District 57 Board of Education Meeting 1/15/2026

001from our close session. So, um can we start with the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. All right. So, we are going to get started right away with the board recognition of the Lincoln 7th and eighth grade girls basketball teams. All right. Okay. I'm going to do seventh grade first. I am Kyle Zackitz. I'm the seventh grade girls basketball coach. This is my fourth year coaching. and the seventh grade girls basketball program. It's an amazing program. I was going over our stats and over the past three seasons we've uh piled 40 wins against five losses. Um so yeah, it's been a pretty amazing group of players to come through the

002past three years and I'm going to introduce you to this year's conference champions. So girls, why don't you come on up here and just stand facing the board. Okay. So, we have Amelia, we have Liv, we have Lucy, we have Ellie and Mia and Kora and Alex and Jada and Emily. And this season, we went undefeated in the conference. Our overall record was 13 wins and two losses. We narrowly lost to South Middle School. We went to overtime against them. So, they're going to have that marked on their calendar for next year. Um, and then in addition to being in conference regular season champions, we won the conference tournament and they just had a great season. They played so well and in the big moments they played even better. So, they just had a great

003season and hopefully they all come back next year as eighth graders. So, congratulations girls. Alrighty. As Kyle's passing those out, I'll introduce myself. My name is Maddie Jacobson and this was actually my first year coaching um basketball at Lincoln Middle School and my first year teaching at Lincoln Middle School. So really exciting year. Um the eighth graders did so well I had to write down the stats. I'm not as good as Kyle. Um this season the team finished as regular season conference champions with a 10-1 conference record and went and went on to win the conference tournament. Um so that was amazing. Can we actually get the players to come up here? Awesome. We've got Melik, we've got Adalia, we've got Ally, and we've got Michelle. So nice to represent. Um they posted an overall

004record record of 17 wins and four losses. They averaged 34 points per game in one games by an average margin of 18 points. the math and me, the math teacher in me. In addition, earned second place at the King the Kate Conland tournament in the silver division with a five- one record. Most importantly, this team represented their school with class, resilience, and commitment, and I couldn't be more proud of their accomplishments this season. Great job, girls. All right. No, don't worry about it. We're actually gonna gather all the girls um back at the back of the room and take a picture with the board. >> Is that new? Happy ready. You can Sure. >> Wonderful. Remember, Okay. Awesome. Um, let's move on to our, uh, school spotlight, the portrait of the graduate um, at Lincoln

005Middle School. >> All right. Well, thank you so much for having Lincoln here tonight. We are excited to spotlight uh, resilience. U, just to kind of set the stage a little bit for you for uh, the video that you're about to watch. I don't has I don't know if any of you have ever seen the uh the interview series Hot Ones. Anybody seen that one? The premise is you you know there's an interviewer, they're being interviewed and they progressively eat hot wings, you know, from a level one to a like really really hot level 10. And so we thought would be kind of a fun and creative way to uh kind of showcase resilience is to have some students interview some of the Lincoln staff members um about resilience in their own life, perhaps how

006that even applies to the work that they do. But they will do it while eating um these sour gummies. They're called sour ones. And they get progressively sour from 1 through 4. So I'll pause there and so you can watch this clip. [music] At District 57, our portrait of a graduate skills help students grow into competent, capable, and courageous learners. One of those skills is resilience. The ability to persevere, stay positive, and keep going even when things get challenging. And what better way to demonstrate resilience than by putting our students and staff to the test, but not a test in the traditional sense, while taking on a four-level sour candy challenge. How are you feeling about the sour candy challenge? >> I'm feeling excited. Um I don't think I've had candy at 8:15 in the

007morning in a long time. >> How are you feeling about sour candy challenge? >> Uh looking what's in front of me, I'm not feeling good at all. >> How are you feeling about how sour leaves might be? >> I'm a little nervous cuz looking at them, they look like they could be harmless, but then I look through the little challenge numbers here and I I feel like this I I don't handle sour very well. So, we'll see how this goes. >> Before we start, on a scale of 1 to 10, how nervous are you right now? >> Is one the lowest or one and 10 the highest? >> Yes. >> Uh, like a 15. [music] >> All right, here we go. This is level one, the easy sour. Ready? >> Yeah. So, are you doing

008the same time as me, right? >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, all right. Whole thing? >> Sure. Ready? Three, two, one. >> Cheers. Hints of strawberry. >> I can like taste the real. >> Not that sour. >> Medium sour. >> You teach computer science, which sounds pretty cool, but probably also challenging. What's something about your job that takes more patience than people might expect? >> Um, I think the way my classroom is set up is there's a lot of independent activities happening, but different activities. So having to go around and just making sure that everyone is on task, that they're engaged, it kind of pulls me in a lot of different directions. So that can be really difficult at times. >> Okay. You're eating all of those. The whole pile. >> You don't You're not You

009don't think it's our >> This surprised us. You used to be really scared of hospitals to the point of fainting, but now you're totally comfortable being in them. What helped you get past your fear instead of letting it stop you. >> What helped me get past them? Like my fear of hospitals is going to them more. Um, so when I was growing up, my sister was really ill, so I was in children's hospitals all the time. Was in college. I wanted nothing to do with hospitals ever again. But I started delivering flowers at like I needed a job. I had an apartment and I started delivering flowers and I had to deliver to the hospital and and so I kept doing it and doing it and I can now like I can walk into hospitals

010and I have children I've had in hospitals. Um but it is my least favorite place to go. >> Are you ready? >> No. >> I have two again. Rip the band-aid off. Just go all in. >> Yep. One on each side. From being on the Bozo show as a kid, yes, to dressing up as a historical figures in the classroom to baseball being lifelong part of your family. Your life is full of unique experiences when things get challenging. Which part of your story do you lean on most to stay resilient and why? >> Wow, that is a deep question. That is a great question. Um, I'm not going to say the Bozo show is where I'm drawing my power from. Nowadays, I've truthfully my family. It's always been about my family. If it was my

011mom and dad, they taught me the value of resilience, the value of hard work, of dedication to yourself, and to others. >> Let's do it. >> Okay. >> Even on tough days, you're still showing up for students and believe in them. When school feels overwhelming, what's something you hope students remember about themselves or about the adults here who care about them? I think, you know, school school is tough for some kids, right? It's tough for a lot of kids, but I think what kids should take away is how much the adults in this community really care, right? It's so much more than being able to teach a kid how to add and subtract. It's it's about, you know, getting to know them beyond their academic ability. So, I think what what I want my students

012to take away and probably what a lot of teachers want their students to take away is just how loved they are. [snorts] >> All right. All in. >> Do I like do one of these things like boxer? >> This might surprise people, but right before your first teaching job, you were seriously injured in a boating accident and had to use a wheelchair for a while. What helped you stay hopeful during this time instead of giving up? >> Thinking about that and it's like connection to resilience. Um, you know, I could make this about my resilience, but the truth is is it's really actually more about my wife's resilience because she had like she had to take care of me. Um, you know, and I was wheelchair bound for a month, >> you know, going through

013some of that therapy. And, you know, out of the ash of all of that, you know, I learned like a lot about myself. Um, you know, it's a simple statement, but like we talked about with our kids, like I can do hard things, right? Um, and so, you know, that experience really taught me a lot about myself that I I'm I think I'm capable sometimes more than I give myself credit for. And, um, it really just requires putting in some work. Resilience means sticking with something even when it's tough, pushing through the sour moments, and finding strength you didn't know you had. Today, our students and staff showed that resilience can be loud, funny, surprising, and definitely a little sour, but always worth it. [music] So, can we give Heather Solerno a round of applause

014for putting that whole thing together? So, if if you enjoyed that, there there's more where that came from. Uh Heather had a lot of content. So think of this as like the really long trailer to four episodes. Um and Heather will be releasing four episodes of all of those uh individual interviews. The thing I, you know, appreciate most about that particular um video and one of the things that it showcases is it's a there's a level of vulnerability, you know, for teachers to also share some of their stories. I mean, you nobody would know really about Mrs. Zowski's experiences with hospitals and I commend her for even being able to, you know, to talk about it. Um, and I think it's it's really good for students to see that like we have our stories, you

015know, as well. And there are times as adults that we need to be resilient. Um, and I think the more that we can model that for our kids, the better off um, they will be. So, thank you so much for letting Lincoln um, talk about resilience tonight and we look forward to uh, the next one. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Larson. All right, so we're going to move on to our student board members report. This week, we met with the town mayor, Mayor Hoert. The Nicholas construction team shared helpful insight on how the construction pro process is developing and moving forward. We also had the opportunity to review the blueprints for the new school. The site superintendent, Matt D, explained the different specialties required to successfully complete the job. Lastly, we spoke with Dr. Gore

016and we decided that we are going to attend the city hall meeting next Tuesday, January 20th, to update the community on all of our progress and hard hard work. And these are some photos from construction. I was so amazed by how much progress we've already made in building the new Lincoln Middle School. From starting to build the foundation to creating a gigantic storm drain, we've certainly made giant strides in making a vital space for our community. We were able to take a peek at the blueprints for the new Lincoln, and I'm proud to say that it is everything we have imagined and more. I'm definitely sad about missing such a wonderful addition to District 57's education, but I'm glad that the students after us will be able to experience this improvement in full force. Yesterday,

017Dr. Gore and I had the pleasure of meeting with a student who had actually filled out our student contact form. We connected with her and she was telling us her ideas and different perspectives she had on things here at District 57. She was super happy and joyed to meet us. We're hoping to have more student interactions just like this. And we also have a a video from our construction. Happy new year, Lincoln Lions in our Mount Prospect community. I'm Safhina, one of the seventh grade student board members here at District 57, and we are kicking off 26 with our biggest update yet. Hi, I'm Joshua, an eighth grade student board member. And as many of you know, this whole project started back in November 2024 when our community approved a referendum to build a brand

018new Lincoln Middle School. Hi, I'm Michelle. And that funding isn't just for us. It's also for a major addition at Westbrook School for Young Learners to get ready for full day kindergarten in the 2027 to 2028 school year. and I'm [music] Penelopey, a seventh grade student board member at Lincoln. We are lucky to have the leaders of our town and our district here today to see how that vision is becoming a reality. Please welcome our very special guest, Mount Prospect Mayor Paul Hoerner. We also have our district 57 leadership, superintendent Dr. Mary Gore, assistant superintendent Dr. Jason Kay's, and principal Eric Larson. and the people making it happen on the ground, the Nicholas Construction team. >> Today they are taking us on a tour of the site to show him the progress of the area

019A foundations. Let's check it out. >> Okay. Well, this is the storm trap. >> Here's some footings that are being done. the stone and the clay. We're putting foundation walls together over there and then they paint new build. So you see some of the footings in the middle how wide they get. >> So that helps distribute the weight. There's just a lot of coordination every day that Matt takes care of on the site because these are our concrete crews. We've got excavators working over there and Matt helps them all work together. The wall line is for building A. It's about eight feet away from the busy gym. That's going to be a little tough, but we're going to make it work. >> So, with our date, like how we're expecting to have our building done

020by towards the end of August 2027, do you guys think Yeah, the ending of August? >> We're making great strides right now. >> Do you guys think Yeah, >> if we continue to have weather like this, everything uh everything will continue as planned. So, we're excited to see how things continue to progress, you know, but with construction, like there always is, you never know what you're going to run into. But that's why uh we have a great team and uh we're going to troubleshoot where we need to, but as of right now, everything is on schedule, so we're going to keep pushing in that pursuit to keep everything on time. >> Mayor Hoert, you've seen a lot of changes in Mount Prospect over the years. Where does building a new Lincoln rank rank in terms

021of importance for our village, especially after a long time? >> Well, I think building a new Lincoln and the addition of Westbrook and the things that have gone on in district 26 and 59, they're key to our community because um having an educational program in our town, many school districts that's strong, that's what attracts people to our community, right? And keeps our property values strong. but also provides excellent education for you guys and for future generations, right? Having a new link in here and uh that's contemporary and able to teach in a contemporary way rather than from 50 or 60 years ago. That's key to your development and key to [singing] our development as a society. >> A lot of us walk to school through these neighborhoods. How do you think this new modern building

022will change the vibe of this part of Mount Prospect? >> Oh, I think it's going to be make this area [music] much more exciting. There's going to be a lot happening here in the future, right? Uh lots of activity, a lot of programming. Not that there wasn't before, but there's going to be more and you know it, right? And so, I think it's going to make this neighborhood and this uh part of town very exciting and very vibrant into the future. I know the village and the school board have to work together on big projects like this. How's it been going and like are there any like fun exciting things that have happened? >> I would say it's uh been handed glove. uh we get along really we the village get along really well and

023are very supportive of district 57 and always have been and I think the way this project has uh has come along just shows that that partnership is strong and it will be strong into the future uh because projects like this like this not just this but other projects they're the lifeblood of our community right [music] they would keep they're what keep our our village strong and having those strong connections with our school districts and with our park districts, that's what makes for a very, very strong community and helps [clears throat] us work together to make our community what it is. >> Thank you. >> Um, when you look at this construction site, what do you want the community of Mount Prospect to know about the future of this town? Well, I think it's going to

024send a message to the outside community that we're a community. We're an older community. You know, we've been we've been uh incorporated since 1917, but we're not laying back, right? We're not living in the past. We're living in the future. We're building new schools. Our downtown is, you probably have seen how our downtown has grown. Uh we've dealt with [music] flood control and the park district is getting a new uh aquatics facility and a new the new park. All of that is being done to support our residents like you guys, right? And and your families and that is really critical [music] to keep our community on the forefront and wanting people to that want to move here, [music] right? I talk to people a lot about our town and um they the people that live

025here from what I I glean they love it here and the [music] part of the reason they love it is because of things like this. Our town is contemporary. It's it's future oriented. We're not laying back on our laurels. Um we are looking to the future and not uh the past. >> Thank you. We are so proud of the progress being made and thankful for the community support. >> You know, it's such an exciting time to be a Lion, isn't it? >> That's it for January. We'll see you next month for February's Lincoln Construction News. Go >> does anybody have any questions or comments? First >> comment is this is the highlight of one of my highlights of the meeting. I always look forward to what the construction video is gonna entail. So you guys

026brought it. It was really good. um enjoyed it very much. Is there anything on the horizon otherwise within the schools that you guys have planned at all? Like anything with any other students? I I don't I'm just tossing out something if there's any ideas or any anything that you guys have planned >> as the school board and advisory board. >> There's so much that I think we could and want to get done. I think it is challenging sometimes to with they're they're very focused students and they are very aware of their you know schedules. They are not you know as much as they are responsible and willing to do all this stuff they are also very responsible in their schoolwork. So they will be like no I cannot you know like seventh period does not

027work well for me tomorrow and I have a test and I have a quiz coming up and I respect that. And I know we all respect that and um so for that reason I think we tried to be selected in the time that we had. that um tour took up more time than I think we realized, but it was really special and I think it was um the video I hope captured, but I think we all felt like so excited by what we saw and just the mayor was just really engaged and um so I think like just trying to um lean into opportunities when they have them. I think some of the work in terms of um like student focusing, I know there's a desire to do that and I think there's hopefully going

028to be opportunities to keep having more work like that, but I think that has been the challenge that we're encountering is just being mindful of the limitations of time. >> Very valid point. And you are you're already doing extracurriculars. We have basketball already tonight. So, you are very busy people. I get that. So, thank you. Appreciate it. >> Anybody else? Kim, >> I just want to echo what Eileen said. I always appreciate the updates and I hope that you guys are enjoying, you know, giving us that information in such a fun and creative way. I mean, it seems like you are. Um, I also am so glad that you were all able to connect with the student that had reached out. I mean, I don't think joy encompasses what it looked like she was feeling.

