001to the saints, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Kelly, would you call the roll? Michael DeVito? Here. Christian Johnson? Here. Andria Evans? Here. Alex Gratton? Here. Paul Ragener? Here. Daniel Russell Jr.? Here. Alan Zantout? Present. All right. As a reminder, our board governs by policy aligned with state law. These are not just guidelines, they are legal and ethical obligations that ensure transparency, accountability, and consistent leadership. When policies no longer meet the district's needs, it's our responsibility to amend them within the bounds of the law to better serve our community. The board acts only as a whole in duly convened public meetings with a quorum present. Outside of this structure, no individual member has authority. Adherence to policy protects the district from risk and ensures that all decisions are fair, lawful,
002and aligned with our strategic goals. Our mission is to empower all learners to succeed in their world. Our vision is to provide an ideal learning experience where students and staff are engaged and want to come back the next day. Our board policies and actions should reflect that mission and vision. All right, the next item on our agenda is student and staff recognition. All right, so we are so excited this evening to as we do in our board meetings recognize a student and a staff member today. I will be recognizing our student who is here today with her parents and we're so grateful for this opportunity to highlight her nomination and like we did last time too, after I share information about the recognition for the student, we'll have the student come up and join me
003here in the middle and board if you wouldn't mind just standing where you are. We'll take a quick picture to acknowledge the moment and then we'll do the same thing for the staff member recognition this evening. So, the student I'd like to recognize is Samantha Minchala. She is a Sycamore High School student. She was nominated by Ms. Clarabel Robles and Joseph McCormick. And Samantha arrived in Sycamore speaking very little English. As a freshman, she displayed courage and strength being immersed in a new educational environment alone and with limited communication abilities. Through that year, she continued to grow stronger and more confident not using language as an excuse for success. Now as a junior, her communication skills have vastly improved. She is resilient, driven for success, and has become a model student. Her dedication and persistence
004for educational success are reflective of the very early Sycamore Swedish settlers who before anything established a school and made it open to all Sycamore residents. Watching Samantha bridge the gap between two languages while maintaining her academic momentum has been truly inspiring. Over the past three years, her academic journey has reflected a remarkable dedication to developing her English comprehension skills alongside excelling in in a challenging high school curriculum. I am proud to say that she embodies the resilience and intellectual curiosity we hope to see in every student. Congratulations, SAMANTHA. [applause] CONGRATULATIONS, SAMANTHA MINCHALA. This is a model for you all, just recognition for all your hard work. And so if you want to join me over here, we'll take a quick picture. One, two, [singing] three. Perfect. [applause] [laughter] I've always wanted an open mic to
005talk about Kevin Bolts and now I have this opportunity. Um the the teacher we want to recognize tonight is Kevin Bolts, a teacher at Sycamore Middle School. Congratulations to Kevin Bolts, teacher at Sycamore Middle School, on being named a 2026 Meta Data Center Community Action Grant recipient. Through this competitive grant, Meta supports projects that strengthen communities and expand opportunities in STEM education across DeKalb County. Mr. Bolts will use the grant to modernize learning spaces at Sycamore Middle School by enhancing tools, equipment, and technology helping better prepare students for future technical careers. This recognition reflects his commitment to innovative instruction and meaningful career-connected learning experiences for students. Kevin has chased down just about every grant there is. Name a grant and Kevin has gone after it. Um all to give our students more and more opportunities
006in his time here and it's not just him, it's his team too and Kevin would be the first to say that. But he has taken a learning space that was nothing but computers to learn hands-on skills and he eliminated all computers used in that capacity to give students hands-on opportunities um over the years he's been here and if you remember what that space looked like and see it now, it's amazing that middle school students have that opportunity and that's a credit to Kevin and his team. So, please join me in congratulating Kevin on this grant. [applause] [laughter] [applause] All right. Well, that was wonderful. Thank you very much. Always great to start this off this way and appreciate you guys putting this together. So, a big thank you um to Kevin for for taking that
007initiative. Really, I'm excited about that. I mean, that is a big grant. So, it is amazing. So, well, we'll move on to the next item on the agenda, which is the consent agenda. Uh so, on the consent agenda, the recommended action is for a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented items 4.01 through 4.08. Um minutes of regular meeting March 3rd, 2026, minutes of executive session March 3rd, 2026, bills payable, financial reports, personnel report, gifts and donations report, 2026 through 2027 membership in IHSA, and Sycamore High School Music Department field trip 2027. Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented items 4.01 through 4.08? So moved. Seconded. Moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing no discussion, Kelly, would you call the roll? Ragener? Aye. Russell? Aye. Zantout? Yes. Copple? Yes.
008Evans? Yes. Gratton? Yes. DeVito? [clears throat] Yes. Motion carried. Next item on the agenda is the NIA consent agenda. Recommended action is a motion to approve the NIA consent agenda as presented items 5.01 through 5.04. Item 5.01, NIA treasurer's reports, 5.02, NIA bills payable, 5.03, NIA personnel report, 5.04, NIA contract/vendor agreement report. Is there a motion to approve the NIA consent agenda as presented items 5.01 through 5.04? So moved. Second, Ragener. Moved and seconded. Is there any discussion? Seeing no discussion, Kelly, would you call the roll? Russell? Yes. Zantout? Yes. Copple? Yes. Evans? Yes. Gratton? Yes. Ragener? Aye. DeVito? Yes. Motion carried. Next item on the agenda is audience to visitors. Good evening. Welcome to the regular meeting of the Sycamore Community Unit School District 427 Board of Education. Guided by board policy 2230 and
009the Illinois Open Meetings Act, this is a business meeting held in public. The seven of us seated here are your neighbors, volunteers entrusted by you to care for your our schools. We are truly grateful that you've chosen to spend a portion of your evening with us. To balance participation with the board's agenda, we've reserved up to 30 minutes for public comment. Each speaker is kindly asked to limit remarks to 3 minutes. Unused time may not be transferred to another person. Any extension requires a majority vote of the board. When you are recognized, please approach the podium, state your name, and share your thoughts. The board will listen without debate this evening. Questions or concerns, when called for, will be routed through the appropriate administrative channels for follow-up consistent with our chain of command procedures. If
010you'd like to speak, please raise your hand and wait to be called. Thank you for lending your voice and helping us model effective self-government for our students. Uh Kevin Bolts, uh 427 Board of Education. Um first off, the the Meta grant that I got and and I couldn't um be here our department could be here. Um what we have in our buildings across the district um couldn't be here without the support and the grant fundings that we have and and Meta's been extremely supportive. 25 $24,000 two years ago, $25,000 this year that's going across elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. So, publicly thanking them for their support for their education and their monetary needs for both not only for us, but for everybody in DeKalb County. But I would be I need to also
011acknowledge SEF. The Sycamore Education Foundation's been above and beyond supportive of our program in various points of we have new robotics, we have pen laser. Our very first grant 10 years ago, which still is actually working is our our hand tool power tool wall that all hand power battery operated drills, saws, impact drivers, Brad nailers that we're still using today was supported by SEF. So again, thanks to SEF, the community members that supports SEF events, and everybody else that has supported those grants through the through the foundation and going to their events because they not only met it, but also our computer communities also supporting our program. We really really appreciate that. So I just want to acknowledge that. Thank you very much. Appreciate you. Would anyone else in the audience like to address the
012board? Seeing no one, we'll move forward to our next item on the agenda, which is consideration for board approval. The consideration to approve the Sycamore Education Association proposed contract. Are there any motions at this point in time? It's just Do we want Should I Does anyone need feel the need to speak in closed session before this? Are we good to take action? Should we Should we do a close? I'm not I just need to know if I should read the exemptions for that or not. You're all good then? We're all good? Yes. Okay. I think we're Unless if you have something, Michael. No. I'm good. All right. So is Is there a motion then for this item? I move to approve the Sycamore Education Association's agreement through FY28. Second. Moved and second. I moved to
013approve the Association's agreement through FY28, so fiscal year 2028. It's moved and seconded. Any discussion? Oh, yeah, I would just I would just like to note for the record that I was not involved in the negotiations on the negotiations team. My wife is a member of the SEA, so she will be affected by the collective bargaining agreement. Any other discussion? I'd like to thank the negotiations team, the SEA, and especially Christian and Michael who donated an immense amount of their time through this process. And it was a very collaborative and efficient. We were able to complete this 3 months ahead of schedule, and it's a testament to your extensive groundwork and that the board took and your work operationally It's my word for the day. Your work your your work taking care of the board's
