NSD80 Board of Education Meeting 09-16-2025

001regular meeting to order uh  this Tuesday, September 16,   2025 at 7:04. I'd like to call to order. Uh can  I have a roll, please? Mrs. Ba here, Mr. FJ,   Mrs. McFillips, Mrs. Irvfield here,  Mrs. Theodore here, Mr. Barardi here,   Mr. Tuzio here. We have a forum. Please  stand for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance 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. I read the mission statement. The mission  of Nord School District 8 is inspiring   educational excellence and nurturing compliance  budget. Now to conduct public hearing regarding   North School District 8 fiscal year 26 budget  like to call to order this meeting at 7:05.   Uh roll call please. Mrs. Mrs. La here Mr.  PJ Mrs. Mc

002Phillips Mrs. Barfield here Mrs.   Theodore here Mr. Bardi here Mr. Here we  have a forum now to receive comments from   the public regarding the proposed fiscal  year 26 2026 North school district budget Illinois law requires that public hearing  be held prior to adoption of the district   budget. Public hearing is not a dialogue  or question and answer session between   the board and the audience. It is a time  when the public can present information   and express opinions. The board's role is to  listen intently to all comments presented by   the public and then consider those comments  when the board deliberates on the adoption   of the budget. Do you have any comments  from the public? Okay. Now for Kimmy. Okay. Um for the first part, we're going to  go over two different public acts. Public act   1028.95 and public

003act 1030394. Both of those  have to do with fund balances. Then we're going   to talk about the adjustments that were made  from the tentative budget to the final budget.   We'll review the budget summary which also um  I put a copy of at all of your seats and then   we'll go over our next steps. So the first public  act public act 102895 um talks about that at least   during the budget hearing or the um levy hearing  we have to disclose our fund balances but this is   something we actually disclose multiple times  during the year. Anytime that you have one of   the budget summaries in front of you, which we  do during the budget and we do during the levy,   that top row shows you what our fund balances  were at the end of this school year

004at June   30th. And then the very bottom row shows  you where we estimate to be next year. So,   as the end of June 30th, 2025, the end of fiscal  year 2025, our total fund balances were at 9.7   million. If you're looking at operations only, and  for this public deck, for operations, we're going   to consider education, O andN, transportation,  and working cash. We were at 7.5 and we are   um on a cash basis. And the balances that  we have here include all loans and um we   didn't have any loans but if we did that would  include loans and if we had done any transfers. The next public's act is um it says that if you  have at the end of the year in your operating   funds and for this public act the only operating  funds we

005look at are the ED fund operations and   maintenance and transportation. If at the end  of the year you have 2.5 times your average   expenditures for the previous 3 years that  we would have to do some type of reduction   plan to spend on our fund balances. Um we do not  have 2 and 1/2 times our average expenditures.   If you look at um our average expenditures for  FY23, FY24, and FY25, we're averaging in those   three funds about 12.9 million. Our cash reserve  fund balance at the end of FY25 was about 4.5   million. And the reason why that is lower than  the amount from the previous screen is because   this does not include working cash. It doesn't  include working cash because working cash you   never have any expenditures out of. So this  only includes the three funds, the

006ad fund,   operating, and transportation. So um we don't  have to do the spend down, which is always   good to not have to do something extra. And  we're right in line with where we should be. So, we did not make many adjustments from the  tentative budget to the final budget, but the   adjustments that we did make had to do with  looking at personnel where we finalized all of   the new hires, where they were placed at, looking  at contracted staff or contracted um personnel and   what their final costs came out to be. We made  some slight chance changes for the grants. Once   we realized where we were actually going to spend  this year for the grants or what we had done in um   July and August, we made some slight changes and  we also do um a

007review of our current expenditures   and revenues. So, we always look at um we were  where we're at and if we had anything that crazy   happen in July and August that was different from  the tentative budget to the final budget, we made   some slight adjustments. Another place where we  would have made adjustments would have been to   um the taxes. However, that is information that  we still really do not have. We did receive a   couple weeks ago an estimated EAB, which is a good  step because that means we're close to getting our   actual EAB. Um, but we do not have the final one  yet. And as of last week, I went to a meeting with   um at West 40 with the IASBO members from our area  and someone from Cook County was there to present.   So, I

008was so excited because I thought I was going  to find out about the tax bills. And before they   even started the presentation, they wanted to let  us know that they're working diligently every day   to get this done. But as of right now, we don't  have an estimated due date for the fall taxes,   and we do not know if that's going to impact  the spring taxes at all, but they are working   diligently to get it done. So, that's wonderful,  and we're very hopeful we'll know soon. Um, but we   still don't know. The thing that is okay, if you  look at our previous fund balances and especially   our working cash, we're still okay right now.  If the they don't come in soon, we may have to   do loans to oursel from working cash. The funds um  where

009where we would need to do those loans would   be transportation and possibly the ED fund debt  service. We do have our bond payment in December,   but if you remember, we had the thing last  year with the escrow funds from 30 years ago,   so we should be okay um in debt service. But in  the ED fund and transportation, we might have to   do a loan. If we didn't have the working cash  balance we did, we would maybe have to go out   for a tax anticip anticipation warrant or we might  have to get an actual loan, which is something we   would never want to do because then we're paying  back interest and it's wasteful of money. So,   we should be okay. But we're also since we have  been saving and doing well. We've put ourselves   in a

010position where we can be okay right now, but  we would love if we knew when the tax bills were   going to come in. That would be very helpful. So  then the next sheet is our actual budget summary,   which is very, very similar to what I showed  you guys um during the tentative. Like I said,   there's some slight changes, but  nothing really crazy or super impactful. And then after um for our next steps, we're  going to have the facilities plan review   once we get that back from W. And once we have a  BMG meeting in November, we'll do the tentative   levy. December, we'll do the final levy. We'll  continue to monitor the budget and then now we   actually start working on our projections for  next year and beyond and we start planning for   next year. So

011that's also why it's important for  us to get our final EAB because when we get that   we actually get what we're going to get in tax  dollars. We find out like last December when we   did the levy we find out how much we're actually  going to get cuz remember the levy is what we ask   for but the extension is what we actually get. And  when we start planning and doing our projections,   until we have those solid numbers, the projections  and the planning aren't exactly perfect. So that's   another reason we're really looking forward to  getting that. But anyone have any questions on   the budget? I have a question. So with the  delay of the tax rather than the taxes Mhm.   when when do we start considering the terminal  transfers and based on our funds, how how

012long   are we covering for? So for the ED fund at the  end of September, we have still about 1 at the   end of September after we do the second September  payroll, we'll have about 1.4 million in there.   So that should still be okay for I would say  October and maybe November. So if we didn't have   um any tax dollars by the end of November,  we would maybe have to do a transfer for the   transportation fund. we will probably have to do  a transfer in November cuz we probably have um at   the end of September we have about 43,000 in that  fund. So that'll probably be enough for the bill   we'll pay in October and then in November we'll  have to do um a loan so we can pay that bill. And how that works is

013that the transfer is what's  needed. So there could be multiple transfers if   you had one time you if they announce it's not  going to come until December and then it's not   going to be due till January. Would you do one  transfer to know for those two months or what's   needed or is it month by month? We play it by ear  just make that transfer. Is it one time based on   how much we're going to need? I would do one time  based on how much we need. Okay. And then when a   transfer does take place, is that something that  it's something you guys just do internally or is   is there a board meeting to say that, hey, we're  going to make this transfer? It's a it's a board   resolution. So, we'll have um a resolution as

014an  action item. It wouldn't even be in consent and   you would approve the resolution to do a loan.  And so, it's different than um the the transfer   that's like in the budget, that's a permanent  transfer. So that 400,000 that we're going to   transfer from O andM to 60, that money never goes  back. But when we do the resolution for the loan,   the way it works is once the tax dollars come  in, we automatically pay back working cash. So   you don't have to do a resolution to pay it back  cuz the way it's written is it automatically pays   itself back. Historically, when when taxes are  due, let's just call it August 15th is what when   they're due. historically would we get 90% of  that, you know, and obviously there's lingering   where people are passed to, but

015we pretty much  get the majority when the tax bills technically   due or I would say we get about 75 to 80% within  that month from like if they're due August 15th,   so from July 15th to even September 15th, we  probably get 75 to 80%. We actually never usually   collect 100% at that time because of people who  don't pay their bill or people that are appealing   it or other adjustments that are made. But then  we do always receive some funds later on. [Music] Thank you. Okay, thank you very much, Mrs. Ans.  There is an action item on the agenda. [Music] I need a motion to  adjourn this public hearing. Annie and Lauren, all in favor say I. I. All post  say n carry, Mr. Journ action item. Consider a   motion to approve the agenda as presented. 

016I have a motion. Motion. Lenzo Maria. All   in favor say I. I. All say nay. The motion  passes. Recognition of visitors. Thank you. Correspondence. Y correspondence  public participation requests are listed on the agenda found in  the district website as published monthly how to presentation social and emotional stance.  Thank you. We're going to hear from Dr. and Mr.   Vicki on this presentation. Starting with  Dr. Okay. So, uh wanted to take a little bit   of time to discuss the social emotional learning  standards here at Glee. Um sorry. Um I was going   to talk about that. Go back. So um if you look at  this graphic, it talks about skills for learning,   empathy, emotion management, problem solving.  So those are some of the themes that are taught   throughout our second step curriculum, our  social emotional learning curriculum. And  

017we'll dive a little bit deeper into the specific  standards as we go to the next slide. Perfect.   Um so here are the three goals for social  emotional learning standards. um according   to the Illinois State Board of Education.  So, goal one is to develop self-awareness,   self-management skills to achieve uh school and  life success. Um goal two is use social awareness   and interpersonal skills to establish and maintain  positive relationships. Goal three, demonstrate   decision-m skills and responsible behavior  in personal, school, and community context. So when we look at each of those goals, it's  important to align our standards and make sure   that those are the things that we're actually  aligning our instruction to. So we have some   priority standards that are listed here and  you know this is listed by the actual standard   uh number but there's also

