April 2026 Meetings of the D128 School Board with Audio Description

001Fade to district 128 logo. Fade into board members seat at a table. >> Uh district 128 board meeting. Uh we're going to start with the uh call to order and join us for the pledge of allegiance. The flag pledge that may >> everyone stands for the pledge of >> allegiance >> to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Everyone returns to >> Okay, Carol, can we have a roll call, please? >> Nina Austin >> here. >> Jim Batson >> here. >> Raul Deshmuk. >> Um, Doug Flegal >> here. >> Middish Cotwall >> here. >> Wes Poland >> here. >> Julie Simpson. >> Julie >> here. Jim Batson. >> Okay. Uh we'll note that Raul

002is not with us at this point in time, but we have a quorum, so we're going to move forward. Uh we start by reviewing the agenda. We have some communication items, uh some student recognition, and then we'll go into invitation for public comment. Uh we have a ESP union report, a student schoolboard rep report from all these folks here. uh uh foyer requests to talk about uh superintendence report, some discussion items including a proposed board meeting schedule for next year, uh review the board policy 2 col um a budget hearing, budget preliminary update, uh textbook adoption requests, PE exemption process update, uh we have a consent vote agenda, items that routinely are, done in one vote. Uh >> momentary pause >> and then uh some uh for information we have board comments and events an

003IASB report and a seed doll report. Anything from seedall? No. Okay. Uh and then we will have an executive session um for um purposes of uh uh employment of employees. So, um, roll up back to the top, back to communications, and we have some student recognition. It looks like we have quite a few student recognition. So, this is the fun part of the board meeting always. >> Ray Albin approaches the podium. >> Good evening, everyone. Good evening, board. We have uh a number of recognitions both from Libertyville High School and Vernon Hills High School. So, we'll begin tonight with Vernon Hills High School. um going to be calling up our coaches who are going to tell us uh a little bit about uh their teams and various recognitions. Lots of competitions happening uh have previously

004happened and will continue to happen now throughout the the end of the year. So, first up, we're going to have Aaron Wellington uh to come on up. Ask him to come up to tell us about the state competition for HOSA, which is the Health Occupations Students of America. So Aaron, come on up. And >> Aaron Wellington approaches the podium. >> Hi everybody. Thank you for having us tonight. Uh unfortunately a few of our team members are not going to make it. There was a accident in Libertyville tonight. So it's holding some people up unfortunately. So, let's talk about HOSA, Health Occupation Students of America. Uh, it's a national organization that's been in existence for over 35 years. Uh, it's new to LHS, though. Um, this year was really only our second full year of competing

005in the competition. Uh, we were able to double our membership this year from 21 students to 45 students, which was a great accomplishment for our group. and that had a lot to do with some of our leading members of the organization. Uh we had a number of students that tried to qualify for the state competition. HOSA in Illinois as an organization has grown significantly. The membership is up over 30% in the last two years. Just this year alone, there's 18 new high schools in Illinois that are competing um in HOSA. So, the competition has gotten a lot stiffer. Uh last year there was approximately 3,000 contestants competing in events to qualify for state. This year there was over 5,000 students that competed to try to qualify for state. Uh we were fortunate enough to have

00612 students qualify for the state competition. Uh unfortunately the state competition was right before spring break this year. So we had a few team member team members that were unable to attend the competition. But we sent nine students to the state competition uh this year and we were very successful with the nine students that we took. Um one of our students, Shagon Punia, she um finished in the top 10 in family medicine physician composition. She took eighth in the state. Uh so we were very proud of her for that. Um Ryan Santoskumar standing right next to me. He had a big he had a big week at HOSA. So we'll be talking about him a few times. um he was in the sports medicine competition. This is the second year in a row Ryan qualified

007for that competition and he took fifth in the state in that competition. So that was a great accomplishment for him. And then we did have a team uh state championship actually um our bio our biomedical debate team which was Ryan um Hamsa also and uh Ivy Lee who unfortunately is not here tonight. Um but interesting story with that competition is that um one of our students that originally qualified for state was unable to attend in that event. So they let us substitute Ivy in as an alternate in the competition and they ended up going all the way. It was a a roundby round competition and they ended up making it all the way to the championship and winning the championship. So we did have a state uh champion at HOSA this year which was a

008great accomplishment. Like I said, Ryan's week was not over. Um Ryan took on the daunting task of running for HOSA executive board and not just executive board. Um he ran for president and um at the closing ceremony they announced and Ryan is actually the 2026 2027 Illinois HOSA president. So pretty big accomplishment for Ryan. So, I just wanted to take a brief moment to acknowledge our entire team and that our our HOSA organization at LHS just continues to grow and hopefully will be even bigger next year than it was this year. Thank you for having us here tonight. Students receive certificates and takes pictures with school board members for about the next 30 seconds. Ray all bin. >> The next team that we would like to recognize is uh the LHS debate uh group, both

009our JV and varsity teams. And so I'd ask right now our coaches uh Sarah Greenwag, Jennifer Brandt, and Kimberly Weinberg to come on up to recognize the accomplishments for LHS debate. >> Sarah Greenwag approaches the podium. >> Hi everyone, I'm S Sarah Greenwag. Um I've been coaching the debate team at LHS since I've been here, which is about 13 years at this point. Um, and this has been the most um, successful year we've ever had. We are so proud of this group. Um, we owe a huge amount to our leaders. And so I want to shout out Andy who's been a leader for us since he started debate his sophomore year. Um, and he has helped guide many of our newer debaters, many of whom are freshman up here, um, through their first year of

010debate. So, um, we had two state level competitions, a novice JV level. Um, and we brought four novice teams, four JV teams. All teams compete in five rounds of preliminary debate. Um, or was it six? Five. Five. Five rounds. They had to win three out of five to advance. Um, all four of our novice teams advanced into the octa finals. They all then advanced um, past that. Um we had two of our teams who finished top eight in state. Um that was Eleanor McCormack and Nandini Parvatham as well as Sasha Stephanitis and Hamini Renga Regaredi. Um and then we had another team qualify into the semifinals which was top four finish in state and that was Anukica Argawal and Matthew Giovenetti. And then our novice team of Harshini Varonasi and EJ Semonite advanced all the

011way into the finals of Navvice and then won um the entire thing. They were the state champs at the novice level. So that was um incredible. Um we've never had a championship team in any of my years as a coach. So, um, we're so excited that they're freshman, that they did that well their novice year, and we're hoping, um, we can carry that that on into the varsity level, um, in the years to come. Um, and then at the varsity level, I want to, um, congratulate Andy Trobe and his partner Lean Lynn, who isn't here tonight, um, for their, uh, quarterfinalist finish also at the varsity tournament. And then Andy was also named the sixth place best speaker in the state. Um which makes him a member of the all state varsity debate team. So

012another huge accomplishment as well. Um but we will miss Andy as I'm sure you guys will um because he's graduating and um he's leaving big shoes to fill. Um, but we're so excited about the future of our team and I just want to thank my assistant coaches, Jenn and Kimberly, who um have just made my job and all the work of debate so much more fun. So, um, it's really great. We have a good crew and we're proud. So, congratulations. Thank you. >> Students receive certificates and takes pictures with school board members for about the next 30 seconds. All right. You guys want to come in and fill in filling up? Ray all bin. >> The next team we'd like to have up is the LHS Science Olympiad team. Uh, this team is coached by

013Paul Karnstat and assisted with Brendan Merchesen and Dr. Jennifer Khan. And at this time, we'd like to invite Paul and the entire rest of the LHS Science Olympiad team up to hear about their competitions this year. >> Paul Karnstead approaches the podium. >> Got some of my medalists here. Um, all right. So, you guys want to stand? Uh, so hi, I'm Paul Karnst. I'm the head coach of the science Olympiad team. Um, you know, we're here to recognize the individual medalists we just had state, but I wanted to kind of shout out a few team accomplishments first. Um, so one thing, and it's fitting that I have some of my senior leaders up here, is uh we actually had our largest team ever this year. We had over 45 students. Um, our varsity won a

014regional this year. That hasn't happened in a long time, not to my memory. And I've been coaching in the area for 15 years. Um and uh kind of culminating with that is our team placed sixth overall at state. Um that's our highest finish since 2011, ranking everybody in the state. Um we were here two years ago uh celebrating a division A uh championship. Um and the seniors here were a part of that as sophomores. And um I kind of made a comment back then that I was praising the seniors then they're now sophomores in college just now like man we really had a hard time through co we barely had a team and then we're back here and the seniors up here really like took the leadership from that moment forward and brought us to

015even just another level and I'm just can't say enough nice things about this group of kids. Um so to focus more on our state accomplishments um and and also kind of the Vernon Hills teams over here too. I want to brag a little bit about the district and just kind of talk about how big of an accomplishment this is. If you actually look at the rankings at the end of these state competitions and you look where Vernon Hills is and you look where Libertyville is, all of the schools you see are like twice the size of either of us or their charter schools or their STEM schools. So like I just want to say district 128 is kind of killing it in this thing. Um so I think both teams deserve a little round of

016applause for that. Um, so anyway, to talk a little bit about uh these uh fine young students here, um, we had nine medals at state. Um, two first places. I'm going to read all of the uh medals we played or we got. You're going to hear some names repeated. Um, so in fifth place in material science, we had Eddie Lee and Ary Manhatti. In I'm just going to read all these. I'm not going to pause for applause or else we'll be here forever. Electric vehicle, uh, fifth place, Eric Gong and Ian Lee. Fourth place, Chemistry Lab, Eddie Lee and Eli Sway. Uh, third place, Shu Varsny, Arian Hati. Uh, second place, Code Craze. That's a coding event. Uh, Tasja Patil and Haria Harun. Second place, Dynamic Planet, which is an Earth science event. Eli Sway

017and Jordan Louie. Second place, Designer Genes, a biology event. Uh, Shu Varsn and Finley Weinstein. Uh, first place in the state in circuit lab, we had Shu Varsi and Arian Hati. And then first place in remote sensing was Eli Sway and Jordan Louie. And I want to put a little extra note on that one because the state this year um or let me back up. There was a the Japan America Society in Chicago. Um there's a physicists from Chicago named uh Yoiro Nambu who was a Nobel Prize in physics in 2008. He worked at you Chicago and an award was started this year for a first place medalist at state and um Eli and Jordan won that this year and won us $2,000 as a team. So that was a pretty special moment when their

018name was called. So um fantastic season guys and um yeah they they've represented Libertyville and District 128 well. So Students receive certificates and takes pictures with school board members for about the next 30 seconds. Ray Albin. And next is sort of a beginning of a couple of combos for uh for the district. So uh both Libertyville High School and Vernon Hills High School uh German programs competed in the national German exams and we have several uh award winners from those exams. So, we're going to have both Heidi Lechner and Alex Kurt come up and talk about our German award winners. Alex Kurt and Heidi Lechner approach the podium. >> Hi, my name is Alex Kurt and I'm a German teacher at Vernon Hills in Libertyville High School. I'm here together with my colleague Heidi Lechner

019and we are here to celebrate gold medal winners on the German national exam and we had three winners this year in the district and uh I'll first I'll first recognize the two Vernon Hills students here. I had Kavia Romesh for level four gold medal and Amina Buru for gold medal. speaking glman charles good um and it should be noted that the gold award is very prestigious and it's for students who earned in the top 10 percentile um for this award and there are about 15,000 students that taken in the country and only a few hundred achieve um this level. So for Libertyville I would like to acknowledge Victoria Wisaw Wati and for level two and just to note Victoria is also fluent in English, Polish and in AP Spanish currently and continuing next year with

020dual credit German. Oh, >> students receive certificates and takes pictures with school board members for about the next 30 seconds. Andrew Young approaches the podium. >> All right. Well, good good evening everybody. Uh my name is Andrew Young and I'm the proud principal here at Vernon Hills High School. Up next, we're going to talk about our District 128 unified basketball team. So, these are athletes and coaches that come from across uh our district, Transition Pathways, Libertyville and Vernon Hills High Schools. Um so, I will introduce our coaches. Um and uh this is the second time in just a few years that we have a state champion uh unified basketball team for district 128, which is super special. Um, we also have a couple of coaches who have been in this program and dedicated to this

021program for a number of years who are retiring here in just a few short weeks. Um, so I will introduce our coaches and then let them talk about this special group of athletes and the season. So that is uh Andy Compton, Corey Atwell, Chris Curry, and Suzanne Curry. Let's uh let's welcome our coaches here and athletes. Coach Compton approaches the podium. >> Thanks for having us. Um this is um I just want to say thank you to everybody here. Um the district, the board, the community, both schools for the past 26 years that we've been doing this. Um the support has grown and grown and grown throughout the community and it's been awesome. Um to share our um our successes with all of you has been terrific. Um and what a great way to end

022it all after 26 years of this is to have an undefeated state championship team um that included every you know from both schools and from pathways. So, um, without further ado, we've got four members from this team that were that um, competed for us this year. That was Devon Acharia, Hazy Morales, Javi Granados, and Marco Pastor. And our great coaches behind me, one of them is Suzanne Curry and Chris Curry and Corey Atwell. All did a great job. And, um, yeah, what a way a way to go. Students receive certificates and takes pictures with school board members for about the next 30 seconds. Andrew Young. >> All right. Uh up next for Vernon Hills, we're going to switch over to our men's swim and dive, our boys swim and dive program. Uh we would have

023done this back in March, but many of them were traveling uh to nationals down in Florida. So uh before I introduce uh Coach Partardone, Coach Partardone is um uh an original at Vernon Hills. And uh what that means is that he has been here every single year we've been open and he has also coached this program all 26 years. And um if you talk to his athletes or our families, they would walk through fire for him. And so I just want to thank him and his dedication and we still have a couple more years left of coach Parardone, but I'll let him and uh introduce the program and the athletes for a really special season this year for our boys swim dive. Come on up, Coach Parton. Coach Jim Parardone approaches the podium. All right,

