001[Music] W oh oh [Music] oh oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] W oh the [Applause] [Music] okay calling to order the cusd 2011 Board of Education regular meeting of the board of education for March 18th 2025 uh roll call Adena Hoover Whitney Rogers here Jessica Rono here Carlos Avia here Angela sty Kevin Maron here Leah canover here and stand for the pledge I pledge ALG to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty okay the chair will entertain a motion to enter close session to discuss Personnel issues student discipline sale or lease of real property and superintendent evaluation so moved second roll call no roll call Mr Avia yes Mr Marin yes Miss Conover yes Miss Rono yes Miss
002Rogers yes so moved motion passes um make sure you record just so you know we have to be out of here by 9 tonight because they have another meeting right after us heck yeah just keep that in e e e [Music] [Applause] [Music] running from close session um and we we will proceed uh through the agenda um starting with the approval of minutes sorry just sorry the chair will entertain a motion to approve the minutes of the February 25th 2025 regular meeting of the Board of Education as presented second all those in favor I any opposed motion carries the chair entertain a motion to approve the minutes of the close session of the February 25th 2025 regular meeting of the Board of Education as presented sure move second all those in favor any opposed motion
003carries we'll proceed with public comment and I have um uh cards from um our um speakers thank you um I'm going to start with the guidelines uh good evening and welcome public comment is a time for the community to address the board with comments and questions each Community member addressing the board has 5 minutes once you have been notified your time is up kindly step away from the podium public comment will be for a total of 30 minutes with no more than each subject lasting 20 minutes so um please understand that this is not a time for engagement the board will consider your comments in its decisions for those comments or questions requiring a follow-up response the board president or superintendent will follow up um so we have I think Jennifer yes okay s SS
004okay couldn't tell if there was separated all right so thank you for the time um you know we just had this vote this past November um for what you are proposing and um by one it did not go through and here we are again and um I got really curious what this is all about so I started to do some of my own research um my curiosity quickly went from interest to um I hate to say it but insult okay my taxes went up last year $800 already okay and I know our neighbors Hinsdale neille with increases in taxes for their schools and everything um that may be a welcome thing for them but the demographic there with their uh income is a huge difference than What's happen happening here okay Hinsdale the average income
005is $250,000 a year okay naville is $150,000 a year here in Westmont we hover about $85,000 a year so what you are proposing has a huge impact on the income that's in this community now let me just go back for a minute to inflation that we all experience for the past four years and we don't have to talk a lot about that but we all know how that felt in Illinois alone the average family was in since 2021 has paid over $35,000 to offset inflation costs that's a lot of money especially to people with an income like in Westmont so where do people get to catch up where do they get to catch up this increase that you're asking for is massive and it's not just the onset of the number it increases every year
006you're going to drive people away you are going to create financial hardship for a lot of families that are already struggling so why would you want to do that do people not care about the impact of what people have just experienced and now this you know JB PR in 2023 passed a massive bill 50.8 I don't know billion dollar for the state of Illinois and if my research yeah 54 50.4 billion okay give me a moment so I can just find this real quick but there was a huge sum of money that went to the school districts I think it was 35 $50 million for K through 12 I don't know where that what that money looks like to any of these districts what's being what is it being used for another thing I want
007to talk about is um this building that you want to build you know District 210 which is Frankfurt that area in recent years they had a huge tax hike and one of them was so they can build another building and they did so in Tinley Park and today that building sits vacant because they never got students there they overshot overestimated new people moving to the area and created something that is empty taxpayer dollars which have gone to nothing I don't think that a building needs to be built here I think if you want to do some smaller renovations I mean clearly from what I see online the school system here is rated as exemplary whereas in naville it's rated as commendable Hinsdale is commendable so clearly somebody's doing something right here with the students so
008this this number that you're Gathering I think is is not realistic for a lot of people here and I don't think that it's going to better the community and I don't think it's going to better the students um the last thing I do want to talk about is our property taxes we already the the property taxes that we pay 77% of it goes to the public school system 77% that's a lot I think it's time for the school district the the the board to become more creative with the money that they have instead of asking for more I'm a small business owner if you can wrap up please you have I'm a small business owner and I know I've taught myself how to be creative with funds and I think instead of asking for more
