U-46 Board Meeting - Oct 6, 2025

001Good evening. We are now opening the public comment portion of the Board of Education meeting. Those who complete the Board of Education meeting. Those who complete the U-46 Board of Education meeting to order. Roll call, please. Ms. Kerr. Here. Ms. Kahn. Ms. Martin. Here. Ms. Nolan. Ms. Schwartz. Here. Ms. Thomas. President Owens. Here. May I have a motion to move into closed session to discuss individual student disciplinary matters pending probable or imminent litigation, the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees, specific individuals who serve as independent contractors in a park, recreational, or educational setting, or specific volunteers of the public, or legal counsel for the public body, the purchase or lease of real property for the use of the school board, the setting of a price for the sale or lease of

002real property, owned by the school board, an internal audit, control weakness, identification of potential fraud risk areas, known or suspected frauds, and fraud interviews, collective negotiating matters between the school board and its employees or their representatives, or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees, the review of closed session minutes, and individual student matters. So moved. Second. Roll call, please. Ms. Kerr. Yes. Ms. Martin. Yes. Ms. Schwartz. Yes. President Owens. Yes. We are in closed session at 5.31 p.m. Good evening, everyone. I am going to resume the Monday, October 6, 2025 Board of Education meeting. If I could have everybody stand as they are able for the Pledge of Allegiance, and please remain standing at the end. I'd like to take a moment of silence for a U46 employee who recently passed

003away. Kelly O'Hara was a speech and language pathologist in U46 for 20 years before becoming a special education administrator for early learning, learning and learning partner initiatives in 2021. Kelly's colleagues say her passion was serving students with disabilities, and she put the needs of children and the adults who cared for them at the center of her work. She was kind, reliable, and easy to collaborate with. She sought to find the positive in all situations and looked to create opportunities for friendship and fellowship, such as sponsoring a craft club for her department or donating to families in need. Kelly passed away on September 10th. She is survived by her sister Nancy and many cousins. A celebration of life was held on September 20th at Chapel Street Church in Geneva. We will keep Kelly's families and friends

004in our thoughts and prayers. Thank you, everyone. The first item on our agenda for this evening is Accent on Achievement. Dr. Johnson. Thank you, President Owens. This evening, in recognition of National School Lunch Week, October 13th through the 17th, a proclamation of appreciation is being presented to Erin Nowak, U-46 Director of Food and Nutrition Services. The U-46 Food and Nutrition Services Department serves breakfast and meals, or breakfast meals, I should say, and lunches to thousands of students every day, and they continue to encourage our students to live healthy lifestyles. And I see that Board Member Kerr is ready with the proclamation. Okay, thank you very much. So this is a proclamation of appreciation for National School Lunch Week. Whereas Food and Nutrition Services staff provide nutritious meals that promote proper growth and development and help

005students reach their maximum potential, and whereas the contributions of these talented and dedicated individuals are recognized in honor of National School Lunch Week, October 13th through 17th, 2025, and whereas U-46 Food and Nutrition Services staff not only lends their special attention to the food and nutrition services staff, but also to the students and staff who are involved in the program. And I also want to add that the Food and Nutrition Services Department has a key role in promoting our students' educational skills and talents to the efficient operation of the school system. They also have played a significant role in the district's quest for continuous improvement. And whereas the district serves an average of 21,000 lunches every school day, and whereas the staff's passion and enthusiasm for serving families is reflected in their excellent customer service,

006smiles, frequent theme weeks replete with costumes and decorations, to demonstrate internal teamwork as well as collaboration with other departments. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Education recognizes its talented staff in National School Lunch Week, October 13th through 17th, 2025, and asks administrators, teachers, students, parents in the community to join in recognizing and thanking these individuals for their dedication, efforts, and service on behalf of students. Presented the sixth day of October, 2025, and by Board President Melissa Owens and Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Johnson. You're good, okay. Okay. All right, our second accent on achievement is the National Principal Appreciation Month recognition. National Principal Appreciation Month is celebrated in October. A proclamation of appreciation is being presented to Jennifer Schwart, Association of Elgin School Administrators, otherwise known as ASA, President. National Principal Month recognizes the

007essential role that principals play in the education, growth, and well-being of students. They have used their vision, dedication, and determination to provide an atmosphere in which students can continue to learn and succeed. And I know that Jennifer has brought a few friends with her as well this evening. So we also have Kim Rudden, Canton Middle School Principal. Jason Masica from Larkin Middle School. Paige Moran from Streamwood High School. And I don't think I clarified that Jennifer Schwart, of course, is our principal at Horizon Elementary School. So Board Member Martin is ready with the proclamation. Thank you for all of you for joining us. All right, this proclamation of appreciation for National Principals Month. Whereas school principals play an integral role in education, growth, and well-being of children in preschool, elementary, middle, and high schools across

008school district U-46, whereas the month of October is recognized as National Principals Month to acknowledge and support their commitment to ensuring every child receives a quality education. Whereas school principals are responsible for the day-to-day operation of their buildings, create a positive and safe culture, and building relationships with parents and teachers to ensure that each child receives services that allows them to excel in the classroom. Whereas school principals in U-46 use their vision, dedication, and experience to provide an atmosphere in which their students can learn and succeed. Now, therefore it be resolved that the Board of Education recognizes its dedicated school principals for National Principals Month, including Illinois Principals Week, October 20th to 24th, 2025, and asks administrators, teachers, students, parents, and the community to join in recognizing and thanking these individuals for their efforts and

009service on behalf of our students. Presented this sixth day of October, 2025, signed by our President of the Board of Education, Melissa Owens, and Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Johnson. Okay, the next item on our agenda is Strategic Plan Report. Dr. Johnson. Thank you, President Owens. Our first item this evening is the Multi-Abilities Classroom Overview. Coming forward is Amanda Leatherby, Director of Specialized Student Services, joined by Elspeth Ellie Alvarado, Ridge Circle Elementary School MLP teacher, to provide the Board of Education an overview of the Multi-Abilities Classroom. Thank you. Good evening. As noted, I'm Amanda Leatherby, the Director of Specialized Student Services, and with me tonight is Ellie Alvarado, the Exceptional Modified Learning Program Teacher at Ridge Circle Elementary School. I want to thank the Board of Education and Dr. Johnson for giving us the time to share

010this exciting new opportunity for our students with disabilities. We are thrilled to introduce you to MAC, the Multi-Abilities Classroom. The goal of MAC is to provide equitable and inclusive learning opportunities. While emphasizing a balance of equity and inclusion, we are also encouraging the use of the Multi-Abilities Classroom as a resource for students with disabilities. We are thrilled to introduce you to MAC, the Multi-Abilities Classroom. This is a balanced and collaborative teaching approach to students with complex learning needs. So why MAC and why now? This programmatic shift aligns with the boundary changes and is possible in part because the District upheld its commitment to place special education classrooms first. Because we were able to expand the number of schools our self-contained classrooms are in, we are able to place more students near or at their home

011school, improving access, community connection, and more authentic social opportunities for these learners. We want to thank the dedicated professionals that participated in the workgroup and acknowledge the work they did to bring this vision to life. We were intentional in bringing in a well-rounded cross-section of individuals representing various programs, various grade levels, including administration. In addition, we had related service providers and a general education teacher supporting this effort. The MAC program consolidates our exceptional needs, one, and two, and three. This includes one multi-abilities, instructional learning program, and modified learning program into one multi-abilities classroom we refer to as MAC. It is important to note that each of these programs already share many core features. For example, they are all highly visual. We focus on communication and have the same curriculum. Students coming from the instructional learning

