001This meeting of the Summit Hill School District 161 to order. Can we please rise for the pledge? Can we have a roll call Melissa Ryan Here Joey Murphy here Adrian Chavez here John winter here Patrick Oliphant here Amy Burke here and Ron Petrie here, okay, so Very difficult part of the agenda tonight This evening we pause to honor the life and service of Julie Stearns our director of business services and our dear friend She served school district 161 for the past five years with dedication professionalism a deep sense of responsibility to our students staff and community Her work often took place behind the scenes, but its impact was felt across every part of our district She was thoughtful hard-working Very funny a joy to work with and committed to doing what was right for all
002of us Beyond her role Julie was a valued colleague and respected member of our district office team She cared deeply about her work and even more so for the people she worked with Her contributions will leave a lasting mark on this district forever Julie Stearns brought warmth and light into every room with her vibrance humor and caring for others Let's continue to honor Her and her legacy By spreading kindness to others making people smile and definitely making people laugh Here's to Julie moving on the recognition for our summit awards this time We would like to honor our January summit award winners Okay, we have two this evening our January summit award winners our interim director of curriculum Denise Aslan and coordinator of instructional support Katie Sullivan Out there to both have worked in our district
003for almost two decades Which that's that's a long time. You wouldn't know that looking at them Katie was hired in 2006 as a reading specialist a reading improvement teacher for dr. Julian Rogus and Arbery Hill schools before becoming a coordinator of instructional support in 2018 Denise was hired in 2007 as an instructional assistant before moving to the classroom as a second grade teacher at Indian Trail in 2008 in 2019 she transitioned into a coordinator Coordinator of instructional support before being named our district's interim director of curriculum last year Denise and Katie were nominated by dr. Julian Rogus is second grade teacher Jody deal who said that they both exhibit a willingness to help in any way possible They are masters in their fields and go above and beyond to help staff members help students They
004show professionalism creativity and enthusiasm and they pivot when there's a challenge and demonstrate flexibility to solve any problem They are also a joy to work with at all times in Addition DJ our principal Colin Bradley if you could wave He's in a Bears Jersey. So I wanted to point that out. He's a diehard Packers fan. So Something is up. You can ask him yourself He says Denise and Katie are a powerhouse curricular implementation team for our staff at DJR When you see them in the building, they are constantly moving between classrooms in an endless flurry of activity They meet regularly with teachers and teams and put in thoughtful work beforehand to have a thorough and deep understanding of our instructional resources student data trends and a wide array of supports Available to meet our student
005achievement goals. In addition, they do all of this with a smile and a can-do attitude This attitude permeates the entire building They play an essential role in elevating our instruction to the best To meet the needs of our students and we are thankful for everything they do And Francie boss who's sitting right next to Colin not in a Bears Jersey or Packers Jersey She says Denise has done an amazing job jumping into her new role She goes above and beyond to be helpful and make sure that we're covering all of our bases She is someone that you can always count on to lend a hand or jump in to help She is an incredibly hard worker and does an amazing job getting back to you with an answer when you have a question as For
006Katie, she is the definition of kind she can be counted on to assist staff in whatever way possible She is quick to help her team members research for answers or assist students who may need additional help And she is a team player and goes out of her way To provide this service you can always count on her to give you an optimistic view and an encouraging word They are both very deserving of this award and so Denise and Katie if you come forward and accept your awards and give them around Okay So we had two FOIA requests that were made this month one by smart procure and one by the Lake County Gazette Both were completed in the appropriate time frame and one of the best parts of the night their student board of Ed
007member Leah's report Good afternoon fellow board members last month the students of SHJH had the chance to write ideas for the student board members to present to the board and this month We have our results on what the students had to say all students ideas were very important But there's one suggestion that I would like to bring to the board's attention tonight Seven of our SHJH students submitted to the suggestion box asking for a more edible lunch Even though I know the board members have had a few debates on how we should handle the new food program I believe the suggestion box has shown that the students are now really asking To have improvements made to the food program by offering the students something they actually enjoy eating for lunch This has the possibility to
008positively affect all the students across the district. I think this shows we're right on track. Thank you Good job. Yeah, perfect So we'll have Olivia and Sean go first if you have some remarks this evening and then we'll jump into those who have signed up Sorry, good evening everyone our first suggestion box went very well for seventh grade I created the poster we used to show off our box I grabbed a white poster board and some sharpies and started to create the design It had many inspiring quotes shout outs and the information when we will be out asking for more ideas Thank you everyone and have a great night Thank you Hello, everyone. I hope you all are having a wonderful evening as you know We have rung a suggestion box to lunch every Wednesday
009I would just like to share how I created the suggestion box I first layered the box with a purple base of paint and then I Colored it with every single glitter. I could find I wanted it to stand out as to the students so they so they could provide to us information and Helpful advice that they would like to share I would just like to say that everyone included in this has done a great job And this would not have been succeeded without everyone's help. Thank you so much and have a good night Lisa brace hello, my name is Lisa brace and I am a parent and community member of Summit Hill First I want to take a moment to also reiterate How deeply saddened I am with the loss of Julie Stearns? She always
