Board Meeting 4/12/17

001Here Thank you everyone for coming tonight for introducing yourselves we do apologize for the parking situation out there tonight There's a lot going on on the other side. So it's a little bit crowded, but we are starting on time I need a motion to approve the agenda Is there a second? any discussion all those in favor opposed abstentions motion passes Citizens comments relative to matters on the meeting agenda We welcome your comments and questions and give them serious consideration Pursuant to Board of Education policy 2-230 the first comment period is solely for comments about matters on tonight's meeting agenda Before you deliver your comment, please identify yourself and state the agenda item to which your comment is directed The second comment period is for comments about any matter Please limit the length of all comments

002to no more than two minutes We will do our best to address your questions during the relevant agenda item discussion For non agenda related questions or for questions that require additional response time We will follow up with you as well as report back at the next board meeting. Are there any citizens comments? If anyone would like to speak Okay, so we will follow all right so Alex Weiss How proud I am to be a part of this district because we're so set on introducing such progressive policies Making sure that no student is debated for any reason whatsoever Because isn't that what's most important to being a human or nothing else? There is nothing that should cause someone to discriminate against the other human I mean, we're all the same effectively. We're all 99.9% the same

003genetically So nothing between that 0.01% should allow you to discriminate against anyone else And you know in the news cycle you hear a lot of horrible things today I mean every day you turn on the news and it seems that there's something more that's worse And being here today really gives me hope and it makes me feel good that we are trying to progress our society And I think that's really important so thank you Thank you Katie Moran I am Katie Moran. I'm an educator in a sister district I'm grateful to the work that DE 113 has done It's not just about this community but for the communities that reap the benefits of what you're placing forward Students lead us in terms of their ability for understanding and I'm sure you're going to get to

004those voices soon But it's important that we understand they look to us as adults for confirmation and understanding and support This is what this vote exemplifies It's your vote that says to those students you are accepted, you deserve equity and protection And above all, you are like all other students in the building I'm lucky enough to be a counselor in a neighboring district and hope that our school follows your courageous example I have that hope for my students I work for the LGBTQ population within my school as the other students that are on my caseload I see what they go through and I see the ability for you all to set an example And to allow them the opportunity to be identified and to have the blanket of protection that says you are valued and

005you are counted And so thank you for setting that precedent Lauren Schechter Hello Lauren Schechter. I'm a Highland Park resident and also a graduate of Highland Park High School And I'm speaking on policy 710, 720 and 7180 I'm a physician who's had the privilege of caring for transgender and gender nonconforming individuals for almost two decades Excuse me I serve on the board of directors for the international organization WPATH, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health I have helped to co-author the standards of care Those are guidelines that help to provide the treatment principles, medical, hormonal and surgical For transgender and gender nonconforming individuals I've authored a surgical text on gender related surgical principles And recently co-authored the training guidelines for individuals interested in learning surgical procedures I'm very proud of our district tonight and want

006to commend the district 113 for bringing forward principles that are consistent With internationally accepted medical principles and humanitarian principles All children, all individuals in our district should have the right to safe, affirming care free from discrimination And I'm proud to be a member of a citizen resident of Highland Park. Thank you very much Karen Weiss Sandra Wichner Hi, my name is Sandra Wichner. I'm a physical education teacher and I'm also a sponsor of our HP3 club We talk about issues of race and I also lead our ski and snowboard club And the reason I'm here is that I want to make sure that we voice support for our undocumented students That they are not bullied based on their status or perceived status I stand here because I've seen my transgender students in PE class And

007when I make the accommodations that they deserve, it's a world of difference in class And I don't know if Andrea Brooks is going to speak but that person has been in our class too And they are so happy when I treat them just like everybody else And that they have the same opportunities as everyone else And I want to make sure that yes, we are providing a learning community that is free of discrimination But we want to be a learning community that is supportive to all the needs of our students Thank you Bridget Farner Hello, my name is Bridget Farner and I'm a Spanish teacher at Highland Park High School I'd like to thank the board, the policy committee, and our administration for your commitment to our students and staff I've always spoken with my

008friends and family about one of the reasons I work for Highland Park High School And that reason being the support I have received from students and staff to help me be my authentic self In my very public role as teacher and sponsor My 14 year journey with this district has taken me from a closeted professional to an out and proud lesbian in all areas of my life Not just my private life This support from this district has improved my quality of life tremendously This has also improved the lives of students who may fear living their authentic lives out loud But it has also helped to grow empathy among students who are members of the dominant discourse A conversation with students helped to move forward the conversation to help serve students in our trans and gender

009expansive populations I am so proud of the positive steps that our district has taken to help support members of our most vulnerable populations I am also a believer that equity impacts all students in a positive way, not just members of minority groups Just want to double check my other notes Always thorough My wife says I always go too prepared Thank you Andrew Brooks Hi, my name is Andrew Brooks, I'm a sophomore at Highland Park High School I'm an openly gay man and I have been totally out for about two years I came up to my entire school through the means of a spoken word poem at Northwood my eighth grade year The response I received was overwhelmingly positive and that response and that amazing support has carried through to my years at Highland Park High

010School And it makes me proud of our district and our community that we have fostered that support for not just me but for so many other kids in our community I have many friends who are part of the transgender gender neutral spectrum All of which just want to feel like they belong and they are comfortable in the place they spend most of their time Of course there's always going to be ignorant people who are making fun of kids who stray from the norm But this district is making huge strides and I want to see them continue to make giant strides towards the equal rights of all people But specifically in this case people part of the LGBTQ plus community So I can see my friends flourish and feel comfortable and feel comfortable and understood And

011I am very proud of our district for all the strides we have already taken. Thank you Jody De Tomaso Hi, I'm Jody. I'm a proud graduate of Highland Park High School and a single mom of three kids One is a junior in high school and one is about to enter next year And he is with his sister currently at Elm Place So I wrote a whole bunch of stuff but I'm really impressed with what I've heard so far I have kids with special needs so I represent a different area An area where kids can be discriminated against because they're different And I'm super proud of this district for putting together the policies to welcome everybody into the district To feel safe and to be able to grow and learn and for everybody Because as you

012can imagine everybody who's different is set up for the opportunity to be bullied And that's not okay. Everybody deserves to be safe and be able to learn and grow It reminds me of when I see somebody with a big belly right out in front of them And I say to them get ready for greatness, right, for the first thing And then the second thing is get ready for the biggest emotion of your life, fear You will never experience anything more real than fear when you hold that child in your hands So when you have a child that is different than everyone else That fear is magnified to a word that isn't even describable And for this district to be able to embrace our children and embrace them So that other peers and children welcome them

013in and support it and get it You know, God bless you. Thank you very much. Really appreciate it Gary Kirshenbaum Hello. I'm Gary Kirshenbaum. My wife Jill and I have two children and we live in Highland Park And we're actively involved in our community and our schools Our daughter Ali will be attending Highland Park High School next year And we're here tonight offering our support to the board As you vote to pass amendments to policies 720 and 7180 I've had the unique opportunity to be a part of the policy committee for district 112 Representing our elementary and middle schools here in Highland Park and Highwood To help ensure our schools are providing equal opportunities to all our students Regardless of their gender identity As you know, our school board unanimously approved to expand policy 710

