001e e e all this mean to order Mandy recording secretary please take R call aif here Fulk pres Corman here papis here OPI pil here all right speaking of vuli um I'd like a motion second or required to allow member Jennifer Bui to join the meeting prely per board policy 222 as she is traveling for work some second a yes Fulk yes Gorman yes papus yes pil yes so oh all right Jennifer we heard you so we know you're there hear oh we can thank you yes request a motion in second to approve the agenda so Mo second Fulk yes Corman yes papis yes Bui yes aif yes pil yes motion is carried let's please stand for the pledge of allegiance of the United States of America and to the rep for it stands one
002nation under indivisible with liy and justice for all all right thank you all for coming out today and for those of you that are at home um before we start though I would like to make a statement a brief statement I I'll start the timer myself um I'll keep it short and then after the statement what I'll do is I'll um introduce our two co-s superintendent enterings all right just want to provide some background on the selection process of the two um inter rooms following the board's approval of the mutual departure of our former superintendent we immediately began the search for our interim replacement the Illinois Association of school boards I B presented several candidates and former board president Dr Nolan asked Morgan and I to represent the board in conducting the initial interviews after
003a brief screening we selected three candidates for further evaluation to ensure a well-rounded selection process we conducted panel interviews with district office staff Administration the C President and Vice President and the best president on February 10th and 11th I sincerely appreciate the time and effort of those who participated in those discussions the panel's Insight along with candidate responses were shared with the entire board and discussed at last Wednesday's special meeting some have asked why Dr how could not continue as interim superintendent since the former superintendent's departure he has been balancing both the in interim superintendent role and his responsibilities as Director of Human Resources it's an immen immense challenge the board recognized the import an of strong leadership at all levels and to ensure stability We Believe appointed an interim superintendent fully dedicated to the
004role is in the district's best interest Dr how served with unwavering commitment and we sincerely appreciate your dedication on February 26 the Board of Education approved the hiring of Dr Griff Powell and Dr Kyle Schumacher as interim co- superintendent we understand that the leadership transitions bring challenges and this decision was made with the utmost care for the future of our district our role as a board is to recognize when changes are necessary and to forge a better path forward for our students Educators staff and administration finding the right interim leadership was not an easy task we sought experienced professionals who could provide stability address challenges offer fresh insights and most importantly help heal and unify our district Dr pal and Dr Schumacher both retired superintendents come with highly recommended and highly recommend and bring a
005wealth of expertise due to State teacher retirement service postretirement limits retired superintendent can work a maximum of 120 days per year without affecting their pensions to ensure full-time leadership coverage districts often appoint two interim superintendents who share the responsibilities in our case Dr pal will work on Mondays and Wednesdays Dr sh will work on Tuesday and Thursdays and they will alternate Fridays this structure ensures continuous leadership without additional financial burden to provide stability as the new board searches for its permanent in superintendent Dr pal and Dr Schumacher will serve through June of 2026 this timeline allows for a thorough collaborative search process involving input from Educators staff administrators and the broader 301 Community finding the right leader for our district will be a collective effort and your voices will be essential in shaping the future
006of our schools please note if for some reason the new board finds that Dr pal and Dr Schumacher are not a fit for the district there is a 30-day notice clause in the contract at which point we could mutually part ways we look forward to working together and during this transition appreciate the district's continued support and without further Ado we're going to start with you Dr Dr pal go ahead and introduce yourself I've been in education for half a century uh i' I've been a superintendent for over 30 30 years I did 12 interim superintendencies where I walk in situations similar to this with smaller districts I I go without a partner uh when larger districts of this size are larger we I would work with a partner why do we do it every other
007day for the sake of synergism if if in fact we de Ed a week on a week off or a month on a month off what goes on in schools in one week is enormous amount of issues that pop up and the only way you deal with that on a daily basis is you are fully aware of all everything going on dayto day and every from Monday to Tuesday there's a lot of things going on and be when when I finish on a Monday my hand off to skyle will be uh so seamless that everything that's brought up on Monday he will be fully aware of when he walks it on Tuesday when I talk about synergism sum of the whole is greater than the part and greater than the sum well that's exactly what
008you're going to get you're going to get two brains working on the same issues and problem solving one of the biggest biggest issues uh that the superintendent somebody somebody's asked me what do you do for a living I said and when I rather getting into the superintendency I'm a Problem Solver one of the problems I can just I'll tell you a little bit that was scream I don't want to take too much time uh was a I was a superintendent of Highwood Highland Park District 111 which now doesn't exist and what happened there is we we had for cheridan we had Highwood if you know where that is is right on the lake and we also had the northern part of Highland Park the district was going broke because we had 500 military children coming
009off the fort non- taxable land we had them coming into the district with at the same time we were getting $1900 from the federal government and we were spending 10,000 and we could not spread that cost off to other taxpayers so I had a congressman that was uh very powerful Republican con Congressman named John Porter he had Glen viw Naval Air Base he had the Great Lakes Naval Air Base and he also had for cheran so he had a lot of power in Congress so I said well I'm going to get more money for these kids that's it's just that simple how could how could they do this to to these military families he got me a meeting in the Pentagon with Cheney he was Secretary of Defense at the time and I was Don
010keyote saying you're not going to send those those their parents over in harms way in the Middle East and you're not going to give me the money to educate their kids and I was just it was insane to me why that was not the case well he was sort of in between heart attacks and he sort of put up with me and as I was walking out of the Pentagon the congressman put his arm around he said here's the political truth there's not enough military bases in Congressional backyards so when it comes to a vote they don't nobody cares and that was shocking to me as a a young administrator thinking that everybody has a the intent the right intent for children well I came back home and what I ended up doing is consolidating
011three Districts The District called Northshore District 112 is the district I Consolidated but to to campaign for it I literally had had to say because I didn't want to be seen as getting this fat cast superintendency uh once the referendum was over I said well I'll leave town if if that and I was so successful I left town I ended up in New York for five years so and I I give you that story because to me you've got a lot of problems and we're going to do everything we can in the next 16 months to resolve as many problems as we can and in in a very positive way and hopefully bring people together and and not get create any kind of division within the community uh the board has been I think very
012uh fiscally conservative uh what what we're paid is going to be Less in total than you would have if you had a permanent superintendent in place when I told the board president I said tell me the total package of the outgoing superintendent and it's going to be even more for a new incoming superintendent and we're going to take less money than that so they're going to save money the money they're going to save they're going to use uh to use that money to hire a new superintendent through either search firm or the Illinois School Board Association those are the two choices unless you want to do it alone I wouldn't recommend it uh but that's another option so to to me the the board is doing what other boards have done uh buying some time
013the pool of candidates in the fall is a lot deeper and and you'll get a lot better candidates than if you do it in March April May most districts that are be the superintendents who are very successful and are very comfortable in their position don't want to really walk out that early they want to give us a proper notice to their their boards most likely if this board does goes down the path they're headed they will the the in the fall you'll have focus groups you will tell the board what you're looking for the community is looking for in the superintendent and and once you get that that data from the focus groups the board will ask the whether if it's a search firm or a Schoolboard Association to take that information and give them
014some candidates they'll probably my guess is in a district like this you probably get 60 to 80 candidates if it's a nationwide search and from that you you'll get down to 5 to 10 candidates that the Bo will receive they're going to be working their head off during the fall they're going to be interviewing all these folks they once they get the their finalist down to two or three those people will meet the community you'll have your your take a shot at them and and be able to give feedback to the board about what kind of uh person that you want uh part of their their job will be then to do a site visit which is uh taking time out of their own personal lives to and and the inter superintendant are not part
015of this Pro process the the search process our job is to run the district and and support our our our staff and give them all the resources necessary to do the job for Kids Day dayto Day and make make sure they stay focused on the most important decision they ever make and that's the hiring of a superintendent because if they make a mistake the whole Community loses and a lot of Staff members would weave here if they may make the right decision some of the dreams that you have for this district will come true so to me I'm happy to help uh what what the board president just mentioned uh if the new board comes on and they feel that we're not helping the situation no problem you have a a clause in the contract
