001Calling the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Can we please call the role? >> Mrs. Asive >> here. >> Mrs. Troutman >> here. >> Dr. Henry >> here. >> Mrs. Lewinsky >> here. >> Mr. Breznahan >> here. >> Mrs. Hustler. Mrs. Arvanites >> here. Six board members present, one absent. Uh, can we have a motion to move into close session? I move that the board of education move into close session to discuss a the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal [snorts] counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity. 5ils 122C1 [snorts] B. collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees
002or their representatives or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees. 5 ILCS 122C2 [snorts] C. Litigation when an action against affecting or on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal or when the public body finds that an action is probable or imminent in which case the basis for the findings shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting 5CS 122C11. Indeed, discussion of minutes of meetings lawfully closed under under the open meetings act, whether for purposes of approval by the body of the minutes or semiannual review of the minutes as mandated by section 2.065s 122 C21. [snorts] >> I'll second motion made by Miss, second by Athena Arvanites. Can we call the vote? >> Miss Asv? >>
003Yes. >> Miss Arvanites? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Troutman? Yes, >> Dr. Henry. >> Yes, >> Mr. Breznahan. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Lewinsky. >> Mrs. Hustler, >> six I zero nays, one absent. The board will move into close session. Good evening and welcome to the board of education meeting taking place on Tuesday, February 24th. It is 2025. It is now 700 p.m. The board has been in close session reviewing items on this agenda. We have six board members present and one absent. At this time, I ask that we all stand for the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right, we will start out our evening with our spotlight and recognition. Tonight, we
004have three different groups to honor. First, we have our high school students, the Illinois Music Educators Association, also known as ILMEA, back here with us. Dr. Baker. >> Hello. Should we get our students up front here for this part? If you're here, students tonight being recognized for ILMA, would you come right on up over here and stand in front of me? I know there's a couple of you here tonight. >> Come on up. You stand right here in the center. >> All right. >> Yep. [applause] There you go. >> It's a very busy season for us, as you might imagine. So, only a few of our students are here, but there are many more who are being honored tonight. So, well, good evening everybody. Uh, for those that don't know me, I'm Patrick Baker. I'm
005the director of fine arts uh PE and health for district 205. It's an honor and a privilege to be with you here tonight as we celebrate the accomplishments of some of our outstanding uh high school student musicians. Um thank you for giving me the opportunity to say a few words about these special accomplishments. Um the Illinois Music Education Association sponsors festivals in nine districts across Illinois as well as a combined all-state festival. District 205 belongs to district 1, which is among the most competitive of the nine districts. The students we are recognizing tonight prepared, auditioned, and were selected from among thousands of their peers across the state of Illinois to be placed as a performer in one of the highly selective All-State ensembles or to be honored for the excellence of their original compositions and
006performances. These are not small accomplishments. We commend each of the student musicians honored tonight for their tenacious work ethic, their commitment to artistry. Each of them has done an excellent job representing themselves, their ensemble, their teachers, their school, district 205, and the entire Elmharst community. On behalf of York and the district, fine and performing arts departments, we extend our proudest congratulations to each one of you. And finally, again, thank you to our board, to our district and building administration, uh, and to our families of our students, uh, for your ongoing support of our award-winning music program. This would not be possible without your continued commitment to music education here in Elmherst. Thank you all and have a wonderful evening. And now I will turn it over. [applause] I'm gonna read the board proclamation to you
007guys and I just want to say congratulations on your amazing accomplishments and for sharing your musical talents with uh everyone in the district. We're lucky to have you. So this is the board proclamation. Whereas the Illinois Music Education Association sponsors highly respected audition-based programs that recognize outstanding high school student musicians and composers from across the state of Illinois. And whereas students participate in a rigorous and highly competitive selection process for placement in Illinois music education association performance and composition categories with selection reflecting exceptional musicianship, creativity, technical skill, and artistic achievement. And whereas students from Elmherst Community Unit School District 205 have earned selection to Illinois Music Education Association, all state ensembles and composition opportunities, including Heidi Betting House, Honors Chorus, Alto 1. Need my glasses. I want to get to these names. Um, Gabe Bhin,
008honors band and tuba. Sam Deberman, honors orchestra, French horn. Meumi Gowas, All State Orchestra, violin. Aean Hall, Honors Orchestra, bass trombone. Kristen Jiao, All State Band, French horn. Vivian Lowe, All State Orchestra, cello. Colin Mahoney, Honors Band, bass clarinet. Alexios Malamus, Honors Orchestra, percussion. Yorgos Malamus, Honors Band, BB clarinet. Emily Seldana, honors band, BB clarinet. Izel Zamora Garcia, all state band. Am I Is that what it is? BB clarinet. Okay. B flat. Good to know. See, I'm learning. I'm like, that can't be what it is. B flat clarinet. Kai Ramsey, composition singer and songwriter. Tessa Schultz, composition singer and songwriter. Jack Bricker, composition singer and songwriter. Devin Smeiggel, composition, rock band, and Anthony Oleg, composition, jazz improvisation, whose achievements reflect an exceptional level of preparation, artistry, and commitment at the high level, at the high
009school level. And whereas in addition to these accomplishments, several district 205 st students earned top honors at the state level, including Kristen Xiao, who earned first chair placement in French horn section of the all-state band. Jack Bricker, who was awarded first place in the singer songwriter composition category, Devin Smeiggel, who was awarded first place in the rock band composition category, and Anthony Oleg, who was awarded first place in the jazz improvisation composition category. And whereas these accomplishments highlight the strength of the district 205 music programs and reflect the dedication of music educators, supportive families, and school communities who foster excellence in the performing and creative arts. Now therefore, be it resolved that the board of education and admin administration of Elmerst Community Unit School District 205 proudly recognize these students for their outstanding achievements and
010commend the District 205 music staff for their continued dedication to highquality music education. Congratulations [applause] 3. Audrey. One, two, three. Thank you and congratulations again. What a wonderful honor and we hope to see you again next year or sooner. You never know with this program. Okay. Uh next up we have Jefferson Elementary School here to share a highlight with us. I got to get the equipment set up here, guys. All right, >> that's perfect. Thanks, Good evening everyone. My name is Lorie Sweeney and I have the privilege of serving as the principal at Jefferson Elementary. And I'm joined here tonight by our amazing instructional coach, Miss Emily Quinn Amore. Uh I've been at Jefferson as the principal for four years now and Quinn has been our instructional coach for three years. And I think we
011would both agree that time flies when you're having fun. >> Absolutely. >> So tonight, there we are. Tonight, we're excited to share with you about an important focus area for us at Jefferson. How we are intentionally navigating a season of transition while maintaining and strengthening our instructional quality for students. So, you might know this, but between 2024 and 2028, our school will experience over 10 retirements. Eight of those educators will be core home room teachers. And undoubtedly that represents a significant shift in the instructional heart of our building. And this moment is significant not just because of the change ahead, but because of the extraordinary legacy our veteran teachers have built for decades. They have deeply invested in students, in families, and in one another. and they have shaped our culture, our instructional expectations, our
012warm Jefferson traditions, and the relationships that define our community. And as they retire, our goal is to honor and carry forward the work that they have poured themselves into. So tonight, Mammore and I are excited to highlight how we are investing in the next generation of Jefferson educators through intentional mentorship, instructional coaching, and just a little bit about our focused PLC's. And here we have a picture of one of our teams at Jefferson. This is our kindergarten team. And at the center of that photo and at the center of Jefferson in a lot of ways is Miss Julie Lindsay. She's one of our kindergarten teachers beloved who will be retiring this year. And she's joined by Miss Clling, who is mentoring Miss Herman. Miss Herman there in the tan sweater is not only in her
013first year at Jefferson, but she's in her first year teaching overall. So I'm going to pass it to M. Amore. >> Thank you. Now I need to address this. All right, here we go. So, of course, during this time, one of the most important investments that we can make during the season of transition is to the people that are coming into these new roles. So, at Jefferson, our new teachers are a part of a structured district-wide mentorship program that spans two years. And this is intentionally designed to have sustained partnerships for our new teachers meant to ensure thoughtful onboarding, professional growth, and confidence in practice. So each new teacher is paired with a trained mentor and they engage in meaningful work such as um co-planning instruction, visiting each other's classrooms and reflecting on student work.
