do want the district and the board to start creating dialogue with the community. I did talk to Miss Reyes before the board meeting. We had a long chat and I and I do know that she as well is committed to this. We just as a board member have to
058come come forward and serve and solve all these community issues. you know, I'll always continue to hold our board here and our administration and whoever else uh very accountable to make sure that every child has what they need. So, um again, I am endorsing your statement, Mr. Clintis. Thank you, Miss Johnson. Moreno. >> Um, I two um endorse your statement. One, and I have a statement, too. I want the community to know that we see you and we hear you. This should never be an issue about black or brown. It should be an issue of red and black. Because we are all Tomcats and we're all one community. And to be honest, we're one Aurora, too. Much like many of us in this board and many in the audience tonight, I was raised right here
059in this district. And one of the things I love most about Easter is our diversity and unity. What I learned during my time as a student is that we can be proud of our individual cultures, but also respecting and supporting the cultures of others. As a Latino growing up in East Aurora, some of my biggest role models in life were black Many of the people I probably call my brothers are black. And I helped lead an organization dedicated to bringing black and Latino young men together back when they're killing each other. And that's called Boys to Men. When it comes to unity, I'm not new to it. I'm true to it. That's how when I hear comments that divide us, it makes me sick. We hear all this at a federal level and now that
060it's coming right here at a local level, at a smaller level, it hurts me too, you know, because it shouldn't get to the level that it is today. Board member Maya Ray's comments about not being in support of this is dual language program, maybe because she rephrased or whatever, and I know Vana said that it standed more, but the moment that she at least gave an example, a fixes all. And tonight, I want to go on record stating that I do not support those comments or the sentiments from which they came. I believe all students and all students in East Aurora and throughout the city of Aurora, regardless of race, background, or language, deserve equal access to our education and co-curricular programs because we are here to give them the best opportunity that they deserve.
061Because when we went to school, it wasn't like this. Now there's so many things out there that we wish we would have had growing up and now that's why we're here. I feel like if you as a board member, we're here to keep on exciting, keep on um updating. You know, I know it's 2025 and we were talking about laptops earlier. We need to keep updating our stuff. We can't just keep having the same stuff we had 5 years ago because our technology is growing. We need to keep making the lives easier for the kids. And I urge this board of education to formally distance itself from those comments so that we could begin the process of moving forward and healing the wounds they have caused with the black community. Even if it was just
062by an example, whatever, we just need to start healing and we need there's so many more stuff going on in life that we need to focus on. So we need to first handle the situation so we could continue healing and handle everything that's going on with the world. Especially right now that we have ICE in the community, we all need to be together. No matter if you're black, pink, purple, or blue, we are here together as the board and as a family. Thank you guys. Thank you. >> So fun. I too endorsed your um statement. And while I did have a statement prepared, this time I think I'm just not going to read it. Um because it sounds like people don't think that I'm that it's coming from the heart if I read. So I
063once again want to apologize. It truly was just a mistake that I made. Um I will not pretend to sit here and say that I'm an expert at this. I am not. I made a mistake. I'm a sum of all my parts. The intention behind my use of African-Americans as an example was not what it's made out to be. I've definitely never said that I want African-Americans removed from the program or that I don't want the program offered to them. That at this point is it's just way way off from what I said. Um I'm here for all students. Miss Donaldson, I don't know if our ch if our daughters attend class together, but one of the reasons why I interviewed for the position back then and why I decided to run was the dual
064language program. I don't know if your daughter was in my daughter's class in fourth grade, but did they not spend the entire year with a substitute teacher there? They did. And I I had a problem with that. So, I'm here for that. I have a daughter with an IEP, so special education is also something that I'm here to advocate for. And at that point, that's for all students, not just my daughters, not the Hispanic community, not the black or the African-American community, all all students. Um, I'm very upset that this has turned out to be something beyond everyone's control. I have no idea what the person behind releasing that audio what their intention was, but my intention was never to hurt anybody or leave anybody out of any program that the district offers. I did
065not run on that. Um, and so really, and Miss Latimer, I'm looking at you. I know. You know, I I looked up to you literally since first grade and I've told you that. And it truly truly hurts that you have expressed yourself towards me the way you have. Especially because I know that when we've run into each other, I know you knew how genuine I was the very first time we saw each other at W 7 meeting. I greeted you and you gave me a hug so tight. So, for a misrepresented quote, you're going to cross me off like that. Get to know me. Get to know me. And Dr. Gatis, uh I don't know if you're still here, but um at this point, you're the only one that has invited me to meet. Please,
