001Yes, traffic is horrendous right now. 159th is a mess. Everything is >> Cicero coming south. >> We already went. Yeah, we went early. We got in on Wednesday morning earlier. I was like, "Oh, no line. Let's go try it." Yeah, that makes sense. No, they're they're they're lined up in the parking lot. For real? Probably line in the parking lot. >> Oh, good day. What in the Are they giving something away? >> So, yeah, for the first weekend >> Oh, is that what it is? I was there I was there dumping at the coffee place out in front of Hobby Lobby. >> Today, May 27th, 7:03. Can everyone please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic
002for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> I say what's up? >> [laughter] >> A chameleon or a frog? >> It's up here on the light. >> It falls on me. >> No, it's real. It's like a plastic paper or something. >> Oh, it just looked at me like it's so funny. >> I am so out. I will be out. >> No. >> Is it real? >> It's not real. It's like a plastic paper or something. Yeah, it's like [laughter] a a toy frog. >> It's fake. I'm fine. >> That's fake. It's falling. >> If that fell on you If that jumps on you and that's live-streamed, that is so funny. >> the record I chased a bat away. Okay, fine. >> Videos or something. >> This
003is not a Pascal. >> That's what it looked like. It looked like >> It looks like Pascal, Rapunzel's. You know what that is, right? Did you put that up there? >> I think it's a piece of paper, like a green paper. >> Oh, somebody should have picked it >> Oh, it's a small piece. >> I threw it and it just landed. >> It's like that one. I don't know what that is. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I threw that one up. >> All right. >> Okay, I'm going to roll call, please. >> Ms. Bender? Here. Notified. >> Here. Here. >> Here. Do we have any public comments? >> No. >> Okay, great. Okay, next on the agenda is our auditor. You. >> Uh good evening. Thanks for having me. My name is I. >> No. >>
004Okay. All right, thanks for having me. My name is Scott Denzler and I'm a principal at uh Klein Fleek. Uh Jennifer Decker was the manager on site who feels she couldn't make it today. Uh so, I'm filling for her to go over some highlights. Uh if you have any questions, I believe you got the report to you last month sometime. So, uh hopefully you had a little peek. Uh but, I'm just going to hit some highlights uh and then go over it go over some some financial information. District as in the past prepares financial statements on a regulatory basis prescribed by Illinois State Board of Education all of also on the modified cash basis of accounting. So, revenues and payables aren't included in these statements. Uh this is an obviously acceptable form uh to uh
005report allowable uh by ISBE, but it's they're not GAAP or generally accepted accounting principles and financial statements. Um but like I said, they are um they are allowable by GASB. Uh we did issue an opinion. It has the modification that these aren't GAAP financial statements, but we believe these financial statements are fairly stated in all material respects on the basis I just talked about the modified cash basis of accounting. Um just want to go over some financial, you know, basically I you know, I like to I like to focus a little bit on the income statement, revenues and expenditures um of of the of the district. Um and I'm going to talk about some numbers and I'm going to leave out the like the capital projects fund. I'm going to focus a little bit more
006on the you know, the operating fund because that's a separate little bit separate weak animal there. So, for the you know, the year ended June 30th, 2025, um district had a little bit of a net loss of 300 $300,000 net loss, which is not very so that's about 30 almost 30 million dollars of expenditures. So, that's not that big of a deal I don't think. It ended the year with about 16.8 million dollars of fund balances excluding the capital projects fund. So, you have a fund balance to expenditure ratio of about 60%. So, that's in pretty good shape. I just like to warn people though that June is usually a very flush month uh for our district. Uh you get the yearly taxes in and you know, March, April, May, and June property taxes in.
007So, uh and then when we start the new year in in the fall, you know, you know, your spending balances down and this is good accounting so I'm not exactly sure when that you know, when that second installment is going to come in. Uh it could be October, could be December. Uh so, um you know, as I like to say that you know, you have good fund balance expenditures that June I think that's appropriate very well very well made. Um the district did in 2025 have several issues as you know, this is some of the most complex issues I've ever seen and I they get in any important issues hit five different four three different funds refundings in there but they're properly recorded in in the financial statement so uh it added uh I don't
008know 22 net almost about 22 million dollars of fund balance so for finance and capital capital projects so that also took the debt schedule out to 2051 and then because there was so much debt it lowered your financial profile for the district one I want to do the the factor so the district's actually new for ISBE financial profile score but I think that's an estimate that passed I think you're pretty you're pretty healthy too moving forward. Um that being said I just want to talk a little bit about you know, the history and the you know, what I see coming and I feel it's something that my district does I think we're coming off you know, it's been five years since really the COVID hit and I think it was past five years it's been
009pretty like for school district finances it's been pretty good revenues went up and you know, right when COVID hit the financial expenditures actually went down. I do not see that I see the next five years of being a little bit more of a struggle uh that federal ESSER funding is all spent through so I see you know, federal money's running flat but actually down you know, depending on how the administration would do. CPI is down, that will limit the amount of property taxes that you can get. You know, when inflation was up, you were getting the max property tax, you know, you could get you know, the maximum amount of property taxes. And but now the CPI is down, that will limit the amount of growth or revenue coming in. The state of Illinois is
010not really in a fiscal good not in a position to a lot of discretionary funds. Uh you know, and that's not even talking about uh you know, the pension funds that they're going to So, I see the next you know, 5 years will be a little bit more of a a tightening. I don't see the revenue I don't think the revenue is going to grow as fast as it did in previous years. So, you know, something to take into account. But like I said, you're in a fairly you know, pretty good financial position at the beginning of 2020. for you. I just want to point out to uh we this is not required, but we do in the in the financial statements put in starting on page 52, we have 10-year trend information related to
011the pension funds. Um this is supplemental lucky information we provide. It's put together by actuaries put this information together. It was reported in generally accepted accounting principles. This some of these numbers will be in included or incorporated in the financial statements. Uh but they're not in years, but we still think it's valuable uh information to see the trend on the what the pension funds are doing. IMRF IMRF is in great shape. It's funded almost 95%. Um last year, TRS is a little bit of a different animal. Like they've funded for the past 10 years between 45 and 39%. liability. Um not necessarily not the district part but the state's portion for the for the slide though. So, I just wanted you know highlight that information and that's you know that's in there for just information
012purposes so I just want to thank you know the districts we didn't have any findings to report in control. I do think the side and scope of the operation is probably working efficiently and properly so there was no findings to report. So, we had submitted the regulatory report with the ISBE so that fills the regulatory filing for those of financial statements. We are pretty much exactly what it is in the common audit our report so if you have any questions we plan to answer them now or it always be forwarded to me at a later date. >> [laughter] >> Is there any complication with the tax bills going out so late as far as us being audited at that time if we're not getting our revenues at certain times where we're expecting them? >> The
013good thing you know your your revenue is June so if if uh and the levy is set but you know in December or January first it catches up they come out with what we don't know is why it takes so long is they don't finalize the rates and extensions. So, we you know until those come out we don't know exactly how to allocate the property taxes so you know the local county so that's somewhat of a you know it can be somewhat of a mess to deal with because they don't they don't in the county they don't when you get property taxes then they don't tell you what property they don't give you You have to figure it out yourself. And that's based on the final extensions when it's done. But those aren't done until,
014you know, those have to be done before the final payments and the final bills are sent. So, you know, that's something that you guys you know the past couple years it's been extremely So, that does put a little bit you know, the struggle a little bit in my mind. But as you know, hopefully it's getting better. I talked to some districts that say I don't know. Let's say that the money's money's coming The money's coming in on the revenue, but who knows when they'll finish up the 20,000 >> So, do you also do auditing in like DuPage and Will? >> Yeah. >> And they don't have those issues? >> Yeah, they have a little bit Every Every county does it a little bit differently. Every single other county does it differently. Every county does it
015a little bit different how how you that Cook County is by far and away the most parcels right now. There's many in DuPage and Will. I don't know exactly the amount, but you know, it is a lot more just because of the size and scope of the Yeah, they actually do it and all the other counties they they calculate the rates and extensions by the time the first bill is out. So, it's not you know what it is. In Cook County it's 55% of the last year's bills it's the first bill. And then they have the final bill that goes But all the other counties have the first. So, they have a system. a system. You know, that works and I don't know what Like I said, Cook County [clears throat] the number of parcels
016is three and a half compared to the other counties and what parcels Yeah, I would assume both. A lot of the other counties also tell you that like DuPage taxes when they were you know, received so we don't have to cut through it. and all that. >> Thank you. >> So, I'm going to be able to We got the counties over because the final bills come out on the first installment. So, a lot of people just could pay like the whole thing in the town. >> Right. >> Can't do anything like that because we don't know. >> Right. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you for having me. Have a great rest of your meeting. >> Thank you very much. >> Thanks. >> Um next on the agenda agenda, the administrator report, Mr. Evans.