014To ensure the language we used was fully gender inclusive We've also made significant progress in crafting our procedures And we'll soon have a clear blueprint that will reflect the support of day-to-day efforts Now taking place in our schools So as a parent of two cisgender children I can tell you that these types of inclusive policies have helped all students Including my own children Jill and I have had the opportunity to have all sorts of great conversations With our kids about their gender expansive friends And it's basically a non-issue for them And as parents, we think that's the best possible outcome And I'd also like to add that the importance of these policies Is that it levels the playing field for education for these kids They have a right to the same education as all the

015other kids in the school So I'm very proud of the board Helping us to move these critical policies forward And continuing to create open, tolerant learning environments for our students Thank you Jen Gordon Good evening I'm Jen Gordon I'm here just to chat briefly about the support The tremendous support our family has for the amendments in 7.10, 7.20, and 7.180 My husband and I have been here in Highland Park My husband's from here For nearly two decades, goodness gracious And we are raising four children in this awesome community We have two who attend Highland Park High School One who graduated last year, thank you, Dios And another in District 112 I am here along with goodness gracious All of these fabulous people to share again my support and praise I think that those of us

016who live here in this area Recognize what a profoundly special community this is We care for each other We support each other We are tolerant of all beliefs and interested in learning From our beautiful diverse families Who represent dozens of different countries from around the globe We are also leaders We're leaders in business and science and education The arts, philanthropy, social purpose Stop on any street corner and you'll hear the most remarkable conversations I have met more superheroes in this district than I can count It's humbling and many of them are sitting right in front of me today But the coolest thing is this We have created the same dynamic spaces for our children They are afforded every opportunity to learn and lead With kindness, with respect, and an obligation to stand up for the

017rights of all I can't think of a better place to continue raising our transgender daughter She is thriving because of who we are as a community On behalf of a whole massive wave of parents Who are proudly raising their transgender and gender expansive children here And who, like our family, are publicly advocating across the country So that others can learn from the things we are getting so right In our community Thank you for being such an incredible school board Thank you for leading And thank you for helping countless other school districts Across the state and country who are all watching us this very evening Thank you Ellen and or John Hattenbach I'm Ellen and or John Hattenbach And I'm speaking on I'm actually speaking on behalf of John and our two daughters that we did

018raise in District 113 They're already done, they're through, and they're off to college And I'm only here to say how proud I am that these policies are going to be going through And one of the things that has happened I'm not going to repeat everything that's been said about it's safe and being authentic It's such an honor to be here tonight and be part of this But one of the things that's happened since our girls have gone off to college Is that we have been pushing people that are looking where to raise their kids To send them to Highland Park and to send them to Deerfield We did it ourselves, we were so proud that we did We felt we raised them in the right place, in the right community The alternative is if this

019didn't go through We could no longer recommend this community So I'm really happy to be here, congratulations in advance And I'll stop on behalf of John, Ellen, Kira, and Mari Kira Goldstein Good evening to the board and administrators and community Thank you all for being here, especially the volunteers who work on behalf of all of us And we have elected you and you have such an important job now, specifically That the guidance from Washington has been pulled from children As if these children don't need guidance from the top people in our nation But the amazing thing is, and maybe you did or you didn't recognize when you were elected as our school board How important your positions are And even more so now that the entire country is looking at you as elected officials At

020very hyper-focused community levels To make decisions on behalf of our community and our children So I applaud you for stepping up before you knew something like this might land in your responsibility So thank you for doing what you do And thank you to all of you that come and speak and participate in the community What we are talking about are children We are talking about policy numbers and we rattle them off As if somehow they hold weight or somehow they protect us But what we are really doing here is talking with our hearts We're telling these children, gender expansive, transgender children, gender nonconforming, LGBT kids Kids that are here in this country maybe outside of what we would consider legally But they're here to get educated They are here because their parents want something better

021for them That's what we all want That's why you ran for school board That's what we're doing today We are helping children But ultimately we are helping ourselves These children that are bullied or don't have a place in their schools They grow up and they don't have the same opportunities They don't have training They can't hold jobs They end up homeless And this all starts in our schools So what you are doing here tonight goes far beyond just allowing kids to be who they are What you are doing is creating a country that we can all live in respectfully together Peacefully together Learning from each other Out of love and respect So thank you so much I am so proud to be part of this community Katie Bittner, Suzanne Nice Hi everyone I'm Suzanne Nice

022I'm a school psychologist at Deerfield High School I'm speaking under 8A And first I want to thank Andrea Johnson Try not to get emotional For her leadership in the area of equity And everything that you have given us And the ways you've helped guide us I want to thank Dr. Dignam for his letter Which I cried when I read it in the email Try not to cry now For your letter supporting our undocumented students and our transgender students It means so much to us and to our students And to the board, I just want to say to all of you I think you can tell that I'm very passionate and committed to the needs of all of our students And particularly our most vulnerable students And the work that you do makes it possible for

023them to feel safe at school So thank you for the hours and hours that I imagine you put forth And I'm sure that's a small fraction of what you actually do So thank you for supporting all our students And particularly for tonight our undocumented And students in terms of gender identity, gender expression Non-binary and transgender students It means the world to me, thank you Mary Pike Good evening, thank you for the opportunity to just speak very briefly I appreciate the district that I live in And work in I am grateful to all of you I can say that when I started working at the high school I became friendly with a student who was transitioning And I didn't have the language at the time to understand what was exactly what was happening And I also

024thank Andrea and the district and many of my colleagues For helping to educate me so that I can be a better community member A better staff member To make our school and our community To contribute to making it a safer place So I am here to wholeheartedly endorse passing 8A Everything under 8A And just to say how proud I am to live here Thank you Those are all the people that signed up for comments However, I know some people came in late If you have a comment that has to do with something on tonight's agenda And you'd like to speak We do afford two minutes to each citizen who would like to So if there's anyone we missed Now's your opportunity, otherwise we're going to move into our agenda Good evening, my name is Pablo

025Alvarez I'm a counselor at Highland Park High School And also proud resident here in Highland Park I have two daughters One who is in second grade And my oldest who will join me at Highland Park High School in a couple of years And I want to say how proud I am of the district That not only she is in But the district that she is going to be a part of in a couple of years Passing everything that you guys have been working on for so long Is very important We believe in all of the equity work That our district works towards And all of the guidelines and protections for all of our students Including those who are most vulnerable Due to their physical and mental disabilities Citizenship status As well as all aspects that

026encompass their sexual orientation Gender identity I also work as a chess coach at the high school And right now we're in the process of getting and organizing 18 students to attend nationals And what I love about this program is that it provides a home for a variety of students Many of whom will certainly benefit from all of the protections and language that are being passed today And what I love is that our students find a place And seeing that first time in the students that I counsel In the students with whom I interact And the students that are part of this organization Further allows me to express my gratitude And feel proud of everything that is going on tonight to pass all of these policies Thank you If there are no further citizens' comments We

027are going to move on to a presentation Ms. Weinberg, Highland Park High School's Focus on the Arts Good evening Thank you for inviting me tonight I'm thrilled to share some of the exciting plans for Focus on the Arts 2017 To start off, I'd like to thank the Board of Education for your continued support of Focus We're honored by the support we receive from District 113 The Highland Park High School staff, students, parents, and community It's exciting This is the 26th Focus on the Arts Started in 1964 And 52 years later has grown into what we know today One of the finest arts education programs anywhere Just a few weeks ago I received an email from an alum Telling me about his experience at the first Focus He recounted many details Which sort of speaks to

