001Once you're done, right, but like you're at the end. I am reconvening into open session Township High School District 113 levy hearing on Tuesday, December 17th, 2024 at 7 0 7 7. This agenda item is a public hearing concerning the 2024 tax levy. A roll call, please. Ms. Lupa. Here. Mr. Neater. Here. Ms. Shapira. Yes, please. Mr. Braza. Here. Dr. Elliott Schrimer. Mr. Heineman. Here. Ms. Peck. Here. Mr. Walker. Here. Ms. Newman. Here. I would like everyone else who is present to identify themselves. Romina Jansky, Executive Secretary. Lisa Delacqua, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Instruction and Assessment. Karen Warner, Chief Communications Officer. Tiffany Rowe, Assistant Superintendent for Student Services. Brian Armour, Chief Operations Officer. Ali Ma, Assistant Superintendent of Finance. Hallie Fleischer, Principal at Highland Park High School. Katherine Anderson, Principal at Dearfield High School. Ron
002Casbaum, Chief Information Officer. Good evening, Mira Ante. Shayla Holland, Superintendent. The first item is public comments. We welcome your comments and questions and give them serious consideration pursuant to Board of Education Policy 2-230. Please limit the length of all comments to no more than three minutes. Any questions may be sent via email to be answered subsequent to the meeting. As a reminder, public participation is not intended to be a back and forth discussion between the public and the board. The public comment period will be for a maximum of 30 minutes. Are there any public comments regarding the public hearing on the tax levy? Is there a motion to adjourn the public hearing? So moved. Is there a second? Second. It is 7.09. All of those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Abstention. Motion carries. I am reconvening
003into open session Township High School District 113 regular action meeting on Tuesday, December 17th, 2024 at 7.09. A roll call, please. Mr. Nieder? Here. Ms. Shapira? Yes, please. Mr. Braza? Here. Dr. Elliott-Schimmer? Mr. Heineman? Here. Ms. Lupa? Here. Ms. Newman? Here. Do, with us going into a second close, do I need to amend the agenda? You can add the close anytime. Okay. Is there a motion to approve the agenda as listed? So moved. Is there a second? Second. All of those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Abstention. Motion carries. The first item, we are Blue Ribbon Award for Health Education. We are proud to celebrate the incredible work of Sarah Gershon, Danny Hoveday, and the health teachers at Deerfield High School who have truly transformed the health curriculum over the past few years. Special thanks to Mark
004Pector, the department chair, for this ongoing support and encouragement. Their efforts have led to Deerfield High School earning the Blue Ribbon Award in Health. The Blue Ribbon Award recognizes high quality middle and high school health programs in Illinois. This award was developed as a joint effort between Illinois School Health Association and Illinois Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. The Blue Ribbon Award was developed using guidelines established by the Illinois Learning Standards, the Illinois School Code, and the National Health Education Standards. This award signifies excellence in teaching and learning and also highlights the importance of the health curriculum in supporting students and exploring topics that have lifelong implications for well-being. We would like to ask the teachers to stand and be recognized. Congratulations to all of you. We appreciate you and are grateful for
005the positive impact. Thank you. Yes. And if we can have all three of you come up, we'll do a quick picture. Moving on. The next item is my president's report. A couple of housekeeping items. As I mentioned at our November board meeting, Rick and I attended the joint conference in November, November 22nd through 23rd with several District 113 leaders. And I wanted to ask Rick for just a couple of minutes to give some of his learned experiences from that conference. And I was going to share a couple as well. Great. Thank you. I have three main takeaways from my experience that was referred to as the Triple-I Conference. First was the opportunity to meet people from all types of school districts. Talking about the experiences and challenges of board members from a rural district made
006up entirely of farms spread across a huge area with only 300 students and an EVA of $30 million is a very different experience than we have with an EVA of $5 billion. It's different. Well, you learn from talking to folks like this. And it's just a great part of the experience to meet all different people, all different kinds of districts, as long as you open yourself up to sit down and just have a conversation. I went to several, besides being a presenter, I went to several different meetings. There was one on construction project delivery methods. And they covered the pros and cons of each of the different models that you can utilize for doing it. The way we do it is the way that most districts do it. And it seems to be the best
007way to do it based on the presentations that we're given. It's called design, build, bid, and build utilizing construction manager. So this is the most popular method. Next, I want to do something on artificial intelligence. This was extremely interesting. The title of the presentation was understanding, embracing, and integrating artificial intelligence. AI is the future and schools need to deal with it. This presentation covered several issues in artificial intelligence. Points for the use of AI in administrating education include creating personalized learning algorithms that adapt, this is a quote, that adapt to the individual student needs, automated grading systems that free up valuable detail time, and predictive analytics to identify and support ad-req students. Additionally, AI-driven tools streamline administrative tasks from scheduling to resource management, allowing teachers and administrators to devote more time to direct student engagement
008and curriculum innovation. This is the beginning of a process. That's not where any of these districts are at. This is where it's going, and we just need to make sure we're part of that. The other thing they talked about is incorporating AI into coursework where appropriate. This helps new students know how and when to use AI. I actually have 11 copies of a document that was created by Niles District 219 that was created by the faculty to give direction to students and how they should or could use artificial intelligence. Options are not use it at all, use it by an attribute that you used it, or three, use it and describe how that added value as a way of learning how to use artificial intelligence. So all careers require knowledge of AI and how we
009prepare students for the future that requires, and how do we prepare students for a future that requires artificial intelligence knowledge. So that's our challenge. Thank you. I went to a Friday pre-conference that was on effective school board presence, so I tried to do some personal and professional development. The rest of the sessions I attended, really, I wanted to focus on how can we make our meetings as effective and as efficient as possible. So I sought out courses and presentations around that. And so I learned some valuable tools around making sure our agendas are aligned to policies and goals, what a structure for an effective meeting is, and the two key points that I thought I actually heard in two different sessions, which was interesting. One is that for other organizations, meetings are a time for
010updates and information. The reality is for school boards, the meeting is where the work actually gets done, since we are a board of one voice. And the other point is that, you know, the president is the leader of leaders, meaning that I may preside over the meeting as the president, but each board member is responsible for ensuring we have effective meetings. So I thought that was a really interesting takeaway from my time at joint conference. And as we've discussed, our expectation then moving forward starting next year is that our board as a whole attends joint conference. So, you know, it is usually that weekend right before Thanksgiving, which is obviously a little bit of a challenging time. But if you all can please mark your calendars, and then obviously I'll work with Ramina and making
011sure that everyone is aware. One other two quick housekeeping items. As a reminder, we have our IASB workshop on January 23rd, so if you can make sure that that is in your calendars. And also I've asked Jenny to take a look at our board norms and compare them to what some of our feeder districts board norms are, which is really our procedures that lay on top of the policies of our district, so that we can make sure that we're aligned with our feeder districts where it makes sense, where we can use best practices of the work they've already done. And then she's going to be bringing that to us as a board in the January timeframe for us to, you know, review and adopt moving forward. And then I would like to take a moment
