001Uh, the regular the CCSD 21 March 20th, 2025 regular board of education meeting is called to order. May we please take attendance. Debbie here. Bill here. I'm here. Arlin here. Dmara here. Phil here. Santi here. Carla and AJ. Welcome. Awesome. Thank you. When everyone please rise for the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Hey, thank you all for joining us. Uh, first I'd like to start out by welcoming we have two two elected officials here tonight. We have uh Henry Hackne from the Indian Trails Library and Sher Clump from the Wheeling Park District. Thank you and welcome to our meeting. Okay, as soon as I see them, they're not
002here. Oh, they're hiding in the back. Awesome. and and Brian Shepard. Brian Shepard also from the from the library. Welcome and thank you for coming. Okay. Uh next, anybody that is physically present at the meeting tonight that wishes to address the board must complete a comment card and and provide it to Miss Del Royale. Any individual virtually attending the meeting wish that wishes to address the board must complete the public comment form linked on the agenda prior to us starting the public comment section and all and written publics may be submitted via email. We're going to start with fun. Uh this month we have awards and recognitions starting with the district 21 spelling bee. Dr. Connelly, I'll actually just turn it over to Cass Young. So, we hosted the annual spelling bee and it took
003place last month and it was a friendly competition that showcased our students spelling skills. And at this time, I'd like to invite Amy Bryer up to the podium to give us some of the details of the competition. Thank you. Good evening. Um, I'm actually not going to give you a lot of the details. I'm just going to give you a brief little history. Um, I'm going to let Dr. Jury from Cooper um, give you the give you the all all the picture of what happened that exciting evening. Um, but as a district um, we've worked really hard to provide students with many opportunities to show their talents. Um, and when Dr. Drury approached me three years ago um with this opportunity. It aligned exactly with what our vision was providing those many opportunities. Um so
004our first year um we launched it with sixth, seventh and eighth graders. And then our second year we brought in fourth and fifth graders where our library media and enrichment specialists helped lead the district or the um school-based bees. Um, and then this year it it continued to grow with the number of kids that participated um in fourth and fifth grade and sixth, seventh, and eighth. Um, and then we had a rousing third round that I'm going to let I'm going to let Rob talk a little bit about. Um, and then a student that did a fantastic job at regionals. So, I'm going to turn over to Dr. Jury who is our literacy equity coach um at Cooper Middle School. Thank you, Miss Bryer, and good evening board and administrative members. Uh yes, it was
005our third year doing this. And I'm going to do what I did during the B and stand up straight and hold the microphone like this. Uh so as you can see on the on the board there, we did have uh 18 winners from the middle school or the elementary schools advanced, nine winners from the elementary schools. We had two that had to uh duck out due to conflicts or other, you know, competing interests. So we had 25 students on the evening competing uh which lasted about two hours. And as uh Miss Riley was saying, the real length of it came at the end when we're breaking the third place tie um between Abby and another student who is from London. So we'll introduce the winners in just a moment, but they uh you know, we
006have to break ties. I only have three trophies and I want to make sure we have a certain uh number of students in the protocol if we have the people advance or not advance to the next level. So we went six rounds after the uh champion was crowned after Ethan had won and advanced. Uh but it was very exciting. Uh as Amy had said, we did open this up to the uh elementary school grades last year. And I thought last year I was like, okay, fourth and fifth graders, I guess they can try to go with the middle schoolers. Like they'll get out on their first word. They'll be very sad, lots of tears, and then like, you know, the real competition will start with the middle schoolers. Of course, I have to eat my
007words because it went over two hours last year. The second place finisher was a fifth grader and I had no idea what I was getting myself into with expanding it this much. So this year we were a little bit more efficient. I won't bore you with the inside baseball details of how I jumped through the list to make it go faster, but I did. And then at the end of the day we had uh a fourth grade finisher and got in second place. And uh Ethan Thomas who's from Cooper who won. I promise it's not he didn't win because he's from Cooper and I'm from Cooper. Uh he had a conflict with the family. So we had our fourth grade our fourth grader second place finisher Advoca went in his place to the uh North
008Cook spelling bee at uh Lincoln Hall Middle School in Lincolnwood late last month. And then of course Abby is the one uh sixth grader from London who broke the tie with a fellow London student uh to place third. So, as I said, Advik went on to the North Cook B where he faced, I want to say 22, maybe 28 spellers from all over northern Cook County, uh, from Evston all the way up to the Lake County line and as far west as, I think, Shamberg. So, a pretty huge geographical area. Uh, and at the end of the night, he placed fourth, which is one place out of being able to advance to the all Cook B. And again, I will get a little inside baseball here. So, there were four kids left and I know
