001Okay. All right. We'll begin with our meeting. >> Presents >> here. You get us >> Here of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. public. Okay. Like table. minutes. We will invite Hello everyone. >> Anna within Workers Center. Um, thank you for having me. I'm sorry it was my employee that was supposed to be here, but we got here. Uh just want to let everyone know here in that our organization has been working for many years with some of the organizations here and churches. We provide predominantly labor work um education now. Um so we're here just to let everyone know that we have an after school program that was partnered with Corason which is a community organization here. Um and so we're
002providing after school services. It's 100% free. We're also providing a ho for the children. It's two hours every Wednesday. Um And so throughout the school year, we have um after school program that vary from actual physical sports. We're also teaching the children how to cook um and bake [clears throat] um and I believe also art. And so we just wanted to let everyone know that this is a new program that we're bringing to Blue Island. And if we get enough um I guess um willingness for parents to bring their children to the program, then we're going to expand it for next year. But this is part of the department of um DHS um which is a program in the state that allows school work program which is an anti violence initiative. Thank you everyone. [applause]
003>> Yes. I just wanted to say thank you to the principles um throughout our district for sending the weekly parent newsletter. It's nice to see what's happening in our schools. I also wanted to thank them for taking the time to review and analyze the data from their school and provide the PBIS reports that we read. I've been paying attention to the attendance piece in the newsletter as well as the PBIS reports. um attendance still seems to be an issue of concern and I cannot help but wonder if it's part of you know part of that's due to the state of our nation specifically the ice raids that are occurring in and around our area so my question is what is our district doing to keep our students and staff safe and I also want to
004ask if e-learning is a possibility for those students and the parents that are generally afraid So we have given guidance to our building as to how to respond if somebody comes to school in that regard. We have not come in our school sites. Um and our principles a nice job of making sure there's enough staff outside as far as remote learning. The state is not that changes. I will send out this um access. Thank you. >> It's obviously Thank you. >> Are there any other Uh, the Department of Special Education would like to recognize Kim Deario and Pam Van Aen for their ongoing dedication and exceptional support of students across the district. Kim Deario is one of our school nurses who not only fulfills her for building level responsibilities, but also coordinates state reporting requirements
005to the Illinois State Board of Education, including vaccin vaccination compliance, vision, hearing, and dental screenings. Both Pam Vanlock and Kim Deario play key roles in onboarding and training all new nurses in district procedures, the SNL SNAP health management system, and the completion of evaluations related to IEPs and 504s. They also lead district-wide CPR, anaphilaxis, and stop the bleed trainings. They provide expert consultation to less experienced teams and actively contribute to collaborative pro problem solving within their schools. Their leadership, professionalism, and commitment exemplify the excellent excellence in community spirit that define Cook County School District 130. We're grateful to have them. Thank you so very much. [applause] Wait, there's more. Additionally, the special education department would like to also recognize Janice Castile and Billy Reyes for their invaluable contributions to the pupil personnel services department. They
006provide essential supports for the daily operations of IEP management, record recordeping, and early intervention to early childhood transitions, homebound services, and other critical functions. Beyond their administrative expertise, Janice and Billy also play vital roles in supporting communication across our district. They assist coordinators and families by providing interpretation services for Spanish speaking families, ensure access and understanding for all. Their efforts help strengthen relationships, promote inclusivity, and foster a greater sense of community among our students, families, and staff. We are so grateful for them. not unlike the hair commercial. Um they're not only employees of the district, but they also live in the community as well and exemplify our communities spirit. So we're grateful for all those members of our team. Thank you very much. [applause] Certificate for you if you could come up and recognize. So
007thank you Kim. Thank you. [applause] >> Good evening everyone. My name is Stephanie Del Roso and I am the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. >> I am Terry Compos. I am the curriculum coordinator for ELA and social studies. And my name is Kristen Palmer and I'm the grants coordinator for the curricular instruction. This evening we are proud to celebrate our district's outstanding team of instructional coaches. These dedicated professionals make countless contributions every day to support teaching and learning across our schools. With an instructional coach in every building along with two district instructional technology coaches, this team plays a vital role in our continuous improvement process. They lead data discussions, partner closely with teachers to address challenges, and enhance instructional practices, and help to equip our staff with new goals, strategies, and technologies that strengthen
008student learning and engagement. On November 4th, 2025, we joined educators across the country in celebrating National Instructional Coach Appreciation Day. Tonight, we proudly recognize our instructional coaches for their unwavering dedication, collaboration, and impact on both our teachers and our students. Thank you for all you do to make teaching and learning stronger every single day. Please join me in honoring the following members of the instructional coach team. [clears throat] Coaches, as your name is called, please come forward for your certificate and stay standing for a formal applause at the end. Christine Barry, Sarah Connealy, Mary Dro, Deiana King, Molly Larkin, Eileene McLaclin, Jennifer Riker, Sierra Russell, Kimberly Me, I bet Deente, Kristen Wa, Karen Zedis, >> [applause] [clears throat] [cough] >> November 15th is school board members day. It's our opportunity to thank the school board
009members. Thank you school board members today. We recognize your commitment to the district and the work community. Thank you. [applause] >> [clears throat] >> student. [cough] Okay, before I let the kids um take over, this is a reminder of um the award that the students presented uh at last board meeting or the the idea of the award that they are going to present today. We'll we'll view it on the screen here as the students um read and kind of reexlain how students were chosen for the eight award. Um and then um the student board members from each school will uh explain their nominees that they gave for the month of November. We will select a award every month at the board of education meeting. And this award will recognize an eighth grader from each little
010school who >> responsibility materials stay on kind and empathy. >> Respect shows consideration towards others, polite towards staff and students, and gives everyone a chance. >> Miss Vision screening is tomorrow, everybody. [laughter] Leadership contributes to class discussions, sets an example for others, and creates a positive environment. [laughter] Before we get Okay. And I just want to give the caveat that the students picked. I sent the message out to them. They spent the time throughout the last couple weeks really trying to figure out who they wanted to nominate. Now, it is group eight because it is um exclusive to eighth graders. Since the student board is made up of eighth graders, this is the way they chose the award to be. So, we're appreciative um that we're given this opportunity to present the award. So, we'll
011we will start with um the award that our recipient or that our board members from her middle school will present. Um, this award goes to Raina Martinez and for being selected by the Cook County School District 130 student advisory board to receive the great award responsibility, kindness, respect, and leadership. [applause] Next we have the recipient from Nathan H. Me and my fellow classmate Kalia Brown nominate Aiden Oliverz for being selected by the CCSB30 student advisory board to receive the career 8 award for showing responsibility, respect, leadership and kindness towards other students. [applause] >> [applause] >> Right. responsibility. [applause] We will make sure that she gets your award. Thank you all. We will um present another award in December. So, who knows who it will be. [applause] Congratulations This this might also test my vision tonight.
