2026-04-20 CSD99 School Board Meeting

001All right, it's 6:30. Uh, Julie, would you mind calling the role, please? >> Certainly. Cara Casten, >> here. >> Katie Courtourtney >> here. >> Ken Dawson, >> here. >> Mr. Espinosa, >> here. >> April Fein >> here. >> Don Rener >> here. >> Michael Riskey >> here. >> Ryan Enright >> here. and Roina Paper Gonzalez >> here. Thank you. >> All right, having a quorum, let's stand for the pledge of >> allegiance. I pledge 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. >> All right, we're going to start with student recognition. Ankle, turn it over to you. >> I'll turn it over to the principles. We have the honor of speaking together for this

002first one for our troings troangs gymnastics team. Um we are really excited as you can see and have you been seeing us celebrate um on social media and have mentioned it here before. Uh the success of our Stroings gymnastics team is just an unbelievable tradition at this point. Um so we are going to introduce Kristen Campos and Kylie Bosow. Kristen is our head coach and Kylie's our assistant. >> Hi guys again. Um I can't forget about Bill. He's also my trusty assistant um for the last 19 years. Um so uh the girls are here. So I'm g introduce each of them. So if you can just kind of wave. Caroline Phillip Avery Perave. >> Okay. Stand up and wave. Give it your best. We'll try again. Caroline Avery, Heidi Schmidt, Hannah Larkin, Stella Peron, Edie

003Condan, Lauren Dy, Kayn Landry, Emily Kutcha. >> Feels like a test right now. Okay, >> can you say their names? Um, all right. So, just a quick shout out to them. Uh, this year was definitely different than previous years. So, this was four trophies in four years. Uh, as the seniors said, we're like the Avengers. We collected all the colors. Um, which was kind of fun. Uh, to have one of of each, but third and state was great with um a team of basically seniors, juniors, and freshman. We have no sophomores. Uh, so to have the newcomers come in and learn our ways and our uh family tradition of excellence and hard work was awesome. So, you can see on the screen um one is not up there because she was eighth in state. So,

004she didn't finish on the podium, but definitely made a name for herself. So Avery uh Perome was eighth in state on vault as a freshman is a very big deal. Um so we're excited about that. Um Caroline was fifth in state in allaround. Had an amazing showing and a state medalist on bars. And for three years in a row we have a Downer's Grove state beam champion. So Ed is our state champion on balance beam. Deserves a special round of applause there. Just to remind you guys, it's only four inches wide, okay? Um, and she does some pretty amazing things up four feet in the air on that balance beam. So, we're really proud of her, uh, leading the way, uh, the last one in the entire meet to compete and took it home for

005us. So, um, our motto this year was one more time. We know that the world of co-ops is a, you know, an issue for others, not us. Um, and we wanted to go out with a bang if that's what was going to happen. Um, and see what next year brings. But I do, our seniors wanted to say something to the board. So, I do want to introduce um, I guess all three of you, right? Okay. Um, Emily, Kayn, and Lauren wanted to say something to you. >> Um, hi, my name is Emily Ka, and I'm a senior at Downs Grove North. I would first like to say how grateful I am for what high school gymnastics has given me. These past four years haven't just been about competing, but about the relationships and memories I've

006made with my teammates. I want to especially thank Coach Bill, Coach Kylie, and Coach Campos for their dedication to the story sport because they have truly made it memorable. Looking back at myself freshman year has made me realize how much I've grown as an athlete, student, gymnast, and person. My coaches and teammates have taught me everything I do know about gymnastics, and I'm so fortunate to have finished my high school career alongside this team. Hi, I'm Kayn. Um, I would like to thank our coaches for pushing us to be our best this season. Uh, Campos, Coach Kylie, and Coach Bill had an everlasting confidence in us, not only as athletes, but as a team. Being able to have go just to talk to and guide us through our battles and triumphs really made this team

007a family. The love me and my teammates have for each other has grown immensely over the season. Watching our three freshman Avery, Hannah, and Stella thrive. Being part of a team reminded me how special the Downers Grove gymnastics family is. Competing for and with this amazing team is something I will always cherish. And although the team will be changing next year, I will remember our family as the Troings. My past four years with the co-op helped me find my inspiration and most importantly my love for gymnastics again. >> Hi, I'm Lauren. From from the past four years of being a ching, I have learned so much. I have learned how to love gymnastics again, be a family with my team, how to grow as a person, and so many more valuable lessons. This year we

008had such a special team where all varsity girls competed in the lineup and everyone stepped up to play an important role on our team. I am beyond proud of everyone and what they have accomplished. I want to thank campos coach Kylie and coach Bill for always being there for me no matter what. We would not be where we are today without you guiding us. I also want to say thank you for the girl. Thank you to the girls for making this season so special. I could truly never ask for a better group of girls to spend my last season with. Most of all, I'm proud to be a part of a team that feels like a family. This season wasn't just about gymnastics. It was about trust, growth, and making memories that I that we

009will carry with that we will car that will carry with me for the rest of my life. >> Dr. The need to come up. >> It's It's literally your day. You don't have to talk or you just have to be embarrassed for me. >> All right. As state champion, our both our villages get involved when we have state champions. So, uh, the village of Downer's Grove and Mayor Barnett has declared today April 20th in your honor. >> Thank you. >> You get a little certificate. And in the village of Woodridge, Mayor Cunningham has named tomorrow in your honor. >> Congratulations again, Troangs. We're proud of you. Next up, we are celebrating DECA. So, it's a really nice night tonight. We get to celebrate things both in the realms of athletics and activities when we have

010our comp competitive activities and athletics. So, I'm going to introduce Paul Crick and Ruth White who are here to represent DECA from Downers Grove South. Um so we're here today to uh recognize um three uh of our uh DECA members who are going to be competing this following week at DECA Nationals in Atlanta. We have um competing in third place they took at state qualifying for nationals and buying merchandising as Niha Higa and Sarah Hij. And Sarah is here today. Her partner couldn't be here because she's at a a lacrosse game. SO S um Sarah and her partner are both sophomores. Same with our fourth place finisher and principles of business management. Uh Ardan Guadra will be competing also as a sophomore. So we are very excited that we have a very young program and

011being led by some very great people. If you would like to say something, you can come on up. >> Hi. Um I'm sorry. And I know they already introduced me, but I just want to keep it incredibly brief and thank my adviserss for helping facilitate all of this from sectionals to state to even our fall leadership conference. And even though unfortunately my partner couldn't be here today, I'm so honored to represent the DGS DECA chapter at ICDC this week. And I think it's such an incredible thing that we have such a bright future for this program because I think about last year like my partner and I didn't even place at sectionals last year and this year we somehow qualified for nationals and I think that just shows how much potential there is in this

012program for us to grow. So thank you so much. I was going to say and I'm sure when they the north people coming up there was um 1,800 people competing at DECA state this year. So >> wow. >> Congratulations. >> All right. I'm excited to introduce our North High DECA students who have also qualified for nationals in Atlanta. Our sponsors had previous commitments tonight. So I am the lucky one who gets to introduce our students. So um first off we have um Ethan Winer who is at a volleyball game. I've learned. Um so again, we have all of the competing things in the spring, which is amazing. Um he was second place in state uh human resources. Um and we do have uh Kate Whitmer here tonight for fourth place in state for financial consulting.

013So congratulations. For fifth place in state, we have Bin Burkhart and Rowan Herd. I don't think they are here. >> They have track and field. >> Track and field. Thank you, Ryan. um they were fifth um for integrated marketing um for their campaign. And um for our last recognition here, we do have Ryan and Vivian Metropolis here this evening. Um they were entrepreneurship team decisionmaking. So um you certainly don't have to come up and say a few words, but if you would like to, you are more than welcome. But again, congratulations um to all of our DECA students who have qualified for nationals. It's a really amazing thing and this is one of the things that as I think about my own student, my own kids going into high school, I'm going to push them

014this way to DECA, too. So, it's awesome. >> I can say a few a few things about DECA. So, um DECA is a club that prepares emerging leaders in finance, accounting, marketing, law, fashion, merchandising, buying and selling, economics, and business administration. But what DECA really is is it's real world application. Um and DECA's huge thing is networking. Um you know the saying, it's not about what you know, it's who you know. And that is such a big thing with DECA is we teach you how to make connections with people, how to network with people, how to have great social skills because that's something that really helps you stand out. Um whether you're in a business or your postsecary plans. So I just want these two to stand up and just show you guys. If you

