001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Good evening and welcome to the Board of Education meeting today, Tuesday, May 19th, 2026. The Board has been in closed session for items listed on this agenda since 5:30 p.m. We have seven board members present and six board members present and one absent. Thank you. At this time, I ask that we please stand 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. Okay. Before we begin our regular spotlights and recognition, we'd like to take a special moment for one of our graduating seniors. Ricardo Morales, can you step up? >> [applause] >> We're going to have you stand right here, just like all of our
002other spotlights do, and you can face all the wonderful people in the crowd, okay? There you go. >> [applause] >> Ricardo Morales, a senior at York High School, was selected to deliver the student reflection address at this year's graduation ceremony. Ricardo wrote and auditioned with an exceptional speech and was chosen by the administration for this distinguished honor. Unfortunately, Ricardo was unable to finish delivering his speech and walk across the stage to receive his diploma during the ceremony. Tonight, we are grateful for the opportunity to properly recognize and celebrate his graduation by formally presenting him with his diploma. At this time, I would like to turn it over to Dr. Campbell. District 205 Board of Education, it is my honor as the superintendent of District 205 to present Ricardo Morales as part of the class of
0032026 York graduates. Mr. Morales has fulfilled the graduation requirements set forth by the District 205 Board of Education. And therefore, I am proud to confirm him as a graduate of York High School. Congratulations, Ricardo. >> [applause] [applause] >> I do encourage you all to uh look it up on Facebook. I think his parents posted his speech, and it is a phenomenally well-written and spoken speech. Congratulations, Ricky, again. Okay. We have our spotlights and recognitions. We'll move on to item A on our agenda, which is the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program Recognition. So, if you are here to be recognized for National Merit Scholar, please stand forward and come forward. There you go. You're going to stand the same spot Ricky did. Come on up. There you go. >> [applause] >> Good evening. Thank you so
004much for being here today. The National Merit Scholarship Program is a prestigious national academic competition that recognizes outstanding high school students for their exceptional achievement and potential for success in college. Administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the program begins with students taking the PSAT/NMSQT, which serves as the initial screening for more than 1.3 million students nationwide each year. From this highly competitive pool, students are selected for recognition based on their academic performance and program criteria, placing them among the top scholars in the country. Congratulations on this recognition, and I'll now pass it over to Ms. Drozd. Here are my glasses. Um it's really hard to not be impressed when you're standing with a room full of kids this smart. Um you guys have truly crushed so many academic and personal goals that I know
005you have, and I'm sure you're going to continue to do it next year at York and wherever this next step takes you. But I'm personally excited to see all the places you guys are going to go moving forward. And congrats to all the parents because big honor. We all know how hard it was on you guys. [applause] Whereas students from York Community High School earn recognition in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program based on their exceptional performance on the 2025 Preliminary SAT and National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Whereas students who qualify for recognition in the National Merit Scholarship Program are amongst the highest scoring participants in the nation and demonstrate outstanding academic achievement, intellectual curiosity, and dedication to excellence. The following York students earned recognition in the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program. I'm going to
006do my best. I promise. I really I put some time Emma Brothman, Madeleine Brothman, Emma Brown, Anders Dockoff, Jacob Ferrari, Dylan Gollam, Gray Hopkins, Micah Jones, William Kellum, Jake Lisowski, Ryan Polos, Stella Rosso, Sophie Selden Saldana, Ryan Schwieger, Ved Sulay, David Taub, and Ignas Zemaitis. What I do? All right. So, so I >> [laughter] >> That's what happens when smart I asked that question of smart people. You're so brutally honest. I love it. Well, I'm sorry for whatever I messed up. These students represent the academic excellence and commitment to learning fostered at York Community High School and throughout our Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205. The accomplishments of these students reflect countless hours of hard work, perseverance, and support from families, teachers, counselors, and staff members who encourage and inspire student success. The recognition of
007these students in the National Merit Scholarship Program serves as a source of pride for the entire Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 and highlights the district's continued commitment to academic excellence and college readiness. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Education of Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 hereby recognizes and congratulates the York Community High School students named to the 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program for their outstanding academic achievement and commends them for their dedication perseverance and pursuit of excellence. Congratulations, guys. >> [applause] >> Congratulations again. What an accomplishment. Next up, we have the FCCLA State Competition. If you are here for the FCCLA State Competition, please step forward. >> [applause] >> Hi, everyone. I'm Lindsey Goldsmith and I am here with some of our amazing advisors and talented student competitors to celebrate
008our 2025-2026 FCCLA state competitors. First, a big thank you to the school board and Dr. Campbell for giving this giving us this opportunity. We want to thank the York administration for continuing to support family and consumer sciences opportunities for our students. And of course, thank you to our parents and FCCLA advisors who couldn't be here tonight for supporting our students throughout the year. This group of students has worked incredibly hard showing off real world world skills in everything from culinary arts and event planning to fashion, education, and interior design. Throughout the year, they've stayed after school, attended practices and open labs, created portfolios and pushed themselves to compete at a very high level. We want to wanted to give you a quick look at the incredible variety of our events that our students participated in
009this year. As each event is announced, students, if it's your event, please step forward. In culinary arts, students had 1 hour to prepare three-course meal using industrial in culinary arts and food service techniques and equipment, which was then judged by professional chefs on technique, safety, and taste. Similarly in [laughter] baking and pastry, students are timed and use industrial culinary arts and food service techniques and equipment to prepare quick breads, a choux pastry cookie, as well as demonstrate cake decorating, which are then also judged by professional chefs. For event management, students planned on and hosted a fine dining experience designing menus, managing service, and running the event from start to finish. In sports nutrition, students planned and developed an individualized nutritional plan to meet the needs of a competitive student athlete in a specific sport. In
010food innovation, students demonstrated knowledge of food product development by creating an original prototype formula, testing the product through focus groups, and developing a marketing strategy. In pastry arts, frosted and fondant cake decorating, students decorated cakes live using fondant or buttercream, all based on this year's theme of board games or video games. In the charcuterie event, students created stunning budget-friendly boards showcasing knife skills, creativity, and food safety. In preschool lesson, students designed and taught creative engaging lessons to preschoolers complete with visuals and teaching aids. In apparel apparel construction, students sewed garments in categories like casual or formal wear, then modeled and presented their work. In interior design, students solved client design challenges with floor plans, furnishings, and design boards they pitched to judges. In design and decor, students apply interior design skills learned in family consumer
011science courses to design interiors that meet the living space needs of clients. And finally, in professional career image, students selected and presented a fashionable work wardrobe and prepared a portfolio of 1 week's worth of clothing for a specific occupation. We are so proud of all all of our FCCLA competitors. They've demonstrated creativity, professionalism, leadership, and passion throughout the entire competition season. And to our students and advisors headed to the national level in Washington, D.C. this summer, we wish you the best of luck and know you will represent York proudly. Students, please remain standing while the board presents your official proclamation. >> [applause] >> Hi. So, the FCCLA is one of those organizations that affords our students the opportunities that we were just talking about at our last committee of the Whole meeting, and that is
012hands-on experience in areas that they might not have been exposed to if they hadn't taken this class as an elective or gotten involved in this type of an organization. Uh so, hopefully through this students might find a career path that's interesting to them, a creative outlet or hobby, or in this case might learn a lot of skills that'll help them out later, right? When you're off living on your own and taking care of yourself. So, um we're just really thankful for all of the courses and opportunities available at York High School. Incredibly thankful to our staff members who create these opportunities above and beyond the classroom, um traveling, competing, being involved in an organization like this. So, thank you so much. And incredibly proud of all of you guys for all the time and hard
013work you put in to doing this and extra hours that you're there and and competing. So, congratulations. I'll read the proclamation. Whereas students from the Family Career and Community Leaders of America chapter at York Community High School participated in the 2026 Illinois FCCLA State Leadership Conference and Competitions held April 8th through 10th in Springfield, Illinois, and provide students with the opportunities for personal growth, leadership development, and career preparation through family and consumer sciences education and competitive events. And York students demonstrated outstanding creativity, technical skill, professionalism, and leadership across a wide range of competitive events connected to family and consumer sciences coursework. Whereas York FCCLA students earned an exceptional total of 10 gold medals, 11 silver medals, and one bronze medal at the state competition, and Madison Kleinburd qualified for the National FCCLA competition in culinary
014arts, Sadie Graven qualified in interior design, and Edith Garcia qualified in event management, earning the opportunity to represent York Community High School and the state of Illinois at the national FCCLA leadership conference in Washington D.C. in July. And the accomplishments of these students reflect their dedication, leadership, and commitment to excellence, as well as the support and guidance provided by York staff, advisors, and families. And the success of the York FCCLA program serves as a source of pride for Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 and highlights the value of career and technical education opportunities that prepare students for college, career, and life. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Education of Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 hereby recognizes and congratulates the students of the York Community High School FCCLA program for their outstanding
015achievements at the 2026 Illinois FCCLA state leadership conference and competitions, and commends them for their dedication, creativity, leadership, and commitment to excellence. Congratulations. >> [applause] [clears throat] [applause] >> Great work. Hope to see what comes next and good luck at your next competition. Item C on our list of spotlights and recognition is middle school math. If you are here for middle school math, step on up. >> [applause] >> Good evening. My name is Kirsten Skelton and this is Heather Belore and we are the math team coaches at Brian Middle School. The students being recognized tonight are seventh and eighth grade students on Brian Middle School's math team. These students completed contests at our meetings throughout the year. Their scores qualified them to compete at the IMSA math contest. IMSA is a competitive all-day contest and
016we are so proud of how well our students did this year. We would like to thank the board for taking time to recognize this great accomplishment. >> [applause] >> Congratulations to you all. Um I was actually looking up a little bit about IMSA and one of the things it talked about is it um wanted to start because it wanted to show that middle school is often a time where math is not focused on but it's a very formative time for STEM. So, I think it's so great that you all have leaned in, you've dedicated yourselves, you've worked hard probably when it's easier to do other things. So again, this hard work and dedication will really take you far. So congratulations, and with that I'll read the proclamation. Whereas students from Bryan Middle School participated in
