001here. Folk present. Gorman. Papis here. Vulpi here. Wson here. Enfield here. Can you please stand for the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for All right. Okay. All right. Uh I request a motion second to approve the agenda. Second. All in favor? I I thank you everyone for coming tonight and thank you for those at home that are watching. Um do I recognize Do we have any of our seal of biiteracy students here tonight? We would just like to acknowledge though that we do have um some students who are going to be we have some students who are going to be receiving their seal of biiteracy at the end of this year which
002is a an opportunity. Arnold Patrick if you want to just come up and speak a little bit that about that. Mr. Furski from the high school. Two for one here. I get to warm up the crowd for Dan and Ted later on. But um these students will be awarded at the senior awards nights as well as graduation. So I just want to come and read into the public record that we do have 20 students this year who are receiving the seal of literacy in various languages. Um, sealed by literacy is an award that is given based off their competency in English based off things like their AP scores, dual credit courses, or ACT or SAT score combined with their testing on a standardized test in their language. So, high achievement for them for sure. There's
003some uh especially unique kids here. So I just want to recognize them and I will just read off the list as long as well as what language or languages they scored in. So we have 10 students who receive the state seal by literacy which is the highest standard and that is Shub Shaw in German, Matus Plazek in German and Polish too, Jackson Whipper in German, Tegan Cathkart in German, Perina Sony in German, Damen Sternac in Polish, Mia Estrada in Spanish, Andres Casada in Spanish, Michaela Agiri in Spanish and Raphael Roas in Spanish. Along with those students, there are another 11 names to be read for students receiving their state commendation which is slightly lower but still a high achievement. Ethan Rigna in German, Luke Vanis in German, Parv Meta in German, Andres Quesada again in
004German also had the seal for Spanish. Jacob Brooft in Spanish, Bella Brash in Spanish, Leila Carly in Spanish, Cassim Musoki in Spanish, Daniel Rodriguez in Spanish, Sydney Terrazinski in Spanish, and Meen Wang in Chinese. So along with the German and Spanish courses that we offer, congratulations. [Applause] Along with the German and Spanish courses that we offer, students can also test in their other languages that they may be speaking at home, such as any form of Arabic, Polish, Chinese, across the board. Looking at at that. So, congratulations to them. We are excited to see what they do. They will be earning college credit for this commendation. And as well, um, another important point to recognize too, they have a very good representation here of Spanish and German this year, which is nice to see from both
005programs. And also excited to see all the other kids because we already know that there are current sophomores and juniors who have achieved this. We just don't award it till senior year. So, thank you. That's awesome. All right, we will now move on to um public comment. First up, um, Dick Terrell. Hello everyone. My name is Dick Terrell. I'm uh you know I live here in the school district. I have for 35 years. My kids went to Central 35 years ago when there were less kids in the whole school district than there are in the high school. And uh and I was recent I only retired six months ago from working for the school district for 17 years. And one of the biggest things that I see is uh there could be better uh involvement
006of the public, you know, in not in decision- making. That's your job. But for input and for knowledge that uh uh it doesn't seem uh and I'm as guilty as the next guy. I haven't been to a school board meeting in 30 years. And uh but there are situations in the school district that need the public input. I guess I represent the number one biggest group in the school district of uh taxpayers with no kids in school and and as we've seen in the last couple years uh uh those people's input, you know, need to be uh uh uh addressed and you know maybe we have uh uh some good input to have. So, I hope there's better communication. Used to get quarterly or, you know, every so often you'd get something from the school
007district. Seems to have petered out four or five years ago where we didn't get uh the disadvantage of doing everything electronically is not everybody, you know, has uh they see their emails and the like. and we used to we had enough money to uh send things out to people in the you know in the district if they wanted to be involved and that seemed to have kind of faded away and maybe there should be better communications. So, and I do understand that there's uh there's a big problem with building and the population, this kind of stuff, and it needs to be addressed. And I'm not one of the people that automatically vote no, you know, as soon as my kids graduated, but it's uh something to involve everybody in the community. So, hopefully um keep
008that in mind. Thank you. Thank you. Next up, Joshua Roach. How's it going? Sorry, my um child fell through, so that's why I have my kids with me. I just want to first off say thank you for stepping up. I know that elections are tough and all that and you guys get the brunt of everything. So, thank you for all your hard work. Um, but uh I guess kind of pairing off the last one, I know the district is expanding quite a bit. I have a um a six-year-old at Lily Lake right now and then obviously two more coming through the district. Um and I know that uh uh this district is expanding very quickly. Um and and room is becoming a problem. But uh with those expansions, I've seen, you know, referendums and you
009know, ideas for uh buildings and facilities. Um, you know, one thing that my wife and I noticed, uh, is all the other, or at least a lot of the other schools in our conference have, um, some activities that we don't have, such as, uh, tennis team, um, an orchestra. Um, I think those are two fairly plausible, and, you know, especially if we're going to be expanding a school district, you know, building a tennis court isn't as difficult as like a pool. Um, you know, we'd love to see a swim team because it's just a wonderful sport, you know, and uh and a wonderful team sport, but I understand the liability and and we don't really have a community center that we can parry off of and the finances behind that one's quite a bit bigger.
