001I call the March 5th, 2026 regular meeting of the Board of Education to order. Kate, will you please call the roll? Dr. Pinter? Here. Mr. Goldberg? Still here. Ms. Maloney? Here. Ms. Timm? Here. Mr. Aitken? Present. Here. Mrs. Warren? Here. Mrs. Dannegard? Here. All right. You don't need to say the pledge. As patriotic as we are, we will skip that part. All right. My comments. Good evening, everyone. I would like to officially call this meeting to order. Did I? I still have to do... I do that after my comments. I'm very confused tonight, people. Yeah, I thought I had it down, but I didn't read this in advance, but I am clearly... Whatever. All right. First, I would like to extend a warm welcome to everyone joining us tonight. Both those who have joined us
002here in person and those who are tuning in electronically, your engagement with our district is vital, and we appreciate you taking the time to be part of this process. I want to take a moment to offer a special thank you to our district team. There is an incredible amount of behind-the-scenes work that goes into bringing our staff recognition program to life, and it truly showed this month. I personally loved reading the latest newsletter and seeing the photos of the surprise announcements and the looks on our winners faces was wonderful. It was such a fantastic way to celebrate the talent and heart within our schools. Thank you for capturing those moments and for everything you do to honor our staff. Continuing with that spirit of celebration, we have some challenge coins to present this evening. These
003coins represent excellence and a commitment to our district's mission. At this time, I'd like to turn the floor over to Mrs. Danniger, please share your shout-out. I'm very excited to shout out Jean and Rachel. As an educator, and every educator can attest to this, there's always going to be students that have food insecurities. I remember personally my first year of teaching as a 22-year-old who grew up in this area not really recognizing that and having a student that I realized was saving half of his lunch every day and sneaking it into his backpacks so that he would have food at home. This was in an area that had wealth and what you would assume security amongst most students. I think it is incredibly fortunate that our foundation and then people like Rachel and Jean recognize
004that this is a challenge that can be in every, not can be, is in every single community. So I wanted to present them this coin because over winter break, these glasses for a reason, they served over a hundred and two families in our community with pre-cooked hams, sides, and shelf stable essentials. Also gave them Walmart gift cards because the reality is they may have had a special treat that they wanted that was special to their family, so we were able to provide that to them through the educational foundation. This was a huge lift and the reality is that's not part of your job description at all, but it is what makes you really special to our community and it is a very big difference maker to over a hundred families. So thank you so so
005much and thank you Rachel. Thank you, Natasha for that recommendation. I really appreciate that. All right. Moving on to the rest of our agenda. Kate, is there anyone signed up for public speaking? Still no. Okay, the next item on the agenda is the consent agenda. Thank you, Mrs. Maloney. This evening I have for the board the approval of minutes from the open and closed Board of Education meeting held on February 19th, 2026, the approval of payrolls, the approval of the personnel report, which includes the 2025-26 stipends for March 5th, the resignation of non-certified staff, the employment of non-certified staff, the resignation of certified staff, and employment of administrative staff and just wanted to point out that we did have the leave for Sarah Adams because Dr. Conway is going to be taking a bit of
006time off, so that's included. And then also a change of administrative staff and then a resignation of administrative staff. And I do like the opportunity to point out individuals who have served our district for a long period of time. I would be remiss if I did not speak specifically about Ms. Dana Loddenberger. She has been an educator in our district since 2003, the 2003-2004 school year and truly her contributions to our district over the years are just too many for me to share all of them. However, you know, a couple of things and I know the board is very familiar with her work and her leadership, but she is a fierce advocate for all kids and adults alike. And so she is going to do great things. I just know in her new role as
007a principal in another district, but I did want to just speak a little bit when I first came to our district. She was one of the first educators that I had the privilege of meeting and getting to know. She was in a different position at that time, but as a teacher and she supported our efforts with COVID beyond what would have been expected. And so she and a small team of staff were here housed at the district office and worked till midnight, many nights to ensure that our staff had lesson plans and literally a plan to deliver to students. She worked with our staff to make sure that their questions were answered during a time that was very difficult to communicate. And that is just one small, small example of what she has done for
008our district. And so I could not be prouder of Dana and I'm excited for her to enter into her her new endeavor and her new journey. We certainly will miss her, but I have no doubt that she is going to do right by district 95 and make us proud as she continues to lead and be successful in her next role. So just wanted to make sure I had the opportunity to share a little bit about her. Thank you. So may I have a motion and a second to approve the consent agenda as prepared and presented by the administration? So moved. Second. Thank you, Doug, and thank you, Peter. Are there any questions? Kate, can you please call the roll? Mr. Etienne? Yes. Ms. Tim? Yes. Mrs. Danniger? Yes. Mr. Goldberg? Yes. Mrs. Warren? Yes. Ms.
