001of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. And thank you all for being here. I know that it's hard at the end of a long busy day. Uh things just keep getting busier, but thank you for extending the day and coming. I'll entertain a motion to go into open session. >> So move. >> Thank you. Second. >> Second. >> Thank you. Roll call vote. M. Robinson. >> Mr. East. >> Yes. >> Dr. Holl. >> Yes. >> Mr. Cordon. >> Yes. Mr. Warfield. [clears throat] >> Yes. >> M. >> Yes. Motion carries 70. Thank you very much. I make a motion for approval to amend the consent agenda to remove item 9B, dismissal of educational support personnel employee for reasons
002other than reduction in force. >> Do we need a motion? >> Okay, we need a second to that. >> Okay, thank you very much, >> M. P. >> Yes. >> M. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Mr. Yes, >> Mrs. Pam. >> Yes, >> Dr. M. >> Yes. Motion carries 70 to amend the agenda uh for removal of item >> 9B. Thank you very much. Okay. >> Okay, that's it. We're done. [laughter] >> Okay. Uh do we have any public comments? Welcome. >> You're fine. >> But I've watched your guys' videos and so I'm going to have a whack at it. [sighs] >> Let me gather my thoughts for a second. All right. So, good evening. My name is Mrs. Gomez and I stand before you tonight as a concerned parent. Now, over time,
003I've had several difficult experiences with the administration that have left me feeling unheard and disappointed. As a parent, it is deeply troubling um when your trust in a school's ability to ensure both the safety and quality education of your children feels compromised. However, tonight I'm not here to revisit past situations. I'm here to address one specific incident involving my son. Now, mind you, my son is an honor student enrolled in advanced classes. He has earned multiple academic achievements this year alone and has consistently demonstrated dedication to his education and future. Despite my own past concerns, he has maintained faith in dis faith in district 118 and believed he could show me that the system works fairly for students like him. Mind you, I I don't agree with him [snorts] and some of you are aware
004of some of the things I have gone through. And recently, he was suspended for horse playing during which a snowball accidentally struck principal Mr. Gorley. My son immediately apologizes there was no intent to cause harm or disrespect. What concerns me most is not simply the suspension itself, but the escalation of the situation. I was informed that efforts were made to pursue expulsion over what was clearly an accident. Given recent events with the school community, it is difficult to understand what why such severe disciplinary action, excuse me, was pursued in this case. This is not the first time concerns have arisen regarding administrative decision-making. I respectfully request a formal review of my son's suspension. His academic record, character, and future goals should be taken into consideration. He should not face long-term consequences that could impact his
005educational trajectory over an unintentional act of horseplay. I'm asking that the board ensure fairness, proportionality, and objectivity and disciplinary decisions. My my son deserves to be judged by his consistent academic performance and not character, not by a moment that has been mischaracterized or escalated beyond reason. Thank you for your time and consideration. >> Thank you very much. [clears throat] >> Chris Le. >> Good evening, Mr. Hart, members of the board. Uh my name is Chris Legance. I am the new director of Danville Public Library. I am here to promote our programming and promote things we got going on at the library tonight. Uh we have a prom collection drive going on right now. We know prom can get a bit expensive. Uh dresses and men's wear will be free of charge for students. Uh tomorrow
006we are showing a movie for Black History Month, Black Panther. Uh send your teens, send your kids, families, parents as well. We're providing snacks. Also Saturday we're having a ukulele night. You do not need to be experienced ukulele player. You can show up and join the program. It starts at 5:30. And also our teen zone is back open. Our hours are 3:30 to 5:30. In that area, it consists of arts and crafts such as origami. Uh kids can paint, draw as well. Uh we have some video game councils as well. They can play PS5, Nintendo, Switch. Uh we'll be working on getting some additional hours given that the summertime is coming up. So hopefully we can get some for Friday and Saturday as well. Thank you. >> Thank you. And welcome to Danville. [applause] I
007have inside information that you are a real treasure to have uh in in the Danville community. So, thank you very much. >> That's it. Okay. District 118 concussion plan. I keep looking at that word and thinking that it can't be right, but it's right. >> It's right. It's right. Um good evening, Mr. Hart. Sparker board of education Mark Bassy's um district athletic director and just here with anformational item every year the concussion committee meets uh we met um early in February and just update we went through we updated the committee uh has some retirees um some changes there and um went through the forms just kind of reviewed them went over the policy with everybody and I'll tell you it's been great to have Mrs. Hoskins at the uh Southern Illinois Health Foundation uh here
