001February 21st. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your mercy and your kindness for waking us up this morning, giving us the activities of our limbs. We ask that you bless us to make good sound decision where the board, the children, the parents and the community is concerned. These things we ask in Jesus name. Amen. >> Amen. >> Pledge of 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. >> [clears throat] >> Next will be adoption of agenda giving the board president discretion to take items out of order or in executive session. Can I get a motion? >> I make the motion. >> Motion by Willie Ray, second by Walter Hood. Roll call. >> Willie Ray.
002>> Yes. >> Walter Hood. >> Remy Dean. Remy Dean. Timothy Lockett. >> Yes. >> Roy Mikings. >> Yes. >> Lata Sales. Latana Sales. Latoya Mosley. Yes. >> Motion pass. Recognition. Good evening. >> Good evening. >> I have three recognitions to share with you. I'm going to take them a little bit out of order. Wanted to begin with Tiona Woodhouse who is one of our homeless attendance and truency officers. She's based at Avant Elementary. She has been selected as one of Illinois's nominees for the National 2026 Recognizing Inspiring School Employees or RISE Award. The Rise Award honors classified school employees who make extraordinary contributions to their school communities. This national recognition is facilitated by the US Department of Education and Illinois nominates two outstanding professionals each year. Tiona Woodhouse and her selection is a wonderful acknowledgement
003of her hard work, dedication, and impact on our students and families. The final RISE awardees will be announced in the spring, but we are thrilled that she is one of two from the state of Illinois. Tiona has made a real difference at Avant Elementary by improving student attendance, addressing barriers to learning, and connecting families with vital community resources through her home visits, attendance strategies, and compassionate advocacy. She has helped students feel supported and seen while making a lasting positive impact on their success. We are very proud of Tiana's national nomination and her work exemplifies the excellence that we strive for every day. It's a powerful reminder of the difference that one dedicated professional can and does make in the lives of students and families. So, congratulations Tiona Woodhouse. Additionally, we congratulate Dr. Antony Carter, director
004of social emotional learning and health services for earning her nursing degree from the Goldfarb School of Nursing. This significant academic achievement further enhances her extensive expertise in supporting the holistic well-being of our students. Dr. Carter's hard work and passion for advancing student mental, social, and physical health make a tremendous tremendous difference every day within our district. So we thank her for this ongoing dedication. We are also proud to share that 11 of our schools, every single one of them have achieved an a 100% health compliance rate, which is a truly outstanding accomplishment. This success reflects the unwavering commitment, collaboration, and care demonstrated by our nurses, our principles, and their attendance teams, and exemplifies our district theme of being anchored in excellence. We are deeply grateful for the dedication and teamwork across the campuses that have
005made this achievement possible and for their continued commitment to keeping our students healthy, learning, and ready to succeed. We also want to extend our sincere appreciation to our district partners whose support was crucial to this success. So, access to mobile health units and additional on-site school clinics and extended facility hours played a vital role in helping families meet our health requirements. So we are especially thankful for the partnership and services from East Side Health District, Southern Illinois Healthc Care Foundation, and the SIUE We Care Clinic whose collaborations have helped remove barriers for our families. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Next will be a motion to approve minutes of the December 16th, 2025 board meeting. Can I get a motion? >> Make a motion. >> I second. Motion by Walter Hood, second by Willie Ray. Roll
006call. >> Walter Hood, >> yes. >> Willie Ray, >> yes. >> Latana Sales, Latana Sales. >> Remy Dean, >> yes. >> Timothy Lockett, >> yes. >> Roy Mickens, >> yes. >> Mosley, yes. >> Motion pass. Um, Holland Construction. >> Yes. Um, let's see. Make sure we get the right order. Yeah, we'll do We're going. We're going out of order. Yeah, construction is going to talk to us about several projects that we have going on currently in the district. Uh, one is has started us underway and that's the um adding to the CTE uh facility at the high school and then there's several other projects that he'll discuss that are um in dire need of um moving forward if we can provide the funding to secure secure the funding rather for those projects. Greg Getty. >>
007Yeah, thank you. My name is Greg Getty. with Holland Construction. Uh on October or excuse me, December 11th, uh we bid the uh we we bid out the uh trade packages for the new CTE building. Uh we got really good coverage within each trade package. I think there was probably 15 or 16 trade packages. Uh since then we have interviewed our team has interviewed all the apparent low bidder contractors and in some cases the second low low apparent just to ensure that they were meeting uh they were able to meet all the requirements and they had all the scope uh that was provided. We've also had numerous discussions uh with the district about several alternates that were bid within the project as well. There were five alternates. Um overall the project came in under budget.
