001Test one two test check 2025 regular meeting of the Board of Education To order Kate. Will you please call the roll? Mr. Etienne Miss Tim here Mrs. Dan agar here Mr. Goldberg here Mrs. Warren Miss Maloney here Dr. Pinter, please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance To which it stands one nation under God Indivisible as we begin tonight's meeting the board would like to express our sincere gratitude during teacher and staff appreciation week in District 95 our mission is to empower every learner to achieve personal excellence and that happens because of you Each of you brings our core values to life every day You uphold academic excellence by engaging Challenging and supporting students to reach their full potential you model accountability by setting high expectations and following through with dedication You foster collaboration by working
002together and lifting each other up You ensure equity by meeting learners where they are and giving each one what they need to thrive You lead with integrity Persevere through challenges and treat everyone with respect Thank you for your unwavering commitment to our students our school and our community You make district 95 a place where excellence isn't just a goal. It's a daily practice We appreciate you and we celebrate you this week and always Thank you last evening several board member colleagues And I had the opportunity to attend the Lake County Award ceremony where we recommend Recognized many of our staff members amongst over a thousand guests. It was an incredible evening And I'm so proud of district 95 Additionally two of our students were the emcees Jack Byrne and Anna Deval They represented Lake Zurich
003well They even received a standing ovation at the conclusion of the event. So thank you to both of them Doug, you have challenge coins. Yes. Thank you Eileen. I had a couple of challenge coins this evening. I'm pleased to present tonight we take a moment to recognize a remarkable group of individuals whose dedication mentorship and passion has helped shape one of the most dynamic and Inspiring programs at Lake Zurich High School our barebotics robots team Under the outstanding leadership of coaches Robert Medina and Colin Furlong and supported by a committed team of mentors Barebotics has grown into a program that only builds robots but builds confidence skills and future ready students This year the team reached a historic milestone by winning first place at the central Illinois regional Marking the first time Lake Zurich robotics
004has earned this prestigious honor It's an incredible achievement that speaks to the talent and tenacity of our students and to the exceptional guidance they received from their mentors What sets barebotics apart is not just the trophies or rankings But the process while many teams rely on pre-made kits our students work closely with their mentors Design and build their robot entirely from scratch in our students in our school's machine lab The result is a one-of-a-kind creation that reflects innovation teamwork and countless hours of dedication Equally inspiring as a legacy this program is building many of our former students deeply impacted by their own barebotics experience Are now returning as mentors themselves coming full giving full circle to the program that helped shape them The barebotics mentors are more than technical guides. They are role models who
005demonstrate the power of collaboration Problem-solving and perseverance They show our students what it means to lead with purpose and to believe in the potential of every idea and every teammate To all the barebotics mentors. Thank you for your time your passion and your belief in our students Your work is changing lives one robot at a time My second challenge coin this evening is a tribute to one of our long-serving staff members actually 24 years with us Helen Raza At the heart of Lake Zurich High School's main office as someone who does far more than keep the school running smoothly She keeps its spirit alive Helen Raza our main office administrative assistant is one of those rare individuals whose presence elevates an entire community Her work may involve phones parents and substitute teacher logistics But her
006impact reaches far beyond the job description to many students Helen is an unofficial guidance counselor a trusted adult who listens without judgment and often and offers encouragement when it's needed most Her desk has become a place of comfort and reassurance Especially for those who arrive feeling lost or overwhelmed With warmth and a steady voice Helen helps keep them find not only the room They're looking for but sometimes a little clarity or confidence along the way her positive energy is infectious Whether it's through her thoughtful interactions or cheerful announcement she makes during passing period Helen brings light to the day for both students and staff She creates a sense of belonging turning the main office into more than just a hub of activity It's a welcoming space where everyone feels seen and valued Helen's kindness approachability
007and unwavering commitment to every student makes her an extraordinary part of a school family She reminds us daily that small gestures smiles kind words and quiet support Can have a powerful and lasting impact Thank you Helen for being the heart behind the scenes and a source of care and connection for all of us Thank you, Doug Kate is there anyone signed up for public speaking? No, there is not. Thank you The next item on the agenda is the consent agenda. Dr. Galt Thank you, Mrs. Maloney this evening I have approval of the minutes for the open and closed sessions during the Board of Education meeting that was held on April 24th 2025 We also have the approval of payrolls last day of school for the 2024-25 school year high school cabling project new course proposals
008and course name changes for the 2026-27 school year summer 2025 camera project approval summer 2025 security will Film window film approval synergy renewal the personnel report as well Which includes the resignation of certified staff a leave of absence of certified staff change of certified staff Change of administrative staff and I do want to just acknowledge to the board and point out Mrs. Kaiser is in the audience this evening She is the current principal of Isaac Fox elementary school and she next year will be joining us with your approval and your blessing to the Director of Business Services and so she's included in this board report Thank you. May I have a Motion to approve the consent agenda as prepared and presented by the administration so moved second Thank you, Doug. And thank you Peter Kate,
009please call the roll Mrs. Danniger. Yes Miss Maloney. Yes. Mr. Aitken. Yes Miss Tim. Yes Mr. Goldberg. Yes Next item on the agenda is the superintendent's report. Dr. Galt. Thank you This evening. I have several items for you. The first one. I do want to point out communication to the board. You did receive communication from individuals As it relates to some comments that were made during the April board meeting our past president Mr. Goldberg communicated with those individuals and publicly shared a statement during the May 5th 2025 board meeting also dr. Karner you may not have seen this but today you received a wonderful communication from dr. Karner thanking the board and administration for all of their efforts as it relates to the Lake County Awards ceremony as well as their model countywide and so
010I do have that communication in a later slide I will just point out but very very kind words We did also receive a donation During the month of April from the Billy Missick Foundation for the choir in the amount of $2,457 and 46 cents that was for the Ravenia Performance grant and so a huge thank you I know the Billy Missick Foundation gives a lot of money to district 95 and has over the years and so we greatly Appreciate their partnership and their support And then we had our teaching and learning committee meeting this evening And so mr. Aitian was the lead for our meeting tonight And so mr. Aitian if I forget something or leave something out, please just chime in that would be greatly appreciated So we first started talking about Assessment and
011really specific to the ACT and then it does involve a couple of other assessments as well as some of the board is aware and Miss Tim being a new member you may or may not be aware because I know you have a high school student But we did have some difficulties in facilitating the ACT assessment But not as many as other districts surrounding districts who gave it the day before but we did have 96 percent of our 9th through 11th grade students participate in that assessment and We did end up having to extend the day by about an hour due to some Issues that were created by ACT. So there was some misinformation. There was inaccurate proctoring scripts, etc and so I think that being able to Reduce the amount of time to an hour
012was actually awesome And dr. Walsh is shaking his head in the audience And so greatly appreciate the administration at the high school as well as miss Aubrey Allen who supported the high school in their efforts And we tried our best to make it a good experience for our students while they were being assessed we Have been able to give ACT a lot of feedback and we are hopeful that that feedback will help them to respond more Appropriately in the future. We also did speak with both dr. Berkey, which is the Luda president or director and then we also spoke with dr Karner's office and they were able to assist during that time frame as well to help us get the answers we needed in the moment The board should just know the ACT and SAT
013they do differ in what they assess And so as we move forward and you'll notice through the report that was shared with us this evening That it will be very difficult for us to be able to look at one testing instrument Versus another and be able to understand growth over time We're hopeful that is that the state will help us do that better but that likely will not that information will likely not be available until September and Then publicly available on October 30th. I'm told at 9 a.m And so we will wait to see until they they allow it us the opportunity to review that We do know that as we go into our spring and we take our second assessment for ACT that Typically the national Nationally speaking science and writing components are typically
014optional in our state They will be mandated because the state is going to use those as the expectations That the federal government has set up as it relates to both science and writing assessments So rather than create our own or select a different tool. We're going to go ahead and use the ACT And ACT is also expected to shift a bit and so it's going to reduce from five to four sections in the area of mathematics some of the number of questions on sections may also Reduce slightly as well as the length of the passages and just for some comparison SAT is typically shorter than ACT and so while we may have a Passage on ACT in the past which hasn't really changed since the early 90s It may have been a long passage with
01511 questions, and we're expecting that to be reduced Greatly between now and the next time the students take it as far as if we'll go ahead and go to the next slide In the fall there is going to be a change to cut scores And what we can expect is that the state right now is in a process working hard To make sure that all of our assessments are more aligned meaning the IAR which is our Illinois assessment for readiness That our students in grades three through eight take as well as the ISA, which is the Illinois science assessment and the ACT are all going to be more aligned as we take a look at our scores and understand our scores from the different levels So we're excited about that additionally right now ACT the
016way it is set up and where the way or I guess the way SAT was set up as well as I are The state did choose and select its cut scores Which are very different than surrounding states and states across the country in Illinois We set a much higher threshold for proficiency And so they're looking to ensure that that level is more in line with the states across the country as well as the actual assessment So we're expecting that that threshold is going to look different What that might mean is that and if you can go to the next slide there's some implications for our district But specific to that would be that again that comparability is going to be a little bit challenging as we take a look at proficiency Percentages we also know
