001[Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Hey, [Music] hey, hey. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Hey, hey, [Music] hey. [Music] Hey, [Music] hey, hey. [Music] be like it on the [Music] Heat. [Music] Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hey, [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hey, [Music] hey, hey. Hey, [Music] hey, hey, hey, hey. [Music] Hey [Music] hey [Music] hey [Music] Hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat.
002[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. back. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hey. Hey. Hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] Hey, hey, hey. Hey, [Music] the be [Music] Good evening and welcome to the board of education meeting being held on Tuesday, August 19th, 2025. I am calling the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Can we please call the role? >> Mrs. Arvanites here. >> Mrs. Asv here. Mrs. Hustler >> here. >> Mrs. Troutman >> here. >> Dr. Henry
003>> here. >> Mrs. Lewinsky >> here. >> Mr. Breznahan. >> We have six board members present and one board member absent. Can we have a motion to go into close session? before. Um, okay. I move that the board go into close session for the reasons of personnel report, financial reports, FOYA. >> So go to two. It's >> Oh, gotcha. Sorry. Excuse me. >> Redo your motion. Yeah. I move that the board move to go into close session for the reasons of a litigation when an action against affecting or on behalf of the partic particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court of or administrative tribunal or when the public body finds that an action is probable or imminent in which case the basis for the finding shall be recorded and entered
004into the minutes of the closed meeting. 5CS 122 C11 B. the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal 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. 5 LCS 122 C1 and C. discussion of minutes of me minutes of meetings lawfully closed 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 2.065 ILCS122C21 >> I'll second motion made by Mrs. Asf second by Miss Arvines can we please call the role >> Mrs. Yes Mrs. Mrs. Arvanites, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lewinsky, >> yes. >> Mrs. Hustler, >> yes. >>
005Mrs. Troutman, >> yes. >> Dr. Henry, >> yes. >> Mr. Breahan, six eyes, zero naz, one absent. Motion passes. The board will now move into close session. Welcome to the board of education meeting. Today is Tuesday, August 19th, 2025. The board has been in close session for the items listed on the agenda since 5:30 p.m. We have six board members present and one board member absent at this time. I ask that we all stand for the pledge of allegiance. Okay, thank you. We will start our meeting today by um recognizing our spotlights and recognitions. Thank you for those of you that are here to be awarded tonight. Um the first item under spotlight recogni and recognitions is the FCCLA National Award. So if you're here to be honored for that, please step forward. Introduce myself.
006I'm Wendy Albert. I'm one of the family and consumer science teachers at York. I would like to thank Dr. Campbell and the school board for the opportunity to recognize our FCCLA national competitors. Um I'd also like to thank everyone who supported our students throughout the past year from our building administration to our support staff um our FCCLA parents as well as the other FCS teachers at York. Um, just to give a little background about the national leadership conference and competitions that took past uh took place in Orlando, Florida this past summer. We had five outstanding young women who represented York High School and Elmherst District 205 enthusiastically and professionally as they attended conference sessions, leadership activities, and of course participated in FCCLA star event competitions. We're excited that Alice could be with us this evening.
007Um, Mattaline, Maline Brooks, Mackenzie Zapanic, and April Vero have already headed off to college. At the at the national level, over 4,300 students participated in STAR events. Uh, this past summer, STAR stands for students taking action with recognition. These events recognize participants who demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and abilities to actively identify an issue that concerns either families, careers, or communities, research the topic, and then implement a project to achieve positive results. In the repurpose and redesign competition, Mattie impressed the judges with a deeply personal and creative project that they absolutely loved. Using recycled materials, she designed and constructed an entirely new fashion garment with a special sentimental touch. She repurposed her grandmother's wedding dress, carefully dying the fabric, deconstructing the original dress, and then transforming it into a completely new gown that she proudly wore
008to her graduation. Her project showcased exceptional fashion, design, and construction skills paired with a comprehensive presentation and display that documented the entire process from start to finish. She was evaluated on everything from the garment construction, the use of the recycled materials presentation as well as the business as aspects that went into that. and Maddie earned a gold medal for her uh award. In the Say Yes to FCS competition, Maddie Brooks explored the field of family and consumer science education through classroom observations, educator interviews, the development and teaching of her own lessons, and she uh was able to um help us bring some improvements and um new exciting activities to our measuring and functions of ingredients lessons that we do in our baking and pastry class. As she taught those lessons, she also gained an understanding