066let's do so. I would love for you to get to know me as well. Um, at the last board meeting, I don't know if she's here, but Miss Folz um was the only one who came up. I reached out to her and unfortunately we weren't able to connect, but um just give me the opportunity to maybe get to know me oneonone. That goes for you too, Theodia. Um, get to know me, maybe get to understand me and where I was coming from that day. Miss Donaldson, you too. Um, especially if our daughters are are friends, I do not want this to interfere with their friendship in any way, shape, or form. Um, I'm I'm open to that. >> All right. Thank you. >> And before we we move on, I do want to extend um,
067you know, if we could pick up those meetings again with Miss Latimer, Miss Hicks, Miss Gillespie, what was that? Sorry, Dr. Mr. Hicks, sorry, I apologize. Um, if we could get those scheduled back with uh the superintendent and I will make sure that I attend every meeting um and not miss any anything. So, if we could Okay. I don't know about that date yet, so I will double check. Yeah, >> just to just to clarify real quick, Miss Gillespie, um yeah, you did reach out to me last week at the last boarding man. I did ask that you reach out and let me know. you reached out last week and you said you were going to get back with the constituent group to let me know. I know that has flown through uh been gone
068through Miss Morales right now. So, we do have that meeting scheduled, but it wasn't as if I was dodging the meeting by any means. So, I just wanted to be sure of that. Yeah. Okay. I just want to be sure of that. Thank you. Yep. And we did connect and once we connected there, you you let me know that you were going to get back to the constituent group to make sure that we could meet at which point I've got it scheduled through Lisa now. So, I look forward to the meetings. I welcome the meetings. I'm excited to work together with the community to figure out how we can move forward for all students for sure. Um, and that meeting is scheduled and we have had internal stakeholder group meetings as well where we've brought
069about a diverse group of individuals um, both in their rank and file, what they do in our organization, their race, their experience um, male female so we can have some real conversations to talk about what the um, ongoing needs are. We are diving into the data to look back a little bit and see exactly where the data tells us, what it tells us we need to focus on for all of our students, but specifically our black students. We also have an immediate plan in place as far as what we're going to do immediately to focus on some of the uncon unconscious bias and racism. And then on top of that, we will have a departmental improvement plan that I'll work together with that team along with the stakeholder groups to make sure we can move
070forward in a proactive way. So, I'll I'll check in with them just to make sure. >> All right, we'll move on to communications from the superintendent. >> Thank you, board president. I appreciate it. Um, we've got a couple different things on the evening tonight on the board tonight. Um, we already had our 4A, which is our student board member report. Next, we have 4B, which is which is the community relations report with Miss Britney Walker. So, if Britney wants to come up for that, thank you. Good evening. >> Uh the sorry on September 30th we had our Boys and Girls Club uh launch party right here in this room where we were able to showcase showcase the district-wide partnership which brings our afterchool programming to all of our elementary schools. One of the highlights of
071the evening, which you will see in the video, um was a presentation by one of our students from Bardwell Elementary, uh Miss Aier, and she spoke on behalf of her peers as far as how this experience has been to her. In addition to that, we did have the CEO. Again, you'll have some words from her in that video as well. And uh we'll just without further ado, we'll go ahead and see that highlight video. >> 644. Boys and Girls Club has a new partnership with an East Aurora school district to serve thousands of students. This was a celebration in the far western suburb. The team echoed Thank you, Miss Walker. I know she's got one other update from an exciting event we had last week as well. >> Yes. So, hopefully you were able to
072attend, but we had our family fall festival on Friday. A lot of Fs. Um, and we had approximately 1,200 participants attend. So, you'll be able to see in this video some of th those highlights as well. Um, there were characters. There was lots of free treats like candy apples, churros, um, palettas. What else did we have there? >> Hot dogs. Oh, yes. Some of some of you were passing out hot dogs. >> Hot dogs are delicious, by the way. >> Um, and then there was some fun things as well as hay rides um, all over at Blackberry Farm. So, here's that highlight video uh of that fun way to kick off the fall with our district. All right. Our next item on the uh the board report is we have our ISASB delegate assembly. Every
073year during the board triple eye conference, the resolutions committee report is shared and outlines proposals to be acted upon at the annual meeting of the IASB delegate assembly. The delegate assembly will take place on Saturday, November 22nd when we're at triple I as a board and a leadership team. The board of education has a voice at this assembly and the board must elect a delegate to vote on the proposals on behalf of the board. Once a delegate is chosen, Miss Mor Morales will register the delegate for a 1-hour webinar that will take place on October 9th from noon to 1 p.m. So, if you look at our timeline right now, they just got back to us. Um, it is October 6th, so we need to have an open conversation about who that delegate will be.