010what had a kind word. She's always very friendly Even when I was here, you know a year ago given given the previous board hack, you know You'd never know it from Julie. She's just she was just a delight and she'll definitely be missed The next thing I want to talk about is Just I know we're we're looking at registration fees and things for for the year and as always We like, you know, just to reiterate as community we like you to keep the eye on the prize and keep those expenses down I also want to thank you guys for Looking at real solutions for keeping expenses down now. I come from the technology industry, so I Understand how important is patching and maintaining equipment Extends the life of the equipment and it also keeps us
011from Potentially expensive situations where something is down and we've got to pay You know expensive service fees to get somebody out there and for equipment to be rushed that really hits us in the pocket So I appreciate that that forward thinking of let's look at how we're maintaining it making sure we're doing our best to keep that That Expense down in the future. So that's that's really appreciated So that's all I had this this month, but thank you Thank you very much and as always we always encourage our community to come out and attend meetings and Speak on any questions or contact us with any questions have moving on letters and recommendations are in the back of the board book agenda item six eight consent agenda Bear with me. I move that we approve the
012items on the consent agenda for this meeting as presented I am going to pull two of them we're going to prove from the poll from the bills list the alpine snow bill and 6a3 approval of resignation of staff to be talked at in closed session All right so approval of the consent agenda including 6a1a regular session meeting minutes of December 17 2025 6a1b closed session meeting minutes of December 17 2025 6a1c buildings and grounds committee meeting minutes of January 14, 2026 6a2 approval of bills list of January 21st 2026 minus alpine snow 6a4 approval of family medical leave none at this time 6a5 approval of employment of staff Dominic Nelson FLMA teacher at Hilda Walker Jerry Bradford paraprofessional at Indian Trail Vanessa Maori paraprofessional at DJR 6a6 approval of the 2627 kindergarten registration fees 6a7
013approval of the 2627 student registration fees grade one through eight 6a8 approval of the 2627 student milk fee 6a9 approval of mileage reimbursement 6a10 approval of annual finance financial auditing services 6a11 requesting authorization to issue an RFP for a third party administrator tpa 6a12 approval of bazaar works agreement Do I have a motion? So moved second You have a second Yeah, um, then can we have discussion? um, I would like to just have a quick discussion on 0.6a 11 requesting the authorization to issue an RFP for a third party administrator Can we just talk about what that includes because that sticks out? To me. I know I kind of read about it in the board book But I think it'd be good for an open because it's a little hazy for people to understand what
014it is We're actually asking for absolutely. So the administration recommends that the board of education authorized the issuance of requests for proposals for third party administrators to support the district's administrative and compliance needs Many school districts opt to utilize tpas The district recommends adding a third party administrator who can provide high quality administration services ensure compliance with state and federal requirements Improve reporting capabilities and potentially reduce overall costs They are experts in 403 bs and 457 bs and in working with districts plan documents There's no immediate financial impact associated with issuing the RFP The cost for a third party administrator is generally passed on to the vendor such as axa and not the district Typically the providers cover an approximate two dollar per participant tpa fee And there are a few providers that do not
015cover it and will pass the fee along to participants Any recommended contract award resulting from this process will be brought to the board for separate approval and financial review So this is the request to go out for? proposals yes, so Why and theoretically why wouldn't be able to have somebody on staff do what we're asking them to do The person would have to have expertise in investing And specifically in 403 bs, which is the 401k equivalent inside the education world To help people with their documents and their investing This is something that our CSBO felt really strongly about ensuring that we had an extra layer of support With people who were experts in that field and this would be something that would be elected by the participants Just offering another service to them as they
016invest their money for retirement I'm all in favor of it, but I just wanted it to be clear when people think well, we're hiring third party What is that about now that people understand? Thank you Is there is there any other examples of that too for the district or is that just in general? Is there any other examples of that besides like for the 403 b which is common? Is there any other examples that you can give or at least one I can pull that in supply to the board Yeah, no problem But there's nothing immediate on the table right now, right that we're looking for No, this would just be to go out for the rfp. Okay Dr. Paul, I just so I can understand. What was it about the cost would be? resubmitted
017to the vendor the Vendor would take on that cost it depends on the provider according to the notes here we have Either the providers cover the approximate two dollars Participation tpa fee or that is something that the participants pay Oh, so it'd be within their plan as they're investing there would be a fee a nominal fee that would be attached. I see. Yep And with our registration fees, we already got the flyers I know I got the mailers one out and there's a discounted fee if you register early. So just a reminder You still have that and so make sure That you are Getting your registration We look forward to Your students any other questions or discussions? Okay, you can take a roll call john winter. All right, uh a union chavez. Aye joy murphy.
