001Order this meeting of the Summit Hill district 161 board, but everyone please rise Roll call Melissa Ryan Here Joey Murphy here Adrian Chavez here John winter here Amy Burke here Patrick Oliphant here Ron Petrie here Moving on to information and proposals fun part we have Our guest Sure, so the Summit Hill junior high chamber ensemble is the most advanced group offered as part of our diverse band program Each of the members also plays with the full concert band But they were additionally placed in this ensemble per an advanced audition in order to provide them with more challenging music These students have shown dedication to being the best they can be and being in this elite ensemble Allows them to rehearse and perform with other equally dedicated musicians tonight They will be performing a piece entitled
002angels in the bleak midwinter Which combines hosts hauntingly beautiful in the bleak midwinter with the joyous traditional Carol angels We have heard on high arranged by Andy Clark So I must say also because she did not write this in this introduction They're under the direction of mrs. Kim Coughlin. So let's give them a round of applause and then She also knows how to build stands in her spare time, so we'll give them just a second and then we'll we'll have our presentation One thing that Kim didn't know is that our special scouting group meets on this particular Day of the week and so they're next door and Mary Drew and they snuck in for the presentation Because they saw that the band was going to be playing this group was going to be playing so
003they've come and gone already very quietly But I think that that speaks volumes about your program. So thank you very much. Let's see you follow that up Paul You know back in the day I did play a mean trombone At this time we would like to recognize our December Summit Award winners Okay, this month we're recognizing the early childhood team of FMLA substitute Sally Lois Paraprofessional Amy Angus and paraprofessional Yumer Gonzalez from our Mary Drew early learning center They were nominated for this award by director Kim Zilka for going above and beyond this school year And here's what she wrote the beginning of the school year is always an adventure however the beginning of the school year in an early childhood classroom filled with three and four-year-olds with special needs is an entirely different kind
004of adventure and When she said early childhood classroom has a teacher out on maternity leave at the beginning of the school year I think we all had the same reaction yikes. Like what do we do? So Sally Amy and Yumer have tackled this challenge with grace ease and a smile and the Mary Drew early learning center family is so grateful for each and every one of them Their classroom is organized and efficient and they have stepped up to ensure consistency for our littlest learners They have built strong relationships with their students all while ensuring their special education needs are being met Most importantly our students are happy and love being in their classroom Sally is far more than just a sub. She is their person and she is their teacher She leads with a warm
005greeting and a hand to hold for any of her students who might need it Amy sprinkles in her creative hurt her smile and creative artistic side throughout the classroom And you Mira is always ready to play and laugh with her students teammates say about this team They are a collective calming force in the crazy world We call preschool no matter what curve balls are thrown their way Kiddos crying or refusing to cooperate being down a support person in class potty accidents do happen in preschool So this trio is always relaxed supportive and unfazed in addition to rolling with the many curve balls that are being in the preschool Presents each day. They consistently dole out so much love and happiness to our youngest students These the kids in that class love Sally circle time Amy's
006creative art projects and you mirrors Plato creations and we are lucky to have them as a part of our team and another teammate writes These three ladies have done such a wonderful job making our kiddos feel safe and adored They have pivoted depending on each student specific needs Including sensory needs and augmentive and alternative communication device usage and they have Accepted all new classroom additions with open arms Not many other classrooms add students throughout the year like we do in early childhood The Mary Drew early learning center and Summit Hill 161 are extremely lucky to have this trio This team has gone above and beyond this school year and is so deserving of this summit award Thank you for all that you've done for our littlest learners and congratulations on your summit award Would you
007please come forward for your certificates? At this time for be to we are so excited to announce the expansion of student voice on the Board of Education Joining our already seated eighth grade Board of Education member Leah our two additional students Olivia Davis and Sean Stewart jr These two are seventh grade students of these two seventh grade students applied through the Summit Hill junior high student council Submitted their applications and were interviewed by the full Board of Education in closed session They were very different candidates both bringing several strengths to the table Olivia's communicative was verbally prepared and converse freely and with enthusiasm during the interviews Sean created a Presentation and submitted this to the Board of Education for review showing great preparation and a hearty work ethic Together they are wonderfully prepared to help
008offer student perspective into what occurs around the board table As seventh grade students, they will be officially called seventh grade junior student Board of Education members They will alternate in offering a few remarks during public comment at our meeting and will not be required to take the oath of office The idea is to include additional students earlier so they can get a close-up look at local government and also decide if this is something They'd like to apply for next year as eighth graders from the board to both of you Olivia and Sean Thank you so much for taking the step forward with such energy We so look forward to working with you for the remainder of the year. You want to stand up? Welcome welcome welcome For a three we'd now like to welcome Representative
009from Mackinac associate with Lori Pope with our presentation of the audit. Can you guys hear me? Good evening? My name is Lori Pope. I will be representing Mackinac associate this evening We did perform the audit for the fiscal year ending June 30th 2025 and I'm here to present a Brief explanation of the results and also the financial position of this district I want to thank everybody involved with the audit again. I'm pleased to announce that it went very smoothly this year You know, we've worked together now for for a little longer and I feel like we really have a good understanding of the needs That we need and working together as a team to have this audit prepared effectively efficiently and timely We're usually here in November but because of the uniform guidance and the
010supplement that it was a little late in being Approved by the government. We're here a month later So I do you want to point out that I did meet with the Finance Committee last week in in detail We had a good at least an hour roundtable discussion Some Q&A and a detailed presentation of the financial statements as you'll see them this evening So I'll go ahead and keep it brief and just provide you guys with the highlights I'm happy to announce again that this year we have issued an unmodified opinion on the financial statements of the district as of June 30th What that means in a three-page letter is that we've issued a clean opinion an unmodified opinion I'm also pleased to announce that we had no findings again this year for the district's audit
011When I speak of findings meaning deficiencies of any sort in internal controls what I guess I'm trying to Convey is that we feel that there's no issues and concerns regarding the policies and procedures and internal controls So that the internal controls that you guys do have in place would prevent and detect a material misstatement Whether due to fraud or error, so I'm happy to announce that we have none of those to report again this year I'd also like to point out one of the other highlights is that you guys again this year receive recognition on your AFR So that is a great status to to be able to tout so congratulations on that as well So we'll go ahead and get started I'll just give you a basic Overview of the financial position of the
012district as it ended for your fiscal year ending June 30th If you would like to follow along I know that you do have the report in front of you However, you're welcome to just sit back and listen as well I am going to start on page one statement a titled government-wide financial statement This is the statement of net position. It starts with the assets current cash and bank at 33.7 million receivables at 281,000 the property taxes receivable be being 21.7 and prepaid at 338,000 the capital assets are the next section between land construction and progress improvements buildings leased assets equipment and accumulated depreciation We ended total assets both current and non-current of 100 million six hundred thirteen thousand three sixty three The next section deferred outflows of resources Relating to the deferred outflows relating to
