001the board ready yes Ford you ready I know thank you you are guys hi okay um I don't technically need to open the meeting because we were already in open session to go into closed session before this but I invite you to rise to say the Pledge of Allegiance okay I do not need attendance because Julie already took that I am going to open it up for public comment is there anybody from the public that wishes to comment at this time yes please state your name when you get up there okay my name is Josh McCullough Wow I'm glad everyone came out to support me um I'm a 20 year resident of Vernon Hills don't worry I will tear through this all right 20 resident 20 year resident Vernon Hills our oldest child just graduated
002summa cum laude from the University of Michigan go blue two weeks ago and is a product of this amazing school district our youngest is about to go into sixth grade at Hawthorne Middle North and has had an equally amazing experience at elementary north in addition to being a parent I'm also an author 2002 graduate of the University of Iowa's nonfiction writing workshop where I earned my MFA my writings been published in best American science and nature writing 2023 I could I could give you copies and sign them as well as many other literary journals I'm also an English composition professor at the Lake County where I just completed my 44th semester as an adjunct in March I watched the AI committees presentation about deploying various AI platforms within the schools and felt compelled to to
003express some concerns first you should know I am NOT a technophobe while I don't use AI for my own work and it is an issue in publishing right now as it is everywhere else I do know plenty of adult professionals who use these platforms every day as I'm sure many of you do in the hands of adult professionals these can be tremendous tools for productivity efficiency and organization I do however consider myself a pro-human pro-critical thought college educator and a parent who understands the value of the messy path from not knowing something to learning something right that path is paved with time persistence frustration if you're down with dr. Becky she does a really good map of this but I teach it to my students at CLC too all of which I believe are necessary
004in education and childhood cognitive development first I would like the board to acknowledge that AI can neither be clearly defined nor promised or deployed to workers parents students teachers children as any one thing it is a pattern-based predictor that is at best frequently incorrect therefore it's impossible to distinguish good AI from bad AI responsible use from abuse idea generation from offloading critical thinking or even academic dishonesty which I see every single day of the semester since 2022 no educator can promise safety or responsibility about AI because they're not the end user the onus of safety and responsibilities on the children and the parents this is especially true because currently no entity federal state or local holds companies AI companies responsible or accountable on any level in this country to quote from the recently released film
005AI doc or how I became an apoco optimist have you seen it oh you should see it there currently this is a quote there are currently more regulations on selling a sandwich to the public than there is on AI that is a radically softened version of the quote the actual quote is much much darker right in the March AI committee's opening slide they included a quote from the Brookings Institution that read AI can enrich student learning when integrated with pedagogically sound approaches end quote this was taken from a subhead of an article the Brookings Institution posted on January 14th titled AI's future for students is in our hands in that same article the very next subhead from which they quoted did you read it okay the very next subhead said however AI's risks currently overshadow
006its benefits end quote the article states quote that the threats of AI to students including from unsupervised out-of-school use are primarily cognitive emotional and social these risks are qualitatively qualitatively different from challenges posed by previous educational technologies AI's ease of use and its reinforcing outcomes improved grades with little effort combined with human tendencies toward shortcuts and the transactional nature of schooling completing assignments for grades drive cognitive offloading and dependency atrophying students learning particularly their mastery of foundational knowledge and critical thinking that's the end quote that's the quote that's the article from which that the AI committee used a quote on their intro slide right these tools this is these are my words now have the potential to foster reliance on technologies that future state may benefit tech companies but will not benefit a student's intellectual
007or cognitive development let me talk about that here's what the future state looks like right I've lived it every semester since November 20 sec November 2022 when chat GPT was foisted upon the public while this committee demonstrated an open-armed enthusiasm for integrating AI for learning you have to understand you have to understand the backlash that is happening at higher education this is arguably the end user the end game for school or students in this district right majority of students want to go to college and what we're seeing is our professors and faculty especially non-tech non-business disciplines from CLC to UC Riverside University of Chicago University of Michigan these are all colleagues I have every place in between are all the way done with AI in students hands and I mean done and I'll show you
008exactly how we're done I've banned the usage of AI for any facet of my classes from idea generation to text and story analysis to class discussion to drafting an essay I have a clear position statement regarding AI that reflects my own views of its place in higher education and also a clear policy regarding what happens if it's used for my class I can tell visually before even reading a single word of a students writing when they've used AI kids take note not that any of this prevents students from trying by the time they reach our classrooms they've been relying on AI for years and not in a safe and responsible way they're relying on in the exact way that you would think junior high high school students would rely on it for the amount of