074And I see a lot of people looking towards board vice president leave us. So, I don't know if that decision's been made or not, but I'll open it up to the board for dialogue. Is there any >> All right. Do you are you good? Are you okay with accepting? >> Yep. I'm okay with accept and I am available for for that webinar as well. >> Okay. Well, that works out. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh next we have uh under district updates, we've got two different things. We've got a tax levy presentation with Liz Hennessy and Dr. Michael Angel. And then I've got a superintendent statement uh regarding our current parameters as well. All right. Good evening everybody. You guys All right. We're going to go through the presentation of the 2025 uh tax levy.
075Yeah, it it's Is that better? Okay. All right. So, we're going to go through the timeline. This is the timeline uh for the tax levy adoption tonight. Uh we're going to have the uh obviously the timeline and the presentation of the 2025 tax levy. the alternate bond uh abatement and recommendation tonight for approval of the estimated tax levy. On November 3rd, we'll have the recommendation to adopt the 2025 tax levy. Uh December 31st is the deadline to file with the county clerk and then spring of 2026, we'll have the final property values released. The baitments are finalized and taxes will be build to the taxpayers. But then your first installment is there in June and 2nd and September. Next slide. So these are the property values by type that make up the EAV for the
076entirety of the district. As you can see, 80% comes from residential. Uh 14% from commercial. Uh farm is almost non-existent. State railroad is at 1% and industrial at 5%. So this is the breakdown of revenues for FY25 non- audited. As you guys can see, 52% of our funds came from evidence-based funding, 7% from the state, 22% from federal grants, 14% from real estate taxes, 2% from CPPRT, and 3% from local. So, these are the factors uh that are known. We have the 2024 total equalize assessed valuation, which was a little bit over $1.2 billion. We also have the 2024 tax extension not including bonds which was 37 million almost 800,000. That's the amount of money that we collected from last year. That's the extension that comes to the district. Uh the consumer price index, the
077CPI, this is December of 2024 is also known at 2.9%. We're capped at 5%. We are a capped county. Uh we also know the maximum levy extension for existing property for 2025 would be 38,895,99469. Some unknown factors are the new equaliz assessed valuation for 25. We have estimates right now at 11.51% increase which would give us an estimate of $1.3 billion of EAV for 2025. We also don't know what the new limiting rate is going to be for 2025. And we don't know the exact new property for 2025 even though we got an estimate from the county of uh 3.5 million and change as far as new property for the district. Next slide. So, how does this all compare to other school districts? Um, as you can see, we are there in the light blue.