009of what it's like to be an FCS educator and ignited her passion for becoming a future educator. We congratulate Maddie Brooks on earning a silver medal. And we're also especially proud of her because she um has demonstrated her commitment to becoming a future family and consumer science educator and was honored on stage during the signing ceremony at nationals. So, congratulations to Maddie. And then last but not least, our uh three students, Alice, McKenzie, and April competed. Alice, Mackenzie, and April competed in the event management competition. In this event, students prepare a portfolio of materials for an event that they ultimately must carry out before the national competition. The girls used our Lab Brigade Athetheria dinners to showcase their skills for designing menus, planning and preparing event documents, managing event preparations and service, and then ultimately
010delivering exceptional cuisine and service through a fine dining dinner experience in our student restaurant. Not only were the Athetheria dinners a huge success at York, but the girls brought home gold medals and they also earned third place overall in the nation um and were honored on stage at the star recognition ceremony. So, congratulations to Alice and McKenzie and April. We're so proud of all of our students as they demonstrated their passion for and technical skills related to family and consumer science through their FCCLA accomplishments this year. [Applause] Okay, thank you so much. I'm so happy that our students get to explore all these different opportunities as a part of their school day and then a possible career path or a a college path or something that they just love to do and get to compete
011in that area and maybe, you know, go on to continue this as a hobby or whatever you'd like. So, it's really nice that we have all these opportunities and I'm so thankful to our staff who offer them these opportunities as well. I'm just going to read the proclamation. Whereas, Family Career and Community Leaders of America provide students across the nation with the opportunity to develop leadership skills, demonstrate career readiness, and showcase their talents in competitive events that prepare them for success in college careers and life. And whereas at the 2025 FCCLA National Leadership Conference held in front of thousands of students, educators, and industry professionals from across the country, all participating students from the Elmer's Community Unit School District 205 earned medals for their outstanding performances, demonstrating the high level of preparation, talent, and commitment
012that define our school community. And whereas Maline Brooks earned a silver medal in Say Yes to FCS education, the event management team of Alice Moy, McKenzie Sap Sopanic, and April Vero earned a gold medal in their category and placed third overall in the nation. And Maline Veles earned a gold medal in repurpose and redesign, showcasing exceptional creativity and skill. And whereas these achievements reflect not only the students personal dedication but also the support and guidance of their teachers, families and peers and exemplify the values of excellence, leadership and service promoted by FCCLA. Now, be it resolved that the Elmherst 205 Board of Education proudly recognizes and congratulates these outstanding students for their remarkable accomplishments at the 2025 FCCLA National Leadership Conference and commends them for representing their schools, community, and state with distinction on the
013national stage. Congratulations [Applause] I got it. Thank Thank you. Next up, we have girls water polo. If you are here for girls water polo, come on up. It is, isn't it? [Applause] >> You want to go first? >> Are we getting a two for one? This is great. >> Yeah. Alice, don't go anywhere. >> All right. Good evening, everyone. Uh my name is Rob Wagner. I'm the assistant principal for athletics and what a year we had in athletics last year and we're going to celebrate two of our teams tonight with girls water polo and boys water polo. Coach Giuliani is the head girls water polo coach. He could not make it here tonight. So he asked me to step in and say a few words. He apologizes for not being here tonight to celebrate with
014the girls but he knows that he just know that he's here in spirit. The 2025 York girls waterpull team was special to win a state trophy and consistently be one of the best teams in the state of Illinois is a huge accomplishment that everyone should be extremely proud of. It didn't come free. These girls worked extremely hard and truly loved the sport of water polo to to a degree that can only be described as true passion. They endure difficult practices, grueling games, early mornings in order to be one of the best in state. While their work ethic is amazing, Coach Giuliani is more impressed with the family that these girls have built. As a coach, having your athletes truly enjoy each other's company makes my job so much more enjoyable. the 2025 team will go
015down in history as one of the best York teams that he has ever seen. He is confident that we have a lot more trophies in our future. Go Dukes. >> And tonight we have in front of you, of course, all of you know Alice Moy, Emily Johnson, Tessa Schultz, and Maya Czech. So congratulations girls. Hi ladies. I have to say I started becoming a little obsessed with girls water polo when I I coached basketball like a few years ago. All of a sudden basketball girls were leaving basketball to play water polo and I was like what is going on here? So I have you starred on my NFHS account and I watch you guys play all the time. And I also like I remember like in the 2122 because when I become obsessed then I
016go down a rabbit hole like so I I pulled up the notes right like you were ranked in 2122 season 8 eighth in Illinois and this past year thirdow >> and then look at it nationally nationally 2122 you were 15th and this year nationally sixth. I mean, it's so amazing the progress you guys have made and and like I said, I'm obsessed and I'm gonna keep watching and keep rooting you on and I know that with the support of the amazing coaches and the athletic department and the families and this community, I know you guys are going to keep doing amazing things. So, thank you so much. Whereas the York High School girls water polo team completed a remarkable 2025 season marked by determination, skill, and an unwavering do drive to compete at the highest