012to thank Dr. Holland, her team, and our school staff and this board for the time and effort everyone has put into in this last semester, building that inclusive school community. I encourage everyone to unplug, do something that fulfills you, because second semester will be busy. We will be doing strategic planning and continuing the work that we started over the last four months. And this board wishes all of our students and staff relaxing and replenishing winter break. And that concludes my president's report. Speaking of doing what you love, policy committee. Earlier today the policy committee met. It's one of the main functions of a board to look at a district's policy. Periodically we'll review policies today as well. We did that at the next meeting. Any policy updates that may have been discussed that are ready
013for first reading will come to first reading and we'll continue that cycle. Huge thank you to Dr. Holland and your team for all of the countless and countless hours of work that goes into the policy, the policy updates, putting the policy into practice. It is quite an undertaking that a school district will take. It is not the most enjoyable work because it is very laborious, but thank you for doing that important work. Thank you. Ed Redd. Okay, so I went to the December 6th monthly member meeting and it was a review of school finance litigation. Legislation. We already have been well informed on this subject by our administration so there wasn't a whole lot to add. They do need members though for a dual credit working group, if there's any volunteers. Not me. So on
014Monday, January 27th, there's the annual legislative dinner. The subject will be securing our future of public education, navigating federal uncertainty in 2025. Seven days into the new administration. That'll be interesting. I will be attending. The next Lake County Ed Redd Education Summit is expected to be on June 12, 2025. Last year was in the morning and included a very good breakfast. I recommend that everybody attend if they can. Will you make sure Romina has that date for our board calendar? Thank you. Moving on to administration reports. The superintendent, Dr. Holland. So my first remarks are around cell phone use. As we continue to explore the impact of student cell phone use in our schools, we recognize that it is a shared challenge affecting students, staff and families alike. Our district is actively examining how access
015to cell phones during instructional time influences student engagement, learning outcomes and our overall school communities. This school year, we are prioritizing the collection of diverse perspectives from all stakeholders, staff, students and families to gain a deeper understanding of the role cell phones play in our learning environments. The insights we gather will be instrumental in shaping thoughtful updates to our cell phone expectations for our 2526 school year. To facilitate this process, we have distributed a survey inviting stakeholders to share their thoughts and sign up for follow up conversations to delve further into this important topic. If you haven't had a chance to complete the survey yet, please do. It will remain open through the start of the school second semester. We deeply value the contributions of everyone involved as we work collaboratively to foster the most
016supportive and connected classroom environments possible. And so thank you for engagement, your engagement around this topic. I know I've spoken with many families around this topic as well as students and staff. So looking forward to everyone contributing their voice. And please know, again, there'll be an opportunity for you to participate in more focused type of discussions around this topic. The next update I have is just around our organizational and administrative updates. Through a review of our administrative positions and the required licensure and endorsements associated with them, there are two positions that will be updated. Our assistant superintendent for diversity, equity, and inclusion role is shifting to an executive director role. The position's job description has been updated and includes a requirement of a principal's endorsement, formerly known as type 75. This update does not indicate
017any change whatsoever in our district's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We value this work and we overemphasize its importance in all things that we do. This change supports the district in ensuring that the appropriate licensure is assigned to the position and also to place it within the scope of responsibilities within our organizational structure. Also, as an administrative position, the role of athletic director will also require a principal's endorsement, also known as a type 75 moving forward. These changes have absolutely nothing to do with amazing individuals in these roles or anything that they did or any incompletion on their parts. It does have to do with the district, our district updating our expectations for our administrative roles. So I want to comment a little bit on security measures for a second semester. As part of
018our district's comprehensive layered approach and commitment to safety and security, I want to remind everyone about our canine team that will be deployed in each school after winter break. The fully trained canine team will begin with an acclimation period to become familiar and to acclimate to our specific buildings to learn the layout as well as become familiar with the sounds and flow of our hallways with our students and staff in full circulation throughout the buildings. When the dogs are on duty, they will be wearing vests indicating that they are working. Please do not approach or try to engage with our dogs while they are in work mode. They don't bite, but I just want to just reiterate that they're working. Once acclimated, more detailed information will be shared about the program. And so, again, they
019will be deployed during the start, somewhere in the start of second semester, they will be becoming acclimated and we will be pushing out additional information. Again, this is just a reminder of other conversations we've had. Secondly, it is important for our school community to know that we will also be considering the launch of a safety and security advisory committee during the second semester. In addition, we are constantly thinking about additional layers of security to be implemented during the second semester as well. As you all know, we've taken a layered approach and we are weekly and on a weekly basis, we are considering our current landscape and some other measures that we may consider in the future. As we have previously mentioned, our review and consideration of safety and security measures, it's an ongoing discussion and
020it continues to require active engagement in thoughtful and contextual decision making. As various engagement and mitigation efforts are finalized, we will continue to keep everyone updated and informed. And finally, we have quickly arrived at the end of our first semester. It's pretty hard to believe. I know many of our students are at home or other spaces or here, but our students are preparing for their final exams. Staff members are busy grading and preparing for the launch of second semester. While this period of time has gone amazingly fast, I want to encourage all of us to think about the many great things that have occurred during the first semester. New relationships, expanded partnerships, new learning, celebrations, and also embrace opportunities for improvement. To the school community, thank you for entrusting us with the gift of your
021children every single day. They bring us joy and the challenge of being better for each of them. To our staff, thank you for seeing the many gifts within our students and your efforts to continue to support their growth. I also want to thank my team who's here tonight for all of the new and heavy lifting you have taken on this semester. Each of you have stepped up in very important ways, and I'm very proud of the work that we're doing. So I want to wish our entire district a restorative and peaceful break and holiday season. Thank you. Thank you. I believe FOIAs are next. Yes. So this is the FOIA that was received and responded to since our last meeting. Moving on, excellence and effort report. Who wants to go first? That'll be me. Good