018Aye Patrick oliphant. Aye. Ron petri. Aye. Amy burke. Aye. Melissa ryan. Aye Very quickly before we move on to the pulled Um bill I so Um got excited about our other recognition. I forgot to acknowledge. Mr Oliphant's going to do our other recognition for us this evening. Yes, I wanted to take a moment specifically to Recognize and thank all of our building admin and staff That go out and manually clear snow to make sure that our students and guests and everybody are safe These elements aren't fun And you know our staff our maintenance staff does it as well But there's only so many of them and I think it should really be acknowledged and I know for sure You know at the mary drew that kim zelka and nurse laura were out doing it And
019this is above and beyond for them, but they do it because they care They do it because they're passionate about our kids in our community and that deserves the utmost respect and thanks sincerely from us So, thank you. Yes, I know that uh a parent had called me the other day and said mrs Wright was doing the same thing sometimes the snow comes fast and hard and and at the last minute and and they do an Our maintenance staff does an amazing job. But like you said only only could do so much. Yep Mr. Acevedo was out there at rogues, too. So Yeah We're very lucky Very good. All right moving on so can I have? a motion to approve from the bills list alpine snow in the Amount listed which I am. Yeah, it
020was 104 104 thousand one hundred and forty dollars, right? Correct. Can I have a motion so moved a second second And then can we have um, just it being a large amount. Can we have walt and dr paul go over? that Come on up walt So this question was posed a little earlier And some information was provided to the board so we pulled last year's total all-in costs with alpine And in accordance with the contract it was 140 thousand dollars and some change This is a per incident So if we have a weather incident And they remove snow depending on the depth of the snow Any amount of salt that we have to put down those are separate charges So what you're seeing is a pretty busy december We went back and we pulled the
021contract in the bidding documents and compared it to What we've been invoiced. It looks correct to us And so where we're at right now, I think we're at a hundred and fifteen thousand dollars currently In comparison to last year where through the entire winter through the entire year with alpine. We're somewhere in the 140s So again, if we have less weather we'll have less incidents and less invoices But in particular this month a lot of ice a lot of salt was used So i'll let walt pick it up from there But I just wanted from the financial perspective to go back and make sure that at least the billing was correct Because it's a big number well Can I just um comment this weekend when I was looking over my board book? I this I
022did have sticker shock when I saw a hundred and four thousand. I know we had a december that was icy snowy Um, but I also did see like they were out the 29th and the 30th and we weren't even in school those days Which I understand like some of the buildings you gotta you know, that might have some work, you know employees coming in here but it It just was a lot and dr. McDermott. I sent you a text before the meeting and um I respectfully Have to disagree with the amount You said 140 something thousand dollars last year because I looked back in the board book In our bills list for alpine and I did that this weekend Not today just because I wanted because I was like 104 I don't remember it ever
023being that high And it was only 96,000 all of last year for the whole winter I mean, that's what the board voted on whether or not there was more somewhere else We ran a report by vendor through our through our accounts receivable person today And so the all-in cost for last year is what was stated in the email that I sent you but I can pull that information and send it to the board that was past approvals i'm not sure if You're looking at calendar year or fiscal year, but I can have becky pull those again Well, I would look at fiscal year because it's pretty much what the district runs on but I also looked back in The year before it was like 127,000 last year was 96 The year before it was only
02425,000 the year before that was 109 and that was the year we had george's landscaping and bill's Landscaping one doing sidewalks one doing I mean, I really learned a lot. I was going through and I was like I forgot we even did that how we had george's couldn't Do the sidewalks so we had to hire another company to do the the sidewalk but I This is a sticker shock. This is I I have to disagree The what the board voted on last year what the board voted on was 96,000 Whether or not there's Other invoices somewhere else but what we voted on as a school board was 96 for the whole year Not 145 So i'll provide that documentation to the board Respectfully, that is what we pull all I can do is look back
025into my board book I can look back into the bills list and what we voted on was 96,000. So you voted that's $50,000 difference voted on the contract for 96,000. No, it was the services last year It was um, november 24 Um zero no december 24 is zero january 2025 was 32,600 Then february 25 last february was 64 and then march was zero april was zero It equals 96,000 All I can do is look back at what we voted on and i'm i'm a little bit disturbed that the number Doesn't match what we voted on Um, I i'd like to respond if I can um, so Remembering correctly What everybody votes on here is the con the service contract, right? No, so we vote on the bills list Okay, you're saying the bills list. That's
026that's where the confusion sure but the number totals for what we're paying out Is due to snow removal due to occurrence as occurred So some of those years snow and ice is lighter. We'll have warmer winters So, I mean these companies they take a risk as well, especially when they sign overall like non I've been around a while Patrick I understand that fully I know that but what I I don't like is that I'm concerned about a sticker shock and then i'm here and last year was 145 But I can't find 145 from what we voted on on the bills list And if it's somewhere else, that's fine. But then as a school board member, I need to know Where I can find these numbers because I only know what we vote on I can
027go back and look So I am a little bit upset about that being Saying my number is not right when this is all the information I have Is what I misunderstood what you're asking about. I apologize You're asking how the numbers got to that point if you go back to february 2025 And you look at the bills list you will see alpine and then you just see what we paid them And then you go back the next month see what we paid them And that's what the board voted on so i'm just don't want to be Told that i'm wrong when i'm just looking at numbers that we Were comfortable voting on Right, so this is a bidded out service and so what we're looking at that is in The board book for this evening
