001I hereby call to order this regular meeting of the board of education of the Wilmet Public Schools District 39 for Monday, April 28th, 2025. Will the clerk please call the role? Aaron Stone here. John Cesaretti here. Annne Hart here. Bonnie Kim here. Allison Pilis here. Amy Peing. Lisa Schneider's fab. Sorry. here. We are all very excited that Principal Jackie Brennan has some Harper Dolphins with her to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Good evening. I'm Jackie Brennan and I am honored to be here tonight with some third and fourth grade Harper students. These students are here tonight because they are members of both our chorus as well as our student council committee. They are going to share a little bit about their favorite part of one of those. I'm also joined by Mrs. Kate
002Lamrose who is in her 37th year at Harp. 27th 27th. My goodness. Both are remarkable. Remarkable nonetheless. 27th year at Harper. U so I'm going to turn the mic over. Hi, I'm Sebastian. I'm in third grade. My favorite part about being in student council is making posters for the school. Hi, my name is Emmy and I'm in third grade. My favorite part of being in student council is doing lots of projects. Hi, my name is Morgan Bower. I'm a third grader. My favorite part about being on student council is being a leader and helping out around the school. Go Dolphins. Hi, my name is Priya and I'm in fourth grade. My favorite part about being in student council is that we get to do a lot of art projects. I love art. Some of examples
003of the things we do is we get to cut out snowflakes in the winter and we get to make posters and hang them up around the school. Hi, my name is Kate and I am a fourth grader and I my favorite part about being in chorus is making fun memories and friends and being able to perform for a school. Hi, my name is Julian Carus and my favorite part of being in student council is helping around and being a part of the community and making it a better school. Hi, my name is Parker Ma. I'm in fourth grade. My favorite part about being in course is when we get to do so many performances and sing a bunch of songs in front of the school. Hi, my name is Mabel O'Donnell. I'm in fourth grade.
004My favorite part of being in chorus is singing with all my friends and singing in front of the in front of the school. Go Dolphins. Hi, my name is Claire Weber. I'm in fourth grade. My favorite part about student council is making posters and being a leader of the school. Go Harper. Hi, my name is Connor Rogers. I'm in third grade. My favorite part of being in student council is being a leader of the school. Hi, my name is Jonah Corzinski. I'm in third grade. My favorite part about being in student council is making posters for the community service drive. Go Dolphins. Hi, my name is Liv. I'm in third grade. And my favorite part of being in student council is helping out with the school. And I'm Kate Lamros. I'm the music teacher and
005choir director at Harper School. Tonight we're going to be singing a round for you called Laughing Singing. sing children over the hill, laughing, sing. La single. Please stand for the pledge of allegiance. of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands nationy. Thank you so much for coming here to share with us what you do to make your school better and for leading us in the pledge. And I have to say I'm very impressed that you did that ac cappella with no no accompaniment. Well done. Um and I like your um school spirit. It's impressive. Yes. Yes. Okay. You're going to meet um Mr. Krauss. If you want to go out this door, he has some merchandise, little parting gifts for all of you that you can get in the hallway.
006Thank you so much for being here. You are the best part of our meeting and you should know that. Thank you again. I'm going to direct everyone's attention to the lovely artwork behind me and behind others sitting up here. Ramona artists have been hard at work this year in the art studio. The first grade artwork features projects inspired by Vincent Van Go's beloved painting, The Starry Night, and polka dot pumpkins inspired by the work of Yayoy Kusama. The second grade art includes swimming pool self-portraits created after studying the work of David Hawkchney as well as colorful collages in the style of painter Alma Thomas. The third grade art showcases mixed media still lives prompted by studying a variety of impressionist artists versions of sunflower paintings as well as abstract designs which explore the qualities of
007real and visual texture. The fourth grade art display is composed of large large-scale self-portraits which evoke line drawn portraits by Henry Matise and Pablo Picasso and radial prints based on the radial symmetry found in intricate rose windows and Islamic mosaic patterns. Nice, right? Yeah. Yes. I think someone in our audience found his earlier, so that was really exciting for us. Yes. Very cool. He's gonna come and show us. Come on, show us. Why not? [Applause] Right. You have a fan in the audience. I think it's your sister. So exciting. I seek a motion to approve the minutes of the March 17, 2025 regular and executive session meetings. I move to approve the minutes of the March 17th, 2025 regular and exe executive session meetings. I have a second. The motion has been made and seconded.