009energy they expend in using and then attempting to cloak their use of AI they could have just done the work and actually learned something I explained to them as I described how they have failed the assignment one student told me after she failed a major essay assignment for using AI I wish I never heard of chat GPT almost done this week I finished grading 40 of my students personal reflection essays on AI doc that I mentioned earlier we viewed it in class and we discussed it for a good two weeks after that the overwhelming majority of my students wrote about having the same kind of draining toxic sycophantic relationship with AI platforms as they do with their smartphones smartphones and social media exact same AI for them isn't a tool it's at best an academic
010crutch it's a gravitational pull that's too strong to resist for young adults whose brains are still years from being and whose plates are beyond full right and of course some students failed the assignment because they used AI to write their personal reflection essays on a documentary about AI if you can imagine that right the public so smartphones and social media are any kind of canary we should all see precisely where this where AI and education is headed the public wasn't clamoring for these platforms to be released screen weary tech-laden students certainly were not asking for yet another piece of technology that they could manipulate to offload work in a pinch or as a regular practice while this committee's initiative framed is framed as preparing students for an AI informed future you should know that college
011professors can and will and do by virtue of our institutional autonomy happily reject using canvas other online management systems ban smartphones and laptops in the classroom and have students sit for blue book or in class essay exams with nothing more than pen mr. McCullough can I interrupt you for one second I'm very sorry yeah our board policy which I forgot to mention when you stepped up is that each public comment supposed to be limited to three minutes so I wrap it I will wrap it up I was gonna say I'm I invite you to send everything to us via email but if you could wrap up your I will absolutely wrap it up okay so they write in class longhand pen and paper in my class so what I believe every parent in the district
012must see here are more extensive codified human centered principles outlining the ways these technologies are going to be deployed included in this needs to be the rights and responsibilities of our students not to use them they should be able to opt out of any form of AI feedback grading assignment any of that they have to be able to opt out okay what we've seen so far in terms of great guiding principles from this committee does not go far enough consider how you might rewrite the principles for an increasing population of families and households that teach their children AI platforms should not be used for any myriad of sound reasons environmental educational social economic so my hope is that you're going to work intensively with the independent parties not affiliated with the companies whose platforms you're
013considering deploying whether they're the Center for Humane Technology is a really great resource Tristan Harris my hope is that you're going to codify precisely how you're going to deploy this technology so as to not supplant critical thought and my hope is you're going to balance enthusiasm for these platforms with a healthy amount of respect for the pen potentials inherent in them good and bad which as for right now just can't be separated right so hope is that you're going to do all of this with consideration of our students futures in education after they leave this district leave the grade school go on to something else and recognize the full landscape of issues on unregulated AI presents and I cited all my sources thank you so much what's that yeah yeah I was gonna say I
014think somebody can probably follow up with you on yeah all these considerations yeah I will email thank you yeah thank you sports and activities but I hope they continue bowling in some fashion or another thank you Sam for all of your the laughs and good times we had and come on up I don't know where he is though oh there he is Sam oh Sam good and unfortunately Evan is at a baseball game in Antioch so let's roll right over to Hawthorne Middle North so the North Boys bowling team along with one of our female bowlers advanced to the IESA state bowling tournament in Joliet Everett Proctor continued through day two of state finishing 41st for middle school boys coach and Inova's here and would like to share a few words thank you I'm very
015excited to be here with my bowlers and this is my fifth year with MSN bowling club and each of these years I love I have the privilege to witness the success of our bowlers making it to the state level watching them grow through this very challenging competition was special I saw the mix I saw a mix of emotions which I'm experiencing right now as well joy pride and support as well as times of doubt most of all incredible hard work sportsmanship and friendship blooming and at the end of this journey there is a lesson anything is possible the hard work pays off the teamwork pays off giving the best of at the right moment is what matters William Catapan and Skylar Miller were counting on you to take take us back to bowling state competition
016next year while Everett Proctor Charlie Olson and Andrew McGraw you are sailing to high school and your middle north family is wishing you all the best and to continue to grow to your fullest potential and to never stop working towards your dreams thank you for bringing us joy and pride making us a part of your success so big applausees for all of these incredible young people and I'm gonna call you a name-by-name so you can have your certificate and the picture taken Liam Catapan I'm sorry Everett he even qualified as an individual which I forgot to mention Henry De Young Charlie Olson is Charlie here oh sorry to hear that Andrew McGraw and Skylar Miller thank you all for not falling asleep next we recognize the Hawthorne Middle School South State Science Olympiad team Coach