008at the high school helping with this as well as Jay Parker, our athletic trainer. Um they both kind of taken the lead and have been phenomenal. What we have seen in a few cases is is kids with Dr. Hop to try to get cleared once they were diagnosed with a concussion and these two are on top of it and and make sure everything is is at up to standards. Um Mrs. Parker has a new program that she's working with for the first time for our athletes where um they do baseline testing that we've never had before. So now she has the baseline data for their if after they have a head injury to see if it matches up and it's easier for her to determine if there's a concussion or not. >> So you have
009the packets there. That's the those are the forms that we've had for for [clears throat] a number of years. We just reviewed them. We went through them. Um I'm up for any questions if you have any. This is not a vote, right? >> Any questions? >> Anyone? >> All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. [clears throat] >> Okay. 2026 summer school and extended schoolformational attachments. Summer school. Mrs. Button. Welcome. >> I know. Can you believe it's already time to talk about summer school? >> So, good evening everyone. Um, my name is Marielen Button. I'm the director of curriculum for the school district. And for your information, I have our summer school plan, which is similar to what we've done in the past with one exception. Um, and again, this year, last year, Me Park took
010a break and didn't do summer school. We did it all together. This year, they're going to do their own again as he's nodding. Um and then we are doing something a little bit different with Northridge. The students at Northridge are going to follow the high school schedule as they do the same thing as the high school students um as a credit recovery type situation. And what we were finding was we needed the students needed the same amount of time as the high school students to be able to do the same thing that they were doing. So we've extended theirs. They're going to go Monday through Friday and follow the exact same calendar as um high school students at DHS. Northridge has been at DHS the last couple years, but um we stagger arrival of the
011students. Like high school arrives at one time, middle school comes at another and they'll eat, but they'll have different lunchtimes as well. They'll stagger those as well. And it works out beautifully. The kids, there's something very special about the kids coming to the high school because they can see what their future will be. taking the classes there and it that is motivating in and of itself too. So, but everything else is pretty much the same. We had a great meeting with um everybody bus lunch like we have a whole buildings and grounds everybody was there and we get this all kind of hashed out. So, and this also includes [clears throat] um extended school year. So, if you have questions about that, too. Um, Miss Miss Barton's here with us. >> So, any questions? >>
012Questions? >> How many kids do you think we'll have this year? If you had to guess. >> Um, usually what we do, we sort of have an idea of how many we need to have. Um, and what so we take the data, we look at the data, and then we we try to get the same number of students every year because it's how we build it into the grant. So, usually it's about 300 elementary and I think the number, which is a good thing, is going to be lower in seventh and eighth grade because of some of the things that Mr. Gorley and his crew have been working on. So, usually there's about 60 to 80 kids from Northridge and I think that's going to be a lot less this year. So, that's a good
013thing. >> So, yes. >> What is the criteria for elementary students to go to summer school? >> So, what we want to do for summer school, what we've started doing for several years now is it is an intervention. And so the students that come um we extend the work that we do with them during the school year. And so if they're getting um I'm trying to think of an like off the top of my head, which I'm terrible at, is like let's say they're getting um an intervention um Aspire. Uh then we try to continue Aspire during the summer so they are getting that intervention longer. Um so we work on the students um K through six. They spend part of their day, the majority of their day is reading and then we have I
014Ready that we use for math. Um and then everybody there, the kids are broken up into groups. So like kindergarten and first grade students usually get a lot of phonics and phmic awareness. And then as the kids get older, there's more fluency practice, those types of things, and we use the interventions that we have. So it's really interventionbased. It's not making up missed homework. This is this and we've had pretty good luck with it. we see some growth with the kids. It would be great if it like we went, you know, school year to school year, but I it's that's hard to do for the kids and the like in between the summer, the whole summer, but >> yeah. >> Do do you track the kids then when they go back to school? So, we
015have these um we have they're essentially report cards or reports and we make two copies of them and we always give one to the parents and it explains like where they started, where they went and then we give that information to the principles usually within the first cut and I read every single one of them um myself and so then we can so the schools know where we ended and where they can pick up um and then but the kids that were working with are usually some of our kids that are struggling significantly. And so it's in that short of time, it's hard to see like a lot of growth in that amount of time, but we actually do see quite a bit. And it's the more we're getting smarter at what we're doing and
