001If you miss something, you miss. >> All right. At 6:30, Julie, would you mind calling the role, please? >> I'd love, sir. Cara Castton, >> here. >> Katie Courtourtney >> here. >> Ken Dawson, >> here. >> Chris Vaspinosza, >> here. >> April Fein, >> here. >> Don Rener, >> here. >> Michael Riskey, >> here. >> Ryan Enright >> here. >> Romina Paper Vera Gonzalez >> here. >> Thank you very much. >> 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. >> I'll turn it over to you for superintendent recognition. >> All right. Saturday was school board members day in Illinois. So,
002I'd like to publicly thank our seven volunteer board members and our two student board members for their work uh representing uh our community and our students and our staff uh and all the work that you do in school board governance for district 99. Uh so, thank you very much. >> All right, item four, um approval of minutes. Can I get a motion from the board of education to approve the minutes of the October 20th, 2025 monthly business meeting in the November 3rd, 2025 workshop meeting? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Ken moves. Chris seconds. >> Thank you. Ken Dawson. >> I. >> Chris Espinosa. >> I. >> April Fein. >> I. >> Michael Riskey. >> I. >> Cara Casten. >> I. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> I. >> And Dun Runner. >> I. Motion carries. >>
003Thank you. >> Item five, reception of visitors. Julie, do we have any slips? >> No, sir. >> Thank you. Item six. Let me turn this over to Hank. >> All right. Uh, school maintenance project grant application. Uh, Jere and Travis have been working on this. Um, I'll turn it over to them to just say a couple of words. >> Well, good evening. The LNA uh, State Board of Education has opened the FY26 school maintenance grant. This grant provides up to $50,000 in matching funds for school maintenance projects. Excuse me. We're asking the board's approval to apply for this grant to help fund the LED LED stadium lighting retrofit project at Downer's Grove North. The total cost of this project is approximately $318,000. We have $25,000 earmarked in life safety funds um that has already been
004approved and then $113,000 in our current budget. So, if we were to receive this grant, it will help offset the operating uh budget for this year. So, as I said earlier, tonight we're seeking the board's approval to move forward with the application. >> Travis, do you have anything you'd like to add? >> You did fantastic. >> I just have a quick question. So, what um what is the likelihood that we are approved for this grant? Is it is it a shoe in or >> generally speaking we would be approved. It all depends upon the amount that the state has allocated and how many districts actually apply and then they prioritize the projects. >> Got it. >> But in the last 10 years since I've been here, I want to say there was probably two years
005the state did not offer it, but all the other years we've received it. >> Great. Thank you. >> All right. Any other questions? >> All right. This is up as an action item this evening to approve this bond resolution jury. >> Okay. So, tonight we are presenting a parameters resolution that will allow the district to issue general obligation school bonds to fund the required life safety projects that we've talked about during the past few months. The resolution sets the maximum limits for the bond issue, including an amount not to exceed 4,573,336, an interest rate cap of 5% and a 2-year repayment schedule with levies in tax years 2025 and 2026. Approval of this resolution gives the district the ability to secure the needed funds while staying within the defined parameters of the resolution. We've discussed
006this in previous board meetings. So tonight it's just the next step in the process of actually issuing the bonds. There any questions? That'll be presented later. All right, the next one is Theres as well. >> Well, tonight we're presenting the tenative 2025 tax levy. Just to give you a little background here in this district, property taxes provide about 83% of our operating revenues. So, the levy is a key step in funding the district for next year's budget, the 2627 budget. Under the property tax extension limitation law, our increase on existing property is limited to 2.9% this year. The truth and taxation law requires a public hearing only if the increase in our cap operating funds is more than 5%. For this levy, our cap funds increase is below the 5%. So therefore, no public hearing
007is required. Because the county does not finalize property values until the spring at this point in time, we just have to estimate what those values are. We're assuming a 9.5% growth in existing property values, the EAV, and 50 million in new property. By doing these two figures, we're protecting our ability to re receive the full amount of revenue from taxes. So with those calculations for 2025, the capped fund increase is about 4.8% and the debt service levy increases to meet the required bond payments. We will bring the final levy to the board at the December 15th board meeting. Would you like any discussion on the tax levy >> for new board members? I just want to point out the intricacies in here of what Ter just told you. So, she told you, I'm going to
008say it again, but I I'll say she said it the professional way. I'll say it the less professional way. You have the ridiculous task as a school district of guessing how much new construction in your community is going to be worth before they tell you. Mhm. >> You have to guess the right number, put it out there, and then they'll tell you the correct number later. If you guess high, they'll lower it down to the correct number. If you guess low, they give you the lower number, and you can never recoup that new construction, and the cost of that is passed on the to the rest of your taxpayers. So, you're only rewarded if you guess high. So what we are doing here is guessing the highest possible number we can without jumping through a
009whole bunch of other hearings and special work, right? And we used to try to guess the most accurate number, but that's a lot of work on the staff to do something that eventually the county is going to do for us anyway. So Jere's giving you a reasonable number here. It's under 5% and then later on we'll find out what the real number is and then we'll come back and tell you, oh the real number is X. So, uh, it's kind of silly that it it's done this way in Illinois, but, uh, you're approving kind of the maximum possible number that isn't realistic that we would ever, uh, actually capture that in a levy. So, there's the not so formal way. >> That that's standard practice across Illinois. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Some will balloon levy
010as high as 10% just to be sure that they don't and they'll go through the public hearings and everything else just to make sure that they don't make a mistake in the wrong direction. We believe 4.8 is a reasonable number. >> Any other questions? All right. Uh I'm going to invite Ryan up for the review of annual surveys. Ryan, would you like to run the clicker? Hi everybody. Hello. >> Um, so, uh, at this point I'm just going to go over what the surveys have been, changes that we've made based on those surveys, and then ask for feedback on anything that you would particularly like to see um, in our spring survey. Uh Ryan, since I think you have not presented to the new board yet, why don't you introduce yourself and explain what you
011about that? >> Hi everybody. Uh my name is Ryan Dhy. I'm the director of student experiences. Uh this is my I'm I guess sixth year in the district. Um I was API at North uh before moving to the district office. Um yeah, family lives in town. Uh okay. Uh so uh first survey was um October of 2022. It was our first uh couple weeks in the new schedule. It was almost entirely schedulebased. A lot of the questions were around um students used of access resource. We did um ask quite a few questions of the students about the new spaces because construction also was fairly recently finished. Um and then we also talked about the impact and sort of the structure. You can see um as you'll see the graphics um the the even the way
012uh I kind of laid out the screens um changes throughout the year but this is the first year that we did it and we kind of broke out uh every level of student um also where the staff fell where the families fell. Um and so you can see the purple is the ninth grade. Uh the north families are north students, per uh blue is south students. The multicolored are the families. Um and then um staff is there. We did make quite a few changes in access after that first semester. That second semester um was really the survey that we made quite a few changes from. Um, interestingly enough, as I was trying to choose the slides, um, the first time we started to see phones and attendance as an issue was March of 2023. Um,
013and you can see that I actually even had a graphic that was highlighted in yellow. Um, and it was about um, using their phones too much instead of asking for help. Um, and then also about kids missing a block day. So, that ended up being a high one. Um we did have quite a few um people fill out the survey at the end of that first year. It was a drop in students, but it was almost double the families um from the fall to the spring. And we did make quite a few changes uh based on that feedback since we got such um a big um feedback or a big amount of uh families that that responded. So we did shift fourth period block to the beginning of the day that year. A lot of
