001[Applause] Melinda Thomas see what that thing says it says thank you I've got nothing super bad to say today um uh I just wanted to Melinda Thomas 256 ckin Sugar Grove uh I just wanted to take a moment to thank the board and Dr Nell in particular for the statement that was issued last week regarding uh our immigrant families and the concerns about safety um I had actually had on my Personal Agenda to come talk to the board saying we need a statement to come out um and so I was very uh appreciative of the fact as were uh the vast majority of our colleagues because we've certainly had a number of students that have been absent families concerned that sort of thing and so I just wanted to uh say how much we appreciate
002you guys getting in front of that um in these difficult times and just making a statement in support of our families uh while I'm up here I will also say I know that the calendar committee is meeting this week and um I'm just going to say this although I'm not on the calendar committee uh I know as well as you guys do that there are very few issues which you will get 100% support of among staff but the one thing that you will get 100% support of on that one is that 100% of Staff don't want to come back on the Monday after uh graduation they really want to be done on the Friday before graduation just to take that into consideration as you guys are finalizing those plans thank you very much thank you
003Mary folz good evening Dr nurel and the school board okay I'm gonna make this um kind of quick because I addressed the school board at the last special meeting and I'm just going to read the letter that I when I couldn't read it when the internet wouldn't come up and it says Dear Schoolboard members Easter roal School District 131 I am willing to bring to your attention a serious concern regarding the confidentiality of student information and direct attack publicly on social media involving myself and my grandkids as I stated at the district meeting [Music] um about the sensitive um information about myself my grandkids and other students in their families on social media platforms I am heartbroken to see this behavior from my own Al lomon not to mention a staff and an adult even
004though the posts that have been submitted are Anonymous they are posted as a staff member of eora there is detailed information that only staff would have privilege to this is a serious breach of confidentiality and potential harmful to students and their families involved as you are aware maintaining confidentiality is essential in protecting students privacies and Trust the unauthorized disclosure of student information is a serious violation of District policies and federal laws such as the family educational rights and Privacy Act I respectfully request that the school district takes immediate action to investigate these matters and address the concerns I believe it is crucial to ensure that all staff members understand the importance of confidentiality and adhere to the district's policies and guidelines I request that the school district takes the following steps investigate the incident and
005take it serious and take Serious discipline actions provide training to all staff um on confidentiality and social media policy and I do understand that all staff don't do things like this I've never heard of this before but however it is actually happening right now I would appreciate it if I could Pro if you could if you could provide me with an update on these actions taken by the district regarding regarding the serious matter I believe it is crucial for the school district to address this issue properly and effectively to maintain that the to maintain the trust of parents in our of parents in the students in our community thank you for your attention to Serious concern um Miss Mary folks and I just want to ask as my three minutes are not up that this
006is only happened to me because I'm running for the school board I went through this in 2011 Lord knows I don't want to go through this again I have eight kids that are in this school district alone I advocate and Mentor for children in this district for over 25 years whether it's a staff member you know at the last meeting I said someone try to say oh maybe it's a board member doesn't matter to me I care about the staff M members I care about the teachers tender I care about the school buses back then which has already been done PTA and everything so for this to happen I want this to be taken very seriously I talked to a couple of you on the side superintendent I do have an email a letter that's
007going to you direct after I was able to come here tonight so please take it very serious because I love my grandkids thank you so [Applause] much all righty um on to Communications from the superintendent but before we we start that I just wanted to give the community a little bit of an update where the board was you know what the board is up to is in regards to the superintendent search so the board met last week and we approved a leadership profile um that now our search firm bwp will be posting on their website um they uh they to date have had 32 individuals apply or have been in the the application process proc so they haven't completed their applications but 32 individuals have certainly expressed interest in 131 um the last date for
008applications to be submitted is January 31st and tonight at the board meeting we need to pick a date uh to let the search firm know sometime during the week of February 10th uh we need to get together and um they're going to discuss training procedures and things like that with us that will actually be a closed session meeting but um but then sometimes around mid um February the board will conduct two rounds of interviews and hopefully by that end of that month they will select a new superintendent so that's kind of where we're at but um and we might as well now that we're talking about picking dates let's um let's pick the January it's the week of January 10th although the sear firm has a or February 10th although the search firm does have
009a conflict on February 10th so any other day after that so for the rest of that week but it has to be that week to stay on timeline so I'm available to 12th you're you're not available to 12 I am available the 12 the 12th okay I can't do the 12th but I could do the 11th the 11th okay any how about um anybody else 11th and 12 works for him 11th and 12 works for ju how about you the audio okay I won't be able to make it on 11 depending on what time so then is it 6 oh I won't be able to make it on I'm available to 12 or 13 okay so you're sorry I have another meeting at 6 that I can't hear my ears are still a tad clock
010huh I have another meeting at 6m on that evening will so that meeting that meeting they claim will run 60 to 75 minutes o' I can make the 13th the 12 and the 13 I can't I can't make the 13 but I think I probably the most confli so so you you can't you can't make the 12th or the 13th okay no all right we'll just do the 11 and see what I the 11th and and see what I can do okay you sure i' rather you sure you don't want to do it the other way okay so we'll go with the 11th then maybe we can start at 6:30 then yeah or 7 o'clock they do say it's going to take 60 to 75 minutes so we probably can get it in if we