015guys want to say something, that'd be great. But Vivian's our executive assistant to our officers this year. And then Katie Milus is a two Katie Whitmore, excuse me, is a two-time um nationals qualifier. So Brian said it all. >> I think they're good. But other than that, um, this year has been a record-breaking year for DECA. We had over 50 members qualify for state. Um, and we had 226 members in total. So, I'm super excited to see how DECA grows. Fortunately, this is my last year as our vice president, but um, this has been a great experience and this is something that I'm going to continue in college. So, yeah. >> Awesome. Awesome. >> Thank you, Ryan. All right. Next up, um we have a couple of recognitions from North um for athletics. So, I'm

016going to introduce Dave Rose, our associate principal for athletics. >> All right. Good evening, everyone. Uh can you hear me? >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um good evening. Uh we have a couple of individual athletes uh from North that uh were honored with some all state honors uh as well as one that uh received some national honors. Um so, we're going to start. Um, I'm just going to introduce uh John Sipple, uh, Coach Sipple, and he's going to say a few words about a familiar face at this point, Philip Supio. Philip, you can come on up, too. >> Well, it's uh it's my honor again to uh uh be here uh recognizing Philip for uh winning the Gatorade cross country athlete of the year for the state of Illinois. Uh pretty amazing accomplishment and uh Philip

017is going to graduate uh as the most like decorated most accomplished runner that we've had in North High North High history ever. Uh which is pretty amazing. Uh and it's been uh such a journey to go on with him and it's been really a lot of fun. We've had a lot of challenges, a lot of great times, a lot of uh you know I mean so many so much experience and you know traveling across the country to go to different meets and stuff together. Uh I'm so thankful and uh I've learned so much through this and and having the pleasure of coaching you. I know coach Adelman as well. Uh you challenge us uh because boy, he's he's tenacious. He's always trying to do something. But I think uh you know the accomplishments and the

018the awards and the all states, the state championships um have been incredible. But, uh, I think like Philillip though is leaving a legacy behind, uh, that is going to, uh, help our younger runners is having a a a freshman on the team right now, my son, uh, and, you know, this guy there to help bring him along and stuff and watch kind of being, you know, being able to watch that kind of firsthand. Uh, and you kind of taking on these younger guys and trying to fill that leadership role of a number of guys that we lost last year and stuff like that in previous years. Uh, I can't thank you enough for that stuff. Um, boy, it's it's been awesome, dude. And I've had so much fun doing it. Uh, Philip, man, thank you.

019>> Say something. >> Sure. Yeah. You know, I could talk about, you know, cross country and track for, you know, millions of years. you know, not so many. Um, but um, you know, I'm I can't say how thankful and grateful I am for the opportunities, you know, DGN gave me. I've been so lucky, you know, to go to Jefferson and have a great coaching staff over there and to go to Downers Grove North, which even better coaching and staff over there. I've we had nine coaches. It's been so it's so amazing to be honest. And, you know, now I I'm gearing up for college where I, you know, I take it to a whole another level at Virginia. Um, I'm just so thankful, you know, I have so much people along the way that aren't

020here right now. I can't I'll list some of their names, but you know, like my mom, my stepdad, you know, my dad, they came to all my meets and it just like meant the world to me, you know, like showing them and showing their um commitment along with mine and it's been such a journey. Um, but yeah, you know, along with all these teammates and stuff and it's just so fun, you know, I like running, you know, you guys know running, it's not, you know, that typical fun sport. sports a lot of people's punishment. So, you know, making the sport so fun with all these guys and all these alumni, still seeing them come in, you know, it's been it's been an emotional journey for sure. But, um, I've, you know, suckered all that in

021and it's been so fun this last year, especially senior year. And now, you know, I'm gearing up for hopefully my last big season. I want to end things off with a big bang. So, I'm really proud and um proud of DGN, proud of myself, proud of my parents, and uh super excited to end off the year. >> All right. Uh next up, we have Maya Nicholson. Um all state cheer. I'll invite up coach Pasarelli. And Maya, come on up. I don't know how to speak. >> Uh well, a little bit on the fly. Um Maya um got the all-state recognition for cheerleading and was amongst a very small group of people that got that honor. Um I've had the privilege of coaching her for four years. Uh she was a former gymnast and had some

022injuries and came to cheer and we're so excited she did because she is the epitome of a coachable athlete. Um, I could sit here and talk about her for probably an hour, but um, she is so humble and so talented and so um, deserving of this honor. So, >> all right. Uh, and then last up for uh, North, unfortunately, she could not be here tonight, but I'll just give her a quick shout out. U,, we have Campbell Thulan. Um, received all state honors. third team all state from the IBCA and second team all state uh from the Illinois media. Uh she is a um a leader on a team here that has won uh 30 games in two consecutive seasons which is a very uh difficult thing to do. Um won the regional championship this

023year at home which was a great experience for our kids. Um and then lost in the sectional championship to the eventual state champ. So, uh, a leader, uh, a hard worker, endless, um, you know, and always in the gym, very, like coach Pastor Elli said, very coachable. All these athletes that you see that are achieving these all state honors are incredibly hardworking, very coachable. Uh, they're there day in and day out. Um, and they are, as coach Sipple said, they're they're setting a standard and they're raising a bar for a lot of our younger athletes. Uh, they work incredibly hard, they do all the right things, and they're a great example for all the younger kids. So, um, you know, we've had a couple successful years here and it and there's a reason for that

024and I think it's because our upper upper classman and our coaches set a great example. So, uh, congratulations to all of our athletes, uh, that are here TODAY from South. Um, we're celebrating our basketball coach, Zach Miller, along with student athlete, Adam Flowers. So, I'm gonna invite them both to come up. Um and Zach is going to celebrate um the all state third team that Adam made. Uh yeah, super proud and honored to be up here. Uh I could go on, you know, for days talking about Adam and all of his accolades, the points he scored. Um but I don't think I would be doing him justice to not talk about like the type of character, high character kid he is. Um and just how the amount of hours and time he put in the

025gym day in day out. Um, and I'm so grateful uh to be able to coach him for the last two years. Um, and just get to know him. And I think as you know, teachers, coaches, as we're starting to get ready here for summer and we start thinking about next year, um, I always knew I was going to miss him. Um, but I didn't realize until the last few weeks when I'm like going through everything, like, man, like I'm I'm really really going to miss um, and not just the basketball stuff, but just who he is as a person on the dayto-day. Um, and I think that's kind of the standard and the legacy he's leaving with Downer South and with the basketball program. So, I'm just uh truly truly appreciative of all Adam's done

026for us. >> He'll pick you up. >> Um, I just want to thank my mom first. um always driving me to the gym and practices and stuff and even when it's super late at night um or in the morning. I want to thank Miller for always believing in me and pushing me to like way past what I thought I could. And um my sister, she's not here today, but I thank her cuz she always talks to me about basketball, how she likes seeing me play. So, I'm just really grateful for it. All right, celebration continues. I've got uh Brian Sueda and Luke Connley right here. Uh we're going to celebrate um Luke and then Brian is also going to talk about our diving program as well. >> I'm just glad I'm going before the speech

027kids. Um so, um yeah, no, this was a great season. Um, Illinois is typically one of the most competitive um, swim and dive sports um, in the nation. So, uh, to have two people to recognize is fantastic. Um, Nikki couldn't be here tonight, but yeah, he placed 14th in the state. He also set our school record for the six dive varsity record. Um, Coach Luke's actually won um, sectional coach of the year this year as well. Um, Coach Crick's name's not up there. He's not sitting with us. He's an executive coach, but he also coaches. Um, so thank you to Coach Crick and uh this guy here, Luke's a a junior and this is his second year making state. Um, and first year all state. Um, it's he got 16th and it was the first

028time I think I've ever had someone get all state where it kind of felt like a letown because as most of the coaches know here, the plague went through our school like right during championship season. >> Thank you gymnastics. Yeah. Um, and he got sick at state basically. Um so so to do that um he in the 200 freestyle he broke our school record which was 36 years old I believe. Um and in the 500 freestyle he broke our record which is only one year old. Doesn't sound as impressive except he broke that one last year. So yeah. So it was a great season. Um super excited to see where it takes us next year. Um and yeah, he's a joy to coach. Um, I mean, Sueda wraps it up pretty good, but I had

029an amazing season. I was undefeated the entire season throughout. So, through all our dual meets, invites, and conference. I didn't lose a race. But that wasn't just because of me. >> Coach, come over here. >> Swim's an individual sport, but I didn't do it myself. My two coaches, Suede and Crick, they don't we don't have the best team here at South, but they could have been replaced with the best team in the state and fit right in. We are I'm so blessed to have such good coaches. Um they've spent this guy I know has spent a lot of late nights worrying about my swims. Lost him a lot of sleep and probably some hair. So, we had a lot of momentum going into state series. We went to sectionals. I broke the school records. We

