001This is the regular meeting of the Geneva 304 school board for Monday, October 28th, 2024. Bonnie, could you call the role? >> Stephanie >> here. here. >> Molly and sorry >> here. >> Thank you, Molly. Thank you for holding down that end of the table. >> Like to welcome you all here today. It's pleasure to have you with us and I know you're looking forward to what's going to happen because some of you are getting awards. The first item is the pledge. The flag is right there and I will start us. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, >> indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. There is an attendance sheet in the lobby if you'd like to
002register your presence. And next item on our agenda is the approval of minutes. Bonnie, did you receive any corrections or additions? No. >> Does anyone have any corrections or additions at this time? >> Motion to approve. >> So move. >> Second. >> I >> Stephanie >> I >> Thank you. Recognition awards presentations and public hearings. We're going to do two of those things. Number one, the tradition of excellence. GHS students, boys golf. Guys, look like you've got a great swing. Anything to add or direct to Tom? >> Yeah, we'll go right to Mr. Rogers as the board makes their way around the table to to greet everyone. Welcome, Mr. Rogers. Thanks for being here. >> Thank you. >> Good evening everybody. Thank you very much to the board and Dr. Barrett for this opportunity to
003recognize the 11 young men, all dressed alike, sitting in the front row this evening. They are our GHS varsity boys golf team. They recently competed at the IHSA state finals in Bloomington on Friday, October 25th and Saturday, October 26th. Um, many people might not realize this about the state finals, but when a team qualifies for state golf, they are one of 12 teams. It does not guarantee you to compete for the two days of the state finals. Instead, on Friday, you have to finish in the top eight and advance to Saturday. These boys did that. They were in eighth place after Friday's uh first round. And they moved up two spots and finished sixth in the state of Illinois. And I'll get to uh other accomplishments that allowed them to get to the state finals
004in just a minute. But first, let's introduce the team members, starting with Timmy Atkins. Brandon Bergraph, [Applause] Nolan Meyer, [Applause] Christian Novey [Applause] Oor [Applause] Ben Claremont, [Applause] Logan Nove, Matt Trimble, Nick Torrance, [Applause] Dylan Ward and Blake Macowski. [Applause] Joining the boys this evening is our GHS head coach of boys golf, Mr. Eric Hatel. unable to be here this evening, but assisting Mr. Hatel throughout the season was Mr. Zack Butcher and Mr. Steve Butcher. Thank you to both of them for their help. So, this outstanding group um had a great season obviously um but in order at the start of the IHSA state series, they were crowned regional championships at regional championships, regional champions at Orchard Valley Golf Club. And at that regional tournament, Brandon Berg earned regional medalist honors. So, congratulations to Brandon.
005That regional championship advanced them to the sectional uh um meet at Blackberry Oaks Golf Course at where the boys finished third. That was a very exciting round of golf with a lot of changes on the leaderboard and that sectional final um qualified them for the state finals that I just mentioned. In a strange turn of events, uh the conference meet this year was rained out which normally takes place prior to the regionals and it was postponed for the day after sectionals. So we played regionals, then we played sectionals and then they went to the conference meet the next day at where did we play? Barllet Hills. Thank you. I was thinking of the girls at Phillips Park where the boys placed second in the Dukane Conference. So, they really racked up the accolades this year
006and more importantly than their um than their wins and losses, if you will. Um I would like to be really recognize their character and who they are as a group. I had the pleasure of watching them play on several occasions and what really struck me is this group really supports one another. Uh I was also invited to a very fun uh putting contest at Eaglebrook the day before. They were supposed to go to the first conference meet. Um they're just a very polite, great group of boys and I was really impressed with how they supported one one another throughout those end of the season tournaments. So congratulations not only on your accomplishments on the golf course, but who you are as young men. And parents, congratulations on a job well done. Congratulations to our boys
007golf team. And now, Mr. Hatel, if you get in there, if we could get two rows, uh, Mr. Baker needs to play photographer here. >> And parents, once Mr. Baker's done, if you want to jump in and take a couple pictures, feel free. There you go. >> The boys love this part, so stay out there as long as you'd like. This is a record. >> And everybody done? All right, another round of applause for our golf team. I will also add it's a rare occasion when all members of a team show up. So, job well done being here as well. So, thank you parents for uh probably in some cases maybe making them come, maybe not, but regardless, it is recognized that you are all here. It's a great um tribute to you as well.