014um wishes and meeting with the SEA. And I appreciate the unison that we had this round of negotiations. I think it's something that hopefully has set the blueprint for collaborative negotiations going forward. It sounds like we do have a plan to continue this uh collaborative momentum. Thanks, Alex. Thank you. It's nice. Yes, thank you guys. You did a lot of work and it it's really good. It's really good. Everything that was done with the insurance and everything. Really top notch work that you did. And you deserve to be you know, congratulated for that. Team effort. Everyone was in I mean we had a lot of people a lot of cooks involved on the on the union's part a lot of work and a lot of diligence went in on the admin side. You know, Nick
015and Nicole, building leadership team, a lot of their feedback and information. I mean they spent They did the the lion's share of this work you know, with the with the union group. And I'm I'm really excited about this agreement. So Any other comments before we take a vote? I have some some final final comments after the vote, but We had a workshop before this talking about what success looks like, and this has been very successful I think for all and a lot of just really learning and working with each other. All the parties involved [clears throat] understanding each other's perspectives, what we can or cannot do, trying to maximize that. So that everybody is successful and gets what they as best as we can as a district and a community, and I think this is
016really reflective of that. So a lot of hard work by all that were involved. And a lot of good success. So yeah, great job to everyone everyone involved. Yeah, I second that. I came in a tally and joined joining the board, but it seems like communication's been very professional. Reciprocated on both ends. It's it's a good time for us to be a part of District 427. It just really is whether you're a new parent for your child to be going to our program, whatever the case is, we have a community engagement and understanding with our leadership, with our board, and our unions. We're doing a lot of great things outside of the contract, and we hope that the contract agreement is a testament to how we can build forward. So I want to recognize our
017educators. I know we're recognizing our leaders. Kudos to our teachers, our admin involved who are doing the work, keeping our children safe, teaching our children a better way of doing things. Um We all understand we're living in tough times whether you recognize it or not. But we definitely thank all the teachers who who can't be here and in our view this here today. Please pass that on. Just so much the board appreciates the work they do, and we hope this agreement can add to that. Hear, hear. Any other comments before we take a vote? All right. Kelly, would you call the roll? Dantu? Yes. Campbell? Yes. Evans? Yes. Grados? Yes. Regnery? Yes. Russell? Yes. Tabitha? Yes. Hampshire Pike? Well, tonight's vote reflects our shared commitment to empowering all learners to succeed in their world. This
018agreement was reached through a collaborative effort focused entirely on our students' success. We're preparing for a significant transition as a large wave of veteran staff members retire over the next 2 years as planned. This contract establishes Sycamore as a destination district, ensuring we can recruit the best educators necessary to provide a high quality education. We continue to honor our commitment to students, staff, and our stakeholders following the recent levy, balancing fiscal responsibility with our goal of becoming an exemplary district. Our students deserve the best, and we will settle for nothing less. Thank you to everyone involved with this process. [applause] Anyone would like to come up here and sign this with me? You can come up. Yeah, please. And the rest of the team you're of course welcome to come on up for a for
019a group photo. We can do like a nice picture. All right. So Okay. Got it signed? There you go. [snorts] More years of prosperity. All right. [laughter] Everyone can get in as close as possible. Perfect. Ready? One, two, three. One, two, three. Great. Thank you. Thanks, Kelly. Do I need to sign that, too? Uh there's a I don't I don't think so. I don't know. Maybe later. Yeah, there might be another one. Okay. All right. We are chugging along here. So the next item on the agenda is the superintendent reports, item 8.01. All right. Thank you, Michael. Good evening again, board. I have a couple updates to highlight in the spirit of just giving you the updates. I'm going to share like a one-sentence overview for each of the memos just to kind of guide
020you into what the memos are going to be sharing with you about the department updates. So the first one is OSCAR. Our OSCAR program is expanding its impact by launching a pilot drop-in service and opening some enrollment to all students ages 3 through 5 to better meet the diverse child care needs of our community. In addition, I'm excited to share OSCAR the program has been a vital pipeline. You heard me talk about this a little bit earlier in our workshop about education for our district's future as many of our current educators began their professional journey within the program gaining the essential classroom management and child development skills needed to transition into teaching careers. So I just wanted to highlight those two areas for OSCAR. More information in that department update listed for you in diligent.
021The next department to highlight is our transportation department. The transportation department is transitioning to a new software platform called Traversa, which is a new way to route our transportation, which will launch in the 26-27 school year, and include a mobile app for families to track bus arrival times in real time. The cost to operate will be the same, and cost for training. I will will have a slight increase. However, there's no overall increase in the budget for transportation. So, more information about our transportation department is listed in the memo for your review. Uh the next department to highlight is our buildings and grounds department. Uh the buildings and grounds department is launching a new 5-year facility assessment and district-wide equipment inventory audit to ensure future capital projects and budget allocations are data-driven and fiscally responsible.
022So, you'll hear more of that um in the coming months, especially when we get our facilities report back um and all of that will be kind of grounded in our 5-year plan for buildings and grounds and more information about that department is found in the memo. Our communications department this month to highlight is uh wanting to, as you've seen on our socials, uh we are so proud that we have achieved a 95% completion rate uh for our students with five essentials uh survey across all schools ensuring all students um or our students during our student voices are fully represented in the upcoming Illinois report card and our communications team was instrumental in helping us achieve that 95% uh participation rate. Um in addition, early childhood department update, the Little Spartans program has expanded its reach
023by welcoming 27 additional students since the beginning of the school year bringing the total to 171 students served. So, more information uh for early childhood uh department and our communications department is found in the memo. Uh Sycamore High School also has an update to share. Uh Sycamore High School is further personalizing student recognition by partnering with Spartan Senate. Uh which that uh update is also linked in diligent for you to review uh to align student of the week honors with specific core dispositions outlined in portrait of a Spartan. And uh the next department uh update to share with you is from Sycamore Middle School. Sycamore Middle School has achieved a full-day attendance rate of 95.91% the highest mark since the 2021-2022 school year and their leadership team continues to leverage this data to proactively inform
024and enhance our instruction, curriculum, school environment, and support for all of our learners. And more information about Sycamore Middle School along with other departments and schools that I mentioned are listed in the board agenda for your review. Any questions? Can I just see the middle school's data report? I thought was I really liked um Oh, yeah. Yeah. Those insights, that was super helpful. So, just kudos on that. Yeah, that was impressive. Yeah, I mean and and the I mean like the the data is great and the formatting is great. So, it's just like good to see on both accounts. Right. Right. And uh the the early childhood, the working with animals, I thought it really brought out uh a lot of our core values. The the empathy and um the integrity of caring for some
025a living creature. Um that I really like that. When they worked with the hamsters and the fish, I think it's really great. It is. Yeah, the responsibility, collaboration, and all of that. They also took home a pet rock, I will add uh that they carried home. So, I now have a pet rock and [clears throat] hockey player in my house that we're taking care of. to have a pet rock. I don't know. It's still alive, right? It's still a living rock, yes. [laughter] That's one good thing about pet rocks is they're very low maintenance. That's right. For buildings and grounds, I really am excited to see this preventative maintenance scheduling. I like that. Um really great idea and I I hope to see that continue to flourish and play out. Uh for transportation, it was
026nice to read about Beth Smith. Um that was kind of a cool shout-out there. So, thank you for including that as well. Um and just just great stuff all around. I mean, this these were fantastic reports from everybody. Thank you. Shout-out to Lacy anyway. She carries a heavy load and does a great job. We appreciate you. Okay. Well, well, uh any other comments on the reports? Seeing none, we'll move on to uh the next subpoint under superintendent reports, which is student fees, fiscal year 2017. Yeah, so if you click on the report, it gives you a more comprehensive overview of student fees. I did want to highlight for the board um uh as indicated on the memo, the only changes in fees were to the Oscar program. Um in addition, uh you'll see that for
027the uh Sycamore High School electives, um that list has been um kind of modified and cleaned up, if you will, to ensure that each class was broken out specifically um instead of the broad categories like business or ag or science. Um by doing so, the courses listed on the fee schedule clearly align with the course names listed in Infinite Campus when parents go in to pay. Are we in line with our our student increase that was needed for staffing on our campus? Um I don't know if Ms. Deckert has any updates on that or we can get back to you for that. I'm not entirely Sure. Sure. Yes, we did look at staffing and the additional students that we're able to take into the program and how that offsets um the increase in cost. Okay.