030qualified for state twice. Tons of momentum coming to state. Woke up Friday the morning of state. Couldn't really breathe, which in a sport where you can't really breathe anyway. Wasn't the greatest. I couldn't even go down the stairs without getting out of breath. Um, it was really hard because I kind of commit my life to this sport and try my hardest, but thanks to my mom and my coach, we uh pushed through and placed at Hey, hold on. Congratulations, Luke. All right, we're going to transition to speech. Um, so I've got Coach Justin Makovich here who's going to come up and celebrate. So, um, our speech team, I'm looking to see if it's up there. Can you just go to the next slide for just a second? Thank you. So, I wanted to celebrate that

031this is the second place instate team as a team. So, state runner up. It's super exciting. It's so fun as a principal. Um, even though I'm not there to be like monitoring and refreshing on my phone, um, like every I don't know how often, Justin, three or four seconds. I think I do it on that Saturday night waiting to see. And so state runner up is amazing. Um so I'm going to introduce Justin. He's going to celebrate um the whole team and we have a state champion amongst them too. So Justin, come on up. >> Hey everyone. Uh so I uh always feel like honored to be here obviously talking about the speech team because speech is something that's very important to me. Um, this is my 21st year being involved on the Downers South

032Beach team as a competitor, as an assistant coach, and as the head coach. Um, this program is so important to me specifically. But I think when I look at my students and see what they do, not only in high school, but beyond high school, I really see the value of what speech does. It's more than these awards, which are cool, don't get me wrong. It's really about the people that I get to work with and the people that they become because of what we do on our speech team. Um, and this year we have uh the second year in a row of getting second place, which I think is a fantastic accomplishment. Um, three of the last three in a row. Oh, sorry. Three in a row. We got three second places in a row.

033So, that that's pretty that's pretty fantastic. Um, >> 31 30 of the last 41 years you have finished in first or second place. >> Oh, that's crazy. >> 30 of the last 41 years. >> That's That's impressive. And obviously like as being like you know the head coach of this program I've just been standing on the shoulders of uh downers groups out speech since I've gotten here and it's been a fantastic honor to do that. Um getting to work with um a staff of alumni um former program heads and competitors has been a true honor that get to work and shape the next generation of BGS speech. Um so our second place uh team this year um we had uh Jack Mey who represented our team in special occasion speaking. Uh we had Mustafa Mahajer

034who was our representative in radio speaking. Um Abby Hein was a state qualifier in pros reading. Uh, and then Charlotte Clinton was our fifth place in the state competitor in poetry reading. Uh, Carly Blue was a state qualifier in dramatic interpretation and fifth place in declamation speaking. Uh, we had Sophie Cooper Carrero who was a fourth place in state in humorous duet acting. Jillian Meyers was a state qualifier in oratory speaking, but also fourth place in extemporaneous speaking at state. Zoya Sadiki was fourth place in both impromptu speaking and informative speaking in the states. Natalie Gay was third place in the state in humorous interpretation. And then we had Nate Clinton who was fourth place in state with Sophia in humorist acting, but he was also our state champion in original comedy. Now, fun fact,

035my sophomore year, I was also our state entry in original comedy. I did not get anywhere close to being our state champion in OC that year. Um, but if I could have Nate come down here and just say a couple words about um, uh, speech and his experiences on the team. Hi. Uh, Mr. Makovich used this as an opportunity to prepare me for limited prep events in the future by telling me around uh, 10 minutes ago that I would have to say some things. So, uh, I want to use this opportunity to talk about how um, speech can take a group of people and make them into a family. I joined this team as a freshman uh because my sister convinced me around three months before freshman year to join. So I quit football and

036uh joined speech and I will never regret that decision. Over the past two years, these people sitting over there have become like a family to me and I would not trade that for anything else in the world. So thank you We say camp, my friends. So therefore, uh, forgot about that. >> Mayor Barnett in mayor has also the mayor of Downer's Grove is also named today in your honor. And, uh, Mayor Cunningham in the village of Woodridge has also named today in your honor. So, CONGRAT All right. Well, now that it's over, I feel a little sad. Um, but just um congratulations on behalf of both me and Dr. Dement. Congratulations to all of our students, our coaches, and thank you on behalf of both of us, to our families. Um, I think uh both

037Luke and Adam spoke about that they can't do it without the family. So, thank you for all the driving and all the support um and just all the love and care you give them and thank you for sharing them with us. Um I think that concludes our celebration. So, thank you. >> It is an open board meeting and everybody's able to stay. However, you're also >> we um Ms. um Browning, our uh chief communications officer, would like to take pictures of everyone. So, please check in with her before you leave. >> Good to see you. Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Just do it all. >> Do it all. >> Something like that. >> That was great. That was great. >> And I like that it was athletics and >> I don't want to be associ

038with that. >> All right. Our kids never disappoint. Sir, >> I think I love the extemporaneous like I love the category. >> I know they're awesome. >> A couple other things almost >> so true. I have a close friend who went to South and was on Fox nontop about it. Yeah, >> one of my best friends, his kid was took state and humorous in Iowa this year. Okay. >> And he did a whole >> hoping for a short little like standup comic. I thought he would have all full of like double meaning our family's like sent us all a recording of his literal. >> I always try to throw a math joke in whenever I can whenever I'm But the acorn >> preparation for life. >> Yeah. Really for anything. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah.

039But Karen, I don't know. She has so many stories. >> All right. Shall we continue? >> Yes, we shall. >> Okay. I'm going to have to remember that one. >> Student perspective. >> Being amazing and getting recognized. >> So, I'll go ahead and get started. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Um, so again, it's amazing to see so many students here getting celebrated. Every time it happens, I get excited to just see like familiar faces. And I just think again, it's an incredible opportunity to just recognize everyone's hard work, dedication they put in, and I'm just very thankful that I get to be a part of this. And as a district, we can again um applaud uh our students and community for being so incredible. Um, so as we get closer to the end of the year,

040everyone's excited, a little bit stressed. Um, there's a lot of things as we saw tonight, there's a lot of things going on both academically and with activities. Um, everyone's focused on finishing the year strong, also maintaining the expectations we have set throughout the year with both attendance and academics. Um, for activities, uh, this past weekend we had our Adams family musical. I got to see it on Friday and it was honestly amazing. um you could really tell how much dedication and care went into it and it was just amazing to see everyone thrive in their respective roles. Um we also had state testing for the freshman, the sophomore and the juniors and the seniors got a very long weekend which I'm personally not complaining about. Um we have senior prom coming up this next Saturday.

041So everyone's very excited and looking forward to it. Also, everyone's running around trying to figure out pictures and bouquets and like all the other details. Um, we also have a lot of concerts coming up soon such as the jazz concert, the orchestra concert, and the band band concert. Um, senior awards are next week. Um, which is a group of seniors who will be recogn recognized by the community. Um, and sports are also in full swing as well as other activities. um sports such as volleyball, soccer, softball, baseball. Again, everyone's focused on their activities. Um so, a lot going on and a lot of excitement in the building. Um and for resources, as May 1st is approaching, most seniors have decided or are still deciding what college they're going to or just overall what plans they

042have after high school. Um our college and career center continues to be an incredible resource for students. um they help with stuff such as FAFSA, um finding scholarships, um enrollment, or just overall helping students um find their path after high school. Um but yeah, overall pretty exciting past few weeks and following weeks in the building and in the community overall and I'm looking forward to finishing the year strong. >> Thank you, Romina. So, um, over the past few weeks, there's been a lot of positive momentum across the student body. Um, a lot of excitement about academics, activities, athletics, and post-secary planning, and students continue to show more ownership, accountability, and responsibility in the day-to-day school life. So, let's switch to what's working. We've talked a lot about the phone policy. So, the phone policy has

043been working well in classrooms. Phone has been kept in backpacks and have reduced distractions and improvement. Um, one thing that we've talked about is that self-regulation piece and how it's important it is to build that habit because a lot of students are going um to their post-secary plans and it's really important for them to have that self-regulation piece and to be able to um monitor theirelves and their usage. Um, we had state testing last week and based on how it went, I know the test was a little difficult asking some underassman but other than that the way that it was broken up was really beneficial and everyone had great things to say about that. I know I did with my two days off. um scanning in system continues u to support accountability and consistency. Um

044students physically tracking uh or checking and reinforcing that idea of attendance in it being their responsibility um is a really is a key point. It also reduced confusion and helps create stronger everyday culture around being present and on time. Um one thing that we've been doing is security checks around the school. um if a student hasn't scanned in, security will um come and look for you. And that's been a great resource because 99.99% of the time, the person just forgot to scan in. The person was late and the teacher said, "Hold on, I'll update your attendance." And they come down the corner and the teacher's already doing it. So, in every single case, there really hasn't been an issue with security coming in. But that is just something to be aware of. Um and there's

