001I'm going [Music] Good evening and welcome to the August 4th, 2025 Valley View School District Board meeting. I hereby call this regular meeting of the Valley View School Board to order. Please silence your cell phone. Member Burus, would you please lead us in the pledge? member picking. Would you please read the affirmation of the board of education mission statement? Thank you. Our mission is to empower every learner to be college, career, and life ready and to develop, grow, and achieve as a productive citizen. Now, we'll take a moment of silence. We did have one of our uh eighth graders who had graduated from Avidto Martinez uh Langston Prit um was actually going to be a freshman at RHS. He did drown as a Christian uh camp in Wisconsin. So if we would take this time
002to have a moment of silence for him, the family, and the Valley View community. >> Thank you, Dr. W. the agenda, please. >> Yes. Thank you, Vice President Campbell. We are seeking the board's approval of the agenda as presented. I >> move motion and second. Is there any discussions or questions? Seeing none and hearing none, could I have a roll call board, please? >> Member Burus. >> Yes. >> Member Pipkin. Yes. >> Member Hyo. >> Yes. >> Secretary Sutherland. >> Yes. >> President Pro Tim Campbell. >> Yes. >> Motion carries. Okay. Student and staff recognition. Dr. Wood. >> Yes. Tonight's spotlight video is Jacob Kbecki. Um technology technician in the technology department. um our IT staff and VVSD is a um serve a critical um or are a critical component in enhancing the quality of
003the interaction between the students and the teachers in the classroom. And I would like to present Jacob to you at this time. My career working in IT um started because of a school project that I had in uh high school growing up in Manuka. It was my junior year of high school. I had a US history project that was uh creating the timeline of your life. Uh so essentially on one half of the timeline was the timeline of your life from when you were born to present day. And then on the bottom half of the timeline is you could pick any kind of concept you wanted and you would just fit that concept within that timeline. Um so at the time uh of course being a junior in high school that's typically when you really
004start asking yourself the big question of what am I going to do with my life? Kind of what am I going to college for? Um so within that time frame I kind of sat down and looked kind of deep within myself to be like what do I want to go to school for? Um, my parents of course wanted me to pursue something in pharmacy or something in the medical field. And I was thinking on that, but then I kind of took a step back and realized that wasn't really for me. And then this timeline project came about and conveniently cuz I'm a huge computer nerd. Um, I kind of wear it on my sleeve a little bit. Uh my timeline was the history of Microsoft Windows operating systems and when they released. In doing that
005project, it made me kind of sit there and realize all along I've really just wanted to work with computers. >> Okay, so speaking of Windows operating systems, what was, if you know this, Mr. Clippet? How did he work and why did he fail? Poor Clifit was the victim of uh Word 97 uh and that it was Microsoft's attempt to create a virtual assistant that would help you um create documents. And the more I'm describing this, the more I realize things have stayed the same because you went from Clipit to Cortana with Windows 10 and now you have Co-Pilot and Gemini and Chad GBT with AI. And so everyone's just kind of latched onto this idea of computers as a tool and to kind of interface with people they've created virtual assistants and this is realize
006now realizing now has been a thing since the '9s and all the way through to now. Um why clip it failed would probably be because of how intrusive he was. Um, which is so funny to me because like looking back you look back more as it now through like the lens of nostalgia is kind of like a whimsical thing where it was like, "Oh, cool. I'm typing a word document. Oh, hey, a little clip, little paperclip friend there trying to help me." >> What level of satisfaction does it give you that in your job that you support and help provide the tools necessary for that interaction between a teacher and a student? Oh, great question. It provides me like immense satisfaction to know that what I do at VVSD makes a difference in the education
007of students as well as kind of facilitating that between the students and the teachers. One of the main things that I support in the district are uh the iPads for our younger student learners. On top of that, I also support uh the iPads for our special ed students. So, for example, um a special needs student that uh can't necessarily communicate like you and I are communicating right now and instead need the need an iPad that has um an app called Touch Chat. So, it's a grid out of um various buttons that the student could push uh that have pictures. So, like for example, if they wanted to like indicate to the teacher that they had a question, they could push a button and it would just it would then annunciate that they had a question.