009that they can send four kids if there's a tie. They don't break ties at the level above us. He was the first in his round to go and he missed his word. And I thought, "Okay, shoot. He's done." And I thought, "Wait, if one of these three girls misses, they're all going to go and they don't know that, but I do." So, I was for the one time in the night saying, "I hope this kid misses. I hope this kid misses. Please miss. Please miss." Just so my my, you know, out of it can go from our district. And, uh, it wasn't in the cards, but it was an excellent showing uh outlasting many spellers at that level. So, uh, we're extremely proud of Ethan and Advik and Abby for all the work they did
010that evening and just showing a lot more interest and showing that this is really a growing phenomenon in the district. So, it's been great to be part of it. And I just can't wait to see, you know, again, those younger kids coming up. I know there's a lot of competition, uh, stiff competition, especially when you have three kids from one feeder strand in fifth grade all got to win their school, but now they have to face each other in sixth grade and only one of them gets to go. So, it can be pretty cutthroat. So, again, just a wonderful thing. I look forward to it every year. Um, and it's been great to uh do this the years I've been in the [Applause] district. Okay, next up is the citizen of the year award. uh
011we have the great honor of celebrating another incredible student who exemplifies kindness, leadership, and the dedication to helping others. So, I'm going to ask Principal Joe Arduino from Tarkington uh elementary school to come up to the lectern and give us some details about Wheeling's citizen of the year. Thank you. Good evening. Maya was the youngest recipient to ever received this award from the village of of Wheeling. And when we heard about it, um, she's a fifth grader at Tarington. When staff heard about it, we were not surprised at all. Mai exhibits this type of citizenship every day at Tarington with peers and staff. She volunteers for numerous activities at school. She shows empathy, sympathy, and encourages everyone to do their best. She exemplifies everything that is good in this world. And so with that, it's
012my honor to introduce Maya Shab. Thank you, Dr. Aduino. I've been doing service projects since I was five and just starting kindergarten. I love the feeling of helping people in my community and just helping people maybe have one less thing to worry about or brighten their day a bit. I love just helping people and helping community that is that has given so much to me. I'm so excited to continue to do service projects and I'm excited for the many more years to come. You get a picture with Dr. Connley and Dr. Eduino Arduino and Maya right here. Maybe in the middle there. We're still Okay, Rob, can you come up with some of the spelling bee winners, too? We'd like to take a picture as well. [Applause] I don't think [Applause] Uh our next celebration
013is called literacy nights uh through a collaboration with our local libraries, some of our local banks and our Buffalo Grove Rotary Club. There were several events to promote literacy and the love of reading. So again, I'm going to ask Amy Bryer to come up and give the board some of the more details. I can have the number from the Indian Trails Library and Prospect Library and the Buffalo Grove Rotary and the Buffalo Grove Bank and Trust. If you guys can come up here, come on and join me up here. works. Sure. Sur surround us, right? This is what it means when it takes a village, right? Um I am very honored and and I feel like I should turn around and thank you from the bottom of my heart for the partnership that right that
014you have forged with us. Um we've we've really worked hard um the library media specialists and the elementaryaries especially have um we've really worked hard to partner um with all of our local libraries and all of these people that are standing here um have grown um um very near and dear to my heart. Um a partnership between libraries and schools is essential right in promoting literacy, learning and access to resources. Libraries provide students with books, technology, and educational programs that enhance classroom learning. These collaborations help bridge educational gaps by ensuring students have access to books and digital tools beyond school hours. Over the past year, um, our district, like I said, has worked, um, with our library media specialists, um, in middle school as well as elementary school, has worked, um, with, um, the local
015libraries to form very strong partnerships, um, particularly in the youth services um, branch. Sarah Hemsworth and Alice Bazans um, have really led to that charge. Hey, I pronounced it correct, right? See, look, it's all that phonics I do, I tell you. Um um this year um um we have had um six different buildings and tonight actually Hawthorne had their event. So I'm very excited to hear how many participants we had at Hawthorne. Um but we had um six different seven different events this um this year with over 1,400 students participating um in literacy nights at Indian Trails and Prospect Heights Libraries. Um and that's just students. So their family members came and I was able to participate in many of them and they came in ablazing. I I called um Dr. Childress from my car