014that was based around C lunch. Um the the two uh student board members, they were freshman when they took this survey and if they remember C lunch, there was a lot of angst around C lunch. Um and uh we also tightened up some procedures around early dismissal. We started playing around with resource um and offering different opportunities there. Um, we expanded student choice and access. The first year we tried it out. I believe we called it student autonomy um back then. Um, and that sort of led uh people to think of it as like free reign, go over you want. So, we changed it um um to student choice. And um I would love if more students chose every week, but that's okay. We're getting there. Um we also uh there was a lot of
015talk amongst students about how long the videos were. So there were lessons where there was 15 or 20 minute long videos um and the kids and the staff they're like you got to keep it to 5 minutes or less like we can't do it. >> Um South started senior versus staff competitions through Jill Erzig. Um that's been picked up by Morgan Bianke um at North and so that's been exciting to see. Um I believe that started last year. Um we also started increasing student leaders and access. uh that was something that the students were asking for. Um and of course, you know, comfort dogs, the ASVAB, all of those kinds of things that we add in resource. Um plus there was more opportunity for u meetings with the principles based on those surveys. So um
016I believe a a staff committee was created with both principles um and then also with students. The third survey, we didn't do the fall, we just made it an annual one. And um we continued to ask about the schedule. Um and then this is the one where really uh phones and attendance came out as something really um that became quite a problem. and also the way we were um kind of looking to determine what is a high priority and what is a low priority. This helped us kind of set our priorities for the year. That ended up um creating committees that came out of it. I don't know if you remember that presentation. I believe it was two hours. Um and um following that I was asked to um keep them shorter. So I'm I'm
017almost finished. Uh so uh we did um after that longer presentation, we decided that um maybe the people that were leading those priorities should do shorter um presentations throughout the year rather than waiting for one near the end of the year. Also um it was broken into either buildings with district admin. Um this is also where uh the course team collaboration came in. That was with uh me um Hank and Gina. And that was when we were doing um I think uh four times a year we did uh an early release um in order to increase staff collaboration there. Um and also there was uh a lot of grading committees going on both at North and at South as we were looking into discipline and absences at both schools as well. So survey four um
018this one we shifted to board goals and how are we meeting board goals and uh from this we asked that final question if there was one recommendation that you could make to improve the school environment for staff students and families what would it be? Um, and this is really where accountability, attendance, and phone policies all really rose to the top. Um, we broke out like the number of times uh in a free response that someone out there mentioned accountability, attendance or phones. Um, and I believe phones hit 150 and accountability 130. They were all really up kind of towards the top. Um, and so, uh, but at that point, I think it was the second semester juniors that were freshmen. Um, and so they hadn't known a schedule at that point, um, other than the
019schedule we had. So that shift to the board goals um instead of the schedule since the students had sort of cycled through our two seniors um asking them about the schedule at that point um when most of the students in the school had not experienced another one. Um in that survey we also um sort of rolled in the expectation of the activities and athletic survey which we give every other year. And so here are some shifts that were made. Um most of that focus on the cell phone policy um attendance parties um looking to increase uh intervention uh logging um and that's something that we've been trying to do through Infinite Campus um tying student choice and that intervention log. Um, we've also been doing PD in our leadership team around interpersonal communications and you'll
020hear from Kelly momentarily uh about the focus on morale with the staff. Uh, we also added girls flag football and boys bowling is coming up. Um, and so um those were those shifts and now I'm going to start preparing um for the next survey. Um, I will still be using um the consultant that we used last year. Um, if you remember last year's survey, the consultant went through, dove through all of the results and kicked back what those results were and um without changing those results. Then I dig uh dug in further into them to see if I can get a little bit more um local understanding about that. I'll be doing that process again this year. Um and so that major um kind of going through the data the first time we do with
021the consultant um and then I start asking questions as the data that I'm looking at and then I try to get uh more specific based on those first ones but um the slides that I'm given with those results I don't change. So um this year I'm sort of suggesting topics and also um requesting topics. Uh so seeing the amount of change that can happen based on a survey um what I anticipate asking about since we're focused on student accountability around tents and tardies I would ask about that and its effectiveness I do think it's important to ask the staff and families and students are there procedures incentives or innovations that families would like to see around attendance and tardies whether that's you know a a shift in a blended model or if there's like a
022PBIS um something that we want for incentives um you know we're trying something at South this year um with access um for seniors that are you know meet a certain criteria should we expand that so um asking what processes they'd like to see also about the effectiveness of the cell phone policy um and um asking again about morale and professional learning. Professional learning has been on the topic each time. Last year, while we saw progress in PPL, um the building uh level PD, we still um struggling with. So, that's going to be a topic again this year. Um and then also open-ended questions. Uh, I do tend to find that the open-ended question when you start dotting through all of the different keywords that you find, sometimes it it tells you between what is priority
023one and two. So, I'll do an open-ended question again. Um, but other than that, I am open to topics if there's something that you'd like me to dig into. I thought about Did you think about including Infinite Campus? >> Yeah. >> Um and I I mean I like the open end so maybe it comes up in that but just that was one thought I had. >> Awesome. >> Any others? If you think of any, uh, you can always, uh, I think you're supposed to email through Hank, um, and Hank will forward them on to me. Um, but, uh, if you feel like there's a topic that I haven't been asking or that something has sort of now that we've looked at attendance and cell phones, you feel like this is the next logical step to
024look at, I'm open to asking those questions. >> Well, I have a just a quick question with your PD schedule. Do you do anything with self-directed PD for the teachers? >> Yes. So, personalized professional learning um PPL that is something that the staff really loves. Okay. >> Um and so we uh >> two years ago we limited it back because of a lot of things that we were working on that really came out in the survey of what what are we doing? Um, and so we implement that back in. And so, um, that there's some weeks that are building level and then there'll be several weeks in a row that are PPL. So, they can choose their PPL. Some work with an instructional coach. Some teachers team up together to like, you know, like uh
025uh thinking classrooms or something like study here. >> Yeah. Absolutely. >> Okay. And so is that a is that like a given hour that equals a school day so that you're freeing up more time for them to have collaboration within a department. >> So it would happen during their resource periods. Yeah. So um on the days where they would typically have a lunch period on block days is their resource period that the PD time would happen there. Although, you know, I'm sure that in with especially with PPL, you can kind of flex that time that they may work with a course team on something because they're all free and then do their PPL at a different time. Um because uh since it's personalized, uh you know that not every instructional coach can meet with all
026teachers at that time. >> Okay. >> All right. As Ryan develops that survey with our outside consultant and we get get it formalized, we'll bring it back through the leadership team and ultimately share it with the board as well. >> Thank you, Ryan. >> Awesome. Thanks. >> Much shorter than two hours. >> Yes. >> All right. I'm going to turn it over to Kelly next to talk about the fall morale survey results. Uh we thought coming off of all of these changes that we should do a quick check-in with the staff as to where we are. Uh kicking off the start of the year. Uh Kelly will introduce herself to you because this is the first time she's in front of the board and uh then share the results of the survey. >> Uh good
027evening everyone. Uh my name is Kelly Zerner. I am the director of staff experiences here in district 99. Um this is my 16th year in the district and 28 years in education. Um prior to this position, it's my first year. I was over at Downer's North as an AP. And so what you just learned from Ryan, you're going to see echoed throughout the survey. So this is our morale survey and the results of which um just again just to show you um who responded to it by building 359 in total um 38% from north 57% south T993% and ASC3%. By employee group, certified staff 78%, support staff 12, CMG5, admin 3.3, and exempt 1.7. Um, at the beginning of the survey, I really wanted to start before I jumped into all of the data that