029She seemed absolutely thrilled and just I I think that's the power of the role that you all are in as more mature students for some of those younger kids to be mentors to them, to be role models for them. And so I hope that's something that we are able to build out with this program. Um that being said, in terms of the construction videos, I know this is going to keep us engaged for several years. Uh but there will be a time when the building is finished. And so I I hope that you all are brainstorming. Obviously, it won't be within your time as student board members, but you know, for the future classes that will be in your seats, you know, the the videos are great and they're informative and they're super fun and

030we all enjoy them. I' I'd like for you all to be thinking about what else can we be doing, right? What else does the role of student board member look like beyond construction update videos? So, that's my feedback. It was so awesome that I wish you could have all been in the room um witnessing the interaction between Safhina and that second grade student. It was it was really special. Um, >> she had actually like >> she had filled out our form actually a couple times even since probably last year and we never got to get to her and even before winter break we were like we need to connect with her and then so we we got it and it happened >> and Principal Kelly said she just like skipped out of class and when

031she found out that she was going to connect and unfortunately just with the schedule we weren't able to all be there but we assured Michelle and also the student that we will definitely reconnect with more So, and I have to say, Mayor Hoert was just so impressed with you guys and you know that I've told them, but he was just blown away by how amazing and articulate they were and offered, you know, I think we're already going to try to maybe schedule a time where we could visit his office, get a tour of the village. Um, you know, I think them being at the village board meeting on Tuesday is going to be such a great opportunity to continue their um just expanding their their leadership and u representation of the district to our village.

032So, um I think yeah, they're clearly ready for whatever challenges are put their way. So, >> thanks so much, girls. Oh, I'm sorry, Pam. I just wanted to say thank you for your enthusiasm and for your joy and especially for sharing the importance of having this new modern building, a safe building, a a well constructed building for the students of tomorrow. It's so wonderful to know that you will be sharing that with the community and voicing the importance and the joy. So, thank you. We'll see you guys next [laughter] month. All right, we're going to move on to community comments. Uh, District 57 Board of Education welcomes community participation in an effort to both listen to our stakeholders and keep the meeting moving. I want to remind everyone of our public participation procedures and guidelines,

033which is available in board policy 2:230. Individuals wishing to address the board can do so during the community comments portion of the agenda. Individuals should provide their name and limit their comments to three minutes. Please remember that this is not a dialogue between you and the board. The board is in listening mode during this time. Individuals wishing to contact the board of education are welcome to do so via the D57 website under the board of education tab. Individuals should behave with respect and civility towards others and abide by board policy 830 visitors to and conduct on school property. Do we have any members of the community that would like to come and speak? Sorry, my shoes are a little squeaky. I didn't realize that. Um, okay. So, good evening members. Um, I am Jamie Richie

034Clark. I'm a a mom and a neighbor in Mount Prospect. Um, my son, um, started here in preschool, just like a lot of our kiddos. [laughter] I know he still loves you. Um, we still talk about it. Um so anyway, uh I just wanted to discuss sort of this is a more of a national issue right now, but it is something that is landing in our backyards and it's something that um is very concerning to me. Um and I know it's a it's a very large concern for a lot of our neighbors and families um that some of our families in this very school have been very deeply affected by this um and a lot of our neighbors. So, um I wanted to discuss just um you know, this last fall we had at the

0357-Eleven where my kid rides his bike to and hangs out. Um we had uh machine gun ICE agents um there with um their I guess director um a ton of people. It was a really super scary event. Um, I live in the neighborhood right next to just a couple streets down from the big event that happened um with like the the helicopters and just all this kind of wild stuff. Um, I never in my wildest dreams ever expected Mount Prospect to be experiencing something like this. Um, and you know, for me as a mom, um, the reason why I moved here when my son was really teeny was because this was a really safe community and because I wanted him to be a part of this sort of safety and this sort of um I

036don't know the kind of vibe that I that Mount Prospect offers, right? Um, and so what I'm what I'm very concerned about are potential actions that could land on our doorsteps here. Um, and I think it's very easy for us to say this is Fairview or that's Westbrook or that's Lincoln. It's just not going to happen. And I feel like that would be not just naive of us. I think that it would be grossly negligent of us to just assume that this isn't something that's going to um appear on our doorsteps or in the playground next door. Um, so I am here to um to very strongly urge and I don't know if urge is the right word. I'm begging you guys, please just please take some very clear action. Um, a statement saying our

037neighbors are loved. Our kids need to be safe at school. These places are places of education. Um, I ask you guys to be more brave than our village right now. I ask you to please just make a public statement. Do something um that allows for us to say this is a priority. Our safety is a priority. our neighbors, our beloved neighbors from not only here, not only me, 10th generation American, but our folks that live right next door that moved here three years ago that are here because they want the same things that we want. They want our kids to be healthy and happy and grow up in these wonderful things and they can participate in our schools and and have teachers that they've fallen in love with. I ask you to please extend, make

038a public statement to extend that to all of our neighbors um and to our village because right now we need extraordinary bravery from everybody, not just a couple folks. Um I feel like it is worrisome that some of us feel like this is something that we don't need to worry about. And I feel like until it's going to happen to you or until it's going to happen to your neighbor and I feel like we should not think that it won't. So I'm urging you, begging you, please make a public statement. Do whatever we can possibly possibly do to say D57 cares about our kiddos. We care about our families. We don't want our parking lots to be staging places. We don't want our kids to have to be escorted home by neighbors because their parents

039are terrified to come. And some of these parents are legal citizens and they're terrified to come. So I'm asking that of you, please. Thank you. Anybody else? Yes. Come on. I'm going to preface this by saying I might cry. So just a heads up, I cry for far less. Um, good evening. Thank you so much for letting me come here and speak tonight. Um, I'm a longtime listener, first- time comeer. Um, my son, Euan, happily goes to Lincoln Middle School. He literally skips to his bus stop, which is a major feat for a 12-year-old to still have such joy. [laughter] Um, and I work in the district, which gives me a really special insight into just how much care, love, and concern goes into the educating of our children in this community. [snorts] Um, I

040greatly appreciate just how many I can't see just how many kind, courageous, and wonderful people work in this district. And I really feel that our compassion for the kids acts as a shield of protection over every school that I encounter [snorts] in this district. Sadly, that shield is only a metaphorical one. And there are forces that threaten the safety of our learning community as well as the community at large. I come tonight with an intreaty to pass a resolution resolution, make a stand um make highly visible signage that prohibits ICE and Border Patrol from any access not only to our buildings but to our parking lots as well. Um, it's pretty evident that these federal agencies are not paying heed to laws or constitutional rights. But I feel passionately that our village must make a

041strong statement that our schools are safe spaces. Let us m [snorts] let us not make TS Elliott's poetic line, the world dies not with a bang but with a whimper ring true as it relates to our world of the freedoms that America has carried. and that I would like to pass on to my children and all the children that I get the pleasure to teach. Um, I just really would love to see a strong front against what's happening. I mean, watching what's happening in Minneapolis and St. Paul, which is where my sister and my niece [snorts] and nephew go to school, and seeing them raiding schools, it's just really egregious to me. And I love our community and I just can't imagine any of our children being hurt. So I would love to see, you

042know, some protections. Thank you. [snorts] Go ahead. I pretty much I'm Carol Marts. Uh longtime resident of Mount Prospect. I have a grandson who is a student in D57 and I'm here tonight to echo many of the things that have been already stated. I appreciate the opportunity to speak. Um I think I've looked at your mission statement and at the very end it states that you provide an innovative and ser safe learning space. You want to foster healthy relationships and a sense of belonging all while preparing students for success in a changing world. Indeed, our world is changing. Um, our lives in Mount Prospect changed in the fall, I believe, when ICE showed up in our neighborhoods a few blocks away from here. And many people thought, oh, you know, that was just a one-time

043thing. Don't need to worry about it. Then slowly we started seeing border patrol and ICE and other fa federal immigration agencies showing up in surrounding communities. And perhaps we were just naive. You know, we didn't think it was going to happen here. But then they showed up at the 7-Eleven two blocks from here where many of your children, my grandson, our neighbors children go to um in full tactical gear, assault rifles. How frightening is that to even think that our children would be exposed to that? So, I'm also echoing the request that District 57 consider adopting some type of resolution that says um you know, this is a safe haven for our children and families. We do not want any type of civil [music] immigration enforcement on our grounds. I don't know how you would

044say that. I'd like that posted. Um because if we don't do it and they come, we're going to say, "Oh my gosh, why didn't we do more?" And if we do have that signage and they show up anyway, we've at least done something. I'm certainly not asking anyone to stand up there and uh you know, interact with ICE and yell at them and all that type of stuff. But I would like for you to document everything that would happen if that were to occur and inform the Illinois uh Commission on Accountability. I think has just been developed. Um I think that if we don't do this, as I said, I really do feel that we're going to regret it. We've seen, or at least I have, and I hope that you have, video of immediately

045after the killing of Renee Good, ICE agents, federal agents showing up at local schools in Minneapolis, uh accosting teachers, trying to grab students. We know that they're starting to take people that are US residents. Um, I'm not sure that they're abiding by laws. So, we have to do what we can as a community to try to protect our children. Schools used to be deemed a safe haven. Libraries, hospitals, maybe not so more, but we need to, as was stated, we need to be courageous. We need to stand up and do something. I hope that you'll take some kind of action. Thank you. Are there any other comments from the community? No. Thank you for coming and uh giving your thoughts. >> All right, we're going to move on to our staff and superintendent reports starting

046with the financial projections from CFAC. Dr. Case. All right, before I invite up um our presenters tonight, Scott and Brian, um just want to talk a little bit about our citizen finance advisory committee, also known as CEFAC. Um this is a committee that started about four years ago. Um and every January we come to the board and and present um on our financial projections. And I think every January I come and say how amazed I am um of the committee. And every time I walk away thinking it couldn't get any better. Well, let me tell you a little bit about why this year got a little bit better. Um, we continued to have a committee that was uh really dedicated, willing to uh jump in when needed. We had some meetings uh last year that

047that came around as we were doing bonds and referendum. This year when we started uh we put out the call to see who would be interested. Um and um we had five students join the committee this year. So I saw I think Kira's here. Yes. Oh, wait. No, just kidding. We had a student I thought here. Um, okay. It's all right. U, but we had five students come from Lincoln. Um, I will be honest that when they signed up to join, um, I was excited, but I was also a little bit nervous to see what it would be like. Um, we do talk about some stuff that um, sometimes is difficult for all of us to understand. Um, and they jumped right in. They um, wanted to know more. They asked great questions. Um my

048favorite thing was that one of the students we asked on the first uh meeting what why do you want to be a part of this committee? Um one of the students said I want to know more than my mom. Um and so every meeting I would ask okay are we there yet? Are we there yet? Um and she was very funny about it. But uh really it was a um just a great opportunity for the for the students to be a part of the committee. the committee I think did a great job of of welcoming them um understanding that we we would do a little bit more learning um at some times but but didn't didn't stop us from doing the work that was needed. So really great opportunity. I also want to thank Vicki

049who um was our board rep and now is a community rep um stayed on the committee and continued to um offer a lot of um input um and ideas um when we met. With that said, [clears throat] we're going to jump in uh to I do it wrong every time. Thank you. Um so tonight uh the goal for our CAFAC or committee um is to come to the board and really uh share um what this process looked like. Uh they'll share um the current midyear budget. So, we're right in the middle of our fiscal year and they can share um what that looks like. Um and then we talk about the financial projections for the next 5 years. If I keep talking, I'm probably going to say things that are on other slides. So, I'm

050going to stop, but I want to introduce Scott Martin who's going to be coming up um and presenting in the first half and then Brian Casper will present the second half. So, Scott, >> thank you. Jason, >> you might do better than me. I think it's >> perfect. Great. And if you guys have any questions, I will happily direct them to Jason. So let's go ahead um talk about our process. So um as a district we prioritize fiscal stewardship, facility planning to ensure that our resources are used efficiently and effectively. Um and and we we do this through maintaining a balanced budget and we project out proactively to um estimate the financial needs of the district. So that's our our strategic plan and how we approach this project. So the process itself like CFAC was

051formed a few years ago. It's comprised currently of six current and former students. Um 13 parents and and community members like myself, a board member, superintendent, and assistant superintendent. So it's a a wide range of viewpoints. Um, some people are experts on this committee and some people are lay lay persons like myself that you know that don't know a ton about finance and or um you know how a budget is built for a school district. So we kind of started meeting um you know back in October and we we reviewed last year and we said all right what are we going to do this year? What are the important things um kind of on on the mind that we have to talk the board through? Then in the next meeting a month later, we learned

052from our our bond from PMA um regarding bonds to get like educated on on what's going on with the sale of bonds with the issuance of bonds, etc. and and how that affects the district's budget and the the district's revenue. Then in December, we worked on this uh deck that you're that we're reviewing today um and came up with some financial projections that um Brian will share with you a little bit later. And that brings us here today. Okay. So before we go through the budget, um want to go through some definitions first. So CPI is the consumer price index and it measures overall change in consumer prices based on representative baskets of goods and services over time. So revenue in a school district is dependent on CPI to a max of 5%. Expenditures, think

053of that as money spent. fiscal year. It's a one-year period of time. Obviously, our dis our district works on a fiscal calendar that is July to June 30th. The fund school district's accounting records, budgets, and financial reports are organized and reported on a fund basis. So, it's siloed monies that are designated for certain aspects of our budget. The fund balance is the amount of money which a district has at a specific moment in time. So we often use the end of the fiscal year when looking at a fund balance for these projections and that's what you'll see today. New growth the EAV of program of property newly added to the tax roles is not inflation inflationary value. So this think about um reassessment of property values and things of that nature. Um, and then revenue,

054money received, and then unodudited, money that has not officially been examined by our auditors. So, now that we've kind of aligned to terms, let's review the budget. So, what's different about this year? Well, obviously the referendum. So, we've sold uh $50 million worth of bonds with the plan to sell an additional 35 million this summer. These funds are dedicated solely to the construction project and so are not included in the budget or the financial projection slides. Secondly, debt service fund. So with the district selling referendum bonds, the repayment has begun and that be that first payment hit in November. So the revenue received and the expenditures made around the bond um have been excluded from this and they're they're in a separate document. Lastly, Cook County taxes. So, with the county being so delayed this

