SHSD161 Board Meeting 11/19/2025

001Call the meeting of the Summit Hill 161 school district to order that everyone please rise for the pledge Maybe we have a roll call Adrian Chavez here Amy Burke here Ron Petrie here Patrick Oliphant here and Miss Murphy is late with notice. Mr. Winters is late with notice and miss Ryan should be coming here as well We're going to start with closed session at this time for the appointment employment compensation discipline performance of dis or dismissal specific employees specific individuals who serve as independent contractors in a park recreational or educational setting or specific volunteers of the public body or legal counsel for the public body including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee a specific individual who serves as an independent contractor in a park recreational or educational setting or a volunteer of

002the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity be litigation when an action against affecting or on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is impending before a court or administrative Tribunal or when the public body finds that an action is Probable or imminent in which case the basis for the finding shall be recorded and entered into the minutes of the closed meeting Can we go into closed session motion for us to go into closed session? motion second roll call Amy Burke I Patrick Oliphant I Ron Petrie I Adrian Chavez I so moved can I have a motion that we return to open session motion so moved second roll call Melissa Ryan I Adrian Chavez I Patrick Oliphant I John winter I amy Burke I Petrie

003I So moved we are back in open session number five information and proposals and Yes, so first would mrs. Balter, please bring her star student to post her to the front That's an inside story so last year I was supposed to visit her classroom and Forgot to bring my poster so I was punished this year By having to make a poster color it and all of these good things But she brings joy to her classroom, and so I'd like to read some of this information Not only from parents, but also from some of our administrators So our November summit award winner is dr. Julian Rogus first grade teacher Christy Balta Christy is in her 24th year of teaching in our district teaching at Rogus since 2002 she was nominated by parents Amy and Chad true

004blood who sent in a shout-out at the end of last school year and Here's a portion of what they wrote Mrs. Balter is an extraordinary first grade teacher at Rogus There are so many reasons why we believe she deserves a shout-out for being such an amazing teacher and person Our daughter had a challenging kindergarten year and once it became time for first grade. She was not looking forward to beginning However shortly thereafter her entire attitude and demeanor changed Mrs. Balta took a struggling child and developed her into a student who still strives to learn and be the best that she can be We truly believe she now has such a love for learning and will be a lifelong learner because of her first grade year Through her consistent engagement support humor patience and love Mrs.

005Balta brought our once challenged student to two grade level and even above our daughter excitedly wanted to show mrs Balta how great she could do and she came home each day excited to tell us what she did at school and what she had learned We wish we could put into words how truly blessed and appreciative we feel to have had mrs Balta as our daughter's teacher she changed our daughter's perception of school and has curated her passion for learning What she was able to do for her went over and above what teachers are expected to do It is so evident to see just how truly mrs Balta loves her students and her job and the students love her equally in return Each and every child is so lucky to learn from her and in addition

006Colin Bradley Stated Christy is a phenomenal and caring educator in so many ways She's endlessly positive build Strong's relationships with her students and goes the extra mile for her family Families, I'm sorry. She is also the first to try something new no matter how daunting the task and demonstrates an endlessly calm and easygoing nature Laughter and joy are never fall far from anywhere Christy is located within the building as a staff member She's the glue that holds a building together and her care and dedication to her students is exceptional We are so grateful to have her on the team and then mrs Balfour wanted to get in on this also so mrs Balthus first grade classroom is a welcoming environment where students are met at their level and then pushed to reach their fullest potential

007She not only makes adjustments for all students She makes sure that her class makes the adjustments as well So that all of the students feel welcomed in a part of the classroom community She is always up for a challenge and the first to try something new. Not only is she amazing asset to Rogus She is also involved in many activities and committees throughout the district It is not lost on us how lucky we are to get to work with her every day and that our students get to experience A teacher like her so Christy Balthus for everything that you do for our district. Would you please come forward for your summit award? All right All right, well I'll just keep rolling we have some more recognition so Mary and Ryan don't go too far away

008We have come a long way in the development of a public relations program and social media presence Attributable to the efforts of Mary Ann Ryan who's hiding right over here to our side She is our PR specialist in her time at Summit Hill School District 161 She has helped redefine what and how we communicate internally and also externally with our parents and community this evening We have some good news to share especially after Mary Ann attended the inspira awards luncheon on November 14th Where we had three entries and won three awards for our communication. So an award of excellence was received in the excellence in writing category for Mary Ann story about an Eagle Scout project bringing an outdoor classroom to DJR an Award of merit was received in a photo category for her graduation

009day vibes and an honorable mention was received in the newsletter category for engage 161 our community newsletter and so congratulations to Mary Ann Would you please come forward so we can present all of this hardware to you for your hard work? I Okay, and one last thing for this particular category today is school board member appreciation day November is a month during which we give thanks for many things deciding to run for an elected position Raising your hand and saying I'll help lead our school district can bring about a myriad of emotions from anxiousness to excitement These members of our community are volunteers offering their time their strengths and their skills to helping 161 be the very best it can be Leading in this capacity is not easy But this team of people have committed

010themselves to attending meetings Reading the hundreds of pages of documents provided to them each month Weighing in on important topics regarding our school district working together as a team and more on this school board members day I hope you will join me in giving thanks to our seven people who lead and support our school district on behalf of our community We have our president Amy Burke vice president John will winter Ronnie Petrie our secretary Adrian Chavez joy Murphy Patrick Oliphant and Melissa Ryan is our school board could we give them a round of applause, please? It's an honor. Thank you. Thank you so much for the treats, too Thank you We're moving on a freedom of information We had one FOIA request made by Jason Wenig. It was completed in the appropriate time frame Miss

011Lisa brace My name is Lisa brace. I'm a parent and taxpayer in the Summit Hill District and I just want to thank the board for hosting the recent parent Guardian Academy on the tax levy. I Think Joe Kroll brought a valuable bit of information for those of us who could join And hopefully dr. McDermott will be able to get that video edited and posted soon so we can share it with the rest and With with that levy coming up. I mean, I think think I gained a better understanding on How the levy works? What things are going to be effective and not effective with that levy? And with that in mind, I hope I know several of our board members were also in attendance and asked a lot of engaging questions I hope that we

012can Set our budget accordingly, you know to make sure that we are banking those dollars in safe locations that we can use them should we have a Rainy day that we need to use those funds for And that we don't have to ever result, you know, pull pull back more levies in the future I Hope that you know We've we've got a good maintenance plan moving forward to make sure that the buildings that we have remain are are maintained properly and With an effective schedule. I think we've got good plans for that But again, those are things I think we need to keep in mind as as we continue to Move forward with with the taxpayer dollars and just you know be good stewards of our money The other thing I wanted and I hope

013dr. McDermott can maybe say a few words during his superintendent report about Food insecurity and what resources we have available here in the district I had the the pleasure of doing being a part of my first Community outreach committee and the topic had come up And we talked about resources such as our local Frankfurt Township food food bank That's available But also resources that are available to those kids whose families maybe can't get out to get those resources And what we do to help them internally You know, this can be a difficult time for a lot of families Especially when those kids aren't coming into school and getting those regular meals a couple of things that came up in the community, I Know we have a nice interim curriculum director here And hopefully she shows

014her value and can stay on with us permanently But I'm you know, those those processes behind that but with that in mind Sometimes I hear conflicting things. I know we've updated some curriculum, but I Continually hear that there are some pieces of our curriculum that are rather outdated So hopefully we can look at those and get those updated and make sure that we're choosing the best curriculum for our students not just what teaches to the standardized testing which tends to be a big push and I know this every district faces this because We want to make sure our students do well on those standardized tests But you know, I've looked at some of my kids curriculum and I'm like wow the layouts of these workbooks aren't very good And are there better things out there?

