Lisle 202 Board of Education Regular Board Meeting October 27, 2025 (LIVE)

001of the finance committee of Lyall Community School District 202. Uh first up is uh public comment. Do we have any uh blue cards? Anything from the internet? >> Yes, sir. >> No, we do. >> Excellent. One day. All right. Uh the third item on the agenda are the minutes from the September 22nd, 2025 finance committee meeting. Does anyone have any questions, changes to those minutes? No. So we are all in agreement that those accurately reflect last month's meeting. >> Fantastic. Thank you. >> Excellent. Thank you. All right. So item four is the facility plan. The information for this can be found in the finance committee packet under item four. Mr. Wilkinson, if you would take it away, please. >> All right. Thank you. Let's just see if uh I have to do anything to get

002it up on the presenter there. I think it'll go there automatically. Uh perfect. There we go. So, our first topic tonight is the uh updated facility plan. Uh this is probably where we'll spend most of our time this evening. Um, for those of you who've been in the board, as as you recall, this looks at um our plan kind of over the next 10 years and and what the facility needs are in the district. uh in particular um it kind of breaks out the first five years into kind of annual increments so we can start to plan in terms of what projects might fit in where but then once we get kind of to that sixyear time frame six year six to 10 year time frame they're kind of more lump lumped together and we

003don't necessarily slot those in to specific years. Um this is really just for our larger facility projects. anything that's over that $25,000 capitalization threshold. I do note on uh the building slides throughout the presentation kind of what our overall annual kind of ongoing operations and maintenance costs are for each of the buildings. So that's in there as well. But uh the presentation really just touches on those larger uh capital projects that we uh that we might have in the coming years. Uh we do update this annually. Um, we note any of the work that we did complete kind of throughout the presentation and then any potential new projects as well as uh on occasion we revise some of the cost estimates kind of based on the the current market conditions that we're aware of and

004uh obviously make any changes based on uh what the district's long-term priorities are. And and to start, I will focus really on just kind of the key changes, the key things to know um for the presentation. We will touch on uh kind of briefly some of the building specific items, but I'm not going to go into too much detail on those. That's more of a kind of a reference uh point for you if you ever want to look back at the presentation, kind of refresh your memory. That's what most of those detailed uh slides are for. And so the the biggest change on this year's uh facility plan is that at this point we've deferred the rest of the Lyall Junior High renovations, that phase three portion um until the summer of 2030. Why the

005summer of 2030? That's when uh our district will be debtree. The existing bonds will roll off. And so that puts us in a position where uh we can issue new bonds to finance the work. the stuff that we've done so far already phase one and phase two uh realistically was almost 7 million and exhausted those fund balances that we had earmarked uh for the project. So anything else that needs to be done would have to come from from those uh $13 million of bonds that was discussed when we originally started talking about this project. You will recall that that one uh one iteration kind of of that financing plan did did look at issuing the bonds earlier so that we could um realistically just take kind of one summer to pause and then get right

006back into it. Um but in order to do that, we'd have to call our existing bonds and based on where interest rates are currently for bonds, it it just doesn't make financial sense to do that. It would be too costly. the bonds that we have right now are at a much lower interest rate and so issuing those bonds at a higher rate and kind of refunding calling those ones we already have just just wouldn't make financial sense. Uh I did get a question kind of related to this deferring of the project. Um they they had a question about the band room at the junior high. The question was, given the growing size of the band, what are the interim plans to address space concerns until the room can be expanded as part of phase three?

007And uh if if you recall when we first looked at the junior high renovations and they were kind of first designed, there were some discussions around enlarging that band room. Um, but as we work through the process, they were ultimately removed from the final scope that we were considering based on budget limitations. And so I haven't been made aware at this point of any issues in terms of the size or the space. Um, I did reach out to Dave Carney to to get some more feedback. Unfortunately, he he had a busy day and I wasn't able to get an answer for tonight. But um obviously if that becomes a concern, we'll have to I guess sit down with Dave and talk about do you shift schedules somehow, create some additional spaces where we might be

008able to have um some activity. Uh but that would be something that we would have to work through at that time. So I don't know if you had anything else to add to that. I know it was your question, Dan, but >> No. Yeah. No, thank you for uh the history. I I forgot that it had been removed, but it was, you know, >> Yeah. the iterations, but and I just know having a band kid, there's there's a lot of kids and there's >> there's 100 students in band I think in the fifth grade band right now and of course all there'll be some attrition but we have a large group of students coming through and I think there you know our directors are very creative and they've been doing yeah >> some good rearranging

009but I think with this bubble that's coming up >> that you know it's something that you know might want to be looked into and again it's I think that this the building staff staff there have always been creative and they'll figure something out. We can't just suddenly in the middle of the junior high building make a larger building with you know >> it would be nice. I I but um at this point that was something that that was a nice to have but once we kind of got through the process and some of the schematic design it it became apparent it wasn't in in the in the cards for now. >> Thanks for recalling that. >> Um >> I just had a quick and I like your plan. Does would it be better though to

010pursue Dave's plan or the district's plan, I guess, of having more sections and that way the kids are getting better one-on-one instruction when they're in there too instead of just expanding the room because it wouldn't be an expansion of instructors, right? >> I think they're doing some of that right now because they're they're already at capacity in that room. So, but I would lend it to the staff and working with the directors on the details like I mean I'm hearing this kind of secondhand and you know through students and so you know I think it would be >> you know best if you know if we accommodate something in there and but I'm sure it's something that's on Mr. Carney's and >> correct >> so again this is this is my thought process on brainstorming.

011I I again I didn't get a chance to talk to Dave about it today so I don't want to be like this is Dave Wilkinson's plan on like you don't want me making plans for what the building's going to be doing but um certainly that's something that that again I've reached out to Dave he'll let me know if it is an issue or not an issue and then obviously um if it's something that that needs to be addressed I would want Dave Carney to >> I would share his thoughts and insights on that. >> I think it was a wise approach Mr. Wilkinson. >> Thank you. um at at the senior high uh kind of bullet point number two there. We we I have tenatively scheduled still for the summer of 2028. So it shows

012up as fiscal year 29. There's always kind of some timing differences between the when the work is performed and when we have to pay for it. But um I did leave the kind of the roofing um this is the roof from 2002 and then the HVAC is really the the gymnasium unit that we would like to um add air conditioning to at some point. I did leave those in here for now, kind of still in that in that uh time frame, but obviously as we get closer, we will uh evaluate the condition of the roof before we would move forward, evaluate the condition of the HVC. We want to do those kind of both at the same time because the the unit is is there with the roof. Um, but again, those are those are

013from uh those are something that we would explore and continue to take a look at as well as there there are a lot of uh HVAC units from our 2002 uh edition over there that we'll have to continue to monitor. So, it's kind of a placeholder for now. Again, I think you guys have kind of learned this over the years. Things move around. This is just kind of where we're thinking right now just to kind of get some ideas for planning. Um, but we did leave that in here uh for the time being. The other thing is um I did adjust the cost estimates for that work uh based on what it cost us to do the commons units over at the junior high this past summer. Um I thought that the rooftop unit over

014there would end up being a little bit more expensive. So that was that was added to the uh to the plan. We're also exploring or will be exploring some smaller projects um that could be completed potentially, you know, over the next two summers. Uh really in the areas of of lighting. One is I think I've mentioned this before, some of the auditorium lighting, the theater lighting over there at the senior high school. um those kind of that house lighting uses a lot of energy and so we think that's a really good opportunity for um some energy efficiency, maybe getting some comment incentives to pay for that. As well as anytime those lights go out, uh we have to rent a lift in order to replace them because they're so high. Our the lift that we

015have doesn't reach that high and can't be used in that space. So, um we're going to explore that, see what those costs might look like. And then also, if possible, we'd like to potentially um upgrade the the lighting in the hallways at the junior high. And that would probably come with ceiling tiles as well. Uh because once you're up there, you might as well do both at the same time. So, we're going to kind of get some idea of what those might cost and uh potentially bid that out to see if we can make that happen. Um I don't know if you saw the new ceiling tiles that they had to put in in the commons. I mean, they look really good. We've got new ceiling tiles in the in the classrooms as well. So,

016it might be nice to at least get that piece of the work done as a smaller project while we wait to potentially readress some of the larger renovation work at the junior high. >> Dave, there's some there's some good pictures in the slides. I think it's slide 11 that shows the hallway with the lockers painted and the new ceiling tubs. It looks great. And so, I would love to see, you know, if we can make that happen in the other hallways. It really makes a difference. Um, the other thing I noticed is the white paint on on those. And, you know, we may at some point want to consider um making the foyer a little more inviting and brighter, too. And that's dark brick in there. And there's the brown the brown uh vent cover

017to the left as you walk in. And it could be something maybe would consider. >> Can you can you clarify that when you say white paint? are >> well look if you look at the halls um above the slide 11 I guess is the one the it's brick up on the top and when I say white I don't >> there we go >> know what it is but um above the lockers it it looks I think bright and it it really enhances the appearance there and we might want to consider something like that in the hallway just as a thought because it is dark as you enter and it looks um it's kind of in the initial entrance through the foyer. Okay. >> Well, we have a summer painting crew, so we can uh >>

018we can add that to the list and that's an easy thing to kind of freshen up. >> Well, just for everybody to look at cuz I you know, it it could be a little more inviting perhaps. I I don't >> Okay. >> Head back here a little bit. Sorry. Um I I would I did want to mention too the the state maintenance grant uh came back out. So um we'll be looking for a project to to utilize those funds. And so some of these lighting and ceiling tile projects could be uh funded partially by not only the comet incentives but also by uh the facility grant that the state uh puts together every year. uh Wildy Field. Uh we continue to to kind of leave that in that five plus year time frame. Um that

019would be renovating the track, uh the bleachers, the press box. Um again, we're we're kind of postponing that until we um kind of sort through our finances and and determine if additional funds are available. I did have a board member ask whether the decision to defer that work was related to any possible partnership with the Lyall Park District on a recreation facility. Um, to my knowledge, they they haven't reached out to the district about partnering on that in any way, shape, or form. I'm not sure if if they've reached out to you, Keith, or not. >> They did. They um are still in the exploratory stage, but I think what they're proposing is going to be where the old administration used to be in that workout facility straight across the street from the high school

020in between the water park and the high school. So, um they're looking for um I think a fieldhouse concept there with some indoor basketball and then probably an indoor track, but I don't think we have the financial resources to partner at this point. So, I said, you know, we would be glad to be part of those conversations. I think at this point we don't have the financial resources to finish the junior high renovations. So, I don't think we would be able to help them with their fieldhouse. But I would imagine we'll have the same relationship we currently have where they utilize all of our indoor facilities free of charge. And I would hope if scheduling allows we'd also be allowed to continue to if they were able to develop it be able to use it

021for our students. Also got a question about our press box at Wildfield um and and kind of the condition of that as well as if maybe some students could kind of do a service project to freshen that up a little bit. We did I can't remember. I tried to find out. I know uh when Rich Marks was leading the painting crew, we did have that repainted at one point. Um I can't remember how many years ago that was at this point, but we uh Jeff's going to take a look closer look at it. If we were going to paint it, we'd have to do that in the summer. Uh and hopefully our painting crew would have a capacity to do that. Uh but he'll also check just to make sure, you know, is there anything

022we can do with the windows, siding, things like that? Make sure we can kind of freshen that up a little bit uh here in the within the next year or two. Um, but as far as kind of a student service project for that, uh, really that would kind of be too dangerous of a work for them. We have to rent a lift in order to to do any work on that. And so I I would certainly not want to put kids up in a lift that high in the bleachers working on the uh on the press box. So we'll have that tough sixth graders. >> We'll have to tackle that with the professionals in house um when we get the chance in the summer. >> No, thank thank you. And I I just those for

023me it just I at the Decatharan Iic had some comments about its condition going oh we're going to renovate you know the >> yeah on you on uh future renovations but with the 5year plus time frame it's if it's not a budget buster to >> so I I I think Jeff and I would like to hear a little bit more about what exactly they said. I know there's some issues with the kids breaking the the handle over there or the lock or something like that. So they're they're breaking in. So, I know the inside is not in great shape, but it just like the outside just, you know, could use it. >> So, we can certainly look into that before the summer of 2030 and and um at least freshen it up a little bit.

