Board of Education May 12, 2025

001It is now 6 PM. This is a regular meeting of the Kaneland Board of Education. We'd like to inform all board meeting attendees that this meeting is being livereamed and archived for access at any time by our community members on the internet within 24 to 48 hours of the meeting's conclusion. Pledge of Allegiance, Mr. McCauley. 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. And attendance roll call, please. Mr. Manipsky, here. Mr. McCauley, here. Mr. Cook, here. Dr. Lawler here. Mrs. Simmons here. Mr. Stalup here. Mr. Claire's absence tonight. With six members present, we have a quorum. Is there anything the board would like to move from consent to new business? Hearing none, I

002will entertain a motion to approve the agenda as presented. So move second. Moved by Mr. McCauley, seconded by Mr. Stala. And a roll call, please. Mr. McCauley. I. Mrs. Simmons. I. Mr. Cook. Hi. Dr. Lawler. Hi. Mr. Stalup. Hi. Mr. Vancipsy. I. Motion carry 6. The agenda is approved. It is now time for board and sup andor superintendent salutes. I will turn it over to Dr. Rowing. Yeah, thank you. We have a number of them this evening. Uh we're going to start uh Dr. Atkins will uh do our first salute. Excellent. Well, good evening. Um, we are here tonight to introduce the newest member of our district office administration. Um, not a unfamiliar face to many in the district. This is Lauren Vaklavik. Did I get it? You did. Vaklavik. Um she has been in

003the P in former lives a uh educator, instructional coach here and most recently a curriculum coordinator in West Aurora for 6th through 8th grade English language arts where she had some phenomenal um data points that she shared with us about some of the growth that's been made. We had started an interview process to search for our coordinator of curriculum development several months ago. We interviewed um about 10 candidates as a screener. We had over 25 apply. We brought back a about a slate of about six candidates for some group interviews and then some final interviews with Dr. Rowling and Dr. Horna, myself um to find a finalist. And so we're very excited to have Lauren here tonight and I wanted to give her a chance to introduce herself and and uh be welcomed by the

004Kan community. So Lauren, hi everyone. Uh I'd just like to thank you for the opportunity. Um, I was able to bring my family here tonight to sort of celebrate. Um, we're excited to be back um to join the Keanel Knights and work with some really familiar faces um and really get some production forward and continue that good work that I know that you guys have already started the process of. So, um just looking forward to jump in and and get it going. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks. All right. Um, all right. Uh, the next one I'd like to uh salute and congratulate Mr. Brian Zurfus who's in the crowd this evening uh for being named as the administrator of the year by the Illinois Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance,

005um, or Iford. He will be presented. He will be presented this award in December at the state convention. So, we're very proud of him and the work that he's done. Uh, at the next meeting, we will also be saluting um Miss Satie Stark, his PE teacher, who won an award through that organization. So, excited to have those awards in our in our schools. So, congratulations. Congratulations. And for our next one, I would like to call Mr. Falner to the podium. [Laughter] Somebody who knows who came back to Kaitlin. Hey, so let me say a few words about this amazing educator to the right of me, Miss Krie Pitstick. You smile. So last Friday, was it last Friday at the K two Fridays ago at the Kane County Educator of the Year, Miss Pistic was named

006the middle school, Kain County middle school or teacher of the year? I she is so deserving of this because I remember it was 10 years ago around this time that I was just hired to be the harder principal and the current principal said, "Hey, you want to be a part of interviews?" And I was like, "Yeah, let's do that." And we had a lot of great ELA teachers that we were interviewing and she was one of the last ones and she walked into that room and she started talking about students and whole child and how how to make writing fun and she walked out of that room and I was like hi don't let her leave the parking lot. Hire her right there on the spot. Go get her right now. And she has lived

007up to everything she talked about in that interview. She's student centered. She's whole child driven. She makes her class fun. but she gets the middle school child. And there are things that she does on a daily, weekly, yearly basis that I think to myself, I am so glad she's here. And the best thing about Carrie is that she's a Kalin alum. If you look around our district, we have a ton of Kalan alum and she's one of them. And she came back because she was so impressed with her educational career. She was like, "If I'm going to teach anywhere, it's going to be at Kan." And she's here. We have her. She's not going anywhere. We're we're keeping her at Arter Middle School in Caitlin. So, it was just a a joy when her name

008was announced. I wasn't shocked. I wasn't surprised because she deserves it. She's that awesome of a teacher and we are just lucky to have her at Harter. We're also lucky to have her in Caitlin. So, congratulations, Carrie. [Applause] Yeah, I'm so um I know I was thinking about what I would say if I said something. I really am very proud, just like Brian said, to be part of the Keanel community. I went to Kanel my entire school, kindergarten through senior year. I was the first group of kids that went through John Stewart kindergarten through fourth grade. I was the last group of kids that or the last class that was uh fifth grade at the middle school. Um, and I am just so proud to be back in this district where our parents, our students,

009our faculty, we just have the best of everything. And I've I'm just so proud to be here. And I'm proud to be a night I always have been. I always will be. And I'm just really really thankful that this is the place where my entire career will get to be. Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] And then I'm going to go to the podium for the remainders. will be recognizing um 25 years of service and some retirees. All right, so uh I got to bring my cheat sheet with me and make sure I get it all right. All right, so um first up for 25 years of service, uh Kristen Johnson, Kalin High School English teacher. [Applause] We were told she was coming, but I guess she's not. Um, all right. So, for retirements and 25

010years of service, uh, director of Fox Valley Career Center and all a guy just known around Kalin, uh, Dr. Rick Burgil. [Applause] Congratulations. Carrie was, by the way, I was your principal. I don't know if that counts for I'm sure you did something there. Uh, was it I I don't see uh Mr. uh but uh Andy Franklin, who has served 18 years as a guidance counselor at Caneland High School, is also retiring. Don't see him in the crowd. Uh Pam Berlotti, a uh Blackberry Creek para professional. Come on up. 23 years. Congratulations. Thank you very much. Enjoy your retirement. Thank you. Um 28 years as uh the fire science instructor for Fox Valley Career Center and a name that comes up a lot when I talk to uh I talk to alumni, uh Mr. Gary

011Bomb. [Applause] Thank you. Also a night. Also a night. Class of 82. All right. Best athletic class ever. [Applause] I don't know. I talked to some guys from the 75 class that might disagree with you, but I'm sure. All right. And then also uh uh not present tonight, uh Michelle Hansen, uh Shields ELLL teacher, 28 years. So congratulations to all of them. I want to wish all of you a happy retirement and I want to remind you that we're always looking for substitutes and bus drivers. We'd love to have you back. So congratulations Dr. Boen. Uh nothing this evening. Thank you. Any board members? I have two. Okay. Um keep it quick. Um so similar to trustee uh Cox's experience at the Peterson Prep Meet, I had an opportunity to go to uh support our

012team at St. Charles last week at the Kain County meet. It was phenomenal. Uh we finished third as a team against some much larger schools, West Aurora, East Aurora, um St. Charles and others. Uh so congratulations to our athletes and coaches and look forward to um conference this week. And then the the second one is I left a newspaper article here for any board members that may want to see it. Julie has it, but I want to uh acknowledge there's uh an educator that's not from our district but is an alumni and currently coaches as head coach and as an assistant coach in our district and just a great guy. He has huge impact on our athletes, students, um, programs. So, I just want to recognize Chad Clearary for everything that he does for the

013kids and our district and for furthering the community um, and being involved and just mentoring and as an educator. So, Any other board members? All right. The board appreciates everyone in attendance this evening and invite you to stay as we move into the new business portion of the meeting. We understand that not everyone is able to stay for the entire meeting and we want to make sure you know this is an open meeting and so you are able to come and go as you need and we look forward to seeing you at future meetings and the roomics and the roomics. Have a great day everyone. Thank you for coming. about personal hygiene fun stuff. Hey, that's uh tonight's consent agenda. Don't give up. That contains the following information. Number one, approval of the treasures report,

014April 2025. Number two, approval of the minutes of April 28th, 2025 regular meeting. Number three, approval of personnel. Number four, approval of the destruction of audio recordings from closed session meetings from November 2023. Number five, presentation of the student handbook on second reading. Six, approval of non-speak educational support sal staff salary increases and substitute seasonal rates for 2026. Number seven, approval of the valley's salary and benefit recommendation. Number eight, approval of the food service fees for 2025 2026. Number nine, approval of administrative contracts and salary increases for the 2026 and thenformational items. Student suspension data report. I will now entertain a motion to approve the consent items listed. So move second. Moved by Mr. Stalcup seconded by Mr. McCauley. And a roll call, please. Mrs. Simmons. I. Mr. Cook. I. Dr. Lawler. I. Mr. Spe.