013pensions and your post-employment benefits at three million forty four thousand six seventy six The next section being liabilities broken out between accounts payable and accrued salaries being current at nine hundred and eighty six thousand and two point one million the long-term liabilities meaning the bonds and lease payables do within one year 5.9 million least payable in one year of eighty seven thousand and then the bonds due in more than one year ended the year at 3.9 million the least payable at eighty seven thousand and then we have your net pension liability for TRS and IMRF at 3.1 million and the other post-employment benefit liability at six million four hundred and fourteen thousand those liabilities totaled twenty two million six hundred six thousand nine twenty seven reduced significantly with the additional payments of debt last year
014We then have the deferred inflows of resources section We have the property taxes levied for subsequent years or deferred revenues of twenty two point four million maintenance grant deferral of seventy thousand the deferred inflows of resources related to pensions eight hundred and nine thousand and Those related to post-employment benefits twelve point two million for a total of thirty five million four hundred eighty nine thousand seven thirty one Those assets less those liabilities are going to equal the net position of the district at fiscal year end That end of the year at forty five million five hundred sixty one thousand three eighty one That is comprised of three different components the first one being the net investment and capital assets That's calculated by taking the net book value of all fixed assets of the district less
015any Debt incurred to put them into use that number ended at thirty four million five hundred ninety thousand The restricted amount is six million seven hundred twenty four thousand Restricted by statute or law and then we have the unrestricted balance at four million two hundred forty six thousand seven Twenty nine up pretty significantly from the previous year The next report of the government wide financial statements is going to be statement B. You'll find that Drop the mic Statement B is on page two and I'll go ahead and go through this is basically the income statement However, it's titled statement of activities as you'll notice. It looks a little different than the fund accounting You're used to seeing on a regular basis. I'll take you through it briefly It starts with expenses and those expenses do
016include the depreciation on your assets and the interest on any debt total for the year all governmental activities fifty nine million seventy four thousand seven 103 the program revenues are your next section that's comprised of charges for services of 770,000 and operating grants and contributions of 16.9 million Which is inclusive of those on-behave payments as you can see that is a deficit of 41 million four hundred thousand That is going to be covered mostly by your general revenues That's in the middle of the page the largest component being the property taxes received at forty five point two million The evidence-based funding of three point one million the corporate personal property replacement taxes of a hundred forty seven thousand investment earnings continue to Produce good returns at one point three million and then miscellaneous at four
017hundred seventy one thousand Total general revenues this year up from the previous year a little over a million dollars at fifty million two hundred thirty five thousand We then had to recognize a loss on the sale of property for the buildings at three hundred and sixteen thousand The total change in net position this year was an increase in that position of eight million five hundred eighteen thousand If we add that to the net position at the beginning of your fiscal year, we in the year at forty five million five hundred sixty one thousand three eighty one The rest of the report I went through in detail with the finance committee So I'll go ahead and end my presentation there again. I just like to Reiterate the highlights are a clean opinion no findings in an
018increase in the net position of eight point five million I'd like to open up to any questions that the board may have for me I was just gonna say thank you so much for taking the time to meet with us Think you explained everything very well. I think Everything went very well. Thank you Paul and Julie for You know, I mean it's all the hard work is how we get the clean opinion and no findings so much appreciated Yes, and I think we should continue those meetings with the Finance Committee cheer I think it was very helpful for us to sit down together Talk about any questions you might have so I would welcome continuing that meeting every year Yeah, I appreciate that because that especially with her background and his number crunching that helps
019them Digest it all and then put it more in Lehman's terms to us, too Yes, it's a set of eyes and absolutely because it's hard to get all the questions in in a board meeting So yeah, it was a very productive appreciate you taking the time. Not a problem at all We appreciate your interest in doing so obviously I just want to say and I think we all agree, you know to the public Community if there's questions, you know, because obviously this is available for them online I mean feel free to reach out just because obviously this is a very summarized Explanation so and thank you to Paul and Julie too for all your hard work and Julia keeping it all together Yes Yes, if you go to the meeting and you listen to the
020meeting you'll hear Melissa and I asking a bunch of different questions Lori really breaking it down taking her time breaking it down for us To obviously show how well balanced our budget is and having that clean audit. So that was really nice Thank you very much For see freedom of information it Okay, so we have two foyers that are on the agenda and in the board book We found both to be unduly burdensome on the public body So we did offer the requester an opportunity to reduce the scope we did not get a response to that And so both foyers are subsequently denied We worked with Ansel glean to make sure that we properly addressed these requests and you can see the extent of them again in your board work Moving on to the student
021board of education member report fellow board members this month the students across district 161 are very proud to welcome our two new student board of education members Sean Stewart and Olivia Davis Over the past month both Sean and Olivia have brought many new and bright ideas forward including one that I will share with you today This month the students the student board of education members has set up a table in the cafeteria of shh Where students can ask us any questions they might have? Also, we have set up a suggestion box where students can give ideas on how we can improve Make suggestions ask questions or tell us what they really love about s h SD s h s d 161 this allows the students to vocalize their thoughts with the student board members And
022allow them to have more of a voice in our district We will keep dr. McDermott and the board informed once we receive this valuable input Thank you. Thank you very much Can we have Marianne get a picture of our new junior members as well make sure we get a picture of them Did you get it? Okay? Good Yeah All right moving on to public comments Kelly and Allie McCarran With our small business ballet. Thank you Hello, my name is Kelly McCarran, I'm mother to four three who are enrolled in the district I'm a second year member of the community outreach committee. We have here in 161 At in the community we've decided to do a monthly small business spotlight We've decided to spotlight one small business in our community to give them extra recognition Find
023out why they chose this community and maybe just to help share what small businesses are out there We also thought it was a good idea to have students from the district help us in these interviews it helps straighten their interview skills get them off their tablets and Introduce them to the school board meetings and give them an opportunity to come out here and speak in public This is my daughter Allie. It's a little shameless parent hype here. She's very active in school and extracurriculars She cheers on a competitive cheer team Platinum Cheer Association where they just brought home a first place state championship She cheers on Summit Hills Competitive cheer team where we just came home from the seventh and eighth grade boys basketball team where they dominated the Manhattan Demons She participates in drama
024club last year She was Nemo in the Hilda walkers play and this year you guys can see her as Yago in Aladdin for Summit Hill Hi, my name is Allie. I was able to interview owner Caitlin Caprio at Tiny Tots play cafe Located at 20815 South LaGrange Road They are located directly across Lincoln Way East in the strip mall as my friends and I would say the same strip mall as Starbucks The first question I asked Caitlin is what is Tiny Tots play cafe? She replied it's an indoor play cafe for children 0 to 6 years old with indoor play equipment They have comfortable seating for adults to sit and relax while watching their children play They also have a full-service cafe with any coffee or espresso drinks and variety of snack options for light
025and light bite foods for kids We asked Caitlin what inspired you to start this business? And why did you choose this community? She wanted to create a calm welcoming and fun indoor play space in a community nearby From where they lived as there was nothing nearby to bring their own children to she said her best friend and her were constantly Going back and forth to indoor places and wish there was something closer to home We got our we got our husbands on board and the next thing we knew it we had the perfect space to create the indoor play Cafe, I asked Caitlin. How do you stay connected to the local community? She replied we stay connected with the community by partnering with many different local Organizations as a sponsor or to offer giveaway items.
