District 96 Board of Education Committee of the Whole Meeting 10-08-25

001[Music] All right, we are back in open session. Kathy, do we have any public comment tonight? >> No. >> Okay. Uh, with that then I will turn it I guess I was supposed to do this first. I will turn it over to uh Aaron Dwire for the welcome to Hollywood. >> Good evening Dr. Ryan Toy and school board members. It's so great to have you here at Hollywood to um start the board meeting this year. As you could probably see in our hallway, the theme is out of this world. So, you see our space theme in the hallway. You go look for our planets hanging. And it truly has been an out of this world start to our school year. Um I am so proud of the dedicated staff that uh is here at Hollywood.

002They really put their best foot forward every day. Um they started the school year setting those expectations and routines, building those classroom communities and really delving into the curriculum. Um the momentum here is so inspiring to see. Um the staff have a huge commitment to meeting the needs of all students on a daily basis in every classroom which is so great. Um our day is quite full here with academics as you all know. We are busy from the time the students walk in until they leave. But something that makes um Hollywood such a unique building is the number of opportunities that our students have outside of the classroom. Whether it be 7:30 a.m. running club over at the RB track or math club after school. Um we have student council. We also have a husky

003news um who writes their newspaper here. Uh volunteer club and then chorus. Those are the clubs that are going on right now. So again, lots of opportunities outside of the academic areas for our kids which I'm super proud of. We have a wonderful parent community. Our PTA has been amazing to work with. Um we just had them host our husky hop which was an after school dance. The kids went immediately from their classrooms at the end of the day on a Friday to the gym for an hour um dance where actually one of our parents was DJ Hollywood which was a lot of fun. Uh the PTA is planning our next fun activity for our students which is the color run coming up on a Saturday morning at the end of October over at Quantis

004Park where they will run some laps and get sprayed with color. So it should be a fun Saturday morning. Um we are energized and moving forward already here at Hollywood. We have um we're tackling some endeavors to enhance our opportunities and support all students here. So, one thing that we're really looking at is our tier one instruction, making sure that we're refining our high quality instruction that's happening on a daily basis within our core curriculum, looking at our uh best practices, our instructional strategies, and then using assessments to drive um the curriculum within the classroom. One of our year-long tasks is really looking at our win time. So, we have a 30-minute ELA win time and a 30 minute math win time. And something that came out of our leadership team was really systematizing that

005and having a consistent um kind of system across our grade levels, making sure that we are meeting the needs of every student. So working with our uh Hollywood leadership team and looking to define what that wind time um looks like so we're meeting those needs. And then we've really um delved into strengthening our tier one and PBIS systems. We've actually made some tweaks to our tier one system. We we've changed our gotchas. Um, students received gachas for um, showing respect, responsibility, and safety throughout the day. They used to have a once a month gacha store where they got to buy little trinkets and for the gachas they earned. And we actually have made it more of a classroom based uh, reward system. So students help design what they'd like to earn. So for an example,

006uh, Mr. Trimmer's fifth grade for 20 gotas, they get to use a swivel uh, chair all day. And they actually have a waiting list right now for that prize. So just some fun things to motivate and build that classroom community too. So students get to have some voice in that. So that's been fun to see. So really building that tier one support while also now looking with the district to really implement some tier 2 supports for that seal. Um but it truly has been a pleasure to jump in and start working alongside the amazing staff here at Hollywood. I want to take the opportunity to thank you for um giving us the support and making sure that we have the resources that we need to best support all of our students on a daily basis.

007So, welcome to Hollywood. We're happy to have you here. >> Thank you. >> Well, thank you. It's your first uh first board meeting officially. So, welcome to it. >> Two questions for you. Uh when is what I need correct? Just the AC from an acronym standoint. Each grade level has a separate time and it's so it's 30 minutes of math either in the morning or afternoon and then 30 minutes of ELA either in the morning or afternoon. >> Cool. And then uh DJ Hollywood is that a onetime thing or is the >> DJ I think they want to call him back but >> yeah he he's Yeah, he's a parent of a second grader. >> Official DJ name or just >> Oh no, we named him Okay. Okay. >> When he's in this building he

008is DJ. >> Okay. Okay. >> We officially named him that evening. >> Got it. Got it. Got it. important the important stuff. Thank you. >> Uh all right with that are there any changes to tonight's agenda any proposed changes before we get into committee reports? >> Nope. All right then I will hand it over to Mr. Hunt for education. >> All right. Thank you. Uh yes. Well, uh, late last month, uh, we had a meeting of the education committee or the education steering committee, I suppose, uh, where we spoke on, uh, MTSS, which I'm told stands for multi-ter systems of support. Uh we also spoke on technology updates including AI and uh we also uh talked about e-learning which is coming up for a renewal and I believe we have folks to speak on all

009that tonight. >> Yeah. Um, so I'm going to go ahead and jump into uh a little overview of uh MTSS specifically related to and behavior support um but also how it's kind of centered in our larger MTSS system. Um Angela and I are both working on this. Um she gets to talk later about something else and we like to share the wealth. So uh I'm going to do the summary for us tonight. Um really we wanted to just give an overview of some of the work that's currently happening just so that you have an idea of um what's going on, what our goals are for the year and what steps we're taking. So um to start I just wanted to give a brief reminder of MTSS. As Dan said it is multi-tered systems of support

010and it's really looking at uh generally speaking three tiers of support. Aaron uh Dr. Dwire in her introduction um referred to tier one and tier two that tier one is that universal high quality instruction support for all students that's available in every classroom for every student in district 96. Tier two is and that I'm sorry tier one is generally you're looking at about 80% of the students um that are responsive to that and that's sufficient to help them uh meet their needs. Tier two is more targeted small groupoup interventions for students who need some additional support with skill development or skill generalization. Um and that can be classroom based or supported by additional staff. Um that's usually about 15% of the um student population who we find can benefit for from some additional um again

011targeted small group and time limited intervention. So like a specific issue, specific skill, um providing some additional support, uh and then transferring that to the classroom as well. Um and then tier three is really looking at that in intensive and more indiv individualized interventions for students who uh present with most significant needs and that's generally about 5% of this given school community. So that is um students who are needing some specific um specialized instruction, ongoing support for more pervasive um challenges and just a more more intense level of need. So the um kind of the starting point this year is every building is doing MTSS for and behavior in in some form or another. Um there is these tiers exist. These levels of um intervention exist for students. Um the ways of accessing supports are

012not uniform across buildings and the decision-making process is not always the same. And so there was a real um strong desire districtwide uh for us to look at SEAL and look at that need among our student population and become more systematic across the district. uh building on the MTSS framework that we have in place through uh Dr. tradal's work um that and the um our academic interventionist work in the realm of reading and math um you know we have this tiered system we have district-wide decision-m we have standardized approach to creating groups and tracking data and all of that we really wanted to um bring closer to that framework um so some of the things that we are um doing to that end Angel and I are both supporting it along with Nikki Maza, our

013new student intervention and support coordinator to initially get um like establish what is the baseline. Um have everyone on the same page of how is every school doing it? How is every school addressing it? What are the challenges that people are facing? What are the things that are working well um that we want to make sure we incorporate in that ultimate um district-wide approach. So that's um that needs analysis. We had a survey go out to staff for to kind of get a sense of what is their um understanding of how do I access support in my building? What does that support look like? Um how is it related to the academic MTSS process? Um and uh Nikki and other administrators have been in the day-to-day meetings as well um to really get a sense

