001Township High School District 113 regular action meeting on Tuesday, November 19th at 7 32 p.m. A roll call, please Mr. Heineman here. This is here. Mr. Nader Yes, please. Mr. Braga here. Dr. Elliott Schrimer here this pack. Yeah, mr. Walker Miss Newman here. I would like everyone else who is present to identify themselves for Mina Jansky executive secretary Tom Krieger chief human resources officer Lisa Delacqua assistant superintendent for curriculum instruction and assessment Karen Warner chief communications officer Tiffany row assistant superintendent for student services Ryan I'm her chief operations officer. I'll be my auntie assistant superintendent of finance Hallie Fleischer principal at Highland Park High School Catherine Anderson principal at Deerfield High School Ron Caswell chief information officer Mira auntie assistant superintendent diversity equity and inclusion Shayla Holland super is there a motion to approve the
002agenda is lifted So moved is there a second second all of those in favor. Aye opposed abstention motion carried first item on the agenda is school board member appreciations Yes, so on November 5th On November 15th, we celebrated school board members appreciation day Yet we celebrate that every day in our district So I want to read a resolution of gratitude to our board members whereas school board members are elected to sit in trust for their diverse communities and in that capacity are charged with meeting the community's expectations and aspirations for the public education of their children and whereas school board members are entrusted with the guardianship and prudent expenditure of tax dollars and they are responsible for Maintaining and preserving the buildings grounds and other areas of the school district that the community has put
003in their trust and Whereas school board members are responsible for providing leadership that ensures a clear shared vision of public education For their schools that sets high standards for the education of all students requires the effective and efficient operation of their districts and Employees district staff to carry out the day-to-day duties of educating Township High School District 113 students And whereas school board members adopt public policy to give voice to that leadership and employ a superintendent to administer board policy and are also responsible for the regular monitoring of the district's performance and compliance with state policy and whereas school board members selflessly volunteer countless hours to public service with no compensation and Whereas school districts face constant challenges and the strong Dedicated leadership provided by the Township High School District 113 Board of Education has
004allowed student success to continue and whereas employers and supportive are supportive of their employees who serve as school board members generously lending support and time employers give their employees the opportunity to better serve the needs of the school district and communities they represent through sometimes tremendous sacrifice to the employer and Whereas decisions made by the school board members directly impact the quality of life and safety in their communities placing them as the front line of local democracy and Therefore be it resolved by Township High School District 113 that we proclaim November 15th and every day as school board members Appreciation day as a way to honor our citizens these citizens who devote devote their time and energy For the successful education of our children and our future leaders. Thank you. Thank you Moving on to
005presidents report a couple of housekeeping items first This week is American Education Week for the NEA and it's a time to honor the people who work in public school Including teachers bus drivers cafeteria workers and administrative staff It's also a time for schools families and communities to come together and to support education so I wanted to note that as a special week this week Another housekeeping item is that Rick and I will be attending the IASB IAS a IASB Oh, otherwise known as the triple I join conference this coming Friday and Saturday with several district 113 leaders Rick is presenting with Ali on demystifying the school district tax levy And I want to thank you Obviously both of you for sharing your expert expertise with the larger community I'm looking forward to engaging and learning
006from other board members other presidents as well as school district leaders from across the state And then the last item on my report for tonight I hope that everyone had the opportunity to read dr. Holland's thoughtful student-focused community message yesterday As a result of the elections. I wanted to take further Feedback or further statement from the board as we process the results of the election members Our community may feel happy while others may feel upset our commitment to foster a safe Inclusive school community stays the same this work has never been more Important the power of what our students learn in the classroom and through their extracurricular activities is enriched by their diversity of thoughts beliefs and personal experiences Our district is committed to fostering an environment where diverse perspectives are valued and those perspectives
007are expressed through civil discourse This district does not tolerate bullying racism or hate speech However, we feel about the results of the election Let's continue to model respect and empathy for our students staff and community Remember that we are greater than our differences and that we are all grounded in being a district for all And with that I would also like to from the board wish all of our students and our staff a happy Thanksgiving And a much-needed short break before returning for prep for finals and then a longer winter break And that concludes my president's report for the evening. Can I jump in for one second? I would like to thank our community because someone who goes into all the deep dives after the elections Our communities had huge voter turnout this year And
008I think that says so much about our community and about who we are as people And for many of your students who will get the opportunity to register to vote in your schools They do do that within the schools It's such an important thing and to see that our communities came out very strong When others did not I think it's an amazing testament to our community and how we feel the importance of the democratic processes So, thank you. Thank you. Joey Moving on to other board reports ed red. I wasn't able to attend the ed red meeting this time uh The our agenda on that is uh, we don't get involved in all of the things that they're interested in We only work with the ones that are important to us So we're still going
009to try to do some inquiries to find out what their plans are with the tiff districts To see whether or not we support those and if we should Do something about it or whether we should not Thank you True north. Okay. Thank you on november 13th. I attended true north leadership council meeting We started the meeting with quite a few presentations The first one was true north's early childhood partnership with the chicago botanic garden nature preschool The partnership has been very successful. It was a really Heartwarming presentation and at the end of it. I asked if it might be possible in the future To do something similar with our older students and see if that's something that we might be able to do as some of the high school Students are continuing education students and
010they seemed excited about that idea. So I hope that's something that comes to fruition Andy piper and dr. Cara michaels are developing a district induction program to cover the whole of an employee's career So sort of a holistic training method they're coming up with from the very beginning of someone coming in until when they outboard people as well And they're hoping then not just use that true north, but then to open it up to all the districts We also had the financial year 24 audit report it was presented to us It was clean and there were no significant issues noted We also worked on the fiscal year 26th budget resolution It passed so we can start working on the 2026 final fiscal year budget development We have an agreement made for the reciprocal reporting with
011the city of highland park I think this is something we've been talking about for a while We also had some updates on the glenview district 34 intent to withdraw Uh true north has the outside special education program evaluation that I mentioned last time We had that in our possession and are taking a look at it and taking time to review that at the end of november District 34 will receive true north's position on that report In the meantime, a neutral third party is looking into the cost of withdrawal And what and that report then will be made available on or before the thanksgiving break So we're moving ahead with that. I'll have more information later. The next meeting won't be until january. So Thank you last board report is facilities back to you rick. Yes
012Well, we had a longer meeting than usual and facilities. It was a lot to cover The solar panel project is coming along very well. Basically it's installed. We're having some issues with com ed. So we Can't necessarily turn it on fully but we're we're moving along and we've got the right people working on the project uh electrical infrastructure for ev buses, uh, we're this is on the agenda later, uh, we As a group heard all about the finances associated with it the kinds of work that needs to be done and we as a group support the actions that are being called for during the actions of the tonight's proposal Uh, we're talking about getting three buses now We also found out during the meeting that we're going to get three more Relatively soon. So we
013want to make sure that we have the infrastructure to support these and future Work that we do future purchases or getting of electric buses um health like safety and summer construction Uh, we spent a lot of time talking about this Uh to make sure that we capture all the things that we need to do for life safety Uh, so that we can submit that to the state The direction from the board was to not put anything on the list that we don't want to do Just because we might have money for it. We need to make sure that we you know Are careful with our funds But we want to make sure that we capture everything that should be captured. So the staff is working on that uh, we have a list of possible construction
014projects and we recommended that the Administration go ahead and get proposals for those because we're generally supportive of what was presented We also got the first taste of the 20-year master plan the infrastructure side So we're talking roofing mechanicals and things like this Still other things to be worked out with that master plan optional things but or other things besides infrastructure Uh, but uh, we got a taste of that and that's coming along very well That's it. Thank you. Thank you Moving on to administration information report superintendent holland Thank you. So just a reminder. We've talked about our implementation of parents square But I just want to share a reminder that our district is working to enhance communications function Communications and to consolidate multiple communication modes through a platform called parents square Parents square is
015increasingly being used across many districts including in north shore district 1 12 Because it offers many benefits which include the ability for each user to customize their settings and to receive communications in their preferred language And the option to modify that preference as you wish It also has greater flexibility in terms of how and when you will receive communications So you'll be able to receive communications as they are sent or received as a digest of all the communications each day An emergency test will run on tuesday december 10th at 4 pm With the plan to fully launch parents square for emergency mass notifications beginning after we return from break January 6 2025 Over the course of second semester The communications and it departments will assist other departments in moving over from other platforms Just to
016acknowledge we currently use remind constant contact smore All of that will be consolidated and will use parents square All of this information will be in thursday's communication that the school community will receive And there will also be information in terms of who you can contact regarding questions And that will be parents square all in word at district 113.org, but the community will receive additional information Regarding this this thursday also As you probably noticed from tonight's agenda. We're embarking on a season of change You'll notice from the items included That you're going to hear about the results of our illinois school report card and some of the steps We are taking to continue to engage in a cycle of school improvement as well as of course district improvement You're also going to hear about our new
017bell schedule to be implemented during the 2526 school year consider our schedule as a vehicle for us to live out our priorities as a district the allocation a sequence time Allows us to create opportunities for student learning student support and staff collaboration The schedule is something everyone experiences and is also a foundational part Of what we talk about in terms of a multi-tier system of support. This is tier one It's something that everyone experiences As we continue to implement and discuss priorities as a district Many have been that have been discussed over the past year or several years I acknowledge that we will also need to be mindful that sometimes Even with the best of intentions and all the planning in the world We may miss something or learn from the process of implementing an
018initiative We will need to continue to monitor the impact of all of our decisions Specifically on the experiences that we provide for students and our staff Will we plan to gather feedback and create opportunities? To make sure we have firsthand insights into the impact of all of our decisions along the way And so as a district, I just want to name that we will continue to remain open Adaptable and responsive to our learning and insights now and into the future. So you're going to hear about some things tonight please know that we Are excited about the changes and we plan to be responsive Um and adaptable and attentive as things come up as well. Thank you uh foyer yes, so Listed in the board board packet is the foyer that was received and responded to
019since the last board meeting Moving on to excellence and efforts All right. Good evening everyone evening. I will start for dearville high school um, i'm going to focus Today on social studies and flying and applied arts as well as Acknowledge our second annual heart of a warrior program for social studies The world history classes participated in the annual silk roads lab an interactive learning experience designed to bring the ancient trade network to life Key elements of the silk roads lab is station-based learning students visit various stations representing different aspects of the silk road Multifaceted exploration the lab covers trade goods cultural exchange Technological innovations and geographical features of the silk road Hands-on activities students engage with replicas of trade goods maps and historical artifacts to gain a tactile understanding of the era And an interdisciplinary
020approach the lab incorporates elements of geography economics cultural studies and technology Through the interactive nature of the silk roads lab students gain a rich multifaceted understanding of crucial historical periods and processes This approach not only enhances their knowledge But also develops critical thinking skills and cultural awareness essential for a well-rounded historical education This collaborative effort involved contributions from hillary coaguliana lisa amstutz kelly walenga alex lisenko Jigvora and ryan crane showcasing the Dedication of the teaching staff creating engaging and comprehensive learning experiences One of my favorite parts was going in and smelling the different spices with the students and then talking about The trade of those specific spices and then we talked about how we might need some coffee beans to Go to the next spice so it was fun and a lot of Good rich
021conversation with the students as they engaged in that process For fine and applied arts the deerfield high school fine and applied art departments have been bustling with creative and collaborative events this season In our applied arts program the honors business incubator is in full swing With 33 teams diligently working to develop their minimum viable products under the guidance of local mentors Who visit every three weeks to support and inspire our young entrepreneurs? For child development classes, they've also been busy this season Our child development one students embraced halloween by teaching their first art lessons to the preschoolers Demonstrating adaptability and flexibility with the little ones Child development two and three students expanded on this work creating thematic Bolton boards and taking preschoolers on a memorable field trip to didier farms For pumpkin week where the