055year in collecting fall taxes, the district needed to borrow money through a tax anticipation warrant, a TAW. So, the district borrowed 7.5 million in November to cover November and December expenditures. That revenue is not included in the budget the or the financial uh projection slides as it'll be repaid as soon as the taxes are received. >> Is they're repaid? >> Okay. And and I was going to say so they have been repaid at this point. Thank you. Okay. So, what this slide is showing here is how we get the fund. So, we're saying that in this slide, we're saying that 34 million is is coming from us, the property tax, um the local sources. I guess there's there's actually a few more dollars in there than just property taxes, but that's the the majority of

056it. State sources and federal sources. Um that brings us to a an operating funds of 37 million and change. Um the debt extension like I mentioned that $10.2 million. So all in is a 47.9 million budget for 2526 school year. Okay. When we're looking at this slide, what this is showing is our estimated revenue and then the amount of re the amount of revenue that we have received so far year to date. the outstanding revenue to be collected. So, a minus b and then the remaining balance as of um as of November 30th um which is what we shared with you last year. And to keep the numbers consistent year-over-year, we're using that November 30th as the the threshold. So, with that, some of these like you know what this you might be concerned there's

05793.75% of the the fund remaining. um that that once we receive those taxes from Cook County, that number looks different. This is again as of November 30th. From an expense standpoint, you know, our two biggest expenses as a district are are salaries and employee benefits. You can kind of see how all of this rolls down, but it's approximately 75% of the total budget for the district. Um the debt service payment again, we pulled that out um is the $7.7 million payment um on that loan and the budget to date. So the big takeaway for this is that the district's on track to be on budget once again. So um that's the takeaway from the budget review standpoint. Again, like you can see that we start off with our estimation. what we have spent actual year

058to date, how much estimated we have or sorry, what the outstanding balance is for that budget and then um what comparison of where we are at this year versus what is typical. And so we are in line for you know the vast majority of these uh to be on track but total we are we are on track to be on budget. So with that, I'm going to pass this off to Brian for the financial projections. >> All right. Thanks, Scott. Name's Brian. Some of us have met. So um financial projections. So the meat of the slides I'm going to present real quick here are all around looking uh five years into the future at the fund balance of the school district. And the fund balance in layman's terms for those who don't know, it's like

059keeping cash in the bank. So if you own a house, you have to keep an emergency fund just in case unexpected expenses come up. So uh what we're doing here is we're just measuring the financial health of our school district into the future. Uh the model that we use to to uh predict where we're going to be at 5 years down the road. The model's been in place for years. uh every year the uh the school district finance team [music] they optimize the model using lessons learned from the past year and uh and data that they've they've gathered over the last 12 months. Uh and the SEFAC so the committee we look at the model we weigh in on it uh we ask different questions play different scenarios out and uh we we suggest if

060we feel like there's anything missing in that model we suggest it be added into the model. So, the school board has a policy as far as how much money we need to have in the bank and that fund balance at the end of the school year. So, June 30th of every year, the the uh the school district needs to have between 30% and 50% of the annual operating cost in the bank. So, if our uh annual expenses are $40 million a year, we'll need to have $12 million uh or sorry, we'll need to have between 12 and $20 million in the bank at the end of the school year. So, this makes sure that we're able to weather any unexpected uh expenses that come up throughout the school year, such as Cook County's systems going

061down and not being able to collect property taxes. You know, having that fund balance helped us weather that storm. So with any financial model, you need to have data points built into it for it to be a model. So these are some of the key data points that we have. Uh property value like Scott talked about, CPI, which is inflation, and other data points there on the the revenue side, and expenses, just using historical data from previous years. Uh just take the normal maintenance costs that come in every year. Uh kindergarten's coming up, so that's built into the model there. and uh as well as retirements. So, a couple items here. Want to be transparent on what is not built into the model. So, Jason uh you know, when he talks about the model and

062where things are at with budgeting, he says, you know, we like to play it safe, right, Jason? Conservative. So, really want to reduce the risk of any issues coming up uh with our finances. So, with Lincoln being rebuilt, uh the the maintenance should be lower when that school's done. Uh but we're not counting on that happening. So, there might be some expected unexpected costs that come in with Lincoln. Uh so, don't want to bank that there will be little to no maintenance costs in the new building. Uh if things go well and there's little maintenance costs, you know, we'll have a few extra bucks in the bank. Uh federal side here, you know, there's talks of possible decreases in federal education. Who knows what's going to happen in the future? So, not banking on any

063revenue from the uh feds being taken away and um looking Karen behind your head there. Revenue or expenditures in November. Got it. So, thank you. Um with the referendum that passed, the money that is uh needed to rebuild uh or sorry, add on to Westbrook and rebuild Lincoln, uh that money has to be managed separately uh per regulations. So, that revenue is not included in the financial projections here. So, this ties into the the board policy here. So, there's a blue line and a red line on there. Those are the top and bottom of the policy. That green line is is the 40% mark there. So, again, what that says is we need to have between 30 and 50% of the annual uh uh expenditures in the bank at the end of the school year

064there. So, we're looking really good here. There is one exception uh on here. That's the end of this school year. We're going to be above the board policy on how much money we have in the fund balance. And when the referendum was put out to vote in November 2024, uh we said, not we, the uh the budget said that the school district will put in $6.1 million towards the construction costs. So, in order to meet that obligation, we have to have that money in the bank to put towards construction for next year. So, uh, just like with many things in life, there's exceptions that come up sometimes and and, uh, sometimes they're, you know, they're there for a reason. And I I took a look at this and had no concerns that were outside of

065board policy. Hopefully board, you're good with that. See some some head nods there. So, we're in really good shape for the next five years according to our uh, our model here. Um, you could never you never know what's going to happen in the future. you just, you know, do the best you can with the data that you have to uh to put your projections together. So, the committee said, "All right, uh Jason, we want to put his uh his feet to the fire here. See if if his uh model held up here." So, we put a couple scenarios together. Again, you can't predict what's going to happen in the future. So, we played with the CPI numbers, which are inflation, as well as the property value growth. Put a couple scenarios together here. The base

066scenario is where the model is at right now. Alternate scenario one and two, we have uh inflation going uh down and alternate scenario one as well as the property values not growing as much as expected with the model. Uh scenario number two, we said what if inflation is a little bit higher this year and then uh growth in the future for the property here in town, it's higher than expected. What's that look like? Does it throw us off? Does it put us outside of the board policy? The answer is no. So our uh our financials here in the school district look to be very resilient. So um inflation and property growth here shouldn't affect our our model if uh some unexpected events happen in those categories. So some good news here for the residents of

067Mount Prospect. So, when the referendum was put to vote in November of 2024, uh what was communicated to the residents when they were voting that says, "Here's how much your taxes are going to go up if this referendum passes." [clears throat] So, if your house is worth $375,000, your taxes are going to go up $711 per year. Where we're at right now is the uh the amount that the residents are going to owe is projected to be slightly lower. The reason is that those dollar amounts in the screen there come from estimation on how much our interest rate was going to be when we sold bonds to pay for these construction projects. The rate that we're getting on the bonds right now are slightly lower than originally estimated. So there's one more round of bonds

068that are going to be sold this summer. Once those bonds are sold, we'll know for sure how much the residents are going to have to pay on their taxes to pay for these construction projects. So unless the rate is significantly higher than we originally estimated, not we, myself, but uh Jason others, hopefully we come in uh uh slightly under what was originally uh put on our referendum. Here's the budget for the Lincoln uh and Westbrook construction. It's very high level. The top is uh the money that's being brought in to pay for it and the bottom is the expenses. So right now you could see the top two lines on there are the bonds that have been sold. And that third row there is another set of bonds that are going to be sold this

069summer. Uh the money that we have in the bank that hasn't been paid out for the construction costs. It's collecting interest and um you could see that $6.1 million I talked about there. Those the last two rows there on the revenue side. Expenditures. We've only paid out as of November $5 million out of that 97.1. So, as construction progresses, we'll be paying out more money on that. So, key takeaways, uh, just to sum up, as I mentioned, and and Scott said everything's healthy from the committee's perspective. Uh, I think Jason and Sarah Mcdana is also on the committee. They've both done an excellent job. Um, I have full confidence in their capabilities. Every time we have a question, we as the committee, uh, the questions get answered quickly, um, confidently. All the answers make sense

070to us. So, I feel really good about where our district is at financially. >> Jason, you want to come up here and uh, talk to the slide? >> Sure. >> Thanks, Brian. That was great. Um, so, first of all, I just want to thank Brian and Scott for presenting tonight. Um, and if you have questions for them, we'll give some time. Uh this is our committee. Like I said, we had an amazing committee. They really come in. I think Scott said that um some people come in with with a lot of knowledge around finance. Some come in with not so much. Um and honestly, it's usually the people who don't understand finance as well that ask some amazing questions that help us to make [music] I think the presentation better. So, it's for everyone in

071the community and not the finance experts in the community. Um, I also want to thank board member Deech, who's who was on the committee as a community member and so the opposite of Vicki has now um I don't know if we're continuing as a board member. We'll find out, but um but was on it this uh fall as well and and really helped us out. So again, thanks to Scott and Brian for presenting and any questions you have. I believe that's the next slide. Yes. I mean, um, thank you for all your hard work, guys. We appreciate it. You guys put, uh, a lot of thought and effort into putting these, uh, putting this together, and I appreciate it. And it's nice to see that the fun b fund balances, you know, not too crazy.

072You know, a lot of times it's always that fifth year that just takes that little bit of a dive, but then there's always seem to be a correction and we never get to that dive. So, it's great to see that and that foreshadowing or at least not foreshadowing hopefully um to at least see what could possibly be coming and try to avert it or change it before we even get to that spot to that right at that 30% and just right below that. So, good job. Thank you so much. Oh, one other thing. Um is there anything in the budget uh that makes that fund balance go down more? Is there is it the employee salaries and benefits? What is a certain thing that I guess that probably is it that keeps rising that we're

073just not meeting it with um income coming in or the revenue coming in. >> Unexpected cost is one thing. >> Okay. >> Right. Um that loan we had to take out for Cook County, right? That was $30,000 that cost the district. >> 40 40 something >> $40,000 that cost the taxpayers. Um so things unexpected cost is what I see could affect that. >> Okay. >> The other thing I would mention is that like as we're talking about this like there's a mantra of like we are more confident in year one and [laughter] less confident in year two less confident in year three and as time goes on it becomes maybe not as firm. >> Right. Well yeah because the CPI you just don't know what what's going to happen with that. I get that. Thank

074you. and the warrant sorry it was 40,000 I think around 40 for interest and then another you know more money for the fees as well so it was even more >> fees and opportunity costs lost from not having that money to earn interest as well right so that's real real dollars there >> absolutely >> uh first of all I this is awesome awesome presentation you guys did a fantastic job I really really applaud the fact that you did some scenario analysis on this too You didn't just say we got a model, you did the whatifs, like well what if this isn't what we expect [music] and that's something that you don't always see in models like this. And so that's great. Um I had three questions and and the first one's probably simple because I'm

075just not understanding something. Why are we including in the revenue, this is going back to the beginning of the presentation, the debt extension for bond payment was showing up in the revenue side and I don't know why that is. Sure. Um so when we um levy for taxes, we levy when you approve in December, uh we are asking for a certain amount of money for all the different funds. The debt service automatically gets levied and then people so then property taxes get paid so that we then pay that bond each year to pay off >> the money. >> It's the same as it always was. That wasn't >> it's the same as it always was. It's it's a lot more this year. So we felt like we wanted to separate it. >> Okay, perfect. That

076makes sense. Um, the other thing, can you go back to your uh your famous curves that we all love? >> I I guess I was a little surprised that I mean 2728 is going to be the year full day kindergarten starts. I assume our operating expenses are going to go up significantly that year. >> Mhm. >> More than just, you know, the usual percentage increases that we see year-to-year. >> Sure. >> I guess I would have expected the curve to look a little more kinkedked in that year because of that. >> Sure. uh me as well. Uh but we um we did put in place uh the increased FTE that year. We also have a lot of retirements that year. So we do put that in uh the uh projections as well. So it ends

077up actually working out pretty well. >> So headcount goes up >> headcount goes up but total amount of salary >> because of the retire more similar. >> Okay, that's I would never have guessed that. Yep. Absolutely. Uh and then the last thing um just on the current budget this year the 713,000 cap for capital outlay year to date I I believe we had said that we were going to all lot 500k for the next three years as part of the construction costs right is that 713k does that include that 500k we've allotted for the construction cost or is that 713k K in other stuff not including >> 713K. I was trying to find it just I want to make sure. >> It's on Hold on. I'm sorry. I should >> I should just You should

078know exactly what's on [laughter] >> I've memorized most of the presentation. >> Uh actually it was there. >> Wait, it was there. Okay. >> Yeah. >> No, >> one more. >> Capital outlay. Yes. 762893. >> Capital outlay. >> Sure. So yes. So there we have more than just our capital fund. So fund60 is our capital fund. There's other capital outlay that happens in there. We do buy things through like on&m that will be in that as well. So that's not just the two. That's why when you see the budget there it's 2.382 million is fund 60 that which is what you're thinking of that 2 million 1.5 is earmarked towards the construction but there's an extra 382,000 budgeted in on&m fun. >> And I'm sorry you're right. It was 1.5 not 500,000. So my mistake.

079>> Well, it's Yes, it's 1.5 but earmarked and 500,000 for work. >> So we have not we have not included in that budget bucket the 1.5 million outlay for the construction for that particular >> we put it in the budget just to earmark it knowing it's not going to be spent this year. >> Okay. It's not going to be spent this year. >> It'll be spent towards construction. We have to the the money that we borrow through the bonds for referendum has to it doesn't have to go first but it has to be spent in a certain amount of time so we will spend that first >> right okay gotcha okay perfect thank you >> sure Jason just a quick question in terms of the fund balance policy does the fund balance policy apply to

080each individual fund or does it apply to like the overall expenses over overall. Yeah, good question. [laughter] Thank you so much. Appreciate all the um energy and time that you guys expended and for coming to uh present. Thank you. Oh yeah, we have to take a picture. Sorry. Go take a picture. >> Never miss an opportunity for a picture. >> All right. I need to Why is that? I was say it's going to look great when it's posted. Thank you again. All right, we're going to move on to our next item, the uh security audit. >> Excellent. I'm going to invite Randy Braverman uh from West 40 to come up to the podium and while he's walking up just talk a little bit about um how we got where we are right now. So, um,

081we, um, the last, uh, security audit that we conducted as a district was around 2020, 2021. Um, some interesting times, obviously. Um, and so it was definitely the time, um, at this point to, um, conduct another uh, security audit. Um, and we went out um, after with board approval or board guidance, I guess, um, in the spring um, and interviewed a couple different firms and, uh, West 40 really jumped to the top. Um Randy also runs um a conference every year um a safety conference. I forget the name exactly. >> School safety conference. >> Thank you. Um it's a free conference um and we go schools go, police departments go. It's a it's a really great opportunity um to hear from speakers, meet with uh different vendors um and and have some tabletop just conversations.