016what the kids need, the better it's going. So, good. Any other questions about summer school and extended school? >> Oh, hearing none, can we move on to AVID? >> Yes. Um, so tonight um I have for you a three-year contract. However, we only pay a year at a time. And this all comes out of um title funding. And we did this I think this would be our third time that we've done a three-year contract with AVID. And the benefit to doing that is that the prices are locked in and they can't change them. So it's a cost savings. It's a little more savings if we paid for everything in 3 years like upfront, but we don't can't do that because the the title rules don't allow us to do it. So this locks in the
017prices and I'm very excited to tell you that we are even three years out, we are going to pay less each of those three years than we paid this year. They've reduced their costs for their memberships. So they raised the professional development costs and lowered the memberships because the memberships are the super valuable part and there are so many resources that we get through our membership. So it ends up being like you can see per school how much it is. It's a minimal cost per school and it does come out of title. So um we like Mr. like several of the principles can go to PD for free. Um, and then they have online things. Teachers, there's PD for teachers that's free. There are I don't know how many resources like if we want to
018do professional development on something, there's a a bank of resources that we get through the me like it's all like we can just implement it. So there's just a lot of benefit to the membership and it makes it like this is one of the most valuable things that in my opinion for our teachers and our students and I know there's principles here too that the AVID membership is really been beneficial to us and per per school it's not that much money compared to other things that we do. >> Okay. At this time, I'll entertain a motion to approve the AVID contract, which is priced at three years, but it's a one-year contract. >> It's a three-year contract, but it locks in the prices, but we only pay like we pay year one. >> We pay
019year one this year or for next school year. Then the next year, we pay we don't have to pay it all up front. >> Okay, >> which is good. >> I'll entertain the motion to approve. >> Motion to approve. >> Thank you. Second. >> Second. Thank you. Any discussion? Any questions for Mrs. Button? This isn't fair. And and you can tell me, you can answer me later. >> Okay. >> How many teachers and how many students do we have active in AVID in this district? >> Um the the actual AVID elective teachers are only at the high school and middle school. So we have seven of them. And then but every student in the district is considered gets the benefit of AVID because we are districtwide. So all the elementary schools like we just I
020was just at Liberty today for one of their meetings and we have documents and data that we have to fill out for AVID and like Liberty there's there's questions where it asks like it's a self-rating and you have to look at are you this is just for the kids that are getting AVID and then this is for all of the school like all of the kids in the school and so we're the way that we're doing it is every student gets AVID so they benefit from it um through instruction through college and career affairs through um guest speakers like all everything. So the teachers the majority like 100% of the teachers at Liberty are trained in AVID. They've been either to summer institute or they've been to professional or um path when we have it
021here. So like that was one of the questions we had to answer yesterday. >> That's going to be my next question. And how many teachers do we have that we send to AVID training every year? >> So this year we're not going. So we have um we're going to do paths here. We're using our title money to bring paths here. And usually um when we do that, we can get anywhere from 60 to 100 teachers trained. And the nice thing about it is the commonality of um what they're learning. So, if I'm a science teacher and I go to science training and I'm a PE teacher and I go to elective training, it's going to be specific to my job, but the things that we're learning connect so we can get back together and plan
022and everybody's understanding what good instruction looks like from the lens of their position. And so, that's what's really beneficial. It's very unique. I've not found anything else that does what this does. So, um, typically for summer, the last couple years we've had, well, a while now, we've had a like we've been flushed with title money and, um, the COVID money. And so, we were taking like 80 people to summer institute and then we would still usually have a path and train more. So, a good chunk of the district has been has been trained. previously to that we would send like we would target like one year we would do the middle school and high school and then the next year we might do a couple elementaryaries and so we would and then we were taking
023maybe 15 to 20 people so we've done it all kinds of different ways I' I've been in the position now long time [laughter] so we've done just about everything to make it work >> okay [clears throat] >> um just a a question [cough] and more of a statement too um 41,000 this year 43,027 44,028 for those who are not looking at the same documents we have in front of us. So that's a grand total of 129,165 um from title money that's money that we get from the state, sometimes it's from the feds, but through the state to help combat um can you explain that for people who maybe are >> like what the title money is for? >> What's it goal? What's the goal that title money? So the title money is to support students
