001What? Good evening and woo, I'm going to call to order the May 14th, 2026 meeting Jed Brewer Here. Andrea Morello Monique Cotton Here. John Lyons Here. Steve Romo Here. Shannon Wood Here. Monica Angelo, here. For those who care to participate, please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Our mission statement. Our mission in partnership with home and community is to educate each individual child in a safe and nurturing environment. We will foster respect and self-worth, teach skills relevant to contemporary life, and promote academic success and creative expression. We will encourage an appreciation of the rich cultural diversity of our community and instill a sense of
002wonder for the future to enable our students to become lifelong learners and responsible citizens of the world. Ms. Angelo, can you read the vision statement, please? Be happy to. Our vision, Forest Park Public School District 91 will be acknowledged as a safe, nurturing, and diverse learning community that establishes the highest standards for innovation and continuous improvement to achieve excellence and global citizenship for each individual child. Thank you, Mr. Brewer. The Equity Imperative? Recognizing that systemic biases plagued our educational system, we commit to nurturing dialogue around all issues of inequity, including culture, race, faith, socioeconomic status, gender identity, sexual orientation, and different ability as they pertain to classroom practices, school and district structures, and policies and procedures. We support actions removing barriers to opportunities that allow children to reach their full potential. Thank you, Mr. Lyons.
003The statement honoring Native American land? We, Forest Park Board of Education, would like to acknowledge that this meeting is being held on the traditional lands of the Peoria, Potawatomi, Miami, Sioux, and Kickapoo people and pay our respect to our elders, both past and present. Thank you. Uh number four, consent agenda for the board. Is there anything anyone would like removed? May I have a motion to approve? So moved. Second? Second. Roll call, please. Jed Burrell? Aye. Monique Cotton? Aye. John Lyons? Aye. Steve Rummel? Aye. Shannon Wood? Aye. Monica Angelo? >> Aye. Matters of consideration from the public? None? Okay. Um Oh. Okay. I have a little thing to read before you >> We have Sarah Vanderlaan. Okay. The Board of Education welcomes public comments at its meetings. This is the official time devoted to comments
004by community members. Following the public comments, the board takes the citizens' comments under advisement. All speakers who wish to address the board during this time must identify themselves before they speak. Comments are limited to 3 minutes per individual and the board asks that no specific names be mentioned. In order to allow for the most efficient use of meeting time, if there are several speakers addressing the same topic, the board president may set a time limit for that topic. Any citizen wishing to address the board on a public matter is encouraged to contact the district office before the meeting at 708-366-5700 extension 3301. According to the Illinois School Code, items such as those dealing with personnel, individual student discipline, the purchase of land, security, and legal actions may be addressed in executive session by the Board
005of Education. Okay. Good evening. My name is Sarah Vanderlaan and my children attend Betsy Ross and Garfield preschool. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. I am part of a growing group of parents concerned about tech use in D91. We have met with district leaders and we heartily agree with them that learning happens in social face-to-face settings. However, while there is a student use policy that families are required to sign in order to register our children, there is not a corresponding district-level policy. The district should tell parents how, when, and for what specific purposes technology will be used. As a former teacher, I know how much it helps when a district sets clear, evidence-based expectations. Clear policies remove the guesswork and ensure consistent experiences for every child, regardless of which classroom they're in. I'm
006here tonight to ask for a clear, comprehensive tech policy that is evidence-based and developmentally appropriate according to grade level. Tonight, I want to focus on safety and transparency with parents, which I think should be part of that policy. First, safety. Until of this year, student Chromebooks, which are given to children as young as five, had access to YouTube. That access was removed only after a first-grade parent took screenshots of content her child could access and brought it to the school's attention. Thankfully, the principal and IT department acted quickly. But we have to do better than waiting for a parent to catch the problem. All D91 children deserve stronger, better guardrails. For this reason, I'm asking for a white list approach to internet access. Rather than reactively blocking harmful sites, a white list allows only pre-approved
007websites, specifically those that have already passed the district's two-step approval process. Those should be the only sites our children can access on their school-issued devices. This leads to my second ask, parent transparency. I was recently reading an article in The Wall Street Journal about a parent who learned that her child had viewed 13,000 YouTube video shorts on their school-issued device. 13,000. Now, I do not think that's happening in D91, but it made me wonder, how would I know? What sites does my first grader visit? And how many minutes is he spending on his Chromebook? If I gave my my son a device at home, I would know how he's using it and for how long. If the school provides him with a device, I should be able to know that information, too. For this reason,
