001community unit school district 308 special board of education meeting can i get a roll call mrs doyle here mr gatewood president mrs johnson present mrs croner here dr mourinho president mrs simelton president mrs swanson present all present pledge of allegiance pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it examines one nation but under god the indivisible with liberty and justice [Music] on behalf of the board of education i would like to thank the public for attending tonight's meeting we value the feedback we receive from our residents and encourage everyone to take an active interest in their public school system residents interested in speaking to the board this evening are asked to have completed a comment card and presented it to the secretary to the board when
002the secretary calls your name i ask that you come to the microphone state your name for the public record and provide your feedback please note that comments are limited to three minutes per person and three comments per topic there is no discussion of personnel matters or responses to questions we will be reading three emails first with a preference given to children the board does not participate in discussion during public comment follow-up to your questions or concerns will be addressed by administration through the contact information provided on the comment card did you provide me with there's something behind your computer apology okay public comment statement we read that okay madison deitz removing coach lubner from his position as head coach of both the oswego co-op high school team and delta aquatics has hurt the swimmers we
003are feeling the effects now and i fear that this could also hurt us as we work toward our future swimming goals i have been a swimmer under coach daryl since i was seven years old and i never experienced anything but positive from a selfless coach coach daryl makes sure that his athletes are performing to their highest potential these past few weeks without daryl have been very hard on my team the emotions of having to question as a sophomore when will i get my coach back and receive efficient training have made going to practice difficult when daryl was abruptly taken away from us our team hit a low point as we were preparing for the most important time of the season even though everyone was in shock and full of emotions we were able to come
004together and lift each other up in the way that daryl has always taught us coach darrell has always demonstrated the importance of being a good teammate he has always told us that no matter the situation we always work to bring each other up and never leave anyone behind please bring our coach back [Applause] this is from caitlin stoddard i normally wouldn't do something like this where i write something in for it to be read when i'm not there but sadly i could not make it tonight and this is not something i could sit back and let happen without doing something about it coach darrell is one of the most hardworking and committed coaches i have ever had in my last 15 years while being tough as a coach should be he has been nothing but
005supportive to me and my fellow teammates pushing us day in and day out to make us better swimmers than we could ever imagine to become losing such an inspiration would be not only a loss to us as athletes but to the school and district as a competitive team [Applause] hello my name is jackson ustman coach daryl has been my coach for 10 years i have been through thick and thin with him and wouldn't expect anything more he has helped me through many challenges through my career as a swimmer and has made me a better person throughout them all under his coaching i have been able to accomplish many different things from being an age group regional swimmer to now becoming a future swimmer he has pushed me to where i am sometimes we will crack
006jokes and practic at practice and have a laugh but when it comes down to business we will know he has taught me how to be a more disciplined person and has helped my work ethic tremendously when i first walked onto the pool deck he welcomed me with a smile and saw that i had a future ahead of me he has done nothing but made me a better person in my opinion i believe coach daryl is an amazing coach that realizes we are human and make mistakes but with that he expects us to learn from them if we are having a rough day he will see that and try to approach us at a different angle where we can talk to him i have spoken with him about many things that have happened in my life
007he has helped and given me advice on many things whether it be swimming related or not i know that i can go to him about anything and he will listen even if he does not agree with me coach daryl is someone that i look up to and i wouldn't want anyone to speak poorly about him because he is a great person sure he will be serious most of the time but that is what is needed if he wants to push us to our limit cultura osman okay hi my name is culture usman my family has been a part of delta aquatics since 2011. i've chosen to speak today because i feel that my past attempts for answers have been futile including a general response that i received from mr sparling with the wrong child's name
008on it i believe darryl lubner's character and his ability to to be a suitable and effective coach are in question today there have been her rumors of harassment and bullying as a woman of color and minority and have been on the receiving end of harassment and bullying throughout my whole life and most recently have experienced by students in your district i can assure you that this is not the case my case was brought to the board and was casually dealt with and was not put under the severe scrutiny that this situation has been during this hiatus we have been without our coach and this has affected our kids my son had his first panic attack during sectionals during his 400 i am had to get out of the pool fearing he could not make it