017that our data is going to arrive late. And so that's something that Used to be some practice many years ago. Unfortunately, we seem to be back in that state this year The data will be incomplete for districts until September Which does pose a bit of problems as we look to create school improvement plans however our district has collected a lot of data over the years and so what we're going to do is we're going to well we're not going to be given our Information from the state as far as proficiency levels is concerned We're going to apply what they have typically applied in the past To our current data and use that as a guide as we start working through our school improvement process and Setting goals and part of the reason for that is
018we do a lot of work over the summer to make sure that we're ready for Students in the fall and then we'll adjust when we do receive that information So we're we're doing everything that we possibly can with the information we have to continue leading forward Mr. AT and I'm going to stop at this point and just find out if you had any additional items you would like to add to the assessment piece Just you know, I think you've covered it. I think that the key Message that comes across is with the changes in the state and in the change with a city and an SET it's going to be hard to answer the simple question You know, are we doing better or is there growth? But I think the district will use its own
019data and its own measure to help answer that to the best of our abilities It's not going to be perfect. But ultimately that's we have a lot of pieces and Importantly as well the fact that the state will be removing the benchmark data will make Comparison to past years a little bit more difficult But we know deep down inside that that lake Lake Zurich is doing great and will continue to do well And I think we'll be able to show the the great work that a curriculum Instruction department and all of our teachers and students are doing to show that progress Thank you And we'll still be able to compare ourselves to to the other Districts across the state that are going to experience the same changes and so that will also help us to
020continue to understand our performance level We also then spent some time talking about AI as you will recall and During a past meeting we talked about the overarching information specific to AI as well as the guidance that the district has set up We've now Made that information more specific to our teachers who are working with our students And I think the the biggest most important piece is the practical resources that we either are purchasing and or Creating and so the one tool and I'll ask you to go ahead and go to the next slide so that the board can see this Assignment parameters this tool in and of itself is actually very simplistic It's a stoplight and so red simply means no use You are not allowed to use AI on this project or this
021assessment or this writing assignment, etc There may be sometimes where we say it's limited use and here's how you're going to use it And these are the only ways that you can use it and then full use and we fully expect that there will be Opportunities for students to experience all three Levels of the stoplight and what this will do is it'll just make it more transparent to our students and our families What's expected with each assignment and what students should be? Allowed to do as they're completing each assignment right now That's been a little bit. I would say nebulous in some cases to students They may think oh I didn't know that I couldn't use it and so this is just going to make it really really clear for everyone What's allowed and what's
022not and so very excited about the inclusion of this tool for our staff? We've gone through a long process where we've started with different groups and started that training process and as the board may recall We do have a committee an AI committee led by mrs. Wagner Who really was responsible for the creation of all of our expectations our guidance documents, etc? And what I can share with the board is that you know that I belong to the Lake County Superintendent Association There's over 50 districts that belong to that and we did share our information with all of those other districts and I Received a very high number of thank-yous as it relates to us sharing what we're doing here I think mr. Atn probably said it best in our meeting that we are a
023leader in this area So greatly appreciate the work of the curriculum and instruction department And then we also had an opportunity to review the assessment calendar as we can start thinking about next school year And so wanted the board to be aware of what we are expecting it to look like Please note that some of this will change based on state data That is not yet available But these are the this is the best predictor that we can have at this point and this is typically when we present that calendar and then the department shared just a bit of a Year in review and as the board knows You did approve the ELA resource for our staff and our students for the upcoming school year This just lets you know that this year we started
024that training and that onboarding of our staff much sooner than we typically would It's usually done at the beginning of the year all of our staff who? Participated in this training which you can see is a very very big number and that number continues to increase as we provide other opportunities for staff but what this says is that all of our staff has access to The online resource and they're going to be ready to go at the start of the year We'll do additional trainings over the summer to allow especially our new staff that will be onboarding to have an opportunity to go through that Similar experience and then we'll have additional opportunities for staff as we start the school year in the area of training and Really understanding this new resource our staff is
025very excited. You'll see one of the quotes I will tell you that as somebody who is in this office and hearing the training that's going on It has not been uncommon that I hear applause Laughing excitement and literally teachers leaving as though it was a birthday celebration with their materials and Excitement for what's to come so love that and a great job again curriculum and instruction And then Lastly they just shared a year in review and they highlighted a few things one of the items that was highlighted with students earned Earning the seal of by literacy last year you may recall we were at 11 and so far this year We're at 25 and the reason there's a plus is that we've not received all of our assessment data back yet Once we receive our
026access assessment information I am quite certain that that number will continue to increase so that very very exciting As you know we did have a math Audit which we're calling a needs assessment conducted with our partnership with a university And so that information will become available Prior to the end of June and we'll be sharing more information about that with the board at that time but very excited to be able to get that information and then be responsive to to the the data that was collected and Then some celebrations and events I very much appreciate the board's participation last night and We did have two of our students Anna and Jack who were the emcees they are the very first emcees of the Lake County event and so Just I could not be more proud
027of their performance at that event, but also And Just the acceptance of everybody in that room the two students also shared personal stories that were related to their experiences as a student and the support and help that they received from teachers along the way and I I found that to just You automatically were endearing yourself to the entire night and excited about what was to come that we had the opportunity to celebrate Exceptional educators across the system that represent all of the educators that work hard on behalf of students in each of the districts that were there There were over a thousand individuals there honoring staff. It was awesome. And you'll see just a few pictures But you can see Anna and Jack up on stage and they literally handled everything This is the communication
028that I shared that dr Karner wrote and so he really just wanted to express his great appreciation, you know, this started out as just over or just under three or four hundred individuals attending and as I said, we were over a thousand this year in four short years I Cannot thank the communications department enough mrs. Malik Miss wood very would very miss Artega Their work to ensure that this night was a huge success just cannot go unnoticed and so there's a lot of planning and effort that goes into making sure that it looks a certain way that it runs a certain way and they've been critical to its success and then Some other shout outs to Kate Amita and Sharon for their support with set up and take down and then It was incredible to
029have staff stay at the end of the event as well as many District administrators who did not have to stay and they supported all of us in the takedown Which could have taken, you know a couple of hours and they helped to minimize that takedown and so really appreciate the efforts of all that you know last night district 95 was celebrated a lot and There were so many accolades and Dr. Karner is correct. We are a leader amongst Lake County I could not be more proud of our district and it was pretty awesome to see that and it was great I think for the staff who were there to see that as well. So thank you for your attendance at that event. I did yeah, I Also had the privilege of being at our tech
030campus board meeting earlier today We had the opportunity to listen to several recognitions of districts across the county who send students to the tech campus and so I Just wanted to acknowledge some of our students who received awards at their award ceremony I don't think we have actually ever done this and wanted to just Put up their names so that you could see that, you know We had students who were selected as program student of the year We had students that were selected as tech campus student of the year And then I do want to point out something that I thought was Phenomenal is we have a couple of students who earn some scholarships and you'll notice Jacob earned the tech campus tool scholarship and what that is is it's a $5,000 bag of tools
031that that student will need to immediately start a career post High school. How awesome is that? And so our students are so fortunate to be able to receive that kind of education outside of our school district and I again as the tech campus board of directors president I again could not be prouder of the work that's being done on that campus and also Continue to be so proud of the fact that we're continuing to increase student enrollment at that site By a lot each and every year So very proud of our students and I believe high school the high school is also Trying to figure out a way to recognize the individuals who are seniors who may have received an award And then this is just a quick little. Thank you. There's some pictures that
032are posted here Just really representing the district 95 staff Every single staff member in our district contributes to our students in some way That helps them throughout their educational experience in our district And again as somebody who has a grandson in our district I get to see firsthand his experiences as a young learner in our school district And then as the superintendent who gets to walk the halls of our buildings I could not be prouder of the efforts of our staff on a daily basis to impact students across our system So a huge thank you to district 95 staff Especially recognizing him this week But I hope that we each continue to think about the work that they do on a daily basis and Then mark your calendar. I did go ahead and add a