026We love connecting with our customers and members It's been truly wonderful seeing parents of the community choosing our facility for play dates and a space to unwind and connect with their child I asked her what advice would you give to someone wanting to start their own small business? Caitlin replied words of advice we would offer others wanting to create their small own small business is to ensure that you are passionate and love The business you are creating the families in our community are what keep us going during this slow and hard time We know what we've created is important for children in the community along with their parents and caregivers If you more things worth mentioning they offer discounted rates for schools and daycare field trips They will soon be offering toddler classes as well
027as toddler speech and language classes with certified speech and language pathologists on Staff they have membership packages at a discounted rate giving you unlimited visits each month And they also offer private parties for up to 80 people Their parties are designed for fun comfort and unforgettable memories You get two dedicated hosts who take care of everything so that your guests can relax catch up and enjoy their celebration You're provided with basic party decorations, however, they also offer custom decor tailored to your customers vision Great job guys. Thank you At this time, I'm just gonna ask Olivia and Sean to hold for a second because it is 733 and we have to go to item five See one, which is the tax levy hearing so at 733 declare the 2025 levy hearing Open is there anyone
028that wishes to comment on the 2025 levy? The levy process is designed to generate most of the funds necessary to support the district's budget The levy hearing notice appeared in the Daily South town on December 5th, 2025 That's how I feel about Texas, too We do have a brief presentation There we go, okay, so the 2025 proposed levy presentation First we just we list our board Thank you President Amy Burke vice president John winter secretary Ronnie Petrie member Adrian Chavez member Joy Murphy Patrick Alisont Melissa Ryan and dr. Paul McDermott Anyway corporate and special purpose property taxes They were extended or abated for 2024 were 45 million basically Sorry, I was I skipped a page So those for 2024 were 38 million nine basically when we're looking at that that is the amount of the
029extension The total proposed corporate and special property taxes for 2025 are 40 million 890,000 and that's based on a request of the prior year's extension of 4.099 percent so a four point nine nine percent increase over the prior year is what the request is That's not the tax rates. I just kind of want to make that clear We're not requesting a tax rate of four point nine nine percent We're requesting an increase over the prior year's extension of four point nine nine percent in order to capture the new property so The property tax extended for 2024 for in relation to the debt service and the public building Commission leases was six million one hundred ninety three thousand eight hundred thirty two dollars that which is for the 2025 levy is three million nine hundred ninety
030one thousand two hundred fifty dollars so you can see that there is a 36 percent decrease Over the prior year and that has a substantial effect on the total request So there are two components that we're listing up here to better explain This the property taxes and the debt service extended for 2024 compared to that of 2025. We take the original extension for 2024 which was the 38 million nine and we increase it by four point nine nine percent and I want to repeat is that the tax rate we're requesting it's an increase over the prior year's extension for a Total request of forty million eight hundred ninety thousand dollars Then when you add to that what the clerk will then Request is the amount for the debt service, which last year was six million
031one hundred ninety three thousand Share in twenty for 2025. It has decreased to three million nine hundred ninety one Thousand so in total we're looking at a projection from the actual amount from 2024 of forty five million one hundred and forty thousand to a point five percent decrease in 2025 to forty four million eight hundred eighty one thousand two hundred fifty dollars So the estimated total property taxes to be levied are forty four million eight hundred eighty one thousand two hundred fifty dollars We're basically saying that oh in total this represents a point five seven percent decrease over the prior year and so there are certain to see some benefits from The reduction in the debt service because that's a large component So as you pay down as the district pays down the debt So
032does it impact the overall levy? So the amount we asked for is that top line and then the clerk X for the second line Which it makes the total so that's where we're seeing a decrease so that work that the district and the board is doing to Decrease that is having a beneficial impact in relation to the levy I don't know if there were any questions and I Have one question Julie because you put it very very small and it's the last line on this presentation So what we're looking at is a guesstimated So But I've been going over this with my kids with my five-year-old trying to break it down to try and figure out a way That because because this is not this is not easy stuff to conceptualize and especially with the
033big numbers You know I start spinning again dizzy. So But we do have those resources and I think that us as a board We've all agreed we really want to make sure that we're communicating to the community That this is an approachable issue Please come ask us questions about it. Please. Please poke we want to explain it We want everybody to be able to understand it as much as possible We want to learn with you as well if you have any kind of input I posted on my page kind of my explanation long and drawn out but really the way that I boil it down and I've been boiling it down to anybody who will listen to me is This is a way for us, and I'm not and I'm not a pro tax guy
034that'll be very clear about But this is a way for us As a board and as a community to basically collect back our property taxes back directly to our community for us to actually be able to control that that money instead of it going to Illinois and Then us not knowing where it goes and it kind of being out of our reach This is a way for our tax money for us to assure that it it services directly our community So by us asking for the 4.9 It's it's a way for us to capture One the growth of new businesses and to what ptel will come back with what what they will actually Set the rate for us So it's just a way for us to cover us and make sure that we're being financially
035responsible It's a way for us to make sure that that we're able to support all of the the staff the buildings all the other costs that Are there as you can see big numbers, right? So we're doing By us voting on this we're trying to be as responsible as possible But as a community, please do reach out, please do ask questions There's I promise I will have a dumber question that anybody can come up with So, please do engage with us on it if there is any concerns. We want to be as Provided as many resources as possible. If you have ideas for more resources, please let us know and I think we can all agree We want to keep Paul and Julie within their budget like we want to keep them on a budget
036We want to keep them on a fiscally responsible budget and managing our district and communities money in that manner We absolutely want to do that We do not want to come back and have to ask for more bonds because you saw from the no tax Right now the way to get it down is with the bond if we continue to collect this rate And then maybe years down the line when we have all of our bonds paid look at dropping the percentage On this then that would be maybe a smart decision down the line in 2027. Yeah, so the other thing is We Melissa and I Paul and Julie have financial meetings And please listen to those financial meetings because listen, I will ask those questions Deeper questions on our finances so you can see
037how the budget's done the deeper dive into the budget the deeper dive into things That the district needs to like fix things of that nature as well We have a buildings and grounds committee as well So, please listen to those because then you could see what's going on with the district where the money's going Why the money is important and it's coming back to the kids and back to the facilities and that's where the most important part Of the money is and keeping everything balanced real quick something we Ronnie and I have locked horns on and and I'm appreciative of it because it's pushing me to figure out stuff and kind of tinker Around but the the the big question that always keeps on resurfacing is how can we lower property taxes, right? But us
038from these seats, we cannot lower property taxes. Illinois is really where that's going to be Placed upon us really so we're all ears as far as you know Campaigning or trying to you know, bring some sort of tax reform to the state, but that that's That's not really what we can do at our seats at our seats Really what our responsibility is making sure that we're budgeting that we're you know, spending the money wisely saving where possible in maximizing the value on all the assets and all of the Purchases that we make and the expenditures that we have as well For the benefit of the community and one last thing is please reach out to us as Adrian said because the one thing that we felt like Voices weren't heard in the past and that
039is not how we want to run this board So reach out to us talk to us if we can't answer it We will direct you to somebody that can answer it for you. You got Julie. We have Paul We you know, we can even have Joe crawl So please understand that we're here to have this open communication with the public as well For this for this board to continue to move forward in your best interest as well Yeah, I'll just follow up with that and say, you know in the past I never understood when we they would have these meetings why we asked for the max that you can and I do now because it just sounded like It's gonna increase our property taxes and that it was, you know irresponsible to the taxpayers But
040you know after much research and you know, we got to do our Board conference downtown a lot of sessions and learning more about it You know, we campaigned I think I could speak for all of us campaigned on being fiscally responsible And it really is the best way to be fiscally responsible to help ensure that we don't have to go out for referendum and That we don't have to take on additional bonds. So But again, just to piggyback on what everybody else said if anybody has any questions or wants to discuss it I feel like you know, this is this was something we're all learning more about and I think talking about it and having conversations about it just is Helps better understand it. So please feel free to reach out At this time, are
041there any comments? Okay Can I have a movement that we close a motion that we close the 2025 levy hearing so moved second Roll call John winter. I Patrick Oliphant. I Joy Murphy I Amy Burke I must Orion I Ron Petrie I Adrian Chavez so moved if we can go back to public comments and So working Hi everybody. My name is Olivia Davis and I am 13 years old I am a student board member and I joined the student board team because I want to make a change I feel that we need to listen to the student community Because as we get older and more mature we have more to say and more to think thank you for listening Good night. Thank you Hello everyone, I'm Sean Stewart jr. And I am 13 years old.
