001I hereby call to order this regular meeting of the board of education for Wilmet Public Schools District 39 this Monday, January 26th, 2026. Will the clerk please call the role? >> Katie Hilton >> here. >> Judy Berlin >> here. >> Annne Hart >> here. >> Christine Dcastro >> here. >> Alison Pas here. >> Aaron Stone >> here. >> Amy Paling >> here. >> Thank you. We'd like to welcome Principal Dana Nasiakos who was here to introduce McKenzie students to lead us in the pledge of allegiance this evening. Good evening. I have the pleasure and honor to introduce you to our fourth grade leadership council from McKenzie to lead the board of ed pledge this evening. To lead our leadership council, we have Miss Mooney and Miss Tindorf. Um Miss Mooney is here with us tonight
002along with Miss Grenley who's here to support our fourth grade students. I'll hand it over to our teacher leaders. Hello. It is my privilege along with Miss Tindorf to be the staff advisor of this wonderful club. And so without further ado, I will let you hear from the experts what we do. Hi, my name is Liam. Leadership Council is made up of fourth grade leaders who have been nominated by their classes to represent all of the McKenzie Cheetahs. Hi, my name is Alfie. Asure council members, we work together with our teachers, principles, and PTA to make McKenzie a great place to learn now and in the future. Hi, my name is Luna. One of the big jobs we do is called being a cheetah in charge. On a scheduled day, we help the front office
003by walking kindergarteners to their classrooms and delivering supplies to classrooms. Hi, my name is Annie. As a cheetah in charge, we also help by sorting the Paul Pride certificates and organizing the principal 100 cards and delivering the final lunch count numbers to the kitchen. Hi, my name is Veil. Leadership Council partners with Carmen Buckner Elementary School, our sister school, through visits with their fourth and fifth grade leaders to form a stronger connection with them. Hi, my name is Hannah. Another thing we do is plan our annual schoolwide international cheetah day celebration by reading a cheetah book to classes, sharing fun facts about cheetahs, and creating cheetah posters. Hi, my name's Ellie. This year, we started a new program called Paw Pals. On our scheduled days, we support the first and second grader students at lunch
004and recess. We wear a vest so the first and second graders can spot us if they need help with games, want someone to talk to, or just want to play. >> Hi, my name is Nathan. As members of the leadership council, we've all learned that as fourth graders, we are the oldest in the school. So, the younger g grades look up to us and we have to lead by example. We model's core values of perseverance, compassion, and responsibility. >> Hi, my name is Libby. We also know that highress we will have more responsibilities. Being part of McKenzie Leadership Council has given us opportunity to practice and prepare so we're ready for even more leadership and independence at Highest. >> Hi, my name is Grace. In honor of Mackenzie's 75th birthday celebration this year, we helped
005announce our new cheetah mascot, Lou, in honor of Louise McKenzie. >> Hi, my name is Emma. We hope you enjoyed learning a little more about fourth grade leadership council at McKenzie. Please stand and join us for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you all very much. That was excellent. I'm not at all surprised that you guys were nominated for this because you're all doing a great job as leaders and it's such important work in your school and thank you very much. We're all very proud of you and grateful for all your time and efforts and for being here tonight. So, we would like
006to give you a small token as you leave out of this door tonight and then you can meet your parents after. Thanks again. friendly. That's a pretty great shirt that your student has on. >> Glamorous. >> I love it. So, it's pretty creative. >> Yes. >> Thank you parents for taking the time to be here this evening. We appreciate it. All right. Um, at this time, I'd like to call your attention to the artwork behind us. Katherine Trump's Harper Elementary School artists worked. Um, their work is on display this month. First graders created line paintings and Zenangle animals. Second grade used color schemes to create color monsters and studied Kente cloth to create Kente inspired paintings. Third graders created watercolor landscapes and biological illustrations. And fourth graders created Panameanian Los Molas inspired prints. Also, students
007at Harper are working together to create largecale collaborative artworks that celebrate community, creativity, and school pride. Families have also contributed, making each piece a true reflection of our supportive school community. When finished, nine large collaborative artworks will be displayed throughout the building. Um, all right. I now seek a motion to approve the minutes of the December 15, 2025 Board of Education regular and executive session meetings. I move to approve the minutes of the December 15, 2025 Board of Education regular and executive session meetings. May I have a second? >> Second. >> The motion has been made and seconded. Board members, are there any comments, errors, or omissions to the minutes? Okay. Um, seeing none, all those in favor of approving the minutes, um, please indicate by saying yay. Yay. >> The motion carries. I request
008a motion to adjourn to the public hearing on the 2026 2027 calendar holiday exceptions. >> I move to adjourn to the public hearing for the 2026 2027 calendar holiday exception. >> May we have a second? >> Second. >> Motion having been made and seconded. All those in favor please indicate by saying yay. >> Yay. Yay. >> Motion carried by general consent and we are now adjourned to the public hearing. I hereby call to order the public hearing on the 2026 2027 calendar holiday exceptions for the board of education for Wilmap Public Schools District 39 on this Monday, January 26, 2026. I will now turn it over to Dr. Kremcoli. >> Thank you. And it's my honor to introduce Kelly Jackson who wants to review with us the proposed use of school holidays next year as