014I as the instructional coach also get to work alongside both the mentors and the new hires um to kind of make a trio to have a structured or a layered system of support. And some of that one-on-one support that a new teacher might have might be me coming in and modeling some lessons. It would be targeted feedback or making sure that our practices are aligned with our district's instructional priorities. So we never have our teachers just our new teachers there to figure it out. They have all the support for them and they are apprenticed into the culture of Jefferson and D205. And so here is our fourth grade team. Another one of our teams kind of going through this transition. So, Donna Hayes is one of our retirees who is so beloved at at Jefferson.
015So, she is in the light blue with dark hair in the back. And then the other part of our fourth grade team, we have Mrs. George Alice who is mentoring Mrs. Nolan in the blue sweater and Mrs. Nolan is her se her second year at Jefferson and second year in the mentorship program. So, I know you guys have heard us talk about PLC's here before, and so I'm not going to go deeply into that structure tonight, but the headline is that for us, this is truly a team effort. In this season of transition, collaboration is our anchor. And our PLC's, our professional learning communities, ensure that instructional knowledge is shared so that when veteran teachers are moving on, their expertise lives on within that collaborative team that they've been a part of. So mentorship, coaching,
016and strong PLC's work together to ensure that our excellence is maintained well into the future. And we have a bunch of retirees obviously that are not up here in our slides, but we would just say see you at the retirement ceremony so we can celebrate all of them together. And our last note is just ultimately these systems do support teachers, but it's really all about the kids. These systems make sure that the new teachers that are joining our team are set up to ensure that every student experiences highquality instruction, strong relationships, and continued success. And I know I speak for our entire team, our new teachers, our retirees, when I say we are deeply grateful to all of you, the board of education for your continued support in resourcing these structures. Your investment in mentorship
017and coaching is what makes this work possible. So, thank you. >> [applause] >> Thank you. Next up, we have an spotlight from Samberg Middle School. >> Thank you. Thank you. Well, good evening board members. We are very excited to be here with you. Um, thank you for the opportunity uh to allow us to highlight our school community at Samberg. We believe uh culture is not something we just talk about. It's something that we build together. Um, this year our theme has been connect to impact and the idea is simple. When students feel connected, they positively impact their school community through strong academic performance, strong relationships, and a shared sense of responsibility for making school a place where everyone feels seen, supported, and inspired to grow. During my tenure, we have consistently emphasized the power of
018belonging and student voice. And together as a community, we have worked uh to put our shared values into action by creating a school where every student feels seen, heard, and truly valued. One of the most authentic examples of that work is our student leadership team. Tonight, you're not just hearing about student leadership. We are hearing directly from it. I'm proud to introduce two student leaders who represent the heart of Sandberg. Amari, an eighth grade student leader, and Holiday, a seventh grade student leader. And now I will invite to the podium Amari to share. >> Okay. Hi. Is that good? Can you guys hear me? Okay. You know, I'm a little taller. So, um, when we meet as a student leadership team, we ask ourselves, what actually makes someone a student leader at Samberg? When I
019first got to Samberg, my experience was not the best. Things were hard and difficult. But over time, I was able to remain kind and rise above these circumstances. Then my teacher saw my kindness. And that was when I was asked to join student leadership. And when I started to join when I joined student leadership, I started to experience brighter days knowing that I can help the school and impact others and create a better school environment than what it was when I arrived at Samberg. We as a student leadership team work on making the school better for others and making sure everyone's nice and kind to one another, everyone is included. In student leadership, we we plan out events at our school like field day or fun presentations for our school like our Veterans Day assembly
020and our upcoming spring assembly that the students at our school would enjoy and also have fun. We came up with these characteristics as a as a student leadership team. Kind, respectful, reliable, responsible, a good influence, someone others looks up to, participates and shares ideas, speaks up for other students who need support, and helps make our school a better place, trustworthy, and positive example. We hope showing these characteristics will help people see how important this is to us and will let people know that we, as a student leadership team, are here to support them and make our school a better place. For us, leadership is not about popularity. It is about impact. We believe leaders are people who use their voices for others and create create a school where everyone feels safe and included. Lately, we've
021been focused on how we could turn those characteristics Amari described into action. For kindness week, our student leadership team created encouraging signs that were placed around the building to welcome students last Friday morning. The goal of this was to encourage students to be kind to their peers. Not only was this a positive way to start everyone's day, but it was fun and engaging for our team to make signs and discuss what supportive quotes we could write on them. >> Around two weeks before that, we wrote positive notes and placed them on student lockers. We wanted students to look at their locker and feel noticed and supported. We wrote messages such as, "You matter here. You're stronger than you think. Today is a new opportunity." It may seem small, but when students know other students care
022about them, it makes the school environment an overall better place to be in and makes students feel appreciated and nurtured. Here at Samberg, making students feel good and wanting them to be here is a goal and a priority. We believe leadership is not just about big events. It's about everyday actions that make school better. Whether it's writing a note, holding up a sign, or just saying hi to a classmate in the hallways, anything that makes students feel comfortable and welcome, we are ready to try and make happen. Well done. >> Thank you to Amari and Holiday. Um, what you just heard is an outstanding example of what we are working to build at Samberg. Uh, when we talk about supportive environments, collaborative leadership, and student centerness, this is what it looks like in action. Our
023student leadership team is not symbolic. It's active. It's reflective, and it's impact driven. Through our most recent initiatives like the kindest signage and locker notes, our students are shaping culture, not just participating in it. That is what we mean when we say connect to impact. When students feel connected, they lead. When they lead, they influence others. And when they influence others, they strengthen our entire school community. We are proud of the leaders they are becoming and grateful for the culture that they are helping us build. Thank you for your continued support of student voice at Samberg Middle School. >> Yes, we did it. [applause] >> Good job. >> Thank you, Amari and Holiday. You guys did a wonderful job presenting and we really appreciate you taking the time to be here and thankful that you're
024a part of our leadership program at Samberg. So, thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Lewis. Uh public comments is the portion of our board meeting that we're going to next. Are there any public comments? Anyone in the audience who'd like to make a public comment. Yes, come on up. Hi everyone. This is my first time here, so hopefully I'm doing this right, but you'll let me know if not. My name is Prettiel. Um my children go to Edison. I have five children. Um, my oldest is in fourth. Then I have a third grader and I also have a kindergartener and then I have a uh preschooler at Madison. We've had a great experience. So, thank you all for everything that you do. We really appreciate it. We actually moved to Elmharst from um Oak
025Park. So, we started in the school system there and also had a great experience. And I'm just here um I know you're planning for next year and I'm just here to urge you to continue to look at class sizes. I know it's been a very heated topic and I know that you're all continuing to work very hard about on this. So, I'm just asking that you continue to listen to the parents. You continue to try your best. Um my son is in third grade. He has 27 students in his class. There's another third grade class also 27 students and it's a lot to manage. Um they had a substitute teacher who had a really hard time [clears throat] managing them. Um their teachers do a wonderful job. They are truly angels. Um, the Edison teachers
026and I probably I would assume teachers all over Ed all over Elmherst do a wonderful job. The principles do a great job. Um, but, you know, it's tough and I think that, you know, the parents are trying their best. My my children are doing, you know, a really good job. Their test scores are are good, but we work really hard at home and as you can imagine with five kids, it's a lot to manage. But we work really hard. But we can feel it. We can definitely feel it. And when I look at other schools and I speak to other parents and I speak to the parents in Oak Park and I compare, our class sizes are bigger than, you know, when I look at other schools. And so I just ask you to keep
027working hard and to keep trying your best to manage our class sizes. And if you are able to bring that 27 number down to 25, I would really appreciate it. So thanks for your time. Oh, sorry. Thank you. Uh, thanks for taking your time to come and voice your concern, support, or perspective with the board of education. Common practice of the board is to follow up with public commenters after the board meeting as needed. So, thank you. Okay. Next, we have the approval of regular board meeting minutes from January 20th, 26 and uh the committee of the whole minutes from February 4th, 2026. Any changes to the M minutes? Seeing none, those meeting minutes stand as presented. And the approval of the close session meeting minutes from January 20th, 2026. Those meeting minutes stand as
028presented. Next, we'll go to our one of two board reports here or reports to the board. Uh A is monitoring progress in taking action academic assessment results and instructional materials recommendations. Thank you, President Aranites. Um this presentation is entitled uh monitoring progress and taking action. Um and tonight we are going to share um the ways in which we do monitor progress um and then the ways in which we continue to respond um to that information at a district as well as a school level. You can go to the next slide within student success. I want to first just ground us um that we have three priority um objectives that the board and our community um is aware of uh for this particular school year. Um the board even experienced a even deeper dive of this