008Thanks again. And you are free to go. Golfers and parents, you do not have to stay for the remainder of the meeting. To the board and Dr. Barrett, thank you very much for this opportunity. We appreciate it. [Applause] >> Thank you. Okay. All right. >> Okay. The next item under that agenda item is the proposed 2024 draft tax levy. Todd will present and this is a second reading. So, as Todd's getting ready, I know he just presented this uh to the finance committee. This is the first of several opportunities he'll have to um talk about the levy and u I think the levy is an interesting thing because it's not our it's not our budget. We just did the budget, but then this is how Todd has to work with the county clerk and um
009local agencies to get our money and then the money for the levy comes in different windows than our fiscal year. It's all very complicated. So grateful to have Todd and Adrian and his whole team to do this work for us. >> Thank you, Dr. Barrett. >> Take it away. >> So if you think about the budget, that's our plan and this is the ask to fund the plan. So this is the 2024 year uh tax year levy and uh that's received in two pieces uh May June uh in fiscal year 25 and July through October and sometimes November in fiscal year 26. So this is our draft levy. Uh we'll come back next month with a tentative be on display. Uh then we'll come back in December for truth and taxation hearing and request the
010board final approval. So, a little bit about the components of the tax levy. Uh, the EAV is the assessed valuation. So, if your home was a market value was 100,000, it's assessed at 33 and a3%, which means your home would be uh your AV would be $33,333. And then if you had a 5%, it'd be just about $1,800 of your taxes. New construction, of course, is growth in the district, which is always good for us. It increases the tax base. uh that is not uh applicable to PTEL or a limitation on taxation. So uh we try to take as much as we can the full rate the first time that comes onto the tax rules. PEL is a private tax extension limitation law that says we can take the lesser of CPI or 5%. That
011was voted on. Um most places did it in about 1991 by county. And then the consumer price index um we use the urban model um that is set at 3.4. It's confirmed by the clerk as the CPI which is um the rate for this year. And then our tax rates are essentially um what we will apply toward the valuation and our max rates are set for some of our funds. Um our operations and maintenance fund example is one of the uh max rates that we have uh that is set at 75, our working cash at 05, our fire prevention and safety at 0.10 10 and our special education at 0.8. So there are some limitations within some of our funds that we can levy from year to year. Our total extension uh is basically an
012equation. It's the EAV times the tax rate divided by 100 gives us our uh tax extension. The tax extension divided by the AV time or divided by 100 is our um sorry the tax extension divided by the AV times 100 is our tax rate. So that's how you calculate uh the two of those. Uh our revenue recapture is somewhat new in the past couple years. Essentially allows for any errors or omissions um and taxation at the board of review as a new special levy so the district doesn't lose any dollars and that will come back. So when you look at our um final um tax levy rate, you'll see where we have had for the past couple years a revenue recapture. And then lastly is our truth and taxation. Um, anything 5% or greater requires
013a truth in taxation hearing. It's essentially a public notice that we would put out. Uh, this year we will not get close to that, but we'll still hold that for transparency. It allows the public, for example, those here tonight, they can come and give testimony whether they support or disagree with the levy or have uh concerns about it. And then the board closes the hearing and essentially votes on the truth and taxation uh process. And then we'll move forward with the levy. So here's a little bit about EAV. Um essentially is uh is the property valuation after the county and state put an EAV uh or equization calculation performed. Uh the ideal amount is 1%. Um so the state tries to have equal assess value across the state. They do have um some multipliers. It's
014important because essentially it's the growth that we capture to ensure that we have the financial help the district and can be able to fund the things that we need. Uh the total EAV is multiplied by the approved tax rate per $100 of EAV to arrive at our extension. Uh this is the calculation I gave earlier. So this is the uh rate setting history. Uh on the far left column I have the levy years provided. Then I have the rate setting EAV. So you can see the EAV growth over time uh from 2014. And then there's the change over the prior year. Um this particular year um we've seen a large amount of EAV growth in the district and uh we compared that to other districts who have equally seen growth um from the prior year.
015It's quite significant. I just thought I'd point that out. That just shows the value of properties within the district are increasing. And this is a little bit about new property. Um so this is uh collected by the assessors. um it's turned into the county and we see two primary areas of this new construction. We see it in our industrial area at 6.6 million in the residential at 4.7 million giving us a total of approximately 11.3 million in growth. Uh remember this is an estimate did end up higher last year. Last year we ended up at about 16.7 million in new growth in construction. And uh when we do the levy, we don't want to underlevy in case that estimation goes up higher. And so we typically levy a little higher to capture all the dollars
016that are available through the levy process. Just a little bit about the uh property tax extension limitation law when it became effective. Uh that's intention is to slow the growth of property taxes for those areas that pass it. Um it's also called the tax cap um in our profession. And basically it's just an inflationary cost or inflationary process to slow inflationary in increase down. Sorry. Um so what is the limitation again as I mentioned is the less of 5% or CPI and this is a little bit about the uh the CPI over time. So again it's the levy year and then it's the tax cap. I had pointed out in the finance committee that this was the high area. Um, in all my years in uh as a business official, I'm getting close to 20.
017Um, these are the only two years that exceeded 5% uh since I've been involved in business management and those were our two high CPI years that we had. We did not levy the full amount for both those years, mindful of our taxpayers, uh, but we did ask for what we needed. And then this is the 3.4% right here. So, we typically get a letter every year from the county that confirms that that is the CPI that we will all be using through the levy process. All right. Again, these are the tax cap counties. Um, you can see there's 39 of them and there's 102 tax cap districts. I use this slide every year because it hasn't changed and that's what it is. Okay. So, a little bit about uh what's subject to PEL. Um, so
018these are all the CAP funds. So the non-cap funds are essentially our bond and interest, our working cash and our revenue recapture. Everything else has a cap to it. Uh and that's part of our process. So this is how we calculate the limiting rate. Essentially it is uh the prior year extension times 1 plus lesser 5% or CPI and that is divided by our total EAB minus the new property. I do have a slide that shows the actual calculation of limiting rate that we'll get to. um later on in the presentation. Um a couple notes that the limiting rate is based upon their prior year extension. Uh new property is outside of the tax cap as I mentioned and our debt service payments are also outside of the tax cap. Uh the debt service is
019based upon um our bond and interest payments and those are established by the county clerk. Just a little bit about the living rate history. Um, so again I have the year of the tax levy, the total rate, uh, and then what is capped and non-capped. So this is last year and this is what we'll be looking at this year. And as you can see, it's gone down in most recent years from that high point of uh, high inflation. So just a little bit about our assumptions. Um, again CPI 3.4%. Uh, the tax cap that we can have is 5%. Uh we estimate the EAV to be at 1.9 billion. Uh the EAV increase over the prior year is about a 12.7% increase. Um if we ask for all that plus new construction is about 13.1.