028the lasting impression this program has On all of our students and our community I have to, Andrew Brooks spoke so beautifully But I have to tell another story about Focus One of my favorite things is the days of student registration And the students are so excited to be there And to get the sessions out there Are looking forward to attending And rumor has it that Junior and Senior Day The kids were at school at around 3 o'clock in the morning And I think Andrew was at school, he can tell us, at 4 o'clock For the sophomore and junior day So to me that also speaks to the importance of this program To our students I think it's also a lot of fun to hang out in the hallway People had coffee and music and sleeping

029bags It's sort of like waiting outside Target to open on Thanksgiving But even the sign-up is a happening So we're excited Focus this year will begin with our opening night on Tuesday, April 25th Tyne Daly is our featured performer Along with alum Dan Kurland and our jazz ensemble Chamber Orchestra and Swing Choir Art night will be on Wednesday, April 26th And 36 professional artists will be demonstrating their work Alongside about 25 Highland Park High School art students And this is a great event for all ages It's fun to see the little ones from the community come As well as our senior citizens participating and interacting with our artists Spread the word, it's a great family event On Thursday, April 27th is dance night We have five professional dance companies Circo Rivera Dance Theater, Chicago Repertory

030Ballet Giordano Dance Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance And Visceral Dance Chicago And our own collage dance troupe will be performing as well I don't know where else you can go in your backyard With free parking, free admission And see five fabulous dance companies like this So we're really excited about dance night Our daytime workshops will be held on Wednesday, April 26th Through Friday, April 28th In addition to all the wonderful artists Which are highlighted in the program books that are going around I wanted to just draw your attention to a few exciting projects We've had a playwright artist in residence over the past few months And the short plays that are going to be created with her, with our students Will be performed on the Thursday of Focus on the Arts We have a dance artist

031in residence working with our collage dance troupe And the piece that they're creating together will be performed during Focus And also during dance night And it's kind of exciting to me We have over five dozen HPHS alums coming back to present at Focus They're all taking time out of their days Traveling long distances to lead workshops and get back to their school And they recommend each other, they call me, they say who else is coming They want their schedule to work out so they can go to each other's sessions It's really fun to see that sort of excitement among our alums as well One change to the Focus program this year Was the decision to move movie night into the days of Focus And we renamed it the Focus Film Festival This gives more students

032an opportunity to showcase their work And a larger audience to view their work So we're excited about that Those sessions filled up like that for their parents to come see I want to take a minute They're not with me this evening But I have four parent coordinators Ellen Humrick, Elaine Klein, Pam Lowy, and Ellen Zaslow They're fabulous, they really are the backbone to this program We have a student leadership board made up of 42 juniors and seniors Who lead over 20 committees With hundreds of parents and student and staff volunteers on those committees And all together everyone works really hard to plan Focus on the arts And we couldn't do it without the support I was talking to someone today and they said How many people do you think work on Focus? Hundreds just to

033plan it And then a whole other group of hundreds during those days to help support it And again, I thank all of you and all of District 113 for your support of Focus Thank you, good luck, Judy You will Well, our next report is the principal's report And Kathy Anderson from Dierfeld, this is a hard act to follow So just a few things to recall from the past few weeks I feel like we haven't been in this room for a while Just this past week we had the third annual genocide commemoration day at Dierfeld We had a number of events during the day Including a presentation by Holocaust survivor Estelle Laughlin And if you were able to make it, thank you so much to those who were able to make it A lot of the

034board members were able to come It was just a special time And I've never heard the auditorium so quiet as people heard her amazing story So just a great event So thank you to all who put this together and were able to attend The Dance Company show was this past weekend as well There were 13 different dances choreographed by both students and teachers There was a special video montage created by a senior student at the very end It was very nice to provide recognition to our senior students who will be going off to college And just a special thank you to Sarah Campbell, Nikki Lazzaretto, and Michael Klack For making just a fabulous presentation of all the dancers And there was even a special number where we had a lot of our senior boys partake

035in the dances Which really throughout the rest of the show It was nice to have them involved as well I announced back in December the money that was raised for school chess We actually have a new updated amount Our final final amount for school chess is $170,756.11 So it's very special That money is going to the Propeonic Acidemia Foundation So we're very proud of all the work and all the support throughout the community So thank you And then just something to put on your radar It might not be as large as Focus on the Arts But we have a STEAM Career Day next Tuesday Which is when students are able to attend sessions presented by our parent volunteers Including a mini medical school, actuarial science, cyber security, and molecular biology So if you want the

036yang to your yang, come and see STEAM Career Day And then just something that I'm going to report on Also in my report is on the District 113 Assessment Committee The assessment committee met for five months Five different meetings over five months from November to March There were 16 staff members, four students, five parents, two of which were board members And two representatives from our sending districts in 112 and 109 And the goal of the assessment committee was to review the assessment protocol Assessment information from our sending districts So we'd be knowledgeable about what our students were coming in with In charge of reviewing our formative assessments, which includes homework Our summative assessments, which includes final exams And other tests such as PSAT, ACT, and SAT And this was just really a brainstorming session to

037provide feedback from different stakeholders As I listed before, the different stakeholders that are a part of the group So each meeting we tackled a few different topics And was able to get a wide variety of perspectives on these different assessment protocols Assessment supports And then ultimately to be able to provide a recommendation to the superintendent for kind of next steps So I'm going to instead of go over all of our meeting minutes for you Provide some of those recommendations and next steps So first of all, at the very last meeting our committee members were put into stakeholder groups To provide some of their takeaways from all of our sessions So our first recommendation is to review the feedback from each of those groups separately So we get valuable feedback from what each group perspective is

038The next is to utilize our new strategic plan to establish a clear value around assessment To lead an assessment inventory or audit And that could be done at the district level going into the schools Some of those things might include talking personally with teachers and other staff to understand current practices This would enable the new assistant superintendent of curriculum instruction to get to know staff members through the process Ensures teachers and staff understand the purpose, need, and value of the actual audit itself and assessments And then areas that we would like to review that are connected to assessment include curriculum, grading, homework, final exams And just assessment values such as retakes We would also like to recommend that professional development is provided in regards to research-based assessment practices Provide opportunities for staff to collaborate regarding

039assessment practices Develop stakeholder assessment focus groups to collect feedback and use for decision making Share with staff the assessment experience that students are having at the sender schools Just a side note to this, both of our sender schools are utilizing standards-based grading And so that was something that was important for our sending districts and many parents whose students will be coming into district 113 So our teachers and staff have an understanding of their grading practices that they've had in the past and what that might mean for them in high school And lastly, just to communicate the district 113 value and use of assessment So we ensure that everybody understands how we value their feedback and how it has led to decision making in that lens So I'd like to thank everybody that was a part

040of our committee Sometimes it's hard to talk about things like final exams and homework and all the fun things that are part of schooling But it was a really great time for different perspectives to be heard at the table And I appreciate everybody that was involved with that So that's my report. Thank you Thank you I have a question to make sure that we're clear with all of the staff and with our community about the work that was done I'm brainstorming with recommendations for that on the team that believe that we've studied, we're ready to make our final decisions And so maybe I'm just suggesting that we consider a lot of communication Should we clarify that we did share all of the meeting minutes relatively not that long ago with all staff as well as