045still continue there's still continued um attention and correction attendance errors quickly. Um, so when I've asked my peers if they've had attendance issues, um, they kind of just email the office, email their teacher, um, and those get fixed really quickly. Um, moving to student ownership and accountability across classrooms, expectations feel clearer and more consistent and students are seeing more follow-through from adults, which makes systems feel more real and fair. Um, other than college and career readiness, um, the college and career center is continuing to help students with their post-secary planning, whether that be scholarships, applications, um, and kind of getting their financial aid figured out. um and also their housing applications. I know I'm stressed about that, Roina. Me, too. Me, too. >> Um but other than that, senior updates, um it's a really important

046stretch of the year. I think it's a time of celebration, but it's also a time of decision-m. Um decision day is May 1st. I know a lot of people are counting down um the date, but it's exciting and there's a lot of emotion in the air with seniors realizing their time at District 99 is coming is kind of coming to a close. So, other than that, um prom and ticketing updates. So, prom is not this Saturday, but next Saturday. Um, the five-star ticketing site has been super uh has been working really well and seniors, it's just a link that Mr. Marand Dole has been sending and it's been working really well honestly, especially with the guest forms too. I know I'm bringing a guest and it was super easy to get that form um filled

047out, get a signature, put into student activities. Shout out to Miss Mamula for doing probably 300 um forms a day, but you know, it's been a really easy process. Other than that, athletics also have been in full swing, whether that be girls soccer, boys volleyball, which currently have a perfect record. Fingers crossed they're playing tonight. I had to skip the game, but um they um other than that, and boys baseball, track and field, and then girls lacrosse. These programs are bringing a lot of energy, school spirit, and student engagement right now. Other than that, April 29 is senior awards, 700 p.m. I have May 1st for college decisions day, which is super exciting. Um May 2nd is prom, May 5th is cap and gown distribution. And then there's other days um within May. But you

048know, there's been really great communication with the student activities office and administration um with kind of keeping up to date with those dates and es especially when it comes to graduation um and picking up your cap and gown, ordering everything. It's been really organized and I'm really impressed. Um so those bigger takeaways are clearer systems, stronger expectations, and more student ownership. um high excitement around athletics, activities and senior milestones and students feel supported but they also understand that accountability matters. Overall tone right now is positive, motivated and forward thinking. Thank you. >> Okay. Item five, approval of minutes. Can I get a motion from the board of education to approve the minutes of the March 16th, 2026 monthly business meeting, the March 16th, 2026 closed meeting, and the March 25th, 2026 special meeting with action

049item. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Ken moves. Katie seconds. >> Thank you. >> Ken Dawson. >> I >> Katie Courtney. >> I. >> Chris Espinosa. >> I. >> April Fein. >> Hi. >> Michael Riskey. >> Hi. >> Cara Castton. >> Hi. >> And Don Rener. >> I. Motion carries. Item six. Julie, do we have any visitors? >> No slips. Okay. Item seven. Turn it over to you, Frank Hank. >> All right. I'm going to turn this over to Travis and Jury for this part. >> Good evening. It's uh it's been a busy um trying to think of the first time that we presented on this this opportunity, but it's we've done a lot of work up to this up to this point. So, want to want to fill you in. This uh infographic kind

050of lays out all of the different pieces that we're talking. So, I want to orient you a little bit from the last time that we uh talked when we uh agreed to do the investment grade audit. Uh we we have had a lot of building visits, a lot of uh looking at plans, a lot of meetings. Uh we're having a weekly check-in meeting on progress and how things are going and and coordinating a lot of different moving pieces. Um, and as a result of that, um, there are a couple new things on this screen. Uh, you'll notice this is broken down by handled by Honeywell and then handled by District 99. So, if you remember when we initially talked about this, we talked about doing um a taxexempt lease. Uh, jury has done some additional

051work in investigating and we've decided to not go that route and to go with the debt certificate. She's going to talk a little bit about that and the and the why with that. But because of that shift, uh what we wanted to do was break out the things that our energy conservation work that Honeywell would manage and take care of. And then the other capital work, if you remember, we talked about the potential of having other capital work done. That's what's broken down into the handled by uh district 99. So in that handled by Honeywell, we talked about all of those pieces. The one part that we didn't talk about was roof replacements. Okay. So, that is separate from when you look at at capital and safety projects handled by district 99. That's separate from

052the the fieldhouse repair uh and roof replacement that we that the board has already approved. This is taking four sections uh across both buildings uh both of the high schools that are structurally sound and can handle solar but were put on in 2000. So, it would not be smart to put solar on top of 26-y old roofs that are already past their so that with that work um and we'll get into some of the the details related to that. That is the increase of replacing four of those rough sections. And so what that does is it takes our our square footage um and increases that by I have it in my notes here um by about 57% upgrading our our potential. So there are other sections of the roof that are good structurally and are

053recently uh replaced. So one of those being the fieldhouse roof at North, right? So we're going to take advantage of of that, but there are other sections of the roof uh as well. Um, and then we had talked about the boiler replacement and and we'll talk a little bit about that uh at at North, but all of the other things we had uh talked about uh previously when we look at our capital and safety projects, we also talked about safety projects and that would be the safety camera hardware uh which again, just as a reminder, we stand ready to submit our cops school violence prevention program grant as soon as that opens up. Um I've been checking weekly to see when it's open. We have all of the paperwork. Uh we have additional supporting uh

054letters, one from uh our ROE and one from the Depage County States Attorney uh to help uh bolster that application. So we stand ready to do that. Um and the other is a PA system upgrade. Uh it's not a full PA system replacement. Uh that would be very expensive. What this is is is basically replacing the brains of the system um as well as the amplifiers to help drive the system. But there would be some additional opportunities in the future to expand that uh so that we could enhance uh the the functionality of our of our PA system and enhance the the security as well. Uh we've talked about the health life safety controls. So that's if you remember we're we're replacing 21 rooftop units as a as part of our health life safety work.

055Uh so that is to pay for the controls that will go forward and and program and control those rooftop units. We knew that that was going to be an expense that was not included in health life safety. It couldn't be included in the health life safety work. We had to pay for that. So we're looking at uh funding that through uh this mechanism. We've talked about the auditorium remediations at North and obviously we've talked also about and approved the the fieldhouse roof. So those three things, the controls, auditorium remediations, and the fieldhouse roof, um those those wheels are already in motion. Those things have to happen, uh type of a thing. So regardless of whether we move forward with this or not, we're we're going to have those projects completed. Um and so but we

056thought it would it'd be best to to weave that into uh into this funding uh mechanism. So do you want to highlight a little bit about the the financing component? >> Sure. Uh Tammy and I have met with our underwriter to discuss various options that we have for financing these projects. Bond council initially suggested that we contact our underwriter um and instead of looking at a taxexempt lease um and so what has been recommended are issuing debt certificates. Debt certificates do not affect the levy. It's those are paid for with operating funds. And the way we would do it is I believe it's up on this slide um >> talking about the annual debt payments would be supported by the energy savings from all the upgrades, the revenue generated from the solar and then approximately

057$200,000 would come annually from the operating budget. And that is just something that we would plan and budget for each year. This would be um these debt certificates would be paid back over a 20-year period. And so if we move forward with these projects, we would plan to bring back all the specifics at the May board meeting. >> Jerry, where did that solar revenue number come from? >> That that is part of um Honeywell provides that as part of the projections and within that that is the first year uh full year of the of the solar use. um we would receive revenue an annual check for that that 20 years and it's projected out to to grow at about 4% um each year. So when we look at that that total estimated cost or actually

058the the payments for the debt certificate that's factored in we would utilize those funds uh to help make that make that payment. And we're having the underwriter structure our repayment schedule that will fit with in all of these like for the first year our savings would be less than it would be for the second year and when we receive like the federal credits and all of that. So we factored all of that in so that it would not hit the operating budget. >> Go to the next slide. So this gives a a greater breakdown. You can see where the the savings are and what the payback is. uh it is ranked it's sorted by the the highest right uh amount of annual uh savings. So there's substantial savings with our solar. Uh you can see

059that that has a 17.1-year payback. Um and why you look at that why the higher number that's because we have the roof replacements as well. Right? If we didn't have to do that's factoring in the roof replacements. If we didn't have those, that would be a much uh lower number, probably around a seven-year uh payback uh for that LED lighting and controls. Um you can see that this is uh almost 11,000 fixtures that would be replaced across the entire district, both inside and outside. Um all of our lighting fixtures would be changed to LED. Uh that is an important thing considering that uh starting in January 1st of 2027 um there are strict uh restrictions on the use of fluorescent bulbs in the school setting. So that would remove all of that. Everything would be