015Mr. Manipsky. I. Mr. McCully. Hi. Motion carries 6 to zero. The consent agenda is approved. We'll now move on to the public comment section. There's no one signed up. No one signed up. Okay. Um, seeing none, we'll move on to new business. The first item of new business is an update on the McDall Elementary State designation. Dr. Rowling, if you would be so kind as provide more information. I'm going to call uh Mr. Zurface up to the podium. Earlier in the year, we reported to the board that McDall Elementary was identified as a targeted school uh through the accountability process through ISBY. Um Mr. Service has done a fantastic job of uh working through that process and I asked him to come this evening to share an update with the board. So handing it off

016to Mr. Zer. Thank you. Um where do I point for my clicker? Is it on? Let's check make sure it's on. Hit hit your leg twice. There you go, sir. Uh oh. Uh oh, we have to go old school. You gota say beef at the end. Tempering. There we go. Here we go. All right. Awesome. Thank you for the opportunity to be here tonight to speak about the process that we've been taking undertaking this year uh at McDall Elementary School. As you know, um this past fall, we are identified as targeted specifically within the children with disabilities category in mathematics. Um, and as part of that, we've been really focused this year um, as the part of our planning year. The targeted designation phase covers a four-year cycle within the state of Illinois. This year,

017as you see, was our planning year. This is really where we take a deep dive at everything tied to McDall, our our building data, um, the the structures and pieces that we have in place, the connection at the district level, and it provides an extremely deep dive um, into what's happening at the building level. um each year within the four-year process kind of shifts a little bit. Um and there's a different allocation of funds tied to those pieces as well. So in the planning year, again, it's it's all focused. It's kind of more behind the scenes meetings and surveying staff and all that. As we move forward with implementation year one and year two, that's where we see funds increase to be able to from the state to um put into practice those plans that

018we've built over the course of this p first year with those funds uh diminishing into year three as we put things and structures um in place. Specific to the planning year, there are three core elements that the building has gone through. Um they are the development and implementation of a a school leadership team or SLT uh the completion of the Illinois's quality framework supporting rubric as well as the development of our school improvement plan. Specific to our school leadership team, this was something that um any member had to volunteer for. It was comprised of 10 different building specific KA members as well as a handful of different um building and district administrators. Um and it was a full collaboration. So staff members on the SLT team varied from classroom teacher, MTSS, instructional coach, um grade

019level teachers of different experiences. So it it really was a wide ranging team um that included um several special education teachers as well. So, it's a very diverse team of individuals with a lot of different backgrounds, but with the core mission of being able to work through identifying what are the needs of the building, where do we need to grow in and how can we work on implementing those for the future. Um, so to drive that work, um, the entire building completed what's called the Illinois's quality framework, um, IQFSR, uh, supporting rubric. Um the purpose of this is to focus school efforts on continuous improvement by evaluating practices and aligning them with state goals. In total, there are seven core areas and 28 different key indicators. Of those seven core areas, they are continuous improvement,

020shared leadership, collaborative teachers, supportive environment, ambitious instruction, involved families and communities, and effective leaders. Um to be able to take this took a little bit of work. team members. We first sat down and actually walked through a little bit of what that process is to go through and complete this. It's a very in-depth rubric with multiple indicators for each of the 28 key indicators. So, it's it's a very there's a lot of reading, there's a lot of thinking. At first, we we kind of walk through what the process was going to be and then we asked our SLT team members as individuals to complete the IQFSR on their own. And then we also put the entire building into a myriad of different vertical teams comprising anywhere from two to four different people just all at

021random. Um who then under the guidance of a member from the SLT team completed the IQFSR together. Um this is a little bit of a laborsome process. It took anywhere from 30 to 75ish minutes um to complete that in those group based settings. Um but what I appreciated about that process, I think the whole team appreciated was the deep dive around the conversation of what do we actually rate this? Is it proficient? Is it distinguish? If it approaching proficient, is it needs improvement? Whatever those are. Um these were processes where staff didn't just whiz through it. Um these were long conversations. Several of our teams had to go into a second meeting date um within their own time to be able to complete the IQFSR together. So it was something that the teams uh and

022our building as a whole took very seriously as part of that process. There are a handful of key items that we found from the IQFSR. So first 13 of the 28 key indicators are rated as accomplished or exemplary with 15 of the 28 key indicators rated as emerging or ineffective. Um in a case where there was any tie, the team actually worked through and had conversations around okay where do we feel this is and then we made a team-based decision on that. There are four critical areas that really doubled up to the highest priority areas and they are monitoring um for results which is very specific to district and school improvement plans. Uh district and school level teams which is really focused on data analysis and collaboration professional collaboration which which focuses on analyzation and

023use of data for improved learning and then delivery of instruction which really focuses on the quality of instruction. Now within each of these core areas there are several um subindicators that really give put the meat on the bone of what those meanings behind that that is. And then by going through the process of prioritizing everything taking those highest level needs and then prioritizing them from from high, medium, low of just the high um in coming to these four key areas that really does represent where McDall is at and the areas for growth within McDall. And I think um while it was a very laborsome process to get through there to give you a little bit of background each of the 28 indicators as an SLT team when we looked at the survey results we walked

024through each and every one. It took us about two full days worth of meetings to have the conversations what was the conversation like what might be some perceived um differences in things um and what are some of the things as you were having conversations that might be areas to improve within this specific area. So that within the um the planning year, the IQFSR is is a huge part of the process and took a solid third of the time to get through everything. It's such a it's an extremely valuable process. It opens the entire doors to McDole and to our district and allows for for very direct staff feedback and a lot of great conversation. And while it has been a very timeconsuming process to go through that IQFSR, the results from that have really been

025fruitful. As we begin to shift now into the school improvement plan piece, which is that third component of the planning year, um the building as a whole has now developed three core goals with each having three action items tied to them. So we have three total goals and nine total action items. Um there is a little bit of rationale behind um as a the state asked that we do two. I'm going to get to the rationale as to why we we chose to do three total. Um each of the action items have a supporting 45day plan AC uh associated with it. So while we have the goals and and those focuses, we then have the action items and then within those action items, there are a slew of of pieces that are are kind of

026our roadmap of how do we actually um make this and and how do we meet those needs. So I'm going to take an opportunity to go through all three goals here. Um, this first specific goal, we have not finalized the percentage yet because we're waiting to collect the I Ready spring data from this year to be able to compare it to previous years and finalize that. Um, but you'll see three total goals. An I ready tide goal, an IR specific tied goal, and then a feedback oriented goal um with a lot of student voice components in it. So for this first goal, percentage of students in grades first through fifth will achieve on level or above level on the spring IE math diagnostic using standard view. There are three core areas to this. The first

027one being I Ready professional development. Based on the feedback that the building has been providing, we are actually going to be contracting out with I Ready for them to come in and provide professional development to our building. Now staff have had the opportunity to deep dive I Ready at a professional development sip day um and get their hands on different things and and really look through through it especially those staff who might not have used it as much in the past. Then after that we surveyed the staff and basically found that we have two different tiers of staff at the building. We have some staff who are experts and are ready to p personalize more deeply with I Ready and others who need a little bit more of that foundational piece. What I Ready is

028going to be doing is they're going to be coming in and actually providing three different sessions um this upcoming fall. One session will be focused on that foundational building blocks part of I Ready. the next session being focused on those staff who are letting to dive deep and personalize more. And then a third session that's for administrators, MTSS coordinators, and instructional coaches that'll be focused in on their roles in supporting I Ready with it being an I Ready specific trainer once we contract out with them and get that ball rolling. I'll actually be meeting with um that that trainer, but make sure that the work that they're doing is really targeted to what's going on at McDole specifically and we use that staff feedback to drive that. Mr. Zurfus question for I Ready professional development.

029To my knowledge, a lot of the times with I Ready in the classroom, it's give at the first through fifth grade level, it's give the kids an iPad or Chromebook. I'm not sure which goal and they go on I Ready. What are the teachers going to be doing to incorporate themselves into I Ready? That's a great question. And so at earlier um this year at our last SIP day, we had the ability for staff to take time. Um some staff are really proficient at using it, other staff not as much. All of our staff had the opportunity to deep dive into all the various components. We actually provided a menu of different links for staff to go into uh and begin to identify how many lessons they want to accomplish each week. And the overall

030consensus as a building, now it's broken down by grade level, but the general consensus is um two specific lessons a week, which kind of comes out to be about 30 to 45 minutes uh of that I Ready focus time to answer more deeply the question that you're asking that that deeper dive portion of how do teachers get more involved and using the information that they're getting from I Ready and tailoring more personalized instruction when um the the training piece with the professional development is actually two parts. We have one in the fall and then one in the winter where that trainer will come back. Okay. Um that look to dive deeper into how staff can more u utilize uh the feedback that they're getting from Ready and personalized like small groups and all that. That's

031something that we're going to be doing much more deeply at in the winter when that trainer comes back. However, we have already started doing that this um this school year. We specifically used I Ready data at fourth and fifth grade to target areas of needs specifically in math for wind time this past January, February and March leading up to the IR. So our win time was focused on the targeted areas um within I I ready that we weren't as proficient in as well as that was tied to our IR results from last year. So we really tried to interweave that and put that into play. Great. Thank you. I just wanted to make sure the teachers were getting involved here. Oh yeah, sounds good. Yeah, kind of piggybacking on that, um, Mr. Zervvis, when so

032when they're doing additional, uh, work with building I Ready skills and and preparing the students for I Ready? Um, is that taking away from what theu teachers are already doing? Is that adding a more a larger burden to their workload? Is this uh taking away from their bandwidth? Like so how do we how are we handling those pieces? Yeah, a lot of that work that that I is doing is is much more during that cent's time. So when a teacher is pulling a small group to work with students, other students in the classroom might have different activities that they are completing. I Ready as a component of that kind of must do, may do type portion. Okay. One thing I can't answer specifically and I I think this is going to be a challenge regardless

033next year is with a brand new math curriculum there is going to be it is going to move a little bit slower to get all those various components kind of rocking and a rumbling. Um but really and truly that I Ready piece is meant to be part of that that small group um non-teerled instructional time that's part of uh of that and now whether it's there or during win time that's something that we'll have to work through especially as with the new math curriculum it may go slower at first. Was there anything you need from us to maybe alleviate any concerns that you or the Ka or speak have? Um, I I would say one of the the most important things in in just talking with staff about a new math curriculum is the training.

