001for the bit of a late start I appreciate everybody's patience um we're going to go ahead and get started with a call to order this is our call to order and a roll call please vice president benck Hill here member CH here member choke here member qualek here member Leto here member Nelson here president Fay here and if we could all please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America stand at this time we will have our recognition of Black History Month February marks Black History Month a time for Reflection Learning and celebration of the invaluable contributions of black Americans to education society and culture this month District 57 reaffirms its commitment to fostering inclusive learning environments that honor diverse voices in history throughout February
002District 57 will have opportunities to part District 57 students will have opportunities to participate in a variety of classroom activities that highlight the achievements experiences and contributions of black Americans through lessons projects and discussions students can explore history culture and the importance of inclusion District 57 proudly recognizes Black History Month and celebrates the voices and contributions that continue to enrich our community and Inspire future Generations thank you very much at this time we have our Spotlight on the Lincoln Middle School five star program if we could hear from Principal Larson excellent uh good evening everyone thanks uh so much for having me back uh I'm really excited to actually get to shine this Spotlight um on Lincoln one of the the big school Improvement goals that we've have for this year is we're really trying
003to like Elevate the student experience and really improve um you know student culture overall at our school um we're trying to accomplish this through a variety of ways one of those ways is um we are we do grade level assemblies every quarter the idea is to you know celebrate the end of a quarter to recognize uh students through our pride of the pack Awards the pride of the pack awards are Awards where um teachers nominate um essentially 30 students per quarter um who are who model the attributes of the portrait of a graduate so we're trying to tie all of that uh together as well and then um we also are bringing different student groups to perform so for example like the first quarter we had the dance team perform at our assembly the last
004assembly we had the Jazz Band perform and our Acappella group will perform at our third quarter assembly just trying to like you know bring all the kids together so they can see all the different things that they do and we can sell celebrate you know each other's successes um and then the last thing we do is we have fun uh we have lots of minute to- Win It games just trying to build some like school spirit and some school culture you know we want students to feel proud to be at Lincoln like we want them to be excited to be there and so these are just some of the things that we're doing now the the spotlight isn't on all of those things but it they're all it's all kind of connected uh the five-star
005system is our positive uh reward system for students uh I want to thank Heather S she you know helped put together just a really really cool video that kind of helps capture it um and I'd be remiss if I didn't give a little shout out to Mr Jonas because he's been really instrumental in you know pulling all of this um together so um we can watch the video and then just a couple other things I can add at the end [Music] at Lincoln Middle School we're building brighter Futures by creating a positive vibrant School culture through our new five-star initiative the biggest thing we're seeing right now uh through the five-star system is you're starting to see students very happy you're starting to see them you know really engaged in their own behavior and changing
006the behavior you're seeing teachers using it to their advantage to change the behavior of students in their own class classrooms the five-star program rewards students for demonstrating Lincoln Middle School's portrait of a graduate attributes empathy collaboration critical thinking adaptability and resilience and for meeting the expectations of our classroom management system Champs which works to create a productive learning environment it's about recognizing and celebrating behaviors that make our school a better place for everyone a lot of times as a teacher you're looking more at who's a troublemaker who's you know being disruptive but the five star program has helped us look at who's doing the right thing and who's doing what they're supposed to be doing and then giving them like an immediate reward students earn Lincoln bucks for positive behaviors student members of the principal
007advisory Council are on hand during lunch periods to scan Lincoln bucks into their accounts I think it's a very good program for people that can work towards things that you want I'm just trying to get some my gift cards is that a dish got a on a gift card and I got a bag of chips with their first points students buy their class t-shirt fostering school spirit and Community after that they can save up for swags snacks and supplies from the five-star store really helps to give um students a voice and allows for a lot more active participation we'll reinforce positive behaviors instead of correcting the negative and it catches on I I give out a couple in the beginning and I say I love how you're ready to go and suddenly everybody gets ready
008to go the five-star initiative is already improving School culture while it's too early to measure the full Impact Office referrals for poor behaviors are down the program is helping both students and staff focus on the positive to build relationships and to strengthen Lincoln Middle School's Spirit you're starting to see tares you know reduce you're seeing behaviors reduce but you're seeing an overall climate of happiness that has started so I think it's been a nice way to connect with the kids and um you know get them doing positive things they're they're trying to be more positive they're trying to be on task they're trying to support each other the buyan there and they're excited and engaged to come to class at Lincoln Middle School the five-star initiative isn't just a program it's a promise to recognize
009greatness to build connections and to create a thriving School community [Music] so one of the things that's really great is that like this is a this is a whole school thing like it's not just the students like you can you can see from the interviews from the teachers like there there's a lot of Staff buy into this and I and I really like some of the things that I like what all the teachers said but I really like what Mrs milikin said about the proactive side of recognizing positive Behavior as opposed to constantly reacting um you know to negative behavior um you know for perspective um St as of last Friday we've scanned in 23,400 Lincoln bucks so when you think about that that means that's like that is 23,400 individual recognitions across the entire
010building to tell students like you're doing a good job you're doing what's expected you are following what you know what we want what we want you to do and what makes you a good student uh we're really finding that students like students are motivated by it they're excited about it um and so we we actually brought something for you uh your inside your bags um is a is a t-shirt um and if if for some reason it's the wrong size that is an easy uh thing to correct uh but in the video it talked about how the first thing that students can purchase is is a T-shirt and each grade has a different color so sixth grade is gray seventh grade is red eighth grade is black and so uh we got you guys all
011like the red t-shirts so it says Lincoln Lions it says Pride of the pack um some kids might think you're a seventh grader but that's okay right that's okay um but you know we're just we're really excited about like what we're seeing at Lincoln um since we've been you know going through this we like our official roll out was uh was Halloween and so we've been so when I say 23,400 that's also since Halloween that's not even since the beginning of the school school year um so we're excited about what it's doing uh we think that the kids are excited about it um and we're really excited to to bring this too so thank you so much for having us tonight thank you very much for sharing that I wonder if there's an option to
012trade in the t-shirt for Mr Jonas's sweatshirt from the video cuz that is pretty cool I love that it's like a varsity look it's a little vintage it's nice yeah so sure the only Jing sweatshir is actually you know so just kind of her perspective but it's like how much do something cost at the school store um so like the t-shirt we try to make it easy like that's 10 you just need 10 Lincoln bucks for that 225 though for the sweatshirt it is the it is like the premier it's the premier item kids like they're like they're saving up for it and and we are starting to see kids walking around you know with it uh W wearing it so it it's really it's it's been really fun to watch it's also kind of
013keeping us on our toes because we got to also make sure that what we're putting in the store is something that they also want to work towards and that's where the principal advisory Council has been really helpful because they've really been Consulting on what does the kids want um because sometimes we have an idea of what we think they want and sometimes we right we were actually just talking about some of the things that were at the last meeting um and the three of us didn't think of this but it makes sense like Amazon gift cards was like a really high you know highly desirable item so we've got good Partnerships with the PTO who are helping to support this Ed Foundation is also helping us support it as well so so thank you have
014a good night thank you did anybody else have anything they wanted to chime in on you're trying to get away from the microphone I was go ahead uh this is great it's awesome it's great to hear it's great that the kids are involved and they're putting their ideas forward of what they want to see in there and the proactiveness of it I think this is a great job thank you so much yeah thank you Vicki just to Echo what Eileen said even a year ago I think last spring at the PTO meetings when it was just an idea almost and just to almost every PTO meeting there's some you know report or update and I remember Mr Jonas a couple meetings ago you brought in the swag for us to admire so it's been so
015amazing and fun to see it come alive and I you know I also want to say I love that it's building that culture of looking for the good looking for the positive it's so easy to just oh you didn't do this and you didn't do this but now among students staff teachers everyone's looking for the good and rewarding it and celebrating it so yeah I think it's awesome awesome thank you anybody else have any feedback I have just a question I'm curious because if I remember correctly there was previously like a Paw Points type of program correct are you finding that this is working more effectively or how is it different from what was previously being implemented yeah so the the way the Paw Points uh system worked before is kids could um kids could
016still earn like a ticket that would go into the office uh there was a sixth grade bucket a seventh grade bucket an eighth grade bucket and so names would get drawn like quarterly and of those names that were drawn those kids would receive an award the thing that's different about this is the Lincoln bucks are essentially like like a currency so it's no longer like you know when you get that Lincoln Buck you can actually do something with it it's not left to chance on whether or not I get rewarded I think sometimes kids get kind of disheartened because you know I have you know 50 Paw Points in the jar you know Mr Jonas has you know a 100 and mine mine gets drawn and his doesn't and it starts to take away the
017you know well what am I why am I trying so hard and so now they can actually get what they want and there's so many more options um for them so capitalizing a little bit on that instant gratification right trying to get the get the reward as soon as possible instead of leaving it up to chance well I think that's great and it seems like it's effective so far I'll I'll be excited to hear you know as the year goes on right I know said this is just since October it's not even the full school year so really excited to hear what it looks like once we get to the end of the year me too me too thank you thank you so much okay we'll move on then to our eighth grade boys basketball
018recognition if coach cross could come up good evening everyone my name is Carolyn cross and I am the head coach for the eighth grade boys basketball team at Lincoln middle school where I also teach PE and health it's an absolute honor to stand before you today and celebrate the incredible success of this team the season was nothing short of extraordinary we went undefeated in our regular conference season battle through challenges and emerge as Champions securing first place in our conference from the very first game to the final buzzer this team showed resilience determination and an unbreakable Bond we became the team that others did didn't want to face but were striving to beat and yet game after game our boys Rose to the challenge playing with heart skill and an undeniable passion for the game
019it was a season filled with excitement hard work and Unforgettable moments to say the least um not only did we dominate our regular conference season but we also fought through the intense competition of the end of the season tournament we battled all the way to a hard-earned third place it was a true Testament to the grit and perseverance of this team but success like this doesn't happen without the support of an entire Community I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of District 57 its board members our Lincoln Administration and staff and the families and community members who cheered us on every step of the way your encouragement and support made all the difference and of course most importantly to the players you made this season special your dedication teamwork and commitment to
020Excellence were inspiring to watch congratulations Champs you made us all very proud I look forward to all your future accomplishments thank you and then I'm just going to call you up one by one to give you your award Jack [Music] Jake you got two of them ven [Music] Michael Adam thank you gentlemen so much for being here tonight and we're so proud of all of the success that you all have had uh you guys are a tough crowd to book we tried to have you here earlier and you had some tournament you had to be at I guess so thank you so much for being here um we're going to take a moment to take a picture with everyone at the back of the room if that's all right that congratulations than okay we now
021have the immense pleasure of having our newly selected student board members join us for their inaugural meeting although I think we've already established we won't make you stay for the whole one this time um but we're very pleased to meet you all and excited to have the opport Unity to work with you I want to before we have introductions I want to thank um Jen and Dr Gore for their hard work in selecting the four of you I understand it was a tight field of of candidates and lots of people who were interested in the position um so we're extremely grateful to have your interest and to have you all be dedicated to this this work and we want to congratulate you for being selected Dr Gore I'll turn it over to you yes so
022I'm going to have our student board members come up and we have a just a short introduction you can come up to the podium and um as president fa said this was enormously joyful for um member choke and I to be part of this process from the moment that you submitted your applications to meeting you in person and listening to the ideas you have you could feel um just the energy and intention that you brought and it was truly agonizing to be able to think about who wouldn't be um an amazing fit for this role so truly though know what an honor it is to be selected and um we already have um some structures in place to make sure that the students that were not picked to be student board members have been invited
023to serve on a superintendent Council so that that not only um I can continue to benefit from the ideas they have for the district but also our student board members I think will find their peers on that um Team really helpful as well because the work of being a leader is the work of working with others and listening as much as it is about bringing your own ideas and I think so much of this experience will be meaningful not only to you but also to everyone around you so with that I am going to ask our first student board member Zoe to introduce herself hello everyone my name is Zoe Schmidt and I'm currently an eighth grader at Lincoln Middle School in the past I've attended both Lions Park and Westbrook since kindergarten and my
024goal is serving and my goal in serving as a student board member is to add my voice to this collaborative educational community in District 57 thank you thank you you can say that up here um hello everyone my name is Michelle Gman chuk I'm in seventh grade and I go to Lincoln my past schools in District 57 were Westbrook and Fairview what I'm most looking forward to as a student board member is having a say in what happens in our school community and giving people who aren't on the board a chance to voice their opinions and thoughts I'm excited to bring my ideas to the table and have an impact on future generation future generations of students thank you so much good afternoon everyone my name is Joshua Saji and I'm truly honored to be
