Geneva CUSD 304 Board of Education Meeting 08-12-2024

001Uh, good evening. I'd like to call to order the regular meeting of the Geneva Community Unit School District number 304 Board of Education meeting for Monday, August 12th. Uh, Bonnie, would you please call the role? >> Willard >> here. here. >> Stephanie >> here. Jackie >> here. >> All right. Thank you. We have a quorum. Welcome everyone for coming out tonight. It's good to see a crowd in the room. Uh please rise and join me in saying the pledge. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> All right, for our guests, if you didn't have a chance to assign the attendance sheet out in the hallway, we ask that you please do that

002before you leave tonight. All right, moving on. Item number two is the approval of the minutes. We have the regular session from July 15, 2024 and the executive session from July 15, 2024. Uh Bonnie, did you receive any requests for corrections? >> No. >> All right. Does anyone have any at this time? >> All right. Do I have a motion to approve the minutes as presented in the packet? >> So move. >> Second. >> I I think you did it just right. Nice job. >> Too much cheering. >> Yeah. >> All right. Thank you. Uh item number three is recognition, awards, presentations, and public hearings. Tonight we have the 2024 2025 tenative budget presentation by Mr. Laam. Dr. Barrett, anything before he starts? Yeah, I just want to thank Todd for, you know, all the

003work that goes into this um preliminary budgets and pre-preliminary budgets and, uh, the board and the community have a lot of opportunities to see how Todd works through this process, um, in developing the budget each year. Um, so this him presenting the tentative budget. Now, I know Todd will talk about it a little bit, but this keeps us in line with our uh schedule that we'll need to have where this can then be on public display for the community to review. We'll have a few more board meetings between now and uh when there's a hearing uh uh about the budget coming up sometime in September. Um, so it's good to have this today and have an opportunity for this to go on display so the board or hopefully community can check it out and um

004have an opportunity to to review it and know where we're going. So I'll pass it off to Todd. >> All right. Thank you, Dr. Barrett, and thank you, Board of Education. I will also thank you for not requiring my office to do the meritorious budget. This is the first time in seven years I haven't been in my office at 2:30 in the morning working on our budget. So, I appreciate the chance to do homework. All right. So, this is kind of the same um timeline that we've been following that you received in the draft presentation. I'm not going to go over it. It's just really the schedule that we've uh followed since January to get to where we are today in August. These were the budget items that we looked at. We looked at our

005revenues uh focusing at what we receive at the local level, uh the state level, and our federal level. And then our primary areas of expense, salary, benefits, purchase services, those are ones that we procure from outside agencies. Uh usually have some type of lensure expertise. We don't have our supplies and materials which are volatile to uh the marketplace and inflation. Our other objects again think of that as tuition that we pay for uh Fox Valley Career Center and our Mid Valley students. And then our non-c capital equipment, that's equipment that we have that's typically of a replacement nature that's under a $3,000 capital threshold. And then our fund balances are estimated at the end of June. Uh we just finished our audit last week. Um so it was not only tentative budget, but it was

006also audit week. Uh so we got double whammy up there. Um and then there'll be some typically some adjusting entries. Um I call those auditors perspectives of where we place something to where they would like it. And uh just a reminder that we're modified acral. So uh by that process they have 60 days after the uh fiscal year has ended that they can acrewue something back in the current year because they feel it's most appropriately placed there such as a late payment received or revenue that they believe should be more appropriate in the current fiscal year. So that's typical of our um audit process. Uh revenue considerations. So of course we always track our equal assessed value. That's the value of your home in the marketplace and those trends. Uh so I constantly look at

007the economy and where um we might be. And keep in mind too that when we do the levy, the levy comes in one fiscal year and another. So I have to split those and estimate off of tax receipts what that might be and where we might be for the next year. uh our estimated personal property replacement tax acts. Um that is basically an allocation back from the Illinois Department of Revenue um for funds that we receive of more of a a business nature um than our uh property tax. And then of course our school registration fees, participation fees, and others. As you know, we've done registration that just basically is finishing up. So I have a better idea what those numbers are for the budget. And then our interest income, which I will tell you

008is going to be less than it was last year because we've peaked in the economy with our interest income. And as that changes, we'll have less revenue into the new fiscal year 25. Our state revenue is really primarily on evidence-based funding is what we receive for probably our largest area. And then it's our title grants, title one, title two, title three, uh title four, uh our IDA preschool, and our IDEA special education flow through. And then we have a little bit of ESSER money left that uh has to be spent by us and uh that will kind of be all-encompassing of most of our grants. And then we do have our ALOP funding for alternative learning opportunity programs that we received. That's been very stable and good for our school district for the outcome as

009well as the revenue we receive uh as replaces our expenditures. And then lastly, those ESR reimbursements and then any federal grants that we have. And lastly, um, coming into this, uh, budget, we'll see some adjustments in the grants themselves and any final carryover funds from the prior, uh, year's, uh, grants. Our expenditure considerations, uh, as you can see on the board agenda, we still have some staffing considerations that you'll be approving. That's always a change. Uh, teachers that may have left or staff that we've replaced, uh, and what that will cost us, as well as changes in their benefits. So we may have for example a staff member that left with a single health plan but maybe then has picked the family so that' be more costly. So that's where we kind of have the

010ups and downs in our benefits. And then we also add back uh things such as um other costs that we'd have. So I will point out that when you see my presentation on fund 50, fund 50 is FICA Medicare, fund 51 is uh the IMRF retirement. Those are combined as fun. Uh I did see at the end of June I was too a little too close in my estimation. So I maybe added a little more cushion there what I think maybe uh we should have based upon more calculations of what we would have to contribute back to uh the government and to the pension system. Uh and then some of the things that we have left are our uh inflationary costs for our supplies and materials, our capital outlay. uh we did receive most of

011our final tuition costs I believe for our our other areas and then um any end of year transactions and and again there might be some items still in the audit that come forward. But it's a kind of a difficult year. I had my primary person leave my office before the fiscal year was over and the new person come in. So there's always a margin for error there as well as my own because I'm human as well. So there might be some things that we may be classified in the wrong category we'll have to fix. So, I'm not going to go back through the whole budget. I'm just going to talk a little bit about what changed from the draft to the tentative for the sake of time uh because they're relatively close numbers. Um so,

012when we look at um the education fund and we look at some of our local uh estimations, I went back and did the text. It's received uh the estimation of what I think will be the new equest value. And probably one of the larger changes um that we see uh is probably going to be some estimation in new growth, new construction that comes in a little differently on essentially new taxes. Um so I went back and looked at that. I think it's probably very healthy from what I've seen for growth uh in the uh school district itself, just not the city of uh Geneva, but also the school district. Uh so I increased that slightly. um our state uh revenue went up because I adjusted some of the evidence based funding dollars between the operations

013and maintenance fund and and back to the ED fund. U it just kind of depends on the needs that year and what we have um for projects that we'll be supporting uh between the two funds. And then I think the last thing is is um I did reduce the federal dollars because looks like uh the er uh we've spent a larger portion at the end of the fiscal year. So that was adjusted down here as well. So, um, really looking at 78 million to 80 million is the adjustment from draft to tentative. And you can stop me anytime if you have questions. So, I don't go through the whole thing and then we come back. Uh, a little bit about some of our expenditures that we had. So, I did adjust some of our salaries

014that we had in there. Um, you know, I look at who we've hired over the period of time and some of those expenses. I recalculate those as well. Um, someone certainly may have left um and then I maybe had had them in there as a placeholder. So, I adjusted some of those and where I think we'll be with our overall um cost for salaries. I did increase the benefits slightly. As I said, you know, I do look at that to see when we have a new employee what they may have elected versus our normal election period for most of our teachers that come back. That's typically as they go into September, but we have an idea what that is. Our purchase services, um those have gone up as well. Um, some of the reasons that