078Uh, we have the lowest property tax rate of all King County school districts and all surrounding school districts. We're at $355. Uh the next closest is West Aurora at $461. Uh the highest uh comparable is Central 301 at $5.92. Next slide. So this is the breakdown of the levy request. On the lefth hand side are the funds and fund descriptions. As you can see the education fund, operations, maintenance, transportation, working cash, uh municipal uh retirement, social security, special education. Uh to on the right hand column is the levy amount and of course we're capped. Uh total cap levy would have 39,685,000. We also have a bond and interest levy at 6,562,358 uh less the abatement and that's something that we're going to be discussing here in a little bit uh with Liz Hennessy from Raymond
079James. Uh and that will uh minus out less the abatement will give us our total tax levy for uh 2025. Next slide. So the budget is requesting a 4.99% levy. Uh the board of education will discuss the abatement to further reduce the tax burden to existing uh property owners. Next slide. So this is the information that's used for public act 1030394. So, this takes off of our annual financial uh review, excuse me, our annual financial records. Uh our expenses from fund 10, which is the education fund, fund 20, which is buildings and grounds, and fund 40, transportation. These are the expenses from FY23, 24, and 25. And then you take the average, and you do the ratio to your fund balances. So, fund balances are ending 630, 2025. In the ED fund, we have a
08040.28% 28% in O andM and fund 20 buildings and grounds it's at 228.33% which is inclusive of the uh bonds that were uh sold the lease certificates for the 14,975,000 and also in fund 40 uh at 152.57% inclusive of what we need to repay the state as well. and you take the total, we're at 63.1%. Any questions? Okay, I'm going to let Liz Hennessy from Raymond James go take a deeper dive into uh the tax abatement world. >> Good evening. me. All right. >> No, good. >> Okay. So, um let's go to the first slide. I'm going to repeat one of um Dr. Engel's slides which shows the Easter Aurora tax rate for 2024 compared to the other Kain County districts. Um as you noted, Mike, it is the lowest uh in Kane and surrounding
081districts. It's also lowest by a lot over a dollar lower. Um so, that's uh quite a benefit. Let's go to the next slide. This is the levy history in the proposed levy. Uh since 2015, the district has done some debt service abatements. Um in total, those add up to 6,50,000. Last year in 24 levy year, the district abated 712,000. And what happens uh in that situation is that the district transfers money from its evidence-based funding into the bond and interest fund to make the debt service payment uh and reduces that cost to the taxpayer. So last year your total levy went up 1.75% because the EAB went up so much more. Last year it went up 12.9%. The tax rate declined by 37 cents. This year, based on the Kain County Clerk's estimate, the EAV
082is also going to go up uh by 11.5%. So that that's a big increase. Um using the similar assumptions as Mike, you get a levy uh that is 38,94270 for operations. You add that to the current debt service levy, which we have loss and collection included as well. That brings you to 45.6 6 million or a 4.38% increase. That's what you could expect to get based on these numbers. Uh Dr. Engles is suggesting levying more than that in order to get all that is due to the district under the property tax limitation law at the the 4.99%. So I'm looking at what you you might get. Okay, let's go to the next page. I have three options to consider when we talk about debt service abatement. That's that's my topic for tonight. So, um again,
083this is the option one, levy plan, full levy, no abatement. As we mentioned, it will most likely go up 4.38%. Um that means the tax rate is going to go down though because of the very high estimate from the county clerk. So, um, you might ask, how can the whole levy go up 4.38% when CPI, which is part of the tax limitation law, is going only up 2.9%. Well, the reason it goes up 4.38% is because we abaded last year 712,000. If we don't do that this year, then the debt levy goes up by almost 12%. So combined the debt levy being much smaller than the operating levy, you get a combined increase of 4.38% in the no abatement option. Let's go to the next page. This is levy plan two abating 350,000. That means
084taking 350,000 of that evidence-based funding, transfer it to bond and interest. This will result in a net increase of 3.57%. So certainly less than the 4.32% uh abating $350,000. The next option is let abating 718,000 and that number is very close to the amount the district abated last year. It keeps the bond and interest extension very close to what it was last year at 5,909. In this case, the levy goes up 2.73%. So actually less than the CPI of 2.9% in option three. So we look at this based on the home and we have now Google artificial intelligence can pick out the median home value in 24 versus 25 for the East Aurora School District. So that's taking all the home sales in the district and last year the median home sale value was 320,000.