024that are um economically or um opportunity they don't have the same opportunities as everybody else. So what this does is it provides training to the teachers and then there's also opportunities. Last year we had a student that spoke. Um so there's and we've had Dell scholars from it as well. like we've had I think two or three Dell scholars over the years that have gotten four years of school paid for because they participated in this program. So there's a lot of benefit to the students. But the it starts with helping teachers understand about um the best ways to instruct students to make the students feel welcome in the classroom um to make the students um to help the students like up the rigor. Like we had a great conversation at um I went to PD
025at DHS this morning and it was all about like how to really up that rigor with note takingaking. So the money is when we have title money part of that money is supposed to be spent on professional development and this meets that need in one of the best ways. I have two that I two professional development opportunities that I think really have benefit our teachers. This is one of them. And then um Smuckkins is our other one that we use and they've been really beneficial. >> Yeah. >> To our students. >> And I think Avid is very wellliked by the teachers. If you ask them, it seems like they like it. I mean, you agree with that? >> Yeah. >> I mean, I It's not good for me to say that because everybody knows how
026I feel. It's better when you ask other people that are here. Um it's more >> It just Everybody knows how I feel about it, but it is because of what it does for the students. >> Thank you. Uh, AVID is a wonderful program. I remember when it started when I was assistant principal at Northridge. >> Overall, what is the percentage of students who went through the AVID program that have gone to college and or graduated >> persisted? Um, we so I can get that for you. Like I know last year like our graduating seniors I think they either went to DAC I I I think almost all like 100% of them either in the elective went to either DAC or onto a four-year and so that's pretty consistent. It's usually in the 90 90% um
027and we have all kinds of data that shows like the kids that are in the AVID elective their attendance is typically better than students that aren't in it. And it's not because of who we select. Um like that they're already have good attendance like there might be some that do but it's it's the connection that the kids get in that program that really makes them want to go all the way through with it and stay with the students. So they they feel connected to a group of people and it just they better themselves. It's the best thing you can do is go into the classrooms and ask the kids about it. not the eighth graders or the freshman because they're [laughter] they they like to tell you how they don't like to do tutorials. That's
028where their heads are, but then they start to see the benefit of it their junior and senior year. >> Okay. >> So, [clears throat] any other questions or thoughts? >> Well, thank you for all your work that you do. You're you're not only recognized well by our district, but certainly uh beyond even nationally, you are recognized as someone. It's because of all of these people and our kids. They see they see what what everyone does and what our kids can do. So, >> thank you very much. >> Yeah. So, we have a motion and a second. >> A motion that we approve. >> Sorry, >> we just need a vote. >> Pardon me. [laughter] >> She's just excited. >> Yes. >> Mrs. Pam. >> Yes. >> Mr. E. >> Yes. >> Mr. Warfield. >> Yes.
029>> Dr. [clears throat] Yes. >> [laughter] >> Yes. Motion carry 70. Thank you for your job. >> Appreciate [clears throat] it. Okay. Now, is it you? >> Oh, Mr. Rice. Hi. Uh, job description for group coordinator recommendation. Mr. Rice, welcome. >> Thank you. Good evening, board. Mr. Hart, Mrs. Parker, Chris Rice, director of early learning programs. At our last meeting, I brought to you a proposal for a new job description for a group coordinator for the early childhood program. Just a reminder, um this position would require hiring no additional staff, no change to salary, and would continue if approved to be funded by the grant program, simply a change in responsibilities to allow us to better serve our community in the birth to three program. So, I would ask for your approval. >> Sounds like
030a win-win. Um, this is up for a vote. So, I need a motion to approve. >> So, move. >> Thank you. >> Second. >> Thank you. Any discussions, questions, reminders? >> Okay. Roll call vote. >> Mrs. Pam, >> yes. >> Mr. Eastston, >> yes. >> Miss P? >> Yes. >> Dr. Holl? >> Yes. >> Mr. Warfield? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Corby? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Holl? >> Yes. Motion carries 70. Thank you. >> That was easy, wasn't it, Mr. Rice? Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay. Um, now on to superintendent contract. Uh, I am so excited to announce to you that we have in fact, uh, approved a superintendent contract. Um, and it is for our superintendent. We're not hiring anyone else. It is for this gentleman right here. um >> as a board uh