015is I looked at the grant dollars that we were spending, but I also realized that there's a cost for our athletic training that I put back in there. Um, so that's increased that area as well. And uh, then some of our property casualty insurance as well as our workers comp went up. We paid those bills actually in July. So I really know what those numbers are. So I adjust the budget to um, true it up to what we really had paid. And then our other objects are just some additional uh, cost updates for our tuition. So really that's the expenditure. So 79 million was brought down almost a million to 78 million. So we're still in the same range for our revenues expenses. Not much of adjustment. Just some tweaking that would go on between

016a typical budget cycle. So this is the estimated fund balance. Um $33,599,658. The revenue reflects $80,741,954. Well, that's our estimated expenses of $78,999,281. Um, we do anticipate our typical uh funds transfer that will occur. Um, these are funds that we may move out of the ED fund. Um, the one adjustment you see is actually the tech uh device lease that we have. So, that'll actually move out of fund 10 to fund 30. We had a much higher number in there and after we looked at what we're able to procure over the summer, this will be what we really need for uh our tech plan. And then we estimate the ending fund balance at 35,237,647. So really um just a little bit of an increase in the fund balance. Like I said, that may change as

017well. Uh just depends how the audit comes in with the final uh beginning balance. That's usually what is adjusted in this process. Okay. Operations and maintenance. Um probably not a whole lot here. Looking at the local, that's pretty stable. What we receive is mostly taxation. Uh the one change that you'll see is in the state funds which I reduced the evidence-based funding. Um that has been pretty stable the last couple years. Um a lot of that too I adjust based upon what capital needs we have and what type of improvements that we'll be having. Uh so that may change as well, but I did make that change for the current fiscal year. Uh so 15 million dropping down to 14 million for our estimated revenue. Looking at our operations and maintenance, relatively there's little change.

018Um 14.5 million to 14.5 million just some subtle things that have occurred um within the fund itself. Um so likely I could have transposed the number but it would have had very little difference. So um I do go through all of those just to make sure um I'm right on. And and the one thing we do uh as well as we we'll compare that to prior years just to see if there's some difference that we need to maybe justify or recalculate. So the on andm fund $9,66,810 as the beginning balance estimating our revenue is at 14,711,24. I don't anticipate any transfers at this time. Looks like we'll be able to move 5 million out to the um capital projects fund to uh fund those projects. You see where we've adjusted that from a higher number

019we had the previous year and I'll kind of explain how that happened. and estimated ending fund balance of 4,779 thou 74,779,897. That is the estimated one pending our audit. I put pending audit in every slide just to let you know that we're not done with that process debt service fund. Um because I read you the taxes and the estimated growth, that also affects the local revenue that will be in our debt service fund. A reminder, the the clerk's office always adds extra 1% to cover us. Uh so that is our new number. Expenditures really cover our other objects which is our bond and interest payments that we have in a typical typical year. As you recall, those have been flattened and leveled by the district. So they're very stable. And so um just a little

020bit of change there um in our tentative budget. Um so pretty much same for our debt service fund. Uh 7.4 4 million for the beginning balance ending at um 8.2 million. Uh the $104,684 that's the capital lease that is moved by uh board procedure from the ED fund to the debt service to pay our devices. All right, transportation. Um again taxes are the change in the local and then uh the bus sales that is down and I'll explain why. So, we had a delayed in the receipt of our buses, which means if I don't have new buses, I can't sell the old buses. Uh, so this is kind of a safety thing. It's been very uncertain when we'll get those. As you know, when I gave you the fleet management plan, um, we did see

021some delay. Um, so I've kind of held off in a really good number that I thought it might be just to be more realistic that we may not sell those buses till later and I want to make sure we have buses before we sell them. So, uh, and then last part is just our state, uh, revenue is still the same. And those are our categorical payments. We receive reimbursement back. Um we'll be submitting the claim at uh the end of this week uh to receive those funds. That's our regular and our vocational ed reimbursements and our special education as well. If we get back from the state through a reimbursement policy. So u we estimated the draft budget at 4.9 million. We're going to end at about 4.7 million for the transportation fund. All right.

022Some of our expenditures. Um not a whole lot of change here other than capital outlay. So, I'll just go right to the obvious number. Why is it lower? Uh, originally we think that we may have to purchase less buses just because the timing of those. It's not a guarantee if we check on a regular basis to make sure if we order buses when we'll get those. Um, that number may go back up to the original number when we have the final budget. Uh, but currently it looks like we're probably not going to get all the buses that we need to get again, but we do have them on order. Many of those are just backordered and delayed. Uh so 6.1 million uh dropping down to 5.5 million for our tenative budget. I'll check again, you

023know, we're going to come back over a month from now with the final. So we'll have a much better number of what we're going to get. I'm just trying to be more realistic as we go through the stages. So our transportation fund has uh beginning at 7,197,841. Our estimated revenue is 4,765,816. We're going to expend 5,533,835. The $300,000 of the ED fund um is likely going to be for some additional expansion costs of the parking lot, including our new fueling station for propane. Uh so, we have to add that in. And then just some other costs that we did anticipate with some permitting, planning, and some other costs for that parking lot. So, I may move some more funds over. Um they're paving the parking lot this week. of you haven't stopped by transportation and

024they're digging the foundation area for the propane station. So, we'll see uh what that final number is. Estimated ending fund balance 6,129,822 for our transportation fund. All right, the retirement fund. Um, as I mentioned, I looked back at those. I thought I was a little too close um in some of our um estimations of our expenditures. And I'll give you the example here. Um, for our FICA Medicare, I ended up at 99.62% uh, estimation of our expenses. Almost nailed it. Uh, but when I looked at our IMRF, I was only at 96%. Um, so I did increase the revenues, I'm sorry, the expenditures to kind of accommodate for the fact that those are probably going to come in a little higher. So still 3.5 million to 3.5 million. That's on the revenue expenses. As I

025mentioned, I added those to go up and that's reflected there from 2.8 million to 3.1 million and that will cover the retirement fund. So, we still have pretty much the same fund balance, 3,583,627. All right, capital projects. Um, so most of the revenue we're going to have, almost all of it is local, is going to be interest income. That's money that I've invested that's sitting in the account to get the best return for the district. So, here's the new number. When we first looked at the capital fund, um, we were looking at doing about $15 million worth of capital projects. We've had several meetings since then with our new interim director and we gave a more realistic number of 9,600,294. As you know, last year we didn't get through all the projects that we had

026anticipated for various reasons. Uh we believe it's probably more appropriate to bring this number to the board saying that we very confident we can get these done with our interim director and our projects. Very busy this summer. We got a lot more done than we probably have planned. That will also drive that number down, which also means I can manage that uh fund a little bit better with um some remaining fund balance and then a smaller amount of transfer that has to occur. >> I would also just jump in on that, Todd, real quick. one of the things we talked about not just um uh you know with what we think we can accomplish right now but we also want to set up um a new person in that role for success right so um

027and that's been a lot of our conversation is as we're transitioning we're going to have a new person who's going to be jumping in and the thing about a school district is as we were just talking about you have this two this two and a half month window to get stuff done so we want to make sure we're setting a person up for success and we thought lowering that number is the right way to do that. >> And Dr. Barrett, that's a great point. And so that is very important that they have projects that they can take over and manage as they transition. >> Uh that also fits into a a philosophy that we're looking for to kind of level that capital project so we don't have a lot of highs and lows much like

028our debt. >> Um so we're very confident with that number. Still moving $5 million over from fund 20 to fund 60. And again, once it's in fund 60, those that money stays there. Mhm. >> So we started off with >> Can I ask one question about that? So does do we still expect that those projects will get done so we'll end up spending that money eventually or that will be reassessed? >> We have um so we looked at the projects and figured out you know what strategically makes the most sense and which projects can we likely bid get the materials and complete in the current fiscal year. >> And so we kind of reworked some of those. Some of them we also add some contingency projects into the capital van like if we get ahead

029we'll try to get these items done. There still will be some in this but this is a it's not going to have a lot of other work that we don't believe we can get to. So those would just be moved probably till fiscal year 26. >> Yeah I I think the short answer to your question is yes, right? This is work that will have to be done. Um, but I also think part of what we're undertaking here over the next several months is kind of a, you know, a reanalysis of our long-term capital plan and what projects we need to have done when and and things like that. >> Okay, that makes sense. Thank you. >> Yes. So, the 4.2 million kind of reflects a lot of projects that we didn't get to that we