011start at 7 o' okay H yeah are you okay then what H yeah he's got a meeting at I think if we're gonna pick between he and I he's the more with you know with the school experience I think it probably no I think if we're going to do all this we're going to do it all together so I think the 11 and I'll try to figure something out okay okay all right we're going to work on that okay so okay let's do 6:30 then okay all right sounds good so you can call them back Lisa all righty so aned a student oh Dr Dell HED our student board member yes um and he is here hi come on up we'll start with our student board member report 630 good evening members of the board
012faculty and guests I'm excited to share updates on recent events initiatives and achievements at Easter high school first our transition to Synergy for course selection and advis and sign has been going smoothly moving towards an electronic based course selection allows students to see descriptions and information preparing them to take the classes this initiative has been huge collaborative effort with a lot of leaders taken upon such a huge change counselors will continue to play a Cru crucial role in helping students explore career pathways through this platform we are also currently preparing for upcoming college and university trips which will expose students to top schools within driving distance offering the opportunity to feel what it what life is like at a university these visits help students take advantage of opportunities that they may not have normally with
013hundreds of students participating these trips remain a key initiative to promote accessibility to College and Career Pathways moving on to athletic and extracurricular achievements cheerleading made school history by placing eighth in the coad division at State for the first time ever the team is now waiting to see if they qualify for ihsa State NJ Roc hosted its Mega meet bringing together schools from ac across the region and the event was a huge success and showcased the strength of our program and the hard work of our Cadets and for upcoming and recent events future Tomcat night was a great opportunity to welcome prospective students and families highlighting the strong community atora freshman parent night in upcoming January 29th will provide a platform for current freshmen and their parents to discuss their transition to high school this
014transitionary event will let freshmen know the standard set as they embark on their new educational journey I believe that all these freshman preparation events are very crucial on bringing upon positive change to the school moving to the Future and last um last time I was here for a student board member report I did a student shout out and I think that's been going well so far and for this board meeting student shout out I'd like to recognize Hector monello and 18-year-old first generation Hispanic senior for his outstanding academic achievements and Leadership at EAS High School Hector is ranked fourth in his class and is highly engaged student leader with strong academic achievements some of his achievements include but are not limited to AP scholar with the distinction the steal of biliteracy national Hispanic recognition award
015and was even nominated to be a part of the City of Lights winter quarter video and for some of his leadership and extracurricular involvements he is president of Spanish Honor Society peace jam and he is involved with German Honor Society Varity Esports and he's playing tennis this year as a manager for the girls team and varsity for the boys team his dedication to both his education and his community is inspiring and Hector's achievements demonstrate what is possible for all Easter or students and I hope his story encourages others to aim high and support one another in their Pursuits as the first semester has come to a close I thank you all for your continued dedication to make Easter AA a thriving environment for all students I look forward to sharing more updates throughout the rest
016of the year thank you thank [Music] [Applause] you okay we have a special presentation this evening from our foundation so I do see our foundation president here um and I will yield the floor um to Mr Ken Derby good evening everyone uh what a nice uh reason to be here so many uh familiar faces I see I just want to say um you have such an important task ahead of you in uh choosing our next superintendent so please do your due diligence and Choose Wisely it's important for these kids in this district and for the teachers too to have a good um leadership uh role um um so it's an honor to be here to present a check I got Michael McHugh and Mark molini with me um this dates back to um the Bardwell
017playground and CarMax donated time and and money to the project and I here at got a facelift again um so it's great that we can finally turn this money over um that kind of helped you know it's tiny piece of it but it's nice to be able to get it out of our coffers into something that's useful so um with further Ado uh we'd like to present you with this check very you guys can go there deposit that check still work actually okay um District updates we just have a um a short uh presentation is it a video um that I want to walk you through so we you know the board has um asked us to kind of you know give updates at least annually on parent engagement because we recognize I know the
018Board of Education recognizes the critical importance of parent Partnerships and so we have um an update just on how it's been going recently in terms of our parent engagement so again we have four groups we um including parent engagement groups including our bpac which is one of the largest functioning groups in the state state of Illinois our bilingual parents advisory Council we also have um our African-American parents Association we have our um cap parents and those are our parents that are dedicated to being ambassadors and we last but certainly not least we have our most recent group and they are the newest but the theyve coming in strong their Mighty group and that is the EA dads organization and I'm not sure if our dad Javier is here but um we wanted to share share
019with you because all of those have had events um over the past uh couple months and so we just have I think is it a video Marissa a brief video to share so this this video is just a small recap but Marissa and Melissa the ones who have been involved with these organizations they've done a tremendous job it is so cool the things have been happening they'll come up and tell you more about it so it's up to you but the video is just a small recap of three recent events that have taken place Melissa I saw you here earlier oh there you guys are you're hiding over there come on up both of you these are our Stellar parent engagement Specialists they both um have done a great job of supporting our parent leaders