008Board members, are there any comments, errors, or omissions to the minutes? Okay. Will the clerk please call the role? Annne Hart, yes. Bonnie Kim, yes. Alison Pless, yes. Lisa Schneider Fabes, yes. John Zeretti, yes. Aaron Stone, yes. Oh, okay. Um, our next item, we're going to have an announcement from Dr. Kiscoli. Thank you. Um, for the record, that motion carried. Oh, yes. Sorry, the motion carries. Um, I am very pleased this evening to announce our candidate for the Mackenzie Elementary School uh, assistant principal position. It is my honor to introduce Claire Krelller. Claire, I see you coming up here now. I'll share a little bit about you. Um Claire Krelller is recommended this evening to join our D39 family as the next assistant principal at McKenzie. Miss Krelller emerged as a top choice from an
009outstanding pool of candidates and we are really excited to have her as part of our McKenzie leadership team. Miss Keller uh comes to District 39 after 13 years as an educator in the city of Chicago, the last two as the senior manager of teacher development with Distinctive Schools, which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting and accelerating the work of charter schools. at distinctive schools. Miss Krelller uh oversaw the implementation of the organization's coaching model across nine charter school campuses, provided strategic direction, professional development, and mentorship for educational leaders to ensure impactful instructional coaching and growth. She also partnered with campus leadership to enhance teaching practices and improve student outcomes while also working to develop and facilitate collaborative coaching structures structures. Prior to taking on that leadership position, Miss Keller spent 11 years at the
010Chicago International Charter School's Irving Park campus, the first seven years as a second and third grade teacher, where she also served as a lead from within instructional coach before transitioning into the campus's lead instructional coach role. Miss Keller made the move to administration in 2022, serving as CICS Irving Parks assistant principal before transitioning to her current role at distinctive schools. We are really pleased to have you joining our team and it is my pleasure to introduce Claire to our board and to the community as well. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you so much for the opportunity. Uh, I'm excited to to be here and looking forward to working alongside Dana and the staff and students and families at McKenzie next year. So, thank you all. [Applause] Yes, thank you. We are all very excited that you're
011joining the team and are becoming a Mackenzie cheetah. So, yes, very exciting. Okay, this is an opportunity for the public to address the board on any topic. Are there any audience members who would like to speak at this time? Seeing none, we will move on to board reports. Um, we did not have a facility development this month, so I do not get to turn it over to Mrs. Kim, which is making me a little sad, but we do have a report from Mr. Caesar Ready about school finance. Mr. Caesar Ready. Thank you, President Song. Thank you, President Stone. Um so on the 14th uh during the committee of the whole we discussed bus costs and boiler costs. So um the committee reviewed regular transportation services bid result summary. Um we conducted a bid for regular
012transportation services and received two bids. A review of the bid results and options available to the committee were presented. There was discussion about electric busing options which were determined to be cost prohibitive at this time. The district's current provider, Northshore Transit, provided the district with the best lowest responsible bid. The committee preferred option three, which provides a five-year contract with Northshore Transit with set cost increases, and this is recommended for approval later on this evening's agenda. The school finance committee then reviewed transportation fees for 25 and 26. By locking in the costs for the regular transportation program over multiple years, D39 has the opportunity to forecast what expenses and revenues might look like over time. Information was shared with the committee along with multiple fee options for the 2025 2026 school year. The committee discussed
013the different scenarios, writership, and the board subsidy options. The committee expressed preference for option one, which will also be presented later on tonight's board meeting agenda for approval. Finally, the school finance committee reviewed the emergency repair resolution, which is also recommended for approval later on this evening's agenda. Back in September 2024, the board reviewed an emergency repair to one of the boilers at Central Elementary. The total cost of the work, which was just over $83,000, exceeded the $50,000 bid threshold for capital projects. The initial work of $32,000 involved reubing a boiler and installing isolation valves for both boilers. Upon inspection of the boiler during the summertime work, it was found that one of the boilers needed a new burner installed due to damage during the previous winter. This additional required work increased the project total.
014Thus, in accordance with our procedures, the board will be asked to approve a resolution for the emergency repairs and the total cost of the project at tonight's meeting. And that's it. All right. Thank you so much. That was very thorough. Um I believe we also did not have any strategy items this month. Correct. So I do not get to turn it over to you which is also making me a little sad. Um so we're going to move on to liaison reports. Um the first is community review committee or CRC. I went to that meeting on April 8th and they are working towards nearing the end of preparing their draft for uh presentation um next month and um they were reviewing recommendations and they split into their different subgroups to work on that. And then the
015ED Foundation, I also went to that. I believe that was right after our March meeting and they were um voting on a recommended grip grant which they um decided to award to um a Wilmet Junior High Latin teacher. The goal of the project was to is to recreate the living city of Pompei at Wilmet Junior High with the eighth grade Latin classes. And so um they over the course of four weeks in May, the eighth grade Latin students are going to be assigned a structure that existed 2,000 years ago in the ancient city of Pompei. And they needed to thoroughly research that structure and bring it to life. And so they need the stuff that's going to help them make the village. So that's what got approved for the grip grant. I think there's a
016big banner out in front of Wilma Junior High, but that was um very exciting that everybody was in support of that. And then we have the insurance advisory committee. Mrs. Pathless. Thank you. Uh the annual meeting of the insurance advisory committee was held on Monday, March 10th. Um Katherine Looney of the Ala Group reviewed recent discussions from Cooperative90s Insurance Cooperative of which D39 is a member. Um it is expected that premiums will increase about 6.6% for HMO plans and between 7.12% and 15.26% 26% for PO plans. Uh the cooperative will be adding an additional HMO plan called blue advantage. Uh this is in addition to the HMO Illinois plan. Uh there were no other significant changes expected for the upcoming year. Um, our committee feedback in March helped to inform that insurance cooperative meeting uh,
017which met on April 3rd to make final decisions regarding the insurance plan adjustments for the upcoming plan year. Okay. Thank you. And then I'm turning it back over to you for the Illinois Association of School Boards. Three in a row. Um, okay. So, on Wednesday, April 16th, uh the Illinois Association of School Boards uh issued an update regarding the US Department of Education's directive to states to certify compliance with Title Six of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and uh also a recent Supreme Court case. Um, in response, the Illinois State Board of Education issued a statement and sent a letter responding to DOE's demand for certification and that stated that that it had previously provided the required certifications to the Department of Education and that it would continue to comply with title six in