034Um, I I know that there's two sessions offered this upcoming summer. I know that there's sessions offered very early right around Labor Day if I'm correct. Um, so I know those sessions are there. I think staff being able to get their hands on the new curriculum, be able to dive in and implement that in the classroom. Like any new curriculum, that's going to take time. Um, but as as much quality training as possible and support from instructional coaches, um, you know, cabinet level, however that does, I think that's going to be really important because, um, staff are going to want to feel confident in what they're doing. And the I Ready for some staff isn't another thing. It's just it's already a part of it. Yet there for for some of our other staff members,

035that is going to be something new that we just have to be patient with. Yeah. And I want to make sure everybody understands too when we talk about I Ready I Ready is a test that we you bring those but it's also uh reinforcement lessons. So when you take that test when a student takes a test I develops a uh like a self-guided series of activities to help that student either improve areas of deficiency or accentuate areas of strength. And so this is part of that overall instructional program. Okay. um that that we provide. So, it's not just learning how to take the tests. It's it really is utilizing those the resources that we pay for to help students. And so, it it works in conjunction with a math or reading curriculum because the students

036are learning what's in the curriculum. Many of them, the ones that we we talk about with the struggle on test have a a gap somewhere in their education. And so, the I Ready should be designed to help them kind of fill that gap. So, you're learning here, but also filling that gap along the way. The other piece that's unique to this is the way in which we've set up the action items. Every 45 days, the team is going to rem dive each of the nine action items. So, they'll be able to have conversations around, okay, here's what we had listed. here's what we've been working towards, but you know, based off of experiences we've had with the new math curriculum or or any kind of need to pivot, you can pivot and evolve that that

037next 45 days based off where your building is at. It's not a the the goals are certainly what we're working towards. The action items have a little bit more flexibility and we want to make sure that they're meeting the needs of the teachers. What's going to drive the percentage? That's a TBD. Yeah, the percentage we wanted to wait to capture the end of the year spring post-diagnostic data to be able to look at the trend the global trends at the building for the last several years and begin to have conversations around what would be the most appropriate based off of the most accurate data that we have. Um what would be the most appropriate percentage to look at? So we're looking at a 3% increase, a 5% increase or a 10% increase or something like

038that. I don't I guess what's what is historically up until today, you know, what do we have for the last three years has been our increase or or our decrease? I'm trying to get a feel. I have the historic I I I have that data. I don't have it with me. I'd be happy to share it with Dr. Rowling to give you a sense of what the McDall historical trends have been. I apologize. I don't I don't have that data specifically with me. And uh we even met this morning and I said we're we're getting that spring diagnostic data now. as much as I'd love to have that percentage set and I guess a comparison of how is that at Steuward and what is that at Shields and how is that comparison you know across

039the district as well. Yeah, we generally will bring that data to the board uh once a year. Um so we will be planning that to have to come up here. You the schools are finishing their spring I readies now they're all at a little bit of a different pace. Um and so once we get that and we get some other data points we put together a presentation to bring to the board. So um when we have preliminary data I can share that with the board but that probably be a few weeks. Other questions so far? The next action item is focused on trimesterly data days. These would have a component that because of the children with disabilities, these would have a direct component when grade level teams, it would be broken down by grade level

040teams. Grade level teams would meet. There would be a lead component of what we're doing to support children with disabilities. That's specifically what we're targeted for. So that would be a lead component of that. Then also looking at the grade level data as a whole. After that, um there would be opportunity to um make adjustments, work with an instructional coach to potentially embed some different things coming out of that. But really, the purpose of this is to be able to look at the data and identify next steps in tiered in instruction for both children with disabilities and the cohort of the grade level as a whole. Um our last action item is I Ready student goal setting. Ire provides opportunities and resources for students to be able to um identify um their own individual goal.

041So next year we're going to be working with students to help them understand why is I ready important? What does your score actually mean? Each student has their own individual score. We're going to be seeking to teach students what those scores mean and then work with students to individually goal set on how they want to achieve a certain growth score. And then there will also be data chats taking place both um when during the diagnostic testing throughout the school year at the three different times where students will be able to go down and have a data chat around the building data and the grade level data. We and we'll be able to share that information on the growth as a building with those students. It will not be broken down. We're not putting individual student

042names up on a board and and tracking them, but very much taking a look at at classroom and grade level data and celebrating that growth. and then teachers can confer with their students on that area of growth that their student has achieved within I Ready. So really that's as much as much as there's education for teachers, there's also education for students as well. And then one of the components that we've discussed later on in that 45day plan specific to the student goal setting is how we involve parents in that as well. And that's been a component that it it's really hard to kind of pick and choose upfront what we start with, but that's something that we've built in later within the plans. Any other questions? Specific to goal one, is is there a percentage

043that we need to ultimately get to after year three to not be on the watch list or I mean I guess let's look at the endgame. The endgame is higher IR scores. Um so so what does that mean? I mean are we at a five now and we got to get to a 50? It's it's a it's a wildly complicated uh mathematical equation. Sure. Um, so in the way because it's it's a ranking system, there's no way of saying if we get to this score, we're definitely off there. It's because it's a rank system every year. I've also been made aware that they are looking at that system overall at the state. So that might change, but what I think we would really just want to see is improvement in our student outcomes on the

044the I is the one that matters for this designation. I ready because we take that three times a year is a better kind of taking the temperature of where we are. Sure. So, um, you know, I think as we it's hard to put a number on it because the way the state does it to be honest, just to be blunt, but we definitely just want to see if we want to see improvement and we'll see what the data looks like for them and then come back with that that growth number. Have we done those data chats before? There are buildings currently doing them. Um, it's something where we're going to it it's going to be a pretty big focus and focal point. Um, and that'll be something that's tied into um, we're actually planning on

045putting that uh, in the hallway right by the NPR. So, every single parent who will come to the building for any kind of performance will see the building's data. Um, and that's a a valuable part of the the the process. And just that education of that for students and then subsequently parents I think will be really important uh, and a great component of everything. I would think and I don't have evidence of so just based on what you're saying that it might be a good motivator though, right? I think often times these things are, you know, a kid looks at a standardized test and they say, "I don't care about that." Right. And so hopefully this could maybe like you had said the word celebrate. I think that's a good way to think about it,

046right? It'd be interesting to see if it does work. Yeah. We're hoping it does. Yeah. Okay. Specifically to goal number two, this goal is specifically targeted within IR. So by June of 2026, 60% of students, including children with disabilities, identified as, and I apologize, it it doubles there. um including children with disabilities will earn a three or higher on the math IR assessment. Uh and to work on this, we're going to be really looking at the the tiered pieces being put into place within the classroom. First and foremost, um we will be partnering with the ROE as a as a partner um throughout this process. Um and some of those targeted funds that we get, we actually pay to the ROE and they provide us some of the supports as well. They're it's a great

047partnership. Um, so first and foremost, we'll be having monthly ROE supported and led learning walks that are going to take place in the building over the summer. The ROE is going to meet with our SLT team and actually set what our learning walk sheets will look like. It'll be specifically targeted to math. Um, and it'll have a component of children with disabilities on that as well. That'll be built together in conjunction with the ROE and our SLT team. And then the ROE each month will be setting those up. There'll be um those learning walks will be done both ROE admin and members of the SLT team. Um so it'll be a rotating group of people who will be going on those learning walks. The ROE not only gets all that set up and and kind

048of leads it, but then at the end they collect all the data from each of the classrooms after you fill out the forms and about one or two days later they provide um building in grade level specific data on the information that was collected. Well, then as part of that second action item, we'll be taking time at both the SLT level and grade level team level to break down that data. So the SLT team uh will be meeting and looking at the overall building trends and having conversations on any kind of specific PD or different ways in which we need to pivot might be um kind of bubbling to the surface. And then a subsequent meeting the grade level teams will meet um and have conversations around their their some of the building but really