012So I might need to scooch a little bit. Um good evening. This is these are for reading, not for business. [laughter] My name is Alma. I'm the director of early childhood and my birth certificate program had the opportunity to have um to attend a conference for the parents as teachers international conference held in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Um so I'm going to share with you all what we gathered from this experience and then what our next steps are going to be. So first I wanted to talk a little bit about the purpose of this annual conference. It is an international conference. So just like every conference really we're looking to they're looking to enhance our professional knowledge on home visiting and supporting families improve program effectiveness. So there was a lot around how do we
013improve compliance in the area of compliance networking. I said it was an international conference so we were able to speak with other people in other states and countries and then celebrate celebrate the blue ribbon award. Yes, I just put them on here back because what is the blue ribbon award? The blue ribbon award is a designation from the parents of teachers organization for its affiliates that are considered exemplary for providing highquality services to families. Now this is an entire process that takes a whole year to complete and it includes meeting the 20 essential requirements which we did um completing a comprehensive self assessment which was long and meet or exceed at least 80% of the 81 quality standards we met at 90%. Um so really it's looking for fidelity. are we being true to what
014the curriculum says and we did our work and we um were recipients of this blue written award. So a few conference highlights we were there for 4 days um well the conference was four days we were there um a few days before and after um there were over 90 sessions to choose from. There were approximately 1,800 participants or attendees at this conference. Very very big space. Um, and then like I said before, they're um international. They have um affiliates in all 50 states and then six countries as well. The sessions were available in English and in Spanish. And if you didn't make it into a session, like a couple times I they filled up and they didn't let us in. You can live stream so you still were able to participate. And the bonus is
015we still have access to all of those sessions. So obviously we had to follow a specific schedule that we chose ourselves. Um but if we wanted to be at one that was happening simultaneously, we have access to it now. Um and then as a team together, we attended over 40 different sessions. There were six of us that were there. So we all received different information that we came back and um talked about. So this is where my vision will get tested. So these are the areas that they had the different sessions. So advanced home health, community engagement, collaboration and partnership, community responsiveness, health and wellness, parenting, is that what this is? And child development, power in play, hands-on skill building, and then program implementation and management, research and data driven practices. And I found out
016in the airport coming back that I was actually um a presenter in one of the sessions. We were asked to give our input or like tips on how to get through that entire process. So I recorded myself back in July and I sent in my video and they picked my video. So I was in one of those sessions giving people tips who didn't even know it. So alto together we I tried to consolidate what we like what areas did we cover really we we I did a lot of training under creating psychological safety with families and staff understanding the sensory system in children safety for the home visitors. They're going into famil family's homes. They're driving into all of our neighborhoods, all four of our neighborhoods. Um community building. How do we connect with the
017with the community to enhance our programs and how do we engage families continuously? Another session was really focusing on strengths because right now it's really easy to find all of the struggles, all of the things that are very difficult. And so if we can find the strengths in a family and build up from there, we're we're winning. Um maternal depression is a thing. So we did some learning on that. increasing father engagement and then domestic violence, integrating literacy across all personal visits and then there was a full session on why we're seeing more challenging behaviors in children. Really, really engaging. Um, big highlight, we were recognized as the Blue Ribbon Award recipients [applause] and what was super cool that we didn't realize is that many of us had milestone years. So they had another backdrop
018where if you've been um working with this parents as teachers curriculum, you can take your milestone picture. So each of us had a different milestone. So I've had staff who have been doing this for 25 years, 10 years, 20 years, 15 years, and then that 10 year category. Um and so um that was super exciting for us. How it aligned to the strategic plan, it really revolved around climate and culture for a number of reasons, right? So we what my staff took away from this and what I took away from this is that they have access to a ton of professional development like that. They have to complete 20 hours every year to keep um to keep working in their positions. We do this all virtually. All of our training is virtually. And this time
019being in person and being in spaces connected the whole group. It it it I think they came back like invigorated like wow these are things that we can try. hearing new ways that we can enhance our program. So looking at our our strategic plan, those are the two um goals that we really connected with. And then lastly, the theme of the conference was called reach new heights um and so how we're going to reach new heights, we are looking at doing a creating a postpartum mom group. So last year we had a ton of prenatal mamas. They've had their babies and we know the fourth trimester is a real thing, right? And so, how do we support our postpartum mommies? Um, movement is a great way. So, we're looking at ways to have a walking
020mom club. And then transitioning our birth to three kiddos into prek. So, how do we create a group for our two and a half year olds that are coming to pre-k so that they're ready for prek? Um some of our parents have already start parent educators have already started updating and [clears throat] um changing out information in our activities that we take home to the families. And then there was this really neat PAT engage app that really helps the parent educators lock everything into um into that app and communicate with families. And then of course we're always looking for ways to increase parent involve or father involvement in our in our program. So amazing amazing experience. Um and we are thankful that we were allowed to attend. Um that is it. Thank you so much.
