Berwyn South School District 100 Board of Education - March, 2026

001Good afternoon. Can I have a motion to reconvene into open session, please? I'll move to reconvene. >> Second. >> I'll second. >> Thank you. at 710. Roll call. >> I Gonzalez I. Drenth >> I. >> Cavayto absent with notice. Butler >> I. >> Steinfeld. >> I. >> Palace. >> I. >> H Jimenez. >> I. >> Motion carried. >> Thank you. Um, pledge of allegiance. Can we please stand for the pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the unite for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible and liberty for all. A roll call to establish quorum. Uh please respond here or present. Humimez >> here. >> Steinfeld >> here. Gonzalez here. Butler >> here, >> Gabayo absent with notice. Drenth >> here, >> Palace >>

002here. >> Thank you. Good evening. Uh, everyone. Thank you for being here. My name is Elizabeth O'A Jimenez. I'm the president of Bowwin South School District 100. To my right is uh to my left Dr. Mary Havis, our superintendent. If Mary Havend. All right, good evening everyone and thank you for being here. We are excited to kick off our school's spotlight with our Freedom Middle School Patriots and I see lots of them out there. So, welcome to our meeting and I would like to welcome up um principal Enrique O'Hada to share the spotlight. Good evening everybody. My name is Enrique Oella and I have the honor of serving as the principal at Freedom Middle School. Um, I want to take a second to introduce my team who was up with me today. Um, members of

003our school improvement plan, I'm sorry, school improvement team. Uh, Miss Dana Lord and Miss Colleen Humphre. Um, in a second they're going to share some information about both our PLC work and then our intervention work and how that has contributed to our success at Freedom. So, we thank you for allowing us to share the opportunity of all the great things that are happening at Freedom. Uh we truly believe that every student deserves a chance at highquality instruction. Um the ability to form relationships with both teachers and peers. Um and the opportunity to grow academically and within their own person and their interests. Um at tonight I want to walk through some of the stuff some of the stuff some of the great things our staff are doing at Freedom. Um and again, how is that

004contributing to the success of our students? Um the whole child. >> There you go. Okay. What we have on our the screen right now is our school literacy plan at Freedom. um which outlines our schoolwide plan and approach to improve literacy across all content areas and all grades. Um this work is a continuation of things we have done and strategies we have implemented over the past couple years. Um primarily focusing on improving writing. In the past few years, we have focused on writing and just incre increasing the writing stamina that our students have and where they are writing. So the approach was that every single one of the content areas in the building was focusing on writing. It was happening in math. It was happening in writing class. It was also happening in social studies

005and it was also happening like in art. Um and we wanted to continue with that. We wanted our students to know that that is important to us and we want them to grow in their ability to ability to write. So as we transitioned into this school year, uh we taken the next step in the progression by shifting our focus from the quantity of writing that is happening to the quality of writing that is happening. So across all content areas and again including our exploratory classes in a second, Miss Lord's going to talk a little bit about the PLC work that our gym teachers are doing as far as writing, our art teacher, our band teacher is happening as far as writing and how we're helping our students to improve. Um we are utilizing a common

006writing rubric. So all of the content areas are focusing on CER which stands for their students are coming up with a claim. They're looking to identify evidence and then they are developing their reasoning to support their claim. This helps to ensure that there is consistency across all content areas and it helps to provide to for students to see a clear expectation. Now there is some differentiation. Yes, the evidence in band is going to be different than the evidence in science. Um, but the the the discussion about what is needed to support their claim um is stays the same. One thing that is specific to ELA is the focus on revision. So we are writing CERS in ELA but then we are meeting teachers are meeting with students during PLT time to talk about where in

007their writing can they improve what parts of the CER can they improve and again the conversation has an emphasis on revision and revision utilizing that CER rubric. The goal is for students not just to complete writing tasks but to actively improve their writing by reflecting on feedback and making meaningful changes. Um this shift has helped students develop a stronger writing develop stronger writing skills but also to deepen their thinking and have greater ownership of their writing as they are making these improvements. This in front of you is our math uh tree diagram. Um the focus on math for our school improvement plan this year. Again, continued work that we started last year, but looking to strengthen the approach and strengthen our instruction. Um similar to literacy, we're again we're building on what we learned last

008year. We are still prioritizing engaging collaboration, discussion, discourse. We are still utilizing the decide and defend strategy within math. But what we wanted to make a shift for is the deeper understanding of the math work which we know this is important. Um one thing we noticed last year as a challenge is students are talking about their math uh their math work. Um but at times they are talking about work that is may not be correct and we ran into that problem. We also ran into the problem of how do we assess that conversation. So in addition to the decide and defend uh strategy that's being used in our math classes um we have gone back to looking at paper answers um focusing on three areas that our district improvement plan has been focusing on and

009that is computation explanation and modeling and then the reasoning. Um we implemented a rubric that's very similar to the district improvement plan. Um and we want to provide a clear framework for both teaching and assessing the math thinking that's happening in these classes. Um we do hope that this shift ensures students having conversations that are not only active and and engaging but also accurate, meaningful and grounded in a strong mathematical understanding. The next two slides are I am showing some data as far as I is um IR data rather at Freedom Middle School. I will say that a highlight of the data that's on the screen was that shift from our 2022 to our 2023 um 2223 school year to our 23 24 school year where we saw that jump of about 21% of our

010students um having that performance at or above proficiency on AR from the 23 24 to the 2425 last school year. Um there was not that much of increase as we saw in previous years but we want to celebrate the consistency. We want to celebrate that there was not a dip and there was a progression in the direction we want to go in showing that our literacy instruction is strengthening. Now during the 2425 school year we did implement the amplify curriculum. So it was a year of teachers learning adjusting uh working hard to become familiar with the new material. They work to impact lessons, align align instruction and engage in meaningful collaboration. That was year one. Year two is this year. Our teachers are more fluent in amplify. They are having deeper discussions about the curriculum,

011deeper discussions about student work, deeper discussions of how we adjust instruction as we respond to that student work. Um with any new implementation achievement usually remains consistent which we saw through in that trai um transition year. Um however stability is important. We want to we want to celebrate that. Um but in this second year imple I'm sorry implementation. Um we are in a much more stronger position and we are excited and we anticipate and we want to see what do these new IR scores show us um as we get begin to see them at the end of this school year. IR math as we see on the screen has stayed pretty consistent over the past couple years. Um that is something that our school improvement team has noticed and has identified as an area of

012need. Um with that being said again we have revisited how we are having those conversations in math classes. We are going back to focus on computation. uh we are going back to modeling and having students explain their thinking as we write that down and have conversations about those math problems in their classes. Um I am happy to say that a significant amount of time working directly I have been had a significant amount of time working directly with our sixth grade math team over this year um just diving deeper into the standards of their units diving deeper into their instruction which is Desmos Amplify. So it is Desmos same as last year purchased by amplify but what resources do does Desmos and Desmos amplify offer us that maybe we haven't used in the past what resources

013can we begin to incorporate to support the learning of our students both as whole instruction and in their personalized learning time. Um and then in addition to Desmos's math, what other resources do we have in our math classes, Khan Academy, what how can we utilize that with our math classes to focus specifically for that individual student and how are we supporting their growth as they are working through their math understanding. The next couple slides I'm going to go through a little quickly. This is just kind of breaking it down into the different grade levels. Um starting with sixth grade math uh we see achievement for math is slightly below the building average. Uh because of this you know I have made that intentional focus to work with the math class to support the math class

014so that we are all making sure we're supporting our students and they are continuing to grow um prov with a strong focus on improving that core instruction and identifying the resources that are going to support our students in ELA. However, we do see um the performance on IR of students at or above proficiency being about neck andneck with the building average um which is an indicator that our literacy systems and supports are taking hold early as early as sixth grade. Oops, seventh grade. So, seventh grade um in math again achievement remains pretty much in line with the building um showing consistency instruction and performance. Um in ELA we do see an area for growth with achievement coming in at about 8% below the building average. Uh but this is helping to guide our PLC focus.