017level. And whereas the Dukes battled through a demanding schedule and a highly competitive postseason to earn a spot among the final four teams in the IHSA girls water polo state tournament. And whereas throughout their playoff run, the team showcased remarkable endurance, sharp decision-making, and a relentless relentless will to compete, demonstrating the maturity and confidence gained over the course of the season. And whereas on May 24th, 2025, York competed with heart and intensity in the state's third place game, ultimately securing a fourth place finish. A testament to the team's resilience, competitive spirit, and pride in representing their school. And whereas this achievement was made possible through the leadership of the coaching staff, the dedication of the athletes, and the steadfast encouragement from families, classmates, and the broader Elmharst community. And whereas the girls water polo team
018ser season serves as an example of perseverance, sportsmanship, and the rewards of collective effort, inspiring younger athletes and bringing recognition to York High School and Elmherst Community Unit District 205. Now therefore, be it resolved that the Elmherst Community Unit District School District 205 Board of Education congratulates the 2025 York High School girls water polo team on their fourth place finish at the IHSA state tournament and commends them for their dedication, teamwork, and the pride that they have brought to their school and community. Thank you ladies. Don't move. Don't move. This is her favorite part of >> Thank you. >> comments. >> Okay. >> You really lucked out on a two for one night. Nice job. Congratulations. Way to go. You guys are awesome. I hope you're back next year again. Congratulations. Thank you. Nice job,
019ladies. And thank you to their parents for those early morning practices and all the commitment and support that you've given your children. Uh next up, we have boys water polo. [Applause] All right. Hello. My name is Brian Drum and I'm the head boys water polo coach at York. I'd like to thank the uh district administration and the board of education um for have for recognizing us tonight. I'd also like to thank our athletic director Rob Wagner for his support that he continuously gives um all year long really. Thank you to our families, many of whom are here. Um my assistant coaches, our our amazing coaching staff, and then most importantly, um thank you and congratulation to these boys. Um this is uh possibly the best probably the best team that we've ever had at York
020High School. Certainly the highest finish. Uh they finished third place in at the IHSA state tournament. Uh this is after being ranked number two or number three all year. We over the course of the season defeated Neapville North who won the state championship. We defeated New Trier who um took second place in state. Um and we won our conference. Um we won our sectional for the either fourth or fifth year in a row. Um and uh then they they played incredibly well at the state tournament. Uh falling 8 to6 and the last game the last goal was an empty netter. So really falling by by one goal to neutrier in the state semifinal. Um and then coming back three hours later to play a Whitney Young team that was very strong and um you know
021and we won that game to take home the third place trophy. So, I cannot tell you how proud I am of these athletes standing here in front of you and uh can't wait to get started again on another season. So, thanks again and uh congratulations. Also, I'd like to congratulate the girls one more time on a great season. >> Thank you. Um again, congratulations. What an incredible season. And I know it takes a ton of dedication both in and outside of the pool. I wanted to make sure I said pool, not court, um or field. Um but great job. Uh again, impressive finish that it's the best that you've ever done in York's history. So with that, I will read the proclamation. Whereas the York High School boys water polo team demonstrated exceptional skill, determination,
022and teamwork throughout the 2025 season, earning a place among the elite programs in Illinois by advancing to the IHSA boys water polo state tournament. And whereas under the leadership of their dedicated coaching staff, the Dukes displayed resilience and competitive spirit overcoming challenging opponents and high pressure situations to reach the semi-finals. And whereas on May 24th, 2025, after a hard-fought semi-final matchup, York secured a decisive nine-to-five victory over Whitney Young High School in the cons constellation game, capturing third place in the state and cementing their place among the top teams in Illinois. And whereas this remarkable achievement reflects not only the talent and commitment of the student athletes, but also the steadfast guidance of their coaches, the encouragement of their families, and strong support of the York High School and Elmherst Community Unit School District 205
023community. It's a mouthful. And whereas the 2025 York Boys Water Polo team success has brought pride and recognition to the school and district, serving as an inspiring example of what can be accomplished through discipline, dedication, and teamwork. Now, therefore, it will be resolved that the Elmharst Community School District 205 Board of Education proudly recognizes the 2025 York High School boys water polo team for their outstanding season and third place finish at the IHSA State Tournament and extends its heartfelt congratulations and appreciation for representing the school and community with excellence both in and out of the pool. Congratulations, I'm Ready? One, two, three. [Applause] Wow, thank you. And thank you to the boys water polo team and parents. Thank you for bringing them here but also supporting them as they continue to develop in their sport.
