001Check. Check. Check. One. Check. Check. Check. Check. Check. Check. What did I say? You know what? I have two daughters. Megan, if you write down the And this is the actual reopening. Got it. I will now call back to order the Lake Forest School District 67 Board of Education meeting for February 24th, 2026. May I have a roll call, please? Miss Ingleberg >> here. Mr. O'Donnell >> here. >> Miss Fitzgerald >> here. >> Mr. Lavin >> here. >> Miss Yan >> here. >> Mr. Burgerer >> here. We have a quorum. >> Good evening. I invite all members of the board, administration, and community to stand at attention facing the flag with their right hand over their heart to recite the pledge of allegiance. Okay, so we are going to start tonight with the um district
002leadership report. I will turn it over to Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Fitz Simmons. >> Thank you so much. Tonight we are covering uh numerous topics. We have not talked together or met since December. So we have wonderful things to share um across both districts. actually tonight uh some some celebrations and some insights that I think that you'll appreciate learning more about. First thing I'll touch on is that we had a time at the National Conference on Education. It was in Nashville this year and it um created an opportunity for us to learn together, present together. There is a podcast that you can see us recording on measuring what matters where we had a podcast a national podcast wanting to know about the work that we're doing in both districts on improving academic success. Uh I
003was on a panel talking about leading through crisis and um then another presentation on uh what it means to lead in uh today's society. So, it was a time to showcase our work and also learn from our colleagues across the country and steal some great ideas. I'll kick it over to Dr. V Simmons. >> And speaking of measuring what matters, we are excited to share a little bit of a teaser of our assessment report that will be coming out in March. We have just, if you remember, switched our assessment suite from fall to winter. And we now in switching to the next slide, you can see that we have some exciting news to share. And I'm only going to highlight one grade. And this is because last year we put a spotlight on some of
004our areas that we needed to grow in. Fifth grade math was one of those areas that we spent the year looking at deeply. And I'd just like to celebrate the intentional work at DPM, the work of the coaches, the building leaders, all of the teaching and learning work around fifth grade math. many in in many changes even staffing and I would like to share that we can celebrate our achievement this winter put us in the 88th percentile for that achievement with some really nice growth so just a huge shout out to that building and to that team more to come on March 17th >> thank you Dr. Fitz Simmons Dr. Dr. Le Ali and I have been on our uh community engagement tour. Uh these are annual events that we do in partnership with 67
00565 and 115. On the lefth hand side we did a presentation to the newcomers club of Lake Forest and Lake Bluff. And then we are thrilled that we had our realator breakfast. This time we added the chamber of commerce, community partners where we gave a state of the school update and it was uh widely attended even on an exceptionally snowy day and I was thrilled to be able to answer questions from our realators and our chamber um as we continue this state of improvement. We are also committed, deeply committed to educating our community on how uh we are fiscal stewards of taxpayer dollars and we started a series you may remember called Beyond the Budget. The latest edition, the tax levy edition which explains the cycle um is covered by our resident star Dr. Hermus
006and I will move because she's thrilled that her picture is on the screen right now. Uh the next thing on the topic of disc next topic to discuss is our living our portrait event that's happening this Monday upcoming Monday March 2nd from 9:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the LFHS library. This is the first time that we've brought together those individuals and some new ones uh to talk about our portrait of a learner, our strategic plans. Uh we are now in year three of the strategic plan work and we want insight from our community on years four and five and where we should be putting our energies. The national nutrition this is national nutrition month and we are going to have the opportunity in partnership with our AP and our quest food management services to
007provide um opportunities for students to try new foods particularly our superpower or superfoods. Uh so we're excited as students experiment and give us insight on what they are um looking for in their lunch experience. >> Dr. Fitz Simmons on the working tech group. >> Yes, thank you Dr. Montgomery. The district 67 technology working group is an intentional engagement with our community around technology, different research, different trends, and it's always datadriven and informed from what we're looking at in 67. Some of the conversations that we had today with our committee was that ongoing discussion about what are the devices we are going to be using to support our future ready learners. We also did talk not on here but we spoke about YouTube and how we've restricted some access for our students to tighten that up.