018the Supreme Court cases that interpret that title. So, based on all of this and that response, local school districts are not required to do anything right now. Uh the second item under the ISB is that the ISB has launched a new online learning portal to provide members with an easy one-stop shop for online learning opportunities including online courses, upcoming webinars, and video recordings. Um these I thought would be particularly helpful to the new board members. Um they can find and complete statemandated training requirements and explore other courses. Um and that's all I had. All right. Thank you. and we're going to keep it with you for the the hattick, so to speak, here with the legislative update. All right, the legislative update. So, bills have officially switched chambers. That's the headline. Um although, uh the
019House only the House was in session last week, multiple committees met to hold subject matter hearings and discuss legislation affecting Illinois schools. Both chambers are scheduled to meet um to return to Springfield this week and more action is expected on the education related legislation and state budget negotiations. Committee action will pick up over the next couple of weeks um in an effort to meet the May 9 committee deadline for bills to pass out of the second chamber. So we'll keep following that. Okay. All right. Thank you. We are moving on to information items. Dr. Kremcoli. Hello. We have a few updates. Um, first of all, written communication. The board received written communication from Courtney Hardy regarding a student matter and from Lynn Omera regarding curriculum. And in terms of administrative announcements from myself and our
020team, uh, first of all, we enjoyed spring parent teacher conferences, although I have to admit this feels like it was a long time ago, and I'm sure it does for our our teachers and staff as well. But, um, they were a huge success, as they always are. our our teachers and our parents really um commit to making sure that that is a meaningful um point of contact and dialogue. So, we're really grateful that so many um parents came and and met um many met um online through meet the teacher with our with our teachers. Some elected to meet in person, but we really appreciate everyone continuing to build these important hometoschool partnerships. And meanwhile on our 58 campus, our teachers engaged engaged in professional development and collaboration. This was all on the day prior to
021spring break, so it kind of feels like a long time ago. Um, but we appreciate the engagement and collaboration of our teachers, our staff, and our administrators. Um, staffing for the 2025 2026 school year. Um, springtime is always an exciting time in our school district as we begin to plan and prepare for the upcoming school year. Uh, part of this work includes the hiring of new teachers, administrators, and staff for vacant positions. And this year we have seen again an outstanding amount of interest in our open positions and we're very excited about the candidates who are being considered for these positions. So this evening on the personnel agenda, we have several fantastic teachers and staff recommended for hire and we are eager to welcome these excellent candidates to our D39 family. We look forward to
022supporting them as well as those other candidates who are are currently being considered and will be recommended next month. Tenative last day of school will be June 6th. Based on a careful review of our school calendar and emergency days, we are able to establish the final day of school as Friday, June 6th, provided no additional emergency days are used between now and then. Wilmet at Junior High School will host their graduation ceremony this year at New Cheer High School on the evening of Thursday, June 5th. Keeping um in line with end of school year celebrations, we have our reflection celebration coming up on May 21st. All board members are certainly welcome to attend along with our staff to honor our district retirees and celebrate our employees who have reached career milestones within our district. This
023is always a really wonderful event and we hope that everyone will join us um in recognizing their colleagues who will be honored um including our very own Katie Lee who is retiring this year. Um in other news, intergovernmental agreements. Uh there's a proposal that is recommended to the board this evening. We reviewed it at the committee the whole meeting. Um and it is uh recommended this evening on the agenda. The new intergovernmental agreement with the village of Glen View is pres was presented and reviewed. Um it provides for improved partnership and collaboration with the Glen View Police Department. Um the IGA has two sections. The first is reciprocal reporting which allows district 39 to speak with the Glen View Police Department regarding um any student safety matters. And the second part is providing access to
024security cameras um to the Glen View Police Department um their dispatch center which now dispatches for the Wilmets the village of Wilmet. So the agreement is under the consent agenda for approval this evening and then we'll go to the Glen View Board of Trustees for consideration on May 6th. Property Tax Assessment Appeals District 39 received one PTAB in the last month. an estimate for the financial impact has been prepared for the board and should the appellets uh sorry has been prepared for the board should the appellets be successful in their appeals. And finally, uh Freedom of Information Act requests. The district has received and processed two non-commercial foyer requests this month. one from ACB for payments over $500 for fiscal years uh 1998 through 2024 and one from Michelle McGregor requesting communication regarding the hiring
025of the secretary position at Wiltshire High School. That concludes our reports. Thank you. I think I'm turning it back over to you for annual business. Certainly can. And I will introduce Dr. Kristen Swanson who will review the district's special education child count report. Yes. So each year um the state of Illinois takes has us do what's called child count and this is a a snapshot of the number of students with with special education needs are eligible for an individualized education program. The date that they have chosen is December 1st and we they they down upload whatever the data from us and then spend the next couple of months making sure that there are no errors in any any of the data. Um they look through it and and continue to pull information until February. We
026certify the results in March and this information is used for a variety of purposes by the Illinois State Board of Education. Um this year our child count indicates that we have 480 students within our that are enrolled in attending school in our district schools who have IEPs or individualized education program plans. Uh we have 18 students who have been outplaced to a therapeutic day school and we have 20 students who attend one of the private or parochial schools within our boundary. So that would be Baker, St. Francis, um St. Joseph. Uh we have a couple of others but we don't have any students attending those schools. Um just so everybody knows um Wilmet is responsible for providing services for children who have disabilities that who are enrolled in those private or prochial schools. Um the
027services are not at the same level as they would get if those children were to enroll in their home schools. But if there is a child who is eligible for services, we provide typically speech speech services for those students enrolled in the private or prochial schools. Um we also have the data broken out so you can look and see how many children we have that by disability category um by um male and female, by school. Uh our numbers are really very consistent over the past few years. Um it's we're at 15.2% of our students. Last year we were at 15.08% of our students. So it's a really consistent number. We're slightly lower than the state of Illinois as a whole. Um we will continue to monitor this. We do use this data to make sure
