Valley View CUSD 365u Board Meeting 3/24/2025

001Oh my god. [Applause] Hallelujah. [Applause] [Music] Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat. [Music] Good evening. Welcome to the regularly scheduled Valley View School Board meeting of March 24th. Would ask that you silence your cell phones. Rise and join us in the pledge of allegiance led by member Burus. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty. All right. Board affirmation statement. Member Sutherland, if you would please. Our mission is to empower every learner to be college, career, and life ready, and to develop, grow, and achieve as a productive citizen. Thank you. Uh moving down the agenda. Dr. Wood, the agenda. Yes. Thank you, Board President Quigley. Tonight we are seeking your approval of the agenda as presented. There a motion. Motion and seconded. Any discussion? All those in favor say I. I. Oppos. Same sign. The eyes have

002it. Student and staff recognition. Dr. Wood. Yes. Tonight we have a spotlight video. Deanna Snider, Irene King, Elementary reading recovery teacher about when you say that word out loud, what you hear at the beginning all the way to the end. Can you say that word slowly and chuck it for me? Yeah, watch me do it now. Will, you do it. Yeah, reading is a very complex skill that um helps you throughout life. You can use reading for entertainment. You use reading for your job. And it's a skill that your brain has so many different things that has to do automatically. Um you have to look at the first letter. You need to know what the sound it is. You need to look from order from first to last. You have to keep it in sequence.

003Um so reading those skills are important. Learning those foundational skills. Soup. Soup. Yes. Good job saying that word slowly. What do you hear? What's our ending sound? All right. Read it for me. Goldie. Goldie. All right. Reading is meaning. Reading is you're reading about something. You will be learning or entertainment. um when kids are learning to read that they need to be quick problem solvers. They need to have a quick strategy to help themsel because when they're not with me, they're by themsel in their classroom and they need to be able to help themselves. There are lots of different things that children need to look at when they're first learning to read. um almost like that you have to train your brain to look at the letter, know what sound it makes, know that those

004letters all combine to make up a word and then the words go together to make up a sentence. Um so that's a lot of different skills and not just reading. Then you have to put that all together for the writing. So literacy, it all goes together, reading and writing. As a student, why did you become so interested in the skill of reading that led you to a career of being a reading recovery teacher? Once I got to Purdue University and I started working in my clinicals and part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, I just enjoyed working more one-on-one and in small groups with um children. And then a lot of the children needed extra support in certain subject areas. And so it kind of just kind of just gravitated towards helping those students

005that weren't proficient readers. How do you help your students become critical thinkers? During our lessons, either one-on-one or in a small group, um they are taught to become independent problem solvers and understand what reading is. So they are understanding that they need to check that first letter, they need to make sure that they check the picture. Um, they are the ones that are taking ownership of really thinking about what will get them to where they need to be as a proficient reader. Goldie and the three bears, I want you to go ahead and we're going to talk about what we learned about this book yesterday. Then we're going to do some word work and then we are going to read a little bit more of Goldie and the Three Bears. So, who can tell me

006what happened at the beginning of the story? Describe the satisfaction you get when one of the students you are working with has that moment where the light bulb goes on and they get it. It makes me so happy and so proud of them. Especially when I see them from kindergarten and I might not see them in the other grades, but then I see them as fifth graders and then they come back and visit when they're done with high school and still contact me when they're in college. Um, just knowing that they are successful, that they know that I believed in them, that they were special, and that they are loved. All right. I think that um, go [Applause] ahead. I think all of our educators can testify to the u that light bulb moment um,

007when we see um, learning taking place in real life. So, thank you to Mrs. Schneider and all of our reading recovery teachers who provided intensive reading intervention support to students over um very uh many years. We look forward to them utilizing their expert knowledge of literacybased best practices to meet the needs of a higher number of students and staff in order to keep pace with the evershifting needs of our school community and diverse learners um for the 2025 school year and beyond. So, thanks again, Miss Schneider, and to all our reading recovery teachers. Thank you. Moving down the agenda, International Skating Union Junior World US Team National Team. All right. Good evening, school board members, members of senior leadership, Valley View community and staff. My name is Patrick Woods. I'm the assistant principal for athletics

008at Bowling Brook High School. Uh congrats to all those receiving recognition tonight. Uh we have a lot of amazing athletes in Valley View and the first one that is going to be introduced to you is a member of the International Skating Junior World US National Team. And here to speak about her a little further is teacher Pton Chadock. Thank you. I'm excited to be here to honor Emma today. Emma is a talented figure skater, inspirational coach, and a dedicated student. After putting a lot of time and hard work in with her teammates this season, she got to see all of their hard work pay off. At the beginning of the month, Emma and her team competed in Sweden. They made history by becoming the first US team to win the title at the ISU World

009Junior Synchronized Skating Champions. We are so proud of Emma and her teammates. Congratulation, Emma, on becoming a World Junior Champion. [Applause] Okay, moving uh on. As I said earlier, we have a lot of amazing athletes uh and staff members at Valley View. I know tonight is about student recognition, but I could not pass on this opportunity uh to talk about one of our coaches. Um after I introduce uh the next round of coaches, we will have coaches from both Romeoville and Bowling Brook up here to talk about their all-state basketball players. Uh before that, we have a member of our staff, Coach Rob Bro, if you come on up here for a minute. He's he's going to be mad at me for doing this, but like I said, I couldn't pass on this opportunity. On

010May 3rd, I'm going to have the privilege of attending the Hall of Fame banquet down in Bloomington, Illinois, because Coach Bro is being inducted into the IBCA Hall of Fame. Just to give you just to give you a few little stats. 17 years at Bowling Brook High School, over 400 wins, three state final appearances, assisted countless players getting to the next level. He puts tremendous time, effort, and energy into our program, and we're lucky to have him. Here to talk about his players, which I know he will be happy to do, is coach Bro. [Applause] I was not expecting the first part of that, so uh thank you. uh Mr. Wood and um appreciate everybody. Uh to do what I do is not possible with everybody that's in this room and uh I want to

011give a a couple special acknowledgements before I get to the players here because it is about the players. But um PresidentWigley, members of the board, Dr. Pascavage and and community members. I just want to say um if it if you come to a game at Bowling Brook High School, board member Sroa is at our game every time. Every single time. So, uh I cannot thank you enough for the support that we get, not only from the members of the board, but from you personally. Um I and I I wasn't planning on doing this. Then I when I see her, I see her everywhere and she is everywhere that we are. So um you know to commitment like that just thank you uh for that and then I'll get on to to why we are uh

012uh here tonight. I'm going to recognize three of our players. Uh, but before I do that, I want to just make it clear that if you see these three young men only as basketball players at Bowling Brook High School, you have a short-sighted view of everything that they bring to the table. These three young men that I'm about to introduce to you represent everything that is good about our school and everything that is good about our community in Bowling Brook. I live in Bowling Brook. I have a daughter that graduated from BHS. I have a son who is fortunate enough to play uh with these three uh gentlemen and I cannot say enough about them off the court. Uh and tonight, you know, I'm gonna make a list and recite all their honors and I'll

013probably forget some. I already told them earlier. I probably won't uh say all of them, but I really want to let you know how I feel about them as people uh because that's more important than the players that they are. And a lot of people see them just as basketball players. Uh but that would be a very short-sighted view. All three of them are honoral students. All three of them uh are leaders uh not only of our team but in our school as well. So with with that being said, I'll I'll get to the get to the players. First one is DaVon Thompson. If you would like to come up, [Applause] please. DaVon's receiving two awards tonight from the board. The first one is for being named Chicago Suntimes uh player of the year. Um

014he is the first sophomore in the history of the award. Um so I'm going to give him this one and then I'll go on with all the other things. Don't go anywhere yet. Um and then he was also named first team all state by the IBCA. Um, again, he is only a sophomore, so um, quite an achievement. So, I'll give you this one, but don't go yet. Um, just a few other things about him. Um, he was also named player of the year in the Juliet Herald News. He was MVP of the Jack Tosh holiday tournament. He was all tournament first team at the Decatur Turkey tournament. He was the MVP of our conference, the Southwest Prairie Conference. and he was recently named in the top 25 nationally on ESPN's class of 2027 rankings. He