041what the purpose and goals were And the times that the committee has met and some of the outcomes And one thing we did share is that overall we will certainly have a an inventory of our practices and this will be revisited next year and we can follow up Okay at this point we're going to move into board member reports Ms. Hyman can we begin with you Sure Okay First Thursday evening I had the honor of attending the student honors dinner The Chamber of Commerce has this dinner every year Every year that I've been a board member I have attended it And I think I even attended it once as a 112 board member But what makes this evening so special is that these students are all around wonderful students and they are nominated by staff

042members And they're staff members who have seen something special or many special things in these students We know all of our children are special But some of the staff members met most staff members connect with particular students for whatever reason Either in a particular class or particular year Hearing the testimonials hearing the information about these students just fills your heart and makes me as a board member And I sat next to Dr. Dignam I feel very proud to be part of this district as did many of the things you said this evening already But to sit in this room and hear the community at large recognize our students for what they do who they are Many of them didn't know why they were being nominated didn't know who was nominating them And Mr. Bulbasame puts

043this great video together of these kids And at the time many of them do not know who has nominated them Dr. Kalentis was also recognized by Jenny Glasner who is head of the chamber Because he has been a part of this honors dinner since he's been affiliated with Highland Park High School He has supported students supported the efforts that support students And they wished him a fun farewell and much luck and recognized all that he has done to encourage the growth of this of this evening So I was I just I just love going to this because you see other people we all talk about the students in this district But to see community at large recognize and then award scholarships to our students it's really it's it's heartwarming I also went to the the

044genocide commemoration day at Deerfield High School unfortunately I was only able to be there for the presentation I couldn't walk around that much but listening to the students questions of the speaker the Holocaust survivor was wonderful The understanding that there are there have unfortunately been a number of genocides throughout our history That and to just listen to each other and try and accept each other and not be so quick to hurt and to judge was I think a message that everybody took away And to and I'm not going to take her words exactly but the Holocaust survivor said that you have you still have if you could take away a feeling of hope of hope that things will get better and will be positive And for somebody who's been through what she has been through

045to come out of all of that and say that meant a lot and it meant there were some students that were cheering up which really said a lot to me And then today one of the best events our district provides offers lets us participate in is the ELS basketball game And it was between Highland Park and Glenbrook North Glenbrook North right? Glenbrook South, Glenbrook South, pardon me And Glenbrook South did prevail however the and it was this was a late start day and the gym was packed So I know Dr. Calentis put a shout out to remind everybody but there were kids there and staff members it was it's truly very special And I think it's even more special for the parents of these children because they show and they see the efforts that we

046have so I'd like to be part of that I'm done now Ms. Lobby That's a hard act to follow I just wanted to mention that during the month of March we as board members met with staff here at the administrative center And also at Highland Park High School and Deerfield High School and what we call the second round of our sounding board And the interactions, the conversations were very productive, very interesting And it was just a good opportunity to glean those insights that we can't always get from a report or from other opportunities So we're very grateful to all the staff that came to speak to us candidly from the heart with passion for what they do and for the kids It's hearing you all tonight talking about how proud you are to be part

047of this community, it raises us all up because at the core it's the kids And we'll thank you on both levels Just small I think the next meeting I'll give a more comprehensive update on that Ms. Calent Ms. Coyden Thank you I've heard on a couple of PTO meetings that have happened between the last board meeting and this High School meeting in March Focused on a number of different topics including the assessment committee This group of parent volunteers on the PTO were very interested in the assessment committee And provided that group with some updates and information that I think was helpful And they reported more information than they would wish in the first place This PTO meeting yesterday, the main topic was focused on the arts And Joe did a great job yesterday explaining what

048was going on, the PTO was very involved in that as well So there are a lot of parent volunteers keeping both PTO in focus and that was a good productive conversation Probably of most interest to this board and administration is to provide some feedback And Annette was at that meeting too so she could add to what I'm saying But there was a concern expressed with Tom leaving There's a lot of interest and nervousness about who will try to fill his shoes And so lots of interest in the High School principal selection process A number of individuals around the PTO table had applied and were not selected And it wasn't clear to them why they weren't selected or who was selected And what came out of that discussion is a concern about whether they're trusting the

049process Whether the process is transparent enough and there was the request to hear more information So that they could feel better about the process going forward But I know Dr. Griffin is going to give some more information and his update about that But this group and I think they speak to many parents and students at the school Just want to make sure that they understand the process and feel good about the process So they have confidence about us moving forward All right, well then that leaves me And I actually have quite a few things In addition to the PTO meeting Tom's been very busy over at Highland Park But there was lunch with Tom this past week too And actually it was a working group meeting with the Lake County people Who are working with

050CTI on a communications program So this was actually a working meeting for a focus group to determine what things should look like What the communications should look like, the postcards, the emails, alcohol prevention So when they next do their spring survey in 2018 during the year of 2017 They will be doing these communications and they've received a nice sized grant through which to do it That was a great working meeting Sounding board was very active Tom's So I attended an intergovernmental meeting last week with Dr. Dignam The intergovernmental meeting is all the different community groups in Highland Park that are governmental agencies District 112, 113, the park district, the library district, all the different bodies attend With their CEO, that's their superintendent, and then the president of their board And there were several things that

051came up at this meeting But one of the ones that really surprised me was the city brought up the fact This is what I was calling you about earlier That they were incredibly impressed with the traffic advisory group that has been formed And with District 113's performance in particular They gave, and this is not the written write off But the city mentioned that our lighting is okay at the Vine Avenue lot They mentioned that our landscaping is okay at the Vine Avenue lot They mentioned that relations between the community and the school had not been better in recent memory And while they acknowledged that in fact in the fall there should be a traffic study that this district had committed to They also stated that they were considering depending on advice from the group and

052from District 113 But they wanted to disband the advisory group And they put it in terms of you should be a creature of your own success When things are going so well that you talk yourself out of a jab So it was a really wonderful meeting And I mean, Dr. Dignam and I, I'm sorry to speak for you But we both had our mouths open because we were so excited at that news So I thought that was really, really wonderful And I really commend the high school in particular Patrick Sassen and Dr. Calentis for their work And certainly Dan Mortenson and Dr. Dignam over at the DO for their work on this project Debbie has been our liaison this year David was our liaison last year It's really good community teamwork that is getting us

053to a point of perhaps saying you know what? People can come before this board People can come before the city council if there are complaints But at this point it was a job really well done And it really seems that a lot of the traffic problems because of good planning and good education and good officials And I think that a lot of the restrictions that we are obliged to comply with under the ordinance Will be eased up So because that's coming up on the two-year mark Because appointments have to be made to the committee Whether that's community members, parents, liaisons Our chair is stepping down because he was elected to the District 112 board I think that the city is saying there's no need for this group So I just wanted to announce that because

054that was really good news And then the last thing that I really want to speak to And I'm going to turn this over to Dr. Dignam when we get to the search committee But I do want to speak about one part of it The search committee, and he will go into greater detail The same process was followed as was followed at Deerfield High School And I specifically requested that there be two board members on the search committee for the principalship of Highland Park High School And I did that because I felt that there were tremendous voices on this board And I received several requests from several board members who were incredibly interested and wanted to help with this process And I was told that in fact we were staying true to the process And that