012program, which services students with autism and other students with like characteristics and disabilities, would participate in the participate in Mac if their level of autism or characteristics similar were consistent with level 3 autism the program structure for the multi abilities classroom already exists in early childhood and in our post high school transition programs by shifting to Mac We create greater greater alignment with what is already bookending our district and our special education curriculum or continuum We also currently have many en1 MLP and ILP classrooms that support this program structure and look very similar The question frequently comes up if we will still be able to ability group students and the answer to that is Under this new structure while we are not recommending leveling students We also want to make sure that classrooms still have

013the autonomy To be able to look at their classrooms if we have more than one classroom for example at a site That the grade levels fits into this grade band you can section your students However is appropriate for those student populations We recommend that sectioning students is complex and it often takes many factors into consideration such as communication social academic or functional needs to name a few We also recognize that many of our classrooms have a very large range of academic and functional abilities currently and While this range will still exist the range is Unanticipated to be smaller thereby supporting students more effectively and teachers more efficiently Finally I want to highlight that Mac will continue to support monolingual and multilingual classroom structures as We mentioned earlier the Mac program offers a more balanced program

014structure The multi ability classroom looks to integrate services where push in related services would be embedded into the program However pull out services remain available through the IEP if it is necessary for the student To be able to access the curriculum and the curriculum in the classroom Mac would support consistent classroom setups curriculum and materials with consistency program-wide We believe that all students should have access to general education peers and participation in specials and electives should be a right and not an option Our goal is to align with play based learning for our pre-k classrooms and even in our primary elementary classrooms We are actively planning to layer in additional curriculum in the 2027 2028 school year to increase the rigor for our Mac students We have identified many benefits to students, but we want

015to highlight just a few this evening By being closer to their home school. It allows students to develop stronger community ties and more peer connections The Mac model would further individualize support and offer more inclusive opportunities Students will experience less movement throughout you 46 if they are not transitioning between our existing en1 MLP and or ILP classrooms preliminary elementary level data shows that this shift in combination with the boundary changes takes 37 students currently attending their home school, which is 8% of the population and I ILP and MLP to 122 students who would be attending their home school with the Mac program and that'd be 30 34 percent Additionally the current average distance for students in en1 MLP and ILP from home to school is just under six miles this shift to Mac reduces that

016Average to three miles More families will experience greater proximity to home which allows for greater access to the school setting after school events and other parent opportunities There will be fewer program to program moves Which limit mobility for parents and allows families to build deeper and longer relationships? We've also outlined benefits to staff including a balanced workload improving effective teaching and increasing student engagement Staff will have consistent access to the same curriculum resources and teaching tools on October 10th We're initiating professional learning to support teachers as we move into this new structure Finally we will continue to offer comprehensive support from inclusion facilitators and teacher leaders specialized student services currently offers robust Professional learning and support which we plan to continue including the current Easterseals training and coaching disability awareness and curriculum training Our valuable

017teacher leader support would shift from program support to network support our behavior support would also continue from our amazing behavior specialists and CPI and we're also currently planning to bring on UK route UK route is a trauma-informed care restraint free approach to managing behavior We would also like to introduce you to prep promoting readiness empowerment and purpose Which would serve students who are on the autism spectrum or students with like needs? Who are at above or just below? approximately within two years of grade level expectations The curriculum would be general education curriculum We need prep because we know currently we have a few of these students in our current instructional learning program Therefore initially these students would come from our existing ILP classrooms You can see that we have been planning this for some time

018and the work continues as we continue to move from planning further into implementation Mac is a commitment to all students which upholds our u-46 promise We promise a safe caring environment where every student experience where every student experiences the joy of learning and is empowered and prepared for a successful future Linked here are some peer-reviewed research articles for your review while there is not research specific to self-contained classroom classrooms There is research to support heterogeneous groupings Also linked here is who? Carer systems if you'd like to learn more about what that looks like and that's it. We thank you for your time this evening Thank you for the presentation do board members have questions Kate I'll go first. Um Yeah, so a Couple questions Overall I think this seems like a really good idea I

019just have a few questions So you talked about moving Level three autism into these Mac groups in general. Where are the levels? 2 and level 1 autistic kids now? So they're currently in a variety of different places. Okay. Some of them do exist in our current ILP classrooms and some of them even with level 2 autism are currently in our MLP classrooms. Okay. But they are also in general education. When we talk about students on the spectrum we literally have them at every grade level in all types of programs. So where will the level 1 and level 2 students be after MAC starts? Will they what will MLP and ILP still exist? No, they're gone entirely. They would be gone entirely and consolidated into MAC. So students with level 1 autism and possibly some students

020with level 2 autism because that's a little bit of a more flexible area right because it's hard to know what the spectrum where students are gonna fall could be appropriate for prep which is why prep needs to exist. Okay. And other level 2 students with autism could also be appropriate for MAC as well. Okay. So the students with level 2 autism could also be appropriate for MAC as well. So we will look at those individually and make sure that we make a decision that's most appropriate for those students if they should be more appropriate for general education curriculum or they need more. What's I'm sorry am I supposed to know what prep is? Yeah we did go through prep. I'm sorry. That's okay. That's okay. Prep is promoting readiness, empowerment. Did you find it? Yeah.

021Okay great. And so that's a classroom that'll be for students predominantly on the spectrum but again we can't be automatically inclusive or exclusive so it could be other students with like needs that are at, above, or just below grade level. And those students their primary curriculum would be general education curriculum so that they can get the exposure that they need to rigorous general education curriculum in a smaller setting. So prep would be self-contained? Prep would be self-contained yes. Okay. And then how is this going to affect class size? So we expect that to overall decrease class size. Our classrooms currently are on an average of 10, 11, 12, and some are at 13 with pockets of smaller classrooms here and there. And we anticipate this class size to range from 8 to 10. So more

022students as students get older and we want to make sure that we keep that as tight as we can. Okay and then I forget what slide it was where you talked about the percentages of how many kids are presently at their home school and not where she talked about 34%? Slide 9. Thank you. Yes. Very helpful. I looked at this this weekend I did. So where are where are the other 63% then they're not at their home school? Yeah so 34% or 122 students would be in their actual home school. Okay. Other students would be at the nearest school closest to them in most cases. Okay. We still do have some students that might travel some distances especially for our multilingual math classrooms. So I'm not gonna say it's it's zero but we are again

023going to take that distance from just under six percent just under six miles it's actually 5.82 miles. Okay. On average that's an average to it's just under three miles three miles which is actually 2.99 miles is the actual number there. So cutting that almost in half. Okay. In terms of distance for students to get to a school much closer to home. Okay. That's good. And then we have a lot of students that are like double exceptional I'm saying the word wrong. Twice exceptional? Twice exceptional. Got it. So where I mean how are they going to be fit in with these groups? Are they primarily going to be in genetic classrooms still or will they appropriate for prep? Yeah. Or will it just again be client or student by student. It'll be student by student. Okay.