009student attendance days. Kelly, >> thank you. So last month we uh presented the draft calendar for board review and um this month we are seeking approval later in the agenda. Um, but according to section 242 of school code, school districts may after holding a public hearing utilize up to five legal school holidays for student attendance, provided that uh the people honored by the holiday are recognized through instructional activities conducted on that day or if you're using that day as a day of student non-attendance than the day before or the day after. Um, in the past we've written a waiver to use these days. We have used these days in the past. Um but the change for this year is to hold the hearing um in order to utilize these days so the community is informed
010about their use and can share any input or uh consideration. Um the legal holidays for schools that are set aside by school code include 12 uh legally named holidays. Holidays like New Year's Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, uh so on and so forth. Um there are 12 total. Uh and school code allows districts to hold student attendance day days on up to five of those. So the five that they allow um student attendance on are Martin Luther King Day, uh Lincoln's birthday, which is February 12th, Pilaski Day, which is the first Monday in March or Casmir Pilask's birthday, uh Columbus Day or Indigenous People's Day, which is the second Monday in October, and Veterans Day, which is November 11th. Um we in district 39 are proposing for the 26 27th school year to hold school activities on
011uh the following four dates. Lincoln's birthday which is February 12th. Uh Casmir Pilaski Day which is the first Monday in March. Again, Columbus Day or Indigenous People's Day in October and Veterans Day on November 11th. uh because school activities would be held on these days, the person or people being honored on those holidays would be honored through activities in school on that day. Um you'll see on the list here there's one note there's asterisks next to Lincoln's birthday which is the 12th of February. Um on our draft calendar we have that set aside as a teacher institute day which still constitutes school activities. However, it's a student non-attendance day. So that would be coded as a teacher institute day. And then um we would celebrate Lincoln before or after um when students return. Um so
012that is uh the summary of the holidays that we would be using and you'll see those reflected in the calendar. >> Thank you board members. Any questions? >> I think for the record we need to call for public comments. I don't see anyone here in the audience who wish to address the board, but for the record, we'll call for it anyways. Seeing none. Okay. Um, seeing none, I request a motion to adjourn to the regular meeting of the board of education. >> I move to adjourn to the regular meeting of the board of education. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Motion having been made and seconded. All those in favor, please indicate by saying yay. >> Yay. The motion came by general consent and we are now adjourned to the regular meeting. This
013is again an opportunity for the public to address the board on any topic. Are there any audience members that would like to speak at this time? Okay. Um we will now move on then to board reports starting with facility development. Mrs. Dcastro, >> we have no updates tonight. No updates tonight. Okay. We'll move on to school finance, Mrs. Paling. >> Yes, school finance did meet as part of our January 12th committee of the whole meeting. We discussed summer enrichment fees for 2026, uh, including an increase in the fee structure and eliminating transportation for the hobby and review and reinforcement classes. The fiscal 20 year 2027 budget calendar and guidelines were also reviewed and both of those will be voted on tonight's consent agenda. >> That's it. >> Thank you. Strategy committee, Mrs. Stone. >> Yes.
014The strategy committee also met as part of the January 12th committee of the whole meeting. Lucy Melon, who is the shared sustainability coordinator for Wilmet's governing bodies, presented an overview of results from the district 39 sustainability audit along with goals for ongoing work. The board discussed the audit being a part of the district's strategic plan, progress on initiatives, and the commitment to having environmental literacy built into curricular objectives. That's it. >> Great. Thank you. We will now move on to liaison reports starting with community review committee. Back to Mrs. Diccastro. >> Yes, thank you. I attended the CRC meeting on January 13th. Just have a very quick update. The group is excited about their topic of teacher well-being and are in the initial stages of development. In this working meeting, they had a breakout session
015with the team focused on survey development and the other teams were still in the research phase. So, we look forward to more detailed updates as our work progresses. >> Great. Thank you for attending and reporting back. Educational foundation, Mrs. Berlin. >> Yes, I attended the Ed Foundation meeting on uh Monday, January 12th. Um the I'm all of you I'm sure know that the Ed Foundation I'm just saying this for the public that the Ed Foundation uh provides activities um that support our school, our teachers, and our students. There are several activities dates that I wanted to share with you. Um the award assembly for the innovative teacher nominees is Tuesday, February 19th from 4 to 5:00 at the Lake View Center um at Gillson. >> I think it's Thursday, which is 19. Yep. >> Okay.