017>> Mr. Sheriff tonight. Um First before I begin, I have a couple of old things on your books keeping today. So, those are there. There. There was a little bit of an issue with a couple pictures um missing, but that is the remedy by the company and the owner came personally and dropped off the whole building and the yearbooks. So, that's That's awesome. So, uh it was up today. So, it's good. The order company committed to do that. So, that's something that's So, there's a good All right. So, a couple quick shares as we go. Last time I Since the last time I was here, uh we had kids go to DC. Wonderful trip. Kids had a great time. Returned safely. So, just want connect with the kids here. Uh the next thing is is
018that we finished our Pam Am Cup. Purple team won. So, that is something uh that worked out really well this year. Second year going through a lot of improvements that were made. So, kids had a great time. We ended up giving kids shirts that were winners and gift cards. So, it was a good thing and then finished up with PBS raffles. You know, they give kids a little bit of ice cream or gift cards as well. So, something good came out of this year. So, that was something that turned out really great recently. Graduation. Thank you for coming. So, graduation All right. So, tonight we're sharing some SIT team information, school improvement team. We have a group of teachers that make up the team, which is Nicole Harper, Diane Kelly, Carlos, Kristen Ward, Rosie Hocking,
019and John Hilton. Um and then along with them and myself, we go together with the team. As you can see, this school improvement team is made up of uh people from different grade levels, different uh areas within the building. And uh this team has done a great job of representing the district and as far as truly learning. Whenever we go into South Cook, which is our partner to help us uh with this process, we are the stand out. I say that proudly. Um we are ahead of everyone. We are the ones asking questions, you know, five steps ahead. So, that's something where and and this is the this is teacher driven. So, which is which is great. Because it's something where we want the teachers to be in ownership of this and really be leading
020the change. Everyone's that are in the trenches, they're the ones that are in the classrooms with the kids. So, a quick overview. We are in a uh this is this was year one of a five-year uh process for school improvement. Uh the data that we're going to be talking about um in this uh presentation, you're going to hear the team's voices cuz they want to make sure that they're heard and they know as far as the presentation consistency. Um but it is from the '24-'25 school year. And we are designated targeted to support students with disabilities. This also includes students that have five or four plans as well. Uh there was grant money that was given to our program at least along with Sorry, it's associated with SIP. And this is part of curriculum improvement,
021instruction improvement, uh SIP team support, professional development. And this is in partnership with the uh regional office of education and natural heights. Uh and also we have uh this Marie Cruz leaders. She's our school improvement special She's the person that we work with at South Grove. She's been working with She's been great. And uh we really think this is going to be something that's really going to improve our building and help the students that are in the categories that we we help. So, uh we're going to go over everything that's going to be There's going to be an audio from the teachers themselves talking about the utility parts of what they wanted to present. >> We wanted to begin today by explaining how our school received a targeted designation and what that designation means. The
022state of Illinois uses several factors to determine a school's overall designation score. The ELA and math growth from the IAR, then ELA and math proficiency on the IAR. In our case, fifth and eighth grade science proficiency scores on the IAR, English learner progress to proficiency as measured by ACCESS testing, chronic absenteeism, and the five essentials climate survey. As you can see, the three largest components of our score are ELA growth, math growth, and chronic absenteeism. Using that framework, we can now look at the scores we received from the state for the 2024-2025 school year. We earned the maximum 7.5% in ELA proficiency and a 14.16% out of a possible 25% in ELA growth. In math, we earned a 5.69% out of 7.5% in proficiency and a 10.86% out of 25% in growth. We received 3.65%
023out of 5% in science proficiency, 3% out of 5% in English learner progress to proficiency, and an 11.3% out of 20% in chronic absenteeism. We also earned the maximum 5% on the five essentials climate survey. When all these components are combined, our overall score was a 61.7%. To better understand what that score means, it's important to review how Illinois classifies schools. A school is considered exemplary if it performs in the top 10% of schools statewide. A school is considered commendable if it is outside the top 10%, but none of its student groups perform at or below the all students group of the lowest performing 5% of schools in the state. A school is considered targeted if one or more student groups perform at or below the all students group of the lowest performing 5% of
024schools in the state. And a school is considered comprehensive if its overall school performance falls within the bottom 5% statewide. If we look at the official 2025 summative designation cut scores for elementary schools, a school needed to score above 81.99% to be considered exemplary. Schools with scores below 81.99% could still be considered commendable as long as none of their student groups scored below 38.71%. A school would receive a targeted designation if any student group scored below 38.71%. When we look at our score breakdown, our overall all students score was a 61.7%, which would place us in the commendable category. However, when we examine our student group data more closely, we see that our children with disabilities group, which includes students with IEPs and 504 plans, earned a score of 36.34%. Because that score falls below
025the state threshold of 38.71%, our school received a targeted designation for the children with disabilities group. We included this slide so all of the data for our various student groups would be available via this presentation. >> On this slide, we are looking at our current designation. This designation reflects how our students with disabilities are performing based on state accountability measures. It is determined using both growth and proficiency data in ELA and math. While the visual highlights where we currently stand, it's important to understand that this designation is not just a label. It helps guide our next steps. It shows us where we need to focus our instruction, interventions, and supports to improve outcomes for our students. This is really our starting point for identifying areas of need and aligning our goals moving forward. Here are
026some important facts to better understand how this designation is calculated. First, this group includes students with IEPs, 504 plans, and even out-placed students. Currently, we have 67 students in this category. To receive a designation, we must have at least 20 students in the group, which we exceed. This designation is based on both growth and proficiency in ELA and math. Looking at our data, in ELA, we have three out of eight in proficiency and 12 out of 26 in growth. In math, we have two out of eight in proficiency and nine out of 26 in growth. What this tells us is that our students are showing some growth, but we still have significant work to do, especially in proficiency. This data helps us pinpoint where instruction needs to be strengthened so we can better support our
027students. This brings us to our approach moving forward. It is important to recognize that students with disabilities are not the responsibility of just one teacher or department. They are all of our students. Their success depends on a shared commitment across general education, special education, and support staff. That means collaborating consistently, using data to drive instruction, providing targeted support within tier one instruction, and ensuring all students have access to high-quality learning opportunities. If we work together as a team, we can create stronger outcomes and help every student reach their full potential. >> As Dave explained earlier, the purpose of creating the SIP team was to closely examine our data and determine our greatest areas of need. From there, the next step was turning that information into meaningful action. Uh we use SMART goals as a framework
