001All right, at 6:30, Julie, would you mind calling the role, please? >> Of course. Cara Casten here. Katie Courtourtney here. Ken Dawson >> here. >> April Fein >> here. >> Don Rener >> here. >> And Michael Riskey >> here. >> All right. Having a quum, let's stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance 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. First order of business is item three, approval of minutes. Can I get a motion from the board of education to approve the minutes of the December 15, 2025 monthly business meeting, the December 15th, 2025 closed meeting, the January 12th, 2026 workshop meeting, and finally the January 12th, 2026 closed meeting.
002>> So moved. >> Second. >> April moves. Ken. >> Thank you. >> April Fein, >> I. >> Ken Dawson, >> hi. >> Michael Riskey. >> Hi. >> Cara Castton. >> Hi. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> Hi. >> And Don Rener. >> I motion carries. Thank you. >> Item four, uh, Julie, do we have any, uh, visitor slips? >> No, sir. >> Okay. Uh, turn it over to Hank for recommendations and reports. >> All right. First one is Jere with the quarterly financial report. >> Good evening. >> We'll start by looking at the revenues. Um, at this point, we've collected, as you can see, roughly 90% of our revenues for the year, which is typical. uh the majority of our revenues are in property taxes and those come in in June and September. As far as the
003individual line items, then if we look down at the replacement taxes, um we're right on target where uh the state had projected we would be at for this year. If you remember back in August, we learned that um we would receive an additional $400,000 in replacement taxes. Um, and right now it looks like that will be the case for interest. Um, our earnings are still strong. Uh, but it could be that this line item might come in a little less than what we had originally projected. Food services right on target. Other local revenues, uh, that's a pretty large line item there. includes general school fees, athletic admissions, um our kind of the what we would call turf or tiff uh surplus from Downer's Grove, which we anticipate to receive later in the year, um as
004well as some um out of district tuition for some students that attend T99. As far as state aid, unfortunately, that line item is um it's going to be prrated more than what we had originally thought, about $400,000 less than what we had expected back in August. Uh on the federal aid, that should come in just as what we had projected, excuse me. Um we're receiving those payments in a timely manner. um and don't foresee any shortfall for the federal aid. Any questions on the revenues? >> Your best guess on what you envision or how how far below the 121 million are you projecting now? >> Um right right now about 400,000. >> Oh, that's it >> right now? Yes. >> Okay. Yeah, we have 90% of the revenues in >> um so really it's just
005the state aid >> possibly the interest might be a little bit less. >> Okay. >> Um I don't we don't expect it to be significantly less. >> Okay. Great. Thanks. I was misinterpreting you, I think. So, for the expenditures, our salary and benefits are right on target at midyear. Um, as you can see, compared to last year, we're we're right where we usually are. Purchase services and supplies. Again, they're they're right on target what we expected with capital outlay. Um, we did purchase that that line item includes the six mini buses that we purchased earlier in the year. So, it looks a little bit higher than it was last year. That's part of the reason. Um, and then lastly on tuition, we're right on target. That's for our tuition that um we pay for our
006students who attend other um facilities um offsite from here. So, we're just like we were at last year at this time. Um, we anticipate there could be a little bit of savings in some of our line items and so therefore it could be that our shortfall on revenues can be offset by our expenditures. Any questions on the expenditures? So on the fund balances um right now you can see we have roughly 61 million in our operating funds. Um it's right on target for midyear what we had expected. Um right now we we you know we expected to have a a budget shortfall for this year. Um right now it looks like we still will. Um that was a planned shortfall for one year. So there's really um right now there looks to be no surprises
007>> and again for the community's perspective that was anticipated in the first year of the new DGA contract whereas in back end of the contract years we're going to see some savings. >> Correct. Yes. >> Okay. In the next presentation on the five-year plan you'll see that. >> Okay. Speaking of five-year plan, >> excuse me. >> Okay. So, to start off with, this projection is is a planning tool that we use to help us develop next year's budget. Um we also use it um as we project out the next couple of years budgets especially with capital outlay in that. Um so we'll start off with the top with the um with the revenues. So about 85% of our revenues come from property taxes and therefore we try to align the majority of our expenditures to
008our our revenue stream which is mainly property taxes. Our property taxes are tied to CPI and so inflation does affect our expenditure significantly. So um and so we really try to keep most of our contracts tied to CPI on this projection. We have used conservative assumptions. We've assumed a modest new construction growth, flat enrollment. Um I don't see enrollment on this little snippet on it, but flat enrollment. uh sa stable replacement taxes and then we show a reduction in both state and federal funding. Excuse me. For the capital planning that we have the capital outlay uh included in the forecast is intended to cover normal repair and maintenance that needs to be you know done throughout the buildings. The projection also assumes that we're going to move forward with the Honeywell projects and not use
