001e e e oh Mee order secretary col here here Johnson here CES here Olivas here okay please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance States of America all righty okay on to public comments so uh you would had to have signed up before 7 o'clock to speak you ask we ask that you respect the three minute time limit and we ask that you respect the confidentiality of our Stu students and staff Susie Bruno good evening Susie Bruno 659 Garfield or Illinois I am coming forward to say thank you I truly appreciate the privilege of being able to go out into the community for the K County Institute in service day I took advantage of the Q Center and the speakers that were there um Weston kenik um has written multiple books on engagement and I had
002the privilege to do two different sessions with him I um skipped my lunch and I did two and a half sessions on AI and education and I did another session on engagement um I recently received a little birthday present and it says we are all apprentices in the craft where no one ever becomes a master by Ernest Hemingway Sandy Shinko a career um educator who said to me when I was a sub I hope you consider Easter because our kids deserve great teachers taught me that once you feel like you've made it that you should quit so I just want to say it was really appreciative that we could go out choose what we wanted to learn get out there amongst people from all over the counties and be able to collaborate and just wanted
003to let you know it was time well spent and was really well appreciated Communications from the superintendent Dr Nel good evening Board of Education and community members um I'm going to start um actually instead of our student board member report I'm going to start with our community relations report um so I'm going to bring up at this time our PR officer Marissa yanowski good evening everyone tonight we have two great recognitions and we're going to start first with um our youth art month um program um March is youth art youth art month and it's a national program that is organized by the council for art education it celebrates visual arts for grades kindergarten through 12th emphasizes the value of art education for all children encourages support for quality schoolart art programs and promotes art material
004safety this year's theme was healing through color and students throughout all of Illinois submitted their artwork in a competition where if chosen the student and art teacher would be gifted art supplies and their artwork would be displayed at the National Art Education Association Convention on March 20th which will take place in Kentucky this year so we're excited to announce that we have a state level winner from District 131 art teacher Bonnie Ramirez who was instrumental in getting students to participate will join me to recognize this very talented student and you'll see his art up there and Bonnie this is for you too for all the work you do with this program so now we're gonna bring up and congratulate G Alfaro reaga his family is here too he's a ohst camera Bonnie there we go
005oh let's get in with you guys with the board is that okay yeah yeah so while they set up I want to tell you he's a first grade student at benav steam Academy and the winner of the Statewide Elementary grade level National Art Education Association art competition so he won all of Illinois he was the only one and you'll see up there the winners from the different categories I love it [Music] congratulations that Wonder ful that's incredible yeah yeah the Statewide yep y so yeah I know I love it so that made me really happy and of course there's more great things to celebrate the Easter High School's girls wrestling team has become one of the most dominant Sports programs in Easter Athletics history the team won their third consecutive Upstate 8 conference title and
006we are super proud of them this is in January the program was founded only four years ago and it was with 17 athletes the girls wrestling team now has over 50 participants at the competition nor Ruiz placed first in her class Ruby bessera and johi contas took second in their perspective classes Britney chavaria placed third and jeline Janos onos under SEC earned a second place finish um congrats to this incredible group of hardworking athletes and they're all in the back but they're all going to come up they look great so now we're going to recognize them and um as you come up make sure you stay up here so we can get a group photo uh first we're going to start with the coaches so coach Ryan Mick why don't you come on up for
007you and I'm gonna put him to work because he's going to help me pass out the rest of these so we'll put that yeah okay and these are going to be the rest of the coaches so Frank Davidson if he's here Raphael Rodriguez she's not here okay Israel Vasquez Gonzalo mag Peno bana Cruz and those are the coaches and we'll get a picture of the coaches okay so now there you go Ryan are you ready all right so now the wrestling team wo so we'll start with Valentina Barbosa and I'll just keep going with the name Ruby berera Britney chavaria joeri contas Jalena koani Angelina Dias Brenda Escovedo Alisa galara Lupita Garcia aelen igera jahi junis jeline Janos Lily or Cassandra Reyes Nori Ruiz Vanessa tesos Jasmine Vera it via amanii Williams who was recently
008featured on the city of Aurora's Aurora Chief spotlight video series where's Amani there she is Lucia ernandez and Delila Lagos congratulations and we can't wait until next year when you win the fourth title and I move out of the way talking about pressure girls are good I'm just people in the back right going try this okay ready one two three everybody sort of see me right okay thank you so much and congratulations to everyone this evening um at this time I would like to bring um our student board member um up oh there you are [Music] hello oh yes and while I am bringing you to the mic I would like to say that our um guests do not have to stay for the entire meeting I know it is a school night so that's