028to make sure that our goals were clear, measurable, and supported by a concrete plan, um allowing us to move from data analysis to actual improvement. Um they're also a requirement from the state. So, the SIP team came together, and with the guidance of ISC4, we reviewed and evaluated the data available to us. Based on these intense evaluation of that data, three SMART goals were created, one for ELA, one for math, and one for attendance. We used the SMART goal framework to make sure our goals were clear and organized. Instead of keeping things broad or vague, it helped us to break down each goal into specific manageable steps. This way, we can easily track our progress, stay focused, and see whether we are making improvements over time. For our math SMART goal, the team decided that
029by June 2027, Tier 1 math instruction will be strengthened to better meet the needs of all learners, especially students with disabilities. We want to increase the number of students showing typical or above typical growth on STAR math from 10% to at least 18%. We are also working to improve IAR math growth from 33% to at least 36%. This will require consistent high-quality core instruction across classrooms. We will monitor our progress using STAR math benchmark data, ongoing progress monitoring, and IAR results. The same format was followed for the SMART goal for ELA, that by June of 2027, Tier 1 instruction will be strengthened so it better supports all learners, especially students with disabilities. We want to see more of our students showing typical or above typical growth on STAR reading, increasing from 15% to at least
03020%. We are also working to improve overall IAR ELA growth from 43% to at least 46%. This means focusing on strong, consistent core instruction in every classroom. Again, all data and progress will be tracked using STAR reading data and IAR results to make sure our efforts are making a difference. >> Absenteeism is a crucial part of our plan. Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of school days in an academic year, including excused, unexcused absences, and suspensions. Chronic absenteeism is a significant concern because missing school consistently can negatively impact academic achievement, social development, and long-term educational outcomes. Research shows that students who are chronically absent in early grades are less likely to read at grade level by third grade and are four times more likely to not graduate from high school. It also
031affects student engagement, peer relationships, and connections with caring adults in the school environment. As a school, we are going to expand our attendance team to include our teachers so that we can implement tier one, two, and three attendance interventions just like we do for academics. >> MTSS or flex grouping RTI has an effect size of 1.29, which is an extremely large, well above the 0.4 hinge point. It's considered to be one of the most powerful school-wide approaches to accelerate learning. As part of our four-year development of a comprehensive multi-tiered system of support, our MTSS framework, year one will focus on building a strong foundation for responsive, data-driven instruction in ELA and mathematics. Through flexible grouping, teachers will use universal screening and ongoing formative assessment data to identify student needs and strategically group students for targeted
032instruction within tier one and tier two settings. Flexible grouping will be implemented during designated tier instruction blocks to ensure all students receive differentiated support aligned to grade level standards. Groups will remain fluid and responsive, allowing students to move based on progress monitoring data and demonstrated skill mastery. Instruction will include targeted interventions, skill skill-specific reteaching, and enrichment opportunities to support both acceleration and remediation. The initial phase emphasizes building staff capacity and data analysis, intentional grouping practices, and differentiated instruction. By establishing consistent systems and routines for flexible grouping, we aim to improve instructional responsiveness, increase student engagement, and lay the groundwork for a fully developed MTSS framework in the coming years. >> PLCs is another way that we will try to increase student scores. John Hattie's research shows that collective teacher efficacy efficacy and collaboration practices, like
033strong PLCs, have some of the highest impacts on student achievement, significantly improving outcomes for all learners, especially our students with disabilities. To make this meaningful, we need to ensure our PLC time is intentional and protected, and that includes collaboration with our specialists, such as EL and special education teachers. Their expertise is essential in helping us analyze data, plan targeted supports, and ensure instruction meets the needs of all students. Our goal is to build shared ownership of student success using PLCs to problem-solve, align strategies, and monitor progress monitor constantly. When we leverage everyone's expertise and work together in a focused way, we create a stronger system of support and also put ultimately drive student growth. >> We also wanted to focus on accountable talk because based on John Hattie's research strategies that promote student discourse and
034verbalizing thinking, like accountable talk, have a very strong positive effect on student achievement, helping move in learning forward in measurable ways. As a result, we're focusing on accountable talk or discussion as a school-wide practice. This means intentionally creating opportunities for students to explain their thinking, respond to peers, and justify their answers across all content areas and settings, not just in one classroom. Our team is working to develop and use of consistent school-wide language so students hear and practice the same expectations everywhere. This consistency will help build confidence, strengthen communication skills, and deepen understanding, especially for our students who need additional support. By embedding accountable talk into daily instruction, we are not only supporting engagement, but also directly impacting achievement and growth. Our SIP team is strengthening our attendance practices by creating tier one, two, and
035three supports to ensure every student is present, engaged, and ready to learn. The plan includes weekly monitoring, positive incentives, family communication, and celebrations for strong attendance. Teachers, the attendance team, administration, and the parent liaisons each play a role in tracking attendance, recognizing students, and partner partnering with families when concerns arise. The system uses con- consistent incentives, regular data checks, success plans, timely outreach, and work with parent liaisons to support families to build strong habits and keep students connected to the school. >> So, thank you for coming to the team itself. Um something that I did want to also mention is the attendance piece along with that kind of attendance. We have an issue with kids simply showing up. We can't do our awesome stuff that we do here at the school if they're not present.
036That is that is key. So, that's why the attendance piece is so large. That's something that surely we'll learn about and I'm sure we can it. So, that is a So, uh but yeah, South Colonie has done a great job being a partner and I think we'll continue to do here. And uh we'll see a great team come together and and work and build it to address all students. And then it just keeps with uh with certain things. And then you Okay. >> Uh next on the agenda, um Mr. Tremendi, his presentation. >> It says Amp and a team. Are you sure? >> They're just Are they just going to hide back there? >> [laughter] [clears throat] >> And supervisors. I'll say that one. Sure I'm in charge. So, I didn't come to school charged.