016one night and I was like the turnout at these events is like nothing I've ever seen. Um so we're excited to extend that throughout the district and have every one of our schools participating. So get ready for us. Um every one of our schools um participating um in the events next year. Um the district 21 um students received um a free book. Um there was a variety of languages that were sponsored sponsored by the Buffalo Grove Rotary and the Buffalo Grove um bank and trust um provided those books. They were absolutely beautiful. Um I wanted to kind of collect all of them and bring them back to our libraries, the ones that were left over. Um um a lot of the district 21 families were able to sign up for library cards. um they were
017able to see receive um and have a wealth of services provided to them if they were interested in the other services that the library provides. Um the uh classroom teachers from the buildings led story time. Um I saw principles leading story time. Um uh there were STEM activities, there were crafts, and there was even a very competitive library scavenger hunt um that I saw many children participating in. Um this year um and actually in the last five years um we have been working really close and trying to um ensure and get a library card in the hands of every one of our district 21 students, right? Over 6,000 students. Um my goal is to have every one of our students um have one of those library cards. Um so this year we're we're doing a
018pilot with three of our schools, Cooper, Whitman, and Field, one from each right area of the um of our district. And um where we are approving residency through our registration process and then um the parents are registering for um a library card. And you guys don't even know how many are coming to you. Um, and we did this in accommodation through our parents g as well as paper copies. Um, and um, I texted Dr. Childers this morning because I had a I had a stack of registrations on my desk about this high and I was like, I may need a little bit of help with these. Um, so, but there are over 300 library cards. Um, so first-time library cards that we're going to give that Indian Trails is going to help us give out
019to students um, this year. So, I'm super excited about that. Um, and I cannot thank you enough and we look forward to our partnership in the future. [Applause] Sorry, Henry. Ryan, I think you're going to need a bigger parking lot. Totally. Sorry. [Applause] Here's a couple more pictures from the literacy nights at the library. Our last Oh, our last uh celebration today is a very special one. Uh in our admin reception area, we're going to get a new look. Uh it will soon be featuring a stunning new piece of artwork that was created by one of our own art teachers. Uh the piece reflects the creativity and the spirit of the school community serving as an inspiring welcome for students, staff, parents, and other visitors. I'd like to um invite art teacher Steve Hammond from
020Holmes Middle School up here who was who was the brainchild behind this painting. And while his principal uh Jenny Lagunes could not be here tonight, she did write a quick statement and I wanted to read it out loud. Mr. Hammond provides a safe and inspiring environment where students can explore their creativity and express themselves. He encourages students to think outside the box, experiment with different materials and techniques and develop their unique artistic voices. This nurtures not only artistic talent, but also critical thinking and problem solving skills. By guiding students to create and showcase their work, Mr. Mr. Hammond helps build self-confidence and self-esteem. Whether through praise, constructive feedback, or celebrating milestones, Mr. Hammond shows students the value of persistence and the joy of accomplishment. Art can be a therapeutic outlet for many students. Mr. Hammond
021creates a space where students can express their emotions, reduce stress, and develop mindfulness through creative expression. Thank you to Mr. Hammond for his contribution to the Holmes Middle School community and our entire district. So now we would like to unveil this painting. It's going to be a little tricky. Uh does the rest of cabinet want to come around and see and the board members? I'll give you an opportunity to come and see it close up and then I think I'll pull the ready. [Music] Hey Uh, I'd like to thank the board for uh their support. I'd like to thank uh Dr. Connelly and I'd like to thank uh Cassidy for their support. Uh, I don't really know what to say because I didn't realize I would be holding microphone. But, uh, uh, it was a
022lot of work, a lot of enjoyment, a little bit of stress, but I'm happy it's over. Uh, I added up the hours and it took around 575 hours. So, a lot of the summer. Thank you. Let Let's sit stand in the middle with the painting and take another picture over here with your kids, too. All right, let's hold this. Do you mind holding it? That's So, in the next couple of weeks, we'll hang this up in the lobby right above that couch. And we really appreciate all the work you've done, Steve. Give him another round of applause. It's hard to fit in the ramp. uh I think we have to mention one more thing that AJ our very own did you place fourth in the spelling be okay congratulations [Applause] Well, a lot of celebrations
023um and uh we appreciate everybody coming tonight. Um and uh just another snapshot of of the amazing things um that are going on every day uh in our schools in district 21. So, thanks everybody for being here tonight so we can do some of that celebrating. Um I think we we need to do that a lot um now. So, um, really I appreciate everybody being here tonight. Thanks very much. Okay. I' I'd like to start by saying thank you, Mr. Hammond. That is a beautiful addition to our building. And I want to say thank you to all of our community partners that have helped out with the literacy nights. our partnerships with among our community just warms my heart that the rest of the community wants to help out our kids. It's it's just wonderful.