016Change that. >> It's the third. It's definitely the 19th. I guess I typed. >> Um the board is invited. Another activity. The applications for the second cycle of grip grants are are uh this isn't really for us but just to know it are due um February 27th and they're also in the planning stages of a special project that will be an AI the there will be an AI event for kids. They're working with Tony on on getting something up that sounds like it'll be really cool. Also, there are several fundraisers to mark your calendars for. One is college paddle night which is Saturday, February 7th. Um from 6:00 to 10 p.m. at the paddle hut. If you don't play, if you don't play, you can still participate by buying tickets and attending. There's food and
017there's beverages. There are there is food and there are beverages. And also if you can't attend at all, you can buy raffle tickets which are available online now. So certainly we want to uh support their efforts. Uh, additionally, one date that's coming up pretty far out still is trivia night, which is scheduled for Saturday, April 18th. I think that's it. Great. Thank you. Um, and now we will go back to Miss Stone for Wilat Village Intergovernmental Cooperation Committee. >> Yes. Um we met at the village hall on January 15th and discussed a lot of things that are um currently kind of being considered and are ongoing um work as far as the current topic which is civility. So the idea of some policies surrounding social media were discussed. Um a possible civility pledge that candidates
018could take. Um the possibility of civil civility training um at the next meeting on April 9th which is going to be here. Uh different um governing bodies that have a preamble that they state at the um outset of their public comments are going to share those. We talked about the um desiraability of having a different places for connection and interaction amongst villagers and that's where we're at. It's all being discussed. >> Great. Great to hear. Thank you. And then IB back to Mrs. Berlin. >> This one's really short. There is a North Cook Division meeting on Tuesday, March 3rd. It's a presentation that includes information on school funding. I don't know whether anyone else goes to it. Certainly, if no one else is going, I would probably sign up to do that. But I probably
019want some feedback from any of you that might be considering going or that have gone in the past or can give me some information on it. Okay. The other thing I have is I don't know if Ed red counts as uh IASB or or legislative, but whichever one it counts as, they're having their annual legislative dinner tonight. So, I was told that our board meeting trumped that. So, Thank you for being here. I'm sorry we don't have dinner for you. All right. Well, we we'll stay with you though and move on to the legislative update. >> Oh, that's a little bit longer. Um the Senate returned to Springfield two weeks ago and the House returned to Springfield last week. There has been no substantial legislative action. On January 20th, the first day back, the House
020was in session briefly. The report said 16 minutes. On the second day, however, they convened and then they immediately caucused. So although there's been no action, there are literally hundreds of bills that are being drafted and expect to be posted to the general assembly website. ISB wants us to know that their staff has been has been and will be reviewing and reaching out to bill sponsors to discuss concerns and possible amendments. It's anticipated that the general assembly action will remain slow until after the governor's budget and state of the state address in February, February 18th actually. Oh, and the other one note to make is that IASB leg advocacy day which again legislative and ISB so don't really know where you want it to be but um is March 24th in Springfield. >> Great. >>
021Lots of dates. >> Yes, definitely. Thanks for all of the updates. and we'll go to information items. Dr. Kremcoli, I'll turn it back to you. >> Thank you. Uh first of all, under written communication, the board received uh written communication from several families regarding safety and security. Um those communications are listed and available in board docs. Um under administrative announcements from myself and our staff, uh first of all, the legal women voters student government kickoff event occurred. We we are thrilled to again be partnering with the Wilmet League of Women Voters to support the league's student government program. We kicked off the program on the evening of January 14th with the annual kickoff event. Thank you. I think Ann Hart and Katie Hilton both attended on behalf of the board. So, thank you for uh
022representing us and I'd like to thank the administrators at WJHS, especially Rob Miller who helped to organize uh and support the event this year. Um this year our students will partner with the village council of Wilmet to explore issues and protocol of village government. So we are excited for their learning and participation in this great program. I'll also share with the board that uh Santa gave uh some welcoming speeches. She's um she is always so eloquent in her words but um had a special shout out to um the presentation that we gave together jointly at um the joint convention. So I thought that was a really good example that she could use to talk to students and their families about intergovernmental cooperation and how important it is here in WTE. So it was it was
023really a nice nice event. Um registration and planning for the upcoming school year is well underway. Um we have uh shared with parents links and information so that they can begin the enrollment process. Both new and returning students need to uh be registered for the upcoming school year. Again um the information that they provide through the enrollment process helps us to begin our planning for staffing classroom sections and programming for the upcoming school year. It's especially important to the kindergarten level. And so far we've had a a pretty good response the first day at least. Um I was getting some number updates and and heard that we had um a good number of families responding. So we're hopeful that that continues. We've tried some new things this year to get the word out, including postcards