085This year it's 326,000. So the home sale value averaged across the district only went up 1.9%. Now home sales in different pockets of the district can go up more than that but on average that's what the whole school district um housing values changed. So when we have the EAV increasing 11% the home only going up 1.9% that makes the tax rate go down. So for this analysis, I would suggest you focus on the percent change in the levy. If we do no abatement, that's 4.38% increase. If we do 350,000 abatement, that's 3.57% increase. If we do the full 718,000 abatement, that's 2.73% increase. But for the home, because the tax rate's going down, their taxes paid may go down unless they're in one of those areas where home values are going up more than the
086average across the school district. So, I'm happy to answer any questions. There's certainly more options we could look at, but this is kind of consistent with what we've been looking at in terms of options over the last several years. no abatement, a middle of the road abatement, or this kind of the same amount of abatement that you've done in the prior years. But it is important to remember that these abatements aren't for free. They're reducing dollars that are going to kids because we're moving it from evidence-based funding into the bond and interest to pay the debt. >> So, you've got 2025 projection. We're not talking about school year. You're just using AI to generate what you think the rest of this year will be per medium. >> No, that's from King County. King County gave
087us the EAV projection. >> Projection. Okay. So, it's not actual. Okay. >> Yeah. So, that's 11.5%. Which last year it was 12.9. They gave us that high projection last year, too. And they it did come out >> right even though it's so surprising. >> Okay. >> Um >> we don't see the home values really going up over the district. Okay, Miss Johnson, I mean you have a lot of knowledge with the tax levy. What what option do you suggest >> the number to the middle of the road? >> Okay. I think it's important that we continue to keep moving along. uh you know as much as people say this has really created a lot of interest in buying a home in the east side and I think it's very important that that we still remain
088with our taxpayers here because it's a big deal that if you own a house of that you know that value if you're living on the east side it is still about $1,000 lower because of the school district and that our families really need because I think you know we should be fair and equitable to everyone. But I think it does help, you know, grow our neighborhoods and create some momentum for people to come and buy their houses on the east side. Do we have any other questions? We have a consensus with the middle of the ground three >> too much. >> It wouldn't be. I just always kind of always the middle of the road. So yeah. >> Well, she mentioned how option number three is very comparable to last year's. >> It is >>
089option. Is there a reason why we wouldn't we wouldn't want >> you know it doesn't make that much of a difference. Uh Dr. Engel, have you run these numbers into the budget? >> So that's a great question. Okay. >> Okay. >> So these numbers are actually going to be for next year's budget, not for this year's and given the movement from tier one to tier two and evidence-based funding. So instead of receiving, let's say like in prior years about $6 million of new evidence-based funding and receiving $2 million being tier two. um to give back kind of a third of it of any new money coming into into the district is going to be quite a bit for for next year quite honestly. >> So middle of the road. >> So in layman's terms you're
090suggesting option A or >> I would I would I I don't like the um and Liz, you can help me find a word for this one, but if we go from a large baitment the year prior to almost no baitment, it's almost like a a big slingshot up in the tax rate and people will feel that. >> Correct. versus kind of middle of the road slowly kind of easing back up. And if you look at all three of of these examples here, >> the and this is obviously the average of averages here. Each one of these is a negative payment. So the first option be they're paying $168 less than what they paid the year before. The middle of the road option 193 and again the final option $220 less than last year. And there's
091not too many communities that can honestly say their taxes went down versus last year. >> Dr. Engel, the only difference would be though if you had a house that the price increase substantially more than that average of 1.9%. Right. Just for full transparency. >> Correct. And I I believe we looked into a few that we saw actually about a $100 increase on on a few of these. And again, the home bridges were much more. >> They were up close to 6% when we were looking that, weren't they Liz? When we were taking a look at it, if they went up by $100 or so, it was a house that had increased by about 6%. >> Yeah. By about actually 9%. >> Okay. 9%. >> Yeah. >> And we get most part I think this is
092going to create some stability. I know get us a chance to better tweak our budget because we do have negotiations coming up too. So, and we have to be cognizant and I will still say um decrease in enrollment is going to hurt you >> because that comes you know with next year >> but we just don't know these are very uncertain times. >> So, do we have a consensus with the middle ground number two option? What was your suggestion? much given our current environment climate right now. >> If we can afford to do two, we do two. If we need the money, we do one. I mean, if it's a $100 for an expensive home, that's not too bad. I mean, if we Okay, I'll answer you. >> Two. Brian. Okay. Two. >> Second option.