028Now, staff district staff receive a a benefit with Oscar, right? Is that or do I understand that right? Um only our Oscar junior staff because they're full-time. Only our Oscar junior staff. Okay. You mean staff who sends their students get a discount. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you meant No, it's all right. Sorry. Um There is a staff discount, yes. There is a staff discount. Okay. And something I just this has come up a couple of times was uh just to so like the problem of if you have a student who's in the district and you're a teacher and let's say you're at uh you know, building at Northgrove and you're a teacher of Northgrove and you but you live in North schools boundary. You have a transportation problem where you can't necessarily get your
029child to North and then be able to get to work on time at Northgrove without having to utilize Oscar um at which is available at a subsidized rate. There's an opportunity where you can potentially have your student attend your school, I think we talked about, as maybe at the in right now board policy allows that at the discretion of the superintendent where like if if you have a student who's you want to have attend your school instead of a different school, they can submit an appeal process. We were talking about maybe promoting that or something to that effect. Do you think from like practical standpoint how Yeah. Yeah, I appreciate you raising that. Um we do have an administrative procedures uh meeting coming up this week and part of that, as you know, is looking
030at board policy and administrative procedures is like actionizing essentially the board policy. Um so, that definitely will be something we can talk about um what that looks like on a practical level. Um and so, I appreciate you raising that to uh the board's attention. Yeah, it I mean, it seems like there's a again like a real it could be a cost benefit, there could be a convenience benefit, makes it easier for staff. So, yeah, great. Love to hear more about that. So. We're piloting piloting the drop-in service for Oscar. Is that price just indicative of if it's an AM or a PM? If it was run line or is that a separate design hourly cost or Drop-ins for summer Oscar. So, it's for the entire day. It's for the Okay. Yeah. Perfect. Thanks. Oh, I
031see. Full summer program. So, by drop-in, it's if you're not signing up for 4 days or whatever, but you just need a day here, a day there. You used to not be able to do that, but now that drop-in not like midday. I mean, it could be midday, but Yeah. Yeah, thanks. [clears throat] Okay. Anything else on student fees? All right. We'll move on to the next report, which is building use fees. So, the building use fees uh remain the same as last year. Got you. From like a utilization standpoint, I can't imagine I just remember the field house. Do they still do like an open field house where you can go in and you pay five bucks and like play in the field house or do we not do that anymore? It's used for
032for travel basketball. We we had that I believe the forest when they when they hosted. It was $5 and I mean, a different setup and it was five for attendance. Is that we I I thought we got rid of that. We get rid of Yeah, we our our field house is used pretty much every single day. All the time. Okay. So, There was no no downtime. All right. Hm. I mean, I know my church is going to be utilizing the auditorium you know, that in April. It's pretty good. It's going to be nice. Yeah, cool. Anything else on building use fees? All right. Board goals update, next item. All right. So, you can see that there's a very comprehensive memo to give you an update on every board goal um that we have uh currently
033in existence for our district. Um I did [clears throat] want to highlight a couple high um high-level areas around some of the board um goal updates. One of them has to do with our um data dashboard. Uh we continue to review that um with both building and district administrators um and that platform uh we hope to have live in the next uh week or so on our website. So, you can see that data dashboard uh again collaboration with our communications team as well as bringing that to life. Um and um really that data dashboard has been really instrumental for us as we review our progress towards our board goals. I've introduced um to our leaders uh protocol called the ISO framework essentially looking at uh data through the lens of instruction, curriculum, environment, and our
034learners. It's been really powerful conversations about our progress towards those goals. Um another academic update to share with you. Um we have seen that our students uh so far have uh achieved 50% um on our map assessment. Um and across all grade levels and they uh in all subjects and we want to highlight in our eighth grade um they've had an exceptional 80% achievement rate uh which is a huge shout out to our teachers and our students on seeing that success in our map assessment uh data. Um you can see additional updates there for academics. I'm not going to read all of them. I'm just highlighting a couple. Uh supportive environment is another board uh goal uh focus. Um we know our social emotional learning committee is conducting um a final saber screening in a
035May pilot um and uh to evaluate during that time they're going to come together to evaluate the tool's effectiveness in ensuring our students feel safe and supported um and continue to evaluate if this is something we want to pursue moving forward. Uh we are in a pilot year as you all have discussed before. Um so to give you that update. Um in addition um you heard me talk about this in the board workshop with career pathways. Our new education pathway is seeing uh strong initial interest with 13 students already enrolled in the required dual credit introduction to education and special education courses for the upcoming term. Uh so that's a huge uh update there on regards to supportive environment. Again, more details are listed here for your review. Um board goal three has to do
036with financial priorities. Um just to highlight uh one area has to do with our financial audit report. Um we actually reformatted it. It should be at your um your seat area. Uh you can see that it is viewable for you. Uh taking the reporting to be user-friendly to highlight key areas um and data points and that demonstrates our continued commitment to responsible fiscal stewardship which is a priority of the board's. Uh I did want to have that printed off copy for your for you for you for your review. Uh board goal four just to highlight um in addition to our financial um uh report, we do have a HR strategic plan. So that first bullet point here uh this is a uh developed uh and comprehensive uh strategic plan that's designed to align our personal
037personnel practices with the district's long-term vision and the portrait of a Spartan. Uh so that's linked in your board memo as well. So we have the financial and the HR um reports to share with you. Um in addition uh we continue to revise our staff evaluation instruments. Um we are um embarking on um providing our um principals uh training around the school leader paradigm. Uh this is supported by the Illinois Principals Association um and this summer uh they will go through some training. They will be evaluated using that paradigm. Um and uh in the year after that uh our assistant principals and our other building leaders as well. So we continue to refine our evaluation practices in collaboration with human resources and more details about board goals are listed in the memo. Are there any
038questions that I can answer for you? I have a couple. Yeah. Um first regarding the evaluation instruments. Uh in your weekly update you you talked about um SuperEval and now we're talking about the the paradigm system. Is is is SuperEval based on the paradigm model or are they two completely separate concepts? I'm a little I'm a little confused there. Yeah, that's a great question. So SuperEval is a platform that we that they build in rubrics for evaluation. So the school leader paradigm rubric is a rubric available on SuperEval. Um the benefit of having a platform like that it allows for consistency across our system for um not only um how we ask people to goal set, reflection, as well as evaluation model. It has all the reporting features built in um and Nick and I
039are meeting with SuperEval coming up this week to learn a little bit more um but we're excited about the power of having all of it in one place just like EvaluWise for our teachers um which allows for like a one-stop shop for evaluation. Nick, would you add anything um based on what I shared so far? No, I was I was going to add the EvaluWise piece so you beat me to it but it just gives um every person being evaluated that platform that they can go to and it houses all the forms. It houses um all the evaluations um and then brings them all together for that final summative. So and are these specific to positions? I think that was one of the board's a component of the goal is to have the evaluation instruments
040be specific to Yes. the individual positions. Yeah, so the school leader paradigm was designed as an example for building leaders. Okay. That's the tool it's meant for that. Um it was designed um and I can share some literature in my weekly update this week to give you some more reading around it. Um but it was designed with different uh principal state level organizations and they came together also using the National Association of School Principals research as well. Kind of like a lot of research together to develop the school leader paradigm. Um I could give you the report um number. Uh um many districts in Illinois are adopting that as their evaluation uh tool officially um but um all principal evaluation now I was hearing from Nick and from other leaders now has that embedded in.