008And then another big discussion we had and I'm really looking forward to this is our engagement with different stakeholder groups across the community and our um schools on AI and what will that look look like? We're going to be starting out with the the question a guiding question about what does responsible and impactful use of artificial intelligence look like in district 67 and how can it really advance our portrait of a learner for our students preparing them for high school and beyond. Our first group we're going to be starting with is the portrait of a learner learner group on March 2nd and we will be presenting more on where those trends and that information take us. So more to come on that. >> Thank you so much. We had the uh spelling bee competition on
009January 28th. We had nine students participate in in over 20 rounds and Olivia White was our winner and the word was safari. I sounded like a sp some kind of like a radio host at that moment. I don't know why I did. I'm sorry. Uh, I liked it. That was great. [laughter] Around the district, we have had so many exciting things. Uh, the first thing I'll highlight, and it was in the opening picture was when Mark Wood, an original member of the Trans Siberian Orchestra, partnered with our orchestras across both 67 and 115. An incredible celebration of the arts. You can see our Everett serial dominoes challenge. Our lunar new year, the year of the horse. Uh, second city improv came to help our eighth graders out at DPM. We had visiting scientist uh from
010the sky dome. We had our fifth six Dr. Hershey um led a music show. And then we had uh the AP helped us bring in the playmakers for all of our fourth graders. It was held at Everett where they performed uh plays that our students actually created. So, it was a great way to celebrate. I think Monik and I were both there that day. Um and it was fun for the kids to see their work come to life with these actors and we're excited to be there. Quick referendum update. Uh we opened new English classrooms. About half of them opened up after winter break. There's a tremendous amount of work in the fall to make that happen. And as soon as those opened, we took over another section of the building to take I think
011another six or seven English classrooms that are underway right now. They're actually almost done. Uh they will open after spring break and then they'll take another area of the building over um to start for work post spring break into summer. Remember, summer is our busiest season of construction and there will be much more celebrations um as we head into the warmer months as um our population of construction workers will elevate back up to probably a hundred on campus in any given day. So, you'll see a flurry of work both exterior and interior. You can see a construction update. We recorded a construction update instead of doing bringing everybody in. So, it's like on demand uh construction update that you can see with a QR code and then some scout reflections which I'm terribly proud of
012which is our students reflection on the new space and the experience of how it's impacting their educational environment. Some upcoming events, there are many. It seems like every night there's 10 things that um we all could be going to and still missing a few. Our joint board coffee, we move the date. It's tomorrow night at 5:00 p. a.m. at the high school. And immediately following that at 6 p.m. we have our student uh board mixer with both 67 65 and 115 spring musical coming up with Guys and Dolls. And for our eighth grade parents, very important night uh is our LFHS 101. And that is Monday night after our portrait of a learner experience. So no um no um no rest for the weary right now. Um, we are in the race to spring and
013we're excited about everything that's happening. That concludes our report. If you have any questions, I certainly would be happy to answer them. >> All right. Thank you so much um Dr. Fitz Simmons and Dr. Montgomery. There's a lot of exciting things going on to start off the year. So, thank you for all of your hard work. All right. We are going to move on. The board will now hear public comment subject to board policy 2230. The Lake Force Board of Education welcomes public attendance and participation at all meetings. It is hoped that by utilizing these guidelines, participation will be maximized both in terms of fairness and organization. There will be two opportunities for public participation. This opportunity is limited to only items listed on this evening's agenda. Please hold all other comments for the second
014opportunity for public participation later in the meeting. Seeing is there. Are there any members of the public who would like to address the board? Seeing none, we will move on to liaison reports starting with the true north um report from Greg. >> I have no report. >> And the next one was a legislative liaison and Mark's not here. Did he send a report or no? Okay. All right. >> I had something quickly about True North. Uh that we switched the format where now the executive committee is meeting monthly made up of superintendent. That monthly meeting is happening tomorrow and then March 18th is the exec is the um governing board meeting. We are still working through the reorganization which is resulting in 100 reductions of FTE or personnel. Those individuals will be notified in the