008Um so what we discussed was going with uh with two of the five alternates which was essentially um canopies above the building so they blend in with the existing building. Uh mezzanines above uh some spaces above some classroom spaces so you get more storage space within that building. Um some three form panels which are some decorative panels that you have in the existing high school so it will kind of blend in with the existing high school. and then some soil remediation work uh as well uh that we think is going to be needed. Uh there was a geotechnical engineering report that recommended recommended it. So uh we have it in the budget right now. Uh if it's needed, we'll certainly use it. If not, um it won't be spent. Uh we are construction managers on
009the project as agents, similar to the projects we've done in the past. So we're just your agents. The the contracts are not with us. Uh within that budget, we did include a contingency. The contingency is yours. Uh we just recommend you carry a contingency uh to ensure that uh if there are change orders on the project, which essentially every project has change orders, um that you have the money to cover that. So right now uh the budget is uh 17,197,527. That's the total cost of the project including all the trades uh that bid on the project, the for the four alternates we discussed, the design fees for the project. Uh there's some miscellaneous fees that we think need to go into the project as well. So, uh that is the overall budget for the project.
010So, what we're looking for tonight is approval uh to move forward with the project. Um all the funds for the project are coming from a DCEO grant which I believe has been secured at this point. Yes, it's state appropriation. Yes. >> Um so, uh we did out bid out some participation requirements within that that we feel we have uh we have met the requirements of the DCEL grant as well. Um so what we'd like to have done tonight is approve entering into contracts with those trade partners uh so we can get them engaged uh and then start sometime in March and the overall budget. >> All right. And that'll be a part we'll discuss that It'll be an action item as we go through the latter portions of the agenda. >> There's another project. There's
011several other projects here. One of the projects that we've been working on for uh the past year is uh the auditorium, renovating the auditorium. Uh when we first started looking at it, we identified a budget. Uh when we got the construction documents from the designer, it was a little more uh than what we had budgeted. So, we had a discussion with the district and we decided to increase the budget. Uh, since then, we've kind of talked about maybe decreasing the budget a little bit uh to get back within 6 million. At one point, it was it had gone up to 8.4 million somewhere around that. Uh, we had a meeting uh in December uh with the district uh and the designers. We talked about getting that down to $6 million. Um, so we'd like to
012talk about that as well. It is an unfunded project at this point. Uh, so there are no DCO funds or anything else with that project. Um, there's the the the the third project we'd like to talk about is some miscellaneous parking area. >> Gary, uh, Greg, those projects are listed here, right? >> Yes. >> Yeah. Okay. On this two, >> so the auditorium was the one we just discussed that we just >> And these other projects that he's referencing over there on this little >> two pager. Yeah. uh the miscellaneous parking lots. Um uh back about I don't know probably about a year ago uh they identified a need uh for additional parking in several uh of the schools uh around um the campuses. Uh the schools were Officer Elementary, Avant Elementary, the high school,
013uh Wright Elementary, and Adams Early Childhood Center. Um, right now those parking lots would be added, I believe, in in in in kind of grassy areas. Uh, so they'd be asphalt parking areas just to give the schools more. >> Just one second. Great. I want to make sure all the board members have it's really a one page. The second page, just a signature page. It looks like this. Yeah, there you go. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. And he's on the uh the parking lots now, I believe. >> Okay. So, this is just a budget at this point. Uh we don't have a pre-construction agreement. I think the architect has only been partially engaged at this point just to get us enough to put some rough budget numbers together for it. Right now
014the budget is uh a little over $3 million for all those parking lots. Um we've kind of stopped at this point until we identify uh the where what the uh funding source is going to be for the project. Uh next project is athletic facilities at the high school. Um once again we're early in this project. There's been an architect engaged, but only to a point to where we could get kind of a schematic drawing to figure out what it's going to look like. So, once we can start putting budgets together for that, uh what that consists of is um four baseball and softball fields. All the fields will be lit. They will all be turf fields, uh synthetic turf fields, I guess I should say, um with dugouts. There will also be one structure that