014of what are the what are the processes in the building. The next step that we're moving into is establishing some standardized protocols for all schools about what data are we looking at for SEAL. The um student screener is one of those pieces that all of our students second through 8th grade participate in. The other data that we're looking at is it's called educators handbook. It's how teachers kind of record if they've had to give some feedback to students about uh a behavior or about a uh an incident um or if they've had to, you know, reach out to parents about something that's happened in the classroom. It's a way of tracking that so that um we all are aware of kind of what are the needs in any any building. Um, that's a tool that

015we've had access to and again in different buildings have been using it differently and so we're trying to make that more consistent so that we're all kind of understanding what is a classroom based um problem and a classroom based solution you know a a student who's in tears doesn't necessarily mean an immediate social worker. It it's you know figuring out what is was there a specific incident? Is there something um that can just be resolved in the moment? uh natural peer you know normal peer conflict it happens and needs some redirection but doesn't necessarily need uh bigger intervention. So it's a way of kind of tracking the need to say is this are the tier one supports sufficient or do we need to think about adding and layering in some tier 2 uh supports and

016then after that if that's still not meeting the need some tier three supports. Um so that consistent data review and discussion uh and decision-making protocol is in development right now along with a tiered intervention menu of supports to um have teachers have it at their fingertips of like oh wait these are some strategies that I have and I use and it might not be top of mind right now but I I know I can kind of turn to if I have X Y or Z situation um coming up with a student. having that list of research-based, evidence-based, tier one and tier 2 strategies that all teachers can use. So, that menu is um there's a uh we like we know we it is quote unquote complete uh with the knowledge that things can continue to

017be added to it. Um new ideas, new strategies, um new tools. um it can be kind of a dynamic dynamic tool but that is something that um that is accessible to our teachers. Um and then the consistent data review procedures are evolving as well. Our next steps in this realm are to um again the six week check-in for our MTSS system as a whole is coming up at the end of October. uh we're going to trial some conversations around tiered interventions and that decision-m um to come closer to figuring out what are the pieces that we want in place for that ultimate model. Um and then also we're looking at specific training for teachers on those classroom strategies for supporting uh those students in their classrooms who need tier 2 or um you know different

018levels of support. Um we are uh working on that in this uh you know the new contract that has a different professional learning um time frame for us. Uh you know we don't have the 75minut after school PDS anymore. And so we're looking um at our professional learning schedule to see when when does that make sense to fit in but that's um a piece that we've had a request for from staff and we are eager to be responsive for that as well. That is the general overview. Are there any questions I could answer? >> So it sounds like just as like a highle recap of what I think I heard really looking at the social emotional learning seal, right? I was got to make sure I get my acronyms correct. and which is just that

019general well-being of the student, their emotional needs, their engagement, their belonging, all that stuff that we talk about and applying a more comprehensive support mechanism that mirrors the very formalized education program we have in MTSS and just trying to apply that to more of a behavior metric. >> Yeah. in a in a way that is consistent from school to school because those that uh availability of additional support is u is present in all of our buildings right now. But it's just not the you don't it's um it doesn't look the same. The process doesn't look the same necessarily in terms of if a teacher has a question, is there a problem solving meeting? Is there a um co-plan meeting? you know, what is the kind of pathway to making sure that um every student in

020the district, which whichever school you're going to, you've got the same kind of expectation and understanding of what does this what does this mean? >> Yeah. Okay. the um as half of the tiers laid out here and the percentage of students that typically need the support at those different tiers >> like is that primarily relating to the academic MTSS structure or does that also relate to the SEAL MTSS structure? it relates to both and it is that that's those that's a question actually Dan had asked too in our our initial discussion um like where what are those numbers represented and it's really that's comes from the research in um in terms of MTSS and that level of intervention and how to think about um structuring the supports in a school so it is um similar

021the percentages are um like that tier one tier two tier three it it is that similar like 80 15 five% um of the student population in academic and in um more behavioral or social emotional. >> Okay. And as we sort of try to move so the framework for SEAL is more aligned with academic like are you expecting like with academic it seems to me that like it's more data based right where with social emotional it's a little bit more subjective on who requires extra supports and so like as you move >> the framework to look more like the academic framework do you think like is what are the challenge challenges when you're like kind of using a more subjective lens for this framework and like do you expect that with um this looking more similar

022across the district there's going to be increased need for more resources? >> That's a a great question. I think what are what we let me take the first part of it first. um that it is it can definitely feel a little bit more subjective like it's there's not a map test for um behavior. We are really trying to dial into that um the data that we do have and use that consistently across buildings the um student screening data and that educator handbook data of what what is the day-to-day need in each classroom in each building etc. Um so there is going to be an expectation of um as we build staff skill that part of that skill is making sure that we have validity in terms of how are we all reporting um incidents or

023interactions with students so that you know you have um the expectation that if a behavior is witnessed in any classroom it would be coded the same way so to speak. So like developing some more um consistent standards around that to help it be you're never going to remove all the subjectivity but to help it be a little bit more like we're comparing apples to apples and and have a shared understanding of like yep this is a level one behavior. Um this is really something that's more significant. So um part of it is just making sure that we're all kind of speaking the same language. Um, and the idea of MTSS and these tiered systems of supports is that there are a number of things that we can do in the classroom, at the classroom level,

024at the building level. Aaron was talking about the gotchas um that can support a number of students and don't require specialized mental health training. Um there's al there's even tier 2 interventions of check-in checkout and relationship building connections with different adults in the building where it doesn't have to be social work minutes but this student needs someone to just check in with them at the start of the day and have them you know set a goal of like what what am I working on today and then check out at the end to say how did it go. It's one of the most supported uh interventions in research, but it's not something that you need uh it's something that we can access any of the adults in our building to um to implement with students as

025that need comes up. So, we really want to be thoughtful in terms of making sure that we're all identifying needs the same way um and using all of the resources in our buildings. Um it's you know I can't say definitively yes or no. It won't you know we'll reveal like oh we have a gap in uh this area or we're seeing you know a need that we're not able to meet with the existing staff that we have. But I think we're still at the point of really getting that understanding of do we have consistent language for the needs across buildings before we're saying that you know we don't have something if that makes sense. So maybe that wasn't a satisfying answer, but um it's we're not at a point right now where we're saying, "Oh,

026we can't do anything until we have more resources." We're at a point of saying we want to make sure we understand what is the um what is the actual current picture in our district. How are we utilizing all of the resources that we have um in the most efficient way that we can? >> No, I think that was a completely satisfying answer. >> Thank you. as savvy school districts have for many many years trying to figure out how to measure social emotional skills and learning. >> It's tough. It's a challenge. But I think we have some Thank you for pointing out our ideas and our plans. >> I try to measure behavior at my work all the time. It's very difficult. >> Yeah. >> What' you say? >> It I try we >> within my

027job in a corporate environment, we try to measure behavior all the time and it is it is very difficult for a lot of the reasons that you're saying is common language, common observations. Does this mean the same thing? Yeah, >> you might see one thing as this and I don't feel that that's as so it's it is a difficult thing. >> So I appreciate trying to get more data oriented on that first. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> That was no pressure. Is that Thank you. All right. Hi everyone. Um I am going to be giving uh a technology update today. Uh this update is going to include uh some of the projects for this year and the things that uh we're looking to work on and then kind of moving

028forward through Riverside's whole district. Um, so the four pieces we're going to cover today, um, are AI use at Riverside and kind of going over some of the things that fall into that, digital digital citizenship, our student devices roadmap for the new school year, and the potential change for Gmail as our email provider for our staff through the district. So, the first thing we're going to talk about is AI use at Riverside. on the top of the slide. Um, board policy 6235 uh is posted there for uh reference. Uh, this board policy is ours um that we uh voted to include the use of artificial intelligence enabled tools. uh responsible use guidelines for Riverside have been created and they're in the process of being reviewed to ensure that they align with student privacy um things