082And so um it he was somebody I did know uh prior but um not in this uh regard. And so, uh, when we interviewed the different companies, West 40 really came to the top as somebody that could, um, do exactly what we're asking, which is come in, um, review what we're doing and really give us some guidance moving forward. So, I'm going to again stop talking or I'll say everything that he might say, but, uh, Randy Braverman from West 40. >> And before I start, I want to tell the public I live in town of Mount Pro. So, I have a vested interest in your school system because I live here for 28 years. Um, I want to commend the school board, the superintendent to have me come out because that's a proactive approach. We

083don't, we're not reactive. They're coming out so they can see how safe they are in their schools. And I can tell you, first of all, just meeting with the first responders um, and knowing the first responders here as a community member, the police and fire just have a great relationship with the schools. It's not always like that, but in this town, they really work with their school district and do a good job with their school district. So, I want to say that, too. Uh, prior when talking. Um, and when conducting the assessment, um, meeting with the with administrators and meeting with the office staff, meeting with school teachers, I can tell you everybody was professional. They knew what they were talking about. They knew policies and they knew equipment in here because looking at interior

084and exterior for assessments, uh, physical equipment and products. Um, since the last assessment, this district did a lot of great things to make the school safe. and I'm very proud of them and being a proud resident of what they did here and the board what they did in here. Um and so looking at that um they are doing a great job overall for for uh safety in the in this town in the district 57 and um there was just some some minor changes that they have to do some procedural changes and that's it. But overall they did a great job and the school is very safe. I like to say that. Okay. Any questions you have here? I'm just going to jump in real quick before uh just uh to share that um so Randy

085came out um gave us um writeups that we then are reviewing. Uh we've reviewed already now twice with the police department. Um and our next steps we've put them into categories of there's training that needs to happen. There's some new procedures we'll put in place. Uh there's some things we need to purchase. Um a lot of it is free. A lot of it is about procedures and what we're doing, but some of it is things that we will look at purchasing um as well as some some just regular checks and regular um to-dos that we need to do. And so we'll be um we've already compiled that. Our next step is to look at um how to roll it out and what that's going to look like. So, uh we've been working closely. We um

086we're [clears throat] we're presenting today, but really um we've been working on this for the last couple months. >> And I like to say West 40, you probably don't know what West 40 is. We're government. We work for the state. We're the regional office of education. So, we deal with a ton of schools in the state of Illinois. >> Question. >> I think I was just going to say we really appreciated the presentation we had um earlier and that um all the suggestions and recommendations that you guys brought to us and we do appreciate our partnership with the police department and keeping that proactive. So, thank you so much and yes, uh, >> great ideas and things to put forward. >> Uh, I just wanted to again thank you, Randy, for your thoroughess. I mean,

087reading your report, it's clear you've left no stone unturned, and I really appreciate that. I, you know, this this work we're doing is is so important. I mean, we have so many exciting things going on in the district, which is is wonderful. We have a great strategic plan, >> but none of it's going to matter if we don't keep our students and staff safe. >> That's correct. >> This is absolutely, you know, for me as a board member, our absolute number one priority, and >> I think it's it's great that we did this and appreciate all your findings and the discussion uh earlier. So, >> so thank you for that. Great to know you're a community member here. So, >> yeah. >> And and >> Jason could call me anytime. He knows that. [laughter] And

088to echo Eileen's comment, we are lucky, very lucky to have such a great relationship with the police and fire departments here. >> Uh it's awesome to be their partners in this work. So >> thank you. >> You're welcome. >> I just wanted to echo the thanks that's being uh um applauded to you for your work and you know screening through the schools and checking up on you know it's it's a tightening of practices and procedures. Um, I hope that your assessment about the overall safety of our schools and our dedication even from just having gone through this process four or five years ago >> will bring a sense of um comfort to the community. At the same time, I I want to just be sure we're being clear that this this job is never done,

089right? You can never be that's correct >> secure enough. Um so understanding you know we we have made progress from the last audit we will obviously work to implement some of the changes that were suggested to us to further improve and there will be further improvements to be made from that. So I appreciate you pointing that out. >> You're welcome. You're welcome. I just wanted to echo the thank yous that um we've all been saying and thinking and I thought it was especially interesting that you highlighted the importance of signage um that if the signage is not visible and is not present, you cannot enforce it. So, thank you. >> You're welcome. >> All right. Thank you so much for your time. >> Thank you very much. short drive home. >> Yeah. >> As always,

090District 57 dominating. >> Um, all right. Now, uh, Dr. Gore is going to give us an update for the Cook County tax delay. Okay. And I have a photo from this morning in the Cook County building downtown Chicago. You will notice member Kalchek. and I were joined by um some of our local teammates. Um these are probably some many familiar faces. We had superintendent from all throughout Cook County. Um we also had two of our North Cook board members including Eileen and um some CSBO uh school treasurers. We just had a really nice group. And this is clearly just a small group compared to the coalition that um is representative of all 120 school districts in Cook County. Um so we really were thrilled to have um people in person to be able to um

091speak to um the Cook County Commissioners as well as um Cook County President Prewinkled [music] this morning. So I will actually hand it over to you Eileen if you have any thoughts about this morning. But I'm happy to get but or >> I was not expecting that. Um it was a very interesting meeting. It was a very small room, unexpected. Um but it was I mean you guys have been working on this for a while. You guys have um a good grasp on what's going on and um it was it was great to keep it going and let them know that we are we we're paying attention and we want something to change so that excuse me. so that April 1 doesn't become what last year was and then next year too in August. >>

092Um so hopefully they are listening and hearing us. We've heard that we've given a schedule as to when the payments are going to come because it wasn't it wasn't even the fact that they didn't send the bills out till November 16th. is the fact that they collected the money and it's been trickling into all to all the um school boards, park districts, library boards, any entity within the county. And so we're not getting all the monies that we do need. So some people are still at that predicament where if we don't get this money, we still have to borrow again. So it's a neverending waste of tax dollars. So hopefully they figure this out and we don't have to keep coming to meetings. But it wasn't such a bad day to go down and >>

093you know your morning was taken up but other than that great people to hang with. Um so hopefully it does get figured out and this Tyler Technologies is one of the is the company that they have this contract with >> that seem to not be able to know what they're doing. I don't know. Mhm. Yeah. It's a really um the word debacle has been used. Um um Aerys has said we should not use negligence at this point, but um debacle has apparently been approved. But um for us in district 57, um because we have repaid the tax anticipation warrants, we are able to definitively quantify the losses related to that short-term highinterest loan, which was $67,775. Um we were fortunate that the trickling of money that did come in um with no real clear explanation

094as to the methodology or formula of of such as well as um what to expect would be the um future payments which exacerbates our lack of trust in the process and transparency. Um we were fortunate though that we were able to to repay as quickly as possible. Um and then the lost interest projections for district 57 just up to December 28th. Um which is a stop date for us. Not because we haven't continued to lose interest up to even today. Um but because um the 29th was the first day that the county did distribute some funds. Um and so from a collective um we did not continue to capture the daily interest losses. However, we do um anticipate that we will do the full-scale work of retroactively counting our losses. Um we'll just continue to

095work with um the excellent Bob Lewis and his teammates at PTMA to do that. So, we do intend to quantify further. So, this is a conservative number, but in interest losses alone, District 57 looked conservatively at $333,875.39 in just interest loss. So the total losses up to only December 28th conservatively we are confident is minimum um $41,000650 um I'm sorry $41,000650 and.39. So it's a significant amount of money. We're talking about um you know six seven teachers um salaries and benefits. I mean just to put it in that scale let alone what can happen over time. So when we think of a district like ours, um we're clearly small compared to many of our counterparts. You know, 214 is much more significant. Chicago public schools is also um representative of about half of what our

096findings were in losses, which we as a coalition um conservatively estimate to be $121 million. um over that of course, but that reflects um our data in our methodology of compiling loss interest, tax anticipation warrants, and broken investments. So, these are real numbers. We are um very concerned about the county's um lack of response to this. This contract with Tyler is um 10 years old and um there seems to be some very fundamental questions to continue to ask that we intend to continue asking. Um we we did receive communication from um President Prewinkle's office last night um offering some you know response to some of our concerns but not I don't think in a satisfactory manner given the losses that we're talking about. So we do have a coalition meeting tomorrow and um at that

097point I think you know the goal is for us to assess what is the best use of the the co you know the time of our members um what remains the work to be done but just speaking as myself I think there still is a lot of work to be done I don't think our um impression from our time at the county today um satisfied any of us that um they were doing all that they could be doing um to acknowledge the severity of it. Um I think we were empathetic to boards and having to listen to public comment and understand people's frustration especially on such a complex issue. Um, we didn't hear some of what I think many of us would reasonably consider to be a minimum of a acknowledgement aside from um, Commissioner

098uh, um, Trevor who represents our school district, Commissioner Morrison um, who's located out in Shamburgg and then Commissioner Britain who represents kind of the Northfield Glen View area. So, those are the commissioners that we felt um acknowledged our concern and have been available to us and continue to be meeting and expressing concern. But out of the president's office, out of the treasur's office, um there just seems to be some limited um accountability and also asurances that this isn't going to continue to be a structural problem for the spring and beyond. So, to be continued, I think. Yeah. Mary, um I don't know if you or Jason could actually um fill us in on this. what was the schedule the dispersement schedule that they gave us? Not that would and has it even been met all

099the way? >> Yeah, James. >> So yesterday they sent a dispersement schedule. The first day on that schedule is next Tuesday. So we haven't seen anything. All they wrote it was a very um it was not a ton of information. It basically said, uh, this is the total amount that'll be dispersed. I don't know what I mean, we're obviously a very small percentage of the total amount, but I don't know what that'll look like for us. So, we don't know exactly what we'll get. Once we get that first dispersement, we'll be able to do some math to figure it out. Um, but it had I think dispers I can't remember how many days it was, but it was maybe spanning over about 15 days or so. Um, so it seemed like after that we should

100have all of our money by the end, but we'll see. I think the most concerning part is that no one has given any sort of assurance that the actual structural you know the technical problem is resolved. It appears to us that what we are receiving at this point may likely be out of the pressure we've been you know exerting through press and you know coverage about the issue and they're doing some sort of manual release of funds. really is suggestive in the randomness and the um opaque process that we're getting this kind of this trickle. Um and we do believe without any without any risk of I don't think this anyone would disagree. There's clearly no um collaboration or cohesion between the governments under Cook County. So the president's office versus the treasurer's office versus

101the assessor's office and the board of review. there there you cannot get a coherent um level of collaboration and so there's a lot of fingerpointing and and even today at the meeting publicly it was stated that the commissioners didn't know what we knew through different channels. So you know there's there's to put it bluntly there's just no level of cohesion which and transparency or accountability. So, it's been a very eyeopening and concerning um endeavor for us. But I think it when you get these kind of like smoke and mirror um spreadsheets that don't really have any under you know where is this coming from? Is this because this is resolved? No one's giving any you know any s signal that this is going to be a resolved problem. >> I did have actually one more

102question. Um the thank you for for that. The other question I had was when we are looking at our next several months out or that through the end of the the school year, at what point are are we going to be in a position to have to take out another tax anticipation warrant? >> Sure. Sure. Um when we repay the tax anticipation warrant, um at that point we knew that we were good through March. Um, so we we had some um investments that came true in January and we have some more in February. It actually was a one option we had looked at was could we break those investments instead of doing a tax participation warrant, but [music] they were the investments weren't enough money. We'd still have to do one, so it didn't make

103sense. Um, we are good till March. We also received [music] a dispersement this week. Um, so I know that pushes us even further. Um, so at this point, I'd say we're probably good even until [music] April. Um but with the schedule then the hope I think would be we have all that money then once we receive all the money we are going to look at um and we can actually look at it now that [music] but uh the how far out we would be depending to make sure that if the spring taxes are late it hopefully not then what would that look like because that would really be our next step I I would hope and anticipate that we're going to receive most of the money in this next month and so we should be

104fine but how long could we wait >> [music] >> before getting the spring taxes. >> Thank you, Kim. >> Um, I'm gathering from the conversation, but I just want to clarify. We're talking about a a trickle of income that's coming through. It sounds like that's not typically the way that we receive our money and sort of fits and starts. Is that [music] accurate? >> Yeah, it it always trickles in. It uh So, but it always trickles in much quicker. So it'll trickle in over a couple weeks. This is I think we received the first dispersements at the end of December. Uh there were two dispersements I think almost back I think they were back toback days and then nothing until this week. So there was a a big break. Um the other thing that's just

105I think a little concerning for us, we're always obviously watching closely and monitoring. Um but typically the county we we get an automated email from the county saying that we received a dispersement. we can then go on a website that we log into to see the dispersement. So, it's a it's a check and balance with what we see that comes into the bank. That's not being updated. So, right now, even though we re we've received revenue, none of that is on that website. So, we have our bank statements, we see it coming in, it's not getting updated, which kind of lends itself to the fact of is that money just coming out some other way and not through the ways it usually does. So, that's a concern. >> Yeah. No, I appreciate that and I

106think that's the thing I wanted to get clarified and sort of out in the open, right? It's not just a matter of the collection was anomalous. It's also the dispersement is anomalous and really sort of broken and unpredictable [music] and it does, I think, put us in a place of, you know, this is the third time in four years that we've had something bizarre going on in terms of the collection aspect. I don't think at least I don't recall a conversation about the dispersement being quite so okay. Great. >> So the problem is deteriorating. It's not improving. [music] Um and I that's unfortunate, right? That it puts us in a position of planning for additional whatifs, right? We just had this presentation about, you know, looking five years out in the future and contemplating our

107projections, but then we also have to add to the equation potentially, well, how do we deal with three, four, five years out when we don't get the money when we expect it? So, I'm I'm grateful, Dr. Gore, for your continued advocacy in this. I appreciate everything that you're doing to put [music] District 57 sort of at the forefront of this issue and I I hope that others will take it up too, right? Not just school districts, but average folks, right? I mean, this is everybody's tax money that's being misused in this way. So, I just wanted to also say thank you Dr. Gore and your team u for keeping this a main priority uh for keeping us informed and for building that coalition of frustrated uh district leaders because I believe that um it's a

108great strategy because once you have a passionate group of frustrated folks real change will happen and so I'm excited to see what happens next. So thank you for your continual uh advocacy of this area. Appreciate it. Um, one thing is that I also was able to see the message from uh, Cook County Treasurer and I just have to read the paragraph that is concerning to me which is that it has the schedule. It's please note that this schedule is subject to change as these will be the initial dispersements using Cook County's new newly implemented distribution system. Should the new distribution system malfunction [music] or otherwise behave unexpectedly, the dates and amounts may be revised. Um, so again, I that doesn't breed a whole lot of confidence in even the dispersement schedule that was supplied to

109agencies expecting tax money. So, >> it's a sad day when communication like that even qualifies as communication. Um, but but that's that to put in perspective when you have zero communication I think there's a level of like balloons they that they want thrown that they they are providing that communication and we're just simply saying that's not acceptable you know especially in the context of such significant losses um you know it I think we all can appreciate and we've tried to articulate that [music] everyone understands unexpected events and technology is the common enemy because It's unpredictable and but this was a 10-year migration process. This is a yes, this is such a significant um situation and then we receive that type of communication that it it's difficult to take seriously, let alone have any confidence. But