060um LED uh and that has a 21.7year payback. That's a lot of lights um to to get replaced um over that over that time. >> Travis, can you also just mention the impact on classrooms for the >> Yes. So it not only is it the the efficiency, right, but the the impact on the learning environment is is a huge factor as well where they can be dim, they can be controlled. Um and uh we know that the rooms that we have those in it it makes a difference um in the atmosphere and the learning environment. Uh so again that would be across across the board in all of our buildings. Uh actually including this building as well. We have quite a bit of fluorescent bulbs uh here. So that would uh that would take care

061of that and we would be right in line with that clean lighting act. The HVAC controls rec uh retro commissioning um there was some surprise savings here with uh we're about $90,000 a year that has a very short payback in the and the work that would be uh required from that. So some of that is set points, some of its schedules, some of it's just managing the efficiency of our HVAC system. Um so not a a huge lift uh but some pretty big savings um each year. Water conservation you can see um we would replace uh 375 uh devices including uh showerheads uh sink faucets uh water closets um as well as retrofitting 232 of the of the similar. So they they look at the age of the water closets, age of the the sinks

062and and the flow and they can look at and and some of them just need to be retrofitted instead of a full replacement. So that has a 14.3year payback. Building envelope improvements. Again, if you think about that when you uh think of your home, right? When you put in the extra cocking, whether that be uh a door sweep, different things like that that help uh keep the the air in or the heat out, right? Those are the types of things that we're talking about with that. Um again, about $7,000 in savings and pretty close to that 20-year uh payback. Boy, the replacement, that is not a typo. It is 225 year payback. That was the first question I asked uh when we when we talked about this with Honeywell was, is there a decimal somewhere

063in there? And yes, it's to the right of the five. So, it is there is a decimal there, but that is just they're they're huge units. Um while, you know, we see $6,700 in annual savings, um it's about a million dollars. Uh and so part of that is the devices themselves, but also the other part is the location. So, we're working through different things either if we have a bigger units that replace like uh for what we have. We have to either go through the roof or go through a wall. If we were to go with smaller units uh which we most certainly can do uh that fit within existing frames and different things, there's a lot more uh connections, a lot more piping, a lot more electrical work that needs to be done uh

064associated with those things. Um, so that is is looking at uh both ways uh what that would uh look like. So you can see total annual savings is just under $400,000. And then we have onetime grants and rebates of uh just over $1.7 million. >> Travis, how old are those boilers? >> Oh gosh. Um >> yeah, about 50 years old. >> Yeah. >> So we're end of life on those boilers. >> Yes. >> Where did those boilers live? Are they in the basement? No, >> no, they're on the second floor at North. >> Okay. Wow. >> So, we have we have more than one boiler right in in in our buildings. That that's the second set of of big boilers that are in that that are in that building. So, if you go to the

065next slide, please. So, you can see this is just visual um keeping the two things separate. Again, that'll help with uh transparency as well, help us with our accounting and financing to have those things separate. um to be in compliance with section 19B2 of the of the school code um we need to go through as we talked about in a previous meeting and having a third party review the savings and verify what those those look like either yes they're good or no they're they're not good. So, we're in the process of of doing that right now with uh Bombman uh consulting. Um again, they're a third-party independent uh entity that is going through all of the figures. Um and so remember, if the independent evaluation does not confirm the savings, we have uh no obligation

066to proceed. Uh if savings are confirmed, while we still don't have an obligation to like finalize, remember there is a a dollar figure that's associated with that. and it was uh just north of $160,000 for all of the work. And I can verify there's been a lot of work that's been done to get to this uh to get to this point. And again, the next slide just talks about just some of the reminders. If you remember that July 4th date, um some federal incentives are shifting. So that helps us to maximize those incentives as well as if we meet that timeline. Uh it expands our ability to install uh solar during that that time frame. Um our costs are not going down as we're seeing on a regular basis and uh the demand for energy

067is not going down. Uh so the more that we can get behind the meter uh where we re remove that delivery cost the better. uh because that's that's the part. Remember in the fall we approved uh a four-year agreement for both to lock in our energy our costs and our natural gas. So electricity and natural gas. So those are set. It's that delivery charge that we just don't know what's going to happen. That can fluctuate. Uh so the more that we get off of uh off of our bill, the better, right? It won't have as big of an impact on on our uh on our operations. I think this is the last slide we have. Um this is just the next steps as as we move forward. Um so once we have the the results

068from Balman Consulting, uh we'll obviously review that. Um our district council will review the the contract of the um energy savings performance contract. That's the ESPC. um to make sure that we are in line with that section 19 of the of the school code um and protect our interests at the same time. That's an important thing. Um as part of this, if we if we were to move forward, we do have to have a public notice in the paper um and on our website and also posted here at the district office or wherever we have that hearing. Um, so we would target to have that if we I believe we're going to be ready for that May board meeting uh to bring this to you um for for board consideration. So if we do that,

069our target date to get that public hearing would be or in the paper would be May 7th. So at that board meeting, we would have a public hearing component. If we aren't able to meet that deadline, then we looked at that June meeting. We would target to have that on on June 4th. Um, so then we would bring it to the board for consideration and then after if the board approves that and we were to um have that final execution of the contract, we have to submit that there to the capital development board um to to finalize and make sure we've taken care of everything with section 19 of the school code. So there's still several steps that that we need to take um in order to get there. We have not seen any of

070the results from uh Bowman Consulting. So I I can't speak of of any of that. All the numbers that we shared with you have been provided by Honeywell in in meetings and going through. We've asked a lot of questions. Um we've had some some different revisions in in the scope of of the work that we've uh that we're comfortable with that that fit within that that $14 million debt certificate. So any other questions that I that we can answer? I can just confirm the the should this go ahead the anticipated payback. So it's 14 million in debt certificates and then if I understand correctly the payback would be funded by the 397k and which is being audited by bowman >> 77k uh a year in solar re is that number being audited too or is

071that included in the >> that that is a calculation okay right that that that's it's a production >> the production would be guaranteed >> okay >> so the production can be audited And the state of Illinois has guaranteed those dollars for 20 years for public >> and we have built in that cost to have that audited each year to maximize uh that revenue stream. >> Okay. And then the final piece if I understood then there's 200k from the operating budget >> approximately. Yes. >> Okay. And just to put that roof in into perspective, right? So we had um if you remember with the fieldhouse roof, it was just under 30,000 square foot that we just had um that we approved and the work is being done. It would be an additional 87,000 square feet. Uh

072so think of three field houses uh that we would be adding to uh as part of this project as well. Um that doesn't take care of all of our roofs. We still have other roofs that are um that are not solar worthy, if you will, right? Structurally, they they can't handle it. Uh and the age of those uh we're maintaining them. Uh and we're going to at some point have to make the decision, you know, what do we do with those those roofs as as well? But this helps offset that cost. Uh these are some pretty big capital uh projects that we're able to do that that in utilizing all of the moving uh pieces. So, we have some creativity uh that's been built into this in order to try to to get those things

073done as well. >> Travis, I'd like to uh first of all, thank you and your team for all the hard work that's been put into this project. It's fantastic. And secondly, from a community perspective, uh the fact that we're having independent verification of the projections from this from Balman Consulting is fantastic. So that the community understands that we're crossing every tea and dotting every eye and uh doing everything we can to make sure this is a excellent decision. But first and foremost, thank you for all your expertise and work in this project. >> Yeah, Travis, Jere, Tammy have spent a lot of time on this. The board has been aware of this since the fall, but Travis and Jere have been working on these models and these possibilities for like three years now. So, you

074can see it's a lot of work that goes in into making this all kind of feather together to be a usable project. So, they've done really good work on this. >> Can I just ask you, can you go back to the infographic one? I just had a question about >> Y. >> That one. So, is everything under and the Honeywell list down to the boiler replacement. Is that all Honeywell? >> Yes. >> Okay. And then the three over here are DG. So, the D99 >> the safety projects. >> Where do I see the safety project? >> Right under where it says handled by project 999. >> Oh yeah. Okay. Sorry. So, okay. So, I want to make sure and then my second was just so so say the audit comes back approves it, we decide

075to proceed like over time like and we've probably covered this so I apologize if we've already discussed but like how does that actually work? We talked about the auditing. So, like say we expect these savings like does does Honeywell provide someone that comes and is checking everything. How do we know where over this these this period of time? like what if the numbers don't shake out or so how does that work? >> It's a it's a great question and we we've covered a little bit but not to the to the detail um uh that we need to. So what happens we have that that annual audit of the savings right? So it with within that that projection there are um savings that are calculated okay and if those are not met Honeywell cuts us a

076check for the difference. Oh, >> okay. So, that's the that's why the importance of having that that audit done yearly to make sure that that it is it is functioning as it should. Okay. Right. Because in their projections are also the variables of and they they have a 4% in there right now of the with the um that solar revenue uh building. Um, and when they look at the long-term projections of, you know, how much that's going to save in in kilowatts and all of those different things, those are all factor. >> Those are all being. >> So, that's the that's the part of when you see the um energy savings performance contract. The performance part is if they're not performing as they say they're going to, we actually get they cut us a check.