029like ADA compliance, that they're non-discriminatory platforms, and that really that they're safe for kids and staff to use um in our education environment. These guidelines are also going to incorporate training opportunities for our staff and student. Um, and they will be reviewed against the Illinois State Board of Education guidelines that are going to be coming in July 2026. We are also working to create an AI committee through the district that will be uh that will consist of teachers, administrators and staff uh which will allow us to kind of sit together and have an open conversation about the guidelines that we have look at them together um and kind of just have an open discussion and a space where transparency is a a big thing around something that involves AI and giving them the ability ility

030to also help guide an implementation plan through the district. [Applause] The next thing uh is digital citizenship. Currently, we have our classroom teachers reviewing things like how to use the device, the safety while being online, um, and the respect that they can have with their devices before getting them each year. The resources that the they have all of these things from that they have a presentation come from resources that we currently have in the district which are things like securely Dell um and common sense media. Um the next step for the district is to work to embed digital citizenship into curriculum for our students which would create targeted lessons through our curricular resources and have a more unified approach to device use and safety with our students. our student device roadmap for the new school

031year um is going to I made a little thing for you visually. Um I realize that the words are really small where we're at. So um the way that it currently works is our students at Riverside are handed a device every year when they start the new school year. Um and it's not the same the device that they used in the previous years. This device is usually one that is in the classroom ready for them to go that the teachers hand to them. Moving forward, we're going to have a device plan that is going to look like something that is pictured above. And the way that that will work is that students who are entering kindergarten at Riverside will be issued the device and that device will travel with them until the end of their

032second grade year. What I mean by travel with them is that it will stay at school during summer and things like that. Um the device will be in their first grade classroom for the first day of the next school year and it will be the same device that they used the previous year. This will be the same for third, fourth, and fifth graders. When they're in third grade, they'll be given the Chromebook that they'll be using. And that Chromebook will be in the classrooms on the first day of fourth grade and the first day of fifth grade. and it will be the same device that they have been using throughout the their time here. That will also be the same for our uh middle school students, which is kind of the same way that it

033is now. The students that are in sixth grade get a Chromebook. Um and then that Chromebook is the same one that they use through seventh and eighth grade. So, this is pretty this is pretty similar to what we do for our middle school students. Now, the benefits to having a road map like this for student devices um will allow students to keep any items that are created in class on their device and travel with them to their new school years such as things like projects, photos, notes, and other things that are created in native device apps. So the applications that are physically stalled installed on the devices and they're using um it will also give our classroom teachers instruction time back at the beginning of the year because students will no longer need to spend

034a day setting up their device and logging back into the different platforms that we use. Um because they will be given the same one with all of the the things and and constants they have done before. they're going to be able to hit the ground running and we won't be losing that class time with them to to get instruction. It also creates a device replacement cycle that will have the same set of devices being replaced in each year on a consistent basis. It will allow for a lifespan of the devices that we have in the district to be utilized to their fullest potential with no gaps in security or updates of devices. And then the last thing we're going to talk about is the potential uh shift of our email provider to Gmail. Um in

035the time that I have been kind of looking into it, I've reached out to different school districts. Um I've talked to school districts that are in our West 40 group. I've talked to school districts that are outside of our West 40 group. um and a lot of the consortiums that I'm a part of in the tech world and I have had conversations um around Gmail and the email servers and everything that we use and what they are using. Um so these are just some examples of schools that have Gmail as an email server already um or have moved to Gmail in the last year. In Riverside, we currently use Google Single Signon for most of our curricular platforms and staff resources. This would allow for staff members to have a seamless integration into their classroom

036resources, staff resources, and provide a centralized locations for all programs used. Google Workspace for Education is already utilized in our environment as a resource. Our adoption of Google Workspace for Education Plus required that regulations were met and agreed by Google before use, which consists of signing a DPA agreement, which is a data privacy agreement, stating that all data will not be stored improperly, and if there is any need for data to be removed, they are required to destroy the data. This comes with added layers of protection against fishing and malware attempts, 247 monitoring, end-to-end encryption of all data sent and received through Gmail, and liability and accountability on Google in the event that there are issues that come up while using their platform. Because we currently utilize these resources and not and just not the

037Gmail part of this resource, it would be cost-effective for our district as well. With all of the monitoring tools and threat protections that we already have, they are not built into the current system that we use for our email provider. With Google, they would be built in and there would not be a need to have these added companies monitoring our systems. This shift shift has the potential to simplify workflow for our staff and ensure safety in our environment. Student safety and sustainability and a space for innovation are all at the forefront of our upcoming technology projects. Thank you for your time tonight. There any questions? >> I always have questions. >> Sure. >> I try to keep my mouth shut. um on the device stuff that makes sense with like the cycle and I just

038you know Don had would always talk about like the I think it was more centered around device management more than what you're talking about here but that all that all kind of resonates and the benefits to it. One thing that I hear about just listening to the kids talk. What do we do or how do we think about password resetting? I know just at my job I think it's every I want to say it's every 90 days they force me to reset my password and like the iPhone does it and all that like what what does that look like for us because >> kids are not going to be I mean adults have a hard time not giving their passwords out. >> Yeah. >> So >> yes uh that is a very valid question and

039it is something that I've noticed um as not a practice that was fully implemented for kids at least. Um, and so one of the things that we did at the beginning of the year this year, um, is every middle school student had their password reset for the first day of school. I made everybody change their passwords. I don't know how long they've had them. They're middle school kids, right? So, like, you know, we wanted to take a little bit of safety into consideration. Um and then moving forward I am also working on a cycle that would probably move with devices or yearly based so that we can ensure that students data accounts things like that um are all being taken care of. If a password needs to be reset we can do it. Um, I

040think it I think doing it on the replacement cycle is a little long, but it is something that I am looking into because I would like to create a password resetting cycle as well as the device replacement cycle. >> Is that an easy process today? I just u I'll just in context I had this conversation with my daughter last year and um without getting into the specific situation I was like I think that should require a password reset and her whole thing was well I've got to do this I've got to do that it's not that I'm just like it can't be that hard to reset a password but I don't know maybe it is like what if somebody needs something reset or there was a breach or they did give out a password and

041they regret it or something like that is there an easy process that they can get that updated? >> Yes. Um so student accounts uh all have their passwords reset through our Google platform. >> Um so when it gets reset or if we have to reset one during the day I could just use an example of what we do now. Um we provide the reset password to students >> they type it in and then it asks them to make a new password and once that's done then then they're done. It they are their passwords reset and they're good to go. Um, and all of the curricular resources that we use are all through Google single sign on. So when they click that button after resetting the password, it will log them in with with the password

042that they have made. >> Okay. And that was the thought that was in my head when I had this conversation. So I was like, I think you need to ask somebody. >> It's not too bad. >> Okay. >> Yeah, it's not too bad. >> So you said in here um that like the native apps aren't backed up. Is there talk plan of doing that? Because I mean if kids are putting things on their hard drive and I mean last year I'll just use my daughter as an example. Last year my daughter like broke two or three times and or I shouldn't say she broke it. She broke it once it failed on her two other times. Um and they had to get her new at one point a new one. So I guess because it

