001I call to order the June 18th, 2025 special meeting of the board of education at Gil Township High School District 86. We are meeting the district administrative center. The time is 6:08 p.m. Deb, will you please call role? Member Greenspun here. Member Fischer here. Member Ma here. Member Aris here. Member Leco here. Member Satchwell here. Member Waters here. Please stand if you are able and join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The board will now read audience comments for up to a total of 45 minutes. Speakers will have three minutes to address the board. Board meetings are meetings of the board held in public, not open
002forum town hall meetings. Board members will not engage the public during public comment. The board will keep this in mind as we conduct their meetings, allowing the public to provide input and the time allotted on the agenda to ensure that multiple voices of community inform board deliberations. When the board deliberates, it will be a time for the board to listen and learn from each other, taking a public input into consideration, not a time to re-engage with the public. The board will consistently abide by our formal processes related to this issue so that all persons are treated fairly and equal equally. Our first speaker is Linda Burke. Hi, I um Tasha made such a wonderful case for her prospective exchange student. I think this is a very mainstream practice. It's been going on forever and it's
003good for everyone concerned and I'm looking forward to seeing the board just get it done. Thank you. Our next speaker is Casha. Hi. I just want to say thank you. I don't really anything else. I feel like I've had a lot of support and I feel I don't know. Everybody's busy in their lives and the fact that you took today and said, "Okay, I'm gonna come and do something special because I said it was important." I think that's important. Also, I got an email today from Dr. Lock and Deb giving me the things should be approved that would need to be given to them and I got every single thing today. So, yeah, I just want to say thanks. Also, I've learned a lot about the how this stuff works. Don't ask questions. Do you
004want a job teaching civics? No. Moving on to discussion items. Uh 2.1 policy 7150 school admissions student transfers to and from non-district schools for exchange. In response to community member requests for review of the district's policy requirements for foreign exchange students on a J1 visa to pay tuition, the policy committ committee review policy 7450 at their June 2nd, 2025 meeting. The policy committee recommended that the board suspend the tuition requirement and accommodate um interest in hosting foreign exchange students according to criteria developed by the superintendent for the 2526 school year. Additionally, the policy committee recommended review of policy 750 for a permanent policy change, including establishing criteria for foreign exchange students enrolled in a process that aligns with the district staffing and sectioning processes. The board discussed the recommendation with policy committee and their interest
005in suspending the admission requirement at their June 12th, 2025 committee of the whole meeting. The board will again discuss the policy 7130 requirement to charge J1 visa student exchange students tuition suspending the tuition requirement and other criteria for foreign exchange student enrollment and we'll consider action for closing. Is there any discussion? Does anybody have any outstanding concerns? I think we're pretty good. Can we just have an update? Yeah. Sorry, Bar. Oh, I was just going to say I think we're pretty good on most. We're we're clear on what the criteria are. They're reasonable. They're it's matches up to what um what we're calling the special session for as a sense that I get, but maybe we can just kind of review what we're explicitly saying. We're suspending the tuition requirement and for you know uh
006only that and then we have a couple of requirements as well. So, I think that what tonight hopefully that we're going to take action on suspending J1 student tuition. Mhm. Right. Um and there was some misunderstanding about as to whether or not we were getting reimbursed by any governmental agency and we are now. uh Josh Stevenson let us know anything that was really the only concern that anybody had. Did anybody have you know I was a little confused about the history. I appreciated um former board member Eric Held clarifying that even at the time it wasn't a discussion item. the the board may or may not have realized that they were implementing a policy to charge tuition. And that perspective helped me appreciate that this might have just been an accident from the perspective of
007the board back then and that this fixes an accident that might have been made. We all value diversity at our schools and this is another way to add diversity to our schools in a helpful way. So, I'm excited about this. Do we know if it was an accident or not? We I don't think we know, but what we heard is from I mean someone who was on the board saying that it wasn't a discussion topic. Eric's comments were that this might have just been an oversight or his but it had to make it through a policy change. I would imagine a consent agenda or something. It's it's not clear. People involved don't have a recollection of doing this on purpose. So or it's not press language. We deviated from press language. press language says do
008not charge J1 student visas. So, so as the chair of the committee, did did you take the time to go back and find out how that happened with respect to a prior board meeting? I haven't heard anything that definitively says how did we come to that that change? I haven't heard anything that's what you sent today, right? the history. Uh I tried yes um to uh reconstruct uh the the history in 20 what I believe happened um or how the policy was updated in 2020. the district completed a uh policy manual customization process and the first step in that process is to sit down with um a representative from my ASB and answer a series of questions that then they um create from that your draft policy manual and then you review that one by
009one by one. I believe in that first meeting we were probably asked that question and the alternate press language was inserted. Um and so then when the policy came through um I I guess it it what you're reporting is and what it seems is that that question and the connection to the policy was not clear to to everyone. The policy has been reviewed again since. Um, but when you're looking at press issue updates, if that piece of it isn't impacted by law, it's not that part is not necessarily reviewed. You're focused on what's the new language that's being added based on the change in the the law. Um, so I think I tried to uh collect the the different history. I I don't have that series of questions. I couldn't find that. I could reach