028we have been asking year after year, I just wanted a pulse of the start of the school year. So, a simple four questions. I'm going to break it down for you. Um, but you can see that overwhelmingly we have a strong opinion of agree that they feel positive about the start of the year. But I'll go through each of them. So, the first question was I feel positive about the start of the school year. And I lumped uh agree and strongly agree together. And that's 79% said they agreed with that statement or strongly agreed. The next question I asked was, I feel that my voice has been reflected in the changes this year. 57% agreed or strongly agreed with that statement. I feel connected to the district goals for this school year. 64% agreed or
029strongly agreed. And I feel a sense of collaboration and belonging with my colleagues. 77% responded with agree or strongly agree. And 32.5 was strongly. So again, great collaboration um that was expressed by our staff and then I started to go into um our work with our consultant on the six categories of morale. The highlighted one is ownership and input because that was the one that we had determined as a collective um all of us as a community that we were going to focus in on for last year. um to move that to make sure that we had the best um focus on providing autonomy and ownership of people's work and the ability to do so. Um so I'm going to focus heavily into that area but show you what the data reported and that's the
030one that is squared off in red. That was our target and you can see our scores over time. October 2023 20ou 20 2023 yes April of 2025 and then this recent score. So our focus was on ownership and input and our goal was to move it to a four or a five. Five being the highest you can say very satisfied down to one as very dissatisfied. And you can see um initially in October our goal has been met. We have moved it to four. That's significantly positive. Um and you can also see that two other sections also moved up to four and we didn't lose on what we had already had you the momentum we had already gained with that. So this is a very positive result. And our goal, of course, is going to
031be to have the same survey um administered again in the spring to see if we're meeting that and maintaining that goal. >> Kelly, what does it mean to move from a three to a four? How does that happen? Um so it's the same well a lot of things happen to move that and I think a lot of this you're going to see reflected in a couple more questions coming up >> um by what um by how our community as far as teachers our employee groups responded they kind of tell us um how it moved up you know they actually report the data >> okay >> so let me just kind of walk through specifically ownership and input because that was our target goal let me explain what we did u and how in our results
032how it moved up from the three to the four. So here's the questions that we've asked over time. I have ownership and control over my professional practice and my work environment. All right, let me give you kind of the raw data here because you can see the lines we we're making positive goal but this survey reports agree strongly agree went up 13.7% in that question. So that movement went up 13.7% that more staff and employee groups all of us feel that we have more ownership and control over our professional practice >> is strongly disagree one disagree two neutral three agree four or five. >> Absolutely. >> So then that's the average you're reporting on the prior slide. >> Um I am the prior slide. >> Yeah. when you say before across all of >> across
033all of them. So it's not just that this particular question it's going to be a combination of the ones that I'm going to show you. >> Okay. Yes. >> Okay. The next question, my opinions are heard and valued by school leaders feeds into the same ownership and input. This one went up 19.5% into agree strongly agree. So that again significant >> but it's showing it's showing improvement each time you you know you surveyed staff. So it's not just a one time increment. >> It's not a one time. Um there's a little bit of difference in this one right here. So this one is my opinions are heard and valued by district leaders. Now this is a significant change because if you notice in 2425 we actually dropped 1%. That's where you see that little mark.
034You can almost see the green like falls down just slightly and now it is up 17.9%. So we had a drop of the 2425 year by 1% but then jumps now to 17.9% into agree or strongly agree. So that's a significant change. >> School leaders versus district leaders is are we talking about the admin building versus >> correct the district office ASC versus their home school. >> Okay. >> That they would identify as their home school. >> And then I wanted free response. Um, as Ryan stated, I think these are very telling. Um, when you give just a open-ended question and let everyone express their feelings on something. Um, so the question was for strengths. What is one positive change you've noticed this year so far? Now, watch the data on this because, um, let's
035say I'm the teacher that's responding. I could have responded positively for both of those. So, I could say I really love the new cell phone policy and I also love that attendance and accountability is something that we're focusing on, but 53% of the people who responded in the survey said cell phone policy. 46% responded mentioning attendance, accountability in some way, and discipline having that focus. And then I asked for common themes. I pulled them out myself, but I didn't want to um have any bias in it. So I kept running it through various AI machines to pull it so that I could pull the data accurately and the common themes that were pulled out from all employee groups. Um they're seeing a strong administrative support. They see increased friendliness and collaboration. They feel like it's
036a more positive climate and they love the a strong focus on one major initiative like having that one strategic goal that we all own. Then I asked a growth area. What support would help you feel more successful in your role this semester? Again, this is entirely generated by their free response. And the common themes that um I pulled out as well as AI was continuing continue to listen to us. I continue to let our voice be heard. Realign workload more evenly. More collaboration time with colleagues, core teams, and departments. targeted professional development by role or department and opportunities for relationship building through social events or gatherings. So you see the kind of themes that are being voiced showed up in what Ryan was just explaining as well. So we see the trend is carrying itself
037through >> that last point opportunities for relationship building through social events or gatherings is that are you talking about staff want to have opportunities with admin? They want more opportunities together. >> Together with whom though >> them like the entire community, teachers, admin, all of them like having more social events where they have time to decompress and connect. >> Okay. Are were there ideas expressed or was that just a common theme? >> It's just a common theme. >> Okay. >> Any questions? Yeah, I have a a question about participation. >> So, our certified uh employees great 78%. Everything below that, in my opinion, is abysmal. The the support staff 12%, CMG, 5%. I mean, if you look at T99, 3%. >> That's all respond. >> Of all respondents, not 3% of T99. Okay. So, >>
038of all respondents, this is how it was made up. >> I see. So, do we have it broken down by >> By numbers as far as what percentage of CMG responded or what percentage of T99 responded? >> No, I have not done that. >> Okay. >> However, of course, we want to make sure that we have all voices heard. Yes. And I think the more that we are talking about it and the more that we're talking about what our plans are in response to all of these things, I think people will see that their voices are being reflected in the changes that have happened. And I think that's what like Ryan was showing you year after year as things came up like cell phones and attendance administration community, the board, all of us have responded
039to it. So I I project and I hope that our work shows that in the spring that number is even higher. >> Okay. >> Yeah. I would be interested in seeing what percent of Yes. >> T99 responded. Yes. >> You know, >> yeah, we want make we want to make sure that everyone's voice is heard so that we can be reflective in our decision- making as a whole. >> Great. >> Next time we could represented it as percentage of >> Great. Yeah, I will. I want to see who's responding. I was going to ask the same question and I mean this this is reflective of the size of the population right the certified staff is the largest >> and then it sort of goes down from there >> and how are how are they receiving
040this is this via email >> yes it is through a Google form >> a Google form and if I'm sure there are multiple reminders that go out like please fill this out okay >> yes is it is it something that they have because we all know time >> is always a concern with staff >> and So are are they given time in their buildings at department or during to do to sit down and do it because to me 38% from north seems really low. So are we are we truly >> 38% of the north population is 38% >> of the total from north which when you look at the north versus south population >> has more >> it's pretty close. Yeah, >> because South is a much bigger building than this. >> I think with