025joining you on the student board I want to thank you all for trusting me with this responsibility and I'm so excited to be part of a team that works to make the district a better place for all of us I'm in seventh grade and I went to Lions Park and Lincoln Middle School outside of school I love playing basketball and the guitar one of my main goals at a student as a student board member is to create a more inclusive and diversified space here at school I believe everybody should feel value respected and represented thank you again for this incredible opportunity and I look forward to getting started good evening everybody my name is Alex Marsh I'm currently an eighth grader at Lincoln and have attended Fairview and Westbrook as a school board member I
026am really looking forward to representing my peers in here with all of you and to creating a really meaningful impact throughout our Community thank you for this opportunity and I look forward to creating change within our district that will help everybody thank you thank you as you can tell just from their incredible introductions these are four amazing human beings and um we are just truly honored that you're here tonight I know I speak for the board and just the excitement we all feel to know that you'll be sharing um this these meetings with us and and also the work that we'll be doing together outside the meeting um do you want have any questions or anything that you wanted to ask at this time or the process did anybody have anything that they wanted to
027say Jen go ahead yeah um I had the privilege of interviewing all 19 students uh on the amazing day that Dr G and I had together uh with these students and I just am so grateful one that we were able to make this happen um it's been a long time coming and two that you guys are here um so thank you so much for being willing to sit at this table with us to help make the community a better place to continue to have that student voice at the table so thank you anybody else Chris go ahead uh not a question but just I Echo what Jen said I congratulations to all of you I know this has been a I think two years in the making maybe or something like that but um you
028know obviously giving students a greater voice is part of our strategic plan and and I love that you know this is one embodiment of that and uh and really I I also applaud you all for Having the courage to put yourself out here to do this I mean this this will takes time I'm sure it took time to prepare you're all busy people and it's not easy having to get grilled by by Jen and Dr Goran so so really I I I couldn't be happier that you all are are joining us and and that you're willing to serve in this manner and and really can't wait to hear uh your ideas so welcome Vick I nothing new to add just echoing this how proud we all are of just even just this moment of hearing
029you speak the courage that it takes the dedication your commitment to even wanting to be on this student board so yes exactly we're so excited to hear more of your ideas um and just the fact that you stepped up to represent the other students in our district is um really commendable so thank you all so much anybody else well in addition to thanking all of you for volunteering for this opportunity understanding the work that it will involve I also want to give an acknowledgement to the parents of these children um you're committing to something too by by having them participate and so I I want to recognize your dedication to bringing them to the meetings and supporting them as they're doing the work of being a student board member um I'm sure uh Dr Gore
030has talked to all of you already that obviously this is a new Endeavor that we're undertaking and so you all are experimenting with us you know we have some ideas about how this process could go um but you guys are the Trailblazers and you're going to help us shape what this um this role this position could be like for future students that will sit in your seats um so no pressure right no big deal um but I do want to take a moment to thank the parents for you know making the space in in these students lives to have this opportunity um you guys are going to be accountable for making sure the homework gets done and making sure that you know they get to these meetings on time and and everything gets balanced out
031so thank you so much for your support of these students and at this time oh thank you we'll go ahead and move to the back of the room for a photo yes guys picture okay that how do you feel repeatedly for than EX [Music] like well as I mentioned you all are not required to stay although you're certainly welcome I'm sure you have lots of other things to be doing with your evening um we do have an opportunity at this time for Community comments The 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 guidelines and procedures which are available in board policy 2on 230 individuals wishing to address the board can do so
032during the community comments portion of the agenda individuals should provide their name and limit their comments to 3 minutes please remember 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 toward others and abide by board policy a30 visitors to and conduct on on schooled property and this time are there any Community comments seeing none we will move on that brings us to our staff and superintendence reports beginning with our superintendent goals update okay thank you so much um in your board packet you received the February update for um my superintendent goals for this year um
033I always want to point out that this work though ultimately is what you use to evaluate um and keep me accountable to the work I am um lucky to do it is truly reflective of the work of an amazing team and an amazing District um and that includes obviously our students our staff our families our Administration this is um a massive body of work and um each time that you know I provide these kind of quarterly updates there's always feelings of great pride about what has been accomplished since our last update and truthfully there's always a feeling of what more we have to do and an energy around this work is just ongoing you know so it's a moment in time but reflective of hopefully visible progress in a direction that we're going um outlined
034in our strategic plan so um I'm absolutely happy to answer any questions that you have about specific areas um and appreciate the opportunity to do this work any questions for Dr Gore Vicki go ahead yeah well I know member choke asked the best question so I thought she could kick us off but yes I have a comment and a question the first one is um goal 2A let me just find it sorry yes it was um uh attract develop and retain high quality and diverse and Innovative Staff and so one of the bullet points really stood out to me and it's when you shared Dr Gore about um a District 57 teacher kind of relating her extremely positive experiences having a um district 214 student in the classroom and then in turn the district 214
035student also was so positive um about her experience and um I think that's amazing and just wondering and I we might have talked about this in the past but um are we how is that pipeline between like 214 and what are you seeing and we're incouraged um by um the pipeline that exists but we also do see areas to keep strengthening it so we're we are looking at a relationship approach as well as to like a structural approach of obvious ly working with um the 214 um you know admin and and people that are really involved in this work but we've also found great success in the relationships that we maintain with our graduates to keep kind of following up with them encouraging them when we when they are reconnecting or staying updated in their
036lives as high school students trying to really nurture um the possibility of being Educators and and really I think in education in so many fields you see certain qualities in people that would make them I think very not only um amazing Educators but I think ultimately you want to go into a career where you feel lit up from within doing the work that's like the dream we all have for anyone in the world that in the work you choose and Educators for us that's when we're around students and we're teaching things and we're seeing the light inside them come alive so when we see that in our on our current students we try to nurture that when we see that in our former students we try to nurture that what that looks like is heavy
037Recruitment and really kind of saying we got to get you in like come in we start soft we say what's your schedule who which teacher did you love to be with let's set it up we follow up we then we always try to work with 214 and say hey guess what you get some credential hours for this work we try to clear barriers because the more they can get into these classrooms with Educators who have chosen this field then the magic happens because they're seeing the influence of being in a classroom with an educator that wants to be there and they're thinking I want that I want that's where I think a lot of people who have gone into this field it's through being in that energy and they can't always name it so I
038think there definitely are things that we're trying to measure and quantify and keep expanding um we already have some ideas in place for how we're also recognizing the hosts of these aspiring teachers within our um you know within our staff who are opening up their classroom um saying of course you know they of course I will bring a student who is interested in this work and that's a credit to our staff because if they took an approach of how much more work would that be and how would I organize this and what if it's not a good fit that is going to shut down quickly you know the experience but that's not been the experience of the District 57 staff they say of course of course bring them in um and you know I think
039that's the joy of this work is just making sure that we're setting up the um the interactions and the possibilities for people to find out this could be a life of meaningful work and then how do we keep following up with them and often that is me writing um pseudo contracts on pieces of paper saying well looks like you signed I'm watching you and when you graduate we will be sending a car and picking you up and driving you back to District 57 so jokes aside I do believe that there is that um there is a need to stay involved with people as they you know graduate and move on because so many much of our community is built on people wanting to come back home wanting to raise their families and work within this
040community they love so much so making sure our students feel um that they we very much want them to come back and would love for them to be in 57 so but in terms of numbers we're definitely um trying to be more you know articulating and measuring and just trying to really track what's working and what isn't but I certainly um Karen and Kristen have been leaders in this so if there's anything I've left out that you wanted to add please jump in thank you and I had one other question and it was um see 3A sorry um I think page 11 yeah MH yeah so um 3A expand collaboration with district 214 n NSO and the cender schools and it was um so yes so I know we're doing some um really great work
041in terms of collaborating with 214 and the center schools around math that's just the math curriculum and what's happening there and um I that's incredible it's something that we've the board I mean Administration we've been wanting for a long time and um obviously it makes sense to start with one we don't want to just go crazy and do all the subjects um and um I don't know if there's any talk even this early to think hey in future years let's move next to this subject or let's let's collaborate on this area is there any of that conversations happening I have extreme confidence in that direction because of the success both of the math um Endeavor but also because of the relationships with our colleagues in 214 in our Center districts it's a I can only
042speak of the experiences that I've been a part of but I am very um inspired by the level of collaboration and interconnectedness between not only 214 and 57 but also 57 and 23 and 59 and um 25 and all of our neighboring districts it truly is reflective of um a lot of mutual respect and also um aspirations that we have to deliver the very best and be a destination area to you know be the best in in the world not just Illinois um so I think that I will continue to um uh acknowledge that that tone is set by 214 um because they have the most I'd say power and influence to widen who's at the table and they have leveraged their table to be more inclusive than I think we've ever experienced but I
043would also credit it to the quality of the elementary districts being you know following through and delivering on what we know we can deliver so that our students have the best outcomes when they are in high school and Beyond high school so I mentioned that we have um available to us now the um uh grade nine data that we've been so eagerly um anticipating now we're at the very exciting point of starting to Tinker with it um Dr vhar has a meeting I believe tomorrow um with um 214 and her um job alikes in the neighboring districts what we are doing now is defining the reports so that we can provide now for the board um the data that we have available to us and start asking questions about what we are seeing you know
044how we can keep getting better um but I think we can't Define better until we really have Clarity around how are our kids doing um and I know I'm looking at our linkoln team too and a lot of that even comes down to the articulation and collaboration they have with Prospect and how those relationships I mean it really comes down to the relationships because you can have all of the data you can have all of the systems you can have all the emails but if you don't have the relationships where people trust each other to pick up the phone and say be honest about you know what needs to get better or what can we expect of each other I don't I think there's going to be just a lot of kind of spinning your
045wheels so I I do think we have full expectation that this will just continue to be established for years to come so and we know the 214 board will continue to to support that work we know this that's right thank you Dr Gore and you kind of answered my third question which was about you know just the dashboard data and things and I appreciate I think you shared this in a previous meeting where 214 was very clear and saying what they don't want is for the sender districts to feel like oh I'm not Measuring Up and oh no now I have to do XYZ it's the opposite it's it really is collaborative and supportive and yeah so I appreciated that yeah thank you thank you Jen I know you had questions too did you want
046to go ahead does anybody else want to go first okay I'll go um I actually don't have that many so you can all be excited for that um in go area 7 I have two different questions um one there's a results from the staff survey um and I saw that much of it was positive in there but there were a couple of like concerning issues just around you know how they were feeling um within the schools and I was just curious on some of the action plans that are by schools like in order to better understand the results and like think about next steps um I know we do like stay interviews and I know there's some other things that are happening in that but I think I'm just curious um what some of those
047more specific plans are yes we are really encouraged to have this Baseline of data from um our staff survey the the phase that we are are at right now is that we are in actively um disseminating this information and we're trying to do so um in a very um strategic way so that information was first received by the committee of MPA M PESA and admin team who kind of developed it then it went to principles to then share with their building leadership teams and their Union leadership within their their schools and now we're in the phase um of delivering that to staffs at large but with the clear um message that simply to let give some space for understanding themes asking questions being curious and not falling into a trap of saying this is clearly
048the problem and let's come up with the solution on the spot or here's the solution that's been identified to try to really have the wisdom and restraint to say let's now decide who do we have to have continue conversations with because this data suggests there might be a little smoke so like let's find out where the fires are let's find out and um I think maintaining a commitment to trust because people were honest in these Anonymous surveys and um if we're going to maintain the trust that people will be willing to elaborate on how some of the answers were answered we're going to try to make preserve you know safe spaces for people to continue to be honest and I commend our principles I commend my entire administrative team who have absolutely embraced um a