049more that that building or excuse me that grade level specific data. And this provides them our teachers an opportunity to either identify um some different tiered interventions or tiered approaches that they may need within the classroom. Might be just providing feedback on a brand new curriculum. Um, but then also with an instructional coach as a part of that, if there are specific professional growth pieces that they'd like to engage with, there will be that kind of consistent data that can provide that information and feedback to our teachers as part of that process. Our third action item is associated with the IR assessment is specifically around accommodations and professional development around accommodations. Um, both 504s, IEPs, all our children with disabilities. Um so specifically one of the the core components there is going to be really

050helping to develop stronger knowledge and then application of consistent application of accommodations. And that's something um that as we continue to build out that 45day plan. I know the department of special education will be a part of and in the ways in which we navigate how we better educate our staff about accommodations but also how we apply those in the classroom on a consistent basis and doing that with greater fidelity. Um, Mr. Zurf, what is the percentage now? If it's if we hope it's going to be 60, what was it last year? Yeah. So, it's it's an average of three different grade spans. So, third, fourth, and fifth grade. 60% is kind of that that average piece. I forget the specific numbers, but we took um kind of the course of the last three years

051and looked really at at the last set of data this this previous year, which will have the most cohorts still at McDole, and took the average of that that specific number. This is tough because as much as you'd want to have it differentiated in different grade levels, it is it is a building score. Um so there I think there will be different areas of growth for each team. Um but overall we took an average of um of that specific score from previous years. Yeah. I But what is it? I get that it's going to be it's hopefully going to be 60, but what is the percentage now? It it varies anywhere. It varies between about 50 and 70% based off of which specific grade. Okay. So would s so 60 a goal then if we're

052if we're already at 50 to 70. The challenge in this one specifically is um like with different grades. Some grade levels have a higher percentage this past year and some grade levels have a lower percentage and the ROE is really encouraged to, you know, you don't want to have a specific goal for each grade span, but more of something for the building level. So it it is an average and and again that average for these the three grades in the this past school year was it's right around between 50 and 70% was the scores. Okay. So, the other thing that I guess I would piggyback on that is u when you send over the info, maybe it'd be good to give us a a snapshot of what those percentages are at the various things, but

053what where are we at the other elementarymentaries as well? I can get that data together. Any other questions here? All right, goal three. Um, we're required to have two specific goals. Um, a third goal is optional. Based off the feedback from the IQFSR, um, the team decided that it was appropriate to have a third goal that really focused around student feedback. And there are some themes here specific to our our district SIP goal and the work that we've been doing u this past year with feedback. So, specifically for goal three, 80% of all students in grades K through five are able to select and meet a self-identified growth goal in math. You'll notice that this is um a goal that focuses on all students across the board. um we don't have I ready for kindergarten

054um but we really felt that it was important to have a goal as well that all students can be a part of. So within this it is not students um identifying something specific to the entire class. This can be a student identifying, hey, I I want to do a better job at multiplying um two-digit by three-digit numbers, and I want to be able to do that at a at a proficient level um within my own practice, or I want to be able to regroup numbers um with a certain level of proficiency. It provides students the opportunity in those feedback conferences with their teacher to identify a goal that they want to work towards achieving and that they can speak to. I know I'm going to be proficient in this standard because I am doing XYZ

055within my learning. So, it's an opportunity for students to really have that personalized approach. Um, the first area that we'll be targeting with the action item is feedback professional development. Similar to what we've been doing this past year with some of the district all-in feedback pieces as well as building specific how we work from making that low cognitive demand and switching to that higher cognitive demand of students being able to self-direct their learning and identify and articulate where they want to grow as learners. Um, that continued building knowledge and growth in that area is something that we want to continue doing next year. Action item number two, student goal setting. As I kind of shared, each student would be setting a goal that they'll work on attaining. And then when they do reach that piece,

056we're going to have um classroom data tracking charts where students are going to be able to kind of move over into that celebration spot. So each student can celebrate the work that they're doing. It's at their own individual level, but then they get to share in that success and accomplishment. And then we have a connection home as well, sharing about that that learning. And the last piece tied into this is our sped and general education teacher collaboration. This is something that has popped up through the IQFSR as an area for continued growth. It's not to say that that collaboration isn't happening. Um but we certainly want to enhance that. So some of the ways in which we are going to be doing that this upcoming year is setting a specific meeting at the start of

057the year for all of our children with disabilities paperwork to be shared and discussed with general education teachers to make sure that they're aware of especially the accommodations for each of those students. a monthly IEP team meeting that will take place during the 805 collaboration meeting where specific pieces to um any student IEP paperwork. So, let's say um a student's had an updated IEP, what what changes came about that or if there were accommodations that um maybe were not doing as effectively having a conversation around, hey, remember these few accommodations, especially with this unit coming up or or this student's been struggling a little bit. Let's let's double check those accommodations. It's really to make sure that we're tight on the paperwork aspect and that all the stakeholders who are supporting those students are a

058part of that and then also having the a weekly protected common plan time with all co-teers. This is certainly something we stride for but there are a lot of competing interests especially by our case managers. So making sure that we protect within that schedule even if that means we have to you know sacrifice other things. We need to have at least a weekly plan time between our case managers and their their co-teers to make sure that they are effectively planning together and that they can align the standards that they're working on. Um so that is the the third action item there. Question specific to goal three. When do parents uh get involvement here? And and I asked that because you're asking students in K through five to set a goal on what they want to

059learn. I can tell you my fifth grader is going to tell you he wants to go outside and learn how to ride his bike better or jump the bike or throw the ball or make a better spiral. He doesn't care what he's going to do in math. So, at what point do the parents get a say so in what those goals should be so that they can help monitor and and facilitate it at home too. I think that's going to be your single biggest ally in this. And that's really the beauty of this plan is right up front that that specific parent involvement is not going to be as strong because in the first 45 days of school, we're not going to be diving into every student setting a math goal of something that they

060want to achieve. But we're going to be providing education to students around how you can goal set and what that looks like. And that it's really unique to see that 45day plan because it's more those foundational things in those first 45 days. Whereas as we begin to shift later into the school year, you see that parent component come into play more. The parent component across the board is something that we had a lot of conversation around of how do you involve the parent piece because that that's that third core stakeholder there. Um, so that's something that as we build those foundational pieces of how students goal set and what they're working towards, that gets embedded later on so that there is that parent connection so that when the student does go home, they're not only

061sharing it, but the parent can support it as well. So I agree that's vital. I I would tell the parents right out of the box, here's our plan. You know, you should be seeing something from us at this juncture in the school year. Yeah. You know, be that 45 days or, you know, because they saw what the kids did last year, right? I'm sure you guys went back and talked to the last year's teacher and you know Joe Smith is is he needs help with multiplication but you know he can add and subtract 10 and 10 digit numbers in his head you know so whatever that case may be I just I think you got to lay that out to the parents earlier for sure. Okay. So the remaining uh implementation year one. So this

062is taking a shift into more next year. Um the SLC team has a real vital role. They are in charge of making sure that we implement each of the nine action items with consistency and integrity. Um they will have two meetings a month that'll start um before the 805 collaboration time. So a little bit early in the morning. One meeting is is going to be a general meeting for just to cover everything that's going on to make sure that we're staying on top of things. The other morning meeting that's going to take place each month by the SLT team is that deep dive on the learning walk feedback. Every 45 days, there will also be a three and a half hour meeting um where the team will meet after school and go through all nine

063action items and build out the next 45 days. in conversations with the ROE that that definitely is an undertaking. But the ROE really recognized that to really do this work with fidelity and not have the distractions or the sub challenges or whatever that may be. Finding time to do it outside of the school day and and that is paid time that's provided. We have that those funds through the state are we really recommended to keep teachers in the classroom and make sure that we're focused on that work to do that after school um in that more deep dive type fashion. And the unique part is we've been able to deep dive all six of the nine 45day plans thus far have been fully developed for those first 45 days. And it's a very deep dive

064um intricate process where we really turn over every stone um of making sure that we've got all the all the roadmap pieces in the place. Um and so um the meet morning meetings, the implementation and then the updated action items every 45 days. Specifically to the remainder of this year in the planning year, there is a a handful of things that still need to take place. First off, the finalization of all the 45day plans. We have three remaining that we're looking on uh this upcoming Monday. We're going to be finishing and then we're going to begin to identify, develop, and secure all support items within each 45day plan. So specifically the I Ready training PD that we talked about, making sure that we get that contract in motion, the trimesterly data days, what's that actual

065format going to look like? And as a team begin discussing based off the conversations we've had all this year, what that general format could look like and going through everything and making sure we have as much of the road map laid out and ready to go. um our year one budget um getting our allocation of funds from the state and knowing what that's going to be and finalizing the budget for next year and then coming back and presenting that final SIP plan for board approval. There's actually a set of state paperwork um that we need to complete, present and receive approval from the board and then we submit that to the state. So those are kind of the the big hanging fruit um for our team the remainder of this um planning year. Questions? Elephant.

