001Testing. Testing. One, two. Okay, I would like to call this meeting to order. for Creek Mon School Board regular board meeting. Today is Tuesday, January the 20th, 2026, 6:30 p.m. Roll call, please. Madam Secretary, >> Mr. Brown >> here. >> Mr. Gagos >> here. Zit Stumbress is here. Dr. Hall >> here. >> Mr. Swallish >> here. >> Miss Venegas. Oh, >> I believe that was >> Miss Benangis if I'm not. >> That was her. But I I I think I >> Go. Miss Wolf folk here. >> Thank you. >> I'll try back in a minute. All right. Thank you so much for that. And let us stand for the pledge of allegiance led by Vice President Mr. Gagos. You copy that? >> Yeah, I got you. >> Okay. Okay. In the mission statement led by
002sophomore Janing, board member. Go ahead. >> All right. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag >> of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Our mission statement is to engage and empower our students to positively impact their community and future. >> Thank you much. >> Hello. >> Okay, Elizabeth, you are able to join us on the call right now? >> Yes. >> Okay, you are live. Okay. Let me know if you cannot hear us. Okay. >> Okay. >> All right. Do we have any public comments? >> Great. Any board updates? >> Oh, that's not a bad idea. >> Yes. Yes, please. The microphone. Maybe that'll be good enough. >> Okay, Elizabeth, can you say your name again? >>
003Elizabeth, board member. >> Okay, it's pretty clear. Thank you. >> All right. Any board updates again? Hearing none. Administrative updates. >> Okay, I've got several of them. I've got about three or four items in my good news report. The first one I want to talk Thank you. The first one I'd like to uh just show the video. As I told you before, we did our wellness um fair back in January when all our staff came back. So, this is the video of it. So, we're just going to show that share that with you. And this is getting posted online as well. We welcome you back for our second annual institute day wellness fair. Um, this is our after break festivity where we bring you back and we try to get you ready to deal with
004your students. We bought bigger, better things this year and we hope you are really excited about it. Don't you Jessica? >> I do. We actually doubled the classes of all of our offerings from last year just to make sure we could accommodate everyone. >> Hi, my name is Janelle Cox. I am the owner and operator of Ailia's Juice Bar. primary reason why we created this and we curated these juices to um support all your major organs in the body. >> I did the popping plates. Uh I thought it was a great time. There a lot of people in there. They taught us some cool things about how to make our food last over a week changing our seasonings, how to do vegetables, how to do our rice, and how to live a healthier lifestyle. >>
005We respond your space. We are a spa and wellness company. Um today we are doing a few activations. We have our salt scrub bar. So, you make your own customized salt sprub. We have a fragrance bar where we take you through the process of creating your own fragrance. >> It really goes a long way, especially in today's workplace, to show that you care about your team, to have a day to just reset and relax and get ready for the rest of the year. >> Um, I really enjoyed Wellness Day. Uh, the keynote speaker, Dr. Ray, was awesome. Um, and I also enjoyed spending time with my colleagues. Hi, my name is Mary Elizabeth Wuchcci and I'm the owner of Mucci World. I'm very excited to be here. I'm really honored World is actually about bringing
006back quality time, art, fun, and wellness for all ages. >> I love the fact that we had this wellness fair uh for our staff. As I said before, our staff being prepared, being healthy, being ready, it helps our students and it helps their the overall preparedness of our staff. He got a workout that anyway just wanted to share that with you. It's always good to see uh you know the faces and the people enjoying that day and again it this is really to focus on the wellness of our staff and again heard lots of great things. So we'll be doing that again next year. >> I saw Dr. Hall he spoke and right after he spoke they showed a clip on playing basketball. I didn't see him on the floor. >> He was talking a
007lot that day. He >> was talking a lot. >> And Miss uh Janine was there as well. >> We did not get her on tape though, but >> Oh, wow. >> But she was there that day as well. >> So important. And the program itself is just so important. >> Yeah. >> You know, I think we lost a teacher in Chicago a week or so ago. I don't know if you heard about that. That was all on TV. And we don't know exactly what happened, but you know, having wellness is paramount anyways, mind, soul, and body. So, thank you for hosting that. >> Absolutely. And there's something else I'd like to share which was really extraordinary. Um, as you know, there is something called the Golden Apple Awards. Uh, one of our teachers earned that
008last year. Well, this year we had four of our principles were nominated by their staff. And uh so it's Miss Kakona Creos was nominated by her staff, Miss Kelly Chesta, Dr. Lisa Miller, and over there, Mr. Lamont Hollyfield was nominated. So just give them a little round of applause. >> So that's that that's why you have a suit on. >> Yes, it is. >> So again, it's a very special just to be nominated. There's a whole list of other things that need to be done. Now that's that's that nomination is statewide or yes >> that's statewide to be in a pool of candidates state >> wide and then they come out and they do some other things that are involved to they narrow it down to the one but just to be nominated is truly
009just an honor and recognition from the staff. So I just wanted to make sure that uh you knew what fabulous uh principles and administrators we have. >> So that's four four >> four. Yeah. >> Yes. I agree. Um, and then I wanted to also just do a um feedback from the calendar committee. As you know, last um week we had uh Dr. Perkins came and did some presentation on the calendar hearing. So, Dr. Perkins, can you just give an update, please? >> Yeah. >> So, the community knows where we're at. >> Um, I'm going to just share with you the email that went out to staff this morning. It says, "Thank you to all our staff members who participated in the recent calendar survey. The district carefully reviewed all comments and appreciates the time and
