001Order. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. >> here. >> Mrs. Granomeare >> here. >> Dr. Huntington >> here. >> Mr. Coffee >> here. >> Mrs. Stiff, >> here. Mr. Kennedy >> here. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick >> here. Please rise for the pledge of allegiance and our J color. Arc time. Right turn. Another guy. Oh. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I'm art. Right turn. >> Please be seated. >> All right. Big thank you to our JRT color guard. They do a great job every time. Uh, welcome to all of our visitors here in person and those of you tuned in live streaming at home. At this time, we will entertain any public
002comment on any agenda item. >> No public comment. >> All right. Hearing none, we'll move on to the consent agenda. Looking for a motion to approve or amend. >> Uh, make a motion to amend the consent agenda by removing the Hopewell Schools bill from the check register and voting separately. >> Perfect. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> All right. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Stiff. Yes, >> Mr. Kennedy. >> Yes, >> Mr. Fitzpatrick. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Lynn. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Graome. >> Yes, >> Dr. Huntington. >> Yes, >> Mr. Coffee. >> Yes. >> Right. Motion passes. Do we have a motion to approve the rest? >> So, move. >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Coffee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stiff, >> yes. >> Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. >> Mr.
003Fitzpatrick, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lynn, >> yes. >> Mrs. Graome, >> yes. >> Dr. Huntington >> abstain. >> All right, motion passes. We'll move on to recognition and awards. Appears we have none this month >> at the campuses, but we do have district recognition. >> Oh, I tried to skip over our recognition. >> Yes, you did. So, >> we don't need recognition. The kids need it. >> Um, well, you'll see how wonderful our some of our students are. Um but in celebration and recognition of our school board members, November 15th um was school board recognition um day throughout our state. So you probably saw a lot of social media posts from JTHs as well as other schools. Um, and to celebrate that, we have some of our um, outstanding students from various campuses and programs
004here to talk about their experiences um, and to share their gratitude for what they're experiencing at JTHS. So, I'm not going to steal their thunder because they are magnificent. So, if I could ask our students to come forward with our program this evening. Good evening, JTHs Board of Education. My name is Jordan Shell and I'm a senior at Juliet West High School. >> My name is Henry Masten. I'm a senior at Juliet West. >> My name is Juan Hobbs. I am a sophomore at Pathways Academy in Central. My name is Osia Lara and I am a senior at Juliet Central. >> Hello everyone. I am a junior at Julia West and graduated 2027. >> My name is Jasine Short and I am a student at Pathways Academy and Joliet West. To honor the dedication of
005the elected school board members across Illinois, the Illinois Association of School Boards has designated November 15th as a school board members day in which we are celebrating this evening. This day provides an opportunity to raise community awareness and understanding of the vital role that locally elected Board of Education members play in our represented democracy. It is also a time to express our gratitude for their leadership and their commitment to our schools and community. Our board members serve as frontline advocates, giving our community a voice, shaping a vision for the district and guiding our students toward success. The board of education works diligently to protect two of our community's most valuable resources, our children and our tax dollars. while striving to provide the best education environment possible with the resources at hand. For this, we offer
006our sincere thanks. As a part of our appreciation, we like to share our experience at Central West and Pathways. We are truly grateful our schools and we recognize that your leadership and teamship plays a vital role in making our education opportunities possible. It is an honor to begin this evening by sharing my high school experience with the board of education. So hello, I'm Lucia Lara and I'm here to speak in behalf of the Gillette Central campus. at my time at Juliet Central has been nothing short of extraordinary. As someone who has who is in nine extracurriculars, I can say with confidence that this school is great for students to meet new people and try out new things. When I first attended Juliet Central, I was shy, nervous, and unsure of my place in the school's
007community. I struggled to make friends and communicate with my peers. But it wasn't until I joined astronomy club that year where I got my first taste of the community, the Juliet Central community. From that moment onward, I have participated in several activities and made several friends across my four years of attending this school. Something amazing about this school's community is how welcoming every club is. I went around jumping around clubs to see what worked and what didn't. I went through a lot of clubs before finding the ones that I where I belonged. Members and sponsors experience made experiences memorable and helped me stepped out of my comfort zone. As a result, every interaction developed my communic my my communication skills an essential part from my planned major. After high school, I plan to enroll in
008a four-year university to pursue to pursue mechanical engineering. Ever since I took PTLW, introduction to engineering and design my freshman year, I became passionate about engineering and the application of science in the real world. The school I the schools I want to go to are Northern Illinois University, University of Illinois Chicago and University of Illinois or Bana Champagne. I was accepted to NIU a couple weeks ago and I hope to hear from my other two universities this December. My time at this school has helped me grow not only as a student but as a person. I'm thankful for the opportunities at Joliet Central I was able to take advantage of and I'm sure that in the f the future students will also benefit from these opportunities and experiences and grow as much as I did.
009Awesome. Again, I am Dion Thompson and I attend Julia West. I hope everyone is enjoying their day and where my personal discussion of the three-year experience in this district. From my perspective of high school, it generally provides a positive and loving atmosphere to the student staff like a family orientated community. Upon that on a daily basis, there are many nationalities, traits, and personalities. Especially for me, coming from an area of mostly African-Americans, this was an astounding site to interact with them people. I've always taken advanced honors classes where most of the time having a good relationship with my educators. Starting with business classes, a favoring teacher being Miss Hackett. Uh my sophomore year courses like honors physics with Mr. Connard, honors geometry alongside Miss Diaz where I was actually top of my class and preap
010English with Miss Gertine who actually recommended me where I am now for AP Lincoln and composition accompanying Miss Maurice who well is a favoring teacher of mine if you're on a good side plus advanced algebra honors with Miss Crim who is similar to I love Miss Maurice. Talk about it. Furthermore, I am a student athlete for each after school activity has featured something clear to me. Football through coach Larry showed me time is inevitable and will pass by if you wanted to or not. But it's the key time that you utilize and not giving up. Basketball besides coach Chile, Larry and Earl taught me amongst triumphs there will be times you are challenged not just from others but even your own character. Track taught me season by season there will be evolution but also can
011be shortcomings. It's just what you intend to do with them. This one big match in wrestling where I was on the brink of losing and something told me not to give up. I ultimately pushed through and ended up being victorious and winning the MVP. Through through my time at Julia West, I will incorporate the skills I learned to prepare me for college. And after career-based working with people, incorporating business management with graphic and interior design and I will want to take mathematics into being an actuary or a math professor. However, in a matter of my adventure, I'm very happy to be here and for this school to be similar to a safe institution. It should not be marked to being safe, but get a sense of that term from our own classmates being more social.
012When talking to teachers, coaches, and entirely getting involved as we are not just a building for academics, but a getaway to solidarity and fellowship. Hello, my name is Jasine Short. Last year I moved to Jolli West. Jolli Joliet West was going to be a fresh start for me. Lots of things have been very unstable for me in my life and I wasn't able to keep up with school as much as I wanted. It wasn't easy. I was still struggling at West. I felt upset due to being in freshman classes. I felt embarrassed and ashamed not being in my junior classes around people my age. I felt afraid of my friends finding out. I felt like I couldn't fully express myself and I feared I wouldn't graduate on time. My counselor, Mr. Wild, referred me to
013the Bravo program at Pathways. We worked out a plan so I stay connected to Wes with a couple of classes. This has made all of the difference for me. At first, I was a little shy and uncomfortable, but now I feel like Bravos has helped me a lot. I feel like I could do my work self-paced and don't have any pressure being rushed. I feel like I have more support with my teachers when it's needed. Miss from Miss New and Mrs. Zara. I like the smaller classes. They help me focus and concentrate on my work. I don't feel pressured or overwhelmed at Bravos. I feel stress free and calm, so I could do my work much better. Because of Braavos, I feel like I can start thinking about my future again. I want to go
014to college and become a certified nurse midwife. I also want to get into real estate, earn a doctoral degree, and one day travel around the world. I feel so grateful for all the support here at JCHS. Thank you. >> Excuse my voice. The weather's cold. Um, good evening board of education. Good evening everyone tonight. My name is Jordan and as a senior senior year, it's a weird feeling to be in. Um, I wanted to not only reflect on my experience, but also kind of experience my future and kind of show you a little bit of a timeline of myself. Um, from the start, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I am an indecisive person and I still am now. So I had some recommendations from my counselors um to take AP and dual
015credit classes which I've taken human geography, physics, AP lang and also dual credit with JJC. Um those classes were bit challenging and it was a good thing to have a challenging class. It forced me to step up my game and step up my leadership skills, my time management and an overall academic student. Also, I got myself involved in activities. Should I say how many? We might be here all night. So, I will tell tell you some of my favorites from the random ones with painting at the fall play this year to not only becoming a student ambassador here, which I am very grateful to be a student ambassador here and use my voice for some sort of change, even if it's just a little speech. Also, I wanted to also acknowledge the student advisory committee
016which was enacted last year and under the action plan 1.1 and um I do want to also mention that our new maintenance reporting system has been having great success. So, I'm very grateful to have not only proper maintenance and proper order for our campuses, but also having a clean environment for everyone to be in, which is what I want to thank you guys for, for actually stepping up and helping enact our policies as a student voice. It's very important to have student opinions and what the student advisory committee does. It brings us all together from each campus, central, west, and pathways through that committee. So, I'm very grateful to still be in it. Also, one of my other favorite things that I was grateful enough to have the position for is the president of the
017science national honor society. It helped me grow not only in my science career and my love for science since I was a kid, but also teaches me how to lead my people and lead the chapter that I am, especially as an African-American female because it is a very white male dominant space to be honest. Um, I also wanted to shout out another thing as well, which is my JRTC experience. And at first, I was volunte. You love my mom. I do love my mom. I know she's watching. Um, and at first it was for my family's sake. My dad went, my brother went, who recently graduated last year and is in the military. Um, so with that being said, I wanted to shout out my senior army instructor, Lieutenant, my army instructor, Sergeant Pedell, and
018Sergeant Atinson, because they taught me how to not only step up and be a leader, which I am currently in the position of, and have a lot of responsibilities for, but also learning how to fix my mistakes and becoming better so I have more success for tomorrow. With all that being said, I wanted to talk to you about my future career goals. At first, I thought college would be my thing. It was always my mojo as a kid. But now, I've kind of realized I wanted to step back and do something a bit different, which is actually enlisting in the United States Air Force in either cyber security intelligence or orchestra. Sky's the limit for a military career at this point. And I wanted to thank all the people that invol were involved in my
019high school career journey. It was a little bit tough this year as a senior with my mental health and my struggles um with everybody leaving the changes I have personally at home. But I wanted to thank um especially my counselor, Mr. Wild. He has not only helped me cry it out when I need to cry it out in his office, but also picking me back up and getting me on the right track as far as my academics. Um, and then one finally, um, I wanted to thank you guys once again. Um, senior year is a crazy year I didn't expect to be in, but it's been one of the best years of my life. And I hope that while me speaking and doing the work that I've been doing over the past four years, that
020I can still make my lasting impression, not only as a Tiger, but also a student at the JTSS campus. Thank you. GOOD EVENING, BOARD MEMBERS AND GUESTS. Once again, my name is Henry Matson. I'm a senior at Juliet West. Uh, as a senior, I wanted to reflect on the opportunities I've had here at JTHS. Uh, JTHs has created a variety of programming that's encompassing to all students. I appreciate that there's something for everyone from the academic challenge of AP and dual credit classes to the practical skills learned in elective courses and the unique experience of the CEO program. This wide range speaks to how the district believes in developing all kinds of talents, not just one type of student. Beyond the classes, JTHs offers support that has been fundamental to my success. Knowing we have