009operating funds to pay for those projects. So at at the bottom portion you'll see fund balances, excuse me. So you'll see some shortterm softening in the fund balance to where it's dropping down a little bit followed by improvement and you'll see then it becomes stronger at the end by 2930 and that was part of the plan with the DGA contract. >> Any questions? >> When's the last time we had a um projection? I think it's Casarda that we look at for enrollment, right? When's the last time we had that updated? >> It's been in quite a while. >> It has been. >> I monitor what the projections are in our partner elementary schools. They do it more frequently because it definitely they need to be looking well off in advance using outside uh demographers. For
010us, usually what's coming from I mean 58 and 68 make up 80% of our students. you add in 66, you know, in there and now you're up to like 90% of our students. So, I keep a close eye in my conversations with them. They're projecting flat enrollments into the future. So, that generally means we should maintain flat. So, each year I kind of check in as to what they're looking like. If they were to say, "Oh, our demographers are predicting a dip in the future," then we would start digging in a little bit more. But um I I pretty much haven't invested in the expense because we kind of get the benefit of the elementary schools work. >> Yeah. And and I I check with um with the business managers from the elementary schools too
011and they've been like you said pretty flat. Um, as we move toward a growing ending fund balance, um, I know this would be in the purview of future boards, but how much is too much in savings? Um, when do we start looking to utilize that andor um reduce, you know, property tax if if necessary? Well, actually, we probably are we probably have some of the lowest fund balances out of all the local school districts. >> Okay. >> Um many of them have, you know, 20 25%. >> Okay. >> Um I think when I was at a meeting last week, um there was a school district with the 6% fund balance and they were looking to possibly uh go for a referendum just for their fund balance. Oh, >> so we run really pretty tight, pretty
012low, >> but what's our board policy on the >> 3%. Okay, >> which is So you're saying that our board policy is a very low threshold? >> It's it's extremely low. >> Extremely low. Okay. >> Yeah. Mhm. So we basically just stay within our revenue stream >> year after year. Mhm. >> Um this with this if if everything pans out of course you know there's a lot of assumptions here. Um but it would be nice to see having a 10% fund balance for emergencies and that >> so that makes you happy that fifth year projection. Okay. >> Yeah. It's I I it's pretty 3% is pretty low. >> Okay. Do you have any idea like historically at D99 like what our fund balance has been as percentage of the budget? >> Um I would say
0133 to 5%. >> Okay. >> That's pretty typical. >> So we're doing pretty well comparatively to our history. >> Oh very much so. >> Yeah. Yeah. There um yes. I've seen it even lower and and when it's hit below three, I know the district has then put together >> a budget reduction plan. >> The last time for one of those was in the 1516 school year. So, you know, we're 10 years in of being at 3% or higher and we've consistently grown that over that time. >> Okay. it. Um, would we ever get to a point where we'd want to revisit the board policy of potentially increasing that? I mean, if we do reach uh, you know, 10% plus that maybe we rethink our policy and we want to maintain larger reserves. >> I would
014recommend that. >> Okay. >> I would recommend five to six%. >> Okay. >> Maybe the next time the policy committee meets, we'll bring that up. Okay. Is there a number we should be aiming for? Is there is there an ideal number? >> Well, I think 10% gives you a sense of comfort. So, if there was an emergency, um, then you do have some, you know, revenue set aside. >> So, there's not an established standard across the board. Districts should expect >> if it gets too high, then you do have to reduce your fund balance. I think what you're seeing and what happened in Cook County this past year with uh huge delays in property tax coming to the variety of different agencies and many districts having to take out short-term loans to hit payroll and
015those kinds of things. I mean, those are the things that could happen that are on nobody's radar that all of a sudden it's costing you money to run your school district because you're having to borrow it on a short-term basis where that that buffers you there if that happens or like what we've seen over the last couple of years, all of a sudden some factor in state or federal funding adjusts. We've been able to say, well, we have a fair fund balance. Let's try to adjust for that over the course of the year but not immediately make if you remember last year we saw drastic cuts in both state funding through uh proration of mandated categoricals for for those of you that were on the board at the time. We also saw huge reductions in
016CPPRT that were unexpected. Many school districts were then cutting programs, releasing staff, putting on hiring freezes, those kinds of things. across the state as a result. And this board directed us to just do your best, see if you can reduce costs. And we did that collectively as an organization, but we didn't have to instantaneously react in ways that would impact our students, our family, or our staff. And that's what that fund balance does for you. Um, everybody will look at it and be like, "Oh, you could spend that here or there somewhere." Of course, you can, right? But there's an appropriate amount to have in there. as Jur saying 10% from most emergency situations that come up that'll keep you buffered for that. Um I also think the piece that you have to factor in