043like if she lose stuff is there's talk of like backing that stuff up eventually. >> Yes, there is. um with the Chromebooks and the students that are in third through 8th grade. Um at the beginning of the year, all of our Google services for backing student data up on the Chromebook are all on and everything that is on those devices is backing up. So any student has any issue with a Chromebook, they are always going to be able to get it back. Um the problems that we see it with are specifically related to iPad devices. Um because as we all know, Apple and Google and every other tech platform do not like to play nice with one another. Um so Google doesn't have the capability with the cloud-based programs to back up Apple's stuff that

044kids use. Um but with Apple devices there is uh a way that we can issue kids accounts that they can use that are through Apple education platform that will allow them to back up their devices and it will do it automatically through the cloud system that Apple provides and we are looking to get those on the devices so that the kids are good to go. And in regards to uh the Gmail upgrade, I know in the past there's been some concern about, you know, Google far being it from the worst actor out there, but also being demonstrated to have not lived up to some of their promises in terms of security and privacy in the past. Sure. >> Do what what do we have in terms of assurances from them that those days are in

045the past? >> Yeah. Um so because we have a Google for education workspace that is is not the fundamentals version which is the kind of just base level um we're a tier above that. In order to use any platform um they have to sign a data privacy agreement and that data privacy agreement is a document that binds them to the terms and conditions that are sent which means that they are not going to share student data. if they do share student data, they are liable for uh anything that we would report as them keeping. Um if there are data breaches or anything like we've seen in in the past with programs, I know that it's happened with a couple education platforms. Um they're responsible on that end as well. Um and it also states that

046they can't store it and keep it. um the items and things that are stored and made in Google are technically owned by Riverside when they sign that DPA and they are part of the platform that we're at. They're not owned by Google which means that when I say if I were to say we're not utilizing you anymore. They have to destroy all of the data that they have because it is our data, not theirs. And they signed that legally binding document when we brought them on to Riverside. So does that effectively make them purely a feebased service? Because I know their their whole platform is selling data for monetary gain. So this is just it's basically just purely contractual fee based at this point. >> Yes. >> The AI guidelines. >> Yeah. >> Thought about

047like parents like guidelines. when kids come home and they're using chat GPT or whatever, parents are like, "Well, this is okay, this is not okay, or what it actually means, what they're the kids are doing." >> Yes. Um, that is something that I would like to incorporate into our AI committee. I'd like to make sure that I also give teachers and people that are going to be using it every day a voice. Um, but I think a really big piece of implementing something so big as AI, especially with kids, is also the uh opportunity to train and inform parents about safe use, appropriate use, and the guidelines that we have. Um, and if that looks like the potential to have like a parent nights that revolves around like teaching what AI looks like and how

048to use it and how our kids will use it or teachers and things like that. Um, it is definitely something that I see in the future that we would be able to provide for parents. Um, and if they, you know, they can't attend, maybe like one pagers that could go out for schools and things like that, just so that it's not something that's so hidden and dark and more of a here's what we're doing and here's how to use it and here's how to safely use it and here's what you can do at home with your kids. >> Yeah. It could be mysterious if they don't actually know what's real and the kids are just saying, "No, we use AI for all of our homework." >> Exactly. Yeah. Definitely want to avoid that. >> What

049kind of AI tools do we use today? anything like official or is it just like do we I don't know if we have anything baked in like a chat GPT type I don't know that's the only example I can think of right now but >> so we don't have it baked into anything that students do daily um we do have some resources that we have uh like members of our admin team or um some principles and things like that that I am having look into and try to see if this is something that they think could potentially be an option Um, but I have not moved forward with data privacy agreements and things like that because the first step that I want to take is I want to know what buildings think are going to

050work. I want to know what they think will work with kids and then I want to make sure that I am taking the next precaution into place which is the data part of it and student safety and all of those other things. So, I wouldn't say that we use anything on like a daily term. Um there's probably things here and there that are built into things that we do that we might not even realize. Yeah. >> Um but no like specific platform that is fully integrated. >> So students aren't really engaging with AI in like an intentional or direct way at this point. It's mostly at like the teacher level trying to figure out the things that we're doing because I've heard like little things here and there, but that's really just experimental type stuff

051at this point. >> Yes. And and you know kids can experiment in you know a ton of different ways. I mean cell phones are big AI tools, right? So, I'm sure people have and kids have also tried doing it in different platforms. Um, but with no DPA agreements, I do not let students use it just because I'm I am a very big advocate for student safety. Um, and I I really take that to heart and I don't want anything to happen to our students or their data. So, I I do not let kids use it until I am comfortable and know that they are safe to use it. >> Yeah. >> So, is is chat GPT blocked on the network >> for students? Yes. >> Are teachers told not to put sensitive data in the

052public form of chat GPT? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> That's a very good question. Yes. >> Yes. >> Figured it felt like an obvious one, but I don't think it is that obvious. I don't think a lot of people realize how public that is when you use the free version of it. So, okay. >> Yeah, I agree. I think the parent guidelines when kid comes home doing their homework and they have their phone and they're typing stuff into chat GBT and parent doesn't know are they supposed to be doing that or not supposed to be doing that >> might help them but >> do they say no or hey good job >> right >> slack slide >> you that's what I do to my daughter Yeah. So, >> anything else? >> All right. Thank you.

053>> Good evening everybody. I am here to talk about uh redoing our e-learning plan. So um students in Illinois according to Illinois school code are provi are able to permitted to engage in um at least five or sorry let me back up are permitted to engage in electronic learning provided that they're engaged in at least five clock hours of instruction or school work. So, in the fall of 2019, we approved a plan. The board approved a plan for three years. The 201920 school year, the 2021 school year, and the 21-22 school year. That plan was approved for three e-learning days. We chose three e-learning days at that time because in 2019, December of 2019, we uh did not have Zoom learning. We did not have online learning established at that point. The pandemic hadn't hit

054yet. So then fast forward a few months and the pandemic did hit and our original plan was very paperbased because we weren't thinking ahead to electronic learning. So it was very paperbased and the board at that time felt that paper-based learning was um I mean yeah there you go that paperbased learning for 5 days was probably a bit too much and it was the first time we were doing an e-learning plan. So we decided that um we would start with three, see how it went. Then the pandemic hit. We all learned how to do synchronous instruction, synchronous learning. And so when we went to renew the plan in the fall of 2022, we did increase to 5 e-learning days because it was with the plan being rewritten for synchronous instruction. So that plan in fall

055of 22 was approved for the 22 23 year, 23 24, and 2425. Which brings us to this fall where I am asking if we can approve another three-year plan for 2526, 26 27, 2728. And that three-year plan would still continue to have five e-learning days in the plan. That would be the max we would utilize. Um we wouldn't use more than that. And that would be in place of those five emergency days that you might remember on the calendar prior to the e-learning days being implemented. I did provide in the memo a history of usage just because um one when we were talking with Dan about this um he did ask that question. It's a very great question. It was um great information for us to have as well. So I did look at the

056history of usage and you can see in the memo that um in 2122 we used two days. Then the following school year we didn't use any. The next school year we used two more days or two days again. And then last school year, we didn't use any emergency learning days. You might remember that for voting purposes at Hower in April, Hower students did have e-learning while elementary students were in school, but we didn't use any emergency e-learning days last year. So this fall, I am asking the board to renew our e-learning plan for the 2526 school years through the 2728 school year. the e-learning plan. If you haven't had a chance to read the whole plan, it does talk about communication that families and staff are notified promptly of any emergency e-learning days through email,

057automated calls, and on the website. Um, the learning plan talks about the instructional approach, which is both synchronous and asynchronous. Synchronous being that live instruction on the computer through Zoom and asynchronous being the work that students would do off camera. In preK, students would be on camera for morning circle and for a readaloud. And that would start for AM prek or early learners at 8:30 um and for PM early learners at 12:15. For our kindergarten students, they would be online for an hour and 40 minutes. And then that would they would then have independent work which would be for all of our elementary grade levels is Lexia I Ready some lesson extensions from the work they might have done online. Um some science activities or social studies lessons are the work that they would do