024Thank you and have a good evening. >> Okay, next item on our agenda is public comments. Now that we've cleared the room, uh I think it's safe to say that uh we don't we don't have any public comments on record and it looks like Miss Dorner is not interested in addressing the board this evening. So we will skip right on past to um approval of board meeting minutes. And so, uh, the approval of regular and special board meeting minutes from sorry, sorry, no, it's the approval of regular board me meeting minutes from July 29th, 2025. Are there any changes to the minutes? Seeing none, meeting minutes stand as presented. On to item number eight. We're at or sorry, seven, we're at reports and presentations. Our one report and presentation tonight is uh one that we
025have been looking forward to and this is item A, the tenative budget for 202526 and I will turn it over to Mr. Blumquest. >> Well, good evening everyone. Thank you very much. Uh this presentation outlines the proposed budget for fiscal year 2026. Uh the details of this tenative budget are an extension of much of the conversation that we had at our August 5th finance and operations committee meeting. District 205 has arrived at an exciting and pivotal moment in its storied history. With the final ribbon cutting at Madison Early uh childhood center last Tuesday, we mark the final phase of the 2018 referendum and celebrate the investment that the community has made in providing high quality environments in all uh uh for all students. In addition to the building improvements, district 205 has enhanced and expanded
026educational opportunities during this time from all day kindergarten uh to maker spaces and expanded extracurricular offerings. Because of the everchanging landscape of our world, the district continues to evolve and create high quality programs and experiences for students to prepare them to be college, career, and life ready. But it doesn't stop there. It is imperative that as we develop these programs that we must also ensure the sustainability of these facilities and programs so that all future D205 students benefit from this journey of excellence in district 205. In order to achieve this balance of creating and sustaining district 205 leaders have developed this tenative budget on three key pillars. First, it is critical to structure an annual budget in a way that ensures that expenditures align closely to available revenues to ensure that the district fund balance
027remains steady. At the same time, it is a critical priority that as revenue sources and expenditure demands fluctuate that we do everything possible to sustain the highquality programs and opportunities provided to our students. Finally, the care and upkeep of our recently renovated district facilities is vital in ensuring that the community investment in these facilities is maintained and enhanced for a long time. Before we discuss the tenative budget for this school year, it is important to reflect on the most recent fiscal year as a comparison. This slide shows the budgeted allocations and unodudited results of fiscal year 2025 for the operating funds of the district which include the education fund, operations and maintenance fund, transportation fund, IMRF and social security fund, and the working cash fund. As you can see here, the board of education adopted
028a fisc year 2025 budget with a 12.2 million deficit. This amount included a purposeful investment of $7 million from the district fund balance to support additional scope items related to the referendum. Through careful management of district funds, the actual results yielded a $7.2 million drawd down on the fund balance, which again includes that $7 million intentional investment. The next slides will be providing you with an overview of the major levers and outcomes of the 2026 tenative budget. We will begin with revenues as these results drive the decision-making on the district's investments in educational and strategic priorities. As you can see from this graphic, the largest amount of dis district revenues come from local sources. This includes interest income, school fees, and local property taxes. For the purpose of this budget, revenues from property taxes are
029within the current CPI index of 2.9%. State and federal funding represents 5.9% and 2.9% respectively, which is far below the state average of 23.9% for state funding and 12.2% for federal funding. As district leaders prepared this tenative budget, we closely monitored several areas of revenue that could have an unavoidable impact on the district budget. At the state level, with the most recent budget, which held many funding sources flat despite ongoing inflationary pressures, we anticipate the amount of revenues from these sources to remain steady based on pration rates. We also anticipate that the federal funds while avoiding dissolution this uh fiscal year will remain flat. Finally, with the likelihood of interest rates cut interest rate cuts over the course of the next 12 months, we anticipate that earnings on investments will see a modest dip in
030revenue. As you can see here, the results of the projected revenues will see a modest increase of about 1.8%. with an increase of from local sources of approximately 2.7% in line with most uh uh CPI rates. And you can see that in that red box that you see there. With projected revenues of approximately $170.7 million, district leaders embarked on a thorough review of all expenditure line items, identifying opportunities to capture efficiencies in the system while ensuring the sustainability of programs and facilities. All district funds are invested in providing high quality environments and experiences for all students. This slide shows you the major funds that comprise the operational funds of the district. As you can see here, 84.4% of the proposed district budget is supporting the education fund which supports highquality instruction and programming. When the