010thought that went into providing feedback. Every ver voice was heard in this process. The survey results reflected the following perspectives. Use emergency makeup days in June and extend the school year if closure occurs 42.2%. attend school on a designated flex holiday with at least 30 days notice to avoid an extended school year, 41.8% and no preference between the two, that was 16%. The calendar committee met this morning and will meet once again to review the results and discuss a final recommendation that will be brought to the BOE for uh February meeting. There is one potential adjustment that may need to be addressed if November 3rd, 2026 becomes an official midterm election holiday. Isby has recommended that we plan for it and if you have any feedback related to this topic, we ask that you share
011it with your calendar committee representative. And there were about 450 staff members that took the survey. >> What was the uh first one? 42 >> 42.2 2 and the next one was 41.8. >> 42.2 for what? What did it say? >> 40 um for use makeup days in June and extend the school year. >> So that's good. So after last Tuesday, you sent the survey out to give everybody an opportunity to chime in. >> Yes. >> Okay. And then you'll take that information and the calendar committee will come up with a decision and then present it to us >> at the February, >> the first meeting, the committee the whole. >> Yes. >> So we can digest it and then vote on it at the regular meeting. >> Perfect. Thank you. >> Thank you. >>
012And how many people took the survey again? >> About 450 maybe 448 or something like that. >> That's well over 50%. Yeah. >> And 750. Yeah. And that was the entire everybody had a chance to >> all employees. >> How long were they given notice to fill out the survey? >> Um we sent it out on it was our Tuesday. We sent it out on Wednesday and I think we asked for results by Friday at 4:00 and sent out a few a reminder to do so. >> Is there opportunity to extend it? Are we open to that just to give people a chance for more respondents? >> Um, >> I I don't know. I'm just asking. >> Usually people that usually people that wanted to respond and get their voice out did it right away.
013Uh, typically with surveys sometimes you don't get people that always um respond. So, >> I was just thinking two days for a teacher sounds awfully short. And we did send out a reminder like if you didn't get a chance to take it, please make sure you >> and this was a topic that was highly visible in the community and highly uh talked about in the schools. So it wasn't like anyone didn't know about it. >> Okay. >> So just wanted to share that. >> And we spoke with both presidents of our unions and they pushed it out to their members to remind them to take the survey. >> Thank you. So I can move on on the agenda. I've got another one underneath office of teaching and learning if that's okay. >> Sure. >> All
014right. Um I've invited Mr. Hollyfield to come and present tonight. And the reason why I have been talking with him at the school to find out all the things that were going on this year and they've tried some a couple strategies that have yielded fabulous results. And I thought, you know, I needed to share this with you. he needed to share this with you and I think it's something that the community needs to know about all the fabulous things they're doing and we are getting results. You know, I've been here this is coming up on finishing nine years going into 10 uh shortly and you know I was saying to Mr. Hollyfield out of my 10 years I feel like we've arrived. They've gotten s such good responses this year. So Mr. Hollyfield would you
015come up and uh give your presentation. >> Thank you Dr. Chicago and to the esteemed board of education and the community. Uh I would like to talk to you about what we're doing at Creemon High School to empower students and while strengthening accountability. First of all, I want to start off with our purpose and vision as we laid it out this school year. uh we wanted to be intentional in making a shift from how we handled what was happening with students. So we wanted to transition from adult manage compliance like the checkbox to the point where students own the accountability because as we all know we're not just preparing students to get through high school. we're preparing them for a life beyond high school. So whereas we would like to see the number of referrals
016to go down, that's not the only goal. Our goal is to make sure that we're doing our due diligence to empower our students to become responsible self-regulating warriors. So what we have embarked upon, I refuse to call them tools. They are systems that will aid us in supporting the shift that we're making. It says a cultural shift because we're changing the climate of the building. So why uh this shift is important? Uh we realize that as teachers and administrators, we're not going to be able to track students movement after high school. uh they're not going to necessarily even have their parents to remind them of what the expectations are in the world. We have to ensure that all of our students are fully equipped to manage their time, make decisions and uh to realize that
017with decisions there comes accountability. So you can make the decision but you also know that accountability comes with it. So the first uh initiative or system that we put in place is called smart pass. And the way I like to look at it, it's student ownership in real time. So this is a student initiated responsibility where students decide when they're going to leave the class. They select the destination, manage the time window and have the obligation or responsibility to return on time. Initially when we got it, of course, you know, teachers were hesitant about it as was I. Students are going to be in the hallway without a pass. But then I told them, think about a pass. Just because you have a piece of paper in your hand does not mean that you're supposed
018to be in the hall. Were they not going to have the Chromebook? No, they don't need the Chromebook. There's a feature in smart pass called hall monitor where the security can see every student that's supposed to be in the hall with their picture. Uh I wanted to make sure we alleviated the need for a conversation where you going because with the picture it already says where they're going. It tells you how much time they have. So really no need for conversation but hi are you having a great day today? Welcome to Cremon High School. I wanted to transform that first. Uh, one of the things about the smart pass, uh, we wanted to make sure that with our students, we were mirroring what they were going to expect in the real world. uh they need