058independently. Um and then first through fifth graders would be online 810 to 11:20 so 3 hours and 10 minutes. And then when they come offline, they would have the same type of independent work that I Ready, my path, or Lexia, um, extensions from the lessons they did that day or science and social studies. Students who have specials during that morning time would still have special area classes. So, if we have an emergency e-learning day, you might hear Mr. House, Mr. Dphano, or uh, Mr. Renardo singing songs with your kids um or an art lesson being taught at that time if that's when they normally had a special on that day. Um students who receive special services will still receive their special services um their small group teachers whether it's math intervention, reading intervention, e services

059or special education. Those teachers would contact their students for providing the link for their Zoom session and the time that they would meet. Um, and if you are fortunate enough that the e-learning day is on a day that your fifth grader had banned, you might get to hear a little bit of beginning band instruction as well because that would happen as well. So that morning time would follow the natural progression of the day. Um the plan talks about providing all students with their issued district devices and we provide supports for staff for families that do not have um reliable internet services. And um teachers provide the live instruction during those times I'd mentioned and then they hold office hours in the afternoon after their lunch hour so that students can reach out through schooly, Seesaw

060or email should they be having any problems with their independent work that they're working on during the afternoon. I believe that is the Yeah, that's all I needed to say to summarize the e-learning plan. But do you have any questions for me? Next week at the regular business meeting or before the regular business meeting, we'll have a public hearing for the e-learning plan and then would I would ask you to vote on the e-learning plan during your regular business meeting. Any questions for me? >> Has anything changed? I mean it sounds like >> the start time because the start time to of elementary school starting that's the only thing that had changed in >> Okay. I mean because it all sounds like what we've always done. Okay. >> That was my question as well. >>

061Is there anything to be said to uh those who might uh lament the demise of a snow day? >> Is there anything that I would say to those that do not like the idea of no snow days? >> Mhm. nothing that I would personally say right now. Um because because I hadn't really thought about that question. Um you know, it's it's it's it's a balance. It's um looking at having the snow day, but then having that emergency day at the end of the year where we're not going to have much productive learning going on, right? because by then we've already turned in most of our devices anyways and we're wrapping we've wrapped up a lot of the learning and then we're like by the way now you have to go to school for two or

062three more days after we thought school would be over. So there isn't really um great instruction happening on those emergency days when we come back to school after the end of the year where when we have e-learning days this the instruction should be more continuous. it should be part of what's already happening. So when we do e-learning days, it allows for continuity of instruction rather than tacking on extra days of not a lot of instruction. But I do know that there are families that um do have that very concern. I will say we have uh great teachers who have tried to find ways to incorporate those snow days, those the snow time in for students. So we have had teachers who will like part of that independent learning is go outside and build a fort

063and take a picture to share at class or go outside and enjoy the weather and write a paragraph or write something that you can share in class. So they try to find fun ways to incorporate the fact that you are home because it snowed. Um we even had one teacher who taught outside the whole time. Mr. Hanky had uh made a bonfire and taught all of his classes last year while he was outside in the like during the snow days. So or not last year but two years ago. So they do try to find a way because I know that the teachers also understand the importance of play and like less screen time but the the reason behind it is so that we can have a continuity of instruction. I guess I do have an

064answer. Other questions >> I might also add just because I have thought about this. It is a compressed day >> and just as I observe that question at home it's like you do end earlier and so you do get some like I know the kids are supposed to probably do homework but like what I've done is like you can do homework tonight like if you feel good like go outside play we'll get back to it later. But it's not a full day, but it's a compressed day. So, >> mentioned there definitely are some assignments of build a snowman or >> snow angels or something like that. >> I don't remember what it was, but yeah, I think one of one or two of my kids got assigned something like that where it's like go outside

065and do this educational thing, which I thought was clever. So, >> um, can you, this is, this is a serious question. Can you help me understand what a early learner e-learning session looks like? Because to me, I envision like skill building, right? Motor skills and stuff like that. I'm sure that's not all of it, but like I always picture the kids on the ground playing around and stuff like that. Like what do you do over video? >> I unfortunately put my colleague on the spot. No, cuz I remember Harrison, my youngest was in um Miss Cruz's class, like he did three and four year, one of those years where they had e-learning and it was they did like their like the circle time where they would kind of talk about some topic and they would

066they like went around, okay, tell me what you're doing with this or whatever. So each kid got to say good morning and say something >> and then um and then she read them a book >> and they talked about the book and then I think you usually there was like some other thing like you're there was like a worksheet that probably went home the day before or something that they would work on then. Um but it was just kind of getting them used to it. >> Yes. >> Yeah. I was just I was just thinking I remember how challenging it was. Mine were in first grade and I remember how challenging that was. And so I'm thinking a three, fouryear-old like wow. Okay. So >> that's why and that's why it's a short amount of

067time. A short amount of time for kindergarten too because it is a challenging thing. >> Um it was challenging for first graders. It is challenging for prek for early learners and for kindergarteners. And so that's why you notice a shorter amount of time for those students. >> Yeah. Okay. >> They still see their teacher in the class. >> Exactly. Y The other thing I'll just share is that a lot of times our weather days are for bitter cold. >> I think most of them have been for bitter cold, which is >> that's true. >> Not always the great day to go out and build the snowman. Like I think we have >> the idyllic view and there might be those and now we're going to have to think twice about that. But um yeah, I

068think a lot of it's been just really inclement weather. It's hard for people to get out of their houses. So >> thank you. >> Yeah. So as Angela said, this will be an action item for the regular board meeting. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. That is the end of education committee updates. Uh we will move into >> finance finance finance and facility together. So Miss Claps, Mr. Olic, you're up. >> So I guess I'll start and then if you want to add anything, Matt, um you can go ahead before we turn it over to Mark. So um uh the finance committee met last week I think it was um to discuss our strategic plan goal five which is stewardship of our resources. Um we talked about um a lot

069related to the fund balance and facilities expenditure considerations and Mark really helpfully laid out for me sort of the state of the district's financial position. Um, as you all know, we've had some, I would say, material impacts to our fund balance as we've invested in some capital improvement projects and facilities projects. And in addition to that, we've had a refresh teachers union contract and we've had added some positions around um, you know, support services and teaching. And so, you know, over the last couple years, there's been sort of some big impacts to the finances of our district. And so, he with a, you know, really helpful, fresh set of eyes sort of walked me through a lot of those impacts. And so he's going to share a lot of that today as well as talk

070about sort of how um us as a board sort of needs to reorient around you know what the financial picture looks like today versus what it looked like you know five years ago before we had some of these big expenditures that did I miss anything there >> all right Mark it's all yours documentation as you run through all these numbers I was I was going to say I I don't know how much better that could have been of an introduction. Thank you. >> Um [Applause] I I think that you should know this. This all started somewhat as a result of what's next on the agenda, which is, you know, the facilities update and the facil facilities advisory committee and really looking at the driving forces of things that impact a school's fund balance, which is

071primarily large one-time expenditures, which you have been doing for the last 5 years in capital projects. And I wanted so that these two things kind of mesh together, but what I've laid out for you here is just a little bit of a historical uh view of your fund balances. And I know that you are particularly interested in what percent of fund balance you hold. You have a specific board policy. I think it's centered around 40% if I recall. So to help just clarify the chart that I provided for you, the the furthest left column is your fiscal year. So you have five years from fiscal year 21 through 25. And then the next column over is the actual revenues you received in those years, the actual expenditures that you had in those years across all