009our wrestlers and our art winner okay thank you good afternoon board members I appreciate the opportunity to speak with you today I'd like to take a moment to highlight some exciting events and initiatives that are making a positive impact on our school community building a strong and connected School Community requires both tradition and Innovation these initiatives help bring students together and create lasting opportunities one of the most cherished Traditions is our annual pancake breakfast which continues to be a fantastic way to Showcase Middle School talent while fostering school spirit another exciting development is our combined concert with West Aurora now in its second year while our schools have long been Rivals divided by the river but United by the community this event represents a meaningful step towards stronger Partnerships hopefully this can pave the way
010for more shared traditions and celebrations in the future Additionally the ACT prep sessions have been a valuable resource for students providing them with tools to boost their scores and improve their college readiness by offering incentives we're ensuring that more students take advantage of these opportunities these initiatives reflect the school's dedication to both student engagement and success ensuring that every student has the chance to thrive whether in the classroom on the stage or within the community before wrapping up I want to take a moment to recognize a student who has truly exemplified leadership and dedication this year Isaac Sanchez has gone above and beyond not only excelling in academics but also making a meaningful impact in our school Community this year he was part of the varsity soccer team where he showed his passion for the
011sport and gave his all during his senior season but beyond Athletics he is also demonstrated a strong commitment to service through a nonprofit organization with his church Community which provides support to many people each year what stands out most is his willingness to step outside his comfort zone as vice president of NHS he took on leadership responsibilities and I've seen him challenge himself by applying to more colleges and joining clubs he may not have considered before his dedication and growth are inspiring and I want to recognize the positive example he sets for others thank you thank you very much um now on to District updates um I want to first start off by acknowledging that um I had the pleasure with many of our um leaders in the district as well as our board president
012to attend the African-American Heritage Advisory board annual Gayla on Friday night and I just wanted to publicly um give kudos to and acknowledge that our very own Board member Miss theoda glaspie won a Lifetime Achievement Award that evening so it was awesome she represented well okay um one of the other updates in addition to our parent teacher conferences which are going to be held actually they are going to be held on March 6th not on the 7th so parents signing up I'm looking at school leadership and curriculum it's actually March 6th right um and and that is the evening of March 6th not March 7th March 7th then becomes a halfday student attendance so if parents are listening in come to see your child's teacher on March 6th in the evening if you can and
013know that your kid will be out half day on Friday March 7th so be looking for that they are out of school early um and the last and final thing is a piece of new news that I want to share um just another um Finance Kudos um so there is a new Illinois state board of education requirement um and that is called the RAR but that stands for resource allocation review and so what they basically are doing in Illinois now is making sure that school districts are allocating their funding in a way that is in importance with Student Success as a priority and an allocation between buildings that are most needy based upon their performance on the state report card and so we've been going through a process probably for about five months and I
014know that there was several documents that several of our cabinet leaders had to get together for Dr Engel and he spearheaded this and he did an excellent job and so I just want to give a public kudos to our team because we did just receive notification this morning that we are in great shape they gave us additional resources and that we passed the way that our district allocates all of our resources for the betterment of our schools so kudos to Dr Engel as well as your team Bob Halverson who does all of the grant alloc allocations Kudos um to that team I know Jalissa Martinez gave a lot of information and that was a big lift Board of Education so I want to publicly say thank you because these are those projects that could easily
015get us sanctioned by the state and the team make sure it comes off flawlessly so Kudos that concludes my report sent agenda as listed so mov second any questions secretary caller rooll yes yes yes yes yes okay and we do have an introduction tonight we do uh we would like to reintroduce Miss Kelly Hills thank you Kelly for standing up as the principal of hermis Elementary School Miss Hills is a seasoned educational leader with over two decades of experience she served in various roles including teacher and World culture division chair at East Aurora High School assistant principal at odano elementary an interim principal at both Waldo middle school and Hermes Elementary Kelly holds a Bachelor of Arts and history from Illinois Wesley and University a master of arts and educational leadership from North Central College
016she is currently pursuing uh a doctorate in educational leadership at loyal University Chicago expected in 2026 throughout her career Kelly has been instrumental in enhancing curricula fostering collaboration among Educators and serving in leadership roles she has also served as a summer school coordinator member of the district stien and calendar committees as well as the district leadership team um all of which demonstrate her commitment to educational excellence and Community engagement congratulations Kelly and on your appointment and welcome so on to finance and personnel which is myself so we met this evening and um had a couple uh things a couple uh motions basically we want to renew Talent Ed that is a program we use to do evaluations with so um so we're going to renew it so a motion to approve the talent head renewal