019to be able to leave their desk at work appropriately and to manage their time responsibly. Understanding that with freedom comes accountability because at the end of the day once lunch has ended uh the boss they're not going to ask too many questions too many times. So we want to make sure that students are experiencing that in the high school. I also like to look at smart pass as being freedom with guard rails. So the accountability is built in. Um smart pass provides us with digital records. It has time tracking and it has data transparency. And parents uh you may be listening but in a couple of weeks you will have access where you can see not real time passes but obtain the data so that you can say see on any given day how many
020passes your student is requesting from which classes, how many hours of missed class time this is adding up to. because what we feel is that if we monitor the patterns uh we can intervene early so students who misuse time they're redirected and I like to use the term coach and provided targeted supports I have a running joke in the hallway because when students come in late they're uh uh they're shocked when I say no you don't have to go to the attendance office I can give you a pass right here and I issue the pass and they're like, "Do I have five minutes?" No, the class is right here. Maybe 5 seconds. So, walk through the door. Well, what's going to happen if I don't walk through the door? That was initially, but now it's
021almost like the past has transformed their thinking. And I'll talk about uh at the close what students are saying. This next system that I want to highlight at the same time is called take five. I want to talk a little bit because the process in and of itself uh does not do justice to what the system is about. The nickname that I've given the system, it's called teaching before referring. So, take five is a classroom level behavioral support structure and what it's designed to do is to help teachers address minor behavior concerns instructionally and proactively without immediately removing students from learning. Um we adopted this system because we believe in the premise that behavior is just like academics. It can be taught, it can be practiced, and it can be uh improved. So take five
022supports teachers with a consistent schoolwide approach. I've had the opportunity to witness it while I was doing teacher evaluation and I didn't even know a student was getting a take. It alleviates the teacher from having a dialogue about what's going on and all they say is take one and the student uh depending on where it's set up in the classroom. In one classroom they walk over to a ladder in CTE and they're signing the paper. I didn't know what was going on. And if that didn't work, then they say take two. But there's no conversation. So there's no back and forth, no argument. And because it's happening in every class, there's no way a student can say they don't understand it. initially because we adopted this process from the middle school but I would say
023on at the high school level it's on steroids now because initially I had a student they came to see me oh I think this is ridiculous that we have this type of system I said well sir are you not able to uh self-regulate yourself and he looked at me for a minute he said no I'm not talking about me I'm talking about for my friend I said well if you're not participating in take Five, you can aid your friend in learning how they don't have to participate in the system by doing the right thing. He said, "I wasn't prepared for you. I'll come back and talk to you tomorrow." And believe me, it's been three months. He hasn't been back. The way the take five process works, initially, there's a warning sign off sheet uh
024which serves to set clear expectations. Second time, if they continue, they go to take two. They complete a twominut thinking reflection. It's what we call the pause and reset. Thirdly, take three is a written reflection where the student talks about the impact of what's happening, how it's disrupting the learning environment. Take four, which I can tell you has maybe been used less than 1% of time this school year, is a script. I included it in your folder so that you could see the clean script that the student must read verbatim. We don't need to hear what you think about the teacher. Just read this to your parent. Look at that line. I'm sorry for interrupting your day. So helping them to own what has happened. Take five is when a referral can be written. So
025what we've essentially done because in the handbook if you look at the minor infractions we give a range of interventions but for those minor infractions if you have not utilized the take five system we're not entertaining a referral. Of course this is not someone with a gun. This is someone playing around in class. someone doing a minor action and this has really caught on with students in our building. Moving on, the goal is that we want students to be the owners of the outcome. So students are the initiators. So they're giving clear expectations. They're provided fair opportunities and given the time to self-correct. We understand where they are in the developmental stage. And they must choose to complete reflections, reset behaviors, and accept a responsibility. And the way we look at it, those are skills
026that you're going to need in the real world anyway. And how about schools taking the lead in teaching it to those who may not have that skill? What does this look like in the high school? And this is one slide that I like. I believe in accountability with dignity. At the end of the day, we need our students even after they make a mistake to be able to hold their head up high. We want to emphasize reflection over just tossing a kid out. We want to emphasize repairing harm over implementing a punitive system. We want to emphasize conversations versus escalating because I can go toe-to-toe with the student, but why? And we want to provide support over just painting with a broad paintbrush and labeling kids. And as you know, the labels don't go away.