009money from the community that is exactly what needs to happen here thank you for your time thank you um so we have our next speaker Ryan R in regards to referendum that adds on our time to see good evening my name is Ryan I'm 18 and I'm a senior at westm high school I'm here tonight again addressing my feelings for the referendum and I apologize if I'm looking down at my paper tonight I have a lot I will be sharing as a student in this District I have had enough about hearing about the cusd 2011 referendum is honestly insulting to me and my family they asking for more of my parents hard-earned money especially when nothing seems to be improving around the district every time you want more money you act like it's going to
010magically fix everything but nothing has been done the schools have been continuing to fall into despair for quite some time now I cannot stress this enough to the school board but the schools are going to get old buildings get old how you think they keep up with the buildings around us they have to maintain the buildings have the buildings ever been properly maintained in the district no they have not also adding on the economy is not the greatest it has been prices keep going up and I can say this because I work in retail and we barely have people coming into shop like the prices have gone up so much like I don't even shop on a regular basis you guys have money to fix these issues you don't want to spend the money which
011shows you guys being greedy some of the money is being used to advertise this referendum even though it has failed before even though it already failed it doesn't matter how many votes it failed by just like in a sports game you still lost what gives you the right to put this upon us we voted no at this point it truly doesn't matter to me as a student what gets fixed since I'm graduating in 2 months however I will not stop using my voice to make my point heard for what's truly right for not only for me but for other people who don't want this I don't want the texes getting higher and I know a bunch of people don't want the texes higher either it's bad enough it is really bad enough we don't need
012this referendum what we need is for the school district to stop shoving it in our face people have voted this off including myself and we're going to vote this off again enough is enough stop trying to pass this referendum we have voted it off for a reason we don't want the hire taxes and I especially do not want the traffic increasing by Ty Warner Park before I go today I am urging others and I did vote yesterday to vote no for better Solutions thank you thank you thank you next we have Keith NGA uh hello I'm Keith NGA I'm a resident and taxpayer and a graduate of Westmont high school I guess I'll start by saying wow this board managed to divide and anger an entire Community job good job quoting your own words trust
013us we will be transparent and financially responsible I think the fact that we hire an account a consultant for $85,000 and County didn't take any of his early advice to bring the any 85,000 C didn't take any of his early advice then bring in a builder who in turn donates $10,000 to a yes committee and favor of this project who in turn sends all that money to a consultant with experience in in these matters the fact that this does not bother a single board member is amazing you were elected to represent the entire Community how was an entire board agree were to referend them along with the bond some of you know better very disappointing not to mention the teachers involvement in these yes agendas and during the classrooms I think needs to be looked
014at you say you are Financial responsible possibly you cherry pick a some report that probably be for you to make it look good I found a report from isbe that says the opposite who are do we believe than keep them up fact that you sound out a mailer saying you reduce $58 million coincidentally looks a lot like the yes mailer amazing huh no nobody knows these people and they don't know these people say you lowered by 58 million but you 5.8 million but you don't put on there that you're putting a $7 million Bond through here or that you're asking for a 5% increase on top of that so basically where what was the sense of this this cost us what $8 $9,000 we sent the for District we have no money with you failed
015these people why such a big ass the fact that I've been told by yes parents I am spreading propaganda and conspiracy theories falls on the board for manipulating these parents and to believe in the sky is falling in parents need to do a little research look into these Awards where they come from our proficiency rate is 30% ACT scores are 22 just barely above the state average even with all the countless practice tests and and that's what we don't teach we got to teach we don't teach you teach to test maybe quit with all the AP classes that he's pushing and go back to teaching High School AP classes aren't for everybody and getting trees on an a classes nothing great in closing you should have done a cost analysis to update Manning giving us
