001This is the regular meeting of the Geneva 304 school board. The date is Monday, August 26, 2024. The time is 7 p.m. Bonnie, will you call the role? >> Here. >> Molly, >> Here. Larry >> Here >> the next item is the pledge of allegiance. Since my wife Pam and her sister Debbie are with us, they will lead us in the pledge. The flag is right there. >> 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. >> Thank you and welcome to all of you. We're pleased to have you with us. Uh it's nice to have some attention to the schools and I know you care about your schools. With that, the next item
002is the approval of minutes. Bonnie, have you received any corrections? >> Does anyone have any corrections at this time? And this would be for the regular session August 12 and the executive session August 12 of 2024. Only a few of you can make a motion and second it for this one because some board members were absent, but if you would go ahead and I'd like a motion to approve these minutes. >> So moved. Second. >> I >> abstain. I >> hook >> I >> Paulinsky >> abstain. However, the is passed. Uh we don't have any recognitions, awards or presentations that I'm aware of unless there's something hearing none. The next item is public comments and uh >> this is uh We treasure budget. >> We actually used to we actually used to do this later
003in the meeting and forcing you all to stay, but we thought it would be better to move it earlier so that we could hear what you had to say in case any actions later in the meeting impinged on what you would like to say. And um Miss Amore, >> would you care to speak? The podium podium is over there >> and It wasn't me. >> I don't think it was me, but maybe it was. >> And uh let's hear what you have to say. >> Oh, great. Thank you. Um I was here the couple two weeks ago, so I'll just reintroduce myself for the new folks who I haven't seen yet. My name is Stephanie Amore. I live right down the block. Um and my children, I have two of them. One's in fifth grade
004and then another one is in second grade and we both go to Williamsburg. Um and so last or actually it was two weeks ago from right now is I um asked the board of education to come up with a cell phone and a smart device. I'll just encompass everything smart technology related um into a formal policy and I use supporting reasons for it. So I'm guess I'm here to again to ask the board to continue to have this conversation to come up with a policy. Um, so not all the schools have to operate our best practices separately and we can kind of work as a district um to foster learning and education. I'm going to look down at this. So um the the feedback and open comments last time suggested that this starts at home.
005I couldn't agree more with you. My children are in school six to seven hours plus kids zone a day. And so what I'm asking specifically is not the stuff at home. We have a community of women and moms in the community who are already working on that. I'm specifically asking for the school district's policy to come up with these smart devices, make decisions on it, so then we can all operate the same throughout the um school system. And so in addition, I would call them best practices. I guess it's a term we use in business a lot is what um Andy's presentation showed last week or two weeks ago. And so on day one of Western Avenue school system, the principal sent home an email the same day that kids were in school reminding parents
006about cell phones and smart watches, whatever you want that they're not allowed in the classroom. And so I would just encourage the board of education to take another look at it, do your research, study it, and um come up with a formal policy because I do think policies with consequences help change behaviors. And so I did want to share with the board of education that the mere presence of smart devices within students reach in schools. So um one of the board members last time stated that yeah we ask them to keep them in their lockers or in their backpacks but they really don't follow it. So the mere presence of a kid having a device on them impacts their academic performance. A study by the London School of Economics looked at the test performances of
007130,000 schools in 91 UK countries in 2015 that ban cell phones, concluding that national exams uh scores improved by 6% following the ban and then 14% among the among the underachieving students. I asked the board why would we not want to create a formal policy to help impact our students? Um, I also agree that I I'm not a board member. I can't even imagine the responsibility that it comes with. I know it's not easy and I know so that I also know that you in order to carry the burden, you must deeply care for the well-being for our children and our students and the community. We elected you so we can implement and enforce policies that foster Geneva's vision. They foster a community of responsible learners who value their personal growth on their journey towards
008ongoing su success. And I challenge you with the question, are you fully able to fulfill the responsibilities of your elected position while competing with smartphones and smartwatches in the classroom? I challenge you to create a policy with consequences. If you don't support or you deny the request, I do ask that you put out a formal statement from Geneva District 304 and give us supporting evidence as to why. I would really like to understand that piece of it so that I can better understand it in the future. I think that's all I have. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Sorry, I'm like out of breath from walking over. >> Well, you did fine. >> Yes, you did great. >> Colleen Caresio >> Carrerero, my apologies. >> All right. I'm Colleen Carrero. I have two kids at
009Williamsburg Elementary. I'm born and raised in Geneva. Um, I'm older, so I didn't grow up with a cell phone until I could afford to buy one myself. And, um, I think all the Geneva values are what drew me to raise my kids and family here. Um, also I want to just say Stephanie, you're my hero. All of those points were so great. Um, I also was here two weeks ago at the last board meeting and I came away with the impression that all of you understood the negative impacts of cell phone usage in the schools. However, I have heard several challenges regarding the enforcement of this policy that seems to warrant our attention. It seems there are not definitive consequences for cell phone use during school hours, leading to situations where students already at Williamsburg
010Elementary are using their phones on the playground despite the rules. For instance, another friend has a first grader recently brought a smartwatch to school without their parents' knowledge. When the watch was activated during school hours is when the parents were alerted and promptly called the school to retrieve it as it contradicts their household rules. Unfortunately, the school did not confiscate the watch or notify the parent about its usage which understandably caused frustration. Additionally, I've heard um about middle schoolers and while sixth graders generally are adhering to the rules, it's seventh grade that it often begins to test the boundaries by carrying their cell phones around school and using their watches. Some parents have reported that students are gathering to watch YouTube videos, raising concerns about the consistency of the policy enforcement. It is troubling that
011aside from one parent who took the initiative to retrieve their child's watch, many students face no consequences for violating the rules. I believe it is vital for the board to recognize that while we cannot control how students use technology outside of the school, we must ensure that there are clear clear enforced rules regarding its use within school premises. A well-defined rule districtwide should be accompanied by clear consequences for everyone to follow. I strongly oppose the district's allowance of smart watches as they serve as a temptation for students and shift the burden of monitoring on to the teachers. Our primary focus should be on learning and we must create an environment conductive to that. Furthermore, I question the reasoning behind the policy allowing smart watches for telling time. As the principal from Western Avenue just emailed
012on Friday, there are clocks everywhere in every classroom in every hallway available. Allowance of smart watches creates yet another gray area that can lead to misuse by students and an additional distraction for teachers who already have a full agenda. Let's work together to alleviate this burden on our teachers and minimize distractions for our students. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you very much. >> Next, uh Melanie Manon. I am Melanie Mannon and I have two freshman and a junior at the high school and I'm here to talk about the air conditioning in the contest gym. >> Um, >> or lack thereof. >> Yes, thank you. The lack thereof. So, just to jump cut to the chase, I'm here tonight to ask the board to commit to researching some options to address the air quality