008I am asking the district to activate the parent portal on Securly, which D91 already uses. The portal shows parents how much time their child spends on a school device and which sites they visit, giving information to parents while relieving some monitoring burden from teachers. I'm a believer in public schools and I'm glad that my children are Stars and Puffins. I appreciate that this district is small, responsive, and already committed to safety and transparency with parents. I hope the board will direct the district to create a comprehensive tech policy that includes a white list approach to the internet and access to the Securly parent portal. Thank you. Number seven, interim superintendent I'm so sorry. I was looking down. It's okay. I apologize. >> Oh, no, you're good. Um good evening. I am speaking on behalf of
009my other fellow mom friend, um Lauren Brown, who's a parent of two, like myself, at Garfield Preschool, um and elementary school for her oldest. I'm thankful to have the space and time to voice our concerns surrounding technology use in our district. My interests reflect a growing national concern about how one-on-one technology is implemented into our students' days. We are speaking here tonight to affirm our desire for a concrete technology policy that is evidence-based, grade-specific, and clearly outlines screen time and use limitations that are developmentally appropriate. A lack of limitations has real consequences from access to first-person shooting games, exposure to advertisements during the school day, inappropriate student-led YouTube access, and the opportunity cost of lost time engaging in more sensory embodied learning processes due to time spent on technology. All of which are actual examples
010coming from student experiences within our district. These are issues that can be mitigated more proactively through the implementation of a white list approach to internet access. The district already has an existing framework for app approval requiring the applications to be proven or be proven necessary, not redundant, and safe. This framework could be applied to internet use as well in the form of a white list approach. While we're instead of reactively blocking websites that prove harmful, a futile task when talking about the internet, websites and extensions are selectively allowed as requested by educators and after screening or approval. In continued regard to student safety, the district already utilizes a surveillance application called um Securly. Securly includes a parent portal function called Securly Home that we would like to see offered to all District 91 caregivers. Parent
011portal access will give caregivers an additional means of ensuring student compliance with D91's Chromebook Responsible Use Agreement, while giving caregivers to teachers and administrators a better window into the full scope of student technology use. And speaking with the district, it is apparent that the cultural expectation surrounding technology use in D91 emphasizes a social tacto-tactile learning environment with technology used in complement as a tool. So much work has already been done over the years, a streamlining of applications, blocking YouTube over the years, or YouTube access in response to parent concern, the decision to move away from e-learning days in the future, and a commitment to communicating expectations surrounding technology use at Family Connection Nights. A formal policy would give the district an opportunity to codify these positive changes, offer increased transparency to caregivers and educators in
012regards to technology expectations, provide structural guardrails to ensure student safety, and improve their day-to-day experience, and certify our collective interest in D91 students' success. We are both very proud to attend Forest Park schools. Our small size increases our agility to respond in a changing world and community concern. We hope to see District 91 craft a technology policy um that echoes that gains made in much larger school districts, such as LAUSD, at the board's behest. Thank you again for your time and consideration and attention. Thank you. Hi everyone. I'm Jenna Herstick. I'm parent to a first-grader and a rising preschooler. I'm going to also talk about tech use. I'll keep my comments short, but I just wanted to um support the other parents in their comments. I was actually the mom who checked out YouTube. Um
013I had been concerned about YouTube use. My daughter came home mentioning that she was watching YouTube kind of throughout the day, like at breakfast sometimes, and then sometimes during different classes, and I just couldn't really understand why that was necessary or what they were watching, but it wasn't until she brought home her Chromebook on a snow day that I sat down and tested out some searches and it was pretty shocked to see what I could access. And thankfully, the school was super responsive and they blocked those sites right away. Um actually, they blocked all of YouTube, but I think the whitelist approach is the safest thing for our kids. Um I don't want to take tools away from teachers. I recognize that tech is a tool. And it can be very helpful in some instances,
014but it can also be harmful. So, I think just working together to come up with an approach that um is thoughtful and structured about what we're giving to our kids. You know, I don't even understand all the ways that they can get to things on their Chromebook and my daughter doesn't have a device at home. So, I know that's coming in the future, too, at um the Grant White and middle schools. Um and so, I'm I'm nervous about that. Uh and so, I'd really like to like get something put in place on the sooner side so that we can um help manage their screen use and also keep it for educational purposes. So, that's all I'll say. Thank you very much. Okay, number Now, number seven, interim superintendent report, Dr. Hubbard. Thank you and good