015so it'd be nice to to get a fresh perspective both from our teachers who are in the classroom, but also What's going to work for for a district moving forward? and the other thing is as someone expressed an interest in seeing more of Cocoa and Davis are our therapy dogs in the other schools and I know Mrs. Robinson can't get out as much these days Due to health, but I think they they'd like to have some visits maybe a holiday visit from from Cocoa or Davis Because those kids that really just love those dogs. So that's all I have for the month, but thank you and keep up the good work Thank you, Lisa. Thank you. Thank you so much Seeing as there's no other public comments letters and communications can be found in the

016back of the board book to navigate and then Bring this to 5e our student Board of Education is report. Good evening board members This month the students across district 161 had their errands law presentation The presentation taught students about boundaries personal health and the importance of speaking up many students expressed how the presentation allowed them to feel more aware and allowed them to feel like they had a safe place where they Could talk to a professional if something was to ever happen It also helps students realize that you never really know what's happening in someone else's life The presentation showed how our district is committed to student safety while fostering a place where students feel supported. Thank you Thank you Moving on to the highly anticipated food and nutrition update with just a dash So

017we actually have just a dash here tonight Thanks for having me. I'm Sheena Hawkins. I'm the owner and Founder of just a dash food service group and we currently are your food service provider for the district We're excited to be here I know that we have been in talks of expanding the food service program to a hot meal Starting that summit and I know there's a lot of questions Surrounding that so if you guys have anything you want to ask me about the current menu or future menu Tasting event that you guys held on October 10th, okay chef's kiss. That was that really outstanding I thought the student participation was really wonderful. Thank you. You guys did such an excellent job with your presentation the questions that you asked Specifically the feedback that you were

018requiring Wonderful wonderful and it's a really good breath of fresh air. Thank you. I appreciate that man, so I wrote down what I wanted to say and And part of the reason is because about food I could talk forever, right? I can talk forever and part of my point is I guarantee everybody here can also talk about food forever So I'm not alone in that aspect But I wrote it down because I have a lot of thoughts on it some things to report and I don't want to miss it I also don't want to drag you guys out too long and I could be long-winded. So Tonight super fitting right we're heading right into Thanksgiving or turkey day for some and That's a season where we get to gather with people that we love share

019meals share stories express gratitude and connect and foods always played Center-stage for all of those kinds of Opportunities to share care and create memories I believe our school district is has a tremendous opportunity to show that same care to our students Through their daily dining experience right now our lunch program is limited to cold meals and students don't have meaningful choices As a result nearly half of that food ends up in the trash That's waste waste of food waste of tax dollars and a wasted opportunity to serve our students and our kids something better And it's an opportunity to teach them better and it's an opportunity to prepare them better as well for the future We also have a state-of-the-art kitchen sitting largely underutilized as a board We're responsible for being good stewards of the

020funding and assets our community and trusts to us my vision is simple and by the way, sorry to divert but our last meeting at the community outreach did point out that it'd be good if I presented our vision a larger vision and So I'll try to put that together. So That's kind of what the spirit was of writing this My vision is simple And I'm not claiming that it's only my vision by the way It's it's a joint effort and a lot of people have been pitching in and I want to make sure that Everybody gets their their flowers We want to maximize what we already have and deliver something much better for our students our teachers included and also our community Over the past few months, we've had a product We've had productive conversations

021with our vendor just a dash and they've been providing us with great food already But they've been hamstrung in what they can offer our students because we haven't taken the proper steps yet To unleash our kitchen as well as our students in my opinion So together we're now plotting the steps to add the necessary equipment train staff appropriately discover the rollout Discover and roll out a POS system and build the processes that finally allow us to serve hot meals real meals consistently safely and correctly So that brings us to January Beginning in January. The idea is that during that shorter week surrounding Martin Luther King Day We'd like to begin serving hot meals at Summit Hill Junior High three days a week Monday Wednesday and Friday this pace would allow us to train our staff.

022Hopefully newly promote newly promoted staff from within uncovering some talent and then also training some students on how to navigate their proper lunch line and troubleshoot operations responsibly We'll be able to use existing assets such as unused monitors and TVs to display menus and improve flow and provide directions We have sitting we'll have Some ovens we have sit currently we have some ovens right now. We have cleaning stations. We have cooking equipment We'll be able to manage real inventory We'll be able to reduce food waste which is huge and begin building a dining program Rather than sitting back and relying on a distribution program currently for our other schools We would start with a little easy low-risk Enhancement which would be probably just some pre-packaged smoothies supported by a small investment in cold hold equipment

023the dream is for fresh smoothies at some point, but But it's a sim But this would be a simple step that creates immediate value without overextending operationally and when we could hope to plan it we can build on as well My long-term vision so I wanted to provide that I ran through this with the community outreach there's no point and I Know full well that I got to sell everyone on this It's not an easy switch I need to earn the buy-in from people that may not like the idea or fear this dream right now And I'm happy to try and do so this is not just about serving hot lunches This is about building a comprehensive dining program that strengthens our school culture and broadens our students educational experiences This is about investing in

024our students well beyond their time under our care Food can off food can and often ties to nearly every academic discipline science through gastronomy health and performance math through measurement and management world history and culture through cuisine and exploration Entrepreneurship and business through inventory and asset management arts through culinary creativity and dining experience PE Like Ronnie always says abs are made in the kitchen Life skills through basic cooking safety nutrition ownership trial-and-error Etc Something that's big for me AI is and will be changing what our workforce looks like in the future But food isn't gonna go anywhere if anything it's coming back Most of us in this room worked in a restaurant at some capacity at some point in our lives I know that you guys can all attest that at some of some of

025the best education you ever got was in kitchens or When waiting tables attending to not-so-happy people or attending a lunch meeting We are real-world preparation is on the menu in my opinion so down the road what I envision is this is this is the nuts and bolts a Fully utilized Summit Hill junior high kitchen producing hot meals distributed daily for all district schools Then moving on to the Hilda Walker school Ahead of dining overseeing a true ever evolving culinary program and team Then students and staff loving their food loving their lunch loving their lunch options creating opportunities for students to help prepare food design menus manage kitchens apply other studies and explore cultures in a unique practical in Unique practical ways or just basic skills on how to feed themselves partnerships with the Park District

026local organizations to host and cater community events Boost our fundraising comp capabilities and skill sets more on this later Cooking clubs baking clubs student-led menu items even culinary nights for families. I think mom and dad date nights hosted by our kids new generations learning respect for their kitchens and their next meals and love for the dining table at school and then at home a school garden Props Arani Where students learn how to how food makes its way from our gardens all the way to our plates and a chance for even the youngest Contribute to our school district's nourishment utilizing the land that we have This offers experience that builds confidence sparks passions and invites every student of every capability to find Yet another place to thrive perhaps a path that they never knew it was

027even possible Melissa and Amy also keeping you guys in mind I do want to acknowledge that there are some groups that would be affected such as the SEO Who have been using our kitchen to provide services like hot pizza for a long time? And we're very much grateful of it I will always approach this respectfully because those groups really step up for our kids and our community Real progress often brings discomfort and I am committed to finding ways to create space for these organizations as we evolve this program Their involvement matters and I want them to be part of this growth rather than displaced by it this could open new opportunities for every hand involved and I've got ideas a Responsibility in our opportunity. We need to hire and train staff That's the next step

028make measured investments in equipment Which we working on and move at a pace that ensures not a failed launch We also need to earn the buy-in from staff Families this board and the community because this is bigger than a lunch room and a lunch menu This is about how we nourish our students physically emotionally and academically and as I've said before and I will repeat it at tons of Times my grandfather always said food is life. It touches every part of us from celebrations to ordinary Tuesday nights Our happiest saddest moments our biggest days have always had food playing the central role Friends nine times out of ten when you ask someone their favorite meal. It's not from a restaurant It's something made with love by someone who mattered to them or it's something that

029they make for those who they love the most and That's what this initiative represents It's a chance to show our students every single day that we care about them deeply Through quality food through choice through warmth through the experience of breaking bread with their peers My dream is that when students staff parents and visitors walk into our cafeterias, they see feel and taste that love This is our chance to build something meaningful sustainable impactful educational fiscally responsible and deeply human I'm relying on the board and everyone else to keep me patient check my blind spots But I understand that the only way to live out this vision is one bite at a time That's what I wrote. That's my summary to be honest And I'd like to thank Adrian and Paul and just a dash

030and our members who attended the tasting like Melissa and joy and Ronnie who's attended meeting but Adrian and Paul really pushing this together through and our superintendents been doing some extra work as well In digging up, you know doing all the homework and finding out how to make this possible What it's gonna take just a dash has been a fantastic partner in outlining, you know Where we need to turn our attention in order to make this work The last thing that we need is a failure launch. We need I need to get everybody's buy-in on this make sure it's right And then and slowly build I do like that. We're making adjustments after the piece of rollout that we're taking our time we're trying to go through the process and do things well and acknowledging