024and um kind of linking those that fee payment with the registration. And so we're hopeful that um more people will register early because you know sometimes we have those bubble classes and we we need that information in order to um add an additional section. So, um, as the board knows, new this year, parents are able to pay their instructional material fees as they, uh, walk through the registration process. So, hopefully that's helpful to some, but I want to note again that it is not required. You can complete the registration process without paying your fees and hold off a little bit if that's what's convenient for your family. So, again, as soon as people can complete and submit that, that would be helpful to our team. I would like to um share and celebrate that we
025had our safety and security presentation on Thursday evening hosted at Highest Middle School. Um thanks to those who were able to attend um in collaboration with the Wilmet Police Department, the village of Wilmet and other local partners. We hosted the safety presentation for all families. We also recorded it. Um there the actual physical attendance at the event was relatively small from parents. Um, even though I know the interest was really high and so we're hopeful that people will take the time to review the information that was shared online, I think for those who did attend, they had the opportunity for a Q&A at the end. People seemed really engaged, not only in the presentation, but also in the Q&A portion of the evening. So, we're really grateful for everyone who was able to be there
026and especially grateful grateful for the Wilmet Police Department, the representatives from BS Smart um and from Family Service Center who addressed um mental health and wellness with the group. Um I will note also that um Tony and our police department and um the team at Highest had been coordinating an event for our students as well and they hosted that event today. Um, and it sounds like that was a big success as well. And um, so we're grateful that uh, students and staff were able to participate in another uh, safety reminder there as well and and thankful for everyone's support with that. In terms of our strategic planning, uh, we are moving right along. Since the board's selection of our strategic plan consultant, Pat Greco from Student Education back in uh November, um we have been
027hard at work developing input and feedback opportunities for members of our community. Um so we're targeting fe February 18th and 19th, which is why I knew the 19th was the Thursday. Uh because we're really targeting those two days for our focus groups. Um, we are planning some focus groups with students, with staff, um, with, uh, some of our community partners and some open opportunities for families as well to come in in person if they'd like and and contribute to the planning and the feedback sessions. We will also follow these two days of pretty intensive focus groups um, with a survey that will go out. So, we're starting with the focus groups. That will help us kind of uh refine what we're we're looking to hear more about. And then we'll send out a survey um
028to our families so that they can respond um and help us uh really dig in a little deeper on what our successes are, what our opportunities are, and what our vision for the future for these next five years. What can we really focus on? So, we're really excited about that. In addition, we'll be studying the information that we have gained through a variety of other sources. So, we'll be looking at um student achievement data. We'll be looking at attendance and finance data. We'll be looking at a variety of sources. But critically is our school culture and climate survey which is coming up. Uh that's the CSCI survey and all parents have the opportunity to respond to that survey on behalf of each of their children. um our students have the opportunity to respond and so
029do our teachers and staff. So we're um this is our third year of giving that survey I believe um and we're excited to see kind of where there's been some change either improvement or uh continued opportunities for for growth. So uh we're looking forward uh to receiving and to um really analyzing all of the data that we're collecting for this work. We are on track to accomplish our target of presenting a draft of our next five-year strategic plan for review by the board at the June board meeting. Um the draft will then be refined and finalized over the summer with some additional feedback and then a final opportunity for approval in August. So we're really excited about this work and and really excited to hear from our community. So that is upcoming. And then the
030final item um in our announcements is Freedom of Information Act. The board received two Hoya requests this month. Uh from CT Mills requesting a record listing of all active employees in the district including name, title, position, work email address, and work location. And from the Illinois Retired Teachers Associates Association requesting a list of teachers who will be retiring in 2026. And that's all I have to report. Happy to answer any questions. Any questions? We do actually um on the strategic plan um focus groups who who is we you and all of the administrators or are you're all watching and kind of learning or how's that how's that going to work? >> It's kind of a little of all of that. So um Pat Reco who is our um consultant will be leading the focus group