041When you go through the training again, you have that um as part of your training as a school leader paradigm. So we don't have to use this for for positions that aren't principals. We can use something else. Correct and that's what Nick and I are looking at this week. Evaluation rubrics. They have them all there. Oh yeah. That's kind of 2.0 of the goal. So this year we did um revamp everything and make position specific tied to portrait of a Spartan. Um so that work did occur this year but um now we're shifting again or pivoting again to kind of the next step. So um we will have met the board goal twice in one year. So impressive. It's important to us. Put that on the on the website. That's right. We doubled down on
042this one. Yeah. Yeah. So for the climate survey, I just I wanted I know we kind of brushed over it but I I know what an absolutely immense amount of effort went into this and in like a short period of time. So I just want to say kudos to Lauren for Yes. for that and to you Kristen for propagating that as well. I guess I know all the building leaders too. You guys all played a role and and Nick and Nicole, you guys were were instrumental in this. So um it is like the epitome of um an opportunity. I guess it would just say it is a huge opportunity for us now and I am very excited uh to be able to have access to that data, too. So I'm hopeful that we can uh
043see it I think in May is what I was reading. It's like we get that in May or something like that. So um and I know it's utilized at the building level. I'm curious. I'm sure there's some you know, maybe there's a community facing piece or maybe it's just board level or but being able to at least minimally come back to it in May to be able to let that give us some insights as we uh you know, look forward. So that's great. Good work. I heard some stories about getting those numbers and I was like I couldn't I mean the amount of effort just to to aggregate this information. It's it's impressive. So. Now that we've got the numbers, it's really important that we take the data and do right by it, right? As
044parents, we send so much information home with our students. So we need to take this information and do right with it when we get it. So get ready for that work in May. Oh yeah. It creates a lot of opportunity with as as we're working towards goal setting, you know, we can look reflective back at where we are today and the goals that we have, what makes sense in the future [clears throat] based upon how we're doing on these goals but then also that survey data can be really helpful for us to understand maybe gaps or areas of celebration or areas that we need to provide more focus or intention. So I appreciate the update. I think there's a lot of really good stuff in here. And especially as we look forward getting a little
045bit more information from the survey and kind of building on another set of of goals as we move. I had another question um about about the SABERS. Um I've seen some concern and heard some concern about the storage of the data from that and what all that survey entails and then where the data is being captured and um where who's has access to it. Could you give a little in insight into that or whoever's um worked with SABERS that would Um so that's something we can definitely follow up and I can put that in the board weekly memo cuz I don't have the answers offhand. I'd be able to say where it's stored. Um so those are good questions but again, we're in pilot year and um parents have an option to opt out if
046they don't want their child to take it. Absolutely. that I have. That's absolutely And we're not sending the data to the state or anything like that. Right? No. Okay. That was just something I just want to make sure um we got we get that cleared up. Perfect. Okay. Anything else on superintendent reports? No. Thank you very much. All right. So board reports, 9.01, the FOIA report. There were some FOIAs. We answered them. Good things. Anything on FOIAs? Good job, FOIA team. Mhm. Item 9.02, teaching and learning update. Yeah, you may have seen the memo. Um it's it's kind of an overview prior to the minutes that will come out once approved at the next LTC meeting. It was it was a good meeting. We had a lot of good discussion. Dr. Campbell talked about one
047of the one of the topics that we talked about which was assessment data review from winter session. The map data looks really strong. Uh especially middle school like we said. Kudos to them but everybody as a whole and really on track to meet that goal as we as we just talked about and then maybe the majority of the time was spent focused on the ELA pilot and recommendations or suggestions from the pilot teams as far as which curricula they preferred and would like to move forward with potentially and so there's more discussions to come at a joint meeting on 414, April 14th I think. Um well there will be there will be just more discussions but as a whole uh as we discussed I think at a prior meeting the K through 5 teams are
048are really amplified about amplify oh that's pretty good. I shouldn't tell jokes. Amplify CKLA. Uh the middle school amplify [laughter] That was that was on the fly and bad. Uh middle school and high school pilot teams both uh chose the Savvas My Perspectives and so a lot of discussions surrounding that. Um primarily on this is a big shift for teachers. A lot of focus on the professional development and support that we're going to offer them. More of that discussion to come as well as some of the financials of this all looks like as a as a full package. Um both from the curricula standpoint and the financial standpoint um coming to those next meetings. There weren't any recommended action actions so nothing for us to discuss uh today. Great. Exciting stuff. Thanks Alan. No more
049jokes I promise. Uh business service committee update policy Pete time. As as Alan mentioned we've got a 414 date for the business services and LTC and we're doing committee of the whole that day as well so it'll be um a big comprehensive meeting about financial and uh staffing trajectory of district. It'll be great. Um you should not miss it. You should come and hope you're there. Yeah, a lot of build up to this joint meeting so exciting stuff. Okay. Policy anything? No. Parent teacher advisory and behavioral intervention? Uh nothing but if I may use this time just to Please. Just let the board know um because I'm also a part of North Grove School Association as a liaison. Um they're not not listed here but um June 27th June 28th they're going to have Summerfest.