024We're not trying to you know source you know student and look to place students in a more self-contained setting. If they're being successful in a in a least restrictive setting in general education or our gifted programs or any of our magnet programs we want them to continue there. Okay. Okay. And then what about like buy-in from teachers and staff? I mean we have some public comments that are not that. Yes. How are you addressing that? Yeah. So on a October 10th we are meeting with all of the staff who will be directly involved with MAHC and we will solicit their feedback. Okay. So we're gonna do this exact review. Okay. And we do have a feedback form to solicit their feedback. Okay. But we want the feedback. Okay. We want to make sure that this

025implementation goes as smoothly as possible. Okay. And we do believe that some of the the yes buts and and the questions help us develop a system that's going to be as strong as possible. Okay. We need people to help us find the Okay, and then we're not anticipating losing any teaching positions for any of this right? We are not. Okay. Okay, and then just one final note I'm trained in Nukuru from my day job so And actually find it very very useful. We're very excited about that. Um, so I'm excited to hear that We're we're adding a crew to our thank you our day. Yep. Thanks additional questions, too So first of all, thank you for answering my questions. I had submitted earlier Thank you. It was nice to see the table to see what

026was what was happening that made it all more clear as Kate mentioned we did get three public comments certain public comments on the board docs with teachers who are concerned about this and I guess one Of their concerns which you'll probably hear about is that this this creates a huge as I say a massive gap in social and educational Standards in one one classroom, so I guess that's something you'll have to have to address What did you give any thought to? piloting this in other words doing it in a few schools and not The whole district at once we did And in full transparency because we wanted to align this shift with the boundary changes We felt that was the most opportune time to do it. And so we weren't Necessarily prepared to be able

027to do a pilot this year And we didn't want to do a pilot next year after boundary shifts because that would prompt some of our families to shift again Okay, and we felt like this was the opportune time to do that, but that's why but we did consider it Okay, and how are you going to evaluate this after a year say? I assume you'll get feedback from your teachers and paras and so forth. Yeah, so there's a layer in effect That'll that'll occur so yes We we first for sure anticipate soliciting feedback from teachers along the way in that first year of implementation However, we do also again hope to layer in additional curriculum resources through our Instructional Council and through the district's process for that and through that we hope to then see student

028achievement rise And see better outcomes on some of our assessments for some of our students on the dynamic learning map for example so that'll be a measure and we also hope to layer in not in year one year one we want to get shifted in with the change but then starting in year two we hope to then have a programmatic assessment if you will there are many out there bb math is one and a-fulls is another there's a whole variety of different assessments out there that can measure how students are progressing additional questions can you speak a little bit to how you're going to introduce these changes to families yes i'd be happy to we are going to pull together a parent focus group to be able to solicit some initial feedback that will be

029occurring later this month however we do though also hope to have a lot of this information discussed at iep media so that we can get some of that information out to families and then we can also have a discussion about what we're going to do with the district's communication around boundary shifts and so when letters go out to other families in line with the boundary shifts this will also go out with some detail around what mac is okay so you have it mapped out at this point who's moving where or is that still a work in progress we have it mostly mapped out with some finalization to come tomorrow okay thank you all right thank you for the presentation um so when it comes to you know like an en1 classroom versus an mlp classroom

030can you explain kind of how they're staffed now based on student needs and how that's gonna how and if that's changing while you move to the mac format like number of pairs per classroom and like if the needs of the students are so different now versus one e in one classroom like what how is that going to look sure the classrooms currently are staffed with a teacher and typically two para educators okay and the classroom number of students can range anywhere we have some classes as small as six or seven and we have some that again are at 13. and that is for that range exists for our ilp our mlp and our en1 programs currently and so this hopes to balance those class sizes out to again eight maybe nine in our younger grades

031nine maybe ten in our older grades but there's some flexibility there we still need room to make individual based decisions for students for example if a student moves into one of our school sites that already has you know eight or nine students and that's their home school we want to be able to have that student be in their home school so there's some flexibility there through the iep process so then would this require like additional work i think from the staffing end as far as matching paras in classrooms where if they have a para has more experience or if they're not in the classroom they have more experience with the en1s versus mlps and that i guess there's no real guarantee necessarily what the balance of each type like the needs of the students would

032be in the classrooms would there be classrooms that might have more paras than others or yes and we have that now okay and so we we hope to staff um more paras again at the younger grades than at the older grades knowing that most of our needs are at those younger grades in particular um in our primary classrooms um yes and that's a really great point and that's a really good point um we would absolutely look for that but beyond that we would absolutely work with do you to follow their process that they have set up okay thank you you're welcome any other questions thank you thank you very much and our second uh strategic plan update this evening is the 2026 2027 boundary transition update lala mystorevich deputy superintendent intendant of instruction will present

033an update to the board 26 20 27 boundary transition good evening members of the board thank you for the opportunity to present our transition update this evening tonight's update focuses on the transition work underway for the 26 27 boundary changes and you've just heard about the multi-abilities classroom as well as the prep program which is a key part of our special education work and now i'll share how that and other changes fit into the broader transition plan for all students so the goal of tonight's update is twofold first i'll outline our process and timeline for communicating next year's school assignments to families second i'll highlight the changes to our self-contained special education programming which will better align services with students neighborhood schools so we've been working with a team to determine what the communication is

034going to look like for families in terms of student assignments and for this for communicating these assignments for next year we've been working with the school district to determine what the communication is going to look like for our current high school students who are in grades 9 through 11 we've decided that they are going to remain at their current high schools so if you remember last year we had opportunities for families to complete a residency exception if they wanted to move a year early for the this purpose as it works in our student information system we are rolling all of our current 9th to 11th graders into their current high schools for next year we have lots of students at high schools for various reasons programming academies residency exceptions lots of different reasons and so

035rolling students over made the most sense our current seventh graders at abbott middle school are going to be continuing at abbott middle school for eighth grade and for students in kindergarten through eighth grade placements will follow the new boundary map and program feeder patterns so every eighth grade student will be assigned based on the new program placements and the feeder patterns this structure minimizes disruption while ensuring families receive clear predictable assignments we're also being intentional about communication and timelines so by october 31st at the end of this month families of high school students are going to receive a general assignment confirmation email just stating that their student will be enrolled in their high school for next school year year during that week as well we will have individualized letters that will be mailed home for

036all students who are currently in kindergarten through eighth grade now here's where the other piece of the process is if any family wishes to submit a residency exception they may do so between November 1st and November 13th and our goal is for our team to review all of those requests and responses to be shared with families by November 21st this process gives families clarity early enough to plan for the transition so if for some reason for example there was a high school student who started high school at one school but their boundary changed and they didn't move early they still have the opportunity to submit the residency exception prior to the whole course selection process and visiting the high school and all of those things so that they could attend their new boundary school if

037they wanted to and as you heard in the previous presentation we are redesigning our self-contained special education programs to better meet students needs and bring services closer to home so as you heard we are opening the multi abilities classroom as well as the prep program for students so that more students could attend either their home school or schools in their community and we know that these programs will strengthen our continuum of services and ensure every student has access to learning environments that support our community and our students and our students in the classroom and so on. both their growth and sense of belonging. So to keep you informed of our process and to keep the community informed, we will continue to provide these monthly updates throughout the transition. And next month in November, I'll focus

038on the course selection process for our rising sixth and seventh graders, and we'll also share the staffing timelines. And then in December, you'll also get to get an update on the progress with our transportation routing and our logistics for moving classrooms from building to building. So each month's update will build on the last to ensure that we are transparent and accountable as we move forward towards the 2026-2027 school year. And of course, our focus will remain on ensuring every family has the information and support they need for a smooth transition and the collaboration among our schools, our staff, and our families continues to be our greatest strength, and we appreciate your ongoing guidance throughout the process. So thank you for your time this evening, and I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Do

039board members have any questions? Sue? For transportation, if we're going to allow ninth through 11th graders to stay in their home school, I live within Wayne Elementary boundaries, so the kids are being moved from South Elgin High School to Bartlett High School. And currently in my subdivision, I see two middle school buses every day because half the kids go to Hawk Hollow and the other half go to Kenyon Woods. Are we going to continue having two bus routes to two different high schools in areas for three years? That's something that our transportation team is currently working on, so I'll be able to have more information for you about that at our next update, or if I can get it before that, I can get you a memo on that. Okay, yeah, since we're saying that