021the resources like the cooldown room, great tutoring, and accessible counselors and guidance staff shows that the district sees this as more than just grades. It proves JTHs has been able to accommodate any learning style, showing how you prioritize students over anything else. Lastly, I've been thinking about how I'll stay involved after high school simply because I won't have this massive network of opportunities and resources the district provides. JTHs has set a really high bar for what I expect in the future. So, thank you for creating inclusive education, great student support, and high expectations. Good evening, JTHs Board of Education. My name is Juan Hobbs and I'm a sophomore at Pathways Academy with three classes at Juliet Central. My experience at Pathways Academy and Juliet Central have given me knowledge and confidence to pursue my dream
022to join the military in the US Army branch. After graduating high school, being able to compete in KL sports at Pathways Academy such as flag football, volleyball, and kickball have helped me gain confidence while also showing me how to work together as a team. The expected behavior program and incentives such as field trips have helped me stay focused on my behavior to earn my transition back to Juliet Central. Pathways Academy is a great educational environment because the staff support every student and their individual needs. I truly feel like the staff care about me and my goals. Pathways Academy has also helped me earn my three class transition to Central where I am now in the JRTC program and I would like to thank the three main people who have helped me Mr. Johnson, Miss Cologne
023and Mr. Countryman. JRTC has helped me learn discipline and it also has helped me sharpen my leadership skills where they have helped me in my career in pursuing the military. My experience at Pathways Academy has put me in a position to not only be successful in my academics, but also have a post-secary success. That concludes our presentation this evening. On behalf of all Goliet Township High School students, do we extend our sincere thanks to the Juliet Juliet Township High School Board of Education members for your dedicated service. We now invite you to join us for a group photo and receive a small token of our appreciation. Audience, as our board members take the way forward, please join us in a well-deserved round of applause for the Juliet Township High School Board of Education. Here I
024am. Great job. >> Thank you. It's very comfy. Sure. You don't want Any parents or teachers? They did a great job. Okay. What's our round of applause? Schlushman and her group, the student ambassadors. You guys are phenomenal. You guys just like blew us away. More of that and more board meetings would be great to be honest. You know, reading these papers and voting yes, no, whatever. That's that's not what it's about. It's about you guys and uh really want to thank you guys for the wonderful job you did. Yeah. >> So, round of applause for students. All right, that concludes recognition and awards. I'll turn over to Dr. Guzman for superintendent reports. >> Sure. I also just want to say I know we have a lot of parents of our student ambassadors in the audience
025and I wanted to say thank you as well to you and congratulations on your outstanding students and those of you right at home. So, let's give our parents and teachers a round of applause. Sure. >> Well, I mean, unless you guys want to hear about the annual financial presentation, the proposed tax levy, the school report. No, >> leaving. Okay. >> Thank you. Bye. >> Bye. legislative report um this month. Um so we will get right into our presentation. So our first presentation um is the annual financial presentation and I will let Dr. Hampton introduce our guests. >> Yes, we have Tom Lancaster. He's the partner with Wormer, Rogers, Duran, and Rousan. Um, presenting the AFR for the 2425 school year. >> All right. Thank you. So, as in prior years, um, fortunately, it's all good
026news to report. Um, I know I've said this before and I know you guys understand, but you do a great job. They do a great job in the business office. Um, you know, when when we show up, the all of the accounts are reconciled. The business office staff have prepared very detailed financial records. Um, they respond timely to our audit requests and like I said, I know I'm repeating myself something I've said before, but you have some of the best financial policies and procedures I've encountered. Um, and in fact, I've used 204 as an example for other clients on multiple occasions. So, um, you guys really do a great job. >> Um, if we can go to the next slide. >> No, you guess that means we can go to the next slide. >> Okay.
027So, um, just to give an overview, um, there are really two components to the audit. There's your financial audit and compliance audit. The financial audit um is really to test the financial records and make sure that you're preparing accurate financial statements and reports. And then the compliance audit, as it would imply, is testing um to ensure that you're in compliance with the various grant requirements. Um there were no audit findings. So we did determine that you were in compliance and that your financial statements were are accurate. your annual comprehensive financial report. That's the main um report that's issued as part of the financial audit that includes the district's financial statements. And for the um for the district's ACFR, the district has received the certificate of excellence in financial reporting for the year end 2024 and
028anticipates receiving for 2025 as well. that is the 37th consecutive year that you've received that certificate. >> Um, included in your ACFR or annual comprehensive report is our independent auditor's report. Um, this is what's referred to as an unmodified or clean opinion. Um, that's the best possible opinion to receive and it means that we were able to perform an audit with no scope limitations and that your financial statements are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Also included are financial highlights and see the district's year-end net position increased 37.1 million. That's about 15.3% from 2024. Um, so net position is the amount that your assets exceed your liabilities. So obviously the larger the number there, the better. Um, so at 37.1 million, that'd be considered a very strong financial position. That means that your
029um the amount that your assets exceeding exceed your liabilities increased by that year-over-year. As of June 30th, 2025, general fund reported a fund balance of $111 million and had sufficient cash and investments to cover approximately 291 days of operating expenses. Um, so to explain further, if as of June 30th, 2025, which is your fiscal year end, you had enough cash and investments to cover 291 days of operating activities, which would mean you could go 291 days without collecting any more revenue and still cover your operating expenses. You can see also the different fund balances of the transportation fund, debt service fund, and capital projects fund. All resulting in total fund balances of your governmental funds of 258,362,937. Again, very strong financial position and healthy fund balances. Um, as of fiscal year end, the district had
030$144.3 million invested in a broad range of capital assets. This year's major capital asset activity included Central and West athletic improvements and culinary additions and renovations. At year end, the district had 61,960,000 in bonds outstanding compared to 68,535 last year. During the year, bonded debt decreased as a result of scheduled principal payments totaling just over $4.4 million and refunding of two bond issues. Um so I mentioned there were two components the financial audit and single or um compliance audit. So the single audit is what's also referred to as the compliance audit. Um and that's required anytime an entity has expenditures of federal awards greater than $750,000. Um and that requires some additional audit testing, additional reporting and um additional uh reports that we have to file with the state and the federal government. And part
031of the single audit is we have to do a risk assessment. A lot of it's based on um the amount of money spent for each program, how frequently the program has been tested, and some other risk factors. But then we determine which programs to test. Um so for fiscal year 25 tested title one um and the special ed cluster and as a result there were no findings. So you can see listed here and again that's the best possible result of the single audit is no findings. Um so under the summary of auditor's results you can see um the audit rep report expressed unmodified opinions, no material weaknesses, no significant deficiencies. Um and I could read on but to summarize there were no findings. And then finally um the annual financial report or AFR. So as
032you're aware this is the report you're required to file with the state every year. um includes it's it's prepared using the same underlying financial data that's included in the um financial statements in the ACFR and the annual financial report um also includes the estimated financial profile summary which includes some different metrics um all meant to measure the financial position or financial condition of the district um with a 4.0 being the highest score. So your projected profile score is a 4.0 which would give you an estimated financial profile designation of recognition which is the best possible um designation. So if there are any questions um I'd be happy to answer them. But just to summarize, um the audit went great. District was well prepared um in good financial position and um you know really responded to
033our request timely and helped facilitate completing the audit timely as well. >> I have a quick question about the um 291 days of operating expenses. Is there like a a threshold or a number that you need to stay at for that? Yeah. So, actually um I think it was last year um the state legislators passed uh a provision where we only can maintain two and a half times our um yearly expenses of each fund, right? So, um, and that's just to maintain a a a good fund balance so that, um, you know, you have these rainy days or tough tough days that you can get through them. Um, and so if we are over that, let's say if we were three years, then we have to come up with a spendown plan for those funds,
034okay? >> And submit that to the state. So that threshold is two and a half year two and a half times the yearly expenditures of that fund. >> Okay. So I'm just trying to equate that to the number of days, right? Because that's easy for a non-financial board member to >> Yeah. So you're looking at almost like 800 days. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> I just want to say, you know, thanks Tom to you and your firm. Great firm. um very professional. Um we do work hard um together to maintain these these best practices and definitely um a special thanks to Amy Gomez, our the district accountant and our business and HR offices. They take pride in having these clean audits and um they work very hard each
035year to make sure we stay in compliance. So I just want to say thank you. >> Thank you. Appreciate that. >> We appreciate the clean audits as well. Thank you. >> And the and the leadership of Dr. you and your team. Big thanks. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Our next presentation is the 2025 tenative tax levy um by Dr. Hampton. >> Good evening to everyone. um as Tanya is putting up the oh as the pres presentation is presented there. So each year um have to present the tax levy. Um just so that everyone knows um tax levy essentially when we talk about this portion of revenues is associated with taxes, right? Your property taxes. We receive 68% of our revenue from property taxes. Um this is a very important piece as it relates to
036the district and receiving um revenues. Um, but essentially every governmental entity must present a levy this time of year. Um, so I'll go right into um what the summary is. So in a nutshell, the way the levy works is uh you have the prior year extension and in this case we're talking $99,350,987 prior year extension times CPI and CPI for this levy is 2.9%. Each year um we receive the CPI so that we can levy. So right now we will have uh the levy percentage for next year at the end of January. Right now was trending between 2.7 and 2.9%. Last year CPI was 3.4 the year before was 6.3 and then we had a 7%. So it has come down tremendously from the time coming out of COVID to where truly right now it
037normally ranges between 2.5 2.7 that's been the average over the lifetime of CPI. So we're right there in that average as it relates to that. And what CPI is is essentially the cost of one good services compared to the next year and whatever that price increase is from one year to the next. So for this levy, we're talking 2.9%. So we're talking last year's extension times CPI, which is 2.9% plus new property. We're fortunate to be one of those districts that can assume new property, which basically means that the viability of our area and um the boundaries within our area that we're continuing to grow, right, in terms of our property values. And this is it's this is collectively um how we continue to grow. So with the 2.9% we are to receive another 2,881,179
038coupled with um estimated property value um EAV equalized assess value of another 100 million. Now that's an estimate because we don't know those numbers until the spring. So, we have to estimate a little higher so that we can capture all of the new property. So, let's say if I um recommended a levy that was 20 million and the new property came in at 50 million, we won't be able to capture that additional 30 million, right? And you lose that infinitely. So, we always levy a little higher for new property. And this is an estimate in working with the clerk's office in terms of what they're seeing in terms of growth. Couple of years ago, we had roughly 128 million. Last year was 38 million. Um we're projected to be around 28 to 35 million this
039school year, but again, we levying high because we don't know those numbers until the spring. Um so we have to levy a little higher just so that we can capture those those numbers. If we didn't have any new property, then we would only be talking prior year extension and then the additional 2.9% and that's it. But because we have new property, there are additional dollars that we can capture and we're it's estimated to be about another million $56,000 um in new property that we can capture. So again, we don't know what the what these uh parameters will be into the spring. So we have to levy a little higher for those things. So, what the district is proposing is an adoption of a tax levy of $14,318,000, which is 4.9% higher than last year's extension.