031that the SEO does so much and We don't want to give up that time for parents to be in that school in those schools So just know if you're listening on their community We're very very very very aware of that and very much Want to keep them involved in the school and give parents the opportunities to come and serve Those lunches that they're accustomed to being able to get in the door because our kids are only kids once and they You know the ability to do that Important as we go through this process I mean so what you know what what I see is we see we see the big plan Like the big overall plan arching plan is they obviously obviously have hot food hot lunches Quality food allows better education. We all know

032that but we got to have a plan and set in place So the rollout is exactly what it needs to be and Taking the time and doing this right is the way I think it's the best approach for it for that So, you know Love the passion love everything we got to do, but we got to think about the SEO's we got to think about the rollout plan We got to think about hiring a manager to make sure this works out. Well, we there's a lot more work than we need to do I'm not a big fan of the Desperations of January really not so I think we need to have a better plan than that and we need to slow it down And we really think things through and that's just my opinion on

033it, but I love everything We've gone up to this point. I love the interview when we've talked in your in your aspirations as well So I know we're all I know the right people are on the right page of this But we need there's a lot more questions and things that need to be hammered out before we just fly through this because I Do not want to fly through something like this and it crashes and burns like I agree I mean, I think Adrian said, you know, you don't want a failure to launch. So I Is it even realistic that this could Successfully launch in January. I mean, I don't sound like there's a lot to do in a short amount of time Dr. Paul, you got any progress? to report Sure, I have all

034kinds of things to report One for the board. There's some information in your board package. You can kind of look through but I'm relying very heavily on just a dash Running a food management company is not my forte. And so you find willing partners who can help you along with that and so Not just sheena she's great Really her whole company. I mean we even see her kids out here sometimes working events And so I've enlisted the help of some of my team members Julie has been really really important to this She is tracked down people from is B from the state who can help us with the transition And so behind the scenes there is a lot of work to do What we talked about in January after Martin Luther King day would be

035a soft launch We are already doing pizza on Friday, there is no Monday. So can we actually prepare a meal? At Summit Hill Junior High and so that is basically on Sheena And so I take a little bit of her confidence because this isn't what I do, but it's what she does And so we've had them come in and take a look at the equipment The equipment that we would need in order to like move this along Move this along Could we guarantee that we're gonna have a hot lunch three days a week from Martin Luther King to the end of the year? No, I think that we could softly launch this and maybe learn a few lessons about what that looks like and then Implement a plan to gradually phase us in Because I

036don't want to over promise and under deliver I want to be really really realistic about what we can do and then do it exceptionally well And I think that brings the support of the people that we need in order to make this successful I see everything that Adrian sees I Take some of his enthusiasm But also I want to be realistic about what we don't know and about what we can't do And so you'll see on the board agenda tonight. We're trying to get job descriptions together So we post the agenda on Friday, so that's last week's work this week We had a conversation with is be where we can lean more heavily on just a dash if is be supports us And they are and so we got that in an email today. So

037a little bit later We'll pull we can actually pull that from the consent agenda and use is be as a resource to help us make the transition as well So it's really about finding all of the willing partners And I think that will help determine what a realistic timeline is so I Really believe we need to put a pause on it And here's the reason why we had us we had a teacher survey go out and one of the biggest things that teacher surveys Asked for is not too many changes and there was already pushback or not pushback There were already some complications with one that we went ahead with pizzas on Fridays So I really want a detailed plan of how this is actually going to happen and I want it in a time

038frame manner And so I don't want to do a soft out I want to do a soft out before we go ahead and like two three weeks later. Now we're going full-blown That's my opinion on it. So to me, that's a start of a new school year that we have the training done over the summer We throw a soft. We throw the first week out. We go ahead and we do our soft run We make our adjustments and then two three weeks later, we're ready to roll because now we're training our food We're training our staff We're also making sure we have the manager set in place ready to go that we can have the menus going That's just my opinion on that on that aspect of it And so I just don't think we

039should rush this at all and we should put everything Everything has to be set. Okay too many times I feel like we rush things sometimes in education and it just falls short of what it should be and there's a lot of pushback First of all, I mean like this is a very ambitious and great plans usually are and it's really I can't think everybody involved enough For the effort and the thoughtfulness that you put into it There is clearly a really nice structure plan in place for something like this But I share, you know concerns with Ronnie My question is, you know to say that the quiet part out loud Has there been a full cost analysis of what this would be and to second what Ronnie was saying? I think building that into next

040year's budget would be the wise fiduciary move Because we want to make sure that we're spending tax dollars in the right way and not putting you know Failure to launch right like having a conflict with the SEOs like they we don't we want to avoid that So if we can have a nice comprehensive financial cost of what this might look like We all know that the goal is and where we want to get there I mean, how could somebody disagree with what you pitched but we want to do it responsibly and as successfully as possible And I I share Ronnie sentiment. I think maybe a pump in the brakes a little bit and doing it from a complete Holistic view would be the best path Can I jump in? Yeah Out of order out of

041order. I really I love your vision. I think it's Fantastic, especially it's more than just feeding kids. It's all these different lessons involved in So I was very impressed with the presentation and matter of fact if I ever have to present anything, I'm gonna have you Because you have me at hello but um, I Lean towards more of the sentiment over here, but I do think that it's possible that we do roll something small out But I think I need to have a lot more conversation with you over coffee And I'd probably understand a whole lot more because it's like all of this today I know you were working up for this But then like I said, I have to see what it kind of looks like Financially and then on the staff and everything

042else and I you know me I love to hang out. I love to hang out with you whether it's fishing or a cup of coffee So I'm looking forward to doing that because you know, is there is there a way to start small this year? So there starts to get a little bit of that moving like, you know Just a hot lunch once a week or something smaller just like a smaller version of it So that no matter what that can still go on and kids are getting a little flavor and then expand from there, too So I kind of on your side, but I also want to try to help Adrian see his vision start off the ground Yeah, you know but be smart about it like tonight obviously no decisions But I'm looking

043forward to sitting down with you because I think you have some great ideas and your background certainly serves that really well So thank you for all the work you're doing now. Thank you Paul and Julie and everybody else and you know, lay it on me, buddy Yeah, I'm on your side. It's so looking across the board this evening So the next step would be this comprehensive plan with the financials involved Presenting that to the board and then that would determine what kind of with that may be an adjusted timeline and adjusted Roll out sure smaller Possibly maybe you don't want a month, right? That's kind of like the time So yeah So we we did try to slow this down even more as well and just to kind of give you a little Sheena did

044kind of walk us through though the challenge with that though is if we Were to put the pieces in place, which first thing is is having a head of dining Which we don't have a formal name for anything like that But but ideally we'd find somebody from within and I know Paul was gonna be putting that together But we'd have to also think of the staff that would be coming in right? Yes and To do it any less than three days. It's not really justifiable, right? It's not it's not it's a big ass to ask Anyone to come once a month? To do it. However, this program is is state funded It should not be funded by the school district. So all monies their grants. There's a lot of things out there That will help

045fund this program. So to to get it started. I would think that piloting piloting You know what? I'm trying to say I'm sorry pilot. Yeah in one school this year Versus doing all of the schools at the beginning of the school year, which is always the worst part of any school year Is the start of the school year is a little bit better? and I think the state agreed with that too because it allows you to take one site and even if it was your smallest site and Kind of see and work out the kinks Because ultimately that that's what it is, right? You're taking a program where now we're serving them, right? So we're telling them you're taking this and this is what you get Versus we're saying you can go through the line

046and you can pick what you want and you can make smart choices You have the autonomy to say I don't want celery today I want an apple and a banana and you get them to eat more and engage right and you allow them to make choices Doing it at a smaller scale at one school three days a week is more than feasible Because it's not at the beginning of the year and you're trying to do off all of the sites and you know And so that I think that it was Reasonable now understand that it is January For you guys is a short turnaround and so but maybe after spring break But I think that it would be good to pilot a school Just one school this year to see how and then make decisions

047and say okay We like this or we didn't like that and so next year Let's do this. Let's try this and before we go into all five schools We saw how this worked and we didn't like this but really like that, you know And don't feed them this or let's try this it's just kind of working the kinks out before we bring it to the masses If that makes sense Well, and I like I like how you bring up the fact of grants and stuff like that, too Because that's something that we really didn't talk about there and also notice Homer 330 C does it so this is not foreign No, and I think you know instead of reinventing the wheel We definitely shadow them a little bit or you know, I'm sure you've already