013in the gym and the oppressive heat in the contest gym. I am fully aware of the cost implications and the budget implications and I understand this is not an easy solution, but I'm also aware that the heat and it's an actual health concern at this point. Um, and this has been a problem since that high school was built and it's expensive and we're just kicking the can down the road, generation after generation. And I'm here tonight to just beg the school board to address it. Whether that looks like a phased in approach to provide some immediate relief if we can't commit to full-on installing AC, I don't have the solution. I'm just asking that maybe the board look into it and and find a solution and commit to addressing it. Um, and some points just
014to kind of hit home. The one of my biggest gripes is the health concern of it. I have three kids that have uh reactive airway disease and asthma and they get more triggered in the contest gym from the air quality inside the school than outside. That's a big problem. And anecdotally, my daughter plays volleyball. I just came from her game at NUA Valley, which is not air conditioned, but it was fine. They are doing something. It's a huge gym. There is a way to get some sort of relief. It wasn't, you know, I'm just there are solutions out there. I don't know what they are, but the girls on these volleyball teams, over 90% of them carry inhalers, not because they have asthma, all of them, but because they actually I asked my daughter, "How
015are you guys getting through these games when it's this hot? They're falling on the floors because there's so much sweat." She said, "We all have inhalers." And I asked the girls tonight, I did a quick straw poll. How many of you have an inhaler? Pretty much everyone raised their hand. I said, "How many of you have asthma?" My daughter was the only one that raised her hand. It's a It's a health concern at this point. So, I just um just would beg that you guys look into it. That contest gym sits like a brick oven. So, even if it's not a day like today, if if you don't spend a lot of time in there, that it just stays heated up. it gets heated up and it doesn't really get cooled down overnight just because
016I don't know if it's old construction or I don't really know why but it just doesn't ever get a chance to cool down. So, I just did some rough math and I am estimating that probably about at least 10% of the school days are impacted by this because it's so hot and it impacts every single student curricular and co-curricular because you've got sports in there and you've got PE students. Today for PE, my kids watched a 20 minute video and played on their phones. And this will not be the first or the last time that it happens. Tomorrow's volleyball games will probably all get cancelled because it's too hot. It I I think you get the point. It's it's an issue. It's a health concern and I just would love um to see you guys
017commit to looking into it again and seeing what we can do to address it in the short term and a more permanent solution long term. >> Thank you very much. Thank you, >> Jen Van Djk. >> Hello. Uh, thank you. Um, I'm also a mom, a new, uh, sort of transplant from Chicago and Jersey. So, I moved here to this great town for my children to go to school and enjoy all the wonderful, you know, sort of opportunities that they have here. Uh I currently have a third grader and a first grader at Williamsburg Elementary as well as one in the wings waiting. Uh so I just am here to also comment on the electronic devices and the cell phones in the school. I'm a little nervous though. >> You're doing great. >> So I'm
018here to express my support for the restriction of cell phones and electronic devices um use in our grade schools K through eight. Restricting cell phone usage during school hours can significantly enhance the learning environment by reducing distractions, improving the students focus, and encouraging more meaningful social interactions. Um, especially during these critical times, obviously with these little kids that already have enough social anxiety and like trying to get to know each other. I just think that really facilitates the process when there isn't those types of distractions. Studies have shown that when cell phones are restricted, students are more engaged in classroom activities leading to better academic performance and overall development. Uh, additionally, the unrestricted use of cell phones and devices in school can expose students to the harmful effects of social media, uh, including cyber bullying,
019which I've already heard of throughout some of the students they experience in school. Um, with the prevalence of social media platforms, students are increasingly vulnerable to online harassment, which can severely impact their mental health and well-being. by restricting these cell phone use um as well as the any of these watches. I was actually the mother of the first grader and I did call the school immediately when it was alerted on my phone that my son had his and I was willing to go pull my ear out of the classroom to get it from him because I was so upset that he actually had taken it from the place that we keep it for when he goes to have playdates and such. So that was me. Um but by restricting that cell phone use we have
020uh are able to create a safer place for them to learn but also to protect the students from the negative consequences of this media and ensuring their emotional um psychological safety and stability. Um by prioritizing the quality of education and the well-being of our students, we can then foster a more positive and productive school atmosphere. And um you know I just would really love for you to consider that. Um so thank you for your time. Appreciate it. Thank you very much, Jen Van Djk. That's Oh, that was Sorry. >> She did great. >> Do you want to just do it again? >> I turned the wrong piece of I turned the wrong piece of paper over. Sorry. Let's try Tracy Kelsey. >> Good evening. So, I'm Tracy Kelsey. I have three children in the district.
021I have two at Harrison Street School and then I have a a sixth grader at the middle school north. So, she's just starting out. So, um we're right we're dealing with this right now with this at home argument of cell phones and a lot of her friends have them. She does not. Um and so this is where I'm coming from. Um, so I'm just really here to re reiterate some of what was already said tonight and I was here two weeks ago, but I didn't speak then. Um, as more and more studies are done and data is being published outlining the many negatives of smartphones and social media, we don't have the luxury of taking our time to do something about it. Um, over the past 10 to 14 years, our youth and now young
022adults have become addicted to to technology, to cell phones. um and a lot of not young adults, but I'm not here to worry about them. Um and to the detriment of their attention spans, their focus, and their social skills. Uh schools all over the country are taking a strong stance on cell phones in schools, and Geneva should be out front in front leading this effort. Um there are plenty of other Illinois schools. Uh this year uh Peoria school district uh purchased 20 I think 9200 yonder pouches. So those are pouches that you put your cell phones in be beginning of the day. They get locked up. They stay in your on your person but they block cell phone signals. You can't use them. You can't see them. They can be sliced open in case of
023an emergency for parents who are concerned about that. Um but they're locked in there. So they use them at u comedy clubs and other events like that. So, um, they've they invested $246,000 this year in that district to get those pouches for their students. Evston has banned cell phones. They're doing the a different you put it in a bucket in the beginning of the classroom. Um, Hinkley Big Rock has also implemented yonder pouches this school year. Decatur, they're adding um a lunch ban to their cell phone ban. Um, and St. Charles is now um forming a an advocac um advisory group to talk about cell phones and their policy. So I feel strongly that Geneva should be a part of the the front of this and not lagging behind. Um the district needs consistent policies
024and across the district, not just K through eight. From my standpoint, I'm now at the point where high school's not that far away and I don't want my child to be just as distracted then or have their um classmates just as distracted. And I know they're using them because I have made the mistake of of contacting my babysitter during school hours saying, "I know you won't get this till later." She's gotten it. She gets right back to me. Um, so consistent enforcement and consequences for cell phone usage clearly spelled out, communicated to students and parents with the wise behind it, I think is really important. Um, policy is the most important piece of restricting cell phones in the schools, whether you're using pouches or or some sort of bucket or in your backpack or whatever