016which was appropriate for It's actually an all interim contracts yes so to me uh they we have a commitment here but at the same time the board could actually change that at any time so if the new board wants to make a change so be it so we're ready to do it but we're going to do everything we can uh to to support the staff and and do what we can for children during the T time the board is focusing on their biggest decision but that's C what you got say good night good night good night there you go uh Kyle Schumacher I have um have been a superintendent for 12 years uh few less than than Griff this is actually my first interim um I'm excited to work with Griff he has he's obviously
017has had experience doing this I've had experience being a superintendent and I think that will'll be a good team uh in working on this he's got much more exciting engaging stories about amazing things that he has done I enjoyed skiing and lived at a ski resort while I was superintendent in tell you ride for four years that's like the exciting part that I did um we're here to help we're here to provide perhaps a fresh look at things just as as sort of Outsiders who are here to um really help both the board um as well as the district office staff and the administration um through these next these next 16 mon months during this process and I we were at three different schools today this uh rocket Hill I think it's called is that
018the term Central Hill today so I got to see some of the schools and we're very excited uh graciously welcomed by them and as well as the the staff here at the district office but excited for what's happening I loved walking into the schools um just seeing the enthusiasm of the teachers and uh and all the conversations they were having as well as meeting the administrators there so thank you for this opportunity and we look forward to working further and had a real pleasant surprise today my student from when I was a principal of Stevenson High School Mark was one of my students I remember his sister because his sister was smarter than him but oh oh I'm sorry no we we actually lived we lived within a block apart correct Park he knows he
019knows exactly where my house was now I don't hold that against me I know now I know who put that paint on my my my walls true stories one of my students all right is that good for intros all right with that we'll go into public comment Sher thank you you're welcome I would like to begin my name is Sher musel I'm a fourth grade teacher at hbt mentary and um I'd like to begin by thanking the board for allowing me this opportunity to provide perspective with regard to upcoming policy decisions facing the board there seems to be a general feeling among the stakeholders in our schools that's the taxpayers parents teachers students that some policy decisions concerning the schools have been made without provision for input from the group's most affected by these policy
020changes no organization benefits in this type of atmosphere I am a taxpayer in the district I'm a parent I'm a teacher and I feel like a student sometimes and I know that all of the people involved with schools in District 301 are very optimistic that we are at a point of change on this issue we are all so very hopeful I'm going to limit my own statement tonight to a proposal that was presented to elementary schools concerning the reimplementation of an accelerated gifted program in the district I taught in the previous program in our district at Lily Lake Elementary a program that I feel was successful for many reasons but was ultimately cut out of the curriculum about a decade ago because of concerns of cost called The Challenge program this initiative itive was implemented
021by then gifted coordinator Lori heisy who still teaches in the district and District curriculum coordinator Nancy hayhurst with Cooperative input from participants at the local school level those participants had a positive impression of working with the district to establish and maintain the program in many ways I felt the challenge program was a success because it was done at the building level and within a learning community in their own schools with their own classmates their own classmate groups and buildings with their own physical communities and close to their own educational home it was an effective program for elementary Learners with effective support in order to be successful and accepted by the stakeholders I have learned that a program like this has to be carefully integrated into a system with the help of people who understand how
022important communication is at every touch point along the way there are sensitive issues with a program like this for students parents teachers and administrators that must be addressed cooperatively as we approach this policy issue it appears that we are now at the point where we can reinstate that kind of Cooperative thinking in a more practical sense and from a classroom teacher perspective I certainly understand the value of a program that provides services to students have who have displayed academic talents beyond their assigned grade level it is a worthwhile investment for the district no matter the impetus for the policy proposal any program needs to be carefully constructed though and professionally integrated with the Cooper ation of all stakeholders if it is to be successful and I feel that the Educators have not been part of
023that but also from the perspective of a classroom teacher in the year 2025 this type of policy initiative needs to be Sensi sensitive to the needs for balance in support of all students in my classroom it has been well documented that teachers are very concerned about the students who may not qualify for special education of some kind but are still identifiable as deficient in important academic skills hey Sher I have to cut you off but we're over time okay um just real quick then I'll go to my last paragraph before we approve a gifted accelerated program we should as a team analyze what the best approach really is for student students academic and emotional growth and for students in dire need of math intervention and also let's not forget being fiscally responsible and include Educators
024in these decisions okay thank you thank you m Man U thank you there a couple things I wanted to address here but first I was very impressed with the uh the two things two new superintendents coming in I liked what you had to say and I'm by the way the township supervisor so when you talk about um tax uh unfunded or taxes that don't pay taxes we've got a lot of force preserve got the same issues so that's the position I come from but what I wanted to talk about was watching the uh Forum that was on the other day that you had for the uh women's league of women's voters or whatever and there were two ite there were a lot of items I'd like to go through but there was two items in
025particular that I thought I addressed today um one board member was vly opposed to more parking and uh that's a real problem you know we just had one of those blue light alarms the Blue Light Special went off and the traffic congestion on Plank Road Plato Road was absolutely terrible Emergency Equipment was at one end at the other end which should have been by the school you need the parking area to be a staging area what we did with this school is we we put a Fieldhouse on a parking lot and didn't put any parking when we actually have a need for more parking not less parking but more importantly during an emergency situation this was a horrific event we had cars coming in picking up their kids it was a total traffic jam up
026there we couldn't get our trucks in from the back roads for 15 minutes and parking is part of that problem okay and number two I wanted to address Mr fif on the um Equity statement over there I'm Viet opposed to equity versus equality and there's a big difference sir you were a coach you certainly didn't teach your students to tie you taught your your your uh athletes to win and that's a tie would be equivalent to equity but equal opportunities they all had the equal opportunity to compete and that's what I think we should be teaching here at uh 301 is the opportunity to compete the opportunity to succeed and the opportunity to fail if you have the opportunity to fail a lot of success comes from that as well so I'm vly opposed to
027uh the word Equity as opposed to equal opportunity and there's a big difference and I don't think we should have that in our schools um I don't believe the schools here to raise our children they're here to Simply teach our children teachers should teach uh raising stud students is up to the parents and sometimes I think we cross that line I've seen that done so my interest of course is going to be uh from the township level we have a better school it's certainly much better for the taxpayer not only on what the taxpayer pays but property values and the moving here um I think that's I'm looking at the clock over here I don't have much time so I'll go all right thank you thank you all right Dave Chapman good evening uh on
028behalf of CA I wanted to congratulate and welcome Dr Schumacher and Dr Powell to District 301 and with your roles as our interm superintendant we look forward to working with you for the next 16ish months um and also appreciate you guys taking time uh to come to the schools this uh during the mornings this week so I think it's great for the staff to be able to to get to know you and to ask you questions as well so thank you and then I want to thank the board as well for your collaborative approach when it came to the interview process I think given such a big decision was very appreciative to have CA involved in that so thank you very much thank you Miss Jean Meyer my printer would not work and this is
029very small Jean Meyer resident my Christian world view says that there is truth and truth matters three issues have come up recently which makes it appear as if this school district has had administrators and or board members who have set a presidence to silence the public and the board every board member needs to know the truth about these issues and share them the truth with the public number one last board meeting you all eagerly discussed having robust conversations with the public be it at the grocery store or the sports field or a planned forum for public questions and answers yet a few months ago at a board meeting um Dr Nolan now resigned was described by onlookers as nearly lunging over the board table at Plato Township supervisor Mike McMahon as a nurse I would
030have put in my notes gosh I'm shaking appeared agitated repeated in an accusatory voice with anguish he tried to talk to me at my kids ball game more than once I wondered what was the matter at the time it seemed kind of unusual behavior but now it comes to light that this board was held hostage to some long held standard that you cannot engage the public about school matters in daily life is this a law a board preference or a board member or administrator trying to keep the board under their control and the public in the dark number two two board members have said to the public that they were instructed not to reply to emails from the public is this a law a local board policy dangerous ideation promoted by an administrator or a