015evening. Um last week was teacher appreciation week. Um thank you to the PTO for planning a week of celebration for our teachers and staff. D91 provided lunch to every building on Monday with the PTO supplying dessert. Um notes of appreciation were sent home for families to complete. Favorite snacks were delivered to staff lounges. Picture here is a staff were on a seek a sip scavenger hunt. So, there was water cups put out through the school for them to hide to find. Um but parents also donated funds for the staff to have a gathering on Friday after school at Robert's Westside. And Engage Church provided meals to the staff on one of the days. So, we just want to say thank you for everyone that they put together and celebrating our staff. In addition, the engagement
016department asked um middle school students to select prompts and recognize staff who think they would survive a zombie apoca- apocalypse, who brighten their day when it is needed the most, and who make school fun. And here's just a video of them delivering those messages. There you go. >> [music] >> Bring this to a teacher who is the most chill. >> [music] >> Bring this to a teacher who is the most nice. Bring this to a teacher who is the most understanding. Take this to Miss Blair cuz she always helps me with my math and my IXL. Bring this to Miss [music] Blair cuz she's the best at keeping listening. Bring this to Miss Blair because she's always making school fun. Oh, Miss Blair. >> [music] >> Take this to a staff member who would survive
017a zombie apocalypse. What's this, man? Let's see. What's that? Bring this to you survived Yeah, I have a you. Take this to the funny staff member. >> [laughter] >> Bring this to the staff member who finds the [music] perfect time to brighten my day when I need it the most. Okay. Find the perfect time to brighten my day when I need it [music] the most. Aw, this is so sweet of you. >> [music] >> Moving on to our first pillar of learning and achievement. Um this is the third year we sent our eighth graders to DC and here's a video of their appreciation of it. Dear Board of >> [music] >> Education, as we are approaching the end of our time in District 91, we would like to say thank you for the amazing trip
018we took to Washington DC. I learned that when the flag is up at the Capitol, [music] it means that they are in session. One thing I will never forget is going through the Holocaust Museum and seeing everything on display. It was both horrifying and at the same time interesting to see everything. I learned that the youngest person who passed away on 9/11 was 3 years old. One thing that I will never forget is that the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials are always looking directly at the Washington Monument. I will never forget being uh photo bombed by the National Guard. I was surprised by how many monuments and important buildings there are in Washington, D.C. Uh my favorite memory there was when we walked around to the Holocaust Museum and I was able to ask teachers about
019the pictures and artifacts there. I want to know more about them. I learned that our country has a great history and I learned that we have fought for our freedom and justice. One thing I will never forget is the switching of the guards for the unknown soldiers. The sergeant stood right in front of me and I got chills. What surprised me the most was that Illinois was the first state to provide a woman statue to the U.S. Capitol Building. I learned that there are unknown slaves buried in the ground at Mount Vernon. I was surprised by how organized D.C. is and how peaceful it is when you're at a memorial. My favorite memory was walking to the Lincoln Memorial at night while wearing the glow tubes. One thing I'll never forget is how funny it
020is was to bond with my roommates during our time at the hotel. I learned that the places we went to had more meaning than I thought they did before we went. >> One thing that I will never forget how I felt when I saw [music] Emmett Till's casket. What surprised me the most is how good our bus and and hotel was. I will always remember singing on the bus and just the joy of everyone bonding together. I was surprised at how much I've learned. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to know how more about our country and its history. Thank you for trusting us enough to bring us this far away from home, for paying for things and giving us good food, and for making sure we learned while having a good time. Another
021thing that I want to thank you for it is for this very amazing opportunity to learn more about our country and its history and for the time to bond with my friends, classmates, and teachers in DC. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to go to Washington DC. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. OH, THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT, 1 2 3 GO. >> [laughter] >> WE STARTED THIS SCHOOL YEAR OF celebrating each grade level at a board meeting and this is the eighth grade video for the showcase ending out the year. And these videos have really taken off and been a great marketing campaign for the district and just telling the story each month of what students