024And then, uh the other thing is is the demolition of Shizure was postponed a little bit. Um obviously, this gives us the flexibility to kind of continue to talk with Chesterton or Sassid, see if they want to extend for a little bit. Um but you know at at at some point we may have to demolish seizure and so that's still in the plan just just kind of in the longer term window at this point. Um this kind of puts that all together kind of in the 10-year plan. Um again this is the you know how these are distributed over time that that kind of evolves uh from year to year. Um but in terms of you know the first column there fiscal year 26 we did complete the commons work at the junior high for

025the HVAC it also incorporated a new stairway for safety purposes uh in our auditorium in the theater area. These projects are now complete and and those costs are incorporated here. Looking ahead I talked already about the high school and kind of that work potentially falling into fiscal year 2029 right there. And then um beyond that window, we've got the junior high phase three renovation work uh which is really kind of the remaining uh classroom addition mechanical work, boilers, those those kinds of things. Um again, we're we're deferring that work realistically so that we can um become debtree and issue the new bonds at that time. But in total over the course of this period, including all of those educational enhancements at the junior high, it's about 19.4 4 million of work. Some of those estimates

026are from when um Perkins and Will did their review. I've tried to update as much as I can um based on doing roofing work and past projects, HVAC work, but some of those numbers are still kind of when Perkins and Will did that original assessment. I'm just going to kind of run through the buildings really quick. I don't want to take too much of our time, but um you know, focusing on the high school, those red sections up there. I think they're red. I'm not very good with colors, but um that that those are the areas that that we would potentially look at doing in 2028. Uh if you recall, we did do some patchwork on those back in 2022. So, we'll kind of use that as the baseline as we're evaluating to see how

027that those held up and and uh what that might look like in the next couple of years. Um, I already touched on the South Gym RTU. We'd love to make that air conditioning so we don't have to run those fans uh in the summers, those big fans in the in the doorways. Um, but I did update those costs. Uh, we initially said maybe 250. I think that would be closer to $500,000 uh in this day and age. Uh slide eight shows the historical um this has mostly been kind of roofing work. We did that in that fiscal year 21 to 23 time frame. Uh we also did some interior renovations which was primarily new bleachers in the gymnasium. And then uh the HAC work was the main classroom units um the three rooftop units that

028are uh provide heating and air conditioning for those classrooms. already talked about kind of what the 10-year time frame looks like. The only thing I didn't mention is kind of that far right hand column. Um, all that HVAC work that would be starting to replace some of those uh units from our 2002 renovations. Um, moving to the junior high. Uh we already touched on this slide a little bit. Kind of refreshing some of these lights, some of these ceiling tiles. Um getting some consistency with the work that we've already done. Again, we could hopefully utilize some school maintenance grants to help pay for that as well as um some of those come energy incentives, assuming that they're still out there. These are all the mechanical systems that are still um kind of on the radar.

029uh boilers, some of our rooftop units in the smaller areas like the fitness center, uh the library. We will have to kind of revisit our auditorium. We tried to do that this past summer, but it was uh more expensive than we anticipated. Um but those are all also kind of looking ahead things that we will consider. I touched on Wildy Field. Um, right now we're kind of in a holding pattern until we figure out the district's finances and what kind of funds would be available uh for that project. This touches on the history as I mentioned earlier. You can see there with the renovations, um almost $7 million were spent on the renovations in terms of our design work, engineering, uh architect work, and then actually doing uh the the the work over the summer,

030uh with the windows, uh the secure vestibule, the fourth grade, the four sixth grade classrooms. Um that's all incorporated into this slide. Uh and then we also did all of the unit ventilators in the classroom. So, we made a lot of progress. We did a lot of a lot more work than I think we originally anticipated in those in that first two phases. Um, but we are kind of in a holding pattern as we uh figure out what rates are going to do and when we can issue those bonds. I've already touched on this. Uh so, moving along to the elementary school. Nothing new here. No major capital projects are planned. Again, the building just opened in 2019. So, uh, it remains relatively new. Uh, we'll continue to monitor kind of the systems and the

031performance and and continue to maintain those, but at this point, we don't have any significant plans at the elementary school within the next 10-year time frame. The last piece, again, you can uh kind of take a look at this on your own time, but uh, she's elementary school. Um, currently it's leased out to both Chesterton and Sassid. Um, we'll continue to talk with them to see if that's something they're interested in continuing to do. Um, but at this point, uh, I know we've met as a committee at at one point to kind of start to have those discussions about what the community's plans are, what we'd like to do with that space, but right now we have uh, two tenants there. And so, um, it's not empty, it's being leased, and it it's providing some

032additional revenue for the district. I know I went that through that relatively quick, but we do have some other topics this evening. Um, are there any other questions or comments? I tried to address those that were submitted over the weekend over the course of the presentation, but if there's any others, um, we can certainly open that up for discussion. Thank you very much for that summary. That was a great presentation. All right, so we are to item five, the financial projection update that can be found under item five of the finance committee packet. And if you would please take the stand again, Mr. Wilson. So this update builds on uh what we reviewed last spring um and incorporates uh I think most importantly the audited FY25 uh results uh that have just been completed. It

033also um factors in some of the items from the fiscal year 2026 adopted budget. And then last and incorporates the changes that we just discussed in the facility plan. Um overall um the district in this projection starts FY26 in in a slightly better position. Um our actual expenditures last year came in under budget and it resulted in a surplus of 1.6 6 million in the operating funds, which was about $100,000 higher than what I was projecting when I did the projection back in May. I know that's projection a lot there, but um so we ended up a little bit stronger than we were anticipated. So that'll uh give us a little bit of a better start as we enter the current fiscal year that we're in right now. So we still have a balanced budget

034for fiscal year 26 followed by a moderate deficit in fiscal year 2027. So that's been reduced a little bit in this updated projection. Uh we are meeting uh on a regular basis to to analyze our revenues, analyze our expenditures and start to uh unpack those and explore what our options are as far as uh addressing that deficit in fiscal year 27. Fortunately, we have a little bit of time. Um we're okay for this year and we don't have that big of a deficit in fiscal year 27. So, we have some time to kind of work through these conversations, these discussions. Some opportunities on the revenue side that I think are worth noting. Um, this has been touched on in past meetings, and that's possibly reinstating fees. I think if we reinstated those, we'd generate approximately

035$230,000 in additional revenue, which would help to close some of that that deficit gap. Um, also both the projection back in May and then this current projection update assumes that this will be the last year we're leasing to Sassid over at Chesterton or at Shisure. And so that falling off reduces our revenues by about 175,000. So if Sassid would decide to continue for another year, obviously we would continue to get those revenues and again it would help offset some of that that deficit that we have. Is there any indication that they will want to lease longer? >> Yes, they do. >> Okay. Thank you. So just touching kind of at a high level of how some of our revenues changed between uh what I shared in the spring and this October overall you know over

036this what is that 26 27 the 5year time frame they changed by about $320,000 which which isn't significant um you know most of those differences were from reducing the transportation proration I think I mentioned this when I was presenting the um fiscal year 25 unudited results and as those costs are climbing not only for us but other districts in the state that funding is remaining flat. And so as a result um for every dollar that we spend on transportation we're actually getting less back from the state because there are not enough funds to um to account for that increase. And so I I started to make some of those changes into our projection to be a little bit more realistic about how much we were going to get back from a transportation reimbursement standpoint. On

037the positive side, um at least from the school district's perspective, we we are seeing CPI going up a little bit uh since our last uh projection in the spring. And so it's I think I used 2.9% in this update. And then they actually just released the figures for September which actually ended up being 3%. So it was slightly higher but um they were delayed in getting that information out this year due to the government shutdown. So I went with what I had at the time. Um but that is uh factored into this projection and providing a little bit additional revenue uh more revenue over the course of the projection period. I also uh increased our investment earnings a little bit based on kind of a revised way of of handling the budget that I mentioned

038during the budget cycle. And so that also added a little bit to our uh revenue stream in this update. As far as expenditures, uh overall the outlook has improved a little bit. So that's good. Um the total projected expenditures for this time period uh went down by 3.6 6 million and that's primarily in the areas of uh transportation costs. Our transportation cost for this year we just finished up came in a little bit lower than expected. So that's positive. I've been trying to figure out exactly what the costs are in that fund and it was nice to see our our budget actually ended up having a little bit of a surplus in that area. And then it's a little bit of a kind of a reclassification. Our special ed aid costs are kind of getting

039bounced back and forth between purchase services and tuition. And so last year they were actually in purchase services. This year they're back in tuition as part of the uh new methodology for how SAS is billing. And so while we saw the it go down in the area of purchase services, you can see there's about a 560,000 increase in tuition and fees. And that's primarily those aid costs shifting from one category to the next. Um but overall, oh the other piece is uh salary and benefit projections. Um, you know, obviously I was able to finalize our budget for fiscal year 26. We saw where the last year ended up and so we were able to lower those costs a little bit in the salary arena as well as our benefit renewal. We didn't know what that

040was going to be during the May projection and that was finalized at a slightly lower rate. So that obviously helped a little bit over the course of the uh over the projection time frame. So overall uh some favorable things in um the areas of the expenditures uh which again did help kind of our balance position for fiscal year 26 and help reduce some of that deficit the following uh fiscal year. Looking ahead I I I always want to mention that that we have paused for now anyways kind of that annual $750,000 that we were saving every year uh for our facility projects. And so, um, as we continue to revisit the finances, look deeper into that, um, that's something that we're going to have to, uh, we're going to have to kind of look at

041a little bit more so that we can make sure we have funds available to support, uh, our long-term facility needs. Um, the projection also does defer now the bond issuance until fiscal year 2030. um we could issue those bonds actually in July of 2029 which would prepare us for the summer 2020 summer of 2030 work. Um and so that that aligns with what I was looking at on the facility plan um for the work that we would do with the junior high. But I did have a board member ask uh very astutely about the difference between the May and October projections. Why did our fund balance at fiscal year 2030, you can't see it here because this is just the operating funds, but when you look at all funds, why was it now 25 million

042instead of 8 million in the previous one? And that's really the timing of when our bonds would be issued right at the tail end of that 5-year projection period, but we wouldn't have incurred any of the costs yet because we wouldn't have done the junior high work. So, I debated how to how to put that in there. I I'm glad you saw that, Dan, but um it gave me the opportunity to explain that no, our fund balances didn't go up 13 million. We just had the bond proceeds in order to pay for those capital projects in the following summers. Um so again overall uh you know the the the projection kind of reflects a measured approach to the years ahead and um obviously we we still have healthy reserves which is great and so that

043gives us kind of the flexibility and the time that we need uh to really better understand um some of these costs and kind of navigate that into the future. So that's all I had. if don't know if there's any questions or if I've bored everybody to want to move to the next item. All right. Well, moving on from the financial projection update, let's move to the quarterly financial update. Uh that is item six in the finance committee packet. Once again, Missson. All right, I got a few more minutes here. So, uh the final item is the quarterly update for kind of the first three months of the fiscal year. Um, again, it looks at at our year-to- date revenues and and compare those to the budget, which is always a little bit challenging this this