031long-term board member to keep the public in the dark number three Dr mongan said it was acceptable for her to look at board members emails when she felt it was justified our attorney board member Mr aif said he thought it would first require and I'm not sure the term a subpoena that was last month he said that and then later at the candidate Forum this past week he said that he thought it would least require a foia is this a state law that she could go through emails a local school policy or a dangerous ideation promoted by an administrator or a long-term board member to keep board members on under their thumb I think that when there is a question of right or wrong or um truth or falsehood or just a mistake that each
032individual board member when they see that should question it and they shouldn't wait until there's a majority that are with them one should be able to stand alone and um it seems to me these issues have been active since before Dr mongan probably became supervisor so um we have a chance now at a new beginning and after the election again A New Beginning let's keep truth transparency and educating our young people as our primary objective thank you and Welcome to our co-s superintendence thank you thank you Jean Ginger Romano hi there um I'm Virginia Romano I'm a resident taxpayer uh Burlington Township um kind of a yeah I kind of the tax thing is my my big thing so anyway um I just had a couple things I was I was looking at the um
033the resolutions on policy on the policy uh changing the language on some of the things whether I don't know if that was if it's actually I really didn't take the chance to to go over and look at it really well and do my proper research but um so I don't know if it's changes of wording in state law or if it was just you know kind of changing words for our own school policy but there was one particular resolution that kind of I didn't quite understand because the two words have totally different meanings and it was changing the word shall to is so shall and is are very different and I have a the dictionary here to do that but I don't I don't think I'm going to go over the difference because I don't
034know I'm might be a little trivial but anyway um that's all I wanted to say pretty much and I'm I'm really looking forward to the um the the two interim superintendents and and hopeful and looking forward to positive change for the district and also on a positive note um I did attend the um the culture blast and I was very pleasantly surprised and it was very kind of cool to see um all the different countries represented and the work the students put into you know describing the different countries and stuff like that it was it was really kind of neat so thank you thank you Ginger thank you uh PK uh good evening my name is PK Park uh thank you Dr hog for taking on additional responsibilities for the past several weeks and uh
035Welcome to our two new superintendents um uh as the board knows uh I've spoken uh before on a few different occasions about our Excel replacement program the proposed new program of the policy and uh and the program design process uh and you have my comments in in writing um uh those comments are I think directionally consistent with what uh miss m will shared in terms of what you would like to see from a from a design process um what I wanted to spend my three minutes on since you already have all that um in your hands uh was just to suggest uh a few items to move from today's consent agenda uh to uh the later part of the meeting where you can discuss them and consider them individually so I'll just cover a few
036of those and and why I think you should consider them individually all right uh and these Rel to the board board policies uh either reviewed by the board or by the board policy committee uh the first thing is that um it's a general question that pertains to uh various policies such as 2270 510 520 710 I might have missed one or two um that have some sort of provision for someone to submit uh a complaint to complaint about discrimination and harassment or some such thing equal equal opportunity uh the these policies refer to all of those complaints being handled by a complaint manager um who is a district employee and so the concern I think you should discuss is that if the complaint if the nature of the complaint is a complaint about an administrator
037in the district such as a superintendent or assistant superintendent or other person in position of authority it seems like the complaint manager who is an employee of such people would not be an independent person to perform the investigation into the complaint some of the policies contain a provision that the report of the complaint manager would be provided directly to the board there's only a few I think one example where that would occur um but the investigation itself even that example will be conducted by an employee of the person who the complaint is about and so I think that represents a conflict and um and so you could provide a provision for either an independent investigator or somehow handling the point of Independence in an investigation the second thing is uh in policy 2270 which is
038about discrimination uh and harassment on the basis of race color and national origin um I believe the revisions here are intended to conform to the recent changes uh or adopted by um uh new law in Illinois uh the Illinois Human Rights Act uh and they're consistent generally with um article 5A which is a section on Elementary secondaryan higher education however um they seem to omit the provisions under the seeding section Article 5 uh about public accommodations which also apply to a variety of Institutions including institutions of higher education including schools uh and so some of the um prohibited bases for discrimination while covered a little bit under the policy and equal uh employ equal opportunity um they don't seem to be fully covered in 2270 uh about non-discrimination PK will have to wrap it up
039okay um and then and then third uh on the acceler placement program policy uh there's language uh that's revised from meets or exceeds to just exceeds that is consistent with one of the sections in what I believe is the most recent updated version of the Exel placement act however U by striking meets and not adding another section about the meets provision you've omitted an important paragraph that comes immediately after the exuse paragraph which says that anyone who meets the standards for match uh science or reading uh is automatically eligible not automatically enroll but automatically eligible for uh acceler placement and so it's an important Omission in that policy there are a few other technical problems with the way it's phrased as well but since there isn't time I just thought you should um consider that
040separately and have a discussion as to whether it's actually conforming to the uh language and intent of the law thank you thank you that was it okay the next item on the agenda is selecting a replacement for Eric Nolan's remaining two-year seat the board received resumés from several members of the community we conducted interviews last week and will'll be voting on an appointment this evening as the time at this time I will open the floor for a motion second for an appointment I would like to make a motion to appoint Ryan wson I'll second that motion a motion to appoint Ryan Watson has been made and second in is there any discussion yeah to me it seems inappropriate I don't know Ryan at all but it seems inappropriate to appoint someone who was endorsed by
041the cea um I mean it's a conflict of interest for our taxpayers it seems um so and I have concerns as a taxpayer regarding that um I just think it's a little odd um I mean I understand why you want them I think you want them on the negotiations team um with Morgan because you guys might not be win the election so you want people who are here for longer than just a couple of months to start that um I think the whole process that you interviewed candidates was a little skewed also so I'm not sure I don't even think you all I couldn't make the one day that you put out there for interviews and I don't even think you all interviewed all of the candidates is that correct we split go ahead go
042ahead we split them up so there were nine candidates and in order for us to basically interview all nine we would have been here probably till midnight so what we did is we basically took chunks each of us you know it was Jennifer and myself there was Morgan um Jay and Mark took and we literally spit up and we took you know the different interviews in different rooms we recorded them and then we came back into Clos session and re reviewed them as a whole um and had conversation it was the most effective way not only to give everyone the opportunity to interview I know the last time we interviewed um for the spot that General vulpi has uh we actually didn't interview everybody right we chose certain ones to interview or at least this
043way we felt we want to give everybody the opportunity to interview so that's why we did it in that way well we we didn't choose not to interview everybody I think it was based on where they lived in the district because we had slots that were full we had other but we had other when we were looking at there were other criteria though like right we looked at different criteria and then that weeded some of the list down um and then we ended up with the folks that we had but I mean it wasn't like just based on boundaries and townships so seeing I wasn't there and you didn't fill me in on your choice I guess for your motion what are the qualifications of Ryan Watson what exceed what qualifications exceed the other applicants
044just so I know just because so I can vote you know AB absolutely so one of the reasons I'd like to uh well the reasons I'd like to appoint Ryan is because he is dedicated to the community um and he prioritizes the future and the well-being of children in the district uh as a father of three Elementary age children within the district he has a strong personal investment in the success of our schools Ryan actively serves our community by coaching Youth Sports including baseball football and rugby he demonstrating his uh commitment to supporting and mentoring our students beyond the classroom additionally he experiences as a board trustee for the village of Burlington has provided with him valuable insight into the board governance and board decision making process uh his candidacy for the Schoolboard position for
045me in the upcoming election further reflects his dedication and commitment to our community and serving our community so I have a different view on that than you um and I believe Ryan's leadership Community involvement and firsthand perspective as a parent makes them a strong choice for this role I'm glad you prepared that that's very informational um do can I can I speak to this so I don't think that there is any conflict of interest to consider somebody who is running for this position I absolutely find it absurd to think that somebody who is endorsed by the teachers union would have a conflict of interest in serving on the school board the ca has a constitutional right to exist and advocate for the interest of the teachers and one of those uh elements to that right
