001Good evening and welcome to this the regular meeting of the Geneva 304 school board for Tuesday October 14th 2025. First item is the roll call. Bonnie, could you please >> Here >> now. I'd like to welcome you all. We're glad to see such a nice audience. Very pleased that you've attended our meeting. Uh, next item is the pledge of allegiance. The flag is right back there and Paul will lead us in the pledge. >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> There is an attendance sheet in the hallway if you'd like to register your attendance. Item two, approval of minutes for both the regular session and executive session of September 22nd,
0022025. By have you received any corrections or additions? Are there any at this time? >> Motion to approve. >> So move. >> Second. I >> Epstein >> I >> thank you. Item three, recognition, awards, presentations, and public hearings. First item is the career pathways for GHF staff and students. >> Andy, >> Mrs. Sims. >> Yeah, thank you. Um, as part of our strategic plan work, one of the goals that we're working on is in the area of career and college pathways. And so, it's my honor tonight to have members of our counseling and advising department, uh, Mrs. Sher Cla, Mrs. Kelly CFKA here to talk about the role of the career counselor in assisting students with their endeavors post high school, as well as um, having Mrs. Clatt share, you know, the work that counselors
003do with students throughout their four years. In addition, uh we are pleased to have a student who will be here speaking exclusively about her experience in an internship opportunity. So, um with that and with support of our strategic plan, I present uh our three guests tonight. >> Hi, I just wanted to say thank you for having us. Um so, my name is Sher Clatt. I am the department chair in the counseling office. I actually started my career at Geneva 15 years ago as the career counselor. So, um, I just love that this is a position the district has continued to support. Um, so it's been great to watch it grow and evolve and really just continue to offer great opportunities for students. So, I'm going to turn it over to Kelly who is going to
004talk a little bit about the services that, um, she provides through that career center. Hello. Good evening, everyone. I am Kelly Capka. I am the career counselor at Geneva High School. Um, this is actually my first year here. So, I've been really enjoying getting my feet wet and starting to work with all the students and kind of revamping a little bit about what we're doing with the career center at the high school. So, um, this right here is just a good description of the menu of services that I can offer to the students that come and meet with me um, overall in the in the career center. So, u most students will make an appointment with me either because they saw one of my flyers, one of their um their school counselor, um suggested that
005they should come meet with me for a variety of reasons and these are all the things that I can offer them. Most of them will come because they just want an individual consultation. I don't know what I want to do. Please help me figure this out. Or I know what I do what I want to do, but I don't know how to get there. And that's one of the things that we can kind of figure out together. So, a lot of them will come for career exploration. Um, I've created kind of a four-step process of meeting with my students, um, for career exploration. Um, we start with a lot of self-reflection. Um, a lot of the times we'll have them go through a variety of personality tests, career assessments, interest inventories, uh, value assessments, kind
006of figuring out what do you want to do, why do you want to do it, what do you like to do, how does that relate to a career. So, kind of talking about all those wise um, and figuring that out. Once they go through a variety of these assessments and um these personality testing, we kind of come back together and go through the results together. The next step for them is to do a little bit of career research. Now you know kind of what you want to do. Maybe you've narrowed it down to a couple of industries, couple of positions that you're really interested in it. Now let's talk about those careers. What's the salary like? What's the work life look like? Um what kind of education do you need? How long till you get
007there? What are all those things? Maybe you want to be a doctor, but that's not going to happen tomorrow. So, what does that actually look like? Is the outlook good? Is this a job that we're going to see five, ten years from now, or is it something that's kind of going away? Um, so we kind of talk about those things and I give them some good resources to kind of do some research on their own. And then we come back together again for another third meeting um where I can help them with a variety of other things like um informational interviews, maybe set them up with some job shadowing, um they could potentially even do an internship um which we'll talk a little bit more in a minute. Um, but ways to kind of see
008what are those jobs in real life, hands-on experience of seeing that work in action. Um, a long time ago, I worked with a student once who really wanted to be a nurse and then she did kind of a job shadowing with a nurse and was like, "Oh, no, no, I don't I don't want to do that." You know, nursing is not always so glamorous. There's a lot of, you know, grunt work that you have to do that isn't so glamorous. I don't want anything to do with that. And completely changed their career path after seeing what that really looked like. Um, so kind of that's the purpose of doing some job shadowing and informational interviews. Um, other things that um, they can make appointments with me to do is going over their resume or cover
009letter. Um, as a high school student, maybe you've never had a job, but you've been in part of some clubs, activities, um, leadership opportunities that we can create a resume out of. Um, also showing them how to create that so that they're able to update it and create it in the future. um mock interviewing um answering questions is really hard for them. You know, how do I answer these questions? What do they want to hear? Um how do I pull my experience from high school and answering some of the questions that you might hear on an interview? Um even for a job shadowing or the internship, we'll have maybe them do an interview with the student so they kind of get that experience as well. Um, and then like I talked a little bit about
010the job shadowing and then we're going to talk here in a second about the job that's a senior internship. But, um, any questions about the menu of services that we can provide? I know I didn't talk about all of them, but wanted to be mine full time. So, I'm let Miss Cla come back up here. One of the things that I'm really proud of that Kelly's going to talk more about is the career cafes that have been going on in our school for the last several years. So that happens in the spring and that's when uh we have people from all over the community come in and we create panels in the morning during that PLC time, the personal learning choice time for students. That's not a choice. That one's mandatory. Um but they are
011able to come in and one of the things that we do with the students before that and Kelly will talk more about what that career cafe looks like, but counselors deliver a lot of our curriculum during that PLC time. Um, so freshman we meet with them. We do a freshman wellness, connect, meet your counselor, learn how we support you, learn what that journey is like. And then in sophomore year, we introduce them to Naviance, which is our college career readiness platform and uh help them understand how that can be a tool. Some of the personality interest inventories are listed there. And then we do that work with them to identify instead of a career at that point, we're looking for a career cluster. There are 16 different career clusters. So the interest inventories that they
012do lead them to their top three clusters to help them identify what type of, you know, what area might they be interested in. And then we use that information to take a look at pathways um help them identify classes that they'll choose so that they can be learning more about what um is connected there. But then we use that information um also then to put together the career cafe event uh which takes place in the spring. So, the career cafe event is something that's been going on for many years that we are excited to continue. Um, like Sher said, this happens during the PLC. Um, we gather a large variety of professionals, people from our community to sit on a panel. We break these panels up by different industry types and career clusters. Um, we
013have, you know, maybe five people for each of those, maybe whatever is, um, a big interest right now of the students. So in the PLC, the students can kind of say, "This is what I'm interested. This is what I'm interested." Then we kind of take all that information, gather it together, and say, "Oh, we have a lot of people who are really interested in the medical field." So maybe we'll pull some nurses, some doctors, a dermatologist. Uh maybe we'll have a lot of people who are really interested in manufacturing. Maybe we can grab people in that field. So we'll really take our um a cue from the students of what what they are interested in right now. Um and then we'll have the guest speakers sit on a panel. I talk about five to 10
014minutes each about what their career path like path looked like. Where did they go to school? How did they get to where they're going? We all know you don't graduate from college and land in your one job. Maybe it takes three or four jobs to get to that job that they that they got to at that point. Um so they talk a little bit about their pathway and then they answer questions to students. So really the idea is to help inspire our students and give them kind of an idea of what these pathways actually look like for those careers that they're interested in. Our other big offering that we provide um in the career center is our senior career internship program. Um so this uh is a class that is offered at the high school
015only for seniors. Um they do get credit for this class. Um and they are they get this in an internship of their internship of choice of whatever field they're interested in. Um they actually go out and find this internship on their own. It's like looking for a job. they reach out and and find the professionals out in the field that they're interested in. Of course, we're here to help and assist with that as well, but we want them to kind of make those connections as if they're looking for a real job. Um, then they spend about two to three hours a week for the whole semester, accumulating to about 60 hours for the whole 60 65 hours for the whole semester. Um, where they really get true hands-on experience. We have a couple of students
016right now in some really interesting um, internship experiences, which one of our students will talk about in a second. Um, as part of the class, I had them do weekly journals to talk about their experience. Um, they create, uh, complete different assignments. Um, they just finished an assignment where they had to, um, sit down with their mentor and learn a little bit about their own soft skills and how they're doing on the job with those soft skills. And they get feedback from their mentor about communication, motivation, problem solving, teamwork. Um, and then their next assignment is they talk to their mentor about their career pathway. How did they get to that job? um and they write a little paper about that. So um and then we're going to finalize the the whole class by working
017out their resume together, maybe updating it with the internship experience to make sure that's reflected properly on their resume. Um we have one of our students here. This is Miss Valerie McDonald. She is currently in my internship class and doing her internship right now. She has a really awesome um internship. She's a wonderful student and she would like to talk a little bit about what she's doing right now. >> Good evening everyone. My name is Val McDonald. I'm a senior at the high school. Um I am lucky enough to intern with deferred prosecution at the King County Courthouse. Um which basically the deferred prosecution is just helping people who are going through the legal system and giving them just a second chance to just make things right. Um a lot of what I do is
018writing synapses um from defendant and domestic cases. Um and some other awesome things I get to do is sitting in criminal trials and also just watching like police body cams, which I think is cool. My internship so far has definitely just taught me a lot and helped me grow as a person. Um, it's taught me to be organized, pay attention to detail, um, and just communicate more clearly with people around me. Um, also on top of that, it's given me a new perspective on just the people and the world that I'm surrounded with. Um overall just in my class in itself I get to just understand what it's like to look for my own opportunities and also um dive into what I might want to do with my future. Um apart from that I also