008Um, those devices specifically I think are what give me the biggest satisfaction knowing that I'm directly helping to support that and helping students that don't have the ability to communicate and speak with their teacher to give them that ability. That's I think what gives me the most satisfaction in what I do here. >> All right. Outstanding. Thanks to Jacob and our entire [Applause] instructional technology team for not only the front of the house work but the behind-the-scenes work they do to keep our district u function at a very high level. So thanks to our entire instructional technology team. >> All right back to you Dr. Wood since there is no treasury report for Mr. Renes. Yes. Um, tonight we are seeking your approval of four consent agenda items as presented. Consent agenda 7.1 board meeting
009minutes July 14th, 2025. 7.2 Executive session meeting minutes July 14, 2025. 7.3 gifts to Romeoville High School. And 7.4 gift to Tibet Elementary School. May I have May I have a motion? >> Motion to second. Any questions? >> Seeing none hearing none. Roll call vote, please. >> Member Pipkin, >> yes. >> Member Hyo, >> yes. >> Member Burus, >> yes. >> Secretary Sutherland, >> yes. >> President Prom Campbell, >> yes. Motion passes. Okay. layers on reports. Any to my right? Any to my left? >> Here we go. I have several um different reports to give on um one is the finance and facilities committee u advisory committee that met on Wednesday, July 23rd. Um the advisory finance committee is basically um to provide transparency to the public on uh different things that are going on
010spec specifically like the quarterly financial updates, long-term financial planning, uh quarterly updates on facility projects and planning updates from various administrative services and departments. We meet um quarterly, four times the a year and um let's see. So at the this meeting we basically had gone over the budget and the finance update at the meeting um started with uh Ms. Romanos she's director of uh Romeo's director of finance um and she was giving the district's fourth quarter financial statement for the year of two 2025. Um she reported that the district's financial performance remained stable with expenditures coming in slightly under budget. However, revenue performance was below expectations. So looking ahead, she expressed concerns about the significant decrease decrease in corporate personal replacement tax revenue over the past four years coupled with reduction in the federal funding.
011She assured the board that the finance team will continue to monitor these trends closely and provide timely updates. There was a facility update by um Mr. Lopez um and the early childhood um child center dev sec Sakora childhood early childhood center will be opening on time. Um there were other um projects that were going through completion like um Woodview's library and um there's parking lots and uh some of the others like um Romeville High School is having some um changes or updates done on their um property. Technology um update was given by Mr. Gilmore um who is the executive director of technology and uh it was interesting because he gave an overview as to what um basically the uh technology department does and what their um goal is and um they were um basically he
012shared that they are going through a restructuring effort aimed at improving efficiency and effectiveness and one key initiative discussed was the new four-year device replenishment plan which will replace the previous practice of issuing short-term debts. And this is going to be a saving to the district for about $300,000 in interest. Additionally, the committee was updated on the progress of replacing the district's outdated 13 plus years phone system. Um then I had gotten an email from our um director of uh Wilco from Elizabeth Kaufman and they are on schedule for opening up the school. They have new teachers coming on board for uh CNA, medical assisting, construction and law enforcement. Um they're secondyear teachers that are being trained and reinforced in the concepts uh learned during their first year and their medical programs are hosting sessions
013for parents meetings for certified nursing assistants and also they have raised the tuition slightly and um they're having their open night uh curriculum night and open house will be um published as soon as they have a date because they're waiting for um confirmation from what stu school districts um open houses are. And then the last one is um uh pres uh vice president um Liz Campbell and I met with the student ambassadors today and with also senior leadership. We had a very interesting conversation. The goal was to talk about what their expectations are for this year. where we met with the seniors who were juniors last year and it was it was very interesting and what we were kind of looking at is to give them more support and more voice in different areas like