009Maloney? Yes. Dr. Pinter? Yes. All right, the next item on the agenda is the superintendent's report, Dr. Gault. Okay, I have several items for the board this evening. As far as communication to the board, there was nothing noted this time around. The FOIA is included in your packet as typical. Did want to point out that we have a wonderful donation from STV Incorporated, and it's $2,000 to go towards the robotics team. And so very, very grateful for their continued support. Additionally, we did have our teaching and learning meeting. And so I'm going to give a brief overview, and then Mrs. Warren, if you'd like to add to it, please feel free to do so. We did have an opportunity to have a review over some of the Loyola learning workshops that have been provided. We
010have some pictures here. You can see our administration and some leaders across our system having an opportunity to be, to receive some training. Additionally, you'll notice that our Loyola group was able to make their way into classrooms at all levels. And so, or elementary and middle school specifically, I apologize. And then we did not have the opportunity prior to this, but on our last Institute Day, we were able to work with math teachers at the high school level. And so they were able to participate alongside Loyola and receive additional training and work. And so just wanted to give you just a brief overview of our next steps. And so we're going to continue with learning. And so you'll notice that there's another workshop planned. We have some additional visits that are planned as well with
011classroom, within our classrooms with our coaches. And then in May, there'll be a final workshop with coaches and building leaders. And so excited for that work to continue. At that time, they'll go ahead and set up a schedule for next school year. As you know, we're continuing that partnership. And excited for that to continue. I did want to say that the Loyola team has been extremely impressed with what's going on in our classrooms, our students' response to their teachers. And so just really excited to continue those efforts. Additionally, we had some conversations related to summer school and our summer semester coming up. It will come before you know it. And so our locations, as the board may already know, Spencer-Lumis and Middle School North, as well as our high school and our young adult center.
012We've listed out the leadership at each one of those facilities. And so they are essentially our summer semester principals. And so excited for them to go ahead and take on that role. We kind of list our schedule, which is a pretty standard schedule. And then list some of our course offerings, offerings at the K-8 level, which are pretty similar again to what we've offered in the past. And then as you go on, you'll notice our high school offerings again, very similar to what has been offered in the past. And then we did just kind of outline for you our typical process that we follow as it relates to communication. And so really excited for our students to start signing up for their summer experience. And then we spent probably the bulk of the time together
013this evening talking about the Accelerated Placement Act and some really some really nice takeaways that we learned through that meeting and that conversation. And so I just have one slide to sum it up, which is why I want to make sure if Mrs. Moran, if you'd like to contribute to that. And then certainly Mr. Etienne. They were both present and engaged in our meeting this afternoon or this evening. So our students remaining in their courses, we did put most students are and then it kind of outlines for you what happened in 2024 versus 2025. So you'll notice that number did decrease. And so we're starting to level off. And if the board recalls, that was something that we did have some concerns with before. And we built in some additional openings, if you will, so
014that we could ensure that students had another spot to go if that course was not working out for them. And so I'm excited that we're leveling off in that area. And then our students finding success in the most rigorous coursework. And so you'll notice that 85% of the students across the four groups have found success as we've defined it. And so again, that's great information for us to have collected. Additionally, are there students still maintaining proficiency on state standards? And so we've seen an increase in the number of students who are performing above proficient or in the top half of proficient. And you'll notice that we're going to start to change our language because the state has changed their language. And so we've moved to this language of performing above proficient. So take note of
015that, that you'll start hearing that more and more. There were, however, a small percentage of students who have shown a decrease in proficiency. We had some conversation about that and really talked about how important it is for us to have a strong MTSS program and plan at our secondary level. And that will ensure, in my mind, and I think in the mind of those that were present at the meeting this evening, that we'll be able to reach those students and help them to perform even better in the future. And so I'll stop here and just say if you'd like to say anything else, this will be your opportunity. So first, I'd like to say how proud we are of our teachers and our students to get a feedback from Loyola that they're so impressed with