027We have to not hold kids frozen in time because of what they have done. We have to teach. That's what schools are called to do. So I want to not only give you the fluff, I wanted to provide some early indicators of success. And this first slide talks about some office process data. Uh and we uh put deans by numbers, not by names because that's not the point. uh and over last year where the average time it took about eight hours to process referrals. Referrals are being processed anywhere between three to 10 hours for the dean and that's a new dean that we're working with. So we're going to get that down. But this year on average the turnaround time has been about 6 hours and 58 minutes. We're also emphasizing because I could just
028get on the computer and resolve it in 10 seconds. But we also want it to be done correctly. The other thing our office have have made over 800 plus parent contacts uh just this first semester alone. Our uh students with multiple suspensions was only 44 out of a student body of approximately 1,500 students. And the frequent infraction rate is only 31%. That's individuals who got more than one referral. The volume, look at this. Last year at this time, there were 721 referrals. At the close of semester 1, we only had referrals. That's a 60.1% decrease. Uh there were only 184 students involved, which is a 53.2% decrease. And it's a 14.4% 4% reduction in referrals per student for those that received a referral. This is for frequent infractions. And the only thing I want to
029emphasize on this page, while it looks like the reduction is very small, a 8% decrease, what that tells us is that we have a real small subset of students that have high support needs. And we're well able to help a smaller number of students, 162 students versus 346. we're able to get them what they need. You'll see on the next slide what these um actions uh are. So here's the categories. Defiance uh remains the largest category, but it has 67 fewer incidents than last year, which is a 41.6% 6% drop followed by um inappropriate language it has decreased by 64%. And you may wonder what inappropriate language is. So I have the definition from the handbook. It occurs when a student or students use profane and or obscene language or gestures or are in possession
030of magazines with an overt content. That's what we're talking about there. Fighting incredible decreased by 60%. In our our building this school year, we have not had a mob action fight, a legit mob action fight. I'm going to talk about the big win. We had one brewing that involved 25 to 30 students, but I'm going to talk about what we did, not what I did, but the principal was not absent. The principal was in the meeting saying, "No, this is what we have to do." You're going to hear about that in a second. Skipping class behavior. >> Excuse me. Excuse me. Can you define mob action? Mob action is where it's not oneon-one, where you got maybe 20 on oneonone, where you're overpowered. The handbook describes it. It it can be even three on one
031with the handbook definition >> and we have not had that this school year. >> Okay. Thank you. >> But I'm going to tell you what we did uh that I feel had a big impact and sent a message through the whole school. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Skipping class decreased by 37% and threat related behaviors dropped by nearly 80%. These are the numbers. The numbers don't lie. You can come to the school. So sometime I see communication but I don't know what school they're talking about because it's not happening in the building that I'm running. Defiance referrals. Let's sit here for a minute. I want this to sink in. There's a significant overall reduction across all grade levels. You see it? But I want you to pay attention at the highest drop. And that highest
032drop is where? Freshman year. And this also goes handinhand with the UN University of Chicago's uh consortium report when they talk about academics and filling two classes. What we saw is that this reduction in ninth grade, it has a compounding effect because if they can get it right freshman year, what we have seen, it directly impacts what your sophomores, what your juniors, and what your seniors are going to do. I've seen this many times over. I was part of starting a freshman academy. If you can get freshman year right with discipline, the troubles that we've seen time over time, just cease to exist. Are am I saying you won't have one or two kids off task? No. But you will not have an overwhelming number of students who are not doing the right thing. The
033other thing I want to point out because I didn't want to crowd the slide is that there is a um there was a over concentration in one cohort that ninth grade level but now it's more evenly distributed and fewer in total. So to me, what that signifies is that the high school is addressing the root causes instead of just putting a band-aid on things. And I think for a long time, that's what we did. Put band-aids because, you know, as you learn more, you're able to do more. So I think this is a key indicator of a stabilizing school culture. So in summary, what are you saying to me as a board? I want to break it down to four points that I want you to walk away with. Creepy High School has achieved measurable
034reductions in defiance overall grade levels. The largest gains are occurring at the earliest intervention point which is ninth grade. behavior behavioral improvement is systemic not isolated and current practices are yielding real quantifiable results. And I feel that a lot of this is because of the supports we've put in place. Uh I've always been a fan. Don't point the finger at the middle school. I'm only concerned about what's happening from 9 through 12 because it's always that blaming the grade below. What have we done? Because we're at semester 2 now. So, let's talk about from semester 1 to semester 2 and this is the data that we're looking at. The data does not lie. I also think it's because we have explicitly taught the behaviors we expect. We no longer just feel, oh well, the parents
035should have taught them. Well, they didn't, so what are you going to do? So, we have to give students what they need to be successful here, which should mirror what they need to be successful in the real world. We have not forgotten our obligation to partner with parents and guardians and we're doing that through the scripted calls like the take four clear documentation being transparent with our expectations enhance communication. I overload parents and I know a couple of the parents on the board are my parents so they get the parents square. overload them with the communication so that families see what supports were provided, what choices students made, and why the outcomes occurred. I long for a day where we won't have to talk about what happened, where the student can lead the conversation and
036we just sit there and the student will be able to own it and we can look at that student and say, "Great job." That's my hope because the goal is we're wanting to transition students to adulthood, not merely check a box. So, Smart Pass is helping with time management. Take Five is working on the reflection and accountability. The restorative practices that we have built character and growth because we're preparing students for college, career, and for citizenship. Here's our biggest win, and I take pride in talking about this. We resolved a three-year conflict. For three years, there was a conflict between two grade levels, specifically junior seniors. And um everybody wanted to know what the principal had to say about it because number one, you're not going to mean mug. That's a phrase uh that I
037learned being in the high school. You're not going to sit and mean mug in the hallway and tell me nothing is going on because I wasn't born yesterday. I was born two days ago. So, we had a situation going on and I was supposed to be out of the building and I said, "Uh, I'm I'm thinking I'm like, how are we going to address this?" So, here's what I want you all to do, Deans. Call all of these junior parents, have them to come up in the AM tomorrow. It was about 15 parents, and I said, "We're going to meet with the parents, and then we're going to call those 15 kids down and meet with them." In the PM, we're going to call these 15 senior parents and call their kids down and meet
038with them. And on tomorrow, all 30 of them, the parents and the students, we're coming together to the Bridges gym and we're going to have a big circle and the principal will be here. We had the meeting to give you the short uh subnopsis of it because we will be here all night. The parents were doing all of the talk. And I said, "Yep. I appreciate all of the comments from the from the parents, but I don't think the issue is with the parents. I need to hear from some of the young men in this situation about what's really going on." I gave a little narrative. I said, "Your principal, you about to give your principal a heart attack." And I said, "I really want to be here to see you graduate. So I need
039to know what it is." So one boy hit me. He said, "I'm not going to be able to say anything in this meeting." So I'm wondering about him. By the end of it, the short we know how things go. Someone talked about someone's dead relative or homie and they wanted somebody else to apologize because student is no longer in school. And I said, "This is ludicrous. You need help and we're going to get you the help that you need." The short of it, at the conclusion of that meeting, every student in there shook hands. The two opposition parts were playing ball together. A young man whose parent told him he could not participate walked up to me after the meeting and said, "I don't know what you all did to get them together, but you
040just saved a life." That is what this is about. Not getting to the root of problems is not an option. I chose this career, so I have to realize that I'm responsible at the end of the day. The parents sent their kids one way, they expect a kid to come home the same way. I'm committed to the work and I feel my team is also. This one win has transformed our school because you would have had mob action after mob action if we would have refused to address that situation. dared to be different and not send the deans by themselves. Lead by example, roll your sleeves up and sit at the table because this work is not about control. It's about capacity. And what we're doing is empowering students who can manage themselves with integrity.
