001I pledge 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. Okay. George, can I get attendance, please? Yes. Joel Finfer. Here. George Feevid here. Michael Engel. Here. Wes Poland. Here. Carl Borchers. Not here. Julie Clifford. Six present, one absent. Is there anybody from the public that wishes to comment at this time? Going once, going twice, gone. Wes, is there any recognition tonight? There is not. Okay, thank you. Are there any announcements this evening? Okay. Presidents report, I'm going to keep pretty brief and just remind people to RSVP to the IASB dinner, which is on March 12th. And you can just tell Jessica, your RSVP. And now I'm going to move on to Mr. Finfer for
002an Ed Redd report. Nothing tonight, Robin. Okay. Mr. Engel, is there a seat all report? Very brief and a little redundant from the last one, but I'll just reiterate. Next board meeting for governing board, we'll get an update on the continuous improvement plan. And then we will also be voting on the contract extensions for one year for Dr. Hackett and Dr. Thomas to be co-superintendents while they continue that process. So the executive board is recommending that we move forward with approving that. So that'll take place at our next governing board meeting. That will be on March 5th, and the next executive board meeting is February 27th. There weren't any meetings since our last board meeting. Okay, thank you. Mr. Feevid, is there a site and facilities report? Oh, there is. And I have the slides
003to prove it. Mr. Palmer, fire it up. All right. We had the privilege of meeting with the president and a couple of vice presidents from Quest at our site and facilities meeting last Tuesday. We talked about some areas of current focus, the take rate on the program, and things that are going to change going forward. And since there was so much covered, I wrote. Big news of late in areas of recent focus, we had some concerns about the site lead at Middle School North. And Quest acted pretty quickly and brought in a new site lead. And pretty quickly, feedback improved greatly about the performance of that kitchen. We've also, just to make sure this doesn't become an issue only in Middle School North, Quest is now committing corporate chefs from their company, obviously, to visit
004our buildings twice a week to make sure that all standards are being met and address any training gaps that they see in our kitchens. As we try to improve scratch cooking, that's very important. We also had a very lengthy conversation about menus. It's a delicate balance, and maybe that's the biggest message to take home. They have been incredibly receptive to student feedback. They're very, very receptive. And that pendulum needs to swing back to middle. And they're taking that to heart. One of the big criticisms has been vegetarian offerings, both the quality of and the announcement of. So they've done a couple of things. They've improved things like veggie pizza to make sure there's better choices than Bosco sticks for the kids who prefer not to eat meat. They've also worked on communicating this. So when
005you look at the menu page, when you refill your account, you're going to see the entire menu now and not just the main meat entree, so you'll be aware of what's coming. They're also going to find ways to bring in proper parent feedback in their menu planning so that parents get a say in the options that their children have to choose from. Doesn't mean they're going to eat it, but it'll be there. Mr. Palmer, next slide. One of our big goals with Quest was to also improve the take rate, the performance of the meal program. And we do have some really good data now. We've seen a 22% increase in lunch time take rate since the 22, 23 school year. We've seen an incredible increase in breakfast, double. A lot of that has to do
006with their offerings, but also their placement within the buildings. We've moved lunch or breakfast from the cafeteria to the door where the buses come in and given like some grab and go options so the students can get food when they're entering the building, not lose their time. They don't have to think about it and hey, the food's in front of you, you'll probably take it. So by and large, massive improvement in take, which was really want to make sure is that our students get fed so they can learn. Mr. Palmer, next slide. And then next step, because there is some work to do still. Like we said before, there's going to be some parent focus groups to discuss the program itself, share how we do things, get feedback on the offerings and other feedback from