044far into the year. Uh, but we can uh at least touch on a few items to get an idea of where we're at on the revenue side. Uh, as we would expect this time of year, we've received about 98% of our levy. Um, that is typical and that's what we would expect and and I would also expect to uh receive the rest of those property taxes over the course of the the year. Interest income is right where I want to see it, one quarter of the annual budget. So, so far my uh new methodology for interest income is working excellently. Um, we're also at 26% for our rental income, our corporate personal property taxes. So, um, that's right where we want to be, uh, as far as our other local revenues. State revenues are at

04514% of budget and our federal grants are at 26%. These are a little bit more tricky to to see where we're at in any point in time just because of the uneven nature of when we get those payments, but we haven't started to get uh those transportation payments yet. So that's why the state revenues are a little bit lower right now, but we will certainly be getting those payments. Uh we probably already have uh and we'll continue to get those throughout the rest of the fiscal year. On the expenditure side of things, uh salary and benefit costs are right on track at 12 12 and 13% of budget. That's right where they were last year at this time. Purchase services are at 16% which is trending slightly below last year. Uh but again, this includes

046transportation, food service, our annual software renews, and then also all of our insurance premiums. So, um those obviously can can vary from one month to the next depending on what those bills are. Supplies and materials are a bit higher at 43% of budget, but that's ultimately reflecting kind of the front-loaded costs that we have at the beginning of the school year. We buy our Chromebooks at the beginning of the school year. We buy curriculum items at the beginning of the school year. um and other kind of classroom purchases to get us ready for the start of the year. So, we always see that higher in the first quarter and then it tends to get back towards our budget as we move through the rest of the fiscal year. Capital outlay costs, the 580,000 you're seeing

047in the in the update is all related to our junior high HVAC work and renovation of those stairs in the theater. Uh those were completed, those are behind us. Um and so those were reflected here in the first quarter. And then also other objects, uh we always see those uh higher in the first quarter of the year. They're actually at 45% of budget right now. And that's because Sassid, our special ed cooperative, asked that the districts pay them upfront for the entire year. And then it's reconciled and and um you know reconciled to what the final enrollments and the final services are uh at the end of the year. Finally, non-c capitalized equipment. This is our staff laptops that were approved at the finance meeting and then uh staff laptops for the junior high and

048then also we are doing some new network switches over at the high school. But fortunately we'll get about 50% of that back through the -ate process. So we have some funding to help pay for those costs. And so overall we're right in line with expectations. Uh revenues are coming in as planned. Expenditures are consistent with where we would be at in the prior years. And uh we'll continue to monitor uh our spending as the year progresses. I'll ask if there's any questions, but I'm guessing there won't be. >> Yeah, very thorough. Well, thank you for your all your hard work on all the items tonight. Very professional as always. And moving on, we are up to uh agenda topics for future finance committee meetings. Does anyone wish to enter a topic? No. Okay, good. All

049right. Well, with no other agenda items, I will entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Oh, okay. So that's Miss Alman and Mr. Elderly. >> Okay, beat me. >> No, we jinxed. You can give it to Dan. >> Oh, she jinxed me. I can't talk for the rest of the day. >> Well, we'll enter that into parliamentary procedure in the future. All right. So, I will adjourn the finance committee meeting at 7:22. Thank you very much, everyone. October 27th, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. and I would like to call to order the meeting of the Lyall Community Unit School District 202 board of education. Before we begin, uh, Mrs. Sims will not be here this evening. So, I make a motion to appoint Greg Naggler as secretary prom. So move second. >>

050All in favor? >> I I >> and those opposed. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Naggler. And if you could please take a roll call. >> Miss Novasel, >> present. >> Mr. Negler's present. Mr. Helderly, >> present. >> Miss Foster, >> present. >> Miss D. Dominico, >> present. >> And Miss Alman, >> present. Thank you. >> Noting that Miss uh Sims is absent. >> Yes. >> Thank you. If we could please rise for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Next is a reading of our mission statement. And the Lyall 202 mission statement is to provide our learning community with the essential education, skills, and experiences for future success.

051So keep those thoughts in mind as we meet this evening. Next on our agenda is our um item four is our student recognition. So I will turn that over to Mr. Molotov. Do I need these or can I just I can just talk loud. Is that better? >> Okay. >> Or use two. >> Okay. Fair enough. Fair enough. >> For the whole world to hear. Fair enough. Uh good evening. It is my distinct honor and privilege to recognize a tremendous academic accomplishment from one of our exceptional seniors, Rean Grow, who uh this evening is here to be recognized for her performance on the National Merit uh PSAT NMSQT, the National Merit Qualifying Test. Um each year over 1.3 million really motivated and driven juniors take this test. I say motivated and driven because it's optional.

052like they choose to sit and for hours and take this test. Um, and Reagan did fantastic. Uh, we, like I said, we have 1.3 million and because of her remarkable performance, we are thrilled to announce that Reagan has been named a commended scholar um by the National Merit Foundation. U, what that means is that she scored in the top 50,000 of the testers in the nation. Think of it in a different way. So the top 50,000, think of it as the top 3.5% of the kids that took the test. That's where she sits, right? So this is a very commendable and honorable thing. We are super thrilled to have her. She represents all that is great of Lyall and the academic excellence that we uh want all of our kids to achieve and we are

053super happy to recognize her this evening. Congratulations. Thank you, >> Reagan. I I'd like to just add our congratulations from the board. And I don't I don't know if you remember a few years back when you went down to Springfield um with Mrs. Jaggley's class and you came back and presented. You were the spokesperson that was chosen to present to the Lyall Education Foundation because the foundation had funded it. And when you presented, I knew that we would hear from you again, that great things would happen. So, we wish you much success the rest of this year and certainly into the future. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> It's always fun to start off with something like that. Mission statement. >> We did. >> Yes. Next is a public comment. Is there anyone in the

054audience that would like to give public comment? Um, okay. If not, uh, was there anything online for public comment? >> There were not. >> Okay. Thank you. That brings us to our action items then. Uh, does anyone before I start have any action items they would like pulled for discussion? Okay. If not, I will entertain a motion to approve item 6A, consent agenda, 6 A1, board meeting minutes. 6 A2, payroll pay orders. 6 A3 vendor pay orders. 6 A4 personnel. 6 A4A classified employment. 6 A4B classified retirement. 6 A4 C extra duty employment. 6 A4D extra duty resignation. and 6A5, appointment of delegate to the uh 2025 Illinois Association of School Boards Assembly and direction to vote in support of or against ISB reg resolutions in the constitutional amendment at the 2025 ISB assembly and

055I think we there is a suggestion motion in there and there was no other discussion on the or do you want some discussion on those topics Dan? Um yeah, I think there was >> there were a couple for discussion. >> Okay, then you want that pulled out of here? Yes. >> Okay, we could pro likely uh well, no, let's let's pull that for a separate uh vote then. Now, it's a lengthy motion, but we'll do that. So, uh entertain a motion for um you know what, let's let's have that discussion first and then we can just vote on it. Since it's a long it's a long agenda, >> it should be pretty straightforward. So I think here is if we're starting with the uh we're just going to go down the list. I think most

056of them everyone had uh gotten feedback and was to to adopt. I think Miss Foster you wanted to look at the discussion for the article 2 section six. >> Yeah Dan, thank you. Yeah, just a question. A section six it refers to vendors. Just wondering is that traditionally been in there the background on that just with the rest of the people in that group? vendor seems an atypical fit. >> I'm not sure, but they were just they were striking language, so I suspect it's been there already. >> Yeah, I I mean I I don't know the background on it from um I didn't see the question or we could have maybe checked on it, but um just it was just kind of that the section is based off vendors. So like someone who sells things

057to the district would be in that same group with the teachers, the former teachers. I guess Dan, you could um send an email in and ask for uh clarification if necessary if you want to pull up the you want discussion on that particular you want us to pull it up. >> We can pull Let's pull it up if we can. It says section six service associate member. Correct. >> Yeah. It says reads any person, firm or corporation which provides services or products to school districts may be eligible to be a service associate member provided. However, the board of directors um service associate members may name one member as a special director to the board who shall be without a vote. >> And you're on page >> It's page seven. Okay. >> Oh, wait. Hold on.

058>> Page seven. Sorry. And then um I just thought when I read through it, it just seemed just seemed atypical that a vendor who sells things I just the influence that they may have. I just wasn't sure if there was like a conflict of interest with people actively on the school board, people affiliated, like everything else seemed like it made sense. Past members, um people who are all kind of in that same realm of elected officials representing communities for school districts. And then there's vendors. It just maybe some more background on it. It just I did anyone else does that strike them as just unusual? >> I I didn't read that much into that. I was just looking at that they made some uh verbiage changes here to reduce duplicity, but I mean I think

059if we wanted to get more details from them on that kind of specifics, we can reach out to them. I mean, the verbiage was fine, but I just I when I was reading through that section, I just it just seemed unusual that >> everybody else it it seemed to be representing that group and I just do they have different interests because their goal is to sell >> Mhm. >> to them. >> It does, >> right? >> It appears they're without vote. If you could look at the um the the dark type at the end of the first paragraph, >> I did see that they don't get a vote. Um but just they're involved in the group and the discussions >> just >> would their perspective be different than people who are trying to represent and

060and do the best for the communities and the schools and the communities because their goal is to to sell. >> Yeah. Um I mean the way I read it is the the board of directors they approve who can be service associate members which obviously then they can use for as vendors to say I'm a I'm an approved associate member. It doesn't go into how you know any other specifications whether they can even be >> in that you know what I mean like >> which does not address at all in this language. >> Yeah. It's just they reduce redundant language, you know. Um I think that was that the main part if you look at all the the red lines. Um but the process itself, they don't go in >> Yeah. Like I said, the verbiage

061was fine. I just when I read that section, it just struck me as unusual that >> I wonder if they're there for input. I don't know the background on those groups, but it does say in number two that or number three, where is it? um that they're not an active member. Um >> so I wonder if it's it's more for input from them on that. I you know we you know we could certainly if Dan if you want to write up something I'll send it into ISB and um we can get clarification on it. >> Yeah, maybe just some history. Anyone else have any thoughts on that? >> I don't It would be good to know their thinking on that, but um my my read is that they're just there for for input and not

062a decision maker. So, >> I just didn't read that as new. I just like from my understanding of what I read in article 2, section one, they're just defining the classes of membership and that's one of their classes of membership. I didn't read that part as a new addition to to this. >> Yeah, I agree. I they were like the language was changed but I'm I guess >> I mean maybe it's >> to bring to them in the future. I'm just questioning why it's there to begin with. >> I think a good question be interesting here. >> Okay. Yeah, we can um >> and they're not active numbers as it says in number two in that section but you know it's it's strange titles actually that the different ones have. So I guess the question

063is what is the purpose of the service or what what is the responsibility um of the service associate member? So >> yeah what's their their role? >> Okay. >> And get clarification but it it it isn't I mean it was there before. So I think that >> aside from Are we all good to adopt? >> Mhm. Okay. >> Everything else? >> Great. Great. Uh on the next one, article three, section two, uh Pame uh wanted a board discussion whether we should ask them to add a date for rationale for when the surveys will be sent and when the results to the surveys will be reported, which is the nothing in the in the language. say any sort of timing or commitment to it saying that they just plan to and this is also in summary