022evening. Good evening. So as we wrap up the semester, I want to give a giant shout out to everyone who has stepped up during this really busy time. Our building and grounds and security teams have been incredible as our building engages in holiday celebrations and our athletic programs host numerous events such as swim meets, boys and girls basketball games, which we've been winning, and all the different activities that create a lot of traffic throughout our building. So ensuring that everything runs smoothly, I'm very appreciative of these teams. Teachers, counselors, case managers, interventionists, school psychologists, social workers. Thank you for going above and beyond, whether in person, on Google chat, through email, to ensure that our students feel confident and prepared as they get ready to demonstrate their brilliance during the final exam season. Department chairs,
023assistant principals and directors. I want to give another giant shout out for supporting their staff and focusing both on the present and dreaming about who we can become in the future at the same time. Walking through the halls and seeing students who are right now quizzing each other, explaining concepts, practicing scenes, and reading over one another's papers. It reminds me of who we are. And that is a community that takes care of each other and takes pride in the effort that we put forth, even when we're tired and even when we're longingly looking at that finish line to second to first semester. So I'm very proud of the dedication, care and perseverance that I see all around us, and I want to continue to encourage everyone to finish strong. As we navigate this peak end
024of the semester, I want to give another shout out to our Student Activities Office, led by Ms. Rivera and Dr. Stephenson, who have been spreading holiday spirit in costume and helping students relieve stress through creativity, connection and joy. Hot Chocolate Fridays have become a Friday favorite, where our staff comes at 730 to serve hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and marshmallows, while our talented student groups such as Madcap, Jazz Band and Orchestra provide festive holiday music to kick off the day. Also a highlight was the epic Gingerbread House contest, where teams of students showcased creativity, teamwork and a little friendly competition. These events have helped build a positive and inclusive school culture, creating space for students to relax, connect and enjoy meaningful moments during their lunch periods and beyond. From teamwork to the joyful traditions
025and fostering strong adult student relationships, these experiences remind us of the power of community, even during a very busy time of year. Additionally, I had the pleasure of joining our Madcap group, who is sponsored by Maria Barnhill, it's an acapella group, as they caroled through Highwood on Saturday evening, spreading beautiful music and cheer to local businesses. This magical evening made possible through a wonderful partnership with Jennifer Condon in the Highwood Commerce Department and the dedicated efforts of Susie Wall, who invests her time each year to coordinate the entire event. It was a true celebration of community and music. My six-year-old Johnny and I deeply enjoying the warmth, breaking through the rain and the cold of the evening, and joy that was shared by all as we ventured from restaurant to restaurant with a group of
026adoring fans. So thank you to that group. Next, I have a few shout outs from our English department. Our American literature classes read Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan McMillan and Johnny Donahoe, a play that explores themes of love, loss and mental health. While addressing sensitive topics, including suicide, the text ultimately delivers a hopeful message, and that is find beauty in life's small moments will foster resilience and a positive outlook. Our American Lit team approached this material really thoughtfully, collaborating with our school psychologists, counselors and case managers to ensure that students had the support they needed. Through this experience, they aim to nurture empathy and encourage open and honest communications about mental health, an often stigmatized topic. A highlight of the unit was attending a performance of the play at the Writers Theater in Glencoe, coordinated
027by Fassil Mahayudin, where students witnessed HPHS alum Jesse Fisher bring the narrator's story to life. Jesse's heartfelt performance, coupled with her reflections during the talk back, showed students how seemingly small choices like taking a high school acting class can lead to extraordinary outcomes. In our English One Honors course, students recently engaged in a powerful learning experience that cultivated both academic and social emotional skills. Inspired by Alan Lightman's Einstein Dreams and Priya Parker's The Art of Gathering, students designed and hosted intergenerational discussions exploring the concept of time. I had the opportunity to observe a class in Ms. Lucasi's room where students were thoughtfully curating discussion topics for their guests. They were carefully considering every detail, from meaningful questions to creating a welcoming environment for all participants, to even deciding what closure should look like for these
028discussions. I was later invited to join one of these student-led gatherings alongside a beautiful mix of guests, grandparents, aunts, older siblings, grand giants, volunteers, social workers from District 112, and other significant individuals in the students' lives. The discussion I attended was deeply reflective. Students posed thought-provoking questions that challenged me to reflect on my own life choices. Whether we believe in fate and what it means if we do for our personal agency, their facilitation created a safe and transformative space for multiple perspectives to be shared, regardless of age. Guests were between the ages of 6 and 96. This experience exemplified the power of student leadership and mindful listening, bringing community into our classrooms to enrich learning and build connections. Lastly, I can't end without saying congratulations to Miles for his acceptance and decision to attend DePaul
029University. So I want to take a moment. He will be majoring in Health Sciences and following in his footsteps. We're really, really proud of you, and we can't wait to see where you go. Congratulations. Thank you. Dr. Anderson? Thank you. First, just to echo some of the words that Principal Fleischer indicated at the beginning and also circled back to at the end in the importance of community. This can be a really stressful time of the year that Mad Rush, the last three weeks of the semester, it can feel like a lot. So for everyone to join together from our staff to our students, to our families, it's really impactful for all of us. And just another word for our students who are finishing up their final exams, some of them their last final exams in
030high school. Best wishes to you, and we know that you're going to do great things. You got this. I want to echo a few more notes of the joyful traditions that you mentioned. Some of the things that we look forward to at DHS include also jazz band and choraleers. I do not sing a tune, so I will not be joining them. That's for all of your pleasure. You do not have to hear that. So gratefully, we do have our amazing students and choraleers who not only perform at our school, but also go throughout the community. We're so lucky to have our students who have amazing voices and have that passion to bring that to those in our community. And just another note of just thanking our staff for all that they've been doing, and especially
031our staff who will be working over break to prepare our schools for this coming semester. We are so grateful for everybody and what they do to contribute to our amazing school communities. In terms of some of the things that have been happening within our departments, this kind of goes back a little bit. But some important aspects happening within our science classes, the biology and chemistry classes at DHS are making excellent use of outdoor spaces. Maybe not so much anymore, but or embracing every moment that we can get outdoors and using real world applications to enhance student learning and engagement. This approach aligns with research showing the numerous benefits of outdoor education and hands-on learning experiences. The biology classes at DHS are leveraging the rich natural resources available on campus, including the Middle Fork River, open