018a description there and  uh also the alignment to our second step lesson or   the union unit in which it is taught. So, for  example, you might see um something along the   lines of why school is important and you know,  those are skills for learning and making sure   that there's a purpose and you have motivation  strategies and you're learning on how to focus in   school and how to pay attention, how to be a good  student. Um there's also um standards that focus   on the importance of setting goals and making sure  that you're setting goals, you're problem solving   and saying, "Okay, so if I saw that this was an  area that I didn't do well in, how am I going   to set up a plan for success moving forward?" So  those are all um just different examples

019of things   that we teach in different ways throughout the  grade levels. Obviously in in kindergarten, some   of those skills are going to be, you know, at a  kindergarten level, you know, age appropriate. Um,   but as uh the years go on, we want students  to really be working on building that skill   set. So when we look at goal two, which is social  awareness, interpersonal skills, that's when we're   looking at, okay, so how are we showing empathy  and how do we have skills for it? So how do we   take turns? How do we be an active person? How do  we show respect to one another? I've feel like I'm   always saying, you know, being respectful, being  responsible, and and being safe. You know, those   are three things that we, you know, constantly try  to uh hit home

020on here at le school. So, this is,   you know, what does it actually look like and how  do we, you know, teach those skills in a context   for students to be able to learn that throughout  the school day. Then also uh how are we problem   solving? If you see that uh you know there is  a problem how are we thinking of solutions but   also realizing that sometimes when a problem does  come it can have consequences too. So and and how   do we pick the best solution in that moment. So  goal three we also have some standards that align   to that. So, uh, thinking about how are we making  safe choices and we always talk about, you know,   the safe safest way to do things. Um, and that can  be something as simple as reinforcing that

021a slide   meant to go down, you have to climb up, right?  Cuz otherwise it would be called a climb. That's   funny. All right. Um but also uh you know thinking  of uh how we're you know teaching our students you   know some of these skills that relate beyond the  walls of the school but also into the community.   Um, and that was actually one of the things that  we also worked on with uh the PBIS grant over   those few years and really trying to work with  community partners because when you think about,   you know, some of those uh, you know, the  main three things we talked about being safe,   responsible, and respectful all relates to, you  know, things that you have to do in the larger   society or that we we would want to contribute  society to

022be able to do. Um so uh that kind of   gives you a little bit of a snapshot into the  priority standards little description and then   also how that aligns to what is actually  taught in the classroom and second step for GIS for standards. What we've done is on the  next slide, you may be familiar with if you've   had a child at Giles, these four standards that  we've assessed students on, attendance, behavior,   participation, and homework. This year, as you all  are aware, we made some changes to our schedule at   Gio School. For example, our fifth grade science  teacher is also our sixth grade science teacher,   56. Same thing across the board for ELA, uh, math,  and social studies. When teachers assess students   on the SEAL standards in the past, all the  grade level teachers came together

023and assessed   the students on these four standards. So on the  next slide, what I challenged my staff to do is   we reviewed um we reviewed all the the Illinois  social emotional learning standards and what we   did is we tied them by grade level and because AC  the advisory is now 5 days a week at 30 minutes,   we wanted to move that more into the academic  sector for grading. And so what we did as grade   level teams is we looked at the Illinois social  emotional learning standards and selected three   standards that grade level teams can assess their  students on. So for example fifth grade you'll   see priority standard number one is 1 A 2B which  is describing and demonstrating ways to man to   manage emotions in a socially acceptable manner.  Priority standard number two, 1 C

0242A, describe   the steps in setting and working toward goal  achievement. And priority standard number three,   3A, 2B is demonstrating knowledge of how social  norms affect decision making and behavior. So each   grade level was able to reflect and what they did  is they de they selected the priority standards.   They deconstructed the priority standards and  this is part of our PLC planning as you see on the   slide right there. Um if you click on that link  it'll open it up and show the work that the grade   level teams created. So the standard is listed.  Then it's the deconstruction of the standard.   Then they selected common formative assessments  along with common summit of assessments that tie   to each of the three priority standards. Based on  those assessments, they then created proficiency   skills using our matrix mastery behavior and 

025developing so that students know that this   is the standard that they have to achieve. This  is how we go about and achieve it. And then the   common formative and summitative assessment allows  our grade level teams to discuss and so ways that   we can constantly improve and support our students  so that they're meeting the expectations for that   grade level team. So each grade level did that.  I won't go into each grade level but as for sixth   grade they selected 1 A 3A which is analyzing  factors that create stress or motivate successful   performance. They selected 1 C3A, set a short-term  goal and make a plan for achieving it. And 2 A3A,   predict others feelings and perspectives in a  variety of situations. Seventh grade went on   with 1 C 3A, set short-term goals and make a plan  for

026achieving it. 2C 3B, demonstrate cooperation   and teamwork to promote group effectiveness. and  3B 3A. Analyze how decision-making skills improve   study habits and academic performance. Going  on to 8th grade, 1 C 3A, set a short-term goal   and make a plan to achieve it. 2 A 3B analyze  how one's behavior may affect others. And 3B,   3A, analyze how decision-m skills improve  study habits and academic per performance.   So there were a lot of work went into creating  this, but this now with it with our advisory and   our new format of 30 minutes 5 days a week, this  ties the advisory to an academic component for   our students. And I'm going to talk a little bit  more about that in my next presentation. Should I   go? The next presentation I'm going to discuss is  the Gile School Honor Courts.

027And we'll give you   a little history of our honor court. So since  the implementation of standardsbased grading   in 2017 2018, North School District D moved away  from using grade point averages GPA to determine   student achievement. As part of this shift,  the traditional validictorian and saludiatoran   recognitions were removed from the eighth grade  graduation ceremony. In their place, students   are now honored with a series of achievement  courts that celebrate their accomplishments in   a meaningful and inclusive way. So, our current  practice that we have is pearl cords, gold, which   is awarded for mastery and academic achievement,  purple, which was awarded for mastery in SEAL   achievement. So, back to the first presentation,  which you don't have to go back to the slides,   Mrs. physic that is where we tied the attendance,  the behavior, the participation and that homework   from

028uh red which is awarded for membership in  the Spanish honor society where those students   they they study for a an assessment and they  take the national exam and if they pass that   exam then they are awarded that Spanish honor  society and that's the red court and then the   is awarded for successful completion of being  duly enrolled with Norwich School District 80 dat. So last year we had nine students that  participated in the Ridgewood. So they they went   to Rididgewood High School and they participated  in uh reading. We had uh of those nine we had of   those nine two students also participated in the  math program at Rididgewood High School as well.   some of the challenges that we've learned through  our time and I'm going to share some of those   concerns that I'm highlighting right here. 

029Family families questioned teachers grading   decisions requesting for grade changes when the  students performance did not meet the established   requirements. Families have questioned the  criteria for earning the SEO court, specifically   the attendance requirement, noting concerns  about the impact of excused absences, such as   illness or other valid reasons. And the final  concern that I'm noting is families noted that   receiving notification about court eligibility  right before graduation adds stress to the event.   This timing also places undue stress on staff who  must respond to questions and concerns during an   already busy time. So some recommendations I have  for you uh outline through the standards taught   advisor. So the standards that I just shared  with you that the grade levels teams selected,   deconstructed, created the assessments and  then provided um developed the proficiency   scales ensuring alignment with the Illinois  social

030emotional learning standard. Families   will be notified of their students projected core  eligibility during the first week of May based on   performance up to that point. If any changes occur  as a result of student performance later in May,   families will be promptly informed to ensure  that they have the most up-to-date information   before graduation. TheCCL standards will  now be incorporated into the academic court,   the yellow court, which thus eliminating the  need for a separate purple court. This change   streamlines recognition and ensures that students  meeting expectations are acknowledged alongside   their academic achievements. And then finally,  a letter from the principal will be shared with   families outlining the qualifications for earning  honor cards as well as the timeline for the review   process. This communication ensures that families  have a clear understanding of the criteria and   important dates related to

031court eligibility. So  the recommended plan moving forward is to remove   that purple court have the gold court which is  awarded for mastery in all academic achievement   including which includes advisory. The red court  would be awarded for membership in the Spanish   Honor Society and green would be awarded for  successfully completing dual enrollment within   the Norwich School District 80 curriculum and the  Rididgewood High School District 234 curriculum.   Does anyone have any questions? Yes. So for  the gold boards, um we talked about awarded   for mastery. So mastery is when it's all green  yellow. Correct. So mastery across the board for   every subject that that student is in that those  classes, it's green across the board for all of   those standards. And with the recommendation,  it would include advisory, the components. So   even the slightest bit of yellow, let's

032say  it's 95% mastery and there's like 5% yellow,   we're still going to deny the court. So the  students, this is an achievement award across   the board with with regarding all standards. So  students have to have mastery across the board   to re to have that to have that achieve that  honor court. I understand. But so back to my   question. So even the slightest bit of yellow will  not get. That's correct. Cuz it's not it would not   be considered mastered. So when we were at grade  point averages, what we what was considered for a 4.0 or was it maybe a 3.8 3.0? When we were at  grade point averages, we had a validictorian and   a saludator. We were just identifying two people  and then we went by grade point averages which   couldn't change, you know, we were

033comparing uh  local norms to local norms. No wards. There were   just um you went to a hierarchy then of kids that  could be the Martians. So maybe the student who   was third highest in grade point average could  be a Marshall. The sec the one that was fourth   highest could be a Marshall. We didn't have  courts in that same way that we didn't know we started courts uh with the start of  um standards. Now Mr. Be if you wouldn't   mind share in order to get mastery do you  have to have 100% on everything? No, no,   you don't have to have 100% on that. So, what the  teachers look at, they they look across the board   and it you can have one yellow for that and  still achieve u mastery for it, but overall   for it to

034be considered for the the core, you  have to have the the mastery for all subjects.   So you can have a yellow in let's say ELA. You  can have a yellow in in math assignment. Just   be clear in an assignment. In an assignment yes  in an assignment regarding a specific standard   regarding the standard but overall across the  standard. So if you're if a teacher for example   there's a variety of different standards. If it's  uh let's say 10 standards are being assessed,   right? So student in an assignment in a specific  standard could have a yellow but across the board   for those standards would be green then they  would be eligible but but that's one subject   that has to be looked at across the board for  all the subjects math science social studies   steam writing understand all the