022children enjoyed picking pumpkins visiting the petting zoo and exploring the corn maze You need board members Absolutely Right every day is appreciation day for our board members. So Let's do it Um our fine arts programs are equally energized dance students across dance one two three and dance advisory classes are hard at work choreographed Can't even speak now. Um Choreography and pieces for a spring recital a project They've been excited to bring to life together The bands recently hosted an impressive concert featuring music from emerging and diverse composers And culminating in a side-by-side performance with the chicago brass band Our chorus program continues to foster community through the middle school and high school chorus festival where a core family system Initiated by student mickey everts brought high school and middle school students together for friendship mentorship
023and shared experiences and it truly is just beautiful to see our Elementary and middle school students coming to the high school because boy do they have a lot of energy shale and I were able to experience the choir concert together and seeing the younger students coming up with our high school students I think our high school students were just as entertained by some of our students coming. They just had so much energy. So Kudos to our high school students for being there to support them along the way Um, additionally, we are proud to recognize our dear field students in the tech campus program Who are named students of the quarter for quarter one by their instructors decoder rose mclary for emergency medical services Brianna denise garcia for certified nurse assisting and pamela yadanza for outstanding
024performance in the respective programs Finally just this week dhs hosted our second annual heart of a warrior award ceremony recognizing students Simplify the attributes of self-awareness collaboration empathy adaptability agency and purpose It was beautiful to hear from our staff about the incredible ways that our students have navigated challenging situations with courage and resilience Reflected deeply and made thoughtful adjustments create an inclusive environment where peers feel welcomed valued and supported Nurtured their passions with dedication and enthusiasm and discovered a greater purpose that infuses meaning into their endeavors We are so proud of our students for all that they succeed in Multifaceted ways so congratulations to all of our recipients of the heart of a warrior And this really stems from the words that are given at highland park high school So we're grateful for the partnership
025that we have with highland park. Um, this is a fabulous way to recognize our students Wonderful and a fantastic segue. I was just gonna say that was an excellent transition. Thank you So i'm gonna work together That's crazy So i'm going to begin by talking a little bit about something that we coined this year as talktober Last spring jesse viennueva and debbie castellani were discussing the importance of specifically supporting the growth of speaking skills For our students who receive english language services their discussion grew into a larger question And that is what if we started an entire month devoted to growing academic talk in our learning spaces According to a review of 20 000 hours of class time a national research project On average a student speaks just 27 seconds in one hour So with
026that in mind talktober was born and october became devoted to tapping into student voice The goal was to grow a deeper understanding of language development powerful instructional strategies to get more students talking And to celebrate multilingualism The month was an important reminder that whoever is doing the talking is doing the learning and teachers could control this variable through instructional strategies Four of just many talk strategies that teachers shared with one another during this month were the following in our pre-calculus classroom tisa edwards tom gibbons kristin thomas and adam washburn noticed that many Pre-calculus students seem to question their confidence about math making it harder to take risks So they decided to focus on talking about thinking tasks to build confidence in the math classroom They utilized non-curricular thinking tasks where math students are given puzzles
027and challenges to solve together Focused on standards of mathematical practice practice like making sense of problems and persevere in solving them These activities force students to talk about their learning moves and build their capacity to explain their own understanding Practicing these low risk Highly engaging cooperative tasks is helping students to become more confident sharing with their peers And has increased student voice related to math learning as well in that classroom rattle shansky Our dance teacher is utilizing a four-step feedback method in her dance classes As students draft their dance performances to encourage meaningful feedback and increase students comfort about around talking about their art Using this feedback method dancers and audience members learn to provide Affirmations and ask each other questions such as I have an opinion about would you like to hear it? This
028back-and-forth process increases communications and builds trust by making the artists part of the conversation rather than just the audience When you walk into alex max engineering class you are likely to see students talking about their design work They start by each student presenting their design to a small group Next using a decision matrix where students engage in discussion rating each design based on expected criteria Groups have to talk it out during talktober and otherwise To reach consensus around the qualities of students design and the extent to which they meet the design criteria This process has expanded students use of academic vocabulary Improved their understanding of design principles and increased their confidence in discussion Students in amber rizwan's dual language world history classroom are acquiring skills to engage in meaningful discussions about their own learning After
029watching a documentary students split into three small student-led processing groups Groups then established norms for academic discussion such as stay on task and on topic Uh, you are in charge of ensuring everyone shares Create dialogue not monologue. That was one of my favorites and focus on how you show up both when talking and when listening Using these norms and armed with thoughtful questions to process Students are rising to the occasion by deepening their understanding of classroom content through the peer-to-peer discussions about their own learning Thank you to the staff at highland park high school and for our students who are champions of the celebration of language Culture and learning it was beautiful to see and is beautiful to see many members of our staff proudly wearing their iam Multilingual buttons celebrating the many assets our
030multilingual community members bring to our school So i've one more example of excellence and effort within our social studies department Which is a continuation of their efforts to engage our students as civically minded and informed citizens On november 1st students enrolled in civics at highland park high school were honored to meet Lake county clerk anthony vega and his deputy of civic engagement for an afternoon in school field trip The civics team has focused on elections in the united states this semester and the opportunity for students to meet their elected official In charge of election administration was a culmination of their in-class studies Students gathered in the auditorium for a brief history on the american election system the unique nature of the u.s And illinois's decentralized system for governing elections at the county level and clerk
031vega's experience in making elections secure Training election judges and increasing the public's understanding of the role of county clerk as it pertains to elections As an important part of the afternoon his deputy generously provided real time in auditorium spanish language interpretation For civic students using our school interpretation technology to create a more inclusive experience to make sure that all had access to this important information After the presentation clerk vega held a rich question and answer question session Where students asked excellent questions regarding elections in the united states and lake county and how they could specifically get involved as they were Re-engineering towards election age. So this was a really exciting event. Thank you fantastic. Thank you both Moving on to illinois school report card 2024. Dr. Holland. Yes So every year the administration reports on
032the results of the illinois school report card Which assesses outcomes at each of our high schools and also assesses our district Tonight dr. Lisa delacqua miss fleischer and dr. Anderson will report on the results of the report card They will share highlights also they'll share opportunities for growth and next steps The development of the report was a collective effort and should also provide insight into some of the areas of focus For this current school year across our district, but specifically it will highlight some of the areas of focus at each school As it relates to something the principals will talk about in terms of their creation of their school improvement plans Which are developed as a blueprint for goals at each school Thank you Hey delacqua. Hey, good evening everybody. Good evening So for our
033presentation overview This presentation is going to be a discussion of the individual indicators that comprise the school's overall summative designation for the illinois school report card The framework for the school designations is grounded in the every student succeeds act or essa Which was signed into law under president barack obama on december 10th 2015 Individual states have created their frameworks With an equity based approach in mind and we will be exploring the data from this framework Through a disaggregated view in today's presentation So when we look at the framework for essa one important thing to note is that the essa framework has evolved over time And it will continue to as changes it will continue to change in order to improve the outcomes for school districts across the state so One example of a change that's
034being explored right now Is the high school indicators? And we are currently measuring the validity and reliability of possibly including a college and career indicator So that data is currently being collected and hopefully to be added and made public for the 2026 illinois school report card. So just know that this is a living breathing framework When we look at the framework and the designations every year, there are five different annual summative designations that a school may receive So if you think of a bell curve We have the designation of exemplary marking the highest 10 percent of schools And then we have the lowest tiers of schools falling in that five percent range Everybody else is in the middle And so something else that's important to note is that because this is an equity-based framework We're
035also looking at subgroups of students within the framework And so when we're looking at subgroups and their performance if there's any subgroup that performs at or below the all Students group and the lowest performing five percent Then that will automatically shift the designation from exemplary and commendable down to targeted support It's just important to note that as we continue through our data dive So this slide actually shows our current indicators and their respective weight respective weights For the high school designations. So as we can see from this slide The fourth fifth and six-year cohort graduation rate is the largest percentage of a high school's overall graduation at 50 percent Student proficiency of meets or exceeds in both literacy mathematics and science totals 20 percent of the designation The el progress to proficiency indicator which is
036measured through access growth for students who are english learners is five percent Chronic absenteeism rates count for 10 percent of the designation freshman on track rate is 8.33 percent and that is defined as students who are not receiving any d's or any f's in their core content areas So we're talking about language arts math science and social studies and then the climate survey is the student participation rate and the five essentials and that's 6-7 percent of the overall designation and that's literally they just participate to just take it. Yes Like that And it is interesting to see what they what they say, but yes, it's strictly participation And so the academic indicators are defined here more closely so that you can actually see the cut scores for proficiency For elam math on the sat We
037know that this year that will be changing to the act And we also know that this year the science proficiency will be baked into the act assessment And then you can see here also that fourth fifth and sixth year cohort graduation rate is weighted So for the fourth year students that has a higher weight indicator than the fifth or sixth year, but it is 50 percent in total And then this slide shows the school quality indicators. So this is where we see Chronic absenteeism defined what that means the climate survey and then the freshman on track rate There are actually two future indicators for high schools that are being measured right now They're in the beta stage. So that college and career readiness indicator is one The date the data was pulled this year and
038we are able to see a kind of a preliminary Visualization of what that could look like for schools And then the second indicator that they're looking at is fine arts and that will be a combination indicator of student Participation and then qualified fine arts teachers their credentials So within the s of framework the subgroup definitions are very important This is because it is an equity based framework So each school has an overall score, but then in addition to your overall score There are scores for subgroups of students Now a subgroup is defined if a building has at least 20 students with data And at least five of the eight indicators one which must be non-academic So when we look at our two schools Deerfield high school has four subgroups asian white students Cwd which stands
039for children with disabilities this includes students with ieps, but also students with 504s and then also Former english learners and then for hyland park high school They have six subgroups. So their subgroups are hispanic or latino They have a white subgroup They also have children's with children with disabilities cwd. They have economically disadvantaged students english learners and former english learners So one just important note on former english learners. These are students who have reached that 4.8 on access proficiency So they may be under observation for a year or they may be out of observation Any student who has that designation in their educational profile counts as a former el if they've exited through access So when we talk about what this means one important point for subgroup performance is again looking at What happens if
040a subgroup falls below the lowest five percent of schools overall? So this is helpful to understand when we're reviewing Disaggregated data of students in order to identify areas of school improvement That can be more targeted and strategic. So that's just something to remember as we look at this data But before we dive into the data, I did just want to make sure that we took a moment I want to remind and weave our district's vision of inclusive school communities into this conversation So when we think about the pillars of access achievement and belonging That fall under the umbrella of an inclusive school community. It's important to keep in mind how a disparate data set Among subgroups may serve as a mirror into what our student experience is like in both high schools So this can
041play a critical role in school improvement planning And an identification of equity barriers that will require disruption And then one more thing that's important to note is that we know that both of our schools did very well overall But I want to remind everyone that no matter how well we do There is always room for growth every student can grow every school can improve So let's start taking a look at our data. So this first data slide is going to show our district student demographics So this slide represents Our 23 24 school year here. We can see our total enrollment 3060 students We see that enrollment in a visual perspective in terms of race and ethnic diversity We can also see our percentage of english learners our percentage of students who are in economically disadvantaged