019learned that rejection definitely happens and it's not something that should hold you back. Thank you. Anyone [Applause] have any questions for us? >> Thank you. Uh, what is the approximate number of or percentage of of graduating seniors who have taken advantage of your services? >> Um, >> we need you at the microphone, Sherry. Sorry. You got to be on TV, you know. we got to be able to hear you. >> Thank you. Um, in terms of at some point all of our students have, even though it's a part-time position, because of the way we are structured in terms of that career cafe and the work that counselors do in terms of career introduction, I would say 100% to a certain degree. In terms of the career internship, I would say we have anywhere from 8
020to 10 students every year take advantage of that. Uh, a little bit of that is it is a time commitment. It it does require two periods in the day. um because you are off-site, you're putting those hours in. So, that is a limitation at some, you know, for some students in terms of building it into their schedule. Um I would say in terms of our students, uh a lot of juniors I think right now and also our sophomores are the ones that we really try to target because our seniors were kind of shifting more to that college, you know, focus. Um of course knowing and and having an idea what you want to do is important in that. Um, but at some point, you know, all of our students, because some of these are mandatory,
021because we do want all of our students to have exposure, they'll they'll all in some ways touch on those services that are provided. It does require initiative from the student to take advantage, you know, of a lot of what is on there. It's not every student that will will dive into that, but as counselors, we work a lot with our students to make those recommendations, especially when we're meeting with students who really are career focused, but they're not sure yet what they want to do, but they they know they want to start that exploration. >> Thank you. Anyone else? >> Go ahead. >> Yeah. So, uh, how do you how do you keep students motivated with this changing landscape of AI becoming quoteunquote queen or king, however you look at the gender. Um, um, taking
022over some of these career choices. >> That's a that's a great question. I'm really anti- AI, so I'm sure my answer will be a little bit different, but um, I think it's really understanding how AI can change maybe the career path that they're going to be into. um and how can it supplement them in a good way and how can it supplement them negatively. So I think there's ways to use AI that is really positive as well as negative. Um but I think as part of that career research like once they've decided what what cluster they want to land what industry they're going to be in um and we do that kind of research what does that look like and I think that is reflective of what AI is happening what's happening with AI right
023now and is that outlook for those jobs in 5 10 years going to be down because it's taken over or is that something that is a brighter outlook and maybe if they are looking at positions that are have a a more negative outlook for the potential in a couple years what else what else is there in that cluster? that maybe is similar but maybe is is a better option for you so that we're not trying to go into a field that's kind of going downwards. I hope that answered your question. Yeah, makes sense. >> I just made a comment that and appreciate the student uh what's your name? I'm sorry >> Valerie for for sharing what you did because she seemed to bring the human factor which can't be replaced by AI. >> Absolutely. And
024so I think um it's clear that even some students who have real technical skills in say software engineering or going at that they're finding out that they're being replaced. >> Yeah. >> And so u that's um >> very uh important that you say that they keep motivated by recognizing the human factor. Seems like that's what you're saying in a >> No, absolutely. Yeah. And and ways that it can be used supplementally versus taking over like how how does that work, you know, and I think understanding that is really helpful. Thank Paul. >> Yeah, I I recognize that majority of our students and our seniors will probably go on to some further education, probably 80 85%. But there's a large portion, 15% that when they graduate, the day after they graduate, they will be expected to
025probably go out and find a job at some place. What are we doing for them in terms of job fairs, in terms of helping them to maneuver through the job search so that they're successful in finding an opportunity if they want it, you know, and and and move forward and and finding a this first job of their career. I think um with those students I think first and foremost is um understanding is there a vocational training that you can get into maybe a shorter term training program maybe it's not college four year or two-year but what kind of vocational training is out there for you that is maybe a 12-month or an 18-month program to get you some sort of a certification something I really do want to dig in and again I'm I'm brand
026new I just started um something I really want to dig into while I'm here is um those opportunities with apprenticeships and um some of the trades out there that might be good for those students. Um I also would like to I think during their each senior goes through a senior meeting with their counselor and at that point in time maybe they can identify those students that are not going to be going on that college pathway and those students that are going to directly into the workforce. How can I help with them with building their resume looking for a job job search techniques out there for them um as they're leaving high school and still need a pathway for them? Maybe that isn't college but what what does that look like? So meeting with them second
027semester to make sure that they are set up with some sort of you know a really great resume, a great cover letter, those job search skills, interview skills so that they can go out there and actually find a job um directly out of high school. I would just add that even in building those career cafes, we are very mindful that not every professional that we bring in, we want to have require a four-year degree, right? So um one of the and and one that has become very well attended over the years is that we do bring in um you know a group of you know welders and you know we bring in people from the union and we have found that there's a big increase Fox Valley career center is that great opportunity that students
028have. So, um, making sure that they do have those opportunities as well. And when we put together a panel, there's again all walks, right, of life that are there. Um, and I, you know, another opportunity, something that was brought in last year, and, and I'm not sure if this connects so much to what their after high school pathway is, but, um, we did set up, it was a little bit more to help students connect with jobs for the summer. Uh but we did bring in during lunch we had a job fair of sorts and so we had the park district come in and there were several different um local organizations that were hiring specifically high school students. So that at least gives them exposure connecting with people in that environment. Um, but I just, you
029know, when we meet with our students, too, we really spend a lot of time helping them as, uh, Kelly mentioned, you know, there are a lot of certificate programs that, you know, you can go to Wanzi and take nine credit hours and be certified in some health fields and that's might be a great start. And that's still not everybody's pathway. You know, my daughter went to work right after high school. She's not collegebound right now, but she's got a job and she's working hard and that's her current path and might remain her path. So, when we do have those meetings with students, we regardless of what their plan is, actually, we have like a a pathway guide for every student. So, we've got that you're coming in four-way path. We kind of know what that
030conversation is going to be like, but we really tailor those conversations to our students no matter what they think their path is, but we want them to know there are opportunities out there because that path might change. >> Have we considered any type of job fair for that group of of individuals who decide? I mean there's plenty of of organizations and manufacturing facilities and warehouses and other other jobs out there and have we considered any type of job fair where we try to ma you know bring them in so that our students can can find these opportunities easier than by pounding the pavement by going going doortodoor in that case. >> Yeah, that's another good question. Um I just recently met with a representative from Junior Achievement um based on that topic and we're kind
031of exploring some ways how we can partner this year um for for that population. They have a whole curriculum out there for those who are going directly into the workforce. They we're talking about having bring them in bringing a group of students that we have identified that is that population and having them work with junior achievement too. So that's kind of in the works as well. Um I just met with them like last week so that we're going to start kind of exploring what that's going to look like. But exactly to what you're saying to make sure that those students are not lost in their cracks either that they they definitely have a secure pathway once they're they're done with high school. >> Anyone else? >> Very unusual. I guess I guess you might as
032well now you've started. Yeah. >> Go ahead. >> I bet she'd be happy to I bet she'd be happy to I bet she'd be happy to answer the question when she sits down and talks to you. >> I think the career cafe is a really wonderful opportunity to allow the students to network with different people in those fields that they're interested in. um you know the the panel talks about what they're how they got there and what they're doing but also a Q&A so that they can talk with the students and always encouraging the students to um get their contact information and I already sent out a form to all the people who have participated in the past to kind of get feelers who can uh join this upcoming year. So if anyone's interested in
033being on a panel um please feel free to email me and let me know and I will put your name down on my list. But um the more professionals I've started a whole list of um contacts for people. So I just had a student today was like really interested in dermatology. I'd like to speak with someone in dermatology. I'm like oh let me go on my list and see who's on here. Um so it's always great for me to have that long list so that I can connect students with people who are professionals in the field so that they can start building um their networking uh list too for the future. Sherry, I know that the career center does a job fair. Um, so and so do we talk with them at all about like
034is it only kids who are already enrolled in career center stuff who participate in some of those things out there or can any kid who's part of Geneva 304 because we're part of that consortium participate in some of those things that the career center hosts? I don't I should know the answer to that and I don't. >> So do you mean like anybody within the high school can take advantage of that? Yes. So even with the career cafe it is mandatory for our sophomores but we invite all grade levels and we advertise that heavily so that they know who is going to be there to speak. Um and again the job fair was something we did for the first time last year and that was held during lunch hour. So that was something that any
035student that came through lunch had the opportunity to take advantage of that. Um, so >> I'm I'm thinking about stuff at the Fox Valley Career Center. >> Oh, Fox Valley Career Center. So, the Fox Valley Career Center, um, that is open to primarily our juniors and seniors. There are a couple classes that are open to sophomores. It is very difficult because of the mandatory classes in terms of graduation requirements. There are times we can be creative and make that work, but for the most part, the Fox Valley Career Center is open to all juniors and seniors depending on the course. um that is a very popular program. It has really grown. Um there are multiple programs at Fox Valley that are weight listed every year. Uh so our BNAT program uh so that basic nursing,