007like directly from the parents, not just from the students. They're going to work on increasing their training with scratch cooking and continue to expand our menus along with in school feedback from the students. They still get a voice and then we're going to, they're going to work with our students and their nutritionists to do some in house healthy food choice learning opportunities as well as some menu tastings on some healthier options. So before they add things to the menu, students get a chance to try them, they'll decide if it's any good. If it is, you'll see it show up. If it doesn't, you may not see it again. All the goal is to make sure the kids are eating better food, that we're making more of it in house and that kids continue to enjoy
008their lunch here in Hawthorne. Any questions about quest? Cause a couple more things. Yeah. I have a question. Sure. Are those focus groups? Yes. Are you just going to be asking for volunteers or are we reaching out to certain people that have voice concern? How is that working? Cause my concern would be making sure we get opinions from people whose children are in free and reduced lunch because they don't really have other reasonable options to provide lunch to their students. We did not discuss logistics, but that's a fantastic suggestion that I'm sure was noted by the folks at the table over there. Okay. Yeah. Thank you so much for this thorough update. Thank you. Two other pieces of business. We only three slides. I only three slides. Sorry. Next time I'll bring it. Joel's trying
009to make up for some lost board meeting. Joel's just jealous because he wasn't here in the committee meeting and I did this without him on the menu or not the menu on the agenda today. You're also going to see approval for our summer projects. Happy to say that all the financials came in on our bids and we're looking at being able to do all of our contingencies as well as have a little bit of extra cushion in the budget in case something happens, which is important when you're dealing with bids this time of year. So action item later today, get excited and you're going to see as an action item in a meeting, Jennifer Aiken and company did a thorough review of our building rental agreements. We've got a new one ready to go for
010vote in a coming meeting. Big highlights are enforcing better billing security at after hours events, proper custodial coverage to make sure that we have custodians here for cleaning and other needs for these events and it's covered in the contract price. A much more easy to understand option when it comes to that price and ensuring that we have the right insurance coverage for any group in the building. So we'll probably bring it next meeting to read and then we'll vote the one after that. So April ish, cool. That's sign facilities. Thank you so much. Ms. Clifford, is there a wellness committee report? Wellness committee does not meet again till April 15th and the D-73 foundation does not meet till March 4th. Okay. Thank you. Then you just answer my next question. All right. Moving right along.
011I'm going to now turn it over to the assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, Dr. Allison Stein to discuss the title one school wide waiver for town line and dual language. Okay. So I S B E has notified us that our title one school wide plan for the school of dual language is up for renewal this year. In addition, our free and reduced lunch numbers from October indicate that town line elementary school is eligible for title one school wide status next year. All title one school wide plans must be drafted and approved by the board of education prior to our district submitting a consolidated district plan or CTP to the state of Illinois. According to I S B E school wide plans must be developed and implemented at individual eligible schools. So Ms. Nikki Rodrigo,
012the principal of the school of dual language has submitted a plan and Dr. Jennifer Hawk, principal of town line elementary school has submitted a plan. Each plan includes a needs assessment, which is represented by components of their respective school improvement plans, as well as six open ended questions that guiding coalition at each school help to provide information in response to those questions. We recommend that the board approve these completed plans at which time they will be signed by Dr. Hannigan and kept on file with our title one records. The plans are only sent to I S B E if requested, got it. Thank you so much. I'm going to now turn it over to the assistant superintendent of human resources, Mr. Adam Palmer to discuss the 2526 staffing plan. Thank you. Good evening, President clique,
013board members and guests. Thank you for providing me with an opportunity to share our 2025 26 staffing plan with you this evening. This presentation will provide an overview of the process used to determine our staffing needs for the upcoming school year, as well as our recommendations. Before I began, I wanted to acknowledge the collaborative efforts of our administrative team, particularly our building administrators, as well as Mrs. Alicia Corrigan, assistant superintendent for student services, Mrs. Jennifer Aiken, assistant superintendent of finance and business operations, and Dr. Alison Stein, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning. Your insights and expertise were invaluable in shaping this plan. As we begin, I'd like to take a moment to revisit our core mission and model that guide everything we do in Hawthorne district 73. Our mission is simple yet powerful to ensure