020Uh that new construction again is 11.3. Our total cap is 4.41%. Uh not the five we could ask for, but the 4.41%. Uh we did see an decrease in our bond interest of 1.54%. We're paying down the debt. Therefore, we need less money to pay abundant interest payments. And we estimate our total tax receipts for the 2024 tax levy year at 104,472 and 193. So, that's what we're looking at. And this represents the increase um or the prior year. So, I'll be getting about $3.1 million more in tax dollars. And this is what the uh calculation looks like. Uh this is the CPI. This was last year's EAV. This is what the new year calculate calculation looks like plus the new property which is right around the 13% I mentioned. Uh here's our living living
021rate calculation which is uh this calculation up here which gives us this information. Uh so this is last year. This is what we're capped. This is where I believe we need to come in with our levying dollars. And this is essentially um the difference between 86 million last year and 90 million this year. 4.1%. This is the bond interest payments. You can see it's gone down this year. Uh we'll need approximately 14.6 million. And this is our total of $104,872,93 roughly 3.53%. So still above uh the CPI, we did that just in case there's some new construction or there's some of the estimates don't uh go up or down. These remember these are all estimates, right? So they're collected from the assessor provided to us from the county clerk's office. Uh we don't know the
022final numbers till we get to about March and then we're given a list that we can proof and make sure they're correct. So this is the all the calculations on one spreadsheet. So this would be our certificate of insurance. I'm sorry. Certificate of tax levy. Wrong title. Um did that all today upstairs. Um so about 90 million is what we'd put on file uh for those capped areas with the county. They figure out the uh recapture and they figure out the bond and interest um outside of the levy process. Uh this is a certificate that the board will be asked to approve at the December meeting. Okay. So a little bit about the truth and taxation hearing. We do publish a notice in the paper so the public knows that we're holding the hearing. Uh
023members are allowed to provide testimony. That includes the board and the public and everyone gets a chance to be heard and give their input. Um and then it does require a reserve balance of all funds to be stated at and during the living hearing. Um that is essentially public act 102895 which is the disclosure of cash reserve balance. Um, since this became a law, I've used this particular date of 9:30 2024. It typically re represents the ending fund balance plus almost most of the taxes for any given part of a tax year was about $102 million. That is our fund balance. Keep in mind that once we receive our taxes and we spend those dollars down over our fiscal year, um, so that's the highest point that we would have for our cash on hand.
024So, what are our next steps? Um we we have our hearing. We're looking at uh December 16th as our uh only meeting in December. Um so we need everybody here. Uh we'll hold the public hearing and then the board will be asked to approve three key documents of the levy process is our truth and taxation compliance resolution. It is our certificate of levy uh and then is our then it's our levy uh resolution. So um sometimes those are called things like recapitulation. So those are the processes that we would look at. um as my last slide, but um I always add information between presentations from the finance to this. So my taxpayer impact um says that if someone had a estimated 2024 fair cash value of their home of approximately 393,000, your total assessed EAV,
025remember it's a third would be 131,000. Um, and that uh you most individuals have a homestead exemption of $8,000. It used to be six. It's gone up. So you essentially would have a net EAV of $123,000. At this point in our levy process, we'd estimate the change in in taxpayer of about $215 on the average tax bill. Okay. Questions from the board? >> Yes, Dr. >> Yeah. So, I I had a question. Um, so it's just maybe kind of thing, but I just wonder for for homes that are um on the market for people who are moving outside the district, is there some sort of calculation or rate that they use to determine a loss of t of um taxpayers because they moved away and the house is on the market for who knows how
026long? How does it work? >> Sure. So, if someone sells a home, um they will typically as part of their closing process that they'll set aside taxes. Usually, it's an amount that they agreed to in their um sales agreement. Uh and then the new owner will be responsible for those taxes or those taxes haven't been made. So, we still receive those. It's just their kind of transfer from the current owner to the new owner and that's done usually in their closing process. So is there a rate that I mean what I'm trying to get at is is there a known rate or I won't say attrition of people um in our district that are on a yearly basis like we lose so many taxpayers or you gain or is that >> Yeah. So we we
027still don't lose that on the taxes through that process. Um so um if someone doesn't pay then of course it goes to its tax sale and we get those back. >> Gotcha. >> Um if someone moves then we get it through the process I mentioned where they basically set that aside for the new owner. um that um that new process you see that recapitulation is if there's like errors or emissions at the border review. Uh, so for example, if they reduce somebody's assessment, the district isn't out those dollars. Everybody else just pays a little more honestly is how that works. >> Yeah. >> And we still get the full levy that we've asked for to fund the district. >> It's kind of just to make sure I'm so stable. It's not something that we can
028say that fluctuates, >> right? I mean, every year we get about 99.5% of the taxes that we've asked for. The rest of those either are late payments or they go to a tax sale. We typically get those back at some point. either someone buys those and we receive those at a later date or they make a late payment so we still receive those. >> Gotcha. Thanks. Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> Todd, thank you very much. Thank you particularly for mentioning that we're not asking for all the money that we might. Thank you for also mentioning that we're paying down the debt which saves taxpayers money. And thank you for telling everybody that December 16th, the only December board meeting, is when we're required to approve it. So if anyone has any questions or anything,
029that would be the time. Thank you. >> The next item is public comments. Speaking of time to ask questions, does anybody have any public comments? >> No one has signed up for any. Thank you for your faith in this school board. Legislative updates. Jackie. >> Yes. Still not much uh happening at the general assembly until they have their two veto sessions in November. I did some research. The purpose of that is kind of what it sounds like. If the governor had vetoed anything uh prior to those dates, then there could be a discussion and potential override of those bills, uh any bills that were not moved to the governor's office could still be discussed in committees and move forward. I had asked today in another meeting I was at about do new bills get proposed