050It's a schoolhouse that's a museum. And so a national like rec- recognized museum but um it is a great historical site. Great to come by if you ever have any interest feel free to contact me and I can get you in touch with them or take you out for a tour. It's on Brickville Road. Yeah, I went last year it was great. Great to see And they were selling a lot of baked goods there at the teachers a lot of the teachers that you know were off for the summer. And I got some really good baked goods when I went. At a really low price. Uh board representative updates there was a Spartan Senate update. Um you guys all had an opportunity to to watch it. It's embedded in the memo too. Good things. And
051then advocacy advocacy day update Alex what you got? Sure. So on Thursday um March 24th I represented the board and the district in the advocacy day down in Springfield. Um it it was a day of meeting with legislators state legislators as well as um a morning sort of breakfast with legislators as well. Some came and gave presentations. Um those who came were uh deputy governor for education Martin Torres. He talked about the current administration current gubernatorial administration's um focus on funding EBF. Um however I would just note that instead of the $350 million increase um that is typical and what the legislation intended we're getting 305 million so $45 million short this year. Um then Senate President Don Harmon came in and he stressed um a quote that stuck with me decisions are made by
052the people who show up. So it's important to communicate and attend events if you have thoughts and it's important to communicate um your concerns regarding education or state policy to your state reps. That was sort of the um theme of his presentation speech. Um we talked about the tier two pension crisis it is perhaps not an exaggeration at this point because I could give an hour long speech on tier two pensions and I'll refrain from doing that now but essentially we're coming to a point where actuaries might determine that tier two pension recipients will receive less than an equivalent employee with an equivalent salary would receive from social security and at that point the district will immediately have to start paying 6.2% into social security. Um so there's currently legislation working around mitigating that um
053namely just increasing the pensions so we don't um have that safe harbor is what it's called violation. Um but that's sometimes easier said than done. I have to stop you there Alex. You you had ambitiously crafted a sort of pseudo solution did it did it land anywhere? Yes. Okay. Um we'll get there. Okay. [gasps] Um but I I I have an update for next month um probably. And then we had uh speech from Senate present president of the Senate Don Harmon. Um oh I'm sorry that's who I just talked about. Then um House Minority Leader Tony McCombie came in. Beth that's your Yes that's her. about this before the meeting. That's her um Again. her rep. She talked about MCAT reimbursements and how the proration how the state funding hasn't kept up with the um
054increase in costs so as a the state is reimbursed less and less as a percentage of our costs for um mandated programming um namely transportation for special ed right? And is that the main one? Special transportation? Special ed transportation Um and then we heard from House Leader Jay Hoffman who also talked about pensions. And he has some legislation that he um has proposed that he thinks will alleviate the tier two crisis um which would increase the funding towards the pensions so pensions would get bigger as well as instead of a 67 um year retirement it would decrease to I believe 63 or 65. Um there was just concern from a lot of the um attendees of this meeting that 67 is a lot to ask especially for like a kindergarten teacher or special ed teacher
055that that's getting up there um and that's just a lot to ask um physically and mentally for for someone so potentially bringing down that retirement age is is something that the legislature is currently looking at. And then we had uh presentation from education committee chairs Michelle Mussman and Senator Mag Lockner Cappell. Um and they talked about just this is a a tough year in terms of finances. Um the state is sort of in a precarious situation but they reaffirmed their commitment to the $305 million EBF increase that the governor um has proposed. Then in the afternoon I met with Senator my senator um from where I live Dave Syverson with two board members from Huntley um school district 158. And we talked about tier two pensions and the need to reform that before the crisis
056gets worse. Did you show them an infographic? Yes. You got it laminated there I see it. You got to pass that around. So I yes um something I thought of that that has been floated around the universities adopted it is giving tier two recipients the option option that's the keyword here. That you don't have to um have a state funded 403b which is like the equivalent of a 401k for um government employees match so that they can manage self manage their retirement. They can also use the tier two pension um but that but that's just another option and that does meet indefinitely the safe harbor issue. So I think presenting from Huntley was effective. We were able to share um our concerns with uh Senator Syverson and it was interesting how similar Huntley is. I
057never they're just like us but twice as big essentially. They have very similar demographics very similar funding. They're heavily residential based um similarly to Sycamore so our residential property taxes are a huge issue out there um because they don't have a huge commercial base, which you know, sounds familiar. Um and then I was scheduled to meet with Jeff Keicher, but he was delayed in a committee meeting, so we didn't get a chance to meet with him. And then at the end of the day I just networked with some peer districts. Um or peers from other districts, other board members, and we shared our issues. So, I think overall it was a productive day. Um I'm not I'm just in general for future, I'm not sure it's worth the drive to Springfield. I think meeting with
058the other board members was really helpful, but we could meet with our legislature legislators here. You know, we don't need to drive 200 miles to meet someone who already has an office in Sycamore, in my opinion. But, the meeting other board members and seeing the capital, I could see the value in that, but sort of a something to consider going forward. That's all I have. Tell us more about the unfunded mandates. Was there discussions on those? Well, the main one because it was current it was in committee at the time we were there was HB 4416, which would mandate um summer unemployment for educational support professionals. Um so, we would have to pay um unemployment insurance to our ESPs, and Nicole ran the numbers for us, and just Sycamore would cost 263,000 dollars to to
059our district. Um that has since passed out of committee and will be going to um What's a house bill? So, it'll be going to the house first, right? That's how it works, I think. Remember? Uh yeah. So, it will go to the house. There was significant opposition from board members across the state. Just be we understand that the intent is to pay people enough money to live, but the district cannot afford this compounding issue of paying out more and more for these new programs without receiving any additional money from the state. It's just not sustainable. Right. So, we we shared our concerns about that. Um yeah, and I would encourage the board to file witness slips in opposition if you're opposed to this. Um ISBE has sent a few emails about that. I know Beth
060already is on the ball with that. So, yeah, does that answer Do you have any other questions about unfunded mandates? That's about all I covered in that are they in session again? I thought I saw in April 20 at the end of April. Do we have to wait for them to be in session, but we can just call them? no, no, no. I mean, it would be probably better to call when they're not in session, right? Cuz then they're more They're off. They're not down there in committee in in in They're not in session. They're So, call a lot. Like be annoying. Call and email. Good work. All right. All right. Oh, I guess just on this note, um next month in April we will have our um resolution submission opportunity. I plan on bringing
061forward a resolution. Um if anyone else I I don't know if we're allowed to submit multiple. I'm not sure if I we can. Okay. It probably I mean Yes, but go ahead. Okay, so Yes, one board member I plan to bring forward a resolution related to tier two funding. Um so, if anyone would like to collaborate on that, I guess one board member one other board member would like to collaborate on that. Okay, there we go. Um Beth and I will come forward with something next meeting. And if there's any other issues, apparently we can submit multiple, so that's something to keep in mind if there's any issues that you would like to bring forward um for ISBE district who submitted We were the only district last semester thanks to Heather. Um we were well
062853 schools? that meeting to do, yeah. We were the only ones. So, that lobby group is working hard on those. Yeah, no, like they yeah, they had time to work on our issue cuz we're the only It was quite a to-do, I remember, so. Yeah. Keep them busy. All right. That's all I have for my very long advocacy day update. I will tell you the ISBE conference, the tier two funding presentation was like standing room only, and it was like throw down. Like when they brought the legislators up there, you thought they needed security cuz it was like people were going to start crawling over to get to them, and it was nuts. So, there's a time bomb there. Did they have security? They're probably going to I don't know. They didn't offer it this
063year, so. I thought it was funny that uh who was it? Was it Was it Hoffman or Harmon that noted uh that like it's not Oh, no, I think it was Tony that you talked to basically who said like it's not going to really continue to be talked about unless you keep pushing the issue, so. Right, right. I guess there's no sense of urgency down in Springfield. That's what Cuz it just falls on the local No, that's what I'm saying. You got to call her like really call her office like really Because pensions aren't Email, call. They're a hard issue to deal with, and they're also not that popular with constituents, I'd say. It's not that controversial. It should The general consensus would be teachers are entitled to what they're entitled to, but there's other
064more politicized issues that seem to take precedence, which is unfortunate because the real work that needs to be done sometimes is Well, well, the problem is, too, the state should be paying unemployment, not the district. So. All right. Well, good stuff. All right, we'll move on to anything else on board reports? Anything else anyone would like to report? Okay-doke. Next month, I'll just send out like we do in April like the committee assignments. I don't expect a lot of change, but if you guys have any feedback for me, I've already talked to a few board members interested in just some assignments, emphasis, you know, BSC, behavioral intervention, P-Tech. Um I don't intend to make changes unless you request the change, so um just keep me posted if you want to do that. And then at
065the April meeting, I'll bring with what I propose we have for appointments. So, think about um think about that. Okay. Uh old business. Consideration to approve revisions to policies 310, 350, 5220, 6210, 48640. This is for second reading, so we've already seen this now. Um the recommended action is to approve revisions to these policies. Before we discuss, is there a motion to approve revision to policies 310, 350, 5220, 6210, 48640? Do you want to read out a motion, Alex? Sure. I move to approve the attached policy revisions as presented upon second reading. Okay, moved and seconded. Any discussion? Nothing changed. Nothing changed. Time has passed. Okay. Everything was discussed, and everything was great, and it's it's a go. Cool. So, the committee is a well-oiled machine. That's right. All right, all in favor? Aye. Any
066Any opposed? All right, motion passes. Next item on the agenda is the review of the Lauterbach and Amen internal control. Um just any comments about this? I'm not soliciting a motion, just asking. Any comments? I believe we could maximize the value of this AUP by incorporating more specific testing criteria, um which will offer the auditors clarity as to what we're looking for. Um so, I would suggest we hold off on formal approval until we integrate more specific information as to what this would entail. Okay-doke. Any other comments, information on item 10.02? Seeing none, we will move on to item 10.03. Consideration to approve the Southeast roof bid. The recommended action is to approve the Southeast roof bid as presented. Is there a motion to approve the Southeast roof bid? So moved. Second. Moved and seconded.