015houses a concession building. uh uh a hitting practice facility, uh restrooms as well. Um there'll also be a football practice facility uh on the site and part of the site right now that's being looked at. It's it's currently east of the existing uh stadium at the high school. There's an old retirement home, I think, just to the north >> uh that the school would acquire. Uh that would be torn down. We know that building and that site has a lot of contaminated materials on it. So, we really don't want to construct anything there, but we what we'd feel safe on doing is just putting a parking lot there for all these facilities. >> So, once again, that project is is not funded at this point. There's not a source of funds. We just like to
016talk about a budget for that and see if there's a step in >> and that was about 17 million for that project. >> Yeah. We've gone through a lot of reiterations on getting this thing down to where we think >> that's what we settled on. Yeah. Yeah. There were a lot of other options that we considered. >> Yep. >> Yeah. >> Uh last one is the existing high school cafeteria. I think there are several um lunch periods uh there right now just due to the size. It's not a very functional space. Uh once again, an architect has been engaged and they are here tonight. If you wanted to discuss that further with them, uh just kind of lay out the space just to see if it will work. Um, within that, I think there's uh
017there's a space kind of towards the front of the cafeteria that I think we can open up a little more. Uh, there'll also be uh new u food service line and there's a lot of um put equipment, our equipment under the hood that's not being utilized fully, right? >> Uh our new new equipment could be better utilized uh for that as well that will be included in that. We have not put budget numbers together for it yet at this point, but we will do so in the next uh in the next couple weeks. And the budget for that is currently a million dollars. And it is unfunded as well. >> Yeah. So, I think the total of the unfunded projects is about 21 million right now. And we feel like the way projects tend to
018go, especially once the architects take a good look at it, we know that we'll probably add 3 to 5 million to that 21 million project that we have already estimated. Yeah. >> Yeah. The the the uh athlet athletic facilities at the high school and the parking lots, it's always going to be determined by what's under what's under the ground. Right. Right. Um, one of the reasons why we kind of shifted away, we were originally looking um, just across the street from the, uh, football stadium uh, at a kind of a green field over there, but we know that is heavily contaminated. So, we we kind of stayed away from that area and kind of shifted to the east of the existing football stadium uh, because it's not so contaminated. We think the old retirement home
019is, but if we just put a parking lot there, it's we're not getting too deep into it. >> Yeah. All right. That project also looks at um perhaps acquiring some of the land over on the other side. Is that 52nd Street? Oh, we 52nd or 51st? >> Yeah, I I don't remember one. >> Yeah, it's one of the two streets over there. >> And we're looking at uh looking at some of that for the practice football field, I believe. And we would probably need to go into a partnership with the city to perhaps look at is there a possibility of closing that street so we could utilize all of that space and that would be between Summit and State Street. Yeah. Okay. Well, these are basically what our needs are right now and uh we
020have now with us I think that's pretty much it. Great. Thank you. Yeah. And Noble with Stiffel. There are there are people that help us to acquire funds to do projects when we don't have it the money in house or some type of an appropriation or grant to secure whether our our bond uh council so to speak. And Ann is going to present some different options that we have and let you know what those um consequences of several options would be if we choose to go that route. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Mr. Culver. Um, I believe board members already have a copy of this in front of you. >> They should. Yes. >> Um, we're going going to start with a summary of the [snorts] district's outstanding bond. Um, the district only has, you
021can see on page three, one set of bonds that we worked with you on that was sold in 2023. These bonds only have four more years of payments on them and they're outstanding in the amount of approximately $5.5 million. And we sold those to refinance some outstanding bonds and basically free up some operating funds actually because you had been using operating funds to make those bond payments before we did this refinancing. The next slide shows you the district's debt limits under state law. Um the key number is really on the bottom left there. The statutory debt capacity of 29,438. That's the district's statutory debt limit with bonds um that are not voter approved or not backed by what we call an alternate revenue source, which could be the county school facilities sales tax, which I
022know has been discussed in the county and might be a future option available to the district. So, right now, your borrowing capacity without voter approval is about $29.5 million. You can see on page five, [clears throat] this is the actual bond levy. This is the tax extension associated with just your bonds on the district's property tax levy that you extend every year. You have one portion of that levy that's just for your bond payments. And that's what this represents. So you can see in EAV year 25, which is the third row there, that's the levy you just set in December. So you can see the levy of about 138 million, the bond payment over on the right of about 1.8 million and the tax rate associated with that of about a$130. And you can see