017Villanueva is unable to be with us this evening as she is currently on her way to Peoria to the state track meet where she is also coaching Hawthorne students however she shared that she's going to try to watch tonight's recognition by live stream so say hi this team is being recognized for qualifying for state and earning several medals at the state science Olympiad competition coach Villanueva shared how proud she is of all the students on the team she says their success is well deserved and reflects the countless hours they dedicated to preparing for their events through their hard work perseverance commitment to excellence they demonstrated remarkable determination and teamwork she hopes they continue to carry that same tenacity forward and use the skills they have developed to confidently overcome future challenges and achieve continued success
018we are proud these of these students and the way they represented Hawthorne please collect your certificate from miss Flores when your name is called okay bear with me Mayan Ava Danula Siddharth Bhatt sorry Aditya Bhattuli Bhamini Chikoti Danvin Dosapati Rhea Fildori Makuna Guti James Hong Arohi Jain Manjari Karthik Lakshay Kumar Alex Lee Srivika Mudupalli Pranav Palaniraman Praneeth Palaniraman there's no names on them Jay Pathak Saket Thorampudi Aviyah Venkat and Shiv Vyaipari and finally this evening we'll recognize the Hawthorne Middle School North State Science Olympiad team these students also had an outstanding show in the state earning multiple placements across several events like to invite both coach Breeden and coach Hunter to say a few words and recognize the students by name good evening my name is Sarah Breeden and I'm the assistant coach of the
019MSN Science Olympiad team we are pleased to recognize the students of our MSN Science Olympiad team for their outstanding performance this season which culminated at this date Science Olympiad competition last month at the University of Illinois after securing second place in regionals and sixth place in state I now invite head coach Christy Hunter to introduce the honored participants I'm very proud of all of these students they did a wonderful job thank you to them and their parents for all the support all right when I call your name please come up and get your token of recognition this Maya Arun art but the hand Buddha Rappu Darsh Dati Arush Attali Attar Attali Sharve Joshi Anisha Carvey Nandita Manoj Nama Naroj Zainab Safi Alex Zai Brandon Zai Sarah Yadav and Akasha Barot thank you congratulations again to
020all of tonight's students we are proud of the way you represented Hawthorne district 73 at the state level this concludes tonight's recognition and apparently you guys know where the door is thank you all for coming congratulations have a great summer I'm just gonna give a few minutes for them to get out okay where did Joel go did we lose him seriously okay I'm gonna give it another minute oh okay okay anyway all right I'm gonna move on are there any announcements this evening okay moving on to the president's report Pete told me I had to invite you guys to come watch our presentation at the Ed Red Summit on June 11th so I'm inviting you guys and that's June 11th and I don't really have much beyond that but let Jessica know if you need
021to register for that summit I wish everybody a great summer and thank you to all of our staff and students and parents for a great year and looking forward to getting some I'm sure all right mr. Finfers there an Edward report yes there is March 31st is the end of this session may 33 I was I'm sorry that was aspirational my may 31st is the end of the legislative session fasten your seat belts I'm sure the results will not be happy but let's hope and then one quick positive comment our own Dan did itch was appointed or awarded the Ed Red legislator of the year yep yep well-deserved thanks George all right thank you mr. angle is there a seat all report there is our last executive board meeting was April 23rd last governing board
022meeting was March 4th just to recap from the last time upcoming the tentative budget was presented to the executive board on April 23rd and would be presented to the governing board for review at our June 3rd governing board meeting the budget will go to final approval at the governing board meeting on August 5th governing board meeting dates will be up for approval at our June 3rd meeting as well proposed dates are August 5th December 2nd March 3rd and June 2nd for the governing board and then the last one just an upcoming event always a fun one I always like I always like helping to promote this one they have pucks for autism coming up the tournament takes place June 5th to 7th at four different locations glacier here in Vernon Hills the recplex in Pleasant
023Prairie top shelf in Gurney and Nicholas sportsplex in Mount Prospect pucks for autism and is an adult hockey tournament and fundraiser where all proceeds go toward program enhancements for children and young adults with autism through seed all volunteers they're always looking for volunteers for score keeping and clock operating you don't have to have any experience if you're interested in helping out and volunteering some time you can go to seed all foundation org I don't know why but on their website if you have any concerns about being like near the players like if it's gonna get rowdy they say that the scorekeepers are separated from the hockey teams by plexiglass so they specifically mentioned that you'll be separated from the teams I don't think it gets that rowdy but I found that kind of funny but