024Um thank you Amy. Thank you Cass for all of your work on that. I do have a few more recognitions. We're not done with the celebrating. Um, the Illinois Association of School Board recognizes schoolboard members for individual time and effort devoted to learning and leadership activities provided by the association and for service to public education. The following school board members received the IASB establish established board leader recognition. Board Secretary Jessica Riddick and former board member Stacy Allen. Uh we have two people that uh got the annual merit recognition as a distinguished board leader was Bill Harrison and myself. And we have two school board members that are not only recognized for their learning and leadership activities but also for their service on the board for 25 years or more and received the IASB annual merit
025recognition as legacy board leaders and that is Phil Pritsker and Arlland Gold. Congratulations. Thank you. In addition, the Illinois Association of School Boards has a school board governance recognition program that acknowledges boards of education that engage in activities and model behaviors that lead to excellence in local school governance in support of quality public education. And I am pleased to say that our school board was one of 46 school boards that received the IASB 2024 schoolboard governance recognition. And this govern this recognition covers a two-year period. And I want to thank all of my me fellow members for their dedication and commitment to the school board and to the entire district 21 community. So and we have our beautiful little plaque. And this is not the first time that we have won this award. This is
026something that we are very proud of and we work very hard to keep um because we feel effective school governance is very important to us. Um and we have 863 school boards in the state of Illinois and only 46 got it. So this is quite the accomplishment. It's not just, oh yeah, you can get it this year and you get it that year. Um, so that's it. Congratulations to everyone, all of us, the district as a whole, all of our cabinet members because they have to put in a lot of work for that as well. Okay, now we're on the board communication section. The first item is board finance and operations committee update. Phil, thank you, Debbie, and good evening to everyone. Uh before our regular meeting this evening, uh board and uh finance and
027operations committee had a meeting with our outside auditing firm, Baker Tilly, uh to review the audit for the 2024 uh fiscal year. Uh once again, I think uh Michael, this was the fifth year in a row we received an unmodified audit opinion from the professional firm, which is the highest rating that we can receive. uh which we're over the years and what we've been through as a district, it's um uh been quite an accomplishment uh cooperative effort between staff and uh and the policies that the board has put together. Part of the things that u they indicated aside from being the highest level of recognition, there were no deficiencies that were found. Uh again, something uh we appreciate from the uh uh from our professional staff as well. We paid down our long-term debt. We
028waved student fees for another year in a row as well as uh provided uh no cost for outside supplies that we were able to provide. So all in all, the uh audit was something that we've come to uh expect uh and we certainly appreciate the hard work that went into it. So Mike Michael appreciate it. that is finance and operations. Awesome. Thank you, Phil. Uh the next update is for NSSEO and our meeting this month month was rather concise. Our biggest thing that we are working on right now is a potential in the change of the governing system uh with adding a second actually the first layer of governance which would be incorporating all of the superintendants as a as another layer for the governing board. Um we are in the throws of that. I
029mean right in the middle of it. Uh the biggest thing that we're doing is on the 31st we are having a committee of the whole meeting so that we can spend the several hours discussing how this is going to work. Um I'm not sure. I believe that there will be a few at least one or two superintendent there to give their opinion on it so that we can see. We are one of the few co-ops that does not use this system. So, it's it will be interesting. It's something I myself support and I and I know Dr. Connelly supports it. Um, but before we go for a final vote, I will be bringing it back obviously to the rest of the governing board to make sure that I represent everyone in that decision. Did you
030have did you have anything else you would want to add to it? No. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Then we have Edra Bills. Thank you, Debbie. Um, Ed's March monthly meeting was held on the 7th. Dana Stroger, the executive director of legislative affairs for ISBY, spoke to their initiatives in the current legislative session, including a bill to bar expulsion of students in grades K through two and a desire to extend ALOP services to grades K through three. The next member meeting will be held on April 4th. It will be a combined um in-person or Zoom meeting. If you plan to attend in person, it will be held at the main township district 207 administrative building in Park Ridge. If you wish to attend via Zoom, you should be getting an email from Ed Red in the