030had planned for. So, the money was still there. >> Uh, adding 125,000 of local revenue. Um the expenditures are the new capital plan moving the 5 million over. We estimate ending that fund balance at $44,538. As you remember, board member Troy always Troy always says, "Did you leave enough in case there's some overages?" Um I I think that's a good number, but we may have to increase a little bit. Um the reason why is because we're doing a lot of the bidding now, and I'll know if we have some better numbers. So, the best thing to do is give you the best numbers I can in September and finalize the budget and that's good for the district. So, working cash. Uh that's how much we plan to invest. Um I've had some really good returns

031last year, but that uh that's coming to an end based upon the economy from everything I'm seeing. Uh CDs that used to be 5 point something percent return are now mid to low 4%. So that really hurts us on the investment side and those are just extra dollars that we can procure for the district and invest. Uh so there's no expenditures in that particular fund. It's actually an investment fund. Um so Um, still having the growth there, ending at 16.8 million. Port Fund, uh, same thing. Um, that's kind of a fund that we've been building up. Small amount of revenue, no expenditures, uh, ending at $34,378. And then the last fund we're going to talk about is our fire prevention fund. So, that's investment revenue again. And then these are the last life health safety

032projects that we have. Uh, they're scheduled for this year. uh estimated uh total $711,270 and that will complete that tenure life health safety study that we did. So this is kind of the ending portion of that. Uh $882,950 was the beginning fund balance plus the revenue uh minus the expenditures. We estimate that fund ending at 213,680 which ironically I was here 10 years ago and that was almost where I remember that fund started before we started the whole 10ear cycle. So kind of puts us right back where we were as a district. Okay. What might change? Um taxes, uh grants, carryovers, changes in our spending, uh delayed payments from the federal government, election year coming up. No clue. I'm just going to see how it goes. >> Uh salaries, again, um you know, that's I

033anticipate that we're staffing correctly, but that would be if we don't get all of our staffing. Um also any uh postbudget changes that we have for employee benefits. Uh so for example again uh change for someone single to family or vice versa that's just kind of a change in employee benefits our purchase services those are anything that we might have an overage so I'll give the example we have project A project A has engineering and architectural assigned to it the project has some changes to it and we need additional services those now cost us more things don't go as planned that's just life uh the capital outlay uh oh supplies and materials are just market factors inflation's been trending down uh from the high level it was is probably down on the low 3s. 3.2

0343.4 is what we see almost 3.0. Um so we'll watch that as well. And that those are items that are costs that are carried on and passed on to us. And then um just any tuition changes, you know, if we have a change in student enrollment that is a plus or minus um that could affect it, but relatively been very stable and does a great job. She's here. Uh she works with me on our midval tuition to make sure that we cut capture and cover what we need and we've been very good about that. And then last, any breakages that we have or equipment failures, those can come back. And then the auditor's approval. Um, so we're in the last stages of that audit. Uh, we submit some additional documents to them. They'll come back,

035give us adjusting entries, and I've asked that the auditor come back in late October or early November for that presentation. Okay. So, uh, this is the big picture of what the tenative budget looks like. $119,835,21 against expenditures of $126,338,47. Um, so we'll need those transfers and we're going from a beginning fund balance of 82 million down to 70 million. So that's just kind of how the finances play out. We've accumulated some fund balances. We're now spending those down and um puts us right back in our budget cycle to come back to the board for that final approval. Uh so it'll be a hearing, public comment, which is really testimony uh closing that and then adopting the budget on September 23rd and any inter fund resolutions of moving those funds between funds will all take place

036that same night. Okay, questions? >> Does anyone have any questions? >> Yes. I I just wanted to not trying to split hair. I was trying to understand this. So you talk about the tech plan. What what is involved in the tech plan? I mean what I've been hearing for the most part for the last year is basically computers and laptops. What is tech? Can you explain what that is category? >> Right. So that's everything from software that we'd have throughout the district to things such as this which is called screen beam which is technology that we utilize to our student devices as well as things from gears and switches that we have in the back end part of our firewall that builds up some of our safety mechanisms. Uh so some of that has to

037do with timing and bidding that most of the changes that we had is how many uh student devices that we would have to lease. We did have an opportunity to buy some >> and which then therefore reduced our lease number that we had originally. So that's kind of where that number had changed. Dr. Hooks, >> what are just trying to understand uh what are purchase surface uh services? How do you distinguish those from um say um other services? I mean I understand you have um these categories. What is what is considered purchase services? So those are individuals that uh we need to um provide services to. So think about legal, that's a purchase service. Uh most common ones are architects or engineers. Um those are people we'd have to consult with. Um we do have

038other consultants that guide us through different processes. Um we've had some that we've used for environmental purposes as well. Uh some of our testing that we have throughout our district. So those are basically experts outside of our expertise that we hire to perform services that we can't handle within district. Yes, I made a note of that because I wrote, you know, engineers, architects. I was trying to figure out when you were talking about capital projects um and the capital plan. I remember that was a presentation in the spring. One of the first things I heard was that we met with many architects and and engineers and I saw some glaring you know discrepancies from my perspective as a you know professional looking at it and I just wondered is are the professionals consultation uh consultants

039rather but engineers and architects is that part of the capital projects budget or is that distinguished from purchase services? Are those two split into two different pots? So how does that work? >> Sure. So there are a couple areas. So, some are the current projects that we have that we use those. We'll also be looking at a new tenure life health safety because this one's uh completing. >> So, right now, uh Jeff Daer, our interim on&m director, is uh going out for request for qualification. He's looking at some of the service that he would need. So, it could lead to different architectural work or different engineering work. We have different engineers as well, whether it's structural or just our general civil or professional engineers. So, we use different types of on the projects. Um, so

040that does change as well. >> I do think as we'll be reviewing some of that and it kind of goes to um, you know, Stephanie brought up a little bit earlier. I think um, we're reviewing a lot and revamping a lot with all of that and uh, you know, capital projects and purchase services and the services that we use. Um, maybe trying to streamline that a little bit. Um, and so I think they'll you'll learn more information over the next year or so about that. Um, and some of that will go through the facilities task force, I think, as well. Um, but I think this request request for qualifications that just went out about some um, construction management processes. I think that'll answer some of the questions that you're asking about because that'll give us

041kind of some oversight and structure around some things that has not been there so far. >> Well, that it's kind of backing my ma'am. Yeah, I'm glad you >> Good question. Good question. >> Anyone else? Okay, thank you. We'll see you next month. >> That is actually true. I will not be at the next meeting. >> Get some sleep. >> Yeah. >> Right. Item um 3.2 is our summer curriculum work update with Miss Sims and Miss Scalia again. Dr. Barrett, do you want to kick us off while they're going to connect? Yeah, just uh you know, thank Ann and Shaunet for being here to share about this. Um obviously um you know, I think I said this at one of our recent meetings. You get to summer and people will say to someone like Ann

042or Shaunette, "Oh, so is it quiet?" And they'll say, "No, not at all. We're we're planning a lot and doing a lot all summer, making sure that we're ready for the school year." And so they're here to share just a little bit about just some of the work that's gone on this summer getting ready in terms of curriculum development and projects and things they've been facilitating teachers uh getting ready for the new year. >> Did I vamp long enough for you? >> I did. >> Oh yeah, with the update it moved. Oops. >> Don't power off. Of course, I always mess this up. There it is. >> There we go. >> Um, before we get started, one thing I'd say is, you know, what Ann and I are sharing tonight is compensated summer work that

043occurred. Um, not every request was uh granted, but I would also share that um uh sorry, let me just put a >> There you go. that um we also are aware that there's plenty of work that occurs that is not requested nor compensated. Um you know, we know several of our teachers, you know, are in in the summer or doing things at home. We were um fortunate today. It was a great day. We welcomed in uh 45 new staff members today for the first day of new teacher training. So, that was very excited to see their eager and engaged faces. And we have no doubt that in the few hours they'll be granted this week, that's exactly what they'll be doing is, you know, um giving their time to prepare their classrooms and and get