037>> charge with my device. So, I'm going to say good morning and good evening. I'm here to let you know that I'm chief technology officer here at Arbor Park and this is our yearly Panda presentation for So, I brought along all the pandas. We have Panda Joe, and Tyler, and Trista, and and Jasper with us today. And normally, like I can pull ticket reports, phone call reports, and kind of show our day-to-day. And that can be kind of boring to look at how many tickets we do and how many times we get stopped in the hallway. But, we try to focus on like what makes Panda Tech different here at Arbor Park because, you know, 8 years ago, Dr. Sally had a vision and said, "Make technology different. Make our department live and breathe differently."
038So, in the last 8 years, I not walk into a store and not stop a stuffed panda a mile away or a panda puzzle or a panda name. I've seen everything panda. That's why I have to stay out of Five Below and stores because I end up with bags of stuff. Just discovered Burlington. So, leaving with pandas today. So, it has become ingrained in like who we are as tech as Arbor Park. I know students graduate here in 8th grade, go to District 228, and we had to explain years ago what a panda is to them because the kids would ask for help from a panda and they didn't know what a panda was. So, we'll kick it off with We got a couple things to go over. So, there's our introductions and I'll let
039Tyler kick off his slides. >> Yeah. So, kind of just building on what kind of makes Arbor different is I think that our relation with the students as the tech department. So, I have friends of mine that are at teachers at other districts and my buddy doesn't really involved with the students. Um I do that do a lot more than our tech does and I think that that's super cool. Um so we just get really involved with the students and we do that in a variety of ways. That could be the kind of like summer camps. We did after school clubs this year and last year. Um we have lunches with the pandas where they can work lunch with us and sit with us and just kind of hang out, ask us questions. Um so
040we just do that in a variety of different ways. >> [music] >> Gabe and I were supporting the Scarlet Oak seniors at the Wolf Games. So that's the type of picture we have down there, too. So we're kind of just building those relationships with students that I think is is is super cool. And then more on the technical side of things. So we are really just doing a lot of a lot of things to try to get in front of students as much as possible and then kind of bring our tech nerdiness in in uh to them. And so we have uh the benefit of the Nexus space, um the computer lab, and all of like the tools to kind of facilitate that. So uh we have 3D printing that Panda Tasker has um really
041headed up and been able to demonstrate to some kind of really high students um how prosthetics work and was able to print them actually a uh prosthetic hand. Uh microscope lesson with Panda Joe. Uh that was a Arbor Elementary class that came down. We've done the microscope lesson with um the after school clubs, uh the Panda summer camps. We've had Scarlet Oak students come uh get bused over and see the microscope as well. And then Minecraft Education, which we primarily um done with the middle school students and that I believe was a uh during a his studies lesson um that me and and then Michael were heading up and taking them through uh the Minecraft education lessons. So they can like build out different worlds, kind of learn about world history, stuff like that. So
042uh giving them just a lot of hands-on with all of these different tools that we have at our disposal and kind of uh get them to engage in in new and interesting ways with that hands-on. And a great example of that, um, is with Nathan Harris. So in the classroom, I have had the privilege of working with Nathan uh fairly closely throughout this past year um and last year. And this year it was really cool. So I kind of started out the year with Nathan kind of going over some coding stuff. He told me that he wanted to learn more about Lua coding. And, um, I was trying to find ways on how to kind of bring that to him and how to facilitate that. So, um, me and with public co-pilot AI uh were
043able to kind of build out some really cool lesson plans and try to um start with foundational topics so I can kind of see where he was at and kind of build up to um more challenging ones that that I had the answer key for and kind of like help him along through on along the way. So that was kind of how the start of the year rolled out. And then in the classroom, um, started getting into more 3D printing and then also some uh 3D modeling and game design, which the coding at the start of the year had helped that and kind of helped facilitate that side of things. So it's been uh just really great being able to connect with the students at at such a granular level and and kind of see
044their growth along the way, which is with all the tech integration. So then, uh on our side of the house, um, Dave and I and all of us kind of go to a lot of different conferences um throughout the year. And the conferences are really um kind of twofold. So obviously we go to learn stuff to try to learn to bring stuff back to the district. Um, great ideas that others have, uh, maybe find a new piece of tech we're looking for or something that we can integrate to kind of level up our game here, but it's also to share a lot of the stuff that we do here, um, that are just have put us on the map and we have schools that have recognized us nationally, schools from California, Florida that reach out
045to us asking us, you know, how to brand a tech department, um, with the whole panda theme, I think is awesome. So, um, the conference has really helped us kind of, um, you know, gain that knowledge and then also, um, give back to other schools and kind of show how we got to where we are, um, because they they love it. >> And, um, the FETC conference is, uh, large conference that educators come from all over, everyone from administrators to teachers, and we submitted five or six call for proposals hoping they're going to pick one or two, and this past year they picked all of ours, which was great, but then we had to prep for five sessions, um, and then have to go to sessions between presenting. So, it was kind of funny that
046usually we hoped to get one or two or three, and then they wanted all five because they wanted us to present. So, it was like, um, and it's always a different audience. >> [clears throat] >> So, we try to change it up, and the number one question I get is like, "Where do you find the name of this stuff?" So, you know, that's kind of part of the team, so. >> Yeah, very cool. >> And then, from those conferences we kind of learned, um, about some software and some other use cases that schools have been using. The first one that we, uh, rolled out and we're advocating for teachers to use was Microsoft Co-pilot. So, being a Microsoft district it was really easy for us to, um, essentially license it and then also, uh, kind
047of advocate for it. It's really just a tool that we had to just turn on if we wanted to use. Um, really cool feature within within Copilot um, security feature is that once they're logged in everything within Copilot stays within the urban tenant. So, anything that they put into it or are trying to prompt out of it isn't going to be used the large language model of that AI uses, you know, out in the world. There's been use cases of security issues that corporations have put things into AI models and then people being able to source that information back out. And this is not the case for us cuz once they're signed in it stays within that urban tenant and everything within everything like that is is not being trained uh or Copilot is not
048being trained on that data so it can't be sourced back out. So, that's a really good uh cybersecurity feature that I like about about Copilot that um others don't seem to have. Um Canva is another good one that a lot of staff love. Um we have the poster printer which is really popular use case for it. So, they create graphics for their rooms and can print them out in huge posters for their rooms. They can uh make graphics in Canva, AI generated graphics, um for their you know, lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, you know, whatever they want to use it for in the classroom. Um and then Curipod is a software that you can prompt it and say I have a sixth grade, you know, science lesson, um you know, microscopes and I need, you know,