016how the teachers are receiving the input and the consulting they're receiving and really ingraining it into their teaching skills and the students are receiving it well as also. So that's really nice to hear when you have a total outside and partial party come into your district and compliments, not only your staff, but also your students. Makes me proud to be on the school board, first of all. And then accelerated placement act, as Peter keeps saying, what was the intention of the lawmakers when they did this? And that's been, I think, the focus on our discussion, not only in teaching and learning, but also in policy. As we've been revising our policy to best fit our district, which is the beauty of local representation. And so to see the drop in the number of courses that
017are dropped is kudos to the staff, explaining what this program is, explaining what's being asked of them, explaining what the expectation should be. The kids are well informed and making good decisions, but also to, I have to say, I was very proud when the definition of success of are you being successful in that next level class was, are you getting an A or a B? It's not, are you passing? It's, are you doing well? Are you getting an A or a B? And the reality is the majority of the students are doing so. So they're stepping up to this challenge they've been given. And they're performing well, which is just makes me super proud, not only of the teachers taking it on, but the students basically challenging themselves and finding success, which is huge. I
018know there were SEL concerns, and I think finding success is one of those positive SELs that can come from this. And so we continue to see that. And we're seeing also the slide about when they were taking standardized tests, what was their rating, what was the spread of the rating before and what was the spread of the ratings afterwards. And seeing that growth, I know that's something we'd like to see in the high school numbers. I think this is sort of an indicator we should start seeing those growth numbers, which I know there's been some concern about it being flat for the last several years. And so this is great. We're seeing results, not only you're looking at it on the Loyola side, you're looking at it with this Advanced Placement Act. We're seeing a
019lot of things that are going into effect that are really pushing our kids to achieve the best they can be. And so it's really nice to see that they're stepping up and performing in that way. Yeah, I just want to echo what Lisa said. I mean, this law and this program has a certain personal resonance with me because, you know, I was one of those students who was in a class. And then somebody thought I could do better. And then they moved me, I mean, I'm not saying moved me, screaming and bawling to the grade higher and then, but I was able to rise to the occasion and do well. And so this law is really intended, particularly for parents and others who may be in a different setting, maybe might not have somebody paying
020as close attention and some of them might even be poorer, frankly. And then they will now have, it's more automated, they'll have an opportunity to deal with more challenging classes as their ability might afford them to. And so through the district's policy, which I'm very proud of, we've allowed more of those students to have that opportunity and the board has been gracious enough to help fund We've been asking from the superintendent any staffing or changes that might occur with that. And here we are having the results. And the result looks very, very good for Lake Zurich and I'm very pleased with our teachers and our students and our administrators that are making that happen. And thankfully for that student who might not have had a chance to do an AP class or higher level class,
021they now have the opportunity to do it and realize that they could achieve a whole lot more than they thought before. Thank you to both of you. And again, great job to our staff and I really appreciate all of the work from the curriculum and instruction department as well as student services. So thank you. Additionally, I have just some really some great information to share that includes some celebrations, some updates. So the MLI process, which is the mobile learning initiative. So that goes back to our one to one device process. We do have an empower 95 action plan related to MLI. And so I first want to really thank Melissa Gray, Ryan Nardiello and Dr. Mary czar, because they have gone above and beyond to ensure that student voice is very much a part of
022this process in moving forward. And I just I'm so grateful. As you'll notice in here, we once this is completed, we will have had approximately 1000 students providing their ideas, their opinions, experiences and needs. And that's outside of a survey that that those are live focus groups. And so the amount of time and dedication that they have demonstrated through this process has been exceptional. Dr. czar happened to have a conflict this morning. And so I was able to join Mr. Nardiello and Miss Gray in our efforts with those focus groups, particularly at May Whitney. There's just a quick picture. We had a couple of classrooms together. For fifth graders, fourth graders and third graders. And it was an awesome experience to be able to hear firsthand from students giving their opinions in many areas. I
023will just say I think both Mr. Nardiello and myself were very, very impressed with one of our female students at the building who shared that she felt we should be very responsible with our dollars and make sure that that was a priority, essentially. And so I love that kid. Absolutely. Absolutely. It was I think it was a fourth grader. So impressive. But the answers and the information, if you ask students, they will tell you. And they did. And so very excited about their work. You'll hear more about this when they give when they come back to you with a recommendation as well as when they share another update. But I was I'm just grateful I had the opportunity today to meet with some students and get to be a part of those conversations. And then