035subjects  but you're saying okay so let's say there's   10 standards in a subject so if English has 10  standards maybe the child gets It's nine greens,   nine mastery standards, one yellow standard.  Overall, you're still going to get a green   bar with a little bit of yellow. Correct. Okay.  Correct. Correct. Going basically mastering it,   but they just didn't master the ones. Correct. But  it has to be they have to have that across for all   subjects. So you can't Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. If  there is a little bit of yellow, you're not in the   green quart. Correct. There isn't a a percent of  yellow. That's okay to still get the green cord   because I've always heard like they could be they  could have one standard that's yellow and still   get you still get honorable or whatever you

036call  it. So in other places other than here, do you   mean that cuz here here? No, that's correct. from  here. That's correct. Yes. I think I misunderstood   the question. I think you're saying is like let's  take math within math there's 10 standards and if   you're yellow but you're still overall master  you're looking at your overall master is green   and then the next. So I think what Bob's saying  is that within the 10 standards within math you   can have a yellow but if you still average or  green mastery in the subject no I think. Oh okay.   I guess correct. That's why I didn't understand  what your question was. That's what I pick up on. I thought you were just looking at the  overall subject. If you end up being mastery,   you're just looking at math, all

037the subjects,  and if you're green, then you get within that   obviously break it down. There's 10 standards. I  was a yellow overall average and mastery. That's   what it's looked at. Am I saying that? Is that  what you But you won't get a mastery if there's   a yellow on sand. Correct. So you will get a green  bar with just a little touch of it. Correct. And   on especially on the cover page that has like  just ELA. You look deeper into the mastery   connect report card. You'll see if we're using the  number 10 the 10 different standards right now or   one of them will be in yellow. Correct. Yes. What  I was trying to have Mr. Veki comment on was in a   standard. So just think of one standard. Let's  say you do 10 different tests, assignments,

038uh   performances for that standard. One of those, two  of those, three of those can be yellow. So it's   not just if you turn turn in one test and it's  yellow or one um you know, everything's over at   that point. you can keep moving to achieve to that  green on your mastery of your summitative test. That's what we're saying. No, because if you get  that mastery and that summitative test goes green,   then it's green. Even though inside that  actual standard, you might have different   ways along the way. I don't think she's I think  she's drilling down further. I'm drilling down   further. Yeah. Yeah. If you have one standard,  okay, just one, and inside that one standard,   you have different assignments. Maybe that's  the word that might assignments. There could   be an assignment that was yellow, but

039then you  you learned the math problem, let's just say,   or whatever it is, and then by the time you  did the sumitive test, you know that now your   summitive went green. That is now green. that  standard. Even though the little bits inside   there might have been yellow at some point, the  final standard still comes out of green. Just   don't get yellow. You're okay. Then you won't  be by the end of the state. Yes. Standards   based grading is about learning. It's not about  averaging together your information. It's about,   okay, I might have taken the first test and I  looked at it and I didn't know how to do this,   but by the time I got to the end, I knew how to do  it. I learned it. So, that then should be green if   I learned

040it. Not averaging together a red and  a yellow and a red or a green. It should be,   do I learn the material? It's about learning.  Grades are all about learning. But in your average   way of grades, if you got an 80 on something and  then you got a 60 on something and then you got   a 20 on something, that would be averaged together  into I can't do the math as I'm talking right now,   but let's say 40. Um, but standardsbased doesn't  do it that way. Standards base looks at what's   the last time we assess this standard. What  did you get out of it? Did you learn it? point of it. So it's it's it's confusing, but  I think what we're looking at from doc from Mr.   Viety's proposal is a moving those standards into  academic

041and just he didn't really touch on this,   but when you look at the um standards and the way  that they pulled them down, this is a a a great   deal of work um for each standard. And they do  that in math, they do that reading, they do that   in science, they do that in social studies and  everything. So because of the attention that's   put onto the second step curriculum and the  common common sense curriculum which is our   digital citizenship curriculum. um this year with  that whole big block of time that is given to that   we feel that we need to elevate these standards  on SEO to mean something more and that's why we   are suggesting to put them into the um sorry the  yellow board and then as review process see what   happens currently right

042now is they let the kids  know a couple days for graduation couple days when   we yeah when we re um like the Friday before uh  the week of graduation uh when we release the caps   and gowns we release all that information and then  it becomes a stressful cuz parents are contacting   uh regarding attendance regarding academic  performance and then we're all running you know   running around looking at at the grade books uh  we're looking in and attendance going back saying   No, you had you were not here in October. There  were some days that were that this the student   was not there and um and going over that and  I get it 9 months of school you forget what   happens in the beginning. That's why in this plan  what we wanted to do was outline everything share  

043all the expectations up for upfront release that  information and then have that review period so   that uh individuals know and we don't want to do  it too soon because we want students to still be   able to work hard but we want them to know that  yes I'm eligible for a gold cord or no at this   point I'm not eligible for a gold cord but I'm  eligible for a red or green for say let's say   um So, we want to be able to have them uh work  towards that still. And so, we figured the   month of May allows that time so that when we get  closer, it's not a mad dash running around looking   at everything and then parents upset and you know,  ultimately teachers frustrated. We wanted to kind   of ease the process. I think

044the commentary that  I've been hearing quite a lot is GPA system.   um you know anything above and I don't know  what the number is in terms of all honesty   let's say anything above a 3.8 GPA gets a  lower here. You get a little bit of yellow,   you're out of the line. And you know, I think  that's where there's not that consistency. And   I just think it's something that we probably I I  don't know should take a look at, should consider.   I I don't know. We don't have numbers like that.  So, we don't go up to GPA. Um, you know, I think   we could look at a percent just to see what  that would look like just so that the board can   consider that if we wanted to look at something  like that. If you're looking

045at a 3.8, I know   that was just a guess for you. I'm assuming that's  on a four scale. So, you've got a little bit of a   difference. Not a lot, you know, not a lot. That's  not all eight, but it's a little bit. Um, and it's   something we can explore. It just came and and  bringing up I'm an eighth grade parent and also   during curriculum night it was brought up quite  a bit by other parents like what do we find out   about the courts? What do we need to know about  courts? What do we need to know about the Spanish   honors? So, you know, it came up quite a bit.  Yeah. It and it's something unfortunately that   if we're going to make this change, we probably  should have the board do an action item on.

046So,   we We're going to hold back Mr. Becky a little bit  further and be able to have those conversations. So, I want you to have enough time to to consider  this change. This is a bit of a change. Parents,   I think for for me in my role, I have had more  conversations with parents about the purple cord   than anything else. Yeah. Truly. because um a  parent a student might get something of a minor   minor but it's still a minor and then if they  get a second one later and I get many parents   um that want to you know threaten us. I've had a  parent that sat outside where my car was parked   to try to meet with me and you know I didn't  meet with anybody um and they just get very very   heightened about

047this. So we want to try to work  with our parents and ease this process for them.   That's why I think the May review time um will  help them to take a look at and then we have   time for the conversations. We have time to say  nope this is where this is and parents can feel   heard as well. Right now with that weakness  we just feel we don't have an opportunity.   The only thing I've heard with the piece of it  were kids that were coming late is they had very   allergy shots or something along those lines where  they really that's had or that's had braces, you   know, like those appointments or Yep. This takes  attend. This is about learning and not compliance. um which I think is good and it it's be  quite frank with you.

048I think those areas   that we've had in the past just you know  what we first went with when we came into   um standard space but I don't think that this  is a good representation of anal standard. So   looking at the standards that they've now and also  tied to our curriculum and this is much more of a   presentation about jobs. We did feel it was good  for Dr. Regula to share Lee just so you know, but   there's not any changes to the league standards.  This is more changes to the job standards. It became a compliance. You know,   are you in school? Are you turning in  your homework? That's not learning. So, would the would the board what would  the board like to see next? Do you want   me want us to explore a a a 3.8

049area and  bring that back to you next month with the   hope that maybe we do make an action item  so that we can have Mr. Bi move forward? I don't speak too much. No, that's okay. We're  your board member. I'll speak. And is it really   uh almost like a redesation of what  qualifies as mastery and all that? Well, it would be a redesation of  what qualifies for the gold award. We can explore that. I don't know what that'll  look like. We'd have to think that through   obviously meet with the eighth grade teams. We  want the teachers input too too much the district.   I think it's too much for you guys. I mean um  is it one of the things that makes it difficult   with tying numbers is I'll have um when a student  transfers to

050a high school other than Rididgewood,   they'll contact me and and they don't use  standardsbased grading and they'll ask me,   "Well, what's the GPA tied to this?" And I I  could I tell them all the time, I can't answer   that question because we don't have a numbered  system tied to this because it's standardsbased   and and and it's not the the traditional grading  system that has been used in in the past from   this district or in other districts. So, it's  a complex question. So, yeah. So, but what you   could do if there are 24 standards being assessed,  cuz they're much more than 10 in an ELA standard,   you can say you've had at least 20 of the 24.  Just throwing a number out there, which could   then come up with a percent of how much in that 

051standard that would need to be mastered. It's   an option. We we should talk about all options.  Does that then open up the door for like maybe   it's not yellow like maybe you have 20% mastery  but then you have a couple that are red you know   does that open up the door to more gray area?  Yes. I think it also in my opinion makes it less. Yes. Mhm. Thank you for the word. So, so for me  it's hard because this is something real. What   I would if if we tried this last year and we're  like, "Oh, how I would like to know if we did a   3.8, do we go from 20 cords to 40 50 cords if it  fell in there?" You know what I'm saying? Like   it's hard because No, it's a good good,

052you know,  I would like to see if if you know, if we had   historical data, we did this last year and if we  implemented this a 3.8, Okay, we would have went   from 20 ports to 50 ports and we're going to be  like, well, okay, now that it takes away the, you   know, the word of of We can we can definitely pull  that data away. Oh, you can connect is is archive.   Yeah, I I would I would like to see if if you  were to consider that last based off last year,   we would have had, you know, these many boards if  we stuck to this with no yellow and if we had some   wiggle room, you're looking at an additional 40  extra boards, then I think it would be something   that we would look at

053and say, you know, we  kind of want to make it to strive to to to   be recognized in that. But I'm not saying someone  who got a 3.8 should be recognized, but you know,   why don't we do this? Why don't we pull that  data and present that at the October meeting? We   can still put an action item but be very general  with it and then we can decide what we want that   to be at the October meeting. And then I think I  actually really think it's a great idea because   then the board can see that you know it and has  you've looked at everything you've really informed   on the decision you're going to make cuz it is  a difficult decision. did it. This is very very   big deal for parents, which it should be. I'm 

054not downplaying that. But but that's why we we   want to hold this a little bit. I I know we're  early on in the year, but like when should we   solidify and say this is what we're doing, right?  We can't wait as wait October. So October 21st is   our meeting. I would not want to believe in that.  Okay. Um so that if I can certainly send you the   data as soon as we have it you can look at it  yourselves so that when you come to the meeting   and I prepared with you know your or we can  talk before of course individually with board so consider it a but it might be a minus right I I  I see I don't I I still struggle the fact that you   know correct that and plus that's a

055whole another  thing you know it's we talked about it before   where it's like you have you know obviously we're  preparing our kids to to go through the the school   system in the district right and then it's it's  a complete turnaround when you get to Ridgewood   right they do something completely different  GPA and and gradepoint averages and A's and B's   C's and like is it too much as a district to ever  consider as you get into eighth grade that it   changes. It starts to like roll into ridgewood,  right? That they when they're there, you know,   is that too much to ask for how we grade 8th grade  differently than the rest because they're getting   prepared to go into to the high school where  it's something different. Yeah. We've had these   discussions. We can continue to look.