031feedback sessions and administrators will be strategically there to support her work. So, I'll be at a lot of them with her. Um, and then we will have some volunteer opportunities for each of our administrators to sit in on and support each of those different focus groups. So, if it's a focus group at WJHS, it might be um some of the administrators from WJHS who support that. Um, anytime we're talking with students, we find it helpful to have a known administrator um be in the room and in working with that. So, we'll be doing that with our administrators. Um, at the elementary level, it actually won't be Pat Greco doing that. I'll be partnering with our elementary administrators on that. Again, just kind of thinking about the comfort level of our students and making sure that
032everybody everyone feels comfortable in and sharing their feedback. >> Great. Thank you. >> Um, in board members, we'll have the opportunity for either a one-on-one or a twoon-one session with um Pat and so we'll be um getting those organized as we get a little closer to midFebruary. >> Thank you. Any other questions? All right, great. Exciting. Um, all right, then we will move on to where am I on my agenda here? Um, annual business. Great. Um, we start with our 2026 2027 school calendar. Kelly Jackson spoke about some of the holidays and Dr. Glowaki will give a quick overview. I know the board has already seen this but so we provided a draft in December. There was one slight narrative change on the calendar. Um November conferences for grades 5 through 8 will be the
033evening Wednesday evening November 18th and Thursday evening November 19th. The narrative I think had the dates from maybe 2025. So the concept is still the same. Um so just drawing that to your attention. Other than that, there have been no changes since the the presentation of the draft in December. >> Questions? >> Yes, this year's calendar has um uh two days that were built in as e-learning days if we ended up needing them. I don't recall if the 26 27 calendar also has those >> does. >> And so this is my question. Why would those days be e-learning and not in person? Has there ever been any discussion of that? Since they're set up ahead of time and everybody knows about it, it seems like it would be more convenient for like parents who might
034be working or whatever if the kids were actually in school rather than have 3,000 kids at home doing e-learning if it's planned ahead of time, which I understand is built into the structure. Right. >> It is built into the structure. >> Yeah, it is built into the structure. What we've heard from our families is that um with travel plans that could be really problematic and those both tends tend to be holidays that people will plan travel six nine months in advance and so that would become really problematic to have an in-person day. We agree and I think our teachers agree that we would always rather be in person if we can, but if we're going to try to um call a a special day on a day that people would have already otherwise been traveling,
035um it it seems to make the most sense for flexibility purposes. Um still problematic for those who maybe are on a plane, they wouldn't be able to log in, but it captures the opportunity for as many people as possible, students and staff alike. So that's why we built those in. Um the reality is I think everyone would rather be in person than um participating remotely in school. So uh we haven't recently needed to use those days and we're still reviewing this year um based on we've used one emergency day if we uh how we go about making that up and and I'll talk about that a little bit under new business. >> Thank you. Any other questions on the school calendar? All right, then we will move on to summer enrichment fees. >> Yes. And
036uh Kristen Swanson will give a quick overview of that. So we discussed at the committee of the whole meeting that we would be increasing the fees to bring it a little bit more in line with market market costs for fees for our hobby and review and rein review and reinforcement classes as well as um given the the lack of use of our transportation and really the outlay that the district has provided in in order to make that available eliminating that for those classes. Anybody have any questions? >> Thank you. >> That in the consent agenda then as well. And we have our fiscal year 2027 budget calendar and resolution. Corey. >> Right. So, this is very much a procedural step for the board to um take action and direct the administration to begin work on
037the next fiscal year's budget. Um, besides the resolution, there is a budget calendar. It's informational and has a lot of tenative dates. Um, while the document is labeled budget calendar and it has those dates through the spring and the summer, it also uh tenatively has we get into the fall when we might start working on the tax levy and and looking at, you know, annual financial projections. So, it it does cover the whole calendar year in addition to the budget. So the board really just uh first step is directing us to get going on that work. >> Board members, any questions? >> Okay. >> And the intergovernmental agreement with the village of Wilmet. The board will recall that you um previously approved um the intergovernmental agreement with the village of Wilmet. Um the council, the
038village council went to approve it and they saw a minor adjustment that they wanted to make. Um so they did reach out to us. Um of course both sides need to agree to this. So um they made the minor adjustment and so we're bringing that back now um so that you can approve the adjustment that they made and the agreement will then be finalized. Tony, anything noteworthy that you want to share regarding that? >> Well, I have the copy with their signature on it in my office. So, uh, this will be the last approval, um, for our board. It it was there was just a phrase. It was actually a village trustee that had recommended a phrase be removed. Um, we don't disagree. The timing is regrettable. You know, we did our due diligence. They