028that we are not looking at any over representation in special education that we are doing our due diligence as we evaluate children yearly and really look carefully at student needs through their three-year reevaluations as well. Anyone have any questions? Board members, any questions or comments? This heart that um we are slightly high. Yes. So the most common um medical condition that would fall under other health impairment is probably ADHD. Um some other we have some other thing impairments that might uh require special education supports and services but that is the most common medical condition that falls in that area. Thank you. Any other board members questions or comments? Okay, thank you. Think we're moving on to the 2026 consolidated district plan. Uh yes, in order to be compliant with the Illinois State Board of Education
029rules and regulations, we are this evening informing the board um that ISBY has consolidated all their grant information into one location. Um and I will uh introduce Katie if you want to share a few words about uh the grant application process and what is up for approval this evening. Absolutely. Thank you. This is the time of year where we um are closing out the school year, but we're also starting the planning for the next school year. And so this consolidated district plan um offers us an opportunity and by us I'm saying the business office, the department of student services and curriculum instruction to work together in developing a plan and and um sharing that we intend to apply for the title grants and idea. And so all the information is consolidated into one location and
030we are seeking approval of this district plan. It is very much aligned to our um our strategic plan. And so um what this means is once it's approved by the board, we can um submit the plan, get it approved, and then proceed in applying for the grants for the next fiscal year, which is 2026. Great. Thank you. Any questions or comments, board members? Okay, then we're moving on to the regular transportation services bid. Is that Mr. Boltire? Thank you. Yes. So, uh we we completed our uh transportation services bid back on March 19th. Uh upon opening them and evaluating the bids that were received, the recommendation to the board tonight is to approve Northshore Transit for a 5-year contract. Um, you know, Northshore has been our uh current and current provider for regular transportation services
031for over a decade. They've done um some really good work for us. Um, we're we're very pleased with the bid results and to be able to lock in um renewals at at 3% or less over each year for five years. Um, we're pleased with the outcome. So, the recommendation is for the board to approve the approve the bid to Northshore Transit later this evening. Okay, thank you board members. Any questions or comments? Yes. Yeah. So, um I think Corey, I really appreciate all the the thoughtful analysis you did on this. There was a lot. Thank you. Felt like we we beat this one up pretty good. Yeah, we we thought about it. It was good. Okay. Um we are moving on to uh transportation fees. Okay. So, two weeks ago, we we reviewed with the
032board several options um of how to adjust potentially adjust the transportation fee for next school year. Um ultimately looking at what the finances look like for the for the transportation program given that it's an optional program. Um last year's final numbers had us at 68% of co expenditures being covered by fees. This year we're we're right on track to be at 77% or a little over. Um ultimately after some some good discussion two weeks ago. Uh the recommendation is to uh increase the roundtrip and the one-way transportation fee by 7 and a half% for next year. Uh if if we can hold the number of routes and and wrership level, uh we should see some improvement again and get us to roughly 81% uh for that program in the 2526 school year. Any questions? Mrs.
033Hurt? Sure. I'll just make a comment. I just want to um just re reiterate what John said. Um it's a lot of money to ride the bus and so I really did appreciate the conversation at the committee of the whole meeting and I really appreciate all of the information that was pulled forward. I think you know we looked at historical fees, we looked at wrership trends in comparison to those fees. We looked at surrounding districts and what their fees are one way versus round trip um and looked at multiple fee options and scenarios. And I just the uh the information the way it was presented was incredibly helpful in making this decision. And again, this is coming from I still think it's very expensive even though this year we're subsidizing what almost 30% around 30%.
034Yeah, it's like 2025 maybe. Yeah. And the ne next year it'll be 20 20%. So um I just wanted to thank you is I thought it was a really good dialogue among the board and the information was incredibly helpful. Thank you. other board members. All right, then we're moving on to emergency boiler work at Central Elementary School. Okay. Um so what started out as you know a fairly typical project for us to address address one a need with uh some isolation valves that um would be really helpful to the maintenance team. Um, you know, we had planned for that to be at about 11,000 and we uh once we opened up the boilers, we knew we wanted to retube them. That was at 21. Both were within the below the $50,000 bid threshold. Um, and
035then upon, you know, further analysis and and pulling things out of that boiler, um, really what pushed it over was needing to replace that burner and that that that alone cost 49,000. Um so two things that the we're asking the board to do. One, in cases where there's an emergency uh work needed that exceeds the bid threshold, there is provisions in the in the purchasing code. Um the board just needs to approve a resolution um of the emergency expenditure. And then also we need to disclose at a at a board a regular board meeting what the final cost incurred for the project. So, the final costs for that project were $83,132. Um, and other than the outside shell, as I talked to my maintenance team, um, essentially one of the boilers is new except for
036the outside. Every like nearly all the internal stuff is now new for us. So, good outcome. Okay. Thank you board members. Any questions or comments? All right. This is another opportunity for the public to address the board on any topic. Are there any audience members who would like to speak at this time? All right, we will move on to action items. The next order of business is the consent agenda. Are there any items that the board would like pulled from the consent agenda? Okay, Mrs. Hart, please proceed with the motions. Thank you. I move to approve the personnel report dated April 28th, 2025. I move to approve to maintain as confidential the executive session minutes of March 18, 2024, April 15, 2024, April 29th, 2024, May 13, 2024, May 20th, 2024, June 3rd, 2024, June
03710th, 2024, August 12th, 2024, September 9th, 2024, September 23rd, 2024, October 28th, 2024, November 18th, 2024, December 9th, 2024, December 16th, 2024, January 13, 2025, and January 27th, 2025. I move to approve to dispose of executive session audio recordings pursuant to district policy 2 col220 for October 24th 2022 December 5th 2022 January 17th 2023 January 23rd 2023 February 27th 2023 March 14th 2023 March 20th 2023 April 1723 and April 24th, 2023. I move to approve the regular transportation services bid from Northshore Transit for option three, a 5-year contract with the 202526 school year pricing contained in exhibit B of the report. Subsequent years, price increases are listed in the bid results summary by school year. I move to approve the transportation fees for the 202526 school year as contained in exhibit A of the report.
