001good evening good evening public we are ready to start it's 18:30 or 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday July 18th 2023 and we are here to have our regular board meeting for Creek mon 2011 you Madame secretary can I have a roll call please sure Mr alre here Mr gagos here Dr Hall here rup is here Mr swales here miss site stumbris here president Brown here let us please stand for a roll call I'm sorry can't do that twice Pledge of Allegiance followed by mission statement Pledge of Allegiance lead us or led by m gyos I pledge alance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible for liberty and justice for all Dr Hall you read our mission statement please our mission statement
002is to empower each student to positively impact the world for a bright new future thank you sir I don't have any public comments up here is there any public comments you're I'm sorry no no public comments okay uh board updates like to share one with you a couple I guess here don't forget we have our training class this Saturday July 22nd here at the boardroom at 1000 hours that's 10:00 a.m. and we'll probably go to about 1:00 same day as a reminder okay also I did send a board just a email basically stating a couple things that's going on in the community uh one was e not an equity but it was a leadership training out there that was initiated by a stakeholder in the community of Moni I thought it was just looking at
003it having a direct conversation with him I I thought it was a good opportunity for us to attend so does anybody plan on attending that I think it's August 3rd second and third second and third there you go I thought it was the third and fourth it's a second and third I believe it's a second and third all right I know I couldn't do it because I have an event on the fourth for my organization we we'll get clarity it's either second third third or fourth okay and I think it was like $99 I'm not sure if that is something that could be covered by our board training money that we have for each person if not we can find other ways if you so choose don't let that be a stumbling block for you
004not to attend okay and it's web based too it's web based if it's a second and third I could do it I just can't do it if it's the fourth okay and and the cost I'm not but about but the third you can't if it's just one day or whatever okay or the second or third I the fourth is the day I have a conflict so I was thinking when I was reading it for some reason I thought it was the fourth but okay I'll verify that for you verify that I I'll as soon as we get back to my office I can show then verify if it can be covered too by can be under under board training I plan on attending um VI web based so if you guys can attend please do
005so CU it sounds very good uh something that you know would add some definitely benefit to what we do here as leaders in this district and I plan to attend the Moni grand opening of The Pavilion on a week from Wednesday excellent excellent so we're trying to get out show our faces best we could you know I was able to attend a few different events throughout the community I don't want to get into all the details but if you can make it as I said in my email to you please show up and Cheryl you had sent me something if you don't mind I'll share with the rest of the board some other events that I didn't capture I didn't I didn't put it out until I talked to you okay I appreciate it so
006I'll send it out tonight time permits I did want to say I watched the um video that Mr gyo shared with all of us so I appreciated that thank you and then I did just ask the question if we have any type of parent lays on regardless of if they're bilingual or not and and I don't need the answer right now I know you guys are um looking for stuff but I was just thinking if we do we could marry the two until the need gets big enough to just have one that's bilingual yeah and I think uh we were going to have Miss Perkins look into that we are trying to determine what what are the needs are out there uh to investigate um the question great Alex thanks for sharing that with us
007too you're welcome okay any other updates the board okay administrative updates superintendent uh before we get started with what's on our agenda I wanted to just give a quick uh shout out here to some new members on our executive cabinet team we have Mr uh the Dr Eric meleno he is our assistant superintendent for personnel and culture he's here with us this evening and has been working with us since July one so thank you for there you remember uh Brian Johnson he's been in uh working with Ken alongside in the business department and our new member here is Jason okrasinski he is uh we welcome him back back he had been at the high school for many years gone off has done work as a um a director of uh finance and now he's going
008to be serving as our interim and then we'll be moving on to the assistant superintendent of Finance for next year do tra come no he's not a Trader he's I I was told he I was told we was getting a person that's going to save us like millions and millions of dollars this is this was him no welcome aboard can I do something for you know have to learn how to spell his name well either of their names he said we can call her call him Dr M I like we call her Dr K it took me a while to so we just shorten everyone's name around here yes welcome aboard thank you guys thank you welcome aboard joining the 201 you family welcome aboard go ahead doc so this evening I'm I'm really pleased