014there's different work um work groups that they could possibly participate where a lot of input could be given and and their voices heard through those kind of um situations. So I feel like we've done quite a bit of discussion. And I think we've come up with a good plan or at least a start of a good plan. And then um Vice President Campbell may want to add on to that. >> Thank you very much. >> I'm good. >> Thank you, Secretary Sland. >> Now it is time to hear from our student ambassador. >> Thank you. Good evening board members and community members. I am Hayden Harback, a senior at Bowling Brook High School. Welcome to the beginning of the 2025 2026 school year. I'm honored to be the first of many ambassadors to represent our
015schools at these upcoming meetings. I hope everybody had a fun a fun and relaxing summer. I would like to start by celebrating our student athletes and marching band members who've been participating in summer camps all summer long. Kudos for you for braving the summer heat. It is not just our sorry our students who have been preparing for this upcoming school year. Thank you to all faculty members who have been working hard on their time off to make sure our students have the best school year possible. We deeply appreciate your dedication to both the school and the students. In upcoming news, the first day of school is August 14th and the official first football game of the BHS season is August 29th. Please be there. It's an amazing game. In addition, this year we will be
016adding two new ambassadors, one junior from each high school. The two students once selected will be introduced at an upcoming school board meeting. My fellow ambassadors and I are excited to build upon our progress last year. We hope to expand opportunities to share student voices on important issues. We'd like to thank all board members for their participation, especially Vice President Liz Campbell and Secretary Vicky Sutherland for their support as liaison to the ambassadors. I would like to shine a light on our new staff who just this past week kicked off their school year with their new higher training. Good luck to all and have an amazing first year. As we brace for the start of the new school year, I would like to leave you all with a piece of advice from an upcoming senior.
017Remember to make the most of your time here at VVSD to go out and try new things while being true to yourself. Thank you all for being here tonight and listening. I hope you have an amazing school year and it is everything you envision it to be. Thank you. >> Thank you. [Applause] We think we're so appreciative of our ambassadors. Uh at this time, is there anyone who would like to address the audience participation? If so, come forth. Give your name, where you're from, and you have Yes. to the podium, please. And you have three minutes. I >> I'll try to get through this quick, otherwise I'll just email you guys this uh document. Uh, my name is Albert Lopez. I'm here as a parent of a newly enrolled student at John J. Lucanszek Middle
018School. And I'm here because Valley View School District 365 denied our documented evidence-based request supported by a professional neurosych evaluation for our son to receive an appropriate academic placement for the 2025 2026 school year. uh instead the district denied our request without initiating any evaluation under IDA or section 504 without providing published appeal process and without following federally required procedural safeguards. We subsequent subsequently submitted an appeal and that was denied by assistant superintendent Pollson. Uh this is not a disagreement about grade level. This is a civil rights issue and it's a procedural violation with legal and educational consequences. Under IDA and section 504, public school districts have a legal duty to identify, locate, and evaluate any child with known or suspected disability if that child has not previously received special education services. As of May
01920 May 27th, 2025, the district had received formal written disclosure of our son's ADHD diagnosis and sus and and suspected disability, triggering its legal child find obligation. That obligation was reinforced again during an inerson meeting on July 11th, 2025 when we offered to submit the full neurosych evaluation. Uh we actually offered to submit that evaluation on May 27th, our initial email. Uh we later submitted the full report. Um we later submitted the full report along with our evaluation request. At no point did the district issue a request for a evaluation form. At no point were we offered procedural safeguards until well after the May 27th date that we uh disclosed. At no point was a multi-disiplinary team convened. It's a clear violation of federal law. And to date, no prior written notice notices have been
020provided by any Valley View School District administrator despite repeated denials of eligibility evaluation and placement requests violating 34 CFR 3000.503. Uh in I've been I've been watching some old uh videos about the from the board. So, in 2019, uh, we're reading some old news here. I know Will County judge overturned, uh, the outcome of Valley View schoolboard election after Why are you texting me from over there? Uh, I'm sorry, guys. Lost my place here. I also have ADHD. School. Um, a Will County judge overturned the outcome of a Valley View 365U schoolboard election after JT Bedor's then a candidate filed a legal challenge citing improperly counted ballots lacking election judge uh, initials. The court ruled that even minor procedural defects such as unsigned ballots were sufficient to justify a full reversal of the election results.