009through his race this is a race that my son excels at this is his race that i expected him to meddle in and instead he got out of the pool after the first hundred meters he looked at me he stated i couldn't breathe i looked up and i saw no one it was scary and i had to get out where's daryl so that's the question here today where is daryl lewden where is the man that our kids have come to rely and count where is the man that has coached them throughout the season and led them to the championships if you feel as though it doesn't matter and that another coach can just come in and take his place you are clearly mistaken during this quarantine we've all been able to attend any of these
010swim meets but after every race my son's first question is did daryl watch what did he say is darrell stern yes is he strict yes does he expect amount in a certain amount of discipline yes but what you perhaps you don't see behind is the man behind the hat and the goggles i've seen him laugh and joke with the kids i've seen him discuss things with kids that have nothing to do with swimming such as movies golf and his favorite taco place he is a father a teacher and a husband but most important he is an outstanding role model to our kids so please i ask you to give him back to us my son depends on him my son needs him we all need him thank you chris barcodes chris partos my name is
011chris bartos and my wife jen and i are parents of two daughters who attend district 308 schools oehs and murphy junior high our oldest is a senior on the oswego co-op swim team and both of our daughters also swim for delta aquatics under coach darryl lubner my comments today are in regarding to the investigation into coach luber and the handling of this investigation by sd-308 and the school board my wife and i have contacted you via email on july 12th regarding our thoughts of coach darrell receiving canned responses from only two of you we offer to speak with you regarding the situation and no contact has been made to discuss further and both of my children have reached out to you via email again no contact from any of you the length and apparent mismanagement
012of this investigation sheds many doubts on the legitimacy of the inquiry being made by the district and the school board how can this investigation be going on over eight weeks when there has been limited discussion and interviews with many people who have reached out to you this investigation appears to have been skewed from the beginning with only one side of the story being listened to it's also very discouraging to see individuals associated with in this investigation interacting with coach lubner's alleged accusers on social media only to have the post deleted after the fact so that no one else can see it if there is a conflict of interest in this investigation how can anyone in the community expect that there will be a fair and legitimate resolution i'm not here to legislate who anybody should
013be friends with or associate with however when it comes to the decision of this magnitude conflicts of interest must be taken into account our comments to you have been in favor of coach lubner and his coaching of both the high school and delta aquatic swim teams please be sure that my wife and i take these accusations very seriously and when it comes to emotional and mental health it's very important when it comes to my kids we cannot stress enough that if we felt that there was a situation where they were being emotional emotionally or mentally harmed we will pull them out right away i have the utmost confidence in coach daryl lubner and his ability to teach coach and motivate our children coach lubner continually looks to get the most out of his swimmer's ability
014and he does work his team hard one thing you'll never hear any of his kids say is that they had an easy practice or that they were not expected to try their very best he's a true leader and taking his personal time to mentor his athletes and help them attain their goals i find it very disheartening that there appears to be a smear campaign levied against coach lubner because a group as we have heard wants to take him down what this has accomplished is defaming a respected coach and teacher while leaving many swimmers floundering our senior daughter needs her coach and mentor as she looks forward to college in 2022 and has had no access to him for the last eight weeks delta went through their championship season without him and the high school season
015started this past monday without a coach we ask that you are transparent your communication to us and update us regarding the process and come to a quick resolution thank you [Applause] georgia white hi my name is georgia white and i stand here today as someone who swam in oswego east with delta aquatics for 11 years from 2007 to 2018 and even a little bit last year during the covet shutdown when i was living at home and daryl was kind enough to let me swim with the team during when i could not be with my college team i swam directly for daryl for uh for daryl for four years 50 weeks each year 20 plus hours a week that is roughly 4 000 hours that i've spent with coach darrell lubner and i'd like to think