032spaces, and the outdoor classroom to study ecology and the environment. The involvement of students in preparing the outdoor classroom supported by Doc Hoyer for the winter season is particularly noteworthy. You would think this space just needs to grow on its own, but there is careful consideration and involvement from our students and our staff to make that space something that really is a beautiful natural resource for us. This hands-on participation not only teaches practical skills, but also promotes a sense of ownership and responsibility for their learning environment. And they make really great pictures, too. So look out for the lookbook for our incoming freshmen. The AP commentary class with Mrs. Bezrowski completed a redox titration to determine the percent of hydrogen peroxide in store-bought dental whiteners. Redox titration is an analytical technique used to determine the
033concentration of an unknown solution by reacting it with a solution of known concentration through an oxidation-reduction reaction. Will there be a quiz? Maybe. Final exam for board members. Students found that effective teeth whitening often requires higher concentrations of hydrogen peroxide than what is safe for unsupervised use. Store-bought products typically contain three to six hydrogen peroxide, while professional treatments may have up to 40% under controlled conditions. This discussion of the effects of peroxide on teeth and safe concentrations helps students understand the importance of scientific knowledge in consumer choices. So please follow the science. So thank you to our science teachers for again making what they teach very applicable to the real world and that students can see that right in front of their very own eyes or teeth. A shout out to our department chairs. They
034have been engaging in conversations with our center schools regarding articulation for our incoming eighth graders. They're building strong relationships with our center schools, which is crucial for ensuring a smooth transition for incoming eighth graders into our high school community. These articulation conversations allow us to align curriculum, share student information, create seamless educational journey for our future students. By collaborating closely with our middle school educators, we can better understand the needs and strengths of our incoming class, enabling us to provide targeted support enrichment from day one. To that end, we are excited for upcoming high school preview night next month, where we'll have the opportunity to meet our future ninth graders, class of 2029, and their families. This event will showcase our academic programs, extracurricular activities, and the vibrant school culture that awaits them. Our entire
035staff is eagerly looking forward to welcoming these bright young minds and their families answering their questions and helping them envision their exciting high school journey ahead. We can't wait to begin this new chapter together and help our incoming students unlock their full potential in years to come. Thank you. And just as principal Fleischer indicated that we have a senior who has accepted and decided on a school, Lila just found out that she will be attending Vanderbilt University next year. And Lila will be studying human organizational development and perhaps data science as well. So we are so proud of Lila and Miles for their amazing choices that they're making and they're going to do amazing things. So congratulations. Fantastic. Thank you. And that's actually segue into our two student liaison reports. So I do have Ms.
036Peck listed first. Would you mind going first? Okay, so the day before Thanksgiving break school chest announced that we raised over $85,000 for Trust Foundation and school chest worked very, very hard over that past month and came to a really impressive and amazing result. And then this week is semester finals and students have been reviewing the past two weeks in their classes and preparing. And although it's a stressful time, I have noticed that students are definitely taking measures to help themselves relax. And I think it's been a pretty good culture lately for exams being this week. And then also our cafeteria now offers gluten free lunch options and is celiac safe. And Junior Zosia Zarnecki led this. And so that's very exciting. And then also this week, all DHS seniors received a $5 Dunkin Donuts
037gift card in their home room. And this was very generous as these past weeks have been very stressful for all students, but specifically seniors with their final exams and also college decisions rolling out lately. So, yeah. Thank you, Mr. Walker. Highland Park. After our Thanksgiving break we start our hot chocolate Fridays. So those ended last week. I know that students love them. They come into school early, which they never do. That's how I know that they like them. Other than that, our Human Rights Club at HBHS had their coat drive at Highland Park on December 18th, which is tomorrow. They've been doing it since November and students are able to bring in coats and other winter apparel that go out to people in need. And then this year we started our first annual gingerbread making
038competition during our lunch hours or periods, I should say, where students were able to design and then put them on display for students to kind of put a sticker on to see which one they liked the most. And so as a student picked the winner and it was a lot of fun. I did one and I did not get a lot of votes. Mine did not look good. So I just want to ask our student liaisons, just thinking about the fact that many of our students are considering courses for next year and making some decisions around plans and whether it's their interests or maybe something they think they should take. Just thinking about your journey in high school, what advice or suggestions would you give to them and maybe what insights do you have to
039share? I would say that looking for courses for the next year, my biggest regret has been not taking the courses that have been really interesting to me. Like I always wanted to take film and TV or some of the different fine arts classes and I never did because I was more worried about taking more academic courses and rigorous classes. And I wish I could just go back and take some of those classes because I think you can get so much out of them that you can't get out of another AP or honors course. And they're also just something completely different. And also when you're choosing courses, really think about balance because maybe signing up for all the AP or honors classes or whatever is challenging to you seems like a good idea, but it might
040not be because it can become a lot when you're actually in the moment and in all those classes. So really think about balance and make sure that you're prioritizing yourself and you're not just the rigor of your classes. So that's the insight I would give. Yeah, similarly, my biggest thing is taking something that you enjoy and you want to take and having the opportunities and having some of the classes that we have available. Not taking those opportunities I feel is like you're not doing yourself service or justice and so just taking those opportunities that we have is like the biggest thing. Thank you both. Thank you. Next, moving on to public comments. We welcome your comments and questions and give them serious consideration pursuant to Board of Education Policy 2-230. We will go in the
041order of the numbered cards you received when you registered to speak. When I call your number, please come to the podium, identify yourself with the first and last name and city in which you reside and if applicable, state the agenda item to which your comment is directed. Please limit the length of all comments to no more than three minutes. I will raise my hand at the 30 second remaining indicator and then we'll verbally ask you to wrap up your sentence at the three minute mark. When possible, we try to incorporate your questions into the relevant agenda item discussion. However, any questions may be sent via email to the superintendent to be answered subsequent to the meeting. Neither the board nor the administration respond publicly to these comments during the meeting but may follow up comments
042afterwards. And I believe we have three folks. So if the person with number one could please come forward. Thank you. Hello, my name is Elena Lobby and I reside at 1000 Judson in Highland Park. All of the comments tonight are based on public documents from the Amy Burnetti lawsuit or through FOIAs. I served on the District 113 Board when all of these events occurred, which is why I'm here this evening. The recent settlement of a half a million dollars to Ms. Burnetti must surely inspire many questions. How did the board come comprised of dedicated citizens succumb to compromise themselves in order to protect a beloved principal? Mr. Colent is was and still is a beloved member of our community. But by taking that stand, the board put into motion a series of events that ultimately