044ready for their students to be coming. So, we certainly want to recognize that work as well. Um beyond this compensated work that happens. Um so, who drives uh the the work that happens in the summer? It's driven both by staff interest and need as well as district interest in need. Um, as Todd mentioned, uh, we did utilize a lot of the, um, remainder of our ESSER dollars to support this this year. Those funds will sunset in September. So, our goal is to have that all spent out by August of this year. So, in the three iterations of that that we've received since COVID, um, you know, that's that little bit over $4 million that we will have um, spent down. So, we've certainly uh, utilized those funds over the last four years. Uh, why does

045professional development occur? Um, so the purpose is really in all of these different areas. So we did have staff that um obtained professional development over the summer. We had some of our high school staff. You know, we've talked at some of our presentations how our EL elelll eligible staff is metriculating through. So we had a number of high school staff members that went to it's called the SCOP training but sheltered observation instructional protocol. It's basically just best instructional practices for meeting the needs of ELLL learners in the classroom and making that content comprehensible. So, we had a group that did that. We had a group of counselors at the high school that did some grief uh professional development and divorce professional development um district-wide program change. So, as you know, we are going to be

046year three into a change in our elementary literacy and how we're, you know, teaching elementary literacy. So, um those team members of part of our collaborative um group, we did a day of PD with them or continued work. Um through our SCDC process, you know, we come every fall and we bring textbook recommendations and adoptions. Um through that process, teachers get time to make um lessons and assessments that align to those new resources as well as new courses. one of the new courses we'll be talking to you about this year. Um we have one of our math teachers that is stepping out of a traditional math block and she's actually going to be teaching a um newcomer math course um along with our bilingual instructional assistant at the high school. So that'll be a course

047we'll be um sharing some information with you about later this year. But that's an example of curriculum for a new course um time that was given um the continuation of student learning. You know, we have summer school at the high school uh both for um students who wish to get ahead in courses as well as students who need to remediate some credits that they did not earn. Uh we have a program um that we'll have to talk about, but we have a program at the um middle school that has been grant funded in the past um that you know brought students in to just continue some literacy work um in areas that they have need. Um in the area of technology as you know um was a great question Dr. hooks. I mean, there's not

048really many aspects of our work that doesn't touch technology in some way or shape or form. And so, whether it was just, you know, updating our teams and our notebooks or learning the new um devices for the TSI program at the high school, um there was also funds that were given for technology work as well this summer. And then student services. >> Sure. Hello. It's good to see everyone. Summer certainly went by quickly. Um, I'll be honest, I'm I'm shocked it's already August and I'm shocked it's already the middle of August, but we've done a lot of great work over the summer. >> Everything fine. Everything's fine. >> Everything's fine. I have I have a Yep. I have I have that t-shirt. I need to I need to get that out. Um, it was an

049exciting summer. We also did a lot of professional development in the student services office. Um most of that was around executive functioning which I know I've presented on before. Um we've been working with um the smarts program. Um this is just happens to be an elementary workbook but we also have um secondary access and so we had staff come in and do professional development around um the smarts program. I am going to go back to the slides China just so I can remember my oops go back. Um so we had professional development around executive functioning. Um we also had I wouldn't say it was district-wide program change but it was program adaptation for our self-contained programs. So we did a lot of alignment um to executive functioning and the SEAL standards for our fast program

050and our SLC programs for K through 8 um curriculum framework. Uh Shauna talked a lot about reading. We also engage um teachers um in spire training which spire is a reading intervention. So they could either choose to come in over the summer um and get paid to complete that training over the summer or we'll offer training um during the school year. So it was you know one or the other. We had quite a few people participate in that. We also had staff participating in crisis prevention intervention that they um because staff have to be some staff have to be certified in that. Um and then continuation with student learning. So one thing about student services, many of our students participate in ESY and those are our students who attend ESY in Mid Valley. We had

051a couple students um >> ESY is extended >> extended school year. Thanks Andy. I'm sorry about that. >> Um and also our private placement students um still attend school. So we have a lot of we have a lot of staff still working our preschool um early learning program. We also have to continue to evaluate students so that they can enter school upon their third birthday. So we participated they completed summary evaluations and that requires an entire team. Um so it was busy and it was and we're ready for the new year. I think we're ready for the new year. We are ready for the new year. >> Okay. >> Um so yeah, we covered um almost we covered elementary, middle school, and high school. We also did work with our AOP teachers. We have a

052couple new AOP teachers this year. So we had them come in and also align some of our SEAL and our executive functioning um for those programs as well. So, >> um, I would share that in terms of for GenEd, these are all of the areas that were represented. Um, I will share that there were several requests that were not able to be approved. There's always more than we have funds for, and Todd won't get me all the money I want, so I have to say no. Um, but we try to prioritize based on, you know, new curriculum that has been approved by the board, new initiatives the district is engaged in, and, you know, work that we're trying to get to the finish line. So that's how we prioritize that work. Um you know I

053asked the the participants you know to share like what what do they feel the benefits of summer curriculum work are. Um and so really they just overall they feel that you know it's that knowledge of the curriculum and being ready to hit the ground on day one uh with the students. So um that's what they've shared in that feedback. And then also, you know, what would they like the board to know about this time? And that, you know, you'll see really what was it about? The most prevalent thing it's about our students. So, again, I can't um express my appreciation enough for our staff that, you know, um even though compensated um really do truly give of their time and talent um throughout those summer months to ensure that they're prepared and ready to go

054for the new school year. So, any questions for either of us? >> Any questions, Stephanie? I just had a question about the executive functioning um PD. Was that something that was offered to all of our our teachers or just like the SEAL teachers or we focusing that in a specific area? >> So right now, so we've done executive functioning PD for all of our teachers at some point. Um we have been working off the Peg Dawson Peg Dawson's work and research >> down. There you go. That's better. Um so an overview but specifically for the smarts program that was very specific teachers. So we were um and we're going to we have one elementary building that's dabbling with that for some tier one work. Um but overall it's been um for our special programs and

055for our special education students. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> Sure. some of that SEAL work um and executive functioning work that uh they talked about um that some of our A lot teachers worked on right this summer. >> Yeah. >> Um that's at the middle school and high school level. >> Um and you know we've talked a lot about some SEAL and executive functioning things that are happening at the middle school and how there's some differences between the middle schools and some of that >> feeds into this conversation. So the those ALAP teachers aligning some things and looking at how maybe they could do some different supports for stu certain students um and to see how that compares with some of the other things that are already happening. >> Are we So I know

056like how the different middle schools align a little bit differently around the executive functioning. um have be we've been looking at what maybe all of our teachers kind of need around PD or education around that since it seems to be an area that our students are struggling with as a generational problem not necessarily >> absolutely and I think it's an area that is um it's very large you know when you think of executive functioning if I asked any one of us what's executive functioning it's hard to describe because it's a lot But if you look at Peg Dawson's work, there's 11 specific skills that break down executive functioning. And those skills build on each other. And so what we what we did um gosh, probably three or four years ago is we trained all the

057staff um at various levels on what those skills are. Now, Jade Majera is our behavior specialist for the district and she's also done a lot of work um individually in buildings with certain staff. So really kind of being able to define what does that mean for all of us? Um because it's such a large area, right? It's like reading. Well, there's so many components of reading and there's a scope and sequence to executive functioning as well and there's new research and new materials coming out all the time. So, um, and it's like you said, our kids' world is constantly changing and so how do we help them have strong executive functioning skills um, and teach them those skills? So, it is a big area and it's something we'll continue to work on as long as

058well as the social and emotional learning. >> Yeah, Dr. >> Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up because one of the things that um, unfortunately in the Okay. So, um as you acknowledge uh executive function is not just one thing. It's there we really should call it exe executive functions because it's more than one >> and unfortunately it gets kind of thrown into a a bucket of things. So, not to add more work. I've been in the school systems before, so I know you don't want to add more work to your work. You've done a commendable job. I can tell. Um, are you prioritizing which executive function is maybe those that may be more >> sure how you say I won't say preeminent but they may be more prevalent for what we are because some