031within these operating funds, expenditures are delineated into object C categories. The green and blue pieces of the pie represent salaries and benefits which represent 74% of this tenative budget. As we take a closer look at each of these object types, I want to convey that district leaders have taken critical steps in capturing efficiencies within the budget in order to reduce the stresses on the long-term sustainability of the district fund balance. In the area of salaries, you will be hearing from Dr. Schumacher a little later that we have been able to sustain our high-quality programs this year without any planned increase in staff positions. In addition, district leaders are working carefully to examine and limit the necessity of overtime from our staff, which includes ensuring that positions are filled and that tasks and responsibilities are accomplished
032within the normal work week. In the area of benefits, the largest impact on these expenditures is in the area of health insurance. As a self-insured employer, a representative committee of schoolboard members, district leaders, insurance specialists, and union leaders are regularly engaging in conversations right now to provide a high quality health plan while limiting the financial burden on the employees and on the district. Purchase services are a critical component of the work performed in the district. Third parties include our transportation partners, maintenance and construction contractors, and specialized service educational personnel partnership shshipips such as Endeavor Health. One of the greatest impacts on purchase services for this school year is energy costs, which are estimated to increase up to 20%. District leaders will be providing several proposals over the next several months to provide long-term financial savings
033and reduce volativ volatility for items such as energy costs. Finally, supplies and equipment provide essential materials for student learning and growth. This includes investments in curricular materials as well as facility maintenance and improvements. District leaders are committed to ensuring that all purchasing processes seek to capture the maximum cost benefit for highquality materials and equipment. The results of all these expenditures in this tenative budget reflects an expenditure total of 1 168.3 million which represents an increase of about 3.6%. And I understand because this slide is a little uh a little small to read from afar, uh we have provided a handout for uh for everybody at here at the table. The numbers presented here today prioritize all of these pillars that I mentioned earlier. The revenues and expenditures seek a balance of using available funds with
034an intentional focus on investing in students while increasing efficiencies of costs that are more removed from the learning environment. The overall result of this proposed budget shows an increase of 1.6% of revenues from unodudited actuals and a 3.6% increase in expenditures from unudited actuals. In addition to these proposed operating revenues and expenditures, district administration advises the board of education to continue its commitment to the ongoing maintenance and enhancement of its facilities with an annual $4 million transfer to the capital project fund, which will be used to support life safety and building improvement projects for the summer of 2026. This budget also includes our annual transfer of funds for capital lease costs of $1.7 million, which supports the district's technology needs such as student devices. This budget does remove the uh three times annual uh $7
035million transfer for additional scope of the referendum as last year was the final investment into that initiative. I am pleased to report that beyond the removal of the additional scope transfer that this proposed budget has reduced the budget deficit almost $2.5 million compared to last fis last fiscal year's budget. And just to outline a little bit about our timeline, today is when we are presenting this tenative budget. It goes on display uh tomorrow uh for for any member of the public. they can come into the district office and view our tenative budget uh which contains uh not only all of the materials that you see here, but um it is it is uh reduced into the Illinois state budget form so they can see it in it in the in the state statutory form. After
036that, we will have it as an agenda item on September 10th um along with any uh minor changes that might have happened since then. And then finally, it will be brought on September 23rd for final adoption by the board of education. At this time, I'll turn it over to Mrs. Arvanites. >> Thank you. Questions, comments from the board. just just for the community awareness, you know, we had some a very in-depth, as Joe mentioned, conversation about the budget um at the last finance committee meeting. This when we when you see this on the consent agenda item tonight that we're going to approve, this is just to get it to the public for 30 days. This is not voting on the budget. Um, I just want to make that clarification because we will also have, like