029work uh currently taking place in alignment to these uh three objectives during the February 4th committee of the whole meeting. Uh when building a strong instructional framework for both academics as well as social emotional learning uh there has to be multiple ways in which we assess um our instruction as well as student growth um that is aligned to researchbased standards. We here in district 205 have a comprehensive assessment system. Uh that system uh has different types of assessments that actually meet different needs. Uh but holistically it provides information and understanding about where students are academically as well as it relates to their social emotional needs. It's important to recognize that tonight's presentation is going to just focus on those two bullet points in red. I want us to just call that out uh because this
030does not at all uh really identify and highlight the multi-layered comprehensive assessment system that actually is at play here in district 205. Um, we are so appreciative of the work that has been done over the last few years to make sure that we are implementing that comprehensive assessment system across our prek through 12 district. And in many ways, our very talented uh leaders and educators are continuing to deepen their data literacy and appropriately respond to that information. In addition to just the um assessment systems that you saw on the previous slide, I'm also want you to know that there are assessments uh that help us progress monitor. Um but really we also know that it's really critically important to pay attention to those curriculum embedded assessments as well. Those curriculum embedded assessments that aligns with
031the teaching and learning happening each day in our classrooms. These assessments are administered to all students as part of our core tier one instruction. And that information is able to provide teachers directly uh with insights on how to differentiate instruction to meet students needs. So in tonight's presentation, uh we're going to just zoom out just a little bit um by just looking at some highlights some from some recent national uh report on educational recovery. um just that continues to look at how districts are progressing as it relates um to the post-pandemic era. And then we're going to zoom in and look a little bit closer at some of our local district data as I uh mentioned as it relates to our universal screeners. Um, and finally, but most importantly, we're going to discuss uh some
032of the ways that leaders and teachers, and I'm going to even go as far as to say students are responding to that data to continue to support our continued growth um and achievement. So, as shared in the fall in our state of the district addressed, ELA and math proficiency rates on IR um have climbed to their highest levels ever recorded in our district history um since the implementation of those standardized assessments. Um last year, we shared some research from Harvard and Stanford that was uh placed our district's data in kind of the context from a national standpoint. Um I just want to just briefly highlight again um that data came out but it's just again worth um echoing that this next slide shows um that the changes to our reading achievement um beginning pre- pandemic
033of 2019 um up to 2024. The the Harvard and Stanford has not um updated a report with the most recent 2025 um data that just came out uh in the fall. But um here we see that district this this data looks specifically um at district 205 um the state of Illinois as well as similar school districts uh nationally. This study defines similar school districts based on socioeconomic status um demographic size. Um, and what we see here is that over these last four years, reading achievement in Elmharst grew by more than one full grade level. Um, while similar districts uh in demographics in size increased only by a 500ths of a grade level. Um, looking specifically at Illinois schools statewide experience overall, we actually saw a decline in reading performance. When we look at math um
034similarly through that pre- pandemic up until that 24th um of the threequarters of our grade levels we saw that same improvement um comparably speaking uh districts improve by 400s of a grade level over that same um period and Illinois state's wide experience drops in math achievement. Also, we recently became aware of a um highlight that was given in another national educational publication called the 74. Uh this report specifically focus in on third grade reading and how it relates to the percentages of students in each school and district who are also serving um students that come from what we would call economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Um these provides additional context and supports as to look at how districts and school teams are responding to continue to evaluate the district's improvement efforts as it relates to literacy across
035Illinois um and across the nation. Uh reading proficiency levels um you know unfortunately are sometimes strongly correlated uh with poverty levels. And so schools where there's relatively large percentage of students who have these economically vulnerable background um also are the students that we see that oftent times are really school districts and teams are working really hard to support their learning and their growth towards proficiency. And so this here is showing the correlation and the trends in proficiency as it relates to socioeconomic. So that line for that third grade um for Illinois data is here. So that red line, if you think about it this way, the red line um any school that is above that red line based off of this data um is considered beating the odds. So that means that those are school
036districts that are achieving higher levels of proficiency than predicted based off of that specific student demographic group. And so we're highlight the the schools that are highlighted kind of like in that gold color um are the schools that are far exceeding their expected proficiency rates. And so here in district 205, I just want to call this out and looking at um our data, we see that seven elementary schools with third grade specific reading levels um were higher than expected um than what was expected and that means that they are beating the odds and we have one elementary that actually matched their expected proficiency rate. So, this is definitely a celebration and this is looking at our most current data specifically zeroing in on our third grade, our third graders. Um, I also want to highlight
037on the next slide the outstanding literacy efforts that's happening. I want to just call out two specific schools. even though we see that all of our schools are either meeting or beating the odds. Specifically, when it comes to Jefferson, I want to just um speak to um them being a bright spot um in this. So, based on that 6% rate of students who are um economically vulnerable, Jefferson was expected to have a proficiency rate of 52% for ELA. Okay, are you all tracking with me? This past year they their proficiency rate posted at 88%. Um which is exceeding the expectations by over 36%. I also am extremely and as equally proud of Fiser uh Conrad Fiser Elementary where 64% of students that come from economically vulnerable backgrounds, they beat their proficiency rate um by over
038nine points. And so once again, these are two examples um based off of the very specific demographics of the students that we serve here. Um but that is showing that the continued efforts and the work that is being put in place to support all of our learners um is really really we're really proud of of the the impacts. Um this highlights though again our continued improvement efforts. We've made significant progress. Um and we still recognize um that we still have work to be done and we are intentionally grateful for our board of education, for our staff as well as our students and our parents um coming alongside that us in order to meet um the needs of our students and to continue to see this positive trend and trajectory upwards. At this time, I am
039going to um ask my colleague Dr. Wartz to to jump in and he's going to share now some more specific um data as it relates to our our local school district. >> Thank you, Dr. Campbell. [clears throat] Uh bringing things now into uh this year's data. I'm going to share some of our recent data on where we are academically as we carry the work forward. To begin, we'll be looking at district level results from our recent winter NWA MAP growth assessments in reading and math for grades K through eight. A nice feature of MAP is that we've been giving the assessment in the fall, winter, and spring for several years in a row now. So, tonight's presentation will be focusing on how our most recent data from the winter assessments compares with measures from each
040of the past four years. Starting with reading, uh the blue bars in this chart show our district's median national achievement percentile. In other words, that's the national percentile level of the typical or median student within our district. This winter, the median D205 student scored at the 78th percentile nationally in reading, and that's right in line with our district's recent history. The orange bars on this chart show the median national growth percentile. MAP produces national norms not only for achievement but for growth over specified terms such as from fall to winter. As shown here, this data indicate that our median student grew more than 65% or roughly twothirds of students nationally from this fall to winter. Turning now to math, we see a similar pattern of high achievement and growth. Notably, the math performance has improved
041over the past four years with our district's median rising from the 73rd to 81st national percentile in achievement driven by improvements in our rate of student growth. That's it for uh those MAP results tonight and now we'll be turning to ACT and the preac uh in general [clears throat] the results of fall assessments at York High School. As you may recall, last spring, ISBY introduced the ACT Suite as our new state accountability assessment for high schools, replacing both the SAT for reading and math and the Illinois science assessment for science. Before we get into the data from our fall assessments, I'm going to start by highlighting how we, as a district, have evolved our district assessment strategy to align with these new state requirements. Uh it's important to note that there are no underlying changes
042to the standards or content that students are expected to master in high school, but there are important differences in the format, structure, and content of the SAT and ACT tests that can impact how well students score. So, uh, in addition to providing you with an overview of our district assessment strategy and fall results, I'll be joined by Katie Lions, uh, in a minute to provide some additional information regarding the steps York is taking to ensure alignment of the learning expectations and the ACT. Uh, here we have an overview of the national assessments that we administer at York. Starting at the top, we offer the PSAT and MSQT optionally now for 11th graders who are interested in qualifying for National Merit Scholarship. Beyond that, our district assessment strategy is fully aligned with the ACT. This October,
043all 9th, 10th, and 11th graders completed unofficial practice tests with 9th graders completing the preACT 9 and 10th and 11th graders completing fulllength practice ACTs. This April, all 9th, 10th, and 11th graders will complete state assessments in the ACT suite. Providing freshman, and sophomores access to an ACT aligned assessment in the fall was a new practice this year. We did not offer an ACT aligned assessment uh in fall of 2024. Um but next I want to highlight a moment you know take a moment to highlight a shift we made on the 11th grade fall assessment. There we go. Uh last year was the first year of Illinois's adoption of ACT and our approach in the fall was primarily focused on giving 11th graders an ACT style assessment because they had no exposure to the preac