017moving forward is it's a far more latigious uh environment that we are in right now and that is another area that there is exposure uh in a lot of different ways. Right. So that fund balance also can protect you in those cases as well. Mhm. >> Well, and when we look at our fund balance here in district 99, it's important to remember that we defer our property taxes that we receive in June. Not all school districts do that. So, it looks like they might have a 40% fund balance. >> I see. >> But they really don't. Yeah. >> Because once you back out those taxes, it brings it down. So our our cash balance on June 30th is on a $120 million budget is going to be $60 million, >> but we back out all
018those taxes. >> And so then we end up with, you know, 11 million or something. >> Sure. Uh, and speaking of the categoricals, so this year, um, we got hit really hard with our transportation state aid because last year we worked really hard to reduce our transportation expenses and because our transportation expenses went down and other districts went up, they received more state aid than we're receiving. It's the proration was really pretty. We were hit hard by that. So, you know, those are the types of things that you like we did not know we were going to hit get hit with $400,000 less in state aid this year. And so, it's nice to be able to have some extra reserves. So, when we do find out partway through the year that we're going to get
019hit, we can absorb that. >> And we don't learn that until >> Yeah. October, November. >> Right. >> Yeah. >> No good deed goes unpunished. >> Made our budget situation look way better last year. Not so great this year. >> Yeah. Yes. >> All right. Any other questions for Jury on this? >> Thank you, Jury, for your work. >> Yeah. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thanks so much. >> All right. the very exciting post issu issuance compliance annual report jere. >> Yes. Sorry for my horarsseness. Um so this this is just our our annual notification to the board that we are in compliance with all of our requ uh filing requirements um to Emma. That's that's all this is. and we contract out with Raymond James to do all of the filing
020for us. >> Questions? >> All right. Student fees. >> Oh, right. For the standard school fees, we propose no changes made to the fees. >> So, you won't see that as an action item because we're right >> not recommending a change. >> Any concerns with that? >> No. And those fees are just our standard reg registration fees, our Chromebook fees, which the students get to keep the Chromebooks after their four years. Um, and the driver's ed fees. >> I think in today's economy, that is something that needs to be noted. That's fantastic that we're able to uh keep those fees the same. >> Thank you, Ken. Yeah. No, no increase is essentially economically a decrease, right? >> Right. Summer camp fees a little different. This is an action item. >> It is. So, every year
021administration and the athletic departments meet to review the prior year's summer camps um and make certain that our fee structure aligns with what it should be. So the number of hours that are for each camp and then the actual fees and there's just been a tip, you know, just the general increase in the operating cost of the camp fees or the camps. And so uh we're just recommending uh increasing the fees by $10 for this coming summer. It's all right in line with park district and all of that >> and it's by by the hour less than $6, >> right? >> I I think that's a pretty good deal. >> Any questions on that one? >> All right, that is an action item this evening. uh summer school and extended school year compensation recommendation is
022in line with CPI 2.9% for this summer. Um that is also an action item this evening. Any questions on that one? Moving on. Uh the summer school and summer work calendar have been presented to you. They're in line with what they've been for I don't know last 10 years. So, it's the same same kind of structure just repeated as we have every year. That is up as an action item this evening as well. Any questions on that one? All right. Uh, next one is Travis, security camera software. Good evening. Uh just as a reminder, we covered this topic last month uh right where we have an opportunity to uh upgrade our software that runs our just over 400 cameras. Uh that will really help us to become more efficient and effective with our security and
023uh the monitoring of our our systems. Um it does provide us again as it states there a future proof where we're not tied into a platform so to speak where the the lenses the cameras are agnostic from the system right so that's where uh the the majority of the cost can come into especially when you have over you know 400 cameras. Um, so we're looking in the future to upgrade our cameras as well, but this is just the the software uh behind the system, everything that that runs the system. You can go to the next slide, please. Um, and again, this is a nothing has changed here from what was shared uh last month. Um, we're looking at a 5-year 30-day cloud subscription uh just over $281,000. Um, and that is a substantial reduction of
024over $100,000 from what we um had considered earlier in the year. Um, and thanks to Jereie and everyone for their hard work and finances, we can afford to make this happen uh within our our budget. Um, and we have an anticipated installation of uh February. Um, it it does use TIPS contract. Uh, you can see the number there 230202. So that uh lines us up with all of the required uh bidding uh that needs to occur with that. And um I will say we're this is again uh pending our final uh review of the uh contract with them. But we are confident that we will uh get that wrapped up this week and get payment made and uh get the installation and all of our training aligned up and uh get this this rolling. Any