066Yeah. How is Mr. Zurf handing this off then to to the next principal? We are uh he and I had a discussion today. Uh we are going to continue to work with both myself and Dr. Horn in terms of making sure we have all this uh you know in a row. Uh he he will have ideally will identify that candidate. Okay. Uh early June. Yeah. And so he'll have the opportunity to have a number of sit downs with that candidate. Okay. So because I I I don't discredit you and Mr. Horn's ability to do this, but Brian's living this, right? And so passing that on might be much, you know, obviously much more important. It has been a substantial undertaking and as the principal during the planning year, it is my intent to have as

067much of the planning year done and finalized as possible. Um there's no sense in trying to hand that off and say, "All right, figure it out." Right. Um I want to make sure that as much of that can be handed off but um it is a very timeconuming process. The the planning year is there's a lot to it and with the implementation too there's as three goals and nine action items there's there's a lot to that. So it it is a laborsome process for sure. Well and I'd also say the depth of knowledge for the SLT is is very deep. I mean this has not been something that that Brian has done in his office. Right. Right. You know this has been I've been to a number of the meetings. I know you know Dr.

068Mum, Dr. Horn, Miss Eglesen have all been to these meetings and so the the knowledge in the room Yeah. is is going to stay there. Good. Good. So, good good to hear. Yeah. Yeah. Obviously, this is a very important thing and then also having it happen in a transition could be, you know, very delicate. So, there's a lot. So, I appreciate that. My hope that the 45day plans are as detailed as possible so that you're checking the list. I just want to thank you too for taking a pause and bringing in your teachers again. You know, the the depth that you went into working with the teachers to get their voices and have them like you said, not just a simple like answer these questions that you had them talk to each other so they

069can kind of even confer with each other like well I'm not struggling in this but why oh may you know what I didn't consider that you know so you could get a deeper perspective you know when doing the the survey and stuff like that. So, thank you. Again, it's labor intensive and thanks to the teachers, too, that all did it because we needed them to do it. I mean, it's hard, but we needed to just kind of peel back the onion to go, hey, where is it? You know, and how can we support you the best because we don't know where the root cause is. We can't fix it. So, the fact that you had the mindset to do that, I really appreciate that. Thank you for doing that. And just the team that you've

070built and like you said, uh that they will take this forward. You know, we you've got a great team, too. So, um, you know, obviously like Dr. Lawler said, if there's anything else that we need to know or any way we can support you, let us know, too. So, because we know your teachers, too. They're the ones that are going to be living this and working with those students. They know their kids. They know their those grades, and they're going to be helping them with those skills and and figuring out. And I I appreciate, too, that you're teaching these kids accountability, too, of like, hey, these this is my school day. This is my school day. My parents not with me. This is me. What do I What do I want to achieve today? Yeah,

071I want to go home and ride a bike, but you know what? right now this is math time, this is reading time. And so bringing that back to them and that they're engaging with their teacher and having those kind of conversations, that relationship is huge. And so, uh, thank you for doing that part of it, too. So, all right. I just wanted to say congratulations. Thank you on your new position. Best best wishes there. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you. All right. There's no action necessary tonight for the update on McDall State designation. The second item of new business is the approval of a 1.0 full-time equivalent first grade teacher at Kaneland John Stewart Elementary. Dr. Rowling, if you could provide more information. I actually hand this one off to Dr. Atkins. Thank you.

072Um, as the board knows, we conduct our staffing pattern in March, but we call that the minimum staffing plan for the very reason that I'm here tonight. Um, we take a snapshot in time in late February of our enrollments, um, programmatic changes, all those kinds of things to create our minimum staffing plan, but then as soon as that is approved, we begin a process of monitoring enrollment on a weekly basis. So, a quick shout out to our building secretaries at all four elementaryaries who every Thursday update a running enrollment document. We track pending students. So, those families that come in and say, "Oh, we're thinking about buying in the neighborhood. I've got, you know, 17 kids and all these grades." We keep track of all of that um all that information. Then we monitor it

073on a weekly basis. And so, um throughout the last couple weeks, we've noted that first grade at John Stewart is a hot spot. We are at class sizes of 25, 25 and 26 with three teachers. That is too high for first grade. So um in talking with the first grade teachers with um our district office, we are here tonight to request additional an additional a lotment of one FTE for first grade at Steuart. That would bring our class sizes down to 19 um which are equivalent to our class sizes in our other three elementaryaries. um allows us to have room for more enrollments. Um it is home purchasing and selling season right now. Um so we do anticipate additional fluctuations in enrollment, but this is the only hot pocket that we have at our elementary

074um schools. The remainder of our class sizes are such that we should be able to absorb additional students. So, I'm hopeful that this is the only elementary additional FTE that we request, but again, who knows how the home sale season goes. So, um tonight we're asking for that additional FTE. Um we'll be able to hire and recall um one of our rift staff. So, it's important for the board to know um that those staff that were reduced in force who are eligible for this position are not legally allowed or eligible for recall under the law. But we have made that commitment to those staff who have done good work for our district to bring them back. So, we would not be hiring outside of the district. We would be going to that list of staff

075that the board had to vote to release back in March and working to restore them. If you've noted over the last two personnel reports, we've already begun that process and we've been able to rehire approximately four or five staff already and we'll continue to do that process. So, as we have that natural attrition, we're going to fill those people with those staff with people that we have trained that have been here that know our schools and our kids and our families. So, questions from the board? Any questions? All right. Right. I will now entertain a motion that the board of education approves an additional 1.0 FTE first grade teacher at Kaneland John Stewart Elementary. So second motion by Dr. Lawler and second by Mr. Maui and Aaron square and a roll call, please. Mrs. Simmons,

076I. Mr. Cook, I. Dr. Lawler, I. Mr. Spa, I. Mr. Manuski, I. Mr. McCauley. I. Motion carries 6. Thank you. All right. Third item of new business is the approval of support staff handbooks first reading. Dr. Boen, if you could provide more information. Uh yes. So tonight, I know this is a very thick memo. Um but that's because it does include um the entire handbook for bus drivers, food service, and then also educational support staff. Um I do want to just highlight a couple things. One, tonight we're asking for approval on first reading. Um so if approved there would be time for any clarifications needed and then once that happened it would come back for final approval at the next board meeting on the consent agenda. Um but in the front I did provide everyone

077with a table that outlines the specific changes for each of those handbooks. Um and as you can see this year it's minimal. Um last year we really went through um a pretty aggressive look and looked at all of the grammatical things, punctuation, you know, all anything and everything that that we could have done. And so last year when you saw that there were pages and pages that we had gone through this year, it was it was very minimal updating the dates on cover pages, updating the dates um in which this was reviewed um for state requirements. And then there were um on the bus driver handbook there was one language add ed add ed add ed add ed add ed add ed add ed add ed add ed add ed add edition um it's not

078a practice change but we do um have have staff throughout the district that work in multiple um positions and so we just wanted to clarify for them that staff working in one position can't call off and then you know take a trip or go drive a a route. Um so we did add language around that. Um, and then under food service, there was just an updated example, right? We use dates for first in, first out, how you might label product in the cooler. And so I just went ahead and updated those dates so that it was accurate. Um, and then on the educational support staff handbook, the only change there was an example of if an employee was going from a 9-month position to a 12-month position, how their service time would be calculated. um

079we have 10-month employees and so we just changed that example from a nine-month employee to a 10-month so there'd be no confusion like where's this nine-month position um so that it was accurately reflected there. Um but otherwise there were there were no changes but you do have the full document. So um if there are any questions or you know feedback on these I'm happy to take that and incorporate that into prior to this coming back to the board. questions. All right. I will now entertain a motion that the board of education approves the recommended changes to the bus driver, food service, and educational support staff handbook as presented in the first reading. So move second. Motion by Mr. McCauley, seconded by Mr. Stalcom. And a roll call, please. Dr. Lawler. I Mr. Stalup. Hi, Mr.

080Manovski. Hi, Mr. McCauley. Hi, Mr. Cook. Hi. 6. I caught me. 6. Motion carries. 6. The support stamp handbook is approved on first reading. The fourth item of new business is the approval of press policies issue 118 for his reading. Dr. Rowing, if you could provide more information. There's another thick memo. So uh it's a so uh the school district does belong to uh press which is a which is a service provided by the IASB and essentially what they do is they make sure that uh all of our policies are in line with current legislation as the state likes to change the rules on us every so often. um any new references related to uh legal uh decisions and then they also make sure that every policy is reviewed on a five-year basis. Uh there

081is nothing really substantial in in this uh this edition. Um they are largely just verbiage things, things that uh may have changed based on changes in the law or some new references for uh for the the court cases. So, um, nothing really exciting to share in this one. Uh, if you want to read it, I I read it the other, you know, a couple weeks ago. M. Or provided it for me for assimilating just to help me get through the afternoon. Uh, so, um, uh, those are those, uh, but the the whole packet is is included in there. All right. Comments, questions? All right. I will now entertain a motion that the board of education approve the recommended policy changes from press on first reading. So move second. Moved by Mr. Stalup, second by Mr.