077So, um, they've been doing this for a long time, right? So, uh, they're they're not going to give us, uh, calculations that don't match, right? Or they've screwed up. Uh, so they they're smart. They're they're looking at So, um, that that is going to be accurate unless there's something >> that they make a mistake, but that's why we're also having, excuse me, uh, Balman Consulting looking at those figures as well to to be able to verify. >> Okay. Thank you. >> It's a lot of moving parts. This is why we wanted to get it to, you know, we've been trickling it in throughout the year, but we're getting to like decision time, right? So, it's uh this is the big final overview tonight that pulls all those pieces together. Uh we'll get some of our

078results in the next couple of weeks. We'll have another couple of board meetings, but as Travis said, uh depending on the timelines and how everything comes together, we'll come back for board approval either in May or June. We need to hit those deadlines though so that we're eligible for all of the maximum rebates. >> If the if the board approves this in May or even in in June, right? But preferably in May, that gives us some lead time to start getting things ordered and go through. Um the solar work won't be complete completed this summer. Uh it might go into the fall and we've talked about second shift. We've talked about lots of different options that are tied to that because the the majority of that work would be all of the the roofs that

079can handle and are age uh good on age. We would get solar on, right? It's the ones that we have to do the roof replacements and then as soon as the roof replacement is done, they would get going on the other work. But the other work, the other energy conservation stuff would uh occur this summer. So, if that gets approved, it's gonna be extremely busy around here between that and our health life safety projects and our fieldhouse floor replacements in both buildings. So, we are we've already started working on coordinating right timing and and the who and the where uh because we also have summer school right at at North that uh is going to be going on. So, we're working on uh all of those uh moving pieces in anticipation of this coming to

080fruition. >> I have one last question. So, the audits which I assume are mostly external, but they probably require our staff to be involved. Is that do we have that expertise? Like do we is that a burden on our staff to participate in the audits or >> it's gathering the information like uh providing our bills uh provided where they can pull it from the meters they can pull um all of that information. Uh it's just finding the information and providing it to >> Okay. >> Yeah. It's been it's been a lift on our staff, right? >> No, I think an auditing of my company is a big deal too. >> Yeah. To Yeah. to say the least, like just to get here of of having again providing our our previous bills. Um, coordinating in the

081building, it seems like we had something at least every week where we were doing roof walks. Um, we were coordinating to have uh drones flown on the weekend uh to be able to get the the temperature uh settings of or or the the readings and moisture readings on the roofs at at you had to do it at dusk, right? So there's a lot there was a lot of different moving pieces that I mean a lot of people have have put into and invested in. So it's um it it's neat to see you know uh up to this point everything is pointing towards it looks good. We'll see what those what those final numbers come out. >> All right. Any other questions? >> All right. This will be back. >> Thank you. >> One way or

082another. >> All right. the most uh popular item on the agenda every year. Uh copy paper bid. You guys have a decision to make this year. So I'll turn this one back over to Travis. >> Yeah. So in in looking at um our board policy and and looking at uh school code again, um the it reads that that we have the uh the need to utilize recycled paper where economically feasible, right? And so what that boils down to um and that there's a change in how we went to bid this year before we we said that the the copy paper um needed to be uh recycled. Um and so what we did in looking at the the school code and I poked around at some other districts and how they go about doing it and

083and they had in their bid they had it broken down is both right recycled paper and non-recycled paper. Uh so you look at the two and then where economically feasible that's where it comes in. You don't know if it's economically feasible if you don't gather both both bids. Um while not all uh six of those that submitted um uh the bids uh put in for both >> uh we have solid numbers on a on a low bid. So, if you look at virgin fiber paper, uh that's where the contract paper group comes in, uh just under $67,000. And then for the recycled content paper, that's where mine uh paper comes in uh just over $77,000. So, just over $10,000 uh difference between the two. Um I want to be transparent in the fact too of

084uh when we talk about copy paper, that's not all the paper that we have, right? It's about 90 uh 91% of the copy paper of all the paper in the bid would be recycled if we went with the recycled paper because it's not all of your standard copy paper. We have some that are thick thicker um for different needs, educational needs and those are built into that as well and those are are not uh recycled. Um so we always look at and see you know how much do we normally pay. you can see uh it was somewhat consistent up through 2020 and then something happened in the world, right? And so we have a an irregular heartbeat that's going on there. Um and some of that supply uh and demand in our in our facilities.

085We didn't need as much. Um and I will tell you that's what happened between last year and this year. We have quite a a bit more paper because we utilized more of what we had in stock, right? So it's not going to be a consistent as far as the amount uh that we look at in the need. Um but you can see when we uh adjust it for inflation, it it's pretty close to uh where we have been uh considering the last 13 years. So it really does come down to um both of them uh we we've checked with both companies. Um we we have vetted their their bids. Um it comes down to you know what is uh the the difference between the two uh what is the preferred award path that that we

086were to go with that. So glad to answer any additional questions as needed. >> Tonight you have an option to approve one or the other. Uh we brought them both forward but the board will have to choose which one do you prefer the uh recycled or non-recycled option. I didn't get why would we only be locked in with the recycled paper company into a contract. Did I miss that? So that you're saying the case is that it's it streamline. It keeps the pricing consistent over theirs. Would we not lock into a multi-year contract with either of them? >> Correct. It's a one-year. It's a one bid. So we we gather what are our what are our needs for this upcoming school year. Right. So each building says here's how much paper we need and we

087we have a form that they fill out. How much regular just your copy paper, right? And then we have all the slew of different colors of 90 pound paper of 20 pound paper of all of the different things that are are needed. And then we put that in our bid packet and we do a we do a a sealed bid every year off of that. We try to if you remember last year we were trying to look and to see are are there savings if we were to go with a a cooperative purchasing agreement such as Sourcewell. Um and it didn't pan out. it it was we were getting better prices this way. Uh so and we even checked them. Um I Asbo had a another uh avenue that that I signed it. I created

088an account to go through and I checked the prices. Our prices and our sealed bid were better than the prices that were in that and it's basically a state contract uh when it looks at that. So um so it it is an annual thing. >> It's an annual thing. So really the decision is just do we want to pay more for the recycled paper this year >> versus not. Okay. >> It's the same amount of paper. >> Yep. >> Right. It's a different type and obviously a different price. >> Do we have a board policy on on this as far as Okay. >> Yep. And that's >> was that state? >> It it states that we're economically feasible. Right. So in in line with that where um the the school code it lines up with

089the policy and it is uh to use a district is to use recycled paper where economically feasible. >> Okay. >> Is basically the word. >> But you're also saying we haven't always asked for both correct sources. >> Correct. >> Okay. >> So if the board deems that the additional cost is not economically feasible, we're within our rights to approve the virgin. >> Correct. And that's and and by structuring the bid that way and reporting it out and showing the difference, right? Um that's where that yes, we're we would have covered all of our bases. >> Should we have a discussion now to gain consensus before we ask for the motion? >> You could do it at either one. You could ask for the motion later. You could just straw poll and find out where people

090are and make it smoother. Either either way, it's up to you as a board. Uh, can I get a a show of hands as to the board members who are in favor of the recycled paper version? >> Two, three, four, five, six. >> I think you have a straw pull. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> I did not try to make that more complicated than it needed to be, right? But just looking at that, we didn't know what the difference was going to be, right? And so again to the taxpayers, everyone just trying to be as as fiscally responsible as. >> Thank you. >> Welcome. >> Okay. Custodial supplies a little less confusing on this one. >> This is my this is my last one for the night. So we have uh custodial supplies. So

091again, we went out to bid if you remember we made a change in our approach last year where our custodial supply bid used to be uh we used to have a lot more supplies on there. Um, and I will tell you that uh this past year uh not this bid but the bid before we went down to kind of the basics of that we know more of right when you think of hand towels, paper towel, uh um toilet paper, uh bags, we use a lot of bags, uh trash bags in our in our buildings. Um those types of things, hand soap, right? We know that we're going to go through those. So those are the bigger items that are uh that are on that. And another thing that I said that we would do is