015was also just named Max Prep's state player of the year in the state of Illinois. So, um you know, the basketball piece is one thing, but uh it's an honor for me to to work with this young man every day, day in and day out, and we're looking forward to to big things ahead. So, let's have a big round of applause for DaVon Thompson. Now, you just [Applause] Okay, now these next two sometimes get lumped together for obvious reasons uh because they are brothers. Um and so I asked them when we were standing out in the lobby, who wants to go first? Should we go oldest to youngest or youngest to oldest or what do you want to do? And they agreed. Uh JT, if you want to step step right up here. Um this

016is JT Pedigrew. He is a senior for us. Um he will be attending Valareerezo University on a full athletic [Applause] scholarship. He averaged a double double for us. And for those of you that don't know, that means he averaged double digits in points and rebounds. I I don't know if there's another person in the state that um did that. He was all tournament at the Jack Tash Holiday Classic. He was all tournament at the Decatur Turkey tournament. He was first team all conference in the Southwest Prairie. He shot almost 60% from two-point range and uh just over 40% from three-point range on the season. Uh he was named all area in the Chicago Sun Times. He was named first team all area in the Juliet Herald News. Um, on top of that, uh, I cannot

017say enough about JT, the person that he is, the leader that he is, and obviously we're going to miss him on the basketball floor, but we're going to really miss him because of his leadership and the way he carries himself and the way that he projects himself uh, throughout our school. So, uh, congratulations JT. Uh, first team all state IBCA. [Applause] Okay, Ry doesn't want me to say this, but here comes baby brother. This is Brady Pedigrew. We love you. We love you. Uh he is just a freshman um for us. Uh he was all tournament at the Jack Tosh Holiday Classic. first team all conference, first team all area. Um he's generally considered one of the top freshman not only in the state but in the country. He just received his second USA basketball

018uh invitation for the junior national team uh mini camp which happens in about two weeks. Um, and his his game is very mature for his age. And uh, you know, we're honestly can't wait for next season. Um, not only with with Brady, but with with DaVon as well. So, um, with no more further ado, uh, Brady Pedigrew. Very good. This might not be your [Applause] last. Thank you everybody. Thank you members of the board and congratulations to all the honores that are that are going to be honored next. I come by [Applause] too and coach Bros could say that about a whole lot of players that have come through his program. Lots of really, really, really good student athletes and leaders in the building in the community. So Rob, thanks for what you do. We

019know that doesn't just happen. Thank you for having me. I'm Coach Howard from Romeoville High School. Um first and foremost, I want to congratulate Cro uh Coach Broen on his honors of Hall of Fame with the IBCA and the players from um Bowling Brook High School. Special thanks to the board for having us out and special thanks to Mike Strode, our um athletic director, and Derek Kinder for all they do for the boys basketball program. DJ, come on up. I'm going to introduce DJ Porter to you and I'm going to try to do this without getting emotional. Um, we're in this era now where it's transfer portal. You see it in college. You see it in high school. Just to speak a little bit, Romeoville was tough. It was tough at Romeoville this year. We

020had a team that won 20some games in 2024. We had high expectations. since we were expecting to, you know, really contend for a state run this year. And right in the summer, we got hit with the transfer bug and lost four of the our top athletes that were stated to come back. But I'm bringing that up because I want to acknowledge DJ. DJ didn't let that rock, you know, rock him or rattle him. He He had people telling him, "Hey, you need to get out of Romeoville. Everyone else has left." But he came to me and said, "Coach, I'm staying with you. I'm going to be loyal to Romeoville and we're going to get it done here at Romeoville. So, I want to thank you for that, [Applause] DJ. A little bit about DJ. He

021led our team in every statistical category that we have this year. He had three 30-point game performances. A 30-point game versus Nichollet out of uh Wisconsin. Um a 35point game in the first game of the season. packed house crowd at Washington High School where he hit the game time free throws with thousands of fans screaming at him and then in rec in overtime he hit the bucket to win the game. His next performance his next outstanding performance was against Joliet West where he had 39 points and hit seven three-pointers and led us to an upset victory over Joliet West. Following that, one of my favorite performances, and I haven't told him this, of the season was against Planefield North. DJ had a tough game and him and I were going at it cuz he was

022struggling. I was trying to keep him, you know, focused in that game. He probably had about six points pretty much the whole game. We went into the last 3 seconds of the game. I said, DJ, we got to give you the ball top of the key. Get it done. DJ hit a three-pointer to win the game and send us home with a [Applause] victory. His averages this year, 17.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.4 steals while carrying a 3.2 GPA, and an honor student at Romeoville High School. DJ was our team MVP, our team captain. He's a second time first team all SBC uh conference um selection. He was nominated in the Joliet Herald News for uh all all area. Um nominated for conference player of the year in the SBC. He was first team Washington Shootout

023all tournament team. First team 608 tournament in in Wisconsin. first team Midwest Showdown Classic all tournament and for for the third time he was a allstate selection by the IBC coaches association. DJ will be attending Charlton State University on the D1 scholarship in Texas. Congratulations DJ. [Applause] Good evening everyone. My name is Chris Smith. I am the head girls basketball coach at Bowling Brook High School. Um before we get started tonight, I also want to thank my superintendent, our superintendent, Dr. Keith Woods, and to the school um board for their support. We have been known, we travel a lot. Um we play teams all over the Midwest as well as in Florida every year. Those things do not happen without the support of our school board that let us give us that opportunity to go

024travel around and play the best competition available to us. So with that, I thank them as well as my principal Dr. Pascavage and my um athletic director Patrick Woods for their support and giving us an opportunity to showcase our talent around the country. With that said, our young lady tonight I've had the pleasure of knowing since seventh grade. When you talk about our team this year, we was very young. We graduated four um college players last year and we kind of rebuilt this year and started over. This girl came into this season having not played one varsity game in her high school career. Her freshman year, she stayed on JV for the whole season. She ended up this year as not only the MVP of the conference, not only all conference, but as well a

025third team all stater. She finished with over 450 points this year, close to 300 rebounds. What separates her from everyone else is that dog mentality within her. We talk about kids being able to be coachable. Once again, this is a kid that's very coachable. At no point did she ever talk back or argue, I want to do things this way. She did everything we asked her and even more. Um I used to joke with her during the season. I call her, you know, a 10-minute um a game person cuz she could only play 10 minutes. And the reality of it is she almost played 32 minutes of every game. So with that said, I would like to congratulate Miss Sydney Dodd on being the IBCA 13 girls all state. Good job. [Applause] Hello everyone. Uh

026my name is Nate Fowler and I am joined tonight by my fellow coaches Jim Pledgy and Dave Denhart. Uh first I'd like to thank the school board and Dr. Wood for allowing us the opportunity to recognize our athletes uh for their amazing accomplishments throughout the season. Um, additionally, I would like to congratulate all the other uh coaches here, especially the fellow middle school coaches from across the district and their athletes for having fantastic seasons and achieving the successes that they have. Um, wrestling is a very demanding sport. It's a sport that requires a lot of sacrifice, perseverance, and uh discipline. It's one of the longest seasons, and it's truly an accomplishment uh to each one of the coaches and the athletes um that work tirelessly throughout the season uh to to reach those ultimate goals

027that they've set for themselves. This season, um, Brooks was able to have a fantastic team from a perspective of a an entire unit to also individuals. We finished with a record of 14 wins and five losses. We had multiple place winners at every tournament that we entered, including the Homer invite and the Dale Keith invite. We were 4-0 at the Richland DS. We placed third at regionals. We took eighth at sectionals, and we finished with four state qualifiers. Uh I would also like to take a moment uh to recognize a former Brooks wrestler, Alejandra Flores, um who wrestled for Brooks for three years. She placed fourth this year at the girls state tournament and uh we are following her successes over the course of the season. Um at this time, I'd like to bring up

028our current wrestlers and Axel Aparicio. Um, Axel is an eighth grader and he was a three-year wrestler for Brooks. He finished this season with a record of 28 wins and 10 losses and seven 17 of those wins were by pinning his opponent. He placed fourth at the homer invite, fourth at the Dale Keith invite, second at regionals, third at sectionals, and was uh one and two at the state tournament. Um, his first time as a state qualifier. Congratulations, Axel. [Applause] Our next athlete is DeAndre Wilder. Uh DeAndre is a seventh grader and he finished his season with a record of 24 wins and five losses and 15 of those wins were pins. DeAndre placed second at the homer invite. Uh he took first place at regionals, second place at sectionals, and went two and two