037Joe mentioned, September 10th to have any further discussions about this budget in the next finance committee meeting, which is a great thing. That's what committee meetings are for. So, and Joe will learn to be afraid of them, but no, hopefully it'll be a little shorter this time. But yes, no, but that's all. Thank you very much. >> Dr. Henry, >> just a quick question. um on the revenue area. We talked about like the stability of the state and federal revenue, but I do notice that there's I mean that's still like a $1.2 million decrease from last year if I'm doing math correctly. Just wonder if you could speak to why we're seeing a decrease in revenue from those sources. >> Uh yeah, thank you for that question. One of the one of the major levers
038in terms of federal uh revenues is last year we received the final of the esser payments. Um uh so that was factored into last year's revenue. Uh those are no longer available to any school districts. So we uh reduced that. At the state level, uh we are going to see uh we anticipate seeing a reduction in some of our categorical payments, which would be uh uh our our transportation claim. Uh we anticipate that to be prrated at a lower percentage as well as reimbursement for out of district tuition. I just have a couple clarifying questions also and I think I know the answer but of course putting it in the room to make sure that we know what we're talking about here. When we look at the other financial sources and uses you have that
039negative 5.441 million. Um is that the $4 million of capex plus the 1.7 million lease agreements that the board has directed in the past to come from fund balance? >> You are spot on with that. $4 million for the capital uh capital projects and and the capital leases. >> Okay. Thank you. And another and thank you to Courtney for referring back to finance because we did have really fruitful discussion there. Another point that came out of that discussion uh that I'd like to remind us about here is also that the fund balance as of as percentage of expenditure. So that bottom number there that that 29 to 26 that I think we heard uh in finance that that the recommendation from experts and consultants and yourself uh would be you know a comfort level of
040around 30 to 35% is what we would be targeting or looking for. Yeah, >> absolutely. That that is that is our ideal target. >> Thank you. >> I did want to follow up uh you you mentioned about the transfers and you mentioned 5.4 4 million which made me look back down to make sure. Um I did want to highlight there's another transfer in there that hasn't existed and it's in the opposite direction. This is one of those efficiencies that we've identified that we can capture. Um all interest that we earn in all funds can be invested directly into the education of our students. Um and and so we're going to take advantage of that by moving the interest uh from all of our funds into the operating funds so that we can make sure that
041we maximize the learning experiences that our students receive. >> Great. So that's why that transfer was only was 5.4 not 5.7. >> Correct. >> Very good. Great. Anything else from the board? >> Okay. Thank you so much. Uh this was great and I do want to say that this was very easy to read and I'm just thankful that you were able to compile this in a way that was consumable for us and our community. So thank you uh for the presentation and the organization of the information. Okay, with that we will move on to our consent agenda. Is there anything anyone would like to pull from our consent agenda? Seeing nothing to be pulled. Can we uh have a motion for the consent agenda, please? It doesn't it doesn't have to automatically be you. It
042could be anyone. I'll do it. I think I found it. 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 request. D. Approve board of education 2025 joint annual conference expenses. E. Authorization for public display of fiscal year 25 tentative budget. F. Special education agency contracts. G. Consent to utilize authorized signature stamp for contract approval. Can I get a second? A second. Thank you. Motion made by yours truly Athena. Second by Miss Lewinsky. Can we please call the vote? Miss Arvanites. Yes, Miss Lewinsky. >> Yes, >> Dr. Henry. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Hustler. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Asv. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Troutman. >> Yes, >> Mr. Breznahan. >> Six, zero nades, one absent. Motion passes. We'll move on now
043to the agenda action items. Item A is the affirmation of district life safety survey. And I think I'm going back to Mr. Blumquist for that. >> Feel like it's the Joe Show today. It >> um >> it rhymes. So, we uh we discussed this also at the August 5th uh board uh the finance and operations committee meeting. Uh this is a 10-year life survey, life safety survey uh that the architects embark on and identify work items that either must be uh taken care of or recommended to taking be taken care of. As part of the process, this board of education needs to affirm those work items and then we submit it to the regional superintendent. >> Sorry. Thank you. Um, can we have a motion? >> I move that the board of education affirm and
044approve the application for approval of the 10-year safety survey report as submitted. >> Second. >> Motion made by Mrs. Hustler, second by Mrs. Asv. Are there any comments from the board? Again, just to reiterate. Oh, sorry. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. >> Oh, sorry. Um, so, and I think we talked about this and I appreciate all the attachments with the breakdown by the schools and by the categories. I'm just wondering if for during when I think this will come up during the committee meeting in September. if we can get an idea of how many of these life cycle life safety items would normally be included in our summer capital projects, the $4 million that we're putting out there. Um because I know we have replaced boilers in the past and I've saw that on