040they should stay there, we probably should provide transportation, so thank you. Any other questions, Shonda? Thank you for the presentation. I'm going to try to word this question because I have a lot of things in my head right now. For the resident exception request being made between November 1st and the 13th, and then the families, the families receiving a response for November 21st, how does that affect, say, the fifth and sixth grade families whose students have to choose their classes for the next school year going into middle school, knowing that I believe the deadline might be a little bit before that for them to select classes if they also want to submit a residency exception request? That's a great question. So all of those course requests get entered into Infinite Campus, which is our student

041information system, and so we will have those saved for students that if there is a residency exception that is granted, it'll transfer over to the new school. Okay, thank you. Anyone else? Thank you. Thank you. Okay, the next item on our agenda is comments from the audience. Dr. Johnson? Thank you, President Owens. This evening we have no public comments for the in-person meeting. As has already been indicated, we do have three written public comments that have been submitted and are available on the website attached to the board of trustees. So we will have a brief discussion with the board of trustees about the board of education agenda for this evening. Thank you. That moves us to other business board member and superintendent updates. Does anybody have any updates to share? Dr. Johnson? Okay. Next item

042on the agenda is the Illinois Association of School Boards IASB Resolutions Committee Report. So you all have in your board packet the report from the resolutions committee. I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Johnson. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This is the first look at the report that we'll get this year. There's only one resolution this year, and most of what they're going to be voting on would be the changes to the constitution. So if you've not yet had the chance, I mean there are substantive changes to the constitution. Nearly every article has some form of change to it. Okay. We'll need to read through those and get a

043better understanding of what those changes are and then the one resolution that will be voted on at the delegate meeting. So the general process is that we get this report first and then at the upcoming board meeting we will decide whether to, the one resolution is to, the recommendation from IASB is to adopt. So we'll have to decide if we are going to agree with that position or not and then also agree with the changes to the constitution. Any questions on that? Dawn? I just want to do a reminder. So I've been the IASB voting person the last two, but I will not be at the conference this year. So we will, just so everyone wants to think about it, if you haven't done that, this might be an easy way to check it out

044with only one resolution. But we will need someone to step into that this year. Thank you, Dawn. So we will be deciding that also at the next board meeting. So if you have an interest in that, let me know. And just to point out also with those. With those constitutional amendments, there is a decision on each individual item. Or I'm sorry, article. So it's not just a simple matter of deciding if all of the changes in total are good. We have the opportunity to go through each article and agree or disagree with those changes. Okay? But they're putting it on the consent agenda. I'm sorry? Are they putting it on the consent agenda? I would imagine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. All right. So we will discuss that at our next meeting then. That will move us

045to consent agenda. Dr. Johnson. Okay. Thank you. This evening on the consent agenda, we have personnel report and workers' compensation cases. Minutes of board meeting July 21st, 2025. Termination of Nadia Blank-Dailey, para cross-cat, SESS 1-1. Termination of Victor H. Camarena, dean's assistant. Termination of Samantha Ramirez, student success advocate. Proposal, school safety, Central Schools Dream Academy radio replacements. Proposal, specialized student services, purchase of student iPads. Proposal, transportation, student transportation routing software upgrade. Contract renewal, curriculum and instruction, career and technical education, project lead the way, PLTW participation fee. Contract renewal, plan. Plan operations, Streamwood Park District intergovernmental agreement. Contract, equity and innovation, historically black colleges and universities, HBCUs tour. Contract, equity and innovation, Hispanic serving institutions, HSI's student tour. Approval of settlement agreement and general release in the matter of Vardabedian versus Lewis and school district U46.

046Building permits to. Building. Building permits to, building and Building permits to. Are there any items board members would like removed from the consent agenda? Hearing none may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as read into the record. Second. Roll call, please. Ms. Kerr? Yes. Ms. Kahn? Yes. Ms. Martin? Yes. Ms. Schwartz? Yes. Ms. Thomas? Yes. President Owens? Yes. Motion carried. Okay, next item on the agenda is discussion action. Dr. Johnson? Thank you, President Owens. Our item tonight, itemized bills, October 6, 2025. Robin Cornelison, Executive Director of Financial Services, will respond to questions from the Board of Education regarding the attached bills. Administration recommends the Board of Education approve the list of bills in the amount of $33,780,502.20. May I have a motion to approve the list of bills in the amount of

047$33,780,502.20? So moved. Second. Any questions or discussion? Roll call, please. Ms. Kerr? Yes. Ms. Kahn? Yes. Ms. Martin? Yes. Ms. Schwartz? Yes. Ms. Thomas? Yes. President Owens? Yes. Motion carried. Okay, next item is other business. Dr. Johnson? Our item this evening, July and August financial reports. Robin Cornelison remains to present and review the attached financial reports and respond to questions from the Board of Education. Good evening, members of the Board of Education and Dr. Johnson. Tonight, I will be presenting key highlights from the July and August 2025 monthly financials. Please note that these statements are not intended to be used as a reference for any other purpose. These statements are unaudited, meaning that they reflect our internal accounting records as of August 31st prior to audit adjustments in relation to both revenue and expenditures. This

048is standard for this time of year as the annual external audit process is currently in progress. In addition, at this time of the publication of the July and August financial statements, the FY26 budget had not been adopted and hence reflects the tentative budget values. In the interest of all of you, please remember, we will be moving forward with the financial statements that we have published in the financial statements. of time this financial update will include the August highlights as it does include the July data in the year-to-date information I'll be providing here are some key highlights school district u46 posted a seventy one point six million dollar deficit through August however this is attributable to the increase of the unite you 46 capital outlay expenditures and the delay in the Cook County property tax revenue

049that is typically received in August the second installment tax payment typically start arriving in August following the homeowner tax bills that are due typically around August first of each year however this year the tax bills have not been able to be calculated due to a new unified property tax system that is currently in process of implementation at Cook County as of today we have not received any further information to indicate when the Cook County property taxes will be received however with our strong financial position the district is confident that we have the financial resources to account for our expenditures during this time of uncertainty uncertainty with the Cook County payments the unaudited fund balance now stands at just over eight hundred and four point six million dollars with 309 days of cash on hand the

050district can operate for approximately ten months without additional revenue exceeding common benchmarks for financial stability and as of the last business day in August the state of Illinois owes the district just over two million dollars for various up-to-date grant reporting we continue to experience reliable and timely funding from the state on our revenues August revenues totaled approximately thirty seven point five million bringing the year-to-date totals to 49.2 million this represents a 50% increase in revenue. 5.41% of the annual non-financing revenue budget. Typically property tax revenue from Cook County is received in August and the year-over-year comparison does reflect a difference of approximately $72.5 million in local revenue which does include the property tax revenue. Revenues received in July and August for June services will be accrued and reallocated to FY25 during the annual audit process.