016an option and don't don't and don't say Oakmont everyone knew from the from the GetGo Oakman was not a feasible project The Architects and the builders knew that that and everybody else knew that that was not a feasable it should never have gone to that and that cost us $5,000 for having Coy come and give a speech after putting some post-ups on a wall so that's all I have to say and I think the village [Music] is disappointed angry and don't know where to go with it but thank you thank you for your time next is Katherine Han guys thank you for your time here today just want to be honest I'm not a politician I'm just citizen of Westmont I my husband and I moved here end of 2023 um bought our first home
017we're newly married looking to start a family and thought that Westmont was a really great place to do that um and imagine my disappointment last November when I see you know that you're trying to borrow you know like you're nearly $70 million against my house and the house of all my neighbors and I go out and I vote no and I think that's the end of it because it doesn't pass and find out last week that you guys are trying to sneak this through again it's very disingenuous um and I'm upset as somebody new to the Westmont area this is not the kind of welcome I thought I was going to get um not being presented any options there's a lot of room to budget between zero and $68 million and I want to know
018why I'm not being presented with that choice to vote why I'm being told instead oh I can say we're saving 5.8 million look how responsible we're being not we're borrowing 68 million it's very disingenuous there's a lot of professional lobbying going up against normal people like everybody else in this room who is sharing people such as myself and my husband who are looking to start a family um and having money borrowed against us and our children future and not being presented any options between oh we need a new building and and where we're at today is very very concerning to me it's it's really upsetting and it's so on the nose to say people you know you're paying $6 for a dozen eggs we're going to raise each of your property taxes between six minimum
019$600 a year you that's a big deal it's very very very in sensitive to people who are working hard trying to start their family start good Futures to tell them we don't care we're saddling you with another $700,000 a year on your house um again I just found out about this last week I'm not a politician I'm not as well versed as some of these other people here on what the issue is but it is not common sense to borrow $68 million and foret down our throats I'm very disappointed about the welcome that I've had to Westmont appreciate your time here here today and really ask you to reconsider and be responsible with our money because it's not your money thank you thank you thank you guys for your time and attending for public comment
020um we will uh continue with our agenda with the consent agenda the chair will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented number one Personnel recommendations and resignations two approval of March 2025 report three approval of the February 2025 regular payroll four approval of the udman contract five approval of ihsa membership so I moved second roll call please Mr Marin yes Miss Conover yes Miss Hoover yes M ronio yes Miss Rogers yes Miss Pia yes motion carries we will continue we don't have information and discussion at this time in items um so we move to the action items the chair entertain a motion to approve the fiscal year 2023 2024 audit as presented so moved second roll call Miss canover yes Miss Hoover yes Mr ronio yes M Rogers yes Mr AIA yes
021Mr Marin yes U motion carries number two the chair will entertain a motion to authorize and direct the treasurer to pay any bill bills received in March 2025 that have been budgeted for the 2025 fiscal year it's all moved second roll call Dr Hoover yes Mr Rono yes M Rogers yes Mr Avia yes Mr Maron yes Miss Conover yes we'll proceed with the superintendent's report just want to once again state that uh we're experiencing a lot of success in our buildings as a result of the great work of our teachers and students I'm so proud of them young people are always growing and making mistakes and learning from them but overall the citizenship has been incredible you walk through our buildings and it's not to be taken for granted our kids are just working so
022hard as our teachers and that's why we Garner the results we we receive and why we are an exemplary school district and those awards that the district wins are very real they're not ones that I created I'm not the judge I don't set the criteria National Organization State the state of Illinois so it's really the hardwork of our students and our teachers and support staff supported by the board and the admin and the great parents and the community working together and doing something that's really unique if you can find a district that's overachieving the way that we are I need to know their name cuz we'll go and study them and learn learn from them but the truth is we're seen Statewide as a leader in education and that's not an opinion that's the criteria
023set by the illino State Board of Education or the federal government or all these ranking organizations that we have nothing to do with they come up with their rankings so I'm very proud of how hard our kids work the great things they accomplish and supported by the whole school Community it's quite beautiful and um I think that's what our district really stands for and I'm very proud of them and we're going to continue to do that I know people have a choice on April 1st and I'll just say as a person who loves our students anybody knows and who's talked to the students in this District that I've worked by and with for years I love them dearly I've come to love Weston as a community there's a lot at stake and a lot to