064is there are districts that for either logistical or financial reasons can't make it to Chicago for the the the um conference you know think about somebody from far down south you know at Metropolis Illinois it's harder to get up here so they were having discussions on whether they would allow voting by email then if you read language well people can vote by email who's going to come downtown Chicago for two days you know so they're looking at the impact on the the conference itself as well so no Pam if you want to elaborate on your >> the section just said that there will be a study that they do a study in 2024 um was kind of like a dangling participle it didn't say anything about what they were going to do with the study

065or whatever so if we're writing in on the other why don't we add to that when will the results of the study be shared and you know for further discussions. So I think that would as long as we're writing in we can ask it. >> It was interesting. I think they mentioned 2024 as using they were going to do a survey of who attended the conference and who attended just the delegate >> in 2024 from last year. But yeah so there's never by the time they get around to this they'll have all the information for 2025 >> I would think. So >> yeah I don't know we can ask them. It's a dangling issue. >> Yeah. So, in general, do we wish to adopt that language? >> Yes. >> Okay. Great. Um, looking on the

066next three, article 4, section one, article 4, section two, article 5, section two. I think responses was uh do adopt in all three of those. Are there any additional discussions? Okay, great. Moving on to article 7, section three. Uh Pam's wondering that there's soon to be some language, funky language in there about the members of in the third line to be deleted. Um P my thoughts for I think active members is capitalized and a specific group. So >> you want to tell them what page that's on so we can >> Yeah. >> Is it article three? I didn't >> article 7 section three. Okay. So that's the on yeah page nine annual three and there a nominating committee consisting of a chair who shall be the immediate past president and the four additional persons who

067are members of the active members is that members of active members and serve on the board of directors shall be appointed by the president etc and I think I think it's the members of active members that having members mentioned twice was >> yeah who are active members with it it Yeah, when I >> It's not a big deal, but it it just seemed like it was repeating members of active members. Um seemed >> odd. Yeah. So, if you search the document, you'll find the words active members repeated multiple times. So, I think it's just a name of a group that happens to have the word members in it. >> Sure. No, it's it's a title of a group, active members, just like the the the one we just talked about. But I it just um

068it it's fine. We can just leave it like that. Okay. >> All right. With that any do we all recommend to adopt? >> Okay. >> Yep. >> And then uh for the remaining uh article 8 section 4, article 9, sections 2 through 7, article 11, section 7 and article 12 section two. I think I got responses to to adopt from everybody. So any discussions on those? Okay. And now to the resolution. Those were amendments to the constitution. This is these are just resolutions which are these are proposals that ISB will bring to the state legislature the school bus safety funding and I got everyone responses to do adopt. So any discussion all right I will work on Pam and I work on email to ISB on those questions and I will vote in accordance with

069our decisions tonight. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. The only reason we added it was um based on the ISB recommendation in those in the packet at the end they said suggested having a backup there. There was one time that um I remember when Mrs. McConville was the delegate and couldn't go and so I did fill in but it really should be formally approved by the board first. So just a formality. So thank you Dan. And with that, um, I will entertain the motion and the consent agenda as presented. >> If someone could make a mo or so moved. >> Okay. Second. >> So that's a first and second by Miss D. Dominico and Miss Foster. >> Yes. And then if we could have a roll call. >> Yes. Miss Alman. >> I. >> Miss.

070Oh, wait. Miss. >> Mr. Dominico. >> I. >> Miss Foster. >> I. >> Miss Alman. >> I. >> Mr. Helderly. >> I. >> Mr. Naggler is an I. Miss Novasaw >> I >> and Miss Sims is not present. Thank you. >> Thank you. Item seven or seven on the agenda is our financial information. The board acknowledges receipt of the following reports. Financial report, 7B, treasury report and 7 C investment concentration and collateral report September 30th, 2025. Any discussion on those reports? Okay. And that brings us to our next item, which is item eight, discussion items and the school improvement plan. And I think we're as we shift over to our administrative staff to from Lyall Elementary. Um I just want to acknowledge that last Friday was uh principal day in Illinois. And I guess uh

071in 1990 the Illinois governor decided uh or endorsed that day. um October 24th to acknowledge the importance of principles, assistant principles and deans in Illinois. And not to be outdone, there is also a national principal day which is celebrated May 1st. So, um, you get two, but this one includes the whole group and you're here tonight and and, uh, we also want to honor your dedication and leadership. Um, not only your team, uh, principal and all the associates, but also, um, your colleagues at the junior high and the senior high. So, with that, we celebrate that and now invite you to have the school improvement plan. So, welcome. >> Thank you so much. Good evening, Board of Education and District Leadership. We are honored to be here to present our Lyall Elementary School improvement plan

072for the 2025 2026 school year. I'd like to introduce our administrative team. We have Mrs. Meredith McCormack, our assistant principal of curriculum instruction and assessment. We have our new assistant principal of student services, Mrs. Chrisa Swike, and then our dean of students, Miss Kristen Petrella. We're very honored to be here and I'm sincerely pleased with um being able to present this presentation and honored to be representing the staff and students. We have amazing staff and outstanding students and we look forward to sharing with you our improvement over the last year. We also would like to just indicate that our school improvement plan, the entire plan is at the end of our um presentation tonight. So that's also for you um to review with us. And we look forward to starting off with how do we

073learn and grow at Ly Elementary School. And we go through sorry I have to get where we go through are our students ready social emotionally and we know that then we go into our academic progress and then also our instructional practices re our assessment results and then we also will end with our action plan tonight. And so we look forward to hearing about how our students, we know that they need to be socially emotionally ready to learn. And so we're going to have Miss Petrella talk a little bit about what we do at La Elementary School. When we're looking at our social emotional learning, we're really looking at the foundational skills that each and every student needs every single day. Students need to be ready to learn to actually access the academics, the math, the

074reading, all of those important things. We know many students are coming to us with a lot of background, a lot of things in their weekend and in their mornings that we can't foresee, nor can we actually see, but we do have to account for those things. At Lyall Elementary School, we put a lot of work into ensuring our students are supported and to help them build these social social and emotional skills. We do have an increased number of students arriving disregulated on the daily. There are students that were spending time coaching, coaching on school skills for coping skills, coaching on dysregulation skills, and co coaching on the basic problem solving skills. How to solve a friendship conflict, how to handle the word no or a direction that might not be what you want to hear.

075At the building, we have two things we use to teach our buildingwide expectations. The first is our being safe, being respectful, and being responsible. And then we also have our second step curriculum. Those are both things all of our students access on the daily. The students hear those three terms, respectful, responsible, and safe in all areas of the building. The playground, the lunchroom, their classrooms, the bathroom, the bus, so that everybody in the building is familiar with what's expected of them. It's equally as important to recognize the students who are doing the right thing. I know there was a question about Aurora tickets that was started last October by a committee that was put into place to help recognize those students that positive behavior that we are seeing in the majority of students. So when

076somebody is seen doing the right thing, going above and beyond, they get a ROAR ticket and then on Thursday tickets are pulled and those students are recognized at the building level and they're given a certificate to acknowledge and recognize that we see you doing the right thing and we do really appreciate that. We also provide our students with the opportunity to grow their leadership skills. Last year we spoke about the ally club that has evolved into the Lions leadership club to kind of better suit our school and our building and everything we're working on. Last year we were lucky enough to have about 24 fifth graders. This year we've already gotten started and we're lucky enough to have 33 fifth graders as a part of this. They go through an application process. their teachers provide

077feedback and it's a really phenomenal opportunity for these fifth graders to step into a leadership role, maybe try something new, see themselves in a different light. Um during this, it's a unique opportunity. They are learn leadership skills and then they also last year had the opportunity to mentor kindergarten, first and second grade students. They mentored these students on friendship skills. We talked about what's a rose friend and what's a thorn friend. We talked about how to solve conflicts. If something somebody takes your toy at recess, what's the appropriate thing to do? And coming from a peer, those younger students really looked up to these students as role models. This year, we're looking to expand it even further and we're going to do some community service by going to Feed My Starving Children to volunteer and

078we're also looking to give back to the school in some capacity. One of the unique opportunities is it actually gives these students a voice and coming up with what do you want to do? It's not directed by me telling them directly, here's what we're going to do. It gives them that opportunity to to come up with a plan and then see it through. We also have our student council for students in third through fifth grade. These are students that are chosen as representatives by their classmates and they do things in our building like plan our spirit days, our canned food drive, um the Makea-Wish Foundation. And so it's another opportunity for all of these students who we know are doing the right thing and have this phenomenal potential to grow that at the elementary level.

079We're excited for these opportunities and we're excited to see how we can take these students even further in their leadership into the future. Thank you Kristen. Once we assure that our students are socially emotionally ready that we know that they're ready to learn and so Mrs. McCormack will be detailing our how our students learn through instructional practices, our curriculum and assessments in the upcoming slides. So we continue to use different assessments to measure our student performance and growth throughout the year. So we have our classroom assessments from our core curriculum such as our bridges math, our my view, our magnetic reading. We also use I ready and fastbridge across K5 and we call this our universal screening data and we use this information to help us determine who are those students that might need additional

080supports or intervention. And then we of course have our one time a year we have our Illinois assessment of readiness or IR. That assessment is in the spring. That is a one-time data point for our students. So if you recall from last year, I shared with you um this framework and this framework depicts our different levels of instruction that we have. So we want to make sure that our curriculum is meeting the needs of the majority of our students. And so we roughly always want to make sure that that's about 80%. But we also know that some students are going to need more support, more intervention. And so we look at who are those students that are going to need tier 2 supports, reading and math intervention. And then we also know that we're going

081to have kids that need additional support in tier three. So those are very intensive services, not just academically, but also social and emotional. So we use this framework um in a system called MTSS. And our MTSS occurs three times a year. And it's in this space that we talk about social emotional learning needs and the academ academic needs of our students. And it's really a great time for grade level teams to come together to set goals to celebrate and to identify what are those opportunities for growth within the instructional year. So, what do we know about those students that are sitting in front of us and what are those next steps that we need to plan for their instruction? As well as determine what are those small groups, what is it that we know that

082they're going to need additional reteing in, but what might they also need some additional enrichment opportunities in? So, it's really a great opportunity for us to review and look at just that overall health of our school. and then the overall health of our grade levels. So with that, we were um we had a lot to celebrate when we looked at our spring MTSS data. So you can see here that like I mentioned, we really want that at least 80% of our students um you know at or above grade level, which we were able to last spring celebrate. Um so this gave us a lot to um to think about to reflect on. We were able to celebrate the instructional practices and opportunities that we were providing for students. We were able to um celebrate the

083fluency work that we were doing in reading. We were able to celebrate the magnetic reading um and and just the different uh routines that that teachers were engaged in daily with their students as well as look at how um our reteing and our intervention had helped our students. And then the same goes for math. So again, we were looking to see how many of those kids at the end of the year were at 80% or above meeting the the grade level needs. You can see um like in grade one and grade two, you know, we took a little bit of a dip and we also reflect on what are some of those dips. So what are those little tweaks that we need to make to our curriculum? What are those things that we need to

084add and what are those areas in? So we might identify, you know, problem solving or, you know, measurement and data or fractions. And so we're able to kind of zero in and then make some of those tweaks for this year. And you'll hear some of those tweaks when we talk about our areas of focus. You'll hear where some of those tweaks come to play. Um last spring we shared Dr. Shriber shared with um the vision 202 group that we had our what I need time every single day. Um we really love this time. Um one of the the unique things about what I need time it occurs every single day. It also occurs outside of our core curriculum. So, one of the things that's very important to us is that all students have access to