042situations Students with IEPs and our student attendance rate chronic absenteeism rate and dropout rates on this slide And this is district wide And then for this slide we see our district data in terms of proficiency rates for language arts math and science So it's just important to note that we are the lime green bar and that dark green bar That's underneath or to the next in that circle represents the state. Um, so we are outperforming the state in in all of our metrics And then another important thing to note is just to remember that this represents the sat data from 23 24 Which will shift to act for the science assessment. That's based off of the illinois science assessment That's taken by juniors. All of these are junior year assessments And then this data is
043here just to show kind of where we start at with our ninth graders on track We have a very high freshman on track rate of 98 That's the percentage of students who do not have a d or an f in any core content class And then we go all the way to the end where we see our seniors at a 94 graduation rate Which is very high very high for the state So now we're going to get into our proficiency data and we're first going to look at our district data This is what they call a zero bar graph. So what you want to look at is you want to kind of imagine a line going down the middle Separating the green and dark green from the yellow and the orange And so when we
044look at this graph this slide represents our district data for the percentage of students meeting or meeting or exceeding proficiency In english language arts on the state assessment, which was the sat now shifting to act So as a district It's important to note that in the 22 23 school year 62.7 percent of students either met or exceeded the proficiency rate in english language arts on the sat Now for the 23 24 school year, this number did decrease slightly from 62.7 percent to 59.7 Furthermore, we did notice an increase in the number of students who are partially meeting That's that dark orange bar at the very left hand side of the screen So we were at 11.8 percent of students partially meeting in 22 23 And that number actually increased to 14.4 percent in the 23
04524 school year So now let's take a look at our district data for proficiency and we're going to disaggregate this based on race And what is really important to notice here is that we do see a shift in proficiency rates when the data is disaggregated So the district-wide percentage for students meeting or exceeding remember for the 23 24 school year It's 59.7 percent. That's that bar at the top that you can see where it says all for the summary So then when we look underneath that and we're looking at the breakdown by race We can see that that percentage actually increases for asian students To 86.4 percent meeting or exceeding and for white students at 68 meeting or exceeding The proficiency rate decreases for black students to 40 percent And for hispanic students to 28.9
046percent proficiency rate Also for students of two or more races, it also decreases to 54.5 percent So I think it's really important when we look at our disaggregated Data to just remind us and to bring us back to the district's vision of inclusive school communities And when we start to reimagine ways to build access to build achievement and to build belonging for our students Our data should start to reflect a close in these differences that we see among the data when we look at racial subgroups of students Now in the same way that we were able to disaggregate by race. We're also able to disaggregate by program or category So again, you can see at the top that is all that's all of our students for english language arts and their proficiency rates And then
047we notice that there is a shift for students who meet exceed standards when we break it down by by category So when we look at that overall rate of 59.7 percent of our students in the district meeting or exceeding state standards for proficiency For our english learners the percentage of students who met or exceeded proficiency in english language arts was two percent For the 2324 school year for students with ieps that percentage is 24.7 percent And for students in economically disadvantaged situations that total is 23.6 percent So the difference in the percentage of students who are meeting or exceeding proficiency standards based upon category Within the sat is an area of growth for our district It's something that both buildings are working actively to address this year And we're going to hear more about that
048when our principals are talking about their school improvement plans Similarly, we also have district data for math as we can see overall as a district It's important to note that in the 2223 school year The overall proficiency rate for meets or exceeds on the sat was 57.1 percent of students And then for the 2324 school year that number actually increased in math to 58.1 percent So furthermore we notice a decrease in the number of students again who are in the orange Partially meeting standards from 23 percent to 19.1 percent for the 2324 school year, which is great And then when we take this data to show disaggregated view by race We can see the upper bar the graph represents all of our students And then we do notice a shift in proficiency rates as we
049begin to break down by subgroup of race So when we look at this a little bit more closely we see that the percentage of proficiency for asian students increases to 81 It increases for white students to 68.3 percent And for students of two or more races to 59.1 percent respectively. Remember our district average this year was 58.1 percent Data is redacted for our black students And the reason why is because if the numerator or denominator is under 10 students They redact the data for the sake of student privacy It's very important to the state just to protect our students. And so that's why you don't see that that data represented there Um for our hispanic students you see that there is a decrease in the proficiency percentages for the math to 22.3 percent So again,
050it's critical to notice these differences in achievement and to remember that these are Opportunities that are in front of us as a school district for increasing access achievement and belonging for our students And again, we can see that our math proficiency data when disaggregated by category We also have similar trends in terms of what happens to proficiency So again our students were able to show meets or exceeds level for math on the sat at 58.1 percent For english learners, however, when we look at the that percentage of students who are meeting or exceeding in math again That is at two percent When we look at students with ips that percentage is 25.3 percent And for students in economically disadvantaged situations 21.1 percent So the data trends for math in regards to percentage of students meeting
051or exceeding are similar to what we see in english language arts And again, we do very well overall, but when we start to tease the data apart to identify our areas of growth as a district This is going to be critical to show where we need to improve the student experience and ultimately student outcomes I see how you're pulling Aggregated but i'm assuming there's Overlap where there might be a student with low income and also has an iep. Yes, are we able to We can see that as well. Yes So if you are on the illinois school report card They have a drop down menu where you can actually select those categories and have them side by side as well to see both And that's available to the public anyone can see it. It's a
052great question And we do have often our overlap is with our english learners and our students who are economically disadvantaged Um, so when we look at our overall essa designations by building the exemplary, um threshold this year for the state of illinois was 91.26 So deerfield exceeded that threshold at 93.52 Um, and hyland park was point nine five points away from becoming exemplary as well So they were very close behind but their overall designation was commendable However, as a district we are in the top 12.8 percent of high schools in the state of illinois And again the exemplary threshold Changes each year every year because it's based on the top 10 percent Correct, correct all the schools, right? Yep. So it's kind of like a moving target that you have And so the report you
053see here. This is what we call a summative indicator report and it's really important to understand this report as it reads because what you'll see Is this is how the illinois school report card calculates designations. So across the top You're going to see the eight indicators that are measured by the state Proficiency rates graduation ninth grade on track access chronic absenteeism and the climate survey Then if you go to the left hand side where it says group and you read down Those represent the subgroups that exist within the high school. So the first report we're looking at right now is for deerfield high school So we also can see too that there are four different data types that the state analyzes They have a raw calculation an indicator score a weighted index and then an
054effective weight I would say for people who are looking at this for the first time The easiest way to look at this is to look at the raw calculation The reason being that this is a simple unadjusted data point Whereas the others have weights added to them And so when we're looking at deerfield overall, we can see that in the upper right hand corner Their summative score of ninety three point five two is there However, we can see that each subgroup has a different summative score So when we look at cwd, which is our children with disabilities, so students with ieps and 504s We notice that their summative score is slightly lower than the overall population at eighty seven point one one So then we start to ask more questions like well, why is that
055happening? And so we start to look at the individual indicators. You can see that for the composite graduation rate Overall, the graduation rate at deerfield was ninety six point two four percent But we can see that for our children with disabilities that cwd group. It was slightly lower at ninety one point three three percent So for that reason we have a lower number of students calculated in terms of graduation rate and then When we look at chronic absenteeism This is what I call a flipped indicator where you actually want the raw calculation to be lower So our overall eighteen point two eight is the percentage for chronic absenteeism at deerfield However, when we look at cwd That chronic absenteeism rate actually climbs to twenty seven point six five and that's ten percent of the overall
056weight for for the school We can also see a similar trend with our former english learners where we see twenty three point three three also showing chronically absent And so that's how we end up with these summative scores in subgroups that tend to that are different from the overall score for the school And so while the report is complicated i'm going to pass this to kathy because we can talk about celebrations in areas of growth Great so as lisa indicated as you review all of the data points we have many areas to be proud of For example, we have very high proficiency in ela math and science We also have a very high percentage of our students graduating And thankfully we have lowered our chronic absenteeism rate from the previous year, which was around 30
057percent So we're very grateful to be at an 18 chronic absenteeism. We are still working on it With that being said while overall we are celebrating all of these accomplishments As lisa indicated there are areas for us to improve ensuring that all of our students Are are able to succeed within our schools For areas of growth. We are focusing on in particular that chronic absenteeism, especially for students with disabilities As their percentage is greater than the overall population of students So we want to ensure that they are in their classes so that they can learn And they can feel welcome within our buildings Furthermore for that for the same subgroup for students with disabilities. They also show lower levels of proficiency in ela math and science as well as lower graduation rate compared to that
058overall population, so Again, number one. We want to focus on attendance so that we can provide the support to our students Thank you kathy And then we have the same summative indicator report for highland park So just one important thing to notice here is that The indicators across the top are the same they're measured the same way But you can see that there are additional subgroups down the left-hand side that highland park Has in their building representing 20 or more of those students Across five of the eight indicators So when we look overall 90.31 was the summative score for highland park However, when we're pulling apart and we're looking at our english learners subgroup We noticed that that summative score is is lower in terms of the eight indicators So then we start to look
059at well, are there other subgroups that are also Showing not the same as the overall population. We see hispanic or latino. We also notice low income So then again the indicator report is supposed to help schools ask the question. Why? Why do we why what's going on? And so for here when we're looking at proficiency, for example Ela proficiency overall we have about 50 percent of highland park students Who are demonstrating that they're meeting or exceeding state standards on the sat However, when we look at our english learners and we saw this in previous slides We have only about two percent of those students showing proficiency on the sat Hispanic or latino students about 23 percent of those students and same thing for low income It's a lower threshold about fifteen point eight five percent
060of our students who are in economically disadvantaged situations The same thing we see for math Where we can see that the proficiency rate compared to the overall proficiency rate of the school when we're looking at english learners Is lower it's at about two percent for math Whereas overall the building is at about 48 percent proficiency rate And then we see the same thing with our hispanic or latino subgroup And then also our low income subgroup And then finally when we also look at our graduation rate, which we also know is a big indicator 50 percent of the overall designation Ninety-four percent is the graduation rate for the highland park high school But when we're looking at our english learners that graduation rate is seventy-six point six six percent Which is also significantly lower And then
061we can also see chronic absenteeism being higher for our students who are english learners compared to the overall Chronic absenteeism rate for the school And so that is really how these indicators work when we're trying to see What are the differences in our subgroups and where can we target our supports? And so now i'm going to oh, yes Are you able to um find out if or like the students with special needs are they more medically based or And then what other students are they unexcused absences? Are you able to track what sorts of absences they are? Yes, so chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10 or more of the school year Excused or unexcused so that's how it is defined Differently for the groups. Yes, that was a great question also encompass our kids
062at times that for medical reasons when we send a um At home to you know when we send teachers there does that do they still count in the product group? Homebound thank you a homebound Yes to homebound students. Uh, that's okay. I see this Thank you So now there's a link there the one potential link is the fact that a student who may be struggling with their mental health might have an iep or a 504 and They may have school refusal um, and so Yes, that's just those layers of challenges And so that's why it's interesting you know when you it's like the onion and you peel back and you learn more about the student than you see kind of how It impacts just overall that their experience in school. That's why I do just
063want to indicate though that There are lives behind these numbers just and I know like no one's saying anything different But I just want to reiterate there are lives behind these numbers And it's very important for us to get to know the stories of our students and our families So while we may Well, I may at times um Falsely and inaccurately and probably inappropriately come up with my own narrative. It's important that we Dig deep with all of our numbers um get to know the stories of individual students and families to be able to Target and provide the support because I will guarantee that their stories will tell us how to improve As a district outside of having those individual conversations. We will not know So part of our work and I know we're getting