041like Ryan's there is set aside, you know, structural time here. The morale survey, what we did was keeping it short. Like I would have loved to ask so many more questions, you know, like really went into it deep dive, but I think just the short quick snapshot of how they're feeling was important to gather in October so that we can see if we can keep carrying it through to the spring by what we implement and how we respond to it. Um, but they have plenty of time. Like I even I said it was going to be done at a certain point in time and I just kept taking the responses whenever I could get them. >> Kept it open. >> Yeah. Yeah. At one point I thought it was 46% wanted cell phones, but it
042ended up jumping up to 56% because I just kept going through the data constantly until we were done. >> We'll reflect that data differently the next time. So you can see percentage of that body of >> we gave you kind of the what it composes of across the entire survey. We'll do it in comparison to like each of the groups. So you can see the percentage of the building >> and the percentage employee group. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> We're just looked at it through a different lens of showing you kind of what the the pot was made up of. >> I think it's very encouraging to see the uh positive improvement in morale. I know a lot of effort on all levels has gone into doing that and creating that. So, we're definitely headed
043in the right direction. >> I want to see that continue >> continue to grow, continue to make sure that everyone feels valued. >> And I'll remind the board that, you know, even the experts will will say this is very difficult work to do. We can't make anybody feel anything, right? We can only increase the the possibility of a positive feeling about work, right? So, we believe that, you know, and we've been really focused on ownership and input because that's what the staff told us to focus in on in 2023 when we started this work. If it comes back this way in the spring, we'll have to see. Does it make sense to shift like do we need to just maintain the level of ownership and input now and change our direction somewhere else or do
044we we or does the staff say no, keep keep focusing in on on that area? But it's really the the staff that's telling us where we should direct our efforts. >> Well, recognition and value would be the only one that's not achieved for it yet at at this point >> if it holds that way into the spring. >> Yeah. >> Uh I mean when Ken Cara and I came in and we after we were elected um I think a common complaint amongst the staff was that their voices were not being heard. And I think Ken and Cara and I were all very focused on trying to change that and try and direct the administrative staff to work really hard in improving the relationship between the administrative team and the staff. And I think that's what
045this that's what we're seeing here. So I think kudos to the admin administrative team and your leadership Hank. Um, but also kudos to the DGA and the relationship that's been, I think, really fostered between the administrative staff and the teachers specifically. Um, I think we had a a great bargaining uh, you know, opportunity this this past summer. How that was handled, how it was negotiated, and the positive impact it had on our our district is also reflective of those relationships. and I'm looking forward to the bargaining opportunities with our other components and support staff this summer. So, I think this is all trending in the right direction and I just want to see it keep going >> um because we can do a lot of great things when we like one of the comments was
046um I'm really happy that we're all focused on one thing, but if if we weren't getting the input from our staff, we wouldn't be hearing that because they would be saying, well, they're focused on what they want to be focused on. We're focused as a team because we've we've gone out and we've surveyed our staff and heard them and then incorporated that into our goals and that's why we're all rolling the boat in the same direction, right? And we're working together. So, I feel real real strongly that we're moving in the right direction. >> I appreciate the the positive feedback. I do want to point out though, you know, Brian just presented that since 2022, we have been seeking and using this feedback to make changes, right? But we weren't seeing recognition of that work.
047And as we said ear a couple of months ago when we presented about our work this year, I feel like all of that work was being diluted by the many problems we were trying to solve. And I think what we're seeing this year by pulling all of that effort in one direction in one focus has allowed everybody to feel the impact of those changes where before it was disparit right it was scattered as to who was feeling the impacts of the changes we were making and if you didn't feel that you felt like nothing was occurring when there was a lot like Ryan just went through a ton of work over the last several years right so I think you know we can't underestimate how important it has been to really focus in our work,
048find something that everybody could get behind and really work on it. And now we're seeing that pay out pay off in how people feel about the workplace. >> Yeah. >> And of course, I'm going to be biased because I'm a community member. my kids have graduated through uh district 99, but I being in this new role and being able to work with many different groups, not just at North, I can just tell you that the leadership and the staff, the SSA, the DGA, the CMG, they are wonderful leaders and they are really working together and our staff, I couldn't be prouder. I mean, I truly attribute that to them. >> That's great. All right. Any other questions? Thank you, Kelly. Thank you for sharing good news. >> Thank you. >> Very good news. >> Thank
049you. >> All right, turn it over to Gina. School report card part two. >> Part two. So, last meeting I talked about the school report card in very general terms at the highest level. shared information about our summitive designation as well as the schoolhouse and what composes that summitive designation. Tonight we're going to look at some of the same areas. We'll look at some comparative data in some areas as well as some new topics. So we'll look tonight at the four-year graduation rate. We're going to focus on the four-year tonight even though we are evaluated as I shared last time on the four, five, and sixyear. We'll look at nth grade on track which is an indicator we have paid close attention to for years and oftent times is viewed as going hand inand with
050the graduation rate. We'll look at preACT and ACT data. So test data, assessment data from grades 9 through 11 from last April. We'll focus in on the class of 2026. So their ACT data from last year. Our focus this year and of course you've heard that in multiple meetings and certainly this evening is attendance or focused on improving student attendance. We'll look at our daily attendance rate as well as chronic absenteeism. And when we're looking at this and when we're looking at the school report card, it's important to remember that we're talking about last year's school report card. So we're talking about the 2425 school year. This year's data will be presented next October um >> by someone else. by someone else. >> Gia's coming back just for this just for this. >> I do
051love this. Um, nonetheless, this is a year in the mirror. So, we're talking about last year's data. So, we'll start with the four-year graduation rate. And as I said, we're focused on the four-year graduation rate. The graduation rate in general makes up 50% of our summitive designation currently. >> There will be some changes for next year. The state has has alluded to that. They're actually doing listing tours to talk about that. But this rating that we have and that we've had the rating for several years now has been for high schools about half focused on graduation rate. And in district 99, our graduation rates are very good. We focus on the four-year especially because our goal is for all students to graduate in four years. So this slide shows you a little bit about our
052graduation rate in terms of the four-year over the last few years since 2021 as well as the five-year average. Half of the rating, as I said, is based on graduation rate and half of that is based on the four-year rate. Okay, so our four-year graduation rate for last year um came in at 91.6. We look at the high school districts in DuPage County. So when we do comparative data, we look at those districts that are high school districts just like we are that are within the county. The average is right in alignment at 91.7 for last year and the state's average was at 89%. When you look at the five-year average, so if we look at those five years and we average it, uh the rate goes up a little bit more for district 99
053at 92.8. Um and then also for the high school districts actually goes down a little bit as well as for the state. So that's the focus on the four-year graduation rate. That is something that we certainly are working on as we focus on attendance. um you know looking at last year it just seems like the prior I don't know if it's just statistically significant or not but last year we had been above the DuPage County high school um graduation rates and even the state of Illinois rate went up whereas our graduation dropped a little bit. Can you can you speak or touch upon that a little bit? Every class is a different class. >> So, it's hard to say that one year, and that's why we give like the five-year average to look at. Yeah.