033couple of more items to your list the middle school Both MSS and MSN do have promotion ceremonies that are coming up One is at 5 p.m. On May 21st And if you recall we have them back-to-back the other is at 730 Even if you cannot make one, but you can make the other time I would really appreciate board attendance And so if you wouldn't mind just letting me know if you're going to be able to participate that would be awesome it is at the lakes are a high school field house and then graduation of course and then Continuing to think about our Board of Education retreat retreat and then our high school Graduation with our seniors and it is just an exciting event to be able to see the culmination of all of their years
034and Watching them grow into their next journey That's all I have for you this evening Thank You. Dr. Galt very inspirational Moving on to reports to the board The first item is the financial dashboard Are any are there any questions for dr. Romano? Okay, moving on to the next item high school scoreboard updates are there Okay, are there any questions from the board? I have a comment. My comment is You know you guys had listed here about $24,000 of spend to buy some video production equipment. I mean we've spent almost a million dollars on scoreboards. I Absolutely a hundred percent in favor of doing that it's kind of a shame to not be able to allow the students that have the full capacity to make use of those so Having met with a group of
035students earlier in the year that were the original students that you know Dan brought together to make some artwork and Put together some material for their football games. I really really would be a huge proponent of you guys bringing forward a plan to Get that equipment in house and explain to us exactly how it's going to be used but clearly You know the missing thing right now is we've got these wonderful blank canvases. We're missing some of the Infrastructure required to actually make the best use of it. So I'm a big fan of that Yeah, we're really looking forward to all the different things so we just started exploring all the different aspects of the scoreboard and Yeah, we wanted to put it all up there so we could see what it could do But
036also we need to make sure we have the staff to do it because although mr. Dolny is excellent at everything he does he does not he can't do he can't run three scoreboards so right now what we're looking for is a staff person to Kind of head this up and then make it go into some courses possibly in the future So so John I remember I had met with this group of students and you know They were talking about forming a club that would be responsible for developing the various graphics Is that does that become a thing if we actually got a club? Yeah, we're so that's what we're working on now So Dan and Tom Regan, they did a really good job working with kids this year But we really need someone who's dedicated
037to this and we'll work with them Especially with the new scoreboards that are going in the field house as well So we have kids who are ready to take it and go So what we really need to do is get a sponsor who's willing to watch over them and make sure and really what I'm hoping Is this sponsor might look towards some marketing courses or some journalism courses because really what we're looking at as we have a print Barefax what we need now is a broadcast barefax And I think this is really the start of our journey getting there And we're lucky we have a group of kids who are really excited to do it But again what we need to do is get an adult to kind of gather this all together and organize
038it That'd be great. Thank you. I agree with Doug I'm really I was really excited when I was reading it and seeing all the possibilities and that were like starting to take steps in Those directions. My only question is are we is it going to be used for graduation this year? so I've worked with Marcel. So we do have the ability to have a camera hooked up to it in in using it in athletic events, we see it as Using it to show everybody what they should be focusing on so this year during graduation We're gonna have a camera Up on the stage for the speakers and then really important for when the parents and their kids walk across the stage shake the handgrab The diploma will have the camera centered on there so that
039it's being broadcasted on the scoreboard Yeah, I just want to I'm so excited about this. I'm glad Certainly when we got the equipment as mr. Goldberg Mentioned it's a lot of money that went into it But we also talked about the potential of all we could use it to that it's why I appreciate you're spending time to think about the potential and Comparatively compared to the equipment as well as mr. Goldberg said the dollar amounts there aren't huge So you have my I'm not the one You certainly have my full support for this. I think it's a great idea and and you talked about a broadcast bare facts, I Hope that the vision is even bigger than that that we would have our own internal You know station. We are where the students good good
040actually holding their skills in that area even further so so I'm excited to see this and thanks for thinking ahead and And I look forward to all the great work that you're gonna do with the equipment and with the students Thank you, I also just want to say how exciting I how exciting it is to have this additional fun element to our all of our athletic events as well as you know other uses for the scoreboard and I just look at it as you know a great Opportunity for marketing. I mean you could even use it for marketing the The food that we serve at the and and just there's so many in that that's an advertising class a marketing class you could get all of this in there, and then you can track sales
041and you can evaluate the Credibility of the marketing. I mean there's just so many exciting things and enhancements to what we already offer, but just Fun element so yes very very very excited for the potential that this gives us But you know obviously you walk before you run and so the club is a great idea and yes Let's hope we can get someone just excite as as excited to run it with these kids. So thank you so much it's been great just to Give shout outs to our kids above and beyond just athletics being able to advertise for Shrek Fine Arts Department gave us pictures of the prom Able to shout out the prom afterwards at soccer games lacrosse games So it goes just beyond it goes beyond just athletics and just able to give
042shout outs to you know The general student body for things that they do really well in the town to that Well, thank you. Thank you Our last report to the board this evening is the empower 95 curriculum and instruction updates are there any questions I? Just want to make a comment. I found What we've been doing with CNI so impressive Unfortunate that mrs. Allen is in your doctor. She is watching okay. This couldn't be here in person So whatever you say she's going to hear you Humongous kudos to her. This was a huge undertaking especially two big subjects which was AI and language one thing everyone here knows is near and dear to my heart is our Yeah, yes all learners our ML learners um That we are training additional staff on access I think
043is incredible because it gives staff the up accesses the test that we use to determine a child language proficiency in English So if we have additional staff trained in that they can fully understand What is expected of our students when it comes to language proficiency? Which is a really difficult concept to understand and it's really hard to know the scale from zero to graduation at four so That is near and dear to my heart And I'm very proud of it that our district is focusing on those kids and focusing on developing our staff in that area also You already presented, but our Movement on AI. I think is incredible our we've said it several times our AI team that presented to us as a board Incredible it makes me really excited because I think we're
044leaning forward into the future instead of fearing it and I think it's a Really really good representation of our district so mrs. Stallion. I hope you're feeling better Thank you for really pushing our district forward it it shows in this plans Great, and you know I echo what my colleague said and also I think these are building blocks and We have just a fantastic stuff I've called them superstars, and they are they were very very hard and actually they did so much this year Already and and it's just remarkable. I hope they're not worn out, but but really a remarkable compilation of work And and as miss denega said really the the AI piece is significant We for people that have not dabbled in this it could really change the way you do tasks from
045a day-to-day Basis and and and I'm just so proud that our district is so forward-thinking We have tools already we have standards already and and as we shared even at our teaching and learning meeting today Even what we've prepared now a year from now. We will have or even six months from now We'll have to keep updating and revising and we have teachers as you have seen before that Have been excited about it and are using it So I'm just really great that the district is ahead on both of those and and I really want to stress That the CNI department. It's really building blocks takes years takes months of Work and so we really appreciate the work that they do so thanks again to me stallion and and the entire team Yeah, many. Thanks
046to our CNI department obviously led by Angela stallion. Oh wait. Hi Angela you know just looking at the sheer amount of action items that were Completed during this reporting period is incredible right and just an amazing amount of work with and I think You know one of the things our our job as board members is to provide resources right and the resources obviously we focus on besides the physical infrastructure is the curriculum and so We're not curriculum experts and therefore we rely on our team to give us good solid advice and clearly They've been doing that because the outcomes have been remarkable, and I do think that You know the fact that we've embraced AI is is super important I think that the thing that excites me most about is what it's going to do
047for our staff its ability to help them create meaningful curriculum to Grade that curriculum and to aid the students as they use the curriculum is really going to be a game-changer You know so I I like the fact. We're not afraid of it I like the fact that we have a tiered approach to its use I think that's that's important. I played around a little bit with school You can just get the free account and log into school AI and try it Anybody that's used chat GPT or grok will have a direct comparison to it or any of the other? LLms that are out there, but I'll tell you that it's it's good It clearly has some limitations. You know it's its ability to generate images and stuff isn't quite as good I think as
048some of the other ones, but what it does that's remarkable is you can tell it Hey, could you write me a curriculum for the following things and it just spits it out It's really amazing and it you know because it is able to pull in resources from literally around the planet You know you get best read material, so I'm incredibly excited about the transformational nature of this Really from the curriculum perspective, and I think as our as our students get used to how to use it where it's where it applies I think we're just scratching the surface of how you know we talked 15 20 years ago about how the internet had revolutionized education because gave us access to all this data this is Step way beyond that okay. This is what this is going
049to do for many things, but really an education I think is is going to be incredible to watch over the next few years, and it's going to happen really fast So I love the fact that we're on top of this. I love the fact that we've embraced it and You know kudos to our entire team for for doing that and again for all the Incredible work that was done over this reporting period and curriculum. It's it's really truly amazing, so thank you and I am Did talk about miss Talion, but I also want to a shout out to miss Wagner as well We spend so much work on this and and and she's enthused with the enthusiasm of innovation And an AI and she's an asset to the district so so thanks a lot for