009that Mr holfield is here this evening he's going to uh be giving a presentation for the educator Rising students uh they were out in Orlando recently and we saw some pictures he sent those through and it sounds like a really exciting experience so uh Mr hfield do you want to present your team and tell us a little bit about the event first of all thank you for the opportunity to share to the board president vice president and Dr Cara and the entire cabinet uh I have exciting news we talked about two years ago about the need to fulfill a whole a gap in education and the need to grow our own teaching program the program launched with 18 students I am pleased and a proud principal to let you know we have 58 students going
010into next year that will be enrolled in Lewis University dual credit program with the inent to become teachers and the bulk of them would like to return to Creek mon School District 201u I think we ought to applaud these students say absolutely yes uh in addition we were able to grow uh the tutoring program for the summer just to give you a Capstone of that as a part of the tutoring program the students are compensated in addition to that they fulfill their workplace experience requirement and we are on target for next year to have students who will graduate with the education pathway endorsement attached to their high school diploma so that's also another commendable accomplishment that we have I want to take a backseat tonight because I want you to hear from the students and
011uh the parent that accompanied uh the students to Orlando for them to share with you before I move away uh I was honored at the ceremony this is a national recognition for a school leader Division I received the educate Educators Rising Champion award board in appreciation for my support and commitment to ensuring that the teaching profession outlives me so I'm appreciative for this and that the students were were in attendance because it's because of them that I'm motivated to push them to move forward at this [Applause] time at this time I want to introduce a couple of Scholars uh one Valeria Perez and then the next will be Casey Berkeley and then we'll have Miss hick Spears close us out her daughter is unable to be here tonight but she attended and her daughter has
012sent a little spill that she wants you all to hear sit back relax put your seat belts on and enjoy um hello my name is Valeria Perez and I competed in the category a Educators Rising moments when I decided to become a teacher um before I start I would like to also mention Miss Perkins who gave me the opportunity to work over the summer as part of the Educators Rising program working in over the summer in mon Elementary so can we please give her a round of [Applause] applause so no matter what school you go to you're going to get a teacher you like or dislike the funny thing about having a teacher you like is that they'll always surprise you one day I remember my first year of middle school I had a teacher
013she was strict but I liked her and one day during class she passed out a sheet of paper to all the students and asked them to write down what they wanted to be when they grew up I wrote down teacher and as she was skimming through all of the paper she noticed that someone wrote down teacher she then proceeded to ask the entire class wrote down teacher I raised my hand smiling from ear to ear saying me then in front of the whole class she told me don't become a teacher I was shocked by her response because why shouldn't I become a teacher I always thought it was because of a teacher's salary since I don't get pay much or so I was told but I never found a good reason so I just ignored
014it I I want to become a teacher because I believe children are the future teachers start kids start off as children and then grow up to be something completely different whether it's to become a teacher a policeman a firefighter or whatever they want to become teach children are also the future with many differences and what they want to become in life they grow up to be something completely different and of course there many skills that they grow up to have can also help us in the future and other jobs requires all the teachers I've ever had were kind to me helped me learn and made sure I felt safe those are the biggest teachers those are the biggest qualities of a teacher I like and want to have all the teachers I had were kind
015to me help me learn and make sure I felt safe helping kids learn and helping them get a good education means they can set goals for themselves find out what they want to achieve and of course what they want to be when they grow up funny thing your first teachers are your parents they teach you right from wrong and how to speak going to school you have your teacher who helps you learn and to help you out in the real world no one is perfect students have obstacles in their lives and hopefully your teachers will help you over will teach you how to overcome some of those obstacles my father got pulled out of elementary school to work in the fields but still graduate from high school I look up to him a lot since
016he went through so much and is still a great father he is my role model and someone who inspires me to be an even better person and hopefully I can give my future students that same encouragement to push them to be someone better and that they can accomplish anything if they set their minds to it any subject in school you may find boring but it can sometimes surprise you and you might even use it someday I know with my passion when I become a teacher I want to make a difference in my students lives and help them be successful in life thank you hello my name is Casey Berkeley and I had the privilege of of attending the national Educators Rising conference I competed in the children's literature K through3 category and my book is