049philosophy of um checking any egos at the door and and not making this data about them but saying if our staff are saying this we all are going to improve things for for our kids and for our staff so um next month I would like to take time within the board meeting to you know provide sort of a an overview of the data that we've received and I think even within a month's time I'll have more articulation around some of the action steps that have been defined by each school um but the short answer is that we will see specific ties both within our school Improvement plans um that are developed in the spring as well as our strategic plan goals for year three next year and because it's the plan for this will be
050to measure at least once a year we expect to be accountable to Improvement within in areas that have been established what was nice about working with a third party is that they provided for us valuable comparison data around you know similar districts to ours as well as you know School comparison to similar schools and I think that was appealing to us because it gave us a little bit of context to say even where there were some issues it's interesting to be able to say but comparatively we're still higher than the average response or this didn't you know this was really high for us but it was lower than most responses for you know staff who serve similar schools and districts that to ours so that's where I think we're really um trying to be in
051depth in the way that we're first carefully identifying problems before we leap into you know solving them yeah no that's super helpful um were there any qualitative responses that came back or was yes so we we qualitative responses were available um after each section within the Sur survey and the comments are available to administrators um and the union leadership teams who developed uh the survey and then staff at large received um summarized versions of the qualitative responses by Theme by their school's responses as well as District at larges okay so that's great um yeah I mean I think having done a lot of staff and student experience work data work um I think I mean obviously you guys are on a good path and um I think just thinking through like what do Focus scripts
052look like and what do empathy interviews look like and what are those things look like that really allow you to dig into like how was this question perceived is one of the the most important pieces to do with that that data and next month I can talk more about this but what it's also been really nice to be able to say um even within a school Community you can really disaggregate by employee group and so it's an interesting by the way that different employee groups within a school staff can have a different feeling about a topic yeah and that is always really useful I think to our Administration and our leadership teams to be able to say that's a great place to start where you see like a clear dip within one you know group
053of Staff who have the same students we're working with who you think you know work in the same place but the experience that they're having can be wildly different and so how do we make sure we're listening to you know their experiences so we're understanding great um thank you for that I look forward to the presentation next month too to kind of dig more into it um as Josh mentioned but was a question I had too uh he was talking about inclusion right and this idea of like how important inclusion is in the school and I saw in goal area 7 um around kind of this building cultural awareness and multi multilingual reports that were happening in that PD section I think it's on page 10 um but all the professional development that was happening
054uh where is that like I guess where is that headed like do we have more lined up for continued PDS in those areas really thinking about that internal work and then the work that happens with students I don't think um there will ever not be a need for that work um given the the complex needs of the students we serve and um actually one of the questions on our staff survey speaks to staff articulating how how they feel prepared to respond to the diverse needs of the students they serve and that's going to be a very important piece of data for us to evaluate and stay accountable to because that was an area that stands out as something we can keep getting better at and because every child is unique as well as needs of
055children you know continue to be intensified in many cases we will never um not need to keep leveling up our skills in order to make sure that we're meeting kids and families where they're at so um yes the there will be embedded and continuous work on on that and I know um Dr vandar and her department is very um interested in trying to keep making sure the menu of experience as we have are both varied but also um that there's a baseline for all staff to have so that these aren't just kind of Novel and sort of random but that we have sort of a very deliberate you know experience that we want all District 57 Educators to have regardless of their role when it comes to being equipped no that's super helpful because I
056think we know that oneoff PDS don't work right like you have to keep revisiting you have to keep coming back to it you have to continue to to have that those conversations and so um you know I think this is somewhere where we continue to to grow um and I appreciate you know the call out to like this work is number done um and you do have to continue to to revisit like how are we working with new groups of students that are coming in and potentially the students that are or and the students that are still here as they continue to grow through the district so um thank you for that um in goal area 9 you talked about parents square and that usage is going up in a lot of ways um I
057have seen just in recent days uh just par talked to a couple of parents that are saying like they don't necessarily know how to get it um and so I was just curious on like with the continued training for how to continue to use parent square and making sure that everybody does know how especially if they're new to the district or if they come in or you know or just haven't downloaded the app yet M yes we you know being our first year we're very encouraged by some of the initial you know indicators that suggest this was a worthwhile investment and and successful by many accounts of a first year and we also are aware that there are some places that we need to keep addressing um both in the usage of the tool and
058then also in just communication in general because the tool um is just a vehicle but it's not the only vehicle so um we do plan on suring um stakeholders our families and our staff um early this spring so that we can like really refine our year 2 um you know response to where they need additional training retraining um how to um minimize any aggravation this tool is causing because that's the exact opposite of why we invested in it but we all know sometimes these wonderful Technologies can inadvertently create aggravations that we didn't have before we know this um so just also recognizing that communication is one of those complexities of like each of us have different sort of definitions of what our ideal version of communication is both in frequency and style and format and
059all that so just trying to be as flexible to the fact that we're serving diverse um expectations in people so how are we getting closer to what different people need and want so yeah we so we're going to start with the survey um we've definitely had um opportunities to engage in some anecdotal and feedback that we've received through different channels um but even our front office teams met recently and it was great to hear how those unique users needs vary and how they need additional training and um opportunities to keep making it better and I think the positive is that you'll have a lot more experts next year right it was brand new to everyone this year and so you are always going through that learning curve um teachers will know how to say to
060parents like this is how you use it at open house which probably was not I learned so many so many lessons this year and some were very wonderful and others were very hard yes but sometimes those hard lessons of a new tool are the ones that stick with you the longest like what to enable and what not to you know these can be painful lessons especially when we're talking about districtwide mass communication but I do credit honestly Heather and Mark Have Been instrumental in the identification of this the roll out and just even the willingness to probably answer some of the questions we ask them maybe weekly and they always pretend it's the first time we've asked them um which is invaluable when you're learning a new tool to not be judged by the experts
061so maybe they've met privately and and sced us but they've never showed it they've never showed it but so in truth I mean we really don't want families to feel like why did they do this thing that's making my life harder we want we want to make their lives easier so and and I think it's a great tool and I'm glad we have it and I know it has great um you know capabilities and being able to put it in different languages and do lots of really cool things so I'm very excited for it I think I just wanted to make sure we were continuing to think about like what does training look like for that people that may not know how to use it yet absolutely um and then the last question I have
062uh I was reading about all the great Partnerships um Vicki was very much talking about the 214 one but we have many um and I think I was just curious about recognition of those great Partnerships like we have this great thing at the library right now with all the you know um portrait of a graduate and there's lots of different people that we work with and I'm just curious about you know how do we also tell the community about those Partnerships and the things that we're doing and if there's a way to like recognize that piece mhm yeah I um am certainly open to that and I think um it's a good reminder that um I too sometimes as as as this report is being compiled it's also always a reminder about the importance of
063Storytelling and making sure that people are aware of the things that are happening some of it were probably were more successful in telling the stories about and making visible and other things were probably just doing and and not taking a moment to talk about or publicize so I think that's a good reminder and I think from my administrations team I know we're always happy to keep widening how we're making visible some of those Partnerships so if the board would like to see more of that I think we can do so in a variety of ways we can use social media to tell those stories we can feature those in our board meetings we can incorporate those more um specifically in my superintendent messaging I mean there's just any number of ways we can do it
064but it's a good reminder of just the importance of making sure people see the interconnectedness between our district and the Vitality of our community um because they're really Inseparable Inseparable yeah I mean I think you know goal area four is family and Community Partnerships and I think the more we I me you guys are doing such fantastic work and I think it deserves the recognition too to say how much much we've been reaching out to different groups of people and um you know being able to find like the pipelines from 214 to do that I mean there's just lots of things that are done and I don't know that you probably fully recognize all of them either and I think it's just important to to share with the community like how we're trying to work
065as a community and and how important those Partnerships are so thank you yep that's all I got anyone else Chris go ahead uh so first of all I I just would Echo the I think what Vicky and jeno said about our collaboration with 214 I think honestly this is one of the real Great accomplishments that you know we've made over the last couple years and Dr Gore I commend you for really leading the way and making that happen so I think that's awesome I know we're getting oh so close I think to exactly what we're looking for but uh it's been awesome and I'm sure we'll have Vicky help us with that as you said uh question on goal two um and this is the review and update districtwide assessment and feedback practices I I
066know there's been a lot of data gathering on this and and I'm I'm curious and maybe it's too early to answer this and if so that's okay but but what gaps are we starting to see I mean are there themes emerging are there are there roads we want to go down further I I'm I'm interested in this topic and I'm I'm curious what all the data that you're Gathering so far is is telling you y Dr vard do you want to jump in so we are still in the process of gathering that um so we have a committee that is made up of Staff teachers uh and community members and we're really looking at those three areas of grading um assessment and oh my gosh homework thank you grading progress reports and um homework um
067and so our committee has done a really good job in identifying the areas that we want to gather more input in um and so um we had just met I think uh last month and we are going to refine we want to do a survey for students staff and families about those different um topics and really get their perception and then we also want to um gather feedback from staff and students in particular about what the the different practices for those those areas so that is going to be happening in the spring and then that information is going to be coming back to our committee um this spring to identify where we want to go moving forward so we've identified areas that we want to gather more information in and we are in the process
068of just finalizing what those surveys look like so that will be coming in the next month or two okay and I I assume that would be something you guys would be presenting at a me yes awesome this is I think we've talked about this and I I appreciate you being you know honest about like the concerns or the questions you have but this is a massive undertaking and it's I think a little overwhelming even within a you know K8 District where you have or preschool 8 I should say you preschool through 8th grade and just taking on these topics there's like a lot of philosophical alignment that we need to make there's a lot of practical alignments we need to consider so um I do appreciate and expect that we will continue to have to
069be accountable to what what the work is what are we measuring and what are we aspiring to but I think the approach has been to try to be really led by the wisdom of the experts who are who are working with students and and being able to honestly say what are the issues that they're experiencing listening to families and letting them have space to say this is what works well from our perspective and and our students experience this is what is making them absolutely hate being a student because of these experiences and you do hear those stories you know so I think just trying to be listening to what people want I think the quality of that survey will be essential for any hopes of positive outcomes from the work um so I do understand
070and we'll Hest we'll provide updates uh for the board and present ultimately where we're at we can do that probably sounds like at the June meeting um if because it we'll have the survey result in the spring if not sooner so we can work together and again I appreciate as you said Dr Gore the the immenseness of this work um my only caution from having gone through some of this not like this but but similar really trying to boil the ocean almost is we we not allow ourselves to suffer from paralysis by analysis too much I mean we we can get in this rut of we're just we need to collect more data more data more data and pretty soon we have no idea what to do with it so I I'm not not saying
071it all that's what's happening but I I can absolutely see the risk of that with a topic of of this magnitude um awesome well thank you for that uh the goal seven which is the well the uh survey I'm just curious um why November was picked as the month to do this as opposed to you know maybe the end of the year when you know you might get a little bit more honest not hon I'm sure they're honest but by now your staff is at the end of the year M you know if there are any frustrations uh just from being a little bit burned out you might be more likely to hear them then than earlier in the year I not criticizing it just curious why that time was picked um I don't think
072there's a super um scientific response I think some of it had to do when we were ready within our um goal of of implementing the survey and I think once you do it what's more important is wherever is your kind of Baseline season of doing it making sure that you're not limiting that data collection to just being that formal survey but to deciding how do we continue to ask questions maybe it's not like death by survey and we keep surveying surveying but trying to use whatever is the season you've collected that and then determine what is a reasonable path to continue to ask more informing questions based on what people felt at that time trust me I think we do recognize that there's pros and cons to the fall um you could make a case
073that that's a ideal time you could make a case that that's the worst time I think our partners with school perceptions could speak very interestingly about how they see sort of changes within the time of year you know and people's stress levels and um it's fair I think what's more important for us is to be consistent about the you know for next year if we did it November our first year let's try to strive for always no M so that we're at least not comparing any of the pros or cons of the season um against you know Apples to Apples but um they did School perceptions did say some districts choose to do two a year but they said it's less common because you know it's not always as sensitive to growth you want to