024lose so I hope people are very careful with their decision on April 1st uh this is an incredibly excellent district and I just want to make sure that we maintain that as a community um I have a it's not an engagement time I'm sorry it's not an engagement time I'm going to call order you can contact me I'll be glad to talk with you any of you can speak with me or the superintendent after but not at this time sorry that's not for um our board meetings I do have a question for you jack with the um I know we had um one of our administrators who does outstanding work here with uh looking at our data and she's Carla Brun has presented that is that available online for the community to see the uh
025three times a year we do a close scrutiny of student performance and cusd 2011 and it's posted on our website and we'll repost it and it's there for everybody to scrutinize as is the Illinois state report card that shows once again so yes Dr Bron's uh annual uh three time a year report our quality review is available for anybody to scrutinize as is the illin school a report card that anybody in the community can go to and see and see that our schools are some of the top ranked in Illinois so and I know she's um put a number of things I think the biggest thing that's important to me that I want to Echo that you're saying is growth that we've had in this District it's not anything that's stagnant um I've seen that
026from and I thank Dr Braun for having that and presenting that that's an ask for the board we demanded that um this board and others before but I definitely know this board has demanded that we obtain results and we get results and see examples of that we we will continue to do that there's always more to be done but um that's one thing I'm proud of with our district and happy that principales are celebrating at all the buildings and especially at our Junior High um and our elementary school because that's the example of grow even our preschool itself is been named and celebrated so um thank you for that I I will always applaud this District on the work is doing any other questions for Jack from the board um we'll move on to board
027reports anyone has um board reports just real quick um I attended the depage uh division meeting back on March 5th um representing our our board and our school district um just wanted to mention two things one was that they uh they made mention of Dr uh Hoover's award that was won back in the fall the Thomas lay Burrows award um uh and everyone was really proud not just of Westmont but also that there was someone from DuPage County right so it's there's only one that's given to someone around the state so it's it's kind of a big deal um so that and the second thing was that um I don't remember the exact name but they also recognized exemplary boards that go through a process of sharing their documentation on how they on exactly how
028they do things um I think there were probably maybe 10 maybe up to a dozen boards that were recognized out of all the school boards in in in Dage County and when I learned a little bit about about what goes in that night when I learned in about what goes into being able to receive that award I thought it might be something that we would want to think about Maybe not immediately but something for the future because it's really about it's really about documenting your processes and and and showing that you do a superintendent evaluation that you do your you know your self- evaluation that how and how you go about The Business of Being aboard um more than anything because we we've talked a lot on this board about um not just doing the
029work of being a board but getting this board functioning to the point where others can step in and know another big component of it is how you know do you have a process for welcoming new board members for example right so anyway I not something to talk about tonight but but something to think about for the for us for the for maybe next calendar or school year excuse me um is p pursuing that um because I think um the things you have to do set the board up nicely for for the functioning of the board independent of the members of the board I hope I'm making sense 100 I love that idea can you send us some information on it I will yes I will and we've done some of that work bet so I
030think we need to build upon it at our Tri conference for um just reminded Community a tri conference for for um again boards from across the state um we were asked to share our process for one choosing a superintendent and how we did that and the biggest uh applaud we got from across the state is how we were determined to have our community involved in that um and we were asked to present for that and we were also asked to present on coming up with a tool to evaluate the superintendent so um I thank you guys for your time this non-paid position um that you give um for this and making processes and extra meetings but that is something that we are doing and and also helps us like you said Carlos like documenting what