046is the ability to pick candidates for the school board that they think are going to protect their right to organize and to collectively bargain and this is me speaking as somebody who wasn't endorsed by the cea so um uh I don't have a a horse in the race in that sense uh I still think it's absolutely appropriate for uh a person who is endorsed by the ca to sit on this board now we interviewed this group of individuals many of whom are in the audience here today and I I would say my personal view it was an outst standing group of people and uh we would be lucky to have all of you serve on this board we had to pick one person and we interviewed you all we came back into the room we
047discussed it amongst ourselves as we do many issues and we narrowed it down to a small group of people that we thought should be considered but knowing that ultimately the full whole board has to make that decision we said let's make sure that we invite everybody to come in because we don't know how this is going to turn out if Ryan or any of the people who are running were to be selected all that would do is put us in a situation where if they win they take their four-year spot and then a two spot opens up again two months later and some might say oh what a waste of time you guys spent four hours sitting in that boardroom deliberating over something and now you got to do it again and I say and
048this is my personal view speaking to the board and to the community what a great opportunity because now we had what nine candidates we picked one eight more candidates that could have taken that spot now are on a short list and I would expect that they would all put in if that scenario comes to pass and what a great opportunity for this community to be able to then consider those eight individuals that we already met and any others that want to put in and then we select another great candidate to fill that two-year vacancy and what we've done is fulfill Our obligation to the community to put good people on the board when a vacancy occurs and that's the thought process here so the fact that somebody is running the fact that somebody is endorsed
049by the teachers union none of those are negative factors and in fact the fact that somebody is running in my calculus personal only is a plus and why is it a plus because somebody who is willing to run has shown that they have the commitment to actually you know put themselves out there because it's a two-year appointment two years is the amount of time that you take to just get up and running in a position like this I would want somebody who takes that two-year spot to be the kind of person that says yes if I get this appointment I'm going to take it I'm gonna work hard and then when 2027 comes around I'm gonna throw my hat in the ring to go another four years and so picking somebody who is already in
050the race tells me they already have that commitment so if they lose I know that they will reup in 2027 so that's the the thought process that I'm bringing to this yeah I had no way said that the ca should not endorse people I understand that so I mean that's not what I was saying at all um I respect most of our teachers you know but I just think it's it's a little weird that you know Ryan was seen having drinks with the lead Chief negotiator the ca so to me that just seems again that's what raises a little red flag you know um we are going into negotiations you guys have already said you don't want me on the negotiations team there's no one left on the board that is not up for re-election
051so who would be on there Morgan and you need a second person so again I go back to that of this is very convenient to have Ryan join because no matter what he's on for at least two years so Jeff I I don't think that having a drink with a school teacher who happens to also represent the teachers in the Union is a disqualifying Factor it definitely doesn't impune his character and that's and what you're saying if you say that it calls their credibility or the cred into into question if they're going to come in as administrations representatives in the negotiations well if that is the case and you're saying that's not good what you're saying is you can't count on him to have the interest of the administration at heart and to me at
052least that is imputing his character and I've seen nothing about any of the people uh that that applied for this that would tell me that they would not treat their responsibilities with the utmost care and fiduciary duty I haven't seen it yeah I don't know I don't know his character I don't know him I didn't interview him so you know I'm hoping you're right you I just wanted the taxpayers to know that that's out there I mean again I think it's a little odd so that's I was just raing mention that I didn't think that splitting the rooms was appropriate Jeff I I personally didn't like that because I only got to see half the candidates and you know I was a big eye roll behind you MK I'm sorry there was a big eye
053roll behind you yeah yeah go ahead finish it and I'll explain it so I mean I only got to see half the candidates so I I brought it up that I thought we should you know you know let the people that were applying um be non valed people and I was out voted so yes we covered this issue and I'm glad you brought it up so I can cover it with everybody else too the fact that we split it up into two groups is neither here nor there when we do the union negotiations we have two board members out of seven who sit through meeting after meeting after meeting and then report back to us the biggest dollars in our budget only two out of seven and then they come back and Report because why
054there's a there is supposed to be the sense of trust amongst the board that hey if two people go in and do this negotiation and come back and report to us that we're going to trust what they say now I guess you're saying I didn't interview that person so I actually don't trust that that was what you're reporting back is accurate or not that's your right to say that I I'm not finished I'm not finished I'm finished I want the opportunity Mark why don't you let me finish I'll let you finish and then I'll talk absolutely that's that's how we're supposed to do it so can you stop talking thank you so when see this is this is the kind of absurdity that we have to deal with with with this gentleman right here wow
055you why don't you stop talking when it's not your turn and why don't you quit insulting Jay you are the one that's being insulting all right bring it back wow wow yeah wow is right so there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing the things that we did in terms of splitting the room up creating that as an issue here is a red herring and it's meant to instigate this type of animosity amongst the board which is absolutely I agree not necessary but just remember where it's coming from Jay the point I was making is it would have been nice to interview all the candidates that's the point I'm making that's it that's all I'm saying Jay any more discussion M please take a roll call vote Gorman no papus yes bupy yes aif yes Hulk
056no Hil yes congratulations Ryan motion is carried congratulations um at this point we'll have Ryan Watson step forward and take the oath of office and you'll sit over here next to Mandy and then we'll just have you come right over here and then you'll read that for us ran congratulations thank you so much thank you congratulations and I'll take the oath of office by reading that out to all of us I Ryan wson do solemnly swear that I will Faithfully discharge the duties of the office of member of the Board of Education of Central Community Unit School District 301 in accordance with the Constitution of the United States the Constitution 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
057respect taxpayer interests by serving as a faithful protector of the school district's assets I shall encourage and respect the free expression of opinion by my fellow board members and others who seek a hearing before the board while respecting the privacy of 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 school board meeting I shall abide by majority decisions of the board while retaining the right to seek changes in such decisions through ethical and constructive channels as a part of the Board of Education I shall accept the responsibility for my role in the Equitable and quality education of every student in the school district I shall Foster with the board extensive participation of the community
058formulate goals Define outcomes and set the course for Central Community Unit 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 excuse me 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 super intendent to lead the school district toward fulfilling the vision the board has created fostering Excellence for every student in the areas of academic skills knowledge citizens citizenship and personal development thank you
059[Applause] [Laughter] all right I need a motion on second or required to elect a vice president so mooved second all right nomination are now in order for the office of Vice President I like to nominate Ryan wson I'll second Ryan won is nominated are there any others I'd like to nominate Morgan you can second it I'll second okay all right um all in favor of Ryan mson to serve as vice president please raise your hand okay two votes what's that yeah two yeah two vot Jennifer did you raise your hand oh Jennifer is your hand raised no I can little we can't see it we can't see you okay all in favor of um Morgan papis to serve as vice president please raise your hand the hand racing I heard it I didn't see it
060I got it though I got it um what is that um three four five five five five I'm sorry I can't count sorry congratulations thank you all right congratulations condolences I need statement again the Rend of that statement please that as Morgan received on your paperwork please oh you're seing just read the rest of this okay yeah all right as Morgan papis has received the majority of the votes casted Morgan papis has been elected as vice president there is no call vote required no roll call vote okay congratulations Megan Morgan all right motion is carried all right any a motion second or required to discuss and approve the consent agenda Some Mo second um included in your board packet are your revenue and expenditure reports um revenues are currently at 43.2% compared to 4421 a
061year ago expenditures are at 51.68 per compared to 48.96963 for five new home starts there were no transaction fees transition fees um the bills payable reports were approved at last week's board meeting and then um ISB has published the results of the property tax relief grant that we applied for um we did not qualify for it um we were one of the only King County Schools to apply for the grant and this grant would um Abate property taxes for Community taxpayers for um tax relief for two years um so we did apply we were ranked 76 on the list and only the top 36 people were awarded so um we did not qualify year okay any questions discussion hey Voli yes Watson yes the yes Fulk yes Gorman yes papis yes pil yes motion is