017explore black history with Casey so I read the judges my book also at the conference we met with different scholarship um organizations such as the golden apple scholarship for Illinois which gives scholarship opportunities for students who want to be teachers in Illinois and come back to the school which I would love to have the opportunity to and the next one was the center for black black educator development which gives workshops and resource opportunities mentorship for student for black students who are aspiring to be Educators we also met with the national 2022 teacher of the year um he gave very inspiring words to us and most most importantly he told us to that every career starts with a teacher and to really pour into students lives and showed us the kind of teachers that we want
018to be we also had was attended the college fair it was really exciting to see all the colleges throughout the country and meet with them next was my book well I will read to you real course a short children's book explore black history with Casey written and Illustrated by Casey Berkeley a young Casey was talking with her mother about black history her mother suggested that they travel through the of the United States to visit black historical landmarks first they traveled within their home state El The Landmark was a safe house for the Underground Railroad slaves often traveled North for Freedom the safe house allowed slaves to rest before continuing their Journey next they drove to St Louis Missouri Casey and her family had a tour of the Old Courthouse this is where the historic Dread
019Scott F Freedom trial took place The Dread Scott case went all the way up to the Supreme Court where it was decided that black people were not Americans and did not have rights which was later overturned by the 14th Amendment then they drove to Memphis Tennessee Casey visited her na the national Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel this is also where Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated the exhibits Museum showed us a journey to civil rights in the middle passage which is how most African slaves were brought to America Next Casey visited Sunflower County Mississippi this is a cemetery where slaves were buried some included Casey's ancestors dating back to the early 1800s they took photos of the graves then Casey traveled to Atlanta Georgia they took a tour of the Ebenezer Baptist Church
020this is where Dr Reverend Martin Luther King preached his first sermon and where he was baptized also in Atlanta Georgia is Dr marlea King in K Scott king's tomb Casey thought about Dr King's fight for civil rights and paid her respects then they visited Charleston South Carolina they went to the old slave Mart Museum this is the first African-American Museum they spent their time reading stories from formerly enslaved people next was Greensboro North Carolina they visited the international civil rights Center inside were exhibits like the February 1st 1960 Sittin the greensbor S was the F was when four black students sat on all whites lunch counter and were not served because of the color of their skin so the black students sat at the counter and waited and protest protested silently this event was a
021hor a historic part of the Civil Rights Movement many people around the cth began to sit in and participate in nonviolent protests next was Hampton Virginia they took a tour of Hampton University which is a historic black University bucker T Washington was a student there then later became an educator and created schools in the South he also spoke with US presidents lastly Casey visited our nation's capital Washington DC Casey and her family went to the Frederick Douglas National Historic Site inside the Frederick Douglas National Historic Site you see items he used gifts from President Abraham Lincoln Casey Al took a tour of the home with her family next Frederick Douglas was a writer abolitionist and Was Born Into Slavery Douglas escaped slavery at the age of 20 and traveled to New York he later wrote
022a self-titled autobiography also in DC is Howard University which is another historically black University the first Supreme Court Justice th Good Marshall attended Howard University after weeks of traveling Casey went home she thought about what she learned the importance of black history in America and wrote about in her photo book which is also in inspired by true events and I edit some photos in the end thank [Applause] you hello everyone um my name is immani hick Spears and I am ala Spears's mom I'm going to read um something that she wrote and then I'll share my my experiences as well okay so she goes today I wanted to take a moment to express my heartfelt appreciation for the incredible experience we share together at the Educators Rising conference I want to share that I once
023spoke at the board meeting a moment ago and would like to say that this experience captivated my senses and ignited my already fueling passion for education I want to express my gratitude for the opportunity to learn and grow alongside my fellow R my fellow uh Rising Educators I appreciate how this experience pushed me beyond my comfort zone and allowed me to network with future Educators all ages from all over the country I am also grateful for the lessons I learned within the many breakout sessions held the sessions opened my eyes to different cultures perspectives and tunnels of Education I was able to engage in meing F small group discussions about the future of education and why this is a very important line of work the knowledge and wisdom gains will undoubtedly shape my future endeavors