050her work as well Can I just can I just want to add one thing so I? so appreciate The board's accolades of the curriculum and instruction department I obviously think very highly of their work and respect their work I do want to make sure that especially this week of all weeks that We remember that all of this work one was created by teams of individuals Who are staff that are in our classrooms across our district and to that? You know our teachers in our classrooms our administrators in each of our buildings They bring all of this work that we we have here They bring it to life every day for our students And so just a really big shout out to our staff because we talked a little bit about this and teaching and learning
051That we can produce But our staff bring it to life every day And it is a lot we expect a lot if you work in district 95 And you probably have heard this we expect a lot in our teachers our Educators our staff are outstanding and so I would be remiss if I did not say that Because this is just simply a report reflecting the work that was done, but they make it come alive, so Thank you, so my comments are to Angela. I hope you're watching What they said I agree completely and Angela staff and all teachers that bring it to life So thank you so much. This was really really really comprehensive. I appreciate that All right moving on the next several items on the agenda our discussion without action. Dr. Romano We
052Dr. Romano, please share an overview related to the intergovernmental agreement, okay I'm very excited to share that our neighbors in Barrington had actually reached out specifically To include us with an opportunity And that opportunity is around a cooperative relationship around The purchase of paper in adjusting time format so we don't have to buy it all up front at the beginning of the year We can buy it and have it delivered the unique component of this is that Not only is it Barrington and Lake Zurich but there is a total of nine different districts that are going to be able to go move into a Cooperative relationship and all be able to take advantage of this we're always trying to find a new way to save money or take advantage of the economy scale and Barrington
053is the first folks to be able to reach out in this capacity There was another little component about bespoke They are kind of the the engine behind this new opportunity for us to be able to go out to bid But share I mean we've done a lot of cooperative bids especially in facilities and other areas But now we can actually do that at a local level as in Fort, Illinois And so we're really excited about it. We have no obligation to buy anything, but we have every opportunity to take advantage of being in this agreement It has been mentioned that it will be our turn to lead one in the future since Barrington is leading this one And so we'll be happy to engage as we start to think about ways Come together with across
054multiple school districts try and get better pricing. Are there any questions for dr. Romano? Just one comment. I'd like to make is that We can avail ourselves of these intergovernmental agreements because of the relationships that dr. Galt dr. Romano, and I would be remiss if I did not include Doug Goldberg in those relationships as well because the fostering of the relationships with the many municipal leaders and obviously district leaders in Barrington and other Facilitate these opportunities and we have we Lake Zurich have benefited immensely from those relationships and those intergovernmental agreements and so Doug thank you. You're welcome. Thank you Dr. Galt dr. Romano, it really matters the relationships really matter and we are reaping the benefits of the work that you've done So, thank you so much. I'm so glad you said that because
055when we get to another agenda item, dr McArdle will be sharing some information Madam president, is it okay if we move this to consent for the next meeting? Was this the one you were gonna I just didn't know we have two board members missing So I don't know if the board is comfortable moving it forward or not. So I would just ask them It's a little different than when we have set. I don't have a problem Okay, I just want to make sure that we recognize we're missing two So I want to make sure when you make that decision that we recognize that I think the report was pretty thorough And so they can read that I'm sure they have Dr. Romano, please share an overview related to the athletic Oh contract extension. Okay So
056this year we had some struggles with maintaining our full team from Athletico But I'm pleased to share that we have found a full team for next year As you know, we have actually increased our supports in this area the renewal came in very competitive and we're very excited about Making this commitment so that we can keep those that have now been assigned to join us ready to go Happy to answer other questions Does anyone have any questions for Dr. Romano? Just a comment. I think this is awesome. They have two full-time Trainers, I remember when my oldest daughter was playing three sports. We had one part-time trainer Who was completely overworked and and didn't have a chance to see you know, nearly the amount of students They should have so this is fantastic that we
057can afford to provide That additional level of sport because you know, we have a lot of contact sports that you know people get injured and so The ability for them to get on-site training You know from a professional is fantastic. So I love this. Thank you I'd like to add just one thing. I thank you to Dan Dolney who is was here with regards to his efforts around Trying to make this all work out this year and then also negotiating this contract Any other questions for Dr. Romano? Thank you Dr. McArdle, please share an overview related to the proposed special education programming Thank you. So as this board is aware our department is Continuously looking for ways to expand our opportunities for students with specialized needs in the district As part of this ongoing research
058and assessment related to our current offerings We identified a potential gap and are bringing forward a proposal To to hopefully be able to fill that gap. So in short, there's there's a lot of details in the in the memo in the report We are finding an increased need for students at the high school level Who are experiencing higher levels of anxiety higher levels of depression other related needs that make it challenging to Have their needs met within a large high school setting and so despite putting all of the layers of support that we can So as many smaller specialized classes in place modifications and accommodations around Minimizing transitions and hallways alternate lunch areas things of that nature. There are still some students that struggle Struggle greatly to attend at the high school level And so
059what our current option is at present is to have their special education and related services needs met in a private therapeutic placement setting Oftentimes those settings are 30 45 minutes away. And so we're in a position where we are needing to send students outside of their home community to get services for for things that we believe we could develop programming for in-house and so the proposal before you outlines a program in district 95 and utilizing the Young Adult Center as a space to house this program So for those who aren't aware of the Young Adult Center schedule This the young adults and the staff are primarily occupying the building in the morning And then they all go to different job sites in the afternoon So the building is largely vacated in the afternoon and so
060what this proposal is recommending is that we have an additional day program operated out of the Young Adult Center where students would Receive a blend of synchronous virtual instruction in the morning and come in for a live instruction in the afternoon of note Many of our students who are receiving off-campus services related to the needs I was describing are receiving services in this type of model due to the significance of their needs already So this would be parallel programming if you will simply offered in-house instead of in a separate day school setting So we believe there are many benefits to this program Primarily that we get to keep students in Lake Zurich district 95 So they're no longer needing to go outside of their community it expands the continuum that IEP teams have when they're
061considering Next layers of support for students and gives us one more stop to try Before we're considering a separate day school outside of Lake Zurich as an option That's not to say that we won't still have students that need that layer of support But right now we're in a position where we don't have an option again in in district 95 and so in order to Staff this sort of program this type of program What we're proposing is one Special education teacher and this is separate and apart from other staffing updates The board has seen previous as well as one dedicated social work staff member The program would be intentionally small eight to ten students. So that staffing ratio is very appropriate And then we would continue to monitor needs as the program developed and evolved
062and the other thing I will note is that We have about let's say eight students currently receiving services off campus That have this sort of profile of needs It is not the plan that we would have all of those students come back and start the program Decisions about appropriateness would be made on a case-by-case basis and what's best for for each student So for example if I'm about to enter my senior year, and I'm in a program where I'm finding success We would not consider that student as a candidate for this program We have other students who aren't experiencing as much success for example or haven't been in their program for as long Where we would have conversations at the IEP table and make a decision So the board should be aware that we would
063fully expect that we'd be kind of living in both worlds While we're growing and developing this program But again, there are many many benefits it facilitates reintegration opportunities when students if and when students are ready to Rejoin lakes or a high school it it minimizes again that commute outside of our community. It keeps them connected And our program would be smaller actually than some of the off-campus building so for students that really do struggle with That larger setting our our program would create that smaller more supportive setting And down the road it does have the opportunity To receive other students so for example we would we would establish ourselves as a separate day school location And which means we could potentially receive a student for from a neighboring district into our program again another opportunity
064for partnership and collaboration and So the recommendation before the board this evening is with preliminary approval if you will and we are in the beginning of May and We have the highest hopes that we would be able to implement this at the start of the 25-26 school year, so we're aiming high but in order to do that we would like to start some of the coordination with the State Board of Education Posting anticipated positions to start the hiring process starting to engage families in those conversations about appropriateness for the 25-26 school year via that IEP team process and all of those related coordination tasks So I will turn it back to dr. Galt at this point for facilitating a next steps conversation So as we continue to think about this type of programming I also
065want to let the board know that it pretty much would be cost-neutral because there's always a cost to Doing great things in our district, and we want to continue to be able to do those great things But because of the work that dr. McGardell has already done we believe that One it's in the best interest of our kids and the other benefit is that we believe that we can make this a cost-neutral Opportunity for our families and our students what I would like to ask mrs. Maloney is if you can at least pull the board so that we know if we can continue to move forward at this time Okay, so why doesn't? In the form of questions just indicate whether or not you're supportive of this type of programming so Lauren this is brilliant.