054Um, it's challenging to say that one year that we see patterns. There were some changes in what we could mark as graduated in state reporting that occurred within the last year and two. So, some of that can impact it. Another impact, although this would be true for the other districts and for the state is that there were changes with students who continue because they have an IEP. And so our transition students, our T99 students, that is now a separate factor. Um, so that impacts it a little bit, but I can't say that that is absolutely that's absolute causation for that. It is a different class every year, but that is definitely something we need to continue to monitor and we need to monitor that as we consider what kind of interventions we put in place
055for those students especially because some of the interventions actually positively impact our graduation rate and others may not. >> Okay. >> So those that's that's a great point and that's something we are definitely going to uh have to be looking at. >> One year is not a trend but >> sure we don't want it to be a trend. >> Yeah. So, we'll keep a close eye on >> absolutely >> this one. And I didn't put the numbers on top because I I we tried it and it was just you couldn't read them. Um but I will say the range here. So, we're looking at the high school districts in DUP page. The range for four-year graduation rate was between 87.5 and 96.4%. And you can see that uh our last year's was obviously 91, but
056you can see where we are kind of in comparison to the other high school districts uh in the area as well as the state. >> And this is the complete list. This is all the schools in Dupage. >> This is the high school district. >> High school. But this is all of DuPage. This is it. >> Yes. All the DuPage high school districts. And this is by district, not by school. >> Yep. I got that. >> So we're probably like second in DuPage County over the five years. Is that what you're saying? >> Yes. I mean, it hovers each year, we'll will creep up, another one will creep up, and it's kind of a moving >> Mhm. >> But we're definitely within the range for sure. >> Okay. >> And even if you take out
057like if you take out the lower number because sometimes I'll do that when I look at the data. I might take out the highest and the lowest and then factor in the others to see where we're at. We're we're pretty much in alignment. Ninth grade on track. Ninth grade on track we didn't we didn't talk much about last time but ninth grade on track is one of the areas that makes up our summitive designation currently for a ninth grader to be considered on track they must pass five classes they have to earn five credits not counting summer school and they cannot fail more than one semester of a core class. So they can fail one semester of a class, but they have to have earned five credits or more. Obviously, this is an area that
058we've looked at and it can go hand inand with graduation rate. Um, but we've looked at this every year. It has been a focus area for us. You'll notice, and you saw that with the graduation rate, right? You've noticed that um in 2025 we were at 95.8, which is down a little bit from the previous year. So, that's another one that we'll have to um keep track of. One of the other important things I want to point out on this slide, though, is when you look at the five-year average, you'll notice that 2021 the numbers being down at all three and that does impact the average. Um, we have peaked some years and obviously a couple of years ago in 2024 for example, we were over 96% as we were the couple of previous years.
059This slide is really just to kind of show you those high school districts and where we compare. You can see we're right in there. Some years we might be second, some years we might be third. We're we're kind of hovering uh with several of our local districts. The range for 2025 looking just at 2025 was um 86.1 to 98.1%. So that is the range from the lowest to the highest for 2025 and we were at uh 95.8. Going to shift now to talking about test scores. You may recall that last year we shifted previous years we went from the SAT suite remember PSAT89 PSAT 10 and SAT last year we shifted to the ACT suite so it's preACT9AT secure 9 preACT secure for 10th graders and then the ACT for 11th grade students and so
060we are not going to look necessarily at longitudinal data for a couple of reasons. One, we have two different suites of assessments, right? We have the shift from the SAT to the ACT. Secondly, we have, and I did mention this very briefly last time, we have what occurred in Illinois specifically, which is right sizing the benchmarks. So, our benchmarks were for the most part the highest in the country. the benchmarks that our students had to meet in order to be considered proficient. Now they've changed the language to be proficient or not proficient were substantially higher than the other states. And so there was a whole process the state went through for months to rightsize those. And so that will also impact these numbers. So we're not going to look longitudinally. When you think about the
061benchmarking or the change in the benchmarks, what they looked at was what a student needs to be successful. This is ELA, so we'll use composition, freshman comp, for example, in college. What students need to be able to get a C or better, right? What type of score correlates on, for example, an ACT, if we're talking about juniors, to getting a C or better? and they landed at what is about a 63 to 67% on the three meaning ELA, math, and science. This specifically is ELA, but as we think of the benchmarking, that's the other reason we're not looking comparative across the years. Okay, so this slide just shows the three different grades, grade nine, grade 10, grade 11, just one year um preacct or ACT data. Um, and it's different. What students need to score
062to be proficient is different for each one of those tests. So for ninth graders in ELA, they have to earn a 14. For 10th graders, it's 15. And for 11th graders, it's 18. So where it says for grade 11, 72.8%, that means that 72.8% 8% of district 99 students who took the ACT because I'm looking specifically at grade 11 now the all student group scored an 18 or higher. So that's how this slide what this slide is showing >> and that's only the test that was given on that state approved day >> only the state approved test and it's and that's for all three grade levels and when you look at the comparative data of the DWP page county high school districts it's the same test right it's not it's for them too it's the
063state assessment we always look at the state assessment there may be students who may take the ACT on a Saturday we call it national test date that date is not included in here. So we may have students who have higher scores. This is included on the state assessment only. >> Okay? >> Because that is a state requirement, right? Higher state requirement take. >> All students are taking it. It is a requirement for all three grades. However, it is only a graduation requirement for grade 11. >> Got it. >> But it is a required test for all. >> Again, this is just one year. It's all three grade levels. It is specific to ELA. Remember, the benchmarking at each grade level is a little bit different. Um, but to give you an example, so at grade
064nine, the percent proficient, the higher the score, the better because what we're talking about is the percent of students who are proficient ranged between 46.1 and 85.7 for our high school districts. And we came in at 77.9. Just to give you an example of of where we rank. And you can see this. What this shows you is obviously each one of those levels. Our scores for the all students at a specific grade level were second highest in the county of the DUP page high school districts. Now we're going to shift to math. Same idea, one test, one year, right? Ninth, 10th, and 11th grader. The score that students need to get to be considered proficient is different, right? So in math for a nth grader is 17, for a 10th grader is 18. And for
065an 11th grader is 19. Remember it's out of 36. If you're talking about the ACT, it's out of 36 I should say. And you can see the number of students, the percent of students that were proficient at each grade level. So 66.1% of our juniors were considered proficient compared to 49.5% of the juniors for the county and 39% for the state of Illinois. This similar to the ELA slide that I showed you before shows the three tests again. percent of students proficient. You can kind of see the range, although I think the range is interesting. So, if last time I talked about grade nine, I'll talk about grade 10 just to be fair. Grade 10, the range of proficient of the DUP page high school districts was between 25.9% and 70.2%. And we came in
066at 50.6%. You can see obviously one thing I like about this chart, it kind of does show you how we were second in in each of those as well for math. Science is a huge shift. And science is a huge shift for a couple of reasons. Prior to last year, there was a separate assessment for science, the Illinois science assessment. And for the most part over the years, while we did get proficient or not proficient numbers, for the most part, it looked more at participation in the test. In other words, the percentage of students who took the test. Okay? You're expected to have at least 95% of students take these assess all these assessments. But that was true of the ISA, Illinois science assessment as well. So, it's different now because for high school, the