015This is helping to guide our conversations amongst teams on how do we impact instruction as a result of our student data strengthening our literacy practices particularly around writing and comprehension. eighth grade IR um math achievement again consistent with the building average which reflects that steady performance across all grades and the focus across all grades. Um in ELA however we do see some some celebration uh with a eighth graders performing at with a significant growth at approximately 50% of our students performing at or above proficiency in IR. Now I will say when we discussed and looked at this data as a building one thing that we do acknowledge is yes our eighth graders and you'll see as we go through map in a second they they are showing large growth they are showing large achievement but

016this is in in as a result of effort of all three grades. Our students our teachers are putting in work as they are going through the freedom school and as a result our eighth graders are coming out ready as they go on to high school. FMS reading. Again, this is just giving you some achievement data. Overall on math ELA, we see that 45% of our students are in that blue or green area or the high or high average achievement area. Um hopefully as we continue to solidify our foundation of literacy, we can see an improvement in that. Um growth though, again, our students are working, they are growing, they are getting there. um on the winter administr uh on a winter administration 62% of our students. So 62% of our students overall were at the

01750th growth percentile or higher. Again our students are moving in that correct direction. In math um achievement we look we see 51% of our students um I'm sorry 34% of our students who scored in that blue or green which is that high or high average. and then celebrating in that growth with 51% of our patriots scoring at or above the 50th percentile um for their winter administration of MAP. So hopefully these results then correlate to our AR data which we get at the end of this school year. This is again just sixth grade data. I'm going to break it down by grade level. I'm going to just give you a few celebrations that I've seen over over this year in our in our growth data by grade level. Um, from in sixth grade ELA, we

018saw a jump from 50% to 62% from the fall to winter administration of MAP of our students being at or above the 50th growth percentile. Again, strong progress. What we want to see in our Patriots as they continue to grow throughout the years they spend at Freedom. This is seventh grade, seventh grade math. a notable increase from 37 to 56% of our students again at that 50th growth percentile. Students making progress. They're setting those targets. They we are providing their support the supports that are needed and we are seeing them grow. 8th grade again some big celebrations but we want to make sure that we acknowledge that this is part of the entire process as students are moving up through freedom. um 70% of our students at or above 50% growth growth percentile or higher

019in ELA from the fall to winter administration. So our students are getting ready for high school. They are getting ready for the IR test and we are sending them off prepared. The next section of the presentation, we are going to talk a little bit about our MTSS tier 2 and tier three data. I do want to point out this year we have a had a change in our schedule. Um with the change in this schedule we have now dedicated win time which stands for what I need that allows our tier 2 and our tier three students to meet with an interventionist every single day and we have seen huge success as a result of this. So Miss Colleen Humphris who is our MTSS lead is going to talk a little bit about this. I think

020it's this button I've been pressing this but okay. Um, hi everybody. Um, as Mr. O'Hada said, I'm Colleen Humphris, a proud 14-year Freedom Patriot. Uh, for the last five of those years, I've been a tier three math specialist. Um, a position that really has come together over those last five years. Um, as our district has strengthened the MTSS process and as Mr. Roa said as our middle school schedule changed in this last year, it really changed for the better of a lot of our kids scheduling needs, but specifically for students who are in tier 2 and tier three math and literacy instruction because we've gone from a schedule where they were seen every other day for 40 minutes to now every day for about 44 minutes. Um, so I have I'm I'm not going to

021use those statistics that are in there. I'm going to I have some of my own. Um, so this year the tier three students are seen by two dedicated math specialists and two dedicated reading specialists. So we see tier three reading and math students all day. Um, and this year we have serviced 52 students in tier 3 math and 45 students in tier 3 reading. The tier 2 students, so students who are just that um next level down and needing support are seen by their grade level math or literacy uh ELA teacher. And those that level of students, we've been able to support 44 students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade and tier 2 reading and 39 math students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade uh tier 2 math. of those students, the tier 2 students,

02221 of them between combined math and ELA have shown enough growth that we've been able to exit them out of tier 2 and back to tier one instruction where they no longer or they've shown enough growth that they no longer demonstrate a need for tier 2 support. And out of our tier three, we've been able to exit 12 of our students combined from tier three down to the tier 2 level of support. So again, these are numbers um that are really encouraging that I don't think we've seen in years past with the scheduling constraints that we've had in years past. Um again, the the schedule has allowed us to have really intentional groupings that service the students with the needs that they have. So, we're able to have conversations and group them in a way

023that aligns to the needs that they have and we're able to address those needs. And I think that's showing in the growth that we're seeing our students. So, we haven't taken our spring map yet, but we're anticipating seeing similar numbers to these. But just a quick number, Enrique talked about our growth percentiles overall were really high in both math and reading. For students who were in tier 2 or tier three math, their overall growth percentile on average was the 57th percentile. So all students in intervention, if you just look at their average growth percentile, we at the 57th percentile. and students in tier 2 and tier three reading were at the 61st percentile for growth when taking the fall looking at fall to winter percentile growth. So, a lot of celebrations coming out of our

024tier 2 and tier three interventions um and our MTSS program. So, a lot of things that we're proud of in that department. Thank you. And now Dana's going to talk about Sorry, I can click through all the slides I was I didn't talk about. Miss Lord is gonna talk about PLC's. >> Okay. >> All right. >> Okay. Hi, I am Dana Lord. I have been the coach at Freedom for this is my third year. Um, so this year we really tried to get our our PLC systems in place. So, the district has some guiding questions that I can see better on the next slide if you don't mind me. Oops. There we go. So, we have the district has four questions that we we want to focus our work around. What do we want all

025students to know and be able to do? How will we know if they learn it? How will we respond when students don't learn? How will we respond when students have learned and need enrichment? Um, so I'm really proud of our teams this year. All content area teams are working on CERS. So, um, like like Enrique said, ART is doing CERS, PE is doing CERS, um, and they're really excited about learning how to teach them and it's it's just refreshing to kind of see that in a team. Um, but in our PLC's, teachers meet collaboratively to analyze student work for trends and gaps in learning, such as the need for more explicit instruction for focusing a claim. By meeting regularly, PLC teams have created tailored instruction in response to any patterns the teams have noticed. Most

026recently, the ELA team has implemented writing conferencing in each of their units. Um, so Enrique mentioned that we do have a CER rubric and I'm really proud of the work that ELA teams have done with taking that rubric, turning it into a studentfriendly checklist and that keeps changing too dependent on the student needs. Um, so it's just kind of like a fluid document that changes to keep leveling up with our students writing. So I think that's been really cool this year. Um, and just if you don't believe me, here is Mr. Roachcha. Um, so this is an example of a CER done in a Spanish class. So the prompt is asking I mean I know we have Spanish speakers here. Um, but the prompt is talking about a parable in Spanish and then the student

027was able to accurately list the claim, evidence, and reasoning. So those basic skills that students are learning in their ELA classrooms are transferring to other content areas. And then in addition, we've been getting teams, exploratory teams together. So this is the PE team. Those are examples of peer peer pers. Um and we got together and just noticed, you know, what are some patterns of good instruction? what does, you know, really good writing look like? What would it sound like in a PECER? Um, so just getting the teams together and talking about student authentic student writing has been really great. Um, and our goal is that all these efforts will lead to significant academic improvement and it's been my pleasure and I love working with the team. So, clicker. >> I told the PE team that

028I was going to use this image and nobody was going to believe me that they were PE teachers. They all laughed because they said we all look like PE teachers. Um so to wrap up our presentation for today, I do want to spend some time um highlighting one of the bigger focuses that Freedom has on on top of academic focus that Freedom has been looking at um over the past few years and that is just making Freedom a place where all students fre feel welcome. So I'm going to show you some slides just from some of our clubs um because that is one of the biggest ways we do it. students if they are interested in the topic they look to speak to one of their teachers they look to get a sponsor for that