024I I'm I am going to have to read off my phone. If if I don't, I'll be up here for 20 minutes talking about these guys. Um, exceptional team. Uh we're honoring seven members of that team tonight, but I also want to pay I want to give credit to their teammates who aren't here who didn't qualify for state, but push these guys every day to be their absolute best. Uh so here we go. The Cougars delivered a historic performance at the IHSA state swim and dive meet highlighted by Yuri Plaxon. his record-breaking weekend, Plaxon captured state titles in both the 50 free and the 100 free, becoming the first state champion in our program's history. Yuri Plaxon. Cody Blumenfeld also earned all state honors with a seventh place finish, improving on last year's performance uh

025by an impressive eight places. Cody is a sophomore. Cody Blumenfeld. We uh we had a number of relays uh that continued our momentum. The 200 medley relay uh consisting of sophomore Jack Jansen. Uh where's Jack? Jack right here. Edgar Chan who is a senior, Will Blackmer, who's a junior, and Marco Jenko who's a junior. They placed 16th uh at the state meet. Congratulations. And our 200 free relay of Marui Cavuri who is a senior. Uh Yuri Plaxon, Will Blackmer, and Edgar Chan. They finished 11th. Nice job. So, what was really cool about this, it's it's uh it's a feat just to hit the state qualifying times, espec especially in our state of Illinois. It's very competitive state, but all seven of these guys not only hit the times, but they all meddled at the state

026meet. So, that's impressive. We finished uh 12th place team finish uh capping off one of the most successful and historic seasons that our program has ever seen. Thank you very much. Students receive certificates and takes pictures with school board members for about the next 30 seconds. Andrew Young. >> All right. Up next is the Vernon Hills Science Olympiad team. The only thing I'll say about this is um if you want to see something exciting, go to the uh go to the announcing of winners at a science Olympiad match. The thrill and cheering and screaming when uh they announce the results, which usually results with Vernon Hills on top, uh is pretty special. Here is your third place in state Vernon Hill Science Olympiadia Team coached by Miss Ellia, Miss Choy, and Mr. Proac. Hey, good

027evening. >> Mark Proise, >> tier one captain. Tier one captain. Hi, I'm Mark Proise, the proud science department chair of Vern Hills High School and also a head science science Olympia head coach. Uh, so it's my pleasure tonight to introduce our team. Uh, just to um to pick up where Mr. Ker left off. Uh, he teed it up nicely for us. just um April Saturday, April 17th was a really historic night for this district. The fact that both of our schools finished in the top 10 is just remarkable and um Illinois is one of the most competitive in the union for this and so for both of our schools to be in the top 10 is the magnitude just cannot be understated just given the competition and um the volume of things that the these

028kids have to study over months. The hours and hours they put into data testing and checking and re-checking rivals a full-time job. It is just so much time and um what what these both these teams did is really tremendous. So um and our our Libertyville friends, you know, um you can't find any three greater coaches, Karnstead, Merchesen, and Khan. Uh phenomenal teachers and people. We go to them with questions and D128 is truly lucky to have them in our district. Uh so now to our Vernon Hills crew. Um this remarkable third place overall finish is a school record for us and uh super proud of this group. They were also just incredibly fun to be around. We we jelled tremendously uh this year. Um a couple little one little highlight is um where were they

029when school was canceled for a cold day or when there was no school on a holiday or even in the afternoon after taking an ACT test? They were all at the Aspen Library. They had took it upon themselves to schedule a room and they were there studying and testing and bringing boxes of gear over there and running data tests. So, um, just the dedication this group put in was just really charismatic and just really tremendous. Um, so, uh, let's see. I'd also just have to really quick before I'd be remissed to thank our parents. Uh, there's they drive them back and forth. They donate food to our home room, snacks, and things like that. Um, they make us feel like celebrities after an award ceremony, as Dr. Young mentioned by coming down and with and

030showering us with with photographs and and congratulations and so um just really a big thank you to our parents. We know of course that um that we're we feel super supported by them. All right, so here are our here's our record setting team. Guys, come on up and um yeah, as they call you up. Okay. And Codebusters, Boommy Lever, a a fifth place medal in machines, second place medal experimental design of Isan Anand. And I'll Yeah, I'll do I'll just do all of them. We're getting ripping through right now. Okay. All right. Uh first place medal in gene regulation and a second place medal in botney echimal in codebusters dynamic planet. A fourth place medal in both rocks and minerals and astronomy. Sohang Chan uh Chem Lab material science and codebusters is senior Steven Chan

031for engineering CAD electric vehicle dynamic planet and a fourth place medal for rocks and minerals. Nadia Chang for protein modeling. Kenny Deas Karate for chem lab and disease detectives. Senior Michael Deng for remote sensing electric vehicle bundy drop and second place medal in hovercraft. Sevesh Dota for disease detectives boommy lever helicopter and second place medal in hovercraft. Arnav Gar first place medal in gene regulation and a second place medal in botney. Sachi Hamade for water quality and a third place medal inmology. Jessica Louu for robot tour. A fifth place in code craze. a first place in ping- pong parachute. Kek Man for protein modeling and a fifth place medal in code craze. Vide Matkar for circuit lab. Fifth place medal in machines. Second place medal in experimental design. Senior and captain ait Nike for electric

032vehicle engineering CAD helicopter remote sensing. Jish Patil for a fifth place medal in designer jeans. Third place medal in in anatomy and physiology and third place medal in entomology, William Proise. Fifth place medal in designer genans, third place medal in dynamic physiology. And a second place medal in experimental design, senior cavia Romesh and three left. Senior material in for material science, water quality and forensics. Senior Ryan Tol for forensics. a fourth place medal in astronomy and a first place medal overall in robot tour is Parth Vadia for circuit lab bungee drop and a first place medal in robot tour Muhammad Yusf and last but not least our electric vehicle boommy lever agricultural science first place medal in ping- pong parachute Joshua Zwang was also captain okay um with that I just would like to uh

033just thank my our two coaches, two elite science teachers, Yan Cho and Amy Elliot. We could not run this program without them. So, thank you very much and congrats to this historical team. Students receive certificates and takes pictures with school board members for about the next 30 seconds. I'll get out of your way. Well, that's pretty. >> How are you? Everyone returns to their seats. >> Andrew Young. >> All right. The paparazzi just follows that crew. My gosh. Um, okay. Last but not least, um I'm intro introduce uh I see we have a couple of coaches tonight. Uh it looks like Mr. Joe and Mr. Gufferson, our head coach, the Vernon Hills math team. If you have not heard, the state of Illinois scheduled the science Olympiad finals and the math state finals on the

034same weekend. So our students, all students across the state had to make choices and yet still uh our teams were top three finishers. This is the second time uh in a row where the Vernon Hills math team placed in the top three in the state of Illinois. So, let's welcome Coach Gustoson and the Vernon Hills math team. >> Jared Gustafson approaches the podium. >> Hello everyone. Thank you for having us. Um so we have about half of our math team members here who went down to state with us a couple weekends ago. Um um let's see. I'll turn around and give some names. So, we got Tyler Kim, Anun, uh, oh my gosh, Arnav Gupta, sorry, Ani Jagenth, um, Gyrus Muk, Kijang Kim. I shouldn't be doing this without names. Uh, Terrun Higher Math, Aman

035Gar, Joshua Kim, Jay Koulingar, and Rya Dumpal. Um, so we had a very, um, successful year with math team. Um, this is the first year I've been head coach, so I was glad to kind of pick up the mantle and have us do um, really well again at state. Um, not going to necessarily go through everyone's point totals, but um, I would like to mention that um, for all of our competitions of which there are individual competitions at each grade level. There are freshman sophomore 8 teams, uh, junior senior 8 teams, uh, freshman sophomore twoperson team, junior senior twoperson team, our calculator team, and our orals team. um for all of our groups across all of the events, we did score um in the top 10 of our division and state this year. So, I'm

036really proud of all these guys and gals that were able to do that for us. Um a few couple highlights for us. Um Terrun Higher Math right there, part of our um freshman sophomore twoerson team, our calculator team, and our algebra and individuals team got second place overall in 3A um in points scored on the individual test. And while he cannot be here today, um Drew Lancion, a senior, got third overall in the pre-calculus individual competition um in all of our 3A division. So across the board, we did a phenomenal job. I would like to thank the kids, um, their parents, um, the other coaches, Jess Chapman, Lauren Harmon, Alex Joe, Britney Mitchell, Gentai for just having a wonderful year, putting in a lot of hard work and dedication, and yeah, these guys did a

037wonderful, wonderful job. Thank you very much. Students receive certificates and takes pictures with school board members for about the next 30 seconds. Everyone returns to their seats. I'm holding down the >> Jim Batson. How about another round of applause for all these great um participants? It's always a great night when we can recognize all of our students here. So, um Okay. Um, and I will offer if all of the parents, whatever, the students that are here, if you want to stick around, feel free to do so, but don't feel uh obligated to, uh, it's going to be, you know, a bit of a meeting here. And, uh, but we're more than happy to have you stick around, but if you'd like to, u jump out, we'll give you a moment here to do that. >>

038Pause for students and parents to leave the room for about the next 30 seconds. I don't know what Maybe >> Jim Batson. >> Okay, we're coming up next on the agenda is our invitation for public comment. Uh just a reminder, we uh have a limitation of 3 minutes. So when the you see the timer up here, when it gets close to that 3 minutes, we'd like you to wrap it up because we have a lot of meeting to get to. Uh and we have a a few people that have signed up to uh speak. So I'm going to start with with uh Jack Jansen. >> Camera turns to podium. >> Jack Jansen approaches the podium. Hi. Um, I just want to start off by thanking you for recognizing me and my teammates. I would like

039to talk a little bit about PE exemptions since I see it's on tonight's schedule. Unfortunately, I won't be able to stay for the whole discussion, but uh because I need to make my way to swim practice, but I still want to voice some concerns before I go. Illinois is one of only four states in the country where students must take PE all four years. Luckily, the Illinois state policy allows for juniors and seniors to exempt from gym if they fall within certain guidelines. Many different high schools around Illinois, such as Steven, Stevenson, Warren, Chicago public schools, and others have taken advantage of this opportunity to allow their upper classman schedule flexibility, not just with oddly shaped exemption holes in their schedule that can only be used for study halls. Other schools allow for full semester

040and even fullyear exemptions which allow students to register for their for other needed coursework. Illinois policy was specifically designed to allow districts flexibility to support student needs. Yet, our district hasn't taken that opportunity and continually rejects or creates obstacles or uh to these exemptions. Of course, students who don't wish to take exemptions should be allowed to stay in PE PE. Um, but those who want, need, or qualify for exemptions should have them granted. The solution should be simple. If we're going to be fair to our students, grant them the exemptions that Illinois allows so they can register for coursework necessary to be competitive, balanced, and wellprepared for post-secary goals. Thank you. >> Thank you, >> Jim Batson. >> Uh, next up, Dan. Is it Vesnos? Basos. Dan Vasonos approaches the podium. >> Yeah, it's Vos

041Vasnos. Thank you. >> Good evening. My name is Dan Vasnos. I'm a former school administrator with over two decades of high school experience here in Illinois where I served as an athletic director, a building administrator, and district leader. I know how these buildings work. I know how decisions get made. I know when administrators are choosing the institution over a child. I also serve on the board of Kids Too, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting children from predatory conduct and strengthening laws and systems meant to keep them safe. But tonight, I'm here as a father. I have a seven-year-old son named Ellis who has Down Syndrome. He is a reason why I left education for the National Down Syndrome Society, and I cannot stay silent about what has happened in this district. A 15-year-old girl with Down

042syndrome, a student with limited capacity to self- advocate, to understand boundaries, to report what was being done to her, was allegedly subjected to calculated campaign of grooming and abuse by a teacher in this district. This is documented in a lawsuit that was covered by CBS. You guys know what happened here. I don't need to recap anything. Voicemails surfaced in late 2024. Extra credit, unconditional affection, you name it. sick and as a father it breaks my heart. This is not a gray area. This is a documented failure to follow the law. I've obtained internal emails. I've combed through them, including one in which Brian Kelly has copied on that this district moved to offer this teacher an early retirement buyout rather than report him managing him out quietly. Let me be direct. Under Illinois law, mandated

043reporters who willfully fail to report suspected abuse are guilty of a class A misdemeanor. And if this person acted to prevent discovery of abuse to shield any person or entity from accountability, that's a class 4 felony. These are not hypothetical penalties, guys. These are laws in the state of Illinois. Laws that I've worked to strengthen. I've worked alongside Representative Musman on House Bill 4241 a few years ago, legislation that were were to protect individuals with disabilities from this exact kind of predatory conduct. It passed the House here in Illinois unanimously. For some reason, it failed to get out of the Senate. I've thought about that failure many times since this case came to my attention. Representative Musman has since confirmed in writing that this district did not follow state law and that ISBE has an

044open investigation. Last week, I met with my local senator to discuss next steps, including coming up with legislation, including mandatory background checks. The question before you tonight is not whether this happened. The question is with what will this board do about it? Because Bryant Kelly has not been held accountable. The silence of this institution is being watched by legislators, advocates, and my community. and every family in this district. My son Ellis cannot advocate for himself the way other students and children can. Neither could this student at the center of this lawsuit. That is exactly why laws exist and that is exactly why this board must act. Thank you, >> Jim Batson. >> Thank you. Uh next on the list, Marty Navaro. Marne Navaro approaches the podium. >> Good evening. I am Marne Navaro, District 128