022are learning and what they're doing. Um so hoping that that tradition continues and the each year each month we showcase a grade level at the board meeting. This DC trip would not have happened and have been possible without the eighth grade team and the chaperones. The program lead was Miss Alaco, Miss Staser attended, Miss Ali, Miss Watson, Miss Pierce, and Miss Shardulo. They walked 50,000 steps, nearly 23 miles over the course of the trip in I think 2 and 1/2 days. So um I know they were extremely tired afterwards and they took a long nap, but we do want to thank them for their dedication going on and helping our students on the trip. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Betty Ross um was awarded a $2,000 grant, Illinois School Yard Habit Action Grant to create
023a pollinator garden, giving K-8 students a hands-on learning experience led by um Miss Edwards, Miss Hill, and Miss Farrington. The The project will allow every student to help plan and care for native species that support bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. So, we thank them for the garden. If you happen to walk past Betsy, you may be able to see and see them out there working on it um over the next couple weeks. The D91 Special Olympic Trailblazers braved the the wind and the rain on May 3rd for the track and field competition in Aurora. Congratulations to all of our athletes. They left with eight gold medals, two silver medals, and a fourth-place finish in the 100-meter run. Um altogether, this has been a great program since we started it. We have earned 38 gold medals,
02417 silver medals, and 10 bronze medals. So, thank you to the program lead lead Miss Edwards and the coaches Miss Stickel and Miss Pusch for this event, but to all the coaches throughout the year for helping our scholars earn all the medals that they did. So, round of applause for them. >> [applause] >> I'll make a request. Pardon me. Can we work on getting a bus to get people so we can have more support go there? Like on the next round cuz I went Was it last year? Two years ago? It was a blast, but it's getting out It's like the parking situation cuz there's a lot of people out there. But, if we can get a bus >> yeah. We We could look about getting a bus cuz we have our buses here. It's
025hard to find a bus as long as we have enough people that want to take the bus. I can get people on that bus, I'm telling you. I can promote it. Get people on that bus. But, I think it would be worthwhile to see it and just to get people to cheer them on Cuz it's fun. Like it's a long day, but it's so much fun. >> Mhm. But I think like if we can look into that, I'd be on board with that. I went to the hockey one. It It is fun. It's a long day. Um but yeah, I I think if we provide a bus, we might get a lot more people out there supporting them. I mean, 38 gold medals. That That That's nice. And the Peggy Notebaert, um last year, members
026of our science committee curriculum pilot the Science on the Go program through the Peggy Notebaert Museum. The over-overwhelming positive feedback led to the program expansion to interest in K through 8 teachers, which led to field trips and visits to the museum and also visits from educators to model best practices within science instruction to our teachers, bringing professional learning along with the NGSS aligned units to our classrooms. So, we're thankful for this partnership. Just want to showcase some of the the great things that our students are doing. The annual Festival of the Arts event happened on May 6th at Forest Park Middle School and Field Stevenson. The showcase of the arts celebrated the work of our K through 8th grade students and what they did over the year in art and music. Thank you to Miss
027Lankin, Miss Morales, Miss Bertino, and Miss Bruzzani for planning the event, and there was a great turnout. So, we were so excited to see all the creativity that our students had this year. Moving on to Talent Recruitment and Development, our second pillar. I am pleased to say these are the open positions we have. It's not a long list. We've been doing great with recommendations to hire and filling our positions. We're hoping that this coming school year will be the second year that we're 100% staffed. Um and it looks like we may be able to do that this school year. Tomorrow, May 15th will be an early dismissal for all students, so we can provide end of the year professional development to our staff, celebrate our retirees, and give out our end-of-the-year service recognition awards. Forest
028Park School District is a wonderful place to learn and grow. We want to thank you to staff for their dedication this year. We just want to honor them tomorrow. So, parents, don't forget the early dismissal tomorrow. Uh our last pillar, family community and engagement. Save the date for the annual back-to-school bash on Wednesday, August 12th, from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. on the front lawn of the park district by the admin building. Families were who have completed registration for the upcoming school year are encouraged to attend to reconnect with friends, meet new staff, and connect with the community. Families are also encouraged to stay after the event to either go swimming or attend the concert in the park that will also happen that night. So, in collaboration with the park district, we're we're coordinating the event,
029so there'll be a nice concert right after following the event. During April, Betsy Ross will Simpson in the middle school had career exploration day for our students where professionals from a variety of industries shared their career experience and pathways. Students engaged in presentation and hands-on activities that connected classroom learning to real-world careers and our future opportunities. The event helps inspire curiosity, build confidence, and strengthen partnerships with our school and the community. So, thank you for everyone who came out and participated and donated their time to inform our scholars. And then Forest Park Middle School had a very special guest speaker, the House Chris Walsh, on April 29th came to speak to our eighth graders. Um Speaker Walsh covered many topics, including growing up in Proviso, his role as Speaker of the House, and the current