029club they look to see if they can get enough students to be part of that club and we work with the the amazing money people whether it's Jenny or some grants with be to get that club up and running and we have never had we have never had to say no and I feel that we are very lucky in that um so that our students can find people find students that share their interests and they can build these connections So, just really quickly showing you some clubs and I want to celebrate some of our patriots that are here in these clubs. I think I need to get a better handle on this clicker. Elido is Spanish for the nest. It is a place where some of our more our bilingual or dual language students get

030to hang out. They can converse in both English and Spanish. Again, just finding a space where they are comfortable. Beauty and Wellness, we'll hear from in a couple seconds. um journalizing, custom customizing mirrors, lip scrubs, toiletry bags, nails, makeup, and more. I have never had the privilege to hang out with beauty and wellness just yet, but I think I'm going to have it to add it to the list. Miss Reyes, K-pop club will also celebrate today. Um it is a club, again, a club where like-minded individuals are coming together to celebrate the culture behind K-pop. Um Korean pop music. Um they talk about the music, they talk about the foods in the culture. Um they plan events, they craft and again sample snacks even from Korean culture. Student council has been a big a big

031part of Freedom for a while and as they continue to grow um whether it's planning a dance or planning a fundraiser, these are our students who are stepping up as leaders in the building. And then new to Freedom, a chess club. um again students who just have similar interest. Um the one who sponsors our chess club, Mr. Robertson, is also a high school chess team coach. Um so he talks to them about competitions. He's actually going to a competition with his high school team this weekend. Um and just begins to prepare them on the clockwork, the openings, the end games that come along with chess. So that I want to again spend a second to kind of invite some of our sponsors uh for the clubs up um and the patriots that are here with

032them. So I'd like to invite Miss Aaliyah Reyes up. She is our sponsor for beauty and wellness. With her we have Gabriella. You can come on up Gabriella. Melanie and Jarelli. The other club we'd like to celebrate today is actually was not in our presentation because it is so new to freedom. Yeah. Um, and that is because they, it was very interesting when we started to set up this club because we wanted to find students who were competitive but maybe are not into sports or athletics and we wanted to tap in their real passion. So, we started a math counts club. So, I'd like to celebrate Miss Joy Stevens who is one of the Math Counts coaches. And with us today, one of our eighth grade rock stars, Mr. Ivan Grace. >> Oh, I'm sorry.

033>> And then also again K-pop club and celebrating all they do. Um, our sponsor, Miss Samantha Canu, Nico Herrera, Mia M, and Eliza, we want to invite you up. Why don't you come on up, friend? different. Okay. >> Again, I think where where I feel freedom is very special um is that we would like there's it's made up of people who want to share in students interests. It's made up in teachers who want to develop the students passions along with supporting them academically. So, I'm very lucky to work alongside such an amazing staff and I hope our number of clubs continues to grow. Thank you. If any of families, if you want to come up and take a picture, you're welcome to do that. I know it's hard from that angle. >> Kids run. Kids

034run. There we go. All right. Tippy toes lady. >> Awesome. You can hear it again for our patriots. Thank you guys. You can have a seat. Any questions, comments? >> Uh Mr. Oh, I would uh like to congratulate you and the team um on your proactiveness. Um going back to uh talking about the I um and just testing in general with MAP and I um how you guys looked at uh differentiating um and utilizing best utilizing your PLC um time and obviously the crosscurriculum um collaboration um uh looking at the CRS and PE was is very nice and I did not think that those were gym teachers. I'm used to gym teachers being in shorts. But anyway, so kudos to them. They they got me on that one. Um but I do really uh you

035speaking for the board just again to congratulate you on the proactiveness of the differentiation there. Um and then your idea to look at continue to look at the amplify and the other uh resources tools and how you going to strategize that for um you know for future uh reference. Um, I really like how you know you guys, the MTSS team looked at historically uh students who were historically scoring scoring below um significantly um and also the structural changes in just the scheduling, right? Because sometimes it's not just the academic content um you know the teachers are working hard and I really want them to see well the students are working hard and I really want all of them to to to see that in you know the uh the next set of um test data.

036Um, I don't have any questions. I have just celebrations. I like it. Um, I like how, you know, just, you know, being able to demonstrate the strength and the muscles, you know, muscle that the students are building um in, uh, the most painless way. I like to think like, you know, from a teacher standpoint, I always like to say like, can we work smarter not harder. Um, so I really appreciate um, your presentation tonight, you and the team. >> Thank you. >> Anyone else? >> Does anyone have other questions? Uh, no questions, just a comment. I love that freedom at freedom really the sky is the limit um in terms of like students being able to express themselves and I love that there is uh students have the freedom to dream up these ideas of

037clubs that they want but they also have the support of the adults in the classroom uh or in the building. So um I think that's that speaks a lot to how uh the teachers show their care and respect for the students. So, thank you for giving the students those opportunities. >> Thank you. Yeah, that's amazing that they go to their teachers and they bring this up and it it just blows up the the idea. We re most recently we have a Dungeons and Dragons club that we had we had to we had to stop we had to turn students away because there's so many want to be part of it. So, >> does anyone else have questions? Okay, I do have a couple of questions. Um, so I do understand that the AR is including

038the dual language students. Um my question is does um does the map data show um or includes the dual language students um data? So the map concludes the ELA and math includes dual language but there is also Spanish assessment data that I I was trying not to have so many data slides u but yes that that component is not included in is the Spanish assessment of map >> and I don't remember I know that we had a couple years ago we had the presentation on the curriculum for dual language is it amplified or is it something different >> so it's both so in their e so dual language students now have an separate ELA period and Spanish separate Spanish LA Spanish language arts period. In ELA, it is Amplify. In Spanish language arts, it's Camos,

039which is another curriculum. >> Galeria. Sorry, Galeria. >> Oh, Galeria. >> Camino in my head >> because I'm writing it down. So, >> sorry. >> Thank you. Um, I have actually a comment. So, um, just this week on Tuesday, I had the honor to be part of the judging panel for the program, the best of Berwin. And I want to congratulate all the staff at Freedom and Heritage because I was just telling uh Mary this year was the best of the best and I've been doing this for over 20ome years and this was the best of the best of the students. Um I want to congratulate and thank the staff both Heritage and Freedom uh for taking the time to inspire the students and to help them grow in a way that they are um

040well-rounded individuals. And when they come and present themselves and introduce themselves, they are coming not only academically prepared but also maturely prepared to answer the difficult questions that some of us ask them. and how they can also um explain to us how their academic is very important but at the same time their extracurricular activities are also important. their voluntary work is very important and I I take my hats off for all of you because honestly uh when you get to see the 26 most valuable eighth graders from all of Burwin and most of them are coming from heritage and freedom it's very inspir inspirational so thank you for that >> awesome yes >> thank you so Thank you. And congratulations to all of our staff and students who are here tonight and also to the

041families for being here to support um the students and the school. We very much appreciate it. Oh yeah. Um in my opinion. All right. All right. Thank you again, um, Freedom Patriots, families for being here, staff for being here, students. Congratulations again. you are absolutely welcome to stay as we transition into more presentations, but we also understand that you may need to go. Um, so we will um take about two minutes and then we'll start our uh next presentation. Thank you again and congratulations. Good job, ladies. All right, we are going to move into our next presentation. which is on our staff device refresh. So, I will turn it over to RJPL. >> Hello everybody. Thank you so much for having me tonight. We're going to talk tonight about the faculty and staff device refresh.