040We can't go over 5%. So, it's so this is a 4.9% levy. And this is what we are entitled to as a district. Okay? So, when we levy, it's CPI or 5%, the lesser of the two. So that's the way it works. Prior extension CPI 5% or the lesser of the two. So in this case with it being 2.9% um that's the number we take. Two years ago we were at 5% because CPI was 6.3% and 7%. So the max we could levy was the 5%. Um so that's where that part is. And then also we'll have a resolution because we have to be able to capture the incremental increases um associated with the bond costs. So we do have those supplemental levies also for our bonds and we've done that in the past. So
041what will happen is um starting tonight the board approves it. This actually is presented to uh the public for at least 20 days before the board can pass. And then what happens in November? The board would take a vote, pass the levy, and then file that with the clerk's office, who then takes that and determines what the tax bills would be as we move through the spring and fall of next school year. Any questions? Okay, thank you very much. >> Thank you. So the next presentation is our school report card presentation. Um so myself and our principles and McDonald Thank you. So, here's just some information um about the historical timeline um of the school report card. I am not going to read this to you, but we always include it. I think a part
042to um highlight though is the the model for school report card changed in the 20189 school year. And so it went from a single indicator which was the ACT test to a multiple indicator with weighted index scores. And so we have more information to share about that. However, we did learn recently the state is doing listening tours that the model is being proposed to change for next year. So I will also provide throughout the presentations um a highlight of what we believe those propo proposed changes could be but currently ISB is doing a listening tour virtually as well as in person to gain input. Um and I want to point out some things I think we all need to be aware of um and some input that we're giving to isbby as well. So each
043school is given a summitative designation. The good um I think that the move from to a multiple indicator um is a good thing for school districts because one test one score is not a good measurement for all the work that we do. I am by no means saying that the current model is perfect um because it's not. There's some limitations and the state has also seen those limitations too and they're proposing some changes. Are all those changes going to make things better or worse? That is yet to be seen, but I still think there's some problems going in the future. But it is a multiple measure. So currently right now this is how high schools in Illinois are deter their designations are determined. 75% are academic indicators and 25% are school quality and student success
044indicators. In the past, the board probably heard us talking about in the future they're going to add college and career and fine arts indicators. That was supposed to happen in 2024, then in 2025, and then they said it's not happening at all. So, those were never added. Um, as you can see, graduation rate is the highest percentage of this weighted index. It's 50%. I think we all agree that graduation rate for high school is appropriate. It's part of our strategic plan. We are striving to get all of our students, including all subgroups, to keep heading towards that 90%. Um however there's other indicators as well and those include proficiency on the ELA math science um also um English learner progress to proficiency and then that 25% is chronic absenteeism climate survey and the survey is
045participation as well as ninth graders on track to graduate. Just as an overview, going into next year, if the model goes into place, there will be no more weights. And so there's core indicators and then non-core indicators. Um, and for high school, the core indicators will be graduation rate, proficiency, and growth. The problem that I want to talk about that we currently have with prof proficiency especially for JTS HS and districts like us is proficiency as measured by the ACT. So if the board remembers the the ISBY also changed the test. So this past year was their first year back with ACT. ACT is moving forward. proficiency will be ACT, growth will be ACT. The ACT is only given in English. Um so that is something that I continue to share with legislators as well
046as with um the input through the listening tours and advocacy groups. Um for example, Advance Illinois. I shared that this week because um both of our campuses are above the state average with a percent of English language or learners and Juliet Central is almost double the percent. That has an effect and we're requiring students to take a test that they can't read or can't read well because you have to also get to 95% participation rate. So those are some of the problems with the current system that I think we all have to have a general awareness about. So um also freshman on track is going to go away. Um and so that was something we were surprised about. Um so that'll be a change. Chronic absenteeism is remaining except they're changing the definite. They're changing
047the title. The title is good attendance. >> It's instead of chronic absenteeism, it's students who come to school 90% of the time. It's the same metric. It just has a different name is what I took from the presentation. And again, we are digesting this information as we're um presenting this information. So that's an overview. But the again on a regular basis the state changes the test, the model, the indicators and the business rules. Um so the designations stayed the same for our schools um as they were last year. So Juliet West has a rating of commendable. Joliet Central has a rating of targeted and the targeted is for one of our subgroups is for students with disabilities. um we are in the 2024 cohort and I'll share a little bit more in a moment of
048what that process is but we also learned that the five annual um summitative designations will change for next year too. Exemplary and comprehensive will stay because those are in policy. So the highest you can be designated is exemplary. The lowest you can be designated is comprehensive, but they are splitting commendable into three different categories. Um, so we're still trying to make sense of that, but it will be commendable, developing, no approaching, and then developing, but I might have those last two um swapped, but those will be the changes going into next year. So, with the designation of targeted for Juliet Central, it's a four-year support structure, and you work um to create plans specific to the money that the state is giving for support that can only be used for the targeted population at that
049campus. So, this title 10003 grant is only for Joliet Central. However, we this is a focus group within our strategic plan with action plan 2.2. So, we're working on plans for our entire district, but the funds have to go specifically to Joliet Central. So, we're in this we just entered the second year. Last year was a planning year. This grant is not a large amount. I believe last year it was 10,000. So, it's not a large amount of money. um for the support. Um so last year we could only use the money for planning. So we were planning for our programs specifically looking at our AVID summer institute planning for the expansion of the consult model um which is part of 2.2 and instructional resources and supplies and then we have to enter certain reports
050during the year. In fact, the first one was just entered with the goals of really focusing on our subgroup, this particular subgroup for improved graduation rate and improved um success freshman on track. Those are the two main goals that are associated with this grant. Okay, any questions so far about this grant or designations? some other important information because the school report card is meant to recognize schools as well as identify schools in need of support, but it also compares schools. What's important to know when we're talking and I think I think the um article by the Joliet Herald News did a nice job with talking about some of the these unique um things that we have in our district with uh the needs of our students. So when we look at Joliet Central and Joliet
051West on the next couple slides, you can see how our English learner percentages have increased. Um, and again, the state average is at the bottom. So right now, both schools are above the state average. And like I said before, Juliet Sentrol is almost double. When it comes to lowincome students, both of our student or both of our campuses have um a higher percentage of lowincome students than the state average um daily attendance. So, this is something that is we're trying to work on, but it's not as much in our control as some of the other indicators. when we're talking about programs, we are doing things to try and encourage uh attendance and we'll talk about some of those things and to support attendance. But I think the state does recognize that um this is something
052that is not as much in control as some of the other indicators. They have moved this from a core indicator to an indicator that can only improve your overall designation. It can't lower it in the new model. So that is something that might be positive. Um but this is still something we are focused on. It's in our strategic plan. We have great programs. You heard from our students today. But in order to take advantage of the programs and supports, you have to be here. So this is something that we really need to keep working with our parents, our community, our students on improving. So the last couple years when it comes to chronic absenteeism, we've stayed static um at both campuses. Another um I think reference point is we have a higher mobility rate than
053um other schools within the state. So you have the state of Illinois and then you can see Juliet West and Juliet Central are higher than the state. Juliet Central is slightly lower than last year and Juliet West is slightly higher. So you'll see those groups of students um when we look at graduation rate in the presentation because these are students that go have been in one to two or more schools during their high school span of their high school career. Lastly, and we'll conclude with this too, um these are the action plans that are currently in progress that are aligned to indicators within the school report card. And because we don't know for sure what the school report card will look like next year, these are still completely appropriate because these are within our strategic
054plan. and the supports and the programs and the things we will implement through our strategic plan should aid to help graduation rate proficiency, chronic absenteeism, and nth grade on track. And even though nth grade on track may be going away, that's still going to be a focus for us because research shows students who are on track in nth grade have a more likely to graduate in four years. So, we're still going to keep our eye on the prize no matter whether that's an indicator within the school report card or not. And now I'm going to turn it over to our principles. >> Thank you, Dr. Guzman. Good evening, everybody. Uh, so the next few slides with enrollment are really just um for reference as we move forward and we look at some of these specific
055indicators. Uh, you'll notice a trend here with the graphs are all broken down uh by these subgroups. So, this just provides you um again with a a reference point and and Dr. Gooseman already mentioned several things about our our enrollment and our demographics. As you can see here, the uh at least for the central campus and I think it's similar for the west campus. Uh there's not a dramatic change in the enrollment overall or with subgroups with the exception being of our English language learners. Um, so just wanted to point that out. And >> the same holds true for Wes what he just said, >> but I will say this is one of the first times I'm looking at the uh presentation over there and it's not as clear as it used to be. >>
056Um, I don't know how I feel about that, but when you look at our um our graduation for this year, we do take pause to celebrate. We are very proud of the achievements of our students um for this past this cohort of students who have graduated. Um our graduation rate as you can tell has increased um 86.6% at West and 80.8% at Central. But I want what I want to point out is that while we are recognizing the efforts of our um students and our teachers and all those who work to support our students, when we look at the cohorts from the freshman group that entered in 2015, 2016, 10 years ago, um all the way through this past year, the trend has pointed upward and we're very happy to see that um that movement