042I am a student junior board member I wanted to make a change in our community and in our schools I think this position needed someone with great leadership skills and Olivia and I are trying our best to fill our roles As much leadership as possible. Thank you. Everyone. Have a great night. Thanks, buddy Letters and communication appear at the end of the book for ease in navigating moving on to action items 5a consent agenda. All right, this is a long one I move that we approve the items on the consent agenda for this meeting as presented Including 5a 1a regular session meeting minutes of November 19 2025 5a 1b closed session meeting minutes of November 19 2025 5a 1c finance committee meeting minutes of December 8 2025 5a 2 approval of November Treasurer's slash financial
043report 5a 3 approval of bills list of December 17 2025 5a 4 approval Resignation and rescindment of employment of staff no resignations rescindment of employment or an end of via Yobos 5a 5 approval of family medical leave employee 3230 employee 3236 employee 3501 5a 6 approval of employment of staff and Jenkins early childhood teacher Mary Drew Manuel Paz Estrada building technician at Indian Trail Toribio Alvarado night custodian 5a 7 approval blaze works agreement for services 5a 8 approval to go for RFP for food service company and management And again, this is just the motion to approve and then we will have discussion after that So moved second do a second Discussion so what can you explain? Five a eight for me the RFP a little bit more detail. So also the public understand what that
044is Yes, great question So board Julie and I have been busy at work on this topic since the last board meeting The request in November was to put together a comprehensive plan for the board's review Even if this pushed the timeline back and when we implement today Julie and I've met with OPA Aramark just a dash and have had several interactions with quest including a tour of Homer 33 C's lunchroom facilities There are a couple more companies on the docket to touch base with thanks to Adrian who went to the conference also Freely gave out my contact information to these companies. So we're meeting with these people In gathering information and asking questions and informing ourselves on the process And so as a result of these meetings and the advice and recommendations of the potential
045management companies We might work within the future We would suggest that we put an RFP which is request for proposal For all that we'd like to accomplish with food service for all of our district schools To commence at the beginning of the 2026 27 school year with each of the companies that we have met with thus far Each think it is possible to do food service differently at all buildings next year Rather than doing a small pilot and just one building So what this will do is this will allow us to write the RFP for staffing Satelliting of food to our other schools if it's made at Summit Hill Junior High in our kitchen The careful development of menus ensuring all back-end rev track and point-of-sale systems are in place To ensure that our kitchen
046equipment is evaluated repaired or purchased and more and this also affords ample time To inform our community parents and staff and most importantly our students of these changes and get them excited about it at this time we are seeking approval to create the RFP and Subsequently go out for RFP for food service management company drafts of this document will be shared with the board along the way Just to make sure that we're in alignment with what the board expectations and desires are for this program And so the ask tonight is for approval for us to develop and then push this out To see which management companies out there would be interested. So this is like the plan that I was asking for a last board meeting Yes, sir. That's what I'm asking. All right. Thank
047you. That was much more concise, but yes So that is just the plan it will be discussed voted on multiple Okay, any other discussion on the consent agenda items so we have a motion second Oh Amy Burke, I Patrick Oliphant. I joy Murphy. I Melissa Ryan. I John winter. I Ron Petrie. I Adrienne Chavez. I Motion carries. All right moving on to old business by be one setting the date for the special board meeting planning So each board has the ability to really shape this into a process that that benefits where their vision Is kind of casting the district and so for consideration by the board for their annual board planning meeting Taking into account the feedback and direction offered last month for discussion The administration proposes the following that we would have a draft
048presentation. That would be the entire slide deck to the board by January 31st Feedback questions and revisions due back to the administration by February 7th That the first board planning meeting would be from 9 to 11 30 on February 21st If we need additional meetings, we could always do that What we would do at that particular meeting would concentrate on the topics that are of great interest to the board We would make the entire slide deck available to the public so that everyone can see all of the items that we have presented Initially, but then the discussion at the at the planning meeting would be centered around topics of interest to the board In the past we've really siloed each department. So each director So whether it's director of financial operations director of curriculum each
049person kind of gave their own standalone presentation What I would put out there today is that we circle up and have everyone at the same table Having conversations about these bigger topics that sometimes they cross over into multiple departments at the same time and not that time is necessarily Like a contributing factor to this But I think it would streamline the conversation and show the interconnectedness of how the district administrators function And then it would allow like really robust conversations at the table So rather than having to ask Leslie just special education questions and wait for Denise if we're talking about a topic that relates to student learning They're both there and we can all just have a conversation about it So this is just a proposal we were trying to take the notes from
050our last meeting and get it into something that looked a little bit different And so here's where we start. So I'll turn it over to the board for like any kind of comment consideration Direction all that good stuff. Yeah. No, I think that's a very positive direction getting leadership minds together for meetings it's a very common thing to do in the business world and it generates a lot more success because Each of one of these departments doesn't just stand alone on their own as you alluded to Paul they are interconnected and Having an open dialogue and discussion to get feedback is very very helpful and I think it's a wonderful step forward Yeah, I think you took in what we said last last time and really trying to make it quality instead of quantity so,
051you know making sure that the time is used correctly and I do like that you put in there too is if We run out of time any more time we can we can follow up with another time date to make that happen to finish it up dr. Paul, can you jog through maybe some of the I guess so Just for just for the audience and anybody listening at home about I guess which are the subjects we would be touching on which are the maybe maybe some sample topics and things because we have a little bit of a window of time where the public could reach out to us directly and kind of feed us any of their kind of insight or their questions that we could either Tinker with as we head towards it for
052sure So typically it's a state of the department address So we would have each director so director of operations director of special ed director of curriculum Finance technology and then I give overarching leadership Big picture for the entire district. So each director would give kind of a state of their department What are the big things that are going on that we might see legislatively from the state? What are things that we feel are impacting our district our parents our students? Maybe some things that are in the hopper for example, if we're adopting new curriculum or if we have a curriculum adoption cycle What would be next up and just kind of giving people a look forward and So if you know who those people are and you feel comfortable reaching out directly to them That's
053more than okay that helps inform our presentation Also, if you're not sure who to reach out to you just reach out to me and I'll get it to the right person Especially if I can't answer the question because each of these people are experts in their particular field I like to then kind of wrap everything up at the end This is where I start to unveil like what our theme might be for next year What our big topics might be? I have something in mind already. Don't worry everybody Because right now we are planning for the summer and for the kickoff of next year We have to be six months ahead. And so I know in some of the Friday reports You're starting to see kindergarten registration dates and and things like that start to