051The information provided in the July and August statements are unaudited and will be updated throughout the audit process. Federal revenue is where one of those hits. In addition the FY26 budget was not adopted at the time of the July and August financials. So here are a few highlights. For Title I school improvement the tentative budget was previously set at $100,000 and the FY26 budget was set at $100,000. The final adopted budget is over a million dollars. Through the annual audit process any revenue that is received is a result of July and August expenditure reports submitted to the Illinois State Board of Education that include June expenditures to be accrued back to FY25. So a majority of what you see there will be returned to the FY25 calendar. Title II same situation. The tentative budget was

052around $70,000. The final adopted budget is over a million dollars. Through the annual audit process any revenue that is received is a result of July and August expenditure reports submitted to the Illinois State Board of Education that include June expenditures to be accrued back to FY25. So a majority of what you see there will be returned to the FY25 calendar. Title II same situation. The tentative budget was around $70,000. budget was around $925,000, with the final adopted budget set around $963,000. Same situation, through the July and August expenditure reports, the majority of those funds will be removed and accrued back to FY25, one of which is the instructional empowerment contract, which does total almost up to $1.8 million. So that will go back to FY25. So that's why the numbers look skewed. Medicaid fee-for-service funds

053were received as a result of the FY23 cost settlement reconciliation conducted for school districts. This reconciliation process ensures that school districts receive the correct amount of Medicaid reimbursement by matching the actual costs of the services to the payments received, ensuring compliance and maintaining financial accuracy and accountability. This payment is the outcome of an annual audit and reconciliation process performed by the public consulting group, which is an independent third party through the Illinois school-based health services program. Because this amount received each year is a variable and cannot be determined in advance, it is not included in the district's annual budget. Moving to expenditures, our August expenditures totaled approximately $70.6 million, bringing our year to date around $120.8 million. The estimated annual budget for our initial budget is $9.1 million, including our current 22% of our total

054year-to-date, and $8.3 million, or 12.61%. Paid expenditures in July and August for June services will be accrued and re-allocated to FY25. Expenditures remain within the projected range, and when compared to the prior August year-to-date actuals, all expenditure categories are consistent, other than two, and I'm going to address those now. One is capital outlay. Due to building construction improvements in UNITE U46, the capital improvements also occur in June 2017, so these are just individual accounts. Which also was not included in the budget for the FY25, and this is an opportunity for you to come to our office. We also want to remind you to please report to yourода for further information opportunities, and for any further questions if anything of the record will be available. exceeding last year's prior year to date. The other one is

055purchased services. This category includes technical services included in our Unite U-46 projects. Technical services include services provided that by their nature can be performed only by skilled specialized skilled and knowledgeable individuals. For our construction projects that typically includes architectural and engineering fees consulting services serving and inter-environmental services. The technical services expenditures reflected in the all fund summary are exclusively from Fund 60 and they are directly related to the Unite U-46 projects. So for August Fund 60 technical services totaled 9.5 million for a total year to date of 21.4 million. million when you take those out of the all fund summary your august is only nine nine thousand dollars and the year to date ten thousand five hundred so they are exclusively for fund sixty it is important to note that the unite u46 budget of

056126 million was initially placed under a single line labeled new construction this approach was taken due to the detailed breakdown of expenditures being unknown during the budget review process while ensuring that the full amount was transparently accounted for in the budget consolidating the budget provides flexibility to reallocate funds across the various expenditure categories such as technical services supplies and non-capitalized equipment that we also have been putting into our school to improve clarity and facilitate a more accurate review of the financial statements the estimated budget amounts will be amended going forward going forward to better reflect the categorization of expenditures our current expenditures stand at 12.61 percent of the budget with salaries and benefits representing the largest largest expenditure category totaling 48.1 million or five percent of the budget capital outlay for construction projects total 21.4

057million as far as our liquidity of the budget is concerned the district has a total of 46.6 million in equity assets as of august 31st the district held cash and money market balances 413.1 million investments 413.4 million for total liquid assets of 826.5 million in conclusion while the district currently reports a year-to-date deficit driven by delayed cook county property tax revenue and planned capital outlay related to unite u46 projects the district's selected financials are among the third largest in the district the district's total financial fund is a million and thirty-five thousand dollar total and now its volume is growing by 3.3 million as of the last month which reflects the total amount of financial debt you will be receiving in 2020 in the next four years the district's financial fund claims $4.7 billion to be

058less than $4 million in the future and looks to be is still relatively strong grants and the reallocating of the FY25 activity will continue to be processed. As always, we remain committed to maintaining transparency and fiscal responsibility as we move forward. I appreciate your time this evening and welcome any questions you may have. Thank you. Board members have questions. Sue? Not a question. Just thank you for answering all my questions I submitted earlier because that made it much more clear on the revenue and what was going on there. You are most welcome. Thank you. Anybody else? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next item is work session. Dr. Jensen. Thank you, President Owens. Our first item is board policy updates. Tricia Olson, Chief Legal Officer, will present proposed changes to the following board policies. Administration

059recommends adoption of the proposed changes. Good evening. Thank you so much for the opportunity to present to you additional changes made in conjunction with press issue 119. I will go in order as they are listed and we'll pause if there's any questions or can answer some at the end as well. First, I propose changes to board policy 110, 1 colon 10, which is addressing the school district legal status. The changes that are made to this policy are simply to the date. This is part of the press regular review of policies. Next, I present to you board policy 1 colon 20, which addresses district organization, operations, and cooperative agreements. If you were to review the possible options available for this board policy on press's internal website, you will see that there is an option that boards

060may utilize to organize and list all of their joint programs and intergovernmental agreements into this board policy. The board has previously never taken that option. We do not have that in our current version and have not proposed to do that in the past. My recommendation is that we continue to not include specific district organizations and joint cooperative intergovernmental agreements in this board policy. There are a great number of agreements that the school district and the board of education approve. So our goal is to streamline and to allow for clearer operations and better compliance of these agreements. I also want to make a point that the board has not yet approved the board policy. We have not yet approved the board policy. I think we have a little bit less time. I would like to address

061the board policy in a little bit, but I do not have time. I know that we are going to do more on the policy. The first thing that I want to do is to introduce a couple things to you. The first is to introduce a policy that works better for district organizations, or for clear operations, and utilize the alternate language, which is the district is organized and operates as a unit district, or as U46, serving the educational needs of children in grades pre-K through 12, and others as required by the school code. Next, I present board policy 1 colon 30, which is the school district philosophy, and this is just addressing the regular review, periodic review of board policies, no changes here. Next, I present board policy 2 colon 30, which is the school district

062philosophy, and this board policy 2 colon 10 which addresses school district governance this is also part of the regular review of board policies there are very minor changes made to the footnotes which are not incorporated in the published board policies such as abbreviating the open meetings act to OMA next I present board policy 2 colon 80 which addresses board member oath and conduct there are additional comments made in the footnote that are being proposed by IASB to this policy which was reviewed as part of its regular ongoing review there is additional optional language that the board may choose at its next meeting when I'm proposing that you adopt the changes to policies or at a future meeting if the board chooses to consider additional language that would read a board member who fails to abide

063by the oath of office or the code referring to the school district policy 2 colon 80 which addresses school district governance code may be subject to action by the board including but not limited to I'm gonna correct myself I apologize the code here is in reference to the code of conduct for members of the school boards so I'm gonna restart the optional language the optional language is a board member who fails to abide by the oath of office or the code may be subject to action by the board including but not limited to formal censure and or referral to the regional superintendent for removal from office under board policy to colon 60 board member removal from office again that is optional language that is not required by any section of school code and it may

064be something the board could consider in the future if you choose to retain the present language as currently proposed by press question for you then so right now without this policy without this language included in our policy are we able not that I'm planning on it but are we able to essentially move these steps before the board does that? a board member you would be able to take action that's permitted by the school code which could be to seek removal of a school of a board member for very egregious actions you could seek from the regional superintendent of education a censure be taken against a board member there's nothing prohibiting that this would be just an explicit reference perhaps for information purposes for the community or for board members themselves thank you next I present

065board policy 2 colon 130 which addresses the board superintendent relationship there are no vital changes made to this proposal which was part of a regular review by press next I propose board policy 2 colon 240 which addresses board policy development there there are just minor changes made to URLs in the footnote and or wording a slight wording changes made to the footnotes of this board policy you the board's policy is not subject to the footnotes of this agreement including updates to URLs next I present board policies I apologize I went out of order that was my paperwork error I'm going to reorder them thank you I think you're at four colon five five I am next I present or policy before colon 50 which is payment procedures this is addressing ongoing review by the press