056I don't want  you to waste time. the board is not all, you know,   like you wouldn't consider that, you know. Um I  know Mr. Beck if I may put you on the spot there.   your your children have standards based in  their district but also do give a they have   a merge it's it's a merge system that they have  where as an as a parent you could just look at   the standardsbased grading but if you wanted  as a parent to dig deeper to specifically know   if for example if it if it's in math and and  I want to dig deeper what my why my my child   is struggling on a specific standard or concept,  I can dig deeper, click within that that circle   and then it opens it up more and then I I can  see

057I can see that. So it it's the mer it's a   merge system which is which is an option uh that  that can be used. We do have that in our mastery   connect you're referring to. Well, what I'm I'm  sorry. What I guess what I'm referencing that it   would be like an a like an a letter grade like  a traditional letter grade that's attied to it.   As a parent, you can see that and then you can  you can move on. But there's a lot of work that   go and I don't know if it's something that it's  going to take time. I don't know if if one year,   you know what I mean? It's going to take time  to implement that so that everyone is on the   same page making sure that across the board all  all

058four grade levels uh fifth sixth seventh   and eighth that it it meets the that it's tied  and that it it moves up as they grow throughout   the years at Giles and it's not a system we  currently have. It's not and that's why it may   be something that have to be evaluated looked at  discussed grading system is a multi-year project.   Not saying you can't do it, but it's a multitro,  you know, because I I envision this is where,   you know, mastery and the standard base model  is very broad, right? So I I my kid in 8th grade   all masteries like this is great. And we get  to win. It's like, oh, you got B+. I'm like,   oh, who can masteries for? Like how is that  a B? Like we've always been under impression   that they're getting

059trade ace cuz or ace  or mastery. Now you go there and it's like,   well, yeah, no, it's actually plus. I was like,  "Oh, you know, it's it's a mind." Uh, you know,   but I don't know. To give you comfort with my  four children, same same thing. They'll they'll   meet the standards. They'll hit the grade point.  They're they're they're um where they need to be.   Then they get to the high school. It's a whole  new world. Different expectations. The, you know,   we're very nurturing as it is in our our mission  statement. We're very nurturing to our students,   but it's a whole different world when you get to  that high school level. And I could be wrong where   I'm looking at like all right preschool K through  fourth grade or fifth grade even like you know   we

060had split but that the standard base makes  sense right they're younger they want to learn   they want but at some point there's value to A B  C D and maybe can't as a district they do junior   high it's different uh grading system and so yeah  the first year of fifth grade might be something   that parents have to get adapted to but they  also have three more years to understand it and   then when they go to high school cuz the next,  you know, I don't know. It's just something to   think about cuz it makes sense for younger kids,  right? You just want them to learn, understand,   and that's where that that grading scale comes.  But at some point, you know, you're going to get   to high school and college where it's going to  be more of

061an APC grading scale, right? So, they   have time in the obviously this is not something  that can happen overnight, but it's something as   a board we should consider. Do we have our  administrative team start looking into what   that would look like and and if that's something  we see, you know, the future of our district. It's very elementary. [Music] Correct. Elementary.   We're treating these kids  like they're junior high. I Yeah, I don't disagree. We we do everything  to try to mirror up to to high school, right?   Because we want to prepare district 80 students  as they get into high school that they're they're,   you know, they're caught up, they every day can  get into it and and even something as simple as   grades, you know, could help them adapt and  adjust a lot quicker than getting

062there and   just their whole freshman year just kind  of confused and how how how they're doing.   But it's something to talk about. So, if I'm  hearing you correctly, if we do a phase one,   um phase two obviously being looking at a  new grading system. Um, which we can do. Uh,   it'll it'll take multiple years, but we can  definitely get there. Uh, phase one then,   do you want us next month to bring you back  ADAT data on how many additional courts or   if any additional cords we'd have? We went to some  similar to a 3.8 to a four. Let's say it that way.   I'd have to run some math. I can't do that  sitting there on how many standards there are. Um,   do you want us to bring that data to you  next month? Then we'll

063make a decision on   how we move forward. Are you comfortable with  these three or is that still in question also? Speaking of board numbers one, we see that  what what the what the gold cord could be.   So if you could, as Robert said, if you get  4 point, determine what 4.0 is. That's all   three. Determine what 3.9 is 3.8 and see how many  more students would have received that 3.8 3.9.   I can do that just just for clarity like  so like when they say it's important   it's like back in the day it was like a honor  society exactly that's this is just the court that's something I struggle with honestly Mr. and  I were working on this presentation. Um, we   call them honor cores, but it it isn't honor. You  honor you typically think of

064something higher or   something. Um, it it is a it's still a wonderful  accomplishment. And listen, at the end of the day,   too, you know, the administration moved and  everyone has put this together like, you know,   justify why you feel that all green should  be why it means a lot to get all green. Like,   you know what I'm saying? just because we  feel one way, but you guys sell the the fact   of why you think it's all should all be green  because this is the recognition. This is why,   you know, the deserving aspect of it, the  awarding aspect of it. This is why we feel   this way just because I understand we're the  board and but I like to hear the other side   of why you feel that you put this together  and and I not

065saying it's not I might not,   you know, go for it. that just you know the  justification of why you feel that this is best   for our district and why it's so rewarding to to  have all this. I agree. Let's do that next month. All right. Thank you both very much. So now  we're going to move to our assistant principal   report tonight. Typically in the beginning  of the year I'd like to review attendance   and attorneys for the board. Um we have some  slight changes on our attendance and attorney   uh policies and supports that Mr. um Bravo is  going to share with us. Thank you. Good evening   everybody. Um so just when you thought you were  done with green, yellow, red, green, yellow, red.   Um so our attendance and policies that the board  has um implemented this

066is year three is that   is years. So it's been a few years now. Um the  highlight of the of both policies is that it is a   supporting approach. It's not a punitive approach.  And as we walk through um the tiers for each one,   it's a tier system. So just like you know MTSS  or RTI program or our behavior, our academics,   we look at tier one, tier 2 and tier three in that  tier one is our universal support. So every kid in   the district is tier one. But when we need more  supports, we're looking at what do those look   like in tier 2 and furthermore in tier three. So  to talk a little bit about the attendance policy,   what that looks like is for tier one, we're  establishing those expectations for coming to   school with all

067of our students. It's a general  um you know expectation. It's a compliance piece,   but it's also you know academically healthy  piece. If we're not in school, we're not going   to be successful academically. we're also not  going to be successful social either. So that   whole child approach. Um typically when you're  looking at uh tiers and levels, you're looking at,   you know, about 80% of our students would fall  under tier one, 15% would fall under tier 2 and   5% would fall under tier three. Those are those  are statistical marks. Um when you're looking at,   you know, 486 students, you're going to have  students in all three tiers. And the goal is   is to keep it in this this triangle format. So  just what it looks like is tier one supports the   student is anywhere from zero to

068uh eight  absences. Once we get to five absences,   that's going to be a communication home from an  administrator, typically the assistant principal.   Um we do have students that I know we're only  in week three, but we do have some students that   uh we have uh five absences already. So, what  we've done with this is communicate home first   and explain why we're going to see uh an email  that comes home. So, we have a we have a standard   email that goes out that addresses families and  says basically just says, "Hey, we've noticed   that your child has five absences. We're here  to support you. This isn't a we're calling,   you know, the police on you. We're not doing any  of those things, but how can we support you? Is   there something going on that we can help

069with?  Are there obstacles that we can maybe help uh   remove? Is it something where a student is just  nervous about coming to school? Especially at le nervous and they get scared and sometimes they  don't want to come in. But how do we work with   families to to ensure that this is a safe  nurturing environment uh for their child to   come to as that continues on tier 2 would look  like once we get to nine absences? Um a phone   call will be made by myself uh to the parents or  guardians. uh we may set up a meeting with the   student and or parents. Um and then the same thing  repeats if we get to 13. So these are basically   just like benchmarks as we're as we're progressing  along. And then for each one of the benchmarks,  

070we we intensify our support a little bit more.  When we get to 15 absesses, we're looking at   tier three supports where now we're talking about  not only communication uh in terms of phone calls   and emails, but in-person meetings for sure with  the family to see if we can work through some   things and put a a behavior intervention plan in  place that could help the child um get to school.   Once we get to 17 absences, we're looking at  possibly home visit, possibly some other supports.   For example, um I've been in touch with  uh West 40 and their truency department,   so we haven't connected yet, but introduce myself  today. Um and they have supports that they can   do from their end, whether that's, you know, any  type of wraparound services, community services,   uh home visits themselves, just

071things that how  do we work with families to um get students here?   There's a hundred different reasons why kids may  not be coming to school. how can we help support   that behavior? So, that's what this uh method is  all about for the tardiness. It's a very similar   system where we have benchmarks in there for when  we're going to be communicating home and how we're   going to be doing this. Um, and sometimes we we  overlook tardiness. It's not that big of a deal,   but as Dr. Dr. put out in his tracks, I think  the first week, was that just 10 minutes a day   being late equates to 30 hours a year of lost  learning time. It doesn't sound like much,   but it's a big deal. Um, so again, when we  see things happening and we see