041That's what I have for you tonight. There's much more we can talk about. time does not allow but maybe at some other time I will be invited back but I want to open up for any questions and tell you in advance thank you for even listening to me tonight >> I got a small question >> we have a question we have a a question by vice president go ahead >> all right uh so how or um what can we attribute to the reduction in referrals. Uh is it the improvement of behavior or is it the fact that you now get four warnings before you get a referral? >> Uh no, I think it's improvement in behavior because if you look at the number of students that's even getting a tape, it's a very low part
042of the entire population. In the past, we've allowed a few students to control the narrative for the high school. It's very few students that's even part of the tape. So, we are positioning them to get the support they need so that they don't just go through the four. We rarely have students get past take two in the high school. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Yes, ma'am. I just for how often do takes reset is like how many how long do you have? Is it five takes per class a semester? Is it five takes per class per day? Like what when do they reset? Does that make any sense? >> It it makes sense. >> Okay. Thank you. >> But we don't want to freeze people in time. So it's that day, >> okay, >>
043at the that that's it, the end of that class period. We're not going to hold against you what you did in September in November to say, "Oh, now you're at take five." No, each incident stands alone. >> Okay, perfect. Thank you very much. >> I have a question. um for students who may have some documented u behavior or disabilities, whatever word we want to use there, do they go through the take five process the same way? >> Uh not the same way because if they have the FBA or any of the supports, we take those into consideration because if we're not doing our due diligence to follow their plans, don't come to me with something and we have not okay >> adhered to that. No. So, it's different. We want to meet students where they
044are and bring them where they need to be. >> One more. Um, just out of curiosity, um, have teachers reported any challenges or any obstacles with following through with take five and what have been the process with maybe trying to resolve that to improve? >> They have uh, reported obstacles. We've paired them up with teachers where it worked successfully and we're looking at teachers who teach the same students and through those partnerships we've seen them overcome the struggles. Any of my administrators will even come to help. So it's not something that we're tossing out there. We want to empower them to number one give the system time to work because a lot of times uh they hear from someone else but you don't know the background. Did they follow the protocol the way that it's
045set up if it's not rolled out properly >> then you're going to experience problems. >> Thank you. I I think the work is excellent because at the end of the day you're holding them accountable to themselves. >> The number one thing that everybody misconception is let's just get them through high school. But the idea is that's one step making them a responsible adult because everybody's situation is 100% different and you don't know if that student when they graduate do they have to become an adult tomorrow do they have to become a parent tomorrow do they have to become a work you know what are they a part of society no one knows >> right >> so making them accountable for themselves because no boss in any business is going to tolerate anything. And then you
046don't want them to go out there and fail because that's not our job, >> right? >> We want them to go out there and succeed and be successful um adults, parents, um owners, you know, entrepreneurs, whatever it is. We want them to be when they leave here, we want all of our kids to be successful. So it's it's good work rec having having them recognize that you you know when you make a mistake we all make them but owning it just >> it's not always good to get um discipline but owning your mistake it changes who you are so and I think that's good work starting from the beginning just because they're kids >> and we don't want them you know someone says that >> you graduate high school you turn 18 you're an adult
047well who says >> Mhm. So you got to at least prepare them for that. So it's good work >> and it's a tearjerker when you talk to security officers who opposed it but say it's the best thing since sliced bread. You talk to students, I was against this. This is helping me to manage my time. I don't want this to turn red. I want to be back in class on time. It's helping me build. When you hear students articulating that and you didn't give them a script, that's the reward. When you hear staff members saying the reports I get, we have reduced bullying because we can put in encounter preventions where two two students who are in conflict cannot come out at the same time. With a paper pass, you wouldn't know the student is
048out there. With a digital system, it has made it very easy to get ahead of that. Romeo and Juliet that want to hook up in school, you're not hooking up here. You're going to have to wait. not here. You're able to control that. We stop meetups in the washroom, meetups for whatever you trying to do, hookups, whatever. No. And we do it in a very respectful way and students are honoring the system. Last thing I want to say and I'm leaving. Uh we have also rolled out the portion because we had trouble at the end of the school day when students were coming back for sports and athletics because I've always not liked the idea that the TAs are down there trying to control this. So what I did, we purchased the smart pass digital