044in spring of 10th grade as our 10th graders will um this year and going forward. So when those students completed the full ACT in spring, we elicited feedback and heard from the students that they felt that they would benefit from exposure to the full ACT prior to taking the state test. Additionally, as our partnership with Academic Approach evolved, we identified an opportunity to better align the skills targeted in our test preparation sessions and professional learning for educators by using Academic Approaches fulllength practice ACT and its suite of item and skill level data analysis tools to target u the professional learning and test preparation. Accordingly, this fall we shifted practice and required all 11th graders to complete a full practice ACT through academic approach in October. So, while the preac and practice ACT are alike in
045the subjects they cover, there are some important differences to consider as we interpret the scores. Importantly, the maximum score on the ACT is a 36 compared to a 35 on the preac and actually a 30 on the preac nine that nth graders take. Isby's spring proficiency benchmarks for ACT are higher than those for 9th and tth grade tests. This corresponds to the additional learning that's expected to take place during 10th and 11th grade. The scope of content, knowledge, and skill needed to master the ACT is simply deeper than what's on the preac. We had a smooth and successful first administration of the preac for 9th grade and the full length practice ACT for 10th and 11th grade this October. This slide now provides a snapshot of our fall 2025 assessment results for grade 9 preac
046on the left and grades 10 and 11 practice ACT on the right. These results serve as the foundation for the action steps that we will outline in the following slides. In grade nine, our preac scores show students average performance as above the ISBY benchmark in ELA math and science. ACT projects score ranges for the 11th grade ACT exam for individual students dependent on the specific content area and section and the students initial score on the preacct 9. In general, the expected range of ACT scores is two to six points higher than the students preACT9 scores. The York PreAct data shown here provides an encouraging PRACT9 data provides an encouraging baseline and provides the opportunity to target areas where we can strengthen alignment and elevate instructional materials and practices early in high school to ensure that
047we are maximizing growth for all students on the ACT. Moving the discussion to the table on the right, which shows scores for our 10th and 11th graders who both took the full practice ACT. Uh the table also shows the state benchmarks for spring of 11th grade. We again see that average scores are already higher than the state proficiency target. Further we see that scores are generally 610 to 8/10 of a point higher in 11th grade than in 10th indicating that the teaching and learning that students encountered during 10th grade had an impact on their scores. Now I'll be handing it over to Kitty Lions to share more about the work that York leaders and educators are doing to promote student growth and teacher development. Thanks, Jake. So, after reviewing our pre-ACCT and practice ACT data,
048we utilize our analysis of results to strengthen our instructional response alongside the York leadership team. This slide here represents or highlights the systems we've implemented to ensure our response is focused and sustained. First, we have focused on building teacher capacity through professional learning. During Octo October institute day and several late arrival sessions, our York staff analyzed preACT and practice ACT results, examined high impact standards and item rig rigor and strength and alignment to college readiness expectations. Next, York embedded those insights into daily instruction through a strategic partnership with academic approach. Educators are integrating ACT aligned skills into core courses and using cohort level data to target students for who are approaching the benchmark. Finally, we are aligning course expectations and college readiness standards by refining course materials and practices alongside ACT performance. This ensures consistency,
049maintains rigor, and supports instructional collaboration across departments. So, I'm going to highlight our division facing supports that are happening um in math, social studies, English, um special education, our multilingual department, and in science. Um so, I'll start with English and math. And again, while that previous slide that we just talked about out outlined our schoolwide systems, this slide particularly highlights the work being implemented at a high overview in English and math. In English, we are strengthening alignment to ACT expectations by emphasizing text complexity, text dependent analysis, and explicit skill connections through targeted professional learning. As I mentioned with academic approach, teachers have embedded ACT aligned instructional sequences in grades 10 and 11 and in AP courses. Ongoing professional learning community monitoring ensures we are tracking progress and adjusting instruction in real time, making ACT readiness
050part of our daily curriculum. In math, the focus has been on increasing alignment and rigor tied to ACT structure and performance within our core curricular resources. Teachers have participated in seven professional learning sessions so far out of the 13 with academic approach and multiple professional learning communities in which they are engaged in course specific data analysis and increasing ATC ATC act style exposure within the core curriculum. I'm not sure how many times I'm going to have to say ACT so might not be the first time. So in social studies, the focus has been on increasing again text and task complexity as the English division is also engaged in and this is to strengthen higher level analysis and evidence-based writing. The division implemented a shared framework for measuring text complexity, increase the use of primary sources
051and non-fiction texts, and provided scaffolded support to move students toward independent analysis. This ensures our students are consistently practicing the analytical skills required across ACT aligned assessments. And in science, the focus has been on strengthening data literacy and reasoning. Teachers are embedding weekly ACT style science questions into coursework, increasing emphasis on multivariable data analysis, and explicitly modeling reading strategies and evidence-based reasoning. And finally, in our multilingual and special education departments, I'll I'll highlight their work. For multilingual learners, the focus has been on raising cognitive demand while accelerating language growth. Instruction has been reframed about around our WEDA key language usage and aligned to WEDA WEDA and ACTUL benchmarks. Teachers engaged in divisionwide professional learning on scaffolding complex texts, shared proficiency data to inform instructional adjustments and strengthen strengthened cross department collaboration to support language development
052across our content areas. And in special education, the focus has been building familiarity and confidence with ACT style assessments. Targeted ACT practice has been embedded into guided study hall and personalized skill reinforcement through EXL supports individualized growth. Together, these efforts since October to February are ensuring that our college readiness work raises rigor while expanding access and providing structured supports for all of our students, positioning our students to meet or exceed benchmark expectations. In addition to the instructional shifts by each division that I just mentioned, we've also implemented targeted student fa facing supports to accelerate ACT readiness. This is a similar slide that you saw last year. Um and based off of feedback and need and engagement, we're bringing these studentf facing supports back this year. So again, through our partnership with academic approach, we're offering
053the 20our ACT prep classroom course that we did provide last year. And that's for our targeted 11th grade students scoring between 16 and 20 on the preac. The course runs from January, so we just kicked it off through March in both in-person and virtual formats. And our participation is strong. We filled all 100 seats for our in-person and 46 out of our 50 seats for students enrolling in our virtual class. We're also offering an in-person ACT workshop. We somewhat call it a boot camp. and that will be for late arrival for any students who are interested but particularly for students that not did not participate in an ACT prep course. And additionally, we are embedding our ACT aligned skills development, particularly in our 10th and 11th grade English courses throughout the school year to ensure
054consistent exposure. And I highlighted this last year, but in particular that grammar usage and mechanics that is present um as part of the ACT English component is very different than what was what students were exposed to in terms of SAT. That is not a component on the SAT. So this is a big shift and our teachers have already provided instruction on that, but we're just making sure that kids get that double exposure in preparation for the ACT. So we believe that these supports together complement the instructional work happening and provide structure structured opportunity for all of our students to reach the benchmark. I'm going to hand it back over to Dr. Wartz and then I'll hand it back to me to talk about our data driven responses more holistically um in addition to the work
055happening at York. >> Thank you Katie. [clears throat] So uh earlier tonight, a moment ago, I highlighted some of the mid-year data that we use to monitor our success as a district at the district level. But now I want to highlight the ways in which the data is used in the school uh in the classroom and actually at the individual student level throughout the year to improve practice and drive results. Uh so this fall as part of the implementation of next path our new uh data platform uh we wanted to understand how schools were using data currently at the start of that uh from early childhood through York High School with the goal of building from our best practices and identifying opportunities for development. One common observation we made was that evidence of a consistent
056pattern of data use in team meetings. Effective leaders pre-identify data points and trends to discuss with their teams to problem solve and plan future actions regarding specific students, specific skills, or specific instructional practices. With Next Path, we have a sharper tool that speeds this analysis and points leaders in the right direction using the right data. Leveraging Next Path, we are equipping leaders with preconfigured dashboards and sharing links to ready-made data walls containing collections of relevant data in a format that enables educators to easily identify trends. This approach to standardizing data organization and delivery has enabled us to create very clear guidance regarding services that students receive through our multi-tered system of supports or MTSS. This fall, leaders from student services and learning and teaching collaborated to produce and disseminate three handbooks for MTSS aligned practices.