055would be too many board members on there and too much influence by the board And therefore there would only be one board member And because of that, coupled with a couple of other factors I decided that as my last act on this board because my term ends in May, at the end of April or May That I would sit on this search committee And in part that's because in the last 15 years I've either been a parent or a board member and there's never been a gap And in addition to that I've witnessed five principals go through the school Whether those were interim co-groups, Dr. Lorenz, Mr. Lorenz, Mr. Swanson, Dr. Calantis And so I'm going to be the board member who's sitting on that by myself as a board member But the rest of

056the composition of this group and the way it has been formed I'm going to turn over to Dr. Dignam as part of his superintendent report Thank you Good evening. I have a FOIA update and then I have a couple of items to discuss and provide some information on So in terms of any FOIA requests, on April 12, 2017, Angel Rodriguez withdrew the FOIA request she originally submitted On January 24, 2017 and submitted a new request regarding electronic communications We will investigate the request and respond in a timely manner On March 1, 2017, Ms. Pam Helkey submitted a FOIA request regarding electronic communications On March 24, the request was denied as voluminous and unduly burdensome Two topics I would like to provide an update on are first the board elections So I'd first like to congratulate

057our two incumbents for winning reelection onto the Board of Education Ms. Julie Gordon and Stacey Meyer The elections took place on April 4, 2017 I also would like to congratulate and welcome Ms. Lizzie Gorlovsky on being newly elected to the Board of Education Although the final results will not be certified until the end of the month and that will be approximately April 25 I would like to congratulate all three candidates who will begin serving on the Board of Education for a four-year cycle beginning in early May We have already reached out to Ms. Gorlovsky who is present this evening And have begun sharing information to ensure a seamless transition occurs over the next few weeks The other item I want to give an in-depth update on is the search for the Highland Park principle We

058have provided several updates to all stakeholders over the last month or more And I would like to provide an update as to where we are in terms of last night and again this morning I would like to let everyone know that the search for the next Highland Park High School principle And our remaining timeline is to have this conducted by the end of April Our goal is to actually have this conducted by April 25 As that will allow us the week after to either make recommendations Or if we do not have a contract principle identified then we will need to go through an interim search And it gives us two months to conduct that search As previously communicated to all stakeholders we retained RAINN Associates to conduct the search To screen, interview and identify viable

059principle candidates The deadline for principle applicants to submit their materials was last week on Friday, April 7 RAINN Associates received a very strong set of 30 completed applications RAINN Associates has also been reviewing candidates' packets And conducting interviews with applicants to identify a cohort of semi-finalists By Friday this week at the very latest RAINN Associates will be presenting a group of semi-finalists To our Human Resources Director Mr. Tom Krieger As well as me to further screen and interview the candidates On Friday we will be providing all semi-finalists completed applications, resumes, letters of recommendation Search firm interview results, report of the search firm findings And supplementary video recorded candidate interviews RAINN Associates has been providing this service over the last month or more We will be screening and interviewing candidates through the weekend and into next

060week Mr. Krieger and I will be conducting our semi-finalist interviews on Wednesday, April 19 With the goal of identifying two or three finalists for the Highland Park High School Principalship We will be presenting the finalists to the Stakeholder Interview Committee for final interviews on Tuesday, April 25 The Stakeholder Interview Committee will consist of the following representatives Two certified staff members, two non-certified staff members A department chair, a director, one assistant principal, one member of FAC, one member of DEA Those are two staff representative bodies The administrative assistant to the principal, the Deerfield High School principal One board of education member, human resource director, the superintendent Two parent representatives and two student representatives It is important to note that we are utilizing the same administrative search process that was conducted and created last school year By

061human resources through an administrative interview process team We believe this process is inclusive, provides credibility And will result in the identification of a viable set of candidates for the final step of the interview process This is the exact same process employed for a Deerfield High School principal searches The director of district position searches, the assistant superintendent searches that were conducted over the past two school years I would personally like to thank everyone who has completed the stakeholder survey and submitted questions for use in screening and interview candidates When we initially contacted stakeholders last month to provide input and volunteer for the committee We communicated we would contact all individuals who volunteered by Friday, April 7 Mr. Krieger in fact contacted all volunteers who provided their contact information by Thursday, April 6 Although the stakeholder interview

062committee is limited in size and cannot accommodate every stakeholder in the interview process All stakeholders who completed and submitted questions on the survey are represented in the process So I want to explain a little bit how we are going to use that data The survey was pivotal for us in determining seven attributes of our next principal for Highland Park High School The survey conducted a list of attributes that all stakeholders, students, parents, staff members They ranked in order of the top seven We are now going to take those top seven attributes that stakeholders created questions for We will align those to make sure that they fit the values in our district Such as items that are important for equity, for college readiness, for providing extracurricular opportunities for students, etc. This process will take place now

063that we have this data Tom Krieger and I have been working on that And will be used for the selection of our candidates Mr. Krieger and I will be using this for screening beginning this weekend And for interviewing candidates These stakeholder constructed questions will be utilized throughout the process And will in fact be utilized by the committee who is going to represent the district on April 25 To summarize, Tom Krieger and I will be sharing the data from the survey After stakeholder interview committee has received the data on Monday, April 17 Once we've had that meeting with the stakeholder committee Mr. Krieger and I will then share the data with all stakeholders Provided and provide what was collected And how we use the seven attributes that I briefly summarized here As a means of communicating

064that data Again, this is what was performed at Deerfield High School for their searches, for their principal And that will frame the structure of the April 25 stakeholder interview committee A couple of small items in terms of preliminary volunteer data In the survey that went out and asking for volunteers to be on the committee Seven certified staff members volunteered Six non-certified staff members volunteered Three department chairs, one director 24 parent representatives volunteered And six students volunteered to be on the committee And so we could not have everyone on the committee But what we will do is make sure that the data we've collected from everyone Is part of that structure for the interviews. Thank you To approval of minutes I need a motion to approve the revised minutes For March 13, 2017, the regular board

065meeting March 13, 2017, closed session And March 15, special board meeting And March 15, closed session Is there a second? Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor? Opposed? Abstentions? Motion passes We have two discussion items The first one being the cooperative purchasing paper bid Mr. Bullock? Completing with that reading for a paper That's just the white one, but it also includes color paper and some other stuff All right, thank you very much Are there any questions, comments from Mr. Bullock? If not, we move on to 7B, the 2018-19 school calendar Dr. Dignam? So we have submitted a school calendar to the district And that calendar, I would like to just state that That is a calendar that was the result of Much of the work that was actually led through Dr. Calentas'

066efforts With the calendar committee And that committee started in May of the last school year And concluded with What we have presented to the board now as a calendar With several changes to The dates for different holidays That we are going to Suggest we modify in order to Complete our final exams In a much different fashion we have in the past To really have the final exams before the winter break And so in terms of the calendar Some of the changes that I would just mention briefly here And again, this also These changes came through a cooperative effort with Dr. Calentas myself And our DAC, which is a district-wide Representative group for all staff members And they actually created this calendar and concert with us So the staff was represented through this body But a

067couple of items Just to mention briefly the start date Will be Monday, August 20th for 2018 Columbus Day will be a student attendance day District 113 will not observe this as a holiday Board of Education will need to take action to waive the Columbus Day holiday In compliance with Public Act 96-640 The first semester final exams will take place A change there will be December 18th, 19th, and 20th Friday, December 24th will be a staff institute day For no student attendance. This will allow Grading preparation of the student exam materials And it also will serve as a buffer in the event that we have to Move a school day for whatever reason It could be anything pipes bursting in a building But it doesn't have to necessarily be storms And it will be a preparation