074give yourself enough opportunity to make some meaningful changes so people feel like I'm going to continue to be honest with my employer because I can see that they actually listened and I can see some differences versus I'm not even going to take this next year because it was a waste of my time and no one listened anyways so I think we're trying to really um stay committed to those um factors but we there wasn't any um specific you know guidance that I can recall from school perception about not doing in the fall versus the benit sure and I will just say anecdotally nsseo has been doing this for several years and originally well for the first four years they were doing them all in the fall pretty much right after the school year start and
075the data they were getting was very positive last year and this was actually something I was suggesting is you know gosh when when staff has been at school for two weeks yeah everything probably seems great right they're still basking in the glow of summer vacation and we so they did it in May data was very different and I think that was pretty eye open opening for us to to see that you know this is kind of the end of the year and and we got very different responses and so now we've been doing it early in the year and then at the end and that allows us not only to compare year-over-year yeah but over the course of the school year to see how are perceptions changing so and that's I think we're totally open
076to that possibility and I think one of one of the many things we loved about school perception and continue to be grateful for is they're very collaborative they're very informed and experts in this work but they are very great thought Partners in the possibilities of what we might continue to evolve in our process so um I don't see any strong rigidity about our willingness to keep evolving this um and one of our themes has been in in sharing this information with staff to make sure we're also being very um consistent in saying survey data is important for a number of reasons it's also o not going to um be the difference of solving the problem that you see in front of you every day if it can be solvable by going to your direct supervisor
077or go by going to a trusted colleague or by going to your union leadership we don't want to be a district that um is good about being honest once a year about things that could be big barriers to kids experiences so yes like we're going to keep doing this because it is a one forum for people to have a risk-free way of being honest um but we want our ultimate goal is to keep nurturing uh culture that we are always honest and willing to trust our supervisors and each other to say things that are hard because we know that saying it is going to mean that we can start addressing it and to that I really also wanted to shout out MPA leadership and impes Leadership because without their voices of um Agency on that
078I think that we'd be potentially losing some of our staff and believing it because it's one thing for me to say it but there's a lot of people that say I'm not sure if I'm willing to you know there's going to be some hidden consequences for being honest about something that isn't going well um we can all appreciate that but if someone from my my union leadership is saying that I that's a great vote of confidence that they've given us and a trust that we're trying to really nurture so no that's great and 79% response rate is really good for surve so I know we're going to tr if nothing else we're going to try to have a higher response right next year and then question uh goal five uh Wellness Bingo tell me about
079that that sounds that sounds awesome well the master of Wellness is sitting at this table so that on his business card absolutely other duties as assigned um W Bing Wellness Bingo has been great uh Karen schwarzwald and I run the the wellness program for the district and um really just trying to do what we can with staff and so to help support them and give them just different ways to to you know enjoy their their pos position their jobs working with each other um so Wellness Bingo three weeks different bingo card each week um and staff have the opportunity to get bingo in a lot of a variety of different ways from reading a book taking a walk giving a compliment all these different things that they can do um to get get Bingo submit
080um a form and get uh entered into a drawing for some prizes and if they fill the entire board they get entered into a drawing for a lunch uh the school with the highest percentage gets um a treat as well so uh real lot of fun um part of this month as well we had um um a wellness uh Corporation come in um free of charge always nice to come and work with staff and and give them some Wellness screenings and and and and such so that's nice and next month we're working on our pickle ball tournament for staff so we had it last year and it was a big hit so we're working on that for next uh next month as well I I was thinking how about a staff GaGa ball we actually
081may have that happen it's an idea for me my kids would love to see that yes I'm I'm sure all right thank you you didn't know that's what Jason got his Doctorate in Wellness that's why he's a man of many talents what can I say any other questions okay we can move on then to a preview of our fiscal year 26 Staffing plan all right and so Karen schwartzwald our HR director is here tonight and she will be presenting our initial proposal for the first read of next year's Staffing plan thank you Karen good evening ever is it on oh it is okay I will project good evening everyone um included in your packet was a preview of included in your packet was a preview of um next year's Staffing plan um the overall change
082in it is not is not enormous but there's a lot that goes into it and so I want to talk through where we got the information from and then what the changes we're proposing are and we get information from a lot of things we look at student enrollment first and foremost we we did program evaluations how are different programs doing what kind of supports do they need are the supports that we have in place the correct ones or does Staffing need to be shifted within the programs we also looked at our consideration of local norms and by that I mean what are other districts doing as far as Staffing as far as ratios Etc um it's something that we for instance brought to you last year when we felt like we were out of line
083with our Middle School um class sizes and so that's something that we continue to look at and make sure are we consistent with our with our peers in the area so you'll note that oh let's see if this goes can you go one more back back one um an overview is that there's an overall decrease of 2.3 full-time equivalent or FTE of certif ified Staffing in the plan and an increase of 0.5 ESP or educational support Personnel Staffing um included in that are a decrease of Three classroom teachers two at Lions Park and one at Lincoln um and that's really due to each individual class size and where we are with just sort of where that cut off is with that the best example I can give you is I think we all know that
084there's a very large class right now in 8th grade at Lincoln so as they leave we just need one less class from teacher at Lincoln for next year can you go one more thank you um student services obviously is a huge area of our staffing plan and there are some small changes that we're asking for within that there's a Early Childhood special education program that we're only going to need half of the day next year so that would decrease 0.5 FTE we're also asking for an increase of 1.0 special education teacher specifically so that we can have reintroduced the sore program to Lincoln um and we need to just make a small shift to this the speech language pathologist FTE at Lions Park we're doing a little bit of internal shifting but the these are
085the changes that will actually be increases or decreases on our overall Staffing plan and then multilingual learner Staffing is by far in a lot of ways the most complex thing to staff right now first of all we've had an enormous number of students move in and out of the district mostly in the district this year that are multilingual Learners we also don't get that data until May or June so we are kind of always playing catch up right now we're trying to forecast how many students do we think are going to move in how many students do we think are going to pass and by pass reach a level on the access test where they no longer qualify for services and so those are kind of interesting things to try to predict and we have
086one more um X Factor this year which is that if any of our schools reach 20 or more students that speak the same language were required to open a program a long time ago there was such a program at Westbrook but it's been a long time since there was a TBE or transitional bilingual education program in one of our buildings but we are forecasting a need for that next year at Lincoln we forecast currently 22 students at Lincoln that are multilingual Learners in who Spanish is their primary language or Spanish is their language other than English or one of them and so we will need to open up by state law a section at Lincoln so those are like things that we're trying to estimate and then make it particularly hard for next year with
087our multilingual multilingual Learners we are asking to keep Staffing the same and then add in that extra section at linkoln of that bilingual teacher we currently do have a bilingual interventionist at Lions Park in Fairview that is a grandf funded position we have a disproportionality finding for the last few years and so that has funded an additional teacher we no longer are actually qualifying under that disproportionality and we are recommending that we remove that position this is an area that we're going to closely Monitor and we're going to closely keep you up to date with because we're not sure that we are hopeful that we've made the right decisions right now but it's one that's very very hard at this moment in time for us to know what it will look like in the spring
088and in the fall sections to watch I always try to look and see what sections do I think could make we might need to make changes on I in no way anticipate that all of the sections that I've listed are going to need to change I don't think that at all but these are sections that we have to watch because numbers are tight kindergarten and first grade have just been difficult to predict over the last few years and we don't while we love small class sizes we also don't want classes of 15 because we're just having um lots and lots of sections so those are two that we'll continue to watch Lions Park has a very small class going into Lions Park so that's something we're going to continue to watch and see if we
089have more than normal students come to Lions Park next year and then we currently have big fourth grades at both of our buildings we think that for fifth grade next year we have the right number of teachers we don't anticipate a lot of movements but if we were to have a bunch that would that would make a difference and then as I said the multilingual supports that's all I have tonight what questions do you have yes what [Music] questions okay well if nobody's going to jump in oh sorry excuse me sorry I have a I was going to go last but since well I have something if you don't please okay please by um I'm curious about the the TBE section that you mentioned and having like a dedicated multilingual bilingual teacher can you just
090explain a little bit more like what in practice that looks like is this a teacher that's doing all the different subjects with this group of students or are they transitioning the way that they like a typical student would I think we either way I think we anticipate that they would transition the way that our typical students do because we know that's probably best for students as they acclimate but what it will offer is us to find Opportunities during the day where students have the opportunity to have instruction either supported by or given by a bilingual teacher so it might be that that support is within their language arts class but instead of it being um a wonderful multilingual teacher it would be a teacher who is bilingual who could look at text or help with
091bringing their language into the curriculum and I'll let Kristen that sure and I'll just add um there are certain requirements that um the Illinois state board of education has for these programs so there's a full-time program there's a part parttime program and part of that depends on how students score on that access test that Karen was mentioning um and then so a lot of it we're going to have to wait and see um so like Karen said we are currently projecting 22 students um who who speak Spanish um there's also a component of talking with families and seeing what type of programming they want for their students so it is hard to predict but like Karen mentioned there's going to be time during the day where students are re receiving instruction within uh Spanish within
092their language um so hard to say exactly but that's the the requirement if that makes sense any questions with that no I was just curious um and I know you mentioned it's not something that we've had to do for a while so I'm sure you know this will be an opportunity to kind of approach it with fresh eyes obviously with the requirements in mind but also you know kind of figure out what works and I'm assuming we're in this position of looking at this at Lincoln because we have a a cohort from lions and Fairview that are coming together to make that number that like critical mass yes and we currently have quite a few students at Lincoln who speak Spanish right now as well um and then just to give um some added context
093so when we had our program last at Westbrook it was for Polish um and so we ended up having a part-time TBE program so like I mentioned students would go to that teacher to receive polish instruction um for a part of the the day and then they were in their their uh gendi classes the rest of the day got it okay so um and then I had a question with regard to the bilingual interventionist um I understand you know we don't qualify for grant funding for that position anymore is that the basis of the rationale for kind of cutting off that position or is it also a matter if we don't have the need anymore I mean I think that maybe those two things go together right I mean I think we could always argue
094that more staff is helpful and when we're talking about something like students who are multilingual more support is wonderful I think that we without the findings probably would like to just look at how we're delivering it delivering support and making sure that we have a model that's as flexible as possible to support the needs of our multilingual students so um that was a very specific job and I think we would love to look at it a little bit more generally with our general multilingual and intervention staff okay yeah I guess I was curious um I I'd be inclined to agree right and of course that's the ideal right the more support we can have the better of course that costs money and so um I guess I was just wanting to understand the rationale right
095if if it would be something worth investing in with District funds you know even though we don't have the grant money available and it sounds like that's not a place where we are are at the moment if we were going to spend the money we would want to spend it on something that was maybe a little more broad or kind of um flexible like you said okay okay anybody else Chris go ahead so I have a question and then a comment SL suggestion but the question first the um Early Childhood reduction from 4 to three and a half is that because we're just seeing decreased enrollment in circle of friends or what's cuz I know there was a waiting list maybe there still is but it's a really specific need so um we opened up
096um a program that for students with um more complex needs within the circle of friends program um this year we had a large cohort of them and so we needed two sections of them in order to really meet their needs these are students that are receiving part of their instruction in the special education setting as well as accessing the Blended programming next year there just aren't that many students that kind of fall within that complex needs um to need that more um specialized instruction um so it's not that we've increased enrollment overall but it's about how many students really need that kind of classroom okay is is there still a waiting list for Circle that is a really good question yes so we still do the lottery yep okay good uh and then my suggestion
097comment uh it's a long one so I'm going to read some of it uh so bear with me a little bit but um it's really revolving around what I don't see on our staffing plan that I'd like to see um the safety threat that occurred in one of our schools this past November has really forced me and I'm sure all of us to reflect on the fact that our district sadly is not immune from the risk of the horrible violent tragedies that have occurred way too often across the country I and all of us of course are relieved that no one was harmed as a result of this threat but I frankly believe we'd be pretty naive to think that we can maintain the status quo and not take any additional action and just hope