067ACT has a science section and students get a science score and that now meets the science test. There's no more Illinois science assessment. So, it's a little bit different this year because of that and that's the reason why I'm only showing one year because it's ACT and it's just one year of data. Um, the scores are different to be proficient again just like it was for the other two. for science at ninth grade it's 14 it's 16th at 10th grade and then it jumps to 19 for grade 11. So looking at this it tells you what percent of our students at each grade level are considered proficient compared to the high school districts compared to the state. This again depicts it in just a slightly different way, showing you each of the high school districts,
068showing you uh where we land in comparison. Um I'll go to 11th grade this time. I don't know why I feel the need to be fair at each grade level, but I will be. So, we'll focus on 11th grade. The range was 38.6 to 73.7. Um and we were at 71.4. That's for grade 11 only. Illinois, by the way, for that grade level was at 48.2 and the high school district's average is 55.7. So again, you can see we're seconded science as well. >> So given the new data, has the peer group shuffled dramatically over the last year? Like were these the same schools that >> There have been some changes, but it's difficult to say because of the different tests. >> Okay. Um I would say in two three years we'll have some data
069that will really tell us that. I think with also with right sizing the benchmarks, the benchmarks made Illinois students appear as they were not doing well when in fact they were. We had the highest standards and so I think it's going to take a few years of data to really say for sure but there are definitely some similarities for sure in terms of >> but everyone was being held to that same high standard. Right. So, okay. >> Absolutely. >> These the just the shape of those just to kind of get to the heart of your question, I'd say the shapes and trends that you're seeing here are pretty similar to what we've seen historically. >> Yeah. >> I mean, I I can tell you which schools we run neck andneck with, which schools have beat
070us out in most years. >> Okay. >> But it'll be interesting to see overtime with the new assessment. And for many of us, it's not a new assessment. I mean back 10 years ago we were doing ACT. So um so we're kind of back to to that. The nice thing is though this is one day of testing and it covers all three required areas through the ESSA plan. So I wanted to mention just a little bit about grade 11 um because that is the area that we tend to focus the most on. Um, this slide is just a real quick depiction of where are all students landed in all three of those areas for grade 11, where the state of Illinois landed in terms of the average score, and what the benchmark is. And you
071can see we clearly were above uh the benchmark in each of those areas. And then this kind of just shows you the other high school districts, uh, where our scores are and where their scores were for each again of those areas. We're just looking at grade 11 and ELA, math, and science. And then just kind of giving you a sense of average scores. Remember, out of uh the ACT, we're just looking at grade 11 here. um out of 36 what are the average scores? Um and you can see here in each area it's basically this slide but just showing you in a different way visually so you can see the data in slightly different way. All right. So moving from test scores daily attendance rates. Uh this year we're looking at daily attendance rates. Typically
072we just look at um chronic absenteeism but we're very focused on attendance and so we are focusing on all areas of the report card with attendance. You can see our daily attendance rate is very good. That's the percentage of students on average that are present in school on a given day throughout the year. Um you can see that our rates are very similar to last year. Technically we did go down 0.1 but that's still very comparable. um you know, very similar with the high school districts as well as the state average. This chart just kind of shows you compared since I compared the other ones. I decided to leave this one in, but you can see we're all within pretty much the same range. There may be an outlier one year here or there, but
073for the most part, we're all falling uh within a similar range with the high school districts and the average Chronic absenteeism we've have focused on for years and this is a huge focus this year for us. As you well know chronic absenteeism for a student to be considered chronically absent they have to have missed 10% or more of the school year excused or unexcused a combination thereof. So even excused absences, college visits, a child being sick, doctor's appointments, those kinds of things still factor in. And it doesn't mean a full day. It can be parts of a day, right? So it's it's a cumulative amount. It kind of adds up and that's what chronic absenteeism that is defined by federal law. We are required Illinois is required to report chronic absenteeism. And the definition is
074not a local definition. It's not even an Illinois definition. It's a federal definition. So, this has been an area of focus for us. As you can see, we did peak uh in 2023. Um we were able to bring it down a little bit uh well substantially, I should say, last year, but then it rose a little bit for last year. Um if you look at the average over the five years, you'll note that it is fairly close to where we've been the last couple of years. Very important to point out, however, 2021, remember that was the year we were still in the pandemic. Those were alternate schedules and all kinds of things. Um, I left it up there because we always look at the five-year and I didn't want anyone to wonder why isn't it
075there? But I'm not sure that that data really depicts an accurate rating. Um so looking at the last couple of years we've been hover hovering between 23 last couple years 23 and almost 24%. >> Our last numbers pre- pandemic were around 19 to 20% somewhere in that range right closer. >> So I mean that's what we're trying to get ourselves at least back to prepandemic expectations. And then just in the spirit of kind of showing where the other districts are at in terms of some of the same and and remember this is a number. You want a lower number in this one, right? >> I should have said that in the beginning. I apologize. You very much want a lower number here. Uh the range for 2025 uh was between 18.8% and 44.5. So when
076you look at the high school districts, that's the range that's depicted there in that visual. We were at 23.7, the average of the high school districts 27.9 state 25.9. So that kind of gives you a sense of how we're tracking in comparison to colleagues and I know that was a lot of data. Any any questions? I know I mentioned this, but the so things like the mental health days and the categorization that has nothing to do with absenteeism because that's just you're out, right? That's more attendance. Where do when do we talk about that when we're talking about attendance? >> Yes, it does factor into chronic absenteeism, though. >> The mental health days were get were granted by Illinois. >> Chronic absenteeism is a federal definition. >> Okay. >> So, those factor in the state
077has changed it the last couple of years. So, I'll be interested. Well, >> it will be interesting to see where it goes with that because >> when they first enacted the mental health days, we just reported them as excused absences. All schools did. That's how we were meant to report them. Now, there's actual codes. So, the state is actually gathering data to see how many students are taking. Well, first, how many students are taking, how many on average are they taking um in the data. That doesn't impact though our chronic absenteeism, but it could impact our daily attendance rate. Remember I showed you where we were in the 90% area there. It it obviously can impact that. >> Is that something? Did other states do that? The mental health day? >> There are some other
078states that do, but I >> like a handful or was it a common? >> I'm not sure how many >> but I do know that there are other states that do. I'm not sure they give as many days, however. >> Okay. >> And some may not record it the same way. >> Okay. Because like I said, we just recently started reporting them as mental health days. >> I mean, it is considered excused, but again, the excused absences factor into the chronic cases. >> We're one of 12 states, by the way. >> Google tells me. >> Thank you. >> It must be right. You saw it. >> Must be right. Saw it on saw it on the internet. >> Thanks, Travis. >> Any other questions? All right. If there's uh this will be the this we
079just do the part one and part two. We'll go back to reporting out, you know, our general updates throughout the year. If there's anything that board members would like more information on, Gina is happy to come back and present on it. She's here anyway. Um but if there's a a topic of interest, please let me know and we can uh dig a little deeper in a topic if if you're interested in it. But otherwise, uh, this is kind of the big overview across these two meetings. >> Okay, >> thank you. Next one is Gina's as well. >> Next one is M. >> So, as you already know, we offer dual credit courses in district 99. It has been a board goal for many years to increase the number of dual credit courses and we have