028The occurrences are by the contract that the board approved so I can go back and try to find the information that you're referring to joy But for this evening the occurrences with salt And snow removal are in alignment with the contract that the board approved Again, sometimes it'll be more sometimes it'll be less as far as like number of occurrences, but it's based on Like the contract that the board approved and so as far as alignment for what the board is approving today That's what walton I pulled today So I can't speak to the past because I don't have that but i'll pull if you could please look at them What we have in our board book and Why is the number so different? Why is the fifty thousand dollars less that I thought we
029voted on because if that was the case? 145 I would not be questioning this bill I'm questioning it because it was 96. It was 127 for the whole season it was 25,000 for the whole season like I I really did my homework I went back and diligently looked into these bills lists so that I because I was like 217,000 already and it's december 30th. We still have january february march It could I mean we have to be prepared for this in case we get a few more good snowstorms But i'm sorry to rant but I i'm a little bit upset that my number and that number doesn't match I'll work with dr McDermott in finding those numbers and we'll provide the backup information for that for last year And as far as the weekend goes
030they come on the weekend sometimes because the snow falls and they have to remove it Before the class starts on monday. So yeah, even on holidays my Thing is it's going to be cheaper To pay them to come out for snow removal than for one kid to slip and fall on the weekend Because they want to go on a hill or walk around the path walking path around hill to walker so We get the snow out as fast as we can. I know you were talking about principals being out there. I was out there we We all try to get as much snow out as quickly as possible because then Look at now the people that haven't shoveled their driveways. You're going to have issues this weekend It's going to be so frozen. You won't
031be able to chop it out. So again as fast as it falls We try to remove it So i'm in constant contact with them the day before I mean they have their own weather service that they look at I have national weather center that I look at And then we sit down together and try to figure out what the best plan of attack is sometimes It's throwing salt down the night before To pretreat a little bit so that way when it comes down we were easily plowing it There's other times that they can only plow over and over an inch The other day it was coming down so hard so fast when kids were coming into school. They put plows down And there wasn't even an inch of snow yet But again, we have to
032work together and try to get that snow out of there as quickly as possible because if not it'll cause major headaches Thank you. Well The only other question I would have is how do we verify because part of the contract is we pay a certain amount Per snow amount correct benefits like from 9 to 12 inches. It's a higher rate. Right. How do we verify that total? Sometimes it's me going outside and actually taking a measurement the day that it snows Excuse me, because the national weather center the closest Uh Weather stations they have here or remote stations is one at juliet which is the lewis juliet airport And then there's another one South of the granary but that's a personal person that's doing it and so you could see There's times I drive home.
033I live in new lenox and there's not a drop of rain or snow on the ground But here in frankfurt, we're getting it. So I mean I It all depends on what happens and I try to make daily notes of the weather conditions Thank you for clarifying that it's part of that is people at home are going to be wondering the same thing And for them to hear the process that's used because you're very thorough with this Thank you for sharing that it's very helpful And do they have how many vehicles do they use and how many employees do they have like say we have a snowstorm? Do they have a few trucks going around or how do they space it? So it's always on the plan of attack of as far as How and
034when the snow comes down in a perfect world it snows all night You get up bright and early and you you plow it out Then they start by opening order So they'll go to summit hill and hill to walker and then make their way through the buildings and then hit here mary drew Um Other times we're not so fortunate. So it all depends on how that snow comes But i've had as many as six or eight trucks here at once plowing different properties all at once But in general, they'll have one skid steer With a push bucket. They'll have one cabota tractor with an even larger push bucket on there and then usually three or four trucks not including all the Sidewalk equipment they have And the salt that you leave at the schools for
035the custodians to use in case they need to fill spots to Does alpine supply the salt or do you go buy extra salt for that? So i'm still working on an attic stock of salt. As a matter of fact, I just purchased one pallet of salt uh Today or yesterday? Days run together. Um But before that we had three pallets of salt since i've gotten here that we've worked through So it's very minimum it's usually I try to put a bucket in a shovel by all the main entrances and You use maybe a scoop or two of that bucket Then they go around with the bags and refill it as needed. Okay Thank you And just so for information I did do a little research Uh skid steer could be upwards of fifty thousand dollars
036to purchase You can do a yearly contract For them, um altaw for cat if we wanted a contract for next year to bring in our own snow plows or things like that They do do push contracts because I had one at my previous district And that's like I want to say two or three thousand dollars a month just to have it sitting here um, and then a plow truck is anywhere from 60 to 90 grand But we you also need the personnel to be right we used to have the custodians doing the sidewalks They all had like a really nice Ride on yep. We still have them. Okay, that's how we're doing the play surface behind djr right now Okay Because when I was looking through all the bills I did notice it was a
037little bit of an eye opener How expensive is to do the sidewalks? for the Alpine or any company It seems like the plowing Doesn't seem to be as much as the sidewalk can be Thank you very much for your information I'm scared to stir the pot. I'm not trying to really but so i'm trying to understand you guys had approved Let's call it 94k Right, so i'm understanding where the disconnect is i'm trying to there was an approval of 94k So I just have my information that I can find Paul has more paul has all the information. I just can use what I remember In my brain that we voted on so I went back to you know how Today we went through the bills list and um, you would see like we start with
038a all the way down to z and I would look for alpine and Each month and I just wrote what the amount was so I get that but i'm saying So what you're remembering though is that a year ago we had approved at 90k or something like that and now The sticker shock is that the current bill? Is significantly higher And it's and it's a month that like the kids weren't really in school. It was like, you know, they got out the 19 And I understand we have to keep up. I do but So could there be like is there was there a cost change or anything like that? Or do we have? Is that something that From last year to this year. It was a three-year contract. So there is a bump. There is