017the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy Math Contest, one of the most rigorous mathematics competitions of the academic year. And whereas Bryan students demonstrated exceptional mathematic mathematical reasoning, teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving abilities throughout the competition. And whereas Annabelle Wang and Michael Johnson tied for first place in the seventh grade individual contest. Okay, who are those two? All right, congratulations. That's amazing. Um with participating students include Oh, hold on, I missed a spot. While Bryan Middle School earned first place in the seventh grade individual school competition. And whereas both Bryan four-person seventh grade teams earned third place finishes in team competition. With participating students including Michael Johnson, Bowen Yan Li, Issa Jilani, um Rim Help me out with this name. Rim Rimbach is this? What is this? >> [laughter] >> You guys are nicer to me than
018you were to Courtney. Um Annabelle Wang, Lizzie Lawer, Ben Morehead, and Gus Athy. And whereas Bryan also earned second place in the seventh grade team school competition, while Morgan O'Malley and Annabelle Wang earned second place in the creative thinking contest, helping Bryan place second overall among six schools in its division. And whereas these accomplishments reflect the hard work, perseverance, and academic excellence of the students, as well as the support and guidance provided by Bryan staff, coaches, and families. Whereas the success of Bryan students in the ISMA Math Contest serves as a source of pride for the Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205, and highlights the district's commitment to fostering academic achievement and critical thinking among all students. Now, therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Education Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 hereby recognizes
019and congratulates the students of Bryan Middle School for their outstanding performance at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy Math Contest and commends them for their dedication, teamwork, creativity, and commitment to excellence. Congratulations. >> [applause] [applause] >> And congratulations to the students again and also the staff who are working with our students every day. They couldn't have done it without you. Thank you so much. Up next, item D is Edison Spotlight. >> [applause] >> Good evening, Dr. Campbell and District 205 Board of Education. I'm Larry Joint, the proud principal of Edison Elementary. It's hard to believe the school year's almost over, but I'm excited to share some reflections and highlights for my first year. I have a couple slides about instruction and a couple slides about the environment and culture at Edison, both of which are
020very strong. Edison is committed to student success and collaborated as an instructional leadership team to develop the ELA goal that would further support student growth. Edison's strong Wit & Wisdom implementation allowed our literacy focus this year to be focused on refining small group instruction using research-based instructional materials. One of those materials is Geodes, which are short texts aligned with our Wit & Wisdom modules intended for skill-based instruction and practice to support student growth. Here's a picture of second grade teacher Annie Wiffler leading a small group reading group and previewing vocabulary so students can focus on comprehension as they read together. The Edison teachers worked hard to differentiate their support for their flexible reading groups by focusing on each group's prioritized area of need, whether it was accuracy, fluency, or comprehension. As a result of the
021student and staff dedication to reading, I'm proud to share that we had every grade level make higher than expected growth in map reading this year. Going back to my interview process, it was clear to me that the Edison staff was committed to continuous learning and growth. Thank you to every staff member for their growth mindsets and for being lead learners. It's really exciting to be part of the Edison learning community. This is a picture of a late start where staff were discussing how student-to-student dialogue can be used strategically to advance student thinking throughout the components of a Eureka math lesson. Their eagerness to learn from and with each other, to continually refine and improve our practice, is what makes Edison so special. Edison's instructional coach, Kate Cortez, math lead, Lauren Gee, and literacy lead, Kim
022Nietling, led so much of our late start professional learning this year and joined our instructional walk-throughs, their celebrations and opportunities. We then took those trends to the Edison instructional leadership team to plan out our next steps for professional learning. Our instructional leadership team showed themselves to be leaders in our building, not only by planning and leading professional learning, but also by being the first and most frequent teachers to be observed through our Mosaic feedback platform, which helped us gather instructional trends and progress for the full year, as well as inform our summer professional learning planning. Part of supporting the whole child is creating shared experiential learning opportunities for our students. I'm so proud of the supportive and inclusive environment that I've had the privilege of joining. The PE takeover picture on the left is a
023day where the Lincoln-Way Special Recreation Association facilitated PE courses utilizing adaptive PE equipment. What I loved most about this event were the reflections that came from students about how PE can be experienced and adapted in so many different ways. Thank you to Carla Schmidt, Edison's PE teacher, for advocating for and organizing the event. And thank you to Foundation 205 for funding that experience for our students. Our specials teachers at Edison are fantastic. And another example of how they make student learning engaging is through our winter and spring sing performances. Students worked incredibly hard to learn the words and choreography to all their songs, and each grade level put on a wonderful performance. The picture on the right is of our first graders with our music teacher Phoenix Melvin at their spring sing earlier this month.
024All our students sang and danced with pride as their families looked on snapping every priceless picture and recording every adorable video they could. While Edison has many amazing traditions, something I really appreciated this year was the openness and eagerness for new trends for new traditions to begin. Edison hosted its first culture night, and it was a resounding success and something we'll continue to host for years to come. Another change at Edison this year was for our culture our climate and culture team to develop Edison's three behavior expectations. We are committed to supporting students in being kind, safe, and responsible. I've also tasked students with striving every day to make someone else's day better. I'm proud to say that our Edison students have risen to the challenge. Students are eager to earn their bravos and turn
025them into our prize jars to have a chance at being a Bobcat of the week or earn a lunch with the principal. We are the smallest school in the district, but you would never know it by the student, staff, and family participation in our school clubs and events. Edison shows up with pride at every opportunity, reinforcing the value of school and the importance of a strong home-school connection for our students. The Edison climate and culture team does so much to support student and staff well-being, and I've loved partnering with them to both continue traditions and to seek new ways to bring our values to life. The bottom picture is of our February kindness challenge, which was new this year. Individual students earned small hearts for their kind and inclusive acts, filling up a big heart
026each week and earning a dance party for their valuable efforts. We have a strong and inclusive staff, community, and student population. We're fortunate to host the elementary multi-needs program, and are excited to start the ABC program transition to Edison next year, and help all the students and staff feel at home with their new Bobcat friends. I feel so fortunate and grateful to be the principal of Edison, and I'm excited to continue to learn and grow with the fantastic staff, students, and community in Elmhurst District 205. Thank you for your continued support. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Mr. Joint. Can you guys hear me? Yeah, it's working, right? Okay, thank you. Sorry. I just want to say really quick, fast first year, right? Super fast. >> I honestly I could not believe it. I feel like
027I feel like it wasn't too long ago we were in this room and we were doing something a little different, but so pleased [clears throat] to have you. The work looks great, and and just so happy that you're at Edison leading all the good work that's going on for all of our students and then next year adding in a partnership with Madison. Thank you so much. I'm very excited to continue the great work. Thank you so much. >> [applause] >> All right, we'll move on to the public comment portion of our board meeting. The public comment section of the board meeting provides an opportunity for community members to share information and perspectives with the Board of Education. And while the board does not respond during public comments, we are listening and thoughtfully considering the messages
028being shared. Each of us have high expectations for our community and ask that public comments are respectful and do not mention any individuals by name. There will be up to 30 minutes allocated for public comment with up to 3 minutes per public comment speaker concerning items on this agenda. The board secretary will give a reminder when you have 30 seconds left. Let's begin with our first speaker and I think Ms. Chapman sitting in for Ms. Assef. Thank you. Mary Dowling. I'm not as tall. Okay. Um good evening, members of the board. We appreciate you taking the time to hear from us today. My name is Mary Dowling. I have a child starting kindergarten in the fall at Lincoln and a toddler at Kensington who will also become a Lincoln Lion in a few years. First,
029I do want to start off saying how much we appreciate our teachers and staff and the members of the board uh and anyone who works with our children every day. There aren't words to express how it feels to be able to send our children to a school where we know uh they'll not just be taken care of, but they're going to be genuinely loved. I'm here today to speak on behalf of parents throughout the district who are becoming increasingly concerned about the amount of screen time and type of content our children are exposed to both inside and outside of the classroom. Especially for our younger youngest learners K through 5. We know technology is a big part of our everyday lives and can be a very powerful tool when it comes to education, which is
030why we're here today. Not because we're anti-technology, I want to make that clear, but because we want to be we want to have a meaningful and collaborative conversation around a healthy balance and developmentally appropriate use. We acknowledge that this technology was absolutely critical during the pandemic and allowed for access to education through remote learning and allowing for virtual connections with teachers and classmates. However, since COVID there has been a significant rise in the use of tablets and other tech within schools. The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that since the pandemic about 90% of US public schools have enough laptops or tablets for each student. While we understand that the goal is to use these for educational purposes, we can't look away from the concerns about how screen time impacts things like attention span, emotional regulation,
031handwriting, socialization, ability to switch tasks, and impulse control, which is backed by credible research. I'm here tonight not to say that we need to eliminate tech from classrooms, but rather have a collaborative conversation around when tech is introduced and how it's being used in each grade. We kindly ask the board to consider the following: explore and collaborate alongside parents to take a data-driven approach to inform a formal policy on tech in schools for District 205, including when it should be introduced and where and how it's being used. We did look for a current policy, but we did not see one um available. Once tablets are introduced, we ask that they are being used for intentional educational purposes and that when the lesson is over, the tablet is out of reach and not available for passive
032use. 30 seconds. Being transparent about daily screen time, associated activities students are engaging in, and what they are able to access, as well as providing parents tools to monitor children's screen use during the day. Prioritize traditional hands-on play-based teacher-led activities and learning for our younger students, and place an emphasis on paper, pencil, and physical books for our older students. We do not want tablets to replace traditional learning. And lastly, while this focuses on our elementary-age children, we'd also like to take a look at uh tech in our middle and high school policies and the usage there as well. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Paul Guarino. Mr. Guarino? Oh, I'm sorry. I couldn't see. No, I did not see it. I apologize. My name is Paul Guarino. I have lived in Elmhurst since January 20th, 1970.