014learning for all. And our model expands on that commitment, learning for all every one every day. Every decision that we make, including our staffing decisions, is grounded in this belief. Our focus remains on ensuring that every student has access to high quality education every single day. Beyond our mission and model, our district goals serve as our roadmap for success. We aim to be a high performing school district with at least 90% of our pre-K through eighth grade students achieving proficiency or better in reading and math. We strive to be in the top 10% of all schools in both growth and proficiency. We are committed to closing the achievement gap for all students while continuously improving overall academic performance. And finally, we recognize the importance of supporting the whole child, ensuring that each student is healthy,
015safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. Tonight, I will show you how our staffing recommendations support these goals while remaining fiscally responsible. Our staffing plan is developed through a thoughtful and strategic process that spans several months. Late fall and early winter, we begin by reviewing current staffing levels, enrollment trends, and future needs. In the winter, we collaborate with building administrators to refine the plan. Late winter and early spring, we identify any internal staffing adjustments based on approved recommendations. And then in the spring, we finalize those internal adjustments and post open positions for the upcoming school year. This thorough process ensures that we are making data-driven staffing decisions that align with student needs. When making staffing decisions, we rely heavily on historical enrollment trends. This graph shows our 10-day enrollment count over the past seven years. I shared
016similar data with you back in September as part of our 10-day enrollment report. As you can see, our enrollment has remained relatively stable over the last four years, which plays a key role in our staffing projections for the 2025-26 school year. Another important factor in forecasting enrollment is looking at the difference between the number of incoming kindergarten students and the outgoing eighth grade class. This graph illustrates that historical trend over the past 11 years. By comparing these numbers, we can identify whether the district is growing, shrinking, or maintaining stable enrollment levels, which directly impacts staffing needs. Now let's look at our projected enrollment for the 2025-26 school year. This table shows three key data points. It shows the enrollment after the first 10 days of the 2024-25 school year, the current enrollment as of February
0172025, and projected enrollment for 2025-26. We will continue to monitor these numbers closely in the coming months and make any necessary staffing adjustments to ensure that we are meeting student needs. Accuracy in enrollment projections is essential to making informed decisions. This slide compares the projections I presented to you last February with the actual enrollment numbers from September of 2024. I'm pleased to report that our projections were within 45 students, which demonstrates the effectiveness of our forecasting process. By continuing to refine our projections, we can ensure that we are properly staffed to meet student needs while being fiscally responsible. Now let's discuss our staffing recommendations for the 2025-26 school year. Based on our enrollment projections and trend data, we are recommending that there are no additional staffing for general education or our student services department. With
018the multilingual services, we're suggesting or recommending the adding of one additional multilingual Russian teacher to support the needs of our students. This plan allows us to maintain small class sizes, especially at the kindergarten and first grade levels, while also ensuring that we have the flexibility to absorb additional students if needed. We believe that this plan strikes the right balance between supporting our students and maintaining fiscal responsibility. Before concluding this evening, I'd like to provide a brief update on our guest teacher program. I'm pleased to report that we have added nearly 30 new guest teachers since the start of the school year. In August, you may recall that we welcomed approximately 30 guest teachers to an orientation event where they received training and support to ensure a successful school year. We also celebrated Substitute Appreciation Day