072patterns,   we're going to be working to support families  um throughout the process. So again, the the   uh the tardy policy is it mirrors the attendance  policy pretty much where we're looking at after   five parties, nine parties, 13 as we go down  that line, the level of supports that we're   going to put in place. Again, it's not a punitive  system. It's a support system. Now, that's the   compliance piece. what we like to do and I'll  speak to Lee um celebrating our students that   um are coming to school. So, couple different  ways we do this. We have some options for you.   Uh the September September celebration is the  stay cool come to school celebration where uh   freeze pops will be uh the reward for the winning  grade level. So, the entire grade level that wins,   we'll do

073like a Friday freeze pop celebration for  them. And how we do that is we take um the weekly   attendance. We look at it by our percentage  of attendance. And I am happy to report that   schoolwide right now we're averaging just over  95% attendance which is really good. Um you know   sometimes things happen where kids come back to  school and all of a sudden we're you know we're   going home sick. You know the we're getting  together the people we haven't been with in a   while. Sometimes uh we we're not feeling so good.  But 95 we're over 95% right now. That's looking   great. And what we'll do is this is an example  of a popcorn reward from last year. We're doing   freeze pops this month. But each of the little  popcorn containers is showing the grade level  

074and the weekly percentages of where they're at. So  we will display this for the for the freeze pops.   And then once we get to the end of September,  uh we'll announce the winning um grade level. At Giles, we celebrate our students with a  trimester at the end of each trimester with a   pizza party. And uh based on that implementation  that we did last year, we have seen growth. We   have better data. Uh food's always the motivator  to us our students, but also the academic piece,   letting them know that, you know, it's important  to make sure you set goals for yourself, you're   working hard to attain those goals, and that it's  not a can't be a short-term goal, has to be a   long-term goal. So through our staff, through  advisory, through our building relationships,   having discussions,

075our communication with our  parents, through our newsletter, uh those are   all helpful uh helpful ways to celebrate and get  the word out that it's important to be in school. Question for this celebration, if they again  have a doctor's appointment or something,   does that count against them? So the absences  are broken down into two categories. There's   excused and unexcused absences for the tally  of the attendance. Both of them go into So   short answer to your question is yes. Um it  would count against because they're absent.   Um again that might be something we we could  look at but that is the uh the current policy and Giles. Is that individually uh that  qualify or is that based by class? No,   that's individual. Okay. Yeah, that's based  on individual. And they qualify with perfect   attendance or Yeah, perfect

076attendance. Uh showing  up uh we also look at tardies as well, making   sure and celebrate that as well. We're also uh  actually we're doing a pizza party tomorrow too,   but not in regards to our attendance, but we  have a pizza party scheduled for all of our new   students as well, just as a way to get all of our  new students that are in the building together,   celebrate them, and and kind of make  them feel at home in their new school.   I do want to just point out on um both of these  attendance and tardies if you look down at the   bottom where you have 19 or more which is  extremely obsessive. One of the options that   we have used in the past and it's actually  been very successful is the Norwich Police   Department going out

077and issuing a ticket to the  child's family. Currently, right now in Illinois,   it is banned from issuing a ticket to the student.  However, we feel um interpreting that new law to   be well means we can still raise parent. There are  actually people that disagree with that. So that's   still kind of getting worked out. Um and of course  we utilize our now our SRO officer works with that   in any way. If we can't issue a ticket, we still  would have our SRO officer work with the family.   The good part of issuing the ticket and Mr. has  attended many of these then that parent has to   go to family court or to court nor in Norwich and  it's not the money it truly is not um if the if   the ticket even stays with the financial aspect 

078is is rare but the communication and the talking   between the judge Mr. Yaki from the school  district and the family typically help and   just help to have that you know the judge will say  what's going on where are you you know many times   have gone behind and talked with the family say  you need to get your child you know as uh as we   pointed out earlier there could be things going on  that we don't know are going on and as the in my   role or in any of their roles over there we want  to help them. So if there's something going on   um where a student is having school refusal in  some way, somebody is bothering that student and   we don't know about it, that's a problem. So we  have this this tiered system in

079order to help us   to talk to parents to talk to families to work  with families quicker and quicker. As you know,   uh attendance and um attorneys do count against us  in our rating on Illinois State Board program. So   we do work very hard on trying to get kids  to school. Plus, kids are more successful   while they're in school. Any other questions  about that? Thank you. Thank you very much. We'll move on to administrative reports. Uh  superintendent, Mrs. No discussion. Okay. special   education. Mr. Masters. Sure. I've got two quick  uh updates. So, one is actually a celebration. Our   preschool program was actually recently awarded  with a gold uh rating through the Accelerate   program, which is basically a a quality insurance  uh improvement system. So, that is the highest   recognition that they can give. So, bravo to

080our  preschool team. It's very exciting to see that. Um   and then also our special education committee  will be meeting um on the end of this month,   September 30th. We're going to be talking about  a host another of uh topics throughout the   department including um con considering different  approaches to writing and kind of uh levvening   that across all of our writing goals such as  using norm reference criteria to ensure that   consistency report. Thank you very much. Building  reports child Mr. I'd like to thank the PTA. We   had our first assembly with Staley the Bear. It  was bear down on bullies which was our first uh   uh our first uh work with our students on treat  having them treat each other with respect. So   it was a very successful uh assembly. So thank  you to the PTA

081for getting us started. Um also   uh I want to make note to everyone for sixth grade  parents physicals and immunization are due by   October 15th. If a student is not in compliance  with the Illinois State Board of Education law,   they they are not able to attend school come  October 16th, which is a month from today. So,   I've been communicating a blasting out to our  sixth grade families. Just want to make note,   please get your physicals turned into nurse Nelly  and make sure the vaccinations are complete. Um,   the vision test or excuse me, dental test is May  15th. So, they have some time for that. But if you   have it, just turn it into our nurs's office. And  that concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you,   Lee Spool, Dr. Riola. Thank you. Um, also, uh,  want

082to give a thank you out to the, uh, PTA for   bringing us daily as well. That was a was a great  time. Um, and also wanted to uh, you know, make   sure to say thank you to North Schools Foundation  for the sensory path and the two outdoor picnic   tables that uh, they were able to provide.  Those are going to be uh, we're looking for   a spot either in the courtyard or the uh, south  lot to uh, put those on and looking forward to uh,   having a little spot where kids can uh, you know,  sit and gather a little bit outside. And also uh   just want to mention that we have completed our  beginning of the year assessments and right now   we're in the stage of planning out all of our  um win time plans. That's

083our interventions and   um we're really excited uh this year with having  two interventionists at le majority of our grade   levels we've been able to significantly expand the  number of students that we're able to provide that   support for. Um and that's very exciting. So that  includes my report. Thank you. Discipline reports.   Giles. Uh no report. B school. No report. Good.  Thank you. Board committees. Education. Nothing   to report. Uh it would have been immersed in the  regular meeting if so. Board policy development.   Uh we met right before tonight's meeting and  reviewed the possible 119 uh most of it up until   the 700s because um this coming month we will  uh review the 700s and uh meet on that for the   following months. The 700s are on the table  for Yeah. They're they're needy. So this is   going

084to take us a couple of months. Yeah. But  they're very important. This is nonstruction. Um billion grounds. Superintendent Kusk  will address in your discussion. Behavioral   intervention. Nothing to report. I would be  in this regular meeting. So negotiations and   human resources. I just wanted to thank the  teachers union me for their working with us.   Uh the contract is now signed finance. Uh we had  our hearing earlier of this meeting and in a bit   later we will vote whether to approve the budget  communications. I understand the fall edition is   soon to be finalized. the uh uh newsletter,  I should say. Nor Park District. Uh again,   I'd like to thank them for their  accommodating boys and girls soccer   at the park. Very helpful. And now on to  discussion items. Great. Thank you very much. Okay. To begin with,

085I wanted to share it as I  do every September where our enrollment ends. Um   the number of preschoolers at this moment, 71. I  think we had a couple of more um uh join us after   the screening on last Friday. Um that's a really  good place to be in September. Um as you know,   the preschool program, we can have 120 students in  the classroom, but the grant covers 102. Um so 71   is great, wonderful. We had 96 last year and I'm  sure that by the time uh we get to the end of the   year that number will be up way up. Kindergarten  were pretty steady. Um we have seen a decrease   in kindergarten students 72 73 this year. One of  our theories had been on that is because families   were looking at other options for longer

086daycare  in kindergarten which had been holding still.   But we look at the first grade numbers this  year, they're not up as much as they've been   in the past. Typically, we bring in 18 18 to 20  new first graders, and we didn't this year. So,   that is definitely an area we're going to have  to watch. We do only have four kind first grade   classrooms and four kindergarten classrooms. If  that trend continues, then we're going to have to   have some hard conversations about stacking.  Second grade, pretty steady at 104 to 108.   third grade. Now you'll see that that increase  started to hit where we had 128, now 105, and then   that continues through. I won't read all those  numbers for you. Our highest numbers being in all   of our classes in China, we did not see a

087great  increase as we have been feeling on um Ukrainian   students this year for whatever reason. Well, last  year I think we had 60 new students and this year   we did not see that increase. So I don't know if  that's something that will continue in the future.   I don't know if that's our current climate of the  world. I I'm not sure. That's definitely something   we have to keep an eye on. So we'll continue to  watch enrollment and have conversations probably   starting in January about what we'll project for  next year uh based on our projection number. I   just want to point out that we're using a new  format for the weekly tracks. Uh, one of our goals   last year was to update the website, which we did.  We started a new website around July 1st. I've   heard

088wonderful feedback on the weekly tracks and  on the new website. Um, in the tracks now, which I   think like over 90% of our people are are parents  are looking at the tracks on their phones and not   on a computer. And this opens up completely on  your phone now. So much user friendly than it   was. Here's a copy or this is where the Giles  tracks is. We still have a side index over here   in the left. So if you want to go directly to the  lunch menus, you could do that. You can go through   and see what you have. This also translates  up here in this translate button. And if you   choose your language, there are over 100 million  I think it's 124 different languages which in my   mind didn't know they were so there. Um