033I came here against my better judgment. I wanted to work and live in Melrose Park because it was God's country, and Jake Lesbie promised me that I could be teacher administrator if I wanted at Proviso, or I could be at Stevenson. And I said to Jake, "You're not on the school board." And Jake said, "I am the board." I grew up west side of the city of Chicago. And looking at all your quiet faces, when I was president of the St. Charles board, the first thing I did is I suspended Robert's Rules of Order. And the second thing I did was let the people speak after every board member. Does anybody want to comment? Okay. So, let's get back to the important thing, other than the fact I'm not impressed. If I go by Sandburg
034Junior High, I see a building that could be anywhere in the city of Chicago or in any of the suburbs. Flat, concrete, grass, a few trees, and a brick building. Not impressive. I go to Brian Junior High. It's a carbon copy. There's nothing there. Concrete, grass, a few trees, and a building. Now, we go to Churchville. It is a treasure. Now, I know you cannot raise your hand, and you cannot acknowledge, because you're bobble heads. How many of you have gone to the creek that runs across the front end of Churchville Junior High? It runs from the northeast corner of that building to the southwest corner. There is a creek there that currently has water in it. It's got water all year long. It is a wetlands. It was set up by Ron Capek and
035his wife Mary Ann in the 1960s, and was maintained by them till they got so old they couldn't walk. And there was nobody at Churchville that wanted to take it over. Before Ron and Mary Ann decided they had to turn in their trials, they got Mrs. Dirkschneider. Now, you won't you're not going to acknowledge who Mrs. Dirkschneider is. Mrs. Dirkschneider was that woman that walked into the board office and said, "I'm here. I want to see the superintendent." 30 seconds. And then the superintendent saw her. We have an oak grove. Six oak trees that were planted by Mrs. Dirkschneider and Ron Capek that are being killed by mulberry trees and sumac. The area is completely overgrown with trash trees. In a few years, if you don't do something now, you're going to go in with
036a chainsaw and cut everything down. Thank you, sir. >> Right now, I'm going to a victory party in Lombard. The teachers' contract passed. Thank you. Thanks to my negotiation. Thank you to everyone who took the time to voice their concerns, support, or perspectives with the Board of Education. Common practice of the board is to follow up with public commenters after the board meeting and as needed. We will move on to our next item on the agenda, which is the approval of board meeting minutes. Item A is the approval of regular board meeting minutes, special board meeting, and committee of the whole meeting minutes from April 21st, 2026 and May 6th, 2026. Are there any changes to the meeting minutes? Seeing none, those meeting minutes stand as presented. Item B is the approval of closed session
037minutes from April 21st, 2026. Those meeting minutes stand as presented. We are now on to reports and presentations. We have a technology update today, and I will be turning it over to Dr. Campbell. So, throughout the year, we We got switch. Here's a little sticky note. Throughout the year, we have the opportunity to hear updates from multiple departments. Tonight, we will hear from our technology department along with our learning and teaching department who play a critical role in supporting the district's instructional and operational goals by ensuring reliable, secure, and effective technology systems. I will now turn it over to our team. Thank you, Mr. Thank you. Uh good evening. Tonight, I'll be providing an overview of our technology department's work and impact across the district. I'll be highlighting a few uh 5-year review of our
038technology support and key operational and financially efficiencies. From there, we'll transition into instructional technology updates followed by our continued focus on online safety and strengthening cybersecurity practices. I'll conclude by sharing a look ahead at our summer projects. So, first, we'll look at our 5-year tech review. And I'll begin by highlighting um the role the makeup role of the technology department, each playing a critical role in supporting both instruction and operations across the district. First, our tech support team is our front-line team. They directly support staff and students by maintaining devices, everything from Chromebooks and iPads to classroom displays and projectors. They also manage device uh platforms, keep systems updated, and provide end-user support and training. Next, our information management team focuses on systems and data. They manage our PowerSchool student information system, oversee and maintain
039more than 120 digital integrations, support state reporting, and develop specialized applications that help streamline operations and improve access to information. Finally, our network operation team ensures everything runs reliably behind the scene. They maintain our entire district network infrastructure across 15 facilities, maintain hundreds of wireless access points, switches, routers, and lead our cybersecurity efforts including risk prevention, compliance, and and student digital safety. Together, these teams work in alignment to ensure our technology is reliable, secure, and ultimately supports teaching and learning across the district. I like in this short video, I'd like to highlight a few members from our tech support team. You will hear from Peter Savage, a tech support specialist who supports three elementary schools and one middle school, Carlos Rosario who manages our Mac environment, and Kelly Webber who is our dedicated tech support
040specialist at York High School. In future presentations, I will highlight the other teams that make up the technology department. So, here's the short little video. I think the biggest thing that gives me [music] satisfaction and motivation to the job that I do is both of my parents were teachers. So, I understand that it is a very difficult job that I personally would not be able to do. However, using my technical expertise and knowledge, I can contribute to the educational process and that really brings a smile [music] to my face. My role here allows me to create seamless interactions between [music] a student and staff devices utilizing multiple platforms allowing [music] applications to be easily deployed such as Clever and Seesaw and giving the maximum engagement [music] between students and staff. So, this time of year,
041we have a couple things that happen in the technology department. So, [music] it just being spring break, we always get asked, "Hey, what did you guys do for spring break?" And little people know that we are here [music] all spring break working. It's a great time for us to catch up on doing some things that are disruptive to classrooms, [music] that we can get some technology updated. Um people aren't aware that some of the Epson projectors [music] and the Clever Touches all need updates the same as your cell phone does. Um it's also the season of [music] school testing and we also set up hundreds of loaners actually. So, if there's any issues with the student's device [music] during the testing season, uh we have a device we can swap out so they're ready to
042go so they don't miss a beat. All right, over the past 5 years our technology department has consistently supported a high volume of requests averaging between approximately 5,400 and 6,200 tickets annually. Staff submit uh tickets for a wide range of needs, whether something isn't working, requesting data reports, or gaining access to systems and digital learning resources. Across all 5 years, we see a clear and consistent pattern. A sharp increase at the start of the school year followed by a gradual decline and stabilization as the year progresses. What's most valuable here is just not the volume, >> [clears throat] >> but the predictability. This allows our team to proactively prepare for peak periods, especially in August and September, by staging devices, ensuring systems are fully operational, and increasing increasing uh support capacity. With over 100 With
043over 1,200 staff members across 15 locations, this data highlights both the scale of our operations and the critical need for efficient systems and processes to support uh Teaching and learning. Our Our team's responsiveness help ensure minimal disruption to student learning. It's also important to note that this data does not reflect um any uh walk-ins at the tech office, phone calls, or direct emails, and the many Google chats that are sent to our team members. Meaning the total volume of support provided is even greater. This slide highlights the most common types of requests submitted. The largest themes you'll notice are related to access, devices, and functionality. Words like access, login, and Apple ID reflect the high number of accounts and authentication-related requests. We also see a strong presence for device-related issues such as Chromebook, iPad, laptop,
044and cracked screens. Which aligns with supporting over a combined 11,000 student and staff devices across the district. Overall, this reinforces that our work is directly connect connected to teaching and learning, ensuring students can access their devices, teachers can deliver instruction, and classrooms remain fully operational. Over the past few years, we have experienced significant cost increases across multiple areas, including hardware procurement and subscription software subscription renewals, largely driven by inflation and rising CPI. Most recently, hardware costs have escalated even further due to global shortages of memory chips fueled by the rapid expansion of data centers. In the next few slides, I will highlight the proactive steps we are taking to help mitigate these increases and manage the impact on the [clears throat] technology budget. As part of our ongoing focus on operational and financial effectiveness, we've
045taken several strategic steps to reduce costs while maintaining a high level of service. Some of these efforts, such as a unified technology and facilities ticketing system and the copier RFP, have been introduced previously. And I'll speak to those more in detail shortly. Building on success of the staff Mac Mac laptop implementation and transition in our EC through five schools, we took a different approach to the upcoming York staff laptop refresh by offering a choice between Windows and Mac devices. The result was an even 50/50 split and approximately $46,000 in savings driven by both the flexibility of choice and the lower acquisition cost of the Mac laptops. This reinforces that staff centered decisions can also lead to meaningful financial efficiencies. In addition, we are planning to transition this summer to a new web content filtering and
046student self-harm monitoring system. When our current platform subscription renewal came in at significantly higher renewal cost, we evaluated alternative solutions and conducted a pilot. Through the process, we identified a comparable platform that will deliver similar functionality while generating approximately 18,000 in annual savings. Overall, this is a strong example of how we are balancing instructional needs, staff preference, and fiscal responsibility while continuing to identify strategic opportunities to manage and reduce cost across the department. Our transition to the new unified technology and facilities work management system has been a multi-phase implementation that began with research and board approval in the fall, followed by system onboarding and build out over the winter months. Um, we then moved into creating staff training documentation and resources, and successfully launched a soft rollout in mid-February with four of our schools. We