031he has our total support. He's done a good job. Um it's taken us a while to get here through no fault of anybody other than just trying to get it right. Um I tell you again community and administrators and staff that we are committed to transparency. Um uh we want very much for all of you to understand exactly what the superintendent does and what he does for us. Um as a board we couldn't be more pleased with um what he does. Um this contract will be posted in in light of transparency tomorrow. tomorrow >> tomorrow so that you all can see uh what is exactly in his contract along with four goals that he's established for himself because the second part of all of this for me is that we will be doing an evaluation
032of the superintendent. So um and that's been long coming as well. Uh and it it's easy because he's already put in the work for a lot of that. We're just getting it solidified uh in on paper. So, um, at this time I need a motion, uh, to approve, and you've all seen the contract. >> So, we need I need a motion to approve the superintendent's contract for Mr. Hart. >> Thank you. Second, >> second. >> Thank you. Any questions? >> I just have a statement. Um, obviously, Mr. Hart, you're great. I'm excited. um for the public statement to the public. Uh you can look up Champagne unit District 4 and Urbana District 116 and you'll see um 36% lower cost from Champagne and um within 5% of what Urbana's superintendent is making. And so Urbana
033almost spends exactly the same amount of money as Danville District 118. Uh, so I think it's very fair and comparable to other districts though some people when they see large numbers they sometimes get scared. I think it's important to keep it in context that to keep good people. Um, this is the this is the price that it is and Mr. Hart is is worth it in my opinion. That's all for me. >> Those numbers those numbers for our neighbors uh for their superintendent contract are considerably higher. Is that correct, Mr. >> Champagne is? Yes. Urbana is within 5% of ours. >> Okay. Thank you. Any [clears throat] other thoughts, concerns, >> Mr. Hart? >> No. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. We have a motion and a second uh for the approval of the uh superintendent
034contract. Roll call vote. >> Dr. Hob, >> yes. >> Mrs. Pam, >> yes. Mr. >> Yes. Okay. >> Yes. Motion carries 70. You are officially hired. >> Would you Yeah. Would you start getting to work, please? [laughter] >> We We really do appreciate the work that Mr. Hart puts in. Um he puts in long days and uh his heart is in the right place. Um he's in the buildings. He's uh our staff knows him well and uh we appreciate the job that you do >> very much. Okay. Uh food service, Miss Zetta. Thank you. FY25 FY27 contract with Vestus for food service department towel service recommendation. >> That's correct. Good evening board. Good evening Mr. Hart, Miss Parker. My name is Sa Pou, director of food services. I am here to recommend that we enter
035a cont a three-year contract with best towel services for the this current school year through Febru um sorry school year 2027. >> Okay, thank you. Um you did bring this before us before. >> Yes, >> that's correct. So, we need a motion to approve. >> Motion to approve. >> Thank you. Second. >> Thank you. >> And just so everybody knows, it's $21,000 annually. >> That's what it says. >> Yes. Average of 21. It's actually a little lower than that, but yes, average of 21,000. >> Just for the people who are watching and out there without this screen in front of me. >> Okay. I'm sorry. [laughter] Any anyone else with concerns or thoughts? We do need uh we do need towels. So, thank you. Appreciate that. Uh roll call vote. Miss Robinson. >> Mr. Warfield.
036>> Yes. >> M. >> Yes. >> M. >> Yes. >> M. >> Yes. >> Dr. >> Yes. >> Mr. East. >> Yes. [clears throat] >> M. >> Yes. Motion carries 70. >> Thank you. >> Commissioner. >> Yes, sir. that would be you. >> Thank you. So, I'm going to umformational items and um my comments all wrapped in one if that's okay. Um first of all, I'd like to say thank you to the board. Um I appreciate the kind words and the trust that you place in me. That's um very important to me. So, thank you. Um, the second thing that I wanted to talk about is over the past several months, um, community members, board members, people have noticed, um, that the district has not expended our funds from fund 40 except for a small
037amount. It's like 14%. So, I want to provide a brief update, an explanation, if you will, um, just I I guess for transpar transparency and clarity. Though at this time we have not yet received an invoice for our transportation from our transportation provider. This is simply because the contract is in the process of being finalized. Before billing could begin, a few contractual details needed to be completed, including the addition of a six-month escape clause that both parties agree should be included. Our legal council is currently finalizing that language so the contract could be executed properly. As soon as the process is complete, we anticipate receiving the invoice and will begin expending the funds as normal. I [snorts] want to emphasize that this is a procedural matter, not a concern about services. Student transportation has continued