059of this is environmental, some of it >> birth order you know so many things affect that. Well, I think first and foremost, the first skill is response inhibition, and I could show you videos on that. And that's being able, right, to >> um stop from responding. Um and that's the first skill. And if you don't have response inhibition, >> you know, you're probably not going to be able to have strong time management or you're probably not going to be able to have um self, you know, task initiation, right? So t and if you don't have task initiation, it's pretty hard to have time management. So we're really looking at where a student should be, right? So anyone between K kindergarten or preK and eighth grade, the frontal lobe of their brain isn't developed even to

060have the one of the highest skills, which is metacognition. So really kind of thinking through where those skills land, but certainly by different levels, we're focusing on more skills. So, at the middle school, we're focusing on, you know, task prioritization, learning how to time your task, learning how to think through, okay, if if I have these assignments, how long are they going to take? Um, estimating time, laying out what you're going to do, and those are all lessons for just breaking down tasks. Um, so kind of dep I'm going to go back to your question. It really depends on the level and the current the students individual functioning as well. this smarts program is that something that categorizes those things that you talk about >> and it aligns to Peg Dawson's work too. So, it's

061just more of lessons that are um for the staff. We've already developed a lot of our own lessons, so this will just be supplemental to support those students. >> Just one last question. And I know this kind of minutiae, but for those children that fall through the cracks and don't necessarily that peg does not exactly for them. What happens to those students? >> Well, we hope no one falls through the cracks and if we know someone's falling through the cracks, then we're looking at them individually and developing goals and supporting them through individualized instruction. >> It's there in this part of your behavioral problems and you don't have that sorted out. >> Yeah. the children they start developing self-esteem around age four and so they start evaluating themselves looking at other children why they are

062not like that and not keeping up so it's a big it's a big thing I'm just trying to sort that out in my head >> it's the whole child >> y >> all the domain areas so you know communication motor social emotional cognitive academic functional and it's you know that's the thing it's the whole child so Um, very exciting. Uh, very good, fun work. I enjoy this type of, well, I call it fun. Um, so we only have room to continue to grow and, um, meet the needs of all of our students. >> Anyone else? >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you. Lots of great things. >> Can I have that remote when you're done, Mrs. Okay, moving on to item number four, public comments. We do have a couple people who have signed up

063tonight. Um, if you don't mind going up to the podium so we can hear you and then get your voice on the recording and just state your name when you get up there, please. Um, Colleen Carrera. Okay. Do I say my address, too? >> You don't have to. You have it on here. >> Just your first and last name is great. >> I'm Colleen Carrero. I have two kids in the district. They're going into third and going into first at Williamsburg. And I'm here to express my deep concern about the current smart device policy in our district and its impact on our K through2 students. After my conversation with Dr. Barrett last week, I understand that the district aims to maintain a personal device-free environment for these grade levels. However, I have observed this policy

064is not being consistently enforced, which has led to confusion regarding boundaries and consequences. To effectively address this issue, I urge you to consider implementing clear district-wide policy regarding personal devices complete with standardized consequences for violations. Personal devices such as smart watches, AirPods, and cell phones should be restricted to ensure a focused learning environment from morning bell to afternoon bell. I propose that we establish specific and consistent consequences for students found with personal devices during school hours. Recently, an email from the principal of Geneva Middle School North emphasized the importance of keeping AirPods and other devices in their lockers. But it left me wondering, what are the specific consequences for non-compliance? Having clear and defined consistent consequences will not only support teachers in enforcing the policy, but also help parents fully understand and back up the

065district's approach. As a parent of children at Williamsburg, I have noticed that our recent communications have not included any guidelines regarding personal device policies or the qu consequences for having them outside of their backpacks. This lack of clarity has led to varying interpretations within the community and concerns about the enforcement. Consequently, the burden of policing this issue has now fallen on our teachers, which should not be their responsibility. The implications of smart devices in the classroom are significant and the statistics supporting the need and their elimination are alarming. I encourage everyone to read the book, The Anxious Generation, for valuable insights into this issue. Additionally, we can look to our neighboring district 303 for inspiration as they have successfully imp implemented effective K through8 policies through collaboration with their super superintendent committee that includes parents

066and students. Moreover, the United States Surgeon General emphasizes the importance of maintaining phone-f free classrooms and settings to enhance learning and social interactions. Thank you for attention to this critical matter. I look forward to working together to create a more focused and productive environment for our children. >> Thank you, K. >> And next we have uh Stephanie >> Amore. >> You haven't this whole You've been doing great. >> Don't jinx me. >> Um so thank you, Colleen. I am also in Oh, Stephanie Amore. You have my address. Um, my name is obviously Stephanie Amore. I'm a mother in the community. I actually live right down the street from you guys. Um, and I have two kids at Williamsburg. One is going into fifth grade. I loved her executive functioning speech. She struggles with executive functioning

067as well as my son is going into second grade. And so I am super passionate about mental health. I'll just share a little personal. Um, we have a slew of mental health that runs in our family. So it goes very deep for us. And so I know that when I first started this little movement of members in our community, it was because this topic is so sensitive to us. So one of the um first things we did as a group of moms, it honestly started with a bunch of Williamsburg mom because those are the people who I am closest with because I we go to that school. And so I had about 20 members of Williamsburg moms over not just because I'm not just because I know them. Um come over to my house. We

068read the book, The Anxious Generation, and if you haven't read it, I feel that every person in the school district, every person who's a parent should honestly read the book. It was eyeopening. And so there are four main principles of the book that I'm focused on. One obviously here today. The first is um no smartphones before high school. The second being no social media before age 16. The third is phone free schools. That's why I'm here today. And then number four is more play and independent play for children in our community. Um, one thing we established as a group of women up front is we are not looking to parent anyone's child. Your parent, the parent can decide how they want to police their phone and smartphone usage at home. What we want to do

069is talk to you today kind of about why we think phone free schools are important and why Geneva should consider it. Um I uh took out some statistics from the book just to share with you guys and the book kind of goes through um data on at 2010 versus the current state and where we're at. And the reason it focuses on 2010 is because the iPhone in which you and I know it today um the technology in your pocket that accesses the world is when that iPhone came out. There are obviously iterations before that. And so, um, some of these stats, I'll just read them for you so you can, um, take a look at them. They're in the book as well. And if you just Google the anxious, it's the anxious generation.com, you will

070see all these statistics in there. Um so research in the um okay so in percentage of US teens aged 12 to 17 who have reported at least one major depressive episode in the past year rose by 233% for girls from age 2000 or from time period 2010 to the current year of 2022 for boys in the same period this increased to 288%. So those are self um diagnosis of I feel um depressed um episode within a year. So the percentage of US undergraduates with mental illness from 2010 to 2019 anxiety rose by 233%, depression rose by 206% and ADHD rose by 172%. Not only is it just self-reported data, but it's also self harm and suicide. Emergency room visits increased in kids aged 10 to 14 from 2010 to 2022. Increased for girls four times

071over and boys 2.7 times over. Kids are being hospitalized more due to self harm. From 2008 to 2021, self harm hospitalizations, so more serious in nature if you're feeling hospitalized, rose by seven and a half times. The story for young boys and suicides aged 15 to 19 increased as well from 11.1% in 2010 to 15% in 2022. By 2015, one in five American teen girls use social media 40 hours per week. That's my full-time job is 40 hours. That would be on me being on social media. By 2023, more than 46% of teens report being online, quote unquote, almost all of the time. On average, our children spend 9 hours on a screen per day. Um, and then there the average notification a kid gets on their phone is every minute. I mean, I would

072have ADHD if I had a notification coming through every minute. And I'm an adult, right? These are children with not full frontal lobe development in their brain. So, what what we've done thus far, um we have a community of mothers from Williamsburg that like I said came to my house um hosted a book club. We're doing a book club of one book and we're on tour of it. And so, um three of my dear friends, Western Moms, had another book club that they hosted on the Anxious Generation to see if there was community support. um 20 people at my house, about 20 people at the Western Avenue one, and then on the in the first week of June, we hosted an event at Aurelio's where over 50 women RSUP to join. So, there is definitely