025questions? >> Travis, I have a question. Um, you said you don't anticipate the cameras needing to be updated right now, but you indicated it was coming in the future. >> Yes. >> Do you have any idea when those are going to need to be updated? >> So, we have some that that need updating yesterday. Okay. >> Um, and so we are prioritizing them. Um, but we are looking part of the potential Honeywell project would be to replace all of the the cameras is something that we're considering. Um, but we're also looking at and we're uh if you remember, we submitted the COPS grant last year. Um, I've already met with our our grant writer again and we're going to be resubmitting that with a lens and a focus and a change on the actual hardware
026of the cameras themselves. So, we're reworking that. um was doing some work on that today to make sure that we're ready. It typically go comes out in in the April to May, but we're going to have everything ready so that when that gets released, we get it submitted. So, we're at the front of the line. Um funds tend to run out pretty quickly with that grant. So, we're uh anticipating getting in early uh and hopeful that that would help with the the grant. So, it'll be for a less uh grant amount. If you remember, we went for the entire uh $750,000 um in working with our grant writer. They also think that that can help us when we're not pushing the maximum amount that that uh is available for the grant. Um but it would
027include all of the the cameras. >> Great. >> So, we've got a couple different options that we're we're going down the road with that. And the funding source for this is we have a significant amount from developers contributions from Downer's Grove and then the new development off of Route 53 in Lyall. And so those um funds are kept u in not in the operating funds but in the capital projects fund. And so we've identified we can use those funds for this project. No, it'll cover most of it. May not be all 100% but then we'll use just operating funds for the remaining part and I believe we have a little bit written into one of our grants too. Yeah, great job once again finding all these funding sources, grants, and you know, I think despite
028the, you know, uh, previous slides you showed on our budget, right? It's nice that we can still do these kind of projects without >> tapping into our um, operational >> Yeah. the developers contributions cannot be used for general operating costs. Okay. >> So, they're kept kept separate separate. >> But the grants, great to see we're reapplying for the grants and Yeah. >> Get creative. Yep. >> All right. This is an action item this evening. >> Next one is Travis's as well. So, something that again that we shared um I believe it was a month ago uh that uh we talked about this potential project. So, again, just as a reminder of the the why now, there's a couple different things that are are at play. Uh one with the solar timeline. Um tax credit changes
029after July 4th. Um so if we were to a be able to get this going before then uh we have some more flexibility and and our deadline is not as quick uh if we wait until after that. Um and as we know as we were just talking about inflation project costs aren't going down right so if we can uh realize the the project costs um that's why we also separate project right all of our health life safety we decided let's tackle that this summer uh to avoid uh some future uh uptick in in costs um and then the energy demand continues to increase with uh data centers if you listen to the news right there are conversations all over the place about about that. And uh so there's some real incentives to to try to
030do some energy savings and I know this has been a top priority of the board over uh the last three years uh especially when we saw our energy prices uh skyrocket a couple years ago. How can we mitigate that? And and one way of doing that is is definitely with solar because then it's behind uh the meter and then we can control more of the things that are are there. So, as we mentioned just a little bit ago, uh these are potential uh capital improvement projects that we have identified and that is up to $2 and half million dollars that that is included in the initial projections. Um so you can see the list there. We talked about the security camera upgrade and you can see in the in the parentheses there the hardware. So
031that's the actual cameras themselves. Um controls work. Uh auditorium remediation th this is what Jere was mentioning. uh these things. If you remember last last meeting when I presented on the capital projects um we mentioned that some of this would be in essence cost deferred if we were able to realize that in the Honeywell project. So these are the types of things that we would pull out of that capital uh plan but still get them done but in a different way of uh of paying for those projects. Um and both at north and south, we need to upgrade our PA system. Again, that's just another important communication aspect um within our buildings. It's it's an aging system that that needs some uh refresh uh to make sure that we have consistency in those areas. Go