068where we end up having to have a final after Winter break because of using an emergency day Winter break will officially begin on Saturday, December 22nd In the 2018-19 proposed calendar All students and staff will return from school on Monday January 7th, 2019 In February, in 2019 Some modifications, here's some changes February 15th and Monday Friday, Monday, February 18th President's Day will not be attendance days for students or staff Tuesday, February 19th will be an institute day for staff And non-attendance day for students In March, that's a change, so there's an extra day that month For non-attendance Casimir Pulaski Day on March 4th will be a non-attendance day For staff and students. Their quarter will end on Friday, March 22nd Spring break, we have scheduled in this calendar To begin the week of March 25th

069In April, Good Friday, April 19th And Easter Monday, April 22nd will be non-attendance days For staff and students. And in June, the second semester Finals will take place on June 3rd, 4th, and 5th With records day on Thursday, June 6th The last day of school is scheduled to be Friday, June 7th Is there any, Debbie? My first question, and I've asked this before I think we have changed But my understanding is that Religious-related days off of school should just be marked as non-attendance Is that true? Is this information That we got, the calendar? It would just be marked non-attendance That's correct, Ms. Hosso and I spoke about that today And the way the law is dated, we have to list the other holidays I don't ever recall Easter Monday And I was curious if that

070is replacing a day That we are not taking off Is that because for the number of days for the teacher contract What does this, that's new That's a great question, and this came up Tom was with me at this meeting, it was a robust discussion About the days, there are a certain number of days we have to have Student attendance per year, and because there was that shift In the first semester with Columbus Day Then we ended up with other days that we had to account for And so it ends up in this particular year And it may not be that this happens every year Some years we may have those other holidays Or that are not, like Columbus Day may not be observed But there could be other years where we do not have

071that extra day Or days in the second semester This, the way this calendar is right now This is the way the days are falling That in the second semester we ended up having those other days off Where we had the unbalanced semesters What you're saying Dr. DeGroom is with respect to the Friday Before Thursday, and if there are no snow days Or no broken pipes or whatever Friday would be a day off for students Correct But it would be a grading day for staff If there is a snow day on one of the finals days Or a broken pipe or whatever Would we potentially have that Friday be a makeup day for finals? We could do that, we have the flexibility of doing that So that was one of the reasons we wanted to have

072that cushion there Because we felt a little better saying, you know, we could And if this calendar is approved we would explain it in a letter going home Saying this would be something that could occur But that does give us a cushion If we used to be in town that day I think we have to make it, I personally think we have to make it clear In every summary of the calendar That that's a potential school day Because otherwise I think there will be a lot of people leaving town on that Friday And booking trips well in advance And they won't be able to make changes So we'll have a potential makeup day that half the student population may not be at Or at some part I think that's a potential makeup day I just

073feel like we need to be very clear in our communications That it could be a potential school day If in the event of an emergency before that And that's something we will do Because there could be any emergency that happens in September You know what, we've got to use that date And it could be later, it could be November or even December So we will provide that information knowing that that's the reason the schedule is like that And a little bit more, we can't call it a no student attendance day And then change our mind It will lead people to take that day off So whatever the language is If we expect students to be available that day So it would be Just so I understand, you can make up finals if you had to

074on that Friday I guess I was under the impression that you had to have a school day Sometimes during that first semester The three days of finals would shift So instead of being Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Now finals would be Wednesday, Thursday, Friday That was my understanding by having that kitchen I think we're saying the same thing In the event that we have some reason there's an emergency closure of school What would be communicated is that week of December Finals will shift a day Because all finals days will shift? Correct Any other comments? Just so you know when it comes up for an action item We will have for the discussion Mr. Small It's an extra how that we needed to place somewhere Because of the numbers of days in our calendar If we're looking at

075for example The need to have an additional day Is that one of the days That could be used for that If that's come up with school districts where you have a weather event in March And you need to use a holiday that's coming up later on And it's now an attendance day for students That's an option for that day Those numbers are the same But what's different are maybe the number of days in the Quarters and then or the overall semesters Because they're off by about 10 school days in this calendar All right so we'll move on to our action items Of which we have several tonight So we're going to begin with policy 6-140 And we're doing each policy separately Just for all board members We're going to do motions for each one individually

076In case there are questions or people need further discussion So at this point the superintendent recommends That the Board of Education adopt policy 6-140 The education of homeless children As presented. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? This was discussed in the past as of all of these I will say this is a press update date Regarding the Every Student Succeeds Act It's been reviewed by the district's legal council and the recommended notifications Are reflected. Is there any further discussion? Anything the admin wanted to say? On this one? Okay. Hearing nothing further I'd like to call for a vote We'll call for it. Mr. Swalde. Hi. Motion passes. Number 2, the superintendent recommends that the Board of Education Delete current policy 7-15 Student records and adopt the new policy 7-340 student records

077As presented. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? Okay. Again this is also press updates The policy had been reviewed by district's legal council And the recommended modifications are reflected in the proposed policy Is there any further discussion? Hearing none this is a roll call vote Ms. Hallberg. Ms. Swalde. Hi. Mr. Small. Ms. Hyman. Hi. Ms. Gordon. Hi. Ms. Little. Hi. Motion passes. Board of Education adopt policy 7-10 Equal educational opportunities Before we begin with this policy I would just like to state first of all Well there's no motion on the floor but actually let's do it that way So the superintendent recommends That the Board of Education adopt policy 7-10 Equal educational opportunities as presented. Is there a motion? So moved. Is there a second? I would just like to first

078of all thank everyone who has come and spoken Both at our discussion meeting and at our action meeting In support of this policy And I want to thank you especially because This is not something that we take lightly And this has been worked on for a great deal of time I also want to state that we've received several letters Both in support and in opposition to this And whereas those letters are To all board members and therefore everyone sees them As board president do respond Or refer them to administration To Dr. Dignam for further response But the letter that I received this afternoon Which calls me a marketer of evil And prays for God's guidance for me because I'm so lost And that Highland Park is a haven for stupidity And immorality And so I

079just want to say that The letter that goes through every one of these policies And says why this board should not pass it Should remind us as a board and as a community That it's important to have these protections in place So I just want to say that there are two sides to this issue And even though you may hear all the same voices At this meeting at the last meeting And within our community it's important to note That we have received several letters Not as threatening as I've received before But that do call us some nasty names for going forward with this Anyhow, is there additional comment? I'm proud to be part of this community together On topics like this. I wish we didn't have to have policies like this But we do and

080I'm glad that we do I'm glad that there's support and I'm proud to be on the board right now I guess I'd also like to I'm not sure we'll ever have an audience this big again During Andrea Johnson I know she's retired at the end of the year But a lot of the work around equity A lot of the work around these policies Has happened because of the leadership of Andrea Not just this year but in past years And I would just like to public point out When I first joined the board I was instructed to not commit it And I actually thought that it was It was pretty difficult for me And tonight I really missed that Sometimes we Sit with very straight faces And so I feel a little bit like we're not

081So I just wanted to share a few thoughts So as a board we've dealt with a lot of very difficult Decisions over the six years that I've been part of the board And Sometimes we vary But when it comes to Issues like this I think that this board has been Remarkably consistent and Remarkably unified Like Julie and others I'm sure You know I feel very good about being part of the board And so I think that we're supportive of this I'd also like to thank Stacey and Debbie And Alina for the work that they've done For their careful and thoughtful in the funding that they've done And I'd also like to call out And also To help us to remind You There were a number Of comments that were made tonight That I felt were