082McAulay. What happened Dr. Wilder? Slow on the draw. Yeah, slow in the draw. All right. And a roll call, please. Mr. Stalup. Hi, Mr. Manky. Hi, Mr. McCully. Hi, Mrs. Simmons. Hi, Mr. Cook. Hi, Dr. Lawler. I motion carries 6. The policies from press have been approved upon first reading. The fifth item of new business is a committee structures of Keaneland Community Unit School District 302. Dr. Rowling, if you could provide more information. Yeah. So this is one of the um the agenda items that the board brought to us in asking how we work with our union partners in terms of uh some of the working committees in the district. Dr. Atkins is going to uh lead us through this journey. Excellent. Thank you. So um yes, as Dr. Rowling said, the board had an

083interest in understanding a little bit more about committees and how they operate within the context of the district. So, um, to begin with, I just wanted to thank all of the, um, members of the bargaining team, both the the KA bargaining team and the administration bargaining team because there were clarifications to be made and during our, uh, very successful, very quick, and very unsupported through federal mediation bargaining process last spring, we were able to clarify all of the aspects about committee work um, with the association and contractualize a lot of that understanding and language. So that was um quite an undertaking and there was a lot of very candid um conversations and a lot of advocacy from the association. So I wanted to thank them for that input and that support as we problem solve

084that together. Um additionally I wanted to thank um all of the co-f facilitators because the majority of our groups if not all of our groups have a co-f facilitation component with them. And so um some committees are are very practical in nature and very programmatic in nature. And so the facilitation is more about orchestrating communication and that kind of thing. But then there are other committees where truly the agendas are co-constructed, co-delivered, co-planned and prepared for um and co-f facilitated. And so it runs the gamut, but all of them are co- are co-led. Um and then of course all the people that have been part of that over the years. We've had committees with board members, administration, district office, building administration, um association members of all um grade spans and content areas. And so um

085that's a lot of work. It's a lot of time outside of the school day in some instances. Um and it all yields collective um efficacy. So some of these expectations come straight out of our um KA contract with the association. And so we went through a variety of components. We want to make sure that we are having that shared decision making um that we're focusing on participation and communication. The comm the committees all establish and maintain um regular meeting calendar and minutes. And so we all put something out, some sort of shared message. Sometimes it's just traditional meeting minutes. Sometimes it's a we jointly discussed this, we shared that, we decided this um and we push that out. um we have defined um all of these different committees in our contract so that everybody knows

086oh I want I heard about this committee someone suggested I be on it what do they do that's put out there and then um as a result of some of our conversations leading up to and during negotiation negotiations we also have made a conscious effort to look at our decision-m process polarity management um and how to make sure that we are both expressively and receptively um representing all of the things that go on in the district and in the committees. And so um I know that um there has been concerns brought forward in the past about those on the committees not necessarily representing the whole group. And so we wanted to make sure that we practice that polarity management. We work closely with the association to say, "Hey, this is a committee. We're looking for

087membership. um who might be some both pro or maybe not so pro- uh voices to put at the table to make sure that we practice hellomy and that we really get two different perspectives at the same time at the table. Um to have a decision made by a committee where everybody really has this preconceived maybe unspoken agreeance that doesn't always yield good results. So we want to make sure we practice polarity management as we're going about our collective work. Dr. Can I ask you a question? Yeah. So, what what mechanism do you use to check to make sure that members do feel like their shared governance and that communication is working and so how do you how do you how do you check in on that? Make sure it's working. Um, that's a good question.

088And I think the biggest factor that we've um taken on the mo the last 6 months or so has been partnering with our association leadership to make sure that there are those disperate voices on the committee to make just to you know because I could think someone is going to be I call it the tenth man right you you have that tenth person on the committee that you put on there just because they're going to say no to everything like you you don't take that person off of the committee you you intentionally put them on there team arrivals kind of that that Lincolnesque idea of who's on our um various boards and various committees. And so we work closely with the association um since our new contract was ratified to make sure that we're hearing

089those voices. I got have to give a shout out to our new superintendent who does a very good job of not only seeking that, but then checking in. You know, is this committee seeking um the input that we we really need? Are we really getting honest and true and unfiltered feedback? Um, I think we want to make sure that we're not afraid to pick up that rock and look at all the squiggly things underneath to quote Tom Collins, right? You know, so we're doing our best to do that. As far as an official formal mechanism, um, I think you're going to see a variety of things with um, the climate and culture survey that the KA puts out as well as our own twice a year. We do a bianual, one of my personal goals

090um, that you'll be hearing about some is a bi-annual climate and culture survey. We just put our first one out two weeks ago. It's closing now. And Dr. Rowling and I have a meeting tomorrow to look at the results of that. That then will give us some objective data points to the subjective question of am I being heard. I think that's perfect. There's a good balance. Yep. Yep. Um committees meet on school days or after school meetings. Um we'd limit some of those things in terms of we we don't want to have an 8 hour meeting after school. That would be inappropriate. Um we meet annually with the association to talk about committees and membership. um by October 1st, we share a list of the committees. Um and we've we've contractualized a lot of this

091now. Um committee membership applications um may be used if we have more than um enough people applying to be on a committee and and not enough seats for those people on that committee. Um and then we also work with the association if that's the case. Um and then we have running notes that we make available to the staff so they can see what's going on. Um the committees themselves, we've delineated all of these in the contract. So the first one in our contract is the curriculum review committee for the high school. It's specific to the high school because of their handbook and those the the curriculum handbook. Um they meet annually throughout the year. Um some of them the number of meetings will depend on the work to be done. There are years where the

092meeting is very cursory and in nature and there's other years where there's a lot to do because we're making a lot of changes to things. Um and then we have department level representation on that committee. Differentials and stipens. Um this one is one that um I co-f facilitate with the KA president. We meet um annually um the every Tuesday of February. So we meet four times. We have representatives from across all the grade levels. Um what happens is the administration gets together to determine what um athletics or activities are going to be um proposed or recommended for the following year and then for any new ones the association has the right to set the rate um for the work done. So once we determine what those activities or those athletics will be for the following

093year, anything new goes to the joint um differentials and stipens committee so that the association can set the rate of that work. So, if we're going to add a, you know, head basket weaver, varsity coach, they'll say, "Oh, that's fits here in this lane." Um, on our pay schedules, and then that comes as part of the recommendation to the board in the minimum staffing plan. We have a district mentoring committee that meets quarterly um to review what we do and what we offer to our new staff. Um, we have representatives from all the different levels. We have a district-wide initiatives committee um that meets. We have a variety of people that participate in that. Um we have our EAC. This is the elementary school improvement team if you will for the whole elementary level. Um

094that is a very large group just so you know. Um I believe that um we have what 14 members right now plus a variety of administrators. So it's a group of about 20 people that to get together and plan for the elementary level. We have an evaluation committee that meets at least four times a year. There's some regulatory components that they have to take care of um for PAR and Senate Bill 7, but then also there's a responsiveness component and a planning component um to make sure that we are up to date with any changes from the state. Over the years, we've added a um tenure teacher unsatisfactory rating appeal process that was required by law. Um, we updated all of our processes to go from the four-year tenure approval process to the new three-year

095requirement. Um, we have updated this year um from the 2013 Charlotte Danielson framework to the 2022 version of the Charlotte Danielson framework um for teaching. And I have to applaud that committee um because we did a lot of work with um pushing out the PD for that both in in-person meetings with voiceover powerpoints which Mrs. Reer helped me with and her and I both are on there um and then some Google meets as well. So we really tried to provide an opportunity for individual staff members across the district to choose how they um took in the new information. Um and then word on the street is that we have pending legislation in um Springfield that may take away the student growth component from the evaluation process. So if that were to occur, we would yet

096again meet and update our processes accordingly. Um health insurance committee, that's more the Bailey Wick of Dr. Boen. Um they meet on a regular basis to review our insurance. Um and there's a lot of work, we've talked a lot about that before, so I believe the board knows how that process works. Um we do have a middle school and high school home room committee. Um not this most recent contract but the one prior. Um we've developed um an expectation for home rooms at the middle school and high school level. Um because of that we developed home room committees that were intended to meet and begin to plan the professional development um and the logistics for home room at our 612 level. Um at the outset of that contract, two contracts ago, they would meet monthly,

097sometimes even more frequently throughout the whole year. Um and then since then that has begun to e because home room is really inculturated into our program. Now they do still meet um but it is much less frequent. Um so and then at the high school and the middle school it's comprised of different groups of people but essentially um the student services staff at the high school and then a combination of people at the middle school. Um building school improvement plan committee. Um at the high school you're looking at your department chairs and at the middle school it's the building leadership team and they look at those building based school improvement goals and activities. We have a sick leave bank committee. Um, we've not had to meet um, in recent years because we haven't had any