025it is, if there's no policy behind it. Um, I know last week somebody mentioned there that there's burner cell phones that people their kids are putting into the the buckets or whatever, but um, if there's no policy be if there's no enforcement behind the policy, then um, it's it doesn't really matter what you choose to use. Um, I believe it was Stephanie who said mentioned um, the smartwatches and I also feel strongly about smartwatches as being a part of that. I know I wore a smartwatch for a while and it was so annoying. I mean, it would just I'd be doing something and I'd find myself going like this while I'm talking to people. Um, and I'm sure the same thing would be happening with children. So, I think that should be a part of
026the policy. Um, but overall, implementing a true cell phone ban will help our children avoid distraction, encourage um, in-person socialization, and help curb bullying. >> Thank you very much. I believe lastly, we have Beth Beth Stevenson. Is it? Thanks. >> Okay. So, I apologize if I double up on anything about the AC in the gym because that's where I'm going. Um Oh, goodness. Um, so >> maybe it tilted down just a smidge so it's There you go. better. Yeah. >> Okay. Okay. Thanks. Um, so I just want to for just say beforehand that if I get a little heated, it's coming from a place of love. Okay, I love these kids. I love all of them. I love I just love them. So, um, I have looked at the capital improvement plan, the seven-year plan,
027and I have seen that it says that um, air conditioning in the essentially we're just looking for the contest gym. That's a good start. um would be for the comfort of the athlete or the students and staff. And I'm here to argue that it would be more of a safety issue than a comfort issue. I will tell you that a lot of those teachers would love to go from dangerously hot to uncomfortable because it is it's unacceptable. Um I talked to the trainer today or one of the trainers and she has a tool where she can measure in the gym with like I don't know what she was talking about. Um I don't remember what kind of tool it is. think she has it from the IHSA and it it has like the boundaries on
028it. Um, and it was 110 in there today without any kids exercising. So, and it wasn't even that hot today. I mean, it was hot, but tomorrow is going to be way worse. So, we will most definitely probably be canceling the volleyball game tomorrow. Um, I have an 83year-old mother-in-law that I can't ask to come to things. This she loves for she lives for her grandkids and she can't go. We can't let her go. Um, you probably don't want to bring babies. Um, Sarah Meadows is the basketball coach there and over summer league, which is all of June, they play basketball in there. There was a boy, she was really sad because um, there was a boy with special needs who was watching his sister play and she and the mom had to take him
029out because it was too dangerous with the heat. And these kids are not just sitting in it, they're playing in it. They're running around. They're playing basketball. And I mean, it's really hard to watch this. And it's not just um the fact that like my daughter got so sweaty that you could ring out her t-shirt and then um she dove for a ball and then as she was getting up, slipped in her own sweat and twisted her ankle. So those are other injuries that you don't even think about with the the heat exhaustion. Um three to four girls were throwing up every day. It was hot from heat exhaustion. Um, I had talked to a girl that last summer she threw up 10 times. And I don't know if you've ever seen your kids throw
030up, but it hurts my heart. Like I I it's heat exhaustion and that's what it's from. So, this is happening. Um, I've talked to people that said um that um we don't use the gym enough to warrant the cost of doing this. But basketball, boys and girls are in there the whole month of June. Volleyball's in there for two or three weeks, maybe two in July, and then it can be dangerously hot in that gym for our regular ed students that are in that are in there from the beginning of school to like almost a month and a half in. So, if you have these kids that are coming in after summer and maybe they haven't been working out, you know, or maybe they're not in the best of shape, it's really dangerous for them.
031Um the other kind of this is I didn't really want to go here, but um the other thing that the trainer told me was that we had two kids over the summer that um qualified for this what they call um heat illness, which is the stage right before heat stroke. And heat stroke is where you could lapse into a coma and die. So we had two kids close. And I I just don't want a kid to have to die in order for us to be like cuz then you do have to do something, you know, then you're doing something. So, let's do something now before that happens and before a kid gets seriously injured or heat exhaustion and passes out and hits their head on something. I mean, I just I'm I'm really concerned and
032I do think it's a safety issue. Um the only other thing I wanted to mention was um the cost. So on the plan the cost is listed at 5,88,000 I believe. Um and I talked to a guy who um has done work at Battavia High School. He's worked for St. Charles East and he thinks at some point his company has worked with Geneva as well. He's with McNal. His name is Craig something or other. And I spoke to him. Um I actually was prompted to call him after I read something in the paper that said that St. Charles is putting in AC in all of their buildings. And it said they just spent $3.6 million putting AC in six gyms and cafeterias. I'm not sure exactly what the breakdown is. And I thought, wow. So
033that's approximately $600,000 per building. How is it over 5 million for our high school contest gym? So I talked to this Craig and he said he can't imagine it would be more than5 to $700,000 no matter what issues we have. So, I'm wondering I don't know who I need to talk to. I have maybe uh Jeff Dorer is the facilities person. Could we get this guy in there to just give us an estimate and maybe another company or two? Because if it is that much cheaper and we can do it for that, I think we should. So, I think that's all I have. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> I believe I've gotten all the public comments at this time. If I've left anybody out, please let me know. Thank you for
034your opinions. We appreciate them and we will consider them carefully. Andy, I don't know if you want to say anything or not, but this would be your opportunity if you do want to say anything. >> Well, I've definitely had um I guess on the phone issue, I've talked to some random people. I have some not random people, I haven't had an individual conversation with everyone here, I guess, is what I mean, but I do have some set up. Um I've had some conversations with some folks and um have some more conversations set up. So um I think I'll have those conversations maybe first with with some folks and try to figure out maybe the best way to >> um maybe move forward in terms of having some of those public conversations about this. >> Okay.
035Um, in terms of the uh the facility question and the um uh the contest, gym, uh you know, I was in there today. It is absolutely hot. I'm with you for sure. Um we uh uh we are about to embark on a full kind of facilities analysis in our district in a way we've not done um in many years. And so this will certainly be part of that. Um we looked into some numbers on this today. Um and you know this is very kind of back of the napkin calculations, but I think we're looking at more around kind of a $2 million cost umish based on kind of the going rate for projects similar to ours uh for a gym. And then obviously the ongoing costs >> um for you know what your energy bills
036would be which are pretty substantial um in a space like that. So um it is something that has been talked about many times. Um it is something we know is on the radar and we think as part of this facilities conversation um and kind of a full facilities analysis. In the past, we have had kind of a um like a seven-year capital plan, but and I don't know, you guys maybe will talk a little bit later in your reports about the work we've been doing with our um facilities task force. And I think we're going to have a much more formal structured plan uh with our facilities plans here uh that'll be coming out um we'll be evaluating over this the school year. Um, and we'll see if this where this fits in with that
037as we evaluate it. So, um, you know, the I would go back to the the phone question. Um, you know, clearly we're hearing from you. Um uh also we've been in school like three days so you know we're trying here and we've tried to implement some new practices um this year and try to uh reiterate those um and be a little more intentional about those this year than we've been in the past and we're going to keep reflecting. So, I'll have those conversations with anybody. Um, and it may well be a uh opportunity to to speak to a group of folks and you know, I'm happy to do that too because I think that there's um a lot of stuff embedded in this particular topic that's probably worth more conversation. >> Fair, fair, >> fair.