073a need for us to address this in our community. Um I am here and I know a lot of our supporters are here tonight to um want to address phone free phone free schools. I I honestly feel that we're behind the eight-ball based on the information we've received. District 303 St. Charles already has a policy in place that they're gonna deliver out. They have already sent messages. I have their presentation as well as um Hinckley Big Rock has a presentation as well from their district on saying what what their cell phone policies is. So I have two asks for you tonight. One is to create an advisory group similar to what St. Charles did including um people from the board, members of our community, parents, students, and teachers. I think that we can all benefit

074from this and work together. The second ask is um coming up like what Colleen said with a formal policy um so we are all on the same page both the school district as well as our community members to address um the phones and the smartphones in our schools and have consistent consequences from those. Thank you. >> Thank you very much. Okay, item number five is legislative updates. We uh as board members, we did receive uh communication from IASB that they have a 2024 end of session report. So, it gives you an overview of all the legislation that was proposed. It is pretty amazing that there are over 400 bills that were introduced that were just around education that they were tracking for us and keeping tabs on um making comments on and trying to help

075craft the language around these bills. So, a lot of work for IASB to go over this. I encourage you to take a quick look at the report and see what's out there. Uh they did mention that there will be um a digest of the bills that um have also been passed and are still pending that they said is coming out sometime this month in August. So once that comes out probably at our next meeting I'll be able to talk a little bit more about those. But you you can see a listing of those bills uh related to education that have passed both houses and are waiting either for the governor's signature veto. If nothing happens then in after 60 days after it's brought to his desk um then it gets passed as law. So some

076things out there. So that's all I have for legislative updates today. Item number six is our superintendent report. >> Yeah, thanks Jackie. So a few just a few topics to touch base on today. Um first obviously as we've um you know talked about a lot already today. Our school year is about to get underway and we have a new mission and vision and values that were developed out of our strategic plan. And so, as we've been kind of foreshadowing over the last several meetings this summer, our theme for the upcoming year is uh mission possible. A take on the mission impossible theme. Um and so um we're excited about that. Excited, as we heard, to be welcoming a lot of new staff this week and um preparing for uh everyone to return next week and

077get the year underway. Pretty excited about that. Um, as part of that vision, uh, mission, vision, and values process and that strategic plan development process, we've, um, updated our, um, district logo. So, here's the new updated district logo. This been through this has been through many iterations. um been through the communications task force as well, but wanted to share that uh with with this group today before it kind of you'll start to see it um kind of be unveiled slowly over time. It's hard to uh remember how many places your district logo is. And you know, remember we said our strategic plan is five years and it's probably going to take five years to make some of those changes. Um but uh so this is it. uh you know updated the font. It's got our

078new tagline, achieve excellence and empowered to succeed. That comes right from our vision. Um you know the shield is kind of a nod to our Viking mascot. The ribbon recre represents our academic pursuits and you know the knowledge and skills we know our kids need to have. Um and the laurel uh signifies excellence which uh you know has always been part of our vision. you know, we wanted to kind of update and transcend the tradition of excellence and just kind of be moving towards excellence and empowering kids. So, um, you'll start to see that, folks will start to see that out and about. Um, so along with our strategic plan, uh, you know, as I think I shared at the last meeting, over the summer, we've been working, uh, in some small groups to start

079talking about some long-term and shortterm goals, uh, that we're going to develop inside each of our four areas, remember, which is, you know, that community engagement like what we're doing today, uh, enrollment and staffing, which, um, you know, I'll have some information on in a minute with our demographic study, career and college pathways, and, uh, cultural competency. I still struggle with that cultural competencies um and making sure we're preparing our kids for uh to be successful in a diverse world. So, um we're likely to have some small teams and some focus groups that will focus on each of these goals and help us or each of these goal areas rather and help us set some of those short-term and long-term goals. some of our work this summer as we've been talking about this um you

080know and we we discussed this a little bit uh last year as we were developing this strategic plan um but a lot of our year one goals we foresee um being about gathering data and establishing philosophy about particular subjects you know to use the example of um uh co career and college pathways for example and we've talked several times I don't think it's any secret that um kind of expansion of maybe some career pathway programming and or expansion of maybe um uh dual credit courses is embedded in this. But you've really got to establish your philosophy of dual credit courses for example before you just start throwing them out there and adding them or it's not really doing what you want to do. So that's an example of what some of that work this year

081will be and obviously you know we believe that'll provide foundation for our progress uh in the year ahead. As I mentioned uh and as you know we've been working um with a consultant purchase service uh on the uh demographic study and just this past week we re received the draft update. He um we reviewed it. I actually spoke with him at length uh earlier this afternoon. Um and he's then going to finalize that and prepare a presentation that's going to come to the board in the community um that that he'll help with and we'll be able to use that data. So just some key facts kind of 30,000 foot view at this point. Um our enrollment decline as you know one of the reasons we initiated this is we've had an enrollment del a steady

082enrollment decline over the last you know more than a decade. um that does appear to be slowing and stabilizing. And if you look at the data, remember we use birth rates um or you know this he does some fascinating statistical analysis with birth rates that we'll review. Um that is slowing and stabilizing. That being said, seems pretty clear from the data we are not likely to see an increase back to our historical highs, right? So we should be stable. Um and you know we think that that is good news that we'll be we'll be stable. We we won't see a continued decline, but we and we might see a little increase, but we're not going to see an increase back to what our historical highs were um many years ago. There is some variability in

083the projections for our elementary boundary areas um and some surprising ones. Some of our schools that are uh might be a little bigger now could be a little smaller in 8 10 years. some of our schools that are a little smaller might be a little bigger in 8 10 years and so that's good data to have >> um as we can start to do some further analysis and planning around specifically around those elementary enrollment projections. So again, we'll we'll bring this back. We'll present it here to the board and to the community and then we'll like I said back here, right? We'll be in that place where we'll start to establish some foundational goals, get a foundation to to make a plan for the next few years on that. Uh and then last, I thought

084maybe we should talk about student cell phone use. Uh who knew? So I thought it'd be important to share since this subject has been out there so much um share a few things. One talk about the practices and expectations we have in our schools right now so that everybody can understand those um and then two talk about some of the ways you know we think even at this stage we could partner with parents in the community on this. Right. So, um, our practices, and we've talked a lot about this this summer, actually, we just talked about it, um, this past Thursday with our leadership team, um, all of our principles and assistant principles, uh, everybody together, right? So, um, at the elementary level, uh, I think you've heard this, cell phones, right? If and I

085would share candidly with everyone, um, obviously from the district is not encouraging kids to have these or to bring these, right? The district is not saying, "Hey, bring your cell phones to school." Um, but what the district is saying is if you have those at the elementary level, they need to be off and in your backpack during the school day. Can't have them, right? Um, practice at the middle school is the same except the locker comes into play. And I think you mentioned that, uh, you know, you're starting to get some communication from your principles about that. Uh, I would also add, as a tangent, these practices that we're talking about have been in place. Um uh generally speaking for a while at each of our uh schools, I will also candidly acknowledge um it's

086it's been a little gray some places and in some classrooms, right? And so part of our conversation this year is um kind of reaffirming with kids and our teachers and and everybody what our practices are and what our expectations are. So, um, again, elementary and middle school, we're not saying to bring them, but if you're going to bring them, you know, they need to be off and and put away during the school day. And at the high school, we implemented, you may remember a few years ago, um, uh, cell phone caddies upon entering class. Uh, our teachers in general would have said that, um, they had a varying degrees of success, uh, with that. I think one of the things we've talked a little bit about is um you know us having the ex setting

087that expectation more explicitly building wide and saying there's no gray area on this when you go into class this is where it goes. Um so again our admin administration at the high school is on board with that one and um going to be having those conversations with staff uh as the year rolls out. So that's where we're at right now on those practices when we think about um partnering with parents and with these devices. Again, we're not encouraging them. Um but also we recognize uh kids having these is in many ways out of our control, right? You know, uh so you know, I think one of the things we would ask from parents is help reinforce those school expectations. If parents in our community know what the expectation is, help us reinforce that. um and