030during veto session and the answer is not really. It's possible, but they have different thresholds for moving those types of bills forward because of the shortened timeline. So really nothing new should be proposed at those two November sessions. After the election, there will be another lame duck session in early January. That is when anyone who is still in office, they have about two weeks where they try and wrap up everything from the past session and then they open their new session toward the end of January. So that's my update tonight. >> Thank you very much. Superintendent report. >> Yeah, thanks. I have just a few quick things. I know um processing the levies a lot and I know the legislative resolutions for IASB you guys want to have an opportunity to chat about that. So
031just wanted to share a few things. Uh first um don't like bringing it up but it is that time of year that we need to start planning for just make sure we're on on on track for any inclement weather. So we've been doing a lot of planning both on the instructional side and on the you know infrastructure facilities um side with everything. Uh we've used this graphic in the past and think it's been helpful for um families and actually for us in the district too just in terms of kind of understanding the cascade of our decision-making process. Uh obviously our number one priority is having in-person learning and um if we think we can have it uh we're going to try to have it. Um and you know there'll be a whole slew of us
032out you know driving around in the morning uh on some of those days where um it might be questionable but that that will be our priority. Um and we obviously have a lot of communication uh internally and also with our neighbors right we we keep in touch um you know to make sure we're we're all kind of seeing the same things. Um, you know, we do have a process in place for a late start, uh, where we could implement that if we saw that, um, you know, there was some bad weather, but it was expected to improve. So, if you have one of those days where it's tapering off, we talk to our our facilities team and they say, "Look, this snow is kind of tapering off. We can have this all plowed by, you
033know, 7:30. This can be out of here." Um, then we can implement a late start. Um if you know bad weather, there's bad weather all day and we have some time to plan ahead, we're going to do an e-learning day. We had some success with our e-learning days a couple times last year and we've also um worked to improve on that and reflect on some of the practices that we had at each level and try to make some improvements should we need to use that this year. Um, we also got a lot of positive feedback last year when we were able to make some of those calls. Um, with the weather, bad weather being imminent the day before, not only to give our staff some time to plan, but families some time to plan. So,
034we'll be, you know, working together uh with again both internally and externally to see if we need to do that. Um, and it is still possible that you could have some sort of unexpected issue and or severe weather and something happens in the morning that we did not anticipate at all and we wouldn't have time to plan and you would just need to use an emergency day where you tack something on to the end of the year. We do believe we've made some adjustments to our e-learning planning um at each level that could buy us a little more time in the morning if we needed it. So maybe we could still implement an e-learning day um in the morning uh depending on how early we might need to make that call. So uh we'll do
035that uh if we need to, but hopefully it's going to be a beautiful winter and we won't need to do we won't need to do that at all. >> One question on that. Yes, ma'am. Have we ever considered um early release if if there I know there was like one day last year where >> it ended up getting snowy right around >> the time the high schoolers were driving home or something like that or is that >> more complex to add it? >> Uh in some of the conversations we've had recently about that and and I would say even in reflecting after that day >> um >> it's very complicated with our transportation system to do an early release. So, um, you know, some of those types of issues probably come back to maybe the
036decision I need to make beforehand and maybe make it early. An early release is very difficult because you're trying to notify families. You're trying to get our drivers who aren't in in. >> Um, and so, you know, even in talking with my uh team of local superintendents, we talked about this last week and pretty much the consensus was when we're in, once we're in, we're in. >> We're in. Okay. >> Once we're in, we're in. and we're having school because it's pretty chaotic to try to do that early. >> Yeah, >> good question. >> Uh, okay. Um, one more thing. Um, you know, community engagement is one of our strategic planning goals. Um, and Sandy Riley does a great job of helping us with some things. And I just thought you might be interested to
037um, you know, hear a few things about some of our community engagement activities we've been uh, taken on so far. And, um, some resources we've had for parents. As I think, uh, we've shared with you earlier this year, um, our district signed on to be part of something called the GPS parent series, which is a lot of, um, video resources and, um, both in person and online. um presentations about uh you know hot topics and topics that are important for families and kids. Um Sy's been doing a great job of advertising those regularly in our weekly district messages, the district digest. Um since those have started, we have seen an um an increase uh just in the number of clicks in the district digest. So nearly double as many people have started clicking in the
038district digest. And then we've seen hundreds and hundreds of clicks on the actual GPS resources that have been shared there. So, we think that's great. That means families are seeing something. Uh, you know, that's hundreds of families that saw something in there that was at least interesting enough to click on it and maybe learn something um that that's helpful for them. So, we wanted to share that. Thought that was pretty cool. Uh the the community newsletter, uh Sandy does a great job getting those out and the second one of the year just came out. Um again should be in mailboxes today even maybe. Um and also listed in there um we have uh a community connects event uh two of them actually scheduled for this coming January where I'm going to take some time to
039meet folks at the library who are interested to come talk about the progress we're making in the district and things we got going on. So um we advertised that today and wanted to uh just share that publicly here with the board as well. Uh and last just you know uh highlighting some of the things that are are very busy about the fall. Um it's a time of transition for athletics. You know we're seeing some of our fall athletics and we're we saw our great golf team today. Some postseason activities are happening. Um also the fall performance season for a lot of our music programs are underway. A lot of great concerts um that have been happening in the last week or two. Um, and we're it's cool to to go to the elementary one and