054pop and so This is the perfect time for us to talk to the board about what you desire for the district That kind of vision I always equate it to riding a bicycle And so the board grabs the handlebars and they give that first push This is where we're going and what the administrators do after that is we come around with that next push And so in tandem we're working with each other to move the district forward as quickly as we can If you've ever tried to ride a bicycle with both feet on one pedal it never works, right And so what this meeting does is it gets us balanced? We catch the vision we start putting plans together and then that becomes eventually will become the board goals for next year And then we
055align our resources to like that kind of a vision. So in particular like with a degree of specificity We'll talk about sectioning Staffing class size I'm really hesitant to put a number on any class, but just Ballpark, where do we want to put our resources? Where do we want to see the lowest class sizes highest class sizes? Do we have program changes? It coincides nicely with bargaining a new contract with our Our teachers union because if there's things that we are looking at so I'll throw something out there because you asked the question If we really want additional clubs, for example, if there's a culinary club or a cooking club or a gardening club You know This is where we start to create language in the contract that would say in the event We develop
056a club like this. This is the stipend that would be associated with it. So like those pieces start to fit together So when we listen and take notes, you'll notice that when the board's talking everyone on my team is taking notes In how that relates to their department and then how they would contribute to make that happen Yeah, there's been discussion on like Where we see gaps in our testing scores or the use of non technology and curriculum. I know is something we wanted to see if something maintenance of fields and stuff like that can be brought up and we can look at plans for that for the future and Those types of things It really does two things and that's a great comment it identifies priorities and Then also removes things that could potentially
057be a competing priority so that when we're focused on something We're not focused in a million directions. It's like these are the things that are really important I think if you're getting already getting public input already noticing things that you want to focus on From that you can bring that up that that's what our job is in our seats other than that I mean the public is always able to attend or listen and I would say after they go through stuff then we could get feedback in the process This this board planning meeting is the most important meeting for the public to either view or attend Because it's the thing that they're looking for. They're looking for the dialogue when we get inside a board meeting It's a business meeting and so there's approvals and
058there's recommendations The dialogue that we have this meeting would drive everything else we do for the rest of the year and for the public This is the reason why we pushed last time to change the way it was Because instead of being here for eight to ten hours We're gonna be here for a lot shorter time and it's gonna be quality. So please come Listen and take notes because that's what we tried to do when we weren't on the board to understand what the district's going on And going in and out of the district It's always been a very Filled meeting with lots of information. It's been There's been a lot of quality to our meetings it's eight hours I've Taken lots of notes and it's full of information. So there's always been quality to
059these meetings Yeah and one thing that we're looking into that I know we've had discussions about is to how to better Communicate to the public who doesn't have the time to sit through eight hours of meetings or two and a half hours of a first meeting Is that we can develop? functional Outlines that will be very accessible on our website so that Anybody who wants to has an interest let's say in special education They don't have to watch eight hours and wait until it shows up because they're not sure exactly when it's going to show up The outlines can and maybe even have web links that will jump directly into the video So you can specifically watch the part that means most to you Because we really want to make sure the public is as
060invested as possible and if we can make it as accessible As possible and I think it's to hit the ground running in terms of like if you get some of the basic stuff We're not wasting anyone's time in the press staff enjoys the meeting also They listen it is I think it's been emphasized very important very informative good quality stuff that comes from That so are are we good with the tentative? Just just want to point this out for the junior board members This is a really great opportunity to kind of gather up some notes on maybe what some clubs are That we're missing or maybe some interests that Student body might be interested in bringing up or concerned with or anything like that We have a little bit of time to you know bubble
061that up to you guys So something that you have been unaware of you heard it mentioned briefly These are the most communicative students. I've ever worked with we email just about every day, which is a really really good thing But what they have done Along with the administrators at Summit Hill junior high with this We're going to sit at a table with a suggestion box, and we're going to engage with students Could Sean and Olivia come to the microphone just let us know how that went because you ran your first lunchroom meeting and then Leah will let you finish up with that like what what you viewed from that so wildly successful It was really successful, and we had a bunch of students come and wanting to have suggestions and I students came up and
062asked us questions like all Like a bunch of students, and it was really cooperative, and they liked it so our plans to do it like every other Wednesday The suggestion box was people really liked it a bunch of people were like what should I write? What should I write but other people were they want they've written what they wanted I feel that a bunch of people were like I want to do this I want to do that you're like you should do this you should do that I can't do that But I feel they really liked it and they enjoyed it and like Sean said we're planning to do it every other Wednesday So people if someone doesn't have ideas that Wednesday they can have ideas the other Wednesday Or if they develop more ideas
063they can put it on the paper and just put it in the suggestion box for people for The principles or you guys to review and see what you guys can do to you know But also not just ideas at the junior high, but also things that You thought we're successful in the elementary and at Walker or maybe things that we were missing that we might need So just any type of input would be great I'm hearing it was successful for the seventh graders, but for the eighth graders It was a few people would put comments But I don't think the eighth graders feel comfortable enough with sharing their ideas because like it's a room of adults like known The kids are not most kids are afraid of talking to adults So I'm hoping if we
064do it like every other Wednesday like Sean said that they fitters will feel more comfortable with putting ideas in Maybe you'll have one or two more people come on a Wednesday And then It's also super important, you know the eighth grader kind of feedback because I mean They're kind of getting to look back and say okay. What do I wish I had you know during during you know? My couple years here and growing up in the district So it's really valuable input That could be a topic of just one Wednesday yeah like that just written on there What do you wish you had before you graduated? Yeah, and that what was awesome. What was Thank you moving on to 5c to approval of the 2025 levy adoption and levy resolution The levy adoption is the
065process formally Requesting that the Will County clerk identified tax rates necessary to generate the requested funds through the completion of several documents These documents will be filed with the clerk who will then Certified to the county treasurer that the fund should be collected from the property owners of the area comprising Summit Hills School District 161 The certificate of the tax levy is the document that is used by the county clerk to create the tax rates for all funds Except the bond and interest fund the bond and interest fund rate is set based on documents filed with the clerk at the time When a bond sale is Consummated we recommend that the board adopt a certificate of tax levy as described in the recommended motion So the motion will move that the board adopted the tax
066levy resolution for the 25 levy in the amounts of the education funds Thirty-four million one hundred and thirty thousand operations and maintenance fund four million one hundred and one thousand transportation funds seven hundred and seventy seven thousand working cash fund nine thousand Illinois municipal retirement fund 315,000 social security fund six hundred and forty three thousand tort immunity fund two hundred ninety four thousand special education funds six hundred and twenty one thousand I Find for a total levy in the amount of forty million eight hundred ninety thousand plus bond and interest Do I have a motion? second discussion Roll call all right agent Chavez yep John winter hi Patrick Oliphant hi Melissa Ryan hi, Joey Murphy Amy Burke hi Ron Petrie. I motion carries Moving on to the approval of certificate of compliance for the truth