088communicate about that uh with your kids, with your neighbors, with your friends. Uh that's that's what the school expectation is. I think another thing we would uh ask and encourage like we do with anything is help model those good practices at home and institute those good practices at home. Um I know often sometimes easier said than done, but I also know uh you know my wife said if I want my kid to eat broccoli, I better eat the broccoli at dinner too. So, you know, trying to trying to model those good habits um and set those boundaries. Um and then the third thing I would actually strongly encourage is thinking about and and looking at management and monitoring practices and tools with your own kids, right? Um there are a lot of tools to be

089able to uh you know control and manage this for your own own kid and I would really encourage families to do that. Um, you know, I know I think of my son. Um, I talk about him in these all the time, but he Thank God he doesn't watch it because I'm sure it would make him mortified that I'm always talking about him. Um, but, you know, as he's gotten older, starting senior year, the things that worry me most are the things that I'm not in control of, right? That I can't control. I can't control how he is behind that wheel. I can't control what his friends are telling him might be a good idea. You know, those are the things that concern me a lot. Um, and for better or worse, one of the good

090things about this is this is 100% in our control, right? This is 100% in my control. And so, I think one of the things I would strongly encourage families to to think about is not only just modeling those habits, but implementing some of those management and and monitoring practices and tools with your kids if they are going to have devices. um because that helps us uh that helps reinforce everything, right? And if you don't want your kid to use it during the school day, well, first off, you could not give them one, right? But the other thing you could do is have it so it's set be turned off and and not work, right? So, um there are features that we can we can put in place that I think will help some of this

091as well. So, we do recognize that um there's a lot of conversations about this and we're going to have to keep having conversations about this subject for sure um you know this year and and moving into the future and we'll see how some of our practices are working um as we make a more kind of concerted and concrete effort about that. Um, and you know, I've had conversations with a few folks and I'm happy to have conversations with with anyone about that and I know our our school leaders are are happy to do that, too. So, do reach out if you want to talk more. Happy happy to do that at any time. >> Andy, can I just ask one thing? >> Sure. >> So, um, sometimes throughout the school year, we offer different trainings

092to parents and I know in the communication task force we talked about potentially using a new system for that. Some of those management and monitoring practices might be a topic that parents might need a little help on because they know there's a lot of different options out there. Not everyone's sure of what they are or honestly sometimes parents aren't as techn like technology savvy as the kids are. So, it could be an area we help in one of those trainings. >> Yeah. Yeah. I think we've looked at See, I told you need to I know I'm leaning in but need to keep my hands behind my back. Um, I think that we've uh uh we've talked about some of those things that we could do as part of our community engagement piece. Yeah. >> But

093we can also um there's a wide variety of presentations and community activities that we could do kind of around this subject that I think would be helpful. So, I think we'll probably ask the communications task force and maybe a small group um who's looking at some of those community engagement goals to help us look at some of those things. That's a good question or a good idea. Uh, okay. And then last, I just want to highlight um it's been a while since we last met, and I just want to share uh some gratitude um to our our local first responders um and our community partners. Um you know, we are constantly focused on uh safety and and um making sure our schools are as safe as they can be for kids and for the community.

094Um Mr. Baker who's here tonight um you know, obviously that's a big part of what he does. Um, and we've had some great things happen this summer. So, we're making some enhancements um, you know, kind of across the district with equipment and tools and some things like that that Tim's helped us get going. Um, we're we're continuing to have and refine our safety training for staff. That's that all revolves around the standard response protocol. Um, you know, we've shared here before, there's a lot of great videos online about that if you're interested in checking those out. Um, but the idea is to kind of be clear and consistent and plain so everyone knows what to do um, if if there's a need to have an emergency. Um, and we've also had an opportunity a lot

095to collaborate with community partners and first responders on safety issues. Um, you know, we meet regularly with police and fire and all that stuff and and had some opportunities to do some of that this summer. We also partnered with them. Um, you know, they conducted an advanced first responder training this summer, a few weeks ago that was um, a couple of us had the opportunity to go and and be kind of observers as they did this. And um, I'm very grateful that they're here. I'm very grateful that they're here. So, it's really cool that we're working with them. And I think we're going to be able to probably work with them to do some more of those. Uh just making sure that our schools are as safe as they can be. So pretty good stuff.

096So that's all I have for today. >> All right. Thank you. Does anyone have any other follow-up questions? >> No. >> Okay. Thank you for your thorough report today. >> Brevity is not my gift as you. >> Okay. Okay, moving on to item number seven, which is our board dialogue topics and pending action consideration. We have a number of policy updates for the second reading. Uh the first one is policy 240, board member qualifications. Policy 250 is board member term of office. Policy 260 is board member removal from office. Policy 2 140 is communications to and from the board. Uh, exhibit 21 140E, guidance for board member communications, including email use. Policy 420, fund balances. Policy 4110, transportation. Policy 535, compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act. 540 is the Communicable and Chronic Infectious Disease.

097Policy 640 is curriculum development. Policy 6185 is remote educational program. These were brought to us at our July 15th meeting for a uh first reading. These policies have been reviewed by the administration and by the policy committee. They are being presented at this time for our second reading and adoption. Um our policy committee chair is Stephanie. Do you have anything you want to um talk about on these policies? >> Um nothing very specific. Most of these policies were just under review. So, a good chance for us to look at those, make sure that they're covering everything we want to, and have any questions answered or make sure we're following the policy. I think a couple of things did come out around the different communication pieces that we did answer um at the last meeting and

098then in between. So, um since then, no other questions. I think we're set to approve them if everyone is good and doesn't have any questions now. >> Does anyone have any further questions on these policies? Okay. Do I have a motion to approve the policies as presented? So moved. >> Second. Second. >> Stephanie. >> I >> All right. Thank you. Item number eight, work study topics and future action consideration. We don't have anything there. So, moving on to item number nine, information. Uh in our packet tonight was the board meeting presentation schedule and the foyer requests and board correspondence since our last meeting. No action needed on there. It's presentation only. Item number 10 is our consent agenda. We have a number of things on the agenda tonight. I'll just read through them. We have

099our personnel report, resignations, retirements, leave requests, changes in assignment, FTE, and new hires. Item two, gri gifts, grants, bequests, $1,000 from Ken's Auto Center for sponsorship donation for the GHS Vox X 2024 car wash. Number three, gifts, grants, bequests, $2,000 from Ball Horicultural Company for sponsorship donation for the GHS Horiculture Club. Number four is gifts, grants, bequests of $1,500 for raising Kane's chinket and fingers for the GHS athletics team supplies and uniforms. Number five, gifts grants bequests $2,500 from Bears Care for GHS to start an IHSA girls flag football team. Number six is gifts grants bequests of $1,500 from Elbert Mark Elurn Market, Inc. for GHS athletics team supplies and uniforms. Number seven is gifts grants bequest of $500 from rookies/village squire a sponsorship donation for the ghs vox x 2024 car wash number eight

100is disposition of verbatim record of closed meetings January 2022 through December 2022 and item number nine is the superintendent's contract does anyone have any seven >> did I skip seven >> I think you just switched um six and seven >> okay >> sorry >> I'm from the computer. But >> oh, >> you covered them all. >> It looks different than the picture. >> That's what happens to Larry. >> Yeah, it does happen. So I just went with this and that Bonnie so kindly printed for me. So okay, does anyone have any of these items that they want to pull off from the consent agenda? >> If not, does anyone make um would like to make a motion to approve our consent agenda? So move >> second. Willer >> I >> Stephanie >> I >> Okay

101through that item number 11 is board member comments and reports. Molly, I'll start down with you. It's a little lonely on this side of the table. >> That's what I was saying. >> Room to spread out. >> We like you. I promise. >> Um yeah, a few things. One, um Todd, thank you as always for your hard work with the budget. I appreciate all that goes into that. um to Ann and Shet for your presentation uh today too. I I really enjoy hearing about what is happening behind the scenes and how we're supporting our teachers in their efforts to support our students and I think that's always really great to hear. Um I caught on, speaking of time on social media, um I caught on social media today. I know we have the 45 new