072your funds. and then what your total is. And you can see that you had a healthy balance all those years. Um maybe a little less in fiscal year 25 than where you were in the previous four, but you were managing a a healthy growth to your fund balance. And as a district, you can see then what the capital expenditures in each of those fiscal years were. And those were your planned expenditures. And that's not your routine maintenance or when you had to fix a broken window. Those are the projects that you took upon yourselves to do in the district to help improve the facilities. And then so that capital expenditures when you minus that out from the total extra that you had, you come up with a deficit every year. And that deficit then impacts

073your fund balance. And then the far right column is just a percentage of what your fund balance was. So you can see through the years and the projects that you did, you you went from about a 72% fund balance, it jumped up a little bit and then jumped back down uh to about 54%. And you were expending notwithstanding fiscal year 21, which was probably a major renovation. you guys did it that hit some of it probably hit that fiscal year depending on when the when the time came to pay those bills, but you were averaging somewhere in the neighborhood of just north of 3 million to even up to a little over $4 million of planned capital expenditures. And in looking at your budget, one concern I had was the ability to continue to spend

074at that rate. And I certainly uh because I know we're televised and this is not a sky is falling conversation. I think it is just a a different look at what you can continue to expend on capital expenditures because you can see to the far right where that fund balance starts getting to and you start to get a little closer to your 40% number which is still an incredibly healthy fund balance. and something you should be very proud of as a school board that you've been able to maintain. So fiscal year 26, you have your revenues uh in that first fiscal year 26 line and then your planned expenditures and what your total will look like. I recognize that people build budgets in different ways and shape and I really don't believe that you will

075end up with roughly $20,000 as your total surplus. I do believe it will be more than that, but I have some reservations about the extent to what that will be and that it will not be what it has been in the past in that three and$4 million range. um primarily driven by two main factors. One is a significant increase in special ed transportation costs that have hit all districts, not just this one, um over the last two years. And in fact, you'll recall that you had to move about $600,000 just to become whole in transportation. Um and and that number, that million dollar that you're roughly spending in transportation is not going away. So that is an expense that has jumped on to your normal reoccurring expenses which hasn't been there which eats into that

076what you're used to of 3 million. It eats into it a tad. And the second is your new collective bargaining agreement. Um, which in a good way has you um positioned to know exactly what your expenditures on salaries will be, which makes up about 80% of your overall education fund. Um, but it will it it will cost you some money and that's going to impact that bottom line as well. So, if I had to guess and I'm going on on essentially a month or two two months of of looking at the performance of this year's budget. I don't believe that you will be at 20,000. I think a more realistic number is about 1.3 million. But again, you can see that that pales in comparison to what you've been used to for the last 5

077years. And then over in the right, that 2.7 million or just a little bit north of that represents the current projects that we are discussing at the facilities meeting. Get into what all that is. Um, which are again very warranted and necessary capital projects the district should do and what that would do to your fund balance. So even in a worst case scenario, you see your fund balance is at about 43%. Which is still above what your board policy allows and in a really good position um you're at about 46%. So again, the the purpose is to help you see that one, the amount of money that you continually have had in reserves from actual revenues to actual expenditures. You should you should be aware that that number is not going to look like it

078did from fiscal year 21 to 20 25. Um and secondly that the pace at which you spent on capital projects of three and $4 million a shot probably will not be sustainable if you wish to stay above your 40% mark. Um so that that's the fi I'll stop on the finance piece before we jump over to capital project piece. I don't I don't know if I speak for everybody. This isn't surprising to me. I feel like we talk about this multiple times a year and without getting into it, this was an extensive part of the collective bargaining piece of what can we afford, what does that look like, what does that do, can we sustain this type situation. So, nothing you're saying is shocking or surprising. Um, I think for those at the table, I

079I I always have Jim's red line and black, you know, just like where does that intersection go and and how do we manage the expenses to to keep to keep it there? But and we collectively have talked about like is 40 the right number and we've been so high on it, we really haven't gotten into a lot of debate. I think the standard is 30. Is that what or 25 or no 25? So, we've still got some wiggle room there, but I think we've been preparing for years for this conversation and for it to be even a worse conversation and how do we mitigate it from getting to be a worse conversation? So, from our just general management of the budget, is there anything outside of capital improvements, is there anything that you would have

080a recommendation on that we need to think about differently? >> No. Um, and I I I know I know the document you're talking about of the red line, the black line, and where it intersects. And I think 10 year projection. >> Yeah. Right. Um and ironically um as I did some of these numbers, if you were to match this chart to what was provided to you by Jim in the past, I think they are very dead close to one another. So I I think you were well served by those predictions. And I think this is just another way to look at it. Not so much from a standpoint again that the sky is falling and you should be already thinking about what if you should go from 40 to 30 or to 38 or what

081that looks like. It's just how you've been able to expend on these capital projects is going to be the first thing that gets impacted. Um be because the other things have to be be taken care of first. the ed fund and transportation. Those are all things those bills are going to keep coming whether you want them to cover or not. >> And you know, I think as we look at the facilities and and talking about how we manage all those projects that are on there that have been well laid out for you by your construction management services through Romesh. um and making sure that if we don't have 3 million a year to spend, we only have 1.5. How do we prioritize those to get the 1.5? And are we monitoring these actual fund balances

082year-toear to know if we can expect a little bit of a surplus in the area of a million or is it really only 200,000 or is it 1.8? And that will help then drive your conversations around capital. >> I mean to to Wes's point, this is not this this conversation is going to happen eventually. This is not a surprise. Everything you said is not a surprise. I mean I agree that >> I mean we went we put on like a $20 million re renovation without covering a referendum, >> right? remodeled schools like more millions. We spent millions done a tremendous job, >> right? And never went to referendum. So, this is not surprising at all. So, we just need to now maybe take a little bit closer and as Wes has said, we've been something

083we're going to have to take a probably more serious look at like >> where we want to go with this and is the do we want to keep it at 40%. And how do we want to prioritize? I I I think it's it's good to note that, you know, as someone who's been on the board for a while and we've seen those lines continue to go forward and forward further into the future than was initially projected, I think it's it's good to hear you that we have a concrete change. We have a reason that we're not growing at four three or four million anymore. Uh and that's something that we got to take in keep in mind as we're looking forward to making our our spending sustainable. But I but I guess just sort of

084looking at this and you correct me if I'm wrong, but just looking at this, this is I would say a big shift from where we were at. But I still think this is a very healthy >> Oh, absolutely. >> Absolutely. >> Budget that we >> absolutely >> very healthy. >> And that's where when I kind of used my test case in the finance committee with Selena, it was I don't want to instill panic. It's just a different approach. And I even with Romesh when I said Romesh where what was the basis of these of your capital plan and and why this much and because it seems like it's about three to 3.2 2 million every year. And he said, "Well, that's what we are working off of." And I said, "I don't think we're working

085off of that anymore, but still working off 1.5 if that's what the number was. You're that's still really good money to be working with. It's just not what it was before. That's all. >> Yeah. I mean, and the economy has changed pretty dramatically the last couple years, too. And it's still very uncertain on what's going to happen a year, let alone five years from now with tariffs and inflation and the Fed trying to control it. And I was just listening something the other day about them, a couple of the governors talking about how stubborn it's been and all the tactics they've been doing to try to keep it at two, but it just seems to be stagnant around two and a half. So, um, a lot of things to consider. So definitely appreciate the viewpoint