048done a little bit of that homework But you know, what is what are some of the costs where the pitfalls and you know all that stuff? So I think that's a good resource Didn't we have we talked about grants didn't we start looking into that? I Know there's some offset there. There's some offset in the cost 1,000. Yeah, and and Under the food service management company we would provide the staff So we would take on all of the staffing all the things that's inside We would just manage it within the building versus at our site what we currently do and then send it over We would manage all of that at no cost to the district Wow So yeah, I'm already getting more and more excited No, that's great I would like to Re-emphasize a

049point that Ronnie brought up is you know, it is important to our faculty and staff to not change too much too quickly Yeah, they've had to endure a whole lot and from our Building level admins to the faculty and staff have done such a tremendous job with this that we don't want to over stimulate the situation so again, I I like the idea of a soft start but Maybe next year one and you know another thing I think we need to think about and maybe we discussed this I don't remember but I feel like What we do at the junior high is probably gonna need to look different Than Rogus or any trail like so I don't discuss that but I'm just trying to yeah They would be they would be satellites. So we would

050be right thing everything We would be prepping everything at one building right and then moving it and shifting it over yes But It's not gonna look the same exactly and would your staff be helping out with the definition to definitely okay and no cost us There's some good positive things there To get that confirmed right no cost So I think so it's only at the reimbursable rate so we would fall in underneath the reimbursable rate So when and the pay students the same so it would come from the reimbursement from their purchases Not from the the district if that makes sense Because it's a break-even program We would make sure that everything comes from within the program that we would not charge $5.00 for a meal and the reimbursement rate is 425 you understand I

051would I would like to Lee what do you think back me up? The students have like been through a lot of changes this year and we already have The pizzas on Fridays, and we're happy about the pizzas on Fridays like that's something to get excited for so I feel like if we started something this year the students would just like Not get excited for anymore. They'd be like oh well. We already have a treat Friday So why do we need to treat Monday Wednesday? Friday too because they look like forward to the pizza on Fridays So you're just adding more it's like oh well This is what's expected instead of getting them like excited like oh We have this every day, so why would I get excited over it if this is the norm but

052starting it next year be like Thank you Thank you very much. Thank you We are still talking about like the equipment, and we're gonna get we have like a cost So we'll be building that out as to what that could look oh But oh we also talked about just so you know to is also Hilda Walker as well How would that look like because obviously if this is something that we would start at Summit Hill and I'm future tense and Hilda Walker also has a big kitchen too, but it obviously has to be remodeled and redone It's not it won't be able to handle the capability But that's then to satellite schools to help potentially down the line down a line to help out the rest of the schools, too So just something guys there's

053been a lot of talks of a lot of things But anybody want to talk about food, please do hit me up all right moving on to Six action items 6a the consent agenda I will move that we approve the items on the consent agenda for this meeting as presented except 6a 9 which is the approval of the food service manager job description I'm going to pull that because Julie and Paul are going to be having communication Which will give us more feedback and communication in a better position to discuss that I don't know We'll put that information in this detailed report to kind of package this all together, so Six a nine will not be on it, but I'm just gonna read them now. Here's my long all right, so Move that we approve the

054items on the consent agenda six a one a regular session minute meetings of October 15 2025 six a 1b closed session Meeting minutes of October 15 2025 six a to approval of September and October treasurer's financial report Six a three approval of bills list of November 19th 2025 six a four retirement of staffs congratulations Tammy Johnson effective at the end of 27 28 school year Mary Dempsey effective at the end of 28 29 school year Christine had check effective at the end of the 28 29 school year Jodi pachinik effective at the end of the 28 29 school year Colleen Maranto effective at the end of the 28 29 school year 685 approval of the retirement resignation of staff and non-renewal probationary staff retirement of staff Michael Clark effective December 31st 2025 Resignation of staff

055Katherine Hayek effective October 21st 2025 Jessica Palmer effective date to be determined Stacey what else ski effective November 24th 25 non-renewal of probationary staff the sea of verga franco effective October 28 25 6a 6 approval of family medical leave employee to 557 6a 7 approval of employment of staff congratulations Ricardo Alvarado Night custodian of DJ are beneath Alvarado night custodian at DJ are Jessica Palmer special administrative assistant Brittany Vegas paraprofessional at DJ are Teresa Barron's paraprofessional at DJ are Davion Bennett paraprofessional at Summit Hill junior high 688 approval blaze works agreement for services 6 a 10 Approval of Summit Hill SEO to discontinue use of Summit Hill school district 161 FEIN and become their entity 6a 11 authorization to obtain bids for this year 27 roofing Restoration so I have a motion so moved second

056roll call Melissa Ryan I Adrian Chavez I Ron Petrie I Patrick Oliphant I John winter I Amy Burk I Motion carries and consent agenda is approved All right old business moving on to 6b Which is 131 in your board book so if you take a look at page 133 there's some added information You've seen this particular report last month, and so with the board's feedback for this month. We added a Paragraph in here again page 133 And I'll just kind of read it into the record and that is as recommended by the Board of Education last month The principals have identified additional staff to be included in the pilot program These additional these additions include classroom teachers and interventionists who might be a tad less Enthusiastic about Macbooks or the use of technology in general

057Offering us the opportunity to gather some really good honest feedback during our pilot We are appreciative of this suggestion as it will certainly help us moving forward and planning for the district And so what you'll see in the motion is we've added those people in and so the recommended motion is to approve the purchase of 27 MacBook Air and For 13-inch laptops and 28 Apple TVs for this district-wide pilot group from Apple for the total of $27,872 and 70 cents Do I have a motion that the Board of Education authorize the administration to seek bids for the summit? Oh, sorry That the board drive a motion that the board approved the purchase of 27 new MacBook Air and For 13-inch laptops and 28 Apple TVs for the district-wide pilot group for that from Apple for

058$27,872 and 70 cents Brian was up here in time, but do I have a motion and then we can discuss so it's not voting Do I just have the motion and second motion discussion? second Okay, would you like to discuss? Any questions just to yeah say the quiet part out loud If we proceed with this after the pilot program We wouldn't be replacing these right like we wouldn't be updating them to the next year like this would be taken out of the overall cost Correct. These are these people would continue to keep their laptops We would not replace them if we moved forward with purchasing So my my biggest concern is going back to that that survey from the teachers and one of the biggest things they asked for was No change this year slow

059it down There's been a lot of change in their lives and so to me, I think this is another change another push then We're gonna be pushing through Mac MacBooks all the way through the whole district to match up with the iPads And I just think we need to slow it down give this year off and maybe we could talk about it again next year So I think we should say and just push it to the side and wait to next year. I If I could I'm gonna be very honest with you We are really we're really pushing our teacher laptops into the sixth year and so Ronnie I understand your point, but I don't think we're gonna be able to push those laptops into a year or so So we're we're really at the

060end of our life expectancy of our current laptops so the idea of doing that pilot was to kind of get a Small sampling to see if this is where we needed to go and if it didn't work out Then we'd be able to come talk to you guys during our Board, you know our February board planning meeting and have good data to talk to you about really what that would look like Before we would go out and buy 350 Pieces of equipment that might not be in the right direction that we want it So I just I just need to make sure you know that we really are at the end of our life of the computers that we Are currently using so those came out about Two thousand and twenty so I mean we

061are at six years What was the price of the last laptop? I mean I know it's five years so that everything has inflation, but I Kind of go with Ronnie on trying not to push everybody to learn a whole new system again So quickly as we went into was at Google yeah, and we jumped into that But I also want to see if we can do better with the cost of a laptop Can we find something like an Acer or something that and my wife works said from home once a week She has a ton of different systems from the law firm that she works for and I think her computer was like 700 bucks Sure, so I mean we're looking at the cost of these MacBooks in it so right now I mean we're

062buying 27, so I mean I don't have the ability to go to Apple and ask for any type of discounts right, so I mean I'm really getting a Discount in the sense of $20 per per unit is what they call in there like multi-packed discount When you go into a larger purchase like that especially with this being a purchase of something new for them You know we we would certainly expect some type of a discount And we would expect that we would get a discount with CDW if we went with a Windows laptop So it's not that we would just get a discount whether we went with Apple We would certainly get a quantity discount on the Windows side as well What you can John if I could show you kind of like if you