021[applause] [cough] [clears throat] >> [clears throat] [applause] >> Hello everyone. I move too fast because you [clears throat] know I don't like speaking in front of people, but I'll pick a job that makes me do it every day. Um, so I am the principal here at Horus Man, and I'm going to kind of lead you through a brief presentation about our program. I lead the program with our wonderful director Al McConnell who you just heard from. Um the presentation is going to just talk about our current work, the program structure, um and then accomplishments that we have over the last three years and then the direction in which we're trying to go. So Horus man proudly serves 200 students in a half-day program. Our program consists consists of six blended classrooms and two early childhood
022self-contained special education classrooms. Within those class, our blended classrooms, we have students with and without special needs. Our sessions are AM and PM. Our teacher teams consist of an early childhood educator, [laughter] a special education teacher, pair professionals, and our therapists. They collaborate together to promote an inclusive environment and shared learning for all of our students. Um and this last few years we've had um our students and we focused a lot on their social emotional development and our collaboration and partnership with families. So that is embedded in our program um our curriculum and assessment. So we use a creative curriculum and that curriculum is grounded in the early Illinois learning standards and so we are intentional about our work. Um it focuses on the whole child. So their social emotional development, cognitive development, physical development,
023language development, and math and literacy. Um the lessons that the students teach, and you'll be able to see that in a video at the end, is all hands-on and is centered around curiosity and exploration, which I thoroughly enjoy. The curriculum also allows for our teachers to do whole group, small group, and individual lesson planning. So all of that is in their lesson plan. um teaching strategy goals. It goal is a platform that we use. We use that data to then they take and do notes, photos, they put that in the platform and then they use that information to then um track our students progress. And so every three times a year the parents come in to get a report to talk about how their child is progressing in all of those areas. Um so continuous
024growth and improvement. So for the last 3 years um since I've been here, we've worked to do a couple of things. First thing is we've tried to streamline the processes to improve instruction and class efficiency. Um we have enhanced our inclusive inclusive practices to make sure that it is equitable learning for all of our students. We've also looked at our data because as we all know our children are coming in with more needs. And so we looked at our data and we took that data to then plan our professional development and improve our programming. and we worked handinhand with our director to make sure that everything that we do is including every single child in this building. Um, and then we've strengthened our focus on student regulation and trauma-informed practices. And with that, we have
025also learned and studied more about co-regulation because 3 and 5 year olds can't regulate. Adults don't learn to regulate till they're 25. So, um, for our most current PD, which [clears throat] was Monday, which was great, we worked on breathing and breath work with the teachers and then movement and the importance of how they can then co-regulate with our students. So, it was a great day. And this year, last year, we adopted the honeybee as our mascot. You saw her when you came in. So, um, the honeybee embodies the hard work that we do here at Horseman. So um the teachers here, the pair of professionals, they work tires, tirelessly and they are dedicated to taking care of our students. The hive is our community and in this community we build unity, joy, and a
026sense of belonging. There is a debate on what we're going to name the honeybee. The director doesn't like Harriet. I do. Um so we're still deciding on that and I think we should involve other people in the conversation [laughter] cuz it's just me and her. Um, also to go back, we have also incorporated an implemental health consultant who works with our parent educators to then create a bridge from the classroom to our parents. And our incremental health consultant is now working with our parent educators. And during our parent teacher conferences, we have now involved the parent educators to help our parents with what they need in the classroom. So, um, to support us in the classroom and help their children at home. So, we got a lot of celebrating to do [clears throat] over the
027last two years. Two years, we've graduated four honeybee um classes and we have two graduating in November. Um we got the gold circle of quality. Um we have built a culture that is always focused on including every student and we've leaned in this last year to cultivating joy as a staff um and importance in how that impacts our daily work. Um we are going to [clears throat] um continue to build our parent school partnerships through programs like Honeybee University. Um we have grown our student outcomes and engagement. We also enhance the playground. So our playground received shading so we can use it all year round. We also installed a communication board for our students who um need visuals to communicate so they can go over and tell their teacher what they want from the communication
028board which is so special. You'll see that in the video. We also added playground surfacing to support all of our students. So, we had the mulch, but it was hard for our students who have mobility concerns and they need more support. And so, we have now a surface for everyone to have access to the playground. And we added these sensory walls here and there's one there for our students who need that sensory input when they're in the gym. And we added trampolines for self-regulation, which we didn't have the I mean the mats, sorry. Um, so looking ahead, we are planning to expand our family education through the Honeybee University. Today we met with our instructional leadership team, which is a phenomenal group of women here and we talked about how we can create more moments
029because some people can't commit to the 10 weeks. So we called them like a taste of honey. They came up with that a little while ago, which I thought was really clever. So we'll have a taste of honey like these may be smaller 30 minute sessions that parents can come in and get more information about things that they may want to know from our parent educators, from myself, from Miss Conno about things that may help them with their children at home. We're going to deepen our SEAL and student regulation practices. We're going to continue to always look at our data and to improve our instructional practices. We're going to maintain and build upon our gold circle of quality. And this year, um, when I first came, we looked at our mission and vision and we
030want to realign it with our current work and then align it with the districts to make sure that we do what we know is best for children and that is reflected in everything that we do. And then we're going to continue to collaborate and develop a healthier work life balance. That's really hard for educators. And so we want to talk about streamlining our procedures and processes to make it so it's not such a heavy weight. Being a pre-K teacher having 43, four and 5 year olds is a lot. So that's where we're moving in the next couple of years. And I want to thank the board of education for their support of the early childhood program and thank all of you all and the families for everything that you do. And then there's this wonderful
031video that I'm going to show you next. So, um, my first year here at Horseman was a little bit of a culture shock solely because the staff when you open the doors is like walking into this place of belonging. And when the kids walk in, it's like, "Good morning. We're so glad to see you." And it was like, "Oh, this is nice." So, they the video is going to try. It's hard to so show that you have to come and see. But the staff here is great. The kids always feel welcome if they're transitioning because they're having a hard time. They don't want to leave their parents. Everybody wraps around them to give them what they need. So hopefully you'll be able to see that in the video. [music] >> [music] >> What are you
032doing? [music] [clears throat] [music] >> [music] [music] >> 110. Yeah. [music] [music] Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, Sophia. Happy birthday to you. [music] A love you. [music] >> Hi, my name is Hans. I am one of the parents here at Horsesman. I have one graduate. She's in kindergarten now and I have a little girl who's in this full class. I'm very happy she this year, probably next year as well. So, I'm very happy with the school. Um I love the way the parent is great. I can teach anytime. Uh she's very good at answering back not only the teachers, the principal, the secretary, everything here is parent oriented, student oriented. So, I love being here. I love coming. I feel like I'm part of their family. When I have any questions, they always answer