067in taxation act The truth and taxation act requires the publication of a notice in the newspaper of general circulation in the school district Regarding the proposed levy if the levy exceeds a five percent increase the certificate is to be signed and submitted to the Will County Clerk's office although this step is not necessary because the increase in our 2025 levy does not exceed five percent we do so in the spirit of financial transparency I Move that the Board of Education authorized the president to sign the certificate of compliance with the truth and taxation act for the 2025 levy So moved second Patrick Oliphant Do we have to do discussion first or no? Oh, I'm so sorry. Yes discussion. Thank you any discussion Okay, now okay Patrick Oliphant. Thank you Amy Burke hi Ron Petrie. I
068John winter. All right, Joey Murphy. Hi Adrian Chavez. Hi, Melissa Ryan. Hi Motion carries moving on to the acceptance of the 2425 financial audit a Copy of the 2425 audit report for the year ended June 30th 2025 is in the extra section of the board book our hard copy will be available at the board table We recommend that the board accept the fiscal year 25 audit as presented to us earlier in the meeting as well. So Motion to for the board to accept the fiscal year ended June 30th 2025 audit as presented so moved Second any discussion? All right, we'll call Adrian Chavez. Hi, Amy Burke. Hi Ron Petrie. I Patrick Oliphant. Hi Melissa Ryan. Hi John winter. Hi, Joey Murphy. I motion carries moving on To the approval to purchase two boilers for DJ
069are utilizing the school. Sure. Just a little background information For our community and for our board This recommendation comes before the board after extensive efforts to address boiler one a DJ The boiler was pulled shipped to the manufacturer because it was just within its warranty denied replacement by lock and bar Challenged by our attorney and eventually we lost the claim due to poor initial preventative maintenance Since our arrival, we have maintained the equipment with good PM and a chemical treatment program for the water Further boiler to a DJR is showing the same initial signs of breakdown and we are currently nursing it along in the event This boiler fails We will have limited options for in-person schooling until repairs or replacement could be completed So with another round of the school maintenance grants, our intention
070would be to secure the boilers Which we have on hold pending the board's decision tonight We would order them and receive them within the next five to ten days and have them installed Walt called and got a price per boiler and they are approximately $53,000 per boiler including shipping but excluding installation costs We are currently negotiating the cost with a small degree of leverage if we purchase two So we will ask for a not to exceed approval for both the equipment and the install labor It is important to note that the school maintenance grant is a fifty thousand dollar matching grant from the state So this would significantly reduce the cost for the district Walt has supplied some additional information From the O&M side of things and I've also included the document Previously provided to
071the board in the past Friday report for just some additional context And so what we're asking from the board this evening is that the board approved the purchase of two boilers for dr Julian Rogus elementary school at the cost not to exceed $53,000 per boiler utilizing the school maintenance grant to offset the cost by $50,000 Additionally, the board would be asked to approve the cost of installation of the boilers not to exceed $12,500 per boiler Great So I'll go ahead and move that the Board of Education approved the purchase of the two boilers for DJR at the cost not to exceed $53,000 per boiler utilizing the school maintenance grant to offset the cost by $50,000 Additionally the Board of Education approves the cost of the installation of the boilers not to exceed $12,500 per boiler.
072Do I have a second? Motion and then can we have discussion you want to lead? I think this is a perfect case in point to emphasize something that we have discussed before That I know I had discussed when I was running for this position and even before that quite frankly We really need to dig in deeper into our preventative maintenance options the contracts how it's being operated Because the money doesn't lie We're we're up here asking to spend roughly $80,000 to replace boilers that were denied within their warranty that were denied claims because of improper maintenance You know what we're voting on here today Is something that needs to happen for anybody that is looking at these costs thinking? I don't know. This is kind of steep. There's a lot of money to choose to
073spend really quickly We don't have that option because we have one boiler completely down another one on its last leg And if that one goes we can't we can it's gonna be very limited on how we can have in-person learning So for anybody that thinks you know Brick and mortar is just something that you can deal with later It's not These are these are the buildings and this is the equipment that that helps our students grow flourish learn and develop as humans But without functional equipment like this that's reliable and with excessive costs that are reliable We're gonna keep running into this and this isn't the first time we've run into this in 2022 We had to vote to replace the cooling towers to Summit Hill that were only three years old 150,000 because of
074improper maintenance So Yes, dr. McDermott when was the improper maintenance like what what were the years and when did that happen? And what can we tell the community a little bit more because it hasn't been underwalled Can I can I jump in real quick so the reason why I kind of started and said you know? There's two parts to this one is we're discussing the purchase of this and our next building and grounds committee meeting I would like to do a deeper dive into just that I'm very very thankful for the administration for I requested a whole lot of documents over the weekend and Because this is a it's an important thing that this is not a small cost They provided everything that I had asked which was wonderful which allowed me to Dig in
075and start to understand the landscape in depth in what we're talking about with this issue There's a whole lot of contract language. It's a little difficult to get through and It opened up a lot more questions that I have and I really want to do a deeper dive on this in an Individualized building and grounds meeting because it's not a simple answer is well what went wrong We need to look into you know ask the right questions when we get that answer back Then we can assess the information from there, and I fully plan on having a lot of that information Recruit from my perspective That I can help present and we can have an open discussion on how we got to this point But for this vote right here It's very important to understand
076how we got here is not pertinent to our decision to spend this money right now Because we owe it to our students we owe it to our faculty and we owe it to our community To get this rectified immediately for anybody who is you know afraid to leave outdoors We have experienced very very cold weather and we have more very very cold weather coming We have several months of it coming Friday is going to be a deep freeze When we experience spells like this and we as a greater human community in the Chicagoland area And beyond these boilers that we very thankfully have on hold. They're not going to be there Buildings throughout the area the greater area Experience boiler failures because of improper maintenance, and then we're just in a bidding war and hopefully
077we can maybe get it That's why expediting this purchase is so important to put our the children the faculty of the staff All in the best position to keep doing what it is that we're here to do So I just wanted to be very very clear what we're going to be voting on now is how to Get this right immediately then we go back and find out. Why do these recurring costs that are? Wildly large. Why do they keep happening and what can we do? What systems can we put in place? Yes to put ourselves in a better position moving forward and for me most importantly, how can we support our staff? that works Incredibly hard to keep this stuff going You know last year I remember talking to Walt in the deep freeze where
078he had you know things popping and he was sitting there doing the replacements and repairs in Not the greatest conditions, but he's very good at what he does. He's very passionate about what he does He does a great job for our community But we need to start asking different questions And how do we even get to this point and what support options do we have? To make this better in the future so we can avoid the expenditures of 2022 so we can avoid the expenditures of tonight Sorry, I know so it's important to get into that part of this So what you're gonna get from us to the community to make sure you understand to really truly put this forward is that? We're gonna put measures in place to make sure that there is a