031coming weeks. And that's it for Ed Red. Okay, then we'll go on to IASB. Bill, thank you. Um, IASB held a virtual advocacy meeting on March 14th. There was a brief presentation on the governor's budget address, key points for education, a proposed $350 million increase to the evidence-based funding model, which brings total EBF increases to $2.1 billion since inception. Mand mandated categoricals can expect further prations and there are some various propos uh proposed grants for teacher recruitment, some of which are expected to expire at at the end of this year. As of last week, through our over 900 bills filed by legislature on education issues alone, there was a brief recap of some of the more interesting proposals, including four different bills to either ban or limit cell phones in schools. Tomorrow is the deadline
032for bills to get out of committee. So, IASB and Ed will continue monitoring. If anyone is interested in seeing the uh very quick presentation of quite a number of bills, I have a link to a recording of the meeting and I'd be happy to send it to you. That's it. Thank you, Bill. Uh North Cook is Arland North Cook is North Cook is meeting next week, so I have nothing new. We do have some personnel changes, but I'll bring that up next month. Okay, thank you. Uh how about the Wheeling Township 708 door? Nothing new until the election. Okay, thank you. Welcome. We'll go through the rest of our government agencies. Bill, did you have anything else to add? Not so much from our government agency, but uh at the beginning of the month, I
033was delighted to again um visit and watch the Jazz in the Meadows competition where all three of our middle schools sent a jazz band and they all did phenomenally. And Cooper Middle School with a certain Santi having a number of different solos actually finished se second in a great performance. And Santi, I I've gone for a number of years. My son performed there many years ago. And I will tell you, you're not going to get anywhere if you don't get over that shyness, man. Um, you know, most of the students, they would cautiously approach the microphone for their solo. I think you were afraid it was going to run away from you. Um, but you did a great job. So, thank you. That's it. Great, Arlon. Yeah. I I'll just note that not about government,
034but I've attended three elementary concerts in the last week, and I just am aed by what is happening at the elementary level with our fourth and fifth grade students in the concerts at our schools. It's just magnificent and a joy to have a chance to watch. So, thank you to our teachers across the boards. Nothing. Mara, do you have anything? Just a couple of quick notes. Uh perhaps you saw in the Daily Herald that today Debbie and I had lunch at Morettes in Wheeling to celebrate their grand opening. Just wanted to welcome them to the neighborhood. Lunch was delicious. Um but I also I attended London's spring bucket band and sensations concert uh two weeks ago uh which was so fun. Uh and I just I want to give a shout out to Mrs. Sther
035at London and really all of the music teachers at all of our buildings who continue to innovate opportunities to excite our students to enjoy music in so many different formats uh showcasing all their different talents and enjoyment. Um it just every concert we go to there's just it it's so refreshing. It's so fun. Um and I want to give a quick uh shout of encouragement to all of our middle schools as they're rehearsing their spring musicals. I can't wait to see the performances. Awesome. Thank you. Um and I I had the pleasure to attend several events this past month. Um one of my favorites was going over to Tarkington to watch the fourth and fifth grade musical. Um it was a reiteration of one that had been done several years ago when they became a
036No Excuses University School and my eldest was in that one. So, it was fun going back and I'm sitting there listening. I'm like, "These songs sound really familiar." And it's like, "Oh, yeah." Um, as always, Mrs. Fielder does a fantastic job. And I I love getting back into the school to see those types of things. Um, I was also able to help out at the uh Scholastic Book Fair, which is one of my favorites is helping out at the book fairs over at Twain. So, that was a lot of fun being able to do that. Uh, and that's one of the things that makes our board special is we do get out into the schools and help out. It was fun. Don't get to see the little kids that as much anymore doing that kind
037of stuff. So, I enjoyed it. Okay. And our last item is now for our student reps. Yeah. So, um, this month, um, we asked our student reps, um, to, um, talk to us a little bit about how we can, um, help to increase student voice, um, within our schools. So, um, Santi, do you want to start? Yes. So, how can we increase student voice? It's a very challenging topic for more for multiple reasons. Every kid works different. What might be good for me might not be good for AJ or the next student over and over. But I want to state that there have been forms made like the social work form that has been a charming Cooper and has been over used 200 times to inform um social workers, the principal or even the dean
038about topics that might be on their mind. And there I also want to remind about the safe to help app that every student has on their Chromebook. So you could also text safe to help as saf or 72332 or call 844 S a FIL. This app allows students to either be anonymously or have a personality or show who they are and inform officials or police or anyone about things that are happening. And this is a very powerful tool that I want to implement more. I want to see more and more people talking about it. I want maybe a couple like school assemblies on it because this is a very powerful tool that I feel like we should implement into our students brain. And that's it. And our updates are the school musical mentioned by Miss