039a bump. Yes That's one thing to keep in mind and then also event occurrence event occurrence. I understand that so Bigger snowfall this year bigger labor more ice more ice So as I took from from joy, it is reconciling What is in board books versus when we use our accounting software and pull that specific vendor and have a number? Making sure those match Okay, so I just have to do that homework for joy, right? Because joy you said that you for the board books for what you guys approved on the bills list It was 95 96, whatever But you were told that last year's was 145, right? Didn't you say that? Yeah, that was what becky pulled from the system today So I asked her to look at the last fiscal year and she pulled
040that number and gave it to me So I sent it to the board Because I wanted to do what joy was doing and that is I wanted to compare last year's all-in-cost to where we were At this year to see You know, are we going to make it like in budget out of budget whatever the case may be? But what I did not do is go back and look at each individual board book I think that like that is very thorough that what becky does is super efficient. She just pulls it It did not take long. It's just sitting there and going back. It was right at the top of every bills list boom Luckily it started with an a I know But i'll try to determine where the where that issue is at. I
041mean it's type could be timing maybe It might be some some of the invoices for this month are in january also So it's what can we get in front of the board in a board book? So there are the majority of december and then the first I think week in In january, but this actual bill from them ended on the 30th. It didn't go into january That's because I was even looking at that too. I thought maybe this is like a month and a half but it it was a lot of money that in five years we've spent from what I can gather 350 000 dollars on snow removal salt and one 107 000 or 117 as of today or 15 That's a lot You know, i'm just not used to that and i've been
042on the board for a while paying attention and this is an area where I remember at one point they would just let the guys go out do the salting do the Road do the driveways and we actually put a cap on it and then once you went over that let us know Because it was the bill was like three times as much as it should have been And I remember that year. It was a snowy year, but it was expensive. It was so, I mean we want to keep it safe, but This could be three hundred thousand dollars Okay, to be fair. Well when you came to us you came to us with a bunch of different bids Before we approved alpine. Is that correct? Correct. Yes, and they were the they were the best
043What was most efficient price that was out there that can take care of our facilities. Is that right? Correct? It was one other bid I found that because I was looking trying to find the contract and the bid showed up And it looked like it was one bid and it was tons more than alpine um Where we didn't use george's or bill's Yeah, I could pull the bid tab and see exactly how many people bid on it I could see how many people actually I keep record of Who actually called me for the specifications and looked at it. Yeah, it's in the board book too the two companies and the comparison Yeah, I mean I think the the price totals were we're just at the mercy of mother nature Yeah, you know, I mean I
044get that too safety is paramount What we're paying out in this pales in comparison to somebody a slip trip. I do think this company charges a lot though Yeah, I do. I think they're high. I think they're on the higher side. I will say that sure I'm happy with the personally i'm very happy with the way that walt described how They monitor and make sure that it's it's correct And it to that with that extent of in-depth coverage on it. We're at the will of mother nature You know, that's why we have the the money in the backup reserves But there are some years where we pay way less because we have warmer winters Do we have a line item on the budget for snowplot snow removal? Like is there something where if we go
045over way over? I would like to say yes, but that would have been a Julie question. I mean I asked dr McDermott, he's been so busy, but I did ask him if we had a line Something in the budget, but I didn't get a response back, which is fine because I didn't even expect it I know you've been busy Are you asking for like a notice like hey, we're getting pretty close to the money that we know I do trust Well, I do but I think this company is expensive Well, I mean that's something we can obviously look at for next year. Yeah, I think like yeah Already mentioned at this point. I think they have directive to get the information to us Okay, and then we have well, it's already does some research and
046directors for the next time that we bid and contract And they are up for bids the hour. Yeah good I mean because there's really nothing we can do now. Unfortunately. I mean it with like it knows we have to clear You're right. You can definitely at this at this point We have a motion to pay the bill for the services that have already been provided. So There's no more discussion. We can go ahead and take a roll call so moved second petrick oliphant. Aye. John winter. Aye. Adrian chavez. Aye. Amy burke. Aye. Melissa ryan. Aye Joey murphy. Aye. And ron petri. Aye Motion carries moving on to thank you. Well, don't go too far. Well, we're talking about roofing We should get some two six b one Um the approval of the 2026 roof bed
047for mary drew early learning center and mary drew administration center Okay, i'll start and then let walt finish. So the public bidding process for the 2026 Roof resurfacing bid for mary drew project began when it was published in the newspaper in mid december The bid specs base bid stated that the contractor would resurface sections 1 13 and 14 at mary drew We also threw some alternatives in there just to see where the pricing was going to come in at That also helps us in the future when we go out to bid for specific pieces for budgeting purposes The director of business And walt worked together to ensure that the money was budgeted out of next year's fiscal budget So this project would start after july 1st The eight contractors who submitted bids at the january
0486 2026 public bid opening The lowest most responsible bidder was rb crowther company. They are the incumbent vendor for this contract And we've supplied the eight different bids rb crowther came in for the base bid at 242 570 dollars And that is what is being recommended tonight to keep us on track with walt's long-term roofing plan So i'll turn it over to you walt Or the board with any questions for us Um, I think it's important to notice that we are Doing sections of roofs and would you want to speak on I know we covered this You know a little bit in the building and grounds, but now that we're here and open would you mind explaining to the public? What that means by doing the roofing repairs and sections as opposed to the entire