040then or go to the middle school one and then the high school one and see the progress that the kids make. It's pretty great. Last Friday was principal day in Illinois and just um kudos to our building principles who are awesome and you know honestly our whole administrative team in the district who really does a lot um to to support the great things that happen. Um our elementary teachers are super happy about Halloween Thursday. It's going to be so fun. Um and then remember Friday we have a half day institute day for a variety activities a variety of activities to happen. Um and I mentioned this last week but just again because it's so kind of unusual next Tuesday is an election day and that's a school holiday in the state of Illinois uh this
041year. So no school next Tuesday. Um so just reminding everybody of that. That's all I've got. >> All right. Thank you. We have board dialogue topics pending action consideration IASB legislative resolutions come to mind. >> Yes. >> Anything to say for yourself here? >> Yes. So, we'll go through our resolutions. At our last meeting, I'd asked everyone to take a few minutes to look through them. I will bring them up on the screen again so that we can talk through them. Uh, as I was reading through the packet information, okay, like last time, I can't talk and do this at the same time. So, let me get ourselves connected. Okay, there we go. Uh, something they're doing differently this year is they will take a group of the resolutions together as a consent agenda item.
042So all of those that they're recommending do adopt will be one vote. All those do not adopt will be a second vote. So I thought we could go through and just and talk about them sort of in that same manner where we have a consent agenda. However, the first one we'll talk about there was a constitutional amendment proposed for the delegate assembly to vote on. So I wanted to touch on this one. It has to do with our practice following Robert's rules. Uh, I'll just read the rationale here. Make that a little bit bigger. So, it's talking about that current language referencing Robert's rules, but it doesn't specify what happens if the association should proceed if there's a conflict between Robert's rules of order and the constitution or special rules that we have. So it
043changes those lang that language and I'll pull it up here that just says that the rules contained in the addition of Robert's rules of order newly revised is what will govern the association in all cases to which they are applicable and which they are not incompatible with the constitution and any special rules the association may adopt provided those rules are in compliance with federal state and local laws. So just a slight adjustment to the constitutional amendment they recommend of course uh adopting this one. Uh does anyone have any thoughts on that? Should we follow the recommendation? Okay. So, we'll put that one as a yes. Let me go vote. So, moving on to the resolutions. These were numbers one through six. Do adopt. And I'll just touch on each of the topics that were in
044here. Try and go through somewhat quickly. talking about uh legislation affirming the attainment of the Illinois state seal of biiteracy satisfying the Illinois world language requirement for graduation. The resolutions committee determined that providing those that flexibility and allowing alternative qualifications like the seal of biiteracy uh is a benefit to students. So they recommend do adopt to this one. financing public education. Uh the EBF authorized charter school funding. Uh the what the rationale was from that district was that the formula addresses the school district's funding allocation in areas of student need. Uh it has done a lot to help their drastic funding achievement gaps. And rather than the current formula for funding, which is based on the school district's average per pupil expenditure amount, the EBF approach that's based on the needs of the students enrolled
045in the charter school will be more equitable to both the home district and the charter school and more accurately reflect the funding levels commensurate with the amount of additional resources needed on and on. So the re resolutions committee did uh agree that the current method uh is inequitable and then EBF was enacted to ensure that public schools receive state funding based on the unique needs of their student population. The state charter school funding should reflect that same principle. So they recommended do adopt. Number three is the tiff accountability. Uh this one uh that IASB will advocate for the general assembly and governor to enact enact legislation that reforms the tiff process in a manner that is sensible and responsible, keeps communities whole and prioritizes greater accountability to taxpayers. Those specific measures were outlined here in
046there and then the district said in their rationale that it's been almost 40 years since that our current position was adopted and 30 years since it was last amended. Uh they talk about the abuse of the tiff system becoming rampant. See they believe that the is ISB should take a stronger position on the delletterious effects of the tiff under the current law and actively advocate for reform or elimination of the current system. the resolutions that committee uh determined that they districts do face numerous challenges that relates to tiffs including the overuse of them the length of them and the fiscal impact on the taxpayers within their community so they believe that reform is needed so they recommend adopt faith's law that centralized state agency for EHRs employment history review um let's see the district rationale
047on this one. With the implementation of faith's law, Illinois should ensure that there's a streamlined and inclusive and universal system for reporting and accountability to ensure that no offender is overlooked by any school district. Uh right now, school districts must complete multiple EHRs for applicants. The resolutions committee determined that requiring each school district to fulfill the requirements of the EHR is burdensome on individual school districts and creating a centralized entity responsible would streamline and process the process and allow for more accurate and consistent completion of them. So they recommend adopt the healthc care coverage. Uh, this district recommended that the IASB support changes that require the Illinois Department of Central Management Services to create a unified health plan for school districts to opt into to provide equitable insurance coverage to all staff across the state
048of Illinois. Uh, that's a long rationale which I'm going to skip over. Um but the resolutions committee uh did say that the high cost of providing high-quality health insurance to districts employees and the limited availability of insurance plans for school districts in multiple counties throughout the state is a serious problem. Providing the districts with the option to join a central management services would allow more health insurance cho choices do adopt. Um let's see last one the polling place. Uh they were proposing that they should support a legislation the IASB shouldo support legislation that allows election code to allow a school district to refuse to be used as a polling place during elections for student safety. If the building is used as a polling place, the safety of the children and staff should not be compromised