029in the state tournament. Just one match away from placing this season as a first time state qualifier. We look forward to next season. DeAndre Deshawn Wilder is next. Deshawn is a sixth grader and he had a record of 23 wins and 14 losses with 16 pins. Uh he took sixth place at the homer invite, third place at regionals, and third place at sectionals. Deshawn went 0 and2 at the state tournament this season but gained some really valuable experience and we're excited to have him for the next two years. Congratulations, Deshawn. And our last athlete is Jay Woo. Jay is an eighth grader. And what is incredible about Jay is he is a firstear wrestler. He had 20 wins and 13 losses with 10 pins this season. He took fourth place at the Dale Keith invite,

030second at regionals and fourth at sectionals. And at the state tournament this year, Jay went one and two. Congratulations, Jay. Got the certificate. Uh good evening. This is Ben Hart representing Humphrey Middle School. Uh coach Rachel Dela Morte and also Tony Clark who can't be here. He's coaching. We're here to celebrate Dominic Budsik and his uh amazing season. Uh thank you everybody. Uh first Dominic uh came to he's a seventh grader and he came to us for the first time as a sixth grader never never having wrestled before and this is extremely hard to believe. He had in all my 16 years of wrestling I've never seen someone with so much natural talent just intuition. It's like he started in his second or third year in terms of his ability level. We kept asking him

031are you sure you never wrestled before? No. No jiu-jitsu, no nothing. It's just no. He's just he was just that good. uh after his first year he he did some club wrestling and he was he was um placing at finals try at at national tournaments and things and so when he came to us as a seventh grader he posed some difficulty for us as coaches how do we really challenge him and get him to really kind of you know stress him a little bit see where where he needs to work uh and it was very difficult to do. We would have uh wrestlers lined up, seven wrestlers in his weight class, and we'd have him wrestling Dom. And then when the when the his wrestling partner would get tired, we'd sub him out and get

032another guy in. And we just do that, do that, do that, do that. And I'm watching Dom's face. I'm like, "How much can he handle?" Is it? What? I feel like I'm torturing him. He would never snap. I would be the first to tap out. I'd be like, "That's enough. That's enough wrestling for now." Um we would we would go to opposing schools and uh Dominic would be wrestling a guy and he'd pit him in 15 seconds. And I'm thinking to myself, well, that's good. I'm really proud pr proud of his accomplishment, but how do I how do I find something I can work with him on for the next week? So, I'd go over the opposing coach and I say, "Give me the biggest, strongest, tallest, meanest kid you have on the team that

033we can legally put in front of Dominic." And to find someone, we'd go over to Dominic. We'd say, "You don't have to wrestle again. This is just an exhibition, but do you want to wrestle a second time against their their baddest guy?" He'd always say yes. He'd never back down in any challenge. Uh so, every time we cranked up the difficulty level, he rose to the occasion. and he started winning everything that he touched. So he he he was first place at Dale Keith, first place at regionals, first place at sectionals. And not only was it first place, he was quick pins and tech falls. And wrestling a tech fall is when the referee says, "I've seen enough. You've you've done enough. Let's call this match." So he just totally dominant. Really fun to watch.

034When it came to the state series, he came in uh he came in third place in a in a convocation uh center full of eighth graders. So, it's just so incredible that he could place at third uh only in seventh grade. We look forward to seeing what he can do next year. Uh let's see here. And then in conclusion, I just want to congratulate Dominic Dominic Budsick on an amazing season. [Applause] Good evening everybody. My name is Art Tansel. I am uh one of the three wrestling coaches at Jane Adams along with Dave Paby and uh Ed Hasselberg. Uh on behalf of our principal, Sonia Ruiz, who's here somewhere. I saw you. Uh and uh Dr. Wood and uh Dr. Pollson and uh school board members. Thank you guys for continuing to support middle school

035sports. I know it can sometimes be a challenge, but you guys find a way to make it happen. And uh as a result, I stand up here with two kids. And the reason I'm doing that is that two young men. Uh they are both heavyweight. So in middle school wrestling, there are 19 weight classes. And um I never thought I'd see the day where I would have two kids in the same weight class make the state tournament. Well, it happened. Uh so Eric over here on my left and Troy on my right uh are two fantastic examples of what it's about to be a Mustang. Uh they excel in the classroom. Uh they're leaders in our school uh in some in good ways and some in others. Um I'm just kidding. Eric's an awesome young

036man and so is Troy. Uh the reality is uh Troy started with us in sixth grade and I remember we went to state this year and I'm talking to him and he's like oh you know you know you know coaches and and athletes have certain conversations when they're not on the mat and when they're doing special things and uh if Troy remembers two years ago when you were a sixth grader I had another heavyweight Eric Washington who's at BHS this year and you remember you used to be scared to wrestling him in practice. Now he's gonna smile. Look at that smile on his face. He's like, "Coach, I was never scared of wrestling Eric." That smile tells you all right there. What's funny about that is we have a couple of kids now who have

037come up to me and said, "Coach, I don't want to wrestle Eric or Troy at practice." I'm like, "Listen, it's a continuing cycle and you get better as you go." So, I'm very proud of these two fine young men. I can't wait to see what they do uh moving forward in their careers, whether it be at BHS or somewhere else. But, uh, I want to end on one thing, and Eric, this is for you in particular. I don't know if you guys know, well, of course you know the NCAA basketball tournaments going on for men and women, right? Big deal. What you might not know is that also the NCAA college state championships are also happening. And uh there was a heavyweight this year that won his match and they had the whole place blown

038up and in and by doing takedowns. Heavyweights and takedowns aren't really in the same category. Um, Eric, some say he got lucky in the bracket, whatever. Eric went to every match at the state series with the takedown. In fact, the semi-final match, he took the kid off his feet, put him on the ground, and I don't think that kid has ever known ever happened to him before cuz he knew nothing what to do. So, uh, they're both great young men. Can't wait to see what they do in the future. Thank you very much, Troy Houston and Eric Thompson. Yes, shake hands. [Applause] Good evening. Uh my name is Jack David. I am a eighth grade math teacher here at Luke Kenzic and also the uh one of the wrestling coaches here at Lucic along with

039my fellow coach Justin Good Pastor. I do want to say thank you to all of the other middle schools uh athletics uh or I'm sorry, thank you uh or yes, I'm sorry. Thank you to the board uh for having us all here today and congratulations again to all the middle school athletes uh for what they accomplished this year and what we accomplished in this season. Uh first I want to start off with our Luke Middle School wrestling standouts. So this season we had eighth grader Jonathan Rivera uh who put in the work. He sharpened his skills and took on every challenge that came his way with an impressive 41 wins and three losses this year. He dominated the mats and he left a lasting mark. Uh Jonathan was a champion of the O'Brien tournament. He

040was also a champion of the Dale Keith tournament, a champion at regionals, second place at the Pan Panther Invite, second place at sectionals, as well as with his relentless grind and dedication. Uh it paid off as he rose to the occasion on the biggest stage and became state champion. So Jonathan uh Rivera here, give it up for [Applause] him. [Applause] Our other state placer this year has worked just as hard, uh, continuously pushing himself to new heights to get better and better each day. Eighth grader Luis Gonzalez finished the season with a 25 win and 14 loss record, proving his determination and growth. He placed seventh place at the Panther Invite, second place at regionals, fourth place at sectionals, and he was a state qualifier. Luis found his rhythm this season, refining his style and

041playing to his strengths. No matter the pressure, he stayed composed and confident. He showed resistance all the way uh through to the state tournament, representing both AVM and Luke Kenzic at 185 lbs. Make some noise for Luis Gonzalez. [Applause] All right, moving down the agenda. Congratulations to all. Believe it or not, my freshman year I wrestled 112. Didn't last long, but uh congratulations coaches and and all students. Thank you so much. Treasures report. Apparently no report. Shaking his hands. Consent agenda item. Dr. Wood. Yes. Thank you, board president. Quickly, tonight we are seeking your approval of eight consent agenda items as presented. 7.1 board meeting minutes. March 10th, 20 25. Um 7.2 Executive session meeting minutes. March All right. March 10, 2025. Um 7.3 gift to A Veto Martinez Middle School. 7.14 fundraiser for Tibet

042Elementary School. 7.5 Intergovernmental agreement with school association for special education in DuPage County, also known as Sassid, 7.6 Benolenberg High School trip, 7.7 gift to Romeoville High School, and 7.8 gift for Oakview Elementary School. So move motion and second. Is there any discussion? Roll call vote, please. Member Campbell, yes. Member Hy, yes. Member Sutherland, yes. Member Beduris, yes. Secretary Sakura, yes. Vice President Zach, yes. President Quigley, yes. Leaz on reports. Any and all from my right? I got a couple of reports. Um, first of all, I'd like to talk about the March 2025 students of the quarter. From Wilco Area Career Center, we have from Romeoville, Molina Ortiz and Business Management. From Bowling Brook, Marcus McCree from Culinary Arts from Romeoville, Alex Andred from Introduction to Health and from Bowling Brook, Maria Mandrean in preK.