024just wanted to share we have some fun things going around the district. And so I wanted to share with you this is on the hundred and twentieth day of school at Spencer Loomis. Mrs. Rothermel was super excited when there were some first grade students that rose to the challenge and persevered using one of our our values and were able to create a tower that was taller than her. And she's pretty tall. So kudos to them. Just a little bit of fun that's happening around the district. And then additionally, this was also shared with me. And this is really focusing on just the contributions to our local community. Sometimes that can mean our schools. Sometimes it can mean the greater community. And sometimes it can go even further than that. This one's more specific to our
025school local community and certainly MSS and Isaac Fox are connected. And so it makes this easier. However, Kristen Zell, who is a culinary and textile design teacher at MSS, went ahead and looked at the curriculum and then made some decisions about the curriculum and what she was going to work on her seventh grade learners with and decided that it would be awesome if they could go ahead and create those handmade pillows, but give them a different purpose. And so that purpose has now been for when a student has a loose tooth and they lose that tooth during the school year, they they're given a small little pillow. And so just really excited. This shows one of the pictures of the very first student who received one of those pillows, who was super excited, so excited
026that she wrote a personal thank you note. And that was hand delivered to Middle School South. And again, this just just goes back to that skill building opportunity, that opportunity to connect with another school and work side by side in the area of community service. And my understanding is that this teacher has another another thing coming that I'll share at a different date. So just excited. And it's just one example of the incredible experiences that our staff and District 95 are providing to our students that are definitely not just meeting our core values and our portrait of a graduate, but also really getting at our instructional model, especially that authenticity piece. And then I did want to just take a moment to congratulate some of our student artists and designers. You'll notice that there are
027several students that have won awards in this year's Scholastic Art and Writing Competition. Their names are listed above or on the slide. And so really proud of our artists in our district. And, you know, we just continue in the fine arts area in my mind to go above and beyond one for our students. But we have got such talented students amongst us. And so certainly excited for Abby, Alexandra, Christina, Lizzie and Maddie. So congratulations to all of those students. And then this evening in our meeting, we also did celebrate Dr. Katie Dangler. She did successfully defend her dissertation on Saturday in the morning. And so there were a few of us who had the opportunity to join through Zoom. And so we were able to listen to her presentation and, you know, gain some additional
028actually information and insights into our own coaching model for leaders that we will be tapping into Dr. Dangler on, but could not be prouder of her and just wanted to take a moment to celebrate her. So if we can give her a round of applause goes back to our mission, empowering every learner to achieve personal excellence. And so that every learner is so important. And then last night, we there were a few of us who had an opportunity to attend the Governor's Blue Ribbon School Award Program. I will say they were very strict on the number of individuals that were allowed to attend. At first, we didn't quite understand why. And then when we entered the mansion and entered the room, we understood why they could not take in any more individuals other than the
029three we were allotted to take with us. So are the three in total. And so Dr. Conway, of course, being the principal of the building, was there and was celebrated and recognized. It was amazing. And then Dr. Zahr really helped with all of the application process, et cetera. And the superintendent is invited as well. So I had an opportunity to go. It was such an honor, I will say, our governor Pritzker did an amazing job of one, ensuring that he was engaged and participatory with every single school that was there. And so that was wonderful. But just the words that he spoke to the school buildings and just the celebration of public educators was amazing. So I do want to thank him for that and thank our state, because not every state decided to go
030ahead and take that on when the federal government canceled the National Blue Ribbon Award system. So very grateful to our state for what they did. And then I wanted to give a shout out to our education foundation at the gala. As I'm sure you are aware, we were they were working alongside the district and really trying to secure additional funds for our 3D anatomy table. And that is for science and for medical coursework at the high school level. And I am super excited to share that they did reach an unprecedented unprecedented amount of money, which is awesome. And so they raised fifty eight thousand five hundred dollars towards the table. They had some other money they raised last year that they will also contribute towards that table. They still have some additional dollars to raise.