064ready to move on but part of our work Is to really get to know who our students are and our families as well because it's a whole system of support And then to create around what we're learning from them until we do that We will continue to probably come back with similar results And our focus right now is to really Lean in to what's actually happening not the narrative that I may make up And to to build and construct an educational experience around that um, and I do look at that as one of the ways, um steps forward for our district just because um while I'm Like some of this is disheartening yet There's a huge opportunity for us just to be better and to learn how to be better as a district for each
065of our families Yes Thank you. Yes, uh similar to what kathy said in regards to deerfield there are Pieces of data to celebrate overall highland park also presents high levels of proficiency in relation to ela math and science assessments Highland park has a high percentage of students who are graduating each year and we're proud of that Also highland park similarly to deerfield has lowered their chronic absenteeism rate by 14 percent from the year prior And there's a lot to celebrate also to think about what were the intentional efforts that were made to impact that data So that we can replicate some of those efforts As dr. Hallam was talking about this idea of making sure that we're understanding individual stories and leaning into curiosity Oftentimes if we're asking kids what they need they can tell
066us if we're asking families what they need they will tell us but it goes into Wanting to be curious and make that relationship and build that trust so that people are telling us what they need which Leads into areas of growth. So there are areas of growth that we need to make at highland park high school And we recognize that these opportunities and achievement gaps do reflect systemic challenges That we as a school are accountable for addressing and take that really seriously So in our el subgroup chronic absenteeism is higher than that of the overall population and oftentimes we talk about attendance In terms of engagement. So that's a way when we talk about locus of control There are ways that we can greater engage all of our students with a specific focus on our
067english learners and again be curious about what's going on looking at all sorts of data from stories to numbers Also, our english learners and our economically disadvantaged subgroups show lower levels of proficiency in ela math and science And a lower graduation rate compared to the overall population So again trying to figure out what is at the root cause and what are the systemic opportunities that we can Utilize in order to improve outcomes so that all of our students have access to an amazing educational experience that allows for countless post-secondary choices and agency Thanks holly And so then just in terms of next steps Talk about a few things here and then holly and kathy are actually going to share Parts of their school improvement plans that they're using to address Kind of the data that
068we see in the illinois school report card So the first thing that we wanted to do is we want to review this data with our school instructional leadership teams It's really important for Our department chairs to understand what's happening in our buildings so that we can analyze our celebrations and our areas of growth This discussion can then be brought to our teachers so that all of our members in each building understand What our vision is and what we need to do next We need to utilize our school improvement plans These are living breathing documents and these can help target improvements in areas that we need to target that are indicated by our summary reports The school improvement plans have specific goals and action plans to meet those goals And before they jump into that I
069do want to mention. This is the first year that both of our buildings our buildings have always had goals But we frame them around school improvement goals to align with our vision as a district To disaggregate data to target specific areas that you're seeing here So they're pretty in depth they focus on access achievement and belonging and In addition to actual metrics built into the improvement plans They also have specific action steps So they include the day-to-day work that's happening in our buildings right now to address these issues So I know we're giving a high level and maybe they'll go deep in some areas, but I do want to name that Um, there are targeted plans that have been developed this year So we're not coming back having the same conversation change takes time But
070we are being very intentional about our approach across both high schools We also just as a district We are looking at the next steps within our own mtss process to strengthen our tier one Instructional practices that touch every student so that we can support in our classrooms Best practices that we're looking at include specific differentiation instructional strategies and evidence-based attendance interventions to help support students who need it We want to continue to provide professional learning opportunities to improve instruction with particular subgroups of students When we're looking at students who have ieps and english learners What can that professional learning look like for the classroom level? And then also just thinking ahead We also are looking at how can we build pathways because we know that that time is coming too That are going to really
071provide authentic student experiences with college and career readiness Which again is another way to really help improve student engagement during the school day so now i'm going to Pass this to holly and to kathy Thank you. So as you heard from dr. Delacqua and dr. Holland, we're going to provide some specific examples of our action plan and just overall Overall some of the areas of focus that we have in our multi-year plan So our district continues to focus on the commitment to inclusive school communities where we are building the conditions That allow for every student to learn Grow and thrive as their authentic selves Period and so we've been thinking about what do we need to build explicitly to ensure that that happens? Our school improvement plan at both schools reflects this commitment through ambitious
072multi-year goals and these include First of all increasing the percentage of students meeting or exceeding benchmarks in ela and math With at highland park a clear focus on supporting the access and achievement of our english learners and students who are economically disadvantaged Boosting post-secondary readiness for all of our students with an explicit focus on those who have been marginalized from some of these experiences Experiences that include access to dual credit offerings Access to ap courses and earning seals of biliteracy We want to reduce continue to reduce chronic absenteeism Particularly among our el students who are disproportionately affected through increasing engagement mechanisms We also want to enhance the sense of belonging for every student in our school to be sure That that foundation is there to show up as your authentic self, which we know research
073will suggest The ability then to take more risks and to grow and thrive We recognize as I said before that these opportunity and achievement gaps reflect systemic challenges That we as a school i'm going to say this one more time are accountable for addressing And so Our action plan outlines various strategies to address these gaps and here are a few examples to share with you tonight One is through our through building explicitly our instructional leadership We're engaging at highland park high school our instructional leadership team in professional development Led by lisa delacqua to deepen their understanding and expertise In high leverage teaching practices that allow us to better support Multilingual learners tapping into their strengths and fostering their academic growth And that's at the tier one level We also want to specifically strengthen our mtss
074efficacy specifically related to supporting our english learners This will include conducting a review of our mtss to evaluate its effectiveness specifically for language acquisition purposes We are committed to making data and form changes to ensuring that these systems are meeting the needs of our students And those data and form changes include talking to kids as dr helen mentioned fostering collaborative professional learning communities, so we're working to enhance the efficacy of our plc's professional learning communities to provide teachers with dedicated time and structures and supports to analyze student learning data Develop and implement common assessments Time to talk and learn from one another And adjust instruction to better serve students who need additional support at the tier one level by mastering essential skills it's also important to note that articulation and collaboration with our center districts
075112 in my case And very much appreciate that. Dr. Hallen brings with her leadership a strong focus on relationship building With area feeder schools and this level of articulation and collaboration Will be essential as we build systems and solutions seek together to better serve our entire community Our ultimate goal is to ensure that all of our learners will benefit from these high leverage teaching practices And that we name them and help our educators learn and practice these And feel a deep sense of belong and that our students will feel deep a deep sense of belonging within the halls Of highland park high school Every student's growth and success are a shared responsibility And so we're committed to doing the work necessary to achieve this vision through some of the steps that I laid out for
076you tonight and now i'll let Kathy go ahead and talk a little bit about what dearfield high school has planned Um much what you have heard from holly is very similar to dearfield high school But though our areas of focus through academic targets as well as scl and sense of belonging targets are areas of focus at both schools Holly really outlined many of the steps that both schools are taking so i'm going to do a dive into our Some specific goals for our academic target as well as scl and sense of belonging For academic target, which is to increase post-secondary readiness through equitable access representation meaningful participation in high outcomes for all students Our three-year assessment goal for ela and literacy is to increase the percentage of students meeting or exceeding ela standards at dhs
077To seventy seven point four percent and reduce the opportunity gap between students with and without ieps to thirty nine percent While our math three-year assessment goal is to increase the percentage of students meeting or exceeding mathematic standards at dhs To seventy two point eight percent and reduce the opportunity gap between students with and without ieps to forty one percent So just as we saw in the school report card We want to focus on ensuring all of our students are able to meet their highest potential Some of the tasks that are associated with meeting this goal include the implementation this year of the new standards-based curriculum map for each Desurveyed 10th grade course which includes consistent course team practices for assessment and grading and utilizing co-teaching to support all learners Teachers are also preparing 11th grade
078courses for implementation for next school year We are focused on professional development at the tier one level from our tier one specialist including but not limited limited to instructional technology and and ai scl co-teaching practices Differentiated instruction culture responsive teaching and other subject specific inclusive teaching practices for teachers to meet the diverse needs of students particularly for students with ieps We are implementing targeted intervention programs for students who are struggling including those with ieps via small group instruction tutoring or supplemental materials We regularly assess the progress of all students including those with ieps to ensure the interventions and supports are effective We adjust strategies as needed based upon the data and we regularly analyze student performance data to identify Trends and areas for improvement and uses data to inform instructional planning and provide targeted support
079In terms of our scl and sense of belonging target It is to increase a sense of belonging and social and emotional well-being for all students by fostering a supportive and inclusive school environment Our students cannot learn unless we provide the space for them to do so in a warm welcoming atmosphere I'm going to focus on attendance because that is a part of the school report card And our three-year attendance goal is to increase the on-track attendance percentage for all students from 82 percent to 88 percent With a specific focus on raising the on-track percentage for students experiencing high chronic absenteeism or truancy overall or in a specific subject area I want to emphasize that specific subject area because when we dive into the data about our students experiences What classes are they missing? And how
080can we at the individual class level per teacher per individual in the school make a difference in the lives of our students? We really take the approach that attendance and all facets of school is all of our responsibility Everybody in our school every staff member is an educator who's helping our students from the moment that they walk in the door We can make a difference So some of the tasks that we are doing associated with meeting the school is regularly analyzing student attendance data to identify trends and areas for improvement I'm from wisconsin. So when I say the next word, I hope that you appreciate it We utilize the beg report to provide one one-to-one support to freshmen in Advisory classes to ensure on-track goals are met and supports identified a beg report people laugh
081beg. I know But it makes for good conversation. I spell it for people. Yeah b-a-g So behavior attendance and grades so we are taking a three Pronged approach to ensure that we are looking at how all of these different factors can contribute to our student success Oftentimes we will see that if a student is missing school that that might be impacting perhaps their behavior Or even their grades or all those factors coming together. So ensuring that we Are looking at that We use our freshman advisory classes for our students to do this individually so that they are tracking how they're doing And setting goals that are associated with that We want to build those skills as freshmen so they can continue that practice as sophomores juniors and seniors We utilize attendance meetings with individual students
082and families in an effort to partner with families to ensure student success Oftentimes these attendance meetings are with our deans with our counselors Others student support members to ensure that we are again looking at the story of all of our students So that we can help them in different ways There was a question before in terms of basically how attendance is coded and we are looking at part of How we are looking at attendances? Do we Do we know their story if they are hospitalized? Are they getting the the support that they need making sure that if we can't provide home loan services that we can so It's not just about if a student is out is making sure that while they're out they can get the support that they need As well, so we
083want our students to be present, but when they can't be how can we help them out? We're implementing targeted intervention programs for students who are struggling as well Including those with ips via our deans counseling and mtss checking connect Which is an evidence-based program to ensure that our students can receive the support that is necessary And also as I indicated within specific courses Because if we see that maybe a student is in school all day, but they're not attending specific classes How can we put some things into place to ensure that students are getting there? Or what do we need to change within that learning environment to make them feel that they're welcome to come in? We're also providing staff with strategies to create a welcoming environment which supports student attendance and ways to address