049thing all at once Correct so even summit hill junior high has different sections because of the firewalls throughout the building Separate different sections of the roof Or additions when you're putting on a new addition, you'll have a new section of roof for there. So i've been working with garland our roofing manufacturer and just looking at all the years and all the sections of roof and Trying to keep them all under warranty And it's it's Speaks to the plans that we were talking about in the building and grounds committee meeting that These large expenses can be tackled when done responsibly and you can do it in sections You don't have to do it all at once if you plan accordingly. You have a long-term vision you understand in advance What we're going to be looking at
050and what costs are looking to come when we plan it in pieces We can be very proactive Long-term sustainable in financially and fiscally responsible. So i'm i'm in favor of this The process i'm going to vote. Yes, I think it's great So walt real quickly looking at section seven eight nine. Would that be something that we would do the following year then? So yes Barry drew is a total of 14 sections. Yeah Several of which are out of warranty already But then we have a few more sections that are coming out of warranty in 2026 So we're going to do a few of those this year get those covered and then the following summer knock out sections four five Six and then possibly seven eight nine as well. Okay, and that would take care of
051all those then the rest of the roofs at mary drew Would come out of warranty until 29 which is good because then we could work at the junior high. Okay Yes, I I kind of agree with patrick on the concept that it makes it more fiscally Responsible when we take sections of the roof and do sections at a time instead of doing a whole roof at one time so I agree Is it that you do sections because it was the add-ons like when you have an addition? I thought I learned that at one point that yep. So Whenever wall or when the architect designs a building you'll have your firewalls go all the way through the Different portions of the building whether that's addition or design That's how they break the roof up in parts
052Okay, so in the district we have a little over 440,000 square feet of roofing So we want to make sure that we're taking small chunks of that at a time I got a question just for for my learning. I wish we could we could put this up there But like so for instance the sentence reads out the eight contractors submitted bids January yada yada uh And then you decided which is the most responsible which is rb crowder and then you got your base bids the alternates This way for everybody base bid the alternate and then alternate two I don't know what the alternate one and alternate two means and then We broke down the the roofing in sections so alternate The base bid was the roofs coming out of warranty in 2024 and 26, which
053is sections 1 13 and 14. Okay, then alternate one Was sections four five and six And then alternate two was seven eight nine. Okay, so those are my pieces. Yep my question is is so for instance when We're going with the lowest bid, right? But my mind goes to There it's a lowest bid and it's usually the lowest price for a certain reason now That reason could be labor that reason could be a good relationship, whatever it may be but when you see like big discrepancies between like I mean some of these are 50,000 more right am I doing math, right? 100,000 more Why like is it is it is it better material? Sometimes is it sometimes? Companies don't want the job But they don't want to say no to the opportunity fair enough. I
054understand so they will over price it As a strategy to not get the work understand that which is helpful that we got eight companies because One or two of them are guilty of that not all eight. Well, i'm just saying that's a good question though I'm just saying from my standpoint whenever I see something is the cheapest. It's not always the best. So what I do in For my previous years in commercial construction the lowest bid usually mints They forgot the biggest thing But after the bid is open, then what I do is I actually vet those companies. I'll call the two lowest bidders so in this case I called uh crowler and I talked to jake who's uh Son of the owner who has been out here for the last six years working Um
055at different sections of the building And talk to him make sure he he knows everything. Okay, and then he has it all covered So the product is the product we get right from the manufacturer so that's a good thing, okay But only watch out is like right For ten thousand dollars less and then all of a sudden it's not a really great quality. You're not wrong We're shooting ourselves in the foot. We're not wrong. So as long as you're doing that heavy lifting wall. Yep Any other All right Then can I have a motion to approve that the board of education approve rb Crowther roofing for the resurfacing of sections 1 13 and 14 and mary drew for the cost of 242 100,000 570 dollars motion so moved second roll call ron petri. I patrick
056oliphant. Aye adrian chavez aye joy murphy aye amy burke aye john winter aye melissa ryan aye motion carries moving on to 6c approval of administrative employment director of curriculum instruction okay, so Amidst some odd timing midway through the year denise has stepped in to fill a very big void And has done so with hard work grace humor and connection Not only has she far exceeded expectations But she has also helped the district office team move forward with the resignation of john snipes and the passing of julie stearns Denise has earned her spot in the office and comes with my highest recommendation to be named the director of curriculum instruction No longer an interim effective july 1st 2026 We will work out denise's contract as we do with all other admin contracts in a few months
057But this endorsement by her administrative colleagues and potentially by the board of education Will help build her confidence as she commits herself to excellence within her department And so we ask tonight that you approve denise So I will go ahead and move that the board of education employee denise aslan as director of curriculum and Instruction effective july 1st 2026 do I have a second so moved second any discussion If I had a golden buzzard, I'd hit it for you A lot of your colleagues said really high things about you. Yep All that's left is a new official name for peanut butter and we need a new peanut butter and jelly name after the vote Okay Um, go ahead and we'll call uh, malissa ryan. Hi john winter. Hi amy burke. Hi joy murphy. Hi Adrian
058chavez. Hi patrick oliphant Hi ron petri. Aye So moved congratulations, and thank you Denise why don't you come up and shake everybody's hand and all that kind of good stuff Congratulations to you. You've put in a lot of hard work. We appreciate what you're doing over here for us All right with that moving on to number seven paul you're up with the superintendent and staff report enrollment Okay, so we're covering just regular enrollment changes throughout the school year You'll see in your board book. We're just highlighting where we see changes across the district Where we'll have our big conversation will be at our board planning meeting Where we start talking about enrollment and sectioning for next year And that's where we can really drill down on these numbers But this is just to keep you