024should be a good event I think my oldest son is actually gonna be playing on one of the teams I'm gonna be helping out with some scorekeeping so they'd love to have some volunteers if you're interested our next executive board meeting is May 28th and the next governing board meeting is June 3rd awesome thank you sounds like fun for a good cause miss Peters or mr. Fiebert is there a site and facilities report you betcha there is that's a yes we met with Tim our account manager from quest for quite a bit of our second facilities meeting to kind of wrap up our year two if you will with the organization they acknowledged there's still challenges with the leadership transition that just took place and changes in roles and responsibilities in our buildings it did
025lead to some big learning curves they were very accountable about that as they learned to navigate our schools but they do declare that's a one-off and that we're gonna be launching into year three with the right team and the right structure to ask better questions and iron out issues before they become a big deal as for the future they are already talking about ways they can help us with summer food service catering with both improvements in quality and convenience at a much more reasonable price than other local options we have a new on-site chef and with that now established leadership team they're planning to improve quality and consistency across the schools they're looking to expand breakfast offerings and increase the amount of grab-and-go or a la carte a la carte options even talking about potentially
026selling after school for folks as they transition into an actual club or activity improve communication for both parents and students they loved having the the recent tasting events with parents they'd like to do more of those and continuing to improve the menu based on the feedback they receive we also talked about our five-year facility plan this is year one of that is the 26 projects that are kicking off in weeks and we've already started detailed discussions for summer of 27 so we can get ahead on the bids planning for 28 through 30 is still up in the air but we already established what's necessary versus what's desirable to make sure that our facilities stay in the right shape for our students and our staff we spoke a bit about transportation I think everybody knows that
027it's road construction season in Vernon Hills and we have a couple of pretty significant closures and work projects near us we continue to work with the village to ensure minimum disruption especially as we go indoor summer activities also please be on the lookout for additional details for bus tag return on May 19th you should have gotten the preliminary path but return to those details so that your students bus tags can get returned at the end of the year so they can get them back at the start of the year we'll continue working on the tagging project grant applications are on track for whatever that may be for next year and beyond and lastly some operational technology we've got a new support structure in place for the north campus coming to the south campus soon continuing
028to work on network capacity security and administration of devices all this will be rolled out a lot of work throughout the summer I think the biggest news everybody should have seen this in their email updates is we've made a change to our student equipment policies everybody's device is coming back for the summer so please turn those in eighth graders don't have a choice students going into sixth and eighth grade will get their devices for the school year be able to take those home to work on their project worth k-5 students will be leaving the devices at school after the school day those won't be going back and forth anymore and that wraps up our site and facilities minutes all right thank you let's cover it miss Peters okay all right miss Clifford or mr. Finfer
029zero wellness committee report those have concluded for the the school year duration okay thank you then miss Clifford zero key to 73 reports we did not meet in the month of May we will pick up our meeting starting June 9th at 6 o'clock I do encourage people to come we are always looking for more people to join our efforts around our foundation and don't forget June 5th is the golf outing so there are some spots still open so if you have not signed up to golf grab some friends grab a spouse grab I don't know if you have some adult fun kids right come on out we also have our open silent auction also during the month of May I did meet with soul who gave me a tour of what is now the nest
030which is our food pantry that supports our families within the community so highly encouraged again to check that out it's amazing the amount of work that goes into collecting donations for food clothing and shoes again just to keep everybody going awesome thank you all right moving on to presentations as the board requested at the last meeting I'm going to turn it over the assistant superintendent of teaching and learning dr. Allison Stein to discuss the outdoor education consideration thank you this evening we're sharing key considerations for leading an outdoor education experience here at Hawthorne when designing an outdoor education program for students one consideration is alignment to the grade level guaranteed and viable curriculum in other words how does the outdoor education program fit or align with our intended learning outcomes for students correspondingly we need
031to identify or develop a variety of specific learning experiences for students to participate in during the program along with needed accommodations or modifications for individual learners decisions would also need to be made around what current instructional experiences would be de-emphasized or replaced by an outdoor education adventure in terms of selecting a viable location we would consider proximity to our campus how many students and staff are safely accommodated at once and access to facilities menu options such as vegetarian gluten-free nut-free vegan halal and kosher meals as well as accommodations for food allergies would also need to be explored other considerations include bathroom and lodging facilities with attention to safety accessibility for all participants and supervision locations would also need to be vetted for the availability of curricular aligned programming and corresponding safety training for activities such