049a PowerPoint or a slideshow interactive game uh with the students and they will generate that for them. that they can use. So, Curipod is something that we actually demoed um and utilized with the students over the last kind of summer camp and they were drawing cybersecurity things like firewalls and and viruses and stuff. So, it was pretty cool to kind of see how AI is being integrated into um some software that that staff can use in a in a pretty uh cool and responsible way. Yeah. Um so, kind of as a side project, we spoke to other districts. We did a survey of all the tech directors in the Indian Illinois trying to determine like what are the needs for cybersecurity, how can we all work together because like Illinois has the LTC Learning Technology
050Center which brings a lot of us together. There's conferences in Springfield, stuff like that. But, cybersecurity is still one that is tough for a lot of districts because they can't have a full-time person or someone else is responsible for it. Even Mr. Ziggler knows like he's responsible for certain things with insurance. Like it is a very like well-balanced thing that everyone has to kind of do in every district. So, we came up with expandabilities where we It's cheesy cuz it's education, but we are expanding your ability in cybersecurity. So, we've actually been working with other districts to figure out how can we cut costs on our training, how can we work together, how can we get students exposed to cybersecurity and STEM careers early like by helping each other. So, actually another special ed co-op
051speed hiring us to do training for them throughout this past year. And actually last year, too. It was our second year with them. So, we were able to do training with them. So, our goal is to like start generating some revenue, but also help neighboring districts and even Prairie Valley's STEM Center. We worked with them. We brought our cyber escape to them. So, all of our neighboring junior highs were also there learning that, you know, Harbor has cool cyber escape rooms that you can check out. >> Yeah, and that was also back-to-back years as well. So, we were at the Prairie Valley STEM Expo last year um this year, and the session was a hit. So, we just decided to roll with it again. Um and the The loved it. So, it has been a
052really good success to see like the physical escape room of trying to bring trying to bring cyber security topics to middle school students is is a challenge, but the physical being able to get that hands-on and like >> There's no tech. >> Yeah, it's completely no screens or anything. >> So, it's all like hobby lobby boxes, and good locks that they have to key code and then they have to manually interact. So, that's what's kind of cool about this one. Um so, next, there's you know, we come from sometimes I have like a little bit of that like corporate perspective like what is the real world doing compared to is out there is something called monday.com, kind of a weird name uh for a business, but it is an application that pretty much is like
053project management. We were using Microsoft Planner, and this is something we rolled out in Panda and operations. And basically, it's just a massive to-do list, massive project outline where we can plan for summer, tasks are assigned, and in the last year, we've already been taking it to the next level. So, we're going to replace our ticket system that we just moved to a year ago because the teachers don't like it, we don't like it, so we heard their feedback, we're going to switch to this. So, we've actually built an easier-to-use ticket system and everybody within here with monday.com. There is some AI built into it as well, and it's called pipe coding. I'm not a big coder, but pipe coding has allowed us to actually come up with like maintenance plans. You can put what
054equipment we have, and it will automatically find the manuals for the equipment, how often things should be serviced, when you should be replacing this, and we we have some new maintenance staff, too, and it's really kind of gathering the data for us and kind of creating that template. So, there was a session I sat through with a how a saved, and I know I said I would write an article I could post online. Um, but it was a district that's planning to save $200,000 with bi-coding. So, you know, Andrew knows that, you know, we spend a good amount of money on software because that's where we are in 2026. It's software, it's licenses. And so, it's like if there's something we can home grow that we can kind of own or leverage, that's kind of
055what we're looking at. So, I've been using monday.com, they have an AI component and I put some dummy data in there like some sample data just to see like what it can do. And this was just some like, you know, fake IAR IAR scores and basically like, can you interpret the data for me? Because with every school district we have a lot of data and then everybody is looking at who's doing this, how can we improve this? And this kind of adds that layer of AI saying like, here's what you should use, here's the curriculum you have, but here's the component that's missing. So, I know a lot of the companies, like there's Edge Climber that we use, um, there's Intervention Compass, there's a lot of apps out there that are really trying to see
056what they can do, but I'm trying to look and see if this is something we can work on this year to kind of build our own so we can get the principals and the admin team and everybody like the data that they need right at their fingertips without having to try to dive in. And take over. And this is just some sample just kind of showing how it can just immediately interpret data within a minute or two. And then you can ask it questions and so, just kind of a way to kind of look ahead. So. Now I have to talk about one boring thing that I'm mandated to talk about once a year. I'll make it short. Um, it's required, federally required. E-rate funding, E-rate funding is the funding that we get for network
057communications within the buildings. This comes from the FCC. This is funded every 5 years. So, basically every single phone bill or AT&T Comcast bill that you pay, there's a small little fee on there that goes to a bucket with the FCC and then they divide it among schools based on how many students are in a free reduced program. So, last year we were at 80% discount. So, basically if we're buying something for $1,000, we're getting 80% off, which is amazing. And our numbers have changed, so we're back to 60% off. We're back to 60% off. Um, but over the years we've been able to, and this includes um some emergency funds that were from COVID that they put through E-Rate. But, in the last, I think this is 10 years, we've requested 1.9 million, we've
058committed 1.6, and we've received 1.5. Which is phenomenal. So, I would say there's a little bit left over. Every school district usually has some left over or they don't use E-Rate at all because the process is cumbersome, it's convoluted, it's complicated, and if they're listening, I'm fine with that. It can be so much more simplified, but sometimes by the time we get the equipment through this, the new equipment's already been released. Like the new versions and everything. So, it's like by the time we get it, it's Everyone knows I'm in a mood when it's E-Rate season. But, this just kind of shows, you know, how we try to really utilize everything we can with E-Rate because it keeps our infrastructure going. Cuz without E-Rate, it would be very hard to build up. And that denied
059is cuz I tried to, you know, sneak some stuff in there and see if they could buy it. You know, just kidding. But, it's very strict on what you can spend the money on. So, this is just kind of showing our network performance. So, over the last 8 years of Panda, we've rebuilt the entire infrastructure. We've recabled buildings, new network racks, new generators, new switches, new access points. And you know, with firmware updates, there's always going to be little bumps in the road. But, for the most part, this is from our network cloud. You know, we're at like a 98%. So, we know it's important for teachers to stay connected, students to stay connected. So, we've really kind of rebuilt that infrastructure. And without E-rate, we would not be able to do that. So. Okay,