038I move to approve the accounts payable for bills listed between March 18th, 2025 and April 28th, 2025 in the following amounts. Educational Fund $128,7985 O andM fund $42,78988 Transportation $166,6757 capital projects $117,84 a total all funds $455,34930. cents. I move to approve the manual checks issued between March 18th, 2025 and April 28th, 2025 in the following amounts. Educational fund 1,434,52412 on&m fund $214,485.32 debt services $475. Transportation $56751 for a total all funds 1,650,51.95. I move to approve the intergovernmental agreement for reciprocal reporting and law enforcement cooperation between the village of Glen View and the board of education of Wilmet Public Schools District 39. I move to approve the 2026 consolidated district plan. May I have a second? Second. The motion has been made and seconded. Will the clerk please call the role? Sorry, hang on
039a minute. Excuse me. Aaron Stone, yes. John Cesaretti, yes. Annne Hart, yes. Bonnie Kim, yes. Alison Paffis, yes. Lisa Schneider, Faves, yes. The yays have it. Motions carry. I seek a motion to approve the resolution authorizing the award of emergency boiler work at Central Elementary School. I move to approve the resolution authorizing the award of emergency boiler work at Central Elementary School. May I have a second? Second. The motion has been made and seconded. Will the clerk please call the role? Ann Hart? Yes. Bonnie Kim? Yes. Alison Pilis? Yes. Lisa Schneider Fabes? Yes. John Ces Ready? Yes. Aaron Stone? Yes. The A's have it. Motion carries. We are now at the point of the meeting where we are accepting comments by the audience if they would like to prior to our reorganization. Are there any
040comments from the audience pertaining to the reorganization of the board of education? There will be an opportunity during the reorganization meeting to talk about com uh comments about other things. Does anyone wish to speak right now about the reorganization of the board of education? Okay. Comments by board members prior to reorganization. Do fellow board members have any comments they would like to share prior to the reorganization? This is Kim. Thank you. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. I have had some reflections on district 39 that I like to share. When I joined the board four years ago, I came with the perspective of a parent knowing from my own experience that I would be representing met at a high functioning academically impressive school with great teachers and staff. Fast forward four years,
041um, which is over 60 regular meetings, numerous additional meetings and events within district 39, including, uh, teacher contract negotiations and many other meetings and functions representing the board in the Wulmack community and beyond. but specifically here in district 39, looking under the hood and with a magnifying glass, picking up, examining, and weighing every financial decision, policy decision, and community's concern. I am proud to say that I am leaving the board with an even higher regard for the work that our administrators, principles, teachers, and staff do and their dedication to helping shape our children into educated, intellectually curious, well-rounded, confident, and kind high schoolers. A truly admirable goal. Thank you to the board members I have served with. Thank you. You are an inspiration and the model for school boards. You are hardworking, thoughtful, respectful, and
042collaborative and have become great friends. To the incoming board members, congratulations and thank you for serving well. This country is moving into difficult times and the values of our community will be challenged and there will be a great need for leadership. It is an honor to be elected into a position where we make decisions for the good of our community and especially our children. I leave the board a better person for that responsibility and wish the same for you. Thank you. Thanks, Bonnie. Other board members, I I don't know if I could go after that. I knew you would do something like this. So, no, I I thank you, Bonnie. I I mean, it's amazing. I feel the same. So, um but I I had a few other I mean, maybe thank yous that I
043would like to say. Um so, I would first like to thank um Lisa to my right who talked me into running for the board eight years ago or more. Seems like more. Um and uh what a wonderful experience this has turned out to be a great honor to uh to serve the community and also to serve with a great board and to work with a management group that is a second to none. So obviously the school district is great and every but it's it is a great honor. Um, also I wanted to thank my family um, some of whom are here for their patience and um, and over me not being around for a very long time uh, for many many many hours. Um, off to uh, doing something worthy. I did also want to
044thank one more thing. Oh, my mother who might be watching um because I think I called her at some point and she said, "Well, you know, my dad was on the school board, so you should absolutely do this." So, that was one. And then my last is uh this I'm I am a partner of an accounting firm and u I my firm encouraged me to do this and my partners are completely supportive of schoolboard service and so are the people I work with. So I wanted to thank them as well because it's it's not an easy thing. But uh that's it. Thank you though. Any feeling? and and oh yeah, he's not here tonight. Yes, I'll bring up the rear in terms of out board members. I want to thank the community of Wilmet Met
045for electing me twice to represent them. wasn't um an honor I took lightly. And it's been um an interesting and great eight years and I think that I've been honored to serve with amazing fellow board members and I'm really when I look back over the eight years blown away at the transformation of the district under Dr. Premis goal is leadership that when we started it wasn't this high functioning. We didn't let data rule the day. We weren't open with our data. We didn't have a team where you walk in the room and you just feel professionalism and excellence. Um, so I leave the board after eight years proud of the work that the professional team, the teachers and administrators have done, Dr. Kremcoli, under your leadership. I've often said that um, when I think about