036the medical exploration class, the welding, the automotive, uh typically those classes do end up with a weight list. I I kid you not. If you if a student is interested November 3rd this year, um a student has to register for one of those popular programs within the first hour because at the end of the day, we may only have five seats for Geneva because that is a a program throughout King County. Um and so it is open to all students, but we really need to help. I mean we we work every year we have uh Vita Martin the assistant director come and meet with our students during a PLC so that they understand what the opportunities are. We have our current students present so they can talk about what their experience are what their experiences
037are in that program that happens before registration. During every course selection process we talk with students about Fox Valley and what those opportunities look like. Um, and then when registration comes, you know, we just continue to advertise and then we work with our students that are weight listed. Um, if they don't end up in the program, again, there's just those handful of programs. There just aren't enough seats open. They are working hard to always hire more faculty and build that program, but that's just the position they're in with a lot of those um, a lot of those programs. Sorry for driving more on this, but I think the question that I have is do students who are not part of Fox Valley but are part of that are Geneva 304 students who are who are
038looking for jobs, can they utilize the Fox Valley Career Days or Career Center, not career center, but the Fox Valley um job fairs when they when they hel hold them or is it only for students that go through the Fox Valley Career Center? >> I think they typically identify the students that are currently at the center because they do have such a large number. I can confirm that we typically don't bring students over there for those job fair days. Um it's usually something that they host uh for the students that have taken advantage of those programs. I can confirm that with Vita just to be sure I'm giving you that right correct information >> please. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you ladies. That was a wonderful presentation and we appreciate the information and Miss McDonald keep
039up the good work. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you all. >> The next item is cultural competency competencies update at George Pasbes and Andy if you want to say anything. Yeah, while we're making a little computer transition here, uh just want to thank our last presenters and then also uh thank George. Two important topics tonight that are um aligned with our strategic plan. Uh so, you know, given a quick update obviously, first on the career and college pathways and I think we see some good things coming and you know, as some of the questions outlined, some areas for for growth and improvement as well. And I think um now George will have an opportunity to talk a little bit about what's happened uh over the course of the last year in terms of uh cultural competencies
040and some of the work that lies ahead uh in that area. So take it away Mr. Pes. >> Thank you. It's nice to um be up here and talking about something different than grants and literacy. I've I've truly genuinely have enjoyed enga in in engaging with this um this part of our strategic plan uh this past year. Uh our work began last fall, not this past fall, last fall um with a group of educators across our district um as part of our strategic uh plan. And really the first thing that we uh look to define is well what is culture? What is when we talk about cultural competencies and the very simplistic definition of culture is simply the shared beliefs and values and traditions of a particular group. But oftent times we limit culture to
041where we're from. These sometimes get confused with ethnicity. Up here we have all the languages that are spoken here in Geneva. These are languages that families put on their registration forms as languages that are spoken in their home. We have 47 languages um that are spoken in our students home other than English. Um you know, I I think you know that I'm Greek. I think I've shared that before. My parents had me go to Greek school every year up until my junior year in high school. And I always asked them when will I use my Greek language and you know for the first time this year I was asked to translate for a Greek family and it was awesome. >> When you look at our district report card this is what you see. Um it's
042we are not that diverse of of of a community but when you look at all the languages in a sense we are these are languages and our students are coming uh from different backgrounds um than is is represented here but largely um we are not part of a a huge diverse community so the work that we're doing I feel is very very important But in addition, when we talk about culture, there's also other types of culture. We've talked about disability culture. We support and provide services for a wide wide range of uh students with different abilities. Each group here can be its own culture. I watched a great documentary a couple years ago on deaf culture. It was eyeopening. In addition, we have socioeconomic low-inccome and homelessness. While our percentage here in Geneva is low,
043students and families find strength and support through the resources that we and our community provides. This in itself is culturally relevant. We have 150 of our students here that have English as their second language. These are students and families that are trying to hold on to their own culture and values while also learning the culture of a foreign world to them. not dancing. But then there are things that we don't track. These are not things that you'll find on our registration forms. The different faith practices that exist, the familiar structures uh that are at home, identity, customs, traditions, values, beliefs, and other lived experiences. So, one of our guiding questions when we met with uh this small group is really how do we best prepare our students for the world that exists beyond our school
044and community and where and when and how are we accomplishing this? So, last year we began with some something relatively simple. What are we currently doing in our schools across each level? and where can we find some opportunities for growth and alignment? And when we met as a group, great teachers do what great teachers do. They have lots of ideas. We talked about our assemblies. We talked about the different trips that our students takes while take while they're uh with us. Guest speakers, author visits, novel studies. We looked at our curriculum resources, interactive readalouds. what's taken place in art, music, and PE, and what are the community partnerships that we have that will support this part of our strategic plan. And this is not an exhaustive list. I can have at least 10 slides of
045different things that are currently taking place within our district, but these are some of the things that have stood out to us uh as as stood out to me and others as we were kind of going through this process. We have got we are doing some great things and I think we are have a lot to be proud of here in Geneva. We have partnered with some um great organizations and have um worked hard with uh these partnerships in different uh student groups throughout the district. We've had some great author visits and speakers and we've offered our students some wonderful um uh experiences. I've attended the United V uh Vikings basketball game last year where where I saw students paired up with uh other students with uh different abilities in playing basketball and supporting one
046another. We have G uh the high school has their week of giving. The middle school has their culture fair. We have a number of novel studies in uh shared readalouds that we uh have that are taking place across our uh school. These are just a few of the the ones that definitely stood out to us. So this year we asked, well, what's next? And while we have a lot of great things that are going on in each of our buildings, we realize the one consistent thing that we have, at least at the elementary level, that every student will experience is outdoor ed in fifth grade. And while there are so many great things happening individually in each of our buildings, we thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to to start coordinating and aligning some
047of the great things. If there's a great experience in one building, whether it's a novel study or shared readaloud, this should be taking place or can be taking place in in all of our buildings. And so I will have to give kudos to Kathy Fuller who's here and has met on this uh committee here and has done some wonderful wonderful work. We partnered with the Geneva Public Library in hopes to have a partnership and having a communitywide culture fair with them hopefully this year. I think we are moving forward with that. um they were very very excited to engage with us in uh in this conversation and so to take what we currently have which has taken place at the middle school and expanding it not only you know to our students but to our
048community as well. So, we're uh thankful for that opportunity with the Geneva Public Library, but also we're start to we're starting to identify some common books and resources that we could have available in all of our um in all of our uh schools. For example, the book I Walk with Vanessa, a great book about empathy, kindness, and standing up to bullying. or the day you begin that explores the courage it takes with to connect with others especially when you feel out of place. This is central to our work. The ability to connect students with other students typically students that maybe they wouldn't typically get together with so that they could engage in meaningful conversation and get to know each other beyond you know what they would know in you know a classroom. Our wonderful librarians
049with the support and leadership of Kathy Fuller are also um working on providing monthly uh themes in our libraries that connect with um culture. This month was Hispanic Heritage Month and so um you will see these things uh displayed in our school uh books displaying uh Hispanic authors. If you haven't read Alma, it's a wonderful book about how a little girl named Alma Sophia Espironza Joseé Pura Candela who is frustrated with how long her name is, seeks to find how she got her name. And this book resonated with me as I have a story on how I got my name and how all of my children got my name. So, it's amazing how one simple story multiple students could connect with. And so we have so many of these books uh that we would uh
050be displaying in each of our schools and the theme each month our librarians are working on uh for that similar type of experience. So when we look at our guiding question, how do we best prepare our students for the world that exists beyond our school community? Well, it's a few things. to deepen engagement, to celebrate and understand differences, and to create meaningful ways to connect. I worked with the high school on this. The high school, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Han are working uh with ways to uh get different groups of students together to coordinate fundraising efforts. So, I'm going to just give an example. Perhaps, you know, one of the sports teams is going to connect with a different club or activity. These are groups of kids that typically might not be in the same
051circle but now they're they are working towards a common goal in working with each other and getting to know each other. I think that connection with each other is very very important. Um last month Mr. Kabin you had mentioned that as a board member you were very very blessed with the the district that we were in and the board members that you worked uh alongside. I will make a few assumptions here and the first assumption I'll make is that each of you come with a different background, education, lived experience, um, traditions and I'll also make another assumption is that you all know a little bit something about each other and I think that is very important because as board members you have a very important job in making some very difficult and challenging decisions. Sometimes
052you won't always agree with each other, but that's where the greatness of this uh is in knowing something about each other. I don't think I've ever left a board me meeting feeling that one person was upset or said disparaging words towards another. It's because you know each other. And that's an assumption that I have. And I think that's what we hope to um to share and teach our students through this strategic goal and the work that we are doing uh this year. So thank you for your time and I'll take questions. >> Questions anyone? >> Yes. I'm sorry to to plead ignorance. What is lend a hand? What what is that about? >> Lend a hand. >> Yeah. What is that? What? It was one of the things you listed one of the I don't