030state legislation. Students also had the opportunity to ask questions and hear his advice on how to get involved to shape decisions in the community. The visit was a great way for our our to get experience and learn and the follow up what they're going to learn in DC. So, we thank them for coming out and speaking to our eighth graders. As you can see, it was a busy last month and a half at the end of the year always is. Um I'm pleased to say we also had no four years this past month. Moving on to committee reports. Uh superintendent search, Mr. Brewer. Well, I am pleased to report progress um followed by some great news on top of that. So, over the last several weeks um the uh committee has interviewed several candidates. Um
031we have done several rounds of interviews with several candidates and I am pleased to report that this um August board has made a decision. We've actually made an offer to two extraordinary gentlemen who I'm now going to embarrass by noting that they're in the room tonight. We we have with us Tim Correa and Jim Gay. Gentlemen, would you mind standing up just for a brief moment so we can all say hello and cheer for you? >> [applause] >> We will be taking some formal actions related to um welcoming these two gentlemen later today, but that is the current state of the committee. Um and teacher negotiations, Ms. Angela. Thank you. We have two more negotiation sessions. Every section has been productive and we are moving forward. Uh I want to thank everyone involved. It's been
032a lot of hard work, but I think we're doing it. Number nine, items for discussion under uh Dr. Hubbard, FY 2027 end of year financial projection. Mhm. Two short items to go over. Um each year around this time we start looking at projections for next school year and in order to plan for the budget. As you can see here, our reserves, which is the very last column, have been decreasing due to delays in our revenue. The board policy does require us to have 12 months in reserves in our funds. At this time, each one of our funds are below that um due to the delay in our revenue. Um but we're still pretty off. There's been no communication from the county in terms of when we receive our revenue. And this is not just us,
033though. This is everybody. This is everybody. Every taxing body in Cook County. Each year, students, teachers, and parents are invited to complete the the five essential survey, which provides valuable feedback about their experiences. The input helps create a comprehensive picture of our school culture, instructional practices, the leadership, family engagement, and student support systems. As you can see from 2023, we were listed by our students and our parents as partially organized. We moved all the way up to organized for 2025. And under this strategic plan, the goal was to get to the highest rating um by June 30th, 2026. I'm pleased to announce that, based on feedback from our parents and our students, the district has been labeled as well organized. Um Betsy Ross was well organized, Garfield was labeled as organized, Field Stevenson well organized,
034and Forest Park Middle School is organized. And this is just a testament to the our all the hard work the staff and students have done over the past 4 years under this strategic plan to really move along that progression. So, it's nice to be there this for the first time ever that district has received this recognition. So, round of applause for all the staff and their hard work. >> [applause] >> And that is all I have. All right. May I have a motion to go into closed session to discuss the employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of employees and collective negotiation matters. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. We are now in closed session. Okay, welcome back. Um, number 11, approval of personnel items. May I have a motion to approve the May
035personnel report? So moved. Second. Discussion, as discussed in closed session. Roll call, please. Jed Brewer. Aye. Monique Cotton. Aye. John Lyons. Aye. Steve Ramon. Aye. Shannon Wood. Aye. Monica Angelo. Aye. All right. Um, B, may I have a motion to approve the employment of summer custodial helpers? So moved. Helpers. Second. Discussion. Each year we hire, um, local teenagers to help our custodians to get our buildings ready for the upcoming year. So, this is just the approval to do that. May I have a roll call? Jed Brewer. Aye. Monique Cotton. Aye. John Lyons. Aye. Steve Ramon. Aye. Shannon Wood. Aye. Monica Angelo. Aye. All right, number 12. May I have a motion to approve the employment of Laura Kissinger as the principal of Field Stevenson School for the 2026-2027 school year? So moved. Second. Second. Discussion.
036After an extensive interview process, um, the committee is recommending Ms. Kissinger as the new principal of Field Stevenson, and she is here tonight to sign her contract. >> [applause] >> May I have a roll call? Excuse me. Jed Brewer. Aye. Monique Cotton. Aye. John Lyons. Aye. Steve Ramon. Aye. Shannon Wood. Aye. Monica Angelo. Aye. Awesome, number 13. Congratulations. Oh, yes, congratulations. We clapped. I was like, wait. May I have a motion to approve the employment of Michael, um, Margia as the chief school business official, CSBO, for the 2026-2027 school year. So moved. Second. Second. Discussion. Once again, after extensive interview process, the committee is recommending Michael to be the new CSBO for the district. And he's here also to sign his contract. >> [applause] >> May have a roll call. Jedburgh. Aye. Monique Cotton. Aye.