060next I'll hand it to hand it to Joe, who will kind of go over what we're doing in Scarlet Oak. Thank you, Joe. >> Hi, so Joe Zsuzsky, assistant director of technology. I just wanted to talk briefly about the networking portion of the Scarlet Oak building project. Uh so, the existing wing of the building was built at a time where managing a highly scalable 21st century network wasn't at the top of mind. Uh so, for years we've sort of been battling the architecture up there uh to kind of get it to where it needs to be. Uh so, with the project, with the addition and the remodel, this is really a unique opportunity to basically rip and replace everything. Uh as they were saying about E-rate, um most of the hardware that we're using for
061this project was funded through E-rate. So, we basically works out to we paid about 40% of the actual sticker price for that equipment. Uh So, that includes the category 6A cable, the jack, the patch panels, the wall plates, the receptacles, server racks, switches, battery backups. Uh so, putting that through E-rate has been immensely helpful. Uh and we're at a part in the timeline now where I think within the next week or so, we're actually going to start pulling this cable and getting it installed. So, the actual cable installation will be handled through um third-party vendor, uh Seconds Matter. Uh we've worked closely with them in the past. We're happy with their work. Uh we communicate well together, and they are familiar with our standards. So, they will be pulling roughly 140,000 ft of category 6
062cable. Uh that works out to about uh approximately 600 network drops throughout the building, and 1,200 uh cable terminations at either end of that. Uh we'll be installing at the end 13 network switches, 31 interactive panels like the one here, 46 wireless access points, about 83 IP clocks and speakers, 55 void phones, uh a new PA emergency alert system, digital signage, security cameras, burglar alarms, access control, and more. Um and the entire network architecture was uh designed by DLR Group Architects. Uh so, architects are really good. Uh they're very good at what they do, but we know our needs a little bit better. Um so, we designed it, we took their drawings, we overlaid uh our needs on top of it, and I've got an example uh of sort of what that looks like off
063to the right. And then to the left is an example of uh our network rack diagrams. And then we've got another one here. So, this is basically going to be the breakdown uh of uh a portion of the building and what our network rack will look like uh when it's all said and done. Uh but we're ready to get moving on that stuff and I'll be looking at it about the next week or so. So, that's exciting. Uh this summer's going to be very fun for uh getting it to where we need it. And with that, I think I'm going to pass it off to >> So, this is just showing how much um so, E-Rate is funded every 5 years. We're now in year one of five. The last thing I want to do
064is file E-Rate every single year. So, we're changing it up a little bit where we're going to try to spend as much as we can in year one, and that is for Scarlet. So, that was to help keep Scarlet's costs down was to utilize these funds that we were um approved for to basically get that network built. And Joe is right, you know, architects are great engineers, electrical engineers, but they have not been in a classroom that that has to be future-proof with network jacks or Wi-Fi that's Wi-Fi 7 or Wi-Fi 8 network cameras or whatever it is. So, um I think they've learned a little from us, too, about different needs. You know, when COVID hit, our needs changed, and I feel like we really have to try to stay ahead of them. So,
065enough with the with the year. Um So, AI, you know, that's the talk of the town online and everything with AI use in the classroom. And honestly, I think our entire state I think our teachers have done a phenomenal job figuring out where it fits for them and learning how to use it. So, I've gotten books I've shared with certain teachers that are looking for something to read with AI. So, you know, it's something that we're continuing to learn, but it's it's changing every single day, and we're always trying to get ahead of it. I just saw these online and I'd like to share. So, one of the last things that we're going to focus on this year is, you know, and I'm being, you know, very honest, like the pandas have been here eight
066years, and our eighth graders were graduating, and I felt like we can do a little bit better job teaching our kids tech. So, we have a strong tech department, we have all this great Wi-Fi, but I think it's a little fragmented just over the years and the nature of COVID and everything that's happened that we can do a little bit better job teaching our kids tech. So, I use AI and was feeding it basically, like, help me create a curriculum app, and I've been working with Miss Hogan and the principals to kind of figure out how can we solve something as simple as typing. Okay, where does ESB say we should start typing? So, I was able to take all the ESB standards for cybersecurity, AI, uh computer literacy literacy and computer I don't know.
067I can't remember the word. Um put it all in here and basically fed it, here's what the resources we have. We have a computer lab, we have the Nexus, we have 3D printers, and I can feed it everything that we have and help me figure out what we should do at what grade level for this particular topic. Now, we can't have a tech class every day and every grade level. So, that's where we're working on integrating this into either um specific subjects like Minecraft Education has thousands of lessons that already align with what we're doing. It's not just gaming. There's actually homework assignments in it. So, this is one thing we're working on next year and you know, I get very passionate about it because the kids like we want them to have fun. It's
068not just looking at a device. We want the teachers to understand, too, what it is like the kids need to learn in regards to tech so we can help them across the board. So, this was even like a lesson plan that AI made. Give it credit. Like it's basically use your STEM this and here's your typing plan and here's the bands that align with with the state. And the students design a product logo and then the logo can be printed with a 3D printer. Like it has it all kind of laid out where it does help us go we we can do that. That's easy. We just have to do it with every fourth grade. So, along with this, since we are a Microsoft school, we just became a Certiport testing center and through a
069um CTE grant, we were able to get vouchers for students to take the IC3 exam. And what that is is basically like uh industry certificate that you know Microsoft Office inside and out and digital literacy of how to be safe with AI, how to be safe with cybersecurity. So, with that grant, we were able to get vouchers and instead of going to another testing center, we just followed the high schools that become their own testing center. So, now we just created our own. And then I'll actually be used for new teachers, too, to get certified and take their Microsoft exams so they can do it right here. So, it's kind of like a shift and a change of what we're going to do, but we will pretty much be like in every grade level next
070year. Um you know, integrating and testing different things. So, and the teachers are aware, they're excited. Like this was such a small lesson, but this was the art class with Miss Kozicki and they were doing um pixel art and there's actually a way to replicate this in Minecraft. So, we basically just borrowed her class for a day. The kids were able to replicate it. We took their art and then we pushed it to the TVs in the hall. So, she had a little contest there everyone can kind of see what they can do. So, it's kind of going from paper pencil to tech back to paper pencil. Which is good. I'm getting to the end, don't worry. So, this was something I saw at our co-op down the street. I believe it was last year.