059informed of what's happening mid-year The second piece that's in my report is the preliminary 26 27 school calendar discussion And so we're starting to look ahead to next year already Included in your board book is just a draft of a calendar One that's been shared with both the administrative team and the union It's also Included in your board book. You'll see the lincoln way 210 calendar and the draft Frankfurt 157c calendar So i'm starting to get feedback from the union, especially at the end of the calendar where we're trying to fit days in And it ended really strangely on a monday tuesday with like a half day institute institute So i'm going to rework some of that and so it is a work in progress So if you see anything in the calendar that you
060would like adjusted Please let me know we're not approving it tonight It's just kind of a first glance to make sure that breaks line up and we have the correct number of school days Uh and items like that Uh, the feedback will be gathered. We'll take that all into consideration. We'll bring A finalized calendar to the board for approval next month, but along the way in friday reports, you'll see any changes that i'm making So that's really exciting. We're talking about next year And you'll see all the different drafts of the calendars And then lastly we have our kindergarten registration Our drive is for the 20 26 20 27 school year I know it seems like that's impossible But it is set for february 2nd to february 6th Parents can schedule an appointment for kindergarten
061on the summit hill website or they can call the district office Will be here open late. So after parents get off work if they need to get out here Will be open until 6 30 pm And so this is a good opportunity to capitalize on a little reduction in fees And also make sure that this helps inform our staffing So we track this on a day-to-day basis throughout this We have guesstimates of how many students we think will come and so we compare that to last year We would anticipate somewhere between 210 and 230 kindergarten students when we start next year Which would then help inform our sectioning for kindergarten and et cetera So there's some good information there and flyers and mailers and all of that is going out. It'll be on social media
062So that we can attract as many kindergarten students as possible So if you know someone out there who has a little one and they're heading toward kindergarten make sure they they jump in early That would be immensely helpful to the district Can we put this on the school signs? Um this kindergarten registration sure can in the park district. Maybe they'll put them on some of their signs I have a meeting with them next week. So i'll talk to them. Um Dr mcdermott I was wondering or it's the board we've stuck to this thirty dollar Incentive the fee If you pay between or if you sign your children up between um in february Can we? To maybe capture more students. Could we have a fifty dollar? reduction That is a good question, uh, we haven't really
063considered giving a deeper reduction, but we have held student fees level for several years and There's some good comparison charts to show our elementary district in comparison to the other lincoln way districts And in most cases were far far less expensive. Yeah, so the incentive really is It is for the parents and it gives a monetary Um incentive it also helps us because the more students who register early the firmer our numbers are for sectioning So it's helpful both ways But we felt really especially with cost of living Uh in inflation they're keeping all of our fees Even for another year. I think this is maybe the third or fourth year in a row that we've recommended that I think that helps all families versus giving a bigger discount, but jacking the fees up Can
064I also have you know, can we in our um in the information you're getting to us for our workshop? Can we really um? Dive into keeping the lower grade sections at lower numbers like our our kindergarten our first and second, like can we make sure that we're We're having that discussion At the work sure can I have a little asterisk next to kindergarten. I knew that was a topic of interest. So I need another reminder, but that that's something important that I know we all want to take a look at absolutely. Thank you All right, so so no to increasing the Discount Just to help parents. I mean the economy is really tough decision, right? The economy is really tough and people are struggling and if we can give them help in any way I
065think it would be Great so in the consent agenda the board approved Kindergarten registration fees student registration fees milk fees like all of those fees have been approved We do not have an action item to increase that incentive So if that was something that the board was interested in doing we would have to put that on either a subsequent agenda um If there's enough sufficient interest to do that So that's up to the board and I can make whatever you want happen happen We have to actually vote on that Or just give board uh board directive. I would think it has to do student fees. I'd ask the board to vote on it Well, we're running out of time. So forget it. I just thought it would help families Well, we also may end up
066with a special special meeting here And so that might fit more squarely in the time frame Okay So what i'd like to do is maybe gauge board interest in discussion and if there is enough interest then pursue it If there's not board interest then then not If the board is interested in it, then we would look for a way to make sure that we could do it for you so just just to pick at it though, but is is it if we have some families that that This is a a challenging amount, right? There could be a discussion that takes place And there's also some supports. I'm i'm guessing that also kind of Can be provided or directed to them or we can provide them sort of certainly we we work with families Especially families
067who have a lot of children. Yeah, sure So, you know when you think I was pointing at you I was thinking to myself wait till you get to high school You think? So it's a small mortgage imagine having triplets going to high school at the same time But there are families who have several children and so when you think 150 dollars, okay You know Most people can kind of work that in their budget if they know that when you're talking about multiple kids that number grows And so we do offer some flexibility for people. They just work with us on an individual basis Yeah, that's important. I like that And I just to add one last point joy. I think We certainly would be in our purview that we could consider extending The incentive for