066I love this. This is totally brilliant What an incredible way to make use of that facility right so so our constituents spend about six million dollars to rehab that facility and the fact that we can utilize it now for additional programming is Fantastic most of you at this table don't remember but years ago we outsourced all of our sped programming to see doll to a collective and We made the decision at great cost To the district to bring that in house because that was the right thing to do for these kids And I think we have proven over and over again that is the right thing to do and so this is in my mind Another model of doing that of bringing these services in house so that we can best provide for those students
067So I mean it. This is this is fantastic brilliant idea. I do have a quote so hundred percent I'm in favor of doing this. Thank you. I do have a couple of questions one is You had mentioned in your document here that as a minnow you need to FTE to staff it right and and what how many? Students does to FTE cover. I wasn't clear to me what the to FTE gets us in terms of the student quantity Sure, so We we need a certified special education teacher to provide all of the instructional services, and then we would also need a Social work psychologist staff some someone in that realm to provide the social emotional Related services on student IEPs the other thing with this program is that how many students though would that that
068be able to cover so? So one special education teacher in a self-contained setting can manage up to 13 students So it is it's that's why the program will be small Yeah, that's a lot it seems like a lot of students so the the piece with the social work staff To consider is well. We're anticipating a smaller program We also need to remember that these are students with some of our most intensive needs So it might seem like one social work staff member for let's say five kids However, we're anticipating the need for home visits. We're anticipating the need for parent coaching and in consultation. We're anticipating not only group Social emotional supports, but one-on-one supports for each student And so that's that's the rationale behind the recommendation for one dedicated Social work staff member so
069so you had some calculations in your document here regarding Estimated savings I use those words, and you said for example six students served is equivalent to about two hundred thousand dollars that That's not inclusive of the new to new staff that basically covers the new two staff members So the way that the the financial summary it was prepared What I ended up calculating is the cost for tuition with an Anticipated three percent increase because our tuition costs with our private providers do go up year-over-year sure we don't have those final costs Right now, but three percent is a fairly safe estimate sure and so I I included Potential tuition costs we also have transportation costs that are associated with Students going off campus which are significant We do have reimbursement calculations, so I I calculated
070the net expenditures anticipated for of various groupings of students three four and six And then I compared that against what the cost for a salary plus benefits for those two staff members would be okay So that so that doesn't include so that assumes that in based upon your data here that if we had six students we could Potentially including the fact that we're taking on two new staff members we could potentially save two hundred thousand dollars that okay awesome Yeah, this is fabulous fantastic I love everything about it the fact that again we can provide these additional services for the students that need the most oh gosh I love this great idea. Thank you Natasha I'm also 100% in support of it I think keeping our students or adding a layer before we send our
071students today's Day school is incredible and especially I know Just from working with students that a lot of these day schools are really full So it is hard sometimes to get into them to begin with and get services started, so we have that ability here To take that step. I think it's incredible I also think it'll help with integration for our students And it'll help our whoever the special ed teacher is to have the ability to contact within the district and have conversations with the counselors and the students former teachers and Honestly have a easier relationship with parents because they're part of the community so I think it's incredible My only question I guess also financially do we currently have an administrator in that building in the afternoon? I? remember that being So one of
072the things in our budget correct, so we have an administrator That's currently assigned to the young adult Center program That's dr. Guild within my office and so as far as administrative coverage if the board were to Approve that would be for dr. Galt and myself to collaborate on on Establishing who would support that program? Within our team and then I guess right and I think the key is within our team Yeah, because I'm thinking of staffing and obviously we'd need a special ed and the social worker But these would we also need a nurse to be present in the building if we're seeing students that may be taking Medication so that would also be within our team okay, and do you think that's doable right now? Yep, and so similar to what we did with
073the young adult Center if you'll recall We we had a move-in in March of last school year We were able to get some information about how the program operated at that point We have now kind of lived there for a full year We've learned even more about the program needs and so I would fully expect that This is this is the plan on paper right now And we would do the same assessment process as we continue to grow and develop in that program and then bring any additional staffing recommendations Back to the board as needed great I'm fully in support. Thank you Peter Yes, and you showed some of that during the committee. I I am I am very excited about the possibility as well I think it's Could be good for the students and
074the teachers as you indicated. You know they would remain in a community with even their interpersonal relationship with some of their friends and And and they'll be nearby for the parents as well They will remain in community and cut the commuting time if in fact that they have to from time to time Transport students to to a to a site that's away from our community So I think that that is is is a potential positive and it cost neutral as well I guess my question is you have a fairly for a program that You're going to launch this fall. It seems a little aggressive and You'll first have to get students right talk to parents talk to scissors I'm sure you've begun to do some of that Work as well because we with no students
075and I it's not gonna happen right, but So I'm just trying to get a sense of how realistic Oh What's your probability of it's that in this fall you want to know if it's a smart goal or not? Well, no, no, I I think it would be excited if it does But you know just because normally here in this district for a lot of things we launch it takes a year or two And then here you are you're you're trying to do this this year Do all the work over the summer and get them that in the fall, so I will share a little bit about my background for the the board's edification as well as dr. Gild's background and so I spent a lot of my time in special education before coming to this
076position where I've You know loved growing and developing further But several of my previous roles did involve program development and opening of new sites special education separate day school sites dr. Gild prior to coming to district 95 wrote the first virtual school program in Illinois and operated it and So between our skill sets We do feel confident that as far as program development and and setting up the systems that would be needed to support the program We feel confident that we could Accomplish that by the fall the other thing that will add is that it will take coordination across departments transportation data team tweaking things schedule wise registration wise all those pieces and That we we not too long ago went through with establishing the Young Adult Center, so we already have the model for
077for getting something up and running like this and we have exceptional collaboration between all those departments, so I Am confident that we would be able to launch given all those factors great a Fantastic and you shared some of that in the teaching and learning committee, and I am We have an exceptional team and and I'm glad that you've had the experience doing this before but I guess the components that's not within your control and Would be the parents and and and and get in Because with the short time that you have to have them those that are perhaps a private facilities Mickey making a decision that they're gonna pull the students from those facilities here So I mean obviously it's it's a I support it. It's a great idea I was just trying to get
078a sense about I mean I'm sure you probably have some you probably have talked to some of them already, and you just don't want to share and that's okay But but that's the one component that's outside of our control so without sharing you know individual family or student information We have had some preliminary conversations We also have students in our district currently that are that are already have an IEP in place, but perhaps might be Struggling or not experiencing success, so it's not just students who are already in off-campus placements that are being considered It's also students that are currently At our high school that might be having challenges so between those two groups Finding the three for example for the cost-neutral option And We believe that that could be accomplished by the fall great.
079Thank you very much Alicia I Love it It's a great idea to keep these kids in the district and keep them within their communities because I think they spend a lot Of time out of the district it would be really hard to get back in and be with their peers and part feel part of the community I just had a question if the Training or the teaching is synchronous in the morning Where in a day school they would have adult supervision are these kids at home then and do they have adult supervision? so the how that would work is and I reference that we do have students currently in Serving schools off-campus placements and that that don't attend physical sites Oh presently so that is a set up or a situation that our families would
080already be accustomed to so it wouldn't be a Scenario for example where I am attending five days a week, and now I'm not I'm attending only in the afternoon So so that's something to consider When we're thinking about the transition it wouldn't be a significant transition For example if a student was attending off-site five days a week that wouldn't be considered a candidate because they're already finding Success and in that setting what we're also excited about Miss Tim is that our students wouldn't be on a bus for a long period of time and if if The family was having a hard hard morning Or a hard early, you know early afternoon that if a bus was missed if transportation was missed The family could go ahead and drive the student where some of our some
081of our locations for private placement can be 45 minutes away, and so I think this makes that site and that program much more accessible for our students who might need that It seems like all the structure is already there and the knowledge you know and all the thought you put into it So I definitely support this so thank you Thank you, and I also am very supportive of this program and dr. Galt and I had a conversation about it and was very excited about it so absolutely Thank you so much Dr. Galt, can you please share an overview of the potential 2025 2026 calendar adjustment? Nope that's on me. Can you please share an overview of the ELA social studies? ELA sorry ELA social studies science and math curriculum Yes, and so I believe mrs.