089and it is  of course all ADA accessible as well. So want to   thank the admin team. This was definitely a change  moving over to this format, but our administrative   assistants in the offices have done a really  great job and we're really proud of our our   changes on the front. As you know, in September,  it's big fire a big safety drill month. Um,   we have been rolling out our standard response  protocol which is in line with the other area   schools. I think this is to my knowledge the first  time we've all been in line on what we're using in   the words and that is so that the area surrounding  emergency departments can also use the same words.   Um so I just uh couple weeks ago sent out all of  the safety information for Giles. is a

090little bit   different from from lead. And then in this past  week's tracks, I talked about uh asking parents   how they can help us with having conversations  with their children at home. So, we do the big   education piece all throughout the year. We run  many different drills. We do have safety checks.   Safety checks are when we stop um in the morning  at school at dry and we check our backpack.   We now have put in vape detectors um in all of  our bathrooms at dry. Um we have not received a   student vape incident uh as of today. Hopefully we  won't get one tomorrow that I just said that. Uh   we also do have a contract with safety dogs that  will walk through a uh they look for different   items that shouldn't be in a school. We have

091our  procedures moving forward and uh we're finalizing   that. In fact, our SRO officer, Officer Tomaso,  is working on a crisis manual book and updating   everything. And of course, we are now full on with  our alarm locks this year. So, all of our doors   are locked during the day, all day. And um Mrs.  Garcia has been working very hard on getting those   um up and running. Little things that happen here  and there like a battery has to be changed out,   but overall it's been very smooth this  year. It's our first year. We started   the year with all the alarm locks on.  It's working well on even the Saturday   rentals of the two schools. Everything's  going really well. So, big safety month.   Lot of different things going on at uh policy  review for this month. The policy

092committee met August, July, I can remember when we went and  went over the 600s. Uh we also had some input   from some board members. So today in in board  book, you will have seen um you'll see a page   that goes through what the policy is and then  what we're recommending changing. These are   pretty minor. Um and you can see adding like  the vision and the mission statements in 610   was only the mission statement. decided to  add the vision also. Uh 6.30 is clarifying   half day and full day kindergarten. We  will have to change that again in 2027,   but that's that's okay. Uh 6160 is a clarify  multi-ingual learners instead of English   learners. Um we decided in um 6210 to clarify  the movie ratings. It did say a movie that was   um our had to have

093superintendent, we move that  down to PG. Yeah, we feel and we do that is what   we do on policy and whenever we do watch a  movie like that, we send out notification. um like if they read a book and then they watch  a movie after watch clarify access to electronic   network with 6 colon 235 and then clarifying  our research resource person's volunteers that   resource person is not the school resource  officer that's people that come in and and   uh provide resources for our students.  So we are recommending that we pass   all of that tonight in consent and then  again you have the 700 with you today. So one of the other uh topics that I have in my  discussion today is I um have been talking with   a parent who wanted me to bring to the

094board  um and wanted the board to have a conversation   just revisit the issue with uh smartwatches.  I gave you a little snippet here of what the   student parent handbook currently has in it. And  it does say that smartwatches along with phones,   smartphones, audio, visual equipment, all  should be off and away during the day,   out of sight, covered off. Um, so today I'm  asking the board to have a conversation or to   discuss if this is the policy that we want to  continue with. Um, and I'm going to share with   you the conversation that I had with a particular  parent. The name of the parent, not important,   doesn't matter. Just that I had the conversation  with the parent um this week. This week. So   um this parent feels that it is important  for the board to revisit

095this policy   um because they feel that the positives  of a smartwatch in particular outweigh the   negatives that a smartwatch might possibly  bring um in a school setting. For example,   the parent believes that their child has a  monitoring of their blood pressure during   the day, their heart rate, and of course, their  location. So, those levels of protection. Um,   and there have been some studies where a student  might have an issue with blood pressure or heart   rate, and they've had a smartwatch has notified a  family of that or a parent of that. That is true.   There have been studies on them and they feel  that that information outweighs um any of the   safety. When I say safety, I mean safety on  the internet or safety on um uh technology   that that we have outlawed forth. Um and

096also  just to show you here's what the policy states.   um policy. It's in our 7 col 190 where it talks  about all electronic devices must be optioned   away. So just to give you a little idea of  Illinois law, Illinois law considers smart watches   wearable technology. That's the phrase of the age  wearable technology. And there has been a proposal   of outlying wearable technology in Illinois. It  is Senate Bill 2427. And this came up in the last   uh Senate when they met and it was called by the  Senate and it did pass 55 to0. So it is a bill   that was passed um on all sides of the Senate.  It was never called in the House. It was fully   tabled in the House. They read a couple different  articles on why it was not called in the

097House.   Most of them referred to the fact that there  was a deficit budget that had to be discussed   in the House and it just got pushed under. One um  article I read about that said that they want to   tweak some things in the policy and I don't know  it is supposed to pass. It's expected to be called   in the fall video session. So that that says that  a district must create a policy that states that   wearable technology, including smartwatches,  of course, um also phones, would be limited use   during instruction time and incorporate guidance  for safety and secure storage by 2627. Again,   this is not passed, but that's just what the law  states. um if it doesn't. So, should we consider   changing the policy? You know, why would we want  to consider that? Um going off

098that information   that when I spoke with the parent, um they also  did feel that it isn't consistently followed in   the district, which I agree with. I did I agreed  with them on that. Uh the parents feeling was we   might have one teacher that might say take it off  and one teacher that might not say take that off.   That to me is an error on our administrative  side, not on um and that could be mitigated.   Uh the other reasons why we consider changing the  policy is student health data um monitoring the   blood pressure and heart rate, the GPS tracking  that also happens on a smartwatch and you could   do fitness tracking on it. You can see how many  steps you walked, you know, throughout the day.   Reasons why we should consider not changing  the policy is

099it's a classroom distraction.   uh students become too connected to the outside  world of that classroom. So when you're in the   classroom, you should be focused on being in  the classroom, learning in the classroom. And I   while I understand it might be a parent texting a  student because even if you're on the school mode,   you can have a parent come through and text  a student. Um, there are ways that a parent   can contact a student in a school day by calling  the office and getting a message to the student   that wouldn't need to go through the student's  watch that's on them. Uh, student safety. So,   this one kind of goes both ways with me where  I understand the GPS aspect of it. Um, however,   if there was a crisis that would happen, that  student needs to

100focus on the teacher's direction   and not on what the parent is telling them to do  inside of their watch. Now, the I love you guys uh   organization started because there was an incident  that happened in a school and a particular   uh child of the people that started this text  their parents I love you guys and that's how that   whole organization started. the I love you guys  organization which is what we are following all   of our training under in Norwich in Howard Heights  Schiller Park is um every 15 minutes if a student   has a device they should take that device out and  text their parent if there was a crisis situation   going on. However, after that 15inut text they  really should be putting their phones down so   that they can allow systems to be open. If

101you  have it something some kind of crisis that happens   at a school, you you have systems that become and  what I'm talking about with systems is the phone   system, the crowding of all those systems. Um that  could become an issue. Uh another area students   have access to social media in all areas then. So  if a student is walking around with that watch on,   they're going into a bathroom, they now have  access to social media with that. They have   access to test texting each other. it becomes um  could become a distraction and and quite frankly   could become a a discipline issue. Um I guess my  next comment on dependence of technology to me   um I think it's an issue in our society today.  We're becoming too dependent on technology and   I think it's something down the

102road and I'm  not qualified to say this just my personal   opinion. It's something down the road that that  could hurt. Um, not all parents will use the   parenting controls. Some will and some will  be very responsible for that and some won't.   And it is not up to that teacher to to look at  the watch to figure out who is using what. Um,   it also would encourage offline activities. And  the question on if they're age appropriate to   whatever they could find or search or text or look  up on on a phone. Yes, we have Chromebooks. um   that Chromebooks have uh have protections on them  that would stop them from being able to look up or   roll out to look at things. But ultimately, this  is a board policy just like all the other board   policies that

103we have. Um so that is something  that you as a board need to have a discussion   about and decide if that's something that you  would like us to change in our policy. Um,   and it's probably more of a change in our handbook  than our policy because I would think this period,   this part and 7 col 1 190 would stay either way.  Are other districts pretty consistent question?   So, um, I found I can tell you about our around  us. Um, Ridgewood doesn't have a band except   during testing. Uh, Poyer, they have those. Do you  remember those uh things you put your shoes on on   the back of the doors? So they have those. You go  in your class, you put your phone in there, you   put your watch in there, you go off in class, you 

104do your stuff, you leave, you pick up your stuff,   and you walk up. Some schools um but not the ones  around us actually have those packs that lock. I   think you're I think this is Garcia's husband has  them. uh not so unit ridge doesn't have a specific   band on it. However, they do still have the same  language that we have above and away in their   information as well. In United States, it varies  state from state. I think there are 14 states that   have bans on um on self smartphones. Uh France,  the Netherlands, uh Britain have all banned them,   which I thought very interesting. That's why I  included that there. I found a uh some re research   done by Ed Weekly which was done in August of 2024  where they asked um you know who what

105percentage   of of school districts have that have a policy  or not. 34% of them said it was permissible   in certain situations to have a smartwatch. 29%  consider are considering a full policy of banning   them. 26% um are not considered considering  a policy at all and 11% have banned them   completely. [Music] Correct. Correct. And you said  they have a policy. They have the same language   that we have right here. Mhm. But they don't have  a that language that we have right there. Yeah. When I asked all of the area superintendents, they  were like, "Yeah, please don't don't worry about   like this wasn't even um and then I will just I'll  be quiet after this unless did you want to share   the others?" Oh, go ahead and finish and and we  feel we can speak and um

106I have uh input from the   two members not here today but did care to send  their an email with their that's everything else. Should I mention that now or Uh Jim Bjack response uh I feel the policy should not change to  allow smart watches to be worn unless it is   medical necessary including Dr. uh we brought  in an SRO to address safety concerns. I do not   see the benefit of allowing them to be  worn, but rather see the potential for   an increase in distractions along with the  potential for damage to happen. But I would   like I see more negatives that could come  from a policy change opposed to positives. Amanda Rose. Um, from my experience teaching  in classrooms, she's a substitute teacher   currently. Uh, I believe we should not  change the policy to allow smart