043Also, uh we had an opportunity at Wilco last week. Uh ISBY came and they were here for playing field uh for all day on Monday and then on Tuesday they came to visit our career center and we had a lot of information to give to them and they were very impressed when we were talking afterwards. Um, we found out that uh Tony Sanders, his father, he's the president of the Illinois State Board of Education. His father had a lot to do with the building of the Will Cole. So, that was a very nice uh opportunity that we've seen and we got a lot of kudos from them. So, we appreciate that. Vice President Zach is the felony state board of education. Thank you. Any from the left? No reports. All right. Uh student ambassador leazison

044report. Mr. James Estrada, if you would kind sir. Uh yes. Thank you to members of the board, um, senior council, and also the community members for allowing us, uh, the school ambassadors to be here tonight and giving us a platform where we can talk. Um, for to begin my uh, report, I'd like to start with our our house shoutouts. So, to begin, shout out to our spring sports for starting their seasons recently. We're all proud and excited to see how our teams do this year. Next, the Romeville High School Our House, Our Culture event will be at RHS on Wednesday, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria. Come to see a wonderful showcase of different cultures at RHS. Both RHS and BHS hosted their spring musicals these past couple of weeks, and BHS track placed

045fourth at conference, and runner Bruce Duncan placed first in the 400 meter. We would like to bring uh call to we would like to call to attention to the disability awareness month for March. And as a reminder to our 2025 seniors, please make sure to check in with your counselor about your post high school plans. For old business, the ambassadors have been working really hard with the district faculty to formulate the advertisements around the district for our district-wide spirit week set from April 14th through the 17th. for new business. We don't have any. And for sign off, I would like to thank Superintendent Dr. Wood for staying a year longer. For those who didn't know, he was expected to retire, then agreed to come as a superintendent for just one year and now has extended

046his tenure another year. Thank you for helping us ambassadors and our community. And we greatly appreciate you staying. We hope everyone gets to enjoy a restful spring break. Thank you for your comments, young man. Uh, audience participation, please keep your comments to five minutes or less and keep them school business related if you would. Hi, introduce yourself kindly. My name is Allison Wald and I live here in Bowling Brook. Um, and I'm a taxpayer for the Veview School District School Board. I'm here today to comment on my view on transparency from the school district and the board. Uh my first observation began last March when Rachel Kinder uh resigned and gave a twoe not notice. This seems to be unprecedented to me uh for a high level administrator to resign and leave within two weeks.

047Um I thought that the level um Then the school district paid her Sally through the end of the school year. This is confusing to me as well as many fellow friends and taxpayers. My next observation is that without any communication or minimal communication to the public, Dr. Keith Wood was promoted to superintendent of schools. While we really have enjoyed as a family Dr. Wood being the superintendent, it was just I felt unusual the lack of communication with that search. Um, and then this year his contract was extended without any explanation or communication to the public despite that he had put in retirement for the end of the school year. I understand as a board you have to make an executive decision about hiring, retaining, promoting staff, but as a parent and a taxpayer, I am

048wanting to make sure a thorough and transparent process is happening to hire, retain a person in charge of the one of the largest unit school districts in the Chicagoland area. We deserve that planning and communication. Also, it seems there was an exodus of staff from the administrative building last summer as well as that news that an employee was dismissed for mismanaging funds. We have not heard an update on that. I would love one because it seems to be a chronic problem that we just don't have the money. Um, lastly, I find it a conflict of interest when an administrator of the district is actively electionering for a specific school board member on Facebook, not on her own personal Facebook page, but on group Facebook pages. Um, I understand as a wife, as a family member

049that I want to uh I would love to cheerlead my my family member running for a school board, but it's just as a staff member, we need to um kind of be careful about when and who we're celebrating or advocating for folks. Um, thank you. And last thing, um, I know I've spoken a couple times in regards to trans issues. I really again appreciate all of the school district support on this and um Monday uh March 31st is trans day of visibility. So if anybody um is Sunday we're going there's a group going down to the city to federal plaza to participate in a rally. So please keep those folks in in mind. Thank you. [Applause] Please state your name, word. Hello, my name is uh Lewis and I am a husband of a staff

050member uh in the district. So, first of all, thank you guys for your time. I appreciate that you give the public a time to speak. What I like to bring up is uh safety in our schools. So, I know there's at least one school in the district that does not have a security guard. As I stand before you today to address that critical issue, our school, as I mentioned, does not have a security guard. In a time where safety in schools has never been more important than it is today, I don't think this is something that we should allow that goes unressed. A security guard is not just someone who stands at the entrance. They are trained professionals who prevent threats, respond to emergencies and create safe learning environment for everyone and a safe learning

051environment for the teachers to perform their duties. Their their presence alones cannot deter things. It reduces incidents violence and provides a sense of reassurance for everyone on the campus. Uh we teach our students to be prepared to be responsible to look out for one another. How to but how can we expect them to do that if they don't feel safe? Is there any plans for all all schools in the district to make sure they have security guards going forward? We will absolutely look into that. Awesome. I know we have I believe we have security guards that move from place to place as needed, but we will definitely look into that. Awesome. Thank you. And the other thing I'd like to address is we need our educators to be ambassadors. We need our educators to be

052role models and we need to make sure that accountability is held. I know recently there was a principal that was arrested for a DUI and my question is what accountability is going to happen to that individual. That's personnel matter. We're not going to discuss that. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Hello and good evening. My name is Victoria Pipkin. I am also a resident of Bowling Brook, Illinois. I'm a mother of twins who are 15 years old who were raised in Valley View schools. Uh my daughter just got done with her her run as Cinderella and Into the Woods at Bowling Brook High School. Very proud. Go ahead. Yes. And um we had the pre pleasure of actually seeing both schools. So we saw Cinderella at Romeoville High School and we saw of course

053Into the Woods at Bowling Brook and everyone was phenomenal. So cheers. Um I wanted to get up today. There's two things. Um, one was, um, there have been some Facebook posts in terms of what a board's role was, and I just had concerns about that. Um, when you read the the statutes as well as when you look at the, uh, school board roles, it does say that the role of a school board is to oversee. Um and so my my one concern that the post was by someone who's an active current board member. My concern is um does the board see themselves as overseers who do need to actually look at the financials and manage uh not to manage but to oversee. So we have managers right? So we have a superintendent and we have

054all the team members and we have all the teachers but in terms of overseeing and um making sure the policies are in place but also making sure that the risks are managed and I believe that is part of the role of the supervisor especially when you read the actual rules in terms of what a schoolboard member is supposed to be. So I'm I'm just concerned about that. If that is not something that any of our board members holds, um, please read up on that to make sure that you know that your role is to oversee and to understand and be kind of a gatekeeper so we don't have risks and we don't have losses. Um, so that was one concern. Sorry. Thank you. Um, and the second one was, um, there was a, um, there

055were some minutes that were written, um, not this particular month, but in February, and I know that my comments weren't in those particular minutes. Um, but then the week after that, there were comments made about, you know, people who are active in the community, and my name wasn't mentioned, but that's okay. What I what I'm concerned about are some of the um the invisibility of some of um how our students have felt. So we have had scenarios where comments have been made that affect our students. Uh changes have been made that have rolled down and affected our students. And I don't want our students to ever feel invisible. So just like I was sitting there like hey why are why is my where are my comments? What happened there? I don't want our students to

056feel like that when they think they don't matter. First of all, I want to say I know from the majority of everyone sitting up here and the majority of our school district, our students matter just like our student ambassadors are sitting here. But I don't want to ever be neglected that if you take the initiative and you want to, you know, do something for your school, you want to host a a a candidate forum for yourselves, all of that sort of thing. Um, I don't want you to feel silenced or invisible because you're not. So, we see it. We thank you for all of your efforts. I thank all of the students and I also thank all of the teachers who take the time out to recognize all of the students and all their achievements.