039in theory did their due diligence, but we don't disagree either. So, um, your approval tonight will wrap this up until the next time there's some type of legislative change that we need to revisit. That's all. >> Great. Thank you for that. >> Should we move on? >> Okay, let's move on to board policy review. >> We have uh several policies up for review this evening. Um Heather is taking the time to uh share all of these and review them also with our attorney um and with the administrators who um lead the work. So, um, Dr. Goaki, any notes you'd like to point out? Eager for feedback to have some. Um, well, first of all, I just wonder if you could um confirm that these changes were press changes. Is that true? Yes. Okay. all of
040them or >> so I start with press compare it against what we currently have then it goes to board's attorney for review to see if they are in alignment with what press is recommending okay great those who might not be familiar either in the audience or watching along with us press is the policy service of the Illinois school board association so they review school code and legislative changes they provide a a proposal for improving the policies of school districts and then the school district in the board really has the opportunity to review, update. Um, and it's been now a couple of years since we have aligned all of our policies with uh the press recommendations. Sometimes there's some room for decision- making and so always we we want to carefully review those. We have our
041the board's attorney review and then we bring it to the board for for first and second reading. Questions? >> Okay. >> For feedback. I have a couple like little nitpicky ones. Um, so 2 col 150. Um, in in the I guess the second sentence of the first paragraph, it defi it defines board committees in italics, but then it doesn't go on to say board committee like board committee members. Seems like I presume those aren't just committee members, but board committee members. Okay. And then the same thing down a little bit further which says depending on the board committee's purpose. These are all just suggestions so you can take them or leave them. Um then in 4 col30 under number one where it's um talking about the federal community reinvestment act of 1977. Seems like that
042should be a defined term CRA because it's referred to as the CRA down in the underlined paragraph portion later on. similar to hide how the Illinois Community Reinvestment Act is defined in number two. Um and then in 480 under annual financial report uh just below the middle of the page I think again AFR should be defined since it's used later. So in that first sentence, annual financial report parenthesis AFR parenthesis or however sorry. Um, oh, so this was 145 col 90 abused and neglected child reporting. In the second paragraph, it says any district employee who discovers child sexual abuse material on electronic, you know, technology, equipment, etc. What if um there is sexual abuse material that's found like in a printed picture as opposed to just electronically? I would think we'd want to cover both.
043I don't know if that comes up very much, but unless it's unless it's um referred to somewhere else, but I didn't see it. Yeah. Okay. in 6 point or 6 col 60. Um in number two and number six and number 11 um they they say the word age like in the second line of paragraph of number two and it has a little dash after the age. I don't know why but so I would take out the dash. It's in It's in that paragraph a couple times. It's in number six. It's in number 11. I don't know. It's meant to refer I I don't know if it's correct or not, but I think it's meant to refer to age appropriate instruction and they're trying to say age. So age appropriate would have a >> hyphen. Developmentally
044appropriate would not. I think that's why the dash is there. >> Okay. Does that >> it just looked odd. >> It looks odd. >> Okay. >> It does look >> I thought it might be right because it's repeated so many times. >> Say developmentally and age appropriate. >> Yeah. If that's I mean I don't know. It just looked weird. I thought oh that's um >> good question. It's good wonder. >> While we're on that one. >> Yep. Yeah. Um just again these are just really small nitpicky things on still in um 660 two um at the very end um where it says D in grade seven and um sure and then I just think um up in one where it's um you know it's a all the letters identifying the subjects. There's a comma after
045music that probably just goes away because it'll end with Okay, that was it. I had one on six col 62 also. Um, and maybe I'm just reading this wrong, but on number eight, in kindergarten through grade 8, instruction on behaviors that violate policy 7180, prevention of responsibilation and harassment. That feels incomplete to me. Maybe that's just the way I'm reading it, but I struggling with it. must be taught that was and I I think I have just one more um and that is on 7150 and Ann and I kind of talked about this one before but on number 6C See, I think Ann thinks maybe I'm just reading it incorrectly, but it seems so super awkward to me that I don't understand what it's saying. So maybe Ann can explain it to me again. But
046um that sentence just seems weird. if practicable. So on um 7 col1506 C and it says if practicable make reasonable efforts to arrange for a trained law enforcement officer to promote safe interactions and communications is present with the student during questioning. So, I think I understand what you're trying what it's trying to say that you want to have a trained law enforcement officer present, but it just seems weird with the is present close read. That's really helpful. Super helpful. Go ahead. Who else wants to go? So good. >> Come on, guys. >> And Stone. >> I see all the um what we've talked about in terms of residency reflected. So that was great to see. Um and this is first Thank you very much for feedback. We appreciate it. >> Thank you. >> All right.