063looked on the maybe the third page I kind of show you what the current going rate for a like equivalent of a surface laptop Okay, and those are going for a thousand dollars right now what we're trying to stay around is sub 900 And so you know really like where I like to be is somewhere between You know eight fifty and eight seventy five to be honest with you I mean a thousand dollars, and you've got to buy three fifty and there's three hundred fifty thousand dollars I'm trying to make up so if I can get a hundred bucks off So That's the reason I kind of gave you guys on these other sheets of paper other models that were out there So you can kind of see what other? Products are out there and

064what costs? Existed out there the reason I'm really not recommending like trying to look at Think book that we were buying our teachers for the past couple years is that the while the processing and the Device itself has been better Biggest complaint has been poor battery life again I'd hate to sit there and again by 350 devices and know that We're gonna have people that will complain about you know battery life, and we'll continue to have to carry a quarter on So the idea of moving to a MacBook was the fact that it kind of provided everything that they really needed plus The all-day battery life and to be to be realistic as a teacher who has computers You're gonna have to plug your computer in at least once or twice a day You cannot

065go all day on a battery with all those different operations You're using if you're using the computer the way it is so Realistically the battery life to me doesn't bother me as much plug the plug the computer in it's just how it goes so I got a couple questions I go all day with my and I go in a day and a half sometimes To I'm just saying do you turn it on? And I'm talking I use it for presentations or earplay or grading you know grading programs attendances meetings Whatever that may be I'm just I'm just saying is that every is it a huge I agree with not it's not a determining fact It's not a deciding factor Well the battery the battery life is probably better now that it was five years ago.

066What time out? I mean a new computer is always gonna be better right like okay quick, so let's park that right It's always gonna be better, but I have questions all about like if we're gonna do a pilot with 30 teachers and Kind of Work through them as to see if this is feasible in my eyes. We already know it's gonna be feasible right So why wouldn't we have more of a larger rollout? Take advantage of buying power in buying all of them Rather than and I'm speaking from ignorance, right? I don't know how effective a pilot should be or is or what has been in the past Last time if we like do we have to do this like can we just do one computer and find out oh great It's all seamless What

067I think that's a great question You know to be Sensitive to the change these are people who have volunteered to pilot So we're not pushing something on staff that would require them to learn a new set of skills mid-year These are people who said like we we want to do that and so they're kind of our eager people And I think that the small-scale pilot it's some point It's gonna be necessary because our kids have iPads the reason we have iPads is because we've got the eight hundred thousand dollar grant like You still do the pilot I feel like because then that's listening to the teachers of saying we don't want too much change at once and we're letting the people that And we encourage them to get some Hesitant volunteers as well in that

068so that you had some buy-in that way with the pilot I I I do have to say I agree with Ronnie though I just think like you said pump the brakes like you want to pilot it was just I mean It's already almost Christmas break like talk about beginning of the school year I mean, that's not that far away. Yeah, and I had a question, you know for you run What's a contingency plan if the pilot is not well received because I mean it sounds like we're talking structurally We're gonna have the pilot program and then move on with the purchases like assuming that it's gonna be successful and most likely would be But I haven't really heard is there a contingency plan. What do we do if they don't like it? Can you return

069them? There's gotta be one, right? Can you still use the after can you still use those laptops in the people who like them can keep them? So we're not wasting them and then still pivot Your contingency plan is You purchase an Apple device that has value and I'm sure we could sell them internally to our own staff If they if they wanted them, I mean we're not gonna lose any like money on this and our default would be we would go with The standard windows a standard windows laptop that would still be in it, you know, like an 875 window For where we need to be My biggest thing is like we're trying to find a device that's gonna meet all of our needs to be in a price point of 875. Yeah, right. That's

070that's our biggest thing. I'm gonna be honest with you, Adrian The reason I'm not buying 350 right now. We didn't budget for it this year. So like You very well know like we just don't have the money right now to be able to do that so a small-scale pilot right now is something I I'm able to budget and to afford and If we do move forward with Apple like I can do a you know a purchase and defer payment For a hundred days or something like that where I can get them, you know early but not pay anything until July, you know we're So we again, I think the biggest thing is we can get training with Apple We have a lot of other things where Apple comes alongside us to want to help us

071improve our teaching with their product Yeah So I think there's intangibles that come with Apple that necessarily Haven't been there in products that we've used Previously, so the contingency plan is spilling spend the same amount of money next year on just other computers Like it's already at just a foregone conclusion. Well, I don't know what would be Saying like what the other option is we would go with Windows laptops. Yeah. Yeah, so I mean that's just to clarify You know, the contingency plan is if this doesn't go over well is spend the same amount of money just on other product for next Year. Well, we have to we have to buy a laptops right, you know, so really, you know, it's one of the things we're either gonna buy laptops and try to get a

072discount or I'm gonna buy laptops on a one by one basis and as they die Could they could they credit you Brian if you got the 20 or how many you're getting to pilot could they credit you? Like well, we bought these 30. Can you give us some credit because we're buying additional now would they ever do that for you? Can you ask them? Yeah, like you just bought 30 and you bought it for their regular price, but now we're gonna we like it We're gonna buy another 300. So can you give us some credit for the 30 we already bought? We may see that in Dollars or could be in training There's a lot of different ways that they could come back Alongside us and help us with that and then like I said

073before I asked a question I think a lot of us were asking questions at the same time But when you purchase these 20 or 30 and it doesn't work out those teachers can still use them Because they like them like I like this. I'm gonna stick with this. I don't need the windows even though you're pivoting They could still use them right so it's not wasted money I know you can recoup the money but it would you know, it makes sense if they're if they're using it and they like it But other you know, if you didn't like it The majority of them that did like it they can still use it, right? They could be different from the other teachers because they're still using the same type of apps and programs and stuff like

074correct You're absolutely right. Like if we really went push came to shove and said like those 27 could keep those 27 MacBooks and we could just 25 out of 27. We're happy. Yeah, but those could still stay max And we could then move windows to yeah with the rest of the staff and can I ask you have your Pilot team ready like already signed up you have your volunteers I do I've talked to everybody and even the leery ones are excited and so But have you gotten some less hesitant? Yeah, I mean there are hesitant people but they're excited about being asked and being a part of this trial and so even those who are hesitant are excited about being a part of something and being asked to provide their feedback on Something that could

075drive the district into the future so You you asked for us to go find people and so I've talked to all those people that Wanted to be a part of that committee and I've personally talked to them. So yeah any other questions I could be wrong. I'm just from the kind of in my opinion like everywhere that I've worked It's like it's you're a Mac or you're an HP place, right? And then When you hire on you you learn the equipment, right and so I may be speaking from a point of ignorance But it's like if we're gonna we need new computers, just like you said, right? So one way or the other we're gonna pull the trigger and we already know that we're gonna Probably go with Mac because it seamlessly works with a

076lot of the tech with the iPads. That's a direction We already got yeah, so I don't see the real point in even doing the pilot Because we know we're gonna go in that direction anyway Right, and I think if we are gonna get support like the training support from Apple Wouldn't it be better if we did it all at one time and then all of the teachers are in the same? Same class of having these new pieces of equipment learning together and being having the same resources of Apple coming in and teaching everybody how to use them at the same time I would kind of respectfully disagree. Okay. Yeah, it would be more helpful to have the pilot program Especially with some people who are not as excited about it I agree is I think

077you mentioned it last month those would be your best sellers Hey, like they would they would sell the ideas I think you're going against what we're trying to follow in the cert like the point that even brought up in the beginning of We're making the changes and doing that You're now saying all right We're doing this at this time anyways And they don't have a colleague to go to that they might feel comfortable with Versus a trainer or it's so different you can go through all the training you want But then you get in the class and you're doing something or whatever and you don't have that person that's right there Hey, what do you I do this or do you know how to do this? You're not walking to the next room where somebody

078already has it. Okay, that's my perspective And point of view the concern I have is one of the votes I regret is voting for the iPads to begin with I For many different reasons That is one what I would take back if we because the high schools are still at Laptops or Chromebook they're going back to that at Lincoln way My concern is just in the future when this iPad like when we start to look at things again Are we sticking with Apple or are we not? Right that that that's my only long term, but by that time. I don't know what our You know contract is right now Is that an issue then also for our students when they go to Lincoln way and they have to switch off from using Apple products? And

079how much and if so how much longer do we have these iPads for them? Sure, so I would like to state that of the five feeder districts that go into Lincoln way for our Google one is Microsoft and three districts use iPads and one uses Chrome and one other district by Microsoft and so Necessarily, no, I would say that not being comfortable to get a Windows laptop I think it would be I think it would be different if we were the outlier But in fact like we are actually not in the outlying Right. I mean 80% of the districts that feed in link way are using Google And so I always said like would it be different Tomorrow if Lincoln way came back and said we are now switching to Google would we do that?