032to the next slide, please. And please stop me if you have any questions as we're uh going through this. This slide has new information on it. So, this is specifically related to the audit agreement that we talked about last month. Um, and again, what this allows uh Honeywell to do is a deep dive into the costs, look at the savings, look at the benefits of each project. It really helps us to make uh decisions on yes or no four different components of what we've talked about so far. Um, evaluation of of the savings, it would be done by an independent evaluation. Um, and that is to stay in line with you can see the school energy conservation and savings measure measure act of the school code, right? There's certain things that we have to make
033sure that we do within that. We've worked with our legal counsel to understand all of those pieces. This has all been reviewed. Um, and I will say that there's that potential audit fee if you look down at the bottom of just under $170,000. Um, when you think about the scope of this, we're looking at potentially up to $20 million of a of projects in this, um, A&E fees are pretty low compared to what we've experienced, uh, in other ways. Um, we are only on the hook for that if the the independent evaluation confirms the savings and we decide, you know what, we're not going to go on with that project. Um I was just talking with John before the meeting um as well if we decide any point during the process as we're going through
034if something happens um with that we we are build on the time that they've put in. Right? So I will say that's up to $169,572. Right? We couldn't just say it doesn't we're not build that tomorrow. That's part of that realization of their costs um uh tied to the work that it's going to take uh to get there. Um but if the independent evaluation does not show the savings that that we've projected, we are not on the hook. Uh we made sure that that was included in the in the agreement. We have no obligation to do anything um additional moving forward with that. Any questions on any of those components? I know this is a new approach. Wait, so is this on top of the Honeywell fee to do the work? This audit fee, just
035so I'm understanding. >> No. So that potential audit fee is the is the audit agreement. >> Okay. Yes. Okay. >> Yep. Is that audit agreement? >> Thank you for clarifying. >> Okay. Any other it? >> Then the final slide is just we're bringing this the agreement to the board for action tonight. Again, the agreement has been reviewed by our legal counsel. Um, and appreciate uh the we took some extra time and had a meeting with Honeywell to make sure that we understood every single piece along with our attorney. Um, and we are in a good spot with that. Um, if we if the board approves that tonight, we'd have the final numbers anticipated for March where we would make it be able to make a decision in April to decide, hey, are we are we
036going to continue and and move on? Um and we would get uh some of the projects going uh yet this >> the final result of the audit, is that what you're saying? Is in March. >> In March. Okay. That's when we're anticipating that. >> And if we run into any problems with that, obviously, you know, I'll we'll keep the board updated. Um but everything uh shows uh that that's the timeline that we would be able to operate under. Again, if this is fully realized, depending upon the scope of the projects, right, we're looking at anywhere from a hundred to $500,000 surplus each year in in savings, realized savings. So, it is it is a substantial and that's over the next 20 years. So, it's a substantial opportunity for the district uh to realize some some
037big savings um that as our facilities are aging and we have uh classroom upgrades that we need to do, um it would give us another creative way of being able to fund a lot of different projects. >> All right, any questions? I'd like to recognize Travis has done a lot of work on this to get it to this point for you. I mean, this goes back what we started looking at this model three years ago. >> Three years ago. Yeah. >> So, uh, this just didn't come out of the blue, right? There's been a lot of work to get to this point. So, more to come, but up for action tonight. >> Thanks, Travis. >> Welcome to Travis. Yeah. >> Uh, freedom of information requests. As we receive them, we fill them. They are posted
038on the website. >> Okay. Item six, the consent agenda. Uh before the board 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? >> Yes, I would like to pull the student trip out of the agenda. >> Okay. Um then what I will do is I'm going to make a um call for a motion from the board of education to approve the consent agenda as presented which includes A personnel report administration appointment classified transfer position classified B personnel report resignation administration resignation certified retirement certified resignation classified C December treasurers report and financial pages D annual comprehensive financial report E review of close session minutes and verbatim recordings and Fig with Westmont CUSD 2011, but it will not include the
039student trip. >> Can I get a motion? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Make moves. Ken seconds. >> Thank you very much. >> Michael Riskey. >> I. >> Ken Dawson. >> Hi. >> April Fein. >> Hi. >> Erica Casten. >> I. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> I. >> And Don Rener. >> I. Motion carries. And then um let's have a discussion about the student trip. Hank. Uh would you mind just giving a short background about that please? I will defer to Gino who handles student trips. Thanks. >> So the student trip is being proposed for the journalism class. They would miss one day of school is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota for uh several days in April. Uh you will note that in the memo and this certainly came to light several years ago, but we continue