053know where it was. >> Yeah. No, no, I think it was a book. It might have been one of the books. >> No, no, it was that there. What is that? >> Oh, lend a hand is a book. >> It is a book. Yes. >> Okay. I missed that part. Okay. >> I will be quite candid. I haven't read all of the books. These are books that we um uh you know coordinated with our uh librarians and our teachers that connect with this strategic plan. >> Well, I want to make one comment. Yeah. So, I I'm glad to hear what you just >> not necessarily that was the ending topic, but I think it kind of brought full circle that I did that we're not trying to form symbiotic relationships where we just alongside each
054other but not near necessarily relating to each other. Of course, you know, in child development, children go through parallel play. They're not necessarily playing together. They're just going on doing their own things. So, I think this is uh encouraging. And I'm speaking from my I guess I say my lived experiences. Um when I was in middle school, this would have been great, but that was 50 years ago. But I'm very very much encouraged to see that we're doing constructive you know real things to bring children to a perspective of how these differences are not necessarily um I don't want to use something tright to be say they need to be celebrated but they certainly can be appreciated is but I think one person put it we're not a melting pot we're more like a toss
055salad and I think that's important that we don't lose our identity so thank you very much for presentation >> sure I mean recognizing that our diversity is uh is a strength of ours. Um I think that's that's huge. And you mentioned um just historically how far we've become uh how far we've come. I have five children. I will share with you my my middle child has Down syndrome and I will tell you the world that he is growing up in today. I am I'm astounded. I am so appreciative of the the work that is taking place in his classroom, in his schools, in our neighborhood where um we have kids coming in the door asking to to play with him. And I know that is a completely different world than when I was in elementary
056school and when our you know my parents who were Greek immigrants were were in uh in school. So we've come a long way but we still have a lot of work to do. >> Thank you. Uh, anything else? Thank you very much. >> Thank you. [Applause] >> Item three on the agenda is sort of like a mini meeting within a meeting. Uh, we're we're this is a hearing on fund transfers for 2026 and Todd Leam would uh be the one to talk to, I think. >> Yes. Good evening. So, in order for us to uh fund our capital projects for the district, but have no direct funding, uh we require the board to uh approve a plan and that plan allows us to move funds as part of our plan spending process which is uh
057completed in our budget approval. And so tonight, we'll be moving some funds from the uh education fund to capital project, sorry, from the ed fund to onm and on M to capital projects so that we can complete the construction and the maintenance that we need to do for the district. So, tonight is just a hearing uh to go through the steps uh listen and have the board decide if that's something that you want to do. And then you'll simply take two separate votes on resolutions that grant me the authority as your treasur to move those funds and complete the process. >> And this has all been talked about through the budgeting process extensively already, right Todd? >> Yeah. So, it originates with the capital plan. Once that's approved by the board, then the funding mechanisms
058come next as approvals and then it's wrapped up in the total budget approval. Okay. Well, we're in the hearing at this point. Um, are there any comments or questions from the board of education? I know you've heard this before at other meetings. Okay, hearing none, we'll we'll proceed with uh if there's no other questions or comments, we'll we'll close the hearing. We will vote on this a little later in the meeting. However, everybody's good. Very well. The next item on the agenda is public comments. Now's your time. Have Have we received any requests? Have we received any requests for public comments? Does does anyone in the audience have anything they'd like to say at this point? >> Thank you. Anyway, I guess um next legislative updates item five. >> Yes. >> Good evening. Um as
059I had mentioned, the general Illinois general assembly is in veto session starting today, I believe, um for three days and then another three days later this month. They um generally don't do a lot of business during veto session, but uh reading the tea leaves, they're going to be doing a lot more um in this session. So, we'll see what comes out of that. One of the things I did promise that I wanted to go through with you today was showing you what um connect here. Um their new website looks like. So, I'm going to break this into two parts. Tonight, I'm just going to show you where that legislator lookup is. Um, so that if you are inclined to reach out to your local elected official and you want to uh talk to them about
060any business that they have coming up this week or I think it's in two weeks when they meet again, you have the ability to go and um find out who your local legislator is and how to contact them. So to start, we can go to their website. It's ilga.gov illinois general assembly.gov. How dare it not work? All right. Google. >> Now I'm very embarrassed. >> Right. It is not >> literally >> I even practiced this at home this morning. >> You're not driving this. >> Yeah. Um >> I'm not getting it to come up either. >> Yeah. Maybe uh >> the school server has >> Yeah, I didn't try it from my >> any thoughts. >> That's a them error. >> All right. >> Well, then I can't show you. Well, when it is working,
061um when you go home and you want to try it from home, if you just scroll down on that homepage, it actually has a big button in the middle that says legislator lookup. So, you can click on legislator lookup and then you can um zoom into a map. You can type in an address and it'll take you to where your um different local uh officials are and then on the right hand side, which was similar to before, but it's enhanced now. You can click on each person's name and it will take you to their contact page so you can reach out to them and let them know. So, uh when I do the second half of my demo, u maybe I'll do both. Hopefully, it'll be working in a couple weeks and I can show
062you the other part I want to show you is how you can look up different bills. you have a better way of searching now by topic than you did before. Before you would really need to kind of know what that bill number was to find it and read about it, but now you can actually do a search and find it a little bit easier. So, I wanted to show people how to do that. But that was going to be for next meeting anyway, but um so I apologize I can not show you, but it's not my fault. It's the general assembly. They must be doing some >> Thank you so much for the attempt and I I grasp what what they're trying to do. It's pretty hard for me to imagine a computer program that
063gets more util and and actually a little easier to access, but hope springs eternal. >> Yes. >> Next, the superintendence report. Dr. Barrett, >> thanks. Um, we'll uh doing a lot of really good switching between devices tonight and it's working all so far, so that's good. >> I know that's what I got. Way to go, Andy. Way to go, Andy. Uh, first I Yeah. So, first I would just share um just real briefly before I get started. I have a few things I want to share tonight, but I I do know um this week is uh later this week is bosses week. Um and I'll certainly have an opportunity to um acknowledge uh the school board formally during school board week, but I'm pretty lucky to have uh seven great bosses. So, um, thank you,
064uh, for all you guys do, uh, to help me and to help us have a great district. I I appreciate that very much. Um, so, uh, first, uh, just a couple couple topics today. First, wanted to follow up right before our la when I spoke last, we had homecoming coming up. It was a great week. Um, and I just wanted to follow up with everybody on the homecoming parade. That was yet another very popular event uh in in Geneva 304. It was a a beautiful almost perfect day. Um and as I shared with you earlier this year in terms of uh high school kids participating in uh extracurriculars uh and athletics obviously that growing participation is translating into the um into the parade as well. Uh what that also is translating into that we've discussed
065before is um a continued increase in absences at the K8 level as uh you know families um because as you can see in this picture lined up halfway out into the street on Route 38 families uh many families not all obviously but many families do uh really want their kids to be involved in that. And I uh I think there's a lot of factors to it. one might be as more folks work from home. Um, you know, I don't know, but we're just seeing a larger number of kids get pulled out. And you may recall we put in a process a few years ago to try to streamline that um to at least make it a little bit uh um more structured for our office staff. But even with putting that in place, as those
066numbers increase, uh it it just continues to um it's a thing. Generally speaking, um this year, uh about half of the Ka kids K8 um were pulled out at some point in that day, either didn't attend or were pulled out of school. Um, so as we're looking ahead, the calendar committee is talking about that and trying to think about what um some different options that we could look at. As I think you know, we've talked about in years past the potential that that would be a uh just a half day of school. Um, and so that's something that we're exploring and seeing how those that could potentially work within our calendar and the confines of um what we would do within our calendar. I mean, I think I would share candidly when you get to
067a point, especially at some of our levels and in some of our buildings where that many kids are pulled out, um, you know, it's impacting the instructional day regardless, right? Um, so anyway, we're we're talking about that and I wanted you to just wanted to circle back to that and have that context so when we do if we do end up coming forward with uh you know some kind of formal proposal about that, it's not catching you off guard. I will say it is a pretty special and unique thing about our town that uh you know if you've ever been out there as part of this parade and everybody's lined up down Route 38 down our main drag um through town and the city is very accommodating um coming out and getting that all closed
068so all our kids can go down that main drag. It is a pretty cool and and special thing um to have that. So, I just wanted to know we're talking about those issues. >> Can I >> questions thoughts? >> Um, I was just thinking about like it does affect half of our students, but that means half of our K through8 students probably have working parents that weren't able to. So, I do get a little concerned about that to make sure we're accommodating or if if this takes the place of another half day instead that that would have bu been built into the calendar. So, especially depending and I know I'm sure we have no idea what time homecoming is next year at this point. I don't think that those schedules are released. >> Yeah, that's
069part of the challenge right now is we can't come out with a date and say, "Well, here's when we here's when we would do it." But I think we would be able to do it sooner than later >> because we would have a idea. >> We would have an idea on the on the date. Um, >> and just thinking like specifically cuz this was two weeks ago at this point. Was it two or three weeks ago? But then we just had the five day weekend. So, are we taxing our working parents that can't get away with a lot of >> Correct. I mean, you to your point on one hand, we do know that like we have half days and we have systems in place for you know, the park district has their programming on
070half days and um you know, our families do accommodate half days of school already. Um and so if you had this one, would our families Yeah, it's true. who our families would need to accommodate that in the same way they accommodate um our other half days. But um yeah, that is a factor we would have to consider >> to be considering in the conversation. I know that we're we try to understand all of our famil family's needs and we can't do it individually, but >> on a large scale. >> Yep. Yep. That's a good point. Uh okay. So that that's that issue. Second, um, you know, we already heard tonight uh from Miss Premises about one, uh, kind of potential partnership we're working on with the Geneva Public Library. It's pretty cool to see our