020and really building our parents up to be leaders um so Marissa uh is still helping out in her role as she's transitioning to Melissa and who has jumped right in with everything and she's had record numbers so kudos to you um for for starting so strong so I'm not sure who wants to take it over and share but okay we'll do the video did Andy have these ahead of time yeah but he has these in advance e [Music] you guys want to share what they saw off to a great start so 2025 has been a year for parent engagement um as you seen the video our first event that we had earlier this year was our EA DZ group movie night which was a huge success um following the following week we hosted a African-American
021um parent Association family game night which was again another huge success um Rita has always hosts very great uh B meetings and we are looking forward to hosting many more our upcoming our parent ambassadors formerly known as cap will be meeting this Thursday so that's what we're looking forward to and hopefully many more events yeah and roughly about how many at the parent movie night oh my gosh over 200 this was the dads and so dads really showed up and that's great and I think Dr Guzman's bpack was 260 people present so our numbers are really growing and that was the largest event for our African-American parents Association um event too so than Kudos again you thank thank you thank you that was big you're good T call out sorry um and then we have
022one final um we already took care of item D with the board so we have one final presentation and that is from the city of Aurora and I see Maria Lindsay here so I will yield the floor to you to introduce the team that's here or whoever however you like to oh okay great all right I'm going to turn it over without any further Ado before the board's action item it was on last time but I was not as astute as these ladies to answer the questions um with regard to Aurora's promise so I will turn it over to you thank you so much good evening vivana Ramirez Chief Community Services officer for the city of Aurora and Maria Lindsay did yield the time over to me so she's here Martha paski director of innovation
023and strategy with the city of Aurora also in the community services department oh all right so we are here to share more with you about um the Aurora's promise children's savings account program um that we've proposed and that we've shared the data sharing agreement with you all um in hopes of gaining your support to being a partner in this program that we strongly believe will be a benefit to the children of our city um so the idea of Aurora's promise children savings account is to establish in the youngest kids in our city that their City believes in them that we believe in their future and that we want to see them all succeed um and so it is a $50 contribution from the city to each kindergartener um who's a resident of the city of
024Aurora to start an account where they can save money towards their future future postsecondary training whether that's trades or college or whatever that might look like for them um and that is to instill in that child and their family the idea of saving so that that $50 is a starting point um but as we know from a lot of data and evidence um low moderate income children are not you know frequently holders of savings um a lot of kids don't have that as an esta L Habit in their family and so this is a way for the city to play a role in kind of spurring that habit and that behavior of saving um so there will be a lot of um financial literacy and education um that the city will provide as a part
025of this program to help instill in our families in our city that you know saving for the future is a really positive and good thing and something that we want to support you in so as Martha stated um what is a children's savings account children's savings account are becoming very popular in the United States there's wellestablished programs already and currently there is over 128 children's savings account in the United States they span into 38 States and they are serving over five million children so this is an idea a seed that we are planting and we are very excited that we are um the first children's savings account of this type um here in Illinois so important things to know about the account features um and I think one point to kind of highlight is that
026it's not an actual savings account the way we think about them um and the reason the data sharing agreement goes into a lot of detail about how data will be shared with our partner our contracted partner Operation HOPE is that they maintain a digital database where they track how much of the funds in one pooled account that's the city's account how much of those funds belong to each kid so we're not setting up Bank actual bank accounts for the kids but it's um and that's why there are no fees it's not going to impact anybody's benefits so it's a place where they can save and they will build up incentives from the City and from our partners we're hoping to gain more corporate Partners to encourage savings and to kind of build habits um it
027won't impact anyone's benefits they'll have online account access through this digital platform that Operation HOPE will maintain um it is dedicated postsecondary savings they can deposit through various means through you know a check in an envelope to the organization through an actual bank location they'll be able to deposit funds um and then online or in person um and then it is deposit only however there is kind of a backup of um any funds that the family or the student or relatives deposit on their behalf those are their contributions if they need to withdraw those because of an emergency that's their money and they will be able to withdraw those for emergency needs the hope is that it'll stay there for savings obviously but we are realistic it is their money if they're depositing it they
028just wouldn't be able to withdraw the incentive funds that are the city's funds so the research that we had the ability to do and to look at Best Practices there's a definite correlation that is established in our research that shows that even small amounts that children have in a children's savings account will increase not only their graduation rates but also um the postsecondary education Pursuits our Research indicates and I think many of you in this field will already know that it also reduces the disparities in account Holdings and savings and one of the beautiful benefits of as as we've seen here tonight in the engagement is that it also increases the parental educational expectations so it is um in our belief because of the research it has a myriad of benefits that go not just
029from initiating that savings mentality but then it follows the children through and then it also benefits the parents so the first children's savings account program in the country was in San Francisco they had their first graduating class two years ago so they've been able to actually capture the data on the impact and the effects on these kids of having these accounts um so there was a 30% closure in the college enrollment Gap um between the underrepresented students and their peers there was a 7% higher ontime graduation rate and 12% increase in college enrollment and so those are all statistically significant changes that are demonstrated over the course of um this time that those kids have had the children's savings accounts and it's it's a demonstration that we can all point to now look this city