016that qualifies me to be a good judge of his character no one is going to stand here and tell you he is not a tough coach because that would be a lie and frankly an insult to his abilities as a coach here's the honest truth tough coaches make tough elite athletes it is undoubtedly a proven fact that daryl has produced more division one collegiate athletes than any other program in the community or any of the high schools some people are not built for tough programs and that's okay some people don't understand that if a coach isn't giving you criticism they don't care about your performance without constructive criticism there can't be development it's their job to make you tough no one ever got better by a program built on sugar coating and coddling athletes daryl
017lubner developed me into the athlete that broke state records and earned district or earned state titles for this district and even went on to be a big ten runner-up there is not a single thing i would change about my high school swim experience he does not deserve to lose his job and this investigate this investigation feels like a petty revenge attack on a man who has given his entire life to these last 20 years after creating this swim team just because someone's feelings were hurt and i say that as someone who is very sensitive and has been around this man a lot never in my time there would i have thought that someone would do this and be blatantly disrespectful about this investigation on social media after causing this mess we cannot give into today's
018societal expectations of all athletes all child athletes are great and we can't criticize our kids and they'll become insecure and to those here in opposition i want you to really reflect on what i've said and think about this if it's really worth someone losing their job over thank you [Applause] that will be the last comment on that topic and we'll have three more speakers public comments that was three comments so i'm moving on to heather gregar hello my name is heather greger and i have two children in the district we've been a part of this district for the past 13 years so it's been quite a while i just wanted to start off by saying the thing i love most about this district is the awesome teachers that we have encountered we have some pretty
019amazing students too and that's why this district is so special to our family so i came here this evening to share my concerns and disappointment with the proposed safety plan i do not understand why we are testing healthy children and masking healthy children in order for them to receive a free appropriate public education i question what data and facts were used to come up with this decision quarantining healthy children and teachers will have a negative impact on our children's education why are we basing the metrics off of all ages when the school population mainly consists of ages 0 to 18. choices have consequences to date over 35 schools have decided to remain mass optional please don't tell me there is no choice because 35 plus school districts would prove there is why are there no
020considerations being made for our special needs students the data shows they were impacted the most during the shutdowns and you are continuing to ignore this fact what laws are in place giving schools authority to discriminate based on medical inability i'm not aware of any and why would you create a policy that can expel a child for simply not wearing a mask this is unacceptable we have a choice we can get scared and run away or we can stand up and fight isbe does not have the authority because it would be in the school code the law isbe does not have authority to strip a local school district of its discretion to force upon them this guidance it is not expressly delegated by the legislator hb 2789 is conclusive as to what our legislator intended with
021the current state of the law it's pending in the legislature right now so therefore it can never be inferred that the legislator never delegated that power you can't infer this as part of law while simultaneously the legislative branch of government is considering an amendment to add it don't let fear run our lives and not the rule of law don't wait until our children pass out in gym class because they are forced to wear masks don't wait until our children's education and ability to hear adequately proves more devastating effects than it already has thank you [Applause] ashlynn pearson hello sorry hello my name is ashton pearson i'm 19 and i've been going here since i was in fifth grade i'm speaking in support of the safety plan and following the mass mandate at k through 12
022schools i am a part of the class oswego east class of 2020 and my senior year my second semester we had our graduation online in my life in the last two years has been completely destroyed by this pandemic and i've seen the way that it has affected the world i've seen the way it affected my class my friends my family and i can't fathom living in a world where my siblings aren't safe i'm the oldest of five four of my siblings go to district 308 and they between different health problems different things they need to be safe at school they need to be able to go to school and try to go back to some sense of normalcy and we cannot do that without a safety plan we cannot do that without mass and while
023i understand that there are difficulties on both sides and i understand that it is difficult for some students to wear a mask all day there are laws and we have to follow them the law has been in place for years and while it can be questioned right now is not the time when there are lives at stake and for the greater good you have to protect people you have to protect kids you have to protect teachers it's not it shouldn't be a partisan issue it should be a health and safety issue that everyone cares about and everyone unites on so overall i just am hopeful that the safety plan will go through i think that it will support the teachers it'll support the overall staff and whether or not you agree with it it will