049and voters must be physically separated from the students when school is in session. school districts should not be mandated to close on election day if none of the buildings used by students within the district serve as polling places and they go through the rationale for that uh and then the committee analysis determined that if the school is not being used as a polling place the safety of the students is not at risk and therefore it should be left left up to the local control as to whether the school district observes election day as a designated state holiday and do adopt. So, those are the six different resolutions that they recommend you adopt. Does anyone have any thoughts on these changes uh TIFF was actually brought up tonight? So, u we've had that uh as a
050discussion item in the past for our district. Uh we have a holiday next week for election day. Do we want to lobby for more local control? Perhaps we really don't want to take that election day off if we had the choice. if our schools were not being used for a polling place. Any thoughts? I'll start down on this side. Any of those? No. On the polling place issue, it seems problematic if some schools are used as >> seems problematic. Some schools are used as polling places that uh th those children would not go to school and other schools that are not polling places, those children would. It seems like that would create a difficult management situation. Just as an observation. >> Yeah. Like it would have to be an all or nothing. >> Yeah. >>
051Situation. >> Yeah. And I would think that we overlap so many different programs with other districts. >> So it would impact >> our students in one way or another or some students that we service in our schools from different districts. In addition, I think that sometimes that some of the intent of schools being closed is to allow staff to be able to have a chance to vote as well. So, I don't want to take that away either. >> So, it would be up to should this get all the way to the point where there was some sort of legislation by the general assembly, it would give us local control to make those decisions still. So, we could choose to continue taking the day off or not. >> All right. Is everyone comfortable with all those
052being do adopt our vote? >> All right. Thank you. The next set of them are the ones that they recommend do not adopt. Okay. There are four of these. Try and go through these a little more quickly. There's one regarding the cell phone usage. Look quickly through. It's requiring school districts to create a policy that states that students may not use wireless communication devices during instructional time except in certain cases. Uh the teacher or school administrator may designate a location for those devices and those devices must be silenced and put away as directed. Goes through a little bit more on that and the rationale uh for that. The resolutions committee analysis, they agreed that cell phone usage during school is a growing concern and that research shows that it can negatively impact instructional time. However,
053the committee did not support a statewide mandate and found that cell phone usage is best governed locally and said committee members determined that cell phone policies could pose safety, student discipline, and fiscal challenges for school districts and they've thought it's best left to each district. And then they referenced a IASB press policy already available to the district. So that's why they recommended do not adopt on that one. The board operations and duties. Um, this particular one was encouraging legislation that developed a state funded office of inspector general or expand state and county's office of inspector general's jurisdiction to investigate allegations of waste, fraud, financial management, durction of duty and employee misconduct in local public schools for all employees up to the superintendent school board members. I will skip over again the rationale and go to
054what the analysis was and they state the committee members agree that the oversight and accountability for public schools is of the utmost importance. The committee identified many laws and processes already in place that already apply. Thus, legal remedies already exist to hold school districts accountable and expanding or creating new state agencies is not necessary. >> Just I'm just reading along with you. that those districts that they referenced here, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, those are the ones that they use as examples. >> Yeah, >> looks like they did some research and states with the uh inspector general and school districts and I have those. Yeah. And I should have mentioned at the beginning that there is the possibility that whoever presented these resolutions and they were said do not adopt, they do have the ability to come
055to the delegate assembly and sort of plead their case again. And uh if they if a number of people in the room vote that way to approve it uh they can be approved that way um through a vote at the assembly. So if you feel strongly about one of these and we think that we should be adopting it and do not adopt that we can vote that way as well. All right board employee relations uh back to the EHRs uh talking again about the faith law currently applying to new hires only and then the purpose of the law is to protect children. It would be appropriate for school districts to be granted the ability to require current employees to comply with the self-disclosure and employment history review requirements. So, not just new, but also existing.
056The district uh the resolutions committee determined that conducting EHRs for current employees could cause confusion and pose legal and collective bargaining challenges for school districts. And with those challenges, they uh thought the decisions are best left to each district and their attorneys. And then the last one has to do with a criminal background check. Looking at schoolboard candidates have a criminal background check before they submit their petition. It's each candidates's responsibility to get a criminal background check from the regional office of education and it will be their responsibility to contact the ROE to make that appointment and require that paperwork. Uh the resolutions committee agreed that it's critical that schoolboard members maintain the highest ethical standards. However, the committee members determined that the background checks for school board candidates create a different election standard for
057school board members as compared to other elected officials and it would cause financial and procedural challenges for potential schoolboard members. So therefore, uh they re recommend do not adopt. So those are those four do not adopt. I can start on this side. Anyone any thoughts about those? We comfortable with do not. Should we reconsider any? Yeah, I mean I read it again and I thought, well, maybe uh I mean there there are some jobs that people do have to get a background check, but I suppose uh it's an integrity thing. What you do in private, what you do in public should be the same. >> Yeah. >> Oh, no. >> Yep. I'm comfortable with do with following the do not adopt recommendation. >> This side any thoughts? >> Yeah. >> Considerations. Okay, that sounds good.