032as high ropes climbing walls water archery and so forth in terms of scheduling we would determine the calendar dates number of days meal times and the daily instructional plans for all participating students depending on capacity we may need to set aside a series of days through which all participants rotate planning for inclement weather would also be necessary identifying alternate learning experiences and or rain dates for each student group a planning timeline would need to be developed in order to account for staff training and comprehensive program planning this includes identifying any options for students attending only part of the outdoor education experience as well as developing meaningful learning experiences for any students who are not attending outdoor education to ensure a successful and educational experience for all students a range of student needs must be thoughtfully
033addressed through careful planning decision such as which grade levels would participate the appropriate group size for each activity the schedule of rotations throughout the day and how to group students to optimize learning and sore behaviors would need to be considered this includes developing cabin assignments and supervision plans that support all students needs throughout the entire day and evening individualized accommodations would need to be carefully considered and identified to enable full participation including academic support language assistance and assess ability measures both routine and emergency medical plans would need to be reviewed and adapted to account for evening care with appropriate medical supplies easily accessible and clear emergency medical procedures established as Dr. Stein previously mentioned student dietary needs would need to be planned and accounted for our staffing model for outdoor education is built on the
034principle that students learn best when supervised by educators who already hold a relationship of trust with them while the classroom moves to an outdoor setting our HR standards remain consistent with district level expectations for safety certification and expertise the success of the program relies on a collaborative approach between HEA in the district we recognize that an extended day or overnight program extends beyond the traditional contractual day compensation is addressed through structural stipends calculated based on extra-duty pay scales this approach ensures that we are in compliance with our collective bargaining agreements safety medical and administrative supervision is also a consideration a dedicated district nurse or medical profession is professional is on site through the experience this individual manages medication administration and remains on call through the night if applicable ensuring that students with specialized medical needs
035have the same access to the program as their peers every trip includes an administrative supervisor such as a principal or an assistant principal the role is non-instructional but serves as the site director to manage staff rotations handle parent communications and serve as the primary liaison for any emergency management protocols in alignment with our commitment to equity and access will deploy paraprofessionals and special education staff to accompany students as dictated by their IEPs or 504 plans HR planning ensures that these staff members are supported with appropriate relief schedules recognizing the physical and emotional demands of providing high-level support in a residential camp environment by investing in stipends specializing in medical staff and administrative oversight we're not just supervising a trip but we are extending the district's high standards as the district considers adding an outdoor education
036program for students it's important to understand the associated costs for example if all fifth grade students participated the estimated cost would be approximately $235,000 that would include 426 students 63 staff members and breaks down to approximately $547 per student this includes transportation program fees like admission fees meals staff stipends for overnight supervision and student supplies outdoor education can provide meaningful hands-on learning team building opportunities and social emotional growth for students at the same time implementing a program of this scale does represent a significant financial commitment for the district we are prepared to answer questions if the board has questions for the panel does anybody have any questions when we look at transportation for that would we also need to account for additional aids on the bus beyond the just the drivers anytime you have a
037student with an IEP with an aid on the bus will need to provide it for any school-sponsored activity yes I was actually thinking more so about the other aids that we're currently providing on sorry sorry I know I realized we have a dual meaning on that one I was thinking more about kind of just additional supervision on the bus my calculation included 20 aids okay whether it be a bus aid or a one-to- one aid okay Dr. Hannigan got it okay Carl and just to clarify because that oh you have my time to the floor and just to clarify because this is something that is sponsored by the school this would dismiss using any parent volunteers I did not add that into the calculation because like Adam said this is an extension of the school
038day because it is an extension of the school day and it's a schools right that you cannot use parent volunteers because it is a curriculum are we aware of any neighboring districts or other districts that have a program that have already vetted and gone through all of this rigor to establish something to have a dialogue with just to obviously you guys done a great job of doing all the intake of everything it would take to lift this off the ground but how does this exist in other comparable districts that we're aware of there's one district in particular that came up when this was first presented to the board that we've received some information from yes not all students attend if that's what you're asking okay thanks um first of all wow that was a much