047have transitioned to a full district-wide implementation in late April that has gone extremely well, and we are excited for staff to continue using the platform. From an operational standpoint, the system represents a significant improvement for the first time. We are bringing both technology and facilities into a single unified platform. This streamlines how staff can submit requests, improves workflow efficiency, and enhances visibility and accountability across departments. From a financial perspective, this transition has resulted in approximately $25,000 in annual subscription savings while simultaneously modernizing our systems and expanding functionality. Overall, this is a strong example of how we are improving internal operations, enhancing the staff experience, and doing so in a fiscally responsible way. As a result of the copier RFP, we were able to significantly improve both efficiency and cost-effectiveness. By right-sizing our copier fleet and
048adjusting our service model, we are reducing annual costs while better aligning equipment meant to actual usage. This results in approximately $132 $132,000 in annual savings uh the first year alone. From a community perspective, this is important. These are real dollars being saved while maintaining and in many cases improving service levels. It reflects our ongoing commitment to fiscal responsibility and ensuring our resources are directly supporting student learning and district operations. I will now turn it over to Mr. Nick Stoyas, our director of instructional technology, for updates. Thanks, Rudy. And hi, everybody. Um tonight, I am fortunate to highlight the dedicated work many of our classroom educators, library media specialists, and technology assistants are doing to elevate digital literacy and citizenship across the district. Focusing on the intentionality behind our support, data, hardware, and software, we'll highlight
049how these tools are thoughtfully integrated into aspects of our curricula while keeping topics such as technology exposure, screen time, purposeful use, and media balance as part of our discussion. It's okay. Specifically, we'll be highlighting two primary efforts aimed at deepening learning of core curricular resources through the expansion of digital literacy and safety efforts and localized partnerships. To help frame this conversation, we'll be referencing the learner framework developed by the American Association of School Libraries, leading our conversation and research and professional practice. The learner framework, which you can see on the right side of the slide, helps us ensure when technology tools are used, they're leveraged meaningfully to aid learning and instruction. It provides four domains categorizing learning experiences for students and staff. They are think, create, share, and grow and six competencies inclusive of inquire,
050include, collaborate, curate, explore, and engage, elements you'll see throughout this presentation. Okay. Public Act Public Act 095-0869, also referred to as the Illinois Internet Safety Act, states each school district must incorporate into the school curriculum a component on Internet Safety to be taught at least once each school year to students in grades three and above. Here at Elmhurst, we introduce digital citizenship and Internet Safety lessons beginning in kindergarten. Shared on this slide is a brief overview of the topics we cover. Among a variety of lessons, students in elementary school engage in conversations about media balance and the importance of disconnecting from the from devices. They also participate in learning centered around appropriate websites, digital media, and safety when gaming. Middle school lessons are being re-aligned next school year to adjust the emergence of artificial intelligence.
051These lessons include building an understanding of what AI is, appropriate use and plagiarism, chatbot interactions, and how algorithmic content influences our experiences online. And in high school, these conversations delve deeper into online identities, behavior, and societal topics, such as speech and the role of big data. Specifically, students in 11th grade you discuss government access to information and how it relates to free speech and privacy. Their learning culminates with students taking an informed position as they answer the question, "Should the government and schools be able to access your social media and cell phone information? If so, under what circumstances?" Conversations like these and many others allow students and staff to thoughtfully and critically engage in digital literacy topics relevant to them and our community. Speaking to artificial intelligence, shared is an overview of efforts this year
052related to the integration of these tools in our educational spaces. Primarily, our efforts have largely focused on student and educator safety, student writing supports, enhancing staff knowledge, and strategic adoption. When speaking to student and educator safety, it is important to note tools like Google Gemini are now part of the Google for Education Workspace. This is an important development in our relationship with Google. Any information placed into Gemini as part of our Elmhurst domain will not be used to train the AI model, ensuring an added layer added layer of privacy. Additionally, we've also partnered with two vendors, Quill, available to students and staff in grades 6th through 12th, and Brisk, available to students and staff in grades 9th through 12th. To support grade-level writing, these tools offer standards-aligned practice, insights on development over the course of
053an assignment, and opportunities for feedback. Finally, we are seeing the growth of embedded AI tools and approved curricular materials. During last year's technology update, we noted the presence of AI here in D205 through our assistive technology efforts. We also highlighted how the emergence of AI tools and district approved curricula, such as Amplify ELA, has allowed for both intentional input on our students' writing, as well as the capacity of AI to analyze trends in student needs for additional learning opportunities, enrichment, or intervention. As AI tools emerge, we continue to review these tools for strategic adoption and consider how AI can safely review key data points in platforms like Next Path to inform the district, building leaders, teachers, students, and families on student growth, instructional strategies, and decisions. In addition to digital citizenship, internet safety, and artificial
054intelligence, freshman students at York also engage in a unit around media literacy. Defined in Public Act 102-0055, students engaging in this unit review how to access information, analyze and evaluate media messages, create media, and reflect on media consumption, as well as the societal responsibility of engaging with media of all forms. To accomplish this task, students in ninth grade English practice lateral reading, a strategy for investigating who's behind an unfamiliar online source by leaving the webpage and opening a new browser to see what trusted websites say about the unknown source. Throughout these lessons, students learn the importance of validating information and using evidence to support their claims. Next, we're going to take a look at how our curricula and aligned student experiences are showing up in our community and the connections the district is making to
055deepening student learning as local and global citizens. K-5 library media specialists engage our students in several Project Lead the Way launch lessons throughout the course of the year. These lessons, rooted in hands-on learning experiences, ask students to create something new and different as they engage in the design process. This year, we've implemented a new kindergarten unit, structure and function, and with the help of Foundation 205, expanded our animal adaptations experience from Jackson Elementary School to all elementary buildings. In addition, our blossoming partnership with Elmhurst History Museum allowed fifth grade students at Jackson to extend their learning about infectious diseases. This year, the museum collaborated with Elmhurst Hospital to create an immersive exhibit that invited all guests to step into the rich history of healthcare in Elmhurst and explore how the community's medical services have evolved
056over the years. This experience was an ideal curricular match for our fifth grade Project Lead the Way unit, infection, detection, modeling, and simulation. During this unit, students explore the transmission of infection, agents of disease, and mechanisms the body uses to stay healthy, while also engaging in simulations comparing communicable and non-communicable diseases. Because of our partnership, students take a field trip to the museum where museum staff engaged students in local history, hands-on learning, and other community healthcare efforts over time. This partnership with Elmhurst History Museum has also allowed students to take part in commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, marking America's semi-quincentennial. Aligned to our fifth grade social studies inquiry about the American Revolution, students sought to answer the question, "How can we promote life, liberty, and the pursuit of
057happiness for all?" As they reflected and answered this question, students at Edison and Jefferson created magazines to be included in a time capsule for the next 25 years at Elmhurst History Museum. A few samples of their work are highlighted on the right. Our reception highlighting contributions made by students and staff on their magazines is set for Wednesday, May 20th from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. The museum is also supporting the informed action of sixth-grade students at Churchville. During the second semester of social studies, several classes explored the lasting legacies of second-wave civilizations. Students co-created and were guided by the inquiry statement, "I can create a digital museum panel for the Elmhurst History Museum in order to help our community recognize how second-wave civilizations still influence our world today." Shared are a few samples of their work
058as students take informed action to help our community recognize the historical roots of our modern world. These panels These panels were posted last week and are currently available to view on Elmhurst History Museum's website. We also have the pleasure of highlighting our continued work with Elmhurst Public Library. The district continues to receive positive feedback on our first-grade World of Books field trip aligned to Wit & Wisdom. In alignment with that effort and our continued enrichment of dual language programming, the library also has supported the development of trimester reader-like lists K-5 directly aligned to D205 curricula. These reader-like lists highlight publicly available books in English and Spanish designed to extend learning beyond the classroom. On the flyer that we will distribute after this presentation, you can view the amazing volunteer opportunities, special events, and other programming
059efforts our district shares with Elmhurst Public Library. Before we close out, we want to highlight the intentional work that the learning and teaching team and our school leadership teams have engaged in over the past 4 years to better understand and refine the role of technology in our classrooms. Through this work, District 205 has dramatically reduced the amount of time students spend on devices during the instructional day. Our goal has never been to increase screen time. Our goal has been to increase Our goal Our goal has been to ensure that technology is only used when it truly enriches learning. This slide highlights the various instructional blocks in our elementary school and how they may use technology to enrich instruction. As you can see, the majority of our students' day is centered around facilitated learning experiences, hands-on