010but at least an orchestra and a a tennis team. You know, I I have all girls um and there's a lot of scholarship opportunities um that come from those sports and they're you know, easily inclusive for uh lots of individuals within the district even they don't go to you know compete collegiately or anything like that. But um you know just to keep that those two at least those two activities the orchestra and the tennis on the forefront um because it could even I think probably be addressed you know without an expansion on a on a high school or a middle school um you know they just build a tennis court which is easier said than done. Um and then also keep a swim team um you know on the on the forefront as well. There's
011a a lot of parents, at least in the neighborhood that we live in, that we'd love to volunteer to just get information for you guys and try and brainstorm ideas. I know everybody's very busy. I've sent I think it might have been two athletic directors ago, but I sent an email or two saying, "Hey, I'm here." Um, but I don't know if that's something that uh if there is a forum or a a way that some of us parents could get involved maybe researching pricing and locations and and finding some maybe alternative solutions to include those sports and activities for our children. That would be pretty awesome. So again, appreciate what you guys doing, but uh would just love to keep those um those on the forefront for everybody because I know in my district
012or my neighborhood, lots of parents want tennis, lots of parents want swim. we have a swim team, you know, they're like all itching to get going on that stuff. Same with orchestra. I think that's just so important for the art. So, anyways, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Oh, thank you. Thank you. [Laughter] All right. Next up, Dave Chapman. Uh, good evening. On behalf of CA, I just wanted to first start by saying thank you to Jay, Mark, D, and Jennifer for your time on the school board. I know it's an unpaid position and takes up a lot of time. So, definitely appreciate your your service on the school board. Um, and then on top of that, I want to congratulate Ryan, Micheline, Scott, and Andy for being elected to the school board. Um,
013we look forward to working with you and the entire school board. So, thank you. Thank you, Dave. All right, next up, Virginia Romano. Hi there. This is Virginia Romano. Um, I just wanted to address the the outgoing board members. Um, that Oh, what do I want to say? um that even though I may have disagreed on a lot of things with with some of you that um nothing personal and it's just business and you know public comment is what it is and um I hope that you guys stay engaged at some capacity because you obviously do have value and you know it would be nice to um keep going with it and like some of the people have addressed it. Um maybe this is more for the new board, but um I myself have been
014trying to figure out how to create engagement with people um for a lot of different reasons and I think having um yeah, like with you guys probably doing mailers for some people that don't have internet or aren't on the social media thing and Um, yeah. And I find it interesting because even though there's a has been a lot going on in social media things and that, I kind of heard from from a couple of people that were up here that like I don't think they really knew what was happening. So, I don't know. It's just kind of just a comment and something I noticed. But anyway, I wish you all the best on um on your endeavors and thank you for your service. Thank you, Virginia. Next up, Lori McDev. Good evening. My name is
015Lori McDev and I'm a long-standing community member up until COVID, then I had to leave. Um, I'm also a certified special ed teacher and I've done advocacy work in the district and in others in the area for the past two decades. So, I come because I have a perspective because I've been in many schools and in many districts and I'm here today to welcome the new school board members. Whoops, sorry. Um, because I see that you guys are on the precipice of change. I see that there's a new hope and I'm really excited for that. I'm I'm just truly excited. So I wanted to share my perspective over the last number of years with district 301 in hope and the hope that I have for the future. Um the unique perspective I have is that
016I have seen past stumbling blocks and I hope that the past can inform the future. My first hope is for your choice of superintendent. There's some great research. There's some great stuff going on with the state superintendent association that talk about inclusion and how do we include students with special needs and my hope is that you guys choose wisely um so that again you have new hope going forward with this population. I've also witnessed firsthand your good staff do really great things and I was proud to see it. Um, I've also seen good staff be stifled. It's almost as if their own job security is on the line and there appeared to be micromanagement that was like paralyzing them. I've also witnessed very very amicable, conflictresistant parents be put in these positions where they want
017to be collaborative. They want to come to solutions but for whatever reason they get to a point of frustration to tears and it's usually with administration or some unknown from above because of lack of transparency. I've witnessed frustration with teams of parents and teams of special ed or IEP teams and what we thought was going to be just a real simple problem-solving solution. And these teams have been stopped in their tracks. It seemed as if administration from above would dig their heels in on what I would consider from my perspectal perspective fundamental rights of human beings. I was never really sure if it was fueled by district 301 administration or by the legal council that was trying to protect you. I look forward to the future. I hope that you can empower your great parents
018and your great staff to be the best that they can be. Thank you, Michelle Duminoski. Good evening. I'm here tonight not only as a concerned community member, but also as a parent of two children who have had IEPs within this district. I know firsthand what it means to advocate, to fight, and to feel like you're speaking into a void just to get to the support your children are legally entitled to. I want to raise a grave concern about a student with disabilities whose rights were violated and who has been silenced, stonewalled, and retraumatized by this district. The student had an IEP. The district failed to implement required accommodations. The family filed a state complaint and the state confirmed multiple violations of the students IEP and their right to a free appropriate public education. These weren't
019allegations, they were findings, and the state ordered corrective actions. Prior to this, the district cancelled an IEP meeting the family had waited nearly a month for in hopes to resolve the situation. When the family asked why accommodations weren't filed, they got I'm sorry, weren't followed, they got no response. It appears staff may have even been instructed to avoid the family choosing self-p protection over student support. This isn't just poor communication. It's a failure of truth, transparency, and accountability. And it's not isolated. It's part of a pattern. What's worse, public education dollars, including this family's own tax dollars, are now being used to fund lawyers fighting against them. Money meant to support students, is being used to shield the district from consequences of its own actions. And here's the larger truth. Too many families of students
020with disabilities are beat down by a system they don't fully understand. And districts count on that. They count on the fear. They count on the silence. And they count on parents giving up. If you are a parent of a child without a disability, you may never fully understand the heartbreak, desperation, and exhaustion that comes when you realize the system legally required to support your child is choosing not to. It is a special kind of grief to watch your child suffer in a system that promises equity but delivers silence. It is a special kind of fight that never seems to end. Families shouldn't have to become legal experts or warriors just to get what the law already guarantees. This has got to stop. And I'm urging this board to take immediate action. Ban confidentiality clauses involving
021cases of confirmed violations. Reimburse families that incur legal fees because of district not compliance and investigate the individuals within your own school district who obstructive accountability and enable to cover up. The law was broken and the public especially our students deserves better. Thank you. Thank you, Mike Dumoski. Oh, okay. [Music] Right. That concludes public comment. Motion and second are required to discuss and approve the consent agenda. So moved. Second. All in favor? I All right. 2026 2027 school agenda. A motion second required to discuss and approve the calendar for 2026 to 2027 school year. second. Any discussion? Um, I just want to kind of bring up and remind everybody we kind of moved the LA this year and next year because of a survey that was taken and like 58% of parents wanted the later
022start date and 43% of teachers wanted the earlier start date. So, we're looking at less than majority of teachers who only wanted the start the earlier start date. I know a lot of parents like it when we start later in August and I understand that there's some issues with kind of lining up with um our other districts and classes and things like that. It is about a week later. I'd be curious to see as what goes on this year and next year with the later start date and how does that necessarily interrupt things or what do other districts around us maybe do in taking maybe a later start date with Geneva and us starting later in the year. Ryan, I know you brought this forward at the last board meeting. I think it had, you