084absenteeism By a way of connecting with a student and their families And it's great to really lean on some of our veteran staff members who've been really Showing this over the years, especially as we have more and more new staff members coming in that we can share the expertise with each other That's it. Thank you so much I If anyone has questions, I did want to make a statement I really appreciate The love the responsibility that the district is taking for the data I also am very impressed with this presentation from the perspective of an umbrella of understanding the data And then going down to how it actually will then look and feel in our buildings from an accountability perspective So thank you very much. I personally am walking away feeling as if I just
085didn't receive a whole bunch of numbers that I now understand that We are owning those numbers and we are taking action With those numbers and that it's our responsibility as a district. It is not our students responsibilities to um To make the numbers better So, thank you. Did anyone have any questions? Go ahead first I know a number of years ago. We saw this report and one of our biggest things was our truancy And I remember that we sat here at this table and said We can't teach who's not there and just to see the improvement you all have made and I remember hearing those words of not as The idea of an inclusive place where people can be authentically themselves We used other terminology at the time and to hear just the change of
086that terminology words matter And so to hear That everyone you know from your leadership team to our bus drivers To what may be a lunch server Everyone is on board with understanding that every one of our kids need to live authentically Because if they can't they're not going to be in our buildings and that determines their next part of their authentic life And just seeing how much those numbers improved In the couple years that we started saying we were going to be an entire school District working on this I have full faith And hearing like I said words matter hearing the words that you all are using now versus what we did a few years ago Makes a big difference So my first comment was you both articulated better than I can so i'll leave
087it at that second one that I thought was interesting is We're still 10 to 15 points behind the proficiency from where we were pre-co, but I just find that interesting Yeah, I had that not sure if we're studying that in any way or what's causing that or but I found that interesting Um, my last thing is a question Proficiency is not the finish line, right? It's a benchmark or it's a milestone or whatever you want to call it, right? um And in all the presentations we talked about every student and it's in our mission so um as a You know all these things are focusing on incredibly important You know wonderful things these action as we've been talking about how Are we also making sure that the kids who are proficient or are meeting certain
088standards or that they also are getting everything that they need? To achieve what they can as a part of all this are we making sure that we're focusing on that as well? And how are we making sure that we're focusing on that as well? I will say um Our focus on First it's important to have a vision of inclusive school communities And part of our discussions around access achievement and belonging We are focusing on When it comes to achievement not just attainment Not just proficiency but growth what these reports don't tell us the story of which other data We have tells us is how much a student grew Because some students are are growing but they haven't yet hit proficiency they have not exceeded Or even in the data that we collect even in terms
089of grades our conversations right now instructionally not just Expecting kids to show up as experts which sometimes can happen in a leveled class Um, but really identifying Where a student is when they enter our class regardless of the academic level based on the labels of our classes And ensuring that they're growing And so our our instructional conversations are shifting across our buildings right now By departments starting with leadership. How are we discussing? Achievement, is it a growth focus or attainment? Because we don't just want students to get the score some students are coming to our classes and they can Meet whatever we put in front of them, but did they grow? And the growth conversation is how we are really targeting the growth of each student being accountable for that not just resting based on
090proficiency, but Their growth with us and in specific cases Accelerating the growth and so part of our discussions right now with a fine out Finite amount of time that we have students by period and by class What other measures are possible? Can we be creative? Articulation is a big part of the conversation Or is there more and i'm going to say yes But is there more that we should and could be doing to collaborate with our sender districts? And our preparation of students additionally recently we talked about our use of ecra Um some of those reports, um are helpful for us to engage in more informed conversations with our sender districts to really talk about Growth and look at the trajectory of growth our students Growing prior to coming here and something's happening within our
091system Or is there something within our system at specific points in time within our academic programming? We're no longer supporting growth. So we're having different conversations around not only Well in terms of articulation conversations with our sender districts But also what's happening under our care and how does this speak to our academic programming and the opportunities for growth? Or improvement overall? So some of this is just naming that we're not just focusing on attainment We're focusing on growth and then by department and then through our plc our professional learning community, which are course teams how are we ensuring by the examination of real time out student outcomes that were supporting the growth Of each student's and it's again our students learning Not memorizing Are they able to apply their learning? So the meaningful? Application of
092learning is really our focus so two things um one Thank you and that was quite a that was quite a bit and I think it paints a paints a picture of Sort of the where we are and you know, maybe not for right now But one of the questions is the as we look at that school improvement or the district improvement Is the question of here's what we're going to do here the steps that we're going to take Is there the connection to the why it's happening? So as we look at like, you know this indicator Well, I wonder why this indicator is described from that indicator and this subgroup and that so is that informing the Steps that were that we're taking that's the that's the first question and then the second question And
093again, not for not for now necessarily But we know change takes time and it takes a long time Our kids don't have that time. So how do we know? And again might be more global like how do we know in the interim that we're making the right steps that we're doing the right thing um Knowing that there's that larger change cycle No, no, no, that's just what i'm thinking obviously those aren't like right now answers But that's what i'm just wondering not expecting an answer at the moment. But just that's what i'm curious about Any other questions or statements similar to what honey was saying like um, the Measurement of the freshman readiness like some of the between freshman readiness and the graduation rate Um that were sometimes as much as 20 points lower Is
094there a way to find out what's happening freshman year sophomore year junior year before they get to senior year and not graduating to find out what? when that drop happens Reverse it stop it or change it like i'm saying they don't have beyond those four years to make those changes. So I guess more of a comment The answer is yes But part of us part of this is owning The outcomes that exist openly talking about it as frustrating as as frustrated as I feel right now Not talking about it is also not acknowledging that we have Some opportunities for growth and that we need to and can do and will do better for our students. But part of this is Reframing and changing even our discussions Um Hopefully we get to the point where I
095mean future reports We may not have to go into as much detail But part of the reason why we're taking the time that we're taking is to set the tone and the expectation And also to talk about the alignment of our efforts. And so while we may be trying some things based on of based on our vision right now We will be adapting and changing as we grow and as we lean more into the into those stories As we learn from our families as we re-examine our system re-examine our systems and so The more knowledgeable we are the more That knowledge and information will inform our steps where we may say we tried this And we totally got it wrong And we're shifting based on what we've learned and these are the steps we're taking
096so the more informed we are right now We're naming what exists We're also naming some things we're trying Maybe that have not have things that have not been done before or things that we know we can do better But all that to say you should The experience a progression of our thinking of our insights and of our learning And our learning should hopefully go hand in hand with the outcomes for students I'll say thank you for that and thank you for the for the presentation I think naming it out front is a huge huge huge step to say like we have work to do And not being shy, but we have work to do. I think just that's that's huge to be able to say that So, yes, we celebrate all the wonderful things and
097at the same time there's work to be done So I would say thank you for for that I would agree that it is frustrating to see some of the the data, but it is There's hope and we're doing something about it and we're not shying away from it and we're not resting on our laurels And I think to add to that I really appreciate again the thoroughness of the presentation But also in looking at the next steps that we're mentioning things like mtss so additional support for students and also professional learning opportunities for the educators because I think it's one thing to have high expectations for the district and it's another to have those expectations along with the support necessary to Ensure that everyone can work toward those expectations. So thank you Anything else from
098that topic? Okay Moving on to bell schedule committee report We have decided to have two very large topics in one meeting Next time we should probably shift the student liaison report. So sorry about that that too Here we go so the the bell schedule The bell schedule committee was developed as a result of the approval and adoption of the collective bargaining agreement While the committee is sharing tonight the recommendation at tonight's board meeting as outlined in the cba The recommendation is approved by me the board's role As you'll notice is not necessarily one of approval but rather to approve Along the way the financial implications and potential policy updates associated with this schedule Led by dr Anderson you're going to hear about the committee's journey to arrive at the recommended schedule You'll also learn more
099about the ways the schedule supports the district in fulfilling our expectations for student and staff engagement Again schedules are vehicles for delivering priorities This will be the first time that the district has formally adopted a shared schedule across both schools Um, and after reviewing this schedule, I believe that the schedule can successfully support the district in delivering our priorities at this point in time Um, I would like to thank dr. Anderson who's getting ready to present and the committee for all of the time engagement and for um, really engaging a thoughtful process Dr. Anderson, thank you All right The first part the first part of this presentation is really to provide a reminder about the purpose of the committee As well as the work that was presented previously at the board of education in may
100so some of it might be a little bit Of a refresher, but that's purposeful just to bring everything together The committee consists is strategically developed to consist of members from both dear field As well as highland park high school And I want to bring notice to the fact that there are several Committee members who have served on other bell scheduled committees at dear field and highland park high schools, respectively some As long ago as two decades ago Um and some that right. Thank you. Yes, um, and some that have been a part of bell schedule Development since the pandemic when we really started to shift different bell schedules So this really is a phenomenal group of educators who have really? um thoughtfully put into practice what they have learned over the many years and oftentimes
101have had to put their own Thoughts and opinions to the side to ensure that we're really reflecting on the values and needs of our stakeholders so our initial recommendation of Through the collective bargaining agreement was that we were going to provide at least two options for a common schedule to the board of education um in june of 2024 we were overachievers and provided you with three and uh, To gather feedback from the board of education as well as to continue our work with stakeholders Our final recommendation was then to be through additional feedback Revision of the bell schedules that were provided in may and provide that to you Uh to the superintendent by december 1st One of the challenging pieces of developing any bell schedule is to identify the constraints for which your bell schedule
102would be developed Um, many of these constraints are important to establish early on so that we're not establishing a bell schedule That would not fit the needs of our school or perhaps even the law so some of the items that we've Some of the items that we knew that we needed to work within is that we would have eight periods plus one optional period Perhaps an early bird, but we even looked at late birds Instructional minutes we wanted to ensure that the minimum instructional minutes was at the time Approximately what the deer field bell schedule was at around 206 minutes We wanted to work within the teacher work week that currently existed and that would be no more than 35 hours and 30 minutes just understanding that any change would then um Be a part
103of a conversation between the dea and board of education We have to follow the law or mandatory lunch periods 30 minutes for staff per law and per school code students need 20 minutes to eat after getting their lunch Tech campus we have a number of students who attend tech campus And we want them to be able to have four classes at their high school as well as being able to travel to Uh clc for their classes for the one o'clock session Students would need to leave no later than 12 to 12 15 So we wanted to ensure that students not only could have those four classes, but also a lunch This is a very important factor. This means that periods one through four must be before noon Whereas periods five through eight can be in
104the afternoon The added piece of this is that we have service providers that provide support to students Within the school and having periods one through four in the morning and five through eight in the afternoon is very beneficial to the schedules That they have as well Furthermore something down the road is supporting pathways work for students in the future Who will be engaging in internships and so on having that? Those classes to be consistent during the day is pretty important In terms of collaboration, we want dedicated time for our staff You heard holly and I talk largely about the support that our teachers Can provide our students by working together. We want to ensure that we have collaboration for our staff And lastly our end time because of the two campuses at highland park In
105the busing between the school and walters field and the light constraints We wanted to ensure that the school day was around the approximate time of 305 All right For this next one This is the timeline of the bell schedule committee work and i'm going to go through each of these areas just to bring again An understanding of all the work that went into where we are today Following the identification of constraints in october We utilized department listening sessions in november and december to hear from staff whose varied experiences and roles Were important to shaping the bell schedule Staff brought with them experience with different bell schedules at dhs and highland park high school as well as experiences in other school districts Further hearing the impact of the schedules for various roles in the building was