060application, discussion, collaboration, reading, writing, and problem solving without student use of technology. There are only select points during the day where students strategic strategically utilize technology to enhance learning experiences. For example, students may use technology in Wit & Wisdom to create and publish authentic writing products. During acceleration, approved programs such as Zearn, ST Math, or Khan Academy may be used to personalize support for students. In specials, tools like Quaver may be incorporated to enrich music instruction and deepen learning experiences. What is important to emphasize is that technology in D205 classrooms is limited, purposeful, and always connected directly to instructional goals. We also want to note the systems and decision-making processes that guide technology use across District 205. Over the past 4 years, the learning and teaching team and our school leadership teams have taken a
061much more intentional approach to evaluating instructional technology district-wide. First, we have significantly reduced the amount of time students spend on devices during the school day by setting clear expectations for school teams regarding when and where technology should be used to promote learning. Second, we have strategically narrowed the number of digital applications and tools available to students and staff. Rather than utilizing a large number of disconnected programs, we have focused on a smaller set of high-quality digital resources that provide clear instructional value and create greater consistency across classrooms and schools. And third, all technology resources are carefully evaluated through a district review process. Two technology tools must align directly to our core curriculum, provide access for all students, and meaningfully enrich in order to be approved for use in classrooms. Ultimately, this work ensures that technology
062supports, rather than drives, the learning experiences in D205. Thank you for the opportunity to highlight these curricular experiences and partnerships with you this evening as we reflect on the impacts of these opportunities, including technology exposure, screen time, purposeful use, and media balance, and how they relate to deepening learning of core curriculum resources through the expansion of digital literacy and safety efforts and localized partnerships. We hope to continue drawing a powerful through-line for our technology and learning pairs with the system supports and improvements mentioned to access learning for all students and drive student inquiry, inclusion, collaboration, curation, exploration, and engagement as local, digital, and global citizens. And with that, I'll turn it back over so we can highlight so we can continue highlighting cybersecurity enhancements and summer projects. Thank you. Thank you, Nick. Uh so, we
063will next uh talk about cybersecurity enhancements and protections. And before I get into that, um I might be aging myself, but I don't know if you remember Ron Popeil. He had that famous saying of set it and forget it. So, that that doesn't work in our cybersecurity protection enhancements. It's always evolving, and we're always having to stay a a step ahead as much as possible. And that continues us always being vigilant and looking what platforms are out there that can assist us with with risk prevention, mitigation, and also kind of educating our staff and you know, trying to minimize those those risks. Um last year we did an all staff password transition to passphrases. So this past January we did the same thing with our high schoolers, something not a lot of high school districts
064do. So we consider it one of our one of the first to really implement a very strict password policy. And so passphrases are significantly more secure because length matters more than complexity. Um and longer phrases are much harder for attackers to crack, yet they're easier for users to remember and use consistently. Uh so that was a very successful transition with minimal disruption to to instruction that occurred in in January once students returned back from break. In addition to the password change, we utilize a tool called Manage Methods, a platform that helps protect students and staff from unwanted, malicious, or inappropriate emails, particularly within the Google Workspace environment environments commonly used in K-12 schools. One of the many features it provides is scanning inbound emails for suspicious characteristics such as fake login links, spoof senders, malicious
065attachments, and social engineering tactics commonly associated with phishing attacks. This helps reduce the likelihood of users clicking on harmful links or sharing credentials in one of is one example of the many steps we take to minimize cybersecurity risks. In addition to to the phishing noticing for phishing uh and so forth, this platform has allowed us to identify it'll flag it and notify us if for example there was a login by a student or staff outside of the US. Um so if that's deemed suspicious, it'll send us an alert and we investigate it and sometimes uh it it you know the the account was compromised so that's a flag for us to immediately flag that student or staff's account for a password reset. The same thing goes with devices. If the the platform uh detects that
066the platform is in a different country when it should be in the US, we'll get a notification and we'll investigate if truly that is maybe the staff member is out of out of the country or a student is out of the country. So those are just different layers of protections uh that this platform management methods uh provides. The other thing uh the other thing that we do is with staff is for education. We conducted two staff phishing campaigns campaigns this year. A phishing campaign is a simulated cyber attack where staff receive realistic but safe emails designed to mimic common threats uh like uh fake invoices or login requests. The purpose is not to trick staff but to build awareness and reinforce safe practices. These exercises are critical because phishing remains one of the most common
067entry points for cyber attacks. I'm proud to share that our staff demonstrated a very high level of vigilance and far exceeded expectation expected benchmarks on both campaigns. Overall, this work reflects our continued commitment to protecting student data and staff information and the integrity of our systems while keeping the user experience manageable and practical. And right before right before this meeting, I pulled a report uh for the last 30 days on staff emails. Um around 600 uh 6,355 were were flagged for risk potential but out of this those 6,355, uh 1,390 were flagged for phishing. So that didn't even make it into the end users in bag inbox. So, staff didn't even know. But, they go into quarantine and we can actually view what those emails were. So, that's another layer of protection that managed methods
068provides. So, that's some real real data I just I just pulled up. And finally, to conclude um our upcoming summer projects technology projects are designed to ensure smooth and successful start to the school year and in very close partnership with our learning and teaching and student services department to ensure all digital resources are and systems are ready and accessible on day one. We will be preparing over 2,000 devices including 600 kindergarten iPads, 1,300 Chromebooks for our fifth and ninth grade students, and 230 staff laptops at York High School ensuring students and staff have reliable ready-to-use devices from day one. In collaboration with our partners, we are also ensuring all instructional platform digital resources and student support systems are fully configured and accessible to support student and teaching student and teaching and learning immediately. From an
069infrastructure standpoint, we are upgrading wireless access points at our middle schools, high schools, and updating camera security camera firmware to maintain system reliability. We are also replacing outdated computers in the York High School business lab and continuing our life cycle work including replacing 14 multi-function copiers and completing preventative maintenance across the district. All of this work is strategically completed over the summer to minimize disruption, ensure everything is ready for students and staff on day one. And that concludes our reports. Happy to take any questions. Thank you, Rudy and Nick. We'll open it to the board for any comments, questions. Courtney? Thank you, first of all, because um I think sometimes the only time we think about technology is when we can't get on our computers and the Wi-Fi doesn't work. Um and this really does
070highlight how much um work goes in all year round and how many aspects of our in our buildings and with our students and staff you really touch. Um and I know we've talked about these these two things at finance committee and and although not as exciting as the electricity um savings, I do want to really shout out for the copier RFP. First time we've ever done that. And I just, you know, I know that we'll hear about another RFP in the next presentation, but I do think it should be the way we're we're looking at all of these long-term contracts we have. So, a big shout out. I'm all [laughter] about the RFP. Um and then I I do remember set it and forget it, by the way. Um so, um and I also want
071to give a also another shout out because so many times you departments, people, you come to us and ask us for money and funding for programs, and we say this all the time and and we are you guys are getting really a lot better at it, but hearing about the unified platform really made me happy to see how it's come full circle from when you presented it to us in the fall and how the impact it's having now. So, truly appreciate that update on it. Um just one clarifi- quick cation question, when on the Gemini um um the search engine, when you search or the AI, I you know, you're we all know I'm the wrong person to talk about this. Um but when you say that it's not being used to build the AI
072monster, I know you didn't use that word, does that mean so if I search on a one of our devices um that they're not storing our search history or they're how how does that work for the uneducated technology people? Yeah, the best way to describe it is so >> Like I'm a kindergartner. >> Yeah, yeah, you got it. So when we think about when we think about Gemini and its incorporation into our educational workspaces, Google is is really working hard to incorporate Gemini into just about everything that they have whether it's Docs, Sheets, their search in general, right? Specific to us when we're like using the Gemini language model to to ask it a question, you know, help write me an email, take a look at these curricular resources and find a common thread. When
073we are using that within our Elmhurst domain specifically, so you have to be logged into your @elmhurst205.org account. Those searches are stored and saved primarily because we need to be able to go back and actually see those searches. So in an educational workspace, that's a safety feature, right? Like we're able to go in and we can see we can see that data, we can see that search, we can see kind of what question was asked and what tone was it asked, you know, what what was the response that AI provided to that educator or somebody. So so they are saved as a way of putting that. The big difference is is in in an educational workspace, that data isn't being used isn't being turned around and then used to train the language model as a
074whole, right? So when we have our our private accounts that exist in like an @google.com, that data is fed back to Google in order to improve response rates, in order to improve targeted searches, to target advertisements at you, things like that. Within an educational workspace, the data is not used in that way. >> not helping Gemini advance. Correct. Yeah, we are not helping Gemini advance. got it done with most importantly, our student data is not used to help Gemini learn. >> really the what I wanted to clarify. So, yeah, that's so intriguing, the whole AI stuff. I do appreciate the um awareness about how technology can certainly serve to benefit us and the balance and the efforts being made by our by our staff and all of our buildings to really be sensitive to that.