031we do so that when we're not here present people our favorite question is what has been done before and we're establishing those processes and even going through the exercise to be recognized so that we can um kind of document our process for for others to use so um again always work to be done but I thank you for what you have done um any other board comments um I just want because I feel like I spent like almost the whole week at Westmont high school or somewhere um last week there was so much stuff going on between the carnival and then stem night um and then uh I have a third grader so there's the concert and I just think um not everybody in the community is always in our building seeing what happens and
032and you know I hope that more people get to experience that as more young families move in and families become part of the school system I think that what you see happen here um doesn't happen everywhere else and just every time this past week for me in particular was super special just to see the dedication of teachers after hours um and their planning and their thoughtfulness and how excited students are um you don't get that experience everywhere and so I just you know it was a really cool week and want to thank the district and the administrators and the teachers who put all their time into that and hope that more and more families who move here get to experience that and I'm not going to get a lot of these things right to celebrate
033and I'm going to continue to celebrate because we always have problems and we're going to always speak of problems that you know we are speaking about in our board meetings but um just to let the board know we are um as part of our meetings want to um celebrate what the students are doing cuz that's who was for um in sports there's a caveat but in sports I'm going to name like what our um girls basketball team is doing they're getting conference and Regional championships and even more than that I think the work that is done in the sports Department especially high school but can't leave out the junior high the wrestling team um and the coach is there and the time that they put in it's all wonderful things there our scholastic bowl um
034that's I'm not going to name all of that we are working to bring students here so we can celebrate them and honor them so we'll be um sharing more of that but we do want to bring them here and let them know that we do see what they're doing and say congratulations to them it's his hard work um with not only trying to learn and get better scores and be set up for um life after um High School graduation here but um there are many wonderful things that's going on with in the band U programs and awards there that's why I'm not I don't have them all listed um but we do want to celebrate our students with things they're doing in all those fields I'll piggy back off for you um so one of
035our alumni students um that we recognized last year Abraham Johnson he's at Eastern Illinois University he placed in top 10 um at conference so um amongst um tons of other Colleges and Schools um but my son he posted it last night so it was kind of exciting to see you know that um when we honored the students last year you know for everything that they did while they were here at Westmont um that it definitely is you know still carrying on even on the Collegiate level um for him so kudos to him as well as you know the other students um you know from Westmont that are alumni that are doing great things but just wanted to point that out you know that he he ranked uh within recent um track and field conference awesome
036that's great me I just want to piggy back on Jess um I was also at stem night um it was great you know my kids had a really enjoyable time I want to thank the uh Educators that were there uh Community you know organ organizations that were there it was a great event it was a fun time so thank you thank you to our sponsors yes anything else all right we're going to proceed um with our um next thing that we have with future meetings and events public comment again you know um we don't I don't have any new cards for public comment okay um so first we have kindergarten registration it opens in Skyward on March 19th um so definitely we always ask if there are um community members that know of um people
037who are asking the biggest thing is a called the District if you have questions but um that does open on on March 19th um our famous piz Awards um is people ask about it of course uh March 19th 5:30 p.m. um Westmont Junior High School again these students are amazing and organizing these things and they put a lot of time in it so uh please go out if you can um then we'll have our Rising Stars talent show March 21st 6: p.m. at Westmont High School the district District Fine Arts night is March 26 700 p.m. Westmont high school so across the district we get to um see and hear um our students and their performances and their um exhibits um then we have our parent teacher conferences so you should have been able to
038schedule those if you need to March 27th um 5 to 8:00 p.m. um and it's a student SI day uh please see your building uh leaders for for dismissal times if you need help with that and then on March 28th um there's no attendance for students um but that par and teacher conference time is 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. spring break is March 31st to April 4th there is no school attendance dur that time of course uh Elementary PTO night April 2nd 6:00 p.m. at Manning and then our next cusd 2011 board meeting it's April 8th at 6:30 p.m. here at Westmont Village Hall um as um from my understanding we don't have to return a close all right at this point the chair um will entertain a motion to adjourn the March 18th 2025
039regular meeting of the board of education so moved second all those in favor I any oppose right meeting a John