031It's over one hundred thousand dollars. But they're keeping that open right now and continuing to try to raise additional funds and look for additional donors. So more information will come out to our community as it relates to that. This is just a quick photo of the board members. And then I serve as a non-voting member who and these are the individuals who are able to be in attendance and just want to thank our foundation for their efforts. Always looking for ways to provide our students in our district and our staff with additional items to enhance our programming. So and then I will go on to important dates. So I did share with you in a message that we have a blue ribbon celebration at Sarah Adams. And so that will be on March 12th. That
032is the date that they have set aside for a community wide event as well that that our families attend already. And so we're going to kind of insert a celebration specific to their blue ribbon celebration. It is from five thirty until six thirty. However, the presentation for the blue ribbon piece will be at five forty five. So if you do want to attend, you will need to get there by five forty five and just know that because the entire building is invited, parking may be difficult. So be thinking about that as you're preparing to arrive to that event. If you would like to attend, it will be very brief, but we do want to celebrate with their learning community. And then we have breakfast from the board at Spencer Loomis. Your representatives are Lisa Warren
033and Doug Goldberg. We do have our Lake Division meeting. Several of you have signed up. If you do want to sign up, please make sure you see Kate very quickly. And then we have our board self-evaluation workshop. We have secured the IASB representative Laura Martinez to be there with us. So please make sure that you have that date marked, pitch night, Lake County Awards night, our senior graduation and then the Board of Education retreat, which is in the summer. That date was set and this was the best we could literally do. There was always going to be at least one or two individuals that were not going to be in attendance. This is where there's one person who couldn't be in attendance. Mrs. Maloney, pick the date based on that information. OK, got it. You
034sent me back saying the 18th. OK, all right. And that's what I have for you this evening. Can I mention one thing about the gala real quick? Oh, absolutely. I just want to shout out to Tessa, who is the new executive director for the T95 Educational Foundation. She had to jump right in and put that event together in eight weeks. It was my first gala, but I had a great time. And I really enjoyed her spirit and professionalism and everyone. I was really there for the kids. So it was really a great event. So thank you. Thank you. All right. The next item on the agenda is reports to the board. And the cash flow report was provided in the board packet. Are there any questions for Ms. Kaiser? All right. Then we have the
035financial dashboard. What questions do the board members have for Ms. Kaiser, if any? Well, you did an excellent job of explaining everything to everybody. So all right then, moving on to discussion without action. First is the proposed board meeting calendar for the 26-27 school year was shared. Are there any questions for Dr. Gault? All right, that's usually kind of controversial. Our next item is the one-year contract extension for custodial services. What questions do the board members have for Mr. Erstad? Wow, everyone is just doing such a phenomenal job with their reports. I'll agree with them tonight. Yeah. All right then, our last item is the one-year contract extension for landscape services. Are there any questions for Mr. Erstad? Well, we have a wonderful record of reports to the board tonight. All right, the next item
036is discussion with action. The first item for discussion with action is the J-A-M-F annual expense. Let's start by getting a motion and a second on the table for the J-A-M-F annual expense. May have that motion. So moved. Second. Thank you, Natasha, and thank you, Alicia. Are there any questions for Dr. Zahr? All right then. Kate, please call the roll to authorize the district to extend the software agreement with J-A-M-F for an additional year effective April 7th, 2026 through April 6th, 2027 in the amount of $75,719. Mr. Goldberg? Yes. Dr. Pinter? Yes. Mrs. Warren? Yes. Mrs. Danniger? Yes. Mr. Aitken? Yes. Ms. Maloney? Yes. Ms. Timm? Yes. All right. Next, we have the authorization to purchase bulk road salt. Let us get a motion and a second, please. May have the motion. So moved. Second. Thank
037you, Natasha, and thank you, Doug. Board colleagues, do you have any questions for Mr. Erstad? Lots of salt. All right. Kate, please call the roll to designate the Executive Director of Facilities and Grounds to purchase bulk road salt by executing the authorization to purchase agreement with the Central Management Services of Illinois. Mrs. Danniger? Yes. Ms. Maloney? Yes. Mr. Aitken? Yes. Mrs. Warren? Yes. Dr. Pinter? Yes. Ms. Timm? Yes. Mr. Goldberg? Yes. All right. The next item is closed session. We are going into closed session. One more. The what? The certificate of authority. What? Okay. Okay. Okay. We are going into closed session for the following reasons. The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees, specific individuals who serve as independent contracts, specific volunteers, or legal counsel for the district. Five, ILCS 122C1.
038Collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees. Five, ILCS 122C2. Litigation when an action affecting or on behalf of a particular public body has been filed and is pending before a court or administrative tribunal, or when the public body finds that an action is probable or imminent, in which case the basis for the finding shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting. Five, ILCS 122C11. Student disciplinary cases, five, ILCS 122C9. May I have this motion? So move. Second. Thank you, Doug. Kate, please call the roll. Mrs. Warren? Yes. Dr. Pinter? Yes. Mr. Goldberg? Yes. Mrs. Danniger? Yes. Ms. Timm? Yes. Ms. Maloney? Yes. Mr. Aitken? Yes. We will not be taking any action after
039closed session this evening.