042Um, this presentation is going to provide an overview of what this refresh plan could look like. Um, as part of the plan, all faculty devices will be upgraded from the current M1 MacBook Air to the newer M5 MacBook Air, ensuring that they have the performance needed for today's instructional demands. In addition, staff will receive updated Mac, Mini, and monitor setups to support their day-to-day operational needs. This refresh is part of our ongoing Apple lease cycle, allowing us to keep our current our technology current, reliable, and align with our long-term strategy. Overall, this plan ensures our staff have the tools they need to effectively support teaching, learning, and district operations. So, why now? Why refresh our devices now? First, our current devices are reaching the end of their expected four-year life cycle, which means we can

043expect more performance issues and reliability concerns moving forward. Second, the demands of these devices have increased as we continue integrating modern instructional tools, including AI supported software. our current devices are being tasked. This refresh inserves ensures improved performance, greater reliability for both faculty and staff, and stronger security protections. Finally, it aligns with our long-term technology strategy of keeping our systems current, sustainable, and capable of supporting high-quality instruction. This is about maintaining a reliable learning environment while preparing for the evolving demands of education. When comparing our current M1 devices to the newest M5 models, the improvements are pretty significant. We see meaningful gains in overall performance with faster processing and improved graphics capabilities. This allows applications to run more smoothly, especially as instructional tools become more advanced. Battery life is also improved, helping ensure devices last

044through a full day of instruction without interruption. In addition, the newer devices better support multitasking, allowing staff to run multiple applications at once more efficiently. Finally, they are built to better handle emerging technologies, including AI supported tools that are becoming more common in education. Overall, this upgrade ensures our devices can meet both current classroom needs and future demands. For the 2026 2026 school year, we are proposing to replace all faculty M1 MacBook Air devices with the new M5 MacBook Air. This upgrade brings significant performance increases. The M5 chip includes a faster processor, enhanced graphics, and built-in AI capabilities, making it up to nine times faster for certain tasks and nearly 80% faster per core. We are also increasing storage from 128 gigs to 512 gigs, giving faculty more space for instructional materials and improving overall

045device performance. Connectivity is upgraded as well with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 providing faster and more reliable connection across our network our network. Finally, the devices offer up to 18 hours of battery life, ensuring they last through a full day of instruction. Overall, this upgrade equips our staff with faster, more capable tools that support modern instruction and emerging technologies. From a technology perspective, the MI devices M5 devices perform faster, increased memory and storage, and improved graphics and display quality, and enhanced security and device management. From an instructional standpoint, this translates directly into better classroom experience. Teachers will be able to plan and deliver content more efficiently, use multimedia and interactive tools seamlessly, and conduct higher quality video conferences for different types of learning. Just as importantly, more reliable devices means less downtime and fewer disruptions

046during instruction. Overall, this refresh is not just a technology upgrade. It's an investment in more effective, consistent teaching and learning across our district. For staff, we are transitioning from IMAX to updated Mac Mini systems paired with modern highresolution monitors. This approach provides strong performance while offering greater flexibility in how workspaces are set up and some cost savings as well. These new systems will better support day-to-day administrative tasks, improving speed and efficiency across different workflows. It also helps us to create a more consistent and standardized device experience for both faculty and staff across the district. Overall, this upgrade ensures our staff have reliable, high-erforming tools to support daily operations and student services. This plan also reflects our continued partnership with Apple. We are maintaining a structured device refresh cycle aligned with our existing master service agreement,

047which allows us to keep technology current without large unexpected costs. This approach supports predictable budgeting and long-term sustainability, ensuring we can plan ahead and avoid falling behind on critical upgrades. It also provides us with access to the latest Apple technology along with ongoing support and resources. Overall, this partnership helps us maintain a more reliable, modern technology environment that supports both instruction and district operations. As we look at next steps, we are requesting board approval to move forward with the device refresh plan as presented. This includes the purchase of 482 MacBook Air M5 devices for faculty and 62 Mac Mini systems with accessories for staff along with three years of Apple Care Plus coverage and Apple professional learning services. The total cost of this investment will not exceed $647,160. This refresh will enhance student engagement and

048outcomes, support innovative instructional practices, and strengthen our district-wide technology environment. As part of this process, existing devices will be collected and resold through a certified vendor, allowing us to recover value for the district. Our goal is to have new devices deployed and ready for staff at the beginning of the 2026 2027 school year. We believe this is a strategic investment in both teaching and learning, and we respectfully request your approval to proceed. Thank you. Is there any questions? >> Uh, the Mac Mini devices do not come with a monitor. Is that something that we're purchasing now or is that so or we reusing existing moni uh model monitors? >> Um, the plan when we buy the new Mac minis is to buy an high definitionition monitor to go with those. >> Okay. So potentially at

049the end of this refresh cycle, we would be able to retain those monitors and just change out the minis. >> Exactly. And that's the long-term plan. You're you're right. >> Okay. >> And then the Mac Air uh or going from the M1's to the M5s, uh you mentioned a RAM increase. Uh what is that? What what do we what are the M1's at versus the M5s in terms of RAM? >> In terms of RAM, >> that is a good question. And I don't know if I wrote that answer down. Hold on one second here. I don't want to give you the wrong answer. Um, let me let me >> Yeah, if you don't have it, you can I you can get it to me and I'll send it. >> Okay. Yeah, I don't have the

050exacts on that. From a hard drive perspective, I know we're going up quite quite quite a lot. >> Okay. And then I had one last question. is um a strategy that can be used for refreshes would be to do a percentage to do a a part of our fleet. And I I don't know how it works with the Apple leasing and those types of programs. Um one of my concerns is that this is a four or fiveyear large cost as opposed to if we do a refresh cycle of 20% every year. um then we're we're we have more consistent or sorry a lower price uh that we can kind of expect expect every year. Is that a strategy that's available with the um Apple leasing program? Um there's a lot of options available but in

051order to to kind of stick with our master service agreement the way that it's currently been and historically um we do follow that cycle of the every four years with a bigger refresh. Um but there there there are options to consider. >> So I can also jump in on that. Um, so we have we have a master plan, master technology plan where we have all of our elementary devices, >> all of our middle school devices, and then all of our staff devices. And so we kind of have that on a four-year rotating cycle. That's how it fits in. And that's kind of how that kind of is where you're touching it, I think. Right. And >> so like this year would and I I don't have it in front of me so don't quote me

052verbatim, but like if this year last year was a year off where we didn't do a lease, >> this year is we do one lease for staff. Next year would be middle school. The year after that would be elementary and then the year after that again is off and then we begin the cycle again. Um, and that cost is not per year. That's the total cost divided by it's a three-year lease. So, it's that divided by three. >> Got it. Okay. >> So, it's Yeah. It's not You're not taking that whole amount every year. >> Got it. That makes sense. Thank you for clarify. >> Yeah. We've had a very long partnership with Apple and I know that >> this is lease number 24. >> Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That makes sense. That Thank you for

053clarifying. >> We've we've been able This is budgeted for. It's not something new that we're throwing into the budget. Got it. This has been a regular budgeting expense that's been ongoing. >> That's And that's what I thought. I I I was trying to remember why >> why we I I've seen the the student refresh every year and for some reason the the staff and faculty didn't click. So that Thank you for connecting the dots. I appreciate that. >> No problem. >> Sorry, R.J. to put you on the spot. >> No, that's a good question, Jenny. I appreciate you. Appreciate you. Thank you. >> I got a question. I got a question and it's probably already answered. I know you have accessories in there. I'm an Apple user, too, but I know they like to not

054include all the stuff. Um, is that including the charger and the plug? >> Yes. Uh, charger cable cord as well as um additional keyboards or trackpads for the Mac minis. >> And I don't think I missed this, but um do you have an idea of what the possible or potential resale um number might be? >> Um I do. Depending on the condition of the devices that we're going to sell back, usually they give them uh the vendors give them a grade. So, like a grade A device, a grade B device, a grade C device. The grade A devices, we're seeing anywhere between $150 and $250 per unit. Okay. >> When we sell them back. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, >> absolutely. >> And that's also that's also a line item in our revenue

055budget. >> I feel like I might as >> um I I had a a question. this is probably not for you though, just knowing that these new devices will have that capa the capacity with the AI enhancements and just all that sort of baked in. Um, and thinking about what that means for staff as far as like literacy around how to leverage that best, right? If we have the top of the line capability with that, >> right? you want to speak to institute day maybe a little bit about >> so just last week actually um Sam and I uh presented to the entire organization about um our AI initiatives and our AI efforts around the district as well as just general technology updates um and from a from the AI efforts perspective our faculty and