085grade level instruction. We want them to be working in grade level texts. We want them to be working on grade level uh math concepts, but we also recognize like I mentioned through our MTSS system, we know that they need opportunities for reteing. We know they need opportunities for enrichment. So we provide that through a 30 minute time that happens outside of that core time. So during that core time you might see students leaving and going to intervention with a reading specialist or a math specialist. You might also at that time see someone leaving to go with our AL teacher to do a little bit of an enrichment group. You might also see someone receiving a special education intensive service at that time. So, it's our top priority that our entire team, our teachers, staff, and

086administration are meeting the students where they are, whether it's socially or academically. And so, Mrs. Swike will share the specific um supports offered through student services department and especially with our students with special needs. Thank you, Dr. Shriber. So, I'm going to cover what we um encompass in our umbrella of student services. So that would include our EL bilingual programming. That would include our section 504 plans, our at risk and self-contained preschool as well as special education. Um our special education um department would encompass our special education teachers, all of our related service providers, so our social workers, our speech language pathologists, our school psychologists, and another big piece of that is our partnership that we have with our special ed cooperative um SASSED. So those um that entity um they employ our OT's and

087our PTs. So our occupational therapists, our physical therapists and they off al also offer a lot of resources and supports to our school as well. Most recently on October 3rd, we were able to offer a resource to our pair of professionals across the entire district and they received a training about dysregulation in our students and how to um how to manage that and how to be trained in dealing with that. So they really do provide that big partnership that we are grateful for. Um and then we continue to just look at our programming, look at the supports that we have and how they meet our students needs and how they we need them to evolve as our students um needs evolve. So the biggest portion of our student services department is special education services. So,

088those are students that have been identified through an evaluation process um for and that have been um identified as needing an individualized education plan or an IEP. So, these students um through that eligibility are receiving direct instruction in their needs. Um and if you look at this graph, we it shows the numbers that we have over um the past two school years and then this school year. Um, and if you look a little bit deeper at that, the 21 students there, um, for this school year, um, are our speech only IEPs. The these are students that have been identified with a speech language impairment. They get direct instruction from a speech language pathologist. Their goals and objectives relate to that speech and language impairment and their accommodations relate to that as well. Um the 79

089students that we have identified as needing an academic behavioral functional IEP um are getting direct instruction in academics. So reading, writing and math that have been identified through that evaluation process and then that behavioral functional support might come in um in connection with that. We are seeing an increase in the need with our students behavioral and functional needs. So that is something that um the IEP is expanding a little bit more, a little more intense that we've maybe seen in the past. And then additionally, those students may receive a related service um connected to their IEP for um speech language, social emotional um learning from a social worker or occupational and physical therapy. Um, so this the thing to note with this is currently at this given moment we have a 100 students in the

090school with IEPs, but that number is always evolving. Um, that number actually changed even as early um as most recent as last week. So we had students that were identified and evaluated and were eligible for an IEP. So we are constantly looking at that number. um the numbers um from the past two two school years should be noted that those are December 1st counts. That's when the state um expects us to report out on that. So these numbers um we know that our numbers currently will continue to evolve, will continue to grow as our student needs grow. Um so we anticipate that number will meet um or exceed the previous two school years numbers. Um, as you know, as a board, you guys have been so gracious and to understand when we have our needs.

091Um, and to approve different programming needs that we had. Um, our preschool programming was one of those. We identified that that self-contained classroom would greatly benefit a group of students. And what's great about that is those students can be in our schools being serviced and then go right to kindergarten again in our school. Um, additionally, we have our third through fifth grade um, self-contained ELA math um, classroom. These are students that have been identified as needing extra supports um, in the area of ELA and math that are beyond just being pulled out for a certain amount of minutes or pushed in for a certain amount of minutes with support that they need the entirety of that class period in a specialized education classroom. um again due to that increasing behavioral functional support needs or for

092an academic need. So again, we continue to look at our programming, we continue to look at our needs of our students um and look at ways to continue to to build our programming to meet those needs so that they can continue to transition on to the junior high and high school um through the elementary um I'm sorry, through the Lyall School District. >> I Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. I I had just asked the question and it's probably more for of the board, but um just so that we're not deceived by this that looks like oh all the services are going down because it is as of December 1st and maybe we could get an update absolutely um in December or January on those numbers so that we would have a an accurate reflection if everybody

093would like that. >> And I would agree. I did notice that 23 24 to 24 25 went down. So yeah, it'd be interesting to see maybe in January would that be enough time. >> Yeah. >> Great. Thank you. >> So I just curious on the numbers that they're trending down, but is this due to more students transitioning in and out of the district or because of your services, students saying, "I no longer need speech therapy. I no longer need an IEP. I've got I'm caught up. I've got skills now." >> I'm just curious how that how the numbers like like this look, you know? >> So a couple different things. One thing I think that we should be very proud of is our MTSS process. It's very extensive and we can really analyze and make

094sure that we've we're working through those interventions which may prevent even the need for moving into a case study, moving into an evaluation. So, um, obviously I'm new here, but one of that was one of the most impressive things that I've seen in Lyall School District is how strong our MTSS processes, how thorough we are about making sure that we've exhausted our intervention process before considering moving forward with an evaluation. So, I do think that's one component. Um, since actually September 1st, we've had 15 students move into our Lyall Elementary. Um, and a handful of those have been IEPs. So that number was actually smaller than 100. So it just really I think fluctuates. I think um the large group of students moving on to the junior high that were fifth graders that had IEPs

095and then obviously you're going to have a larger section of numbers at the um at the older grades because they're coming into as early learners and we're and then we're identifying oh they may be falling farther behind and then going through that evaluation process. >> There's some feedback from the junior high with the MTSS. Um I I never heard about MTSS until a couple years ago when you guys started introducing it and I think the feedback I'm hearing like the junior high this is really helping our kids >> absolutely >> academically and it's I think reflecting your numbers that you're be coming up in later slides. So >> absolutely >> the next area that we'll discuss is our social emotional support. So, as I mentioned, we are seeing um an increase of support needed to

096support our students behaviorally, functionally. They're coming in with um on a daily of things that we are not fully aware of, but we are needing to support them to um to support those social emotional needs and then to be able to then support their academic needs. So this um graph depicts how much support that a student um that students in our building may be receiving um through either our MTSS process or through direct services from an IEP or um a 504 plan. So indirect stu services may look like teacher collaboration. It may be um mentoring students that need some extra support. It may be delivering an SEAL lesson in our classrooms. um problem solving may be something that's been identified whereas direct services will be more of those individual and group sessions um direct minutes

097that you would find in an IEP that's been identified as a related service. Um the numbers here if you notice the 70 that number was last year at this time the students that were receiving direct services through an IEP or 504 and that number actually has jumped to 88 this year. So again, that functional behavioral those needs, we are recognizing that in our students that they're needing more of those supports. Again, that extensive MTSS process that we should be so proud of that 158 students. So those are students that throughout the year last year at fall, winter, and spring we identified as needing some tier 2 supports. So again, those more likely will um be more indirect um supports, but they look very different depending on what child that you're discussing, right? And what needs

098that they had. But because we look at those um three times a year and we utilize things like attendance records, tardy records, nurse visits, discipline referrals, those where that's how we identify which students may need some additional supports. um again through more of an indirect of supporting that teacher problemolving meetings or if they eventually move to an evaluation and ident are identified to need an IEP then they would receive more direct services and direct goals related to their needs. Um some things that these numbers don't include that I think it's important to know that our social workers and our support um our social emotional um personnel provide is that um if we do have crisis calls they are one of those team members that are called to support and those are not numbers we analyze

099on a daily as to how much um support is required for our students. So this may be extreme anxiety. This may be students that have school refusal concerns that are having a difficult time coming in the building. This may be um students that elope from the classroom or or from even the building. So those are requiring the team of our special education staff, our administration staff, and our social workers to um to respond and to care for those students. Additionally, our nature is to take care of students when they need assistance. And so if families reach out to us and tell us of situations their family is going through, that's another um that's another support that that social worker is going to provide them with. So um illness or death in a family, divorce or

100separation. So those things do come up and those will definitely fluctuate how much support is needed for um for our student body. >> About how many crisis calls would you say in a week? Um, >> just inter Yeah, that's a great question. >> Um, for example, today between the hours of 12:30 and 2:30, we had four going on at this >> significant. >> That's what I was Yeah. >> afraid of, but I mean that's what I thought and and that's probably a couple times a week that it's those numbers >> At least. Yeah. >> Okay. Building on Pam's question, do you guys feel that you have the right amount of social services support in the building to support the kids during those? I know those are intense. >> I think that's Oh, go ahead. I

101think that's a great question. One of the things that um Kristen and Christa have been working on is really finding the resources that we can tap into in DuPage County. And one of the resources that just opened up in Wheaten is the crisis response. Um, and we have really focused on that with some of our families that not necessarily are going to go out and get that health professional help outside of the the school. And so I don't know if Kristen, you want to share a little bit more of you went to the actual >> Yeah. So I was able to go visit it with a team of the professionals from all of the Lyall schools. It's a phenomenal resource. They have a mobile unit that we can call out directly to the school. It's

102also a parent can take a child there at any point. It's a 2359 facility, so they're able to keep parents and families for a longer term during the day. Um, they're able to connect them directly with what more that may be and those wraparound services. Sometimes that turns into that family support. Sometimes it turns into more direct support for the students. So, that's been a really phenomenal resource for us to call directly or for us to just provide the parents with when they reach out that they're struggling. Um, it's that follow-up sometimes that we're then having to kind of help with is, hey, have we called? Hey, did you follow up with that phone call? We we can only open the door for it. So, we're seeing some of that. But, that's a phenomenal resource

103we've been able to access that just opened. I think it was like a month and a half ago, actually. Um, it's right in Weaten by like the courthouse and stuff there. So, that's one of the great resources in the county. >> It's so be It's a beautiful facility, but we're sending connecting people with that resource. Mhm. >> I know. I heard the the fire department also uses the the mobile unit frequently, but when you have a crisis call like that, how many staff are involved? >> We try to make it minimally first, right? And then um depending on the situation, we we all have radios and so we, you know, we know students very well. we we kind of know what um what that's going to look like and so that we know that certain

104language we use on the radio so we know how to um who to call for and how many to call for but on any given situation it it could be as many as four five staff members. >> Okay. Thank you. >> And I I would say just should you come to capacity and you need more working with Dr. Philip, you know, let's figure something out. I think the sooner we address this the situation with the students, the better they are all around, you know, socially, emotionally. >> We have to remember Doc uh Dave Wilkinson's presentation on budget when we're making those commitments. >> Yes, we're not just >> And then the last area that we um are that our department covers is e and bilingual services. Um, again, this is a number that looks um

105like it's dipping a little bit, but um even in recent weeks, we've had students that moved in with EL services as well. So, that number actually continues to grow. And when this presentation was made, um we had the 45 students, but this number actually is a few more. I know for certain because, um since the presentation was put together, we have had some more students move in. Um so we do account for 18 different languages which was an increase from last year. Last year we had 14. Um and we this year we added Russian, Erdo, um Moratti and Burmese. So those were four languages that were added um as native languages with our students which is something to celebrate that we have um a very diverse um population. Um 43 of those students of the

10645 are Spanish-speaking students. Um I think it was noted that that may have been a little bit dip and I think when looking numbers to numbers it was actually one student um by one student. Um so I think by adding those extra languages too um that changed that percentage. Um 42% of them are receiving intensive language support. So that is two sessions um 30 minutes a piece per day um to support that language. So that is a 56% increase in our EL population. And I think just more recent move um students that have moved into the United States um so that we can help them access that their curriculum um by getting that EL instruction. Um we do offer two models. So students can receive bilingual services. So they get instruction in English and in