049ID where you can upload their activity on it. So every student exits the building and come in through door 8 and there's an administrator at door 8 with the TAs and the TA said this is what we've always wanted because there's no problems and we assign one administrator but all four go every day. To me, it speaks volumes at how a system encourages people to just do the right thing because we're supporting students. They can't learn if they can't feel safe. >> Okay, that's exactly it. So, I think the idea is that >> you have to start somewhere and I think we've never knew where to start and you have to start somewhere to make them feel that way to be able to change the way they're going to they're going to come here and
050learn. Yes, for sure. >> Yes. >> Great. Good work. Great work. >> Okay, any more questions? >> I don't have a question, but I would just like to say like I feel like these are the kind of things when we talk about leadership and putting our district visible for not just our community, for others to um learn from and be an example for other districts to follow. I think this is the kind of stuff that I think should be shared. I'm working with six school districts through the safety symposium that Dr. Kise had. I'm working with six school districts talking to teachers to get them to buy in. They're trying to pilot it and saying, "What prep do we have to do?" And they don't realize Smart Pass doesn't come program. You make it work
051for your building. You don't have to do it like we're doing it. you know your school and it will work with what you're already doing >> their school, >> right? Correct. >> But it's not rigid. It's flexible enough. Yep. So, we're doing that work. We're open to help >> other schools. Thank you. >> Oh, not yet. Okay. First of all, I would like to meet the two students, Romeo and Juliet. >> Yeah. Oh, there's more than two. Okay. >> Okay. Oh, well, great job, Principal Holly Phil. And I think what you're doing really meets the intent of Senate Bill 100. >> That the restorative justice. I heard a lot of that. >> Giving the students the opportunity to take charge of their behavior in some way, shape, or form. And I see one of the
052take five processes here. Number two, that's kind of what we use in the corporate world, and it works. Taking a two-minute pause when something just don't look right or whatever, take a step back, take a two-minute pause. >> And that has helped a lot of things from a corporate world from going wrong. >> Yes. >> And when things went wrong, you go back, say, did you take a two-minute pause? And most times they didn't. >> Right. >> Okay. just from a corporate perspective. And a couple more things here. The PB PBI is it PBI? >> PBIS. Almost sounds like the channel 11 public broadcast, right? >> Are they in line or how are they being incorporated with this? >> Carmen Thompson works hand in hand, lock step and Nicole Chism with MTSS. All of this
053works in conjunction. >> Excellent. >> Yep. Okay. because we want to reward as you reward. You don't have to call people out. When you reward, kids want to do the right thing. So even with semester award assemblies, I've started giving most improve because they may not get a piece of paper. That paper may motivate them to do the right thing. We have to call it out. You came to school today because my next thing is attendance and truency. >> Okay. >> So I want to put up something. We're glad you're here today. I want to make it my business to >> Excellent. >> welcome those students. I think we have to do whatever we can to turn the corner. >> Yes. And there is a lot going on with many of these kids behind the
054scene before we get them here at school. And you're dealing with the kids as they are here. and to overcome a lot of things that's going on behind the scenes says a lot about your team making a positive impact. So just one last thing I would like to add or I don't even want to suggest it but I know with the kids with the early learning program we have three year olds and four year olds and then we have our kindergarters the uh K5 K5 students and they're working together and the K the kindergarten teachers are looking at the pre-teen uh pre kindergarten teachers and you know, I want to make sure that I get that three and four year olds ready to accept them in certain tools they need to have. So, but I
055did hear you say that the middle school, you you kind of like and I think it's pros and cons. You're taking these kids not having any pre-notions coming into the high school as freshman's but I think it may be an opportunity that you do some type of partnership with our many middle school >> and see just kind of what data are they getting so you can kind of have an idea what you're getting. >> We do they have smart pass too. So we're going to collaborate if we're going to another district we got to collaborate here first. Yes. >> So we wanted to get ours going. So we're going to work with them. So that how about this? A kid that has experienced it sixth, seventh, and eighth grade will know what to expect at
056the high school. That's how you build a system. So you're not really having to do a lot of training >> at the high school. It becomes part of the way we do business at Creep Mon'nique. >> And and and again, I think and Dr. Cognese, her and I talk occasionally and she said, you know, the district the high school is quiet and this and that. I mean, walking over to your high school, walking into only these schools that I've been in, they are welloiled machines. >> So, perception is not reality out there to some of the naysayers out there to talk about school Mon school district. It's just it's just ruckus going on all the time. You look around, there's something going on. That is not the case. So I challenge any parents, any public
057to come and visit our schools and see how effective and how obedient these kids. >> You may be surprised. >> Love that in a good way. >> Seeing is believing. Thank you, uh, Principal Holly Field and your team for doing an excellent job. >> Thank you. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> All right. I think it's the shoes now. I thought it was the suit, but I think it's the shoes. All right. Uh, good conversation. Good news. That was under good news, right? Well, I'll put it under good news. Okay, moving on to number seven, consent agenda approval. Is there anything that any board member would like taken out or changed before we put a motion on the floor to approve the consent agenda? If not, I would like a motion to approve the