021That ruling reflected a serious judicial commitment to legal compliance, procedural integrity, and public trust. Yet, in our son's case, far a far more serious uh violations of federal education law have been allowed to stand. No evaluation, no procedural safeguards, nor no formal notice, even as we provided direct evidence of the disability. >> Can you provide that to uh Dr. uh Wood, please? Absolutely. Because your time is up. >> Absolutely. Okay. >> All right. Thank you so much. Anybody else who would like to address? >> Good evening. >> So, good evening esteemed members of the school board. My name is Heather Afria Basawa. I am representing Christian Faith Church International North America located here in Romeoville, Illinois. In January, myself and the executive leadership team of our youth ministry attended a board meeting requesting support for
022educational supplies for our mission trip to Ghana, West Africa, which was dubbed Mission Ghana 2025. And so I stand before you today with deep gratitude on behalf of our church community, both local and abroad, to say a heartfelt thank you for your generous donation of laptops and other educational supplies for Mission Ghana 2025. With your support, we were able to impact the lives of 350 elementary, middle, and high school students. Your support went far beyond the physical gift of technology. It became a bridge between communities, a tool for empowerment, and a powerful example of how education can transform lives. In areas where access to digital resources is limited or even non-existent, these laptops open doors, allowing students at the CFCI Preparatory School to explore learning in ways they had never experienced before. We witnessed the
023joy and curiosity on the faces of children as they held the laptops and sat in their newly commissioned commun computer lab. Teachers in Ghana expressed overwhelming appreciation sharing how these devices will enhance their curriculum, introduce new teaching methods, and bring a long-term impact on their students futures. Thanks to your commitment, we weren't just able to deliver tools. We were able to spark hope. I hope that you all have gotten the opportunity to view the recap video that was sent out by Dr. Pascavage and we'd also like to say thank you to him as well for his guidance and support. Mission Ghana 2025 reminded us all of the power of generosity and the responsibility we all share in creating access to quality education. Your decision to invest in this project has inspired us and shown us
024what's possible when a community rallies behind a vision of equity and opportunity. On behalf of every student whose world just got a little bit bigger and a lot brighter, thank you. Your support truly made a difference and we are forever grateful. Our humble ask to you is that you continue to help support us in some capacity for these students. Our youth ministry plans to embark on these types of mission trips every two years and we are already starting to plan for 2027. And so your ongoing support of this initiative will ensure that we spread the importance of equity in education. Thank you and God bless. >> We thank you for your kind words and we thank you for the support and you said it start Dr. but scavenage to get that going and we looking
025forward to uh with leadership. We'll see where we can help you at another date. At this time, we will have a action report from um Miss Sarah Donado. >> Action 410.1 is to approve the consolidated action report for certified, classified, and administrative personnel. The administration is respectfully seeking your approval on all items as presented. >> I have a motion. So move >> motion and second. Is there any questions or discussion? >> Seeing none, hearing none. Roll call vote, please. >> Member Hy, >> yes. >> Member Buris, >> yes. >> Member Pipkin, >> yes. >> Secretary Sutherland, >> yes. >> President Prom Campbell, >> yes. Motion carries. >> Action for 10.2 2 is to approve educator resignations pursuant to Illinois school code 105 ILCS 524-14. The administration is respectfully seeking your approval on all items as
026presented. >> Second motion and second. Any questions or discussion? >> Seeing none. Hearing none. Roll call vote please. >> Member Vurus. >> Yes. >> Member Pipkin. >> Yes. Member Hy. >> Yes. >> Secretary Sutherland. >> Yes. >> President Pro Tim Campbell. >> Yes. The motion carries. >> Action report. Mr. Munish. >> Thank you. 11.1 is the technology firewall support. This was anformational report presented to the board in July. The purpose of this purchase is to keep the uh current the district's cyber security system, specifically the firewall's yearly licensing fees and support. The district is leveraging available federal funding for technology infrastructure purchases and is eligible to receive approximately $38,000 uh in federal funding for a total cost of $75,410. So, the administration is re recommends that the board of education approve the purchase of the