086here because I think we did we were working with a number that was pretty consistent that I think is going to become less consistent or um with all these expenditures that we baked in the thing was well how does the future economy and our revenue and then the cost of these projects if those inflate faster than what they have historically cost then we get squeezed from both sides. So, I >> I think your viewpoint is solid and like yeah, I'll just Yeah, it's Thank you for your assessment on it. I I I agree with you. I we're still in a good spot. I we just need to think carefully about how we continue moving forward. >> I think um my perspective on it as well is is that in the past, as we've been presented,

087budgets, revenues often were equivalent to expenditures. And you know, year after year, as this shows, there was sort of an opex surplus. And so I think especially as we're sort of getting closer to that 40% threshold that we've set as policy, um maybe having a clearer picture of our expenditures and what that um operating surplus looks like will be helpful for the board in understanding, you know, um how how much we should be sort of spending on capital improvement projects on an annual basis. And we don't get a lot of new construction around here. So I know >> or or uh business revenue really. It's it's property taxes. So we're very sensitive to that. So >> any other questions before we move into a couple of the capital improvements which were not overly expensive from

088the memos that are in here. [Applause] I I'm happy to to jump in if you're ready. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, um at the at the September uh facilities meeting, we talked about um a couple of different projects. And the one that we've left off here cuz I we kind of just have taken it that we're moving forward is the Life Park playground project. So that project is underway. We're moving forward. You've done facility groups and we're we're on our way. So that project for this year is underway and it will hit um it will hit this year's Some of it will hit this year's budget. A lot of it's going to hit next year's budget, but it's it's being planned and processed this year with the idea that it will hit um next year's

089budget. And then we have um three other projects that were discussed that um two of which are high need and one that has some question but it also it carries the least amount of money. So the the two bigger ones are the Hower windows and the Hower tuckpointing. Last summer you did a large tuckpointing project at Hower. And during that project, apparently it was found that up on the third level there's some additional tuck pointing that needs to be done. And they did while the tuck corners were out there, they did some quick investigation to try to understand the scope and were the lentils bad. Um were they going to be need need to be replaced or were they just going to need to be sanded and repainted? So there's a clear understanding of the

090work that needs to be done and that tuck pointing should continue uh to be done or you're going to have water problems and it's the whole reason why you did the tuck pointing this last summer. It's just a continuation of that work on the third level. The other thing that was on the capital plan that would be up are the houseser windows. Um you can't do the windows without doing the tuck pointing. So, if you want to do the windows, you're forced to do the tuck pointing. If you don't want to do the windows, you can still do the tuck pointing. But the recommendation that came out was that we would do the windows and the tuck pointing projects and um that we would do them together. And so what you have on here is

091attachments is a are three-fold. If we take off the Ames grassy area which we'll touch last um two of the letters uh are used to engage DLA for the work that would be needed for the windows and the tuck pointing. And the third document is a hower corners repair MBB which essentially is a change order to the person who did the tuck pointing project which is the person who's investigated the situation and knows exactly what they're getting into. And um it then also reduces what you need to do in order to have DLA involved to develop bid documents. They're simply doing some basic drawings for the tuck pointing to hold them accountable. So to keep the tuck pointing and windows separate. uh after meeting with the facility advisory committee knowing that these were the one

092the work that wanted to go through I met with Romesh on a couple of occasions and it's my recommendation along with his we both concur that we would engage DA to do a basic level of of drawings for the tuck pointing and we'd issue a change order um uh to the company um MBNB Enterprises of Chicago to to perform the work. And we had a placeholder of about $400,000 for that work. And you can see in the change order what what that amount is and that we come in significantly significantly under that in terms of the percentage of the scope of this project. um simply because it's a change order versus going back out to a completely new bid for just one small section of of that area. And then the the second piece is

093the uh anou for DA to engage in the drawings for the windows that we would hope um we would be going to the as we say to the street in December and coming back to you in February with a recommendation to select bids um a bid package for windows and that this work would then occur over the summer. um both of these projects they would occur simultaneously and that would hit your FY27 budget because by the time you pay for this you'll be well into fiscal year 27. Sorry before I go to grassy area I'll I'll stop there. Well, I guess from my perspective, I mean, we've been talking about the windows for a long, long time, >> and we knew this was coming, so, >> uh, I know we've kicked the can on this

094one a long time. Um, so to me, it's like, okay, we have to do it. Uh, in regards to tuck pointing, I know I've said this every time we open up and I've done I haven't done myself, but I've done a remodiles in old houses. I always know that there's going to be some once the walls are open up, >> all games are all all >> bets are off. So, I guess the change or while I'm disappointed because but it's at least it's we sort of expected it and so it seems like it's going to at least cover it. So, I think this was about the size of the change order we did last summer too for the same issue. Right. So this is I mean it's the same issue. They just weren't able to

095complete the whole thing. >> Correct. They weren't able to complete the whole whole thing. So this is essentially to your third floor. >> I'm not as familiar what actually took place over the summer in terms of your last tuck pointing. I just understand this to be the third level. >> Yeah. And this is these projects are what came out of our facilities advisory committee as the windows being the largest priority to your point. It's been kicked down the road for a long time and it's time now. Um but unfortunately you don't want to do that without doing the tough pointing. >> Yeah. And I and I think the I think the lentil issue is the same thing we had at Ames, right? Like once they pulled it out, they just realized how damaged it was

096behind. You can't see it until you take it out. >> Yeah. The the the good the good news of this is the ones that were investigated were all re needed to be essentially sanded and painted did not need to be removed and be replaced. It's not just they didn't open up every single opening. So I imagine somewhere down the road we're going to hit one that has to come out. But a lot of them are in good shape. So of the two evils you could have been facing, you're facing the lesser of the two. >> Mark, when you um laid out this budget sheet for us. >> Yes. >> Um in the fiscal year 27. >> Yeah. Is the full window houser window replacement included in the capital expenditure of 2.5 million? >> Yes. >>

097And what's the expected total cost for that? >> Do you have any sense? >> Um too far. >> Yeah. Well, that number had a a placeholder of 400,000 for the tuck pointing. >> Yeah. >> And then um 1.5 million for the windows. >> Okay. And then the playground at 600,000 is what we were carrying. And that's where you got to your 2.5 million between those those three things. >> Gotcha. Okay. >> I'm sorry. The mind is not while we have summer school principal and Angela here. This probably also means summer school is going to be off limits at Hower again, right? Assuming this all gets approved. Yeah. >> Sorry. >> Yeah. Just putting that on people's radar. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Sorry. >> No, you threw out 1.5. This shows a million 325

098as the >> if I'm reading project budget in the uh in the am I looking at the right one? Yeah, the window replacement 112 to DA is theou I think up for request so that they can put the pro put it together. But it the budget's showing a million 325 on page three. Um, can you let me jump to the agenda? Are you looking at the DA Howous >> uh recommendation? Yeah, DA Howouser window 2025-10002. >> Yes. Um so the the 1.325 in windows and the um proposed scope of DA I saw was 112. >> Yeah. >> Putting those two together rounding million. >> Okay. Okay. So yeah, I I guess it would be fair to say that the numbers that I'm using include your architectural fees along with the actual >> Yeah. total cost

099to total cost of the project versus >> just a different way than we've historically talked about it because like the D No, no, no, no. You're fine. The DA stuff because that'll come out immediately. Like they're going to ask us as soon as they're done to get paid. So as you're talking about budgets >> Yeah. The summer projects are always interesting because you start them at the end of school and you finish them at the beginning and our fiscal year is right in the middle and so some on the front end and some on the on the on the back end >> and the bigger portion is usually on the back end hitting you right at the beginning of your next fiscal year. >> So, okay, questions about any of those three items? Additional questions