080Would that change our belief in our alignment to? What we feel our students should be should be doing that would be a conversation I mean Lincoln Lincoln way doesn't worry about What any other colleges are doing right? I mean they pick the platform that they believe is best I believe Summit Hill has picked a platform that they believe is best for the nine years Go ahead, Leah. You got me as anxious I got a question Does the Mac last more years or does the windows last more years because you said the window lasts like six years Does the Mac book last longer? Yes, we could we could keep a Mac book longer. We've we've kept the windows Running as long as we can but traditionally a Windows laptop is probably about a four or five

081year refresh cycle I mean we have an iPad a district that is going on year six that is fully Functional I was gonna say they do a lot of updates, right? The other big thing it doesn't really necessarily matter to a student is really is your your cost after Using the product right do we want to make this device a consumable? Where we use it and we recycle it and get zero money for it Or do we want to use this device and know that there is some buyback value that we are able to then sell and then Bring back into the district and reuse that money to purchase additional carries a thank you Brian I think we have all the info we need at this point before I vote though I do if because

082you you persuaded me some Brian I would love that we have a survey from our staff so we can see what their feedback is I know I trust you but I'd like to see their feedback, you know, just a small survey Exactly John winter. Hi Adrian Chavez Melissa Ryan, no Pat Patrick Oliphant, I'm gonna go now Ron Petrie. I Amy Burke I motion carries Thank you. Appreciate it to the approval 61 approval of the tax levy estimate resolution this is on 137 Okay, Julie this one is for you tax levy Page 137 and this is not the levy. This is not the levy hearing This is not the levy vote just to me So can you just clarify what this is is this just their recommendation basically and then we just go from there Do

083you want to explain? I can start by reading this and then just kind of clarifying There's a approval of tax levy on October 15th at the board meeting the board of ed Set a hearing and adoption date for December 17th The Board of Education will hold the public hearing at that time based on what this recommendation here with is is Offering its four point nine nine percent, which does not require truth and taxation But in the interest of conservatism and transparency We still recommend going ahead and putting it in the newspaper and having a levy here So based on this paper page here, you'll see that the board, you know passes first the resolution estimating the levy because you Should estimate a levy in advance. It gives you kind of like a route to to

084follow Normally speaking it's it's pretty much the case that most districts will levy at the 4.99 percent because they want to Ensure that they are incorporating new property and getting the amount of money necessary for going forward and considering the people in the future and the students in the future because of the compounding effect anything done currently impacts future students, so When it comes to the levy So anyway, the county clerk is responsible for calculating the maximum extension That is the taxing district is entitled to each year So the one major data point that drives the calculation is CPI Consumer price index as established by the Illinois Department of Revenue So basically they indicate to us what the CPI is that we use in the calculation each year because you you know find sometimes you'll

085go on a Some type of website and here's a CPI for this a CPI for that like, you know They're on the same realm, but they're not always exactly the same. So we are We follow like any school district. You'll talk to in this area I will say I'm using on the 2.9 because that's the CPI we're supposed to use for the 2025 levy So the property takes extension limitation act otherwise known as the P tell Limits the amount of levy requested and That's where the CPI comes in and basically It kind of controls the the the height of the rate Because that's that's why they put it in in, you know into an act previously so it's the lower of the 5% or the CPI that But basically when we asked for so basically

086here, we're looking at the CPI is that you point nine percent So follow the chart below you can actually see like a lot of the history Where the tax rate goes and a tax rate is completely different? Than what we're requesting what we are requesting is a percentage over the prior years extension So when we say we are requesting 4.99 percent over the prior years extension. That means we're requesting Four point nine nine percent of the amount of money we received last year. It does not mean that's the tax rate We're asking for right. Okay, so the tax rate you could see historically it you'll see on this paper That it has been declining and the large Characteristic Causing that is Because the debt is part of the number in here. So the clerk is

087the one that will go and Levy the portion that is for the debt for the debt service. So when the debt service Continues to reduce so does the overall tax rate that impacts everyone. So Basically, this here is the resolution based on our projection of what is recommended in this four point nine nine percent Request so one of the really interesting things I know that We talked about this a little bit in the finance meeting. We don't look at When we asked for four point nine nine percent of last year's base that we received We're talking about a base that doesn't include new property So in order to capture the tax on that new property if you do not ask for that four point nine nine percent over the prior year you're really Disservicing the

088future students because they're not going to get money that they can get Basically, there's a places to cut money and there's places not to cut and this is not an area where you would want to go Before that the resolution tonight is just that we're going to be asking for that. Yeah Yeah, we so it's just saying these are the dates that we've put everything we put the public here and put it and this is Just we're going to be asking for this under Yes, we're putting the approval for through for the request in December request, right? Yeah Okay, this is the specific levy request. Yes is a projection because you really should start working on it Like we did a tentative budget. Yeah, we're doing a tentative levy so and you want to just

089put every all of the Format going we also looking to put this in the newspaper just to be a fully transparent as well But right this is not this is the step tonight It's not the vote to vote for yes, correct And then in meantime people can watch if they weren't able to make the PGA is it loaded yet? Or will it be it is not I'm working on the edits as mrs. Brace said there's a few things I have to remove from that before posting So they can watch the assessor came out and did a parent Guardian Academy Mr. Carl, you can go ahead and watch that you can bring your question to the hearing in December if you have any questions or contact before that as well So do I have a motion

090that the Board of Education adopt the resolution of Summit Hills School District 161 will County Illinois estimating the levy of Texas for the year 2025 So moved second Well, do we have any discussion? Do we have any discussion? Right now on the resolution We're good. Okay. I got one thing. I just I think I think it's it's we're doing the PGA. We're putting that out there We're getting that information. I think we need to ramp up more explanation if possible. Oh, yeah So I think I want everybody to be crystal clear I want us to catch everybody community outreach made a suggestion of a resource And I know Paul was gonna look into that So that's one thing and we can get we can push that out. Yeah, when he once he looks into that

091I totally agree the more Clarity we can give to this obviously the better for all of our tech space Yeah, and I think you know if we can run and provide a couple of different scenarios as to how we choose it What will that result in and that way everybody understands? Maybe what the longer term effects, you know can be Right. It yeah, I think if we're and we can get into this discussion. We actually vote on it there needs to be clarity of We're not setting the tax rate correct for people's property taxes Like I think that's the most important thing that like they need to understand Yeah, where that comes from and what we're doing and how we're trying to Capture the money for our students and our resources from the new Businesses

092and new children that are coming in Yeah, and if you don't understand it this is a really great opportunity and window to reach out to us directly or reach out to the board and We can try and fill in anywhere we can right? Absolutely. Okay. Yeah, and we always have Joe crawls a resource, too So if there's something we cannot answer we will certainly reach right out to our tax assessor. He did a great job To shed light on things and that video is gonna be really helpful too for people So yeah, and for the people that couldn't watch that because it's not up yet But maybe watching today one point that I would like to bring up just for a quick clarification In the spirit of what we were just talking about is that

093the understanding that the county will Level like they'll determine what the tax rate is and then what we're just asking for is what percentage of that goes to the district We're not right. So if we asked for two percent We would only get two percent of the tax that's already being imposed by the county And then the county and the state just get the rest Let me try to help you can also look at page 141 in your board packet. There's some good numbers in there Well, yeah, I was doing it for the people watching at home Right right for them too, because there's a public packet so they can they can get a hold of the information So the levy is the ask It's the amount of money that we're asking for and it's