015coming weeks as we work to reimagine what true north is. So, it is still moving along in a slow and thoughtful process, but it is a difficult time for many of those employees as we look at what True North will look at for next school year. Um, the the dual superintendent that are running it or executive directors, Jim and Jimmy, are um, if I may be candid, lights out amazing, and I'm thrilled that they're with us and hope they stay with us for a long time. Uh, we are still meeting weekly as a reorganization committee. So, I had that meeting this morning at 8 a.m. and we're getting closer to the finish line and I'm proud of the work that everyone is doing to make it possible to keep that open. >> When when do
016you hope to have that all decided or when do they hope to? So the the the structure and leadership started January 1, those changes and then next school year we will have a hundred less FTE and a much more streamlined and then the second year there will be a second reduction on some of the program that we have specifically the transitions program that they're running which is our students 18 to 22 that will happen um the second year of the reorg and then we'll be complete at that Moving on to action items. Um, our first action item is the acceptance of the 2024 2025 annual financial audit. Um, we are going to make a motion to table that audit until March. Um, because our auditor is actually sick with the flu and was supposed to
017present to us earlier. Um, and so we're going to have move that to next month. So, may I have a motion to table the 2024 2025 annual financial audit to next meeting in March? >> So, move. >> Any discussion? >> May I have a second? >> Second. >> Roll call, please. Mr. Adamo. >> Yes. Miss Yan, >> yes. >> Miss Ingleberg, >> yes. >> Miss Fitzgerald, >> yes. >> Mr. Burgerer, >> yes. >> Mr. Lavin, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Second action item, approval of the Lake County School Mutual Aid Response Team Intergovernmental Agreement. May I have a motion to approval of Lake County School Mutual aid Response Team Intergo intergovernmental agreement? So move. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Can I just ask a question on this one?
018How I like the idea of it. How who decides what event rises to the level of involving other schools in this? Like is there a set parameters? Is it kind of at your discretion? Like how does that work >> with this intergo the IG? Um it there is nothing explicit in the contract as you saw that determines what constitutes an event like this. It is typically deemed according to the ROE something that requires extra staff or what they're call they're calling anything that is traumatic or a crisis and whatever that may deem necessary for tapping into other staff members that is where this can be enacted. So, it is um as the contract spoke of, it's that ability to work with partnering districts in the Lake County region and then that affords us the opportunity
019to quickly tap into staff. Obviously, we spoke with our LFA to make sure that we were okay with it. It's not forcing any staff member, but for those staff members that might want to support, help, and volunteer, it bypasses that need to be background checked or to have any invol um you know, involvement that would impede the process. >> Yes, of course. >> Any other questions? >> May I have a roll call, please? >> Miss Yan? >> Yes. >> Mr. Burgerer? >> Yes. Miss Ingleberg, >> yes. >> Mr. Lavin, >> yes. >> Mr. O'Donnamel, >> yes. >> Miss Fitzgerald, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> Approval of the recommendation to approve the D67 roofing and HVAC HLS project rebid award for summer of 2026. May I have a motion to approve the D67 roofing and
020HVAC HLS project rebid award for the summer of 2026? So moved. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion or questions? >> May I have a roll call, please? Miss Ingleberg, >> yes. >> Miss Fitzgerald, >> yes. >> Mr. Odama? >> Yes. >> Miss Yan? >> Yes. >> Mr. Lavin? >> Yes. >> Mr. Burgerer? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. May I have a motion to approve the recommendation to approve Seaman's building automation system migration to design the CC platform? >> So moved. >> May I have a second? >> Second. >> Any questions? >> Just one. What's the alternative? I I see his recommendation, but I see no alternative solutions. What What is the alternative? So this is one of those things is similar to technology where you are tied into the SE seaman