030did this thing for these students and they've benefit benefited from it so our program um first we are having this as a pilot program and we're starting with District 129 and 131 for the children in kindergarten enrolling in kindergarten for the pilot program we are starting with an optin initial period now best practices and what we're hoping to get to in the future is opt out but because this is an optin we're taking this opportunity to really engage parents engage the educational system and make sure that parents understand the benefit part of the pilot program we're also doing incentives so not only do they start with the $50 initial seed money but there's a $10 additional fee incentive for activating the account because remember we're doing the optin so this is going to say okay
031here's $10 we're going to help you activate we're going to teach you about it and then also $20 for students that qualify for free lunch and my understanding is that all the children here in our district will qualify so the city partnership and this is laid out a little bit in the data sharing agreement um we're working closely with our partner Operation HOPE um which I wanted to share just a little bit more about because I know that that wasn't necessarily clear from the data sharing agreement um Operation HOPE is an organiz ganization that started in the in the 1990s um they started in California they're now currently based in Atlanta their sole focus is on financial equity and empowerment the programs that they run in addition to running the Atlanta Children's savings account program
032um which is how we found them they are also the the organization that runs 1 million black businesses which you may have heard about um in recent years they operate Financial coaching through an or through their program called hope inside which is available Nationwide through different banks they have coaches um they run the 1865 project as well as the fredman's bank and um a program they call financial literacy for all um because of their exclusive focus on financial equity and because of their experience running a children's savings account program um their proposal to the city was made it you know an obvious match a really good fit they met the requirements that we were looking for um and they're a solid partner in this so that's just a little bit more background on Operation HOPE
033um the city will be working closely with them specifically the community services department to get this program up and running um the pilot year will be more like 18 months um because we are halfway into this year um so we'll do this year and all of next school year to hopefully make sure that things are working properly um that you know we're getting the community educated um like vivana said the pilot period is going to be opt in um best practice data shows us that opt out is best that means that the families don't have to do anything to set up an account they will have to activate an account because they have to go online to like look at it and engage with it um but we want to get to that opt out
034phase we just want to do the Community Education before we blanket set up a whole bunch of um accounts for kids that people won't necessarily know about so we're going to use this as an opportunity with 129 and 131 to make sure we're educating the community getting people on board getting people familiar and comfortable with what this is as a program to benefit our kids are you done with the I think we are yes so I know that former board member uh Mr Royo I know some of the questions that he had before he left um at the last board meeting that we had where um you know if a student gets deported or they move are they still able to access the funds are they still able to access the account so if they
035move out of the district and we we took feedback from the districts about this because we hear that it's kind of common for kids to maybe move out for a few few years and come back um so we're building into our program rules that they will have the option of saying they want to keep their account open for three years so if they come back and it's still there you know nothing changes um if they do move out and they don't want to keep it open or in any other circumstances where they're no longer an auroral resident they get any funds that they've contributed um but the incentive funds go back to the incentive pool when does the incentive fund actually become available to the student is that just when they graduate graduate so 18
036years or 13 13 yeah yeah when they're 18 yep so go ahead how are those incentives a achieved I I noticed in the llou it talks about additional funds would be provided if certain Milestones are met and so are those is that grades is that attendance is that what is what are those Milestones that the district would be fighting to information on so we're going to be working on developing additional incentives our goal is to work with Community Partners um that would fund those incentives the types of incentives that we're contemplating right now would be um for instance particip ating in programming at the Financial Empowerment Center um maybe attending a couple sessions there the city or a partner would contribute some extra funds um there is there's no anticipation there's no evidence that suggests
037that any kind of academic achievements should be tied to this um that's not something that we would contemplate at this time the goal is really more to provide positive experiences engaging experiences things around financial literacy to strengthen their desire to save their desire to you know look at postsecondary options and things like that so will they earn interest so because it's um they're not actual savings accounts like I explained earlier they're not earning interest there's there's a a pool account and then the the kids accounts are a digital database um so it's not interest but they will get more than the like how does it grow or is it just they if they put in 50 bucks and 12 years they get 5050 bucks yes that doesn't sound sound I mean it sounds like almost
038like if we're trying to teach them to save and they don't get any so it's it's a way to introduce um families to banking who may not otherwise be banked at all and so the hope is that as they're engaging in this and maybe they come to the FEC for some sessions they learn how to repair their credit they they get other banking products um that they can connect with and things like that so this is not itself the goal of this isn't savings necessarily the goal is really to instill a message in kids and to instill a habit and to give access to something that they may not all have access to otherwise and to have it done in a global and Equitable way so that every kid has the same account is there