033my questions. Um, all the staff here is very understanding. Um, and again, they communicate very, very well. And my mother's learning, she's learning to be in the classroom. She's learning to socialize. She's learning to be with other kids. And the teachers are just helping with that. So, we love it. [music] [applause] Let me add one more thing. So, I don't know if you saw the people singing in the parking lot. So, that's how dedicated the staff is. They missed her birthday. They called her before she left to go sing happy birthday to her before she left. And one of our parent educators decided to record it. And I thought it was a great moment to show what the staff and how dedicated they are to our students. Thank you. [applause] Anyone have any questions? >>
034I'll invite Mr. Yeah. >> Is that going to rely on my eyes? Um actually we're here today process and I'm actually going to invite Dr. the director of PPS, Mr. Bill um director of ground and hiding uh for director of technology to assist. So um the government framework in regards to um vendor selection selection performance and how what policy or policies or policy purchases and contracts shall manage the district's purchases and contracts in accordance with state law the standards set forth in this policy and other applicable board policies. All purchases and contracts shall be entered into in accordance with ethical federal and state law. Board attorney shall also be consulted as needed regarding legal requirements and all contracts um shall be approved or authorized by the board of education. you know, the process in regards
035to how um we get into contracts uh with different vendors here in the district. Um other items that uh we have to take into consideration obviously um that policy is on the district website and you can look it up [cough] in the district website and it'll also recommend items like school code. Um so there's there's other other things that pertain to um how we uh collect um also the other process um we follow is we proposals um and qualifications we also follow federal regulations. Um we um we have used purchases of cooperatives. Um we have contacted our staff services from that as well along with um trying to use local. Now we'll have Bill come up here and [snorts] um talk a little bit about process and >> Good evening. Um I'm Belche. I'm the
036director of building and grounds. Um and I'll kind of walk you guys the bid process for my department which really oversee um buildings infrastructure grounds facilities. Um so with this process like Mr. Maro explained we use Illinois school code policy to govern this um school code is cited up there and what we do is we identify a need or a project whether it's a construction project a service um sometimes it's emergency repairs or equipment purchases um we develop cost estimate and the project of budget approval all that gets compiled by a group of us so I kind of take charge department to establish strategies for budget and then we get to the work so they can make an informed decision. Um and then along the line we develop a clear scope of work or specifications.
037We consult our uh legal team. Um there is a public posting. So anytime there's a construction project um we work closely with our district architect. They will build a set of plans and drawings. Sometimes they assist in putting it out to bid for us along with our construction management firm. We put it out the bid, we get the bids back. Um, sometimes, not always, there are pretty bid activities. There's sometimes a mandatory meeting depending on the scope of work. [clears throat] So, for example, few years ago, we did classrooms at veteran middle school. We invited contractors to come out, come on the site to make sure the scope, there's an opportunity for them to ask questions, building, make sure there's plans, and then we go ahead and pick a um contractor. Once we compile those
038lists, we select the vendor that comes to the board of education for approval. Um they are presented with options. Uh we typically pick the top three. Um always kind of looking forward to the lowest responsible bidder. Um that board the option flexibility. Let's say the most responsible bidder always doesn't work out right. Perfect example that same project the lowest responsible bidder that came back that they had a bad bond and they had bad references. We brought that back to the board. The board made a decision to forgo that vendor and we want the next reasonable responsible contract. Um once we procure all that the project proceeds along the way there's checks in checkins along the way to make sure the project's on on schedule budget and department. Um and then at the end of the
039project there are um submitts and reviews we go through. Again um board is involved along the whole way in the process and everything goes to them once we approve it. Um so this here is kind of really curtail my department and kind of how I figure things out. Um, one of our biggest things that we do is our lawn service, lawn landscape service that our maintenance staff doesn't do in house. We sub a portion of that out. The snow removal and plowing services, a portion of that is sub out. And really that comes down to um cost on our own. Sometimes it's just um less expensive for the district to farm some of that out because they're not incurring the cost of equipment, the workers compensation. There's other um variables along the way with that.
040Um the refuge services. So all of our garbage services district currently sered by the public service that goes up or years. >> Every year that one goes out. Um this past year um there's life life safety projects on there. And then any capital projects or improvements um those are typically identified by myself identified by our architect or it could be a need that the board sees you know we don't have enough you know example would be enough classroom space or we want to add a playground facility a project that we bring to the table and get contract Um besides um going out to bid, there are exemptions from the election code that um we don't have to go out to bid for everything. So when we don't go out to bid, we do a request
041for proposals and request for qualifications. It's very similar to uh the bid process such that there's no um there's just little like variances in regards to the RFP and RFP. So the process varies on the type of service the district is requesting. We still have to define the scope to see what kind of work we're going to be doing. um reconsiling on the website and or studying the notice to confirms for example um I think we have the forum architect so you know in the district website as an example but we also put it on as a legal and um on local newspaper um And it also um the legal ad also delineates the actual schedule and its timeline in regards to how um what the process is in regards to the proposal or the
042qualifications. Um then we receive the vendor submissions from each um each entity. Uh then we interview the uh the vendors and ask them questions and so forth. Specifically in terms of the architects, uh we um we did a short list which is part of the process in regards to the school code. Um and we selected the faculty uh in regards to um who we were going to interview and we interviewed three firms. Uh and ultimately we evaluated uh the the responses along with the proposals and ultimately um consultant with um the information that we have received and then we ultimately selected a firm and then we started negotiating with us in regards to customer. Um and then we ultimately recommended the firm it to the board for approval and they approved it um and they'll
043award the contract to to the firm. So um as I stated earlier you know like um examples of goods and services of education we recently did architectural firm qualifications others we have done that a couple years ago construction manager was recent as well and then service more of a proposal opposed to the other services that are up there and also requires uh a different type of um process followed by um and for the most part services that are from the process. Um, in regards to federal regulations, there are also rules that we have to follow. Um, I added here school nutrition programs. I stated a little bit ago. Um, the uh customer proposals for food service is not just uh regulations from the state, but it's also fedally federally uh there's federal regulations. You know,
044there's a meal pattern that has to be followed based on u federal amenities that have been approved in the test. So we have to follow those in order to receive federal funding. Um and that's why um the district is um has been approved from the community eligibility provision CD um where all students receive a follow those regulations and we are uh within the guidelines to receive those funds. Now I will bring uh Mr. They're here to talk a little bit more about regulations in comparison and other projects. So most of our projects in technology are funded by the federal government. We have which is a initiative by federal government that takes care of internet connectivity. Now it sounds like oh is it just a wire or com? you know, it's the infrastructure, it's our switches,