023know, you guys talked about this in committee. Can you shed any light to this and just some of the discussion? Um, in the committee there was a lot of discussion on the earlier start date corresponding with some of the programs that Morgan was talking about and it seemed like the majority that were in the room preferred the earlier start date as far as the teachers that were in the room preferred this earlier start date with some some that were kind of in the middle of the road, but there were there were several that were very that the the earlier start date helped them a lot better with their programs that they were involved in. And where do you know where the teachers were? Like what level the teachers were at? High school, middle school, elementary
024that wanted the later start date. I'll try to remember exactly. I know it's been a little I know high school was in favor of having that earlier start date. There were um I believe all of the high school staff that were there were in favor of the of that start date, but I didn't see anybody in the room that desented to that date either. Yeah, I think that typically and again this becomes the challenge of a of a unit district, right? Um and you know if you look closer to Chicago, you have elementary high school districts often, right? And so in those areas oftent times the elementary schools will start a week later um than the than the high school districts and some uh when we get out into unit districts, community districts, you it
025becomes this balancing act. And things are driven by a number of things. One is particularly at the high school level is when we have with our CTE programs, when we have with athletics, all of those things, there is a a a continuum around of where other districts are at. And it's this constant sort of battle of trying to figure out where we're going to start, where are we not going to start. Elementary parents generally want to have that longer time, right? And um high school parents and then as soon as you have a child in high school, now you're you're kind of like, okay, well, I got to be back for my high schooler. I want my elementary child to be in school as well so that I don't have to worry about child care
026in that area, right? Um it's it's the challenge that that it's this constant give and take of trying to find that perfect timing. Um with the number of students that we have about our CTE programs, special ed cooperatives, so students who are starting then the other thing that has which interestingly is has was a discussion but less was not as big of an issue that kind of came to the table was when does the semester end? people want to have their semester in prior to winter break. Um, many schools do not anymore, right? Many schools are going past into that January and they're going into that that later time. It really only matters for for high school who have semester singleton classes. Um, those are the class and we have a lot of those types
027of things here. Um so that's those are another thing um that really are the bigger kind of the bigger issues that kind of push that schedule. Part of it is is when you look at IHSA and when you look at timings of when schools can start athletics um and again that's a dis that's not just our district right that's across the districts that we what are those timings in schools starting say if we started the week later what is the timing for like sports beginning and what uh start before school. Yeah, right. I would have to I would have to have our athletic director probably perhaps answer on that question and he could come up to the microphone and speak to the microphone. Sorry. No, let Ted come up here. Let him shine. Patrick already
028warmed it up. So worried about um so the NHSA calendar is public. You know, they got they they go five years out and I believe next year our fall sports every fall sport at the high school start August 12th. And then as you go through that in the winter, there's like four different dates that it starts and it's kind of staggered. And then usually the spring is all, you know, that first Monday in March or the last Monday in February depending on that calendar falls. Okay. So like realistically this year I think we had a bit of a later start than other schools. So our kids and you know it just depends on the lens you look at it. you know, for the incoming freshmen who are participating, you know, they have about a week
029and a half to get accustomed to a building with nobody else in it and their teammates where, you know, other schools were playing have now, you know, been in school for a week and a half and kind of gotten that routine and they go. So, but again, that's just that's one factor and um like Kyle said, there's there's different ways to kind of look at that and go about it, but um in your opinion, did that that our later start this year create any big issues with it? I didn't see any issues per se. Really, it's just, you know, it it's coaches, kids, parents, they're they're creatures of habit, right? you go for three months and then you get back and you know we've got kids that are you know some of them are getting
030up at 8:00 in the morning for a you know 9 to 12 or 9 to 10 9 to 11 practice whatever it may be and then you've got other schools that are going through their day and they're falling in that routine of we're going to start practice at 3 we're going to go 3 to 5 and and kind of work that way in but you know with our inservice days and some of our staff that we're hiring more staff that are not teachers to coach just because we're not having that interest level so you know those kids that are kind of taking taking the mornings to themselves and then they're coming in at three anyway. So, it really just depends on the program. No major issues. We're fortunate with our coaching staff and a lot
031of our individuals who are running this that you know they adapt change and and overcome. But it's just a matter of, you know, what you as the board sees and what a majority of our staff and parents see are for those start dates. Because the other side of the coin is too is as we go into the spring postseason, a lot of our surrounding schools are graduating May 16th, 17th and you know, we got a week after that still going and you know, going into going into June. So, and then there's the special ed cooperatives that you know students who are who are going are outplaced and going other places they're going to start school at that time. Got students who are again within the CTE program. So, when you start moving around the dates
032and start moving now, you have a discrepancy of when different groups of people have to be in in place to begin with. And I think the challenge has always been and I don't care I don't care where you're at or what state you're in, right? I was in Colorado. Everybody wanted to start after Labor Day, be done by Memorial Day. They wanted a week off at Thanksgiving, two at Christmas, and we actually had we had two weeks of spring break and for spring break, but um but you can't, right? You can't do that, right? So you because there's just not enough calendar days. And so it's it's never there is no perfect science to it, right? Um it's challenging because people think the weather is nicer um you know, and and it's hotter, you know,
033in the summer, right? Um or it's hotter in August. So, we've had some of those challenges and we've seen it where we've had to cancel school days or we've had to make them shorter because of the heat that does happen in August and probably not, right? I'm probably not going to change that just from a week standpoint, right? I mean, usually it's later in August and stuff that that happens, but I think my only question Okay, fine, Ted. Yes, you can sit, Ted. Thank you. I see you over there. He's I mean we've heard it from athletics but Stephen is there anything you'd ask from a curriculum curriculum wise CTE what was the issues this year what are their issues did it work out easily what dual credit as well if they go dual credit
034well you know I think there's a couple of points on the academic side that get kind of washed out and one of them is we still have a pathways program so we have we have a whole population of students that um you know we have space and we want to continue as offer as many offerings as possible and we do that through our pathways program. So, we're sending kids to uh different locations. U46 uh 300 um 303 is coming on board uh doing a little bit more. We're not sure exactly what program offerings are going to be there, but um that provides an opportunity for some of our students who truly need it. Uh the other side of it is our students who are graduating. You know, there's a there's another population of students who
035are on track for graduation. Um so, you know that this concept of semester ending uh yes are there possibilities but we had a whole bunch of students this year that you know our our end of first semester was not in time for our students to go to ECC you know so their next step after um and I'm not trying to speak from the parent perspective that they're frustrated now their kid graduated uh and now wants to go off to our local community college to continue the momentum that they're gaining uh that there are other options for them But just because of the timing for them to get transcripts and and all those things, there are some legitimate things and that's that's you know 38 to 45 kids a year. Uh if you need a number
036about how many kids are early grads um but the alignment to uh ECC also with our dual credit in our building itself what I call the H sections. So that is our teachers are certified to teach some in-house their alignment goes then again to ECC's calendar. So when you're talking about their calendar starting in their ending date and then the second semester um you can imagine there there's also these other factors that get into it. So um some of that is just academic and then others of it is transportation. We started transporting kids that were in pathway programs at different times and then kids that are coming to us it creates another uh issue as uh you know Ted's indicating you know we're still in session now are those kids still coming to us from