019in November by gifting all of our substitutes a Hawthorne branded mug as a token of our appreciation. You can see that picture in the bottom right corner. Additionally, each of our schools has a dedicated building substitute providing much needed consistency and support. While staffing of substitutes remains a challenge nationwide, we are making progress to ensure that our students have the instructional coverage they need. In closing, I want to thank you for providing me the time and your attention this evening. The staffing plan, we believe, outlines and reflects our commitment to academic excellence, student support, and fiscal responsibility. At this time, I'd be happy to answer any questions the board may have. Does anybody have questions for Adam? I had a couple. How often are we pulling teachers to sub during the day, like if they
020have a planned period or something like that? Is that still going on? That's pretty frequent, yes. That is still happening at most buildings. Okay. Yes. And then, are we ever using our aides for subs, like ones that would be normally dedicated in student services? We are also using our instructional assistants to help support when needed for those that have that sub license. Not all of them have the licensure to do that, but those that do, there may be times where they're also helping to support at different times throughout the day. Okay. So, if people are getting pulled from that, this might be a question also for Alicia, like how are we meeting the needs of the students who have either assigned aid or have service minutes that need to be met? The building administrators have
021a list, and they try to prioritize or move people around. So if there's somebody assigned with a sub certificate that's subbing, then they might reallocate somebody who was a resource instructional assistant who may not be servicing minutes, but may be able to support a student who needs minutes or adjust. So they do the very best they can to move, it's not like a move one person, you end up moving several people. Sure. Okay. That's all the questions I had. Anybody else? Okay. Thank you. Dr. Hannigan, is there a superintendent's report? Do not have a report this evening. Okay. I'm going to move on to the consent agenda. Tonight's consent agenda consists of board meeting minutes from February 6th of 2025, closed session minutes from February 6th, 2025, the expenditure report of February 20th, 2025, the
022Amazon expense report of February 20th, 2025, the MasterCard report of December 23rd, 2025, the treasurer's report of December 24th, 2024, and a personnel report consisting of one new hire, one resignation, five leaves of absence, one change of status and one retirement. Does anybody need anything taken out and voted on separately? 6.1 and 6.2 need to be removed. Can I get a motion to approve items 6.1 and 6.2 of the consent agenda? So moved. Second. Move. Hold on. Motion by Julie, seconded by? Julie. No. Second. Second. Motion by Julie, seconded by George. Can I get a roll call vote, please? George Feevitt, aye. Julie Clifford. Aye. Michael Engel. Aye. Wes Poland. Aye. Joel Finfer. Abstain. Robin Kleeck. Aye. Motion passes, five ayes, one abstention. Can I get a motion to approve the remaining consent agenda items
023as presented? So moved. Second. Motion by Wes, seconded by Michael. Can I get a roll call vote, please? Joel Finfer. Aye. West Poland. Aye. Julie Clifford. Aye. George Feevitt. Aye. Michael Engel. Aye. Robin Kleeck. Aye. Motion passes, six ayes, zero nays. I'm going to turn it back over to Dr. Stein to review the first action item on tonight's agenda. On Thursday, February 6th, we presented our foundational resource pilot process and proposals for middle school Spanish, math, science, and social emotional learning. Thank you for your consideration of our recommendation to secure these high quality learning materials for both students and staff. We are recommending the adoption of K-chevray as our foundational resource for middle school Spanish world language. We're recommending the adoption of Open Sci-Ed as our foundational resource for middle school science. We are recommending
024the adoption of Amplify Desmos Math as our foundational resource for Regarding Amplify Desmos Math, following the February 6th board meeting, a question was asked related to a statement made during the presentation that additional materials within the resource are forthcoming. So I wanted to take the opportunity to clarify that Amplify Desmos Math is a fully developed and highly rated foundational resource. As an added benefit, Amplify regularly expands upon or updates their tools for continuous improvement. So their next update is expected to include some additional practice sets for students and the team is simply looking forward to exploring those updated materials. Lastly, we're recommending the adoption of Wayfinder as our foundational resource for middle school SEL. I'm more than happy to answer any remaining questions related to our request to approve these four middle school curricular resources.