093It is. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Liz. Appreciate it. >> We should probably put that in the form of a motion and uh and vote on it. >> Isn't it coming back? >> Yeah, we're not taking action tonight. >> You're not taking action on it tonight. Okay. But that does need to be >> just direction as she said. Yeah. >> No, that's a couple weeks ago. >> Anything else for communications from the superintendent? That concludes the superintendent's report. >> All right. Thank you. We'll move on to section five. A motion to approve the following consent agenda as listed. >> Second. >> Any questions? Secretary, call the role, please. >> Yes. >> Uh Johnson, >> yes. >> Valencia, >> yes. >> See, Moreno, >> yes. >> Olivia, >> yes. Right. Do we have any
094introductions for personnel? No. Okay. All right. Moving on to finance and personnel committee with Miss Reyes. >> Good evening everyone. Buenos toos. The finance committee meeting met earlier today at 5:30 here at the admin center. Um and we will meet once again on Monday, November 3rd, 2025 at 5:30 here at the admin center. Um and I will have a report of today's meeting. Um, we do have some action items. Uh, 6B.1 motion to approve the fiscical year 26 bank signature cards. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Do we have any questions? Hearing none. Secretary, call the role, please. >> Quentes? >> Yes. >> Valencia? >> Yes. >> Olivas? >> Yes. >> Moreno? >> Yes. >> Johnson? >> Yes. >> Reyes? >> Yes. 6.2 Motion to adopt the resolution estimating the 2025 tax levy. >> So
095we're we're voting on the three different No, we're just voting on the estimate >> and then we'll vote on it later. Okay. >> So I move >> second. Uh any questions? Hearing none. Secretary call the roll please. >> Yes. >> Valencia >> yes. >> Johnson >> yes. >> Juentes. >> Yes. >> Leas. >> Yes. >> Moreno. >> Yes. >> 6. B.3. Motion to approve approve one FTE 1:1 special education teacher assistant at Oak Park Elementary School. >> So move. >> Second. >> Any questions? Hearing none. Secretary call the role, please. >> Love. >> Yes. >> Valencia. Yes. >> Johnson. >> Yes. >> Reyes. >> Yes. >> 6.4. Motion to approve one FTE onetoone special education teacher assist assistant at East Aurora High School. >> So moved. >> Second. Any questions? Secretary Kwell, please. >> Squent.
096>> Yes. >> Valencia. >> Yes. >> L. >> Yes. >> Moreno. >> Yes. >> Johnson. Yes. >> 6B.5. Motion to approve one band overload at Simmons Middle School. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any questions? Hearing none. Secretary, call the role, please. >> Olivas, >> yes. >> Johnson, >> yes. >> Valencia, >> yes. >> Moreno, >> yes. >> Reyes, >> yes. >> 6.6. Motion to approve the administrative procedures project with the Illinois Association of School Board. So move >> second. >> Any questions? Secretary, call the role, please. >> Yes. >> Johnson, >> yes. >> Moreno, >> yes. >> La, >> yes. >> Olivas, >> yes. >> Valencia, >> yes. >> 6. B7 Motion to approve um revisions to the IASB press board policies A through C as listed. >> A through M maybe. Oh, sorry.
097Yes. A through M as listed. >> So moved. Second. Any questions? Secretary, cut the role, please. >> Yes. >> Johnson. >> Yes. >> Valencia? >> Yes. >> Quentes? >> Yes. >> Moreno? >> Yes. >> Olivas? >> Yes. >> And that concludes my report. >> Thank you, Miss Reyes. Uh, moving on to curriculum and programs committee with Mr. Olivas. >> Thank you. I'm going to try to make it as brief as possible. Um we met on September 15 uh 2025 at 61 here at the admin center. Um we had some assessment updates from ISV and MAP uh provided by Dr. um Ammy Angle uh where the document outlined uh major updates in the Illinois State Board of Education um ISB benchmarks and the NWA map norm for 2025 where the Illinois uh created their rights size
098um its proficiency benchmarks after finding they were among the most uh restrictive in the nation. Um so they have a new system um of in introduced on um unified performance level um from above proficient proficient approaching proficient and below proficient uh would adjust cut scores to better align with the college and work uh workplace uh workforce uh readiness. At the same time the NWA reormed the MAP assessment to reflect uh past COVID uh performance shifts. Uh the new norms mean that the same Brit score now correspond to higher perform uh percentiles ranking. Uh and these changes aim to uh provide more accurate measures of student performance. Uh we also had a school improvement plan by Waldo Middle School. Uh principal Eileen Roberts and her staff uh kind of gave us a summary of the 2425