038>> Thank you. Uh, we do hear you. I I will say only personally that I sympathize with restrictions and um will uh look at the situation as far as consequences are concerned. I will ask you all though as parents, you're the first line. You're the ones who can limit your child's cell phone use more effectively than we ever can. So I'd sure appreciate your help if you're concerned about that. So thank you. Okay. Next item is legislative updates. >> I don't have anything tonight. >> Thank you. The superintendence report. Andy, it's your turn. >> Thank you. All right. Thanks. Now I got to talk some more. I'm sorry about that for everybody. >> All right. A few things and and uh one kind of um significant topic that I think uh valuable for the board
039to have some conversation about tonight. So um you know, first I just want to thank the board uh for their support and participation as we got the school year started. Um, and our theme of mission possible this year. I think we had a great kickoff for our staff. Um, and you know, I think something I would uh reiterate that part of what we heard from some of our visitors tonight. Um, the job of educators is harder than it has ever been. Um, and we're asking more of them than we ever have. Uh, I agree with you guys completely about that. Um, and so that was kind of part of our theme was that uh, yeah, sometimes uh, things seem pretty impossible around here, but when when we work together and focus on the positive, it
040it is possible. So, it was a great kickoff and I think this is going to be a good theme for our year. And again, it was focused on the mission because of this new mission and vision and values that uh, the community helped us um, establish uh, you know, through our strategic plan that we developed and are kicking off. So the mission, our values and that all leads to our vision of achieving excellence and you know really empowering kids to succeed. I do want to say and you may hear a little bit more about this but I want to give big congrats to the school board for receiving um the school board governance award from the uh Illinois Association of School Boards. Uh Larry might talk a little bit about this. Am I stealing your
041thunder? >> No, just a little bit. It's okay. >> You sure? >> Yeah. Pat me on the back. >> Okay. Great job, Larry. Sorry, that was a little >> part of a team. >> Yeah. Well, the um so you know this board is one of 40 school boards across the state. There are about 850 school boards in the state of Illinois and only 40 um you know received this recognition and it's about um you know how they it's about modeling effective practices um focusing on good governance and leadership skills uh engaging with the community in some meaningful ways and growing and developing professionally and participating in a lot of activities um participating in trainings participating in workshops and things like that um and I think it's important important for the community to know uh all
042the good work that our board does um to make sure good things are happening in our community. Uh so congratulations to you guys. Well done. Um just some again it's day three uh with kids, but just uh some general um kind of reflections on the first couple days of school. We started later this year than we have in the past several years and later than uh several of our neighbors. I think we've received generally positive feedback about that. So far, we're going to keep reflecting on that. Um, there have been some logistical challenges to that later start as we talked about last year when we implemented it in terms of, you know, the programming that we share with other school districts, um, and some of our classes that we have that like our dual credit
043classes that have to be aligned to schedules, um, with colleges. Um, but we're trying to work through those and we're going to keep reflecting and see what we think as the year goes on if this later start was a a good thing for us. Uh again, this year we kind uh re uh implemented a residency process for our verification process for our returning students. That was new in our district. Um although it was something we should have been doing a while. Uh we're really grateful for the partnership from our families with that. We know it was an extra step, but it's important for us to do uh as a district. We think it went pretty well. Um and you know, we'll keep refining refining that. Also, we had this year three institute days to start
044the year before kids started. Um, and you might recall we implemented that because we used to have a ped a professional development day that would have come up this coming week on a Friday prior to the long holiday weekend. And the feedback to our calendar committee was, can that be moved up to the start of the year? do that professional learning at the beginning of the year, add that time so teachers have a little more time to, you know, absorb everything and get started. We've received some positive feedback from staff about how that went so far. Um, I think also a lot of a lot for some folks too in terms of the time um or a lot of things to absorb, but I think we generally receive positive feedback and we're going to keep
045reflecting on that. Interested in community and parent feedback on that as well. So, uh, but all in all, we think a pretty good start. Um, last week I shared with you just some general big ideas regarding the demographic study. I'm still waiting, uh, Dr. Kofran, remember, he's the gentleman who helped us conduct this study. I'm still waiting um for my meeting with him to put some slides together to really bring a bunch of data to the board and the community here. Um but I thought it was important to talk about this briefly because of the next subject that we have to talk about. So this is from uh our study and um so this is basically our historical uh enrollment over the last several years. This is full district enrollment. Okay. Um and then so
046you see where all the lines are together, right? That's obviously the known data. and then it gets to 23 uh 24 24 25 and then you see the lines start to diverge. That's where um you know as part of the study we did some data analysis to try to get an idea of what our enrollment projections could look like as a district. In general you see four lines here, right? You see the high, the low, the mid, and then that purple line is called the snapshot. And we have data on this um for every one of our schools, all the each of the boundaries within our school, each of the levels, etc., etc. And this is what we'll start to work through and share with the community. um you know if you look at the
047high and low number those numbers are basically uh created from the um you know like if you've ever heard of like the Monte Carlo simulation where uh you know numbers are run a million times to just see what is the absolute high and what is the absolute low it could possibly be based on our numbers but then you get the median number right that mid number um and what we're really grateful for and why we hired Dr. our co-ounder to help us with this is that snapshot number because he then takes all that data, pulls in the birth rate data, pulls in some of his unique uh statistical analysis and he comes up with that snapshot number that he believes is the best and most accurate number um for a projection. It's good when that
048number is close to the middle. you know, it makes us feel like we're probably in a better place to be able to make some make some reasonable decisions. So, if you look at that, his projections tracking out over the next, you know, 10 years or so, um looks at the district being pretty stable, maybe increasing a little bit from where we are right now district-wide, right? And then there's going to be um you know, different data again for each of the levels and each of our schools and all that kind of stuff. So, we'll bring more of this to you in the coming days. And it's this this is valuable that we've done this, but I wanted to share this with you to lead into the next part of the conversation today, which is something
049we as a district need to be thinking about a little bit. Um, and that's that there's a proposed uh large proposed new development within the boundaries of our school district. Um, it's uh there's a proposed project called Charles Farm. I'll show you some information about this in in a little bit. In the northwest corner of our school district, it's a PY development. Um, PY has uh submitted a concept plan to the city of St. Charles. Um, and they're seeking with an annexation proposal, right? So, they're seeking St. Charles, the city of St. Charles to annex this property. Um, you know, that's water, electric, G, sewer, all that kind of stuff, right? Um so this project would be nearly a thousand acres uh developed in six phases. Um and again I'll show you where this is
050in a minute. This is in an area of um town that maybe back 20ome years ago there was some potential proposal happening there. Um one time it was called settlements of lox that never happened. One time it was called grand reserve. I think that never happened. Um so anyway, this this proposed project um a big chunk of it would be a Dell web age restricted community of about 967 homes. They say that's a community for um homeowners who are 55 plus. Um and by covenant um folks who live in a Del Webb can't have children in the school that they can't have live there and have kids, right? Um then also in the in the proposed project there's 846 single family homes um and 198 town homes near La Fox uh center what is now
051La Fox out there by the train station out there if you can picture where that's at. Um so roughly 75% of the units would be within our school district boundaries. Okay. School district boundaries, as you know, are pre-established and those don't necessarily have to align with city boundaries or town boundaries or whatever. Um, so I'll show you this here in a minute. If you take a look here, uh, this is our school district boundary map. Um, you're probably familiar with this. If you look, you see my red dot? That is Mil Creek School. Okay, that's Fabian School, right? Here's our middle schools together. So, this is Mil Creek School right here. Um and this is the proposed boundary of this new uh proposed development. So it's basically um Brundage uh to the east, Harley Road