082particular I mentioned a few but they really resonated with me as well Students looked to adults for example to do And I think that that is true Providing a safe and permanent care free Allowing the authentic self And equity impacts all students All students buying an open And tolerant learning environment Our interest as a community and learning from it We're talking with our hearts and minds But at the same time we're treating the country And it's just very thankful for all the attention There is one person that we did not think from administration And Sue Hebsen really deserves a great deal of credit too Your leadership on this has been amazing But Sue has worked on this policy committee And with our board members very very closely She's the one who's run back and forth

083to legal counsel And so since she's not here tonight I didn't want her to be forgotten And similar to your point I don't know when we'll have that kind of an audience To thank her publicly for that work too And Dr. Dignam obviously So can I ask for a roll call vote at this point? Aye. Motion passes. The superintendent recommends that the board of education Adopt policy 7-20 prevention And response to harassment Including sexual harassment as presented And there is a revision that one should note in the policy On page 2 of the 4 For policy 7-20 which is All students and it does not It only refers to both male and female It says all students are prohibited from harassing Fellow students, staff or others Instead of students both male and female because it's

084not gender It's identifying in a way we don't want to do without a they in there So are there any other changes to it? So hearing none is there a motion? Thank you Debbie. With the revised With the revised thank you And is there further discussion? And hearing none this is a roll call vote. Aye. Motion passes. The superintendent recommends That the board of education adopt policy 7-180 The prevention of and response to bullying Intimidation and harassment and revision Which there are. So there are a few I need to Mention on page 3 of 5 We've taken out social work services And school psychological Because it's counseling services which is broader Again we took out he or she And replaced it with the dean of students we'll take Because even in our professional staff we

085want to make sure That we are sensitive in our language So further down we also say the dean of students We say the deans instead of his or her And we mentioned services and services in general Social work services and psychological services So it's broader in every case unless we tried to Broaden the language so thank you to our committee With these revisions is there a motion? So moved with revisions Thank you is there a second? Discussion. Oh I'm sorry yes Debbie. Andrea could you just discuss where the revisions came from What group of people Yeah yes so for both 7-20 The more inclusive language came from Our gender expansive support team We reviewed it after the last board meeting and then It was brought to the policy committee meeting this morning The other thing

086we talked about this morning at the Policy committee meeting is whether or not As other policies come forward Whether we would also begin to look at Every policy in terms of gender inclusive Language and just being deliberate about a lot of The language that we're using so that we are signaling To our community that we really are Listening and supportive of all This is not too different than what we did Regarding forms several years ago When my position was created that was one of the first Tasks we did we looked at all the forms that go out From the district to make certain that we're signaling To our community that there are a lot of kinds of families Right and we wouldn't want anyone to feel like Their family isn't part of our community So

087although we won't do massive search All at once as they come to The committee there's a commitment to Begin to keep looking at language so that we're Current. Thanks to the leadership of our Administration we have now adopted that as Another lens through which we evaluate the language Of all policies and since we're committed to Reviewing all policies in a five-year sequence Again it won't be overnight but we're going to get there And just an example of the inclusive Language that Andrea has Already implemented is something as simple as Parent one and parent two you know It's a different world so thank you for your Leadership. And on that note Our policy committee meetings are At the very convenient hour At 7.45 in the morning on Wednesdays Which is why we get so many people

088That want to come and give public comments But they are open meetings we used to have a gentleman That was there every policy committee He's found other things to do If you want to hear the work that goes on relative To policy we have three board members Typically at the meeting the meetings are always open So again if you have nothing else to do at 7.45 And want to hear the rich there's a lot of rich discussion that does Take place at our policy committee meetings Before in between when it's presented to the board And it's voted on and then after it's sent back To us and many have been sent back to us or it's been So anybody who's here and Everybody in television land that wants to come It is if there's good

089discussion Very Was that a hand This is a roll call vote The superintendent recommends That the Board of Education adopt policies 7-130 Student expression as Discussion this is a roll call The superintendent recommends the Board of Education That policy 4-60 purchases Thank you is there a second You know what that's in a different order I think we need new policy 7-315 No we did that one 460 Is there a second We are on policy 4-60 Which is a press update on employment and licensure disqualification I believe I think it's because there was a replacement For 130 with 315 7-315 yeah So we need to still have 315 separately Yeah I guess it is a roll call but it's not in the right order on here Okay sorry about that Debbie I have one more round

090on you or may I ask for a different one Which is the superintendent recommends Approval of policy 7-315 restrictions On publications in high schools So moved thank you is there a second Is there any discussion Seeing none there is a roll call vote Aye motion passes Now we will go to 460 which is purchases That we adopt 4-60 Which is purchases as presented Is there a second Is there any discussion Seeing there is no further discussion a roll call please Aye motion passes We now move to policy 2-230 public participation At school board meetings and petitions to the board And this one I would like to read because this is a change The main change here is twofold And it affects people who have sat through an entire meeting When they wanted to discuss something

091in the beginning It's changing the time from 2 minutes to 3 minutes For public comment per person And it's also opening both of our sessions For discussion of citizen comments to any matter Not just those on the agenda Yes we do need a motion Thank you Ms. Lowby And is there discussion of that Well that explanation of the changes to our structure Mr. Small Actually it should be per comment period I mean each comment during a comment period should be 3 Unless the committee wants to limit The structure to one comment per meeting Or one and a half and one and a half So it's actually a good question So Elena and Debbie as the two policy committee members Sitting here Do you have an opinion on that And if so do you want a

092friendly amendment to clarify it Because Mr. Small I do believe you're correct But that doesn't mean that a person could speak at two And I believe that that is consistent With what it's done But one of the proposals that I had When we had our discussion And allowed them to speak only once The board was not in favor of that The board was in favor of 2-3 minute options And so I believe that this clarification So can I just ask for clarification That if somebody writes something a speech I mean sorry a comment that could take six minutes That they get up at the first session And they read the first three minutes of it And then they come at the second session And the second public comments and they read the rest of it

093Theoretically that's what we are Two and two Well right now only if it pertains to the agenda is it two and two So we're changing that Okay so if somebody is interested in presenting A friendly amendment if everybody agrees That there should be a friendly amendment Does everybody agree that there should be this change Or do you want to discuss this some more Is a friendly amendment only you and Elena as the presenter I understand but everybody has to agree after the discussion Not just one board member I want to know Well I would like it to be clear So we're going to vote on the amendment I mean we're going to vote on the entire Statement and so if you want to accept The clarification that would be great The only two people who

094have to accept friendly amendment Are the presenter and the second I get that Okay so do you want it to be clear Add one word correct David So it's adding one word I'll accept that if there's no more Friendly amendment That doesn't sound very friendly Friendly as I can be right now Thank you ladies for accepting as presenters Okay is there any further discussion on this policy Okay if there's no further discussion Then I'd like to Discuss by this board for years correct And so I don't know what the option is What I think is very significant to our Scale of business to allow Members of the community to Comment at the beginning On any topic for significant Longer to be able to do it again Thank you What I think is consistent with At