056staff are really um starting to move in the direction of being much more comfortable with AI software with other AI resources um and we're starting to build it feels like momentum toward um just generally as an organization starting to really feel more comfortable with how we can leverage that to support instruction. So, um we're still at the early, you know, earlier stages of it, but things are things are are definitely moving in the in the right direction. >> Thank you. >> I'm sorry, I got one more question. I did have a AI question and I know it's something that's still, like you said, in the works and we're still working on that. Do we get any sort of bargain with like the Apple training like the Apple workshops, the Apple classes? Um, and do they

057have or have we looked into what possible AI training that they might have and anything that is geared towards education? >> Um, I don't want to speak out of turn Sam Schuman would would know much more about it, but from what I what I do know about Apple is they they are willing to work with us in terms of flexibility and different uh supporting instructional re um options. Um, I do know that Apple comes out a number of times throughout the year and works with our instructional uh technology department um to support um Apple devices and different ways that they can leverage them in the classroom to support instruction. Um, so, you know, without knowing 100% for sure, it's just something I can I can definitely speak to that Apple is willing to work with

058us, has worked with us a number of times before and are are continuing to partner with us moving forward. Thank you, R.J. >> Um, additionally, we also have our Apple teacher badges that we um give out professional development credit hours for teachers to go through some of the Apple teacher certification. So, we still have that access as well. And they do get professional development hours. Okay. And while R.J. gets back to start the present next presentation. Um you will note so way back when we started the onetoone program we the the board and the district made a commitment that anytime we do a refresh of devices we're also um reinvesting in the Apple professional development and so that's always part of that cycle so we can ensure that we're just not putting devices in front

059of people but then not actually helping to support them. So that is part of that refresh as well. All right, got a couple of presentations to go through here. Um, so we wanted to revisit um the guidance for school response to immigration enforcement. Um, we have done quite a bit of work and um presentations with our staff and so we just wanted to reiterate um some of the things that we have focused on as a district. Um so uh across Illinois there are and across the country there are many things that school districts um look to for guidance for responding to immigration enforcement. Um Isby has put out guidelines um that help to drive policies within school districts. Um there is the Illinois Safe Schools Act for All um which I'm going to talk about

060in a little more detail in a minute. um Illinois school court and board policy um focus on things that school districts should do regarding um immigration as well as around um emergency protocols. We obviously need to follow the open meetings act and um the freedom of information act. Um we also focus on furpa and that privacy um not just with information but also with student records which we follow through the Illinois Student Records Act. Um all of our staff have been trained in emergency response plan. Um they have access to emergency response protocols in their classrooms. Um we have in place already district immigration enforcement response protocols in all of our schools. Um we also have to ensure that in anything that we are doing um with our students and staff that we abide by

061the confidentiality expectations and safeguarding internal information. Um we have collective bargaining agreements and also legal liability ethical concerns that all come into play when we're talking about guidance around immigration enforcement. So, um, the Illinois Safe Schools for All Act, um, is something that codified Piler versus D, which we have sent out and talked a lot about over the past couple of years, um, which essentially says that children cannot be denied access to free K12 public education based on immigration status. And this act includes multiple layers of protection to ensure that no child is denied access to education um, based on actual or perceived. And that's very important. Um the actual or perceived immigration status. So schools follow non-discrimination requirements. Um we also follow restrictions on information collection. So school districts are not allowed to collect

062um or share any information regarding immigration status. Um even if that information is shared um it is not with by a parent or um a student, it is not shared. um it is not collected or shared. Um and you know we cannot disclose any of that information and all staff are aware of that. All staff know that there are confidentiality pieces around that. Um as also as part of the Illinois Safe Schools for All Act um we have law enforcement um access that talks about law enforcement access protocols. Um so by July 1 of 2026, this um act requires that all schools develop and implement plans for for um the any any related anything related to records or regarding immigration status. And so this would include um a designated authorized process involving school officials. Um,

063so if someone were to come in and request records or if we had an enforcement officer, they would need to present a judicial warrant um or a subpoena. We do have procedures in place where nothing would be um released and no information would be shared. All of those documents would have to be um reviewed by our attorneys. um and requirements to notify and seek consent for any kind of records request. We have to have parent requests for that. So records would never be released. Um so these things are all things that are already in place in school districts, but this just codifies and really make sure that everyone is aware that we are protecting our students and their information. Um so we do have in place our emergency response and communication protocol. So we have

064received some questions about if there was um you know immigration enforcement action in our area or any type of law enforcement action around a school. Um we do have established crisis teams that address situations where an external factor could um you know directly impact what's happening in a school. Um and and those procedures are in place. Um we also have in place communication. So if there were for example a secure and teach due to an unsafe um situation in the area, parents would be notified of that and they would be notified of the reason for that. Um so those protocols are in place um for notifying families. Um we also received some questions about virtual participation. Um and we have um Zoom licenses. We have ways for families to virtually participate in things like conferences,

065teacher meetings. Um there are some situations where arrangements specific need specifically need to be made um specifically for 504 or IEP meetings. Um but those things can certainly be made based on um the needs of families. So those those are absolutely in place. Um we do have um extensive student and family support resources. So we have our school social workers who provide school-based services to support students and families. Um we have many community partners um that support us, some within our schools and some where we also make referrals. So, um, what we have talked with our staff about is that if there are any needs that a family has, um, regarding immigration concerns or any other concerns that extend beyond the scope of a schoolbased service, then we do make referrals, um, to agencies that

066can provide that more extensive support. Um, we do have partnerships with West 40 um, as do many of the local school districts in our region. Um and they have a plethora of resources available which are linked on our website and also are shared every week in our family newsletters. So families can access that access that information at any time um without feeling they need to reach out directly to the school. Um they are always welcome to reach out directly to the school but those those um uh resources are also available for them at any time. umformational flyers um for resources are distributed. We have policies in our district regarding how we distribute um materials. So things that um people are requesting to be distributed come to our office. If they need to be reviewed by

067an attorney before they are um distributed, we go through those processes and procedures. Oh, I think that's it. Is that the last one? Hold on. I just have to make sure I didn't skip anything. No, there should be one more. No. Did one get left off? Okay, it's fine. All right. Um, and so, you know, these are some of the things that have come to us and have come as some questions. Um, and you know, we shared information with staff. We wanted to make sure that we also had the opportunity to share with families. Um, you know, the board has continued to um partner with the district and are committed um to the values and beliefs that are outlined in the welcoming resolution um that the board has passed. Um and we've also um you

068know are committed to working with students, families um and partnering with the community to ensure um safe safe areas around our schools. Are there any questions? I I have a question. In one of the present in one of the slides, it mentioned that the staff is trained >> all the staff or certain group of or certain numbers. >> So, we have certain members that are on our crisis teams. Okay. But, um last year we we spent a lot of time re um redoing all of our emergency response pro protocols. We worked directly with staff from West 40 and at that time they came out and trained all of our staff on those emergency protocols and we created the flip charts for them. Um those are also then reviewed yearly at the um building level um

069to to go through those processes and procedures um specifically on you know what to do in the charts. what we have for all staff is if you are on the crisis team, what you would do. If you were a classroom teacher, what you would do? If you're a c on the custodial team, what would you do? Um, and so that's all available for our staff. >> So, each building has a crisis team, correct? >> That is already established. Do they is it a different crisis team every year or is it is the same group every year? uh or does it change? >> It could change. It's it's typically the same role. So, you're always going to have a bu building administrators. You're always going to have a social worker. You're always going to have a

070nurse depending on the the need. And you're always going to have some classroom teachers. Um and you're always going to have custodial staff because there could be things that happen in the evening. So, our assistant custodians would be part of those teams. So, the people could change. I would say they a lot of them stay pretty consistent. That is the goal. Um but you know sometimes there are are people that come on to the teams that weren't on the year before. >> And do these teams meet on an annual basis uh every two times a year, once a month? How do they um meet to refresh or know what is the expectations? >> Well, certainly all of this is revisited at the start of every year. Um there are a variety of reasons why a