037John Lyons. Aye. Steve Rommel. Aye. Shannon Wood. Aye. Monica Angelo. Aye. Number 14, possible action concerning the employment of interim superintendents. May I have a motion to approve the contract for Dr. Tim Kilrea to serve as one of the district's two interim superintendents for the period beginning July 1st, 2026 and ending June 30th, 2027 at the rate of $1,000 per day as presented. So moved. Second. Second. Discussion. I think that we have found a wonderful team that has uh the utmost confidence of this board. I look very, very forward to the next year. May I have a roll call? Jedburgh. Aye. Monique Cotton. Aye. John Lyons. Aye. Steve Rommel. Aye. Shannon Wood. Aye. Monica Angelo. Aye. Congratulations. Congratulations. Welcome. >> [applause] >> And this was not done in any particular order. May I have a
038motion to approve the contract for Dr. Jim Gay to serve as one of the district's two interim superintendents for the period beginning July 1st, 2026 and ending June 30th, 2027 at the rate of $1,000 per day as presented. So moved. Second. >> Second. Same discussion. I would say that really my previous remarks do apply very strongly. Roll call. Sorry, Jedburgh. Aye. Monique Cotton. Aye. John Lyons. Aye. Steve Rommel. Aye. Shannon Wood. Hi. And Monica Angelo, hi. Welcome. Welcome. There's a lot of new people. [applause and cheering] Yay. So, do you guys like Jim and Tim or is it Tim and Jim? Anything. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. You don't know us that well. You don't want to do that. >> [laughter] >> Uh Okay, number 15. May have a motion to approve the retirement contract
039amendment for Jamie Stouter. So moved. Second. Second. Discussion. Um Ms. Stouter is asking to retire a day early to take care of um pension benefits. May have a roll call? Jed Burge. Hi. Monique Cotton. Hi. John Lyons. Hi. Steve Rommel. Hi. Shannon Wood. Hi. Monica Angelo, hi. Number 16. May have a motion to approve the settlement agreement for property damage. So moved. Second. Discussion. Um as shared in the board newsletter, one of our buses backed up into a car, um and we need to um settle this agreement. Uh the board's attorney, Adam, worked on the settlement and just need board's approval to um issue the payment. Oh, may have a roll call? Jed Burge. Hi. Monique Cotton. Hi. John Lyons. Hi. Steve Rommel. Hi. Shannon Wood. Hi. Monica >> [clears throat] >> Angelo, hi. May
040have a motion to adopt the resolutions for retiring staff members. So moved. Second. All right. I have four. Adopted by the Board of Education, Forest Park Public School District 91, as a testimonial to Alice Reeves upon her retirement, June 2026. Whereas Alice Reeves has announced her retirement after completing outstanding service since 2002, and whereas she has faithfully dis- discharged her duties in District 91 in a manner consistent with the highest professional standards with unwavering dedication. And whereas, she has worked tirelessly educating countless students. And whereas, it is the desire of the superintendent and the Board of Education to pay tribute to Alice Reeves. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of Education in a meeting assembled this 14th day of May, 2026. That we hereby appreciate and respect the many contributions of Alice Reeves.
041We wish for her the best of health and happiness in her retirement. And be it further resolved that this resolution be spread in full upon the minutes of this meeting and a copy suitably engrossed be presented to Alice Reeves in honor of her retirement. >> [applause] >> Adopted by the Board of Education, Forest Park Public Public Schools, District 91 as a testimonial to Jamie Stauter upon her retirement, June 2026. Whereas, Jamie Stauter has announced her retirement after completing outstanding service since 1991. And whereas, she has faithfully discharged her duties in District 91 in a manner consistent with the highest professional standards with unwavering dedication. And whereas, she has worked tirelessly educating countless students and supporting countless staff members. And whereas, it is the desire of the superintendent and the Board of Education to pay tribute
042to Jamie Stauter. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of Education in a meeting assembled this 14th day of May, 2026. That we hereby appreciate and respect the many contributions of Jamie Stauter. We wish her the best of health and happiness in her retirement. And be it further resolved that this Sorry, that this resolution be spread in full upon the minutes of this meeting and a copy suitably engrossed be presented to Jamie Stouter in honor of her retirement. >> [applause] >> Adopted by the Board of Education, Forest Park Public Schools, District 91, as a testimonial to Jane Catizone upon her retirement, June 2026. Whereas, [snorts] Jane Catizone has announced her retirement after completing outstanding service since 2002, and whereas, she has faithfully discharged her duties in District 91 in a manner consistent with the