082Stallion provided you with a pretty thorough document that included a lot of information about the work that's been done it was also a part of the strategic plan process and again the pieces that I just want to highlight and Are a couple that each one of the curricula that that has been created was done So with a team of educators and so those educators come together They take a look at our state standards They are the ones that are bringing it to life in the classroom So they understand very much what standards need to be prioritized and which ones are more secondary to the nature of of those skills and curriculum that we would expect students to learn and so Everything that she provided you highlights the work of all of those teams Additionally this
083has been work that's been ongoing for quite some time our process in my mind is excellent Because one this staff does work together to develop the curriculum But we also ensure that not only do teachers have an opportunity and a voice through that process But as do our students they get to participate in the resource selection process So aligning those resources that the teachers take care of the students actually get to provide Feedback on those resources before we bring them to the Board of Education and then our families through also through surveys They get to also share with us What they might need in addition to whatever resources that our staff has selected To bring forward to the board and so I think this process is fantastic What this is going to do and what
084we're asking you one is yes approve the curriculum That's one of your your roles as board members But I also want to highlight the canvas platform And so we what we're really really excited about is that not only will our teachers have access to all of the curriculum outside of a Google Doc and outside of other means but they'll be able to access it on our platform as Well as all of the tools that they may need and all of the links that will bring them straight to their resources But then the second piece of that is really making it Transparent to students and families who will also be able to access information through our website Currently they don't have that and so I do think this is going to help us to forge even
085stronger partnerships with our families as well as as well as helping our students to be able to really See and access that curriculum from home so very excited about this And I'm hopeful that the board will be as excited as I am to move it forward Thank you, are there any questions I Just I just like the those the problem sometimes problem with technology is that the parents are very hands-off with students and they're learning and it's a difficult like bridge to Cross I feel like so if there's any more transparency as a parent in the district I would greatly appreciate being able to see the assignments or you know not that the teachers are not communicating They are communicating overall curriculum specific assignments. It seems like it's just out there So if this is
086like connecting that and that we could see more like from home that would be nice So I I think the difference will be this is the overarching information and it's to help you to better understand Maybe what men will be learning about what in biology or in a mathematics class? I think the piece that you're speaking about is probably the canvas pages through the teachers and so I Think that there will be a connection that will help families to understand where those connections lie and what to expect next As far as individual assignments, I would expect those to be a part of the canvas page And certainly there's always opportunities for us to continue to get better at communicating that with parents because I agree with you some families You know technology they may be
087more apprehensive towards the technology. So thank you for bringing that forward I had a quick question. Is this basically like a pacing guide as well across the building? Oh, that's wonderful. So then our schools will be more Aligned as far as pacing goes and getting them articulated grade to grade Yes, it will it really speaks to equitable access to high Expectations and exceptional experiences in classrooms across the district in very similar times I think we all need to understand that you know a teacher still has to make those in the moment decisions about whether or not students are ready to move forward but the expectation will be that we're going to do our very best to ensure that we're on pace as much as we can be because we Do have a defined time Set
088aside for learning of a particular curriculum I think this is an incredible way to show our value of equity across the system and Integrity because we're basically Making the statement that it does not matter what school your child is going to this is the pace of the curriculum that we will be Setting for your child. So I think it's incredible Thank you. All right, this will come up for vote Meeting yes, and I actually would prefer this one not to be on consent because I do think the other two board members if they Have questions, I'd like to give them the opportunity to ask at that time and Mrs. Stallion will be back Yeah, as well as Dr. McCardell's presentation and we'll be up for vote next Next time so now Dr. Gault, could you
089please share an overview of the potential 2025 2026 calendar adjustment? Absolutely. So as the board is well aware, we did have a situation in which we needed to cancel school the Monday following the Easter holiday and so You know, we've had the opportunity to meet with our association We've had a lot of conversations about what happened and I think collectively as a team and the board is also aware of this We work together to figure out how we can ensure that that does not happen again And so I so appreciate that partnership with our teachers and our leaders of our association But I also need to recognize that our staff Did speak very very clearly to us that they want that day as a religious recognition on the day after Easter and so I think
090in order to honor that I would like for you to consider adjusting the calendar for the upcoming school year I think this gives our families and our staff plenty of time to Prepare for that date and I would like for that day to be off And then I would also like then we would have to add a day to the end of the school year And while I understand that that puts us after the Memorial Day holiday We typically that happens typically anyways because of whether conditions whether it be snow whether it be cold and so I suspect we'll always be following that That pattern and so I would like us to be proactive and to think about that now rather than reactive next year Are there any questions? I think this is a great
091idea I think you know the issues that we had this year were clearly about just not having enough time to prepare for for many people So to be proactive and to jump on this early make the decision now make the call now and to your point Kelly clearly the staff voiced their opinion they voted with their feet as it were So yeah, I'm yeah that we should definitely do this. I'm in agreement. I think our Association wants this and I believe the right thing to do Thank you very much. I'll bring it back to you then for the vote Okay, and then can you also share the? board meeting calendar for the 2025 26 school year Absolutely, so all of the dates are listed for you And this is a calendar that we feel works
092well for the administration Based on other events that occurred during the school year, so there's other opportunities for learning that sometimes fall on these dates additionally I know that I sent some communication to the Board of Education regarding a few dates that might fall out of that typical Schedule that we would follow and those were based one was based or two were based on conference and learning opportunities and one was based on Student parent conferences, and I know that we have board members who have students in our district And I want to be sure that you're able to attend conferences as they come up And so that was the other reason for adjusting that date, but we do try really hard to keep a schedule However, you'll notice that there's a few adjustments and so
093if there's any concern though. We are happy to Abide by the will of the board any questions Yeah It's hard to predict what a future holds, but I think that's what we've done every year seems like a reasonable set of dates I Tried last year on this time to marshal my my fellow board members to have us have Less but meetings, but but not enough people agreed with me So I'm not gonna I'm not gonna try this again this time maybe in another year 18 right but so so I I'm supportive of it the one thing I would see is I remember how What happened last year around December 18th? It's? Gets closer and closer to the Christmas break So I hope the agenda on that day is really really light because I may or
094may not be able to make it That's all and you know what as we get closer to the The board meetings that are around a holiday If you know when mrs. Maloney, and I review those agenda items if we feel that it's Meeting that we could cancel due to a small number of items that aren't pressing I'm happy I don't know how mrs. Maloney feels, but I'm happy to adjust at that time if it if the if it would please the board Yeah, and and you know and as I said the last go-around I I thought I was up in this tough as well But as if we less work for them, but dr. Gull said it's not less work for them So so I you know I I thought like you did at first
095and then I met with my team And it was clearly communicated to me that that's actually not less work. It's more so thank you for remembering that yes You know and I The one thing I'd add is is my colleague I Miss Lisa Warren isn't here who? Who chairs the teaching and learning committee of which I'm on just to make note that The time the starting time did change from 430 to 5 for this coming year so that you know in the administration as She had that this is sufficient time to cover the topics that they have so for people that are accustomed to Attendant meeting at 430 just remember. It's five o'clock going forward so Just make note of that and we're really hopeful that maybe some other board members will be able to
096attend now that we're moving It to five so that's a hope too. Thank you. Mr. Etienne. Thank you Thank you, and we will bring this up for action next meeting as well now Discussions with action miss besage can you share an overview of the insurance renewal? It would be my pleasure So this is the time of year where we bring to you our renewals for our benefit plans for our staff for our major medical dental life insurance and other benefit plans As you may recall stem you don't know probably but over the last year The insurance committee worked really hard and we put in some significant plan changes to help contain and decrease our costs If you don't recall our insurance plan our medical plan is a self-funded insurance arrangement Which means that we have
097fixed costs that we pay to the plan in Administrative costs to Blue Cross Blue Shield and some other carriers in addition to our variable costs Which comes in the form of our claims costs so our bills every month? Very because we have our fixed costs, and then we have our variable costs from our claims that happen during those months So in the last couple of years we had Some really high claims costs that caused us to not have our plan be fully funded And so this last year we worked really hard to put in some plan design changes Have some educational programs for our staff we conducted a dependent audit So we did we talked about wellness plans. We did several things to try to Increase our position to where we are with our medical
098plans So we are happy to say that we we believe that those efforts have helped us over the past year We have worked with our broker, and we have our renewal for this year I will say there is One thing that is causing our fixed costs to be increased by a pretty significant amount And that is because in our HMO, Illinois plan the advocate health care group Has decided to drop out of that plan with Blue Cross Blue Shield they have canceled their contracts And so that is causing anyone who wants to have that particular medical group to have to make a decision They either have to change doctors, or they have to switch to a different medical plan And because of that our HMO blue advantage plan which the advocate group is in is
099Experiencing some significant increase in their fixed costs so when we looked at our renewal this year even after multiple Renegotiations and our broker was able to get that down a little bit our fixed costs are going up by a significant percentage Primarily because of that HMO change However even with that large cost We are happy to say that we don't necessarily have to increase our Premiums by that large amount because of the things that we put in this year And so we are looking at about a five percent premium increase that is our recommendation for next year As you could see in our memo. I put in a chart that gives you a historical perspective of everything we've done For about the last ten years with our medical plans between the percent increases And then