037other districts and then what what do we work out on making sure that we have the ability to get those students in house uh as well. So I mean on the academic side it's a little bit more complex and just trying to do the best we can to support all kids and not create limitations when it's it's possible. Um so I would just say aligning to our partner districts does have an impact if we have the ability to do so. It does help kids. So, do you see that like when we made the change to next year's calendar to ending the semester prior to the winter break, that's going to make a different impact for you know kids who that's going to make a difference to the ECC students who are going to go and
038all of our dual credit alignment, right? Uh across core and CTE, okay, period. um the shift in semester meaning number of days then you get curricularly into how many days in a semester versus first semester second semester I'm not saying they have to be the exact same number of days and hours because that's really very difficult to do but by trying to create some semblance of balance you're you're able to do that and in normal circumstances our second semester is normally a little longer on days but that is because of some of the state testing and stuff that does make up the calendar which is all considered into our calendar creations. It's not just per se straight number of hours in a class. We we just got done with PS pret and act testing those
039days. We also when we're talking calendar and creation, we're thinking about all of those things as well uh that have impacts on the academic time that we want our kids to be moving forward. So I I would say we just the the number of complexities that go into that is pretty big. Yeah. And so I I I I appreciate the conversation, but I think that early or late start probably is more on the balance side of the difference between a first semester and a second semester. uh especially on our semester classes that let's say we're offering the same curriculum for example first semester and then you're thinking about mirroring it second semester and let's say you have 15 days different you know 15 days is a lot on on a curricular standpoint so just something
040to consider thank you that makes sense any other questions for discussion right thank you Stephen Okay. Fulpy. Yes. Boston. Yes. AI. Yes. Fulk. Yes. Pepis. No. He motion is carried. Uh. Now we'll move on to the architect contracts. Um motion and second are required to discuss and approve awarding contracts um to different architects. So we have um Get a motion to second, please. Sorry. I'll make the motion. Second. It's a motion to discuss. Discuss. Discuss. Yeah. Okay. Dan come up and Right. Dan's gonna come up and talk about his recommendations. Dan, come on down. Price is right. So as this board has has taken uh a part of the architectural interviews and you've seen different groups of architects over two different meetings. Um the process had been had started in in one direction and then
041as the board got involved kind of took a slightly different different direction to that part of it. Um so we're here now at the base of that taking into the kind of all of that data that has been gathered the presentations as well as the um the background work that happens with the the facilities committees Dan himself or Dana um and the business office to make the recommendation. Um so the recommendation that uh do you want to go in for any further detail on that? Yeah. Yeah. Just so um from our process, kind of like I put in our memo, I mean we did a pretty thorough um investigative process on all the vendors. Um our team took the time to put together a spreadsheet of the key factors for all of the firms that
042originally submitted. Um we did reference checks and interviews. Got some feedback from Dana. So through our our process, we came up with the recommendation that's in front of you for two architectural firms, Larsson and Derby Group and STR partners. As we went through this process, um I know I talked originally a lot about a small architect and big architect and I think that vision kind of changed a little bit. um when we saw the presentation and in the some of the research we did on STR group, their facility master facility master planning was pretty spot-on, pretty exemplary. That was like a strong suit for that firm. I think you saw that in their presentation. So, our team looked at it a little bit differently. We thought this would be a great opportunity to bring in
043a new firm, a new group, contract them to put together our facility master plan while we're sticking with our current architect Larsson and Darby Group to work on projects and do things in the interim till we get that plan completed. That would probably be roughly a year. I know some of the firms said six to nine months. I think it it would be probably a good part of a year that would kind of go into our new superintendent. we kind of have that plan kind of setting up our future. So that was kind of how this process transitioned for our team and myself. That's why where we came up with the recommendation we did and oh sorry and the thought still is like you said there would be one that would do the smaller projects
044and or you're going away from that completely. I mean not saying that we won't do that. We can still do that, but not from the get-go in my mind because I think I think it's going to take a new architect time to to get to know our district, to kind of see what's going on with us, get to know our buildings and all that. So, I think that would be a great opportunity for STR doing that facility master plan. It's going to get them to know the buildings, know the community, know the district, the staff, and everything and be able to do that. I think then we can make that determination on how we want to move forward. moving forward down the road you can choose any you can choose architects to do your actual
045if you if when you get to the point there's going to need to be something done um facilities wise right I mean that we keep growing we've done some things to to do some preemptive types of things potentially but there will need to be some some possibly significant work that happens um there are benefits to having an architect who knows the building and knows what's happening and going on in here a lot of that work that is done will have to be redone, right? And they're not done redone free. And I think that's the thing to to just consider as we're we're moving forward. Um some places may charge less than others. And obviously there's some work in there, but um there there are there are things that have been completed already within the works
046that the board just needs to take into consideration moving forward of what that looks like. And obviously this board will make certain decisions. obviously the board that will be seated in whatever time this meeting is over in uh 15 to 20 minutes will have to make some other decisions too moving forward. So um I think that's the the recommendation that Dan has based on his work and the team that they were putting together. And how long do you think it's going to take that new architect to like if we got two different new architects in that it would take them to get to know the district the way that you would want them to know it? I think if the firm that's going to do I I think we're to the point we need a
047facility master plan. I think that's in our best interest moving forward. The the group that does that process, which it should be one firm that does that, that probably is going to take a good year. They're going to definitely, if we were to go the route of have two different architects, I think it's going to make it very difficult for a second new architect to be able to learn at that same rate because I think it's going to muddy the water. If we're going to go that facility master, we want one firm to put all their resources into that, their planning into that. I think mixing two firms to create that process and create that plan is is going to be it's going to muddy things too much. I think we want one firm to
048focus on that and that firm is definitely going to have the leg up on learning the district and understanding through that whole process. I'll make a motion and support Dan and his decision to move forward with the two architects. I think he's done the leg work and I think it's, you know, it's his industry and we have to trust that process. So that was a motion to to accept the bid of Larson Derby and partner. Yeah. So if is there a second? Doesn't sound like there's a second. There's no second. So, if there's not a second Yeah. Thanks, Dan. If there's not a second, then the board has the has the right to call another motion um to name another architect. Another architect. I do have one question before we get to that. Um is
049the question is um when we make uh when we pass a uh motion for uh selection of a firm At that juncture, we're saying we want to negotiate a contract with that firm. Is that correct? Dan, do you want to talk a little bit about what that looks like? Now that you sit down, so these professional services for school districts, you do an RFQ. So, we're selecting qualifications. at the point in time the board chooses a firm then we would be talking finances and contract with that selected firm. Okay. And then um if we we we we pick a firm um and then uh Dan you and the the the administration you enter into negotiations with them and if you're not able to reach terms then what happens because the board has to approve those
050terms right well the board is board is approving the architectural firm right and then as you're going through you're doing it now you're working on projects right throughout there. So, one of the projects the board has asked for and which we have asked for as well is looking at the getting a master plan. Let's use that as an example. So, there'll be a basically here's they're going to give an estimate of what that is going to entail and then for transparency sake we want to make sure that you know what that's going to end up costing, right? Or a range of what that's going to end up costing. And then that's where that would come out um for board approval of yes, this is the plan that we want and that's we recognize the cost