043resulted in the ouster of Superintendent Dignam and the demotion of Ms. Burnetti. How did this start? In 2016, it was revealed that Mr. Colentis had written a supervision report for classroom observation that had never taken place. Apparently, this was not the first time that this happened, nor was he the only administrator that practiced that. The task of scheduling and documenting observations can be onerous, as I know, having been a department chair. But this is the vehicle that we have to make critical decisions regarding retaining or releasing teachers or by or for granting tenure. And the State Board of Education takes the responsibility very seriously. Superintendent Dignam followed the law in centering Mr. Colentis for that for that oversight. Mr. Colentis felt that the consequences were unfair and unjust. Other staff members agreed. And in 2017,
044Mr. Colentis, Ms. McMahon and Mr. Wright all tendered their resignations. Perhaps it was the extreme anger that these dedicated administrators felt towards Dr. That resulted in the alleged destruction of 20,000 documents, including student test scores, psych evaluations, staff records, along with evidence critical to a lawsuit filed by a family whose student was injured in a football game. All three administrators completely emptied their offices, leaving no files or documents for their successors. This is not standard practice in education. The master schedule, student schedules, planning materials for the opening of school, meeting agendas, in short, the institutional property of the district had been destroyed. When it was revealed that a sex offender had access to the school, Superintendent Dignam again followed the law and pursued legal action. Instead, Tony Luisi, our district council at the time, advised
045the board to drop all charges against the administrators and the board again protected their friends on a purely human level. Perhaps this is understandable. You don't want your friend's career to be impacted over what seemed like inconsequential acts. So Superintendent Dignam was made to be the villain. Meeting after meeting, he was subjected to false accusations from staff and community members of being racist, squandering district funds and the like, all because he followed the law. When the final vote was taken to force his resignation, mine was the only dissenting vote. What can we learn from this? And if you can wrap up. Okay, one sentence. Okay, as board members, you provide the critical leadership to prevent a future injustice from occurring. You are the guardrails for the district. I entreat you to read the FOIA documents
046related to this case as well as the testimony given by Dr. Dignam. Thank you. Thank you. Number two. Good evening. My name is Barbara Serita. I've lived in Highland Park for over 30 years. All three of my children attended Highland Park High School. I served as well six years as co-chair of the 113 Foundation and served on numerous committees and advisory groups for District 113. As a result, I worked with everyone referenced in Ms. Burnetti's lawsuits against the district, be it board members, principals and outside counsel. Thus, I was absolutely horrified to learn that those in whom we placed our trust betrayed it by abusing their power and acting above the law, endangering students by allowing a child sex offender on district premises without adequate supervision because he was friends with board members, destroying tens
047of thousands of confidential student documents without authority for personal reasons, retaining outside counsel who apparently was friendly with administrators and who recommended not pursuing criminal charges against them in complete contravention to the recommendation of independent counsel who had actually conducted an independent investigation at taxpayer expense. Worst of all, district board members and administrators retaliating against employees who tried to do the right thing in an orchestrated attempt to ruin their careers. I am sustained in my faith by the concepts of forgiveness and mercy, fundamental tenets, but it must be premised on accountability. Paying half a million dollars is only step one in attaining accountability because what gave rise to the facts underlying the lawsuit brought by Ms. Burnetti was a systemic failure of the district board to impose checks and balances on itself, on administrators, on
048outside counsel to prevent abuse of power. And unless and until this board addresses those systemic ethical failures, you are destined, despite the fact that the conduct occurring was six years ago, you're destined to relive the sins of the past and what happened to Ms. Burnetti and Dr. Dingham will happen again at great financial and intangible cost to the district. I would ask that you take step two in accountability, retain independent outside counsel to investigate every single fact that gave rise to Ms. Burnetti's lawsuit. Part of that investigation should include whether closed session meetings were being used beyond the narrow purposes prescribed by the law and instead used to orchestrate a cover-up of criminal conduct and retaliation against employees who oppose the cover-up. Part of that independent investigation should also address conflicts of interest of outside
049counsel. Then I ask you to pursue step three, the recommendations of independent counsel to address and remedy situations when personal conflicts of interest that can lead to abuse of power as they did in the case of Ms. Burnetti, be it appointment of an ethics officer, mandatory recusal, guidelines, disclosure, anything that the independent counsel suggests. You hold a critical role in the development and education of our students. Please, please model for them that in this district, no one, regardless of the fortuity of their position of power or whom they know in power, is above the law. Thank you. I believe there's a third public comment. Good evening. My name is Peter Cerita. I live in Highland Park. I'm a 37-year resident. I've had three children go through the entire thing from K through 12. So I'm
050sure that no one on this board has decided to enter public life to do the wrong thing. On the contrary, you are all highly civically minded individuals who want to make the world a better place. Why else would you spend your valuable time and energy serving the community if it weren't to help your fellow human being? You're the type of people that are gratified whenever you are given the opportunity to help others. To you, the opportunity to serve is a gift in and of itself. Fortunately, you now have such an opportunity, and the great thing is that it really won't be all that difficult. It won't be like most projects taken on by a school board, which require committees to be formed, studies to be commissioned, public input to be solicited, and endless hours of
051debate to be suffered through. Now, this will be a very straightforward and simple task, and it can be achieved in a short amount of time and with minimal effort. What it will require, however, is the will to act. What I'm talking about, of course, is the restoration of Dr. Dignam's public reputation. This board is in an absolutely unique position because it is only you that can do this. You are the only body with the credibility to renounce what was done in the past and tell the truth about Dr. Dignam. If it came from anyone else, it could easily be dismissed by skeptics, but not if it came from you, since you are the ones that are privy to all the facts. And even if all of you on this board don't agree to this, that's
052okay. All it takes is for one person to have the courage to step up. If just one of you does this, perhaps you can convince some of the others. If you have any doubt, wouldn't it be better to at least try rather than to do nothing? And if you are considering this but are not sure, ask yourself, how am I going to feel in the future if I had the opportunity to help Dr. Dignam, but I didn't stand up? When I knew that what was done to him was wrong? Well, I feel pangs of guilt knowing that in 2024, when I had the chance to make a difference, I didn't have the courage to make my views known. That I took the easy way out because I didn't want to risk a potential conflict with
053my fellow board members. So what steps am I talking about? Well, it's simple. A letter from the board to Dr. Dignam that he can share with prospective employers expressing the view that he was treated unfairly by the previous board. And that he was in fact an outstanding administrator with many significant accomplishments. And a public statement to that effect so that it comes up when a prospective employer does a Google search on him. It would be a simple act with an incredibly meaningful impact. We all suffer as a community, as a world, when even one of our brothers or sisters suffers an unjust treatment. Our lives are held in suspense until that wrong is righted. None of us and none of you can rest easy in our conscience until it is fixed. For that reason, I