057A user guide to next path, a handbook for reading specialists, and a handbook for English language acquisition specialists. These handbooks enable our educators to make consistent evidence-based decisions. Aligning this guidance enables us to maximize resources as a district and more effectively monitor the impact of services we provide. Next, Katie is going to zoom in on one example of how we're equipping our elementary teams with data to guide the work of reading specialists. >> Okay, so as best as we can um see, hopefully you have a print out in front of you. Um, but I wanted to just narrate over how we are really using data in two different places strategically with school leaders and reading specialists at the K8 level and how because of the high quality tier one instruction, we're really able to clarify
058for our school teams um the programming by student need for tier 2 and for tier three that is leading to the outcomes that we've seen across the country um and where we position ourselves for three third grade reading levels um as in in literacy that we're really proud of. And so this is just this a real quick snapshot of how a school team would look at early literacy data. And so in the top left, what you'll see is unit assessment data that's in our fund hub or our assessment platform for foundations, which is our tier one word recognition curriculum. And so you'll see that there are three different color codes. There's green, there's yellow, and there's red. And there's very clear benchmarks. So in our green, that's our above benchmark students at the 80 80
059to 100% proficient. Um, and then we have our tier 2 students in yellow that are at risk, which is students that are performing on those unit assessments between 60 and 79% proficient. And then in red, which is our tier three supports, this is where our reading specialists come in. Um, that is our below benchmark students that are performing on the tier one assessment at the 0 to 59%. And so what we look at very closely in the data meetings that Jake mentioned with our school leadership teams is we're really identifying the students in red and yellow and we're looking at what programming is working for them in terms of the foundations and what's reteing is needed. So the students in yellow um will be receiving reteing efforts within the classroom. We call that a tier
0602 support. Um and so we're going back to the item analysis and a unit assessment and seeing what kids need more support with. And then the students in red are again getting programming matching their need by the reading specialist. Um and so what you can see on I'm going to skip to the graph on the right or the graphic. Um you can see there are two columns. In the first two columns you see tier one supports and then you see tier two and tier three supports. I have to take my glasses off here. So for the K5 tier two oh I took off the tier one supports. So in that first column you're going to see the tier 2 supports. Um, and you'll see for example direct reteing that the teacher's providing. If you go
061to the second column where it says K5 tier three supports just what I wanted to highlight here is that we have a number of tier 2 supports that align with our tier one instruction fun and focus. You'll see you'll see estraittita fugas which is our Spanish literacy supports. You'll see the Wilson reading u reading system supports and you'll also see just words. And so we have a number of tier three supports that are all aligned with tier one. Um, so over the past four years, we've been really aligning and coherently building this system. Um, it all aligns with Wilson. Um, but it there's tiers of support. So if a student isn't showing progress within the tier 2 reteing efforts by the general education teacher, we move them into tier three and then we utilize fun
062and focus. If fun and focus is not working, we're moving to a more intensive tier three system, which is Wilson reading. Um, we're seeing that this is really supporting students not just jumping into problem solving or receiving an IEP, but it's really making sure that the program is matching the need before we jump to more intensive if that's not needed. Um, and then the last two columns you can see represent what we're doing with our grades six through eight reading specialists and how we're using data that is local curriculum based data to identify again what programming matches the student need. Um, so we're using the data to really inform our coherent instruction and we're finding that that's really finding we're seeing a lot of success in our student outcomes, but just wanted to give you
063a glimpse of what it looks like. This is what school teams are analyzing when they come together in an MTSS school data meeting. They're looking mostly at those yellows and reds, making sure the green students are continuing in green. And then we mentioned this at the the committee of the whole, so not going to um highlight this too much. I just zoomed in very specifically around reading specialists. But when we do our reflective stepbacks with our school leadership teams, we're looking at all of our localized data across all content areas and we're doing very similar data analysis. What program is working for which group of students and why? What can we do differently? What can we celebrate? So just another call out that there's a lot of analysis happening to ensure that the programming is
064meeting our students needs. And when it's not, we take a step back and we say, what can we do better? And so this is just the process that you have seen before of how the learning and teaching team works alongside schools to to engage multiple stakeholders to say what is an opportunity that we still have to ele elevate our instruction, our materials, and student outcomes. Um, so you've kind of heard me talk a bit about the data. We also examine the practices that teachers are using. We engage teachers and leaders in this process. and I'm going to just lead us into the next slide. Um, here are some opportunities that we have in terms of our advanced placement courses at York High School. So, today I'm sharing with you recommendations that we would like to
065move forward with after a 30-day public viewing of these resources. But in these four advanced placement courses, we found the opportunity to better align the materials used in the course with the AP syllabi, with the shifts that have been made to the AP exam. And so you can see the four resources that we are suggesting um for or recommending for adoption. And then on the final slide, we've also identified an opportunity in our world language department. Um Indiana University, which is who we partner with for our ACP courses, um they have also adopted this resource, this textbook. And so it's important that we're aligning our coursework um as well with our IND with our Indiana University partners. And so we are looking to elevate the textbook that we're using in our French three honors ACP
066course as well. Um so on the final slide here uh just I know many of you are familiar with this timeline and next steps as we recommend opportunities for improvement for coursework for next year. But today I'm presenting those recommendations based off of the data analysis and the need to improve student outcomes in those areas. We will then post from March 2nd, Monday, March 2nd, 2026 to Friday, April 10th, 2026. That will be the 30-day public viewing. We will have all of those textbooks that I mentioned downstairs. There is one that's online. So, I'll also have a computer set up at the district office for um anyone in the public and community that would like to review those materials. We will also have access to a Google Google form review form where we encourage community
067members to give us their feedback on those materials which I will then share back with you all um any any comments that I receive. Um but I will come back for that final approval um and request on Tuesday, April 21st during that board of education meeting. So would encourage the public to visit the district office starting March 2nd. Um, we'll also have all of this posted online, but if you want to see the physical textbooks, we will have those available. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Lots of information. We will open it up to the board for questions, comments. Go ahead, Courtney. >> [snorts] >> I know it's hard to transition from that long of a [laughter] presentation. >> No, you're good. >> So, um I guess I'm well, not I guess I know I'm going
068to start with a huge thank you. I mean, because compiling all of this information and then presenting it in a form that we can, you know, have the ability to absorb it um is a a big ask and you do it every year for us. And so I truly appreciate that. Um because I I'll just speak for myself, but I I know several of my colleagues up here feel the same way. This is what why we're here, right? To do what we can to see our kids succeed. And so I really appreciate um all of this. So I have like a couple different categories of questions. Um maybe go if we could go to the the school improvement planning slide first and let's start there since that maybe was the most recent one. And I
069will give a plug to Katie like what Katie said about looking at those resources that are available. Right? There's that's a great opportunity to look at the changes and u materials used for our curriculum and those courses. So, if you think your kids are going to be impacted, take a peek because it's out there. And and yes, so all those great new um um instructional materials that are available for you guys to look at and see if you have any concerns or questions or comments. So, please take advantage of that. Um I think it was the take action MTSS and school improvement planning is really what I wanted to write there. Thank you. Um and I've said this for the last couple years when you guys have been highlighting this. It's amazing to me that
070this um detailed of information, you know, and target is I'm using it in a positive way to identify and target where our students needs are coming to the student as opposed to the student coming to us. Um I always seem to see this data at, you know, the young kids and middle school ages. And I know it's a different game at York. Um, but I'm wondering, do we use this kind of targeting at York within, you know, within the math department or within the English department to see where kids have struggled and to come to them with resources and targeted intervention? So, I guess that's my first question. >> Can I can I jump on that? >> Yeah, please. >> I was in the same place, but I framed it a little differently. It was
071more like, can we have that same level of detail in how this looks at York High School? >> That's I I don't know if we do. Yeah. I don't know that. >> So, I guess you're right. That's the first question. Do we? >> Yeah. >> And if not, can we? >> Yeah. >> Right. So, >> and and we've seen and just to piggyback and I don't mean to cut you off, but it is board discussion, right? Like we've seen this work be significantly successful in improving our K through eight. And so understanding what that looks like at the high school and how how this same framework even though the high school is different, you know, it's not one main teacher instructional coaches that are uh coming in and out as easily. It's it's a larger