071partnerships with local government entities, uh, expanding here in recent years. Um, and there's another one we've talked about before, and I just wanted to give you an update on this because we've been working in earnest with our partners at the Geneva Public Library, uh, to establish a partnership, um, that provides a public library card to Geneva 304 students and staff. Um, and that would allow, uh, Geneva 304 student IDs, uh, to be used as Geneva Public Library cards. um which you know really would just be lowering the barriers to the access of all those great resources for our community. So uh this isn't a surprise to anybody here. We've been talking about this for some some time now, but um we're getting to the point where we're going to want to come to you uh
072theoretically for formal approval of this uh at some point this fall and the library would be going to their board to do the same. Um so the process would really look like a few things here. One obviously we'll have to establish an intergovernmental agreement um about this and you know we've been drafting that up and attorneys have been taking a look at what that could look like. Um and the biggest one is establishing procedures uh for tech integration uh via our registration and verification process. Um the big win there's two big wins in doing this process uh you know from the library perspective. One is just ensuring that every kid has that automatic access to a library card. But the other is that if if we can integrate in a way that uh a Geneva
073304 students ID number which they all know uh right away um becomes their library card number then that means they can go to the library and check out a book right away using a number that they already use for everything. Um and so you know we're working through what those procedures would be uh to be able to implement this for 2526 presuming the IG was in place and everybody was um on on board here. So the next steps here would be um for the board to review a draft um intergovernmental agreement and also a brief visit from uh some representatives from the Geneva Public Library. they want to come and talk to you about why they value this and why they think this is so important um and why they hope you'll support it. Um,
074and then have an opportunity for uh some board discussion. Uh, and maybe the members of our technology task force who've had a little conversation might talk about this later. U Molly and Jackie because I know we've had a little conversation um at the technology task force about this, but a big decision is going to have to come into about um whether this would be an optin or an opt out process as part of our registration process and verification. So, in other words, would families have to click a box to say, "Yes, please allow my kid to get this Geneva Public Library card, or would it be we're automatically opting everybody into this process and families would have to click a box that says that says, "No, please don't." Um, so obviously the lowest barrier to
075entry that the the library would advocate for is that opt out process. the information we would be sharing is what's known as directory information basically. Um so you know it's not like we'd be sharing uh you know any kind of private information um about families but it it's still a thing we would have to talk about and make sure we're all comfortable with. So, we'll have an opportunity for the board to discuss that uh explicitly um after the IGA comes and after we hear from the library um and then make a formal decision and then theoretically uh the boards would vote. So, I think we're making good progress on this. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. And then um you know, one more I just wanted to hit. We always talk about our fast, we do
076our fast facts and thank yous. And recently we talked about uh our instructional support staff. Um you know that's our support staff who uh work with kids in in classrooms and instructionally in a wide variety of capacities. And today wanted to recognize and give thank yous to our professional support staff. Obviously um you know the district has a a growing number of professional support staff as the school district gets a lot bigger. These are folks who work in our district office and all of our district buildings. And I put the company here um because that's kind of what I think of. These are the folks who basically uh work on the business side of the school district, right? Like they're the company uh they're the they conduct all the core business services kind of behind
077the scenes here while our educators are out doing the hard work of educating kids. These are the folks behind the scenes doing the hard work like running those core business services. Whether you're talking about technology or health services or business services, obviously human resources, um you know, a variety of administrative support roles and functions. Um these these are the folks behind the scenes that make make this all tick so our educators can go out and educate kids and they're a really great team and and we're grateful for them. Uh and then last, just wanted to do quick thank yous about parent teacher conferences. You know, we held those at the end of last week. Um, and we know that that communication and that relationship building is uh so valuable. Um, in the top here you
078see some parents uh at one of our elementary schools who are writing uh notes for their children at parent teacher conferences that they're going to leave for their kids when their kids get back uh got back to school today. Um but so we do want to thank you for the community. Thank you to the community for the opportunity. You know, as Stephanie kind of said, we know that this is a change in systems and and structures when we have to take time off for parent teacher conferences. And so, thanks to the community for that. And thanks to our faculty um for that time and effort because it's a couple of long days, right? There's a lot of time and and effort that goes into both planning and preparing and then and then holding those um
079at times that work for families. So, just wanted to give some thank yous for that. >> Paul, >> yeah, quick question. uh on the parent teacher conference. This is a little bit different than what we've done in the past. Correct. In the how we've done it. >> Uh what I'm wondering is are we seeing a better response from the parents coming or less response? Just curious. >> So I think uh what you might be referring to is uh for a while there we were holding these parent teacher conferences. um uh Thanksgiving week, right? Uh and we've moved them up earlier. This is actually when they used to be. You hate when you get so old that the pendulum swung back like this is how it was back in my day and then it went away
080and now it's back. Um but so we had moved them to that Thanksgiving time and now they're back earlier. And I think uh to your point, one of the big pieces of feedback was from our high school folks who said I think elementary they they're coming regardless, right? Like at elementary they're coming for for parent teacher conference by and large. Um but I think what we heard from our high school folks was um you know if we have kids who we have concerns about maybe November's too late um and so this is a better time. Sorry. I think our teachers would say yes, this is a better time. In terms of participation, um I don't have the exact numbers, but I'll look and I'll put them in my message this week. Good question. >> That's
081all I got. >> Thank you very much. Uh >> Andy, I'm sorry. >> Oh, go ahead. >> The library cards. I'm still scratching my head on why there would be an opt out. What would be the reason why a family would opt out of getting a library card for their student? um you know I mean I I don't know but I mean I think it's um because ultimately because we would be sharing data even if the data is just their name and ID number um we feel like we have to give parents the choice of if they want to do that or not because it's even if it's you know again this This is not sensitive data by any means, but ultimately we are sharing. We would be data sharing. >> I was thinking more
082if there was a cost to >> the family and so they would opt out so they don't have to pay a fee for >> Yeah, good question. No cost. There'd be there's no would be no cost involved in any of this and that's part of what we think would be great. Um, so yeah, good question. >> Can I piggy back a question on that? The only reason I could kind of think to opt out was if maybe you already had a card. Like would this replace the number, like your your previous card number and make it more complicated because you're like, well, I've had a card with my kids since they were two and now I've got another number and now I got to track two numbers or that old one is mer merged in
083with this new one. I I think that maybe will get explained when you bring the agreement, but that was my technology thought was like, will this be a seamless transition for parents who already have library cards before their kids even, you know, in preschool? >> That's the idea. We would want it to be a seamless transition for those folks. And also because it's a transition, right? I mean, your point is exactly right. At some point once you've metriculated through a whole like generation of kids and this is just the way we do it then it won't be a thing. But at the beginning because there there are a good percentage of kids who already have them. Um and then so what would that look like from the number perspective and what that would mean for
084families? That's part of what we'd have to talk about. So good point. >> I'm impressed that Stephie knows her library card number. Well, I don't, but we often have Who checked out this book? What library card is it under in trouble? So, >> who's paying this fine? >> Well, my wife and I each have a library card and we endeavor to keep them separate and straight. Hasn't been a problem so far. Any other questions? Thank you very much. Item seven, board dialogue topics and pending action consideration. The first thing here is a an action resolution in support of red ribbon week. We signed the document earlier in anticipation of a motion and approval by the board. Anybody got a motion >> to approve the red ribbon. >> So moved. >> Second. >> I I >>
085I thank you. Next item is action board action uh on the fiscal 2526 resolution to transfer $2,500,000 from the education fund to the O andM fund. The information has already been included. We had the hearing earlier on this which is part of the uh situation. Any questions for Todd would be an option and hope hopefully we're going to approve this and move to the next one. Any questions? I I'm sorry. I do have one. So the movement is from is from the education fund on&m fund on and m fund to the capital projects fund. And so the dollar amount for number two includes the is included in number three. Is that right? >> No. >> Or is it additive? >> So the process is to move it from the edit fund to on and m
086and then combine funds total needed from and m to capital. >> So it's a it's a statutory process, >> right? >> So I have to move uh ed intom and on and m into capital. That's how it's structured. >> I get that. But I'm just wondering if the amounts are additive versus is it included? >> Uh the 2.5 um becomes part of the total of the 6.8. >> Okay. Yep. Thank you. >> So the majority of the funds come from the operations of fund through the levy process. >> Thanks. >> And statutoily we have to vote individually on each motion. >> So good question. Anyone care to make a motion to approve? So moved. Second. Second. I >> I thank you. All item three, board action on the fiscal 202526 resolution to transfer 6,800,000 from
087O andM project fund to the capital projects fund. Included in the packet for the board's consideration was a resolution pertaining to the transfer of funds. And we if you have any questions, Todd is available. Otherwise, we can approve it. Questions? Motion to approve. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Thank you, Bonnie. >> Hi. I >> I >> thank you. Uh next is item 8, work study topics, future action considerations. Uh the 2026 2027 draft school calendar. Chanette Sims will present calendars to the board. >> Yeah, thank you. I know that uh Bonnie shared two draft calendars with you. Um I will say that you know calendar discussions is is one of the area opportunities where uh the fact that we are a unit district and have you know diverse uh needs and desires comes into
088play. Uh so if we start with the calendar that has the start date of the 17th of August as the first draft to just share some information about um that is a rollover really from this year's calendar. You know just kind of a repeat for the next school year. Um that would have us starting later than our surrounding school dis schools in our district. Uh that does um continue with a pretty significant imbalance of the high school semester. we'd have 78 days in the first semester and 97 days in the second semester. Um, where that can be impactful is, you know, our students who are enrolled in Foxville Career Center courses for the first semester. Um, those classes do start that earlier week with uh Keaneland. However, our high school does make arrangements and provides