075So, again, thank you. This was super helpful. Beth? I just had one question on the same topic with the AI um usage or implementation. I'm sure this is something that's happening, but I was just wondering if you could speak a little bit to. I know there's some really beneficial ways to use AI for teaching and learning and um to help our students improve their writing and such. Um I've used it myself in a lot of good ways. I also know that colleges feel very strongly about how AI is used and students have to manage that when they leave here. So, are we helping teach our students the appropriate ways to use AI that could be helpful and beneficial and then also, you know, when it isn't so appropriate to be used and how that might
076look later. So, we're going to go uh back to our digital citizenship slide and kind of where the units are talked about and introduced. Um so, one of the one of the best ways to to take a look at that is we are we are revamping that that digital citizenship curriculum specifically in 6th through 8th grade, um where we're really getting to talk about like what does it mean to interact with AI and what those experiences look like. In addition to that, we can also see in 9th through 12th grade, we are taking a look very specifically at AI literacy lessons within our 12th grade curriculum specifically in English so that we know that it touches all students. So, we are having touch points there as well when we talk about AI literacy. So, we
077talk about Brisk as having integrated AI tools. We talk about Quill as having um integrated AI tools specifically targeted at student writing, but we're also able to have conversations here about AI literacy and specific topics as well with students. Thank you. Nikki, thanks. Um I have a lot of notes on this, but I'll go quick. First of all, I just want to acknowledge um you know, and appreciate the intended technology use slide that you talked about. I think it's so important that we focus on when's the right time to use technology and when's the not appropriate time to use technology because I do think that um and I just want to acknowledge how difficult that balance is, right? Because we know that technology is something that our students will need to use and need to
078use effectively to be successful in most cases when they leave our buildings eventually um and even when they're going through our buildings, but we also know it's not the only tool and shouldn't be we shouldn't be fully dependent on it. So, I just want to acknowledge that. Um some things that I really loved to see um the digital literacy curriculum. If you go back to that one. Uh where is it? Maybe it was this one. Maybe it was that one. Sorry, go back there. Again, seeing that progression. I know even for my own children, middle schoolers, I was just we were just watching a um social dilemma with them and kind of walking through and as we were watching and I was surprised at some of the information that I was learning and we had
079the parent speaker talking about technology and safety use and I was surprised at some of the stuff that I was learning. Both of my children were their response was, "Of course I know that." or "I already learned that in school." So, it was it was reassuring to me to know that they were hearing about some of the things that I as a parent, I as an adult were just was just learning for the first time. So, because it moves so incredibly fast, it can be very challenging to keep up as a parent. So, um I do appreciate that that's part of it. Um also wanted to acknowledge the AI efforts and safety guardrails. Just the um you know, Courtney asked about it, but I think when we can introduce it in our own way, then
080we are we have the ability to put some of those guardrails and safety policies in place, which is good to see. Um and then last but not least, um the media literacy. I I just think given how much access our students have to information, um that's such an important piece. So, I just really appreciate that we actually take them through, "How do you take in information? How do you analyze whether it's real or not real?" Um I think that's so incredibly important because as we know, you get access from so many different places, and you don't don't have to know if it's true or not true. Um and I think just one last thing. I do I think and I think it helps them to critically think about what to ingest. Um and I love
081the community partnerships. I just think that is a way that we can go so far beyond our buildings. Um when we partner with our community to see the library program, I know my my daughter uh was featured in the um history museum, and that was really cool for her um to partner with our libraries, to partner with our community partners. I just it offers us so many more experiences that we would not otherwise have as a school district. So, glad to see that, too. Thank you. All right. Echoing a little bit of everything that's been said already, the partnerships with our community is so meaningful to see that develop over the course of the last, I'd say, 3 years or so in a more profound way for students really across the district. Um and how
082lucky are we that we have a local Elmhurst History Museum where we can really bring learning to light for our kids and create these opportunities as well as the park district and library and all of our other partners. Um, I do also want to go back and highlight again the savings, Rudy, and this is just another great example of um the amount of uh fiscal responsibility you all are taking on and looking at ways to ensure that we continue to provide uh top-tier education to our students and finding ways to save the district uh on the expense side without touching the classroom, really, right? And touching student experience. And this is a really good example of that. So, thank you for that work and continuation for it. And the last thing is really just and
083it's been said, but you know, we we all witnessed uh well, and those of us who know college kids, you know, cybersecurity data breaches in the educational environment and um you know, I'm talking about the one related to Canvas in a nationwide kind of lockdown on student information or their own courses and and notes and everything. Um, and just uh really appreciate your work in helping us understand how we're taking steps to to safeguard ourselves and prevent that from happening here uh cuz that is a whole other world that those of us who don't live in your world don't really know about until it hits the nightly news. So, um I really appreciate your efforts in highlighting that cybersecurity work that we're doing as a district, also. And the last thing I'll say is just
084about AI because this was something that started in our district um maybe 2 years ago where a group of uh staff and and administrators and leaders got together and started talking about AI and and what does it mean and what does it mean for education and what does it mean to to children and how does it impact their lives as you know, people who view a lot of information on a daily basis. And so, uh I I I wanted to give a nod to the district for that work cuz that's a a big a big lift uh to really analyze a world that's unknown to us that just keeps them evolving as we live. Um so, thank you for all that. I'm not seeing anything else from the board. So, thank you Nick for being
085here and Rudy for your presentation. We'll move on to the next item which is item B, security services presentation. Dr. Campbell. In District 205, safety is a top priority. Uh and tonight you will hear a very brief um presentation and overview first and foremost of our safety and security committee um as well as an overview of a recent initiative um that uh the team has been working on through uh security services. Drumroll, board members, RFP um which will be noted as um the um first as that has been noted for a district to engage in which Ms. Daniels will also share about. Um and just with our efforts of overall goal of strengthening coordinate coordination, communication, and preparedness um for all types of emergencies. Um at this time, I will now turn it over to
086Ms. Daniels. Thank you, Dr. Campbell. So, as Dr. Campbell mentioned, first I'm going to start with a brief overview about the safety and security committee and then I'm going to highlight the very exciting initiative that she sort of hinted to in her uh opening. So, while much of the work of the safety and security committee happens quietly behind the scenes, it is ongoing, collaborative, and deeply connected to our district strategic plan. Specifically, to ensure the safety and security of all students, staff, and facilities. The work is of this safety and security committee is directly aligned with our strategic plan and everything that we do is rooted in the understanding that students learn best when they feel safe, supported, and connected and that staff are best able to serve students when they feel prepared and connected.