080over the years increased the number of dual credit courses. Some of our dual credit courses award what we would call a weighted grade. We would call those weighted courses, right? Where students, for example, get a onepoint bump if they get an A, basically an A through a D grade, right? So, kind of like a C counts like a B or a B counts like an A, for example. Some of them do not. Some award what we might call regular credit or standard credit, standard grade. It's been kind of happen stance for some of the courses we've talked some of the courses that award regular credit we've talked over the years about should they what does what would we require and yet I say that and every AP class every AP course without discussion at least
081that I'm aware of in the last 21 years I've been in the district whether or not it should award a weighted grade or weighted credit and the The reasoning with AP is well it's college level curriculum. It's college level rigor but dual credit is also college level curriculum. College level rigor. Our honors classes. So English one honors for example English two honors awards weighted credit. So all of our APs award credit and our honors classes do. But with dual credit it's a mixed bag. Some do, some do not. We believe the dual credit courses and are recommending that the board vote to have all of our dual credit courses, the existing courses as well as any future ones that move towards dual credit to receive weighted grades because it is a college course. Students are
082getting college credit. The college rigor is there. In some cases, and this is true of a couple that we've just recently gone through major audits on our own and have been a awarded dual credit recently, our curriculum actually goes far beyond the college credit or the college curriculum, I should say. Our dual credit teachers, by the way, are observed every other year. They have an observation. They come in the the professors come in. They work with our teachers to ensure that the rigor is there. So since dual credit courses, our college level courses, even though they're taught by our teachers, who by the way have to meet the highest standards, the same standards at the community college, they are considered adjunct professors for the community college. So they could teach classes at COOD just like
083they can teach them here. And by the way, for AP is not the same standard. You do not need to have a master's in the content area to teach AP. You do have to teach the curriculum, absolutely. You have to teach the rigor. Absolutely. But the teacher does not have to meet the same bar of assumed. So for that reason, in terms of the college credit, the rigor of the course, the requirements of the instructor, we're recommending that existing and future district 99 dual credit courses award weighted grades. >> That's an action item this evening. Any questions? >> How was it uh decided previously? Was it decided by department? you know, >> depends on the course. >> It depends on the course. It does. Uh, for example, >> we have architecture one, it's dual credit.
084We have architecture one honors. It's an honors course. So, it's grade weighted. We have both are dual credit. We have architecture 2. Architecture two honors. So, the grade waiting went with the honors. But the curriculum, by the way, going back to algebra 1 and algebra 1 honors is the same curriculum. meeting the same standards, the same college curriculum, the same rigor. Some of it was decided because some of our AP courses are also dual credit. So AP computer science, well AP's already weighted, so we don't do double waiting. So obviously that's how it was determined. some courses there was fear on on as we discussed should it be weighted should it not be weighted does how does it factor in and compared to AP or honest courses there was some fear that students might actually
085shy away from it but that has not proven to be the case and so it was just peace meal and because we've added peace meal different courses it hasn't been an overall discussion until recently and we have been discussing this for the last couple of years it's come up numerous nous times. Um, and we started looking at what other schools do. We started looking at recommendations by, you know, higher ed and then decided to move in this direction. And we do have dual credit in more areas now than we've had. So, we have dual credit in CTE. We have uh dual credit in English with our speech course. We have P dual credit. We have social studies dual credit. We now at South have science dual credit. So, we have expanded dual credit, which is
086why this has become more of an issue in recent years. >> And it's totally the district's discretion if we do it or not. And >> yes, >> and we you've evaluated whether colleges would interpret that one way or the other. And so, like >> the way colleges interpret trans transcripts can vary widely by the school, by by the major. Um, some universities will recalculate a GPA and take out all grade. Just so you know, there are some schools that do that. >> Okay? Others do not. They just accept it as face value. It is difficult to say what every school is going to factor in. Got it. >> But if we decide as a district, if the board decides, I should say as a district that a course deserves a weighted grade, we can do
087that. That's not >> Do you anticipate more students taking dual credit courses if they're consistently weighted? >> Would that be >> I think it's possible >> factor in for a student's decision to take the course. I think it's possible. I think again that's something we'll have to look at uh and and look at the data. I I'm not necessarily I would not be disappointed for the most part if that was to happen because that means students are leaving with more college credit. >> Does that mean that that >> they might not take a different course? >> That's possible as well. >> Or that they may take an additional course. That's possible as well. And since the curriculum is not changing, just the added point value, what about those students that are still in our district
088who have taken the class and that curriculum hadn't changed? Will they be awarded that? >> We don't go retroactive. We've always gone ahead. So, this would not go into effect until next year. Okay. >> The reason that I asked Dr. to bring it to the board tonight rather than wait till December or even later >> is because students are registering for classes now. And I really and we have what's called an academic planning guide. You've probably seen it. It is online. It says all over it about this topic pending board approval because only the board can decide this. But once the board makes a decision on this, just like in December on the new courses, we remove that. I would like students to have as much information as they can to make an educated families
089really to make an educated decision as soon as they can. So I asked to bring it to the board tonight. I think my concern lies with grade inflation and how I want I would like to know how many students enrol are enrolled in in dual credit courses because if we're giving across the board every student an additional point every semester it's yeah it wouldn't be every not every student take dual takes dual credit courses. >> Okay. And about roughly 40% of our dual credit courses are already weighted. >> What percent did you say? >> About roughly 40%, we have 17 um we have 17 and we have 10 or 11 that are not weighted. Um some of those that are weighted again are because they're AP courses. So it didn't impact that was those were
090easy decisions. We didn't make a decision about whether or not that should be awarded a way to grade because all AP courses are. >> Sure. >> Um we have increased the number of students in dual credit, but clearly not every student takes a dual credit course. >> Okay. >> I I would say uh not every student takes a dual credit or even every student takes an AP course, but we do have many students that will take one or the other. In some cases, they're both. All right. Any other questions? >> All right. This will come back under action requests. Uh we receive them, we fill them, we post them on the website. You can find them there. Item seven, seven, the consent agenda. Before the board votes on the consent agenda, is there any agenda
091item 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 A personnel report classified, B personnel report retirement certified retirement classified resignation classified, C personnel report non-renewal classified, D October treasurer's report and financial pages. E student trips, F acceptance of donation district 99 education foundation. and G acceptance of donation from Tri City Foods. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Cara moves 10 seconds. Yes. >> Yes, we are. >> Thank you. Cara Castton >> I. >> Ken Doss. >> Izza. >> I. >> April Fan. >> I. >> Michael Riskey. >> I. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> I. >> And Don Rener. >> I. Motion carries. Moving on to item eight. Recommendations.