010out to IASB and ask them. Um, but I think that is is how it happened. So, I didn't mean to report new items. I was referring to a David Giuliani article that quoted a board member, Eric Held, who said from his perspective as as someone on the board, this wasn't a discussion topic. It was my read of what he said and that this may just have been an oversight. I think regardless right now, I think what's important is that we're just kind of moving ahead and um um for me personally and just from beyond um our community members advocating and I appreciate all the advocacy. Uh this is just something that as I share it personally, my own personal family, we've hosted international students. I think this is such a great way to bring in
011as you said Bobby um not just diversity but how do we build build bridges? how do we create that holistic community of various individuals and how do we support people um who are coming from other nations and uh I'm sure we're all going to see what's going on in the world. So I'm really excited that this is an opportunity for us in our own community of how do we build those bridges with others. So, and also for clarity, the uh this the set of questions that were answered in 2020, I think you said 2020, right? Um who answered the set of questions? Was it the policy committee chair? It it was the policy committee chair, the superintendent and I were in the room with the ISB coordinator. Um there was a whole series of materials
012we had to have with us for that conversation. um including you know historical policy and uh current policy manual and whatnot. Um but like I said when I went back I couldn't find the actual questions. I could find all the logistics of just so everybody understands if we're going to do some type of customization it will be the policy chair the superintendent. Yep. And but correct me if I'm wrong. Any policy change has to go from the board through correct but you it's not actually drafting the policies. It's answering a series of questions so that um press can uh customize the but the press maintenance in point is to not to charge that cohort of students our policy maintain otherwise right because they customize and what I'm asking to you Deb is that shift or
013pivot by our board in 20 was that approved 14 yes so it had to been because otherwise it would have been a policy but that's that's my point but it could have been approved as part of like a global customization. So it may not have been talked about individually. Yeah. Correct. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Cuz you know I think I remember how that was in marker. You know you approve the customized policy. It's just important that we know that so we don't make the same mistake. Yeah. Agreed. Yeah. Make a right job. If my if my understanding is right and those I feel like it was 42 or 43 questions are specifically related to press alternate language. I mean, maybe it would be beneficial to request our responses back from my ASB and verify that all
014the alternates are what we want. 100%. I think it's something that would be something that for policy, right? I just wonder how many families and we're hearing from one tonight have missed the opportunity because they saw that in our language which for access to our district for 5 years. Well, I think we have some information on that. There's only been a couple of inquiries this year. This year and this year, you know, she shared some of the history of other requests over the years. Yeah. So, there have been a handful. Yeah. Yeah. So, this is something we should address as soon as possible. I I think, you know, the key piece here is our criteria to make sure that we do this in a way that is sensible and equitable and fiscally responsible and protects,
015you know, the district resources. But to me, there's there's lots of ways to do that. So, anything else? Uh, may have a motion to suspend the tuition charge requirement for foreign exchange students on a J1 visa listed in policy 750 for the 2526 school year. So, second motion second. Is there any discussion? Then will you please call roll? Yes. Member Greenspun. I. Member Fischer. Hi. Member Mtha. Hi. Member Aris. Hi. Member Leak. Hi. Member Satchwell. Hi. Member Waters. Hi. Motion carries. Second 7. 3.2. Establish criteria for 2526 foreign exchange student. May I have a motion to establish a limit for acceptance of two foreign exchange students and direct administration to set a minimum total or equivalent proficiency test score requirement for the 2526 school year. May I have a motion? Uh so moved. Second is
016there. Okay. Motion uh Mayor Leak second. Satchwell. Is there discussion? Just for clarification, is that two total across the district or is it two at central and two at South? I think it's two total for this coming school year. Will you please call? Member Fischer. Hi. Member Mtha. Hi. Member Aris. Hi. Member Lee. Hi. Member Satcha. Hi. Member Waters. Hi. Member Greenspun. Hi. Carry 7. May I have a motion to adjourn to close session for the discussion under exceptions by ILCS 122C1, the appointment, employment, capitalization, discipline, performance or dismissal of specific employees, specific individuals, service and employment contractors in the park, recreational or educational setting or specific volunteers of the public body, or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on an incident lodged against an employee, a specific individual who serves as
017an independent contractor in a park, recreational, or educational setting or volunteer of the public body or against legal counsel from the public body to determine its validity. However, meeting to consider an increase in compensation to a specific employer public body that is subject to the local government wage increase transparency act may not be closed and shall be open to the public and posted and held in accordance with this act and 5 LCS 122C11 litigation when an action against affecting or on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is pending before 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. May I have a motion?
018So move waters second. Motion waters second. Is there any discussion? Please call RO. Member Greenspun. Hi. Member Fischer. Hi. Member Mitha. Hi. Member Aris. Hi. Member Lea. Hi. Member Satchwa. Hi. Member Waters. Hi. Motion carries seven. The board will now adjourn close session. The board will not take action following the close session. Thank you for coming. The time is 6:59 p.m. and the board now reconvenes the open session of the June 18, 2025 special meeting. Uh with no further discussion, the June 18, 2025 special meeting is adjourned at 700 p.m. Thank you.