057over the four, five, and sixyear cohort um between both campuses. Uh so specific to the central campus again as I mentioned this is broken down uh by subgroup. Uh I I do share the excitement of of the increase in this area as Dr. Gooseman referenced uh graduation rate. There's a reason that it is 50% of the uh equation for this school report card because it is um a primary goal, not the not the only but a primary goal. of our education process at the high school level is to move students on and prepare them for postsecary uh specifically just another point of pride for myself or for not for me but for Juliet Central is the there's not a huge gap there. Um and I think that's something worth noting is that um you know
058of course we have a little up and down but it the students with disabilities even which is the group uh for which we are designated as targeted you'll see that there was an over 13% increase in the graduation rate amongst those students. So, uh, as always, you've heard me say this repeatedly, I think it's important to to celebrate successes, uh, but but we're never content with that, and we're never going to shy away from the challenges we have, uh, and continue to work hard to, uh, improve. But, but I think there are some things to celebrate there. And for Juliet West, um just to piggyback on what I shared earlier, when you look at the trend between each of our subgroups, collectively, yes, we've increased, but each cohort u within the subgroup has slowly worked
059their way up and increasing their uh our overall graduation rate uh within their subgroups. And then looking at the achievement gaps between each group, um there there are minor differences, but nothing drastic. Um, and of course we continue our efforts to increase those and move them higher because our goal is 90%. Not just because it's designated through our strategic plan, but that's our goal. When we talk about this uh pre this cohort that just finished at West and at Central. Um, we listed all of the initiatives and the multiple supports that have been put in place to support them getting across that finish line. And again, we have to pause to thank you for your support because I believe the majority of the initiatives up here were voted on and approved by this board here
060tonight. So, thank you so much for for supporting and and recognizing the needs of our population um so that we could support them to get them across that finish line. I also want to draw your attention just to the size of the graduation classes for West and Central this year. 714 8 800 at west. Um this is something to celebrate but the celebration doesn't um just end the work. We have to continue growing. So this is something we we started I think 10 12 years ago when I was first principal is breaking down the the non-graduates and and looking trying to delve deeper into some specific uh criteria is not the right or some characteristics or um some data specific to those students. Uh and there's there's value in that um and Dr. has already
061referenced some of these things about like mobility rate for example, we have a high mobility rate. So it allows us to look at if you look at kind of the last three items there, how did we do with students who transferred in or um had three or more high school enrollments, etc. Uh and since we began this process of looking more closely at this data, we have identified some needs like we've added more interventions for transfer students and tried to do things specifically to to address students because of that high mobility rate. Uh some other value with this is looking at how many students were were close, how many had 20 credits um and and how many students were not, you know. Um, and I I say this every year, uh, there there is great
062value in this, but this is looking after the fact at these 170 students. And the staff at Central have heard me say this before, like graduation rate, and I know doc I know Takara feels the same way. Graduation rate is extremely important, but what's more important is these are students. You know, the I remember I was at a training and you've heard me say this. Somebody said the numbers have faces. And I'll never forget that. like so these are 170 students who didn't graduate high school and that's why graduation rate is important um is because of the opportunities that now these students have to work even harder for so um I'll get off my soap box I think you make a good point with that because I think we heard from one of our ambassadors
063that she had moved in and I think one of the counselors Mr. Wild directed her to our Bravo program and how that's really helping her get back on track. So, I mean, what you're saying makes great sense like this is something that has happened, but we're working to make sure that it doesn't continue to happen. So, >> Right. And then lastly, and and we talk about this each year and there there was a a a tweak to the system. uh we've talked about every time we look at graduation rate is that our students who uh move on to our transition center uh count against the graduation rate because we're not allowed to graduate them and and have them continue in that program. Uh the state did address that to a degree. Um next year it
064won't. Okay, that's good to hear. This year they created like kind of a separate number that allow shows that like 1.6 6% of those students fell into that category. But I'm glad to hear I did not know that that they're they're going to take that next logical in my opinion step. >> Yes. because we're, you know, we all know we're those uh we're meeting the needs of those students as we absolutely should and we're proud to do it and it's a wonderful program and similar if students continue at an outside placement like that is what they need and I'm and we should be proud that we're able to provide that for them but it should not count against our graduation rate. So I'm glad to hear that that's going to change. So and next year
065I'm going to let Takar go first because she always has to follow me and there's not a lot to say with the same slot. I'm glad you said that because well, even our president stole one of the remarks that I was going to make >> because I was sitting here and trying not to cry because when we go through these numbers, they're not just the the our students, they're not just numbers, their faces. We recall their stories and conversations and all the things that we've been we've done to work with them. And while they may not grad have graduated with the four-year co cohort, they're close to the fiveyear and or the six year. So there's still there we're still have hope for their their completion. Um but in hearing her tonight talk about I
066remember when she came in and I remember um the the the um consciousness she had about her predicament and the chances of getting to that finish line because I'm so far behind. So to be able to provide her with an avenue a program where she can build that self-confidence while earning credits to get to that goal um is remarkable. So, I'm not going to talk much longer because I feel myself about to cry. >> Yeah, you make me cry. >> But, um, these are the numbers for West as it pertains to, uh, the students who did not make it, uh, to the finish line with their four-year cohort. As I said, our goal is still to get them across that finish line. But, um, each one of these members have a story. Um, and they
067they have very unique situations that we seek to support and help them work through to get them to that goal. But these are obstacles as well. When you look at um in having less than 12 um credits at the finish line, there were barriers in place for those students. Um those students who had multiple um high school experiences, new environment, new rules, um new teachers, new faces, things to adjust to while trying to learn math, science, English, social studies. So, as as we've said repeatedly, our focus is to continue the work and not >> Good evening everyone. Um, I wanted to just um bring some highlights to the um some of the new things that we've put in place for this school year um to address graduation rate um holistically. So within our MTSS structure,
068um we added additional release time to our freshman teams to add an ELE staff member um that will that is currently providing outreach to our um multilingual students at the nth grade level and their families to help them get on stay on track. Um but then we also added another staff release time at central um because the number of multilingual students to grade 10 um for this um school year. So we've expanded the the the power um the people power um on our nth grade MTSS teams. Um we have also um um implemented automatic enrollment of our nth grade students into our learning labs. So based on the data that we receive from our center schools um and our um high school placement exam, we actually enroll incoming freshmen into learning labs. So it's on
069their schedule when they pick it up. So um there is no delay in those interventions starting at the beginning of the school year. This is our first year offering AVID 11 elective. So we're at we're now in year three of this. And we um AVID elective um 11 and 12 really goes deep into the post-secondary planning. So um really talking about your post-secary plans whether college, four-year college, um two-year college or um or other opportunities. Um this past summer we offered US history online. Um why is that important? Because we recognized that our juniors wanted some extra um space in their schedule. So, this was our first past summer offering US history online. Um, was to um so they could take this class while they're on vacation. They didn't have to be at Gileia Township
070High School. We had about 50 students complete this and it put room in their schedule to take additional classes. And this year, we'll continue to offer and expand. And also with our implementation of School Links, um we have a post-secary planning and assessment team at both campuses. Um this is our first year having a freshman on chair curriculum related to school links. So this is our class of 2029. By the time they graduate, so 2029, they will have a uh post-secary plan. So each year um they have specific curriculum outside of their content curriculum um that helps them develop that post-secondary plan. So let's talk about proficiency. So many of us in the cl in this room have taken the act and just to share a little story um because the night is young um
071cleaning out um uh just materials from my mom and dad and I came across my ACT little score and it was a little carbon I don't know if everybody remembers it was a little carbon copy and it was small print that's how we got it and there was my ACT score. So like long time ago in 1980s I took the ACT and um the state is back using the ACT. So I just wanted to refresh everybody on the format of the ACT. So there's four parts to it in in addition to the writing. So we talk about English language arts proficiency. We're talking about English. So that's grammar, uh rhetoric and then also reading. So reading comprehension. So that is a combined score. Um and just to give you context and Dr. Guzman made note
072of that is that um our English learners so this our score from this past year so our class of 2026 uh their proficiency rate was 4.9. So, what's actually nice with the school report card is they'll give you a scatter plot. So, you can find a school district that has the same percentage of EL students comparable to you and it will give you their approximate um e um proficiency scores as well. So, it is we are comparable to the school districts in our range that have um that our percentage of EL students. Math prof proficiency covers your algebra, geometry, advanced algebra, statistics. And then science does cover all content areas. So your um your biology, physics, chemistry, and earth and space science. Um just to remind um everyone here, we do require four years of
073English. Um for math, it's three years. So it's usually it's typical algebra, geometry, advanced algebra, and then science two years. So biology and physics. So this is a breakdown of our proficiency um from ELA to the left to science on the right. The next part of proficiency on the school report card is related to our EL learners. Um this is measured um by the access test. Um there are six components of how a student is um um rated and it it is a combination of their scores. So it's reading, writing, speaking, listening. Um and then it they determine that. So if you look um of our 893 students at Juliet Central, 86.9% of them are within the entering, beginning, and developing. So we're talking about grades 9 through um 11 that are in that lower
074range. um and working with our director of multilingual services. Um what we're finding is many of our students are um have been um receiving services since first or second grade. So if they've been it's I would say a lifetime a school time of um in EL services. So, our goal here at Juliet Township is to try to move them um like what we do with special ed to the least restrictive environment from grade 9, 10, 11, 12 um for our students. So here is um and then Juliet West's the same again Juliet West um just a combination again 85.9% of our students from this past year are at that entering beginning or developing questions on any of the data. I bet we all want to go and retake our ACTs right now. >> They're not.