058So, we will agree with do not adopt for those >> on there if if there's any deep discussion that does come up with that uh I think we're as a board we generally agree on what things so there was some very compelling reason to make a change then I could vote that way but I think we're pretty comfortable with what we see here. So >> um I would ask everyone to just informally uh agree that we will uh vote do adopt on those and vote do not ad uh do not adopt on those recommendations that were presented in the resolutions packets. >> Thank you very much. >> Next uh item eight work study topics future action consideration number one policy updates. There's five five items there. Stephanie, do you have anything to add as far
059as this is concerned? We don't have to take any action at this time. >> No, no action. This is going to be the the first read through on these items. So, these policies all tie together with some changes that were made at the federal level to title N. So, when Title 9 changed um and some of what that covers, which is one of the policies that you'll read through in here, it did impact all the rest of these. So, that's just good to know um as you're reading through that. That's how they're all related. And we did have a meeting on October 14th, the policy committee meeting. So, you can always review that if you wanted some further information around our discussion there. Um, and bring any questions to the next meeting. >> Okay. Any
060questions? Thank you. Item two, GHS proposed new and modified courses for 202526 and those are listed in the packet for consideration. The proposals have been approved by the SEDDC under the leadership of Assistant Superintendent Sims. No action is required. Uh this proposal will be brought back for possible approval at a future board meeting. If anyone has any questions though, this would be appropriate. I >> think Mr. Drexler's here to give us a little overview of the proposal. Yeah. All right. Uh good evening. Um so we're exactly as of today 25% through the school year. Um so still in the fairly early stages of the year, but at the stage where we start really getting things into high gear for next school year uh and starting the process quite soon about uh involving our families and
061students in selecting their courses for next year. So that's why I'm here tonight because this is the final step in the course approval process. um so we can get these into our publications and communicate with families and students. So the proposed changes for next year really are limited to our culinary uh arts program. Uh and there's two fairly straightforward changes that we are proposing to make uh that essentially make our capstone uh culinary arts program more accessible to students. So, I'm actually going to start with the end first, like kind of our capstone program and the changes we're looking to make to that and then work backwards from there. So, currently our capstone uh course is called restaurant entrepreneurship. It's a fullear program, a double period program. It's a great program. Students do very well
062in there. They learn a lot. Many of them are looking to continue in culinary arts uh after high school. The difficulty is we know we have more students interested in that than we are currently getting into that program. And one of the reasons is it's a double period class. Uh for students to give up that chunk of their day to something that maybe they haven't decided for sure that that's what they want to do. Uh when they have a whole lot of other interests and requirements that they are trying to meet, uh it's been a barrier to uh some students accessing uh this program. So we have found a way to condense that into a fullear one period class which makes it very similar to most of the other classes students are taking. Uh and
063that becomes feasible because we're kind of pushing down some of the content and skills that have been covered in the double period class into a new course called gourmet foods. So essentially it's it's the same content, it's the same school uh same skills being taught in a more modular format that's more flexible for students to access. Uh it doesn't have to be all done the same school year. So this gives the culinary uh students much more flexibility in how they get to that capstone program. but also gourmet foods. This new class that would be replacing international foods is also a great class for students who just think it sounds like an interesting class and they want to learn how to cook more effectively. So, our proposed changes in the sequence are really benefiting those two
064groups of students. a the students that have a high interest in possibly pursuing this field after high school, but also the students that are just seeking electives that give them more skills for life. Uh, one of the things I I should mention, our teachers have really looked at incorporating some licensing into both of these courses. So the restaurant entrepreneurship course uh they are incorporating specific skills that would allow students to get their food managers license as part of the course. Uh that license would be from the Illinois Department of Public Health and really would make them attractive candidates for a variety of food service positions uh in this area but also possibly in college if they're looking for a part-time job uh on campus. And then the gourmet foods uh course would incorporate uh the
065food handlers license which is a much lower level of certification but also would give students an edge uh as they seek a part-time job or a summer job or a college job because they would have those skills documented and they're very portable uh licenses as well. Uh so as as Dr. Barrett indicated uh this is a presentation this evening. Um happy to answer any questions that you might have about this proposal uh and then we would ask that you have this up for approval at the next board meeting so that we can get this into our course catalog. So I'd be happy to entertain any questions. >> Question. >> All right. um how many students do you have currently enrolled in this uh in the in the current program and how many you looking to
066capture or and hopefully >> you know that's a good question I mean restaurant entrepreneurship uh I would say we're probably running it at right about 10 students that are in that capstone um program uh the room the commercial kitchen can hold about double that >> so that would be ideal if we're able to capture um that number >> okay great thanks Anyone else? >> Thank you. Oh, okay. >> Uh, I just wanted to say both my daughters have taken these classes when they were in high school and received those certifications through that and they are valuable. They they when they got jobs in in town >> um at restaurants and it was helpful to have those. So, I just wanted to to second what you said about having those licenses that you can get through