098that we will always be that lucky there's a sobering reality we're all facing right now uh according to a recent Washington Post article since Coline in 1999 when I was sophomore and he in college more than 390,000 students in the US have experienced gun violence at school school shootings are tragically on an upward Trend in the United States according to an October 2024 press release from the every town support fund for gun safety there were 106 injuries and 46 deaths from gun violence on school grounds in the US in 46 according to that same press release there's been a sharp increase in school shootings since the pandemic 2021 2022 2023 and 2024 all represented the highest numbers of school shootings each year in the last 20 years when I was a District 57 student 32
099years ago now it seems like a long time the notion of lockdown drills was a completely foreign concept now for my two girls in all the kids that attend our schools it's a very sadly necessary annual ritual the sad reality is that there's still far too easy access to weapons capable of producing Mass numbers of casualties in schools until or unless that changes we need to accept this reality and proactively do everything possible to protect our kids and our staff our vision which we all see all around our schools which is great is to inspire every student every day to reach their full potential no student or staff member can achieve their full potential without feeling safe and secure in school each and every day I absolutely commend Dr Gore and our Administration for the
100improvements we've made in securing our schools over the last several years and I know we've done a lot but I really feel more needs to be done we have some really exciting times ahead for us as a district we have the Construction and design of a new linkoln which is amazing the implementation of full day kindergarten the expansion of Westbrook but none of this is going to matter at all if we can first and foremost keep our schools secure and our children's staff safe so one such Improvement I would like to see us pursue as a district is the implementation of a school resource officer program we are very very lucky in our district and our village that our district and the M Prospect Police Department have a rich history of fantastic collaboration and this
101move would be a natural next step in our relationship with them bringing an SRO to District 57 would be a proactive move that would bring many benefits toward improving the safety of our schools and in other areas having an SRO available at a school diminishes critical response time when every second matters when a violent incident or emergency occurs this can make all the difference when a threat on school grounds occurs SRO can be wonderful resources for students and staff in providing education on crime prevention and Justice issues they can provide training and present information to parents and the community on relevant crime and legal issues such as signs of substance abuse gang involvement and other areas sro's can play and have played in many areas the very important role of informal counselor in schools with
102successful SRO program students often View and turn to sro's to discuss issues and they're able to provide guidance on the stressful life situations in other areas the illegality of pranks and other important issues an SRO program would certainly not be free no question about that but I would look at what we as a district would spend on such a program as an investment not a cost and why is that because I strongly believe that what we would get out of it will be far more than what we put in feeling safe in school is extremely closely connected to achieving academic and social emotional outcomes for students it allows our staff and teachers to be at their very best every day focusing on doing the great work that we know they all do rather than having
103to worry about their own Safety and Security so my ask of Dr Gore and the administration team is to work with the m Prospect Police Department to start putting together a proposal on how an SRO program might work in District 57 success of these programs is complicated it depends on the proper selection of a specially trained officer or officers to work inside of our schools I have no doubt that we'd be be able to leverage our great relationship with the Mount Prospect Police Department to identify an ideal candidate and work together on what that program would look like it's critical that we take the time to put the required thought into what such a program would look like this is not something to be taken lightly not something to be rushed into I want to
104take the time to make sure we go about this the right way so I don't come to you today with any expectations about specific timelines that I would ask you to put a proposal together but I would like for us to begin this very important work and to direct the administration to keep the board apprised and when we might be able to expect such a proposal we unfortunately as a district are not leaders in this area many elementary school districts and the surrounding communities have successfully implemented SRO programs including communities that are right around us and next to us District 25 59 21 34 and 62 have all implemented successful SRO programs I believe the time is now for us to make this very important investment in the Safety and Security of our children our
105staff and the Peace of Mind of our families and our community that's it okay thank you for sharing that I don't I don't expect you Karen to to comment on that wasn't necessarily directed at you yes no um thank you but no I I certainly appreciate you raising you know we do talk a lot about what's being proposed and and I appreciate Chris taking the opportunity to um I guess speak into what might be missing and I mean to that regard it actually reminds me of a question that I had with regard to our mental health professionals at Lincoln in particular but across the district I feel like recently there was um a proposal on a previous Staffing plan to increase our staffing in that regard and I'm understanding that's not changed no um there
106was we are making a slight shift um of point two from Lions Park sore program to Lincoln but there's no overall increase proposed we increased a psychologist last year and Social Work support the previous years okay and that's all been functioning as expected as much as possible I know at the time we talked about it I seem like I recall that was a difficult position to fill and we were maybe concerned about Staffing so Staffing this the social worker and psychologist positions they are they are very difficult to fill um we have been able to fill them we're very lucky we have some amazing new psychologists and Social Work newish social workers in the district um but they are hard to fill positions okay okay are there any other questions about the Staffing plan I
107do want to address the proposal that Chris made his it's about his proposal yeah oh okay okay we're good thank you um so I'm trying to think through procedurally how to go about um Chris what you've introduced um I guess we'll call it there's a there's a motion on the table to instruct Administration to uce some some data finding some fact gathering in terms of cost primarily I would assume but also um I guess I don't know Chris you want let me make something clearer I didn't make a motion because I can't do that this wasn't on the agenda so what I asking for is to direct the administration to start Gathering some facts and proposals on what this would look like right I'm not suggesting that we would vote on whether or not we
108think that's a good idea right now because frankly I don't think any of us have enough information to make that decision okay what I'm proposing is that I think there is enough of a reason for us to look into it further and I would like the administration team to collaborate with and again we we spoke earlier tonight about all the wonderful Community collaboration that's going on and it's absolutely true and I know the police department is one group that we've always had a great relationship with and so the ask is to have the administration team work with the police department on what this would look like structure costs guard rails how would we go about selecting an SRO that that's a really important aspect of all this you know I can tell you that you
109know friends and family members who are teachers who are in schools with SRO that's a critical piece and we have to get that right um so that's why that's my ask it's not a mo it's it's an Ask of the administration team to come back to us with that okay and I I appreciate that right the technicality um I do think though that in order to give Administration a clear direction right no no one of us has the capacity to say Dr gorgoa do this particular thing so sadly that is true I do think um that it it merits some conversation some Buy in from I I'd love to have that conversation sure um I'm just trying to think sort of how we would go about doing that um well Vicki has a question already
110Vicki does have a question already I suppose not a question just a comment response okay um I'll let you go ahead I I'm trying to sort of frame the conversation as much as possible um because I'm aware that there are some potentially strong feelings about the concept of a school resource officer and so I I don't necessarily want those feelings to color the conversation or to um and maybe that's not possible maybe I'm asking for a unicorn so sorry go ahead so I preface everything by saying I agree I think every single person in this room agrees that student safety is the most important thing phys physical emotional right you send your kids to school you want them to come home if a student isn't safe or doesn't feel safe they can't learn they can't
111function yeah so student safety is the most important thing I think we all 100% agree um um I also feel that um by jumping ahead to selecting a school resource officer as the solution or even as the first primary solution is um going too far that um there's probably a host of other amazing opportunities effective things that we can also pursue or investigate at the same time so I wouldn't want Administration to start looking specifically into that solution I would rather have them start looking into all possible solutions that could be one of them but all options all solutions kind of investigate that and bring that before us so I don't want to I'm absolutely all for that I I think we any you know if we have four or five options on how we're
112going to go about this great let's bring them all to the table and figure out what's best to move forward what I really want to do is have that discussion I I think we need to have a serious discussion about School Safety and Security here and what I'm proposing is one way to go about it but I'm sure there are lots of other ideas I think we should talk about all and figure out as a group The Best Way Forward okay I Jen actually had to her her mic lit first if you want to go go okay uh when was the last time we did a security audit can't remember how long how many years has it been how many was before I was on the board so yeah I think it was 2020 so
113maybe that would be a process also to do a security audit again and to see where we're at with that I also think with our new student school board members I think having their voice in this is also key since they are part of the school and also staff I think you need to have everybody's input on how they would feel and with having an SRO or what other options we might have out there for Safety and Security MH yeah I think oh sorry I didn't mean to cut you off go ahead one thing I've always appreciated about this district is we do things on a very data driven way this is not right now data driven and I think if we're going to do this if we're going to have this conversation I would
114like the data from the building as to why we need that like these specific things and so if we're going to go down this route I want to understand what are the needs from the students what are the needs from the community what are the needs from the parent from the staff right why is this the thing I think we've had very serious conversations about Safety and Security in this bu in this District I think we do it every year I think great with that but I respect your okay my turn um I think we've had very serious conversations about you know what Jason brings every spring to us to do over the summer the things that we've done to make an impact on Safety and Security in these buildings I think if we're I
115think we need to have a very like I don't want you to go to the police and start having this conversation I don't think that's that's the time for that yet I think if you want to research different ways to bring different types of you know Safety and Security to this building then fine let's have that conversation I think we're way too far ahead I've been in buildings with SRO I probably have the most experience with SRO out of anyone sitting at this table right now and I can say yeah they were super nice to me I also know the re students who were terrified walking down that building with people with guns walking behind them just is and so I think we need to be very careful right now and really thinking about what
116does this District need most how do we go about it what is the data that supports that we need to make this on a datadriven basis and not any other way and so I feel very strongly if you want to go out and figure out like different things you could bring fine let's do that but I do not think starting with an SRO is the the correct way to go about it we need to figure out what all the options are sure and that's very similar I think to what I was going to say I think if we want to have a conversation about safety generally right Chris you even acknowledged there's lots of different ways to handle that and I think the primary starting point as you said Jen is to really take stock
117of where we are now um you know we had that in several months ago and thank goodness everything was handled appropriately And Timely and I think successfully um but Chris to your point right that doesn't mean that every situation will be like that and we're also in a position of expanding I mean we're building a new middle school and we're expanding our um our young learner building and that those new facilities and spaces will carry their own challenges right so we want to be thinking ahead about those things too um Karen did you want to add something yes um from what everybody oh sorry what everybody has said and um it seems like the best place to start in this conversation is more of a needs assessment because you 100% feel the need for this
118um Jen does not feel the need for this whatsoever so there's needs to be a A needs assessment I would think that that would be the first thing that we would move forward with um to see if this is something that's even uh whether it's practical or important or necessary for this District um I worry deeply about the amount of work that we would be putting on administration's desk to say hey let's look at all of our possible safety options it's an enormous amount of work um so seeing if A needs assessment might be a more um targeted way of using their time and the last thing is with those two new buildings or the the additions to Westbrook and the new Lincoln is there is a really extraordinary opportunity that I think is being
119taken seriously in the um the design of those new buildings it's not going to be retrofitting an old building to um current needs it's going to be building a need a building a a new building with current needs in mind and I think that's going to be um a really big piece that might alleviate a lot of the concerns that the accessibility in our buildings um make one of the things I was thinking of is we went to um AA middle school and they have a this is a relatively simple straightforward thing they have a separate entrance that goes directly into their um there are sports areas there basketball um courts those kinds of things that is only they only can access it from that particular um entrance after school hours there is a locked
120down door between that section of the school and the rest of the school and the rest of the school is completely blocked off and locked down that's something that we can um consider in our building of a new building how we can use those kinds of things and those kinds of opportunities to provide more security and safety it doesn't necessarily mean an officer in the building because they I say that's what $150,000 that we're putting out for a school on officer that we as a school are going to have to um pay 100 to 150,000 I think and that's something that I know for myself I would much rather put that money to different use um so that would be my suggest question is to say is to take the the um desire for um
121safety improvements and um to to point towards a either a security audit like Ken said or um A needs assessment from administration at this point Pam go ahead some of the groups that I've um been affiliated with this year um there are people who very much promote um Moms Demand Action Group and I thought that we had um a an email from someone who was asking to do a program on gun safety I think involving the community in these decisions via a survey having a program um having programs and get people involved because there's nothing wrong about talking about how to safely store guns what to look for if your student is having um mental uh depression H having having issues I think that that is that is something that is important um it's going