110I'll just echo Dr. Gore, you're you're doing some amazing work here and I know you have a day job. It isn't like this was something you planned on doing at the start of the year. Uh but you and your your band of uh of passionate, dedicated uh superintendents or have you guys given yourselves a name? >> Cook County Tax Coalition. Um but I do just want to say who they are because I actually there's Eileen can say they would make all of us proud if you got to hear their comments and I'll send you their video once they put it up. But Kate Donigan is the superintendent of Kennallorth. Um Ben Collins is next. He is in district 64 in Park Ridge. Um Scott Row, district 214 um superintendent. Then we have um Terry Leel

111who is um a school district treasurer um down in uh West Cook. Um we have the board president of district 23. I'm forgetting her name. Becky who spoke. Um then Erin Murphy who's superintendent in Northfield 31. Mike Connelly, um, district 21, Wheeling, Superintendent, the very own Eileen Qualch, district 57, and then Diana McCcluskey is the CSBO in district 15. But there are many, many more. I think our calls usually have like 50 people and many more who, you know, just by conflicts of their schedule are um interacting through email or other communication. So it's a it really is a group because everyone is affected even those that unfort you know weren't like us that had to take in TAWs like everyone's affected by um the interest losses and then I think you know the key

112feat of the group was just getting the numbers totaled and I I do want to say how significant Bob Lewis has been in his you know um availing himself and his entire team really were um so instrumental at making sure that our data was correct and having correct formulas so that we do have confidence that we were very cautious not to do any sort of methodology that could be accused of inflating the harm. So, we've been really judicious and trying to be conservative because if this does turn into something like litigation um that this will be, you know, numbers that will hold um weight when challenged because we do expect them to be challenged. And so, I mean, they have been such Aerys Dillianis from Franzac who is just an expert in this field. So,

113there's just been so much um collaboration and I think it's people and really led by I think the people in this picture and I do want to shout out Scott because you know he has been so awesome and such a key player as a high school superintendent and so I just want to um commend him because two of his board members are with us tonight but he's really been a great voice as well to make sure that um it's reflective of advocating for the community and seeing this really as a community advocacy effort, not as one single districts. So, >> and I I love that you put out the actual number >> of the impact this has had on us. $400,000. That is >> and hopefully everybody here and watching heard that cuz >> I

114mean fundamentally all this is doing this is hurting kids. This is hurting our kids. That's really what this is all about. So it on the surface it's gross incompetence, but the result is it's hurting our kids and everybody associated with this at that at the county government level should just be ashamed of themselves. I mean I >> I know that sounds harsh, but this is this has been a uh just a really a great example of how not to run. So So thank you for all you're doing on this. We we really appreciate it. Keep keep up the great work. I just wanted to say thank you and thank you for taking what I saw as a leadership role. You kind of got the ball rolling with the with the other superintendent. You made initial

115contact and the coalition, you know, rallied quickly. And it's not just the kids who are hurt. It's a waste of tax dollars. Everyone who is paying property taxes should be calling Cook County and asking why. >> It is a waste of our tax dollars, our hard-earned money that could be going for things to better >> our district. >> All right. Thank you so much. Oh, and so later tonight in the meeting, I I would encourage the board Oh, you're going to talk. Okay. So, I would encourage the board to take action on the resolution which is attached in your board packet. Um, which you know, basically is um, you know, just reflective of the reality of the situation. It's also reflective of the board's position of um how they how they feel about the issue

116and its impact on district 57. And then should this be a resolution that is passed um this would be then um signed um by Karen and then I would be um distributing this to um the Cook County Treasurer, the Cook County President, each of the Cook County Commissioners, our state um elected officials and pretty much everyone under the sun just to make sure that we're continuing to put this in front and and demand action and that this is a resolution that I think we're going to be seeing a lot of districts in Cook County passing in some form or another. So again, just kind of building that um consistent message that, you know, as boards we're taking a stand um on this topic. So >> great. >> Thanks, Mary. >> All right, we're going to

117get a building brighter futures update from Jason. >> So the student board members really, you know, stole the show with um our tour on Monday. Um but I'll just say that uh obviously construction continues. It's been going really well. um we continue to meet regularly. Um we're getting into some of those real specifics. We uh have had many conversations these last two weeks about door hardware. So that's been that's been the fun uh topic the last two weeks. Um but one thing we've started working on too is we've been working towards uh pilot furniture um the last couple years and we updated you I know about that. Um our next step that we've just started is meeting with specific groups about specific furniture in different areas. So, at Lincoln, we've met with the library. We've

118met with uh band choir orchestra. We have other meetings set up with other groups um that are a little different than just that typical classroom um to start figuring out exactly what furniture they need. So, hope to have all the furniture conversations done and all decisions made by the end of this year just so we can get ready to order at the beginning of next year, next school year. Any questions about [music] anything with construction? You're good. All right. And back to you with the Westbrook Bridge. >> Sorry. Yes. Uh, so our Westbrook Bridge uh over uh Weller Creek, we've talked about um it um needs to be repaired. Um so it's been um it's been unusable for the last couple months as we figured this out. It's not something that we regularly do fixing

119a bridge. Uh so it took us some time to find um to work with the engineers to figure out exactly what needed to get done. We have uh then reached out and we found a company that can do the work that's needed. It's tough to find a company that'll do this small of a job even though it's we're talking about $48,000 for us, but for them it's a pretty small job. Um but we do have a company that um comes recommended to us and that can come out and do the work. We um so I bring that to you tonight uh for approval um to get the bridge fixed um and with approval then we would work with them on finding a time that works around the weather uh to get it fixed. Questions? >>

120Go ahead, Alan. Last month I thought um you said that this project would um be partially funded by the state or other local >> Yep. Uh we approved uh the maintenance grant last uh month. The maintenance grant is a grant that will pay for half. So we have to put half the money and they So this was part of that grant because the grant will be up to 50,000. So we look for $100,000 or more of a project. So this will be part of it. So this thing that we're looking at here is our contributions to the bridge. >> What we're looking at is the total cost to fix which is about 48,000. We have to pay for it. So I I look for approval from you and then uh the once we're done with

121uh all the work, we then um close out the grant and they will send us a check. So we put up the money first. >> I understand. Thank you. >> Sure. Kim, I just had a quick question and I I don't know if maybe I missed it in the memo about the time frame. Obviously, if we take action to approve tonight, what is the lead time then to complete the project? >> Um, not sure. Uh, we had talked to them. They said that they can do it throughout the winter. So, it's really just a question of weather um and what it looks like and if it's too cold or snow, but uh they did say that it doesn't have to wait until the spring. Um, so we'll just look at the advice from them of

122when when is best for them to be able to get out and do it. If that >> was there any indication of obviously I understand the season that we're in, but in a typical circumstance, what would be the time frame? >> I that I don't know. Um I've been working actually kind of through our architects on this. So um I'm not sure exactly on that. I do know that one issue um that we have coming up too is that when Westbrook construction starts that will most likely um also make the bridge uh not accessible because of the construction fencing and where it'll be. Um so um it we're working on trying to get it fixed as quickly as possible, but we also know that um in a little while that construction is going to start

123which will stop it. Okay, that was the piece I was going to ask about next how that impacts. So, >> Jason, uh, just to confirm and it appears in the um the quot estimate. So, this is a this is restoration work and not replacement. Correct. We are fixing the bridge, not replacement. >> We did look at what the cost would be to replace and this was much better. [snorts] All right. Thank you, Jason. And now we're going to move on to teaching and learning for a professional learning update. Dr. Vandar, >> thank you. And I'm going to invite Erin Wilkins, our assistant director of professional learning up to um up there. And in your board packet, you will see an extensive list of professional learning that we were able to provide for our staff. um

124so far this year. Erin will share a few of the highlights and then we'd be happy to answer any questions that you have. >> Good evening everybody. It's good to see you. Um yeah, we did give you a pretty long memo. Apologies. So, we thought that it would be meaningful to maybe bring your attention to uh some of it and then and then we'll take questions in tandem probably. Um, so I'm going to go through the uh the memo in order, but unfortunately it kind of jumps around in the appendices. We included a lot of documents at the end because for a lot of this, it's just easier to read what we're talking about or to see it on a schedule or to see a description. So, um, I'll just bring your attention to a

125few things. First of all, starting off at the top, um, in terms of communication, um, one of the things we want to, uh, talk about is the new professional learning calendar that we've got shared districtwide and that is linked on the internet. Um, if you want to see that, uh, in the appendix, it's actually at the very back. Um the we the reason that we included all of it is that you know from August or maybe we started in September all the way through uh May you can see that on a weekly basis unless we're off for a break that there's a lot going on. Um and so that's included in there for you to check out. Um next section of the memo under structure. One of the things we wanted to bring to your

126attention um was this idea that we that we leaned in leaned into this year. Um we don't have a really cool name for it yet. Um and and Dr. Gore is encouraging us to come up with something much more marketable, but we're talking about common threads of learning. Um and in your appendix, uh you could see that on page six. Um, and the reason that we're excited about that is it provides us with a commonality um, something that we're learning uh, um, in all schools and with all teams across the district, but at the same time, you know, these sorts of these sort of uh, threads as themes um, tend to continue. [music] So, we can um, kind of adjust content as needed as we continue to build on these uh, threads that are important

127for everybody. Uh, next thing I want to bring your attention to as we keep walking through this, uh, again in the memo. Um, so now I'm on page two. Um, uh, still in kind of the same vein with what we've been doing districtwide was the creation of some specialized job alike teams. You know, we have a lot of roles that, um, there's one or two folks sometimes at any given building. And so, you know, if we're all together as a building for one of these common threads and you've got a single school psychologist, um, and my wife's a school psychologist, so, uh, I have to think about them. Um, you know, who who is that person going to talk to or collaborate with? Um, and so we created a group of these specialized roles and

128they can uh uh engage in these threads of learning together on these days so that they've got folks from other buildings to connect with um and collaborate with. And if you wanted to see some of that in terms of the appendix, you could check out page 11. Um uh continuing to move down our most recent institute day uh that just happened in uh January. We came up with a a really creative uh schedule that allowed us to build in a lot of choice and for folks to have uh continued work in content areas. Uh as well as like some of the supplemental resources that we use or supplemental systems that we use. Um we had the Mount Prospect Public Library out, we had out. Um we had some really innovative sessions going on and the

129way that we did the structure which you can see in appendix page 16 uh allowed us to uh allowed us to to provide choice to our educators and they signed up and picked whatever they wanted and we moved throughout the day rather seamlessly. It was great. Um again uh continuing to move through on the on the memo when we get into this section that is about uh indicators of quality. Um, as you know, uh, we we get feedback from all professional learning that we do. Um, and one of the things that the professional learning committee was thinking a lot about this year, uh, was, you know, how do how do we build in and make sure that collaboration time, which is the time to move, uh, learning into some kind of planning because we want

130the learning to eventually show up in action and with students, right? So um one of the ways that you do that is you provide the time within the session for folks to collaborate. So hence that that uh that team of specialized roles where they can collaborate with one another but also we wanted to make sure that this was really happening and we bring in folks from the outside. So you know whether it's uh Dr. Vandar and I or me by myself a lot of times uh Mark Fior and I met with folks um we expressed to them that this is something that we need to ensure and then we follow up by asking that question in feedback um and you can see some of that um around page 25 I think in the um in

131the appendices so that we're we're we're keeping track of something that we want to show [music] up in professional learning and that's been sort of a thread with the professional There's that thread word again. That's been sort of a trend with professional learning, which is uh you know, how as we do things, how are we how are we tracking, how are we indicating to ourselves that this is um a worthwhile endeavor. Um and we plan to continue some of that thinking. Um something that we're really excited about that you've probably heard about already, but now um the fall cycle uh has happened and that's the D57 Academy. Uh it's been a lot of fun. Uh these are not sessions that are like specific to middle school math which is uh not just on the math

132tip but uh content specific curricular sessions is a lot of what Dr. Vonerhara and I do um and it's a lot of what you have to do as a district. Uh these sessions are assistants uh kindergarten teachers, eighth grade ELA teachers. I mean, it's across the board and we come together and we have these learning opportunities. It's outside of the school day. Uh, some have been on Saturdays. Uh, some have been extended sessions like a book study that Kristen did right before she came over here. Um, some have been single sessions. And really the idea was just to kind of like take off some of the restrictions that we sometimes have in a district and say, you know, let's come together as learners. Let's still focus on portrait of a graduate and the things that

133we know are important to our district. Uh but we can do these in um in different and more creative ways. Um we've been able to pay teachers to attend these things. We've been able to pay all staff to attend these things. Um and again, they've been a lot of fun. Uh we'll do another round in the spring and then the summer learning that we've typically done will wrap into that new uh D57 academy approach that we've been doing. um we continue our collaboration with the other districts. So in January that was when uh a lot of our specialized roles again go out to other districts uh in district 214 and then sender schools to those districts. Uh we hosted world language teachers from all of those districts uh at Lincoln. Uh so again a great

134opportunity for a lot of folks to come together uh while we were having our choice session day. this was going along um at the same time in tandem. So, a lot going on. Um we had a really wonderful again with a lot of choice built in. Um I'm on page four of the memo uh with instructional assistance in November. Um if you want to see all of the content and choice that we provided to them, uh you could check out page 23. Um, and that's that's my wrap-up for the the quick walkthrough of what I think is about a 70page uh memo. Um, and if you've had a moment to to take a peek, uh, we welcome any questions that you might have. >> Thank you for the memo. Um on the on the theme

135of making data meaningful, have you all um considered the uh the option of bringing in some AI tooling into Focus Chat GPT, Claude, OpenAI, some tooling that teachers, staff can upload anonymized data to and have it work alongside teachers and staff to try to make heads and tails of some of the data. looking at big themes perhaps just kind of iterating back and forth with the user, the teacher, the staff member to kind of get better at making the data more meaningful or or making actions from that data. >> Yeah, great question. Um, you know, as a district, we utilize a Google suite. So, we've got access to Gemini uh through there. Um, ChatGpt is also used. There's there's a lot of tools that teachers have been using for quite some time uh related to

136planning um related to like standards connection with curriculum. Um Mark Fior uh has also done quite a lot with us um in building systems to help us visualize the data um which is really helpful when um and he's produced reports that I've really geeked out over recently. um but they're better than what we get on NWA. Um and to to be able to use AI to help us visualize what we're looking at has been extremely helpful. Just on the January day that we were talking about um Mark facilitated a session that was um it was like facilitated work time. So teachers were there together in the room. They brought data. We had just gotten winter map data. They were looking at it and kind of understanding it as a team. And then one group in

137particular after that session took like this combination of data that they were seeing and uh some of the items from like the learning continuum which is like standards within NWA map testing that spits out like some specific things that kids will know at different levels. Um they they took that and and pulled it into AI and asked for like you know what where do these things merge with small reading groups. uh which is a fantastic use to your point of like you know here's all this data. We know that we're looking at these levels so we can go look at the right kind of indicators and now let's pull it and let's get great questions or at least ideas for questions right to to spark our thinking when we're running uh small group reading. So