094based on what we received last year and so Regardless of what we asked for that is not the tax rate. It is just an increase over what we received last year So if you take a look at page 141 what you'll see on that page is that The accumulated amount that we're asking for for this year is actually less than what we received last year Let's explain that because our debt went down correct as we pay down our debt so we pay down our debt The percentage of rate will go down correct and then the value will go down to what we're asking for correct Let's be very transparent with that and we are two years away from paying that debt off that bond 2027 yes, which will go then the rate will go down

095even more Right, okay Was that it yep, thank you I'm just trying to think if there's anything I had a line of response to respond to what you're asking and I love Quick question though, but isn't by us going lower than the Than than what is the CPI or ptel? Dictates to us are we slowing down the increase of taxes, so it wouldn't it wouldn't Because because you're saying it compounds from the previous year Right, so we'll receive less money. So When the clerk extends the money he gives that to us So if we ask for less regardless of what we ask for next year the number of the percentage that we're asking for Is going to be on a smaller amount so into perpetuity the district was will receive less money, right? We also

096have to look at what's coming in and what you're actually capturing with that new to see how much you're losing or not losing By lowering the levy, but yeah, you'd be taxing a smaller amount Yeah, well, that's my question. We're just trying to figure out how it is that we can Do our part to slow the rate of taxation in Illinois, which is a Goliath of an ass, but? We have to figure that out At least what our part is you can't get good solutions without asking the right questions Well, and I think you put together a document that was pretty telling and that is one of the best ways to Protect our taxpayers is to pay off debt and not take on more, right? Exactly Which we want to continue to do no matter

097what? That's that's non-negotiable All right, so we have a motion to Approve the resolution estimating the levy taxes in a second now we can Have a roll call yeah, all right Ron Petrie I Patrick O'Font I Adrian Chavez I Amy Burke I John winter. Hi Melissa Ryan. Hi motion carries Resolution is passed moving on to six see to consideration of settlement agreement for a case number two zero two four is CV two one six zero I Moved that the Board of Education approved the settlement agreement for case number 2024 CV two one six zero as discussed in closed session so moved second Do we have any discussion? roll call Melissa Ryan hi John winter. Hi, Amy Burke. Hi Ron Petrie. I Patrick O'Font. Hi Adrian Chavez. Hi motion carries moving on to seven Superintendent and

098staff report so quickly on page 143 you'll see the enrollment update where we see the biggest increases in our preschool Our ECM preschool as students turn three years old they qualify for programming So you'll see that number be added to throughout the year I'm gonna keep this in front of the board so that you can see all of the changes in student enrollment And then again that board planning session We'll sit down and really talk about sectioning like where do we want to put our numbers at? What are the class averages that we're looking for? And that will give us enough time to make sure that we have appropriate staff and space for what the expectations are But I'll keep this front and center for the board as far as our Science pilot program we're

099gonna look Denise talk a little bit about that Just to give you an update on where we're at with some of those resources that we heard About earlier that are a little bit updated Hello, everyone. Good evening. Yep. I'm excited to tell you guys about our K for science pilot We started that earlier this school year So our science teachers in grades K through four are piloting two programs What we did was our team our dedicated team They're so wonderful helped come up with criteria of what kind of program we need for our students things that included like NGSS Standard alignment for science hands-on material for our science students Accessibility features for both students and teachers. So we had a whole rubric and we had many vendors come in We carefully considered what vendors we

100brought in ahead of time to make sure they're you know, newer state-of-the-art That's hopeful helpful for our students And then we selected two programs and received training on the first one earlier this month Science is an exciting one to pilot because you have lots of materials and hands-on things that we gathered together for the teachers So they received training earlier this month Some have already started piloting and then later this year we'll move on to our second one So we have two one is Savas's program called experience and the second one the teachers selected was a McGraw-Hill is Program called inspire. So science is always a fun exciting one for our teachers and our students. So I'm excited to report on this Can I ask you a quick question? Yeah as in terms of these

101both of these pilots Can you get collect data on how much the iPad is being used and how much our students are actually on the iPad? during this curriculum One of the visions I have as a board member is that we are pulling away from Technology and more hands-on more things in front of us so that we're not distracted by the things that go on with the iPad So if these two pilot programs don't Satisfy that concept and I think we need to do more piloting with different programs Thank you Lastly is the setting the date for the special meeting for board planning 25 26 So the way that the the meeting agenda gets set is by the desire of the board So we've been rolling over the expectation from board to board But we

102have complete autonomy to have that meeting look however you would like so the format the content the number of meetings the dates of the meetings and so Today is more just big thinking that in December. We need to come back and like put some dates on the calendar So that our teams can begin to prepare for whatever kind of presentation the board would like to see So I'm gonna turn it over to the board if there's any initial thoughts on that We can pick it up again in December as someone who really I call these the state of the union Basically, I call them. It's like the big state of the union of the district It's like where you get to know everything and anything and get to ask like your big big questions and

103long-term things It's a lot for every single person to sit through we start in the morning and go through you know late in the afternoon and It's all good things like I know at those meetings. We've gotten to oh, there's gaps in testing data between in between fourth and fifth grade math or You know there's this or we really Got to dig into what major was going to be and look like during those and all the cool stuff that the average There's been some thoughts of splitting that into two meeting I mean, I'm a big believer just like we know kids only have so much attention span I mean any adult or human only has so much attention span to make good decisions and these are important So, I don't know how we feel about

104splitting that up into two sessions I totally agree versus like one day eight to three you're talking like one day eight to two eight to three type deal ish Or to set I mean, what are your? well, so I sat through one and it's a lot and I said out there in the public Sitting there and trying to follow everything and it's overwhelming to me It's it was a lot of quantity, but not a lot of quality Not on the presentation part of it, but it was just you lose track you lose the steam And I want to make sure the meetings are quality every single time Yeah for the presenter to the presenter It feels like I only have this so much time and I have to cram it all in and then Selfishly

105just because it's my really busy time and I'm working seven days a week I would prefer to just have one you just want to get it like one rip off the band-aid one sure I mean it is doable. It's been done that way. I mean we take breaks. We have lunch I mean, I'm kind of with you on it, too Just because I work every other weekend, so I'm and I'm okay with Bernie vacation time I do it all the time everyone's time is valuable So yeah That is the job of splitting is you got to find two dates that work for everybody and you're not gonna take up two people Saturdays I mean everybody to have everyone Saturdays all the staff to back or even spread out. Yeah, I don't like that Yeah, I

106think more in terms of the staff because they've typically been on a Saturday crazy idea But would what if we were to take the load off of the staff and break it up by subject, right? so only certain staff have to show up so if you did it even smaller increments and then And then they could have a lot more dedicated time and conversation and we could plan around those subjects And if you know for Melissa if we did break it into even just behind the sky Three times or whatever then instead of looking for that eight-hour window or whatever, you know Which we asked for a two-hour block or three-hour block from you That way you can kind of keep on your but in that state of the union or all that planning too

107I think it probably has to be done within a certain period of time so you can launch right? Yeah That's all for next year Okay What really drives it is the March board meeting? That's where we do staffing So there are some requirements about notice if you're not bringing staff back And things like that and so having the information about what the expectations are from the board ahead of time Helps prepare for the March board meeting. So as long as we do it before the March board meeting Kim we can accommodate whatever the board wants We can give it to you ahead of time sure and then just understanding that as we work through it because we practice present together And things like that that there may be some slight modifications like when we get

108to presentation day But so that you don't have to try to absorb it all in You can go back and forth a little bit with the staff if we get it beforehand then we can ask some questions before We have that set of questions and they can have it and they don't feel like and then there's a less time And I think one day would be better for staff personally I don't think they want to keep on coming in even two Saturdays, but a little on three Saturdays Highlight of their year is presenting People that don't aren't in their daily We'll make sure there's still a straw poll How many staff like coming in on Saturday? No, but would that help lessen the physical time? I'm trying to think of ways to adapt Well, what

109would back to what Tommy? Yeah to Ronnie what Ronnie said though is like quality over quantity, right? Time aside like what would help you guys Have more meaningful of a dialogue on it or prepare as best you can in order for us to have Sure, I like getting it beforehand and then being able to even email those presenters directly with my questions So they're prepared and then it's is that something that the team would be interested in? Is there any feedback that you have being through those days and having to present So back to kind of the state of the union it's really state of the department so each person who has a district-level responsibility So Julian finance Denise and curriculum Leslie and special ed and then all the way in the back We've got