051that that's going to to be of this board wouldn't do that part, right? Obviously, but then the next board would do that aspect of it. So what I remember seeing from previously was we there was like a a very extensive contract with Larson and Darby and it had like rates that were uh entered into it and then presumably because we've had that relationship for a long time there were addendums that were added maybe to change the rates as the you know the their costs went up with inflation and things like that. Um, so if we select a firm, I would assume that we wouldn't wait until the need arises to negotiate that contract. We would begin negotiating that contract so that there's some type of a a master agreement so that um and then when
052there's a project, then you go into the the details of, hey, what's this project going to look like? What's it going to cost? And then presumably we enter into some type of a written addendum that memorializes what that project is going to look like. I'm asking a question. I don't know that that's the process. So the the fee schedule would be based on contract value. That's how architects build their time. So based on the price of a the estimated value of a project, then that would there would be a rate associated with that. Typically with architectural firms, there is not addendums done for every single project. We have discussed future endeavors to maybe explore that option. It's not unheard of. It's not typical, but we've explored that option with the new architectural firms that we
053go with to have addendums for each project for clarity and transparity, making sure everybody knows what's going on. But though, it's a it's a fee structure based on the value of the projects. Okay. Thank you. One thing that you share is most of these uh contracts are kind of I don't want to say the same, but a lot of the same provisions are in them, right? So there's no it's not like one firm is going to be like worth a million dollars and one's only worth two. Like they're very similar in the way they're approaches are going to be they're going to be similar. They're all they're all working in the same market, right? Um and so you're you are you are they know what they know what everyone's charging charging um in there. So
054again, hence what what uh Dan was saying that it's becomes a component of the project itself becomes what the fee is. Yeah, I think it's shortsighted. I mean, this is Dan's industry and for nobody here to take good faith in what he does and how he brings forward the successes of buildouts and whatever the architectural I think, you know, I think it's tall telling. So, you guys can move on. So, um there's a motion out there and no, nobody seconded it, right? So, we move on. Yeah. So um I looked at I listened to the presentations that we had uh initially and um I presume that when the recommendation comes to the board it's for us to make a knowing decision a thoughtful decision based on um you know a a set of criteria and
055uh indishias of expertise And um I saw the spreadsheet that was created and that was helpful but it was not comprehensive. And then when we received the presentations, I thought that that added detail to uh like trying to understand what each firm was offering. And I thought that was good because ultimately um if if I'm going to take a vote on something, I want it to you I want to understand what it is. So, and and I and I appreciate Dan presenting to us, you know, uh these two firms, but just that presentation by itself without the benefit of those presentations from the firms wouldn't have been enough. Now, I realize that he's probably given a a more succinct presentation because we have the benefit of hearing from those four firms first and those two
056firms later. And so, when I listen to those six firms, um I'm just going to tell you personally, I I there's only one of the two that are on the recommendation that I felt, you know, comfortable with. And after listening to the other two, then I felt comfortable that there was a universe of three firms that I would feel, you know, merit further consideration and, you know, working on a contract with. That's just my take. Okay. One question I have uh for the board is do you feel that the two firms that so obviously like you said we had four firms and then we had two do you feel that the two firms that we had which were um FGMR and W did they have an um unfair advantage by going second in a way
057right and those two um going on that Monday that was obviously after the fact of those four presenting did they I don't know like I said have an advantage over those or do you think it didn't matter? Well, I can speak to that as from a personal perspective. I requested after the fir after the first presentation, I asked for the applications of all of the people who submitted and I took uh a day to read all of them and to kind of you know like go through everything um and sort of like uh create like my own like cheat sheet chart and see you know what are their years of experience, what percentage of their contracts are with school districts that are like ours and etc. etc., etc. When so, so I had uh I
058wouldn't say a comprehensive understanding, but I had a thorough understanding of what each of those um eight or nine firms offered. Uh when I compare what the four, you know, provided to us the first time and then what the two provided us the second time, I mean, I heard them hit the same issues. I didn't feel like, wow, you know, they presented something that the first four didn't. Um, really the difference for me was qualitative in what was found in the materials. They all had very slick presentations and pictures and, you know, canned presentations. Um, so no, I didn't I didn't feel like going second advantaged them because I don't think the second two firms in the presentation were qualitatively more impressive than the first four. It's it's what was underneath in terms of their
059experience and qualifications and what they're offering that I felt were were the differentiators. Um, Morgan, Brian, I know you guys are at the meeting, so any add I won't say that as eloquently as Jay did, but yes, I had the two firms that came in afterwards completely blown us away and answered all the questions that we had asked in the first presentation in their presentations, then I might then I might lean to the fact of yeah, they had a huge advantage because they took everything that we asked in the first set of interviews and covered it to a um extent extensively in their presentation, but they didn't um their presentation was very similar, like Jay said, to the first presentations, and we weren't looking at how flashy they were when they spoke to us. We're
060we had a I think all of us individually had criteria that we really wanted to see presented to us. Um, and the second two I didn't, in my opinion, didn't completely blow the others away in presentation. So, I don't feel like they had an unfair advantage. or if they did, they didn't use it to their benefit. Do we want to put forth a motion for other firms since So, are we making a motion for just one or like do we I think we can make how do we want to do it? I think we need two. I think it would be good to go with two. I agree with Dan that having that option with two different firms as a architectural firms is better than just one. I agree. Well, I mean I I before
061I make a motion because I don't want it to go on and on, but um I I like I like Wald. I do too. I agree. And I like STR. I agree. I agree. All right. Well, then I I move that we um select Wald and STR. I'll second. Any discussion? I know you weren't here. I wasn't here, so I'm abstaining from them. I'm not going to. Yeah. Any questions or discussion? All right. Roll call. Roll call. Watson, yes. The thief, yes. Folk, no. Papis, yes. Bulby, abstain. Yes. Motion is carried. All right. Now we will move on to committee reports. CCC uh curriculum director Burkmeer will provide an update for the curriculum. Oh, Ryan's going to do it. So yeah, you're going to do it together. And I will not do it as nicely.
062She will do it. Can you Can you do it like Shane though? No. No. Not even close. It's gonna be very choppy. I apologize. Um so I had the privilege to go to the CCC meeting before this meeting. um and kind of hear all the things that they're working on. Uh it sounds like they're working on expanding a lot of the programs that we currently have and making some improvements. Um, one of the I think one of the more impressive things that I noticed is we ran out of time because of all the discussion that was going on and I thought it was really interesting and helpful for me for someone who's new and trying to learn this stuff to hear all the different questions that are asked and to hear kind of like the
063brainstorming that goes behind um these curriculum meetings and to know that hey this isn't something that just is is very um just loosely thrown out there and we change things. something that um we're actually listening to each other and really working hard to find the best thing that um for our kids and for our district. So that was it was it was really nice to be a part of that. Was there anything you would add or did he did a great job I was there I believe he did a great job sky. All right, we'll move on to old business discussion, facilities update. Um, director Pauline will provide an update on construction and maintenance projects in the district. I'm gonna have Ted come up as well because they're going to share a little bit of
064some of this. So, Oh, okay. Come on forward. Let Dan go first though, Ted. First, this is the first that they're together. My goodness. Uh, just from construction update. So, uh, mobiles for country trails are ongoing. We're looking expecting delivery around the week of Fourth of July with those units. Um then probably four weeks or so to get them placed, build our connecting link and get that all set up. We're still on schedule to get that going for start of the school year. Um and then the roof project will be our other will be our other project for the uh So you just wait. Yeah. And then our HBT roof project will be the other major project for this summer. So that's an additional four classrooms, right? on top of the other uh four classroom.