072larger environment. But what does this look like? That was a question that came in my head was what does this look like at the high school? And we have the ability now to target specific, you know, groupings of students to know a lot about them >> because these are these are grades within classes, right? These are the the assessments that students are using within a classroom. So we have that at York. Students are taking assessments all the time. So >> yes, I think that you are right to say that we have been able to do over the past four years, we have gotten to this place and it has taken four years to be able to share a really aligned coherent system. Um, and we were not at this place four years ago. I wouldn't
073have been able to show you unit level assessment data in K through 8 at all. Right? And then if you would have looked at how our reading specialists were even supporting students, you wouldn't have seen an aligned tier three system. There might have been different programming or push-in supports or comprehension support. So it has taken us four years to get to this place. Um and I'm really excited to be able to by division. I think that would be um a really helpful approach to say what does that look like at York by division because it is large, it is different and it is unique and it takes time to build sustainable change and coherent and aligned systems. Um so that that is something that we would like to bring to you in the future. Um
074and I think you're seeing the possibility of where we're going to be going with that um when we have those aligned systems in place over time. But it has taken us quite a number of years to get to this place and you are seeing the outcomes because of that. um we'll continue to add and refine to that and take that feedback. So um it's something that we look forward to being able to do for you. >> Yeah. If I can add one more thing to what you said because I I like the idea by division, but I also you know if we're student centered then we know how a student's performing then hopefully across the board and we can identify that child's strengths. maybe they're math, science strong and then maybe have some different needs
075in in ELA and social studies for example. So it is more a more a larger gradation I think uh at the high school but and uh MTSS in that tiered system is not necessarily needed across the board for students right because students have different strengths and weaknesses or areas for improvement at that developmental age. it just shows up different between a third grader and a sophomore, right? So, so I would encourage maybe um it sounds like you're building a little bit, right? And so I would encourage yes by division but also by student and then how we cross-discipline to support that student throughout different departments um is really key to being that student centered um uh environment >> because I do worry because I you know and I kind of transitioning to my next thought
076about this presentation. And I I do worry I I heard a lot of information about how we are um focusing on the ACT to help our students be successful, right? Um and I think that's great because it's never happened before. Um and so I like I really loved hearing about that, but I wonder about those those areas of study that don't necessarily fall under the ACT. How are we still targeting them to help to help our students in those areas, too? So, I do worry a little about that. I don't I want it all. So, I want you to work on the ACT and then work on everything else. >> We know. >> I just I [laughter] no, I just want to tag on to that. And that's why I tried to do a little
077bit of context setting in the in on the front end of it uh to to frontload to say that that it is comprehensive. I think that we're we're sitting here and I want to also really thank my team um uh for for as you said taking um just such complicated and uh even parts of it is nuanced in a way and packaging it to to to deliver. I think one of the things that we keep coming back and reminding oursel is also this idea about the pace of change and um because we are a unit district um we have uh really prioritized the work over that multi-year and I think what you are hearing and what you have just clearly called out is that this work has been farther along in that K8 space than
078where we are. We're about year two in. If you recall, we came to the board in terms of some of those curricular adoptions. Um, math is in year two. Uh, we just came to you and and asked about the pilot for um our 9th grade um ELA. And so with that though, I think we are also in trying to ensure that we are looking at some of the current systems that are in place to really support um and to accelerate this work. And so um we will continue to to do this. I think you will hear more and more even our reflection um coming back and adding in some of the specific things that are happening within the department chairs um and within the specific departments. I think there's an opportunity also um in future
079meetings and future spaces to have some of those leaders here in the room and and sharing directly um with the board and administration so that you all can continue to hear how that journey and how that multi-year process is taking place at York High School. um as we know um we are more than capable um as a district to do and to continue to elevate the student experience as well as student growth and achievement. Well, and I hope the educators at York and the teachers and the the chairs and everybody have seen over the last four years the success that has happened by implementing these changes and focus and instructional coaches and buying into the the idea that we can accomplish this, but we have to they have to go along with the ride. They
080have to be a part of the solution. And you know, I might sound a little frustrated, but I I just hope that they see I mean, there's data here that supports that everything that's been done in the last four years works. We're succeeding at the elementary school. We're succeeding at the middle school. And I just want us to succeed at York. So, um, so I [snorts] have one more if I, if I may, just coming out of talking about the ACT. I did pull up last year's presentation on this one because I it is the biggest load. I mean, this is the the most significant in my opinion, one of the most significant presentations you guys give us. And I noticed [clears throat] last year, you gave us an idea of how many of our
081students you gave us our in this year's presentation, you talked about um the benchmark and the and the averages. Last year, you gave us an idea of how many students were meeting those benchmarks, and I didn't see it this year. So if I if you don't have it now, if that's something that we can talk about in the future, but I I appreciate the fact that their averages are increasing from 10th to 11th grade, 9th, 10th, and 11th, and that we're meeting these benchmarks. Um, but I was just curious as to what how many of our students are meeting those benchmarks across the board in the different kind of groups that we focus on. >> Uh, >> we can provide that. >> Yeah, we can provide that. Something we can look into. And I would
082just say that the the re reason uh is that we have spring benchmarks um and with a practice assessment and a fall thing I felt it it it can be um confusing or misleading to present something that's a student meeting a spring benchmark on a fall assessment is the piece but I think that there's some that we can look into and get back to you on uh what the proficiency levels are. Well, that was >> because I think last year you did I mean I'm looking at it right you did yeah you gave the benchmarks last year and it was about fall because you in in the pro in the presentation you say isby has not yet published the spring act. So, I just I think it's good when we like like I said, I
083love this presentation, but I think it's good if we consistently present it in the same way so that we can look back and say, "Oh, look, you know, this was this is how many met the benchmark last year, and look, there's more kids meeting the benchmark this year." Like, I want to celebrate the successes that we're having. Um, and then if we're not having successes, I think that helps us identify where we need more focus. So um it would be interesting to me um to see what those benchmarks are. >> Yeah. And for the board potentially more resources. Right. Right. Yeah. And uh so I had a question about the benchmarks too just around does it make sense to look then at the April assessment since 9101 happens in April as kind of that moment
084of understanding or the snapshot of a moment of understanding in this one assessment what their proficiency looks like. And I I say that because yes, we want to obviously and I know you all do this, monitor and track over time, but also because it feels I I am um wondering and I think it's just in this presentation and unintentional back to what Courtney said, we must have been on the same page this morning when we woke up or something. I don't know. because [laughter] I'm in a lot of deep into data but just around the ACT and you know the ACT any assessment just like in our K through eight is is trying to figure out how successful our kids are in their learning right and of course there's intentional things we'll put within our
085curriculum and our daily instruction that might complement on what's out that assessment but actually we just want our kids obviously to be well-rounded and to understand all of the content and when they take this assessment that shows in the assessment rather than you know teaching to an assessment right exactly so so and I think it was just an unintentional like my brain went there during the presentation I don't think that that was your uh intended message but I just want to be clear around the function of this one test of as the ACT and what it is intended to do is to see have our really at a basic our juniors met or attained the curriculum that ACT believes they should attain in order to be successful um in high school completion and then to
086some extent post high school work right college and beyond. So, so when we're building our curriculum that of course ACT content and strategies and and learning is within our classroom, but our classrooms are richer, right? they're they're they're they're more broad. The curriculum's more rich than what the ACT tests do. And so having that holistic experience um because whether it's on the ACT or not, you might be expected to know it in college. So [laughter] and and we know a high percentage of our students move on to post-secary um education. So there's that. The other piece of this was if you can go back to the slide with the ACT stuff on it really quick. Um, you know, I just want to be clear like I think the expectations and I think I think you
087all agree with me on this and I I'm not just talking to board members, even administrators. When we see the ISBE benchmark in a community like ours, yes, it's a it's a nice, you know, understanding, but I think the expectation is that, you know, our students are hopefully getting farther and farther away from those Illinois state standard benchmarks and are moving higher up into uh the 20s. uh when it comes to you know again performance on the ACT as an indicator of college admissions. So or even an indicator of what they've attained over their four years or 12 years in our case for our district um or more. So so I I I understand why it's there, but I I know that over time our expectation is that our kids are going to be moving