106important For example custodial staff share the importance of carefully scheduling lunch periods as their work in the morning afternoon was shaped Based upon the time commitment for supporting our students during lunches From these sessions and factoring previous feedback shared by students and staff with the highland park high school recent bell schedule changes The team developed external internal committees to analyze bell schedules in over 30 schools in the chicagoland area And utilizing resources like unlocking time.org to assess various bell schedules throughout the entire nation Further research was conducted to assess the various attributes of a bell schedule From this committee work numerous bell schedules were presented for review including a traditional eight period day A traditional bells a block schedule a four by four block schedule and a modified block schedule with various number of anchor
107days Although a schedule with an asynchronous day was floated per the law. We had to remove that from the list Ultimately, the majority of feedback collected suggested that students and staff didn't want every day to be an eight period traditional bell schedule So in february we had six concepts that took up that took out two to four periods um Two to four periods per day on a two to five days per week From there feedback suggested that at least one day a week all classes needed to be needed to meet So we were able to get down to four concepts From this feedback. We were able to present three concepts to the board of education in may To be transparent these bell schedules looked very similar to the past dhs and hbhs bell schedule models
108As they highlighted one two and three anchor days where all classes met with the third concept representing two longer block days Again going back to the very beginning of our work We looked at every schedule under the sun and utilizing that feedback from students and staff We wanted to ensure that we carefully got to those final concepts that were presented to the board In may so as a reminder that presentation and report were available in may as well and really Go into the values that were identified for each of those areas At the start of this school year The team analyzed feedback once again Which showed concepts one and two having the most positive feedback with concerns being shared regarding the long block classes in the third concept So this brings us to fall of
1092024. I know I just went over a year's worth of material very quickly And I don't want to minimize all of the information that goes into that but there there's a again, we We utilize the feedback from students and staff as much as possible to get where we're at So this fall there were two concepts That were identified as the top contenders For the final schedule a one anchor day and a two anchor day model Those were based upon the feedback that was provided by the board Some of the areas that were adjusted were early bird times staff collaboration time in homeroom and through those adjustments They were presented to students and staff for feedback and from that feedback 62.3 identified the preference of the one anchor day model So i'm going to go over
110the feedback from the one anchor day model so you can see what was shared from our students and staff First, this is the one anchor day model that was presented to students and staff for back Again, the first day on monday is an anchor day with all periods meeting And then tuesday through friday are different cycle days where two periods are taken out every day And it's the same cycle at both buildings This is what was yes, it would be the same cycles at each building This was what was presented to the students and staff there have been some revisions since then So i'm going to talk through the feedback that we gained and some of the adjustments that we made on that feedback So in reviewing this schedule The staff and student pros the
111ones that are highlighted were the ones that were the same between the two groups So for our staff pros and for our student pros First of all was consistency there was a general agreement that the consistent certain end times for most periods Made it easier for both students and staff to follow Further students indicated that the end time every day of 305 aided in the planning of after-school activities and transportation both students and staff indicated that their appreciation for the similarity to the current bell schedule And they both appreciated that there were later starts on some days as they were beneficial to students Well-being and academic performance something that we heard continuously through this process was the importance of talk of thinking about brain science As it pertains to our start times For staff additional
112pros was friday homeroom retaining homeroom on fridays is viewed positively as a way to check in and provide support Ironically, I heard it from many students as well. It just rose higher for our staff For class timing students appreciated the class schedule ending on fives and zeros Right now it's every number under the sun and finally they Students indicated that they appreciate appreciated the shorter class periods which helped to enhance their focus and engagement during lessons In terms of the cons i'm actually going to go through each one of them individually so that you can see What the concern was and why we got to that place or what we will look into to make adjustments The first concern was the early collaboration start time of 750 for staff When we surveyed staff previously the
113majority did not want an earlier collaboration time. However Staff did show an appreciation for more collaboration time overall than we are currently experiencing And so emphasizing the importance of collaboration time. We knew that we would either have to move our end time which would Impact our constraint or we would have to have collaboration three times a week for a shorter period of time And the concern there was the amount of time that would be effective in those sessions Some things that staff also indicated was drift in class scheduling And as it pertains to drift it is something that impacts how our teachers plan lessons for the same class during different periods Our committee analyzed potential impacts of different cycle days So taking out different periods and while also considering how easy it would be for
114students to remember the order of these days Ultimately, we cannot eliminate drift But we can plan accordingly as we develop our master schedule and work with our department chairs to ensure that teachers have the resources that they need To plan effectively each day So if this doesn't make any sense, don't worry If you don't have to know what super bad drift is, but if you're interested in learning we can talk more later Again, this is a factor for our staff. It took me three kids to understand Yeah So we'll we'll get to more of this later but um something that we were taking seriously And looking into a variety of different factors In terms of shorter class a concern for staff was shorter class periods on anchor days The concern of the 40 minute periods
115But actually the reason of looking at anchor days for 40 minutes was because The 35 minutes that we currently have for anchor days was seen as even worse. So when we did survey previously number one The majority of staff wanted to see students four days a week That was supported by students that they didn't necessarily want to see every single class every single day Not that eight period traditional day And that for looking at how we meet The preference was 64 percent preferred to have a mix of shorter days and longer days within the schedule. So not a block schedule every single day With that being said we asked what should that shorter day look like and 45 percent said 40 to 45 minutes So we really wanted to ensure that in creating a schedule
116we had more than 35 minutes Which was a concern of students and staff currently, but we also needed to take in consideration our certain end times one of the concerns from staff was about complexity of the schedule and this largely was in looking at how we took out periods each day and just a reminder again the reason for having A schedule such as a three six two seven and so on Is because we want to ensure that periods one through four are always in the morning and five through eight are in the afternoon So we're always taking out a period one through four and we're always taking out a period five through eight And that ensures that those periods are always in the morning or the afternoon Currently not thank you Currently with the deer
117field schedule where we are seven eight five six three four one two On a friday the periods shift up so that you start three four five six So a student who would be attending tech campus would not be able to have a period Four for example within their schedule based upon the schedule So really it is purposeful in how we design those cycle days. It is a little bit harder to Understand it, but hopefully when you see the final one You'll see that we really are focusing on how we can make it a little bit easier for our students and staff to understand In terms of interventions One of the areas that we looked at throughout this process was how do we provide interventions to students during the day? I think the important piece is
118that we want to as much as possible utilize our tier one strategies And interventions to support our students on a daily basis within their classes when interventions are needed We are largely using off lab periods to support our students And so part of the process will be to ensure that when we move to this new schedule that our mtss team And that our teachers within their plcs and course teams are able to look at how the schedule can best meet the needs of students Within and outside of the classroom All right next going to uh student concerns One of the concerns was an insufficient late start and that's because our current uh late start is at 9 14 So in reviewing the proposed schedule that was provided to students It was three days at 8
11935 and two days at 8 15 So although that that start time three days a week was a little bit later at 8 35 It was still seen as a concern of it isn't late enough to feel like a late start Unfortunately as we move our classes to 40 minute periods on that anchor day There really isn't ability to have a 9 14 or even a 9 o'clock start unless we move the end time So again, we're working within the constraints that we have In terms of lunch periods students indicated that 30 minute lunches were too short Again, if we're adjusting lunch periods that would adjust our start time or our end time And so we really were focused on using the lunch period length that we have right now and following the law in
120school code in terms of homework load students were In every model that we had there have always been concerns about how assessments might be given How homework might be impacted by the specific bell schedule? So whatever schedule we are looking at it's important that we are focused on ensuring that That that bell schedule itself is not impacting homework load and that we're carefully considering how much homework students have every night one of the big areas that students focused on when discussing the bell schedule was if you have Eight periods every day you might have eight periods of homework every single night And so by at least taking out two periods per day, you might be able to focus on just those six classes so really taking that into consideration is important as we not only
121Provide homework to our students to support their learning Regardless of what that bell schedule looks like In terms of inconsistent start times, although our end times are consistent the start times are inconsistent Currently our bell schedules have a later start on one day a week and the rest of the days are starting at 8 10 For this proposed bell schedule three days are at 8 35 and two are at 8 15 This was also a concern that was shared by parents, especially those that were dropping off each day and in terms of focusing on the different aspects of our bell schedule If we would want to have the times more consistent it would mean either removing things like staff collaboration and homeroom or adding more in Anytime that we do that we impact the start
122time and the end time so Just a factor that we needed to address And the start time being different was seen as more beneficial or better than an option where the end time was different Another concern was limited homeroom That twice a week is insufficient for fostering community and providing necessary academic support Ironically homeroom was the most varied component of the entire bell schedule where we had to do Survey after survey specifically about homeroom. You'll see the october 2023 results when asked about Homeroom You will see the varied responses at that time The preference was one time per week for 10 to 15 minutes at 41 percent and then from there it was all over the place When asked again in september, the preference was two 15 minute sessions per week and the 15 to
12315 minute sessions Gets us to 30 minutes of homeroom per week The reason for having at least 30 minutes of homeroom per week is we assessed The required activities that we have within homeroom We have over 20 20 hours of activities per year in our homeroom and we have extraordinary homeroom coordinators Who carefully curate each of those homeroom lessons? 17.5 of those hours are dedicated to essential tasks like counseling presentations surveys Which equate to 30 minutes per week So although there was a desire from some to eliminate homework overall or homeroom overall for more instructional time What we realize is even if that instructional time was given back to each of the periods We would have to take it away to accomplish those essential tasks So by having those 30 minutes minimally each week We
124are able to support our students within their homerooms and have that still remain a dedicated A place and space for our students All right After reviewing all of that data, we needed to revise our one anchor day based upon some of those Feedback of some of the feedback that was provided by students and staff as indicated. Not everything was possible to change But we tried our best in order to do so Although it might not seem like a big adjustment. We did adjust the start and end times by five minutes Still abiding by the constraints of walter's field We changed the cycle days for ease of understanding to reduce the drift And for early bird we added in those early bird times We waited to the end for early bird because we wanted to know
125what the overall schedule was before providing those times One of the reasons for adjusting the start and end times by five minutes Was to have early bird starting at 7 14 no matter what early bird is very early 7 14 is when it currently starts so by having a similar time for our students We know that is something that can continue from one school year to the next Otherwise that start time would have been 709. So even that five minute difference seemed like a win for the bell schedule Oh, sorry. Well, let me go back really quickly to the cycle days What we decided on for the cycle days is one six two seven three eight or five So they are in order one two, three four for periods one through four It is different
126for the next six seven eight five the reason for cycle four five to be at the end of the week is because Periods four and five is how we build out our lunch periods Periods four and five are actually split. So right now you might see like a five one five two four one four two Now we will have a four a four b a five a five b Based upon those classes students will be scheduled into a lunch one two or three and they will be in lunch one two or three Monday through thursday The only day of the week where it will be different is on friday where periods four and five are taken out And then it's periods three and six which will indicate which lunch period the students have a b
127or c Currently our students could have four different lunch periods on any single day of the week So this provides a little bit more consistency for the lunch periods And just scheduling the lunches in general. This is one of the biggest Constraints that we are grappled with in every single bell schedule concept It is a very challenging thing to do for our master schedulers so thank you to our master schedulers and technology for all their work to help us to Adjust our lunches based upon this schedule But again, that was the rationale for those cycle days to make a little bit easier one, two, three, four six, seven eight five and There any questions about this i'm going to go into next into preparation and implementation, but as we're on this um The concept itself