039a reason why the city just does not have community appli directly through the city instead of through the school districts why why the school districts were chosen because the concern I expressed at the last board meeting was the data sharing and in this agreement and I'm going to read this it's student first name last name birth date school they're in state of Illinois student ID number their parent Guardian names and education levels their Guardian mailing addresses their phone numbers their emails the primary language speak at home and whether the students part of the national lunch program that's a lot of data on our kids so and families so we need to be very protective of that data so I think it's a great idea by the city but my concern is that this also can
040be shared in according with theou with subcontractors as well of this entity and in this day age of data privacy and all of that I just have concerns with that and I understand that um this is the national best practice this is how all CSA programs are run they're uh the the best ones the biggest ones are all run in partnership with school districts because that is the best way to make it an opt out program it's really the only if we if we ran it through the city families would have to apply to us it would it would only ever be an opin option so families would have to come in so that would be the families that have the time have the resour resources have the understanding have the wherewithal to come into
041the City and apply to be a part of this and so that's why cities around the country have figured out if we partner with schools we can get that information then every kid gets one and that's the best and fairest way to do this and I I I'm not dismissing the concerns about data I do understand that um I think you know in looking around I did some research to see if there are other cities where that's become an issue where things have gotten out and I understand you know things change um and all of that I haven't come across any legal challenges any data privacy issues anything like that happening I can't promise it's not going to we do have Protections in here for that and we we vetted our partner they've shared their
042insurance with us they've shared their experience with us they they are only working with um this share is the database the digital database they're using Vista share is used by dozens of other cities for their CSA programs um and the bank is US bank and they chose that because they have a a local bank here um and it's somebody they already work with so doing the best we can I understand the concern and and I can't say that you know is not valid but thank you yeah and if I may I'm sorry um so we purposely the data share Shar in agreement it is the information that you write off and it's really directory level information we have vetted Operation HOPE these are conversations that we have had to make sure that the information that
043is contained in the data sharing agreement is treated with the strictest confidence only for The Limited purpose needed and that information would not be disseminated to any other partner it won't be sold it won't be it will only go for the limited purpose that we've established and so far the information that we receive from them you know it's been very it's been treated very safely all right so I have a question if they have a question about the this account are they going to call the city Operation HOPE I'm just a little nervous are we going to have if we're going to open thousands of these are we going to have are we going to have staff to because we have to enroll them right no no nope they fill out they'll fill out so
044for the pilot period they're going to be opting in so we have a form we'll have it in paper in a digital format um they'll fill that out that's going to come to us and then and then we'll make sure you know these are a roal residents and then we send that information to operation hope so this the school district is is not expected to sort out weed through do those things um so any questions would go to operation help is so yes so on the city's website that we're developing a page dedicated to this there's a section on if you have questions contact UM and it's my division The Innovation division um if there questions about the actual funds that would go to Operation HOPE okay and all that contact information will be on
045there and readily available to the families and then also we will have a parent um engagement person that will also be there from the city and so the goal is really not to place any burden on the school districts but the initial sign up will initially right or no no so they'll they'll fill out the form saying that they want to participate we'll let you know because the form will come through you to through the school to us um but then I mean we'll have to get that the rest of that information from the school and once the once we share the option with our families then if they say yes I want to participate then we share their then we share their data not that we just blanketly share their data first okay and
046the the there is a reference to um additional data and that's only with um parents agreement and that would be things that we would be able to track to look at to compare similar to what San Francisco did to say are we making a difference do we need to Pivot is this working that would be with parental permission clarification on what you said Dr Nell blank and Sh the information yes that won't happen during the pilot period but after it will because it will be an opt out for situation out it will be unless garders unless you see that text or read that email or get that mailer and remember to reply to it all your information that I read off is going to be shared so my understanding is it would be included in
047kindergarten enrollment where they would have to choose if they want to participate or not that was our idea if the board was okay we were saying how could we get in front of working with all kindergarten families and so we said kindergarten enrollment is our opportunity to share a flyer or a promotional piece about this so then that we know we have contact with parents at that so then they could that would be a good time for them to say yes I want to be involved and then if they say yes then they could fill out the form and send their information that we wouldn't necessarily be just sending it for everybody that registers yes so then the funds yes you're Gathering US Bank have have an opportunity to advertise and do things like that
048so US Bank will not have the student information unless the parents have the account start another savings or something because it's the one pool account that the fun FS are in it's Operation HOPE that has the digital platform that tracks how much of the funds each kid is getting um so I know it mention subcontractors in there but I can't anticipate things can change in 20 years I don't I think that's more of a blanket thing that they put in there um because yeah there's no need for the bank to have that information unless the families are opening another account at the last Bo at the last board meeting uh Mr Ayo also asked the question now that I remember something about can the information or can the students information in general be subpoenaed um