107their native language or they are an English learner where there it's just completely in English and then they have some extra supports um that are interventions that are in English as well. And then again, the model can be either a push-in model or a pull out model. Um, and then those more intense um, language support services would be more of that pull out model. Um, but again, this number is always evolving and we're always looking to identify if we have supports in place for these students as well. >> And you use Google Translate to with the parents and the families are if I mean do some of this the children come in only in their language? >> Yes. and and then >> as early as this week actually um that happened. We um we actually

108have um a device called a pocket talk which is a a a great tool um for teachers to be able to utilize with their students and um the EL and bilingual staff is able to use. Um and then we've used utilized Google Translate as well. Um and um just always looking for Yeah, there's even phone systems that I know I've heard of that you can utilize for that too. So always looking at those supports as well. >> Yeah. Great. Thank you. >> Thank you. So we will now transition into our assessment results from the previous school year. We have valuable data to highlight, but we also have areas that we continue to focus on. And as you can share, our MTSS process has definitely helped and supported every student in our building. And we look

109forward to sharing our I Ready, which Mrs. McCormack will share and then I will share our preliminary um Illinois assessment of readiness assessment um data tonight. So our I Ready assessment is a growth measure and just a little recap if you remember the I Ready will set in the fall a typical growth goal for all of our students. So, um, this is a a very attainable goal. So, we want to make sure that students are progressing and meeting that typical growth goal. So, last year, so fall to spring, 65% of our students achieved their expected growth in reading and 62% of our students achieved their expected growth in math. So, we were very excited about that. Again, we want to make sure all students are learning. So this means that you might be moving from,

110you know, two grade levels below to one grade level below or um, you know, mid to above. And so we want to make sure all students are learning. We also were very very excited because this fall when we looked at our MTSS data, when we looked at our um overall I Ready and our FastBridge data, we had 83% of those students who were ready for grade level standards in we have never had it that high. We were so excited. So um so what does that tell us? And that really lets us know that we do not need to spend time reteing and going back and reviewing previous grade level. So we want to accelerate student learning. We don't want to remediate student learning. And that's how we make sure all students are growing. We, as

111um Chrissa just mentioned, we have a lot of new students moving in with EL. So that means we have to get them to grow and they need that grade level instruction. If you're already in third grade, you're already in fourth grade, you cannot spend a lot of time in first and second grade. You need to be able to accelerate and and and we need to um close that gap. So, these numbers were just so promising for us um and just really validated uh our our MTSS process as well. So, >> yeah, kudos. I mean, those are fantastic results. >> Yes. Um and again, that doesn't mean that we don't have opportunities for growth. there are a lot of things we want to strengthen. Um again, our grade level teams uh set some excellent goals. Um

112they work collaborative collaboratively together to make sure that all of the students are growing and and and they meet those goals. So again, we'll talk a little bit more about that when we talk about our our next steps for this year. >> It's a celebration. >> Yeah. our students are performing very well on the Illinois assessment of readiness and we are looking to share with you that tonight um our ELA and then our math and then our overall performance. And so one thing that we definitely want to make sure it is preliminary data even though we did receive our official documentation today it will be published by the end of the week um for Lyall Elementary School. And we're going to start out with our English language arts. And again, this assessment, as Meredith has

113shared, is a one-time snapshot of our students in the spring of each year. So this data is from our students that were in third, fourth, and fifth grade. And when you look at this specific slide, we are showing you where our students were currently that are fourth grade students, our current fifth grade students, and then the current sixth grade students. And so we definitely are very excited to see that our growth is going from 63% in third grade to 68% in fourth grade and then to 70% in fifth grade. We have designated the dotted line shares where the previous scores would have been. Um the state did change um some of those parameters, but again this is what the state is saying to us is that students that are in the meet and exceed proficiency

114level are showing that they are career and college ready. And so we want to make sure that we continue to see that growth. I think the the biggest thing is making sure that we know our ELA program or my view we're in year four. We're seeing those improvements. We're seeing the significant conversations and discussions within our reading program through 2 through 5th. We've also implemented um this year our magnetic reading which we talked about last year when we talked about we're seeing those dips in second grade. Why? And we decided to move that magnetic reading that we already have in kindergarten and first grade into second grade for those foundational skills. So, we're very proud to say that our preliminary data for our ELA is extremely high and we need to continue to keep making

115sure our staff is working on those instructional practices and also diving deeper into our curriculum. Next, you will on the next slide is our math by grade level. And again, similar to our ELA, we have our current fourth grade, current fifth grade, and then current sixth grade. I think this is um again showing that we have students that are meeting and exceeding at proficient proficiency level by cohort. We are seeing that our third graders that are currently our fourth grade were at 65% in math. And then I think we're very proud of our current fifth grade students, right? They they started at 62% and now they're at 67%. And then we also, you know, we know our current sixth grade students. We know them very well. We know what type of learners they are. and

116to see that they went from 46 to 42 and then to 55. Last year we talked a lot about what we're seeing in that fourth grade math. And really we we are looking now and saying okay well we're definitely seeing these students that are bouncing back once they get into fifth grade and what they are learning. But what are some of those strategies that we know that we have to commit to? And one of the things that we talked about last year was that problem solving in math and now we're looking across um K through five. We had a amazing spring professional development where we did an articulation day where all of our kindergarten and um through fifth grade teachers were designed. Meredith put them in groups and they met with one representative from each

117grade level. They talked about, you know, what does our bridges look like? What are we doing um in kindergarten that we just continue to build on getting to fifth grade? And it was just an amazing conversation. We just did that this past um September with our ELA programming and the discussions that we're having at the elementary level is by far unreal. Um our teachers are dedicated to their students. They're dedicated to making sure students are achieving and they're differentiating their instruction. I think the biggest thing is when we talk about, you know, some of the crisises that we see on a daily basis and what we're able to do at amongst those crisises is pretty phenomenal. going these numbers. You've got the this fifth grade class that's 68% ELA, 67% for math, and your current

118fourth graders. How are you going to get that to like 75 like like you know, you you jump there and as you kind of get through those last students, I would imagine it gets harder and to reach those kids, get them to grade level. Um, can you talk to like what you're doing to kind of keep this success? >> Sure. I'm going to pass that to Merida. Okay. >> Yes. So, um I'm just going to kind of restate what you were saying. So, sometimes we do we see that jump. We see um IR success with our third graders. You know, they go on to that fourth grade. Um a lot of what happens in fourth grade from when we look at the standards and we kind of dig into that information. We see a lot

119with fractions. We see a lot with problem solving. Um, and so we've really started to have our fourth grade look at a lot of the way that um, the questions are posed, right? How they're asked, what the students are expected to know and be able to do with that fourth grade content. The other big shift is in fourth and fifth grade, the um, constructed response items. And again I'm talking to about IR you know on a on a constructed response they are expected to you know justify an answer they have to explain they have to model um they have to do a drawing they have to you know obviously then solve the problem and so we are also working um across K5 to build kind of a framework uh it's a just kind of a

120a framework that would help help students be able to solve and and write a constructed response and how can we start that in kindergarten and build all the way through fifth grade. And uh this was a really fun project because we did it over the summer and I asked Vinnie from the middle school to come over. I think he referenced it in the presentation that junior high did as well and he came over and we kind of worked together. So it was something that he's hoping that he can even take to the to the junior high. So, how do we get students to start thinking about not just solving the problem, but then how do we explain our thinking? How do we justify um our answers? And so, that is a whole piece to AR

121that is just very unique and that's very different. So, we're also, like I said, having to have our teachers incorporate and embed those opportunities into their bridges lessons as well. And so those are conversations that we're having in our articulation meetings. >> Thank you. >> Next, we will talk a little bit about our overall performance on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness. And this again is showing our students that are meeting and exceeding proficiency. And again, the state's benchmark is they're ready for career and college readiness. And so we can see that our students are consistently improving. We have our ELA for our overall this year is at 67%. Our math is at 63%. And then our science assessment is taken by our fifth grade students and that's taken also um one time in the spring.

122It's over 3 days. And so one of the things that the state did is they realigned the science assessment to be in more comparison to our math and ELA. So, that's where you'll see. I know that there was a question about our percentages looking a little differently than our last year presentation. Um, last year we presented in September with our preliminary, but also some of the information that we pulled ourselves from our Illinois um report card. When you get those preliminary in the summer and so we know that there a couple of the percentages have changed. Similar to the science in 2024, it says that we were at 81, but on our report card it says 79. So again, some of those percentages may change when you see our final report card this year. I

123think one of the um great things is that we are seeing the improvement even with the comparison to um previous IR um data and then today we were designated as exemplary which again is in the top 10% and it's pretty amazing because of our staff and the commitment that they have for every student including the administration team sitting here. I think it just goes to show what we can do um to provide the best education for our students. And so we're very excited to celebrate this. Our staff will have a staff meeting on Wednesday and we'll um definitely celebrate with them on Wednesday. >> No, kudos again. I mean that's that's wonderful. >> Great slide, too. >> Thanks, Jenna Angler. >> Yeah, I I I was going to ask if Jenna did that. I could

124see a little bit of that touch in there. But even back to the the prior one, the overall performance and I know when junior high presented they also explained a lot of the changes in the science assessment. So um those are significant positive results. So thank you. Thanks. >> So next our next um survey assessment that we will discuss is our five essentials. And um just as you know this is my fourth year of presenting our school improvement plan. And when we think about where we came from in 2022 till now, I sat here in 2022 my first time and explained to you that we were very weak in um collaborative teachers and effective leadership and that was red. And then um our ambitious instruction involved families was neutral and then our supportive environment was

125strong. And so we take that data and I have to say we were very surprised by the results. you've received the entire um survey results and we were surprised. I would be remiss if I didn't say I was disappointed um due to the fact that the conversations that we're having about our data, the conversations that we're having about how to support students. Um so what we did is we got to work and we talked with staff. We went to our building leadership team to discuss, you know, why are our results not showing um better than neutral? And we also talk about in 2023 to 2024 we were um neutral effective leaders um collaborative teachers ambitious instruction and then we were our supportive environment and our involved families was strong and so all five categories this

126year are neutral and so what are we doing about that? We're going to talk a little bit about the positive outcomes that came from um this and one of the things is you know our program coherence which is also part of our effective leaders and and we definitely are seeing that our programs our curriculum our instructional practices are making a difference and that can go handinhand with what we're seeing in our data and what we're talking about at MTSS. We know that our teachers trust one another that they're willing to provide feedback or supports in any way whether it's personally or professionally. And then we also see that our students have indicated that our English instruction is pretty strong and it makes them critically think and we give that opportunity for writing skills. Again, one

127of the things that we talked about last year and this year is, you know, providing those writing opportunities across all curriculums. And I know that again, these are positive outcomes, but it's probably not what where we would like to be. We'd like to see this in strong. And we're again working continuously. We've already had three meetings with our five essentials committee. So, we put out to everyone who would be interested in being part of that five essentials committee and we went through the entire survey and looked at areas where we can improve on, areas that we can impact. Many of the teachers were very surprised as well and disappointed. And one of the items that we're going to make sure that we have an action on is ensuring that all of our families, our students,

128and our staff understand what we provide at Lyle Elementary School. Some of the takeaways were again our parent survey shows that we have high level of satisfaction from our parents. They know that their children are coming to our school and getting the education that they deserve and and and need. And then our parents also feel that their voice is heard. I think we saw that in vision 202 in the spring. We had obviously a lot of parents come from Ly Elementary School. We also had a lot of teachers come and discuss some of the things that we do amazing. And then some of the things that we need to focus on to improve. And then I think our biggest thing is making sure parents feel involved and part of our school when they come to