067Any discussion? It looks like we went with the lowest bid, and that's about the best you can do. With a big job like that. My my dad always reminds me when we go over a bridge, he's like, "This was built by the lowest bidder." It's a reassuring sentiment. [snorts] So. Uh anything else? Is this the um project that we're applying the facilities maintenance grant to? Yes, it is. So, we are getting $50,000 from the state of Illinois as a grant to uh help with this roof replacement? Right you are, Cole. That's right. That's a good point. Good point. Thank you uh for bringing that up. Those grants are awesome. Yes, they It's a recurring one, too, so we can apply for it next year for another project. We should get it every year. Hope so.
068Okay, any other discussion? Uh seeing none, Kelly, would you call the roll? Campbell? Yes. Evans? Yes. Rados? Yes. Gregory? Aye. Russell? Yes. Sancho? Yes. Zita? Yes. Washburn Carey? All right, new business. For the first time, consideration to approve the fiscal year 27 Chromebook purchase. There's a nice memo there. Any discussion on this topic? Comments on the memo? Um well, so how does this work? Do the old Chromebooks then get turned in? They turn in a new uh the old one and then get a new one or how is that working? It's a great question. We have Dr. Valentine here uh who'd be happy to answer questions related to Chromebooks if you want to come to the table. Yeah, so our three of our classes right now have Chromebooks that are going to run out of
069their AUE, which is auto update expiration. So, what will happen is it will no longer update, which means they can't use some of the resources on there. So, uh when we shifted in order for this not to happen with three classes at once, we they get a new one in fifth grade and they get a new one in ninth grade. So, we will be collecting from 12th grade and then those are at the point of recycling, harvesting parts so that we can reuse them for repairs. And then um also from eighth grade we will collect them and then this year we will collect from sixth grade and they will get the eighth graders. So, we're just trying to um make sure we get the most use out of them, but those ones that we are
070sunsetting, you would say, are no longer ones that we can use. Once in a while we might use them for like the classroom scanning or purposes like that, but they're not really um they're they're really end of life for students. Yep. That's understandable. Now, I I was issued one when I first came on the board and I haven't really been using it because I just couldn't get used It's awkward for me. So, would I need it should I turn mine back in if that's going to fall under that uh We can check. Um let me check what you have and then I can work with Kelly on that. I mean, I can just really turn it back in cuz I like I said, I haven't really been using it, so it's kind of just sitting.
071I'll be happy to turn it back in, but Thank you for answering those questions. What's the longevity we see um these new ones that we would purchase? How long would they be in use? So, the AUE is longer now, so we won't run into the same issues, but we would be using them so for four years they would follow that student from fifth grade to eighth grade and then from ninth grade to 12th grade and then we would bring them down to second, third, and fourth grade. So, we would use them for at least six to seven years, possibly more, um but right now they that kind of helps with the warranty piece because once they're out of warranty, we're now moving them to elementary where they're on carts and they're less likely to get
072banged up or damaged. Thank you. I don't have any Was that the same thing? Is this [clears throat] Is this an annualized capital expenditure that comes up regularly? Right, it looks like there's 625 that's being requested. We're replacing one class's worth, which is maybe 300. Two classes' worth. Eighth grade and Fifth grade will get them and ninth grade will get them. Yep. And it's So, is this an annual thing that happens? Yes. Okay. Okay. And then the warranty, I think I read we also would we charge parents if something happens to the device? So, to offset the cost of the warranty, uh families have two different options. They can purchase a accidental device their own I don't know that we call it accidental device protection thing, but but a protection plan so that if something
073happens, they would not be charged. And then if a student, you know, we do have instances of intentional breakage and so we do need to make sure we're being thoughtful about the natural consequences to that, so students do get charged for those replacement parts. Okay. So, the So, the total expense to the district maybe is less than the roughly Correct. And and I don't have those exact numbers um on how much money we get from those fees and from the protection plan, but we'd be able to get that to you if you needed it. I saw the estimate of the increase to 20% over the next five months or so. Or I I I had something along those lines. Is that That seems really high. Is that really something that's happening? Yeah, so there is
074a global chip shortage and there's also significant price increases with RAM. The other issue to consider is that we would potentially not receive the Chromebooks on time because they do have to be manufactured um if we don't purchase in a timely manner. AI and RAM. Yeah. Really glad I did my PC last year. So, the insurance, the accidental damage protection. I was just noodling around and it was like it seemed like it runs like 70 to 90 bucks a computer. And I don't even know if I'd advise it on the Xerox clothes. Do you know is that pretty true to cost or is that like That would be fairly accurate, yes. And then just hypothetically, I know like you got 625 computers, four years, you got students using them. How many of these computers make
075it back to us like not destroyed? I would have to look and and do kind of an analysis on that on the exact numbers of how many we're sending out from for repair, how many we have to repair parts of or fully repair, but there are labor costs to consider with that as well and whether we need to hire new personnel to do that process as well as like down the road if one needs to be fully replaced, we can no longer get the same device, whereas through the warranty we're able to replace that. Um but if you'd like, we can look further into Well, I and then I'm just thinking like if the number is less than 25% like it destroyed or damaged, what if we rolled the dice and just don't buy the
076insurance? We've done that with staff Chromebooks because the damage is much more infrequent and that has been the right decision. With students, again, I don't have exact numbers, but my professional opinion would be it's likely worth it and I will say most districts I speak to with a very few that do self-repair. But I can certainly look into it if you'd like me to. So, again, just like if So, if a parent buys the insurance, they're we're passing the cost onto them. But if they don't buy the insurance, they're holding the bill if the child damages the Chromebook. Okay. So, you know, if we didn't buy the insurance, we'd be removing the option for the parent to buy the optional insurance from us. And then they would just Not necessarily, um but it's just a
077matter of how we are repairing the devices, whether we are doing it ourselves and paying for staff to do that and purchasing all of the parts that we need for those repairs and potentially buying a new one if one needs to be fully replaced or if we're sending them off for warranty. Well, I don't think there's a scenario where we should do the repairs. I just I don't know if is there an option for us to not buy the insurance and have the company do the repairs and just charge us for it? Do you know if that's something that exists? Like you know what I mean? Like you can I'm just thinking simply, you go to Walmart, they say, "Hey, do you want to buy the Allstate protection plan for 10 bucks on a $40
078item?" You're like you'll always say no, you know, but it's it's 25% of the value, but it's a bad choice. I don't know if it's different in this case because of the convenience factor or if they just won't service it without us buying the accidental damage protection. So, I wonder what maybe you're asking for clarity for our community is what does the warranty cover when you when you purchase it as a parent, that additional warranty? What does it cover? What does it not cover? Because to your point, like you wouldn't pay for $10 of insurance for a $40 device, right? Is that kind of what you're indicating? Right. And I'm I'm just saying like could we just take the risk and still not do the work on it ourselves and send it out? I don't
079know that the company we work with does repairs if if I'm correctly understanding what you're asking, like could we just send the devices that need repairs and be charged for that? Yeah. Um I can look into that. I don't know that the company that we work with does that, but it could be something we could look into for future years, whether there are options and and whether that's been cost effective for other districts. I I'm I'm assuming that a lot of our neighboring districts and and the bigger districts are using the same technology to educate children, right? We're seeing a lot of growth and benefits to this. I think the board, you know, where Paul kind of said the same thing, the attic, we're expecting the same costs at an increase uh with standards, right?