065Absolutely. So, eight total. Yep. So, the thing I want to jointly have them talk about is a little bit the scoreboard part if you want to and he'll get out of your way. Ted, my ust my illustrious partner has has got this great plan to uh kind of simultaneously update the high school scoreboards and then utilize the old scoreboards over at Central Middle School to update that facility. Um those are the old Christmas light scoreboards. So we would kind of transfer those over as part of the plan that Ted's going to discuss and then make that inadequate. We could play freshman competitions there. It'll make it nicer for middle school kids. So that's kind of part of the master plan of this new scoreboard for high school. Yeah, the information in that package just kind
066of a longterm and there are other surrounding schools that have used this power ad company. Um I know Huntley's going through it right now and I know Mckenry kind of dabbled in it. I could probably look and find some more. But as we can kind of continue in this phase of of the unknown moving forward and we grow and we we look at kind of the facilities knowing that the need for the middle school scoreboard to kind of be updated not only for our middle school kids but our our community groups that use it as well. And then having the ability for this company to go out with that with the help of us, maybe our booster club and and look at some sponsorship ads much like if you've been in our high school gym,
067they're static. This would add an element of a video board that you know throughout the year in that gym would be utilized and then could be utilized curricular wise with PE departments you know various assemblies that we have in that gym just add another element like if you were to walk into a a sycamore or any other surrounding school that that has this and then it would come at a minimal cost to the district knowing that you know we would work with some of our partners in our community looking to to kind of help partner in this and you know giving a given a small upgrade to what we have right now in our gym. So what happens is that the the district basically pays for the installation of the of this. The board does
068have to approve um it's board policy to approve the advertising space on a scoreboard. That's a that's actually specifically spelled out in the board policy. So what would happen is is as they're working with them they would come back then say here's the organizations the groups that want to to sponsor and they have various levels of sponsorship um for that then it would come back the board would just approve them or or not to then be on those boards. Yeah, we wouldn't bad news beer fans. Wouldn't be like Chico's bail bonds or anything up there. We'd make sure they are, you know, unless they're willing to pay 50,000 for the nice. So, we want to bring you up to speed on that that part of it just because we need to get moving kind of
069forward with that. You don't have to do anything specifically now. Um, but they would once the advertisements are are set then those would come back for for any approval. I guess just for your knowledge of as I know as things change but just the ability for whoever's in that chair as they carry over because as we do know and this is just the facts on my on our end like a lot of our providers the high school safe association uses Wilson as the official game ball for a lot of events and you know as we look at what's going on with our economy we're getting emails now that the price of that is going up when you look at a lot of where these products come from and where they're built and how we do
070it you know trying to be able to capitalize on this now instead of, you know, potentially kicking it down the road and seeing where we're at. And like I said, obviously if the need wasn't there, we wouldn't be bringing this. But, uh, even though I know who may be in the chair and coming along and just to be able to set the groundwork so whoever's next would be able to kind of pick that up and run with it, it's an opportunity. And that as you know, you talk about facility upgrades, being able to explore that in other areas, knowing that that's going to be help from, you know, various partnerships with our community rather than the the burden of the district itself is is just an opportunity I think worth exploring. But ultimately, it's up
071to what what's decided here. That's awesome. You said it would be installed this summer like would if Well, no, we would go out, we would work with our current booster club and just kind of get get a list together, allow that company to kind of go out and start having some of those conversations to kind of see where that lands and then kind of go from there. If those conversations go well, it could be that would be the goal. Be awesome. Thank you. Anything else, Ted? Ted, Dan will step aside. D. No, he's going to step aside. Yeah, he's over. Um, I just wanted a quick update. Um, video board was one of them, but we are in our spring season. Uh, believe it or not, it was another windy day out at Rocket Hill.
072Uh, blown straight out for JV baseball, straight in for varsity softball. But, uh, a big thank you to Dan and his crew. I know we've got a new batting cage for the girls out there. despite the rain and the weather, uh, our fields are are in great shape and, uh, you know, our our participation numbers for the spring again are through the roof. We are continuing to grow and as much as I know the gentleman has as two young ones and he just left um I do know a lot of people have come to me girls flag football is emerging tennis swimming those are all things that seem to be brought up and I just I I would caution you that adding in the best interest of the kids is great but I do think
073there are some space issues that need to be solved at the high school before you know you just kind of put some in hopefully as as we go down that path We've got a lot of sports right now that as you talk to our coaches would I would say are underst staff currently of what we currently have taking care of that before we kind of broach I know when I started we inherited bass fishing lacrosse those were all awesome but we're running into some space challenges with lacrosse as we continue to grow so all for adding but much like you know you as a board you know figure out the facility upgrades and and where they're going to go that needs to be a thought as well Because as much as you go to the
074high school and you look around, there's a lot of green space and corn fields, but the available space that we have for use and on top of what dance crew has to to maintain a lot of that, we are we are kind of at capacity. And I don't mean that negatively because I'm not trying to say no, don't add. It just needs to be a real conversation of what that looks like because as you add not only does that impact space but I know I know Pam Porto our transportation director we work great but the challenges of getting the bus not just for our middle school kids but for high school kids and it's not the buses we have but it's the amount of drivers that we have too that when you add that you're
075putting a lot of pressure on other people and I just want to make sure that anything we do is worth doing correctly. Um, same thing with our clubs and our activities. You know, when I started, you know, talking with with Griff and Kyle, you know, we've added job descriptions. Finally, you know, we're going to evaluate some of those and find out what's meaningful. Because as much as we want to add opportunities for our kids, if we're lacking in one area to be able to offer those across the board, not just at our high school level, but all the way going down to the elementary to give those kids something to to build on and look forward to as they get up there. And um, I know that As I was coming through here, I've poured
076my heart and soul into this job and it's kind of bittersweet. You know, I look at all these kids and the gentleman that left, I've got a 18-month-old at home that, you know, she learns something new every day and I'm like, where did you learn that? But, you know, we're putting a lot of time in here to benefit kids and our families. I want to thank you as a board and everybody in this room for the opportunity. I know it's been bittersweet, but uh like I've told everybody and administration, coaches, whoever, I'm a phone call away with anything I can do to help, but I hope nothing but the best as we go forward as I kind of look at my final month and a half here. But again, I'd be remissed if I didn't
077say thank you for all the support and moving that needle that we did despite all the challenges. And hopefully, you know, whoever takes over and as we go forward, that continues. But know that you'd have my support and help in anything I can do. But I just wanted to make sure you heard that from me prior to anything else. So, thank you. And thank you. Thank you. Yeah. We appreciate you. Thank you again, Ted. All right, we'll move on to new business. Uh any agenda items for the next board meeting um that you want to suggest? Right. Right. For Ryan, Morgan, anything you want to add? I'm good. I'm good. You guys good? All right. All right. Next up, recognition of outgoing board members. So, superintendent. Yes. I I obviously I have been here maybe
07818 days. Um than most of you if you've taken to the actual days that I've been working. Um but I do want to thank you for the opportunity. Uh it has it has been certainly interesting. Um and and honestly enjoyable. I will say, right, this is my first interim gig. If Griff was here, he'd be talking forever, right? I'm not sure. He's talking now. He's talking now. He's he's he's watching at home. Griff, you're watching home. Um he's saying something. But it's it really has been a pleasure working with him, but it's also been a pleasure working with all of you and getting to know know each of you here. And so I we have just a small um gift acknowledgement, a thank you. And so I'm going to open one up. I'm gonna open
079up marks because you're right here on my right hand. There you go. That's why um we want to thank you for your time. Oh, okay. We should have opened these up before I checked them. I put together um they they say something nice and I'm not sure I can read it. Uh they have your name so you can't sell it. Don't if you're gonna put it in a Goodwill, if you're gonna give it to Goodwill, do it some way. Okay? But um because I've gotten a bunch of these, too, and like all of a sudden I'm like, "Oh, what do I do with these now?" That's like 20 years later. Um but they're always nice. Thank you for your service and commitment um on the central to the central school central 301 community school board
080member 221 to 225. So Mark, you get yours first. Thank you. Thank you. And each of you, if you want to say something, you can say something. Um, you know, I I just jotted some notes down. So, as I step away from the uh position on the school board uh due to the recent election, uh I want to take this moment to express my gratitude um for the opportunity to serve the district and the community over the past four years. Uh throughout my term um every decision I made was guided by a core principal putting the students and teachers first. Um I approached this role with integrity and thoughtfulness um and asking the tough questions that always um made me well informed for the decisions that I made. Um, it's been an honor uh to
081advocate for the educational excellence, equity, and well-being of every learner and educator in this district. Uh, to my fellow board members and administration staff and broader community, thank you for your collaboration. Um, I'm not stepping away from the board, uh, you know, without letting you know that I'll continue to fight from the heart, uh, and hope that the dedication and opportunity, uh, helps me put everybody first, uh, especially the students and teachers. So, uh, thank you for this time and opportunity. Thank you. Start to listen, Jay. I won't open yours because that way you can. It says the same thing except your name is on it. But thank you. Thank you for your service. Thank you very much. Feel free to say something if you want to. Thank you very much. Short and sweet. I
082didn't have time to get comfortable. I was the Jennifer. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I will do short like Jay. And then finally, D. De and Morgan who I met first. Uh D who has been my constant um travel home phone call companion. Um and so thank you for your service on this and I know we'll continue working together through the education foundation um which we have a meeting tomorrow night. Uh and so thank you. Um I didn't rehearse this probably best, right? So I just want to thank you all as a community, teachers, staff, administrators. Obviously, you know, as he said, I'm not going anywhere. But, um, this has been a pretty enjoyable experience. Um, even some of the dissent that we had, you know, we had disagreements, we had agreements.