038without interruption and we appreciate the partnership through this administrative process. I'll continue to keep everyone up to date as we move forward. Um, one other thing that I would like to um, speak about is something that we've been working on here for the last couple months anyway. So, really looking into um, the financial side of the district. So, we we've taken a deep dive. We've looked into all the nooks and crannies of our district finances. And this the review has helped us identify areas where we're on solid footing as well as areas that require our attention moving forward. So to ensure ensure the board and the community that we have a clear picture of our current financial position, um we are going to hold a study session on March 4th. Um during that meeting, we'll
039provide an update on the district's financial status and begin discussing steps to support the long-term stability of the district. Our goal is to continue to move forward with transpar transparency, thoughtful planning, and a focus on maintaining a financial or financial health for our students in our community. So, I wanted to share that. And then I have on a positive note, a more upbeat note. Um, I want to congratulate the Okay, Miss Barton, I may need some help. The our Danville High School's PEC PECT program, which is pre-employment and career training. Um, 91% of our students, this is our STEP program. It's the work program for um, students with disabilities. 91% of our students are working in competitive employment, which that is huge. Huge. This is the state that sent us um this letter. Um recently
040we had a Danville High School early graduate um Daltton Low who um completed his CDL training at DACC and will be um driving over the road. I think he has to hit 21, but he can drive locally now. And I believe that is happening. So, >> um, again, I did want to make everyone aware of that. That's a huge accomplishment for us. So, kudos to those kids and kudos to Miss Kim Frasier, who is the teacher of the program, director of the program. Anyway, she's pretty awesome. So, congratulations to her as well. >> Thank you. >> Me? >> Yes. [clears throat] one. I am happy to see Mr. Ligins, the new director of the uh library. I'm on the library board and we also will be coming out soon with the bookmobile. Um it's been
041uh wrapped. Uh we're excited. We're working on the schedule and uh Mr. Lickens will be in touch with the uh the LRC's at the schools and see what we can do in terms of students seeing and going inside the bookmobile. And it's for all students handicapped, students in a wheelchair, they'll get up there on that bookmobile as well. So, I'm excited about that. And as always, AVID, it's to me it's probably one of the best programs the district has ever had. Um, and overall the students have done well. I tracked some of them myself when I was a part of it. So, kudos to the AVID program. >> Thank you. >> Um, I just have a couple comments. I want to say congratulations to the Damville High School boys basketball team on their regional win
042on Monday and they are playing tonight in Bloomington. Um and I am >> Oh, it's over. >> Okay. Well, thank you. I'm a little late on my news, but you know what? Congratulations on the work they've put in this season. Uh still proud of our boys. Absolutely. [laughter] >> Second. Beautiful timing, Mr. Bassies. Beautiful timing. >> Should be on your phone during this meeting. >> [laughter] >> Second, sorry to any comments you get from students tomorrow. [laughter] Um, the second thing that I want to say is uh a kudos to Southwest. Um, so I my goal is really to make sure that I get out to all the schools this year as a new board member. Really want to just be in your schools, get to know you, the staff, and and just be a
043welcome presence there. Um, I haven't made it to everyone yet, but I'm still working on that. So, if you haven't seen me there, you will. Um, but I showed up at Southwest today and as a new board member, I don't know what time all the schools dismiss. And I showed up during dismissal time. So, I'm sure I can see the looks on the faces in the crowd right now. Like, what were you thinking? I thought that when I pulled into the parking lot as well. So, when I pulled in though, I said, you know, I'm here. I'm going to walk in the door. I'm just going to let them know I'm here, but if you're busy, I will come back. I don't want to interrupt your process. I have respect for what you guys are
044doing. Uh, Mr. Prophet very much was like, "Oh, no. Come on in. I'm getting ready to go back here. We actually were going to go to one of the classrooms where a sub was there and kind of do the dismissal for the day, go walk through and help the students get on the buses, things of that nature. Said, "You're welcome to walk along with me." So, we walked, we talked, we had a good conversation. Um, let them know that as a board member, I'm I'm present just to hear, you know, any concerns that they may have as well. Um, they freely shared information. They were not hesitant to to discuss. And Mr. Hart will tell you, him and I had a little conversation just about what happened. But as a board member, I'm going to
045tell you, it's not my job to take care of those issues, but we are communicating. We are very transparent about that. And I feel like the communication at the school was great. We had good communication here. So, for me, overall positive experience, and it's showing that we are all trying to work together for the right process for our district to make things better. So, I just want to share that experience as well. >> Thank you. Mhm. >> Um I don't have a whole lot of hands-on that I've been doing in 118. Um I've got off crutches um last week so that slowed me down a little bit, but I'm back. Um, but I do look on Facebook basically to kind of see what's going on and I there's always just wonderful um posts and there's