049that was something that he brought up I remember hearing that at some point um you know just only because of yeah is it is it possible then that we um you know say we're going to participate in terms of marketing it to parents but let us you know take some time on the back end of it because I think the the real angst is the data component of turning over data and especially now you know so is there is that a possibility or to be in you have to be in fully or can we say we're in as far as we will Market to our kindergarten registration that this is a wonderful opportunity and even help facilitating the sign up but that we don't blanketly just give the data right at this point is there
050a way to so I mean we we are we have an 18-month pilot period where that it is an opin so parents have to apply basically to be in this so within that 18 months yeah we have time for more conversations um if that I mean we'd probably have to start that in six months right so if a I just question if a family wants to add more money to this account they would have to go to US bank or online or online or or mail a check or I know some cities do things where they set up a day that kids can bring their money and we'll have envelopes in the classroom or something so I guess I'm just conf a little confused about how it works so we send that if they say
051they're gonna opt and they send the application to you guys and you guys send it to hope they create the account so then how does US Bank know which where the money goes to the student the parents will have the so this the reason we're using the state student ID number is because we have many districts that we'll potentially be working with over time so we want to make sure we don't have overlap so the State student ID number is that identifier that we can use that's going to be unique for every kid that could potentially participate um so the parents will have that as their account identifier um so if they're depositing into this I know there's a separate pooled account where those funds would go but that would be the identifier that ties
052th that deposit to the funds that go to their kid it's not they don't have to open their own bank account to deposit to this account but then that portion of the money will be interest bearing correct it's still a pool account and it's still just being tracked on a digital thing so it wouldn't be interest bearing unless they're opening their own account will not it will not be interest bearing correct correct no okay so when you say 18mon pilot program then you may just stop it if it is that what when you say pilot what do you mean no the pilot is hopefully to make sure it's working and and go into opt out mode from there oh to make sure that every kid is able to benefit from it at that point and
053the pilot two refers to the two school districts that we're starting out with but we want to be inclusive of all of the school districts in Aurora with Aurora children but because we wanted to make it manageable we wanted to make sure we could pivot learn see if any little tweaks were needed we wanted to do it right and so that's why we said pilot 18 months and just our two school districts to start you you you gave data on how many students um that in terms of the gaps and post-secondary education do you have any data to see how many students really increase the amount of dollars into those account over 5 10 I mean they normally put in more money but how much did any one particular student may have um saved as
054they involved in the program the dollar amount that they saved yeah um so the average amount with the San Francisco program that average amount in the accounts for their graduating class their first graduating class was around $1,400 average so yeah and one of the believe in financial in particular we start young and we um teach the value of a dollar and how to to save and invest so um I'm just curious you know when you talk about that it helped in certain gaps in graduation but actually how much money that the individual were able to save the I I would like to see that data as we do go through this pilot program as well absolutely well it's important kids to have savings accounts but it's also important that you know the savings accounts yield
055money so in a way if their parents are investing and you know then they would be much better off going to another bank and you know us teaching that financial literacy through to schools about savings accounts and things like that which actually I've always thought that that was long overdue especially in our middle schools to start teaching I've always said that to start teaching that curriculum and that is that is a big part part of what we want to do with that and that and that is a big part of what these programs have done and proven around the country is that this program itself is not about the savings this program is about the entry point and the the learning and so what they've shown is that you know the shift in certain populations
056from not having any bank account to being banked to um increasing you know educational attainment increasing parental expectations and things like that so it's it's not it's not really about the savings it's more about all of the programming all of the support all of the messaging around the program itself and the you know the data shows that those families that engage in this and participate in this do open up more bank accounts they do save in other ways this isn't their primary savings account by any means but this opens them up to all of those other opportunities and I think with a target of realizing that you know there are a lot of members in our community that are underbanked or unbanked so we are offering it's really it's a gift right that we are
057saying this is an entry point it is not exclusive if a family would like to and has the ability to open a different savings account a 529 they can still do that this is a benefit for all of the children um and it's more than the monetary contribution even though all money any money for Education you know is so helpful I think it's a great idea I think we all appreciate what you're doing so even though we're asking you a lot of questions I don't want you to I'm sure we all like the concept me personally I was a financial planner for a short time um I would personally rather see like Anette said if the city would work with us to open up a 529 plan where they can make money invest in the
058stock market and see it's going to grow because if they're putting in 50 bucks and 50 bucks and they see no savings I don't know I just think to me it's a disincentive well you can do that and there's ways and through this program too they'll learn more about those things but the the fact of the matter is with a 529 you can never make it opt out you can never ensure that every kid is going to get one because 529 is require that the parents actively do something to create an account but in this you need a guardian or a parent for this don't as well don't you not when we switch to opt out when we switch to opt out the school sends us the data on all the kindergarteners that are our