068the month of march possibly That's something that we could think about and do it doesn't have to be run out of time for that That the board wouldn't have to vote on it would be the same fee structure. We would just extend the incentive. Yeah These are things to talk about and then no. Yeah, these are things we need to talk about You want to yeah And that that last suggestion is a little less timely So we can launch in an event the board wants to do that then we have ample time to discuss it and put it in place Yeah, but register your kids asap help us out That's the message we need to get out All right with that. Um, we are going to be going into closed session. There was no action
069item, but since we did Pull one of the consent agenda items. We will vote on that when we get out of closed session um So I move that we go into closed session as printed and publicly posted on the agenda Oh, I do want to make a mention to the students here Make sure you tell some of our students to get into snow removal because it seems to be yes Just put a pen in that So moved on so moved on the amy's motion closed on the closed second roll call Roll call mosa rine. Aye. Ron petri. Aye. Amy Burke. Aye. John winter. Aye. Patrick goldfine. Aye. Joy murphy Aye. Adrienne chavez. Aye. Do we have one of those hollywood intros when we're back in with a three two All right. We are back in
070open moving on to our back to Six a three approval of the resignation of staff resignation of staff elizabeth hender hernandez effective december 20th 2025 Leafa henderson effective january 16th 2026 shale hedgeski effective january 23rd 2026. Do I have a motion? motion so moved Motion second second um any uh discussion Okay, roll call um joy murphy abstain Adrienne chavez. Aye Patrick goldfine. Aye Melissa ryan. Aye. John winter. Aye. Amy burke. Aye. And ron petri. Aye motion carries moving on to Number eight board member reports their uh last district 843 meeting was in december So that was already reported on by mrs. Murphy. Thank you very much So we can go to building reports Last time we started this way. Do we want to start this way this time? Sure Okay for mary drew Early learning
071center before winter break. They hosted the frosty festival students sang and performed for the family and friends They did a wonderful job mary drew early learning center was presented at the frankfurt Library preschool fair. Thank you to cindy gutierrez and carla murray for representing mary drew early learning center students At mary drew early learning center, um hosted a bears packer spirit day They tried cheez-its and teddy grams and voted for their favorite They wore their favorite team danced to the super bowl shuffle and celebrated football And also the preschool registration for 26 27 school year Um begins after the kindergarten registration. So please watch out for the district website For more information coming in february now i've got rogues kindergarten and Rogues students enjoyed their winter parties before break. Thank you to resco and all
072the volunteers that work hard to make wonderful memories for our students Students completed their nwea testing the first week of december and have shown wonderful progress We're so proud of the students staff and families We love seeing such amazing progress and watching our students grow Students did a great job jumping right back into the learning following the break We had a lot of tired kindergartners one of mine Students and staff members that first week back. We are back and ready to continue to soar Additional information the kindergarten team is in the process of getting ready for our incoming kindergarten students for next school year Kindergarten registration for next year begins on february 2nd And our readiness night will be held on february 19th Please see our district website for additional information. Thank you. Mrs. Boss
073All right for dr. Julian rogues school grades one through four We've had a wonderful start to 2026 and the students quickly got right back into learning big grade level concepts This is an important time for the academic year and everyone is doing a wonderful job in their focus and effort Our students continue to grow at djr all grade levels indicated as high achievement and high growth in both math and ela As measured during our winter nwea map testing great job students and staff hard to believe but our first And second graders will soon be celebrating the 101st and 102nd days of the school year. Those are always awesome I love when they get dressed up. It's so cool Many thanks to all of our parent volunteers in resco for helping us end 2025 with many
074joyful and fun activities We'll see many of you again for our valentine's parties on february 12th huge. Thank you to collin bradley and tracy bolfer And I have a summit hill junior high Happy new year We set our students off before winter break celebrating all of our talented musicians during our winter assembly Congrats to the beautiful session season of performance and I have to tell you they were really good upon return from winter break students got right back into the swing of things and Revisited try semester two expectations through a pbis message presented by miss global Students are well on their way to a strong finish Summit hill junior high cheer team is is well into their competition season Great job this past weekend before me at the bangle invite and congratulations again on the
075first place finish last month Good luck to our boys basketball team as they head into their post season regionals and sectionals will be hosted at mulquina junior high this year Come and support the team Thank you, miss global All right, the trail blazers indian trail. It's goes mother son dance for trail students Only is friday january 23rd from five o'clock to seven o'clock. We look forward to seeing our mothers and sons dressed in their best 1950s Clothing our make a difference club is working on putting together blankets for project linus. Thank you to all who donated fleas Winter carnival for our trailblazers will take place february 6 during the school day. That is always an awesome day Thank you, mr All right hilda walker We are thrilled to celebrate the walker boys basketball team and
076their displays valley conference championship victory This team was all heart and their efforts paid off as they defeated the hickory creek tigers 40 to 38 To claim the conference title over the weekend go wildcats The fifth grade dare program kicked off last week in our pe classes We were thrilled to partner with Officer dwyer and officer fuger from the tinley park police department to bring this program back to our fifth grade students again this year On friday our sixth grade students are headed to the field museum to become experts on fossils They will have the opportunity to take a class about fossils and visit the museum together Additionally, our wonderful sco is sponsoring the scholastic book fair for our students this week They are also collaborating with simply slices and moquina for a dine and
077share event on january 28th From 3 to 9 pm So go out there and get some pizza A huge thank you to our scos for their generous support to our students in our school And thank you mrs carol for such a great report Okay With that our future meeting dates are february 18th 2026 the mary jure administrative center at 7 pm And our special meeting february 21st 2026 the board planning meeting from 9 a.m. To 11 30 a.m With that do I have a motion to adjourn? so moved second All in favor. All right any opposed? We are adjourned. Thank you