043highest professional standards with unwavering dedication, and whereas, she has worked tirelessly educating countless students as a special educator, and whereas, it is the desire of the superintendent and the Board of Education to pay tribute to Jane Catizone. Now, therefore, it be resolved by the Board of Education in a meeting assembled this 14th day of May 2026, that we hereby appreciate and respect the many contributions of Jane Catizone. We wish for her the best of health and happiness in her retirement, and be it further resolved that this resolution be spread in full upon the minutes of this meeting, and a copy suitably engrossed be presented to Jane Catizone in honor of her retirement. >> [applause] >> Adopted by the Board of Education, Forest Park Public Schools, District 91, as a testimonial to Janette Barnes upon her
044retirement, June 2026. Whereas, Janette Barnes has announced her retirement after com- Sorry, completing outstanding service since 1996, and whereas, she has faithfully discharged her duties in District 91 in a manner consistent with the highest professional standards with unwavering dedication, and whereas, she has worked tirelessly as an administrative assistant supporting district leadership members and the Board of Education. And whereas it is the desire of the superintendent and the Board of Education to pay tribute to Janette Barnes, now therefore be resolved by the Board of Education in a meeting assembled this 14th day of May 2026 that we hereby appreciate and respect the many contributions of Janette Barnes. We wish for her the best of health and happiness in her retirement and be it further resolved that this resolution be spread in full upon the minutes of
045this meeting and a copy suitably engrossed be presented to Janette Barnes in honor of her retirement. >> [applause] [applause] >> Janette, I just want you know I voted to decline allowing you to retire. I tried to say >> But I was overruled. A little hot now. Okay. Um under Dr. Hubbard, may I have a motion for the adoption of the property tax appeals board PTAB resolution for tax year 2025 assessment appeals? So moved. Second. Second. Discussion. This is an annual requirement. This allows the board's attorney to go after anyone who challenges their taxes over $100,000. Go after? >> [laughter] >> Challenge their their challenger. May I have a roll call? Jed Wurm. Aye. Monique Cotton. Aye. John Lyons. Aye. Steve Rummel. Aye. Shannon Wood. Aye. Malaquias Angel. Aye. All right, these next four of our
046our our favorites. May I have a motion to approve the purchase of school supplies for FY2027. So moved. Second. Second. Discussion. Uh as you say this is one of the the next favorite things. I think it's amazing that the district has been doing this for 10 plus years. And saving the expenses to parents in this community. May I have a roll call? Jed Burm. Aye. Monique Cotton. Aye. John Lyons. Aye. Steve Rummel. Aye. Shannon Wood. Aye. Monica Angelo. Aye. May I have a motion to approve to waive registration fees for FY2022. So moved. Seven, sorry. Second. Second. Discussion. Once again for 10 plus years the district has been waving off fees to parents and absorbing those costs into our current budget. May I have a roll call? Jed Burm. Aye. Monique Cotton. Aye. John Lyons.
047Aye. Steve Rummel. Aye. Shannon Wood. Aye. Monica Angelo. Aye. Okay. Okay. Sorry. May I have a motion to approve to waive the field trip fees for FY2027. So moved. Second. Second. Discussion. Learning doesn't just happen in the classroom, it happens outside the classroom and this provides opportunities for all students regardless of the financial situation to attend all field trips regardless of the cost. May I have a roll call? Jed Burm. Aye. Monique Cotton. Aye. John Lyons. Aye. Steve Rummel. Aye. Shannon Wood. Aye. Monica Angelo. Aye. May I have a motion to approve to waive the fees for fifth grade um outdoor education program for FY2027. So moved. Second. Second. Discussion. As you seen earlier this meeting the eighth graders um showed their appreciation for the eighth grade trip. This is the trip that are overnight
048trip that our fifth graders are doing um and allows all fifth graders to attend. May I have a roll call? Jed Burm. Aye. Monique Cotton? Aye. John Lyons? Aye. Steve Rummel? Aye. Shannon Wood? Aye. Molly Angelo? Aye. Number 18, additional matters of consideration from the board. I have a lot, I'll go last. Um few things. So first, just going back to what we just approved for waving fees, my kids are old. So I remember we were in a district prior to when they waived the fees. So I remember there were times where you'd say, "Oh yeah, the low-income people, they get them waived anyway." But there were families that would be just over that amount, and there would literally be the secretaries, principals, and teachers paying those fees for the kids that were just over
049their amount, or maybe it's due Tuesday and you don't get paid Friday. So there were kids that were left out, especially the fifth-grade trip that missed out. Um and then when they were able to include those, um any waving school supplies where everything was the same, it took a lot of pressure off of families. So and I remember around the time there was a lot of talk about "Parents aren't going to be invested because we're paying for stuff." That was dumb. I'm going to say that. That was the dumbest conversation I heard. So I'm really glad that our district does that, and I have another year on the board, and I'm going to keep [laughter] pushing for it. Then when I'm off on the off of the board, then I'll be in the audience. I'll