129our school, whether that's picking up for their child um for an early dismissal or if they are coming because their child's sick and they need to talk to the nurse. um again feeling welcome and we need those those families part of our educational process and we need to partner with them so that we can make sure that we support our child completely social emotionally and academically. So what are those opportunities that we need to grow on when we're discussing this with our um dedicated five essentials committee? I I do want to share just a little bit about who's part of that five essentials committee because it's very important that we have eight individuals. It's Meredith and myself as the administration team. And then we have Christy Clims, Jill Marino, um we have Trish Murphy, we

130have Lauren Clelli, all individuals that have really been at L Elementary School for a very long period of time. We also have Rachel Dawson, and we have our new um Laura Block. She's a new third grade teacher and she has some experience in other districts. And we're looking at, you know, ways that we can really make sure that our five essentials is going in that strong direction and looking at collaborative teachers. What does that look like and what are some strengths that we need to provide? One of the things that we talked about is one of the aha moments was that individuals in our building don't understand our mentor program. We have a very significant mentor program for our new teachers. And there were 19 individuals that said we didn't have a mentor program. So

131that was kind of a surprise and our teachers were also surprised because they put a lot of work into that mentor program to support teachers in their first and second year at Ly Elementary School. Then you know our supportive environment. One of the things that the teachers shared in our meetings were they don't want to add more to their plate, right? They already do um everything that they need to but what are some things that we can do to make sure everyone feels supported? We obviously have a significant amount of staff members that indicate that they believe they are supported by whether their colleagues, their leaders, or also families. And so, what can we do to make sure that that supportive environment encompasses all staff and really we're focusing on those groups. So, as Chrisa

132talked about those pair professionals, giving them some, you know, professional development. We meet with them once a month. um when preschool is not there on a Friday, we meet with all our par professionals for a half an hour and discuss some of the maybe concerns they have or some of the areas that they want to learn more about so that they can support our students. And then effective leaders again looking at you know what can we do as leader as leadership and one of the things is you know retaining leadership at L Elementary School and making sure that we can move forward. Our student services department is made up of 28 staff members and again they want to make sure that they have someone that they can go to on a regular basis. So again

133having the conversations we're not shy to those conversations but we know we need to improve. >> It's good to have the conversations though. What do you have any idea what percentage say of staff completed the five essential survey? >> I think we were at 75% for staff. >> That's that's fairly high. >> So it's pretty high. >> Yeah. And with students, I know you said they uh they feel a strong English department. What did they have other comments that or other areas that they felt could be um built on? I think that part of um what our students like we definitely they had 25 categories that they looked at right to get the these scores of neutral and one of the items that was you know supportive environment peer support for academic work and um

134that was neutral but you know how can we make sure that there is that collaboration that communication um during peer work that they feel that they're being heard and what is that what's something that our teachers can actually improve on in how they're discussing or modeling when I'm working with a peer and that goes to our zones of regulation and making sure our students understand how do we talk to you know our accountability talk to another um peer. And so those are some things that our peers again each year we also look at our fourth and fifth grade students and when they're taking the survey and how they're feeling because sometimes it's obviously also how they are feeling whether they're feeling good about their teacher or whether they're feeling good about their math or their

135ELA and where they stand. And so really looking at our students and and giving that opportunity to improve on the areas that are looking like that peer relationship and also the teacher relationship. >> I noticed you included some of that in your school improvement plan for the peer collab or student collaboration. So hopefully that'll have an impact too. >> And we definitely need to enhance that in order for them to then move on to the junior high and be able to have have that strength as they move on. >> Well, good. I mean, you know, it's just it's a it's a building. It's a process if you know, when you know, and there could be multiple reasons um that impacted. So hopefully it'll have, you know, positive results after. >> Well, I can I I

136can still remember us coming last year and showing you, you know, the increases and then to see that, you know, even some of our 2024 data has changed because they have changed the parameters. One of the data points um changed by 30 points into the negative. And so seeing that was also disappointing. Obviously, they wanted to look at the data and make sure that it's a level um a level field for all um Illinois um districts. And so we're going to continue to keep having those conversations. We have plans with our eight individuals that are really committed to making sure that we improve. >> Well, it's it's good you have at at least eight on the group, but you're right. you know, the last two years have been, you know, very positive in it. So,

137um, it's what happened and how can you move forward from there. So, and build on it. So, good luck with it. >> Thank you. >> And lastly, tonight we're going to talk about our areas of focus for um 2025 2026. So when we look at our areas of focus, we we're going to look at layering on in our ELA to our grade K and one in our reading curriculum. So we have been focused on our foundational reading skills with magnetic reading and now we're going to layer on that comprehension and that writing work. So we have um implemented bookworms across K1 and we have started um the uh training for that this fall. We have also like we've already mentioned we are going to strengthen our foundational reading skills in grade two as well. So

138grade two is one of those years where we do expect them to start being able to read longer chapter books, longer pieces of text. But we have a lot of kids who still just need that extra little boost of that phonx instruction. And so from our MTSS data, we did learn, you know, that we could incorporate and embed a couple days a week of some very structured explicit phonics just like we were doing in K1. So we're layering that this year into grade two. And grade 2 teachers are very excited about that and they have some unique ways that they are going to be implementing that in the classroom. Um then we are also looking at uh improving and increasing our student writing opportunities. I did just mentioned one when we were talking about the

139math I right. So we still need to write in math. So that is one opportunity with that common framework. But then we also look at how do we write about what we read across the day. So, we write about what we read in reading, but we also write about what we're reading and learning in science and social studies. And we know that we can really build comprehension by having students um write about that. Uh the other thing that came across um and I want to share because it was an outcome of our of our K5 ELA articulation that we had this fall with that writing focus. We have really um made our writing instruction a lot more rigorous in our kindergarten and our first grade. So our kindergarteners, we have a commitment that all of

140them are going to write a really really strong sentence. And I know it might sound like well you know don't they write more than that? Yes, but we want it a really really strong sentence. Then when they go into first grade, they are writing two or three sentences using conjunctions and adding details. And then so that way by the time they get to second grade, they're really really focused on a strong paragraph. and that will help when they go to fourth and fifth and they're having to write long responses on an IR um as well as in their my view curriculum. So that improving student writing is just so foundational and we really feel like um having some benchmarks set and having that conversation across K5 has been has been really impactful. So we're very

141excited about that area focus. And then lastly, um to kind of build on the um five essentials, we're really looking for ways um for to increase our studentled conversation. So, how do we increase engagement? How do we increase motivation um to talk about text, to have students collaborating um about what they read, about what they write? And our my view curriculum has some of that, but how do we enhance and increase those opportunities? So those are different instructional routines and activities that teachers um can have students um engaged in just to allow them to to talk more to to talk collaboratively about about what they are learning. Um, one example, uh, I I I watched a teacher the other day, um, and it was called a a stray activity where they were all sharing some

142different strategies in in a group and then, um, when they rotated, one person stayed back and then the next group came and that person and had to facilitate and explain what the group did. And so it was just a unique way to kind of organize the group and have them share and then and then report out and then the teacher could go around and and facilitate and listen. So those are the types of you know cooperative learning engagement um routines that all of the teachers are incorporating and embedding into um all of the subject areas across their day. >> I had to smile on the really really strong sentence. I don't know if any other board members keep their uh children's papers, but you know, I've gone through some of mine recently, and there were

143no strong sentences in kindergarten. >> Well, our kindergarteners will all have them. So, >> so our last three areas of focus, again, we're going to ensure that our MTSS process that we do three times a year is proactive and consistent with our academic um progress, which we discussed a little bit tonight about what we're doing um with our MTSS process. And we have strong psychologists that also lead that process and really support what we need to make sure that we are stretching those students that are in the accelerated learning, but also supporting our students with special needs. And then developing that social emotional capacity. I think it's amazing. Kristen has done a great job in really even how we deal with discipline and how we encompass you know what were those big feelings how do

144how do they talk through that and it's just a constant of trying to get students to understand where they are social emotionally so that they can go back to the classroom and learn. And then lastly is again engaging in that building climate and what can we do to change. I think the biggest thing is we heard through the five essentials, but now what do we do? And and really making sure that we come back next year and say this is what we shared with you and this is what we did and we're seeing that increase. And so really making that commitment and making sure that these areas of focus are um focused on throughout the rest of the year. And then lastly, we just want to thank again our board of education and our um

145district leadership for the support and the continuous help um throughout the year. and we welcome you at any time to LA Elementary School. We have amazing things going on and we hope you can experience them. >> I did have one more question on slide 35. >> It's the math I write math. >> I think these slides 34 and 35 were probably the >> Oh, the additional resources. >> Oh, additional resources. Yeah. See ready math. >> Click on that. >> I think these are these are amazing. I think this kind of showing a picture all the incredible work that the staff at ALES has been doing. I had to look at this a few times. I couldn't believe the numbers and the the shrinkage of yellow and red, right? And so, but when I looked at

146one, I looked at the 58 students that, you know, in second grade, fall, but where were they in first grade in spring? Because it that kind of shows part of the story. You had 58 that come in there at at one level below. Of those 58, how many were two levels below or even one level below at the end of that year, which is all a continuum. I mean, there's a lot of hard I mean, first of all, these numbers are great, but I'm curious about that. you know, there's some summer slump that goes into that that fall score. So, but that doesn't answer how much this all reduced. So, it must be from the prior grade that the the students are leaving that prior grade better prepared is by assumption. >> Right. So I

147think if I got your question right. Um so yes. So in the fall that's why you know I saying we were really celebrating our fall data because you want as many kids as you can ready for that grade level instruction. Now this is an adapted test which means um right like where they are at the beginning of the year you expect them to grow. So on a fall score, you can be one grade level below on an I ready in the fall and they'll say you are ready to go. You you because you haven't had any grade level instruction yet. But of course by mid year you can't be one grade level below. You need to now be in in that green zone. So it's a little misleading, right? Because it's going to shift and

148it's and it's going to move a little bit. Um, but yes, you know, what what we highlight here is when you really look at those kids in the red, right, from the fall, you really want those kids, you know, in those red areas in the fall, you want to reduce that as much as you can and having those kids, like I was saying, move up through through those levels. >> So, great. Thank you for that insight. I I think understand a little bit better now. >> Yeah. If if I could just ask one question too and this was in the school improvement plan but in talking about the evaluations for teachers and you referenced talent ed what what is that? Yes. So talent ed is actually our evaluation process and each individual teacher has um

149certain criteria that they have to go through. So a non-tenure I'll give you an example of a non-tenured teacher. They have um a minimum of two evaluations. So those are formal evaluations that are um done throughout the year and they it's one of us as the evaluator and they go into talent ed and town ed will have um their pre-conference. So they're basically sharing with us their lesson plan of what they're doing um for that lesson and then we meet with them in a pre-conference and we talk about okay what am I going to see in your classroom? What are you looking for students to learn? Some of the questions I ask is, you know, is there something that you're focusing professionally that you want to grow this year? And what are some of those

150things that we can incorporate throughout um this evaluation process? Some of goals that they might have and then we do the evaluation um we share the information. We basically type everything that they say um through their evaluation and then we send it to them before our reflection which is our postconference. And then at the postconference, we discuss, you know, what we saw, what their thoughts were, and then we write their evaluation up. So, there's three different things in talent ed. It's their pre-conference, their evaluation, and their postconference. And then they can also do a self-reflection. It's optional um within our um union contract, but they can do a post reflection that says this is what I thought the lesson went and how I think I could do better or maybe it went amazing and my

151student engagement was um beyond that what I anticipated. And then they also will put in their student growth. Um that's part of their evaluation process and they're looking at their data. Many non-tenure teachers are looking at their bridges um unit two. um they look at that math unit too to see how our students are progressing. So they do a pre-EST and a post- test and then they put that data into talent ed and then we also will do that again for another evaluation and then we will do a summit of evaluation. So our non-tenured um staff might have six to seven um processes in talent ed and then they submit that before March 1st because all our um non-tenured teachers need to know by March 1st um whether they're being retained for the following year.