099uh school year where math achievements and proficiencies were um less than 17.22%. Um and for that was for math and 6.6 uh 3.65 65 proficiency uh on IR. Um in literacy achievement we had a believe a 10.84 um achievement benchmark for MAP. Sorry that was for IR um and about 13% meeting achievements on MAP. Um they also kind of talked about highlighting a need to strengthen positive school culture and improving student achievement. Uh they talked about different goals for the by the end of the 2526 school year uh where they want to meet or exceed grade level expectation and literacy by six% across all uh report groups um by 2026 also in AR. Uh by the end of 2025 uh 202526 school year, Waldo Middle School will increase the performing of students meeting or exceeding
100grade level expectation in math by 6% um across all reported groups as measured by the spring 2026 IR. Um also Waldo will reduce the number of daily referrals by 10% by fostering positive relations relationships between staff and students. Uh we also heard from Coward Middle School um with principal Jackie Gibson and her staff. They also gave us a summary of the 2425 school year uh where they stated that 17.8 of the student achieving grade level um grade level expectations on MAP, 5.7 reach proficiency on IR. Uh literacy results show that 21.8 eight met in MAP and only 15 uh three demonstrated proficiency on IR. Uh their daily attendance rate was 91.9. Um and chronic absent affected um about 23% of students overall. Um some of the goals they are meeting um for by spring of
1012026 was to raise the percentage of students meeting or exceeding grade level expectation by 6%. Um they will accomplish by starting lessons by using questioning and discussion techniques that make learning interactive. Um by spring of 2026 they will increase the percentage of students meeting or exceeding grade level math expectation by 6%. And by June 2026, the school aims to achieve at least 95% average daily attendance. Um, we also had um a presentation about Erin's law and mutual ground expansion. Uh, the memo recommends expanding east school district 131 partnership with mutual ground to provide errands law education to students in early learning through fifth grade. Uh, the expansion aligns with the board policy 6.60 6 and supports the district's threat uh strategic goal of educating equity. Uh the proposed uh cost is $21,965 and will be
102fully uh grant funded uh through IDA. Uh we also had a presentation um by Miss Martinez and Miss Diaz with parent engagement for 2025 26. Um gave us a a few um plans and dates for parent parental engagement um with the district introduced some of the items that will be focusing with the parent groups with the African-American parent association EA debts the bilingual parent advisory council. Um in addition, student services plans on introducing a new parent group dedicated to coll collaboration, feedback and support from families. Uh the parently as will continue to bridge the gap between schools and families. I want to mention three events they um also highlighted. Parent University will be November 8th, Lasadas December 6, and Black History Month celebration on February 26. uh we finalized with the tennis and enrollment as
103of uh September 11, 2025. The total enrollment was 11,755 students. As September 5th uh 2025, district average attendance was 93.54 and we had as of then registration queue it was 28 students and we adjourn at 6:29. I do have an action item on here. Um, we have a motion to approve the expansion with mutual ground for early learning through fifth grade. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any questions? Secretary, call the role, please. >> Yes. >> Reyes? >> Yes. >> Johnson? >> Yes. >> Moreno? >> Yes. >> Sequentes? >> Yes. >> Valencia? >> Yes. >> That concludes your report, sir. >> Yes. Okay. All right. Moving on to building and grounds committee with Mr. Loving. >> Thank you. Um, we had a meeting today at 6:00. Uh, I will have a report at the next
104meeting, uh, which is November 3rd, uh, Monday at 6:00 right here. And I have no action items. So, back to you. >> Thank you. All right. Now, we're moving on to executive session for the purpose of discussing student discipline, workers compensation, and the appointment employment performance, compensation, and dismissal of a specific employee. >> So moved. Second. Any questions? Secretary, call the role, please. >> Valencia, >> yes. >> Moreno, >> yes. >> Olivas, >> yes. >> Reyes, >> yes. >> Johnson, >> yes. >> We do not have action. Motion to reconvene from executive session. >> A move. >> Second. >> Secretary, call the role, please. >> Yes. >> Moreno, >> yes. >> Johnson, >> yes. >> Reyes, >> yes. >> Motion to adjurnn. A move. >> Second. >> Secretary, call the role, please. >> Valencia, >>
105Yes. Johnson. >> Yes. >> Moreno. >> Yes.