045graduate and incoming parent. I speak for myself. Our children are not safe at District 128. The first obligation of a school district should be the physical and emotional safety of our children. District 128 has failed to meet this minimum threshold. The district has a long history of corruption, collusion, and coverup. Failure to mandatory report instances of suspected child abuse and grooming. Failure to investigate. Failure to follow the law. The recent DOE lawsuit is only the most recent incident. For years, students and parents reports to staff and admin have gone nowhere. District 128's failure to follow the law has led to more children being victimized, parents ignored, and the system protecting itself. This is not an isolated instit incident. It is illustrative of systemic corruption and failure. Bryant Kelly is and has been the head of

046SPED, HR, Title 9, Tech, FOYA, officer, and non-discrimination coordinator for years. Too much power consolidated in one person who has failed to fulfill the obligations of these various roles with devastating consequences to our students and incredible liability exposure to our district. Board President Jim Batson has sat on this board for 15 years and has completely failed to respond to, much less represent this community. Instead of leading a community call for transparency and accountability, President Batson's contribution appears to consist of timing public comments and cutting certain community members off at three minutes. Research reveals a troubling history at 128 of staff misconduct involving minors. Parker Roadie had an extensive criminal history, three restraining orders, violated orders of protections, DUIs, stalking, multiple leaves of absence, and 128 knowingly put him in the sped classroom with our most

047vulnerable students. now subjecting our district to at least one civil lawsuit. To be clear, trying to settle that lawsuit quietly now is not accountability, nor does it fix the problem of systemic rot. Adam Falner is a former district 128 sped pair professional who was arrested this week on indecent solicitation and grooming charges involving two Wakanda High School students. Corey Beard, former Verden Hills High School soccer coach, plead guilty to criminal sexual assault of three minor students. Riaz Hydai, former Vernon Hills High School teacher, charged with three counts of aggravated battery, class three felony for alleged inappropriate touching of minor student at Deerfield High School. Andrew Warfield, former Libertyville High School teacher convicted convicted of felony aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a 16-year-old student. And those are just the formal criminal charges and convictions. We parents

048are aware of multiple other current and former District 128 staff against whom numerous reports were made for inappropriate contact, grooming, stalking, and intoxication on the job. Same playbook every time, same players, reports not acted upon, no outside investigation, no mandatory reporting to DCFS or law enforcement, shuffling perpetrators around buildings until they are quietly ushered out via early retirement with full pension. Super Mark Superintendent Mark Schaefer and board, this is on you now. You've known about the Parker Roadie situation at least since June of 2025. After an investigation in September of 25, Schaefer found that Bryant Kelly, Ray Alban, Ben Jennifer Loa, Josh Simo, and Megan Silverberg failed to comply with board policy 290 abused and neglected child reporting, stating the district will take appropriate action. What action has been taken? All five remain in their

049roles, and this board gave three of the five raises last month. We parents demand transparency and accountability. Put a stop to the culture of corruption and cover up and protect our children. Thank you. >> Jim Batson. >> Uh Marilyn Lacrosse. >> Marilyn Lacrosse approaches the podium. >> Hi, I'm Marilyn Lacrosse and I am a parent of a child who did not have obvious disabilities. Yet, I do feel like there were teachers that tried to groom her just because she was a shy child who didn't speak up for herself. I feel like there was collusion. I feel like when I complained, they made me the bad person. And I I agree that there is a culture of not protecting the students. All the students need to be protected. And I came because I think that we

050will continue to remind you until you really do take action and hold the administrators accountable for their culture of protecting abusers. >> Thank you. Uh leave it open if anyone else wants to address the board. Okay. John Hetszel approaches the podium. >> John Hetszel, Vernon Hills parent. I find it interesting Brian Kelly's the only person on this whole panel here that didn't look up once when people were speaking in the last five minutes. Jim, you also fluttered your eyes every which way you could, too. Everyone else was focused. Yep. Jim, that's a nice smirk you got because you've been covering up a lot of things for a long time. You've been on the board 15 years, another five or six in the other district. you were never president before. Um, you got it by Lisa

051resigning and she resigned because of what she knew and what you knew. But your ego was too big. You had to be president. And now you can't be removed from it for negligent work that you do on this board, which has been quite extensive. You're also the one who voted for all the policies that have caused other than what we saw tonight. black, brown, white, sped, and IEP students scores go backwards. Uh, policy 590 has been ignored by you as well, as well as other administrators sitting over here, including Brian Kelly, which is the mandatory reporter. None of you all report anything with knowledge. Man, you guys got a real problem here. You guys are not student centric. It's administrative centric. It's egocentric. And that's a problem, Jim. you need to resign. Brian Kelly needs

052to be taken care of as well cuz she's created a lot of problems. Even just look at this week, the circumstance we had with just the fitness tracking. How did that happen? How do we violate policy? This guy writes all the policies yet we seem define policies that are broken all over the place that aren't being adhered to. This kind of kaka needs to stop. Jim, you need to resign. You've overseen a really bad culture in the administrative office and you've allowed it to happen. You voted for policies that created problems for majority of our students not being successful and academically not achieving the next level. Thank you, >> Jim Batson. Anybody >> else? >> Amy France approaches the podium. >> Hi guys. Uh, sorry. My name is Amy Frons. Um, I'm a special educator

053and a parent of three graduates from LHS. Um, sorry this is a little last minute. Um, I did send you a letter so you have all of my notes. I don't really want to repeat everything that's already been said. I think you guys understand what's going on here. I stood before you over a month ago regarding the same issues. I laid out the issue with this vulnerable student. As a special educator, I am appalled that nobody reported this. Um, this is your legal obligation to do so. But I'm here again today because it seems clear that there's not an interest in any accountability or consequences, only in damage control. District appears to be quietly settling a lawsuit with the affected child. But let me be clear, writing a check with district funds, taxpayer dollars is

054not accountability. and it doesn't fix the systemic problems that have allowed this to happen in the first place. What's really concerning me now is we're hearing that there are others. There are more involved. There are more teachers. There are more students. Please talk to your staff. They know who is involved. I work with a lot of these kids in my private business. These are not secrets to them. How many more children need to be victimized before we take this more seriously? And we're going to keep coming up here until we see some consequences. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Anybody else? >> Pause for the public. Lisa Rosie approaches the podium. Hi, my name is Lisa Roadie and I am merely a cog in the wheel. I'm a taxpayer in D 128. My

055children are out of high school. I'm doubly disenfranchised by choice. I sent them to Carmel Catholic and Lyola Academy and I beg of you people up here to do the right thing. Hold people accountable and people should be fired. Pensions revoked. I understand there's a problem. You have the union. Well, something should be done about them so people can be held accountable. And I would like to just beg for you to do something. Do the right thing. And I am here not only to support the people that have already spoken, but to support the community because when these people try to resell their house, we need to have a good school district. We can't have this malarkey going on. And Mr. Schaefer, I feel sorry for you. You came into a bad situation. Stand up

056to all these people, get a coalition together, and do it right. Thank you. Jim Batson. >> Anybody else? >> Pause for the public. >> Okay, seeing none, we're going to move on. Uh, we have a educational support professionals union report. Come on down. >> Camera turns to podium. >> Jen Shepard approaches the podium. Good evening, students, community members, fellow D128 staff members, board members, and the administration. My name is Jennifer Shepard, and I am honored to serve as the president of the Community High School District 128 Education Support Professionals Union. This year has provided valuable opportunities for ESP staff to collaborate with Dr. Schaefer. He has made a point to hold open meetings where ESP staff can share their thoughts, opinions, and concerns directly. He's listened. He's engaged in meaningful dialogue at labor management meetings

057and worked alongside union leadership to address concerns and problem solve as a team. These efforts reflect a positive direction forward. >> Momentary pause. >> Our education support professionals are just that. They are professionals who support every aspect of student learning and staff in various ways. Our staff operates both on the front line with students in the classroom by providing direct and indirect support and ensuring student and staff safety as well as behind the scenes organizing everything from eighth grade orientation through honors day and graduation. We organize field trips, testing days, accommodations for testing, test makeup processes and oversight, processing fee wavers and lunch applications, student grade, state reporting, annual student registration, management of the master schedule, student fees, budget management for academic departments, operations, and administration. This is just a snapshot of what we do.

058Our positions are constantly evolving to address changing technology, changing student needs, family concerns, and more. We do this work because each of us passionate passionately believes in our students, our teachers, and each other. We work to create a district that our families and our communities can take pride in. It's important to note that our roles and responsibilities are consistently growing and expanding, not shrinking. Tonight, you'll receive staffing recommendations from the district administration. The union executive board has also had the opportunity to review these recommendations. As you consider them, I ask that you keep in mind the strategic plan currently in development and several key things that have consistently emerged. An environment where students feel safe. An environment where students feel seen. An environment where students feel connected. Students cannot fully engage in learning if their

059environment does not support these essential elements. Many of the educational support professionals play a critical role in fostering this environment, including our campus safety staff, pair professionals, and members of the learning support teams. I recognize that positions evolve, supervisory roles shift, and personnel changes are a natural part of each school year. I also appreciate the importance of fiscal responsibility and the need to evaluate whether administrative roles are effectively serving serving our student needs or if they could be restructured. However, it is important to acknowledge that adding supervisory positions cannot replace the vital work of the support staff. Administrative roles and support personnel serve different complimentary purposes and cannot substitute for each other. As we continue working with students, families, staff, and the broader community to rebuild trust and promote transparency, we must recognize and respect

060the essential day-to-day contributions of our support professionals. In today's world, safety is not a luxury. It's a fundamental necessity for every member of our school community. Our education support professionals are present in every corner of our schools, offices, hallways, classrooms, libraries, testing centers, working every day to create a safe, supportive environment where students can grow, take risks, and expand their potential. Please keep this in mind as you review our staffing. Thank you, >> Jim Batson. >> Thank you. >> Momentary pause. >> Okay, moving on. We're gonna hear from our student school board members away. >> Andy Trobe. Okay, >> we're going to switch it up and I'm going to start tonight. Okay. Good evening everyone. Tonight, my report will center on the use of AI in the classroom. As you all know, AI usage among

061students has drastically increased over the last few years. It's involved from a shortcut for homework to a tool that when used correctly can and has been genuinely supporting learning. For example, in my AP government class, we've been using an AI platform to study for upcoming tests. And in my calculus class, AI has aided in my understanding of difficult concepts. But most importantly, AI usage policies have been wildly have widely varied by teacher. Some encourage AI usage on assignments while others ban it entirely. In this context, students with more AI permissive teachers may be developing skills that others aren't and vice versa, but raises questions about if we're all being set up equally for the future. This highlights the importance of clear district-wide guidelines on AI usage, which Dr. Alan informed us is already being worked

062on by a district group, which is a good sign. But I also asked this group to think ahead. This fall, I'm heading to college where I can take courses on AI and business, AI and team performance in the politics of its usage, among many others. Clearly, AI is not going away. So, it's becoming more important that students don't just know how to use these tools, but understand their limitations and how they're used in the real world. Overall, clear guidelines and investment in AI literacy among students are important to ensure students leave the district both supported and prepared. Thank you. >> Ava Gratitor. >> Good evening. Today I wanted to focus on a big event that's coming up in our schools, AP testing. Now, most people know that AP tests begin next week, but what they

063might not know is that some AP tests have already started. AP Seminar and AP Research have already had their main presentations of the year. I was one of those AP research students who presented their year-long college level research study about differing opinions of gene editing. Now, while these presentations are extremely important and impressive, it is also important to recognize how difficult all of our other APS are. With these next two weeks approaching fast is it is important to support these students at Libertyville and Vernon Hills now more than ever. While recognizing these students, I also want to take a moment to thank our teachers. Teachers at LHS go above and beyond when it comes to helping students prepare for these exams. They truly care about providing us all the materials to maximize our success. From

064practice exams and review days to taking time out of their own nights and mornings to come in to help us review. I sincerely want to thank all of our teachers. I've had several teachers in the past reserve rooms within the school to hold hour-long review sessions with their classes and many teachers open up their rooms before tests for last minute questions and inquiries. I've had teachers go as far as to provide breakfast for students the morning of tests as a congratulations for succeeding and a good luck on our tests. Teachers truly do not get enough recognition for how much time they spend preparing us for these exams. Thank you so much, >> Olivia Bush. >> Okay, sorry. Um, good evening members of the board. Today, I'm going to ask you to consider the experience of

065a student walking through the halls of Vernon Hills High School. Over the past four years, I have seen the many ways this school has positively shaped its community. But at the same time, one issue has remained consistent. The presence of casual microaggressions and everyday student interactions. Just this past week, I made a conscious effort to observe the language used around me. On average, I heard approximately six slurs per day in casual conversation, targeting race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and intellectual ability. These words are not hidden. They are spoken openly in the hallways, often in front of adults. While there is sometimes intervention, it does not change the behavior, and students continue without hesitation. Although the school has introduced microaggression awareness and freshman transition programs, it is clear this effort is not as effective as it

066needs to be. The behavior persists suggesting that there is a more direct and comprehensive approach that is ne uh necessary. Vernon Hills is a diverse community and that diversity is one of its greatest strengths. However, when harmful language continues without consistent accountability, that sense of inclusion begins to weaken. There is a growing perception among students that consequences for these actions are not always impactful. Deans specifically play an important role in maintaining a safe environment and that responsibility must be reflected in clear and meaningful responses. For example, when students can return immediately to sports or extracurriculars after incidents involving hate speech, it sends a message that these actions are not taken seriously. This shapes how the entire student body understands accountability. One step forward is to strengthen existing systems. Expanding and requiring more impactful training such