062carried I need a motion second or required to discuss and approve the dance team's overnight trip to the state competition in Bloomington Illinois that occurred on January 30th through February 1st move second any discussion oh it's already happened so it's what it is okay Watson yes buff yes Fulk yes Gorman yes pepis yes VY yes pil yes motion is carried any motion second are required to discuss and approve the cheer team's overnight trip to the sectionals competition in Farmington Illinois that occurred January 31st through February 1st so moved second it already happen so we don't need any discussion on that aif yes buul yes bman yes papis yes WBY yes Watson yes pil yes motion is carried can I just comment just procedure yeah go ahead Just For What It's Worth most of these items
063in most districts would be under consent and and the fact that you're approving something that's already occurred well to me the board's responsibility is to approve the expenditure maybe a report after the activity as information only and tell you know tell tell us how excited the kids were right at those camps but to me the use board time to be more efficient it should be approved in advance uh and then maybe report back at how it all worked out and it should be under consent agenda if it's a routine kind of annual thing now it's the first time the cheerleaders or or the pom poms or go on one of these trips well then that should come to the board for approval beforehand otherwi and that should be separated but if it's a regular annual
064thing that should be under consent it saves you a whole lot of time this isn't an annual thing we didn't know we couldn't approve it before because they got they made it that far after our last board meeting oh okay so great it all Happ timing we couldn't approve it beforehand right and that's you could tally approve it you based on you know if there are successful blah blah blah and and then we'd have to approve every sport right well any special trip like this yeah there's not that many special trips in schools uh outside of the school district I guess I'm confused like if a uh sports team makes it past the sectionals or whatever then they go down state don't all sports have downstate right St championships so what we would just approve
065them in case that when you approve your your total budget which is an estimation of what your expend and revenue is you are actually approving that would be calculated into potential expenditures so to me you wouldn't have to approve that so then approve that amount in all of the different sports activities and we just come in under budget if they yeah and and athletic director cannot calculate how many kids are going to go to section how many kids you know that's impossible I just uh you know so that that that's assumed but in terms of the the budget building by the athletic director that that would be covered if in case the kids are s so successful they go to section or or stay you know even better okay um oh I got one more
066sorry any motion second or require discuss and approve the cheer team's overnight trip to the state competition in blooms Illinois that occurred February 6th through February 8th sove second this already happened so no discussion uh Fulk yes Gorman yes papus yes vulpi yes wson yes a yes pil yes motion is carried all right I need a motion second required to discuss and approve the veterinary affiliation agreements as presented so move second so we have two more uh locations to be able to support our vet tech program where our students are able to go out and get their externship hours a renewal the one is listed as Bartlett Animal Hospital a new location is healthy Paw Animal Hospital so one new location and one current one that is just a renewal from year to year questions
067no questions no questions Gorman thank you yes pepis yes buy yes Bon yes aif yes Fulk yes pil yes motion is carried all right a motion second required to discuss and approve the boundary change as presented so moved second is that you Dr H that's you I'm sorry oh sorry pardon me um we this is talked about last month um and we have typically our enrollment of prayview have been declining so we have room to fit those kids at uh with the West Point Gardens they've begun construction on their phase three development um so we know that there are going to be uh s see 74 lots that could be sold homes currently under construction so under our current boundaries those students would go to Howard B Thomas Elementary um our recommendation is we'd like
068to change those boundaries so students at West Point Garden Space 3 will attend Prairie B grade school as we have the room for that in capacity one question okay say something makes sense it makes sense but one question I had I was looking at that pcel and so it looks like what like the picture of the map that was in there so it looks like it's really that's so beautiful thank you um that piece so it's basically the I don't want to say underdeveloped but it's basically what's in progress right is what you're trying to say will go over there not the rest or of anything else okay I just want to make sure have any community members reached out like I live right next door to West Point Gardens but now my kids are
069going to hbt why are you doing that like I'd rather because they're right across the street there's lit like a street there and then there's okay no I haven't heard anything but I was just curious because to your point I see people there's that street literally right there and on the right other side of it they could say well my kids are going all the way to hbt and they could just go right there but I haven't heard anything yeah so no current families will be impacted because right right there's nothing yeah right down the road down the road yeah just something to think about okay papis yes bupy yes bson yes aif yes Hulk yes Gorman yes Hil yes motion is carried uh motion second required to discuss and approve the resolution in support
070of vision 2030 so moved so I'm sorry second second second okay okay okay that's you um so Vision 20 23 it's blot point for public education in Illinois um and it centers around keeping you know the priorities of keeping students safe safe keeping high quality Educators in front of students enhancing our postsecondary success and improving the measurement of what is working so in within the document um it outlines recommendations for future focused learning shared accountability predicted funding for our schools so that we can ensure that we have money that's continually coming in um Illinois Association of school boards they're recommending that Boards of Education sign a resolution in support of this Vision um and as most of this Vision aligns with things that we are doing and recommending in 301 um we do recommend that
071the board the resolution demonstrating support of this Vision 2030 questions discussion I've read it I don't have any objection to it I read it as well um I didn't have any objection to it Matt I was wondering if you had anything that was you know caused to take a pause at it or to think about it or anything within it I did not consider I I felt that I mean it's it's pretty straightforward it's it talks about the things that we've tried to focus on here in 301 over my years that I've been in the district so I I don't see anything that you know glaringly stands out right that stands out correct no hidden agendas or anything like that good B Watson yes aif yes Fulk yes Gorman sure pus yes pil yes motion
072is carried I need a motion on secondary require to discuss and approve adding new business as an agenda item so move second oh go ahead no no go ahead I was no you're probably gonna explain what it is so go ahead so the idea is that um we want to add a section to the agenda after uh we take care of everything else but before we go to the closed business so that if there as any new business um for example if a board member has an idea about something that needs to be addressed maybe something that came through public comment maybe something that we've received feedback from and we want to talk about pursuing it in some form or fashion that we create a new business item on the agenda so that there can
073be some discussion like within the open meeting um and and have a dialogue amongst the board um you know so that we have something to think about and then perhaps for the administrators to work on uh or for board Teachers Community and administration to collaborate on so that then it can come back at a future date as uh an agenda item for a proposal to do something and so that was the idea and some days some board meetings there may be no new business some some some days you know there might be some and um just having it on the agenda gives us as board members an opportunity to talk about things that you know have been brought up for example in public comment but um we don't otherwise have an opportunity to address like
074for example I can give you an example like today PK came and spoke about certain aspects of um the uh accelerated gifted program and uh some of the policy things um he also sent all of us some memos right I had some questions about it and in a new business section we could say well okay we received something from the community and they raised this issue um is this something that we've talked about before is this something that we want to dig into a little bit more that's kind of the idea of new business questions or discussion just that this requires a I think it's a great idea but I don't know it would vote to approve it yeah added to it would be an info after that some districts by the way have it's
075really simple action items then they new business business right but usually what what we would do is at the beginning of the agenda if you would ask is there anything you would like to change in genda I'd like to take this off consent I want you know there's a whole number of things you can do uh but again when you add an item that you know at the last minute you don't give our Administration a chance to do the re proper research so to me the best way to do it is have a an agenda item at the end of your agenda uh items to be discussed at at the next meeting March 17 and and then we have a couple of weeks to give a thorough review of what the issues are and have
076all your questions answered so to me action item new and old and and new would be actual specific items we discuss but you also have the opportunity at the end of the meeting say we want some uh the following questions answered on this topic right and and that's definitely the idea is is not to create a uh uh a situation where we like I would raise an issue and ask the administration what are you going to do about this you know right then and there um and our board policy actually provides for any board member uh uh on his or her motion without you know vote can take anything out of consent agenda and move it into to you know uh true every District yeah so so we have that um so are you saying
077we shouldn't have new business or you're saying you should have action new and old and in new uh you you would actually be able to then add additional items but not not for that meeting for the next meeting right not to vote yeah okay just what it's worth okay we need a motion yeah you're not taking action oh you are yeah we're we're GNA so you need to amend it yeah have to amend that though in order to just make it all difficult so um I would move to D so I I'll move to amend the proposal to um add an action new and old business into the agenda at the uh wherever it's appropriate um and then if that amendment is and the opportunity for board members to add items for the the following