039deeper dive than I was really expecting so thank you for all the hard work that you clearly put into kind of considering everything that goes into this was there any consultation with the attorneys about any increased liability for doing an overnighter versus our regular liability for a daytime field trip I spoke with our liability insurance company click today they expressed that there would not be an increase it would be covered under our student insurance okay they do have the stipulation that you have to have one adult for every ten students so that's where my calculation came in for the number of adults that we would need plus the ones that are specifically assigned to specific students right okay anybody else have any questions I just have a funding question I guess this is that's a
040large amount of money we just talked about we have a number of other costs and programs that we're looking to do we have a staffing concern with other elective things like I guess I'm I'm worried about I love the idea of this I just this sounds like a this is a large undertaking so reasonably like this would take a while to put together um right now because of the way the agenda is crafted we can't really discuss we can ask questions yes so my next question is is the board interested in having this as a future discussion topic at the June meeting or beyond okay that's one yes I'm you have my time to the floor I was gonna say I while I love I love it I just I don't think that this is
041I'm not interested in moving forward with this right now okay that's one for each I'm in the beyond category I'm not willing to entirely let it go but I'm not going to put pressure on the administration to continue to expedite their efforts to try to resolve our questions in such a hasty time so I yield my right to bring it back up at a later point with ample time for you to prepare okay I'm a Beyonder I think there's some questions about finances and and some basic logistics that we need to sort through before it would present anything else I don't know what it would take to do that and I don't know what priorities we have for the summer so I'll reserve my right with Carl for a future date okay so the question
042posed was do you guys want this as a future discussion not yet not yet okay well wait that's you need a binary from us right so they mean yes yes or no it doesn't mean it's happening at the June meeting sure if you would said June I was focusing on June I apologize yes future topic future yes not this future like not this but binary unless you got a check for 500 grand in his jacket it's not June what are we up to right now that's one two three I think you've got four four four beyonds possibly bring it up so then the way I'm going to leave it is at some other point when I say is there a topic for a future agenda when you guys feel ready you let me know no
043I understand the assignment okay both indoors and outdoors I understand can I ask one more question yes of course because I the thing is when we take on new undertakings such as this mm-hmm right it means that you have to forgo focus on other initiatives right and I and I think we can't discuss it right now so this isn't a persuasive no no I guess my question is too broad like okay just to better understand what you would forgo for something like this so again I will yield my question sorry yes sir if I understood Adam correctly this is a classroom thing and from my perspective I'd want somebody from staff or administration to say board I think we should do this and we recommend it I don't necessarily know that's our place to say
044yes we want to do this well that's where I am with it but you know consensus was that they want to talk about it at a future topic of course the administration is always welcome to bring us a recommendation without us prompting them but I think they clarify since I'm in that category is we reserve the right to want to bring it up later with like the right ample preparation we don't I feel like a no right now is like burying it and I'm not prepared to completely bury the concept which is why I'd like to be able to say yes at a future point I'd like to revisit okay um all right and I just want to ask one thing Jen that number that you mentioned like the two hundred thousand plus that's assuming
045thank you that's assuming that it gets rolled out and everybody elects to go right that number could certainly be smaller if you have a 50% participation or everybody has to participate when I ran the numbers I just did an assumption that all fifth graders would go it could be any grade right it could be half a grade I was basing it on a former district I worked at because one whole grade went right so that's where I came up with all of fifth grade okay in today's I guess my other question too is then for the people that don't opt to go what do they do for that day that isn't a lost day of learning and how do we adequately staff the outdoor ed and adequately staff who remains behind okay yeah so decisions
046would need to be made around what current learning experiences I think this is what Julie was asking are de-emphasized or eliminated in favor of outdoor ed and decisions would need to be made around students who are not able or do not elect to attend outdoor education what does their learning look like for that day or dates and who is providing those learning experiences okay yes sir I don't think it's our place okay I mean I think it's a curricular item and I think it's for the administration and staff to come to us and say this is what we think we should do and it is well beyond our purview it's like us recommending a Spanish curriculum I'm with you I don't care to bring this up for a discussion unless the administration brings it to
047us first so I would guess just like any other thing under topics for future agenda if people want that explored they're gonna have to bring it up at some other point and if there's consensus then the administration will explore yes that's okay thank you all for your work on that I am going to move on to discussion items I'm gonna turn it over to the assistant superintendent of finance and business operations miss Jennifer Aiken to discuss the resolution transferring funds from the Ed fund to the debt services fund good evening the business office has one discussion item this evening for board consideration in early May the auditors conducted a preliminary audit review and informed the business office that the new copier lease would require a formal transfer from the Ed fund to the debt service