066policy subscription service and there's no substantive changes to be discussed next I present board policy 4 colon 5 5 use of credit and procurement cards as with the last board policy this addresses the regular ongoing review of the press policy services and no substantive changes are made next I present board policy 7 colon 40 non public school students including 490 490 regrettably I think I shuffled my paperwork earlier I have mine I don't know how I regret that I put them out of order 4 colon 90 which addresses student activity and fiduciary funds no I don't thank you though there are no substantive changes in this board policy and this is part of the presses ongoing written regular review I'm happy to recall the reason why these are out of order and that is during

067a regular and ongoing meeting I have with my financial friends in the operations department we pulled apart and discussed all the operational policies so that is the reason for me failing to put them back in place so it was a good reason that we're collaborating and consulting with each other next I present to you board policy 4 colon 180 which addresses pandemic preparedness management and recovery this does mention remote learning days which could be adopted by the board if it so chooses at any point in time this board has not chosen to update or to include a board policy discussing remote learning days to date and so my recommendation is to continue to not include any references or optional information that might be provided by press for such a board policy just a reminder that

068the board could choose to include an update to board policies to address remote learning days if it so chooses I'd also like to highlight what we have in our report and the rest of the work that we are doing. that there is a section addressing payment of employee salaries during emergency school closures which is an optional provision but this board has utilized in the past for example during the COVID-19 pandemic these were the procedures that the board did choose to utilize to determine continued payment of employee salaries during the pandemic procedure next I present to the board policy 5 colon 270 5 colon 270 addresses employment at will compensation and assignment which is part of the regular ongoing press review and there are no substantive changes to provide to the Board of Education next I

069provide to you and I think I'm finally there policy 740 which addresses non-public school students including parochial and homeschool students this is part of the policy and I think I'm finally there policy 740 which addresses non-public school students including parochial and homeschool students this is part of our regular ongoing review and no substantive changes are made next I present to you board policy 7 colon 90 which addresses release during school hours I do want to highlight for the Board of Education that there is an optional provision that could be utilized by the board to address releasing student during school hours for voting purposes the board has not to date exercised that opportunity for students I believe the board's previous conversation did focus on the fact that there are a variety of ways that students can

070utilize to attend to their voting needs including by voting early or voting by mail and that there is a definite importance of making sure that students are in attendance during school hours but this is an option the board may consider in the future if it so chooses next I present board policy 7 colon 130 which addresses student rights and responsibilities this is part of presses ongoing regular review and there are minor changes made to legal citations in the document next I present board policy 7 colon 140 which addresses search and seizure you may recall that in February of 2024 the Board of Education revised its own policy addressing search and seizure so that we would align closely with the press policy the additional changes that are provided in this proposed version would make slight changes

071to address wording updates by including a reference to licensing and agreement and aquestas testis of technology and the licensed employees rather than certificated employees, and legal reference citation updates. The remainder of the policy would remain the same. Next, I provide updates proposed to Board Policy 7,300, which addresses extracurricular athletics. I do want to point out that we do include additional language that is optional for boards of education regarding a requirement that students follow the code of conduct. And that is a provision that we could choose to revise at any point in time, but we currently recommend that the Board of Education continue to utilize. There's additional changes made to footnotes to address minor language and wording changes. Next, I present to the Board of Education Board Policy 7,325, addressing student fundraising activities. I do want

072to flag for the Board of Education that except for the number two that is provided, that for any school that participates in school breakfast program or the national lunch program, fundraising activities involving the sale of food and beverages to students during the school day must comply with Illinois State Board of Education rules concerning the sale of competitive food and beverage items. That is the only item listed there that is specifically and explicitly required by law. However, we have included the remainder of the recommended provisions because they do represent good practice. I would like to also highlight for the Board of Education that we do have an alternative that we can consider for item number four, which addresses that student safety must be paramount. We have chosen in the past to include additional language beyond that

073phrasing, which is that student safety must be paramount and door-to-door solicitations are discouraged. We continue to recommend, including that additional optional language for the Board of Education. Next, I present Board Policy 8-80, which addresses gifts to the district. I would like to highlight for the Board of Education that item number five on the itemized lists here addressing gifts to the district is being recommended for an additional language change, which will address that when a gift to the district incorporates any messages, that the messages themselves must be viewpoint neutral. And we recommend that the Board adopt that language. Next, I'm proposing Board Policy 8-1-10, which addresses public suggestions and concerns. And this is part of Press's regular review. There's no substantive changes made. My regrets on getting out of line and out of number, but I

074think we got through them all and I appreciate your patience tonight. Thank you, Ms. Olsen. Does anyone have any specific questions? Any questions on any of the policy changes? If anything comes up then, as you review them ahead of voting on these, the next Board meeting, let me know. Okay? All right, next item, Dr. Johnston. Thank you, President Owens. Our next item, Middle School Physical Education Health Curriculum Proposal. Coming forward, we have Celia Banks, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, a familiar face, Tracy Jakaitis, Interim Student Wellness Coordinator, and of course, Mary Jovingo, our teacher leader, who will be available for questions relating to the Middle School Physical Education Health Curriculum Proposal. Administration recommends approval of the Middle School Physical Education Health Curriculum Proposal in the amount of $65,512.88 and requests authorization for district administration to

075execute related documents. This expenditure will be charged to the Education Fund. The cost is included. The budget will be included in the budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. I think it should. Can we load the presentation? Yes, it's there. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Hello everybody. We are here presenting a proposed middle school PE and health curriculum updates for grades six through eight. The purpose is to recommend the adoption of updated middle school physical education and health curriculum frameworks, equipment, and resources that ensure alignment across grade six through eight, promote student wellness, and support the development of lifelong health and fitness skills. The curriculum supports the strategic plan, goal number two, by fostering a sense of belonging, inclusion, and safety through equitable, accessible, and inclusive health and PE experiences for all students. It is also aligned

076with goal number three by promoting academic growth and mastery through standards-based instruction, skill development, and measurable learning goals. The adoption process includes the curriculum development and review of the following curriculum cycle processes. The rationale is to update the six through eight middle school PE health curriculum to support the increased sixth grade class days. These updates align with Illinois instructional mandates, U-46 standards, and best practices to promote student wellness while providing additional equipment, resources, and professional development to support these changes. The curriculum was developed in the fall of 2017. The curriculum was developed collaboratively with ongoing teacher input and feedback to ensure relevance, practicality, and effectiveness to support overall student learning. The curriculum development process used research-based standards and district resources to define what students should know and be able to do in quality PE and

077health programs. The structured approach ensured alignment, consistency, and readiness for implementation across all middle schools. The middle school PE program developed students, physical literacy, and wellness skills across grades six through eight. Content in bold is new to the curriculum. Sixth grade introduces the foundational movement, fitness, and teamwork, while seventh and eighth grade builds on the skills with progressive challenges, lifetime fitness, self-assessment, and leadership opportunities. The curriculum is inclusive, standards aligned, and designed to promote lifelong healthy habits. On the next three slides, the sixth and eighth grade health curriculum, covers Illinois mandated topics highlighted in yellow, such as personal health, nutrition, safety, emotional regulation, mental health, substance prevention, and human growth and development. Additional focuses include building healthy relationships, digital citizenship, and preparation for lifelong wellness. Both courses for sixth and eighth grade are age-appropriate, standards