045it's our access points, it is um the licenses, it's the it's the foundation for how we get information to our students. And what happens is we find that the federal government has us do a competitive process. So there is a very rigid process in order for us to select a vendor and we have to follow it step by step and there's etc. [cough] is once you have your proposal out there, what type of work you want in your building, you have 28 days for vendors to submit the proposals. So we collect all of the proposals and then the FCC has us do a matrix and the top um point score is price and then we get some flexibility even the other criteria and every vendor that is selected to do the work for eBay has
046to go through this bidding process and it's incredibly um rigid and structured. So it said 28 days for vendors to submit quotes to us and then we present this to um the home so that they will verify that we've actually followed this process. So I have um from 2024 and what you see is we had a number of vendors for um replacing wireless access points in about six or seven of our schools and switches. It was also relocating the accident because there was some fiber band. So we had to have that together. So what we found, this is just a demonstration, was that a lot of vendors would just send for materials. And so the majority of these look like they're much smaller in the amounts, but they didn't include the installation configuration, the things
047that we needed, the fiber. So we were able to put all of the submissions in use and um some of the criteria that instance that um the vendor attend the walk through. If the vendor doesn't attend the walk, we have no idea what the real needs are. So that was one of the criteria. Um here's another one, the cyber security pilot program that is also fedally funded. So anything that we try to purchase for our cyber security [clears throat] has to process as well. This was for the student MFA multifactor authentication. Those were the three vendors that submitted forces and we use the matrix and that is a way to ensure that we are fair with our selection. One of the other things that we have is student devices. We always look for quality warranty
048and protection. We we currently go through it stand up outside and that is because they provide us with home care. What that means is their service comes to Greenwood every week, picks up all the broken devices that we process and drops off all of the repair devices. If we didn't have that service, we would be sending individual boxes to different vendors in order for. So one of the reasons we said that on top of making sure that they provide pricing etc is that they have a service that that we can't find any other um company that actually offers and it's fantastic because we are able to sustain our devices that and then one other thing I want to note is we have to mention 196 members anytime we have a project anytime we want change
049we put we meet once a month We also have a message board and it's always like, oh, who are you going with from here? Who are you for access and so on? And there's 196 local technology directors participants that will share information with the vendor. They've had great experience with the vendor. This has been so valuable because you really get a sense with schools in our area. And then just quickly, you know, uh picking back from what Kim just said in regards to um collaboration, collaborating with other directors from other districts, you know, we're actually in the district committee where we're collaborating and trying to find um solutions for safety and security and obviously have been with um came in and uh uh director u you know like um to get more information to see
050what are the other as well. Um also we um use purchasing cooperatives. We started getting on national waters uh for us but basically governmental cooperation code and the Illinois purchasing uh act um purchasing cooperatives create contracts to public and competitive solicitations and government entities can then uh use those contracts to purchase goods and services. So basically you still have to follow a process or someone does but within those purchasing cooperatives they have done the work for you or you know for the district and then we can uh utilize those awards uh for uh purchasing uh items for for the district. for any propos proposed purchases by purchasing cooperative representative to the board of education for approval no matter what. Um even though they went through the bid process the board of education is the ultimate
051approver of of any um examples of the purchasing cooperatives um by that is where we typically buy um the district vehicles u for maintenance um I'm partners um I heard Miss Alicia speaking about playground. We use uh Omnium partner to be able to uh purchase the canopy and all those uh other um items that they have in the playground. We just added another board and it looks great. Um and then we also are school of public. Thank you. I for one took advantage of the district program. [laughter] See the board just fine. I believe the E is going to be that way. Just so we're clear on that. But that said, so one of the great things about the Department of Special Education is that we don't do anything in isolation. So everything is a
052collaborative effort and so we have the opportunity to talk to so many people and work with so many people. So when we identify a need for contracted contracted staff services, we're not doing it alone. So what do we do? So annually the director of special education. He's a good-looking guy. Many of you [laughter] um he meets with his assistant director, also a really good guy, Lauren. Um he meets with the assistant superintendent of human resources. this week with the assistant superintendent of with the recent title change business and financial services um with a bunch of people meet with the principles and all of our special education staff and our administration. We go back with the special ed coordinators and we look at the numbers and then we have to sort of make a a guesstimate
053of what we're going to need program wise across the district. The example is sometimes you know we we look at how to pull our resources. We don't have a giant district. We're in a big living district, so we can't offer all the programs in all of our buildings, but we try to keep kids in their home school as much as possible, giving them those equitable services across the district. So, we meet every single year and identify where kids schools, what level of special education services do they need and support, and then we start identifying what program they're going to be need. And so then we make recommendations for programming and then we try to fill those positions. Well, we make recommendations for programming based on our existing staff. So, let me start with that. We
054look at what vacancies are there, who's retiring, um what needs to be filled there, and then we move from there. If we identify that new positions are recommended, our board of education was very kind. Last year, we identified we had additional students that needed an intensive level of support. So we opened an additional ICP classroom which is our program for children with autism spectrum disorders and needing a little more support. So we opened an extra class based upon our need in 10 years if we don't have that need for classrooms. So we're always looking and adjusting that. However, anytime we recommend a new position, we have to write a proposal. again. Enter Lucy, stage left, enter Carrie, stage left, enter John, enter all that's all of you all. Um, and then we make a proposal
055and you either approve it or don't approve it and then we start doing that. What is factored into that? Legal and compliance factors of course are governed by the Illinois State Board of Ed and its adherence to the uh individual disability education act OCR 504 things of that nature. And then we have our legal and compliance factors for the interview process. So we follow the directives the district's um interview process. We look at look at front line or ASOP which is our management system. And when we look at ASOP in the front line, our management system, we we find an aim to apply for these positions. And then the first thing we do to ensure lensure, certification, and background checks are we communicate to human resources? We say, is Ernie Cherulo qualified for the job
056on paper? Of course he is. Amazing. So we do that, we get approved for that. That's fantastic. And then they we bring them in for an interview. Um, if we don't have enough applicants, which does sometimes happen, then we start reaching out to contract agencies to fill those positions. And when we do, we reach out to an agency, we end up getting a master service agreement, which outlines what rates are, who's responsible for what, who can do what, and try to match that as closely to programs and their staff as possible. Some contracts have what the rates are. Some are a little different or give us a range depending on who's there. And then we looked at how that complies with it being student needs. We looked at finance and budget considerations and again stage