122to be time consuming because it's involving people I believe it's Mary K valino who is very a very strong um advocate for Mom's demand action red wine and blue frequently has uh digital programs um asking people to uh to host programs like this um you know that that's a start and what's good about it in my mind is that it's involving the community so you're getting the pressure from the parents from the family saying this is what I want I'm not going to accept um bullying I'm not going to accept um misbehavior that would be harmful to my student and and other families um and I'm I'm going to do a little bit of a side rant here I posted something on um one of the Facebook groups there was Jacqueline there was an 11-year-old
123girl in Gainesville Texas and I did do the research on it I did um call I was going to call the Gainesville intermediate um school but then I thought no cuz there might be a lawsuit that they're involved in um I ended up calling the library uh the person who I spoke with first actually hung up on me I called back and I spoke with the reference libran Li Arian who said that they didn't have any newspaper articles on it yet but she sent me to the Gainesville Daily Register and I spoke with Sally Sexton um who is beginning an article tamam I'm sorry I don't mean to cut you off I I'm conscious of our time right and I was the one who yeah I just want to make sure that we're focusing on
124right and and and so so it's becoming more prevalent and I really think that um that we need to if we're doing this we need to involve the community and start uh get that it it could be an addition to it could be the beginning of the start let's see what our families want um when I was uh a candidate two years ago um I got a lot of feedback about how um the the quote was um um I'm not afraid of of Shooters in the building I'm afraid of what an SRO might do to my child I was shocked but you know I understand differently I understand from a different angle now sure I I appreciate that um I think that Community input piece is important regardless of what action might be taken or
125whether any action is taken and I think I'm hearing a con ensus for some level of A needs assessment and going through that process would certainly inform us as a board give us some additional information from which to make decisions and also then give the the community the opportunity to take a look at what we found out and and give their feedback too right as people who access the schools um via their children or directly um to speak to you know what they see are maybe some um some gaps or or even some benefits right it doesn't have to be you know A needs assessment kind of implies the deficiencies right but to the extent there's things that we're doing well that we can capitalize on I think we'd want to see that information too
126um I don't have any specifics for you in terms of what that might look like Chris yeah I I just want to say a couple more things here I Jen I completely acknowledge the experience that that you've had with SRO I will tell you that while I obviously I'm not a teacher I don't spend my days in schools I have a brother and a cousin who both teach and have been in schools with SRO and have said their experience has been fantastic and I'll say my brother is not one to automatically love the police he isn't and yet I was actually one of the the things in in my my own research on this that really turned me was his own experience with this you know and him telling me this has been a fantastic
127addition to our school so I I recognize your experience but I also think we need to recognize that lots of other kids have had great success with this we talked about being data driven I absolutely respect that Karen you threw out a number of 100 to 150k I don't know where you got that from do we have a quote on what this would cost I I don't think we do so I I I just want to make sure we're careful before we throw numbers out there that we are in fact being data driven and get those actual numbers so I can just let you know was I don't recall off the top of my head how much it was but it was when District 25 was um bringing their SRO on board and it was
128the salary that theying that's different District we don't know if that would be the same thing here there there are lots of Arrangements districts have sometimes the police split the costs sometimes they pay more so I just I don't want the community thinking oh my God that's what this is going to cost I think if we go this route we should actually get the data um I forget who it was that said we don't want to burden Dr Gore with the time it would take to research all these things and Dr Gore I apologize for saying this frankly when it comes to Safety and Security I have no problem having you invest your time as much as is needed to make sure we do the right thing here so I hate to say that but
129and then I guess last thing on the needs we've we've I've heard two things said we need to do A needs assessment again and we need to involve the community correct me if I'm WR my understanding is we don't share the results of the needs assessment publicly right so so I've heard well we got to do A needs assessment and then tell the community what we found and then make a decision I don't know how that works so are we are we going to do A needs assessment and involve the community and if so how are we going to do that and when I I I guess I want this discussion to be more than just a here are some things we could do I'd like us to take some action yeah I appreciate that
130I think in the past when we've made security upgrades and taken specific action with regard to security we haven't necessarily dis cled like the details of that right because that would defeat the purpose I think when it comes to the needs right there would be a little bit of a qualitative aspect to that in terms of do you feel safe in the schools right and what would make you feel safer would you want more support from counselors would you want um this or that um and I don't obviously there's a way to go about that and to do it in a way that yields valuable feedback um and so that's something I think we want to look into and that I think is the piece that the community would have the biggest opportunity to speak
131into so so are we directing Dr gour to do this that's what I was about to establish yeah Pam what did you want to add I I just wanted to to um add something to what Chris just said I'm not saying that we tell the community I'm saying that the community tells us right that it's a partnership and we hear I'm a big advocate for getting people's ideas and getting people's thoughts I don't necessarily as I was answering the um the surveys from the different uh uh newspapers you know it it hit me that um we don't in some aspects curriculum whatnot we make the decision um the professionals make the decision uh but in other aspects when you're looking at a pathway to take what we did with the town hall you get input
132from your community my library experience is that the insurance companies that we work with Gallagher Basset at most public libraries will ask if they can come in and walk through the facility and give us um things to work on things to improve and so for us it was a big deal gallager Basset risk analysis person would come and walk with um our uh manager of of operations and with our um head of uh building security and uh maintenance and security and uh it would be about an hour they'd go through every room every door everything and then they would come back with a list that list wasn't shared with staff you might hear some of the things that were on the list um which I wouldn't say publicly right now um you don't one of
133the questions um I can't remember if it was journal or I'm going to interrupt you again um what you're describing is very similar I think to the security audit that we did a number of years ago exactly um I don't know that that's necessarily what we're talking about doing again because as you mentioned right it's very intensive very involved I think there's a way to go about getting the information that we need in a little bit of an informal way and then maybe if that's not satisfactory we could dig a little deeper and try to find um a more I guess thorough is not the word I want to use but sort of a more granular look at the information that we we had um again I I don't mean to cut you off I
134want to make sure we're closing out the conversation moving on to what well well I just wanted to add one more thing if we're building a new school right now um as someone said it's important to get feedback as we're building it and get the state-of-the-art but but to to spend um to make decisions based on an old facility is is not necessarily um feasible you know um we would we should look at which we've already done and which we do on a regular basis look at at ways to um increase security but don't necessarily divulge what we're doing I could tell you things privately that we've done in libraries facilities that I've worked at um but I would never tell anybody outside of the you know trusted people some of those things because that
135would put staff in danger of course of course yeah and so I think like I said with regard to seeking Community feedback it would be more um in terms of you know potentially assessing parents experience via their children in terms of safety in the schools and um like I said sort of getting that qualitative piece and we'll have a a more I guess quantitative to the extent you can have a quantitative um perspective from you know looking at I suppose it would be number of disciplinary incidents and things like that I'm not going to tell you how to do your job I'm just trying to think it out um but I did hear I did hear a consensus about doing A needs assessment I know did you want to add something I just on the
136data The Collection piece I think also like sense of belonging data thinking about how like those pieces are really important in this conversation too about how students are feeling in classroom in the school so similar to like parents giving that feedback like I want student feedback in the same regard of like that holistic of cuz that sense of belonging is super important and I think I really just I really want to understand how are students feeling when they're at school and how like what supports do we have that are here and like what supports are missing right like there is I'm thinking about the schools that I've been in I mean there are programs all over the place that we could bring in to talk about you know um what it mean like that part
137right like about what it means to belong and I know we have some Partnerships that already exist but I think that there are more out there and I think for me like that's what makes a school really safe right is that every student feels like they're seeing valued and heard in a building and that they know that they belong and that they have that experience um and that is what keeps kids safe um so anyway that's I appreciate that and I didn't and talking about community and parents I I was thinking primarily outward facing right of course internally there's lots of um perspectives that we could gather ien just one key I just want to reiterate what Jen's saying about that sense of community that sense of belonging and any like professional development School Board
138thing anytime I've done a like a security thing key that is the key thing is that sense of community that sense of belonging knowing that there's someone there that that you just have that connection with that is that is key to keeping our kids safe mhm um I want to commend the board for having a difficult conversation in a way that really dignified each other and the topic um I would be remiss not to just give a sneak peek into what will be next month's presentation on the results from the survey but I do want to just point out because I think it's relevant that our top five scores and our student our staff survey data was I feel safe at work work that was the third highest score that's clearly not meant to um
139invalidate the need for continuing to look more closely at this topic in general but I just I do want to share that um when we look at this and using a data driven approach I think it's about first weaving in what ident um what data we have that will exist within our our control such as student belonging surveys connection survey looking at our link I mean these are there's a lot that's happening that I think could be useful and informative to um this process what I would ask for the board is permission to deliberate on tonight's discussion with my team so that I can put together a preliminary um analysis on what we have and what we might not have and I think once once we have that and when I say have I'm talking
140about the data like what what survey data do we have what what security audit data do we have what you know what is our list of our inventory of existing information we have and what might be a list of non-existent information data around um specifics around costs and different models that districts are using both locally and Nationwide um what Partners we might need to tap into to do some of this work just from a capacity standpoint because I don't want to Outsource anything unnecessarily but I also want to be protective of the um the bandwidth of a team that's trying to aggressively pursue deadlines around our strategic plan and our buildings so I don't I do want to do this work in in the way that it needs to be done but I also want
141to be honest and upfront that we may have to tap into investing in some third party relationships around how to do this work thoroughly because I can tell it's a Time sensitive topic but I also want to you know I don't so those are the things that are I'm thinking about as I'm hearing the conversation and so I think that I can provide that update for the board certainly at the March meeting but probably more preliminary before then um through my communication with board but I can provide an update and a formal status at the March meeting if that is agreeable I think that sounds great in terms of just a continuation of these topics and making sure I'm coming with some more refined next steps around what we need to complete this what we
142propose would be necessary and almost like A needs assessment before the needs assessment cuz we like a committee Comm assessment yes so A needs assessment of the yes yes so does that seem at least as an initial response I love it Chris yep let's do it okay okay did you want to say more than that since you have your mic on okay okay no I think why you know how much I love that idea yes yeah um that makes the most reflect to start with what we already have and go from there so I appreciate you being efficient about that inquiry and thank you all very much for for chiming in and addressing that I appreciate your your respect and your camaraderie uh moving on to other exciting topics we get to talk about our
143building brighter Futures update awesome so while we're transitioning to this topic I do want to just um give the nod to the admin there in the audience that you are dismissed you can go home and continue to work on your left I'm not saying you've been working but I meant you're not like you're going home and going to bed if anything I'm sure you're going to go home and keep working so I you don't have to do it in those chairs so we're going to pretend like Mary didn't say that on an open mic and encourage you to work after hours when you're not being leave your laptops here you can collect them during your work hours which as an admin is all the F all the time and non-defined work life balance yeah life
144balance go balance from 9:30 to 6:00 a.m. okay we will stop this topic thank you um all right so um as you can see um there is a brief slideshow and um I just want to again take this opportunity to thank all the work that's been happening even from month to month um which is really Jason continues to be the motor on this work he is the The Little Engine That Could which is how we refer to our district you know the small But Mighty but it takes a enormous amount of persistence and um you know a drive that he has continued to keep moving this engine forward because it's just a lot of collaboration with a lot of different people to keep everyone communicating and delivering on a way that's going to deliver us
145our outcome so I'll hand it over to Jason but just thank him for the work he's been doing sure thank you um yeah absolutely we're going to kind of walk through and You' seen some of these slides just to remind us kind of where we are in our process and um as Dr Gore said it's it's moving along it's moving along at a record Pace um but lots of good work lots of uh collaboration um and we're definitely getting closer every every month to the Finish Line um so we're still in Phase One schematic design which is a um a pretty long phase for us in in making sure that we get all of that input um understand exactly um what um is needed within the construction we're starting here with Westbrook um we have