052to the west, Keslinger to the south, and Route 38 uh to the north. And then this blue dotted line is obviously that's our district boundary. So, anything in this red box within this blue box would be Geneva 304 school district. Uh, anything up here would not be right. Um, this would be this would be St. Charles uh district 303 up here. Um, and this is all information that is on the city of St. Charles uh website at this point. This is public uh so I'm not really sharing anything that that isn't out there. So, this is the proposed development. Um, again, here's Keslinger down here. Here's 38. Here's Brundage. Here's Harley Road. Um, if you see this purple line, the purple dotted line, see that? That's that whole thing is the Dell web age restricted
053uh community. Okay? So everything within the boundaries of this purple line are a proposed Dell web community. Um then everything else is just proposed residential neighborhoods. Uh and this red line, if you see it right here, that's the school district boundary line. So anything above that line is St. Charles 303 school district and anything below that line is Geneva 304 school district. Okay. Um, so you see there's a lot more residential uh below that red line. So, right, a lot more would theoretically come to Geneva School District 304. Um, this, you know, these residential neighborhoods would go to St. Charles 303, but then all of this would theoretically go to Geneva 304. And there's a wide variety of home styles and sizes and whatnot. Um, from town homes, if you see these right here, those
054are those would be town homes theoretically. Um, and then there's various, you know, quote levels or whatever of single family homes and the dough web would be similar. So, it's a big big development. Um, here is that same development. um in phases. It's being proposed in uh six phases. Um and so you see over here, this is the order of the phases, right? Yellow, blue, red, green, orange, purple. Um so this would all be phase one. This is this is all basically the lines don't overlap perfectly but that's all Dell web and this is residential to St. Charles right this is all Dell web then two phase two which would theoretically come you know a couple of years after that is this blue section again vast majority going to St. Charles 303 phase three is
055this red section here which would be down within Geneva 304's boundaries but again is all part of the Dell web community. The phase 4 would be the first place the first phase that Geneva 304 school district would start to see some students. Um the Dell web goes to here in this phase and then this residential section of phase four uh would be the first section theoretically that would start to send potentially kids to Geneva 304 then five then six. Um, so this is big and uh this is uh something that would would take a long time obviously, right? Not something that would happen overnight. Um, so right now here's where this stands. This the St. Charles Plan Commission has a meeting on 94 at which um they're going to be talking about this and I
056think trying to decide um I think a lot of this hinges on I'll share candidly the city of St. Charles annexing this property, right? Um and so and if there's support for it um from the city of St. Charles to potentially do that annexing. So the plan commission will talk about it on 94 and then I guess there's a planning and development committee that would be the following week on 99. Um as you can imagine there are a lot of perspectives about this issue and some folks who are very prodevelopment and think it's great and some folks who um are not and think that the green space uh out there would be valuable and this is something we wouldn't want. Um so there's a lot of those perspectives and you know candidly I've already started
057to hear from folks with those different perspectives on the issue. Um if the project were to move forward right there would be land cashache considerations um for the nondell web portion. The district would not get land cashache considerations for the portion that's delell web because by design they wouldn't be sending kids to our school district from there. Right. Um but there would be land cash considerations for all the other parts. Um potential students to Geneva 304 again when you look at this um the phases here right and we wouldn't kind of start seeing kids and until uh sorry like right here. Um again this is all obviously you know none of this is in stone. We can't be certain about any of this, but theoretically, uh, the proposal, the way the proposal is laid out,
058Geneva 304, if this were to happen, would start to see students beginning sometime in 2032. Um, with a full buildout of the entire thing uh by 2039. Um and there's our preliminary estimate estimates um are that for that whole residential section we would see potentially 5 to 700 students additional students to the district K12 at buildout. Um, so when you look when you come back to this, we just did this great work, got this demographic study, got some great data, and now maybe this, you know, this will be helpful. We're glad we have it, but it could be changed pretty substantially from just what we've already started to see. Now, even if you took kind of like a high number, um you know, it's theoretically possible that, you know, what you would see is maybe
059our district back to kind of our historical highs that we were um you know, 15ish years ago. Um, as we've talked about a little bit uh previously, we use our facilities pretty differently than we used to um in terms of special programs and supports for kids and um resources that we provide kids. So, you know, that could that could have an impact if we learn more. Um obviously it is also fair to say I think that um such a a large development would significantly e increases revenues right you'd see a lot more um tax base added to the district. Um but you'd also see more, you know, with students uh expenditures. Um theoretically based on some of the preliminary numbers we've seen, and we'd have to look at this further, it seems like it would
060be net revenue net positive. In terms of our per pupil expenditure, we would see more revenue um coming in from the tax base out there than we would need to spend per student. But that's all very conceptual at this point, right? Because you don't really know how many kids you're actually going to end up getting. Um, so that's that. I know that's a lot to go through, but I thought it was important for you all to to hear some of that. I don't know if you have questions. I don't know if there's things you want me to look into some more. I don't know if you guys have thoughts you want to talk about. I do know that the um, city of St. Charles, when they shared this with us, has asked if our board
061has an opinion about this. Um, and at this point, you know, I feel like I need some more information, but I certainly want to open this up to you guys. If you have questions, thoughts, things you want me to look into, um, you know, opinions that you have, I'm interested in all of that. So, I know it's a lot to throw at you. everyone. Yeah, >> you might you probably did say it, but when when was the development start? When is it planned on if obviously a lot hinges on >> annexation? Yeah, I think somewhere around 2027. >> Okay. >> All right. >> Ending 2039. >> And then I'm with you and maybe a lot of other board members. I think uh um we need more information and glad that uh um this is a
062start in terms of the we've all kind of have heard about this uh um this development. Just a real basic question though north of Bundig north of Keslinger is gravel is are they going to isn't it is that that the right boundary here the the east boundary? >> Yeah. So this is >> so is are they are is they planned on I think it's protected not protected but isn't like a rustic road or something like that. Are they allowed to >> Yeah. So there's a whole lot so like this whole area out here and maybe there's somebody else here who knows there anybody else here who >> knows. Um >> well it's a township road and you're right it is protected as a rustic road. Um I don't know if it's in perpetuity that it
063can't be changed. part of Brundage north of there is paved when it the township changes. Sure. Yeah. So, that's already in place, but I haven't seen any um because it's not a county road, I haven't seen anything as far as what they're proposing for that. >> And then cool farm with the sunflowers. Is that stay in there? >> Well, I think this is that cool farm with the sunflowers. >> Okay. >> So, I would suspect they have an opinion >> and the lambs. >> Yeah, I think they probably have >> Oh, those are baby goats. Yeah, that's rustic road fun. >> I think that's that's that I think. Right. Yeah. >> Anybody else? >> Yeah. So then um this goes through St. Charles for the annex. Does Geneva have any say in this outside of
064the school board? >> No. >> Telling St. Charles maybe what we think. >> No. >> So really we're the main public entity that would >> I mean I think the park district can probably give an opinion. I think the St. Charles school district could give an opinion or not. The St. Charles Park District could give an opinion. Um, you know, again, >> so is that's a question. Good question. The red line there, that's the school board. That's the school districts, right? >> Correct. >> Below that, south of that, is that still St. Charles area? >> It's Lox. >> Is that Geneva or Laox >> right now? >> Yeah. >> Well, right now there's really nothing there. >> But what town or township is it? I think >> unincorporated. >> Uninccorporated. >> But would would St.