057I know I'm kind of speaking very vaguely because I'm not trying to name any names or name any particular incidents, but I want you to know that your efforts are seen, recognized, and valued. So, that's it. Thank you. Thank you. Hi there. Please state your name. Uh, hi. My name is Jaden. Oh, sorry. Uh, hi. My name is Jaden Potit. Um, you get a little closer. Closer to the mic. There you go. Thank you. Yeah. My name is Jaden Potit. Um, sorry, I'm a little nervous. Um before I start, um I'd like to offer a heartfelt apology to my friend. I um I broke their trust recently and I'd uh like to say a sincere apology and say I'm sorry. Um I don't know if uh what I'm about to say is going to come

058off well. Um, I have like a bit of the jitters as I said, but um, the other day my um, my brother called me a loser and um, he says I don't really work hard enough. I think it's really funny because uh, I work for the school district, you know, and um, I think that losers are people who care. Same with weirdos. I think um looking at like history and things like that, you have people like Don Kiote trying to show people like Sandro Panza that sometimes windmills are not windmills, that things uh aren't what they appear to be. Um and I look at um the people in our school and I look at the students and I see them trying. I see teachers trying and I think like times currently are um they're very

059vague with the Doniote example. I look at the news and sometimes things aren't as clear as they used to be that um we don't really see the great efforts that are like put forth by our well by the giants that we stand upon. My mother uh worked at the school district for 20 years and this is where she's going to lay her head to rest. And as someone who works here, too, I um I'd like to make her bed. I'd like to have that be done and have everyone be grateful and acknowledge the people in their community. But I think it's all too hard because our means, while so gross, are are vague. They aren't as um as clear as they used to be. But I every day I work at uh Romeoville High School

060with Tech. Um I see the students trying their best. I see the teachers caring and I see everyone taking that great noble effort. I mean even right before everyone in our community, we just saw wonderful people, wonderful students trying their best, succeeding and excelling. And that's well, you don't really see that on a Facebook page or Tik Tok or scrolling through these feeds. And um I just like to thank everyone and thank you for caring and trying your best. And um to close on this um and and this is the hardest thing because like I said it's trying to piece pierce the veil in some way um outside of the district and in America times being as unsure as they are as hate being as prolific as it is. Um, I want to create an

061assurance to a certain group of people, both gay and trans, that um, I think it's just your being you that makes the world a special and wonderful place. No one can take that away from you. I hope you have a great rest of your day, guys. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Hey there. Hello. Good evening. My name is Sean Salsbury. I live in Bowling Brook. I've been a resident of the district for 41 years. made a lot of taxes over those 41 years um and so forth which was my subject matter last time and will be again this time. So I was a little surprised after the public comment section last time on March 10th that one of the board members mentioned or there was a question there was a response I forget exactly how

062it went down but that the student count had been going down. Dr. Dr. Wood and I had a nice conversation a little bit later. Yet, I continue to see more and more money being poured into the school district. I'm having a hard time putting those two pieces of the puzzle together. For instance, from 21 to 22, my 365U portion of my bill went up 9.68%. 2023, in comparison to 22, it went up 8.1%. I don't know what 24 is going to be, obviously, because the tax bills have not been issued yet, but my assessment went up 11.14%. So if that holds true and that translates through rate being the same, etc., etc., it'll be 11,790. That's not the whole tax bill. That's just your 70%. Whole tax bill will be $9 short of $19,000. I'm

063paying ridiculous amount of taxes. Last meeting was the last meeting I was here. First time I was here. There are four guys in the booth. You've got a lovely custom desk to sit behind for the meeting. I got to think there's a better way to economize and spend the money. Is there a figure that you can tell me of what we're spending on a per student basis? Right off the top of my head, I'm not going to I I don't want to get it wrong, but we'll we'll get the information for you. I appreciate that. Could you possibly get to me before April 1? Sure. Okay. And who should I follow up with? Because I don't want to be a Okay, Dr. Wood is good enough for me. I would really like to know what

064that is because it, like I said, it just doesn't make sense to me. And and I'm a numbers guy a little bit, so bear with me for another moment. The total tax bill for me went up 33.84% in 10 years. The rate of inflation was 30.8 within that same 10-year period. 365U portion of the bill went up 41.99% 42% essentially with the same rate of inflation 30.8. It appears to me from looking at my numbers, my little world, my tax bill, if you will, that you guys are outstripping inflation in a high inflationary time. I know we're building a big ECC over at Oakview where I used to live nearby. It looks I just looked in the agenda. I think it's somewhere around a 40% increase in that building. I got my numbers roughly right.

065It just seems to me there's got to be a way to economize and to spend not just the district's money wisely, but wisely when you get grants or anything else. It's like I've told the other taxing bodies that I've been traveling around to. When you get a grant from here, you get money from the senator here, state senator. You get this money from Will County Board. It's all my money because I pay the whole bill and I would I do appreciate the commitment to get me the numbers. I really do. Thank you for your time. Thank you. All right. Moving down the agenda. Action reports. Miss Donado 10.0 10.1 action for 10.1 is the consolidated action report for certified classified administrative personnel. The administration is respectfully seeking your approval on all items as presented. So

066move second. Motion seconded. Is there any discussion? Roll call vote, please. I have a question. Oh, I'm sorry. As I went through this, I saw the summer connection site teacher on many of these. Could you tell me what that person does? Yes. So, the summer connections um is a program over the summer that our teachers um typically internal candidates are being hired to support those programs. Good. No, I still don't understand what the So, they're supporting what? I'm sorry. They're supporting summer programming for students for elementary students and elementary programming. Okay. Is there a reason they're called that? Can they just be called a teacher? I'm I'm sorry. I'm I'm serious. I mean I is there a reason I mean are they doing something special that a comment you know that is doing differently? Do

067they have a special title? The special title is just to signify that it's a summer program and not the same specific curriculum that they're going to be that they're presenting during the school year. So, the summer tends to um condense some of the programming and they offer a variety of other um activities as well. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. If there's no further discussion, a roll call vote, please. Member Hy. Yes. Member Sutherland, yes. Member Badurus, yes. Member Campbell, yes. Secretary Sakura, yes. Vice President Zach, yes. President Quigley, yes. Uh 13 10.3. Action for 10.2 resolution 2533 authorizes the non-remployment of part-time and temporary educational support personnel. The administration is respectfully seeking your approval on all items as presented. Motion. Second. Motion and seconded. Is there any discussion? Roll call vote,

068please. Member Sutherland, yes. Member Burus, yes. Member Campbell, yes. Member Hy, yes. Secretary Sakura, yes. Vice President Zach, yes. President Quigley action for 10.3 resolution 2535 authorizing non-renewal of a professional technical personnel employee the administration is respectfully seeking your approval on all items as presented there a motion second motion and seconded is there any discussion roll call vote please member Burus yes member Campbell yes member hyo yes member Sutherland yes secretary Sakora. Yes. Vice President Zach. President Quigley. Yes. Next reports. Mr. Renitch. Early childhood furniture. In June of 2023, anformational report was presented to the board of education regarding the construction of the early childhood center located at Oak View School property. As a reminder, the district successfully secured a maximum grant amount of $10 million to support the construction of this new school. District

069sought quotes from three different vendors and after careful consideration, Hendrickson was selected based on their comprehensive proposal package. So, the administration is now recommending that the board of education approve the contract with Henrikson in the amount of $231,127 to supply new furniture for the early ch childhood center as presented. So move. We have a motion in a second. There's no further discussion. A roll call vote, please. Member Campbell, yes. Member Sutherland, yes. Member Hy, yes. Member Beduris. Yes. Secretary Sakura, yes. Vice President Zach, yes. President Quigley, yes. Resolution PTAB settlement. Property tax appeal board. Welcome. In 1998, the Property Tax Appeal Board, otherwise known as PTA, began hearing appeals from owners. Just kind of a little background for everybody. uh owners for commercial property seeking to have their tax assessments reduced. Companies that win such

070appeals may be eligible for tax refunds from that taxing district. To address these appeals, the board of education has authorized Trestler, the law firm, to intervene on our behalf for the district. Additionally, the district does collaborate with its partners and other taxing districts in these matters. Trestler has intervened on our behalf of the district and has been negotiating a settlement agreement with the prominade for several months. As a result of their efforts, Trestler has been able to secure a favorable settlement. The administration is recommending that the board of education approve resolution 2532, which approves the terms authorized the execution of the prominard tax appeal settlement agreement with TPB Pro LLC, which is the holding company, as presented. Second motion and seconded. Is there any discussion? Roll call vote, please. Member Hy, yes. Member Stherland, yes.