075>> So things for proficiency that we're working on this year. Um again as noted um the increase in our MTSS structures, the AVID implementation, we are offering preAP biology this year. So our freshman students have preapp biology, English and social science. Um we've added a multilingual instructional coach for West Campus. Um also this year we have a new course. It's a newcomer class in CTE blocked. Um, we just released a press release on it um about our our group of students went to IKEA for a field trip, but it was um it was a working field trip because they had a a project to do. Um, so we're really combining language development to career exploration and we're finding great success with it with our team of teachers and we're just trying to come up with
076different ways to engage our students like for the next year. So, they're coming up with some um interesting plans for attend like we want to continue it on with our students and what we've shared with the board as well is that our expansion of that consult model for grade 10 students. So, we're um you know, like Dr. Guzman said we're we're concerned about the the the new um summitative designation formula that they may be coming up with, but we are um also still very proud of um the services that we provide our students and how they grow. So no wait on that. I will talk I'll turn this over to the principles about absenteeism. >> Thank you Diane. Uh so as far as chronic absenteeism goes, u this is a topic that you you've heard
077Miss Parker and I speak to um several times over the last few months. Um you also heard Dr. Mr. Gooman mentioned that with the shift in uh the score the proposed shift with the school report card and the calculations uh that there will be a change in terms of the I don't know if I want to say the importance of chronic absenteeism but how it how it how it factors in uh I think just what I would want to say is that we regardless of any changes made in that regard we still recognize the extreme importance of of attendance and and in continuing our efforts efforts and expanding our efforts to get students to come to school on a consistent basis. Uh something I I meant to highlight when I went over the slide uh
078of the non-graduates um and don't quote me because the number's probably not right, but if you look back, I think of the non-graduates, it was something in the 85% or so of those students who were non-graduates were also designated as chronically absent. Now, there are other factors involved there, but but we all know and there's a reason chronic absenteeism um was and remains part of the um score report card equation because research shows that it's important. Um so, our efforts will will not uh diminish here in this regard. We know how important it is because as Dr. Guzman has said, and she's right, we have amazing teachers and and programs and opportunities, but we need our students to be here to take advantage of those. So, And here are the numbers for um per subgroup
079chronic absenteeism for west. Our number uh for chronic absenteeism of these non-grads was in the high 80% um as well. So it will continue to be a focus and we will continue to update you on our progress uh during our annual um presentation each year. So, some things that have been implemented, I know you've heard some of this already. Um, we've talked about all of these items in previous presentations throughout uh the summer and the start of this school year. But, um, specifically for the West Campus, we continue to focus on chronic absenteeism, but not just students coming to school, but coming to school on time, um, as well as attending all of their classes. So new for our students this year and the data is showing very promising numbers. Um we implemented the support
080table, student support table um at both campuses um where we are greeting our freshman and our um upper classmen at their uh specific arrival times when they are late to school. We are contacting parents, problem solving um and getting to know students. We have quick interviews of them as we're as they're at their table. We pull up all of their data. We talk about grades. We talk about their uh their attendance um and workshop with them very briefly. And if there's need for followup beyond, we send them immediately to get support from our support staff or we follow up with parent um at a later time to share some information with them. Um new for West as well this year is the implementation of tardy sweeps and we sweep every every period. We started off
081with a plan just to um focus on our lunch periods. But um as we saw the success of it, we um implemented at each level and it's a it is a huge lift. But um I can tell you the hallways look very good. Um and our teachers are on a whole very happy um with the immediate change that it has caused. But it also helps kids get in the building. We're seeing the um the um the um the efforts not just improve in the data related to attendance, but also in the mischief that can take place when you aren't walking aimlessly through the hallway and not focus on getting to where you need to be. Um I run a um principal student committee. we meet once a month and it was um so wonderful to
082hear them bring that up and say that you know we really don't like it but we completely understand why it's being done so don't stop. So that was a that was good to hear from um our students and I'll let Chad share the last two points. >> If I could just interject the student advisory committee when it came to tardy um Christine was there and you know they they don't like it but they also said that it is very pleasant to utilize the bathrooms um during class time as needed because there's nobody in there anymore because of the tardy suite. So they did recognize that. Um and so that is also a positive that the kids cared and we had a great conversation about it too. >> Yeah. And and we have talked about this
083before, but just some updates. Uh first I I know how well the tardy suits are going at the West Camp campus. Uh and as you recall, we're waiting on that with construction. And it's extremely difficult because we have certain uh paths that we're asking our students to take that it's virtually impossible to make it even though we've we've made some adjustments to the um to the passing periods and everything. But I if I'm being honest, I I look forward to the construction being done, not just because of how wonderful it's going to be, but because uh not surprisingly with the success West has, I I'm confident that we're going to move in a in a similar direction because uh we want to be able to have that same impact. The our check and connect system
084um has sort of evolved um and it's almost it's kind of connected with the student support table. We identified some students based on some data from last year. Uh and our administrators are are checking in with many of those students, but we also found that many of those students uh even though they kind of just o passed that 10% threshold last year, like there were some very unique circumstances and they're really not this year at risk of of being chronically absent again. Uh, and so what I and others have begun to do is reference those student support table conversations. Um, I think there are at least 10 or 20 students who are getting to school on time so they don't have to talk to me in the morning because like I really enjoy and I
085mean that in a good way like because I'm looking at we're looking at their grades, we're looking at their attendance, we're asking, you know, we're talking to their families and um like I'm kind of we're kind of building uh these check and connect students off of that and seeing okay, I'm going to it looks like you have okay, you have a plan to catch catch up in this class and that class. You said you talked to your teacher. So, I'm going to check back in in in a couple of days and see how you're doing in that class. So, like it's kind of in the moment more identifying students who have needs because we're meeting them at the table there and and then building those relationships there. So, it's really been valuable. >> Can I
086ask um so we kind of expected at the beginning of the year when this started that there'd be lineups. Are they starting to dwindle at all? Are they getting a little bigger right now? Like what's that look like? >> Um I mean I I can speak for the central campus. We obviously we're collecting data and we'll share that at some point. Um for the most part we're seeing a decrease, but then we have some days where it it like and I don't know what causes it. Like I was there on Monday and we were all looking at each other like what happened? Why why are we back up to this many? and then like then Tuesday like so we'll have like a hundred one day and then like 42 the next >> um and so
087and we're also looking at like students who are chronically coming to that table and then in involving the dean and triangle team and so on. So um I I think without having the data in front of me we are seeing a decrease from when we began but it's kind there's kind of an eb and flow >> sign traffic There was a deer accident >> Monday being Monday. >> Yeah. Yeah. No, it raining. Yeah. >> Monday. >> But we also talked about and Chad and I talked about this today because I was at the student support table on today at central and sometimes like you're having the conversation and one of my conver questions I always ask students is how are you getting up? Because usually kids are like I overslept. I missed the bus. I'm
088like, "Okay, so what time you going to sleep? Are you getting enough sleep? Are you waking up?" And one of the students who was, this was at West was McKini Vento because I have it on my screen. And I I said, "Do you have a phone?" And they didn't have a phone. And so said, "Okay, well, if we get you an alarm clock, do you have a place to plug it in?" And they said, "Yes." And then I mailed um Gigi and so we get that student, you know, an alarm clock. So some of the things that you talk about when you're talking with parents, you you don't know. And then there's also like what's going on in this class? And then afterwards, you know, I'll email the teacher and say, "Hey, the student is
089saying that this is the case or what have you, what's going on?" And teachers will call and we'll have a nice conversation and then we'll get to the root cause of maybe what's going on with a particular problem. And then it's also building relationships. the majority of conversations that I've had with parents when I call home, they're very appreciative um and you know very thankful. Most of them know like and and so we talk through that too. So I think there's the benefit in the conversation when you're talking about family engagement too. It's just an extra level. So and you probably were going to >> No, no, that's okay. And then you're probably aware that recently there was a constitutional amendment that at least two bridges in Juliet have to be out at all times.