138some um uh for some a lot for [laughter] even some and and I would say like a little for most people in terms of like that AI use. >> That's great. And I don't know um how appropriate this request is, but for the next time we see a report like this, I would be interested to see how that is advancing and how our teachers are taking advantage of these tools. Gemini is great. um you know they're they all have you know superpowers and so if there's a way to celebrate some of those AI tooling wins um from we uploaded this data we made this report we made a tweak and then we saw this outcome of it that would be really great especially under you know making the data more meaningful meaningful like some action

139that came of it would be really interesting to see. I just wanted to add to um especially with with AI we are very mindful of student privacy and and and concerns about that. So we have done that on the back end to make sure that we don't have any identifiable information. So what we've really done and again this is a credit to Mark and the work that he's done. He's created different dashboards for um us to use at the district level and building level that can look at student data in a protected manner and allow us to really look at subgroup data, look at data over time. So, we've been really leaning into that with our data conversations. Not to discredit that, but that's something that we are um very protective of just to make

140sure that someone doesn't accidentally put student data up there. So, um, that has been, uh, a great tool. We, we just looked at some of our data, um, and some of the improvements that Mark has made at our district leadership team and we had some really valuable conversations about that. So, >> great addition. I got all excited about the question. Thank you. >> Thank you. And also, you know, thank you for keeping the students data secure and private. I mean, paramount before the learnings, of course. So, um, 100% agreed and aligned. Thank you. Are there any other questions? >> No. Thank you very much. >> All right. Thank you all. >> All right. Next, we have our foyer report. All right. Um, District 57 received 11 FOYA requests between December 16th, 2025 and January 14th,

1412026. The detailed report is available in the board packet. >> All right. Thank you. Let's move on to the consent agenda and Christa the bills. >> Jason did a fantastic job. >> Excellent. >> As always, >> all right. Can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> So, and I apologize. I I probably should bring up um Principal Kelly, do you think at this point or do you want to do this because this is in the personnel or do you want me to do this? I kind of did not think of a good time to do it. >> We can do it now. >> I'm sorry. so awkward. I apologize. Um, but as the community likely already knows, but it's worth acknowledging that um we are so proud of Principal Katie Kelly from

142Lions Park who has accepted a um district level position um overseeing teaching and learning in district 30 in Northbrook. and we are so proud of her and know she will excel in that role and that she will bring us great pride in the way that she continues to advance outcomes for kids but just in a different district um actually the district of Dale Faulk which some of us know um who is our previous assistant superintendent of finance and operations but we're as proud as we are of Katie um we do want to just acknowledge that for 9 years she has really been um such a force of greatness at Lions Park. And it was very um difficult for her to make this decision and I know um you know like anytime you make that big

143move, you have a lot to consider and it's the right thing for her family and a great opportunity. But um I know she's really sad to leave her Lions Park family and um district 57. But that said, um, in the face of the reality that we must move, we must let her go, um, we have opened the position, um, we are currently in the process of screening, um, applications and, um, conducting screening interviews, um, and we'll have an opportunity for interviews with a panel of, um, Lions Park staff, um, administration as well as families. and then hope to have a timeline such that a recommendation for the next Lions Park principal can come before the board for action at the February meeting. So that's our goal. Sometimes it's not always um achievable based on some

144unexpected things in in the nature of hiring, but that will be our goal because it allows for us to try to, you know, leverage as much time as possible to have a strong uh transition. But just tonight, I just want to publicly thank Principal Kelly, who I know is absolutely laser focused on finishing strong and doing everything she can to support Lions Park and District 57 um in preparing for her absence, but just thank her for everything she's done um for District 57 because she has been really um quite legendary in her nine years. So, we're all really It's bittersweet. Yeah, I would echo that that it's it's one of those situations that we we love our staff and our um are thrilled to see anybody go and reach for what they want to do

145in the next stage in your career and to move themselves forward and everything and at the same time kind of have to grin and bear it >> like I'm happy for you mostly [laughter] >> perfectly. >> But luckily uh we'll still have Katie in the community be able to see her around. Thank you. >> Okay. So, we need to vote on the passing of consent agenda. Do you do roll call? >> No. I was right. >> Ray Ray. >> No, Dr. Gore. I just wanted to see if you would Sorry. Um ju just in case people were wondering about opportunities for staff and fam Lions Park families to give feedback or just sort of direction on what sort of attributes they're looking for in a >> so um staff and families were given opportunities to

146give their feedback um and in terms of the qualities for the next science park principal and so um you know we're in the process of compiling that feedback. We got a lot of responses and you know >> [music] >> um just a lot of great attributes and you know um those will help us refine um our interviewing and hiring process to make sure that whoever is recommended to the board for um approval really aligns with the fit of what staff and families really believe is essential for that position. So, um, we appreciate people that took the time to do that. And I think it's not surprising that people were very responsive because they feel very strongly about, um, the Lions Park community and take great pride in what what is the current standard um, in

147that role and want to maintain the excellence moving forward. Thank you. >> Thanks for that reminder. Kim, did you want to say something? I just want to say I'm surprised that there were many responses to a question like that because I think the only response that's appropriate is clone Katie Kelly. >> I don't know. >> Essentially that was a commentary. >> That's true. >> Really Katie actually you fit perfectly the profile of what people want you. >> Yeah. [laughter] >> Um also I would like to move to approve the consent agenda. >> Thank you so much. >> Okay. >> Second. >> Member Dorner. >> Yes. >> Member Fay. Yes. >> Member Qualch. >> Yes. >> Vice President Leto. >> Yes. >> Member Nelson. >> Yes. >> Member Deech. >> Yes. >> President Bennett Kell. >>

148Yes. >> All right. Move on to unfinished business. Um, can I have a motion to approve the student fees for school year 2026 27? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Member Fay. >> Yes. >> Member Qualch. Yes. >> Vice President Leto. >> Yes. >> Member Nelson. >> Yes. >> Member Dee. >> Yes. >> Member Dorner. >> Yes. President Bennett Kill. >> Yes. We have now reached the second opportunity for community comments. Is there any member of the community that would like to address the board? Do you want to double dip? No. Okay. All right. Moving on to new business. Um, can I get a motion to approve the property tax bill resolution as um outlined in your board packet? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Member Qualch. Yes. >> Member Leto. >> Yes. >> Vice

149President Leto. >> Member Nelson. >> Yes. >> Member Deech. >> Yes. >> Member Dorner. >> Yes. >> Member Fay. >> Yes. >> President Ben Hill. >> Yes. [snorts] >> All right. We also have a Can I get a motion to approve the Westbrook Bridge repair? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Vice President Leto. >> Yes. >> Member Nelson. >> Yes. >> Member Deech. >> Yes. >> Member Dorner. >> Yes. >> Member Fay. >> Yes. >> Member Qualch. >> Yes. >> President Bennett Kell. >> Yes. >> All right. We're going to move on to uh communications. So let's start with the NSSO report. >> So this will be a quick one. uh NSSO governing board did not meet in January. Uh however, the operating board, I understand, met for the first time. So, Dr. G, I'm

150not sure if you want to not to put you on the spot. If you want to say anything about that. >> No, it was it was positive. Um um we elected um um Superintendent Connelly to be the president and then um Dr. Megar Lee of District 26 is the vice president. So, >> yeah, that's great. Uh the only other thing I have is January 31st, two weeks from Saturday is Winter Wonderland at Sunrise Lake, uh 11:00 start. So hopefully lots of you can make it, but it's lots of fun. Uh they've got sledding and ice fishing and all kinds of cool stuff. So hopefully we'll see many of you there. And our next meeting is Wednesday, February. Sorry, first the first Wednesday of February. We'll leave it at that. Thanks. >> Thanks. And uh Ed

151Foundation. >> All right. So, the last meeting for the Ed Foundation was on the 8th of January. This was a grant meeting uh where they were able to fund over $11,000 worth of grants and they were super excited about that. They then now are moving their focus to the Vegas vacation spring fundraiser. So mark your calendars for Saturday, February 28th. This will be at the Friendship Conservatory in Displayplains from 7 to 10:00. Tickets are on sale and there's lots of information in Parent Square. So please um take a look there and we hope to see you again Saturday, February 28th from 7 to 10:00. If you've never done this event, it is super fun. And their next meeting will be a week from tonight uh 6:30 at Keerri right uh downtown Mount Prospect. And the

152main focus of that conversation will be that gala. So if you have input, please come on out. >> Thank you. All right. PTO reports. Let's start with Westbrook. >> Westbrook's last meeting was the day before the board meeting in November. Um the December board meeting was cancelled. Um the next board meeting was originally scheduled for next week, which is a school day off. So, they've pushed it to the following Monday, which is when most of us are going to be at um the uh at foundation dinner. So, is is everyone going on the school board? >> Does anyone would anyone wish to attend um the [music] wonderful Westbrook um PTO meeting? And if so, I can type up something for you and I can drop off um I usually bring cookies or something for the

153people who um attend just to say thank you for being active in the community. >> That's a high standard. >> That is a high standard. >> Oh, I'll I'll bring the cookies. No, I mean I'll give you the cookies or whatever candy. >> Well, why don't we um do that offline? We can do that. Thank you. Fair. All right. We had our meeting this past Tuesday. Um, just a couple quick tidbits. They had their FA Fair View fundraiser. They had a glow theme, which apparently was a great theme because they want to continue that theme. And, um, they made over 27,000. Um, the staff had a back to school lunch or the um, the PTO had that for the staff and they were very appreciative. They thought it was great. food was delicious. They loved

154it. Um, best winter wear fundraiser where people brought in donations for winter coats, hats, things like that. Best one that they've ever had and they donated to the fire department because they were going to try to donate to the village, but the village had had so much that they didn't need anymore at that time. So, the fire department was very happy to have it and they were able to donate that along with toys that they do like before the holiday season. So very successful. Um they have their science fair coming up. I believe it's on the 11th and they have their next meeting. Oh, they have had their um tasty bites. They had hikima last time and they have their next one coming up. Um I don't know what it is though. February 3rd is

155the next meeting. LRC at 6:30 Fair View. I got it this time. >> Thank you. Uh Lions Park. >> Lions Park. Uh their last meeting was this past Monday, January 12th. Uh I'd say a good portion of the meeting was spent with the very uh difficult task of figuring out how to spend surplus funds. Um so the PTO had some something to the tune of about $9,000 of surplus funds. And so I believe they had settled on purchasing um some additional instruments for uh Miss Colinger in the music department. And then also they are looking at and uh potentially purchasing a new kiln for the uh art program. But again that's a little bit more complicated because there's some electrical and other things that need to be worked out. So um and I know they

156also had written for and received some ed foundation edited foundation grant for that as well. So I think that's one of those things that they're going to kind of work on and maybe potentially do later on in the school year. Um Valentine's Day parties are scheduled for February 13th. Um it sounds like they have I think new this year they've been doing some second grade playdates with second graders from both Lions Park and Fairview. That sounds like there's been a lot of you know really good interest and a lot of families participating from both schools. Um I think they just did a couple leading up to or around winter break. In addition, the fifth graders at Lions Park and Fair View are doing an event on Sunday, January 25th at Reclex. And Lions Park is

157hosting a or the PTO is hosting a spelling bee on Tuesday, January 20th. Um, so those are just some different events coming up. Uh, their next meeting is on Monday, February 2nd in the Lions Park Teachers Lounge. >> Thank you, Lincoln. Uh the Lincoln PTO has not yet met this month. Uh they typically meet the 3rd Monday of the month. However, the third Monday this month is MLK day. Uh so their meeting is the 26th which is the same night as the Edread dinner. Thus I will not be attending. I will be attending the PTO meeting as is my duty and my joy. Um their last meeting was December 15th. So I already discussed what they had talked about at our meeting in December. So yeah, next one's January 26th. Thank you. All right. Uh,

158not much on the board president's report. We are cancelling the tentative February 5th tentative meeting. We have no need for that one. Um, and we have two events coming up. The Edra um legislative dinner on January 26 from 5 to 8 at Stevenson High School. Uh, and then um the, uh, CI civic connections event on February 9th, which is a municipal networking event organized by the Mount Prospect Public Library. So you we've received emails from Roberta with details about attending both of those. >> Can I say just one thing? >> Yeah. Yeah. >> I would like to uh just announce uh very exciting news for us that our own president Bennett Kill uh has been named to the Ed Executive Board which is very nice which is very cool uh not only to have have

159CR in this role but also that it continues. you know, we had former member Jen Choke in the on the exec board before. So, good that we're getting some great continuity there. So, congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Great to have you in that position and I know you will represent us well. >> Thanks. We just had our first um my first executive board meeting at the beginning of this week and I'm already plotting how to take over. So, stay tuned. Okay. Um we're going to move on to board discussion. So with this item, this is the the board will discuss the possibility of a resolution to prohibit immigration enforcement agencies such as ICE and Customs and Border Border Protection from using district properties as an operational base. So [snorts] this is a a a topic

160that we have heard from the community on. Um we have some as we know there's been numerous villages and townships in the uh in the area in Cook County and beyond that have put forth resolutions banning um immigration enforcement operations on village or township property. Um there's also been several of our uh surrounding of our neighboring school districts that have passed similar resolutions. Um closest to us is Wheeling District 21. They passed theirs in November, right around Thanksgiving. um at their November meeting um because of the visibility of those enforcement operations and the responses both in the community and beyond and our various education communities. Um, one of the things that I I wanted to bring this forward so that we would have a public conversation about how the district can respond um whether [clears

161throat] we want to uh create an a resolution limiting or outlining uh where we want um the limits for enforcement activities on district property, whether we want to engage in um looking at uh changing board policy to fully articulate that, what have you. I there's not a a particular end in mind here but I think we should be having this conversation. So the meeting the materials that we have all received or that were all available were the the wheeling 21 resolution, the um main 207 resolution and then we were able to get some information with regards uh from our board attorney about the various legalities and and issues that would go along with that. So I really want to just open up the the the table to discussion. um to see if we are in

162a a place where we want to move on on creating a resolution. Uh if we want to look at adjusting board policy or articulating it these our um our practices more clearly in board board um policy. What do we think? >> Kim, I actually have a question. Are we in a position to summarize at all some of the guidance that we got from council? >> I understand we received a document that's >> yeah, >> you know, some level of confidential, but I'm not sure what the parameters are for just kind of adding to the foundation for the conversation. >> Sure. So the um the guidance that we received from council was based on the um resolution and activi and uh action taken by district 21. So we had given them that resolution to take a

163look at. uh District 21 put together their resolution as prohibiting those activities and also placing signage at each one of their district facilities that said they're prohibiting um those enforcement activities on their district property. There are a um there's a lot of conversation um around this topic and most of it uh that the the concerns rest in the enforcibility of um any resolution that we would put forward. um the um what the consequence of attempting to enforce something like that. Um it's how that aligns with our the um the burdens that we would be placing on our staff and administrators and having to interact with um law enforcement or ICE ICE agents. and also the um sorry, you're just going to have to have me pause for a second. Um, also to uh consider whether