080You know, as it goes up. If there's anything we can cost effectively save now to prepare for that, um just you know, my my own job in the real estate industry, we'll buy we'll have guarantees in future contracts, right? Cuz we know we're going to buy books. It's not an if, we are going to. Uh if we can explore those options uh once this purchase, if you know, agreed upon tonight, we can get this done, our next one, can we get some kind of some kind of security, right? Of cost savings if possible. That's all. I I I know what you're you're getting at and as well Because if that's what our students need, they definitely need it. But I also feel like I know how the vendors will take advantage in the sense of
081basically our future sale. The licensing, the software, the standards of I think it's what you call it what what's basically with the updates. You can change that. I'm sure that they may possibly have other districts that have agreed to where we'll get another year compared to a district who only got the four, right? So, let's explore some options for the future cost savings. Well, so. So, this will be paid potentially paid out of FY27? So, so it'll the plan is it will be go into the budget that will eventually be reviewed and and approved. Would the expenditures occur in FY27 or is it Yeah, so we'd be doing the PO as soon as we're if that were approved, we would be doing the PO as soon as possible so that they could begin that manufacturing
082process and then it would not be paid until after July 1, 2026. For delivery deadline. Okay. Yeah, so delivery um my hope [clears throat] if we're able to purchase right after this is that we would be able to receive them in July and that gives us time to make sure everything's ready to go. If we're not able to purchase them, that could delay our date of receiving them. It it would delay our date of receiving them. I just add on currently in our FY27 projection, this cost is projected in that. Um so, we're anticipating this already. Um and you'll hear more about the five-year projection for our budget on the 14th as we talked about as well as additional potential technology funding sources for the future to your point, Nate. We're we're going to continue
083to talk about that. What are the additional funding sources we can tap into? Um and we hope to find more information as we find that as well. I would like to add and I'm not advocating changing horses in midstream here to quote Dylan. Um but this like uh there's I read two articles in the New York Times over the last like two or three months where schools are starting to turn away from one the one-to-one Chromebook model. The neuroscientist uh Dr. Horvath was before the Senate Commerce Committee and had some some great information and some great graphs about how all in on one-to-one as a blanket rule might not always be the best thing to serve students compared to like a more surgical approach. Obviously, we need the tech and again, I'm not advocating changing
084horses now. Um but just with all that new information out there and there's a Kansas school a middle school principal of the year in Kansas, her school just went to Chromebooks on carts, classroom sets as opposed to one-to-one and um just do we have a plan or should we have a plan for evaluating our usage given what's now known about screen times and sort of omnipresent tech usage so that we can you know, protect our children and also give our children the best possible education which you know, may and involve this technology but used in sort of an optimal way. So, again, not advocating anything right now but it just felt like talking about Chromebooks, good time to raise that. That's interesting. I'd be interested in seeing maybe you can send it to me later.
085Yeah, thank you for raising on carts. Thank you for raising that call. We continue to talk about that within the educational team about what research is emerging. I appreciate the resources you shared and the conversation. As you were talking about even different books, too, that reference that. Um and uh you know, we had follow up in addition, you know, to the conversation today that we're having about future ready learning and your question in particular about Chromebooks in regards to what emerging research is telling us. Michael, I just where did you get that $90? I just looked it up. I was just looking at other purchase orders from other districts where they did itemize it. Okay. 70 to 90 bucks seemed to be the Okay. Okay. I do know that Xerox has one of the lower
086cost for the warranty as compared to some of the other companies that I I did receive quotes from multiple companies and the one we used prior to the and Xerox was IT-savvy it's a little confusing but this was significantly lower as far as that warranty cost and they've also done a really excellent job with the warranty which is important to getting those devices back to students quickly. Okay. The the tricky part like in this is I would definitely like to like something like this to go before the Business Services Committee first cuz that way they could you know, have some of this deliberation and then it would go to the board. But I do understand there's a sense of urgency and a risk of price increase. And so um which is an angst-y moment, too.
087So, um I don't know. What does the board think? I have a thought but I talked a lot if anyone else has. Okay. Could we give direction to go forward with this purchase except for the warranty until we get that analysis on if the warranty will actually a cost-benefit analysis on the warranty and if we could just send them back for repair without the warranty if we have a yes less than what 20% utilization rate cuz we don't have that data. It it could be cheaper for the taxpayers. Is that Yeah, is that is that an option? I'm not sure. Um we would have to get a new quote in that case and I'm not sure if what that would do to our pricing. Um I also don't know if they offer the option where
088that you would say I don't as I think I had said I don't believe they offer the option where you could send it to them and they would repair it. So, we would need to figure out a new system for repairs for next year. I noted it said expected price and so I was deliberate not wanting it to be super clear cuz I don't want to I don't know how negotiating with these groups works if we say, "Oh, this is the amount that we're willing to spend." and then all of a sudden the bid is that much. Like do you have a good I do you have a good impression that the expected price reflects the actual price? Yeah, and and I've done significant negotiating with them to try to bring our prices down as
089much as possible. Um I think that that's the the best price we're going to get and if we wait, we could end up paying more. So, am I understanding correctly that we need to buy these computers and you our superintendent and our director of technology think that it's in the best interest of students to buy these computers and that we're going to save the taxpayer money by agreeing to buy these computers tonight. Am I understanding that correctly? From what I understand, the price increases with every passing week and so if we wait until April 28th, we will see a substantial price increase and we have it built into our budget for FY27 for Chromebooks. I think you have a recommendation. I recommend the board move forward on purchasing the Chromebooks for FY27. We will follow
090up. I took lots of notes with the additional questions that you did ask. I I guess could we go forward with the purchasing this with the stipulation that we look into the option for the warranty? I think we could probably do that anyway. I mean, right? I would move I would There's no motion, correct? No, there's no motion. I would move to authorize the expenditure as presented. There's a motion on the table. Is there a second? I second. Moved and seconded. Any other discussion on this? I think just a little runway next time would be really helpful as we review this. Um appreciate all the information. So, cool. We have Dr. Campbell's blessing. So, all right. Uh Kelly, would you call the roll? Regan? Hi. Russell? Yes. Dempsey? Yes. Campbell? Yes. Evans? Yes. Grimes? Yes.