083For me, it was all just learning and knowledge that I'll take away from it. So, I just want to thank you all for your support. Um, and as I said, I'm not going anywhere. I'm here for the kids. I'm here for you guys. Um, but thank you all that. Thank you all. Thank you. All right. So, yeah, information. Okay. Information items. Uh the enrollment report uh it was uh included in your board packet. Uh the foyer report as well was included in the board packet. We already talked about the scoreboard. Thank you. Um Dan and Ted. Um so I need a motion second or required to adjourn. Oh jeez. Die. Seeen die. It's time to go. Move to adjurnn. done. Second. All right. All in favor? I thank you everybody. We will start over. And
084yep, a second. We're going to call this meeting to order. Um we're going to first seat the new members and um since the normal order would be the sitting president or this case it'll be the vice president from the previous board will actually walk talk you through your oath. So you should all have a copy of the oath in front of you. And then you all have to stand up. Stand up. And you will administer. You guys are just going to read it all at the same time where it says your name. Obviously, if you don't say your name, my name. Okay. All right. Go ahead. I Andy do that faithfully discharge the duties of the office of the board of education of central community and school district in accordance with the constitution of the
085United States of the state of Illinois and the laws of the state of Illinois to the best of my ability. I further swear that I shall respect taxpayer interests by serving as faithful protector of the school district. I shall encourage and respect the free expression of opinion by my fellow board members and others who seek their hearing before the board while respecting the privacy of some students and employees. I shall recognize that a board member has no legal authority as an individual and that decisions can be made only by a majority vote at a public meeting. I shall abide by majority decisions of the boardaining the right to seek changes in such decisions through ethical and constructive channels. As part of the board of education, I shall accept the responsibility for my role in the
086equitable and quality education of every student in the school district. I shall foster with the board for extensive participation of community, formulate goals, define outcomes, and set the course for central community school district 301. I shall assist in establishing a structure and an environment designed to ensure all students have the opportunity to attain their maximum potential through a sound organizational framework. I shall strive to ensure a continuous assessment of student achievement and all conditions affecting the education of our children in compliance with state law. I shall serve as education's key advocate on behalf of students and our community schools to advance the vision for central community unit school district 301. And I shall strive to work together with the district superintendent to lead the school district towards fulfilling the vision the board has created, fostering
087excellence for every student in the areas of academic skills, knowledge, citizenship and personal development. Thank you. Congratulations. You may be seated and welcome to welcome to the board. That is the longest that you will ever have to read at one time. That was difficult. But thank you and welcome to all of our all of our new board members. You will actually get four name plates at the next meeting in May. So we will go from there. Okay. Recording se Secretary Mandy, will you take roll call? Dogen here. Foreman. Reva here. Here. Wson here. Welch here. So at this time we have to reorganize the board. Obviously there's new members that are on here. The current um even vice president etc no longer are in effect. So at this time um president we need a nomination
088for president prom in reorganization. Okay, I'd like to nominate Morgan Papis as president promp. Second. Okay, congratulations. Oh, okay. Where? All in favor of the motion to appoint me Morgan as president prom by signifying by saying yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. I will hand the chair over. Well, that's me. Yeah. Yes. Okay. Okay. Nominations are now in order for the office of president. Any nominations? Uh I nominate Ryan. Sorry. We have a second. I'll second. Okay. So Brian is nominated. Are there any others? Ryan being the only candidate nominated for the office of president and the chair hereby declares Ryan elected by acclamation and directs the recording secretary to so record in the minutes. It goes to him. [Laughter] Get too wild. We need to babysit that. Okay. So now, so now it's over. Okay. Nominations
089are now in order for the office of vice president. I nominate Morgan Papus. Do a second. I'll second. Just Morgan Papis is nominated. Are there any others? Are there any other further nominations for the office of vice president? Morgan Papis being the only candidate nominating for the office of vice president. The chair here declares Morgan Papis elected by acclamation and directs the recording secretary to so record in the minutes. Okay. Nominations are now in order for the office of secretary. I nominate Scott Mukvika for the office of secretary. I'll second. Scott Rebecca is now is nominated. Are there any others? Are there any further nominations for the office of secretary? Scott Rebecca being the only candidate nominated for the office of secretary. The chair hereby declares Scott elected by acclamation and directs the recording secretary
090to so record in the minutes. So, um, in your packet, your information is a list of the committees that have board participation. Um, the committees that are currently listed, uh, and the current and the current members that are currently on there. So, if you are interested in any of these between now and the next meeting, um, please let Ryan know and then he will work with Mandy and and Griffer I to get you on there. This will also tell you when they meet and and kind of what uh what times they're meeting. Just know that most of these meetings I think meet during the summer. So, most of them are not meeting in June, July, and August. So, just that makes a difference on anything. Um, and if you have any questions about them or
091what they do, you can give, you know, anybody, you know, obviously you can give Morgan a call. Ryan has been on came to a DT meeting and he came to a CCC meeting, so he's he's now an expert uh, as well. So, we'll just feel free to give us a call if you have any questions about what those committees do. The next order is going to be for your school board meeting calendar, which also in your packet. And this is really the the main thing that you do for um at this meeting. This is your action item. These are the meetings that we we have generally. They are Mondays. You'll notice January and February are in Tuesdays just because we're off on the Mondays prior to that. Um these are the regular scheduled meetings and
092this is what's posted as regular scheduled meetings. We do often have special meetings uh that will come up. Uh clearly there's a lot of things that this board is going to be working on which number one will be hiring a new superintendent. Uh and that will have to start happening as far as getting a um deciding how you're going to do that. You're also going to need to be filling the two-year position that was vacated by Ryan moving into the elected into the four-year position. So those we'll talk about that a little at the end. Those are some of that are there. Um and at various times there there are often special meetings that are called um Griffer I will always call up and try to get at least we have to have a quorum
093here. Uh but we try to have those meetings so that we can continue the business of the of the district. So right now you can go on to meeting then. So for the approval of the school board meeting calendar, I'd request a motion and a second to approve the school board meeting calendar through school year 2026. I'll second voice. All in favor? I motion pass. So the final in your packet is filling schoolboard vacancies. As of today, we now a vacancy on on the board. So, this tells you a little bit about the process in there. This is the school the policy um that's involved with that to 70. Uh we have you have 90 you have 60 days sorry 60 days to fill that. Uh Manty will be calling the regional office tomorrow to