054ask you to take this simple first step. Thank you for your time. Thank you. All right. That concludes public comments. Moving on to discussion. The first item is Dearfield High School roadway sign. So years in the making, Brian Amer has been working on the DHS roadway sign and Brian will provide the board with an update. So thank you. So this is a, I don't want to say older project, but this is a project that we had budgeted for 2024. And so we've been working through the village approval process. Rick was kind enough to join us at one of the meetings. One of the meetings went through four public meetings to get this the text amendment to the village code approved. And so now we're that that process has worked its way through. And so I'm
055going to give a quick presentation on this sign and this will come back to the board for budget approval. So this is the current Dearfield sign is currently out there. It is not illuminated. It has up lights on both sides. This is the proposed sign, a rendering of the sign. This doesn't have landscaping in there. So the American flag area will be an LED portion of the sign. The top will be a static portion of the design, the sign where we can modify the design. So we did go through a architectural review of this to ensure we weren't violating any traffic laws and making sure we have the proper viewing triangles as it relates to both roadways. You can see that here. And this is a quick view of the landscaping around the sign. That's
056not in the rendering. So here's examples of some other signs. Highland Park here. So this project is to bring the both schools up to the same standard when it comes to our electronic signage. I have Evanston and Stevenson in here for reference. And so what it will be used for sporting events, charity events, important school dates, things like that. It's not designed to be a sign that we use for sales outside advertisement. We will advertise our own events. Does it make sound? It's not. There's no speakers associated with the sign. It doesn't flash, kind of shimmer. It's not meant to be attention grabbing. It's meant to provide information. And these are things that we've worked through with the Village. And so other items, again, this was budgeted for 2024. The quote is for $69,000. There'll
057be some additional landscape cost. But we are under budget. And the sign is ready to go, assuming the board approves it at the next meeting. I have to say, in my previous life as a PTO president at DHS, I still remember the meeting in 2019, 2018, when you, Dr. Anderson, talked about the fact that it would be so fantastic if DHS had an electric sign. And ever since that time, any town I've been in, I've noted whether or not the high school had a DHS sign or an illuminated sign. I've been in some small Wisconsin towns and they all had illuminated signs. So I am very excited about this. This will be the, besides gas station pricing, this is the first electronic sign in the Village of Deerfield. So that's, there's some reasons why we
058weren't there, but we were able to get that changed. Right. So we do appreciate the Village's support. We do. In collaborating with us and making this happen. That's key to this. Anne, I have to say, I think that sign that's currently there has been there since I was a student teacher at Deerfield High School. Yeah, I wanted to say an important note is that there's one individual within the school who's in charge of what goes on that side. So it's not like anybody can post something. It's going to be well managed. Correct. Any questions? Okay, then it will come back for action at our January meeting. And the voice from beyond is Jody Shapira. Excuse me. She is traveling for work and therefore she is able to attend our meeting. So, okay. And moving on,
059I apologize. The next item is a catalyst for education, a change DED agreement. Yes. So if you go on our website, you will see that our district, the last version of our strategic plan was in 2017. A lot has happened since that time, including major shifts in the overall educational landscape and within our own district. With so many shifts, including new leadership and new board and a commitment to enhance the learning growth and educational experiences for our students now and thinking about the future. Now is a wonderful and great time to engage in a future focused discussion regarding an aligned plan for the outcomes we desire across our district. A team of district administrators invited five companies to present their process and scope of services for facilitating strategic planning initiatives in our district. Four companies
060responded and engaged in an interview process in a review of their services. The team selected the top two companies and after some follow-up interviews, I followed up. We had some meetings and I want to recommend to the board a partnership with catalyst for educational change as the recommendation to the board to lead us through strategic planning. CEC's process was very thoughtfully designed. I really appreciated their hands-on approach, their proactive steps in making sure that they design their process around really a lot of outreach and engaging multiple perspectives and different lived experiences across our district. There are several phases of this work. They start by gauging our readiness, really thinking about where we are, what do we have in place, what conversations have we had, they do an environmental scan, they start looking at different data
061points. They also, so after engaging in some readiness sessions, they roll out a strategic planning development sessions, which include five strategic planning sessions focused on the development of the plan. So they do engage in a process of reviewing our current landscape, reviewing our data, and then they launch into the process. There's an orientation for stakeholders, what are we here to do, and this is just a brief overview of the entire process. There's a significant all-day data retreat where we look at the data that's been collected across our years and also that outline for us the state of our district, not just in terms of student achievement, but also the data and facilities management. We look at our financial landscape, all data will be a part of the data retreat. We then engage in a vision
062retreat, where do we want to be, how do we want to be different in five years. This is also a full-day experience where members review stakeholder feedback, look at a SWILD analysis throughout each process, each session builds on the other, and there's some time in between the meetings just to gauge feedback and bring those insights and perspectives back. So it's an iterative process where after each session, stakeholders review the findings and the outcomes, and then we come back and review that feedback and then decide to move forward. So there's an orientation data retreat, a vision retreat, and there's also a final plan review. And so this may not sound like a lot, but it is. It does entail some full sessions, some virtual sessions as well, which are 90 minutes. It will require a lot
063of cabinet members to do a lot of the legwork. And the goal is to launch the second semester. And with more information to come, we will be seeking stakeholder participation, representative participation across our district. We have had conversations about who is the stakeholder, so we will be engaging community partners as well, as well as our members from our sender districts. Just thinking about how can we be our best selves for the students that we support across the district. Additionally, more information will come out when we return from break. And the plan is to finalize the plan at the end of the at the end of the second semester. So Romina and I have been meeting and mapping some of this out. We will be bringing a recommendation for the plan to the board. It looks
064like in May and a lot of the work then happens regarding the implementation of it and the creation of dashboards. One of the things I really appreciate about this process is having very clear metrics. How do we know what we're doing? Like, where are we with our progress and how do we measure the impact? And so key performance indicators is a significant part of this. And I think to drive some of our conversations, it will be great having a future focused vision for us to be accountable to and also to help us make informed decisions regarding what's a priority right now and what may not be a priority because it's not supporting our direction. So I'm really excited. CEC is very engaging. They do a very thorough job and I like their hands on approach.