089transportation for our students to and from Fox Valley. Um, but it also becomes difficult for our dual credit courses and our semester long courses. That's an imbalance in a semester long course. So, for example, in that first semester, they're really feeling like they're have to they're having to move much quick much more quickly through the curriculum. And then many times in that second semester, they're adding a unit of study. Uh, in our our driver's ed behind the wheel instructors have shared that first semester, it's very difficult to get the 75 hours of behind the wheel time in. However, um through some, you know, ingenious planning and found time starting in that summer, uh they are able to get students through that, but it does take um you know, some special planning to get that done.
090Um for our, you know, our representatives on the committee from our um elementary level, you know, there's a preference for that later start time. Uh some of that has to do with some of our learning spaces that you know lack air conditioning. Um the gymnasiums are hotter for many of our schools. It's not only the gymnasium but also the cafeteria. And so there's concern with that heat there. Um there's also concern with you know an earlier start. Um you know impacting when our new teachers are starting and all that work as well as you know when families are wrapping up summer and when staff are coming in you know albeit on their own time. we know it happens that they'd be coming in potentially in, you know, July to get set up. So, that's that
091first one that is a rollover. Um the second calendar draft that was shared um has us starting a week earlier. So, we would start on the 10th. Uh that would >> staff would start on the 10th. Yes. Students would start um three days later on the 13th. And then the other one, yes, staff would start on the 17th and students would start on the 20th. Um, so with that earlier start, uh, we would be aligned with our area schools. Um, that would eliminate that need for that special, um, transportation for Fox Valley Career Center. The semesters are a bit more aligned, although still not evenly aligned. Um, 83 days to 92. So that would still, you know, we'd still see some of that impact that I shared before with, you know, the semester long courses,
092dual credit courses, and the like. Um the concerns as I you know mentioned are you know the heat in the buildings with that earlier start um those staff start times in terms of new teacher week um new teacher induction uh for this first year there's the reality that if we were to start that week earlier this first year would be a shortened summer um and again that concern of you know that um July time when our staff would be coming back and getting things set up in their classrooms for the upcoming school year. So, those were, you know, some of the discussions we've had around these um two drafts. And so, um at this time, I'd welcome any, you know, kind of discourse from the board on any questions or ideas or thoughts you'd like
093to share. >> It isn't necessary for us to vote on the calendar. >> It isn't necessary for us to vote on the calendar at this meeting, but we will be voting shortly. So, if anyone has any questions, this is a good time to do it. And to those of you watching this meeting on TV, this would be a good time to get comments to the board so we could have your opinion to help us in our decision. Any questions? No question, but a comment. And I apologize. I was going to ask this today at the facilities task force meeting. And so I need to follow back on it whether or not there is an issue with any of the projects that we're planning for this summer and the timing whether or not they're going to
094be able to get all the projects done so that we could we we might not even be able to start earlier if we have some major projects that are going on. So I think that's something I'll take the responsibility to follow up to make sure that that u we have that answer by the next board meeting. I have um a comment as well like a concern around the shorter summer and what that does to the planning for um our families not nec or students actually not necessarily thinking about vacations but we have students who plan to take summer school courses. So, if we're shortening the summer, it does seem like, oh, maybe it's just a week or a week and a half. But if kids are involved in any fall activities, that means they're back
095in school by mid July to work on those activities, whether it's practicing or marching band or whatever it may be. So, it may really limit their time with a shorter summer to get a summer school class in, which I know a lot of our kids take different different course requirements. So, we'll have to work with guidance to see can they fit that into their schedule. They may not have been planning that. Um, in addition to just I know like personally for my family, we had planned on doing a lot of college visits over the summer. And so now if we're like well our summer is going to get shortened by this amount of time plus we have one month to fit in a uh summer school class like that might limit that. So it might
096in addition to thinking about facilities, it might make sense if we're going to shorten our summer that we're giving that we're putting a tenative calendar out there farther in advance so families can think about that the summer ahead. So that's like maybe take your summer school class this year rather than next year because it might be hard to do that. I do know like we have seen communication from parents. So I would love to hear more from parents. I've been personally just talking to parents as well to kind of see it's actually surprising I think um I hear more from the older parents not wanting the the change and more flexibility with the younger parents. So um which was not what I expected to hear and I'm going to keep asking to kind of round
097out my opinion on what what parents are looking for or families are looking for um on this. But it from the younger parents, I was hearing like they do like the after Memorial Day end better than the before Memorial Day just to really take full advantage of the summer because that gives them actually more summer time because summer doesn't actually start till end of June. So just wanted to share. just have a question in regard to the middle school and the middle school now going to semesters versus trimesters and how I'm guessing there's a representative from the middle school on the committee and how that would impise it's a little bit different than the high school because not many semester courses let's just call it but there are and so um how does how is
098that going to impact >> yeah the middle school is actually going to balance the semesters >> um so they're they'll have pretty even it's going to be with a one day give or take whichever start date we have. >> Okay. Thank you. >> And they're able to do that just to clarify because they don't have the semester exams that they're working around. >> Okay. Thank you. >> I have one question. We've always started staff on a Monday and we used to start on a Wednesday if with students announced Thursday. Have we ever thought about pushing back the date when we start staff and then having students start later? So, for example, on this calendar, staff reports on the 12th and 13th and 14th, and then school starts Monday the 17th and something like that. I
099know it's only two days, but >> it would give that whole extra week for students to have their time off and start. Now, I know it's a full week of school to start, which is a heavy lift for our students, but I think we could do it. But just something to throw out there as a consideration instead of sticking with staff comes on a Monday, maybe a different day. Thank you. >> Anybody else? >> Shet. Um, I had a question. Um, I certainly empathize with, you know, the family component of this and summers being shortened and, you know, wanting to make sure we're tending to that. But I'm curious if you maybe got any feedback from our educators that have the differences the semester that conversation. It seems like such a big difference adding an
100extra unit versus having to shorten units um and looking at equity of you know education to each student and prep for whether it be exams or or you know making sure they're gaining the core content that they need. Are you getting any specific feedback from any of these uh teachers specifically one way or the other? Yeah, we do have reps that are that teach semester long courses on the calendar committee. Um, and they have expressed the difficulty and their preference uh would be that it's as balanced as possible. Okay, anybody else? Thank you all for your opinion. Item two is the Illinois Association of School Board Legislation Resolution and Constitutional Amendments. The board gets to talk about that now. Jackie, would you like to >> comment? >> Andy, could you turn on the >> Do
101you have to, please? Thank you. >> Sorry. Just >> Yeah, I already have the website up so I know that's working. Oh, I didn't like I hit that I think too early. All right, now let's do it. >> There it is. We've done this before. >> This is where the ISB has some policies and constitutional changes and we discuss them and decide how we feel and then Jackie will or whoever the delegate is will vote that way at the convention. >> Yes. So I give my speech every year that when we talk about the resolutions for IASB, this is not us creating law or bills that are being introduced into the general assembly. This is simply telling the Illinois Association of School Boards what we think is important for them to uh put forth and
102their legislative efforts when they're talking to our elected officials what's important to this agency and um driven by the members of the school boards that give them that and it's through the resolutions process. So in years past we've typically had several resolutions to look at. We only have one this year and um we're going to look at that first and then we have a number of constitutional amendments as well which we haven't really discussed in the past but so I'll try and touch on those a little bit. So um what I have up here is the Illinois Association of School Boards website.com. If you go over here to the menu you want to choose advocacy and the delegate assembly. And what I'm taking you to is information that you need to take a look at
103the resolutions more closely and the constitutional amendments. So they put together a resolutions committee report here and it has all the information about this delegate assembly which I am registered for and will be attending to vote on behalf of the district on the resolution and the constitutional amendments. So first off I'm actually going to go down to the resolutions. I'm going to skip. They have the constitutional amendments first, but I want to talk about the resolutions first because that's what we're used to discussing. Okay. So, there, as I mentioned, there's one resolution. If you recall in the past, you have two choices. Do adopt or do not adopt. There is a committee put together that reviews the proposed resolution and gives their recommendation of adopt or do not adopt. So you can see here at
104the top this one has uh been put forth as do adopt and it's regarding the um bill that we had been tracking regarding school bus uh seat belts essentially. If you recall uh we had Senate Bill 191. It is now public act 1040075 that requires three-point seat belt systems on new bus new or leased school buses purchased after July 1st 2031. So, our friends in the Sycamore School District 427 put forth this resolution. Um, as we know, this is an unfunded mandate. They took a look at the cost and estimate that it would be about $7,000 to $18,000 per bus to put in these re um threepoint seat belt systems. So, they came up with a couple of ideas to take a look at that. uh one putting um some grant money together so that
105um certain districts could get financial assistance for that. Looking for a waiver so may perhaps smaller districts could have more time to comply with this. Um qualifying districts could use transportation bond proceeds or revolving lease agreements for that local cost share. and also um asking ID do to see if there might be an alternative to the proposed three-point system that is out there. I think that was the last one. Yes. So then if you look in the resolutions booklet, that district gives their rationale for why they propose this and then the resolution committee um has their rationale on that. So they came up with do adopt. Uh so we just have to decide if we want to adopt this as a new resolution or do not adopt and that was the way we would vote.