050still be talking about it. It'll be great, but it's one of my favorite thing that the board does. Moving from that, um Jed and I were at the annual I got to read it cuz I'll say it wrong. We're at the annual Forest Park Chamber of Commerce meeting. And it was great just seeing like the businesses and we get invited as a board as part of the Commerce Chamber of Commerce, and um it's just a fun time. They have lots of food, so much food, and just catching up um with business owners. And it's not like high pressure cuz everyone is there, so it's just being with our neighbors and just talking um me and Jay were at the same table and I brought a friend from work that happened to live in Forest Park
051and they had a they were able to connect. They had a really great conversation and just talking with other people that live in Forest Park and have businesses here. So, I love that event. It was really great. It was over at McAdams. It was just a fun time and our village does a lot for the community. And I just love seeing it and going to those type of events. So, I just wanted to highlight that. That's all. So, just on the on the retirements Janet, I'll spare you cuz I know you would hate it for me to pay tribute to you, but thank you for everything you've done and I'll leave it at that. Um Mrs. Stotter and and Mrs. Reeves have been here as long as we've been here. They they taught both my
052kids. Garfield is an amazing school in large part because of the work of Principal Stotter and the teachers and the teaching team that she has raised there. Um I think it's awesome that she has set things up so well for Principal Bogdan. Um and I wish her the best of luck. She's getting a really excellent excellent team. I would like to say the Festival of the Arts was amazing and it was so great to see music back in the district. I really appreciate all the hard work that everyone's done to do that. Thank you. Mine's not a short. Sorry. Excuse me. Shannon, before you go, can I just add a comment? >> Okay. Um just to give you an ideal, um all those fees that you waived this past school year saved parents $147,000. That
053includes all field trips, all supplies, uniforms, and registration fees. And I think that's something great that the board does and I'm I'm sure parents appreciate it as Monique shared that whether they're on that cusp or right on the edge just allowing everyone to be equal in that point, but it's a substantial commitment the board makes and appreciate that you do do that. Um April 15th was the poetry slam. Um a big thank you to Ms. Chardoulo. The students really shared a lot of deeply personal stories. It was very brave and courageous. Um they also were talking about current events. They are listening. They know more about current events at their age than I did at their age. So, they're paying attention and it makes me feel good and frustrated for them. But, I thank them
054all for getting up there and presenting cuz I know it's hard to get up in front and speak to people, especially about your own personal experience. Um the spring fling was April 17th. A lot of fun. It's growing every year. Um cactus grow, I finally got my aloe taste cuz they sold out last year. So, I got them this time. Um they had a special room for the middle schoolers. It was a silent disco. It was pretty cool. They had these headphones that had um uh lights on them and then it was a black light, so it was pretty neat, but only middle schoolers were able to go in. So, now the younger kids have something to look forward to. Um Again, the DC trip. Um both myself and Mr. Rummel had our kids go.
055Um a big thank you again to Mr. Staser, Ms. Ali, Ms. Watson, Ms. Pierce, Ms. Alaco, and Ms. Chardoulo for being away from your families. Um I felt completely comfortable with them being there. They did great posting pictures. Um I know my kid came home exhausted. Um lots of good stories. So, thank you to all of them. Um the preschool spring family night was April 23rd. That was fun to go back and see our littlest. Um I forget that's where we started. I feel a little emotional this meeting. I have my eighth grader graduating, so she's my second kid and we will be done out of D91. So, I have a lot of feelings about this. Happy and sad. Um and then April 30th was the future shark meet and greet. So, that was pretty
056neat to have the rising third graders come. I got to meet Ms. Kessinger. Um a lot of great questions were asked and they seem very excited to be third graders. And then I don't want to miss out um, I think it's the 27th our eighth graders are graduating. Um, we want to wish them the best of luck in the future. We are all still here in Forest Park wherever they go to school. Um, I believe we set them up for the best of success and they are going to be successful. Um, and continue to grow and hopefully remember us and come back and say hi so we can keep track. Um, with that, may I have a motion to adjourn? So moved. I second. Second. All in favor.