024help people in the general and as a former student i wish that we were able to see ahead of time and maybe take those safety precautions more ahead of time so that my year was not as destroyed but now we are in this place where we need mass and we need to have safety and cleaning and the different policies so that everyone can be safe so thank you i'm hopeful and i understand that you guys are in a really tough position so i'm grateful for you guys coming here and having these meetings and doing what you can so thank you guys [Applause] kelly harms good evening my name is kelly harms first thank you for letting us all speak our daughters graduated from ohs in 2018 and 2019. so my only interest tonight is to
025express concerns about the direction the district is going please raise the tide of this district our oldest daughter kendall swam for coach darrell lugner under delta aquatics and oswego co-op for 10 years while i could add to the course of praise for daryl lubner based on impact he had on kendall and our entire family i would rather take this opportunity to raise what i see as a systemic problem lack of diversity we teach diversity and inclusion in race sexuality and religion however we no longer teach diversity in thinking we need to teach our children to respect authority figures even when they don't agree with the consequences of the t of and not teaching them this is sending our children out into the world unprepared daryl's name has been dragged through the mud by a few
026noisy parents who are weaponizing buzz words like bullying and emotional abuse because they don't agree with his coaching style despite the success their daughters have experienced these parents are district employees and they are aware of the impact of these words i respect that they have a difference of opinion on coach daryl's coaching style however i resent the idea that their opinion is more important than the rest and they get to decide whether this coach stays or not we need to teach children that is okay to disagree without retaliation as you can tell by tonight there are many of those who feel coach daryl has been a positive impact on swimmers and the community while the accusers are asking you to remove the best coach and because their children didn't like coach darrell's style how arrogant
027is them to think that the rest of us think they know what's best for the rest of the kids please raise the tide of our district by allowing different viewpoints to co-exist thank you thank you that is the end to public comment and we'll move on to board comments would anyone on the board like to make a statement i do um it's really a follow-up to the safety plan and many of the comments that um i listen to and and the hundreds of emails that i've read and i don't think that there's a person in the world and not just in our community that does not want all of this to be over and i personally know families who have struggled greatly with the impact of wearing masks of being out of school being away
028from their friends social socially emotionally and mentally i've had i've watched parents have to adjust i've know parents who had to engage therapists for their kids and provide individual support for their kids to help them to learn to adjust and really just to help get through this crisis i personally know and have experienced student athletes who have lost opportunities and time to prepare and to train and to dr and to fulfill the dreams that they have worked so hard for for a very long time and i've watched witnessed i have watched and witnessed athletes play sports and mask in struggle and some and many of them got through it but on the other hand covet is not just deadly i know that personally but it's a reality that attacks the body in ways that are
029still being discovered in adults and in children recent studies around the world have found that kids with covet have the following conditions after the kovic diagnosis one it's a multiple system inflammation syndrome they have long-term effects even after having no symptoms of covet headaches fatigue heart palpitations brain fog not being able to function after not experiencing any symptoms from covet but being positively diagnosed there's also been a 60 percent increase in the onset of type 1 child type 1 diabetes in children across the world only in the last year and a half and that's higher that's the highest on record kids as young as five after having covet now has type 1 diabetes kids with no family history of type 1 diabetes now have it studies have shown that covet appears to be attacking their
030pancreas they're not sure if some kids have had a reverse after covet has left their system but some have not not just in the united states but across the globe they are alive but they now have a condition that will impact them for the rest of their lives i personally know and am aware of families and people in this district who have been impacted by this the questions that i have to ask myself as i sit here and i consider the safety plan are i have to really consider the safety of all kids in the district massacre no mask all kids what is the transmission rate in the community where i live work and recreate here are the questions i'm considering what can and should parents do to take responsibility for their own kids safety
