001okay well that's the way to kick off a meeting so I hereby uh call this meeting to order uh roll call please Brown is here Mrs Galbraith Dr Hall here Mr swallis here Mrs Walters here vice president here president Aubrey here please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance 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 in liberty and justice for okay in this group would you please recite the permissions sir our mission is to empower each student to positively impact the world for a bright new future thank you okay we already had the choral presentation which was great so next up is public comment and first tonight is Mary Bragg and topic is holidays good
002evening Administration ladies and gentlemen of the board we appreciate all of your hard work and dedication for all of the time energy and effort that you put forth on the behalf of us and our students and families we want to take this time to wish you all a safe happy healthy holiday season in we're not going to think about Thursday until after two thank you and next up is Melissa huff and the girls on the run all right good evening my name is Melissa Huff I have been a school social worker in this District district since 2009 currently at Monee Elementary but previously I worked at Talala and CSK as well in addition to my social work rule like most Educators I've also worn many other hats PBIS coach School leadership and one that has
003always been dear to my heart Girls on the Run coordinator and Coach tonight I am speaking up as an advocate for this program because we need this program back in our elementary schools post-pandemic we need it more now than ever before this is the time of the year we start getting emails about the spring season sign up but yet here we are again another year we seemingly will not have this program at the elementary levels so tonight I wanted to take a moment to give you some history about how we got to this point so you can better understand my passion back in June 2012 when I was the social worker at Talala I reached out to my principal at the time Mr Neal to ask if we could bring Girls on the Run to
004our school and we successfully did we started the girls on the run program in this District the following year most of the other elementary schools jumped on board and we all successfully ran the program for many years as program coordinators and coaches we poured our hearts and souls into the program devoting so many after school and weekend hours all of which were voluntary practices were two nights a week for 10 to 12 weeks with a lot of planning and prep in between we didn't just run during practices we taught an entire social emotional curriculum we coordinated volunteer projects as a team we planned our own practice 5Ks in the community and even took the girls and their families to a Chicago Sky game one season as some of you know firsthand having daughters that participated
005in the program the impact this program has had on our kids is almost Indescribable we saw the social skills gained the self-confidence boosted the physical and mental health benefits we even had some students find their passion and go on to middle school with cross-country Awards we experienced this for seven years for seven years the volunteer program coordinators were able to recruit staff members and volunteers as coaches to keep the program going but sadly over time year after year our volunteer coaches became drained it became difficult to keep volunteers coming back year after year trying to balance volunteering time in trade of child care costs after school and balancing other obligations the elementary girls on the run program finally hit a wall in 2020. other coaches and after school programs throughout the district were being compensated
006for their time but not for this program until 2020 that is in 2020 the Middle School brought the girls on the run program to the upper grades for the first time and in their season their program coordinators and coaches were in fact paid for the many hours required to successfully run this program they received a stipend for their dedicated time but at the elementary level we still do not have Equitable funding we desperately want and need this program back in our elementary schools we are ready and eager and we miss it our kids deserve it and we hope that you will help ensure equity is in fact a priority in our district and find a way to help us fund this program in the way that it deserves across the entire District thank you [Applause]
007thank you very much okay uh next up is board updates um does anybody have one I have a brief one um just wanted to let you know that um and again this is on the great work that our social workers do but um in Crete Angels On Assignment and Crete Township Youth Services have had a toy drive in Crete and they've received hundreds of toys they've partnered now with through our social workers in the district to find deserving families for these toys and children who may not otherwise have a Christmas gift this year and at this point they're up to helping over 100 Kids and Counting so I want to shout out for Angels On Assignment in the Creek Township for doing that and then on just as a side I was talking with Miss