098requests for the sick leave bank committee. However, I do have to thank uh, Mrs. Axel for working with me over the last couple weeks to update our sick leave bank bylaws. Um, and those are going to be going out to our association members by May 15th under statutes for implementation the next year. And we just tightened up some language and brought it up to current times. It hadn't been touched in many years. And so um thank you to Susie and her team for looking at that. Uh we have a special education workload committee which is um facilitated by Fran. They meet on a regular basis to discuss the case loads um the processes we use the various things that the special ed teachers across the district are dealing with and then they develop a special

099education workload plan every year so that staff know how to seek support when they need it. Um some of the things that have come from that is um plan time. So if I have a very heavy intensive period of time coming up where I have a lot of annuals and I meetings, I can request a sub from my principal and then I come to work. I get all the paperwork done. I meet with all the teachers. I get all the networking done. I get all the report writing done um while there is a sub working with my students. That way I'm best prepared to meet with families and talk to them about their child. So um those are all the committees we have in the district. That's how we work. That's how we operate. Any

100questions, comments, or compliments? I got a few. So, I don't want to d conversation. So, other folks have good. All right. Here we go. Number one, um, I would love to hear about the climate culture data. I think that'd be really great to be shared with the board. I don't know if that has to become a formal thing. If it could be just the weekend or, you know, the update, that's fine, too. But somehow get access to that information, I think, would be useful. Yeah. The plan is to share that out. They it it just closed today. So yeah, you can give me a little time. Yeah, take your time. But yeah, I will be sharing that with the board. Um the other thing I I had a question about um how how does how

101does staff come to you and say we want to form a new committee? I I forgive me I don't remember what the contract says about creating new committees and and so make a new committee about XYZ Dr. Atkins. How do we how do we create that? I you know that's a good question. I haven't had any requests like that in in the last 10 years. Um I'm assuming because it's a bargained piece that it could come through the association or it could come to myself. Um we've never turned away any thoughts or new ideas or anything like that. But again, um one of the things that I think we can look at is that the majority if not all of our um current committees scratch all of the current itches that we have. Um but

102who knows what tomorrow brings. So, um, we'd be open to that and we'd be open to problem solving that with the association. Yeah. I was just like, and it wouldn't have have to be a formal committee, it could be an ad hoc committee, too. Like there could be moments where we need to form something and you know, I always say this from my own experience, my favorite committees are the ones that work themselves to death, right? Like that get their accomplish their goal and then they disappear, right? So, um, I'm just wondering if that's a possibility. And I I get worried about it having to always go through the contract. I think that's a good place for committees to go, but is there an opportunity to exist outside that maybe as well or something happen?

103So, we do have some ad hoc committees. Yeah. So, uh, as an example, when we do curriculum adoption, so we had a math adoption committee, right? We have an AI committee that's looking at AI usage. But we do have ad hoc and what we do is as we see a challenge or something we're undertaking like a curriculum curriculum adoption. Sure. Uh then we just again we follow the same process. Yeah. We work with we we see who's interested. We work with the association leadership on identifying the people to sit in the room. Okay. And then we move forward and then you know they do work to the end of that life cycle and then you know we start with something else. So there are those we're doing one with MTSS right now. So those things

104do exist. exist. Okay. Yeah. Um and my last question or point was um how do you determine the level of shared governance and how do you determine um like which committee should have more shared governance and which ones need to be more admin driven? Sure. Um I think we look at a regulatory component with that. So for example the um evaluation committee. There are four questions that Senate Bill 7 and per require us to ask every year even though they've been outdated for 10 years now, but we still have to ask them and we still have to say the committee met on this day before this date, ask these four questions and have these four answers. Um so that when we get audited every year, we can say here's the day and time we met.

105We asked these questions, here was the conversation, the notes d um so that is very much top down. That's hierarchical. So less shared governance there and more compliance-based, right? Um but I think for the majority of our committees, you're going to see a lot more shared governance. The home room committee that is not a top- down admin driven committee. That's a let's problem solve this together. And so I mentioned the decision-making continuum in there. Um if you're not familiar, it's one through seven. Four is in the middle. One is jump how high, right? Um, a couple years ago when the fire was over at the high school, I was issuing level one, right, directives all over the place. Um, that's understood. On the far end of the spectrum is a level seven decision where you

106tell me what you need. Here's the task. I'm going to step out. You do what you need to do. Tell me how I can support you. Um, co-constructing and co-developing would be right in the middle. And that's where the majority of our committees meet or fit. Um, and then there's some expectations that go with that. When there's a level four decision to be made by the district, people participants on that committee know that there might be some some prep work I have to do. I might have to know something about the topic we're meeting about. I might have to prepare. Um, a good for instance would be um with the mentoring committee. Um, at our last meeting, we put out um a document for the members of the committee to to populate about what are

107the mustdos and prefer to do for new staff next year, knowing what our cohort would look like, knowing the size of it, knowing their needs, knowing where we're at as a district, what are the things we have to do, and what are the things we'd like to do if we can if we have time, right? And then within that we have a road map for the whole year um by month topic and then who's going to deliver those topics. And so the homework the level forward part was look at that road map that we already have reflect on the cohort we have coming in and then populate this T-chart. The must dos we're going to figure out a way to get them done. They become non-negotiables. We'll get those done. The need to do we'll

108figure out how to fit them in. So yeah I appreciate the conversation. And um you know outside of the contract often times these committees can be some of the biggest indicators or the biggest shapers of a teacher's life or a staff member's life, right? And so um I I think it's important probably from our purview as well just to ensure that um folks do feel like they're having a lot of say in these processes and they feel like they're being heard in these processes. And so sometimes it's good just to remind us of that. Um I'm I'm hopeful that the climate and culture data will also help us get a sense of where folks feel. Um and if and if there is a moment to maybe reflect on some of this and say, hey, you

109know, this one we thought we were doing shared governance work with or we thought we were collaborating, but the climate and culture survey says maybe not so much, maybe readress that then and find ways to continue incorporate those voices. The question I have in any of those, there's no parent or community member involvement. Is that by design? Is that just never came up? I'm curious. Um, I don't know that it's ever come up. And for some, again, um, there's some that are a little bit more compliance-based. Um, and then the parental voice may come through some sort of representative. So, for example, the health insurance committee has a board member on it. The board member there is is a representative of the community. And so, um there might be those ad hoc committees. For example,

110strategic planning is coming as we do strategic planning. I would imagine that there must be parental input on there that isn't a representative parental input through the board, but instead parents, right? Um, another ad hop ad hoc example would be um some of our interview processes for those district level positions. We've had parents who are not board members come and participate in those processes for our principal ships and such. We're working on replacing an elementary principal right now and there'll be parental representation on that committee because I think um we try to balance um the operational regulatory yeartoyear kinds of things with the things that are going to have the most impact. So for example helping pick your child's principal that has a huge impact right and so we need a lot of that input

111in those settings. So, I do think we have that, but maybe for more of those notdefined committees. I know for the purpose of this presentation, we're trying to answer Dr. Lawler's question of working with the association, but that doesn't mean that there aren't those additional opportunities outside of those prescribed contractualized committees that we have. So, good question, though. Well, and you're adding your committees to the ones before our next board meetings. Yeah, those will be more board driven, but they are open meetings. So, parents are welcome. So, parents are and then I think as we work through right now we have Kelan Connects as a parent community advisory group. We have uh CAC is a parent community advisory group. Um we have a variety of other hall of fame and some other things. Just look

112at my schedule. I think it starts at six. Six or seven. That's that's those. Um and so, um I think as we go through the new strategic plan, it may be a good opportunity for the board to consider what are those opportunities? How do we want to structure our community feedback um in in those ways? Because we have had uh in the past finance committee and a facility committee, but attendance at those was minimal at best. And so those have kind of fizzled. So I think we have to continue to have those conversations. Any anyone else? All right. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Atkins. There is no action required for the discussion of the committee structures in Keeland District 302. The sixth item of new business is the potential litigation against the village of Sugar

113Grove for possible action. Dr. Rowling, could you provide more information? Sure. So, uh we do have uh Mr. Gordon with us this evening. This is a topic I believe we've covered pretty extensively. I do want to provide an update. I want to thank uh Mr. Vancipsky and Mr. Stalup for joining um Mr. Gordon and I had a meeting with uh the new Sugar Grove uh board president and you know and their team. I think it was uh I don't know if you guys want to weigh in, but I think it was a positive committee uh committee. Jesus was a positive meeting. Um it it's still very early in in the new administration. So I think there's they're getting their their bearings. Uh but I thought that it was a a meeting based in collaboration and