071crisis team might come together. There may have been a a situation in the school that then they need to debrief about and they might come together um for that. At any time if a member of the crisis team feels that there's a reason for the team to come together to discuss um that is easily easily happens within our buildings. >> Thank you. I don't know if I need to say this, but um just for it to be on the record um it is my understanding um in my in in my scope in my professional scope that uh crisis team or uh training for crisis crisises um include all possible potential crisises that also include a possible or potential um immigration concern. Right? So it could be one a crisis is a fire, right? A potential

072fire. Um unfortunately another potential crisis is an active shooter situation. So these are things that are not necessarily publicized. Um but these are definitely internal conversations like you said that are happening annually as well as on a I don't want to say case by case but um based on current trends. >> Yep. So, I just feel like I need to say that to to just understand like the crisis is all all possible crisises, whether it's a flood or it's something else. They all have somewhat of a different uh approach and strategy to them, but they're all included in that crisis um training as well as crisis uh team uh planning and management. >> I appreciate that. I would also add that I think this is you know a problem sadly that's um you know concentrated

073in our area and uh I attended both of the sessions that uh superintendent Havis conducted at each of the middle schools regarding this and to uh board member uh Butler's point it it this falls under those things that would be considered a crisis um but they were very well attended and you know she stayed and answered everyone's questions until everyone was clear. Um, and and part of the reason we're doing this too is just to make sure that everyone who's watching or listening is is clear that we do have these things in place. And certainly if there are any questions going forward, the board is more than happy to, you know, uh, be transparent about what what any other steps might entail. >> Yeah, I appreciate that you brought that information and thank you for

074going. I know that two of you went. Thank you for attending and representing us. All right. Okay. Thank you so much. We'll move on to the next presentation. All right. Um so this is just anformational um presentation just around um beginning to think about long-term district planning when it comes to um enrollment and financial considerations. Um, so we want to always be prepared and be thinking well ahead um to ensure that um we have long-term um positive sustainability within our district. So just sharing some information today for for your consideration and things that we need to begin thinking about as a district. Um so one of our current realities and and that has been a reality for a bit is that we've been seeing an enrollment decline um across our district. Um this kind of

075gives you a picture of over the past 10 years. For the purposes of this presentation today, I'm going to be focusing on K8 versus preK8. Um because the the preK um we have it in in different buildings. Um, prek is grant-f funded and can vary. Um, and so we want to focus specifically on K8. Um, when we're talking about this particular, um, presentation. Um, so this is the K8 enrollment since 2016. You can see um, up close to 3,800 in 2016 and now currently we're about 20 uh, 26.83. Um, and these are some projections. um which I'll talk about in a little bit about where we get to these projections, but these are some of the projections that um we see moving forward for the next several years. Um so from where we currently are

076um we're projected to go down another couple hundred students um looking at about 2400 um by 2029. And so this just kind of gives you a visual of those enrollment trends over time and where we anticipate we could be going there all the way on the right. And this just puts those into percentages of what that looks like. Um that our overall enrollment in K8 has gone down about 29% in 10 years and we're projecting about another 10%. Um, again, projections are projections and so we can plan based on them. Um, but that's that's what we're seeing. And so this is just a visual of what that looks like by school. You can see that the overall trend is not just in one school. It is just it's the trend um for many years that

077impacts all of our schools. Um, and these are just numbers. So, if you're trying to think about this from the perspective of how many kids are actually sitting in a school, this is the one place that I did include preschool in the four schools that house preschool, just so you could get an understanding of where we are numbers wise right now total as far as kids in the building. Um, but you'll notice, for example, Emerson and Piper are in, you know, 240 and 275. um and Kmenky and Irving would be very similar to those numbers in K8 or K5 if you removed preschool. Um those schools all have two sections per grade level. Currently, Persing and Hayawa have three sections per grade level. So, right now we have those two schools are a little bit

078larger. Um but those are the four schools that have preschool. Um so when we think about right what we're seeing in the enrollment trends um we look at where those trends are coming from. Well they're coming from that we've just seen an overall decrease in birth rates um in this area for the past 10 plus years. Um so you can see on that top row um that tells you the live birth rates. um as of in 2016 we had 931 and that year we we enrolled 404 um kindergarteners. And so when you follow this trend and you look at projections, that's where some of these projections come from is that we're just not seeing as many kids. And so what happens is then our enrollment continues to to drop. Um, so based on those projections,

079we would be projecting a potentially a pretty large drop next year. We did just start kindergarten registration because we don't just want to rely on projections. We want to make sure that we're following and and you know, so if if anyone's listening or anyone knows someone who has a kindergartener coming in, please encourage them to come in and register um so we can prepare for them. But it does help us plan for um class sections. How many sections are we going to need to cover the number of students that are coming in? Um, you will probably note and remember that we have been decreasing sections at the elementary level for many years. Um, so at one point Irving had four sections at a grade level. Um, at one point Kmenky had three sections at a

080grade level. Emerson had three. Right? So we have been going through this process slowly. um each year when we look at how many students we have. Are there classrooms that are incredibly small that we need to combine? Um and so we've been trying to address those enrollment declines a little bit at a time um and keep up with those with our staffing. Um, so this just kind of gives you again a visual of the live birth rates are on the top in purple and then that kindergarten enrollment that we see and then kind of projected to continue to go down um a bit over the last several next years. And this again just puts those into percentages for you create that picture. Um and this this graph um depicts how we have changed our staffing

081patterns with those enrollment changes. Um so percent difference in enrollment is in the purple. So that's how much our enrollment has dropped from 2016 to 2025. So you can see um right now about 24.85%. Um and our staff enrollment change we've gone down about 11%. So, there's a couple of things that contribute to that. If you remember back in 2016 and 17, we were incredibly understaffed. Um, and so we spent a lot of um time, effort, commitment, and then EBF dollars. Um, and working with the board and the district to create a plan to make sure that we invested those EBF dollars in the right places to ensure that we built our staffing up. um we were doing that while we were also may potentially transitioning. So for example, if we didn't need a first

082grade section because we didn't have enough kids, we were able to take that FTE of a first grade teacher and potentially move that that FTE into a social work that we needed. And so we were able to kind of do that throughout um the years. And now you'll see as you know you can see that that was happening through 2020 when those those were pretty close together. Um, but then we see that bigger drop in enrollment and less of a drop in staffing. Um, a a lot of that has to do with the the way that our schools are structured, we can't simply just drop staff, when we have neighborhood schools, right? Even if you if you go from 12 sections to eight sections at a school, you still have to have a PE teacher

083at that school. You still have to have a music teacher at that school. and and so you it's it's not that you can just drop the the staff at an equal rate as as you're seeing your enrollment drop. Um so what we've tried to do is to be strategic about you know where where do we put staff based on our greatest needs but then also if there is a retirement or if there is a resignation and we don't need that position then it may just be a position that we don't fill. Um and and we've wanted to to work this way because we feel that is the most stable and valuable way um to move through these processes as you're changing some of those enrollment pieces. Um so some of the other considerations that we

084have to continue to think about um is the the decreases that we're also seeing in funding. And so when you have significant enrollment decreases, you're also going to start to see um where you may not get some of the EBF increases um as high as you were getting them in the past. Now, you can't really compare FY18 to FY26 because FY18 was when it first started and we were so significantly underfunded that we got a lot. Um but then you can see it really stabled uh stabilized after 2021. Um, and we fluctuated and that fluctuation is because we be at sometimes we were a tier one district, sometimes we were a tier 2 district. If you're tier one, you get more of the EBF funding. If you're tier two, you get a little bit less.