090Uh and and so and so that contributes a little bit to >> Okay, as a kid that had to walk across those >> I completely agree with that. >> We're going to see what we can do about that. >> And and lastly, I don't know, all joking aside, the A lot program, we're seeing great success with that. That is is fantastic. Uh I I just had a conversation with our um mentor I think is the term we use and and and she's making great connections wi-i with those students and and so that's just again just one more re one more resource and one more uh trusted adult to be checking in with students and and and knowing that they care about them and want to see them succeed and working with the family. So you
091know that is a great addition and and I'm looking forward to seeing uh some data on the impact that's having as well. I think I skipped central. You can go first. Um, so ninth grade on track again as Dr. Gooseman mentioned. Uh, there is a shift as well with this. But again, the research shows how important this is. um we are especially at the central campus because we did not see an increase here despite um efforts with MTSS and a variety of other areas. So we've been uh since summer and continue to take a deep dive into some data to try to get to the bottom of why that's happening. Um and we we've had a couple meetings this week as a matter of fact to look at some specific course areas and some interventions
092and things that we can provide. So um again we know the importance of this uh and the and the research backs it and it will remain an area of focus for us um regardless of if any changes in its weight when it comes to the uh to the school report card because we know how important that is because once those kids realize they can do it and and know that they can succeed, they're more likely to continue down that path. for West. Um we did see an increase uh between last year and this year for our freshman on track and just to reiterate, it will continue to be a focus. Um statistic uh studies have proven that it is an area that we should focus on as a high school, making sure that students are
093passing their classes, setting forth those great habits, um study habits, organization, teaching them those executive functioning skills so that they are successful at the freshman year. they find that success to go on and do greater things. So, new for this year, um during our sit time, um our teachers are focusing on the JTHs instructional playbook. Um they're uh deep diving deep into uh our uh wicker strategies and some of the best practices um to find success across disciplines, across content areas. Um we have started with our accelerated students, our accelerated classes. So we've developed um an academic acceleration advisory um students are in classes with their teachers that they have um um been accelerated to just to get that extra support um during their advisory team and uh uh Diane McDonald shared already that we
094have shared we have added to our MTSS structure at the ninth grade level by adding a multilingual support uh teacher as well to give input share and um look at data And and just to bring conclusion, um, and you saw this information before, so I'm not going to talk about each one, but these are the action plans that are currently in progress, um, that really align to the indicators within the school report card. Because when you're talking about improving graduation rate, proficiency, all the different things, it's not this will improve this, right? It's multiple things lead to student success. And so, um, in upcoming, um, presentations at board meetings, you'll hear for our progress with our culminating, um, presentation in May with our progress for the entire year and recommendations going into next year. And
095we're happy to answer any questions. >> I just want to say thank you. Oh, you go ahead, Mr. Patrick. You had mentioned a couple times that part of the problem for the uh graduation rate was enrollment of multiple schools. The kids, it says here on what I saw a long time ago, Central only had five kids and West only had seven that were multiple school going to multiple schools. >> Are you referring to the non-grants? >> Yeah. And Obviously, as you said, the biggest problem is absentee, and you did say you were going to get back to it. I guess I'd like to know what the timetable is on that because that is obviously where the root of the problem is. >> So, part of um so there's different categories. So, absolutely the three or
096more high school enrollments, but also within there, and let's just look at under 12 credits and we'll just look at central. So it can be three or more high school enrollments. Three or more is a lot. But even one change in high school is a major transition. So fewer than two years at Juliet Central. And then when you look at West, you have 38 kids at Juliet Central and 42 kids at Juliet West that have fewer than two years at that high school. So that our time with them is is smaller than the four years. And so again, we're definitely not making excuses. These are just the way we break up students into I'm going to say buckets of knowing why kids might not be graduating. Some kids are able to transfer from one school
097to the next and do exceptionally well, but it is a hard transition. So, if you are a student that struggles already and you're deficient in credits, that can be um a bigger problem. So, um again, these there's just different groups that we tried to see because those could have an effect on graduation rate. Does that help with your question? >> Okay. And then your second part of that question was chronic absenteeism. >> Yeah. Which absolutely has everything or most everything to do with the graduation rate. So, Yeah, you had pointed that you'd talk about it at another time. I guess that be >> the update on data for this this school year that we're currently in. We're show shared that in the summer. >> So, we shared that last summer and we'll share it next
098summer to see if the things that we've done this year with the student support table, with the tardy sweeps, with the student engagement phone calls, if those are um helping to improve that. Um, one thing though I think we have to understand is we need parents and communities help with that. This is a problem that was already a problem pre previous to co but co made this worse and I just read an article. This is a national problem. There has been an improvement overall with slight reductions in chronic absenteeism except in schools that are higher needs with more soci low soio economic students. Um and so that's that's us. And so we have to continue to work through that. You know, when we're talking to the kids at the support table and we're talking to
099parents, no one argues that coming to school is important, but coming to school every day is not something we're seeing from every single student and we do need par parent support. That's probably one of the indicators we have the least control of. And I think that's probably why even though that is extremely important, it's no longer a core indicator, it can only help you. It can't hurt you because just by virtue of students not coming to school, it already hurts you because it's a problem. So, it's something we're going to continue to work on. Absolutely. Because we want to see it improve. Um, and like we said, those are the things we're doing to try and work on that. the ALOP program, um the MTSS structure, making sure we have engaging classes and coursework, um
100student support table, and we're going to keep working on it um until we find something that um improves that. >> The only other thing I'll ask is on the English proficiency, it seems like it hasn't improved at all in the last couple years. So, what what are we doing for that? I'll I'll be glad to talk to that. So, this is our first year um using the ACT. Last year, we used the SAT. >> So, this is it's two different tests. >> No, >> we took it for the first time. >> Yep. >> It always seems like you're in year two. >> It's two tests. Um so, what are we doing? So, English language. So this proficiency test that you see is two parts. English so grammar. So looking reading sentence a lot of reading
101reading sentences um looking at the rhetoric of the passages or sentences. The other part is reading comprehension. So reading a passage and um trying to figure out what the author is asking you or um making assumptions of what the message is. So um like we shared when we have students um say 843 students at Julia Central who are entering beginning or developing with their reading speaking reading writing speaking and listening um they're going to struggle with the ELA part of the test >> and the math part of the test and the science part of the test >> right >> so we understand that the state is like Mr. Fitzpatrick the state is using this um to measure the district. But we have shared other data like our star data, our star growth data and other
102indicators to show that our students are making progress and um while they're here with us for four years >> and this are you going to are you going to go back to like acra data to look at individual student growth so we'll start seeing that? >> We actually talked about it today. We still now that we know that there's going to be this growth component, we are going to look at this um and we're looking to stay with ECRA because it's not just the overall it's what you said the student groups but this part and I'm sorry because it's so small in my eyes like Takara even with these binoculars on are not working right now but since the inception of the school report card in 2018-19 Juliet central was at 9.7% e Juliet West
103was at 3%. We are now at 32.3% and respectively 17.8%. And as Miss McDonald's just shared, our EL population in totality showed 4% on proficiency because when you can't read the test, you cannot be successful on that test. Um, many of us did take the ACT. Though the ACT has changed, the level of ability to read that test is still very similar to what it was when we all took it. So, if you had to take a test in Spanish or French or some other language other than the language you know, think about how you would feel when you're taking that test and how you most likely would do. So, that cannot be ignored when we're talking about our proficiency. And so what I don't want us to do is villainize our teachers, our schools,
104our programs or our students because this is an unfair test for a lot of our kids. And I think that's really important. We have to keep talking about that. I'm sorry. I didn't know how else to do this. I This is nice. You can just carry it around. Any other questions? So, the Spanish kid, we'll just say that, is reading the tests in English, even if he can't read English. >> Correct. >> He's not given the opportunity. >> There's there's no test version. So, we have kids in the EL program that speak 27 different languages. The majority of our kids are Spanish speakers, but we also have French. We have many different languages. The only option for this test is English. So, as long as our percentage stays where it at is at or increases,
105that's going to affect our proficiency. And it's also going to affect growth because you're not going to see the same level of growth with students. Maybe they can read English a little bit more, but that test is still a difficult test and it really does require you to be able to read the language and to interpret and to understand. >> Well, and worse yet, it's negatively impacting our kids because we're not we're not getting a clear picture of how they're actually doing. And that's probably the most frustrating thing. forcing them to sit for a hour test. >> No, it's it's like I feel like it's one of the worst things we are forced to do um as a public school district is force kids to take a test that they can't read and do well
106on. Like that's wrong. But we also have to re reach 95% participation rate. Can we also throw in the fact that we have to test kids with IQ's of 55. >> Thank you. Thank you. Because that's also part of the issue. >> That's why, and this doesn't solve it, but the DM, it's supposed to be 1%. Okay, that's arbitrary. That's an arbitrary number. Um, we've already made the decision in the district that we are going to recommend based on what's best for students. And if we're in the DM naughty group every year, we'll be in the DM naughty group every year. But as Dr. Huntington said, there's still kids that are taking the test that don't that can't take the DM because they don't meet the requirements. So all of that is problematic. So that's
107why I'm really concerned with two of the three indicators, the core indicators being the ACT. I think though that you know the fact of the matter is that the graduation rate, right? Because you're able to make those accommodations, you're able to make the adjustments, they're meeting mastery and the content. >> Like that's it's good that it's 50% of the rating. So, >> and we're seeing a lot of success with that. Our kids are like we really seen increases in our graduation this past year. >> Good point. >> That's why we're really not sure if this change there's some positives with the changes coming, but there's also some negatives. we need to be aware of. And that's why um to Dr. Huntington's point, looking at proficiency by subgroup is important because we need to be able
108to take out the EL students and see where we're doing with our other students. That's very fair. Um you know, take out students that probably shouldn't be taking the test, but we're forced to have them give the test. So, there's there's things we can learn and we can discover. Um when it does come to the school report card, though, it would be nice to have things not significantly change every year. So the test, the benchmarks, the model, the indicators, just that would be great. So um thank you very much. I appreciate everybody's questions and time. >> Thank you guys. >> The last item under school superintendence reports is the fall housing report. Diane, do you have some comments for the Paul Housing report? >> I just want to point out um with the information that
109Dr. Hampton has shared with the board about trends with um student enrollment um the data shows that from last year to this year, we did see a net decrease of 430 students. >> So I have a question. Do you guys do like a projection like a fiveyear 10ear projection? Is when do you share that? Did I have I seen that before? >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, that'll be coming. We'll be able to see that. Okay. >> But but I um updated um twice. So, I updated after the 10day count um in the fall and then after the 10day count again um in the spring, right? So, um but it is information we track um um each year throughout the year. So, as the fall housing numbers come, then I'll update that information again. Then after
110the 10day count in January, I'll update it again. And then we present that information. >> Do you do you use like um data from the feeder schools and things like that? It's it's it's analytics of all of our cinder schools um associated with the live births in um the area. And um it's really rolling data because we all now have to report to the state. Um and so we can see the trends that's coming from all of our cinder schools um along with actual numbers in in our district. And then there's projections out from that point. >> Thanks. >> You're welcome. >> Oh, I'm sorry. That concludes our superintendent report. >> No worries. All right, we're going to move on to action items at this point. We'll start with action item A, which is a
111public hearing for the attendance on Abraham Lincoln's birthday per the school codes. I'm going to make a motion to open that public hearing. Do we have a second? >> I'll second it. >> All right. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Coffee? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stiff? >> Yes. >> Mr. Kennedy? >> Yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lynn? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Gonome? >> Yes. >> Dr. Huntington? Yes. >> All right. The hearing is now open. Do we have any public comments on attending school on Abraham Lincoln's birthday? >> Not all at once. >> I mean, obviously we still have President's Day off as a holiday. >> Yeah. Yeah. We Yeah, we observe it there, but >> the calendar um that is for approval tonight recogni um recognizes that as the holiday for in
112l of Ibra. >> Yes. >> But we apparently have to have a hearing per school code, I guess. So that's why we're having our hearing. >> Okay. >> All right. Hearing no discussion, I make a motion to close the hearing. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Roll call, please. >> Dr. Huntington, >> yes. >> Mr. Coffee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stiff, >> yes. >> Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lynn, >> yes. >> Mrs. Graome, >> yes. >> Motion passes. We will attend school on a blink's birthday. Action item B, approval of 2627 SIP program committee recommendation. Do we have a motion to approve? So moved. >> Second. >> Do any discussion? >> I just want to thank um Miss McDonald, Miss Petronio who um co-chair that team
113each year um for looking at data, collecting input, and then making recommendations um to the calendar. Those are actually also reflected into the calendar that we're asking the board to review and adopt this evening. Um, we have I really thank them for scheduling the times because it allows us to meet the November board deadline and get that out to our sender schools because it's best for our families to um hopefully be in a similar calendar situation >> and best for our attendance too because when our feeder schools generally aren't in and we are that our our attendance suffers for that. So that's good. >> So thank them for their leadership. >> No, absolutely. I actually served on that committee before. You guys do. Awesome work. Appreciate it. All right. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Graome,
114>> yes. >> Dr. Huntington, >> yes. >> Mr. Coffee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stiff, >> yes. >> Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lint, >> yes. >> All right. Motion passes on action item C, approval of 2627 school year calendar. Do we have a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. Any discussion? I didn't notice any major changes from traditional scheduling. There was nothing in there that >> Nope. No. Um we're we're it's really a similar calendar as what we had last year, just changes in dates and looking at where the holidays fall. >> And there's parent teacher conferences first and second semester. >> And that's what the teachers want. >> The input we have is that it's been working well. Um, we still do virtual.