057left uh we talked to Miss Mareno. We talked to the board of education. We talked to our superintendent and talked about where is that money going to come from to apply for those lines? Um does this come from local does it come from grants? Um we've had that uh social emotional grant um the last couple years and we were able to have additional we were able to have those additional social workers and counselors um in our district as a result of that um board of education and our business office human resources superintendent. We were able to maintain many of those additional positions but financially we could all of them when that grant went away. When we do look at contracts, we also look at what is the length, what are the terms and what are
058the bio options. So sometimes we are able to find a candidate recruit and at the end of the year these needs are fantastic and then some of them have more favorable or less favorable buyout or onboarding arrangements with us. We look at strategic and programming alignment. How does this align to district goals? How does it align with student IEP goals? And how does it align with schools? We look at enrollment and staffing ratios. Um, and one of the things we look for, how many students are in a class, what's the type of class, what our numbers look like, if there's a midyear change because of enrollment. We look at those sorts of things as well. This year, we also added a component and actually many of our contracted uh agencies that we're working with were
059actually pretty happy with it and are encouraging their other districts to do it as well now is we've added them to our evaluation. Our our evaluation framework. And the goal is that staff will be evaluated under the district's approved performance evaluation system so that we can ensure compliance as well as equitable um level of service delivery because we want them to perform at least to the level of our excellence that our teachers are providing regular basis. We do have a number of staffing agencies that we do use. They are listed here. Um the 2025 board contract hires our 10 streetologists are currently provided house contracts. We do have one school nurse which is an improvement. A couple years ago several of our school nurses were contracted but over time we either buy them out left
060and then we were able to recruit our own direct hires. We do have five school psychologists, um, five special education teachers, and then we do have six regular education teaching positions that weren't filled, um, which I know does a triple lead on for those, and two bilingual teachers, which also also try to see [clears throat] what companies we have here in our district and so um we support them 100% from and cable systems. We uh in regards to some of these funders, we've been using them for a very long long time. Um in conclusion, uh to provide transparency, all documentation for contracts are provided to the board agendas for review and approved uh uh approved contracts are um recorded in the board minutes for county school district 130. working diligently to ensure fairness and responsibility.
061Thank you. I And then of course helps the board understand. >> Yeah. Um so a recent change they changed it from 25,000 to 35,000. Um there are exumptions in regards to certain type of work um where it model changes of the um a building we can go up to $50,000. And then question service um in regards to considering a lot of vendors that are school based um and then obviously in regards to um operations and maintenance it goes as to how the industry. Um we it just a variety of different vendors that um are more school Thank you so much. [applause] >> I'd like to make a motion to have items G and H removed from consent for further discussion in public. Yes. >> May I have a motion to approve of I A C
062I J. >> I'll second. >> Yes. >> Agenda. Okay. [clears throat] Agenda item resolution. I have a motion to >> I'll make a motion. Um, I have several questions. Um, with I Ready, My Path, and Khan Academy already being subscriptions utilized within our district. What are the benefits of purchasing streak? >> Blue Street is a mathematical fluency program. Um, first came across this and the regional superintendent office during the demonstration with other districts in the area taking a look at it. Um we were looking for something that would fill the gap for after school programming. Um we have historically looked for time within our school day to provide tier 2 mathematics interventions and found that there's a little bit of a struggle and so we are using after school grant funding to provide um tier
0632 math interventions uh beginning on December 2nd um students um invitation only in tier 2 based on um the branching minds data um are invited to attend And um we have just under 200 students right now being that invited to the program all fully funded from our after school grant program from the state. Um and we looked at this as an option to supplement not just the I as you mentioned but we also purchased number quarter from the math institute. Um, and so this will allow those teachers who are teaching the after school program to have an array of resources to choose from and select what's best for their current student needs. So, thank you for that. You answered some of my other questions with just that one answered, too. So, I guess what I'm
064still struggling to understand is what the real difference is. We already have three subscriptions, the I Ready, the My Path, and the Khan Academy. What can this blue street do differently that those three we already have don't or can't offer necessarily the data and the small group interventions already built in. We're looking because it's such a short amount of span time for our teachers. It's just two hours per week to minimize their planning and to make it just ready to go. And so this is turn key. Um there's a very quick assessment that is adaptive. It places students into uh the correct level. It's highly engaging. Um and it's also something that's a little bit more motivational. Um I know it's hard to believe it's a little bit tough to get kids to come after
065school. Um but it's not the same thing they're using in their tier one universal instruction. This is something that is different and will hopefully motivate students to come and try something new and exciting. Um the beauty of this is also we could um potentially if things go well in this after school uh trial period we could uh build this into our summer school program as well in order to enhance that. So it's simply looking to supplement and not replace tier one. >> Sure. >> Um I like the I like that it includes pencil paper as you know like how what percentage of this is on a computer? >> Um so it's about a 5050% um it also includes lesson plans um as Mr. says in a consumable work check for students um roughly about $12
066per student. again funded through the grant. Um and so there will be um supplemental lessons built in. There'll be small group lessons that the teacher can have handy based on student performance, but then um it also has the consumable as well. You could take a look at other districts in the area that were using it. Um we found that in our area we've got um Elgen 6, Forest Ridge 142, CPS, Sock Village 168, and Joel at 86 all >> is the hope that in this after school program, the students that participate to bring their math score or level up to >> grade level proficiency, I guess. >> Yeah. And so our teachers have um expressed um a dire concern about student back fluency um and and computation fluency. And so um fluency is really just
067more than just that authenticity in fact knowledge like roped memorization of facts. It's also in um the idea that they can fluently um switch between strategies in order to problem solve. And so this program um I have white papers also I can share with you um is research and evidence based in providing just that um allowing students to become proficient in a variety of strategies in addition to that positivity in teachers who are programs. >> Yeah. >> Yes. So we have um initially um would like to uh subscribe to two professional developments [snorts] for uh the after school program for our teachers. The first is tenatively upon approval um scheduled for November 19th, next week. Um and that would be um an in-person uh professional development um for our staff and kind of give them
068a launch initial uh overview of everything just to get them started and to fully understand the features of the program and its usage. Um and then midway through the year, we'd like to provide a virtual professional development um in order to help them better utilize the data that is coming out of all of the reports and then to better prepare for instruction as well. So initially we have two professional development uh sessions coming for our staff. >> What are this? We're purchasing it for grades two through eight. Um, which is what our after school t program will focus on. Um, I believe it's a 12. [cough] Do you guys have a motion to approve agenda item? Yes. >> Yes. Moving on to resolution. >> I'll make a motion. >> Again, I also have several questions.