067as speak up training which has already been implemented as an optional course for Ven Hills High School students. It aims to combat the speech in a way more intensified training program. We could introduce that into the freshman transition program in replacement of the microaggression currently uh a microaggression training currently in place and it would set a clear expectation from the start and it would shift this work from more of an optional thing to an essential thing. Vernon Hills High School has already taken important steps. Um building on them with stronger accountability and more effective training will help ensure that all students feel safe, respected, and able to succeed. Thank you. Anukica Talleti. >> All right. Good evening. I'm Anukica and this year my focus has been how students have been impacting their community and today

068I look forward to talking about how the community has benefited students in return. One important way is through guest speakers. Sophomore Sarimea, a member of the VHS model UN exec board shared how members have benefited from their recent guest speaker John Santa Maro who worked in the Geneva part of the UN. It was very beneficial as we learned a lot about how you don't actually have to have a degree in law to work in the UN and that many people from many different backgrounds work there as well. Our club members were actually very engaged and they were able to learn lots and lots of good questions were asked. Another powerful example of guest speakers inspiring VHS students was the women across careers panel held by Dare to Empower and it featured five women from male-dominated

069fields for women's histories. Opportunities like this allow VHS students to feel seen and empowered and to explore possible pathways for their future with realistic expectations. An additional way VHS brings the community to students is through career exploration activities. Just this past Friday, senior Kian So was selected to attend Trauma Day, which is a full day field trip to Advocate Condell Hospital for students interested in healthcare. He shared that trauma day gave me the opportunity to explore different professions, fields, and aspects of medicine and the health care system that I wouldn't have been able to normally gain insight into. I especially found it valuable to talk to actual medical professionals about future career paths that I could take, what they entail, and the best ways to get there. Also, last week, VHS held a career fair

070with representatives from institutions like CLC, where students were given the opportunity to ask questions and possibly attain positions in the near future. In all, BHS has been providing more exposure to various paths after after high school and should continue to provide students with support by bringing these opportunities and people to them that help them explore their post-secondary options because it sets them up for success now and throughout their life. Thank you, >> Ash. >> Good evening. My name is Asha and today I'll be sharing perspectives on the college decision process for seniors at Vern Hills as well as reflecting on prom and school spirit. As May 1st the national college decision deadline approaches, seniors are finalizing their commitments. This year, Vern Hills has seen notable admission success. Senior Knight reflected on his commitment to UC

071Berkeley where he plans to study physics. While excited, he shared that the process can be especially challenging for students applying to highly selective or outofstate schools. Audit and other seniors noted that while the college resource center provides extremely helpful support, many resources seem geared towards instate schools like the University of Illinois. For students aiming for out of state or more selective universities, he felt there could be there could be more guidance on building an application narrative or essays. Other seniors said that connecting with Vern Hills alumni who attended the school or program they were applying to was especially helpful. They also noted that some peers paid thousands of dollars for outside college consulting, even though much of the advice could and should be shared with District 128 students for free. Expanding college advising through staff

072or additional support could make these resources even more accessible. During peak application season, students often struggle to gain enough feedback. More structured mentorship, alumni connections, and essay support could help ensure all students receive the guidance they need. In addition, seniors recently celebrated prom at Vern Hills High School, which many describe as memorable and well organized. Senior Christine Lee shared that prom was a blast and that everything from check-in to music to the overall atmosphere went smoothly. She also noted a clear increase in school spirit this year. From state sendoff marches to recognizing academic and athletic accomplishments, she said Vernhill has done an excellent job of celebrating a wide range of student interests. As seniors prepare for graduation, continued focus next year on college support, school spirit, and student recognition will help strengthen the Vern Hills

073High School experience for everyone. Thank you, >> Jim Batson. >> Thank you. I always learn things and get, you know, gets the mind going on on different ideas. So, thank you for all that information. Um, we're going to move forward for um we have a few foyer requests that the board has had a chance to review. Uh, and then we're going to jump into the superintendent's report. >> Mark Schaefer, >> I just want to um expand upon uh President Batson's words. Um I am um just truly grateful for the uh voice of our students. Um not only our student board representatives this evening we had a a student speaker as well for public comment. Um our students are are bright. Uh they have something to say and we should listen to them. So I certainly

074appreciate um everything you bring. Um it's very illuminating. So thank you and humbling >> and even award-winning speakers. So, good news report. We had a lot of good news this morning with a lot of our state champions. So, I'll um just extend a little bit more. We had seven District 128 Special Olympic athletes who competed at last weekend's area spring games at Hoffman Estates High School. Four of the uh athletes earned gold and will compete at the state summer games. Congratulations to state qualifiers Molen Brody, Hannah Cr, Eddie Beecher, and Xavier Granados. The Vernon Hills High School fall production of Susicle has been nominated for best ensemble by the Illinois High School Music Theater Awards. The IHSMTAs, sponsored by Broadway in Chicago, celebrate excellence in high school musical theater across the state. Winners will be

075announced at the awards ceremony in Chicago this May. Finally, student journalists from the Vernon Hills High School Scratching Post and the Libertyville High School DOI were recognized at the Northern Illinois Scholastic Press Association conference on April 10th. Both public both publications earn a silver rating overall with students also receiving multiple individual awards. So, now we want to move on to our Daring Champion Award presentation. Uh the monthly D128 Daring Champion Awards celebrate one certified staff member, one support staff member, and one community member organization who exemplify the district's daring mission. Nominations are submitted by D128 staff. Nominees must demonstrate elements of our daring mission. D for dreamers and doers, A for aware, are resilient and healthy, I inquisitive, Nimble, and Global. A selection committee of staff members reviews and evaluates nominees. Tonight we are excited

076to recognize our April honores. At the conclusion of the awards, we will take a group photo. And our first honore in the community category is the GLMV chamber of commerce. Uh chamber director Scott Adams will be introduced by their nominator Ben Rodriguez. >> Benjamin Rodriguez approaches podium. >> Morning everybody. Hi. Um here to introduce Scott Adams. Uh so the GMV uh for those who don't know represents a local body of businesses that support uh post-secondary pathways in our community. So we know there's amazing options and opportunities around our community for students to explore their future options or possibilities and their work represents a vital part of our work to support all students in exploring multiple paths. Uh so Scott Adams and Carol Leven have worked with our district not only to provide internship sites uh

077but also to refer fellow businesses to our uh partnership network. Uh they've regularly hosted us to present at chamber events connecting us to uh other potential partners in the community and pointed business colleagues to our district. This has allowed students to become daring by exploring meaningful post-secondary pathways right around our community. So thank you Scott for your Thank you. Yeah. No. Our next honore in the certified staff category is Scott Shinto. Shinto who will be introduced by his nominator Mag Levery. >> Mag Levery approaches the podium. >> Okay. Thank you. >> I'm gonna come Okay, my guy here, Scott Shinto, embodies what it means to be daring. He is both a dreamer and a doer, constantly reminding us every morning, let's go change some change some lives, and that today is a great day to

078have a great day. He's deeply aware of others, showing up every day to greet students with fist bumps outside of the locker room and making everyone feel seen and valued. Through years of coaching and mentoring, he fosters resilience and health in both students and staff, modeling positivity and consistency in everything he does, like his morning jogs down Butterfield Road. He's naturally inquisitive, building genuine relationships and creating lasting memories. From welcoming new staff to connecting with longtime D128 colleagues, Shinto is nimble, always stepping in wherever needed. Whether supporting a colleague, helping with a home project, or sharing his treehouse, his global mindset is reflected in the inclusive, joyful community that he helps create across our entire school. He is the life force and the heartbeat of our department and truly one in a million, an authentic,

079kind, and joyful presence who leads with a deep love for people. >> That's you, buddy. So, some air back in this room. Thank you very much, >> Mark Schaefer. >> Our final honore tonight in the educational support profession uh category is Olga Homza. Olga's nominator, Jessica Hernandez, was unable to attend tonight's meeting, so she will be introduced by Tom Kentes. >> Tom Kentes approaches the podium. I'm very very honored to be here to present this honor to Olga. Um we heard from our ESP union tonight and Olga is one of those very talented people that um Jen Shepard spoke of. I have um I never told you this Olga, but I have been admiring you for many years. Um I was a former EL uh bilingual director and I have seen the work that Olga

080does for our students and have just been blown away. Um, so I'm going to read what Jessica wrote and everything that Jessica wrote is shared by me as well. So Olga has been working as an EL teaching assistant for the last four years and this year has a blended TA and teaching schedule because she dreamt up, built, and launched our first ever Russian language arts program here in District 128. As an educator herself, she has demon great demonstrated great resiliency across many hurdles to transferring her teaching license from her home country of Bellarus to the USA. And as me playing a small part in that process, I know that she had a lot of hurdles with the state board of education and she knocked them all down. In spite of teaching for many years, the

081state asked her to take multiple tests as well as do extensive coursework. And she did all of this while working full-time and developing a new course for us. In addition, Olga helped design the placement test and took charge of proctoring, scoring, and communicating home to families in order to welcome our first ever cohort of honors Russian language arts speakers in our school. In the classroom, as both a TA and a teacher, Olga has embodied awareness of student identities, helping students fully access the curriculum even while they are still developing their fluency in English. This builds their sense of belief and belonging, which helps strengthen their mental health and resilience as they move around the globe. Olga Nimble supports students across departments and is flexible as the new students arrive. Obviously being globally connected, she embeds

082a variety of cultural components from the many cultures that call Russia, excuse me, call Russian a home language. Finally, Olga has risen to quite a variety of challenges. Since she started as the only Russian-speaking adult in the school that has Russian as a main home language for a quiet person, she's taken on many big challenges that place her in leadership roles. She has done live translations for orientation nights. She has helped support the BPAC bilingual parent um advisory commu committee. She has made calls home to families and has been called on by the LSTs to support students in their times of need. She has truly provided a sense of community to the many EL and none families that now call VHS home. We want to thank Olga for her wonderful work in district 128. >>

083So congratulations to our April honores and thank you just say >> oh absolutely. >> I would like to share this award with my dear colleagues of um E department. I cannot achieve it without them. I'm really thankful for constant support of these people. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, Oan. And thank you to our April honores. We'd love to take a group photo with you, please. >> The board takes a group photo for about the next 30 seconds. camera turns. to board members. Everyone returns to their seats. >> Jim Batson. >> Okay. Congratulations to all those folks. Welld deserved. Uh you're finished. We'll we'll move on. Next uh is a discussion item um for the uh proposed board meeting schedule for 2627 school year. Uh you want to set this up? >> Mark

084Schaefer. >> So board of education members for um your consideration is a proposed 2026 2027 board meeting schedule. Um you will note that um uh there is a proposal to maintain the one board meeting a month uh schedule. um but also cancelling our July meeting. So um in your packet you'll see the proposed dates. There are two dates I want to draw your attention to. uh the first one. So we we always meet on the last Monday uh of each month, but in January, Tuesday, January 26th, um we are uh recommending a shift to that Tuesday because that Monday is the Ed RAD legislative um event or dinner, which I know most of our board looks to attend. Um, and then if you move down to Tuesday, April 27th, um, we would note that on

085Monday, April 26th, it is a, uh, it is a no students or staff day. So, our district is is is closed on that day. And so, we would recommend moving that to uh, Tuesday, April 27th. The only other note you'll see is that we will we we are recommending an alternation of our school campuses to um continue the um the cadence that we've been doing this year. >> Jim Batson >> and I thank you for that. And for those who aren't aware, I know we are all aware, we used to have a two board meeting uh schedule. We had committee meetings earlier in the month uh the second Monday and then the fourth Monday was always the board meeting. And um there was a suggestion to try this and we've tried this the last few

086months and while it creates a little bit longer, a little bit more uh packed uh board meeting. We start earlier and sometimes uh go just as long uh it does uh allow us to uh you know get our work done in in one evening. That doesn't mean we won't have periodic meetings for special topics of different sorts. maybe a budget uh meeting or something like that. But I think this is a a more effective use of our time and just requires us to be a little more proactive on the materials we're given uh each month. Uh I'll open it up for any comments or discussion on >> momentary pause. >> We want to move forward with this. >> Julie Simpson. Um, I would like to see whether it be tenative or whatever, a board meeting

087listed in July because I find it easier to cancel a board meeting if we have no business than add one if there is a business that needs to be conducted, you know, before the start of school. >> Jim Batson, >> that's that's that's a good idea and it it also allows us to sort of >> if there's no business. >> Yeah. and and we we have it on the calendar. The the trouble always with the summer meetings is because people are traveling and and and there's a lot of things going on, sometimes we don't have enough board members to have a board meeting. Uh it hasn't happened recently, but it can happen. So, uh that would be I don't know if that needs to be on the official or that we just all agree that

088we're going to pencil in that same fourth Monday uh as a potential. Yeah, I would like to see it on the calendar so the public is aware and like I said there could be just something notated >> tenative tenative. Okay, other thoughts? >> Pause for discussion. >> Everyone good with that? >> Do we have um um I think at some point don't we have to vote on this >> next month? Yeah. Okay. We can't just get consensus. >> I I we've typically voted on it. So we'll we'll I think we make that adjustment and just it doesn't hurt. So we'll just put it on a agenda item next month to vote on that. And so that's how we'll we'll start out the year. Um had a discussion of uh the board policy 2 110. Julie

089Simpson, >> we just open for discussion. >> Okay. Um I'll start with this one, too. Since I requested that this be on the agenda, um you know, reviewing the policy, um I find it to be common sense to have a mechanism um for removal of board officers um if needed. Um I have some proposed language um and I would like to see this for a vote at the next meeting. um legal is more than welcome to take a look at this language and adjust it um to make it maybe make a little bit more sense. Um but I have if a majority of the board finds an officer elected by its body president, vice president or secretary has been or is derelict of duty, the board may remove the officer from their position. An immediate