039Reic a while ago. Boys volleyball and track and field is started and sixth and seventh graders are done with their a um ICT testing and eighth graders still have a couple more testings. Thank you. So, one way to increase school student voices is joining student council. Students that are in the student council get to represent the student body as a whole. And like Santi said, many students have different opinions and different perspectives about things. and problems that many students could be facing. It couldn't reach the teachers or principal without any help. But students, they reach out to other students, other peers, their friends and um they also look at problems that they're facing as well so that they can report it to the principal and any other board members so that more people know about
040the problems that students face. And one example about this is homework club. So a month ago we've gotten many reports as um an advisory to the principal council that many students are like like falling behind in their work getting W's struggling with their homework probably because they didn't understand the content fully since their teachers weren't there to help enough. And um as advisory to the principles um we gathered this idea of developing a homework club that could help students catch up and learn more. And um wait. So basically the homework clubs where um older kids in our school like eighth graders could sign up to be tutors so that they could help sixth or sixth or seventh graders maybe even eighth graders who are struggling with their homework and that can help students learn faster
041and more efficiently. So, homework club was basically an example of how the student council and the advisory of the principal club helped shape um our student voice and increased it. And our updates um London's having a school musical. We're practicing right now. It's the the musical Shrek Jr. and boys volleyball triyouts are happening today and um also last Tuesday. and track and field and soccer club's also gonna start. Uh so I had two answers for the questions. The first one was student council and peer leaders. This is uh I think that we should be letting student council direct more social events and letting some student council members talk in assemblies. And my second answer was student voice and morning announcements. Everybody listens to the announcements and it would be nice to hear them coming from
042a student who will shed some of their personality over the intercom and my updates were via what's the buzz number 25. We have our end of trimester 2 assembly tomorrow. We have we are practicing for our musical which is Alice in Wonderland Jr. Uh boys volleyball started. We have a new polar hornets polar hornets running club which was preparing for the track and field and we have spirit week this week and we also have our pop tab program. Any questions for any of our student reps? Thank you student voice announcements. That's cool. Definitely. All right. Well, thanks very much everybody. We appreciate it. We'll see you next month. Thanks very much. Okay, the next section on the agenda is staff communications, the superintendent report. So, we have a very brief um update this month. I'm
043going to turn it over to Bob Gurnie who's going to um just very again high level um provide a uh our tenative class sizes very early tenative class sizes for 2526. Good evening board. Um like Mike said, Mike said, this is going to be really short. Uh the most important thing is we don't have a reduction in force this year. Um over the last five years, I think we've had two people um go through a RIFF process, but it's been very minimal over the last five years. We're excited about that. Uh we've got a couple different slides here showing the class sizes at each of the elementary and the middle schools that we're planning on. Um, the only ones that are above the targets are London at one grade and Cooper Middle School at two
044of the grades, but right now we're at a really good spot. And like like I said, um, this being very tentative um, and and early on. Um, these numbers are going to shift uh, on a, you know, weekly uh, to monthly basis, but um, we'll keep, you know, reporting back on them and as we get closer to the start of the next school year, we'll we'll start to get a little bit more specific, you know, by grade level. Right now, we're just kind of given the the broad building overviews. Uh lots of moving pieces um when we go through the sectioning process. So, okay, we have now reached the public comment section of our meeting. The board will allow any individual to share a public comment for up to three minutes. Such comments should not
045include discussion of personnel matters which should be brought directly to the attention of the appropriate school official. During public comment, the board and administration listen to comments but may not respond to the public. I have looks like I have three here. Uh we'll start with uh Ben Coleman. Good evening. My name is Ben Kman and I am the current president of the District 21 Education Association. We represent the teachers education support personnel and custodial maintenance staff here in district 21. I'm here today to continue a tradition that we started last month. We would like to address the board on a regular basis to open a public and transparent line of communication with our community. Today we want to talk about two things. First, we want to thank Stacy Allen for her service to the board