110Brian and tech Walt and O&M. So and then I do kind of an overarching like vision Here's we're going. This is what we're kind of thinking. So each of us presents the nuts and bolts of our department, right? Typically Brian gives some templates and we start like setting information in we can certainly give that to the board ahead of time And then that can help inform maybe some of the finer details about what's presented that day Maybe there's some things that we really think you care about but you really don't Then those things can they can be in a Friday report versus being in a like a workshop type strength So, I mean, I think that would be helpful. I don't know if they have a preference or one or two days I probably would

111not require all of my people to be there for two days. So Yeah, we do teaching and learning one day then that's Denise Leslie and Brian and then we do like O&M finance leadership the other day. So I Think that would be to 11 No, I think I think even the concept of doing that having it ahead of time streamlining it that makes it more better quality Yeah, and therefore when we do have our meeting if we do it on one day I think we might I think it's a good try I think it's a good test run to try this one out this time around and Obviously, if it doesn't work really well, then next year we can change it up again So just bring your calendars to the December meeting, let me say

112this back to you So just like you can hear what I'm what I'm thinking is that so so we're gonna try to stick to a Better use of the time in one day So what I heard and so that when our team starts like putting things on chart paper and you know planning this out is more interaction ahead of time and so having the presentation Fielding questions, maybe even responding to those questions and then finalizing the presentation and then having our meeting Just so like all of the feedback doesn't have to happen in one finite window More of a dialogue leading up to it and then we can come and actually talk about some of the really important topics Okay. All right Yeah Once we kind of are we putting a date on that in

113December Oh in December in December then I would like to bring up an Alternative delivery system because I put I've been thinking about this for some time because having the meeting is really important Delivering that information to the public is equally important, right and Asking the public to sit through eight hours and be like well if I fast forward to here, maybe I'll catch something I'm interested in It's a big ask and I don't think it has a high success rate So what I was thinking is Tasking an upgrade into the digital delivery system of this instead of having just one video I think we can cut the videos by topic and then have a directory list with And then in each one there's a subtopic like an outline We talk about this topic at

114this time this topic at this time this topic at this time and that way It makes it a lot more user-friendly for the public and more importantly how we distribute it to the public not just people coming to Our website, right, but we have new families moving into our district and we have different municipalities We've got Frankfurt, Mokina, Tinley Park We can devise a way like let's say maybe just a piece of paper Directory that we can issue to all of those Municipalities that they can distribute to the new residents when they come in and register and do all that stuff By the way, if your kids going to 160, I see your child or your children are going to 161 Here is a state of the district directory on where you can find the

115topics that mean most to you There's already been talk in the community outreach committee about doing like a handbook for parents like of what is the SEO? What is chef? What is this? This would and this could be foot well in a parent Yeah, it can be in there, but I also like it to be a separate thing Where maybe we can put on utilize our well-received social media and pump out a couple of things to say hey Here's a link if you're interested on what the topics are and what we're what we're growing to and what is most concerning to you Here it is and here find what you're interested in and make it very easy like ordering off of a menu, right? This is something digitally that can be implemented and streamlines all

116of the hard work of our admins Directly to the residents. I like the link on social media because everybody lives on social Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of different ways that we can do it But I would like to plant that seed so that we can institute that after this, you know the February this this year So we have direction for December and we are good to move on to number eight board building board member building reports We'll just go this way Next time remind me He'll the Walker school our beginning band program posted their first mini recitals of the year last week Our newest musicians were able to showcase their talents and new skills for their parents and loved ones across two nights of small recitals We are looking forward to seeing how

117much they grow Hilda Walker celebrated the end of the trimester one with a spooky PBIS celebration on Halloween students wore costumes participated in a costume contest and Completed in several minute to win it games in a very fun and a little but haunted trimester one PBIS celebration assembly I get the second half November 7th Hilda Walker posted 65 Hosted 65 veterans and their guests for an annual Veterans Day ceremony This very special event kicked off with a breakfast and a moving ceremony and wrapped up with the classroom visits This is one of our most valued traditions at Walker and thank you Walt for your service, too Additionally we are excited to welcome all Hilda Walker families for a parent-teacher conference next week Also, best of luck to our 12 and 2 Walker girls basketball team

118at the DP VC Conference tournament this weekend go Wildcats That's awesome. All right. I have to this evening first the Mary do early learning center MDLC's current family activity is making a cookbook Family sent in their favorite recipes and students will get to take a cookbook home with recipes from all of their friends Students participated in Fall Fest this month parent volunteers help facilitate Stations such as leaf sorting corn pits pumpkin scooter races sticker crafts and parachute play our students had so much fun MDLC will host its grateful gathering on Thursday November 20th in the a.m. Session at 1030 and the p.m. Session at 2 o'clock Students will briefly share what they are thankful for The marriage you really learning Center is now on Instagram follow us to keep up with photos of students and

119staff in action as well As see flyers about upcoming events at Mary drew ELC. Thank you. Miss Silke for that an Indian trail trailblazers recognizing the 74 for outperforming expectations when comparing poverty rates and literacy Proficiency putting trail in the top five percent of the state Our pumpkin decorating contest, which is one of my favorite things helped to donate 12 boxes to the Frankfurt food pantry Thank you to our students and families Winter program is set for Wednesday, December 17th. We look forward to seeing everyone. Thank you. This is right I have Summit Hill Junior High after a few months of waiting We are incredibly thrilled to announce that the Summit Hill Junior High met the explanatory status as a Designation of our Illinois State report card such an amazing honor Thank you to our

120staff students and community for supporting us in all Capabilities we could not do this without everyone's support Our student athletes are busy on the court and the mats basketball season is full session And we even held our little Spartan clinic this past week If you were lucky enough to see the little cheerleaders alongside our big cheerleaders, you could have seen their incredible performance Trimester one has ended and we are now moving. It's a second trimester with our new goals our winter NWEA Benchmark is right around the corner. And so our parent-teacher conferences drama club additions and callbacks are starting soon and Congratulations to our band choir and string students for their beautiful fall performance and most recently our veteran day concert We are thankful to all our veterans. Thank you. Miss global. All right I'll

121be reporting on dr. Julian Rogus school big shout out to mr. Bradley and miss bolfer Students in developmental kindergarten and the instructional program at DJR shared in a friendship feast This supported students working on social skills fine and gross motor skills and much more Students worked as teams to collect all items before enjoying their feast and had a great time for Valentine for Veterans Day DJR students wrote cards Andrew pictures for the mantino veterans home and on our flight, Chicago We are proud of all of our students who made an effort to participate in these activities in honor of Veterans Day Our third grade class has been researching and creating balloons based on the reading of the storybook balloons over Broadway The true story of a puppeteer of Macy's parade students have designed their own

122balloons and that will be showcased in our annual DJR show Gratitude additionally gratitude has been the theme at DJR during the month of November This month our students have shared with us that they are thankful what they are thankful for and while some material objects have made the list Mostly they are thankful for their family friends and belonging to a community We agree Thank you to our students families and staff for making DJR a great place to be now. I got Rogus kinder Our kindergarten students celebrated grandparents day or special friend day The students enjoyed making special frame a special frame with their special person and visiting the book fair We celebrated Veterans Day as an entire school by having all students enter the hallway With their classroom flag and do the Pledge of Allegiance

123together Our very own miss Turek then led the entire building in the national anthem Is it Turek? We celebrated World Kindness Day our preschool friends made special papers for some of our kindergarten students What a great way to model kindness to our students We also want to send a thank you to chef for hosting trunk or treat The kids had a great time traveling to the different trunks and visiting with the school mascots We also want to thank Resco for hosting our supermarket science assembly The students enjoyed learning about the science about science in a fun way. Thank you. Mrs. Balls As we approach the time of parent conferences and Thanksgiving next week, I want to first Say on behalf of the board that we are very thankful to everyone That allowed our schools to

124get commendable and exemplary ratings exemplary at our junior high Commendable, so thank you. Thank you to every single person that is involved in that and I just Want to personally say thank you. I have very much gratitude for the honor of serving the community and I want to thank our Staff and we hope that you have a restful Thanksgiving spending time with the people and doing the things that you are grateful and thankful for So with that our next meeting date is December 17 2025 at the Mary Jew Administrative Center as always, please come join us and With that can I have a motion to adjourn? So moved second. All in favor. All right Thank you everybody