092Thank you to Tri City for their donation and to the education foundation. >> Uh moving on to item eight, uh recommendations for action. Um item A, can I get a motion from the board of education to approve the submission of the fiscal year 26 school maintenance project grant application to ISBE? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Chris moves. Katie seconds. >> Chris Espinosa. I >> Katie Courtourtney >> I >> Ken Dawson >> I >> April Fein >> I >> Michael Riskey >> I >> Cara Casten >> I >> and Don Rener >> I motion carries item B. Um, the next item for consideration is the issuance of not to exceed $4,573,336 general obligation bonds to be issued by the district pursuant to section 17-2.11 of the school code for the purpose of altering and reconstructing
093school buildings and purchasing and installing equipment therein for fire prevention and safety, energy conservation, and school security purposes. The board of education will consider the adoption of a resolution providing for the issue of said bonds and the levy of a direct annual tax sufficient to pay the principle and interest thereon. The resolution sets forth the parameters for the issuance of said bonds and sale thereof by designated officials of the district. These bonds will have a final maturity date of December 15, 2027, which provides for a 2-year repayment schedule. The resolution sets a maximum interest rate of 5% and it provides for the levy of taxes necessary to repay the bonds in tax levy years 2025 and 2026. Adoption of this parameters resolution allows the district to move forward with issuing the bonds within these stated
094limits, ensuring it can secure funding needed for the identified projects in a timely and financially responsible manner. I need a motion from the board of education to adopt the resolution providing for the issue of not to exceed 4,573,336 of general obligation school bonds series 2025 of community high school district number 99 DuPage County, Illinois for the purpose of altering and reconstructing school buildings and purchasing and installing equipment therein for fire prevention and safety, energy conservation and school security purposes. providing for the levy of a direct annual tax sufficient to pay the principal and interest on said bonds and authorizing the sale of said bonds for the purchase or to the purchaser thereof. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Ken moves Mike's second. >> Thank you. >> Uh is there any discussion hearing? None. Julie, can
095you please take the role for a vote upon the motion to adopt said resolution? >> Certainly. Ken Dawson. >> Hi, >> Michael Riskey. >> I >> Cara Castton, >> I >> Katie Courtney, >> I >> Chris Responosa, >> I >> April Fein, >> I >> and Don Rener, >> I. The motions carried and said resolution is adopted. Julie, please record the vote in the records of the board of education of community high school district number 99, DW Page County, Illinois. And off the record, thanks thank our attorneys for the lengthy motion. >> Okay, we won't put it in the record. No, that that will not go in the record. >> Okay. Item C. Um, can I get a motion for the board of education to approve the tentative 2025 tax levy in the amount of
096$1119,2,971 as presented? >> Some moved. >> Second. >> Ken moves. Mike seconds. >> Thank you. Ken Dawson. >> I. >> Michael Risky. >> Hi. >> Cara Castton. >> Hi. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> Hi, >> Christopher Espinosa. >> Hi. >> April Fein. >> Hi. >> And Don Rener. I. Motion carries. Item D. Can I get a motion from the board of education to approve awarding weighted grades in all existing and future district 99 dual credit courses beginning with the 2026 2027 school year. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Chris moves. Katie seconds. >> Thank you. >> Chris Espinosa. >> I. >> Katie Courtourtney. >> I. >> Ken Dawson. >> Hi. >> April Fein. >> Hi. >> Michael Riskey. >> Hi. >> Eric Casten. >> Hi. and Don Runner. >> I motion carries. >> Item nine, Hank,
097any old business? >> Nope. >> Any new business? And item number 10. Julie, our second reception of visitors. Do we have any slips? >> No, sir. >> Okay. Item 12. Can I get a report from Lend Cara? >> So, we haven't had any meetings recently. The update is we'll all hopefully be at the breakfast on Saturday during the IASB conference at 7:30 a.m. So, >> well, see you then. >> Here, we'll see you then. >> Okay. >> Um, can I get a report from Chris on Sasset? >> Uh, we have not had any meetings since I think August, but we've got another one in January, I think. >> Okay. I have a meeting this week and the continued focus is really around uh the challenges of staffing in the special education area and uh facilities
098lost. >> Okay. Uh Katie and April, any report from the foundation? >> No meeting since we last spoke. >> Okay. Ken, I know we've got the uh triple eye conference this weekend, but do you have anything to report outside of that? >> Nope. That is it. >> Okay. >> Looking forward to it. It should be a fantastic networking opportunity. >> Yep. >> So positive, Ken. >> Always. >> And then, uh, Hank, you've got a special report. >> Yeah, a special update. Uh, I've been updating the board on the Woodridge 75th Street Corridor TIFF district, the tax increment financing proposal. Uh, we learned about this earlier this calendar year and have been working closely with the village of Woodridge. It appears as though this is moving forward. Um we've been told from the administrative team to
099expect that uh accommodations will be made for uh the school districts. Um we are reaching out with some potential solutions to our concerns in the coming week. Uh and we'll also be um hiring an independent company to just evaluate the feasibility of the tiff uh and the recommendations related to it. This is something that we're uh very closely watching, especially because there's two golf courses in there that currently have no residential uh homes in them that could potentially have a lot. Uh which if there was no funding coming our direction because tax increment financing takes all of the increased uh evaluation and directs it to the tiff rather back then back to the taxing bodies. uh could put us at a a huge challenge moving forward as well as some of our partner elementary schools.
100So um we have requested that um at the first joint uh review board meeting which I believe is scheduled to occur on December 3rd that no request for action be taken at that meeting. that they present us the proposal and all of the information as it is finalized to give all of the districts the opportunity to come back to their boards to get direction from their boards as to uh what our recommendation should be. That being said, um our recommendation has no binding action so far as the TIFF goes. It's more of a formal are we on board for this or not. the village has full authority to do whatever they would like to regardless of of the action that we take. So, um I've been, you know, updating the board a little bit. Just
101wanted to put it out there kind of on the public record that we're having these conversations and to formally tell the board that I've made the request that I get the opportunity to talk to you in public session, you know, and us to have a formal you to give me a formal direction before I'm asked to go in and cast a vote on this. >> Have we heard anything about um the number of proposed uh residences or how many new people could be moved? Okay. That's part of our concern. So, we're hoping to get some of that information in advance of that December 3rd meeting. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions on that one? >> I will do my best to keep you informed. If you have questions as things come along, feel free
102to reach out. All of their meetings are streamed online and you can tune in or you can go attend them if you'd like to as well. >> Okay. Item 13, upcoming board meetings. Our next board meeting will be a December 1st, 2025 workshop meeting here at the ASC at 6. >> Actually does not cancel that meeting. >> That's correct. >> So, you get to announce we've decided to cancel. >> Yes, that will be cancelled. I apologize. Um, so our next meeting will be December 15, 2025 for a monthly business meeting at 6:30 p.m. here at the ASC. Okay. Item four 14. Um, can I get a motion from the board of education to go into close session for a litigation when an action against, affecting or on behalf of the particular public body has been
103filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal or when the public body body finds that an action is probable or imminent, in which case the basis for the findings shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting and B for collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Ken moves and Katie seconds. >> Thank you. >> Ken Dawson. >> I >> Katie Courtney >> I. >> Chris Espressonza. >> Hi. >> April Fein. >> Hi. >> Michael Riskey. >> Hi. >> Cara Casten. >> Hi. >> And Don Rener. >> I. Motion carries for the members of the public. The board will be taking action on the item noted
104in the agenda when it comes out of close session. Um, let's take a brief break and then we'll uh reconvene for close session.