078agenda for the next agenda that would be my motion amended okay anybody want to Second it second second Watson yes a yes Hulk yes Corman yes Papas yes buy yeso yes she's carried okay all right on to information items I am first up so I just want to provide an update on the board's referral to the regional superintendent to remove um Jeff Gman from the board of education on January 22nd Dr monigan sent a brief email to Regional superintendent Dr Patricia Danto which included the me memorandum the and centure presented to the board regarding the removal of board member Jeff Gorman from office during the January 21st mean a majority of the board voted in favor of his removal under school code original superintendent of schools has the authority to remove a school board member
079from office for willful failure to perform official duties in response Dr Del Santo stated that the memorandum does not contain allegations that fall within the scope of official duties as defined by school code as a result no further action will be taken by her office um Jeff Gorman will remain on the school board unless he voluntarily resigns or is his current term ends and he is not reelected did you want to say anything about that I just want to give you guys are bummed but you're stuck with me for a little longer no did you want to say anything to that or just no I think it sayso okay anybody else want to say anything okay um committee reports DLT um Dr how yes so District DT or District leadership team uh met on February
08013th um we had two action items two items that we really talked about it was uh first was our 2026 2027 calendar discussion so we're in a we're in a good place where we're looking at the calendars well ahead of time now um and for that for that team two draft calendars two versions of draft calendars were provided to the team um one had a start date of August 10th um and the other had a start date of August 17th um in talking with the group The the earlier start does align better with some of the other organizations that we work with uh such as our uh pathway Partners whereas the 817 start was more aligned to what we've done in 2425 and 2526 um both calendars did have semester 1 ending um at the
081winter break and there was some discussion about adding a half day in early May to allow for vertical articulation horizontal and vertical articulation and break up that long stretch in May if we went with that 8177 start date so we as a committee um we I say we I mean Mandy um did some uh adjustments to the suggest made suggested adjustments to the calendars we shared them back with the committee members and we asked them to bring to their buildings for further discussion with their teachers and get their thoughts and we'll revisit those calendars at our next meeting determine a recommendation to bring to the board um so that was item number one second item was our buildings and grounds director Paula away uh he discussed some of the various facilities projects that we were
082that were discussed at the facilities committees meaning and some of that will be talked about later but it included things like Capital Improvements large scale projects and projects that were specifically related to accommodating our continued growth and enrollment and more will that on that will be shared in the facilities update question all right um Morgan can you share an update on the community advisory team sure so um Dana our business manager did a presentation for everyone on 301's budget and funding sources and I'm actually going to kind of put her on the spot and turn it over to her because it was a fabulous presentation I just want you to be able to kind of share what you shared with the rest of us on um the budget and funding and I also told her
083I think it was a great idea if maybe this was something that was shared a little more often maybe every year with everybody in the community as well so so I was invited to the cat meeting as a guest speaker to um kind of answer some budget questions at the at a prior meeting there were some questions on how a budget works and how the funds work um so I put together a very um basic level presentation that explained um all the different funds that we use at Central um and how the funds get their revenues which revenues belong to which funds how the expenditures are coded to those exact funds so you can um figure out which ones go where um there was um slides that came straight out of the budget presentation so
084some of it was just repetitive from my last um Fall's budget presentation um there were revenues it kind of broke down all the different state local and federal level revenues um and which grants are included in those different kinds of categories which which revenues can be um in the different funds um and then at the very end there was questions about the bond payment sched so I walked through how to read our current Bond schedule um walked them through all the different bonds that we have still in place and the ones that are coming off and how the bond and interest rate um is calculated on that schedule um lots of great conversation came out of there a lot of questions that I thought it was going to be like a 20 minute presentation with
085questions and we took almost the whole time um so unfortunately facilities was rushed they were supposed to have the second half of the meeting um and I won't steal his Thunder but um so he had different facility um same things that he probably brought up at DLT that he had more time on then in the c meeting he rushed through as as quickly as he could but got some of the high level points on and I believe probably will be reporting back at the next meeting in more details yeah the only additional thing after you left um Dr hog brought up streaming of the cat and um I think it was not well received I think a few people liked it um I think I I would say the majority didn't like that idea um
086just because they didn't join it to be gone after as certain board members have been gone after were you know elected so I mean we're a fair game but they felt like I'm not fair game I don't want to deal with that um you know which is totally understandable so it was talked about maybe streaming the audio um ultimately it was decided just to wait maybe we wait a year maybe we wait six months and revisit it so was a little interesting discussion but yeah Dan ran through his stuff as quickly as he could so that's all thank you facilities Mark can you update us on the facilities committee yeah so we uh had a lengthy meeting um we had a lot of participation um they reviewed the uh prior months information and then they
087we talked about um chf's El uh athletic updates uh one of the discussions was to potentially charge um usage fees to cover the expense of our um uh janitors and custodial to clean up um you know and also put in force uh or maybe charge the uh feeder programs uh uh set fee so we're looking into that um just to minimize our costs um you know Auditorium rental we talked about that um and there's more discussion on that and then we talked about uh non- capital projects and future capital projects that were uh uh being done such as big ones like hbt's roof uh little legs hbac um CHS stadium and athletic track and leaches and PR box um so more to come we have oh no we did a uh the RF uh Q
088for The Architects uh were due back on February 20th so Dan are you here so that I'm assuming we'll hear about that tomorrow all right very good thank you okay curriculum director B Meer will you share an update on um curriculum coordinating Council yes yes so we met last month um we Stephen and I both shared a little bit about open Architects which is the data warehouse all of our assessment um that staff are giving across the district this is one platform that will pull all that information together for staff so it'll help with the analysis um data review in One Stop Shop rather than going to each one of these individual pieces so we did walk the team through that staff had access to that as of this past Wednesday so principal team will
089start to dig into what that's going to look like in the building level um we did also talk a little bit about the changes or upcoming changes to State assessments that includes I and Isa and act so they're going to right right size the proficiency targets right now so they're more in line um we are actually the fourth in the nation so they're going to right siiz what those are going to be so they're more aligned to what we're what are looking like in other states um surrounding us we did or I did also talk through our um accelerated program that we had talked about or I brought forward last month as well I'll talk about that a little bit later on the agenda uh but I just walked the team through that answered some
090questions and had some dialogue with our team um regarding that process um Brian did bring to the team we're going to be adjusting our fouryear fouryear cycle no I'm sorry a three-year cycle for Chromebook to a four-year cycle so that adjustment will be made um he was seeking some feedback from the committee members in that regard um everything was good to go I did update the team on our math pilot so we have K5 has been piloting I ready and into math I will be bringing something forward next month for recommendation on how we want to move forward 68 is currently reviewing reveal math and I'll bring that forward as well um for recommendation at that point with that process we had an intervention tool core intervention tool called Spring math and hearing from our
091teachers it is not well received it has not um been successful for us so we are we are up for renewal for that contract and as a team determined that we do not want to review that or continue with that we are moving away from that um that was primarily used in K5 good news is with each one of the pilots that we're doing or finishing up both of those come with a personalized pathway so it's going to basically replace what was being used for spring math and we will have that piece embedded within that will be part of core embedded in the classroom a lot of surrounding districts do that as a as a supplementary piece that's done at home we are asking that's embedded inside our classrooms so that will bring forward next
092month um we did have some continued conversation about everyday speech seal um some feedback that I'm gathering from our teachers that again seal needs do not happen at 9:10 in the morning on Tuesdays they're happening all throughout the day um and we really believe it should be responsive to what our students needs are in the classroom and so so we're going to be moving away from the everyday speech seal there was some dialogue about zones of Regulation being utilized at the elementary some of our schools have kind of been dabbling in that we're looking at doing a universal uh training piece by one grade level rep per grade level so they're kind of that point person as grade level teams are having dialogue uh we will be embedding that in as as an opportunity or