090vote to replace those officers will be taken and the officers will and replacement officers will be chosen by a majority vote. A following vote will occur if a vacancy of an elected um officer is created by the proceeding vote. The unseated officer will resume duties as a regular board member. >> Jim Batson. So I believe there's some legal there's some some things in school code about this >> there there's something about rem removing a and I don't recall when I've had to >> um so the language is we are unable to remove somebody from the board the um every one of us as board members are elected by the public. The only way to remove a board member off the board >> is um through petitioning through the regional office of education. >> Right. But

091as to the officers we elect internally for our position, um, we are able to change this policy. >> Yeah, >> Jim Batson. >> Yeah, I I have no no concern about adding adding language. We'll just have to run it by legal to make sure that we're >> Yeah. And >> we're kosher with whatever we need to be. >> So, the request is that um this be up for a vote on the next um at the next board meeting. um followed by an action item to take action if so moved by a member or >> so a board policy has to go through two cycles >> I don't know that it does we can check with legal on that >> you you have a first reading and a second reading >> Rahul Deshb >> I just

092like a clarification so here we are saying that we elect our officers as a board >> and we then want the authority to displace them. Is that what we are basically trying to say here? >> Yeah. If you think that there's an issue or for for cause a lick of duty or you know that was just you know the phrase that I'm I'm using but I I do believe that there also is a mechanism for us to um approve that policy and act on that policy in the same meeting. So that can become something that comes from legal >> as a concept. I don't have an issue but from a legal perspective that how do we define that cause? How do we come to that conclusion? I think it would be of value if we

093discuss this a little bit more carefully as to what exactly we are trying to achieve here before making it a policy because once it's a policy it stays and you have to go through the whole motion of getting those readings and then implementing it and if you want if you re realize that no that was a hasty policy put in place then we again have the challenge of displacing Correct. But regardless of what the policy says, the action can only be taken with the majority of the board and um the majority of the board is the voice of the board. >> Yeah, absolutely. I'm not disputing any of that. All I'm just saying that it may be of value for us to think about it carefully in terms of the language, what exactly we want

094to achieve before putting it for a vote uh for discussion. >> Oh, I mean I think that what we would want to achieve is is clear. Um, I'm good with it moving forward. I mean, I guess we can see where everybody else on the board is and see where the majority lies now to see if it'll be an action item for next time. I don't know how that works. >> Mark Schaefer. >> Um, yeah, the um if if the board um if there's consensus among the majority of the board, we can move forward with it. Um, so we have a proposal and obviously you're not going to formally vote on it, but I'm I'm looking for consensus of four or more. >> So, head and nods usually is what we do. So, I mean, I

095guess >> or affirmative comments or just any >> I'm okay with it. Um, just for clarification, so after this, we're going to run it by legal so that when it comes for discussion at the next meeting, we'll know that. >> No, not for discussion for action. Um, so what I'm looking for is an action item. Um, I believe it's already been discussed with legal that we do have the authority to do this. Um where legal comes in is whether um the action item can be placed again directly after a legal position. >> Yes. >> On that because that I am not um affirmative on whether we have to wait another cycle or we can take action right away. So that would need an opinion from legal. >> Okay. >> I think it depends when we

096get advice from legal. I'd like to look at that and then review the the current policy we have and before we make a decision. So it depends how much time we have. >> Okay. There's there's been an opinion from legal that this is okay to do. >> Jim Batson, >> who obtained that opinion from our legal >> Mark Schaefer, >> there was a question around just policy in general in terms of like um not in any specific policy, but um just um in terms of running um legal um opinion about creating or changing policy. >> So not about this specific language or this specific >> about this specific policy. >> Not this specific language. not about the language but the specific policy that we do have the right to change it. That was the legal.

097>> We have the right to change any any policy. That's that's for certain. But I you know like like Nina said and I I think we need to make sure that whatever however we change this we also get a legal opinion to ensure all these policies and for those people that that are not familiar all these policies are written by a team of of lawyers working for the Illinois Association of School Boards. And these are all very well vetted and ensure that they they follow all school code, all legal opportunities. So >> I I all I'm saying is before we can bring this to, you know, a a vote to vote on a policy, I think it's our responsibility to make sure that we're not implementing a policy that doesn't qualify, that doesn't cover that

098that doesn't support laws, school code, that kind of thing. I drafted proposed language and I was told that um legal will craft correct language that will be followed by the law. >> So if that's the case then we'll bring it back at the next board meeting and we can we can discuss it. >> I think that that's all I was basically coming at that we should have some kind of a clarity on what exactly is the language we're talking about before taking it for discussion or any kind of vote further. So I think that's >> um that's all I'm saying. Let's not haste it. we can implement it if it's approved but we need to understand what exactly we are trying to do here as a >> I mean I I think that I was

099pretty clear in my proposal and I think that we have majority consensus um to vote next week and people >> I didn't hear that I heard people say and we can go around the table again I heard people saying >> assuming that we get feedback from legal I'm not I cannot commit to your language >> um it probably won't be my language and when I crafted the language. I said that legal is more than happy to make it make a little more sense than I might have. Um because I'm not a lawyer, but I heard for as a majority to have this as an action item to vote on the policy. I maybe I'm mistaking. We can we can double check it again. >> As it is now, the policy um states that we elect

100officers every two years after an election, and that's all it says. So, um, >> momentary pause. >> We would have to wait until the next election. Um, and so I think that this is, um, gives us the opportunity um, to have a voice um, and what we want to do as a board. But the policy was in the packet, so it's there if you'd like to read it as it states now. as it stands now. Yeah. >> Julie Simpson, >> do we want to check for majority consensus again? I I'm happy to do that. >> Jim Batson. >> So, the the the question would be is >> momentary pause. >> Well, I'll I'll voice my opinion. I'm not willing to commit to vote saying I'm going to vote affirmative to a policy that I have

101not yet seen. >> You don't have to vote affirmative to a policy. You can vote no. Jim Badson, >> I'm not I'm not >> momentary pause. >> All I'm saying is I'm not willing to commit one way or the other. Yes. No. No matter what, unless I see what it is. >> You can see the propos. We don't we don't commit to something that we have not seen and we have not >> I'm not asking for a commitment to anything. >> The language is there. We get the board packet for discussion and for voting. We have the opportunity to look at it and we can vote whichever way we want on it. Right. As a board, >> Jim Batson, >> we we can vote, but I think the idea of whatever the language says, we

102should have the opportunity to discuss whether we agree with whatever the attorneys come up with. We shouldn't I, you know, I cannot say one way or the other. >> So, it's it's not one I'm not concerned about, right? It's it's a board decision and if the majority wants forward, then we move forward. >> I think Julie's asking. >> Well, also if if somebody's unclear or uncomfortable about the language that's presented, they're more than welcome to ask that it be tabled with a consensus majority. We we don't have to take action on it. I'm asking that the ability to take action um anybody who's not comfortable with the vote, they can abstain, they can vote no, or they can vote yes. We have several options as a voting mechanism. We will have the language drafted by

103the attorneys before next meeting in our board packets like we do with everything else. >> Midlesh Kodwell >> which is standard procedure that we followed for any policy modification. So I'm okay with moving forward that >> Doug Flegel >> I'm okay with moving forward that way. Rahul Deshmok >> I'm hesitant with in terms of the what we are trying to achieve here and the haste here because I'm reading our policy and we have a 2-year term so we always have the opportunity to make changes uh uh outside of that two years if you want to do something within those two years there really has to be a good reason for us to do that and that's I think is the intent of that but what exactly is the reason so it's just not like we

104will Well, but right now we're discussing the policy. Um when if if we change the policy, if we choose to take action later on, that would be the time for discussion of the reasons. Right now, we are discussing the policy. We aren't talking about reasons for removing because right now removing anybody is not on the agenda. >> I disagree. You just mentioned something about their election of duty. You're qualifying. Well, we need to know what the qualification is. Well, that will be discussed at time of removal, not for policy. The >> policy has clear on what the >> Why wouldn't we discuss the reasons why someone's being terminated in the policy when we're making it? >> They're not being terminated, though. They're just being >> um set back to a regular board member. So, we're

105I mean, we're not stripping anybody of their elected duty. >> Momentary pause. >> I understand. But >> but I mean so like so we are >> I think that we're going to be at an impass with this back and forth here. So I think with the >> similar to our last board meeting where I was I wanted more time to look at something but there was a majority vote there was a majority consensus to move forward and we move forward. I don't see how this is any different from that >> decision making right here. We are talking about policy that is codified. We are talking very different. >> Again, it's no no different from any board procedure. If we want to move forward with the majority, we move forward. >> That's how it is. >>

106Majority consensus is the >> majority consensus is what we were told. I mean there can be no votes and there can be opposition to it and we can move forward that way. >> Do we need to go around again for majority consensus? Is I mean is there still confusion? >> So >> Jim Batson >> the question is what are we consenting to? >> Momentary pause. >> I am >> consenting to uh considering a change in policy next board meeting. >> I'm considering um and consent consensing to um a vote to change the current board policy which is why this board policy is up for discussion at this meeting. So we are discussing it now. I am asking for action and I believe I have majority consensus to move forward. >> Momentary pause. >> So >>

107it's up for discussion now. This is the discussion. >> Yep. And I just want to be clear, not only legally are we do we have some guidance on how and what can be in this policy, but also how >> also how um we can implement a policy because the rules are we do a policy over two readings. That gives the public an opportunity to also hear the policy and make comments so that when we come back and we vote, board members have an opportunity to hear from the public on what the what the changes are to those policies. So I I want to have confirmation. >> What policy is that that you're referring to that that's how we do it? >> Jim Badson, >> that's how we always do policies. We have a first reading

108and then a second reading and adoption. >> Um >> okay. Well, if you >> get from the Illinois State Board of Education, too, that would help us guide us in this policy decision. >> Well, so legal was spoken to and um legal is going to be drafting the official language for the policy. >> I think legal will draft it if we ask them. >> We could refer to Illinois State Board of Education and their recommendations for this. >> Um I don't believe that there are any the election of offices internally. Oh, see if there is >> Julie Simpson. >> Okay. I mean, but the policy was up for review, so there was an opportunity to look beforehand. And again, I believe we have majority consensus to move forward. The question being is that is there

109a board policy that says that there has to be a reading and public comment um before the change. And if so, there could probably be public comment in a reading and then an action item. And that can weigh into the decisions of board members. Rahul Deshmug. >> So I'm I'm more thinking from a president perspective. This is just one policy we are talking about. And my concern is not about what is the specific language you want to incorporate. My concern is that we say that this is the policy I want to change and I want it as a vote at the next meeting. And we can then practically say that I want the whole every policy to be put for vote at the next meeting theoretically. And that creates a whole sets of challenges that

110have we adequately vetted what we are trying to do here from a procedural perspective. So what this would do something like this is today as a board member come in and says I don't like this policy. I want it changed. It doesn't matter what the change we are talking about. The issue is I have something in my mind as a change and I said I want to bring it to the vote. I'll take it to the legal. Legal will draft something and I'll put it for vote. And I think that's that's the uh concern I am uh raising here that we have to be deliberate and thoughtful about what we are trying to achieve here because this sets a precedent for any and every policy that we would implement. >> Not really. So while I

111hear your concern, I disagree with you. I mean it's a procedural step, right? Like you bring it for discussion. >> Exactly. >> Right. You look for consensus whether we are okay with changing the policy. You look for a majority consensus. understand what hang on I'm not done right like I >> I respectfully waited for you to finish before I said something >> my apologies >> right so the procedure is you bring it up for discussion for review doesn't matter what it is right like as a board we this is a fairly standard procedure that we bring in policies for discussion it's up for if it's there's a majority consensus that we would like to look for a change in the policy it goes for a change in the policy it gets reviewed legal obviously weighs

112in and says the language is okay and this is what it is. It comes in for a vote and we go for a vote. There is nothing different about this from any other procedure that we follow as a board. Okay. So that's the the common thing right like someone can have and you have the time for discussion you get the board packets that's where you you review you have your concerns you bring it and we've always had the procedure where people can bring in their concerns and then we vote. We again don't need to have a 70 vote on it, right? We just need to bring it for a vote and voice our concerns and then move forward. That's standard procedure. That's no different from how we've operated as a board. So >> will there

113be a discussion before the action item at next month's meeting? >> Yeah, there's always there's always discussion. Yeah, >> I mean that question is just standard, right? Like there is discussion and then it's put for vote, >> right? >> Momentary pause. >> It's on the voting agenda. Every item that we vote for always has the option for discussion. >> Momentary pause. >> That's no different from any other thing that we vote on, any other procedure that we follow. >> Julie Simpson. >> Um, having majority consensus. And you know, I've done different boards. So if this is not the correct procedure, somebody please I would like to move to close discussion on this item having board consensus to move forward. >> I'm not sure we have board consensus. majority consensus. I'm >> I'm not sure we

114have that. I haven't >> I I have heard from four members. >> You have? I have not. >> You're one board member. I'm a board member. I have not heard I'd like to >> I've heard from based on the >> Yeah. I mean I I guess maybe you were only listening to selective board members, but I've heard from board members so we can just double check because I've heard from >> I would like to do >> Nina Austin. >> I would like to not have an action item in next month. I'd like another month after we discuss it. >> I'm okay with having an action item next month. >> I would like an action item. >> I want an action item next month. And I also deser believe firmly that this district is seeking confidence