048fund in order to align with accounting and reporting requirements in Illinois as a result of this recommendation the business office is seeking board approval to transfer forty thousand seven hundred and seventy dollars and forty six cents to properly account for the lease obligation and ensure compliance with audit guidelines for fiscal year 2526 okay thank you dr. Hannigan is there a superintendent's report there is tonight I'd like to take a moment to recognize and celebrate our class of 2026 as we prepare for our eighth grade promotion ceremonies on Friday May 29th at Vernon Hills as a reminder the middle north ceremony begins at 6 p.m. with students arriving at 530 and middle south ceremony but will begin at 8 p.m. with students arriving at 730 we're very excited on our students and our families I do
049want to in your board folders we did send out a communication to both our eighth grade middle north and middle south families there is a new traffic pattern because there are I believe a number of events happening at Vernon Hills that night and you need to follow the traffic pattern because there's gonna be a plenty of a police presence and so we are all parking on the what would be the back side of the building like the east side of the building you can't park in the front of the building okay okay so make sure you read the emails the actual emails that were sent to parents will be in my Friday update tomorrow but there's a map in your folder and then just lastly as we approach the end of the school year just
050want to wish all of our students our staff and our families a wonderful summer vacation as a reminder the last day of school is Tuesday June 2nd and we are getting ready to welcome our students back on August Thursday August 20th so looking forward to that have a great summer thank you for all your hard work staff students families it's been a great year thank you quick question I don't know if you know this if we park in the back are we gonna be able to enter through the back are we gonna have to walk around to the front I don't believe so I think we have to walk this is going to affect my shoe choice and I'm either looking good or I'm looking at comfortable they should they should be appropriately wearing good
051shoes because they have to park because you can't park in the front of the building you are parking our families are gonna be parking out there is a drop-off zone okay but people should be selective and what type of shoes they wear and to that note they have to step onto the stage and step down on the stage so it's a safety issue be safe with Sue choice and sorry did you say is an email going to the families about this traffic pattern okay thank you it already went out thank you thank you okay moving on to the consent agenda tonight's consent agenda consists of board meeting minutes from April 16th 2026 an expenditure report for May 21st 2026 the Amazon expense report for May 21st 2026 MasterCard report for March 23rd 2026 the treasurer's
052report for March 2026 the 2025 2026 final calendar disposal of surplus technology equipment and a personnel report consisting of nine new hires ten resignations six leaves of absence and three changes of status before the board votes dr. Hannigan do you have any remarks to make I do in your in the personnel report I'm very excited to present miss Stacey Bretner is the proposed candidate for the assistant principal position at Middle South for the upcoming school year the position was posted on April 17th 2026 through all major educational job posting platforms and attracted a strong pool of candidates with a total of 53 candidates applying for the role following a thorough interview process that include members of the administrative team and the Middle South staff miss Bretner was identified as the recommended candidate for the position
053Stacey has demonstrated a strong commitment to student learning collaboration and leadership through her time in the district her dedication to supporting students and staff along with her deep understanding of the Hawthorne way make her an excellent fit for this role so we're very excited for that recommendation see what happens in a second too early well we'll technically vote on it in a minute all right and then last but not least I'm also excited to present miss Christina Franci as the proposed candidate for the new building assistant supervisor for the dual language position the position was posted on March 19th 2026 through all the major educational job posting platforms and attracted a total of 19 candidates following a third of thorough interview process that included administrators and the dual language representatives miss Franci was identified as
054the recommended candidate for this role her experience and collaborative approaches and dedication to students and families will serve the district well in this new leadership position all right thank you does anybody need any items to be taken out and voted on separately okay can I get a motion to approve the consent agenda items as presented so moved second motion by George seconded by Carl can I get a roll call vote please yep sorry there you go Stephanie Peters I Michael Engel I Joel Finfer hi George Julie Clifford I Carl Borchers I Robin clique I motion passes seven eyes zero nays congratulations to the new Middle South assistant principal miss Stacey Bretner and the new dual language building assistant supervisor miss Christina Franci miss Bretner was unable to attend this evening as she's celebrating her seniors