058consent agenda as presented. >> Moved by Bill. >> Second by Janine. Any questions or comments? If not, Dr. Kogmanise, I'll give you the liberty to read it off. >> All right. And under superintendent report, it's approve uh regular meeting minutes of December 16, 2025. Item two, approve committee of the whole meeting minutes of December 9th, 2025. Under business, approved board of education financial report. Item two, approve the payment of $193,688.93 to Bear Construction for work at the middle school. Under the personnel and culture report um approved personnel which consists of uh approving certified staff employment reassignment intent to retire educational staff employment salary adjustment reassignment and resignation. Item B approve the district discipline improvement plan and that is concludes the report. >> Okay. If there's no questions and comment >> I just had one question
059for Mr. Ginski, um, how is the middle school construction? Is it on on time, you know, on schedule? And two, I know Mr. Brown had mentioned early on, you know, we were doing construction during school. How's that process? Just making sure everything's running good. >> Yeah, everything's going uh great. Uh, to be honest with you, I was over there this morning. The first two um the classrooms on the first floor where the amphitheater used to be are framed out right now. So you can actually see the bones of the classrooms. Uh they're um tining the electrical conduit right now. And on the second floor, the uh framing has been laid out on the ground. So I think they're going to start framing the second floor classrooms probably by Wednesday of this week. So everything is
060going on schedule and going as planned. >> Excellent. >> Bill, you literally took both of those questions out of my thinking, >> but I was making sure everybody because besides us making sure everybody that is tuning in to make sure they're aware of the what's going on. >> I was actually going to wait for uh O business. I mean both of those questions. How are we doing and what's the impact? >> Yeah. And uh principal CO sits in our weekly meetings too. So we have a representative from the middle school administration. Um no issues brought up during with construction happening during the day. So we continue to do quality work and make sure we're safe. >> That's good. Excellent. Thank you for that update. All right. If there's no other further questions or concern regarding
061the consent agenda, roll call, please. Madam Secretary. >> Miss Venegas. >> I. >> Dr. Hall. >> I >> Miss Wolf. >> I >> Mr. Swallish. I >> Z Stumbers is an I Mr. Gagos >> I >> Mr. Brown. >> I motion carry. Moving on to number eight, personnel and culture. A alpha approved personnel report number one. >> That was part of uh >> that's part of consent, right? >> Consent. Yeah, >> we're on nine. >> Ah, >> action. >> Okay, thank you. Good catch. All right. Number nine, action report a alpha business number one. Could I have a motion to approve the resolution abating the taxes hereto for four levied for the year 2025 to pay debt services or service on the district general obligation school bonds in parentheses alternate revenue source close parentheses series
0622024 have a motion >> moved by Bill >> a second by Dr. call. Any questions or comments? If not, roll call, please. Madam Secretary. >> Miss Wolf. >> I. >> Miss Venegas. >> I >> Mr. Swallish. >> Hi. >> Dr. Hall. >> I >> sit stumb. Mr. Gyos >> I >> Mr. Brown. >> I motion carry. And before I go on, let me make sure. Was number eight under? That was not under consent agenda. >> Not per the agenda. It's actually its own bullet point. See how consent agenda is number seven, >> right? So maybe it's should it have been a C for personnel and culture but it's listed here as number eight topic >> but that's he you did call it read it was read under consent >> when it was read together it
063was read correctly but >> well we kind of snuck that one in I think I think the consent was should only seven >> seven okay cuz it was read under consent >> it was all read together but >> yeah that's why >> I thought it was a typo it was all read together >> do we need I think we probably sorry I looked at that again. I'm like, "Oh, >> well, >> yeah." >> So, then you want to go back to 8A personnel and culture >> or do you want to finish nine and then go back? >> We can go either way, but I think we need to capture that number. >> Perfect. However it works for your mind. I'm just writing it down. >> I just think Yeah, I think they capture that separately.
064Doc, what do you think on it? >> Go ahead. That makes sense to me. >> What would you like to do first, sir? >> We finish off number nine. Okay. >> Okay. So, the motion passed. We We did um vote on number 9A. Number one, right? >> Correct. >> We took a vote. We took a roll call on it. >> Correct. >> Okay. Motion passed. Now can I have a motion to approve action report number alpha business number two for a motion to approve the resolution abating the taxes here to four levy for the year 2025 to debt pay debt service on the district's general obligation school bonds in paren open parentheses alternate revenue source close parentheses comma series 2025 moved. >> Moved by Jamie. >> Second by Dr. Hall. Any questions or comments? >>
065Roll call, please. Madam Secretary, >> Mr. Salish. >> I. >> Miss Venegas. >> I. >> Miss Wolf. >> I >> Dr. Hall. >> I >> Zit Stumb says an I. Mr. Gagos. >> I >> Mr. Brown. >> I motion carry. Retracting going back to number eight on the personnel and culture report number A alpha. Approve personnel report. Can I have a motion to approve the certified staff employment resignation, I mean reassignment and intent to retire and educational staff employment salary adjustments, reassignments and resignations. >> Moved by Jamie, >> second by Bill. Any questions or comments? >> I have a question. Um, why is reassignment in there twice? Am I misreading something? >> No. Why is it in that? >> Yeah. I said employment reassignment and intent. Okay. >> There a lot of reassignments going on.