040to have the option and ask for approval to adjust, postpone, cancel the tour if we believe the safety, security or welfare of our students and our staff um are an issue. And so we are bringing it for approval. Understanding though that if we believe the safety of our students and staff is compromised at that time or before that time obviously uh we would like the right to cancel postpone. >> All right. And I read all that and saw and I just given the activity in the past week in Minneapolis and the >> large ICE presence and violence. I just wanted to publicly acknowledge my reservation about sending our students particularly journalism students to that area. Again, fully acknowledging the administration, the teachers, the parents. I respect all and I know they would make their own
041call, but I just felt like I wanted to publicly say that and see if anyone else on the board had any thoughts along those lines or different thoughts. >> I definitely had some reservations when I saw it. Um, can you explain more about why Minnesota is this is this an annual thing? It's always the same place. >> It's it is not set by us. It's set by the National High School Journalism. It's their convention like their conference. Um, so the location is determined not by district 99. >> So somebody had determined this was going to be the location probably a year ago or more. Yeah. >> Usually years in advance or at least a year in advance. >> I'm sure the host understands the gravity of the situation right now. >> I'm sure they're monitoring.
042Yeah. >> As well. Can I say I have not spoken directly to the organization but >> right >> I would think >> it's not as though the teacher is proposing like an investigative journalism trip to go on the streets of Minneapolis and interview people where they're going to a a conference or a seminar in Minneapolis. That's my understanding. Is that right? That is correct. >> Correct. Okay. >> Yeah. And I think the the staff that attends is going to hopefully use their best judgment and parents of course if they have reservations >> and they are experienced staff who've done many of these trips over the years. >> Sure. >> This is not someone who's new to taking students on a trip. >> Yeah. And I will say I know people that have gone in these
043trips in the past in other cities. It is a great trip. I just wanted to publicly acknowledge that. I didn't want people to think the board just, you know, I noticed the location. >> Um, given what we know today, >> if I had to make a decision, and I know we'd all make a very different decision if it was today versus April. But >> Gina and I did discuss it today and felt like, you know, under our our operations that we always do, we're always evaluating where people are going right up to it. We have a history of if something doesn't look right of pulling trips, whether that be 911, whether that be COVID, whether it be any number of factors over the years, uh we've had kids going to different locations around the world
044where all of a sudden you get an increased terrorism risk or those kinds of things. And we've we have uh pulled back on trips before uh if it looks like it. So, we wouldn't hesitate if it looked like it was going to be an unsafe location for our students to travel to. Uh, we would even in this situation let the board know a week in advance as to what the status is. Um, but we're comfortable monitoring it. It's still a couple of months away. It's not like it's this week and we know situations can change rapidly right now. So, um, you know, six weeks ago somewhere in another state, people were hesitant to send their students to Chicago, right? So, um, whereas now, six weeks later, that might not necessarily be the case. So, uh,
045our recommendation this evening is still that the board takes action and approves it knowing that the administration will keep an eye on it. We'll keep the board updated as to the progress. >> Actually, one other question. I did notice from when my kids were taking trips in high school a few years back, right? Seems like trip insurance and all that is becoming a common thing. We Right. So like not going to be in the situation if we do go ahead that people are going to lose money. Is that a >> they did not build trip insurance into the proposal is my understanding. Okay. oftentimes trip proposal has been factored in and during coming out of COVID and actually even as we started to go back we did require it for all trips and then we
046restricted it only to international. >> Okay. >> And not and now we do not require it at all because it is a substantial cost. >> Okay. >> Um and often times there are provisions within that type of insurance that it's it's not necessarily you can cancel the day before and get all of your money back. I do not believe and I do not see it itemized on the proposal that there is any kind of insurance built in. >> Any other questions? >> So, you're saying if the trip was cancelled at the last minute, the families whose children were going on the trip would be out that amount of money. >> We would have to research that at the time. So, in other words, there's hotel costs, there's flights. In some cases when we've canceled trips
047two, three weeks out, months out, a month out, whatever the case may be. Sometimes it depends on the airline if you get a voucher but you have to use it within x amount of time. Sometimes the hotels will provide part of a refund but not a full refund. A lot of that is a negotiation. Um, and and because this isn't a tour like we're going to Spain or we're going to France where we're using a specific company where we can outline exactly what costs would be at what day increments, it is a little bit hard to tell. >> Any other questions? Okay. Can I get a motion from the board of education to approve the uh student trip as presented? >> So moved. Saga. >> April moves. Ken seconds. >> Thank you. >> April Fein.