047This is another opportunity for the audience to address the board. Are there any audience members that would like to speak at this time? All right. Seeing none, we will move on to action items and the consent agenda. Next order of business is the consent agenda. Are there any items the board would like pulled from the consent agenda? All right, Mrs. Pathless, please proceed with the many motions. Okie do. Um, I move to approve the personnel report dated January 26, 2026. I move to approve the 2026 2027 school calendar. I move to approve the fisc year 2026 student fees for the courses scheduled during the summer enrichment program. These courses include enrichment classes and review and reinforcement. I move to adopt the attached resolution establishing the school district 2027 fiscal year and direct the superintendent to
048prepare a tenative budget. And I move to approve the attached budget planning calendar as written. I move to approve the intergovernmental agreement with the village of Wet. I move to approve as first reading of the board of education policies 2 col 120 2 col 150 3 col 0 3 col 5 0 3 col 6 4 1 0 4 col 3 0 4 col 8 0 4 col 1 0 4 col 140 4 col 15 0 4 160 4 col 170 4 col 1 9 0 5 col 1 0 5 col 2 0 5 col 9 0 5 col 1 0 0 5 col 12 0 5 col 5 col 1 9 0 5 col 2 0 0 5 col 220 5 col 280 6 col 2 6 col 4 0 6 6 col135 6 col
04916 0 6 col 210 6235 6 col 260 280 710 0 7250 9 0 7 col 310 7 col 340 8 uh col 3 and 8 1 0 0 I move to approve the accounts payable for bills listed between December 16th 2025 and January 26th 2026 in the following amounts educational fund $50,6227 on& and M fund $18,41.39 transportation 174,525 $25.81 total all funds $243,54947 I move to approve the manual checks issued between December 16th 2025 and January 26 2026 in the following amounts educational fund 1,559,84088 and M fund $193,892.118 18 debt services $2,785,69125 Transportation $8890 capital projects $143,486 TORS $377,135 total all funds 5,60,934.91 cents. >> Thank you. May I have a second? >> Second. >> The motion has been moved and seconded. Would the clerk please call the role? >> Allison Papus, >> yes.
050>> Amy Peeling, >> yes. >> Erin Stone, >> yes. >> Christine Dastro, >> yes. >> Ann, >> yes. >> Katie Hilton, >> yes. >> Judy Berlin, >> yes. >> The yays have it. Motion carries. The consent agenda is approved. Thank you, Allison. That was a lot this evening. Um, all right. Conference items. Old business. Is there any old business? New business. Any new business this evening? I have new business if board members don't. And that simply is uh regarding the emergency closure makeup day. So Friday we cancelled school due to the extreme cold and wind chill. And I think that was the right decision. In fact, it's the first time ever that I've canceled school and not received any complaints from anyone. Not a single one. So unless Leo is keeping some information from me,
051which thank you. Um I received some accolades and some nice emails back, but not a single complaint that we canceled school. So that was uh that I think it was the right decision and it seems as though everyone across the region uh made that same decision. So um but with that use of the one emergency closure, we do need to evaluate our school calendar options over the next two weeks to determine the need to make up that day. Certainly if there's a second school closure day, that kind of changes things pretty dramatically for us. But with only one school closure day, there is uh there are some options that we're looking into. Um one would be use of the emergency um days on either February 16th or April um I just lost the date. April
0526th. Thank you so much. Um either of those could be called as an e-learning day um to make up this date. The other option would be to have an in-person learning day on June 8th, which is a Monday. So, right now, school is scheduled to end the Friday before. Um, but it could be a um student attendance day on that Monday. And again, if another day is called, it does kind of change the dynamics. But um I personally kind of um am am not really wanting to call students back to school on Monday if if uh school is scheduled to end on Friday. But we'll evaluate that. If it becomes a couple of days, we we won't have a choice. But with only one day, those are some options that we're evaluating. We're also looking
053at the potential that we have enough banked days and hours that um it's possible we won't need to have an additional student attendance day. So, I'm looking at that uh with the state, but I invite the board to weigh in on any of those options either now or over the next week um to let me know. I did let our staff know that if we're planning on using February 16th, um we need to make that decision and communicate it by February 2nd, no later than February 2nd. And really, I'd like to communicate that on Friday if that's the date we're going to use as a makeup. So, if you have a strong opinion or want to share a perspective right now, I'm happy to receive that either now or later. >> I I agree that
054I think the Monday after school's out on Friday would be real tough for a lot of people. Yeah. But I also agree that um the sooner the better if it's going to be February 16th. Is it asynchronous or is it It's e-learning, right? So, is it >> Right. It's e-learning. It's kind of a combination of both. >> Okay. And just to be clear, there's a chance we have enough banked that, you know, we don't need to necessarily do an e-learning or have school the Monday after school is officially out for summer. Right. But we just don't know be an option. >> Okay. >> Right. So, there's a chance of that. Um, with only one day used, there's a chance that we have enough banks that we might need to. Do we have any sense of