046my legacy on the board, it was the team that selected Dr. Kremcoli. That was our that was our gift to the district. So, um, I've often been very verbose. I tried not to do that tonight, but I I I do thank everyone for your faith in me and the opportunity to serve. Um, it was an honor. Thank you. Other board members, Mrs. Hart, I'll just um say a few things. So, um, starting with Bonnie, um, you and I spent a lot of time together when we were both running for the school board in 2021. We got to know each other well quickly. I recall those Zoom meetings and our prep calls and it was just um, really um, enjoyable and helpful to go through the process with you. Um, we also spent a lot of
047time together on WEA negotiations and I think one thing that stands out about you, um, is your dedication to our students. um you have so much to offer across so many different topics and you bring your legal expertise um to the table which has been great but your care and concern um for the happiness and success of our students is always evident and at the forefront. So, thank you. Um, Lisa, um, I used to attend the school board meetings when I was considering running for the school board and my first meeting was with Lisa as president at WJHS during COVID in the auditorium. And uh, what a night that was. And what a time to be a school board president. Unreal. Um but your preparation and your thoughtful approach and your management um during a
048very challenging situation and time period was remarkable. Um I will say that evening was just the beginning of me really honoring and respecting all that I went on to learn from you over the years. Um you are well informed. you have a very genuine point of view that you always bring to our board conversations and you've given countless hours in care to this community and we will benefit um from your impact for many many years. Thank you. And then John um also grateful for your support when I was campaigning four years ago um and I've learned a great deal from you. Um the questions that you raise in particular on financial topics have led to um many many important conversations and healthy debates over the years. And I appreciate your ability to look at topics
049from different angles and to always speak up always respectfully of your peers um when you have doubts or you feel that you need more information and it benefits all of us. you will be missed and thank you for your contributions over the eight years. And then I will say it's later on the agenda we're approving the meeting schedule for next year. And I looked at that schedule and I thought, oh my gosh, John and Lisa have been involved in 88 committee of the whole meetings and 88 regular board meetings. Um Bonnie 44 and 44. I mean, incredible commitment. Um, not to mention the long hard hours during COVID, all of the other committee meetings and board commitments. Um, this is time you could have been with your families, your your jobs, doing um anything else
050for yourselves and instead you've generously given your time and talent to District 39 and you have all made a difference. And um selfishly I will say that I'm very grateful and proud to have worked alongside you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, Mrs. Pepis. Um mine's going to be a little shorter and a little sweeter, but um um no, Ann's yours was lovely. I I think that Lisa really summarized it well when you said professionalism and excellence. I feel like the the three of you have brought that to every meeting with candid feedback and for the for the two of you in particular just the historical viewpoint that I think has been really helpful especially to me as a newer board member and then I think to the entire board just to kind of remember
051that we probably have already talked about this six years ago and we should we should remember um what happened then and let it inform our decision now. Um, but I um echo what Ann said in that I it's really been an honor to work with you and I'm so happy that we're friends and um that I'm very grateful for your service on the board. So, thank you. Thank you. And I'll just say um I hope I can do this without getting emotional. Um I think that working and volunteering on behalf of children is the best kind of service that someone can do. And all three of you have done that with professionalism and excellence. And I I just I love our board. And um starting with Bonnie, um a lot of you probably don't know
052that Bonnie and I go back about 26 years. We both practiced law together when we lived in Evston and worked downtown. And I think about you were an advocate then for our clients and you've been an advocate for children the past four years. and I appreciate your um acute attention to detail and your willingness to um ask important questions and to seek understanding um all on the behalf of children and um I just really appreciate all the board work you've done. John, I appreciate your perspective. I appreciate your sense of humor and your willingness to also ask questions that get us um talking and thinking about the things that we need to talk and think about. and um 8 years is a long time and a lot's happened and the district has accomplished a lot
053in that time. Um, so thank you. And Lisa, you've been an outstanding board member, but if I have to think about what sticks out to me, your leadership during COVID was needed and impactful and steady and wise and strong and um I'm so grateful that you were steering the ship when that was happening. Um, so thank you all of you. Okay. We are ready for the recognition of outgoing board members. Although that's kind of what this just all sounded like, but there's going to be some artwork from some kids, which is very exciting. So, I think I'm turning this over to Dr. Crimcoolie. Yes. Um before we present the artwork, on behalf of myself and the entire district, uh to our outgoing board members, it is our honor to recognize you and to thank you