025Does anybody have any questions for Allison? Okay. Okay. Thank you. Now we'll hear from Dr. Hannigan to review the second action item on tonight's agenda. Thanks Robin. So the policy committee met on January 27th to review policy updates incorporated in press issue 117. We reviewed a total of 16 policies which were discussed at the February 6th board meeting and at this time it would be more than or we would be more than happy to answer any questions you have related to the policies. Any questions? Okay. Now I'm going to turn it over to Ms. Jennifer Aiken to review the final action item on tonight's agenda. Good evening. The business office is requesting board approval this evening for the 2025 summer construction bid package. At the February 6th board meeting, Tom McGrath of Lamp Incorporated presented
026the preliminary results of the summer bids. We are pleased to report that the final project costs remain the same, $2,551,638. That was confirmed after a comprehensive review of all the individual trade packages. Upon bid approval, Mr. McGrath will contact those trades to initiate ordering all the supplies needed and coordinate work schedules. Does the board have any questions? Any questions on the bids? Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Okay. And can I get a motion to approve the middle school foundational resource adoption? So moved. Second. Motion by West, seconded by Michael. Can I get a roll call vote please? Michael Engel. Aye. George Fuget. Aye. Joel Finfer. Aye. Julie Clifford. Aye. Wes Pollin. Aye. Robin Kleek. Aye. And I'm just going to say, I have been waiting for this day for almost 10 years now, and I
027am so happy it's here because I think one of the big things I heard way back in 2014-2015 when I was running was how much not just the staff, but the community wanted some kind of cohesive, consistent content for their students. So pleased it's here and thank you so much to you and all of the teams that piloted and presented to get this all put together. Thank you. Can I get a motion to approve policy press issue 117? So moved. Second. Second. Motion by West, seconded by George. Can I get a roll call vote please? Julie Clifford. Aye. Joel Finfer. Aye. George Fuget. Aye. Michael Engel. Aye. Wes Pollin. Aye. Robin Kleek. Aye. Motion passes 6 ayes, 0 nays. Back to Dr. Hannigan. We have received three FOIA requests since our last Board of Education
028meeting which have been identified in Section 8.2 of the Board Agenda. Can I get a motion to approve the results for the 2025-26 Summer Project? So moved. Second. Emphatically, motion by George, second by Julie. Can I get a roll call vote please? Wes Pollin. Aye. Joel Finfer. Aye. Julie Clifford. Aye. Michael Engel. Aye. George Fuget. Aye. Robin Kleek. Aye. Motion passes 6 ayes, 0 nays. Back to Dr. Hannigan. We have received three FOIA requests since our last Board of Education meeting which have been identified in Section 8.2 of the Board Agenda. Thank you. Are there any topics for future agendas? One thing that I did want to bring up is with a lot of things we're hearing in the news lately about federal funding, when that information does become available, just want to make sure
029it's on our agenda to talk about how it will impact our school. Assuming you want that prior to the June budget presentation, right? Yes, absolutely. I was going to say, if we have it. I'm assuming that's okay with most of the board. Okay. We will add that to another one. Is there any other topics for future agendas? I had one, but I'm not sure that it's necessary. I'm just spacing out on our usual calendar of agendas. Is there going to be an update about how CEDAWL is meeting our needs for out-of-district placements? I know for a while we were having trouble getting our needs met. Is there an update coming up about that? Okay. Good enough. Thank you. Okay. All right. I'll look forward to that update then. Anybody else? Okay. I'm about to ask
030for a motion to go into closed session and after that we will not be conducting any business in open session, so I thank you all for coming and wish you a good night. With no further business to discuss in open session, can I get a motion to adjourn to closed session pursuant to Open Meetings Act Exemption 2, Section C, to discuss collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees under 5 ILCS 120 slash 2C2 and the appointment employment compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees, specific individuals who serve as independent contractors in a park recreational or educational setting, or specific volunteers of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a
031complaint lodged against an employee, a specific individual who serves as an independent contractor in a park recreational or educational setting, or a volunteer of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity. However, a meeting to consider an increase in compensation to a specific employee of a public body that is subject to the Local Government Wage Increased Transparency Act may not be closed and shall be open to the public and posted and held in accordance with this Act 5 ILCS 120 slash 2C1 and to discuss security procedures, school building safety and security and the use of personnel and equipment to respond to an actual threatened or reasonably potential danger to the safety of employees, students, staff, the public or property. So moved. Second. Motion by Julie, second by Wes.
032All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Six ayes. No nays. It is 728. It's like 735. Enough time? Yep. Okay. Thank you.