071Member Buris, yes. Member Campbell, yes. Secretary Sakura, yes. Vice President Zack, yes. President Quilby, Dr. Pollson, school calendar. Yes. 12.1 action item is um was brought to you as anformational item at the last board meeting and it is now action. Everything has stayed the same from the initial approval on December 9th with the exception of the start date for our earliest learners. So we are requesting your approval as presented. Motion move. Motion and somebody second it motion. Second second motion. Any discussion? Roll call vote please. Member Veris. Yes. Member Campbell, yes. Member Hy, yes. Member Sutterland, yes. Secretary Sakura, yes. Vice President Zach, yes. President Quigley, yes. Uh, Dr. Wood, action reports, no report. How about superintendent information report? Yes. I do have superintendent update for everyone this um evening. Um to tonight our focus

072is on the arts and um just quick note about Romeoville High School. They had quite the showing at the Southwest Prairie Conference. Six of their 11 entries received a ribbon. So congratulations to those students and their accomplishments. Step recently held a talent show and kudos to all participants. Um it is um certainly clear that our students have many talents um that included voice acting, guitar, video production, dancing and other unique talents. And it's interesting that um Spongebob was mentioned um multiple times during the STEP show. So um definitely need to keep up with what's happening currently. Um so congratulations to the STUP students and staff who u facilitated that event. Um, Dana, or no, I want to say Dana Alonszo won the Bowling Brook High School Art Competition sponsored by the Bowling Brook Police Department.

073And Dana earned $2500 as a scholarship in a contest that was judged by Illinois Representative D. Avalar, um, our Bowling Brook mayor, Mary Alexander Boston, other local leaders. Um the continued partnership and support by local and state government uh officials and the Bowling Brook Police Department is greatly appreciated. Can we clap it up for um Dana and that $2,500? And for many of the participants, it was their first time um just participating in the art contest and it was good for them to have an opportunity um for their talents to shine. And uh just a reminder um again, five essentials closes out this week. Um parents still have an opportunity to um submit your voice via survey. I'm sure the schools will appreciate um learning about um your thoughts on the school learning environment. And

074also a reminder that kindergarten enrollment continues. So make sure if you have a little one that needs to register that they get registered in a timely manner. And so I just want to take a moment to um and James mentioned this already in his ambassador um report. Just want to thank all of our student ambassadors for coming up with initiative to essentially uh promote community and um um celebration and just a little bit of fun. And this event um happens the first week of or not the first week, April 14th through the 17th. And just quickly um on the 14th it'll be sports day. On the 15th it'll be dress for your future day. On the 16th cultural fit day and on Thursday it will be um district colors blue and white day. So thanks

075once again for our student ambassadors for launching this initiative and we hope all um participate. [Applause] So, important upcoming dates. March 26 and April 16th are early release days. March 31st through April 4th, as if we needed a reminder about this, it is spring break and Monday, April 14th is our next board meeting. Um, just want to encourage everyone, it seems like, uh, we are on the tail end of the school year. We still have some months to go, a lot of learning to take place, but I want to remind and encourage everyone to finish strong. Um, and just to note, high school graduation uh for both high schools is on Sunday, May 18th. Our um secondary transition experience program exit ceremony is Wednesday, May 21st. Uh, middle school promotions uh take place on Tuesday,

076May 27th, and May 28th is the last day of school. That brings me to the close of my update. Thank you. All right. District waste hauling contract 14.2. Valley View uh Valley View's current contract for trash removals with Waste Management uh Incorporated. The agreement, which covers a three-year period from July 2020 to June 2023, includes a provision for two-year additional extensions. Last year, the board approved a second final extension. Um, so the contract ends on June 2025. This report serves to inform the board of the district's intention to seek public bids for waste hauling contractors for the new 5-year term beginning this summer. Public bids were advertised on March 10th and a pre pre-bid meeting was held on March 17th with five contractors in attendance. Bids are due on April 2nd. This is anformational report

077and at the next board meeting, the administration intends to recommend uh a contract to the successful waste hauling contractor for 5 years. Yep. Moving on the agenda, Bowling Brook video board 14.3 Bowling Brook High School BHS is proposing an addition of a fullcolor video display board in their main gym. The district saw quotes through an approved purchasing cooperative to ensure competitive pricing. The project is also being supported by a generous donation of $30,000 from the Live Golf League. This isformational report for your review. We anticipate bringing a recommendation for your approval and contract award at the next upcoming board meeting. You capital fixed asset inventory. Little background. In June 1999, the government accounting standards board Gazsby issued a statement number 34 which established a new financial reporting requirements for state and local governments with the

078focus on reporting infrastructure assets. Under the Gazsby statement 34, government units are now required to complete a capital asset inventory at least every two years. In compliance with this requirement, the district saw quotes for services and determined that ITV appraisal is the most qualified to perform the necessary appraisal. Alongside the independent appraisal, the district will need to update its board policy 480 accounting and audits to include a provision for capitalizing its fixed assets. This isformational report for the board with the intention to present a formal recommendation for updating the list of approved deposit. I'm sorry for um seeking the fixed asset appraisals. Thank you. Moving down the agenda, legal services report. Nothing tonight. Thank you. 604 [Applause] Thank you. I I'm humbled. Thank you. I truly appreciate it. appreciate everybody uh being here tonight um

079and and taking time away from family and and loved ones and and all the things that you do. So, thank you for being here. Uh starting out at Valley View, the memory of the slogan first the heart and then the mind still kind of resonates with me. Uh myself living in Will County in the township next door, though actually some of our students do live in Wheatland Township. Stories of influential teachers with a positive legacy who lived in the township next to Valley View made me seem made this seem like a good place to land. So, who is our membership practicing this heart before mind? Allow me to introduce you. We are mechanics, not just making sure buses are available to pick up our students, but many times having to figure out how to service

080our buzz buses, which saves money doing this internally, while also driving routes due to a bus driver shortage. We are the security that is there to protect your students, sometimes stationed right at the front door. We are the maintenance who arrives hours before school to clear snow. We are a push teachers hosting reviews sometimes after practices and games at 6:00 or 7 at night. We are staff attending a students church dance team event on a Sunday morning. We are parapros leading small groups during lunch recess to help our students stay engaged. We are middle school athletic directors starting a sports booster program and working with our PTO an athletic director I'd like to add we are so very fortunate to have we are a parapro volunteering as a wrestling coach in order to help create

081a comfort level for a student. We are DL, dual language. Got you. Dual language. You're welcome. We are DL teachers, dual language, who have to somehow find a way to juggle pacing and instruction in multiple [Applause] languages. We are a middle school working hard with the MTSS process to see those efforts pay off. We are the staff members who keep extra clothes and snacks for students in need. We are eighth grade English language arts classes creating excitement in reading through the use of plays. We are staff that work collaboratively with families to encourage students for AIRIR by leaving notes on their desks before the test. Did I say I? Yeah, sorry. I'm six years removed from middle school. My bad. We are not just members of VBC, but also parents in the community who work

082hard to keep social media positive and focused. We are a DL staff putting together money to help a community member fight cancer. We are the support personnel who will be a part of so many lives and stories that we simply cannot share. We are a membership that gives out scholarships to VVSD students every year. We are here for our work family when dealing with loss. We are here to organize and expand student experiences like field trips to Drury Lane and Feed My Starving Children. We are here to volunteer our hours to set up a reading night. We are here to go to former students events, including senior nights, for their college career. We are here We are We are here to hear the words, "Okay, you're my trusted adult. This is what happened to me.