054for your unwavering commitment to serving the students, staff, families, and community of Wilmet District 39. Over the past several years, John and Lisa and Bonnie, throughout your term, you have been laser focused on excellence in education within District 39. You played a critical and important role in helping us to navigate our response to and the educational services we were able to provide during and after the COVID pandemic. You also helped to reestablish our mission, vision, and goals within our new strategic planning process. Under your leadership, we have focused on improving student achievement, especially growth and on serving the needs of all of our students. We have made tremendous strides in our professional development of staff, our curricular reviews and updates and in the climate and culture within our school buildings and throughout our community that
055focuses on strengthening a sense of belonging and inclusion for all. Your commitment to ensuring that each and every student learns and grows every day within our school communities um that are supportive and connected has served as a guidepost for our work and will continue to do so for many many years to come. John, Lisa, and Bonnie, you have provided steady and focused leadership throughout your terms. Most noteworthy for me has been your collective focus on the quality of educational services in the vision you established through our strategic plan that focuses on ensuring that a Wilmet District 39 education engages, empowers, and inspires our students to lead academically successful, socially responsible, compassionate, and purposeful lives. You have provided critical leadership during really significant times of change, growth, and reflection. You led us in academic growth, advancements
056in curriculum, substantial facility improvements, and continual financially responsible decision-making. You've always been willing to ask the tough questions and to dig deep on issues of importance to each of you. We have appreciated and benefited from your leadership and we thank you tremendously for your service. With gratitude and appreciation on behalf of myself, our administrative team, our staff, our teachers, our board of education, and our entire Wilmet community, it is our honor to present you with a beautiful piece of honorary artwork in your name. This evening, we have some amazing student artists who are here to present their artwork in honor of your service to the board of education. We're going to start with John and then we will uh recognize I think um Bonnie and then Lisa. Okay. So, um, Heather Glowaki is going to
057read for us. I think we're going to step into the middle so that the students can come out with us as well. So, first up is John. Okay. Gio Lamalfa, Grace Mclofflin, and Everett Phillips, and Lauren Rush, eighth graders from Wat Junior High, will be presenting artwork to John Caesaretti. Each piece of student artwork is a lenolium print which represents the students personal strengths. The students were invited to brainstorm ideas of the people, places, and things in their life that provide them strength, then transform those ideas into printed works on paper. Gio Grace We don't [Laughter] take a picture. [Applause] Can we see beautiful? I think you Oh, students, could you identify your piece of artwork? Do you remember? Okay. Excellent. Beautiful. I love that. Mr. Caesar Ready, on behalf of our students, our faculty
058and staff, myself and our entire community. We are very grateful for your service on the board of education. We also have a gift for you because our students artwork gets to hang here in the halls to honor you and our students contribution on behalf of you, but we wanted you to take something home with you as well. So, thank you so much for your service. Thank you. Right. A round of applause. Excellent. Thank you so much students. We'll invite up our next honore and I think our students are gonna get some parting gifts merchandise from Mr. Krauss when they you'll deliver that. That's wonderful, I think. All right. Natalie Tolski, a third grader from Ramona, will be presenting her artwork to Miss Bonnie Kim. Natalie's beautiful mixed media painting was created during a unit of
059study on winter landscapes. Students mixed tints and shades to create a night sky. They also studied the branching patterns of coniferous and deciduous trees and applied a variety of paintbrush techniques to create the silhouettes featured in this artwork. Natalie, I have to ask because of your headband. Are you a Hufflepuff? So am So So am I. Congratulations. [Applause] [Laughter] Oh. Uh, no. That too will hang in our halls forever in your honor and in recognition of our students and staff hard work. Um, but we would like to gift you something special to take home and remember your time with us. Thank you so much. A round of applause for Miss [Applause] Kim and Charlotte Hoffman, a third grader from Harper, will be presenting her artwork to Miss Lisa Schneider Faves. Charlotte created a beautiful mountain
060and ocean landscape using watercolor, Sharpies, and watercolor pencils. She showed depth in her artwork by using overlap and creating a foreground, middleground, and background. The scene features dolphins and fish, adding a lovely touch to the natural beauty of the landscape. Beautiful. And so this artwork too will hang in our halls here forever. And so you can come back even when you're you're grown and see this beautiful artwork in honor of our our board member and your hard work as well. Thank you so much for being here today. Thank you. Congratulations. [Applause] And we want to recognize you too on behalf of our teachers and staff, myself, our administrative team, and our entire community for your service to our district. Thank you so much. Please take this and remember us always. Thank you for your service.