024Endeavors I don't want to take up all of your time because I really could go on and on and in all caps on but I will hold my tongue because I feel you all get the point I should have reread this thank you so much for your time with profound appreciation and warmest regard she got that out of my email signature ala Spears so funny okay okay I'll proof read next time so um as you all can see she definitely the uh trip and in this whole entire experience because I know we're at the the end part where they competed at Nationals but this was like an entire process like from them actually um coming up with a concept that they wanted to write about in a book um figuring out what category their books
025were fall in um they actually had to you know write out their Pages they Illustrated their Pages them themselves um some of them at the conference though we saw was a little Fancy on the uh like they had it done professionally um but not only that so just going through that process of writing a book and editing and just you you know of course alela whined about it here and there cuz she had to rewrite you know keep going back over it um and then moving on to competing at the school level and then winning and then also competing at the state level at ISU and then winning again and then Landing um themselves at the Nationals of this year so that was all super exciting um but as a parent and educator myself um
026I was teacher and now I'm a case manager um and I'll be going into my uh my uh doctorial program hopefully January um but um just watching her go through this entire process has been so super impactful and so impressive um and my wallet thanks this board for actually being invested in this program because like uh Mr hollyfield said when she graduates next year she'll pretty much be done with I want to say like a semester of classes so that's going to save us money coming out of our pockets um by her already having these uh classes um completed um and then also too right we can preach education and the importance of Education all that we want to right but if we don't have the programming here already for them at this level right
027they shouldn't be waiting till college to be exposed to the field of education but if we don't capture them here then they not really invested right and I know a lot I I know you all feel the pressure too of what is the future of Education you know especially when a lot of people and including myself we've been told like oh no don't go into education you know you don't get paid look one of them I believe mentioned that you don't get paid well and oh you know it's a it's a a thankless job and all of that and so for them to actually be invested at this point in time and where their passion is clearly at a alltime high is where you want to actually you know uh make your investment because they
028I'm I can almost promise you they'll be back to the district you know so when we thinking of the future of education and and I think that is the most valuable way is growing your own is this investment that you all are making right now so thank you all for not only helping my wallet but also empowering the field of Education um so it will go on and live on forever so thank you all excellent as a final token we have brought back pins for all of the board members and we have a gift for Dr Cara and uh Miss Perkins that we will present on tomorrow thank you all for the time thank you [Applause] outstanding outstanding thank you hey Mr hfield are they are they thank you all Juniors or were some of
029them seniors that sop Juniors Andi wow excellent thank you excellent um do we have any any comments uh from the board any comments from the board Mr alfield thanks for all the hard work and the investment cuz it's it is amazing and we don't know where the future is at so I just wanted to tell you don't go into educate no joking No I um thank you for for um spearheading this and putting this together um thank you to the um parents who support it and I'm really proud of the students who are taking a challenge to go into um education it can be a thankless job but it can be a very rewarding job um and you don't always see the fruit the the seeds that you plant but you are planning seeds for
030the future I don't know how many times I've seen students that I just did not know if I ever got through to them and you see them years later and they say oh you did this you did that and I'm like really I didn't I didn't real you know no seriously but you it is a a a seed planning job and it can be very um beneficial um for you in fact one of my students does my taxes and you know so it it it does it is rewarding um but it you know it can seem thankless but it's not thankless anybody else well I would just like to say thank you as well uh do Mr hly hollyfield for your rigor for this initiative it's great it's outstanding it's outstanding growing these young Educators
031to be they already looking them as being Educators and thank you young lady for taking us through that Journey African-American history in such a short time and and the other young lady that says you know it's not about it's a passion there it starts right there and and also I would like to thank I I believe Mary you are in support here you're here in support that says a lot that says a lot okay and and the mom wow standing in the gap for your daughter and it starts at home and we're here as another stakeholder to grow our students to the dynamic and that's in our mission statement to be you know productive person in society and and you're talking about passion my my daughter is a teacher and she her and I was
032talking this past Saturday she got a promotion she the money is going to come okay don't worry about that the mone's going cup all right it's not all that bad so thank you again thank you thank you for all you guys do thank you all right doc back to you I think we're ready oh for business on to business we've got two um short items on here I've got Mr to be coming up the podium and sharing few things at last board meeting you just wanted a brief uh update on our life safety as well as uh security update so i' ask you to sh thank you Dr Kagan would these mics interfere with one another I got this one on speak into here that work um I need to work with Ken uh to