069Um, currently, how many curriculum coordinators does the district currently have as our powers? We have three curriculum coordinators. One for English, arts, and social studies. Um, I'm sorry. Yes. And then one for math and science and we have one. >> And how many curriculum consultants we are utilizing Dr. Carol Baker for science >> and then Miss Daniels would be social studies. >> Yeah. Is this fun again? >> Yes, this particular uh consultant will be funded through title one ESCA of 1965. Um this particular project is for consulting and presentation fees. Um working to um embed consultation within the school bay. Um the project has been approved for $25,000 through um Isby principal reviewer um as of October 22nd. >> Would there ever be any desire to bring um the consultants as fulltime? Is there consultants
070versus? >> Most consultants work with a variety of different um districts. Um and and the consultants that we use, we always try to uh work either through the regional superintendent's office or through issues, but there's a tight connection with that. Um if they were um working as direct hires for a district, I think they would possibly lose that particular focus and that connection just because their time is spent on a multitude of other projects and focuses. But um I I I could try to do that, but they've never attempted to do that simply because they generally have a clientele that is um quite lengthy. >> So please correct me if I'm wrong. You had mentioned that this Miss Daniels that's proposed tonight is going to be paid with grant funds. >> Yes. >> What about
071um the other two that you've been mentioning? Are those paid for by the district or are those also paid for in grant funds? Those are paid through um for all of the consultants are paid through grant funding. Um two grants in particular will help to fund consultants generally. Um either title one a which is um geared toward students for improvement or title two which is so for teacher retention and professional development. We are following in compliance with all of those fair requirements. And we utilize um funds to not just provide the consultants, but then to pay for the siphons and the benefits um for professional development offerings that we're able to provide to our staff. Teachers have expressed an interest in these assessments to have professional development during the school day often times. And so
072the beauty in having these consultants come in is they are truly dedicated to supporting our staff right within their their school day. They join them during um common plan times and they can pre-brief and debrief lessons. Um they can [snorts] go into classrooms and partner with teachers and model instructional strategies. Um we can often times use a hybrid model and um have them um zoom in with us through Google Meets or through Zoom and they can follow up and provide very quick um answers to questions that teachers might have. And so we do our very best to provide a variety of professional development services for our staff through a variety of answers. >> I just want to go back. [snorts] I just I you know um these possible this the addition of this third um
073consultant is at no expense to the district. This is purely paid from grant funds. >> Okay. Thank you. What are these consultants able to do that's different than our curriculum coordinators that we already have in house in our charge of our district? >> Sure. Um once again they dedicate full time to being in schools um in classrooms. Um they work um most of them I say all of them work um with um organizations including the state that are at a level that our coordinators can't get out and do simply because they're working on other projects or uh doing other things. And so, um, for example, um, Sharon Rap works very closely with, uh, the state. She has served on numerous committees, um, through the Illinois State Board of Education. Um, has worked closely with the
074Illinois assessment of readiness and test questions, assessment questions. Um, she works with the she's a consultant with the regional office of superintendence uh, across the state. She, um, works with a variety of other districts. Um Dr. Baker um works um with the um NGSS standards uh helped to write those standards and can provide a level of expertise um that um is unequal with regards to science. Um and then Miss Neils who we're hoping to bring on um is a board national board certified teacher. She works with the West Chicago regional superintendent office. um she is um the director of the Illinois um civics hub. She has served as uh the dire board of directors of the national council of social studies. And so um I think that while our coordinators do an absolutely phenomenal job
075of facilitating boots on the ground um collaboration is teacher institute days um and really everyday work with curriculum. Um the consultants that we bring in are highly vetted and provide a level of expertise that we honestly wish we could provide but simply aren't capable of doing um doing it all at once or if that provides any more clarity but uh the level of of the intensity and the rigor I think that they provide is different than what >> to me it just seems like we have curriculum consultants um curriculum coordinators, excuse me, in our district and we're undermining their area of expertise by hiring these coordinators um because their jobs quite frankly sound sound very similar. I'm not doubting these coordinators qualifications. What I'm doubting is um our curriculum coordinators feeling devalued because we keep
076essentially outsourcing for for more. So, I'm I guess I'm still very unclear what our district curriculum coordinators are doing differently than what these consultants that this is now going to be the second one I know has come up since I've joined the board. I do kind of ask one of our coordinators to speak to that. >> Sure. >> Okay. So, this is Jerry Combos. She is the English language arts and social studies coordinator. >> Would you mind coming up with a Thank you. >> Thank you. I get the opportunity to share a little bit about my job and um my um role with working with the coordinator. So um this is my second year at the ELA social studies coordinator for the district. Um I previously served as an instructional coach for 10 years. Um
077I so I guess my role is a little different. Initially um coming on with this role, I thought that it would be more a little bit more of um direct PD and things like that, but it it's not. And that's not a bad thing. You know, we do a lot more I guess you'd say like behind the scenes of coordinating things like after school program, summer school program, um coordinating different um different things. I do work with the teachers on like late start Wednesdays. A lot of times I want to work with particularly the middle school teams. Um so I actually last year had the opportunity to go to several different social studies professional development sessions through our local regional uh regional office of education and that was where I actually met or got a
078chance to experience professional development with Miss Denil. Um and it I found it to be incredibly informative. um even for me as somebody who's been working for the teacher for 20 years. So I actually kind of kept her name in the back pocket and then brought it forward to the curriculum department to say I think this is somebody that is not only incredibly knowledgeable but has the ability to get into the classrooms like Miss Del Rosa was saying on a regular basis that I am not always able to um and that way I work directly with so our ELA consultant I work directly with her in fact she was just here today working with our instructional coaches so discussing in what I would like them to work on. So, it's not I don't see it
079as um they're devaluing my job or that um that I don't know it. It's just that I work directly with them to help roll it out in a way that I just am not able to in my role. >> A little >> um >> I feel like consultants can coordinator are just two different roles and expertise. It's like principal, teacher, aid, right? Everyone has their own role andertise versus right. >> Yes. So I I will for what that what that consultant is going to do per se with. So I would say hey this is where we're you know the teachers um are requesting that they would like an area in for professional development or here's what our data is showing. So, this is what I need us to work with the teachers or the staff