046and her support of teacher, staff, and the whole district 21 community. We appreciate the work she has done and we wish her the best in whatever is next for her. Second, we want to talk briefly about school leadership. Teachers and staff in district 21 all recognize the importance of having a skilled leader in the role of school principal. Unfortunately, because of a nationwide shortage of qualified candidates and because it can sometimes be a tough job, this has been a difficult position to fill and once filled, difficult to maintain. Good principles are a hot commodity. In my 18 years of experience as a middle school teacher at Holmes Middle School, I haven't had to work with that many different principles. This is because I spent 13 years working for Martin Hopkins who started out as a
047social studies teacher, moved up to dean, then assistant principal, and finally principal. In all those roles, he became acquainted with the community, learned to collaborate with the staff and administration, and then brought all of those relationships and that institutional knowledge to the role of school leader. Martin also helped train several new leaders by mentoring them as assistant principles. We would love to help make Martin's path more common if we can. We would welcome a conversation with the board andor with district administration about how we might grow more of our own leaders. We think there are many excellent candidates for leadership roles among the staff already employed in district 21. Perhaps more could be done to help these staff members take the next step. Thank you for the chance to contribute and thank you for the
048work that you all do in support of students and staff here in district 21. We are excited to be a partner in the decision-making process. Thank you, Ben. Uh, next I have Elena Martinez. So, my my name is Mara Martinez and I work as a teacher assistant at TW. I don't know. I don't know. this is the appropriate place to discuss this. But um my question is what can we do to keep our principal at when it was done and these are the reasons why she has made tremendous change in less than a year. I as a teacher assistant go to STC classes, K through 5th classes and I see the increase of academical levels. The sense of of each student and staff. IEPs finally received full minutes written in their IEPs and the decrease
049of misbehavior. All of this is happening because of our principal women. She is a great leader. She knows all the resources existing in the district and uses appropriately. She worked tirelessly for the benefit our twin community. I honestly believe if she stay she is not only benefit twin she will benefit the future homes middle schoolers. She thinks this is happening because of twain staff but most of my co-workers believe this is happening because of when she is a great leader. So just so you know this is public comment so we we're not going to be engaging in discussion. So yeah. Yeah. I have my son and my daughter who are district 21 students and I want the best for them and for my community. Thank you. Okay. And next we have Sher Clump. I'm Sher
050Clump and I'm commissioner with Wheeling Park District. So, I have a couple of things from them first and then I also had a couple of personal things. Um, I wanted to invite you all on April 27th, it's a Sunday, to attend Earth Day event over at Heritage Park. The hours are from 11 until 1:00. And I don't know what they have planned to celebrate Earth Day, but one thing that's very dear to my heart is we have a program within our district, your district, called NWSR, Northwest Special Rec Association. They have a program hosed out of our building. We're fortunate to be, I think it's one of six in the NWS SR territory. It's called Pursuit and it's for those people that have aged out of the school districts and they can come. It's a
051day program Monday through Friday. Well, one of the things that they've worked on this past year is a greenhouse to bring in different programming for the participants, maybe an opportunity to volunteer to help out. And that greenhouse is going to be dedicated on Earth Day. I don't know what specific time. All I know is that um the members of NWS as well as the participants are extremely excited. So if you have a hour or so, come on over. Um and Morettes is just down the street, a couple blocks. And just to piggyback on what Jessica had said, I highly recommend the roasted chicken and the pizza. Um, and then I also would like to thank Stacy Allen for all of her years of not only service on this board, but things in the community. Um,
052sometimes she would agree with me, sometimes not, but I always knew she would tell me if she didn't. And that's in a way kind of a special tribute to have. And I think with that, I wish her well. And I'm done. Thank you. Thank you, Sherry. Okay, Mike Francini, do we have anything online? Uh, yes, we have one. We have Megan B. I'm going to unmute her here. All right. Uh, good evening board members, administration, and fellow parents. I stand before you tonight not as a politician, not as someone seeking endorsements, and certainly not for a photo op. But I am a parent who is tired of watching my children's education take a backseat to everything except what truly matters, learning and opportunity. We've all seen the canvasing, the social media posts, and the endorsements.