094let the them know that it exists. We have five days to do that. She'll take care of that tomorrow this week. Um we then if you after that you will see kind of pages. This is kind of an exhibit checklist for how you go about filling that. So, one of the things that we'll need to do, and again, Ryan will I will work with Ryan on communicating this out to you, is to set up some times and a process of how you want to do that. We will need to get it posted. Um, and so with that, we'll need to know who the who the applications are going to, um, and kind of timelines if you're going to run interviews, etc., how how you're going to do that. So my suggestion kind of take a
095look at this stuff and then over the next week or so we we will need to get it posted hopefully by next week um that'll give us time then within that 60 days. Technically you have until the June the June board meeting to um to seat them but they would need to be seated by the June board meeting at the latest. Okay. Any questions about that? Okay. And you've got two of them for public comment now. Um PK. Good evening. Good evening. Um, uh, let me start by, uh, saying congratulations to, uh, to Micheline and Scott and Ryan and Andy, uh, for, uh, prevailing in the election. Um, I look forward to your leadership on the board and, uh, exciting things ahead. Um uh I uh I noticed that on the agenda for the special
096meeting uh it's omitting something that is important um now that you're sitting on the board which is uh a new business item so that you can discuss what you want to have on the agenda for the next meeting that you preside over. And uh since it's not there um in case you don't have an opportunity to actually talk about that, I thought I would just help out um by suggesting a few things um that uh you may want to consider. And by the way, the district's policies do say that district residents may suggest inclusions for board meeting agendas. So I'm going to take the opportunity to do that. Um the first thing is that um uh the board has approved a set of policies in each of the three past regular meetings the past three
097months and um you know I spent a lot of time reading those policies uh when I uh originally thought about running for the board um when we were prepping for the Q&A we all participated in to to help people understand what we uh wanted to do uh and also So in in leadup to the board meetings to kind of um you know just read the packet be informed and I saw a bunch of places where um there are gaps. So there's a logical gap in the policy there's a logical gap with respect to one policy and a related policy. There's a gap between what the policy says and what we appear to be doing in the district as a practice. And then there are gaps between the policies and the underlying statutes. And so um
098I think one of the things that I would recommend as an agenda item is to discuss kind of how you want to tackle that. How do you want to take the entire policy book and break it down in kind of construct a process whereby there can be a substantive discussion that can't happen inside a board meeting because the public can only make three minute comments, right? Um and and it's just it's too detailed. But um you know what's the process you want to follow to kind of get into the into the weeds of that and really kind of strengthen those policies to make sure that the the law the policy the practice you know kind of all in alignment and we kind of close some of those those those those those holes. Um the second
099thing I wanted to comment on is that uh uh well I'm glad I'm glad um D that uh the uh architecture firm selection moved off the consent agenda into the regular agenda and then there was a discussion and um I was also happy to see that it kind of shifted uh towards STR and W uh in the end of that conversation. Um uh I wanted to also suggest that uh the new board consider having a third firm um whether it's one of the ones already present or another one. I I'm a little bit unclear you know there's a there's a law that pertains to the selection of architecture and related such uh such firms. uh and I was a little bit unclear from the discussion whether that law pertained or didn't pertain to the stage
100that the district is in in terms of the selection process. Um but but that law does sort of have a provision that says no less than three firms um you know are selected prior to the contracting phase. And so if that applies should do that. If it doesn't apply, maybe it's still just a guide in terms of how to do something uh in a way that is more in line with typical how organizations typically operate. Um I also think that um you know while Larson and Darby was not selected, there are a number of things for the board to discuss and consider related to Larson and Darby. Uh I know some of you uh up there know much more about this than I do. Um but um in particular uh with regard to the foyer
101request on the district's contracts with Larson Derby, it was unclear uh whether or not there was a properly executed counterigned agreement between the district and Larson Derby related to uh the plans constructed for the new high school and and I think also related to some of the actual work that was done over the past uh you know however many months or years. Uh and so there are still things I think to address uh with large senate derby to mitigate risks to the district and um those things can still be done right those things can be cured. Um so that I think is a good topic. And then I think the third thing um I would suggest I have many more uh but the third thing I suggest just for time is that um you know
102you delve into the topic of uh staff retention and satisfaction. um you know a lot of people are hopeful that the change will bring good things right and it's important for that momentum to carry through over the course of the first meeting the second meeting the third meeting and people see that momentum really come to fruition and and given that we have such low teacher retention I would suggest that that's appreciate you third topic thank you Virginia. Hi, welcome new board and uh what existing board members. Um uh let's see. I something I've noticed through the past couple years I guess that I've been here is it didn't seem like well it was kind of diff dysfunctional because of what we had going on in the past. So I'm pretty um hopeful and how do
103I want to say um kind of excited I guess to see what the new board is going to come up with and things like that. So, um I'm just kind of hoping that the district's books um are audited um not only by the board members but perhaps an audit firm to see where there's any excess spending or even any excessive reserve accounts cuz um actually there's a a village that has over a million dollars that they didn't know about. So, uh, that's quite interesting. So, anyway, um, hopefully you don't find anything like that, but, um, let's see. Um, and with staffing issues, I'm also hoping that's going to be relieved um, with the exit of the superintendent and because it has been said that the staff the and the teachers have endured a lot and
104has been an it it's more been an environmental issue than I think a pay and benefits thing. Um, and it could still be an issue as far as staffing just because there it is, from what I've heard, there is a shortage of workers anyway, no matter what um career they have. So, um, it seems there a lot of places are having trouble finding people. Um, I think that was all. Yeah. And I just I trust that the decisions for whatever uh y'all make for the space considerations that it's you know the I guess the current buildings are taken well into consideration. Um and hopefully we can only add on we only need to add on to those buildings and not have to build a brand new one. But um um I trust that um the
105people here that were watchd dogs will continue to be the watchd dogss um within the board and you know have that extra edge. So um I guess that's all and thank you and looking forward to to a new season. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right. I need a motion and a second to adjurnn. So moved. Second. All in favor?