087All of our efforts extend far beyond just emergency response and include prevention, planning, training, communication, relationship building, and continuous evaluation and improvement. The District 205 Safety and Security Committee is intentionally collaborative and multi-disciplinary with representation across many areas including school administration, our Board of Education, our health representation, union representation, and our school resource officers, and police and fire. We're incredibly grateful to have a collaborative relationship with our Elmhurst Police Department and our police chief and deputy chief attend almost every meeting. The committee meets at least three times a year and we work on many areas and our major focus is safety prevention and preparedness including reviewing emergency operations plans, discussing annual drills and training opportunities, evaluating systems and communication tools which also led to a conversation between the police chief and Dr. Campbell about safety
088in D205 as well as Safety in 60 video series both of which can be viewed on our District YouTube channel. We also monitor safety through through reviewing data in partnership with Dr. Rubinstein and the student services team and our five essentials data and we continuously identify opportunities for improvement which directly leads me to one of the things that we'll be talking about tonight. So, as technology evolves, best practices evolve and the needs of schools evolve and considering the feedback from our building leaders, parents, and educators including ideas and opportunities to continue strengthening and evolving our safety protocols, the committee launched the first-ever security services RFP. Believed to be the first one launched in DuPage County, it focused specifically on ways to elevate our current security services to continue enhancing our school incident response measures. This
089effort reflects our commitment to continuously evaluating how we can strengthen emergency preparedness and response capabilities across the district while also being fiscally responsible. The RFP was created with review and feedback from the DuPage Regional Safety Network as well as our legal team. Our prospective responders were first required to attend a walk-through in our D205 schools and then asked to submit their proposals. Bidders that met the qualifications in the in the specified in the RFP were then invited to attend a presentation where they presented their um proposal to the evaluation committee, which was comprised of 12 members of our safety and security committee, and attendees represented our district and building leadership, our Board of Education, and the Elmhurst police and fire departments, including our SROs. This initiative was not simply about technology, it was about strengthening
090coordination, communication, and preparedness for all types of emergencies before, during, and after. The systems that we explored went far beyond traditional emergency communication tools. Potential capabilities including included expanding features such as adding multiple means of alerting emergency responders and building leaders during events, independent or backup wireless signal in case of power outage or network outages, two-way staff communication systems during a crisis, and student information system connected reunification system. The reunification highlights were some of the most significant things that were highlighted during the proposals, and they some of those things improve parent communication, increase our accountability, and streamline student release procedures. And it also reduces confusion during high-stress situations and support staff and families throughout the process. One of the most important aspects of this work is recognizing that there are many different levels of emergencies,
091and our work does not conclude once the first responders arrive. Some of the most significant added features and capabilities were in those reunification accountability features. Whether big or small, in any event requiring the the evacuation of a building, our critical responsibility that we have is ensuring the students are accounted for and if needed, safely reunited with families in an organized, efficient, and supportive manner. The committee explored systems that could help improve parent communication, increase accountability, as I said, and help staff throughout the process. These new features would sync directly with our student information system and take a process that is currently manual into a digital system that then would allow for a streamlined communication process across all staff in the building. So, I'd like to thank our safety and security committee members for their commitment
092to this important work, and especially thank JB for his partnership in navigating the RFP process. The work of the safety and security committee is ongoing, and we remain committed to continuously strengthening the systems and relationships that support school safety. We are currently and actively reviewing the final evaluation feedback, as well as the rankings from our RFP proposals and presentations, as well as calling our references for our top-ranked company, and plan to return in June to share the recommendation for your consideration. We're excited about the new efforts, we're excited about the possibilities, and we're excited to come back and tell you more in June. That's all I have. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them. Great. Thank you. We'll open the floor to the board. Um I'm just going to say unfortunately we
093live in a world where schools have to think about these things and plan for them in the hopes that they never happen. But like you said, whether the emergency is big or small, having gone through the process of knowing what happens next or anticipating what can happen next really um puts the right foot forward when it comes to a moment where you need to depend on these plans and these procedures and policies. Um thank you again and really enjoying our ongoing partnership with Elmhurst PD, Elmhurst Fire, and EM EMS. Mhm. Um and also for all the members who sit on that committee. That is part of the grueling work of running any school building, let alone a large school district. Thank you, Tanya. Okay. I'm sorry. Go ahead, Kelly. I didn't know. I'm so sorry.
094I was just going to say No, it's okay. I was just going to say as just someone that was part of this committee for the first time this year just um how much I've learned to start. Um but I was able to be part of the interview process and for the new proposals and just seeing all the different important people, not myself, but everybody else that was in the room, um all the collaborative efforts that were made and the different perspectives from, you know, the admins and the principals and the fire and the police and just everyone brought in a different perspective into the room and just the thoughtfulness that went into it and I'm just looking forward to hearing more about um the next steps. So, thank you. Thank you. Thanks. Okay. We will
095move on to our consent agenda. Is there anything anyone would like to pull from the consent agenda. Okay, since there's nothing to pull, can I have a motion for the consent agenda, please? I move that the Board of Education approve the following consent agenda items: A, personnel report; B, financial reports; C, Freedom of Information Act request; D, facility rental rates; E, final fine arts donation; F, asbestos removal; G, breakfast, lunch, and milk fees for 2026-2027 school year; H, DuPage Occupational Education System Board of Directors and Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 agreement. I'll second. Motion made by Ms. Trautmann, second by Dr. Henry. Can we please call the vote? Mrs. Trautmann? Yes. Dr. Henry? Yes. Mr. Bresnahan? Yes. Mrs. Lewinsky? Yes. Mrs. Hassler? Yes. Mrs. Asif? Mrs. Ervanitis? Yes, six eyes, zero nays, one absent.
096Motion passes. Our first action agenda item is the Edward Elmhurst contract. I'll turn it over to Dr. Rubenstein. Got it. So, we are excited to continue our partnership with Edward Elmhurst Hospital um for the 2026-2027 school year. Um the school district, as you know, uh pays a co- the cost of the salaries for the nurses um that are provided to our buildings, a portion of their benefits, um and then there is an administration fee to the hospital. There were a few small changes to the contract uh for this year, so um every nurse uh received a 3% base increase. Um the number of days worked uh was actually reduced by one, um so they're not going to be working on the second in-service day, um which is in February, and um we negotiated a change
097to the administrative fee um from 8% to 7% overall. Um we would anticipate that that be that is adjusted over time to account for consumer price index and some other pieces there to really help to maintain the quality services that we receive from Edward Elmers Hospital at a fair cost to the district and to the hospital. So we are asking for your approval this evening on the updated partnership agreement that is coming in at an overall increase of less than 1%. Can we please have a motion? I move that the Board of Education authorize execution of the contract with Edward Elmhurst Health for school nursing service in fiscal year 2027 in the amount of $2,019,306,033. Second. >> Second. Jinx. Tie goes to Brian. Sorry. No, I'm kidding. >> [laughter] >> Motion made by Ms. Hassler,
098second by Mr. Bresnahan. Um, are there any comments from the board? Really briefly, I mean this contract that Dr. Campbell and Dr. Rubinstein helped negotiate and get into place was last year or the year before. Two years ago. Has truly really we are so fortunate. I just can't even like there are so many school districts that do not have this type of relationship with their neighborhood or local hospital and we are just so fortunate to have this. Um anybody that was at graduation Sunday when our nurse was on that stage super fast right there next to um, us and Ricky going through that you know, the heat problem you know, I just appreciate it and I'm so grateful that they're willing to continue this partnership. Absolutely. Thank you. Yes, another dynamic partnership with a community
099uh organization. >> one of not just in terms >> Very unique. Um but there are no other school districts to our knowledge that have a partnership with a local hospital like this in the state of Illinois. So Yeah, we're just so fortunate. >> So thankful that we're fortunate that Elmhurst Edwards has that interest and ability and partnership. Okay, can we please call the vote? Mrs. Hassler? Yes. Mr. Bresnahan? Yes. Mrs. Troutman? Yes. Mrs. Slowinski? Yes. Dr. Henry? Yes. Mrs. Asif? Mrs. Arvanitis? Yes, six eyes, zero nays, one absent. Motion passes. Next up, we have the SASED Board of Directors Alternate and Governing Board Appointment Alternate. Over to Dr. Campbell. Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 has been a member of the School Association for Special Education in DuPage County, SASED, for more than 20 years.