053But I have to ask, what happens after April 1st when the signs come down and the Facebook post uh slow down? Um will you actually implement the change that you're saying? Or will we be back here next year discussing the same failures and excuses? Because here's the reality. Our district is falling behind. We are the only district still using outdated curriculum while neighboring schools offer better resources, stronger learning opportunities, and greater student and parent engagement. Meanwhile, our students get more promises and delays. I know some families have found success here, and I truly celebrate that, but many have not. I do have a gifted student who is bored and another who was struggling and tossed around when I asked for help. Other students innovate while we stagnate. Infrastructure updates are great. Safety is essential, but
054none of it matters if our kids aren't learning at a speed that they deserve. And let's talk about leadership turnover. How can we expect stability in our schools when principles, assistant principles, and teachers are leaving an unsustainable rate. Strong leadership is the foundation of academic success. Yet, we continue to lose great leaders. So, I ask, why are we losing good administrators? What's being done to fix it? And if most of you are reelected, how will you ensure real change tonight? I am not asking. I'm holding you accountable. If you and our administration are serious about serving this district and continuing to serve year after year, then we need action, not another strategic plan collecting dust. We need a board with current parents and educators who understand today's education. a curriculum that actually engages students and
055leadership's ability that fosters success. And while we're talking about underestimating students, let's address the concerns raised earlier about adding the fourth and fifth graders to the spelling bee. That was pretty uncalled for, and I'm glad you had to eat your words. This district has incredible, talented students. Let's stop doubting them. I appreciate the recognition of students at board meetings, but let's not allow that to overshadow the real concerns that keep getting ignored. Not all schools are treated equally in this district. Our kids deserve better. My kids deserve better. And whether you like it or not, I will continue to fight for them. Maybe I'll even find the time to sit up there with some of you. I may not be an educator, a lawyer, or a doctor, but I'm a mom and a damn good
056one. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Bombgarter. Uh Mike, was that it? That was it. Okay. Cass, do we have anything written? No. Okay. Thank you. Uh the next section on the agenda is a consent agenda. This month we received two freedom of information requests. We do not have any travel and conference expenses to approve this month. Phil, did you have an opportunity to review the financials? Yes, I did. Uh went through both of the um additions that were sent to me. I had maybe four or five questions uh between Joan and Michael. They answered them without any further is for clarification. So, I'm good. Okay. Thank you, Phil. Uh, does anyone need anything pulled from the consent agenda? I do. A and B. B. Okay. Uh, then may I please get a motion to approve
057the consent agenda as presented minus items A and B. So moved. Second. Bill. I. Arlland. I. Bill. I. Demar. Yes. I vote yes. Debbie. Yes. Motion carries. May you please get a motion to approve items A and B of the consent. So move second. Arlin I. Bill I Dagmara I vote yes. Debbie yes. Bill I. Motion carries. Okay. Thank you. The next item on the agenda is related to the permanent transfer of funds in the amount of $1.5 million. The first step is to enter into a public hearing. May please get a motion to approve the proposed resolution to convene into a public hearing. Second close. Um I vote yes. Debbie. Yes. Bill. Yes. Arlin. Hi. Phil. All right. And we are now in public hearing. Dr. Connell. Um, we switch. We properly noticed the
058public hearing pursuant to the law in the Daily Herald. Uh, as you know from last month, the budget calls for an 11.5 million transfer from the education fund into operations and maintenance and then we will take that from operations and maintenance into the capital projects if it's approved. Um, and we're here to go ahead and have that vote. Thank you. Do I have any anyone have any questions? Okay, thank you. Have the TC have ever received any comment cards on it? No, we have not. Okay. And Mike, anything online? Okay. And any written public comments, Cass? Okay. Thank you. May I please get a motion to approve the proposed resolution to adjourn the public meeting and reconvene into the regular meeting? So move. I vote yes. Debbie, yes. Bill, I Arlland I. Bill. Immara. May
059I please get a motion to approve the proposed resolution authorizing the permanent transfer of 11,000 11,500,000 from the education fund to the operations and maintenance fund. So move. Second. Debbie. Yes. Bill. I. Arland. I. Bill. Hi. Mara, I vote yes. May I please get a motion to approve the proposed resolution authorizing the permanent transfer of 11,500,000 from the operations and maintenance funds to its capital projects. So move second. Bill I Arlland I. Bill I I will. Yes. Okay. Motion passes. Uh we have reached the new business section of the agenda. We have one item under new business. The surplus budget approval posting of notice for 12.5 million. This is just simply the proceeding of the notice um for action that we'll take um in April. Okay. May please get a motion to approve the resolution.
060So moved. Second. Arlland I. Bill. Immara. I vote yes. Debbie yes. Bill yes. Motion carries. Okay. The last item is the announcements. for the next regular meeting of the board of education of wheeling CCSD 21 is scheduled for Thursday April 24th and the remaining item on the agenda is a close session. The board does not take any action during its close session and we will not be taking any action after it. So may I please get a motion to approve the recommended resolution to recess the regular meeting and convene in close session. So move second. Phil, I I Doug Mara. I I vote yes. Debbie, yes. Bill, I carry. Okay. Thank you. Thank you all for attending tonight.