114building positive relationships. And so, um, we did bring this back. Mr. Gordon is here if you want to provide any updates. Sure. Sure. I just want to echo, um, the comments you just heard. Um, we did meet with, uh, the new village president and the new village attorney. Um, there's a lot of new faces, new players over at the village. They're getting their feet wet. Um, trying to get the lay of the land. But our our meeting was held in the spirit of confidentiality but was a positive first baby step um you know towards possibly re resolving this this situation. Um that said there is a long way to go and a lot of specifics to deal with and what you're we're ask we've talked about this you've seen me up here a few times

115talking about the uh the potential lawsuit. Um, what we are asking for tonight is in order to keep this process moving forward and on the rails, um, for you to approve the filing of a lawsuit at the direction of the superintendent in consultation with the board president to give the the district more flexibility in when that suit is filed so that we can give the the village a good faith opportunity to get the lay of the land and get back to us and get the see if the process is going to move move forward in in a direction that does not need litigation. But we have the ability to put the brakes on file um if it's deemed necessary um and go that direction as well without having to wait for the next board meeting

116because we are entering into the into the summer. Um and it just it it will keep the keep the process moving and at the forefront of um everybody's mind. It wouldn't be a violation of OMA if in that process we do empower you but you you and Bob are still able to contact the board individually and keep us updated. So we fine with that as long as there's no discussion forum. Yeah. You'll be you'll be advised this is what's going to happen so that you're not taken by surprise. Yeah, I think that that makes sense. Just as long as it's not three or more of us. Okay. So, no big I tend to do those text chain on the way. Not a good idea. Thank you very much. Questions from the board. All right. I

117will now entertain a motion to approve the filing of a lawsuit at the direction of the superintendent in consultation with the board president challenging the designation of the Grove redevelopment area project area and the approval of tax increment financing by the village of Sugar Grove and any other village actions related there too. Second and a roll call, please. Mrs. Simmons. I. Mr. Cook. I. Mr. McCauley. Hi. Dr. Lawler. Hi. Mr. Spela. Hi. Mr. Mansky. I. Motion carries. 6. And you'll convey that information to Yes. The village. I'll let the village know what happened. Yeah. All right, it is now time for superintendent board report. Dr. Rowing, do you have anything to share? A couple things. Um, so last week, Kipla students hosted an exhibition night. Many different student talents were showcased that evening, including students

118reading poetry that they had composed, choir and band concert, science fair projects, and areas of growth for each student were on display. Uh, congratulations to Hudson Geianini for being named as one of the two Fox Valley Career Center students of the year. Hudson is in the Auto Tech 2 program. Also, uh, Ashley Ashley Grashhorn and Cooper von Wagner were finalists for that award. They are both participating in Foundations of Education. Uh, congratulations to coach NPE teacher Ernie Cologne for being named as the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Coach of the Year. I believe this is uh his sixth time winning the award. So, we have a good one there. Um uh Friday, May 2nd, Kanland educators were recognized at the Kane County Educator of the Year banquet. We saw Miss uh Pitstick today, but I do

119also want to recognize uh Miss Kathy Ronzio of McDall for her nomination in the student support personnel category. So, we are proud to call them Knights. It's great to have that representation. It was a fun evening. Uh this Friday, Kanel seniors will be participating in uh the senior clapout where they will have the opportunity to visit their elementary schools as part of their last day of attendance. So that'll be a great activity. Love to watch that. And the the little kids get to see where they're going to be in a quick quick 12 years. Um it depends. So maybe it's long for some of them. I don't know. And the seniors dressed up like Harry Potter. Yes. Yes. Our fourth and fifth grade student leaders at Shields welcomed our Kipla Inspire students uh to KSS

120recently. Um KSS student leaders provided student led tours, sat down and talked to their inspire students about any questions they had about attending uh Shields next year and it was a successful event for both current Shield students and our Inspire students. So, update on that. And then finally, reminder that uh Kalin High School graduation is coming up on Sunday, um the 18th. So, six short days away at 5:00 PM at the NIU Convocation Center. Miss Orflal has information for you if you need it. Everyone have them? You don't have your stuff? Check in with Julie. And then, uh Miss Latterie is not here this evening. She is throwing the discus somewhere. I'm not sure. I'm sure she's doing a great job. Good luck. That's impressive. Fourth and fifth grade giving tours and that's good. I

121think one of those things that you know you you even saw it with uh with the gold presentation too, trying to build the students voice and and self- advocacy is something that we we've really tried to focus on. That's very good. I would say that's present at all our schools. Great. Mr. Falcon does a great job here. The high school has a youth advisory board. Yeah. So, Dr. Boen, I do not have anything this evening. Uhuh. Uhuh. The gun again. Miss Slatterie is not here this evening. Board member I just wanted as I was going to um say the Kip exhibit. Fantastic. Um and then I also had a chance to attend the Cland Arts Initiative um uh um festival. It was such an awesome day. So if you get a chance to go to

122those, they the student work is just amazing. We have some of the most talented artists in and they're playing music and then there's community members there. So, it's just really fun day. So, and kudos to all of our art teachers who do amazing work with I don't know how they do it. They just kudos to them. Any other board member? I would just like to preemptively congratulate our graduates. This I know there I know it's final exams week and it might be a little premature. But uh I wanted to personally congratulate our graduates particularly students who were in special education all that time. Um congratulate them on their persevering on overcoming a bunch of obstacles in some really tough times. But that's just personal having been in the classroom for as long as I was.

123Yeah. here. Anyone else? Are there any topics then for future agenda that the board would like to discuss? I know Adam was very on this, so I want to make sure that it continues. Talks with Canville Fire Department and Alurn Fire Department. I have a meeting. They're on. I have a meeting with Alurn uh tomorrow, I believe. And so, uh we do plan on bringing uh we met with Canville a week or two ago. So, uh, they they will be, uh, bringing back a presentation in June on their current plan. They have some, uh, some contracts with Maple Park that take effect June 1. So, we wanted to give them the chance to get that in place and come with what their plan is. And so, we're continuing to push uh push those parties on

124making sure we have the right services. All right. Perfect. So, you'll see a presentation in June. Um, Kipla numbers, what's the how many kids have registered? Is there any numbers? It could be just an email. I can send that in in this week's update. Thank you. Thank you. Um, so I know some of the board members we have those dinner meetings we have with the KA and the speak folks. So, I had one not too long ago and one of the concerns that was brought up at that dinner was um the shuffling of teachers. And I know Dr. brackets. We talk about this every year. Um but um it does seem like probably because we've made such drastic cuts, some of that shuffling is a lot more intense than it usually is. Um so I

125thought maybe it might be good for us to be in the loop on how much that shuffling is taking place and where folks are being moved. Um just so we have a better sense of like how, you know, how drastic it is and what the impacts are of it. I don't know if that's a we do it here or if it's just an update from you, but some some kind of keeping us in the loop on that. Yeah, I can uh let me uh meet with Chris and talk about how that might work. But I do, you know, that's an ongoing process. Yes. And unfortunately, this year was more than than we would like. Yeah. You know, I've I've spoken with KA about that and um you know, in the future, we hope to not.

126Uh but um it's an ongoing process because as we have changes in staffing and you know somebody go decides they're going to resign and go work here or stay home with their kids or what have you, we we do our best to move people back to where they came from when that's an option. Sure. Sure. So even like the the decision tonight on a on a first grade teacher that will put another one of those teachers back in a classroom, right? But that may also cause that shuffle if we're able to move somebody back to where they start. Sure. That's but we can uh we can figure out a way to to best with it being personnel I think it probably best through an update but as as we make those changes I think we

127can provide that in the weekly of so and so is going back here. Okay. I just think you know as I said I think this is more drastic than usual. This has been an atypical year in terms of staff cuts. So keeping the board a breast of that's probably a good idea and and all that is in it is in the personnel report uh but it may not be as clear so we can provide a I mean the district right so you tell me so and so absolutely yes I don't know that right now anyone else on the board I personally would like to let's let's take a look at how we encourage student excellence in the district and that includes students in general ed as well as in special ed. What recognition we give

128them, what assistance, what um connecting them to making the most of opportunities presented. I think a discussion on that encouraging excellence. I'm not saying it's a it's not been good. I'm just saying there's a lot more we could do that would encourage that culture of excellence that we've been talking about here for a while. Yeah. I'd like to hit the baseline where we're at and see where we can grow. Right. Right. You know, like for example, recognition of our Illinois State Scholars, our National Merit Commended students, you know, National Honor Society students. Yeah, there's there's something more. And the other thing, um, some recognition for Miss Latterie and all of her service. Yep. We that for next me I think we should have that as part of next meeting. Yes. For a time anyone else?

129Anyone? All right. It's now time for the second round of public comments. See none. There is no don't there is no close session tonight for the SK tonight's meet schedule for tonight's meeting after the vote to adjourn the recording of tonight's meeting is concluded and now it is wait for it 7:42 p.m. I will entertain a motion to adjourn the meeting. So move second. All right. Motion by Dr. Lawler, second by Well, we'll just call it Aaron Squared. All those in favor? I. All those opposed. All right. The meeting.