093a resource that staff can use it's all about language so it's not necessarily a um a specific text that you're using although they have it embedded within but it's really being responsive to where the students behaviors are that being escalated and giving them the language to reset and review and get back on task uh so we'll be bringing that that'll be continued to move forward Stephen had talked about biomedical and that cours workk um there's been some great feedback a lot of additional internships are being being brought forward this summer so great feedback in that response um and then he did talk about school link so he walked the committee through how are we using it and how will we continue to expand that so that's really that interest based on students where are they
094sitting um whether that's going into a career or whe whether that's going into college really being able to tap into those resources to support our students in that next level postsecondary and that was about it and we do not yeah we do not have a current board member um Dr Nolan was our rep that was uh sitting on CCC so um just let me know if there's somebody that will be joining our team can you go back to Spring map what was the issue I I don't know that I necessarily what was the issue so it's a core intervention tool it does have AC acquisition lessons or intervention lessons that are attached to it the issue is it's a core intervention and so some students that really needed that additional support would be expected to
095just continue to move forward they were not getting that intervention and stopping to do those acquisition lessons in the classroom so it just did not have a personalized approach um and was not being implemented as it truly was designed and not giving us what we were expected yeah the personalized pathway and either one um I ready and uh into math that's called wagle students will take a diagnostic assessment and it couples and supports the core instruction so it's not a pull out here you're going to go do this but it's complementary to what the skills are and Concepts that they're learning in the classroom we have a replacement for it so even though we may corre we got down but directly tied to which is what we wanted um and build off student skill so
096a student may be excelling in a specific area so they're going to continue to move on in that skill development that next trajectory of skills however some may need ret teaching and it provides that personalized piece makes sense yeah questions anything that I can answer thank you thank you okay um director pay will you provide an update on construction into projects in the district um so we're in that uh lustrious time of the year getting bids out kind of planning our summer work um in the perfect world every year we get better and better at doing this we'd really like to be doing this right around the Christmas holidays getting things out right at that point in time so we're better off this year than we were last so right now through a lot of
097careful planning a lot of conversation we're going to be going out to bid to do Howard B Thomas's roof this summer as well as the track at Central High School that'll be full replacement of that entire building Roof System reutilizing some of the insulation I talked a little bit about that last month to save some dollars and get to those energy codes uh as far as the the high school track that'll be full depth full replacement asphalt and everything about 15 to 18 years ago the track surface was replaced it's it's past its useful life expectancy we've done a lot of repairs we've done a lot of things to get through it's time for replac so that's our other project that's going out to bid um talking about growth we've been kind of brainstorming over
098the last year and a half two years how to what our short-term Solutions are for growth we've met with our elementary administrators because we know that's where the the problem is right now um we've come to the conclusion that our best short-term solution right now is mobiles at Country Trails um so we're in the process of working with our vendor on that project there is an opportunity we could possibly do that through a purchasing Co-op um in Li of going out to bid so we're looking at those options but that would be a same four pack of classroom units just extending what Country Trails has on the back end right now um so that's kind of the major summer projects we'll be doing some other space remodeling we've worked with a lot of the the
099buildings on taking out some walls adding some walls doing some different things to kind of address and kind of work with the space that we have so those little projects will be on the docket but those will be more through our omm budget um the other thing is Mark alluded to our architect RFQ that's been quite the ardu arduous process uh we had 11 vendor submit a packet um we're in the process of reviewing those internally those will be going to our facilities committee tomorrow with recommendations that our team put together of moving forward the intent is the week of March uh March 10th sometime that week bringing in the finalist for in-person interviews So the plan is to bring that to the March board meeting with information and and approval conversation for our District's
100architect Andor Architects that's all I got any questions thank you thanks right um Athletics and activities director jie will share an update on Athletics and activities as well as a softball spring break trip long time listen ER first time caller um good evening I'm excited to be up here to finally talk about kids um for a change and some of the successes that we've we've highlighted um as you proved in a lot of the agendas our dance team brought home a third place State trophy uh this past February in fact that's our fourth state trophy in three years here during my time here and it's just it's awesome to see those programs grow and continue to see the success from where they were last year our cheer team again made it down to state yet
101again and uh didn't go their way dropped a stunt but they made it that back down there again which is a feat in of in and of itself and then most recently we had two individual wrestlers compete at the state meet down in Champagne um they did not place but they were great representatives of Central High School we had two fale wrestlers last Saturday wrestled uh Victoria msas uh placed for us again and I believe that's the fourth time she's been down there and placed in her her High School career over four years and Ryan Miller went down there again and just fell short um from an athletic standpoint we're proud of that we did find out our math team our mathletes as we call them 27 of them made it down to the state
102competition in Bloomington which happens to be the weekend of uh prom but we're working through that and uh just found out we've got a handful of skills USA kids that are going to be doing the same thing heading down the state uh kind of that last weekend in April uh with that student council service Club are all doing great things on the activity side and then I'd be remissed if I didn't include some of our Middle School accomplishments seventh and eighth grade girls basketball won their conference championships this past weekend our Middle School Scholastic Bowl team won a conference Championship and just found out today six wrestlers uh made it to the state competition into calb for our middle school so kudos to uh not just those kids but all our coaches all our sponsors
103activity sponsors that put a lot of time and effort to uh give these kids an opportunity uh they do they do a great job uh spring Sports ironically two started today at the high school as you can see it was 50 and sunny tomorrow it's going to be 80 and sunny everybody's gonna get outside and Dan every Field's gonna be ready to go right all right love it um so we're excited about that got a great turn out for spring Sports and then the last thing I do just want to update the board on uh the school year 26 27 our Middle School is exploring an option to join another conference that will be more competitive with our size and kind of create some additional opportunities for our kids in 2627 we are looking to
104join the two St Charles schools two Geneva middle schools one bavia cin and ourselves will make up a 17 Middle School Conference that will compete in all the same sports that we have now as well as potentially some additional opportunities for music uh we already have glass and pole that'll continue chess we're looking at all those options as it currently States now with our size and our growth right now just going out to Rochelle and beler though we're grateful for it uh we're in a position where we've got a lot more kids and some of those schools do and it's creating an unfair Advantage at least on our end and uh we're not getting the opportunities for those kids because they're sometimes not filling a B team in some groups or you know we're getting
105100 plus kids out for track and you know we're going to school that has 40 something so we're exploring that that looks like it's a very good possibility we've kind of checked the boxes of Transportation uh Pam Porto said from a from a distance standpoint it would kind of help out tremendously too a little bit even though I know the Tav is a bit of a bit of a dry but when you're only doing that once as opposed to going three or four times throughout the year I think it gives our kids the uh the best competitive Advantage so um I knew I threw a lot at you there's any questions your fastest growing sports in America fastest two growing sports in America right now it's uh girls wrestling and girls flag football flag football
106exactly fastest growing sports in America wow and you were able to answer that I knew he knew the answer that's why I sure I wasn't sure so great job go off is that all right we're good we're good thank you all right 2025 2026 school fees okay so um regarding our technology fees we are recommending that we do not increase technology fees for the 25 26 school year um we are however adjusting the life cycle of our Chromebooks So currently we're on a three-year life cycle we are looking to extend them to a four-year life cycle that's consistent with a lot of our area districts um what they're doing um warranties will continue to be covered of course um so with that current student device rotation scheduled on a threeyear rotation we're going to issue
107fouryear uh devices fouryear rotation devices so nobody inadvertently gets caught with fiveyear you know device starts so the devices we have now are less than four are they like they're they're threee cycle they are okay what would be wrong with going with a fiveyear cycle on it um probably their ability to maintain the rotation like now we do kindergarten kindergart 9 11 right we're going to change to first grade fifth grade nth grade is what we so then it cares just how it carries through right gotcha and it'll take two years you know we' mapped it all out multiple times it'll take two years to fully get there because we don't want anybody going into a fifth year device and so we just it'll be pushed out just a little bit to get there but