115in leadership and this district needs confidence in leadership now more than ever. >> Wes Poland, >> I'm fine with with the action. Thank you. Jim Batson, >> I'm fine with the action as long as we have an opportunity to discuss and that we have an opportunity to confirm the process for for adopting a U board policy. >> Rahul Deshmog >> and that's my thought that I would like to review this more carefully as to what we are trying to bring forth to the vote before bringing it. a clear outline policy that can be reviewed carefully and then at some point definitely it can be under board. So I'm not against changing any policies. I'm just >> momentary pause >> uh voicing my um desire to see that we follow a more >> momentary pause >>

116well articulated process because this becomes a pol pro process for all the policies going forward. Mark Schaefer. >> So to confirm, so with board consensus, I now have board direction. And so with board direction, um we'll take um proposed language um which I will then um provide to legal for them to um vet and review and ensure that it meets all legal qualifications. Um and I will also seek clarification just on the the voting procedure that can we um um propose a policy um discuss the policy and then vote on the policy in the same meeting. I'll just I'll verify that with the with legal >> Rahul Deshmug >> that's the right process to do. Jim Batson. >> Okay, >> moving on. >> Anything else? >> Momentary pause. >> Um, let's move into a budget

117hearing. We This is to schedule a budget. This is not a budget hearing. This is to schedule a budget hearing. >> Dan Stanley. >> Mr. Stanley, you have some information. >> Uh, yes. So, uh, by law, you have to have a budget hearing before you can adopt, um, your budget. And so, um, we target a June adoption for our budget. And so, um, based on that and all the kind of legal timelines and everything, uh, I think there are two, uh, options to look at really. And so, the the question is, uh, when when would you like to have, uh, the budget hearing? Um, because we require notice in the paper and things like that. Uh so you could either um have the hearing at the June board meeting uh which would be the same

118night as uh we would target adoption for the board meeting. Um or you can um have a hearing um at a special meeting because we don't have a committee meeting scheduled on uh the June 15th which would be that Monday before the June um 22nd board meeting. And so there's timelines there, but that's essentially um the options uh available. And so whichever >> and we can have a hearing and adopt a budget on the same meeting. There's no reason we can't. It's just >> momentary pause >> to give us the the budget hearing and to give us some opportunity to >> to think through what we learned. >> Yes. >> Is the benefit of having another, you know, having that happen before the adoption meeting. Um, >> momentary pause. >> Who's got any thoughts on

119that? >> Pause for discussion >> one way or the other. >> What would >> What's Dan's recommendation? >> Yeah. But yeah, I was just going to say, what would your recommendation be? >> Um, it there are there are pros and cons of doing both of them. Um pro probably the the most important one is if uh four of you are not available on the June 15th this doesn't matter. Um so like the first question is even is June 15th a plausible date that is not already scheduled. >> So this would be an additional special meeting. Mhm. Um, typically when we've had uh hearings on different nights, the idea is to give um the idea is to give the public um multiple opportunities to view uh and to give comment on things before um before final

120adoption. And so if you have a hearing at a different date, you're you're allow an opportunity then and then you can allow another opportunity um you know the week later at that at the at the adoption. Um, if you do it all the same night, you know, the the it's all kind of self-contained into that night. Um, >> momentary pause. >> So, it depends. Sometimes you can get a lot of feedback, sometimes you can get zero feedback. It kind of depends. It's not it's not a consistent predictable occurrence. So, I think it would just depend on what what your preference is. Um, either way, it's not like June 15th is going to be the first time seeing the budget have at the at the May board. We'll have a tenative budget which will be essentially

121a finalized form of the budget. It's just we take from May till June to kind of tweak stuff or double check our math and make sure we don't have any errors or things like that. Um so there will be um a lot of notice in terms of the information for the board um and for the public as well. >> U I'm available June 15th, but I'm want to obviously like you said we have to make sure everybody is and I'm open to either option. I'm on same >> I am not available on June 15th. I am not. >> All right. So one not you said >> I'm not >> middle KW I'm available. Um the question that I have though like just to confirm because I I know I heard multiple options just to confirm

122on June 15th we are not voting for the budget. We just it's a budget hearing. >> Mhm. So we all we need to have a quorum present to have the meeting but June 22nd is where we need to be available to vote on it. >> Dan Stanley >> uh yeah that's targeting the June adoption which is where we that's been our goal and that's what we've been doing. Um and again the budget hearing is very similar to the levy hearing right it it doesn't have to be on a different night. It can be on the same night as adoption. Uh, so this is the opportunity for the public uh to give comment on the budget um at a like a designated spot. Um, >> Dan, I I appreciate you giving us two options. Um, I

123know that setting another date June 15th is cumbersome and difficult for some of our members. But I'm also reminded that 90% of our revenue comes from the property taxes of our residents. And I just feel that as a courtesy to the public though we designate a specific date um even if there's not a lot of feedback I think it's an expression that we want their input because this district's running on their monies. >> Yeah 100% that that's why we've had it on different dates before. Um >> so I I support option B. >> Julie Simpson. So, we do have four who say they're able to attend. So, it's just a matter of what the board as a whole wants to do. >> Momentary pause. >> I said I I'm good either way. I mean, if

124if members who aren't able to attend really want to attend, I mean, I guess that we would go with option A. Um, >> Rahul Deshmug >> I I I I personally I don't know my I'm still tentative for that particular date, but option B seems to be as Doug pointed out, it gives the public an opportunity to also contribute to the process and I think that's useful. So yeah, we can theoretically say that yes, hear it and adopt it the same day, but this gives us a little bit more um as a community more time to look at it carefully and then make the those decisions of adopting it. >> Mhm. Yeah. And uh they're elicited A and B, not not in any order of preference. They just whichever one I wrote first. >> Um

125so >> Jim Batson, >> that's fine. The majority wants to do option B. momentary pause. >> I think we can do that. >> We'll target the 15th and then um I if we >> Jim Badson, >> it's really not there's not a lot for us to do besides be here to listen and >> we just need a quorum to be able to start meeting. So I guess I would say because we'll we'll we'll be publishing the notice in the paper no later than May 15th. So if somehow we know we will not have a quorum on that date, then we we can't have the hearing on that date. So, I would just I guess ask if if you aware that something comes up that would cause us not to be able to have four members

126here that we can um pivot at that point to uh >> to the 22nd. Yeah. >> Okay, we can we can do that. >> Okay, >> Jim Batson. >> Easy enough. Budget preliminary updates. Back to you, Dan. >> Yeah, we have a a pretty simple update um preliminary. Uh we have our revenues are are completed for the budget. They're very similar to what we had in our projections a few months ago. Um, so there's not very much change there. Uh, and then all the other side of it really kind of has depending on our staffing plans. That is, you recall 71% of our budget is on the people that we employ. And so I need to know how many people we're employing in order to be able to budget that big uh bulk. So I'm

127processing it based on that uh that number of staff, which is also part of an agenda item later on today. But just FYI, that's what we're pre in process for and we're working with departments right now on their various budgets. Um we're going that so we'll be we'll be ready with a tenative budget for our May um 18th meeting which we'll have a a lot of information for it just so you know um that there's going to be a lot of information coming. >> Jim Batson. >> Okay. >> Momentary pause. >> Um textbook adoption requests. >> Tom Centez. >> Yep. That's me. Each year um the district presents any new textbooks that are being adapted. Um textbooks also mean um any large like digital resources that we would use as sort of the core um

128curriculum um focus for the the course. This year uh we have four new textbooks that are being brought forward um for the board to look at. We're not voting on you are not voting on this tonight. This is just to make you aware of these things. >> Um, you will vote at them at the next meeting. >> Um, but the list is attached and if there are any immediate questions, um, I could answer those. >> Jim Batson, >> appreciate the, uh, the heads up on this early. How does this compare to prior years in terms of the volume of things that were changing? >> Um, the volume in terms of the four textbooks being changed is very um, typical. Um the this is in response to three new classes um that are being offered actually

129four. So all four are new courses. The dual credit speech um is an adoption of the textbook that is used at CLC. The AP business principles is a brand new course. So we need new textbook for that. Economics is a new course. We've had AP economics but we're offering a college prep semester course we have to find a text for. and then the dual credit intro to education. So those are all brand new courses which require new texts. The other ones that are there are updated editions of existing texts. Our textbook budget um kind of um fluctuates from year to year depending on which courses have required new texts. That can be very difficult to predict. Sometimes changes to AP requires new textbooks to be created or um our uh teachers will identify um that

130there are new text books that have been published um they will go through a process of review and then they would make recommendations for those changes. So this is a fairly in terms of new textbooks this is a a fairly small amount of new books being brought forward. >> Okay. Anyone have questions or comments? Ab clarification. I was just looking at the table here. I'm just curious if you can help me out here. Uh why do we have a shipping cost of 2,400 for Anat and physio? Uh which is a ebook. I'm just curious about that. >> Tom Kentes. >> Um that which which one are you looking at? The line >> the the >> for human physiology. >> Yes. Um I'll need to look into that. Um not sure if it's strictly just ebooks.

131Um sometimes those are accompanied by ancillary materials. So I will need to find out um the answer for that. >> Rahul Dashm >> just also surprised by the shipping and handling costs for many of these books. They just seem >> crazy. >> Jim Batson. >> Yeah, good call. Anyone else? >> Wes Poland. What do we do with um the old copies of the physical textbooks? Do we recycle them? Do we give them away? >> Um I think it depends. Uh some of them like we would keep I know like some textbooks teachers keep in classrooms as references. Others I believe are recycled, donated to other schools, disposed of. Yeah. >> Jim Badson. >> Okay. Anyone else? Moving on. PE exemption process. I'm sure some folks want to hear about this. Who's taking this one, Tom?

132>> That's Yep. Um, yes. So, we were um this is an update of the conversation we had in uh February around our PE exemption process. So, let me see if this is working. >> Pause for slide change. >> Here we go. So, at that time, this um was something that we had addressed. We talked about that um we wanted to take a look to ensure our PE exemption process that we're in compliance with state and district policy and we wanted to take some um opportunity to identify some potential improvements um to our PE exemption process and those were the key questions that we were taking a look at. >> Pause for slide change. Um, back in February, I told you the next steps that the district would do as we were going to conduct some

133focus groups with students to kind of dig in a little bit to our PE exemption process and some of the things that were working with that or were not. Um, we were going to review our policies and some of our practices to try to um determine if there could be greater alignment created as well as um develop any recommendations for the board in terms of some of the changes that we may want to make to our practices moving forward. So, um I return to you tonight uh with three basic um recommendations for changes to our um D district 128 PE practices. Uh the first one that we'll talk about is we are recommending that we create one standardized exemption process for D128 student athletes. This will be a little bit of a change. there were

134slightly different practices in place at Vernon Hills and Libertyville. And so, uh, we're coming back tonight with the recommendation for one standardized process. We also in this process of reviewing our PE practices discovered that we were out of alignment with some grading practices at Vernon Hills. And so, we want to talk about how we're updating and changing that. And then um we also heard some of our community and students asking for clarity on what other types of PE exemptions were possible for students um from a non-athletic request point of view. The state does allow students to request exemptions for non-athletic reasons. Um and so we have some clarity and some updated guidelines and administrative guidance on that area of our work. pause for slide change. >> Um so specifically with exemptions, the major area that

135um we are adjusting is that the return to class timelines for our district and the expectations in the schools varied by not only sport but level of sport and the school practices. Um so that made it difficult for students to know exactly when they were supposed to return to class. It created situations where students were um being potentially um disciplined for not returning to class at the appropriate interval time when their sport ended. And it created a lot of work and confusion for staff keeping track of which students um were exempt and which were not. So, one of the recommendations and the responses that we have created is a standardized district 128 process that in the fall would create two return to class dates. One date follows the season that ends early, which is boys

136and girls golf. Um, the second date would be in place after all the other sports in the fall end. Um, these dates were set to be approximately a week after the first round of the regional tournament. So, we know that all of our athletes will compete in regionals. If they were not to advance from regionals, they would have a week then to alter their schedules, kind of get used to being done with their sport before returning to PE. Um they also would have the same date. So all athletes from sophomore, JV, varsity would be returning to class on the same day. So that that way the teachers would be better prepared to accept all of the students coming back. Would be easier for teachers to lesson plan and have their units set knowing which day

137students are coming back instead of students sporadically returning to class at different times. Uh we set two dates for the winter as well. That's because boys and girls bowling ends much earlier than other winter sports. So we have an early return date and a later winter return date. This would be the same date at Libertyville and Vernon Hills High School and something that we would be making clear for all students and families to know when the athletic seasons began. And then finally, we in the spring, we had a difference in practice. Spring athletes at Vernon Hills um historically have returned to class. Spring athletes at Libertyville had not. And so because the spring season for the majority of sports, virtually all sports end so late in the school year, um we are going to have

138a consistent policy that spring athletes do not return to PE. U many of them their season goes after the school year ends anyway. So, it's kind of a moot point. >> Julie Simpson, >> are you are you wanting um questions and feedback like as we go on each slide or would you like us to wait till the end? >> Um I I think it'd be best to wait till the end. It's meant to be a very short presentation and then I can take questions. >> Um so the second area is VHS grading. Um so uh we had some practices in place that were um designed and very thoughtfully designed and well intended. But when we dug into different state guidance around PE, we discovered that our PE um using the fitness test scores and using

139output from heart rate monitors as part of a student grade is not something that is allowed by our state code. And so we wanted to make the adjustments to make sure those were aligned properly. So starting immediately the um PE fitness testing at Vernon Hills, you get um graded and for participating in it, but your actual score, your results can't be used as part of your overall course grade. And heart rate monitors will still be continued to be used. Students can learn how to use heart rate monitors. They can use them to reflect on their level of activity. But um we can no longer tie a student output on a heart rate monitor to a specific score for that day in class. And so those changes are being made. Um and uh VHS administration is