021system. So your alternative is to replace your entire building automation system. >> Okay? >> Or or leave an endof life uh software in your building and not have controls over your automation. >> So we're happy with pricing and quality that we don't consider switching it and not being locked in the next hundred years. It's the lesser of two evils. Uh, for sure. We've put it off, I think, as long as we can or long as we could. But we're at the point now where I think it's prudent to to move forward. It's at good timing as well because of the HBAC work and the roofing work that we're doing. Um, do we have other options? Not really. Um, we do know the market on the price. uh you're either with basically with one of two
022vendors and so we are pretty connected with what people are doing and what the other vendor is doing as well. Um but really that's our only way to benchmark. Any other questions? >> May I have a roll call, please? >> Miss Fitzgerald? >> Yes. >> Mr. Lavin? >> Yes. Miss Ingleberg, >> yes. >> Mr. Odama, >> yes. >> Miss Yan, >> yes. >> Mr. Burgerer, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> May I have a motion to adopt the resolution authorizing the dismissal of administrator Joanne Ford Halverson and reassignment as a certified staff member? Moved. >> May I have a second? >> Second. >> Any questions or discussion? May I have a roll call, please? >> Mr. Adama, >> yes. >> Miss Ingleberg, >> yes. >> Miss Fitzgerald, >> yes. >> Mr. Burgerer, >> yes. >>
023Mr. Lavin, >> yes. >> Miss Yan, >> yes. >> Motion carries. >> May I have a motion to approve press issue 120 second reading? Moved. >> May I have a second? >> Second. Any discussion? May I have a roll call, please? >> Mr. Lavin? >> Yes. >> Mr. Burgerer? >> Yes. >> Miss Yan? >> Yes. >> Miss Ingleberg? >> Yes. >> Miss Fitzgerald? >> Yes. >> Mr. Adamo? >> Yes. >> Motion carries. May I have a motion to approve the consent agenda items including the approval of the 2026 2027 student fees, approval of the monthly financial report July, August, September, October, November, December, approval of human resources report, hires, resignations, retirements, leave of absence, stipens, activities, athletic assignments, change of assignments, and the minutes of a regular meeting and workshop December 16th. 2025. May I
024have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? >> So moved. >> May I have a second? >> Second. >> Any discussion? Any questions? >> May I have a roll call, please? Miss Ingleberg? >> Yes. >> Miss Fitzgerald? >> Yes. >> Mr. Odamo? >> Yes. >> Mr. Burgerer? >> Yes. >> Miss Yan? >> Yes. >> Mr. Lavin? >> Yes. Motion carries. >> Foyer requests. Um, Philippe Milin, three of three completed. Academy Research, two of two completed. Robert Dodson, one of one completed. Bo Kim, two of two completed. Tanya Campbell, one of one completed. Deborah Johnson, two of two completed. Parents Care, two of two completed. CT Mills, one of one completed. Alan Ballerion, one of one completed. Owen Wang, six of six completed. This time we will take our second the board will now
025hear a second opportunity for public comment subject to board policy 2230. Are there any members of the public who would like to address the board? Seeing none, we will move on to announcements. Um, Thursday, March 5th, 2026, parent teacher conferences will occur, but it will be a full day of school for students. Friday, March 6, 2026, parent teacher conferences will continue, and it will be a day of no school for students. Tuesday, March 17th, 2026, we will be our next meeting. We will have a finance committee of a whole at 5:00. and to follow the board of education meeting here at West Campus in the boardroom at 700 p.m. >> And then Megan, one thing that was discussed in workshop, if I may, we are moving the June board meeting from June 16th, which is
026a Tuesday, to Monday, June 15th of that same week. And then lastly, all of you have in front of you a token of our affection and partnership with the DPM Garden Club. January is officially board appreciation month. We also do it in November. There's national and then state. Um, and I just want to make sure that I take a moment just coming off of that national conference and talking to many superintendents across this country. Um, I count my blessings every day for the 14 of you and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. Thank you for your dedication to these communities. It is often a thankless job and you give countless hours far beyond what the public sees on the hour of streaming and I want to thank you for your partnership. Thank
027you, Dr. Montgomery. I just want to add um that it is gardening to grow that provided these seeds and in particular there were students who actually plucked the seeds from the flowers, put them in the packaging and u we look forward to welcoming them for a spotlight in the future. >> I did not do that. So, we should definitely give them credit. I care about you, but I did not pick the flowers seeds. So, thank you to the DPM Garden Club and to the students. May I have a motion to adjourn the Lake Forest School District 67 board meeting for February 24th, 2026? >> So moved. >> I have a second. >> Second. >> May I have a v voice vote, please? All in favor say yes. >> Yes.