027new firewall support system for a total amount of $75,410.94 with $36,951.36 to be paid by district funds as presented. >> Motion >> second is motion and second. Any questions or discussion? Seeing none hearing no. Roll call vote, please. >> Member Badurus, >> yes. >> Member Pipkin, >> yes. >> Member Hyo, >> yes. >> Secretary Sutherland, >> yes. >> President Proim Campbell, >> yes. Motion carries. >> 11.2 is the uh fiscal year 2526 crossing guard services. Again, this was anformational report presented at last board's uh education meeting. In 2020, the district assumed responsibility for crossing guard services. The existing contract with Andy Fring is set to expire this year. An invitation to bid was issued on June 27th, 2025 to solicit bids in the continuation of the crossing guard services for the upcoming school years. The
028bids were officially opened on July 10th, 2025 at 10 a.m. So, the administration recommends that the board of education approve a three-year contract with Annie Frame Services with an option of a 2-year extension for crossing guard services beginning 256 school year. This approval is contingent upon attorney review as presented. >> Motion. >> Second. Second. >> There's motion and second. Any questions or discussion? >> Member Hy. >> Yes. >> Member Pipkin. >> Yes. >> Member Badurus. >> Yes. >> Secretary Sutherland. >> Yes. >> President Prom Campbell. >> Yes. Motion carries. Okay. Action report. Dr. Woods. Information reports. Yes, I have a superintendent update ready for you. Hey, technology. What did I say earlier? There we go. All right. Enrollment is well underway. We are in pretty good shape. Um I think there may be a few
029families out there who have not registered, but we are quite hopeful that they will um before the deadline. There's information um posted on the screen. And I would like to say it was just quite exciting to see our um littlest ones in a multilingual program uh coming in uh fulfill an enrollment process um engaging with our staff and they were so um just eager um dressed for success and it was just good to see that um even prior to the start of the school year and it looks like we're off to a um great start with that. Uh we do continue to hire for a few positions. We do have a few open, correct, Mrs. Donado. All right. And some um high knee areas as well. Um there's a scan code that um you can
030utilize, but also reach out to um Mrs. Donado and her department and also check out the Valley View website um um vacancies list. Um we are actually in in pretty good shape, but again, we still have a few um positions that we want to make sure we are fully staffed going into the school year. Um we are 10 days away from the start of the school year and um so mark your calendars for K through 12 plus which will be our secondary transition experience program included. That will be the first day of school August 14th for our students and August 18th for our early childhood students. Um summer building and maintenance we continue to um move forward with a fresh new look. Jane Adams just installed a new mural. I mean, it is quite exceptional.
031I believe it um didn't take that long to um produce it, but it is just phenomenal, and I'm sure the students and staff there will be um equally excited to see it. and Irene King has a um parking lot refresh. And it's just the little things that occur that if you don't notice it, that's almost a good thing because that means that you know the little things are being taken care of um to make sure that our students and staff and community members are arriving and exiting the campus um on uh safely uh and securely. And that's just one of u many places throughout the district where we've had some uh parking lot refreshes, etc. And also to um uh speaking of new look, our Debbie Seor Early Childhood Center adjacent to Oak View is
032ready to go. It is quite fabulous. And speaking of that, we do have a ribbon cutting um scheduled for August 21st, which is a Thursday at 5:30. um come one, come all to check out the new facility and um hear a few words um from um the director and other um folks in relation to um the experience that our students will receive in Bowling Brook. Quite excited um about this opportunity for our community. And for some important upcoming dates, um August 8th will be the last day for our online registration. So, you definitely want to take advantage of that. For just a few families who haven't registered, August 11, 12th are our teacher institute days, followed by a teacher work day on the 13th. And as I mentioned, August 14th is the first day of
033school for K12 plus and August 18th for our early childhood students. Um, again, we are quite excited to kick off this school year. And that is the end of my report. recognize Mr. Renish. >> So 14.2 is our library uh liability insurance renewal. For your information, we have the property casualty student accident and educators legal liability insurance program renewal. According to Allian Insurance, rates continue to increase across all areas of insurance with an overall renewal increase between 10 and 15%. And it's just not limited to school districts and public entities. Um, this is particularly the case with cyber liability insurance where rates have impacted by the everinccreasing cyber attacks and lack of sufficient controls. I have to tell you that um there are a number of school districts can't obtain this insurance because they don't