085The last couple years we've been tier 2. It's good news on a note that we're now close to 80% funding. Um but then we also have to make sure that we're budgeting for the fact that we won't get as much EBF um for in in those um in those years. So we continue to watch that um and how much is being invested in EBF at the state level. Um so we can that can help us budget and plan for continued enrollment declines. Um, also just things that we have to continue to consider when we think about budgeting is as I mentioned those budget projections and EBF. Um, as we've talked with the board about quite a bit is the mandated categorical proration which is anticipated to get a little bit worse. meaning that when we

086submit um we these are three things that districts are mandated to pay for trans regular transportation special ed transportation and special ed facility tuition. Um so for example for tuition if we were if we pay for a a student's facility we submit that to the state and we do not get 100% of that funding back um we're projected next year to only get 63% of that funding back. Um so so those are things that we have to continue to consider as well as federal budget projections, continuing to to monitor our enrollment declines. um we have to keep thinking about investing in our long range facility plans. And then also another um factor that goes into the EBF as well as enrollment is also your low income numbers um which we know could fluctuate based on

087the new the changes to qualify because we could have less people that are being being on those um benefits and that could impact our low income numbers which could also impact our um our financials. So those are just things that we want to keep in mind. Um so this is this kind of again gives us a background of why it's so important for us to plan ahead. Um so I I will reiterate that we are in a great place right now. We have been able to manage um you know navigate a lot of these um enrollment declines as well as sta um financial fluctuations. So, we're we're really in a good place. Um, but that be that is because we want to we keep planning for what is next. And so, what we want to

088make sure is that we're planning for some of the red flags that we're seeing. Um, which is the enrollment declines as well as some of the financial uncertainties coming. Um, so you can see way back in this is our financial ratings. Um, back in 2010 111, right? we were in a really rough place and and as a district which creates a lot of uncertainty. Um and it it doesn't allow us to provide the resources that we need to provide. Um and the board really charged us with making sure that every year we pass a balanced budget and that we improve our financial situation. And we have done that. And what we want to do is begin planning for what this district looks like five years from now, 10 years from now. Because I know everyone

089sitting in this room wants to leave this place better than when we when we came, right? We want to make sure that it is sustainable for the next 20, 30, 40 years. And that this district never goes back to a place where we're in red and yellow and concerned about how we are providing for our students. So, so as I said, right now we are in a good place. So, the time to make sure that we're preparing for the future um is now while things are going well. Um and so in that regard, it it will make sense for us to really just start looking as a district into where are our programs being housed? What does our current enrollment numbers look like at every building? um what do we want to see five years

090from now, 10 years from now, um within this community? Um so, we're gonna start kind of diving as a district just into some of these enrollment trends as well as into where our programs are currently. Um looking at class sizes, um really looking at some of the things that we've already been doing, sections that are really, really small. um you know are those things that we either need to not fill or are those things that we need to um put into another place but you know what's really important to us and I know is important to the board is we don't ever want to create a situation where we we are being reactionary um or where we get to a point where we say okay now we don't have enough to fund the staff that

091we have and we all hear of so many places right now facing situations of risk ifs and and we don't want that for our district. And so we want to find ways to make sure that right now while we're in a good place that we are planning for the future so those things don't happen. Um so I just wanted to share this data with the board. Obviously it's going to take time to think through process look at um but I think the time to start having those conversations is now. And I think just having the numbers in front is a good place to start. And also if tonight or you know in the future you have feedback about you know I'm curious about this could you get me some more information about you know how

092many students are we serve in a certain program or anything like that. I think that's going to help us to um do some planning with our staff and eventually you know as we look at these things if we when we need to bring our community in to have those conversations then we will do that. Um, but we want to start with just really kind of diving into our current reality. Does anybody have any questions? >> I feel like I'm putting on PSAs tonight. Um, I want to state for the record what a riff is. Um, since we have so many acronyms in our educational community. Uh, that is a reduction in force. Um, unfortunately I was actually uh a victim of that many years ago um when I was a teacher. It is very very

093disconcerting um as an individual um and I'm sure it's obviously um just as traumatic as a school district um and as a school community. Um we are definitely trying as a board I can speak for the board. We are definitely trying to avoid that situation in the future. Um, and I know all of us are more than eager to have all of the courageous conversations that we need to have in the upcoming year to um and and beyond to um you know try to prevent as many um as many experiences that include that as possible. >> Yeah, I I appreciate that. I also think like when you say like the time is now, that just makes me think like I would rather us be in a position to ask teachers to move to different buildings

094than to ask them that to that they have to leave. Right. >> So, you know, I think the projections you've shown go out to like 2029 so that we're thinking like the wiggle rooms in like the next two years, would you say? Like making shifts or we're not at a point yet where we can determine that because we don't have the data or we are. Yeah, I I think that we can continue to do some of the things we've been doing for years to to respond, right? If we if we don't have enough kindergarteners coming in, then we may not need as many sections of kindergarten. Um if we have sections that are incredibly small, we may need to combine sections. Those are things that we can be doing um that really are are we've

095been doing, right, for for many many years. Um but yeah, I think it I think we each year we need to kind of extend those projections and see where we're looking. Um you know, we could do these these projections are based on data um from work. Well, it's now frontline, but um there's that, you know, combine data from all over. Um there are companies that actually do long range projections for a school district or a community um that we can consider if we really wanted to to make sure that we're on the right path with that. Um as I said, I think the planning needs to happen in the next couple of years. >> Um and so I think we have a little bit of wiggle room to to really be thoughtful >> and and

096that's what we want to do. We want to be thoughtful. Um, we don't want to be reactionary >> and Yeah. >> Yeah. Sorry. I was just gonna say I appreciate this conversation now then, you know, uh, so we can, like you said, be intentional and be proactive about preserving the community here. >> Yeah, absolutely. um having been part of the when I became a board member in 2014, we were in the red and seeing all the changes that we had to make and all the things that we had to adjust uh makes me very happy that where we are at right now. So yes, being um proactive is important. I totally very happy to have this conversation. Um you mentioned that in every school except Hayawata and Persing there are two sessions per grade level.

097Does that mean that one of the session is general education and the other one is dual language? It depends on the school. Um so Piper and Irving do not have dual language. Um and but at the other schools then it would be one and one duel and either one or two general education >> like for example Kaminski has one dual one general education. Yes. >> Okay. Uh thank you. And I guess for me I would want to see the projection or dual language students in each grade level and maybe even a special education. >> Okay. >> Just to see the number with the ratio with the staff as well. >> Okay. So numbers for dual language and special education and staff that are that work in those two. Okay, that yes we can get that.

098>> Can we add specials? Um because that would be another one that like you said. >> I said special education specials, right? Okay. >> Oh. Oh, you said special. I thought you were Oh, yeah. I said special education music and >> exploratory explor. Thank you. Absolutely. >> Thank you. I really appreciate this conversation. >> Great. All right. Okay. Um, we had six FOYAS this month. Um, several different topics. Financial account numbers. They were pretty typical ones. curriculum requests, construction bid requests, um, one for our waste and recycling contract, and one around retirement information. Um, the attendance and enrollment numbers are updated in the dashboard. And I will turn it over to Jenny for the financial report. Thanks, Mary. Our bank balance as of today is 60,600,000. Our revenue for the month of March to date

099is 4.6 million. Of that 4.6, 1.6 6 is taxes. So, Cook County is finally catching us up with our taxes. It's only the end of March. So, thank you. Um, our cash flow short is February. Our revenue was 6.9 million. Overall revenue 38.9 million. Expenses for February were 5.9 million. Overall expenses to date were 47 million. Um we are right on target with our expenses. Still a little under with revenue but not too bad. Um our grant snapshot at the end. Um grants are coming in. uh reminder that to this is to kind of grant managers and um April we will be doing I'll bring to the board approval of the tenative amended budget for FY26 and at that time all of the updated grant accounts and grant numbers I can update them in April.