100about any of those three items? So I and I believe what we had discussed um at the last finance meeting and we we have ironically another facilities meeting tomorrow is that because we are into October um my recommendation would be that this would be on your October 15th agenda for these um these DAUs. to be approved so that we can begin getting the window drawings are the most important. There's very little to do for DA for the tuck pointing, but the windows it's going to take DA some time and to get that specked and put to a bid package um so that we can get out there, like I said, in December, early January. So, we're not we're not trying to find bids in April or May. You're not going to get good results at

101that point. >> Yeah. >> And so, the 2.5 that you have pegged for 27. It's that's essentially what we're talking about because like >> Yeah, that's the that's what we're talking about. The 2.7 we have now is what we're doing between the security updates and and the other things you've already done. >> Yeah. Yep. And so the two and a half does include BLE a half a million of that is BLE 2 million for the windows the tuck pointing and then another half million for the BL playground. >> Yeah. One one N and 600 to be exact but yeah >> I just I couldn't remember if you said it was or was not included in this. That is all inclusive. Okay. >> That's all inclusive. >> And so that then projected to get to the

102fiscal year 27 is going to put us like right at that 40. >> Yeah. And and and you can see what I did. And again, you're really looking at a crystal ball. Yeah. But that's that's with the assumption that you only had a million dollars as your total. >> Okay. >> Plus of revenue over expenditure. So, I think that's a very conservative number, but I think it's a very conservative number in my opinion. But what I think it shows you is these projects you're talking about today that are going to hit you in fiscal year 27 aren't putting you in a position um of any type of peril. >> Yeah. >> I I think we've all kind of come to a consensus over the last couple years that we like to be conservative, not too

103conservative, but appropriately conservative. So honestly, I mean, in my opinion, this might sound weird, 300,000 is not that much money. I mean, on a budget of this size, it's we we could eat that up with one of these projects. So, um, >> I think that it makes sense how you're doing it. To me, just to be cautious and not overspend to a point where we're like, oh no, what' we do? So, yeah. No, >> I I think you're like, again, you're in a really good place. It's just not the same place you were for the last 5 years. Yeah, that's all. And that was very intentional to some of you, just the two of you and others that that came before me. Uh just remembering this 72% budget and how overweight we were, but it

104was squirreling away that money because we knew 30 millionish dollars were going to be spent over time. So, >> and I should point out, not to cut you off, it was actually over 100% at one point. >> Oh, was it before? Yeah. That's that's as far back as I could get in your data. >> So, >> but that was I just want to call out this was a very intentional multi-year effort by previous boards to get the money we need to not go super into debt and then manage this down appropriately to get the all these I mean it's there's been a lot of work over the last few years by a lot of people and a lot of close tight management of this. So I think your warning is don't get too comfortable with

105that level of spending because it is now drying up. >> That's the Yes. >> Yeah. >> And and I think I would want to make sure I I preface don't get it's the level of spending in your capital projects. >> Yes. >> Not your level of spending in your day-to-day operations. >> The more discretionary type spending. Yeah. Okay. Okay, cool. And then I guess just quickly lastly, and this is just more of a it came up, we'll talk about it. I don't know that necessarily need to act. Is this thing known as the grassy area apparently at names. >> Um I I've heard I've heard some really interesting stories about it. It's almost legendary. >> Um >> it's only been there two years. It's >> um >> three years. So that that was that's on

106your on the big master plan. I I think that was discussed as something to move forward with and discussion this year and it probably doesn't involve a great depth of DA drawing things and this would be a like this would be a a project that could be managed locally in the future. And um you know I I it sounds like you there was some work to put wood chips down maybe and maybe that's going okay maybe it's not um we we have it on on the agenda. I think now we continue to talk about it at the facilities meeting tomorrow about at what point do we really need the the the urgency is not with this project like it is with the windows to get it to the street I guess is but that's why

107it's >> and just to report the wood chips are going well and kids are enjoying playing in that area but we don't know what it's going to look like through a rainy season or through winter right because the the real issue is should there be better drainage underneath that area >> right but you know This is one of those things that I um when we could talk more in depth about how much time do we need from saying yes, we want to do it to actually doing it. Um I I think it's for future topic, but you can kind of see the the cost associated with it. It's a roughly a 75,000 I think or >> Yep. >> It's in that it's in that ballpark. >> 100 looked like 90 with the architects. Just to

108bring back my other point though, that's 25% of the $300,000 that we just talked about. So, that doesn't leave us a lot of room for extra projects in in that cushion. So, okay. >> Okay. >> Kids playing in the wood chips. That just feels weird to me. But if it's working, it's working. All right. >> Well, I think even with the drainage, the idea was to still put wood chips on top. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Interesting. Okay. All right. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Mark. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> Okay. That brings us to um I guess we have the these are just agendas, right? The facility advisory committee or do we have >> Yep. Yeah. We had a meeting in early September and we have a meeting tomorrow. >>

109So, just share >> anything to discuss on these? >> Really pretty much what Mark kind of went over. Okay. All right. Well, then that brings us to family engagement committee. Miss Kaik, >> thanks. Um, so I did not attend the last parent leadership team meeting. That was Matt's turn. So Matt and I are just going to alternate um going. So I'm going to the next one, which is next Friday, two Fridays, >> something. It's this month. And I will be going to that one. >> So is it Friday after a board meeting? The regular board meeting. >> Oh, yeah. So next Friday. That's right. Okay. Um, but it looks like, and you can jump in at any time if there was something ground uh earth shaking, but um they discussed kind of how the different

110schools welcome new families, the different methods they use for new family. Um, kind of like getting them into the community of the school. Um, and then they discussed uh sort of the start of the year for each of the PTAs and what they were doing with fundraising. Um, just kind of like a share out. That was mostly it's like first meeting of the year kind of what how the start of school went and >> yeah little bit of what are you doing here, what are you doing there. >> Yeah. So we'll see um what comes up at the next one and I'll report on that next time. And then our next family community partnerships meeting is October 30th uh Thursday. Um, and it looks like for that we're going to start talking about um kind

111of planning out some of the things to bring the the whole all the all the schools in the district together. Um, we have always kind of talked about the family learning night. Um, and it was interesting, Molly, that you brought up the AI thing because I think we're like we always kind of discuss like what would be a great topic for parents and we've had the last few years um the the retired police officer talks about like um internet safety and like phone safety and stuff for kids. So maybe AI would be a good topic to bring up um and kind of talk about like the one book, one school um and things like that. And then um what else uh like kind of um tying up what we had talked about last year, what

112kind of some of our projects were about communication um between teachers and parents and back the other way. So that's pretty much it. So we just got the schedule for um family community partnerships for the year and we meet like every other month. So I'll have more the next one. All right. We don't have anything specific, but I always like to ask uh well, I guess Stephanie's not here, so I guess we don't have any policy updates. Anything on personnel, Dave, that you're going to share? >> Nothing on personnel. >> Okay. Um that brings us to public comment. Do we have any public comment, Kathy? [Applause] Nope. All right. >> So, future meeting dates uh will be next week, next Wednesday, October 15th, uh regular business meeting at 7 p.m. in the Hower Learning Resource

113Center. November 5th, committee of the whole meeting at 7 p.m. at the multi-purpose room at Ames School. November 19th, regular business meeting at Hower Learning Resource Center. and uh December 3rd committee the hold at BL Park 7 p.m. December 17th regular business meeting at 7 p.m. in the Hower Learning Resource Center. And with that, this meeting is adjourned. [Music]