100if we've had any plan design changes or not I will say our our medical plan is still a very rich plan Even though we increase the deductible last year and did some other implemented some other plan design changes We still have a relatively low deductible With the industry standards, so I think that is really important to point out The other thing I'd like to really talk about a little bit more is we've talked over the last several years about our PMA account and our funding account and what is an appropriate amount to have in that reserve account so that we can say That it is funded enough so that we don't have a situation again like we had Last year where we did not have enough money in that account to to pay the bills
101basically and so and miss Maloney is our representative from the board on that committee and please add to it if you can so We have historically Been given the advice by our brokers that a three-month reserve calculation is typically what you want to have and They use three months because that is the amount of runout claims that you would generally have to pay if we switched plans So if we decided to stop being self-insured and go to a fully insured plan or completely leave Blue Cross and go to like a United healthcare, whatever it might be Then we would need at least three months worth of Cost equivalent to pay off what we would owe so that is kind of what we would Looking at but that didn't really come with any accurate calculations, so
102In working with dr. Romano and miss Maloney. We worked really closely to come up with a formula and A calculation that would help us have a set target that we would Shoot for every year to be able to get into our reserve So it's a little complicated, but hopefully you can follow along and there was a separate slide that Dr. Romano put together that explained where those numbers came from along with our renewal so When we look at our expected plan exposure, that's a little over ten million dollars That is based on both fixed fixed and variable costs what we expect our overall year end to be for next year and then The 90-day estimate which is 25% of that so when we look at the difference between our Maximum exposure because and I think
103mr.. Goldberg you've asked this several times What what our maximum or aggregate cost cost is there is a maximum exposure number that we would have under our arrangement? Because we have other layers of secondary insurance built in we have stop-loss for Individual and then we have an aggregate stop-loss so there's that maximum exposure number that we would have in the event that Like everyone had high claims, and we we reached that number so we looked at our maximum plan exposure Versus our expected plan exposure and then the difference and the 50% on that adding those two together Gives us our target reserve of about three point eight million dollars So when we look at that and then if you want to recalculate that into about months that gives us probably somewhere between three and a
104half to four and a half months worth of reserve so We feel that that is a good target for us to shoot for to make sure we have that money in that account We don't want to have that Reserve account with so much money where we're sitting on all these funds But we has to be enough that we can pay the bills as they fluctuate and they come in every month If you looked at where we currently are and this was as at the end of March at the time of this I did not have the April bill yet We are currently in that account balance at about two point five million With the reserve now I will point out that that two point five million includes The second loan that the board gave to
105this account of half a million dollars So if we were to pay that back we were at about two two million dollars So we've made some ground this year. We've done a good job on building that back up slightly we don't believe we can build it all up in a year, but our goal is to continue to look at our plan design continue to educate staff contain costs as much as possible, but be Realistic with the premium increases that we have to make so that we can contain and continue to build the reserve to an adequate amount So that we could fund the plan appropriately So that is all there So moving on to benefit changes along with the premium changes. We also recommend benefit changes every year for our staff We are always looking
106at the Affordable Care Act and making sure that we are in compliance with making sure our premiums are Affordable under the law and so we would be recommending a benefit increase for our 10 month and 11 month staff and our bus drivers from $700 a month to two to $750 a month with staff members that are not in the bargaining unit and then we would also recommend Increasing the family benefit for our 12 month support staff from $250 a month to two sixty two fifty and then for our certified staff in the master contract There would be a maximum of five percent increase to the benefit of the family coverage as well, and that would go to $384.60 for the upcoming plan year All of these were included in the tentative budget and so those
107are all accounted for by dr. Romano I'm happy to answer any questions miss Maloney. Please add anything if I missed anything No, I you did an excellent job. Thank you I wouldn't just say my heartburn with the reserve was that it was based on time And I really wanted it to be based on expense and so we did that and ended up with a very Close facsimile to what we intended to do based on time so I feel Confident and how we ended I think Got to Substantially similar spots in different ways, but I'm good with the Proposed reserve and you know it'll be Time that we get there But I'm confident that we will and we have plans in place to get there And I do think it's sound that I I'm comfortable with
108that reserve balance Can I also add that mrs. Warren also participated in a meeting because she had some concerns and questions as did mrs. Maloney and so While she's not here this evening. She also walked through a process to understand where we're at with this item So as you're considering your vote. I wanted to make you aware of that as well So I have a question how long obviously would love to get to that reserve We don't want to be where we were where the board is loaning money But we also don't want to continuously increase our staff's Contribution to their insurance you know so what is the idea long term here? Are we going to continue to like a 5% increase every year and then? What is our thought process? Well, we we would
109never want to increase our rates, but we have to cover the expenses and so One of the things we did talk about At the end of this this year with our brokers is that next year would probably be another year that will go out to bid For leaving Blue Cross potentially all together to see if we can get anything competitive Health insurance has become very costly or premiums are they're expensive They're not Necessarily out of the realm of where they are in the market given the benefits that we're giving with our plan The other difficulty is without making some really significant plan design changes there the premiums don't really shift So even with our minimal increases of our deductible from five hundred dollars to six hundred dollars We would have to make some significant increases
110in our deductibles to bring our premiums down So it's it's an offset. No. It's where you want to put that cost so We'll continue to do those things we'll go out to bid We'll look at other options to see if there's anything else we did go out to bid a couple years ago and a couple carriers wouldn't even bid us because our experience was not great, so You know we'll continue to look at all of our also mrs. Dan agar. I would also add that the committee is not Just administrators, so I do want you to know that the committee is composed of staff members I was just going to comment that I appreciate that we are including staff And I know that you've taken pretty big steps to educate All of the staff on
111the difficult position that is insurance for everyone nationwide So we're grateful to there were staff members on that team that really took that upon themselves To make sure that all of their peers were educated as to where we were as as a district So I so appreciate their efforts but I think that's the beauty of coming together with a committee is that they're Looking at that information and trying to do right by their colleagues, and I I really appreciate that And I want I would like just publicly for our staff to know that we we recognize that five percent is a lot of money So I just think that's important that we publicly state that um I guess if we are going out to bid again, and we're not sure how much will increase Do
112you have a goal of when we hit our reserves with with there being variables obviously, but what are your thoughts on that? When we would hitters yeah when we would hit that target that we're aiming for the Yes, so one of the things that we've done with this design and with the committee is that we talk about a margin So in other words whatever our renewal comes in at we have the ability to add a small margin That would continue to add to our account so that we would be building that up over time We actually were able to bring this in this year So we still have a margin in that five percent to grow that for this year The target would be for I would say about three years for us to get
113there We may go better it may go a little bit slower and the reason for that is we just don't know what our actual Claims are going to look like But one of the things about the fact that we have this design for a target for the account as Well as a margin that we look at an annual basis if we have a renewal year, which is north of 10% We can choose not to take any margin that year to keep it as low as possible So it gives us some flexibility with regards to how we do the renewal the goal would be within three years To pay that back again It has to do with what we're going to do with regards to the the loan that was provided Which is really our fund
114balance in other words It's just a matter of whether it's in the account and so does that help provide you with a little bit of a response to that? Yeah, I think it's just important for us in general to have a goal of a certain timeline Otherwise, it'll continuously be like well in the future and this year the variables were this so we couldn't hit it So I I think is like as far as for my sake I would love for us like when we do this to to share how close we are for that goal What that next year by the end of the year will get us how close we'll be to those reserves so that it's not this Nebulous goal in the air that we're constantly searching for and not getting close
115to Just understand that that's a complete function of our claim experience So no, I understand that but I know there's a gazillion variables that go into it But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't have some kind of timeline in general. Otherwise, which yeah, we do It's just it's almost to say if all of these unpredictable things Happen It'll be three years from now, but we can't there's it's just to say that is so Nebulous that it's right But then it would be also nebulous to say we need a reserve without aiming for a time that we reach that reserve We have to find a balance between those two things Does that make sense? I think that we're in a good position because we now have some type of a target Based off of a structure
116that allows us to bring that conversation We plan to bring that conversation to the committee So the committee is fully aware of all of the components that we're targeting as we're making decisions on a recommendation from the community So and that our goal is to get to our target But we don't want and I understand that there's so many variables and unpredictable factors. I just We have to have a guiding light So and mrs. Dan agar, I think what I think what I would share with you is this that we had a conversation with the board Previous especially when we were going through a very negative claim experience And what we had decided and what we said was that we would bring regular information back to the board So that you will be able to
117monitor that as well. And so While I don't disagree with you. I think our goal really is that number and I think You know, mrs. Maloney being in that field for a long time. I think You know, we would love to be able to hit it in three years And that's what we're projecting based on the percentage of increase that we're holding back But we also don't want to commit to three years knowing that if we start going through a negative experience again That we may not come close but I think the key to all of this is that we continue to keep the board informed and that We used to not have to meet with this committee as regularly as we have Done in the current past and so I think continuing to meet
118with the committee on a regular basis So that they're aware and that we continue to communicate district-wide mrs. B Such has started a staff newsletter that goes out on a quarterly basis And we try to provide updates to our staff that we believe are relevant especially related to insurance I think that's been critical to this process to keep them up-to-date as Well as making sure the board is informed on a regular basis And I think those two things are gonna help us move forward Yeah I agree a hundred percent and I would like to mention that Miss Maloney has been an incredible leader as far as a board representative when it comes to this matter So I I really trust in her expertise than when she's comfortable with something Because I know she would tell