065So after we present to the board the plan and gather feedback, there is another process of us refining it. And then our team really rolls up our sleeves and we have a data retreat or not a data retreat cabinet retreat plan to really map all of the action steps and everything else out. So it will be a different experience to launch the school year with clarity across our district. And I think it will go a long way for the future of our work. I mean the umbrella. Yes. Absolutely. This is also coming back for action later in the agenda so that we can get the work started and concluded second semester. Are there questions? Just to make sure we're clear, we're talking about this impacting next school year, right? Yes. That quickly. Yes. Make that
066clear that this is something that's going to happen right away. We should start seeing the benefits of this pretty quickly. Yes. How often will we do this? Like what sort of cycle do you think? The other one obviously too long. So when do you see wanting to do this again? I think it depends on how far we map things out and also the items that we identify as a priority. Change takes time. And as we think about some of the larger scale initiatives that may come out of this, we will need to and we'll be relying on this team to really be thoughtful about how it impacts different stakeholders, what it will require of us. I am very grateful that we're going to be talking about our instructional landscape because as we talk about the
067future of instruction, we'll need to talk about facilities. And so if you think about it in a comprehensive manner, it will require us to fully map different aspects of this out. So maybe I would say probably a five to seven year process depending on what we identify. That five to seven year process with those KPIs along the way. Yes. So how we'll be able to see success little by little accumulating into that larger success. You mentioned those like dashboards or things that we can look at in the interim as we look at larger goals and smaller goals within those goals. Yes, and something that has been a theme of all of our work. Sometimes a plan can be great, but once you start living it, you realize there needs to be some shifts. So I
068just want to name we will have I believe we will land with a strong plan, but a part of any change process or processes is a focus on being adaptive. As we learn if something is not playing out as we originally imagined, being courageous enough to say we need to shift our our plan to meet the needs of students or to address this issue. But it's an iterative process that will require us, of course, to be accountable to it, but also engage in ongoing dialogue regarding it. It's obviously so important for us to be able to put together the strategic direction so that we can really support Dr. Holland, her team, the schools in moving forward. To that end, Rick and Jaime have agreed to be the Fords stakeholders for the various meetings that will
069be occurring in the beginning of semester. But that doesn't mean that the rest of us don't have a lot of work. So this really will be a group effort that I appreciate the time that you both are committing to this effort so that you can be our voice and you can bring information back to the board as well. Dr. Holland gave me the opportunity to sit in on her final interview with the final two companies, which I was so appreciative of. What really struck me with CEC is that when they talked about the stakeholders, they actually talked about students as just a given, that the students, they were more than stakeholders. They were automatically assumed at every single table, and then the other stakeholders were filled in. So I really, they just painted an image
070in my mind of the importance, them understanding the importance of that student voice in the room. And so I really appreciated that from their perspective. Okay, any other questions? Okay, so we will be voting on this later in the agenda. Okay, moving on to action items. It is recommended that the Board of Education approve a multi-year employment contract for Dr. Katherine Anderson as Chief Human Resource Officer Deputy Superintendent as presented. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? I'll second. Is there any discussion? Yes, try to hold it together. So earlier this school year, Tom Krieger, our esteemed Chief Human Resources Officer, announces intent to retire at the end of the school year. Tom has been a trusted colleague to me and many, and he will be greatly missed. Since his announcement, I
071was able to take some time to consider the role as it currently exists and also the future direction of our district. It was important to me that our district has have the supervision and oversight needed at all times. Additionally, I believe it is prudent that I always consider ways to position our district for success and stability now and in the future. And because of this, this role shifted to a Chief Human Resources Officer slash Deputy Superintendent position. Notably, the job description and role changed in the following ways. A superintendent's endorsement is required as the person in this role will be authorized to make decisions in my absence. Credentials, this person will have the credentials to supervise and evaluate other district administrators if that's assigned. And the revised job description solidifies the role as a Deputy
072Superintendent with expanded district oversight and responsibilities as appropriate and also as assigned. The position was posted internally to gauge interest in the qualifications of our internal staff, as well as the readiness. The process included interviews with cabinet, various employee groups, and meetings with me. Because of her demonstrated readiness to step into this role within our district, I am recommending Dr. Kathy Anderson, current principal of Deerfield, current and beloved principal of Deerfield High School as our next CHRO Deputy Superintendent. Kathy brings an impressive track record of success in fostering inclusive school communities, enhancing instructional quality, and advancing organizational excellence. Kathy is not only a proven instructional leader, but she is a trusted operational leader, supporting the management, supervision, and development of all employee groups in her building in service of the students at DHS. Her strong
073leadership, deep knowledge of systems, personnel, and her intimate understanding of the district will enable her to lead enhancements for all stakeholder groups. As Deputy Superintendent, Kathy will bring continuity across the district as we embark on many initiatives grounded in our focus on access, belonging, and achievement as key pillars of our vision for fostering an inclusive educational experience for our students. Dr. Anderson began her career as a science teacher at Lane Tech College Prep, moving to school administration by serving as an assistant principal, and ultimately the principal, before joining District 113 as the principal of Deerfield High School. While at the helm, DHS was named a National Blue Ribbon School, and Dr. Anderson was also named the Illinois Principal Association's Principal of the Year in 2023 for Lake County. Dr. Anderson earned a Doctorate of School
074Leadership from Concordia University, a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Leadership and Change Management, and Human Resource Management from DePaul University, a Master of Education in Educational Leadership from the American College of Education, a Master of Education in Secondary Education from DePaul University, and a Bachelor of Biological Sciences from Purdue University. I have been greatly and quickly impressed by Dr. Anderson's leadership, her commitment to the district over her tenure, and the confidence and respect she has earned across all stakeholder groups. I am super excited about the future of our district with the thought of her in this important role. Any other comments, especially after Dr. Holland. Can I jump in, Anne? Sure. Okay, the voice from beyond. As someone who got to watch Kathy Anderson come into our district as an assistant principal,