078aligned, and designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills required for healthy development. The curriculum is a comprehensive and comprehensive course, and is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills required for lifelong wellness. Recommended resources for the middle school PE and health programs include additional PE and fitness equipment to support motor skill development, health smart for unit planning, choices magazine to include relevant text in health, and click view class hook for engaging short visuals to support health content understanding. Teachers will engage in targeted professional development to support, and to support the implementation of the updated PE and health curriculum. This includes training on curriculum frameworks, standards alignment, instructional strategies, assessment practices, inclusive and adaptive teaching, and the use of supporting resources and equipment. Ongoing collaboration feedback will ensure consistency, high quality instruction

079across all middle schools. The proposed PE and health curriculum updates require funding for essential equipment, instructional materials, and resources to support inclusive, and and to support the implementation of PE and health programs. This investment ensures students have access to appropriate tools, fitness equipment, and teacher planning resource materials to fully engage in skill building, wellness, and physical activity programs. Students will develop the knowledge and skills to make informed health and wellness decisions, both in and outside of school. Inclusive activities will foster respect for diverse abilities and personalities, while physical activity and mindfulness strategies will support emotional well-being. Thank you. The curriculum aims to promote long-term engagement and participation in healthy, active lifestyles. Teacher feedback surveys will identify strengths and areas of growth in the curriculum templates, resources, and assessments in the winter and spring of 26-27.

080Based on this feedback, frameworks, rubrics, and assessments will be revised, and professional learning will be planned and delivered to support implementation. Updates will be shared with teachers through ongoing professional learning in spring and August. The curriculum will be available to students in the spring and August of 2027. That is our presentation. Thank you for the presentation. Do board members have questions? No? Thank you. Thank you. That brings us to work session resolutions. Thank you, President Owens. Our first is a resolution for the disposal of surplus personal property warehouse books. Dr. Kyle Von Schneezy, Deputy Superintendent of Operations, and Ashley McKaney, Assistant Director, Plant Operations, will review the attached resolution and will respond to questions from the Board of Education. Administration recommends the Board of Education approve the resolution for the disposal of surplus personal property.

081Do board members have any questions? Thank you. Thank you. Next is a resolution for the disposal of surplus personal property furniture. Robin Cornelison, Executive Director of Finance, and Denise Smith, Procurement Coordinator, will review the attached resolution and review it. Next is a resolution for the disposal of surplus personal property furniture. Robin Cornelison, Executive Director of Finance, and Denise Smith, Procurement Coordinator, will review the attached resolution and will respond to questions from the Board of Education. Next is a resolution for the disposal of surplus personal property furniture. Robin Cornelison, Executive Director of Finance, and Denise Smith, Procurement Coordinator, will review the attached resolution and will respond to questions from the Board of Education. Next is a resolution for the disposal of surplus personal property furniture. Robin Cornelison, Executive Director of Finance, and Denise Smith, Procurement Coordinator,

082will review the attached resolution and will respond to questions from the Board of Education. Next is a resolution for the disposal of surplus personal property furniture. Robin Cornelison, Executive Director of Finance, and Denise Smith, Procurement Coordinator, middle school cafe tables Robin Cornelison and Denise Smith are still available to review the attached resolution and respond to questions from the Board of Education administration recommends the Board of Education approved the resolution for the disposal of surplus personal property do board members have any questions thank you next a resolution for the disposal of surplus personal property is equipment Jim wolf director of information services will review the attached resolution and respond to questions from the Board of Education administration recommends the Board of Education approved the resolution for the disposal of surplus personal property do board members have

083any questions thank you next item is work session bids and proposals dr. Johnson Thank You president Owens our first is a proposal information services chat GPT ed you Lola my storage deputy superintendent of instruction Jim wolf director of information services rolla Tariq Mohammed coordinator of strategic initiatives will present the attached proposal summary and will respond to questions from the Board of Education administration recommends approval of the contract with chat GPT at you in the amount of zero dollars and requests authorization for district administration to execute related documents participation in this program comes at no cost to everyone in the district administration to execute related documents participation in this program comes at no cost to the district and provides secure access to chat gp2 gpt edu for u46 staff who opt in and successfully complete the

084required ai canvas course prior to receiving access before i take questions from the board did you have anything that you wanted to present beforehand yeah so we just wanted to share a little bit of an update because what you're seeing is is very different from what we presented last time and so as you are aware since january of 2025 our u46 ai task force which consists of a team of teachers administrators and instructional leaders has explored how to safely and effectively integrate generative ai after piloting both chat gpt edu and google gemini advance the task force recommended chat gpt edu for its educational value ease of use and strong data privacy protections our original proposal came with a cost of about 400 million dollars and we're now working on a new proposal that will be

085available in the next few months and we're going to be working on a new proposal that will be available in the next few months and we're going to be working on a new proposal that will be available 400IM Gil isso apenas seis about fiveagen e a um seem to be Het pavement muito muitas por cent thousand thousand dollars um um um for uh four thousand lister um os seis mil licenças um um 몇 Destroy foi quatro mil certificantes um and um in eigenlijk ein paar semanas atrás, a few weeks ago after we a shared an updated presentation pro the Board of Education Thoma a sharein opneฉng, Open Ai reached out to our team here at World Education Center te' este esse chico torola and invasion and invited you 46 to join in its early access

086program which is um ajuna 46 join in its early access program which is uh program achieved ac laboratories that is a program that's only been offered to twenty school districts across the nation um which is un program que foi 17 on occasion кстати of across the nation um which which would grant us 13 months of free access for staff開ci para o staff Captivante de chat Gpp this opportunity It allows U46 to advance our work in a safe, structured, and cost-free manner, building on the foundation laid by our AI task force and aligning with our district's equity focus. It also will strengthen instruction, support educators with tools they already use, and protects district data, all with zero financial cost. All district data will remain secure. It would be owned by U46 and protected from use in

087training AI models, which is what we had shared last time as well. Our goal with this is to start this partnership with granting 1,000 licenses as a pilot to diverse groups of people across the district representing various grade levels, programs, both instructional staff as well as operational staff. We would work with them and gather feedback. Of course, they would first have to take our AI course, AI 101 course, in order to get access granted, but they would have to agree to provide feedback throughout a three-month period, at which point we would then collect that data and then make a determination on if or how we would scale to additional staff members getting access. Are you ready for questions then, Shonda? So that leads to my question about the pilot. So you get 13 months of

088no-cost access, and then you're going to do a three-month pilot for up to 1,000 users. The next 10 months, what are you going to do? Is it going to be the next 1,000 users for three months? What's the plan for the remaining 10 months of use? So we would be granted up to 4,500 licenses. The first 1,000 would be the ones we would activate based on who signs up for the pilot and ensuring that we have, again, that broad representation across the district. After that first three months, we would have to first look at the feedback, review the data, look at usage, statistics, things like that to make a determination on if we'd want to scale it further. I think at that point, we would then determine how much that would look like. OK. But

089we would keep those 3,500 licenses. So we would have 1,000 active ones. We would keep the 3,500 licenses and have access to that. They would just not be activated until we determine how we would want to scale that or if we would want to scale that. OK. And they could be activated within the 10 months or at some point? Yes. Thank you. And thank you for listening to all of our feedback. I know we've been giving you a lot of questions, a lot of things to think about. I really appreciate it. Rightfully so. Thank you for pushing our thinking on this. Kate? I don't actually really have a question. I just wanted to share in my day job, I actually went to the free version of CHAT GPT. I didn't use the districts because it