146at this point finished all of our focus groups so we've met with all of the staff that we were able to meet with um came with great ideas great thoughts um everything from big picture to outlets on the wall it's always about outlets on the wall these days um and so we're having some great conversations there uh next slide please um and so if you have never spent a lunch period over at Westbrook I highly encourage it it was the highlight of my day and this was Fresh Off The processess because this was today and so um Mr Hefner there Marty Hefner and Carl Anderson um were running their principal advisory committee so they do it at Westbrook where they meet with a different class each month and so all of the classes are having
147this opportunity to do this input but they did it with this class this month because they happen to have princial asri committee uh with this group console with this group and so the students uh started by giving just actually talking about what an architect is and um our architect was there um although not didn't make any of these pictures sorry um oh no maybe oh yes in the back there you go yep he was blending into the climbing wall there um and so um they uh started by just brainstorming ideas uh some of my favorites were a chocolate fountain uh water slide um the Cheeto vending machine very popular um um and so it had to be free that was that was definitely on the on the side and so they they were putting up
148ideas on the wall you can see there they were brainstorming and then after that they had an opportunity to um draw as well and so you have your conveyor belt uh that delivers you milk on the top left there you have robot helpers that you can take home because you have to be able to take them home um and then this middle one on the bottom um kind of like a a school that just kept going up all the way to eighth grade which is really neat there's a hot tub in seventh grade for some reason and there is I think it says the best playground uh is on the left there they weren't finished yet but that that was uh it's not finished but it was definitely a good start so they had really
149great ideas but I will say that some of the ideas I mean even they talked about an elevator they talked about um a hallway to the music and art room that wasn't cold um which we do have in the plans so uh really neat you know comy seating the idea of not having the cafeteria in the gym um so really great input and so this was first graders but all of the students are having an opportunity to to give that input and it was um it was really neat to see today so uh really enjoy that we'll go on to the next slide um we have surveys going out so we um staff surveys we've already um sent and return and received um we have surveys to um community members and families uh with students
150they they're obviously working with students in a little different way but they're definitely getting that input uh from them uh next slide we also have uh neighbors and so we sent similar to what we did at Lincoln we sent a letter to every neighbor around Westbrook uh and it it sends them off to a survey but also tells them a little bit about the project but it then sends them off to a survey where they can answer questions more uh like um you know concerns about construction or concerns about um anything that's going to happen or just any input they want to give us they also have an opportunity to sign up at that point to be one of our constant contacts um keep pushing things out but obviously people in the community it's it's
151sometimes a little more difficult for us to get that information out to them quickly and so they can sign up and then they can receive that information and uh we've been sending stuff out to them uh to let them know what's going on next uh topic we took uh some tours of some different learning spaces so we went into Park Ridge and Glen View both have built Wings onto schools um recently um and so we look specifically at anything from multi-purpose rooms on the left or kindergarten rooms um they were pretty different um just in the furniture and what the and what the classrooms looked like um whether it was built-in versus lots of um movable furniture and so we really had a I think it was a great morning opportunity we had all the
152kindergarten teachers our librarian and music and art teacher or art teacher uh were able to uh come on that morning and and just kind of take the tours and start having conversations and talk through even just the process of how they got to to where they decided what these spaces would look like so really need opportunities next slide please um and so that was Westbrook um so definitely moving along U feeling like we're in a good place um at Lincoln um we uh don't have as many pictures to show this this month because it's more about at Lincoln uh really just moving along with we we're pretty close to uh finalizing what I shouldn't say finalizing cuz it's not even close to final but um really close to a point of what we would like
153to share with the village and share with the community um and so it it starts with having that footprint and having the site plan um and so we're really um you know after taking in all the input from staff Community students um uh parents were part of that community and so really taking all of those you know what are the interests what are the needs how do we you know put that all together and then put out a product and so uh we're getting there the steering committee has been meeting we're um next week the steering committee meets and then the week after we're hoping to pull together some of those initial focus groups you know some specific groups that have to look at some specific spaces in the building um and we're um pretty
154close to being able to put a date on the calendar for when Community will be able to um have some viewings you know obviously the board will be um prior to that with some information we'll be able to share with you um I've also had the opportunity to meet with a couple neighbors that are really close to Lincoln um individually just to talk through through you know concerns questions thoughts that they have you know obviously it's a it's a neighborhood school it's really close to some of our neighbors and we want to make sure that we're um you know working with them um through this process concerns about where the building is as well as just where construction is or what time it starts and all of that so you know we're working together and
155they know that I'll be reaching back out to them once we have something to share so that it was an opportunity for them to share with me next time I'll be able to share more with them uh last slide I think it's one more just our next step so uh we're working um on refining those Lincoln designs like I said we're pretty close um and then setting that Community openhouse uh date which will be pretty early spring um continue developing the Westbrook plans and then we're working closely with the Village um we have regular meetings with our Architects and our construction uh management firm but then also we've been um you know staying in contact with the village as well you know making sure that we're ready to get them what they need so that
156our timeline works and that um our plans work with them that is um everything at this point questions maybe any questions Pam go ahead who does the permits for the building that's Nicholas right well it'll go to the Village if that's what you um right yeah it goes to building department Bill Schroeder right it'll go yeah go to the Village but um so the Architects will work together with Nicholas to to get everything to them Chris go ahead well first of all awesome job on on this Jason I think the the level of Outreach you've done on this I think is is incredible and and really commendable and um I think you know serves as a good model for future districts that are going through this so you you may have some presentations on your
157hand so who knows but I I guess my only question is um you know I'm always just looking at at the end date here anything so far and maybe this is hard to answer that you think is putting that magical August 27 date at risk at this point no I I think we um everybody knows it's August 2027 that it needs to be done so we are working uh as hard as possible to get everything done and so that's why we're trying to just make sure that we have those timelines um as timelines need to shift let's make sure that everybody knows that and it still works within our plans but our goal is um still to bring um bids to the board for approval in September meaning that we can start after that happens
158okay great yeah um just thank you so much Dr k for um all your work in ex separating this process and moving this forward I had one question so um at a previous board meeting I know you know you talked to neighbors surrounding Lincoln and you know they express some of their concerns with maybe construction and noise and things like that just curious are Westbrook neighbors bringing up those same concerns or other things as well yeah um so we put out uh the survey to the neighbors as well and we got I forget how many responses I'd have to check but um but the I I think the same types of questions about just you know noise I think what's hard is at this point right now we don't have a plan of like where
159are the trucks coming in where are we going to unload where are they parking those types of things um the one specific i' seen a couple times now is you know making sure that that bridge is that still going to be open so that parents a lot of parents I think walk over the bridge to get to Westbrook and pick up the students so is that going to be open and so which we anticipate it will but we're not you we'll have to double check and make sure um it's it's obviously still going to be there at the end and we want to make sure people have access to it but it might be a long walk then around they they won't be able to pick up probably in the back so but um no
160it's it's a little different obviously we don't have you know the neighbors right next door the construction's going to be on in the so those neighbors that you know are down that driveway that they probably won't see a lot so it's a little different than Lincoln where we do have people right there and we want to make sure we're cognizant of everybody but um definitely different at Westbrook sure anybody else okay well I appreciate your efforts at being a good neighbor and um you know making sure everybody's clued in and and involved and informed as much as possible um I did have a couple things that I wanted to say um and Jason I'm not sure that they're necessarily questions or comments for you in particular but um I had the privilege of touring those
161kindergarten buildings that many of the staff got to see um and in addition to you know taking stock of all the different you know tiny child-sized chairs and the different versions there are so many different chairs um one of the things that it came to my attention as these other districts were talking about their experiences with implementing full day kind Garten um it brought up something that I hadn't thought about which is more I guess curriculum related right I mean we're in a place as a district where we only offer half day and so the curriculum is the same morning and afternoon if we were looking at a full day opportunity well it's not an opportunity it's a mandate but um once we expand to full day instruction that's a whole extra four hours worth
162of time that needs to be accounted for where you you won't just be repeating the same lessons from the morning as or in the afternoon that you did in the morning um so I'm sure you all have thought about that already and I was curious to know kind of what opportunities are we looking at to do that um and I guess relatedly right the piece about if we were to offer like an optional half day right to the extent that full day is not mandatory parents would still have the option of saying you know my child only seems ready for half day I only want to send them half day and then what you do in terms of like the learning discrepancies that come from the difference from kids that are going full day yeah
163great great questions um for our understanding of the law is that it's still required that we will be obligated to offer a full day program um so that absolutely will be something that we will have to keep in mind in the master schedule in the service delivery and then also the internal design of the programming is something that will start to take shape next year um and then that will also take a very similar structure to looking at you know neighboring districts trying to really make connections I think a lot of that's already beginning to form in terms of planning because we're late adopters to full day um one of the advantages um to frame it positively is that we have no shortage of um other programs and districts to work with to learn from
164what will be the customized experience for the West Brook um experience and so yeah I know Dr vard will lead that work but I think next year will be kind of the beginning stages of that because they'll have a two-year kind of period to make sure that's done thoroughly and how does that line up then with where we are with construction because I think part of what we talked about at that tour was the experience of some of these districts kind of aligning the space to the type of teaching right and so if we're going to potentially change or at least at the very least expand the curriculum are we keeping that in mind as we're also planning shape of the space well they have been they being Str Str have been very um helpful
165and that again this is their expertise this is what the type of clientele they work with so they are very um great at advising us on Spaces that are as adaptable to the needs that happen short of you know if if our group decides we need to fold a um stable experience or anything unique like that that might be throw us off a little bit but you know really when they're looking at square footage and they're looking at design and I think there's a lot of adaptability in terms of how we can make those spaces with our furniture with our storage with our like even just functionality of the rooms um to allow for a building that will be useful in the Ever Changing approaches over the next you know 75 years you know cuz
166we won't just be building for what's kind of what now is considered to be the best experience but we'll be for many generations to come so sure I think I think we don't have indication from our Partnerships that the the delay in the design um should happen to you know but it's a it's a good question because I think it's intuitive to think in a perfect world you'd have this customized experience built and then you design a space for it but the reality is that us going in the reverse is not going to inhibit our ability to deliver a really customized thoughtful design program so okay I appreciate that and then um Jason I did want to ask in terms of the timeline right we obviously have a very hard deadline um but I know
167you've worked very quickly and efficiently to get us to this point in the process if there was an opportunity to maybe break ground earlier than we expected is that something we would be positioned to take advantage of um I would say sure but I I don't see us being able to we've already moved it up I think as much as we probably can we actually original the original plan was uh to bring bid idea uh bid um approvals in September for Lincoln but then Westbrook would actually be later we're now all talking about doing them at the same time just so we can see the whole picture at once um so we moved Westbrook up a little bit um but I think we have to finish our design and then the Architects and and construction
168firm really need enough time for them to put everything together all those specs in order to go out to bid so I I can't anticipate I I I'd be very surprised if we could go any quicker and we also have to work around some you know like we're working with the village which is great but there's also some exterior um groups that we need to work with as well like the Water Reclamation District that that we don't have control over Village really doesn't have and I don't think you know we just have to work on their timeline too so I think our goal is to make sure that we have everything ready for those bids that we don't need to be waiting on stuff while we're accepting bids we don't want to do that um
169but we have talked about if we can do it in September we should be able to break around and then um possibly depending on what uh the building's made of we um it is possible to even work over the winter um if you can get those footings in the ground before okay yes of course not suggesting that we try to push those boundaries right want to do it efficiently but also at a high quality right not wanting to do it quickly for the sake of doing it quickly um but to the extent the stars align sure that becomes an option that would certainly be um Jason's got his hard hat right I was say there's nothing there's nothing the district would would slow down in that process but really it's it's just about all the
170other groups being able to do what they need to do yeah and I guess to that end my last question um with regard to like the permitting and and all of that um specifically in terms of the village I know sometimes it can happen that it you know an ordinance is framed in a certain way such that an action that we might take in the course of construction is not um in violation but it becomes problematic for a different reason are those types of things things that we're considering right like if if the parameters of our construction is sort of by the book but practically it becomes a problem say for the neighbors or for um you know even for the village for some reason you know um are those things that we're trying to