055when we'll hear back? Do you >> I'm hoping by the end of this week. I will know for sure if we could do that. And again, that is counting on we're not going to use another day. So, exactly. Um, if we use another day, >> we have to make up and then kind of it looks the dynamics look a little bit different. But, >> um, I agree. It's an entirely it's a different conversation. I guess at this point, if we don't have to make up, I'm hesitant to change calendars. um for those that may have already made plans or I again that I'm open to discussion but if it is if it ends up being just one day I would be comfortable with that option. I don't know if others are or not but student
056attendance. Thanks for the input. If you think of anything else over the next really couple of days, I would ask that you reach out to me um because I I hope to at least communicate about February 16th by this Friday um so that people can plan accordingly. >> Yes, m agree with if it's just the day if see if we have it banked and I also agree with trying to avoid going to that Monday in June if you have to choose between President's Day and it's Good Friday, right? Uh, yes. >> I would pick President's Day just because it's not religious. >> It's not Good Friday. >> Oh, it is. >> It's the Monday after spring break, right? >> Oh, never mind. I had my days off. Never mind. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, >>
057it's April 6th. Is that what day? >> I was thinking it, but it's not. >> Okay. >> Thanks for clarification though. That's super helpful. >> So then, no, we don't have an opinion about that. >> No. Okay. Thanks everyone for the input. I appreciate it. >> Any other new business? >> It's not new business. But before we adjourn, I have a question. Um, while Allison was reading the consent agenda and all of the different uh policies that we approved, you read one which was 8 colon 30 which is actually in the packet we received but for some reason I was following along in the agenda and it's not listed on the agenda. Does that matter? >> Actually the the verbal reading that's most important and because this is first reading I think we're okay. But
058thank you for catching that um because it is important especially at final reading. Okay. So we'll make sure and correct that. Thanks. Good and welfare. Okay. Okay. Well, I'll just mention a couple things um to tag on to what Carrie had to say and just a I guess a couple of events from last week that um made me proud to um be in this district and in this community overall. Um the first one was the event organized by the League of Women Voters and um Amy had attended last year and so I called her before to say, "Is there anything that I need to do or prepare?" and she said, "Oh my gosh, no, this is just a fun one." And and it really was. Um Katie Hilton and I attended and just so nice
059to spend the time with the students and to have those conversations with them and we were all so impressed by them and the questions that they were prepared with and their curiosity and just grateful to the League of Women Voters for organizing this event. So, it was great. And then um I just want to reiterate a thank you to um everyone who played a role in the safety presentation last week. We are so fortunate to have the representation from um a large range of experts include Carrie mentioned a number of the organizations that were that were there and we also had the Wilmet Chief of Police and our safety resource officer. um not to mention administration who were there, our principles, um just an excellent showing from that perspective and the um I've seen the
060presentation, but I still feel like I learned something new absolutely every time. Um it was informative. It was succinct. The question and answer session was um handled so well and there was such a nice transparency and dialogue. Um so it was just very helpful. Um, I will say considering the outreach from the community earlier this month about safety, um, I was surprised how lightly it was attended. And, you know, personally, I was a little bit disappointed that there weren't more people there. Um, just given the effort that all of those experts made to be there and to prepare and how seriously they took it. So, um, I also know that it's going to be a great resource going forward. It's recorded and we can people are able the community is able to access it any
061time. We can go back to it as a resource as well. And so, we're fortunate to have it, but I just um wanted to thank you all very much. Um, anything else for good and welfare? All right, then we will move on. May I have a motion to adjourn to executive session to discuss special education, individual student matters, specific personnel, and collective negotiations? >> I move to adjourn to the executive session to discuss um special education matters, individuals, student matter, specific employees, and collective negotiations. >> May I have a second? >> Second. >> Motion having been made and seconded. Will the clerk please call the role? >> Kristen Castro. >> Yes. Annne Hart, >> yes. >> Amy Paling, >> yes. >> Alison Pless, >> yes. >> Eron Stone, >> yes. >> Katie Hilton, >> yes.
062>> Judy Berlin, >> yes. >> Motion carries. We are now adjourned to executive session. And the time is 8:00