119us if she wasn't comfortable with it So I I 100% trust that you're representing the best You're representing us and helping us come to the right decision, so thank you for that great. Yeah, and What I've been miss Maloney has been not been shy about talking about The how we calculate the reserve so I'm glad that she was in the meeting and she's comfortable with that and also that we've Communicated to the staff before we've had over the past year. We've had a lot of discussion about this We knew it was coming They knew it was coming and and I appreciate Communicating with them that we have to make some adjustments because the way we did before we can't continue it the same way You know and well my question and you nailed it on
120how many years so so I appreciate you asking that And I understand the variability, but there is it's not an exact analogy But it's somewhat like pension debt. You know you don't have a sense of how the market would would Would react from day to day from year to year, but your goal is to pay on your pension debt and And that year might be different than next year, but your goal is to pay on it on a set time, so I'm glad I'm glad about the questions that you raised One question that I have I have a couple but That was a little unclear to me, so I know we forgive the first loan the second one. Can you elaborate? What status it's in right now? It's the second loan to to the insurance
121one. We have to we found the Sun right five hundred thousand or not five hundred No, did I understand that correctly? I'm sorry to us. We have the loans we the loans from the reserve. Yes I call it so the first meaning with the fund balance right and you're right the first one We've we've the board decided and I think the second one right now We're just holding right now, and we want to continue to watch our experience And if we end up having a really positive experience I think that the board should expect that we would pay that back if we continue to struggle a bit I think that will be a board decision, but we're not ready to bring that back to you yet So it's free money right now. Well. It's not
122free. It's alone Included in that balance We'll see in there includes that money so the 20 So you know in a way the assumption is baked in even in the three-year Scenario is that assumption? That we forgive that loan I'm just trying to understand that there is no assumption yet that no Not assume that we would keep keep or reduce it, okay? I think we just need to watch our experience, and then the decision and again I mean, you know my insurance rent up this year significantly. It's so I I Understand what miss Danica said that five percent is a lot, but you know in in for a lot of us I know mine went up much more than five percent and and so I think But I'm sensitive to the idea as we have
123talked before for those that Have less means like the truck drivers and the bus drivers And and some of those that have less means we are up in the amount of benefits that we provide so I appreciate that Because they're you know it's for them. It's a it's a proportionately a whole lot more So it's a matter Of being equitable there, so I appreciate that that effort As we try to go towards a much more balanced Account here. I know in 2023 as we said we all voted for 17.1 percent for the PPO and 9.5 percent for the HMO and so Comparatively, it's not as big so I and as I said I I know it's in fact honestly after all the discussions that we've had this year I really Expected a bigger percentage, so
124I give you I I give you kudos to you and credits to you that you were able to come up with five percent and get agreement in the committee and and Have believed that you're setting us on a level that's sustainable We'll check year by year if that's become a reality But kudos to you. I will say that I do want to give a lot of credit to the staff members on this committee They really did the bulk of the work and communicating they really Mr. Goldberg to your point they they really take it to heart and they they go out and they talk to their staff members They talk to their colleagues. They talk in lunchrooms. They're really making sure that people everyone knows what's happening much More than we are so I really
125appreciate all the work that they have done Cathy Jamison has been amazing she shares information at every chance that she gets she wants to make sure everyone knows so nobody is surprised So I really do appreciate all the work that they have done because they really are the ones That are really getting the information out. That's great and obviously thank thank you for doing this. I know it's It's a lot of money it's it's expensive but insurances and health care It's just expensive across the board in the whole country and we still have a reasonably Good one a good plan here. So so I appreciate your work in that regard And the committee and miss Maloney and everybody that's on it. Thank you one thing I want to say just to Amplify what Julia said
126is that what we talked about at length in the committee was how to control expenses and what our teachers did was amazing because it's you know, like the level of care like emergency room versus urgent care or the call-in doctor versus using Generic meds and and things along that line and they really really towed the line That Yeah, I mean it was a big difference and huge success by just getting that word out like here's how To bring costs down for us and that was us the the big us district 95 us and They were very very successful on that. So and that's Complete kudos to our teachers. Well, first of all echoing again Thank you to the insurance committee all the hard work and obviously to to all of our staff members who have
127Tried to bring costs and I want to point out that You know costs about eleven point seven million dollars to ensure six hundred and forty people. It's very twenty thousand dollars It's very health care. It's very expensive. It's we want good health care costs a lot of money You know, we're very very fortunate to live in this country Where we have access to excellent health care systems we provide I think a great Menu of insurance options to our staff. I'm very I feel very fortunate we can do that I want to point out that it's important to know that our our net aggregate costs are going up by six point seven percent We're only charging five percent. So we're eating almost two percent of that increase the district is it's also worthwhile noting that From
128a from a balanced perspective, I think we're on a really good trajectory But I think we've all pointed out we could have a couple bad experiences It makes that whole thing go south and no time at all. So, you know, hopefully that won't happen You know, God forbid that does happen You know, I think that we'll have to have we have regular monitoring of that You know the insurance committees all over it, but I do think and you said this in your introductory remarks Do I think it's really important? I think if we want to continue to constrain these cost increases because they're gonna it's not gonna get cheaper That we're gonna have to consider additional plan increases whether that's you know changes in deductibles or whatever I just think if if the if the
129staff and I believe it's true wants to maintain a great, you know Great insurance plans we're gonna have to make some changes to keep the cost if they're willing to pay more. Well, that's fine But I think in order to be fair to our to our taxpayers We have to make sure there's a good balance between you know What we're charging what that but the you know, what our taxpayers are funding versus what our staff is funding and I think that You know, I'm very proud of the fact that we were able to provide a little more You know to everybody to help pay for the insurance But the reality of it is this is going to continue to rise if you look at all the projections and health care costs They're projected the rate
130of increases projected to go up in the coming years for a lot of reasons So, you know, we've done a great job I think that we're gonna have to continue to think about plan changes though. Second thing is relative to our reserves I do think You know, we don't to do it now We're gonna have to make a decision because we're carrying that 500k on an accrual basis against this account And we'll have to simply decide is it gonna be practical to write that off or is it gonna practically pay it back? I don't know I certainly not in favor of trying to take the money out of the account right now. That's the last thing I would do However, calm I do think that you know, we may have to have a consideration of
131just writing that off Honestly, I just don't I'm very worried about you know, we can't predict the futures was said several times, but you know We've done a really good job. The team has done a phenomenal job and our staff has done a great job But you know, I think we have to be mindful the fact we have to strike a good balance between What we're paying what our taxpayers are paying and what we're asking our staff to pay and so I don't know that we're gonna be able to maintain a five percent increase in the future and maintain the same level of Care that we've got now So but anyway, thank you so much for all the stuff that you and the entire Team has done to to keep us in this great place
132So we're at and let's let's pray that you know, we don't have any really bad experience this year for many reasons I don't have much added to that I'm just thinking about the idea of take sending it out to bed again if that's a time-effective Cost-effective route it would show the staff that perhaps Well, obviously we're aware So increasing for everyone and that's difficult So you're doing your best Thank you. Yes, and my final comments are just that I think that this whole process just demonstrates what a great partnership that we have with our staff and teachers and at you know, our insured personnel because they worked really hard to contain costs which really impacted our ability to keep the increase Down and so they had that in their control and they ran with that
133control. So that was huge That was a big element of I'm gonna call this a successful year-end Negotiation because a five percent increase was Probably on the low end of what we expected very definitely was on the low end of what we expected so it came out as good as it could have been in my mind in terms of the increase and so But like I said, I think that there was you know Obviously Julie on your team worked so hard and you're always you're always so on top of that and Dean crunching the numbers and coming up with alternatives, so that was great too, but but really everyone did their part and Came together which I was just very pleased to see because you can save people like you if you Go to the
134emergency room When you could have gone to urgent care That cost us more They could still go to the emergency room that like we get we don't control that but they did they did the right thing and they they like managed their own care and that's what we wanted and And they did so yay. Thank you. That's a great partnership and so I just think that that whole process and that was you know, then the committee members who went and Messaged that to the schools and got that message out to The masses that was so important. And so I really do think that this was just a great collaboration Amongst all stakeholders to achieve what I think is a really good result So I think I didn't need a motion. I We should have had
135the motion before this. Oh, well, I'll learn May I have a motion to approve the premium equivalent rate increase of 5% for the medical plans additionally to increase the board's benefit contribution to $750 per month for 10-11 month support staff not in a bargaining unit increase the family benefit to $262.50 per month for 12 months 12 month support staff and increase the certified family benefit to $384.60 per month may have that motion so moved second Thank you, Doug. And thank you, Natasha Can you please call the roll? Miss Maloney. Yes Mrs. Dan agar. Yes Mr. Etienne. Yes Mr. Goldberg. Yes, miss Tim. Yes. All right. Thank you That was when I really get to read we are going into closed session for the following four reasons The appointment employment compensation discipline performance or dismissal of
136specific employees specific individuals Who serve as independent contractors specific volunteers or legal counsel for the district five? LCS 122 C1 the purchase or lease of real property for the use of the public body including meetings How for the purpose of discussing whether a particular parcel should be acquired five ILCS 122 C5 collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives or deliberations concerning salary schedules for one or more classes of employees five ILCS 122 C2 litigation when an action against effecting or on behalf of the particular body has been filed and is pending before a quarter administrative tribunal or When the public body finds an inaction is probable or imminent in which case the basis for finding shall be Recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting five ILCS
137122 120 such to see 11 may have this motion so move Second thank you, Natasha. Thank you, Peter. Kate. Please call the roll Miss Tim. Yes Mr. Etienne. Yes Mr. Goldberg Mrs. Dan agar. Yes Miss Maloney. Yes, we will not be taking action after closed section session