061Hey, in as much as there is no further business to come before this board, a motion for adjournment, CADA is in order. I move that we adjourn CADA. Second. Motion has been made and seconded. All in favor, please say yay. Yay. We are adjourned. [Applause] Eight years flew by just like that. Yeah, it was so fast. And it took a long time, too. There was a lot of Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Yep. Okay. Already good. Okay. I hereby call to order the reorganizational meeting of the board of education of the Wilmet Public Schools, District 39 for Monday, April 28th, 2025. I seek a motion to appoint a president prom. I move to appoint Dr. Kremcoli as president prom to lead this portion of the reorganizational meeting. May I have a second? Second. Are there any
062objections from the board having Dr. Kremcoli serve as president prom hearing? None. Dr. Koscoli is appointed president prom by general consent. Thank you. For the record, I have officially certified the April 1st, 2025 consolidated general election as canvased by Cook County Clerk Karen Yarro's office. Judy Berlin, Kristen Diccastro, Katie Hilton, and Anne Hart as the writing candidate are the winners for district 39 board of education members. Would you please, you have already come up to recite the oath of office. I will come and stand by you as we do this. All right, you get to repeat after me. I'll try to break it up as we progress through here. I state your name. Do solemnly swear do solemnly swear that I will faithfully discharge that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of
063member of the board of education the duties of office of the Wilmet Public School District 39 in accordance with the Constitution of the United States in accordance of the Constitution of the United States. the Constitution of the State of Illinois the Constitution of the State of Illinois and the laws of the state of Illinois to the best of my ability. to the best of my ability. I further swear that I further swear that I shall respect t taxpayer interests I shall respect taxpayer interest by serving as a faithful protector by serving as a faithful protector of the school district's assets of the school district's assets I shall encourage and respect I shall encourage and respect the free expression of opinion the free expression of opinion by my fellow members of the board of education by
064my fellow members of the board of education and others who seek a hearing before the board and and others who seek a hearing before the board. While respecting the privacy of students and employees. While respecting the privacy of students and employees. I shall recognize that a board member I shall recognize that a board member has no legal authority as an individual has no legal authority as an individual and that decisions can be made and that decisions can be made only by a majority board vote only by a majority board vote at a public board meeting at a public board meeting I shall abide by majority decisions. I shall abide by majority decisions of the board of the board while retaining the right to seek changes while retaining the right to seek changes in such decisions
065through ethical and constructive channels in such decisions through ethical and constructive channels. As part of the board of education, as part of the board of education, I shall accept the responsibility I shall accept the responsibility for my role in equitable and quality education. for my role in equitable and quality education. For every student in the school district. For every student in the school district. I shall foster with the board. I shall foster with the board extensive participation of the community. Extensive participation with the community. Formulate goals. Formulate goals. Define outcomes. Define outcomes. And set the course for the Wilmet School District. 39. And set the course for the Wilmet School 39. I shall assist in establishing I shall assist in establishing a structure and an environment a structure and an environment designed to ensure all
066students designed to ensure all students have the opportunity to attain have the opportunity to attain their maximum potential their maximum potential through a sound organizational framework I shall strive I shall strive to ensure a continuous assessment to ensure a continuous assessment of student achievement and all conditions of student achievement and all conditions affecting the education of our children in compliance with state law in compliance with state law I shall serve as education's key advocate I shall serve as education's key advocate on behalf of students and our communities schools on behalf of our students and community schools to advance the vision for Wilmet Public Schools to advance the vision for Wilmet Public Schools. And and and I shall strive to work together I shall strive to work together with the superintendent to lead with the superintendent
067to lead the school district toward the school district toward fulfilling the vision the board has created fulfilling the vision the board has created. Fostering excellence for every student. Fostering excellence for every student in the areas of In the areas of academic skills, knowledge academic skills, knowledge citizenship and personal development. citizenship and personal development. That concludes the oath. Thank you very much. A round of applause for our new board members. Having sworn in the elected officials, will the clerk please call the role after they take their seats? Judy Berlin. Present. Kristen Dcastro. Annne Hart here. Katie Hilton here. Allison Papless here. Aaron Stone here. Amy Paling is absent for the record. The next item of business is the election of board officers. I seek nominations for the office of president. I nominate Anne Hart to be
068president of the board of education. Anne Hart has been nominated. Are there any others? Seeing none, Ann Hart is board president by acclamation. I seek nominations for vice president. I nominate Allison Pathless for vice president. Are there any other nominations? Seeing none, Allison Papless is vice president by acclamation. At this time, everyone can move seats. [Laughter] There will be some new seeds probably after we get all reorganized, but for now Okay. In district 39, the superintendent serves as the appointed secretary and the business office manager serves as the appointed treasurer for the board of education. Are there any objections to Dr. Kremcoli serving as the board secretary and Corey Baltimore serving as treasurer? Seeing none, Dr. Kremcoli is appointed secretary and Corey Baltimore is treasurer by acclamation. At this time, we will move to information
069items. Um, so there is a requirements that the board approve the board policy manual and also the 2025 2026 board of education meeting calendar. both have been shared with the board. Mrs. Pathless, I think we need to move to public comments before we take a motion. Okay, this is another opportunity for the audience to address the board. Are there any audience members that wish to speak? If not, we will continue with our agenda. The board needs to approve district 39 policies and the board of education meeting calendar for 2025 2026. Um, Mrs. Pathless can proceed with the motions, please. I move to adopt the Wilmet Public School District 39 Board of Education policies and administrative guidelines and procedures. May I have a second? Second. I move to approve the calendar dates for regular meetings of
070the board of education and to set the location of the regular meetings at uh as the Malian Education Center 615 Locust Road Wilm Illinois 60091. May I have a second? Second. Having motions having been made and seconded, will the clerk please call the role? Judy Berlin, Kristen Dcastro, Annne Hart, yes. Katie Hilton, yes. Allison Papless, yes. Aaron Stone, yes. Motions carried. At this time, we will move to conference items. Any old business? Any new business? I have some new business. Great. Um, I would just like to say congratulations and welcome to the new board members. We're excited to have you here. Welcome. Any good and welfare? I guess I will just say one thing. Um, I just want to thank Aaron Stone for um, two fabulous years as president, as your vice president. It has
071been a true pleasure. I've enjoyed working with you, getting to know you, and learning from you. and your commitment to this community and our students is beyond admirable. So, thank you, Aaron, for all you do for district 39. You have made it a better place and we look forward to continue working with you. Thank you. I believe we will not have executive session this evening. Correct. Having no further business, we need a motion to adjourn the regular board of education meeting. I move to adjourn the April 28th, 2025 board of education meeting. Motion uh may I have a second? Second. Motion having been made and seconded. All those in favor of adjournment, please indicate by saying yay. Yay. Motion carries by general consent and the time is 8:23