059residents every single one of them gets an account we start engaging with them saying hey you know you're going to get another $10 when you activate that account you're going to get another $20 because you qualify for free lunch there's $80 already and that's this is the only and trust me I was I was a um skeptic of this when I started researching it um there is so much data that supports that this is the best way to engage all families in an equitable way in encouraging Banking and savings and postsecondary attainment and there's no obligation for the parents as you've stated um they're they're free to choose a different avenue so this is basically free money that um that they're getting right but they can definitely choose to go another Avenue that may be
060more beneficial to them well we're in this if we decide to go with this agreement and we have a oh there's a 18month period if there let's just say that we don't have enough parents or that we see that amount of parents not really participating what are options so maybe not contining with this agreement I mean if you guys don't want to do it you don't want to do it um I think you know families have already heard that the city is offering this um it's $80 for every kid in kindergarten this year and next year that's on the table with really no obligation beyond that um but it's something that the city is committed to that we've done a lot of research on and we believe in the partner that we've selected to work
061with on this I I I like the idea of opt in because then a parent has to check their box I'm hesitant about the opt out in the future years because sometimes I'm just GNA say it people don't read sometimes and they're just going to scream through and go to the last page and if we don't put a disclaimer on there that we're going to share this information I mean just putting out there I'm all about the opt in I'm just a little hesitant about the opt out um so just that's just where I'm at and we could talk about that over the next 18 months that Bruce had asked with regard to it's one thing for the school district to have that information subpoenaed from the school district because we have the capacity to
062um resist that or to participate whether or not uh there is a legal grounds to produce it but once we release that the question is then you become a secondary source and if that subpoena reaches you um we would want to make sure if this if the district does participate in this I think the interest would be to make sure that there is a provision in the agreement with the school district that any subpoena uh would not be answered unless the district had an opportunity to intervene in that uh uh with regard to that information that that's the problem that Bruce was uh uh was suggesting so and I think that's the the resistance that or the caution uh that is being um addressed here and that and that was in regards to opt out
063is that what you were saying yeah for the opt out that's the concern with the APT in it's easy to control that because you get the consent of the parents to release that information but in an opt out it would be requiring the school district to give that information to begin with and then it would be up to the parent to the parent to opt out and you know with the hundreds of pieces P of paper they get you know what do we have why why would we call this bank I think is what the concern is so we could change tonight to a consensus for me to help work with the city to get the optin portion um going and not and just not address the motion until we do some more thought around
064that or maybe see how it goes in the pilot phase so the current agreement does specify that the the pilot phase is opt in so the current data sharing does specify that the pilot period is op in um but I think the board doesn't want to commit tonight for the beyond the pilot period And I think signing the agreement would be having them on the hook for that and so I don't mind doing our due diligence with our team internally to make sure that we reach every kindergarten family with at least telling them about this or giving you know the city accessibility to speak to those parents and share the wonderful piece about the program and then that way we can see just how the responses and then bring that data back to the board
065and then support them going to the next step and then that way you don't have to act on that because I'm I'm just sing resistance but I I don't want it to totally go away so well humbly thank you for your time I think um you know it is truly our hope that you will part of this transformative and just wonderful program we will take back some of the concerns really that maybe we weren't able to answer right now for example The subpoena question um and it's definitely something that we're willing to look at and that we will do everything we can to answer questions to your satisfaction because you know we've been talking about this program and working on this for so long that we are truly excited and and it comes from the
066very best place of you know our department and the City of a so thank you very much thank you thank [Applause] you okay so we're not gonna entertain the motion correct okay all right so at this point we are going to go back and have the district work with the city and do some more studying with definitely with the way to data and everything is being captured so okay all right so we're done with that so so we don't have to vote on that Bernie that it's yeah yes consensus it was no it's not on the consent agenda it's just the regular motion yes all right thank you okay so motion to approve the consent agenda is listed minus the Personnel report which we will be moving down to to discussion after executive session so
067move second any questions secretary call the rooll Schubert Gillespie yes Johnson yes Olivas yes sentes yes yes all right so aren't the finance and personnel and that would be actually Jud tonight since I wasn't there ex [Music] session I'm looking for it on the agenda here it is okay Financial person okay so we met on January 13th at 5:30 here our next meeting is February 3rd here at 5:30 um we've got minutes that uh I don't know that we have to approve the minutes do we NOP okay um we had a discussion on band instruments I think we uh are going to upgrade that right um r viwed a bunch of uh press policies went through all these um if if anybody's any questions on these policies these are all recommendations from the iasb no
068okay let's see all right we do have a couple um request for FTE so 6 A7 request for one full-time equivalent special education classroom teacher assistant for eaec want to make the motion for that so move any questions secretary call the rooll gespi yes Schubert Johnson yes sentes yes L yes Olivas I'm gonna just hold on a minute T no it b or the action item 6B B1 two so okay we don't have to 6b1 motion to approve one of specializ yeah Special is the first one yeah and then the second one is see no not the old ones just six feet just um just you were right um for just 6b1 is the first right y one at a time is that right yeah the motion is to approve one FTE special education classroom