152And then our tenure staff, they go through a three-year cycle. And so our first year we do informal evaluation and then second year we do a formal and then third year summitive. And then we also do a student growth for them as well. So that's all in the talent ed process. >> Okay. And so talent ed is more of the program correct itself and it still follows the Danielson model. Is okay. Okay. Thanks. I just hadn't heard that term. So I appreciated that. Um I also just wanted to give kudos for adding the three sections of accelerated math. Are there accelerated English um systems or in place? Okay. >> So currently we have accelerated ELA for reading in grades four and five. Um we are next year planning on adding that at the third grade

153level as well so that those will look the same. So math and ELA will begin in third grade. So, we'll identify in the spring of second grade, but again, we'll have multiple opportunities for students to access that program throughout third, fourth, and fifth. >> Great. Thanks. That was one of the vision 202 things too. And the other one was about the co-curriculars. Are there um if there any plans for that in the maybe not this year, but uh >> we we actually um myself, Dr. Philippe, and Mr. Marquy, we went this summer to Lyall Park District and talked to them what opportunities they could provide for us. And so we have in the works of doing a survey to parents and then um seeing what they're looking for and then also obviously providing staff. We

154also have some of our staff at the elementary level that are looking at um some other opportunities as well. And so we're hoping that by spring we'll have something definitely implemented at the elementary school. >> Good. Good. And maybe even is there anything with the park district? Is that another partner in that besides the library? >> Yeah. Yes. >> Great. Excellent. Okay. >> Um, thank you. Those were those are my questions. I'm sorry. >> Anybody, >> you know, Pam, I just had a a a thought. Um, if they are looking at things like different sports and stuff for some of these co-curriculars, there's so many of our high school students that play those sports that need um service hours for things. I just thought it might be a nice opportunity and then they could get

155to know some kids at the high school and really good. One of the things that the high school did was the cheer. They had the little lions come out and it was amazing. I heard even from our staff members that signed up their children and they went to the um the cheer and they got a t-shirt and a bow and they just felt so special because they were part of the cheerleaders. And so we're hoping that we can incorporate a little bit more of that. We also have some of our high school students that are helping out with our Lyle um our HSO, Lyall Elementary and School and they were at the Candy Barb Bingo doing some hours which is pretty amazing. And so I think the LHSO is now realizing that they need to

156reach out to the high school more often to get some of those students to provide some of those um opportunities to help. >> Well, the little lion is could not have been cuter at the football team. So it it worked. What you were doing was work. So, does anybody else have any? >> I just thank you for that presentation. It was really clear and comprehensive and I just really appreciate that you name um what you're working on and you have a really clear and systematic plan to get there and then really awesome results um um for our students learning. So, thank you for all that you do every day for our kids. >> Yes, thank thank you very much. It was an excellent presentation. So, appreciate it very much. Okay, we will go on to

157item 8B which is the freom information requests. Um, those are in the packet. Uh, any questions from those? And 8 C, public comment followup. There was none. No public comment last month. 8 D is the superintendent's report. >> All right. I was hoping to have a little bit more time to boot up my computer, but I'll go off of memory. Um, some of the exciting things beyond what you saw tonight at Lyall Elementary is, uh, Stacy Weekes, uh, our head of our library there, does an incredible job having authors come out. And so, she had an author come out not only to read to the students some of, uh, the books that she's written, but more importantly talk about what does it mean to be an author, where does she get her inspiration? Like, anyone

158can be an author, so where do you start? And so, I thought the author did a really, really good job explaining all of that. Um at the uh elementary they had also mentioned just the value in those MTSS meetings. I know Lyall Elementary has gotten to be rather big, but they've got an incredible team that comes together. And uh Mr. Marks had a chance to sit in on some of those. I've had a chance to sit on a lot of those and they've really have individual conversations about each and every student, not only where they've been, but what kind of progress they've made. And our hope is in time, as you saw that triangle that we'll have more and more students and that little at the top to meet further down and maybe not need

159as much supports, but they are talking about individual students. They look at some data with that and then they try and determine like what does that that student need beyond what we're already doing. And so it's been really powerful conversations at the junior high level. Uh they talked a little bit about some of the exciting things they're doing in their science program. I think it's one of those great courses that I think the kids get excited about because of all the hands-on and so they've spent some time um focusing on light recently and understanding what light is, what it isn't, and how relative it is based on our eyes and what we can and can't see. In addition to that, I think this is our third year across country for those of you who have

160students. I feel like this is his third year and it's one of those that I think when Mr. Carney and the team looked and along with the staff, what can we add? what is that thing that maybe kids can participate if they're they're not finding a sport they connect with and it has been so powerful. I think the the coaches have done a phenomenal job not only um showing the importance of cross country but also being part of a team and some of the things they do is cheering on the other students as they cross the finish line. And so we were fortunate to have I think three students here make it to state and so um was it state or was it regional? state. Um, and so we had a big send off of

161them and I think they were very very successful. And then at the high school, as much as we are not really excited about taking a test, I think being able to visualize those tests, having the students be able to take the preac, the PSAT, um, the more and more you practice, they can really get some feedback. And so, um, Eric will talk a little bit during the presentation as to we're utilizing a new system now that gives you some really good feedback early on right after you take the test as to where you did well and if you weren't doing well, what can you do in order the next time you take it to be able to do better. And so, um, you know, we're really excited to have that support and get students by

162the time they actually take the real ACT, uh, to get into college, let's say, uh, as one of the measures, I should say. um they're they're very familiar where their strengths are and hopefully been able to to navigate the test and focus on those areas that maybe they were struggling with in their freshman sophomore year. And then the high school also wanted us to highlight that there's just always a season of sports and fine arts. And so I think we're we're gearing up to the next season. And so um a lot of exciting time. We had the homecoming since the last time we had our board meeting. And so, uh, as much as we have a varsity level, I think it felt as good, if not better than even, you know, when we, um, didn't

163have to make that transition in terms of getting able to cheerleaders and the band and the students and the pep rallies and all of that. That really makes it a special time of year for everybody. Um, and then at the district level, we just want to talk about that the parents have been really involved in their students and this is that time of year where they have the parent teacher conference and so we're able to give that feedback to them as to what's working where we can get the the partnership with the parents and because I think each and every one of us wants the students to do well and when the parents are actively involved and having those conversations with the teacher hopefully not for the first time that partnership goes a long way

164during the 12 years that sometimes 13 years that a student's with us. So, we're in a really good place. As you saw tonight, you've had two of the three presentations and we're looking forward to having the high school give their presentation in the month of November. >> To build up on the success of the junior varsity football team, they had a 72 season which is I mean it's amazing and a lot of hard work. Thank you to the staff for all the hard work to keeping that program going and we had a great outcome this year. Yeah, I think we were much more excited to have similar level students play against us and so as much as we hope to continue to build that so we have the varsity level again, uh, right sizing it

165for this year really was I think the right choice. >> Yes, >> definitely the games were well attended and I think they felt a lot of support. Um, you did an excellent job from memory because you covered everything there. Um, I just want to also add, you know, kudos for the cross country team and having that feeder program, um, makes a big difference. You know, the at the high school they're going into. I think I always get them mixed up, but I think they're in regionals at this point. Um, so, um, it's it's a great program for it. I just want to add one more thing, and that was kudos to the, um, to the students who participated yesterday in the trunk or treating at the high school. Um, a lot of the sports teams,

166the kids, the theme was fast food restaurants and they decorated their tongues and and they were decorated. Paula and I were there. We did not take any candy away from the kids. Um, but you had your family there and I think they all had a great time. It was very well attended and beautiful weather for it. So, it was it's it's a really a neat new tradition for the that benefits the community. So, glad to see that. We'll definitely pass that along. And then um Thanksg Thanksgiving, Halloween is on a Friday this year, right? So like we should make that similar to some of the ones that always fall on a Thursday. Uh have Halloween always be the whatever f that last Friday of Halloween because I if you have a chance to come over

167and see the parade that is a very exciting time and I we have so many parents come in to be able to participate in the games and the things that happen in the classroom. But it's a an exciting exciting time for I think all the elementary students in particular. Uh always better when it falls on a Friday >> for the adults too, >> some would say. >> Oh, thank you. Excellent report. So nine is our committee reports. 9A facility master planning did not meet. 9B finance >> finance met at 6:45 in this very room where we discussed the uh facilities and the financial updates >> and 9C policy did not meet. Uh 9D vision 202 did not meet. uh brought us to item 10 which is our board representative reports home and school. Um Heather

168and I uh attended and the meeting notes are in file if anybody had any questions. Um ISB delegate to board. Um did you have anything to >> We met earlier and we have uh adopted all the the all the res the resolution and the constitution amendments. We'll have a couple questions going out to ISB for clarification. Also reminder, I think uh Wednesday is the division meeting at the Carile. >> Um and and uh it's also, you know, if you can't make that make there's the Lyall Bennett jazz concert that night. Um so unfortunate conflict. Um also a reminder for the uh conference in November uh downtown the triple I on November 21st. I think uh uh Wednesdays is at 6 p.m. at the Carile and Lombard and I'll send out something. There's five of us

169going and maybe we can uh consider car pooling. So um it's the art of uh school boarding is the presentation or the author from the of the art of school boarding. Jim Burgette. All right. Um I think those are the main things for intergovernment. Oh, there was I'm sorry there is one other thing. Um, I got a letter in the mail about a survey for IASB and I don't think everybody got it, but it says scan the scan the code and you can get on to the survey. So, I will forward it out to everybody. I'll pull up the survey and then send it out and we can all respond. It's just about some things that they would like to assess as they're working on a strategic plan of what would be benefit for beneficial

170for school boards from the ISB services. So, I'll get that out to you. Um, let's see. Intergovernmental Met. Uh, Keith and I attended that last week. The notes are in >> M Mr. Marky was able to join us too. who he's been able to go to the last >> he has commented just >> how special it is to be able to have Lyall come together and all of our our units to be able to a see how we can support each other but really have those conversation of what's happening so that uh we're all on the same page and so uh has been helpful to eliminate the rumor mill but also great in terms of a sounding board to see how we can actually leverage our partnerships to be able to save serve the same

171community. No, you he gave a great overview of a lot of things going on in the district, so I apologize. Yes, you're sitting right next to me. Um, and intergovernmental uh I'm sorry, not len met and that was the two of us. I don't think Jason was on that call if I don't remember, but uh and those notes are in file. Also, Lyall Education Foundation, the minutes are in file from there, too. And and included in there is the um the grant that was approved. Sassa did not meet uh item which brings us to item 11. Does anyone have any agenda topics for future board meetings? Okay, then we'll move to item 12. And at this point I will uh entertain a motion to adjourn to close session for the purpose of discussing the appointment

172performance, discipline, compensation or dismissal of employees. >> Could I have a motion? Thank you. >> Second. >> I think Paula got it out first there. Okay. And then Miss Paula. >> Yes. And then if we could have a roll call, please. >> Miss Foster. >> I. >> Miss D. Dominico. >> Hi. >> Mr. Helderly. >> I. >> Mr. Naggler is an I. Miss. Noel. >> I. >> And Miss Alman. >> I. Thank you. Okay. We will adjourn to close session at 9:07 p.m.