079plan going forward That when we put these things in is that they are taking care of their maintenance and that is not only just on Boilers and waters and water things it's just also on everything that we own here Because that is something that we obviously don't want to keep having these big costs hitting us So I'm glad that Patrick talked about that that he's gonna dig it bigger deeper dive into that stuff, so thanks, Pat I've already been trying to do as much as I can in the time that I had with the information presented Which is already very very helpful in giving us a North Star and what questions to ask him how to get better at this But this is a very very important Dr. McDermott We haven't been doing all that
080we haven't been doing the maintenance and the preventative and we haven't been keeping up with our I Mean, I've heard Walt stand here and tell us that he is and I believe he is so I just I Know that in the past we've had Situations where they weren't maintained, but I feel like I'm shocked right now I'm surprised so our team has a preventative maintenance program We have a chemical treatment program Some of those pieces were not in place prior to our arrival What I will say about this is it is an emergency And the reason it's an emergency is because we have one boiler that has already been removed from the school and that was part of the Manufacturer examining it to determine why it failed the equipment that we're purchasing is great But
081you have to take care of it And so you know to Walt's credit and actually Kevin and Brian because there's so much technology that helps run this They've done a lot of troubleshooting and every time we touch something we put preventative maintenance in place So we have the records of what we've done during our time I can't say that we necessarily have a complete record from before that time Yeah, and to piggyback on that, you know the the types of preventative maintenance that we're talking about is in-depth and service contracts You know, it's not something that walls can be able to just whip around and do all this stuff It's just not how that goes. He would oversee the contractors. They would check in with them be like, hey, we're here. We're on site We're
082doing this work today. And then he's running around doing ten things at once all the time because he's Servicing all of our properties So he's not gonna have the time right now to do all of this stuff and I want to do a deeper dive into One how functional are our service contractors not what do they promise us in a contract? But what are they actually producing? What recommendations are they giving us in feedback for their service reports? And are they not telling us things that they are on the hook and responsible to tell us? That's not something that is easily decipherable So How can we because what the plan that we have in place now just isn't working long term, right? With relying on these service contracts or contractors to be forward and honest
083and diligent about everything There's clearly major problems happening that aren't getting caught that are resulting in large expenditures So we need to take a bigger view on how we're approaching this to get a better understanding and to move forward But your question is very valid. It's very accurate. It's very correct But what the answer to it is not that simple But we want to put our district in a better position moving forward long term But again to bring it back that there are two different questions. We're talking about now. How did we get there? How did this happen? But what is in front of us right now is making a decision to purchase these and get them get this project going immediately Because we cannot guarantee that this equipment is still going to be there
084even tomorrow You asked for information for the last five years I was just wondering why five years why not ten? Well, I wanted to start somewhere and the amount of the volume of information in five years of service. It was a lot It was a lot is a lot. Well, there's different things that happen, you know, depending on when you purchase an equipment. They have certain Maintenance schedules and that's probably what Patrick's looking for. When was this maintained? I was hoping that it might be part of it. Yeah, it wasn't necessarily Is well defined in there, but if I can get five years because you're right ten years is a bigger picture But if I look at five years I can start to build a construct of what the environment looks like that's the sample
085size and then Again, we don't tell the data what to do The data informs us to make the best decisions and puts us in a place to ask more in-depth questions for better results So that's what this process was starting this weekend and I learned a whole lot And it was really really helpful, but we have some more work to do that I would like to have in a much better presentable situation When we do an in-depth building in grounds, when's the next building in grounds? We're hoping maybe probably you want to jump in on this So we're looking right after the New Year's So that we meet the posting requirements. We need 48 hours to post the agenda Most likely the eighth so I have to work with that group So that's John and
086in Patrick and once we nailed on the time Then we'll get agenda items together and create the agenda posted out there So not just with this information, but also taking a look ahead which is what we failed to do What do we want to look at for the summer of 2026, you know, so what are our priorities? What things should we put on the docket while we have that summer break and what things should we wait on? So what I'd like to do is kind of get into the habit of coming with a recommendation from a committee to the board So that you know that you've got people that are already looking at this So if if the recommendation comes that way it would save time at the board table Yeah, I look forward to
087sitting in that meeting with you This is something we've talked about before you before you got on Patrick's background is is a chief engineer. Is that the title or? Yeah, so that with many and he's this is his forte and I know that he'll he'll do great things with Walt to try To get us on track to to prevent this stuff. So I just want to Emphasize one last point here is that it's not lost on all of us and it is in all of our heads That we can do these things and still be fiscally responsible the point that Melissa brought up That's the reason we're asking these questions That's the reason we're doing deeper dives on this is how can we do this and still be not just fiscally responsible for right now?
088But how can we Rethink our processes to make it much more fiscally responsible annually moving forward And prevent more of these sudden bursts of I just have one quick question. Yeah, how long Does it how long should a boiler last? A lot longer than what we had for I think the warranty for that particular boiler was 10 years the warranties for 10 years But you can with proper maintenance and it's minimum double. Yeah, she last Minimum, okay, so we're gonna kind of thing we ran into you with the water tower at some Hill Junior High So, you know initially when they tried to crane that out The fill inside the water tower was so solidified. We had to get a bigger crane And so what we have is we have a chemical treatment program So
089we flush that out and we treat the water and those things help prolong the life of your equipment Especially these big ticket items and so now this is the perfect example of something that should be in the board planning meeting So once the committee is met we've talked about it a little bit Let's really dig into some of this when we have the whole team together so that you can ask direct questions of Walt Brian and Kevin myself Julie how much money do we have like then we can pull the warranties out like that gives it a little more substance Yeah In some of the secondary costs that aren't involved in this vote or what we're talking about Is that when our equipment isn't functioning as well as it should it's consuming a lot more
090energy to operate To try and get to the efficiency level that it's designed to be at and it's not reaching that efficiency level But we are using Exponentially more energy which then shows up in our energy bills So that's where it's you know you might call it a passive cost But it is still rolled into the problem, and we want to start addressing those things too and really Ask again. How can we better help our staff to be in a better position? To help to empower them to prevent these things from happening any further All right, so we have a motion let's have a roll call John winter all right Ron Petrie I Adrian Chavez Joy Murphy I Patrick old font I Amy Burke I miss Orion motion carries moving on to the acceptance of
091gifts from school organizations the board of ed accepts gifts from any Education foundation or other entity or individual provided the gift can be used in a manner compatible with the board's educational objectives and policies The purpose of the policy is to recognize the significant role played by the SEO's summit hill educational foundation or chef and boosters in providing a value-added experience for children and To help these organizations comply with appropriate purchasing procedures and to have resources of the district 161 business office available for any disputes with vendors I Just want to say a heartfelt gratitude especially in this season of you know Thanks and together and it's just what we couldn't do without our SEO's and chefs and all of those parent volunteers So we and the kids thank you for everything you do and