023you have three more years around that level. Then it drops to about 40 cents and then your bonds are paid off at that point. So that is really what um provides you with an opportunity to consider uh borrowing some additional funds to some fund some of those projects that were just discussed if you'd like to do so because you are approaching the end of the mortgage on your current bonds. So if you flip to slide seven, you can see the options that we have evaluated for you. And these are not meant to be um the only options available available, but the intent was just to show you a spectrum. So we ran between 20 million and $25 million worth of bonds. They all require a little bit of restructuring of those outstanding bonds to keep
024the tax rate as smooth as possible. These are all 20-year paybacks. So, a 20-year mortgage on these bonds. And you can see the net debt service number that represents principal plus interest. So, that's showing you that includes the interest expense on the amount that you're borrowing in the top row. So obviously that amount increases as the amount you borrow increases. Your cost of borrowing is about a 5.3% based on current interest rates. All three of these scenarios would require some form of tax rate increase on the bond tax rate. And this tax rate increase is estimated because every year of the life of the bonds, your EAV will change. So this tax rate will change as the EAV grows. But you can see approximately the tax rate increase associated with each option. 21 cents for
02520 million, 34 cents for 22 million, and 53 cents for 25 million. And then what those actually cost to a homeowner is highlighted in the following three rows. So I looked up market value homes of 50,000, 75,000, and 100,000. And then the annual cost to each of those is reflected in the the columns next to them. So for example, on the $20 million borrowing scenario for $100,000 market value home, the annual cost would be $58. And then this um sort of footnote at the bottom, the the blue box there, I do think is important to know. Um, I know the county school facility sales tax is not on the ballot yet in the county, but it is being considered. There is a a meeting of the countywide superintendence next month to discuss potentially putting this
026on the ballot, maybe as soon as November, which would be the next available election cycle. Um, the value of that sales tax is quite notable for East St. Louis. It would produce about $ three and a half million dollars of revenue annually for the district and it can only be used for school facility purposes or mental health professionals or school resource officers. Those are the limitations on those funds. So, you can't just put it in the ED fund and use it for any operating expense. It is tied directly to facilities and mental health and safety. So at $3.5 million annually, you can see the the bond payments here hover around $2 million, especially when we combine it with the outstanding bonds. You could make that entire bond payment with the sales tax revenue were the
027revenue um become available to the district. So just uh to to note that possible future option for you. The following few slides are just the backup data of each of the three borrowing options just to show you the the nitty-gritty detail of each scenario, but they uh do represent what is summarized on the prior slide. I did want to just point you at slide 11 though and that just outlines the process if you are interested in moving forward on se in selling the bonds. It is essentially a three board meeting process which is exactly what we went through back in 2023. It requires uh first that the board approves a resolution of intent and from that we do a public notice in the paper which opens a petition period for the community for 30 days.
028If they don't want you to sell the bonds, they have 30 days to sign a petition. And if 10% of your registered voters sign that petition and submit it within the 30 days, then we are not permitted to move forward with that financing without voter approval. So that's step one. Step two, we have a public hearing at your next board meeting. And then step three, you actually approve the sale of the bonds. And then a month later, you would receive bond proceeds. So, it takes a little while for us to process a bond track transaction if you want to move forward. So, I like to just um put the timeline out there because I know sometimes districts are interested in starting projects right away as soon as school's out. So, um and with that, I
029will just be happy to answer any questions. Is there >> I just want to make sure I point some things out. Um, and we presented this to the board because we know these projects are definitely needed and the longer we wait, the more expensive the costs get and the needs still going to be there. And the other thing I really want to uh emphasize that with the sales tax referendum that that has not been decided by the county superintendent, it has been discussed. You'll probably some of you may recall several years ago, maybe about seven years ago, um there was a county sales tax >> in 2019. >> Yeah, about 2019. >> Uh it didn't it didn't fail. It didn't uh pass it. It failed. It was also on that same ballot a uh a