171troubleshoot or at least be aware of yeah I I would say we've already met with um The Village to try to be as proactive as possible we've also met with the fire department who gave us some some ideas already so that our Architects are building in ideas like having um you know a path that goes all the way around the building you need to have for fire trucks to be able to have that access so something like that's already in the in the uh process but then we'll go through review Cycles where they'll be able to give us back feedback and then there's always changes that will need to be made but we're trying our hardest to to be as proactive as possible with that that's why we've we've met with them multiple times just
172to say what do you you know what do you need from us what do we need to make sure that this has and then we're keep you know like I said we're trying to work closely with the neighbors it's going to be different it's you know there's no question as we're building and it has to next to a building that's existing that we only have certain space we can put it so we that's why we want to work closely with the neighbors and make sure that we all understand what that process looks like and where it's going to be okay sounds good were there any other questions Chris apologies I did have one more question um I know we don't even have a design yet um but one concern I have you know obviously we
173it's important that we stay on budget here have we looked at or have you and Nicholas or Str had any discussions about possible tariff exposure for materials we've had um some initial questions I was talking to the architect even today about about that it's hard to anticipate um I think you know from from his standpoint he was talking about the labor cost hopefully won't have that type of impact whereas steel and and something like that might um so it really just depends on kind of where that falls within our budget what we do hope for is to get some more to to soon have that footprint done that site plan done and then we can get some better estimates um from Nicholas but it's something that we're thinking about and trying to make sure that
174we're anticipating as best as possible so this is a a crazy idea probably but I mean we know we're going to need steel right we don't know exactly what it's going to look like but we're going to need it um have you and Nicholas had discussions about that I mean do we I'm not sure where Nicholas sources their materials from I mean is it is it even conceivable to to try to you know buy Stu or have them Buy stuff now in in advance of us needing it you know I I don't know I'm just who knows where that's going to go but we know what's likely to what's already happened and what could happen in the future and so you know yeah we haven't had that conversation yet most likely because we we haven't
175determined exactly what the building will be made of yet but um but I know there will be some steel but they they've talked about steel no but they've talked about prefab and like different options I'm learning a lot is I'm not the construction person um but I it's that absolutely a conversation we've pre- purchased before things um and so it's not something that hasn't been done before but I think you want to make sure it's something you're obviously going to use and and part of the bid process is there's alternative sometimes so you want to make sure that it's part of that base bid is what what you're looking at but I can have that conversation with them for sure great I think otherwise that best parking that best playground ever might end up made
176of steel right if we have too much extra we got to used it we spent the money already okay sturdiest the sturdiest playground yeah sturdiest playground best and sturdiest did anybody else have anything to add okay um that brings us to our foyer report okay um in your board packet you received a foyer report we had I believe two um foyers that we responded to and I'm sorry four two okay I'm sorry no I'm looking at the wrong thing oh four two two so more information can be found in the board packet and that is all I have for that okay thank you that brings us to our consent agenda I understand kinu review reviewed the bills this month I think was great wonderful um in that case I will now entertain a motion to
177approve the consent agenda so move second member Chong yes member choke yes member qualek yes member Leto yes member Nelson yes vice president Bennett hill yes president Fay yes that brings us to unfinished business beginning with our press plus policies which for some reason today is extra hard to say um we reviewed the updates to the policy uh manual last month I think we mentioned there weren't any substantive changes updates to citations etc etc nothing to Earth shattering um so if there are no questions or concerns I will entertain a motion to approve the Press plus policies issue 117 so moved second member choke yes member qualek yes member Leto yes member Nelson yes vice president Bennett hill yes member Chong yes president Fay yes um and then we have Vision 2030 resolution this is
178a resolution put together by the Illinois Association of school boards um we reviewed this at our meeting last month and now it's our opportunity to approve it or not did anybody have anything they wanted to share about it I know we talked about it last month okay in that case I'll entertain a motion to approve Vision 2030 resolution so moved second member qual yes member Leto no member Nelson yes vice president Bennett hill yes member Chong yes member choke yes president Fay no okay and that takes us to Jess Kula terman strategic Communications contract again this is something we talked about um at our last meeting were there any other questions or comments about that iene did you have a question you're just waiting to vote okay okay um in that case I will entertain
179a motion to approve this contract makes motion second okay you can take it second member Leto yes member Nelson yes vice president Bennett hill yes member Chong yes member choke yes member qual yes member or president Fay yes we have another opportunity for Community comments which it appears no one is interested Ed in so we'll move on quickly um Heather would you like to say no she's good um okay we are now at new business reviewing the board meeting dates for the 2025 26 school year um so you have the proposed calendar for our board meetings in front of you this is just a first read um we will take action on it next month but if you notice any glaring conflicts or concerns about the dates of our meetings please feel free to address
180those with Roberta we'll put that on you any comments or questions about that at this time okay then we have a resolution regarding the um Cook County paid leave ordinance so some of you might remember this was something we discussed or sort of have been talking about for several months um Mary did you maybe want to give an update about that sure um this is as um James petaro refers to as our Belton suspenders approach um which is just taking formal action as a school board to formally um articulate that although we are um presumably covered by The Village's ordinance exempting employers within the Village School Districts included um from this applicable counting ordinance which we are in favor of and benefit from as well as um we do not see any negative impact for
181our staff um given the that that we have effective um contractual bargaining agreements and ample um vacation time built into our school year calendar um all that to say this this um resolution really just provides the school district with a formal um statement of authority and accepting and agreeing with um the position that for all of the reasons described benefits the district and and we don't believe harms anyone are there any questions about that okay uh in that case I will entertain a motion to approve the resolution second member Nelson yes vice president Bennett hill yes member CH yes member choke yes member qual yes member letto yes president Fay yes okay that brings us to our Communications starting with our nsso report yes quick one uh so we met on Wednesday February 12th uh
182it was supposed to be the 5th but we moved the meeting due to the sort of inclement weather on the 5th that turned out not to be that but um couple of things uh so extended school year uh typically nsseo has a much longer extended school year than than most districts uh they have very high participation in esy much higher than we do I think they're about 90 95% so most of their kids you know Avail themselves of this uh they typically do 90 hours of instruction uh but due to the Kirk HVAC project that you all have heard about and approved thank you for that uh that construction needs to happen uh pretty early on in the summer for it to be available for the kids to come back in August and so the
183proposal has been to reduce esy this year to 60 hours uh and the board approved that at the meeting uh one of the benefits that we think might come of this is I know that there's been issues over the last few years with teachers and staff not wanting to teach esy uh just because of you know they're already burned out from a long year and then 90 hours a lot and so the hope is that we might actually get more teachers and staff participating this year so it'll be an interesting kind of trial balloon and then you know seeing how student outcomes are affected next school year will be interesting data uh we also formally approve the pillars of the Strategic plan which I mentioned to all of you last month and again thank you
184for allowing me to vote in the affirmative on this and just to remind you all those pillars are curriculum and instruction fin and Facilities governance and highly qualified staff so now the work will begin on the specific goals and metrics and targets around all those uh and our next meeting is Wednesday March 5th weather permitting of [Music] course Ed Foundation uh we had a meeting on January 28th uh the big things that came out of that is a big thank you to those who donated through the NFC AFC squares and then the Dave Busters fundraiser um the gala is April 5th which I've mentioned before at older Church Country Club from 6:00 to 11: the theme is vintage Vegas and tickets are now on sale if you have not seen them yet um and our
185next meeting is Tuesday February 25th at 6:30 at Westburg wonderful um PTO reports let's start with Westbrook uh Westbrook was on uh February 11th and the biggest takeoff that that I wanted to share was that uh principal Marty spoke about uh sweet celebrations and the change from doing Special launches to Sweet celebrations um Marty shared the reasons why the change was made and it was just so heartful and and good um special lunches were not for everyone not everyone could uh participate afford them uh maybe for other reasons too and so the little ones who didn't get special launches felt really ostracized and really sad the sweet celebrations is something that everyone can participate in parent approval um no one feels left out no one feels that they're alone and it's also been enlarged to
186include movies and activities and um principal Marty shared that he dressed up as Olaf in one of why do we have pictures I I know I know I think there was a picture but of course you wouldn't recognize him because he was fully dressed yes um and he talked about how important it is to include everybody especially when they're young and they don't have the ability to um to not feel badly about it my thought was that even when they're in Lions or Fair viiew they still would feel sad about not getting special lunches I know that that was something that um we talked about last year in the PTO and I know that Laura degr was very adamant about making a positive change so that teachers didn't have to console sad children uh Marty
187touched on quite a lot of the ramifications of a student seeing other people getting special lunches and they did not have it and so it was just like oh my gosh if I won the lottery I would just make a contribution and everybody could have it so um so that that was the big takeoff and they're planning there they were talking about Valentine's Day and you know what they would do then and um and the rest of the year the programming and stuff for the rest of the year so that was nice sounds good thank you um Lions Park the last PTO meetings for liance Park was Monday March 3rd nope the last is in the future February 3rd sorry what day is it the same I know there we go um the vast majority
188of the conversation was um talking about the upcoming pauloa which is the big um variety variety show that it comes every year and that'll be in uh the beginning of March and then they have a family trivia night coming up on the 28th which is a Friday which is our second year doing that that's pretty fun um and the next the next board meeting will be Monday March 3rd at 7:00 p.m. in the Lions Park um Staff office wonderful Fair viiew hey there all right we had our last meeting on Monday February 10th um we the science fair was yesterday they have uh Fairview cares they did the Valentine's cards and they sent them to lures it was like over 100 I believe it's like 177 cards that they sent out next thing that they're
189looking at is Earth Day and whether or not they're going to plant something or clean something up they had their fundraiser and they made over $20,000 they uh kind of ended the week with a volleyball game between the staff so they said it was a lot of fun the kids really enjoyed watching it and then on February 27th we have our Fairview folies and our next meeting is Monday March 10th 6:00 fear viiew [Laughter] lrc wonderful well I had the privilege of attending the Lincoln PTO meeting in vickye I know you were deeply missed they were like why are you here and where is Vicky because we like her better no that's okay um but I will say you know there was a lot of sort of end of the year planning going on which
190you would think at that point we were in January right but we're already thinking ahead to some of the big events and especially with eighth graders in mind all of the um all of the celebrations and the different sort of treats and things the eighth grade picnic the eighth grade party not a dance a party um but one of the big takeaways from that meeting um you know when I was there I took the opportunity to say look this is a a venue our board meetings are a venue for you to get your word out to people um so what is it that you feel is most important for me to share and the biggest thing was um sort of drumming up interest just for the executive board roles you know um the parents that
191lead the Lincoln PTO currently have been leaders of pto's for liines and Fairview and Westbrook all the way down um a lot of dedicated service put in um but no doubt a little bit of burnout and you know maybe some idea of fatigue so it would be really great to have some new interests some new excit um in terms of that leadership and so I was asked to put that out to everyone to please consider volunteering for a leadership role on certainly not just the Lincoln PTO although that's who I was I'm speaking for but for all of our PTO um okay and with that we arrive at our board president report um speaking of important dates March 6th you all will not have to be here we will be canceling our tentative meeting that
192was scheduled for that day um but please add to your calendar a meeting on March 13th at 6m hopefully everyone can be available that's when we will be doing our superintendent evaluation um so and I'll reach out to you all prior to that about um submitting feedback that but the 13th will be the um the meeting that we'll have where we will compile the individual data and finalize the evaluation um and then May 1st will be our board reorganization meeting so we as many of you know there's an election April 1st again those stes aligned to um where we expect to be swearing in board members um well we we expect that another round of board members will be elected in the April election right so May 1st will be the day when um those
193people who are elected will be seated so please keep that in mind I think that's going to a special meeting that's a little bit off the cycle that we typically have are there any questions about that March 13th is at 6 that's not a typo not 7 okay sorry just want to make sure that was right M just to give us enough time to process and certainly if we get done at 7 then great you then you can go home um okay and we do not have anything currently scheduled for board discussion I regret to inform you all that we will have need for a closed session um oh thank you I was just about to look for that um and so we will have need for Clos session regarding the appointment employment compensation discipline
194performance or dismissal of specific employees specific individuals who serve as independent contractors in in a park recreational or educational setting or specific volunteers of the public body I'm not sure I actually have to read this whole thing but I will just the beginning okay great for employment disciplinary staff purposes so at this time I will entertain a motion to enter no we have to adjourn the Open Session enter close session motion to enter close session so moved second vice president Bennett hill yes member Chong yes member choke yes member qual yes member Leto yes member Nelson yes president Fay yes yes