092you see it when you're at events with the kids and at lunches and at treat days and etc etc etc But we just give a heartfelt. Thanks and gratitude to you so I move that the board approved with the appreciation of the board the gifts from DJR SEO gifts in the amount of $6,170 and 99 cents Indian Trill SEO gifts in the amount of $3,993 and 85 cents Hilda Walker SEO gift in the amount of $3,023 Summit Hill band boosters gift in the amount of $563 and 60 cents Summit Hill junior high SEO gifts in the amount of $669 and 38 cents Summit Hill junior high athletic boosters in the amount of $10,799 and 50 cents can I have a motion so moved? Thank you guys, thank you, this is just absolute incredible work Thank
093you to all the parents the administration teachers for raising this money very much students Yeah, very much appreciated with you know to the to these groups You know the name of the game is trying to you know create these better experiences for our kids So for for these groups of people to step up and and contribute the way that they are that's that's incredible Thank you, John winter. Hi Ron Petrie. I Melissa Ryan abstain Amy Burke. I Patrick O'Font. I joy Murphy. I Adrian Chavez Motion carries in again. Thank you Moving on to board member reports We are thrilled to celebrate the Hilda Walker girls basketball team and their displays Valley Conference championship victory the Wildcats were 16 to this season and defeated Aaronic middle school To win the conference this month We have enjoyed
094concerts and performances by the Hilda Walker beginning and year two orchestras The beginning and advanced bands and the Hilda Walker Wildcat choir Wildcat choir We are excited to head into the winter break with a special all-school concert as well This month our student council student leaders held a pet supply collection to support local animal shelters Our student council also plans our annual winter breaks Spirit week and served in Sorry and served in judges in our door Decorating contests to additional information Hilda Walker basketball boys basketball season is underway and the team looks fantastic We're also thrilled to share that the tryouts for our very first season of girls volleyball took place this week to go Wildcats Indian Trail our families Students and staff donated over nine large bags of toys for the toys for Todd's
095organization in conjunction with the United States Marine Corps We are so grateful to everyone who donated. It's awesome. We are looking for new or gently used hats mittens scarves To fill our tree to help keep children in need warm and well Ready for the cold weather our proceeds will benefit local shelters We are so proud of our students and how much they have grown from fall to winter on the NWA Thank you miss right for that All right, I have some of Hill junior high although this year Although this is early to share some Hill junior high drama club will be showcasing Aladdin jr. In the spring Casting has been completed and we are excited to share the date for the performance You want you won't want to miss this event save the dates of
096March 20th and 21st Tis the season for service student council has been busy supporting organizations like Project Linus and our cheerleaders are also working on spreading holiday cheer selling Candygrams for students to send with one another a spectacular shout out to all our talented music Musicians who had a wonderful performance in the strings and jazz band this past week The choir concert last night was beautiful and the band concert tomorrow will be just as amazing We wish all the summer Hill junior high families a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year look out for more 2026 news soon. Thank you. Miss global. All right DJ our grades one through four Our first through fourth grade students have been working hard on their winter program Performance on their winter program performance and are excited to
097share with our families this month. My son sang with his Classmates today and it was it was really awesome a big Thank you to miss Roe and mr Perez for their hard work and dedication Thank you to resco for providing coffee and lunch to our staff this month and for planning great winter festivals for our students in addition They provided each child with a book for winter vacation We are grateful for you Our students have been working really hard this fall and should be proud of the achievement gains that they have made on their winter Nwea map scores for both reading and math keep up the great effort And we are wishing all of our DJ our families a healthy and joyous winter break and a happy new year Thanks for making 2025 a wonderful
098year at DJR and thank you. Mr. Bradley and miss Wolfer I've got Julian Rogus kindergarten building report Shout out and thank you to principal boss During Thanksgiving kindergarten students enjoyed a time to do a friendship feast with their classes They celebrated the many things to be thankful for I love that. They also made turkeys with thankful feathers What a great reminder to take time and count our blessings our kindergarten students have been comparing and contrasting gingerbread stories What a fun way to focus on our learning standards while learning all about all different types of gingerbread stories Our kiddos also enjoyed decorating their own gingerbread cookie our team enjoyed the opportunity to meet with families during parent-teacher Conferences we value our community and the collaborative partnership we have in helping our students be successful. I Have
099Mary drew elementary or early learning center. They hosted a grateful gathering prior to Thanksgiving break students shared what they were thankful for to their families and friends Thank you so much to all the families that came out to watch the Mary drew elementary Mary drew early learning center celebrated national pickle day on November 14th Students were green. They tasted pickles and they did a pickle dance Sour sweet pickles were tried and the faces were priceless The Preschool also began day or note. They will begin daily positive Affirmations when they return from holiday on the winter holiday Stay tuned to hear all about our daily routine and this Friday December 19th is the frosty festival performance, please contact the preschool for more information and I would just like to Before I do my 843 report. I
100just want to give a little shout out to Rogus and Indian Trail Staff they did an amazing job organizing their holiday programs Across the district from kindergarten fourth grade the students sang beautifully and the songs felt So well and the schools felt so welcoming It was a joy to see all the parents and grandparents enjoying the winter holiday shows together thank you to all our wonderful to our wonderful music teachers who brought the magic and Help make the performance so much fun and festive for all now We're waiting to watch the preschool show on Friday. Can't wait 843 is always exciting And they transport against six hundred and twenty six students throughout all of Lincoln Way their Self and stellar program has 33 students and that's held at Mokina, Jr. High 69 students at Pioneer
101Grove They had a Thanksgiving feast and all the food was donated They're having a breakfast with Santa and all the families are welcome They're taking all the students at the self-installer program To buy below to buy a Santa gift to exchange with their friend They're gonna be in and out they say in 20 minutes They're gonna use a debit card and just have every kid go through and buy their little friend a gift They are decorating their doors for the holidays they They're gonna also offer some parent trainings in the first of the year So they're gonna start bringing parents into for different types of trainings But it's always an exciting meeting. They work so hard with those students and I'm just proud to serve on that board Thank you so much superintendent Just two
102quick items. The first is the enrollment update. We had a whopping one student change From last month, but just in total number. So along that document that I provided the board you can see wherever it's highlighted That's where we've seen a change This would be a document I would bring to our planning session where we can start taking a look at this and that will help determine Sectioning hiring and all of that good stuff for next year So that's just an FYI and then we do have a closed session With a lot of items all of the exceptions to adjourn into closed session are printed on the agenda And so the second part of my report will be in closed session any questions Now this is something we can take a look at this and
103this is something that you can bring up issues in the planning And that would be a good time to talk about sections or planning or numbers or things like that when we're talking about the planning Okay, we do have a some closed session items, but there are no action items after that So before we do that, I would just like to wish our Staff friends family community a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays and a new year full of peace health friends family positivity and progress So thank you at this time. Can I have a motion that we go into closed session for the reasons stated on the agenda? Second roll call Melissa Ryan. Hi, Joy Murphy. Hi Adrian Chavez. Hi John winter. All right, Patrick old font. All right, Amy Burke. I and Ron
104Petrie. I Merry Christmas everybody. Merry Christmas. Happy holidays and Members because I'm really impressed. I didn't get to see you guys in the interview But I can see exactly what they were talking about. You guys are amazing So welcome