083[Applause] We are the staff that now faces the prospect of needing to pay money out of our pockets to continue to teach our students and take care of our family. We are concerned about attracting new members to our council, facing the prospect of not only new teachers starting at wages below neighboring districts 203, 204, and Planefield 202, but potentially even lower than as we go 308 if we don't address properly. We are the staff who are recognized as being outstanding and then watch as our positions are eliminated. [Applause] We are the staff you see in this room tonight showing you our commitment, the heart. Let's get to the mind. I'd like to offer a story. A few years back, I had the honor and privilege of having two very gifted students in my classroom, two

084years apart, brother and sister. Both students came to us at Jane Adams from the challenge program in the district. One of them entered IMSA directly out of Jane Adams. Being invited to their graduations was just not just an honor, but it was a well attended event by many in the community. The one received a full ride out of IMSA to study fighting cancer as a doctor. The other is literally studying to be a rocket engineer or as some would say a rocket scientist. Someday we may very well be celebrating the unbelievable feats of these students because all of these students are our students. Good enough to celebrate exemplary as a school should be good enough to celebrate their continued achievements. We have created interest among our students about the election process. According to the center

085for information and research on civic learning and engagement, students who had not received encouragement to vote from teachers in high school were more than twice as likely to agree with the statement, "Voting is a waste of time." As those who had been encouraged, 26% versus 12%. What are we doing for our students who are interested in the election process and how local government works? Are we encouraging them or are we more worried about the politics? Which is more important? holding on to power at the expense of welcoming dialogue which could lead to others at the table or having that dialogue and teaching our students through our example that there is a path forward in having those tough conversations. These students are watching more than you realize. So are the staff present here tonight tasked with

086the heart before the mind. Those in leadership who want these results have to practice them as well. All of us in leadership positions should ask, "Am I am I practicing what I preach?" Honor our students, honor our staff, and then you truly honor the communities we serve. It's not just a slogan. How we are both treated matters. And at the end of the day, the students and our membership just want to see, not hear, but see that we matter. Thank you. [Applause] All right. 604 office personnel. Thank you. Uh transportation apparently no report. Any old business before the board? Any new business before? Hold on. I got something. All right. Uh it looks like Miss Pipkin left. Uh, I just want to say I appreciate that she uh withheld my name, but uh the Facebook

087or social media that she referred to was actually me and I have a picture of it here so I can I can get this straight. Um, I said the role of a schoolboard member isn't to act as the district's auditor or the district's attorney. Um, I don't think that anyone would disagree with that, but that leads me to get into my next thing. Uh, good evening everybody. I'd like to take a few moments to help clear up some uh what was the term that was used last board meeting? Uh yes, misinformation. A quick preface if you don't mind. I did type the speech on a keyboard. Uh first off, I'd like to give a huge shout out to Miss Tany Mrs. Tanya Williams and her team of educators at the early childhood center for their

088countless and as we learned from the last board meeting, thankless hours of work obtaining what I believe was a $10 million grant that enabled us to build the early childhood center expansion to further serve the community of Bowling Brook. Can we get a round of applause for Mrs. for Principal Williams and her team? Thank you. I'd also like to point out that unlike a similarly similarly situated district to the west of us, we would never make the mistake of building a school and forgetting to budget for the staff. Does the suggestion that we moved money out of the ED fund, which is how we pay teacher salaries, to another operating fund, not related to employee salaries, make any sense? No, it does not. And that's not why the money was moved. By the way, it's

089a common occurrence that the district moves money from one fund to another to cover unexpected expenses. Additionally, I'm confused by some of the comments, but it seems as if the suggestion was that we shouldn't expand early childhood education in the hopes of making young learners entry into education a more successful transition. The early childhood expansion will not only increase the success rate of the young students, but also make the jobs of our teachers easier through time and also to add membership into your union. I failed to understand how that is an egregious initiative on the district's part. Again, I say thank you to Mrs. Williams and her team for the amazing job they do with the students in early childhood. I know my daughter Sophia went to the early childhood center as a three-year-old and

090came out as a teenager. I'm also confused at the comments regarding Valley View's management of debt. I think it's important to remind the community that it's not like Valley View has just enough money in their fund balance to make it to the end of the fiscal year without borrowing money or millions or millions of dollars in the red in our transportation budget. We have manageable debt and we have long maintained enough reserves to operate without income for 90 to 120 days, not 90 to 120 minutes like other places run by the experts. There's 70 districts in Illinois under Isby uh Illinois State Board of Education financial review. Valley View School District isn't one of them. Uh I actually wrote this in earlier. I wanted to quote a Bible verse that I remembered. Matthew 7:3. Why

091do you look at the specks of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? Let's unpack the comment about debt for a moment if we may. If we may. 25 or so years ago, the communities of Romeoville and Bowling went through significant residential expansion. With that expansion generally comes a need for schools. So, how does a district add schools? They build them. How do they build them? Grants, cash, or debt. The debt that Valley View has is primarily com uh comprised of projects that have improved the learning environment for the children of Valley View and the work environments for the staff of Valley View. Can someone please explain to me how that could have possibly been portrayed by the union president as mismanagement? Was a subliminal message

092there that we should have held classes in the middle of a field or maybe invested more into double wide trailers for classrooms? Off the top of my head, here's a small sample of the projects that make up the Valley View debt. Bowling Brook High School, Lucansic Scoff that we're in now, Hermanson Pioneer, Romeoville High School uh renovation and expansion to include the new uh wood shop, uh athletic facility upgrades at both RHS and BHS, numerous roof replacements, boiler replacements, HVAC replacements, various parking lots, and the original early childhood uh expansion and improvement when the ad center was moved down the street. Uh, let me correct one last misinformed comment made about debt service as a transition into my ne my next topic. Every good and knowledgeable schoolboard member knows that debt is not part of

093the calculation of per pupil expenditure. So, no, our per pupil expenditure hasn't increase because of debt. Next, I would like to address what I assume was the primary reason for the performance last week, the reduction in force that the district unfortunately had to complete. These are wait these things are never an easy conclusion to arrive at and I know it was difficult for the administrators up here to propose. Nobody up here wants to see anyone who has worked so hard for the community lose their position. Unlike other districts in the area where no explanation is given before the reduction in force vote is taken. Mrs. Donado informed the public why this measure had to be taken. And also unlike other districts in the area who recently rifted first and second year teachers, Valley View has

094actually lost an incredible amount of enrollment. We have done our best to maintain our high level of staffing over these last several years where our enrollment has continued to decline. Regarding administrators and our ratio, many surrounding districts can't compete with us for student outcomes because of the great work curriculum has done over the years. They have put resources in teachers hands that allow them to teach, especially at our middle school level. Currently, this new and improved senior admin team is working on K through on K to 5 to replicate what we did at middle and some high schools so we can start moving towards better outcomes there as well. I think Mr. Perger was a little disingenuous in his comments on this topic. The Illinois high school or the Illinois school report card classifies deans

095as administrators when in Valley View deans are actually a part of his union membership. They're not classified as administrators for us and he knows that. When you remove the 30 deans we have the ratio for student to admin goes way up and the story becomes less compelling. For example, RHS report card shows 15 full-time admins but in actuality they have eight uh because seven of those are counted in the report or seven of those counted in the report are union members. Uh let's see. uh you you like to talk about transparency for others, but I guess that doesn't apply to yourself. Just like how you came up here to chastise everyone on this day as March 10th about doing their jobs and being fiscally responsible to the stakeholders. Then on March 17th at approximately 9:15

096p.m., yes, I watched your live stream on YouTube in real time. You not only voted yes to action item 10.3 and 10.4, for you were the board member who made the motion to initiate the vote to riff first and second year teachers in your own district. We riffed 13 certified and two classified and within a week called back three certified already. And uh where was that passion when you were cutting first and second year teachers where your tax dollars are spent? Uh that leads me to another thing that I want to jump into. I'm going to use this as new business. Um, moving down the agenda, new business. Again, recently there has been a lot of talk about transparency and the public demanding more transparency from the district and the board. I too believe in