140updating students and parents about those changes. >> Pause for slide change. And then finally, um we heard that there was unclear and inconsistent um communication um around nonathletic PE waiverss and so many students and families might not have been aware that there were ability to request um a PE waiver for a non-athletic reason and that is something that was very rare. So our schools didn't necessarily have clear guidance about that. What we did was we looked at that um we created a very clear guide guidelines for this as well as administrative guidance so that administrators at Vernon Hills or Libertyville um who get these requests in the future from students would have a much um more standardized process for reviewing them, verifying them and ultimately approving them. Um, right now it would be very subjective

141based on which school is getting the review and there's not a lot of administrative guidance for a principal to um, uh, make a decision. We're outlining um, that so that in the future our administrative team knows how to process those and we can guarantee not guarantee but we can work to ensure much greater equity um, between the way those decisions are being made at each school. Um, so the next steps for us, as I indicated, the grading adjustments, uh, that work has begun. Um, and we will immediately be working at Vernon Hills to, um, update the grading procedures and do work with students who might have been affected by those grades. It's not in all of our PE classes, um, but it was in certain ones. So, we have to make those adjustments in those

142classes. Andy, um, Dr. Young is working with the PE department and counseling department on that. Um PE exemption in the updated information will be shared with students and families and our athletic department moving forward next year. And then our non-athletic PE exemptions, we're working to make sure our building administration and our uh student services departments are aware of that. Um and that will be in place moving forward. >> Momentary pause. So, at this point, I'm happy to take any questions. >> Jim Vadson, >> Julie, you had a question. >> Uh, I'll wait and see if anybody else wants to go a lot already. >> Anybody else? >> Um, so yeah, I'll start. So, um, for how many years had Vernon Hills High School been using illegal grading practices? >> Tom Cientes. Um the grading practice

143for the uh standard the standard fitness test goes back probably at least 10 years. It was it was put in place when the state went to uh student growth as part of the educators evaluation process. And so the way that um some of the PE classes were determining student growth was on the fitness test. That was a test that students took at the beginning of the year and the end of the year. It was a way we could monitor student growth in that and that was uh something that was um at that time used um over that time was when some of the state guidance came out and why we have to adjust that process. >> And then how did Vernon Hills and Libertyville end up with different practices? Because it's my understanding Libertyville was

144was in compliance. Correct. Yes. Um we as a district have a history of both schools and departments being able to work to determine um there has been a larger longer history of uh building autonomy around curriculum and grading practices. Um we are working over the last few years to bring greater alignment to that. Uh but over the years, Vernon Hills had kept their kind of um process of using the fitness test for student growth. Libertyville had moved away from that and administers the fitness test, used it as part of student reflection, but didn't use it as part of the student growth. >> I don't know when and and exactly when and why that decision at Libertyville was made. >> Momentary pause. >> Okay. >> Um Okay. Anybody else? because I have more questions, but I

145want to on >> I just wanted to follow up on that one real quick. Sorry. Um, so you say it was about 10 years that we've been doing this. Was was the rule always in place that we shouldn't use the the heart monitor data or >> was it changed or did we just misinterpret it? What? >> Yeah. Um, I don't know when, uh, I wasn't in this position in looking at state PE policy 10 years ago, so I don't know exactly when the state guidelines changed around fitness testing. Heart rate monitors are a gray area. There's nothing in the state code or guidelines that talk specifically about heart rate monitors, and many schools around us um, use heart rate monitors and have various levels of grading with them. for us when we looked at this

146and said if we are moving away from um using student fitness testing results as part of a grade it could be argued that heart rate monitors are a type of fitness testing and therefore we felt we should move away from that as part of the student grade as well so I I would definitely not say that um there's clarity in the state guidelines around the use of heart rate monitors being tied to a grade but it is very clear that fitness fitness testing itself cannot be and it's our interpretation that heart rate monitors could be seen as a fitness test. So we feel it's better not to include that in a student grade. >> Okay. Thank you Julie. >> Um yeah you know >> momentary pause. >> You know it is a little disturbing that

147we were you know involving ourselves in an illegal practice. Um and I get that that mistakes can be made. um >> momentary pause. >> But you know, there was topics brought up about physical physiological responses um dictating grades and discussions were had and and some of the answers were just, well, it is what it is and things aren't going to change. And it wasn't until somebody said, well, you know, >> momentary pause, >> opinions are opinions, but oh well, it's actually illegal. So, I think that we need to be doing a digger a a better dig into some of these things when concerns are being brought up instead of just brushing them off and it'll serve us in the long run um a lot better. >> Tom Centez. >> Yeah. I also I struggle with

148the term illegal. Um this there's state code and we always want to be aligned with state code, but we are audited. We review our practices all the time to make sure that we have alignment with state code and we find things sometimes that are out of alignment and when we find those we work to correct them and put us back into alignment with it. Uh this was one small area of our practice that was part of a few PE classes not as systemic across the board at Vernon Hills High School. It was a legacy practice that was in place. And I agree. When we find that those things are wrong, we absolutely want to change them and get in alignment with the policy. >> I don't think it's a small thing when it's 80% of

149a student's grade. >> Momentary pause. >> That's not a small percentage. >> And in addition, so if we remove the word illegal, if you're uncomfortable with it, we can just call it simply a violation of school code. >> Out of compliance. Either way, um I think that there were flags and that this topic was brought up and that they were brushed off. um before we had more of a of a a legal opinion. So I I just think that when those concerns are brought up that we need to be doing a deeper dive if they really sound like they make a lot of sense. >> Doug Flegel, >> I would consider it an operationally gross oversight that simply isn't acceptable to be brushed off. >> Tom Centez. >> Yeah, I um >> momentary pause. >>

150I'm not sure. Um and I know that we started looking at this this fall and we are bringing forward these recommendations now for these changes. >> Middle KWL. So I do have another question just looking at it from like a very forward-looking perspective but also looking at there has been an impact from this policy on the grades of students right where we know that this pol this this practice is out of compliance and it has affected current student grades what are we doing to fix that >> yes I'm going to let uh Andy start to speak about the current student grades >> young >> yeah so for the current students since those families were notified on Friday about uh what the next steps would be and if they wanted uh if students or parents wanted

151a review of their students grade relative to the impact of fitness testing or heart rate monitor use um with regards to historical you know so students that are sophomores juniors or seniors or etc um who have already been through those classes I will have a communication for families coming up on Wednesday to talk about those possible steps. >> Tom Centez >> and it is per policy and and guidelines. Uh students can always request grade reviews. So we'll make students aware of that. One of the things that um can create a a grade change for students who may need one is a review of their grade and determination. Was this based on a a policy that was um out of alignment or was it based on their other factors in their course? Um and then if

152we discover that a student has had a grade that was miscalculated due to this policy, we would be changing it um to reflect their performance without this policy in place. >> Middle KWL. To me it looks like we should be looking at it more proactively than just asking them to review it because if we are truly talking about being student centric right we know there is a policy that or a practice that is out of compliance it wasn't the students decision to follow that practice it was our decision then we figured out I think we need to have a way to make it right then ask them to potentially look at an email understand the impact understand that there might have been a great change and then to request review then when we know that

153we've caused the problem we can proactively look at fixing it >> that would be my recommendation okay >> and I think I agree there with Mitilles that one way for us to again look at it as he suggested is look at the grades >> momentary pause >> we know what is the breakdown of the distribution of grades and then see that if any of those things would change automatically and then we proactively provide parent that because of this change I would imagine that there would be a bump in the grade and most parents maybe maybe not I don't know but whatever is that change the grade would the new grade would be this and would you like to discuss this further could be then the step two of the process but we can probably proactively

154look at all the grades that may be impacted and what would be the new grade because of that change >> we have the data to determine that, >> right? It is the students don't have the data to determine that. We would be the ones determining it. So, we can do that step proactively rather than reactively and case by case basis because we are leaving it up to their judgment to see whether it was impacted or not. >> They don't know it. They don't have the data in front of them. We have it. So, I think it's unfair for them to put it all on them to review and then take a look at it. >> Okay. We can look and determine what type of systemic review can be done um to see if that helps

155us identify students who grades may need to be adjusted. Um in the meantime, students can individually come forward as well while we do that review. Mish, I support what you're saying, but I do think that most students are aware of >> they know what they're >> they know, but I am absolutely in agreement with a proactive approach. >> Momentary pause. West Poland. >> Um, does anyone else have questions? I have some more. >> Oh, I do too, but next. >> Okay. >> Momentary pause. West Poland. Um, in regards to the PE waiverss, was the requirement that students return to PE mid-semester ever evaluated as a variable or was it always treated as a fixed constraint? >> Tom Culentes. >> Um, the when you say mid semester, do you mean mid first semester or midyear? >>

156Um, well, the waiver like there was a return date, right? >> Yes. So, was that ever treated as a variable or was that just treated as the restraint that kids would be returning to PE at some point? Yes, there was discussion about um returning to PE at some point. There was discussion about end of semester. So, if you were a fall athlete, like spring athletes do not return to class. They are out for the spring semester. Um, but in the fall and the winter, those athletes do return to class. And when we talked with students, some of the discussion was, do we need to be out for the entire semester? What would it look like to return right now? Students in the schools right now return two or three days after their sport ends. And

157so we looked at all variables from continuing that practice um all the way up to potentially being out for the semester. West Poland. >> Um, so then in the focus groups, were the students um directly asked whether they would prefer a semester-based exemption that allows them to take possibly an academic course, stay in study hall, um, in place of PE. >> No, we we did not ask about taking an an additional course in lie of PE. um we don't believe that that is possible at this time for us and so we did not offer that as an alternative to students. There was some discussion that I had with um some students about that. I spoke to our board reps about that question um but that was not part of the larger focus group. The larger

158focus group was about PE exemptions and returning to class when the exemptions ended and making that process better for students. >> Sorry, really quick. Can you explain why it's not possible, >> Tom Kentes? >> Well, there's to us when we look at it, um the guidance says students return to PE after their course ends. Um and so for us as a district, we um believe our students should return to PE. Secondly, we see this as a larger systemic change of practice that could be potentially an equity issue as you would have students who are exempt from class for athletic reasons being able to take additional classes that students who are not athletes would not be able to take. Um and so from our understanding of state uh guidelines, we know that there's variability in practice,

159but the vast majority of high schools that um we look at uh have students returning to class and not opening it up for students to select um classes outside of their PE. >> Okay. because um I thought that the language said for them to return um you know as practical but that if they're enrolled in another class then it wouldn't be practical practical for them to return that semester so that would fall within the guidelines. Um and then um >> momentary pause Julie Simpson >> um go ahead back to me. um >> West Poland. >> Oh, I wait I do know. Okay, go. Oh, and so when we talk about um equity within class selection and all those type of things, I mean we also have zero hour gyms so that students can um open

160up class time, but there's no transportation, so that could also be considered an equity issue. Um that zero hour gym is for privilege and not for everyone. Just putting that out there. Well, and the same could be said about summer school as well as making that a requirement um because some students they have to work, they have to watch siblings, summer school is not an option for them. So making summer school and zero hour PE that puts some you know students in positions where um they possibly aren't um eligible for uh the non-athletic waiverss because you've made that a constraint because is that I mean does the Illinois code say um that a student has to take summer school or zero hour PE? Tom Centez. >> I'm I don't know about summer school PE being

161a requirement in >> but in the requirements for the non athletic exemptions. Um part of the criteria uh that's in there is you know asking you know has a student considered summer school? >> Yes. >> Has a student considered zero hour? >> Right. Well, but that's not mandatory. It would just be as we work with a student who's asking for a PE exemption. One of the things we would say in our district is, is zero hour an opportunity for you? Is summer school an opportunity? If it is an opportunity, that may serve a student in lie of needing a PE exemption, but it's not a mandatory requirement. >> Um, athletes that are in zero hour, can they wave? >> Tom Centez. >> Athletes who are in zero, >> if there's an athlete taking zero hour

162PE, >> can they wave? I believe >> be exempt for the semester or however long they are. >> I their sport >> I don't believe I'd have to verify this. We offer so few PE classes are saying no >> Tom Kentes >> so at Vernon Hills >> you cannot >> West Poland ones that are available for zero hour are not acceptable >> Tom Kentes >> right and it's be partial part of the reason for that is probably because those spaces are limited and so it's for students who need that in to fill their schedule >> West Poland >> okay um >> Julie Simpson >> and and see it's getting late. I start to lose it a bit. Um >> momentary pause. >> And so, you know, I I think that we uh you know, asked

163for to see more flexibility, um which is what the law allows. Um I feel like what we're seeing is more rigid and in addition to looking at some of these return dates, I mean, just having a son who's a soccer player who's he's almost out of here, so this doesn't really affect him much. you know, he's older. Um, you know, a return date of the 9th, for example, that could be the next day after his sport ends. >> No, he wouldn't have to return. He he would be exempt and then he would have so depending on that date that was set um was set based on the final week of the football after the first week of football playoffs. So, if there was a sport that was still playing, th those athletes would be exempt

164until their season ended and then they would have a week to return to class. Um, so it wouldn't be the next day. We think that this um policy we um we did not look as a variable of students enrolling in courses. We at the t at this point in time as a district that is a huge structural change for us that would require a lot of review with staff with counseling. Um there's all kinds of institutional issues that would go along with that in terms of students who ultimately um don't go out for the sport then do they drop that class and have to return to their PE. So there is a number of issues. What we've done though is take a look at our ex our existing PE exemption practices and we believe we've

165created much greater clarity for our students much more consistency and that we have really built out an understanding that students can request individual exemptions for nonathletic needs and that has been kind of expanded as our focus as part of our district. So, I think this has offered our students a lot of new um clarity and guidance on when they can be exempt and when they have to return to class and what types of uh issues would warrant a PE exemption for them. >> Okay. I'm disappointed that we're not looking to move forward even if it can't, you know, be a specific policy change now to allow children to take um students to take um you know, those extra courses. I think um there's language that can be crafted and added in such as you know