048>> Hi. >> Ken Dawson. >> Hi. >> Michael Riskey. >> I. >> Cara Casten. >> I. >> K. Courtourtney. >> I. >> And Don Rener. >> I. Motion carries. All right. Item seven, recommendations for action. Can I get a motion from the board of education to approve the 2026 summer athletic camp fees as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. Car moves. Mike seconds. >> Thank you. Cara Casten. >> Hi. >> Michael Riskey. >> Hi. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> Hi. >> Ken Dawson. >> Hi. >> And April Fein. >> Hi. >> And Don Rener. >> I. Motion carries. Item B. Can I get a motion from the board of education to approve the 2026 summer school and ESY compensation as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. >> April moves. Katie seconds. >> Thank you. >> April
049Fein. >> Hi. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> Hi. >> Ken Dawson. >> Hi. >> Michael Riskey. >> Hi. >> Cara Casten. I and Don Rener. >> I motion carries. Item C. Can I get a motion from the board to approve the 2026 summer school and summer calendar as presented? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Ken moves. Katie seconds. >> Thank you. >> Ken Dawson. >> I. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> I. >> April Fein. >> I. >> Michael Riskey. >> I. >> Erica Casten. >> Hi. >> And Don Rener. >> I. Motion carries. Item D. Can I get a motion from the board to approve entering into a five-year 30-day cloud contract pending final district 99 attorney and superintendent approval and the amount not to exceed $281,477.76 with seconds matter safety solutions. >> So moved. >> Second.
050>> Mike moves. Cara seconds. >> Thank you. Michael Riskey. >> I Cara Casten. >> Hi. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> Hi. >> Ken Dawson. >> Hi. April Fein. >> Hi. >> And Don Rener. >> I motion carries. Item E. Can I get a motion from the board to approve entering into an investment grade audit agreement as presented with Honeywell? Sorry, with Honeywell. I thought I was reading the next line. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Cara moves. Mike seconds. >> Thank you. Cara Casten. >> Hi. >> Michael Riskey. >> Hi. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> Hi. >> Ken Dawson. >> Hi. >> April Fein. >> Hi. >> And Don Rener. >> I. Motion carries. And lastly, item F. Can I get a motion from the board to affirm the superintendent's decision regarding the uniform grievance complaint about
051an individual student matter discussed in close session on January 12th, 2026 and to direct the superintendent to send the written appeal decision to the parties consistent with the close session discussion and policy 2.260. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Katie moves. Cara seconds. >> Thank you. Katie Courtourtney. >> I. >> Cara Casten. >> I. >> Ken Dawson. >> Hi. April Fein, >> I. >> Michael Riskey, >> I. >> And Don Rener, >> I. Motion carries. >> All right. Uh, board, uh, this evening, as part of your actions, you approved our next assistant superintendent for student learning, Dr. Kate Morris, who is in the audience today. I'd like to introduce Kate. Kate, would you like to introduce who you brought here tonight to celebrate with you? >> Yeah, sure. Thank you. This is my husband, Chris.