102teachers that started three of which are alumni from Geneva. I thought that was really cool. So so glad to see it come full circle and have them come back and now teach the next generation of potential teachers. Um I was out and about in the community, saw the Geneva dance team out there fundraising. So it just reminded me that we are really gearing up for the new school year that all of our clubs and extracurriculars are getting together and working as a team to fundra and and get the year started. So kudos to everybody out there doing that work. um to our public comments this evening. We don't get a lot of those. So, thank you for coming and sharing your thoughts. I'm a mental health counselor. I ran on the platform of mental health

103and it's topics like this that are near and dear to my heart. Um the anxious generation. I am very wellversed in that text and many others. So, please know that you were heard this evening and it's something that I'm intrigued to know a little bit more. I don't know if we can get a copy of the St. Charles policy just to kind of compare >> I'm sure but I meant like if you could distribute it to all of us but I would certainly take whatever you have to um because I think it's really helpful for us to know what our um neighboring communities are doing and the efforts that are being made but um >> kudos to the groups that you all have formed and getting together. I think the efforts are um appreciated you

104know on a small scale and a big one because I think it's movements like that that make the change. So, thank you for your comments this evening. Um, and just all the best to everybody as we gear up for the school year. >> Thank you, Willard. >> Yeah, I want to echo that. I appreciate the public comments. Uh, my background is in my PhD rather. Uh, that part is in neuroscience. So, when I read articles or and I've actually reviewed part of the book, not read the whole thing. I've read the peer-reviewed papers that some criticize and some don't, you know, but it's good to have perspective and understand how these things work. And of course, I I would be I'm not trying to throw my hat in the ring, but I would be interested

105in some of those discussions because it's important to understand that when we talk about rewiring the brain, it's it's really kind of um popular science. I put it that way. One of the things that we have to be careful of is that we can't look at some things that are necessarily happening in our society and say it's causation because of something else. So I'd be really interested in engaging in that. I mean from my different perspective maybe but uh I was really intrigued and very encouraged to hear these discussions are taking place because um the fact of the matter is that we have children that are influenced by so many things that in that same time period around 2010 we had to understand that there were some children who were going through some kind of

106stressful depression issues because of the drop in 2008 the depression many depression we call it that parents losing their jobs, you know, and what do you do to occupy that, you know, vacuum? So, I think it's important for us to look at the big picture. I'd be very interested to hear those discussions and understand how this takes place because one of the things I have to be careful of and I'm just going to throw this out there. Um, some of these writings, you know, we have to be careful because fear is a great motivator for doing some things and not doing some other things. There's a old adage that goes f a r. I spelled it correct. is false evidence appearing real. And so we have to be careful that what may appear to be

107uh something may not be that. So uh just make sure we don't make our decisions based out of fear but on facts. So it's a good thing. That's my 39 cent. >> Thank you Stephanie. Um, so last month, shortly after our meeting, the communications task force met and we had a really great robust meeting where we talked about the strategic plan and the communicate community engagement portion of that and kind of how we can help as the communication task force, some ideas that Andy and the district has around that. So just a really great discussion around um some aspects of the communication t of the strategic plan and how we will be rolling that out. In addition, we got the sneak peek to the logo. So, kind of fun to get to see that presented

108to everyone here. We also had a really productive discussion around communication as a whole. So, something we spent a lot of time last year on is communication directly from the district and what that looks like. So, we did a lot of things last year to streamline that so that we can help parents um have a one-stop shop for communication. And we've gotten feedback on that and things seem to be going really well with our new communication in that method. And now we're looking at that across all our schools at all the different levels and how many how much email is coming out, how many different forms of communication do we have at each individual school level, what consistency should we have, and what kind of guidelines should we have around that. Um, so just really

109good discussions and next steps to be taken around figuring out what that looks like and that's part of a piece of the strategic plan as well. Thank you to all of our presenters today. Ted, thanks for all your hard work on the budget always. and then Janette and Anne, that was really great. It was nice to hear about everything that's happening over the summer. I know it's a really busy time and never a true break for anyone, but it's just exciting to hear as our kids develop differently, as education continues to grow to hear how we're meeting, we're trying to meet those aspects, too. So, thank you so much. And then thank you to our on&m teams. I know not just, you know, all the big capital projects that are going on. a lot of

110great things a lot at our home, my elementary home school of H Heartland. A lot of great things there, but also just the dayto-day extra projects that have to happen over the summer that can't happen when when kids are there. So, >> have you gotten to see the floor in there yet? >> I got to see it before it was all done. So, now I'm excited next week to get to go and see finished project. So, it'll be great to see. And then thank you to all of our public commenters tonight. I think something that is really valuable for the board to hear is from different members of our community and getting to hear what you're thinking about and how what we're doing whether it's at our meetings in our committees or at the district

111level is is what it looks like for your kids and at your for your family. So, thank you for coming and sharing with us. It really helps us put everything into perspective. >> Thanks. I don't have a lot to uh add tonight. I can't remember if I talked about this last time. Our tour that we took at the high school, the three of us, we got to go um what I called the bowels of the high school. I requested to go see the basement and we got to see um actually the boilers and everything before they took it out and replaced it with the new system. Uh we also got to walk around as some of the the tunnels, as we'll call them, under the school. And then we walked outside to go over to

112the um other building there that um was producing some of the power and what we were using. So it was >> The boiler house. I see. Yeah, I knew I was going to get the name wrong, but that was really a great tour that we got to go and see all of that. And uh I told Dr. Barrett, maybe when the new systems in we can take another tour and see how it's changed in there because they hadn't um they were still on the current system now. So, that was probably the most exciting thing I have done in a long time to go and do that. Uh, and now I feel like I missed out. >> Did I see the back? >> You You didn't ask to see the Batcave. >> I had a specific

113ask. >> Jackie specifically said, "I've seen all the other stuff. I want to see the bowels." I think that's the exact words she used. >> I'm picturing like Phantom of the Opera kind of tunnel. Is that >> Adam was down there in a half mask? It was all Yeah. >> We were thinking of filming some Mission Possible stuff there. It wasn't a good place to build some Disneyland. Huh. >> Yeah. We learned how they brought in some of the equipment through this this >> I don't know shaft up there. Then they told me that I had to climb up the shaft being a board member. It was we had a good time. So >> we'll go and do that again. So yeah, I didn't talk about this last time. I'm glad I brought it up.

114>> Yeah. >> Uh to our public commenters tonight, thank you for coming. It's not easy to come to the board meeting and do public comment. It's not easy to go in and talk in front of anyone anywhere. And I'm glad that you brought up some of the the issues that are in the news right now and it's it's good to hear your perspective in that you've are organizing and talking about things. Uh I I can tell you that the practices that are in place, our students know ways around them. >> My daughter told me that at the high school they just have fake phones they put in the phone. So um I think it gets to what Dr. Barrett was talking about that we need to talk at home and what we're doing at home.

115I know. It is pretty funny that they have the they figured out >> a burner I think is technically what they call a burner. >> If they watch the wire >> for all their spy missions. >> Yeah. A burner. >> Yeah. But we have to address the the the the um watches as well and the earbuds. And it's more than just that. So that's where the partnership comes in where we're working together and talking about ways where we can set those parameters at home, the expectations at home because it does help us because they're going to do what they want to do. It's kind of like certain websites. they know ways around whatever we try and put up for the for them to be safe. So, thank you for coming tonight and bringing this up

116and bringing that discussion to our district and we'll keep talking about it here. So, that's all I have. Thanks. >> All right. Uh we have no notices or announcements. So item number 13, we do have uh reason to go into executive session to consider matters pertaining to litigation when an action against affecting or on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal or when the public body finds that an action is probable or imminent in which case the basis for the finding shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting and then references to these statutes. Um so we are going to go into close session. and I will ask you um to kindly leave. We do not have any other uh

117business after our close session. We will be adjourning. So, thank you again for coming.