166cuz this we're only talking about juniors and seniors here that they have to have participated in the sport before um you know they do have to try out you know in the >> first week you know if if they're didn't try out for their sport then they return to PE and I think that those numbers are going to be minimal. I don't think that we're going to see a big, >> you know, I don't think we're talking about hundreds of students here, but I think that the impact of allowing kids to take extra courses which either a, you know, are good for their mental health while they're in their sports, so we're not talking about just, you know, you know, they're in their athletic time for the majority of the semester, maybe taking an arts,

167um, or other classes that they believe are going to help that give them a competitive edge when applying to colleges. Um I even if it's not this is what we're doing right now that this is where we're looking to go. >> How many weeks are we talking in that >> five or six >> they would be in this course? >> Five or which course? PE >> no >> or even just additional extending like study >> they would be in the additional course the entire semester then that's what we're talking and um instead of returning to PE to having a study hall and returning to PE in about for five five weeks they're able to take an additional >> five weeks >> momentary pause >> so that that's just my opinion >> and there's I mean

168>> West Poland >> there's other schools that do this so I understand how this may take time to implement but the fact that we didn't even look into uh or ask the students if they would be interested. Um I I found that problematic. Um especially because you didn't do a survey to families or students. You just did the focus groups. So you don't have any concrete data that you know tells us the interest. >> Well, when when I came here in February, I told the board I was going to do focus groups. We did not talk about a communitywide survey at that point. there is we have to be thoughtful about that because one of the things the district frequently hears is we're over surveying our kids and our families. So that is something in

169the future that if we as a a district believe we want to gather feedback on something we may certainly do but the plan that was presented in February was executed. Um, and I we did not ask students about enrolling in another course because as a district we did not feel that that is an option for us at this time. >> West Poland. >> Um, and then when we talk about the word practical, who determined the definition of practical because that's left up to the schools to decide. >> Um, so how was that determined? >> Tom Cientes. Well, that's determined by us as an administration in terms of what would practical be in terms of returning to class. Uh the guidance for us is students return to class and we've extended that timeline for the vast

170majority of students. We also look at all of our peer schools and their interpretations of that and virtually um nearly every other school in the state um other than the two that have been cited by the board are operating in the way we are. West Poland. >> All right. Um so, so do you um expect there to be um measurable improvements for students with this uh these new guidelines? Um beyond I mean beyond the increased predictability for the system. I mean what's the benefit for the students? Just clarity >> that well one is the clarity. two is for students um that they would have many of them will have more time being exempt from their class than they have had historically. So many of them some of them are going to go to 3 weeks

171after their exemp after their season ends versus 3 days for them to transition back to class. Uh the other thing is for students who need nonathletic waiverss much more clarity and consistency in that process and how that is understood and how that is processed at the administrative level. West Poland. >> All right. And then how will these communicate how will these um >> momentary pause >> uh the expectations be communicated to students for you know when they're supposed to be returning? >> Yeah, we do a lot of communication with students in PE classes about the um exemption process, what they have to do in order to be exempt and when they need to return. We also do all school communication about that and our athletic coaches are also communicating about that. But that is certainly

172something that we can look to even make more clear. Um but I talked to our most of the students in the focus groups they felt that they were hearing when they're in class about how to be exempt. They were getting tons of information about that. The confusion came with when they had to return to class. And so this will help create very clear guidelines and dates that we can promote and um help students see and understand. >> Okay. And then will there be like punitive messages in these communications or is that going to be taken out taken out? >> Um yeah I I believe it would be aligned with the our values and the way we speak to students about you know what like hey your exemption is ending this is what you need to

173do return to class. So we would try to make that positive and supportive. >> Okay. Um >> momentary pause. West Poland. >> All right. Anyone else? >> U maybe again a clarification. So again I I you have a policy that's in in place that I mean that you want to implement. Uh my question actually is and it offers a lot of avenues for exemptions. So I think one of the things that I've heard from the board and also the community that they want to take more courses and things like that and that's why they want this exemption and my understanding is reading through this carefully word by word that there is adequate opportunity for every student to at least seek the exemption they want provided they provide the evidence. What I would like to understand

174is given that it's quite broad in terms of the avenue students have. What could be an example of when an exemption will be denied to the student? Let's say a student wants to take a course. Let's say they are in the football program. U it's more intense and stuff. U >> momentary pause. >> What would be that situation where that exemption will be denied to the student? Is there any >> um yes so not for athletics if a student is in IHSA school sanctioned athletics they are exempt and then it would be about a student who's not in a sport but says maybe I I want to be exempt because of a college entrance requirement or I want to be exempt because if I if I don't get an exemption I won't be able to

175graduate high school. So, that's the um where we as a district would have to review that. The high school one is very easy because we can count credits and we know what a student's schedule and if they would be able to graduate. Um the college one is fuzzy and it's gray. Um and so what we would be um asking our students to do is work with us to help us understand their their post-secary plans, why they need to um take a course that they need. because just saying well I need to take science is something that we can provide during the day. So it would probably have to be a little bit of a level up in terms of why this request is so um important to this particular student and their particular career or

176uh post-secary planning. And then that's where our counselor and our principal team would make decisions about either granting that request based on how reasonable that is or I'm denying that request because other options exist. So then if I understand it right, this current policy has been proposed provides that avenue that satisfies what student is seeking. >> Yes. So the the students have always had that option. It's part of the state code. What we're doing is making it much more clear in how to go about re getting that and standardizing that request across our district and providing forms and administrative guidance that are the same at each building so that we can be assured if a student makes that request at Vernon Hills, it's treated the same way it's made at Libertyville High School. >> West

177Poland, >> have we ever um approved a non-athletic PE exemption? >> Um I can only I can speak for me as a principal. Um in my uh 15 years as principal in two schools uh yes it is very rare and minimal. Um so a lot of times it would be for students who are involved in something that requires significant amount of travel for example are ones that I I can think of off the top of my head but um I don't have a district record of any nonathletic PE exemption log and where we've approved them and where we haven't. >> Momentary pause. West Poland. >> And is that because uh of the awareness or because they didn't meet um the requirements? No, I got I got as in when I was sitting in the principal

178office, I minimal requests for this and I think it's because um honestly the maybe awareness had something to do with it, but the vast majority of our students are able to access their post-secary plans and move on to their colleges without needing to exempt from PE. >> West Poland, >> is that because they take zero hour? No, we have very few students who take zero zero hour. >> Okay. >> Momentary pause. >> Jim Batson. >> Anybody else? >> Pause for more discussion. It's >> okay. >> Jim Batson, >> thank you for that um information and I'm sure we'll hear more about that as time goes on and it gets implemented. Um we are now up to the consent vote agenda. Is there any board member that wishes to res remove any item from the consent

179vote agenda? >> Pause for answer. >> Jim Badson. >> No. >> Okay. Hearing none. Can I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? >> Poland. Some moved. >> Second. Flegal. >> Okay. Any discussion? >> Roll call, please. >> Austin. >> I. >> Batson. >> Hi. >> Deshm. >> Hi. Eagle >> I >> Cotwell >> I >> Poland >> I >> Okay uh motion passes. We have one two three four five action items. The first one is the ombbudsman uh service agreement. Um, can we have a motion to approve option two of the AMBudsman alternatives education services agreement for the 2627 school year as presented? >> Momentary pause. >> One second. >> Okay. Any discussion, conversation? >> Pause for discussion. >> Okay. Hearing none. Roll call, please. >> Batson. >> I. >> Dashmouth.

180>> I. >> Legal. >> I. >> Hot wall. >> I. >> Poland. >> Hi. Simpson. >> Hi, >> Austin. >> I >> Okay, motion passes. Uh 6B, intergovernmental agreement with the Village of Libertyville. Uh can I have a motion to approve the intergovernmental agreement between Community High School District 128 and Village of Libertyville regarding shared facilities? >> Hold on. Second. >> Any discussion, conversation? >> Pause for discussion. Jim Badson. >> Okay. I think this is a a good move. We've been good collaborative partners with them. This just sort of solidifies that uh that relationship. So we appreciate that. Uh can we have a roll call, please? >> Deshmok >> I >> legal >> I sorry Cotwell >> I >> Poland >> I. >> Simpson >> I >> Austin >> I >> Batson >> I motion

181passes. Uh next is an intergovernmental agreement for deaf and heart of hearing uh itinerant with district 120. And I believe we've had some conversation about this for some time. I'll first ask for a motion to approve the intergovernmental agreement for deaf and heart of hearing itinerate with district 120. >> Ps moved >> with one second. >> Okay. Any discussion? >> Pause for discussion. Jim Badson. I think this is a great opportunity. Anytime we can share some services um and give students additional services uh with minimal uh difficulty that's good. Um roll call please. >> Legal >> I >> Wall >> I >> Poland >> I >> Simpson >> I >> Austin >> I >> Batson I >> Jim Batson. >> Okay we have the um annual ESP staffing report. >> Momentary pause. >> Um, >>

182momentary pause. >> Get get us started. Let's have a motion to approve the annual education sport professionals staffing report as presented. >> So moved >> with one second. >> Okay. Any comments, questions? >> Pause for questions. >> I know we've all seen this. >> Jim Batson. >> Okay. Roll call, please. Codwell. >> Hi, >> Poland. >> Hi, >> Simpson. >> Hi, >> Austin. >> Hi, >> Batson. >> I >> Dashmouth. >> I >> legal. >> I >> Jim Batson. >> Motion passes. Uh 6E. We have a motion to approve the employee handbook for the specialized professional staff, including benefits and salary increases for the 2627 school year. Can we have a motion, please? >> Momentary pause. >> Would also move. Hold one second. >> Um, >> momentary pause. >> Would you like to give just

183a brief explanation? I know that we made a change in the description here and just so that people are up to date. >> So, we have approximately 20 members of the nonUN ESP group. Um, most work in the district office and have um specialized or or technical positions. a lot work in um the business services office but in other positions as well. We also have a few non-UN ESP that work in our buildings. Um most of the items in the handbook um have to do with um um areas of um like items that this group was interested in having enhancements around. A lot of it had to do with longevity and um increasing let's say the number of vacation days after 20 or so years um increasing or uh the number of uh like buyback

184opportunities of vacation days again based on longevity. There was also a name change um recommendation. Um so I would say those were the largest features of the non-union ESP group. Julie Simpson. >> Mark, can you just remind me? Are these 12-month employees? >> Mark Schaefer. >> They most of their are 12-month employees. I think a few might be 10 month. >> Correct. >> I think two are 10 month. >> Correct. >> Julie Simpson. >> And then so it all of these are the same whether they're 10-month or or you know like so let's say 15 days vacation. So >> the 10 the 10-month employees don't have the two um campus safety supervisors don't have vacation days. So they are uh working the teacher schools. So they're different. They don't have access to the vacation days.

185>> Are those hourly employees or no? >> Um I don't >> Yeah, that entire group would be considered hourly for like receiving. >> Correct. >> And then so so per that are um one hour of PTO for every 40 hours they work. >> Brian Kelly asks Julie to repeat the question. are they earning one hour of PTO for every 40 hours they worked? Uh I don't know if education is different, but as part-time employees per law that I think came into effect in January of 2024, um employees, uh part-time hourly employees, >> they're not they're they're full-time uh school year employees. And so they get >> I just want to make sure we're in compliance with >> Yes. They get the they get their sick days and then they get their personal days. >> Julie

186Simpson. >> Okay. As long as we're in compliance. >> I was just double checking. >> Pause for more discussion. >> Okay. Any other questions or comments? Roll call, please. >> Poland. >> I. >> Simpson. >> I. >> Austin. >> I. >> Batson. >> I. >> Dashmouth. >> I. >> Legal. >> I. >> Hot. >> I. >> Jim Badson. >> Motion passes. Um board comments and events. Um, I'll just make a reminder and and um repeat what Carol sent out to all of us. If anyone has not, and I'll admit I have not yet uh completed your um economic interest statement. Now, this is the week to do it. You have to have it before the May 1st. Um >> so, and there's financial penalties if you don't. So, as a as a board member, we

187all have to do that. So, just as a friendly reminder um to do that. Uh, anyone else have comments, events you attended? >> Wait, where are we? >> Okay. Um, ISB report. We did have a our um division meeting uh this month and uh it went well. It had a last minute change in the speaker, but um it uh it turned out to be a really nice uh event and a really good learning opportunity. So I appreciate those that uh joined us on that. Uh we said no seedall report. We have some future agenda items including now the the one uh uh agenda item next month for the uh >> momentary pause >> board policy. >> Yes. So I have a future uh agenda item for discussion. Um, and just to be clear, I I

188understand that we're going to be developing a policy committee at some point, but we don't have one right now. So, I'm, you know, at a snail place going through and seeing I would like to see um 7 col 260 um up for discussion in the next agenda. >> Pause for more discussion. >> Okay. >> Pause for more discussion. Jim Batson. >> Anyone else? >> Pause for more discussion. >> Okay. Um so we are uh going into executive session. Board will convene in close session to discuss employment of employees 5CS120/2C1. Um and uh >> momentary pause >> when we come out. There's nothing on the agenda for any action items. So we'll end our action items at this point in time. So, can I have a motion to convene in close session to discuss employment of

189employees 5CS120/2c1 second? >> Okay. Um, roll call please. >> Simpson. >> I. >> Austin. >> I. >> Batson. >> Hi. >> Legal. >> I >> Okay. And for the rest of you, good night. Text on the screen says, "The board is in closed session. Fade to district 128 logo. Fade to black.