066>> I I didn't I was just because I was assuming that one was for certified staff, you know, maybe that I don't just >> That's correct. That's typically how it's listed out. We have the certified action and then the class classified. Okay, that's what I >> Look at you. >> I want to make sure. See, >> I got this much left. >> You passed. You passed the test, >> right? >> Thank you. All right. So, the motion's on the floor. We had clarity on wine to remove one reassignment there. Any other comments on number one alpha under number eight personnel and culture hearing? None. Roll call please. Madam secretary >> Dr. Hall >> I >> Miss Venegas >> I >> Miss Wolf >> I >> Mr. Salish >> I >> Zit Stumbris is an I
067Mr. Gagos. I, >> Mr. Brown. >> I motion carry. Number 10, old business. Any old business out there? >> Hey, hang on a second. >> Don't you want to do people in culture B? >> Yeah. >> Approve the district discipline improvement plan. >> Yeah, if we're going to do one, we should probably do two. >> Eight and >> Oh, okay. Sorry. Number eight. Yeah. Good. So, so letter B, correct? >> Let's go back. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, eight, personnel and culture. >> We just did A. So, now we're going to move on to 8B. >> That is correct. 8B. I have a motion to approve the district discipline improvement plan. >> So, move one by Dr. Hall. >> Second by Bill. Any questions or comments? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Madam Secretary, >> Miss Venegas, >>
068I. >> Miss Wolf, >> I. >> Mr. Salish, >> I >> Dr. Hall >> I >> Zit Stumbers is an I. Mr. Gagos >> I >> Mr. Brown >> I. Motion carried. Now 10 again. Do we have any old business? >> Uh, yeah. Uh, Mr. Ggo's on the phone here. Hey. Um, so I got a call from Speed this week and I'm not able to make the meetings uh anymore due to work. Obviously, I'm not there now. Um, they meet on Thursdays. I think it's like one meeting a month. Uh, I was wondering if Well, because right now, uh, our district does not have a representative on the governing board. Uh, so I was looking to find a replacement. >> Yeah. Yeah. This came up before and I'm not sure if anybody committed to that.
069Okay. And that's this Thursday. It's once a month. Yeah. And it's usually the Thursday after our regular board meeting. >> Thursday. >> Okay. And I know everybody get busy schedules. Okay. So in until we can get someone to commit to that because we do pay into that service and I think it's proven that we have representation there from the board. So, if none of you can make it to attend, I I'll at least pick this Thursday up and we'll take it from there. Give us some breathing room. >> What's the times of the meetings? >> Yeah. What time is it, Alex? Do you know? >> Uh I believe I want to say like 7:30. >> Okay. And that's over in Chicago Heights, right? >> Uh yes. >> Okay. I'll get the information from Dr. Cogland
070needs. So I I will go ahead and represent the board at least this I don't want to commit for all in the meetings but give us a little breathing room and we'll take it from there. We may have to do a rotating whoever can make it. Okay. All right. Okay. Alex, thanks so much and thank you for representing the board when you was able to do. >> Yeah. when when I'm able to uh get back there, I will uh resume uh responsibilities, but for the time being, I'm out. >> Okay. You say they pay what? $700 an hour? >> Yeah. >> Okay. I'll I'll I'll donate my proceeds. Thank you, Alex. Any other old business? >> Any other old business? I had a um I think it probably would have been better served if I
071had spoke on this during board updates. Is it still okay to proceed? >> Yeah. Okay. So, um I'm sit on the education foundation subcommittee. >> Yeah. >> And so, just wanted to make sure that our teachers and our administrators know that we do have grant money still available. um if there are some type of something a teacher may need or a conference they want to go to that our link is active and um is open for them to attend and submit an application for grant funding through the education foundation. And so I wanted to make sure that I brought that to the board and to whoever that needs to hear that. I do know that um one of our representatives, our vice president I believe is working with our PR person, Haya and to try
072to get something to that goes out. But I just wanted to make sure I brought it to the board so that those who need to send out knew. >> I was going to say, have you reached out to or at least made mention to um CMA's president and ACME's president just to let them know because I'm assuming besides a teacher, but if you have a teacher's assistant or or some occupational the somebody else could use that as well if there's some sort of training out there, right? And so in the link we'll have the information on what's required to submit for the funds and all of that good stuff. And so just wanted to make sure everyone was aware. >> All right. So you saying the ed committee a foundation >> there's opportunities for certain
073entity certain groups to to obtain some funds. >> Yeah. >> VI the AD foundation. Huh. >> Yes. That's correct. >> Okay. So when you made mention of the Ed Foundation, I never forgot. I did say I was going to donate some money to >> I didn't forget. >> Okay. You might have to look at me and I'm like, I'm saw you look you turned your head away, but you still looked at me. But we I did share that we wanted to see if there was opportunities like the wilderness fair to perhaps have presents to then use that form in that setting to hit the masses that one time. Um and we are planning for another fun run next year. So you can either double it next year or whatever you get it while you're ahead.
074I may not be I may not be able to run at all next year. I don't know. >> I'm crawling it out. >> As long as you can write Oh, thanks. You really know how to hurt You really know how to hurt a guy, huh? I'm seeing my doctor tomorrow. All right. Thank you, uh, sophomore. >> Thank you. >> I appreciate it. Any other old business? Okay. Hearing none. New business. Hearing that as well. We do have a reason to go into close session and the reason being is the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal of specific employees. Can I have a motion to go into close session for reasons stated? >> Moved by Bill. >> Second by South J. Questions or comments? And we should be in close session for how long? >>
07545 minutes. And there will be no further action taken after our close session. So we have a roll call, please. >> Sure. >> Miss Venetus. >> I. >> Dr. Hall. >> I. >> Miss Wolf. >> I. Mr. Salish >> hi. >> Zait stumbris is an I. Mr. Gagos >> I. >> Mr. Brown >> I. All right. Motion carry in close session. So Elizabeth, are you going to join us in close session? >> Uh, yes I can. >> Okay. I will call you once we get set up. Okay. >> Okay. Sounds good. >> All right. Al Alex is going to join us in close session. >> Yeah, I would like to. >> Okay. Can we set up for him? Don >> Don, let me know when you're when you're >> Okay. >> Did you Did you
076>> We can't adjourn. >> No, I mean >> No, we in close session. Yeah. >> Yeah, we we already voted. >> Yeah, we voted. Motion carried. >> We're not voting until we come back. >> She didn't know.