034pass the rigorous questionnaire and controls that are in place. But I'm happy to report that u Mr. Gilmore and his team have done an excellent job in ensuring uh that we have all the mechanisms in place. So the recommendation for Allian Insurance after market uh renewal over uh 30 markets is to keep our library covered our liability coverages with Liberty Mutual, the district's property coverage with affiliated FM pollution liability and with iron shore storage and um student accident with guaranteed life. overall insurance program will increase by $168,26 or 11.15% at a total cost of1,59,93. So this is just an information report for the board of education regarding the annual renewal. Um a formal recommendation for the updating and finalizing of these services will be presented at the next board meeting for your approval. My my
035last report is 14.3 the Gmail uh migration support. So the district has been utilizing Google Workspace for its educational tools including Google Drive, Chrome, and Chromebooks for several years. With the recent adoption of Google Space for Education Plus Edition, we are now have access to even more advanced learning tools. As a result, after reviewing the current configuration, it makes sense to migrate from Microsoft email to Gmail starting the 26 2026 2027 school year. This transition will allow our staff to seamlessly integrate with the expanding suite of educational tools available within the Google uh workspace environment. Again, this report just serves as to inform the board of the current status of our email services and a formal recommendation for updating and finalizing any services will be presented for your approval at the next board of education
036meeting. >> Thank you, Mr. Renish. Now, Dr. Wood, board policies. >> Yes. Tonight, 11 board policies are presented to the board as an information report. Uh the policy updates are a result of regular review of board policies and/or recent changes in the school code as outlined in the accompanying memo for board review. The policies will be presented uh for board approval and action at the August 18th board meeting. >> Yes. Thank you. forformational item connected to Oakview's school improvement plan. Each year, the Illinois State Board of Education provides a summitive designation for all of our students on how they're performing on a number of different indicators for students acade academic and social emotional outcomes. In 2018, Oakview was identified as um targeted. And what that outlines, it puts it in a four-year cycle where the
037state comes to support from grant funds to really purposely plan for increasing our students outcomes for this particular subgroup. Uh Oakview is entering their second year. After one year, they actually raised their summitive designation to be comprehensive, but the state commits to a four-year cycle. So part of that process is making sure that we board approve their school improvement plan. And this is being presented as anformational item. their school improvement plan which we will look for action on at the next board meeting. >> Circus report. >> No report tonight. >> Association Federation reports. B Council Local 604. Valley Office of Personnel Council 604. Thank you. B Transportation Local 3057. Any old business from the board? Any new business from the board? Freedom of information act. You can direct your request to Mr. Blay. Announcement. Any
038announcements by the board. Announcement by the administration. >> Yes, I do. So, um to our student ambassadors who are seniors, welcome back. And seniors, [Applause] um this is your um final year of school and I just want to encourage you to embrace every day. Hayden, I believe you spoke to it too. Um there's going to be quite a lot of activities that occur and it's going to go by so quickly. Um we really appreciated um the inaugural launch of the student ambassador program. Um, I have to say personally it just lifted my spirit on many occasions and we look forward to the continued good work. So, thank you. Again, shout out for our ambassadors, our seniors, and as they'll be interviewing some juniors, and they'll be coming along with them, so they'll be able to
039mentor them. And we'll just welcome them everybody back to our Valley View School District community to have a great 2526 as she's already praying that everybody has rested and now ready to lace up and lead. Is that what we're doing? So, you'll see those around that we're lace up and lead. So, but we know we do need that village. So, just welcome back everybody and we just thank you for being here tonight. And if there's no other, I will take a motion to adjourn. >> Okay. Go ahead. >> Take you back. I just want to wish everyone a successful 2526 school year. So, welcome back and um thank you for coming back. Else. Alrighty. Motion to adjurnn, please. Nobody wants to make a motion. >> Motion second. All right. All in favor? >> I. Good
040night. Thank you.