097transparency so long as it doesn't violate anyone's rights or laws regarding confidentiality. It's because of that that I am shedding some light on an issue that was largely glossed over late last year. Some of you may recall there was a letter that was sent out to hundreds of Valley View employees in September 2024 informing them of an incident that an incident that involves some of your information. The letter went on to explain that the union had requested set information under the guise that it needed that it was needed for negotiation purposes. The district stated that it was their position that the information requested by the union was protected health information and therefore did not disclose this information to the union. What they failed to do was to provide additional context to what triggered this chain

098of events. When the former union president or former Valley View Council president was denied the requested information, she filed a grievance with the district. The union alleged that the CSBO had failed to oversee I'm sorry, I'm quoting the actual investigation report. So, that's what this is. uh has failed to oversee the working spouse eligibility provision and has allowed bargaining unit members spouses to be covered even when said spouses have coverage options with their respective employers. The former union president, again I believe the technical term is Valley View Council President uh included language demanding that the that those members spouses be removed from the insurance. Something I think everyone would agree with. Between the initial grievance filing on June 25th, 2024 and the meeting for the step three grievance hearing, the former Valley View Council president

099uh resigned and took a job with local 604. This fact is important because it provides some context in a speech that the new council president would give at his first meeting later in the year. On July 19th, 2024, the step three grievance meeting was held with the new union, the new Valley View Council president and new field service director, who is the former Valley View Council president. During this meeting, the former Valley View Council union President, sorry, I'm repeating this a lot because I was instructed not to use names, uh, presented several documents as her evidence, which included a spreadsheet of 47 Valley View employees. That's you guys in the audience. and their spouse's protected health information, both union and non-union employees, I might add. Uh, also included was a screenshot of my wife's employee

100portal that includes my wife's name or excuse me, my wife's, mine, and my six-year-old kindergarter's health insurance information that I believe contained more information than what was on the spreadsheet. Additionally, my wife's information on the spreadsheet had been highlighted by someone who had previously been in possession of the information. I have never seen the spreadsheet of names because that is all that is all of your protected information. So, I can only comment on what the investigation found during the July 19th meeting, the grievance meeting, uh the new 604 field service rep, which was the former Valley View Council president, was asked how she obtained this highly private information, and she responded that it was not relevant. She told the administrators in the meeting that she called what she thought was my employer, Snyder Insurance, and

101asked if health insurance was offered to employees through Snyder Insurance Plans. First, I don't work for Snyder Insurance. I work for Bur Insurance Agency LLC. It's been filed November 22nd of 2019. I looked that up on my way over here, so there is no correlation between the two instances, which is contracted with Snyder Insurance. I have never been an employee of Snyder Insurance. Second, when I learned of this information, I asked the owners of Snyder Insurance if they ever spoke with anyone who cold called them to ask if employees had health insurance through Snyder, to which they laughed and asked who would do such a thing, such an odd thing. Moving on. During this meeting, the union field service rep, former VVSD council president, informed the meeting attendees that the sole focus of the union's

102grievance was her belief that board member, and this is a quote, excuse me, I should have done that. The sole the sole focus of the union's grievance was her belief that board member JT Beduris was improperly given spousal health insurance through the district through his wife." End quote. The union official claimed that she had additional documentation and communication that she would present at a later time but would not share in that meeting. She demanded that I be removed from the health insurance immediately and the district furnish a better or excuse me a letter admitting to wrongdoing. No supporting document no supporting documentation has been disclosed to me at any time. After the school district learned that the information they were supposed to protect was leaked to the union, they engaged in a lengthy and costly

103investigation to find out the source of the leak. I don't have the exact number, but that cost to the taxpayers is in the six figures. That's your money. That's also your money. The investigation revealed that again, I'm going to open the quotes. A report from the VVSD SER. Sorry, Liz. I don't know what this stands for. I I copied it directly out of the report. Uh SER uh where I lost my place here. Hold on. We're going to look for the word SER. Uh where'd it go? One second. Serious. Ah, here it is. Report from the VVSD SER EIA on June 10th, 2024 with 407 records which matches the number of records found in the released EIA report. Again, I don't know what EIA stands for. I think it's employee insurance something. Uh, end quote.

104It goes on to say that a former VS VVSD employees user account. It says their name, but user account printed a document from Excel consistent with the report exported from VVSD SER shortly after exporting the VVSD SER EIA report. End quote. Then the investigation found that open quote the June 10, 2024 document was printed to, and again I had to retract the name to the same former employees open quote default printer in her work area end quote. The report concludes that this former employee was presented with information that showed her that open quote her workstation accessed the EIA module, generated the EIA report, printed a spreadsheet, and then composed an email in blank name personal Gmail account within a short period of time on June 10th, 2024. I would like to add that the screenshot

105of my wife's employee portal profile was transmitted from the former VVSD council president and current 604 officials personal Yahoo email to herself in an unidentified email. Her name was in the receiving line. Uh I I bring this up for the simple fact that if these individuals were conducting this operation as part of their jobs, then why the cloak and dagger efforts? Why would they not be transmitting this information within their vvsd.org email addresses? Folks, these are not my words. These are direct quotes from the investigation report which I have here uh for which the school district and therefore the taxpayers paid for. As some of you may recall, at the September 23rd, 2024 board meeting, this VVSD that stole the information uh was found to have was found to have stolen the report containing protected

106health insurance information or health information was terminated by the Valley View School District for cause. Why am I telling you this now? I'll tell you why. At the time all this was going on, I had asked, no better yet, I pleaded with some of these folks sitting up here with me to pursue the individuals in the union, if need be, to recoup all of the money that the taxpayers of Valley View had lost, trying to determine the source of this leak. For the record, the information was said to have been placed in a mailbox randomly. I beg them to do the I begged them to do the right thing and make sure that the other 406 people whose information was supposed to be protected by VVSD were kept kept safe. Up until recently and well

107after the information was stolen, that information was still being kept in a file cabinet in a cubicle. Shame on me for not redacting my own information out of there. I didn't know this could happen. I left my EIN in there. I left my my social security in there. And I really regret that. It wasn't until I began demanding my information back from the school district because they couldn't protect my information that they finally moved these file cabinets into a locked and secure office within the ad center. The response I received was that they didn't want to have a problem with the union because contract negotiations were coming up. Can you believe that the district opted not to pursue recovering taxpayer money, money that could have been used on paying teachers or things in the classroom

108for children because of contract negotiations. You know what the funniest or maybe the saddest thing about this entire occurrence? All of my documents the district requires for proof of eligibility on the health insurance are filed with the district. They always are. They have they have all of the proof they require and then some. Not only that, if the union leadership had been forthcoming as to their intentions, all they had to do was ask me if they could see it, I would have showed them. They didn't have to steal it and leak hundreds of other people's data in the process. I would have given it to them freely. As a matter of fact, at their request, I provided them with an affidavit from Snyder Insurance, further providing proof that my company is an independent contractor and

109I'm the only employee and as such am not offered health insurance. It is election season and half the people running for the school board would be new members. I asked him this question. Mr. Spangler, this is for you and for Miss Pipkin who uh who left. Uh are you sure you know what you're asking to volunteer for? Look at this situation for me. I'm here trying to do the right thing and do what is best for the community in which I live and the school district for which I send my daughter, the district where both of my parents work their entire careers. The public talks about accountability. This is what happens when an elected board member holds people accountable. This all happened because the former Valley View Council president wanted to exhaust all means necessary

110afforded to her by the local 604 aft to get me. I was elected by the community and targeted by the leadership of the union because the former Valley View Council president decided she was going to waste taxpayer money on a witch hunt. Valley View School District is a better place for education having the former Valley View Council president move on. At least she is not in the classroom with the children of this community. Vindictive, manipulative people like her have no place in education. That's all I got to say about that. [Applause] That's okay. That's all right. Moving that moving down the agenda. Freedom of information reports, Mr. Blay, are available on our website. I have everything here, so please don't foil me. Any announcements by the board? Any announcements by the administration? No announcements. Thank

111you. Motion to adjurnn would be in order. Motion and second. All those in favor say I. I. Oppose. Same sign. Thank you. Have a good evening. Enjoy your spring break coming up.