030penny tax, a 1% sales tax for um for the county, I think related to u >> Public safety. Yes, it was a public safety sales tax. So again, the superintendents have not made that decision. I can't overemphasize that. >> That is definitely true. >> It has it does take [clears throat] >> it has been a discussion. Yeah, there's certainly been enough interest amongst the superintendents to discuss it. But we have another meeting in February, I believe on the 20th, and there'll be more discussion. And if there is consensus, uh there also has not been consensus on when the U item would go on the ballot. It could be in November. It could be at the um the next um um consolidated election, which would be what? In 27, >> April of 27. So again, that
031decision has not been made. um if it is made >> of that would require board indiv. So we're just introducing options. If for some reason that was supported by all the superintendent and put on the ballot in August in um in 27 or whenever and passed then the good news is that the funds that we would get from that sales tax would pay for all of our projects. Yeah, that's the good news. But the other good news in my opinion, even if it doesn't go on the ballot or it does but it doesn't pass, then still for um an increase in the the tax rate here. I know it it's an increase, but it's not extremely significant. I think the average value of a home here is probably for our taxpayers in that 75,000 to
032$100,000 range. And on page, what page was that in? >> I think we were on >> here it is on page seven. >> Seven. Yeah, >> you can see that if the home was valued at $100,000 and we took the option two, which is 22 million, that would only be $92 a year increase on a tax bill. We know increase. Nobody wants an increase at all. However, um these projects has been described um by Holland are are desperately needed and we feel that um I I think that our taxpayers would support that. So anyway, it's moreformational. I just didn't want you to be blindsided if you start hearing discussions from uh various staff members about projects that we're thinking about. And I wanted to make sure the board was apprised of what those projects are
033and why we've um start having embarked on discussions about these projects because they're they're sorely needed. And again, the longer we wait, the more it costs. All right. Any other questions or comments from board members or or anyone? >> Okay. Well, that concludes these reports. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Thanks a lot. Um, any public comments, executive session, anyone? >> Not for superintendent reports. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Let me find my report here. Yes. Uh, Mr. President, I'm looking for a motion to approve by honorous vote action items 12 A, 12 B, 13 A, 14 A, 15 A, 15 B, and 15 C. Can I get a motion, please? >> Make a motion. >> I have a question. >> Yes. >> Um, for the is it the the building grounds ones? Are
034we doing is it going to when we approve those or are we going to say that for the waiver or no? Or do we have to do that separately? >> Well, okay. Okay. I think what we got to do is get the motion approved for the ominous vote >> and then if it approves if it's approved then I'll name what the action items are and after we get a motion and a second then we have a discussion. >> Okay. Then we'll discuss that item. >> All right. Thanks. >> Motion by um um Walter Hood. Second. Second. >> I second. >> Second by Remy Dame. Procall. >> Walter Hood. >> Yes. >> Remy Dane. >> Yes. >> Timothy Lock. >> Yes. Roy Mickens. >> Yes. >> Willie Ray, >> yes. >> Lata Sales, Lata Sales, Latoya
035Mosley, yes. >> Motion pass. >> Thank you. Now, Mr. President, need a motion to approve the following uh action items. 12A bid packages 3456789.1 9.6 6 9.9 21 22 23 26 31 32 and alternates for the CTE building expansion as recommended by the construction manager Holland Construction Services 12B student discipline for students to be placed two students to be placed in alternative schools because of u significant violations of the code of student conduct. 13A financial report for the month of December 2025. 14A personnel committee report addendum contracts andus 15A buildings and grounds committee report and addendum 15B curriculum committee report and addendum and 15 C finance committee report and addendum. Can I get a motion please? >> I make a motion. I second. >> Okay. >> Mot motion by Walter Hood. Second by Ray. >>
036Yes. Now there's an item I think Miss Dean wants to discuss. >> Just uh [clears throat] three BG. Are are we are we are waving that fee? >> Yeah. Which uh what which one is that? What is it? If you >> BG for the 40 days of violence. >> Yes. >> In the past. Yes. We like to wave that fee. Okay. Yes, ma'am. All right. >> Yeah. Yeah. And we wave that every year. It's for our students in our community. Yeah. >> Roll call. >> Walter Hood. >> Yes. >> Willy [clears throat] Ray. >> Yes. >> Latana Sales. Latana Sales. Remy Dean? >> Yes. >> Timothy Lockett? >> Yes. >> Roy Mckens? >> Yes. >> Victoria Mosley? Yes. >> Motion pass. >> Mr. President, that does conclude my report. Okay. [clears throat] >> Thank you.
037All >> [clears throat] >> right. Any old business? Any [clears throat] new business? >> Next regular board meeting will be February 17th, 2026. I get a motion to adjourn. >> I'll make a motion. >> Second. >> Motion by Remy Dean, second by Winnie Ray. Rooff. >> Remy Dean. >> Yes. Willie Ray. >> Yes. >> Lata Sales. Lata Sales. Walter Hood. >> Yes. >> Timothy Lockett. Yes. >> Roy Makings. >> Yes. >> Mosley. Yes. >> Means. >> All right. Thank you all. >> Uh Sydney, >> can you come here for a minute, please? Del.