115Um, that has been wellreceived. If a parent would like to schedule a, um, in-person um, meeting, they can do that as well, we'll do that differently. But the virtual meetings, we're allow we're able to um, have interpretation as needed, either with utilizing our own staff or the agency. So, um, it's it's been a good um, opportunity to engage parents. Also, we put it out early for sign up for students who are struggling. Um, and so we target families um earlier to sign up and >> Selective enrollment and then open it up to everybody else. Also to point um for teachers that may not have a full schedule either that evening or that Friday when um from 9 to 3 um we encourage them then to reach out to families and use that time um to
116make phone calls if they don't have a scheduled conference >> and are they are they able to work from home on those days since they're virtual or they >> we do the virtual from home on the Thursday night evening Thursday night but everybody reports on Friday. >> Sorry, that's a lot of questions. That's all I have. >> That's fine. >> Any other questions? Roll call, please. >> Miss Lynn? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Graome? >> Yes. >> Dr. Huntington? >> Yes. >> Mr. Coffee? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stiff? >> Yes. >> Mr. Kennedy? >> Yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick? >> Yes. >> All right. Motion passes. On to action item D, the ISB discipline improvement plan. Do we have a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Second. Any discussion? >> This is a um a requirement
117each year by the state of Illinois. If you are um in the top 20% of exclusionary discipline in any of the three categories, then you have to submit, bless you, a district improvement plan that the board um approves. Um then those minutes have to be submitted to ISBY by February 1st. It has to be posted on the website. So the presentation that's attached to the um form from Isby is the presentation that you saw this summer with our student support um plan. So it includes our discipline data as well as our interventions. Um, we have been cited for exclusionary discipline for suspensions almost every year since the inception. Our the good news is our numbers have come down from there. But they're they've remained relatively stagnant for the last um three years, but they're lower
118than they were upon um when the the report first came out. Um we have had some years where we have been cited for um racial disproportionality and other years where we have not. This past year we were on the top 20% for racial disproportionality as well. When I looked at the numbers the number of overall was exactly the same but um our white students had less and our um students of color had more about 20 in each direction. Um and so that was related to the infractions and the consequences. Um I have gotten questions. Um we look at our discipline data on a monthly basis. We I look to see if there are any outliers with referrals from certain teachers and we address those or with data from deans. And those are things we'll continue
119to do um you know and see what other interventions we can do. We're continuing on with implicit bias. Um also we are this is our eighth cohort for our cultural responsiveness um cohort. Um that is something that will also want to continue in the district. Um, but this this is um something that you've seen in the past and I'm happy to answer any other questions and we're currently working on um potential new supports and interventions for next year. >> All right, roll call, please. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lynn, >> yes. >> Mrs. Guare, >> yes. >> Dr. Huntington, >> yes. >> Mr. Coffee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stiff, >> yes. Mr. Kennedy. >> Yes. Motion passes on action item E. Approval of the 2425 annual financial report. Do we have a motion
120to approve? >> So moved. >> Second. >> We have any discussion. >> Was a good presentation? >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Kennedy? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Lynn? >> Yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Guamare? >> Yes. >> Dr. Huntington? >> Yes. >> Mr. Coffee? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stiff? >> Yes. >> All right. Motion passes on action item F. Approval of the 25 tenative tax levby. Do we have a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Dr. Hampton took us through it in this presentation. All right. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Stiff, >> yes. >> Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick, >> no. >> Mrs. Lynn, >> yes. >> Mrs. Guare, >> yes. >> Dr. Huntington, >> I appreciate the summary, the one pager. Yes, >>
121Mr. Coffee. >> Yes. >> All right. Motion passes on action item G, a resolution authorizing a supplemental tax levy to pay the principal and interest of an outstanding limited bonds of the district. Do we have a motion to approve? >> So move. >> Second. >> Any discussion? Roll call, please. >> Mr. Coffee? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Stiff? >> Yes. >> Mr. Kennedy? >> Yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick? Yes, >> Mrs. Lynn. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Graome. >> Yes, >> Dr. Huntington. Yes. >> All right. Motion passes on action item H. Central phase 2B bid. Do we have a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. Any discussion? Uh yes, we have a recommendation for uh to accept bids for phase 2B which in projects are the Smith building first floor renovation, the
122TNI first floor renovations and the TNI link edition. And we have David Norris here to give us a quick summary of uh the bid bid process and the results. >> Thank you. So this project, we call it phase 2B of the central master plan. It right now we're under construction for the link connecting the 1921 to Smith building. This project renovates the first floor Smith. Uh creates another link connecting both floors of Smith to TNI and then renovates the TNI first floor. It's a complete renovation creating a a central corridor which none exists right now. So we greatly improve the how students can circulate through each of the classrooms. So in our bid opening we had 18 bid packages. I think we had a total close to 81 biders total throughout the packages. Had a
123very good turnout. Um and we came in under budget under the the significantly under budget which is great. We've have a lot of interest. I know we're out to bid this Thursday. We open bids for West. Um so with this recommendation, there are two alternate bids that we're also recommending. Uh the first alternate, which is actually alternate two, is uh replacing the existing Smith building rooftop units. I think they're the original from 2005. So they're >> about time. >> Yep. It's time to replace those. The so alternate three, the second alternate that we're recommending is we we're refeeding across the street transition center to fiber feed. And we're not quite sure if we have the capacity in what's the conduit that goes under the the road. So, we may have to right now we're planning
124on directional boring another conduit. And we're not sure if we could since it's an I do road, we're not sure if we can get the I do permit in time to directional bore. So the altern is actually to do a fusion splice temporarily to refeed the the transition center and then once we get the permit, we can directional bore and pull a straight fiber through. So we're recommending both of those alternates in addition to the base bit award. >> Okay. >> And fibers for internet capability and yes systems like that. Okay. >> Yes. No. >> Any other discussion? Any questions? All right. Roll call, please. >> Dr. Huntington, >> yes. >> Mr. Coffee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Tip, >> yes. >> Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lynn, >> yes.
125>> Mrs. Grandome, >> yes. >> All right. Motion passes on action item I, Juliet Township High School 204 HVAC controls bid. Do we have a motion to approve? I'll make the motion. >> Second. >> I'm assuming that's what he just talked about as well. >> No, this is different. Okay. Discuss different. This is um also part of our master facilities plan, but this is dealing more with our controls for our heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and cooling. Um so, back in December of 22, the the board did approve for us to upgrade our systems. So essentially we have three different systems that don't talk to each other. Um so the first phase was to put in the backbone so that all the systems could talk. So now the next phase is to upgrade all of our
126controls. Many of our controls are over 25 years old. >> Um so we definitely need to to upgrade those. They're low performing or they're failing systems. A lot of times we can't find the parts. Um, and so with that, it allows us to be more efficient. Um, reliability. Actually, every classroom be able to control temperatures versus kind of like one temperature for all where some people are hot, some people are cold. Um, so it does um assist with the the environment for our staff and our students. Um, so that's what this recommendation is is with precision controls. Um, they are through the purchasing co-op, so it has been bid already. And this is a three-year program because obviously they have to get into classroom and spaces. Um, and where they don't have to, they they
127will go ahead and start that process. But this is the recommendation to move forward with the next phase of the controls for the district. >> Okay. Any further discussion and questions? Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Graome, >> yes. >> Dr. Huntington, >> yes. >> Mr. Coffee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stiff, >> yes. Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lint, >> yes. >> All right. On to action item J. Disposable equipment to a motion to approve. >> So moved. >> Second. >> All right. Any discussion? >> All right. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Lynn, >> yes. >> Mrs. Guare, >> yes. >> Dr. Huntington, >> yes. >> Mr. Coffee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Tiff, >> yes. >> Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick, >> yes. >> All right. Motion passes.
128On to action item K, donations. We have a motion to approve. >> So move. >> We have a second. >> Second >> discussion. We would just like to thank Darcy Motors and my friend Rosie Cardinis um for making a donation to the central campus uh for trunk or treat and also our favorite ever uh board secretary Tanya Rico um and the JTHs athletic boosters for a very generous donation um to the MLK Day of Service for 2026. >> Thank you. >> Thank Thank you. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick. >> Yes, >> Mrs. Mrs. Lynn, >> yes. >> Mrs. Groare, >> yes. >> Dr. Huntington, >> yep. >> Mr. Coffee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stiff, >> yes. >> Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. All right. Motion passes. On to action item L, personnel reports. I'm going
129to make a motion to approve uh 1 through 10 uh striking line item B and number nine, classified employment recommendations. A second. >> I'll second it. >> Roll call, please. >> Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lynn, >> yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick, >> yes. >> Mrs. Groonome, >> yes. >> Dr. Huntington, >> yes. >> Mr. Coffee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stiff, >> yes. >> All right, motion passes. I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Coffee for student discipline recommendations. >> Yes. After receiving and deliberating the information contained in the hearing officer's report, the board of education is charged with deciding one, whether removing the child from his or her learning environment is in the best interest of the school. Two, what the rationale is for the specific duration of the recommended expulsion. Three, whether
130all appropriate and available behavioral and disciplinary interventions were exhausted. and four, whether the continued presence in school would either a pose a threat to the safety of other students, staff, or members of the school community or b substantially disrupt, impede or interfere with the operation of the school. The board of education must then convene into public session to formally vote on the motion to expel if the expulsion is the consensus arrived at during the executive session. I make a motion under case number C25263 recommending expulsion until January of 2027 and placement at Lincoln School. >> I second that motion. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Stiff, >> yes. >> Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lynn, >> yes. >> Mrs. Guare, >> yes. >> Dr. Huntington, >> yes. >> Mr. Coffee,
131>> yes. I make a motion under case number W250264 recommending expulsion until June of 2027 and placement at Lincoln School. >> I second that motion. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Coffee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stiff, >> yes. >> Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lynn, >> yes. >> Mrs. Graome, >> yes. >> Dr. Huntington, >> yes. I make a motion under case number W252605 recommending expulsion until January of 2027 and placement at Lincoln School. >> I second that motion. Roll call, please. >> Dr. Huntington, >> yes. >> Mr. Coffee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stiff, >> yes. >> Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lynn, >> yes. >> Mrs. Granomeir, >> yes. I'd make a motion under case number C2526 recommending expulsion until June of 2027
132and placement at Lincoln School. >> Second that motion. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Graome, >> yes. >> Dr. Huntington, >> yes. >> Mr. Coffee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stiff, >> yes. >> Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lynn, >> yes. I make a motion under case number C25267 recommending expulsion until June of 2027 and placement at Lincoln School. >> Second that motion. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Lynn, >> yes. >> Mrs. Gonare, >> yes. >> Dr. Huntington, >> yes. >> Mr. Coffee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stiff, >> yes. >> Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick, >> yes. I make a motion under case number W25026 08s recommending expulsion until June of 2027 and placement in accordance with the student's IEP. >> Second that motion. Roll call, please. >> Mrs.