164or not we are um willing to put ourselves in the positions of being considered possibly a safe zone um in a in a more legal sense. So, we I've spoken to some other um other school boards. There's a nearby district in the Niles um uh Morton Grove Smoky area that chose not to move forward even though they have a large immigrant population, choose not to move forward with a resolution because they were concerned about it bringing um undue attention on their population. Um, so that's one of the considerations that's been out there as well. There isn't anything about doing one of these resolutions that again is a is is illegal or is going to go against board policy or ISBY policy. It's well within the guidance that ISBY has given um on uh the um

165immigration enforcement activities on school grounds. So for our purposes, I guess what we would need to um decide is whether a we think that this is a topic that we want to um engage with in a formal way, putting forth a resolution or working in board policy to to clarify our our um or to um codify our um practices and then if we choose to take a or to move forward with one of those two items um how would how we would proceed. I don't know if that was a lot of word vomit or >> No, I appreciate the clarification. Right. Essentially, the guidance that we received was that any resolution would be difficult, if not impossible to enforce. Mhm. >> Um, not necessarily from the standpoint of we don't have the capacity to control

166what happens on our property, but given, as you said, the the potential for staff or maybe even parents to become involved in a potential conflict trying to um, you know, maybe physically prohibit such officers from using the property in the way that would be prohibited by a resolution by a sign. Um or similarly, if we were to try to bring legal action for trespass, the legal costs of doing that, the cost of the district in terms of time and you know, effort to defend a legal action that would largely be um you know, we we could spend a lot of time in court defending something against the limitless purse of the federal government, right? Um, so I appreciate you bringing bringing that aspect of the conversation to the table as well. I think there's factors

167that we'll need to balance as we're discussing. So, >> go ahead, Ray. >> Uh, my first question was just about the difference between a resolution versus a board policy in terms of what does that mean? what you know I guess from a very broad sense as we're exploring possible options what does that look like um in terms of the statement or the long-term meaning of that >> the actually passing a resolution versus actually change is sure wouldn't in fact a board policy >> sure no um the cottifying practices or being more specific about what our practices are around enforcement a uh enfor immigration enforcement in board policy avails us of the legislative process. So it would be something that we would go through our uh put to our policy committee that they would you know

168we would draft a policy, do some research, draft a policy, bring it back to the board for a first and second reading. So there would be a a much more formal process involved when it comes to um and um I'm trying to think of a way to say this. Uh it would be something that would um not be more actionable by the district in a sense, but it is it's it enforcable from our um Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. I'm having a really hard time keeping my thoughts together. I apologize. But yes, it would be it would go through the legislative process more um rather where the resolution itself would be something that we would bring forth and that we would offer as a hey this is what we want to have happen um instead

169of uh having it be something that we would have to go through that formal policy process. And I think, you know, even tonight's resolution that was just passed, you know, because it it's kind of standalone in a statement, but because the resolution that's being discussed in this realm would have implications of action, I think the recommendation of, you know, legal counsel was to say, you know, the enforcement really um takes the the form of an action through a board policy, you know, versus, you know, the resolution tonight. It's not really stating, you know, any action or any behaviors that have to change as a result of that. It's more of a statement and more symbolic. But this one, depending on the content that the board would determine if there would be a resolution, I think

170the um legal perspective is that it makes probable sense to follow up then with policy that aligns, you know, with that position. I don't think it has to. So, it depends probably on what the board wants within said resolution. So, okay. Um, so there's a reference from the law firm apparently policy 7150, which is current policy in regards to police interaction. So, that would be if we were to do this resolution, it would be codified potentially into that policy 7150. Okay, I'm understanding that one a little bit better now. Um, I guess the real question is is do we believe that we should do something like this? Um, I I think we should because I I think that send well hopefully sends a good message, but sends a message that we um want to have

171a safe community. We want a safe place for our kids no matter where they are from and we want them to have this should be a safe place. School should be a safe place. It should always be a safe place and you know the sad part is to you know worry about you know not doing it because we don't want to put focus on that on that group of you know students, individuals, parents, families. sad that we have to even think that or the sad fact of potential retribution which is also pretty pathetic in my opinion that we even have to I mean that that it's being done um by our government. So I personally am in favor of doing this and and codifying it in a way. I don't know necessarily with the signage

172and I mean whether we do it or not doesn't matter if you know even if they do decide to come and do enforcement I don't know I mean to me they are doing a lot of illegal things so I don't know necessarily that the resolution would prevent them from doing what they want to do so and I don't know where law enforcement is in coming when you know the federal government comes in and local law enforcement comes in, they really don't have that kind of interaction where they stop them necessarily. But I think we should put a good faith effort into saying we want to protect our kids and we are there for them [clears throat] and we want a safe place for them. Pam, >> I thought about this long and hard and I

173have gone to the village board meeting um several times. I was at the village board meeting on Tuesday to talk about the swastika that was uh listed in Mount Prospect neighbors. I am, as Terry Gen said, elderly and frail, but my family fought in World War II. My uncle liberated a concentration camp and said that the smell of human flesh never gets out of your nose. I cannot look away from what is happening. As Eileen said, what is happening is basically illegal. You, our constitution guarantees due process. Due process means that you cannot be arrested without a judicial warrant. That's not what's happening. In Minneapolis, a woman was shot in the face three times and then sworn at after she was murdered. There are people uh ICE agents going doortodoor kicking down doors in the

174middle of a freezing cold winter grabbing [clears throat] kids out of the doors. I see a strong parallel between what happened in crystal in Germany. I see a strong parallel with seccott concentration death camp people who are who 2% of the over 200 people that were deported there 2% had any criminal background and maybe not felony just just Pam my Pam I'm sorry I'm going to interrupt you I know this is a intense topic that's a lot of emotion behind it I just want to make sure that we keep our focus on um the activities resolution. Okay. >> Um so I am strongly in favor of this and I am of doing a resolution and I am strongly in favor of science signage. I didn't think that much about it until um the meeting we

175had in close session uh when the chief of police said that um if you don't have signage, you can't enforce what you're asking. And it wasn't in reference to the resolution. I don't know that he knew that he, you know, was focused on that when we were meeting um earlier today. Um but it's true. If you don't have signage on your door that says um only service animals are allowed to come into the library, if you don't have that signage, it's difficult to um to uh maintain that law. If you don't have signage on your door that says no guns allowed, Chief Eternal said you can't enforce it. So, if we don't have signage that goes part and parcel, I am very strongly in favor of standing up for safety because I'm going to ask

176you, what are you all going to do when ICE shows up in our parking lot with their assault rifles, fingers on triggers like they did in November at 7-Eleven. One of our community members, Jenny, saw it happening and saw kids going into 7-Eleven. That was the day that Bino was at 7-Eleven and his cadre was out there with guns. So, what are you going to do if you don't have this to Are you going to let the kids um leave for school? Are you going to call an emergency? Are you going to call the police and hope that the police get here? when you've got pe when you've got grown men dressed in in uh >> military fatigue. >> Pam, >> I sorry. And I'm just I'm I'm I'm going to be very vocal because

177I represent I I feel that as a citizen and a community member of Mount Prospect that I am speaking for the people who are scared about coming out of their houses. Even though they may be United States citizens, even though they may be here legally, I cannot witness, I cannot be part of something that that I know happened parallels to Germany to to Nazism. I cannot I I I cannot do this. Thank you, Alan. Um to maybe refocus part of this conversation, safe uh school being a safe place is probably like paramount in our focus. My concern with signage is that it might create a false sense of security because we will not have the training to deal with the unknown. And um I I would hate to work through the proper language of a

178sign or billboard only to um make us feel better but not be able to know what happens next. And that's probably the biggest unknown here is um would a sign be enough? Because it wouldn't be enforcable. Like no one's going to know what to do except for hey did you read the sign? and and now we're in like in a in a confrontation. Um so this is complex for sure and uh we have a lot of community members reaching out and speaking you know tonight and and through the email portal. Um but I just worry that a sign creates um a false sense of security and I don't know what to do about that but just wanted to maybe refocus back to what you wanted to talk about which is open the dialogue here. Chris,

179did you want to say anything? >> I saw Kim's light on, so >> Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see her light. Go ahead, Kim. Um, Alan, I appreciate what you what you just said in terms of um the risks involved of taking action. Um, I I recognize that's not a popular place to focus. Um, I want to say that I I do sympathize with the many people beyond just this table, beyond those that have spoken tonight who by virtue of events that are taking place in our our community and in communities of neighboring states are feeling fearful, are feeling uncertain, are scared and unsure of really anything. Right? there's a lot of chaos, a lot of um confusion and fear, and I I don't want to be dismissive of that. I think at the same

180time, as a board, we've had opportunities in the past to address um circumstances that have happened in our community, in neighboring communities, in neighboring states that have caused a similar amount of fear. And I'm speaking specifically about various [music] school shooting incidents, gun violence. Um we've had opportunities as a board to consider resolutions that were initiated by IASB to um the consideration was whether we as a district, as a board should support those resolutions that were focused on um sort uh controlling individual gun storage [music] and safety. Um, not all of us were at the table at the time, but over the past two years, [music] in fact, there were resolutions that were brought forward by IASB that we discussed as a board. [music] And despite the fact that there had been real safety issues

181that had happened in other communities, despite the fact that we do have a focus in our district on safety [music] and security, we ultimately decided that we would not support those resolutions. not because they were not important, not because they were not helpful or, you know, it it wasn't a value statement about [music] the resolutions. It was really a matter of the subject matter being outside the scope of what the school board is mandated [music] to do. And I'm hearing this conversation being framed in the sense of safety. And I I can understand to some degree where that's coming from. and why that link is being drawn. I think ultimately though the resolutions that we were provided as samples don't speak as tightly to security as I feel they should if we were to say

182that that truly is the priority and the rationale for taking this action. I I view them unfortunately as an ask for the board to make a political statement which is not appropriate for a nonpartisan government body to do. Um and the subject matter that's being considered I think is outside the scope of what we as a board are charged to do. Um so I apologize I took some notes. I just want to make sure I'm addressing all the the various concerns. Um I think part of part of the reason that this effort seems inappropriate [music] at this point is and Dr. Gore maybe you can correct me if I'm wrong. Up to this point our district has not been approached and Eileen maybe to your point right maybe it's not a matter of they ask

183you first. um that there haven't been any solicitations or any endeavors to use school district property for these purposes at this time. Is that correct? Okay. And from what I understand, not just in our district, but from various neighboring districts as well, as far as we can tell. Okay. Um I understand that doesn't speak to the potential, right? But from my perspective, the fact that there haven't been any endeavors up to this point makes the issue sort of to use a legal term, not ripe. It's not ready to be considered at this point. Um, I think I'll I'll leave it there for now. I had some other things that I had noted, but I think I've covered the general um sentiment. And and again, I just want to reiterate, I I recognize the fear that's

184[music] circulating in the community and I I do not discount that. However, I don't [music] think that a resolution, given what we've talked about in terms of its enforcability, uh would have the desired effect that the community is asking for. The community is asking for us to make schools safer with regard apparently only to immigration enforcement and not to any other kind of law enforcement action. Um, and I mean I think there was even acknowledgement from some of our commenters that a resolution might not be effective. [music] it wouldn't actually have the effect of keeping these law enforcement um you know engagements or operations from running. So from that standpoint, this is not something that I would support at this time. >> Go ahead. I just wanted to say that in Chicago, a teacher was

185uh followed into was chased into the school and arrested in front of her kindergarten or preschool class. And there have been high school students in Chicago who have been arrested on school grounds. [cough and clears throat] >> So, I will acknowledge this. This is a tough one. I I absolutely to Kim's point, I absolutely have nothing but empathy for families, children who have been affected by what's been going on by even if they haven't been directly affected by the fear and uncertainty of what could happen. I have no doubt that fear is real and it's it has to be uncomfortable to feel that. I completely understand that and I don't think we should discount that. We we have to keep in mind that that those feelings are truly real and and we should not ignore

186it. I I I at the same time share many of the concerns that that Kim and Allen brought up. I I worry a lot about the unintended consequences we might be putting ourselves through if we were to put this sort of signage up uh or even a resolution if we were to develop that because the the message to the community might be well hey if I see ICE or law enforcement on school property I can tell them to get off. I can physically remove them because that's what that sign says. And and I think we all know and I think that was the guidance given by our our legal council that that's just not true. Uh the the ability to actually enforce this is murky at best and probably at worst not not at all.

187And and so what happens then? Now you have someone who's physically removing an ICE officer and now that causes additional problems for them. I I also just I I fundamentally have a problem with the message this is sending. I understand how that there are feelings about ICE that are not great. But fundamentally, what we're suggesting here or discussing is that we as a school board are going to pass a resolution saying that we are banning an arm of law enforcement from doing their job. That's fundamentally what we're saying. And where why is it stopped there? Why don't we say something about we ban the FBI from being on school grounds or or the local police? It just feels to me like we are the the desire here is to is to feel better about the

188situation that's going on and that passing this resolution will make us all feel somehow safer. But I don't think it does that. I don't think it's the right message to send. I don't think we as a school district and school board want to be pushing the idea that we fundamentally don't support law enforcement. Don't think that's a good message to send. I also think that this is just not what we as a school board should be doing. Yes, we should be working to keep our kids and staff safer. I don't think anything that we're talking about here actually does that. In fact, I fear it might do the opposite. You know, to Kim's point, there are a lot of topics that we theoretically could take up and discuss and pass resolutions on, but we haven't

189done that. And and the reason we haven't is that that is not the fundamental job of a school board. That's not why we're here. So, while I absolutely I I I have a lot of empathy for those who don't agree with anything I just said, I do not support us moving forward with the resolution. I just add one more thing just to say I I personally support law enforcement. This is just a se just a separate comment and I think they do a great thing. I just don't think ICE is really law enforcement. I think it's more thugery. That's just my opinion. >> And that is exactly what I was going to say. Thank you, Eileene. ICE is not law enforcement. They don't use the constitution. They are anticonstitutional. They do not have judicial warrants.