033familiarize myself with the status when he returns the last week of July um ideally we could provide a accurate update on the health life safety issues in the second meeting in August um as far as security I spoke with Mr Tobias and clear book bags will be Pro uh provided for all students districtwide an update on the Evolve detection system at the high school the grant has been completed we're awaiting award and approval and January is the implementation Target date provided that we can um provide training to all the people that are going to work with the evolved detection system regular safety meeting started in 2023 will continue this school year as schedul uh as regularly scheduled will so I got that information from Mr Tobias any any questions yeah I I just want to
034make sure I understand so our business manager assistant superintendent of business he's going to bring us back a more indepth update where we are with life safety then the next board meeting at the August uh August 8th meeting if if okay a regular or committee as a whole um at the regular meeting on the okay and we just applied for the security Grant but we would know for sure if we got it's not a certainty there yet right to is that what I hear you say to my understanding it's not certain it's not certain I think we would have an update um I believe in October um regarding the approval or the application process okay so I guess my question the furtherance of my questions are with the security so that is just dealing with
035the detectors right the grant for the detectors yes the Evol U are we looking to do any other things other than the detectors for the beginning of the year any procedures change or we feel good about starting the school year off the best we could we have done an enormous job last year with the uh institution of the district safety team meetings okay we had all of our uh building protocols that were put in this last year um that you all are familiar with and we've been very pleased with them the uh District safety team is going to be moving forward with more practice with our First Responders with um practice sessions out in our buildings so that will be underway for intruders okay so they're going to be upping their training uh in that
036regard okay all right so I would think you know with the board hopefully it's in agreement that because of security has just been a very big issue over the many years that as we start a new year just convey to the public just those things you know we can may we can speak this is what we got in you know and and plan out and this is what we're looking to take upon this year you know just real bullet TI 4 five in public at the start of the Year dist newsl that we'll be going okay great first and second week of great because I know that safy u a concern for our community yes absolutely okay and with the life safety update also when we are we looking to Embark upon our next phase
037of Life Safety surveys so again this one ends 2023 we need to know when we're going to start our next it's every 10 years when Builders is 10 years or older when are we looking to start that yeah Mr Sur will be able to provide all that yeah I definitely discuss that with Ser okay so yeah we going to need to know that uh any questions more on the board any fur further things on those two topics good okay all right thank you sir appreciate it you had an easy task to do I just want to let you know I was expecting a I was expecting a 20page PowerPoint presentation but that's all right that's next week that's next time all right that's okay we let you're you're good all right consent agenda is next
038up for approval I will like a motion to approve the consent agenda but if there's anything that someone a board member would like to have removed please state it right now if not can I have a motion to approve the consent agenda motion second motion second motion by Dr Hall moov by uh board member gaos gagos G why I call you Alex okay and then would you like me to read these for you if you could please yes underneath the superintendent item one approve regular meeting minutes of June 20 uh 2023 item two approve a regular meeting close session minutes of June 20 2023 item three approve special meeting minutes of June 13th 2023 item four approv special meeting close session minutes of June 13 2023 and item five approve updated board policy 2 colon
039132 under business item one approve Board of Education financial report under two approve a payment of 267,000 56 to RL Soho for the work completed at bmal I item two approve a payment of 4639 again to RL Soho for work completed at ESL and tala item four approve a payment of 248 to RL Soho for work completed at CSK item five approve a payment of 75223 252 cents at oural so for the work completed at CSK item six approve a payment of6 6 2,835 36 RL Soho for work completed at Creed Elementary item s approve a payment of um 1,410 89459 RL Soho for work completed at cre Elementry item eight approve a payment of 1.6 m900 91 and 821 73 are H Soul hole for what completed at B moral um item it 9
040approved payment of 147,50 60 RL Soul hole for work completed at CSK item 10 approved payment of 178,179 to RL Soho for work completed at tala and last number 11 approve a payment of 810 65,0 45 to CCC holding Inc for work completed at cre money high school and then for personnel report it would be to approve the certified staff employment leave of absence resignation and educational support staff employment leave of absence return from leave of absence reassignment return from leave of absence and resignation and that is it yeah that was a long one that's enough all right we do have a motion and has been moved and questions just a question on on under business four and five they're both to RL Soho work completed CSK one is one the first one for work