067those programs. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Next item nine on our agenda, board meeting presentation schedule, foyer requests and board correspondence, suspension report, out of state trip requests, updated July and August financials. These items are pre presented for information only and no discussion is required unless someone has a question. Next item 10, my favorite, the consent agenda. Only three items there. >> Say it's a short one. >> Yeah, we're very, very pleased. Um, the personnel report, resignations, retirements, leave requests, changes in assignment, full-time equivalent, and new hires. Item two, monthly financial report. And item three, gifts, grants, and bequest, $2,000 from Geneva Masonic Lodge 139 to support the supplies and needs of for students in in need throughout the district. And that's a very generous
068gift and we thank you for that. Do I have a motion to approve? >> So moved. Second >> I >> Stephanie >> I >> thank you. Item 11, board member comments and reports. Uh we'll start with the full end. Stephanie, would you like to go first? >> Sure. So Dr. Barrett spoke a little bit about um the fall concerts that have been going on. So, I've been able to attend a couple at the middle school level and a couple at the well, one at the high school level, one more up this week. So, everyone doing a great job. Just fun to see how much work the students have done so far in the semester and um the progress made and I know that continues to grow throughout the year. So, great job to all the
069students involved in music and then our directors who do an excellent job with those kids. And then um just congratulations to our cross country teams, both boys and girls. Um they are on to sectionals this weekend. So good luck to them and hopefully they have some nice weather to run on on Saturday. So just a lot going on. I know with fall sports as well, just that time of year where everything's wrapping up, some seasons still going on excitingly and then um transitioning to new seasons. >> That's it. That's all I have. >> Thank you. Yeah. So I Hope I haven't been a jinx to the football team. I came into the >> Well, don't take that on yourself. >> I don't I don't know. It was looking good when I walked into the um
070I came a little bit late. It was 14 to nothing. I went, "Oh boy, we on the roll." So, um and I was I don't know. It It was u exciting. I stayed till the last 53 seconds, so I didn't walk out, you know, after the fumble or the interception, but but it was interesting. I was talking with a stranger and maybe I'm not a expert in football but no sooner than I had said it's getting cold numb fingers hard uh leather and and I don't know I hope I didn't reality but that that's what happened but anyway it was good to see the team really play to the end and uh I will say also on Wednesday uh now I as you know I I have a practice in Neapville so I've been wanting
071to go to these division meetings. But it turns out that I'll be attending um the uh the page uh division what I hope to bring back to the the board members uh their emphasis this uh meeting is on AI as a lot of uh divisions are. >> So but it's always good to get a different perspective. So not necessarily a party crasher but they probably say there he is again. But anyway, I'm looking forward to sharing what I can get from that meeting on Wednesday. Thank you. >> Sure. Uh, last week I was able to attend our Kishwalki division meeting. It was at Hampshire High School. I was able to take a tour uh ahead of time and uh the students put those tours on for everybody. I learned that they have about 2,000 students
072there. They showed us some of the rooms uh that provide programs that I believe are provided for us through our Fox Valley Career Center. So we saw a welding room, some other uh other specialized uh programs that they have there that they said that other schools come there for those programs. So it was interesting uh the culinary arts uh students cooked dessert for us, made dessert. It was really nice to have them participate in it. Uh uh this particular meeting they had four state representatives who were on a panel and they talked about different topics. There were two state senators and two representatives. Uh they covered mental health issues, pension reform, a little bit on school funding. Uh and then also somebody asked them about contacting um as a school board member, how do we
073go about contacting them? Do they prefer email or phone calls? I had showed you how to look up your legislators before, but they said really either way calls or emails are appropriate for them. We did get an email from one of her representatives this week who could not attend that meeting and she did say that you could contact her directly. So I think overall it was a good meeting. I did have an opportunity to speak to one of the senators before the meeting of their panel and talk to them a little bit about some issues that we would have here. So it was overall a good meeting. Uh we also had a technology task force meeting where we got some updates on some of the uh projects that we'll be implementing in the near future.
074some updates and different software programs, our capital plan, and talking a little bit about cyber security. That's it. >> Thank you, Holly. >> Um, yeah, I would echo everything that's been said already. Um, to all the schools doing the Halloween parades, I wish for safe and fun uh, activities. Thank you to Todd for the tax information as always. and Jackie, I wanted to say thanks for you for all of your helpful information and your work with ISB and and doing your due diligence and really informing us on what's going on. So, I really appreciate that. So, thank you. >> Yeah. Uh first of all, thanks for letting me step away and go see my daughter at the orchestra concert. Middle school did a great job. So, that was fun. Um I think uh I'm uh
075I was able to participate in the finance committee um before this meeting and so was able to um get through a lot of Todd's information. So hopefully uh there was good discussion that came out of that um presentation during the at the board level. Um other than that, yeah, uh also attended several the events uh this this past week and yeah, looking forward to the close of the fall sporting athletic um season and some some more uh good news coming out of those sports >> and I'll just copy what everybody else said. I agree with all the comments. It is a little disappointing Friday, but uh we will carry on. So, thank you board. Were you part of the Bears jinx as well then? >> Yesterday. >> Told you. Watch out. >> That's funny. You
076should stay at I I thought about it. >> Well, that we have um arrived at the end of our agenda. Does anybody have any thoughts about a motion they'd like to make? >> Question. Uh sure. >> Uh superintendent. Uh so the trivia is that this weekend? >> Yes. So >> GA trivia this Saturday trivia this Saturday still looking for teammates. >> Oh no. >> All right. He's in. We got Yay. All right. >> Okay. Good. I'll be in touch. Jackie's in too. All right. We got a team. Sean that's in. >> Okay. Okay. I just >> You're gonna You're going to carry the team? Maybe. >> We'll see. >> Geek stuff. >> I just love it when people step forward. Thank you. Uh, with that in mind, if if anybody doesn't have any other questions,
077>> motion to return. >> There we go. >> Second. >> All in favor say I. >> Oppose. Same sign. >> And no special sessions. >> I know that feels >> we journed. Thank you all.