190They have warrants that are may not even be signed. They don't ask for ID. They people are screaming as they're being accosted, thrown thrown to the ground, [laughter] ribs broken, and >> I know I keep interrupting you and I'm I'm not trying to um shut you down when it comes to >> you are trying to shut me down. Let me finish my sentence, please. My sentence to finish is that even when people are screaming, "Look at my passport. Look at my driver, my real ID," they don't take it. They're they're bounty hunters interested in grabbing people and and fulfilling Steven Miller's wish. >> Okay. I the purpose in bringing this forward was not to um was to take a look at the um various uh offerings that there are for the school district to avail

191itself of in order to either um to to support our community members and um the kind of community and environment that we want for our students to experience here in district 57. The board table is not a place for that. This this conversation is not the place for um coming to decisions about the constitutional nature or um constitutionality of Homeland Security's operations. It is about what we here as a school district both believe and are legally able to do in order to clarify the position of the of the district. Um, as much as it pains me and as many opinions as I do have about the personal opinions that I do have about the operations that have been going on and that will likely continue happening. The reality is is that we have a limited

192amount of activity or limited number of options that we can move forward with. Um I I would like to ask if Dr. Gore can give us a little bit more information on um what our current practices are when it comes to um uh operation or if we have uh homeland security or agents coming on school property. >> Yep. So, we have um guidelines that have been um shared with staff and they were um updated as of October 19th, 2025. they've been reviewed by um our legal council and we have um designated there's specific um sections um speaking about non-public areas um and I'm just going to read a little bit about because I think this will help potentially um the conversation. So, if a facility requires permission to enter, it's considered non-public. Schools have designated

193areas inaccessible to the general public, including classrooms, offices, and restricted administrative spaces. These areas are considered non-public and require explicit permission for access by any individual, including law enforcement agencies such as ICE. ICE agents are not permitted to enter non-public areas of District 57 facilities without a valid judicial warrant signed by a judge. Um it goes on a little bit about um the process if that isn't non-public areas of district 57 facilities include but are not limited to classrooms during instructional time, offices, staff lounges and conference rooms, storage areas, and maintenance facilities, spaces beyond security festivals accessible only to the staff with badges um or explicit permission. Outdoor playgrounds and athletic fields, school buses that are transporting transporting students to and from school. district parking lots, including arrival and dismissal car lanes. Parking lots are

194part of school district property and any individual entering them must have a legitimate school related purpose to do so, i.e. employees, parents or guardians, board members, authorized visitors, and vendors. ICE agents are not allowed to access these areas without explicit permission or a valid judicial warrant. So that is to say now granted this that exists as an internal procedure. It it still probably um requires the scrutiny of the enforcability. You know it still has to be be run through the lens of how how would it be enforceable. So, it's no different than um the supposed resolution that we're discussing or the hypothetical resolution that this this arguably would have the same um challenge to be enforced. But this has been how we have currently um communicated our process to our staff and are prepared to

195act accordingly. So I mean to that extent the existing now understandably that has not been like widely broadcast that has not been a public facing document up to this point you know that's been through our internal um preparedness um and understanding that again it it doesn't have different teeth than what is being contemplated now but it does um align with a a feeling of enforcing what's available to us as you know the private property of the school district and how we determine it. So if there's any concern that we're um defining it as open grounds for access, it is absolutely not. >> That's helpful. And maybe you too on the policy committee can refresh my memory. I don't know if you remember um the last um press plus update that updated it was I think

196it was >> agency and police >> 7150 >> so um >> yep so the update um was really talking about um access you know to students and um um the rights of student uh privacy um making sure that um we are not giving um law enforcement, you know, access to our students without um their rights and without full compliance with the law. So, you know, I think this was press's I think interpretation of viewing any law enforcement, not just this particular agency. the um I'm sorry I'm trying to is it 7 col 150? I don't think our um ours has been updated yet. The reason I I'm I'm talking specifically about this one is because there is a um it was updated to agency and law enforcement requests. That's what the title was updated to

197from agency and pol and police interviews. um in this last policy update that we accepted or that we uh um and in that um it talks about um the federal and state law requirements regarding citizenship and immigration status in schools. So that's something that we already have talked about and already have is um what we will and will not um disclose about about our our students and their family members um immigration status. There is also a section on I'm sorry I'm reading this while we're while we're going through this. There's also was a section about um that was based on the um the guidance that came from ISBY about the immigration enforcement. I apologize that I'm kind of doing this look like I'm doing this on the fly. I'm not intending to. Um, I'm trying

198to pull a bunch of different information from a b bunch of different sources and they should have written it down first. So, yeah, ISBY had put out non-regulatory guidance for public schools. Um and all of this is going comes down under the safe schools for all act that um that codifies and strengthens the ideas that um that [music] um no child can be denied free public education based on their immigration status. Um, so [sighs] what I would like to put forward to the board at this moment is to see whether or not we want to take any additional um action in the form of resolution or policy updates other than the um those already accepted in the um new press plus 7 colon 150. Am I making sense? Yeah. Go ahead. Um, I appreciate everyone's

199perspective and it's as a um newer board member, it's it's I guess helpful to hear everyone's sort of perspective and and input on this topic. I think where I've landed after hearing everybody is is sort of I guess three main points. One is the the deep concern for family members, community members, students, staff who are having to come to our buildings every day with this concern and with this fear um and secondarily being concerned about or having concerns about the enforcability of um a resolution or a um update to board policy, But I think where I landed was, you know, after listening to Dr. Gore is I'm generally in support of the idea of making public something that is already an existing sort of non-public you know um statement that we've communicated to staff um

200or you know that's sort of an internal document saying about what is permissible or not permissible behavior um specifically by ICE and Border Patrol agents and I think that I would generally support taking something that is already sort of an existing statement that we are making internally to staff to help prepare them in the event of a situation and then saying as a board. This is something that we are now going to make a public statement as a board. um understanding full fully that again there are these concerns about enforcability about you know what does this mean to staff or community members [clears throat] in the event that a situation were to happen at one of our schools what sort of position are we putting people in in terms of trying to enforce something um

201but I guess again if if it's sort of existing guidance that we're giving internally to our staff members. Um I would generally support then making that into a public statement of this is something that is you know where we as a board stand. So I appreciate everybody's patience with this topic. there's been there's a lot of um information and feelings on all sides and it's not always something that's easy to discuss. So, I appreciate what everybody has been saying and your and your patience with me. Kim, did you have something else you wanted to add? >> I just wanted to follow up on Ray's comment. Um I recognize, right, we recently approved policy that seems like it would speak to this topic. Um, our policy manual is publicly available. Um, I think my discomfort with

202making almost any level of announcement is that in my mind it would have if if we were to go that route, it would have to come with some caveat about the enforcability concerns. I think even if we were to say these are our internal protocols for accepting you know anybody who's not here for a school related purpose if we communicated that in such a way that seemed to speak to this particular issue it still runs the risk of providing a false sense of security of providing a sense that you know the school said that no ICE officer can come in here without a warrant. So, if I go to the school, then I'm going to be totally okay. They can't come and get me here. And that actually creates, I think, Chris, as you were

203saying, a much more dangerous situation for that person, for the other people that are in the building at that time. [music] And I mean, unfortunately, we're talking about hypotheticals, right? Um, I don't know about you, my crystal ball has been in the shop for a while. It hasn't been functional. I don't really know for sure what's going to happen. And I I think that's why I've tried to approach this topic from a perspective of what what truly does create safety. Which option creates the most safety? And I I don't think there's much more beyond what we've already done in terms of policy that we could do that would establish that with any real sense of certainty for anyone. So that was just my comment. I have a follow-up question. Sure. So, what happens if vice

204is at the door banging on the door? What What do you do? You just let them stay banging on the door. What happens when the school bus pulls up and you've got our teachers, you know, our staff hopefully in in new vests, uh, with walkie-talkies and ice comes storming in, are you just going to step away and let them take the kids? What are you going to do? Well, I >> What would a sign do to prevent any of that to happen? >> A sign might be more visible and a sign, according to Chief Attero, other types of signs, you can enforce what you don't publicly share. Pam, in your own words from earlier, they're not looking to follow signs. They're not looking to go through the judicial process. So, a sign in that same

205logic wouldn't actually stop them or save our children or protect anybody. It only makes the situation more escalated. >> Timothy Snider says you don't capitulate in advance. Timothy, Professor Timothy Snider is now gone from Yale and has migrated to Toronto University. He is um uh he's written a very short book on tyranny um a little handbook on tyranny and he has written volumes on authoritarianism and how to prevent it. So my question is it has not been answered yet. What are we prepared to do when ice storms and the kids are getting on the school bus and they're grabbing kids? I That's my question. Karen, >> go ahead. I >> I would think with the the administrative policy that we have in place, the protocol from what I can understand of it would be that

206we wouldn't probably dismiss the children. And I I would think if we noticed and saw them that we would take those things into account and then you know have a conversation whoever you know administrator would be there to talk and discuss with ICE agents there. I wouldn't think that we would be letting kids dismiss into what could be a very chaotic thing. I would think that would be >> Yeah. I I would say in any situation that's um deemed to be unsafe and unstable, we would implement our procedures around um keeping kids and and staff safe. And so um we do have um advanced processes around that and training and preparedness around that. And so um depending on what is deemed to be the safety threat, we would I would have full confidence in the

207administrators and staff in each of the schools to protect students and make you know good decisions about um the situation at hand. And unfortunately just there's so many unforeseen situations even you know that that just happen that they have to make decisions um very quickly and um using their best judgment but governed by safety and protecting kids and you know holding in place until a situation is stable and we have information that we can assuredly keep kids safe. But I think in any situation we would we would always be governed by keeping and protecting children and and staff to the best of our abilities. That would always be our guiding um priority. >> So thank you Mary. Um, so it does not seem as if there is an appetite on the part of the majority

208of the board to move forward with a resolution, a formal resolution banning um or articulating that we wouldn't want to um the a uh a ban on um enforcement activity. ities or verbalizing a ban on enforcement activities on district property. >> I'm going to ask that you take a vote. Everyone votes. >> I'm not saying that we won't vote. I'm just just kind of want to see if we there is or not an appetite for Go ahead. >> I was going to say I mean Ray I thought brought a very good idea and I would be in favor for that if especially since the resolution part doesn't seem like it would go. um that's just you know iterating kind of like an internal policy that we already kind of have. So I would be okay

209with that one also. >> Mhm. >> Seeing as though there seems to be some like discrepancy from what is publicly available on the updated policy and what had been approved. What if we provided um that correction and the opportunity, you know, um for the board to review the updated policy again in the context of this conversation? You know, I apologize for that. Um because I don't think that advanced the conversation with that with that discrepancy. Um but would that be something that might help continue the conversation if there is a desire to do so? Well, I yes, I don't think that um clearly there is a there I think that would be very helpful having the um the new 7 colon 150 available um because if I am remembering it correctly, if it is as

210I as I believe it was um it addresses or puts language to some of the administrative practices that we've got going on right now. >> Yes. And I have it up if if it's helpful to do it now or if it's it's if it's preferred to do it um at a later time. I think you just let me know. >> So I can I just be clear on what's on the table here? You're saying we take our existing policy and do what with it? Are we looking to revise it through the policy committee? Are we looking to publish it as is in a way that's better than what's publicly available today, which it is? I I guess I'm just not clear on what what are we voting on. >> So, the board's already taken action

211on 7150, but what has been there is it has not been added to what is currently available online. So, even the board already took action on it. I I think Karen is just saying that because 7150 was press's um update in articulating the um denying any, you know, denial of access based on immigration status. I think that was, you know, Krin bringing that up was reminding the board that that updated policy incorporated many of the sentiments shared tonight about, you know, where the board's position and and um um where's what's enforcable in terms of immigration status related to safety and access. Um, for example, you know, limitations about disclosing information related to citizenship or immigration status of a student or person associated with a student. You know, not disclosing information about perceived citizenship or immigration

212status. Um, or the threat to disclose that status. Um, you know, making sure that there's no exclusion of participation based on that status. So that you know just reminding the board that these protections are in place in our existing policy and what had already been approved in board action. >> Right. So that's what I'm not clear on. What what are we proposing to vote on here >> that we will follow our existing policy? I vote yes. >> I think we as a board should enforce our existing policy. >> Sorry. >> I think the policy what Dr. Gore, correct me if I'm if I'm tired and I'm misunderstanding, but I don't think the policy is public yet. And so my request is to make it public. And if you don't want to do a resolution, and

213we haven't voted on that, I'd like a vote on on yes or no because the community is watching and some of the community is here and you need to put your your your position um publicly. So if if it comes down to that we don't do a resolution then the next question up for a vote is do we make the quiet administrative procedures and I understand that from working in library land you don't necessarily divulge all of your safety practices I I totally understand that but in lie of a resolution should you choose to back away from it, then you the community deserves a stance from the board. >> K, I'm sorry. I just have one quick question. >> Go ahead. >> I know we're ready to wrap this up hopefully. Um, the policy in

214question, I I don't have it in front of me. as I recall it's not specific to any particular agency person officer >> right and I think that's a major difference between what we've already discussed and approved as a board versus what's before the board tonight >> that policy speaks to safety right who can have access to what information who is allowed to even attend school in the first place not withstanding the particular person, officer, federal government, agency that might be pursuing them. That's the kind of thing that I think we are in the business of discussing and talking about. And I it only [clears throat] became apparent to me today that even though we'd voted on it, it hadn't been yet published for for the public facing version. So I absolutely I think it's important

215that our policies be updated >> as timely as possible based on when we approve them so that the community can also be kept up to date about how the school district operates. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Can we just do a quick um voice vote of whether we um I guess a yes or no of [clears throat] should we pursue a freestanding resolution um limiting immigration enforcement activities on district property. I'm a yes. >> Yes. No. >> Yes. No. >> No. >> Yes. Um, I one of the resolutions that we had put up was from main 207. Um, I would like uh I think that might [sighs] so at the moment it does not seem as if there is that is that excuse me there is an appetite for resolution. Um >> that it I mean

216what you just voted on got four votes. Mhm. >> Right. So, there is an appetite. >> No, that's what I >> Yes. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I thought that it was not. >> No, I I I misspoke. Um there are uh what does the board think about bringing um um a a request to our council of um creating a a resolution template or um uh So here's what I think that we should do. Um, I am going to suggest that based on the conversation, based on my apparent inability to handle like this conversation right now, that we table this for the moment um adjourn and then um come back to it um in board discussion in February because >> well just one thing um since there is the appetite for it. I think what you

217were saying is was a good idea with maybe having council bring forth one or two templates to like decide upon so we have that >> because I mean that would be the next step to be what we want to say. >> Mhm. >> No, thank you. >> And I would say in the meantime publish what hasn't been published. >> Sure. get get a get a head start on this and answer the community because I can't I I don't want us to be in a position just like with Lincoln why I voted for the referendum and was a strong advocate I don't want to have to look somebody in the eye and I don't want any of you to have to look somebody in the eye and explain why you let someone be hurt. Okay. Would

218>> all due respect, Pam, that's not what any of us are saying or want. Okay. I think that was out of line. Just respectfully, that was out of line. Would there be um uh again, should we bring forward to u direct administration to ask council to um propose uh a couple of or propose a resolution based on the main 207 and the district 21 resolution to bring before the board for discussion. in February. >> Yes, I think so. I think we need to give uh administration direction and and getting something started with that and see what we have. >> Great idea. >> Would that be something that would be acceptable moving forward? >> I you excuse me heard [clears throat] my opinion on the topic. I I I I think now that we've agreed to

219this that would be the next best thing to do. Yes. Okay. All right. Um we can move forward in that way. And now good lord. Um are there any board topics for future meetings that would like to be discussed or press put forward for future agendas? Okay. We have no need for close session. Can I get a movement to a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Member Deech. >> Yes. >> Member Dorner. >> Yes. >> Member Fay. >> Yes. >> Member Qualch. >> Yes. >> Vice President Leto. >> Yes. >> Member Nelson. Yes.