088farther and farther away in the positive. Um and I just, you know, wanted to put that in the room. I see some nods and I know you're all on the same page. I just wanted to put that in the room. Anything else from anyone else? I can add just like one more thing if it's not too much since we're talking about comprehensive assessments and I'm specifically focusing on 9 912 because K8 is going great. the work that this team has put in over the course of the last five years, our children are benefiting at such an enormously great rate that I'm so excited to see where our kids are in in four and five years. And so we know that the capacity and the opportunities are here in our district. So I and I know
089that this right here when we talk about the high school because 9 through 12 is you know 2400 kids or so you know and it is that transition moment into life after high school. There's a lot of importance in it when we're looking at student I can call it achievement progression growth fill in the blank. The ACT we say is one variable but maybe looking at that comprehensive or maybe sharing with the board that comprehensive assessment system 912 would be helpful for us too. So that might include things like and I know we talk about this but it seems a little like you know different meetings different topics we talk about different things. It might look like number of kids taking an AP class or what their scores are. It might look like um it
090might look like certain courses, hallmark courses at different age groups in high school, right, that all kids take and what their performance looks like in those classes or certain district-wide assessments that might be given. So just what is that? I guess my question or my ask is you know can we have an understanding of that compre comprehensive assessment so that we better understand aside from ACT or just report card data what we're actually providing our kids and how they're doing within our our system. And to that point, to add on to it, an an idea of where are they what where are they spending their time outside the the the main subjects like where are their interests? Because we talk about the whole child a lot, but like where are our high schoolers focusing their
091elective periods? Because I think that >> says so much about where they're going to head post high school. I mean, it really does like how I and I love and I've talked about it over the years so many times, you know, kind of our those those pathways that we have like the med careers and the the the something to teach, what's it called? the invite to teach and business incubator and we have all these amazing pathways leading kids into what they might choose to do after York and it would be interesting to see you know is there other pathways that we could develop that that give our kids opportunities to explore postsecary and post high school stuff so I don't know I if when we're talking about looking at what our York student looks like
092I'd like to see that added in as well >> yeah and it ultimately helps us allocate resources, right? >> And so finding where kids are at, meeting them where they're at, where their interests lie, >> where they are academically, and providing that cohesive. I know we provide it, but I I'm talking about highlighting it. >> Yeah. because I mean there's so many kids that are in the you know we hear about it when they get the awards from the the like the cooking and the sewing and that that the the skills that I absolutely don't have so I'm amazed about but and the and but there's like mechanical and the automotive and there's just so many pathways that of opportunities for our students. I'd love to hear more celebrations about what's going on in those
093pathways. >> And I I really appreciate you saying that um Miss Towman because I think going back to some of the earlier conversations that was shared, there are so many successes that are happening across our entire district that are not just within the K8 space, but that are definitely at the high school level. And that's exactly one of them. the richness in the pathways and all of the um various opportunities that um we provide students. I know as a parent of a rising ninth grader, I was overwhelmed um just walking around from table to table. So, my hats off to all of my current uh York High School parents. Um I it is just unbelievable the amount of choices and options and then thinking about how to coordinate that and be thoughtful about it. I
094knew coming into New York that I wanted to be a teacher. So that pathway of invite to teach and supporting was already paid for me and and that is what led me on to Illinois State. And so I think one of the things that I'm hearing is that our team working in concert with the York administration. We have to really be thoughtful about how we are able to elevate and to share um this work and this journey. I think that it can feel a little bit untilted because of this multi-year and our prioritization starting with our early grades knowing that it's foundational and they're going to be with us the longest and making sure we catch early, we intervene early, we have high quality resources, professional learning, but that work is absolutely happening across and
095I think there's some opportunities to make sure that we do um an even um more intentional job of elevating that for our board as well as um our community. So, thank you so much for that feedback and and those thoughts. Very helpful. >> Okay. Anything else on item A for our presentations? That was the heaviest of the two, I'm sure, of it. Thank you so much for all your work and eloquence and articulation on the uh monitoring progress. Uh we'll move to B, the fisc year 2425 annual audit review. Mr. Bloomquist, >> thank you. Uh tonight we are scheduled to present the results of the fiscal year 2025 but audit. However, the district did not receive the final report until yesterday. In order to provide board members and the general public with adequate time to
096review the contents of the report in advance of hearing from our auditing firm, this presentation will be rescheduled for the March 24th regular schoolboard meeting. So just to add on the presentation or sorry the report is available yes online for viewership but because the board received it unfortunately later than usual um we did not have the time to review and to be able to host a discussion if needed today. So that's why we're moving it out. >> Correct. We will we have posted it on board docs. We have not posted it to the uh main web page because we usually save that until the board has heard the final audit presentation. Anything from board? All right. Uh we'll move on to the consent agenda. Is there anything anyone would like to pull from the consent
097agenda? >> I would like to pull D. Supplemental staffing contracts. >> Okay. Can we have a motion for the consent agenda not including item D? >> Yes. Hold on. I move that the board of education approve the following consent agenda items. A. Personnel report. B. Financial report. C. Foya freedom of information act requests. E. Second read section one dis school district organization policy review 110 120 130.F. Second read, section 2, board of education policy review, 210, 280, 2120, 2130, 2150, 22 240, 2270G. Second read section 3, general school administration policy review 310, 330, 350, 360. H second read section 4 operational services policy review 410 430 450 455 480 4110 4140 4150 4160 4170 4180 5185 sorry 5190 5200 5220 5280 5300 J second read section six instruction policy instruction policy Review 620 640 660
0986130 6135 6140 6160 6210 6240 6260 6270 6280 6300 7130 7140 7150 7180 7190 7250 7290 7300 7310 7315 7325 7340 L second read section 8 committee relations policy review 8:30 880 >> I'm sorry miss as can you redo >> can you redo J you skipped a couple >> okay I was even using my finger >> J second read so for J >> J6235 [snorts] >> J62 J second read section six instruction is that what we're talking about >> yes >> policy review 620640 30 660 6130 6135 6160 6210 6235 6240 6260 6270 6280 6300 [laughter] >> 6 Okay 6310 C 6315 No, I said this one 6320 K second read section seven >> said them all at this point. >> Okay, can we just start over? >> No, you're good. I think you've said
099them all. The fact that we even read them all, I find [laughter] interesting. All right. Can we get a second? >> I'll second. >> All right. Motion made by Miss. >> She doesn't have to read them all again. [laughter] >> Second made by Miss Troutman. Uh, can we please call the vote? Mrs. Asv. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Troutman. >> Yes. >> Mr. Breahan? >> Yes. >> Dr. Henry? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lewinsky? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hustler? Mrs. Orbanites? >> Yes. Six eyes, zero ns, one absent. Motion passes. Uh the item review, sorry. Removed. We okay to >> open up for questions, comments. >> I think you have to make the motion first. >> Oh, sorry. Can we have a motion? >> I move that [laughter] the board approved D. Supplemental staffing contracts. I'll second.
100>> Now we can talk. >> I have really two quick questions. Um but I the memo I read. So, are the three additional positions that you're asking for part of the seven that we originally approved? >> They are not. So, the board has approved several supplemental staffing contracts this year. So, I can understand this. Um, in January, we uh the one of the nurses that is hired through Elmer's Hospital um resigned their position. And so, um, that first line item in there from clarifies, uh, staffing solutions will actually come off the bill from Elmer's Hospital during the trueup. So, that's the first line. The second line is that we have a social worker um, who uh, has taken a leave of absence um, in one of our buildings. And so, that is um, it's really
101hard to find a social worker to just do a couple of months. Um and so uh we have a staffing uh position um for that. And the third one is for a student who requires onetoone nursing um at our schools. Um and that's not a part of the hospital contract. Uh it's not a part of any of our unions. And so it's just a different level of staffing. So none of this is really um >> it's not a part of that seven and a half. um overall um I was just referencing that for your um understanding and convenience overall. >> Okay. And then um for the community, can you just maybe walk us through just why? Well, first of all, a reminder to the community, we are still actively looking to hire these positions as
102employees of the district and those contracts would then go away if we did hire somebody. Yes. Um, but then can you explain why there's like three different companies we have to contract with from to kind of meet the needs of our students? >> Um, the easiest way to say that is that um these are >> I'm sure Kevin knows that I need the easiest way to say something. >> No, thank you. But [laughter] these are incredibly difficult um positions and they um uh the field of candidates that are out there are is not um >> is not really large. And so we have a number of staffing agencies that work with us to regularly say I have a social worker who's ready to work in the area if you have vacancies. And then we sort
103of take that in as a student services team in the off chance that we are going to have a social work vacancy. So, um there are lots of staffing agencies around. We tend to work with a select few um uh because some require contracts upfront, then we'll use their preferred candidates and that sort of thing. And we try not to bind the district in a way that's going to um first of all run up against our um contracts with our bargaining units or um in a way that is going to further tie our hands. >> Great. Thank you. >> Thank you. Did I do the motion made by Mrs. Troutman yet? Okay. Can we please call the vote? >> Mrs. Troutman? >> Yes. >> Dr. Henry? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Asip? >> Yes. >> Mrs.