045many of the schools that that needs to be done in the future. So, I'm just wondering how many of those items that are on those lists would be incl have been included in the past in the in the summer capital projects or are there projects that are scheduled for 20 summer of 26 that are on the life safety list. So, if we can kind of see the crossover, it would be helpful. >> Absolutely. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> I will make sure that we work that into our >> Awesome. Thank you. And so again, it might be a little disconnected for anyone who's following at home. There was a great conversation at um uh our finance committee, sorry, about health life safety and the survey uh what was found, what uh needs to be done
046and when and even this whole process that we go through with the state approving um and this being the first step of the state approving uh our survey and and then next steps after that. So, please refer to that finance committee if you are interested in learning more about the affirmation of district life safety survey. Any other comments from the board? Can we call the vote? >> Mrs. Hustler, >> yes. >> Mrs. Asv, >> yes. >> Mrs. Troutman, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lewinsky, >> yes. >> Dr. Henry, >> yes. >> Mrs. Arvanites, >> yes. >> Mr. Breznahan, >> six eyes, zero nays, one absent. Motion passes. Item 10. We're cruising here. Uh, superintendent communication. I'll turn it over to Dr. Campbell. We are now in our second week of school for the 2526 school year
047and we are excited um to welcome our students and our families back um this this year. Um I've asked my colleagues to share uh two updates uh with our board of education and our community. Um first update is going to come from Dr. Schumacher, who is going to um just give a brief overview of our staffing. And then I've asked Miss Daniels um to share um some poignant uh key ideas that went out in the email to families um and want to just provide some friendly reminders as we um start our school year. So, Dr. Schumanker. >> Yes. Thank you so much, Dr. Campbell. Um I'm happy to update the board tonight with a few quick stats um on our current fill rates as we start the school year um as we've done the last
048few school years um here in August. Several factors um contribute to low staff vacancy counts um in school systems, but largely it is uh truly indicative of a strong organizational culture and attractive broader community. After collaborating on allocations uh Mr. Blumquist uh referenced and uh across our employee groups um our intent to stay um staffing neutral across uh those across those groups um while maintaining programs and services and and ensuring that students are set up for success. Um administrators and supervisors have worked since early spring to hire educators and support personnel that add to our talent in district 205. Um I'd like to highlight four specific groups tonight. Uh for our certified group, which is by far our largest employee group, uh we have only one current vacancy in our system, um with a f
049with actually a fill plan to be fully staffed um in that area. Our school and district leaders um are excited for um for in particular for our 53 new educators um to um to shine truly in their new positions and we'll continue to support them throughout the school year. educational assistance. Um, this group is within our our PSRP employee group. Um, we know that our educational assistants are essential um to the student services team as well as our school teams. We continue to see less vacancies year-toear with this group and are currently 91% staffed. Um, this is a 6% improvement compared to last year at this time. And in addition and as a result, we continue to limit and minimize use of agency personnel with nine less compared to last school year. And while we
050appreciate the service from external providers, um our shared goal is to be fully fully staffed in our PSRP employee group. Um of note, um all but one of the providers approved tonight are filling uh a leave of absence, not an open position. And as a reminder to the board, as soon as a qualified applicant is identified to fill a role as an employee or substitute, we discontinued the agency arrangement. For maintenance and custodial, we are 96.5% staffed with two FTE to fill. Their services are critical to our objective of highquality learning environments and facilities. And finally, a special mention to our district's substitutes. Their part of the puzzle in schools ensures learning continues each day. Last year at this time, we had 128 and have increased to 162 subs in our system. So, in closing
051for this highlight, we will continue to collectively work um at attracting, selecting, and retaining highquality purpose-driven educators and staff. and we do thank the board for your support. >> Thanks, Joe. So, as Dr. Campbell mentioned, we are in the second week of school and we were excited to start and welcome our students and families back. On August 6th, we shared a communication through Parent Square with all of our families. But there were a couple of things in there that I wanted to bring attention to and make sure that everybody saw. Um, starting this year, they there were some schools that did a uh a pilot of this last year, but this year in P school, you can now enter an absence uh and you can report an absence online through the P school parent portal.