017for April 2025 through April 2026 so moved second any questions secretary call the roll yes yes yes yes yes okay and this next one is an U agreement with for our uh special education students so um motion to approve the intergo intergovernmental agreements between the East aora School District 131 and the School Association for special education in D paage County for the 2425 school year so moved any questions okay any questions secretary gooll yeses yes Johnson yes L yes Hubert yes okay on to curriculum and programs and I'm sure who's G to do it so I I I did not attend the last uh curriculum programs committee um so Dr Engle and Jelissa Martinez are going to give a brief um summary and then I'll go over the items okay okay um we met on
018February 18th at 6: p.m um our next meeting is will be Monday March 17th at 6m at the administrative Center um and our agenda items included we started with the Krug Elementary School Improvement plan which was presented by Sheila Conrad and David um onos they went through their 2324 summary and highlights one of them being their U maintaining their commendable status then they went through their goals um which included a behavior goal an attendance goal and of course an academic reading and math goal as well as an access score goal we also had Fred Rogers Magnet Academy the administrative team with principal Brian valik and AP assistant principal Marlon Williams they went through their 2324 um highlights um and 95% average daily attendance was one of their um highlights as well as others um that
019you'll see in the packet they also went through their school Improvement goals which included uh a goal for chronic absent students um a seal goal um as well as an NWA maap math and reading goal and they are also focusing efforts on their English language Learners um and then we also had an agenda item that was presented by Rosary horn director of early learning and um educational grants she walked she talked through the phase one um creative curriculum um that we initiated in August with 13 teachers three instructional coaches um with a plethora of representation from all of our um teaching staff and then she reviewed the phase 2 timeline and you'll see that as an action item um tonight so that we could continue to um get the materials and then ensure a full
020implementation for all of our pre- by August 2025 then we had a Kaplan renewal memo visit uh we discussed the partnership with Kaplan company to provide test preparation support to our high high school students this was provided this year to 600 sophomores and juniors as part of the career exploration course and uh we discussed continuing that partnership next year with this being up for Action this evening we discussed registration 2526 because we've made it there uh and discussed how we started with returning students beginning in February 2025 we have Community engagement events in April to June and late registration support planned for July and August we have Kindergarten Roundup events scheduled for March 15th at Allen Elementary and April 12th at benov steam Academy students will receive a backpack like they have in the past
021with supplies and that is up for Action this evening and then the last thing that we did was the attendance and enrollment update with 12274 students enrolled and an 86.01 average attendance thank you for the update all right on to the items the first item 7 point b.1 motion to approve the proposal to contract the ACT inperson course from Kaplan for 600 sophomores and juniors at Easter High School in the amount of 240,000 so Mo second any questions secretary colone centes yes gaspie yesi yes Johnson yes schuber yes second motion 7. b.2 motion to approve the purchase of creative curriculum materials in the amount of 226,000 motion to approve the purchase of kindergarten backpack supplies from teacher created materials in the amount of $1,855 37 some of second any questions secretary Colo Loi yes Schubert
022yes Johnson yes C yes gasi yes and that completes the report okay and the buildings and grounds Mr shuber uh so building and grounds met this evening I'll have a summary report at the next meeting but we do have uh one action item tonight um that's 8b1 a motion to award the 2025 Rollins Elementary School fire panel replacement bid to Elite technology systems in the amount of $177,200 okay motion to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing student discipline the appointment employment performance compensation and dismissal of a specific employee and that is it so second secretary call Ro centes yes tubert yes Johnson yes gesi yes lovi yes e e e secretary Colo gespi yes l Johnson yes Schubert yes centes yes okay please read the motion all right uh be it resolved
023that this board of education having considered the evidence presented by the hearing officer hereby upholds the recommendation for altern placement to Core Academy in Lou of expulsion for student number 5785 of EAS high school for one calendar year effective March 4th 2025 through March 3rd 2026 to in include summer school 2025 should said student fail to attend the alternative educational setting the expulsion will be immediately enacted for the remainder of the expulsion term without further action by the Board of Education be it further resolve that a copy of this resolution be sent to the parents of said student and duly recorded in the official minutes of this board of education School District 131 dated this third day of March 2025 motion to approve the resolution for student number 5785 so move secretary callar roll kesby
024yes ly yes Johnson yes Schubert yes centes all right be it resolved that this board of education having considered the evidence presented by the hearing officer hereby upholds the recommendation for alternative placement of to Illinois Virtual School in Lou of expulsion for student number 260 835 922 of Simmons Middle School for one calendar year effect of March 4th 2025 through March 3rd 2026 to include summer school 2025 should said student fail to attend the alternative educational setting the expulsion will be immediately enacted for the remainder of the expulsion term without further action by the Board of Education be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be sent to the parents of said student and duly recorded in the official minutes of this board of education School District 131 dated this third day of
025March 2025 so Mo wait a minute we got to read the motion motion to approve the resolution for student 26083 5922 so move second okay secretary Colo Loi yes hbert yes Johnson yes centes gaspi yes motion to Jour Jud secretary yesi yes johnon yes L yes we have it it's a r