071Walgreens came in and set up like a life skills center for the students to basically get some, you know, get life skills and I was blown away with this. I thought this was phenomenal. What a brilliant idea. That was my first job, Walgreens. So, that's was the kind of like the influence, the inspiration for what we're designing at Scarlet Oak because we don't want to just design an innovation center at Scarlet. We want to have the curriculum and all that embedded to go with it because I know the teachers are looking like, "What do we What do we plan on doing? What What is this going to be for?" And that's where we're building a space that can be adapted and can be changed for whatever comes our way that we can easily change out
072the pod, we can get a different printer, whatever it is. It's a stuff, but even if it's math, reading, anything like that can be used in the space. And that's what we're going to really try to help the teachers get out of their comfort zone cuz tech can be scary and so can Minecraft. But to kind of show them that like, "Hey, we're here to help you. We'll get you to where you need to be." But like let the kids really explore. So, there's going to be a school store where they're going to learn how to do inventory, fold shirts, but also scan it into a system, make a spreadsheet, and where it all lines with standards, and kind of start moving on. So, that's kind of our vision for that's kind of recap of
073this year and our vision for next year. So, I appreciate your time. Thank you, panelists, for joining helping out. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next on the agenda, um I move to strike from the agenda item 6G due to redundancy. Uh all those in favor? >> I. >> 6G G as in girl, 6G. >> 8G >> [laughter] >> 8 >> Okay, sorry. Like what is 6G? >> 8G >> 8 >> I. >> All those in favor? >> I. >> Six eyes. Thanks. I I I literally looked at 8G too and I said the same thing. Uh next uh the approval of the minutes. >> This one is two. Okay. I move to approve the committee meeting minutes of April 8th, 2026. >> Second. >> I
074move to approve the >> Hold on, we got one more in it, right? >> Yes. >> Uh all those in favor? >> I. >> One, two, three. Five, six, two. Five eyes, one abstain. Meeting adjourned. >> I move to approve the closed session meeting minutes of April 8th, 2026. >> Second. >> Mr. Melly second. All those in favor? >> Abstain. >> Aye. >> Five ayes, one abstain. >> I move to approve the regular meeting minutes of April 22nd, 2026. >> Second. >> Mr. Melly second. All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Abstain. >> That's one, two, three ayes, two abstains. >> I move to approve the closed session meeting minutes of April 22nd, 2026. >> Second. >> This case motion Mr. Melly second. All those in favor? >> Aye. >> Abstain. One, two, three, four
075ayes, two abstains. Okay, next on the agenda, the financial report. >> Thank you. For the consent agenda, I'll be asking you to ratify the April 30th, May 14th, May 18th, and May 20th um accounts payable journals, as well as approve the May 28th, 2026 accounts payable journal. Uh I will be asking you to ratify the April 24th, May 8th, and May 22nd district payrolls, all reoccurring expenses, um the June 2026 district employee payrolls, and the fund balance statement ending April 30th, 2026. >> There'll be no objection and upon the recommendation of the assistant superintendent of finance, the SBO, I move to approve items A through D under the consent agenda as presented. >> Second. >> Ms. Valley, second. Is there any further discussion? Can I get a roll call, please? >> Aye. Aye. >> Ms.
076Katie. >> Aye. >> Ms. Katie. >> Aye. Aye. >> Aye. >> Six ayes, motion carried. Thank you. Um for item E, uh after Mr. Dunser from Wipfli presented, now I'll have to ask you to accept the fiscal year 2025 audit as completed. >> Based on the recommendation of administration, I move to accept the fiscal year 2025 audit as completed and presented by Wipfli LLP. >> Second. >> Ms. Valley, motion. Ms. Katie, second. Can I get a roll call vote, please? >> Ms. Valley. >> Aye. >> Ms. Katie. >> Aye. >> Ms. Katie. >> Aye. >> Ms. Valley. >> Aye. >> Ms. Valley. >> Aye. Six ayes, motion carried. Um for item F, this is the annual resolution or approval. Um every year we have to review hazardous routes and conditions for our transportation program um
077for students that are within a mile and a half of their their school that they're attending. Um the only change this year will be the hazard on Stewart Lane. Um some of these are old. So, what was cited back when this was approved uh is no longer an issue with grading the side of the sidewalk. Um they cited a walkway along the road. That is not an issue anymore. It's it's the same as the surrounding streets that are not considered hazardous. So, that's the only change. Um and with that, I'm just asking you to approve uh the cert- and certify the uh safety hazard conditions. >> Based on the recommendations of administration, I move to approve the resolution for the certification of serious hazard conditions for the 2026-27 school year. >> Second. >> Ms. Case
078motion, Ms. Finelli second. Pick it up with public >> Ms. Case motion. >> Yeah. >> I think I'm understanding correctly. I'm noticing round of course that there are times where there's construction. >> Yeah. >> And maybe they'll put up the cones and then they're paving and what do we adjust our walkers, bus riders, and such when we know that there's going to be even even if even if it's not a permanent construction job going on or it's uh emergency construction going on? >> If if we deem it for that it's going to be for the year, we I believe we would have that approved. Um however, we we we are a high bus rider district, so we're like 95% bus riders. Um so it doesn't come up often. We have a lot of hazardous conditions
079that have been approved by the board. So it hasn't come up in my time here. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. >> You can tell them of course if you trust them. >> Yeah. Well, you know, even this neighborhood that wants to walk if Lockwood is under construction >> Mhm. >> they may not I mean >> Have we reached out >> It's a it's a challenge with how our the timing of our notifications we get from like the county or >> Sure. >> You know. So when those things have happened, we've adjusted. But we didn't do this because you know, we're getting like a month ahead of time. >> Right, of course. >> So that's been a challenge, but I we do adjust for student safety. >> And of course at one time that
080schedule when they were redoing the curbs and the sidewalks. >> Mhm. >> I don't know if that project's done or like I don't we've I mean >> We've had the John R. Ryan Highway um where that was that was a county >> Right. >> project and we had to adjust to it because streets were shut off and it affected the routes. Um I don't know if that's what you're referring to, but um yeah, so that that's an example of where we didn't do this because we had a month notice and so we just adjusted and we we we have a good transportation partner that can adjust and consider student safety. >> Please. >> Miss Casey. >> Hi. >> Miss Diggins. >> Hi. >> Miss Swartz. >> Hi, six eyes. >> Thank you. Um she's been
081straight. >> Yeah, yeah, we'll go with item H. Um every year we have to approve our consolidated district plan and uh Miss Miss Hogan met with you earlier in the month to go over it. Um basically going over strategies and how we will use our grants. Um so every year we have to ask you to approve that that consolidated district plan before we can start um applying for our federal grants like title one and an idea and our title three for bilingual. So for item H I'm asking you to approve the 2020 um I'm sorry, fiscal year 2027 consolidated district plan. That's a typo. >> Based on the recommendation of administration I move to approve the fiscal year 2027 consolidated district plan as submitted by Arbor Park School District 145 to the Illinois State Board
082of Education. >> Second. >> Miss Diggins motion, Miss Casey second. That roll call vote, please. >> Miss Morgan. >> Hi. >> Miss Casey. >> Hi. >> Miss Diggins. >> Hi. >> Miss Melly. >> Hi. >> Miss Swartz. >> Hi, six eyes. Thank you, those are my items. >> Thank you, Mr. Superintendent. >> Next item, a motion to adjourn to close session, please. >> I motion to adjourn the closed session to discuss matters of the setting of a price of sale or lease of property owned by the public body, appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the district or legal counsel for the district, collective negotiation matters between the district and its employees or their representatives, or deliberations concerning salary schedule for more one or more classes of employees in litigation when
083an action against, affecting, or on behalf of particular district has been filed and is pending before a court of administration tribunal, or when the district finds that an action is probable or imminent, in which case the basis of the finding shall be reported and entered into the closed meeting minutes. >> Second. >> Motion and Ms. K second. Uh 8:14 p.m. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Mhm. >> It was when you came out of the >> And I was like, "Ooh, that smells so good. What flavor is that?" >> That's so funny. >> So we we're rocking the Baby Yoda Bath & Body Works soap right now and it smells delicious. >> [laughter] >> Do you want to pick that up? >> I'll be gentle. >> That's funny. >> I'm just going to get my
084phone. >> Yeah. Which would be nice cuz tomorrow's field day for them. >> Yeah, they changed it. >> Yeah, yeah, because of the weather. >> It really was. >> All of a sudden that breeze came out and it was like cool. I mean >> It wasn't as hot as I thought it was going >> Yeah, it was supposed to be like a heat index like a hundred but now we we got the freeze and >> Tomorrow will be nice for their field day. >> I don't know. I was like >> I went to Five Below and got some stuff. >> if it would be like a thousand degrees. Freeze would be outside sweating. >> Yeah. >> We'd find a janitor with the water key turn on the >> [laughter] [cough] >> Open the fire hydrant.