052My youngest Corey, my middle is Brady, my oldest is Will, and Karen, Jerry, and Tindy. >> So, we're very excited for the opportunity. I can't wait to work with all of you and the staff and students in the building. So, thank you. Thank you very much for the opportunity. >> Welcome. Welcome. >> Welcome. >> Can I just say something really quick, >> guys? You're being so patient hanging out with your mom and dad. >> I know this is really boring, but your mom's really cool. So, Yeah. >> Thank you. >> We bribed them dinner. >> All right. Um perception of business. >> Oh, we skipped over old business. No business. No, >> we have none. >> None of that. Okay. >> Uh Julie, do we have any slips? >> No, sir. >> Okay. Hank, I'll
053turn it over to you. >> All right. Uh >> Oh, I'm sorry. This is This is me. I'm sorry. >> This is you. Yeah. Um, can I get a report on land from Cara? >> Yeah, so we just had our monthly meeting and we the priorities for land this year are really no unfunded mandates and really focusing on evidence-based funding and mandated categoricals, right? Getting that funding hopefully in line >> that yeah, at least hold the line >> hold the line on that. Um, lots of other things were discussed that, you know, may come later in the year, but those were the priorities. And then we kicked off I'm co-leading the federal relations committee within lend and so we kicked that group off um in the meeting as well. We have our priorities for the
054federal committee as well which are um SNAP the nutrition assistance funding program IDA funding for um special education and Medicare kind of again reporting out and trying to hold the line on that funding. So those were the updates. Was there anything else? >> Pretty much it. Hold the line and funding. That's the and try not to get any additional mandates. >> Also try if we can get some removed um that aren't funded, that would help us as well. >> Okay, Chris is not here. Uh Hank, can you give an update on SASID, please? >> As I've informed the board throughout the year, the the major focus is what we're going to do with long-term facilities in Sassid. Um actually, uh we we've hired an uh an independent consultant to help us with that work. We've
055made a lot of progress as a result. Uh we have some opport some some options that will be presented to us uh over the next couple of months that could result in better facilities at a lower price uh for the overall organization. So um I'll update the board as we learn more. >> April and Katie, any report from the foundation? >> Yeah, we just had our meeting on uh last Wednesday. big focus on fundraising and there's a very exciting fundraiser coming up for this spring or summer. Not going to spill the beans. It's gonna be really fun though. >> All right, Ken. Any uh update from IASB? >> Uh the DUP page division meeting is coming up next Tuesday and the guest speaker is going to be superintendent of education Dr. Tony Sanders. So that
056should be a very interesting uh meeting. It's at Willougherbrook High School starts at 6:00. They also are going to be recognizing uh the recognizing us for our governance award. So, that will be nice as well. And um it's a great opportunity to network and really get your your hand on the pulse of what's going on, you know, in DuPage. So, hopefully our board members will be able to attend. I I encourage you to let Julie know tonight if you're going so she can register you. As Ken said, this is a great opportunity to hear from state superintendent Sanders, especially with the new accountability measure or uh system being proposed. I'm sure he'll talk about that. Um and Dr. Sanders had like a foot in DuPage with U46. So, it's a local local guy done good,
057right? So, it's nice for our region to show up and, you know, support him in his efforts. >> Uh, lastly, the village council liaison. This is a new program that the village is reaching out to other boards in the community. Uh, I chose to take this on myself. Uh, I met with Mike Davenport, who's a council member and former board member here at D99. Uh we laid out a a plan to meet on a quarterly basis and to work together about common issues that could uh be addressed at both of our respective boards andor looking at cooperation with not only uh our two respective districts but other districts in the community. So I'll um from time to time report out as to how those conversations are going. >> That's village of Downers Grove, correct? >>
058Village of Downers Grove. I'm sorry. >> Just want to make sure. Okay, our upcoming board meetings, we have a February 9th, 2026 workshop here at the ASC at 6:30 p.m., followed by later in the month our monthly business meeting at February 23rd here again at ASC at 6:30 p.m. Um, all right. We're going to go in close session. Can I get a motion from the board to go into close session for item AMA exception one based on personnel and item BMA exception number two for collective negotiating matters. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Ken moves April seconds. >> Thank you. Ken Dawson >> I. >> April Fein. >> Hi. >> Michael Riskey. >> I. >> Eric Casten. >> I. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> I. >> And Don Rener. >> I. Motion carries. for the betterment
059of the community. The only action the board will be taking when it comes out of close session is to adjourn. All right, we are temporarily adjourned and then let's take a break and we'll be back in for close session. sit next