128if there's any questions No, great in terms of preparation implementation We know that a new bell schedule requires Opportunities to communicate with our stakeholders and prepare our students and staff for this change First we know that communication to our stakeholders is important So we will communicate the final bell schedule to staff students and families We did previously share this with our staff and our students so that they are aware of this But we will continue to communicate this throughout the rest of the school year in terms of scheduling for classes As well as our incoming families to ensure that they know what this bell schedule looks like For early bird courses because this is a different structure Department chairs will identify which courses will be offered during early bird And we will provide early bird
129teachers with time and support to adjust to a three day per week schedule with 181 minute period and 261 minute periods For science teachers the district 113 science committee will establish how lab minutes will be accomplished during the 25-26 school year For scheduling our master schedulers where we'll work collaboratively with our administrators teachers and counselors To prepare for course registration and scheduling Our mtss teams and administrators will plan for tier two and three interventions including lab classes based upon the lab schedule Every year we develop a cycle calendar where you can pull up the entire school year calendar and you can see which cycle days Are an every day of the week. This is important when we have a non five day week So a three day week a four day week We will have
130a special cycle calendar that not only shares what the cycle day is but will also emphasize important pieces that are new to the schedule such as an 840 start time or an 820 start time Just so that everyone is very clear about what that schedule looks like Furthermore, we need to ensure that although that we will have a district Bell schedule common bell schedule and a district cycle calendar We also have to take in consideration that there are some differences at the school Our homecoming week might not be the same. So we might have pep rallies on different days We have arts alive and focus on the arts. Those are differences at the schools that might impact the bell schedule So we want to be very clear when that impacts one school and not the
131other Transportation will review and update routes for classes and extracurriculars Thanks to brandon haze for already taking a look at the bell schedule to propose times that the buses would be able to drop off students and pick them up and we will continue to work together as we Expand this out as well as looking at extracurriculars Speaking of extracurriculars our activities and athletic directors will also work with their sponsors and coaches to prepare for before and after scheduling As now our times look a little bit different in the morning so that might impact when clubs are meeting So they want to make sure that those times are adjusted accordingly And that is the end of my presentation. Are there any questions now? So my kid has no It's show and I know That you intentionally
132went through the process because it was really important to understand to continue to reiterate That Oh, it's just a schedule should be easy to put together. There is nothing easy about this process logistically emotionally Um and ensuring obviously we're making the needs of of the educational environment for the students So thank you for that. I appreciate it Um, I and I know it's kind of late But I wasn't sure if either one of our student liaisons had any feedback from this new revised schedule I know you're both seniors so you don't you know, your your Focus is maybe not as intense as a sophomore. But um, yeah, i've talked to a few people who are um younger than me and I know a lot of people have been Um happy about the later start times
133even though it's only by like 30 minutes or 10 minutes People have definitely been excited by that. And then the other thing that people have been talking about have just been that It's inevitable that adapting to change might be difficult, especially at the beginning of the school year and With the current schedule at least at deer field it being like seven eight five six. It makes a lot of sense. So although this this might take a little bit to adapt to and I know students like People I've talked to said that it might be a little challenging at first, but I think overall people are Excited to go to school a little later Great I would just say I think the biggest thing i've noticed with kids that I talked to about the schedule is
134just they're glad there's going to be something In place that's consistent Because we haven't really had anything at holland park that's been concrete even since i've been there at least Um, and so people are looking forward to having something that they can every year know what To expect and not in the summer finding out what is going to be happening and having to adjust So I'd say that's probably the biggest thing Any questions from the board? statements Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Anything else? Dr. Holland? No, thank you. Thank you All right student liaison Laminated things in her car Um Ms. Peck, she's a walker who would like to go first? Um, so this thursday is the opening night of stunts Oh, that's right tickets are currently on sale and students have been working
135hard to put together this production with bands dancing ventriloquy tricks comedy and more I am in stunts and have been able to see some of the acts and they're all looking really good. So I'm really excited about that um also dhs swimmer erica ill kill placed third in the In state in the 100 breaststroke breaking her own school record. So It's amazing And then school chess has been underway for a few weeks now and dhs students have been attending many different events And there have been different food sales during lunch To raise money for the mother trust foundation and then We just talked about it. But on thursday the new bell schedule, uh was introduced and there has as I said There have been some mixed reactions, but students are excited to start later and
136and even just five minutes earlier is Definitely something people have been talking about Thank you Mr. Walker at hallow park on on tuesday. We have our grand giants day Uh, so students are able to bring in their grandparents or any special like, um people to them um And just to see what a day in the life of the students like at hallow park I know I have some friends who are bringing some grandparents um and um Yeah, that's that. Um Last week we had our stunts. Um, I went to it was frankenstein. It was awesome um it's a completely student put on thing and so seeing the You know culmination of lots of hard work Weeks months probably Um all come together was it was awesome And then some shout outs to some clubs and
137sports, uh girls tennis and boys cross country Uh, they brought home Their conference championships for varsity at the varsity level um, and then our robotics team they place Second in their first tech challenge of the year Great fantastic You both are welcome to stay till the end. But if you both need to go home, you are also welcome to do that We will be okay. So thank you very much for your time tonight Yeah, thank you. Yeah We have a new process in place for public comment where people uh sign up electronically And we don't have anyone signed up. So we will be moving on past public comment To discussion items Our first discussion item is school resource officer agreement between township high school district 113 and the city of hyland park. Dr holland So
138our chief operating officer brian omer has been working with the city of hyland park He's also been working of course with the village of deerfield to finalize our sro our sro agreement Um, just to be clear the agreements are the same Across the city of hyland park and village of deerfield Our district has had very positive partnerships with the city and the village regarding our sros and this Agreement solidifies the responsibilities One thing that I do want to name that we're working we've been working on consistently Outside of the agreement is just to ensure that we keep open lines of communication That our communication protocols and procedures are continuously discussed In our part in the partnership meetings that we have brian Yep. So the The agreement was started with 109 and then went to deerfield
139high school and now to hyland park high school So the base agreement has been the same to bring consistency in the agreements across our district and a little bit across 440 so and that was the how the base agreement came around and so Um, this will be approved by our board and then it'll also be approved by the city So we'll go first if there's any comments we can make revisions and then go from there That was all I had Do you expect that's coming back to us in december? That's my plan. Okay Great. Any questions or statements? Okay, now moving on to the next discussion item transportation capital purchases for the diesel electric school buses All right. So I i'm going to invite. Mr. Brandon Hayes to Talk and about the plan to be
140discussed some within the facilities committee and he'll Provide us with the proposal Evening So i'm going to talk a bit about our ev buses as well as our diesel bus purchases as well So we're proposing purchasing six buses overall this budget year So the three diesel buses would include two 48 passenger Wheelchair lift buses our current two lift buses have seen their better years Typically when we're replacing those it's better to replace them Together at the same time because if one breaks down or goes out of service we have a backup to replace it We have a pretty large population of a special needs transportation that has increased over the last two years So we're heavily relying on those vehicles right now So those that have been our workhorses as of late the other would
141be a Full-size 71 passenger vehicle and that would just be what was planned in our budget Already to replace so for those three vehicles That's 170,000 per budget year. That would be a lease purchase over three years to purchase those three vehicles Moving on to the three ev buses So those would be two full-size 72 passenger and then one micro bird Lift bus as well Um, so we were awarded Five hundred and sixty five thousand dollars through the epa 2023 rebate And then a we would be utilizing a two hundred and sixty thousand dollar ComEd rebate as well Uh, so ComEd cap is three hundred thousand per year for buses We would hit the cap for these buses because of the uh, the weight of the micro bird It isn't heavy enough. So we we
142don't meet the criteria to get the full amount for that vehicle So for that The wheelchair accessible one, correct? That's the smaller vehicle That actually helps us to get into the cul-de-sacs That a lot of our other vehicles can't fit into as well So that'll be a plus that we currently we can't do right now if you don't have a a school bus that can do that right now Oh, so that'll be a bonus as well So for this budget year to purchase the ev buses It would be two hundred and eighty nine thousand dollars two hundred and forty dollars This budget year, but after the ira tax rebate it would be a hundred and sixty nine thousand dollars um, so Who likes a good discount? um considering the uh rebates and we would be
143getting about nine hundred and forty thousand dollars off Considering the rebates, uh plus the ira Um tax incentives, uh, so the cost of ownership ownership as well The savings on these vehicles, this is considering the cost of fuel The miles per gallon that we're paying right now in diesel So right now would be about seven thousand five hundred That's per bus. So if we were considering the three vehicles right now, that's about twenty two thousand five hundred per Per year for three vehicles. So over the cost of nine years for three vehicles We're just over two hundred thousand dollars And the reason I use nine is because the life of a battery for these buses is expected to be eight to ten years And I just use nine right in between that's how it came
144up the two hundred thousand Uh, so overall, let's get a bunch of numbers. Uh, so the total for this budget year to purchase all of these vehicles uh would be uh three hundred and forty thousand after the tax incentives for All six vehicles the age of our fleet today is seven point seven years after the purchase it would be six point six years The ultimate goal is to try to get to five years um, that's why a lot of the companies right now when they're trying to sell us a bus and say well you can get a warranty for five years because These are probably the big ticket items are going to start breaking right after year five So we want to try to get our fleet a lot younger or closer to the year
145five so we can avoid those big ticket items um Added thing to this is uh as he shared, um, i'm sorry rick shared earlier We were awarded the twenty twenty four EPA EPA rebate or grant as well So we applied for that over the summer. We applied with is b So we uh do have another three that we were approved for as well. Um as far as the ep ev buses as well So So I just so we um levels that especially as we get a little bit later into the evening tonight We're only focused on the three electric buses and the three d All buses, correct? Correct. Correct Um, because you you were just awarded the twenty twenty four EPA and so that would come to us Later on later. Okay Um, and you
146I just want to make sure I heard you're you're expecting an average savings of about $7,000 per ev bus per per ev bus per year, right? It depends too. I mean once you install the charging infrastructure the savings could range from like 45 to 7,000 But yes, and okay what brandon's number is without the the charger Okay, that makes sense. So that's where you get our solar panels going right? Right, right, right. So that brings it down to that 5,500 that was in that range. I know I saw right, okay um Okay. Yeah, I do want to add that Um getting electric buses not only just we're doing it for the lower operating costs It's the environmental benefits health improvements diesel I mean, you know sometimes not good for the system bus drivers students and
147obviously the noise reduction, you know for the community and Obviously the eligibility as well So there are more benefits and you know in line with their policy one four one fifty Which also says provide for low maintenance cost energy efficiency and minimal environmental impacts. So that's the whole reason, you know bringing that up I also just want to note that um We've extensively Um, we've we did have a detailed conversation About the infrastructure and the purchasing of the vehicles just to to name that up front Um, we did discuss the impact of building and purchasing the infrastructure We've talked about the timing of the rebates and incentives Um, we also discussed the unknowns that do exist Ultimately, um, we discussed various ways to benefit from the implementation of the infrastructure we put in place So
148I just wanted to frame this Um regarding some of the conversations that we've had specifically in our facilities committee just regarding this decision Thank you, and This these are replacement buses so we would sell our current Three buses. Yes. So a part of the epa Requirements you have to give up three buses to receive the uh, the grant for the rebate. Um, and then as far as the uh trades we Lincoln shire school district actually they don't own their buses So we're actually assisting another district with purchasing ev buses We're going to sell some of our buses and what we would have got at a higher cost Or close to a higher cost on the trade to assist them with getting them some electric buses because they do not own buses currently, okay question for
149you, um Knowing that we have we are in chicago And the big one of the biggest issues with our opening or closing our schools Is our transportation department and the freezing of those fuel lines. What do ev buses do they have any issues with that in the really cold months? So i've watched interviews feedback. Of course, they always show you the best the pretty they never show you the bad Um, so I actually have a I drive electric here every day Um The feedback has been it's going to be fine you you you take the precautions they they've taken the necessary steps to plan for that But again, we don't know what we don't know a polar vortex is a polar vortex that I get Yeah, so polar vortex could it could shut down our
150diesel buses if our glow plugs just aren't responding well Um, so on our part is we do what we can on our end is to plan ahead So we warm those buses. Maybe we park them in a garage to plan ahead for that The other part of it is if we are expecting the polar vortex By the time we get to the point that we are at 100 ev buses Um, I expect the technology will be far more advanced to plan for and prepare for a polar polar vortex And to be clear this is an item that we are voting on tonight in action So discussion and then action on this particular in order to take advantage of the 2023 epa We need to do a purchase order by november 29th, I believe Great. Okay.