065Charles be annex annexing that portion or just part within their school district? I guess. >> No, I think these would all be >> Somebody can maybe tell me. >> St. Charles address. It would be like, is it unincorporated? Alurn. >> Is it Elurn over there? >> No. >> All of that is unincorporated. >> It's either unincorporated. Yes. Dr. So, so, uh, Mil Creek, the subdivision is in, uh, Geneva Township. So, it's not Geneva proper. So, how does that work? It's not going to be annexed, but it's not really in Geneva prop township. How does that work? >> Yeah. I I couldn't tell. Mil Creek would remain Mil Creek out of this >> in the township. >> Yeah. >> Not Okay. >> Yeah. This wouldn't have >> any And Mil Creek has its own water district
066ride. It has all those kinds of things. Um, my sense is that's what they're trying to avoid with this >> um to to get all of that. This is all I think I don't remember what the term for this is. Again, Jackie, I'm sorry I keep putting you on the spot, but this has to be green space, right? Isn't that like some sort of >> Yeah, the Forest Preserve owns um on the upper right from 38 South, they just built a facility there. Um, some of it it's private land that's actually by homeowners. The rest of that land, I believe, was all >> bankowned or land trusts just waiting for it to be developed because it was in the works for 30 years. >> Yeah. >> And know that with this line, like for example,
067this line comes all the way to Harley Road. Um, we do have >> like this neighborhood right here. There are students who live in here who on one side of that street come to us and on another side go to St. Charles. That's the way it's always been. >> Um and this is a big part of this. I think this is a big project that >> hoping to go to construction in the spring. >> Yeah. That this is connecting Bunker Road up to La Fox Road and a big kind of connection right there. So I >> I think more information is needed, especially with what our current demographic study says to say if we stayed status quo, what would that look like with our current buildings, current use of buildings? And then if we were
068to add 500 to 700 buildings or students, what would that look like in our buildings given the way we use them now and our projected growth or decrease in students? >> Yeah, and I think that's right, Stephanie. I think that's a good point. I think that key is with the way we use them now. Right. >> Because the reality is we did have that many students in our district. >> Exactly. >> At one time >> in a different way. >> We use our buildings very differently and we would need to be >> thoughtful about that >> and potential if we were going to have to make potential changes with that. Could we theoretically accommodate that many students? I mean, yes, we've done that before with the same amount of buildings that we have. Um >>
069I just would hate to say we have to take things away because we are now adding students because we don't have the physical space for it, >> right? >> Or is it instead we need to add on somewhere because of these potential students and then that would be part of the conversation and more information would be the expenses tied to everything, >> right? And also I would add I mean I just think you have to be candid that this is Mil Creek. This is the box. If all those kids, if a bunch of kids do get added in here, all those kids aren't can't fit at Mil Creek. >> Right. So, we're also talking about increased transportation. >> So, you're talking about all those kinds of issues, too, that you have to >> um uh
070you know, think about down the road. >> Right. Right. I think the positive thing that I see from this is that Del Webb community will not be adding any additional students to our school space. Yet the ca the um value of the property will be significantly improved >> which will only support the district in a positive way um over the long term and the number of years before you get before you have to really start worrying about the students coming in. >> What was the no cash aspect that you were talking about? So um so land cash is this thing where if a devel developer is you know building something they basically have to give considerations to the local like the school. Oh, I see what you're saying. >> Right. To say, "Oh, well, we
071got to give a certain amount of money um or land a certain amount of this if we're making this development, >> right? >> Not giving the technical answer, but I am >> if we're, you know, developing all of this property, we have to set aside either a portion of that property >> for a school >> to give to the school district or money in lie of a portion of that property." >> Okay. Um, and we would theoretically get that for this portion, but you would not get it for this portion because they're not >> right >> by definition homes that would send any kids here. >> Is that what show did with Mil Creek with Faven School or that come a different way? >> I don't know off the top of my head. I would
072guess somehow that's how that came. Yes, but I I I don't know that for sure. >> Took the barn. >> Say the barn. I know. I still hear about the barn. Any other questions at this time? Obviously, we need more information. >> I do have one question. Dr. Barrett, didn't they say when they needed our opinion bud? Did they want it prior to their plan commission? >> Well, yeah. I mean, this is the this is the issue. I guess they have, as I shared, you know, they have this plan commission next week. >> Um, you know, I can try to get you some more information. I can share with you some of the information that they have shared with me. I can get that out to you as a board here in the next couple
073days. Um, so but ultimately if our board doesn't have the opportunity to talk in an open meeting like this, um, I think that could could be difficult. Sure. >> Uh, bless you. Unless there's kind of a strong feeling one way or the other that we should give an opinion one way or the other at this point. And it's just that an opinion we have no say in this. It's just >> Yeah, we have absolutely no say in this. Okay. We just want to make that clear. >> Correct. Yes. >> And there's other meetings after that. Obviously, their entire city council will vote on it. So, we could have our opinion in place in time for that. >> And and the opinion could be a neutral opinion also, I assume. >> Yeah, for sure. It could
074be, yeah, we understand this is coming. We can plan for it. We'll plan for it as best as we can. Um, you know, we're not throwing up roadblocks, but we're not throwing parades either. I mean, right, you could you could say something like that, too. >> So, that plan commission meeting is an open public meeting. >> Yes. Okay. Just so everyone at home knows, they can go there if they have concerns. >> They might even have more people than we have here today to speak, I suspect. >> Yeah. I although I think it's safe to say that at this time the board does not not have an opinion and we'll develop something moving forward. >> Anything else on that subject? >> Is that the superintendent's report? >> Yes. Thank you. I know it was long,
075but I this was pretty important I thought. >> No, I I think I think probably all of you recognize that this is pretty important stuff and these are big decisions and we weigh them carefully. Yeah. >> But we do appreciate your interest. Once again, the next item is board dialogue topics and pending future action consideration. We don't have any items there. And item eight, work study topics and future action. That was that. There we have no uh anything right there. You don't have to stay. >> No, it's okay. You can go. >> Of course. Um item nine information uh board meeting presentation schedule for your requests and board correspondences in the annual comprehensive financial report. U that's just for information. There's no discussion at this time. Item 10, one of my favorites, the consent agenda.