075as a parent who was sitting there watching her and watching her grow from an assistant principal to a principal, watching her kids roam the halls in our little preschool there and watching her grow and that building grow into a place that is so truly a reflection of Kathy Anderson, or now Dr. Anderson, has been a sheer pleasure. And if anyone is ever unsure of her operational abilities, watch her run a graduation ceremony. You will never question them again. So I just wanted to say from afar, Kathy, well deserved. It has been such a true joy to watch your journey in our district. And I'm pretty sure there's a couple hundred staff and a couple thousand students at DHS not as happy as the seven people at the table right now. Any other questions, comments? I
076am concerned again because people focus on how it affects me that my phone is going to be blowing up in a couple of minutes as to families and students at DHS being very upset because you won't be the principal anymore at DHS. And obviously, I hope you understand that as a tremendous honor and credit. So I would like we can maybe move through the vote. And then if you could speak to how we move forward, I think that would help me be able to get some sleep tonight and help everyone understand what's next. Okay. If there's no additional discussion, we will move on to a roll call vote. That's a yes. We already did that. Mr. Braza? Aye. Mr. Heinemann? Aye. Ms. Loopa? Aye. Mr. Nieder? Aye. Ms. Newman? Aye. Motion carries. Congratulations. Before moving
077on, can you walk through? So you can sleep tonight. Okay, thank you. So thank you. And as Dr. Anderson moves into this role as a part of our cabinet, we fully understand that there's a lot of emotions and many questions about the process to select the next principal at Deerfield High School. The vacancy will be posted internally by Thursday, and then we'll open to external candidates in accordance with our collective bargaining agreement. There will be multiple opportunities for stakeholders to provide input throughout the process, and more information about the process will be shared after we return from winter break. Just so you know, it's all mapped out, but people may have checked out right now, so we'll be providing a lot of updates and information as soon as we return from break. And you're doing
078the hiring process within these four walls. We are not hiring an outside consultant to assist. I'm going to facilitate the process. Yes. Fantastic. Great. All right. Congratulations. Yes. Moving on to the next action item. It is recommended that the Board of Education approve a memorandum of understanding regarding a change in pay frequency for licensed staff members as presented. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion? You want to? Okay. Pretty straightforward. Roll call, please. Mr. Braza? Aye. Mr. Heineman? Aye. Ms. Lupa? Aye. Mr. Nieder? Aye. Mr. Pirra? Yes, please. Ms. Newman? Aye. Motion carries. It is recommended that the Board of Education approve the City of Highland Park School Resource Officer Agreement as presented. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Is there any
079discussion? A roll call, please. Mr. Heineman? Aye. Ms. Lupa? Aye. Mr. Nieder? Aye. Ms. Shapira? Yes, please. Mr. Braza? Aye. Ms. Newman? Aye. Motion carries. It is recommended that the Board of Education approve the course proposals for the 2025-2026 school year as presented. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion? I'm really excited about these courses. A roll call, please. Mr. Heineman? Aye. Ms. Lupa? Aye. Mr. Nieder? Aye. Ms. Shapira? Yes, please. Mr. Braza? Aye. Ms. Newman? Aye. It is recommended that the Board of Education adopt the resolution authorizing final aggregate tax levy for tax year 2024 as presented. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion? A roll call, please. Ms. Lupa? Aye. Mr. Nieder? Aye. Ms. Shapira? Yes, please.
080Mr. Braza? Aye. Mr. Heineman? Aye. Ms. Newman? Aye. Motion carries. It is recommended that the Board of Education adopt the resolution authorizing a supplemental property tax levy to pay the principal of an interest on outstanding limited bonds of the district as presented. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion? A roll call, please. Mr. Nieder? Aye. Ms. Shapira? Yes, please. Mr. Braza? Aye. Mr. Heineman? Aye. Ms. Lupa? Aye. Ms. Newman? Aye. Motion carries. It is recommended the Board of Education adopt the resolution abating the taxes heretofore for the year 2024 to pay debt services on the district's general obligation, school bonds, alternative revenue source, series 2022A as presented. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion? A roll call, please. Ms.
081Shapira? Yes, please. Mr. Braza? Aye. Mr. Heineman? Aye. Ms. Lupa? Aye. Mr. Nieder? Aye. Ms. Newman? Aye. Motion carries. It is recommended the Board of Education adopt the resolution abating the taxes on the district's general obligation, school bonds, alternative revenue source, series 2022A as presented. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion? Actually, I have something to say. I've been very impressed by this organization's professionalism. Great work, and I thank them. Thank you. A roll call, please. Mr. Braza? Aye. Mr. Heineman? Aye. Ms. Lupa? Aye. Mr. Nieder? Aye. Ms. Shapira? Aye. Mr. Nieder? Aye. Ms. Lupa? Aye. Ms. Lupa? Aye. Mr. Nieder? Aye. Ms. Shapira? Yes, please. Ms. Newman? Aye. Motion carries. It is recommended the Board of Education approve the Catalyst for Education Change Agreement as presented.
082Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Sorry. Any discussion? I did want to mention, I should have said this during the discussion, I appreciate the memo format that you used in this example. I'm guessing you're going to carry this forward. For me, it was very clear, concise, and a great way to understand your recommendation. So thank you for putting that in place. Roll call. Any additional discussion? A roll call, please. Mr. Heineman? Aye. Ms. Lupa? Aye. Mr. Nieder? Aye. Ms. Shapira? Yes, please. Mr. Heineman? Aye. Mr. Braza? Aye. Mr. Braza? Aye. Ms. Newman? Aye. Motion carried. Next is the consent agenda. A board member may pull any item for separate consideration. Does any board member wish to pull an item off the consent agenda for separate consideration? It is recommended the
083consent agenda be approved as listed. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion? I have the bills. You would think it's the one thing the president didn't have to do. Not that I don't mind. All right. I reviewed three bills. One was for guaranteed life insurance company. One was for Kittles, Inc. And one was for private music lessons for some Highland Park students. As per usual, all of the bills were in order. And the paperwork that supported it made sense. A roll call, please. Ms. Lupa? Aye. Mr. Nieder? Aye. Ms. Shapira? Yes, please. Mr. Braza? Aye. Mr. Heineman? Aye. Ms. Newman? At this time, the Board of Education will move into a second closed session as permitted under the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Purpose of the closed session
084is discuss security procedures under section two C eight, security procedures, school building, safety and security, and the use of personnel and equipment to respond to actual threatened or reasonably potential danger to the safety of employees, students, staff, the public, or public properties. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. has been moved and seconded to enter closed session. I will now call for roll call vote. Mr. Heineman? Aye. Ms. Lupa? Aye. Mr. Nieder? Aye. Ms. Shapira? Yes please. Mr. Braza? Aye. Ms. Newman? Aye. Motion carries. We will go into closed and upon returning from closed we will simply return to open to adjourn the meeting. No additional business will be conducted. Yes. Thank you everyone.