108in two years location so kindergarten is no longer getting them are remains or stor un okay do you find that they're lasting like I know we're gonna obviously okay they're years stud that bring in their old [Laughter] device interesting all right uh regarding our Middle School and High School course fees those are already already published for the 25 26 school year so uh we're not recommending any increase for course fees for the upcoming school year um board action will need to be taken uh for an increase in fees for the 26 27th school year we'll look at that in late later uh late spring okay um that'll comp next year pardon spring of next year um in late spring this year later this year for the 2627 26 27 right and then lastly there was
109uh including with this memo um there's a spreadsheet of some of the all the forward as you call them forward- facing fees that we could gather in regards to um request from the board of education so you look at that spreadsheet on the backside um it really we really kind of fall in the center of a lot of these a lot of these districts um the one thing I thing I would point out our early childhood uh that is a tuition based fee Okay so so similar to what St Charles does so that's for the year um but for the most part um if you kind of look across we're lower in some higher in a couple of others but we we tend to fall pretty generally somewhere in the middle range other than St
110Charles it seems like we charge a lot for our course fees and like what about like uh the new biomedical we have like 125 course fee for that but I would see that onere the the updated biomedical fee for that you have that I mean that with the second course the biomedical course fees that second course isn't running yet the the one for next year yeah third level la it's just not on here that's all I don't think that's that was my question it's not got you seems like we're nickel and diing all these courses to be honest you because like most of these districts don't even charge for course fuse it looks like right well there's a lot of a lot of oh sure there's a lot in the center that that we weren't
111able to get there yeah we weren't able to find their fees so it's not that there are none it's that they wening them yes okay yes incomplete data so their their fees on their website might say varies and it's just a range no specific gocha without doing more detail y okay was that all you had that's all okay all right um academically Advanced learning Pathways um director Meer so last month I brought forward our um accelerated pathway fourth through 8th grade with a slow roll out year one would be fourth and fifth grade um and then we would uh add on on the levels as the years progressed um receiving feedback that has been shared with myself that you guys have received from various community members also hearing from some staff members I'd like to
112pause it's an opportunity to go back and have some conversation pull some people um my thoughts were to get some building reps from all four of the buildings because it would impact all four of them as well as some parents in those various schools that could sit down and and talk through some conversations there's been some concerns that have been brought forward students potentially if we roll this out in fifth grade coming into the the 2526 we would be asking kids at in fifth grade have been there for the last five years from you know they entered in in kindergarten to be changing the school that they've been um that has been their home school for the last few years so I think there's some things There's an opportunity um to gather some feedback to
113do some problem solving with um the right people in the room and bring that back forward to you for recommendation I know this was an action item I did chat and see if there was a way that we could just take a pause um do some further digging have some conversation and re re bring that back to the board questions any questions you have for me I think it's the right thing to do maybe like you if you know we want to make sure that we if we're going to roll this out we roll it out right roll it out right and hear the voices and have some problem solving and and see what we can do to make it run as smoothly as possible uh there definitely as I shared last month there's a
114need for this um we definitely have some students that are high performing that just like we would for students that are that are lower performing we want to fill those gaps we want to continue to extend their learning as well so there's an opportunity here I just don't want to rush something I'd rather take time to dig in um and do some some problem solving around some of the concerns and questions to get that all fully answered we brought it through CCC but that isn't um you know many of our parents that are sitting in those seats um or many of our teachers as as Sher mentioned earlier that would be um implementing these pieces so I think there's an opportunity here for us are you getting feedback globally like districtwide about wanting this type
115of a I'm just curious just no we other parents no there's been mainly um I'm hearing it from a couple schools um that have a larger population when we're looking at also because I've been digging into the data do we look at the 93rd percentile above or do we go to the 95th um so it's definitely coming out of specific buildings that have higher populations which is just what it is um but I do think it's still an opportunity to dig in and do some problem solving to get this process in place thank you for taking that pause and being able to kind of pivot noticing that it may need that pivoting to implement it in a better more functional way yeah thank you it's the right thing to do also know no matter what
116our teachers do a phenomenal job whether you are a high performing student you are a typical functioning student or you have a student that has has deficit areas our teachers are rolling up their sleeves and doing exactly what is needed so by all means this does not indicate you know my child that has advanced skills isn't going to get what they need because they will that is definitely a part of our priority and what each and every one of our staff members are doing in the classroom so this does not remove that I just timing is everything um and I think there's an opportunity here to dig in some Moree thank you thank you I'll come forward with some new stuff thank you thank you for the update all right renewal of contract with auditing
117firm so it's recommended um that we renew a three-year period for our Auditors a cian um for the June 2025 26 27 um audits um they've been um efficient and effective they have strong understanding of our District's operations they're very um collegial to work with they they do rotate their Auditors um so in my 11 years we've had four different head Auditors that rotate through so you're getting different um viewpoints different sets of eyes on it and then they always bring out a team of other interns that usually get stuck with some of the yuckier projects um but so there are multiple sets of eyes that that look at our data um I I believe that continuing our partnership with them is they give us our audit Services um the financial accountability that we look
118for um I I recommend we Ren new for both Central and for Northern can's audits how long have we had them in place how long have we had this auding fir uh I don't know how long it's been my whole time here I've been here going on 12 years so I'm I'm guessing it's been a while before that have you ever other districts have the Auditors that period of time that's not unusual because of the convenience and that knowing the staff in the right District it saves a whole lot of time no I I'm not sure I don't know your audit for it's to me it sounds like you're very pleased with it yes okay you have questions no second we're not there yet enrollment report right so our enrollment report is included in your
119packet um and it's got both the uh quarterly and enrollment detail report as well um as you can see on on our first page here student enrollment report uh same time same month last year were about three 3.3% over which is pretty consistent with what we've heard in the past um and then you can look on the second page for February 2025 what our totals are at each one of our buildings as they progress so pretty pretty consistent with kind of where we felt we we go okay uh of Information Act man do you want to run these down great so uh we received um Freedom of Information Act from miss Warren a request for all Communications between November 25th 24th December 18th 2024 related to the resignation of Jeff Gman either as board president
120or from the board entirely we were able to comply with this request in part as there were some exclusions or redactions that were allowed by the law uh we also received a Freedom of Information Act request from steep steel LLC uh request for all copies for copies of all active leases licenses or management contracts for cell towers rooftop antennas or other Wireless installations on property owned or managed by Central 301 along with 24 months of Associated payment histories we were able to comply with this request however no records existed uh we received a Foy from Miss Welch uh requesting all materials provided to the board as part of the board retreat on April 24th 2023 as well as any estimates from larston and Darby imeg Ericson engineering and shales mcnut for work on the proposed
121high school that was presented or provided to the board in the same board retreat we were able to comply with this request uh we received a foyer from the Illinois retired Teachers Association request for contact information for certified staff retired in 2025 we were able to comply with this request received a foyer from Mr florac a request for student enrollment counts by county of residents in this case the request was denied as we are not required to answer questions or create new records and we do not track this information I received a foer from Miss Welch uh requesting for project exhibit addendums for the CHS Edition in 2024 the pkms cafeteria expansion and the CHS Edition built between 2017 and 2019 for imeg shells and mcnut construction Erics engineering and Larson and Darby we were
122able to comply with this request however there are no responsive records for some of the requested items uh Foy a received from Miss Welch we received a request for all Communications between Esther mongin and Steve Larson of Lon and Darby Architects between April 1 2023 and October 31 2023 we were able to comply with this request in part as there were some exclusions and redactions as were allowed by law uh we received foer from Miss Welch a request for the separation agreement between the board and Dr mongan and we were able to comply with this request with redactions that were allowed by law and a foer from Miss sarakas C excuse me we received a request for the separation agreement for Dr mongan and the employment agreement for Dr how and we were able to
123comply with this request with redactions as Allowed by law motion second or required to adjourn to open session and move to close session for the following exceptions 2c1 2c2 2 C10 2c1 2 c21 no moved second a yes buul yes Gorman papis yes buy Boston yes tempo