076Uh personal report, resignations, retirements, leave requests, changes in assignments, FTE, and new hire. Item two, monthly accounts payable PECard transactions for July. Item three, gifts grants bequests, $4,500. Uh Buttermilk 1,500, Noble House, 1,500. Ray Construction, 1,500 for GHS athletics, team supplies, uniforms, and other needs. And we thank those three people companies for their generosity. Next item is board member comments and reports. >> Oh, that's right. They have to vote on the consent agenda. I think I heard a motion. >> I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> Second, >> I thank you. Next item is board member comments and reports. Dan, would you like to start? >> Yeah, you bet. Um, so a couple things. Um, school school uh um got going and um I know just hearing anecdotally from uh not only
077my kids but uh um others are that are stakeholders within district seemed like it went off started off really well. Um the opening day awesome. So, um I'm sure others that were there, board members would have comments as well on that. So, I won't belabor that. Um thank you for for coming out tonight. I think that's really important that uh we we hear the voices of our community and that's uh that's great. I do have um so a couple things um in regard to the comments that were made tonight. the um um for as for the the the cooling in the in the contest, gym, I think that is important and so I'm glad to hear that. Uh I know I spoke with um Larry today and with you Dr. bear and I think it's
078an um important consideration to make in in terms of that um not only for um you know the health of our our students but um just it's something that I think um something that we needed and so but I do caution in terms of just the cost and the different things. So every every building is obviously as we all know is different. So we just can't um assume that every every uh um the cost of what one district has um paid for their cooling will be the same at our just because our buildings every building is different. So I think we all understand that. So I'm glad that we're we're starting to make some I think there's opportunities to um reduce the cost through incentives and different things that are out there. So, uh, those
079are all all available that that we could take a look at. Um, so thank you for for those that came by to to comment on that. Um, as for the phones, I think uh that's a um that's also um a subject that that at least for for our household is near and dear more because um you know our student my students um too that are in sixth grade and in high school um need their phones for medical reasons. And so they're actually on the opposite end where they have to have their phones and so they dread the idea of being outed because they have their phones. So it's so I think we need to be careful that that the the the rules that we have in regard right now with our are not being enforced
080because I know for a fact that they are because like our kids come back and they say man I had to give that medical explanation again because >> the lunch then there's a new lunch monitor a different launch monitor that was there or there's a new you know they have to so um so I think there's exceptions and I think it's something that we need to consider in terms of uh um but I do agree and I'm thankful for the parents that came today that it can be a distraction and it should not be a distraction and um but um we also um understand that our teachers are doing a a pretty good job um of uh enforcing the rules that we have in place. So >> that's all I have. >> Thank you, Molly.
081>> Yeah, I would echo uh the start off to the year. Um, kudos to everybody. I mean, communitywide within the buildings and outside of the buildings, there's a lot of thought and effort that goes into keeping up with curriculum changes and planning for new classrooms and changes in grade assignments and sections and what have you. So, I just thank everybody so much for all of their efforts and to our students and their excitement that they bring. It's really exciting. I echo the sentiments to the air conditioner. Obviously, it's something that's very important and especially when it impacts the safety of those who go into those buildings. Um, and I trust that our um techn or I'm sorry, our facilities task force and um people in that area will do their due diligence to really look
082into that. I again to all of you who came again tonight with the cell phones and the smart devices. Uh I think just a tremendous thank you for being here. In my field of work in in mental health, advocating is paramount. You know, you you have to serve as an advocate and as a board and as a district and administration, we have to take all perspectives into account when we're advocating and we hear you. I wrote down a list of everything that was mentioned and ideas that were talked about. I think the evidence is clear to a parent, you know, of of why you're advocating. We also have to take into account how we advocate for our staff and our teachers. I had the tremendous opportunity to get them to know them in my my
083uh time here on the board and to understand their responsibilities and it's far more than I ever thought. And I think what they have to do on a day-to-day basis is even more than I understand. So to add in more policing and in managing it's it's important. Excuse me. Sorry. >> It's that P. I know um it's important um but it's also something we have to be mindful of of how much time and resources is that going to take and does it take away from our students learning and there's just so that's just one example I would love to hear from students what's their experience of it what are the teachers experience what are the principles experience because informed policy is the only policy that I'll support and it has to come from every you
084know stakeholder in the game here. So, I appreciate your words because that's helps me become more informed from your perspective. I just hope that over the next days, weeks, whatever it is, um that I either myself personally or the board has an opportunity to hear from teachers, from principles, from students, uh because I would love to get more information on the topic. But again, going back to the positives, off to a new year. I'm so excited for everything. Um, and thank you to everyone for rolling out a great start. Paul, >> yeah, I'd like to first thank Andy for inviting the board to the kickoff meeting. This is the first time I've been able to go. I missed it last year and um it was it was very uh inspiring to see all of the
085teachers stepping up for the people in their organizations who really inspire them to do a great job. And I was very that was very enjoyable. Um I am part of the facilities task force meeting um task force and unfortunately with the with the AC there's not a quick solution. We're not going to have a solution for you by the end of September. It is something though that I think we need to to look in further. Uh there are there are other options also outside of just putting in AC that we need to look at whether or not we can utilize them. We have other facilities that some do have AC, some do not. Um and we may be able to utilize that. There's rescheduling of of of events so that we're not in the hottest
086part of the year um in our own buildings. So all of these things can be considered and I think they need to be considered um as options to to solve this. I'd like to thank the parents who came out tonight. U we went for uh I think a year and a half almost two years without one person making a comment. Um and so the last two I missed last week because I I was out of the country, but um it's great to see the parents um cell phones and and the smart devices is a is a is a sticky wicket as you're going to see and trying to come up with a policy. We don't want our teachers necessarily to be um policemen out there for it, but yet we need to have a policy
087that the parents understand and that the parents are also driving because if we're they need to be the first line of defense in this whole whole direction. And so I'm I'm hoping that we um that that as more the more we talk about this at board meetings, the more parents will start start talking to their children about it and and giving them um their expectations of their children and how they need to deal with cell phones. I I think I I struggle at times to make policies for the exception and I think most of the kids follow the rules and the exceptions we have to find a better way to handle in this case. >> Okay. Yep. Uh I think first of all in the interests of brevity I will say that I agree generally
088with what everyone has said and um I appreciate you being here. Obviously, I didn't get the names in order when you were speaking. It's literally the first time I've had any public comment to to deal with, but I'm very happy to have that comment. Sticking with the positive, I've gotten numerous responses from teachers throughout the district who are very pleased with the start of the year and the three-day kickoff, which gave them time to truly be prepared when the students showed up uh for their first day on Thursday. I also want to reiterate what Andy said about this board-winning uh governance recognition and uh that's something that not every school board has and and what it means is that each member of this team and we are a team has done their part and each
089person has a different part that they special in specialize in and so we have wide ranging expertise on this board and it allows us if somebody knows something about thing that someone else doesn't know we can talk about it and develop an understanding and usually arrive at a pretty good decision. In fact, I'd say no comments in a year and a half means that most people are satisfied with the trend we're on. However, once in a while people aren't satisfied and thank you for letting us know so that we can look at that and move ahead. As as was said, we are one of just less than 5% of the school district in the states that received this honor. I particularly want to thank Vice President Jackie who was instrumental in writing that application and
090um I'd be remiss if I didn't say thank you to her for that. So, thank you for being here. We'll all learn about this new development that we have no power over, but we're going to be very influenced by as we move ahead. >> Jackie, >> thanks, Larry. Uh, and on the heels of that recognition that we got, I do want to thank Bonnie for helping me with questions I sent her way to get me some data on that application. It was quite thorough the information and I didn't have to reach out to my fellow board members. She was able to get me the answers that I needed. So, thank you, Bonnie. You were part of that, too. Um, yeah, I wanted to just echo thanks again for coming. Two weeks ago, some of you