091DeVito? Yes. Okay. Next item on the agenda is the consideration to approve fiscal year 27 wireless access point project update. Um same story, different thing. Learned about Wi-Fi 7 recently. Realized I wasn't even on Wi-Fi 6. I'm on like Wi-Fi 2 or something. I don't know. It doesn't It's dial-up, I guess. I don't know. Stuff moves so I thought I thought we were at five. [laughter] Wow, I'm like Wi-Fi 7. This I need this now. Didn't know I needed it. Um all right, is there I guess before we host a motion, is there any discussion on the access points? [snorts] Are these just for the high school or is this district-wide? Actually, Valentine. Yeah, this is district-wide. So, the access points we're referencing are that up there and this is just a needed update based
092on the age of our access points. This is something that we've planned for with Nicole and it will make all of our devices run faster and keep up with as we need to purchase new devices, those need compatibility with the newer wireless access points. And the total cost is offset 50% by this E-Rate. Correct. Yep. So, it's actually 50% off this total cost number that's been put in the memo. Correct. wanted to confirm. Yes. Yes, so we put the total cost in the memo. We put the total cost in the budget. And next summer, we will receive 50% of that back from E-Rate. Cool. Good stuff. This looked like a great deal. I was doing I mean, like you guys really this is a from like a cost standpoint. I don't think a lot of
093other districts got these devices at this rate, so. I move to approve the wireless access point project with Heartland Business Systems in the amount of $363,000. Uh $363,347.40. There's a motion on the table. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? Kelly, would you call the roll? Russell? Yes. Cantu? Yes. Apple? Yes. Evans? Yes. Grados? Yes. Gregory? I. Devito? Yes. Motion carried. All right, next item on the agenda. Board member attendance and expenses for the Consortium of State School Boards Federal Advocacy Conference. So, Alex, you put this together nicely. Yes. Um at the state conference that um I attended, I learned from another board member that there's also a federal version of the same conference where board members can go to DC and meet with federal legislators on federal issues. Um so, I just want to put that
094out there to any board members that are interested. Registration opens tomorrow. Um and in accordance with board policy, we need to have expense requests for travel, meals, or lodging approved at an open meeting of the board ideally um in advance of the funds being allocated to any event. Mr. Grados goes to Washington. So, yeah, I I guess I don't I have to make sure I'll be able to go. I'm just wanted to throw it if anyone else wants to go. This is an opportunity. Um I suppose this if the board's comfortable and Nicole's comfortable with the cost we could authorize Kelly to book it and then bring back the receipts for that to the next meeting. [snorts] Alex, are you asking to go? Is that your No. Oh, okay. I'm asking for if I want
095to go or any board member wants to go, we can tell Kelly ask Kelly to please book it for us and the board preemptively authorize that so we don't have to schedule a special meeting to book the hotel cuz per board policy it should be done prior to um the reservation being made. So, I don't I mean, we don't need to even vote on this right now then it sounds like we can just give a directions would be sufficient. Personally, I I like the idea of us advocating at the federal level if we do it with um some direction and I think that uh your portfolio you provided for our state level is really thorough and I would love to uh uh have some federal legislators go through that experience. So, Uh yeah. I have
096to deal with me, I guess. No, that's good. I think so. So, let's send it to him. Sure. No, um yeah, so I get yeah, I just if the board's comfortable authorizing the reservations to be made if any board members choose to attend, that's all I was looking for because registration does open tomorrow. And supposedly, like every conference I've ever seen, um it fills up quick, [snorts] but I'm not sure about the actuality of that, but probably wouldn't hurt to book in advance. It's a little it's 50 bucks cheaper to if you book it um earlier as opposed to later. Did I read right the daily meal stipend is $25? Is that I think it's I think it's like I want to say it's 25 for dinner, 15 for breakfast. Like 20 for lunch, maybe?
097little high. You can get them down on that, can't you? All right. I I buy the lobbying at Springfield has some value to the district. I think Triple I, the conference we go to in Chicago has some value to the district. I'm skeptical about the return on investment of there's really well-paid, really highly effective lobbyists in Washington already. And that's that's my opinion. Does IASB attend and advocate on behalf of the districts? Do you know? I'm I'm not sure. It's typically board members meeting other board members from across the state to understand issues that they have. I guess I just really would want to make sure that we have a really pointed a really appointed agenda so that we're we are trying to achieve something. I don't I I don't know if you don't have
098a topic necessarily picked out. It does look like the early bird rate is between net well, tomor- tomorrow and July 31st. Just throwing that out there. So, if there was interest and there was a really pointed discussion that wanted to be had, we could visit that at maybe a later date, too. Mhm. Yeah, this isn't urgent. I just wanted to throw it out there. I mean, I think I mean, two things here. I think of board member development, so maybe not necessarily what we're going to do to them. I I don't think I can go to this just for the record, but um so, much as I'd love to leave my wife and two small children at home for a trip to DC. Um no, but the all kidding aside, the uh 2120 like board
099member development members are provided an equal opportunity to attend state and national meetings designed to familiarize members with public school issues, governance, and legislation. So, do have a policy that relates to it. We've never done it before. Um we've been effective at the state level. Um so, I I guess I don't have an issue with it personally, but um I don't know that we need to decide right now and we can don't have to. bring something back in April with a little more substance, so. And if if people are even interested, if you can go, if other people want to go, so. And if the board doesn't want to expend taxpayer dollars on this, we could pay for it out of pocket, I suppose. So, that's always an option. So, yeah, there's just just want
100to throw out there that if you're interested registration's open tomorrow. Thanks, Alex. Thank you. Good stuff. Uh all right, so I think that's No, we have one more thing here. Yep, sorry. Uh 11.04 consideration to approve the amended 2026 through 2027 Board of Education Meeting Schedule. Recommended action is to approve the amended 2026 through 2027 Board of Education Meeting Schedule as presented. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Uh any discussion? Just the previous Sorry, I know we're not supposed to do this, but I just want to throw out there no taxpayer dollars were spent on the trip to Springfield. I paid for that myself. So, that's the board didn't need to preemptively approve that because there were no dollars spent um from the district. I'm just looking here. It looks
101like just a couple of reschedules. They were noted, so July 21st July 14th to July 21st and then February 9th. Um so, those dates all look okay for everybody? As as best as they can, I suppose. [clears throat] Yeah, okay. It looks good. I Yeah, I'll I'll have to I might miss that July now that it's been moved, but I also might not. So, otherwise, you have got to do what you got to do. All righty. Uh all in favor? I. I. I. Any opposed? All right, the motion passes. So, the next item on the agenda is an executive session. Is there a motion for an executive session? So, that's a move. Oh, hold up hold up one second. The exemptions. Alex is our exemption guy. We we had another one that came up. Um
102let's see. Yeah, it was 16. It was the Yeah, it was 2C29. Do Do you have the email? Yep, 2C29. Okay. Uh is there a motion that the Board of Education adjourn to executive session for the consideration of matters related to 5 ILCS 120/2C1, 5 ILCS uh 120/2C2, 5 ILCS 120/2C11, 5 ILCS 120/2C12, 5 ILCS uh /2C29. So moved. Second. Moved and seconded. Any discussion? We're good? All right, Kelly, would you call the roll? Evans? Yes. Grados? Yes. Gregory? I. Russell? Yes. Cantu? Yes. Apple? Yes. Devito? Yes. Thank you guys for joining us. Oh, sorry. Yeah, you can keep it. Yes. There we go. Yeah. Yeah, that's what I wanted. That's what I wanted. 5%. That's 90% That's really Yeah. Yeah. Chris Rock. Hello. I love the name. Chris Rock. Never broke up. Oh, yeah.
103I have a story on it.