092is monitor and see, you know, what are our custodial supplies when we look at that. So through April, I can tell you in the custodial supplies for each building. At North 68.48% of the supply budget, and at South they're at 66.31% of the supply budget. So part of the concern was, well, maybe we're not going to stay within budget. when we look at if we just order those, it actually we're we're staying within our our budget. Granted, there's still two months left. They're going to need to order some things, especially as we get ready for the uh for summer and cleaning and doing all of those different things. Uh but we are uh we're managing that well. Uh so this approach uh seems to be working where we're not uh ordering things because a lot

093of times these supplies have a shelf life. Uh so we're ordering what we need uh and keeping that in there. So we had uh again six different uh biders that that came through uh with this. This is different than the copy paper in the fact that we we are looking at each line uh for that whereas the copy paper is the entire uh bid. So uh you can see the breakdown of the of the four different companies. It comes in just over $53,000 uh for uh each of those areas. All right. This is an action item tonight. Any questions for Travis? All right. Uh now Jury gets to take over third quarter financial report. >> Okay. Well, tonight we are presenting the third quarter financial update for the 2526 fiscal year. Overall, the district's financial

094position remains stable. Revenues are approximately 94% collected and expenditures are at about 71% expended for the year, which is consistent where we were at this time last year. On the revenue side, do you Do you want to go >> just go to this slide? >> Sure. >> Yeah. >> So, on the revenue side, most categories are performing as we expected. Property taxes are fully collected at this time of the year, and both food service and federal revenues are on track. However, interest income is projected to come in about $400,000 below budget due to lower rates and state aid is also expected to be under budget primarily related to special education transportation reimbursement. On the expenditure side, I wasn't ready for your queue. On the expenditure side, most areas remain aligned with expectations. Salaries are tracking

095as planned, as they normally do. However, we are seeing some pressure in benefits due to higher than normal claims in our self-insured PO plan. Along with our purchase services um line item, it's trending a little higher due to unanticipated maintenance and repair costs that we've had in the buildings this year. All other major categories including supplies and capital outlay and tuition are expected to finish close to budget. >> So if you want to go >> where's the uh roof replacement fall in there? It does not >> yet. >> It's not within our operational. >> Well, you're saying >> for right now it has not been expended through the third quarter. >> Okay. >> So we have just started the work. So, we expect to be build in May and then we're thinking that at the

096May board meeting is what we're hoping to bring everything back for all those big capital projects. And what we are recommending is that we would just fold that expense right into that $14 million in debt certificates. >> Okay. >> To take the stress off the operating budget. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Sure. So, our combined fund balance as of March 31st is 36.1 million, which is about $600,000 lower than it was last year at this time. At this point, we do anticipate ending the year with a slightly larger decrease in fund balance than originally projected due to the some of the modest revenue shortfalls and our expenditure pressures that we've been seeing. So, we plan to continue closely monitoring these areas and we would bring anything of concern back to the to the board

097as we always do. So, would you like to go over anything in more detail on the revenues or the expenditures? >> Any other questions for jury? >> I might point out about our health insurance, our PO self insurance. It's um it's running really higher than what we had anticipated. Um right now we have had to borrow $850,000 from our ED fund to pay the claims. Um we anticipate being able to pay back some of that, but we don't know if we'll be able to pay back all of it. So if that's the case, we would be ending the year in the red for our insurance fund. So that's that's one of our biggest stressors that we have felt this year >> and this is due to more claims, the higher cost of claims, higher volume

098of claims. >> Yes. Yes. >> We have an insurance committee meeting this week to take a look at that investigate going on. >> Okay. All right. Um, the next one is, oh, eight years ago, we entered into an abatement agreement with Rexnord as an economic driver in our community. Every year we abate back a certain percentage of their property taxes back to them under a long-standing agreement. This year, we are abating back >> 30%. Uh so we have three more years and after three more years the agreement ends and or well two more years after this one and then we'll be collecting 100% every year. >> So this is just the action item that authorizes us to do what we've already agreed to and must do anyway. >> It's a resolution that we need to

099turn over to the county. >> A resolution not to breach our contract. Correct. >> Correct. >> Yes. >> All right. So we recommend you approve that. uh tax rate reallocation. I'll turn this one back over to Jurine. >> So, we have some more excitement here. >> Okay. We received the preliminary 2025 tax extension from the DuPage County Clerk on April 1st. >> So, for our capped funds, the total extension is about $103.4 million. Oh, we're just looking at the rates here. Okay. >> Yeah. um which is fine, which is an increase of about $3.2 million over the previous year. Our original request for the levy was $ 105 million. We always want it to be higher than what it actually comes comes in at, which it was. Um and then the clerk reduces the amount

100that it's needed to fall within the tax cap law and everything. That reduction was applied across all capped funds at about 98.5% of our request. We just had our funds adjusted evenly across the board. As a result, the tax rates, as we see here, are for for 2025 is 1.58 versus 1.60 from last year. Because reallocation decisions are due April 3rd. We had two days to turn that around. Administration submitted the adjusted rates in advance to meet the deadline. So we have to do it before the actual board meeting. This adjustment was anticipated and does not impact our overall financial plan. So admin administration recommends that tonight you will just approve those adjusted tax rates. So, if board members remember back in like December, we came to you and we said, "Here's what we think

101it'll be. We have to guess and then later they tell us what it actually is." This is the board meeting where you learn what it actually is. So, we recommended this be approved this evening as well. Auditor services jury. >> Okay. So, last month we learned that our current audit firm, Miller Cooper, is exiting the governmental audit space. So we are required to transition to a new firm for FY26 for this year's audit that will begin in late summer. We have the opportunity to maintain our strong contact by working with Sikage where our long-term audit partner Betsy Allen has transitioned. Her experience with the district will help ensure an efficient and smooth audit process. The proposed fee from this new firm is $49,300, which is just $1,000 more than Miller Cooper's base fee from last

102year. Given the timing of the upcoming audit and the importance of what we feel is to have that experience with an audit firm, we are recommending a one-year engagement with this new firm. And then at a later time, we would come back with a recommendation if we want to go out for a proposal or what we might propose at that time. >> And we're not required to do that now because of the short timing. >> It's a service. >> So we don't have to bid. >> Oh, we don't have to service. Okay. Got it. >> I'll I'll also just remind the board that the finance and HR team is in the process of transitioning software systems for finance. So this they've got a lot of changes going on right now to begin with. This came

103out of the blue. >> So helping them with the consistency of somebody knows how how we work and how they work will definitely uh lower some of the the pain points in this transition right now. That was quite unexpected. >> Yes. >> Any questions for jury? >> All right. This is an action item as well this evening. All right. Uh we're also recommending to transition school treasurer services and jury is back. >> Okay. >> All right. Over the past year, we have been reviewing our use of our external school treasure. While that structure has worked for many years, it's actually not that typical. Most districts handle this function internally. Right now, our team is spending about 20 hours each month preparing information for external review, and we're also paying about $11,000 annually for these services.

104The role itself is fairly limited in scope and ends up duplicating work that's already happening within our business office. Given that on July 1, we are transitioning to a new financial and HR platform that will provide streamlined workflows. We see an opportunity to simplify the monthly financial reporting process and just be more efficient by bringing this role inhouse. This change won't reduce oversight or controls. It just streamlines how the work gets done and better aligns us with common practice. >> There questions for >> questions on that? Sure. If we were to bring in the uh school treasurer role inhouse, what would the projected annual cost savings be of that move? Do you have any idea? >> Well, >> about $11,000. >> It It'll pay for your recycled copy paper. >> That's the first thing I

105thought when I heard that. >> And that work comes to your team. You and who who does that work? You and Tam. That work team. >> Yeah. the the work all still would be getting done the same. It's just instead of sending it off, got it to the school treasurer that lives in in Florida to then give us you see the one-page report that he signs off on >> and and it is good. I mean, he's just confirming those are the cash balances, but we have an annual audit every year, too. Yeah. >> You know, that's confirming everything. Most school districts have gone away from this. >> Yeah, we surveyed quite a few of the local school districts and there's very few external school treasures. >> All right. Any other questions for jury? >> All

106right. You're off the hot seat for now. >> I think that's it. >> All right. Uh the administration tonight would just like to recognize the staff. uh that are returning next year and are being granted tenure by the state of Illinois. Um by the nature of the board approving them coming back, then the state grants them tenure. So congratulations to all of these fine teachers here on their extended tenure with us and with the state. >> All right. Uh back one last time. Uh Woodrich tiff intergovernmental agreement has been presented to the board many times over the course of the year. Uh we had a long discussion about this last month. So I'm only going to open up see if there's any last minute questions. Otherwise it is up tonight as an action item for