106If anyone has any questions, this one I'm a little more familiar with because I've been following it. I can try and answer questions. Like we Larry said, we're not voting tonight. We're just going to talk a little bit about what we see. So, I'll open it up. >> Well, seems to me pretty easy. Um, if you recall in the past, sometimes we'll see ones that say do not adopt. they will take away local control that um we don't want to see. So that's why sometimes we vote against things that have been proposed or perhaps we don't agree with the funding that they are proposing to do something. This one is a little more straightforward. We're trying to find um other creative ways to meet this mandate because of course we want our students to be
107safe while they're being transported to and from school or to activities. But uh it's an unfunded mandate. So, how can we do this if especially our smaller districts that perhaps could not afford that much for each school bus that they purchase or lease? >> Quick question from our side. um with our rotation of school buses that we typically go through and the timing that we're looking at here of 2031. Have we done an analysis for our own district as to how many school buses do we anticipate? And I know sometimes we hold them longer, but do we anticipate being still there when the deadline hits that we would have to retrofit? Because if we're rotating school buses in or out out, then the new school buses will just assume we'll come with will have to
108come with the three with the three um point safety harnesses. So that would I think be an important piece of information to know how big of a issue this will be for us. If if this comes down to 12 buses that we have by that time, then it's it's it's an issue that probably could live with probably have to live with since it's a law at this point. >> Yeah. >> But it would be better to to understand what the impact would be financially for us, I think, at that point. Todd, is that something that you could take a look at and give us an idea for our next meeting? >> Certainly can. Um, we'll look into that. We'll estimate what that is for our buses and it certainly is a indifferent conversation about whether
109school seat belts are beneficial to be on school buses because they do sit higher. Uh, if there's a fire, trying to evacuate smaller children that are buckled in could be a challenge. So, this has gone on for years, but that's the well estate and we'll find a way to comply in the proper time frame. >> I I do think it's worth noting um as context to that question, remember that the law says it's about newly purchased school buses, not about retrofitting. So I think the argument of uh your colleagues in Sycamore is that um this is basically not just an unfunded mandate but this is just a cost that the manufacturer is going to pass along to the consumer. Um so what they're basically saying is once this comes up once we start buying those
110new buses those new buses are going to cost you know $15,000 more because of this. Um, and so we should get some help for that. Uh, but there's nothing in the law that says we would have to retrofit any of our existing buses. It would just be any new bus we buy after that date would is theoretically going to cost us more because of that added required feature. >> And that wouldn't include like new to you buses. So like buses that we bought from that were used. Those wouldn't like what's the definition of new? new to us or new from the manufacturer? I think that's my one confusion. >> That's a good question. I don't know. >> I'd love to look it up on the Illinois General Assembly website for you right now, but I
111can't. But I I can take a look and see if it does define that um on there. That's a good question. >> Does law say the bus have to have it and the students have to wear them or is that school policy on the wearing of the seat belts? >> I don't believe it requires them to wear it. which is a whole other part of the unfunded mandate of it, right? Because you're going to have them and then it's a training, you know, for us training our bus drivers, bus drivers training their kids. What's the liability question on the school district if kids haven't worn them aren't wearing them when they're there? So, yeah, those are all those are all other different little liabilities and hidden cost features of it too, right? So, I just
112did uh quick math. 75 buses times 15,000 1,125,000 for us over time to comply with this concern. >> But those wouldn't have to be retrofitted. >> Well, there's a lot of this. No, this law is one that's uh not very clear in some ways. I do agree. It doesn't say what a new bus is. It doesn't say lease. It doesn't say if they have to wear them. It doesn't say some compliance component or training. So, I I don't know, Jackie. Did this go through JC cars already where they they write they take the law and then they write the language for it and explain it. I think that's probably where I'll need to go next to see if they have written an opinion on it. >> Yeah, I haven't dug in. But we can't. Well,
113the other thing that hasn't been brought up about that is that uh there are of course accidents that occur with school buses and children are injured, but how many of those occur and you can't put a price on that kind of thing. But it's good to know if this is if this is only really almost insignificant if there just aren't that many accidents. Whereas if there's a lot of accidents and people are getting hurt, then it's becomes worthwhile. So, uh something to think about. Any other comments at this point? >> I would note that if I read this correctly, we would not be eligible. I think that was pointed out by one of my colleagues. Uh so we would have to fund this ourselves. >> Yes. >> So maybe do not adopt. >> Well, this
114is just a it's a multiple things that they're proposing. um not just that certain districts would get help and and not based on their EAV per pupil, but looking at other approaches to this um looking at some other alternative highlight here researchbased occupant protection technologies that so maybe we would benefit for something like that if someone like ID do could take a look at that and then another way of potentially I don't know if this applies to us, but these bond proceeds or lease agreements. >> Todd, would that be a be something that you're able to tell us which one of these we would qualify for? Because I think that's important where we may might agree with the the tone of of the effort, but if it's not going to apply to us and we
115would rather propose something that also applied to us because then we we're just left out of this. And if they change it and then it's like, well, great, but that doesn't include us. So if any of those maybe we would fall under. >> Yeah, I'll read through through those as well. We also belong to a transportation committee for the county. Um so we'll have some discussions too just to re with them as well. >> Great. Thank you. >> Okay. So a little homework is just to think about this. We'll get some information um that we the questions we asked today about this and then when we come together next time we'll decide how we want to vote. The other piece that we um should talk about is these constitutional amendments. So, let me go to
116this. Um there's there's quite a few of them here. Uh there's an explanation here about why this came up and who was part of the committee to rewrite some parts of the constitution. I did go through these to try and summarize them for you. So, it it's harder on some than others. So, I would ask that you take a look at this and see. I did not see anything that jumped out as concerning. Um, I can talk a little bit about this membership. This section here, it just what it used to I should explain. Whatever is um just in black is what was there before. If it's red and underlined, it is added. If it's red and with a strike through, that means it's proposed to be deleted. So these sections here that have been
117deleted um are actually now covered in this first part here that was added. So they're kind of consolidating this and this is just talking about different classes of membership that um you can have in the IASB and it talks about how you could become a member of the different classes. So this seemed pretty straightforward who could be um an affiliate member. They added some language there. As I mentioned, anything that's a striketh through is now in part of that beginning part. And then there's a rationale for why they made these changes. So you can read through that and see why they were done. Um the delegate assembly. This was an interesting one. Um they talk it is typically well the only way you could vote is if you were there physically in person and they
118are taking a look at maybe there is another way of voting for the delegate assembly. Uh specifically email is what they had in mind but they're thinking they're not so sure about that because then would they have fewer people who showed up in person to the delegate assembly during the conference. So you can read their r rationale there. So they kind of left it open by saying or by any means recommended by the resolutions committee and approved by the board of directors. So is there another way of voting instead of you physically going to the delegate assembly and casting your vote? That's what that one's about. Um little bit more on elections. Um here they're talking about that the change actually reflects current practice. So, they wanted to make a change to that one. Terms
119of office, I learned that you have a two-year term. However, after the first year, you have to reapply to be appointed for the second term. So, they're proposing that you actually when you get elected to these offices that you have a two-year term and you don't have to reapply. Um, they talk about that saving time because they don't have to go through the applications again when they know that person will serve the second year. composition of the board just some um changes because we are not part of the national school boards association and now are part of COSPA. So they talk about this one here um some committees who is on the nominating committee for the um executive board of directors. So they talk about that over these two pages the different divisions and how