008van kaiken on my way in tonight she was telling me all the other great work the social workers have been engaged in raising money and helping the community and so I just want to have a shout out to all of our social workers so thank you foreign updates yeah I would like to do a quick one because it's time sensitive particular update thank you Ken for allowing me to use CSK CSK this past Saturday that my wife and I and our non-profit organization we partnership with Pete's food in Matson and Sam Club in Tinley Park to provide some meals for several home owners and people that live within the neighborhood throughout Creek Monee Park Forest I think we hit University Park so that was a very very good gesture not so much from my wife
009and I more so from Pete food and Sam Club than to see those smiles on the people that we was able to get full baskets to did my hard wealth so thank you for allowing that okay and Dr Cara thank you any other board updates I don't have an update I just want to say that that's my favorite part of this job is seeing the kids perform and those type of events it was wonderful and I don't know if everyone knows we do I know you guys know but we do host an event called Spectacular in February it's February 4th it's a show choir competition where they won't compete because we're the host but choirs from all over the state and other places come and that'll be a day I'm sure bill will let us
010all know that they're going to need a lot of volunteers on February 4th so I plan to be there and uh and I just I'm so proud of those kids and I just love that and thank you Mary for the holiday wishes and the same to all of you thanks for coming out I've already been volunteered for a spectacular okay any other board updates okay if not administrative updates anything Dr Cara um you know we just want to make sure that we wish everybody a happy and healthy holiday season like I said we've had a great school year so far a lot of hard work that's gone in a lot of great events that have been going on for helping our community the list goes on um about everybody pitching in together to help support
011each other in a variety of ways so just want to do wish everybody a happy holiday and looking forward to seeing everybody back here next year okay great do you know what time what time does everybody get out of here on Thursday well we are watching the weather I was going to say we do have early dismissal that was planned it's 11 o'clock and one o'clock respectively but we are watching the weather and we'll be making any sort of announcements if necessary you know by tomorrow yeah I was going to say just make sure the staff kids will leave early to make sure they leave on time we have school schedule for Friday I know no no there is no school it's going to be it it's going to be interesting so and they're moving
012it up a little bit so just make sure everybody's aware make sure they're out there on time everybody's watching it trust me yes yes is there a period of rain turning over to ice there yeah yeah Thursday I think it's starting they said it even as early as noon we're going to watch that and then it goes all the way until Friday so yeah they don't live five minutes away so they're gonna they're gonna drive to Indiana and Illinois just make sure they get home yeah okay uh next up is consent agenda before I get a motion do any board members have an item they'd like taken off the consent agenda to vote on separately okay hearing none can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda moved second and Dr Kara could you
013please read the items on the consent agenda I sure can under superintendent's report item one approved regular meeting minutes of November 15 2022 item two approve regular meeting closed session minutes of November 15 2022. item three approved Committee of the whole meeting minutes of November 7 2022 item four approved Committee of the whole closed session minutes of November 7 2022 under business approved Board of Education financial report item two approve a payment for RL Soho for 606 606 151 1096 for the work at ELC and Talala Elementary School approve a payment of RL Soho for 43 284 and 73 cents for work at CSK item four approve of payment for RL Soho for 151 and 96 cents for Balmoral Elementary and item five approve a payment of RL Soho for 154 883 and 76 cents
014at Crete Elementary item six approved payment of CC Holdings Inc for uh 729 960 and 25 cents for work at creekmont high school item three on a personnel and culture would be approved the Personnel report and then you need me to review the listings there yeah please okay approved certified staff employment leave of absence return from leave of absence reassignment resignation educational support staff employment leave of absence return from leave of absence reassignment and resignation and dismissals any questions or comments on the consent agenda okay hearing none roll call Mr sawales bye Mrs Walters aye Brown is an eye vice president rube aye president Albert aye consent agenda carries and we have one action item action one action report tonight kind of get a motion to approve the 2022 tax levy moved any questions or
015comments on this item great presentation last week Ken thank you okay roll call Ellen is an i Mrs Walters aye Mr sawalesh aye Dr Hall aye vice president rupe aye president Albrecht aye motion carries uh do we have any old business any new business and we have no need for closed session can I get a motion to adjourn so moved okay all in favor say aye aye all opposed we are adjourned Merry Christmas