031at home but also the safety of others when out in our community how do i partner with parents as a school board member to make sure that all parents can be safe and the last question i really consider is is it possible no matter how small is it possible for kids ages 5 to 17 5 to 18 4 to 18 to transmit covet and so upon our research i found that children and adolescent can and can be affected with covert 19 can get sick with cover 19 and can spread the virus to others and then compare this is according to the to information on cdc.gov compare with adults children and adolescents who are affected by the covet virus are more commonly asymptomatic meaning they don't have symptoms or are mild or non specific symptoms but
032they still do they still do carry and transmit the virus so this means that we may not even be aware of the risk that we are placing ourselves and other people under and so we have to take that into consideration so for me for me having to support a child's emotional and mental health after losing a parent a grandparent or a loved one someone close to them to me that could be far more detrimental than the con the temporary consequences of the season that we're going through right now and so for me and lastly as i think about the basis for my decision i must be consistent so that i can use those same guidelines throughout this crisis and that will help me as a leader to set benchmarks to make predictions and even adjustments
033if i make missteps because i know i'm not perfect because i'm human and so all of these things have to be taken in consideration but i'm also not the professional and so for that reason i have to continue to recommend that we follow the guidelines that are set by the institutions such as the cdc and idph and so forth thank you okay um i did write a comment for tonight which i will read but i did want to address um one thing because it's a uh i believe it's a misperception in our public that just needs to be straightened out when people email the board and dr sparlin a lot of times you will only get two responses and the reason why is that dr sparlin is the voice of the district and the administration
034and myself as the president and the voice of the board and the board is really not able to to give board comment and so you may get an email back from my board members saying thank you i received your your email but anything really more than that you can expect from me and so i just want to clear that up everybody here has a huge heart and is reading the emails and cares about what you are sending in it's just that's the way our system works so um i just wanted to say thank you all for coming back to today's meeting and for some of us this is the second meeting of the week and i think um all of us being here again just really demonstrates our strong desire to do what is best
035for our children in our district and even when we don't agree we are showing up and i want to acknowledge uh all the passion that i see out there for our parents and our students and how great it is that we are hearing from more of our students whether it's the email comments or or showing up for public comment um and i think that's a great thing to see in our district for our students to be voicing themselves and sharing their beliefs as you know tonight we will be voting on our mass policy and our safety plan as we presented on monday and i just wanted to note that there are some some changes to that safety plan based on the feedback we received monday and that includes social distancing at lunch for all grade
036levels the adjustments were made after careful consideration of what is in the best interest of our students as well as consistency as mr gatewood spoke about being consistent in our mitigation strategies and when we're using one strategy what does that mean for another strategy we won't be discussing the plan tonight because we already did that on monday tonight we will just be voting on these two items but i did really want to thank uh teresa and dr sparlin and everyone involved in creating this very lengthy safety plan and going through many many revisions to try to get it right and as mr gatewood said we don't expect anything to be perfect right out of the gates but as we learn we will continue to revise for what is the best interest of all and then
037um finally i just wanted to give a shout out to all of our staff including our custodians teachers support staff administration and parents who right now are working so hard but behind the scenes to get ready for us to return to school for five full days in person which we haven't done in 18 months and i know we've all waited for this for a long time i know i'm super excited and just the thought of seeing all those smiling kids coming back is is exciting and i just want to say that we're eager to get started again and really focusing again on on education and making our kids bright students thank you okay can i get a motion to move on to 4.1 approval of safety plan i make a motion to approve the safety
038plan as discussed and presented mrs croner hi dr marino aye mrs johnson aye mr gatewood aye mrs swanson aye mr storial aye mrs simelton aye motion passes 7-0 and can i get a motion for the approval of board policy second read section 7.165 students i make a motion to approve board policy section 7 students 7 colon 165 second mr gatewood aye mrs johnson aye mrs doyle aye mrs swanson aye dr marino aye mrs simultan aye mrs croner aye motion passes 7-0 can i get a motion to move into closed session i make a motion to enter closed session under statute 5 ilcs 120-2c1 the appointment employment compensation discipline performance or dismissal of certain employees and individuals 5 ilcs 120-2c2 collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives or deliberations concerning
039salary schedules for one or more classes of employees second mrs simonton aye dr marino aye mr gatewood aye mr swanson aye mrs croner aye mrs toriel aye mrs johnson aye motion passes seven zero