041in 2022 or 2023 I'm sorry which one is that Nelson four and five four and five CSK Nelson their invoice for the 6 91,000 was sent after the deadline for last month okay so they're catching up to invoices on this month's agenda so it's different work correct really I was yes good question good question any further questions comments now CC number 11 CCC Holdings this is for the addition okay okay all right no further questions or comments roll call please Madam Secretary okay um group is an i Mr swales I miss Zite sters I Mr alre I Mr gagos I Dr Hall I president Brown I motion carry any old business hearing none new business I have oh oh we had we had old business new new new we both have new business okay uh
042the the one that's the best the best looking person [Laughter] first I saw something this kind of comes under security but um more um Internet Security something to look into but I saw an article where the Minneapolis School District was U there's a ransomware attack on them and they held a hostage for a million dollars and his district decided not to pay it and then they released all his personal confidential information about staff and students and just something to look into you know what what protections were doing have we thought about it so this is PR something we have a solution that's talk about correct we are aware of U and there's actually a lot of it going on out there um our team has done a lot and you know our team has been
043going out and getting U additional uh certifications and credentials to up um their their knowledge base and so we have been working to um on efforts to secure that okay wow um my um new business I don't know if it's new business old business but we have a new scoreboard and I guess it's kind of been sitting for a while and the season is next month and I don't I would assume nobody knows how to operated it's not up what's the update on that if if you have if you don't I do not so I somebody raise their hand Jason do you have an update for us can't answer that or do you have a presentation no uh okay maybe when it's up in functional but it is being install schedule for installation is that
044next week Wednesday Keith um Julie is going to be coming out marking the ground near the scoreboard and then our own staff has went out and uh marked the irrigation lines uh for the additional pole that's needed for the installation great and then any update on the addition to the high school Jason do you want to address that sure um Keith you can chime in if you'd like um construction is going well um I've been in there a few times we've been working with the uh Architects and the contractor um currently working on Duck work and a lot of electrical um to be honest with you that's kind of where they're at in the construction phase Keith do you have anything to add no all masonary walls are up they drywalling uh it it looks
045good you know me the transformation within this past month is amazing there are still a couple long lead items which are going to be elect the larger electrical panels seem to be one of the only hold UPS you know we weed the rooftop units which we were really worried about those are up and but uh there are still some some Le time issues and like I said it's all on the electrical side uh they have the pans in but not the panels so once the panels come in they'll be able to set those and you wire all the wires will be pulled everything will be ready just just get them here okay so we had an initial date of completion to be ready for the fall of this year right and then we saw the
046delays come in and we pushed it back to the first of January right we were expecting the building to be completed in October which gave us PL plenty plenty of room um we decided to transition our students in January as a nice Breaking Point get it okay so those long lead items that we heard before about and this is pretty much a a bill bill has really been involved with the coolers the tower cooler chillers the chillers right are we good with that he said the Rooftop for our other projects not the high school but the ship dates are the last week of August and the first week of September for the other okay ship you know shipping from and then they they've changed those on us before that's that's what they'll tell you that
047what they'll put right are they been shipped from overseas I don't I don't know what the termination points are okay so that should not be a stumbling block or anything like that right and and with any of the other buildings we pretty good with Supply chains with the other buildings with material yeah you know floing was a a scare but we've got that pretty well wrapped up so yeah the lead time issues on the other seem like they're pretty good right now good okay good excellent good job all right any further topics on new business okay if not we do have a reason to go into close session and after Clos session we will not take any further action and we are going into close session for the appointment employment compensation discipline performance or dismissal
048of of specific employees pursuit to five Illinois compile statue 1202 C is and Charlie one I have a motion to go into close session move by now second second by Dr Hall any questions not roll call please Madam Secretary okay Mr swales I roup is an I Mr gagos I Mr alre I miss s stumbris i Dr Hall I president Brown I motion carry and to the public have a nice rest of your summer until