100Uh SASED provides specialized, cost-efficient um special education services uh to their member districts and it's governed by a Board of Directors that meets monthly to oversee services, policies, as well as organization um operations. Um Mrs. Beth Hassler um has served as the district's representative on the SASED Governing Board um since 2023 and will continue to serve as the district's appointed representative um for a two-year term with Mrs. Kelly Asif serving as the alternate representative. So my recommendation is that the Board of Education um approves the SASED Board of Directors Alternate as well as the Governing Board Appointment um resolution as presented. Can we have a motion? I move that the Board of Education approve the SASED Board of Directors Alternate and Governing Board Appointment Resolution as presented. Second. Motion made by Dr. Henry, second by
101Ms. Slowinski. Are there any comments from the board? Nope. All set. Just a great co-op that we're a part of that provides tremendous service to a large number of our students here in Elmhurst, but even really throughout DuPage County. So, thank you. I think there's a nice theme here of our cooperation and our collaboration with all these um wonderful organizations within Elmhurst or throughout Illinois. It's pretty amazing. I I was actually going to add Brian. So, sorry. Go ahead. But, you know, in learning more about SASED since being on the board, I'm just amazed at how much we're able to offer our students that we would not otherwise be able to if we had to do all of those services in-house. So, I I agree with you, Brian. Like this and Athena, the fact that
102we've got such collaborative partnerships with those outside of our school walls has just it just offers up so many opportunities to the students within our schools. It's just great. Great. Can we call the vote? Dr. Henry? Yes. Mrs. Slowinski? Yes. Mrs. Hassler? Yes. Mr. Bresnahan? Yes. Mrs. Troutman? Yes. Um Mrs. SASED? Mrs. Arvanitis? Yes, six aye, zero nays, one absent. Motion passes. Item C is the approval of the 2026-2027 salary, administrator, and non-union employees. We'll turn it over to Dr. Schumacher. Yes. So, each year the board takes action on the superintendent's recommendation for salary and wage increases uh specific to non-union and administrative staff. Recommended increases for these employee groups are outlined in the memo within the board packet. In addition, recommended adjustments to starting rates uh for food service and various other non-union positions
103are also outlined. We recommend approval. Thank you. Can we have a motion? I move that the Board of Education approve increases for administrators and non-union staff, miscellaneous hourly rates, and starting hourly rates for food service and non-union support staff as presented. I'll second. Motion made by Ms. Troutman, second by Ms. Hostler. Can we please call the vote? Mrs. Troutman? Yes. Mrs. Hostler? Yes. Mrs. Lewinsky? Yes. Dr. Henry? Yes. Mr. Bresnihan? Yes. Mrs. Asif? Mrs. Ervanidis? Yes. Six eyes, zero nays, one absent. Motion passes. The final item is one that we pushed from last uh month. The establishment of regular meeting dates, times, and location for the Board of Education meetings for the 2026-2027 school year. Are we good? Okay, can we have a motion? I move that the self-explanatory. I move that the Board of
104Education approve the establishment of regular meeting dates, time, and location for Board of Education meetings for the 2026-2027 school year as presented. I'll second. Motion made by Dr. Henry, second by Was that Ms. Hostler? Thank you. Um can we please call the vote? Dr. Henry? Yes. Mrs. Hostler? Yes. Mrs. Troutman? Yes. Mrs. Lewinsky? Yes. Mr. Bresnihan? Yes. Mrs. Asif? Mrs. Ervanidis? Yes. >> Six eyes, zero nays, one absent. Motion passes. We'll move on now to the Superintendent's Communications, starting with our D205 highlights. So, our first highlight is super, super exciting, and that is the season that we're in, which is graduation and promotion celebration. Uh we are excited to share just two important milestones in the lives of our students and school community. On Sunday, this past Sunday, we were honored um that our graduating
105seniors. We honored our graduating seniors as they crossed the stage and officially began their next chapter. Families, staff, students came together to celebrate the class of 2026 during a very joyful and windy ceremony at York. Tomorrow evening, across District 205, we will continue the celebrations as our eighth grade students are promoted to high school, marking another important milestone in their District 205 journey of excellence. So, congratulations to our graduating class as well as our rising York Dukes. Great. Thank you. Yes, I did. >> [laughter] >> Ms. Daniels. So, as graduation was approaching for the class of 2026, our PTAs proudly continued the meaningful tradition of having our York seniors return to their elementary schools and do a walk through where they are celebrated and clapped in by our elementary students in the schools. This year,
106more than 400 seniors participated representing every District 205 school. So, every celebration began with a special video feature where the elementary where they were interviewed when they were elementary kids or middle school students talking about going into middle school or going into high school. It was super cute. And they had photo slideshows capturing memories from students in elementary and middle school years. And then the seniors walked the halls of their former schools as the current elementary students lined the hallways cheering, clapping, and celebrating their accomplishments. It was more than I think it was 2/3 of the class that participated this year. So it was really a lot of of participation. And just a huge shout-out to the PTA who started this 3 years ago because it has become like it's the tradition that everybody's talking
107about leading up into graduation. I mean it's just it's such a great new tradition. I'm so excited that it's continuing and I really appreciate the PTA for organizing it. Well, and I think it's a tradition not only the seniors look forward to but that elementary school kids look forward to seeing the seniors come through. How blown away were these Field students probably walking it back into that building for the first time? Well, even at Edison some of the kids were coming in and they were like, "So wait a minute. What was this room? Where was this?" It was It was cute. Thank you. Okay, so tonight um we don't have the students here because we are just finalizing the list literally yesterday evening. Um but we are very excited and proud to recognize our York
108High School students who have completed the requirements for the college and career pathway endorsement as well as students completing programs through the Technology Center of DuPage. We wanted to share tonight and not wait until June because um we're hoping students will watch and we'll share this video with them. Um so the college and career pathway endorsement is a state wide designation that recognizes students who have demonstrated readiness for both college and careers through rigorous academic and career focused experiences. To earn this endorsements, students complete four major components: an individual individualized post-secondary plan, professional learning and work-based experiences, career focused coursework connected to indust- industry credentials, and I thought I heard something behind me. And demonstrated academic readiness in reading and math. Oh, I have Hit it. Hit it, Katie. Students also participate in meaningful workplace
109experiences, complete early The drum always too soon. Complete early college credit opportunities, and develop professional skills such as resumes and personal statements. These recognitions reflect not only academic achievement, but also commitment, career exploration, and future readiness. We are proud to recognize our 2026 graduates. Yes. Who have earned the college and career pathway endorsement in education. These students have explored careers in education through coursework, professional learning experiences, and career-focused preparation. Their work reflects a commitment to leadership, service, and supporting future generations of learners. We might know some of those in our own district. So, please join District 205 in congratulating the following students on the slide. Yay. >> [applause] >> And Yay. We are also proud to recognize students earning the college and career pathway endorsement in partnership with the Technology Center of DuPage through the
110Cosmetology program. Through this partnership, students gain hands-on technical training, industry knowledge, and real-world experience that prepares them for post-secondary education and careers in the Cosmetology field. These students have demonstrated professionalism, persistence, and technical skill throughout the program. So, please join me in congratulating the following students on the slide. We got one more. And finally we are proud to recognize additional 2026 York graduates completing programs through the Technology Center of DuPage in the areas of HVAC technology. I don't want to miss any of them. Medical Assisting, Welding Technology, Fire Science, and Construction Technology. These programs provide students with advanced technical training, industry-aligned experiences, and opportunities to earn credentials while still in high school. The students recognized tonight have pursued highly specialized pathways that prepare them directly for employment, apprenticeships, military service, or continued post-secondary study. We
111congratulate each of these students for their dedication and commitment to career readiness. >> [applause] >> So, on behalf of the district and Board of Education, congratulations to all of our pathway endorsement and technology center recipients. We are incredibly proud of their accomplishments and look forward to all that they will achieve in the future. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Comm- The communications highlight- >> highlights. We will now move to item B, communication highlights. Okay. So, in continuing the celebration of our York Community High School seniors and the graduating class of 2026, there is of course a video that our team put together and kind of highlighting the graduation ceremony and here it is. Enjoy. York is so much more than just a place. It's an experience. Today is a celebration of achievement, [music] growth, perseverance, and
112possibility. What appears to be an ending, in truth, is actually a beginning. Graduates, today is not simply the culmination of the past 4 years, but today is the threshold of everything that follows. The world does not need perfection from you. It needs compassion, honesty, courage, and people willing to keep learning. Class of 2026, as you stand on the threshold of endless possibilities, know that you have something inside of you that you can need and do. And that is to choose. Choose hope in the face of adversity. Choose [snorts] kindness. Choose to keep going even when you want to quit. Choose the best version of yourself [music] every day. Congratulations, class of 2026. Once a Duke, ALWAYS A DUKE. GO, DUKES. >> [applause] >> Thank you. It really was a special day with lots of fun
113happening, but most importantly, just a big moment for all of our graduates and their families, and we wish them all luck as they move on to the next chapter. All right, next we have board communications. Any board members that want to represent or present any reports or share information? It's been a long day, kids. All right, then we'll move on to upcoming meetings. We have a meeting on June 3rd, 2026. It's our policy committee meeting at 5:30 p.m. and then on June 23rd, 2026, we have a regular Board of Ed meeting at 7:00 p.m. Both meetings will take place here at District 205 Center in room 215, 16, and 17. The board is going to adjourn from open session and move back into closed session. Uh Uh although we will not be voting on anything
114after, so we will adjourn out of closed session once we finish there. Thank you. It is 8:53. We will adjourn.