151Any questions? Okay um, thank you brandon, uh, then dr helen the next item on the agenda is the I'm, sorry. I've just lost. Oh, i'm, sorry Excuse me on discussion is the ev charging stations for the electric buses and solar to offset the future electric costs as a respect to items But you kind of just went through it. Okay Um, so that basically is the infrastructure that we need to support the buses and the question What we are talking as a district and as a board which again ties to our bigger picture of vision um is you know, we need to be able to Power these three potentially six buses and the idea that we may have a larger fleet over time And so do we spend money up front to prepare for that? Um,
152and and understand the costs associated with that and the many other costs that we have on our plate for uh equally valuable work Is that a good summary of? When I listened, okay um, I also if you don't I liked how you also frame the the uh focus of um education opportunities for students To when we're doing things like solar panels and and things like this, um, can you just speak a little bit to that? Sure, I think anytime we discuss alternative energy sources and the implementation of different structures We should always think about opportunities to engage our students instructionally um, i've Um, I know that This our work right now Um Directly Can align and does align with some of the learning that's happening in our classes So as we really think about our
153blueprint We should also start thinking about the instructional benefits and ways that students can be engaged in our planning our discussions potential opportunities to enhance what we're doing Um, and also to take part in monitoring we've talked before about a dashboard to monitor our savings to Monitor our outputs all of those things Um, this is a great opportunity for our students to learn So I would like our team to explore opportunities to align the instructional efforts with our our blueprint moving forward Fantastic great. So both the business side and also the kind of technical hands-on side the whole thing fantastic Um, I know we have some experts in the audience Is there anything else that we need to mention about this topic or we because at this point? This is simply a discussion we'll need
154to figure out the right timing Because this will just come back for a vote as in december uh for the ev and Charging speaking for this team. I I don't know that we're ready to come back in december, right? That's what I thought it'll right At a later date. Yeah We would we need to develop the plan right then we bring up a plan back that will come back at a later We would talk about the next that timeline. Okay Fantastic. Great. So I think one of the things that came up during the Facilities committee earlier was this investment right now Isn't an investment that would happen every time that we're purchasing additional buses this up front gives us that opportunity to later on Then go and do it and expand it just so happens
155that they're together now So the next time ev buses come To the board this investment won't come with that because it will have already assuming been in place, right? And that the investment would simply be the the connection the plug For lack of a better technical term, correct. There'll be there'll be in this proposal there's Six buses that would be connected with chargers the final connection There would always be every bus would require some infrastructure Yeah, because we were not building out 35 plugs essentially, right? So there'll be but there is a large investment to get the whole service upgraded right in that and solar if it comes with it That's what i'm trying to say. Yeah, I mean those options with the cheaper price are more of band-aid solutions I mean, this is just
156a future proof and thinking I had Option for and also what we may be contemplating here also gives us, you know The best chance to get the most incentives governmental incentives and set off as well Because even if with the solar if you look at the cash flow if we don't get extra buses The benefit of installing the ground mount solar the transportation center We are actually getting energy savings throughout every year of thirty thousand dollars and goes up So, you know, we get about a million dollars back and you know, you're by year 15. I believe kurt if not more so All right Let's move on to the next topic which is course proposals for the 25 26 school year. Dr. Holland Yes, so in order to gain a better understanding of the current
157state of our course alignment across our district And between both high schools this year. We decided not to formally add courses to our academic program The focus has really been on aligning our Our courses and determining the courses that are essential for our students to have With the rollout of our career pathway work course alignment is essential and imperative in that work Additionally, we'll continue to further explore and implement aspects of this work And in terms of the different experiences Through the courses that we we actually need to offer so we have Um While we have paused to really add courses and engage in those discussions an opportunity Recently came up regarding Our ability to pilot ap cyber security And this has come quicker than expected. And so we do plan on part of this
158is to We do plan on rolling this experience out as one of our initial course path course pathways With the support of college boards, so we're excited about the pilot I just wanted to name and acknowledge for others all of us and others watching that we did pause Adding courses for this year to get a better Understanding of the state of our courses and alignment, but this came up recently unexpectedly And it's a great opportunity for us to launch in And so dr delacqua is leading this work and can briefly explain Maybe some additional aspects of this pilot that would benefit us a new initiative out and what it is is it's a queer focused pilot program That's really looking to see what are those jobs where there are high number of jobs In terms
159of openings across the united states high interest students And how can we possibly align that to be an actual instructional sequence? With stackable credentials for students to obtain while they are in high school So it's twofold in the sense that we are offering ap cyber security for networking fundamentals And then we're offering the second year ap cyber security and cyber security fundamentals, but with that comes Additional training for students to prepare to take those comments and also pan out Dr. Delacqua grab kathy's microphone. I was trying to get kathy's attention that I didn't even realize so so with the With the ap course comes the opportunity for students to receive additional training so that they are prepared to take The comp tia plus certification exams so that they will not only graduate high school And
160that's kind of the whole purpose of career pathways when we're looking at developing these pathways for students One of the requirements is a two-year instructional sequence with at least six credits of early college Which is what the ap classes afford our students In addition to that our students will also have the opportunity to earn stackable credentials They call them irc's industry recognized credentials So that when students leave Leave high school they have the opportunity to further pursue this in college or they're ready for work And then the interesting thing about cyber security the reason why it was chosen They have right now currently more than five hundred thousand open cyber security positions But only two percent of high school students are actually prepared to take on that work And so they're trying to target these
161areas where they know there's a high need but not a lot of students who are prepared And so cyber security is one of those it's also A very well-paying position and there's a variety of positions that come With those comp tia certifications the cisco certifications And so we're just really thrilled to be able to offer it to our students I think it's going to be a wonderful experience and the college board has an online community Where they're working with teachers to have a full week of professional learning in the content area They will be providing the framework for all of the lessons The unit plans so that everybody across the nation who's participating in the pilot will be able to deliver the same experience to students And is that a newer idea for that professional
162development for the staff? Well, the apsis for the ap courses have always been in place But to have a week-long professional learning experience with an online aps community is something that I think that their Understanding is going to be necessary because they've never done A pathways program before so fantastic looking forward to it And some of the certification for a high school student would actually enable them to even get some jobs over the summer that are, you know Well, well well paid. Yeah So great any questions Okay Okay, moving on to our action items It is recommended the board of education authorize the administration to apply for the school maintenance grant and to reverse Look, i'm, sorry reserved. Excuse me local funds in the amount of fifty thousand dollars to cover the district's portion of
163the grant cost Is there a motion so moved? Is there a second? Second, is there any discussion? Anything you want we've discussed this at the last Uh roll call, please Miss lupa. Aye. Mr. Nieder. Aye. Mr. Para. Yep. Mr. Farazza. Aye. Dr. Elliott-Shermer. Aye. Mr. Henneman. Aye. Ms. Newman. Aye. Motion carries It is recommended the board of education approve its intent to levy for the tax year 2024 a total aggregate of a hundred and thirteen thousand million Sorry It's been like eight hundred and thirty five. Uh, thousand two hundred eighty eight exclusive of bond and interest cost be 119 million seven hundred and ninety thousand seven hundred and ninety eight with bond and interest costs and see authorize the publication of a notice in Compliance with the truth and taxation act for a public hearing
164in on the 2024 tax levy to be scheduled for tuesday, december 17th 2024 at township high school district 113 1040 park avenue west hyland park, illinois 635 is there a motion so moved is there a second second. Is there any discussion? A roll call, please Mr. Nieder. Aye. Mr. Para. Yes. Mr. Farazza. Aye. Dr. Elliott-Shermer. Aye. Mr. Henneman. Aye. Ms. Newman. Aye motion carries It is recommended that the board of education approve the proposals of central states busdale inc to supply three electric school buses for the total expected expense for the ev buses for the 2024 2025 budget year of two hundred eighty nine thousand two hundred forty nine dollars after initial rebates and 169 thousand two hundred forty dollars after tax incentives Additionally the proposal from midwest transit equipment for three diesel school buses
165total expenses for the 2024 2025 budget year for the three diesel buses is expected to be 170,902 dollars is there a motion so moved is there a second? Second is there any discussion a roll call, please. Mr. Para. Yes, please. Mr. Farazza. Aye. Dr. Elliott-Shermer. Aye. Mr. Henneman. Aye. Ms. Lupa. Aye. Mr. Nieder. Aye. Ms. Newman. Aye. Motion carries It is recommended the board of education approved the ihsa cooperative team sponsorship for girls water polo for deerfield and highland park high schools as Presented is there a motion so moved is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion? A roll call, please. Mr. Farazza. Aye. Dr. Elliott-Shermer. Aye. Mr. Henneman. Aye. Ms. Lupa. Aye. Mr. Nieder. Aye. Mr. Farah. Yes, please. Aye motion carries It is recommended that the board of education approved the lake
166county school mutual aid response team agreement as presented Is there a motion so moved? Is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion? A roll call, please. Dr. Elliott-Shermer. Aye. Mr. Henneman. Aye. Ms. Lupa. Aye. Mr. Nieder. Aye. Mr. Farah. Yes, please. Mr. Farazza. Aye. Ms. Newman. Aye. Motion carries It is recommended the board of education approved the resolution resolutions of ending litigating As presented is there a motion Still moved. Is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion? A roll call, please. Mr. Henneman. Aye. Ms. Lupa. Aye. Mr. Nieder. No. Ms. Shapira. Yes, please. Mr. Farazza. Aye. Dr. Elliott-Shermer. Aye. Ms. Newman. Aye. Motion carries Next is a 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
167separate consideration? It is recommended that the consent agenda be approved as listed. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Hi, may you have the bill? I had the bills connected with Ali. Thank you for sharing the records. Everything was in order. Appreciate it Is there any other discussion? A roll call, please. Ms. Lupa. Aye. Mr. Nieder. Aye. Ms. Shapira. Yes, please. Mr. Farazza. Aye. Dr. Elliott-Shermer. Aye. Mr. Henneman. Aye. Ms. Newman. Aye. Motion carries Is there a motion to adjourn the meeting? Yes, indeed. Okay. It is a 10-01. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Abstention? Motion carries. Thank you everyone.