091were here, and I made the comment, it's not easy to stand up here and talk to the board, but we're here to listen. and I'm happy that you came back and um spoke with us again and the AC in the contest Jim I understand that pain and so uh definitely something that I know Dr. Barretts already was moving on because I had a question for him about it today and he was able to answer it so something we're looking at the kickoff was fantastic last week uh I I think hearing like we said earlier hearing from the teachers who inspires them and how they got through difficult situations was the great way to start the year Dr. Dr. B, you made the comment that you didn't do a lot of charts and graphs. Um, because
092that's not what that was about. It was about just getting together and starting off the year, right? I did hear from several people there who thanked us as a board for coming. Uh, people I did not know. They just came up to me and thanked me for our participation. So, I wanted to share that with my board members here. And yeah, just looking forward to the the kickoff of our school year. Good luck to everybody. One thing that we didn't really call out in this meeting and I wanted to was that we did I want to congrat give congratulations to our business department for their um uh certificate of excellence on our annual comprehensive financial report that was kind of buried in there but um Mr. Leam had mentioned it before but I did want
093to say that again so congrats to them that's all >> Dr. Hook >> oh yeah um I want to thank you as well for coming out to share your information about um very obvious concerns I I would say that you know thought Not trying to be philosophical here, but thought occurs when you have more than one perspective. And I appreciate you uh giving I'm not speaking for myself, but the board as a a means of giving us a different perspective from a parental point of view. Uh I'm I must admit I'm kind of a geek. I follow the science. So I uh did my diligence since the last meeting to read a little bit more uh that is the research review on uh the anxious generation and understand that uh from a maybe more academic
094point of view but that helps you know to understand that as well. Um, I I want to say that um your comments about I'm I'm glad that um um Paul brought up this notion of air conditioning that there might be some innovative or innovative uh solutions that may not be air conditioning, maybe some other architectural things that we haven't really considered and I think that's good too that we can look at this u because it's all about air flow. Um and now they're doing things in architecture that's really amazing uh to the extent u that as uh uh Mary said that this that we are a team I'm not on the facilities task force but I'm glad that there's a openness that we can talk about things that those of us who are not on
095that committee uh all of our can all of us can bring our collective ideas what we have from different expertise um I uh want to give kudos to the roll out for the mission possible Um, I know that raised a little eye a few eyebrows for people. They say, "I didn't know he could wear a t-shirt." But actually, I do have several t-shirt. >> That might have been the comment I got most the whole day. >> Yeah, I do have t-shirts and that's added to my collection. I do wear them. Um, and jeans. I know people haven't probably seen me that, but if you happen to look in the winter time and see a guy with a leather jacket and jeans and said that looks like him, it might be me. But no, that was
096a real good um opportunity to see the teachers um how you say reinforce each other and I thought that was really great. Um I will say that um as we progress into the school year and we continue to listen um learn and discern what is important to not only students uh parents um and also the community and even those that are childless with two cats. uh the idea we have to listen to them as well because that's part of our community as well. So I think that's um a a great you know affirming thing of who we are as Geneva. We're we're not um so to speak monolithic so we have to listen to these different parts. So u no thank you so much for this opportunity for us to share. >> Thanks Stephanie. >>
097Okay great. Um I wanted to start by welcoming everybody back our students our staff and our families. I know that last week is really tough on families to uh do locker setups, supply drop offs, sports, everything. So, thank you for everyone who works together to make that happen. It was a great opening day that we had with the teachers. I always get a little emotional during those and I always wish all the parents could see them because it's just so great to hear how much our teachers are doing, our staff is doing. It was really nice um to hear not just about a specific group of teachers or staff, but it was a little bit of everybody and how we all have to work together to make um education great for our kids. Congrats to
098the business service office for the award that they won. I know we listened to Todd talk about budget a lot throughout the year and all that work pays off, not necessarily in the awards we get, but in our great financial standing in the district. And then I thought um about the comments for the cell phone policy, I just wanted to review a couple things. So I'm the policy committee chair and I wanted to make sure that we were all on the same page as a board about our policy. So we do specifically have a policy regarding cell phones. It's called the student use of personal electronics devices policy 6220. that can be found with all the rest of our board policies on the Geneva website under the board link and then under policies. So you
099can go to that and review exactly what our policy is because we do specifically have a policy related to this. Now I was looking around at St. Charles because that's been mentioned about the committee. So I wanted to see what are they doing on policy? How does that match with ours? What might we be considering to adjust? And I can't find a policy anywhere on their site that that D304 ha D303 has. So, you know, I like to be a geek, too. So, I was reading through a lot of the different policies to see where it was fitting in. I did some searches. I couldn't find it. So, I think that they're starting a little bit at a different spot than we are, which is great because that means there might be some potential to
100refine ours or to continue it to reflect and look at how our policy applies to each school. So after I looked at the policy and I know there's some aspects that can certainly be general because we are dealing with kids from three all the way to 18. So like that's a big range of how do we how do we kind of address where their brains and thinking is at. So I looked at all of the handbooks to kind of see what does it talk about with personal devices. So you can go to each one of the handbooks and there's something mentioned and it progressively gets to be a little bit less as the kids get younger. But I think it was really helpful for me to see like exactly what are we talking about with
101all of these policies both at the board level because we're talking about the whole district and how does that look for our oldest students, our middle-aged students down to our youngest students. So you guys can all reference those as well to kind of see like what is the board policy we created? How is that enacted at the schools? And I know that Dr. Barrett did talk about that during the last meeting about what that looks like. I also wanted to share because I know not everyone on the board has high schoolers, but I do I'm lucky enough to have one at each level, like a kinder uh elementary school, a middle school, and a high schooler. So, I get to see all of it. So, my high schooler is my oldest and my type A.
102So, she brings home her stack of syllabuses that I have to read through, a couple that I have to sign, you know, gives me homework for Thursday night, first day of school, you know, >> and I went through and because this has been top of mind, it kind of like stuck out to me like how many talked about cell phones and the policy and it's on everyone. So, I kind of highlighted the rule and it all references our policy that we have at the high school. There was even one teacher who wrote the whole exact policy there, including the consequences that we do have if cell phones are used. So, for me as a parent doing the homework that I'm supposed to be doing as a parent, it was kind of helpful to see what
103we're expecting of our oldest students who mostly have the most cell phone use and how our teachers are enforcing that in the school. back to school night is this week. So, I'm sure we'll see some >> um caddies in the classroom and if it's anything like last year, they kind of describe the use of that to all the parents as well. So, I just thought that might be helpful to understand where our policies are and how that might look when we're actually at some of these different levels so that everyone can kind of see that aspect. But, thank you to everyone who came out and made a comment. I think it's helpful that we hear from you both at the meetings, what we hear in the community from multiple different stakeholders and what that looks
104like overall. In addition, um thank you for the information on the facilities task force in relation to the air quality. I think that is a big issue and I kind of just agree with everything that everyone said, something that we're going to have to address, but I do know like that it will not happen immediately. So, see what we can do in the meantime to make the best environment for our student athletes and our students who are using the building. >> Thank you, Stephanie. Uh, we're coming up now on what is the part you've been looking forward to. And the reason is we have to go into an executive session. And the way that works is I read a statement of why we're going into executive session. Then the board passes a motion to go
105into executive session and then everybody leaves except except the board. If you don't want if you don't want to wade through all that, you're welcome to go at this time. And thank you so much for coming. >> Executive session two, consider matters pertaining to discussion of minutes of meetings lawfully closed under the open meetings act, whether for purposes approved by the body of the minutes or semiannual review of the minutes as mandated by section 2.065. And it goes on quite a bit. Um >> motion to go in executive session. >> Second. >> Bonnie, >> I >> We'll have a few minute recess if anybody needs a break and then we'll go into executive session.