104Lewinsky? >> Yes. >> Mr. Breznahan? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Hustler? Mrs. Arvanites? >> Yes. 6 I zero Naz when absent. Motion passes. We'll move on to the superintendent communications. Start with D205 highlights. >> Yes. So I have asked um my colleagues to share some um highlights for the board and for our community. We are going to start off with the five essentials survey update. >> So um I'm going to take that and um annual five essential survey. Last month we announced that it was um opening soon and uh this month we are announcing that it is open and uh district 205 families, staff and students are invited to share their experiences on the key elements that shape each school's culture and learning environment. Um this feedback is important and directly informs our ongoing effort uh
105improvement efforts. Um at this time um our none of our schools I'm just going to verify that one more time here. Um, none of our late breaking news. One of our schools has reached the 20% threshold as of tonight. Um, but the rest of the schools uh still need to get there. And so uh if you uh have children in your school um in any of our schools um uh just make sure to fill out that five essential survey uh that is on our website and that you've received in your email several times. Um it takes no more than 5 to 10 minutes to give us that really um allimp important feedback about um how our schools are functioning. >> Can I ask a question about that? >> Yes. >> Question >> microphone. >> Both
106parents are expected to fill it out. Yes. >> Yes. [snorts] >> Uh also parents can find the link very easily in most principal newsletters. Uh I know it's embedded in my two schools. Uh very easy to access right from parent newsletter in case they're going to junk mail or anything like that. >> Yes. Yes, it's also on our website in a number of different places. >> And can I just clarify when you say that only one late breaking school has met the benchmark that means parents. >> Parents, >> not our students. >> Our students are doing great. >> The students have done their part. >> Staff have done their part. It's their parents. It's the parents that we need your help. >> All right. We need 20% of parents >> in order for it to
107be a valid survey. So if you have a student at York and a student at Stamber, just as an example, you should be filling it out for both >> separately. >> All right, I'll get on that tonight or tomorrow. >> I already did. >> We know, Dr. Henry, that you already did yours. >> So, should we should we take a board poll on how we're doing with the No, no, no. >> We're just very proud [laughter] of the one school. >> I own my actions. It's fine. >> Yes. You got it done. >> Two done. >> That's exactly >> nay. I have till March 10th. I'm within the time frame. >> Yes. [laughter] >> All right. Sorry. Next up. >> Okay. Next. Summer programming update. >> Okay. We are gearing up for an exciting summer
108of learning, exploration, and growth. On February 9th, we sent nearly 300 invitations for extended school year or ESY to eligible students receiving special education services. Summer acceleration invitations were then sent on February 10th to nearly 700 students in kindergarten through 7th grade. These students were selected based on a combination of MAP and IR scores, our standardsbased reporting, report card grades and intervention enrollment status using Next Path, which you got a highlight in on today. Um, and we can't wait to support their continued learning. And the fun doesn't stop there. On February 20th, we sent out nearly 400 invitations to students who were offered a seat in the York academic summer school program as a result of course of the course enrollment request process. On Monday, this past Monday, Dr. Campbell, this past Monday, on February
10923rd at 8 a.m., registration opened for all academic, exploratory, and fine arts courses. For those of you that have rising 9th graders, that's new, right? That's a lot. And on Tuesday, March 3rd at 8 a.m., registration will open for all athletic camps and for any remaining seats in York academic summer school credit bearing courses, but they are filling up fast. Um, we're thrilled to welcome students into these engaging programs. We look forward to a summer full again of discovery, creativity, and connection. So, it is a busy time. Yes. And we also had some fun this past weekend on Saturday, February. This past Saturday, February 21st, our D205 4th through 8th grade instrumental music team. Dr. Baker had to leave. He was going to stay, but um had a wonderful Saturday, we hosted our annual middle
110school solo and ensemble ensemble festival at Brian Middle School. We had 392 middle school band and orchestra students come from Brian, Churchville, and Samberg. and they had the opportunity to perform a prepared solo on their instrument and receive both written and verbal feedback. Over the next few weeks, our D205 band and orchestra teachers will discuss this feedback individually, which with each of their students that they support and use it to inform instruction and practice moving forward. So, we had a great day. Thank you. Okay, Miss Daniels, can you share about the speaker series? >> So, the D205 parent education series has had a successful start thanks to the generous support of Foundation 205. We had presentations to start with uh Emily Kercher Morris, embracing neurodiversity. Then we had Dr. Laura Coler, understanding anxiety and strategies
111to support your child. I'm excited to share that our next presenter in this series is going to be Miss Carolyn M. Or our from the Office of the Illinois Attorney General, Investigations and Internet Crimes Against Children's Task Force. Sounds very serious. It is very serious. Carolyn will speak about the AC program, the cyber tip line, screen time impact on youth mental health, predatory risks, issues related to AI, and many other things targeting children and teens. and will be providing recommendations and resources for parents during the presentation. The presentation will be held on April 7th at Brian Middle School at 6 p.m. And last, but certainly not least, Mr. Blumquest. >> All right. Uh, registration for new and returning students is open now. We encourage all families to complete the registration process as soon as possible.
112You will not be charged any fees at this time. This form provides us with the necessary information to ensure we plan for all students we will welcome in August. To register, you can visit our district web page or your students school web page. For your convenience, we have added a quick link to the top of each page for both new and returning student registration. If you do need assistance during the registration process, we have created helpful registration tutorials that can be found on the district YouTube page and on the registration page, which can be found by clicking on the registration icon on the district homepage. >> Just so you know, I did that one. Okay, so this is the second roll call for board members and [laughter] essentials. >> I I love how you all
113are just disclosing this information unprompted. >> Check it off my list. >> Okay. And we're going to round out our time with a communication highlight. So, as we started the meeting off celebrating our high school students at the ILMEA festival and then as uh Katie Lion shared the middle school music highlights from this weekend, we thought it was only apppropo that we end this evening with a highlight of our elementary music prowess. We will be taken home this evening to the rock musical sounds of Hawthorne Elementary playing We Will Rock >> [music] >> Make a big noise [singing] in the street. Kicking your head all over the [music and singing] place. We will rock you. You are young. [music] better on your face. Somebody better [music] put you back. We will sing you [music] >>
114everybody. We will. >> So, so I was going to share >> that's a highlight of a new elementary music spotlight that Garrett has that Garrett has started. His intent is that by the end of the year he will highlight all of the elementary uh music programs at one time. >> Great. Thank you. Uh any moving on to board communications? Any board members want to present reports or share information with the full board? >> I'll keep the music love going. >> So, uh last Thursday the orchestra at York put on a great performance. Big shout out to Dr. Baker, Mr. Pav, Miss Springer. They did an excellent job. And a quick plug for this Thursday. If you missed it, the band is performing at at York Thursday. So, come and see. I know today was a
115very big music day, so let's keep the love going. >> Great. Thank you. And I'll just do a quick um uh followup on the speaker series. I know I went to the last one at Churchville Elementary or Middle School, I guess, middle school. Um and it was great. I think the uh rest of the parents in the audience really appreciated it. the topic was definitely on point with dealing with children and anxiety and also what we as parents can do um to do that even with the best of intentions. So I thought it was it hit the right tone. It was very practical um and I know what I heard from people is they really appreciate it. So looking forward to more >> one more then you guys said you didn't have anything to share.
116>> Giving props I just want to give props out to the York College and Career Resource Center. They have just um undergone their transition from Navvian to school lengths which I was very stressed about but um it it seems like it was a very smooth transition. I want to compliment them on the communications to the parents and how I feel like I've been brought along in this process. Tons of information, you know, one, two, three step videos on how I can learn how to use it and all the options available. um and they are doing a great job talking about um college fairs and all this information that's available that you can apply for scholarships right within school links the resources that this um is going to help with our students is great so I
117encourage all of our families juniors um it starts with juniors and it's going to work its way down but I really appreciate all the communication that they have been sending out to us so shout out for them >> great thank you anyone else you sure Kelly's Nothing. Okay. Nothing. All right. Upcoming meetings. We have a March 4th, a finance and operations meeting at 5:30 p.m. and March 24th right before spring break. A board of education meeting at 7 p.m. Both meetings will be held at district 205 center in rooms 21516 and 17. And with that, we are adjourned at 8:40 p.m. Thank you.