055high school graduation so congratulations to her family we wish her the best at Middle South and look forward to her joining the Middle South team and miss Franci would you like to come up and say a few words I have to say it from my phone good evening and thank you to the Board of Education district leadership and the Hawthorne School of dual language community for this opportunity I'm truly honored and excited to join Hawthorne School district 73 as the next assistant building supervisor at Hawthorne School of dual language throughout my career as both a teacher and administrator I've always believed that strong relationships collaboration and a student-centered mindset are at the heart of a successful school community this opportunity is especially meaningful to me because of my extensive experience working with multilingual learners bilingual
056families and diverse school communities I care deeply about creating environments where all students feel seen valued supported and empowered to succeed I'm excited to support a school community that celebrates multilingualism culture and unique experiences students bring with them each day I look forward to learning from the incredible staff partnering with families and supporting students both academically and socially as they continue to grow and thrive I'm grateful for the trust that you've placed in me and I'm excited to contribute to the strong culture and traditions already established at Hawthorne so that means also I wanted to say that it's an honor to be able to serve a community that values bilingualism culture and the identity of every student I'm very excited to work along all of you thank you thank you thank you I'm going to
057now turn it over to miss Alicia Corrigan to review the first two action items on tonight's action agenda thank you the first action item before the board this evening is the determination that was discussed and considered during the closed session at this time the board will have the opportunity to formally consider the item and take action as appropriate the second action item is an updated agreement discussed at the April board meeting which prohibits school resource officers from issuing fines tickets or citations to students as a disciplinary consequence on school grounds or during school transportation this update in MOU reflects changes to board policy 7 colon 190 and Illinois law 105 ILCS 510 through 22.6 thank you next we'll hear from miss Jennifer Aiken to review the last two action items on tonight's agenda action item
05810.3 this is the third installment payment for the Apple devices leased for students and staff and requires a fund transfer in accordance with the county requirements lease payments must be processed through the debt service fund to ensure proper financial reporting the business office is requesting board approval to authorize the transfer from the Ed fund to the debt service fund and then item 10.4 appointment of the treasurer for fiscal year 2026 2027 each year the Board of Education appoints a treasurer to oversee the district's financial operations ensure proper accounting practices fiscal integrity and compliance with all legal requirements the treasurer serves as the custodian of district funds is responsible for paying authorized obligations maintaining accurate financial records and advising the board on all financial matters the business office respectfully request the board approved to appoint me
059Jennifer Aiken as the district treasurer for the 2026 2027 school year thank you any oh any questions mr. Palmer does anybody have any questions before we start voting okay then can I get a motion up holding the suspension of student one one one one four four one six from the district for one day I move that based upon and after the board's consideration of the evidence and testimony of the suspension review hearing held on April 29th 2026 the Board of Education finds that student number one one one one four committed acts of gross misconduct as described by the district's administration in violation of board policy seven colon 190 student behavior based upon such gross misconduct the students continuing presence in school pose a threat school safety and or disruption to other students learning opportunities I
060move that the Board of Education uphold the suspension of the student from the district for one day the board finds that the evidence based on evidence presented during the hearing the duration of the student suspension is appropriate based upon the severity of the misconduct the safety concerns and or disruption to other students learning opportunities the students relevant disciplinary history and prior behavioral and disciplinary interventions to support the student and promote acceptable behavior is there a second second motion by George seconded by Stephanie can I get a roll call vote please Joel Finfer I Michael Engel I Julie Clifford I Stephanie Peters by Carl Borchers I George Fevet I Robin clique I motion passes seven ayes zero nays can I get a motion to approve the Hawthorne district 73 memorandum of understanding for the school resource
061officer so moved second motion by Stephanie seconded by George can I get a roll call vote please Michael Engel I Stephanie Peters I Carl Borchers I George Fevet I Julie Clifford I Joel Finfer I Robin clique I motion passes seven I zero nays can I get a motion to approve the resolution transferring funds from the educational fund to the debt service fund so moved second motion by Michael seconded by George can I get a roll call vote please Julie Clifford I George Fevet I Joel Finfer I Stephanie Peters I Michael Engel I Carl Borchers I Robin clique I motion passes seven I zero nays can I get a motion to approve the appointment of treasurer for the 2026 2027 school year so moved second motion by Carl seconded by Stephanie can I get a roll
062call vote please Stephanie Peters I Michael Engel I Julie Clifford I George Fevet I Carl Borchers I Joel Finfer I Robin clique I motion passes seven I zero nays and I'm gonna turn it back to Dr. Hannigan we have received seven FOIA requests since our last Board of Education meeting which have been identified in section 11.2 of the board agenda okay are there any topics for future agendas the board would like to add okay with no further business to discuss can I get a motion to adjourn second motion by Joel seconded by Carl all in favor aye any opposed all right with seven eyes and zero nays we are adjourned at 8 10 p.m. thank you have a good summer four by four which I