107to   allow smart watches. These devices create  unnecessary distractions and take away   from valuable instructional time which  should remain fully focused on learning.   I understand parents concerns about safety,  but I believe our district is addressing   those concerns effectively, including through  the hiring of the school resource officer. [Music] I mean, obviously I see both sides,  right? Um, in the world we live today,   there's a lot of things that happen and it's just  that extra layer of security for parents. Um, but   I also see the potential distraction. Um I feel  that if something like this then we really have   to look at as we are doing and going through our  policies go to hold everyone accountable to make   sure they're enforcing these policies that it's  a streamline for you know so we don't get into   these kids do

108and just because my teachers address  them and the others don't it becomes an issue. Um, I do also think with, you know, cell phones in  general, like some of the things you addressed   with potential distractions, even though it's away  and put away, they still can sneak it. They can   still bring it into the bathroom and we we don't  search, you know, every kid before they go to the   bathroom and make sure their phone's not there. So  there's always going to be no matter what policy   you put in place that there's could be potential  distractions and people abusing and trying to get   around certain policies. So it's just because  we put something in writing is not going to   restrict potential distractions. Um so I I'm I'm  torn between both. Um and I see both sides. So

109um these past couple of weeks have been [Music] yes access their phones you  know a number of different ways on   their list is a lot easier to access in  case of an emergency but I also [Music] But I just think, you know, we can't just keep  holding policy. Can't just say this is our policy.   The lies behind its effort. It's not gonna it's  not gonna be totally honest because to me it's   like you tell me that you know oh we have officer  but it's between two schools. So if that's our   role officer here's what happens you know it's or  vice versa but I guess the policy is the policy I   think you know the risk of distraction is  probably greater than you know the reward hopefully we never have to be in a situation  where

110they have to trigger that occur through   that but at one time there's that one  possib they ever do. It's not, you know, and I I think everything right there risk and  you know that people are going to, you know,   if someone has an Apple Watch and that they could  be good and not use it and there's always a bad   Apple that might be a distraction and then  do you look at it as, you know, you punish,   it's hard to say that you punish the kids that  are responsible and and you know because there's   a couple that make it a distraction, right?  So, you know, providing for out of a number   of things. Can you go ahead? I believe that  parents can convince their child to say if   you were wearing it, you wouldn't do this,

111this,  this, and this. But if for every one student that   would be disciplined enough to do a 38 or five  you couldn't or three couldn't and you can't   be selected and saying you have a discipline  to wear a watch you all can't. So that alone be like it'd be like creating policy tailored per  family. We can't do that also prosecute from what   I understand as superintendent where parents were  not in front as a superintendent in a few words   possible. What is your suggestion? My suggestion  would be to keep the handbook as it is. Keep the   policy right in it as it is. Just let the teachers  teach. They just want to teach and there's so many   distractions throughout the day to begin with.  Let's not put another thing on them that they   have to worry

112about a smartwatch. What one of  the things I was, you know, naturally all of us   talk to our computer. I was trying to review  how does the smartwatch make a student safer and all I could really think of  is it just enables the student to   tell their parent they're okay fast. It's a  matter of speed and ease and say I'm okay. But in the actual happening of anything dangerous,  I don't see what that advantage would be.   Especially when in any time of danger, the teacher  has to have command of this classroom and say,   "You be quiet. Don't be quiet. You know, listen  to me like I'm going to help keep us all safe."   And what would you want kids going? That's  that's just a little I don't know if that's   an exaggeration but the teacher

113does need  command of the classroom that same teacher   is being trained what to do and I was going to  ask apart from earlier in the year and meeting so   they have classes in the beginning of the year  the SRO's meeting with them he's referring to   the teachers or the teachers how yes and the  training in terms of classroom management in   terms of safety and danger and stuff like that.  Yes. Yes, we you know we're working on that   reunification plan. So there are we are constantly  working with the teachers and and officer Tomas   plays a very big role in that. And then another  question because you have it in the slide here uh slide with safety journals. when any of these situations even when slightly approaching anything  uh concerning safety lockdown anytime if at those times

114the student says can  I contact my parent and the teacher the   teacher could allow that. So in  a crisis time then what we are   training the teachers is yes you want the  student if it's if it's a phone if it's a   smartwatch and it's in their backpack  and that's where they are you know in   the classroom then they're they're going to  tell them that is the training that we are you want to hear from your child I have heard um and I don't know if this  is a solution at all but I have heard a   conversation had a conversation with a bunch of  preschool parents and they have those air tags.   I guess they have shoes that I don't know too  heard with these shoes. Look at Sketchers. They   have Air Tags in their kids

115backpacks.  Now an Air Tag from what I understand,   I don't have one. I haven't experienced it  firsthand, but you can track where where   things are. Um and I don't know if that's another  piece of mind for a parent. Maybe maybe that's an   option and that's not a two-way communication  device. And I understand that's limited,   but at least you would be able to look at and  know. Maybe it's a piece of mind. I don't know.   But I know a bunch of school parents are are  using them. And I understand their shoes now   that have a little pocket that you can even put  on. I also think if there is a situation where   there's a safety concern, of course, you want them  to be focusing on the adult that is trying to keep   them safe. in that

116situation. But also, while  I think that we tell ourselves that it would   be reassuring because we'd be able to communicate  them and hear back from our child right away, you   may or may not. And just because you don't hear  back from them right away doesn't mean they're   not safe. They could be following a direction.  They could be moving from point A to point B.   So it could also cause unnecessary fear in  those situations too where you reaching out   to your child and not hearing me back. So that  it can you know in the same way you maybe like   my mom will call me and I won't call back for  a couple hours like oh I was just starting to   worry about you know it creates this illusion that  you can have instant contact and you

117can't always recent I I saw an email go out reinforcing  the policy you I how many parents even know   that they're not allowed and have really had  a lot of distractions with Apple Watches or   watches today? Um, so I don't think it's going  to I'm not saying to consider changing policy,   but I don't I don't know have we had a lot of  issues with Apple Watches as a distraction. I'm   not saying it never happens because I'm sure it  does. Um, but if we start enforcing it, it might   those a little bit more louder conversations of  of of that. You know, I'm not saying, you know,   do you do we put policies in place because yes,  we want to follow, but at the end of the day,   we also don't want our teachers to be looking

118at  people's risks to say no watches, no watches. Or   do we say all right, it's in there, so we have  support if it does come through that say, hey,   it's our policy. But at the same time, it's very  somewhat gray where if you see a cake that is or   distracting, that's where you have leverage to  say, well, it's part of the policy, right? Um,   absolutely. Yeah. I think, you know, I can comment  on I comment on all that, but a teacher's not   looking for it. Just like if you, as someone just  mentioned, you can have your cell phone on, right?   Cell phones are supposed to be off in a way,  but if a student student is going off to the   bathroom and the student is going out, we're not  checking the student. You know, we're

119not they're   not walking in the door arms up with their shirts.  You know, it becomes more of if if it's noticed,   take it off and put it away. That's really what  it is. You might identify that as a gray area.   I don't see that as gray. I see that as we're  not checking every kid for every and I don't   want us to do that. That's not we're not in a in  a military state where we need to be the kids walk   in and we're checking them just like we're not  checking to see if their phone is in their pocket.   You know, we say it's off. We see it taken away  basically on the phone that's at the junior high   or the middle school. Can you comment on that? Um  do you see distractions with smart

120watches? Oh,   absolutely. There'll be a student may not uh may  not be feeling well. They'll go to the bathroom,   contact their parent either on their cell phone  or their Apple Watch, and then the parent shows   up. We're not aware. The main office is not  aware. The nurse is not aware. Administration's   not aware. So, we have to figure that out. We'll  also have a situation where a student may not be   getting along with another student. Uh, good  choices are not being made, hurtful things   are being said to each other. Student will go to  another area, make a phone call, parents show up,   we don't have answers. It's always frustrating for  me as an administrator when I don't have an answer   for a parent and I always I need to investigate.  Allow me to investigate. Which means

121my entire   schedule that I had meetings all stop and then  I investigate cuz I have a parent that is that's   upset and I'm looking into the situation so that I  can resolve the situation. As Mrs. Gus said we're   not looking for it, but if I'm eating with a child  and I see the child go have long sleeves and then   the long sleeves go back, I see an Apple Watch.  I'll say, "What's our policy?" Off and away. And   that means not on yourself. That means in your  backpack. It needs to be turned off and in your   backpack. Once you enter our property, when  you're leaving, once you leave our property,   I tell the kids all the time, grab your cell  phone, grab your Apple Watch, whatever you need   to do. Tell everyone whatever you need to

122tell  them. Just be kind to each other, but do what you   need to do on on your personal device. Just don't  do it here because it truly becomes a distraction   to the learning environment. And the number one  ind the number one individuals that are contacting   their are the the children are the parents. I have  four I have for I have guilty of it sometimes with   my own kids. It's just it happens. But it it's a  huge distraction and it takes away from learning. Dr. [Music] uh so we've had similar situations  uh like Mr. Yates. We have had multiple times   where parents would, you know, show up to,  oh, come in to uh pick up cuz I heard that   they weren't feeling well and called the  nurse nurse like they're not here. Um,   you know, so

123obviously those are situations  where we would like to just, you know,   make sure it goes through our process, you  know, we're aware of those types of things. Um,   or if you know there is conflict with students,  like we want to be able to problem solve that and   be able to handle some of those situations. Um and  then you know we we do have some parents yeah they   they feel like they should you know be able to uh  to wear that. Um and you know it's one of those   challenging situations because it isn't something  that I think the reason that it's not you know   people feel that it's not enforced consistently  because it isn't something where it's oh come on   in where we're actually looking for it. Sometimes  there's a situation in a classroom where you

124see a   student doing something and then that prompts a  reminder. Oh, does anyone else have a watch you   need to put away? So that way it doesn't seem like  you're singling out one particular child and then,   you know, you find a few others as you're  trying to force it that way. So, you know,   it's I think it's complicated because you  don't want to, you know, run this system of,   oh, you know, roll up your sleeves, let's see  what's you know, you know, and have to do that   type of thing. But you also want to make sure that  you're enforcing things consistently so that way   you know you don't have other upset parents  wondering why this happened to their children   this other one. But yes, it has been something  that we've encountered the past couple of