107approval. >> Think that was an appropriate wait time. Y >> so uh this will come back under action. uh freedom of information requests. Uh we keep receiving them and we keep filling them and they are listed on the district website. >> Before the board votes on the consent agenda, is there any agenda item a board member would like to pull out of the consent agenda for further discussion? Hearing none. Can I get a motion from the board of education to approve the consent agenda as presented, which includes item A, personnel report, appointment certified, appointment classified. Item B, personnel report, resignation exempt, resignation classified. Item C, personnel report termination classified. Item D, March treasures report and financial pages. Item E, resolution of appointment to DPA area Occupational Education System board of directors. Item F, intergovernmental agreement

108with district 66, data sharing. Item G, intergovernmental agreement for placement of non-district students in transition program. Item H, student trips. Item I, anatomy and physiology course title change to anatomy and physiology honors effective for the 2026 2027 school year. And item J, acceptance of donation from the Downers Grove Roadrunners, Inc. Soccer Club. So moved. >> Second. >> Ken moves. Chris seconds. Thank you. >> Ken Dawson. >> Hi. >> Sis Espinosa. >> I. >> April Fein. >> I. >> Michael Riskey. >> I. >> Cara Castton. >> I. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> I. >> And Don Runner. >> I. Motion carries. >> Thank you to the Downtowners Grove Road owners. >> All right. Um for action items tonight. Um item A. Can I get a motion from the board of education to approve the recycled paper bid

109to Mine Paper Company in the amount of 77,259.50? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Ken moves. Mike seconds. >> Thank you. >> Ken Dawson. >> Hi. >> Michael Riskey. >> Hi. >> Cara Casten. >> Hi. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> Hi. >> Chris Espinosa. >> Hi. >> April Fein. >> Hi. >> And Don Rener. >> I. Motion carries. I'm still waiting for that Dunder Mifflin. We're working on. >> Okay. Item B. Can I get a motion for the board of education award bids for custodial supplies to the noted vendors in the aggregate amount of $53,252? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Ken moves. Chris seconds. >> Thank you. Ken Dawson. >> I. >> Chris Espinosa. >> Hi. >> April Fein. >> Hi. >> Michael Riskey. >> I. >> Cara Castton. >> Hi. >> Katie Courtourtney. >>

110I. >> And Don Rener. >> I. Motion carries. >> Item C. Can I get a motion from the board of education to approve the resolution authorizing property tax abatement for the Rexner facility for the 2025 tax year? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Chris moves. Katie seconds. >> Thank you. >> Chris Espinosa. >> I. >> Katie Courtney. >> I. >> Ken Dawson. >> Hi. >> April Fein. >> Hi. >> Michael Riskey. >> Hi. >> Cara Casten. Hi. >> And Don Rener. >> I. Motion carries. Item D. Can I get a motion from the board of education to approve the 2025 tax rates as presented? So moved. >> Second. >> Cara moves. Mike seconds. >> Thank you. Cara Casten. >> I. >> Michael Riskey. >> I. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> I. >> Ken Dawson. >> Hi.

111>> Christopher Espinosa. >> I. >> April Fein. >> I. >> And Don Rener. >> I. Motion carries. >> Thank you. >> Item E. Can I get a motion from the board of education to approve the one-year audit service proposal from Sikitch in the amount of $49,300? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Mike moves. Chris seconds. >> Thank you. Michael Riskey. >> Hi, >> Christopher Prestosa. >> Hi, >> April Fein. >> Hi, >> Cara Casten. >> Hi, >> Katie Courtourtney. >> Hi, >> Ken Dawson. >> Hi. >> And Don Rener. >> I motion carries. >> Thank you. >> Item F. Can I get a motion from the board of education to approve the termination of the external school treasurer services effective June 30th, 2026, and support the establishment of an internal school treasurer function beginning July

1121st, 2026. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Ken moves. Chris seconds. >> Thank you. Ken Dawson. I >> Christopher Espinosa >> I >> April Fein >> I >> Michael Riskey >> I >> Cara Casten >> I >> Katie Courtourtney >> I >> and Don Rener >> I motion carries. >> Thank you. >> Item G. Can I get a motion from the board of education to approve the intergovernmental agreement with the village of Woodridge Woodidge Tax 75th Street corridor tax increment financing district and the other taxing districts. >> So moved. >> Second. >> April moves court or Katie seconds. >> Thank you very much. April Fein, >> hi. >> Katie Courtourtney, >> hi >> Ken Dawson. >> Hi. >> Chris Espininoza. >> Hi. >> Michael Riskey. >> I. >> Cara Casten. >> Hi. >> And Don

113Rener. >> I. Motion carries. >> Thank you. >> As to old business. Um, can I get a motion from the board of education to approve the policies as previously presented? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Chris moves 10 seconds. >> Chris Espininoza. >> Hi. >> Ken Dawson. >> Hi. >> April Fein. >> Hi. >> Michael Riskey. >> Hi. >> Cara Casten. I >> and Katie Courtourtney. >> Hi. >> And John Don Runner. >> I motion carries. >> Thank you. >> Next item. The board will be going into close session for open meetings act exception number one personnel open meetings act >> communications announcements first. >> Oh, did I skip that? I'm sorry. >> I did. >> Apologize. >> We have no other visitors by the way. No comments for public comment. One second. I'm scrolling

114through. Uh, no new business and no additional reception of visitors. >> Okay. Item 13, communications. Um, can I get a report on Lend Cara? >> So, the this month on March 31st, our federal committee met with um Reps Casten and Reps Ramirez and the the district director for Rep. foster and we talked about our federal priorities. It was a great meeting. We had the whole committee there, superintendents, business office leaders, schoolboard members, really great, really great dialogue and our ask was basically to update them on changes to the legislation and you know get them to hopefully continue to support um the same level or increased. Most of the the rep the two representatives there are not on the committees that um passed that legislation but wanted to advocate on behalf. Um so that was exciting.

115And then I did not attend the meeting. Did you go to the meeting this month? I was unable. >> No, I got caught up through other means, but there's just a lot. There's another meeting on Friday. >> Yeah, there's one coming up. >> A lot of legislation out there. A lot of things moving through. So, >> so we'll collect >> a lot of mandates. >> Yeah. >> Right. And of course, the lens focus is on, you know, not supporting any unfunded mandates. So, we'll see how that goes. So, we'll bring back an update >> after the next one. >> Thank you. Chris, can I get a report on Sassid, please? >> Uh, nothing to report so far. >> Uh, really a lot of facility work. We're looking at some properties to maybe uh be able

116to move the cooperative from paying a lot of rent to paying a mortgage instead. Uh, which short-term and long-term savings for the cooperative. So, that's and then staffing and everything else is going on. Just all the same things going on here. >> April Katie, anything to report from the foundation? The meeting this month was cancelled. Um there's a bit of restructuring going on internally. Um I think we mentioned before Julia is stepping down um and uh shuffling around some positions. Um but we're going to be meeting less frequently now. I believe we're changing to a bimonthly meetings. >> Okay. >> Uh Ken, anything to report on IESP, please? >> Not really. What a lot of uh different things in the pipeline, but nothing really finalized. One interesting thing is the um cell phone ban policies

117back on Governor Pritsker's desk. So, it' be interesting to see if that goes through statewide or not. I think we've done a great job of being proactive and regardless of the outcome of that, we have a great policy in place. So, >> and ours, sorry, ours would be grandfathered through 203 >> 31. Yeah. And then you'd have to align yours with the >> Y. So that's it. >> Okay. I have nothing to report as liaison for the village of Downers Grove. Um I do want to note uh that I think appointments for committees are up soon. Is that correct, Julie? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. So, um, if any of you are either interested in trying to change your committee assignment or want to take on a new role, please contact me and I'll work

118on uh uh your requests and uh see if we can get that set for the upcoming school year. Okay. Item 14, upcoming board meetings. We have a a workshop meeting here at the ASC on May 4th um at 6:30 p.m. followed by our monthly business meeting uh again here at the ASC on May 18th, 2026 also at 6:30 p.m. And then getting to the close session which I had gotten to earlier. Um we are going to be moving into uh close session under items exceptions one for personnel uh exception two for collective negotiating matters and exception number 11 for um uh litigation under open meetings act. So can I get a motion from the board of uh education to go into close session for exceptions number one exception number two and exception number 11. So

119moved. >> Second. >> Ken moves. Chris seconds. >> Thank you. Ken Dawson. >> Hi. >> Chris Espinosa. >> I. >> April Fein. >> Hi. >> Michael Riskey. >> Hi. >> Cara Casten. >> I. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> Hi. >> And Don Runner. >> I. Motion carries. For the members of the public, the board will be taking action on the items noted in the agenda when it comes out of close session. Let's take a quick break and we'll reconvene in about a few minutes.