095this point can I ask for a roll call vote Motion passes Okay thank you all We do have two other some other action items First of all is 8C the superintendent recommends And we have textbook adapt Superintendent recommends that the board of education approve The proposed textbooks for adaption Is there a motion is there a second Okay is there any discussion There is a list of textbooks that have been recommended and discussed They've been recommended by our Assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction As well as the superintendent as well as teachers For the coming year is there any further discussion Hearing none this is a roll call vote Motion passes we now move to action item 8C the Highland Park international trip for the wind Symphony to Spain the superintendent recommends That the board of

096education approve the international field trip Sponsored by the Highland Park high school wind symphony to the cities of Madrid Barcelona Toledo Zaragoza And Segovia Spain the tentative dates for the trip Are December 15th through 17th and Through December 23rd of 2017 Excuse me is there a motion Is there a second is there any discussion Beyond what has taken place in the past Dr. Calentis you're comfortable with this trip And recommending it with all the revisions we put you through Okay so if there are no further discussions If there's no further discussion may I ask for a roll call Motion passes we move to action item 8D The superintendent recommends that the board of education approve The international field trip sponsored by the Highland Park High school corral to the cities of Madrid Barcelona Sevilla Cordova

097Grenada and Toledo Spain The tentative dates for the trip are March 20th March 30th through April 7th 2018 Is there a motion Is there a second Is there a further discussion or any comment from Dr. Calentis I'll tell Ms. Owens Thank you very much Is there any further discussion This is a roll call vote please We now move to item 8E The review of closed session minutes recommendations The superintendent recommends That the board approve the destruction of the closed session Audio recordings from July 16th 2012 Through June 10th 2013 Is presented it is further recommended that the board Approve those closed session minutes that are to remain Closed or open as presented on the attached list The review of closed session minutes Includes September 12th 2016 Through February 13th 2017 First of all is there

098a motion Is there a second Is there a discussion And Elena you reviewed it with Stacey Do you have anything to further report on in this Only that in some cases the subject of discussion Is reviewed Is there any other inquiry or discussion Hearing none this is also a roll call vote Call vote Aye Motion passes We now move to the resolution for honorable dismissal And reduction of hours of teachers The superintendent recommends that the board of education adapt the Resolution for honorable dismissal and reduction of hours Of teachers as presented There is a revision to this in that Two people's names were spelled incorrectly They are not correct May I ask for a motion please with the revisions Is there a second Is there any further discussion Just I know I just you know

099whenever anybody reads this I've never read it before And are concerned by it the law dictates How these are supposed to read and sometimes they appear A bit harsh but it is strictly Law and past experience People have responded to it or reacted to it It's harshness sometimes teachers are called back But this is Because of FTE In the current time but it is it is dictated by law What this notice has to say Thank you I would just like to make one comment Those changes in Debbie's correct by law We must present the information but those are baseline Data changes as we look at staffing right now And so what we're committed to doing if there were reductions Is ensuring that those staff members that were impacted Are the ones that we look at

100first when we need to make Those adjustments and so Tom Krieger and I have had That discussion with DEA this week With both the president and vice president explaining Those reductions and how they have come up And what our willingness is and what are What we are committed to doing to ensure that we still support staff As we continue with this process Hi motion passes We now move to the consent agenda I need a motion to approve the consent agenda Which includes personnel financial reports And board of Ed travel and you know it's their motion Is there a second I reviewed the bills This month with Mr. Bullock he pulled quite a few Actually and instead of just going through The routine we also did individual expenses so thank you very Much that everything was

101in order so I feel Very comfortable in stating that is there any further Discussion on the consent agenda seeing that there is None this is a roll call Motion passes We now move to our second Citizen comment period And Ms. Bittner I had you down If you would like to go to the podium I do not believe that It was given to the rest of the board So after I sent the email Which regarded his I don't know why it would be forwarded Was called on a Friday night at nine fifteen And the manner in which He spoke to me was very inappropriate Threatening and if he treats A member of the community and a parent like that I can only imagine the way that he is treating It was unacceptable Then I got Emails

102and calls from other people questioning What I had sent in the email from other board members It was also not appropriate When he called me he asked me did I have A problem with Chicago Public Schools And hiring for Dr. I do not know Dr. But I have had many Highland Park people Teachers contact me this is not Right what that you know did he leave Because he was pursued Maybe things that were discussed with me Which shouldn't have even been discussed with me because their Personnel items I don't care why Dr. But his staff does not want him to leave So it's his choice to leave but when we are replacing him I hope that it is with Someone like him because he has done A lot of very good things in Highland Park

103And I think it's a shame that he is leaving I attended the sounding board that you had I was the only parent there except for Lizzie no one spoke to me except Helena Debbie and Stacey Meyer Dr. Dickens did not even greet me when I Walked in because he obviously was angry about Whatever I could it's inappropriate The way that you treat me as a parent And a community member and I have a Really big mouth I just want you To know that I'm also a representative on the Highland Park PTO and I'm so glad I'm speaking after you You were involved with the PTO involving a member of I do all know This one is being conducted is a little bit different I know it's the same way as the Jericho principle It's being

104conducted but it's not the way the previous one We had four or five parent representatives on that last Highland Park search Excuse me I'm a little nervous It's been a while In light of the fact that there were 24 parents At the PTO committee and only two were children Because there are a lot of parents that feel like you do We are very concerned We're very concerned We're very concerned that history not repeat itself We went through a nightmare two years ago We don't want to go through that again We want this to be a very transparent And We would really like you to reconsider having some more Students on that committee and maybe some more staff on that committee And maybe more students on that committee People that work with Dr. Francis every single

105day And know what Highland Park means as opposed to Jericho We are very different We have very different populations And we feel very strongly at the PTO That things are not exactly As clear and transparent as they could be I'm going to ask Anderson questions Because he's bearing contradictory explanations of how Parents were chosen which is so that now whether they were abandoned or selected And We are very concerned And we would like to make sure that we are Good evening my name is Carl Lambrick I'm coming to this meeting I noticed that the document I'm reading is 70 pages long That's a lot of pages you know to read I did that last night I went from page to page but I didn't even get into details And I spent a lot of time

106In the past coming to policy meetings And one thing that I noticed characterizing the policy meetings Is that a lot of time A lot of effort was done And a lot of expensive people were involved in the policy And basically I've experienced that after a policy Was locked in stone Two months later it hadn't changed The state of Illinois changed the law And one thing you have to realize with Illinois policies And Illinois law they both change You have the right to request a change in the law If you don't think it's right As you all know I think schools Have too much administration And I've made proposals in this regard You have a young superintendent He could take over all these schools I mean the last superintendent of The grade schools for Highland Park

107Had about 27,000 students What I'm proposing is Something about the same It was a school district somewhere in the Elgin area It was the second largest I think in the state After the biggest one being Chicago So those are my comments And since I think before People recognize them And I think a reduction in administrative costs Is reasonable And as you probably can see I'm carrying something with me With yellow shoes So if somebody wants to go to Gearfield Or Highland Park High School It's a ritual and it's not always granted Yet now who's children are going From one end of the area to the other end of the area Anyway those are my idle comments Thank you Are there any other citizen's comments? I need a motion For the board to meet in closed

108session For the discussion of the placement of individual students In specialized programs and other matters Relating to individual students Appointment, employment, compensation, discipline Or performance of dismissal of specific employees Or against an employee of the public body Or against legal counsel of the public body To determine its validity And discussion of minutes of meetings lawfully closed under the open meeting sample May I have a motion? Okay it's a roll call please Motion passes