133Stiff, >> yes. >> Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lynn, >> yes. >> Mrs. Guanome, >> yes. >> Dr. Huntington, >> yes. >> Mr. coffee. >> Yes. I make a motion under case number 2526, I'm sorry, C252609, recommending expulsion until June of 2027 and placement at Lincoln School. >> I second that motion. Roll call, please. >> Mr. Coffee, >> yes. >> Mrs. Stiff, >> yes. >> Mr. Kennedy, >> yes. >> Mr. Fitzpatrick, >> yes. >> Mrs. Lynn, >> yes. >> Mrs. GRA. >> Yes. >> Dr. Huntington. >> Yes. >> All right. That concludes our action items. We'll move on to unfinished business. Does anybody have unfinished business? >> Uh, I have some unfinished business. Um, I'd like to address the board um and the administrative team uh concerning my statement
134from last month. Um, I feel it necessary to address a recent letter sent to the JTHs administrators. Following my statement in open session at the October board meeting regarding the climate and culture survey results, I want to clarify my position as I believe my central purpose was misunderstood. My intent was never to question the dedication or professionalism of our administrators. On the contrary, I deeply respect the commitment and hard work of our administrative team demonstrates every day. The challenges that are faced are immense and your efforts are invaluable to our district. Any suggestion otherwise is misinterpretive a misinterpretation of my words. My intention was to draw attention to some important findings from the surveys particularly that only 28% of respondents agreed that district leaders are in tune with school level issues or concerns or 29%
135felt that the school administration are in tune with teacher concerns. These do these numbers do not reflect a lack of effort. They highlight a systematic challenge in trust and communication. Hard work and trust are not mutually exclusive. Even the most dedicated individuals can be undermined by broken systems. When communications falter, perceptions of effectiveness suffer, as evidenced by these survey results. This is just not an operational issue. It's a governance issue. When 70% of our stakeholders feel unheard or disconnected from leadership, it demands a visible collective response from the board. We must demonstrate to our staff that we take their feedback seriously and are committed to meaningful change. I urge my colleagues to join me in publicly acknowledging the reality reflected in our data, committing to review and improve our structures for communication and feedback, and
136reaffirm our dedication to transparency and action. Let's move beyond defensiveness and focus on solutions. By addressing these concerns openly and collaboratively, we can rebuild trust and confidence in our leadership, which includes every member of this board of education as well, which will support not only our staff and educators, but the entire district community. Together, we have an opportunity and responsibility to enact meaningful systematic change. I call on each of you to help lead this effort, ensuring our leadership is not only hardworking, but also trusted, responsive, and united. I thank you for your time and attention. >> All right. Thank you. Does anybody else have any unfinished business? >> Can I just address >> I just want to address something that was brought up tonight. Sure. Really quick, I just want to thank you again um
137everyone for the presentation on the school report card uh and the transparency there. I think it's uh important that we note when you have a school and uh Juliet Central um with such a high percentage of ELLL students that when you look at a chronic absenteeism rate of 63.6% 6% um something that was not acknowledged and I think it's important I think we do it on a daily basis but that children are scared right now again I just wanted to reiterate that they're very scared their parents are scared um they're being separated and that's that's important to note um that all the hard work that our our teachers our staff and our administration are doing cannot always combat um what's going on in the real world we had student ambassadors that were were brave tonight
138and shared One of them, a couple of them actually mentioned things regarding mental health. They were not ELLL students that I could tell. Um, but what's going on in the world is certainly impacting them. And just a reminder, too, that absenteeism, their attendance in general, it doesn't just impact ELLL students. Our funding is tied to that. So, when students are scared to come, that impacts all students, not just Latino students. it impacts black students, white students, Asian students across the board. So, I just I think it's important to recognize that. Um, and again, that goes along with our graduation rates. That goes along with I mean, we talk about this in and out. We've talked about it for years. It's not fair that they're taking tests in a language they do not understand. I know
139people that are monolingual that can't even read English correctly, and they were born and raised in this country. So, we need to pay attention to things that are happening, not just here in our school district, but across our state. and our our entire country. Um, and to not know these things really bothers me. Um, when we have children that are so scared and children should have the ability to thrive in our community instead their growth is being stunted because they can't go to school because they're afraid that when they go home their parents are not going to be there or they're going to be abducted on their way to school. And I just think we need to address that. Thank you. >> Thank you. Do we have any new business to attend to? Anybody with
140new business? >> Do we have any board reports? >> Oh, I have one. >> Yeah. >> Good evening everyone. >> Your mic's off. >> Good I talk loud enough though. Good evening everyone. Um, I just want to say that I had the pleasure of participating in the contract negotiations with the teachers. uh my first experience and uh I want to say that it was very collaborative and successful and I appreciated the opportunity to uh uh to serve in that role. Um we had two out of three meetings. We have one more meeting and I expect that to go just as well and so I look forward to it and I just thank uh everyone that sat at that table and um it was it was a a great experience. So thank you. >> Um I
141have two I uh had the opportunity to go see the fall play at Juliet West. Um Mr. Galley the the director the tomatoes. Yeah. Um kids were amazing. The amount of dialogue. I was very impressed that they were able to do all that dialogue. It was really good. Um and then I also had an opportunity to see Juliet West um playing volleyball. Um yes, they were playing another school that I know, but I sat with West. I wore black and gold. >> Um and uh I snuck out of there before the ending so I didn't get caught up. So, um, and it was, you know, Mr. Milsaps did a really nice job and, um, it was a very active, lots of kids there cheering their hearts out. Um, unfortunately, it wasn't the outcome for Juliet
142West, um, that they hoped for, but, they had a great season. >> Nice. Nice. >> Anybody else? Speaking of volleyball, just congratulations to uh Lena Eden and u my favorite Faith Jordan for signing with um pretty prestigious schools um volleyball players. Uh Joanna Gonzalez Vargas um one of my friends who got the alumni spotlight and she works with our students in our community um regarding domestic violence, teen dating, etc. Um and a shout out to uh Dr. Guzman, Miss Stiff, Miss Schlisman, um and our board president, Mr. Kennedy who will all be um presenting this weekend at the ISB um joint annual conference. >> That's true. Um I don't have a board report, but I did want to give a shout out to uh our staff. Um mainly because we had this really long government
143shutdown and that impacted a lot of our students with their benefits. And I know because I went shopping with my wife um that our staff pitched in for our kids out of their own pockets that they created meals for our kids for a food pantry for them to pick up. And for those people who did that, I can't thank you enough. I I'm was appreciative to be a small part in that and helping and going to Jewel and picking stuff up, but for you guys to just step up when our kids need it, that's that's what our district is all about and I appreciate that. >> All right. Do we have any announcements or public comment? >> I have a couple announcements. Um I just want to um say that we had a great Veterans
144Day celebration um at Juliet Central. It's always a wonderful event. Um, one of our veterans was 104 years old. Um, so that's amazing. He got a standing ovation. Um, but it was wonderful. Um, also uh I got to go to Juliet West um to see Freddy the fire truck in action which um the Juliet fire department had these they're like mini firet truck. Well, it's a mini fire truck and its name is Freddy and it needed some repairs. So, uh, John Barber's class at Juliet West works on those repairs. Uh, I haven't seen it, but I heard that Andy the ambulance is being worked on at Central. Um, but the goal and for sure Freddy is going to participate in the parade that's coming up in Juliet and the students are going to be the
145one that are driving and they figured out how to have it. I'm gonna say Papa Wheelie. I mean, I don't know like if that's actually what it's called, but it shoots water. It sings. Um, it's just fun. It's just fun. And they kept it for a little bit longer because they did a special um right next door to John Barber's class is the um preschool program. >> So, we were playing with it in the hallway and all the kids are in the little coes like looking at it. And so, um, the fire department brought, um, hats for all the students and so they got a big kick out of Freddy the fire truck. Um, and then, um, was able to go to the Juliet Central EL awards night. Um, thank you, Miss Gra, our new
146mayor for going to. So, that was a great opportunity to, uh, recognize our students. Um, and then upcoming events, we have our special services staff is inviting everyone to pack the house at 5:00 pm on December 10th at Juliet Central. That's a districtwide event um for and there's no charge to attend the event, but donations are accepted at the door. All proceeds benefit um Special Olympics. The event is at 5 pm. Um there's raffles. So that is a great way for everybody watching, everybody here to um have a fun night supporting a great cause. And then also our transition center has been hard at work um making different um I'm going to call them crafts and woodworking, but they have their holiday Walmart available. So, I'll distribute these to the board of education um because
147there's QR codes and you can order them. The things they're making are amazing. So, I bought a couple. So, I'll share that. So, thank you. I have one more announcement. Our CEO program is hosting Christmas Our CEO program is hosting Christmas at the castle at Joliet Central on December 12th. Okay. And that's a group of students that are um learning some entrepreneurial skills and uh they're going to host this event with the community and I'm looking forward to attending. >> So I hope you guys come too. >> I'm putting these in my calendar. >> I don't know what time it is. >> Do you know what time? >> I will include that in the um board >> wrap up. >> Do we know what time that event will take place? I can look for that
148and I'll include that in um information and we'll for sure put that out to to the community in a weekly email. >> Awesome. >> Like it. >> Yep. >> Anybody else with an announcement? Miss Rico, any public comments? >> All right. Hearing none, I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> We'll do it by unanimous consent. Hearing no objection. Meeting is adjourned.