120this um they made some more clarifications about the governing committee and um some training that you have to do. Uh they talk about it only being 30 minutes but they thought it was valuable for these people to have some training. Uh talking about the resolutions process. uh you can read through these u interestingly this whole section seven on late resolutions as you see it's uh struck out but it's actually covered here by saying any resolution that's not submitted in the manner shall not be considered by the assembly so good trimming there of that um oh gosh see there's so much more sorry but it was hard to give you a real summary without you actually just going through and looking at these uh a declared emergency this is important because how if there are ways
121that IASB can conduct business during an emergency that maybe would skip certain steps. So they put that in here. Uh they likened it to during COVID how they had to make changes and had the delegate assembly be virtual uh the first year of the pandemic. So they have the rationale there and then um how to make amendments or propose resolutions. I think there's two parts about this. um making sure that the local school board and the division support anything that's being proposed. So those are all the constitutional amendments. Like I said, there are a lot. So if you could take some time just read through these. As I mentioned, I don't think anything was really concerning that I went through, but u if you can just if you have any thoughts, we can bring it
122up at our next meeting and then let me know how we want to vote on all of these. Uh do adopt or do not adopt. Thank you, >> Jackie. Thank thank you first of all for going through all of that for us and by yourselves to help us with some understanding and of course I highly recommend everybody go to this page and figure out how you feel about these things. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh item nine information board meeting presentation schedule for your requests and the tax levy which is just for information. No discussion is required. Anybody have any in spite of that? Okay. Consent agenda. One of my favorites, personnel report, resignations, retirements, leave requests, changes in assignment, full-time equivalent, new hires. Item two, gifts, grants, and bequest, $1,500 from -ay
123construction for ghs athletics for team supplies and uniforms and other needs. Item three, gifts, grants, and requests, $7,000 from the Geneva Feeder Basketball. Uh that's for scoreboards for Geneva Middle School North. And item four is the 2025 2026 board meeting calendar. Item five is disposal of paper copies of digitized student files. Uh any discussion on any of these items? We we have discussed some of them in the facilities task force meeting. Um >> I don't see item five. >> Right. That was taken out. >> Oh >> yeah, that was >> I got missed. Okay. Sorry. I have a >> only up to four strike item five. >> So motion to approve. >> So moved. >> Second. I >> I thank you. Item 11, board member comments and reports. Um Steph. >> Yes. So today we
124met with the policy committee to begin our discussions about the suspension policy and the expulsion report. as we've been discussing um the hearing officer at the board. So, we started those conversations today, had some good discussion, and then we will have another discussion about this at the next meeting and narrow that down a bit. So, you guys can all take a look at the the video from this meeting to kind of see where we're at right now, what we're thinking about, and what that conversation how that conversation is going. But just wanted to loop you in. And thank you to Molly for for your contribution in that meeting and all the discussion. you know, it was really helpful to get to talk about talk through all of that. Um, also thank you Jackie for all
125the all the legislative reports. I know there's a couple times a year that there's a lot, but it is really helpful for you to walk us through all of that and I really appreciate the discussions there. And then thank you to all of our staff for um parent teacher conferences. It's really a valuable time. I find it very important for us to work closely with families because we're all trying to educate children and do the best for the kids in the community. So, I think that takes all of us in all different ways. So, thank you so much for making that time. I had four hours of conferences on Friday and I was exhausted. So, I can only imagine how you all felt after talking to parents all day. So, thank you so much. I
126don't have any comment. >> Sure. Um, since we've met last, the technology task force had a meeting where we did talk a little bit about the library cards and the type of data that would be shared with the library board. And so we had that discussion already today and um a few other updates about um some of the new systems that are coming in the future and how we are approaching that and how well they're going and uh other typical things that we talk about at that meeting. I was able to attend um the football game against Betavia, which unfortunately at the last minute we did not come out victorious, but I know that their board is supportive of our football team just the way we are of theirs. So, um we can just have
127a friendly dialogue about that game and how it was. But I don't have any other updates. I don't really have anything to add except the parade was really dandy. >> Yeah, today we had our uh facilities task force meeting. Um I'd like to compliment the team there. They are doing a great job in getting prepared for the capital projects that are coming next fall. Um the my understanding is that the bids uh have we already had a meeting with all the potential contractors. um they have submitted their bids and we'll be opening those bids sometime at the end of October I think is the is the date uh for that so that we'll be prepared for significant capital outlay and projects uh in basically during the spring and uh summer time. Um we're missing since
128since this got moved today over we're missing our u um theater boosters. Thank you. Uh meeting today. So I'm going to give a shout out to them. The fall play Romeo Juliet is the 13th, 14th, and 15th of November. So please put that on your calendars. I think it would be a great great opportunity um to come. And thank you to Valerie McDonald for coming today and discussing her her um work that she's doing as a intern with the King County um legal department. So I think that's pretty cool. Um, yes. I to Valerie, thank you for coming tonight. I think that's really remarkable when we have a student talking about their firsthand experience with their class and what they're doing and out in the community. Um, I really appreciated the conversation in general on
129career counseling. I think the conversation um Paul, I know you brought up a few times, our students have a wide selection of opportunities post-graduation and it does not always lead to college and higher education. And there are so many opportunities out there and it's great to hear that there's consideration for all of our students and and the paths forward. Um to George to your presentation on cultural competence. I really appreciate that. I'm I can't say I'm new anymore. I've been in Geneva now a few years but my family chose to come here and we are a mixed family. So, it's really important to us to hear all of the efforts being done to make sure that culture is being um you know in the conversation and celebrated and and that's where connection can happen and
130learning and curiosity and I think that's really great. So, thank you for sharing a little bit more and it really helped me to know more of what my children can expect as they grow up. Um, thank you, Jackie, for all of your work that you put into the resolutions and amendments tonight and all of your legislative updates. Um, I know Jackie already touched on the technology task force. We have another meeting coming up next week, maybe soonish, I saw I think on the calendar, so more information to come. Um, and just a little commentary on I I know we have a few items kind of circling around the board right now as far as calendar start dates and um, hearing officers and I think you know when you look at decisions being made you know
131overall we tend to align um, but it's really important when we have topics come up where we have different opinions and thoughts and perspectives and I appreciate the space to talk them through and to consider all perspectives. So, I know we have a couple items and there will be more in the future that we're going to tend to. And I I just want to personally note that I'm, you know, doing my due diligence to make sure that I always come as informed as possible and I appreciate my colleagues doing the same and having that space to dialogue. So, that's what I got. >> Yeah, I think um I don't have much to add. I echo what everyone um has already said. I especially um want to thank uh our presenters tonight. Um really informative. I'm
132so glad um we had a um the conversation in regard to the the cultural competency piece. I think that's an important topic especially here in Geneva. We hear a lot about this Geneva bubble and and to to expand outside of the Geneva bubble is really important. I believe as not only a community but a school district as well. So thank you for all that information George. Love the love the career um presentation as well. I thought that was very informative. um and also participated um in uh not only the parade, the parent teacher conferences. I thought that went uh u really well and and I understand it is a long day for our teachers and so thank you for for doing that um for our parents. Um nothing else. >> Thank you very much. Um
133item 12, notices and announcements. Nothing. Item 13, executive session. That means I get to read a long statement and it's you guys have survived the meeting. So, thank you for coming. Executive session to consider matters pertaining to appointment, employment, compensation, or discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific individuals who serve as independent contractors in a park, recreational, or educational setting, or specific volunteers of the public body or legal counselor for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee, a specific individual who serves as an independent contractor in a park, recreational, or educational setting, or a volunteer of the public body, or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity. However, a meeting to consider an increase in compensation to a specific employee is subject to the local government
134wage increase transparency act and may not be closed and must be open to the public. Uh student discipline cases also. So, we are uh Paul, didn't you have a motion you wanted to make? I move that we move into executive session. >> Second, >> I Okay, we will uh be going into executive session. So, uh, take a five minute break to clear the room and, uh, we'll begin our session. >> Anything under best plans?