069teacher assistant for the extension campus yes right just did a motion for that right I know that's there was discussion going on so I had to kind of hold it so yes okay yes okay so motion passes yes motion passes 6b2 motion to approve the Frontline proactive recruiting and hiring proposal in the amount of $34,636 78 some move second any questions secretary col Ro sentes yes gespi yes Olivas yes yes Johnson yes Schubert yes okay and finally 6 B3 motion to approve the inter governmental agreement between the Illinois State Board of Education and EAS Aur School District 131 visiting International Teachers program so move second any questions secretary col roll yes Shubert yes Olivas yes Johnson yes sentes yes gpie yes that concludes our report okay on to curriculum and programs from Mr sentes good
070evening everyone uh the curriculum and programs committee met this evening here at 6 PM prior to uh prior to the board meeting our next meeting will be on Tuesday February 18th at 6m here again and that concludes my report okay on to buildings and grounds with Mr Schubert are you are you gonna call can you okay I think Bruce is not feeling so well here tonight so um as far as as the updates um maybe I had missed so potentially can you give the updates Mr magini okay he was not okay how about you I don't mind you well if you feel comfortable that's fine I know you weren't there either Sor I feel comfortable okay thanks so we met on January 13th at 6 PM we the next billing and grounds meeting is uh
071Monday February 3rd and we had an up State on the Career Technical Center We are continuing to work with both the um architect and the construction management team to develop plans and finalize those plans in order to um continue to move forward they have submitted the first group of of plans to the city so the city is reviewing those now to get that approval okay and in the meantime so I was not at this meeting but I would have uh expressed some concern so in the meantime I would like to have uh the staff come back to uh tell us where they are at with all of these projects as far as finding some Community Partners because you know some of this cost does need to be offset so I'm still want a broad range
072picture on all these additional costs that we will incur by individual programs I know the building and everything is covered but you know the you know the programs themselves have we worked on any Partnerships and where do we stand with those Partnerships so okay okay okay yes all right can I ask you a question about the building or that the building itself sure so do we have a list of what trades were you know like welding do okay I went to the last meeting but I could could you share that with the I would just love to see what it is because I might know employers that might want to partner with us okay great thanks uh the naming of the the camp the full Campus of the career center along with the ECC and
073BSA I believe was acted on at the last meeting um we had the bid results for both the roofing replacement and the window replacement and those are action items for this evening uh the elevator replacement at Waldo we declined that in order to uh look at some other options because the repair or the replacement of that was really potentially looking at um opening up a can of worms in Waldo itself um HVAC uh the rtu review I believe we're bringing that back to the February meeting in in reviewing The Five-Year Plan with that information while gym floor allowance um as they pulled up the Waldo gym floor it was realized that there was um the the under under floor the subf flooring was rotted out so we had to replace that which was an unforeseen
074cost and I believe that was approved at the last meeting as well Skyward time clock integration we are moving to um the this time clock system and that is being approved tonight as well or the recommendation and just informational we were going out for copy Services we're going to be bringing back to the committee uh The Copy Service proposal as the current plan that we're under is uh up for Renewal we have the sale of personal property the school bus we looked around we have an old school bus that no longer is needed in the district so we're looking to get rid of that and uh we were able to go out and get some different companies in uh glattus from the Transportation Department was able to uh get get a price for that as
075well and with that we have the action items okay so I'll go ahead and read the action items so motion to accept base bid number one for the district or for the detri roof alternative O2 and base bid number two for the Johnson roof with alternative 03 with melor Roofing and the amount of 536,000 066 so moved second any questions secretary color roll Olivas yes sees yes Schubert yes Gillespie yes Johnson yes yes okay motion to accept the windows project base bid number one for East High and alternative 01 base bid number two with alternative O2 for all odonnal school with light construction in the amount of 1 million 49,7 so move light construction I'm sorry second any questions so is light light constru light construction isn't the one we've had issues with is it
076no no they've done work in the district for many years to somebody else okay yeah okay any other questions secretary call the rooll sentes yes Schubert yes Olivas yes Johnson yes Gillespie yes yes motion to approve a three-year agreement to purchase time clocks for the integration of Skyward and the amount of 102 251,000 66 so move second any questions secretary Colo gespi yes yes Johnson yes Schubert yes sentes yes Olivas yes motion to approve the resolution authorizing the sale of personal property School Bus some move second any questions secretary coloroll Schubert yes gespi yes Johnson yes Olivas yes sentes yes yes motion to approve the resolution authorizing this dispos and recycle of personal property it equipment so so move second any questions secretary call the rooll gaspie yes sentes yes Johnson yes L yes Schubert
077yes Olivas yes motion to go into executive session for discussing land acquisition workers compensation student discipline and the appointment employment performance compensation and dismissal of a specific employee move second secretary col rentes gpie yes Olivas yes yes Johnson yes Shubert yes and then we will have action and so we water e e e you want to read it yeah look I just wanna so move second secretary call the roll Le yes I hear Johnson yes sentes yes L yes Olivas [Music] yes okay be it resolved that this board of education after hearing and considering the evidence presented by the hearing officer hereby upholds the recommendation for alternative placement at the Illinois Virtual School in Le of expulsion for student number 69794 6908 of Easter Roar high school for one calendar year effective January 28 2025
078through January 27 2026 to include summer school of 2025 be have further resolved that a copy of this resolution be sent to the parents of the Sid student and du and duly recorded in the official minutes of the Board of Education District 131 dated the 27th Day January 2025 so motion to approve the resolution for student 908 some move secretary callor roll L yes Shubert Olivas yes Johnson yes sentes GES yes okay and then we are not gonna deal with the Personnel report tonight so motion to adjourn the move secretary col roll Schubert Gillespie yes johnon yeses Olivas yes yes there we go all done