052This feature sends your submission directly to the school office while still allowing you to call if that is your preference. Uh families can report ab absences for today or the next school day and all submissions are sent directly to the school office. The next thing that we're excited to share is our partners at First Student have launched an app called First View. Uh this um this GPS-based mobile app allows families to see their students bus in real time and receive notifications when it is approaching. Uh, some of the new features include the ability to see the bus location and estimated arrival time. To get alerts when the bus is close to your stop, you can set up to three different notifications for your bus. Or you can share updates with caregivers and family members if
053you need assistance in picking up your child from the bus stop. Uh, you can also download that app from your uh app store to corresponding to your phone. And then finally, we did create again this year our important dates graphic. Um, this shares the late starts, the uh winter and spring and um the the yeah winter, spring and Thanksgiving breaks and then all of our late arrivals and already on there your graduation May 17th. So, you can learn more about these by going back into Parent Square and looking at the email that was sent on August 6th. And I will also link that email in tonight's board highlights. And I will go straight into the communications highlight where um as JB mentioned in his update, we opened the newly remodeled Madison Early Childhood Center. We
054had an opportunity to join most of you there to cut the ribbon and it was uh a great opportunity. We had, I think, probably one of the highest turnouts that we've had um at our schools and it was really exciting and I'm happy to share this video recap of the ribbon cutting and the opening of the school. [Music] We are here because of them. Thank you to our community for providing the resources for them. Thank you to our staff and teachers. All of our Madison staff, assistants, put our hands together for our amazing Madison team. On behalf of the board of education, I'm proud to be here today to deliver the final product of our five-year referendum plan and officially open this highly improved new state-of-the-art early childhood center for our students and the entire
055Madison community. I'm thrilled to imagine the incredible things that are going to be happening in this building with it being such a wonderful space specially designed for students from everything was so thoughtfully planned from the time that we got started with everything to where we are now with um bathrooming with everything being sized appropriately for the kids. So without that all happening, we wouldn't be where we are right now with such an amazing space for the kids. And looking around, I can't help but be amazed at the this accomplishment that we all did together. This is our why and we continue to do what we need to do in order to ensure that we provide an excellent outstanding educational experience for all of our students regardless of what leg they're in in this relay race
056called the journey of excellence. [Music] [Applause] Is that it? Is that it? Oh, I didn't want to go too early. Thank you, Tanya, for that video. very cute way to highlight a really important, I think, milestone and moment for the district and really the board of education um and our community to celebrate the final project of a long um a long project that took took a lot of time and effort, commitment, adaptability, flexibility, responsiveness, right? I mean everything that we uh work with students I think in a K through 12 and little Duke through transition center environment to build we probably experienced throughout the last 5 years. So big thank you to our community. What a great place we're in when it comes to our facilities today. Um having the ability to renovate Madison, have
057two brand new buildings in our in our community and then also enhance and upgrade every building throughout the district with this referendum project. So, a great culminating video for a tremendous amount of work uh that was put forth by this administrative team, prior administrative teams, prior board members, current board members, and most importantly, our community. So, thank you so much for putting that together. Really appreciate the thoughtfulness behind that. And I think that's it for communicate uh for superintendent communications. All right, we'll move on to board communications. uh one board member update uh to present a report and share information to the full board. I'll turn it over to Dr. Henry. >> All right, just a quick update about um the insurance committee. So, we had our last meeting on August 7th. It was a
058long but very productive and collaborative meeting. Um we were working together uh to look at cost-saving solutions that without affecting the quality of health care for our employees. We're looking at plan design, pharmacy carveout, GLP1 changes, and dental changes. Um, we do have another meeting coming up tomorrow afternoon, and our hope is to bring a recommendation to the board for the September meeting. So, more to come. >> No, I think you did a great job. >> Perfect. >> Okay. All right. With any other board communication? I don't think so, but Okay. Uh, we'll move to upcoming meetings. September 3rd, 2025, we have a policy committee meeting at 5:30 p.m. September 10th, 2025, we have a finance and operations meeting at 5:30 p.m. And then September 23rd, 2025, we have our regular board of education meeting
059at 7 p.m. All three meetings are here at District 205 Center in these rooms 2:15, 16, and 17. And with that, we will adjourn this meeting at 7:54 M.