090was my day job. But this last week and a half, I typed in a number of different things and was able to get some pretty good stuff. Like most of it wasn't 100% perfect, but it saved me a lot of time because it gave me a really nice base. So as I was doing all that, I was trying to remember the things that we had talked about here, and make sure that I was using it. And I liked it. And I think that our teachers will have a lot of success if they follow these rules and guidelines and things that you've been talking about. Absolutely. And the really cool thing with this proposal is that OpenAI is also willing to provide us train-the-trainer professional learning so that we do have in-house capacity to be able

091to train staff throughout the district. Any additional questions? I just have a question regarding the data. I know that we... We'd be operating in our own environment that's walled off from the larger language model. If we use this system and say we use it for the 13 months and decide at that point, perhaps because at the 14th month, there's now a cost to this, and we make the determination not to continue, we have access to our data to download. Is that different? Is that different? Yes. So, we have data then removed from their system? Yes. We have assurances on that? Yes. While the data is on their system, who has access to that? Is it only the district that has access to that? Or does OpenAI also have access to that data? The district has

092access to it. We have access to it. It's our data. Does OpenAI have access to it? They have access to view it, but they don't have the ability to use our data. They can't take our data and feed the model. But they can view it. But they can view our data. Okay. Does that raise any concerns as far as privacy goes? I don't think so, because we're explaining to everyone that you don't put any PII, personally identifiable information, into the model. Even though it's walled off, we never want to put, you know, we don't want to put, you know, we never want to put students' personal information, teachers' personal information, any staff members' personal information into the model for those reasons. Right? And not only that, even though it's walled garden, I mean, I wouldn't

093want to see anything that Dr. Johnson put in. She wouldn't want to see what I put in. Right. Especially if somebody makes, you know, does something like tries to put PII in. That's why that's one of the big issues with this. And when I say issues, I mean what we're teaching to staff. These are just things you just do not do. You know, you cannot do this because it's bad practice. I don't know what else to say, but it's just bad practice to do that. I would also like to add that legal, I had already reviewed also all the service agreement and all the privacy and data statements regarding to the agreement. And they did confirm that it's good to go. And it's good to go. And it confirms all the requirements for the district

094when it comes to data and privacy. Okay. Thank you. Shonda? In talking about staff not putting in that personal identifier data, is there something in the policy, forgive me, I don't remember, is there something that there's repercussions if they do? Meaning you can no longer use this chat GPT-EDU for a period of time because you've now violated the policy? Yeah. So that would just be our typical progressive discipline policy that we would use anyway. So we have established guidelines in order to gain access to the platform. You would have to take that course and agree to following those guidelines. So if, just like with anything else, if you don't follow the guidelines, then yes, there would be consequences. And then are there regular checks on the data to make sure that none of that personal

095info is in there? We do have the ability to see the data and own the data. And then we have a lot of data that we can use. And then we have a lot of data that we can use. And then we have a lot of data that we can use. So we could build that into an audit. That's something to definitely consider or have. Like it should be, that should be necessary. Thank you. I was going to ask the same question to John, but then again I don't know. Thank you. Anyone else? Thank you. Thank you. Next item? Our next item, proposal, culture and climate, Illinois Virtual Schools Academy. Mark Ganella. Director of Climate and Culture will present the attached proposed summary and will respond to questions from the Board of Education. Administration recommends

096approval of the proposal from Illinois Virtual Schools and Academy in the amount of $40,000 and requests authorization for district administration to execute related documents. This expenditure will be charged to the Education Fund. Cost is included in the budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Do board members have any questions on this proposal? Okay, thank you. Thank you. Our next is a proposal from K-12 Science and Planetarium Habitat Restoration to support curriculum. Celia Banks, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, and Deb McMullen, Coordinator of K-12 Science and Planetarium, will present the attached proposal summary and will respond to questions from the Board of Education. Administration recommends approval of the proposal from Woods to Wetlands, Ecological and Environmental, and Environmental and Environmental Studies. The proposal will be received by K-12 Science and Planetarium, and requests authorization for district administration

097to execute related documents. The proposal will be participated by the Department of Education and Water Resources in the amount of $21,000. For the proposed proposal of the proposal, it will be charged to the Education Fund and the cost will be included in the budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Do board members have any questions? Kate? Just one question. It says here you're going to do a prescribed burn. Is it possible we can make sure we do that on a day when school is not in session? We can try that. We always try to prevent them from doing that. OK. them from big days like on test days and that kind of thing yeah but one of the things that's sort of challenging is you have to do prescribed burns when the weather is just right

098the wind is just right that so we kind of get a window and then and we go with it okay can we be certain then at least that the families are aware in advance yeah we're required the company is required to notify the neighborhood and right but I'm also talking about the kids within the school right they may not live in that neighborhood so they wouldn't get the notice but they're at Elgin High maybe they live all the way up by me in South Elgin right yep because they go to the Academy but they need to know because they're asthmatic sure so can we make sure yeah yeah they always notify everybody in the building yeah and so make sure the families know in advance so the kids can take an extra I can I

099can ask I'm just I've been I've struggled many times with prescribed burns and my asthma so sure no problem thanks yeah Sue so a few months ago we had some Elgin High students does this address their concerns I mean some of that some of them I mean this is kind of the starting point of that I'm trying to you know that that bank there is they're just there but they're buckthorn and they're just pulling the soil as they fall in and so yeah and and there's that area is very unique it is very high quality at one point the nature preserves Commission wanted to make it a nature preserve that was probably 20 years ago or so but it's very high quality it just needs to be taken care of yeah okay thank you yeah

100any other questions thank you okay our next item is a bid curriculum and instruction KITM Odell education consumables joining Celia banks is Jacqueline Johnson coordinator of literacy and libraries to present the attached proposal summary and respond to questions from the Board of Education administration recommends awards the lowest responsible better KITM in the amount of one hundred and nineteen thousand one hundred and sixty seven dollars and twenty cents requests authorization for district administration to execute related documents this expenditure will be charged to the education fund the cost is included in the budget for the 2025 2026 fiscal year do board members have any questions thank you brings us to work session contracts over thirty five thousand our first item contract renewal curriculum and instruction is called the benchmark education license so Celia banks and Jacqueline Johnson

101are still here to present the attached proposal and respond to questions from the board of education administration recommends approval of the contract renewal with benchmark education company in the amount of seventy one thousand nine hundred and fifty eight dollars and ninety six cents and requests authorization for district administration to execute related documents this expenditure will be charged to the education fund the cost is included in the budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year board members have any questions okay next item next item is contact contract for curriculum and instruction learning ally again celia banks and jacqueline johnson remain to present the attached proposal and respond to questions from the board of education administration recommends the approval of the contract with learning ally in the amount of 52 364 and requests authorization for district administration to execute

102related documents this expenditure will be charged to the education fund the cost is included in the budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year do board members have any questions thank you thank you our next item is contract renewal food and nutrition services heartland payment systems mcs my school apps aaron noak director of food and nutrition services will present the attached proposal and respond to questions from the board of education administration recommends approval of the contract a renewal with heartland payment systems in the amount of 100 520 and requests authorization for district administration to execute related documents this expenditure will be charged to the operations fund and the cost is included in the budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year do board members have any questions thank you and lastly work session change orders dr johnson yes change

103order plant operations elgin high school primary overhead electrical service replacement project number 242 cassandra reichenbach assistant director of planning and systems and jolene lineman capital projects coordinator will present the attached change order and respond to questions from the board of education administration administration recommends the Board of Education approve the change order from ascend electric incorporated in the amount of minus sixty two thousand two hundred and thirty dollars do board members have any questions thank you thank you and that being the last item on our agenda I will ask for a motion to adjourn so moved second miss Kerr yes miss Khan miss Martin yes miss Schwartz yes miss Thomas yes president Owen yes we are adjourned at 8 35 p.m. thank you everyone