125years to both principles. If a student has to come has  to communicate with their parent, can they come   to the office with your with your notice and say,  "I really need to contact." In the parent student   handbook, it it it states that a teacher can grant  permission or administrator can grant permission   for a student to use a a cell phone. We always  encourage we have a landline in every classroom.   We have a landline in in the nurs's office,  administration office, main office. So we do have   that. We understand that sometimes parents if they  don't recognize the number, they don't answer the   phone. So with permission, a student can pull out  their cell phone, make a make contact with their   parents, but as soon as they're done, we tell the  student, make sure, okay, phone off

126and put it   away. It's in your backpack. It's off and away for  the day. So we do grant that a if there's a need and I agree that you know a lot of those scenarios  is referring back to a cell phone and obviously   we're talking about an Apple Watch which kind of  similar in some regards but you know at the end   of the tape they cell phone could do a lot  more than an Apple Watch and if they have a   cell phone they're most likely going to use  their cell phone right so I again I see both   sides. I mean I think we should all just sleep  on it and think about it and the decision is   to be made today. But I don't have it as an  action. Right. So if I may add,

127we've had a   uh several infractions last year and already  this year with cheating when a student will   pull out a a device or have a device hidden or an  Apple Watch long sleeves. We've had an infraction   where cuz again we're not looking for it but  then all of a sudden it comes across we see it   as the teacher's moving around the classroom. So  we've had infractions like that happen as well.   I mean to me, so you you hear this and and and  like I said, it's the fear of every parent, right?   And you can look at it any way. But what concerns  me a little bit is that we're saying that each   kid has if this scenario happens, each kid can go  get their cell phone, right? But at the same time,   we're saying we

128don't want kids to be looking at  their cell phone or their watches to communicate   with their mom when they're supposed to be  paying attention. So, it's kind of, you know,   we're saying in in a crisis, they all go get their  phone and tell us a little bit, right? Yeah. And   that's very different to being a kid who hasn't  during the day who's looking at their phone. No,   but I No, I understand that. So is there  a way that within our protocols where it's   like whatever app that the teachers communicate  with parents if like god forbid something happens   where it's just one message to like status if  they're sitting in the classroom you know what   I'm saying that to communicate with like a class  dojo like in a crisis there where they're trained   to say like

129if they're secure in the classroom  then a message goes out to that class that you   know or I don't know is that not it's before  the the protocols on the school level. So there   are different there are different um roles that  people have in in a crisis situation and on the   school level there's communication that goes out  through messenger. So it's more that's more on   the school level. So you'll hear communication.  Um but this particular class this is a school right [Music] to say no I I agree with other was  saying I mean I know for me when my kids   were in fourth grade with Lee I couldn't  sometimes make it to get there early so I   did get my boys cell phones in fourth grade and  my husband thought I was easy, but it

130was more   for so I can track them and I can call them  after school to tell them where I'm at. So,   what I'm trying to say is I understand  parents, they want track on the week,   you know, on the watch. So, I did the same  thing with cell phone. So, but that's not   you didn't tell her to get up. No. So, after  school, Mr. Beion, you're leaving school. Yeah.   You want them home? I try to talk to them the  whole time. I get I get parents concerned. So, okay, we'll move on. Okay. Um so Walden their work  the engineers Walden our new um company that we're   working with on building facilities which by the  way they are concerned that they're not going to   have a full facilities board till their November  meeting. Don't think I've

131shared that with all   of you. So, we should have a preliminary report  for the buildings and grounds committee meeting   in October, but we probably will expect to see  them presenting the full facility plan to you   in November. So, what they discovered, and  I tried very hard here in these pictures to   show this to you. So, this is the courtyard area,  uh, like the oldest part of the building from the   back. They consider this the third floor. So if  what you're looking at here that's circled right   underneath it, this is the teachers lounge.  This is the walkway that connects the gym   area over here to the fifth and sixth grade wing  and where the main office is at Giles over here.   So, this middle window right here, which is right  here, it looks like, if you

132didn't know what was   happening, it looks like the window is pushing  in. But the window is not pushing in, the brick   is pushing out. And at this point is about a half  a brick of distance. So, a somewhere between 1   and 12 in to 2 in. No one is lined up and measured  that at this point. But you can see in that point   where you look down at the bottom of the window  where it's pretty close to the edge of the brick   and then follow that straight up. You can see the  cracking there and then we're about 2 in out. Now   this is not structural structural because there's  another layer of brick inside there, right? Um but   this is definitely something that we need to fix  right away. So, when exactly would right away be?  

133Most likely spring break. Um, this probably will  have to be a bidded job. We're expecting this at   this point to be over $35,000 on the repair. Uh,  this would be life safety funds. Um, or we are   exploring since we have some brick work for Giles  and the infrastructure grant if we would be able   to use that. that we don't have the answer on yet,  but one of those two would be able to work for   uh the repair. Um so I just want to bring this to  the board's attention. Again, everyone is safe,   the building is safe, the windows are safe,  nothing is falling out, but um it's something   like this that is just cuz happened over time.  Over time, what happened was water got in there   and the brick just started buckling away from  the

134structure. And again, there's another layer   of brick inside there that keeps the the windows  in place. Um, but that's a repair that would need   to happen sooner than later. They don't like doing  brick work uh once we get to the cold months. Um,   and quite frankly, we we wouldn't have time with  the bidding process and everything. And they don't   feel this really qualifies as an emergency bid  um or emergency job. It's definitely something we   have to put attention to and do quickly, but not  at an emergency scale. So, this is great, great,   not great that we have to do it, but great that  they found it. Then I just have a couple of last   things to share with you. West Cook, which is your  organization, the schoolboard organization has a   Elm Crest. they have that

135you should have received  an information about this in your email but you   registration is still open until the 19th so if  anyone would like to attend we'll register you for   it too and the district will cover the small cost  of it banquetss and they are having the teacher   of the year who is actually from one one of the  lights high schools might be a really interesting   name if you are free that evening and would like  to um hear from your organization along that   lines, the joint conference, which is the IASB  and the IASA and the IASBO um conference, the 21st   to the 23rd of November. This is typically the  weekend before Thanksgiving every year downtown   encompasses about five or six different hotels, a  very large conference. Um if any board members are   interested in attending

136this, Mrs. De Moore and  I typically attend this conference, but if anyone   else would like to join us, please let us know.  will register you. Quick question about that.   In signing up for that, how committed are you to  use whole day events, whichever you pick on you   want? Yeah, it's really up to you. There's always  a keynote speaker. That's usually very good. We've   always enjoyed the keynote speakers. There's also  you can build in time there to see the exhibits   to go. They have people from LEASB that answer  questions for you. You look at your sessions,   pick some sessions to go to, but that's completely  it. The only thing I would warn you is on Saturday   um is the parade and that's right on Michigan  Avenue. So, you won't get out of there Saturday   by 3:00

137Wednesday. No, it's the Mickey Mouse. Um  I think it's Christmas idea. Yeah. If you want to   stay down there for the parade, great. Perfect.  Hang on for the parade. You're right there. Uh if   you don't want to stay down there, you'll never  get across Michigan. So, it's it's difficult.   And then I I believe this is my last slide. Uh  bingo starts on on Friday, September 19th. Doors   open at 5:30, start at 6:30. The students from  Lee um will receive a uh popcorn. Well, tell me,   Dr. Ray. Yeah, the classroom that has the most  participants will receive a popcorn. Thank you.   And then the individual students who have someone  attended um for Giles will receive 25 PBIS points.   So, please come out. Our last bingo, which was  in May of last year, was well attended. We're  

138really excited. um and looking forward to another  successful year. And as Dr. Ravioli mentioned   um earlier, some of the things that were  purchased for lead and we're in the works on   um with the rest of the district um were from  the big bill proceedings. They've also NSF has   put out a grants process for teachers, grade  levels or schools to fund different projects   that go directly to the students. I'll tell  you more about that next month. Oh, I'm sorry.   Next month we also need to have an e-learning  hearing. So similar to the hearing we had today   at the beginning of the meeting we'll start a  meeting we'll go into a hearing. Uh the purpose   of this every 3 years we have to reook at our  e-learning plan. Uh so this is our year of doing   that.

139We'll do that at the October meeting paper.  Um and if any um people have any comments on what   our plan looks like. Um and then after that  we just review it until 3 years. That's fine. Thank you. Consent agenda. I will make a  motion to approve 15A through 15G. motion. So call please. Mrs. Theodore. Yes. Mrs.  Levela. Yes. Mrs. Irvine Barfield. Yes.   Mr. Bardi. Yes. Mr. Yes. Motion passes.  Action item. Consider a motion to approve   your school district fiscal year  2026 budget. Can I get a motion?   A motion Lauren. Roll call, please. Mr. Bardi,  yes. Mrs. Urban Burnfield, yes. Mrs. Lama,   yes. Mrs. Theodore, yes. Mr. Yes. Motion  passes. Any board comments? Yeah. one uh I   I talked about we talked about last year how the  sports urban we have access to potentially set   up

140like you have a camera set up it and then  people can log in and watch the game. Yeah,   it's on the North School District D website under  Giles school. If you click on Giles athletics,   it'll take you to the camera. Okay. So, it's all  set up. It's all set up ready to go. Yeah. Those   are in indoor gym sports for our indoor Yeah.  Not outdoor activities. Completely understood. Consider a motion to adjurnn to close  session to discuss the appointment,   employment, compensation, discipline,  performance, or dismissal of specific   employees. Can I get a motion? Um, any. All  in favor say I. I. All say nay. We will meet at 9:26 in open session at 10:31. Move on to personnel action items. Can I  get a motion to approve 19A through 19B? [Music] Second. Uh, family. Any discussion?

141Okay.  Roll call, please. Mr. Bardi, yes. Mrs. Theodor,   yes. Mrs. Lava, yes. Mrs. Irvfield,  yes. Mr. Tucil, yes. The motion passes. uh retirement. Can I get a motion to  approve 19c1 consider acceptance of   retirement letter from Andra Amato  at the conclusion of the 2027 to   2028 school year in 192 consider  acceptance of retirement letter   from Denise Muscarella at the conclusion of  the 2027 2028 school year. I need a motion. Second, roll call, please. Oh, any discussion?  Roll call, please. Mrs. Lama, yes. Mrs. Irvfield,   yes. Mrs. Theodore, yes. Mrs. Barardi, yes. Mr.  Tusio, yes. The motion passes. I need a motion   to adjourn this meeting at 10:33. All in favor  say I. I. All go say head. The meeting will now.