046always support from the whole building whenever a a a teacher um or a student is um highlighted and I love seeing that and um thank you for keeping the community um informed of all the good stuff that's going on because um there is good stuff that that happens and um I love to see that and um I am also going to say that I'm just so happy for um the part that I get to play in this board. Um it's it's a wonderful um community and we all work together. We all have the same goal. Um it is very refreshing. Um sometimes that doesn't always happen and Mr. Hart is um right in the mix and he is a hard worker and he has um the best interest of our district, our children, you and
047our community as he takes the helm. So, please know that that is by far the most important thing that we have going on right now. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. [clears throat] Eastston. >> Yes. Congratulations again, Mr. Hart. And I'm excited that uh Mr. Hart, Miss Parker are here. Um, thank you, Mr. Hart, for bringing uh up to date on fund 40. That transportation budget had about 18% spent. should have had like 60some percent spent. So, it means our cash on hand is significantly lower than our last board meeting. So, this meeting for long-term financial stability of the district is very important. And um we have the right leaders to help us with some very difficult things ahead. So, um thank you for that explanation though. it uh it's it's good to have um
048clarity and uh understanding around what is just a pile of paperwork for most people. I think you explained it well. So, thank you very much. >> It's hard to be uh lower on the totem pole because everybody's said most everything by the time they get to me. But I but I do have one specific thing I wanted to mention and uh this is an overarching theme for the community. I think and illustrated by a partnership, if you will, a willingness to share the public library because I think it's the community's responsibility to educate the children. Yes, the school certainly has a huge part to play and we probably bear most of their responsibility one way or the other for it, but to have a collaboration with, for example, the public library, which is a wonderful
049institution, and to have that be not an island over there and an island here, but rather a bridge between makes all the difference in the world because the population is the same. I mean, it's our kids are here and then they're there. and anybody that can throw in any type of additional educational experience throughout the community is the right thing to do. So, thank you very much for making me think about that. >> I have no other comments other than what they've said. So, I have no board comment. >> Well, that's rare. [laughter] >> Thank you. We appreciate very much your attendance. We appreciate all the good comments and certainly the work that Mr. Hart has done. I would like to address I wish everything that showed up on social media was positive. Uh I'm
050a polyiana by nature and I would love to see all things positive. We know that's not true especially after this week. We know that's not true. We also know that there's uh transparency and that the situations that occur in our schools uh we take very seriously and uh we address them and the criticism that uh we don't and that we don't discipline our kids is far from true. One of the most difficult things that we do as a board is the expulsion hearings because when we expel kids, it's not like we could just kick them out. We have an obligation, an an internal obligation as well as a legal obligation to educate those kids. So, we have to find some resources that we can educate the kids that can't be educated in the buildings that
051they exist. We do that and I think we do that well. Um, thank you to the administrators that have to handle the discipline cases in the building. I will I do want to say and I thought about this a lot in the night. We our teachers didn't go to college to learn how to get in the middle of a fight and break up a fight and uh and to and to be injured. And we have a number of our teachers and staff that get injured in these situations. And I find that that's very hard for me um as board president, as a board member, that we are putting our teachers on the line a lot. I want our community to appreciate what our teachers do and appreciate the what they what they do to keep
052our kids safe and our staff safe. when those kids come before us and stand at that podium, that's one of the things that I always say that our number one obligation is to have a safe environment, not just for you as a student, but also for our staff. That is our obligation and we we hold the line on that. So, I just want the community to know that we take these things very seriously and um appreciate all the effort that goes into it. Um I'm so proud. I'm so proud of all the work that you all do and proud of the district and and everything that we accomplish because by and large we have great kids doing great things. And among them, Jeriah Shaw, did I say her name right? >> Yay Shaw is a
053wrestler and she is going to state um in the quarterfinals. [applause] Thank you. In the quarterfinals Friday at >> 9:00 a.m. >> at 9:00 am. So, let's all wish her the best. Uh, she is making district 118 proud as so many of our kids do regularly make our district proud. So, thank you. Thank you for all those who support her and support the rest of our students. Thanks for coming. And gosh, look at this. It's 7:15. So, we appreciate Yeah, we appreciate everybody coming. Thank you. >> All right. No clos.