100Um that's kind of more for these guys. But then for the board, remember once the tenative is approved in April, it's then on display for 30 days. We actually keep it on display longer than 30 days. And the final is approved in June. And then I submit it to the state for the final. And then in July, we start the process all over again for next year. That's my report. Sorry. All right. That concludes the superintendent's report. Thank you everyone. Um, building and grounds. >> So, we had a buildings and grounds meeting uh this evening. Um, it has been reported that the health and life safety uh compliance review was done and shout out to Emerson for all the gold stars and 100%. Um, and all the other schools were great, but Emerson stood out.

101Um, there's uh Piper summer projects going on. There's going to be a rooftop on the main building as well as unit vents installed, condensers and returns and things like that uh being installed in the infrastructure. Comemed will also be coming to put new power in it. Piper uh we also talked about 3000 RGLand uh coming along nicely. The you may have noticed that the exterior brick is going up on the outside facade uh walls are going up. They uh they're going to have water I believe right soon. Um, and then anticipating the outdoor space construction over the summer. Um, and hopefully all of that finished by August for the start of the next school year. So, we're all in line with that. We also had a tough conversations about what to do with uh the

102Leverne Education Center. Um, and so we're just sort of weighing the different options around what it means to, you know, preserve our parking for buses, but also address the concerns around the old building and what to do with the old building andor the property. That's an ongoing conversation that we'll keep you posted about. Board member, uh, did I forget anything? No. That concludes our build and ground. >> Thank you. Policy. Uh I was also in the policy meeting tonight and it was uh the the only remarkable thing there was we had um language changes to policy 7150 which is actually in regards to agency and law enforcement requests that uh superintendent Havis talked about earlier. Uh the board felt that it was important to add language to that policy just to codify. um current language

103and and school code indicates that we can't um disclose or um provide any kind of information about citizenship status. But we have added uh a section in that policy to say that we won't be requesting or collecting that information either, which we don't already, but we just wanted to sort of double down on that and make sure that it was uh stamped in our policy. And that's it. >> Thank you so much. uh legislative report. >> Uh yes, I'd like to report four key issues uh to watch and five bills that passed out of the committee. I'll try to make this short. Uh we have the unemployment uh one of the key issues to watch is unemployment for ESPs. That's um that would allow school support staff to collect unemployment benefits during breaks, which is

104a potential which potentially is a major majorly unfunded uh cost for districts at the moment. uh cell phone policy is still uh being worked on it uh asking to require districts to restrict phone usage during the day with exceptions. Um we can get into that another day. Um adult changing uh adult changing stations um which would mandate at least one station per school. That is approximately a $10,000 cost. Um and currently the is uh IASB um opposes that. Um but that's something that is on the table or on the floor. Um and lastly, the property tax relief grants. Again, there are multiple proposals that exist um and that's currently being worked on on the floor. There are five bills that passed out of the committee um regarding funding and grants, education policy um like language

105assessments and school funding updates, health and safety that include asthma medication, food sharing and fingerprint checks, uh staffing and credentials which uh include ASL endorsements and teacher salary incentives and lastly compliance with 504 uh timeline updates. And that is it. >> Thank you. And in this period of understanding abbreviations, ESP, educational support professionals, which includes the custodians, um, uh, PAR professionals that work with our students and support our classrooms. Um, thank you for that, uh, correspondence. >> Uh, we had one email and one physical letter sent to the district. Thank you. Okay. Uh, public comments. Individual appearing before the board are expected to follow the guidelines outlined in board policy 2 to30. Thank you. I George Lamb is director of buildings and grounds. I would just like to remind everyone uh give everyone a heads

106up. Earth Day this year we're celebrating it April 25th. Uh more details will come and I will remind you guys again at the April board meeting and we'll have uh flyers put out. Dr. Havis will have those put out and publicize those on our different platforms. >> Thank you. >> Okay, see no one else coming to the microphone. Um we have action items. can replace. Uh consent agenda items may be removed from the consent agenda and the request of any one member. Items not removed may be adopted by general consent without debate. Removed items may be taken up either immediately after the consent agenda or placed later on the agenda at the discretion of the board. Okay. Um can I get a Do we need a roll call? >> No, we have to motion it.

107Sorry. Can I have a motion? >> I'll motion. >> Second. >> I'll second. >> Iron. A Steinfeld. >> I. >> Butler. >> I. >> Gonzalez. I Jimenez. >> I Drenth. >> I. >> Palace. >> I. >> Motion carried. Thank you. Uh, public comments. Individuals appearing before the board are expected to follow the guidelines outlining board policy 2 to30. Seeing none board member comments, >> um I'd like to uh bring to everyone's attention. We did just approve uh item 12E uh which I as a tech nerd am very excited, but also from a safety standpoint um the improvements to the phone system that uh Mr. R.J J has worked on um is something very exciting. I've I've seen these projects in in in action. I've seen these programs roll out and I think you're the the

108teachers, the administration, the staff are going to find huge benefits in this new system. Uh it also on top of the safety issues, you you have a lot more uptime. So, uh kudos to R.J. for the work on that and uh very excited to to say yes to that one today. Thank you. Anyone else? >> No, >> I just sorry. I just wanted to say that I am very happy with all the behind the works behind the scenes work that goes into running the district and all the the forethought and the the intent that goes into all the decisions that are made. like we have a wonderful budget that's balanced and we're thinking about how we can be proactive and you know not let this little corner of the earth fall apart even when things

109are like you know messy and unsure. So uh thank you for your thoughtful considerations um to Dr. Havis and Dr. host or Jenny Hosty, sorry. Uh but also to all the board members that help support their work um and provide their input and everything like that. Um it it makes me excited for the future and happy to be here. Thank you. And I actually want to add uh that while I am very proud of the work that teachers and staff at the Freedom Middle School, Heritage Middle School, I also believe that it also comes with all the work that the elementary educ uh and I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Um I forgot to add something, too. Um and it goes right to what you just said. um how all of the schools in the

110district work together. Uh board member Steinfield, please help me with this, too, because you were present yesterday. Here's an prime example of the with the choir festival last night at Morton West. Now, my child happens to be a third grader, so this is her first year in the choir and and seeing the whole thing come to fruition. Um it was something that I it was my first time being at um and so I learned some things. Um, I didn't realize that the that our music, not our music program, but like a choir club, right, or a club of kids that have an interest in music and singing was such a struggle, right, in the older in the upper grades. And so what they did was, right, a problem solving um move was creating the clubs

111within the elementary schools, right? And so then it continue it builds it has the exposure it gives the exposure to students who are interested in singing. My kid sings all the time um around the house and um so this gave her an outlet and her friends as well. And um it also creates the passion as well as some structure and other things that uh build up a program to the point where the entire um Morton West auditorium was packed to capacity um and it was full of students um from third grade all the way to 12th grade um on the stage um singing and I mean being very entertaining. You know how as parents we have to go to things and I got to tell you like I was actually entertained like I wasn't sitting

112there on my phone waiting for it to end. Like it was very enjoyable. So um like I said I know you were there um and you you know more even about it than I do. Um but again you know just even with um with freedom you know and in and talking about the clubs today like this is these are the things that students need right in their life their life at school like they have a life right we have a life too um as parents but students have a life and it is very important to um to nurture and to feed um their curiosities and their interests at school. Um, and it was that was just the culmination of of of that uh yes last night. >> Thank you. I would like to just lastly

113kind of give a shout out not to other board member palace but it is women's history month and then when I look around in our community and the people that are stepping up especially in the educational community at the elementary K8 level it's it's women that drive the the machines around here just saying and uh I would be remiss if I didn't uh support the matriarchy right so >> thank you and yes thank you everyone I missed the concert yesterday. I really um hopefully I'll have a chance to see it another time because I did hear very good things about it. So, thank you for everybody for everybody that you do everything that you do in our schools to in our communities to support our students and have a good uh break. >> Yes. Okay.

114Uh can I have a motion to adjourn because I was just going to get up and leave. >> I'll move to adjourn. I'll second. >> Thank you. >> Uh Himenez >> I >> Steinfeld >> I >> Gonzalez I Butler >> I >> Dren >> I >> Palace >> I >> motion carried. Thank you. And Buenas notches.