085>> Okay, motion to return back to open 9:07. >> So moved. >> It's you. >> Okay. Um, thank you. Can you uh, would you please approve my personnel items? >> There being no objection and based upon the recommendation of administration, I move to approve the following personnel items under consent agenda. Based upon the recommendation of administration, I move to approve the termination of Alexander Tapia and Lorraine West. >> Second. >> [cough] >> Motion. >> Second. >> All in favor. >> Aye. >> All in roll call vote. >> Roll call. >> Mrs. Kennedy. >> Aye. >> Mrs. Day. >> Aye. >> Mrs. Hayes. >> Aye. >> Mrs. Sullivan. >> Aye. Six ayes. >> Okay, thank you. And then for item B, is the policy updates that you're um, asking me to approve. >> Based on the
086recommendation of the administration, I move to approve policy updates to sections 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. >> Second. >> Mrs. Hayes motion, Mrs. Kennedy second. Roll call. >> vote, please. >> Aye. Six ayes. Motion carried. >> Okay, thanks. And then lastly, I have the informa- my informational items. I first wanted to give a shoutout and thanks to all of our administrative speakers today and our administrative team in general. Um May is so heavy um with all of our ceremonies, our graduation ceremony was excellent and fast um and safe and orderly and um I'm so proud and happy about it. Also, our school improvement team, aren't they champs? So, thank you to our River Trail Middle School for their presentation today. And also thanks to um Dr. Lopez and Ms. Hogan for coming out.
087We're all intrinsically involved in this initiative to improve our um um subgroup things. So, can't wait to So, want to thank the administrators at this time. Um tomorrow is the celebration day at Kimberly Heights. I'm very excited I know to attend some of those tomorrow. And our half day last day is Friday. Um and um then we're on to June to process our year uh through some artifacts and our data, our reports will be all of the reports will be delivered and um we as in the collective uh will be looking at our wellness um initiatives, attendance, and our academic progresses and looking great in all of those so far. I will keep you updated. Um at this time of year we take a look back briefly and then we begin our new year. Um
088and lastly, um I wanted to say to everybody eat blue garlic. Cuz I'm going to have Eric Neil today. Nice. It is eating today. >> Comes from district. And Lane Elementary did erupt with it. >> Oh, they must have a significant population. >> So they did yes. >> Well, I am personally I have every holiday cuz I cancel it. >> [laughter] >> So I love them all uh but but I did and I love it anyway. Eat blue garlic but we are in school for it so far. >> Any new news with Scarlett stuff? Nothing's coming up that we're going to be delayed or anything? >> No, there's no news. I the architect is there there's no panic in their voice when they talked to us about the schedule. >> That sounds good. >> They
089haven't talked in about a while so Yeah, no they they say we're on schedule and yeah. >> I believe them. >> Yeah. >> In in relation to what was supposed to discuss in the other room no price increases changes I mean we went to bid for that a year and a half ago. >> No, and we're still in good shape with our contingency. Um where you know we have to keep in mind we're doing some stuff on our own to save. Um but we have yeah we we still have our contingency money. Um over I would say over half of it. >> Great. >> For sure over half maybe more than that. Um and there's no I mean I asked them if there's any surprise they worried about the renovation part because I I go
090is that where the surprises usually happen they go we think you're good. We think there's not much to it. With what they're going to do there and and I got wood cuz I mean we can have all projects. We have other stuff we can do too if we can save money and get some of the contingency back. >> Typically, I'm sure they had you know, they had escalation built into their pricing anyways. >> Sure. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> And Monday they're full steam. >> Yeah, I think they're going to start the abatement. So, they're getting there's the pre-work for that getting set up for all that. Um and then they're going to go >> And then I walked by and there was the outside's looking way more complete. >> Yeah. >> Looks so good. >>
091It's like it's >> Except for those giant condensing units that are on the roof. Those things look like giant robots sitting up there. >> It's if you walk through like it's it looks like it's a like big school. It's going to be a big school. >> Yeah, I figured. I was like, man, those are giant robots looking like sitting up on the roof. >> Yeah, they're big. Blue and they're so blue. >> Cool. >> Yeah. >> Can you walk Can you walk whoever put the graduation signs up? It's a really nice touch. Yeah, it's like congrats great There's the panther on them. I >> Yeah, you come pick them up and then you can put it >> No, outside. Like they're were hanging in the parking lot. >> Oh, they were? >> Yeah, there's there's
092two of them. Yeah, the flag poles were changed too. It's a nice touch. >> Oh, yeah, no, it's it's it looks nice. It's very nice touch. >> It's so special at Arbor Drive. And Arbor should be doing that too eventually but little traffic. But I love a whole decorated campus. >> They did a That was the smoothest parking and everything since I've been here. >> I feel like it was light though. There was a lot of empty chairs. >> Yeah. >> I mean, there was a whole row in front of us that was almost empty. >> Yeah, but that's not an ideal spot. You don't want to sit there though. You miss a lot of it if you're in front of us. >> Yeah, but you last year I remember it was like people fighting
093for seats. >> Yeah, it was a small class. I feel like we had a smaller class. We did 170. So, it was 140 is what was told to me. I asked when we were walking down to 170, which is normal. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah, so like 30 shorter. >> I feel like it's a uh a lot of a smaller class. Yeah. >> We will be this way. >> I don't know. That's sixth grade class size. >> Sixth grade is the new normal, I think, for our kids. >> People aren't having as many kids. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Till they build giant >> thought the narrative from >> Yeah. Yeah. Dave Evans with the teachers was great. >> I It was just, you know, brought me back with those teachers listening to them. I'm like,
094that was really touching. >> Yeah. Yeah. It was lovely that they spoke like that. >> I don't know that I've sat through so many of these. I don't think we've ever done that. >> That's really It was really cool. >> I don't think that they have ever done a narrative like that. So, that was very interesting. >> I like that one. >> All right. >> Yeah, that's nice. >> You're the stars of it. >> Yeah, well, I said we were church. >> They make it work. Thank you. See you in June. >> See you in June. >> [laughter] >> What is the humming sound from? >> It's the air air handling unit. >> Oh my goodness. It's loud. Is he still there? >> Yeah, but isn't it a frog? >> Okay, and you were not
095here before the frog. >> I love that it's there. >> I'm sure it was one of them. >> Yeah. Yes. >> Wow, they're all