080on. And I kind of help them develop what they're going to work on and kind of send them out with the teachers and in the buildings because when we bring them in, they have the time to do that. But we do work together, the um the consultants and myself and the other curriculum coordinator, we work together hand in hand to help make sure that the right way. Um the other thing too about having a consultant in the classrooms is not available. They can come into a classroom, work side by side with teachers, focus on students, and it creates a level of comfort that if Terry is in there or somebody else, it does feel a little bit like district office is in there and teach, you know, the side by side experiences and that's going
081to be natural and um we don't feel like they're going to go back to their evaluations, you know, strugg with this concept or they couldn't deliver it early engaged. Um, and I do think that that also helps to make the learning a little bit rich. You see Sharon in the classroom. She rolls in with that suitcase and comes out and the teachers love her. Um and so I do think you know there is another voice to help us reach students and maybe classroom. [clears throat] Yes. >> Yes. >> And this is a discussion item. Um I had this item added to the agenda um for the purpose of coming to an agreement on identifying and aligning for policy priorities with the fiscal year 26 budget before passing the budget to ensure that we have resources
082um allocated to making progress on set identified priorities. Um in essence um consider and [snorts] you know once we pass the budget the board will have taken accountability before the public forending our tax dollars. Um so I am asking tonight that the board consider two policies and priorities um that we can put some parameters around uh the first being the urgency to address building security and security staffing and then the second item being staffing in general particularly ensuring staff fulfillment and retention across all departments. Um so I I think one of your ideas in discussion I'll just make the case um for building security We've heard um uh we've heard from our experts on our staff that we know what security policies we need to implement to um to be most impactful. So trying to
083do the security infrastructure and staffing and we also know that the fiscal year 26 budget right now does not adequately provide for progress in that area. So I would like to propose that the board um set policy to allocate a c amount of additional discretionary funds towards meeting our security and staffing goals. Um then furthermore with regard to staffing in general, this is um a a really important area um I know I have been concerned about staffing shortages and um the uh reliance on staff augmentation as in addition poss um so I would propose that around the budget. Uh we I propose to advise um a sort of review of staff and policy, strategies, goals for performance over the last four years past for the purposes of over the years had to develop a new
084strategy to ensure staff fulfillment and retention. So look back to make sure that we're doing everything we can to move forward in a very positive direction. Um so I'll also add um that of course that it is a lot of neutral and constructive assessment of current staffing policies and practices um will help us retain our staff and so I I would invite the board to an openness to discussion. I don't want to keep talking quite frankly um but with with the proposal that we um we set our highest priorities on security and staffing. And then um we can set a special board meeting to formalize these policies around them tonight and then um subsequently vote on the tax questions discussions. I think these are great things to start focusing on. I think that's all of
085this has really been kind of the message the community's given back to us. Um security specifically I think um I don't know how to word this but I prioritize that and I think it was in the budget. I'm not sure but so I couldn't agree with you more. The only reason I didn't add that to because I know we have assessment underway and once we have that we'll be able to decision [clears throat] any other comments all right what I will do this is new business on this agenda item I will attorney to turn this into policy proposal and come back with a special meeting so that we can move forward and moving on to agenda item seven. >> I'll second Um, so I believe the board has the two different guidance. And our options
086here are tools to vote in accordance with um or to um to allow them to vote on preference or proposal for which option option to vote in our >> the constitution. So I have Dr. One more. In this particular case, >> we're discuss That's what I would say. Then I have motion to appoint the second option keeping in I'm glad you learn. Yes. >> Yes. >> All right. Thank you. We'll move on now to agenda item. May I have any motion? I'll make a motion. >> We need to not question. We need to start somewhere. As you know, these buildings are very aged. They don't start moving forward. Project cost more to get completed. >> Yeah. Nothing's going down. being broken down. These buildings as you mentioned earlier very aged and lacking repairs for many
087years in previous administrations. [cough] >> Sure. What was the question section on the north side of [clears throat] divided building outside when our um grouping of tours. They came out here as they were identif Second. >> Yes. I'll second. >> I'm really excited about it. I know that it's been done in a couple of other local districts and it's been a great um experience for both both sides of it. So, I really hope that um more information will be shared with us like how how's it going and you know as it continues to develop. >> Agreed. I would love to hear >> Mr. Yes. Yes. >> Yes. >> Super. >> Yes. >> Are there any questions or comments? probably one of the most important things they need in the facility and the security is here.
088>> Any other questions or comments? >> Um I would like answering my questions about this item. Um I I do want to point out the board is um is being reimbured right now. Um it's a three-year reimbursement program, but at the end of the board decision whether or not we um take on cost or discontin the service. Um I do have a quick question. I think there's 750 individual licenses. Is that correct? Um yes. So we have um most of our core staff has one level of licensing that's licensing and then the email licenses for custodians and such is a lower level. So that's why addition number >> I'll make a motion. >> I'll second. Yes. >> Yes. Moving on. We haveformational items. another long meeting about the importance of progress. Um, tonight I would
089like to express my gratitude to the um across all departments. Um being here for our children every day and for helping the board of course understand the process and procedures. Um the board of course set for the board that our 202 um next month Dr. our December. I also just and I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and holidays. Moving on to [snorts] Yes. Moving on to communication representative. Is there anyone Um, how about local services and local I have a motion to vote. That's negotiation matter evidence testimony to the school board of personel. Student senior cases special. >> Yes. It's >> good. All right, it is 8:52 p.m. We are now back in action. >> Oh, sure. May I have a motion to return? >> Sorry. >> Can I have a motion to deny
090the resation of Mr. request to license. >> Yes. Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. Warner. >> Yes. >> Um and have a motion to direct consulting part of the search and school executive. working on our experiment. >> I'll make a second. >> Yes. >> Martinez. >> Yes. >> All right. Thank you. Moving on to business. I have a motion please. >> I'll second